Longtime hedge funder Steve Cohen says returns won't be very good over the next 2 years, bear market possible

• Billionaire Steve Cohen sees the U.S. economy slowing and predicted a bear market is coming as early as 18 months from now, according to the FT on Wednesday.
• "I'm not comfortable, I'm not uncomfortable, I'm somewhere in the middle," Cohen reportedly said.
• Cohen's new hedge fund Point72 raised about $5 billion from outside investors this year.

Steve Cohen at Point 72 Asset Management.

Adam Jeffery | CNBC

Billionaire Steve Cohen sees the U.S. economy slowing and predicted a bear market is coming as early as 18 months from now, according to a report by the Financial Times on Wednesday.

"I don't think returns over the next two years are going to be very good. If the market hangs in there, there's just going to be marginal returns," Cohen reportedly said at an event in New York.

Cohen said he sees the U.S. economy as "late cycle," according to the FT.

"I'm not comfortable, I'm not uncomfortable, I'm somewhere in the middle," Cohen reportedly said.

Cohen's comments come as his new hedge fund Point72 raised about $5 billion this year since opening to outside investors, according to the FT.

The SEC had barred him from raising money until the end of 2017 after SAC Capital, his previous hedge fund, pleaded guilty to insider trading. SAC Capital paid $1.8 billion in fines and closed in 2016, with Cohen spinning out Point72 as a family office in 2014. Point72 is based in Stamford, Connecticut and has 1,250 employees, according to the firm's website.

Read the full FT story here.