Baird

James R. Allen serves as Vice Chair at Baird and a member of its Executive Committee, based in the firm's Louisville office. He spent his career at Hilliard Lyons, a Louisville wealth management firm, where he was Chairman and CEO from 2004 until its 2019 merger into Baird, and served as 2019 Chairman of the Board of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA). Allen holds a bachelor's degree in economics from DePauw University and an MBA in finance from Ohio State University, along with the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation.

John G. Taft is Vice Chair of Baird, an employee-owned wealth management, capital markets, asset management and private equity firm. He previously served as CEO of RBC Wealth Management–U.S., president and CEO of Voyageur Asset Management and of Dougherty Summit Securities, and as managing director at Piper Jaffray & Hopwood, with earlier roles as a Senior Advisor to Deloitte & Touche LLP, assistant to the mayor of St. Paul, Minnesota, and a journalist. He chaired the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) in 2011, has testified before Congress on a federal fiduciary standard, and authored the books "A Force for Good" and "Stewardship: Lessons Learned from the Lost Culture of Wall Street."

Kim Fleming is Vice Chair at Baird, where she works with colleagues across the firm on client service and wealth management. She previously served as Chairman and CEO of Hefren Tillotson, a Pittsburgh-based firm with a nearly 75-year history that later joined Baird, an employee-owned organization.

Jon Langenfeld is Chief Financial Officer at Baird, where he also serves as Head of Global Equities, Director of Equity Research, Co-Head of Equity Capital Markets, and a member of the firm's executive committee. In these roles he oversees the equity sales and trading and research teams, including analysts across sectors such as Consumer, Energy, Financial Services, Healthcare, Industrial, and Technology & Business Services; he previously worked as a senior analyst covering transportation and logistics. He serves on the boards of Cristo Rey Jesuit High School, PAVE, and Marquette University High School.

Laura Thurow is Managing Director and Executive Director of Wealth Solutions and Operations for Baird's Private Wealth Management group, overseeing the people, platforms, and back office services that support the firm's financial advisors. She is a member of Baird's Private Wealth Management Leadership Team and Executive Committee. Thurow holds a bachelor's degree in economics from Trinity College and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, and she has earned the CFA charter as a member of the CFA Society of Milwaukee.