Steve Marcus/Reuters
Steve Cohen.
- Billionaire Steve Cohen has been posting double-digit gains this year following a period of underperformance, according to multiple people we've spoken to.
- The gains come as a third-party firm has been pitching potential investors on Cohen's comeback.
- Cohen may open up to outside capital again in 2018, after his firm was banned from the industry for insider trading.
It sounds like billionaire Steve Cohen is having a surge in performance - and at exactly the right time.
Exact numbers are hard to come by - even some senior staff at Cohen's family office, called Point 72 Asset Management, don't have a complete picture - but several people with knowledge of the matter say the hedge fund manager is posting gains just as he plots his return to managing outside money again.
Point72, with $11 billion in assets, is up as much as the high teens this year, one person close to Point72 said - though that number requires caveats.
Here's a breakdown of what we've heard from people close to Point72:
- The firm was up about 8.5% after expenses through August, according to a separate person who said they had seen the figures.
- In September, the firm's main fund posted gains in the 3% to 3.5% range, largely due to its fundamental long-short portfolio, bringing gains to about 11% after expenses through September, according to the first person.
- And in October, the fund posted gains of about 8%, this person said.
On the high end, that would mean that Point72 could be up as much as 19% this year - though it's not clear if that figure takes into account expenses. But it roughly lines up with what another person, who is close to Cohen, has said: that the fund is up this year in the mid-teens.
And a number of other people in the hedge fund launch space have said the fund is doing better this year, though few of them had specific details to hand.
Point72's expenses are high, meaning fees could shave off several percentage points on the numbers we've heard, according to people who have worked there.
Jonathan Gasthalter, a spokesman for Stamford Harbor and Cohen, declined to comment.
Point72 has been cagey about releasing its performance and not all staffers receive it. Even investors who have been pitched on a potential new fund haven't gotten updated figures. That has led to a lot of speculation.
What's universally said, though, is that performance has gotten better since last year, when the fund finished roughly flat.
The underperformance had concerned Cohen, according to a person close to him. After all, he was known for knock-out returns in the 30% range before his hedge fund, SAC Capital, was shut down over insider trading.
Cohen is mostly known for long-short equity investing. He has been running a family office called Point72 Asset Management, with some $11 billion of his personal fortune and that of some staffers, since 2014 after he agreed not to manage other people's money and return outside investors' capital. The agreement came after a years-long insider trading investigation at SAC that ended with a conviction for one of Cohen's subordinates but not him. His failure, according to the SEC, was to supervise those traders as head of SAC Capital. SAC also pleaded guilty and paid a record fine, $1.2 billion, to settle insider-trading claims.
Cohen, via an external marketing firm, has been laying plans to potentially manage other people's money for the first time since shutting three years ago. The new fund would be called Stamford Harbor.
To be sure, Cohen could still decide against launching. Everyone we've spoken to stressed that it's not official yet, even though some investors have been pitched.
The Wall Street Journal reported in May that Cohen was seeking to raise about $9 billion, which, combined with his roughly $11 billion family office would lead to a $20 billion fund - the biggest hedge fund launch of all time.
But a person with direct knowledge of the plans told Business Insider last month that Cohen's Stamford Harbor fund is likely to aim closer to $2 billion in fresh funds.
Either way, the fund is one of the most talked about among investors, and bank's prime brokerage units have been clamoring to get a piece of the business.
The external marketing firm, ShoreBridge, has been pitching Cohen's potential new fund to some of the world's biggest hedge fund investors, and is said to be requiring minimums of $100 million, Business Insider earlier reported.
Doug Blagdon, who has facilitated investor meetings regarding Stamford Harbor at third-party firm ShoreBridge Capital Partners, didn't respond to a voice message and email.