While the low volatility that has accompanied the stock market's inexorable rise to record highs in recent weeks has been a boon for most retail investors, there is a segment of institutional investors who are seriously suffering.

That's investors who make their money on stock picking, The Wall Street Journal reports.

The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), which measures expected volatility for the S&P 500 index, hit a seven-year low in June. And that makes it difficult for stock pickers to find equities that are outperforming the overall market.

Editor’s Note: 5 Shocking Reasons the Dow Will Hit 60,000

More actively managed mutual funds are trailing market benchmarks thus far this year than in any full year since 2011, according to Morningstar.

The phenomenon of narrow price ranges for stock is called low dispersion.

"The missing link is dispersion," Craig Lazzara, senior director of index investment strategy at S&P Dow Jones Indices, tells The Journal. "In an environment of low dispersion, the amount by which a winner can win is less."

CNBC contributor Ron Insana says the low volatility in stocks is nothing to worry about for individual investors.

While some commentators worry that low volatility presages high volatility to come, Insana says that's not a rule. "In the past, the results of low volatility were not always immediately catastrophic," he writes in a commentary for CNBC.

"For individual investors, a low-volatility environment could be the trigger to draw them back into stocks, using a buy-and-hold strategy. It's time to give the little guy a chance to re-enter the market and take advantage of the stability that has been absent for so long."

Editor’s Note: 5 Shocking Reasons the Dow Will Hit 60,000

Related Stories:

• Freakonomics Authors: Stock-Picking Pros 'As Good As a Monkey With a Dartboard'
• Goldman's Blankfein: Low Volatility Won't Last Forever in Stock Market