First Republic Announces FRC Founders Index FundSM

First Republic Investment Management, a subsidiary of First Republic Bank (NYSE:FRC), today announced the launch of the FRC Founders Index Fund^SM (Bloomberg:FNDRX), a fund which seeks to provide investment results that correspond generally to the total return performance, before fees and expenses, of the First Republic Founders Index^SM (Bloomberg:FRCFDR).

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Post-Launch: Initial Performance First Republic Founders IndexSM and the S&P 500, Russell 3000 and Russell 1000 EW Initial cumulative performance, from the Index launch on October 7, 2019, through close on July 27, 2020 (Source: IHS Markit)

“We believe the FRC Founders Index Fund^SM distinctively captures the drive, resilience, and commitment to culture and a long-term vision that founder-led and -influenced companies inherently possess,” said Jim Herbert, Founder, Chairman and CEO of First Republic. “Initial performance of the First Republic Founders Index^SM supports our thesis that founder-led and -influenced companies generate superior results.”

Since its launch on October 7, 2019, and through close on July 27, 2020, the First Republic Founders Index^SM (Bloomberg:FRCFDR) is up 16.0%, compared to the S&P 500® up 12.0%, the Russell 3000® up 11.7%, and the Russell 1000® Equal Weight up 4.7%.

“The First Republic Founders Index^SM isolates the founder influence factor in a unique way,” said Bob Thornton, President of Private Wealth Management at First Republic. “We believe our research team has been able to capture and quantify the positive attributes and strategic advantage of founder-led and -influenced companies.”

FRCFDR is an equal weighted benchmark of publicly traded companies in which the founder or founders are actively involved and a key influence in their company’s strategy. Highlights of the Index include pure exposure to founder-led and founder-influenced strategy; broad representation, with companies historically delivering higher gross margins across most sectors; and an objectively driven and rules-based approach to capture unique characteristics and potential outperformance.

The FRC Founders Index Fund^SM (Bloomberg:FNDRX) is offered exclusively to First Republic clients, through its Private Wealth Management subsidiaries.

First Republic Private Wealth Management, which includes First Republic Investment Management along with brokerage and trust services, had $155.8 billion in wealth management assets as of June 30, 2020. To learn more about First Republic Private Wealth Management, visit our website here, and to learn more about the FRC Founders Index Fund^SM, click here. FRC Founders Index Fund^SM is an investment company registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, and the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.

About First Republic

Founded by Jim Herbert, Chairman and CEO, in 1985, First Republic and its subsidiaries offer private banking, private business banking and private wealth management, including investment, trust and brokerage services. First Republic specializes in delivering exceptional, relationship-based service and offers a complete line of products, including residential, commercial and personal loans, deposit services, and wealth management. Services are offered through preferred banking or wealth management offices primarily in San Francisco, Palo Alto, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, Newport Beach and San Diego, California; Portland, Oregon; Boston, Massachusetts; Palm Beach, Florida; Greenwich, Connecticut; New York, New York; and Jackson, Wyoming. First Republic is a constituent of the S&P 500 Index and KBW Nasdaq Bank Index. For more information, visit firstrepublic.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Statements in this press release that are not historical facts are hereby identified as “forward-looking statements” for the purpose of the safe harbor provided by Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). Any statements about our expectations, beliefs, plans, predictions, forecasts, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance are not historical facts and may be forward-looking. These statements are often, but not always, made through the use of words or phrases such as “anticipates,” “believes,” “can,” “could,” “may,” “predicts,” “potential,” “should,” “will,” “estimates,” “plans,” “projects,” “continuing,” “ongoing,” “expects,” “intends” and similar words or phrases. Accordingly, these statements are only predictions and involve estimates, known and unknown risks, assumptions and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in them.

All forward-looking statements are necessarily only estimates of future results, and there can be no assurance that actual results will not differ materially from expectations, and, therefore, you are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such statements. Any forward looking statements are qualified in their entirety by reference to the factors discussed throughout our public filings under the Exchange Act. Further, any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made, and we undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which the statement is made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

Indices

The S&P 500 Index® is a market capitalization-weighted index of the 500 largest U.S. publicly traded companies. The Russell 3000® Index is a market capitalization-weighted equity index that tracks the performance of the 3,000 largest U.S.-traded stocks. The Russell 1000® Index, a subset of the Russell 3000® Index, represents the 1,000 top companies by market capitalization in the U.S. The First Republic Founders Index^SM is an equity benchmark of more than 400 publicly traded companies in which the founder or founders are actively involved and a key influence in its strategy. Active involvement is defined as the founder or founders serving in a key executive role and/or on the company’s board of directors.

Availability of Additional Information

Investors should carefully consider the investment objectives, risks and charges and expenses of FRC Founders Index Fund^SM (the “Fund”) before investing. The Fund’s prospectus contains information about the investment objectives, risks and charges and expenses of the Fund and other information. The prospectus is available by clicking here. The Fund’s prospectus should be read carefully before investing.

Mutual fund investing involves risk. Principal loss is possible. Derivatives involve special risks including correlation, counterparty, liquidity, operational, accounting and tax risks. These risks, in certain cases, may be greater than the risks presented by more traditional investments. Due to their inclusion in the Russell 3000 Index, the Fund may invest in foreign securities which involve greater volatility and political, economic and currency risks and differences in accounting methods. These risks are greater in emerging markets. The Fund is subject to the risk of concentrating investments in an industry or group of industries to the extent the Index is so concentrated which makes it more susceptible to factors adversely affecting issuers within that industry than would a fund investing in a more diversified portfolio of securities. Small- and medium-capitalization companies tend to have limited liquidity and greater price volatility than large-capitalization companies. Earnings growth is not representative of the fund’s future performance.

The FRC Founders Index Fund^SM is distributed by Quasar Distributors, LLC.

Use of Third-Party Information and Other Information

Certain information contained in this press release has been obtained from third-party sources. While such information is believed to be reliable for the purposes used herein, First Republic Investment Management, Inc. (“First Republic Investment Management”) has not independently verified such information and First Republic Investment Management makes no representation or warranty, express or implied, as to the accuracy or completeness of the information contained herein. Certain economic and market conditions contained herein has been obtained from published sources and/or prepared by third parties and in certain cases has not been updated through the date hereof. All information contained herein is subject to revision and the information set forth herein does not purport to be complete.

Unless otherwise noted, the information contained herein has been compiled as of July 27, 2020, and there is no obligation to update the information. The delivery of this press release will under no circumstances create any implication that the information herein has been updated or corrected as of any time subsequent to the date of publication or, as the case may be, the date as of which such information is stated.

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