Ongoing industrialization and population growth are resulting in continuously increasing demand for natural resources. A large proportion of the goods we manufacture still wind up in landfill sites or incinerators after use. In product manufacturing, the closing of the material flow cycle is of central importance. Natural resources can be divided into renewables and non-renewables. From a sustainability perspective, the increased use of renewable resources should be favored

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From the morning shower to freshly washed clothes and the coffee machine - not only our morning routine, but our entire everyday life would be unthinkable without running water. But how does the wet element get into our taps and what happens as soon as it flows down the drain?

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With Low Strike BRC the strike that must be reached in the event of a barrier being touched is below the initial fixing. If such a barrier event occurs, the probability that all underlying prices will be above the strike at the end of the term is higher.

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2023 has not been a veray exciting year on the Swiss stock market so far. The SMI® is up a good 3.5% (ytd), while the Swiss Performance Index®, which includes most of the remaining Swiss stocks in addition to the heavyweights from the leading index, is up about 6%. However, not all constituents of these indices can show positive performance. The shares of large corporations such as Roche and Zurich, as well as those of smaller companies, are trading below their prices at the beginning of the year. Nevertheless - or maybe because of this - favorable opportunities are emerging.

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Insurance stocks are popular underlyings for structured products, especially for yield enhancement products. With derivatives from Zürcher Kantonalbank, investors benefit not only from attractive conditions, but also from our bank's excellent rating.

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Shark notes owe their interesting name to their payoff profile, which resembles the dorsal fin of a shark. They belong to the group of capital protection products and offer investors a participation in the price development of an underlying, while the invested capital is protected against loss. This reduces the risk of loss compared to a direct investment in the underlying, while at the same time allowing participation in the upward movement.

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The world's largest companies are not based in Europe, but direct their activities from the other side of the Atlantic and are listed on the American stock exchanges. If investors from Switzerland invest in this market, they have to take into account possible exchange rate fluctuations in addition to the price risk, but they benefit from the higher interest rate - an important factor for the profile of yield-optimization products; with similar volatilities, the coupons rise with interest rates.

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Change requires ingenuity, innovation and pioneering. Companies that develop novel technologies and processes not only drive the economy, but also make significant contributions to solving global problems such as climate change, healthcare or education. In this way, innovative companies and their technologies also promote and shape global economic development in the longer term.

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Uncertainty - translated into volatility on the stock exchanges - pushes prices down. However, for yield enhancement products that have a short option component, increased volatility can also be beneficial, as the option premiums collected increase with volatility: Higher coupons and/or lower barriers result. 

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For BRCs with a last-look feature, also known as a european barrier, the barrier is not relevant until the end of the last trading day of the product. If the prices of all underlyings are above the barrier - regardless of whether it has been touched or breached during the term - the investor is fully repaid. As with BRCs with regular barriers, the coupon payment is guaranteed and not dependent on the closing prices of the underlyings.

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