Point72 Asset Management
American hedge fund
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Point72 Asset Management is an American hedge fund. It was founded in 2014 by Steve Cohen as a family office,[10][11] after his previous company S.A.C. Capital Advisors pleaded guilty to insider trading charges. In 2018, the company reopened to external investors after a two-year ban and began accepting outside capital. The company's office is located in Stamford, Connecticut.
![](#/media/File:"Point72_Asset_Management"_logo.png){kind=logo} | |
| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Hedge fund |
| Founded | 2014 |
| Founder | Steven A. Cohen |
| Headquarters | |
Area served | |
| Key people |
|
| AUM | US$45.7 billion (2026)[1] |
| Owner | Steven A. Cohen |
Number of employees | 3,000+ (2026)[2] |
| Subsidiaries | Everpoint, Cubist Systematic Strategies, Point72 Ventures, Cohen Private Ventures |
| Website | point72 |
| Footnotes [3][4][5][6][7][8][9] | |
Background and history
2014 to 2019
Point72 has origins to 1992 with the founding of S.A.C. Capital Advisors, a group of hedge funds founded by Steve Cohen.[12] S.A.C pled guilty to federal charges in 2013 after an 11-year investigation into insider trading.[13] Point72 was founded in 2014 by Cohen as the successor to S.A.C.[14] with the bulk of S.A.C.'s assets being transferred to Point72.[citation needed] Under an S.E.C. agreement, Point72 was initially not allowed to manage money from outside investors.[13] Point72 also took measures to develop its legal and compliance departments, including hiring Vincent Tortorella as chief compliance and surveillance officer,[15][16] and Kevin J. O’Connor an in-house attorney.[17] Tortorella's compliance team included former CIA, FBI and SEC personnel.[18] Douglas D. Haynes was appointed president.[19][20]
In 2015, the firm created Point72 Academy,[21] a 15-month paid program to train college graduates to work for the firm.[22][23] That same year, the firm started Point72 Ventures, a venture capital unit.[24] Initially, Point72 Ventures focused on fintech startups before shifting focus to additional sectors such as investing in AI[24] and defense technology startups.[25][26]
In 2018, the restriction on managing outside money was lifted and Point72 opened its first hedge fund, securing $3 billion in capital from approximately 20 institutions.[27] Shaughnessy retired in 2018 and was replaced by Gavin O'Connor, who joined the firm from Goldman Sachs.[28] In March 2018, it was reported by the New York Times that Haynes resigned as president "amid [a] gender bias lawsuit, with Cohen assuming the role of president.[29][30]
2020 to present
In August 2020, the firm closed to new money with just over $17 billion under management.[31][32][33]
In March 2020, Point72 hired Mo Grimeh as head of its macro investing business,[34] and created Point72 Hyperscale, a hybrid venture and private equity fund for early-stage AI technology companies.[35]
Point72 also has the "Nines" program which was renamed LaunchPoint in 2020. It trains portfolio managers to create a business plan and investing strategy, and build a team.[10][36] As of 2023, 50% of Point72's long/short managers were from LaunchPoint.[10]
In January 2021, along with Ken Griffin's Citadel Investments, Point72 contributed $750 million to a $2.75 billion emergency bailout of Melvin Capital, a hedge fund that had incurred deep losses in the GameStop short squeeze;[37][38][39] Melvin Capital is run by Gabe Plotkin, a former protégé of Steven Cohen and one of the managers of SAC whose trades were investigated by the SEC.[40][37][41][42] In the first half of 2021, Point72 was reported to have lost $500 million on its investment in Melvin Capital.[43]
In June 2025, Point72 Ventures helped fund series A for CX2, a military technology startup.[44] In 2025, Point72 Turion began as a stock-picking hedge fund focused on AI, with Reuters reporting the fund holding approximately $1.5 billion as of January 2025.[45]
In April 2026, Steve Cohen stepped down as president, with co-chief investment officer Harry Schwefel succeeding him in the role. Cohen remained chairman, chief executive officer and co-chief investment officer. As part of the leadership restructuring, Point72 also established an executive committee, chaired by Cohen, to oversee the firm's operations and strategic direction.[9][46]
In August 2026, Point72 was targeted, among other hedge funds, in a cyberattack involving voice phishing. The firm investigated the incident, contacted law enforcement and cybersecurity experts, and told investors that it did not believe client information had been stolen.[47]
Operations
Point72 Asset Management operates as a multi-strategy hedge fund, employing discretionary long/short equity, systematic, macro, and venture capital strategies. The firm also manages internal proprietary capital and capital from select external investors.[48]
As of late 2025, Point72 reports managing approximately US$41.5 billion in assets and employing more than 3,000 people across offices in the United States, Europe, and Asia.[14][49][50]
In November 2025, the firm announced a structural reorganization of its equities division. Beginning January 1, 2026, its fundamental equities business will operate as two entities: the existing Point72 Equities, and a newly established affiliate, Valist Asset Management. The restructuring is aimed at enhancing investment flexibility and team specialization.[51][52]
Point72 is also expanding into private markets. In 2025, the firm began raising capital for a private credit strategy, targeting at least US$1 billion. This move reflects a broader industry trend of hedge funds entering alternative lending markets as institutional investors seek stable, yield-oriented alternatives to public debt.[48]
The firm also maintains a significant quantitative trading operation through its Cubist Systematic Strategies division, which employs data-driven and algorithmic strategies across global markets. In September 2025, Cubist replaced its head, Denis Dancanet, with Geoffrey Lauprete, formerly of WorldQuant.[53][54]