Gabriel Plotkin

One of Mr. Cohen’s top traders, Gabriel Plotkin, is moving forward with his plans to start a hedge fund next year. Mr. Plotkin, who once oversaw a team that traded a $1.4 billion portfolio of consumer product stocks, is looking to raise up to $1 billion for a fund he is calling Melvin Capital L.L.C. Mr. Plotkin, 35, who will start his fund with about $200 million from Mr. Cohen, named his fund in honor of his grandfather, Melvin Plotkin, who is deceased. Mr. Plotkin, who remains an employee of Mr. Cohen, wound down his portfolio a few months ago to focus exclusively on raising money for his fund. He intends to staff his fund with the group of junior traders and analysts he oversaw at SAC.