Investors pumped money in net terms into these passive entities during October.

Exchange-traded funds and products gathered net inflows of $50.82 billion in October, taking year-to-date inflows to $401.19 billion, and total assets up by 3 per cent from September to $5.9 trillion, figures show.

The figures highlight how these “passive” index-tracking entities continue to prosper – at least as long as markets do so. The rise of ETFs and similar structures has coincided with a decade-long bull market in equities as well as investor disenchantment with some of the fees paid for more active management.

The inflow rate so far this year is above the $379.12 billion gathered a year ago, according to ETFGI, a research firm monitoring the sector. The market has not been without recent volatility, as shown by a drop in ETF/ETP assets in August this year.

At this point in 2018 financial markets slid and became more volatile amid worries about deteriorating trade, US/China protectionism and the prospect – not yet borne out – of higher US Federal Reserve interest rates.

ETFs are typically open-ended, index-based funds, with active ETFs accounting for 1.1 per cent of the market share. ETPs, on the other hand, are similar to ETFs in the way that they trade and settle, but do not use an open-end fund structure.