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Shares in Home Retail Group and Ocado - two of the most shorted stocks in the UK equity market - have leapt this morning after a pair of well-received announcements.

While markets are nearing - or passing through - nominal highs, in reality, UK shares would need to climb much higher just to meet inflation-adjusted pre-crisis highs of 2007.

James Henderson has criticised the Investment Management Association (IMA)'s review of the UK Equity Income sector, ahead of the potential ejection of his top performing fund later this year.

Returns from the UK equity market have come in for some heavy criticism recently, but experienced investor Graham Ashby argues returns over the last decade show it has been far from a poor choice for investors.

The return of high-profile funds to the top of the performance charts is shaking up the UK equity rankings, just as the asset class returns to favour.

Henderson's Job Curtis, manager of the £838m City of London investment trust, said UK equity income investors are experiencing the best conditions since the 1950s.

INCOME

Traditionally only available to institutional investors and high-net-worth individuals, Jock Green-Armytage, investment adviser to JZ Capital Partners Limited, explains how smaller retail investors can gain exposure.

2012 was a mixed year for markets, with developed market equities recovering from a summer sell-off to make marginal gains, while some segments of the property and bond markets outperformed.

ITs