“Water, water, everywhere, nor any drop to drink”, wrote Samuel Taylor Coleridge in The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. Yet, a product structured, or themed, around an underlying asset like water can deliver the same outcome for the yield-thirsty investor whether the supply is plentiful, or undrinkable and useless as described in the poem.

For example, one structured product launched this year is themed around which stocks will benefit from perceived and real climate change, taking a view on the consequences of climatic change, whether positive or negative, rather than on “green is good”.