JP Morgan's Chief Market Strategist Kolanovic Departs Amid Contrarian Views On US Equities: Report

Marko Kolanovic, JP Morgan Chase & Co.’s JPM chief global market strategist and co-head of global research, is departing from the bank.

After 19 years at JP Morgan, Kolanovic is “exploring other opportunities,” Bloomberg reported, citing an internal memo.

Under Kolanovic’s leadership, JP Morgan’s strategists maintained a bearish stance on U.S. equities, diverging from peers like Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. GS, Citigroup, Inc. C, and Bank Of America Corporation BAC who raised their forecasts.

Also Read: Drug Traffickers Exploited Citigroup ATMs For Money Laundering

JPMorgan’s S&P 500 target for 2024, at 4,200, is the lowest among major banks, while the index currently trades above 5,500.

Dubravko Lakos-Bujas will now lead market strategy, while Hussein Malik assumes the role of head of global research, the report added.

Stephen Dulake and Nicholas Rosato will jointly lead a new team focused on fundamental research, integrating credit and equity research efforts.

Following a tumultuous two-year period of stock-market predictions by Kolanovic, he remained bullish through much of 2022 despite the S&P 500 Index falling 19%.

Later, he turned bearish just as the market rebounded, missing out on last year’s 24% surge in the S&P 500 and the 14% gain in the first half of this year, Bloomberg added.

The strategist, formerly dubbed “Gandalf” by the media for his accurate predictions, immigrated to the U.S. from Croatia in the 1990s to pursue studies at New York University, earning a Ph.D. in theoretical physics in 2003, Bloomberg reported.

Lakos-Bujas joined JPMorgan in 2010 following his tenure as a senior researcher at Deutsche Asset Management, the report read.

Price Action: JPM shares are trading lower by 0.31% to $208.18 at last check Wednesday.

Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.

Photo courtesy: Shutterstock

Read Next:

• BYD Set To Surpass Tesla In BEV Sales By 2024 As China Leads Global Market Growth: Report