Hedge-fund mogul Bill Ackman has to be glad August is over.
Ackman’s Pershing Square hedge funds lost around 3.5 percent last month — one of his worst monthly performances in the last 10 years.
The decline left his funds flat for the year, according to an investor letter, a copy of which has been obtained by The Post.
Given the bargain basement sale of his JCPenney stock on Aug. 26, Ackman must feel lucky to get out of August with such a small single-digit decline.
Ackman rang up a 14 percent loss on the struggling Plano, Tex., retailer in the period in dumping his 18 percent stake.
Ironically, Ackman’s monthly loss was mitigated a bit by his other controversial position — his $1 billion short of Herbalife shares.
Shares of the Los Angeles distributor of nutritional supplements fell 6.85 percent in August.
The position, which is now 14 percent of Pershing’s $10. 7 billion portfolio, is about $260 million under water as Herbalife shares are up about 90 percent this year.
With the broader stock market down 3 percent in August, most of his other big long positions fell during the month, too, including Canadian Pacific Railways (down 3.95 percent), and Procter & Gamble (down 3 percent).
Ackman’s latest investment, Air Products and Chemicals, was down 6 percent for the month but has gained 5.3 percent since he launched a separate new fund for it with about $900 million early on July 19.
Ackman wasn’t the only big-name activist to have a crummy month.
Dan Loeb’s Third Point fell 0.7 percent after Sony rebuffed its bid to spin off its entertainment unit. Sony fell 5.13 percent for the month.
Still, Third Point is up 15 percent for the year, trailing just slightly the S&P 500’s 16.1 percent return.