Mr Zipper, who joined the New York City headquarters of Bear Stearns Private Client Services unit on 13 February, was recruited from Smith Barney along with two other advisors. While at Smith Barney, Mr Zipper's team achieved a production of $9 million on assets valued at more than $1 billion.

JP Morgan Chase suffered a 52 per cent decline in net income from its asset management arm in 2008, compared to 2007, the Wall Street bank said in its fourth-quarter and full-year results for last year.

The bank’s asset management operations generated a net income of $255 million in 2008. Net revenue from asset management was $1.7 billion. JP Morgan’s private banking revenue was $630 million.

In wealth management, revenue fell from $344 million in 2007 to $330 million in 2008.  This 4 per cent decline was due to falling assets under management, the bank said.

For 2008, assets under management totalled $1.1 trillion.