Barclays is latest bank seeking to sever ties with Odey hedge fund, says FT

Barclays is reportedly the latest banking giant to look at cutting ties with Odey Asset Management following sexual misconduct allegations against the hedge fund’s founder.
By Holly Williams
Published 3rd Jul 2023, 12:14 BST

The lender – Odey Asset Management’s corporate bank – is following the lead of JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley in moving to end its relationship with the investment firm, according to the Financial Times.

It comes as Odey Asset Management (OAM) is battling to contain the fallout after the FT published a series of allegations of sexual harassment or misconduct against Crispin Odey, which he denies.

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OAM has since parted ways with Mr Odey and announced plans to rebrand the partnership, which will see his name removed from the hedge fund.

OAM – which had around 4.4 billion US dollars (£5.3bn) in assets under management before the crisis erupted – has already seen customers rushing to remove their money from the funds it manages.OAM – which had around 4.4 billion US dollars (£5.3bn) in assets under management before the crisis erupted – has already seen customers rushing to remove their money from the funds it manages.
OAM – which had around 4.4 billion US dollars (£5.3bn) in assets under management before the crisis erupted – has already seen customers rushing to remove their money from the funds it manages.

But the crisis engulfing the business has intensified, leaving it battling to keep afloat, with the group last week announcing that it is restructuring one of its oldest funds and revealing that one of its star fund managers is in talks to move his portfolio to a rival investment company.

Barclays is said to have informed the City watchdog, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), that it wants to cut its relationship with OAM, but such a process is likely to need to be carefully managed, as the bank administers the partnership’s payrolls, among other vital services.

OAM and Barclays declined to comment in response to the report.

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OAM – which had around 4.4bn US dollars (£5.3bn) in assets under management before the crisis erupted – has already seen customers rushing to remove their money from the funds it manages.

It revealed last month that it is effectively being broken up after confirming talks to offload some of its activities and staff to other asset managers, but stopped short of saying it is being wound down.

The partnership had already moved to halt withdrawals from two of its funds and closed another amid the investor exodus.

It is also the subject of a two-year investigation launched by the FCA into corporate governance and other issues at the firm.

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The Treasury Committee is set to quiz the FCA over how it has handled allegations of sexual misconduct against Mr Odey and what action it has taken.

Mr Odey has denied the claims published in the FT last month, telling the paper they were “rubbish”.

The newspaper – together with Tortoise Media – said it had spoken to 13 women who claimed they were abused or harassed by the 64-year-old fund manager.

The alleged incidents happened between 1998 and 2021 and involved women who had either worked for OAM or had professional dealings with Mr Odey.

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