Just three structured products were added to the SRP Netherlands database in December, well below the 2017 average of 14 products per month. The total number of products for the year reached 161, from four providers, an increase of 124% from the 72 that struck in the Netherlands in 2016, while sales volumes, at €125m, were also up from last year (2016: €116m).

Kempen issued a second tranche of the VL Index Garantie Note USA 17-23, which is linked to the S&P 500 and first struck on June 28. The original product sold out and the merchant bank decided to increase the issue via a temporary Isin code, with both products becoming fungible soon, according to Laurent Guntenaar (pictured), director structured investments at Kempen.

US dollar-denominated structures are a rarity in the Netherlands these days. Over the past five years, only seven of these products have been released, all of which were issued via Kempen in collaboration with parent company Van Lanschot. "We issue products in US dollars sporadically for customers who want to invest, or already are invested in dollars," said Guntenaar. "However, we are not in favour of issuing dollar-denominated products, just because they have better terms and conditions.

"The fact that US shares have performed so well in the past year has, in our opinion, ensured that there was renewed interest in this note, which resulted in it being sold out," said Guntenaar.

The merchant bank launched 12 structured products with a combined volume of more than €80m in 2017, making it the best performing provider by sales volume in the Dutch market, ahead of BNP Paribas, Commerzbank and Wilgenhaege Capital Markets.

Commerz, which issued a single bonus certificate in December, was the most active provider by issuance in 2017. The German bank launched 87 products in total, well up from the nine issued in the previous year. Commerz expanded its product range in 2017, adding, among others, capped bonus, discount and guarantee certificates to its range of listed certificates.

Wilgenhaege Capital Markets distributed Click 19%, a five-year medium-term note linked to the shares of ASML and ING. The product, which is issued via BNP Paribas and sold €1.75m during the subscription period, is the fund manager's fifth structured offering of the year. All of Wilgenhaege's products, which sold a combined €8m this year, were issued via BNP Paribas, although the company does not has an exclusive partnership with the French bank.

Products in 2017 were exclusively linked to equities. Ninety-one structures were linked to a single share of which the stocks of Aegon (11), Ahold, Royal Dutch Shell (both with eight) and KPN (seven) were particularly in demand. Another 68 products were linked to a single index - predominately the Eurostoxx 50 and the local AEX, but there were also products linked to the Cac 40, S&P 500, DJ Industrial Average and the Stoxx Europe 600 Banks, respectively. One product was linked to a basket of two shares, while Kempen's VL Worst of Trigger Plus Note 17 -21, a four-year medium-term note listed on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange, was linked to a basket comprising the Eurostoxx 50 and Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF.

More than 90% of the 161 products available to Dutch retail investors in 2017 put capital at risk. The vast majority were bonus and capped bonus certificates from Commerz and BNP Paribas. The remainder of the products protected between 87.5 and 100% of the nominal invested and included Commerz's 90% protected Garantie Certificaat AEX and Wilgenhaege's Eco-Plus Garantie Note 2023, a 95% capital protected note linked to the Solactive Sustainable Development Goals World Index (€1.25m).

Click the link to read the full Dutch market review for December 2017.

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