Point72 Asset Management, the family office managing the assets of its founder and billionaire investor Steven Cohen, reopened an office in London. The move came three years after Mr. Cohen’s SAC Capital Advisors shut down its business operations in London amid the insider trading investigations by federal regulators in the United States.
Point72 Asset Management’s new office in London is located in the Mayfair neighborhood and has six investment professionals on staff, according to the firm’s president, Douglas D. Hayes. He added that the firm could increase the number of its employees to 15 by the end of the year. The space of its office in London could accommodate around 50 to 70 people.
“We think the European market has a lot of opportunities. We believe there is a lot of advantage if you’re going to have risk exposure to a market, to be local to the market,” said Mr. Hayes. He added the Point72 Asset Management continued to have “a fair bit of exposure to Europe” even after SAC Capital closed its London Office three years ago.
Point72 executive appointment
Point72 Asset Management also announced the appointment of Jonathan Jones as head of its Investment Talent Development (ITD) group. He will be responsible for leading the firm’s mission to identify and recruit the brightest talents at all levels in the industry.
According to Mr. Hayes, “Jonathan’s diverse background in operations, recruiting, and talent acquisition makes him a superb fit to lead our ITD group and recruiting processes. We are excited because his insight and expertise will help us deliver on our mission to offer the greatest opportunities for the industry’s brightest talent.”
Mr. Jones joined Mr. Cohen’s family office from BlackRock, where he served as global head of lateral recruiting. He also previously worked in the human capital management and operation division of Goldman Sachs Group.
Mr. Cohen reached a settlement agreement with the SEC
Earlier this month, Mr. Cohen reached a settlement agreement with Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in connection with the allegations that he failed to supervise Mather Martoma, a former portfolio manager who engaged in insider trading while employed at CR Intrinsic Investors, an investment advisory firm controlled by SAC Capital.
With the settlement agreement, Mr. Cohen prevented a lifetime ban on managing money from outside investors. The billionaire investor was prohibited from managing outside money until 2018.
The Commission also required Point72 Asset Management to retain an independent consultant to perform periodic reviews of its activities and to ensure compliance with securities laws.
Mr. Cohen would be able to return eventually to the hedge fund industry after complying with the requirements imposed by the SEC. Market observers believed that the settlement was a victory for the billionaire investor citing the fact that the Commission did not penalize him personally.
“Resolving the case gives us certainty and opens the path to raising outside capital, wrote Mr. Cohen in a memo to Point72 employees. He also said that the settlement “s not and cannot be a reason to become complacent,” and vowed that Point72 Asset Management would become a leader in complained.
