Focus Sections » OTHER FOCUS SECTIONS » STRUCTURED PRODUCTS

— “European investors are happy to take some equity risk, but only for a while” - Bernard Desforges, Société générale

Structured products’ popularity among distributors and investors may

conflict with the reluctance of traditional mutual fund houses to embrace them, but the increase in offerings and demand for alternatives has made them easy to sell in the current investment climate, writes Yuri Bender

Hybrid products offer many valuable features that help diversify and thereby stabilise performance of an investment portfolio. They also allow investors to gain exposure to a combination of traditional and alternative asset classes. Barclays Capital outline the structures on offer

As managers are forced to put together a high performing portfolio while avoiding exposure to risk, they are seeking different investment strategies. One solution that offers diversification, potential to generate alpha and a high degree of flexibility is absolute return products. Credit Suisse Asset Management outlines the benefits

As investors realise the limits of traditional asset classes in producing portfolio growth, due to unclear equity market trends and low volatility, they are looking towards alternatives to diversify their investments. BNP Paribas examines the different aspects of the increasingly popular structured products market