Structured products
Retrospective: A simple plan
Barclays Bank issued a straightforward minimum return product just before the financial crisis, linked to the performance of the FTSE 100 index. Ensuing volatility and widening CDS spreads show why such products are rare in today’s markets
Product performance
Comparing principal-protected, accelerated growth and reverse convertible products with August 2009 strike dates
Market snapshot
Tim Mortimer of Future Value Consultants looks at the pricing issues for structured products in different markets and provides his trade of the month
Banca Fideuram focuses on clarity
Tightening spreads are making it more difficult for banks to factor protection into their products and although the market is stabilising, having protection and products they understand is still an important factor for Banca Fideuram’s customers. Clare…
Strategic thinking
Banks and index providers have been quick to colonise the investment space vacated by stressed hedge funds after transparency became a byword for popularity. With both now offering proprietary dynamic strategies and promising alpha returns, will they end…
ETFs step into the spotlight
As concerns over counterparty risk continue to drive inflows into exchange-traded funds, Richard Jory asks some of the market’s leading practitioners to offer their thoughts on how an increasingly attractive investment market looks set to develop
Trading in the open
The development of the trading market for exchange-traded funds in Europe will depend on improvements in the reporting of off-exchange activity, though the wait for European legislation will be a long one. Further benefits would result from greater…
Now you PRDC them...
Power-reverse dual-currency notes have represented something of a Trojan horse for dealers. The hybrid structures have been popular for more than a decade among a wide range of Japanese investors, from regional banks to pension funds. But now the strain…
The increasing FX
FX-linked products are on the rise as yield hungry investors look to one of the few underlyings that has been feasible to structure into short term capital protected notes in recent times while hedging conditions improve for issuers. A transparent and…
Keeping it in the family
US family offices control possibly the largest concentration of private family wealth in the world, so it is no surprise that creators of structured products are eyeing this space. But with the ultra-rich resembling small institutional investors more…
