John Paulson’s latest investor letter is bound with some good news; all of Paulson’s major funds except for Paulson Gold Fund, are up through the first quarter. Juliet Chung of the Wall Street Journal reports a 2.3 percent YTD return for Paulson Advantage Fund, which was possible due to a 5.6 percent gain in March. Paulson Advantage is an Event Driven fund with $1.5 billion AUM. Paulson Advantage Plus (AUM $2.5 billion) fund is up 3.6 percent for Q1 assisted by a 7.6 percent gain in March.
Paulson Advantage Funds were among the biggest losers in 2012 and 2011 and were also ranking among the bottom hedge funds through February. Total AUM managed by the hedge fund firm which had reached $31 billion several years ago, has dropped almost in half.
However, Paulson Gold continues to lag badly. The Gold Fund lost 3.1 percent n March, bringing the total losses for Q1 to negative 28 percent. The loss was attributable to the declining volatility in the gold derivatives market. The Gold Fund is a smaller allocation for the main fund compared to other funds managed by Paulson & Co. The investor letter says that the firm generated profits from 97 percent of its capital.
Paulson Recovery Fund, AUM $509 million, is up 14.2 percent in 2013 and Paulson Credit Opportunities with assets close to $4.3 billion is up 10 percent in the first quarter. Paulson & Co’s Merger Arbitrage funds, Paulson International and Paulson Enhanced were up 3.6 and 7.6 percent through February. Both hedge funds manage in excess of $3.4 billion.
John Paulson has lately gotten a lot of bad press for his underperformance in the Paulson Advantage and Gold fund. However, at least for the Advantage funds, March was a pleasant turnaround.
