WASHINGTON – American Consumer and Investor Institute (ACII) CEO Blaine Luetkemeyer today submitted a letter urging the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to expand the accredited investor definition beyond the traditional wealth threshold to include individuals with certain professional certifications, relevant educational background, and industry experience. As Luetkemeyer argues in the letter, modernizing the criteria for who qualifies as an accredited investor will help open more high growth investment opportunities for retail investors and contribute to capital formation.
“For far too long, the overburdensome limitations on who qualifies as an accredited investor have served as a barrier between retail investors and the private markets, depriving Main Street Americans of investment opportunities they should be allowed to access,” wrote Luetkemeyer. “We believe that this Commission, under Chairman Atkins’s leadership, is uniquely suited to undertake a holistic review of the accredited investor definition to open up investment opportunities to retail investors that historically have only been reserved for the wealthy.”
Building on the SEC’s previous efforts under former Chairman Jay Clayton to expand the pool of accredited investors, ACII proposes several new categories that clearly meet the Commission’s stated criteria for demonstrating investment sophistication, including certifications, designations, credentials, and programs of study.
Luetkemeyer concluded, “If a U.S. citizen can be drafted to fight in a war, vote, hold a full-time job, and manage their finances through a bank, including applying for and receiving a loan, that same person who has a college degree or professional certification or experience in a relevant field should qualify as an accredited investor.”
Read the full text of the letter here.
