JPMorgan Names Ex-Merrill Executive Falcon as Head of Retirement Services

JPMorgan Chase & Co., the second- largest U.S. bank by assets, hired former Merrill Lynch & Co. wealth-management executive Michael Falcon to head its retirement-services division in the U.S. and Canada.

Falcon will report to George Gatch, chief executive officer of JPMorgan Investment Management Americas, the New York-based bank said today in a statement. He is currently president of Samuel Bennett Inc., a financial and media consulting service founded by Jean Chatzky, the financial editor for NBC’s Today show.

Falcon, who was at Merrill Lynch from 2000 to 2008, is returning to the bank that gave him one of his first jobs after graduating from Indiana University Bloomington in 1984, according to his biography on LinkedIn. He has been in the finance industry since 1985 when he joined Chase Manhattan Bank, which became part of JPMorgan through several acquisitions.

“Bringing on someone with Michael’s experience will ensure that we expand our retirement offering to be even more comprehensive, addressing new market realities and the current needs of Americans who are saving for retirement,” Gatch said in the statement.