Baird lands nine UBS and three Wells Fargo reps

Like other regional firms, Robert W. Baird & Co. Inc. is benefiting from turmoil at larger competitors.

Late last month, the Milwaukee-based firm grabbed nine brokers from UBS Financial Services Inc. of New York.

The UBS group, together with three more reps from San Francisco-based Wells Fargo Investments LLC, opened a Baird office in Minnetonka, Minn.

Amy Nutter, a Baird spokeswoman, declined to comment on the new office’s revenue or asset levels.

“Baird offered the right combination of size, culture and products to help us meet the … needs of our clients,” Larry Law, the Minnetonka branch manager, said in a statement.

Mr. Law, a 29-year industry veteran who came over from UBS, didn’t return phone calls seeking comment.

Joining him from UBS were his son, Dan Law, as well as James Anderson, Thomas Bredeson, Lawrence Carlsen, Michael Chorley, Fred Gamble, Douglas Sandahl and William Teeter.

David Goldenberg, Bryan Strong and John Wire joined the Minnetonka Baird office from Wells Fargo.

The branch also picked up three support staff members from UBS and two from Wells Fargo.

UBS, like all large firms, suffers from problems with subprime-related write-offs and auction rate securities. Rumors continue among UBS producers that the bank’s U.S. retail-securities business might be sold.

Separately, Baird this month hired Steven Stahlberg as a managing director to recruit brokers for offices in California and Nevada.

The firm has no retail presence in those states, said Mr. Stahlberg, who most recently held a similar post at Morgan Stanley of New York before losing his job in April amid a management shuffle.

Before that, he worked in Roseville, Calif., as the major-markets manager for Wachovia Securities LLC of St. Louis. Mr. Stahlberg was considered one of Wachovia’s better recruiters.

He said that Baird’s first retail office in California will likely be based in Roseville.

In the past year, Baird has also added adviser teams in Phoenix and in Reston, Va. The firm has nearly 600 retail brokers in 57 offices in 17 states.

E-mail Dan Jamieson at [email protected].