Baird Wealth Management Tim Steffen, CPA, CFP First VP – Financial Planning Director Robert W. Baird & Co. Member NYSE. Member SIPC.

Baird’s Wealth Management Approach Who we are Factors that drove us to modifying our approach What we are doing as a result Our search for a solution Our implementation and where we are today

Robert W. Baird & Co. Founded in Milwaukee in 1919 Currently have over 80 offices in 17 states, plus affiliated operations in four European countries Baird employs over 2,500 associates worldwide Majority owned by Northwestern Mutual since 1982

The Issues We Faced Results of a 1998 internal study: A transaction-oriented business is subject to growth constraints We are too often product driven, and not often enough process oriented Need to find ways to increase the value we add

The Call to Change Business is no longer a product or service, but a process Process must be systematic and disciplined, not haphazard or random Technology is an essential component of this process

Baird Wealth Management Process 1. Gather Information 2. Identify Financial Issues and Opportunities 3. Develop Financial Strategies 4. Implement Solutions 5. Monitor & Review Results

A New Client Relationship Wealth Management relationships are built on: Thorough client needs analysis Comprehensive plan to guide the client’s investment portfolio Position Baird as the quarterback of the client’s advisory team

Enhancing our Financial Planning Identified key needs: Web-based product Able to retrieve account information Asset allocation modeling capability Comprehensive yet modular approach Do we build or buy?

Build vs. Buy We initially looked at the market for planning tools Most products were not web based or could not retrieve our account data We eventually determined we needed to build this ourselves

Build vs. Buy In early 1999, we contracted with a firm to build the product By the end of 1999 we abandoned this approach Expensive to build Overwhelming to maintain Project became unmanageable Revisited the marketplace in early 2000

Build vs. Buy Revisited products that we had evaluated during our initial review Many still hadn’t changed to meet our needs Discovered new tools that had been created Internet-only tools that weren’t designed as enterprise-wide solutions

netDecide Corporation Met the technology requirements we had Had the widest variety of planning modules Developing different levels of products

netDecide Wealth Management System Enterprise platform AdvisorDecide family – financial analytics Dashboard family – workflow tools Flexible deployment models Scalable advice – emerging affluent to Ultra High Net Worth Customizable

Rollout Plan Began using program internally April 2001 Began rollout to 800 Financial Advisors plus Sales Assistants in May 2001 Visited each office and individually trained approximately 90% of the sales force Rollout completed September 2001

Status of Implementation Rolled out Version 1.4 in May, 2002 Our third upgrade Continue to train advisors via elearning, conference calls and branch and home office visits Technical and functional support provided through our Financial Planning Dept. and IT Help Desk

Lessons Learned Clearly define the requirements up front Be realistic about initial version, subsequent enhancements Understand who your users are going to be Solicit input from a good cross-section of likely users

Lessons Learned Dedicate internal resources early on These resources need to have other duties limited while focusing on this project Involve a good project manager Be very thorough with testing One-on-one training is the most effective, but also the most costly Schedule regular follow-up training, create FAQ and Known Issue documents

Results to Date Over 7,400 plans have been created in the system since rollout Does not include training plans, samples, etc. Our internal department has created approximately 1,200 of these Approximately half of all FAs have had a plan created for them

The Future for Baird Wealth Management Performance monitoring available for all client accounts Additional high-end planning experts available in the home office Additional resources in life insurance Private Asset Management

The Future of AdvisorDecide Thin client technology Enhanced functionality IntelliDecide