| Issuer: | Bank of America Corp.
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| Size: | $284.49 million
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| Underlying: | Dow Jones industrial average
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| Maturity date: | June 29, 2018
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| Pricing date: | June 27
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| Cusip: | 06053F174
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| Structure: | Leveraged buffered notes with 122% participation on the upside and a 30% buffer on the downside. Five-day averaging at maturity.
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| "This was the largest offering in 2013," said Liam O'Neil, head of the markets group for Global Wealth and Investment Management of Bank of America.
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| "Clients were fundamentally bullish long term but worried about a near-term correction or picking the wrong entry point.
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| "We were able to combine those two concepts by extending the maturity of the note to five years, which enabled us to offer a 30% buffer and 122% upside participation with no cap. It was a great example of a big trend seen in 2013, which is that investors were willing to extend maturity for a tailored risk-return profile with upside leverage and a buffer against downside."
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| Goldman Sachs' $15.75 million callable monthly range accrual notes linked to Russell 2000
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| Issuer: | Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.
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| Size: | $15.75 million
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| Underlying: | Russell 2000 index
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| Maturity date: | Jan. 31, 2023
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| Pricing date: | Jan. 28
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| Cusip: | 38141GMJ0
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| Structure: | Callable index-linked range accrual notes
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| "Long-dated trigger notes, which is a relatively new trade, were one of the most popular trades in 2013," said Deryk Rhodes, executive director-structured products trading at Incapital LLC.
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| "Record low long-dated interest rates along with higher-than-average dividend yields and above-average [volatility] allowed investors to sell long-dated out-of-the-money puts at attractive levels versus long-dated at-the-money puts.
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| "These trades enabled investors to monetize their neutral to moderately bullish long-term view on equities."
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| Scotiabank's $128 million notes linked to Raymond James Analyst Current Favorites
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| Issuer: | Bank of Nova Scotia
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| Principal amount: | $128 million
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| Price: | 103
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| Proceeds: | $131.84 million
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| Underlying: | Raymond James Analyst Current Favorites Total Return index
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| Maturity date: | Sept. 21, 2016
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| Pricing date: | Sept. 18
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| Cusip: | 064159BL9
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| Structure: | Equity-linked notes with 100% participation in the underlying index
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| "Scotia and RJ worked for over a year on the creation of the index, which is innovative as it is a discretionary and dynamic research-based index. As a result, an investor will benefit from exposure to a changing mix of equity components," said Anna Pinedo, partner at Morrison & Foerster.
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| "The note allows an investor to invest efficiently in the Raymond James Analyst Current Favorites Total Return index, which is intended to track the performance of the Raymond James Analyst Current Favorites list of stocks on an adjusted basis. For an investor, buying in/out of the individual stocks would be inefficient.
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| "The three-year securities yield the gains and losses of the Raymond James Analyst Current Favorites Total Return index with capital at risk."
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| BNP Paribas' $15 million return enhanced notes due July 6, 2023 linked to the MSCI EAFE, Russell 2000 and S&P 500 indexes
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| Issuer: | BNP Paribas
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| Size: | $15 million
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| Underlyings: | MSCI EAFE index (30% weight), Russell 2000 index (15% weight) and S&P 500 index (55% weight)
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| Maturity date: | July 6, 2023
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| Pricing date: | Dec. 19
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| Cusip: | 05574LUF3
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| Structure: | Leveraged principal-protected notes
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| "The 115.56% participation on the upside (with no cap) provides leverage in the bullish markets, whereas the note is designed to return full principal at maturity in the bearish markets," said Serge Troyanovsky, BNP Paribas managing director, head of retail distribution North America.
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| "The product has a maturity of 9.5 years, showing that investors are more willing to utilize structured notes to achieve long-term exposure to equity markets.
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| "In addition, the note is linked to a basket of global equity indices, which shows that investors are looking for opportunities not only in the domestic markets but also in the foreign markets."
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