Odey latest: Firms gates funds as it looks to restore reputation
ODEY Asset Management is shuttering one of its funds and restricting withdrawals from another as it scrambles to contain the fallout of a slew of sexual assault allegation against its founder.
The firm has been rocked by allegations from 13 women against Crispin Odey published in an investigation by the Financial Times last week. Odey denies the allegations.
OAM has now moved to wind down its Odey Swan Fund and is restricting the amount of cash clients can pull from its Brook Developed Markets Fund, according to letters to shareholders seen by Reuters.
In the letters yesterday, the OAM board said it took the decision after it faced “redemption requests in excess of ten per cent of the net asset value”.
Shares in the Swan Fund have also been suspended in order to “efficiently manage the redemptions and in the best interests of Shareholders,” the investor letter showed.
An OAM spokesperson did not respond to City A.M. request for comment. The firm has scrambled to distance itself from its founder and said over the weekend he would be leaving the firm, as well as setting out a succession plan that included naming new managers for its top funds.
The news came as the Financial Times reported that JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs had also moved to sever their ties with OAM as prime brokers for the firm.