Steve Cohen's fund is going quant
According to Bloomberg, the firm has 30 new hires dedicated to building investing models that use computer analysis of public data. A spokesman for Point72 Asset Management said the new project is called Aperio.
He said Aperio would work with all seven of the firm's equity units to provide a technological and data-driven edge.
"People who can read the signals most accurately and analyze them are the ones who will generate returns," the spokesman told Bloomberg.
Cohen managed astronomical returns way before data was widely used and available. The hedge fund giant actually got his start as a "tape reader," which relies on intuition and understanding the movement of stock ticker numbers, rather than math or algorithms.
Right now President Doug Haynes is leading the project, but Point72 is still in the process of hiring a manager to oversee Aperio's operations.
Another notable hedge fund, Ray Dalio's Bridgewater Associates, also recently announced a foray into computer-based investing. Dalio's hedge fund is building an artificial intelligence team that will launch next month.
Cohen launched his famous hedge fund SAC Capital in 1992, but closed the firm after he was charged for insider trading. He now runs Point72, a family office fund, out of Stamford, Connecticut.
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