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What we do
Careful planning and detailed budgeting – meeting the specific needs of charter schools, college and universities, counties, health care, housing and real estate, municipalities, Native Americans, non-profit organizations, schools, states and authorities, as well as other entities – are hallmarks of how Baird can help you manage debt.
And while many national and regional firms have been scaling back or eliminating their public finance departments, Baird has been expanding.
Click a topic below to find out more.
Underwriter
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Baird is a major underwriter of a vast array of financing projects. Our extensive distribution network allows us to market bonds across all investor classes, creating strong demand for bonds in order to drive down interest costs.
Baird ranked high nationally in 2009 as Lead Managing Underwriter:
- No. 1 for number of issues
- No. 1 for competitive issues $100 million or less
- No. 1 for issues of $20 million or less
- No. 2 for issues of $50 million or less
- No. 3 for competitive issues
- No. 7 for issues of $100 million or less
- No. 11 for competitive and negotiated issues
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)
- No. 1 for number of ARRA issues
Datasourced by Ipreo MuniAnalytics as of December 29, 2009. |
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Financial Advisor
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As a Financial Advisor, Baird can help you design and structure proposed bonds. We provide quantitative analysis of bids, and market analysis of the pricing offered by underwriters or purchasers. We evaluate all possible credit enhancements and financing tools that could enhance the overall borrowing.
From preliminary discussions to executive meetings, closing, post-sale and continuing disclosure preparations, Baird will guide you through each step to meet your financing goals. |
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Placement Agent
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Our senior level professionals average over 20 years in the industry and have the knowledge and resources to assist both public and private entities in raising capital for upcoming projects. Projects range from municipal leases, economic development projects, redevelopment plans and land acquisitions. Complementing our resources are our other business units: Private Equity, Private Wealth Management, Fixed Income Sales and Trading and Institutional Sales.
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Budget Forecasting
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Our Public Finance professionals have the knowledge and experience to advise you in preparing a reliable budget forecast and/or trend analysis. These essential tools can assist you in decision-making, establishing tax policy and viewing the future effect of certain current legislative constraints. We take into consideration economic and financial variables such as trends in enrollment, population, valuation and tax rates. By defining your goals through historical data, implementing key finance assumptions and projecting revenues and expenditures, these analyses can be used for several purposes. Not only are they looked upon favorably by rating agencies, they can be used for educating the public or a governing body.
We have and continue to help districts and local governments understand and benefit from Baird budget forecasts through seminars, workshops and one-on-one sessions.
Baird’s School Budget Forecast Model program is available from Baird Business Solutions . Learn more about Baird School Business Solutions. |
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Capital Improvement Planning
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We are experienced in developing CIPs, which include creating a schedule of capital improvement projects for five or more years, and identifying capital project costs and proposed sources of funding. Baird creates a customized CIP, updates it as necessary, and runs scenarios to help determine the impact of future borrowings on debt capacity. By changing assumptions, your municipality can plan for contingencies. |
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Credit Rating Analysis
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Since we work continuously with rating agencies on hundreds of financing each year, we know their preferences and concerns. This insight is an asset to clients who need to establish, maintain or improve credit ratings. We can guide you through the credit rating process, including:
- Initial cost evaluation of receiving a credit rating
- Credit rating enhancements such as insurance or a line of credit
- Choosing a credit rating agency
- Presentation development
- Meeting with the credit rating agency
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Investment Advice
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Prudent investing of public funds is key to meeting the investment objectives of your particular entity. Whether developing an investment strategy to meet certain requirements of a bond issue or designing an investment portfolio to meet longer term investment goals, we tailor each portfolio to fit your specific needs. Highly experienced at meeting the investment needs of public entities, the Baird Public Investment Advisors team uses many different steps to best assist your investment goals.
- Review the investment policy of your entity
- Determine investment objectives and assess risk tolerances
- Review historical cash flows
- Discuss future cash flow forecasts
- Identify any unique needs
- Review your current investments
- Provide comprehensive investment reporting and analysis
Learn more about our Investment Advisory Services. |
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Referendum Assistance
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Baird’s Public Finance professionals have extensive experience providing referendum support. Our success is attributed to a staff of professionals who understand the complexity of the process and issues involved in passing a referendum. Baird's public finance team helps you through the process to create a referendum strategy, which includes assistance in several areas, including:
- Determining the best time to go to referendum
- Informing you of any legal requirements
- Creating a timetable to organize and prioritize tasks
- Establishing subcommittees and clearly defining their responsibilities
- Providing telephone canvassing scripts to inform the public of the upcoming referendum
Once the referendum is passed, our services continue to help you raise money for your project. Debt structure, spending requirements, identification of strengths and weaknesses for credit analysis, and market timing are considerations we carefully examine when bringing your issue to market. We also provide assistance regarding investing proceeds to maximize earnings.
Referendum services are only one part of our comprehensive financial services for school districts. We also offer advice and assistance in capital improvement planning and budget forecasting.
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 Contact a Public Finance Office
Related Information
Referendum Assistance
Public Finance Careers
About Fixed Income Sales
and Trading
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