The European exchange-traded fund market rarely stands still. Despite being ravaged by weak volumes and the heavy scrutiny of regulators last year, the industry has quickly reinvented itself in the first six months of this year, posting promising growth rates and diversifying into new, lower risk products.

Among the sectors proving most promising, is smart beta ETFs. These ETFs are often based on alternative indices, which apply different weighting methods to stocks, unlike traditional, market capitalisation-weighted benchmarks.