For nearly 75 years, the Krywolt family has helped Albertans protect what matters most. Darren Krywolt is proud to carry on his family’s legacy in the insurance business and continues to embody the values of the two generations that came before him.
It started with Aloise Krywolt. After returning from service in the Second World War, Aloise felt compelled to continue supporting his fellow servicemen. He founded Vets Insurance in 1952 in Coleman, Alberta, to help protect his war buddies’ assets. That business was built on people not policies, and compassion over claims.
“Guys would come in and they couldn’t afford the $12 for their house insurance so my grandfather would take chickens as payment and cover the house insurance for them,” says Darren Krywolt, president and CEO of Krywolt Insurance Brokers.
While fewer chickens found their way into the ledger when Aloise’s son, William, took over in 1982, the commitment to personalized service remained. His grandson, Darren, was introduced to the family business at the age of 12, filing paperwork and dusting the impressive collection of liquor bottles displayed behind his grandfather’s desk. Long before officially joining the family business in 1990, Darren was learning the values that would define his career: honesty, connection and caring for people.
Darren carried those small-town values to Calgary in 1995 where he joined another long-established family firm, C.J. Campbell Insurance. For 20 years, he honed his skills and spearheaded the company’s transition into commercial insurance. When his father prepared to retire, he asked Darren if he wanted to take over Vets Insurance, but Darren’s ambitions were pulling him in a different direction.
“It was a small town and I was getting more established in commercial insurance,” he says. “My dad sold it in 2008 and I continued to build out the commercial insurance department in Calgary.”
By 2015, Darren felt the pull of entrepreneurship. He left C.J. Campbell and launched Krywolt Insurance Brokers in January 2016 with four employees, three of whom followed him from his previous firm. Together they quickly carved out a name for themselves in Calgary’s commercial insurance space.
Today, Krywolt Insurance employs 20 licensed brokers serving clients in British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario, supported by a dedicated administrative team. Their broad knowledge and experience allow them to provide customized care for clients working in everything from manufacturing and IT, to retail and trades, from real estate and hospitality, to professional services and automotive service. The team researches the market, identifies the best coverage options and tailors solutions to meet each client’s specific needs. Commercial insurance is a negotiation, and Krywolt’s brokers pride themselves on being expert dealmakers. More importantly, the team acts as a strategic partner to clients, helping them anticipate risks, structure coverage as their businesses grows and make informed decisions long before a claim ever arises.
“Every insurance company has a pricing range based on how they view a risk. Our job is to present our client’s business in the best possible light. Once carriers properly understand the risk, we can leverage them against one another to drive down the cost, ensuring our customers get the best rate without sacrificing coverage,” he says.
Once coverage is secured, the team translates the complex insurance language found in the hundreds of pages of policy information into clear, simple terms. Their goal is to ensure clients understand not only what their policies cover but also what they don’t. Then, with their businesses protected, many business owners look to Krywolt for personal coverage as well. On top of delivering tailored commercial insurance, the brokerage provides personal insurance to these individuals as well.
“We mostly take care of our high net-worth clients’ home and auto insurance,” he says. “We provide personal insurance, high-value property insurance on homes and vehicles, boats, recreational properties and much more. We aim to provide them with comprehensive insurance solutions encompassing every aspect of their life.”
And they do it by building strong client relationships. While many brokerages across North America are being swallowed up by institutional insurance juggernauts, Krywolt is determined to remain fiercely independent and free to choose the best solutions for clients without influence from institutional ownership. The team knows the people behind the policies, and they are invested in their stories and successes. Large companies with national call centres can’t easily replicate the level of personal connection that companies like Krywolt Insurance are built on.
Darren and the team accommodate clients who prefer to communicate through email, but they always welcome clients into the office across from Chinook Centre to discuss their policy over coffee and, perhaps, a game of pinball on the machine in Darren’s office.
Darren, who ranks among the top 200 pinball players in the world, has turned that passion into a community initiative. The third annual Pinball With a Purpose fundraiser is planned for this fall, bringing together amateur and professional players to raise money for the United Way. This initiative earned Krywolt Insurance the United Way’s Workplace Excellence Award in 2024 and another nomination in 2025 after raising more than $20,000 for the cause.
The company has also been recognized for its long-standing contribution to the industry. During the Independent Insurance Brokers Association of Alberta’s centennial celebration, Krywolt Insurance was honoured for their more than 50 years of service and excellence, reflecting the family’s uninterrupted history in the business.
Darren appreciates the recognition for the past but his focus is firmly on the future. As a self-described visionary with a creative streak, he is more excited than intimidated by the growing role technology will play in the insurance industry. He sees enormous potential in artificial intelligence and believes finding innovative ways to incorporate it into the client experience will be one of the major challenges and opportunities of the next phase of his career.
“With AI and people involved, it feels like there’s something very exciting there that can be melded together, that can change the industry,” he says.
Darren envisions AI handling administrative tasks, analyzing policy wordings and streamlining processes so insurance professionals can focus on what matters most: client relationships. His goal is to harness the technology without sacrificing the compassion, understanding and personal connection that have defined the Krywolt name for generations.
After all, insurance is something everyone needs but few enjoy buying. Darren wants to make acquiring and maintaining it as simple and positive an experience as possible.
“It’s the least exciting thing to buy and it’s an even less exciting thing to use because it means something bad has happened, but insurance does allow us to enjoy everything we have and everything we do in our lives,” Darren says.
For Darren, that realization captures the true purpose of the business his grandfather started more than seven decades ago. The technology is sure to evolve and transform the industry, but Krywolt Insurance’s mission remains unchanged: helping people protect what matters most so they can live, work and dream with confidence.
5940 Macleod Trail SW, #620
Office: 403-475-5434
Toll free: 844-464-5424
info@krywolt.com | krywolt.com