Steve Cohen stops trading for hedge fund Point72

(Reuters) -Steve Cohen, billionaire founder of Point72 Asset Management, has stopped trading at the hedge fund although he is still making investment decisions as a co-chief investment officer alongside Harry Schwefel, a spokesperson said.

"He is taking a break from trading his own book and he feels he can have a greater impact by focusing on running the firm, driving strategic initiatives, and mentoring and coaching to the next generation of talent,” spokesperson Tiffany Galvin-Cohen said in a statement.

Cohen was managing a small portfolio of Point72's $35.2 billion in assets. The firm has 185 investing teams, according to the firm's website.

Cohen's Point72 succeeded SAC Capital Advisors, a firm that ended its life as a hedge fund in 2013 after pleading guilty to securities fraud in an insider-trading settlement with U.S. regulators that also included a $1.8 billion fine.

At that time, SAC was forced to stop managing outside money as part of its agreement with the U.S. government. In 2018, he made a comeback luring money from wealthy investors again.

Besides the hedge fund, Cohen has also owned the New York Mets baseball team since 2020.

Bloomberg first reported on the changes at Point72.

(Reporting by Carolina Mandl in New York and Pritam Biswas in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona and Jonathan Oatis)