Ackman’s Pershing gains 6% in Q1
By MICHELLE CELARIER Last Updated: 1:48 PM, April 3, 2013 Posted: 1:48 PM, April 3, 2013
Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square hedge funds gained about 6 percent for the first quarter, pushing the firm’s assets to $12.39 billion, according to an investor letter obtained by The Post.
Pershing gained about 2.5 percent in March despite the beating the activist shareholder is taking on one of his most highly publicized positions — JCPenney.
Penney fell 14 percent for the month after one of its other top shareholders, Vornado Realty Trust, sold 40 percent of its position in the troubled retailer.
Pershing owns more than 17 percent of the company, which was down 23 percent during the quarter.
Bloomberg
William "Bill" Ackman, founder and chief executive officer of Pershing Square Capital Management LP
Ackman’s $1 billion Herbalife short — which has been under an onslaught of criticism by such big name investors as Dan Loeb and Carl Icahn — was one of his winners in March.
The stock fell 7 percent during the month following the news that a national consumer group asked the Federal Trade Commission to investigate Ackman’s claim that the company is a pyramid scheme. Herbalife has denied the accusation.
To date, Ackman’s Herbalife short, which is 8 percent of his portfolio, has a paper gain of about $240 million. During the first quarter, Herbalife gained 14 percent.
Pershing’s first-quarter gains were propelled by some of its less controversial holdings, including Canadian Pacific Railways, which rose 28 percent during the quarter, and Procter & Gamble, up 13.5 percent.
The hedge fund trails the S&P 500, which rose about 10 percent, although it did better than most of its peers. Bank of America Merrill Lynch said yesterday that the global diversified hedge index was up 3.26 percent for the first quarter.
mcelarier@nypost.com |
