This week's wrap covers structured products with strike dates between July 8-14, 2018. Structures reviewed include a Goldman Sachs autocallable in France with a selling commission of up to 6.65%, a gold linked bull-bear from Exane in Ireland and a Commerzbank certificate linked to a corporate bond fund in Sweden. In the US we saw a collaboration between Royal Bank of Canada and JP Morgan while UBS was the issuing company behind a ZAR denominated memory note in Taiwan.

EUROPE

One hundred and ninety-two structured products distributed across 13 different jurisdictions struck in Europe during the week.

In France, i-Kapital sold Opportunité Immo Coupons Trimestriels, a10-year income product issued via Goldman Sachs that pays a quarterly coupon of 1.75% providing the underlying share of Unibail-Rodamco is at or above 75% of its starting level on any quarterly valuation date. The product is wrapped as a life insurance and listed in Luxembourg. A selling commission of up to 6.65% of the aggregate nominal amount applies.

Blackbee Investments teamed up with Exane for the launch of Gold Twin-Win 25 in Ireland. The product, which is listed on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange for an issued amount of €2m, will mature early if the shares of Yamana Gold and Tahoe Resources close at or above 90% of their strike levels on any of the semi-annual observation dates. In that case the product offers 100% capital return plus a coupon of 5% for each semester elapsed.

"The underlying stocks are chosen carefully taking into account a variety of factors, the most important being their volatility, consensus outlook, how much trading history they have and their liquidity," said Jonathan Cohen, head of UK and Ireland family office coverage, cross asset investment strategies and bespoke solutions, at Exane.

In Belgium, Belfius launched Invest Performance Plus 07-2028. The capital protected product which sold €20.8m during the subscription period is a life insurance contract (Class 23) linked to a closed internal investment fund. The 10-year product participates 200% in the rise of the Solactive Digital Economy Index, subject to an overall minimum capital return of 102% and a maximum capital return of 135%.

Strukturinvest collaborated with Commerzbank for the launch of 1821 Marknadswarrant VAL Global Corporate Bond in Sweden. The five-year certificate participates 100% in the positive performance of the GAM Star Credit Opportunities fund which has a target volatility of 2.5%. The fund invests in income bearing or accruing securities with fixed principal amounts including government bonds, corporate bonds, junior debt securities, preferred shares, convertible securities and contingent capital notes. The product is issued at 10%. A fee of 2% is added to the issue price.

NORTH AMERICA

Forty-four structured products, split between Canada (17) and the US (27), had strike dates in North America.

NBC launched series 50 of the Low Point Deposit Notes in Canada. The capital protected deposit participates 100% in the positive performance of the S&P/TSX Composite Low Volatility Index. NBC will pay those sale representatives whose clients purchase the deposits a selling fee of up to C$4 per deposit sold. The lookback payoff structure of the product means the initial index level is set as the lowest monthly level during the first nine months of the investment.

HSBC introduced the Buffered Market Participation Securities in the US. The securities have a term of 15 months and pay a return linked to the Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF, up to a maximum of 110.75%. The estimated initial value of the notes is expected to be between US$950 and US$980 on the initial valuation date. An underwriting discount of up to 1.275% applies.

Also in the US, RBC Capital Markets issued the two-year Callable Contingent Coupon Barrier Notes which are linked to three exchange-traded funds: Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund, iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF and SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF. JP Morgan Chase Bank and JP Morgan Securities and their affiliates act as placement agents for the notes and will receive a fee from RBC of US$15 per US$1,000 in principal amount. The estimated value of the notes is set at US$977.86.

ASIA PACIFIC

Three hundred and fifty-five structured products struck in the Asia-Pacific region during the week, split across four databases: China (two), Japan (four), South Korea (297), Taiwan (52).

In China, Citibank launched QDII Structured Notes 2018 S16, a three-year structure wrapped as a wealth management scheme which will be redeemed early if each of the underlying shares (Baidu, JD.com and Netease) are at or above 102.5% of their initial levels on any of the quarterly observation dates.

SBI Securities sold EB M20200110 in Japan. The unlisted registered note has a term of 1.5-year and pays a fixed quarterly coupon of 5% pa irrespective of the performance of the underlying share of Yahoo. If the share has never traded below 70% of its initial price during the investment period, the product returns the initial capital. The bond for this product is issued by HSBC Bank.

In South Korea, IBK Securities laucnhed ELB 1095, a one-year shark fin linked to the Kospi 200 index. If the underlying closes above 110% of its strike level at any time during the investment period, the product offers 101% capital return. Otherwise the product offers a return equal to 101% plus 23% of the rise in the index over the investment period.

Shin Kong Bank partnered with UBS for the launch of a one-year memory note linked to the interest rate in Taiwan. The product is denominated in South African rand and is targeted at private banking investors.