Structured Products in 2026: Redefining Control in Uncertain Markets

By Maxime Namysl, Head of Adequity 

The global market for structured products is entering a new phase as it is reshaped by the return of higher interest rates and by investors’ renewed desire for transparent outcomes.

Structured products are versatile and help investors balance risk and return within diversified portfolios after a decade in which ultra-low rates made most structures purely equity linked. 

A changing investment backdrop

For much of the 2010s, near-zero interest rates left investors searching for yield. Structured products filled that gap through equity-linked autocall notes, which paid conditional income when markets stayed stable or rose. When inflation returned and rates climbed, the economics of structured products changed dramatically.

With higher yields, Societe Generale was able to develop fixed-income-linked or rate-linked, capital-protected solutions once more. These products protected the principal, while also providing a conditional return that was linked to changes in interest rates or bond markets. For investors who wanted security without sacrificing opportunity, this became a natural alternative to deposits or government bonds.

Drivers of renewed demand:

• Higher interest rates enable capital-guaranteed payoffs that were impossible in the negative-rate era.
• Market volatility encourages investors to seek instruments with defined outcomes.
• Wider access through digital distribution and advisory platforms.
• Improved financial literacy, making structured payoffs easier for investors to understand.

Transparency through structure

Structured products combine two components:

1. A bond element, providing income or capital security.
2. A derivative element, linking returns to the performance of an underlying asset such as an index, stock, or interest-rate benchmark.

This structure narrows investment outcomes to a few clear scenarios—markets rising, staying flat, or declining—so clients know in advance how their investment behaves under each condition. In uncertain times, that defined logic has become a source of comfort.

Technology and innovation

Through Adequity—its team dedicated to Independent Financial Advisors (IFAs)—the Bank is strengthening its support with digital tools designed to simplify the daily work of wealth professionals. For example, Adequity provides on its platform an AI‑generated weekly Market Review. This short video format offers a quick, structured summary of key developments—index movements, sector trends, macroeconomic data, and major events—giving professionals an immediate understanding of the market context.

Digitalization is transforming how products are designed and distributed, too. Automated platforms can price and issue a new product within minutes, generating all required documentation and reducing operational risk. The same structuring capabilities as those used by large institutions are now accessible to small distributors and advisors thanks to technology.
Furthermore, Adequity offers multi-asset solutions combining equities, rates, and credit. This architecture optimizes execution speed—from pricing to generating term sheets.

Innovation extends to the instruments themselves:

• Fixed-income and rate-linked products designed for investors seeking predictable income with capital preservation.
• Equity-linked strategies that provide conditional yield in more volatile markets.

What to expect in 2026?

In 2026, markets continue to evolve amid geopolitical tensions and structural rate movements. In this environment, two allocation trends stand out:

• Diversified solutions—both geographically and sector wise—to reduce idiosyncratic risk, such as “transatlantic” structures
• Capital guaranteed solutions tied to rates, now essential for providing stability and clarity

Structured products are increasingly establishing themselves as genuine portfolio construction tools for investors seeking transparency in scenarios, alignment of risk with objectives, and agility in responding to changing markets. In the context of persistent uncertainty, the ability to clearly define the outcome of an investment has never been more strategic.

Adequity supports these developments with an offering designed to address today’s market complexity while delivering robustness, consistency, and clarity.