Morgan Stanley will become an equity investor in hedge fund firm Traxis Partners, which was founded by a team of its own bankers.

Morgan Stanley will have a less than 20% stake in the $1.5 billion global macro fund firm, according to people familiar with the situation.

Barton Biggs, the bank’s ex-chief global strategist, left in 2003 after 30 years with Morgan Stanley to set up the new firm. Morgan Stanley bankers Cyril Moulle-Berteaux and Madhav Dhar joined him as co-founders.

In a statement about the transaction, the bank said, “Morgan Stanley has been a partner to Traxis since the firm was founded in 2003 and we look forward to continuing a close relationship with the firm and its partners.”

Traxis also recently added a fourth portfolio manager, Amer Bisat, who was most recently at hedge fund firm Rubicon Partners, but was previously a Morgan Stanley alumnus. Bisat’s specialties include emerging markets, fixed income and currencies.

Under the tutelage of its Chief Executive Officer John Mack, Morgan Stanley has stretched its capacity for risk. During the last year, Morgan Stanley has bought all or part of a number of hedge funds including, Avenue Capital, FrontPoint and Lansdowne in one week last October. The bank also has stakes in Abax, Brookville and Oxhead.

But risk can also have its problems. Last week, Morgan Stanley said it was writing down $3.7 billion mostly for collateralized debt obligations backed by mortgage instruments.