Goldman Sachs could be on course to launch one of the largest hedge funds to date with at least $6 billion (£3 billion) from investors and its own balance sheet.

The new fund, Goldman Sachs Investment Partners, will open on January 1 and is being run by two traders who had previously worked on the bank’s so-called proprietary trading desk, making equity investments from the group’s balance sheet.

They are Raanan Agus, 40, who had been head of the bank’s principal strategies group since 2003, and Kenneth Eberts, 41, who had been in charge of US investments since 2003.

The hedge fund is thought initially to have sought between $4 billion and $6 billion of cash from banks, pension funds and other financial institutions.

However, the demand for the fund has been high and Goldman is expected to collect at least $6 billion, including a minority contribution from the bank’s own balance sheet.

To set a launch record, the new fund will have to exceed the $7 billion raised by Makena Capital, the hedge fund set up last year by Michael McCafferty, a former head of Stanford University’s endowment fund. Some hedge funds manage more than $10 billion in assets, because their holdings have appreciated in value since launch.

Goldman Sachs could outstrip Makena Capital despite poor returns this year on two key hedge funds it runs. Analysts said that Goldman Sachs’s reputation remained strong despite those losses meaning that investors were keen to back the new hedge fund.

Goldman Sachs is alone on Wall Street in profiting from America’s mortgage meltdown and is on course to report another record profit for the year.

Goldman Sachs Investment Partners will start with about 40 staff from the bank’s proprietary trading desk. About three quarters of the fund will be invested in shares with 5 per cent invested in companies going through mergers or other significant developments. Ten per cent will be invested in corporate credit, and 10 per cent in private equity and other assets that are not easily traded. Goldman Sachs declined to comment on its new fund.

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