About BIA
Who We Are
Darel Baer founded BIA, a boutique advisory firm, in 2009. Today, our executives bring a unique perspective from decades of investment management and Wall Street experience across multiple disciplines, including equity, derivative and fixed income markets. As your fiduciary, our goal is to maximize your wealth in a manner that fits your investment needs and risk appetite.
We focus on high conviction investments with an emphasis on long-term returns. We do not outsource any part of the investment process.
We monitor each portfolio daily. We appreciate the benefits of tax deferral and long-term capital gains on wealth compounding.
We never co-mingle your funds with other clients or take custody of your assets. Accounts are separately managed and stay in your name.
We eat our own cooking. Principals’ actively managed equity portfolios are 100% invested with BIA.
Investment Team
Darel Baer | Founding Principal & CEO
Darel brings over 50 years of professional experience to his clients. Prior to founding BIA, he spent three decades on Wall Street, where he delivered solutions to institutional clients and earned a reputation for personalized service and expertise in equities, derivatives and fixed income products.
After earning a B.S. in operations research, production management, finance, and applied economics at UC Berkeley and an MBA in finance and quantitative analysis from the University of Wisconsin, Darel began his career in 1972 at CUNA Mutual Insurance Society, where he was an early adopter of derivatives. Seven years later, he moved to Bank of America’s Security Division and Merrill Lynch Capital Markets before taking on a role at Greenwich Capital Markets and BOSC. Darel is a CFA charterholder, CFA Institute.
Darel lives in Yuba City, California with his wife Christy. Beyond his reputation as a skilled investor, Darel is known as a (mediocre) joke teller, lifelong learner and world-class grandfather.
Greg Smith
Greg has 27 years of financial experience, including 25 years as a professional investor in both the public and private markets. He joined BIA as Director of Research in 2022 from Birch Run Capital, a value-oriented hedge fund he co-founded in 2006. Birch Run invested in public equities, distressed credit and private equity, primarily for high net worth individuals, including several multi-billionaire families. At Birch Run, Greg shared responsibilities for portfolio management, investment research and selection, trading, operations and finance.
Prior to that, Greg worked in New York at Metropolitan Capital, a hedge fund, and Fenway Partners, a private equity firm. He began his career in mergers and acquisitions at Deutsche Bank in New York.
Greg holds a BA in economics (cum laude) from Princeton University, and an MBA from Columbia University, where he participated in the Value Investing Program.
Greg is based in Marin County, where he lives with his wife, Courtney, and their two children. When not absorbing financial statements, Greg can be found hiking the peaks of Marin, shooting pool (well) and playing guitar (badly).
Robb Baer
Robb has 25 years of experience primarily focused on the global institutional investment community, including hedge funds, mutual funds and pension funds. During his two decades on Wall Street, Robb was frequently recognized as a #1 counterparty to several of the world’s largest investment managers.
Robb joined BIA in 2021 and brings a wealth of institutional research, trading and client service knowledge to the team. Prior to joining BIA, Robb spent 13 years at Goldman Sachs in New York and San Francisco. Before that, Robb worked at German boutique advisory Sal Oppenheim in New York, and began his career at Deutsche Bank in London and New York. Robb holds a BS in business administration from the University of Richmond with concentrations in finance and marketing.
Robb lives in Marin County with his wife, Robyn, and three girls. Robb is an avid golfer (mostly playing from the rough), a skilled chef (at the BBQ), and appreciates exploring the natural wonders of Northern California when he’s not evaluating client portfolios.