Monday Interview: Khayyam Jumani – JP Morgan’s man in Manchester plots future growth

Two years in, and Khayyam Jumani couldn’t be happier with how his move to Manchester has gone.

The executive director and team lead for the North at JP Morgan Private Bank took a gamble on moving North and it seems to have paid off, but it also involved something of a gear change. Not just giving up going to see Fulham FC at Craven Cottage, but broader issues around his lifestyle and work. 

In the City of London, where he previously operated, he helped investment bankers to invest their bonuses and big salaries wisely, though he doesn’t put it quite like that.

Since the Wall Street giant opened their offices in Manchester in 2023, by contrast, he’s got deep into Manchester’s entrepreneurial tech scene, and got more closely involved in family businesses across the North, and helped them with their philanthropic efforts.

While on the surface there isn’t that much different between someone doing well financially in the City, or in tech, he’s seen some interesting tech exits take place in Manchester recently and he’s seen entrepreneurs step out of their exits ill-prepared, being exposed to the risk of having a significant influx of wealth on the sale of their business and not knowing how to manage this.

Lifestyle wise he’s moved closer to the heart of the “Real Housewives of Cheshire” neighbourhood, than his initial berth in a city centre apartment.

“Living along the skyline of Manchester was exciting. And we’re now living the suburban life of Manchester,” he told TheBusinessDesk.com in an interview. 

Launching JP Morgan in Manchester in 2023

But he says, he’s following his clients and contacts on a similar journey.

“You actually see a lot of entrepreneurs, moving out to the suburban side of Manchester, which is also an amazing place to live.

“It’s been a really good professional journey for me, and also a really good personal journey for me over the last two years,” he reflects. 

His team at JP Morgan is currently at 10 and by the end of summer, he expects it to grow to at least 12 people in the team. “JP Morgan has become part of the fabric of the city, and entrepreneurs are starting to realize that they like the idea that a global organisation like JP Morgan, a large wealth manager and private bank like JP Morgan, is quite accessible to them,” he says.

“We’re doing better than our what we initially projected, and I think that’s the reason why we’re continuing to expand the team. In fact, in the 12 months, we expanded the team more than what I had initially imagined.”

We speak before the trade deal with the US is announced, but working for a Wall Street Bank, it’s an important relationship, especially as businesses are aware of what is on offer in Manchester, notably from local venture capital and private equity.  

“Americans are starting to hear about Manchester, and that’s an attractive thing,” he says. 

“One challenge is that most of the fundraising which takes place, a big chunk of the money which is raised is still raised in London. And you will always have some imbalance, as London is a big city, but that is now starting to change.

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“We’re planning to organize an event, hopefully later this year with our investment bank, where we may bring some VCs in Manchester to spend time with entrepreneurs and meet them. But that’s not just because we are pushing it, but it’s because a lot of these VCs are realising that they’re missing out on opportunities here, and they need to focus on it. So it’s starting to change. It’s all headed in the right direction. I genuinely think 5-10 years from now, it’s only going to get much, much greater here.”

The bread and butter of his work is helping clients manage their wealth and the recent market turmoil must have provided a test, I suggest.

“So longer term, if you maintain a calm stance, and you are well diversified, and you have built enough resilience in your portfolio right then longer term, these events do not matter when you look at the graph, they look like a small blip in what has happened overall on your portfolio.” 

He says his job now is to help those Northern entrepreneurs understand risk and build resilience in a portfolio.

But providing high quality wealth management services to entrepreneurs in this area and across the North is one thing. At what point does he think JP Morgan would take wider investment bank and corporate finance advisory services to that client base? Could this be the start of a wider investment by JP Morgan? 

He can’t say yes to such a strategic move, but he doesn’t say no either.

“While I cannot, obviously speak on behalf of other lines of businesses, I do not represent them, but at the same time, the interest is already growing,” he says. “So, we our innovation economy team, which is already spending a lot of time with businesses over here, so they are starting to spend more and more time up North, meeting businesses, especially businesses at their early stages, in helping them with their corporate banking services, we have seen our Industrial Bank come over and meet some of the largest businesses based there up North.” 

He’s clearly enjoying getting in front of entrepreneurs from around the North.

“Since I moved to Manchester, I have been really impressed with the deal activity in the North West. The entrepreneurial energy and buzz really empowers the growth prospects for the region,” he says.

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“Entrepreneurs are phenomenally great at their business. They spend a lot of time focused on their businesses. They do a great job, and hence they sometimes sell them or they make them much bigger. 

“But where they spend very less time on is really preparing for themselves and their families. They don’t focus on what’s next. They may have this situation where they come into a whole lot of wealth, and then they do not know what to do because they have not thought about a plan. There is a very ad hoc way of how they start investing those proceeds. Some even find it very difficult to cope with their wealth. They do not know how it should change their lifestyle, what they can do, what they can’t do, and that’s why I always advise clients that they should be having this discussion 12 months ahead of when they decide to exit the business.”

He says entrepreneurs he’s met really want to give back to the communities and to give back to other entrepreneurs locally. “They’re very passionate about it. I see it in areas like when you attend Manchester Angels, you see what they’re trying to do. You see different entrepreneurs in their own capacity. They’re very passionate. Of course, they want to build more wealth, but at the same time, they’re very passionate about making sure other entrepreneurs who are earlier in the journey, they can help them, they can show them that pathway.”

You get the sense he’s feeling quite at home in Manchester now, so I ask him where he’s watching his football. Diplomatically, he says he’s enjoyed going to both Old Trafford and the Etihad!