Fortune  reports that Fed Chief Ben Bernanke’s investment portfolio has benefited from the monetary policy he crafted in recent years – to the tune of about a half million dollars.

Bernanke, the Federal Reserve chairman, and his family owned financial assets valued at between $1.2 million and $2.5 million at the end of 2009, according to financial disclosures released by the Fed Friday. That’s up from a range of $850,000 to $1.9 million at Dec. 31, 2008.

The rise brings Bernanke’s holdings back in line with their 2007 levels, tracking the fall and rise of the stock market. The S&P 500 index rose 23% last year after plunging nearly 40% the year before.

Bernanke’s biggest gains were in two retirement accounts he holds thanks to the years he spent as a professor at Princeton, a Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association guaranteed annuity and a College Retirement Equity Fund variable annuity that’s invested in large-cap stocks.

The value of both accounts rose last year to a range of $500,000 to $1 million from half those sums the year before.

He probably hasn’t looked at any of his financial statements in years…