Recruiting wars rage on as Baird snags veteran Smith Barney manager
Several hiring announcements last week suggest that the recruiting war for talent in the wealth management industry appears far from over.
Several hiring announcements last week suggest that the recruiting war for talent in the wealth management industry appears far from over.
Robert W. Baird & Co. Inc. said it has hired Dennis Rowland, a veteran Smith Barney branch manager, to recruit for and manage a new private-wealth-management office in St. Paul, Minn. The office will complement Baird’s two existing offices in the area, in Minnetonka and Edina.
The private-wealth-management division of Baird oversaw $53 billion in assets as of Sept. 30.
Mr. Rowland used to manage the St. Paul and Duluth, Minn., branches of Smith Barney, where he oversaw 29 advisers who brought in a total of $14 million in revenue. He started his job at Baird late last month.
The new Baird office is part of the Milwaukee-based firm’s expansion strategy. In 2009, the firm hired 105 advisers and opened several new offices around the country, including ones in Denver, Sacramento, Calif., and Winston-Salem, N.C.
SETTING GOALS
This year, Baird has similar goals, according to regional director Erik Dahlberg.
“If we could match last year’s number, we would be tickled with that,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of irons in the fire.”
The firm will “very likely” expand further in Minnesota and around the rest of the country, Mr. Dahlberg said.
“I would expect some more new locations,” he said.
Meanwhile, Barclays Wealth, a division of Barclays Bank PLC, which oversaw about $221 billion as of June 30, also announced recent hires last week. In a statement, the firm said that it plans to hire 100 advisers in the United States this year, after adding 50 advisers in 2009.
“Barclays Wealth is committed to serving high-net-worth clients in the Americas and expanding its presence in the region,” Jack Petersen, managing director and head of wealth management, Americas, said in a statement.
William Scott and Steve Pritsios, both of whom come from Oppenheimer & Co. Inc., will be based in Barclays’ Washington office, while Donald Mahoney, who was formerly with Radnor Trust Co., will be based in Philadelphia.
Also beefing up its presence in Washington is Rockefeller & Co. Inc., a multifamily office with $25 billion in assets.
Rockefeller last week said that Michael Marsh, who comes from Lynx Investment Advisory LLC, is now a senior vice president, focused on business development in Washington.
E-mail Hilary Johnson at [email protected].
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