Jamie Dimon’s would-be successors audition for the top job at JP Morgan

Top executives at JPMorgan Chase are gathering with shareholders for the bank’s annual investor day, where they will give an update on the bank’s strategy over hours of management presentations. But Monday’s confab is also an effective audition for the biggest job on Wall Street.

Dimon surprised investors last year when he said he would be stepping down as chief executive officer in less than five years. Then in January, JPMorgan took the unusual step of announcing that a leading candidate to succeed Dimon was out of the running. Jennifer Piepszak, now the bank’s chief operating officer, didn’t want the job.

“Investors want more clarity around succession planning," said Mike Mayo, a Wells Fargo analyst who has covered the banking industry for decades. “One of the most important purposes of this event is to showcase existing and newer management talent."

Shareholders have loved Dimon as CEO—JPMorgan’s stock is up more than 500% since he took over at the start of 2006—but they worry whether his successor will be able to fill such big shoes. They will be on the lookout for signs of the next Jamie on Monday.

“He’s more than JPMorgan’s CEO, he’s also Corporate America’s CEO," said David Bahnsen, founder and managing partner of the Bahnsen Group and a shareholder of the bank. “Demonstrating that level of statesmanship is important for a future successor."

The contenders

Marianne Lake, who runs Chase Bank and its credit-card business, is seen as holding the pole position.

Raised in England, she was hired by JPMorgan after she had been working for the bank as an accountant for Price Waterhouse in London in the 1990s. She worked in a number of finance roles for the bank before relocating to the U.S. and becoming chief financial officer in 2013.

Lake is one of a number of top female leaders at JPMorgan and is close to many executives, including Piepszak, with whom she ran Chase Bank. Lake has a mastery of the bank’s financials and can recite key statistics about its balance sheet on demand.

With a background in accounting, she is seen as a strong risk manager, but she hasn’t spent as much time working with JPMorgan’s big corporate clients as other executives.

The other two top contenders are the co-heads of JPMorgan’s corporate and investment bank: Doug Petno and Troy Rohrbaugh.

Petno is a former oil-and-gas banker who ran JPMorgan’s commercial bank between 2012 and 2024. He helped drive its push to bank more companies in America’s heartland while also expanding its international reach.

He was elevated into his current role as JPMorgan merged the commercial bank with its investment bank. But Petno, known for his hard-nosed management style, is still building relationships with senior management in the merged division.

Rohrbaugh is seen as well tempered and liked by the rank-and-file. But he has less experience on the banking side of the business than the other contenders. Between 2005 and 2024, he ran several markets-oriented businesses, including foreign-exchange derivatives and interest-rates trading.

Still, the markets division has become a revenue-generating powerhouse while the old-guard bank is strategizing over how it can compete in the booming world of private markets. He also advocated for JPMorgan to update its back-office technology, which the bank says has paid off in spades during periods of market volatility.

Mary Erdoes, who runs JPMorgan’s asset and wealth management business, is close to Dimon and has been his longest-serving direct report. Under a new CEO, she would plan to keep that role and act as the bank’s leading client whisperer and corporate emissary, people familiar with the matter said.

Dimon’s long shadow

As the steward of the nation’s biggest bank, shareholders say JPMorgan’s next CEO will also need to know how to operate in Washington.

“Running the bank is almost table stakes," said Timothy Piechowski, portfolio manager at Alpine Capital Research and a shareholder in the bank since 2011. “They’ll need to make it clear to those in government that JPMorgan is going to be a partner in keeping the American economy strong. One of the most costly things for the banks has been when regulators have turned on them."

If Dimon steps down as chief executive, that doesn’t mean he is done at JPMorgan, since he intends to stay on as chairman of the board of directors. But a number of milestones ahead point to the end of an era.

Dimon will turn 70 next year, and mark his 20th year as chief executive of JPMorgan. Construction is nearly complete on the huge new JPMorgan headquarters at 270 Park Avenue, soon to be the tallest occupied office building in midtown Manhattan.

The bank posted a $54 billion profit last year, a record amount for any bank in American history.

“Dimon is irreplaceable," Bahnsen said. “But in the end, I have no doubt that JPMorgan will get succession right."

Write to Alexander Saeedy at alexander.saeedy@wsj.com