The hedge fund that hiked pay as profits fell
Odey Asset Management might just be the most generous hedge fund in London, irrespective of performance.
The fund, which was started in 1991 by Crispin Odey, has just released its accounts for the year ending April 2022 – and some of the numbers are staggering. The numbers were reported for both Odey Asset Management (a partnership) and for Odey Asset Management Group (a company). Both are ultimately controlled by Crispin Odey.
Odey paid its 27 staff £9.1m for the year, an average of £337k ($411k) per head, compared to the £8.8m that was split between 29 staff the year before – an average of £303k ($370k).
The rising salary came at the expense of the firm’s partners, who received an average pay-out of “only” £861k ($1.1m), compared to the £1.6m ($1.96m) each received, on average, in 2021.
The largest fall, however, went to the “member with the largest entitlement” of profits, which was anonymous in the accounts (but very likely Mr. Odey himself), who earned a tidy £5.1m ($6.1m) – a significant fall on the £15.6m ($19m) distributed last year.
The story of why the fund’s performance cratered – its profit falling by half – is largely down to “performance” fees related to trading. Although management fees increased by 20% for the year, performance fees fell by 60%. The reporting period was before Odey had a chance to cash in on a strong bet against Liz Truss’ disastrous mini-budget in September.
Interestingly, the mini-budget’s prime sponsor, then-Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng, was himself an analyst at Odey.
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