Prominent activist investors post record 2020 returns despite pandemic-muted activity
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Ackman's publicly traded Pershing Square Holdings fund rose 70.2%, marking the best-ever return at his 16-year-old firm Pershing Square Capital Management and one of the best in the hedge fund industry. In 2019, the fund rose 58%, also a record.
Welling's Engaged Capital, founded in 2012 and known for pushing companies like Medifast Inc (MED) and Hain Celestial Group Inc (HAIN) to make changes, returned 51%. That tops the firm's previous record return set in 2019 with a 34% gain.
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The gains reflect a late-year rebound among activists - fueled partly by strong stock market gains - with the average fund up 6.7% in the first 11 months of 2020 after a 27% drop in the first quarter, Hedge Fund Research data shows. Activist campaigns were down 20% in 2020 from the previous year, Lazard data shows.
At
Blackwells Capital, currently bidding for Monmouth Real Estate Investment Corp (MNR), gained 32% last year, their first time reporting their activist fund returns.
Falcon Edge Capital, a steady investor in blank check companies like the ones Ackman and Loeb's firms have created, gained 43% last year.
Representatives for the funds declined to comment.