The comeback kids

Last year's double whammy of Lehman Brothers' bankruptcy, which trapped investors' money in the defunct bank, and accumulators, where investors were caught going long when the stock market plunged, almost killed off structured products. But as the financial crisis starts to stabilise, products are making a Lazarus-like return across the Asia-Pacific region

Structured products in Asia have been revamped as a safe, low-risk investment for cautious investors. Previously, they had been created to chase yield and had extremely complex payoffs but, since investors were severely burned last year, products have been given a facelift and are now more transparent, simple and, on longer-dated terms, protected.

"Investors are interested in guaranteed returns rather than potential returns," says Peter Hu, managing director at Barclays Capital in Singapore.

Wit