BarclayHedge and TrimTabs Investment Research reported that the hedge fund industry took in a net $4.7 billion (0.3% of assets) in November, reversing a $10.3 billion outflow in October. The results are based on data from 2,935 funds.

The latest monthly TrimTabs/BarclayHedge Hedge Fund Flow Report notes that the hedge fund industry earned 0.6% in November, besting the benchmark S&P 500 Index’s 0.3% increase and marking the second consecutive month that the industry outperformed the S&P 500.

“Two months of outperformance signal a notable shift from the dominant trend of the past 12 months, when the industry gained 6.2% while the S&P 500 rose 13.6%,” said Sol Waksman, founder and president of BarclayHedge.

Although returns and cash flow improved in November, the past 12 months have not been so kind. Industry outflows totaled $21.2 billion (1.2% of assets) from December 2011 through November 2012, a sharp reversal compared with the previous 12-month industry inflow of $61.9 billion. TrimTabs and BarclayHedge reported that while the industry lost assets last year, top-performing hedge funds continued to gain assets over the same time period.

The Hedge Fund Flow Report also noted that Emerging Markets hedge funds had the highest returns for the month, at 1.3%, among the 13 categories tracked by BarclayHedge. Distressed Securities funds netted the best 12-month returns at 10.0%.

“Emerging Market and Distressed Securities funds show that the riskier investments are generating the higher returns for a change,” said Charles Biderman, founder and CEO of TrimTabs. “For much of the past year, safer Fixed Income hedge funds took in the most money by dollar volume and delivered the highest returns.” Fixed Income funds took in $25.6 billion (12.5% of assets) and earned 9.0% over the past 12 months.

The December 2012 TrimTabs/BarclayHedge Survey of Hedge Fund Managers found that managers overwhelmingly expect the S&P 500 Index to rise this year, but few expect a repeat of last year’s strong performance. Managers expect financial and industrial stocks to be the top two sectors this year. Sixty hedge fund managers participated in the survey.