The top-performing strategy last month was corporate activism, a style of investing that has surged in popularity and was generally boosted by rising stocks over the month. The average activist investor gained 5.37 percent in February, bouncing back from an average loss of 3.44 percent in January, according to eVestment. That brings the year's returns to 1.55 percent following a 4.83 percent gain in 2014. It was the best performance for the industry since February 2014.