Tapping grey power

Capturing the 'retiree dollar' is a potentially huge opportunity for structured products in the US, tailor-made as they are for the baby-boomer generation entering retirement. Addressing this market could be what tips structured products into the mainstream, and could also solve some thorny tax issues. Sophia Morrell reports

Imagine you had retired this year, and the potentially devastating consequences that market downturns could have had on your assets, which you no longer have years ahead of you to replenish. The ideal investment for retirees is one that protects their capital from potentially heavy losses in tumbling markets, while making it work hard enough to sustain them now that they earn no salary. On the face of it, then, structured products appear to be the bespoke answer to a retiree's dilemma. But they