The crisis at Absolute Capital Management deepened today as the UK-listed hedge fund manager revealed up to a quarter of its $2.1bn (€1.5bn) equity funds under management are tied up in illiquid assets and froze redemptions after investors tried to pull more than $100m in 24 hours.

The news sent shares in Aim-listed Absolute Capital plunging for a second day, as they nearly halved to 62.5p by 09:50 GMT today from yesterday's 118.5p close. This morning's drop came after the company's shares lost 70% of their value yesterday in the aftermath of the shock resignation of Florian Homm, co-founder and co-chief investment officer.