Boomers don't like to buy off the shelf. They increasingly demand customization to suit their individual situation. I recently asked Tom Ricketts, CEO of Incapital LLC, a firm that focuses on structured products, if structured investments can address this demand. Here's what he had to say:
"Structured investments are extremely customizable. For a relatively small investment – say $250,000 or $500,000 – the advisor can call us and say, 'The portfolio I'm designing has a hole. If I had a principal protected note or some other kind of structured investment to fill it, it would be a great fit.' Even at a low level investment amount, we can take it and shop it to our partners: Lehman Brothers, JPMorgan, HSBC, Fortis. So not only is it flexible from the standpoint that it covers a lot of potential asset classes and different risk/rewards scenarios, it's flexible because the advisor can tell us what he wants and we'll take it to five banks and get the best price."
