Bethany Bryant '91

As president of The Private Trust Company N.A., Bethany Bryant is responsible for setting and executing the strategic direction and financial success of the company through service, satisfaction, retention and recruitment of the firm’s clients and advisors. Bryant was a founding leader of the company in 1995 and served as its chief financial officer and chief operations officer until May 2012 when she transitioned to the president’s role. She assisted in growing the company through its startup phase to its sale to LPL Financial Holdings Inc. in 2003 to present day.

Bryant also works across divisions as a senior vice president at LPL Financial, responsible for contributing to the strategic vision across the firm’s wealth planning platforms and sales enablement areas. This team provides sales support and optimizes the trust planning and services offering to financial advisors and individual investors on a national scale.

LPL Financial is the largest independent broker-dealer, providing independent, objective financial advice to investors through its 16,000 financial advisors. Bryant also leads the women advisor diversity and inclusion efforts for LPL, helping to recruit, retain and support the growth of female advisors in this industry.

Prior to co-founding The Private Trust Company, Bryant began her career at EY, spending the majority of that time in the financial services industry. She earned her undergraduate business degree in accounting from Bowling Green State University and earned an MBA from Cleveland State University and holds her CPA license.

"No one reaches a level of success without having an entire team behind them, and I have had just that – an entire team behind me," she said. "And at the root of that was really BGSU, the College of Business, its faculty, its entrepreneurial spirit, the hands-on learning and the academic curriculum that really laid the foundation for my business career. And I couldn’t have asked for a better university to jump-start my professional life."

Bryant maintains an active involvement in the nonprofit community. She currently serves as president, board chair or volunteer of several organizations and committees including BGSU’s Honors College Leadership Council, Laurel School in Shaker Heights, Rejoice Lutheran Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.