By Nupur Anand NEW YORK (Reuters) -JPMorgan Chase announced plans on Monday to hire bankers and invest up to $10 billion in U.S. companies considered critical to national security and economic resilience as part of a broader $1.5 trillion pledge. The 10-year initiative aims to facilitate, finance and invest in industries central to the growth of the U.S. economy, including defense, energy and manufacturing. Shares of the largest U.S. bank climbed more than 2%. JPMorgan said it will deploy the $10 billion through direct equity and venture capital investments. CEO DIMON: INITIATIVE NOT TRUMP-DRIVEN, '100% COMMERCIAL' U.S. President Donald Trump is looking to modernize infrastructure and reduce dependence on foreign supply chains, particularly in sectors such as pharmaceuticals, semiconductors, clean energy and rare earth minerals. Monday's announcement also follows criticism from Trump of JPMorgan and its rivals for so-called "debanking" clients for their political or religious beliefs. JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon, speaking on a conference call during which he was asked several times about the government's involvement, said the investments were not driven by the Trump administration. "This is a JPMorgan initiative," he said, emphasizing that the investments would be "100% commercial" and not philanthropic. Trump revived a trade war with Beijing on Friday, ending an uneasy truce between the world's two largest economies with promises to sharply hike tariffs in a reprisal against China curbing its rare earths exports. "It has become painfully clear that the United States has allowed itself to become too reliant on unreliable sources of critical minerals, products and manufacturing – all of which are essential for our national security," Dimon said in an earlier statement. JPMorgan said its new "security and resiliency initiative" would facilitate financing and investment across four strategic sectors: supply chain and manufacturing; defense and aerospace; energy independence; and frontier technologies such as artificial intelligence and quantum computing. The firm said it had already planned to facilitate and finance about $1 trillion over the next decade in support of clients in these industries, according to previously undisclosed internal figures, but it would increase the size by 50%. US PURSUING DEALS INVOLVING DOZENS OF COMPANIES The U.S. government is pursuing deals across up to 30 industries, involving dozens of companies deemed critical to national or economic security, Reuters reported this month. JPMorgan, which helped put together the government's deal with U.S. rare earths mining company MP Materials, said in a recent company podcast that the bank was working with the Trump administration to explore more such opportunities. "We've had no less than 100 calls with clients to talk about the MP transaction as well as what this means for other industries," said Andrew Castaldo, JPMorgan co-head of mid-cap mergers and acquisitions. "And we've had numerous trips down to Washington to explore those opportunities with the government." Dimon also emphasized the need for policy reform to accelerate progress, citing regulatory delays and workforce challenges. "America needs more speed and investment," he said. FOUR KEY INVESTMENT AREAS The four key investment areas identified by the firm have been divided into 27 sub-sectors ranging from shipbuilding and nuclear energy to nanomaterials and secure communications. They will include middle-market companies as well as large corporate clients, it added. The bank plans to establish an external advisory council composed of public- and private-sector leaders, in addition to hiring more bankers and investment professionals. Dimon said he intends to hire a top-notch investment team quickly, without specifying how many bankers he planned to add. It will also expand research on supply chain vulnerabilities and emerging technologies using its recently launched Center for Geopolitics. (Reporting by Nupur Anand in New York; Editing by Jamie Freed, Lananh Nguyen, Mark Porter and Joe Bavier)
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