Middle-market firm Robert W. Baird & Co. is opening an office in Charlotte, N.C., and staffing it with refugees from Wachovia Securities LLC.

Brian McDonagh, 44, will be co-head of M&A at Baird and managing director focusing on industrials, after serving as head of Wachovia's industrial growth M&A group. Joe Pellegrini, 51, a managing director in Baird's retail group, ran Wachovia's retail banking practice. Also joining the office is Frank Stokes, 39, a Wachovia healthcare banker whom Baird hired in Chicago last year and who will now relocate to Charlotte.

"This was less a focus on Charlotte as it was about a couple of high-quality senior bankers that fit very well with Baird," says Paul Rogalski, 49, managing director and head of Milwaukee-based Baird's industrial and consumer banking group. "They come to us with years of experience in their respective areas."

McDonagh launched Wachovia's M&A business nearly 13 years ago after working at a predecessor firm to J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. in New York. Pellegrini worked at Lehman Brothers Inc.'s middle-market consumer and retail practice before joining Wachovia in 2002. He is a former pro football player for the New York Jets and the Atlanta Falcons. Stokes was co-head of global industrial M&A at J.P. Morgan Chase in New York before switching to Wachovia.

Wells Fargo & Co.'s $15.1 billion purchase of Wachovia Corp., coupled with Bank of America Corp.'s deal for Merrill Lynch & Co., have left many investment bankers in Charlotte jittery about their jobs -- and have created hiring opportunities for firms like employee-owned Baird. Wachovia also recently lost Sharon Weinstein, its sector head of depository institutions corporate finance, to FBR Capital Markets Corp.

McDonagh reports that he'd been actively talking with firms about opportunities over the past year, partly prompted by the uncertainty at Wachovia and the economy. And he is clearly happy with where he landed. "Charlotte is very diverse and a very attractive place to work, and in this day and age, with all the layoffs, Baird offers a very attractive culture," he says.