Wealthier Investors Are an Essential Part of Community Capital Markets

The Securities and Exchange Commission has recently estimated that approximately 10% of all U.S. Households are now in the “Accredited Investor“ category (for individuals, that means $1m in net worth not counting primary residence, or $200k of income). Assuming that’s accurate, there are now over 12 million households in the U.S. that meet the definition of Accredited Investor (“AI”).

The SEC defines the AI to determine their eligibility to invest in Private Placement offerings (i.e. funding rounds of securities that are sold not through a public offering (IPO), but rather through a private offering, and mostly to a small number of chosen investors). And as the private placement market edges toward $60 billion of deals a year, that may seem to most people as a sizable amount to participate in, with lots of opportunities to get in on the next big home run deal.

Some of those AIs, however, have begun to look for more than just a company swinging for the fences, but rather companies that look out for profits, people andthe planet. The rise of socially responsible or impact investing has now begun to take hold. And there are now more financial advisors becoming familiar with these kinds of investments, and helping their clients to find such deals.

Unfortunately, financial advisors feels constrained (for good reasons) to only show their clients deal opportunities of a certain size and nature. Many even limit their scope to only companies traded on public markets so that they reduce the risk of breaching their fiduciary duty to their clients. Other more adventurous advisors will brave the private investment landscape, where, with the right amount of due diligence, they can recommend impact deals to their clients that will also provide something close to market returns (whatever that really means).

But there’s another opportunity for AIs to make a significant impact. They can invest AND play an essential role in the stabilization, growth and resilience of the communities they live in or relate to. They can do this by participating alongside of the rest of the non-accredited investor community into investments offered by community entrepreneurs.

The kinds of investments I refer to here are Direct Public Offerings and certain state securities crowdfunding opportunities, both of which allow for investors to directly interact and engage with the entrepreneur/issuer. I wrote recently about this in previous blogs here, and also earlier today in a Locavesting article. As these crowdfunding offerings and the platforms they list on become more populated, investors will begin to find it easier to find offerings. Also, as we help clients obtain their approvals for DPOs, we post the offerings up on our CEX site so that investors can more easily find the issues and link to their sites.

The role AIs can play to support these much needed community enterprises cannot be emphasized enough. For one thing, as companies begin to turn more to using tools like DPOs to raise their funds, the size of the raise is going to increase well above the $1 million limit that the state or federal crowdfunding laws impose. DPOs, if done via the Intrastate exemption, are typically unlimited, as long as the state regulators approve them, and we are starting to see many more offerings in the $5-10 million range. Companies offering stock will want to limit the number of non-accredited investors to 500, and the total number of investors to 2,000, or face becoming “publicly reporting,” which is expensive to maintain. This means the offerings truly need the AIs to meet their targets.

Another key reason is the experience AIs may be bringing to these offerings. Clearly just because one is an AI does not mean one has the financial expertise of a typical VC or Angel who do this for a living or hobby. But there is no doubt that many AIs have some experience with investments, and likely more than their non-accredited counterparts. This can be very important when a company is even considering how to structure their offering, if they can learn beforehand what an AI will want to see before they participate.

And then there is, of course, the leverage an AI can bring to the offering, just by signing on and showing up. Some AIs provide the “prime to the pump“ so that the offering can take hold. Some even offer a matching approach. It can be an important signal to the non-accredited investors that they don’t have to shoulder the offering alone. Also, regardless of the wealth divide that exists, every member of the community can come together to make an offering successful. AIs can be an important kind of hero to this movement, while still obtaining enough of a return. Their participation can also lend the right kind of pressure to the entrepreneur to keep them on their toes, and striving to meet their mark.

AIs might do their own homework (due diligence), as they look at these investments, or they may be able to find a new breed of financial advisor who are willing to help analyze the offering, even if they stop short of making recommendations and risk their duty. And there are also new pioneers, like Marco Vangelisti, who has taken it upon himself to begin offering daylong workshops for community investors.

Marco is a veteran of global finance who walked away from the industry in 2009 after a 25-year career, and is now helping communities around the country understand the role investors can play in support of community. He created Essential Knowledge for Transition – an initiative to empower communities with a basic understanding of the large systems affecting our lives. Marco’s next workshop will be in Irvine CA the 7th of May, and after that, we intend to try cloning him so that we can help ALL kinds of investors, AIs and non-accrediteds alike, everywhere, to align their investments with their values, and create the world we want, and need.