Baird Brings on 5 Muni Pros in Atlanta, Winston-Salem

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BRADENTON, Fla. — Milwaukee-based Robert W. Baird & Co. announced Tuesday that it has hired five muni professionals who have opened new public finance offices in Atlanta and Winston-Salem, N.C., to expand the company’s efforts in the Southeast.

The five new hires left Wachovia Securities, which was acquired last year by Wells Fargo, to work at Baird in new offices that opened in the last three weeks, said Keith Kolb, managing director of Baird’s public finance group.

Managing directors Todd Barnes and Dick Layton and assistant vice president Ellen Dickson are working in the Atlanta office. Ryan Maher, a director, and Stephen Anderson, an assistant vice president, are located in the Winston-Salem office.

“We’re looking at Atlanta as a hub for us in the Southeast and then expand out starting with Winston-Salem first,” Kolb said. “We expect to continue to look for top talent to the extent that they are available and interested in working for a firm like Baird.”

As a privately held company, Baird can remain conservative and focused on the public finance market as opposed to bigger firms that are publicly held, said Kolb, adding: “For regional firms it’s a great business. We have unprecedented opportunities to expand.”

Baird’s new hires have experience and educational ties in the Southeast.

Barnes most recently was manager of Wachovia’s Southeast general infrastructure group. He began his public finance career in 1981 at Dean Witter Reynolds Inc. and later worked at SunTrust Bank. He has been managing underwriter or financial adviser on 220 debt financings totaling more than $9 billion with a focus on K-12 education, higher education and general infrastructure issues. 

“We are excited to join a firm which considers public finance to be a critical component, and we are looking forward to contributing to its further success and expanding Baird’s Southeast presence,” said Barnes, who earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration at the University of Georgia.

Layton managed Wachovia’s Southeast public finance operations for 18 of the nearly 20 years he was with the company. Prior to working in investment banking, he was Atlanta’s commissioner of budget and planning.

Baird ranks 11th overall as a senior manager this year, working on 343 deals with a par value of $3.6 billion, according to Thomson Reuters.

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