Thursday, 27 November 2025 Reading time : 3 minutes

Stock market activity is currently dominated by fascination with the potential applications of artificial intelligence (AI). However, investing in technology stocks can be nerve-wracking at times. Defensive stock sectors, including consumer staples, are more sedate. While these stocks may be considered boring, they score points for consistency. 

This pattern was also evident amid the recent turmoil on Wall Street, with consumer staples proving to be a safe haven while the AI rally took a breather.

Resilience in turbulent times
Manufacturers of consumer staples produce everyday items such as pasta, toothpaste and washing-up liquid. Well-known US companies in this industry include the cosmetics group Estée Lauder (Clinique, MAC Cosmetics), the food producer Mondelez (Oreo, Toblerone), and the snack and beverage manufacturer PepsiCo.
 
The sector is considered defensive because consumers continue to purchase everyday products, even during challenging economic periods. Consequently, consumer staples are often less affected than other sectors during turbulent market phases. Thanks to this stability, companies in the sector are considered reliable dividend payers. However, the industry is characterised by slow and limited growth.

Realising yield potential
In fact, the sector's performance since the beginning of the year has been modest, with US consumer staples stocks gaining just under 5% (as of November 26, 2025, total return). This puts them well behind the S&P 500 (+17.1%) and the Nasdaq Composite technology index (+21%). 

Nevertheless, the sector's defensive stance has paid off in recent weeks, with concerns about an AI bubble dampening stock market sentiment. Technology stocks have lost over 6% since the end of October, pulling the S&P 500 down by 1%. During the same period, consumer staples stocks posted gains of almost 3%.

Investors looking to benefit from the stability of the consumer staples sector without investing directly in individual stocks may be interested in the barrier reverse convertible (BRC) on Estée Lauder, Mondelez and PepsiCo, which offers attractive return opportunities. This product provides an opportunity to profit from stable or slightly rising prices while providing some protection against losses.

Reverse Convertible on US Consumer Staples
13.10% p.a. Reverse Convertible on Estee Lauder, Mondelez, PepsiCo
Barrier: 68%
Valor: 149 283 799

Indicative terms

 

Disclaimer
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