2023 Baird Annual Report GLOBAL EXPERTISE
WITH A FOCUS ON YOU
Corporate Resource Groups
Our Corporate Resource Groups provided vital expertise and service to our clients and colleagues throughout 2023.
Corporate Real Estate and Workplace Solutions led the completion of key projects, including the expansion of our European headquarters in London. The project included 30,000 square feet of new office space, including a best-in-class conference center and gathering spaces for our associates. The team also oversaw the completion of a lease extension in our Milwaukee headquarters, which will provide more than 456,000 square feet of office space and signage on the building exterior. The team also continued building its technology platform with a reservation system to support hoteling in our offices.
Our Culture team inspired, celebrated and connected Baird associates across the globe, including hosting our annual meeting in Louisville, Kentucky, for the first time and creating customized programming such as our New Associate Experience, a signature event attended by nearly 100% of new associates. Marketing & Communications oversaw high-impact branding opportunities including a new naming rights partnership with the Wisconsin Center, the state’s largest convention center. The venue is now known as the Baird Center. Corporate Events hosted exclusive events for our clients, including a forum for women business leaders in Napa, California. Conference Services created premium experiences for our institutional clients, executing 12 industry conferences serving 6,422 clients and 939 presenting companies. The team also hosted 18,842 1x1 meetings connecting companies and investors.
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Meanwhile, our IT team led important initiatives to enhance the tools, technology and analytics available to our colleagues and clients. Risk Management leveraged the diversity of its team and data analytics capabilities to provide proactive insights to partners across the firm to manage ever-evolving business, market and cyber risks. Operations continued to invest in technology and operational process initiatives to make it even easier for clients to do business with Baird, including partnering with colleagues to enable new offerings and developing process refinements and automations so we can continue to provide differentiated service.
Legal & Compliance partnered with colleagues on key initiatives such as establishing our European Fixed Income Capital Markets trading desk, onboarding Global Investment Banking’s Global General Partners Solutions group, facilitating forward sale transactions on at-the-market offerings off the Equity Capital Markets desk, and completing the firm’s investment in LoCorr Funds. Compliance also created and delivered 27 training courses to meet regulatory requirements, tailoring each to ensure coursework was highly relevant to each associate’s role and their clients. Finance implemented new shareholder eligibility criteria that significantly expanded Baird’s associate ownership and partnered with Human Resources to create custom training courses to support the development of associates at all levels.
Human Resources continued to focus on engaging our talent, developing leaders and supporting associates in their life, career and future. We delivered 120 development programs customized to meet the needs of each area of Baird and had a 38% increase in personalized leadership coaching. Our development programs build and hone the skills needed to deliver for our clients and support each other. The team also expanded coverage to meet the mental health needs of our associates and their families by making all mental health visits subject to in-network payments, regardless of the provider.
BAIRD CENTER
Milwaukee has been great for Baird, and in 2023 we made a substantial investment in the city’s future as the naming rights partner for The Baird Center – Wisconsin’s largest convention center. We are honored to welcome businesses and organizations from around the world to our hometown.
