One of this year's top hedge funds has been $7 billion Melvin Capital run by a former top money-maker for Steve Cohen

REUTERS/Steve Marcus

A protégé of Steve Cohen is up big time this year.

• Gabe Plotkin's $7 billion Melvin Capital has notched returns over 35% through May, sources say, after finishing last year down 7%.
• Plotkin's fund, which was launched at the end of 2014 with a $200 million seed from his former boss Steve Cohen, invests primarily in the tech and consumer sectors.
• Plotkin said at May's Sohn Investment Conference that he has also been able to make money on his shorts, and said he was skeptical of shopping mall REITs and Tesla.
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One of the top hedge funds this year is Melvin Capital, a $7 billion long-short equity fund managed by Gabe Plotkin.

The fund has returned more than 35% this year through the end of May, sources say, bouncing back from a disappointing 2018 when the fund lost 7%.

Plotkin, who was once one of Steve Cohen's top money-makers at SAC Capital, launched his fund at the end of 2014 with a $200 million seed investment from his billionaire boss. He reportedly ran a portfolio of more than $1 billion while at SAC, and his current fund focuses on the same sectors - tech and consumer - that he invested in under Cohen.

The firm declined to comment. Melvin's performance was previously reported by industry publication Institutional Investor.

See more: A $10.5 billion fund at Canyon Partners has loaded up on cash amid a shaky stock market

Filings show that Plotkin's top holding is Netflix, and he also large positions in Nevada-based resort chain Las Vegas Sands and payment processor Worldpay. At the Sohn Investment Conference in New York, he told attendees that he has an "intense focus" on the short side of his portfolio, naming Tesla and mall REITs as securities he is bearish on.

Last year, it was uncovered that Plotkin made a $400 million bet against Nintendo's stock.

The fund has grown its assets rapidly as well during a time frame when hedge funds have fallen out of favor. Less than two years ago, Melvin managed roughly half of the assets it has today.

The 35% mark the firm has notched so far easily outstrips the average hedge fund, which has returned 5.3% through May, as well as the overall market, which has gone up 9.8% in the same time period.

See more: Multi-billion-dollar hedge fund manager Daniel Sundheim is pumping up Netflix, but dismisses the Canadian pot industry

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