Russ is originally from Lexington, Kentucky, and attended boarding school at The McCallie School in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He has been with Merrill Lynch Wealth Management since May 2010. He graduated Summa Cum Laude from the International Business program at USC with a dual major in International Business and Finance and a minor in Chinese. Russ studied abroad in Shanghai, China at the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics for three months focusing on Chinese language, trade from a Chinese perspective, and enterprises in China. He also holds the Chartered Financial Analyst® (CFA®) and the Chartered Alternative Investments Analyst (CAIASM) designations. Within Lloyd Purdy & Associates, Russ applies his analytical skills in creating customized client portfolios for institutional and high-net-worth clients. His primary responsibilities are building and maintaining client portfolios to reflect client objectives, risk tolerance, cash flow needs, and liquidity requirements. Russ draws upon the renowned research capabilities of BofA Global Research in conducting his analysis of investment opportunities, assessing a variety of asset classes, investment managers, and instruments.
Russ married Simmons Trapp in 2013 and they welcomed triplets (Francis, Jacquie, and Julia) into the world in the fall of 2019. Outside of work, Russ enjoys cooking, working with Junior Achievement, and spending time with family.
*Institutional Investor magazine announced BofA Global Research as one of the Top Global Research Firms in 2022 based on surveys held throughout the year. The magazine creates rankings of the top research analysts in a wide variety of specializations, drawn from the choices of portfolio managers and other investment professionals at more than 1,000 firms. BofA Global Research is research produced by BofA Securities, Inc (“BofAS”) and/or one or more of its affiliates. BofAS is a registered broker-dealer, Member SIPC, and wholly owned subsidiary of Bank of America Corporation. Learn more about the methodology at Institutional Investor. Rankings and recognition from Institutional Investor are no guarantee of future investment success and do not ensure that a current or prospective client will experience a higher level of performance results and such rankings should not be construed as an endorsement.
I follow the deep-seated Merrill tradition of participating in the communities we serve. This drives my interest in spending time volunteering with organizations in our community.
My mission, first and foremost, is to understand you and what matters most to you. Armed with that information I can ask thoughtful questions -- listening carefully, then understanding in detail where your wealth stands today and where you'd like it to be tomorrow. I help you design and implement a personalized plan intended to help you and your family pursue financial goals while helping manage investment risk. My approach is to focus on potential solutions that can help turn goals into reality.