Suggesting that active managers "may need to reinvent themselves," the report added that by 2017, asset managers expect to see the biggest increase in the use of institutional shares, retirement (R6) shares, and a platform/wrap share class. In addition, financial advisors plan to increase their use of platform and institutional share classes even though A-shares made up the largest percentage of their advisory practice sales in 2015.

What else is growing? Interest in both strategic beta products and environmental, social, governance/socially responsible investing (ESG/SRI) strategies. Strategic beta, since it's a hybrid approach of both passive and active, is an alternate option to higher-cost active mutual funds, the report said. In addition, ESG/SRI came into its own in 2015, "as the industry began to see more mainstream acceptance."

One prediction the report mentioned that might have to be reconsidered in light of the recent Brexit vote is that, "[a]ccording to financial advisors, across all investor types (conservative, moderate, and aggressive), U.S. equity allocations are expected to drop by roughly 1 percent over the next three years as a higher proportion of portfolios will be devoted to global equity and international fixed income."

Given the market turmoil that's already ensued in the wake of the United Kingdom's vote to leave the European Unioni, it remains to be seen whether U.S. investors will be more spooked by Brexit than by the uncertainties that lie ahead with the presidential election. Only time will tell whether they opt to stick with the devil they know and ride out potential U.S. turbulence without adding the unknowns embodied in the precedent-setting U.K. vote.