First Republic sees more financial advisors walk

First Republic Bank has seen its second recent high-profile departure of financial advisors leaving the bank's wealth management group since turmoil struck regional and west coast banks this month.

San Francisco-based Marchetti Porter Wealth Partners jumped ship over the weekend and is now working at Rockefeller Family Global Office, a rival high-end destination for financial advisors leaving Wall Street's top four wirehouses. Rockefeller Family Global Office in a statement Monday did not say the amount of assets Marchetti Porter Wealth Partners advises and controls, but industry publication AdvisorHub reported it was $1 billion.

Shares of First Republic Bank were trading at $13.15 near 1:00 Tuesday afternoon, down from $123.01 a month ago, a decline of 89%.

Vishal Bakshi left First Republic and joined Morgan Stanley on St. Patrick’s Day, after moving to First Republic less than a year ago from Merrill Lynch.

A First Republic Bank spokesperson declined to comment about Marchetti Porter Wealth Partners. First Republic Bank's wealth management business had $271 billion in client assets at the end of last year.

Recognized by Forbes as a Best-In-State Wealth Management Team for 2023, the team is led by managing directors and private advisors James Marchetti and Caleb Porter, according to Rockefeller Global Family Office. It will report to Brian Riley, Pacific Northwest division director at Rockefeller Family Global Office.

Veteran financial advisors for decades, Marchetti and Porter were hired by First Republic in 2016 from Merrill Lynch, according to their BrokerCheck reports, with Marchetti a 41-year veteran of Merrill before leaving. First Republic Securities Co. has persistently targeted wirehouse advisors and paid recruiting bonuses to financial advisors that were competitive and at times near the high end of the market, industry sources have said for several years.

Over the last 13 years, First Republic Securities Co., the bank’s broker-dealer, and First Republic Investment Management Inc., its registered investment advisor, have hired a total of 291 financial advisors, while seeing 58 leave the firm for various competitors over that time, according to a survey of 13 years of data from the InvestmentNews Advisors on the Move database. That leaves First Republic with a net gain of 233 advisors, many of whom are elite financial advisors who generate $1 million or more in annual revenue.

It now appears at least of those financial advisors are evaluating their employment options.

Rockefeller Capital Management's CEO Greg Fleming said last summer that the firm planned to add as many as 115 financial advisor teams in coming years as it expands throughout the U.S.