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Bill Ackman’s Main Fund Is Up 25% in 2025. These 2 Investments Are Helping.

Sep 15, 2025 01:00:00 -0400 by Andrew Bary | #Hedge Funds

Bill Ackman. (Patrick T. Fallon / AFP / Getty Images)

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Bill Ackman is having an impressive year: His main investment vehicle has returned 25% and been helped by its sizable holdings in Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae , whose shares have more than quadrupled in 2025.

Pershing Square Holdings , a closed-end fund listed in London that also trades on OTC Markets under the ticker symbol PSHZF, has returned 25.3% through Tuesday based on its net asset value, versus a 11.7% total return on the S&P 500 . (The fund reports its net asset value weekly.)

That is one of the better showings of any high-profile investment manager this year. Ackman’s fund, which went public in 2014, has had strong performance since 2019.

The fund’s U.S.-listed shares closed 1% higher on Friday at $63.41 apiece after hitting a record high of $63.70 earlier in the session. The shares have returned 32% so far this year, topping the NAV performance as the discount to NAV has narrowed. The discount stood at 31% on Tuesday—and has likely tightened since then because the stock has appreciated. The NAV stood at around $89 a share on Tuesday.

Thanks to the fund’s main listing in London, the shares can be tough to buy for American investors, with some U.S. brokerage firms not permitting customers to purchase it. There also can be some adverse tax consequences because the fund is classified as a passive foreign investment company.

Barron’s estimates that Pershing Square Holdings has generated a profit of about $2 billion on its Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac investments this year, making them one of the largest contributors to the fund’s performance.

Fannie Mae stock ended Friday at $14.64, up about 350% this year while Freddie Mac—officially known as Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp.— ended at $13.50, up more than 300% in 2025. Both began the year around $3 a share and hit new intraday highs Friday before finishing lower.

Ackman is the lead manager of the fund, which is run by his Pershing Square Capital Management, and he owns more than 20% of the shares. The fund has a market value of about $11 billion and a net asset value of around $16 billion.

Ackman has been one of the biggest champions of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the mortgage agencies that he would like to see removed from federal conservatorship. Shares of both have surged this year on hopes that the Trump administration will release both companies.

Pershing Square is one of the largest holders of both stocks, although Barron’s hasn’t been able to identify precise totals. We’ve estimated that Pershing Square owns about 180 million shares of the two companies, including about 115 million of Fannie Mae. The firm is a longtime investor in both.

Pershing Square Holdings runs a concentrated portfolio dominated by about a half dozen stocks, which include Uber Technologies, Alphabet, Canadian asset manager Brookfield , Restaurant Brands International, and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Ackman has given up short selling and is focused on investing in what he views as durable growth companies.

The fund’s Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac holdings could now total about $2.5 billion.

Barron’s has written favorably on Pershing Square Holdings, arguing that the fund is an inexpensive way to get exposure to Ackman.

The big discount on the shares relative to NAV has persisted despite strong performance due to several factors. That includes the overseas listing, which limits participation by U.S. investors, as well as the firm’s tax treatment, which is similar to that for U.S. limited partnerships.

Another issue is a high fee structure, which includes a 1.5% annual management fee and an incentive fee of 16% of profits that are subject to a high-water mark.

Those negatives are offset by the big discount on the fund and Ackman’s strong record.

Write to Andrew Bary at andrew.bary@barrons.com