Structured Products - Volume 6/No 6
Articles in this issue
Brics back in fashion
The debt crisis in Greece has brought volatility to the eurozone and given global markets the jitters. For many private banking accounts the affair has further underlined the attractiveness of emerging markets, where budget deficits are often lower and…
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
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…
Counting the cost of counterparty risk
A few years ago no-one worried about counterparty credit risk. Then a year ago that was all anyone cared about. As markets begin to settle down, the shake-up could have longer-term implications for the structured products market. By John Ferry
Locked out of longevity
Despite regulatory scrutiny of life settlement products and concerns over the complexity of assessing longevity risk, the institutional structured product market in the asset class is growing exponentially. But will these products ever be suitable for…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Product performance
Comparing principal-protected, accelerated growth and reverse convertible products with September 2009 strike dates
Funds the key to unlocking Spanish market
Structured products distribution in Spain stalled during the financial crisis as banks turned away from open architecture. The answer seems to lie in fund-based products, for which the distribution networks remain open. Richard Jory reports from…
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
