Unstructured Reflections: How wholesalers grew the pie

When SIMON and Luma first launched, the industry’s collective reaction was: “Finally!” A multi-issuer platform designed to make structured product access more seamless — it looked like the missing piece to finally grow the pie.

And in some ways, it did. There’s still a strong correlation between platform access and increased sales. But looking at the last few years, I’ve come to believe that most of the real growth has come from the wholesalers.

Firms like iCapital, First Trust, CAIS, AAM, InspereX and others have relentlessly expanded distribution. They hired more salespeople, knocked on more doors, educated more RIAs, and ultimately helped structured products reach investors who hadn’t touched them before. And I do hope that, in our own way, we’ve helped support this expansion with the tools and data to make it happen.

Technology as Efficiency — But at What Cost?

Technology was never meant to be the margin — it was meant to bring efficiency, transparency, and scale. Platforms have become essential, but they’ve also become a cost centre. That’s not inherently bad — services should have value — but it raises a fundamental question: What should be the cost of efficiently serving the structured products market?

With the ongoing push for greater transparency around fees and disclosures, the focus for many will likely return to what matters most: growing the pie, especially in the RIA space. That’s where wholesalers continue to have a meaningful edge.

Data Insight: Issuer Calls, Term Compression, and Faster Rollovers

One development we’re closely watching is how average terms — both contracted and actual — are evolving, particularly for autocallables. The data below is telling:

A few patterns jump out:

• Autocalls are being called faster: Despite contracted terms hovering around 2–3 years, actual maturities have fallen below 1 year in recent periods. That’s a meaningful shift.

• Issuer calls are impacting non-autocallables too: Average actual terms on non-autocall structures have also compressed, suggesting more frequent early redemptions initiated by issuers.

• Rollovers are accelerating: The shortening of average terms, particularly in 2023 and 2024, is increasing the velocity at which clients are reinvesting — and that has implications for flows, volumes, and platform capacity.

In a sense, this faster rollover cycle is creating a new kind of growth engine. Shorter cycles mean more opportunities for re-engagement, new ideas, and dynamic asset allocation — but also more demand for operational agility.

Closing Thought

If the 2010s were about platforms and access, the 2020s are being defined by distribution and agility. Technology will continue to drive efficiency, but it's the human engine of wholesalers — armed with data, backed by platforms — who are really moving the needle.