Odey Asset Management has established a wealth management operation in Guernsey to provide investment services and discretionary advice to clients and to manage Odey Opportunities, a multi
Odey Asset Management has established a wealth management operation in Guernsey to provide investment services and discretionary advice to clients and to manage Odey Opportunities, a multi-asset class fund of funds domiciled in the Cayman Islands and listed in Dublin.
The fund aims to give investors exposure to the macro investment views of the group’s chief investment officer, Crispin Odey, and the asset-picking talents of two Guernsey-based fund managers, Geoff Marson and his assistant Shaun Le Messurier, who joined Odey in January from Credit Suisse’s private client division in the island.
Marson spent 15 years with Credit Suisse in Guernsey, where he was a director of private client business and head of investments, and headed a team responsible for managing more than USD1bn in discretionary portfolios on behalf of private clients and offshore pension funds. Le Messurier, a vice-president, was responsible for hedge fund selection and was in charge of securities sales and execution for three years.
Marson and Le Messurier have been managing the Odey Opportunities fund since May. The fund, which is live with about USD5m invested, will trade monthly.
The Guernsey operation, Odey Wealth, will also manage segregated accounts, which will follow similar strategies to the Opportunities fund but take account of specific client requirements. Odey Wealth will primarily target wealthy private investors, although pension funds may also be interested in its offering. ‘We are very gently talking to one or two clients and one or two pension funds about this opportunity,’ says chief executive David Stewart.
London-based Odey Asset Management, which was founded in 1991, manages both hedge funds and long-only portfolios and currently has just nearly USD5bn in assets under management.
According to Stewart, the Odey Opportunities fund will be a true multi-asset fund with the ability to invest in other funds, including hedge funds, as well as in equities, bonds, commodity futures and exchange-traded funds.
Earlier this month Odey announced it was closing its Japan hedge fund after poor performance resulted in investor withdrawals, although its USD1bn flagship Odey European Fund returned 55 per cent to investors last year and has gain an impressive 14.9 per cent after fees so far in 2008.
