First Citizens Wealth

First Citizens Wealth operates as the wealth management and trust division of First Citizens Bank, a regulated bank holding company. It delivers investment management through the bank's fiduciary powers rather than a standalone RIA structure — client assets are custodied on the bank's balance sheet or in trust accounts, with investment discretion exercised under trust-law fiduciary standards.

First Citizens Bank acquired SVB's private wealth business in March 2023 as part of an FDIC-assisted transaction, adding high-net-worth clients concentrated in technology, venture capital, and executive equity-compensation planning. The bank has maintained the acquired team and brand, integrating SVB Private's relationship managers and roughly $17 billion in wealth assets into the First Citizens Wealth platform.

The division accesses private markets through both fund commitments and direct co-investments, with origination often linked to the parent bank's commercial banking and sponsor-finance relationships. Direct private credit and real estate exposures are structured through the bank's lending platform, offering wealth clients deal access typically gated behind institutional separate accounts.

The trust division administers charitable remainder trusts, private foundations, and donor-advised fund accounts as part of its fiduciary services. Investment management for these vehicles follows the same capital-preservation framework applied to the broader wealth book, with municipal-bond ladders and conservative equity-income allocations used to match charitable payout requirements.

Investment policy and asset allocation are set by the wealth division's investment committee, which draws on the parent bank's treasury and capital-markets desks for fixed-income execution and manager selection. Specific portfolio-management responsibilities are distributed across regional teams, with credit-intensive allocations originating through the bank's structured-finance and sponsor-coverage groups.