New York (HedgeCo.Net) – Hedge fund manager William Ackman of Pershing Square Capital Management is in talks with discount retailer Target to nominate some potential members to their board of directors, according to a recent Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

The hedge fund currently holds a 9.7 percent stake in the Minneapolis-based company, but has been vocal about its disappointment relating to plummeting share prices and lagging sales.  

Earlier this week, Target confirmed their fourth-quarter profit fell 41 percent.  Shares closed at $27.82 yesterday, a 50 percent tumble since its peak last September.

Ackman did not state how many board members he wished to nominate, or who they were.  He also said he may decide to up or reduce his stake in the company, although he still believes there is plenty of potential in the retailer.

Ackman made a bold move earlier this year, when he allowed investors to withdraw as much of their capital as they liked in his Pershing Square IV Fund.  The fund, which was heavily invested in Target, plunged 90 percent this year, prompting an apology to investors and a green light to clear their cash out.  Ackman contributed $25 million of his personal funds to help pay back clients of the fund.  

Julie Scuderi
Senior Editor for HedgeCo.Net
Email: julie@hedgeco.net

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BusinessWeek- Lee Shyan-Yuan, one of several commissioners at Taiwan’s Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC), believes attracting hedge funds to the market would be a smart move.

He is courting hedge funds to invest in Taiwan and raise money from investors in that market. That’s a bold move from a regulator, considering that many of his peers in other markets in Asia have not yet fully embraced hedge funds; some even still consider them the enemy.

Hedge funds, after all, have been blamed—justifiably or not—at least in part for some of the difficult periods in Asia’s financial markets, most notably the regional financial crisis beginning in 1997.

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