Big bets on energy and commodity businesses helped L1 Capital post an 11.3 per cent return after fees for its flagship hedge fund over the March quarter, and boast it is the best-performing long-short fund in Australia since its inception in 2014.

The L1 Capital Long Short Fund run by Mark Landau and Raphael Lamm said its 33.5 per cent return over the past year, versus 15 per cent for the S&P/ASX 200, also benefited from shorting overvalued tech stocks that are years away from profitability and retail businesses that suffered as COVID-19 lockdowns eased.