The share price is $34, compared with a net asset value of $52 as of March 21, a discount of 35%. This discount is consistent with and above its historical average, and fluctuates in relation to the volatility of the holding's holdings, all of which are listed.

Among these, various well-known big names - Restaurant Brands International, Canadian Pacific, Lowe's, Chipotle, Domino's Pizza, Universal Music Group, Hilton Worldwide, Howard Hughes, etc. - and those few idiosyncratic macro bets that so far have done surprisingly well for Ackman.

While its long-term performance has been impressive - since 2004, +15.9% annualized return, versus +8.9% for the SP500 - the divergence has narrowed significantly of late. Since March 2015, for example, net asset appreciation has been 8% per year, a hair below the SP500.

However, it is safe to argue that acquiring a portfolio of positive-return assets at a one-third discount to its net worth makes a lot of sense. The margin of safety here is tangible, and whatever one thinks of Bill Ackman, the situation does not lack interest.

Especially when concrete actions are taken to close the said discount: Pershing has thus bought back a quarter of its shares between 2017 and 2022, through transactions carried out at an average discount of 28% on net assets; in parallel, the distribution of dividends has been increased in 2023 to $0.13 per share per quarter.

It is also worth noting that the management holds a quarter of the capital, which a priori aligns its interests with those of the other shareholders.