What Lenz Financial Group does

Lenz Financial Group, founded in 1988 by John Lenz in Portland, Oregon, operates as a full-service insurance brokerage and consulting firm that distributes life insurance, annuities, disability insurance, and long-term care products to independent agents and financial advisors across the United States. The company was acquired by Simplicity Group on March 31, 2021, becoming the 20th organization to join the group, and now operates as "Simplicity Portland (Lenz Financial)" while retaining its local management under John Lenz. The business operates within a distribution platform that collectively moves over $10 billion in annuity sales and over $400 million in life insurance sales annually across the Simplicity network.

The company's underlying technology stack is centered on the Simplicity Agent Center — a single sign-on portal providing access to industry software — together with the iGo digital application system featuring InstApproval real-time underwriting capabilities, a multi-module digital sales platform (covering Accumulation, Wealth Transfer, Income, and Tax-Free Retirement), a proprietary risk management platform, and case management, quoting, and submission tools. These assets are deployed to support both internal operations and advisor partners across the end-to-end sales process, from lead generation and contracting through underwriting and case design.

Lenz Financial Group operates on a B2B wholesale distribution model, generating revenue primarily through transaction-based commissions on insurance and annuity products placed through its network. It serves two principal segments: independent insurance agents and financial advisors (the direct customer base) and the underlying individual clients served by those advisors, with use cases spanning wealth accumulation, wealth protection, retirement planning, income replacement, estate planning, and business continuity. The company supports advisors through marketing services, advanced sales training, contracting with top-rated carriers, case design, underwriting support, and proprietary point-of-sale tools. Strategic product and distribution partnerships include F&G (Fidelity & Guaranty Life) for the ExecuDex FIUL product and access to Sawtooth Solutions' unified managed account platform via Simplicity Group, alongside broader carrier and money-manager relationships across the parent group's 28+ distribution businesses.

Name

Lenz Financial Group

Legal name

Lenz Financial Group

Website

https://lenzfinancial.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1988

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Lenz Financial Group, operating as Simplicity Portland, is a Portland-based wholesale insurance brokerage that distributes life insurance, annuities, disability, and long-term care products to independent agents and financial advisors across the United States, now part of Simplicity Group.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Portland

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Insurance Distribution: Lenz Financial Group generates revenue through commissions from distributing life insurance, annuity, disability, and long-term care insurance products to independent agents and financial advisors. The company acts as a wholesale distributor connecting insurance carriers with insurance professionals.
2. Annuity Distribution: Commission-based distribution of annuity products including FIA, MYGA, VA, RILA, SPIA, and DIA products through the Simplicity network.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Lenz Financial Group (d/b/a Simplicity Portland) is a national full-service insurance brokerage that distributes life insurance, annuities (FIA, MYGA, VA, RILA, SPIA, DIA), disability income, and long-term care products from top-rated carriers to independent insurance agents and financial advisors. The firm also provides wealth/investment solutions through a tech-enabled platform and delivers back-office support spanning case management, underwriting, contracting, case design, sales training, and proprietary technology tools.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Insurance Brokerage & Distribution Services

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Simplicity GroupcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 13 April 2021Lenz Financial Group joined Simplicity Group as the 20th organization to become part of the partnership. John Lenz became partner and shareholder. Lenz Financial continues to operate with local management while gaining access to Simplicity's group resources, sales and marketing programs, and back-office functions.
• Fidelity & Guaranty Life (F&G)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerStrategic partnership for product development and distribution including ExecuDex Fixed Index Universal Life insurance product with InstApproval instant underwriting decision capability. Exclusively available through Simplicity Group operating subsidiaries including Lenz Financial Group.
• Leading Insurance CarrierscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPartnerships with top-rated insurance companies providing annuity and life insurance products distributed through the Lenz Financial/Simplicity network.
• Leading Money ManagersminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerInvestment platform partnerships with leading money managers for delivering client-needs driven portfolio strategies.
• Leaders GroupminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorLenz Financial Group remains an Associate Member of Insurance Designers of America and John Lenz remains with the Leaders Group broker-dealer.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Integrity Marketing Group: Integrity Marketing Group is a leading U.S. insurance distributor and IMO aggregator built through a roll-up of independent marketing organizations — directly comparable to Simplicity Group's roll-up model — focused on life, annuity, health, and wealth products distributed through independent agents and advisors.
• AmeriLife: AmeriLife is one of the largest U.S. insurance distribution platforms, distributing life, annuity, health, and wealth products through a national network of independent agents and agency organizations. Like Lenz/Simplicity, it serves as a wholesale distribution intermediary between carriers and producers, with product breadth and back-office support as core value propositions.
• Simplicity Group: Simplicity Group is the parent platform of which Lenz Financial Group (now Simplicity Portland) is the 20th partner organization. Both share the same wholesale insurance/annuity distribution model, proprietary Simplicity Agent Center and iGo tech stack, and reliance on independent agents and financial advisors for placement of life, annuity, DI, and LTC products.
• Ash Brokerage: Ash Brokerage is one of the largest U.S. independent insurance wholesalers (now part of Osaic) distributing life insurance, annuities, disability, and long-term care products to independent financial professionals — a near-mirror of Lenz's distribution model, carrier panel scale, and B2B go-to-market focused on integrated wealth + protection planning.
• OneDigital: OneDigital is a large insurance, wealth management, and HR consulting firm formed largely through roll-ups of insurance wholesalers and brokerages (including Crump). It competes directly with Lenz/Simplicity for independent advisor relationships and similarly aggregates back-office, technology, and product distribution for advisors serving HNW clients.

Broad incumbents

• Cetera Financial Group: Cetera Financial Group is a major U.S. independent broker-dealer network serving independent financial advisors with wealth, insurance, and annuity distribution infrastructure — competing for the same independent-advisor relationships Lenz targets, while offering a wider wealth/RIA platform than Lenz's pure insurance brokerage.
• Transamerica: Transamerica is a major U.S. life insurance carrier with a large captive and independent distribution organization offering life, annuity, and wealth products. It overlaps Lenz/Simplicity in placing life and annuity products through independent advisors, while also competing with exclusive proprietary product distribution that can disintermediate wholesalers.
• Penn Mutual: Penn Mutual is a U.S. mutual life insurer with a longstanding career and independent distribution system focused on life insurance, annuities, and wealth transfer. It competes for the same independent-advisor partnerships Lenz/Simplicity relies on, while also serving as a carrier partner on certain products.
• Osaic: Osaic (formerly Advisor Group) is a large independent broker-dealer and insurance distribution network serving financial advisors across wealth, retirement, and insurance product lines. It is a broad incumbent competing for many of the same independent-advisor relationships Lenz/Simplicity serves, with insurance wholesaling as a key capability.
• LPL Financial: LPL Financial is the largest U.S. independent broker-dealer/RIA custodian, providing a full wealth + insurance distribution platform to thousands of financial advisors. It overlaps Lenz/Simplicity in providing wholesalers, technology, and product access for advisors building holistic wealth and protection plans, but at vastly broader scale and with proprietary custody and RIA services.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/lenz-financial-group
• Xx.com/lenzfinancial

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Lenz Financial Group