EUROPE – PensionDanmark won the award for real estate investments at the 2013 IPE Awards in Noordwijk, the Netherlands on Thursday.

Last year's winner of the award, Germany's Ärzteversorgung Westfalen-Lippe (AeVWL), was one of the two pension funds shortlisted for the accolade.

The UK’s Pension Protection Fund was the standout winner, taking home the Gold Award for the Best European Pension Fund, the Silver Award for the Best Public Pension Fund and the Country Award for the UK.

Peter Borgdorff, director at PFZW and a veteran of the Dutch pensions industry, won the Gold Award for Pension Fund Personality of the Year, while Richard Balfe, chairman of the MEP Pension Fund for European parliamentarians, won the Outstanding Industry Contribution Award.

British Steel Pension Fund landed the final Gold Award for Best Long-Term Investment Strategy.

Other big winners on the night included the Belgacom Pension Fund, which won the Silver Award for Best Corporate Pension Fund and the Country Award for Belgium.

SEB Pension won the Bronze Award for Fixed Income and the Country Award for Denmark, while the Merchant Navy Officers Pension Fund in the UK won the Bronze Award for Alternatives and the Themed Award for Specialist Managers.

Finland’s Etera Mutual Pension Insurance Company won Themed Awards for Emerging Markets and In-House Investment Team.

The remaining Silver Awards went to Denmark’s Industriens Pension, which won Best Industry-wide Pension Fund, and Italy’s Fondo Pensione per gli Agenti Professionisti di Assicurazione, which won Best Small Pension Fund.

NEST Corporation landed both the DC/Hybrid Strategy Award and the Risk Management Award.

The final Bronze Award, for Equities Investment, went to Switzerland’s CERN Pension Fund.