As talk of a banking crisis continued to linger, recent developments demonstrate that the market remains a vibrant space for product development and growth.

We are also happy to announce improvements to the SRP website and data model, which will deliver a faster and more enhanced analysis experience for website users; and the release of our latest issue of our e-mag.

In the second regular issue of 2023, SRPInsight (Issue 23) celebrates International Women’s Day by highlighting senior women in the structured products industry and asking them about progress made and the obstacles still to overcome to achieve diversity in the workplace.

With most investment banks now posed to report lower quarterly earnings, it is to be seen how this will impact their issuance activities

With most investment banks now posed to report lower quarterly earnings, it is to be seen how this will impact their issuance activities, we look at how BBVA has capitalised and cemented its recent growth in its digital platform offering and a shift towards asset class diversification with a focus on rates and credit.   

According to Juan Ramón Domínguez, European head of equity structured products sales at the Spanish bank, last year was a transition year with different events having a significant impact in the equity markets which pushed investors towards other asset classes and product types.

The fly from equities played on BBVA’s strategy as the Spanish bank had been working for some time to get ready for a specific situation that would put credit at the top of the investors’ agenda.

BBVA was recognised is this year’s SRP Europe Awards 2023 for a credit-linked note (CLN) tracking the performance of the iTraxx MSCI ESG Screened Europe Index developed by its Quantitative Investment Strategies (QIS) team.

The Spanish bank also announced the launch of the Epricer 4.0, the latest version of the bank’s cross-asset web-based pricing platform for investment products, during this year’s SRP Europe conference.

In Asia, we spoke to Shanghai-based Wind Information about the increasing focus on ESG in China, the importance of data and how structured products are capitalising on the new demand.

The firm which won the Best ESG Solution award at SRP’s China Awards 2023 with its Wind ESG Rating solution, is looking to gain market share in the Chinese structured products markets with a dataset that is increasingly used in the fund and wealth management sector.

In Singapore, we recorded the entrance of a new market player as Mirae Asset Securities launched its first set of daily leverage certificates (DLCs). The Korean securities house becomes the third provider of these products in the country alongside Société Générale and UBS.

These are the first set of USD-denominated DLCs listed on Singapore Exchange (SGX) and add to the exchange’s existing DLC product shelf which features 2x, 5x and 7x multiplying factors.

Also in Singapore, Solana options protocol Cega Finance announced three new launches following a recent round of fundraising.

The Singapore exotic structured products DeFi protocol based on the Solana blockchain launched on Ethereum Mainnet, rolled out a new range of Leveraged Options Vaults (LOVs), and created trading firm Tras Mobian. The launches follow the completion of a US$5 million funding round led by Dragonfly Capital, Pantera Capital and Robot Ventures, bringing the total seed funding raised by the startup to US$9.3 million.

In Thailand, the headlines went to UOB which has landed a new head of deposit and WM. The bank confirmed the appointment of Gidon Kessel as executive director. Kessel joins from Citibank where he was head of WM for UK for one year after his relocation from South Korea after the US bank closed down its retail business along with 12 other Asian markets.

Over in Europe, we reported about investors in inverse physical ETPs seeing their returns boosted as the product structure capitalised on higher interest rates. Oktay Kavrak, product strategist, at Leverage Shares, told SRP that most leveraged ETP issuers use the swap structure for their products which involves a swap agreement with an investment bank, or other derivatives – “both of which don’t benefit by being able to pass on the positive yield to the end investor”.

In the Dutch structured product market, we reported the launch of the first public offer from two traditional domestic players as Wilgenhaege and Van Lanschot Kempen (VLK) collaborated to launch the Double Digit DSM-ING 21.5% in the Netherlands. It’s the first time the two Dutch structured product providers have teamed up for a public offer.

Image: NaMong productions/Adobe Stock.