Steve Cohen's Point72 is bullish on Asia and likes these sectors

  • Steve Cohen's Point72 is bullish on China's healthcare and financial services industry.
  • The firm began taking outside capital this year, raising $3 billion.
  • Point72 opened a larger office in Hong Kong as it commits to investing in Asia.
Point72's Hong Kong office
Uptin Saiidi | CNBC
Point72's Hong Kong office

Steve Cohen's Point72 is aggressively expanding in Asia.

The firm, which has more than 1,250 employees globally and $12 billion in assets under management, recently opened a larger office in Hong Kong, which can accommodate more than 160 employees — an increase from about 60 employees at the end of 2015. It has recently expanded its Singapore and Tokyo offices, too.

This year, Point72 raised $3 billion from outside investors. The firm had been barred from accepting outside money in the wake of a settlement Cohen made in 2016 with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

CNBC visited the firm's new digs in Hong Kong, which is outfitted with a pool-table in its pantry, and includes free snacks, a massage room, air-quality monitoring and — similar to other Point72 offices — is decked out with Steve Cohen's personal art collection.

Two sector picks

Marc Desmidt, Point72's CEO of International, likes two sectors in China in particular.

"The emergence of China and its growing wealth, means that people in China are much more focused on their physical and emotional well-being," Desmidt said. "Health care today is in a phase in which it's still largely in the private sector, certainly in China."

Desmidt said he expects more health care companies to have publicly traded shares within the next two to three years.

He's also interested in China's financial services.

"In the past, financial services was probably was essentially banks and some insurance businesses, but today it's much more diversified as you see the growth in asset management or payments lending more generally," he added.

While Point72 is not actually in China at the moment, Desmidt said Hong Kong is in an increasingly important position to take advantage of into the region's opportunities.

Point72 declined to comment on whether it's raising raising capital in Asia.

Despite, the SEC ban ending earlier this year, it has not been an entirely smooth period for the firm. In March, Point72's president, Douglas Haynes, resigned amid a lawsuit alleging sexual discrimination. Steve Cohen is now acting president of the firm.