Thomas R. Clark

Thomas R. Clark, CLU, ChFC BUSINESS BACKGROUND: Born and raised in Polk County, Tom obtained a BA in Business Administration from Drake University. After Drake, Tom joined Bankers Life (now The Principal Financial Group) as an advisor serving clients in West Des Moines, Iowa. 15 years later he was recruited to manage the agency office for a large eastern mutual company. Tom found he preferred advising and guiding clients rather than recruiting and teaching others to do the advising. That was fun. Compensation Designs was born as a totally independent consulting firm with no obligatory ties to any company or organization. No sales quotas. No requirement to sell "the company" line when better choices existed elsewhere. The focus was on the client. The objective was to find the best path instead of finding a product to sell. The firm was unusual because he and his partners had expertise in business and employee benefits as well as experience creating individual investment and financia...