Stuart Rubin is manging director at the internal audit practice | Stuart Rubin

Stuart Rubin realestate of RP Realty Partners, LLC is a real estate investment and operating company that also provides debt and equity financing. The company offers residential, commercial, office, retail and industrial properties in the United States and Canada.

It's not all retail, œhe said of his work in the real estate industry, particularly retail and office space. Smith said there was a private bank he set up with a well-known bankruptcy lawyer.

He studied marketing and finance at the University of Denver and spent two years at New York bank holding company First PacTrust Bancorp, Inc., before moving to California with his Los Angeles-born wife. The Private Bank of California was one of the first private banks in the US, and Smith, 60, had to behave to refine his philosophy and cultivate connections, which helped make it attractive enough to be bought last year by FirstPacTrustBanc Corp., a subsidiary of First PACTrust and Banchorp Inc., which changed its name to BANC California Inc in July. Earlier this week, the entire company, including its subsidiaries, was reformed as Banca California, making it the largest private bank in California and the second largest in North America.

It is instructive to listen to Smith for his thoughts on the state of private banking in the US and the future of the private banking industry.

It was precisely the variability of the banking sector that led Smith, who grew up in New York, to believe that he and his grandfather would end up on the side of his family in the city's garment industry. It was very attractive for me because I met someone in junior banking who convinced me that banking would be a good career, œhe says. He rattles off a list of companies in which he has worked, before, as a matter of course in the world of money-lending, he hears that these companies have been founded and swallowed up by other firms.

I really thought I was going to be there for a couple of years, œhe says, but I didn't have high hopes and wasn't really in the game for long.

I learned very well in my credit class how to be an analyst in banking, but I had no choice where to go, œhe says. I did my college courses well and was put in the back drawer of the clothes ghetto, so I'm really proud of myself.

He and his wife work at Valley Beth Shalom in Encino, a conservative program for infants and toddlers. He also sits on the board of the Zimmerner Children's Museum, and the couple sends their children to Abraham Lincoln High School, where he sits on the board. Smith has never shied away from his Jewish identity: œSome people have taken me to the locker room and found out I'm Jewish.

He credits his Jewish upbringing, which was conservative but not particularly strict, with internalizing the values that made him a successful businessman and boss. He said he was determined to give his staff time to enjoy their private lives and get involved in their communities. I ask for a few hours off and if I was at work more often, I would answer a lot, œhe says.

I want to be close to my family, œhe says, but I want them to have a different life, and that's what I want.

He tries to get involved in committees and charities, and he has tried to encourage his staff to do it because he believes it makes them better co-workers because they are happier. Giving is something he has learned over time and that he could understand himself, he says, but it is something he learns every time.

Will Smith will take that ethos a step further in his new role as president of the Banc of California in San Francisco. He is thrilled to have been hired by Banch California to manage the relationship between the bank and the community, and he is excited to help develop a community banking strategy that focuses on expanding homeownership, lending to entrepreneurs, and creating service opportunities in communities.

Smith, a proud grandfather of four grandchildren, hopes to continue his work because he feels valuable and money is certainly not an issue. In banking, he says: œIt's my passion every day, I do it just to be rich, but I also do it because it's what I have to do and that's certainly not the problem for me.

A. Stuart Rubin was born in New York City, where he says he was predestined to become a real estate developer. It was a natural progression, buying and developing real estate, œsaid Stuart Rubin, who founded Rubin Pachulski Properties Inc.

Growing up in Los Angeles, Stuart Rubin family managed and parked cars in and around downtown LA. The family has built an empire that now includes more than 1,000 properties in California, New York, Texas, Florida and New Jersey.

Stuart Rubin realestate and partner learned the tools of the trade by buying and reselling their first real estate in what is now Beverly Center at the age of 17 and 20, respectively. From there, they set out to buy and develop their own real estate empires in Los Angeles, New York and Florida.

We are very location-oriented, œsays Stuart Rubin, and have created a niche for ourselves. The Company and its subsidiaries have acquired or developed real estate worth over $150 million and expect to acquire or develop additional value this year alone.

He says the Stuart Rubin realestate success is largely down to his ability to spot and make deals. In 1995, the company bought the former Cineplex Theater on Broadway in New York City's West Village for just over $20 million. It put the building up for sale after it was practically let out, but the rooms occupied by the Cinesplex and Odeon cinemas and Broadway Deli had their own lease with the owners and it had a positive impact on tenants.

He is an absolute dealmaker who can switch from preparation meetings to title changes within three days, as opposed to the usual 45, 75 or 90 days for a title change. I've seen a lot of great deals in New York City in recent years, but never in three weeks, let alone three days.

Rubin said, œWe had no ambitions to go public until we could reach the size where I could, but we just wanted to be on the market and out, and that's what we did. For Stuart Rubin realestate was in his blood.

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