Ex-Goldman, Noble top traders to set up Asia hedge fund -source

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Former Goldman Sachs co-head of macro trading for Asia Pacific ex-Japan, Leland Lim, is planning to launch a hedge fund with Allan Bedwick, the former head of macro trading in Asia for Noble Group, a source with knowledge of the matter said.

Lim, who was a partner at Goldman Sachs Group Inc , retired last month, while Bedwick quit Singaporean commodities firm Noble Group in January to start a macro hedge fund in the second or third quarter of 2014.

The launch comes as global regulatory changes restrict banks from trading with their own money, forcing prop traders to strike out on their own, and as investor interest in hedge funds in Asia makes its strongest comeback since 2007 on the back of solid performance in 2013.

The source could not estimate the start-up capital as the plan was at an early stage and the duo has yet to register the firm in Hong Kong.

(Reporting by Nishant Kumar; Editing by Christopher Cushing)