David Tarantino, Head of Global Equities , Director of Equity Research

David Tarantino serves as Baird’s Head of Global Equities and Director of Equity Research and is a member of the firm’s Executive Committee. In this role, he oversees the firm’s equity research, institutional sales and trading, and corporate access functions. 

David has extensive experience in the capital markets, having provided investment advice throughout his time at Baird to a wide range of institutional money managers while also interfacing regularly with senior executives of publicly-traded and privately-held companies.     

He has been Baird’s Director of Research since 2018, and he previously was a Senior Research Analyst covering the Restaurants sector from 2006-2026.  Prior to joining Baird in 2003, he held a variety of positions in Brand Management and Product Development at The Procter & Gamble Company.

He holds a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from the University of Notre Dame and an MBA with concentrations in finance and accounting from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

David also is actively involved in the community and has served on nonprofit boards focused on advancing education, including previously as Chair of the Board at Marquette University High School in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and currently as Vice Chair of Marquette University’s Parent and Family Leadership Council.