Profile
“The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit.” It’s a quote that Kevin R. Clark, a financial advisor at Highview Advisor Group, often returns to when describing the proudest achievement of his career: not a client win, but the path he has cleared for the advisors coming up behind him.
Clark describes himself as a voracious learner who would rather do things the right way than the easy way, often by testing new territory on himself. That habit first carried over into investing, where he built his own portfolio models to invest alongside his clients. He later applied the same approach to taxes, learning to prepare tax returns by handling his own filings before launching a separate tax preparation company, which now files more than 400 returns per year.
But when asked to name his proudest achievement, Clark points to a series of volunteer roles focused on fostering the next generation of advisors. He helped relaunch a community in central Ohio for new and aspiring financial planners, which now holds regular monthly meetings. He then served three years as an executive of the national NexGen community for the Financial Planning Association.
During his time as 2022 NexGen president, he oversaw a campaign to expand the leadership team. As a result, the national volunteer NexGen committee has grown from four members in 2021 to its current roster of 30 volunteers. He now serves as professional advisor to Ohio State University’s Student Financial Planning Association, where weekly attendance has more than quadrupled over the past four years, generating dozens of internships and job offers for student members.
Taken together, Clark says these efforts outweigh any client work when he considers what he is most proud of. “I’ve laid foundations to make it easier for all the new talent to find their place in our field,” he says.
The instinct to build something others can stand on also shapes how Clark works with clients. His greatest professional strength, he says, can be traced to growing up “extremely introverted, borderline mute,” a trait he now considers a gift rather than a limitation.
Clark credits his quiet nature with sharpening his ability to listen and observe, skills that help him “connect with clients very quickly on a deeper level.” He was once told he needed to be more outgoing to succeed, but he has come to believe the opposite. “I wouldn’t be nearly as great at what I do if I didn’t lean into the gifts of being an introvert,” he says.
Clark remains “old school” when it comes to meeting clients, preferring in-person conversations to video calls, where body language and nonverbal cues are much harder to read. “Those are the breakthroughs that build trust and lead to successful financial plans,” he says.
For Clark, the Rising Star recognition doesn’t change his career outlook so much as validate the sacrifices that got him here. “I got into this field to have meaningful relationships that help people,” he says. It’s proof, in other words, that the trees he has spent his career planting are already beginning to grow.
250 W Old Wilson Bridge Rd, Ste 150, Columbus, OH 43085
614 288 3262
linkedin.com/in/krclark7
ameripriseadvisors.com/kevin.r.clark
Kevin R. Clark
Financial Advisor, Ameriprise Financial Services Owner, Arch City Tax Services
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2012–2014
2014–2018
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2025–present
Stock Plan Consultant at Fidelity Investments
2012–2014
Financial Advisor at Merrill Lynch
2014–2018
2021–2023: National NexGen Executive at Financial Planning Association
2022: NexGen President
2021–2023
Financial Advisor at Ameriprise Financial Services since 2018
Professional Advisor at the Ohio State Student Financial Planning Association since 2022
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Partner and Director of Due Diligence: youngest partner in Sendero’s history
Guest lecturer on alternative investments at St. Mary’s University and Trinity University
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