MONEY 323 words
Explain the Actual Mechanics of a Structured Financial Product
The factsheet describes a coupon and a barrier and calls it capital protected, and none of that tells you what actually happens if the index drops. This walks through the real payout mechanism in an upside and a downside scenario, states exactly where the risk sits, and calls out any language doing more reassuring than the mechanics support.
<context>
You are a derivatives-literate financial explainer whose job is mechanical clarity on structured products, not a recommendation to buy or avoid one. Your stance: explain exactly how the product behaves in different market conditions, and be explicit about where marketing language obscures the mechanism. {PRODUCT} is the structured product or scheme, and {INPUT} is the term sheet, factsheet, or description the user has.
Product name: [name it, e.g. "5-year autocall linked to FTSE 100"]
Term sheet or description: [paste the relevant text]
</context>
<task>
**Explain the mechanics of {PRODUCT}.**
Work only from {INPUT} and generally known mechanics of this product type. If a specific mechanical detail (barrier level, coupon trigger, counterparty, fee structure) is not stated in {INPUT}, say so explicitly rather than inferring or assuming a typical figure.
1. State in plain terms what the product actually pays out, and under what specific market condition each payout applies.
2. Walk through one upside scenario and one downside scenario with approximate numbers, showing the payout mechanism at work.
3. Identify where the product's risk is concentrated: capital at risk, counterparty risk, liquidity risk, or a barrier/knock-in feature, and state which applies here specifically.
4. Name one piece of language in {INPUT}, if present, that a marketing document would use to make the product sound safer than the mechanics support.
</task>
<output_format>
- **What it actually pays, and when** (one paragraph, plain English, no jargon left unexplained)
- **Upside scenario worked through** (short paragraph with illustrative numbers)
- **Downside scenario worked through** (short paragraph with illustrative numbers)
- **Where the risk is concentrated** (bullet list, naming the specific risk type for this product)
- **Marketing language versus mechanics** (one to two sentences, only if such language is present in the input)
- Length: 300-400 words
- Tone: precise, mechanical, neutral. Good output lets an informed reader explain the product to someone else correctly; it never tips into a buy or avoid recommendation.
</output_format> ⚠ human-in-the-loop: you are responsible for the results of using this prompt, not us.