These Are Expert Hedge Fund Manager Nelson Peltz’s Top Picks for 2022

Global market indices are witnessing the worst downfalls in history. Consistent bad news from companies about bleak future expectations is dragging down investor confidence. It is a difficult environment to survive and a little guidance from experts can help investors cushion their portfolios with safe bets.

Today, in our “Expert Spotlight”, we will look at American billionaire businessman and investor Nelson Peltz. A dropout from the Wharton School, Peltz, along with his brother built a packaging company, listed it and later sold it off for a profit. Since then, Peltz has not stopped his passion for acquiring, modifying, and selling stakes in companies for a profit.

Peltz is the founder of the investment firm, Trian Fund Management LP, which calls itself a “highly engaged shareowner that combines concentrated public equity ownership with operational expertise.” Trian’s ideology is to invest in high-quality but undervalued and underperforming listed companies, and to execute strategic initiatives for long-term sustainable earnings growth in the best interest of all shareholders.

According to TipRanks’ Star Ranking System, Peltz is ranked #3 out of 390 hedge fund managers.

Since June 2013, Trian’s portfolio has gained a whopping 292.3% under Peltz’s stewardship, beating the returns generated by both the S&P 500 (SPX) and average hedge fund portfolios during the same period.

A majority of Trian’s investments are focused on the Finance sector (55.2%), followed by Consumer Goods (22.9%). As of date, the Trian fund has $5.97 billion in assets under management.

On an annualized basis, Peltz’s investment choices have generated a 28.81% average return over three years. However, owing to the tumultuous market conditions, this return has turned negative lately, with the last 12 months averaging a loss of 3.77%.

Notably, Peltz boasts a Sharpe ratio of 5.06, much higher than the average hedge fund manager’s ratio. This signifies that our expert’s calls typically generate higher returns compared to the risk involved. A hedge fund manager’s performance is measured based on the Sharpe ratio of the funds as it signifies the magnitude of returns generated on a risk-adjusted basis.

Peltz’s Top Picks for 2022

Peltz is known to have strategically navigated many companies in the past, including Heinz, Procter & Gamble (PG), and Mondelez (MDLZ), to name a few. His current fixation is on the consumer goods conglomerate Unilever (UL) and the hamburger chain Wendy’s (WEN).

Currently, Trian and other affiliates of Peltz own close to 19.4% of Wendy’s common stock and are its largest shareholder.

Yesterday, Trian filed a 13D/A regulatory filing notifying Wendy’s of the firm’s intent to undertake strategic initiatives to increase shareholder value. These include “acquisition, business combination (such as a merger, consolidation, tender offer or similar transaction) or other transaction that would result in the acquisition of control of the Company by the Filing Persons and/or their affiliates…”

In response, Wendy’s said that it will carefully review any proposal from Trian, which is in the best interest of shareholders. WEN stock surged 14.4% on the news during the extended trading session and is up more than 11% in the pre-market trading today.

Invesco Ltd. (NYSE: IVZ)

Invesco is an independent global investment management firm and offers a range of single-country, regional, and global capabilities across major equity, fixed income, and alternative asset classes.

Peltz and his affiliates recently added 7,004,458 shares of Invesco and are currently its second largest shareholders with around a 12.05% stake. Invesco remains the largest holding (20.65%) of Trian funds to date, valued at nearly $1.25 billion.

Janus Henderson Group (NYSE: JHG)

Trian’s second largest holding, at 18.41%, is London-based Janus Henderson. JHG is a global active asset manager and offers investment solutions across multiple asset classes.

Peltz also upped his stake in JHG recently by purchasing 2,095,152 shares. Following the purchase, Trian now holds around an 18.85% stake in Janus Henderson and is its largest shareholder, with its holdings valued at approximately $1.12 billion.

Ending Thoughts

Over the years, Nelson Peltz has proven to be a successful activist investor, generating maximum value for shareholders. His recent interest in companies can be used as a guiding tool to make informative investment decisions.

Notably, TipRanks accumulates the recommendations of several Top Experts, which can be considered while making investment choices to maximize returns.

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