CHICAGO - Milwaukee-based Robert W. Baird & Co. has hired two new public finance professionals, a move that will help replenish its municipal group, which was hit with several departures in April.
Mark Slesar and Mike Scalise joined Baird last month as vice presidents, according to company officials.
"We're excited to have Mark and Mike joining Baird," Keith Kolb, managing director of the public finance group, said in a statement. "Their reputation, integrity, industry expertise, and dedication to the community fit perfectly with our commitment to expand our services in the public finance area."
Slesar and Scalise will focus on structured finance deals in the health care, housing, continuing care, industrial development, and not-for-profit sectors.
Slesar, a certified public accountant, has worked in the financial industry for 20 years, the last 16 at Laureate Group, the largest privately owned senior housing provider in the Milwaukee region. Scalise, a former vice president at Merrill Lynch & Co., has worked with public finance clients that range from traditional municipal issuers to hospitals and universities.
Baird moved quickly to replace the bankers it lost in April to St. Louis-based Stifel, Nicolaus & Co. Stifel hired five Baird public finance professionals, including several bankers, to open a Milwaukee office.
Baird is a dominant player in the Wisconsin market, ranking at the top for at least the last five years, and it has a solid presence throughout the Midwest. The firm has bankers in its Columbus and suburban Chicago offices.
In another recent firm move in the Midwest, James Pass, who specializes in the higher education and health care sector, left Salomon Smith Barney Inc.'s Chicago office to head up Dain Rauscher Inc.'s Chicago office. That position has been vacant since Adrienne Archia moved over to Siebert Brandford Shank & Co. earlier this year. Pass had been at Salomon Smith Barney since 1991.
"It presents a lot of new challenges and opportunities," Pass, 36, said of his decision to take the job. Market players said the move was a strong one for Pass, since there was little room for him to grow at Salomon Smith Barney, which has several bankers with strong regional issuer ties.
Pass said he hopes to hire one or two additional bankers for the Chicago office, including a professional with more traditional municipal relationships.
Sources said Thomas Chapman, who headed up public finance for First Union Securities Inc. in Chicago until the firm decided last month to halt its negotiated business, has been in discussions with Dain regarding a position there. Sources said Chapman has also been approached by Banc One Capital Markets Inc. about joining that firm along with other former First Union bankers.
