NEW YORK (Bloomberg) — Hedge fund manager Dan Loeb's corporate credit portfolio returned 15 per cent in the second quarter, helped by a bet on high-yield bonds.

“Performance was largely driven by positive returns from performing credit investments in the energy sector,” Loeb said on Friday in a conference call discussing results at Third Point Reinsurance Ltd, the Bermudian-based company that counts on him to oversee investments. “We maintain minimal distressed credit exposure at present.”

Loeb, 54, started amassing more than $1 billion in energy credit in February, he said previously in a second-quarter letter to his hedge fund's clients, adding that he felt there was too much pessimism in the market. His investing returns helped the reinsurer generate net income of $53.4 million in the period ended June 30, more than three times as much as a year earlier and the best quarterly result for the company since 2013.

Sovereign credit was another bright spot, with Argentinian government bonds returning about 12 per cent for the quarter and 20 per cent for the year. The total investment portfolio climbed 4 per cent in the three months through the end of June.

Loeb also addressed a question about politics on the conference call, saying that the decision by British voters to leave the European Union, a move that roiled global markets, shouldn't be treated as a sign that “populist backlash” will prevail in the US presidential race. Polls last week showed Democrat Hillary Clinton, the former secretary of state, ahead of Donald Trump, the Republican real estate mogul.

“We have some very unusual personalities involved in this election. I think they're giving people some concern,” Loeb said. “I'm not going to predict the outcome, but we're obviously watching the polling very closely. And I think that the election is important, but I think the polling would suggest that we would be in reasonable shape in this election.”