Definitions
"Accredited Investors" under Rule 501 (a) promulgated
under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, refer to
any of the following:
- A natural person whose individual net worth, or joint
net worth with that person's spouse, at the time of purchase
exceeds $1,000,000; or
- A natural person who had an individual income in excess
of $200,000 in each of the last two calendar years, or joint
income with that person's spouse, in excess of $300,000
in each of those years, and has a reasonable expectation
of reaching the same income level in this calendar year;
or
- An entity with total assets in excess of $5,000,000 which
was not formed for the purpose of investing in any of the
Funds and which is one of the following:
- a corporation
- a partnership
- a limited liability company
- a business trust; or
- a tax-exempt organization described in Section 501(c)
(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended
(the "Code"); or
- A personal (non-business) trust with total assets in excess
of $5,000,000 which was not formed for the purpose of investing
in any of the Funds and whose decisions to invest in the
Funds will be directed by a person who has such knowledge
and experience in financial and business matters that he
is capable of evaluating the merits and risks of an investment
in the Funds; or
- An employee benefit plan within the meaning of Title I
of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (including
an Individual Retirement Plan) which satisfies at least
one of the following conditions:
- it has total assets in excess of $5,000,000; or
- the investment decision is made by a plan fiduciary
which is a bank, savings and loan association, insurance
company or registered investment adviser; or
- it is a self-directed plan (i.e., a tax-qualified
defined contribution plan in which a participant may
exercise control over the investment of assets credited
to his or her account) and the decision to invest is
made by those participants investing, and each such
participant qualifies as an accredited investor under
the criteria listed in Question 2; or
- An employee benefit plan established and maintained by
a state, its political subdivisions or any agency or instrumentality
of a state or its political subdivisions, which has total
assets in excess of $5,000,000; or
- Licensed, or subject to supervision, by U.S. Federal or
state examining authorities as a "bank," "savings and loan
association," "insurance company," or "small business investment
company" (as such terms are used and defined in 17 CFR §230.501
(a)) or an account for which a bank or savings and loan
association is subscribing in a fiduciary capacity and over
which such fiduciary exercises investment discretion; or
- Registered with the United States Securities and Exchange
Commission as a broker or dealer or an investment company;
or elected to be treated or qualifies as a "business development
company" (within the meaning of Section 2(a) (48) of the
Investment Company Act of 1940 or Section 202(a) (22) of
the Investment Advisers Act of 1940);or
- An entity in which all of the equity owners are qualified
under one or more of the criteria listed above.
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"Qualified Purchasers" within the meaning of Sections
3 (c) (7) of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended,
refers to any of the following:
- A natural person who owns at least $5 million in Investments,
including Investments (i) held in an IRA or similar account,
the investments of which are directed by and held for the
benefit of such person, (ii) held jointly with a spouse
or (iii) in which such person shares a community property
or similar shared ownership interest with a spouse. Spouses
who subscribe jointly may combine their investments for
purposes of meeting the $5 million threshold, whether or
not the investments are held jointly or individually; or
- An entity directly or indirectly owned entirely by two
or more closely related natural persons, their estates or
foundations, charities or trusts formed by or for their
benefit (a "Family Company") that owns at least $5 million
in Investments; or
- An entity (including self-directed retirement plans),
the interests of which are beneficially owned by "qualified
purchasers"; or
- A trust not formed for the specific purpose of investing
in any of the Funds, so long as both the persons with decision
making power for the trust and each of the contributors
to the trust is a "qualified purchaser"; or
- Any other person acting for such person's own account
of the accounts of other "qualified purchasers" that in
the aggregate owns and invests on a discretionary basis
at least $25 million in Investments, excluding (i) private
investment funds in existence on April 30, 1996, unless
each beneficial owner of such fund on April 30, 1996 that
is currently a beneficial owner has consented to such fund's
status as a "qualified purchaser" permitted to invest in
a category of investment pools that would include the Funds,
(ii) entities formed for the purpose of investing in any
of the Funds, unless each beneficial owner in the entity
is a "qualified purchaser" and (iii) pension and other employee
benefit plans that allow the beneficiaries to direct the
investments of the plans.
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Within the meaning of Section 11 (g) (1) - (5), "Investments"
Include:
- Securities (as defined in Section 2 (1) of the Act) other
than the securities of an issuer that controls, is controlled
by, or is under common control with, the person that owns
such securities, unless the issuer is: (a) a private investment
company or a commodity pool; or (b) a public company that
complies with reporting obligations under U.S. Securities
laws or that has a class of securities listed on a securities
exchange outside the U.S.; or (c) a company with shareholders'
equity of $50 million or more (as reflected on financial
statements determined in accordance with U.S. GAAP that
are prepared within 16 months of the date the subscription
to the Web Site is commenced).
- Real Estate held for investment purposes. Real estate
is not considered to be held for investment purposes if
it is used as a place of business or in connection with
the conduct of a trade or business of such person or a Related
Person of the owner, or if it is used for personal or residential
purposes unless deductible under Section 280A of the Code.
"Related Person" means a person who is related to another
person as a sibling, spouse, or former spouse, or is direct
lineal descendant or ancestor by birth or adoption of such
person, or is a spouse of such descendant, provided that
in the case of a Family Company, a Related Person includes
any owner of the Family Company and any person who is a
Related Person of such owner.
- Commodity Interests, Physical Commodities, and Financial
Contracts held for investment purposes (e.g., as futures,
forwards and options thereon, physical gold, silver, etc.
and swap agreements).
- Cash and Cash Equivalents (including foreign currencies)
held for investment purposes, (such as bank deposits, certificates
of deposit, bankers acceptances and the net cash surrender
value of an insurance policy).
- Assets Excluded from the Definition of "Investments":
- Specifically excluded from the definition of "Investments"
are other assets which may be held for investment purposes,
such as jewelry, artwork, antiques or other collectibles.
- How to Value Investments:
- Investments may be valued at their fair market value on
the most recent practicable date or at their cost. In either
case, the value of "Investments" is reduced by the amounts
specified below in (a) and (b).
- (a) Deductions: General. The value of a person's investments
must be reduced by the amount of any outstanding indebtedness
incurred to acquire the investments.
- (b) Deductions: Family Companies. There shall also be
deducted from the value of a Family Company's investments
any outstanding indebtedness incurred by an owner of the
Family Company to acquire such investments.
- Special Valuation Considerations
- Corporate Investments. For purposes of determining the
amount of investments owned by a corporation ("Corporation"),
there may be included investments owned by majority-owned
subsidiaries ("Subsidiaries") of the Corporation and investments
owned by a company ("Parent Company") of which the Corporation
is a majority-owned subsidiary, or by a majority-owned subsidiaries
of the Parent Company.
- Commodity Interests. The value of commodity interests
shall be the value of the initial margin or option premium
deposited in connection with each commodity interest.
- Private Investment Companies and Commodity Pools. Amounts
of unfunded capital commitments to these entities are included
in such entities' investments.
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