Baird Expands Texas Presence, Adds Five Public Finance Bankers

Baird, an employee-owned, international capital markets, wealth management, private equity and asset management firm, today announced that its Public Finance business has added five bankers and opened three new offices in Texas, expanding the firm’s presence in the state. Ajay Thomas, Managing Director, John Hall, Director, Kirk London, Vice President, David Tiffin, Vice President, and Peter Lamar, Assistant Vice President, will build on Baird’s successful existing public finance effort working with Texas issuers.

Thomas and Lamar will work from Baird’s new Austin public finance office. Hall will work from Baird’s new San Antonio public finance office. London and Tiffin will work from a new Dallas public finance office, which also includes associates from Baird’s wealth management, equity research, fixed income sales and equity trading businesses.

“We are thrilled to add talented professionals like Ajay, John, Kirk, David and Peter to the Baird family,” said Paul E. Purcell, Baird Chairman, President & CEO. “We see tremendous opportunity in Texas. The region is culturally compatible with Baird – conservative, client-centric and community-oriented – and the state’s robust economic activity, population and job growth makes it a great place to do business.”

Baird has established a successful Texas public finance effort, executing both competitive and negotiated financings for issuers around the state, including the Austin Independent School District, City of Plano, Clifton Higher Education Finance Corporation (IDEA Public Schools), North Texas Municipal Water District, and many others. Since 2008 Baird has completed 113 Texas financings for an aggregate par amount of over $2.7 billion.

“Ajay, John, Kirk, David and Peter will be valuable assets to Baird’s Public Finance team as we continue to work with Texas issuers,” said Keith Kolb, Managing Director and Director of Baird’s Public Finance group. “They have a great track record of success, strong client relationships and deep expertise that align perfectly with our business.”

“Baird has achieved some great successes in Texas on behalf of our clients. Adding this team of seasoned professionals will allow us to continue our momentum in the market and expand the firm’s footprint in the state,” added Kolb.

Baird continues to grow its presence in Texas, particularly in its wealth management business. In 2010, Baird opened a new wealth management office in Fort Worth. Since that time, the business has continued to add talent in Fort Worth, Dallas and Houston where Baird has offices. Today, Baird employs 60 associates throughout the state and intends to hire additional fixed income professionals in the area in the future.

About Baird’s New Public Finance Professionals

Ajay Thomas, Managing Director
Thomas joins Baird from Raymond James where he most recently was a Managing Director & Head of the Southwest Region in the firm’s Public Finance business. Prior to Raymond James, he spent 8 years at Morgan Stanley & Co. in different public finance roles including Executive Director & Head of Southwest Region. Thomas holds a J.D. from The University of Texas School of Law, a Master of Public Policy degree from Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Southwestern University.

John Hall, Director
John Hall joins Baird from Raymond James where he worked as a senior public finance banker. Prior to his time at Raymond James, he spent two years at Morgan Stanley & Co. as a public finance banker and two years as a bond, underwriter and trustee counsel at Winstead. Hall has a J.D. and a M.B.A. from St. Mary’s University and Bachelor of Arts degree in Government from Centre College.

Kirk London, Vice President
Dr. Kirk London joins Baird from Raymond James where he helped establish a successful school district practice. He has 36 years of experience in the Texas Public School System, more than 20 of which were in a superintendent and administrator role. Dr. London was awarded a lifetime membership to both the state and national branches of the Texas Parent Teacher Association for his work in public education. He is also a lifetime member of the Texas Association of School Administrators. He received Master and Doctorate degrees from Texas A&M in Commerce and a Bachelor degree from The University of Texas in Arlington.

David Tiffin, Vice President
David Tiffin joins Baird from RBC Capital Markets where he was most recently a Vice President in the firm’s Public Finance business. In addition to banking experience, Tiffin also has extensive school administration experience, having served as an assistant superintendent of business and finance and CFO of Richardson ISD for 27 years. He earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Accounting from The University of North Texas.

Peter Lamar, Assistant Vice President
Peter Lamar joins Baird from Raymond James where he has worked as a public finance banker since 2006. Prior to his work at Raymond James, Lamar held a private equity role at Clearbrook Capital Partners and a wealth management role at Merrill Lynch. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance and Marketing from Florida State University.

About Baird’s Public Finance Group
Baird is a major underwriter and financial advisor to municipalities, schools, government agencies, nonprofits and corporations. In 2011, Baird served as the advisor, underwriter or placement agent on municipal bond transactions valued at nearly $25 billion. According to Thomson Reuters, Baird ranked in the Top 5 nationally for competitive municipal bond underwritings and the Top 10 nationally for municipal bond issues of $100 million or less, based on total par value of the issues, for 2011. Baird was honored by The Bond Buyer as underwriter for the “Small Issue Deal of the Year in 2011, “Nontraditional Financing Deal of the Year” in 2009 and advisor of the “Midwest Regional Deal of the Year” in 2007.

About Baird
Baird is an employee-owned, international wealth management, capital markets, private equity and asset management firm with offices in the United States, Europe and Asia. Established in 1919, Baird has more than 2,700 associates serving the needs of individual, corporate, institutional and municipal clients. Baird oversees and manages client assets of more than $94 billion. Committed to being a great place to work, Baird ranked No. 21 on FORTUNE’s 100 Best Companies to Work For in 2012 – its ninth consecutive year on the list. Baird’s principal operating subsidiaries are Robert W. Baird & Co. in the United States and Robert W. Baird Group Ltd. in Europe. Baird also has an operating subsidiary in Asia supporting Baird’s private equity operations. For more information, please visit Baird’s Web site at rwbaird.com.