Baird Public Finance Hires Tim Kelly, Growing Higher Education and Non-Profit Presence Nationally
MILWAUKEE – August 11, 2025 – Baird today announced that Tim Kelly has joined the firm’s Public Finance group as Managing Director, Public Finance Banker. In this role, Kelly will focus on higher education and non-profit borrowers.
Kelly brings more than 25 years of public finance banking experience, having served at bulge-bracket firms as well as regional investment banks. Throughout his career, he has worked on various transaction types totaling more than $13 billion in par amount. Kelly has worked intensively on a wide range of financing structures, securities and credit profiles, as well as the application and need for various derivative products. He received his bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Albany.
We’re excited to welcome Tim to Baird as he continues his distinguished career. His deep expertise in the non-profit space will be a tremendous asset as we expand our capabilities and strengthen our public finance platform nationwide.
Brian Brewer, Director of Public Finance
I am pleased to join Baird, given its broad capabilities and strong reputation of its sales force for effectively distributing well-structured credits in the low and below investment grade space.
Tim Kelly, Public Finance Banker
Baird’s superior municipal new issuance platform, supported by extensive banking experience, deep resources in quantitative analytics, marketing and a proven underwriting desk and sales force enables us to actively distribute a wide range of bonds tailored to clients’ financing needs. As demand from institutional accounts for high-yield opportunities continues to grow, expanding our presence in this space allows us to better serve those evolving objectives.
About Baird Public Finance
Baird is a full-service broker-dealer firm that provides municipal underwriting and financial advisory services to Public School Districts, Charter Schools, Municipalities, Counties, Special Districts and Authorities, States, Developers, Higher Education and Healthcare entities. Over the past ten years, Baird has expanded its public finance headcount by more than 30%. 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 S&P Muni Deal Query, Baird ranks as the No. 1 municipal underwriter and a top 5 municipal advisor nationally by number of issues collectively since 2009.
About Baird
Baird is an employee-owned, international wealth management, asset management, investment banking/capital markets and private equity firm with more than 200 offices worldwide. Established in 1919, Baird has approximately 5,400 associates serving the needs of individual, corporate, institutional and municipal clients. Baird has nearly $500 billion in client assets as of December 31, 2024. Committed to being a great place to work, Baird ranked No. 13 on the 2024 Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For® list – its 22nd 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. Robert W. Baird Limited and Baird Capital Partners Europe Limited are authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. For more information, please visit Baird’s website at www.rwbaird.com.
For additional information, contact:
Baird Public Relations
(414) 765-7250
publicrelations@rwbaird.com
