Kaplan Financial
Kaplan Financial and Insurance Services is a privately held, physician-focused financial advisory firm founded in 1990, serving over 4,000 physicians nationwide with financial planning, wealth management, and exclusive Guaranteed Standard Issue disability insurance through LPL Financial and partner medical training institutions.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1990
- HeadquartersEncino, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingServices
What Kaplan Financial does
Kaplan Financial and Insurance Services, Inc., founded in 1990 and headquartered in Encino, California, is a privately held financial advisory firm specializing exclusively in financial planning and disability insurance for physicians and medical residents. The firm serves over 4,000 physicians nationwide through a concierge-level, single-advisor relationship model, operating with 1-10 employees under founder Robert B. Kaplan, CFP. The core product portfolio centers on own-occupation disability insurance, including the exclusive Guaranteed Standard Issue (GSI) program for medical residents and fellows with no medical underwriting, alongside fee-based wealth management through the LPL Financial platform, and integrated retirement, tax, estate, life insurance, long-term care, and college planning services.
The business generates revenue through three streams: ongoing asset-based fees for investment advisory relationships (no commissions on wealth management), insurance commissions earned as an independent agent across multiple disability and life insurance carriers, and professional service fees for comprehensive financial planning. Investment and planning infrastructure is sourced from third-party platforms: LPL Financial (the largest independent broker-dealer in the US as of March 2023) for trading, research, and guided portfolios; and eMoney for client portal and financial planning tools. There is no proprietary technology layer or in-house engineering function disclosed.
Distribution relies on exclusive and endorsed GSI partnerships with premier US medical training institutions, including UCLA, UCSF, UC Irvine, Kaiser Permanente, Mayo Clinic, Mass General Brigham, and NewYork-Presbyterian (Columbia and Weill Cornell), plus access to 150+ additional GSI offers at training hospitals nationwide. The firm has been consecutively ranked by Forbes in America's Top Financial Security Professionals from 2021 through 2025. Go-to-market is sales-led and relationship-driven, supported by a content-and-seminar marketing layer targeting physicians in residency and fellowship programs. Ownership remains founder-led with no disclosed venture or private equity backing.
Kaplan Financial firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Kaplan Financial
- Legal name
- Kaplan Financial and Insurance Services, Inc.
- Website
- https://kaplanfinancial.net
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1990
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Kaplan Financial and Insurance Services is a privately held, physician-focused financial advisory firm founded in 1990, serving over 4,000 physicians nationwide with financial planning, wealth management, and exclusive Guaranteed Standard Issue disability insurance through LPL Financial and partner medical training institutions.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Kaplan Financial industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Financial Advisory Services
- NAICS
- Agencies, Brokerages, and Other Insurance Related Activities (5242), Insurance Agencies and Brokerages (524210), Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940)
- SIC
- Insurance Agents, Brokers & Service (6411), Investment Advice (6282), Life Insurance (6311)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Individual Health Insurance Brokerage & Distribution (FSAIAEAL)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Independent Broker-Dealers (Retail Network) (FSAAAAAC), Affluent / Mass-Affluent Private Banking (FSABADAC)
Keywords
Where Kaplan Financial is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Encino
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Kaplan Financial business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Fee-Based Investment Advisory: The firm provides independent, fee-based financial services through its partnership with LPL Financial. Advisors charge an ongoing asset-based fee for investment advisory relationships rather than receiving commissions. This model aligns advisor interests with client outcomes.
- Insurance Products and Services: As independent insurance agents, Kaplan Financial earns commissions from disability insurance and life insurance products offered through multiple insurance carriers. The firm works with a broad range of disability and term life insurance companies.
- Financial Planning Services: Comprehensive financial planning services including retirement planning, tax planning, estate planning, and wealth management provided as part of the overall financial advisory relationship.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Annual | Fee-Based Investment Advisory - Asset-Based Pricing |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels5 records
Kaplan Financial product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Kaplan Financial provides specialized financial planning, wealth management, and insurance services exclusively to physicians and medical residents. Its core offerings center on own-occupation disability insurance (including the exclusive Guardian Guaranteed Standard Issue program for residents and fellows at partner training hospitals), comprehensive financial planning, fee-based investment advisory through LPL Financial, retirement, tax, estate, and college planning, as well as life and long-term care insurance products sourced from multiple carriers.
Product overview
Kaplan Financial & Insurance Services is a physician-focused financial advisory firm serving over 4,000 physicians nationwide since 1990. The company operates two divisions: Kaplan Financial (financial planning and advisory services) and Kaplan Financial & Insurance Services (insurance products). The core product portfolio centers on own-occupation disability insurance for physicians, including the exclusive Guaranteed Standard Issue (GSI) program for medical residents and fellows at partner hospitals. Additional offerings include wealth management through LPL Financial's Guided Wealth Portfolios, comprehensive financial planning, retirement planning, tax planning, estate planning, life insurance, long-term care insurance, and college planning. The firm also provides educational resources including financial calculators, seminars, and a resource center with articles and videos. Services are delivered through independent agent partnerships with multiple insurance carriers and investment management via LPL Financial as the broker-dealer.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Financial Planning Comprehensive financial planning services tailored for physicians, including goal identification, personalized strategy design, and ongoing implementation and management.
- Disability Insurance (Own-Occupation) Own-occupation disability insurance policies specifically designed for physicians, sourced from multiple carriers to provide optimal policy features and competitive rates.
- Wealth Management Fee-based investment advisory services delivered through partnership with LPL Financial, providing individually tailored investment portfolios using comprehensive economic and investment research.
- Retirement Planning Comprehensive retirement planning services designed to help physicians prepare for and manage their retirement needs.
- Tax Planning Tax planning strategies and services designed to help physician clients optimize their tax situations.
- Life Insurance Individual life insurance policies, including term life insurance with instant quote capabilities, sourced from a broad range of life insurance carriers.
- Estate Planning Estate planning services to help physician clients manage and transfer wealth according to their wishes.
- College Planning Education savings and planning services for physician clients, including 529 account strategies.
- Long-Term Care Insurance Long-term care insurance policies to protect physician clients against the costs of extended care services.
- Guaranteed Standard Issue (GSI) Disability Program Exclusive Guaranteed Standard Issue disability insurance program for medical residents and fellows at partner training hospitals, offering policies with no medical underwriting required for eligible physicians in training.
Companies that use Kaplan Financial
Customer profileNamed customers1 record
Segments2 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Kaplan Financial technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration2 records
Feature3 records
Kaplan Financial partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core, flagship and minor.
- LPL FinancialcoreThrough LPL Financial, the largest independent broker-dealer in the United States (as of March 2023), Kaplan Financial accesses comprehensive research on the economy and investment topics, constructs individual investment portfolios, and provides investment advisory services. LPL provides the trading infrastructure and platform support for the firm's fee-based advisory relationships.
- Guardian Life InsurancecoreKaplan Financial is the exclusive provider of Guardian's Guaranteed Standard Issue (GSI) disability insurance offer for residents and fellows training at UCLA Medical Center, UCSF Medical Center, UC Irvine Medical Center, and Kaiser Permanente. The GSI product requires no medical underwriting.
- UCLA Medical CenterflagshipExclusive GSI (Guaranteed Standard Issue) disability insurance provider for residents and fellows training at UCLA Medical Center. No medical underwriting required for eligible physicians in training.
- UCSF Medical CenterflagshipExclusive GSI (Guaranteed Standard Issue) disability insurance provider for residents and fellows training at UCSF Medical Center. No medical underwriting required for eligible physicians in training.
- UC Irvine Medical CenterflagshipExclusive GSI (Guaranteed Standard Issue) disability insurance provider for residents and fellows training at UC Irvine Medical Center. No medical underwriting required for eligible physicians in training.
- Kaiser PermanenteflagshipExclusive GSI (Guaranteed Standard Issue) disability insurance provider for residents and fellows training at Kaiser Permanente. No medical underwriting required for eligible physicians in training.
- Mayo CliniccoreEndorsed agent for GSI (Guaranteed Standard Issue) disability insurance offer at Mayo Clinic for residents and fellows. Access to GSI products with no medical underwriting for eligible physicians in training.
- Mass General BrighamcoreEndorsed agent for GSI (Guaranteed Standard Issue) disability insurance offer at Mass General Brigham for residents and fellows. Access to GSI products with no medical underwriting for eligible physicians in training.
- NewYork-Presbyterian (Columbia & Weill Cornell)coreEndorsed agent for GSI (Guaranteed Standard Issue) disability insurance offer at NewYork-Presbyterian's Columbia and Weill Cornell campuses for residents and fellows. Access to GSI products with no medical underwriting for eligible physicians in training.
- 150+ Training Hospitals NationwideminorThe firm has access to over 150 additional GSI (Guaranteed Standard Issue) disability insurance offers at training hospitals throughout the country, enabling nationwide reach for physician disability insurance services.
Scale indicators4 records
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights4 records
Kaplan Financial competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Osaic (formerly Advisor Group): Large independent broker-dealer network hosting thousands of independent advisors who run fee-based advisory and insurance practices comparable to Kaplan. Same platform-driven distribution model with carrier-brokerage and wealth management under one roof.
- Cetera Financial Group: Independent broker-dealer network supporting independent advisors with fee-based advisory, insurance brokerage, and financial planning services. Directly comparable operating model to Kaplan's LPL-anchored practice, including insurance carrier relationships and niche-segment advisor teams.
- Cambridge Investment Research: Large independent broker-dealer and RIA platform serving independent financial advisors. Highly comparable to Kaplan's underlying business model because advisors operating under Cambridge run fee-based advisory practices with similar carrier-brokerage relationships, mirror Kaplan's LPL Financial platform dependency, and compete for the same independent advisor talent pool.
- Commonwealth Financial Network: Independent broker-dealer and RIA platform supporting independent advisors. Operates with nearly identical economics and service model as Kaplan's LPL Financial partnership — advisor practices pay for platform access, custody, and research, then build fee-based advisory businesses on top, often targeting niche professional segments like physicians.
Others
- Guardian Life Insurance: Kaplan's flagship insurance carrier partner for the exclusive Guaranteed Standard Issue disability insurance program at major medical training institutions. Not a competitor but a strategic upstream supplier whose relationship governs Kaplan's flagship GSI referral channels and physician client acquisition.
- LPL Financial: Kaplan's core platform partner — the largest independent broker-dealer in the US. Not a competitor in the end-client sense but a critical infrastructure provider that determines Kaplan's economics, product shelf, custody, and technology stack; relevant as a strategic dependency and a model for comparable IBD-anchored practices.
Broad incumbents
- Raymond James Financial Services: Large diversified financial services firm with a substantial independent advisor channel. Comparable because their advisor practices compete with Kaplan for high-net-worth physician clients, offer fee-based advisory plus insurance, and run similar concierge financial planning models — but at vastly greater scale and brand recognition.
- Edelman Financial Engines: Large national RIA combining advisor-led and digital wealth management. Competes with Kaplan for physician clients through comprehensive financial planning, but at greater scale with hybrid digital-advisor delivery rather than a specialist physician-only niche.
- Mariner Wealth Advisors: Large national RIA with comprehensive wealth advisory, tax, estate, and insurance services. Comparable in serving affluent professional clients with concierge financial planning, but operates at a vastly larger scale with multiple specialist teams rather than a single physician-focused practice.
- Creative Planning: Large national RIA offering comprehensive wealth management, tax, estate, and financial planning services. Directly competes with Kaplan for affluent physician clients and has explicitly targeted professional segments, but at much larger scale with multi-advisor teams and broader service offerings.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Kaplan Financial social profiles
Digital presenceKaplan Financial financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Kaplan Financial leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
Kaplan Financial funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Kaplan Financial M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Kaplan Financial
What does Kaplan Financial do?
Kaplan Financial provides specialized financial planning, wealth management, and insurance services exclusively to physicians and medical residents. Its core offerings center on own-occupation disability insurance (including the exclusive Guardian Guaranteed Standard Issue program for residents and fellows at partner training hospitals), comprehensive financial planning, fee-based investment advisory through LPL Financial, retirement, tax, estate, and college planning, as well as life and long-term care insurance products sourced from multiple carriers.
Is Kaplan Financial a public or private company?
Kaplan Financial is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Kaplan Financial founded?
Kaplan Financial was founded in 1990. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Kaplan Financial based?
Kaplan Financial is headquartered in Encino, United States, in the North America region.
How does Kaplan Financial make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Fee-Based Investment Advisory is the primary driver. The others are insurance Products and Services and financial Planning Services.
Who are Kaplan Financial's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Osaic (formerly Advisor Group), Cetera Financial Group, Cambridge Investment Research and Commonwealth Financial Network. Others are Guardian Life Insurance and LPL Financial. Broad incumbents are Raymond James Financial Services, Edelman Financial Engines, Mariner Wealth Advisors and Creative Planning.
Does Kaplan Financial have an API?
No public API is recorded for Kaplan Financial.
What industry is Kaplan Financial in?
Kaplan Financial's product category is Financial Advisory Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is FSAIAEAL, Individual Health Insurance Brokerage & Distribution, with a secondary code of FSAAAAAC, Independent Broker-Dealers (Retail Network). Its NAICS code is 5242 and its SIC code is 6411.