Bill Ackman’s Pershing Loses 4.7% In July, Erases 2024 Gains

Bill Ackman’s main hedge fund, Pershing Square Holdings, saw most of its 2024 gains wiped out in the latter half of July, delivering another blow to the billionaire investor.

Most of the gains of Ackman's main hedge fund have perished. I Photo: Pershing Square Holdings

This development comes on the heels of Ackman pulling the IPO for a US-traded closed-end fund earlier this week due to lackluster demand, Katherine Burton reported for Bloomberg News.

Pershing Square Holdings had been up 8.7% for the year as of mid-July. However, the fund lost 4.7% during the month, leaving it with a year-to-date gain of only 0.7%.

A significant factor in the decline was Pershing Square’s investment in Universal Music Group NV, the world’s largest record label, whose shares fell 24% following disappointing earnings last week.

Ackman had been on a roadshow to drum up interest in his US-traded closed-end fund, which he initially projected could raise $25 billion. However, the deal was pulled on July 31 after the expected raise fell to $2 billion. For comparison, the S&P 500 Index was up 15.8% year-to-date through July.