If patience is a virtue, Manooj Mistry has had to be more virtuous than most in his quest to become a leading player in the rapidly growing exchange traded funds sector.

Back in 2000, Mr Mistry was involved in the launch of Merrill Lynch’s first ETF. But while Merrill’s Ldrs range appeared successful – its DJ Euro Stoxx fund became the largest in Europe – the US bank decided to sell out to Barclays Global Investors in 2003, a deal that doubled the assets of BGI’s iShares arm to €4bn (£3bn, $6bn) overnight and helped propel the UK bank to dominance in the global ETF market.