Baird/STR Hotel Stock Index up 1.3% in Jan.

The Baird/STR Hotel Stock Index ended January with a 1.3-percent increase to 2,394, which was less than the S&P 500's and RMZ's January gains of 2.3 percent and 3.1 percent, respectively. The Hotel Stock Index ended 2010 at 2,354.

Robert W. Baird & Co. (Baird) and STR partnered to create the Baird/STR Hotel Stock Index-the first widely available U.S. hotel stock index in the hotel industry. The index combines Baird's financial markets expertise, the data processing of STR and the industry's leading news website, HotelNewsNow.com.

"2011 started with positive momentum, something we are expecting to continue throughout the year-especially if the unemployment rate continues to fall," said Randy Smith, chairman and cofounder of STR. "Investors are looking at the industry's positive year-end performance as an encouraging sign. As our latest forecast indicates, we expect the hotel industry's recovery will become more pronounced during 2011, and that should help fuel further growth in the Baird/STR Hotel Stock Index."

"The Baird/STR Hotel Stock Index started January on a strong note, up 2.8 percent the first trading day of the year, but ended the month up only 1.3 percent, underperforming both the S&P 500 and the RMZ," said David Loeb, senior research analyst at Baird. "We believe investors have high expectations going into fourth-quarter earnings, and they are looking for signs that the hotel recovery is still in the early stages. We expect hotel stocks to be volatile through earnings season, as investors sift through fourth-quarter results and get updates on the outlook for 2011 from management teams."

About the Baird/STR Hotel Stock Index

The Baird/STR Hotel Stock Index was set to equal 1000 on 1 January 2000, as its starting point. The Index reached its peak of 3178 on 5 July 2007. The Index's lowest point occurred on 6 March 2009, when it dropped to 573.

The Index is available exclusively on www.hotelstockindex.com and www.HotelNewsNow.com. The Baird/STR Hotel Stock Index is a co-branded index created by Robert W. Baird & Co. (Baird) and Smith Travel Research, Inc. (STR). The market-cap weighted Index is comprised of 15 of the largest market capitalization hotel companies publicly traded on a U.S. exchange and attempts to characterize the performance of hotel stocks. The Index is maintained by Baird and is hosted on HotelNewsNow.com. The Index is not actively managed and a direct investment cannot be made in it.

The current companies that comprise the Baird/STR Hotel Stock Index: Ashford Hospitality Trust, Choice Hotels International, DiamondRock Hospitality, Hersha Hospitality Trust, Hospitality Properties Trust, Host Hotels & Resorts, Hyatt Hotels, InterContinental Hotels Group, LaSalle Hotel Properties, Marriott International, Orient-Express Hotels, Pebblebrook Hotel Trust, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Sunstone Hotel Investors and Wyndham Worldwide.

About Baird

Baird is an employee-owned, international wealth management, capital markets, private equity and asset management firm with offices in the United States, Europe and Asia. Established in 1919, Baird has more than 2,600 associates serving the needs of individual, corporate, institutional and municipal clients. Baird oversees and manages client assets of nearly $79 billion. Committed to being a great place to work, Baird ranked number 14 on FORTUNE's "100 Best Companies to Work For" in 2011 – its eighth consecutive year on the list. Baird's principal operating subsidiaries are Robert W. Baird & Co. in the United States and Robert W. Baird Group Ltd. in Europe. Baird also has an operating subsidiary in Asia supporting Baird's private equity operations. For more information, please visit Baird's Web site at www.rwbaird.com.