WSJ: Ackman's Pershing Square Sees AuM Fall By $2 Bln

(RTTNews) - William Ackman's Pershing Square Capital Management LP has seen its assets under management decline by $2 billion this year, the Wall Street Journal reported.

With bad investment in J.C. Penney Co. (JCP) and a $1 billion bet against Herbalife Ltd. (HLF), the activist investor's firm saw its total assets under management fall to $11.2 billion at the end of September. The firm's assets under management stood at $13.2 billion as of March 1, as given in a regulatory filing.

The decline is said to have stemmed mostly from weak investment performance, while net redemptions by investors totaled less than $150 million so far in the year.

On August 28, the hedge fund sold its entire 18 percent stake in J.C. Penney to Citigroup Inc. (C) for $12.60 per share, incurring a loss of more than $480 million on the deal, after Ackman failed in his attempt to install a new chief executive at the beleaguered retailer. Pershing Square had bought the shares for around $25 per share, mostly in 2010 and 2011.

Ackman announced the bet against Herbalife in December. The shares have climbed steadily after an initial drop.

The activist investor wrote to investors on October 2 that he had restructured the position in Herbalife to limit further losses. He has shifted some of the short bet on Herbalife into put options.

In late July, Pershing Square acquired a 9.8 percent stake in Industrial chemical and gas producer Air Products & Chemicals Inc. (APD) for $2.2 billion.