JPMorgan Chase has awarded Daniel Pinto, a top lieutenant to chief executive Jamie Dimon, a “special award” of 750,000 restricted share options worth about $25m in what the US bank described as an attempt to retain him.
JPMorgan, the largest US bank by assets, said in a regulatory filing on Tuesday that it was making the award in the form of “stock appreciation rights” that can be exercised at a price of $159.09 per share, the average of JPMorgan’s stock price on Monday.
The appreciation rights enable Pinto, the bank’s president and chief operating officer, to make a profit if JPMorgan’s stock rises above that level in the coming years.
The options, which are subject to clawback and recovery provisions, become exercisable in December 2026 and must be held until December 2031.
JPMorgan’s internal model forecasts the options will yield a profit of about $25m over the vesting schedule, according to people briefed on the matter. Argentina-born Pinto, who has spent his entire career at JPMorgan, received a pay package worth $24.5m last year.
The bank said the award reflected the compensation and management development committee’s desire for Pinto to remain in his role for a “further significant number of years”.
The award is also linked to Pinto becoming the bank’s sole president and chief operating officer, the bank said, following the departure of Gordon Smith at the end of the year. Pinto also leads JPMorgan’s investment banking division, which last year accounted for about 40 per cent of the bank’s total revenues.
He has been based in London in recent years but will move to New York in 2022.
“It makes sense for him personally and professionally as he continues to spend a great deal of time with me and the other members of the operating committee advising on firmwide priorities and transformational projects,” Dimon wrote in a memo to staff on Tuesday about Pinto’s move to New York, which was seen by the Financial Times.
Pinto is considered the most likely candidate to take over as chief executive of JPMorgan should Dimon — one of the longest-serving CEOs on Wall Street — leave in the short term. Investors say JPMorgan veterans Marianne Lake and Jennifer Piepszak are among the more likely longer-term successors to Dimon.
Earlier this year, JPMorgan granted a special award of appreciation rights to Dimon projected to be worth about $49m.
The bank is also preparing to pay out bumper bonuses to investment bankers following a record year for deal activity on Wall Street.