Within commodities, the rising tide that lifted all boats in 2017 did not sustain in 2018 and divergence among sub-asset classes was driven by a myriad of factors. Gold weakened another 7.4% year-to-date due to rising rates and a strengthening dollar while oil prices continued to rally on the back of a supply shock that saw Brent and crude climb 14% and 10%, respectively.

Greater volatility creates greater opportunity for structured product providers to showcase their innovative capabilities; and in 2018, UBS maintained its momentum from recent years.

The Swiss bank continued to support private banks’ investment and content needs with market-leading commodities research, and its partnership with Bloomberg on the BCOM (Bloomberg Commodity Index) and CMCI (UBS Bloomberg Constant Maturity Commodity Index) continues to flourish, helping cement these indices as the market’s largest commodity benchmark references.

In addition, UBS remains steadfast in its determination not to provide a cookie-cutter approach to the region but rather take a tailored, client-centric approach that focuses on client solutions, scalability, and collaboration. Notable achievements include retail market-friendly SPV-structured notes in Japan, multi-underlier structured products in Korea, and OTC swaps providing market access for Chinese banks.

“We are proud of the way that our strategy has worked to date but we live in a world where uncertainty is the new normal, so we must remain agile and be prepared to implement change in the best interests of our clients,” said Virat Agarwal, head of commodities structuring at UBS. We are looking for innovation in products, sources of returns, wrappers and payoffs – and this is where we will deliver in 2019.”

In turn, the industry has recognised UBS’s excellence in client servicing, research, innovation, and execution, bestowing upon the bank the title of Best Structured Product Provider – Commodities for the second consecutive year.