Bill Ackman in talks to launch new fund - report

(Sharecast News) - Bill Ackman's Pershing Square is mulling a new strategy that would take advantage of investor complacency, it was reported on Thursday. According to the Financial Times, citing unnamed people familiar with the matter, the New York hedge fund would make asymmetric trades wagering against the prevailing narrative in markets under the new strategy.

It is similar to the highly profitable doomsday trades Pershing Square made during the pandemic.

However, it is understood that Ackman wants to create an entirely new strategy rather than making new doomsday trades using Pershing Square's main fund. The FT said the new fund would keep much of its assets in short-term US debt before deploying the capital on large credit and macro bets mirroring those historically made by the main fund.

Pershing Square has not commented on the report.

Ackman, who is mulling taking Pershing Square public, earlier this week made a €55bn tilt at entertainment giant Universal Music Group. Under the proposed terms, Universal would be merged with a blank cheque company set up by the billionaire investor, shifting its listing from Amsterdam to New York. Universal listed in the Netherlands in 2021 after being spun out of French media giant Vivendi.