Public Finance Banker Continues to focus on Charter School Finance

SARASOTA, Fla., October 10, 2022Baird, an employee-owned, international financial services firm, announced today that Public Finance Investment Banker Bruce Sorensen has relocated from Minneapolis to Sarasota, Fla., with a continued focus on Charter School finance. 

Since 2003, Baird’s National Charter School Finance Group has assisted charter schools and charter management organizations on more than 290 charter school financings nationwide, obtaining over $8.0 billion in funding for various projects. Baird ranks as the No. 1 underwriter of charter school bonds nationwide by both number of cumulative issues and total par amount since 2009, according to Refinitiv. Sorensen’s relocation to Florida will allow Baird’s National Charter School Finance Group to provide on the ground support to assess the various financing needs of charter schools to provide customized solutions.

Sorensen joined Baird in 2019 with more than 30 years of industry experience. Over the course of his career, he has developed expertise in many areas of public finance, including local government, economic development, sales tax, tax increment, project revenue, new markets tax credit, and charter school finance. In 2007, he established Piper Jaffray’s charter school finance business and served as the senior banker on charter school financings for over 10 years. He attended the Institute of Technology at the University of Minnesota and earned his Bachelor of Science in Economics in 1989 from St. Cloud State University.

Baird’s robust presence in Florida includes wealth management, investment banking, institutional and fixed income sales, and equity research operations through eight offices in Merritt Island, Naples, Sarasota, Siesta Key, Stuart, Tampa, West Palm Beach, and Winter Park. Additionally, one of Baird’s four underwriting desks is located in Naples, FL.

Baird offers a superior municipal new issuance platform, extensive banking experience, a depth of resources including sophisticated quantitative analytics and marketing, and a proven underwriting desk and salesforce that actively purchase and distribute Florida bonds to support the financing objectives of our clients.

For more information on Baird Public Finance, please visit www.rwbaird.com/publicfinance.

Baird Public Finance

Baird has made a conscious effort to hire veteran bankers that bring both a wealth of knowledge and experience to Baird. Over the past ten years, Baird has expanded its public finance headcount by more than 40%. Baird’s robust team of professionals combined with its nationally recognized underwriting desk allows the firm to serve and support the evolving needs of its clients. According to Ipreo MuniAnalytics, Baird ranked as the No. 1 municipal underwriter by number of issues for the 13th consecutive year in 2021.

About Baird

Putting clients first since 1919, Baird is an employee-owned, international wealth management, asset management, investment banking/capital markets, and private equity firm with offices in the United States, Europe and Asia. Baird has approximately 4,600 associates serving the needs of individual, corporate, institutional and municipal clients and more than $415 billion in client assets as of Dec. 31, 2021. Committed to being a great workplace, Baird ranked No. 27 on the 2022 Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For® list – its 19th consecutive year on the list. Baird is the marketing name of Baird Financial Group. Baird’s principal operating subsidiaries are Robert W. Baird & Co. Incorporated and Baird Trust Company in the United States and Robert W. Baird Group Ltd. in Europe. Baird also has an operating subsidiary in Asia supporting Baird’s investment banking and private equity operations. For more information, please visit Baird’s website at www.rwbaird.com.

For more information, contact:

Baird Public Relations
publicrelations@rwbaird.com
414-765-7250