A Message From Steve Booth

Values are a centering force in times of both calm and chaos. As the tumult of the global pandemic continued to unfold throughout 2021, Baird held fast to our core values of honesty, integrity, transparency and teamwork while always keeping our clients’ interests first. Each has guided Baird through times of significant change, including our unique journey as a privately held, employee-owned firm.

Being privately held and employee-owned allows us to decide and focus on what matters most: putting our clients first and staying true to our values. It’s why we repurchased our independence after selling a controlling stake in Baird to an outside entity in the early 1980s. We began the process in the mid-1990s, increasing our minority employee-ownership through two incremental transactions and ultimately acquiring ownership of Baird in 2004. This is not only one of the great legacies of my predecessor, Paul Purcell, it is a gift that we intend to never again relinquish because it is so fundamental to maintaining our values – and therefore to achieving our success.

These qualities, which have served Baird so well over our history, enabled us to navigate 2021’s challenges, act on opportunities that emerged and achieve extraordinary outcomes for our clients.

Business Highlights

2021 was a year of historically strong results across Baird. Our revenues totaled $3.41 billion, our 12^th consecutive record¹, while our operating income was $609 million – also a new record for the firm. The firm’s return on book value was 33.4%, including cash dividends paid to shareholders during the year and supported by continued cost savings from managing non-compensation expenses through the pandemic environment. These results also enabled us to do several special things, including granting a special one-time bonus to eligible associates, including long-term interns, and expanding our profit-sharing contributions. To ensure our communities also benefited from Baird’s 2021 results, we also deepened our investment in Baird Foundation’s charitable gift matching programs and other charitable initiatives across Baird.

The firm benefited from favorable market conditions across all of the markets we serve in 2021. This environment, combined with the best-in-class support of our Corporate Resource Groups, enabled each of our five complementary businesses to exceed our own and our clients’ expectations. A handful of business results and developments include:

Private Wealth Management posted a particularly strong finish to the year and now manages more than $275 billion in assets for its clients.
We saw exceptional growth in assets under management across our Asset Management teams. Additionally, assets in the Baird Funds exceeded $100 billion for the first time.
Our Equity Capital Markets teams achieved $1 billion in revenue for the first time. Global Investment Banking more than tripled its revenues and completed more than 400 financing and advisory transactions.
Fixed Income Capital Markets recorded its second-best year ever and continued to invest in building its team and capabilities.
Principal Investments saw robust results across its platform and generated record investment gains for its investors.

Baird managed or oversaw more than $415 billion in client assets at the end of 2021 – an increase of 375% over the past decade.

Our stock value has increased 221% over the past 10 years.²

¹ Financial results do not reflect the consolidation of certain private equity partnerships.

² Baird stock performance is based on the change in book value per share for Baird Financial Group common stock and includes cumulative cash dividends per share of $0.53, $0.55, $0.62, $0.67, $2.50, $0.70, $0.83, $1.83 and $2.50 paid in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020 and 2021, respectively. Baird is privately held and no public market exists for its shares. Baird can repurchase shares of Baird stock at book value when associates leave the firm. Past performance does not guarantee future results.