Kroll to take on Moody’s
JULES Kroll, the founder of security and intelligence firm Kroll, is planning to launch a credit rating agency to take on the existing “big three”.
Kroll – who last month opened a risk consulting company in New York and London – is understood to be planning to roll out the new firm as early as the first quarter of 2010, and aims to hit an annual turnover of $100m (£61m) in three years.
The start-up will focus on giving ratings on complex securities products, but Kroll does not expect it to replace rivals such as Moody’s, Fitch and Standard & Poor’s. Instead, he intends it to be used as a “second opinion” agency.
Kroll retired from Marsh & McLennan – which bought his eponymous firm – last year. The cash to fund the new venture will come from money that Kroll made from selling the firm, but he is also looking for up to 20 large institutional investors.