Are Structured Products Suitable for Retail Investors?

Those who understand advanced financial market concepts may read the whole paper but for the rest of our readers we provide the conclusion:

Equity-linked notes are complex, opaque and expensive - and the more complex and opaque they are, the more expensive they are. Even with the best disclosure materials and the most thoroughly trained and supervised registered representatives, it is unlikely that retail investors can understand the risk-return tradeoff and the costs being incurred in some of the complex equity-linked notes and structured products currently being marketed. (Are Structured Products Suitable for Retail Investors? by Craig McCann and Dengpan Luo, Securities Litigation and Consulting Group, 2006)