Accredited Investor

An accredited investor is a person or entity that regulators consider able to bear the risk of private investments without the disclosures that public offerings require. The idea is that wealth is a rough proxy for the ability to absorb a loss and to hire advice. In the United States the SEC sets the test. An individual qualifies with income above $200,000 in each of the last two years ($300,000 with a spouse) and a reasonable expectation of the same this year, or with a net worth above $1 million excluding their primary residence. Since 2020 certain financial licences (Series 7, 65 or 82) also qualify, regardless of wealth. Other countries have their own versions. The UK has "high net worth" and "sophisticated" investor certifications, the EU uses the "professional client" category under MiFID, and the UAE has a "professional investor" status. The thresholds differ, but the shape is the same: a wealth or expertise test that unlocks private offerings.

Many fractional real estate deals are sold under exemptions from full securities registration, and some of those exemptions are only open to accredited investors. Regulation D Rule 506(c) in the US is the common one: it lets a sponsor advertise a deal publicly, but every buyer must be verified as accredited. That is why a platform may ask for tax returns, bank statements or a letter from an accountant before you can invest. It is not a judgement on you. The sponsor is documenting the exemption it relies on. Other offerings are deliberately structured to avoid the requirement. Regulation A+ offerings and some Regulation Crowdfunding deals are open to anyone, sometimes with a cap on how much a non-accredited person can invest in a year. Platforms like Arrived built their model on this route so that the minimum investment could be $100 rather than $25,000.

Threeworld does not verify accreditation and never asks for financial documents. What it does is surface each platform's access rules alongside the listing, so a property that is limited to accredited investors, or to residents of certain countries, says so before you click through. When you browse the marketplace, treat an accreditation requirement as a filter on which platforms fit you, not as a signal of quality. Plenty of open-to-everyone offerings are well structured, and plenty of accredited-only deals are not. The label tells you which exemption the sponsor used, nothing more.