Point72’s making the grade
Steven A. Cohen has hired a hedge fund industry veteran to head a new training program designed to pass the billionaire investor’s stockpicking skills to a new generation as he rebuilds after an insider trading scandal.
Cohen’s Point72 Asset Management said Thursday that Jaimi Goodfriend, a college lecturer in Illinois who previously worked for Citadel and Balyasny, will become Point72 Academy’s first director.
The academy has accepted 15 undergraduates out of 1,300 applicants into an eightweek summer internship. It picked 15 college graduates for a longer program that will teach financial modeling, stock research, securities laws, ethics and compliance. The paid summer internship begins in June; the longer program in August.
“We compete with the major banks, private equity firms and Silicon Valley for the same people,” said Point72 President Douglas Hayes. “The Academy will help us get first crack at the next generation of investor talent before they might go elsewhere.”
Cohen is not expected to teach any classes.