Spotlight On: Tom Stumb, Chairman & CEO, Truxton
June 2025 — In an interview with Invest:, Tom Stumb, chairman and CEO of bank and wealth management firm Truxton, discussed the firm’s strategic growth, multigenerational wealth management, and Nashville’s thriving business climate, saying, “We have strengthened our team with experienced CPAs, enhancing our integrated services.”
Reflecting on the past year, what are one or two highlights or milestones that stand out for the company in Middle Tennessee?
For me, the highlight is that we continue to make excellent additions to our team. We have brought on quality, veteran, knowledgeable, credentialed, and enthusiastic teammates who help us improve and serve our clients better. Now in our 21st year, we receive many referrals from people who know us well. When they encounter someone frustrated in another firm because they are not allowed to operate the way we do, they often encourage that person to meet with us.
For example, a few years ago, we had only one CPA on our staff. Today, we have several, and these are veteran CPAs who bring extensive knowledge of tax strategy and execution to our wealth management team and company. This expertise is particularly valuable in our capital advisory practice, Truxton Capital Advisors (TCA), which we started three years ago. While we were not starting from scratch, as we have worked with wealthy families for nearly 20 years, this practice has grown significantly.
Many businesses in this space focus solely on brokering sales without advising sellers on structuring ownership to minimize taxes. Our approach integrates tax planning, which is critical for our clients. This practice has also strengthened the connection between our banking and wealth management divisions. Many family-owned businesses bank with us, and now, through TCA, we are involved earlier in their sale planning rather than learning about it after the fact. This integration has made our team function even more cohesively.
Are there any services or practices you are contemplating adding at this point, or is the focus on growing existing service lines?
We already have wealth management and treasury management clients in over 25 states; however, we are not eager to expand our banking footprint outside of Nashville. Banking requires significant capital, internal controls, and compliance, and it is a high-risk business to operate in unfamiliar markets. Nashville’s diverse, robust, and growing economy makes it an ideal location for us. The city has experienced strong population and job growth since we opened, and we are content to remain focused here.
That said, we are expanding our wealth management business beyond Tennessee. We have an office in Athens, Georgia, now in its 11th year, which is performing well. We are actively recruiting professionals in wealth management to potentially establish a presence in other states with favorable conditions such as low taxes and strong, growing economies. This expansion will likely be the next newsworthy development for our company, aside from continued strong quarterly earnings. There are talented individuals outside Nashville who share our approach to client service, and we welcome the opportunity to bring them on board.
What strategies do you recommend for families looking to preserve and grow their wealth across generations?
Our wealth management business operates as a multifamily office, providing comprehensive services that include investment management, tax planning, and estate planning. We manage wealth for nearly 300 families, and these relationships are multigenerational and dynamic. Family dynamics evolve, tax and estate laws change, and economic cycles fluctuate, so our role is to manage these variables in a way that allows our clients to worry less about money.
Every family has unique concerns, and our goal is to ensure their asset ownership structures, management strategies, and wealth transfer plans are well-organized, especially in unexpected circumstances. Some clients value our investment management expertise most, while others prioritize tax and estate planning or financial education for their children and grandchildren.
How does your team’s integrated approach help family-owned businesses navigate setbacks more effectively than specialized competitors?
Life is evolutionary, and changes, whether due to health issues, business challenges, or economic shifts, require adaptable strategies. Our team’s experience helps families navigate these changes with confidence. Unlike many competitors who specialize in only one area, we provide integrated services delivered by a collaborative team. This approach is more complex but also more rewarding. It is deeply gratifying to see families thrive because they followed our advice. Of course, there are rare instances where clients do not follow our recommendations, and the outcomes can be disappointing. These situations remind us how critical our work is. Fortunately, they are few and far between, but they reinforce the importance of the comprehensive, client-focused approach we take every day.
What do you make of the overall strength of Nashville’s business community, and where do you see Nashville and Middle Tennessee growing over the next half of this decade?
The runway looks good. We have business owners moving their entire businesses from states like California, Illinois, New York, and New Jersey to Nashville, as well as to Texas and Florida, because we have no state income tax, no state capital gains tax, and no state estate tax. You really need to consider that those capitalists who live in those states and do not move to Texas, Florida, or Tennessee are going to leave a lot of money on the table when they die or when they sell their business. A lot of them are moving here, and we do not see any indicators that suggest that will stop. Real estate values have doubled, tripled, or in some cases quadrupled or more in this area since we opened in 2004. It is hard for a veteran banker to feel optimistic that will happen again over the next 20 years. However, the migration of wealthy families, business owners, and their employees to places like Nashville looks like it will continue indefinitely. It is possible it will happen again. It is really hard to develop any confidence that there will be a major correction here. I think we will see areas of our country suffer economically in the next 20 years, but it does not look like it will happen around here.
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