Ackman Slams PSUS's 22% Discount as 'Frankly Absurd' After First Earnings Call
PSUS is trading near its 52-week low of $35.71 (11% above the low).
Summary
Bill Ackman used his first earnings call since the dual listing to call PSUS's 22% discount to NAV 'frankly absurd' — one of the widest among U.S. closed-end funds. The fund gained only 0.6% since its April debut, trailing the S&P 500's 13.7% return. Ackman disclosed new stakes in Visa, Mastercard, S&P Global, Intercontinental Exchange, Alcon, and Netflix, while exiting Universal Music, Alphabet, and Hertz. He acknowledged the IPO was mishandled, with too much stock allocated to individual investors who sold. An active marketing program aimed at financial advisers is planned to narrow the discount, and a venture fund is in the works. The discount and underperformance are the core issues; the new positions and marketing push are the key watch items.
At the time of this announcement, PSUS was trading at $39.60 on NYSE in the Finance sector, with a market capitalization of approximately $4B. The 52-week trading range was $35.71 to $44.00. This news item was assessed with negative market sentiment and an importance score of 7 out of 10. Source: Dow Jones Newswires.