Baird said Thursday that it hired Wells Fargo veteran Jason Schlesinger to join its San Francisco wealth-management office. And on Friday, an executive of the employee-owned company said Baird is open to speaking with independent advisors, such as those with Securities America.
Schlesinger has some $200 million in assets and generates about $1.3 million in annual production, or fees and commissions. He was with Wells Fargo for three years and previously worked for Bank of America.
Baird, which now includes nearly 700 financial advisors, has hired close to 200 FAs and branch managers since early 2009. It had about $63 billion in client assets as of year-end 2010.
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"We are bringing on advisors from many firms," said Matt Curley (left), national sales director and COO of Baird Private Wealth Management, in an interview. "We are really able to hire from everyone, because financial professionals are finding a unique story with us that they cannot find elsewhere." "We can take the right long-term approach for clients, and this is a big part of our culture," explained Curley.
According to the Milwaukee-based executive, Baird ramped up its hiring before the financial-crisis and then saw a big pick-up in recruiting in 2008 and 2009.
