The deal is complete and Hilliard Lyons of St. Joseph is now officially a wholly owned subsidiary of Baird as the deal announced late last November closed today. Mike Wyble and his team of brokers, asset managers, wealth managers and others will still carry the Hilliard name until October. For now, it’s Hilliard Lyons, a Baird Company, and in the fall becomes strictly Baird.
At the time of the original announcement on November 28th, Wyble the local Hilliard Lyons Manager, said, “Hilliard Lyons clients will continue to work with their existing advisors and teams, but may see access to expanded resources and capabilities. The commitment to clients and their communities is unwavering.” He concluded, “There is nothing clients need to do at this point as a result of this merger announcement.”
Both Hilliard Lyons and Hilliard Lyons Trust Company are now wholly owned subsidiaries of Baird, which is an employee-owned, international wealth management, asset management, investment banking/capital markets, and private equity firm with more than $200-billion in client assets. The transaction closed today, and as a result, all of Hilliard Lyons’ financial advisors and associates are now a part of Baird. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Established in 1854, Hilliard Lyons is one of the nation’s oldest financial services firms. Hilliard Lyons and Hilliard Lyons Trust Company are both headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky. Together they offer wealth management, trust and estate planning services, as well as select investment banking, municipal finance and asset management services. Both companies combined had over $50-billion in client assets as of September 30, 2018, their fiscal year end, and 2018 revenue of more than $280-million.
Baird, which was established in 1919 and is celebrating its 100th anniversary year, had revenues of $1.78-billion in 2018, its ninth consecutive year of record results. The overwhelming majority of Hilliard advisors – representing nearly all of Hilliard’s wealth management revenue – agreed to join Baird. As a result, Baird’s wealth management business now encompasses approximately 1,300 financial advisors serving clients from over 170 offices in 34 states, including the Hilliard Lyons office at 2900 S. State Street in St. Joseph.
Steve Booth is Baird President & CEO. He says, “Today is a day to celebrate. To welcome Hilliard Lyons’ associates and clients to the Baird family during our 100th anniversary year is a tremendous achievement that brings all of us great pride.” Booth adds, “We are excited to build on Hilliard Lyons’ long legacy of exceptional client service and look to a very bright future as a unified firm.”
Jim Allen is Chairman & CEO of Hilliard Lyons. He says, “As the past few months have confirmed, Baird is a great fit for our clients and the Hilliard Lyons team on every level,” and adds, “We couldn’t be more pleased to celebrate bringing our two great firms together.” After the merger is completed in the second half of 2019, Allen will serve as a Vice Chairman of Baird and a member of Baird’s Executive Committee out of Louisville.
Paul Purcell is Chairman of the Board at Baird. He says, “This is a defining moment for both Baird and Hilliard Lyons, as we join forces to accelerate our collective success and importantly, the success of our clients.”
Hilliard Lyons’ top leadership – Chairman & CEO Allen, President Tom Kessinger III, and Alan Newman, Executive Vice President and Director, Private Wealth – will continue in their roles, working closely with Baird’s Private Wealth Management (PWM) leadership team to ensure a smooth transition for the firm and its clients.
Mike Schroeder, President of Baird Private Wealth Management, says, “We welcome Jim, Tom, Alan and the entire Hilliard team to Baird,” adding, “We look forward to building on Hilliard’s deep roots in the great community of Louisville as well as many other cities.”
Hilliard Lyons and Baird share a long-standing tradition of giving back to the communities where their associates live and work. The now-combined firms and their associates support a variety of service, cultural, health and education-related organizations. In 2018, Baird Foundation provided more than $4.1-million in support to charitable organizations.
Celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, Baird has offices in the United States, Europe and Asia, with approximately 3,500 associates serving the needs of individual, corporate, institutional and municipal clients and more than $208-billion in client assets as of Dec. 31, 2018. Committed to being a great workplace, Baird ranked No. 16 on FORTUNE’s 2019 100 Best Companies to Work For list.
Baird is the marketing name of Baird Financial Group. Baird’s principal operating subsidiaries are Robert W. Baird & Co. Incorporated 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, you can visit Baird’s website online at this link: http://www.rwbaird.com
