Mike Clark, CEO of JPMorgan Worldwide Securities Services (WSS), has quit the bank to take up a new role as head of institutional services at fund managers Fidelity.
The news will come as surprise to management and staff at WSS as well as the marketplace, since Clark personified the changes which have taken place at the bank over the two years since WSS was created in 2005 – including high level personnel changes as well as upgrading of technology and the push into alternative investment services.
It is understood that no successor has yet been appointed. For the moment, the four product heads – Conrad Kozak (global custody and fund administration), Sandie O’Connor (securities lending and execution products), Liz Nolan (alternative investment services) and Diane Eshleman (clearance and agency services) – will report directly to Heidi Miller, CEO of the Transaction and Securities Services (TSS) division of the bank, which included WSS.
Clark quits at a time when the business is growing strongly. Assets in custody are up 30% year on year to $15.2 trillion, and WSS delivered $1 billion in net revenue in the second quarter of this year.