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Crispin Odey Removed as Partner From His Hedge Fund Firm

Nishant Kumar
·2 min read

(Bloomberg) -- Odey Asset Management has removed its founder Crispin Odey from the firm’s partnership in a stunning turn of events for the famed hedge fund manager who is facing fresh sexual assault allegations.

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“As from today, he will no longer have any economic or personal involvement in the partnership,” the London-based firm said Saturday in a statement.

Crispin Odey, who denies the allegations, declined to comment.

The partnership will now be owned and controlled by the remaining partners and managed as an independent legal entity, the firm said.

The fallout for Odey, 64, has been swift following a Financial Times investigation published Thursday into his treatment of women over a 25-year period.

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 surfaced soon after, with two women coming forward to Bloomberg News and another to the Times of London newspaper. Later, more appeared in a Tortoise Media podcast.

“Wealth and fame can distort a person’s perception of right and wrong,” said Don Steinbrugge, head of Agecroft Partners that helps hedge funds raise money. “I hope the allegations are wrong, but the evidence is looking very bad for Crispin.”

Born into a well-known family — Odey’s grandfather was a Tory MP and his mother came from an old-line mercantile family — the University of Oxford alumnus started his firm in 1991. In the recent years, he has been tabloid fodder for everything from his support of Brexit to his conspicuous lifestyle. He’s sparked outrage shorting the pound. He’s been mocked for his predictions of doom in the midst of the longest bull market in history.

Most of his investors have deserted him following his hedge fund’s wild swings between outsized gains and stark losses. Last year marked his best on record, a stunning turnaround from years of losses.

Soon after the FT article was published, Morgan Stanley began the process of terminating its prime-brokerage relationship with the firm. JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. initiated reviews of their relationships. Some investors have also pulled their money out.

The UK’s financial watchdog — the Financial Conduct Authority — is in the midst of a two-year investigation into the asset manager, a person familiar with the matter said on Thursday. That may be widened to encompass the latest allegations.

(Updates with comment and background from seventh paragraph)

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