First Foundation Inc. (NASDAQ: FFWM), a financial services company with two wholly-owned operating subsidiaries, First Foundation Advisors and First Foundation Bank, which collectively provide investment management, wealth planning, consulting, insurance, trust, and banking services primarily to high net-worth individuals and businesses, today announced it is set to join the Russell 2000® Index.

The Russell 2000® Index is an index measuring the performance of approximately 2,000 of the leading small company stocks in the United States. It represents a subset of approximately 2,000 small-cap companies in the Russell 3000® Index and serves as a benchmark for small-cap stocks in the United States. FTSE Russell determines membership for its Russell indexes primarily by objective, market-capitalization rankings, and style attributes.

“We are very pleased to have been selected by FTSE Russell for inclusion in the Russell 2000® Index,” said Scott F. Kavanaugh, CEO of First Foundation. “As we continue to execute on our strategic plan, we believe being part of the Index will help increase awareness of the Company among stakeholders and is an important step to further enhancing shareholder value.”

About First Foundation

First Foundation, a financial institution founded in 1990, provides integrated investment management, wealth planning, consulting, insurance, trust, and banking services. The Company has offices in California, Nevada, and Hawaii with headquarters in Irvine, California. For more information, please visit www.ff-inc.com.

About FTSE Russell

FTSE Russell is wholly owned by London Stock Exchange Group. For more information, visit www.ftserussell.com. For more information on the Russell 2000® Index and the Russell US Indexes reconstitution, please visit the “Russell Reconstitution” section of the FTSE Russell website.

Forward-Looking Statements

Statements in this news release regarding our expectations and beliefs about our future financial performance and financial condition, as well as trends in our business and markets are “forward-looking statements” as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements often include words such as “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “plan,” “estimate,” “project,” or words of similar meaning, or future or conditional verbs such as “will,” “would,” “should,” “could,” or “may.” The forward-looking statements in this news 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 news release and could cause us to make changes to our future plans. Those risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the risk of incurring loan losses, which is an inherent risk of the banking business; the risk that we will not be able to continue our internal growth rate; the risk that we will not be able to access the securitization market on favorable terms or at all; the risk that the economic recovery in the United States will stall or will be adversely affected by domestic or international economic conditions and the risk that the Federal Reserve Board will continue to keep interest rates low, any of which could adversely affect our interest income and interest rate margins and, therefore, our future operating results; the risk that the performance of our investment management business or of the equity and bond markets could lead clients to move their funds from or close their investment accounts with us, which would reduce our assets under management and adversely affect our operating results; and the risk that we do not successfully integrate Pacific Rim Bank’s business and customers or otherwise fail to achieve anticipated business enhancements related to the acquisition. Additional information regarding these and other risks and uncertainties to which our business and future financial performance are subject is contained in Item 1A, entitled “Risk Factors” in our 2015 Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015 that we filed with the SEC on March 15, 2016, and other documents we file with the SEC from time to time. We urge readers of this news release to review the Risk Factors section of that Annual Report. 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 news 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 news release or in the above-referenced 2015 Annual Report on Form 10-K, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required by law or NASDAQ rules.