ODEY STEPS DOWN FROM HEDGE FUND

MILLIONAIRE Tory donor Crispin Odey has stepped down from the helm of the hedge fund he runs as he prepares to defend himself in a historic sex assault trial.

Odey, who founded Odey asset management in 1991 and manages around £4bn for clients, will focus on managing his own funds while handing over the running of the firm to co-chief executive Timothy Pearey.

The shake-up comes after Odey, 61, was charged with indecent assault in July, and prepares to go on trial in February.

appearing at Westminster magistrates’ court to plead not guilty to the charge in September, Odey was accused of ‘launching himself’ at a banker after inviting her back to his home in 1998. When the banker – then in her 20s – arrived at Odey’s Chelsea townhouse following work drinks, he allegedly appeared in a dressing gown before groping the woman under her blouse and sliding his hand up her skirt. at the time, Oxford- educated Odey had been married to his wife, fellow fund manager nichola Pease, for seven years ( pictured right outside court with odey).

The couple, once known as the ‘City’s Posh and Becks’ due to their high profile, have three children together and are worth £825m according to the Sunday Times rich List. as Odey asset management announced its founder was stepping back, it revealed that a number of its funds would be hived off into a new subsidiary.

The firm declined to give further details on which funds were involved, or why it had chosen to rename them.

Odey said: ‘I have always had a dedicated, professional team to manage the business, and this feels the appropriate time to relinquish sharing that responsibility in favour of focusing on investment and nurturing investment talent.’