The Swiss bank is expanding the use of custom indices across structured products, FIAs and ETFs as distributors seek differentiated outcomes and more efficient product economics.

UBS is moving beyond the integration of its Credit Suisse capabilities in the Americas, with a growing focus on using its expanded structuring platform to develop and distribute customised investment solutions across structured products, insurance and ETFs.

Distributors are increasingly focused on delivering better client outcomes while keeping the advisor and end-client experience simple - Ghali El Boukfaoui

The bank has identified proprietary indices as an increasingly important part of that strategy, with the same underlying investment capabilities being deployed across different wrappers and distribution channels.

Its Engle family of indices, in particular, has gained momentum as demand grows for strategies offering differentiated exposures, higher volatility targets and more efficient product economics.

Ghali El Boukfaoui, head of insurance sales at UBS, spoke to SRP about the evolution of the bank's index business, what distributors are looking for in the current rate environment and the growing convergence between structured products, fixed indexed annuities and structured ETFs.

Indices become core to retail solutions

Proprietary indices have become a core component of UBS's retail solutions platform, spanning structured products, fixed indexed annuities and increasingly ETFs, according to El Boukfaoui.

Custom indices remain a meaningful part of the bank's insurance activity, although adoption varies between carriers and distribution models.

"What is consistent across the industry is a growing desire to expand allocations to customized index strategies," he said.

Insurers and distributors increasingly view custom indices as a way to provide differentiated sources of return, diversification and access to investment approaches that can be difficult to achieve through traditional benchmarks.

"Well-designed proprietary indices can help deliver value throughout the life of the contract while supporting the long-term objectives of both distributors and policyholders," El Boukfaoui said.

Engle family gains momentum

UBS is seeing the strongest growth in equity-oriented strategies that combine simplicity, transparency and efficient product economics.

The Engle family of indices is one example, with several related strategies being rolled out across multiple issuers and gaining momentum this year.

Higher interest rates have changed the way distributors assess index strategies, El Boukfaoui said. Investors continue to seek upside potential but are also placing greater emphasis on sustainable product economics.

Strategies using higher volatility targets, dynamic risk management and volatility-control methodologies can help support more attractive participation rates and caps while maintaining a familiar investment profile.

The objective is to balance performance potential, transparency and option pricing economics.

"Ultimately, distributors are looking for indices that strike the right balance between performance potential, transparency and efficient option pricing," he said.

Simplicity remains key

The growing sophistication of index engineering has not removed the need for products to be easy for advisors and clients to understand.

"Distributors are increasingly focused on delivering better client outcomes while keeping the advisor and end-client experience simple," El Boukfaoui said.

That extends beyond participation rates or headline performance. Distributors want solutions that are supported by a clear investment rationale and can perform across different market environments.

Demand for thematic and customised strategies is also increasing, particularly around areas such as AI, power and resources.

At the same time, distributors expect efficient implementation and seamless execution.

"Customization and operational efficiency are no longer competing objectives. Distributors increasingly expect both," he said.

Balancing outcomes

UBS does not see yield enhancement, downside protection and market participation as separate objectives.

Investors are instead looking for combinations that reflect their investment goals and market views, with the broader range of available underlyings providing more ways to express those views and manage risk.

"The appeal of structured solutions is the flexibility to design outcomes around specific investment objectives rather than forcing investors into a binary choice," El Boukfaoui said.

The same principle is increasingly being applied across different wrappers, with structured products, insurance and ETFs providing different routes to similar underlying investment objectives.

Higher rates expand the toolkit

The return of higher interest rates has been one of the more constructive developments for structured solutions, according to El Boukfaoui.

Higher rates have increased the range of outcomes that can be delivered and created greater flexibility in product design.

When rates were close to zero, there were sharper trade-offs between participation, protection and income. The current environment allows for more combinations of those features.

In fixed indexed annuities, however, higher rates can also improve the economics of established benchmark-linked crediting options.

"Today's environment allows for more attractive combinations of those features and has supported innovation across the market," El Boukfaoui said.

For FIAs, stronger economics on traditional benchmarks such as the S&P 500 can make some older-generation custom indices less compelling.

The proliferation of higher-volatility target indices provides another route, helping reduce concentration around the S&P 500 while supporting different product economics.

ETFs add another wrapper

UBS views the growth of structured ETFs as complementary to structured products rather than a direct threat.

Both are responding to demand for differentiated outcomes, risk management and portfolio efficiency, but structured products retain an advantage when investors require highly customised risk-return profiles.

"We view ETFs and structured products as complementary rather than competitive," El Boukfaoui said.

The emergence of structured ETFs reflects a broader shift towards outcome-oriented investing, while notes and insurance products continue to offer different degrees of customisation.

"Investors increasingly want a toolkit, not a single solution," he said.

Customisation at scale

The next opportunity for UBS is to make customised investment outcomes available at greater scale.

Demand remains across equities, fixed income, QIS and multi-asset solutions, while the convergence of structured notes, FIAs and structured ETFs is creating new opportunities for product development.

The bank also sees scope to combine proprietary research, thematic content and structured solutions to help clients express investment views more efficiently.

Technology, automation and AI will increasingly underpin that process, enabling firms to originate, price and deliver more tailored solutions.

"The future is not just about creating better products. It is about delivering better client outcomes in a simpler, faster and more scalable way," El Boukfaoui said.

This Q&A is published in full as a preview of the SRP Custom & Strategy Report 2026, which includes selected extracts from the interview. 

Image: Adobe Stock

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