SAC Capital's Steven Cohen increases stake in RCAP

Billionaire former hedge fund manager Steven A. Cohen, who now invests through his family office Point72 Asset Management L.P., has boosted his stake in RCS Capital corp. to 5.1%, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday. Mr. Cohen, who turned his hedge fund firm SAC Capital Advisors L.P. into his own family office earlier this year as part of a $1.8 billion settlement over insider trading charges, now indirectly owns nearly 3.4 million shares of RCAP, according to the filing. Stamford Conn.-based Point72 had owned 548,500 shares of the company as of Sept. 30. Real estate investment trust czar Nicholas Schorsch is the executive chairman of RCAP, a company that includes 9,100 registered reps and advisers affiliated under the Cetera Financial Group. A spokesperson for Point72 Asset Management, Jonathan Gasthalter, was not available for comment after hours. RCAP executives said last week that the company was looking to hire an adviser to investigate ways to increase shareholder value. RCAP shares are down about 38% since late October after American Realty Capital Properties, or ARCP, disclosed a $23 million accounting error that was intentionally not corrected over the first half of the year. The company's chief financial officer, Brian Block, who was also a former CFO of RCAP, resigned as a result. Both RCAP and ARCP are part of the vast business empire operated by Mr. Schorsch, who is also the former CEO and current chairman of ARCP and CEO of American Realty Capital, the largest nontraded REIT sponsor in the industry. Andrew Backman, a spokesman for RCAP, did not immediately respond to a phone call seeking comment after hours Monday.