While Wall Street firms refused to take a chance on Brian Kroneberger when he was just a year out of college, Ferris, Baker Watts Inc. gave him a job.
Now, 17 years later, Kroneberger is one of the Baltimore-rooted brokerage firm's star managers, overseeing $900 million in client assets under the Dyer Kroneberger Group in Hunt Valley.
So when the 40-year-old Baltimore native learned yesterday that Ferris agreed to sell itself to Minneapolis-based RBC Dain Rauscher Inc., Kroneberger had mixed feelings.
"I'm a Baltimore kid. This is a Baltimore firm," said Kroneberger, who also hosts a financial show on WBAL Radio. "Long-term, it would have been difficult for Ferris, Baker Watts to exist in the next 10 years, and it's better to be proactive than reactive. Personally, it's a sad day. But it's a positive day going forward because of the ability to have [additional] benefits for our clients."
Other Ferris brokers expressed similar emotions as they grappled with some uncertainty ahead. Top brokers are expected to be courted by Dain Rauscher and competing firms as the deal unfolds and changes are made at Ferris.
Executives with Royal Bank of Canada, which owns Dain Rauscher, said it is too early to determine potential job reductions and management changes as the two firms merge.
But the Ferris, Baker Watts name eventually will disappear and be folded into Dain Rauscher, a process that will take some time.
Ferris has more than 900 employees, including 461 in Maryland, and operates in 10 states and in the District of Columbia. As shareholders of the employee-owned firm, workers will have a say in the approval process.
Dain Rauscher executives met with Ferris employees yesterday to outline the transaction. Though the companies did not disclose the firm's sale price, employees will be paid for their shares in Ferris, Baker Watts Inc. as well as their outstanding options to buy shares.
John Taft, Dain Rauscher's chief executive, said yesterday that the success of the transaction will "ultimately be determined by our ability to retain Ferris, Baker Watts customers and Ferris, Baker Watts advisers."
Taft also said Dain Rauscher will retain some aspects of Ferris' operations in Baltimore.
"What they are and what they aren't is too early to tell." he said, noting that they want to take time to evaluate the firm's needs. "We want to do it right."
