 When RW Smith opened its doors in 1985, the prevailing wisdom on Wall Street was that to be competitive, a Municipal Securities Broker's Broker ( MSBB ) had to be headquartered in New York City. Bucking convention, the firm launched its business with its headquarters in Seattle. Today, RW Smith is the second largest Municipal Securities Broker's Brokers ( MSBB ) in the United States. While many firms are downsizing in the face of one of the worst economic climates in the past 75 years, RW Smith continues to grow. In 2009, the company opened three offices in Boston, Dallas, and and Stowe VT, and hired ten key staff. The company also expanded its proprietary trading software and online presence to better facilitate customer needs. It launched a unique hybrid of voice brokering ( over the phone ) with electronic ( online ) brokering. Its new online trading platform increased productivity 500% by allowing brokers to handle five times their previous volume. RW Smith also added online bidding and posting tools for its customers to facilitate efficiency and liquidity for market participants. The result? In 2009, RW Smith increased trading volume by 31 percent over 2008 and by 59 percent from 2007 2009. Sales increased by 108 percent over 2008, and by 169 percent from 2007.
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