Barclays has added a series of barrier dual-currency notes (DCNs) to its online pricing and execution structured products platform BARX COMET, targeting wealth managers and private banks seeking to express a view on currency movements.
"The addition of barrier DCNs to BARX COMET is designed to meet the mounting demand for yield enhancement and offers investors an attractive alternative to equity markets," said David Wood, director, Investor Solutions at Barclays. "DCNs are short-term investments and allow investors to respond very quickly to market changes, something that is particularly valuable in foreign exchange markets which move very rapidly."
According to Barclays, barrier DCNs typically appeal to high net worth clients with exposure to more than one currency, and allows wealth managers to generate higher yields than deposit rates while seeking to profit from short-term moves across currency markets.
The addition of the notes to the BARX COMET platform which was launched in the UK market earlier this year, follows last month's expansion of the number of indices available to users in the platform which now totals ten, as well as the addition of a number of liquid exchange-traded funds in a move to expand its range of underlying reference markets, particularly in emerging markets underlyings.
"We will continue to look at new underlyings for the platform in response to investor demand and we are pleased that BARX COMET has broken through the one million quote barrier already this year, demonstrating the increasing global appeal of the platform," added Wood.
The new series will provide users with access to range of pricing parameters, American 'knock-in' or 'knock-out' barriers, instantly price up to five variations, and click-and-deal barrier DCNs with terms as short as one week.