Significantly higher turnover of CHF 79 billion in Q1 2026 – reverse convertibles once again top-selling products with CHF 20 billion

The industry achieved a turnover of CHF 79 bn in the first quarter of 2026. This was around 27% above the previous year’s level and around 25% above the previous quarter, in which turnover of CHF 62 billion and CHF 63 billion was achieved, respectively. The largest turnover share in Q1 2026 is accounted for by yield enhancement products (46%), followed by leverage products (33%). Participation and capital protection products accounted for 9% and 8% of quarterly turnover in Q1 2026, respectively. In Q1 2026 reverse convertibles generated the highest turnover (CHF 20 bn), followed by warrants with knock-out (CHF 15 bn), and discount products (CHF 8 bn). Equities remain the dominant asset class with 47% of turnover, while Foreign Exchange, Fixed Income and Commodities account for 36%, 9% and 3% of quarterly turnover, respectively. Non-listed products generate 63% of total turnover in Q1 2026. At 60%, the primary market achieves a higher share of turnover than the secondary market. Products on EUR achieved the highest share of turnover with 38%. Together with the USD and CHF as the most important currencies for Structured Products, it accounts for 87% of total turnover.

Zurich, 26 May 2026. The statistics compiled by Boston Consulting Group take into account listed and non-listed products that are created in or for Switzerland and sold nationally and internationally. The report was optimised in cooperation with the participating SSPA banks as of Q1 2022. Due to the optimisation of the report, only data from Q1 2022 will be reported in future. The SSPA members Banque Cantonale Vaudoise, Barclays Capital, Goldman Sachs, Julius Bär, Leonteq, Raiffeisen Switzerland, Société Générale, UBS, Vontobel as well as Zürcher Kantonalbank took part in the survey for the first quarter of 2026. They represent a majority of the Swiss market.

Most important developments in the first quarter of 2026:

•  Turnover of Swiss structured products of the major SSPA members amounted to CHF 79 bn in Q1 2026. Total turnover was CHF 27 bn in January, CHF 25 bn in February and CHF 27 bn in March. In comparison, total turnover of CHF 79 bn in Q1 2026 was above Q4 2025 (CHF 63 bn) and Q1 2025 (CHF 62 bn). In Q1 2026 reverse convertibles generated the highest turnover (CHF 20 bn), followed by warrants with knock-out (CHF 15 bn), and discount products (CHF 8 bn).
• Yield enhancement had the largest turnover share, at 46% in Q1 2026, representing CHF 36 bn, with foreign exchange as the preferred asset class (54%) and USD as the main currency (51%). 90% of turnover was not listed and 93% was traded in the primary market.
• Leverage products’ turnover share amounted to 33%, representing a turnover of CHF 26 bn, with equity as the preferred asset class (49%) and EUR as the main currency (72%). 85% of turnover was listed and 87% was traded in the secondary market.
• Participation products’ turnover share amounted to 9%, representing CHF 7 bn, with equity as the preferred asset class (73%) and USD as the main currency (59%); 62% of turnover was not listed and 76% was traded in the secondary market.
• Capital protection products’ turnover share amounted to 8%, representing CHF 6 bn, preferring fixed income (85%) and USD as the main currency (58%). 97% of turnover was not listed and 95% was traded in the primary market.
• The turnover of equity products amounted to CHF 37 bn, followed by foreign exchange (CHF 28 bn), fixed income (CHF 7 bn), other asset classes (CHF 4 bn), and commodities (CHF 3 bn). Equity products thereby reached a share of 47%, while foreign exchange, fixed income, other asset classes products, and commodities were at 36%, 9%, 5% and 3% respectively.
• Non-listed products realized a turnover of CHF 50 bn in Q1 2026, which translated to 63% of total turnover. The turnover share of listed products was 37%, reaching CHF 29 bn.
•  With a turnover of CHF 47 bn in Q1 2026 the primary market had a higher turnover than the secondary market (CHF 32 bn), the corresponding turnover shares were 60% and 40%.
•  The turnover share of EUR was 38%, corresponding to a total turnover of CHF 30 bn. In Q1 2026 the total turnover of USD products amounted to CHF 29 bn, representing a turnover share of 37%. With a total turnover of CHF 9 bn the CHF accounted for a turnover share of 12%.

SSPA President Georg von Wattenwyl commented: “The first quarter of 2026 clearly demonstrates that Structured Products continue to enjoy strong demand. The significant increase in turnover to CHF 79 billion underlines the high level of investor activity in a challenging yet opportunity-driven volatile market environment. Yield enhancement and leverage products were once again particularly sought after, highlighting the targeted use of Structured Products to implement differentiated investment and risk strategies. At the same time, the strong demand for non-listed products reflects the ongoing trend towards individual and tailor-made solutions.”