Bruce entered the insurance industry in 1975 responding to an ad in the Portland paper for a position with Penn Mutual. Here, he saw the need for clients to address all financial and insurance issues through a single portal dedicated to their best outcome and founded Kerr Insurance in 1980, later rebranded as The Partners Group. His daughter and one of his sons both attended The University of Texas at Austin and his son, Eli, now works for the school. His main interest lie in two areas; first, in aggressive fundraising for the Steve Hicks School of Social Work; and two, mentoring social work students who wish to utilize their relationship skills to follow other paths with their careers.