Deutsche begins trading structured products

Asian buyers of Deutsche Bank's foreign exchange- and commodity-linked structured products are set to benefit from better pricing and liquidity thanks to the creation of a secondary markets trading desk in Singapore.

One of the biggest worries for investors looking to buy structured products is the fear that they have to be held to maturity. "The growing popularity of structured products in Asia has driven investor demand for secondary market pricing and liquidity," says Clifford Cheah, Deutsche's head of global finance and foreign exchange for Asia ex-Japan.

The new desk will provide daily liquidity to private banks and institutional investor clients for all forex and commodity products sold through Deutsche's various platforms, such as X-markets, complementing its existing secondary trading desks for equity, credit and other structured products.

The flexibility that a secondary market creates will be welcomed by the growing number of investors looking to invest in commodity markets for the first time. "Recent jumps in commodity prices, particularly soft commodities, have driven demand for entry points into these markets," says Sajid Javid, Deutsche's head of global credit trading, Asia ex-Japan. "Being able to offer pricing and liquidity for our growing product suite provides an added dimension to our local offering."

Boris Zange will transfer from the bank's Frankfurt office to run the desk, reporting to Javid on the commodity side and Cheah on the foreign exchange side.