Structured products
US Wrap: S&P 500 sandwiched between alternative choices
Two less traditional alternatives to the S&P 500 index have been released into the US market by Credit Suisse and Royal Bank of Canada (RBC).
All four one
MSS Investments has enlisted the Swedish Export Credit Corporation as issuer of a six-year capped growth product linked to the performance of a basket of global indexes based on infrastructure, equities, fixed income and emerging markets
Sixteen again
Arc is offering a sterling-denominated play on emerging markets - specifically the iShares MSCI Brazil Index Fund ETF and Hang Seng China Enterprise Index - which promises returns of 16% for each year of its five-year term if no kickout occurs
Autocalling China
Morgan Stanley has produced a two-year autocallable linked to the iShares FTSE/Xinhua China 25 Index Fund with a 10% buffer. Increases above the target level are not passed onto the investor
Product performance
Products with strike dates in January and weekly valuations are reviewed this month
Trade of the month: Secondary trading
The secondary trading of structured products in the UK is limited by low liquidity, which is partly due to bid-offer spreads that are wide enough to deter investors. While most providers of retail structured products in the UK publish prices throughout…
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
The White stuff
JW Advisors was established earlier this year by Joseph White, one of a growing number of intermediaries leaving investment banks to go independent. Now White is constructing credit diversified portfolios for institutional clients, who are reaping the…
Capinordic expansion
Capinordic Asset Management, part of the Denmark-based Capinordic Bank, is planning to launch a structured products distribution business in Sweden. Pierre Cooper talks to Johan Tjeder, the fund manager who has been brought in to help set up the operation
Best in China - Standard Chartered Bank
Structured Products Asia Awards 2010
Index innovation - Standard & Poor's
The strategic markets approach has served Standard & Poor's (S&P) well over the past 12 months, specifically the index provider's Risk Control Indexes, Currency Beta Series, Asian Thematic Indexes and S&P 10 and S&P 40 indexes
Battling the benchmark
In 2007, investors demanded more active commodity indexes to capitalise on the bull run in the asset class. But benchmarks and beta offerings alike were hit by last year's drawdown. Will this lead investors to abandon directional offerings in favour of…
Environmental exploitation
Recessions usually spell bad news for the environment. Promises of investment in clean energy and sustainable technology wither away as mediocre returns drive investors to count the cost of easing their conscience. But today's burgeoning green sector…
Seeking simplicity
Almost a year after the collapse of Lehman Brothers, German retail investors are again becoming comfortable with products from US investment banks. This means that domestic players will need to fight hard to retain their increased market share as the…
Winning strategies
The new breed of systematic structured products offers investors a third way between long-only managers and hedge funds. As well as providing strategies similar to hedge funds, but with better transparency, liquidity and lower costs, the products could…
Morgan Stanley turns bullish on Asia exposure with four new ETFs
Morgan Stanley has unveiled a new play on Asian equity exposure in the US, a US$5million deal that links to an equally weighted basket of four exchange-traded funds (ETFs).