24 January 2011

Alphabet soup with 'certificates'

If anyone wants proof that the proliferation of investment 'certificates', warrants and other structured products has gone too far he only needs to look that Deutsche Bank's website for its x-markets products. I would hazard a guess and estimate that not even 5 per cent of all market professionals in stock exchange departments or investment management firms would be able to understand ALL listed products. Does anyone other than those involved in the manufacturing of these investment vehicles really master all the intricacies of their behaviour? We advise investors to be on the lookout and be vigilant in case their financial advisers try to put such structured investment products into their portfolios.