Structured credit desks woo retail investors

Growth in the use of structured products by retail investors has boosted the market, but there are concerns about this new investor base, as Simon Boughey reports

The voluminous issuance of structured debt in August and September took many professionals in the credit derivatives market by surprise. Surely by late summer yields were too low to tempt investor interest? In fact, the continued strength of the market in a time of razor-thin spreads is due at least in part to the exploitation of a part of the buy side only recently interested in structured debt – retail.

Of course, retail buyers have not suddenly become buyers of structured products overnight