Products providing flexibility

Private wealth managers may be shying away from putting USFs to use because the concept takes some figuring out. But the results are worth the effort.
Launched by Euronext.Liffe in January 2001, universal stock futures (USFs) were initially utilised predominantly by institutional players. Although some private wealth managers have been using the product selectively since its inception, USFs are starting only now to find their way into private portfolios, despite limitations imposed by management mandates and regulators. In particular, those managers seeking to control equity risk more organically and add flexibility to equity portfolios are now looking at these products as a viable tool.