|
 Cohen reported the number to outside investors on Monday as he
prepares to stop managing money for wealthy clients after his firm
last month agreed to plead guilty to insider trading and pay a $1.2
billion penalty. One of the conditions of the plea agreement is that
Cohen must wind down the business of managing money for outside
investors.
The fund said it gained a net 1.88 percent between December 1 and
December 27, the source said.
A spokesman for the fund declined to comment.
The number, although not final for the year because it does not
include returns made on the last two days of the year, puts SAC
among the $2.5 trillion hedge fund industry's best performers for
2013.
While the Standard & Poor's 500 Index has gained 29 percent this
year, the average fund rose only 6.52 percent, according to data
from Hedge Fund Research.
The returns, possibly the last that outside investors with Cohen
will see, are sure to mark a high point in an otherwise tough year
for SAC. The $1.2 billion fine SAC will pay is in addition to a $616
million settlement the firm reached earlier in the year with the
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Cohen, 57, himself has never been accused of criminal wrongdoing. He
does face charges of failing to properly supervise his employees in
a civil case brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
As SAC, which managed $14 billion on July 1, prepares to become a
so-called family office that will manage only Cohen's personal
fortune estimated at $9 billion, it has also shed personnel and its
reinsurance unit. A handful of traders from its now shut London
office have moved to rival BlueCrest.
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Earlier this month SAC agreed to sell SAC Re, the year-old
reinsurance group, to Hamilton Reinsurance Group.
For two decades, Cohen, 57, has delivered some of Wall Street's best
returns with average annual earnings of 30 percent. While Cohen
charged some of the highest fees -- including a 50 percent
performance fee -- his gains nonetheless attracted dozens of wealthy
investors including the Blackstone Group. But the returns also
sparked what has become a years-long government inquiry into exactly
how Cohen and his traders managed to deliver such strong returns so
consistently.
Earlier this month a federal jury convicted Michael Steinberg, one
of Cohen's top lieutenants, of insider trading, extending the U.S.
government's winning streak to convictions of 77 people and no trial
losses.
The trial of Mathew Martoma, another former SAC portfolio manager
charged with having relied on inside information to make $276
million in illegal profits, begins with jury selection on January 6.
(Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe and Bob
Burgdorfer)
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