The Financial News fourth annual Awards for Excellence in Institutional Hedge Fund Management, Europe, 2014, come after a year in which the industry gained 9.24% but underperformed wider equity markets. Accommodative central bank policies in the US and Europe helped equity managers be among the best performers, according to Hedge Fund Research. Managers benefited from a good environment for stock-pickers as correlations between sectors and stocks dropped, and corporate activity picked up.

Against this backdrop, this year's Financial News hedge fund awards were dominated by equities-focused manager Lansdowne Partners, which won the Best Hedge Fund Manager in Long/Short fund (over $3 billion) and Best Hedge Fund Manager Overall categories.