C.V. Starr Joins Fund Revival Effort

Goldman Sachs said yesterday that C.V. Starr & Co. Inc., the global investment and insurance firm headed by former AIG Chairman Maurice R. Greenberg, will join other investors in pumping $3 billion into a troubled fund.

The fund, Global Equity Opportunities, which had a net asset value of $3.6 billion before the investment, is managed by Goldman Sachs Asset Management.

Goldman Sachs, which describes the fund as an equity long/short quantitative strategy fund, said the fund has been losing value as a result of disruptions in equity markets being fueled by distress in the credit markets.

According to an online investment glossary (investopedia.com), a quantitative fund, also known as a quant fund, is essentially an investment fund in which managers select securities based on quantitative analysis performed by computer-based models rather than human judgment.

During a conference call yesterday morning, David Viniar, chief financial officer of Goldman Sachs, said his firm and other investors' support for Global Equity "reflects our collective belief that the value of this fund is suffering from a market dislocation that does not reflect the fundamental value of the fund's positions."

"We are contributing a reasonably big part of the $3 billion," Mr. Viniar said, without revealing the actual level of investment from Goldman Sachs, C.V. Starr, or other investors.

Besides Mr. Greenberg's firm, other investors include billionaire Eli Broad, the former CEO of SunAmerica, which was acquired by American International Group in 1999.

Published reports from various financial news services indicate that the fund value declined nearly 30 percent this month.

During the conference call, Mr. Viniar, going on to discuss troubles at two other funds managed by Goldman Sachs Asset Management--Global Alpha and North American Equity Opportunities Fund--pointed to the cyclical nature of global markets to highlight the potential investing opportunities.

"The developments of the last few days have been unprecedented and characterized by remarkable speed and intensity across global markets," he said. "We have seen market dislocations in the past and, as painful as they may be at the time, know they present important opportunities in the longer term."

Goldman Sachs is a global investment banking, securities and investment management firm headquartered in New York.