In structured products markets Equity, Fixed income and FX are the most important asset classes that products are linked to. However, commodities always attract interest and within those precious metals play an important role.

Gold is the most important precious metal that has properties of both a currency and a commodity. It is a safe haven in times of turmoil and is an asset that has a unique place in the market. The price of gold has roughly tripled over the last five years with the biggest gains being in 2025 and into 2026. Global instability and volatility has contributed to its popularity as a hedge to avoid equity and currency exposure. Due to current global conflicts and economic uncertainties, this is likely to be a situation that continues. Although, silver does not have the same prestige as a safe asset as gold, its spot price has performed almost lockstep with gold over the last five years posting similar stellar returns.

According to data from www.structuredretailproducts.com, gold has featured in many more products and with much higher aggregate sales volume than silver and other precious metals. There are 897 live products linked to gold, with a total notional of 9100 USD m. In contrast there are only 159 linked to Silver, with a total notional of 170 USD m, representing only 2% of the sales volume linked to gold. Platinum is in third place and only manages 55 products with a mere 22 USD m notional.

Gold’s Dominance In Structured Products

It is interesting to assess why gold is so much more popular than silver. Firstly, the gold spot and futures market is vastly larger and more liquid than silver's. The gold futures market (primarily COMEX) runs far deeper, meaning structured product issuers can hedge their positions more efficiently and at lower cost, thus making products more feasible and cost effective.

Secondly, investor familiarity and demand play a role. Gold has a rich history of cultural and financial importance. Retail and institutional investors understand and trust it intuitively. Issuers naturally build products around what investors want to buy.

Why Silver Lags Behind

Silver as an underlying asset is significantly more volatile than gold. Since most commodity linked products aim for full capital protection it is much more difficult silver linked structure products. Additionally, silver's spot price is influenced by industrial demand like electronics and solar panels. As a result, this makes it even harder for investors to follow a simple view. Gold's price drivers are narrower and macro, aligning better with the reasons for why someone buys such a structured product.

Since Covid in 2020 gold has been popular as an underlying for structured products and this has been accelerated by the recent strong price rises.

As shown above, 2020 had the highest sales volume in the last six years as the world reacted to the extraordinary events of Covid. There was a falloff of issuance in the next few years as economies returned to normal and investors felt they had enough portfolio exposure to gold. However, as global uncertainty returned in 2024 and the spot price started to rise significantly strong sales volumes have been posted in 2024 and 2025, almost matching 2020.

Precious Metals In Today’s Market

There are many different product payoffs that are used for gold and silver.

The first example is (SRP id 57089705) is a capital protected certificate issued in Switzerland striking in November 2025. This is a two year note from Banque Internationale à Luxembourg and is fully protected at the 95% level, with a cap of 115%. The product has 1:1 movement with the spot price and offers the chance of a15% return with losses capped at 5%. This capital protected construction allows investors to take little risk; the 5% downside being used to allow reasonable upside potential on a short horizon.

The next product (SRP id 50495811) is from the US, issued by UBS. This product has a maturity of only 1.25 years and a strike date in January 2025 it is fully capital protected. The investor will receive 100% participation in the gold price up to a cap of 125.5%. However, if the gold price reaches the cap level anytime during the product’s life a return of 6% only is paid. This structure allows for full capital protection and participation up to a high cap but with the disadvantage that if the cap is reached at any time in the lifetime only a small return is paid. This is the only way to offer otherwise attractive terms over such a short period.

In the Italian market, BNP Paribas issued a capital protected note linked to silver (SRP id 56251620). This product has a 4 year maturity and striking in November 2025 and it is a simple call spread with a cap set at 150%.

The final example is a 5% reverse convertible from the Swiss market (SRP id 56087385) issued by Leonteq. This product is linked to the worst of gold, palladium, platinum and Silver. This product has a strike date in October 2025 and a two year maturity it has quarterly autocall opportunities starting from six months. The first autocall point is at 100%, with the level declining by 2% each autocall point down to a final level of 90%. Income is set at 5% per annum and at maturity there is a 75% European capital barrier. This is a different risk profile and uses the volatility of four underlyings to generate yield with moderate capital protection. Due to very low interest rates in the Swiss market, this product offers a competitive yield.

As gold may continue to dominate news and issuance, other precious metals opportunities exist in global structured products markets, as a group they provide an interesting alternative.