Awards 2013

In London on 12 November 2013, the renowned UK magazine “Structured Products” presented its annual awards to the best issuers of derivatives and structured products. The international jury gave the Structured Products Europe Award 2013 in the category “Best in Switzerland” to Vontobel in recognition of its innovative investment ideas. In addition to pricing, another aspect highlighted once again was Vontobel’s capacity for innovation. The following tracker certificates were cited as examples:

• The VONCERT tracker certificate in CHF or EUR on a 3D printing basket (VZDDC)/(VZDDE) was the first product on the Swiss market that enabled investors to participate in a possible upswing in the 3D printing sector. This subject has attracted a lot of media attention, and 3D printing technology is regarded as being revolutionary, while the industry is seen as being very promising.
• China’s central government is rigorously pursuing reforms and continuing to develop infrastructure with a view to bolstering the country’s flagging economy. Rail transportation is also an area being focused on in this regard. Continuing with the concept of its successful predecessor product, the VONCERT on a China Railway II basket in CHF or EUR (VZRWA)/(VZRWB) allows investors to participate in the Chinese railway sector..
• The VONCERT open end on the Vontobel Luxury Performance Index (VZLIC) gives investors a platform for investing in the ten largest companies by market capitalization in the luxury goods sector, the fashion industry (clothing, shoes, leather products) and accessories (jewellery, watches, eyewear).
• Rising prices, high sales figures, renovations, and earnings picking up at US banks – the recovering US real estate market has many facets, and has been enjoying a renaissance since 2012. With its VONCERT on a US housing basket in USD (VZHOU), Vontobel enables investors to participate in these developments.

For the eighth time the renowned Oscar Night of the derivatives sector was held at Zurich's Kaufleuten on Thursday evening, 11 April 2013. The issuers of the most attractive structured products were honoured. The event was organised by Derivative Partners Media AG with its partners Scoach Schweiz AG and SIX Financial Information. Finanz und Wirtschaft was the media partner supporting the event.

The assessment was carried out in accordance with the tried-and-tested approach of the previous year. As usual, a special focus was set on innovation and creativity. Ultimately, the most attractive new issues of five investment sectors were assessed: Best Equity Product, Best Commodity Product, Best Precious Metal Product, Best Currency/Interest Product, Best Product on Alternative Underlyings. The specialist committee also bestowed awards on issuers who stood out in the categories of Top Service, Best Market Maker Leveraged Products and Best Market Maker Investment Products and also bestowed a Special Award. Overall, 59 investment and leverage products from eleven issuers were chosen.

Winner in the Top Service area
For the third time in a row, the jury bestowed on Vontobel an award for outstanding performance in the area of Top Service. The rating relates, in particular, to criteria such as the quality of termsheets, brochures, client magazines, the derivatives website and market making. An investor survey was also conducted. The result was clear: via electronic platforms, such as derinet.ch, deritrade.com, the derinews client magazine, daily, weekly and monthly newsletters, dynamic fact sheets, informative and clear termsheets and consistent market making, investors with Vontobel are offered a comprehensive range for a successful implementation of their investment ideas. As such, the jury placed Vontobel on the joint first rank along with EFG Financial Products.



Further awards for Best Market Maker Leveraged Products
Fair prices in the secondary market have become a key criterion for assessing structured products from the perspective of investors. Vontobel also stood out here and won the Best Market Maker Leveraged Products awards. Crucial for this award was the consistently very good quality in pricing for secondary issues on Scoach Switzerland.



The jury of experts
A jury of seven under the auspices of Professor Marc Oliver Rieger of the University of Trier honoured the product of the year by asset class and for the other categories. In addition to the solution, all accompanying services surrounding the product were taken into account for the award. As such, when selecting the products, the quality of the market making, the term and fact sheets, the quality of the derivatives website and the marketing documents as well as the client magazine and product documents provided by the issuer were considered.

The jury of experts consists of independent and experienced industry experts from Switzerland. It unites both practical and theoretical knowledge and is overseen by Professor Marc Oliver Rieger of the University of Trier. In doing so, outstanding innovative products and special achievements in the Swiss market for structured products are honoured. The Swiss Derivative Awards aim to boost the understanding and acceptance of derivative products.