An “investment” is an allocation of money or capital with an investment purpose and an expectation of generating a return. For purposes of the accredited investor definition, the SEC refers to the existing definition of investments under Investment Company Act of 1940, which includes, among other things, the following items held for investment purposes:
- securities (with some exceptions)
- real estate
- commodity interests
- physical commodities
- futures, options, swaps and other financial contracts
- cash and cash equivalents (e.g., bank deposits, certificates of deposits, bankers acceptances and similar bank instruments, and net cash surrender value of an insurance policy)
