Key Takeaways
- • Todd Combs, former stockpicker at Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, has helped allocate around $5 billion of investments since joining JPMorgan Chase & Co., according to Bloomberg Law.
- • Combs oversees the bank's Strategic Investment Group, which focuses on industries critical to national security, and has funneled money into 10 firms.
- • The group has deployed about half of the roughly $10 billion it was originally given, a figure tied to JPMorgan's broader $1.5 trillion Security and Resiliency Initiative.
- • Combs said at Grant's Annual Fall Conference that the group can pursue early-stage private investments and late-stage public investments, stating "we can do anything and everything."
Summary
Todd Combs, the former stockpicker at Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc., has helped allocate around $5 billion of investments since joining JPMorgan Chase & Co., Bloomberg Law reported on October 13, 2026. Combs oversees the bank's Strategic Investment Group, which is focused on industries critical to national security. He said he helped direct money into 10 firms, allowing the group to put about half of the amount it was originally given to work.
JPMorgan established the Strategic Investment Group within its recently launched Security and Resiliency Initiative, which is part of the firm's broader $1.5 trillion push into areas that bolster US economic security. The group was initially allocated $10 billion for direct equity investments, and Combs leads the effort to source deals in areas such as technology, defense, and rare earths, according to earlier coverage of his appointment. JPMorgan has said Combs will also advise Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon.
Speaking Tuesday at Grant's Annual Fall Conference, Combs described the mandate's flexibility: "We can do early private, we can do late stage public, we can do anything and everything." The comments indicate the group is not restricted to a single stage of the capital structure or to public or private markets.
Combs's hire is among the most senior external appointments JPMorgan has made in its national security push, and the deployment figures give allocators an early read on the pace of capital commitment under the initiative.
JPMorgan established the Strategic Investment Group within its recently launched Security and Resiliency Initiative, which is part of the firm's broader $1.5 trillion push into areas that bolster US economic security. The group was initially allocated $10 billion for direct equity investments, and Combs leads the effort to source deals in areas such as technology, defense, and rare earths, according to earlier coverage of his appointment. JPMorgan has said Combs will also advise Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon.
Speaking Tuesday at Grant's Annual Fall Conference, Combs described the mandate's flexibility: "We can do early private, we can do late stage public, we can do anything and everything." The comments indicate the group is not restricted to a single stage of the capital structure or to public or private markets.
Combs's hire is among the most senior external appointments JPMorgan has made in its national security push, and the deployment figures give allocators an early read on the pace of capital commitment under the initiative.
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