Holders of a 360 Account at OCBC Bank in Singapore can now earn additional interest of 1% per year when investing in structured products, as equity-linked products continue to gain traction for the bank, according to Tan Siew Lee (pictured), head of wealth management Singapore at OCBC Bank.

“[Regarding the influence of the 360 Account over structured products], the decision to invest is specific to the individual based on their needs and life goals. Hence, customers are unlikely to be attracted to invest just to earn additional interest,” said Tan. “However, increasingly investors have been on the lookout for investment opportunities with better yields. As such, we have seen a rising interest in structured products, especially with equities as an underlying.”

The purchase of structured products, which are categorised as specified investment products (SIPs) under the current regime, requires investors to go through assessment tests to demonstrate their relevant knowledge and experience in trading corresponding products. On April 29, investment funds with limited usage of derivatives including exchange-traded funds (ETFs) were reclassified as excluded investment products (EIPs), which investors can be exempted from the assessment.

As to whether the opening up of ETFs will be a hurdle to the development of structured products, Tan was not worried, given that, “ETF and structured products cater to different investment objectives as their return profiles vastly differ.”

OCBC Bank is one of the most active providers in Singapore with the distribution of foreign exchange-linked products to retail. The bank has marketed 101 products in Singapore, eight in China and seven in Malaysia, according to the SRP database.

OCBC’s 360 Account was launched in July 2013, with the aim of offering investors additional interest for doing more transactions on its online banking platform. The Singaporean bank broadened the scope of the entitlement on April 2, 2014, raising the maximum interest from 1.28% to 3.05%. On 1 May 2015, the bank allowed the purchase of eligible financial products, including structured notes and deposits, to earn an extra 1% of interest per year, taking the total to 3.25%.

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