Login
Product Know-how
General information about capital protection without a cap
Within the certificates family, capital-protected products are the most secure form of investment. At the time of issuance, they’re most often equipped with a term of several years and the guarantee that a specified minimum amount will be repaid at maturity (usually 100 percent of the issuance price).
A basic rule of thumb for these products: the lower the safety threshold, the greater the chance for price gains. But an important thing to bear in mind is the fact that the capital guarantee is normally only applicable at maturity. So if you want to sell your capital-protected product prior to the end of its term, the redemption price could actually be below the guaranteed repayment level if the underlying security has not performed favorably.
Capital-protected products are suitable for particularly risk-averse investors who wish to hold the product through to maturity and are not prepared to accept any loss that might exceed the level of the guaranteed repayment.
Capital Protection with Participation
Capital-protected products without a cap offer a guaranteed repayment of principle (upon maturity) as well as the opportunity to participate in price gains of the underlying instrument. However, owing to the guarantee, the participation rate is normally lower than what you’d realize by owning the underlying security outright. There are exceptions in this regard, for example in the case of index-based products for which the issuer can finance all or a part of the guarantee by means of the dividends received.
| Remainung term to maturity : | 3 years |
| Underlying : | Novartis N |
| Index level upon issuance: | 100 percent of issuance price (CHF 100) |
| Capital guarantee: | 150 Prozent |
| Participation factor: | 50 percent |
If you hold this certificate through to maturity, you’ll in any case be repaid at least the issuance price of CHF 100, even if Novartis shares were to fall below CHF 60. Simultaneously, you’d participate in the price gains of Novartis, albeit only at a rate of 50 percent. So if the shares were to be priced at CHF 66 on the maturity date (i.e. a 10 percent gain), you’d earn a 5 percent return on your investment by receiving a repayment of CHF 105.
