Crispin Odey’s hedge fund is being broken up one week after the multimillionaire Conservative and Brexit donor was accused of sexual misconduct by junior female members of staff.
Odey Asset Management (OAM), the £3.5bn hedge fund Odey founded 32 years ago, announced on Thursday it was in “advanced discussions for rehousing funds and transferring certain fund management activities and individuals to other asset managers”.
The company has been forced into the disbanding by investors who are rushing to withdraw their funds in response to the sexual misconduct allegations, which were detailed in an investigation by the Financial Times and Tortoise last week. Odey denies the allegations.
OAM had hoped that ousting Odey and removing his name from the business would quell unrest among investors and financial partners. However, they continued to pull their money out, forcing the company to this week block withdrawals from some funds as investors tried to take out more than 10% of the total value.
The company said: “Any sale or rehousing is considered subject of course to any relevant regulatory approvals and due diligence, with a view to an orderly transition of any assets and investors. The fund boards and managers are also appraised and supportive of this approach.”
MPs on the powerful Treasury select committee have written to the Financial Conduct Authority to question the City watchdog’s supervision of OAM and Odey himself.
Harriett Baldwin, the committee’s chair, has given the FCA a deadline of 5 July to respond to a series of questions on the “nature and intensity” of its supervision and engagement with OAM over the last five years.
The letter is likely to spark increased scrutiny of the watchdog’s handling of the alleged misconduct by Odey, after the FCA began an investigation into the high-profile financier in 2021.
Odey told the Guardian he had been previously “cross-examined” by the regulator over allegations in an investigation, and he claimed its investigation had been closed. “The one thing I have not been is hiding anything. I have kept everybody apprised of any accusations,” he said.
He added that the allegations were either untrue, or that his relations with women had at the time been “consensual”.
Odey, 64, made political donations of more than £1.7m between 2007 and 2019, according to Electoral Commission filings. He and his hedge fund donated £1.3m to groups campaigning for Brexit around the time of the EU referendum.
He has given about £350,000 to the Conservatives, and £10,000 directly to the former prime minister Boris Johnson.
