Structured products
Between volatility and variance
Banks and investors were hammered on short single-stock variance positions during the financial crisis, leading many dealers to withdraw from the variance swap market. The alternative that some have reverted to is the volatility swap, although this has…
Second-hand values
The demand for transparency and liquidity makes trading in and out of a structured product extremely attractive to investors. This has resulted in healthy secondary markets across Europe, so why has the UK been so slow to emulate its continental…
Simply does it
Structured products have been used as a scapegoat for some of the problems that led to the financial crisis. But Cater Allen, the UK private banking arm of Santander, says transparent products can regain investors’ confidence. Clare Dickinson reports
Constructing a reputation
China Construction Bank (Asia) is enhancing its retail offerings in Hong Kong ahead of a planned expansion into mainland China. But the distributor is delaying sales of accumulators to high-net-worth and private banking clients for fear of reputational…
Volatility capped access to funds
ING Bank is offering Swedish investors a product that has the classic benefits of allowing access to an unusual and potentially risky underlying while changing its return profile. The product is based on the East Capital Russia Fund, giving local…
Dutch Trigger
Van Lanschot has issued five-year trigger notes based on the AEX index of the 25 most-traded Dutch stocks. The product offers a minimum of 10% per annum on potential early maturity, although capital is not protected if the 50% barrier is breached at the…
The call and collateralisation
Citi is providing an open-ended structured fund linked to the FTSE 100 index. Investments in the Autocall Fund mature when kickout occurs or when a five-year cycle is completed, and proceeds are reinvested on kickout. The fund is fully collateralised…