In Steven Spielberg’s original Jurassic Park, the chaos theorist played by Jeff Goldblum chastises the theme park father’s folly in resurrecting dinosaurs by noting: “Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should.” The exchange-traded fund industry should take note.

This is a heady time for the ETF world. Overall inflows last year topped $1tn for the first time. Coupled with the buoyancy of financial markets, this means that the ETF industry is on the cusp of crossing the $10tn of assets under management mark.

The industry is also broadening. Bond ETFs took in about $244bn in 2021 — a new record and the third $200bn-plus year in a row. Many traditional investment groups are also embracing the ETF structure for active strategies, underscoring how it has transcended its genesis as a passive vehicle.