By Ross Snel

JPMorgan Chase has operated a self-directed online brokerage offering for years. But now the nation's largest bank is putting a renewed push on growing that business, adding new features such as fractional shares and trust accounts. The offering already has nearly $100 billion in assets, but Paul Vienick, who heads J.P. Morgan Online Investing, sees lots of room for growth. The key will be tapping the company's existing banking and wealth management clients, some of whom may want self-directed accounts in addition to full-service financial advice.

Among other most-read wealth management articles this week:

Top broker stocks . KBW analyst Kyle Voigt picked Charles Schwab and LPL Financial as his two top brokerage stock picks for 2025, raising earnings estimates for both companies. The brokerage industry has been bedeviled by cash sorting, a process by which customers move uninvested cash from low-yielding (but profitable) sweep accounts to higher-paying options. Voigt says cash sorting is abating, and that should give brokerage firms -- and Schwab in particular -- a lift. Meanwhile, LPL's new leadership is focused on margin expansion -- another point in its favor, according to Voigt.

Changes at J.P. Morgan Asset Management . JPMorgan Chase has quietly tapped company veteran Jonathan Sherman to serve as head of U.S. Equity at its $3.5 trillion asset-management unit. He succeeds Lee Spelman, who now serves as vice chair of global equities at J.P. Morgan Asset Management.

Major League tax lessons . Baseball star Juan Soto has managed to strike a very lucrative deal: a record-setting $765 million, 15-year contract with the New York Mets. That is an eye-popping amount of money, and it could come with a hefty tax bill. Although Soto's particular situation is rare, examining it can offer lessons for other wealthy people with multiyear contracts. Among the takeaways, according to tax experts: Do your tax planning around paydays; don't ignore state taxes, because they can be significant; and start estate planning early.

Edward Jones, Osaic, Cambridge to pay back clients . The brokerage industry's top cop ordered the three wealth management companies to pay a combined $8.2 million in restitution to clients. Finra said Edward Jones, Osaic, and Cambridge Investment Research failed to provide clients with fee rebates on mutual fund purchases that they were entitled to. Finra didn't levy fines in addition to the ordered restitution, citing the firms' "extraordinary" cooperation with its investigation. Each of the firms consented to the entry of Finra's findings, without admitting or denying the charges.

Got AI? 2025 likely will be the year that wealth management firms start deploying AI at scale, writes guest columnist Rob Pettman, chief revenue officer and president of Tifin. The risk of missing out on AI's benefits has become too significant to treat it as an afterthought, he says. AI has the potential to transform how advisory firms operate in several areas, including valuing and doing due diligence on private-market investments, according to Pettman.

Write to Ross Snel at ross.snel@dowjones.com

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December 27, 2024 11:32 ET (16:32 GMT)

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