Bestinvest says
This is one of the few routes for a retail investor to access the fund management talents of Crispin Odey. Odey has a remarkable track record over his career, both on the Opus fund and previously on European mandates. He has benefited from positioning his portfolio to capitalise on his generally astute macroeconomic calls, for instance by moving into defensive stocks prior to the 2008 banking crisis (which he foretold). This is far from a one man show, however - Odey now has a substantial team of analysts to assist him in stock selection.
Investment opportunities are typically identified from the group’s often contrarian top-down views, decided by the manager and other senior staff at monthly macro meetings. However, bottom-up, stock specific ideas are also included - stock research is increasingly carried out by Odey’s research team, but Odey will discuss these selections with the analysts and the final portfolio is his responsibility. Despite the global mandate the portfolio is typically skewed towards the UK and Europe. The bulk of investments are large cap stocks, but medium sized and smaller companies are also included, and the manager can move aggressively into cash or fixed interest if and when he becomes bearish. Currency hedging may be used to hedge into but not out of sterling. Odey expect the fund to underperform during bull markets that cannot be justified on valuation grounds, and to outperform at market turning points that have been correctly anticipated in the manager’s macro view.