Crispin O’Day was at the top of London’s financial world for three decades, a big money mogul known for making big bets and making big profits when he got them right.
But in just over a week, his hedge fund is suddenly on the brink of dissolution following the latest allegations of sexual assault and harassment against its 64-year-old founder.
The firm’s Oday Asset Management said Thursday it was in “preliminary discussions” to transfer funds and staff to other firms. The reason, perhaps an extreme understatement, is that “it has become clear that some of the partnership’s investment management activities have been affected by recent events.”
Oday Asset Management has announced it will shut down in a sign investors are losing confidence in the company. one of the funds and stopped the participation of investors withdraw their money After what the company described as a “substantial level of reimbursement claims,” other companies made similar demands. In the hedge fund world, such moves, known as “gating,” are seen as drastic measures to avoid the equivalent of a run.
It’s unclear how much cash is left in Odey Asset Management, which oversaw $4.9 billion earlier this year.
These events kicked off June 8 with about 7,900 words Financial Times surveyIn it, 13 women said they had been assaulted and abused by Mr O’Day in his company’s opulent Mayfair offices, a London townhouse and a country estate in the West of England. Many of the women cited also said O’Day’s actions were known within the company.
In response, Oday Asset Management said it handled the allegations as follows:very seriouslyIt said it had “strong policies and procedures in place” to comply with laws and financial regulations.
Within two days of the article’s publication, the company said it had removed O’Day from the partnership. The company’s financial counterparties, including Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley, which provided critical banking services to the company, have cut ties.
House Finance Committee Chairman Harriet Baldwin said this week: called on the Financial Conduct AuthorityOne of the country’s top financial regulators, he answered questions about the oversight of Odey Asset Management.
Questions Baldwin filed with authorities included the scope of previous investigations into O’Day and the agency’s extensive work to oversee companies’ responses to allegations of sexual misconduct.
The possibility of O’Day’s dissolution was a testament to the image of an aristocratic adventurer and founder who stood out among London’s pin-stripe investor circles, who were willing to take counterintuitive bets and make big bucks. liquidation.
The investor, whose full name is Robin Crispin William O’Day, was born into a family of businessmen and his grandfather was a conservative legislator. Mr. O’Day was educated at elite British institutions such as the Harrow School and the University of Oxford. Nevertheless, he faced money problems as his family collapsed financially. (He once called his father “Wastrel from start to finish, I had no choice but to sell my parents’ house because of the debt. )
After graduating from Oxford, Mr. O’Day settled into banking as a way to recoup his wealth. He went independent in 1991 and as a means of practicing his intuitive trading style he founded Odey Asset Management.
The trend towards big bets has often paid off, as when betting on British banks before the 2008 financial crisis. At its peak, the company managed over $13 billion.
But he also often lost money.Company main fund lost nearly 50 percent 2016, from bad bets.
His fortune has made him a celebrity in the business world and a major donor to the UK’s ruling Conservative Party. (Kwasi Kwarten, who briefly served as finance minister under Prime Minister Liz Truss last year, shaking investor confidence in the government, previously worked for Odey.)
O’Day has also become an outspoken supporter of Britain’s exit from the European Union, but he earned £220m ($280m) in market moves related to the event. It also drew some criticism.
With Odey-esque pomp, he I quoted an Italian expression‘Il mattino ha l’oro in bocca’, or ‘In the morning there is money in the mouth’, to the BBC the day after the Brexit referendum.
The allegations of sexual misconduct detailed by the Financial Times are not the first to be brought against O’Day. Previous allegations were made by The Times of London, Bloomberg News and the Tortoise Media podcast. In 2021, he was put on trial for indecent assault on a company employee. The presiding judge said, “You will leave this court with a good character,” and acquitted him.
Since then, O’Day and his company seemed poised for recovery. Its flagship fund is 152% return Last year was largely due to his high profitability, Betting on British Government Bondswas reeling from short-lived economic policies introduced by former employee Kwarten.
