McAdams Wright Ragen Inc., a Seattle-based regional brokerage firm, has agreed to merge with Milwaukee-based Robert W. Baird & Co. Inc., the companies said Wednesday.
            Terms were not disclosed.
McAdams Wright Ragen (MWR) has 180 employees, about 85 of them financial advisors, and more than $10 billion in client assets. The firm has six offices in Washington state, and one in Portland, Ore.
            Baird has about 2,900 employees and 725 financial advisors in 75 offices nationwide, including a Portland, Ore. branch, but has no locations in Washington state.
            Both firms are majority-owned by employees, and follow an integrated business model incorporating both retail and institutional business along with investment banking and research.
           Once MWR is fully integrated with Baird, it will be rebranded under the Baird name, said John Rumpf, Baird spokesperson, in an email.
            “Taking this important step enables MWR to enhance the services and capabilities it offers its clients, and positions Baird to expand our current footprint in the Pacific Northwest,” said Paul Purcell, Baird chief executive, in a statement.
            MWR was founded in 1999 by chairman Brooks Ragen and chief executive Scott McAdams.
At press time, it was unclear what roles Ragen and McAdams will play in the merged firm.
 “MWR’s management is working closely with us on the integration of our two firms,” Rumpf said.
As far as other staff changes, Rumpf said Baird is “working closely with MWR leadership … to determine our future business/staffing needs.” No Baird employees will be impacted, he said.
            Ragen co-founded the original firm of Cable Howse & Ragen in 1982, which later became Ragen MacKenzie.
            McAdams, an engineer by training, joined Cable Howse & Ragen in 1986 as an equity analyst.
            In 1999, Ragen MacKenzie was sold to Wells Fargo, which later folded the operation into its larger brokerage unit now known as Wells Fargo Advisors.
            MWR has been successful in picking up many of the former Ragen MacKenzie advisors.
Originally a Midwest regional firm, Baird benefited from the financial crisis by adding more than 300 advisors since 2009, opening new offices in Maine, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Texas, Utah, California and Oregon.