The return of equity

The rally in global stock markets has meant that the region’s private banking clients are once again looking to invest in equity products. And with investors looking to take more exposure to equity upside, capital-guaranteed products are gradually being replaced with more aggressive equity-linked notes. Nick Sawyer reports

Back in April last year, it was difficult to see why anyone would invest in Asian equities. Hong Kong’s stock market, ravaged by the spread of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome virus, fell to its lowest level since October 1998; Japan’s Nikkei 225 stock index fell to 20-year lows; and South Korea’s benchmark composite index hit its lowest level since October 2001. Difficult to believe, then, that these stock indexes finished the year with gains of 35%, 24.5% and 29% respectively.

For Asia’s