COHEN IS COMING!

Hedgie could return to game on Feb. 1: source

One of the most hotly anticipated Wall Street comebacks could happen as soon as next month.

Steve Cohen — the infamous hedge fund mogul whose regulatory ban from managing outside money expired Dec. 31 — is expected to launch a new fund as early as Feb. 1, one informed source told The Post.

The fund, Stamford Harbor Capital, is raising $2 billion to $3 billion in outside money, the source added.

With Cohen’s history of producing average annual returns of 30 percent over the life of his SAC Capital hedge fund — far better than the industry average — perhaps it is not surprising that the 61-year-old investor’s expected return will also come with fees far above the industry average.

While other hedge funds have recently lowered their fees from the traditional “2 and 20” model — charging investors 2 percent of assets under management and 20 percent of profits — Cohen’s Stamford Harbor will charge at least a 2 percent management fee and a performance fee of 10 percent to 50 percent, according to a March 2017 regulatory filing.

Those fees are likely to be 2.75 percent of assets under management and 30 percent of profits, according to reports.

But for all the excitement surrounding one of the biggest Wall Street comebacks, some are voicing caution.

“Steve Cohen’s reputation with investors ranges from greatest stock picker of alltime to industry villain,” Don Steinbrugge of hedge fund consulting firm Agecroft Partners told The Post.

Cohen “has created a lot of goodwill and loyalty from his previous investors that benefitted from his strong performance,” Steinbrugge said, noting that those investors will be quick to return.

Indeed, one former investor with SAC Capital — shuttered in 2013 as part of a settlement resulting from a federal probe — told The Post last month he could not wait to invest with the hedgie again. The former investor claimed he would be the “first in line in 2018.”

SAC Capital pleaded guilty to insider trading in November 2013 and paid $1.8 billion in criminal and civil penalties.

In January 2016, Cohen settled an SEC investigation into his “failure [to] reasonably supervise” convicted insider trader Mathew Martoma — and agreed to a two-year ban from managing outside money.

That ban ended Dec. 31. Cohen was never found liable for wrongdoing. In 2014, he converted his hedge fund into Point72 Asset Management, a family office that managed his $10 billion fortune.

Although Cohen’s return is much anticipated, some former investors are content to stay on the sidelines — doubtful he will be able to match his outsize returns while under such scrutiny.

Plus, Cohen “is too controversial and his fees are too high for most pension funds to invest with him,” Steinbrugge said.

Another former investor told The Post of unwillingness to invest with Cohen again, citing a broader decision to not invest in hedge funds.

Cohen’s anticipated premium-priced fund stands in stark contrast to the move recently by scores of funds to lower fees.

But many of those now-discounted funds have posted subpar performances.

A good number even failed to keep pace with the S&P 500 — something Cohen has had no problem surpassing.

A spokesperson for Cohen and Stamford Capital declined to comment.