Stock correlation within sectors has dropped significantly this year as markets have rallied, providing a boon for long/short equities managers who buy and sell companies based on fundamental analysis of their individual merits.

Giles Worthington, a portfolio manager at RiverCrest Capital, said: "Correlations are falling with quite a powerful force and diversity in stock returns is rising. This is good news for stock-pickers as once again investors are considering the difference between a high-quality and a low-quality company."