Odey funds, staff hunt for new home as crisis engulfs firm
ODEY Asset Management is in the process of finding a new home for its funds and some of its staff, as it struggles to stay in business after sexual assault allegations against its founder, Crispin Odey.
The investment firm is in advanced discussions to transfer its funds and some staff to other asset managers, Odey Asset Management said in a letter to investors on Thursday (Jun 15) seen by Bloomberg News. The talks come after many of the banks that Odey trades with moved to cut ties and investors pulled money.
A spokesperson for the investment firm declined to comment.
“We have been, and remain in constructive dialogue with our service providers and key counterparties,” Odey Asset Management said in the letter. “It has however become clear that some investment management activities of the partnership are affected by recent events.”
The unravelling was triggered by the publication last Thursday of a Financial Times investigation into Odey’s treatment of women over a 25-year period, that included multiple allegations of sexual harassment and assault. The accusations followed similar reports in the two years since he was acquitted of an assault charge in British courts in 2021. Two women came forward to Bloomberg News and another went to London newspaper The Times. Later, more appeared in a Tortoise Media podcast.
The London-based investment firm, which until recently managed about US$4.3 billion, said on Saturday that it had fully divorced itself from its founder in the wake of the allegations. That was not enough to save its banking relationships, with Morgan Stanley moving to terminate its prime brokerage service and Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase following soon after. A wave of investor redemption requests on Monday forced a fund closure and the gating of at least two others.
On Wednesday, politicians sought answers from UK’s Financial Conduct Authority into its prolonged probe of the firm.
The majority of the firm’s assets are managed by portfolio managers other than Odey. Several funds were renamed to remove Odey’s name and housed under the trading name Brook Asset Management when he was fighting the previous assault charge.
In its letter to investors, the firm said its fund managers supported the moves and that any sale or rehousing would be subject to regulatory approval. BLOOMBERG
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