Markets were sliding, but investors were still paying for the privilege of an active manager. As a result passive products have become more popular.

The main types of passive products are index trackers, which have been around for a long time, and ETFs which have more recently arrived in Europe. Both have been promoted as offering a cheap alternative to active products, with ETFs providing access to many exchanges that would otherwise be inaccessible to the average investor.

For a relatively low starting amount, the investor can tap into foreign exchanges.

In the US where ETFs are far more established, there is $1.49 trillion (£990bn) invested in these products, whereas in Europe it comes to $385bn (£256bn). However, there has been astonishing growth in Europe with a compound annual growth rate of 42.5 per cent over the past 10 years, against the global compounded annual growth rate of 29.6 per cent.

Still, there are risks associated with ETFs, not least whether investors should be going for synthetic or physical ETFs. Some fear there is too much resting on the counterparty of synthetic ETFs for them to be really safe. Nevertheless, they remain an area advisers must take seriously.

Hal Austin is editor of Financial Adviser