Finance

Point72’s Steve Cohen is stepping back from trading his own book

Published

9 months ago

September 17, 2024

Steven Cohen, founder of Point72 and majority owner of the New York Mets, attends a news conference at Citi Field, the home stadium of MLB’s New York Mets, in Queens, New York, on Feb. 10, 2021.

Brendan McDermid | Reuters

Billionaire investor Steve Cohen is retiring from the trading floor at his hedge fund Point72.

The prominent hedge fund investor, who also owns the New York Mets, will continue his role as the co-chief investment officer at Point72, which Cohen converted from S.A.C. Capital Advisors in 2014 after lofty insider-trading settlements.

“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 the next generation of talent,” a spokesperson at Point72 said.

Point72, which uses long/short, macro and systematic strategies, manages more than $35 billion. Most recently, the firm is planning to launch a separate, artificial intelligence-focused hedge fund to capitalize on the boom.

Earlier this year, Cohen came out as a long-term AI bull. He has called AI a “really durable theme” for investing, comparing the rise to the technological developments in the 1990s.

“There’s huge value in having Steve as an impactful mentor for our investment professionals; he’s been doing this for 40 years and he’s seen a lot,” Point72 said. “That’s what gives him the most satisfaction these days — helping people succeed and seeing it make a difference — and where he feels he can add the most value.”

Bloomberg News first reported on Cohen’s move away from trading earlier Tuesday.

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Swiss government proposes tough new capital rules in major blow to UBS

Published

2 days ago

June 6, 2025

Business Finance News

A sign in German that reads “part of the UBS group” in Basel on May 5, 2025.

Fabrice Coffrini | AFP | Getty Images

The Swiss government on Friday proposed strict new capital rules that would require banking giant UBS to hold an additional $26 billion in core capital, following its 2023 takeover of stricken rival Credit Suisse.

The measures would also mean that UBS will need to fully capitalize its foreign units and carry out fewer share buybacks.

“The rise in the going-concern requirement needs to be met with up to USD 26 billion of CET1 capital, to allow the AT1 bond holdings to be reduced by around USD 8 billion,” the government said in a Friday statement, referring to UBS’ holding of Additional Tier 1 (AT1) bonds.

The Swiss National Bank said it supported the measures from the government as they will “significantly strengthen” UBS’ resilience.

“As well as reducing the likelihood of a large systemically important bank such as UBS getting into financial distress, this measure also increases a bank’s room for manoeuvre to stabilise itself in a crisis through its own efforts. This makes it less likely that UBS has to be bailed out by the government in the event of a crisis,” SNB said in a Friday statement.

‘Too big to fail’

UBS has been battling the specter of tighter capital rules since acquiring the country’s second-largest bank at a cut-price following years of strategic errors, mismanagement and scandals at Credit Suisse.

The shock demise of the banking giant also brought Swiss financial regulator FINMA under fire for its perceived scarce supervision of the bank and the ultimate timing of its intervention.

Swiss regulators argue that UBS must have stronger capital requirements to safeguard the national economy and financial system, given the bank’s balance topped $1.7 trillion in 2023, roughly double the projected Swiss economic output of last year. UBS insists it is not “too big to fail” and that the additional capital requirements — set to drain its cash liquidity — will impact the bank’s competitiveness.

At the heart of the standoff are pressing concerns over UBS’ ability to buffer any prospective losses at its foreign units, where it has, until now, had the duty to back 60% of capital with capital at the parent bank.

Higher capital requirements can whittle down a bank’s balance sheet and credit supply by bolstering a lender’s funding costs and choking off their willingness to lend — as well as waning their appetite for risk. For shareholders, of note will be the potential impact on discretionary funds available for distribution, including dividends, share buybacks and bonus payments.

“While winding down Credit Suisse’s legacy businesses should free up capital and reduce costs for UBS, much of these gains could be absorbed by stricter regulatory demands,” Johann Scholtz, senior equity analyst at Morningstar, said in a note preceding the FINMA announcement.

“Such measures may place UBS’s capital requirements well above those faced by rivals in the United States, putting pressure on returns and reducing prospects for narrowing its long-term valuation gap. Even its long-standing premium rating relative to the European banking sector has recently evaporated.”