Time Required: 2 minutes, 55 seconds ⏱️
Prerequisites: Connected registry OR live Investor Hub
Outcome: Understand the potential sophisticated investors on your register
Table of Contents
Who are my sophisticated or professional investors?
When investors sign up to your Investor Hub, they have the option to identify and verify themselves as shareholders by entering their HIN. They also have the option to register and verify themselves as a sophisticated or professional investor (s708 investor).
Gathering this information is a great way to build up your distribution list of potential participants for future capital raises, including placements.
All Investor Hub sign ups, including shareholders and sophisticated investors, are visible on your 'investors search' pager under 'investors' in the navigation bar. By applying the filter show linked only for investor hub, you will be able to see all investors who have signed up to your Investor Hub.
For quick access, you can also head to your 'investor hub' tab under 'engagement' and click the button 'view all investor hub signups', which will take you to your investor search page and auto apply the appropriate filter.👇
Identifying your pending s708 certificates
Investors are able to upload a current s708 or AFSL certificate to verify their sophisticated or professional investor status. An admin from your company can verify these certificates to confirm investors' eligibility by ASIC guidelines.
1. Finding your pending certificates
You can find any newly uploaded certificates by heading to 'investor insights' under 'investors' in the navigation bar. Click the 'high net worth' tab and you'll see an option to view all investors that have uploaded a certificate and are 'pending review;.
For quick access, you can also head to your 'investor hub' tab under 'engagement' and find a button that will take you to your investor insights page and auto apply the appropriate filter for pending review.
s708 Certificate verification process
When investors register as a sophisticated or professional investor, they also have the option to upload a current s708 or AFSL certificate. An admin from your company will be able to verify this certificate to confirm if the investor is eligible (more information on how to verify investors' certificates below).
📍 Please note, investors who have registered as sophisticated investors will need hard verification by yourselves / external brokers before you send any capital raise distribution (regarding placements), including identity and bidding entity verification.
If you need help verifying an investors s708 certificate, read the trusty guideline adhering to ASIC regulations below or reach out to your account manager who can help you verify certificates.
The below must all be checked off for the certificate to be valid:
Where to find the pending certificate in the contact:
To verify certificates, you will need to select the certificate type and issue date of each certificate to verify them, this will then automatically set expiry dates for certificates.
s708 review checklist:
Has this certificate been signed off by a qualified accountant?
Check that the CA, CPA (or equivalent) number is provided
Is the certificate dated and is it less than 2 years since it was issued at the time?
📍 Please note, certificates are only valid for 2 years post issue date. See the ASIC references for more information.
Does the certificate clearly state that it is issued under Chapter 6d or 7 of the Corporations Act?
Does the certificate say the person has a gross income of $250,000 or more in each of the preceding two years (before the certificate was issued) or net assets of at least $2.5million?
Does the certificate contain the name of the person?
📍 If the certificate does not have one of these 5 steps, then you cannot verify their certificate.
AFSL certificate checklist:
Head to AFS Licensees Search to check if the certificate is valid
search AFSL number or name
select AFSL
if the certificate is there and not 'invalid' then it's ok to verify
If a certificate does not meet the criteria set out by ASIC, you can reject the certificate.
📍Investors will be notified when you verify or reject their certificate.
Best practices 📗
Check out our playbook article on converting your potential s708 investors to confirmed here.
For more information, head to ASIC or reach out to your Account Manager.