Previously, Stevens spent 17 years managing small-, mid- and all-cap value portfolios, including as a portfolio manager with Transamerica Investment Management, where she was responsible for both institutional accounts and the Transamerica Small/MidCap Value Fund from March 2004 to September 2008.

Analysts Jonathan DeMoss and Richard Roesch and marketing specialist Rob Zwiebel complete Stevens’ team, which has been together since 2004 and is based in Cincinnati.

Alongside the hires, Baird filed a prospectus for the Baird Small Cap Value Fund, expected to launch in the first half of this year.

“Adding small/mid cap value capabilities is very important to us as we continue to build our institutional equity asset management presence,” said Reik Read, managing director of Baird Investment.

In other news, the firm nabbed two brokerage teams in December, hiring a total of six people overseeing some $343 million in assets. The teams are Dallas-based Grant Halliday Group, led by advisors Neil Grant and Luke Halliday from Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, and a Fort Worth-based group led by advisors George Gamez and Jim Hazel from Wells Fargo Advisors.

Baird oversees and manages client assets of nearly $84 billion.