Goldman (GS) cuts expenses on poorly performing funds; Time to buy?

According to a source of Bloomberg, Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) is going to cut the expenses and performance fees on its poorly performing hedge funds. The source reported that "new participants won't pay the 2 percent management charge and Goldman will cut its performance fee in half."

This is a very interesting move for a company that claimed the recent $3 billion infusion was capitalizing on an investment opportunity, not a rescue. It would seem like the company is cutting management fees to prevent being forced into further "capitalizing" on this investment opportunity.

In my opinion, this whole debacle is just a bump along the way for Goldman's funds. Goldman Sachs is an incredible fund manager and business (as displayed by the stock's performance since coming public) and I think that, over the long term, funds such as Global Alpha will recover and flourish.

I think the sell-off in Goldman's shares has created a buying opportunity and I reiterate what I said about a month ago here. The fact that this stock has sold off nearly as much as problem-ridden Bear Stearns (NYSE: BSC) simply due to poor hedge fund performance (Bear had two blow-ups) is simply ridiculous.

As you can see from the chart to the right, I've been wrong on this call so far, but hedging with the Vanguard Financials ETF (NYSE: VFH), as I suggested would have reduced your losses.

• Read about the exit of Goldman Sachs' star Mark McGoldrick