Bill Ackman: This Is The Market's 'Best Kept Secret'

By: Josh Sparrow of Street Authority

The name Bill Ackman carries more weight now than it did a year ago.

2014 was a rough year for most hedge fund managers. The average fund returned just 2% and the first six months of the year saw 461 hedge funds close shop.

Yet Ackman's fund, Pershing Square Holdings, returned an astounding 40.4% in 2014 and went from managing around $11.5 billion assets at the start of the year to more than $18 billion currently.

Ackman was named top dog in Bloomberg's 2014 ranking of the world's best hedge fund managers.

And that success helped make Pershing Square Holdings' (AMS: PSH) recent IPO that much more successful. The firm's October IPO -- which opened on the Euronext Amsterdam exchange -- was one of Europe's largest in 2014, at $2.7 billion.

Investors who bought shares of the company at the time of its IPO have already seen a nice 12.7% gain in just a few months.

In the company's first letter-to-shareholders, Ackman laid out what he believes to be the company's primary competitive advantages. He wrote, "When compared with other investment holding or operating companies, PSH benefits by its favorable tax structure and long-term track record." Continue reading "Bill Ackman: This Is The Market's 'Best Kept Secret'"

How To Beat These Billionaire Hedge Fund Managers

If beating the billionaire hedge fund mangers seems like a dream to you, then I am about to give you a reality check. Before I go there, let me share with you some of the results of these billionaire hedge fund managers this year. I'm only going to give you the top three, as they have achieved outstanding results.

Let's start off with the number one hedge fund manager of the year. I'm sure you're familiar with this name, as it seems to be in the news every week. I'm talking about Carl Icahn. Icahn has produced an incredible return of 48.96% year-to-date. That truly is an amazing return, but he's not alone. Next up is David Einhorn with a return of 41.37% YTD. Bringing up the rear with a very impressive 27.95% return YTD is Bill Ackman.

I think we can all agree that these three brilliant billionaire fund managers have all produced outstanding returns so far this year. I congratulate all three hedge fund managers. It's even more remarkable when you consider that the stock market hasn't had much sustained movement to the upside this year. In fact, just recently most of the major indices were flat to lower on the year.

This leads me to the main lesson at hand... with the right tools you can surpass the returns of these hedge fund all-stars. Continue reading "How To Beat These Billionaire Hedge Fund Managers"