The hedge fund founder is said to have sexually molested a total of 13 women over the past few decades.
(Photo: Odey Asset Management)
Frankfurt The crisis surrounding the British hedge fund Odey Asset Management (OAM) continues to escalate. According to consistent media reports, citing a letter from OAM to its investors, the company is in advanced talks to transfer some of the assets it manages and some of its staff to other funds.
“We have been and are in constructive dialogue with our service providers and key partners, however it has become clear that some investment management activities are being impacted by recent events,” Bloomberg news agency quoted the letter as saying.
The hedge fund got into trouble after the Financial Times reported that founder Crispin Odey had sexually molested 13 women over the past few decades. Odey denies the allegations and speaks of “consensual” relationships.
Before the allegations were made public, OAM managed around $4.3 billion. Since then, however, customers have withdrawn funds on a significant scale. Over the weekend, OAM parted ways with its controversial founder in a bid to stem further outflows.
“As of today, he (Crispin Odey) will have no economic or personal interest in the partnership,” OAM executives Michael Ede and Peter Martin wrote in a statement. Previously, large US banks such as Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs, which handle the financial transactions for OAM as so-called prime brokers, had distanced themselves from the hedge fund. The wealth manager Schroders withdrew its investments and the Canadian insurance group Canada Life ended its business relations with the British.
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On Tuesday, the company had to close one of its funds and limit withdrawals from another fund.
The wealth manager is in trouble after the allegations against Crispin Odey.
(Photo: Bloomberg)
Crispin Odey, who founded the hedge fund in 1991, is considered a colorful personality in the British financial scene and is one of the largest campaign donors for the ruling Conservatives and a vehement supporter of Brexit. The 64-year-old financial executive was widely featured in the British tabloids for his flamboyant lifestyle and often eccentric demeanor.
Allegations of sexual misconduct have been circulating in the City of London for years. Two years ago, Odey was acquitted in one case by a court.
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