Stella Cohen Launches New Private Equity Fund After Raising $120 Million
Veteran international investor Stella Cohen is launching a new private equity fund in Israel, having raised $120 million from US investors to target large local firms in business services, financial sectors, and defense.
Stella Cohen, who is currently establishing a new investment fund after spending more than two decades investing and managing assets for international institutions, views stability as her core principle. "A 20% annual return is good. I do not take excessive risks or chase crazy returns. My nature is stable and secure," she says. Born in Nantes in western France, Cohen's career spans prominent stops in the global investment world: she was a senior M&A attorney at the New York law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, joined the direct investment team of Canadian pension fund CDPQ, and later served as co-chair of EMEA private equity at J. Safra Group. Although less known in Israel, she was an influential behind-the-scenes figure at Phoenix. After Centerbridge and Gallatin acquired control of the company in 2019, they appointed Cohen as a director of Phoenix Holdings and the insurance company, acting as a key link between them and Chairman Beni Gabai and CEO Eyal Ben Simon.
Now Cohen is moving to the other side of the table to launch her own fund alongside Raanan Agus, who will serve as chairman after 32 years at Goldman Sachs, 24 of them as a partner. The fund's advisory committee includes Matthew Botein, co-founder and managing partner of Gallatin Point Capital; Eliezer Groner, former Director General of the Prime Minister's Office; Eugene Kandel, Chairman of the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange; Cindy Levy, senior partner at McKinsey; Michael Olshan, co-founder of New York-based O-Corp; and Yossi Weiss, former CEO of Israel Aerospace Industries. Cohen has already raised about $120 million from US investors, is preparing to raise hundreds of millions of shekels from Israeli institutional bodies, and is in talks to invest in Israeli companies. "We raised enough to look at several companies," she says. "I am talking about large companies with an EBITDA of $10 million to $20 million. We are already in talks with them."
Reflecting on her career and the Phoenix success story, Cohen highlights the blend of strategic value creation and international fund expertise. "The market looked at Phoenix as an insurance company, but we also saw strong asset management and the potential of the agencies," she notes. The new fund will focus on four specific sectors: business services (HR, payroll, data, software, and insurance services), financial services (insurance, non-bank credit, insurance agencies, and wealth management), defense companies, and industry. Cohen stresses that the Israeli economy boasts strong fundamentals, good demographics, and skilled talent, positioning their portfolio companies to scale globally.
"Our logo is King David's harp. When you think of King David, the harp is not the first thing that comes to mind. Neither are the companies we are looking at the first ones that come to mind. I love the harp—it is creative, harmonious, and stable," Cohen concludes, noting that the fund is named after her late father.
