Structured product is such a bad name for anything that it is surprising the term has come to describe such a wide range of investments. It covers everything from simple guaranteed equity bonds to the complex structures based on US subprime mortgages that have proved so toxic for investment banks.

Wikipedia, the online encyclopaedia, reckons a structured product is a pre-packaged investment strategy based on derivatives. Clearly there are sub-divisions. BNP Paribas recently published a guide to structured products that covers growth, income, market neutral, commodity-linked, hybrid and fund-linked products. There are product types within each of these, such as the Himalaya, Titan, Predator, Neptune and Wedding Cake. BNPP summarises the pros and cons of each type. It is nicely done, but still rather mind-boggling.