11/28/2022

Baird Public Finance Hires Morse, Simpson and Fitti

Bringing Expertise in Credit Analysis with a Focus on Federal Leases and Higher Education

PHILADELPHIA and BOSTON, November 28, 2022 – Baird, an employee-owned, international financial services firm, announced today that Public Finance Investment Bankers Chris Morse, Steve Simpson and Carlo Fitti have joined the firm.

“We are very pleased to have Chris, Steve and Carlo joining Baird,” said Brian Brewer, Managing Director, Director of Public Finance at Baird. “Their tremendous expertise in credit analysis allows them to develop financing plans that use their clients’ credit strengths to execute institutionally critical financings. We are excited to add them to our group.”

Baird offers a superior municipal new issuance platform, extensive banking experience, a depth of resources including sophisticated quantitative analytics and marketing, and a proven underwriting desk and salesforce that actively purchase and distribute bonds to support the financing objectives of our clients.

For more information on Baird Public Finance, please visit www.rwbaird.com/publicfinance.

Biographies

Christopher Gage Morse, Managing Director
Public Finance Banker
Morse brings more than 29 years of experience in Investment Banking and Corporate Finance. He was responsible for building markets for Merrill Lynch’s leveraged finance efforts and was highly successful integrating Merrill Lynch’s Global Banking Group with the firm’s investment banking, private equity and leveraged finance initiatives. Shortly after leaving Merrill, Morse served as a key member of Municipal Funding Corp of America which pioneered the first–ever tax exempt CDO.  Most recently, he has been successful in developing Oppenheimer & Company, Inc.’s growth in the high yield, tax exempt debt market with a focus on higher education. Since fiscal year 2020, he was responsible for pioneering and scaling a new asset class around non-cancellable Federal Lease obligations, issuing approximately $2.0 billion of Federal lease revenue bonds since fiscal year 2020. Morse received his Bachelor of Science from Louisiana Tech University and served in the United States Marine Corps.
Stephen W. Simpson, CFA, Managing Director
Public Finance Associate Banker
Simpson brings more than 30 years of experience to Baird, specializing in municipal finance, business development, and managing complex transactions, investment banking, and capital services. He has advised on, structured, and executed approximately $19.0 billion of tax-exempt and taxable bond issues for owners of mission critical federal infrastructure, private higher and secondary educational organizations, acute and long-term healthcare providers, as well as cultural and research not-for-profit organizations. He has specific expertise in securing initial credit ratings for issuers and borrowers and developing innovative financing structures that meet his clients’ long-term needs. Simpson received his Bachelor of Arts in Political Economy from Williams College and earned his Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation.
Carlo J. Fitti, Director
Public Finance Associate Banker
Fitti brings more than 20 years of securities experience to Baird. Prior to joining Baird, he served as an Executive Director at Oppenheimer & Company, Inc. supporting several Public Finance Banking practices as part of a team with a personal focus on Higher Education. He also served as the Head Trader and Options Strategist at AlphaOne Capital Partners, L.L.C. Additionally, his vast experience includes Market Making and Proprietary Trading at Susquehanna International Group (SIG). Fitti holds his Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Swarthmore College.

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 40%. 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 Ipreo MuniAnalytics, Baird ranked as the No. 1 municipal underwriter by number of issues for the 13th consecutive year in 2021.

About Baird

Putting clients first since 1919, Baird is an employee-owned, international wealth management, asset management, investment banking/capital markets, and private equity firm with offices in the United States, Europe and Asia. Baird has approximately 4,800 associates serving the needs of individual, corporate, institutional and municipal clients and more than $360 billion in client assets as of June 30, 2022. Committed to being a great workplace, Baird ranked No. 27 on the 2022 Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For^® list – its 19^th 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. Baird also has an operating subsidiary in Asia supporting Baird’s investment banking and private equity operations. For more information, please visit Baird’s website at www.rwbaird.com.