First Foundation Advisors (Irvine)

Name: First Foundation Advisors
Address: 18101 Von Karman Ave, Irvine, CA, 92612 1051
Telephone: 949-476-0300

First Foundation Advisors is a large advisory firm based in Irvine. It manages $3.93 billion of regulatory assets for 3,433 client accounts. It has been registered with the SEC as an adviser since 2010 and has operated in the jurisdictions of Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, and 24 other states.

First Foundation Advisors provides financial planning services, portfolio management for individuals and small businesses, portfolio management for investment companies, portfolio management for pooled investment vehicles, and selection of other advisers. It prepares financial plans for more than 10 clients. On top of advisory services, the firm doesn't engage in other business activities.

First Foundation Advisors: assets under management

The assets under management (AUM) of First Foundation Advisors is $3.93 billion. The firm's AUM has grown by 262% since the beginning of its operation, and $5.36 million of the total AUM is attributable to clients outside of the United States.

The firm manages $3.77 billion in discretionary accounts and $165.66 million in non-discretionary accounts. On average, the discretionary accounts where all decisions are made on behalf of the client hold $1.11 million each. Non-discretionary accounts, where clients actively manage their portfolios, generally hold around $4.25 million.

First Foundation Advisors has custody of $1.83 billion in cash and securities for 789 clients in total and its related person acts as a qualified custodian.

Investments

The firm invests in exchange traded securities the most. They account for 44% of the total AUM. The second-largest asset type is investment and business development companies, which make up 32% of the firm’s portfolio. Investments in state and local bonds form 8% of the total invested assets.

Fees & Commissions

The advisory firm has several streams of revenue. Clients pay First Foundation Advisors for their services and products based on a percentage of assets under management, hourly charges, fixed fees, and performance-based fees. The adviser charges an additional fee when a set benchmark is outperformed. These fees don’t include brokerage commissions, interest, taxes, and other account expenses.

What kind of clients Ulrich Emanuel Keller serves?

The firm provides services to individuals, investment companies, charitable organizations, high net worth individuals, pooled investment vehicles, banking or thrift institutions, and corporations or other businesses. The largest group of clients of Ulrich Emanuel Keller is high net worth individuals with 645 clients and $2.31 billion of assets under management. Among the 11 most similar advisory firms, First Foundation Advisors has the 3rd highest percentage of high net worth individuals out of all clients.

The amount of regulatory assets under management is $3.93 billion for 1,354 clients that can include trusts, estates, and 401(k) plans and IRAs of individuals and their family members. None of the firm’s clients are foreign persons or businesses.

First Foundation Advisors also advises several private funds. Namely, one venture capital fund. The minimum investment commitment required of non-related persons is $250,000 for each fund.

Careers at First Foundation Advisors

The company employs 66 people that are either part- or full-time employees. 58 percent of the employees work as investment advisers or researchers. 30 employees are registered as investment adviser representatives with the state securities authorities.

There are 2 people with the role of looking for and bringing in new clients on behalf of the firm. The firm compensates employees in addition to the salary for bringing in new clients. Employees don’t receive compensation from other entities for client referrals.

Ulrich Emanuel Keller has been acting as President since 1 Dec 2002. John Matthias Michel joined the executive team most recently as the Chief Financial Officer.

Direct owners and executive officers

Name	Entity	Date acquired	Ownership	Employer ID
Ulrich Emanuel Keller	Chairman	1 Dec 2002	Other	1127298
Gregory Steven Bruce	Chief compliance officer	1 Jan 2004	Other	4777912
Victoria Felton Collins	Director	1 Jan 2004	Other	1368618
First Foundation Inc.	100% stock ownership	1 Jun 2007	75% - 100%	20-8639702
Scott Farris Kavanaugh	Director	1 Oct 2007	Other	1502949
John Avak Hakopian	President	1 Jun 2009	Other	2159595
John Matthias Michel	Chief financial officer	1 Jan 2010	Other	5776098

Based in Irvine

The principal office where First Foundation Advisors performs its advisory services is located at 18101 Von Karman Ave, Irvine, CA 92612 1051, which is also the mailing address of the firm. An additional office of the firm is in Las Vegas, NV. It doesn’t run an office outside of the United States.

You can reach the main office by calling the phone number 949-476-0300. The normal business hours are 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Monday - Friday. You can find more information about the New York firm at ff-inc.com/ and its LinkedIn profile.