Financial Services >> CEO Interviews >> January 14, 2002
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
Financial and an overview of what you're doing now?
Mr. Star: Kingsway started 15 years ago as a specialty insurer,
primarily in
