Wayne Nutland: Don't underestimate the value of active management in multi-asset index investing

From their origins of tracking large liquid equity markets, the expansion of the exchange-traded fund (ETF) structure into other asset classes makes ETFs an ideal choice for multi-asset active management. The original exchange-traded funds tracked the large, liquid equity markets and were intended to be used as single exposures, or exposures within an equity market, as opposed to being blended into multi-asset portfolios. Mutual funds tracking equity indices had first been created in the 1970s, and the first equity ETFs were essentially designed as a way of making passive equity investin...