Chase Alumni Association

A Moment in Bank History:

Jim Haynes, Still at It

55 Years Working for Chase

Has any member of Chase Alumni worked for or with Chase Bank longer than Jim Haynes?

He recently marked his 55th year of professional association with the Bank – first as a banker, and then, since his official retirement in 1999, as a trustee of up to five of JPMorgan Chase's pension plans.

(Chase alumnus Robert Binney also serves as a pension plan trustee for Chase, but he began at the Bank after Haynes.)

Haynes joined Chase Manhattan in 1968. "I had several different roles over the years. I started off in International Audit, then was sent to New York for 16 months to work in Overseas Operations Administration (OOA), under Kerry Hemming. On my return to London, I was charged with setting up an Internal Audit department for the UK, which we had never had before. Then I ran an operations department for a few years, and then signed up for the Chase Credit Course," Haynes recalls. "On qualifying (with a "Commendable" rating), I was assigned to a newly formed International Trade Group (under [the late CAA president] John A. Ward). A few years later I was transferred to Global Energy. This was a head office business department, but we had a London presence. The business was managed by Bob Weaver, with Jim Adamson originally running London. I was in this group from 1985 until I retired in 1999."

Haynes travelled extensively during for Chase, with trips to Germany, Italy, Greece, Spain, Denmark, Sweden, Netherlands, Belgium, Scotland, Ireland and Jersey in the Channel Islands. He went to Liberia before its civil war, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam (before the North took over), Hong Kong, Japan and Australia. He loves travel and celebrates significant anniversaries with his wife with major trips. (Only the pandemic changed that every-five-year tradition. He was supposed to make up recently for the trip they missed by crossing the Atlantic on the Queen Mary 2, but Cunard canceled the voyage just hours before the ship was to sail, due to technical issues.)

When Haynes retired, he was asked to join the boards of a handful of UK Pension Plans related to Chase. He left the boards of two of the plans in 2020, and the Bear Stearns plan, which he had once chaired, was merged into the main JPMorgan plan. He is still a trustee/director and board chair of the heritage Chemical Bank and Manufacturers Hanover Trust pension plans. The UK plans are completely separate from the U.S. and other national plans, with no coordination among them.

Haynes said there have been many challenges over the year, mainly involving government legislation changing the law surrounding pensions, plus general laws such as taxation and GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation). He added that it isn't always easy getting plan members to understand the concept of pensions, including the need to contribute as much as possible to their plans. He's proud that the boards he has served on have ensured all plans remain in surplus and have sufficient resources to pay full pensions to current and future retirees.

He also works for The Pensions Ombudsman, an independent organization set up by law to deal with pension complaints. "Sometimes I do feel amazed to be still working," he said. "I will be 80 at the end of next year. I have no plans to retire from my current position; I will continue as long as the plan continues to exist or the Bank decides that my time has come."

The work is part-time and he deals with most matters by email and phone, attending three board meetings a year. He also attends several pensions industry conferences in order to help keep up-to-date with trends and legislation.

Because the work is part-time, he has time to pursue other interests, largely in sports. For many years  he was secretary of The Lord's Taverners, the UK's leading youth cricket and disability sports charity, and he served as a referee for Premier League football games. 

More recently, to be closer to his grandchildren, he moved to Saffron Walden, a town in Essex about 15 miles due south of Cambridge, where Thomas Cromwell had his headquarters during the English Civil War. The owner of the local semi-professional football club recognized him from his referee days and asked him if he would join its board of directors. Apparently the club entertains after matches, and they needed a director who would know how to speak with the referees who come to the receptions.