Where in the World is William Skubovius?

A phone call from the missing man gave InfoStream a chance to catch up. Bill has accepted a position with Petplan Insurance. Skubovius is now the Vice President of Canadian Markets for the US parent Fetch, Inc.

Bill was the Vice President of Business Development for Western Financial Insurance Company and the Petsecure brand of Pet Health Insurance until his departure in early 2013. Western Financial Insurance Company is Canada's largest pet health insurance provider, underwriting pet insurance for brands such as Walmart Canada, Desjardins, PurinaCare, President's Choice, HBC, CAA, and Petfirst.

The first Canadian licensee of the 'Petplan' brand for pet health insurance was Hayhurst, Elias, Dudek, Inc. of Winnipeg, Manitoba. This company became HED Insurance and Risk Services and under the aggressive leadership of Art Elias and Randy Valpy created a proprietary underwriter SecuriCan Insurance Company. The Petplan license was then dropped in favor of a new brand Petsecure. Eventually, HED was acquired by Western Financial Group of  High River, Alberta, which in turn was acquired by the largest cooperative financial group in Canada, Desjardin.
  
Today, Petplan is a global pet insurance brand that is by some estimates the world's largest.  Petplan North America (Fetch Inc.) was founded by Chris and Natasha Ashton and introduced to the US market in 2006.  In April 2008, Vernon Hill II, invested in the company providing both capital and the notoriety of his aggressive approach to financial services. Mr. Hill is an ardent pet owner and often travels with his Yorkshire Terrier, Duffy.

Speaking to Fortune Magazine in 2010, Hill said:

"People used to put down their pets when they got sick. Now they're members of the family. People will want to save them with kidney transplants and hip replacements. This business will be huge."

The Petplan brand was re-introduced to the Canadian market in 2012. And according to Skubovius, Petplan is a leading supplier of pet health insurance to organizations such as The Humane Society of the United States and the North Shore Animal League America in the US market. Policies in Canada are underwritten by Allianz Global Risks US Insurance Company one of the world's largest players in property and casualty (P&C) insurance.