Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac rally as Ackman presses for conservatorship exit

Shares in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac rallied on 3 November as investor Bill Ackman renewed his call for the US government to release the mortgage finance companies from conservatorship. Ackman, whose Pershing Square has held shares in both companies for more than a decade, argued that an exit had become politically urgent. The share gains reflected renewed hopes for a change in policy; they did not signal that a release had been agreed.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have been under the control of the Federal Housing Finance Agency since the 2008 financial crisis. Any exit would require decisions about the companies’ capital, the Treasury’s financial claims and the government support that helps underpin the mortgage market. Those unresolved questions leave the timing and terms uncertain, including what an eventual deal would mean for existing shareholders, taxpayers and borrowers.