GSAM's Teahan: They said reaching the retail market wasn't possible  

What next?

Fast forward five years and GSAM's activity in 2018 offers an insight into its plans for the market in the years to come.

In June, the firm rehired Peter Thompson, founder of Source ETF - which was purchased by Invesco PowerShares in late 2016 - as managing director and head of GSAM's European ETF business, a significant step, Teahan explains.

GSAM launched its US ETF business in 2015, since which it has swelled to around $10bn in total assets, primarily in smart-beta products.

Teahan says these smart-beta products - a bridge between traditional passive and active investing - are "very likely" to be the ETFs the firm brings to the UK and Europe "sometime next year" amid rising client interest.

She adds: "These ETFs are a growing part of the market, and it is something we have wanted to be able to offer clients here too."

One such ETF that Teahan highlights as "something that would be interesting to bring to the UK" is the Goldman Sachs JUST US Large Cap Equity ETF.

Managed by the firm's quantitative investment strategies (QIS) team, the ETF invests in a benchmark it created of 424 holdings, which were selected based on a survey of 60,000 Americans who were asked ‘what is a good company?'.

This chimes with the October launch of GSAM's Emerging Markets Equity ESG portfolio, which came about in response to growing demand for products that do "good", Teahan says.

She explains: "We are hearing from clients that ESG is increasing in popularity, and a lot of wealth managers are telling us the next generation of wealthy people care about ESG."

However, Teahan adds, the changing face of client demands in the asset management industry presents a greater challenge than just providing the right products.

She says: "It is not just about asset managers providing ESG products, it is also about us being ‘good' companies.

"People want to associate themselves with ‘good' companies."