SAC Capital Partners

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SAC Capital Partners (SAC Capital Advisors, SAC Capital Management) is a $12 billion dollar group of multi-strategy, multi-discipline hedge funds founded by Steven A. Cohen in 1992 [1]. While SAC closely guards its returns, published reports and people who have seen the fund's letters to its investors say that SAC had a gross return, before its fees, of at least 40 percent in every year from 1996 to 2001, making it astoundingly successful. While most hedge funds charge a fee of 20% to 30% percent of the annual returns, SAC keeps 50% percent, the highest in the industry.

The firm is legend on Wall Street and admired for consistently best-in-class returns and an intensely entrepreneurial culture that is among the most professional and institutionalized in the sector. Although it is difficult to rank hedge funds due to the large variance in investment style and approach, SAC is often regarded as first among equals. Favored industries for the fund include high technology, retail/consumer goods, and healthcare.

The hedge fund is reportedly headquarted in Anguilla [2] [3], and its trading offices are located in Stamford, Connecticut [4]and New York City. SAC also maintains dedicated satellite offices in San Francisco and London

While the firm manages more than $12 billion in net assets, utilizing leverage, SAC controls more than $80 billion in assets^{[citation needed]}. The firm filed as owners on more than $12 billion in assets according to SEC filings. In addition to public markets, SAC is taking steps towards executing strategies in the private equity space as evidenced by its KKR partnership. Originally a trading oriented shop, SAC has evolved into a mature investment institution that emphasizes rigorous research and risk management practices. SAC's latest $3 billion Multi-Strategy Fund, which has a 3 year lock-in, is specifically geared towards longer-term intrinsic investments.

In 2006, SAC returned 34% net of fees to investors, more than 3x the average for the asset class.

According to Traders Monthly magazine, SAC Capital founder and CEO Steven A. "Stevie" Cohen personally earning in excess of $1 billion in 2005.

1 Investments
2 Secrecy
3 See also
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Investments

According to BusinessWeek magazine, SAC Capital Partners routinely accounts for as much as 3% of the New York Stock Exchange's average daily trading, plus up to 1% of the NASDAQ's – a total of at least 20 million shares a day. In addition, SAC reportedly has a considerable stake in New River Pharmaceuticals [5], California solar power firms [6] [7], Cypress Semiconductor Corporation [8], AC Moore, Greenbrier Companies [9], Marinemax Inc. [10], Bally Total Fitness [11], New Frontier Media [12], Progen Industries [13], retailer Casual Male [14], pharmaceutical company Impax Laboratories [15], Phelps Dodge [16], supermarket chain Pathmark Stores [17], and Penwest Pharmaceuticals [18]. The hedge fund also controls 19.5% of search engine Baidu [19]. One of its new investments in 2006 was a stake in Tyco International [20]. Its Newest investments are Avanex. [21] SAC is now dabbling in private equity. ^[1]

[edit] Secrecy

SAC Capital, in a manner typical for a hedge fund, is highly secretive. The hedge fund is reportedly closed to new investors [22], and the company website is merely a login portal with a confidentiality warning. The warning reads, "If you are not sure of your right to view this information, leave this site immediately." [23] [24] To his credit, however, Cohen did provide a rare glimpse of his fund and the hedge fund business to the Wall Street Journal in 2006. In the article he warned, "the days of big returns are gone [25] [26]," and on the subject of his secrecy he remarked, "I'm not reclusive...I'm not an introvert...I'm media shy" [27] [28].