Philipp Kusche, head of global ILS at Howden Capital Markets & Advisory, is set to assume an expanded role at the firm as European chair, with Mitchell Rosenberg becoming co-head of global ILS.

Former Agile Risk director Raj Jadeja has re-emerged to launch Altor Re, a London-based specialty reinsurance broker and advisor for ILS placements.

The southern California wildfires are unlikely to have a significant impact on the cat bond market, according to separate commentaries from ILS investors Twelve Capital and Plenum Investments.

Ark Insurance Holdings has renewed its P&C-focused Outrigger Re sidecar with $230mn of total investor backing for 2025, of which $150mn has been provided by the (re)insurer’s parent White Mountains.

The wildfires currently burning near Los Angeles have raised concerns about potential attachment erosion for aggregate cat bonds, according to Swiss investment manager Icosa Investments.

Paris-headquartered CCR Re has confirmed the successful renewal of its 157 Re collateralised reinsurance sidecar.

Following a 1.1 renewal at which the favourable trends that first emerged last year were maintained with more than adequate capacity across most business lines and regions, Aon has said the industry has begun 2025 “in a strong position”.

The ILS market is set to see debut cat bonds from new sponsors in Q1 as strong momentum continues into 2025 after ~$17bn in limit was placed last year across 67 transactions, according to data from GC Securities.

Insurance-linked securities were an “integral” part of renewals discussions heading into 2025 with the pipeline of cat bond issuance continuing to grow, according to Gallagher Re.

Hong Kong-based reinsurer Taiping Re, part of state-owned China Taiping Insurance Group, has issued a $35mn catastrophe bond to cover China earthquake and US hurricane risks.