Backed by an exclusive counterparty arrangement with Credit Suisse AG – an institution usually the reserve of the institutional sector – the distributor will also be targeting the adviser community and bring its expertise to the retail space.
Set up in a similar fashion to the StartPoint brand, Meteor’s distribution arm for products backed by BNP Paribas, Meteor managing director Graham Devile said the launch reflected the trend towards established issuers working in collaboration with plan managers to focus distribution with a single counterparty.
He said it was not economically viable to have multiple Meteor products underpinned by Credit Suisse, rather its own range would still be backed by a number of different banks.
Racing Green is a trading name of Meteor Asset Management.
The range of three products, which will launch in January includes a FTSE/Stoxx Defensive Booster plan, a FTSE Quarterly Contingent Income plan and a FTSE/S&P Booster Kickout plan.
The product linked to the FTSE 100 and Eurostoxx 50 will have a 10% autocall payable from year one and a step down from year two until maturity.
The second product will pay out 7.2% annually – in quarterly instalments – if the FTSE 100 sits between 80-130% of start value. For example, if the FTSE is 6,500 at strike, income is paid quarterly if at each observation point the FTSE is between 5,200 and 8,450.
Finally, the FTSE 100 and S&P 500 dependent plan will have a 20% autocall payable from year two and will return 8.5% annually thereafter.
Meteor will act as plan manager and administrator while Racing Green will distribute the plans.
Devile said he hoped the venture would allow investors to continue diversifying counterparty exposure.
Robert Briginshaw, managing director of Racing Green, added: “From a diversification point of view, we believe this is a welcome addition to the marketplace, allowing investors to access a mixture of traditional and innovative product shapes, with cogent investment strategies for a multitude of market conditions.”
