In 2007, things could not have been sweeter in the world of structured products, when I started covering this most complex but essentially simple part of the financial markets.

After 15 years of writing about what banks do in the world of bonds, equities, loans, structured finance, emerging markets, high-yield debt (junk bonds) and restructuring, I had thought that writing about derivatives would be a good new challenge.

I was right, although I had vastly underestimated the complexity of derivatives. But that did not matter while there were so many wise and patient heads out there, eager to explain what they do, and why. All good. And then bad.

The financial crisis hit like a ton of bricks, nearly equalling the Russian crisis and perhaps the Asian financial crisis of the late 1990s – no one died and Japanese and Chinese financiers were not committing suicide - but eclipsing the bursting of the dotcom bubble.

Perhaps the greatest opportunity for the creators of structured products to blow their own trumpet was subsumed in the atmosphere of despair, as investors lost fortunes and banks sidled up to bankruptcy. It is hard to promote yourself on the basis that the investment you have created has lost less than straight equities or even bonds, but look at the statistics and that appears to be true.

And therein lies the attraction, or at least the first thing that made me like structured products. Simply put, the worst outcome is that you get your money back, something that all but the maddest of wealth accumulators desire above all else when they invest their earnings.

In an attempt to redress the balance, I have written about and promoted the virtues for structured products for the last 12 years, as well as taken a part in conferences and global leaders’ forums, campaigning for change. Not everyone who has sat on a podium at a conference has been pleased to be faced with questions they have not liked, often repeated in order to inform an audience, although some have been pleased to appear and have their say, safe in their ignorance of the need for people to learn.

The GLF has probably provided most satisfaction for taking the debate further and I am grateful to the many who have approached these meetings as forums for proper sharing and progress. In particular, I would like to thank Thomas Wulf of Eusipa, Lars Brandau of the DDV, all three leaders of the Swedish structured products association and Zak De Mariveles for their commitment to using these events to catalyse change.

Undoubtedly my proudest moment was as a journalist, writing the scoop about BNP Paribas winning the bid to take over RBS’s multi-billion dollar/pound/euro structured products portfolio, a story that attracted a public denial from RBS and was read by over 7,000 people. There were other stories, but none to equal that one, and then there is this column.

After writing editorials and weekly columns for eight years at Structured Products magazine, it was only natural to pen a regular piece at SRP, and so came That Was The Week. It has been a pleasure and never a pain to work out the most prominent or newsworthy event of the week, whether a stray press release, an off the cuff comment at a conference or the culmination of a heated or even amusing discussion at SRP, and then squeeze something out for Pablo and Marc to check over.

You never really escape structured products, nor should you want to, it’s an extraordinary corner of high finance.

Thanks again to everyone who has taken the time to explain or inform me of what is happening or needs to be done, or at least talked about!

And, of course, my final question to you is, why did the derivatives chicken cross the road?

Pick of The Week:

South Korea’s ELS issuance rises in October but uncertainties remain

Structured products have a role to play, SRP France

Steepeners in the spotlight

Wilgenhaege targets interest rates rise in the US with Societe Generale autocall

Market-neutral, bearish strategy products gain momentum but volume is still meager

That Was The Week: Long or short, football sells better

Index roundup: Interest rate-linked product sales on the up

Priips and Ucits harmonisation remains a hurdle despite Kid implementation delay