Headquarters address: Level 25, 45 Clarence Street, Sydney, New South Wales
Year established: 2014
Size (employees): 51-200
Locations: Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne
Underwriting expertise: Construction, transport, financial lines, property, general liability, and car liability insurance
Key people: Ken Keenan (chief executive), Alisa Martins (chief operating officer), Lenu Lukose (chief underwriting officer), Jean Leighton (chief financial officer), Hun Kim (chief actuary), Nick Best (head of distribution)
Pen Underwriting is a specialist insurance underwriting agency that provides broker and client focussed solutions for complex risks across a diversified range of products and industries. Pen’s portfolio includes property, liability, transport, construction, financial lines and cyber. The company seeks to create innovative products and risk solutions, leveraging expert knowledge across a number of industries, including manufacturing, construction, hospitality and aged and disability care.
Operating in Australia for over a decade, Pen Underwriting is headquartered in Sydney, with offices in Brisbane and Melbourne.
Pen works with Lloyd’s of London and Australian markets to offer brokers and clients a range of placement options, including 100% placement, lead capacity, or co-insurance, with skilled underwriters delivering strong service, underwriting expertise, and solutions for challenging risks.
“What sets Pen Underwriting apart is our people. Every single one of us really wants to deliver for our brokers and capacity providers,” Keenan said in a recent interview with Insurance Business. “We’ve done the math. Between us, we have over 1,000 years of underwriting experience, and we leverage this every day to produce outstanding results.”
Pen Underwriting offers specialist insurance solutions across key commercial sectors in the Australian market:
Keenan became CEO of Pen Underwriting in 2018 and has more than 40 years of insurance industry experience across several countries. Keenan spent a decade in Canada holding a variety of leadership of roles, including president at Noraxis Capital Corporation and Canadian Northern Shield. Earlier in his career, he also worked with RSA Zurich and Eagle Star in Ireland. He spent two years with Eagle Star in the UK.
Below are the members of the leadership team who help Keenan guide Pen Underwriting:
Pen Underwriting describes its culture as focused on service and broker relationships. Teams are expected to support brokers from first inquiry through to claims handling, using technical knowledge and market experience. The firm notes that it aims for consistent service across the life of a policy.
The company lists respect, integrity, inclusiveness, and professionalism as its core values. All employees are valued equally and its workforce includes people from a range of backgrounds. These values are presented as guiding how Pen works with brokers, capacity providers, and colleagues.
Pen Underwriting also encourages staff participation in community initiatives and charitable activities. It links this to its stated people‑focused values, positioning community involvement as part of day‑to‑day business rather than a separate program.
According to the company, employees contribute a substantial number of volunteer hours each year across different charities and local projects. The company highlights ongoing engagement with community partners and team‑based volunteering as features of this activity.
Thousands of vessels trapped as capacity tightens in the Gulf
Insurers who stood by brokers through the hard market are now competing in a world where “cheapest wins” and many brokers are finding that loyalty only stretches so far
Be there for the industry’s big night in Sydney with host Ed Kavalee
Brokers rank standout agencies and products across 17 insurance lines
Brokers rank standout agencies and products across 17 insurance lines
