Jon Savitz, Bill Troy and Bob Miller, high-profile traders who worked together at Goldman Sachs, are in the early stages of fundraising to start a hedge fund, according to high-yield officials who have spoken with them. Details about the fund could not be learned, but they have begun making presentations to prospective investors, according to one former colleague. Troy and Miller could not be reached and Savitz did not return repeated calls.
Savitz is said to be one of the youngest partners in Goldman's history, a distinction he received in 1998 and which allowed him to earn a huge windfall during the firm's initial public offering. He is believed to have been about 30 years old at the time. "He made the firm so much money they had to make him a partner," says one sell-side veteran. Savitz traded investment-grade and high-yield bonds before becoming head of the distressed unit, in charge of both proprietary trading and the client business. He retired from Goldman over a year ago (BW, 2/18/02) and speculation is that he had a fairly typical lock-up deal preventing him from competing with the firm for business or talent for a year.
Troy is a veteran trader, who has worked in the high-yield business possibly since the late 1970s. He moved from a back office spot at the old Salomon Brothers to open a Tokyo branch for the firm. In the 1980s he traded intermediate high-grade corporates. He also worked at Goldman for a time before moving to J.P. Morgan Securities to head the high-yield desk for almost seven years. He left the firm during the merger with the Chase Manhattan Bank.
Miller was an investment-grade trader at Goldman for many years before becoming a high-yield trader toward the end of his career at the firm.
