Financial Services >> CEO Interviews >> September 3, 2001
WILLIAM G. STAR is Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of
Kingsway Financial Services, Inc. He started his insurance career in
1952 with the Kemper Group. After four years in the company ranks he
became an Insurance Broker and sold general and life insurance for seven
years. In 1963, he returned to a company position and managed the
Special Risks Division of Canadian General Insurance Company (now CGU).
In 1967, he became the General Manager for a British Columbia company,
Pacific Automobile and Fire Insurance Company, and reorganized it in
1970 as an Ontario corporation, Pafco Insurance Company, now owned by
Allstate. He later became President and purchased a 50% interest in the
company. After a merger with an oil company, Pafco was sold and he
resigned in 1983. In 1986, Mr. Star spent four months with the Ontario
Task Force on Insurance as an Advisor. Later that year he created
Kingsway General Insurance Company, an Ontario insurer that provides
insurance for non-standard automobiles, motorcycles, taxicabs, long-haul
trucking, specialty property lines, bonds, marine cargo and other niche
products. The company is licensed in every province and territory in
Canada. Through its subsidiary, Lincoln General, it is also licensed in
48 states and the District of Columbia. Profile
W. SHAUN JACKSON joined Kingsway Financial Services Inc. in 1995 as
Chief Financial Officer and in 1998 was appointed Executive Vice
President of the company. Mr. Jackson started his career in the United
Kingdom in 1978 and qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1982. In 1985
he left the United Kingdom to join KPMG in Bermuda. As a senior manager
he had responsibility for providing business advisory and audit services
to insurers and reinsurers as well as a major local bank. In 1989 he
transferred to the Insurance and Financial Institutions Practice of KPMG
Toronto. During his time at KPMG in Toronto, he specialized in advising
clients in the property and casualty insurance industry. While at
Kingsway he has overseen the substantial growth in the company which
included its initial public offering in December 1995 as well as several
subsequent share and debt offerings and acquisitions of companies in
Canada and the United States. Since joining Kingsway, Mr. Jackson has
been involved in the acquisition of eight companies and the formation of
three. Profile
Kingsway Financial Services, Inc.?
Mr. Star: Kingsway Financial is the parent company. We own eight
insurance companies,
