National Recognition

Paladin Registry - Five Star Advisor

Tom is a member of Paladin Registry, a nationally recognized registry of pre-screened financial advisers and financial planners. Paladin prescreens its advisors for admittance to its Registry based on a wide array of criteria, such as Competence, Ethics, Business Practices and Financial Services to name just a few.

WiserAdvisor.com Gold Member

Tom is a member of WiserAdvisor, a nationally recognized listing of fee-only financial advisors registered with the SEC or FINRA.

Wealth Manager

The Darrow Company has been named one of the "Top Wealth Managers" by Wealth Manager Magazine (formerly Bloomberg Wealth Manager) every year since 2005, based on assets under management per client relationship. Firms had to be registered investment advisors with their own IARD/CRD numbers. Half of their clients had to be individuals or high-net-worth individuals as defined by the SEC, and the firms had to offer financial planning services.

Financial Advisor

The Darrow Company has been named one of the top independent registered investment advisory firms in the nation every year since 2006 by Financial Advisor Magazine, based on changes in assets under management per client relationship for the previous calendar year. Firms had to be registered investment advisors with their own IARD/CRD numbers. The firms had to offer financial planning services.

Medical Economics

Tom has been named one of the "150 Best Financial Advisors for Doctors" by Medical Economics Magazine in 2002, 2004 and 2006, based on credentials, education, areas of expertise, total assets under management, percentage of physician clients, noteworthy professional achievements and affiliation with medical organizations.

5 Star Wealth Advisor

The FIVE STAR Wealth Manager(SM) Award Program is based upon a survey of up to 200,000 high-net worth individuals and 10,000 financial service professionals who are asked to name and evaluate up to three wealth managers. The number of individuals in the sample varies based on the size of the local market. For the purposes of the research, wealth managers are those individuals who help their clients prepare a financial plan and/or implement aspects of their financial plan.

Each respondent is asked to evaluate only wealth managers whom they know through personal experience, and evaluate them on nine criteria: customer service, integrity, knowledge/expertise, communication, value for fee charged, whether the wealth manager meets client financial objectives, post sale service, quality of recommendations and overall satisfaction. The questionnaires submitted to the reviewers are structured to make it equally easy for an individual to give negative or positive responses regarding each wealth manager evaluated. The company scores the survey responses to determine which wealth managers meet the identified standards, and screens wealth managers, based on their regulatory compliance history as reported by FINRA and other regulatory agencies. Only wealth managers with five years of experience in the financial services industry are considered. Wealth managers do not pay a fee to be included in the evaluation process or to be named as a FIVE STAR Wealth Manager(SM), but may pay a fee for subsequent marketing material.

The final list identifies the wealth managers, of those evaluated, in the local market that score highest in overall satisfaction. The final list represents less than 7% of the wealth managers in the local market.

Co-Author "Wealth Strategies for Executives"

Tom McFarland is one of the authors of Wealth Strategies for Executives, published by Aspatore Books.