Stephens Insurance Services

What Stephens Insurance Services does

Stephens Insurance Services is a privately held, family-operated independent insurance agency headquartered in Lubbock, Texas, serving employer groups and individual/family clients across Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico. Founded circa 1993 by Ed Stephens (now retired) and continued under Zach Stephens, the firm is legally organized as GKS Insurance LLC and operates with approximately five licensed agents and brokers. Its product portfolio spans individual, family, and group health insurance; dental, vision, disability, and worksite voluntary benefits; self-funded and level-funded employer health plans; and life insurance products including Term, Whole, Universal, and Final Expense. The agency earns revenue primarily through carrier commissions on placed policies, supplemented by professional-services fees for ongoing benefits administration, compliance, and consulting work.

The firm's technology footprint is modest and largely off-the-shelf: a Wix.com-hosted marketing website with contact/lead-capture forms, a Zywave content library integration that delivers year-round employee benefits education, and an online enrollment platform covering onboarding, benefits, PTO tracking, and ACA reporting. HIPAA compliance is verified through Compliancy Group. All licensed agents conduct business under @higginbotham.net email domains and the website links to Higginbotham's Lubbock location page, indicating a producer or affiliation arrangement with the larger Higginbotham brokerage network; no formal parent-subsidiary ownership is disclosed.

Go-to-market is sales-led and relationship-driven: agents conduct on-site consultations for employer groups and serve individuals via phone and web inquiries. Distribution is regional across the Southwest U.S., supported by membership in the NABIP Texas Chapter and the Lubbock Chamber of Commerce. The company has no disclosed external investors, no parent company, and no public revenue figures, consistent with a small, founder/family-owned brokerage.

Name

Stephens Insurance Services

Legal name

GKS Insurance LLC

Website

https://stephensinsservices.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1993

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Stephens Insurance Services is a privately held independent insurance agency in Lubbock, Texas, providing health, life, dental, vision, disability, and worksite coverage plus employee benefits administration to employer groups and individuals across Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Insurance Brokerage Services

NAICS

Insurance Agencies and Brokerages (524210), Direct Health and Medical Insurance Carriers (524114), Direct Life, Health, and Medical Insurance Carriers (52411)

SIC

Insurance Agents, Brokers & Service (6411), Accident & Health Insurance (6321), Life Insurance (6311)

akta.pro primary industry

Small Group Health Insurance (2–50/100) (FSAIAFAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Basic Group Term Life (Employer-Paid) (FSAIADAA), Long-Term Disability (LTD) Insurance (FSAIAIAD), Worksite Vision Insurance (FSAIAMAH), Whole Life / UL Policy Riders & Add-ons (e.g., Waiver of Premium, Accidental Death, Child Term, LTC/Chronic Illness) (FSAIABAK)

Keywords

• Health insurance brokerage
• Employee benefits consulting
• Life insurance products
• Group health plans
• Individual insurance coverage

Headquarters

HQ city

Lubbock

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Insurance Commissions: Agency earns commissions from insurance carriers for placing health, life, dental, vision, disability, and worksite insurance coverage for individuals and employer groups.
2. Employee Benefits Brokerage Services: Provides ongoing consulting and administrative services for employer benefit plans including compliance, communications, reporting, benefit administration, strategic planning, and open enrollment support.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Stephens Insurance Services is an independent insurance brokerage founded in 1993 in Lubbock, Texas, that sells health, life, dental, vision, disability, and worksite benefits insurance to individuals, families, and employer groups across Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico. The firm operates two practice areas — Employee Benefits for employer-sponsored plans and Individual & Family coverage — supported by access to multiple carrier partners and dedicated account managers.

Product overview

Stephens Insurance Services offers a portfolio of insurance products and benefits services for individuals, families, and employers across Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico. The company's core offerings center on health insurance (individual, family, and group plans), life insurance (Term Life, Whole Life, Universal Life, and Final Expense), and supplementary benefits (Dental, Vision, Disability, and Worksite Benefits). For employers, they provide Employee Benefits Services including Self-Funded/Level-Funded health plans, plus consulting support for compliance, administration, and enrollment. The product portfolio is unified under a full-service insurance agency model focused on health and life benefits.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Employee Benefits (Employer-Sponsored Group Insurance)

Named customers2 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• HigginbothamcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerStephens Insurance Services operates as part of or in affiliation with Higginbotham, a larger insurance brokerage firm. Agents use Higginbotham email domains and the company website links to Higginbotham's Lubbock location page.
• NABIP Texas ChapterminorOthersIndustry association membership providing networking, professional development, and credibility in the employee benefits and insurance space. NABIP is the National Association of Benefits Insurance Professionals.
• ZywavecoreTechnology or IntegrationContent library integration providing employees with up-to-date benefits content to keep them engaged and informed throughout the year. Part of the comprehensive employee benefits platform.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• The Horton Group: Mid-sized independent insurance brokerage offering employee benefits, commercial, and personal lines. Comparable in operating model (regional brokerage serving SMB/mid-market employers with multi-line offerings), though larger in scale and broader geographically.
• Higginbotham: Large Texas-based insurance brokerage firm. Stephens Insurance Services' agents use Higginbotham email domains and the website links to Higginbotham's Lubbock page, indicating Stephens operates as a sub-brokerage or affiliated office within Higginbotham's network — the most direct comparable.

Others

• BenefitMall: Technology and distribution platform serving benefits brokers with enrollment, quoting, and back-office tools. Comparable as an ecosystem enabler for agencies like Stephens, but does not directly compete for end clients.

Emerging players

• Brown & Riding Insurance Services: Specialty insurance brokerage offering wholesale brokerage and program business. Adjacent comparable in the brokerage ecosystem with overlapping carrier relationships, though more specialty-focused than benefits.
• Woodruff Sawyer: Mid-market commercial insurance brokerage with employee benefits capabilities. Comparable benefits-brokerage function for similar client size band, though California-headquartered and not a direct geographic competitor.

Broad incumbents

• USI Insurance Services: Large U.S. insurance brokerage with strong employee benefits and consulting capabilities. Comparable benefits-brokerage offering, though national footprint and far greater scale.
• Hub International: North American insurance brokerage built through acquisitions of regional firms. Comparable as a multi-line benefits and commercial brokerage serving middle-market employers; much larger than Stephens.
• AssuredPartners: Large national insurance brokerage built largely through acquisition of regional agencies. Provides employee benefits brokerage and consulting at scale; relevant comparable as a roll-up acquirer of agencies like Stephens.
• Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Global insurance brokerage and risk management firm with major employee benefits practice serving mid-market and large employers. Comparable at the category level; substantially larger and broader than Stephens.
• Marsh McLennan Agency: Middle-market-focused brokerage arm of Marsh McLennan. Comparable employee benefits focus and SMB/mid-market client mix, though operates nationally with far greater scale.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/Stephens_Ins
• Facebookfacebook.com/StephensInsuranceServices
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/stephens-insurance-services

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

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 Stephens Insurance Services