The existing literature has documented “reaching for yield”—the phenomenon of investing more in risky assets when interest rates are lower—among institutional investors. Using detailed transaction data from a large brokerage firm, we provide direct field evidence that reach for yield is...

Due to their complex features, structured financial products can hurt the average investor. Are certain investors particularly vulnerable? Using account-level transaction data of retail structured funds, we show that the rich (sophisticated) benefit from complexity at the expense of the poor...