The rise and fall of Simon Sadler: Blackpool FC saviour and businessman
Simon Sadler, who hails from Blackpool, rose to become the envy of Asia’s financial scene and returned in triumph to rescue the local football club. Is his “long hot streak” now over?

When Simon Sadler bought Blackpool FC in 2019, he was described by The Guardian as a “local boy done good”. That’s something of an understatement. Sadler was by then the doyen of one of Hong Kong’s largest and most successful hedge funds – having grown his fund, Segantii Capital, from a $26 million tiddler to a $6.2 billion giant, with offices in London, New York and Dubai, in little more than a decade.
If his “long hot streak” was “once the envy of Asia’s financial scene”, Sadler’s fall has been equally dramatic, says Bloomberg. In May, it was announced that the once-mighty fund would be wound down – and funds returned to investors – after the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) started criminal proceedings against Sadler, and a former Segantii trader, Daniel La Rocca, on suspicion of insider dealing. The alleged offence, which both deny, dates back to a 2017 “block trade” involving the Hong Kong-listed retailer, Esprit.
“This is a big deal. It’s rare to see criminal charges of this magnitude brought against a prominent fund manager,” a local industry figure told the Financial Times. If convicted, Sadler could face up to seven years in jail. For years, he was the go-to middleman for investment banks that wanted to discreetly sell large blocks of shares “off-market” to avoid depressing a company’s share price. Having become one of the biggest players in Asia, Segantii’s reputation soon spread to trading floors on Wall Street and the City: clients included Bank of America, Citi and Goldman Sachs. But the spectacular collapse of Bill Hwang’s Archegos Capital Management in 2021 brought the workings of this market under the spotlight of regulatory scrutiny. Even before the insider dealing charges, Segantii’s business was suffering as risk-averse banks withdrew.
MoneyWeek
Subscribe to MoneyWeek today and get your first six magazine issues absolutely FREE

Sign up to Money Morning
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
Sadler’s reputation in Hong Kong, which he made his home, was mixed, notes Bloomberg. Former colleagues and associates describe him as “hard-charging, hot-tempered and foul-mouthed”. He was renowned for running Segantii “with an iron grip”. But the firm’s Hong Kong office reeked of nostalgia for home. Sadler combined a belief in Chinese geomancy (he had a feng shui master visit regularly) with posters of Duran Duran and Manchester United. When he bought Blackpool FC for £10m (rescuing the club from the ruinous regime of local tycoon Owen Oyston), Sadler ordered dozens of the team’s tangerine-coloured jerseys as gifts for Segantii’s employees. Back in Britain, he could barely contain his joy at taking over the club that had nurtured the legendary Stanley Matthews. “All of a sudden, out of nowhere, I’m the owner of a football club, I’m walking the pitch and people are singing my name. I’m getting soaked in Champagne.”
Simon Sadler's 'intrepid spirit'
A Lancastrian to his core, Sadler, 54, was born in the seaside village of Bispham on the outskirts of Blackpool, and educated at the local Warbreck High School, notes the BBC. After gaining a business degree at the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST), he headed for the City – beginning a career in finance with firms such as Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein and Deutsche Bank that eventually included stints in Moscow and Hong Kong.
When he founded his own firm in the former UK colony in 2007, the name he chose was replete with significance. The Segrantii (or Settantii), as The Blackpool Gazette observes, were a pre-Roman Celtic tribe with roots on the local coast – renowned for their seafaring prowess and a fiercely “intrepid spirit” that twice saw them see off Julius Caesar.
Last seen in London in May – unusually, flanked by bodyguards – Sadler’s next court hearing in Hong Kong is scheduled to take place in July. In his hour of need, he might well reflect that he could do with some of that ancient fighting spirit.
This article was first published in MoneyWeek's magazine. Enjoy exclusive early access to news, opinion and analysis from our team of financial experts with a MoneyWeek subscription.
Get the latest financial news, insights and expert analysis from our award-winning MoneyWeek team, to help you understand what really matters when it comes to your finances.
Jane writes profiles for MoneyWeek and is city editor of The Week. A former British Society of Magazine Editors editor of the year, she cut her teeth in journalism editing The Daily Telegraph’s Letters page and writing gossip for the London Evening Standard – while contributing to a kaleidoscopic range of business magazines including Personnel Today, Edge, Microscope, Computing, PC Business World, and Business & Finance.
She has edited corporate publications for accountants BDO, business psychologists YSC Consulting, and the law firm Stephenson Harwood – also enjoying a stint as a researcher for the due diligence department of a global risk advisory firm.
Her sole book to date, Stay or Go? (2016), rehearsed the arguments on both sides of the EU referendum.
She lives in north London, has a degree in modern history from Trinity College, Oxford, and is currently learning to play the drums.
-
'It’s time to close the British steel industry'
Opinion The price tag on British steel is just too high. It's time for Labour to make a grown-up decision and close down the industry, says Matthew Lynn
-
Last orders: can UK pubs be saved?
Pubs in Britain are closing at the rate of one a day, continuing and accelerating a long-term downward trend. Why? And can anything be done to save them?
-
David Ellison: America's new media mogul
David Ellison is building a mighty new force in old and new media. Critics worry that he will prove to be a Trumpian patsy. Is that fair?
-
How Next defied the odds and positioned itself as a British high-street staple
Next rose from a near-death experience and now thrives as a high-street staple. What's driving its success – and should you invest in the retailer?
-
Alok Sama on AI and how to invest in the future of technology
Interview Alok Sama, the former president and chief financial officer of Masayoshi Son’s investment vehicle SoftBank Group International, explains AI’s potential
-
Why investors should avoid market monomania
Opinion Today’s overwhelming focus on US markets leaves investors guessing about opportunities and risks elsewhere
-
Can Rachel Reeves save the City?
Opinion Chancellor Rachel Reeves is mulling a tax cut, which would be welcome – but it’s nowhere near enough, says Matthew Lynn
-
Pierre-Édouard Stérin wants to make France great again
Conservative billionaire Pierre-Édouard Stérin is seeking to lead a political and spiritual renaissance across the Channel. The planning looks meticulous