Robert W. Baird & Co. has hired Dean Cottle to head a new Salt Lake City wealth management office in the firm’s latest move to expand its geographic reach and advisor force.
Baird plans to hire 150 new financial advisors in the next few years, according to a firm spokeswoman, and will continue to open offices in new markets, with a particular focus on the western U.S. In the last year, Baird has opened or announced plans for new offices in Sioux City, Iowa, Charlotte, N.C., Winston-Salem, N.C., Denver, Sacramento, Calif., Lynchburg, Va., Raleigh, N.C. and Portland, Ore.
Cottle, 34, will head the new Salt Lake City branch as a non-producing branch manager. He joins Baird from his most recent post as a branch manager at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney. Prior to that, he held branch manager positions at Shearson Lehman Bros. and E.F. Hutton.
Cottle also serves on the board of governors for the Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce and the board of the Make-a-Wish Foundation of Utah.
Since the beginning of 2009, Baird has added 181 financial advisors and branch managers to its private wealth management group. Baird has more than 680 financial advisors in that business, which managed almost $63 billion in client assets as of December.
