LISTED PRODUCT NEWS
RBS FLIES BA WARRANTS
You can now trade covered warrants on British Airways (BA) and Citigroup with Royal Bank of Scotland. Both put and call warrants are available and for those with long investment horizons, the expiry dates – some as far-out as June next year – should be welcome news. It may also take that long for the fortunes of these companies to turn around. Recent strikes by BA cabin crews have disrupted flights; the company has also been hit hard by the recession. Likewise, Cititgroup, the US investment bank, had to receive a large bailout package from the US government at the height of the financial crisis.
COMMODITIES WARRANTS
The breadth of listed products available for investors to trade is growing by the week. French investment bank Societe Generale recently launched 11 new put and call covered warrants. You can now trade the oil and gas and basic resources sectors of the European stock index, the STOXX 600. And for those investors that would like to get exposure to the actual commodities themselves, the bank has launched a wider selection of covered warrants for agricultural products and metals. The newly launched covered warrants include copper, gold, silver, corn, soybeans and wheat.
NEW ETF RESEARCH CENTRE
For investors who want exposure to exchange-traded funds but just can’t get their hands on the research to make the right investment decision, now they have a solution. Earlier this month, Morningstar UK, the independent investment research service for funds, launched a new ETF centre for its members. It has a dedicated team of ETF analysts that will provide educational advice for both novice and experienced investors. It will also host conference calls that will delve into the deeper issues surrounding portfolio risk management. It has a solutions centre, with a range of archived slide shows on different topics including commodity ETFs and new asset classes. You can also sign up to a monthly newsletter that gets delivered straight to your inbox.