WHO WE ARE
ONYX Wealth Group is an independent insurance brokerage firm providing high net worth Individuals, institutions and financial services professionals access to best-in-class life insurance, annuity and executive benefits solutions.
JERRY W. HESTER, II CLU
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Jerry is the Co-Founder of ONYX Wealth Group. Jerry is also the Founder/Principal of Hester Insurance Group, LLC., a life insurance brokerage firm servicing high-net worth and institutional clients. Jerry is a qualifying member of the Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT), the premier independent association for life insurance professional globally (35,000+ members). Jerry has also met qualifications at highest level of MDRT membership, Top of The Table.
Mr. Hester is a Foundation Member for the University of Illinois Foundation and a Board member of University of Illinois College of LAS Alumni Association. He is a former member of the University of Illinois Alumni Association Board of Directors (UIAA), and he has also served as Midwest regional board member for Operation Hope.
He received his degree from in Speech Communications from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1997. As a student-athlete, Jerry earned All-Big Ten Honors, as well as a Big Ten Championship and team MVP in 1998 as senior captain of the men’s basketball team. After graduation, Jerry fulfilled his dream of being a professional athlete playing basketball in Europe on teams from Poland, Israel, England, and Serbia, visiting twenty-four different countries and learning to speak Polish.
THOMAS MCLEARY, CLU
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Tom is a Co-Founder of ONYX Wealth Group. Tom is also the President of Endow, Incorporated, a multi-lines insurance services company which he co-founded in 1978. The firm specializes in insurance planning and benefit management for a client base which includes public entities, small and large private corporations, and high net worth individuals.
Prior to founding Endow, Incorporated, Tom had a highly successful 13-year career with Prudential Insurance Company of America. Tom was a consistent multi-million-dollar producer and earned numerous awards including the President’s Citation Winner. For several years Tom served on the Prudential’s National Pension Advisory Board.
Tom has been a Million Dollar Round Table member for over 30 years and is a member of Top of the Table. He became the first African American elected president of the Chicago Association and the Illinois Association of Life Underwriters. In 1987 Tom received the Chicago Association’s highest honor, “The Distinguished Service Award”. In 1996, he received the Chicago Chapter of CLU and ChFC highest award “The Heubner Scholar”, becoming one of only seven individuals to receive the Distinguished Service Award and Heubner Scholar. He served 4 years on the Board of Directors of the 80,000-member National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors.
Tom contributes generously to his community by serving on the Executive Committee of the Chicago Minority Business Development Council and has chaired the Steering Committee of its nine hundred minority firms. He currently serves as Board Chair of True Star
Foundation, 1st Vice Chair and Executive Committee member of Lincoln Park Zoo and has served on the boards of the Chicago Girl Scout Council, the National Minority Business Development Council, and the American College in Bryn Mawr, PA. He was a founding member of the Alliance of Business Leaders and Entrepreneurs (ABLE). Tom has been honored by President Obama with his nomination to the Inaugural Board of the National Association of Registered Agents and Brokers. He is currently awaiting Senate Confirmation.
McLeary is graduate of the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana and has received the Chartered Life Underwriter distinction from The American College, Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania.
THE ONYX TEAM
