Another Hedge Fund getting bailed out.....simply amazing. AP Goldman Hedge Fund Gets $3B Bailout Monday August 13, 10:42 am ET By Joe Bel Bruno, AP Business Writer Goldman Sachs Hedge Fund Gets $3 Billion Bailout After Big Market Losses NEW YORK (AP) -- Goldman Sachs Group on Monday said a group of investors that includes Eli Broad and Hank Greenberg will sink $3 billion into one of its biggest hedge funds that has seen its value plunge amid market volatility. The investment bank said its Global Equity Opportunities fund "suffered significantly" as global markets sold off on worries about debt and credit. The fund lost as much as 14 percent of its value during the past 12 month, according to media reports, and is currently worth about $3.6 billion. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. will lead the group of investors to help bail out the hedge fund, which relies on computer-driven trading strategies. Other investors include Broad, Greenberg's C.V. Starr & Co., and Perry Capital LLC. In addition, the investment bank said that two other hedge funds it manages -- Global Alpha and the North American Equities Opportunities Fund -- have also suffered during the market dislocation. Goldman said it "reduced risk and leverage" in the funds to stem losses. "At their current levels of equity capital, we believe the funds are positioned to actively pursue market opportunities," Goldman said in a statement. Goldman, one of the world's premiere financial companies, joins Bear Stearns Cos. and France's BNP Paribas in revealing that its hedge funds have been slammed by the credit market crisis. There is some $2 trillion believed to be held in hedge funds globally. Bear Stearns earlier this summer disclosed that two of its multibillion dollar hedge funds were wiped out because of heavy bets on mortgage-backed securities. BNP Paribas said last week it would freeze three funds invested in U.S. asset-backed securities. Quantitative funds like Goldman Sachs' that rely on computer models to make investments have taken a beating because of triple-digit swings on Wall Street during the past few weeks. Other financial institutions are also expected to reveal to what extent their funds have suffered as well. Britain's Barclays PLC, in the midst of a takeover battle for Switzerland's UBS, may be among the banks that is having troubles. Barclays Global investors is one of the world's biggest fund managers, with some $2 trillion in assets under management. Goldman Sachs was to hold a rare conference call Monday to update investors about the plight of its hedge funds. Shares of Goldman Sachs closed at $180.50 on Friday, and rose 2.1 percent in premarket electronic trading.
Goldman doubles down baby! Throwing good money after bad, or working through an anomaly in the market place? Time will tell.
Please, Wall Street is still around without Salomon Brothers. That's who we can thank for all the neat leverage products we have today. Who cares about the hedge fund, you should be wondering about their proprietary trading.
I wonder how much GS made these last few weeks on its proprietary trading, even as its customers were getting sheared in the GS hedge funds? Is it possible GS proprietary profited by being opposite the positions shared by many quant-model funds, GS's included? I realize that would seem too obvious to be true, but I wouldn't be surprised if it is true. The prompt multi-billion infusion might be a bit of medicine ahead of a disclosure of that type.