Hedge funds gain

The average hedge fund returned 1.85 percent last month, fueled in part by strong gains at some of the world's most prominent activist hedge funds, according to data released by Hedge Fund Research on Friday.Funds' returns largely rebounded in February after the stock market moved higher, helping erase some of January's losses which were sparked by unexpected currency moves, concerns over global growth and sliding oilprices.For the year, the HFRI Fund Weighted Composite Index is now up 1.96 percent after inching up only 0.12 percent in January.Some of February's strongest performers were the so-called activist funds that push corporations to perform better by making changes to leadership and balance sheets. These funds climbed 4.4 percent, marking their strongest gain in two years. They are now up 1.75 percent for the year to date.Daniel Loeb's Third Point, which has recently waged campaigns at Sotheby's and Dow Chemical Co, gained 4.8 percent while William Ackman's Pershing Square Capital Management gained 5.8 percent last month and Richard McGuire's Marcato Capital Management, which recently stepped up its pressure on Sotheby's and took a position in Bank of New York Mellon Corp last year, climbed 8.8 percent in February.With the stock market recovering, so-called short sellers, who bet securities will fall, lost 1.62 percent last month.