Bill Ackman's flagship fund at Pershing Square fell 0.1% in February, not bad considering the...

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Drew Robertson Comments (233)
 
Hunter Harrison to the rescue.
4 Mar, 08:05 PM Reply Like

deercreekvols Comments (2933)
 
3.6% gain on his flagship fund?
With the Dow pushing its all-time high, 3.6% is terrible.
Perhaps it is time to re-think his marquee holdings.

Less time arguing with Carl Ichan and more time with the flagship fund, perhaps?
4 Mar, 08:06 PM Reply Like

Yorick Comments (259)
 
one would say that this result is almost impossible given the hits he is taking unless he isn't holding what he say he is
4 Mar, 08:24 PM Reply Like

Sean Bellamy McNulty Comments (154)
 
I concur, his stake in Herbalife was massive, where can the Pershing Square performance report be found?
4 Mar, 08:39 PM Reply Like

movies555 Comments (281)
 
I'm guessing he's been helped considerably by holdings in CP Rail and Procter and Gamble, among one or two other things. He doesn't hold that many diff names. He's lucky he has a few things working very well. I'm curious how all this HLF and JCP stuff will effect (if at all) Ackman's IPO of his public hedge fund on the London market this year...
4 Mar, 08:45 PM Reply Like

Ghosts of Kariela Comments (144)
 
Ackman's Fund total value is rather hard to asses, the whole Justice Holdings-Burger King-3G Deal is an example of this, I'm not sure it is very easy to find his total fund's worth.
4 Mar, 09:13 PM Reply Like

erictoneil Comments (23)
 
He needs to cut his losses with Herbalife, that may be much harder to do with $JCP. Unless something changes, his antics with Herbalife and the continued support of Ron Johnson will cost him valuable credibility.
4 Mar, 08:37 PM Reply Like

Brandond Comments (167)
 
I hope all the ultra wealthy like paying 2 and 20 for Ackman's brilliance.
4 Mar, 08:37 PM Reply Like

Ted Bear Comments (420)
 
Would love to see the look on Carl Icahns face should he wake up tomorrow and find out that Ackman covered his entire position in HLF!

Then Ackman starts buying puts like a mad man on the way down as Icahan gaks up his stake.......talk about 'triggering circuit breakers'!

(Of course it would never happen because several firms make a living out of figuring out exactly what every trader/insitution/hedge fund is doing by paying off the back office clerks, clearing agents, and settling depositories to divulge such info. But it is fun to imagine).
4 Mar, 08:41 PM Reply Like

JLesinski Comments (135)
 
I have to think that Ackman has covered at least half of his herbalife short. There's no way he was riding that thing to a zero bid...
4 Mar, 09:16 PM Reply Like

Macro Investor Comments (5770)
 
This is why Ackman needs to start buying and holding index ETFs.
4 Mar, 10:07 PM Reply Like

Ghosts of Kariela Comments (144)
 
Why would he do that? Then he would have missed out on GGP and MBI shorting. If you found a structural flaw in a company that could lead to the companies bankruptcy would you not take an opportunity to profit off of it?
4 Mar, 10:35 PM Reply Like

Macro Investor Comments (5770)
 
I thought the goal was to maximize returns on the overall portfolio. Clearly I was wrong.
4 Mar, 11:34 PM Reply Like

Zeus2012 Comments (460)
 
Macro - he would not be able to charge the type of fees that he does if he hold index ETFs.

Making money for clients is really more secondary for these guys.
4 Mar, 11:43 PM Reply Like

Macro Investor Comments (5770)
 
That makes sense. The more they underperform the market the more fees they can charge.
5 Mar, 12:10 AM Reply Like

Ghosts of Kariela Comments (144)
 
That assumes that Ackman consistently underperforms the market. He beat in 2010 according to Insider Monkey. There would be no demand for such funds if the market is such a efficient machine. I'd say the market currently is one of the most inefficient markets in a while, especially given how traders, HFT and the general public can run around creating pricing inequalities willy nilly due to the advances in technology.
5 Mar, 12:26 AM Reply Like

Macro Investor Comments (5770)
 
He beat last in 2010? Then clearly he gets a hall pass for 2011 and 2012, and for the rest of 2013 as well. After all, he is a hedge fund manager. He is supposed to underperform the market.
5 Mar, 01:38 AM Reply Like

dividend_growth Comments (2748)
 
John Paulson is the one really getting massacred for his gold holdings.
4 Mar, 11:07 PM Reply Like

Ghosts of Kariela Comments (144)
 
Yeah, he bailed financials at exactly the wrong time. Had he sold gold then and stuck with Citigroup and whatnot he would be doing very well.
4 Mar, 11:50 PM Reply Like

Ghosts of Kariela Comments (144)
 
then again hindsight is always 20/20
4 Mar, 11:51 PM Reply Like

Macro Investor Comments (5770)
 
John Paulson is an icon and a hedge fund manager. So what if he loses a whole lot of money? He should still be respected.
5 Mar, 01:39 AM Reply Like

1980XLS-2.0 Comments (526)
 
HLF is still trading at levels below where Ackman publicly announced his short position.

Since it was trading higher in the weeks preceding his announcement, he is likely not even underwater at present.
5 Mar, 05:47 AM Reply Like