Best in Australia - Citi

The market in Australia has received some shelter from the past year's financial crisis because fewer Lehman Brothers-backed products were distributed there than was the case elsewhere in the Asia-Pacific region. That aside, there has been no respite from inhospitable equity markets or the ever-present uproar over structured products in the region.

"Investors were very much withdrawn, cashing up, and less willing to entertain the idea of investment products, whether capital-protected or not," says Gidon Kessel, chief product manager, investments and treasury products, wealth management at Citi in Sydney.

Citi has battled through these obstacles to maintain momentum, issuing new products every month while other providers have seriously scaled back. As of late July, Citi had offered 15 products since the beginning of this year, selling an