This is a brief summary only of the risks of investing in warrants. Potential investors should refer to the Risk Factors section set out in the Base Listing Document and the relevant Supplemental Listing Document.
Like any investment, warrants can also have a downside. These include:
Pricing Variables
An adverse movement in any of a warrant's pricing variables - share price, time to expiry, volatility, interest rate and expected dividends - can have a negative impact on the warrant price.
Effective gearing
Effective gearing, the primary attraction of warrants, can be a double-edged sword. A warrant will appreciate and depreciate in value more rapidly than the underlying shares.
Limited Life
Unlike shares, warrants have an expiry date and therefore a limited life. Unless the share price is above the exercise price for call warrants or below the exercise price for put warrants upon expiry, the warrant will expire worthless.
Time Decay
Investors must be aware that warrants are decaying assets.
Takeovers
Following a takeover announcement, there is a risk that warrant holders can lose their total premium. For example, in the event of a takeover at $9.50 on a stock trading at $7.00, where the exercise price on a warrant was $10.00, unitholders would not exercise their warrants as they would be paying $10.00 for shares potentially worth only $9.50. In this instance the warrant could expire worthless.