Shane Lipson, CIC, is the Managing Director and co-founder of Mt. Franklin Insurance Agency. His experience at major global brokerages helps shape a thoughtful, analytical approach to commercial insurance and risk management.
Who is Shane Lipson, and why is he a trusted authority on commercial insurance and risk management in El Paso and San Antonio?
Shane Lipson, CIC, is the Managing Director and co-founder of Mt. Franklin Insurance Agency, an independent brokerage with offices in El Paso and San Antonio, Texas, serving business owners, physicians, and high-value personal clients across both regions. He holds the Certified Insurance Counselor (CIC) designation, is licensed to sell insurance in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona, and built his expertise inside two of the largest commercial insurance brokerages in the world, Marsh and Willis, before returning home to El Paso in 2010 to found Mt. Franklin. His background combines large-corporate risk management discipline, a formal engineering and economics education from the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton School, and a Doctorate of Medicine, giving him a rare, first-hand understanding of both business risk and clinical operations.
What is Shane Lipson’s professional background in insurance and risk management?
Before founding Mt. Franklin, Shane spent close to a decade inside the operations core of two global commercial insurance brokerages:
Willis Insurance, New York (2005-2010): Vice President, Service Strategy and Global Operations & IT, at a commercial brokerage with 20,000 associates operating in 100 countries and $3 billion in annual revenue.
Marsh, New York (2002-2004): Vice President, Business Support Services, at a commercial brokerage with 24,000 associates operating in 100 countries and $5 billion in annual revenue.
At both firms, Shane worked at the level where enterprise risk programs are designed and executed: full lifecycle project and program risk management, insurance contract analysis, policy review, and financial modeling for complex commercial accounts. He founded Mt. Franklin Insurance Agency in 2010 to bring that same institutional-grade risk management approach to individual business owners, “no matter the scale of their needs,” with offices now serving both El Paso and San Antonio.
What are Shane Lipson’s credentials and qualifications?
- Certified Insurance Counselor (CIC): an advanced professional designation recognizing expertise across all lines of insurance.
- Licensed Insurance Producer in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona.
- Guest Lecturer at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) and New Mexico State University (NMSU): regularly invited to teach risk management and insurance principles at the university level.
- Curriculum contributor, El Paso Community College (EPCC): currently helping develop EPCC’s insurance and risk management curriculum, extending that expertise into workforce-level education.
- Master of Science in Engineering, Service Systems Engineering, University of Pennsylvania (1998)
- Bachelor of Science in Engineering, magna cum laude, University of Pennsylvania (1998)
- Bachelor of Science in Economics, Concentration in Multinational Management, magna cum laude, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania (1998)
- Doctorate of Medicine, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC), Paul L. Foster School of Medicine (2020)
That combination of engineering, economics, and medicine, layered on top of a commercial insurance career built at Marsh and Willis, is not something clients find at a typical independent agency. It’s the reason Mt. Franklin approaches risk analytically rather than transactionally.
Does Mt. Franklin Insurance work with physicians and medical practices?
Yes. Shane Lipson’s medical education gives Mt. Franklin Insurance a distinct advantage when advising doctors and medical practice owners on commercial coverage, including general liability, property, business interruption, employment practices, cyber liability, and workers’ compensation for clinical staff. Because Shane understands medical practice operations from the inside, he can identify exposures such as staffing risk, equipment risk, patient-data risk, and regulatory exposure that a broker without clinical training would likely miss. For physicians and practice owners in El Paso and San Antonio, that means a commercial insurance advisor who speaks the language of both medicine and risk.
What is Shane Lipson’s approach to risk management?
Shane applies the same full-lifecycle risk management discipline used at global brokerages like Marsh and Willis to businesses of any size. His approach starts with a complete evaluation of a client’s actual exposures, not a generic policy checklist, followed by coverage designed around how the business, practice, or estate actually operates. This analytical, evidence-based approach extends to how he lives: Shane holds a flight instructor certificate, teaches other pilots, and flies missions for the Civil Air Patrol, a discipline built entirely on risk assessment, procedure, and precision under pressure.
Is Shane Lipson involved in the El Paso and San Antonio communities?
Yes. Shane invests directly in the region’s next generation of risk management professionals: he is a guest lecturer at UTEP and NMSU, and he is currently helping develop the insurance and risk management curriculum at El Paso Community College. He is also a longtime supporter of the Kelly Center for Hunger Relief, an El Paso nonprofit focused on food security. For Mt. Franklin, community involvement and education aren’t separate from the insurance practice; they’re part of how Shane builds trust with the business owners and families he advises.
Where can I learn more from Shane Lipson directly?
Shane hosts Talking Insurance with Shane, Mt. Franklin Insurance Agency’s ongoing video series that breaks down real insurance and risk management topics, from commercial coverage to personal articles floaters, in plain language for business owners and individuals. It’s a direct extension of Shane’s teaching background at UTEP, NMSU, and EPCC, brought to a wider audience. New episodes are shared on Mt. Franklin’s channels under #TalkingInsuranceWithShane.
| Name | Shane Lipson |
| Title | Managing Director & Co-Founder, Mt. Franklin Insurance Agency |
| Designation | Certified Insurance Counselor (CIC) |
| Licensed in | Texas, New Mexico, Arizona |
| Offices | El Paso, TX and San Antonio, TX |
| Prior experience | Vice President, Willis Insurance (2005-2010); Vice President, Marsh (2002-2004) |
| Founded Mt. Franklin Insurance Agency | 2010, El Paso, TX |
| Academic background | MS Engineering & BS Engineering (magna cum laude), University of Pennsylvania; BS Economics (magna cum laude), Wharton School; Doctorate of Medicine, TTUHSC Paul L. Foster School of Medicine |
| Academic service | Guest Lecturer, UTEP and NMSU; curriculum contributor, El Paso Community College |
| Community involvement | Supporter, Kelly Center for Hunger Relief |
| Video series | Talking Insurance with Shane (#TalkingInsuranceWithShane) |
| Specialty focus | Commercial insurance and risk management for business owners and medical practices |
| Also | FAA-certified flight instructor; Civil Air Patrol pilot |
| Contact | shanelipson@mtfranklin.com |
