News & Insights

This summer brought two honors that speak to who we are at Bailard. The Bailard Foundation was recognized with Best Philanthropic Initiative (Americas) at the global 2025 WealthBriefing Wealth for Good Awards, highlighting our community impact in the Bay Area. And once again, Bailard was named to Financial Advisor Magazine’s Top RIA Ranking, marking our fifth straight year in the Top 100.

Bailard is honored to be named one of the Top 100 Bay Area Corporate Philanthropists by the San Francisco Business Times—marking the firm’s fifth consecutive year on the list. Bailard climbed to #65 for 2025, continuing its upward trajectory from #89 in its first appearance in 2021 and joining a distinguished group of honorees including Salesforce, Google, the San Francisco 49ers, and Levi Strauss.

Bailard is pleased to announce that, as of today, Dave Harrison Smith, CFA, has been promoted to Chief Investment Officer. He succeeds Eric Leve, CFA, who held the role for more than a decade and will continue with the firm as a portfolio manager, fully focused on international markets.

Michael Faust, CFA, ranked in the top five of AdvisorHub’s Advisors to Watch for the second year—recognizing his standout leadership at Bailard.

After founding and leading Bersot Capital Management for nearly two decades, Mary Bersot, CFA, joined Bailard this spring with her long-standing clients and colleague Nicholas Risser. In this Q&A with Bailard CEO Sonya Mughal, CFA, Mary reflects on the decision, the values she’s carried throughout her career, and what this next chapter means for her and those she serves.

Bailard, an independent wealth and asset management firm, has once again been recognized as one of the San Francisco Chronicle’s Top Workplaces in the Greater Bay Area. Ranked first in the small company category (35-149 employees), this marks Bailard’s second consecutive year on the list—based entirely on employee feedback.

AI is evolving fast, and so is the way investors are approaching it. In his latest white paper, Dave Harrison Smith, CFA—EVP, Domestic Equities—shares where he sees the shift in AI investing, from buildout to opportunity. Read on for his full analysis:

Coining it as "one of the luckiest moments" of her life, Bailard CEO, Sonya Mughal, CFA shares her remarkable career path with Bailard, her passion for principled leadership, and her thoughtful advice for others navigating their own professional journeys.

Bailard advances its efforts to seize opportunities in the evolving real estate market. With a disciplined investment approach and an expanded team, the Bailard Real Estate Fund is positioned for growth in the year ahead...

LLMs. Co-pilots. Agents. Two years after ChatGPT took the world by storm, the hype behind artificial Intelligence remains palpable. Major tech companies are pouring billions into sparkling new infrastructure for AI workloads. Utility companies in areas with dense data centers are seeing revenues and power consumption soar. Yet, outside of semiconductor and infrastructure players, few companies have seen significant revenue from AI products. Investors are increasingly left asking: When will these massive capital investments start benefiting software companies? What’s causing the delay?

Sonya Mughal, CFA opens up in a candid interview with Pensions & Investments' about her journey from an entry-level position to CEO, all at Bailard, in her 30-year career solely dedicated to the Company. She discusses her and Bailard's values, how people can find the right place to work, Bailard's culture, and the importance of understanding your clients.

Bailard, an independent asset and wealth management firm based in the San Francisco Bay Area, has been named one of the 2024 Best Places to Work in Money Management by Pensions & Investments. The firm is honored to be ranked fifth in its category (companies with 50-99 employees). This marks the seventh consecutive year that Pensions & Investments has recognized Bailard.

Dave Harrison Smith, CFA, Head of Technology Investing at Bailard, Alex Gunz, Fund Manager at Heptagon Capital, and Alastair Paterson, Co-Founder & CEO of Harmonic Security join Jill Malandrino on Nasdaq TradeTalks to discuss why the potential in cybersecurity lies in AI’s ability to recognize patterns and optimize threat detection.

"I am proud to be an outlier. Since joining Bailard 30 years ago, I’ve seen the company evolve while maintaining its strong tradition of nurturing talent," shares our CEO, Sonya Mughal, CFA. "While my tenure may be uncommon nationally, it’s more than typical for us..."

Two Bailard team members received individual nominations in the 2024 LUMINARIES Awards from ThinkAdvisor: Kim Aquino, CFP®, Senior Vice President and Director of Operations of Wealth Management, stands as a finalist for the Luminaries With Heart award. And Annalise Durante, Senior ESG Analyst and Investment Counselor, secured a Next-Gen Rising Stars finalist recognition.

Bailard, Inc., an independent wealth and asset management firm, is proud to announce its recognition as one of the Bay Area’s 2024 Top Workplaces by the San Francisco Chronicle. The firm was ranked second in its category (for companies with 35-149 employees).