John Paulson is off to a good start this year

Billionaire hedge fund manager John Paulson, who runs $18 billion Paulson & Co., is off to a solid start so far this year. 

Bloomberg News' Simone Foxman reports that the fund's unlevered merger-arbitrage fund, Paulson Partners, rose 3% in February, while the levered version, Paulson Partners Enhanced, climbed 6.5% last month.

The two merger-arbitrage funds, which manage about half of the fund's assets, are up 4.2% and 9.3% for the year, the Bloomberg report said.   

Last year, marked Paulson's second-worst performance ever with his Advantage Plus fund falling 36% and his Advantage fund falling 29%. In 2014, Paulson Partners ended the year up 0.8%, while the Enhanced fund fell 1.6%. 

Paulson, 59, became famous for his 2007 bet against subprime mortgages. 

Here's a look at the performance of a couple of hedge fund categories through Feb. 18 via Goldman Sachs.