By Svea Herbst-Bayliss

BOSTON (Reuters) – Hedge fund manager William Ackman’s 10% bet on Universal Music Group (AS:) helped nearly double returns at his own portfolio to 15.3% this week after shares in the world’s biggest music label surged in their first hours as a publicly traded company.

Ackman is the head of hedge fund Pershing Square Capital Management. It was up 7.7% last week.

His investment in Universal Music Group, the record label where Bob Dylan, Taylor Swift and the Beatles are all credited for the gains. Ackman opted to change his mind a few weeks back, purchasing a large share in UMG through his portfolios. His original plan to invest in a blank check company contract in July was halted by U.S. regulators.

His investors were told by the billionaire investor that human beings need to eat, drink, and listen to music. Music, which pays royalty income, was considered a wise investment.

He raised $1.1 billion in fresh capital for the UMG stake through a co-investment vehicle, a structure he has previously used for investments in Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:) and Air Products (NYSE:) & Chemicals. Ackman had invested $4B in UMG through his funds.

Ackman saw a 70% return on his 2020 investments, compared to a mere 58.1% in 2019. HFRX Global Hedge fund Index is up 3.58% this year. This index measures industry returns.

Ackman’s top performing stocks in the first 8 months of this year were Chipotle Mexican Grill, Agilent Technologies and Domino’s Pizza. Agilent was sold by Ackman to fund UMG’s commitment.

UMG’s share price jumped more than three times in the first day of trading in Amsterdam. This made it Europe’s most valuable listing.