Lowes Financial Management has published a review of Structured Product Autocall products to mark the maturity of the 1,250th FTSE 100 linked capital-at-risk autocall in the UK retail market earlier this year.
The Augere FTSE 100 Super Defensive Kick Out Plan Issue 3 August 2018 matured early after three and a half years, returning a capital plus gain of 19.8%, annualised return of 5.29%.
While structured products first appeared in the 1990s, it was not until 2003 that the first autocall version appeared. Since then, their popularity has grown to the extent that they are now the most common vehicle among structured products.
All but eight of the 1,250 plans successfully matured with a gain, while those that did not were caught by the fallout of the financial crisis, says Lowes Financial Management.
Josh Mayne, structured product technician at Lowes Financial Management, says: “It’s a fact that no maturing FTSE 100 capital-at-risk autocall plan has failed to reward investors with a gain since April 2013, representing almost a decade of consistent positive performance.
“For investors this is a major achievement and return on their money. The 1,250th maturing autocall is another significant milestone for the sector.”
Ian Lowes, managing director of Lowes Financial Management, added: “Structured products and autocalls in particular are increasingly coming to the attention of many advisers and financial journalists which has naturally been helped by the excellent record. Structured product autocalls are a proven product for investors. They should be considered as part of any balanced portfolio.”
According to Lowes, the structured products sector continues to evolve and develop, becoming less complex and regularly outperforming other investment products while providing contingent capital protection against market falls.
The Lowes review can be downloaded HERE.
