Bill Ackman’s concentrated stock portfolio is available through Pershing Square USA, but the fund charges a 2% management fee while trading at a discount to NAV. For investors who want exposure to the same crowded names without paying that fee, Vanguard Mega Cap ETF and Vanguard Growth ETF offer a lower-cost route.
Vanguard Mega Cap ETF, or MGC, holds many of Ackman’s top stocks, including Microsoft, Amazon and Uber. Vanguard Growth ETF, or VUG, pushes the same idea further on cost: it focuses on growth stocks with even lower fees, which gives investors a cheaper way to replicate part of the portfolio without owning PSUS directly.
PSUS and the fee gap
2% is the price of admission for PSUS, and the fund still trades below NAV. That combination leaves investors paying up for concentrated access while the market values the shares at less than the assets behind them, a setup that makes fee-sensitive buyers look harder at substitutes.
Vanguard ETFs give that substitute in a more practical form. MGC is built to mirror Ackman’s portfolio with broader diversification, while VUG narrows the field to growth names and does it with lower fees still. The difference is not just cost; it is structure. PSUS concentrates exposure, while the ETFs spread it across more holdings.
Microsoft, Amazon and Uber
Microsoft, Amazon and Uber sit inside MGC, which is why the ETF can approximate Ackman’s stock selection without requiring investors to buy the fund tied to him. That matters for readers comparing whether they want direct access to his portfolio or a market-fund version that captures many of the same names.
Bill Ackman remains the center of the tradeoff. His portfolio is described as concentrated, so a buyer in PSUS gets a tighter link to his holdings, but also pays the 2% management fee and accepts the discount to NAV. A buyer in MGC or VUG gives up that direct line and keeps more of the return stream.
VUG and the cheaper route
VUG focuses on growth stocks and does so with even lower fees, making it the leanest option in this setup for investors who care more about cost than about matching each holding one for one. If the goal is broad exposure to the same style and some of the same names, the math points away from PSUS.
What remains for investors is simple: choose between a concentrated fund built around Bill Ackman’s portfolio, or a cheaper ETF wrapper that captures many of the same stocks. The decision turns on whether the 2% fee and the NAV discount are worth the tighter connection to his holdings.
