Hendrik du Toit, who last night became the first head of an asset management firm from outside the developed markets to win the top prize at the annual Financial News awards, has said the “real challenge” is “to put the money that’s in the developed markets to work in the developing market”.

The chief executive of Investec Asset Management was last night recognised at the Financial News Awards for Excellence in Institutional Asset Management, Europe, after being voted Asset Management Chief Executive of the Year. He beat highly-respected peers, including Insight Investment's Abdallah Nauphal, Aberdeen Asset Management's Martin Gilbert, Veritas Asset Management's Charles Richardson and Axa Investment Managers' Dominique Carrel-Billiard.