Jim is a Director with Baird’s Private Wealth Management with over 21 years of wealth management experience in Seattle beginning with Smith Barney in downtown Seattle before moving to McAdams Wright Ragen; Baird then acquired MWR in 2014. Jim focuses on the needs of high net worth individual and families as well as owners of privately held business, family foundations and small endowments.
Jim has taken a conservative holistic approach to his client’s needs and offers financial planning for individuals with his team and Baird’s financial and estate planning resources. He is also licensed in insurance with the ability to offer clients both long term care and life insurance to help round out their financial planning needs. Jim typically manages clients’ assets using discretionary investment portfolios with Baird’s Personalized Investment Management platform (PIM) along with several of Baird’s managed asset platforms such as Baird Trust and Baird Capital among others to help augment a clients overall asset allocation always with the clients best interest at heart.
Jim is a graduate of Central Catholic High School in Massachusetts as well as Saint Michael’s College in Vermont. Prior to becoming a financial advisor in 2002 Jim had worked for over 15 years in real estate and mortgage banking; developing a strong appreciation for small business owners working in his family’s real estate firm in Lowell, MA founded by his father Ken Harkins in 1957. Jim started selling real estate when he was just 18 to help pay his way through college. Jim later worked in commercial finance with GE Capital’s Commercial Asset Funding group in Bellevue, WA.
A native of New England, Jim has spent over 25 years in Seattle where he met his wife Joan and have two grown boys. Raising their family in Magnolia Jim and his wife enjoy volunteering and supporting many local charities as well as staying involved with their boys’ interest in sports and school activities. Both sons had attended The Epiphany School, The Evergreen School, Seattle Academy and Bishop Blanchet High School before going off to college. As recent empty nesters Jim and Joan like to stay active and enjoy tennis and golf as well as day hikes or fly fishing. They are especially fond of their travels to France particularly Normandy, Brittany, and Bordeaux.