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Definition of accredited investor, more commonly known as a wealthy investor.
Accredited investor is a wealthy investor who meets certain SEC requirements for net worth
and income as they relate to some restricted offerings. Accredited investors include institutional
investors, company directors and executive officers, high net worth individuals, and certain
other entities. Some limited partnerships and angel investor networks accept only accredited
investors.
The federal securities laws define the term accredited investor in Rule 501 of Regulation D as
any person who comes within any of the following categories:
1. a natural person who has individual net worth, or joint net worth with the person's spouse, that exceeds $1 million at the time of the purchase;
2. a natural person with income exceeding $200,000 in each of the two most recent years or joint income with a spouse exceeding $300,000 for those years and a reasonable expectation of the same income level in the current year;
3. a charitable organization, corporation, or partnership with assets exceeding $5 million;
4. a director, executive officer, or general partner of the company selling the securities;
5. a business in which all the equity owners are accredited investors;
6. a bank, insurance company, registered investment company, business development company, or small business investment company;
7. an employee benefit plan, within the meaning of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, if a bank, insurance company, or registered investment adviser makes the investment decisions, or if the plan has total assets in excess of $5 million;
8. a trust with assets in excess of $5 million, not formed to acquire the securities offered, whose purchases a sophisticated person makes.
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