Golvis Investment, founded by three former Goldman Sachs Group managing directors, plans to open its Japan-focused multistrategy hedge fund to investors this quarter, two sources said.

Golvis Asia Opportunities Fund returned almost 2 percent in the first two weeks of January, said the sources, who asked not to be identified. It started trading early this month with money from the Singapore-based company's founding partners and employees. Ryan Collins, Golvis' head of business development, declined comment.

Japanese hedge funds returned 28 percent last year, outperforming peers focused on other regions, according to Singapore-based data provider Eurekahedge.

"The easy yen trade is over," said Matt Pecot, Hong Kong-based Asia-Pacific head of prime services at Credit Suisse Group. "Investors may shift allocations to managers with deeper history of long, short fundamental stock-picking in the Japan market."

Golvis, led by Chief Investment Officer Koji Gotoda, senior fund manager Takayuki Kasama and Chief Operating Officer Taiichi Hoshino, employs 12 people, the sources said. They include a five-member team in Tokyo who report to Gotoda and Kasama and help with company fundamental research, they said.

Gotoda most recently led Asia convertible bond trading at Goldman Sachs before leaving in July. Kasama, a former co-head of Japan credit trading, left the New York-based bank in June, other sources said in August. Hoshino, the third founding partner, was a Tokyo-based Goldman Sachs managing director focused on fund structuring and marketing, said the initial sources.