Structured products
NDFA launches latest fixed income trade
UK Distributor NDFA has launched its Regular Fixed Income Plan April 09, which is designed to provide exposure to the FTSE 100 Index. The trade is issued by AA minus-rated Barclays Bank.
BNP Paribas offers Millenium tracker fund
BNP Paribas has launched its Millenium Tracker Fund as part of its Privalto Ucits III OEIC (open-ended investment companies) range. The fund is designed to provide exposure the BNP Paribas Millenium 10 Europe Series 3 Total Return index, which comprises…
Société Générale takes UK warrants out to 2012
Société Générale has issued covered warrants with maturities of 2011 and 2012, its longest maturities to date and beyond the usual three to six months that require rolling over from one product to the next.
New mortgage finance fund listed on NYSE
State Street Global Advisers has launched a new exchange-traded fund (ETF) linked to the performance of companies involved in mortgage finance within US financial services. The SPDR KBW Mortgage Finance ETF tracks the KBW Mortgage Finance Index, which…
Lyxor offers funds of hedge funds in Ucits III wrapper
Lyxor Asset Management, a subsidiary of Société Générale, has launched two new Ucits III funds, the Lyxor Hedge Fund Index and Active Edge funds, which are designed to provide exposure to the hedge fund industry using managed accounts.
The big clean-up
The US Treasury's Public-Private Investment Program aims to cleanse balance sheets of toxic assets and revive financial markets. But questions remain over who will participate, how assets will be priced and how big a dent the scheme will actually make on…
Revitalising the markets
Governments are facing unprecedented pressure to finance bank rescue schemes through huge debt issuance. With supply coming thick and fast, the UK Debt Management Office (DMO) has been steering a hazardous path to place its debt into the markets. Until…
Paying the piper
The Nord Stream pipeline, planned to come online in 2011, will be vital to help Europe meet its future gas demands. However, financing any infrastructure project in the current climate is difficult. Roderick Bruce looks at the challenges facing Nord…
Simple structures
An increase in risk premiums on sovereign debt is giving banks a headache in pricing certain credit-related structured products. Investor appetite for such deals is in evidence, but mainly for simple, unleveraged products. Sophia Morrell reports
Column: Charles Cronin
Flawed models, conflicts of interest, ineffectual leadership: the rating agencies have emerged from the financial crisis with little credit, and reform may strip them further of their influence
Inflated expectations
It may seem counterintuitive, given these deflationary times, but inflation-linked fixed income strategies are proving a hit with investors as fiscal stimulus raises the threat that inflation will take over in the medium term. William Rhode reports
Financial pricing for the 21st century
Putting a price on assets for which no active market exists is a process mired in complexity and no little controversy. But the pricing models of yesteryear are simply not up to the job. David Patrikarakos looks at the new generation of valuation models…
Danny Davis
Mishcon de Reya's insolvency expert talks about the need for companies to learn to rely less on external funding, and why a UK-style Chapter 11 process isn't necessarily a good idea
Column: Paul Taylor
Ratings downgrades reflect a decline in creditworthiness, not an admission that the ratings were wrong in the first place. But that doesn't mean the rating process can't be improved. Paul Taylor
Banks await verdict from capital adequacy tests
US authorities prepare to release results of a series of stress tests conducted on 19 financial institutions to ascertain whether any are in need of immediate capital assistance
It's payback time
If you still wake up in a cold sweat, haunted by the memory of opening your 2008 bonus slip, you're not alone. Credit professionals across the board saw their bonuses slashed last year. But not all banks were forced to scale back their remuneration…
The sovereign state
While the sovereign market has in the past been most readily associated with rates investors, it has always been a key part of the credit sector, most importantly as a benchmark for the pricing of corporate bonds. But credit default swap levels on…