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Private Wealth Group to Be Added to S&P 500

By Janet Levaux

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Pedestrians pass in front of the New York Stock Exchange. (Photo: Jordan Sirek/Bloomberg)

First Republic Bank, which has about 150 financial advisors, will become part of the S&P 500 on Jan. 2. The firm is set to replace energy utility SCANA Corporation, which is being bought by Dominion Energy.

San Francisco-based First Republic’s operations include its private wealth business, which had $131 billion of assets and revenues of nearly $110 million in the third quarter. It just opened an office in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, giving it more than 70 locations.

The firm has been on a tear over the past decade, acquiring former wirehouse advisors and RIAs. “And almost without exception, these are cream-of-the-crop, multi-million-dollar revenue generators with books at or exceeding $1 billion in assets under management,” said recruiter Mindy Diamond of Diamond Consultants in a recent blog.

For instance, First Republic recently picked up Steve Levine from UBS for its Century City branch in Los Angeles and Dan Dwyer from Merrill Lynch for its Napa, California, office.

In 2012, Republic acquired the then $5.5 billion-RIA Luminous Capital of Los Angeles; three years later, it bought the $6.1 billion-RIA Constellation Wealth Advisors of New York and San Francisco.

“These two mega deals really put First Republic on the map — and, most importantly, on the minds of every top advisor in the country,” Diamond explained.

Founded in 1985, First Republic became a publicly traded firm the following year. It was bought by Merrill Lynch in 2007 for about $1.8 billion and later merged with Bank of America. Private-equity firms Colony Capital and General Atlantic supported a management buyout of the firm before it went public in late 2010.

Janet Levaux

@Think_JanetL