Risk of investment products

Product	Risk of capital loss	Convertibility into cash	Expenses	Return (What influences it? What does it consist of?)
Investment funds: a) fixed income fund b) balanced fund c) equity fund	Value can rise or fall. Fluctuates by type of fund.	Easy to convert into cash, redemption fee procedure stated in fund rules.	Subscription fee, redemption fee and management fee in accordance with fund rules. Fees vary according to fund type.	Return on fund units depends on the return of the investments of the fund.
Special investment funds and alternative investment funds	Value can rise or fall. Fluctuates by type of fund.	Redemption periods may be longer than in investment funds. There may be restrictions on redemption. See fund rules.	Subscription fee, redemption fee and management fee in accordance with fund rules. Fees vary according to fund type.	Return on fund units depends on the return of the investments of the fund.
Listed shares	Price may fluctuate significantly and investors may lose their capital.	In principle, easy to convert into cash; market conditions affect the price and tradability.	Trading costs (broker-dependent) and custody costs.	Consists of potential capital gain and dividends. Price performance and dividend income depend on market conditions.
Bonds (collateralised and non-collateralised)	Risk relates to issuer’s repayment capacity, i.e. that the capital will not be repaid due to insolvency.	Depending on the loan, possible during the loan term. The counterparty is typically the issuer, who sets the price level. Secondary market may be inactive.	Subscription fees, premium in connection with subscription and custody fees possible. Trading costs in connection with selling.	When held to maturity, the return is as stated in the loan terms. If sold during the term of the loan, return depends, for example, on the interest rate level, which affects the value of bonds.
Structured investment products (bonds whose return is tied to a selected underlying asset, such as a share, interest rate, currency, credit risk, etc.)	Significant. Depending on the structure of the product, some or all of the capital may be lost. The product may have capital protection, but this may be subject to restrictions.	Depending on the product, sales may be possible before the end date. The counterparty is typically the issuer, who sets the price level. Secondary market may be inactive.	Subscription fees, issue price upon subscription and custody costs. Trading costs in connection with selling.	The return varies and is determined by the terms of the product, depending on the performance of the underlying asset. It is possible that there will be no return at all.
Derivatives: a) securities (warrants) b) derivatives contracts (options, forwards, futures)	Significant. The loss on derivatives contracts may in some cases exceed the capital invested.	In principle, easy to convert into cash; market conditions affect the price and tradability.	Trading costs and custody costs. Derivatives contracts may require collateral.	The return prospects may be high, but in such a case, the risks are high, too. The return depends on market developments and selection of risk level.
Crypto-assets	Price may fluctuate wildly and investors may lose their capital. The product also carries a heightened risk that crypto-assets can be stolen by hacking. In addition, owners of crypto-assets may lose access to the crypto-assets through their own negligence if they lose the private keys necessary to transfer the crypto-assets or if they transfer the crypto-assets to an address other than the one they intended. See the section on derivatives in the case of a financial instrument with crypto-assets as the underlying asset.	The largest crypto-assets in terms of market value, for which there is a functioning global secondary market, are usually easily convertible into money. Particularly new crypto-assets (issuance, primary market), on the other hand, may be difficult or even impossible to convert into money.	Generally commission-based trading costs. In addition to the service provider, trading costs may depend on the crypto-asset, the type of service and “gas fees”, i.e. the costs associated with validating a transfer in distributed ledger technology (DLT).	Returns are obtained by selling crypto-assets at a price higher than the price at which they were bought. It is difficult or impossible to predict price developments. In the absence of trading, returns can be obtained by participating in the validation of transfers (e.g. mining, staking) in distributed ledger technology (DLT).
Investment-linked insurance	Risk exists and varies according to the development of the underlying investment.	The product usually has a minimum savings period of e.g. 2 years. Earlier exit possible, subject to additional costs. Pension insurance cannot be exited during the contract period.	Fee structure typically complex. The product includes insurance-related expenses and exit costs, as well as costs related to the underlying investment.	Depends on the development of the investment to which the insurance is linked (e.g. mutual funds).