Best of both worlds

Asia's high-net-worth and retail investors have been piling into hybrid structured products this year in an attempt to enhance yields. Some banks have reorganised their trading and sales desks to capture this demand. But have they been successful? Jill Wong reports

Hybrid products have struck a chord with Asian investors this year. Faced with plunging equity implied volatilities, low interest rates and tight credit spreads, high-net-worth and retail investors have snapped up structured products combining two or more asset classes to enhance yields.

In some senses, hybrid products are nothing new in Asia. Power reverse dual currency (PRDC) notes have been the number one selling product to Japanese institutional and, to a lesser extent, high-net-worth