Bets against Britain pay off as profits surge at Odey’s hedge fund

Hedge fund tycoon Crispin Odey’s wager against the pound has paid off as profits at the Boris Johnson donor’s investment firm soar. 

Profits at Odey Asset Management rose 81pc to £16m for the year to April 2019, according to accounts seen by The Telegraph. Mr Odey is believed to have taken £3.8m from the profit pool, up significantly on last year.  

Mr Odey, known as one half of the City’s “Posh and Becks”, was among the hedge fund managers who cashed in on the downfall of Metro Bank early last year. He had the biggest short position in the bank in March, when £1.3bn was wiped from its market value. 

The Brexiteer also renewed his wager against the pound early last year, before taking a u-turn in spring when he decided to “start to buy it [sterling] back”. 

That decision came around the same time he was criticised for making a £300m bet against British business by taking out big short positions in prominent UK companies such as Royal Mail and Intu, the embattled shopping centre owner.  

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn also singled Mr Odey out as a “greedy banker” in a General Election campaign speech, to which Mr Odey said: “He just doesn’t know many people. He has lived a narrow life.”