We look at the most read stories in the past week from our news desk.

Once considered a specialised segment of structured products, custom and strategy indices are now playing an increasingly prominent role across the investment landscape.

SRP launched the latest Index Report 2026, analysing the development and deployment of custom and strategy indices, identifying the themes, methodologies and reference assets gaining traction while highlighting differences across markets and product types.

Demand is expanding across structured products, ETFs and insurance wrappers, with investors seeking diversified multi-asset exposure

Morningstar Indexes also sees custom indices are increasingly being designed around specific investor outcomes rather than simply serving as volatility-controlled benchmarks. Demand is expanding across structured products, ETFs and insurance wrappers, with investors seeking diversified multi-asset exposure.

BlackRock is expanding its range of outcome-oriented ETFs in Europe, focusing on products that provide defined downside protection, income generation and controlled participation in market gains. The move reflects growing investor demand for investment solutions that offer clearer risk-return parameters within the ETF structure.

On the other side of the pond, UBS is moving into a growth phase for its Americas structured solutions business, following the integration of Credit Suisse. The bank is leveraging its expanded structuring and distribution capabilities to address rising demand for customised investment outcomes across wealth management, insurance and ETF channels.

Mexican financial group Monex is enhancing its structuring, technology and data capabilities as investors increasingly seek solutions that combine capital protection with attractive returns amid different market conditions. The firm aims to create more differentiated and flexible products while maintaining its leadership position in Mexico’s structured products market.

Market reviews

Hong Kong’s structured products market reached a record HK$3.9 trillion (US$497 billion) in sales during 2025, up 53% year-on-year. Equity-linked structures were the dominant driver, accounting for 70% of total activity.

However, the city’s listed structured products market weakened in the second quarter of 2026, with average daily turnover falling 18% quarter-on-quarter.  Tencent became the most frequently used underlying for derivative warrants, while Nvidia continued to dominate the equity-linked investment market.

The structured products market in South Korea continued to cool in August 2026, with sales dropping 31% month-on-month to KRW6.9 trillion (US$5.1 billion). Issuance volumes also declined by 30%, signalling weaker retail demand and reduced product activity compared with the previous month.

Products

Swiss providers Luzerner Kantonalbank and Finanzlab launched a leveraged certificate linked to the Finanzlab Multi Index Fund, an investment fund that allocates to a portfolio of barrier reverse convertibles. The actively managed certificate offers around 200% participation in the fund’s performance, effectively creating a structured product based on a fund of structured products.

Research commissioned by German association of structured securities found that nearly 88% of discount certificates delivered positive returns in 2025. The product presents as a lower-risk alternative to direct equity investment, offering investors a reliable source of returns.

SRP reviewed a range of structured products across the world with strike dates between 6 and 12 September this year, including a BNP Paribas offering that provides twice the participation in a basket of China CSI indices.

Technology and regulation

Securitisation and structured investment solutions provider Chartered Investment is expanding its actively managed certificates (AMC) position through partnerships with Saxo and Interactive Brokers. This year marks the 10th anniversary of the firm's first AMC and it seeks to capture growing demand for flexible and fund-like investment structures.

Banco do Brasil invested US$5 million in a digitally native structured note issued by Citi on Euroclear’s Digital Financial Market Infrastructure platform. The transaction, described as the first of its kind in Latin America, showcases the growing adoption of distributed ledger technology in structured product issuance, settlement and administration.

Law firm Mayer Brown expects regulatory oversight of structured ETFs to increase as the market expands. The growing popularity of buffered and defined-outcome ETFs is bringing ETFs, structured products and indexed strategies closer together, creating new legal, disclosure and regulatory considerations for market participants.

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