Goldman Sachs’ flagship hedge fund plunged 22.5 percent in August, before fees, following over a year of declines and echoing a trend of mixed performance by computer-driven, quantitative strategies, Financial News reports.
The loss in August has followed a year of disappointing returns for the fund. At the end of August, the fund was down 33 percent for the year, according to a letter sent to investors. As of August 13 the value of Global Alpha’s assets, which was $10bn (7.2 billion) earlier this year, was about $7.4 billion ($5.3 billion). Last year it posted a loss of 6 percent.
The redemption period for the 12-year old fund is closed for the next two to three months.
As of June, there were no substantial redemptions in the fund, according to David Viniar, Goldman Sachs chief financial officer. But in the first half of the year, the hedge fund’s performance has had an impact on the asset management division’s profits because it did not earn performance fees.
A spokesperson for Goldman Sachs said the loss reflects a fraction of its $250 billion (180 billion) quantitative fund assets.