Swissquote has entered into partnership with Stableton, an investment firm that specializes in private markets, for the launch of a bankable active managed certificate (ACM) for retail investors in Switzerland. The ACM seeks to broadly reflect the 20 largest unicorn Read this Term companies in the world listed by global index provider Morningstar's unicorn benchmark.

ACM is a type of structured product that enables asset managers to issue and manage investment products without depending on a bank as the issuer. The product will give retail investors “easy and convenient access to privately held high-growth companies,” Swissquote said in a statement on Monday.

“With this strategically important product innovation, Swissquote can expand its range of products and provide its clients with access to unique private market investments through its unique trading platform Read this Term,” the firm explained.

Stableton Collaborates with Swissquote and Morningstar

Apart from the ACM, Stableton has launched a private market product called the Stableton Unicorn investment offering. The product, which draws on Morningstar’s new private market unicorn indexes, also deploys Stableton’s experience with venture capital-backed growth equity and institutional-grade investment solutions.

“Stableton’s two distinct investment products provide investors with efficient and cost-effective exposure to a diverse group of the world’s most innovative privately held high-growth companies: an open-ended Luxembourg investment fund, available to institutional investors, and a bankable Actively Managed Certificate (AMC) with a Swiss ISIN, available for public distribution to retail investors,” Swissquote explained.

Speaking about the new investment products, Jan De Schepper, Swissquote's Chief Sales and Marketing Officer, noted that the offering offers our retail and institutional clients access to private market investments. The executive described the offering as “a trend that is rapidly gaining momentum in the financial industry.”

Opening Up Road to Private Markets

Investment in private markets is constrained by several factors such as high fees and an investment minimum, capital calls, long-term fund commitment and so-called opaque ‘black-box investment’. This makes investment in private companies difficult and time-consuming for investors.

“Investors now have the opportunity to gain exposure to the most promising growth opportunities in the market, which were previously difficult or even impossible to access,” noted Sanjay Arya, the Head of Innovation and Index Products at Morningstar.