Well we know 'why', but why these names?
From Bloomberg, Jan. 14:
A Swiss Bank is selling rich clients an exotic US election bet
A Swiss wealth manager is pitching a way to bet on stocks ahead of potential market disruptions spurred by the U.S. presidential election.
Julius Baer Group Ltd. is selling as much as $40 million of structured notes tied to large American companies hinging on which party holds the White House next year. Pick the note that corresponds to the winner and profit, at least in theory.
The private bank’s “Democrat Victory” note includes Main Street names such as Ford Motor Co. and Walmart Inc. Its ostensibly Republican-friendly portfolio features technology and financial firms like Google parent Alphabet Inc., Amazon.com Inc. and Citigroup Inc.
Julius Baer, which oversees 422 billion Swiss francs ($436 billion), is wading into the famously fraught and speculative debate over the partisan drivers of this record stock rally. For many traders, Wall Street’s disastrous calls in the run-up to the 2016 election remain a fresh memory.
Structured products may strike many as an obscure way to play the election cliffhanger but the instruments are big business in Switzerland, where investors in the third quarter bought and sold some 94 billion Swiss francs worth, according to a trade group........MORE
