WealthSpike: The question mark over the world’s most talked about family office

Want to know the family office that makes the headlines more than any other? Not guessed yet? It’s called Point72 and it’s the family office of Steven Cohen, the hedge-fund manager who encountered some problems with the Securities and Exchange Commission a few years back. Those troubles stopped him from managing outside money, so he turned his hedge fund SAC Capital into a single-family office in 2014.

Anyway, Point72 and its boss often make it into the headlines of the financial media, partly because of Cohen’s extraordinary ability to make money – and loads of it, even after his run-in with the SEC. According to media reports, Point72 made a gross profit of $2.5 billion to $3 billion in its first year in operation. Yes, that’s right – billions in gross profit in one year. How many big and well-known companies are making that type of money?   

Cohen managed one of the most successful hedge funds, and these days he’s managing one of the world’s most successful family offices – of course, with the help of a few others – Point72 has a staff approaching 1,000.

But, given that Cohen’s ban from managing outside money ends in 2018, people are beginning to ask whether Point72 is just a stopgap measure before it converts back into a SAC Capital mark 2. After all, with the profits Point72 is making, there would be many investors knocking on the door. And Cohen himself has hinted about doing just that, saying recently to the New York Times: “I think we’re leaning that way (accepting outside money).”

The same article also said Cohen has launched a new investment firm called Stamford Harbor Capital. According to the Times, Stamford will “manage $100 million belonging to his $11 billion family office”. Maybe Stamford will become Cohen’s new hedge fund and Point72 will remain his family office. Whatever happens, Cohen and his various investment houses should continue to fascinate the financial media for some time yet, particularly if he maintains his incredible midas touch in the years ahead.