In part one, we tore into Baird Financial Group’s smug, greedy arse, laying bare their endless supervisory fuck-ups, fee-gouging that bled clients dry, stinking conflicts of interest, staff worked to the point of bloody collapse, and their shameless investment in Cummins’ planet-choking emissions scam. Traffic spiked like a bastard – looks like we hit a nerve, upsetting the suits in Milwaukee who thought their billions made them untouchable. Good. Let them squirm. But if you reckoned that was the worst, brace yourself, you naive pricks. Part two doubles down on the outrage, uncovering more festering scandals that prove Baird’s not just sloppy – they’re a fucking criminal enterprise in pinstripes, dodging accountability while screwing everyone in sight. From hiding dodgy messages to poaching raids that cost them millions, this lot’s track record is a steaming pile of ethical vomit. And it’s all grounded in cold, hard facts from regulators and reports. These wankers deserve every bit of fury – let’s rip them a new one.

Recordkeeping Rot: Hiding Shady Chats Like Guilty Bastards

Kick off with the off-channel communications bullshit – Baird’s employees yapping on WhatsApp and personal texts about deals, thumbing their noses at federal laws like they’re above it all. In 2023, the SEC smashed them with a $15 million fine for not preserving these messages, letting thousands vanish and potentially burying evidence of God-knows-what crooked schemes. This wasn’t a minor cock-up; it was a systemic piss-take, with bosses ignoring it all and “depriving the Commission” of vital info. Fucking outrageous – if you’re handling $355 billion, how do you let this slide? It’s like running a bank where the vaults are left wide open. Baird coughed up the cash without admitting a damn thing, vowing to hire consultants to clean up their mess. But bollocks to that; this reeks of a culture where transparency’s a joke if it interrupts the profit flow. Clients expecting honesty? They’re the real idiots, left pondering what filthy secrets got scrubbed from those unmonitored threads. These bastards are hiding more than we know, and it boils my piss.

Mutual Fund Rebates: Robbing Clients Blind, Yet Again

As if their fee scandals weren’t enough to make you vomit, Baird got crucified in 2023 by FINRA for shortchanging punters on mutual fund rebates – over $500,000 in sales charge discounts that should’ve gone back to clients through “rights of reinstatement.” A targeted exam exposed their supervision as worthless as a fart in a hurricane. More than 2,300 accounts got hammered, all because Baird couldn’t be fucked to ensure people got their due. Censure, restitution with interest – same tired routine. FINRA praised their “extraordinary cooperation,” but that’s no consolation for the folks overpaying while Baird hoarded billions. This isn’t a slip; it’s deliberate thievery, milking every penny and praying regulators don’t notice. Greedy cunts treating client cash like their personal slush fund. If this doesn’t make you want to punch a wall, you’re comatose. Baird’s not in finance; they’re in daylight robbery.

Reg BI Violations: Screwing Clients in the Merger Aftermath

Jump to 2025, and Baird’s Hefren-Tillotson merger becomes another regulatory clusterfuck. FINRA slapped them with $100,000 for breaching Regulation Best Interest – the rule that’s supposed to force these pricks to put clients first, not their bloated wallets. Post-2022 merger, they shoved over 400 brokerage customers into costlier advisory accounts without a scrap of reason, piling on needless fees like the greedy bastards they are. Clients got reamed for nothing, violating suitability rules up the arse. Baird disgorged $557,830 in restitution plus the fine, but no admission of guilt, naturally. This is the outfit crowing about “trustworthy stewardship”? What a load of shite. It’s outright predatory – using a merger as cover to extract more blood from the stone. My blood’s boiling; these fucks aren’t building futures, they’re demolishing them for bonuses. Outrageous doesn’t cut it – it’s criminal.

Unfair Competition: The $17.8 Million Poaching Shitstorm

Rewind to 2015, and Baird gets absolutely eviscerated in FINRA arbitration for raiding Gleacher & Co.’s talent like pirates on steroids. The panel hammered them and 20 employees with $17.8 million in damages, fees, and interest for unfair competition, solicitation, and conspiracy. Five staff got $50,000 personal hits, while Baird shouldered $13 million in compo and nearly $5 million in legals. They poached an entire team, allegedly nicking clients and secrets, gutting the rival firm. Baird whined “disappointment” and denied it, but the arbitrators called bullshit. This isn’t sharp business; it’s vicious, backstabbing warfare, viewing competitors as carcasses to carve up. And they were “fully reserved” for the pay-out? Cynical wankers budgeting for their own fuckery. In a world demanding trust, Baird’s out here waging war, consequences be damned. It makes me fucking furious – these are the guardians of your money?

Statutory Disqualification: Teetering on the Edge of Oblivion

By 2024, Baird’s mountain of sins triggered statutory disqualification under the Exchange Act – their recordkeeping debacle rendered them unfit for key securities work without grovelling for approval. FINRA red-flagged them, demanding a membership continuance app with overhauls like monitoring off-channel chats for six years. The SEC ordered them to stop the rot and pay up, but this near-ban exposes how perilously close they came to shutdown. Firms like Baird aren’t “too big to fail” ethically; they’re too arrogant to give a toss. Investors should be raging: your portfolio’s with a crew that barely clung on by paperwork. Bloody hell, if this doesn’t scream impending collapse, what does? These bastards dodge bullets like pros, but one day the chamber won’t be empty.

Employee Turmoil: Lawsuits, Counterclaims, and More Ethical Vomit

Baird’s internal hell isn’t limited to overwork – it’s a lawsuit-ridden cesspit. In 2018, an ex-employee sued for at least $4 million in unpaid wages, claiming they got stiffed on comp deals. Sketchy details, but it screams of a firm that shafts its own when it suits. Then the 2024 Raymond James arbitration: Baird snagged $4.8 million for poaching claims, but ate $500,000 on a counter for defamation and trademark bollocks. Tit-for-tat slime, highlighting their hypocritical aggression – raiding others then crying victim. Add the 2019 $150,000 FINRA fine for not disclosing a research analyst’s conflict, and it’s more misleading “objective” reports fed to clients. This place is a toxic pressure cooker, spewing fines and suits that erode any shred of integrity. Fucking disgraceful; Baird’s eating itself alive while preaching values.

Why This Matters: Breaking the Cycle of Slaps on the Wrist

The real gut-kicker? Baird settles for peanuts against their empire, dodges disqualifications with forms, and buries scandals like yesterday’s trash. Fines are a joke, complaints ignored, regulators circling endlessly. This isn’t business; it’s a rigged, soul-sucking scam where accountability’s optional. If you’re with Baird, get mad, get out, and scream from the rooftops. Pull your funds, expose the pricks – because until we turn up the heat, these wolves keep feasting on your dreams. Enough’s fucking enough.

Lee Thompson – Founder, The Cummins Accountability Project

Shareholder Spotlight : Baird Financial Group Part 2 – The Skidmark Gets Stickier