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Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
Odey Asset Management is to close down five months after allegations of sexual assault and harassment against its founder Crispin Odey plunged the firm into a crisis.
“Odey Asset Management, including Brook Asset Management and Odey Wealth, will be closing. Fund Managers and Funds have moved to new Asset Managers,” the company announced on its website on Tuesday.
In 2022, the firm had $3.8bn assets under management, although at its peak it looked after $13.3bn.
In June, a Financial Times investigation reported allegations of sexual assault and harassment from 13 women against Odey. In response, banks and service providers moved to cut ties with the company and the firm’s partners ousted Odey from the business he founded in 1991.
Seven further women then came forward with similar allegations, bringing the total number to 20. Of those, 12 were former employees of the firm.
Odey strenuously denied the first set of allegations and did not respond to a request for comment regarding the next six women’s accusations. When the 20th woman came forward to the FT with her account last month, Odey admitted for the first time an incident of misconduct. He said he “did grab her breasts” but said the incident was an “aberration” and blamed it on an anaesthetic he had been given that day at the dentist.
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