KKR & Co. plans to start a unit to invest in stocks with a team of proprietary traders from Goldman Sachs Group Inc., after new financial regulations spurred the investment bank to close their proprietary trading desk.

The hirings mark KKRâ??s first venture into overseeing liquid equities, an area that may include hedge funds. The firm, along with larger competitor Blackstone Group LP, is pushing into businesses outside traditional private equity to boost fees and appease public shareholders eager for stable profit growth. KKR competed with investment bank Perella Weinberg Partner LP and hedge fund Avenue Capital Group, run by Marc Lasry, to hire the Goldman Sachs traders.

Goldman Sachs is disbanding the team to comply with new U.S. rules aimed at curbing risk. A provision of the Dodd-Frank financial-overhaul act prohibits banks from risking capital by betting for their own accounts.