Accredited Investor Criteria Review

 Jan. 31 , 2019

The SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy is issuing this Investor Bulletin to educate individual investors about what it means to be an “accredited investor”.

What does it mean to be an accredited investor?

Under the federal securities laws, only persons who are accredited investors may participate in certain securities offerings. One reason these offerings are limited to accredited investors is to ensure that all participating investors are financially sophisticated and able to fend for themselves or sustain the risk of loss, thus rendering unnecessary the protections that come from a registered offering . Unlike offerings registered with the SEC in which certain information is required to be disclosed , companies and private funds, such as a hedge fund or venture capital fund, engaging in these exempt offerings do not have to make prescribed disclosures to accredited investors. These offerings involve unique risks, and you should be aware that you could lose your entire investment.

Who is an accredited investor?

An accredited investor, in the context of a natural person, includes anyone who :

• earned income that exceeded $200,000 (or $300,000 together with a spouse) in each of the prior two years, and reasonably expects the same for the current year, OR
• has a net worth over $1million, either alone or together with a spouse {excluding the value of the person’s primary residence).

There are other categories of accredited investors, including the following, which may be relevant to you:

• any trust, with total assets more than $5million, not formed specifically to purchase the subject securities, whose purchase is directed by a sophisticated person, or
• any entity in which all equity owners are accredited investors
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 In this context, a sophisticated person means the person must have, or the company or private fund offering the securities reasonably believes that this person has, sufficient knowledge and experience in financial and business matters to evaluate the merits and risks of the prospective investment.