July 9 (Reuters) -

Hedge fund manager Bill Ackman kicked off fundraising for a

new U.S.-listed closed-end fund on Tuesday, an effort people

familiar with the matter say could bring in as much as $20

billion, more than double his assets under management, some of

that from retail investors.

Last month, Ackman sold 10% of his firm, Pershing Square

Capital Management, which has posted mostly strong double digit

returns since 2019 after a spell of losses.

The new fund, Pershing Square USA Ltd, will offer lower fees

for investors and quicker access to capital than traditional

hedge funds, regulatory filings show. There will be no

management fee charged for the first year after the fund's

initial public offering and no performance fees ever.

It will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange and be

available to anyone who can invest in the U.S., including

pension funds, endowments and retail investors. Roughly 80% is

expected to be raised by institutions, with retail investors

making up the rest, a filing made Tuesday shows.

Ackman, a heavy user of social media platform X, referenced

the fundraising on Tuesday when he messaged his 1.3 million

followers "I am going to be busy for the next few weeks.

$PSUS!!"

Investors, including ones unable to write the

multimillion-dollar checks Wall Street hedge funds traditionally

demand, can pay $50 a share for the new vehicle. At the end of

June, Pershing Square Capital Management oversaw $18.7 billion

in assets, according to a company document. This includes some

$15 billion in assets in Pershing Square Holdings, the 10-year

old closed-end fund listed in Amsterdam and London.

Ackman built his reputation as an activist investor with

noisy campaigns at companies ranging from railway Canadian

Pacific to payroll and tax services company ADP.

He owned stakes in Chipotle Mexican Grill ( CMG ), Hilton

Worldwide Holdings ( HLT ) and Restaurant Brands International

at the end of the first quarter.

Citigroup ( C/PN ), UBS Investment Bank, BofA Securities and

Jefferies are global coordinators and bookrunners for the

initial public offering.

Ackman's recent string of strong returns -- Pershing Square

Holdings earned 27% last year, 27% in 2021, 70% in 2020 and 58%

in 2019 (It dropped 8.8% in 2022 when the market tumbled) --

follow a reorganization of the firm.

Taking the advice he usually gives to companies to perform

better personally, Ackman re-engineered the way he invests and

reversed double-digit losses in 2015 and 2016 followed by

smaller declines in 2017 and 2018.