Reverse Convertibles and Event Risk
(Jun 2013)
Reverse convertibles are short-term debt securities issued by banks whose return of principal at maturity is contingent upon the returns of the linked stock. Although these notes typically pay relatively high coupons, they expose investors to losses on the underlying asset, especially if those losses are beyond the trigger level. Academic research shows that these coupons are not adequately compensating the investor for the market risk that they are bearing by investing in the notes. For...
Are ETF Flows Costly to ETF Investors?
(Apr 2013)
Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are often lauded for their ability to efficiently create or redeem shares in response to changes in demand for the fund (known as fund flows). However, new research suggests that some ETFs that hold international securities may face transactional frictions that prevent them from tracking their benchmarks as well as other ETFs.
When there is an imbalance between supply and demand for an ETF, authorized participants (APs) create or redeem shares of the ETF to...
The Basics of Options Contracts
(Jan 2013)
In a lot of our research work, we break down complex financial products into simpler pieces and then value those simple pieces one at a time. Often, those smaller components are options contracts (especially in our structured product work), which are relatively easy for practitioners to value. However, options contracts use a peculiar terminology that can be confusing to the uninitiated, so we thought we would lay out exactly what we mean when we talk about options.
Options contracts are...
Structured Products: 2012 Year-End Market Review
(Jan 2013)
Last year, we covered Bloomberg's summary of the 2011 structured product market by noting that almost "$45.5 billion worth of SEC registered structured products were sold in the US in 2011, down only slightly from $49.4 billion in 2010." In 2012, 7,909 notes totaling just over $39 billion worth of SEC registered structured products were sold in the US -- a decrease of nearly 15%.
Interest rate products continued their decline in popularity with a decrease of almost 30% from 2011 to 2012....
Structured Products Highlight: Citigroup ELKS Linked to YAHOO!
(Dec 2012)
Today we're highlighting a structured product issued on May 25, 2011 by Citigroup. This product (CUSIP: 17317U501) is an Equity LinKed Security (ELKS) linked to Yahoo! (YHOO).
ELKS are similar to reverse exchangeables in that the notes pay periodic coupons (monthly at an annualized rate of 9.50% in this case) and protect principal on a limited basis (if YHOO's price remains above the $13.08 trigger during the term of the note). In contrast to reverse exchangeables, once a trigger event occurs...
Structured Products Highlight: JP Morgan Reverse Exchangeable Linked to Ford
(Dec 2012)
Today we're highlighting a structured product issued on January 19, 2012 by JP Morgan. This product (CUSIP: 48125VHZ6) is a Reverse Exchangeable linked to Ford Motor Company (F). Investors who purchased the notes were exposed to the possibility that JP Morgan would default on the obligations spelled out in the note's offering documents.
This particular note offered investors monthly coupons at an annualized rate of 11.25% for the six month term of the note. If, during the term of the notes,...
Can Non-Financial Firms Issue Structured Products?
(Nov 2012)
The simple answer is yes. Structured products are for regulatory purposes corporate debt--that's why they are vulnerable to the credit risk of their issuers. In theory, any firm that can issue corporate debt could issue a structured product, and could link that structured product to any underlying asset it choose. In practice, no non-financial firm has done so in the US (to our knowledge), as there hasn't been a compelling reason for them to do so.
But according to Vita Millers at Risk.net, ...
Structured Products Highlight: Reverse Exchangeable Linked to Apple
(Nov 2012)
We here at SLCG have been working on research reports to educate investors concerning recent offerings of structured products. We've talked a lot about structured products on this blog and we wanted to start describing the features of individual products and how we analyze their value.
Today we're highlighting a structured product issued in August 2012 by JP Morgan. This product (CUSIP: 48125V4K3) is a Reverse Exchangeable Note linked to Apple stock (AAPL). Reverse exchangeables -- also known...
