Express certificates with a knock out feature sold in Italy by Banca IMI, the investment arm of the Intesa SanPaolo group, have provided significant returns to investors according to data recently verified by SRP.
Substantial returns were paid out to investors of the Express Certificate su FTSE MIB, a three-year certificate that matured at the end of its term and paid back 26.7% (or 8.19% p.a.), 3.9% more than the growth of the underlying index over the same period.
Similarly, the Express Certificates su Eurostoxx50 paid back 25.8% (7.94% p.a.) after three years of investment, a huge improvement on the 2.8% growth of the index during the same period.
“Banca IMI, in accordance with the internal structuring team, try to create the products most suited to the specific financial environment,” said Luca Gamna (pictured), private banks and family office sales at the Italian bank. “The Express/Autocallable certificates are a particularly interesting proposition in a positive or side market where investors have the opportunity to receive early returns on their investment with a premium.”
Other high performing products include Express Certificates su Eurostoxx50, Express Certificates Su Hang Seng Index and Equity Protection Cap - S&P500 which returned the initial capital plus a growth of 25.5%, 21.45% and 32.5% respectively.
Banca IMI is also issuing capital-protected certificates with 85% or 90% protection, aimed at investors seeking to gain from the performance of the underlying with a limited downside.
“We think that these two categories of products will be quite common in Italy in 2015,” said Gamna.
Of the 31 Banca IMI products maturing between November 2013 and September 2014, all of them returned a minimum of the initial capital invested, and 19 products made gains above 6%.