First callable senior preferred bond for Italian bank MREL senior preferred allowance; Nomura deploys Bloomberg play; Swiss association adds broker firm to ranks; and more.

Natixis has acted as joint lead manager in the senior preferred benchmark €1.25 billion bond issue, six-year maturity with optional redemption date after five years, for UniCredit Spa. This is the first callable senior preferred benchmark launched by an European bank.

The choice of the ‘six year non call five’ format allowed Unicredit Spa to benefit from full minimum requirement for our fund and eligible liabilities (MREL) inclusion during the lifespan of the bond until the call date. Around 300 European investors piled up on the callable notes with a strong €4.3bn overbook.

SSPA expands membership ranks

The Swiss Structured Products Association (SSPA) has added broker firms AIS Financial Group and Valeur Group to its ranks. The SSPA now has a total of 43 members from the entire value chain.

AIS Financial Group (AIS) is an independent investment boutique with offices in Geneva, Madrid, Nassau and Panama. AIS was founded in 2016 and advises family offices, private banks and independent financial institutions on investment solutions with a particular focus on structured products. The mission of the company with 25 employees is to create maximum added value for its clients with tailor-made products and solutions.

Valeur is an independent firm offering custom investment solutions to institutional investors for over a decade, leveraging the extensive knowledge of its principals in financial structuring gained through over 100 years of combined experience in major global financial institutions. The group has a global presence with operations in Lugano, Pfaeffikon and Zurich for Switzerland, London, Singapore and Luxembourg and comprises a 30-person team. Valeur has a strong focus on structured products. Its specialised structuring team delivers cutting edge solutions and works closely with a dedicated trading team to ensure a flawless and timely execution of client orders supervisioned by an experienced management team.

Amun adds unique crypto basket tracker on SIX Swiss Exchange

Swiss fintech Amun has launched the Amun Bitwise Select 10 large cap crypto exchange-traded product (ETP) listed on the Six Swiss Exchange, and based on the Bitwise 10 Select Large Cap Crypto Index. 

The Amun Bitwise Select 10 ETP tracks the performance of up to 10 of the largest crypto assets in the world.  All assets in the index are approved by Six as the underlying for an ETP, and are supported by appropriate market makers and available for custody at leading institutional custodians.  The ETP includes eight crypto assets: Bitcoin (67.80%), Ethereum (11.50%), Ripple (8.33%), Bitcoin Cash (3.52%), Litecoin (3.47%), EOS (3.36%), Stellar (1.10%) and Cardano (0.90%).

Bitwise Asset Management is a provider of index and beta funds for the crypto-asset space. The firm created the world's first crypto-asset index fund in 2017, and today manages multiple funds serving institutions, family offices, financial advisors, asset managers, and high net worth individuals. Its indexes serve as a benchmark for more than 30 leading crypto hedge funds, academics, and large financial institutions.

The new ETP is the latest addition to Amun’s catalogue which includes four ETPs offering access to the top five cryptocurrencies basket (HODL), Bitcoin (ABTC), Ethereum (AETH) and Ripple (AXRP).  All four ETPs are listed on the Six Swiss Exchange. The firm’s HODL ETP is the most traded USD-denominated ETP on Six since inception on November 21 2018, in terms of trading volume.

Nomura dispatches Bloomberg Barclays play in latest tracker push

Nomura Asset Management (NAM) has listed a new tracker fund linked to the Next Funds Bloomberg Barclays US Intermediate Corporate Index (JPY Hedged) on the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE).

The exchange-traded fund will track the performance of the Bloomberg Barclays US Intermediate Corporate Index (JPY Hedged/JPY Based). The index measures the performance of US intermediate investment grade corporate bonds that have a maturity of one to 10 years. Investors can trade the ETF on the TSE through securities dealers and traders in Japan. The ETF is part of Nomura’s NEXT FUNDS range. Including ETFs structured and listed overseas, this brings the total to 63.