Steer clear of structured products

Complex financial products may sound like great buys. But as Tim Bennett explains, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

We have never been fans of structured products' as investments, and it seems we are not alone. As The Daily Telegraph's Andrew Oxlade notes, "the European Union is often derided, but on the odd occasion its policy wonks are bang on the money". Brussels is increasingly unhappy with these products too.

The reason the grand-sounding European Securities and Markets Authority has taken a keen interest is that the Germans have been buying these products by the busload. One million were sold there last year, up from just 160,000 five years ago. The one piece of good news is that here they are far less popular, probably because "banks have largely given up selling them quivering under the fear of being caught for mis-selling. Again."

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Tim graduated with a history degree from Cambridge University in 1989 and, after a year of travelling, joined the financial services firm Ernst and Young in 1990, qualifying as a chartered accountant in 1994.

He then moved into financial markets training, designing and running a variety of courses at graduate level and beyond for a range of organisations including the Securities and Investment Institute and UBS. He joined MoneyWeek in 2007.