An Executive Conversation with Maria Pankova: Structured products as part of the investment business, the main elements of which are intelligence and an ethical approach

Introduction

Freedom Structured Products PLC, a member of Freedom Holding Corporation, has in only a few years grown into a recognized manufacturer of structured products through its commitment to quantitative excellence, transparency, and tailored solutions.

In this interview, Maria Pankova, Director and Member of the Board, discusses her professional philosophy, the company’s disciplined approach to innovation, and her vision for the future of responsible investment design.

1. Company Overview and Competitive Edge

Times CEO:
What does Freedom Structured Products PLC do, and what makes it different from other companies in the investment sector?

Maria Pankova:
Freedom Structured Products PLC is an issuing company registered in Cyprus in 2023. It is part of Freedom Holding Corporation (FRHC) — the first financial group from the CIS region to list on NASDAQ in 2019. We are a manufacturer specializing in innovative investment products that bridge traditional finance with modern market opportunities.

Our sales architecture is built on a distribution network that includes brokers, banks, and family offices. We target advanced investors seeking risk-managed returns, high-net-worth individuals requiring tailored yield strategies, and corporations needing complex financial engineering.

Our key differentiator is the combination of customization, transparency, and rigorous risk control. Every solution is engineered with disciplined modelling, regulatory precision, and global distribution across Europe and emerging markets.

At the core of our offering are custom-built structured notes (or structured derivatives) that combine the strength of traditional finance with innovative design. Each product is engineered through a rigorous process of financial modelling, stress testing, and regulatory oversight. Our team of mathematicians, physicists, and financial engineers applies advanced analytical techniques such as Monte Carlo simulations and the Black-Scholes model to create investment solutions that balance opportunity and safety.

This scientific foundation has positioned Freedom Structured Products PLC as a recognized participant in the new wave of structured finance — one that relies not only on creativity and risk management, but also on mathematical discipline and transparency.

Before joining FRHC, I had already come a long way in Investment Management and Private Banking, having started my career back in 1997. Working with high-net-worth individuals and their families teaches you deep responsibility — for both the decisions you make and the recommendations you provide to clients. In the market, someone’s fear is always competing with someone else’s greed.

Serving HNWIs professionally requires maintaining the right balance between the company’s targets (such as revenue growth and profitability) and the long-term interests of investors and their heirs (planning, stability, liquidity, and profitability of instruments). Preserving this balance is a true art.

Since launching a new business within FRHC three years ago, I have adhered to a clear system of priorities and values, introducing it to all team members and distributors. This is not an easy task, because structured products are often seen as high-margin for manufacturers and high-risk for investors, and therefore easily discredited. I like to repeat the old truth that any product in itself is innocent — only a person can make it toxic. This commitment to ethical, long-term business practices is our key competitive advantage.

Our second distinguishing feature is our affiliation with FRHC (client base 6.1 million, total assets USD 10.3 billion), known for its ambitious and dynamic development, its own financial infrastructure, international expansion, stable financial indicators, and implementation of cutting-edge IT solutions. The holding is now on the verge of transforming part of its infrastructure from fintech into AI-driven brokerage.

Within my team, the structured products desk is staffed with highly qualified physicists and mathematicians, many with PhDs. The creation, hedging, and rebalancing of structured products require sophisticated mathematical models (such as Black–Scholes and Monte Carlo), often far beyond what is taught in economics faculties.

Our third advantage lies in pricing discipline: we carefully monitor expenses and maintain modest profit margins, which directly benefits the end investor. This flexibility also extends to tailor-made products starting from as little as USD 100 000, while the market standard is typically higher.

All the above has enabled us to scale our structured product sales to over USD 100 million — just one of several business areas of our young company.

2. Explaining Structured Products

Times CEO:
Structured products can sound complex to many people. How do you explain them in simple terms to clients?

Maria Pankova:
A structured product is a financial instrument that blends traditional stocks or bonds with derivatives to achieve a specific, custom-built risk-return profile.

Structured products can generate returns in almost any market situation — rising, falling, or sideways — provided there is sufficient volatility in the underlying assets.

When offering an investment product, it is essential to start by identifying the client’s risk/return preferences and level of expertise. Our products comply with local regulatory requirements in every jurisdiction where our distributors operate. Once you understand the investor’s category, you can offer a suitable structured solution.

The conditions for potential gains and losses are predefined and transparent. Our mission is to make these solutions understandable and accessible to every client.

3. Client Base and Needs

Times CEO:
Who are your typical investors, and what needs can they cover with your tools?

Maria Pankova:
We target four main investor categories:

• High-net-worth individuals and family offices seeking customized yield-enhancing or capital-preservation strategies.
• Institutional clients who want to diversify their product lines or raise capital. Through securitization, we structure their projects into investable notes or bonds, creating efficient fundraising vehicles with flexible terms.
• Advanced retail investors looking for intelligent, risk-managed opportunities.
• Corporate clients needing hedging and financial-engineering solutions.

The process begins by identifying investors’ core needs and assessing their psychological readiness for temporary declines in asset value. If such readiness is absent, only capital-protected products should be proposed. Appropriateness tests conducted by brokers assist in this selection.

Investors can choose the underlying asset for their structured product, and with our help, achieve a result superior to simply buying the asset itself — or add downside protection that would be hard to implement in direct trading.

Clients may also select products with quarterly coupon payments for regular income, or those that participate in asset growth with payouts at maturity.

Our clients value clear, disciplined investment design that balances opportunity with protection. We help them navigate market uncertainty, inflation, and portfolio complexity through structured strategies tailored to their goals.

The consistent record of successful product launches, coupon payments, and profitable redemptions continues to attract new investors.

4. Risk Management Framework

Times CEO:
Risk management is crucial in structured products. How do you ensure products remain safe and suitable for investors?

Maria Pankova:
Risk control is embedded in every stage of our process. Each product undergoes comprehensive modelling, stress testing, and regulatory review. We simulate extreme market scenarios to ensure resilience.

All investors receive simplified, clearly explained structures, while institutional distributors receive deeper scenario analyses and portfolio impact assessments.

Our compliance with European and CySEC regulatory frameworks guarantees disciplined governance, risk transparency, and investor protection.

5. Capital-Protected Option

Times CEO:
Can you give an example of one of your innovative capital-protected products?

Maria Pankova:
A good example is our USD 104 % Capital Protected Twin-Win Note on WTI Crude Oil. It allows investors to benefit from both upward and downward movements in oil prices within defined limits while providing 104 % capital protection at maturity.

Even if oil experiences moderate declines, investors still preserve and slightly grow their principal. It is a perfect demonstration of how we use financial engineering to combine attractive upside participation with strong safety nets.

6. Yield Enhancement Solutions

Times CEO:
Many of your products focus on yield enhancement. How do these products work, and who are they best suited for?

Maria Pankova:
The Phoenix Autocallable is ideal for this purpose. These income-generating solutions are designed for investors seeking regular yield with controlled risk.

For example, our Phoenix Autocallable on a diversified equity basket pays up to 18 % per annum through conditional or guaranteed coupons. If performance thresholds are met, the product can redeem early, providing liquidity and locking in profits.

These structures are best suited for moderate-risk investors looking for consistent returns in stable or moderately volatile markets while retaining early-exit potential.

7. Pre-IPO Participation Strategy

Times CEO:
Your company also helps investors participate in pre-IPO opportunities. How does that fit within your broader strategy?

Maria Pankova:
Our Pre-IPO structured investments provide access to high-quality private companies preparing to go public within one to two years. These firms typically have unicorn valuations, strong revenue growth, and high liquidity potential.

We leverage our expertise in deal sourcing, analytics, and transaction structuring to ensure legally sound, non-dilutive investments. This allows investors to participate in late-stage growth with enhanced returns while maintaining our core principles of diversification and compliance.

8. Future Trends in Structured Finance

Times CEO:
Finally, what trends do you see shaping the future of structured products in the next five years?

Maria Pankova:
Structured products are extremely flexible and adaptable — that is why they have remained relevant for more than four decades.

The European market continues to show steady expansion. At the end of Q1 2025, the total market volume of investment and leverage products reached €471 billion, representing a 7 % year-on-year increase. This figure reflects only exchange-traded instruments; private placements — the larger share — are not included.

Overall, the European structured products market is growing steadily in both issuance volume and trading turnover.

Three major trends are shaping its evolution:

1. Personalization, as investors demand bespoke solutions.
2. Digitalization, transforming access through online platforms and mobile apps.
3. Expansion of investment ideas and asset classes, including AI-linked products, commodities, and regulated digital assets.

As an issuer, we have ambitious goals: expanding our global B2B presence, entering European and South African exchanges, enhancing digital distribution channels, and launching proprietary tokens.

The future belongs to companies that combine innovation with integrity, ensuring even the most sophisticated instruments remain transparent, clear, and valuable to real investors.

This year, we successfully completed our setup phase, marked by uncertainty and rapid revenue growth. Today, we are observing stable cash flow — signaling our transition to a full growth stage focused on strengthening relationships and reinforcing our expertise.

In the next three years, our objective is to reach corporate maturity, gradually reduce risks, and continue investing in expansion. At that point, innovation will give way to stability and consistent performance.

There is still much to accomplish, but new frontiers beckon. The company is entering a competitive, mature market with a team of high-performing managers who thrive on challenges.

Further Information

Connect with Maria Pankova on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/maria-pankova-47583b11/

Learn more about Freedom Structured Products PLC, a member of Freedom Holding Corporation:
https://freedom-sp.eu
https://freedomholdingcorp.com

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