Kaufman Institute

What Kaufman Institute does

Kaufman Institute is a private, for-profit learning hub founded in 2014 and headquartered in Farmington Hills, Michigan. The company develops and delivers innovative learning tools exclusively for insurance professionals, positioning itself as a focused professional education and development provider within the insurance vertical. With a stated headcount of 11-50 employees, it operates at small scale relative to its addressable professional audience.

The supplied source material identifies Kaufman Institute within the broader H.W. Kaufman Group corporate ecosystem, alongside Burns & Wilcox — a specialty insurance wholesale broker and managing general agent (MGA) that operates 60+ offices worldwide and serves 10,000+ brokers and agents across the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Within this structure, Kaufman Institute appears positioned as the education and knowledge-development arm for the group, while Burns & Wilcox handles specialty insurance distribution. The group's combined footprint spans North America and select international markets, with insurance segments spanning commercial, professional, and personal lines across 20+ specialty verticals including cannabis, cyber, construction, healthcare, and flood.

For Kaufman Institute specifically, the source data is thin: no revenue figures, no detailed product catalog, no named customers, no pricing structure, and no disclosed leadership team are available. The strategic implication is that Kaufman Institute's addressable market is closely linked to the broader Kaufman Group's broker and agent ecosystem, but its standalone economic profile cannot be triangulated from the provided material.

Name

Kaufman Institute

Legal name

Burns & Wilcox, Ltd.

Website

https://kaufmaninstitute.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Kaufman Institute is a private learning hub founded in 2014 in Farmington Hills, Michigan, that develops innovative learning tools exclusively for insurance professionals and operates within the H.W. Kaufman Group corporate family.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Specialty Insurance Brokerage

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Insurance (EDABALAQ)

akta.pro secondary industries

Insurance (EDAAAPAH), Insurance Finance & Risk (Actuarial, Claims, Solvency) (EDABAJAJ), Insurance Licensure & Designation Prep (Life/Health/Property & Casualty, Series insurance exams) (EDANAIAI)

Keywords

• Specialty insurance brokerage
• Wholesale insurance distribution
• Excess surplus lines
• Insurance professional education
• Commercial insurance solutions

Headquarters

HQ city

Farmington Hills

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Insurance Brokerage Commissions: Burns & Wilcox operates as a wholesale broker and managing general agent (MGA), earning commissions from insurers for placing specialty insurance coverage on behalf of retail brokers and agents.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Kaufman Institute operates as a learning hub providing innovative learning tools designed exclusively for insurance professionals, while the broader H.W. Kaufman Group's commercial operations focus on specialty insurance brokerage and underwriting services distributed exclusively through retail brokers and agents. The firm provides access to specialized, excess, and surplus lines markets, admitted market products, and niche risk classes such as construction, healthcare, cyber, hospitality, transportation, and personal insurance.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Commercial Insurance Practice Specialty commercial insurance brokerage practice providing retail brokers and agents with access to commercial property, casualty, and specialty coverages for diverse business classes.
• Professional Insurance Practice Professional liability, errors & omissions, and management liability insurance placement for retail brokers serving professional service firms and businesses.
• Personal Insurance Practice Specialty personal lines placement including high-value homeowners, personal umbrella, collector vehicle, watercraft, and other niche personal coverages for retail agents.
• IssueQuick Digital Platform Online digital platform enabling retail agents to quote, bind, and issue admitted-market small business insurance products in real time without underwriting referral.
• Consolidation as a Service (CaaS) Program administration, policy consolidation, and back-office services offered to retail brokers and agents to streamline placement of complex or multi-line risks.
• Claims Support Services Specialized claims handling, advocacy, and consulting services supporting retail brokers and their clients across specialty insurance placements.
• Industry-Specific Specialty Practices Verticalized specialty risk placement teams covering construction, cyber liability, healthcare, hospitality, real estate, transportation, environmental, surety, and other niche industry classes for retail brokers.

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• H.W. Kaufman GroupOthersH.W. Kaufman Group is the parent company of Burns & Wilcox. The group operates a network of insurance-related companies and provides centralized corporate services to its subsidiaries.

Scale indicators2 records

Direct peers

• WebCE: WebCE is one of the largest U.S. providers of online insurance continuing education and professional development courses. It directly competes for the same state-mandated CE dollars and insurance professional audience that Kaufman Institute targets.
• National Alliance for Insurance Education & Research: National Alliance offers the CIC, CRM, and CISR designations widely held by insurance agents and customer service representatives. It is a direct peer to Kaufman Institute because both deliver continuing and designation-track education to working insurance professionals.
• ExamFX: ExamFX is a leading online pre-licensing and continuing education provider for insurance and financial professionals. It is comparable to Kaufman Institute as a digital learning platform focused on insurance licensing and CE, suggesting the same buyer and delivery model.
• The Institutes (AICPCU / Insurance Institute of America): The Institutes is the premier U.S. provider of insurance education and professional designations (CPCU, ARM, AINS). It is the most directly comparable peer to Kaufman Institute because both serve insurance professionals with structured learning and credentialing pathways.
• LOMA (now part of LL Global, alongside LIMRA): LOMA is a long-standing insurance industry education organization offering designations and training primarily for life insurance and financial services professionals. It is comparable to Kaufman Institute as a niche, insurance-specific learning provider with recognized credentials.
• CE Direct / At InsuranceCE.com: InsuranceCE.com-type platforms provide state-specific online continuing education for insurance license holders. They directly compete for the same CE dollar that Kaufman Institute targets and are pure-play digital insurance education providers.

Broad incumbents

• Kaplan Financial Education: Kaplan is a large, established education company offering insurance licensing, securities, and financial services training. It is a broad incumbent comparable to Kaufman Institute in serving insurance licensing/LEAD demand, but at significantly larger scale and broader scope.

Emerging players

• AdjusterPro (litigation-services.com / AdjusterPro): AdjusterPro is a niche online insurance training provider focused on claims adjuster licensing. It is comparable to Kaufman Institute as a digital, insurance-only education business serving a specific role within the insurance value chain.
• 360training: 360training offers insurance pre-licensing, CE, and broader workforce training across regulated industries. It is comparable to Kaufman Institute as an online insurance education provider, though it is broader and primarily self-serve/direct-to-consumer.

Others

• Insurance Journal (Insurance Journal Academy / IJ Academy): Insurance Journal is a leading trade media outlet for the insurance industry and offers educational content and CE to its audience. It is adjacent to Kaufman Institute as a content-and-learning resource for the same insurance professional audience, though its core business is media rather than structured credentials.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat2 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/KaufmanInstitute1
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/kaufman-institute

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

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 Kaufman Institute