Baird lures father-son team from Wells Fargo

Robert W. Baird & Co. Inc. continues to add to its adviser ranks. Last week, the investment bank and brokerage firm lured father-son team M. William McCollum Jr. and Travis McCollum from Wells Fargo Advisors LLC to work in its Charlotte, N.C., office. The two, who operate under the name The McCollum Group LLC, were managing $220 million at Wells Fargo and had trailing-12-month production of $1.4 million. They both previously worked at Wachovia Securities LLC and Legg Mason Wood Walker Inc., where the younger McCollum started in the business. The elder Mr. McCollum started with Reynolds Securities Inc., a predecessor to Dean Witter Reynolds Inc., in 1973. A Wells Fargo spokeswoman was not able to confirm the departures by press time. “When opportunities present themselves, we're looking to expand our business on a selective basis,” said John Mabee, vice-chairman of Baird's private-wealth-management Group. Baird also brought on Robert Nye last week, an adviser with Seattle-Northwest Securities Corp. for the past 20 years. Mr. Nye managed $220 million in retail assets at Seattle-Northwest, according to Baird and his trailing production was $1.5 million. Jon Labonite, director of human resources at Seattle Northwest, confirmed Mr. Nye's departure but declined to comment. Earlier in the summer, Baird attracted two other adviser groups — the Silverberg Pedersen Group in Sioux City, Iowa, and the Capuano Butler Group in Denver. David Silverberg and Jeff Pedersen formerly managed $100 million in assets and had production of $965,000 at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC. They joined Baird in mid-July. Dominic Capuano and Timothy Butler managed $600 million in assets and had production of $5.5 million at Schwab's Private Client Group, according to Baird. They joined the firm in August. Christine Pollack, a MSSB spokesperson, confirmed the departures but declined to comment. A Schwab spokeswoman did not return a call by press time. So far this year, Baird has transitioned 45 financial advisers and three branch managers to the firm. In a difficult recruiting environment, Baird has increased its adviser force from 600 at the end of 2008 to 680 today. Along with Sioux City, Charlotte, N.C., Portland, Ore., and Denver, the firm has also opened offices in Salt Lake City, Fort Worth, Texas, and Winston-Salem and Raleigh, N.C., Sacramento, Calif., and Lynchburg, Va., during that period. Baird plans to continue expanding the business. “In the next three to four years, we want to expand our number of advisers to between 825 and 850,” Mr. Mabee said. Don't expect wirehouse-size recruiting bonuses. “We're employee-owned, so we don't give money away,” Mr. Mabee said. “We run this like a business, and the offers we put together make good business sense.”