Moody’s Ratings, the credit rating agency, has upgraded Ryan Specialty, LLC, a provider of specialty insurance solutions, to reflect the company’s stronger market position and improved financial profile.
Ryan Specialty’s corporate family rating was lifted to Ba3 from B1, while its probability of default rating was raised to Ba3-PD from B1-PD.
Moody’s also upgraded the ratings on the company’s senior secured first-lien bank credit facilities and notes to Ba3 from B1. The overall outlook has been revised by Moody’s to stable from positive.
According to Moody’s, the decision to upgrade Ryan Specialty reflects the company’s established role in wholesale brokerage, binding authority, and managing general underwriting services, which it delivers to insurance brokers, agents, and carriers primarily in the United States, with additional operations in the UK, Europe, Canada, India, and Singapore.
Moody’s noted that Ryan Specialty has expanded significantly in recent years, generating strong revenue growth through both acquisitions and organic development, and continues to add scale across its platform.
Moody’s expects adjusted EBITDA to come closer to reported EBITDA as expenses tied to a large acquisition and a restructuring program subside. The agency projects that Ryan Specialty will maintain a pro-forma debt-to-EBITDA ratio below 4.5x, with interest coverage (measured as EBITDA minus capital expenditures) above 3.5x, and free-cash-flow-to-debt in the high single digits.
Governance considerations were also an important factor in Moody’s assessment. The agency revised Ryan Specialty’s ESG Credit Impact Score to CIS-3 from CIS-4, citing a reduction in financial leverage, and improved the Governance Issuer Profile Score to G-3 from G-4.
Moody’s highlighted Ryan Specialty’s strong position in specialty insurance brokerage, its broad base of clients and carrier relationships, healthy EBITDA margins, and consistent cash flow.
At the same time, the agency cautioned that these strengths are tempered by the company’s relatively high financial leverage, the risks tied to integrating acquisitions, and exposure to potential liabilities from errors and omissions, which are inherent to professional services.
Moody’s also pointed out that Ryan Specialty has successfully used both borrowed capital and internally generated funds to support growth, demonstrating a track record of absorbing smaller acquisitions.
For the twelve months ending June 2025, Ryan Specialty reported more than $2.8 billion in revenue, up from $2.5 billion in 2024, reflecting both acquisitions and solid organic expansion.
Moody’s credited this performance to heightened demand for specialty insurance products, the continued migration of business from the standard market into the excess and surplus lines segment, and rising property and casualty insurance rates.
Looking ahead, Moody’s expects organic growth to moderate to high single digits or low double digits, given slower economic conditions and softening rates in some commercial insurance lines.
Moody’s also observed that Ryan Specialty increased its EBITDA margin to nearly 26% for the twelve-month period through June 2025.
With about $60 million in annual savings anticipated from its restructuring programme—before reinvestment—combined with increased scale and reduced acquisition costs, Moody’s expects further improvement in profitability in the year ahead.
