I'm Matthew Ragudo

You work with me

I run Raku Insurance Advisors from the Austin area, Texas. When you call, you get me. I bring the market to your business.

The phone number on the Contact page reaches me directly. You can also book a 30-minute meeting. We start with the people, the budget, and what a useful package would look like.

How I got here

I started as a financial planner for business owners. I spent more than a decade in that work at wealth management firms, including AXA Advisors around 2014 to 2015 and Ameriprise around 2015 to 2019. I held Series 7, Series 66, and SIE registrations then.

After Ameriprise, I worked with Sequent Planning as an Investment Adviser Representative at a registered investment adviser. Public FINRA employment history previously listed that Sequent Planning IAR role from about March 2020. That work is past. I am not currently FINRA-registered. Raku is independent group benefits and employer medical advisory, not an investment practice, and this site is not an invitation to buy or sell securities.

I later owned a health insurance agency with about 60 licensed agents. That work showed me how coverage actually reaches people, and how much still has to happen after a policy is issued. Some of that time sat next to physician relationships and patient claims questions, which is part of why I stay after enrollment.

I built Raku Insurance Advisors to bring market access to owners who want to make a difference in their people’s lives and in their communities. I compare major carriers and funding options based on what is available for the employer, location, and effective date. I work for you. I do not exist to push a single product line.

Today I am an independent group benefits and employer medical advisor. Home base is the Austin area, Texas. I serve employers along the Austin to Bell County corridor: Austin metro through Killeen, Belton, Temple, and Bell County.

Who I help

I work with owners and HR teams building a first benefits package, improving an existing one for growth or a potential exit, or taking over a plan after an acquisition.

The work is for teams that want more employees participating, better support, and less benefits work on their desks. Availability still depends on the employer, location, and effective date.

The goal is employees who can say they have good benefits at work, and more people in the package, including people who already have coverage elsewhere. That is what we aim for. It is not a promised result.

What I do

I work for you, not the carrier. I bring the market. I compare major carriers and funding options around the budget and the people. Then I stay.

That can include:

• hearing what is working and where you want more help;
• walking costs and tradeoffs with the same workforce facts;
• helping employees enroll through group presentations and individual conversations;
• working with HR on new hires, departures, plan changes, and midyear joiners;
• taking employee questions so they do not sit on the owner’s desk;
• following carrier questions that would otherwise go to a 1-800 number alone;
• recording and completing the next steps I agreed to take.

For larger groups, there is no separate broker fee. Compensation comes from the carrier. For the smallest groups, the broker fee is $1,000 per year. That is not a promise about premiums or savings.

Raku is not a carrier. This site is education. Carrier and plan documents govern their stated terms. Work a carrier or administrator delivers stays under its own agreement. No outcome is guaranteed.

Why I work this way

A medical plan is used all year. People get more from it when someone stays after enrollment and answers the ordinary questions.

Most conversations come back to three practical questions:

1. Are people glad to have the benefits?
2. Did we look at the market, or one contract?
3. Who answers the employee when a card is lost or a claim gets stuck?

Those questions make it easier to see what is known and what I can do next.

Continue the conversation

Read How I Work for the process, choose a service lane from the home page, or contact me directly. Site content is general education and does not create an engagement or bind coverage.