Discount certificates, the latest people moves, market reviews, and more from SRP’s newsdesk.
Almost 90% discount certificates generated a positive return in 2023, according to a report commissioned by the German Bundesverband für strukturierte Wertpapiere (BSW).
Discount certificates are popular because they are so reliable - Christian Vollmuth, BSW
In a consistently positive market environment of 2023, 76.3% of the underlying assets recorded a positive performance, while in the case of discount certificates, 87.2% of the products ended the year with a plus, according to Christian Vollmuth, CEO and member of the board at the BSW.
“Discount certificates are popular because they are so reliable: although their maximum return is limited compared to a direct investment, it is significantly more likely to be achieved,” Vollmuth said.
The study, which was conducted on behalf of the BSW by TTMzero in collaboration with the Stuttgart Stock Exchange, examined 170,823 discount certificates linked to the top 70 underlyings from Germany, Europe and the US, including five indices and 65 stocks.
More product news saw Caisse D'Epargne collecting €18.5m (US$19.1m) with Vizion Tréso n°2, a six-year green bond in France. The capital protected bond is issued via Natixis and offers access to the iEdge ESG Transatlantic SDG 50 EW Decrement 5% NTR Index, which is administered by Scientific Beta and calculated and published by SGX.
Another capital protection product, also in France, came in the shape of Société Générale’s Harmonie Coupon Janvier 2037, a 12-year structure that is eligible via a life-insurance or retirement contract (Plan d’Epargne Retraite Individuel – PERIn). The product offers unconditional gain of 5.05% pa, paid either at maturity or in case SG (the issuer) decides to trigger the early redemption feature on any of the annual callable dates, beginning 8 January 2026.
SRP reviewed structured products issuances linked to the five best-performing stocks within the S&P 500 in 2024: Palantir Technologies, Vistra, Nvidia, United Airlines, Axon Enterprise. The former reigned supreme with an annual gain of nearly 350% after closing at US$75.63 on 31 December while Vistra, an energy producer that serves data centres based in Texas, recorded a rally of almost 260% after a strong fourth quarter in 2024.
In the UK, Citigroup Global Markets Funding Luxembourg was the number one issuer during November, claiming 23% market share while the Korean market recorded a spike in sales for principal protected ELBs as investors flocked into retirement pension products towards the end of 2024.
UBS Securities Japan hired three new senior sales in its global markets division with the bank looking to boost sales of structured investments and other tailored derivative products to the country’s regional financial institutions.
Shuhei Sanada joined UBS as executive director, head of regional financial institution sales. He reports to Shunsuke Ayabe, head of execution sales for Japan at UBS.
At UBS, Sanada is the manager of two other newly hired sales, Eiichiro Yoshida and Hiroaki Sato.
Meanwhile, HSBC appointed Lavanya Chari as its new head of wealth and premier solutions, International Wealth and Premier Banking (IWPB). Based in Singapore, Chari will report to Barry O’Byrne, CEO of IWPB. She will be responsible for wealth solutions across markets, as well as those teams supporting select retail products, including structured investments. Chari is currently global head of investments and wealth solutions.
Stefan Bollinger started his new role as CEO of Julius Baer on 9 January – a move which was first announced in July 2024. Bollinger, joined from Goldman Sachs in London where he was co-head private wealth management for Europe, Middle East and Africa. He was also a member of the US bank’s European Management Committee and member of the Global Wealth Operating Group.
Hong Kong’s Goldhorse Capital Management has added a structured products educational factsheet function to its multi-issuer platform Extramile mobile app’s retail version.
The new function – which used to be accessed only by institutional users who are the external asset managers – is aimed at allowing the public to better understand the various types of products and keeping potential investors equipped with the latest trends in the space as structured products tend to be considered ‘complex’ from regulator’s point of view, according to Goldhorse CEO Edward Liu.
French structured products fintech Aydo announced the launch of a technology and innovation hub in Luxembourg to accelerate its development.
The announcement follows the completion of the startup’s latest round of financing, backed by the Digital Tech Fund, Vaex Capital and members of the Luxembourg Business Angel Network.
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