Notwithstanding his long-term buy-and-hold strategy billionaire Bill Ackman has made major changes to his investment fund Pershing Square’s portfolio this year, according to an analysis by the Motley Fool.
Ackman raised $5 billion for Pershing Square USA last quarter, launched in April, the plan is for the new fund to match portfolios with the flagship fund Pershing Square Holdings. The investor said that 95% of the capital has already been invested, the report added.
Ackman sells Alphabet, UMG, Hertz
As per the report, Ackman fully exited three prominent companies — Alphabet (Google parent), Universal Music Group (UMG) and Hertz Global (car rental company).
- The analysis said that his exit from Alphabet came alongside deeper investment in Microsoft, despite both seeing artificial intelligence (AI) driven growth, Ackman prefers the latter for its valuation and software business.
- The analysis said that his exit from UMG came after the company rejected his takeover bid.
- The analysis said that he shed his small position in Hertz in July after expected “turnaround” did not materialise.
Ackman buys 6 stocks — Netflix, Visa, Mastercard, S&P
The report noted that Ackman has added six companies to his portfolio — Alcon, Intercontinental Exchange, Netflix, Mastercard, S&P Global and Visa. The analysis noted that the large caps (Intercontinental, Mastercard, S&P and Visa) have seen negative returns in the first half and not popular choices, and Netflix faces concerns overgrowth, while Alcon has consistent revenue growth.
Notably, Pershing Square Capital Management has bought over 13 million shares worth over $934 million in Netflix, which accounts for around 5% of the portfolio, Nai 500 reported.
Besides the stock markets, Pershing has also made buys in private companies. The idea is to use the cash from the fund’s balance sheet to seed a new fund — Pershing Square Ventures — focused on the private players, as per the Motley Fool report. It added that this new fund will launch later in 2026 and offer shareholders a way to invest in late-stage private businesses before their IPOs.
Pershing Square has since 2004 delivered a cumulative return of 2,530% and a compound annual return of 15.6%, compared with roughly 964% and 11% for the S&P 500, the Nai 500 report added.
