Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square is preparing to launch a new investment vehicle designed to give investors access to privately held companies before they reach public markets, extending the firm’s expansion beyond its traditional concentrated public-equity strategy, according tp a report by Bloomberg.
Pershing Square Ventures Ltd is being structured as an evergreen, permanent-capital vehicle that will be able to continue holding investments after portfolio companies go public, according to Ackman and chief investment officer Ryan Israel.
The firm has already begun building the portfolio, with several private investments currently held on Pershing Square’s balance sheet expected to form part of the fund’s initial assets. Some investments made through Ackman’s family office are also expected to be transferred into the vehicle.
Ackman said the fund is intended to address what he sees as a growing problem for ordinary investors: by the time some of the most successful technology companies reach public markets, their valuations can already be exceptionally high.
The billionaire investor cited his own early investments in companies including SpaceX, X and xAI as examples of opportunities that have historically been difficult for public-market investors to access.
Pershing Square plans to seek regulatory approval from the US Securities and Exchange Commission, with a launch targeted for this autumn or by the end of the year.
The vehicle will invest across a broad range of privately held businesses, from companies valued at several hundred million dollars through to so-called decacorns worth more than $10bn. Ackman said the fund will initially be relatively small and is not expected to make a material contribution to Pershing Square’s assets under management at launch.
The initiative represents another step in Ackman’s expansion of the Pershing Square platform. In April, Pershing Square USA began trading as a closed-end fund, giving investors access to the manager’s concentrated portfolio of public companies. Pershing Square itself also completed a stock market listing.
The move comes as demand grows for publicly traded vehicles offering exposure to private markets. Several closed-end funds focused on private companies have come to market this year, including vehicles associated with Robinhood Markets, Fundrise and Powerlaw.
Pershing Square’s latest venture also follows a period of significant portfolio activity. The firm recently disclosed new investments in Visa, Mastercard and Netflix as part of a broader overhaul of its public equity holdings.
The proposed venture fund would provide Pershing Square with another route to deploy capital while potentially allowing a wider group of investors to participate in private-company growth earlier in the corporate lifecycle.
For Ackman, the strategy is also a continuation of his effort to broaden access to investment opportunities that have traditionally been available primarily to wealthy individuals, family offices and institutional investors.
