The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) just published a report which shows that baby boomers today control more than $13 trillion in household investable assets. This accounts for over 50% of the total household investments assets in the U.S. The number of baby boomers will continue to grow with projections of nearly 1 in every 6 Americans will be 65 or older by the year 2020.
With demographics like these it’s clear why financial services companies are interested in products like reverse mortgages and other tools geared towards the boomer generation. The report summarizes practices used by financial services firms and securities professionals in serving senior investors in the following areas:
- Getting started: how firms are thinking of ways to remodel their supervisory and compliance structures to meet the changing needs of senior investors;
- Communicating effectively with senior investors;
- Training and educating firm employees on senior-specific issues (such as how to identify signs of diminished capacity and elder abuse);
- Establishing an internal process for escalating issues and taking next steps;
Encouraging investors of all ages to prepare for the future;
Advertising and marketing to senior investors;
Obtaining information at account opening;
Ensuring the appropriateness of investments; and
Conducting senior-focused supervision, surveillance and compliance reviews.
For the full SEC report, press here.
