Why Should You Invest in a Structured Product Fund?
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FOR MATTIOLI WOODS CLIENTS JUNE 2016 managingwww.mattioliwoods.com WEALTH GOOD FOUNDATION Why should you invest in a structured product fund? also in this issue... Private Investors Club Pension freedoms Finance for children Property ownership ISAs - a love story Venture capital trusts INVESTMENTS INVESTMENTS FEATURE PENSIONS FEATURE PROPERTY SAVINGS INVESTMENTS Structured Structured Private Pension Children Property ISAs Venture Capital product fund product return investors club freedoms finance ownership Trusts A GOOD FOUNDATION Why should you invest in a structured product fund? Mark Fuller, Head of Structured Products The benefits of structured products within a diversified portfolio are easy to explain. Investing in structured products can give the buyer returns that are uncorrelated to the performance of the usual benchmarks, such as the FTSE100 or the S&P 500; they can also provide leverage, so an underlying asset that moves 1% can provide a return of much more than 1% if bought as part of a structured product. At Mattioli Woods, we have used UK inflation and the movement of house prices to provide returns for our structured products. Return on these underlying assets and many others are difficult for investors to access directly, but can be easily provided via a structured product. The final benefit, the return of the initial investment, can be demonstrated by Mattioli Woods’ track record in structured products. Over the last 10 years, 45 of the structured products we have put together for our clients have matured. Of these, 82.23% have paid a positive return, 13.33% have returned the investor’s original investment and just 4.44% have returned less than the original investment. Since 2005, we have arranged our structured product investments via plans. Although the advantages of structured product investing are clear, structured product plans as an investment strategy have a few flaws from a client’s perspective that cannot be easily overcome. For example… • All structured product plans have a fixed start and end date, so clients cannot control the start level for any index or other underlying asset used for the structured product in which they invest • When a plan matures, the client will automatically receive their money back whether they want it or not, but without an obvious next investment; structured products are “buy and hold” investments, so holders usually have to keep the plan until maturity to get the full return • Some structured products can be held without any prospect of a return if the underlying asset moves dramatically in the wrong direction shortly after the start date • The terms of any structured product, including the pay- off at maturity, are predefined 2 MANAGING WEALTH - ISSUE 13 FIVE THINGS YOU ALWAYS WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT • Buying a structured product via a plan exposes the customer to the risk of losing some or all of their initial investment if the STRUCTURED bank issuing the plan becomes insolvent * • Comparing one structured product with another is impossible as PRODUCTS no two structured products are the same By contrast, investing in funds is straightforward … Mark Fuller, • Fund investment can happen immediately Head of Structured Products • Liquidity is constantly available The return on a structured product can be linked to • An infinite number of funds with a similarly infinite number of almost any underlying asset… don’t believe me? – then objectives exist – and with the ease of liquidity an investor can look below… change their view and their fund holding very quickly 1) The following have been used to pay a return on • Funds can be compared and the track record of fund managers retail structured products: can be accessed from many sources a. Spain winning the football World Cup in 2010 • Funds are open-ended investments – the entry and exit to a fund (they won, and Banco Sabadell paid a bonus are determined by the individual investor, not the structured coupon). product plan manager b. Snow falling on Christmas Day 2005 at Heathrow • The risks to initial capital of fund investment are limited to the Airport (this was part of a Bristol and West performance of the fund Building Society structured deposit – it didn’t snow). A structured product fund eliminates most of the flaws of structured product investing via a plan, maintains all the benefits of 2) Some structured products linked to commodities structured products, and adds all of the benefits of investing via a pay a return in the form of a physical delivery of the fund. We are developing a collateralised structured investment fund commodity. That’s OK if the underlying asset is gold, with the sole objective of providing returns similar to an absolute but it has always limited the demand for uranium- returns fund via investments in structured products. The fund itself linked structured products... will be 100% collateralised – eliminating any counterparty risk. 3) In November 2005, The Birmingham Midshires Investors can buy or sell units in the fund at any time, and investors Building Society offered a structured product to fans immediately receive exposure to a diversified portfolio of structured of Wolverhampton Wanderers. Promotion to the products. The products are selected by managers with a combined Premiership boosted returns by 1% and there were 25 years’ experience of structuring and selling structured products. added bonuses … you could get tickets in the box, or The fund itself will be transparent – all the structured product pay- a signed Wolves shirt and a signed football. Mattioli offs held by the fund will be available on our website, and as it is a Woods could have offered a similar product linked fund, it will be open-ended with no fixed maturity date. to the performance of Leicester City this season, Our structured investment fund will have various structured but pension schemes and trusts would not have product pay-offs, which could take into account every form of been allowed to receive the signed memorabilia and underlying asset – the following list is just for demonstration tickets… I am sure they would be happy to receive the purposes and is not exhaustive! cash bonuses though! • Equities 4) Some structured products are given nicknames to • Commodities promote an understanding with the investing public. For example, a “Commodore” structured product was • Bonds named after the Commodores song “Once, Twice, • Rates Three Times a Lady”, because the possible return • Foreign exchange was “once, twice, three times” the performance of the • Mutual funds FTSE100. If you work in structured products, this is a hilarious play on words… apparently. These underlying assets will be in a fund with an objective to provide a smooth return in excess of the risk-free rate with a low 5) FIFA, the global governing body of football, arranged volatility – regardless of the performance of traditional benchmarks. a structured product named “The 2006 FIFA World The returns on the fund will be subject to capital gains tax when Cup Cancellation Bond” for the 2006 World Cup investment is not via a SIPP, SSAS or ISA. We will continue to sell in Germany. This was a catastrophe-linked bond to structured product plans that pay income, but in time we will have protect FIFA against financial losses that would result a separate structured investment fund that pays income too. should the 2006 World Cup in Germany be cancelled. History does not record where the FIFA’s upfront fee So, in answer to my initial question, “Why should you invest in for this bond was paid... a structured product fund?” … By combining the benefits of fund investing and the unique way a structured product can increase * the returns in a portfolio, a structured product fund is without BUT WERE TOO doubt the best way to invest in this asset class for growth-seeking investors. AFRAID TO ASK WWW.MATTIOLIWOODS.COM 3 INVESTMENTS INVESTMENTS FEATURE PENSIONS FEATURE PROPERTY SAVINGS INVESTMENTS Structured Structured Private Pension Children Property ISAs Venture Capital product fund product return investors club freedoms finance ownership Trusts THE IN CROWD We were delighted with the outcome of our very first Private Investors Club (PIC) opportunity – an investment that has returned 17.75% over just 18 months. Bob Woods, Chairman The PIC is designed not as an occasional speculative areas to house students more efficiently. The subject investment but as a considered and creative initiative property, Philip House, is located 50 metres away from the to develop a relatively low-risk portfolio of unusual University of Ulster which, after a £250m redevelopment and interesting opportunities, and which will provide and relocation programme due to complete in 2018, will valuable diversification as an investment uncorrelated to be home to some 15,000 students. mainstream investment markets. Set out below is the story The risk of this, our first matured investment. By way of security, investors had a first legal charge In October 2014, Mattioli Woods launched a new over the subject property, which on acquisition only had initiative for its clients, the Mattioli Woods Private planning consent for office space. Office space has a Investors Club. Running simultaneously with the launch much lower value than residential property, so the formal was the introduction of its inaugural investment, MW valuation on completing the Loan provided a value of Private Investors (101) Limited Partnership. Investors only £1.5m, somewhat lower than the Loan required were offered the opportunity to loan £1,722,000 (“the of £1.722m. With the benefit of planning consent for loan”) to York Street (No.1) Ltd, a Special Purpose Vehicle student accommodation, the valuation would be increased (“SPV”) set up to acquire Philip House, York Street, Belfast to £3.5m. Therefore, the risk to investors was whether and ultimately secure planning permission for student approval for student accommodation could be secured.