Odey Asset Management is in "advanced talks" to transfer Freddie Neave, the portfolio manager of the Odey European fund and flagship hedge fund OEI MAC, to Landseer Asset Management.
In a statement on Friday (11 August), the firm said Landseer is currently proposed to become the investment manager to a new fund managed by Neave, following a proposed scheme of reconstruction of the OEI funds first reported in early July.
The discussions are subject to due diligence and fund board and regulatory approvals, it said, with further updates to come in due course.
Both funds were suspended in June in the wake of surging withdrawal requests, as the Odey AM board explained was looking at how investors could be best served going forward.
Odey Asset Management eyes restructure of Odey European Inc and OEI MAC funds
In two investor letters seen by Investment Week on 4 July, the firm said the funds would be run with a similar investment objective and strategy, but if the proposals did not get adequate support, the alternative would be to "compulsorily redeem investors in the funds".
According to Bloomberg, the European Inc. strategy managed $781m as of end-June, which included Crispin Odey's own assets.
The London-based Landseer AM manages $1.6bn in assets under management, according to its website. Its flagship strategy is the Equity L/S European Focus fund, which launched in October 2020 and holds $1.2bn in assets.
The funds run by portfolio managers including Adrian Courtenay, James Hanbury and Oliver Kelton are also being rehoused as part of the restructuring.
Odey AM and Brook AM to transfer significantly smaller funds as assets shrink by up to 68%
Lancaster IM will inherit the most strategies, taking over the five global equity funds managed by Hanbury and his team. SW Mitchell Capital will receive four European equity funds, while Green Ash Partners will take over the Odey Special Situations fund.
However, the three companies inheriting the vast majority of funds from Odey Asset Management and its subsidiary Brook Asset Management are set to receive much smaller strategies in the wake of the sexual misconduct allegations against Crispin Odey, according to analysis by Investment Week.
