A significant change in strategy should signal alarm bells for many hedge fund investors. In the case of Winton Capital Management, however, its increasing focus on cash equities appears to be paying dividends.

This year's Best Hedge Fund Manager in Managed Futures, the $10 billion Winton Futures fund led by managed futures pioneer David Harding, gained 9.4% in 2013, helped by an increased weighting to cash equities from 10% to 25%. Matthew Beddall, Winton's chief investment officer, told Financial News: "Roughly half that gain came from traditional trend-following, which is what we're known for. About 25% came from non-trend-following strategies and 25% from trading cash equities." The $220 million Winton Evolution fund, which allocates 40% of risk to cash equities, gained 14.5%. It's non-hedge fund, long-only Winton Global Equity fund, however, returned 30%.