First Republic Bank

First Republic Bank is an American bank and wealth management company offering personal banking, business banking, trust and wealth management services, catering to low-risk, high net-worth clientele. The bank specializes in delivering personalized relationship-based service through preferred banking or trust offices in the United States, including San Francisco, Palo Alto, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, Newport Beach, San Diego, Portland, Palm Beach, Boston, Greenwich, New York City, Jackson, Wyoming, and Manhattan Beach. [1]

This article is about the bank based in San Francisco. For the defunct bank based in Dallas, see First Republic Bank Corporation.
First Republic Bank
Public
Traded as
  • NYSE: FRC
  • S&P 500 component
  • Russell 1000 component
IndustryBanking
Financial services
Investment services
Founded1985
HeadquartersSan Francisco, CA, USA
Area served
California, Oregon, New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Florida, Wyoming
Key people
James H. Herbert II
Chairman and CEO
Hafize Gaye Erkan
President
ProductsConsumer Banking
Business Banking
Wealth Management
Mortgages
Total assetsUS$111.0 billion (2019)[1]
Subsidiaries
  • First Republic Investment Management, Inc.
  • First Republic Securities Company, LLC
  • First Republic Trust Company
  • First Republic Trust Company of Delaware LLC
Websitefirstrepublic.com

First Republic offers wealth management services through First Republic Wealth Advisors and First Republic Investment Management. Brokerage services are provided through First Republic Securities Company LLC and Trust services are provided through First Republic Trust Company.

Corporate history

Changes in ownership

First Republic was founded in 1985,[2] starting as a small thrift company.[3] Since its founding, it has undergone a series of ownership changes since 2007, beginning with its announced purchase by Merrill Lynch on January 29, 2007 for $1.8 billion to augment their private client business. The company was to be operated as a separate business of Merrill Lynch.[2] The Merrill transaction was finalized on September 21, of 2007. Robert J. McCann, president of Merrill's Global Wealth Management group stated their purpose was to accelerate their strategy of "growing our high net worth, private banking business."[4] Over the same weekend that Lehman Brothers Holdings filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, on September 15, 2008, Merrill Lynch and its subsidiaries were acquired by Bank of America.[5]

In October 2009, just under 50% of First Republic was purchased by two private equity firms, Colony Capital and General Atlantic, and a group of other investors that included chairman James Herbert and former COO Katherine August DeWilde. The price was valued at about $1 billion. Both equity firms had prior relationships with First Republic Bank. Thomas J. Barrack, Jr., the head of Colony, had been a board member prior to the Merrill Lynch deal and General Atlantic had been an early investor in the firm putting up about $5 million in 1987.[6] The deal was consummated on July 1, 2010. The London-based news service reported that an additional $800 million was provided by the new investment consortium to meet new capital requirements established by U.S. regulators.[7]

Gradifi and recent events

In the years leading up to 2016, the bank's private wealth management unit acquired advisory teams such as Constellation Wealth Partners.[8] By April 2016,[9] First Republic had opened branches at the Facebook and Twitter Inc. headquarters in Silicon Valley.[10] It also had various high-profile customers.[11] Barron's in September 2016 decided to list First Republic Bank at 21 on its list of America's Top 40 Wealth Management Firms.[8] By December 2016, First Republic Bank had $68 billion in assets.[12]

In December 2016, the bank acquired Gradifi, a startup in Boston, for an unknown cash amount.[13][12] Then two years old, Gradifi works with companies to help their employees pay off student debt,[12] and First Republic had become a client in August 2016.[13] Becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of First Republic,[13] Gradifi continues to operate in Boston under its own name.[12][13] Gradifi retained its customer base including PricewaterhouseCoopers, Natixis Global Asset Management and Penguin Random House.[13]

Remaining a large American bank,[14] in March 2018, the bank invested in CommonBond, a student loan financier.[15] First Republic announced it would expand into Jackson, Wyoming in May 2018 with a new branch.[16] Also that month, First Republic signed a deal to double its space at Rockefeller Center in New York City.[17] In June 2018, Forbes ranked First Republic #220 on its Global 2000 list of "growth champions." Forbes also ranked it #268 on America's largest public companies. With 5,350 employees at the time, First Republic had a market cap of $15.8 billion[18] and wealth management assets totaling $140.2 billion.[1]

Subsidiaries
  • First Republic Investment Management, Inc.
  • First Republic Securities Company, LLC
  • First Republic Trust Company
  • First Republic Trust Company of Delaware LLC

Branch locations

There are currently 78 office locations of First Republic, all of which are in the United States.[19]

West

East

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References
  1. "First Republic Bank - Who we Are Release".
  2. Merrill Lynch to Acquire First Republic Bank for $1.8 Billion, Press Release, January 29, 2007 Archived March 9, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  3. First Republic: Is It Wrong to Build a Bank for Wealthy Clients Only? in The Wall Street Journal by Rachel Louise Ensign, Anna Maria Android and Robert S August 16, 2016
  4. Merrill Lynch and First Republic Bank Successfully Close Merger, Press Release, September 21, 2007 Archived March 9, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  5. Weekend Merger Struck With Bank of America, , September 15, 2008
  6. Bank of America Sells First Republic Bank, New York Times by Zachery , October 21, 2009
  7. General Atlantic, Colony Capital close First Republic Bank deal , July 21, 2010 Archived August 12, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  8. America's Top 40 Wealth Management Firms in Barron's by Matt Barthel, September 17, 2016
  9. Wealth Management Lifts First Republic Profit in American Banker by Jacob Passy, April 14, 2016
  10. Silicon Valley Elites Get Home Loans With No Money Down in Bloomberg News by Heather Perlberg and Prashant Gopal, July 27, 2016
  11. First Republic: Is It Wrong to Build a Bank for Wealthy Clients Only? in The Wall Street Journal by Rachel Louise Ensign, Anna Maria Andriotis and Paul Overberg, on August 16, 2016
  12. First Republic Buys Student-Debt Startup Gradifi in American Banker by Joseph Kellard on December 12, 2016
  13. First Republic Bank scoops up Boston student debt startup in the Boston Business Journal by Kelly J. Obrien, December 12, 2016
  14. https://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2018/01/10/full-list-ranking-americas-100-largest-banks-2018/#6efd8fe93109
  15. https://www.forbes.com/sites/kristinstoller/2018/03/21/student-lender-commonbond-raises-50m-to-invest-in-technology-blockchain/#7d3540ba7479
  16. https://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/news/2018/05/07/first-republic-bank-wyoming-branch-frc.html
  17. https://commercialobserver.com/2018/05/first-republic-bank-renews-and-expands-to-280k-sf-in-rock-center/
  18. https://www.forbes.com/companies/first-republic-bank/
  19. https://www.firstrepublic.com/locations?gnav=globalheader;locations-view-all-locations
  20. First Republic Locations - All 68 locations in spring 2017
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