The signs of the growing popularity of index investing in Europe are plentiful. From assets stampeding into exchange-traded funds that are linked to a variety of indices, to the rapidly rising number of sector and market-based investment vehicles aimed at institutional and retail players, there is no shortage of evidence that investment patterns are shifting decidedly in favour of broad continental benchmarks.

Thanks to the advent of economic and monetary union, European institutional investors are taking advantage of an unprecedented expansion in their collective investment horizon - and they are seeking a range of performance yardsticks that mirror this wider view.