John Paulson is off to a great start in his quest to get his top two funds back to their high water marks.

Recall that his Advantage fund and the leveraged version, the Advantage Plus fund, both cratered in 2011, falling roughly 36 percent and 51 percent, respectively. But January has been kind to the hedge fund guru.

According to Bloomberg, Paulson’s Advantage Fund rose 4 percent in January, while the leveraged version rose about 5 percent. The gold-denominated versions fared even better, rising 7.4 percent and 9.5 percent respectively, as gold soared during the month. Paulson’s other funds have also fared well, especially the gold-denominated versions. As for the gold fund itself, it was up 13 percent in January.

While the price of gold has goosed returns of all gold-denominated fund shares, it’s unclear what percentage of customers have opted for the gold versions. In previous years, gold-denominated versions have outpaced the underlying funds by wide margin. At times in 2010, for example, the gold versions were up about twice that of the non-gold shares.

In any case, it will be a long time before Paulson can start taking management fees again in his two flagship funds. But he’s off to a great start, which is good news for his limited partners.

For more:
- here’s the article

Related articles:
John Paulson eyes strong 2012
More big losses for John Paulson