Are you an accredited investor looking to add diversification to your portfolio?
Maybe an asset or two that doesn’t correlate with the stock market?
But you don’t want to invest in your cousin’s neighbor’s best friend’s bar or restaurant?
If so, we’ve put together a list of the best investment opportunities for accredited investors.
Look through the list.
See what catches your eye.
Not everything is for everyone but they’re all worth a look.
Some include options available for non-accredited investors, but check the list to know for sure.
This table provides a summary of ten alternative investments, followed by more detailed descriptions of each one:
| Platform | Investor Requirement | Minimum Investment | Asset Class | Debt vs. Equity | Fees |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AcreTrader | Accredited only | $20,000 – $30,000 | Farmland | Equity | 2% upfront; 0.75% annually; 5% upon sale |
| Yieldstreet ($500 bonus) | Primarily accredited | $1,000 – $5,000 | Various hard assets | Equity | 1% – 2% annually |
| Percent ($500 bonus) | Accredited only | $500 | Short-term debt | Debt | None |
| Fundrise | Mostly non-accredited | $10 – $100,000 | eREITs and eFunds invested in real estate | Equity | 1% annually |
| Arrived | Non-accredited and accredited investors | $100 | Single-family homes | Equity | Up to 4.5% upfront, then 1% annually |
| RealtyMogul | Non-accredited and accredited investors | $5,000 to $25,000 | Commercial real estate | Equity and debt | 6% upfront; 5% annually |
| EquityMultiple | Accredited investors only | $5,000 and up | Commercial real estate | Equity and debt | 0.5% to 1.5% annually |
| Masterworks | Accredited investors only | $15,000 | Fine art | Equity | 1.5% annually |
Table of Contents
- 1. AcreTrader
- 2. Yieldstreet – up to $500 bonus
- 3. Percent – up to $500 bonus
- 4. Fundrise
- 5. Arrived
- 6. EquityMultiple
- 7. Masterworks
- 8. RealtyMogul
- What Is an Accredited Investor?
- What Types of Accredited Investments are Available?
- What Are the Benefits of Accredited Investments?
- What Are the Risks of Accredited Investments?
- How Much Should I Invest in Accredited Investments?
- Bottom Line
1. AcreTrader
AcreTrader is unique in the accredited investor space because the entire focus of the platform is on farmland. As an investor, you’ll be participating in the purchase and ownership of working farmland. But you’ll be doing it through shares purchased in the farms.
As it turns out, farmland has proven to be a great long-term investment. This is partly because productive farmland is limited, but the global population is increasing. And with the current surge in inflation, food prices continue to rise. While it’s unfortunate for consumers, farmland investors stand to gain.
What’s more, farmland represents ownership in a “hard asset.” That can be a big advantage in a portfolio comprised entirely of financial assets. Your investment will provide both dividends paid out of the net rental income of the farm property, as well as capital gains upon disposition of the farm.
To invest with AcreTrader, you must be an accredited investor; there’s currently no capacity to accommodate other investors.
Investors must meet the minimum investment requirement – $15,000 to $30,000 – and be prepared for a longer hold period. Expect to remain invested for five to twenty years in any particular property.
AcreTrader actively works to minimize risk by focusing on specialty farming – farms that produce high-value crops and typically have no or low debt. For more information, read our full AcreTrader review.
2. Yieldstreet – up to $500 bonus
Yieldstreet is a diversified investment platform that allows you to invest in specialty asset classes, like real estate, fine art, and airplanes. Most of these opportunities are available only to accredited investors, though they offer their Yieldstreet Prism Fund to non-accredited investors. That fund invests in a mix of hard assets and pays quarterly dividends.
As accredited investments go, the minimum investment required is fairly low, at $1,000 or $5,000. $1,000 is the requirement for the Prism Fund and short-term notes. Individual offerings require $5,000.
Individual offerings enable you to select the specific assets you’ll invest in. For example, you can invest in various real estate deals, like single-family properties or multiunit apartment buildings. You can also invest in blue-chip art, commercial aircraft leasing, new commercial ships, commercial financing, and even legal offerings.
Meanwhile, short-term notes provide a relatively low-risk, low-reward place to park your money. There is no management fee, and the average holding period is three months.
Yieldstreet can also accommodate IRA accounts using a self-directed IRA (SDIRA), and their management fee of 1% to 2% per year is very competitive. In fact, short-term notes have no management fee at all.
Read our our Yieldstreet review for a deeper dive into the platform.
💵 BONUS: Yieldstreet is offering a bonus of up to $500 to investors to invest through the WalletHacks link.
3. Percent – up to $500 bonus
Percent is a platform that gives you access to private credit, an asset class that includes privately negotiated loans and debt financing from non-bank lenders. This typically includes notes like asset-backed small business loans and corporate debt.
These investments are usually shorter in term, from 9 months to several years, and you can sometimes get liquidity before the note matures if the borrower offers it. The returns are up to 20% and you pick what you invest in (to include Blended Notes too, which offer diversification).
There are currently no fees to investors and investments start at $500. This is for accredited investors only.
Read our review of Percent for greater detail.
💵 BONUS: They offer a cash bonus of up to $500 on your first investment depending on how much you invest:
| Investment Amount | Cash Bonus |
|---|---|
| $1,000 – $1,999.99 | $100 |
| $2,000 – $4,999.99 | $150 |
| $5,000 – $9,999.99 | $200 |
| $10,000 – $24,999.99 | $300 |
| $25,000 – $49,999.99 | $400 |
| $50,000+ | $500 |
4. Fundrise
You don’t need to be an accredited investor to invest with Fundrise. However, their Premium plan, which offers access to a wider number of “eREITs,” does require accredited investor status.
That said, Fundrise can be an excellent source of real estate investing for investors at all levels. It requires just $10 to begin investing with the Starter plan or just $500 with the Basic plan. But for more advanced investors, the Premium plan requires a minimum upfront investment of $100,000.
Fundrise uses two primary investment vehicles, eREITs, and eFunds. eREITs are non-publicly traded real estate investment trusts. Though they invest in real estate, like other REITs, they are only available on the Fundrise platform.
eFunds are similar, but they’re invested in single-family homes, townhomes, and condominiums. The fund will purchase a property, renovate it, then sell it for profit.
Using a mix of eREITs and eFunds, one of the four plans offered by Fundrise can provide supplemental income, long-term growth, or balanced investing that combines the two.
Fundrise offers another benefit. While most alternative investment platforms require you to maintain your investment position until it pays out, Fundrise offers limited early redemption of your investment every quarter. For more details, check out our full Fundrise review.
We earn a commission from Fundrise partner links on WalletHacks.com. We are not a client of Fundrise. All opinions are my own.
5. Arrived
Arrived is open to non-accredited investors, though accredited investors can also participate. The unique advantage of this platform is that you can invest in single-family homes and vacation rentals. And you can do so with as little as $100, making it possible to diversify a small amount of money across multiple properties. (Though some properties may require a minimum investment of as much as $20,000.)
Arrived enables investors to choose which properties they want to invest in from their online marketplace. Like other real estate crowdfunding platforms, they tend to focus their activity in areas with stronger housing markets, particularly the southeastern US.
Select the property, invest your money, and let Arrived manage things from there. Like most real estate crowdfunding platforms, you’ll invest in individual properties through shares in a limited liability company (LLC).
The company targets properties likely to produce a positive cash flow from rents. The net income is distributed to investors every quarter. The capital gains on the investment will be distributed to investors when the property is sold, allowing investors to earn both regular income and capital appreciation.
Arrived is available for both taxable investment accounts and self-directed IRAs. Read our full Arrived Homes review for more details.
6. EquityMultiple
EquityMultiple is one of the most popular real estate crowdfunding platforms available. Though it’s exclusive to accredited investors, it has a lower initial investment requirement (starting at $5,000) and lower fees (0.5% to 1.5%) than most competing platforms that cater to accredited investors.
EquityMultiple investments heavily favor debt, including senior and mezzanine debt. But they also offer preferred common equity, as well as some unique investment opportunities, like investments in 1031 exchanges and opportunity zones. The combination of investment offerings can produce a higher combined return between regular investment income and capital appreciation.
For investors who prefer a lower-risk investment vehicle, EquityMultiple offers an evergreen fund that invests strictly in short-term notes. The fund provides lower returns than other investments on the platform but with much less risk due to shorter durations.
They do offer a more flexible investment time horizon. For example, short-term notes mature within 3 to 9 months, while senior debt can run between 9 and 24 months. But investments in common equity can require up to seven years, while opportunity zone investments require ten years or more.
The investments are illiquid since there is no secondary market for early liquidation. However, it may be possible to exit a position early by selling your shares to another investor through a private transaction.
You can open a taxable investment account or an IRA through an EquityMultiple IRA partner, though that will require a minimum investment of $10,000.
For more on EquityMultiple, check out our full review of EquityMultiple.
Learn more about EquityMultiple
7. Masterworks
If you’ve always been interested in investing in fine art but want to diversify your investments across several pieces, Masterworks offers a very accessible way to get involved. With nearly a million members and almost 400 pieces of art purchased, they’re a good option for getting into art investing.
Like many other platforms on this list, you have to be an accredited investor. They will vet artists and artwork (they’ve only accepted 3% of pieces that they’ve analyzed) to only provide offerings that meet their stringent requirements. Then, they acquire the work and securitize it so that they can offer it to investors. The goal is to hold the artwork 3-10 years and then sell it.
If you want to sell your shares, they have a secondary market on their platform where you can sell your shares. It’s a thin market, understandably, so there’s no guarantee you’ll be able to sell your shares but at least it’s an option. You don’t have to hold until Masterworks sells it.
To learn more about Masterworks, check out our Masterworks review.
8. RealtyMogul
RealtyMogul is a real estate crowdfunding platform open to non-accredited and accredited investors. Like other platforms on this list, they allow you to invest in commercial real estate.
They offer real estate equity and debt investments, giving you access to both income and capital appreciation opportunities. For example, they offer an income REIT with a mix of real estate debt and equity, targeting an 8% annual distribution to investors.
There are a couple of caveats to be aware of with RealtyMogul. First, they have a higher minimum investment requirement than most real estate crowdfunding platforms designed for non-accredited investors. That includes a minimum of $5,000 for an income fund and $25,000 to invest in direct deals.
Second is the fee structure. RealtyMogul’s fee structure is somewhat complicated because it includes multiple fees at each stage. Upfront, a one-time fee of 2% is paid to the real estate company and 4% to the broker-dealer. That’s followed by a 5% annual fee, of which 4% of the property’s gross income goes to the property management company and 1% to RealtyMogul.
Neither of these drawbacks means RealtyMogul is a bad investment. But you should know exactly what you’re getting into before investing money. Read our full RealtyMogul review.
What Is an Accredited Investor?
An accredited investor is a recognized financial profile. According to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), accredited investor status requires the following:
- Net worth over $1 million, excluding your primary residence (individually or with spouse or partner.)
- Income over $200,000 (individually) or $300,000 (with spouse or partner) in each of the prior two years and an expectation of the same for the current year.
- Holders of certain licenses to sell securities, officers or partners in organizations selling securities, and other qualified individuals.
When signing up for an investment platform requiring accredited investor status, you’ll generally be asked to self-certify by attesting to your qualifications based on the above criteria. However, a growing number of investment platforms are requiring investors to submit documentation proving accredited investor status.
What Types of Accredited Investments are Available?
Accredited investments are generally those not available through general investment platforms. Those platforms commonly offer stocks, bonds, options, funds, and many other widely available investment securities.
Accredited investor status is required when investments are out of the ordinary and involve greater risk. That can include large upfront investments, a long investment time horizon, and the possibility the investment will fail.
Common accredited investments include preferred equity investments, syndicated debt securities, non-public REITs, startup capital, and other non-typical investments.
What Are the Benefits of Accredited Investments?
There are two primary benefits to accredited investments:
- Diversification. Investors can add asset classes to their portfolios to diversify beyond regular financial assets, like stocks and bonds.
- High returns. Accredited investments hold the promise – but never the guarantee – of providing high double-digit returns.
Investors may also choose accredited investments because they offer an opportunity to participate in unique ventures. An example is providing capital for startup companies or so-called angel investing.
What Are the Risks of Accredited Investments?
Along with the promise of diversification and high returns, accredited investments come with substantial risks.
The most obvious is that you could lose some or all your investment. And because many accredited investments are unique deals, there may be little or no liquidity if you want to exit your position early.
But perhaps the biggest risk is that alternative investments tend to be unique. You’ll participate in individual deals that are not available on recognized exchanges. Many are not regulated by regulatory authorities, so it’s important to do your due diligence before investing in any investment of this type.
How Much Should I Invest in Accredited Investments?
Because of the risks associated with accredited investments, they should occupy only a small corner of an otherwise well-balanced portfolio. For most investors, that will mean limiting a position in accredited investments to a single-digit percentage of your total portfolio.
Bottom Line
Accredited investments can be high-reward/high-risk ventures, which is why accredited investor status is required in the first place. But they primarily require more sophistication and analysis before you commit funds.
But as long as you’re aware of the risks and prepared to absorb potential losses, the benefits of diversification and above-average returns can make these investments well worth at least a small position in your portfolio.
Just be sure to limit your investment activities only to ventures you understand. Just because you qualify as an accredited investor doesn’t mean any particular investment is right for you.
