Crispin Odey, 64, was ousted this month from the firm he founded in 1991 after the Financial Times and Tortoise Media on June 8 jointly reported on allegations by 13 women. Odey has denied the allegations.

Several major banks, which provided prime brokerage services, then said they would cut ties with Odey's firm.

The LF Brook Absolute return fund which Hanbury ran at Odey Asset Management finished the quarter down 14.45% and is down 10.6% so far for the year, said the letter.

Hanbury had a positive start to 2023, finishing March up 4.6%, but in May his fund was "forced into a public de-grossing" the letter said, meaning it had to reduce the amount of money it held. Its stocks portfolio shrank by about 80%, said the letter.

OAM 'gated' - the industry term used when a fund prevents withdrawals - many of its funds in June, including the one managed by Hanbury.

Hanbury apologised for the "the stress and uncertainty that clients have been exposed to in recent weeks," the letter said.

The funds were now open, the agreement with Lancaster Investment Management was signed and a new prime broker had agreed to service the funds, it said.

"My full investment team will be joining me at Lancaster and I believe the culture there will be conducive to optimising our performance," said Hanbury in the letter.

OAM which is also Hanbury's current media representative declined to comment.

(Reporting by Nell Mackenzie; editing by Jonathan Oatis, Kirsten Donovan)

By Nell Mackenzie