(Reuters) - SAC Capital Advisors is one of the world’s biggest and most successful hedge funds whose trades often make up as much as 3 percent of the daily volume on the New York Stock Exchange. Its persistently strong returns have generated admiration and envy on Wall Street.
Below are five facts about the Stamford, Connecticut-based firm.
* The firm manages roughly $12.9 billion, employs 800 people and has seven offices in four countries.
* Since 1996, SAC’s flagship onshore fund, SAC Capital Management, boasts and annualized monthly performance of 27.1 percent, compared with 5.7 percent for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Total Return Index and a 10.8 percent gain for the HFRI Equity Hedge (Total) Index.
* SAC Capital Management has had only one down year since it was launched. It lost 27.56 percent in 2008 when the average hedge fund lost 19 percent according to data from Hedge Fund Research.
* The firm employs 118 portfolio managers, 158 research analysts and 35 people in trading execution. The typical portfolio manager is allowed to invest between $300 million and $500 million and managers are generally free to deploy capital within the risk guidelines.
* The firm says that it tries to maximize information flow to enhance portfolio management and says it has over 100 sell-side relationships.
Reporting by Svea Herbst-Bayliss, editing by Claudia Parsons
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