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Company: Baird
From Training to Product Solutions: How Baird Works With CAIS
Rita Kelly, Senior Investment Products Consultant at Baird, shares how the firm’s partnership with CAIS is enhancing advisor education, marketing collaboration, and access to a broader range of investment solutions.
The Challenge
Building Advisor Comfort and Expanding Strategic Relationships
When Rita Kelly joined Baird’s investment products team, she recognized an opportunity to strengthen how the firm educates advisors on complex investment solutions and connects them with external partners. While Baird already had distribution relationships in place, Kelly noticed that some were stronger than others.
“I spoke quite a bit with a lot with [Baird’s] manager of investment products about the relationships we had ... and did it make sense to reconsider some of those relationships?” she recalls. That led to an evaluation of where additional partner support could help Baird advisors increase their comfort level with alternatives and expand the solutions they’re able to access.
The Solution
A Partnership Model Focused on Education and Engagement
Baird identified CAIS as a partner that could enhance advisor education, marketing, and product engagement. “We reached out to CAIS ... we were very impressed with what we found. So we kind of just jumped in with two feet ... and said we want to make CAIS one of our top distributors,” shares Kelly.
From day one, Kelly says the CAIS team has been responsive and solutions-oriented. Together, the firms share training completion lists, exchange marketing ideas, and highlight relevant CAIS content on Baird’s internal platforms. “I view it as we’re a team, working together to help the advisor who helps the client,” Kelly notes. This collaborative approach has strengthened not only the Baird–CAIS relationship, but also the firm’s relationships with issuing banks.
What’s Next
Scaling Impact Across the Advisor Network
Kelly sees the Baird-CAIS partnership as “just scratching the surface.” As more advisors complete training and become comfortable with alternatives using the resources CAIS offers, she expects deeper integration into advisor workflows and more creative client solutions.
“I can’t wait to really see where it takes us in the future,” she says. By continuing to align marketing, education, and product expertise, Baird and CAIS aim to help advisors expand beyond familiar strategies and explore new ways to meet client objectives.
Please note the following testimonial disclosures, as required by applicable regulations. Individuals featured work for organizations that are CAIS platform users and have received no compensation for this testimonial. Please note that no testimonial is necessarily representative of the experience of other users of CAIS, or guarantees any future investment performance or success. The views and opinions expressed by the subjects herein, as of the date published, solely reflect the views and opinions of the speaker (and not necessarily the views of CAIS or the broader financial industry) and are subject to change without notice. This testimonial is provided solely for discussion purposes for investment professional use and does not constitute an offer or a solicitation of an offer to buy or sell fund interests, securities, and/or any other financial instruments or products, or constitute a solicitation on behalf of CAIS or any investment managers, their affiliates, products or strategies. Any such offer or solicitation may only be made pursuant to the delivery of formal offering documents.
I view it as we’re a team, working together to help the advisor who helps the client
Rita Kelly, Senior Investment Products Consultant, Baird
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