Finimize - ⚖️ Bill Ackman scales back

What’s going on here?

Just a couple of weeks ago, Bill Ackman was aiming to raise $25 billion with the initial public offering of his US investment fund Pershing Square USA – but now he’s shortened that target by a mile.

What does this mean?

The hedge fund manager says he’s now looking to gather just $2.5 billion to $4 billion – a far more reasonable ballpark. Shares of investment vehicles like this one usually trade at a discount compared to the assets they hold. But the billionaire “finfluencer” had hoped his new US fund might trade above its fair value instead, catapulted by demand from the legions of retail investors who follow him on social media.

Why should I care?

Zooming in: Boring is better.

It’s not easy to raise money, but Pershing’s downshift likely isn’t instilling confidence in any would-be investors. And it’s not just retail investors who are snubbing the firm’s latest offering: big institutional investors like pension firms prefer to invest in diversified asset funds that are managed by a team. The ones run by Millennium, Citadel, and Blackstone, for example, have more people and more strategies, so they’re covered if someone leaves or something goes wrong. Meanwhile, Pershing is more of a one-man band, which means a lot of risk rests with Ackman.

For you personally: Cheap tricks.

Many ETFs give you exposure to the US big-fish stocks that this investment is targeting, but at much lower prices. Sure, Ackman’s waving the firm’s 2% fee for the first year, but that seems like the least he could do: an S&P 500 tracker ETF costs a fraction of that, with fees typically below 0.1%. Pershing’s latest vehicle would have to outperform the index for a long time to make up that difference. So it’s no wonder active funds, like Ackman’s, are losing out to cheaper passive ones.

What’s going on here?

The Federal Reserve’s (Fed’s) trusted price gauge pointed to cooler blue levels, rather than red-hot, clearing the way to an interest rate cut.

What does this mean?

It was a bit of relief after a rocky few days in the market. The core index – which ignores volatile food and energy prices to get a better view of underlying cost pressures – increased just 2.6% in June from a year ago, not far from the Fed’s 2% target. The news wasn’t altogether new – but it did confirm a trend seen across other indicators. And that’s just what investors wanted: a little assurance that there won’t be a nasty surprise around the corner that might keep the Fed from lowering rates this year.

Why should I care?

For markets: Big little stocks.

The mega-sized Magnificent Seven have been the stars of the stock market show all year, driving the vast majority of its gains. But lately, the not-so-magnificent players have been stealing a bit of spotlight. See, small-cap companies are more vulnerable than their heftier peers when it comes to inflation, economic growth, and interest rates. That’s because they’ve got slimmer profit margins, a more domestic customer base, and a lot more short-term or variable-rate debt. And now with all three of those big factors seeming to turn in their favor, the outlook for the stocks that were mostly left out of the recent rally might be a lot brighter.

The bigger picture: Goldilocks scenarios.

It’s not just the lower inflation that’s putting a smile on investors’ faces: data earlier this week showed that the US economy grew at a stronger-than-expected pace in the second quarter. And that suggests the Fed might pull off a spectacularly rare feat: bringing down inflation without crashing the economy. Mind you, it’s a bit early to start popping open the bubbly – but you could put it on ice.