Building Wealth With Structured Notes
A structured note is a bond issued by a bank that is wired (through derivatives) to the performance of something else, like a stock, an index. In this case study, the worst performer of a basket of three stocks.
You are lending the bank money, and the payout follows a formula instead of a normal interest coupon.
The one in my inbox is an auto-callable note with 100% principal protection: if the basket is flat or up at the one-year mark, it gets "called," you collect 20.8% and you are done. If not, it runs to year three with uncapped upside on the worst stock, or your principal back if that stock is down.
Most people have never heard of these. One industry poll found that 61% of the public had very little to no knowledge of structured products (Structured Retail Products).
In a 2024 survey, 75% of 487 advisors said they use structured or market-linked notes, with downside protection cited as the top reason by 83% of them (SRP / InspereX Pulse Survey).
The market is enormous and growing fast. US structured note sales hit a record $149.4 billion in 2024, up 46% in a year (Structured Retail Products), then surpassed $226 billion in 2025 across roughly 53,700 separate notes (CAIS).
The note in my video is the auto-callable flavor, which now makes up close to 70% of all US structured note sales (Calamos Investments).
