Turnover rose 32% in the first quarter to reach the record figure of CHF 92 bn

Turnover of Swiss structured products recorded by the largest SVSP members again rose substantially in the first quarter of 2018. Relative to the previous year, the sector saw turnover rise in the first quarter of 2018 to reach CHF 92 bn, an increase of CHF 22 bn or 32%. This represents the highest quarterly turnover since the Value Creation Report was first launched in the year 2015. Yield optimisation products (47%) were in particular demand, followed by leverage products (22.5%) and participation products (14.7%). More than half of all products (55.1%) are based on equities, 27.5% on foreign exchange. The most important currencies for structured products were USD, EUR and CHF, accounting for 84% of the total.

Zurich, 27 April 2018. Structured product value creation statistics drawn up by The Boston Consulting Group take account of stock market listed as well as unlisted products created in or for Switzerland that are sold nationally as well as internationally. SSPA members Barclays Capital, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise, Commerzbank, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, Julius Baer, Leonteq, Notenstein La Roche, Raiffeisen, UBS, Vontobel as well as Zürcher Kantonalbank took part in the survey for the first quarter of 2018. These represent the largest part of the Swiss market.

Most important developments in the first quarter of 2018:

• Sales in the first quarter of 2018 reached CHF 92 bn, which was CHF 22 bn higher than in the first quarter of 2017; this represents an increase of 32% relative to the previous year.
• At 47% yield optimisation products account for around half of total turnover (Q1 2017: 58.4%). The proportion of leverage products rose over the year from 14.7% to reach 22.5%. Leverage products account for over 90% of all transactions. Participation products achieved a virtually unchanged market share of 14.7% (Q1 2017: 15.9%). Relative to the same quarter of the previous year, the market share of capital protection products rose to 13.1% (Q1 2017: 10.2%).
• Equity-based products continue to represent the largest share of turnover at 55.1% (Q1 2017: 51.7%). The market share of foreign exchange products declined moderately to 27.5% (Q1 2017: 33.7%), while fixed-income products rose to 12.0% (Q1 2017: 9.9%).
• Although turnover of stockmarket listed products increased markedly to around 40% (Q1 2017: 29%), unlisted products continued to account for the majority of turnover at 60.5% (Q1 2017: 71%).
• The market share of the primary market declined to 55.1% (Q1 2017: 62%). The secondary market continued to account for most transactions (some 98%).
• The USD remains the principal currency for structured products, and saw its share rise to 43.9% (Q1 2017: 40%). The shares of EUR and CHF fell slightly. The EUR share fell to 26.5% relative to the previous year (Q1 2017: 29%), while the CHF slipped to 13.8 (Q1 2017: 19%).

SSPA Chairman Georg von Wattenwyl on developments within the sector: “During the first quarter, the strong demand for structured products that had been apparent last year accelerated still further. Domestic and international investors are increasingly discovering structured products as attractive investment opportunities. In particular the opportunity to use innovative topic and strategy certificates to invest very quickly in megatrends is highly valued. This makes it possible to include additional momentum in a portfolio. The systematic use of structured products within a portfolio context is one of the central objectives of our Association.”

Click on the link below for the full set of statistics: https://www.svsp-verband.ch/media/