Odey Asset Management has suspended trading in a fourth fund following a “sizeable level” of withdrawal requests in the wake of sexual misconduct allegations in opposition to founder Crispin Odey, which have precipitated the break-up of one in all London’s oldest hedge fund corporations.
The agency mentioned in a letter to buyers on Friday that it was briefly suspending trading in its $80mn Special Situations fund to promote belongings in an “orderly fashion” to satisfy the redemptions.
The suspension is the most recent transfer by the agency to include the fallout as buyers have tried to redeem their cash from its funds over the previous week. Odey Asset Management mentioned on Thursday it was in “advanced discussions” about transferring sure funds and workers to rival corporations.
That determination capped a tumultuous week for the agency for the reason that Financial Times printed final Thursday an investigation into allegations of sexual assault or harassment from 13 girls in opposition to Crispin Odey. He strenuously denies the allegations.
Odey Asset Management earlier this week halted trading in three different funds — Brook Developed Markets, LF Odey Portfolio and Brook Absolute Return — and closed the Odey Swan fund, due to the upper than typical quantity of withdrawal requests.
The Swan fund, which was managed by Crispin Odey and homes €117mn of belongings, is being liquidated so that cash may be returned to shareholders. The measure to halt withdrawals from the opposite funds is likely one of the emergency actions taken by the agency to mitigate the consequences of buyers and establishments slicing ties with Odey Asset Management.
This week, the FT reported that JPMorgan was terminating its relationship with the asset supervisor, serving discover on its prime broking and custody relations. Prime brokers present hedge funds with inventory lending, lending and different providers, whereas custodians safeguard clients’ cash. It is a regulatory requirement for hedge funds to have a custodian in place.
UBS additionally moved to chop ties with Odey Asset Management as a first-rate dealer, following JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs.
Odey Asset Management, which oversees about $4.4bn, is now in talks with rivals about offloading funds and managers in a transfer that would spell the top of the agency that Crispin Odey based in 1991.
The agency mentioned on Thursday that “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”. However, it didn’t title the businesses engaged in the discussions.
The agency’s greatest funds embrace Brook European Focus Fund, run by Oliver Kelton, and LF Brook Absolute Return Fund, run by James Hanbury. Odey Asset Management created the Brook model in 2020 and rebadged a number of funds with the moniker.