A person (or institution) that has the assets or income level set by the SEC to invest in unregistered securities including nonpublic equity investments, hedge funds, and privately held corporations and similar entities To meet the qualifications an individual investor must have a net worth of at least $1 million or current annual income of $200,000 in each of the most recent two years For a married investor, the net worth requirement is the same, but the income level is $300,000 In both cases the investor must have a reasonable expectation of the same income level in the current year For a business, the requirement is that all the equity owners of the business be accredited investors Trust funds, pension funds, etc are subject to different requirements