As seen in
Orange County Five Star award winner

PROFESSIONAL PROFILE

Todd Rustman CFA®, CFP®, CLU®, EA

Managing Partner
Clarity Capital Partners
5000 Birch St. East Tower, Ste. 100
Newport Beach, CA 92660
Office: 800-805-7526
Cell: 949-697-0533
trustman@claritycapitalllc.com
www.claritycapitalllc.com

Professional Approach

When you come from a family of teachers, some might consider it fate to end up as a professional financial advisor. Todd Rustman’s career path, however, was not quite that clear-cut as a youngster growing up in Missouri. 

Things started to come into focus quickly during a summer job working at the school bus company his father owned. Todd's dad handed him a broom and told him to take “the idiot stick” and start sweeping. It didn’t take long for the teenager to understand this was not how he wanted to live his future life.

Fortunately, Todd, a voracious reader, was also an exceptional student. He finished high school by landing a scholarship that took him out west, far from the world of maintenance garages and mechanics. He enrolled at Pepperdine University, graduating in 1992 and later going on to earn an MBA in International Business and Finance from Thunderbird University.

He put that advanced education to good use after college, joining Long-Term Credit Bank of Japan, Ltd. before moving on to the institutional client side with PIMCO and, later, portfolio manager for high net worth private clients through Mellon Private Asset Management. After four years with Mellon, and a year as vice president with Kayne Anderson Investment Management (prior to its sale), Todd founded Clarity Capital Partners in the fall of 2000.  

Influenced by the teachings of readings about investment legends such as Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger, Todd remains true to his Midwest roots by simplifying complex and confusing financial constructs for his clients. His disciplined approach to portfolio management aligns strategy with client objectives and timelines. He will reverse engineer desired outcomes, presenting options developed through quantitative data, analytics and related research generated from Clarity Capital’s deep bench of financial advisory partners and resources.

Todd has been named by Five Star Professional as a Five Star Wealth Manager award winner featured in Orange Coast magazine from 2014 - present. His professional certifications include CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst®), CFP® (CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™) professional, and CLU® (Chartered Life Underwriter®) credentials.

Jackie Robinson once said, “Life is not a spectator sport.” Todd lives by that philosophy, serving as a co-founder of the Levendi Winery as well as maintaining an active role in Southern California civic and business groups. In addition to being a founding Board member of Gen-Next, he serves on the Board of the Gen-Next Foundation.


When he’s not inspiring others, or, even better, being inspired by them, Todd enjoys spending time at home in Nellie Gail Ranch with his wife Sherry and their children, Sierra and Cayden.

This award was issued on 05/01/2023 by Five Star Professional (FSP) for the time period 07/25/2022 through 02/10/2023. Fee paid for use of marketing materials. Self-completed questionnaire was used for rating. This rating is not related to the quality of the investment advice and based solely on the disclosed criteria. 2,576 Orange County-area wealth managers were considered for the award; 160 (6% of candidates) were named 2023 Five Star Wealth Managers. The following prior year statistics use this format: YEAR: # Considered, # Winners, % of candidates, Issued Date, Research Period. 2022: 2482, 143, 6%, 5/1/22, 8/30/21 - 3/4/22; 2021: 2398, 144, 6%, 5/1/21, 8/17/20 - 3/12/21; 2020: 2320, 152, 7%, 5/1/20, 8/1/19 - 3/13/20; 2019: 2469, 187, 8%, 5/1/19, 8/13/18 - 3/11/19; 2018: 2423, 144, 6%, 5/1/18, 6/21/17 - 3/16/18; 2017: 1790, 280, 16%, 5/1/17, 8/24/16 - 2/24/17; 2016: 1383, 312, 23%, 2/1/16, 8/19/15 - 1/15/16; 2015: 2010, 351, 17%, 3/1/15, 8/30/14 - 1/30/15; 2014: 3489, 302, 9%, 3/1/14, 8/30/13 - 1/30/14; 2013: 2293, 415, 18%, 3/1/13, 8/30/12 - 1/30/13; 2012: 1760, 255, 14%, 3/1/12, 8/30/11 - 1/31/12.
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Investment advisory services offered through Clarity Capital Partners LLC, a registered investment advisor. Securities offered through American Trust Investment Services, member of FINRA/SIPC.  Clarity Capital Partners LLC is not affiliated with American Trust Investment Services.

 

*Winners appearing on this page do not pay a fee to be considered or to win the Five Star Award. Professionals with a digital profile have paid a promotional fee.
Wealth managers do not pay a fee to be considered or placed on the final list of Five Star Wealth Managers. The award is based on 10 objective criteria. Eligibility criteria-required: 1. Credentialed as a registered investment adviser (RIA) or a registered investment adviser representative; 2. Actively licensed as a RIA or as a principal of a registered investment adviser firm for a minimum of 5 years; 3. Favorable regulatory and complaint history review (As defined by FSP, the wealth manager has not; A. Been subject to a regulatory action that resulted in a license being suspended or revoked, or payment of a fine; B. Had more than a total of three settled or pending complaints filed against them and/or a total of five settled, pending, dismissed or denied complaints with any regulatory authority or FSP's consumer complaint process. Unfavorable feedback may have been discovered through a check of complaints registered with a regulatory authority or complaints registered through FSP's consumer complaint process; feedback may not be representative of any one client's experience; C. Individually contributed to a financial settlement of a customer complaint; D. Filed for personal bankruptcy within the past 11 years; E. Been terminated from a financial services firm within the past 11 years; F. Been convicted of a felony); 4. Fulfilled their firm review based on internal standards; 5. Accepting new clients. Evaluation criteria-considered: 6. One-year client retention rate; 7. Five-year client retention rate; 8. Non-institutional discretionary and/or non-discretionary client assets administered; 9. Number of client households served; 10. Education and professional designations. FSP does not evaluate quality of services provided to clients. The award is not indicative of the wealth manager's future performance . Wealth Managers may or may not use discretion in their practice and therefore may not manage their clients' assets. The inclusion of a wealth manager on the Five Star Wealth Manager list should not be construed as an endorsement of the wealth manager by FSP or this publication. Working with a Five Star Wealth Manager or any wealth manager is no guarantee as to future investment success, nor is there any guarantee that the selected wealth managers will be awarded this accomplishment by FSP in the future. Visit www.fivestarprofessional.com.