Kroll Bond Rating Agency and Kroll Inc. Have clarified their corporate separation following a period of market confusion, according to a statement released by KBRA Holdings, LLC. The distinction, formalized in a recent corporate communication, underscores that KBRA is not affiliated with Kroll Inc., Kroll Associates Inc., or KrollOnTrack Inc., despite sharing a common founder, Jules Kroll.
Jules Kroll founded Kroll Associates Inc. In 1972, establishing a firm specializing in risk mitigation and investigations. He later established Kroll Bond Rating Agency in 2010, with a stated mission to restore trust in credit ratings through recent standards for risk assessment and transparent ratings, as outlined on KBRA’s website. KBRA currently has over 650 employees and has issued more than 92,350 ratings, totaling $4.55 trillion in rated issuance.
The clarification comes as Kroll Inc. Expands its advisory services, including a recent report assessing cybersecurity risk management within private equity funds. Kroll Inc. Similarly announced a migration of its protection services to CrowdStrike Falcon Complete, a next-generation managed detection and response platform. The company highlighted trends in cyberattacks in 2025, noting the importance of speed in response, according to reporting in IT Brew.
KBRA, led by CEO and President Jim Nadler and Chief Rating Officer William Cox, focuses on providing credit rating services, research, and analysis. The agency aims to deliver in-depth research across the United States and European markets, offering investment communities tools for informed decision-making. Recent initiatives include the launch of the Kroll StepStone Private Credit Benchmarks platform, designed to support the growth of private capital markets by providing a dynamic market barometer, and the release of Valuation Insights H2 2025, focusing on valuation and transaction dynamics.
The Kroll StepStone Private Credit Benchmarks platform features a redesigned user interface with interactive charts for data exploration and comparison. Kroll and StepStone Group have also collaborated to create a private-credit benchmarks service, as reported by the Wall Street Journal. The 2026 Kroll Playbook, released at the start of the year, analyzes trends in valuation, protection, and deal advisory, focusing on M&A, private markets, and cybersecurity.
Despite the shared lineage through Jules Kroll, the two entities operate independently. KBRA’s leadership team includes Van Hesser as Chief Market Strategist, Dana Bunting as Head of Business Development, Jackie Lau as Head of Human Resources, Patrick Welch as Senior Managing Director, Eric Thompson as Chief Operating Officer, Dev Parekh as Chief Financial Officer, Kate Kennedy as Chief Corporate Strategy Officer, Ira Powell as Vice Chairman, Angela Liang as General Counsel, Bill Wright as Chief Technology Officer, and Lenny Giltman as Chief Credit Officer.
