The inexorable march of the exchange traded fund: The Financial Times is following in the footsteps of the Wall Street Journal in launching a series of stories on the rise of passive money. The scene-setter piece is here, but we’re most intrigued by the FT’s notion that exchange traded funds will ultimately be good for active fund managers.

Writes the FT: “It appears that many of the professional investors decrying the rise of the ETF have failed to identify the irony in their complaints: that those who live and die on their ability to exploit market distortions and mispriced assets are so troubled by products they argue are creating exactly the type of distortions they aim to profit from. The rise of the exchange traded fund, far from resulting in the death of the discretionary investor, may, in fact, present an increasingly fecund environment to find undervalued securities.”

If you’re a fund manager anywhere in the world this morning, you want to read “Why active fund managers should cheer the rise of ETFs.”

Have a few extra minutes? Bookmark the FT’s landing page for the series so you can get future installments, or head over to the Wall Street Journal (paywall) for its series on the same subject.