Joakim Hannisdahl is pressing ahead with his own investment vehicle having won a court case in Norway against his former employees, Cleaves Securities. However, Cleaves management remains determined to pursue their former star hire in further legal battles.
Hannisdahl won a case yesterday over the length of his gardening leave following his departure from Cleaves Securities, where he had been running a successful shipping hedge fund.
“I hope to finally be left in peace and be able to focus on rebuilding my long/short shipping hedge fund to the benefit of my investors, my family and myself,” Hannisdahl stated in a note to clients, adding that he expects his new vehicle, Gersemi Asset Management, to be operational within the first half of next year.
Hannisdahl was ranked the number one shipping equity analyst globally by Bloomberg for a number of years before embarking on the shipping investment fund for Cleaves. In 2018 Hannisdahl’s own firm, Gersemi Research, was bought out by Cleaves.
Last month, Hannisdahl shocked investors by announcing his departure from Cleaves Securities, citing “irreconcilable differences”.
Per Olav Karlsen, the CEO of Cleaves Securities, told Splash his legal team was considering appealing the gardening leave verdict. Other matters levelled against Hannisdahl are also likely to be pursued by Cleaves Securities in the coming months.
“All other matters related to disloyalty, inadequate management abilities as well reporting and information processing is still very much an ongoing case and will be tried as such in due course,” Karlsen said.
