Baird announced Tuesday it added seven financial advisors to its private wealth management business in Houston. The advisors, all legacy A.G. Edwards advisors who were most recently with Wells Fargo Advisors, collectively oversee more than $1.9 billion in client assets.
The expansion comes at the heels of an April hire of 7 advisors also from Wells Fargo Advisors. To date, the firm has added more than 300 financial advisors to its private wealth management group since 2009, many of whom are industry veterans.
Texas is a great focus market for Baird, and were looking to further grow our footprint in what is a robust area of opportunity for the industry as a whole, says Jarrett Kovics, director of the Texas Market for Bairds Private Wealth Management business. We have no quota or set hiring goal. Should the right high integrity advisors present themselves, we may [further hire].
Of the teams to join Baird in Houston, the Ashcroft Pesek Group includes advisors Richard Ashcroft and Darrell Pesek, who have worked together for more than 15 years. They are joined by financial advisor in-training Scott Bartosh and client relationship assistant Kathy Ballew.
Also joining Baird are advisors Greg Evans, Stephen Allain, and Jerred Crumley of the Evans-Allain-Crumley Group.
Evans, a 20-year veteran in the industry, joins Baird from A.G. Edwards, where he began in 1997. Allain, who began at A.G. Edwards in 2000, previously spent a decade in the health care industry with Parke-Davis and Pfizer. Crumley joined Evans and Allain in 2007 as an associate and became a financial advisor in 2011. All three are joined by Financial Advisor in Training Scott Bartosh and Client Relationship Assistant Kathy Ballew.
Advisors John Barnefield and William Barrow will also join Baird, bringing nearly 30 years of industry experience.
These accomplished advisors are a tremendous addition to Baird, our financial advisors and our clients, and are very highly regarded by the oil and gas industry professionals whom they serve for their deep expertise and personalized service, says Kovics. They are very highly regarded by their clients for their deep expertise and personalized service.
The firm also announced the establishment of Baird Retirement Management, a new affinity program for financial advisors across Baird whose business focus is on providing retirement planning and investment consulting services to business professionals. The program will capitalize on the advisors deep expertise in this area and enhance the firms current retirement services offerings through research, ongoing education and other resources benefiting Baird financial advisors and their clients, according to the company statement.
