AM Best Affirms Performance Assessment of Keane Specialty Insurance LLC

AMSTERDAM--(BUSINESS WIRE)--AM Best has affirmed the Performance Assessment (assessment) of PA-4 (Fair) of Keane Specialty Insurance LLC (Keane) (United States). The outlook of this assessment is stable.

The assessment reflects Keane’s strong underwriting capabilities, fair governance and internal controls, fair financial condition, fair organisational talent and weak depth and breadth of relationships.

Keane is a delegated underwriting authority enterprise (DUAE) that is domiciled and regulated in the U.S. state of Delaware, and was established in 2021. The company’s underwriting capabilities benefit from good management expertise in the marine yacht coverage segment, underpinned by a 20-year track record of profitable operations through its previous agency in Spain. From 2026 onwards, Keane continues to develop its geographic footprint, mainly in Europe, following the previous refocus of operations outside the region in earlier years. An offsetting factor in the underwriting capabilities assessment is the low level of technology embedded in the underwriting process.

Keane’s governance framework is at a developing stage. The company introduced several updates regarding its governance structure and internal control policies and processes; however, the company lacks a clear committee structure, partly reflecting its small size. Governance and oversight are managed at the board of directors level. Given the company’s small size, key person risk is material, and in AM Best’s view, it is partly mitigated by a disaster recovery plan, and a contingency structure for all key executive roles.

Keane’s financial condition assessment is supported by robust retention rates and a track record of positive earnings generation. The assessment also benefits from the absence of debt and a history of non-dividend payments, with future earnings expected to be reinvested into the business. Limited earnings diversification across programmes and products is considered a primary offsetting factor.

Given that Keane outsources almost all activities to Keane Marine Management SL, the company employs only a few staff members, other than the three board members. The company’s executive experience in the marine yacht coverage line of business is strong.

Keane has continued to make efforts to expand its underwriting capacity by establishing new partnerships. The company currently underwrites two programmes focused on its niche and specialist market position, with the longest partnership in place since 2021. The company is geographically well spread, with a track record of strong client retention rates; however, the dependency on its only two carrier partners is considered a primary offsetting factor to the assessment of depth and breadth of relationships.

This press release relates to Performance Assessments that have been published on AM Best’s website. For all information relating to the release and pertinent disclosures, including details of the office responsible for issuing each of the Performance Assessments referenced in this release, please see AM Best’s website. For additional information regarding the use and limitations of Performance Assessments, please view Guide to Best’s Performance Assessments for Delegated Underwriting Authority Enterprises. For information on the proper use of Best’s Credit Ratings, Best’s Performance Assessments, Best’s Preliminary Credit Assessments and AM Best press releases, please view Guide to Proper Use of Best’s Ratings & Assessments.

AM Best is a global credit rating agency, news publisher and data analytics provider specializing in the insurance industry. Headquartered in the United States, the company does business in over 100 countries with regional offices in London, Amsterdam, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Mexico City. For more information, visit www.ambest.com.

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