Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley were quick to move large blocks of assets before other large banks that traded with Archegos Capital Management, as the scale of the hedge fund’s losses became apparent, according to people with knowledge of the transactions. The strategy helped limit the US firms’ losses in last week’s epic stock liquidation, they said.

Losses at Archegos, run by former Tiger Asia manager Bill Hwang, have triggered the liquidation in excess of $30bn in value. Banks were continuing to sell blocks of stocks linked to Archegos on 29 March, traders said.