EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Oliver Gregson, New Head Of JP Morgan's UK, Nordics Private Bank

Tom Burroughes

20 February 2017

The newly-appointed head of JP Morgan’s private banking operations for the UK and Nordics markets thinks the blue-blooded bank can win more clients and build a bigger business by focusing on the client and being more vocal about its capabilities, as well as seizing opportunities in other areas.

Oliver Gregson, whose appointment was exclusively revealed by this news service last September, and officially announced this week, aims to build a bank that is the best and most respected private bank in the UK, serving clients and communities and enabling them to compete even more effectively in the other regions where it is present.

“The biggest surprise I have had since starting ," he said.

Banks have wrestled with client segmentation and focus issues in the past; there is debate over what might be called the “sweet spot” for private client wealth management. At the “ultra” end of the scale, while the investment sizes are large, clients are often considered to be labour-intensive, while at the lower reaches of the HNW and into the mass affluent sector, there is a need for more standardised offerings to keep costs under control.

Gregson, who is based in London and reports to Pablo Garnica, chief executive of JP Morgan Private Bank’s Europe, Middle East and Africa region, was previously head of HSBC’s Private Bank Investment Group, in charge of the investment counselling, portfolio management, sales and trading and wealth advisory teams.

Before that he helped establish and expand investment advisory and led the global discretionary investment team at Barclays Wealth. Previously, he held leadership positions at UBS Wealth Management and Citigroup Private Bank.