COHEN COMEBACK

Hedge fund whiz plans whopper $20B ’18 return

Steve Cohen is plotting a big comeback in 2018, and some of the hedgie’s former clients are itching to invest again.

The hedge fund billionaire behind Point72 Asset Management is planning to launch a new hedge fund early next year with a record-breaking $20 billion in assets, according to reports.

The giant hoped-for investment fund would be nearly triple the size of Goldman Sachs’ then-record $7 billion launch of Goldman Sachs Investment Partners in 2008.

Cohen, who had perhaps the highest returns of any hedge fund manager in the world, saw his $16 billion SAC Capital plead guilty in 2013 to criminal charges of insider trading.

The firm paid a fine of $1.8 billion.

In a January 2016 settlement of a civil case brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission, Cohen admitted to failing to properly supervise the firm — and agreed not to manage outside money for two years.

That ban runs out December 31, 2017.

Meanwhile, some SAC investors, apparently itching for Cohen’s outsized returns, are ready to re-up.

“I want to fill out the first new account form,” Ed Butowsky of Chapwood Investments told The Post on Tues- day, noting that Cohen’s returns even eclipsed Warren Buffett’s on a risk-adjusted basis.

“There will be a long line to invest with him. He’s one of the greatest traders ever,” Brad Alford of Alpha Capital Management told The Post.

Alford said he would “absolutely” invest with Cohen after having his money invested in SAC Capital for almost a decade — up until the fund had to return outside money in late 2013.

Cohen was never charged criminally.

Representatives from the SEC and Justice Department declined to comment on the hedgie’s reported plans to return to the hedge fund business.

Former US Attorney Preet Bharara, whose dogged pursuit of Cohen is said to be the inspi- ration behind the Showtime hit “Billions,” did not respond to requests for comment.

Although Cohen was restricted from managing outside money, by managing his own $11 billion fortune through Point72 Asset Management (the firm he set up to replace SAC), he remained a force in the financial world.

Stamford Harbor Capital, the small investment firm Cohen launched last year, is seen by many as a launchpad for the new fund.

Earlier this month, Cohen was seen milling about the SkyBridge Alternatives Conference in Las Vegas — sparking talk of a possible return.

The annual hedge fund bacchanalia recruits well-heeled financiers and politicos to talk about the state of the financial world.

To raise the record sum for the fund’s launch, Cohen is planning to offer a lower management fee than the 3 percent he had been charging at SAC — which was 50 percent higher than the industry norm, according to the Wall Street Journal, which first reported on Cohen’s plans.

Cohen is also weighing taking less than 50 percent of profits — another SAC fee structure that was also above the 20 percent industry norm, the Journal reported.

Representatives for Point72 declined to comment.