Each member of the Board of Directors for Wintrust Investments, The Chicago Trust Company, Great Lakes Advisors, and Chicago Deferred Exchange Company brings meaningful skills and experience to the table. Collectively, they have a diverse perspective on leadership, business, and philanthropy. Moreover, they all have strong ties to the communities we serve, which will help us further strengthen our position as Chicago's wealth manager.
Board Member:
Great Lakes Advisors
Tom serves as Great Lakes Advisors’ Chief Executive Officer. He is an active member of the firm’s Management Committee, Operating Committee, Investment Committee, and Board of Directors. Prior to joining Great Lakes Advisors in 2006, Tom was Managing Director & Principal at Bear Stearns Asset Management where he served the public fund and Taft-Hartley business groups and co-founded Continental Investment Group, an institutional asset management marketing firm. In addition, Tom worked for Amalgamated Bank of Chicago and began his career in 1984 as a bond underwriter/trader at First Chicago Corporation.
Tom earned his MBA in Finance from the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University. Prior to that, he graduated with a BA in Economics from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
Tom was raised in Chicago, the youngest of five children. He continues to reside in the area where he and his wife raised three kids. He served as Chairman of the University of St. Mary of the Lake Board of Advisors and is also KM in the Order of Malta. He serves as Trustee and President of a suburban Illinois Police Pension Fund and is a member of several associations, including the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans, the National Conference of Public Employee Retirements Systems, the Illinois Public Pension Fund Association, the Resource Center for Religious Institutes, and the Economic Club of Chicago. Tom serves as a committee member for The Annual Rerum Novarum celebration devoted to, the roles of church and state as it pertains to economics, social responsibility, and the rights of workers. Tom was awarded the Rerum Novarum Award for Business 2019. He is also a Regional Board member of the Ireland Funds and supports numerous local institutions including, SOS Children’s Villages, Arise Chicago, Be a Light for Chicago, Misericordia, Mercy Home for Boys and Girls, Immigration Ministry, Link Unlimited, Special Olympics/Special Children’s Charities, Alzheimer’s Association, and the American Red Cross of Chicago.
Tom is a Director of Wintrust’s Old Plank Trail Community Bank and has served as a guest lecturer on Business Ethics and Socially Responsible Investing for the MBA program at the Mendoza College of Business at the University of Notre Dame. In his free time, Tom enjoys golf, fishing, and traveling with his family.
Education and Professional Credentials
A story of persistence and unrelenting commitment to integrity and client service.
Actively participating in, and giving back to, the communities we serve.
An experienced team with a broad perspective on leadership, business and philanthropy.