LISTED PRODUCT NEWS
WORLD CUP COMMISSION PROMOTION
Barclays Stockbrokers is celebrating the World Cup in South Africa by offering a 4-4-2 promotion, relating to the famous football formation. From the evening of 12 June Barclays Stockbrokers will offer heavy discounts on online trading commissions of just £4.42 for as long as England stays in the tournament. This compares with the standard rate of £6.95-£12.95, and covered warrants, turbos and structured products are all covered by the football-themed commission rate. The promotional rate also covers stop orders, trailing stop orders and limit orders.
INFLOWS TO ETFS REMAIN STRONG
Last week, net inflows to Eurostoxx 600 ETFs reached $191.8m, even though the markets remained fragile. ETF investors favoured the banking sector, where net inflows topped more than $309m. Industrial goods and services were another favourite. In contrast, healthcare ETFs had net outflows of more than $50m. Since the start of the year media sector ETFs have experienced the largest net inflows of $235m. However, investors remain in a nervous mood. In total, ETFs that track the Eurostoxx 600 have seen net outflows of $327m since the start of 2010.
RBS ISSUES NEW PRODUCTS
Royal Bank of Scotland has recently launched a range of new structured products. These include an autocallable on the FTSE 100 and a range of covered call warrants on BP stock. This could tempt investors who are attracted by BP’s low share price, but are worried that the outlook for the firm could continue to deteriorate as pressure mounts after the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, since covered warrants mean that the most you could lose is your initial investment. There are also new call and put covered warrants on the Euro Stoxx 50 index, Barclays and the Dow Jones index.