South Africa’s Absa lays first Bric with risk control

Absa Capital, the investment banking division of Absa Bank Ltd, part of the Barclays Group, is marketing the first Bric-linked strategy of its Long Equity Investment Plan (LEIP) Securities range available in a listed format at the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE).

The BRIC Optimiser - Issue 1 is a four-year capital-protected note linked to the performance of the S&P BRIC40 Daily Risk Control 15% Excess Return Index. At maturity, this uncapped call structure will pay a participation of 100% in the performance of the underlying index, which features a risk control strategy aimed at adjusting the exposure to the market to ensure a less volatile level of growth (if any) and to protect investors in periods where markets are falling.

In addition, Absa Capital is also pitching a number of products from its listed range, including its Developed Markets Dual Index Protector linked to the S&P500 and the Eurostoxx50, as well as three structures linked to the domestic FTSE/JSE 40 index.

All these products will be open until 17 February. Minimum investment is ZAR100,000 ($12,551).