Lots of people blamed ETF's when the markets were rising. Now they are doing the same when the market is falling. YOU CAN'T HAVE IT BOTH WAYS. I can redeem an ETF on market pretty quickly. Or, I can instruct a fund manager to redeem my investment, of which he will do by COB the next day. So a 1 day lag. The ETF, is likely to be VERY broad in its exposure with say 300 underlying holdings in the case of ASX: VAS, allowing that process to happen efficiently. The fund manager will be concentrated in a few names - some funds only run 20 stocks, most 40 or so - and will be weighted towards their higher conviction ideas, typically well in excess of the market weight. Which one has the greatest impact? Id argue that fund manager redemption' in times of liquidity stress, being only concentrated in a handful of names do. Let the passive vs. active debate rage on!