JPMorgan Chase Investment Banker, Allison Metzger

Girl Money Talks, Annette Walker

You work in investment banking at J.P. Morgan Chase. Could you describe your job in simple terms, like what you do?

JPMorganChase, Allison Metzger

I’m not in a typical investment banking role. When you think of investment banking, I think of traders constantly trading the bank’s money. We receive deposits, we trade, and we’re trying to make money. I’m in the investment bank. Yes, we take the bank’s deposits. So, deposits from you and me are used to invest in wind farms, solar farms, and affordable housing. In return, we enter into a partnership that owns these projects, whether they are wind farms, solar farms, or affordable housing projects. And because the government subsidizes these types of projects, the bank gets the tax credits. This is referred to as a tax equity investment. That’s why we’re part of the investment bank: we take bank deposits and invest them elsewhere to generate profits for our shareholders. So it’s not so much trading. These are long-lived assets, like 10 to 15 years or like seven to 15 years.

The primary goal of the business I support is to lower the effective tax rate of the bank. Currently, the federal tax rate is 21%. We receive all of these credits, and we could reduce the banks’ effective tax rate or contribute to lowering it to, say, 17 or 18%, which, if you think about it, amounts to making trillions of dollars. It’s a significant save. Therefore, I support the group that actually invests in these wind farms. I’m more of an accounting, planning, and analysis function. So I work very closely with the business. The federal government just passed the big, beautiful bill.

 And so a lot of the implications of that are these tax credits, especially for alternative energy, being scaled back. And so right now we’re working feverishly to come up with a new plan. What are our projections going to be? Additionally, balancing this with the fact that the bank may not have a significant tax capacity to utilize these credits. Therefore, we don’t want to purchase a large number of credits or invest in credits that can’t be used in the short term. Many of the day-to-day dealings I engage in involve forecasting and collaborating with the business to brainstorm ideas. Well, we could do this, we could do that. Let’s put that on paper. Let’s consolidate all these different scenarios and start reporting them up through the chain. And then there are high-level decision-makers, where you give them, ‘Here’s a one-pager, here’s our proposal, or here’s one, two, and three proposals.’ Let’s discuss them. Let’s outline the steps to follow if A, B, or C occurs. Because, often, especially right now, there are a lot of fluctuations and unknowns.

JPMorganChase, Allison Metzger

So that has been the significant part of my job most currently. I also support a business that I’m not as passionate about. It’s just called asset-backed finance. And really, what that is, is we’ll loan, for example, let’s say we just closed a billion-dollar loan with SoFi. And so SoFi has a bunch of student loans. And so what happens there is we loan them a billion dollars. In return, they placed a number of these student loans into a special-purpose entity. And I’m sorry, I’m getting into the nitty-gritty. But let’s say you have a student loan; as you pay off that student loan, SoFi is helping to pay down that billion dollars. So it’s a securitized loan. That’s all it means: it’s securitized by the bank’s or SoFi’s receivables. So those are the two businesses that I support. And definitely more in what I call a back office role, so more of a finance role. We do all the external reporting. We ensure that all SEC reporting is accurate and complete. All the regulatory reporting is correct. Banks have huge regulations. And they’re monitored heavily by the OCC. We’re the biggest bank in the world. We are definitely heavily monitored.  

Girl Money Talks, Annette Walker 

Would your job have a lot of structure, or is there more flexibility on a day-to-day basis? Because I’m the type of person who really enjoys doing things, I have a set routine in terms of what I do.

JPMorganChase, Allison Metzger

It’s structured. We deal with deadlines. We deal with deliverables. It’s very fast-paced. However, we do have month-end and quarter-end reporting. We have annual reporting. We’re expected to work with our auditors, PWC. When they request something, we have a fast turnaround time. However, yes, every month, especially for those who report directly to me; again, I’m more of a reviewer in an oversight role. I’m managing these processes. But it’s very structured. It’s very much like this is due this day. This is due today. Daily, we have to submit something by 4 o’clock. So it’s very structured. That’s what I envision a back-office function being: very structured. You’re like the last rung of the process, and you’re pulling everything together, and you’re reporting it. And you’re making sure that everything lines up, everything’s in the right buckets.

Girl Money Talks, Annette Walker 

Is there anything that you studied in college that you would say contributed to your success, or, on the other hand, was there anything that you regret not learning as it relates to your career? 

JPMorganChase, Allison Metzger 

Sure. So I would definitely study accounting. Anyone who is in business should have at least a high-level understanding of basic debits and credits, because that, at the end of the day, like you don’t get credit for things unless it’s on, you know, the ledger. It’s debits and credits, and having that basic understanding. It’s one of those things. It’s like math or something. It joins everything together. If you’re talking one thing and someone’s talking another thing, if you just put it in terms of debits and credits, everyone’s on the same page. Everyone understands the repercussions of what is happening. I recommend accounting for anyone who’s in business. When people don’t understand accounting or are on a call and can’t speak the language of debits and credits, it isn’t easy to get them on the same page. It isn’t easy to move forward. And this whole AI, LLM is exciting. It’s not very structured, which, again, I’m like you; I like structure.

JPMorganChase, Allison Metzger 

I use AI more as a glorified Google, but I know there are tons of applications for it. Finding a school that can really do that’s the wave of the future. That’s what senior management always discusses during calls: finding ways to utilize AI and LLM. So I find that fascinating. If I were in school now, that’s something that I would look for in a school. And I haven’t seen them address it much when we attend business presentations, which is surprising to me. And again, hand in hand with a management information system course or a coding course, it just helps you understand the logic of how processes work.

First, I do this; then, I do this, and the result is this. Those are just excellent skills for a young person. Being able to walk through a process end-to-end and see where their job fits in. When I work with a younger person who can ask that question, I’m always very impressed. Okay, how does this fit in? As you mentioned, this is what I do: A, B, and C. How does this fit into the overall picture? Where does it come from? And where is it going? And why is it important? As you should always do, when someone gives you an assignment or task, you should have that background knowledge, because I think it will trigger questions, and you’ll better understand how your contribution affects other people. Sorry, I’m lecturing you.

Girl Money Talks, Annette Walker

Yes, my dad always mentions that he uses AI to help him run his business. So, turning more to the questions about females in the industry, I’ve heard there are stereotypes about like finance bros and how there’s a lot of male dominance in this field. In a largely male-dominated industry, was there anyone whom you turned to for advice or guidance when you were starting your career or just starting to move up the corporate ladder?

JPMorganChase, Allison Metzger

I’ve been lucky to have some great women mentors. And I work in a very female-dominant kind of area. In my experience, accounting is a field that is predominantly female-dominated. There are just some people who act a certain way, and they’re more comfortable around men than they are around women. And that has changed significantly because there are now many more women in the workforce. I believe that the concept of work-life balance has undergone a significant shift, with men also taking advantage of this opportunity. And so we are coming more to a level playing field. And I’ve never, yeah, just like I said, I’ve definitely come across individual personalities, but I don’t feel like if I talk to their manager or some of their direct reports, they’re necessarily the same. It’s just like a person. And you’re going to find that anywhere. In your personal life and in your business life, there are just some people that you like and some that you don’t. You know, there are some people that, you know, call me and I look or, you know, zoom or jam me, and you take a deep breath, you know, have to be like, okay, this person is really going to irritate me, and I have to like move through it.

And that’s just anything. I don’t think it’s necessarily a male-dominated or female-dominated thing. But that has been my experience. And maybe it’s because I’ve always worked for giant corporations, which have to hold a higher standard for accommodating everyone and embracing diversity, whether it’s across different races or locations, or various holidays that people celebrate. That’s just my experience, as I’ve been part of large organizations. And so they have to have a higher bar.

Girl Money Talks, Annette Walker

Given that, as the business world continues to evolve, how do you see, or have you seen, new opportunities arising for women in your field?

JPMorganChase, Allison Metzger 

There are more opportunities available now than when I first started. You see a lot more people, a lot more women at the top, a lot more women in leadership roles, a lot more women that you can relate to. You might not, but I’m content with my job. I’m almost 50 years old. I’m good at my job. I really like the people that I work with. I’m content. But for a younger person, there are definitely people that you see every day that are speaking at town halls that you can look up to and say, Oh, this is really cool. Like, I can relate to this person. Oh, my gosh, she has a husband and kids, and she travels and does all this. That’s something you want. There’s definitely representation, you know. There’s definitely, like, do I want that? Like, I’ve never wanted that. But I admire those people, and there are people out there, like, it’s good to see that we are represented in those roles. However, it’s definitely an individual decision.

Girl Money Talks, Annette Walker

My final question is, what advice do you have for young women starting in business?

JPMorganChase, Allison Metzger

I would say, and I don’t think you’ll have a problem with this, but have a voice. In a meeting, it’s not just about talking to hear yourself, but also about participating. Participate, be a good communicator, ask thoughtful questions, and consider their answers. And I go back to think about how your role contributes to the larger picture. That’s always a great start. It’s really having the confidence that you belong there. I don’t know when I started, but I had a lot of confidence. And it’s something that I had to work on. I still need to work on it when I’m in meetings with higher-level individuals.

You know, you have to… And this is a personal thing: you have to tell yourself, ‘Okay, I can do this.’ And I’ve heard other people, the women that I’ve been talking about, too, who are in town halls, saying they have that same kind of thought in the back of their mind, too. Like, am I just… Am I faking this? Like, do I really know what I’m talking about? And you have to have confidence that you do. And you have to have, like, no one’s perfect. You’re going to make mistakes. And you won’t know the answer. Don’t say that you know the answer if you don’t. Just say, you know what, I don’t know. I’m going to find out. Or, you know what, I don’t know.

Do you know a person I can ask? Primarily, when you work in a large organization, it’s not always what you know, but sometimes it’s who you know. So, really developing those relationships and understanding, ‘Oh, this person does this.’ And so, if I have a problem, I’ll go to this person. They might not be the exact person who can answer my question, but they may know the next person I need to speak with. So, it’s really just about forming those relationships, understanding how you fit in, and how others fit in—and being open to new experiences and asking questions.

Girl Money Talks, Annette Walker 

Okay, that sounds good. I really appreciate all the insight.

JPMorganChase, Allison Metzger 

No problem. Happy to help.