M. Griffith Investment Services acquired by Wisconsin–based firm

NEW HARTFORD, N.Y. — M. Griffith Investment Services, Inc. of New Hartford has signed an agreement to be acquired by Milwaukee, Wisconsin–based money management firm, Robert W. Baird & Co. Inc.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed, Baird said in a news release announcing the agreement. Baird expects the deal to close in early September, the company said in an email response to a BJNN inquiry.

Griffith, an independent and employee-owned investment firm, offers financial planning, investment management, and other services.

Baird is an international, employee-owned wealth management, capital markets, private equity, and asset-management firm with more than $200 billion in client assets.

Griffith has more than 40 employees, including 12 financial advisors who manage and oversee more than $2 billion in assets.

Founded in Central New York in 1947, M. Griffith has a “long history” of employee ownership, Baird said in the release. David Griffith — who followed in the footsteps of his parents, Richard and Margaret, in leading the company — has served as the firm’s president since 1972.

Griffith will serve as vice chairman of private-wealth management when the transaction is completed and “will continue to be actively involved with clients while also representing Baird in the community,” Baird said.

“I’d been thinking about the right way to help write M. Griffith’s next chapter for some time — how we best continue to serve our clients as they have grown to expect, how we maintain our culture and our tradition as an employee-owned firm, and how we continue to attract top financial talent all while keeping pace with an increasingly complex business,” Griffith said. “I found the answer in Baird, which embodies the same culture and values that have long defined M. Griffith, and is nationally recognized as a best place to work. It’s a great fit for our clients and the M. Griffith team.”

Baird, which was established in 1919, has more than 3,450 associates, including over 860 financial advisors working from 94 locations in 30 states. Baird currently has equity and fixed income capital markets, and wealth-management operations in more than a dozen offices across the Northeast.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com