M. Rush “Rusty” Benton has spent more than 20 years managing and developing wealth and asset management platforms. As co-founder of the Nashville, TN-based start-up investment advisory firm, Barksdale & Associates, Benton grew AUM from $300 mm to $2.5 billion. As CEO of WealthTrust Inc, the company he founded in 1997, he has negotiated and closed 10 acquisitions that collectively represent $6.5 billion in AUM. Benton has developed both a short and long term acquisition pipeline for firms with which he has maintained close contact, and has specific aims to grow WealthTrust into a $15+ billion AUM enterprise.

Rusty is a graduate of Vanderbilt University, a CFA and is married with three sons and lives in Nashville, TN.