Starmount Life Insurance Co. may not be slaying giants, but it's definitely giving them a run for their money. And that, says company chairman Hans Sternberg, is a lot of fun. A small firm compared to many of its competitors--companies like Metlife and AIG--Starmount is more flexible and quicker on its feet."Being nimble, being quick, getting our pricing competitive: It makes it a good game," Sternberg says. "And when we get a big case, it's a cause for celebration for everybody in this company

."A "big case" is landing a client with 2,000-plus employees. Most of the employer groups Starmount provides insurance for are 50 to 100 people, though some clients have as many as 6,000 employees. Starmount has a total of more than 200,000 enrollees.Starmount began in 1983 as Maison Blanche Insurance Co., which served the customers of the Sternberg family's Maison Blanche chain of department stores.The Sternbergs sold the chain in 1992 and rechristened the insurance company. The insurance company started from there with seven employees. Now it has more than 100.