Understanding warrant codes

Generic warrant codes

All warrants are issued with a six character ASX code. The individual letters of the code describe some of the main features of the warrant:

  • the first three characters of the code identify the underlying instrument. For most equity and instalment warrants this will be the same as the three letter ASX code of the underlying company shares.
  • the fourth character of the code identifies the type of warrant (see table below).
  • the fifth character of the code identifies the warrant issuer (see list of warrant issuers and their corresponding fifth letter).
  • the sixth character of the code identifies the particular warrant series. For trading-style warrants the range A to O  is reserved for call warrants, while the range P to Z  is reserved for put warrants. In addition, the range 1 to 6 is reserved for call and put warrants. 

Fourth letter of code Description
E Endowments 
I or J Instalments
S Self Funding Instalments (SFIs) and Structured Investment Products (SIPs - These include longer-term investment style products)
W, V, U or T Trading-style warrants including equity calls and puts, index calls and puts, currency calls and puts.
X, Y or Z Warrants which have significantly different structures to any of the above. Examples include equity and index knock-out/barrier warrants, and Capital Plus Warrants.
K, M or Q MINIs
L Guaranteed Stop Loss (GSL MINIs)
D

This is a temporary code assigned to a warrant trading on a deferred settlement basis due to a corporate action, reconstruction or a rollover

Example: BHPWMF

The first three letters [BHP] indicate that it is a warrant over shares in BHP Billiton Ltd.  The fourth letter [W] indicates it is a trading warrant. The fifth letter [M] tells us it is issued by Macquarie Bank. Finally, we know it is a call warrant because the sixth letter [F] falls in the range A to O.

Other warrant code features

In addition to the warrant categories in the above table, some warrants fall into their own sub-categories.  The codes of these warrants have their own distinguishing features.

Index warrants and MINIs

The first three letters of an index warrant is the code of the underlying index.

XJO S&P/ASX 200 Index
XSP S&P 500 Index
DJX     Dow Jones E-CBOT
SPF      S & P 500 E-Mini
NDX   Nasdaq 100 E - Mini
NKX    Nikkei 225 (OSE)
HSX  Hang Seng IDX Futures
HCX  H-Shares IDX Futures
J4A  S&P/ASX 200 Bank Accumulation Index
XDJ  S&P/ASX 200 Consumer Discretionary Accumulation Index
XEJ   S&P/ASX 200 Energy Accumulation Index
XHJ  S&P/ASX 200 Healthcare Accumulation Index
XJR  S&P/ASX 200 Resources Accumulation Index
XMJ  S&P/ASX 200 Materials Accumulation Index
XNJ  S&P/ASX 200 Industrials Accumulation Index
XSJ  S&P/ASX 200 Consumer Staples Accumulation Index
XUJ  S&P/ASX 200 Utilities Accumulation Index
XXJ  S&P/ASX 200  Financials X-AREIT Accumulation Index

Index fund warrants

C25 iShares FTSE China 25 Index Fund
SP5 iShares S&P 500 Index Fund
I50 iShares S&P India Nifty 50
EMK iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index Fund
BIF iShares MSCI Brazil Index Fund
HYG iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond Fund
LQD iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond Fund 
BRF iShares MSCI BRIC Index Fund 
DJU iShares Dow Jones US Index Fund
BHA Berkshire Hathaway Inc - Class B Shares 

Currency warrants

All currency warrants have X as the second letter in the code. The third letter represents the exercise currency.

AXU Call and Put Warrants over the Australian Dollar/US Dollar exchange rate.
FXU      MINIs over the AUD/USD Exchange rate (US Dollar)
FXY  MINIs over the AUD/YEN Exchange rate (Japenese Yen)
FXZ      MINIs over the AUD/NZD Exchange rate (New Zealand Dollar)
FXP  MINIs over the AUD/GBP Exchange rate (British Pound)
FXH  MINIs over the AUD/HKD Exchange rate (Hong Kong Dollar)
FXE  MINIs over the AUD/EUR Exchange rate (Euro dollar)
FXS  MINIs over the AUD/SGD Exchange rate (Singapore Dollar)

Commodity and international equity warrants

ZGC COMEX Gold Futures
ZCL NYMEX Crude Oil Futures
ZSI COMEX Silver Futures
ZHG COMEXCopper Futures
ZNG  NYMEX Natural Gas Futures
ZSI COMEX Silver Futures
ZRI  RIO London
ZBH  BHP London

Structured Investment Products

Structured Investment Products are tailored investments which typically give investors exposure to an underlying asset with capital protection on the investment at maturity.  They are issued over a variety of underlying asset.

APS Alternative Listed Protection Securities (ALPS) 
CPX Capital Plus (high denomination)
CLP Capital Plus
DAB  Absolute Return Diversified Asian Gov't Bond Portfolio Securities (DABs)
FIP  Fixed IncomePlus  
GLR Emerging Markets Growth Linked Return Investment
ORB ORB Investment Traded Securities (ORBITS) 
YLD Yield Income Enhanced Listed Deferred Securities (YIELDS) 
 

Basket warrants

The underlying parcel for a Basket Warrant is usually a portfolio of shares (refer to the individual disclosure documents for details of the underlying parcels).

AMR Amcor Ltd Basket Warrants
BOB Boral Ltd Basket Warrants
PEW Portfolio Endowment Warrants
TA8  TabCorp Holdings Limited and Echo Entertainment Group Limited Basket Warrants