First Foundation Files Investor Presentation for 2023 Annual Meeting
12 June 2023 - 9:00PM
Business Wire
Urges stockholders to vote FOR the First
Foundation current Board of Directors on the BLUE proxy
card
First Foundation Inc. (NASDAQ: FFWM) (“First Foundation” or the
“Company”), a financial services company with two wholly-owned
operating subsidiaries, First Foundation Advisors and First
Foundation Bank, today announced that it has filed an investor
presentation with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
(“SEC”) in connection with its 2023 Annual Meeting of Stockholders,
which is scheduled to be held on Tuesday, June 27, 2023. The full
presentation can be found here.
Key Highlights of the Presentation
- From First Foundation’s Nasdaq listing in November 2014
through March 2022, before the U.S. Federal Reserve began
aggressively raising interest rates, First Foundation’s stock
outperformed, reflecting excellent operating results. During
that time, First Foundation’s total stockholder return was 174%
while the KBW Nasdaq Regional Banking Index rose just 58%. First
Foundation rapidly grew its assets while maintaining excellent
credit quality, a difficult combination to achieve. This resulted
in an improving efficiency ratio, a rising return on average
tangible common equity, and strong growth in tangible book value
per share. Prior to the Fed tightening cycle, a move that shifted
the ground under all regional banks, First Foundation was
outperforming peers in many aspects.
- First Foundation’s Board of Directors (“Board”) and
executive management quickly and proactively took decisive action
to protect the strength and stability of the business amid the
rising rate environment. During the fourth quarter of 2022 when
the rapidness of the Fed’s interest rate increases was becoming
apparent, First Foundation took proactive steps to mitigate the
effects on our business model. These steps included:
- Suspending almost all lending activity and focusing lending on
shorter-maturity and adjustable rate loans;
- Positioning the Company to maintain focus on client service and
our ability to offer solutions to clients, which helped to instill
and restore confidence;
- Implementing a liquidity funding strategy where members of
management met twice a week to discuss potential actions and
reevaluate our practices;
- Stabilizing and then attracting new deposits, including adding
$138 million in total deposits during the period March 31, 2023 to
May 12, 2023;
- Decreasing our uninsured deposits from 26% as of year-end 2022,
to approximately 13% as of May 12, 2023;
- Maintaining our high underwriting standards, as evidenced by
our LTVs of 55.3% for multifamily loans and 54.9% for single-family
loans as of May 12, 2023;
- Maintaining a strong liquidity position of $3.5 billion, with
$1.3 billion in cash and securities as of March 31, 2023; and
- Making the difficult but necessary decision to reduce
staffing.
- Our experienced, diverse, and qualified Board is well-suited
to continue overseeing the execution of our strategy. Our
directors bring expertise in areas such as finance, banking, real
estate, accounting, human resources, and risk management. Among
their ranks are the President and CEO of an international
consulting firm, the Co-Founder and current President and CEO of a
wealth management company, and the COO and CFO for a REIT. John
Hakopian, Driver’s target, has extensive experience with the
Company as one of the founders of First Foundation Advisors and has
grown the business steadily to $5.2B AUM. He oversees the vision,
strategy, operations, and development of investment management
services for the firm. His investment experience brings insight
into macroeconomics, interest rate risks and credit rate risks that
makes him a valuable member of our Board.
- We have the proven ability to recruit and retain top-tier
directors who can drive value for stockholders. Driver’s candidate
lacks the experience and qualifications required of a director of a
publicly traded financial services institution. Our ability to
proactively add new, independent directors who can offer fresh
perspectives is evidenced by our recent appointment of Gabriel
Vazquez to the Board. The skills and professional experience of Mr.
Vazquez stand in stark contrast to those of Driver Management’s
proposed nominee, who we believe lacks the necessary skills and
experience required of a director of a publicly traded financial
services institution. In addition, there have been several material
omissions that Driver and its nominee made, which call into
question the willingness of Driver’s nominee to be fully
transparent, act ethically, and work constructively with our Board.
Our current Board is well-positioned to make the necessary changes
without any outside disruption that would be value
destructive.
We urge you to support First Foundation by voting “FOR” your
incumbent directors Ulrich E. Keller, Jr., Scott F. Kavanaugh, Max
A. Briggs, John A. Hakopian, David G. Lake, Elizabeth A.
Pagliarini, Mitchell M. Rosenberg, Ph.D, Diane M. Rubin, Jacob P.
Sonenshine, and Gabriel V. Vazquez and selecting “WITHHOLD” for the
Driver Nominee on your BLUE Proxy Card.
We encourage shareholders to disregard any
white proxy card or other solicitation materials sent to you by
Driver. Only your latest dated proxy card will be counted at
the 2023 Annual Meeting of Stockholders.
For more information about Driver’s misguided campaign against
First Foundation, please visit www.truthfirstfoundationinc.com.
About First Foundation
First Foundation Inc. (NASDAQ: FFWM) and its subsidiaries offer
personal banking, business banking, and private wealth management
services, including investment, trust, insurance, and philanthropy
services. This comprehensive platform of financial services is
designed to help clients at any stage in their financial journey.
The broad range of financial products and services offered by First
Foundation are more consistent with those offered by larger
financial institutions, while its high level of personalized
service, accessibility, and responsiveness to clients is more
aligned with community banks and boutique wealth management firms.
This combination of an integrated platform of comprehensive
financial products and personalized service differentiates First
Foundation from many of its competitors and has contributed to the
growth of its client base and business. Learn more at
firstfoundationinc.com or connect with us on LinkedIn and
Twitter.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release includes forward-looking statements within
the meaning of the “Safe-Harbor” provisions of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including forward-looking
statements regarding our expectations and beliefs about our future
financial performance and financial condition, as well as trends in
our business and markets. Forward-looking statements often include
words such as "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "intend," "plan,"
"estimate," "project," "outlook," or words of similar meaning, or
future or conditional verbs such as "will," "would," "should,"
"could," or "may." The forward-looking statements in this press
release are based on current information and on assumptions that we
make about future events and circumstances that are subject to a
number of risks and uncertainties that are often difficult to
predict and beyond our control. As a result of those risks and
uncertainties, our actual financial results in the future could
differ, possibly materially, from those expressed in or implied by
the forward-looking statements contained in this press release and
could cause us to make changes to our future plans.
Additional information regarding these and other risks and
uncertainties to which our business and future financial
performance are subject is contained in our Annual Report on Form
10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022, as amended, our
Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended March
31, 2023, and other documents we file with the SEC from time to
time. We urge readers of this press release to review those reports
and other documents we file with the SEC from time to time. Also,
our actual financial results in the future may differ from those
currently expected due to additional risks and uncertainties of
which we are not currently aware or which we do not currently view
as, but in the future may become, material to our business or
operating results. Due to these and other possible uncertainties
and risks, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the
forward-looking statements contained in this press release, which
speak only as of today's date, or to make predictions based solely
on historical financial performance. We also disclaim any
obligation to update forward-looking statements contained in this
press release or in the above-referenced reports, whether as a
result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as
may be required by law or NASDAQ rules.
Important Additional Information
The Company, its directors and certain of its executive officers
are participants in the solicitation of proxies from the Company’s
stockholders in connection with its upcoming 2023 Annual Meeting of
Stockholders (the “2023 Annual Meeting”). The Company has filed a
definitive proxy statement and a BLUE universal proxy card with the
Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) in connection with
its solicitation of proxies from the Company’s stockholders.
STOCKHOLDERS OF THE COMPANY ARE STRONGLY ENCOURAGED TO READ SUCH
PROXY STATEMENT, ACCOMPANYING BLUE UNIVERSAL PROXY CARD AND ALL
OTHER DOCUMENTS FILED WITH THE SEC CAREFULLY AND IN THEIR ENTIRETY
AS THEY CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION. Information regarding the
identity of the participants and their direct and indirect
interests, by security holdings or otherwise is set forth in the
definitive proxy statement and other materials filed with the SEC
in connection with the 2023 Annual Meeting. Stockholders can obtain
the definitive proxy statement, any amendments or supplements to
the proxy statement and other documents filed by the Company with
the SEC at no charge at the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. Copies
are also available at no charge on the Company’s website at
www.ff-inc.com.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230612779195/en/
Investor and Media Contact: Shannon Wherry Director of
Corporate Communications swherry@ff-inc.com (469) 638-9642
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