Co-Founder and Chairman

Dr. Bettis has business oversight responsibility as Verus' chairman. As chief scientist, he oversees Verus' research on existing products and evolving areas of thought leadership. He is a former tenured professor and a serial and successful entrepreneur with significant management, business, and government experience. He is a well-recognized expert on corporate executive behavior, option valuation, and earnings management. Dr. Bettis holds a clinical position as associate research professor of finance at the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University. His pioneering work has been published in prestigious academic journals, such as the Journal of Financial Economics and the Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, as well as other widely read journals, such as Abacus and the Financial Analyst Journal. He holds finance and accounting undergraduate degrees and earned a Ph.D. from Indiana University in 1992.

Chief Investment Strategist

Mr. Barrett oversees the testing, development, and implementation of equity investment strategies for our clients and partners. He has over 20 years of investment management and analytical research experience, having served as a portfolio manager at MFS Investment Management and at Sirios Capital Management, where he was a principal and sector head. Prior to his portfolio management experience he was a research analyst at both The Boston Company and at MFS Investment Management. Most recently Mr. Barrett served as Managing Director of Turning Point Partners, a boutique M&A advisory firm. Earlier in his career, Tom served as Director of Finance for Arthur Andersen's Southern California Tax Practice. Tom is a CFA Charter holder and received a Master's in Management from the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University (1994). He received a BA in Economics from UCLA (1988).

EVP Product Development

Nine-year veteran Leland Bettis works jointly with the CEO to oversee all product development. Prior to joining Verus, Mr. Bettis worked in intergovernmental affairs, including over two decades of work involving myriad U.S. agencies, the U.S. Congress and international and regional organizations. Included in his management and supervisory experience is time spent as Acting President of the Guam Housing Corporation, during which he was tasked with the reorganization of a distressed State Housing Authority and related FHLB financing. Mr. Bettis also serves as the firm's Communication Director.