Doug Haynes — the former Point72 president who resigned after a #MeToo scandal — is hoping to raise $1 billion for his new fund
- Norias Research Group, based in Florida, is a new “quantamental” hedge fund.
- Haynes founded Norias after working as an executive at Steve Cohen’s Point72.
- Haynes resigned from the fund in 2018 and was accused of sexual discrimination in a lawsuit.A key figure in one of the most public #MeToo examples in hedge funds has returned to the fray.
Doug Haynes, who left Steve Cohen’s Point72 a month after being named a defendant in a sexual discrimination lawsuit, hopes to raise $1 billion for his new fund, according to two sources close to the fund.
The new fund, Norias Research Group, will be based in West Palm Beach, Florida, a ritzy enclave where many financiers have relocated. The new fund was first reported on by the trade publication HFM.
According to the sources, Norias intends to be a “quantamental” fund, combining computer-run strategies with human intuition to make investments. According to one person familiar with the fund’s objectives, artificial intelligence will be heavily used.
Michael Lean, the former director of research for Dan Sundheim’s D1 Capital, is among those who have joined the new fund. Chris Coward, who led Point72’s quantitative Latitude strategy until 2020, is now a consultant for the fund.
Haynes did not respond to comment requests. From 2014 to 2018, he was the president of Point72, which served as Cohen’s family office following the closure of his first fund, SAC Capital. He spent more than two decades at McKinsey before joining Cohen.
Lauren Bonner, the former head of talent analytics, filed the lawsuit, which was settled in 2020. According to a statement issued following the settlement, the suit named Haynes and Cohen, as well as the firm, but there were “no adverse findings” against the billionaire or Point72.
A spokesperson for Point72 declined to comment on Haynes’ new fund, but a source close to the company said the fund has no plans to back Haynes.
