L1 Long Short Fund (ASX:LSF) said its portfolio returned 12.7% in the June quarter and 45.4% over the past year, according to a Thursday filing with the Australian bourse.

The performance follows a negative 0.2% return in the March quarter, according to an earlier filing.

The fund said artificial intelligence and the Middle East conflict were the two dominant themes for equity markets in the June quarter, with AI-related stocks performing strongly on the back of robust earnings and growth in capital expenditure.

L1 Long Short Fund's portfolio saw broad gains across a range of positions in the June quarter. It said 13 stocks each contributed more than 0.5% to returns, which more than offset weakness from its exposure to gold and uranium.