Goldman Names Co-Heads of Alternative Investments Group

Goldman Sachs Group’s asset management unit has named Raanan Agus and Mike Brandmeyer co-heads of alternative investments and manager selection, in a reshuffling of leadership tied to the creation of a separate group targeting private markets.

Goldman partners Agus and Brandmeyer are replacing Chris Kojima, who will now co-lead the newly formed alternatives capital markets and strategy group inside the merchant banking division, according to internal memos circulated Monday. The new group, ACMS, will “lead the coordination and expansion of our client engagements in alternatives, across both direct investing strategies and open-architecture strategies,” one of the memos said.

ACMS will collaborate with Goldman’s merchant banking and asset management units, helping to drive conversations with investors surrounding areas such as fundraising in private markets and asset allocations strategies.

The bank’s alternative investments and manager selection business, or AIMS, advises institutional investors and private clients on the selection of private equity, hedge fund, real estate, credit, and public equity managers.

“The biggest part of our business is manager selection,” Brandmeyer said of AIMS in a phone interview. The group, which has $250 billion of assets under management, is benefiting from strong growth in private markets over the past decade, he said.

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Brandmeyer and Agus are now co-chief investment officers for AIMS, which also buys stakes in asset managers as well as interests in private equity portfolios through the secondary market.

Agus, who was previously head of direct alternatives within Goldman Sachs Asset Management, will continue overseeing the unit’s energy and infrastructure group, as well as Goldman’s special purpose acquisition company, GS Acquisition Holdings Corp., according to one of the memos. Brandmeyer, who has worked with AIMS since it was created in 2008, was previously co-head of the group’s secondaries business.

Under the leadership changes, Kojima will co-lead ACMS alongside Michael Koester, the chief commercial officer for Goldman’s merchant banking division who oversees such areas as product development and fundraising, according to one of the memos. AIMS will remain inside the bank’s consumer and investment management division, which houses GSAM.