New BofA indices were brought to market last week through a new insurance carrier of Rilas; MerQube partnered with AI firm to develop new AI-powered indices.

In the US, the registered index-linked annuity (Rila) market welcomed a new insurance carrier with offerings that are linked to the BofA Hindsight 20/20 index, which is based on the best performance of the BofA MP Growth Index (BOFAMPGR), BofA MP Balanced Index (BOFAMPBA) and BofA Defensive Index (BOFAMPDE).

MerQube announced a partnership with QueensField AI Technologies to launch a new suite of indices covering the US large cap market

Issued by Fidelity & Guaranty Life Insurance, the F&G Confidence Builder also provides index options on the S&P 500, Russell 200, Nasdaq 100, MSCI EAFE indices.

Also, in the indexing space, MerQube announced a partnership with QueensField AI Technologies to launch a new suite of indices covering the US large cap market. The MerQube QueensField US AI Powered Index family comprises seven rules-based strategies that seek to uncover and benefit from the dynamics of investor preferences through artificial intelligence (AI).

Also in the US, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed a class action lawsuit brought by retail investors over the delisting of an exchange-traded note (ETN) issued by Credit Suisse on the basis that the issuer provided ‘adequate warnings about the associated risks’ of the ETN.

In Europe, S-Pankki, or S-Bank, a Finnish retail bank and wealth manager, returned to a structured note linked to the SG Macro Compass Index, a global multi-asset index designed by Société Générale (SG) to identify changes in the economic cycle and rotate asset class allocations to potentially perform in varying market environments. The distributor sold two notes linked to the index in Q4 2023.

Last week’s spotlight focused on redeemed v live autocallable products in France,- the research found high annual rates of early redemption for autocalls and rapid rollover of the nominal invested.

Also in France, Crystal Group, backed by private equity firm Seven2, is in talks to acquire Primonial Ingénierie & Développement (PID) which includes its structured product brokerage arm DS Investment Solutions.

With earning results still coming in, Société Générale (SG) reported good momentum in its equity derivatives business during Q4 2023; while the integration of Credit Suisse has continued to affect UBS revenues, which recorded a US$751m pre-tax loss. In the US, the Swiss bank continues to differentiate itself with concentrated single stock underliers for SEC-registered structured notes.

Unicredit posted robust earnings for the last quarter of 2023 and remained the second-largest structured product issuer group in its home market in 2023 with 17.7% of the market share.

In Asia, DBS Bank, the largest Singaporean bank, saw its full-year net profit surpass SG$10 billion (US$7.4 billion) for the first time. For structured notes, Taiwan was DBS’ second largest market for US equity underliers.

Also in Asia, the South Korea Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) said it is planning to release the results of its probe on the potential mis-selling of equity-linked securities (ELS) tracking the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index (HSCEI) by next month.

In the departures & arrivals lounge, Natalia Naber resurfaced at UBS in Singapore as managing director, global head of intermediaries dynamic strategies sales. She left Barclays in March 2023 where she was most recently managing director, global head of platform issuance development marketing, during her 17 years at the UK bank.

Luma Financial Technologies also announced the appointment of Gabriel Stoll as head of business development and sales for Switzerland. Stoll joins Luma from Kepler Cheuvreux, where he worked with asset managers, private banks and family offices on structured and alternative products.

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