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.
Structural simplicity
Restoring confidence in structured products is top of equity derivatives dealers' agenda as they move to offer less complex instruments to jittery investors. But the industry faces a long haul to bring business back to levels witnessed in 2007. Jill Wong…
Exploiting Japan's renegade repos
Japanese equities
Editor's letter
Editorial
Editor's letter
Editorial
Gambling on dividends
Dividends have caused sizeable losses for dealers and investors over the recent months, as a precipitous fall in expectations has hit structured product issuers and those who participated in dividend swaps. Mark Pengelly investigates
Editor's letter
Editorial
HKMA urges firms to heed Lehman advice
Daily news headlines
Feeling deflated
The consensus is that interest rates are headed for zero in 2009, with even the long end of the curve looking depressingly flat. William Rhode looks at how structured products are likely to function in such an environment - from both an issuer and…
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
Trimming the tenor
The Hong Kong market is undergoing a massive shift in the type of products that are distributed as investors opt for simple, short-dated, capital-protected investments because of uncertainty about long-term trends. Hang Seng Bank is even offering…
The pause before paradise?
If you think markets are finally at the bottom, this could be the time to start making the switch from cash. You could also plump for credit products in 2009. All that is required is a return of stability, meaning no more horror stories. But how likely…
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
Catching the wave
Dealers are offering a swathe of volatility-linked products in Asia both as risk-reduction and investment tools, generally based on fear gauge, the Vix index. How are these products catching on in the region? Georgina Lee reports
Richardson's rich pickings
After partnering with Credit Suisse earlier this year to sell structured notes, Richardson Partners Financial has found news ways to adapt its offering to high-net-worth clients amid an exceptionally tough financial climate in Canada - and its business…
The ideal copy
A series of hedge fund redemptions in the third quarter of 2008 have alerted investors to just how illiquid these investments can be. Add in the restrictions that some of funds have placed on withdrawing cash, and it is easy to see why structured…