Financial Engineering with Reverse Cliquet Options Brian A. Eales∗ and Radu Tunaru† Abstract Index-linked securities are offered by banks, financial institutions and building societies to investors looking for downside risk protection whilst still providing upside equity index participation. This article explores how reverse cliquet options can be integrated into the structure of a guaranteed principal bond. Pricing problems are discussed under the standard Black-Scholes model and under the constant-elasticity-of-variance model. Forward start options are the main element of this structure and new closed formulae are obtained for these options under the latter model. Risk management issues are also discussed. An example is described showing how this structure can be implemented and how the financial engineer may forecast the coupon payment that will be made to investors buying this product without exposing the issuing institution to risk of loss. Key words: cliquet options, structured products, constant-elasticity-of-variance model, forward-start options, JEL codes: G13, G24. ∗ London Metropolitan University, Department of Economics, Finance and International Business, 31 Jewry Street, London, EC3N 2EY, England, tel: (++) 0207320 3091, e-mail:
[email protected] † London Metropolitan University, Department of Economics, Finance and International Business, 31 Jewry Street, London, EC3N 2EY, England, tel: (++) 0207320 3096, e-mail:
[email protected] 1 From an investor’s point of view traditional equity-linked instruments provide an opportunity to participate indirectly in the performance of a single share. For the last two decades increasingly complex, customised structures have been created in a way that enables, in many cases, regulatory constraints on the use of derivative securities, such as forwards, futures and options, to be by-passed.