Odey Asset Management is shutting its Swan fund and gating two other funds after redemption requests surged, as it moves to contain a crisis triggered by the publication of sexual assault allegations against its founder, Crispin Odey.
(Bloomberg) — Odey Asset Management is shutting its Swan fund and gating two other funds after redemption requests surged, as it moves to contain a crisis triggered by the publication of sexual assault allegations against its founder, Crispin Odey.
The firm has suspended all dealings in the Odey Swan fund and will redeem investors by Sept. 4, according to a letter dated Monday.
Odey Asset Management has also halted redemptions from Brook Developed Markets Fund, which is run by James Hanbury and Jamie Grimston, after requests exceeded 10% of the fund’s net asset value, according to another letter sent to investors and seen by Bloomberg News. Any requests received on June 12 will be pro-rated, the letter added.
“The board believe that applying the redemption gate is in the best interests of all shareholders and will facilitate the management of the redemption requests received,” the firm told clients in the letter dated June 12.
The LF Brook Absolute Return Fund also suspended dealings Tuesday, according to a letter from Link Fund Solutions, the director for the vehicle. “The reason for the suspension is due to the specific liquidity profile of this fund following recent redemptions, in combination with the lack of clarity from providers of certain financial services to Odey,” the letter said.
A representative for Odey Asset Management could not immediately be reached to comment on the changes.
Odey Asset Management severed ties with Odey over the weekend in the wake of the allegations that he denies. In two letters to clients in recent days, the investment firm has emphasized that Odey no longer has any economic and personal involvement in the partnership.
Read More: Odey’s Firm Fights for Its Future After Rare Split With Founder
The majority of the firm’s about $4.3 billion in assets are managed by portfolio managers other than Crispin Odey, including Hanbury and Oliver Kelton. As of the end of March, Odey ran about $1.4 billion with his co-manager Freddie Neave.
The Brook Developed Markets fund had $569 million in assets at the end of May and was up 9.4% this year through June 9, according to the firm’s website.
The Brook Absolute Return Fund is also run by Hanbury and Grimston and had $943 million in the strategy at the end of May, the website showed.
(Updates with closure of Swan fund, suspension of Absolute Return fund from first paragraph.)
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