Company Name: Bailard Inc.
Location: Foster City, CA
Nature of Business: Financial advisory
Founded: 1969
Revenue: $16.9 million
Number of Employees: 49
Average Tenure: 13 years
Established in 1969, Bailard is the product of three graduates of the Stanford business school who formed one of the first fee-only financial planning practices in the country. Now with 49 employees, the firm offers Wealth Management, Institutional Equity Strategies and Alternative Investments, and is lauded by clients for their straight-forward, honest and responsive approach. The firm has built its culture by creating an environment of open communication, trust, integrity and a focus on doing the right thing, which they say "eliminates the conflict between an employee's desire to do well and the desire to do good". Despite a disastrous turn in the industry in 2008, Bailard has remained profitable, retaining generous benefits even for part-time staff and boasting an average advisory client retention rate of 98% for the past five years. Their diverse staff maintains an average tenure of 13 years and has worked together to avoid lay-offs during tough times, with leadership taking steep cuts in compensation and general staff sharing lighter cutbacks. Having successfully transitioned from a founder/owner model to a management model in the late 80's, the firm named a 24-year employee CEO in 2008, and has focused on its long-term health by intentionally developing promising junior employees for future leadership opportunities.
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