Financial Services Growth

First American Trust, a Federal Savings Bank (FSB), has made plans to expand its personal trust services, investment-advisor services, employee-benefit services and banking services into other major metropolitan areas of the United States. The firm introduced a new trust-funding service in 2000 that helps estate-planning attorneys and their clients re-title assets to accommodate their contributions to trusts. First American Trust FSB also completed full implementation of its wire-transfer capabilities in most of First American Title Insurance Company’s California offices in 2000.

First American Capital Management, an SEC-registered investment services firm, reached nearly $2 billion in assets under management during 2000, which includes approximately $600 million in its “Exchange Accommodators” 1031 Exchange short-term investment fund. The firm also added to its staff of institutional salespeople, portfolio managers, analysts and traders as it intensified efforts to reach large corporate and public institutional investors. First American Capital Management continues to hold a 38 percent interest in Pacific American Securities, a licensed broker/ dealer providing individual investors with stocks, bonds, mutual funds, options and annuities.

First Security Thrift increased its earnings in 2000, as it has in every year for almost a decade. This California-based, FDIC-insured industrial bank ended the year with $94.5 million in loans receivable, an 8.1 percent increase over year-end 1999. As it has each quarter for nearly eight years, First Security Thrift earned a five-star rating (the highest rating attainable) from Bauer Financial Reports, an independent bank analyst, further confirming the company’s financial strength and performance.