The Swiss Stock Exchange, as the long-standing main sponsor of the industry event, has been acting as co-host with Derivative Partners since this year. “We are pleased at the success of the winners and their innovative products. The occasion has long since developed into a major industry event and is valued by both national and international structured product experts as a networking event. We are proud to make a key contribution to not only the development but also the acknowledgment of exceptional performance,” explains André Buck, Global Head Sales & Relationship Management, SIX Swiss Exchange.
The winning products cover various different areas and highlight the unabated ability of the industry to innovate. For the second time, awards were presented for two categories specifically focusing on environmental protection (ESG and climate protection).
The jury is chaired by Prof. Marc Oliver Rieger (Trier University). The other jury members are Ülkü Cibik (Counsel, Meyerlustenberger Lachenal), Sébastien Neukom (Head Structured Products Sales, SIX Swiss Exchange), Nicolas Peter (Head of Investments and Member of the Executive Board, Aquila), Abdel Hamidouche (Structured Products Advisor, Banque Mirabaud) and Serge Nussbaumer (Editor-in-Chief of ‘payoff’, Derivative Partners).
Sébastien Neukom, who took over from André Buck this year, is enthusiastic about the jury’s work: “We had a very constructive and positive dialogue between the jury members. I would like to thank all of the issuers for the products they submitted along with the detailed product descriptions. You certainly didn’t make it an easy choice for us!”
All products issued in Switzerland in 2020 and listed on the Swiss Stock Exchange operated by SIX were eligible for submission. The jury named three favorites in each category. All winners and nominees were then determined based on a count and confirmed by the president of the jury. Awards were conferred for the best products in each of seven product categories. In addition, the leading banks in terms of service quality for structured products also won awards. Depending on the category, the Swiss Derivative Awards are based on a combination of quantitative and qualitative analysis and honor real innovation achievements.
The winners of the Research Awards were chosen jointly by Prof. Martin Wallmeier (University of Fribourg) and Prof. Marc Oliver Rieger.
As in the previous year, the announcement of the winners was moved from a physical stage to a virtual one. André Buck, Global Head Sales & Relationship Management, SIX Swiss Exchange, presented the award for the best equities product; Sébastien Neukom, Head Structured Products Sales, SIX Swiss Exchange, presented the awards for the best market makers; and the index award sponsor Christian Bahr, Head Index Services, SIX Financial Information, presented the award for the best index product.