Vontobel is introducing a new open digital platform for structured products in Germany. The platform, mein-zertifikat.de, which will go live on August 30, allows advisers of banks and savings institutions and asset managers as well as private investors to create, order and then invest in individual structured products in real time.
The service, which is initially limited to reverse convertibles, discount and capped bonus certificates, will be expanded to a multi-issuer platform by providing their products to further issuers in Germany, Vontobel said.
Once the client has received an indicative product offer from a provider, then the new issue request for the structured product can be issued through the platform, according to Vontobel. After the confirmation of the issue trading at the stock exchanges in Frankfurt and Stuttgart will be available after only approximately 30 minutes, the bank said. The service is web-based and free of charge. There is no minimum purchase requirement for users.
'Everyone is now able to order their own individually customised certificate as desired and can then purchase it subsequently at the stock exchange,' said Roger Studer (pictured), head of Vontobel Investment Banking, in a statement. According to Studer, various product alternatives can be calculated in real time which eliminates the previously often 'cumbersome and time-intensive search in existing product offerings'.
'Investment advisors will be able to increase the quality of their advice and can provide their clients with a customised structured product and a new client experience. Self-decision-making private investors in turn can become familiar in detail with the variety the certificate spectrum has to offer before making an investment,' said Studer.
"We welcome this 'Do-It-Yourself' initiative because it gives retail investors the opportunity to implement their own investment ideas," said Lars Brandau, managing director of the German Certificates association (Deutscher Derivate Verband - DDV). "It will become really exciting once more issuers are tied to the platform," he said. So far, only the well-educated self-directed investors were addressed, customers who already have an affinity for structured products, according to Brandau. "To succeed with a digital platform, the classic investment and advisory clients also need to get involved."
The mein-zertifikat.de platform is based on the deritrade technology, which was originally developed by Vontobel for the Swiss market. In particular, German banks and savings institutions, asset managers and private investors will have access to the deritrade SmartGuide function, a decision-making instrument worldwide based on smart and crowd data to purchase structured products, which was introduced for banks and professional asset managers in Switzerland late last year.
The new platform combines innovation and tradition, according to Wolfgang Gerhardt, head of financial products Germany. 'Advisors and investors will be able to enjoy a new freedom in selecting products by designing a customised product based on their preferences. For the actual investment, they can then efficiently draw on the decades of proven processes for the purchase of securities at the stock exchange,' Gerhardt said.
According to the latest DDV statistics, released in June, Vontobel has a market share of 6.5% in terms of turnover on the exchanges of Stuttgart and Frankfurt, making them the fifth largest provider in the German market, behind Deutsche Bank (19.9%), Commerzbank (17.9%), DZ Bank (11.9%) and BNP Paribas (9.3%).
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