It was a chance meeting in a Mayfair car park that was to change Greg Coffey's career.

The star hedge fund trader, who was serving out six months' notice at GLG Partners, bumped into Louis Bacon, his old friend and one of the biggest names in the industry, at One Curzon Street as each prepared to drive off.

GLG's offices are on the second floor of the Mayfair building, while Moore Capital has space on the sixth.

The encounter, understood to have taken place this year, helped to spur Mr Coffey's eventual decision to join Moore Capital, the $20 billion hedge fund that was founded 18 years ago by Mr Bacon.

Mr Coffey's arrival at Moore, along with a team of 12 from his previous employer, was heralded with considerable fanfare yesterday.

Mr Coffey, one of the world's most successful hedge fund players, walked away from a $250 million cash and shares payout at GLG in April. He had been expected to start his own fund, backed by at least $4 billion of assets, this month.

It appears that the meeting with Mr Bacon - alongside the most turbulent market conditions in a generation - prompted a change of heart.

Mr Coffey was introducing himself to his new colleagues yesterday. They will not be used to the publicity surrounding their new co-chief investment officer, who will be responsible for Moore's European funds alongside Mr Bacon.

Mr Coffey, an Australian with a penchant for jeans and leather jackets, had told colleagues of his admiration for Mr Bacon. “He said the prospect of working for Louis was like being asked to go out to bat with Don Bradman - you didn't say ‘no',” one associate revealed yesterday.

Mr Coffey has won a string of awards while at GLG, which at its height managed $24 billion of assets on behalf of wealthy individuals and institutions. It listed in New York last year.

Mr Bacon, 51, who founded Moore Capital in 1990, divides his time between London and New York presiding over 400 employees. Mr Coffey will be based in London, where he lives with his family.

The Australian will initially oversee Moore's European trading operations but it is likely that he will set up his own fund over the coming months.

A specialist in emerging markets, Mr Coffey has built a loyal investor base in his 14-year career.

Many of the investors, who have enjoyed annualised returns of 42.5 per cent over the past five years from Mr Coffey's funds, are eager to take part in his next venture. Mr Coffey will also have to continue rubbing shoulders with his former bosses at GLG, which has been reeling since his surprise decision to quit.

Over the weekend, GLG wrote to investors detailing a plan to hive off some of the least liquid investments in Mr Coffey's former fund. The move was an attempt to prevent the fund being forced to sell out at rock-bottom prices to meet redemption calls.

It is understood that about 10 per cent of Mr Coffey's fund, which has fallen from about $7.5 billion before his resignation to roughly $2.5 billion, is in illiquid investments. Investors will receive their capital once the assets are sold.

Hedge fund sources yesterday played down any suggestion that Mr Coffey's decision not to go it alone was a result of a wider malaise. They said he was attracted by Moore's trading strategy, involving big bets on macroeconomic trends and themes. They also lauded its risk management systems, saying it was well placed to sustain fractured markets.

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