Who is Matt Zames?

Jamie Dimon became president of Primerica aged just 35. According to the Wall Street Journal, Matt Zames, global head of rates, FX and tax-exempt capital markets/municipals at JP Morgan, is among those in line to replace him at JP Morgan, aged just 38.

What makes Zames so special?

It's most likely to have something to do with his capacity for making money. According to Bloomberg, Zames led the bank's OTC fixed income derivatives trading desk which, in 2008, generated $5bn in profit for JP Morgan while all else was going to the wall. This was a key factor in keeping JP Morgan

profitable during the year.

It may also have something to do with Zames' key role in the Bear Stearns deal: he was apparently drafted in to pick over the Bear Stearns books on the night the deal was put together.

Zames' past includes stints at Long Term Capital Management (where he was apparently a mortgage backed securities trader) and Credit Suisse, where he was head of prop trading and then co-head of US rates trading.

Zames joined JP Morgan as head of US rates trading in November 2004, on what was probably (given the lateness of the year) a very large guarantee. At that time, the bank was struggling with weak performance in credit trading, with profits were down 40% in the third quarter. By the end of the first quarter of 2005, it was lauding a 50% q on q increase in fixed income trading revenues, driven by, 'strength...in credit and interest rate markets.'

In 2007, Zames was named co-head of global rates and currency trading at JP Morgan, excluding Asia, but including Japan. He was promoted to his current role following the Bear Stearns acquisition, and was given structured products on an interim basis in August 2008.

Earlier this year, Zames was reportedly elevated to JP Morgan's executive committee.

One senior JP Morgan insider in London says Zames is based in New York and has a comparatively low profile in London. He also points out that Zames isn't that young: "The average age here is 28."