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GLG calls on Goldman star to take over Coffey fund
Bill Condie7 Jul 2008
GLG Partners, London's second-largest hedge fund group, has recruited top Goldman Sachs trader Driss Ben-Brahim.
He joins the Mayfair-based fund managers as star Greg Coffey leaves to set up his own fund.
Ben-Brahim is expected to run Coffey's $1.2 billion (£605 million) Emerging Markets Special Situations fund. At Goldman, he has been a partner and the head of emerging markets trading.
GLG, which begged Coffey to stay, manages more than £12 billion in funds. The departure of Coffey had caused concerns that many of GLG's customers could follow.
The fund, which is run by several former Goldman partners, has also had other senior traders and executives resign.
Australian Coffey is due to set up his own rival fund in October. He is giving up shares and bonus worth £125 million in the move.
Ben-Brahim, who is seen as more strategy-focused than Coffey, is also expected to develop a global macro business more than two years after GLG shut its underperforming macro fund.
GLG has close relations with several sovereign wealth funds in the Middle East and investment from Istithmar of Dubai.
Goldman Sachs hired Ben-Brahim to run its foreign exchange desk, and he has since become one of the highest paid traders in London.
