Surviving the markets rollercoaster

The current year has been a rollercoaster for the financial markets so far. While the first three months of the year saw global indices, including the FTSE 100, rise strongly, markets quickly moved into a period of range-bound trading for the next few months only to give up all of these gains by the end of June. This continued uncertainty, coupled with investor demand for safety, has led structured product providers to launch a new breed of defensive products. On the whole, defensive features have historically largely sought to increase the level of protection on offer, this new breed of...