FILE PHOTO: William ‘Bill’ Ackman, CEO and Portfolio Manager of Pershing Square Capital Management, speaks during the Sohn Investment Conference in New York City, U.S., May 8, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo
BOSTON (Reuters) – William Ackman’s hedge fund is boasting double-digit gains at a time many portfolios have sunk along with the economy during the coronavirus pandemic, after the billionaire investor plowed cash into a number of companies he already owned and dumped Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway among other stocks.
The public and private funds at Pershing Square Capital Management have gained between 22% and 27% this year, handily beating both the Standard & Poor’s 500 index and the average hedge fund which are each off 7% since January, Ackman said.
Ackman, who began worrying about the health and market impact of the pandemic months ago, famously hedged his portfolio with a $27 million bet that turned into a $2.7 billion windfall that he reinvested in the…