About the Sophisticated Investor Certificate

There is a special investment opportunity. But it is only open to the "big boys" – not mere members of the public.

If you are only a member of the public then you don't get exposure to these special (unregulated) investment opportunities. The Australian government feels that you need protection. Members of the public can generally only invest in investments which are highly regulated. Examples of regulated investments are often contained in a Prospectus or a Product Disclosure Statement. These investments have to go through many hoops before they can be offered to the general public.

There is at least some protection and regulation for mums and dads.

However, many promoters don't want to nickel and dime the small stuff with the mums and dads. They don't want to go to all the trouble of dealing with a large out of date government regulator called ASIC (Australia Securities Investment Commission). They want to go to a smaller number of the "big boys". The "big boys" are the Sophisticated Investors. They have a lot of money to invest or they earn a lot of money each year.

The Australian Government thinks that if you are that so wealthy then you don't need the protection of things such as the Prospectus and Product Disclosure Statement.

However, before you can get the lofty status of Sophisticated Investor your accountant has to sign off on a complying Sophisticated Investor Certificate. You then show the Certificate to someone that wants to take your money.