Chasing the channel

AWD Chase de Vere has spent the best part of a decade building a tried-and-trusted structured products distribution channel of 250 independent advisers. In the wake of the Lehman Brothers collapse, the firm is increasing its focus on the financial strength that underpins products. By Sophia Morrell

AWD Chase De Vere has been distributing structured products for around seven years, which is roughly the length of time that Julie Smith, AWD's evocatively titled head of protection and structured products, has been with the firm, which is based in Bath. The past seven years have seen both the best and worst of times for UK structured products, stretching back as far as the precipice bond fiasco that damaged the market in its early stages. "We came into contact with precipice bonds, as I'm sure