By Andrew Bary
Billionaire Bill Ackman is having a tough year: His largest fund is down 10%, way behind the S&P 500 index, and his new U.S. fund is off to a slow start since its IPO two months ago.
In a post on X, the prominent investment fund manager ticked off eight of the dozen largest investments in his new closed-end fund, the nearly $5 billion Pershing Square USA (ticker PSUS).
The fund, he wrote on Monday, "has deployed nearly 85% of its capital in 12 companies including Amazon, Microsoft, Uber (Technologies), Meta (Platforms), Brookfield, Restaurant Brands, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac at prices we believe to be extremely attractive."
Ackman said he would disclose the other four holdings in the fund's second-quarter report.
The holdings of Pershing Square USA overlap with those of Ackman's older and larger closed-end fund, European-listed Pershing Square Holdings. That fund, with about $13 billion in net assets, trades lightly in the U.S (ticker PSHZF).
The two funds account for the bulk of his firm's assets under management, Pershing Square Inc.
Pershing Square Holdings, which generally reports its returns weekly, was off 10% year to date through June 9, according to the fund's website. The S&P 500 had returned about 8% through that date.
Ackman favors what he considers to be quality growth companies. He has missed the huge move in memory stocks like Micron Technology that have helped power the stock market over the past year.
This year's weak showing has hurt Ackman's longer-term performance. Pershing Square Holdings was behind the S&P 500 by about 25 percentage points for the year ending May 31. It has trailed the index over the previous five years, but is ahead of it over the past 10 years.
On Monday, Pershing Square USA closed up 4.6% at $39.68. Still, the price was more than 20% below its April IPO offering price of $50, and about 15% below its most recent net asset value of about $47 on June 9. Since the IPO, the S&P 500 has gained about 6%.
Monday's rally in the fund shares might have been sparked in part by Ackman, who plugged the new fund in his post on X.
"We believe the PSUS portfolio is now invested in a number of the highest quality durable growth companies in the world, which are trading near their all-time lowest valuations," he wrote.
"Furthermore, as of this moment, PSUS is trading at a 20% discount to the net asset value $(NAV)$ of its underlying holdings so a buyer of the stock at today's price is acquiring the current portfolio at a double discount."
Meta Platforms and Uber, for instance, are down about 10% this year, weighing on Pershing Square Holdings and Pershing Square USA. Both, however, were up on Monday -- Meta 4.8% and Uber 5.8%. That helps both funds, which should be visible in their performance ending on Tuesday and reported on Thursday.
"I think both funds are buys now, at current discount levels," says Eric Boughton, a portfolio manager at Matisse Discounted Closed-End Fund Strategy, a mutual fund that buys discounted closed-end funds.
Boughton thinks Pershing Square Holdings is the better buy, trading at a roughly 30% discount to its NAV last week.
One reason for the discount on both Ackman funds is their high fees.
The European fund charges a 1.5% annual based management fee and a 16% incentive fee on gains; the new U.S. fund charges 2% annually with no incentive fee.
Most U.S. closed-end funds charge closer to one percentage point annually in fees. Index funds and ETFs often charge a tenth of percentage point or less each year.
High fees are a turnoff. Pair them up with poor performance this year, and it's easy to see why Ackman's funds are hurting.
Write to Andrew Bary at andrew.bary@barrons.com
This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 15, 2026 17:01 ET (21:01 GMT)
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