Is it a bird, is it a plane, no it's Goldman's star equities trader

In one of the most meteoric rises ever witnessed in Asian investment banking, Goldman Sachs will announce that star trader, Hyder Ahmed is to become its new head of Asian equities.

Ahmed will replace Jim Sheridan, who has held the position for six years. Sheridan is credited with having hired or groomed all the senior figures in Goldman's equities team, which he basically built from scratch. Many regard him as the supremo of Asian equities.

Ahmed, on the other hand, was just an associate five years ago in equity capital markets, and was only made a managing director last year. He currently runs one of Goldmans trading divisions, and given his elevation to the top job one can only assume he has done that pretty well. He is a graduate of Wharton and Harvard and is in his early 30s.

In Goldmanesque terms the move is particularly interesting because Ahmed now has at least one 'partner' (as they used to be called before the IPO) reporting directly to him, and another who has a 'dotted divisional line' to him.

Former boss, Sheridan will return to London and take up a position in the European equities division.