Free struc prod seminars for advisers announced

A series of free training courses on structured product (SP) investing has been launched by the people behind an SP comparison website.

The one-day sessions will be run by www.structuredproductreview.com, a research tool launched in 2007 by Newcastle-based IFA Lowes Financial Management.

They are scheduled to begin on March 12 at Leeds, with events then planned for Birmingham, Bristol and London during April. More events are planned for May in Belfast, Edinburgh and Manchester.

Lowes says the seminars will be free because it has secured sponsorship from the likes of Citigroup and Morgan Stanley.

"We are delighted by the support we have received from the majority of the providers in the industry," Ian Lowes, managing director of Lowes Financial Management, says.

"They have recognised the clear need in the market for an independent, unbiased service that provides IFAs with an easily-accessible research tool with which to compare and select the right products for their clients."

The seminar training will cover areas including structured products construction, selling and valuation, risk evaluation and comparison.

Lowes thinks there is a need for advisers to better understand structured products.

"There is a lot of mis-understanding and mis-information surrounding structured products and this is what our courses will address," he says.

Peter Leahy, of Hoare Capital Markets, adds: "I think it is a sector where skills can be raised, especially in light of the changes coming in under the RDR," he says.

"There has been speculation about the appropriateness of products and I think although some of the selling of structured products in the past has been controversial, the products themselves are very useful."

The structured products comparison website is a research tool designed to help IFAs identify the range and suitability of structured products in the market.

To register for the seminars, click here