41. TripleOptionCD Three options to manage your money. these challenging times, we are pleased to have the infrastructure and solid resources to continue our growth path." Kaufman showed an inkling of his future sales entrepreneurship while growing up in northwest Detroit and attending Henry Ford High School. He sold lemonade and Kool-Aid, "but only at the major street inter- sections with a lot of pedestrian traffic where I could make more sales," he mused. "After that came Fuller brushes, magazines, lawn cutting services, group trips for a travel bureau and, finally, life insurance when I worked in my father's agency. I guess sales entrepreneurship has always been in my blood." Kaufman received a Bachelor of Science degree in finance and insurance from Michigan State University and a Juris Doctor degree from Notre Dame University's law school in Indiana. He also studied international law at the University of London, England's school of economics, then prac- ticed law with a Detroit firm before opening his own law firm in 1976. "By the mid 1990s, my law prac- tice was going well, but so was my father's insurance business," said Alan Kaufman. "He wanted to wind down and we talked about succes- sion and what would happen to this long-time, highly successful insur- ance business. I had a big decision to make, and the 'ET word — risk — played an important role." Taking A Chance This wasn't a typical case of a father just turning over the business to the next generation. Because Kaufman Insurance was a public company, no gifting was allowed; Alan Kaufman had to bid on the business like anyone else; his father pretty much had to sell to the high- est bidder. "I borrowed a lot of money, bought the business and took it private. It was pretty risky, but I felt I could do more with the business as a private company and make it worth a lot more eventually," he reasoned. "It was an enormous risk — Alan really bet the ranch on the deal," observed Mark Shaevsky of Bloomfield Hills, the attorney who handled much of the legal work at the time. "He bought out 800 shareholders, who owned varying amounts of stock, at $8.20 a share. But it was worth it. When he bought the business, he had a strategic vision for it and he has implement- ed that vision by expanding the business many times since. He's a unique businessman." Shaevsky now serves on the Kaufman Financial Group's six- member board of directors, which includes Kaufman's brother, Steven D. Kaufman of South Lyon, who also is a consultant to the company. Around the time that Kaufman completed the "going private" transaction, the Burns & Wilcox insurance premium volume was $250 million a year; in 2008, it was almost $660 million. "When my father started this company, he was part of an insurance innovation," Alan Kaufman pointed out. "He saw the potential for growth in the spe- cialty insurance market and built a strong foundation. We're been capi- talizing on that ever since." "Risk" continued to be an important factor in the company's operation as it developed into a broad-based specialty wholesale insurance services firm. Kaufman acquired various insurance com- panies that underwrite high risks in specialty lines and professional, personal and commercial liability. He now oversees more than 800 employees in 39 offices in 24 states averaging about 35 employees per office, dealing with about 26,000 agents in North America. "We spe- cialize in complicated insurance placements and difficult-to write policies; we're sort of unique in this sector," he said. Coverage includes such places as golf courses, day care centers, alcohol/drug abuse clinics, gun and hunting clubs, auto repair garages, nursing homes, logging and lum- bering operations, cemeteries, and such people as ambulance drivers, estate executors, financial planners, lawyers, real estate agents, archi- tects, mortgage loan brokers, travel agents and others. Added Kaufman: "We arrange for all types of environmental insur- ance, such as insurance for con- struction contractors and dry clean- ers against pollution, golfers getting holes-in-one at golf outings, fire- works going haywire at a party or bad weather ruining a social event, a pianist's fingers and promotional RISKY BUSINESS on page 32 Option 1 One-time rate increase. Ask us about your other two options! 15 or 24 Month CD. Minimum to open $500. See account disclosure for additional information. 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