We really liked First Republic up to a couple decades ago. We were earning up to 9 percent on CDs there, better than other banks in the SF Bay Area. Such a difference from the less than 1 percent a decade ago, before the bounce upwards in interest rates lately. JPMorgan is gobbling up a lot of banks.
I really liked First Republic as a bank. Their staff were always well-trained, knowledgable and helpful. The complimentary cookies and umbrellas were nice too. Their business model was pretty simple: a gentleman’s agreement with wealthy customers that they’d park their savings there in exchange for favorable home loans. Management foolishly parked the bank’s reserves in US Treasuries that had to be marked down when interest rates soared under Dementia Joe.
Anyway, it’s a terrible shame that they failed, and I’m less than thrilled to be moving over to Chase due to the FDIC-engineered merger. I fully expect to walk in there and be greeted by the “manager” who’ll be a 24-year-old who needs to call the “back office” for instructions on how to wipe her ass.