Goldman Sachs shut down the company’s London hedge fund operation and relocate the staff members to New York. The move is speculated to be taken as an anticipation to hard Brexit, but Goldman Sachs denied the rumor.
According to Financial Times, eight of the Goldman Sachs Investment Partners employees were instructed to relocate to company’s headquarters in Manhattan, New York. They are also given option to find the position in other Goldman Sachs operation.
The Goldman Sachs Investment Partners began its first operation in 2008 and its launching is recorded as one of the biggest hedge fund in history according to Reuters. The hedge fund manages a $7 billion assets with $2 billion of that amount is owned by Goldman Sachs.
Goldman Sachs spokeperson said the closing down of London hedge fund is not related to Brexit. However, he declined to give further explanation regarding the decision. “This is a discrete decision for reasons specific to GSIP,” the spokeperson said.
Prior to the closure, according to source from the Goldman Sachs, managing director of GSIP Nick Advani had resigned from his position and replaced by Raluca Ragab. Alvani was relocated and now hold a position as advisory director at Goldman Sachs, but he will depart from the company later this year. While Ragab will also leave Goldman Sachs.
In its current operation, the GSIP is managed under asset management division of Goldman Sachs with investment focus on equities market. However, the fluctuation has made the equities become more challenging and the operation in 2016 had recorded a 8.2 percent losses. While in the previous year the operation posted a small gain by 1.5 percent.
Goldman Sachs may have foreseen the volatility in its hedge fund operation in Europe, therefore the company decided to shut down its London operation. Watch the report regarding the closing down of Goldman’s hedge fund office in London below:
