Earlier this month, Alterra Capital Holdings Ltd. and Stone Point Capital LLC announced that they formed a sidecar named New Point IV, both agreeing to commit up to $100 million. According to the press release, New Point IV was created due to “the recent series of global catastrophic events . . reducing the capital supporting the international property catastrophe reinsurance market . . . .”  Industry analysts have noted that recent catastrophes, such as those in Japan and New Zealand, have increased the demand for collateralized reinsurance, and therefore several new sidecars may be formed rather than creating new reinsurance companies due to their quick formation and reduced operating costs.  Sidecars are dedicated pools of capital that provide underwriters with reinsurance capacity and do not require recruiting employees or setting up brick-and-mortar operations that are usually necessary for establishing new reinsurance companies.