Value for Money for Structured Products

Executive summary of the AFPDB Best Practices Guidelines:

The present Guidelines aim at proposing best practices and recommendations for Value for Money framework at the attention of manufacturers of Structured Products (“SPs”)
The VfM framework is part of an ecosystem of existing rules and guidelines governing the promotion, sale and accompaniment during the life of financial instruments, designed to protect end-investors and act in their best interests (PG, costs & charges, suitability, precontractual information).
The AFPBD VfM framework for SPs is a proportionate approach that ensure screening of products on (i) probabilistic benchmarking to verify expected performance given embedded costs and (ii) qualitative assessment of products value/benefits and services provided. It could add an optional quantitative filtering for proportionality purposes, e.g., based on a cost grid filter.
Ultimately, this screening ensures that products launched bring value for end-investor.
The AFPBD VfM framework should be transparent towards supervisors / regulators.
Appropriate information on VfM should be communicated to distributors.

Updated version : 31 July 2025