Michael koester goldman sachs biography of martin

By Saeed Azhar and Lananh Nguyen

NEW YORK, Feb 13 (Reuters) - Mike Koester, a senior executive in Goldman Sachs Group Inc's asset-management arm, told Reuters he will leave the firm after 25 years to become an entrepreneur in private markets.

Koester, 50, a partner and co-president of Goldman's alternative investments business, will retire at the end of April, according to a memo sent on Monday by Marc Nachmann, the bank's global head of asset and wealth management, and Julian Salisbury, the division's chief investment officer.

The bank declined to comment on whether Koester would be replaced.

Koester also declined to give details about his new venture, but said it would not compete with Goldman.

"In the spirit of the Super Bowl, for me, playing in the private markets was exactly the game where I wanted to play," Koester said.

"I got to play for my favorite team."

The bank's newly-combined asset and wealth unit posted a 39%