Highbridge poaches exec from Goldman

Highbridge Capital Management has hired former Goldman Sachs investment banking co-head Scott Kapnick top launch a new private equity business. Mr. Kapnick will work at the hedge fund affiliate of JPMorgan Chase & Co. to raise between $1 billion $2 billion for a buyout fund that will begin investing early next year, according to a Bloomberg report. Meanwhile, he will oversee a credit fund that is the same size that will open in September and will finance other firms' takeover bids. Mr. Kapnick left Goldman Sachs after 21 years before leaving the bank last December and will start with Highbridge this week (InvestmentNews, November 28). He became a global co-head of investment banking at Goldman Sachs in 2001 and joined the firm's management committee the following year. Highbridge's private equity unit will focus on the U.S., Asia and Europe, and also plans a real estate fund, according to a person close to the plan. JPMorgan took its controlling stake in Highbridge in 2004 and has since seen its assets increase by 500% to $34 billion. The flagship hedge fund returned 24.7% in 2006, beating out the Standard &Poor's 500, which rose 15.8% in the same period.