Fund Managers Should Amend Subscription Documents The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (“Act”) immediately changed the definition of accredited investor. Prior to the enactment of the Act, an accredited investor could use the value of their primary residence to compute the $1,000,000 net worth requirement. Now, investors [...]

Adviser Registration, Accredited Investors, Carried Interest, Insider Trading, Cap and Trade Below are some thoughts on some of the major issues over the last couple of weeks. Have a great Memorial Day Weekend! **** Hedge Fund Regulation and Registration – While the Private Fund Investment Advisers Registration Act of 2010 [...]

The securities laws can be written obtusely and the definition of a qualified eligible person (QEP) may be one of the best examples of this.  There is no quick and easy definition of a what a QEP is so we are trying to make it as easy as possible to [...]

Most hedge funds will require investors to be “accredited investors.”  In general, a natural person is deemed to be an accredited investor if (1) the natural person has an individual net worth, or joint net worth with the person’s spouse, that exceeds $1 million at the time of the purchase [...]

Recently I have received a few good hedge fund law questions.  Please remember that these answers are general discussions of the law and should not be a substitute for actual legal advice.  This discussion does not form an attorney-client relationship, please see our disclaimer. **** Question: [with reference to the [...]

The lifeblood of the hedge fund industry are hedge fund investors, those persons and institutions which put their money at risk with the hope of generating positive investment returns.  While there have been recent predictions of large amounts of investor money leaving the hedge fund space due to poor performance, [...]

Almost all hedge funds which trade securities are deemed to be “investment companies” under the Investment Company Act of 1940.  All “investment companies” are required to register under the Investment Company Act (like all mutual funds must do) unless the “investment company” falls within an exemption from the registration provisions. [...]

This question came to us yesterday: Question: What happens if a hedge fund doesn’t do proper diligence to ascertain that a client meets the qualified purchaser standards? Does the hedge fund have to register or notify the SEC? Answer: In practice I don’t know how this would happen unless someone [...]

We have previously discussed the difference between a 3(c)(1) hedge fund and a 3(c)(7) hedge fund. Unlike a 3(c)(1) hedge fund where investors only generally need to be accredited investors and potentially qualified clients, all investors in a 3(c)(7) hedge fund must be “qualified purchasers.” A qualified purchaser is a [...]

Certain hedge fund managers need to be registered as investment advisors with the SEC or with the state securities commission of the state which they reside in.  For SEC-registered investment advisors, and most state registered advisors, the investors in their hedge fund will need to be “qualified clients” in addition [...]