Baird Grabs 7 FAs, $700M From Morgan Stanley, Other Firms

Baird said Wednesday that it had hired seven financial advisors with a total of about $717 million in assets under management from Morgan Stanley (MS), Wells Fargo (WF) and two other firms. The advisors join the firm in California, Colorado, Oregon and Utah.

Richard Nigro, previously with Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, is joining employee-owned Baird’s Salt Lake City office. Nigro’s assets under management are about $82 million. Another Morgan Stanley advisor– Philip Holbert–left Morgan Stanley to join Baird in Denver; Holbert’s assets total $100 million.

In Sacramento, Calif., Baird recruited the Cairns and Kay Financial Group–which includes Daniel Cairns, CFP, and John Kay–from Wells Fargo with about $100 million in assets under management.

Clark Robert Nye left Seattle Northwest Securities recently to join Baird in Portland, Ore., with about $220 million in assets.

Also new to the Baird team in Portland are Tim Shipley and David Louthan. They formerly worked for Wedbush Securities, where they managed $135 million and $80 million in assets, respectively.

In September, Baird said it had hired six new financial advisors and a nonproducing branch manager from several wirehouses and other broker-dealers. The new hires include the Capuano Butler Group of Denver, which manages some $600 million in assets and was previously affiliated with Charles Schwab.

In mid-August, Baird recruited five Morgan Stanley Smith Barney advisors with more than $250 million in client assets to join a new branch office in Salt Lake City.

The Milwaukee-based boutique firm has added well over 200 advisors and branch managers to its private wealth management group since early 2009.

Baird and several other financial-services companies received recognition from the Securities Industry & Financial Markets Association last week for their efforts to encourage diversity, leadership and innovation. For Baird, the award represents another milestone in its quest to grow its female advisor force and the overall diversity of the firm, one executive said.