Sachs' Global Alpha takes August plunge

Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s flagship Global Alpha hedge fund lost more than 20% of its value in August, its largest monthly fall, Bloomberg reported. The firm told investors that losses on currency and stock trades chopped off 22.5% of the fund’s value, Bloomberg reported. Global Alpha has dropped 44% since March 2006. Last month, investors told Goldman they would pull $1.6 billion from the fund, the report stated. A carry-trade plan by managers Mark Carhart and Raymond Iwanowski led to the loss, after the two decided to sell Japanese yen and buy Australian dollars, Bloomberg said. But their efforts backfired after the Australian dollar fell 6% against the yen in August.