Another two Odey funds frozen as a beleaguered asset manager is forced to prevent investors from fleeing
Crispin Odey’s beleaguered wealth management firm has suspended two more funds to prevent investors from fleeing.
Odey Asset Management has blocked withdrawals from its leading Odey European Inc fund after receiving requests to redeem 19 percent of its value.
It also suspended its OEI Mac Inc fund after investors attempted to withdraw 35 percent of its value.
Together, the two funds managed assets worth approximately £1.2 billion.
Odey, who was ousted from his own company this month after a series of sexual harassment allegations he denies, managed both funds before leaving the company.
Accused: Crispin Odey was kicked out of his own company this month amid a string of sexual harassment allegations that he denies
In a letter to clients about the European Inc fund, the company said allowing withdrawals “would not be in the best interest of the fund and its shareholders as a whole,” Bloomberg reported.
The asset manager is considering restructuring some operations so that clients can transfer their money to a new fund.
The group has been in crisis since the Financial Times published allegations of sexual misconduct against Odey by 13 women, sparking a wave of customer withdrawal requests as several city institutions began to cut ties.
The company has said it was “considering several options” for its future as the allegations took a “serious” toll.
The group has also said it was in “advanced talks” to split itself up and transfer funds and staff to rivals, which could spell the end of the company.
The debacle is a catastrophe for Odey, one of the UK’s most prominent financiers who founded the company in 1991 and gained a reputation for profiting from risky bets, including against the pound during the Brexit vote.
The 64-year-old has lost his status as a ‘fit and proper’ individual in the City of London days after being kicked out of the hedge fund with a symbolic blow.