Crispin Odey ousted from U.K. hedge fund in wake of sexual misconduct allegations

By MarketWatch

Financier says he will contest decision by partners

Crispin Odey will leave Odey Asset Management, the London based firm he founded, after women accused him of sexual misconduct, his partners said, accordingto the Financial Times on Saturday.

The allegations are the latest in a series the asset manager has faced in recent years. In 2021, he was acquitted of assault charges in British courts, but new accusations against him were soon reported.

The financier and his firm have been at the center of a crisis after the Financial Times reported on Thursday that 13 women alleged Odey had sexually assaulted or harassed them in incidents over a 25-year period.

The partners said Odey Asset Management Group Limited, a holding company that is part of the group and majority owned by Odey, would also be removed as a member and that the partnership would now be owned and controlled by remaining partners.

Odey confirmed he had been notified of the firm's decision but suggested he would fight it.

Morgan Stanley (MS) began the process of terminating its prime-brokerage relationship with the firm. JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) initiated reviews of their relationships, Bloomberg reported

On Friday, Canada Life , an asset manager overseeing around 40 billion pounds ($50 billion) of client funds in Britain, said it had suspended its relationship with Odey Wealth, a private client-focused part of Odey Group, with immediate effect, Reuters reported.

British asset manager Schroders , which oversees more than 700 billion pounds, said it had exited "residual" holdings in Odey funds "following the FT's report of sexual misconduct allegations against Crispin Odey."

The UK's financial regulator -- the Financial Conduct Authority -- is in the midst of a two-year investigation into the asset manager.

Odey has been an important figure in the City of London for more than three decades. Since establishing Odey Asset Management in 1991, he has cultivated a reputation for taking high risk bets, delivering huge returns as well as vast losses. In 2022, Odey benefited from drops in the value of sterling after he bet against the pound. His flagship fund returned up 152 per cent in 2022. He has also donated large sums to the UK's Conservative party and the anti-immigration UKIP party.

The University of Oxford graduate started his firm in 1991 after being born into a well-known family in which his grandfather was a Tory MP and his mother came from an old-line mercantile family.

Odey stepped down as co-chief executive of the firm in November 2020, but remained the majority owner. In the same month, Brook Asset Management was established and almost half of the firm's funds, including those by star partners James Hanbury and Oliver Kelton, were rebranded under the Brook name.

Exane, which is owned by French bank BNP Paribas , told Odey Asset Management on Thursday that it was terminating the relationship. Goldman Sachs began unwinding its relationship, including with Brook Asset Management, on Friday.

-

This content was created by MarketWatch, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. MarketWatch is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

06-10-23 1140ET

Copyright (c) 2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.