The wealth management arm of Crispin Odey’s investment group will be wound down months after the hedge fund tycoon was accused of sexual misconduct by junior female members of staff.
The City regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), said it was working closely with the firm, as it prepares to shut its operations in the UK and Guernsey. It is expected to return any remaining money to investors.
The wider Odey Asset Management (OAM) firm, founded by the hedge fund boss 32 years ago, was thrown into turmoil in June after the Financial Times revealed that 13 women had accused Odey of abuse or harassment over decades. 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, but later announced it would be broken up as investors started to withdraw their funds.
Senior executives at OAM were accused of knowing about some of the sexual misconduct allegations for up to 16 years before the firm launched a formal investigation into Odey’s conduct.
OAM’s chief executive, Peter Martin, said in June that “OAM treats, now and in the past, all such allegations extremely seriously” and that it did “not recognise the picture of the firm that has been painted by the Financial Times”.
Other parts of the OAM business are expected to fold or move to rivals in the coming months. The closure of the wealth management arm was first reported by the Financial Times.
An FCA spokesperson said on Monday: “We are aware of Odey Wealth Management’s intention to wind down the business. We will work closely with the firm as it winds down, to ensure clients are treated fairly.”
Odey is under investigation by the FCA, which revealed in June that it was assessing whether he should be allowed to continue working in the UK’s financial services industry. It is also determining whether he failed to comply with the conduct rules “relating to integrity and acting with due skill, care and diligence”.
The multimillionaire has supported the Conservative party, and made political donations of more than £1.7m between 2007 and 2019. The Brexiter made hundreds of millions of pounds betting against sterling after the vote to the leave the EU in 2016.
Electoral Commission filings show he and his hedge fund donated £1.3m to groups campaigning for Brexit around the time of the EU referendum, and later gave £350,000 to the Conservatives and £10,000 directly to the former prime minister Boris Johnson. He later said of Johnson: “He was my friend until Brexit was done and then he just cut me dead.”
OAM declined to comment regarding the closure of the wealth management division.
