Santander has joined the Swiss Structured Products Association (SSPA) as a new member and issuer.

With this addition, the SSPA expands its network to 42 members across the entire value creation chain, from issuers to trading platforms and buy-side to brokers and partners.

Santander is seeking to expand further its position in the world's largest market for structured products. The bank is present in 10 markets in Europe and the Americas, offers structured products via its equity derivatives business. 

‘Our decision to join SSPA underscores our ambition to further expand Santander's activities of offering structured products in Switzerland,’ said Alfredo Madrigal (pictured), head of equity derivatives & exchange traded derivatives at Santander. ‘We look forward to actively participating in the association and to making a contribution to the further development of the Swiss market for structured products.’

According to SRP data, the Spanish bank was the main manufacturer in Spain in 2020 with over 270 products launched worth an estimated US$3.3 billion, and fifth most active issuer in Europe in terms of volume sold. SRP data also shows that Santander sold an estimated US$366m in structured products in Latin America in 2020.

Nomura to launch new investment management umbrella division

Nomura Holdings is planning to establish a new investment management division, effective on 1 April 2021.

The Nomura Investment Management Division will handle the firm’s asset management business, and will be charged with enhancing the line-up of products and services Nomura offers in order to respond to the increasingly diversified needs of clients, said the Japanese bank in a statement.

The new division will comprise investment and asset management related Nomura Group companies, including Nomura Asset Management.

By bringing together expertise from across the firm and creating added value, Nomura aims to further develop the asset management business and deliver tailored services and solutions, according to Kentaro Okuda, Group CEO of Nomura Holdings.

The new Investment Management Division will replace the Asset Management Division and Merchant Banking Division. Under the new umbrella structure Nomura will have three business divisions: retail, wholesale and investment management.

The move follows the expansion of the Japanese investment bank’s wealth management business beyond Asia ex-Japan with the launch of its International Wealth Management (IWM) unit in January, which will target high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs), and is headed by Ravi Raju (above right) as head of IWM, following the integration of wealth management into its wholesale business in April 2020

Simon partners with Cetera in annuity push

Simon Annuities and Insurance Services (Simon) has announced a new collaboration with with wealth management and advisory firm Cetera to make available the structured products platform’s insurtech module for annuities to all Cetera financial professionals.

Cetera advisors will be able to access product education, including from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) as well as product analytics and illustration capabilities embedded in its annuities module.

The US platform has been actively expanding its reach in the US annuities markets over the last 18 months most recently with the addition of Global Atlantic Financial Group, as well as Great American Life National, Raymond James Financial, and multi-carrier sales offering, Insurance Technologies FireLight.

Annuity assets in the US show an upward trend, totalling US$3.182 trillion as of September 30, 2020, with total US annuity sales reaching US$218.1 billion over the preceding 12-month period.

German regulator approves Moorgate as benchmark administrator

Index company Moorgate Benchmarks has announced that its German subsidiary Moorgate Benchmarks GmbH is now authorised by Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht (BaFin), the German federal financial supervisory authority, as a benchmark administrator under the European Benchmarks Regulation (BMR).

Our UK and EU BMR status now allow us to assist third country index providers

The firm entered the market in April 2020 as an index consultancy and platform seeking to disrupt the index space and help asset managers to develop their own indices.

Moorgate Benchmarks which is now regulated by both the UK FCA and BaFin offers a index calculation and regulatory compliance service to all UK, EU and third country index providers, ‘ensuring they can continue to offer their indices in the UK and EU after BMR comes into full force at the end of 2023’, according to the firm’s chief executive officer, Tobias Sproehnle.

‘Our UK and EU BMR status now allow us to assist third country index providers in gaining their own authorisations so their indices can continue to be used as benchmarks in the UK and EU once BMR comes into force,’ he said.

TrueMark expands structured outcome ETF suite

Exchange-traded fund (ETF) provider TrueMark Investments has launched MARZ, its ninth ETF in the True-Shares structured outcome product suite. The ETF will deliver structured outcome exposure to the S&P 500 Price Index and is sub-advised by SpiderRock Advisors, a Chicago-based asset management firm that specialises in option overlay strategies.

Investors can anticipate the potential of an asymmetric return profile when investing in the structure which also seeks to provide a buffer of 8-12% on the S&P 500 Price Index’s losses over the fund’s one-year investment period. MARZ’s expense ratio is 0.79%. 

The fund adviser would target the buffer at 10% of index declines over the investment duration following the first day of trading while also allowing for uncapped upside participation.

Structured outcome funds have increased in popularity amid ushered in market conditions that include increased volatility and low-yields, as a result of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

The funds being offered in the TrueShares suite feature a combination of a built-in downside buffer and uncapped upside participation to allow investors to maintain equity participation during such a time of uncertainty. For ease of investor use, each series will roll into a new investment position at the end of a year-long term. At this point, the downside buffer and upside participation will reset based on current options pricing.