Who started Kingstone Companies Inc and why?
What makes insurance companies important is that they help us pay things we pretty much can’t cover. My mom used to work for this company that offered not only her health insurance but to me and my dad as well. Pretty neat, don’t you think? With that, we kept going back and forth trying to avail of the offer. And since we’re talking about insurance products here, why don’t you allow me to open up to you the doors on our company research about Kingstone Companies Inc (KINS).
Kingstone Companies Inc. was formerly known as DCAP Group, Inc. and was founded in 1961. Barry Goldstein is 10 percent owner of KINS. The Co-Operative Fire Insurance Company was organized in 1886. The first officers were John H. Bagley, Jr., Omar V. Sage, and Clarence E. Bloodgood. The company offers technical assistance in the establishment and/or operation of insurance agencies and insurance brokerage businesses.
A cooperative or co-operative, as what Meriam and Karla have revealed to me, is an autonomous association of persons who voluntarily cooperate for their mutual social, economic, and cultural benefit. Cooperatives include non-profit community organizations and businesses that are owned and managed by the people who use its services (a consumer cooperative) and/or by the people who work there (a worker cooperative)
What is the background of the company? Its history and development?
So basically, they did not just emerge out of nowhere, right? There has got to be some explanation behind every success, or so we thought. Florence and Karla have listed some really awesome facts about their background, history and development as well.
- The company was founded in 1886, with its headquarters in Kingston, New York
- Kingstone Companies Inc. redeemable preferred stock has been reported as a liability of $1,299,231 on December 31, 2009
- On April 17, 2009, Kingstone Companies Inc. sold all of its assets
- The company acquired KICO on July 1, 2009
- From June 2009 to March 2010, KINS borrowed $1,450,000 and issued promissory notes in such huge amount
- The company issued 787,409 shares of common stock in exchange for 1,299 shares, effective on June 30, 2010
- In 2011, KINS received a license to write property and casualty insurance in Pennsylvania
- In 2011, the company declared its first quarterly dividends on common stock
- On July 11, 2011, the company reduced the interest rate from 12.625% to 9.5% per annum
- The company obtained a $500,000 line of credit on December 27, 2011
- The A.M. Best rating for KICO was upgraded from B (Fair) to B+ (Good) last 201
What is the nature of business?
As far as I know, an insurance company is equal to insurance. That’s just about it. What I don’t know is that KINS is actually more than that. As a matter of fact, they are the leading regional provider of insurance products intended for small, middle sized business and of course, for individuals as well. It modified itself from a broker into an underwriter, where insurance is still its main business. The company performs two lines of business, franchising, ownership and operation of storefront insurance agencies and premium financing of insurance policies. Its focus is on automobile, motorcycle and homeowners insurance and their customer base is mainly individuals rather than businesses. In addition, Kingstone Companies Inc. is the parent company of Payments, Inc., an NYS licensed Insurance Premium Finance Company.
When asked what insurance was, all I could blurt out is “Oh, you know…that stuff when people get paid for, when something broke…” Silly me. With that, I asked help from Meriam and Karla about it. They said, “Insurance is a form of risk management used to hedge against the risk of a contingent, unsure loss. Insurance means the equitable transfer of the risk of a loss, from one entity to another, in exchange for payment. An insurer is a company selling the insurance. The insured, or policyholder, is the person or entity buying the insurance policy. The amount to be charged for a certain amount of insurance coverage is called the premium. Insurance is also defined as the equitable transfer of the risk of a loss, from one entity to another, in exchange for payment.”
Who is running Kingstone Companies Inc and their background?
A company would never ever function without the proper people who are only but fitting in their positions. So for Kingstone Companies, Inc., they are led by a team of executive personnel namely: Mr. Barry B. Goldstein, the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer in the person of Mr. Victor Brodsky.
Mr. Barry B. Goldstein is the President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Kingstone Companies Inc. He held several executive positions in the company such as Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer. He also previously served in AIA Acquisition Corp as President for 7 years. He has extensive experience in insurance and investment industry. He earned a B.A. and M.B.A. from the State University of New York at Buffalo.
Mr. Victor Brodsky is the Chief Financial Officer and Secretary of Kingstone. He was previously connected to Vertical Branding Inc. Mr. Bradsky holds a BBA degree with the accounting major from Hofstra University. He spent 16 years of his career in Michael &Adest firm in New York. He is also a certified CPA in New York.
There are loads of courses in college that any person with the heart in Business Administration could possibly take. And one of them is the Master of Business Administration (MBA or M.B.A.). It is a master’s degree in business administration, which attracts people from a wide range of academic disciplines. The MBA (Master of Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree that is awarded to students who have mastered the study of business. The MBA degree is thought to be one of the most prestigious and sought after degrees in the world.
Who is directing the company? How are the committees structured?
Aside from the people who are running the company, there has got to be someone directing it. Janice and Karla have whipped up some of the information we oh-so need, including on how their committees are structured.
Kingstone Companies Inc. has three committees with four independent directors and a chairman of the board. The committees are audit, compensation, and nominating committee. Mr. Barry B. Goldstein is the current chairman of the board. For the committee members, they are the following:
Mr. Jay Haft, 76, is an independent director and member of the board of directors. He is a strategic and financial consultant with extensive experience in the Russian market. He has been the director of the company since July 2009. Mr. David A. Lyons, 62, is a non-executive member of the board. He is an expert in business consultation, corporate finance, and mergers and acquisitions. He has been with the company as the director since July 2009. At 51, Mr. Jack D. Seibald is the independent director of the company. He has depth knowledge in administrative service, equity research, investment management and prime brokerage service. He has been a member of the board since the year 2006. Lastly, is Mr. Michael R. Feinsod. At 41, is a non-independent director of Kingstone. He is an investment analyst, broker-dealer, and expert in finance, legal services. He served the company since July 2009 as director.
Once you feed anything that has to do with business and numbers into my brain, absolutely sure I will ask again. Maybe I was probably programmed that way since the day I was born. So for the nth time, I had to seek some help from our research team. Why they still haven’t pulled my hair out because I ask too much? That I don’t know. (Smile)
Corporate finance is the area of finance dealing with monetary decisions that business enterprises make and the tools and analysis used to make these decisions. The primary goal of corporate finance is to maximize shareholder value. Although the principle is different from managerial finance which studies the financial decisions of all firms, rather than corporations alone, the main concepts in the study of corporate finance are applicable to the financial problems of all kinds of firms.
How do they make money?
Okay. Here goes. I got sick of dengue last November. With that, my mom was just thankful enough that she works for a company that offers insurance for her family because if not, I would have rotted to death because of losing blood. (Okay, maybe not. But still!) So because of that, it came to me, how does one insurance company make money anyway? That question lingered on because no one has answered me until then. With Janice and Karla’s report, I somehow knew.
Kingstone believes that consistent provision of excellent customer service to its policyholders, producers and claimants is one of the key successes to the financial growth of the company. The company derives its revenue from their two prime subsidiaries, the KICO and Payments Inc. KICO’s sales are from the earned premiums, ceding commissions, from quota share reinsurance, investment income and net realized and unrealized gains and losses on investment securities.
Cash earnings of the company are derived from the premium finance loans, the collection of principal and interest income. The company receives certain interest and dividends from the invested assets wherein it is recognized when investment securities are sold for more than their costs or amortized costs. Another income of the company is from installment fee and fee charged to reinstate policy and premium finance fee on loans.
Underwriting refers to the process that a large financial service provider (bank, insurer, investment house) uses to assess the eligibility of a customer to receive their products (equity capital, insurance, mortgage or credit). Underwriting is one of the aspects of insurance that makes most people’s eyes glaze over. Underwriters deal with statistics — they’re number crunchers. Many people who have an insurance policy don’t even know that at some point their application passed through an underwriter’s hands. Oh great. Thanks research team for the additional information.
How do they fit into the industry they operate in?
It’s a tough world out there once you get all weakling and all. There will be competitors along the way but hey, KINS isn’t stepping out of their game that soon, as far as our research team has dug up.
KINS top competitors are American International Group, Inc., New York, NY, the Allstate Corporation Northbrook, IL Government Employees Insurance Company and Washington, DC. Barry Goldstein, KINS Chairman, and CEO, is not convinced with some competitor’s ‘one size fits all’ on-line only approach. Automobile insurance business competes with numerous agents and brokers in the market. They competed with insurers like GEICO Insurance which sells insurance policies directly to their customers. Operation and financial condition might be affected by a loss of business to competitors who render similar services.
We got this insurance package years ago by some company my grandfather worked in. But of course things aren’t always the same with every company, right? An insurance package that assembles the basic coverage required by a business owner in one bundle, as what Meriam and Karla could possibly recall, is called Business Owner Policy or BOP. It is also a combined protection from all major property and liability risks in one package. It is usually sold at a premium that is less than the total cost of the individual coverage. BOP targets small and medium-sized businesses and typically contains business interruption insurance, which provides reimbursement for up to a year of lost revenue resulting from an insured property loss.
Who are their suppliers and customers?
For suppliers and customers, Meriam and Karla have rounded up some valuable information about that. Let’s read on below.
KINS’ products are comprised of personal lines, commercial automobile, for-hire vehicle physical damage only policies, private passenger physical damage, general liability policies and canine legal liability policies. The personal line refers to property insured, while automobile policies are for different vehicles including private passenger physical damage.
Through its subsidiary, KINS companies offer property and casualty insurance products to small businesses and people in New York, likewise, contracts with a third party licensed premium finance company. Services are offered through independent retail and wholesale agents, and brokers. The company provides its services priority in New York and eastern Pennsylvania.
Wholesale insurance broker… what are they? A wholesale insurance broker, as defined by Meriam and Karla, may be the perfect resource for those who have been unable to find coverage anywhere else. Most individuals are familiar with using traditional insurance agents to locate appropriate policies, while there are independent retailers who are the source of much of what is new and different.
What is their workforce like?
Since we’ve pretty much covered the little details, let’s move on to their workforce. What is it like working under one heck of a company like KINS?
Kingstone is dedicated to their customers through promoting personal service which made the company successful.
The company makes business through independent retail, wholesale agents and brokers. As of December 31, 2011, Kingstone has a total of 49 employees all of whom are located in New York. KINS is highly dependent on the successful and uninterrupted functioning of the information technology. Insurance producers are also the company’s partners in business.
Insurance producers, from what I heard from Janice and Karla, are licensed professionals who sell and serve insurance products. Producers may become licensed to sell property and casualty products such as auto or homeowner insurance, or life and health insurance products like medical insurance and term life insurance.
How do they treat their employees? What are the pay and working condition like?
It’s very important that a company not only focuses on what others see on the outside but also how they give attention and treat their employees. Janice and Karla have some report on their pay and working conditions too. The company believes they have a good working relationship with their employees. None of the employees were covered by a collective bargaining agreement.
Kingstone management and personnel follow certain company code of ethics policy. Non-executive director receives a retainer’s fee annually, attendance fee per board and committee meeting attended and the additional fee for committee chair. Executives like the president receive the following compensation: annual base salary, annual bonus, stock option award and other incentives per employment agreement. They adopted the 2005 Equity Participation Plan which provides issuance of incentive stock options, non-statutory stock options and restricted stock to eligible executive and employees. Insurance producer receives excellent, consistent personal service coupled with competitive rates and commission levels from the company.
I should probably learn some words of a business or numbers dictionary. This is getting confusing. Gladly, Janice and Karla were there to aid my concerns regarding policyholder. The policyholder is an entity that owns an insurance policy and has the right to exercise all privileges under the contract of insurance, except where restricted by the rights of an assignee. A policyholder may or may not be the insured, or the sole or one of the beneficiaries of the policy. They are also called policy owner.
Compensation Table
The table below shows the pay structure of executives and directors of KINS from fiscal years 2007 to 2011.

Gossips
There. We’re almost done. Florence and Karla have just decided to give you one final summary to clear up any uncertain horizons in your mind.
APRIL 27, 2012, OLDWICK, N.J., reported that A.M Best Co. has affirmed the financial strength rating of B+ (Good) and issuer credit rating (ICR) of “bbb-” of Kingstone Insurance Company (Kingstone) (Kingston, NY). The outlook for all ratings was stable. The ratings and outlook reflect Kingstone’s adequate capitalization, favorable operating performance, moderate investment leverage ratios and local market knowledge in New York.
From bloomberg.com datedMarch 01, 2011, Kingstone Insurance Company extended employment agreement with John Reiersen to serve as Executive Vice President effective January 1, 2012, Barry Goldstein to succeed as President and CEO. Sam Yedid, a director of KICO and Chairman of its Compensation Committee, stated, “The amendment that KICO has entered into with John Reiersen is important to its long-term stability. Our Board is very pleased that this will ensure a smooth transition for KICO of CEO responsibilities to Barry Goldstein as well as continued guidance and assistance from John for the foreseeable future. The combination of Barry’s excellent management abilities and John’s vast industry experience bodes well for the future of KICO.”
Earlier on April 17, 2009, another report, DCAP Group announced the closing of a sale of 16 retail insurance. “Proceeds from the sale will be used to reduce the company’s indebtedness,” said Victor Brodsky, DCAP’s Chief Accounting Officer.
On May 7, 2009, DCAP announces a sale of a franchise business. “In this difficult marketplace we have been able to dispose a number of businesses at a price approximating book value,” said Victor Brodsky, DCAP’s Chief Accounting Officer.
Kingstone Companies Inc. gained a positive image and reputation after receiving a good rating along with its subsidiary, Oldwick. The good rating reflected the company’s great performance with regards to their revenues and income. The extension of John Reiersen’s employment to serve as Executive Vice President could impact the company’s operation as Mr. Reiersen has been driving force in further developing and improving KICO. However, with DCAP Group Inc., former name of the company, the downfall they have experienced before was with selling their retail agencies to reduce the company’s indebtedness.
CITATIONS
Who started the company and why?
http://www.kingstoneinsurance.com/
http://trade.mar.cx/US77480679
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/pr?s=KINS
What is the background of the company? Its history and development?
http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/33992/000135448812001575/kins_10k.htm
http://www.kingstonecompanies.com/about.asp
http://www.google.com/finance?q=NASDAQ:KINS
http://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/companyProfile?rpc=66&symbol=KINS.O
http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/33992/000135448812001575/kins_10k.htm
http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/33992/000135448812001575/kins_10k.htm
What is the nature of the business ?
http://marketpublishers.com/report/insurance/kingstone_companies_inc_swot_analysis_bac.html
http://www.answers.com/topic/dcap-group-inc
http://pro.edgar-online.com/ipo.aspx?ColLeft=613ecf6a-b2a7-4b42-a0c8-809161372aec&ColRight=76baaeb6-2549-44f5-8e1d-cd700701e704&ci
http://www.kingstonecompanies.com/about.asp
http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/33992/000135448812002558/kins_10q.htm
Who is running the company and their background?
http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/33992/000102177112000036/proxystatement2012.htm
http://www.kingstonecompanies.com/execteam.asp
http://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/officerProfile?symbol=KINS.O&officerId=186620
http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/33992/000135448812001575/kins_10k.htm p48
http://www.kingstonecompanies.com/execteam.asp?rec_id=100026
http://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/officerProfile?symbol=KINS.O&officerId=1033484
Who is directing the company? How are the committees structured?
http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/33992/000102177112000036/proxystatement2012.htm p16
http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/33992/000102177112000036/proxystatement2012.htm p16
http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/33992/000102177112000036/proxystatement2012.htm p16
How do they make money?
http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/33992/000135448812001575/kins_10k.htm p39
http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/33992/000135448812001575/kins_10k.htm p2
http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/33992/000135448812002558/kins_10q.htm p36
http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/33992/000135448812002558/kins_10q.htm p36
http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/33992/000135448812001575/kins_10k.htm p20&21
How do they fit into the industry they operate in?
http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/snapshot/snapshot_article.asp?ticker=KINS:US
http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/33992/000135448812002558/kins_10q.htm p25
http://pro.edgar-online.com/ipo.aspx?ColLeft=613ecf6a-b2a7-4b42-a0c8-809161372aec&ColRight=76baaeb6-2549-44f5-8e1d-cd700701e704&cikid=
Who are their suppliers and customers?
http://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/companyProfile?rpc=66&symbol=KINS.O
http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/snapshot/snapshot.asp?ticker=KINS:US
http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/snapshot/snapshot_article.asp?ticker=KINS:US
http://www.answers.com/topic/dcap-group-inc
What is their workforce like?
http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/33992/000135448812001575/kins_10k.htm p5
http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/33992/000135448812001575/kins_10k.htm p16
http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/33992/000135448812001575/kins_10k.htm p45
http://www.commercialmutual.com/
How do they treat their employees; what are the pay and working condition like?
http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/33992/000135448812001575/kins_10k.htm p51
http://filings.issuerdirect.com/viewer/index/33992/000102177112000036/ p6
http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/33992/000102177112000036/proxystatement2012.htm p4
http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/33992/000102177110000043/q.htm p19
Gossips
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/am-best-affirms-ratings-of-kingstone-insurance-companies-inc-and-its-subsidiary-2012-04-27
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=conewsstory&tkr=KINS:US&sid=aVILv0OGzRIU
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/newspid=newsarchive&sid=aCWiHubpWSqc
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aUjbmYYw1J.c
Researched and Written by Meriam, Janice, and Karla
Edited by: Stephanie and Maydee