Seeking a bite from the goliaths

Sovereign wealth funds have shown a fleeting interest in structured products during the past year. But resulting trade volumes have been meagre, and it is doubtful whether these equity-heavy behemoths will ever become consistent investors. Matt Cameron reports

To the dismay of structured products issuers, sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) are not ploughing copious amounts of capital into their products, and the general consensus is that they are unlikely to start doing so now. The funds have garnered a reputation as saviours over the past year by injecting capital into distressed investment banks, but this is certainly not the case in the structured products industry. Equity-linked trades are largely absent and the few deals that have been made