New York (HedgeCo.net) – So far, 2015 has been a year that Bill Ackman would very much like to forget, or at least he would like to forget the second half of the year.The high-profile hedge fund manager saw his fund gain 3.2 percent through the first half of the year, but it has done nothing but go down since then and as of the end of October, the fund is down 21.2 percent on a year to date basis.

At the heart of the problem has been Pershing’s largest holding, Valeant Pharmaceuticals (NYSE: VRX). Valeant peaked at $263.81 in early August, but since that time has fallen 72 percent. The company first started falling when its business model of buying other pharma companies and then taking advantage of patents to maximize profits came under fire in August with the news of a congressional investigation. The dive continued when one research company compared Valeant to one of the greatest fraudulent companies (Enron) in history.

Valeant’s performance has been so dismal and the news has been so negative that Ackman has held two separate conference calls to discuss the stock in recent weeks. Ackman has reiterated his support for the stock and he has also added to his position.
For Bill Ackman’s sake, Valeant needs to turn things around or he will be facing his worst performance year ever.

Rick Pendergraft
Research Analyst
HedgeCoVest