There were 1.54 million housing units available at the end of May, an increase of over 20% from May of last year.
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Health plans under major U.S. insurers said they have voluntarily agreed to speed up and reduce prior authorizations – a process that is often a major pain point for patients and providers for getting and providing care.
Prior authorization makes providers obtain approval from a patient’s insurance company before administering specific services or treatments.
Insurers such as CVS Health, UnitedHealthcare and Cigna will implement the changes across commercial plans and certain Medicare and Medicaid plans, benefiting 257 million Americans.
UnitedHealthcare signage is displayed on an office building in Phoenix, Arizona, on July 19, 2023.
Patrick T. Fallon | Afp | Getty Images
Health plans under major U.S. insurers said Monday they have voluntarily agreed to speed up and reduce prior authorizations – a process that is often a major pain point for patients and providers when getting and administering care.
Prior authorization makes providers obtain approval from a patient’s insurance company before they carry out specific services or treatments. Insurers say the process ensures patients receive medically necessary care and allows them to control costs. But patients and providers have slammed prior authorizations for, in some cases, leading to care delays or denials and physician burnout.
Dozens of plans under large insurers such as CVS Health, UnitedHealthcare, Cigna, Humana, Elevance Health and Blue Cross Blue Shield committed to a series of actions that aim to connect patients to care more quickly and reduce the administrative burden on providers, according to a release from AHIP, a trade group representing health plans. Though the companies cheered the changes, they could cut into profits if they lead to patients using care more often.
“The American health care system must work better for people, and we will improve it in distinctive ways that truly matter,” said Steve Nelson, president of CVS’ insurer, Aetna, in a statement. “We support the industry’s commitments to streamline, simplify and reduce prior authorization.”
Insurers will implement the changes across markets, including commercial coverage and certain Medicare and Medicaid plans. The group said the tweaks will benefit 257 million Americans.
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The move comes months after the U.S. health insurance industry faced a torrent of public backlash following the murder of UnitedHealthcare’s top executive, Brian Thompson. It builds on the work several companies have already done to simplify their prior authorization processes.
Among the efforts is establishing a common standard for submitting electronic prior authorization requests by the start of 2027. By then, at least 80% of electronic prior authorization approvals with all necessary clinical documents will be answered in real time, the release said.
That aims to streamline the process and ease the workload of doctors and hospitals, many of whom still submit requests manually on paper rather than electronically.
Individual plans will reduce the types of claims subject to prior authorization requests by 2026.
“We look forward to collaborating with payers to ensure these efforts lead to meaningful and lasting improvements in patient care,” said Shawn Martin, CEO of the American Academy of Family Physicians, in the release.
UnitedHealthcare, in a statement, said it “welcomes the opportunity to join other health insurance plans in our shared commitment to modernize and streamline the prior authorization process.”
The company said it builds on its previous efforts, including steps to reduce the number of services requiring prior authorization. It also includes UnitedHealthcare’s national Gold Card program, which recognizes and awards providers who “consistently adhere to evidence-based care guidelines” by reducing their total prior authorization requests.
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Novo Nordisk said it is ending its collaboration with Hims & Hers due to concerns about the telehealth company’s sales and promotion of cheaper knock-offs of the weight loss drug Wegovy.
Novo Nordisk in April said it would offer Wegovy through several telehealth companies, such as Hims & Hers, to expand access to the blockbuster injection now that it is no longer in short supply in the U.S.
But Novo Nordisk said Hims & Hers has “failed to adhere to the law which prohibits mass sales of compounded drugs” and accused the telehealth company of “deceptive” marketing that is putting patient safety at risk.
The “Wegovy” brand slimming syringe is sold in the Achat pharmacy in Mitte. The “Wegovy” slimming syringe has been available in Germany for a year.
Jens Kalaene | Picture Alliance | Getty Images
Novo Nordisk on Monday said it is ending its collaboration with Hims & Hers due to concerns about the telehealth company’s sales and promotion of cheaper knock-offs of the weight loss drug Wegovy.
Shares of Hims & Hers fell roughly 28% on Monday, while Novo Nordisk’s stock fell more than 6%.
Novo Nordisk in April said it would offer Wegovy through several telehealth companies such as Hims & Hers to expand access to the blockbuster injection now that it is no longer in short supply in the U.S.
The end of the Wegovy shortage meant compounding pharmacies were legally restricted from making and selling cheaper, unapproved versions of the drug by May 22 – with rare exceptions. Telehealth companies have said patients may still need personalized compounded versions of Wegovy in situations where it’s medically necessary.
But Novo Nordisk on Monday said Hims & Hers has “failed to adhere to the law which prohibits mass sales of compounded drugs” under the “false guise” of personalization. The drugmaker also accused Hims & Hers of “deceptive” marketing that is putting patient safety at risk.
“We expected that the efforts towards compounding personalization would diminish over time. When we didn’t see that, we had to make a choice on behalf of patients,” Dave Moore, Novo Nordisk’s executive vice president of U.S. operations, told CNBC. “We’ve been firm all along that patient safety is our primary focus.”
“Our expectation was that [Hims & Hers’] business focus would transfer toward real, safe, approved medications,” he said. Moore said Novo Nordisk will not incur any fees from terminating the collaboration, as it was established through a third-party that manages the drugmaker’s direct-to-consumer online pharmacy
A Hims & Hers spokesperson did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request to comment.
During an earnings call in May, Hims & Hers CEO Andrew Dudum said the company gives providers and patients choice in their treatments.
“Ultimately what is right for them is their own discretion,” he said. “I think we strongly believe it’s really important that we maintain that independence.”
In a note on Monday, Citi analyst Daniel Grosslight said the end of the collaboration increases Hims & Hers’ legal risk “substantially.” He added that he was surprised the partnership, when initially announced, did not include any efforts to curb the telehealth company’s compounding efforts.
During Food and Drug Administration-declared shortages, pharmacists can legally make compounded versions of brand-name medications. They can also be produced on a case-by-case basis when it’s medically necessary for a patient, such as when they can’t swallow a pill or are allergic to a specific ingredient in a branded drug.
But drugmakers and some health experts have pushed back against the practice, largely because the FDA does not approve compounded drugs.
Novo Nordisk said it will continue offering the branded version of Wegovy through telehealth organizations that “share our commitment to safe and effective medical treatment for patients living with chronic diseases.”
Moore said Novo Nordisk has seen several other mass compounding pharmacies reduce or stop making and selling Wegovy knock-offs. He added that the company will “engage on the legal front” and with the FDA to ensure that illegal compounding diminishes.
In a release on Monday, Novo Nordisk said it conducted an investigation that found the active ingredients used in Wegovy knock-offs sold by telehealth companies and compounded pharmacies are manufactured by foreign suppliers in China. The drugmaker also cited a report from the Brookings Institution in April, which found that a large share of those Chinese suppliers were never inspected by the FDA, and many that were inspected had drug quality assurance violations.
“These medicines that are coming into our country from sources around the world are not even approved in those countries that they originated, and it’s a problem,” Moore said. More
Antonio Filosa is stepping into the role of CEO at automaker Stellantis with a host of challenges in front of him.
Relationships with employees and dealers have fractured, the company is trying to grow retail market share, and the auto industry is facing regulatory uncertainty.
Former and current executives and employees described the 51-year-old Filosa, an Italian native, to CNBC as an engaging, collective leader who knows the business well.
Incoming Stellantis CEO Antonio Filosa, head of the company’s Americas operations, greets a Windsor Assembly Plant employee during an event celebrating Chrysler’s 100th anniversary on June 6, 2025.
Stellantis
DETROIT — “Mediocrity is not worth the trip.”
That was part of incoming Stellantis CEO Antonio Filosa’s first public message after being named to lead the global automaker. It was a mantra decades in the making, as he spent 25 years climbing through the company’s ranks, starting from a role as a night shift paint shop supervisor in Spain.
The quote also referenced late Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne, a mentor of Filosa’s who is revered in the company. Marchionne unexpectedly died in 2018, years before the automaker merged to form Stellantis, the parent for brands such as Jeep, Ram, Fiat and Chrysler.
Several former and current Stellantis executives and employees who have worked with Filosa highlighted his connection to Marchionne when speaking with CNBC. They also described him as an engaging, collective leader who knows the business well, from the factory floors to C-suite offices, but who faces a slew of challenges and tests ahead.
As Filosa officially steps into the CEO role on Monday, he will need to channel Marchionne — viewed as a dynamic executive and thinker who saved Italian automaker Fiat and America’s Chrysler — to be successful in turning around the embattled carmaker.
John Elkann, chairman of Fiat SpA, center left, and Sergio Marchionne, chief executive officer of Fiat SpA and Chrysler Group LLC, center right, look at the new Jeep Renegade SUV automobile, produced by Chrysler Group LLC, as it stands on display at the company’s stand on the opening day of the 84th Geneva International Motor Show in Geneva, Switzerland.
Chris Ratcliffe | Bloomberg | Getty Images
The most recent CEO, Carlos Tavares, who spearheaded the merger to form Stellantis, abruptly resigned in December amid disagreements with the company’s board, yearslong sales declines and a 70% drop in net profit last year. He, like Marchionne, was considered a dynamic CEO by those inside and outside the company, but many thought he focused too much on cost cuts, to the detriment of the business.
In addition to financial issues, industry experts said Filosa will need to continue to mend bonds with dealers, politicians and employees that were damaged during Tavares’ tenure. And he’ll have to handle the company’s investment plans between traditional vehicles and “electrified” models such as hybrids and EVs.
“We need to manage the transition, right? It’s not a secret that electric vehicles will be [a] strong part of the future, right? Not only for Stellantis, but for the automotive industry itself,” Filosa, then-Stellantis’ head of the Americas, told reporters in January. “The pace and the speed, probably something that needs to be slightly reassessed.”
Filosa, at that time, said it will be on the new CEO to decide the pace. He described the company’s issues as “a multitask challenge” for whoever the board would appoint, which ultimately was him.
‘Multitask challenge’
Filosa, a relatively young CEO at 51 years old, has hit the ground running since Tavares promoted him from Jeep’s CEO to chief operating officer of Stellantis’ Americas operations, where he prioritized mending strained bonds.
Employees were distraught over cuts and layoffs, while the company’s franchised retailers were livid about Stellantis’ sales and market share losses under Tavares. The Stellantis National Dealer Council in September penned an unprecedented open letter condemning Tavares’ actions.
“Your own distribution network, your dealer body, has been left in an anemic and diminished state,” Kevin Farrish, a dealer in Virginia who led the council, wrote in the letter.
Michael Bettenhausen, a dealer in Illinois who succeeded Farrish, has spoken fondly of Filosa but said there is still a lot of work to get done.
2025 Jeep Cherokee SUV
Stellantis
“We need to mutually work together and dive into all the issues here in the North American operations, and we look forward to Antonio still being a part of those discussions,” he said.
Stellantis’ global sales under Tavares fell 12.3% from 6.5 million in 2021 — the year the company was formed — to 5.7 million in 2024. That included a roughly 27% collapse in the U.S. in that period to 1.3 million vehicles sold. The automaker dropped from fourth is U.S. sales to sixth, falling from an 11.6% market share to 8% during that time frame.
Filosa — a native of Naples, Italy — said in January the top priority for the U.S. was to grow retail market share, which includes sales to customers as opposed to those to fleets or businesses.
“We need to do that. It’s not a belief; it’s a need,” he said. “The U.S. retail market share really measures your ability to organically [grow sales].”
The automaker remains in a product dearth, bringing its overall sales down roughly 12% during the first quarter of this year compared with the same period a year earlier. The company declined to release its year-to-date retail sales.
Michael Wayland / CNBC
But new products such as the upcoming redesigned Jeep Cherokee, additional Ram 1500 pickup truck models and a new gas-powered Dodge Charger are expected to boost sales, as well as the automaker’s top line.
Stellantis’ revenue has grown since the company was formed but plummeted 17.2% year over year in 2024 to 156.9 billion euros ($180.6 billion), while other automakers such as General Motors and Ford Motor saw notable increases in their top lines.
“Filosa steps into the CEO role amid significant challenges for the company,” RBC Capital Markets analyst Tom Narayan wrote in a May 28 investor note. “His immediate priorities include revitalizing the company’s performance in the US market, streamlining Stellantis’ extensive 14-brand portfolio, and mending strained relationships with dealers, unions, and governments.”
‘A logical choice’
Filosa’s appointment to CEO was viewed as a safe, “logical choice” for the automaker as it attempts to address its self-inflicted issues, as well as regulatory uncertainty such as tariffs and global economic concerns, according to industry insiders and observers.
“I think it’s a logical, credible choice,” Tavares told Bloomberg in late May in his first interview with international media since leaving the company. “Hopefully, he will be properly supported by the board. So let’s see.”
Since being announced as CEO on May 28, Filosa has visited many of the automaker’s plants in the U.S., Canada and Europe. He was reportedly chosen following a six-month search that included other internal and external candidates.
His public comments regarding his new position have painted him as a humbled, grateful executive and father who takes pride in connecting with people.
“I am truly honored to be appointed CEO of this great company, Stellantis. It has been my home for 25 years. This place is in my blood,” he said a May 28 LinkedIn post, referencing Marchionne.
The New York Stock Exchange welcomes The Jeep Brand (NYSE: STLA) to the podium, on May 31, 2024. To honor the occasion, Antonio Filosa, Chief Executive Officer, joined by Lynn Martin, President, NYSE Group rings The Opening Bell®.
A handful of current and former Stellantis executives described Filosa as an “engaging leader” and “listener” who’s particularly at ease inside plants and speaking with employees — much like Marchionne.
“I’ve worked side by side with him. … We grew up under Sergio,” Stellantis’ global head of design, Ralph Gilles, told CNBC. “He’s a people person. He’s a visionary, he’s energized, he’s young … and he’s curious. He’s a great listener. I love his problem-solving abilities, and for me, he loves design.”
Marchionne would refer to his executives as “kids,” many of whom, like Gilles and Filosa, he appointed to their first high-profile leadership positions. Others still with Stellantis include Ram CEO Tim Kuniskis and Chief Marketing Officer Olivier Francois.
“Antonio’s awesome,” Kuniskis, who unretired after a seven-month hiatus last year, told CNBC. “He’s one of the driving forces for me wanting to come back.”
Stellantis CFO Douglas Ostermann earlier this month touted Filosa’s background in manufacturing and building the company’s Latin American business, which has remained a high profitability region for the company.
“He’s a very kind of open leader that I think really works well with across the organization, across people, across brands, kind of a relationship builder,” Ostermann said during a Bernstein event.
Upon Filosa’s appointment, Bernstein analysts in an investor note described him as a “safe pair of hands” but a relatively uninspiring choice for investors compared with an outside hire such as ex-Apple CFO Luca Maestri, whom the company was reportedly considering.
“I think investors were quite excited about the prospect of bringing in somebody from the outside,” Bernstein analyst Daniel Roeska told CNBC. “Not that there wasn’t anybody inside, but after kind of such a big mix-up, investors thought the idea of bringing something from the outside was a good one.”
Stock chart icon
Stellantis shares
Filosa hasn’t had much experience in such a high-profile role, unlike Marchionne and Tavares, who were tested automotive veterans. He came up through the company’s Latin American operations and has only served a short time in North America — its most crucial market. While Italian, he also has limited work time in Europe, the automaker’s second most important region.
Two sources who agreed to speak on the condition on anonymity to be able to speak freely also said he’s a nose to the grindstone leader who can be demanding at times, similar to his predecessors and other CEOs.
Filosa also will need to restore investor confidence, which both Marchionne and Tavares were at ease doing. Three sources, including two company insiders, said he doesn’t yet have the CEO prowess like his predecessors, something that may come with experience.
UBS analyst Patrick Hummel noted in a financial note last month that Filosa’s interaction with the financial community also has been “limited” to a capital markets day in June 2024.
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Investors didn’t react strongly to the CEO choice, based on the company’s stock price. When Filosa was announced as CEO on May 28, U.S.-listed shares of the stock declined 3.2%. Since then, the shares are off roughly 10% amid a litany of outside factors.
The daily stock decline is actually similar to when Marchionne made his “mediocrity” comments during the company’s first investor day after combining Chrysler and Fiat to make “Fiat Chrysler Automobiles,” or FCA, on May 6, 2014. Shares fell 3.9% that day.
Marchionne, a philosophy major who was known for his astute remarks, was discussing the challenges ahead for the automaker and changing automotive industry, including not chasing unprofitable businesses — which Filosa and Stellantis must continue to address.
“I told you this morning that our FCA culture responds better when it is confronted with purpose and with challenge,” Marchionne said. “And our plan has purpose because when all is said and all is done, mediocrity is not worth the trip.”
Correction: This story has been updated to correct the name of the Stellantis National Dealer Council.
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Darden Restaurants beat Wall Street’s earnings and revenue estimates.
Darden’s two standout brands, Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse, reported same-store sales growth that beat expectations.
Customers enter an Olive Garden restaurant in Pittsburg, California, US, on Friday, Dec. 9, 2022.
David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Darden Restaurants on Friday beat Wall Street’s earnings and revenue estimates, while the Olive Garden parent predicted solid growth for fiscal 2026.
Here’s what the company reported compared with what Wall Street was expecting, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG:
Earnings per share: $2.98 adjusted vs. $2.97 expected
Revenue: $3.27 billion vs. $3.26 billion expected
Darden reported fiscal fourth-quarter net income of $303.8 million, or $2.58 per share, compared with $308.1 million, or $2.58 per share, a year earlier.
Excluding costs related to its Chuy’s Tex Mex acquisition, Darden earned $2.98 per share for the three-month period ended May 25.
Net sales rose 10.6% to $3.3 billion, fueled in part by acquiring 103 Chuy’s restaurants and 25 net new restaurants.
The Orlando, Florida-based company’s same-store sales rose 4.6%, beating StreetAccount estimates of 3.5%.
For the full fiscal 2026, Darden gave a forecast for revenue growth of 7% to 8%, including approximately 2% growth related to having an extra week in the year. It expects adjusted earnings to be in a range of $10.50 to $10.70 per share, including 20 cents related to the additional week.
Despite signs of consumers pulling back on spending, Darden Restaurants CEO Rick Cardenas said during a call Friday with analysts that consumers are continuing to spend on casual dining.
“Our consumers want to go out and spend their hard-earned money. And we think we’re taking some wallet share from fast food and fast casual,” he said.
Darden’s two standout brands, Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse, reported same-store sales growth that beat expectations. Olive Garden, which accounts for roughly 40% of Dardan’s quarterly revenue, saw same-store sales rise 6.9%, beating analysts’ expectations of 4.6%. LongHorn’s same-store sales increased 6.7%, while analysts were anticipating growth of 5.3%.
Cardenas credited Darden’s sales during the quarter, in part, to the return of Olive Garden’s “Buy One Take One” deal after five years, which offers customers a meal to go along with their sit-down meal.
Darden’s fine dining segment, which includes Ruth’s Chris Steak House and The Capital Grille, reported a same-store sales decline of 3.3%, compared with the 0.2% drop expected.
CFO Raj Vennam told analysts on the call Friday that the fine dining category as a whole continues to be challenged, but the company is seeing improvement in guest traffic from households earning $150,000 and above.
The company’s remaining segment, which includes Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen and Yard House, saw same-store sales growth of 1.2%, compared with estimates of 1.1%.
In March, Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen became the next Darden brand, after Olive Garden, to pilot on-demand delivery through a partnership with Uber Direct. As of last week, delivery is available in all but eight Cheddar’s restaurants, Cardenas said on Friday’s call.
In addition to Darden closing 15 Bahama Breeze restaurants during the quarter, Cardenas said the company will be considering “strategic alternatives” for the entire Bahama Breeze brand, including a potential sale or converting the locations to other Darden brands.
He said during the call that the Bahama Breeze brand is not a “strategic priority” for Darden and that it has the potential to benefit from a new owner.
The company also announced that on Wednesday, its board of directors authorized a $1 billion share repurchase program, which does not have an expiration date and replaces the previously existing share repurchase authorization.
Darden Restaurants stock rose more than 1% in trading Friday. As of Wednesday’s close, the shares were up about 19% year to date.
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Shares of Kroger rose on Friday after the company raised its full-year sales forecast.
Interim CEO Ron Sargent said shoppers are seeking larger pack sizes, using coupons more and buying fewer discretionary items like snacks and adult beverages.
The supermarket operator’s e-commerce sales rose by 15% in the quarter.
A Kroger grocery store in Covington, Kentucky.
Jeffrey Dean | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Shares of Kroger rose more than 9% on Friday as the supermarket operator raised its full-year sales outlook and said it’s drawing shoppers seeking lower-priced store brands and cheaper alternatives to dining out.
The Cincinnati-based grocer said it now expects identical sales, excluding fuel, to increase by 2.25% and 3.25% year over year, higher than its previous expectations for an increase of between 2% and 3%. Identical sales is an industry-specific metric that takes out one-time factors, such as store openings, closures and renovations. Kroger include stores and delivery sales in regions that have been in operation for five full quarters in identical sales.
So far this year, shares of Kroger are up nearly 16%, outpacing the approximately 1% gains of the S&P 500 during the same period.
Here’s how the company did for the fiscal first quarter compared with Wall Street’s estimates, according to a survey of analysts by LSEG:
Earnings per share: $1.49 per share, adjusted vs. $1.46 expected
Revenue: $45.12 billion vs. $45.19 billion
In the three-month period that ended May 24, Kroger’s net income was $866 million, or $1.29 per share.
Identical sales, excluding fuel, rose 3.2% compared to the year-ago period, with growth coming from pharmacy, e-commerce and fresh groceries. The company’s e-commerce sales grew by 15% year over year.
Kroger, which owns supermarket banners across the country, has gone through significant changes over the past year. A judge blocked its $25 million acquisition of competitor Albertsons in December. Longtime CEO Rodney McMullen resigned in March after a company investigation into his personal conduct. And the company’s legal battle with Albertsons over the demise of the merger deal is ongoing.
The company also recently hired a new CFO, David Kennerley, formerly the chief financial officer for PepsiCo Europe, after its former CFO Gary Millerchip left for Costco.
On top of company-specific challenges, Kroger faces stiffer competition from Walmart and Costco — particularly as shoppers spend cautiously and watch prices closely because of tariff uncertainty.
On an earnings call with analysts on Friday, interim CEO Ron Sargent said Kroger is trying to cater to value-minded shoppers by simplifying its promotions, lowering prices on more than 2,000 products so far this year and emphasizing its private brands that tend to cost less.
“Many customers want more value, and as a result, they’re buying more promotional products and more of our brand’s products,” he said. “They’re also eating more meals at home.”
He said the company has seen a jump in shoppers buying larger pack sizes, using coupons more and buying fewer discretionary items such as snacks and adult beverages.
Kroger’s private labels, which tend to be cheaper than name-brand national brands, have been a growth driver as well. For the seventh consecutive quarter, Sargent said Kroger’s own brands grew faster than national brands. Its top two brands were Kroger’s more premium-focused brands: Simple Truth, its line of organic items, and Private Selection, which includes gourmet and artisan-inspired items like brioche dinner rolls and lobster mac and cheese.
Sargent said Kroger will try to build on that momentum — and health trends it’s seeing — by launching 80 new protein products to its Simple Truth line, including protein bars and shakes.
As a grocer that sells many food items from the U.S., Sargent said Kroger isn’t as impacted by higher tariffs on imports from across the globe as other companies. Yet in places where it does import goods, such as fruit and vegetables or flowers, he said it is “proactively looking for ways to avoid raising prices for our customers, and we consider price changes as a last resort.”
“Tariffs have not had a material impact on our business so far. And given what we know today, we do not expect them to going forward,” he said.
Kroger is also taking a hard look at its costs so it can modernize its business and get its e-commerce business closer to profitability, Kennerley said on the earnings call. The e-commerce business, a combination of curbside pickup and deliveries to customers’ doors, is not yet profitable.
The company said Friday that it will close about 60 stores over the next 18 months, which led to a $100 million impairment charge in the first quarter.
Sargent said the company had paused its annual store review during the merger process and not all of its stores are “delivering the sustainable results we need,” so now it’s catching up with closing unprofitable stores. Still, he said, even as it’s shuttering stores, Kroger plans to open new locations in higher-growth parts of the country and will accelerate those openings in 2026.
Kroger continues to search for its next CEO. Sargent said the company’s board is working with a search firm, but does not yet have an update. More
JPMorgan Chase on Friday is set to unveil new tools that allow investors to research and purchase bonds and brokered CDs through its mobile app, CNBC is first to report.
Users can set up customized screens and compare bond yields on the same banking app or web portal that they use to check balances, according to JPMorgan executives.
The moves are part of a concerted effort to beef up the bank’s credentials among investors who trade a few times a month.
Jamie Dimon, chief executive officer of JPMorgan Chase & Co., during a Bloomberg Television interview on the sidelines of the JPMorgan China Summit in Shanghai, China, on Thursday, May 22, 2025.
Qilai Shen | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Once a laggard in the online investing game, JPMorgan Chase now believes it is a leader.
The bank on Friday is set to unveil new tools that allow investors to research and purchase bonds and brokered certificates of deposit through its mobile app, CNBC is first to report.
Users can set up customized screens and compare bond yields on the same banking app or web portal that they use to check their account balances, according to JPMorgan executives. The moves are part of a concerted effort to beef up the bank’s credentials among investors who trade a few times a month.
“Our goal was to create an experience that makes it extremely simple for clients that want to buy fixed income,” said Paul Vienick, head of online investing at JPMorgan’s wealth management arm. “We’ve taken that exact thought process for the simplicity of [buying] stocks and ETFs and moved that into the fixed-income space.”
JPMorgan, the biggest U.S. bank by assets and a leader across most major categories of finance, is relatively puny compared with other online brokerages. Despite seeing steady gains in recent years as it added functions including the ability to buy fractional stock shares, the bank has only recently crossed $100 billion in assets under management, CNBC learned.
That pales in comparison to online investing giants including Charles Schwab, Fidelity or E-Trade, which have had decades to accumulate investors and acquire competing platforms.
‘Driving that thing’
The bank first attempted to snare more of the trillions of dollars that self-directed investors hold by launching a free trading service in 2018. JPMorgan called it “You Invest” and marketed the new name in a push that included prominent placement at the U.S. Open in tennis.
But by 2021, JPMorgan saw the brand wasn’t connecting the way it had hoped and pivoted to simply calling it the Self-Directed Investing platform.
That year, with the business managing about $55 billion in assets, CEO Jamie Dimon called out the firm’s product in his usual blunt way.
“We don’t even think it’s a very good product yet,” Dimon told analysts at a financial conference. “So we’re driving that thing.”
Part of JPMorgan’s pivot was to hire Vienick, a veteran of TD Ameritrade, Morgan Stanley and Bank of America, in October 2021 to overhaul the bank’s efforts.
“There was a recognition that in wealth management, we have some catching up to do overall,” Vienick said in a recent interview at the bank’s midtown New York headquarters.
Arrows pointing outwards
Source: J.P. Morgan
That also includes managing more money for wealthy Americans through financial advisors at physical locations, a push that was helped by JPMorgan’s 2023 acquisition of First Republic. JPMorgan banks half of the country’s 19 million affluent households but has just a 10% share of their investing dollars.
The industry now recognizes that providing good online tools is table stakes, even if the emphasis had previously been on human financial advisors who earn more revenue by providing more services.
Around half of those who use a financial advisor also invest on their own with online tools, Vienick said.
Next stop: $1 trillion?
Now, the bank is looking to target more engaged investors, those who research and buy stocks a few times per month and who are more inclined to purchase bonds directly rather than owning them through mutual funds.
It currently offers customers up to $700 for moving funds to its self-directed platform.
Up next, the bank is working on providing users the ability to execute after-hours stock trades, Vienick said.
It’s all part of the bank’s efforts to convince customers who bank with JPMorgan already or have its credit cards to consolidate more of their wallet with the firm. Doing so will allow an investor to have a single view of their finances and move money instantaneously between accounts, Vienick said.
The bank’s advantages — its vast branch network, deep balance sheet and reputation under Dimon — have Vienick confident that JPMorgan will eventually join the other large players among online brokerages.
“I have every belief the self-directed business outside of core wealth management can be a trillion-dollar business,” Vienick said. “It’s going to take hard work. It’s going to mean we’re delivering what clients are asking for.”
Read more: JPMorgan Chase is heading upmarket to woo America’s millionaires
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