Bill Ackman is trying to square a difficult circle. To get an initial public offering of his Pershing Square USA fund off the ground, he needs to give early investors a sweetener. But if that comes at the expense of later investors, his new closed-end fund could struggle after it floats.

Ackman’s European-listed fund had strong returns in recent years. But the basket of stocks still traded at a 30 per cent discount. That gap has created a challenge in listing his US vehicle. Anyone interested in Ackman’s acumen would be better off waiting for the US fund to list, trade down from 100 cent of net asset value and buy in later.

Before he withdrew his first tilt at an IPO of Pershing Square USA in July, Ackman was set to buy $500mn of the vehicle’s shares. But he also wanted to earn a 2 per cent management fee. As he now tries to resurrect the flotation, his solution is to throw in some cookies for those willing to leap first. The puzzle is those goodies would, by definition, come out of the pockets of subsequent investors.