CHICAGO - Milwaukee-based Robert W. Baird & Co. Inc. established a Minneapolis office with a trio of professionals previously with Northland Securities.
Paul Donna, Michael Hoheisel, and Matt Rantapaa joined Baird to expand the firm's public finance banking business in Minnesota and the upper Midwest.
Donna and Hoheisel came aboard as a managing directors and Rantapaa joined as assistant vice president.
The team will concentrate its business efforts on Minnesota municipalities, school districts, and state government agencies. The firm operates two other offices in the Twin Cities area but they don't host any public finance bankers.
Donna formerly held a position as a senior vice president at Northland, specializing in structuring financings for municipalities. He previously held positions at the former Miller Johnson Steichen Kinnard and worked as a financial advisor at Springsted Inc.
Michael Hoheisel also was a senior vice president at Northland, specializing in education financing. He previously worked as a client representative with Springsted. Rantapaa was an assistant vice president at Northland where he had worked since 2009, specializing in education financing.
"Their deep level of expertise, commitment to client service and proven ability to work together as a successful team makes them an excellent fit for our public finance business, which will now expand to Minnesota and the upper Midwest," Baird's director of public finance Keith Kolb said in a statement.
The three new hires said Baird offered additional client resources.
"With extensive resources available, experienced sales and trading professionals, trusted research and a robust national network of financial advisors through its wealth management business, we're excited to leverage the full Baird platform on behalf of our clients," Donna said in a company statement.
Baird ranked sixth in the Midwest last year among senior managers leading $2.96 billion of bond issues, according to Thomson Reuters. Even without a formal banking office in Minnesota, the firm captured $407 million of senior manager work in the state putting it in 6th place among bookrunners.
The firm in recent years has expanded its presence and banking team opening new offices or hiring veteran bankers in various states including Texas, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Ohio with an eye on market opportunities.
With the addition of the new office and team, the firm now operates 17 public finance offices across the country with more than 60 bankers.
"Baird is always looking to add talented public finance professionals when and where it makes the most sense," Kolb said. "We're always open to selective additions to our platform when they are culturally compatible with the firm and when they enhance our reach and our ability to serve clients."
Northland declined to comment.
