William Ackmans says AIG investment was a mistake

Reuters summarizes some of William Ackman's latest moves in this article. Essentially, it seems that the AIG investment was a mistake and Ackman sold out with minimal loss. He also sold out of positions in Sears Holdings, Canadian Tire, and several others due to controlling shareholders. William Ackman is an activist investor and he can't do anything when others have majority share ownership.

It's still not clear to me if William Ackman is a great investor or a speculator that is sometimes lucky. A lot of his returns look really great but he uses derivatives (which inherently contain high leverage.) One needs to be skeptical of hedge fund managers using leverage.

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