Headquarters:
30833 Northwestern Hwy, #220 Farmington Hills, MI 48334
Year founded:
1969
Number of employees:
1,030
Phone:
248 932 9030
Email:
aehein@hwkaufman.com
Website:
burnsandwilcox.com
LinkedIn:
linkedin.com/company/burns-&-wilcox
“After another year of record growth, we continue to make meaningful investments in technology, talent, and resources, which enable our associates to perform at their best”
Danny Kaufman,
Burns & Wilcox
BURNS & WILCOX
Alan Jay Kaufman
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Danny Kaufman
President
Zach Blaetz
Director of Sales
Leadership
Alan Jay Kaufman is the chairman and CEO of Burns & Wilcox. Under his decades of leadership, the company has built a reputation for prioritizing specialty expertise and lifelong learning.
He established the Kaufman Institute, an educational hub dedicated to expanding the knowledge and skills of its associates and industry professionals overall. He also endowed a professorship in insurance within the Eli Broad College of Business at Michigan State University.
Kaufman’s active board memberships span many organizations, including Business Leaders for Michigan, St. John’s University School of Insurance, Risk Management and Actuarial Science in New York City, and more.
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Alan Jay Kaufman
Danny Kaufman is the president of Burns & Wilcox.
Representing the third generation of family leadership, Kaufman oversees the US operations for Burns & Wilcox and guides its global sales, marketing, and technology teams. Under his leadership, the company has prioritized innovation, including the development of a proprietary digital platform and resources designed to foster internal collaboration and client engagement.
Kaufman serves as a board member for the City of Hope National Insurance Industry Council, among several other organizations.
He received his BA from the University of Michigan and his JD from Loyola University.
President
Danny Kaufman
Zach Blaetz is an accomplished director of sales with over eight years of experience at Appalachian Underwriters. He manages a team of sales representatives across the country and was instrumental in starting the Burlington, NC office. Blaetz is a skilled communicator and relationship builder, able to connect with clients and colleagues alike. He is adept at developing and executing sales strategies that drive revenue growth and is committed to delivering exceptional customer service.
Director of Sales
Zach Blaetz
““After another year of record growth, we continue to make meaningful investments in technology, talent, and resources, which enable our associates to perform at their best”
Danny Kaufman,
Burns & Wilcox
“Our teams, highly regarded for their expertise, are consistently stepping in to deliver an innovative approach or solve a complex coverage issue for our clients”
Danny Kaufman,
Burns & Wilcox
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“Our teams, highly regarded for their expertise, are consistently stepping in to deliver an innovative approach or solve a complex coverage issue for our clients”
Danny Kaufman,
Burns & Wilcox
“After another year of record growth, we continue to make meaningful investments in technology, talent, and resources, which enable our associates to perform at their best”
Danny Kaufman,
Burns & Wilcox
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John Chisenhall
Director of Marketing and Digital Partnerships
John Chisenhall is the director of marketing and digital partnerships at Appalachian Underwriters. He joined the company in 2022 as a regional sales manager and recently moved to his current role. With over 15 years of experience in the insurance industry, Chisenhall has primarily worked on the wholesale and MGA side. His background is in commercial insurance, specializing in workers’ compensation, real estate, and hospitality. Chisenhall is skilled in digital strategy, communication, and relationship building, and is focused on driving business growth and building strong partnerships in the industry.
Director of Marketing and Digital Partnerships
John Chisenhall
Kristin Downey
Chief Administrative Officer
Kristin Downey leads the team responsible for developing and implementing the people strategies to support Amwins’ business objectives. She also directs the management and operations for compensation and benefits, HR systems and payroll, employee relations and assistance, talent management, training and development, and marketing and communications. Downey also leads the company’s philanthropic efforts, including the Amwins Foundation.
Chief Administrative Officer
Kristin Downey
Founded more than five decades ago by the late Herbert W. Kaufman, Burns & Wilcox today is North America’s leading wholesale insurance broker and distributor of specialty solutions.
Representing the third generation of family leadership, Danny Kaufman serves as Burns & Wilcox’s president. He oversees the company’s North American operations and guides its global sales, marketing, and technology teams.
With thousands of associates doing business in 90 countries via offices across North America, the UK, Europe, and the UAE, Burns & Wilcox provides clients a range of highly specialized sector-specific expertise. Its depth of solutions includes personal lines, professional liability, cannabis, transportation, excess casualty, and flood.
Innovation has always been a cornerstone of its business and, currently, Burns & Wilcox is engaged in a multi-year proprietary partnership with Salesforce that will enable its production teams to work faster and smarter. By leveraging data and insights, along with breakthrough technology capabilities, Burns & Wilcox will better understand its clients’ needs and work even closer with their carrier partners.
Burns & Wilcox gained significant market share in 2024 while exceeding plans, growing nearly 20 percent overall and 30 percent in new business production.
In total, Burns & Wilcox placed more premium into the E&S marketplace than ever before. Commercial, personal and professional lines all recognized double-digit growth as clients again turned to the industry-leading expertise for which Burns & Wilcox professionals are consistently recognized.
“Our teams, highly regarded for their expertise, are consistently stepping in to deliver an innovative approach or solve a complex coverage issue for our clients”
Danny Kaufman,
Burns & Wilcox
Donna Hargrove
General Counsel
Mark Bernacki
Chief Underwriting Officer
Julie Prewitt
Senior Vice President, Marketing
Simon Williams
Chief Strategy & Distribution Officer, Arch Insurance International
and Active Underwriter, Syndicate 1955
Since 2008, Donna Hargrove has served as general counsel of Amwins and is responsible for identifying and managing all legal risks for the company. She advises executive leadership and the board of directors on a range of business issues, including corporate governance, risk management, and regulatory compliance. Prior to joining Amwins, Hargrove served as corporate in-house counsel for BB&T Insurance Services. Earlier in her career, she served in private practice with Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, concentrating on mergers and acquisitions and general corporate matters.
General Counsel
Donna Hargrove
Mark Bernacki is the chief underwriting officer of Amwins, the first to serve in the role. Prior to that, he served as president of Amwins Special Risk Underwriters. In addition to his leadership in underwriting, Bernacki runs the Amwins Alternative Risk Transfer Team for Amwins.
Chief Underwriting Officer
Mark Bernacki
Julie Prewitt has worked on nearly every aspect of marketing and advertising in her nearly 20 years in the industry. Her team at REInsurePro manages branding, advertising, events, content, digital campaigns, and agent engagement and plays a key role in product development.
Senior Vice President, Marketing
Julie Prewitt
Kimi leads the Estate Planning and Wealth Protection team and is a member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners. She understands the complex and delicate nature of family estate planning, the technical requirements around probate and estate administration, and the importance of preserving wealth for future generations. Her advice is accurate, commercial, strategic and tailored to each situation.
Partner
Kimi Shah
Kimi leads the Estate Planning and Wealth Protection team and is a member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners. She understands the complex and delicate nature of family estate planning, the technical requirements around probate and estate administration, and the importance of preserving wealth for future generations. Her advice is accurate, commercial, strategic and tailored to each situation.
Partner
Kimi Shah
Kimi leads the Estate Planning and Wealth Protection team and is a member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners. She understands the complex and delicate nature of family estate planning, the technical requirements around probate and estate administration, and the importance of preserving wealth for future generations. Her advice is accurate, commercial, strategic and tailored to each situation.
Partner
Kimi Shah
In personal lines, Burns & Wilcox grew nearly 30 percent overall and nearly 50 percent in new business production, cementing its position as the largest personal insurance wholesaler in the US.
In 2024, the Burns & Wilcox personal lines team launched the FloodPlus product through Burns & Wilcox IssueQuick, a proprietary and automated rate-quote-bind-issue platform. Utilizing a unique Flood API, FloodPlus pairs cutting-edge risk modeling with claims data, alongside the broadest primary flood coverage form in the marketplace.
The team also announced the expansion of the Burns & Wilcox relationship with Wildfire Defense Systems to include Texas and New Mexico, bringing a unique wildfire loss prevention and mitigation service that now includes 12 US states.
The Burns & Wilcox professional liability team continued building its bench strength and furthered its depth of expertise and geographic footprint. Additionally, the team established a multitude of new insurance company partners that will continue to bring innovative solutions to the marketplace.
Technology once again was central to the success of Burns & Wilcox over the last year. Capitalizing on a significant investment with Salesforce, the company rolled out new CRM capabilities along with a Commercial Comparative Rater that handles thousands of submission opportunities monthly.
Looking at 2025, Burns & Wilcox expects to increase automation to drive even greater production efficiencies and capture increased market share.
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“We will continue to strengthen our service proposition and customer experience as a key differentiator, as we build on the momentum we have achieved to date across multiple business lines and territories,” says McLean. “Our im is to continue to grow our market relevance and strengthen our partnerships with our strategic brokers as we expand our leadership position in key sectors.
“We will also continue to invest in talent. We are committed to drawing from the broadest pools of talent, and to creating an environment that attracts and retains stellar employees. We recognise the importance of building teams that are diverse, collaborative, and innovative and are dedicated to cultivating a supportive and inclusive workplace culture in which all our employees can thrive.”
