Nicola Horlick, one of the City’s best-known personalities, and her investors have emerged as victims of what may be the world’s biggest fraud.

Horlick, who has been called the City’s “Superwoman”, said her company, Bramdean Alternatives, had assets worth $20.9 million invested with the hedge fund run by Bernard Madoff.

Bramdean, whose shares crashed 23.75p to 42.75p on the news, said that the sums tied up with Mr Madoff represented 9.5 per cent of its assets.

The company launched in July last year, raising £131 million to be invested in private equity and hedge funds such as those run by Mr Madoff. In an interview with the Financial Times, Ms Horlick said of Mr Madoff: “He is very, very good at calling the US equity market. This guy has managed to return 1 per cent to 1.2 per cent per month, year after year after year.”

Another big victim of the alleged fraud looks to be the tycoon Vincent Tchenguiz, who bought a £40 million stake in Bramdean.

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