What's going on?

JPMorgan Chase posted better-than-expected earnings on Wednesday, after America�s biggest investment bank dug up some of the treasure it hid away last year.

What does this mean?

JPMorgan makes a significant portion of its money advising on mergers and acquisitions, and there have been plenty of deals going around as companies capitalize on record-low interest rates and robust cash piles. So it stands to reason that revenue from the firm�s investment banking segment jumped 45% versus the same time last year. And it gets better: JPMorgan had previously set aside cash reserves in case borrowers didn�t pay off their loans during the pandemic, but it was confident enough to release another batch of that money last quarter. Avast, me hearties: that added a tidy $2 billion to its bottom line.

Why should I care?

The bigger picture: Enjoy it while it lasts.
Trouble is, analysts aren�t sure JPMorgan has much more of that pandemic cash left tucked away, at which point it�ll have to start relying on more traditional revenue streams. Potentially worrying, then, that the firm�s bread-and-butter loans business grew by just 6% last quarter, probably as US government support for individuals and businesses petered out. Still, JPMorgan has been striking an optimistic tone: the investment bank and its rivals say there are signs that customers are starting � albeit gradually � to feel comfortable enough to take on debt again.

Zooming out: Let us Mansplain.
JPMorgan isn�t the only financial success story: Man Group � the world�s biggest publicly listed hedge fund � announced on Wednesday that the amount of money it�s looking after hit a record high last quarter (tweet this). That could be because stock markets are so high and bond yields so low that alternative investments are a more promising way to generate returns � and why other hedge funds might�ve done well last quarter too.