Thomas Conway

JD, CTFA®, TEP, AEP®, AIF, CAP®, CFP®, CLU®, CPO, CRC®, CIMA®, CPWA®, RICP®

Connemara Group

Financial Advisor

Thomas Conway

JD, CTFA®, TEP, AEP®, AIF, CAP®, CFP®, CLU®, CPO, CRC®, CIMA®, CPWA®, RICP®

Connemara Group

Financial Advisor

As a fee-only financial planner, my focus is to offer unbiased financial advice to help you achieve your life goals. - Thomas Conway, JD, CTFA®, TEP, AEP®, AIF, CAP®, CFP®, CLU®, CPO, CRC®, CIMA®, CPWA®, RICP®

No hidden agendas. No product sales. No commissions. Just an unswerving commitment to helping you manage, protect, and grow your resources.

Thomas Conway is a Fee-Only financial advisor with offices in Washngton D.C, Gaithersburh, MD, and McLean, VA, serving clients locally and across the country. Connemara Group provides comprehensive and objective financial planning to help clients organize, grow and protect their assets through life’s transitions. As a fee-only, fiduciary, and independent financial advisor, Thomas Conway is never paid a commission of any kind, and has a legal obligation to provide unbiased and trustworthy financial advice.

Tom Conway is President and Founder of The Connemara Group, a fee-only financial planning firm based in Rockville, Maryland. He and his team serve clients throughout the Washington, DC Metropolitan Region as well as nationally and internationally.

For over a decade, Tom consistently has been named by peers as being among the top fee-only advisors in Washington, DC and the surrounding region in surveys conducted by Washingtonian magazine and others. The firm’s flat fee, fee-for-service model is perfect for do-it-yourself professionals and executives seeking occasional fiduciary guidance without product sales or commissions or hefty recurring asset management fees.

Tom is uniquely positioned to provide comprehensive planning and investment advice to affluent, high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth individuals and families. He is among a handful of practicing advisors nationally to have climbed the Seven Summits of Financial Planning:

  1. General Financial Planning—Certified Financial Planner (CFP®);
  2. Law or Accounting—Attorney (JD);
  3. Investment Management—Certified Investment Management Analyst (CIMA®);
  4. High Net Worth Advisory—Certified Private Wealth Advisor (CPWA®):
  5. Insurance—Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU®);
  6. Estates & Trusts—Certified Trust & Financial Advisor (CTFA®); and
  7. Philanthropy—Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy (CAP®)

Additionally, Tom has earned Retirement Planning’s Triple Crown:

  1. Retirement Income Certified Professional (RICP®);
  2. Chartered Retirement Counselor (CRC®); and
  3. Retirement Management Analyst (RMA®)

A product of a rigorous undergraduate liberal arts education followed by law school, Tom has pursued lifelong learning. He enjoys sharing what he learns with clients. He attends numerous professional conferences each year to maintain his many designations and credentials. Clients benefit from Tom’s decades of experience, broad and deep knowledge base and commitment to continuing professional education.

Tom has eschewed developing a niche practice. While many clients are approaching or are already in retirement, the firm also serves affluent young professionals as well as clients who are mid-career or in transition.

Prior to becoming a financial planner, Tom practiced law for more than a decade. He remains an active member of the Maryland and District of Columbia bars. In 1996, Tom transitioned from the practice of law to providing comprehensive planning and investment advice to private clients. He worked for several large financial institutions including Merrill Lynch & Co. and Bank of America before forming his own fee-only financial planning firm in 2009.

Tom is married to D. Elizabeth Walker, a founding partner of Walker & Murphy & Nelson, a civil litigation defense firm based in Rockville, Maryland. He and Elizabeth have two children, Kathryn and Matthew. Tom and Elizabeth enjoy traveling, hiking and reading.

Thomas Conway is a Member of the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors

The National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA) is a leading professional association of Fee-Only financial advisors - highly trained professionals who are committed to working in the best interests of those they serve.

NAPFA members live by three important values:

  • To be the beacon for independent, objective financial advice for individuals and families.
  • To be the champion of financial services delivered in the public interest.
  • To be the standard bearer for the emerging profession of financial planning.

Connemara Group, LLC is an award-winning Rockville, Maryland and Washington, DC based professional fee-only planning and investment consulting firm providing services for a flat fee with no Assets Under Management (AUM) requirement.  The firm is consistently named a top peer-ranked fee-only planning firm by Washingtonian magazine and others.  President and Founder, Thomas B. Conway, is himself a top fee-only planning professional with more than twenty years of experience and multiple credentials.  The team consists of top planners with significant professional backgrounds in law, accounting, economics and other fields.

Fee-Only, Fiduciary, Independent: Three Important Criteria to Consider When Choosing a Financial Advisor.

Specialties

  • Comprehensive Financial Planning
  • Retirement Income Planning
  • Investment Management
  • College Education Planning
  • Tax Planning

Ideal Clients

  • Retirees and Near Retirees
  • Growing Families
  • Business Owners and Executives
  • Sudden Money Situations
  • Novice Investors

Working Together

  • In-Office Meetings
  • Virtual Meetings
  • Clearly Defined Fees
  • No Product Sales
  • Complimentary Initial Consultation

Professional Designations & Affiliations

  • National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA)
    Thomas Conway is a NAPFA-Registered Financial Advisor

    The National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA) is a leading professional association of Fee-Only financial advisors—highly trained professionals who are committed to working in the best interests of those they serve.

  • Certified Financial Planner (CFP)
    Thomas Conway is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ Professional - Click for Verification

    CFP® professionals are held to strict ethical standards to ensure financial planning recommendations are in your best interest. What’s more, a CFP® professional must acquire several years of experience related to delivering financial planning services to clients and pass the comprehensive CFP® Certification Exam before they can use the CFP® designation.

  • Financial Planning Association
    Thomas Conway is a member of The Financial Planning Association® (FPA®)

    FPA® is the largest membership organization for CFP® professionals in the U.S. and supports high standards of professional competence, ethical conduct, and clear, complete disclosure when serving clients.

  • Garrett Planning Network - GPN
    Thomas Conway is a member of the Garrett Planning Network. Click here to learn more.

    Everyone needs competent, objective financial advice from time to time. The Garrett Planning Network has a nationwide membership with hundreds of independent, Fee-Only financial planners providing advice to people from all walks of life, without minimum account requirements, sales commissions, or long-term commitments. Our members proudly embrace their fiduciary duty, always placing their clients' best interests first.

  • Accredited Investment Fiduciary®
    Thomas Conway is an Accredited Investment Fiduciary® (AIF)

    Accredited Investment Fiduciary® (AIF®) training empowers investment professionals with the fiduciary knowledge and tools they need to serve their clients’ best interests. Advisors who have earned the Accredited Investment Fiduciary designation have gone through training, met the qualifications, and passed the exam allowing use of the AIF designation and they are immediately able to demonstrate the added value that they can bring to both existing and prospective clients.

  • CLU - Chartered Life Underwriter
    Thomas Conway is a Chartered Life Underwriter® (CLU®)

    A Chartered Life Underwriter® (CLU®) is a professional designation for individuals specializing in life insurance and estate planning. Individuals must complete five core courses and three elective courses, and successfully pass all eight two-hour, 100-question examinations in order to receive the CLU® designation.

  • AEP - Accredited Estate Planner
    Thomas Conway is an Accredited Estate Planner® (AEP®)

    Professional estate planners can obtain an accreditation that acknowledges their experience and specialization in estate planning. Awarded by the National Association of Estate Planners & Councils to recognized estate planning professionals who meet special requirements of education, experience, knowledge, professional reputation, and character.

  • CPWA - Certified Private Wealth Advisor
    Thomas Conway is a Certified Private Wealth Advisor ® (CPWA®)

    The CPWA certification is an advanced professional education and certification for advisors who provide the breadth of specialized skills required to meet the needs of high-net-worth clients. This certification requires advisors to develop advanced knowledge and skills to address the wide range of complex issues faced by wealthy individuals and families, including portfolio strategies, wealth transfer, family dynamics, risk management, asset protection, closely-held business ownership, charitable giving, estate planning, retirement planning, and more. Fewer than 1% of financial advisors have achieved the CPWA certification.

  • CIMA - Certified Investment Management Analyst
    Thomas Conway is a Certified Investment Management Analyst® (CIMA®)

    The CIMA designation is the premier certification for financial advisors and investment consultants and one of the only professional certifications in financial services to meet international accreditation and quality standards. CIMA advisors have completed a rigorous process and have demonstrated knowledge and competency in a variety of investment management consulting and portfolio construction topics, including advanced investment management theory and application.

  • RICP Retirement Income Certified Professional®
    Thomas Conway is a Retirement Income Certified Professional® (RICP®)

    A professional designation for experienced financial advisors and investment managers who have passed coursework to become experts in retirement income planning. A Retirement Income Certified Professional® helps retirees and near-retirees develop and implement a plan for managing the financial assets they have accumulated for retirement and a set realistic budget to help meet life goals.

  • Certified Retirement Counselor® (CRC®)
    Thomas Conway is a Certified Retirement Counselor® (CRC®)

    The Certified Retirement Counselor® (CRC) certification is independently accredited by the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA). Of over 100 financial designations, the CRC® is one of only a very few retirement and financial planning-related certifications independently accredited by the NCCA.

  • Certified Trust and Fiduciary Advisor (CTFA)
    Thomas Conway is a Certified Trust and Fiduciary Advisor (CTFA)

    Certified Trust and Fiduciary Advisor (CTFA) is a professional designation offered by the American Bankers Association (ABA). This mark provides training and knowledge in taxes, investments, financial planning, trusts, and estates. The CTFA credential is appropriate for professionals who have a career in banking, broking, financial planning, taxation, or trust administration.

Contact Thomas Conway

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Office Locations:

  • 506 Diamondback Drive
    Unit 438
    Gaithersburg, MD 20878
  • 1455 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
    Suite 400
    Washington DC, DC 20004
  • 1750 Tysons Boulevard
    Suite 1500
    McLean, VA 22102

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