Bill Ackman is planning to launch a new fund that would capitalize on investor complacency in financial markets, replicating his successful pandemic-era trades. The strategy, being developed separately from Pershing Square's main fund, would make asymmetric bets against market narratives. This move comes as Ackman's flagship fund has lost more than 16% this year, putting pressure on the billionaire to find new growth avenues ahead of his company's planned public listing.

The proposed fund would keep most assets in short-term US debt before deploying capital on large credit and macro bets. Ackman's similar $27 million derivatives investment during the coronavirus crisis ultimately delivered a $2.6 billion windfall for Pershing when corporate debt sold off. The strategy mirrors other famous trades by hedge fund managers, including John Paulson and Michael Burry, who used derivatives to make highly leveraged bets against market segments.

Ackman is attempting to raise $5 billion to $10 billion for a combined IPO of his management company and a new closed-end fund called Pershing Square USA. He's positioning this new strategy as a way to turbocharge fee earnings for the firm. The timing coincides with Ackman's broader ambitions to build a conglomerate through his stake in Howard Hughes Holdings and his recent $55 billion offer to acquire Universal Music Group.