Carl Icahn’s activist hedge fund is off to a fast start this year after last year’s big losses.

Icahn Partners, which manages $1.9 billion, is up 16% this year, Bloomberg News reports. The fund soared 7.3% last month, while the average hedge fund added just over 3%.

Icahn Partners plummeted 37% last year, doing almost twice as badly as the average hedge fund.

The famed corporate raider has certainly been busy in the early going of 2009. This week, Icahn Partners has been victorious in a pair of proxy battles with two pharmaceutical companies, winning two seats each on the boards of Amylin Pharmaceuticals and Biogen Idec. Last month, he also told investors that the fund has been active in distressed debt, where he sees a “once in a generation” opportunity.