Point72 Asset Management is providing its largest-ever initial backing to a departing trader, veteran portfolio manager Alex Silverstein, as he spins out his health-care trading team to launch a new hedge fund, Sirenia Capital Management, according to a report by Bloomberg.
The report cites an internal Point72 memo seen by Bloomberg, as revealing that the firm will be Sirenia’s largest day-one investor, committing hundreds of millions of dollars, which could translate into multiple billions of dollars in buying power when leverage is included. The investment surpasses the $200m Point72 provided to Gabe Plotkin when he launched Melvin Capital Management in 2015.
Silverstein, who leads a 10-person pod, has been with Point72 for roughly 13 years and is one of its most successful portfolio managers.
Point72 has historically supported only a few traders spinning out, including Plotkin, Tomofumi Oda with Blue Swell Asset Management, and Ryan Wilder with Vestal Point Capital. Amid a competitive market for top talent, the firm is increasingly open to backing select managers rather than risk losing access to high performers.
The backing also mitigates fundraising challenges for Silverstein. Launching a hedge fund without an anchor investor is difficult in the current environment, as pensions and endowments are more cautious with capital. Multi-strategy firms like Point72 and Millennium Management are increasingly stepping in, deploying billions to emerging managers as a way to allocate assets.
