Most investors face a frustrating trade-off. You can have the potential for outperformance and greater control over your portfolio, but usually at a higher cost. Or you can choose passive investing: cheap, efficient, and simple – but it can be rigid and leave you with expensive or concentrated exposures you may not want.

Looking at the returns over the last decade, one could be forgiven for assuming that everything has been smooth sailing, and it is easy to forget all the challenges that markets and the global economy have faced