Structured products
WHAT IS THIS? Structured products are investments that have multiple components. For retail investors, the most common form is a bond plus an option – these tend to be standardised, sold in small tickets and large volumes. Managing the risks of large structured products portfolios is one of the biggest challenges dealers face.
HK warrant issuers optimistic on listing cost cuts
Inclusion of listing reform in second budget speech raises hopes for action on ‘expensive’ fees
Corporates turn to structured notes to juice cash returns
Dual currency notes find favour with treasurers under pressure to boost yields amid higher rates
Why vol markets shrugged off Nvidia rout
Gamma, autocalls and stock dispersion helped prevent a broader market meltdown
Trump’s tariff threats fuel corporate FX hedging revamp
Treasurers mull options and longer-dated hedges in face of mixed signals on extent and timing of measures
How UBS sold off non-core equity assets at lightning speed
More than 40 auctions have been completed since Credit Suisse acquisition, with a little help from a T-Rex
SG looks beyond equity derivatives in new markets push
French bank aims to expand fixed income business to achieve “more stable” revenues across asset mix
China’s snowballs hit by new regulatory clampdown
Restrictions on structured note issuance by securities houses blocks key distribution channel
Goldman’s unmatched sold credit protection up 15% in Q3
Written notionals not hedged by buying identical protection on riskiest names jumped 85%
Bank risk manager of the year: Intesa Sanpaolo
Risk Awards 2025: Market risk team developed new tools that helped overcome the challenge of FRTB internal models
Structured products house of the year: UBS
Risk Awards 2025: bulked-up structuring team is more than just the sum of its parts
Best structured products support system: Goldhorse Capital – Extramile
Goldhorse Capital – a Hong Kong-headquartered fintech platform now making waves across Asia’s structured products market – wins Best structured products support system at this year’s Asia Risk Awards
Supply chain decoupling fires up alpha focus at BofA
Talking Heads: Stock dispersion sees funds gross up on long/short baskets, while US structured notes come of age
Vega peak was foothill in historic Nikkei selloff
JFSA scrutiny has curbed issuance of autocallables, so stock plunge generated light re-hedging
Gamma jitters from defined outcome funds
Tumbling equity markets could flip dealers’ exposure to gamma from long to short, leading to hedging losses
Asia moves: Senior hires at HKEX, UBS and more
Latest job news from across the industry
T+1 shift sparks dividend chaos in HK structured products
Products staying on T+2 leave providers scrambling to deal with ex-dividend dates caught inbetween
DVAs inflate US banks’ liabilities by $4.9bn
Credit spread retrenchment since last year’s crisis comes with flipside of larger structured-product liabilities
Regulatory crackdown puts Korea autocalls in deep freeze
Mis-selling fears see distributors pull back, leading to 40% issuance fall in a month
Options market still searching for cause of the Vix plunge
BIS paper blames yield-enhancing structured products, but market participants are unconvinced
Canada’s FRTB pioneers get snowed on fund-linked trades
As Basel capital reforms go live, risk managers eye early adopters’ progress and push to improve capital treatment of fund-linked products
How China’s equities intervention caused a quant fund quake
Popular leveraged market-neutral trade crumbled after government stepped in to support major indexes in February