Stocks had a surprisingly strong month in November, but for hedge funds, it was more of the same.

On the upside, the industry, broadly speaking posted gains for the month. The HFRI Fund Weighted Composite Index, a benchmark for performance, rose 0.9 percent on the month, bringing the year-to-date gain up to 4.6 percent.

The downside, though, is a familiar refrain.

Despite their comparably high fees, hedge funds continue to underperform basic market indexes — and by a pretty wide margin. The for the month rose 3.7 percent in terms of total return terms, and was up 9.8 percent for the year. The market index hit a fresh all-time high Thursday morning

The driver of equity outperformance for the month was an injection of optimism that followed Donald Trump's stunning upset in the presidential race. While much of Wall street had been anticipating a market plunge in the event that the Republican won, just the opposite happened.