A hedge fund set up by Steve Cohen's former chief investment officer is crushing it

A hedge fund set up by Aaron Cowen, a former chief investment officer at SAC Capital, is crushing it this year.

Suvretta Capital Management's master fund is up 12.5% after fees for the first six months of the year, according to an investor document seen by Business Insider. The fund has gained an additional 5% or so in the first two weeks of July, a person familiar with the matter told Business Insider. That extends year-to-date gains to about 17%.

Comparatively, the S&P 500 is up about 9.6% over the same period, per Markets Insider data, while the HFRI Equity Hedge Index is up about 6%.

Cowen founded Suvretta in 2012, and was previously a portfolio manager at Soros Fund Management and chief investment officer at SAC Capital, the hedge fund led by Steve Cohen which later shut amid an insider trading scandal.

Here are the returns from Suvretta's master fund over the past few years, per the investor document:

• 2016: 3.2%
• 2015: 7.1%
• 2014: 13.1%
• 2013: 26.3%
• 2012 (September through December): 4.1%

Suvretta focuses on mid-to-large cap stocks and uses a fundamental, bottom-up investment process. The firm managed about $2.7 billion at the start of the year, according to the Hedge Fund Intelligence Billion Dollar Club ranking.

According to the document, dated June, the fund had a 68.8% net exposure, with its largest net exposure was to consumer discretionary, at 32.6%, followed by information technology, at 23.9%. The five top long positions were Adobe Systems, Alibaba, Charter Communciations, Comcast and Constellation Brands.