Structured investments court Chinese savers

The number of structured offerings from banks in China hit an 18-month high in July of 253, with Chinese diverting RMB 1.6 trillion (US$260 billion) of deposits into wealth- and asset-management products, as they’re called on the mainland, Bloomberg reported. The issuance surge in July was a rebound from June when banks cut structured product offerings in response to measures from regulators to curb the shadow-banking industry. The returns on such products are attractive in comparison to the anemic interest paid on bank deposits in China: The former yield an annualized average 5.2% versus 3% for one-year deposits, according to data on the China Banking Wealth Management Registration System’s website.