Investment Criteria

Wholesale Investment Criteria

Mates Invest is currently only open to ‘Wholesale or eligible investors’ as defined by law. These investors are, broadly speaking, people or organisations with sufficient prior investing experience, meaning they do not require the same level of disclosure as a regular person.

If you are unsure if you meet any of the following criteria, please get in contact and we can clarify any questions you may have.

Investors will need to meet one of the following criteria to invest in Mates Invest.

About Eligible Investors

You can self-certify yourself to be an ‘eligible investor’ (which is a type of wholesale investor) in relation to a particular transaction if you have sufficient experience in acquiring or disposing of financial products to be able to assess:

  • The merits of the transaction
  • Your own information needs in relation to the transaction
  • The adequacy of the information provided by any person involved in the transaction

That certification requires a financial adviser, a qualified statutory accountant, or a lawyer to sign the certification stating they are satisfied you have been sufficiently advised of the consequences of self-certification and have no other reason to consider the self-certification is incorrect or that further information or investigation is required.

Wholesale investors don’t have the same protections as retail investors.

The FMA has a range of powers in relation to retail investment offers, and can intervene where necessary. However, they have little oversight of wholesale investment offers.

Investing in a wholesale offer may mean you:

  • Do not receive a product disclosure statement (PDS) for the offer. The PDS sets out the key characteristics, risks and features of the investment, in clear, concise and effective language that is aimed at a prudent but non-expert investor.
    A PDS is not required for wholesale offers.
  • Are not dealing with a firm licensed by the FMA (this is particularly relevant for offers of managed investment products and derivatives). Licensing gives us the ability to monitor the activities of the firm.
  • Do not have access to a free independent dispute resolution scheme if things go wrong.
  • Do not receive information about the investment’s ongoing performance.
  • Won’t have a licensed supervisor (an entity that looks after the interests of investors) in the case of debt securities such as bonds and managed investment schemes.
  • While offers to wholesale investors are not regulated in the same way as offers to retail investors, the offeror must still comply with ‘fair dealing’ requirements. This means the person making the offer cannot.
  • Engage in misleading or deceptive conduct in relation to the offer.
  • Make false or misleading statements in their offer documents or advertising.
  • Make unsubstantiated representation.

Wholesale investors for all offers of financial products.

An investor is a wholesale investor for all offers of financial products if meet the following criteria:

  • They are an investment business (for example, an entity whose main business is investing in financial products, a registered bank, or a financial adviser);
  • They meet the investment activity criteria specified in law to essentially qualify as a habitual or experienced investor – currently this can be either:
    (A) Owns or at any time in the two years prior has owned a portfolio of specified financial products of a value of at least $1 million
    (B) During the two year period prior carried out one or more transactions to acquire specified financial products where the amount payable is at least $1 million
    (C) Has within the last 10 years been employed or engaged in an investment business and participated for at least two years to a material extent.
    (D) They are ‘large’ (the investor has net assets or turnover exceeding $5 million for the last two completed financial years); or
    (E) They are a Government Agency.

Wholesale investors for a particular offer of financial products.

To meet the criteria for a wholesale investor in relation to a particular offer of financial products, the person must meet one of the following criteria:

  • They are an eligible investor in relation to the offer (see above).
  • The minimum investment amount payable by the investor is $750,000.
  • The investment amount, plus any amounts previously invested by the investor for the same financial products from that provider add up to at least $750,000.
  • It is proposed that the investor will acquire the financial products under a bona fide underwriting or sub-underwriting agreement (typically relevant to investment banks or other financial institutions and not individual investors).
  • In relation to an offer of a derivative, the notional value of the derivative is at least $5 million.