Accredited Investor: Benefits, Qualifications & Requirements

Being an accredited investor carries with it significant benefits in the market place today. This signifies a certain level of accomplishment and allows you more opportunities. Here are the basics of being an accredited investor and what it means to you.

Qualifications

An accredited investor is one that meets a certain set of criteria. The most important criteria is that they have a significant amount of money. In order to qualify as an accredited investor you have to have a net worth of at least $1 million. If you do not meet this criteria, you have to have made at least $200,000 in each of the last two years as an individual, or $300,000 in the last two years as a couple.

Benefits

As an accredited investor, you gain the right to participate in certain investments that would not be open to you otherwise. The hedge fund is the most common example of this. A hedge fund, is an investment vehicle that is not bound by the restrictions of the SEC and utilizes a number of different investment strategies to achieve large returns for its investors. Most hedge funds require that you are an accredited investor in order to be involved because they are complicated and risky.