President and Chief Executive Officer
Brian E. Argrett has been Director and Chief Executive Officer of City First Bank since 2011. Effective April 1, 2023, he became Chair of the Company and the Bank.
Formerly, Mr. Argrett was the founder and managing partner of Fulcrum Capital Group, an investment manager, and Fulcrum Capital Partners, L.P., an institutionally backed private equity limited partnership. He also served as President, Chief Executive Officer, and director of Fulcrum Venture Capital Corporation, a federally licensed and regulated Small Business Investment Company. Before joining the Fulcrum entities, Mr. Argrett was an attorney with the Pircher, Nichols & Meeks real estate law firm in Los Angeles, California. Mr. Argrett has served as chair, been a member, or held observer rights on numerous Fulcrum portfolio company boards, as well as having served on the boards of directors of other financial industry companies. Mr. Argrett was a presidential appointee to the Community Development Advisory Board of the U.S. Treasury Department under the Obama administration. Mr. Argrett has held leadership positions at the National Association of Investment Companies and the National Conference for Community and Justice. He has been an elder at the Knox Presbyterian Church.
Mr. Argrett serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors of City First Enterprises, a CDFI Loan Fund. Mr. Argrett is a recent appointee to the Board of IntraFi Network and serves on the Board of the California Bankers Association. Mr. Argrett is a past Chairman and continues to serve on the Board of Directors of the Community Development Bankers Association. He also serves as a member of the Global Alliance on Banking on Values and the Board of the Expanding Black Business Credit Initiative.
Mr. Argrett served as a director of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta’s board of directors from 2016 through December 2021, during which he served as Vice Chair of the Board, Chair of its Enterprise Risk and Operations Committee, and member of its Finance and Audit and Compliance Committees.
Mr. Argrett is a member of The Economic Club of Washington, D.C., the Federal City Council, and the Leadership Greater Washington Class of 2014. In addition, Mr. Argrett is a 2014 recipient of the Washington Business Journal Minority Business Leader Award. Mr. Argrett holds J.D. and M.B.A. degrees from the University of California, Berkeley, and a bachelor’s degree from the McIntire School of Commerce at the University of Virginia.
Mr. Argrett’s has extensive experience in the financial services and banking industries, public and private company board experience, knowledge and experience in the Washington D.C. and Southern California markets, and knowledge of the Bank’s business, history, organization, mission, and executive management.