First Foundation Advisors

First Foundation Advisors operates under the leadership of the parent company's executive team, which as of 2024 includes CEO Scott Kavanaugh and President Christopher Naghibi. The firm does not separately name a chief investment officer in its public disclosures, suggesting investment policy is set at the holding-company level across the bank and advisory units.

First Foundation Advisors operates as a registered investment adviser, meaning client portfolios are held in custody separate from bank assets and are not subject to creditor claims against the bank. The parent company's July 2024 capital raise addressed the bank's commercial-real-estate loan book; advisory client assets were not directly impacted by those credit losses beyond reputational considerations.

Yes. The firm draws on First Foundation Bank's internal credit and underwriting capabilities to construct in-house fixed-income portfolios, primarily composed of high-quality municipal and corporate bonds. This is a structural differentiator — most independent RIAs outsource all fixed-income management to third-party managers rather than building their own bond capability alongside a bank credit team.

First Foundation Inc. is a publicly traded company listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker FFWM. It is not privately held or family-controlled. Institutional shareholders include the recapitalization investors — Fortress Investment Group, Canyon Partners, and Strategic Value Bank Partners — who received significant equity stakes in the July 2024 capital raise.

First Foundation Advisors does not publish a formal exclusion list. However, based on the parent bank's commercial-real-estate exposure and the 2024 capital raise, the advisory unit's recent emphasis has been on preserving client confidence in liquid, transparent portfolios rather than expanding into illiquid private-market allocations that might draw scrutiny alongside the bank's own illiquid loan positions.