Insurance industry veteran Kingsley Lamont, who was prominent in the early formation of Steadfast and OAMPS, died in Perth on Thursday after a battle with pancreatic cancer.

Mr Lamont was a former founding director and managing director at Steadfast Insurance Brokers Management Group, which at that time was forming into a “cluster”, as well as an executive director of national brokerage OAMPS from 1998 to 2001.

While he was born and raised in Perth, Mr Lamont spent much of his career in Melbourne. 

Former colleagues tell insuranceNEWS.com.au he played an important role in the early days of both Austbrokers and Steadfast.

Retired broker Charles Green, who held senior roles at OAMPS after it bought his brokerage Vigil Insurance Brokers, recalls Mr Lamont as "an impressive if quite unusual personality”. 

“A lot of people are very indebted to him,” he said. “He greatly supported my staff and gave them senior roles, and a lot of people are very wealthy because of Kingsley.

“He was a great guy to work with and very generous to people who supported him. Very few could really say that he didn't offer them a fair price for their business. He liked helping other people.”

Mr Lamont was a driver of one of Australia’s first broking consolidators, OAMPS. He later switched from insurance broking to real estate after a court order prohibited him from company directorships for several years.

An Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) investigation had found a loan arrangement negotiated with then FAI CEO Rodney Adler “placed Mr Lamont’s private interests ahead of his fiduciary duties” as a director of Steadfast.

PSC Insurance Group Deputy Chairman Brian Austin says Mr Lamont played a pivotal role in Steadfast’s establishment.

“He was the guy that knocked on everybody's door around Australia, and got them to join Steadfast in the early days. He saw a need for a cluster buying group to leverage deals with insurers and general suppliers,” Mr Austin said. 

Mr Lamont is survived by his wife Riza and two sons.