Hybrid ups and downs

Hybrid product has been a key part of the provision of yield to hungry investors this year, as it was in 2004. Historically low yields explain the boom in the structured interest rates business. Products such as constant maturity swap (CMS) notes have dominated much of the action. The emergence of retail investor interest for these types of structures was of particular benefit to astute bank and insurance hybrid capital issuers.

“EMTN structured note CMS activity continues apace,” says David Marks, head of debt capital markets for financial institutions and frequent issuers at JPMorgan.