Each month, the Arrowhead Park Association randomly chooses one of its members to feature. This month, the Association is pleased to provide you an overview of TDC Companies, located at the corner of Arrowhead and Indian Wood Circle.
TDC Companies
Rounding the corner from the parking lot toward the reception area of the TDC Companies campus is a pleasant surprise… TDC has created a large courtyard working space where the original building, termed its “Principles Building,” is reflected in the glass of the new wing, its “Strategy Building.” Its owner, Cleves Delp, added “when planning our new space, it was important for us to understand what is changing, and just as important, what will never change within our firm. Principles should never change, but strategies must. When you look at your strategy, what you should see reflected is your principles.
The building addition added 28,000 sq. ft. to the original 14,000 which was built in 2003. The inside of the TDC Strategy Building is a zen combination of team and client collaborative and gathering places, and a cafeteria displaying rotating photos of employees’ families named the TDC Family Café. The modern-concept office space and contemporary employment policies are part of what makes TDC a popular employer in the Toledo area and beyond. TDC has been named a Top Workplace by the Toledo Blade for two consecutive years. Owner, Cleves Delp, notes that the success of the company is made possible by the hard work and dedication of his amazing team who help foster a challenging, fun, and collaborative work environment every day.
TDC started as a high-end life insurance company started by John J. Delp in 1958. Today, under the leadership of his son Cleves, the company has grown dramatically from four employees to nearly 200 nationwide, however, the tradition has continued with a focus on “helping families be families.” The TDC team shares a firm-wide commitment to create deep personal relationships with its highly affluent clientele. Cleves noted that an 80-year study at Harvard found that there was one common characteristic of what ultimately makes people happy: the ability to create deep personal relationships. Successfully creating these relationships is based on selflessness; having someone put your needs before their own.
Cleves wholeheartedly believes the more meaningful relationships we can create, the greater things we can accomplish. He and his team seek to establish those kinds of relationships with each other and their clients. They’ve even brought on a Director of Client and Colleague Engagement, John Seidel, whose sole responsibility is to help build and foster these types of relationships and attract and retain the best and brightest the industry has to offer. He plans various social events and outings (i.e. golf league, Twos tennis night, and sushi Fridays to name a few) to keep the employees happy, engaged, and excited for who they work with. TDC also encourages its team members to donate their time to various community initiatives and charitable causes leading the firm to be named the 2018 Outstanding Corporate Philanthropist by the Association of Fundraising Professionals’ Northwest Ohio Chapter. The Maumee employees are recruited from all over: Canada, California, Colorado, Michigan, Indiana, Minnesota, etc. TDC continues to attract experienced investment advisers from other firms who share their vision and client-first mentality.
TDC Companies is a family of risk and wealth management firms led by Cleves in business to serve successful individuals, families, and closely-held businesses including:
- TDC Life (the company John J. Delp started) with offices in six states, is described as “a boutique life insurance and estate planning agency with a never-ending commitment to protecting everything you’ve worked so hard to build.” TDC Life’s team of professionals specializes in supporting advisers and their clients to create enduring wealth for tomorrow so they can live life today.
- TDC Investment Advisory, with offices in five states, offers wealth management services for high-net-worth individuals, families, and businesses.
- BridgePoint Risk Management offers high-end personal lines property and casualty insurance, and professional liability insurance. BridgePoint is a national practice with offices in six states.
- TFO Phoenix is a multi-family office based in Phoenix, Arizona
- PandoTree Trust Company, established in 2018 and based on Sioux Falls, South Dakota, offers trustee services for high net worth families. TDC is one of only 10 Registered Investment Advisory Firms that own a South Dakota trust company.
- TDC Marketing was started in 2012 to provide internal marketing support. The successful team has expanded to provide branding and digital creative services exclusively to high-end financial services firms and advisers.
Cleves is helping his clients, and more importantly, their families, connect its wealth and purpose Cleves also credits his team to the firm’s success, believing another advantage is hiring in a local market with Midwestern work ethic and values. Cleves loved growing up in the Toledo area and was a student at St. Patrick’s of Heatherdowns, Central Catholic High School and Hillsdale College. When he started working with his father, 95% of the clientele was local. Today, only about 30% are in Northwest Ohio, with the remaining 70% throughout the country
Cleves explained, “Clients have been asking for a long time to find one place to get best-in-class services for its risk and wealth management needs. We have been blessed to manage over $6 billion in assets across two Registered Investment Advisory firms. The kind of business we do in our life insurance practice, TDC Life, puts them in the top 1/2 of 1 percent in the United States. Our risk management firm, BridgePoint Risk Management, ranks in the top 25 firms offering privately-owned, high-end, personal lines property and casualty insurance.
What does the future look like for this forward-thinking business owner? He hopes the company is “unrecognizable” in 5-7 years. “If we continue to do the right things for our clients, if we continue to explore new ways to serve them, and if we continue to attract and retain hard-working team members with high character, I believe we can continue to be relevant and competitive.”
