Neal Clark is one of the owners and Financial Advisors at CORE Benefits & Investments, LLC. He graduated from the University of Tennessee with a B.S. in Business Management in 1999. Neal began his career as a Financial Advisor in 2000 with a national financial planning firm, primarily working with individuals and families. Prior to starting CORE in 2007, Neal worked with another national financial services company from 2001-2007 where he honed his skills in asset management, financial planning as well as employer benefits plan design. During this period, Neal realized his passion for helping individuals, families and business owners with their investment and planning needs.

Neal has multiple roles at CORE including overseeing asset management for our individual and family clients as well as advising business owners on employer-sponsored retirement plans. In his role of advising businesses on their retirement plans, Neal aids in the creation of each plan’s investment lineup, ongoing monitoring of plan investments, helps in plan design and oversees plan participant enrollment. As a financial advisor with CORE, Neal is responsible for advising individuals and families on all financial planning matters with an emphasis on portfolio creation and asset management.

Since starting CORE, Neal has been responsible for the creation of CORE's Investment Portfolio Design Process, the creation of the CORE Investment Committee as well as overseeing the growth of CORE's Investment Technology Platforms. Neal has also been instrumental in CORE's expansion with the opening of the Alcoa office in 2017. As one of the owners of CORE, Neal oversees the hiring of financial advisors and the training process associated with new advisors. He holds his FINRA Series 7 and Series 66 licenses to offer investment products, as well as his Life and Health insurance licenses to offer insurance.

Lori Bishop is a leader in the field of financial planning. A graduate of Auburn University, she earned the designation of CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ Practitioner in 1987 while working with Kemp Fain, one of the founding fathers of the financial planning industry. She holds the Series 7 and 63 securities licenses.

Prior to joining CORE, she worked with two large regional banks both as a financial planner and as the developer and manager of financial planning programs and a family office service for high-net-worth clients. Her clients have included executives of Forbes 500 companies, celebrities, pro-athletes, and families of wealth.

Lori’s role as Director of Financial Planning at CORE Benefits & Investments uses her experience and skills to provide comprehensive financial planning services to our clients. A comprehensive plan includes reviews of investments, insurance, estate, tax and cashflow, and by looking at everything together, we can help move clients closer to their long-term goals.

Lori also coordinates educational programs for clients and the community and is available as a speaker on various financial topics. She offers a program written by the CFP Board titled, "Financial Self Defense for Seniors."

In addition to her work at CORE, Lori is a trainer for the “Dealing with Dementia” workshop, a program developed by the Rosalyn Carter Institute for Caregiving, and hosts a Caregiver Café for family caregivers twice a month. In 2020, Lori launched a non-profit, The Caregiver Superhero Society. That organization funds education and support of family caregivers. Lori’s efforts to serve the caregiver community are supported by the CORE team through the CORE Cares Initiative.

Lori is also an artist. Some of her pieces are on display in our Alcoa office.

Michael graduated from Carson Newman University in 1981, with a B.S. in Accounting. He has been in the financial industry since 2002. He holds the Series 7, 63, 66 securities licenses.

Helping people not only pursue their retirement goals but also live those goals, is Michael's focus and is the reason he chose Retirement Planning as a profession. The most important role that Michael fills as an Investment Advisor Representative is educating people in the different aspects of investing and how they may, or may not, apply to their personal situation.

Michael has also acquired additional education which enhances his ability to serve clients specifically in retirement planning. Having the designation of AAMS®, Accredited Asset Management Specialist, Michael serves clients in investing for retirement, according to a detailed financial plan. As a CRPC®, Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor, he guides clients through all the decisions of retirement, ultimately creating a plan to maximize those savings, and other income sources, to last the duration of their retirement.

Aside from serving his clients, Michael serves on the Investment Committee at CORE, which helps guide CORE in the structure of its investment policies, including investment platforms, performance, and exercising common sense and discipline to the values of the firm.

Kristyn graduated from Tennessee Technological University with a bachelor's degree in Management and Sociology in 2017.  She began her career in financial services in 2016 with CORE, she holds the Life and Health insurance licenses to offer insurance to CORE’s clients and the FINRA Series 66 license to offer investments.  Kristyn passed the Certified Financial Planner (CFP) exam in 2022 and now holds the CFP designation. 

As a Financial Advisor, Kristyn uses her financial planning skills to help individuals and families reach their financial goals.  As a planner, Kristyn works closely with CORE financial planning clients implementing their plans and overseeing the financial planning software.  Kristyn also works with Corporate Clients of CORE, enrolling participants in the plans of CORE’s clients as well as advising employers on their Employer Sponsored Retirement Plans.  While fulfilling her duties to her clients, Kristyn is also part of the CORE Investment Committee.

Amy began her career in the financial services industry in 2006 with a large national insurance company working as an assistant to a financial advisor. In 2008, she started with CORE Benefits & Investments as an advisor assistant. Today, Amy serves multiple roles for the CORE offices including Operations Manager and New Business Coordinator. She oversees the processing of new business for investments and individual insurance. Amy also works directly with CORE’s clients handling distributions from investment accounts and retirement plans.

Amy oversees compliance reporting for both CORE offices, arranges office events, and manages the appointment calendars for several of the reps. Amy is also in charge of Client Service ensuring that each CORE client gets the individualized care and support our clients deserve. She holds her life and health insurance licenses and is also a notary.

Randy began his career in the financial services industry in 1985 for a nationally recognized firm. Randy specializes in individual insurance products for CORE's clients with an emphasis on retirees, as well as advising businesses on their insurance needs. He holds his FINRA Series 6 and FINRA Series 63 licenses, as well as his Life, Health, Property and Casualty insurance licenses to offer insurance.

Mayra Clark is the Benefits Director at CORE Benefits & Investments, LLC. She graduated from the University of Tennessee with a B.S. in Marketing and a B.S. in Logistics & Transportation. Mayra began her career working for Regal Entertainment Group promoting their rewards program and their theater openings. She transitioned into transportation sales with C.H. Robinson and helped market 3rd party logistics services. After 15+ years of sales and marketing in the retail and commodities world, an opportunity at CORE Benefits & Investments, LLC. presented itself for her to assist with their Group Benefits & Insurance services.

As a Benefits Director at CORE, Mayra is the primary client relationship manager for our Group Benefits & Insurance team. She establishes and maintains strong working relationships with clients that create a trusted advisor role. She analyzes a client's current situation and identifies opportunities to implement and execute client-specific goals and insurance objectives. Acquiring an understanding of our clients' insurance objectives, Mayra compares insurance plans to determine suitability. Mayra not only works with employers but also participants of group insurance plans to properly educate them on their benefits.

Mayra is licensed to sell Life and Health Insurance.

Charissa is a Benefits Account Representative on the CORE Benefits & Investments Team. She graduated from The University of Tennessee in May 2014 and holds a B.S. in Education with a Communication Disorders Concentration. She began her career in the investment industry while in college and has since provided executive level support to financial advisors affiliated with Lincoln Financial, Cambridge Investment Research, Inc., and Raymond James. Her responsibilities with past employers include preparing, processing, and following up on financial services paperwork. She ensured these offices met all compliance requirements, communicating directly with Financial Firm Corporate offices and Service Providers to answer questions and resolve issues. Working in the financial services industry over the last 12 years has led to an extensive client relations and problem-solving background.

As a Benefits Account Representative for CORE’s Group Benefits & Insurance team Charissa provides a valuable connection between our insurance carriers and our policy providers. She interacts with our clients to provide information in response to inquiries about products and services. She responds to our clients’ service requests, prepares plan option proposals for our clients’ consideration, and finalizes policy adjustments. Additionally, she assists our Benefits Director with recommendations of available products.

She holds a Life & Health Insurance License, as well as a Series 65 Securities License.