Bank of Montreal offers first US commodity-linked note

Canada's Bank of Montreal has launched its first US commodity-linked note three months after filing a broad-based prospectus.

Principal Protected Commodity Linked Notes is the first product of its kind to be offered by the Canadian Bank. At maturity, the five-year, principal-protected note offers a one-for-one return on the rise of a commodity basket, subject to a maximum return of 200%. The equally-weighted commodity basket comprises six DJ UBS sub-indices (grain, petroleum, soft commodities, livestock, precious metals and industrial metals).

SRP data shows the commodity asset class raised over $3bn in the US in 2009 across various issuers, and over $1.3bn year to date.

The Canadian bank has already marketed three US products this year, one of which is still available for investment.

Principal Protected Commodity Linked Notes have a 26 April strike date and an investment minimum of $1,000.

These products are available now on the US database.