CAIS Announces Recipient of the Inaugural 2019 CAIS Game Changer Award

Baird’s Dayna Kleinman Honored for Outstanding Innovation Furthering Alts Adoption

CAIS, the leading financial technology platform connecting financial advisors with alternative investments, announced Dayna Kleinman as the first recipient of the annual CAIS Game Changer Award, presented at the CAIS Advisory Council Dinner last week. The CAIS Game Changer Award was created to recognize outstanding contributions that further advance the adoption of alternative investments in the independent wealth management community.

“I was given a blank slate when I was asked to be Baird’s first Product Manager for Alternative Investments,” said Kleinman. “I knew to create the right solutions for our advisors, and their clients would not happen overnight. It took listening to financial advisors, talking to our leadership team, asking what kind of infrastructure was needed, and discovering how to expand the boundaries without altering the values and business style of the firm. Today, with CAIS, we are starting to see the fruits of our labor with over a hundred million dollars transacted and I believe we are still just getting started!”

Dayna M. Kleinman, Director at Baird, is Key Account Relationship Manager and Senior Product Manager for Alternative Investments. Kleinman has been involved in many Baird corporate inclusion and diversity initiatives, such as serving as co-chair of the ASCEND Associate Resource Group advisory board, which is focused on expanding leadership opportunities at Baird for women and facilitating new associate culture orientation programs. She also applies her innovative thinking as a member of the CAIS Advisory Council.

“I had the pleasure of spearheading the Baird integration with Dayna Kleinman and have seen firsthand her commitment to improving the alternative investment offering for Baird advisors,” said Senior Managing Director Brad Walker. “I would also like to thank all the members of the CAIS Advisory Council who participated in our innovation think-tank to advance the adoption of alternative investment in the independent wealth management community.”

The CAIS Advisory Council is the forum for key industry influencers to provide input on the future state of the CAIS Platform and the critical role it plays in advancing the industry. Members of the CAIS Advisory Council include Barron’s top-ranked registered investment advisors, the nation’s largest RIA platforms, leading independent broker-dealers, globally recognized product managers, independent custodians, Silicon Valley technologists, and other key market participants.

About Baird

Celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2019, Baird is an employee-owned, international wealth management, asset management, investment banking/capital markets, and private equity firm with offices in the United States, Europe and Asia. Baird has approximately 3,600 associates serving the needs of individual, corporate, institutional and municipal clients and $208.2 billion in client assets as of Dec. 31, 2018. Committed to being a great workplace, Baird ranked No. 16 on FORTUNE’s 2019 100 Best Companies to Work For list. Baird is the marketing name of Baird Financial Group. Baird’s principal operating subsidiaries are Robert W. Baird & Co. Incorporated in the United States and Robert W. Baird Group Ltd. in Europe. Baird also has an operating subsidiary in Asia supporting Baird’s investment banking and private equity operations. For more information, please visit Baird’s website at www.rwbaird.com.

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