NEW YORK, Aug 13 (Reuters) Former American International Group Chairman Maurice ''Hank'' Greenberg

NEW YORK, Aug 13 (Reuters) Former American International Group Chairman Maurice ''Hank'' Greenberg and other investors have agreed to pump $3 billion into a Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

hedge fund that has been hit by heavy losses, Wall Street's top investment bank said on Monday.

Goldman's Global Equity Opportunities fund, which had a net asset value of $3.6 billion before the infusion, is the third Goldman-managed hedge fund that has been hammered by recent market turmoil.

Goldman, along with Greenberg's C.V. Starr&Co. Inc., Perry Capital LLC and Eli Broad, will invest the $3 billion.

Existing fund investors also can add new money, Goldman said.

''Given the market dislocation, the performance of (Global Equity Opportunities) has suffered significantly. Our response has been to reduce risk and leverage,'' Goldman said in a rare statement about its operations.

The Global Equity Opportunities fund fell ''in the low 30s'' in percentage terms this year, Goldman Chief Financial Officer David Viniar said in a conference call.

Last week Goldman shares were pounded as investors worried that market turmoil had generated significant losses at two other Goldman-managed hedge funds: the flagship $8 billion Global Alpha and North American Equity Opportunities.

Goldman Sachs executives, in a conference call on Monday, said risk and leverage in those funds had also been reduced.

Global Alpha has dropped 27 percent this year, with half of that decline coming last week, Viniar said.

In its statement, Goldman acknowledged for the first time that disruptions in credit and stock markets had led to heavy fund losses.

''Many funds employing quantitative strategies are currently under pressure as recent conditions have resulted in significant market dislocation,'' Goldman said. ''Across most sectors, there has been an increase in overlapping trades, a surge in volatility, and an increase in correlations. These factors have combined to challenge many of the trading algorithms used in quantitative strategies,'' The struggles represent a setback for Goldman Sachs Asset Management, which has amassed more than $30 billion in hedge funds over the years and generated more than $1 billion of fees in the second quarter.

Goldman shares tumbled last week amid a drumbeat of speculation that its hedge funds were selling off positions amid significant losses. North American Equity Opportunities, which started the year with about $767 million in assets, was down more than 15 percent through July 27.

Goldman portrayed the capital infusion as a bullish play on markets that have been beaten down.

''We believe the current values that the market is assigning to the assets underlying various funds represent a discount that is not supported by the fundamentals,'' it said. ''The investment will also provide the fund with more flexibility to take advantage of the opportunities we believe exist in current market conditions.'' It added, ''At their current levels of equity capital, we believe the funds are positioned to actively pursue market opportunities.'' REUTERS PBB DB2049