The Milwaukee, WI-based investment bank and wealth management firm Robert W Baird has appointed Mark Stevanovic as senior vice president, charged with the task of opening a new wealth management office in Portland, ME.

Prior to joining Baird, Stevanovic held a variety of management positions with Morgan Stanley Smith Barney in the northeast, including New York, Massachusetts and Maine.

Most recently, Stevanovic oversaw Smith Barney’s two offices in Portland and Bangor, ME. He started his financial services career as a financial advisor with Merrill Lynch.

Baird also said it has added nearly 250 financial advisors and branch managers to its private wealth management group since the beginning of 2009, having opened or planned wealth management offices in several new markets, including Salt Lake City, UT, Portland, OR, Denver, CO, Fort Worth, TX, Sacramento and San Francisco, CA, Charleston, SC, Charlotte, NC, Winston-Salem, NC, Raleigh, NC and Lynchburg, VA.  

In other recent developments, the firm added a small-mid cap equity team led by Michelle Stevens to its asset management business in January, and is also planning to expand its fund range within the first half of 2012.

Baird was established in 1919 and is employee-owned, with additional offices in Europe and Asia. It oversees and manages client assets of around $87 billion.