Verifying Your Accredited Investor Status

Why accredited investor status matters

Investing in the private market can carry more risk to investors than investments in public markets, and because of this, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has implemented requirements to help ensure that private investments are offered only to investors with the appropriate risk tolerance for such investments. One of these measures is that exempt offerings under Rule 506(c) of Regulation D can only be offered to Accredited Investors as defined by the SEC. This requirement is intended to help ensure that investors are financially experienced and equipped to handle the potential risks associated with such investments.

Exempt offerings, such as those involving private funds offered on the Linqto platform as well as hedge funds or venture capital funds, are not subject to the same information disclosure requirements as registered offerings. These investments come with their own set of risks, including the risk that investors could lose their entire investment. The requirement that investors in exempt offerings be verified as Accredited Investors is designed to help protect individuals with limited financial knowledge from investing in risky ventures that they may not be prepared for. This SEC resource details more information about exempt offerings.

Accredited investor qualifications

In the United States, an accredited investor, as defined by Rule 501(d) of the Securities Act of 1933, is an individual who:

• Possesses a net worth over $1 million USD, excluding their primary residence (individually or with spouse/spousal equivalent), OR
• Has earned over $200,000 USD (individually) or $300,000 USD (with spouse/spousal equivalent) in each of the past two years and reasonably expects the same for the current year, OR
• Holds an active Series 7, Series 65, or Series 82 license in good standing

Can I invest if I am not verified as accredited?

No. Currently, you must provide sufficient information for Linqto to verify your status as an accredited investor, as defined by the SEC, before completing an order on our platform.

Verifying your accredited investor status

Once you’ve completed the identity verification process and your Investor Profile, you will be automatically directed to the page headed “Verify Accreditation” where you will choose how you qualify as an Accredited Investor. Depending on your choice of qualification, the platform will adjust what document upload options are available to you. If you need to access this page later, please click here or select Account > Investor Profile. 

Plaid Asset Verification

The options of $200k Individual Income and $1M Net Worth may allow you to verify your income or assets on Plaid for select US, Canadian, and UK investors.

Once a qualification method has been chosen, select the top option on the page that includes the note “via Plaid”. You will be prompted to sign into a bank or investment account, and Plaid will analyze the account and determine if you meet the criteria of an accredited investor.

If you find that you have difficulty qualifying as an accredited investor using Plaid verification, or find that Plaid does not support your bank or investment platform, you’ll need to select the Manually Upload Documents or Email a Financial Professional option.

Manually submitting documents

We may ask for a photo of your marriage certificate if you want to use joint income/assets.