Latest: structured deposits enter crypto space

The launch comes in response to the growing demand for new investment products from cryptocurrency traders and an increase in the number of classical investors making entry into the market, according to a Gekkoin spokesperson.

‘The current specifications of most derivatives products are too complicated for inexperienced users,’ she said. ‘At Gekkoin, we strive to simplify the process to make crypto investment user-friendly and secure for both beginners and experienced traders. Our efforts have made instruments that were previously restricted to fiat available to investors in digital assets.’

The firm’s structured deposits have been designed to generate returns on both growing and falling cryptocurrency markets and generate interest higher than bank deposits with up to 100% capital protection. Investors will be able to get exposure to Bitcoin, Ethereum or Monero with full or partial capital protection.

The product was developed as a ready-made investment solution with ‘easy entry and a range of strategy options for both professionals and users not familiar with cryptocurrencies’.

The launch is the result of a cooperation with the blockchain development company Adventarium, crypto broker AtlantEX and fintech platform Papaya formed to provide investors ‘safe, easy, and effective financial instruments (both crypto and fiat)’.

Investors can choose one of three strategies with different risk levels. The dynamic strategy allows users to earn up to 50% on increases in cryptocurrency prices. The safe strategy yields up to four percent per annum under declining crypto market conditions, and up to 18% in case of growth. Those looking for middle ground options can opt for a balanced strategy, which offers 20-25% of the increase in cryptocurrency prices and 95-100% protection against losses.

The new products use two-layer investment portfolios consisting of assets on traditional and crypto markets to provide stable incomes and compensate fluctuations in case of negative market trends.

The firm expects demand for structured crypto products will continue to grow fuelled by the entry of big institutional companies and the influx of new users trading digital assets.

Leonteq issues first products on BX Swiss

Leonteq has announced it will issue products on the BX Swiss stock exchange to execute on its strategic priority to continue ‘building out its product offering and further broadening its ecosystem for investment solutions’.

We see a clear client need for digital trade execution capabilities - Lukas Ruflin

The move is part of the Swiss firm’s planned expansion of its product offering and the commitment to its domestic presence in Switzerland.

Leonteq is seeking to broaden its structured investment solutions offering by ‘significantly expanding’ its own as well as its partners’ range of digitally tradable investment products in Switzerland. BX Swiss will be added as a listing option on its digital platform LynQs.

Leonteq listed its first product on BX Swiss at the end of February 2021 and since then has issued more than 20 products. It will further increase its offering in due course, according to CEO Lukas Ruflin.

‘The acceleration of digital transformation is evident more than ever in the current market environment and we see a clear client need for digital trade execution capabilities,’ he said. ‘With BX Swiss, we are able to significantly expand our product offering with new listing options while at the same time offering our clients a larger range of investment products that are digitally tradable.’

Leonteq is the leading issuer of yield enhancement products in Switzerland with a market share of 32% and the number three issuer of total listed structured products with a market share of nine percent.

DeFi Technologies moves to acquire Valour Structured Products

DeFi Technologies has entered into a binding Letter of Intent (LoI) to acquire an 80% equity interest in Valour Structured Products.

The company currently holds a 20% interest in Valour - following the acquisition, Valour will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of DeFi Technologies.

Valour entered the exchange traded products (ETP) market in December 2020 with the launch of the Bitcoin Zero ETP on the Nordic Growth Market (NGM). The product was in the top three most traded ETP on the exchange. Valour has US$47.4m in assets under management as of 22 March 2021.

The Swiss-based firm intends to list additional products on Boerse, Stuttgart, SIX Stock Exchange and Berne Bourse in Q2 2021 as well as to launch an Ethereum Zero ETP and subsequent digital asset products in the next few weeks.

Valour was co-founded by Johan Wattenstrom, founder & director of Nortide Capital who is also the founder of XBT Provider, the first synthetic ETP ever launched for BTC in 2015 which currently has US$4 billion in AUM.

Founded in 2018, Valour Structured Products focuses on creating ETPs in the digital asset space. Following the completion of a seed financing led by leading cryptocurrency investors in 2018, Valour received regulatory approval to be an issuer of digital asset products on leading European stock markets.

In March of 2021, Valour appointed Diana Biggs as CEO. Biggs was previously global head of innovation at HSBC Private Banking, where she led the testing and development of new business models, fintech partnerships and use of emerging technologies.

UBS deploys climate play via ETF

UBS has licensed the Solactive UBS Climate Aware Global Developed Equity CTB Index to be used as the underlying of a new its new UBS Climate Aware Global Developed Equity CTB UCITS ETF listed on the Xetra, Borsa Italiana, and SIX Swiss Exchange.

Investors on the ETF will be able to reduce their portfolios’ carbon footprint by exceeding climate-transition benchmark (CTB) requirements, resulting in a 1.8°C degree portfolio.

The Solactive UBS Climate Aware Global Developed Equity CTB Index follows UBS AM’s Climate Aware framework, which on one hand includes companies with best-in-class climate score, while on the other hand excludes companies that are more passive regarding the migration of climate-conscious business activities.

To derive its climate score, the Solactive UBS Climate Aware Global Developed Equity CTB Index considers fundamental risks and opportunities linked to climate change.

This process includes environmental factors such as a company’s carbon emissions, its renewable energy generation capacity, or its share of revenues resulting from coal mining or generation of energy from coal. Additionally, the index methodology considers a company’s glide path probability and its physical risk. After determining a company’s individual climate score, industry leaders are overweighted while excluding the bottom 30%.

In addition to its climate-centered approach, the Solactive UBS Climate Aware Global Developed Equity CTB Index features a broad ESG screening excluding companies involved in tobacco, controversial and military weapons, firms with United Nations Global Compact violations, and companies exposed to production and energy generation of thermal coal and oil sands.

ARK debuts space exploration & innovation tracker on Cboe

New York-based investment adviser focused solely on thematic investing in disruptive innovation ARK Investment Management has listed a new actively managed exchange traded fund (ETF), the ARK Space Exploration & Innovation ETF on the Cboe BZX Exchange. It will be available for trading tomorrow 30 March.

The new tracker fund provides exposure to domestic and foreign equity securities of companies that are engaged in the theme of space exploration and innovation.

ARK defines Space Exploration as leading, enabling, or benefitting from technologically enabled products and/or services that occur beyond the surface of the Earth. The firm has grouped firms active in this space into four overarching categories, each of which contain relevant sub-elements: orbital aerospace companies; suborbital aerospace companies; enabling technologies companies; and aerospace beneficiary companies.

‘We believe the space industry is primed for takeoff,’ said ARK's founder, chief executive officer and chief investment officer, Cathie Wood. ‘Thanks to advancements in deep learning, mobile connectivity, sensors, 3D printing, and robotics, costs that have been ballooning for decades are beginning to decline. As a result, the number of satellite launches and rocket landings is proliferating. We believe that the orbital aerospace revenue opportunity alone– including satellite connectivity and hypersonic flight – will exceed US$370 billion annually [over the next five to ten years].’

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