Robert W. Baird & Co. is an American multinational independent investment bank and financial services company. It is the principal U.S. operating subsidiary of Baird, an international, employee-owned financial services firm providing investment banking, capital markets, private equity, wealth management, and asset management services to individuals, corporations, institutional investors, and municipalities. With more than 3,100 employees, Baird has offices in the United States, Europe, and Asia, and is one of the largest privately held, full-service investment firms in the United States. Baird manages and oversees over $151 billion in client assets. Baird's principal operating subsidiary outside the United States is Robert W. Baird Group Ltd. in Europe. In Asia, Baird has an operating subsidiary supporting its private equity operations, as well as an investment banking team.
History
Baird was founded in 1919 as the securities arm of the First Wisconsin National Bank in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In 1934, the firm became an independent entity called The Securities Company of Milwaukee, Inc. When the firm joined the New York Stock Exchange in 1948, it took the name of its lead partner since inception, Robert W. Baird. From 1982 to 2004, Northwestern Mutual Life owned a majority interest in Baird. In 2004, Baird became a fully independent, employee-owned financial services firm. Its headquarters remain in Milwaukee.
Baird Financial Advisors provide financial advice, planning strategies, and investment solutions to high-net-worth individuals and institutional clients, managing and overseeing more than $130 billion in client assets. An in-house team of investment research and other specialists provide clients with services including portfolio management, retirement planning, philanthropic gifting, and risk management. The group also provides retirement plans, stock option exercise programs, hedging strategies and business transition planning to executives and corporate clients. PWM operates from over 90 branch offices in 30 states across the United States.
Asset management
Equity and fixed income money managers serve investors—including public and private retirement plans, corporations, foundations, and other institutional clients—and high-net-worth individuals. In 2008, Baird Public Investment Advisors was formed specifically to advise and assist public entities. Together, Baird Advisors, Baird Equity Asset Management and Baird Public Investment Advisors have more than $16.1 billion under management. Baird offers mutual funds through Baird Funds, including fixed income mutual funds managed by Baird Advisors and equity mutual funds managed by Baird Investment Management.
The global investment banking team serves primarily middle-market companies and has advised on more than 360 M&A transactions representing more than $50 billion in transaction value since 2001. The team has served as lead or co-manager on over 370 equity offerings raising more than $86 billion over the last 10 years. Additionally, equity sales and trading professionals make Baird's equity research available to institutional investors in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. As of 2017, Baird research analysts provide dedicated coverage of over 720 stocks. Baird's Sales & Research capabilities have consistently placed the firm among the top Small/Mid-Cap Equity platforms according to the annual survey of U.S. Equity Investors issued by Greenwich Associates.
Fixed income capital markets
Baird's Public Finance group within Fixed Income Capital Markets serves schools, counties, municipalities and other public-sector clients nationwide to finance debt and provide budget advice. Baird was the lead manager for more municipal bond issues in 2010 than any other firm in the country, according to Thomson Reuters. Baird's Fixed Income Sales & Trading team is active in the primary and secondary markets for taxable and tax-exempt securities. The firm's trading desks traded $233 billion in face value of taxable and tax-exempt bonds for institutional and individual clients in 2010.
Private equity
Baird Private Equity makes venture capital, growth equity, and buyout investment in three specific industry sectors through a series of partnerships in the United States, Europe, and Asia. In the United States, Baird Capital Partners makes buyout investments in lower-middle-market companies in the business services, manufactured products, and healthcare sectors. Baird Venture Partners invests in early-stage and expansion-stage U.S.-based companies in the areas of business services and life sciences. Operating in the United Kingdom, Baird Capital Partners Europe provides change-of-control capital to lower-middle-market companies with a particular interest in business services, healthcare, and manufactured products. Baird Capital Partners Asia provides capital to companies with substantial operations and growth opportunities in China. Baird Private Equity and its affiliates have raised and managed over $2.7 billion in capital and invested in more than 240 companies since the group's inception in the 1980s.
