Crispin Odey fights to retain top clients after sex scandal

The head of the company founded by Crispin Odey fights to keep clients aside while the hedge fund manager is embroiled in a sexual harassment scandal.

Peter Martin, chief executive of Odey Asset Management, said he was “confident that our service providers will continue to work with us to ensure investors’ interests are protected.”

Some of the world’s largest banks are distancing themselves from the fund following allegations of misconduct against Odey.

French brokerage Exane, part of BNP Paribas, is said to have cut ties with the fund, while Morgan Stanley has also cut ties.

JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs are reviewing their relationship as prime brokers, entities that provide credit to hedge funds. And Schroders has sold its last remaining investments.

The fund is facing an investigation by the Financial Conduct Authority into ‘non-financial misconduct’. The regulator was looking into governance issues after Odey fired his executive committee in 2021 when it tried to punish him following a warning not to behave inappropriately towards female staff.

That investigation can be expanded with new allegations in the Financial Times against the financier by 13 women.

Odey, 64, has “firmly disputed” claims, saying none “have come up in a courtroom or an investigation.” Martin said the allegations were “investigated” by company lawyers and that he took them “extremely seriously.”

Odey made a name for himself during the 2008 crisis by betting against bank stocks. The FT said an internal investigation had concluded he was behaving inappropriately with female staff.