LONDON, Jan 13 (Reuters) - A rush of client cash into money market funds in November pushed flows for the European mutual fund industry into the black for the first time since May 2007, data from fund research firm Lipper FMI showed on Tuesday. Overall net inflows to European mutual funds were at 10.45 billion euros ($13.90 billion) in the month, driven by a 31.74 billion net inflow to money market funds.
The sector had seen net redemptions of close to 40 billion euros in the previous month.
Equity funds were the only other broad asset class to attract positive flows, at a more modest 589 million euros, following net outflows of 21.04 billion euros in October.
The European funds industry has had a rollercoaster year marked by poor performance and client outflows. Even money market funds, designed as a secure alternative to bank deposit accounts, have shown fragility.
The Reserve Primary Fund in the United States was forced to "break the buck" in September as asset prices dwindled and redemption requests escalated. The news helped to spark redemptions from the sector across the Atlantic.
A money market fund is said to have broken the buck when its net asset value falls below $1, 1 euro or 1 pound.
The data released Tuesday, however, appear to show that sentiment has recovered. Money market funds are the only sector to show net inflows over the year-to-date, at 91 billion euros, according to Lipper FMI.
Overall industry net outflows in the 11 months to end-November are 306 billion euros.
Net outflows from bond funds were 10.98 billion euros in November, slowing sharply from 56.47 billion euros in October. Redemptions were a net 1.88 billion euros in property funds, against 5.45 billion a month earlier.
Mixed asset funds saw clients withdraw a net 2.63 billion euros in the month after pulling out 14.18 billion euros in October.
The Lipper FMI data comprise flows from the regulated mutual fund industry throughout Europe. It excludes funds of funds to avoid double counting. (Reporting by Joel Dimmock; editing by Elaine Hardcastle)