Overview

Buffer ETFs have taken the US market by storm – rapidly attracting billions in inflows by offering outcome-oriented equity exposure with built-in downside protection. Simple wrapper, transparent pricing, exchange-traded access.
Meanwhile in Europe, structured products have long dominated this space — deeply embedded, highly customised, and highly profitable.

So the question is:


➡ Are Buffer ETFs a genuine alternative — or a direct threat to the European structured product ecosystem?
➡ Will investors favor transparency and liquidity over customization?
➡ And how will issuers respond if the wrapper starts to change?
Join us at Bloomberg Frankfurt for a candid discussion at the intersection of ETF innovation and structured solutions.

🎯 What to expect:


• The US success story of Buffer ETFs — and what’s driving adoption
• Structural differences between ETFs and European structured products
• Investor demand: protection, simplicity, liquidity — what matters most?
• Implications for distributors, issuers, and portfolio construction

Afterwards, we are pleased to invite you to a networking reception at the nearby Bitburger (just a 3-minute walk from our office), where traditional finger food will be served.

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Agenda

Buffer ETFs: Disrupting Structured Products – or Just Getting Started in Europe?

15:00 – 15:30

Registration 

15:30 – 15:35

Opening remarks
Andreas Schmidt, Bloomberg.

15:35 – 15:40

ETF Poll
Henry Jim, Bloomberg

A quick audience poll to gauge:

  • Who uses ETFs
  • Who uses structured notes
  • How much participants would pay for a buffer ETF

Results will be shared with the audience.

15:40 – 15:55

Bloomberg Intelligence: Global ETF Trends & Buffer ETFs
Eric Balchunas, Bloomberg Intelligence Analyst, will discuss global ETF trends and the rise of buffer ETFs in the U.S.

15:55 – 16:10

Bloomberg Update
Andreas Schmidt

  • Latest ETF functionality
  • Release of FLEX Options Data
16:10 – 16:15

BlackRock Introduction
Laura Elliott

  • Introduction and role
16:15 – 16:20

Goldman Sachs Introduction
Sushil Krishan

  • Introduction and role
16:20 – 17:20

Panel discussion – Outcome ETFs
The awareness and use of ETFs by European retail investors has expanded rapidly in the last few years and traditional investment product distribution channels have been slow to respond. In this panel we explore how buffer ETFs can bridge tradition with new investors, and bring about an investment and trading transformation to the Europe, looking at market trends, product structure and capital markets.

  • Laura Elliott, BlackRock
  • Sushil Krishan, Goldman Sachs
  • Eric Balchunas, Bloomberg Intelligence
  • Henry Jim, Bloomberg — Moderator

 

17:30 – 19:00

Networking & External drinks
Bitburger, Hochstrasse 54

We are pleased to invite you to a networking reception at the nearby Bitburger (just a 3-minute walk from our office), where traditional finger food will be served.

Speakers

Photo of Laura Elliott

Laura Elliott

Head of EMEA Index Product Structuring and Solutions
Blackrock

Laura Elliott is the Head of EMEA Index Product Structuring and Solutions at BlackRock in London, where she leads the development of iShares products, including the launch of buffer ETFs in Europe. She specializes in index-tracking and derivative-based ETFs. 

Photo of Sushil Krishan

Sushil Krishan

MD Flow and Solutions Sales
Goldman Sachs
Sushil Krishan is a Managing Director in the Flow & Solutions Sales division at Goldman Sachs in Frankfurt, a position he has held since around early 2022 after joining the firm in September 2019. He focuses on equity derivatives solutions and systematic trading strategies for institutional clients in Germany and Austria.
Photo of Eric Balchunas

Eric Balchunas

Senior ETF Analyst
Bloomberg Intelligence

Eric Balchunas is Senior ETF Analyst for Bloomberg Intelligence where he writes for and leads the fund research team. He also helped create and appears on the first-ever ETF TV show called Bloomberg ETF IQ as well as a podcast called Trillions. He is also a Bloomberg Opinion contributor and author of The Institutional ETF Toolbox, which was published by Wiley in March 2016. Eric holds a bachelor’s degree in Journalism and Environmental Economics from Rutgers University.

Photo of Henry Jim

Henry Jim

Senior ETF Journalist
Bloomberg Intelligence
Henry Jim is a Senior ETF Journalist at Bloomberg Intelligence. Prior to joining Bloomberg he was an ETF product developer at State Street SPDR and BlackRock iShares, launching over 100 ETFs in the USA, Canada, and Latin America. As product developer he covered the entire ETF product life cycle of strategy, development, and product management. He is currently based in Geneva, Switzerland.
Photo of Andreas Schmidt

Andreas Schmidt

Equity Derivatives Specialist
Bloomberg L.P.
Andreas is part of the Specialists team in London and covers Bloomberg’s Equity Derivatives workflows and functionality. His role is to support sales in all aspects of the product, advise clients how to best set up and use the functionality. He helps product management with market insight and direct client feedback when it comes to product development. His role includes to represent Bloomberg and its products at industry events and to providing content for various Bloomberg publications such as writing functions for markets and articles.
Andreas has twenty + years of industry experience in equity derivatives trading and sales. Prior to joining Bloomberg, he held an Executive Director position at Nomura in Frankfurt selling equity derivatives to German/Austrian institutional clients. He has spent 9 years with Merrill Lynch in Frankfurt and London and had various assignments with German Banks in Equities where he managed teams of traders for cash equities and equity derivatives.

When & Where

Dienstag | Juni 16
15:00 – 17:30

Bloomberg Frankfurt | Neue Mainzer Str. 75 | 60311
Floor 17

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