Crispin Odey’s wound down hedge fund unearthed nearly 50 allegations of “inappropriate conduct” made by female staff about the disgraced hedge fund manager during an internal investigation, newly released court filings show.
In evidence submitted by the Financial Conduct Authority, the founder of Odey Asset Management is accused of engaging in at least 46 instances of inappropriate behaviour with female colleagues over a period spanning 17 years.
The alleged incidents, which stem from a 2020 investigation by City law firm Simmons & Simmons commissioned by the hedge fund’s executive committee, range from an accusation of sexual assault in the Odey office to the financier asking a receptionist to try on a skirt “ostensibly to see if it would fit his daughter”.
Odey Asset Management leadership launched the probe five years ago, in the wake of two staffers accusing its founder and chief executive of sexual harassment. According to the FCA’s evidence, Odey acknowledged that “aspects of his behaviour needed to change” when confronted with the findings in 2021 alongside being given a final written warning.
The filings form part of the first batch of evidence submitted ahead of a major court showdown between Odey and the FCA, after the watchdog banned the scandal-hit fund manager from the financial industry in March 2025.
He is now appealing the ruling – in which City regulators accused him of a “lack of integrity” and fined him £1.8m – in court, with the hearing set to get under way in March.
Odey was one of the UK’s most well-known investors until his fund was plunged into crisis by a Financial Times report, which logged the accounts of over a dozen victims of sexual assault and inappropriate behaviour. Odey vigorously denies the claims.
Odey: FCA case part of ‘agenda’
The investigation resulted in some of the fund’s largest investors almost immediately withdrawing their money, and banks that provided key services to the fund severing ties. The rapid fallout eventually led to the £13bn fund being shuttered and the wider company to be wound down.
Odey is also preparing for a second high-stakes legal battle against the Financial Times for defamation, which is being heard alongside five personal injury claims from women alleging sexual misconduct, which he denies. The trial is expected to get under way in June and Odey is seeking at least £79m in damages.
As part of the evidence submitted on Monday, Odey claims the FCA treated his case as “totemic”, and an opportunity for the watchdog to burnish its new ability to investigate non-financial misconduct (NFM).
Documents submitted on behalf of the former hedge fund manager show he believes his “departure from the firm and its subsequent demise was the product of the authority’s NFM agenda”.
