Steve Cohen's Point72 looks to raise $1 billion for new AI-focused fund: report

By Louis Goss

Steve Cohen's Point72 Asset Management is reportedly seeking to raise $1 billion to start a new hedge fund focused on artificial intelligence stocks.

Point72's new fund will go long and short on AI-linked hardware and semiconductor companies from across the globe, Bloomberg reported, citing sources familiar with the matter.

Cohen, who started Point72 in 2014 after his previous firm S.A.C Capital Advisors pleaded guilty to insider trading in 2013, has previously been a major proponent for AI technologies.

Point72 was contacted by MarketWatch for comment.

In an interview with CNBC in April, Coehn said he believes AI will be "transformational" while stating the productivity benefits of the technology will eventually lead to a four-day work week.

Cohen, who owns the New York Mets baseball team, also said he believes markets are "discounting" the benefits of AI while dismissing the notion that the world is experience an AI bubble.

"There's going to be big winners and big losers," Cohen told CNBC. "It sort of reminds me of the '90s where the best new companies came out of that period."

Excitement over AI has caused shares in companies like Nvidia (NVDA), Microsoft (MSFT), ASML (ASML) and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TW:2330) to surge in recent months.

Point72's new fund will be run by portfolio manager Eric Sanchez who joined the firm in 2019, having previously co-founded San Francisco hedge fund Lanternback Capital with Jet Theriac.

The new fund will receive finance from external investors, Point72 employees, and from Cohen himself who will also help oversee the fund.

The AI-focused fund will also have a more flexible mandate than Point72's main market-neutral fund, meaning it may take more long-positions.

Point72, which is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut and has $33.9 billion in assets under management, is named in reference to the hedge fund's address on 72 Cummings Point Road.

In 2021, Point72 launched its Hyperscale private equity business, which seeks to use AI to boost companies' productivity.

-Louis Goss

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06-20-24 0442ET

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