The Smart Money: Bill Ackman
Source: Wikimedia (Modified)
Play to Focus On: Valeant Pharmaceuticals
And finally we get to fellow activist investor Bill Ackman, who has had a rough go of it lately. 2015 was a horrendous year for Ackman, and it really hasn’t gotten much better. After a banner 2014, Ackman’s hedge fund has lost nearly half its value.
A lot of this is due to the spectacular blow up of his largest holding, Valeant Pharmaceuticals (VRX). A year ago, Ackman had about 26% of his long portfolio in Valeant.
Today, despite owning more shares, that position makes up about 6% of Valeant’s portfolio. That’s because Valeant is down an almost unbelievable 85% over the past year.
Ackman’s Pershing Square upped its holdings in Valeant by about 30% in the first quarter, and the new shares are already down more than 60%.
Ouch.
Bill Ackman will get his groove back … eventually. He’s made some bone headed investment moves in the past but has always come back stronger. If you believe in Ackman as a money manager, then shares of beaten-down Valeant would be a decent bet. Just learn from Ackman’s mistakes and remember to keep your position sizes reasonable.
Source: Investor Place