The Morning Brief: Regulators Take Aim at Steven Cohen’s Deposition; Keith Anderson Said to be Fundraising

Fodder for SAC’s investigators. U.S. authorities have subpoenaed a 2011 deposition of SAC Capital Advisors founder Steven Cohen, Bloomberg News said Wednesday. Cohen’s sworn statements on insider trading compliance may hurt him in his bid to convince the Securities and Exchange Commission not to pursue a lawsuit that could result in the closure of Cohen’s $14 billion hedge fund firm.

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Keith Anderson, George Soros’ former chief investment officer, is fundraising for a new macro hedge fund, Reuters reported, quoting a person familiar with the firm. Anderson’s macro-focused fund, to be based in New York, hopes to raise between $500 million to $1 billion for the maiden vehicle.
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More on the Herbalife saga. The dietary supplements company appears to be mollifying hedge fund critic William Ackman, saying the company in the future will more clearly identify different types of customers versus salespeople. Ackman has criticized the company’s business model, generating most of its revenue not from the products it sells but by recruiting new salespeople. Shares lost $1.96, or 4.93% Wednesday, closing at $37.78.
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Is market volatility vanishing? Apparently so. Average daily price moves for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index have fallen to 0.43 percent so far this year, from an average 1.08 percent the past five years. That’s the steepest drop for any corresponding period since the Great Depression, Bloomberg News reported. The last time the annual average was this low was 1995, when the S&P surged 34 percent and doubled in the next four years.