Rod A. Ponce '06 of First Republic Bank

Bruin Success

Rod A. Ponce ’06 is Senior Account Executive with First Republic Bank. After graduating in 2006 with a B.A. in History from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), he started his career in financial services as a financial advisor with John Hancock. In 2009, he left the financial advising business to become a Licensed Personal Financial Representative for Washington Mutual Bank, where he began to focus primarily on residential and small business lending. When Washington Mutual was acquired by Chase Bank, Rod moved into a supervisory role, and was involved opening a brand new office in West Los Angeles. In 2012, Rod accepted an offer as an Assistant Vice President with Bank of the West (BNP Paribas Group), where he developed a niche in stand-alone home equity lines of credit, and was a consistent Circle of Excellence qualifier for several years standing. Rod joined First Republic Bank in 2019 and currently focuses on financing for professional service firms and their individual partners.
From 2011-2017, Rod was involved with Toastmasters International as an Area Director, where he acted as an advisor to several clubs throughout the Los Angeles area. With regard to UCLA involvement, he currently sits on the board for the Silicon Beach Bruins regional network as their Professional Development Chair, he founded a Bruin Professionals Chapter in Silicon Beach, and he is the current President for the overarching Bruin Professionals organization. For personal hobbies, Rod enjoys snowboarding, camping, and taking long walks with his wife and dog, Maverick.