creator Zhu, Lizi 2023 Spring 2023 Dissertation Illinois Institute of Technology SSB / Stuart School of Business advisor Cooper, Ricky Management Finance Capability Competitive Advantage Financialization Information Technology Retail Investors Structured Products en This dissertation aims to study financialization in the structured products market. The structured products market has been undergoing a major transformation in recent years. The market used to mainly serve institutional investors. However, as a few trading platforms powered by fintech companies emerged on the horizon, more and more banks are starting to compete in this market. The average trade size has also been declining significantly, thereby making the market increasingly accessible to retail investors. What are the factors that facilitate the development of this market? What are the economic incentives of issuers and investors? How do issuers compete? What does the future hold for this market? The main finding of this dissertation is that structured products provide utility to retail investors; As the level of risk aversion increases, an investor increasingly prefers structured products to other traditional asset classes; issuers develop three sources of competitive advantage to be a satisficer; the rise of fintech and improvement of financial education are the key to opening this market to retail investors. born digital application/pdf In Copyright http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/ Restricted Access http://hdl.handle.net/10560/islandora:1025177