Our Team
David J. Downey
Founder Of The Downey Group, Inc.
David J. Downey has over 40 years experience as a life insurance producer. A native of Canton, Illinois, he became an agent for Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company in 1962, while still an undergraduate. He received his Bachelor of Science in 1963 from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and his Juris Doctorate degree in 1966 from the University of Illinois College of Law.
After admission to the Illinois Bar in 1966, Mr. Downey received his Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU®) designation the same year and decided to continue his career in life insurance. He has served as national President of the Association for Advanced Life Underwriting (1984) and as Chair for the Top of the Table Advisory Board in 1980.
The Downey Group, Inc. became a member of the M Financial Group in 1983. Mr. Downey served as a member of the Board of Directors of M Financial Holdings and of M Life Insurance Company, a reinsurance company. He has spoken at annual meetings of the Million Dollar Round Table and Top of the Table.
Mr. Downey is a life member of the University of Illinois Foundation Board. Formerly, he served on the board of First Busey Corporation, the board of The Champaign-Urbana News-Gazette, Inc., was a member of the Illinois Board of Higher Education, the University of Illinois Board of Trustees, the University of Illinois Athletic Board, the University of Illinois College of Business Board of Overseers, and a University of Illinois Adjunct Professor of Finance. While a student at the University of Illinois, Mr. Downey was a star basketball player, and as part of the 100th Anniversary of Illinois Basketball Celebration was chosen as a member of the All Century Team. In addition to being selected by his teammates as Illinois’ Most Valuable Player three consecutive years, he was named All Big 10 and All American and won the Big 10 Conference Medal of Honor for Proficiency in Scholarship and Athletics. He still holds the single game scoring record – 53 points – set in 1963 when he led the basketball team to a Big Ten Championship. In 2018, Dave was inducted into the Illinois Athletics Hall of Fame.
Qualifying membership in the MDRT is based on minimum commission and gross business generated within a year and is not based upon performance or returns experienced by any client, or opinions of the advisor’s clients or former clients. All members must apply every year to continue their affiliation with the Million Dollar Round Table. Each MDRT status designation is granted for one year only. For details regarding qualifications for these memberships, please visit the following web site address: Member Requirements (mdrt.org) Third-party rankings and recognitions are no guarantee of future investment success and do not ensure that a client or prospective client will experience a higher level of performance or results.
AR Insurance License # 528719, CA Insurance license # 0A13580