Josh Birnbaum, a Goldman Sachs trader who helped the firm into their bet against sub-prime debt, has left the company to start his own billion dollar hedge fund. Birnbaum was famously highlighted in Hamptons Magazine in their "Black Book: Wall Streeter's Edition in 2006 as one of their hot bachelors....
Birnbaum, 35, confirmed his departure and declined to elaborate on his plans. He has told colleagues he expects his new fund will invest in mortgage assets, according to two people familiar with his thinking who declined to be identified.
At least 70 funds have been established during the past year by firms such as New York-based Goldman, Blackstone Group LP and Pacific Investment Management Co. to snap up cheap home-loan debt amid the steepest drop in U.S. home values since the Great Depression. Birnbaum helped Goldman offset losses on mortgage holdings and earn a record $11.6 billion last year.
``The question is really, `What's his encore?''' said Geoff Bobroff, a consultant in East Greenwich, Rhode Island, who advises asset managers
Birnbaum, a native of Oakland, California, joined Goldman in 1993 after completing the undergraduate program at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. He was listed among the top bachelors in the wealthy beach communities on the East End of Long Island, New York in Hamptons magazine's ``Blackbook: Wall Streeters Edition'' in 2006.
Goldman Trader Birnbaum to Form Hedge Fund After Subprime Gains - Bloomberg
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