AM Best Assigns Performance Assessment to Edward William Insurance Services LLC

AM Best has assigned a Performance Assessment (assessment) of PA-4 (Fair) to Edward William Insurance Services LLC (EW) (United States). The outlook assigned to the assessment is stable.

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

EW is a delegated underwriting authority enterprise (DUAE) and is domiciled and regulated in the U.S. state of Delaware. The company was established in 2021. EW’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 (i.e., Edward William SL, which is now a service company and has been renamed Keane Marine Management SL). However, the refocus of EW’s operations outside of Europe since 2021 and its strong growth ambitions are expected to lead to higher operating costs and volatility in prospective performance. An offsetting factor in the underwriting capabilities assessment is the low level of technology embedded in the underwriting process.

EW’s governance framework is at a nascent stage and lacks a clear committee structure, partly reflecting the company’s small size. Governance and oversight are managed at the board of directors level. Technological sophistication is fair and developing. Given the company’s small size, key person risk is material, and in AM Best’s view, it is not effectively mitigated by formal policies and procedures.

EW’s financial condition assessment is supported by robust retention rates and years of positive earnings generation, as evidenced by the agency’s track record prior to its reorganisation. The assessment also benefits from the absence of debt and a history of non-dividend payments, with earnings expected to be reinvested in the business in the coming years. Limited earnings diversification across programmes or products is considered an offsetting factor in terms of stability of income sources.

The company employs no staff, other than the three board members. It outsources all the activities to Keane Marine Management SL. Executive experience in the marine yacht coverage line of business is strong. However, the company has yet to build an organisational structure and is currently in the process of staffing.

EW underwrites one single programme focused on its niche and specialist market position, in place since 2021. The company’s dependence on its only carrier partner is considered an 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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