Corporate Partnerships: JPMorganChase
With more than 650 UF alumni employed by JPMorganChase, Business Gators are well represented at the firm’s offices around the world.
Those connections begin on the UF Warrington College of Business campus, where JPMorganChase makes it a priority to be visible throughout the year. They consistently attend recruiting events like Warrington Career Week and play an important role in the Finance Professional Development Program by speaking to students and hosting program groups on corporate site visits.
Read more about impactful Warrington alumni who are making a difference at JPMorganChase.
Over his 37-year career, Alex Abreu has developed a habit that enables him to stay abreast of events that impact his clients. At the start of each day, he spends an hour reading. Whether it’s news on the economy, global markets, or politics, Abreu strengthens his knowledge about what’s happening in the world so that he can use that knowledge to serve his clients.
“I am always in search of information that is relevant and helpful to my clients,” Abreu said. “My business is an information business, so being well versed as to what is going on in the world and how that may impact my clients is a key part of my job.”
Abreu’s journey to Managing Director at JPMorganChase started at North Carolina National Bank (NCNB). After graduating from UF in 1987, he joined NCNB and eventually worked in commercial banking, middle market investment banking and corporate banking.
After 17 years, Abreu joined Praxis Partners, an advisory and investment firm. The company had a private equity fund that invested in small-cap, growing companies. After seven years with Praxis, Abreu accepted a role at JPMorganChase on its corporate client banking team. Today he leads the firm’s Global Corporate Banking team in South Florida serving mid and large cap businesses.
Abreu credits his time at Warrington for providing him with a strong foundation that has enabled him to have a successful career. The classes were an important part of the knowledge he gained, but they also taught him about teamwork and how to collaborate with others. While at UF, he was active in students organizations, helping him build relationships and networking skills that still benefit him today.
“Warrington provided me with the fundamentals that I needed to understand credit and manage risk, while also building relationships,” Abreu said. “It helped me develop the critical thinking needed to serve my clients and come up with innovative solutions.”
Abreu’s impactful experience at Warrington created a desire to give back to the college. He has been involved in recruiting for more than 35 years. In addition to his 20 years on the MBA Advisory Board, Abreu currently serves on the Warrington Advisory Board. and is the senior sponsor for JPMorganChase’s Commercial Banking Campus Talent Team, focusing on recruiting at Florida colleges and universities.
Abreu’s involvement has enabled JPMorganChase to hire many standout UF students. More than 650 UF alumni are employed by JPMorganChase throughout the United States and in four countries around the world. This past summer, eight Warrington business students interned with JPMorganChase in their Commercial & Investment Bank, including three in the Miami office that will be returning next summer as full-time analysts.
“I’m proud of the diversity and quality of UF graduates we’ve hired,” Abreu said. “We have a great relationship with Warrington.”
Being heavily involved on campus has given Abreu a close look at the capabilities of Warrington students.
“The student coming out of UF today is technically more proficient, better informed and able to hit the ground running,” Abreu said. “They’re so smart and well prepared, enabling them to contribute to our team and serve our clients.”
As the number of Warrington graduates at JPMorganChase grows, Abreu can feel it around the company. He frequently works with other UF alumni from all parts of the company including commercial banking, private banking, investment banking, consumer banking and beyond. “It all goes back to what we say about the Gator Nation being everywhere. I have a network of people that I have UF in common with, so I always have a natural bridge in conversation.”
With his hiring experience at JPMorganChase, he also has a network of young professionals who stay in touch with him and often schedule meetings to talk about their futures. “We talk about careers, how they’re doing and their opportunities and challenges,” Abreu said. “I value that mentorship and giving back.”
Paul Drayton showed up on the UF campus without a set plan for his future. He started as a pre-pharmacy major because he liked math and science, but quickly realized he wasn’t passionate about the major.
Drayton was always drawn to business so he switched his major and found his home. Beyond the learning in the classroom and knowledge Drayton gained, his involvement in organizations around campus played an integral role in his development. He was the Student Body Treasurer, a UF Preview Staffer, an inaugural mentor in the Machen Florida Opportunity Scholars program, president of his fraternity and was also involved in Florida Blue Key and other student organizations. Drayton was also at UF for two basketball and two football national championships, which further engrained a culture of winning for him.
“There was a culture of winning that resonated with me and I carried it through my career to be the best teammate and manager I can,” Drayton said.
After graduating from Warrington, Drayton moved to New York City and started his career with JPMorganChase in its analyst rotation program. After rotations through the Investment Bank and Asset Management lines of business, he took a role in Commercial Banking as a Risk Management Associate reporting to the Chief Risk Officer. After two years, he moved into Corporate Client Banking and was an underwriter for companies generating $500 million to $2 billion annually in revenues.
During his time in that role, Drayton started to consider moving back to Florida to be closer to family. An opportunity in Middle Market Banking came open in 2015, and Drayton moved to Orlando to fill it. Since then, he was named Executive Director in 2021 and then Market Executive over north, central and west Florida in 2022.
Drayton has played an integral role in JPMorganChase’s increased efforts recruiting on the UF campus. He was collecting resumes soon after his own graduation, trying to get other Gators to join him with the firm. With a more defined recruiting process and a larger presence on campus now, Drayton is at the forefront of the efforts, and it has paid off for JPMorganChase. They’ve noticed UF interns have a higher rate of earning a full-time job offer than others, and they’re also staying on board longer and receiving higher marks in their employee evaluations.
“The ultimate evaluation is the value someone adds to the firm,” Drayton said. “We always enjoy evaluating talent on UF’s campus. If students are asking the right questions and maintaining contact with us, you typically find a good, qualified candidate, assuming they check all of the other typical boxes. We find a lot at UF that do.”
The Warrington connection extends throughout Drayton’s role. He works with other UF graduates on a daily basis, whether it’s an analyst, associate, vice president, executive director or managing director – all titles that UF graduates at JPMorganChase hold.
“When we’re emailing each other, a lot will end with a ‘Go Gators’ on it,” Drayton said. “Sometimes we even poke fun at others when you’ve got multiple Gators involved and we’ll say, ‘Thankfully you’ve got some Gators here to make important decisions.’ It’s all fun and there’s a lot of camaraderie.”
Those moments extend even more when they involve alumni who Drayton has hired.
“It always makes you smile when things come full circle and you’re meeting with someone you hired six years ago when they didn’t know anything about our business and now they’re a vice president,” Drayton said. “It’s a special feeling.”
When it was time for Anna Rauh to find an internship and full-time job, she felt prepared because of the leadership elements built into her student experience at Warrington.
As a CAP mentor, president of Business College Council and member of Delta Sigma Pi. Rauh was active throughout her undergraduate experience. This student organization involvement combined with classroom development made her feel ready to lead on day one of her career.
“One thing unique about UF is the education and activities are all tailored to make you be a leader and know how to exercise your leadership skills,” Rauh said. “The classes I took and organizations were all emphasizing leadership skills, and they’ve all been impactful in my day-to-day job establish myself at JPMorganChase.”
Rauh became familiar with the firm through the firm’s many recruiting trips to the UF campus. She made sure the recruiters knew her name and were familiar with her background, and she eventually earned an internship opportunity. After graduation, Rauh started the firm’s two-year analyst program with the J.P. Morgan Private Bank, which serves ultra-high net worth clients.
Rauh recently finished the program and currently works as an Associate Banker in the J.P. Morgan Private Bank’s Miami office. In her role, Rauh provides banking, trust and estate planning, investment and lending advice to clients. She also works to deepen relationships and helps them through large transactions.
“I love that it’s collaborative,” Rauh said. “I’m an Associate banker and serve as the relationship manager, but I work with specialists at the firm to provide holistic services for clients through our team approach.”
Rauh also plays an active role in recruiting UF students on behalf of JPMorgan Chase. She travels twice a year with a team to UF recruiting events, building relationships and talking with students who have interest in the firm.
Even though she graduated in 2021, Rauh is impressed by the quality of student that comes out of Warrington today. The addition of a wealth management minor has helped Warrington students onboard faster with the firm.
“They’re so much more aware of what the world of wealth management is about,” Rauh said.
As JPMorganChase continues to hire Gators, UF alumni are working together on a daily basis throughout the firm. That happens for Rauh on her team in Miami and also while working with other divisions around the country.
“Being able to connect quickly with a coworker because you went to UF, that’s brought me closer to a lot of people,” Rauh said. “That allows us to collaborate and work together faster. We’re all motivated to build a pipeline of Gators here.”
Mentorship played an important role in Kayla Freyre getting her job at JPMorganChase. She got involved with Latin American Women in Business early in her time at Warrington and quickly leaned on mentors to help her through the internship and job search. Freyre’s mentor suggested she look into JPMorganChase because of their Latinx and Winning Women early insight program.
Freyre started attending JPMorganChase sessions during Warrington recruiting events and ended up applying for an internship. She interned after her junior year in the Corporate Client Banking division in JPMorganChase’s Atlanta office. During that internship, the company announced it was opening a new hub for Middle Market Banking in Miami.
After growing up in Miami and wanting to move closer to home after graduation, Freyre knew it was a perfect fit.
“I got to know a lot of team members and asked about a role in Miami,” Freyre said. “I received a full-time offer and have been here ever since.”
After graduating in May 2023, Freyre spent time training in Chicago before moving to the Miami office and starting her role in August 2023.
Freyre credits “a little bit of everything” from her time at Warrington as playing a big role in her career. Her mentors, classes and student organizations all played unique roles in setting her up for success after graduation. In addition to Latin American Women in Business, she was also involved in Florida Leadership Academy, Leadership Development Program and Business Undergraduate Mentorship Program.
“Seeing other Warrington students around me and how driven they were gave me the initiative to push myself,” Freyre said. “The student organizations were great experiences to meet other students and gain mentors, which was huge for me to get here. Without them, I would’ve been lost.”
While Freyre benefitted from mentoring as an undergraduate student, she served as a mentor to younger students when she was a junior and senior. That mentorship has continued in her career at JPMorganChase, as she has remained involved in the company’s recruiting efforts on the UF campus.
She has returned to the UF campus twice in the last year for recruiting events and has plans to return with the company in the future.
“It’s great to get to know students and hear about their career goals and what they’ve done at UF,” Freyre said. “It’s a full-circle moment for me when I go back.”
The UF community connection extends to JPMorganChase. Freyre noted that there are six UF graduates in the Miami office, and they’re often working together on projects.
“I can confidently say UF graduates look out for each other here,” Freyre said. “I felt this support from the beginning of my internship with UF grad Alex Abreu as a mentor, and I continue to feel it one year into the role. We look out for each other, and knowing I have them to rely on has made my transition into a full-time analyst much smoother.”
