Steve Cohen biography. Stephen Cohen

Although SAC now employs more than 600 people, Cohen still makes his own deals. From 8 a.m. until the evening, he does not look up from his monitors, and his transactions account for about 15% of the company's profit. So that all traders can see what he is doing and what he is saying, a video camera and microphone are always pointed at Cohen. Many simply copy his actions, and Cohen's frequent sarcastic statements are called "steevisms."

In the trading room of the American SAC Capital Advisors with an area of ​​almost 2000 sq. m very quiet and cool. Steven Cohen, sitting in the center at a table with eight computer monitors, loves this environment. The phones here are blinking, not ringing. The computers are placed on another floor to keep their fans quiet. Rows of traders watch Cohen nervously, awaiting orders from the king of the hedge fund industry.

On this day, the market was falling rapidly, but Cohen did not sell shares, recording a loss of $150 million at the end of trading - 1.5% of the total assets managed by his company. Although in previous years, in a falling market, Cohen could sell large blocks of shares at a very high speed. His fame in the hedge fund world has eclipsed that of even such powerful managers as George Soros and Julian Robertson Jr. Cohen learned to make huge profits from market fluctuations, and his success inspired many on Wall Street to open their own hedge funds.

Other times

"The days of playing fast and loose are over," Cohen says. About 7,000 hedge funds are now competing for investment ideas, which means the opportunities to make money have been noticeably reduced. “Now it’s very hard to find ideas that someone hasn’t already used, it’s hard to make big profits and be different from others,” Cohen complains. “These are new times.” The situation on the stock market is also changing: there are no more low interest rates and low inflation.

Cohen, who recently celebrated his 50th birthday, says his strategy is changing to buying larger blocks of shares and holding them longer. The crowd created by competing hedge funds, in his opinion, threatens the market with collapse. Cohen worries that competitors are buying the same stocks as his fund. If all the hedge funds start selling them at the same time, the market will start to fall unexpectedly and very quickly. "There will be a really big market decline that will cause a lot of hedge funds to disappear," Cohen predicts. He, however, believes that the crash will not happen this year. "Hedge funds have gotten bigger, their position sizes have grown a lot. Will we be able to get out of stocks when everyone around us starts selling?" - Cohen is worried.

Hedge fund assets have more than doubled over the past five years to about $1.2 trillion, and big gains have become rare. Hedge funds earned an average annual return of 9.3% in 2005, below the average return over the past decade of 11.4%, according to Chicago-based Hedge Fund Research. By comparison, the S&P 500 returned 7.7% in 2005. Last year, hedge funds set a kind of anti-record - 848 funds were closed due to poor performance.

Best of the day

In his work, Cohen uses an investment style that is completely opposite to that of Warren Buffett, who buys stocks for the long term. Cohen believes that by closely monitoring price movements throughout the day, one can predict how stocks will behave in the coming hours and days. For many years, he bought and sold shares of companies, sometimes without knowing their financial performance or even their field of activity. Classic investors like Buffett believe that for a true investor, what other traders do and think is absolutely unimportant. Cohen is the complete opposite. Wearing black jeans and a threadbare sweater, often with dark circles under his eyes, he sits in front of monitors in his office all day, making trades - sometimes as many as 300 a day - while watching the market. Traders provide him with tons of information about what is happening in the market, and he is able to absorb it all.

SAC accounts for about 2% of stock market transactions every day. On average, SAC pays brokers a commission of one cent per share, so at the end of the year the commission amount exceeds $400 million. Cohen's oldest fund, launched in 1992, SAC Capital Management LP brings investors an average of 43.5% even after how Cohen and his partners take their unusually high share of the business. Traditionally, managers receive 20% of profits as well as an annuity of 2% of assets, but Cohen receives 50% of profits and a 3% annuity. Cohen's net worth is estimated at about $3 billion, an estimate he has not denied.

Love for art

In 1998, Cohen and his second wife, Alex, 42, bought a mansion in Greenwich, Connecticut, for $14.8 million. There is a vegetable garden where organic vegetables grow, a basketball court, a golf course, a formal garden, an indoor swimming pool, an outdoor skating rink, and a home theater with 20 seats. The cinema lobby is decorated with a map of the starry sky as it was 16 years ago on their wedding night. The Cohens spent about $700 million on art. In front of the entrance to the house they placed a sculpture by Kate Haring - three dancing figures made of aluminum. In the library hangs a painting by Jackson Pollock worth $52 million, in the living room there are works by Van Gogh and Gauguin, recently purchased for $100 million, in the foyer there are Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein.

Cohen calls himself a cynic and loves to laugh at himself. He says he's really just a simple guy. He enjoys eating at the local Top Dog and watching reality shows on TV. “I’m not a recluse, but I’m not a party animal either. I have seven children, and I need to devote time to them,” he says. “I’m not an introvert, but I’m a little afraid of the press, which can easily turn something very wonderful into absolutely terrible.”

“I don’t need such a big house,” Alex reasons. “But you know, why not? What’s wrong with children having a place to play?” In the house there is a cook, a housekeeper, the family's personal secretary, a nanny, Cohen's personal trainer and his driver, who also works as a bodyguard. The driver also looks after four dogs.

Cohen says his workday begins on Sunday evenings, when he talks with managers on the phone about strategy for the coming week. In the mornings, he drives a black Chevrolet Suburban from Greenwich to Stamford, to SAC's headquarters, a modern steel and concrete building with a glass façade overlooking Long Island Sound. There is also art here, such as the sculpture "Myself" - a human head sculpted from a piece of frozen blood by artist Mark Quinn. An alien in a Japanese school uniform with a briefcase, a creation of Takashi Murakami, sat next to Cohen's desk. "I like fun things," he explains. "I like to see the reaction of visitors. Art is the best distraction from numbers."

Useful poker. Hedge fund star Steven Cohen learned to take risks through playing cards.

He grew up in Great Neck, New York, the son of a clothing manufacturer and a piano teacher. The family was large and noisy. Cohen believes that this is where he learned to focus on what's important. Cohen excelled at both cards and school. “He often had stacks of hundred-dollar bills on his desk in the morning,” recalls Donald, a 47-year-old accountant from Florida. "I learned to take risks through poker," Cohen says. At the University of Pennsylvania, he studied economics, played poker, and became interested in the stock market. He opened an account with the Gruntal brokerage office and deposited $7,000 there to pay for his education. At the brokerage office closest to his dorm, he kept an eye on the market and, with a few trades, earned enough to pay all his bills. In 1978, Cohen took a job at Gruntal, where he was tasked with managing a $75 million portfolio and six traders. There were trades in his account that helped Gruntal cover losses incurred due to the operations of other traders.

In 1992, after leaving Gruntal, Cohen opened a hedge fund, investing $20 million of his own money. At the time, the hedge fund industry was still relatively small, and the bull market of the 1990s was just heating up. Many were confused by the high fees he demanded from investors, so the new fund managed to raise only $13 million from outside investors. A dozen traders and portfolio managers, located in a small office on Wall Street, managed to double the company's assets in a year and earn about 17.5% per annum. By 1995, SAC's assets had quadrupled. Cohen moved his headquarters to Stamford and began opening branches. He developed a special computer program that allowed him to track stocks that were undervalued or overvalued by the market.

Defeated Soros

SAC's finest hour came in 1998, when a large hedge fund, Long-Term Capital Management, went bust and stock prices began to fall. From late August to mid-October, Cohen worked constantly in the office, placing bullish bets through the 24-hour trading system Globex. At the end of 1998, SAC earned 49.2%, while on average hedge funds received 2.6% per annum. "At the end of the year, people realized that there was something special going on with SAC," says George Fox, who invested in SAC for 10 years. In 1999, SAC's assets increased to $1 billion. Cohen increased his staff and expanded his investment themes, including currencies. He hired psychologist Ari Kyiv to help traders overcome their fear of risks. “Many people, when trading stocks, worry too much about the possibility of losing,” says Kyiv. Those who could not cope with this feeling quickly lost their jobs.

In 1999 and 2000 SAC earned investors 68.1% and 73.4%, respectively. And then the company faced the problem of the appearance of hedge funds that exactly copied its business model. Another problem was the suspicion that Cohen received information earlier than others and managed to make transactions ahead of the entire market. Critics say SAC's huge turnover has made the fund one of Wall Street's darlings and therefore the first to get the information it needs. A manager at the Swiss bank UBS once told Cohen during a visit to the SAC office: “We know what kind of guy you are.” According to Cohen, he kicked him out the door and didn't work with UBS for several months.

As Cohen's star rose, Soros' and Robertson's stars waned. In 2000, Robertson returned money to investors in his Tiger Management fund, and Soros reduced his participation in Quantum Fund. “We were trading more than we were investing, and people didn’t like it,” says Cohen. “But then they saw that I was making money and they started copying me.” Nevertheless, he manages to earn more than his competitors. For example, in August of this year, SAC returned 18%, although the average for hedge funds was just over 7%. Last year, SAC raised $2 billion for a new fund, turning away many who wanted to invest in it. Cohen says the pressure to make larger trades forces him to hold the stock longer. He promises SAC investors 10% to 15% per annum.

SAC Capital Advisors, which currently manages $12 billion in assets. Steven Cohen employs more than 600 people. Married with seven children, he lives with his family in a huge house in Greenwich, Connecticut. He loves art and considers himself a simple guy. His fortune is estimated at approximately $8.8 billion (as of 2012 - Forbes magazine). In 2006, the Wall Street Journal called Cohen "the king of the hedge fund", in 2007, in the ranking of the most influential people compiled by Time Magazine, Stephen took 94th place, in 2011, Bloomberg Markets magazine included him in the 50 most influential people.

Cohen was born (June 11, 1956) and raised in Great Neck, New York in a large and noisy family. Even in his youth, he began to show interest in poker; he believed that this game taught him “how to take risks.” He studied economics and received a degree in economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1978. Cohen became interested in the stock market while still a student - with money intended to pay for his studies at the university, he opened an account with a brokerage company. The investments were successful - and after several transactions, he not only returned the money invested, but also earned an amount sufficient to pay for the entire period of study at the university.

After graduating from university, Cohen began his career as a junior trader at the stock market brokerage firm Gruntal& Co. And he immediately showed himself - on the very first day of work, he brought the company a profit of $8 thousand, later his successes were more significant - he brought his company up to $100 thousand every day. Four years after starting work, Cohen managed a group of traders and traded assets on the amount of $75 million.

Steven Cohen continued to work at Gruntal&Co until 1992, then he decided to create his own company - the hedge fund SAC Capital Partners, where he invested more than $20 million earned in Gruntal&Co. It was good timing—there weren't many hedge funds yet, and the stock market was in a bullish trend. His fund managed to attract only $13 million in investments, since Cohen set a very high percentage for asset management, which scared off many outside investors. His company began operating in a small office on Wall Street and within a year was able to earn 17% per annum and double its assets, and after 3 years (in 1995) assets quadrupled. The fund currently has $14 billion under management. Cohen's company moved from its office on Wall Street to Stanford, and the development of a branch network also began.

In 1998, Cohen and his fund had their finest hour - at the end of the year, SAC earned 49.2%, while its competitors earned just over 2%. A year later, SAC's assets reached $1 billion. Then many realized that something special was happening to SAC. All this time, Steven Cohen constantly worked in the office, making deals on his own. Cohen's company continued to expand - he not only increased the staff, but also revised his investment portfolio, adding currency trading.

Over the next two years, Cohen's fund earned investors quite good returns - 68.1% in 1999 and 73.4% in 2000. At this time, the hedge fund market is actively developing - more and more of them are appearing, including companies that copy the style of doing business from the Stephen Fund. At the same time, rumors appear that Stephen has insider information, which allows him to make transactions ahead of the market.

In recent years, the assets of his funds have increased significantly and reached $1.2 trillion, but profits of 50-60% have become rare. If in the last ten years the profitability of hedge funds was more than 10% per annum, then by 2005 the same figure was just over 9%. Great competition in the market among funds leads to the fact that many are forced to close due to poor performance. However, this does not apply to Steven Cohen - his funds continue to work, showing good returns - 18% in August last year. Also, S. Cohen continues to open new funds, with returns ranging from 10 to 15%. SAC accounts for about 2% of stock market transactions every day.

His fund SAC Capital (asset size $14 billion) and Cohen himself were involved in an insider information scandal and were subject to inspections by US law enforcement agencies. Federal prosecutors have charged former SAC manager Matthew Martoma with insider trading. Steven Cohen was not charged in this case, and this scandal did not affect the activities of SAC Capital - its performance did not worsen.

A large number of traders work for S. Cohen, but he prefers to make transactions on his own; his transactions account for up to 15% of the company’s profit. Cohen himself has developed a program that tracks stocks that are undervalued and overvalued by the market. He always keeps up with the times - times change, strategy changes, and while Stephen had never previously held trading positions for long periods of time, he has recently begun to buy larger blocks of shares and hold them longer.

Stephen Cohen, known as the “King of Hedge Funds,” ranks alongside greats such as Julian Robertson Jr. and George Soros.


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Dear friends, we present to your attention the biography of Steven Cohen. It's no secret that every trader who wants to become successful needs to constantly improve himself. Be sure to pay attention to this person's success story to gain knowledge for your career.

Steven Cohen was born in Great Neck, New York. His father was engaged in the production of clothing, and his mother taught children to play the piano. Little Steve was not the only child in the family and, as the accomplished millionaire says, it was in his large family that he learned to concentrate on the main thing. His main hobbies were cards and school - he excelled in both areas. Many years later, his chief accountant recalled how Stephen’s desk was often littered with stacks of hundred-dollar bills won in his spare time. You can also remember one of Mr. Cohen's famous quotes: “Poker taught me to take smart risks.”

After high school, the future successful trader decided to attend the University of Pennsylvania, where he intensively studied economics, played poker and was interested in the stock market. Even then, his interests determined the future fate of the student. He took seven thousand dollars and opened an account at the Gruntal brokerage office. You might be wondering where he got all this money from? The answer is very simple, Steven Cohen simply took the funds that were intended to pay for his studies.

But this seemingly thoughtless investment brought profit. A young trader was monitoring the market at a nearby brokerage office. He managed to conclude several profitable deals and things went uphill. In 1978, Stephen received an invitation to work at Gruntai, where management immediately liked him. On the very first day, the talented young man managed to earn $8,000 for the company. In the process of work, he reached a fairly high level, making $100,000 daily for his employer. Within six years, Steven Cohen was managing an investment portfolio that amounted to as much as $75 million! Then there were six people under his leadership

Steven Cohen is the best worker!

Thanks to his transactions, the employing company was able to cover the losses that other, less fortunate traders brought. You will hardly be surprised if we say that in 1992 Stephen decides to leave the walls of his native company and open a hedge fund. The size of the investment of the already experienced trader amounted to 20 million American rubles and today the capital of this fund is 12 billion dollars. And this is taking into account the fact that at that time the hedge fund industry was just beginning to gain momentum. The so-called bull market was just gaining popularity.

Once Steven Cohen started working, many of his potential clients were surprised by the fact that he was charging too much for his services. As a result of long-term negotiations, Stephen's first fund received only 13 million investments. However, this did not stop Cohen and he began to work hard, located in a cozy small office on Wall Street.

Over the course of a year, the head of the fund managed to double the size of the total capital and earn more than 17 percent per annum. In 1995, the assets of Stephen's brainchild, SAC, increased in value (by 400%). The head of the fund decided to move to a new building and began opening branches. For ease of work, the talented Steven Cohen developed a special computer program that helped track undervalued or overvalued stocks on the market.

Today SAC has about 600 employees, but Mr. Cohen still makes his own deals. Throughout the working day, he does not leave the monitor screen and alone makes about 15% of his company's profit. It is worth noting that many people seek to work with Stephen for the reason that they can learn the basics of profitable trading from him. To do this, just watch the monitor screen - Mr. Cohen pointed a camera and microphone at his desk. Some take the path of least resistance and simply copy his actions, earning decent amounts of money.

Steven Cohen - Welcome to SAC

There is a calm atmosphere on the SAC trading floor. It is very quiet here, and tirelessly working air conditioners regularly supply the 2000 m2 room with cool air. This atmosphere is very favorable for making the right decisions. Steven Cohen himself sits quietly on a “throne” with eight monitors, monitoring the charts. Telephones do not ring here, and if the device receives an incoming call, it begins to blink slowly. The computers are located on the second floor so that the noise from the coolers does not interfere with work. Traders are hiding and waiting for orders from the emperor of the hedge fund industry.

It was a special day - the market began to plummet, but Cohen did not dare to sell shares, watching as losses reached the $150 million mark. But this figure was one and a half percent of the assets that were placed under the management of his company. There were times when Steven Cohen sold large blocks of shares very quickly and his fame eclipsed all other hedge fund owners. After its appearance on the market, even such major players as George Soros and Robertson the Younger went into the shadows. However, a professional in short-term transactions notes that new times have come. This was the end of SAC's astonishing success.

“The stock market is undergoing a significant change - there are no longer low interest rates and high inflation,” Cohen said. Just recently, Stephen celebrated his first major anniversary. At the meeting, he expressed his opinion about the current state of affairs on the market. Maybe he's just getting old, or maybe it's a different time, but here's what he recently said: “Today it's much harder to find new ideas that haven't already been used. This is reflected in the profit margin. New times - new rules,” the owner of one of the largest hedge funds sadly notes.

If previously Steven Cohen monitored the state of the charts every day and made quick decisions, today he prefers to purchase large blocks of shares and hold them longer. According to the head of SAC, the abundance of new hedge funds could cause a crisis in the market. Stephen very often expresses fears that competitors will copy his actions and acquire the same shares as his fund. Things will get much worse if everyone starts selling the same stocks at the same time - this will lead to an unexpected and very unpleasant decline. Although this has its advantages, since there will be much fewer new hedge funds due to bankruptcy.

Steven Cohen - how much money does he have?

Today, the total capital of modern hedge funds is $1.2 trillion, but this does not mean that the profit margins of individual participants in this market segment have increased. On the contrary, with the increase in the number of such funds, the amount of profit decreased. In 2005, hedge fund returns fell to 9.3%, down two percentage points over the last decade. A simple proof can be given here - about 850 funds were closed due to low returns.

As for Steven Cohen's trading style, it can be easily described - it is the exact opposite of Warren Buffett's style. Mr. Buffett, as we all know, prefers to invest for the long term. The head of SAC is confident that greater profits can be made as a result of continuous monitoring of quotes during the working day. If you constantly monitor changes in charts, then over time you can learn to predict their movement. For years, Steven Cohen bought and sold shares of companies without even knowing what they did. As for Warren Buffett, he is absolutely convinced that for successful trading you need to pay less attention to the opinions of other investors.

Mr. Cohen is the antithesis of Buffett. He shows up to work in black jeans and a worn sweater and can sit near the computer for several days in a row (breaking for lunch and sleep), watching the chart indicators. He sometimes makes up to 300 trades a day, and his loyal team of traders provides his boss with valuable information about the current market situation. Today, Steven Cohen's fund accounts for 2% of transactions in the stock market. Considering the number of people who want to invest their money profitably, this is a lot.

Steven Cohen - justifiably high prices

The broker's commission is one cent for each share. Thanks to the crazy turnover, the total payout to traders is $400 million a year. Even after Steven Cohen and his team take an exorbitant share of the money at the end of the year as compensation for their work, investors still receive about 43 percent of the profit. In terms of pricing, other fund managers receive 20% of revenue, plus an annuity that is 2 percent of assets. The head of SAC demands 50% of the profits and a three percent annuity. Cohen's net worth is estimated to be $3 billion, and he has not denied this figure.

As for the personal life of the famous investor, in 1998 Stephen purchased a large house in Greenwich for 15 million and lives there with his wife. On the territory of the mansion there is a vegetable garden, a basketball court, a golf course and an indoor swimming pool. Inside the house there is a home theater for 20 people. Steven Cohen himself never dreamed of such a house, but then he decided that there was nothing wrong with children having a place to play and have fun. Stephen is also a collector and has already managed to buy $700 million worth of art. He has seven beautiful children and dad tries to devote almost all his free time to them.

The heyday of SAC can be called 1998, when the main competitor of Long-Term Capital Management went bankrupt and stock prices began to fall. From that point on, Stephen worked constantly, watching the charts, and mainly placing bets on the upside through the use of the Globex system. As a result, the company earned about 50% of the profit, while its competitors received only two percent per annum. However, people soon realized that SAC was doing something unique and began to figure out what it was all about. Note that Steven Cohen even hired a psychologist in his office who helped people overcome their fear of risk.

Steven Cohen - a star of the new century

In 1999 and 2000, SAC earned 73% of annual profits and in the same year, entrepreneurs began to emerge who copied Cohen's business model. It was at this moment that Stephen realized that the huge profits would come to an end.

Steven Cohen was a star of his time, and it was he who ushered in the era of short-term investing. Everyone slowly began to forget about George Soros and Robertson, who in 2000 returned all investments from the Tiger Management fund. “People didn’t like the fact that we traded a lot and invested little. As a result, they simply began to copy my actions,” Mr. Cohen says. Despite the high competition, he manages to earn more than his rivals (about twice as much).

Should you copy Steven Cohen's business model or should you develop your own investing method? You must answer this question yourself.

Steve Cohen was born in 1957 in New York state into an ordinary family. His father was a clothing manufacturer, and his mother was a piano teacher.

Steve Cohen is the founder of SAC Capital Partners. What made him famous was his supernatural capabilities and ability to make money regardless of market conditions. The famous publication BusinessWeek called Steve Cohen "the most influential trader on Wall Street."

Cohen has never been a public person. He studied at one of the universities of Pennsylvania at the Faculty of Economics. Even then, he played poker and was interested in the stock market. Later he will say that it was thanks to poker that he learned to take risks. He deposited the money that was intended to pay for his education into an account that he opened at a brokerage office. This amount was $7,000.

Not far from the hostel was a brokerage office, where he carefully monitored the market. Thanks to several successful transactions, he was able to earn enough money to pay all his bills.

In 1978, Cohen managed to get a job at Gruntal. On his first day of work, he was able to earn $8,000 for the company. He was able to achieve that he was earning $100 thousand a day for the company. By early 1984, he began managing a portfolio of $75 million and also leading a group of traders. He could carry out such transactions, thanks to the income from which it was possible to cover the losses that other traders brought to the company.

In 1992, Cohen left Gruntal and opened his own hedge fund, SAC Capital Partners. Here he invested his own funds of 20 million dollars. Today the company manages more than $12 billion. Back then, there was a time when the hedge fund industry was relatively small, and the bull market was just starting to heat up in the 1990s. SAC Capital Partners currently has more than 600 employees. But until now, Cohen makes all transactions personally himself. Every day, from 8 a.m. until late in the evening, he carefully monitors his monitors. He brings 15% of all profits to his company. His company's traders always have the opportunity to observe what Cohen is doing. To do this, cameras and microphones are always pointed at him.

Many traders simply try to copy all his actions. Cohen's sarcastic remarks are called "steevisms." The trading room of SAC Capital Partners occupies an area of ​​almost 2000 square meters. meters. It's always quiet and cool there.

Steven Cohen sits in the center of the room. He's surrounded by eight monitors, his favorite environment. Here you will not hear the sound of a ringing phone; here phones blink if they receive calls. To avoid noise from computer fans, they are located on the second floor. Traders are constantly nervously watching all of Cohen's actions and waiting for his instructions. Cohen's fame was able to eclipse the fame of even such influential people as George Soros and Julian Robertson Jr. Cohen was able to learn how to make money from market fluctuations, and his success was able to inspire many to open their own hedge funds on Wall Street.

The work week at Cohen's company begins on Sunday evening, when he discusses strategy for the coming work week with his managers on the phone. Every morning, he gets into his black Chevrolet Suburban and drives to the company's headquarters, a modern steel and concrete building with a glass façade overlooking Long Island Sound.

As for his personal life, in 1998, he and his second wife Alex purchased a mansion in Greenwich, Connecticut, which cost $14.8 million. Only organic vegetables are grown on the site. On the territory of the mansion there is a basketball court, a golf course, an outdoor skating rink, an indoor swimming pool, and a home theater with 20 seats.

The Cohen couple spent $700 million on art.

Cohen's mansion has a large number of servants - a cook, a personal secretary, a housekeeper, a personal trainer and a driver who also works as a bodyguard.

SAC Capital's finest hour came in 1998. Then a large hedge fund, Long-Term Capital Management, went bankrupt, and stock prices began to plummet. Between the end of August and the second decade of October, Cohen was constantly in the office, placing bets on increases through the Globex trading system, which worked around the clock. Summing up the results of 1998, Cohen's company earned 49.2%, while hedge funds earned an average of 2.6% per annum.

People began to realize that something incredible was happening to Cohen's company. In 1999, the company's assets increased to $1 billion. Cohen began to expand his staff and investment themes, and he began to focus on currencies. He hired professional psychologist Ari Kyiv to his staff, who was supposed to help traders overcome their fear of risks. The psychologist said that many people are very worried about a possible loss in the process of trading shares. There was no place in Cohen's company for those who could not cope with the feeling of fear.

For two years 1999-2000. SAC Capital was able to earn investors 68.1% and 73.4%, respectively. This is where a problem already appeared, such as the emergence of company duplicates that exactly copied the SAC Capital business model.

But this problem was not the only one. Rumors began to circulate that Cohen received information much earlier than others and made transactions ahead of the entire market. Critics said that SAC's huge turnover made it the favorite fund on Wall Street and therefore the first to receive all the information it needed.

One day there was an incident when the manager of the Swiss bank UBS, visiting the office of SAC, told Cohen to his face that they knew what kind of guy he was. After which, Cohen kicked him out of the company's door and did not cooperate with the bank for several months.

As Steven Cohen's success increased, Soros and Robertson's success plummeted. In 2000, Robertson had to return money to investors in the Tiger Management fund, while Soros had to reduce his participation in the Quantum Fund.

People didn't like the fact that Cohen's company was trading more than investing. But after they saw that he was earning decent money, they began to completely copy his actions. But Cohen still managed to earn more than his competitors.

In August 2011, Cohen's company returned 18%, when the hedge fund average was about 7%. Last year, SAC was able to raise $2 billion for the new fund, although many who wanted to invest in the fund had to be turned away.

Steven Cohen is now 55 years old and his net worth is $8.3 billion.

Steve Cohen is a personality that deserves the attention of traders. And not only for success in stock trading. His character demonstrates the qualities that help a trader achieve great heights.

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At that time, trading with leverage was not available, and large sums were required to enter the market. Stephen decided to take a risk: his first investment was the money he had saved for his studies. A lot was at stake, because if this money was lost, obtaining a diploma would be in question.

But everything worked out, and the novice trader made a profit from the acquired block of shares. I managed to pay for my studies and earn money for further trading. Skeptics called it blind luck, but his entire life story tells a different story. Cohen always strived for professionalism and achieved it.

Interesting! Cohen did not quit his studies, but combined it with stock trading, continuing to buy shares of companies and make money from it. After graduating from university, Steve began looking for work as a trader.

The first organization to which he was accepted was Gruntal&Co. Already at this place Stephen showed himself to be a good player. Short-term transactions with large sums under his leadership brought huge profits, as a result of which he was quickly noticed.

Up to the next level!

Cohen worked for his employer from 1978 to 1992. Then he decided to create his own hedge fund - SAC Capital Partners. Having invested $20 million of personal funds into it, he began accepting money from other people. Investors willingly contributed large sums. Although the company had just opened, its owner was already known in the trading and investor community.

His success was due to the following factors:

  1. There were few competitors.
  2. There are many people willing to invest.
  3. The market situation was favorable.

The first months of trading brought good profits, but the following years became the most successful. The capital was tripled within four years, and every investor in the fund received a huge increase in funds. After this, Cohen’s number of clients increased tenfold.

Special Achievements

To this day, Steve Cohen remains a successful trader who has repeatedly proven that his achievements on the stock exchange are not an accident, but a pattern. Here are just a few facts about him and how his business model works:

  1. The trader produced excellent results even when all competitors had unprofitable results. For example, in the late 90s.
  2. The hedge fund industry has developed in large part because of his work. Competitors opened up in the hope of repeating the success and began to copy the actions of a professional.
  3. The trader has always worked and continues to work together with his staff. He loves his job.
  4. Other fund traders can observe his actions and learn from his example.
  5. About 15% of the company's income comes from his ability to manage his investment portfolio.

Stephen's successes speak for themselves. He demonstrated to the whole world that trading is not a game of chance, but a systematic scheme for making money.

Cohen's life today

In his daily life and work, Steven Cohen is a simple man. He is constantly in the second hundred of the Forbes ranking, but the billions he has earned have not changed his character at all. He is demanding of himself and his employees, and this is one of the components of his success.

Cohen has repeatedly complained that today's trading conditions have worsened, and the copying of his trades by other funds leads to collapse for many. But so far he has managed to maintain a high level. The fund has no bad indicators: even in critical cases it manages to cover losses. As of 2015, the size of assets was $11 billion.

The activities of this person are the best motivation for traders. If someone says that it is impossible to achieve success on the stock market, just remember Steven Cohen.