Kaplan Financial

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.

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

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

• Physician financial planning
• Disability insurance
• Wealth management services
• Retirement planning
• Investment advisory

Headquarters

HQ city

Encino

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core 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.

Named customers1 record

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration2 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core, flagship and minor.

• LPL FinancialcoreTechnology or IntegrationThrough 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 InsurancecoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorKaplan 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 CenterflagshipChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorExclusive 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 CenterflagshipChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorExclusive 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 CenterflagshipChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorExclusive 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 PermanenteflagshipChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorExclusive 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 CliniccoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorEndorsed 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 BrighamcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorEndorsed 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)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorEndorsed 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 NationwideminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorThe 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

Direct 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

• Xx.com/KaplanFinancial

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 Kaplan Financial