How to Invest in Structured Products (PDF)

This book is essential in understanding, investing and risk
managing the holy grail of investments - structured products. The
book begins by introducing structured products by way of a basic
guide so that readers will be able to understand a payoff graphic,
read a termsheet or assess a payoff formula, before moving on to
the key asset classes and their peculiarities. Readers will then
move on to the more advanced subjects such as structured products
construction and behaviour during their lifetime. It also explains
how to avoid important pitfalls in products across all asset
classes, pitfalls that have led to huge losses over recent years,
including detailed coverage of counterparty risk, the fall of
Lehman Brothers and other key aspects of the financial crisis
related to structured products. The second part of the book
presents an original approach to implementing structured products
in a portfolio.

Key features include:

* A comprehensive list of factors an investor needs to take into
consideration before investing. This makes it a great help to any
buyer of structured products;

* Unbiased advice on product investments across several asset
classes: equities, fixed income, foreign exchange and
commodities;

* Guidance on how to implement structured products in a portfolio
context;

* A comprehensive questionnaire that will help investors to
define their own investment preferences, allowing for a greater
precision when facing investment decisions;

* An original approach determining the typical distribution of
returns for major product types, essential for product
classification and optimal portfolio implementation purposes;

* Written in a fresh, clear and understandable style, with many
figures illustrating the products and very little mathematics.

This book will enable you to better comprehend the use of
structured products in everyday banking, quickly analyzing a
product, assessing which of your clients it suits, and recognizing
its major pitfalls. You will be able to see the added value versus
the cost of a product and if the payoff is compatible with the
market expectations.