A hedge fund started by a former Steve Cohen exec might be turning itself around

pulse

July 19, 2017 4:06 PM

Sol Kumin's hedge fund, Folger Hill, has posted slight gains for the first half of the year.

Folger Hill Asset Management, which suffered deep losses after its launch, gained 3.7% after fees in the first half of this year in its flagship US fund.

The bulk of those gains came last month, with the stock-focused fund posting a 2.4% return in June. That's according to an investor document that was reviewed by Business Insider.

A person briefed on Folger Hill said the fund has continued to make money this month, bringing year-to-date returns through mid-July to about 5%.

Still, the fund lags its benchmark index, the S&P 500, which gained 9.3% over the first half of the year. And even with the recent gains, since launching in March 2015, the fund has lost a total of 17.1% through June this year, according to the investor document.

Kumin launched his New York-based hedge fund in 2015 to much fanfare.

With global expansion plans, he attracted the backing of big-name Wall Street groups like Leucadia National Corp., which encompasses the investment bank Jefferies Group, and Schonfeld Strategic Advisors, which backed the hedge fund's Asia unit.

Kumin, who had recruited some of Steve Cohen's top traders while working at the billionaire's high-profile fund, SAC Capital, is known for his boisterous personality and salesmanship. SAC Capital later was forced to close amid an insider trading scandal.

But Kumin's fund has faced setbacks. Last year, the flagship fund fell 17.6%, and assets dropped to a low of about $600 million from a peak of $1 billion earlier in 2016.

Folger Hill manages about $900 million firmwide, with about $650 million in its US fund and $250 million in an Asia fund it launched in November, the person said. The Asia fund is up about 2% this year, and the firm has an additional $200 million that it can draw down, the person added.

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