Financial derivatives in the simplest terms are contracts between two parties. These contracts state that other variables will affect and change the value of the derivative in question. Examples of these variables can include financial products like equities and bonds, physical products like commodities, or other things - like the weather or the longevity of a population.

Derivatives are frequently used as an insurance policy and hedge against risk. For example, Credit Default Swaps (CDS) specify that in the event of a loan defaulting, the CDS holder will receive compensation.

Futures contracts were the earliest forms of derivative contracts. These contracts were devised in order to give purchasers of materials some control over the future price. For example, farmers selling wheat would enter into a contract with wheat buyers to arrange that in three months' time they would be able to sell wheat at a pre-determined price, as a way of protecting themselves against the risk of a collapse in the wheat price during the intervening time period.

Other simple forms of derivative products you may manage include swaps and options.

Swaps simply allow an exchange of one type of product with another. Some of the most popular are currency swaps, where loans and-or the interest payments on those loans are swapped from one currency into another.

Options are contracts which allow one party to buy or sell assets to another party at a specific price at some point in the future. Unlike futures contracts, there is no obligation to invoke an options contract (it's optional) - a buyer has the right to buy three tonnes of wheat at price X if it makes financial sense, but is not obliged to do so if it doesn't. Holders of options must pay a premium for this privilege.

Call options confer the right to buy something and put options confer the right to sell.

Commonly simple derivatives are traded on exchanges, whereas more complex derivatives have traditionally been traded over the counter (OTC), between the two parties involved in the contract. However, as governments seek to make the derivatives market more transparent, this process is beginning to change.

Derivative products became increasingly complex and increasingly prolific in the run up to the financial crisis in 2008 with products such as collateralised debt obligations and synthetic derivatives (derivatives based upon derivatives) proliferating. Many people blame derivative professionals, products, and their falsely conveyed impression that risk was no longer an issue, for the crisis occurring.