Come September, Edward Forst, the former head of Goldman Sachs Asset Management, is returning to his alma mater, Harvard University, as an executive vice president. Forst, 47, will act as senior adviser to Harvard president Drew Faust, in charge of finance, administration and human resources. The school’s gain is Goldman’s loss. The highly regarded Forst, who declined to comment, spent 14 years at the firm and became the sole head of GSAM in March after the departure of two top executives amid high-profile performance problems for some funds. He was replaced by Tim O’Neill, Goldman’s senior strategy officer, and Marc Spilker, chief operating officer of investment management. They inherit an operation on the mend. GSAM’s flagship hedge fund, Global Alpha, has rebounded with a return of 20 percent this year through mid-June.
