BarclayHedge and TrimTabs Investment Research reported that hedge funds took in a net $18.5 billion (1.0% of assets) in May, more than a forty-fold increase from April’s $430 million inflow. The results are based on data from 3,368 funds.

“In May, the hedge fund industry saw its strongest net inflows in more than two years,” said Sol Waksman, president and founder of BarclayHedge. “In the first five months of this year, the industry took in $35.7 billion, compared with just $484 million in the same period last year.”

The TrimTabs/BarclayHedge Hedge Fund Flow Report noted that Equity Long Bias Funds delivered a return of 2.6% in May, edging past the S&P 500’s 2.3% gain. “This outperformance flies in the face of the trend in the past 12 months, when these funds earned 16.6% as the S&P 500 gained 27.3%,” said Waksman.

Funds of hedge funds took in a net $428 million (0.1% of assets) in May, reversing a $4.2 billion outflow in April and breaking a 14-month streak of net outflows. Funds of funds underperformed the hedge fund industry by 67 basis points in May.

The TrimTabs/BarclayHedge Survey of Hedge Fund Managers found that managers grew more bearish on the S&P 500 in June, but opinions were pretty evenly split in July.