SRP Americas 2026: Rising Star – this is still a people’s business

HSBC is scaling up its structured products business as increasing client activity and investment in equity derivatives and quantitative investment solutions reshape the bank’s offering across markets.

Having lived and worked in four different countries has been a rewarding experience, both personally and professionally - Thomas Laborderie

The bank was recognised as Best House, CDs at the SRP Americas 2026 Awards, while Thomas Laborderie (pictured), a vice president on HSBC’s US structured products sales desk, was named Rising Star.

Laborderie, who leads HSBC’s relationships with Reg S accounts in the US offshore structured products market, joined the bank two years ago after working in structured products at Société Générale across London and Madrid before relocating to New York.

The experience of working across four countries has been “particularly valuable in a business where adapting to different clients and markets is critical”, according to Laborderie.

“Having lived and worked in four different countries has been a rewarding experience, both personally and professionally,” he said. “You need to adapt and to adjust to different cultures and ways of doing business, and I believe adaptability is of the utmost importance in the structured products world.”

Positive environment

Laborderie’s award comes against a backdrop of strong growth in HSBC’s structured products activity.

SRP data shows that HSBC recorded US$165.5 billion across more than 61K products in 2025, a more than 61% increase in sales compared to the previous year when HSBC sold US$102 billion across 36K products.

The full-year 2025 number represents a significant acceleration in HSBC’s structured products activity during the year which coincides with the period covered by SRP Americas 2026 Awards.

For Laborderie, the appeal of structured products remains closely linked to their ability to address specific investor objectives.

“One of the key features of structured products is their ability to be tailored to different market environments and investor objectives,” he said.

“Their flexibility means they can be designed to address a range of risk and return profiles, subject to the relevant regulatory, suitability and product-governance requirements.”

Key drivers

Laborderie said the clients he works with primarily use structured products for yield enhancement, with the products offering an alternative way of generating income while remaining within investors’ risk parameters.

“Our clients mainly use structured products as yield enhancement strategies,” he said. “The products are designed so that the yield offered provides a pick-up versus traditional fixed income while remaining within the risk appetite and tolerance of the investor.”

The comments come as structured products continue to broaden beyond traditional note formats. Exchange-traded products and other investment vehicles are creating additional routes into outcome-oriented strategies, while QIS is allowing banks to package systematic investment approaches for use across different wrappers.

HSBC has been developing its QIS and equity derivatives capabilities as part of a broader expansion of its offering. Earlier this year, the bank told SRP that it was accelerating its presence in equity derivatives and structured products, with QIS being used to provide scalable, regulated access to systematic strategies across regions and client segments.

The bank has also increased its use of custom and strategy indices. In September 2025, HSBC’s Joel Abrahams, director of structured products sales, told SRP that the bank had launched new indices for both principal-protected products, including certificates of deposit (CDs), and principal-at-risk products.

Differentiators

According to Laborderie, technology and product development have changed market dynamics but do not replace the importance of the relationship between salespeople and clients.

“We try to offer best-in-class service to our clients: perpetual engagement with daily ideas, responsiveness, and a seamless execution and post-trade experience,” he said.

“We’ve built a relationship of trust with our clients so they know they can count on us to be a reliable partner at all times.”

This approach reflects a market in which structured products are becoming increasingly sophisticated while clients continue to require support in selecting and implementing appropriate solutions.

“Despite the ever-improving technology behind the scenes, this is still a people’s business, and clients will always look for reliability and service,” Laborderie said.

His own entry into the industry came through Société Générale’s emerging markets sales desk in London, where he gained exposure to a broad range of countries, clients, payoffs and wrappers.

The experience also shaped his view of the importance of adaptability, something he believes has become even more relevant as the structured products market has expanded.

Covid was a particularly formative period. The combination of extreme market moves, higher trading volumes and remote working created significant operational challenges, he said.

“The trading floor allows for direct and quick communication, and doing it all remote for some time was not an easy task,” Laborderie said. “We had to be extra focused to be able to provide our clients with the level of service they were (rightfully so) expecting.”

New vehicles

Laborderie sees further potential for structured products as the market develops new wrappers and distribution channels.

“The structured products market in the Americas has continued to develop, supported by broader investor awareness and the availability of new investment vehicles,” he said, pointing at ETPs as one example of how access to structured strategies is evolving, while the wider growth of QIS and systematic strategies is giving manufacturers additional tools to build differentiated outcomes.

“The combination of strong structured products activity, investment in equity derivatives and the development of QIS and custom indices provides a broader platform from which to serve clients across markets.”

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