By Tom Bradley

In the media and this blog, it’s been pretty quiet when it comes to principal protected notes (PPNs). Regular readers will know that we have been critical of these bank-issued products and have written about them often.

I don’t have a sense of how well they are selling these days, but they are still around. We saw some statistics from Investor Economics last week showing that there are over 1,700 notes outstanding worth nearly $15 billion.

For those who are tempted to go down the PPN path, or are getting a sales pitch from their friendly banker or broker, I would encourage them to read Fabrice Taylor’s piece in the Report on Business today. It reinforces the points I’ve been making about PPNs. Fabrice’s opening line says it all, “In the great annals of rip-offs to come tumbling off the Bay Street assembly line, few if any rank higher than principal protected notes.”