What is a Qualified Eligible Person (“QEP”)?

1. If you meet one of the following criteria and satisfy the portfolio requirement you are considered a Qualified Eligible Person:

 

A natural person whose individual net worth, or joint net worth with that person’s spouse, at the time of opening an exempt account, exceeds $1,000,000;

 

A natural person who had an individual income in excess of $200,000 in each of the two most recent years or joint income with that person’s spouse in excess of $300,000 in each of those years and has a reasonable expectation of reaching the same income level in the current year;

 

An investment company registered under the Investment Company Act or a business development company as defined in section 2(a)(48) of such Act not formed for the specific purpose of either investing in the exempt pool or opening an exempt account;

 

A bank as defined in section 3(a)(2) of the Securities Act of 1933 or any savings and loan association or other institution as defined in section 3(a)(5)(A) of the Securities Act acting for its own account or for the account of a qualified eligible person;

 

An insurance company as defined in section 2(13) of the Securities Act acting for its own account or for the account of a qualified eligible person;

 

A plan established and maintained by a state, its political subdivisions, or any agency or instrumentality of a state or its political subdivisions, for the benefit of its employees if such plan has total assets in excess of $5,000,000;

 

An employee benefit plan within the meaning of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974; provided that the investment decision is made by a plan fiduciary (as defined in section 3(21) of such Act) which is a bank, savings and loan association, insurance company or registered investment adviser or that the employee benefit plan has total assets in excess of $5,000,000; or if the plan is self-directed, that investment decisions are made solely by persons that are qualified eligible persons;

 

A private business development company as defined in section 202(a)(22) of the Investment Advisers Act;

 

An organization described in section 501(c)(3) of the IRC, with total assets in excess of $5,000,000;

 

A corporation, Massachusetts or similar business trust, or partnership, other than a pool, that has total assets in excess of $5,000,000 and is not formed for the specific purpose of opening an exempt account;

 

A pool, trust, insurance company separate account or bank collective trust with total assets in excess of $5,000,000, not formed for the specific purpose of opening the exempt account and whose investment in the exempt account is directed by a qualified eligible person;

 

PORTFOLIO REQUIREMENT:

A person satisfying this section:

 

Owns securities (including pool participations) of issuers not affiliated with such person and other investments with an aggregate market value of at least $2,000,000;

 

Has had on deposit with a futures commission merchant, for its own account at any time during the six-month period preceding the date the person opens an exempt account, at least $200,000 in exchange-specified initial margin and option premiums for commodity interest transactions; or

 

Owns a portfolio comprised of a combination of the funds or property specified in the two immediately preceding sections in which the sum of the funds or property includable under the first section expressed as a percentage of the minimum amount required thereunder, and the amount of futures margin and option premiums includable under the second section expressed as a percentage of the minimum amount required thereunder, equals at least one hundred percent. An example of an acceptable composite portfolio would consist of $1,000,000 in securities and other property (50% of section 1) and $100,000 in exchange-specified initial margin (50% of section 2).

 

2. If you meet any of the following criteria, you are considered a Qualified Eligible Person regardless of whether you meet the portfolio requirement described above:

 

A futures commission merchant registered pursuant to section 4d of the Commodity Exchange Act, or a principal thereof;

 

A broker or dealer registered pursuant to section 15 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, or a principal thereof;

 

A commodity pool operator registered pursuant to section 4m of the Act, or a principal thereof, provided that the pool operator has been registered and active as such for two years or operates a pool having aggregate total assets in excess of $5,000,000;

 

A commodity trading advisor registered pursuant to section 4m of the Commodity Exchange Act, or a principal thereof, provided that the trading advisor has been registered and active as such for two years or provides commodity interest trading advice to commodity accounts that, in the aggregate, have total assets in excess of $5,000,000 deposited at one or more futures commission merchants;

 

An investment adviser registered pursuant to section 203 of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 or pursuant to the laws of any state, or a principal thereof, provided that the investment adviser has either been registered and active as such for two years or provides securities investment advice to securities accounts that, in the aggregate, have total assets in excess of $5,000,000 deposited at one or more registered securities brokers;

 

A “qualified purchaser” as defined in section 2(51)(A) of the Investment Company Act of 1940;

 

A “knowledgeable employee” as defined in section 270.3c-5 of the Commodity Exchange Act;

 

To request delivery of a disclosure document by US Mail, visit forms-by-mail or call 1-800-998-7870.

 

For any other questions or comments, please email clientservices@altavra.com or call 1-800-998-7870.