Jamie Dimon says tax cuts added $ 3.7 billion to JPMorgan's profit

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In his annual letter to shareholders, Dimon pointed out that the Trump administration tax reform was a key factor in the bank's record $ 32.5 billion record. Profits from US banks, also supported by a healthy economy, reached unprecedented highs in 2018.

"In the long run, we anticipate that some or possibly most of this increase will be eliminated as companies compete for customers on products, capabilities and prices," Dimon said. . "However, we have seized this opportunity in the short term to massively increase our investments."

The annual letter is a must-read on Wall Street, where Dimon, who also heads the powerful corporate roundtable, is the oldest executive director. He is known to weigh not only on the performance of the bank, but also on the broader economic environment and public policies.

This year, Dimon presented a defense of capitalism, which he called "the most successful economic system the world has ever known".

"Show me a country without big, successful companies, and I will show you a country that has failed – with too few jobs and few opportunities," he wrote. "Private enterprise is the real engine of growth in all countries."

Dimon said that this did not mean that he was "a defender of unregulated, unvarnished, unrestricted capitalism". On the contrary, he added, "we should not forget that true freedom and free enterprise (capitalism) are, at some point, inexorably linked".

The CEO, who often speaks on policy issues, said JPMorgan could strengthen its advocacy activities in the coming year.

The bank is currently beefing up its public policy teams to push its "ideas to the next level," Dimon said, adding that businesses and CEOs have a role to play in solving the country's problems.

"We believe that CEOs can and must be involved, especially when they or their companies can make a unique contribution to the development of pro-American policies," he said. The bank recently announced that it would invest $ 350 million over the next five years to train American workers for the jobs of tomorrow.

Dimon said the bank was expecting continued growth in the US economy in 2019, even though the pace of growth was slowing.

But that does not mean that the markets will not deflate as it did at the end of 2018. He said banks should be prepared to deal with these fluctuations.

"Market reactions do not always accurately reflect the real economy and, therefore, decision makers and even companies should not overreact to them," said Dimon. "But they reflect the views of market participants on the changing probabilities and potential for economic results."

He added: "Thus, policy makers (and banks), especially the Fed, must necessarily (because they must think about the future) take into account an evaluation of these problems."

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