SLCG Economic Consulting's Logo

Resources

Blog

Our experts frequently write blog posts about the findings of the research we are conducting.

Filter by:

Displaying 11-20 out of 84 results for "Principal Protected Notes".

SLCG Research: Structured Product Indexes

Most research on structured products focuses on what is known as initial date mispricing -- the difference between what a product costs and how much it is worth, as of the issue date. If you look at any of our structured product reports (let's take this reverse convertible, for example), you can see that the product was issued at a price of $1,000, but that the present value of its resulting cashflows only comes out to $960.40. The difference, $39.60 or 3.96%, represents an expected loss to...

FINRA Investor Alert: Closed-End Fund Distributions

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) recently released an Investor Alert to draw investors attention to the subtle difference between distributions and returns in the context ofclosed-end funds. Closed-end funds are pooled investments like mutual funds (which are also known as 'open-end funds'), but have only a fixed number of shares. This distinction has a big impact on how the fund is analyzed.

Distributions from closed-end funds are typically quoted as a rate (e.g. 6%). This...

How to Value a TIC

For our second post of TIC Week, we would like to describe how to calculate purchase-date valuations of TICs. The vast majority of TIC offering documents include cash flow projections. As we described last week, we can use discounted cash flow analysis to determine the present value of the property based on those projections. While the cash flows from TIC investments are more complicated than those of simple coupon-paying bonds, the underlying analysis is essentially the same.

Discounted cash...

Welcome to Tenancies-in-Common (TIC) Week on the SLCG Blog

Today, SLCG posted a new research paper, Large Sample Valuations of Tenancies in Common . In it, we value 194 TICs, totaling $2.2 billion in equity and representing approximately 17% of the TIC industry from 2004 to 2009. Our paper complements our earlier research on TICs ("What is a TIC Worth?" and "Private Placement Real Estate Valuation"), and is the most extensive empirical study of TICs to date. This week we will be summarizing the results of our research in a series of blog posts. But...

SEC Litigation Releases: Week in Review - October 25th, 2013

Jury Finds Mark Cuban Not Liable for Insider Trading
October 23, 2013, (Litigation Release No. 22855)
Last week, "a nine-person federal jury found Mark Cuban not liable for insider trading" in Mamma.com securities.

SEC Obtains Final Judgment Against New Jersey-Based Consultants to Chinese Reverse Merger Companies
October 23, 2013, (Litigation Release No. 22854)
A final judgment was entered against Huakang Zhou (a/k/a David Zhou) and Warner Technology and Investment Corporation for their alleged...

FINRA's Conflict of Interest Report

On Monday, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) published their Report on Conflicts of Interest "to better understand how [a number of a large firms] manage conflicts of interest and to identify effective practices to manage those conflicts." The report details observations made in connection with FINRA's targeted examination letter in July 2012 as well as in-person meetings resulting from that letter.

The report makes it clear that a well-defined framework is necessary for...

The JOBS Act and Private Placement Advertising

As per rules adopted in line with the 2012 Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act (JOBS Act), hedge funds and other private placements can now advertise to the general public. We have been covering this issue extensively here on the blog. While many sources suggested that this would unleash an immediate flood of new marketing, several sources have noted that there has in fact been remarkably few hedge fund advertisements so far.

Why? There could be several reasons. The first is that while the...

Fidelity to Launch Mutual Fund Based on Hedge Fund Strategy

We see it again and again: complex investment strategies packaged into traditionally conservative investments. We have seen corporate debt linked to exotic derivatives positions (structured products), exchange-traded products linked tocomplex futures positions (commodities and volatility ETPs), variable annuities linked to options strategies (structured product based variable annuities), and even certificates of deposit with complex payoff structures (structured CDs). Now, we are seeing more...

SEC Litigation Releases: Week in Review - October 11th, 2013

Previously Unknown Insider Traders in Heinz Agree to $5 Million Settlement
October 10, 2013, (Litigation Release No. 22841)
According to the complaint, Rodrigo Terpins traded on nonpublic information concerning H.J. Heinz that he learned from his brother, Michel Terpins. Rodrigo Terpins made his trades through "a Cayman Islands-based entity named Alpine Swift that holds assets for one of their family members." The Terpins brothers and Alpine Swift, which was named as a relief defendant, have...

SEC Litigation Releases: Week in Review (Part II) - October 4th, 2013

SEC Obtains Asset Freeze and Other Emergency Relief in Ponzi Scheme Targeting Investors in Japan
October 3, 2013, (Litigation Release No. 22832)
The SEC was granted a temporary restraining order, asset freeze and other emergency relief againstEdwin Yoshihiro Fujinaga and his company MRI International, Inc.. Fujinaga allegedly raised more than $800 million from investors through MRI, an allegedly "fraudulent Ponzi scheme designed to misappropriate money from investors. "The defendants...

84 Results

Display: