Barclays Capital has structured an investment product linked to the European Public Real Estate Association index and the FTSE 100. The note is aimed at U.K. retail investors and will be distributed through Woolwich Plan Managers. In the product, dubbed Guaranteed Diversified Account, investors' capital is split three ways, between a one-year income account paying 7%, and 100% of the upside of the EPRA and FTSE100, with 100% capital protection.
Colin Dickie, who is responsible for marketing to the U.K. at Barclays in London, said EPRA is a liquidly traded index, adding getting terms and prices for the call option on EPRA was much the same as the FTSE 100 side of the structure. Dickie declined comment on how much BarCap hopes to raise through the note, but he said feedback from the firm's pilot of the product was positive. He also noted the distribution channel is well used to structured products and in a market saturated by FTSE-linked offerings, "We thought it was an interesting way to get people some property exposure."
