JPMorgan hires Vanguard veteran to lead call center wealth managers

NEW YORK (Reuters) – JPMorgan Chase & Co said on Monday it hired the head of Vanguard Group’s robo-adviser to lead its phone and video-based financial advice unit and to oversee its nationwide hiring spree.

Boaz Lahovitsky was named head of the U.S. National Branch for Wealth Management, part of the retail bank’s wealth management group which includes financial advisers serving customers by phone or video, according to a statement.

Kristin Lemkau, head of U.S. Wealth Management in JPMorgan’s Consumer & Community Banking unit since late 2019, said the national branch is core to expanding the wealth management business.

“We are still nascent in providing video and phone-based advice,” Lemkau said. Her division also includes financial advisers at Chase bank branches and You Invest, Chase’s digital investment tool.

Lahovitsky will oversee the hiring of hundreds of new advisers over the next two years to fill out JPMorgan’s call centers and other locations across the country, according to the statement.

Lahovitsky joins JPMorgan from Vanguard, the world’s biggest mutual fund company, where he was head of flagship advice, Personal Advisor Services. Personal Advisor Services is the digital automated investment tool, or robo-adviser, which Vanguard launched in 2015.

Prior to Vanguard, Lahovitsky worked in strategy and operations roles at UBS Group AG and Citigroup .

(Reporting by Elizabeth Dilts Marshall; Editing by Richard Chang)