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☆ Odey Asset Management to close, website statement reads
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-31 | by ( Nell Mackenzie | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Hedge fund manager Crispin Odey uses his phone outside of Hendon Magistrates' Court whilst facing one charge of indecent assault, in Hendon, London, Britain February 17, 2021. REUTERS/Toby Melville/ File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsLONDON, Oct 31 (Reuters) - Odey Asset Management, one of Britain's best known hedge funds, will shut, it said on Tuesday in a statement on its website, less than six months after its founder faced fresh allegations of misconduct. Crispin Odey, 64, was ousted in June from Odey Asset Management (OAM), which he founded in 1991, after the Financial Times and Tortoise Media reported that 13 women had alleged that he had sexually assaulted or harassed them. Where each fund manager would move, or if their fund was closed without finding an alternative home, was detailed on the hedge fund's website. No new fund manager for Sophia Whitbread, the only female portfolio manager listed, was named.

Persons: Crispin Odey, Toby Melville, Odey, James Hanbury, Jamie Grimston, Oliver Kelton, Freddie Neave, Geoffrey Marson, Canaccord Genuity, Adrian Courtenay, Green, Sophia Whitbread, Peter Martin, Nell Mackenzie, Alun John, Mark Potter Organizations: Hendon Magistrates, REUTERS, Odey, Management, Odey Asset Management, Financial Times, Tortoise Media, Asset Management, Lancaster Investment Management, Reuters, Inc, Bainbridge Partners, Thomson Locations: Hendon, Hendon , London, Britain, S.W, Mitchell

☆ Flagship Odey fund slimmed down by manager Neave, exits commodity futures
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-02 | by ( Nell Mackenzie | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

OAM, which declined to comment, will send out further correspondence about how the Odey European Inc fund will be restructured, the letter said. OAM reorganised many of its funds in June and Neave took over the flagship Odey European Inc fund, amid fears of an investor exodus following the allegations. Since then, Neave has reduced the size of the hedge fund's investments in stocks, bonds and, in June, sold out of its gold futures. The fund closed out its direct exposure to gold futures, the letter said. Odey European Inc has kept some exposure to commodities through long positions related to the crude and palm oil company stocks, the letter said.

Persons: Freddie Neave, Crispin Odey's, Crispin Odey, Odey, Neave, Leopalace, Nell Mackenzie, Amanda Cooper, Alexander Smith Organizations: Reuters, Odey Asset Management, Financial Times, Tortoise Media, Inc, United Rentals, Learning Technologies, Jadestone Energy, Thomson

☆ UK lawmakers launch inquiry into sexism in finance
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, July 14 (Reuters) - British lawmakers have launched a fresh inquiry into sexism in the country's finance industry, parliament's influential Treasury committee said in a statement on Friday. The inquiry will assess issues including progress made in removing gender pay gaps, how best to support diversity and combating sexual harassment and misogyny, the committee said. The move comes amid renewed scrutiny of sexual misconduct in finance, after hedge fund founder Crispin Odey was ousted from his firm in June after allegations of sexual misconduct jointly reported by the Financial Times and Tortoise Media. The average gender pay gap across 20 of the biggest finance employers was 30.1% in favour of men in 2022, a Reuters analysis in April showed, compared to the UK average of 8.3%. This is a subject of marked importance to our Committee and we look forward to beginning work on this important topic," said Harriett Baldwin, chair of the Treasury committee.

Persons: Crispin Odey, Odey, Harriett Baldwin, Iain Withers, Josie Kao Organizations: Financial Times, Tortoise Media, Treasury, Thomson

☆ Odey Asset Management to move Adrian Courtenay's fund to Green Ash Partners -letter to investors
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-03 | by ( Nell Mackenzie | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, July 3 (Reuters) - Odey Asset Management is in advanced talks to move its special situations fund managed by Adrian Courtenay to Green Ash Partners, said a letter to investors dated July 3. Green Ash Partners is a boutique investment manager based in Switzerland and the UK with over $1 billion in assets under management, according to its website. The discussions are subject to due diligence as well as board and regulatory approvals, the letter said. "Similar discussions are ongoing in relation to other funds managed by OAM LLP and we will provide further updates about all funds in due course," the letter said. Reporting by Nell Mackenzie; Editing by Chris Reese and Leslie AdlerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Adrian Courtenay, Green, Crispin Odey, Odey, Nell Mackenzie, Chris Reese, Leslie Adler Organizations: Odey, Management, Green Ash Partners, redemptions, Financial Times, Tortoise Media, Thomson Locations: Switzerland

☆ Barclays seeks to stop being corporate banker to Odey Asset Management, Financial Times reports
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

July 2 (Reuters) - Barclays (BARC.L) is looking to terminate its corporate banking relationship with Odey Asset Management (OAM), the Financial Times reported on Sunday, predominantly due to sexual assault allegations against founder Crispin Odey. The British hedge fund has grappled with redemptions since the FT and Tortoise Media on June 8 jointly reported allegations by 13 women that Crispin Odey had sexually assaulted or harassed them over a 25-year period. OAM and Barclays did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment outside usual office hours. FT also reported earlier that the FCA had restricted the movement of cash and assets from OAM to restore order at the firm. Letters to OAM investors last week showed the manager has proposed to restructure two of its key funds as part of efforts to extract Crispin Odey from the business after the assault allegations.

Persons: Crispin Odey, Odey, AJ Bell, Hargreaves Lansdown, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Rishabh, Kevin Liffey, David Holmes Organizations: Barclays, Odey Asset Management, Financial Times, redemptions, Tortoise Media, Sunday Barclays, Financial, Authority, FT, JPMorgan, Thomson Locations: British, Canada, Halifax, Bengaluru

☆ Odey Asset Management pushes to restructure funds -letters
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-30 | by ( Carolina Mandl | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

June 30 (Reuters) - Odey Asset Management (OAM) has proposed to restructure two of its key funds, according to letters to investors reviewed by Reuters, as part of efforts to extract founder Crispin Odey from the business after several assault and harassment allegations surfaced against him. The London-based investment firm is planning to switch shareholders' investments in the OEI Mac and Odey European funds to two new funds, which would then be rehoused under a new firm, the letter added. Freddie Neave, who took over managing OEI Mac and Odey European from Crispin Odey three weeks ago, would run the new funds and leave to work at the new firm. "It is expected that Crispin Odey would not switch to the new fund and would remain in the existing fund," OAM said in both letters. The firm the alternative to this proposal would be to compulsorily redeem investors in the funds.

Persons: Crispin Odey, Freddie Neave, OEI, James Hanbury, Odey, Carolina Mandl, Juby Babu, Shweta Agarwal, Nick Zieminski Organizations: Odey, Management, Reuters, OEI Mac, Lancaster Investment Management, Financial Times, Tortoise Media, Thomson Locations: London, New York, Bengaluru

FALLING STARWhen Odey set up Odey Asset Management, it was in the afterglow of then British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's deregulation of the stock market in London's 1986 "Big Bang". Privately educated at the elite Harrow school, Odey left Oxford University and began his career in traditional asset management before launching Odey Asset Management. But fund performance at Odey Asset Management has been a rollercoaster, with Odey renowned for taking risks. He liked to say leverage was like a drug - once you experienced it, you could never live without it, one hedge fund manager said. Lawmakers on Britain's Treasury Select Committee have written to the FCA to question the regulator's supervision of Odey Asset Management and Odey.

Persons: Crispin Odey, Odey, Banks, Robert Sears, CIOs, Don Steinbrugge, Margaret Thatcher's, Egerton Capital, Marshall Wace, Winton, Kwasi Kwarteng, Maiya Keidan, Nell Mackenzie, Iain Withers, Lawrence White, Dhara Ranasinghe, Elisa Martinuzzi, Alex Richardson Organizations: TORONTO, Reuters, Odey Asset Management, FT, Tortoise Media, Odey, Management, Britain's Financial, Authority, Generation Partners, Odey's, HSBC, Inc, Wall Street, Agecroft Partners, British, Harrow, Oxford University, Conservative Party, Barclays, Peugeot, Hong Kong, Lawmakers, FCA, Thomson Locations: LONDON, City, London, Toronto

☆ Odey Asset Management in advanced talks to transfer funds and staff to rivals - letter
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-15 | by ( Reuters Staff | ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Slideshow ( 3 images )LONDON (Reuters) - Odey Asset Management is “in advanced discussions” to rehouse funds and transfer staff to other asset managers, it told investors in a letter on Thursday, after imposing exit curbs on key funds in the wake of fresh misconduct allegations against its founder. News of the talks comes in a week of upheaval for the firm after the Financial Times and Tortoise Media reported a raft of fresh allegations aganst Cripsin Odey, which triggered several major global banks who provided prime brokerage services to review their relationships with the firm. Odey has denied the allegations. A spokesperson for the firm declined further comment.

Persons: Cripsin, Odey Organizations: Odey, Financial Times, Tortoise Media

REUTERS/John Sibley/File PhotoLONDON, June 15 (Reuters) - Odey Asset Management is in advanced talks to move funds and staff to other asset managers as it grapples with the fallout of sexual misconduct allegations against its founder Crispin Odey. A spokesperson for the hedge fund declined further comment on Thursday. Hedge funds such as OAM rely on leverage from prime brokerage service providers to make their market bets. Without a prime broker, a hedge fund which needs to borrow stocks cannot function. A spokesperson for OAM also declined to comment on whether the moves signalled that the hedge fund would close.

Persons: Crispin Odey, John Sibley, Odey, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan, James Hanbury, Harriett Baldwin, Nell Mackenzie, Sinead Cruise, Dhara Ranasignhe, Alexander Smith Organizations: REUTERS, Odey, Management, Financial Times, Tortoise Media, Reuters, UBS, Authority, Asset Management, FCA, Treasury, Thomson Locations: Westminster, London, Britain

A spokesperson for the hedge fund declined further comment on Thursday. Big banks typically agree terms with hedge funds that allow them to cut ties at short notice, five sources from prime brokerages and hedge funds told Reuters. Prime brokerages may now refine due diligence processes and perform more thorough background checks on hedge funds, said Jim Neumann, chief investment officer of Sussex Partners, which advises investors on how they give their money to hedge funds. But many of these agreements mainly focus on the financial viability of the hedge fund, two of the sources said. One hedge fund manager said he was asked in his due diligence with the bank if he was approved by the UK regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority.

Persons: Banks, Crispin Odey, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, MS.N, Odey, Epstein, Michael Oliver Weinberg, JPMorgan Chase, JPM.N, Jeffrey Epstein, Bill Hwang, brokerages, Jim Neumann, Neumann, Archegos, Erika Kelton, Phillips, Cohen, Nell Mackenzie, Kirstin Ridley, Carolina Mandl, Dhara Ranasinghe, Elisa Martinuzzi, Matthew Lewis Organizations: Wall, Odey, Management, Financial Times, Tortoise Media, JPMorgan, Odey Asset Management, Reuters, CMT, Archegos Capital Management, Sussex Partners, UBS, Financial, Authority, Thomson Locations: London, New York

☆ Odey Asset Management freezes funds as clients pull money, prime brokers flee
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-13 | by ( Nell Mackenzie | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

LONDON, June 13 (Reuters) - Odey Asset Management (OAM) is closing one fund and restricting money clients can pull from another, two investor letters showed, just as the hedge fund was scrambling on Tuesday to keep its prime brokers from ending vital relationships with the firm. Odey Asset Management has closed its Odey Swan Fund and is restricting the money clients can pull from its Brook Developed Markets Fund, according to investor letters seen by Reuters. An OAM spokesperson declined to comment but confirmed the letter about the Brook Developed Markets Fund and was not immediately available to respond to a request about the closure of the Swan Fund. He did not respond when contacted by Reuters on Tuesday about either the Brook or Swan fund. Brook Developed Markets Fund is open to retail investors and had about $216 million, as of the end of February, the latest data from Morningstar showed.

Persons: Crispin Odey, Odey, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Swan, Nell Mackenzie, Dhara Ranasinghe, Elisa Martinuzzi, Susan Fenton Organizations: Odey, Management, Financial Times, Tortoise Media, Reuters, JPMorgan, Swan, Swan Fund, Morningstar, Thomson

Odey Asset Management "does not recognise the picture of the firm that has been painted" by the allegations, it told investors in a letter seen by Reuters. Within hours of the report being published, Wall Street firms including Goldman Sachs (GS.N), JPMorgan (JPM.N) and Morgan Stanley (MS.N) began reviewing their prime broking ties with Odey Asset Management, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. "We are confident our service providers will continue to work with us," an Odey Asset Management letter said later. Industry experts consulted by Reuters said that did not necessarily indicate a major change in culture in the City, however. A London employment tribunal last month awarded a former Algebris employee over 32,000 pounds in a sex harassment claim against the asset management company.

Persons: Crispin Odey, Odey, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, MS.N, Schroders, Evan Nierman, Megan Tobias Neely, Neely, retrained, Daniel Beunza, Davide Serra, Serra, Algebris, Yasmine Chinwala, Nell Mackenzie, Sinead Cruise, Naomi Rovnick, Dhara Ranasinghe, Rosalba O'Brien Organizations: Odey Asset Management, Financial Times, Tortoise Media, Reuters, Odey, Wall, JPMorgan, FT, Financial, Bayes Business, Labour Party, New, Thomson Locations: City, London, Britain, New York

☆ Odey offloads stake in UK Retailer AO, Sky News reports
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

June 10 (Reuters) - Odey Asset Management has sold its 19% stake in UK-based retailer AO World Plc (AO.L) to Frasers Group (FRAS.L), Sky News reported on Saturday. Frasers Group bought the stake for 75 million pounds ($94.27 million), the report said. Odey Asset Management, AO and Frasers Group did not immediately respond to a request for comment by Reuters. On Friday, asset managers Schroders Plc (SDR.L) and Canada Life moved to cut back their dealings with Odey Asset Management, citing allegations of sexual misconduct by its founder, Crispin Odey, that were published by the Financial Times and Tortoise Media a day earlier. Odey Asset Management told investors in a letter dated June 8, which was seen by Reuters, that it "does not recognise the picture of the firm that has been painted" by the allegations.

Persons: Crispin Odey, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Jose Joseph, Urvi, Alex Richardson, Helen Popper Our Organizations: Odey, Management, Frasers, Sky News, Frasers Group, Reuters, Schroders, Odey Asset Management, Financial Times, Tortoise Media, JPMorgan, Thomson Locations: Canada, Bengaluru

☆ JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley review prime broking ties with Odey Asset Management -sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( Nell Mackenzie | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, June 8 (Reuters) - JPMorgan (JPM.N) and Morgan Stanley (MS.N) are reviewing their prime broking relationships with Odey Asset Management after allegations of sexual misconduct and bullying by Crispin Odey reported by the Financial Times and Tortoise Media on Thursday, sources familiar with the matter said. A source familiar with the matter told Reuters JPMorgan was also reviewing its relationship with Odey Asset Management. A source at one of the banks said the allegations of misconduct at Odey Asset Management conflicted with their standards. Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan declined to comment. Odey Asset Management did not respond immediately to a phone call and email requesting comment.

Persons: Morgan Stanley, Crispin Odey, Odey, Morgan Stanley's, Nell Mackenzie, Elisa Martinuzzi, Dhara Ranasinghe, Catherine Evans Organizations: JPMorgan, Odey, Management, Financial Times, Tortoise Media, FT, Reuters, Odey Asset Management, Thomson Locations: Brexit

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