What is a warrant?

Warrants are financial instruments that provide the holder with exposure to the value of another asset such as a security, an index, a commodity, a currency or an interest rate (the underlying asset). Depending on the warrant, exercise/settlement may involve physical delivery of the underlying or it may involve cash settlement.

Warrants are often geared or leveraged instruments. Gearing can provide greater exposure than an outright purchase of the asset underlying a warrant. The price of a warrant typically moves proportionally more than the underlying asset which can have a positive or negative impact for an investor. As geared or leveraged instruments, warrants may expose investors to higher risk than outright purchase of the underlying asset.

The Issuer’s product disclosure statement (PDS) will include comprehensive information on the product. To learn more about Australian warrants, you can find additional resources at CBOE and CitiFirst.