Smaller firms more than held their own against their larger rivals at the eleventh annual Financial News Awards for Excellence in Institutional Asset Management, Europe, at London's Royal Courts of Justice last night.

Hendrik du Toit, the chief executive of Investec Asset Management, took home the coveted Asset Management Chief Executive of the Year prize, while Majedie Asset Management scooped the night's other top gong, winning the European Asset Management Firm of the Year category.