[Quantitative fund giant Two Sigma stops raising funds for the real estate department and lays off senior executives] On October 17th, Two Sigma Investments reduced senior staff in the real estate department and stopped raising funds for it, and will no longer make new investments from the business. This move comes only two years after it opened to external funds. Rich Gomel, a partner and chief investment officer in the unit, will step down, according to people familiar with the matter. Other members of the real estate leadership team will also be leaving, including two of the three remaining partners, as well as one of the two data science leads. The company sought to raise about $2 billion for the unit but ended up with less than half that goal amid a challenging financing environment, said some of the people, who asked not to be identified.