Business Development Associate

About The Role:

Baird's Private Wealth Management division is seeking a member for its PWM Business Development team. The PWM Business Development Team is an established group with a mission to grow revenues and improve profitability by acting as an internal ‘management consultant’ to Market Director, Branch Leaders, and Financial Advisor Practices. This Business Development Team plays a leadership role in our regionally aligned Wealth Center – a team of functional experts that come together to elevate the business outcomes and client experience by partnering with our Financial Advisor Practices. 

Partnering with the Business Development Consultants (BDC) to drive consistency, engagement, and business outcomes across our branch network and with our internal Wealth Center and Wealth Solutions Group teams, the Business Development Associate (BDA) will play an important role to support PWM’s strategic and growth initiatives.

The Impact You'll Make:

• Collaborate with the Business Development Consultants on pre-meeting strategy and preparations to enable the highest quality and most relevant meetings with Advisors. 
• Follow up with an Advisor practice soon after his/her meeting or interaction with a Business Development Consultant to maintain the momentum created by the meeting. This is achieved by phone or email and often requires the provision of relevant information, advice, or guidance, addressing questions, etc. 
• Schedule and record interactions in CRM, assigning follow up back to the Business Development Consultant, Wealth Center partners, or self. 
• Partner with other BDAs and Wealth Center Specialists on team to centralize key tasks to drive consistency, efficiency, and superior outcomes for BDCs and the FA practices they engage.
• Partner with the BDCs on FA Practice coaching and growth opportunities, with expanding responsibilities related to prep and follow-up with the field directly.
• Lead, support, and guide advisor conversations on a variety of topics including, but not limited to, Practice Management, Business Development, Wealth Management, Analytics Insights, etc. to support advisor team growth and the PWM growth strategy.
• Act as a liaison with internal partners in our Wealth Solutions Group – the platform of experts and solutions for PWM, Operations, and Corporate Events – to bring relevant ideas and content to the BDAs, BDCs, and full Wealth Center for awareness and strategic execution.
• Participate in Wealth Center Committees to drive efficiencies and consistencies across branch network, uncover enhancement opportunities, and work in a group environment to develop and deploy strategy.
• Manage and enhance an array of reporting tools and analytics used in measuring and evolving the PWM growth strategy with our field partners. – Partner closely with BDCs and PWM Analytics team to drive additional insights.
• Coordinate and eventually host monthly advisor and client education calls to ensure critical strategies and messages are reaching desired audiences. 
• Play lead role in partnering with PWM Marketing and internal thought leaders on new content, campaign, and education opportunities for FA practices and PWM clients.
• Support the coordination and execution of various meetings including regional events and workshops with both BDCs and Wealth Center associates. Play a leading role in agenda development, engagement, and key objectives of each event.
• Proactively generate ideas that link strategies to relevant tactics which Advisors may utilize to generate more business and/or improve client outcomes. – Create central strategies around proactive communication from the broader BDC group to the field, field leadership, and the Wealth Center
• Over time, a successful Business Development Associate will be expected to proactively generate ideas for the team and to travel modestly to branch offices to help advisors and managers in person. 
• Can grow into taking a leading role in proactively supporting select Advisors and branches with business development ideas and advice.

What You'll Bring To Baird:

• Bachelor’s degree preferred.
• 3-5 years experience in the financial services industry preferred.
• Attainment of, or demonstrated progress towards SIE and Series 7/66 licensing is highly valued. 
• Ability to be highly influential using strong fact-based arguments without the benefit of positional power. 
• Solid understanding of how a financial advisory practice functions. 
• Strong service orientation as well as knowledge and understanding of the challenges and opportunities faced by financial advisors. 
• Comfort with ambiguity as well as strong organizational skills and ability to work independently. 
• Knowledge of various investment and planning products and services used by advisors. 
• Goal oriented - ability to maintain focus on a small number of long-term, high impact priorities. 
• Comfort and proficiency with Excel, CRM and other database related applications.
• Excellent organizational skills - ability to prioritize daily workflow to effectively meet deadlines. Ability to work independently in a fast-paced team environment with minimal supervision.
• Strong commitment to provide exceptional customer service. Excellent people/communication skills, self-motivated and a team player.

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Baird is committed to diversity and provides employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, citizenship, national origin, age, disability, military service, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, genetic information, or any other status protected by law.