First Republic Investment Management (FRIM)

First Republic Investment Management (FRIM)

First Republic Investment Management (FRIM) was the in-house fund-of-funds division of First Republic Bank, a San Francisco-based private bank and wealth manager founded in 1985. The bank was acquired by JPMorgan Chase in 2023 after its failure, which reshaped FRIM's operational status. As a manager of managers, FRIM did not deploy capital directly into companies but allocated across external investment vehicles. The strategy centered on building customized portfolios for high-net-worth clients by selecting external hedge funds, private credit funds, and special situations funds. The firm sourced managers globally but concentrated on North American strategies. Public records indicate FRIM acted as a fiduciary, performing due diligence on underlying fund managers and constructing multi-asset portfolios. No specific AUM, professional headcount, or named principals are publicly disclosed. The bank's wealth management arm had approximately $289 billion in assets under management at the time of the acquisition (per JPMorgan Chase, May 2023), though FRIM's specific allocation is unknown. FRIM’s structural differentiator was its bank-affiliated distribution: it offered fund-of-funds access primarily to First Republic's private banking clients. Unlike independent fund-of-funds firms, it leveraged the bank's client relationships and trust infrastructure. The JPMorgan acquisition effectively ended this structure as a standalone entity.