Oct. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Louis Dreyfus Investment Group’s hedge fund more than quadrupled its assets to $410 million in less than a year, according to two people familiar with the matter.

The Louis Dreyfus Commodities Alpha Fund, managed by Ian McIntosh, returned 1.2 percent in September, taking gains in the first nine months to more than 10 percent, according to a letter to investors obtained by Bloomberg News. The fund started in November with $100 million. The company declined to comment.

Assets in commodity hedge funds expanded 7.3 percent in the third quarter to $60 billion, according to New York-based Hedgefund.net. The 24-contract S&P GSCI Enhanced Total Return Index rose 12 percent in the first 9 months of the year.

The Louis Dreyfus Commodities Alpha Fund made the most from sugar last month, according to the investor newsletter. Raw sugar traded in New York advanced for a sixth consecutive month, taking its gain this year to 115 percent. Refined sugar traded in London rose 11 percent last month.

McIntosh, based in Geneva, has spent more than two decades at Louis Dreyfus, where he is responsible for global trading in grains, soft commodities and metals. The fund also invests in industrial metals.

Hedge funds are mostly private pools of capital whose managers participate substantially in the profit from speculation on whether the price of assets will rise or fall.

To contact the reporter on this story: Chanyaporn Chanjaroen in London at cchanjroen@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: October 23, 2009 04:54 EDT