Covered warrant
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In
finance Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of fina ...
a covered warrant (sometimes called naked warrant) is a type of warrant that has been issued without an accompanying
bond Bond or bonds may refer to: Common meanings * Bond (finance), a type of debt security * Bail bond, a commercial third-party guarantor of surety bonds in the United States * Chemical bond, the attraction of atoms, ions or molecules to form chemica ...
or
equity Equity may refer to: Finance, accounting and ownership * Equity (finance), ownership of assets that have liabilities attached to them ** Stock, equity based on original contributions of cash or other value to a business ** Home equity, the dif ...
. Like a normal warrant, it allows the holder to buy or sell a specific amount of equities,
currency A currency, "in circulation", from la, currens, -entis, literally meaning "running" or "traversing" is a standardization of money in any form, in use or circulation as a medium of exchange, for example banknotes and coins. A more general def ...
, or other
financial instrument Financial instruments are monetary contracts between parties. They can be created, traded, modified and settled. They can be cash (currency), evidence of an ownership interest in an entity or a contractual right to receive or deliver in the form ...
s from the issuer at a specified price at a predetermined date. Unlike normal warrants, they are usually issued by
financial institution Financial institutions, sometimes called banking institutions, are business entities that provide services as intermediaries for different types of financial monetary transactions. Broadly speaking, there are three major types of financial insti ...
s instead of share-issuing companies and are listed as fully
tradable securities Liquid tradable securities (or LTS) is a generic phrase for a wide range of financial instruments. It often differentiates financial instruments that are easily tradable (or tradeable) as opposed to those that require the permission of the company ...
on a number of
stock exchange A stock exchange, securities exchange, or bourse is an exchange where stockbrokers and traders can buy and sell securities, such as shares of stock, bonds and other financial instruments. Stock exchanges may also provide facilities for th ...
s. They can also have a variety of
underlying In finance, a derivative is a contract that ''derives'' its value from the performance of an underlying entity. This underlying entity can be an asset, index, or interest rate, and is often simply called the "underlying". Derivatives can be use ...
instruments, not just equities, and may allow the holder to buy or sell the underlying asset. These attributes make it possible to use covered warrants as a tool to speculate on financial markets.


Structure and features

A covered warrant gives the holder the right, but not the obligation, to buy ("
call Call or Calls may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Games * Call, a type of betting in poker * Call, in the game of contract bridge, a bid, pass, double, or redouble in the bidding stage Music and dance * Call (band), from Lahore, Paki ...
" warrant) or to sell (" put" warrant) an underlying asset at a specified price (the "strike" or "exercise" price) by a predetermined date. The price paid for this right is the "premium" and with covered warrants, you cannot lose more than this initial premium paid. They are
limited liability Limited liability is a legal status in which a person's financial liability is limited to a fixed sum, most commonly the value of a person's investment in a corporation, company or partnership. If a company that provides limited liability to it ...
instruments so there are no further payments or
margin call ''Margin Call'' is a 2011 American drama film written and directed by J. C. Chandor in his feature directorial debut. The principal story takes place over a 24-hour period at a large Wall Street investment bank during the initial stages of the ...
s required to maintain a covered warrant position. Covered warrants offer a flexible alternative to private investors who seek to gain the
leverage Leverage or leveraged may refer to: *Leverage (mechanics), mechanical advantage achieved by using a lever * ''Leverage'' (album), a 2012 album by Lyriel *Leverage (dance), a type of dance connection *Leverage (finance), using given resources to ...
benefits of
derivatives The derivative of a function is the rate of change of the function's output relative to its input value. Derivative may also refer to: In mathematics and economics * Brzozowski derivative in the theory of formal languages * Formal derivative, an ...
, but who wish to limit their risk. When the issuer sells a warrant to an investor, they typically "cover" (or
hedge A hedge or hedgerow is a line of closely spaced shrubs and sometimes trees, planted and trained to form a barrier or to mark the boundary of an area, such as between neighbouring properties. Hedges that are used to separate a road from adjoini ...
) their exposure by buying the underlying instrument in the market. Covered warrants have an average life of 6 to 12 months, although some have maturities of several years. In contrast to "traditional" equity warrants, with covered warrants, no new issuance of
common stock Common stock is a form of corporate equity ownership, a type of security. The terms voting share and ordinary share are also used frequently outside of the United States. They are known as equity shares or ordinary shares in the UK and other Com ...
occurs if the warrant is exercised. The underlying shares of common stock are usually either owned by the issuer of the covered warrants or the issuer has a mechanism, such as owning equity warrants for the underlying shares, through which they can obtain the shares. Covered warrants are very popular due to the following qualities: * Low cost * Flexibility * Limited liability * Multi-strategy options


Comparison with options

Covered warrants are very similar to options—much more so than "traditional" warrants. This is because covered warrants, just like options, can be created to allow holders to benefit from either rising prices or falling prices, by having both put and call warrants. They can also be created on a wide variety of underlying instruments, not just equities and they are fairly standardised and are mostly traded on exchanges. The main difference is that warrants tend to have longer maturity dates, typically measured in years instead of months (as with options), and are easier to access for individuals as they can be bought and sold in the same way as shares in the stock exchange.


Trading warrants

Warrants are listed on a number of major exchanges, including the
London Stock Exchange London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange in the City of London, England, United Kingdom. , the total market value of all companies trading on LSE was £3.9 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Pau ...
,
Singapore Exchange The Singapore Exchange Limited (SGX) is a Singaporean investment holding company that provides different services related to securities and derivatives trading and others. SGX is also a member of the World Federation of Exchanges and the Asian ...
, and
Hong Kong Stock Exchange The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong (SEHK, also known as Hong Kong Stock Exchange) is a stock exchange based in Hong Kong. As of the end of 2020, it has 2,538 listed companies with a combined market capitalization of HK$47 trillion. It is repor ...
. They are popular with individual investors and traders particularly in
Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
,
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
, and
European European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe ...
countries (especially
Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
). They are seen as a flexible tool offering leveraged exposure to a wide range of underlying assets such as equity, asset baskets, indices, currencies and commodities, while offering the benefits of transparency and
liquidity Liquidity is a concept in economics involving the convertibility of assets and obligations. It can include: * Market liquidity, the ease with which an asset can be sold * Accounting liquidity, the ability to meet cash obligations when due * Liqui ...
. Popular indices, for example, include the
FTSE100 The Financial Times Stock Exchange 100 Index, also called the FTSE 100 Index, FTSE 100, FTSE, or, informally, the "Footsie" , is a share index of the 100 companies listed on the London Stock Exchange with (in principle) the highest market ...
in the UK or Germany's
DAX Dax or DAX may refer to: Business and organizations * DAX, stock market index of the top 40 German companies ** DAX 100, an expanded index of 100 stocks, superseded by the HDAX ** TecDAX, stock index of the top 30 German technology firms * Dax ...
, and popular commodities include
oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...
,
gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...
, and wheat.


Risks

The main exposure is to
market risk Market risk is the risk of losses in positions arising from movements in market variables like prices and volatility. There is no unique classification as each classification may refer to different aspects of market risk. Nevertheless, the most ...
as the warrant will be profitable only when the market price exceeds the strike price for a "call warrant" or is below the strike for a "put warrant". The inherent leveraging effect of the warrant significantly increases the risks and traders that are using warrant to speculate can make or lose significant sums very quickly. With covered warrants, the maximum loss is limited to the price paid for the warrant (ask or offer price) plus any commission or other transaction charges.RBS Guide to Covered Warrants Thus, although warrants are classed as high risk they are not as risky as other investment products such as contracts for differences or
spread betting Spread betting is any of various types of wagering on the outcome (game theory), outcome of an event where the pay-off is based on the accuracy of the wager, rather than a simple "win or lose" outcome, such as fixed-odds betting, fixed-odds (or mon ...
in which an investor would have to pay for future losses. Another aspect of risk is that an investor could lose their entire investment if the corporation issuing the warrant becomes insolvent.


See also

*
Warrant (finance) In finance, a warrant is a security that entitles the holder to buy or sell stock, typically the stock of the issuing company, at a fixed price called the exercise price. Warrants and options are similar in that the two contractual financial i ...
*
Option (finance) In finance, an option is a contract which conveys to its owner, the ''holder'', the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell a specific quantity of an underlying asset or instrument at a specified strike price on or before a specified date ...
*
Derivative (finance) In finance, a derivative is a contract that ''derives'' its value from the performance of an underlying entity. This underlying entity can be an asset, index, or interest rate, and is often simply called the "underlying". Derivatives can be u ...
* Contract for difference


References


External links


An explanation to Covered Warrants by stockbroker TD WaterhouseList of warrants currently issued by the Royal Bank of Scotland
{{Derivatives market Equity securities Options (finance)