by Tolmas Wong, CFA

Passively-managed index ETFs have risen in popularity post the global financial crisis as investors realised it's hard to beat the market by picking individual stocks. ETFs become the cheapest & most convenient way to build a diversified portfolio.

Since then, ETFs have evolved to provide more granular access to a wide array of investment styles, strategies & themes. The new wave of growth is now seen in actively-managed ETFs which buy assets without following an index and making the passive vs active debate fuzzier.