Nelson Peltz's Trian rebounds in March; many hedge funds gained

BOSTON (Reuters) - Nelson Peltz's Trian Fund Management rebounded sharply in March, helping the activist investor start the year's second quarter nearly flat, an investor in the fund said.

Trian, whose substantial investment in General Electric Co (NYSE: GE) last year made the company its biggest holding, gained 7.24 percent last month, ending the first quarter with a tiny dip of 0.04 percent.

JP Morgan data show event-driven funds, which sometimes include activists, are down an average 1.23 percent this year. Hedge Fund Research's Activist Index is down 4.3 percent.

Many hedge funds made money in March as the market rebounded. Hedge Fund Research's HFRI Fund Weighted Composite Index shows a gain of 1.77 percent for the month, leaving the average hedge fund off 0.83 percent for quarter.

Trian, like many activist investors, concentrates its holdings in just a small number of companies, including snack-food maker Mondelez, Bank of New York Mellon and asset manager Legg Mason. Another Trian holding, fast-food restaurant chain Wendy's Co , climbed 16 percent in March after having fallen in February.

A spokeswoman for Trian did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Also in March, global macro funds that make big bets on interest rates and currencies fell 1.12 percent, JP Morgan data show, leaving them with a 0.08 percent gain for the year. Brevan Howard, a big global macro fund in which many pension funds have invested, lost 2 percent in March and is off 0.96 percent for the quarter, a person familiar with the numbers said.

Bridgewater's Pure Alpha Trading Company lost 1.2 percent in March, leaving it off 4.6 percent for the quarter.

The Pine River Fixed Income fund also had small losses, down an estimated 0.67 percent last month, for an estimated decline for the quarter of 5 percent. The departure this week of Steve Kuhn from Pine River was a notable exit. Kuhn, who had co-managed the fund for eight years, and said he is leaving investment management to focus on philanthropy.

The firms did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

(Reporting by Svea Herbst-Bayliss and Lawrence Delevingne; Editing by Leslie Adler)

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