The question was not so much if, but rather when his company would collapse. After founder and namesake Crispin Odey was again discredited in June due to sexual misconduct, his famous hedge fund has crumbled little by little in recent months. Now that collapse is complete: this Tuesday, Odey Asset Management announced that the investment firm is being closed down.
Just a day after the British business newspaper Financial Times published this summer Regarding the accusations made by thirteen women against Odey, the first major backers of the leveraged investor announced that they wanted to terminate the collaboration. First the American investment bank Morgan Stanley said goodbye, then the French Exane and that same afternoon also the American Goldman Sachs.
Odey (now 64) is said to have frequently harassed women over a period of more than a quarter of a century. That accusation has been going on for some time: in 2021, Odey already had to appear in court because a young female banker accused him of sexual assault. The well-known British investor denied this accusation and was acquitted at the time.
This summer’s accusations were a lot more extensive. After the Financial Times publication, seven more women approached the newspaper with similar stories. Odey denies all accusations, except one: in September he confirmed that he had once grabbed a woman by her breasts. According to him, this happened under the influence of an anesthetic given by his dentist.
The investor initially saw no reason to break with the company he founded in 1991, and in which, according to British media, he had about 600 million dollars (570 million euros) of his own money in it. After it turned out that colleagues were pushing for this, he responded combative towards FT. In order for a fund to change ownership, “a willing buyer” but especially “a willing seller” is needed. Less than an hour later, Odey Asset Management announced the break.
Koppie
For a moment, the company’s fund managers and partners thought that the problems had gone away, but a few days later the largest lender JPMorgan also announced that it was terminating relations with the investment firm, followed a day later by the Swiss UBS. In the meantime, Odey Asset Management had already closed one of its funds and returned the stake to the lenders.
Since then, the asset manager has been in a kind of vacuum. It decided to freeze some funds, while the managers of other funds scrambled to find another company to house their investment portfolio and clients. Meanwhile, the British financial watchdog FCA started an investigation into Odey Asset Management and its namesake.
Odey now announces on its website that all funds and associated managers have moved to other firms. The remaining staff will remain with the company to manage the liquidation process. Odey did not want to respond to British media about the end of the company he founded.
With the closure of Odey Asset Management, one of the oldest and best-known leveraged investors in the United Kingdom will disappear. Odey started the firm right when hedge funds were becoming popular. The investor is known for his erratic investment performance: he often goes against the market, causing deep losses but also spectacular profits. For example, in 2008, around the time of the financial crisis, he speculated on price falls at the major banks. At its peak, Odey had more than 11 billion euros in managed capital, according to last year The Guardian another 3.5 billion.