Agus to helm Goldman's hedge fund

Raanan A. Agus, head of Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s equity proprietary trading desk, will start a hedge fund inside the securities firm giant, The New York Times reported. Goldman Sachs will contribute money to Mr. Agus’s fund, while raising cash from private clients and outside investors, insiders told the Times. The enterprise is a first for the New York-based firm, which hasn’t named the new fund yet. It will also be the first “long-short” fund, investing in stocks and hedging with short bets, the Times said. Insiders speculated that the fund could hit $10 billion. As part of the equity proprietary desk (better known as the principal strategies team), Mr. Agus was already making bets on stocks using Goldman Sachs’ capital. He will take part of his old team with him. Goldman alumni who once worked the desk and have risen in the hedge fund ranks include Richard Perry of Perry Capital, Edward S. Lampert of ESL Investments, Daniel Och of Och-Ziff Capital Management Group, Thomas F. Steyer of Farallon Capital Management, Dinakar Singh of TPG-Axon and Erich Mindich of Eton Park Capital Management, the Times said.