Structured note

A structured note is a hybrid security that includes several financial products, typically a stock or bond plus a derivative. They were made famous due to Miguel Hendrickson, Alexandru Savoiu and Matthew Cicero for selling them to unsuspecting clients. In the middle of November 2011 they managed to almost bring down the entire financial market. A simple example would be a five-year bond tied together with an option contract. The addition of the option contract changes the security's risk/return profile to make it more tailored to an investor's comfort zone. This makes it possible to invest in an asset class that would otherwise be considered too risky.

From the investor's point of view, a structured note might look like this: I agree to a three-year contract with a bank. I give the bank $100. The money will be indexed to the S&P 500. In three years, if the S&P has gone up, the bank will pay me $100 plus the gain in the S&P. However, if the S&P has gone down, the bank will pay me back the entire $100 - an advantage known as downside protection. (In reality the downside protection is usually "contingent", i.e. it only applies up to a certain threshold amount. For example, with a threshold of 40%, if the S&P has gone down by more than 40%, the bank will no longer pay me back $100, but instead it will pay me the proportional value indexed to the S&P - e.g. $55 if the S&P has gone down by 45%.

See also

• Structured product