Goldman Sachs alternatives inflows at zero

Goldman Sachs Asset Management’s net inflows for alternative investment funds have trickled down to nothing, published reports said. In the past, the firm’s alternative investments—hedge funds included—have pushed the asset management division’s performance, according to published reports. Last year, net inflows were $32 billion, according to Financial News. But slumping performance brought inflows down to $2 billion in the first quarter, which decreased to zero in the second. Global Alpha, the firm’s $10-billion hedge fund, has been vulnerable recently but as suffered only minor withdrawals, David Viniar, Goldman’s CFO, told Financial News. “People who are investing in the fund understand it is a high risk, very volatile fund,” he said. “Over the life of the fund, it has had quite good performance but recent weakness.” Lagging fund performance has also cut down performance fee income, which dropped to $110 million in the first half of this year, compared to $843 million during the same period in 2006. Management fees, however, have grown 26%, Financial News reported. Revenues also took a dive in the asset management division, falling to $1.10 billion from $1.13 billion in the year-ago period.