For a hedge fund manager who has had his share of drama in recent months, William A. Ackman was notably subdued in a presentation on Wednesday.
Mr. Ackman, head of Pershing Square Capital Management, focused on Procter & Gamble in his remarks at the Sohn Investment Conference in Manhattan, a closely watched annual gathering where prominent investors share their ideas.
Though Procter & Gamble is one of the biggest holdings of his hedge fund, it is not nearly as controversial as Herbalife â€" which Mr. Ackman said in December was an illegal pyramid scheme â€" or J.C. Penney â€" whose flagging sales led the company to replace the chief executive, Ron Johnson, whom Mr. Ackman had supported.
Speaking softly and with little flourish, Mr. Ackman explained that he had not yet had a chance to expound publicly on his Procter & Gamble investment.
“I needed something to talk about at Ira Sohn,†he said.
In the presentation, he highlighted the strong brands of P.&G. and called it the “biggest emerging-market company in the world.†He argued that the company’s gross margins were lower than they should be and said the company had recognized the need to improve efficiency.
The investor also criticized the chief executive, Robert A. McDonald, saying he serves on 21 boards in addition to P.&G.’s, a commitment that likely takes up a significant amount of his time.
Some in the audience noted that, for Mr. Ackman, the presentation was relatively light on excitement.
It has been an action-packed few months for him. In January, the month after disclosing his short-selling position on Herbalife, Mr. Ackman engaged in a heated argument on live television with Carl C. Icahn, a longtime nemesis.
Mr. Icahn, taking the other side of Mr. Ackamn’s bet, quickly built up a stake in Herbalife and gained two seats on the company’s board.
In February, an article in Vanity Fair described an episode in which Mr. Ackman became badly fatigued in an aggressive bike ride with another hedge fund manager.
All the while, Mr. Ackman’s position in Penney was suffering. In April, the company ousted Mr. Johnson after 17 tumultuous months as chief executive.
So, perhaps it was not surprising that on Wednesday, Mr. Ackman’s presentation did not seem designed to generate many headlines.
