JPMorgan Chase & Co has made a strategic push to dominate the U.S. business services sector, hiring three top investment bankers from Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs to help drive dealmaking and expand its investment banking revenue base.
The move is part of a broader plan by John Richert, the head of mid-cap investment banking at JPMorgan, who told Reuters that he aims to increase the division’s annual fee revenue from around $100 million to $500 million within three to five years — a fivefold jump that mirrors the bank’s ambitious growth trajectory in mid-market dealmaking.
“I’d like to increase headcount in senior level by five times in the next two to three years. I will call it the power of fives,” Richert said, emphasizing that the expansion in both human resources and business volume will occur simultaneously.
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The bank’s new hires — Erik Carneal, David Sweet, and Ye Xia — bring decades of experience and deep relationships with private equity clients and corporate boards.
Carneal, who joins as vice chair, spent 14 years at Deutsche Bank, where he advised clients across professional, education, and commercial services, cultivating long-term relationships with executives and financial sponsors. With over 25 years in investment banking, he is expected to play a key role in mentoring younger bankers and shaping the bank’s long-term sector strategy.
David Sweet, also from Deutsche Bank, joins as managing director focusing on commercial and residential services. Sweet previously led Deutsche Bank’s coverage in that space, working with clients in HVAC, facilities management, and other recurring-revenue business lines.
Meanwhile, Ye Xia, formerly at Goldman Sachs, will serve as executive director to expand JPMorgan’s coverage of industrial and commercial services, digital infrastructure, and professional services. Xia’s previous experience spans roles at Guggenheim Partners and Rothschild & Co, where she advised clients on mergers, acquisitions, and capital raising.
All three will be based in New York, reporting directly to Richert, and will work closely with Dana Weinstein, JPMorgan’s current head of business services investment banking, who will retire next year. Upon her departure, Richert will take over as global head of business services coverage, further consolidating the unit’s leadership structure.
These appointments follow the addition of Jonathan Slaughter earlier this year as vice chair of Business Services in London — a move that signals JPMorgan’s global ambition in the sector.
A Sector Ripe for Consolidation
The business services industry — which employs about 22.5 million Americans, according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data — includes a broad range of non-core operational functions that companies are increasingly outsourcing, such as janitorial, landscaping, restoration, HVAC, and catering services.
Once dominated by small, family-run businesses, the sector has evolved into a magnet for private equity investment, as firms seek to roll up regional players into larger, scalable platforms with predictable, recurring cash flows.
Richert said private equity interest in the space has surged, supported by ample dry powder. “We have a number of private equity meetings per week in which investors are asking to show them everything we have in HVAC, everything we have in restoration, in landscaping,” he said.
According to Reuters data, private equity deal volume reached an all-time quarterly high of $310 billion in the third quarter, underscoring the liquidity available for new acquisitions and consolidations.
Shielded from AI and Trade Shocks
Richert noted that the business services segment enjoys relative protection from macroeconomic headwinds such as automation and trade disruptions.
“Even if you are a clothing manufacturer impacted by tariffs, somebody still has to clean that facility at night,” he said. “This is a sector that’s largely insulated from the threats of AI-driven job substitution or geopolitical trade risks.”
Richert’s aggressive expansion strategy builds on the success of JPMorgan’s mid-cap investment banking division, which he transformed from a 30-person team to a 250-banker operation with annual revenues surpassing $1 billion, up from $150 million when he took over seven years ago.
The bank now serves over 11,000 mid-cap companies through its commercial banking arm — relationships that it intends to leverage for more M&A, advisory, and capital-raising activity in business services.
The expansion comes as competition intensifies among Wall Street firms seeking a larger share of the business services and facilities management market. Rivals like Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, and Jefferies have also been recruiting senior bankers to capture deal flow from the ongoing wave of private equity consolidation.
But Richert said JPMorgan’s balance sheet strength, global network, and longstanding relationships with corporate clients give it a clear advantage.
The bank’s recruitment drive and deal focus are believed to align with a broader trend of financial institutions pivoting toward sectors offering defensive characteristics amid rising interest rates and uncertain market conditions.