Baird Adds Two Bankers in Texas, Opens Austin Public Finance Office

MILWAUKEE, Jan. 12, 2018 – Baird, an employee-owned, international capital markets, wealth management, private equity and asset management firm, today announced that it has added two Public Finance bankers in Texas.  Oscar Cardenas, CPA, joins as a Managing Director in Baird’s San Antonio Public Finance office and veteran school business professional, Steve Murray, joins as a Senior Vice President and investment banker in Baird’s new Austin Public Finance office, 7500 Rialto Blvd. Bldg. 1, Suite 250.

Cardenas brings more than 22 years of public school district finance experience to Baird. He most recently served as a Managing Director at Stifel Nicolaus, where he worked with multiple large Independent School Districts (ISDs), including Fort Bend, Northside and Richardson. Earlier in his career, Cardenas served as the Deputy Superintendent and Chief Financial Officer at Northside ISD, the fourth largest school district in Texas. In this role, he developed a comprehensive debt management plan, which included variable rate demand obligations (VRDO), was involved in seven successful bond elections totaling over $3.1 billion and negotiated the issuance of over $4 billion in bonds, including $2 billion in VRDO transactions. Cardenas earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas at Austin.

Murray brings over 35 years of public school leadership experience to Baird. Most recently, he served as Superintendent for the Bastrop ISD, where he led debt management activities through refinancing and preparing the district for a long range capital facilities plan. Earlier in his career, Murray served as Superintendent for Little Elm ISD, one of the fastest-growing school districts in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, where he provided strategic financial oversight as the district rapidly expanded with several new campuses and facilities, and led the district to receive its first “Academically Recognized” rating. Murray received a bachelor’s degree from Stephen F. Austin State University, a Master of Education in School Leadership from Texas State University, and a Superintendent’s Certification from Texas A&M University.

“We are thrilled to welcome both Oscar and Steve to our team at Baird,” said Brian Brewer, Director of Baird’s Public Finance group. “Their depth of knowledge and experience serving both as leaders and bankers for Texas ISDs will be a tremendous addition to our Public Finance team in Texas.”

With the addition of Cardenas and Murray, Baird has a total of sixteen Public Finance professionals serving Texas municipal issuers from office locations in Houston, San Antonio and Austin. In October, Baird welcomed James Stewart and Marisol Warneke and a opened Baird Public Finance office in San Antonio. These additions complement Baird’s established Municipal Utility District (MUD) and Special District advisory services in Texas led by Managing Director Jan Bartholomew and city and county underwriting services led by Managing Director Brian Kelso.

In addition to Public Finance, Baird has three offices in Houston and offices in Lake Jackson, Dallas, Fort Worth that offer fixed income institutional sales, private wealth management, and equity research in the region. Today, Baird employs 124 associates throughout the state.

About Baird’s Public Finance Group
Baird is a full-service broker-dealer firm that provides municipal underwriting and financial advisory services to K-12/ISD Education, Charter Schools, Municipalities, Counties, Special Districts and Authorities, States, Developers, Higher Education and Healthcare entities. In 2017, Baird served as the underwriter, placement agent or advisor on more than 1,350 municipal issues totaling nearly $39.6 billion.  According to Ipreo MuniAnalytics, Baird ranked as the No. 1 municipal underwriter by number of issues in 2017. In addition, Baird ranked No. 2 for issues $50 million or less based on par amount and ranked in the Top 10 among financial advisory firms based on number of issues nationally.  Since 2009, Baird has provided services to municipal issuers in all 50 states.

About Baird
Baird is an employee-owned, international wealth management, capital markets, private equity and asset management firm with offices in the United States, Europe and Asia. Established in 1919, Baird has more than 3,400 associates serving the needs of individual, corporate, institutional and municipal clients. Baird has $188billion in client assets. Committed to being a great place to work, Baird ranked No. 4 on FORTUNE’s 100 Best Companies to Work For in 2017 – its 14th 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 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 Web site at www.rwbaird.com.

For additional information contact:
Baird Public Relations
(414) 765-7250