To be or not to be? Qualified investor. Status

Status Qualified investor. Agree, it sounds solid. It's like the highest level. Investment guru. Warren Buffett is local. Is it so? And why do we need status anyway? What benefits does it provide? And most importantly, is it really necessary? Or is it just a beautiful picture, a medal that flatters the owner’s vanity. As a star Hero of Russia.

We will look at the Qualified Investor (QI) from the perspective of ordinary individuals. That is, you and me, small and medium-sized private investors and traders.

Who can be considered a CI?

If you recognize yourself in one of the three requirements listed below, you can consider yourself a Qualified Investor.

• Higher economic education + one of the required certificates;
• Work experience in a company in the field of financial markets - 2 or 3 years. Depending on the status of the company.
• Availability of 6 million rubles in the accounts;
• Conducting securities trading transactions in a year for an amount of at least 6 million rubles. But at least 10 transactions per quarter and 1 transaction per month.

What does status give?

Obtaining the title of Qualified Investor immediately provides many undeniable advantages. In front of weaklings in the form of private traders. Free travel on public transport, discounts on utilities, increased pension, access to insider information.))))

In general, as soon as you get CI, you will have a life in chocolate. Money will flow like a river. There will be universal honor and respect.

But seriously, the status gives the right to buy securities that are not available to the general public:

• shares of foreign companies;
• Eurobonds;
• structural notes;
• purchase of shares in closed mutual funds (closed mutual funds);
• Foreign stock ETF.

Do you need it?

To understand the need to obtain CI status, you first need to know why all these restrictions on the purchase of securities and the necessary requirements to gain access.

In a nutshell.

A qualified investor is a category of investors who has the necessary capital. And most importantly, having knowledge and experience in trading securities in the financial markets. Allowing them to make informed choices when investing in risky instruments based on their own analysis.

In other words,

The Qualified Investor Act protects private investors from overly risky instruments. Where they can easily lose, if not all, then a significant part of the money.

And in all these requirements many inconsistencies immediately arise.

I’ll give you a few off the top of my head.

There are 6 million and automatically you become a qualified investor. Your grandmother left you an inheritance and you won the required amount in the lottery.

You're handsome! You have money - here's your badge. You can trade risky instruments.

Knowledge? Experience? What are you talking about? The law says it in black and white: If you have 6 million in your accounts, you are ready. ((((

This is from the same opera, as for example, a person wants to become a surgeon. He has a choice: go to medical school. Spend several years of your life gaining knowledge. And it is not a fact that he will be able to reach the end. And he shouldn’t be expelled in the second or third year.

Or you can go another way. Open your own clinic. And immediately get “crusts”. And accept (my hand didn’t turn to write the word “treat”) patients.

There is equipment, a room, we even spent money on white robes, shoe covers and caps - come and get treatment. Tough.

Increased risks. Lack of CI status will prevent you from investing in risky projects (such as venture capital and hedge funds). Crap. What about the derivatives market? With its futures and options. And also leverage in trading. Yes, here you can lose all your money in literally 1 day. If you're lucky, within a week.

What about Forex? Did you trade with leverage of 1 to 100, and 1 to 500? There is simply no chance of survival here. And despite the fact that any schoolchild, pensioner or just a person who understands absolutely nothing about trading can throw in some money and lose all the money.

The risks are several times (or even tens or hundreds of times) higher than, for example, in purchasing foreign shares or ETFs (to which access is closed).

Turnover 6 million per year. Are you guys serious?

An ordinary trader with an average capital of 100-200 thousand (rubles, of course) can easily make such a turnover, not just in a year, but in a couple of months.

But this does not mean that he has become a Qualified Investor. It seems to me that if we take the annual turnover as a basis, then we would probably also need to add successful (profitable) trading. Any fool can press buttons. Buy and sell. Then again. And again.

But making money (or at least not losing your account) is the lot of a few.

Our friend, a would-be dental surgeon, doesn’t want to study for many years. And he doesn’t have money to open a clinic. No problem. It is necessary to carry out about a dozen operations in a year. Cure caries, pulpitis, remove a couple of someone’s teeth (no matter which ones - sick or healthy). Nobody cares about the result. The main thing is statistics on the number of operations.

Conducted the required number of experiments on patients - get crusts. Well done. Now you are an honored doctor.

The most interesting. Think about it - “Qualified investor”. Inconsistency between the name and requirements to obtain this status.

Who is an investor? A person who makes long-term capital investments for the purpose of making a profit.

The key word in this phrase is “Long-term.”

I have a friend who has several million (if not tens of millions) in his accounts. Makes only about 5-6 transactions a year. It is supported by the principle of passive investing. And he makes transactions only to replenish the portfolio or annual rebalancing. If we do not take into account the amount of capital, then according to the requirements, if he needs to obtain a CI, he will not be able to do this.

The law requires (one of the conditions for obtaining CI status) to make at least 10 transactions per quarter throughout the year.

That is, on average, 1 trade once a week. Damn, this is trading in an explicit form. What kind of investment?

How to buy papers without status?

If you are bothered by CI’s ability to gain access to such necessary financial instruments, but you don’t have money, a turnover of 6 million per year too. There is no desire to receive education and certificates. What to do?

Foreign shares. Can be replaced by those trading on the Moscow Exchange. The purchase is available to absolutely everyone.

Also directly, the same American shares can be purchased through. Without status. Apple, Facebook, Coca-Cola, Johnson & Johnson. And several hundred other papers.

Eurobonds can be purchased not directly on international markets, but through the Moscow Exchange. Either in the form of individual securities (but there are few of them, only about a couple of dozen), or again through ETFs on .

Through Russian brokers, with a few thousand dollars, you can gain access to trading on foreign sites through offshore companies. True, the commissions will be quite expensive.

You can buy “status”. A couple of years ago, a broker openly offered me to do this for a small amount of money. Something in the range of 5 - 6 thousand rubles. And no crime. Everything is according to the law.

The broker transferred the required amount (6 million) to the client’s account for some time. Then he confiscated it. But the condition of having six million in the client’s account is met, which means that the status of a Qualified Investor can be given. And as a result, provide access to trading on foreign sites.

There is one catch to this. The status will only be valid for this broker. If you change, you will need to confirm your status again.

And finally, with 10-20 thousand dollars in hand, you can go directly to American or European brokers. Conclude a service agreement and... The whole world will be open to you. Almost any market. You can invest anywhere. No limits.

Happy investment!

Short answer: have 6 million rubles, actively trade securities or get an education.

Long answer.

Those who are just starting to invest are prohibited by law from investing in certain financial instruments. They are considered too risky for beginners or require professional training to understand. Such tools include:

Foreign securities (bonds, shares) that are not circulated in Russia;
- shares of some closed mutual funds: credit, direct investments, hedge funds, especially risky (venture) investments and some real estate funds (if this is indicated in their investment declaration);
- other securities issued specifically for qualified investors.

To obtain the right to work with these securities, you must obtain the special status of a “qualified investor.” It's not very difficult. A qualified investor must meet one of the following requirements:

1) the total value of the securities (and derivative instruments) owned by you is not less than 6 million rubles;

2) over the past 5 years, you have worked for at least 2 years in an organization (including a foreign one) that has the status of a qualified investor, or for at least 3 years in an organization that does not have this status, but traded securities or derivatives. The work must be directly related to securities;

3) over the last 4 quarters you have been quite active in transactions with securities (for example, trading on the stock exchange). By “sufficiently active” we mean compliance with ALL three requirements AT THE SAME TIME:
- at least 1 transaction per month;
- at least 40 transactions over 4 quarters;
- at least 6 million rubles of total turnover;

4) The value of your property is at least 6 million rubles. “Property” means bank accounts and deposits, “metal” accounts and securities (including those transferred to trust management);

5) You have a higher economic education from some universities (ask the broker if your diploma is suitable) or a qualification certificate of a financial market specialist, a qualification certificate of an auditor, a qualification certificate of an insurance actuary, a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) certificate, a Certified International Investment Analyst certificate ( CIIA), Financial Risk Manager (FRM) certificate.

Again: it is enough to correspond to any one point from this list. The simplest thing is to have more than 6 million rubles in any form - in shares, bonds, in securities placed in trust, or simply money on deposits in banks. If they are not there, but you want to get “qualified” status, you will have to wait a year from the start of your activity on the stock market, during which you will need to carry out several dozen transactions with “ordinary” securities on the stock exchange. The size of the transactions does not matter, the main thing is that their total amount for the year exceeds 6 million rubles. For example, once a week, buy and sell some shares for about 100 thousand rubles each time. In total there will be more than 100 transactions and a turnover of around 10 million rubles, which significantly exceeds the threshold value. At the same time, you will gain experience (and if you are lucky, then profit).

As readers suggest in the comments, you can circumvent the requirements of the law with the help of not entirely real transactions concluded with the help of a broker. For example, you can get a loan of 6 million rubles from him for one day and document the availability of this money with a certificate from the broker himself. I cannot recommend such actions, since they are dubious from a legal point of view.

If you are sure that you are eligible to receive the status, you need to contact your broker and submit the appropriate application. The broker will probably have an application form that indicates your data and reasons for obtaining the status. The application must be accompanied by a copy of your passport and documents confirming your compliance with one of the above criteria. That is, bank account statements, brokerage account reports, certificates, etc.

Actually, that’s all: if everything is fine with your documents, you will definitely receive the status.

PS If you have questions about personal finance, investing and banking, ask in the comments. I will try to answer them as detailed and clear as possible.

A qualified investor is the most professional type of investor who has greater investment opportunities, but is also required to meet a greater number of specific criteria.

It is believed that a qualified investor (CI) is an experienced participant in the securities market, capable of taking on much greater risks than ordinary trading participants, has significantly more capital, has analytical skills, and is also able to understand complex stock instruments and use them competently.

Wikipedia defines CI as an individual or company that obtains access to transactions in the markets for traded securities, in relation to certain types of issued assets, or other trading instruments, specific types of services, defined exclusively for qualified .

What are the advantages?

This status gives access to those stock market assets that are inaccessible to other players. Such securities include foreign securities and a number of certain bonds. It also allows you to engage in extremely high-risk investments, so-called venture capital.

Many venture funds work only with holders of research status.

The same policy is used by some brokerage companies that provide access to international trading. This also includes a number of closed-end mutual funds, which organize their work focusing only on this class of clients.

The information flow is also expanding. Using its status, CI is able to request large volumes of reporting from issuing companies and participate in special trading on the Moscow Exchange, if we are talking about the Russian market.

Risks and Disadvantages

Despite the advantages, of course, when working on such special structures, CI also takes on a certain level of risks, which is several times higher than in standard trading. What risks does this type of investor face?

First of all, they are determined by the forms of investments. Here, not only traditional stocks and bonds, available to all individuals, are used, but also futures and derivative contracts - derivatives.

Participation in closed-end mutual funds may also be subject to a number of dangers. Often this type of mutual funds is focused on aggressive strategies and is associated with low-reliability assets. This includes work on securities of developing companies, venture support of enterprises, aggregate portfolios of various kinds of speculative instruments, etc.

Institutional Enterprises

The status of an institutional qualified investor can also be determined for a legal entity. These are mainly large funds, banking organizations and brokerage houses.

A good example is Sberbank. This is a huge company with reliable cash flows. In order to expand its trading opportunities, Sberbank must meet the criteria established by law in relation to this class of players.

To exercise your right to obtain status, a bank note is issued, as well as documents and financial reports are submitted. They help companies describe their capabilities and gain the coveted admission to a new level of trade.

Legislative regulation

Russian laws clearly define the conditions for obtaining CI status for both individuals and legal entities. Today, the main such regulatory act is the instruction of the Bank of Russia, number 3629, which came into force on April 29, 2015.

It is this regulatory document that becomes the main one, which defines the concepts of qualified and unqualified participants, describes the list of parameters, procedure and requirements for recognizing a person in the role of CI.

Additionally, the creation of a registry is prescribed. This register serves as a single database against which brokers and mutual fund managers check when deciding whether to accept a trader as a CI.

List of requirements

In accordance with the above act, all persons applying for the status under study must meet at least one of the criteria:

• Availability of securities or other financial instruments totaling at least 6 million rubles.
• Experience working in structures responsible for working with the Central Bank. Specific experience is important here. If the company in which the applicant worked has the required license, then the experience is at least two years. In other cases - 3 years.
• I have a state-recognized diploma in economics. At the time of submitting the application, the university continues to operate and graduate staff. Yes, if you studied and passed the exam, then this is a plus.
• The existing qualifications of a specialist can also provide an opportunity. We are talking about certificates of a stock trading specialist or auditor.
• Availability of foreign certificates: “Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA)”, “Certified International Investment Analyst (CHA)” or “Financial Risk Manager (FRM)”
• Property worth at least six million Russian rubles. The property must be denominated in the Central Bank, funds in accounts with interest, or precious metals for the same amount.
• Each quarter, the bidder enters into 10 or more contracts on the market. Their total amount must also be at least 6 million. The frequency of transactions is at least once a month.

How to get status?

If you meet at least one of the above criteria, then you can try to obtain a qualified investor license. To do this, you should contact a company providing brokerage services. This includes banks or investment organizations.

The applicant writes an application in the prescribed form. Documents confirming compliance with the above points are attached to it. If there are more criteria, then it’s better.

List of documents

• A notarized copy of your work record, confirming your work experience in the organization. If the organization has a CI license, then a copy of it will be required.
• A diploma, if you are a professional economist, from the university that certified you.
• Certificate “Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA)”, “Certified International Investment Analyst (CHA)” or “Financial Risk Manager (FRM)”.
• A brokerage report confirming that you have made trades. Your intermediary will provide it to you.
• Also request statements showing that you have securities on your balance sheet for the same amount of 6,000,000 rubles.
• Bank statement of the account or deposit in which you keep the admission amount.
• If your assets are held by a trustee, then his certificate, also in paper form, will be required.
• If the assets are in precious metals, then convert them into cash and provide documentation.

Do you need this status?

Increasingly, reports are coming from brokers in which they say that the number of qualified investors is growing. But are they taking advantage of their privileges?

Approximately half of the holders of such a license continue to work in the old directions, completely not using products intended for CI status.

A logical question arises: why should such a document be obtained? Perhaps people are attracted to status. On the other hand, such participants are subject to greater pressure from funds and brokerage organizations that offer them investment opportunities that sometimes do not meet expectations.

We also note stricter tax control. In fact, the difference between a private person with and without a license is small. Today, the stock market offers a lot of very profitable opportunities for both camps. Only employees of brokerage organizations become a separate group, for whom such a document allows them to better present themselves. This is a marketing ploy, as well as a banal improvement of qualifications as an employee.

Qualified investors are a special category of investors who have certain knowledge and experience in the securities market, as well as financial capabilities that allow them to correctly assess risks and intelligently invest in riskier stock market instruments. Simply put, these are individuals who are capable of independently making complex investment decisions and are endowed with specific rights in the financial market.

What does the status of a qualified investor give?

A qualified investor is allowed to work with securities that are inaccessible to other market participants. First of all, this includes foreign securities.

The second benefit of becoming a qualified investor is the ability to invest money in high-risk funds. A list of securities intended for qualified investors is provided on the Moscow Exchange website. It is also worth noting that a qualified investor has access to information that is not intended for other market participants.

Who can be considered a qualified investor?

Any individual who meets at least one of the following requirements:

• Owns securities and (or) other financial instruments with a total value of 6 million rubles.
• Has experience working in a Russian or foreign company that has entered into transactions with securities and (or) signed agreements that are derivative financial instruments. The length of work experience is of great importance: at least two years if the organization itself is a qualified investor, at least three years in other cases.
• Has a state diploma in economics. It is important that at the time of issuing the document, the university carries out certification of citizens in the field of professional activity in the securities market.
• Has qualifications as a financial market specialist, auditor or insurance actuary, confirmed by the appropriate certificate.
• Has one of the following certificates: “Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA)”, “Certified International Investment Analyst (CHA)” or “Financial Risk Manager (FRM)”.
• Owns property worth at least 6 million rubles. But not all property is taken into account, but only securities, funds in accounts in Russian and foreign banks with accrued interest, as well as precious metal in cash equivalent.
• Conducts transactions with securities and (or) concludes contracts that are derivative financial instruments over the last four quarters on average at least 10 times a quarter, but at least once a month. Moreover, the total price of such transactions (agreements) must be at least 6 million rubles.

How to obtain the status of a qualified investor?

To become a qualified investor, you need to contact a company that provides brokerage services (bank or broker).

You must provide a completed Qualified Investor Application. The application must be accompanied by documents that confirm that the individual meets one of the above requirements:

• A certified copy of the work record book, and, if necessary, also a copy of the license confirming that the employer is a qualified investor.
• A diploma of higher economic education issued by a university, which at that time certified citizens in the field of professional activity in the securities market.
• Any of the above qualifications or certificates.
• Broker's reports on completed transactions and other operations for the last 4 (four) quarters preceding the date of filing an application to recognize a person as a Qualified Investor (in case of transactions involving a broker).
• A brokerage report showing the amount of cash, securities or other financial instruments owned by the applicant.
• Statement from a deposit account or from a bank account.
• The trustee's report, according to which the applicant owns securities, financial instruments and funds.
• A document in which the applicant requests a credit institution to pay the cash equivalent of a precious metal.

This is the standard procedure for recognition as a qualified investor. For more detailed information, it is better to contact the bank or brokerage company where you plan to obtain the coveted status.

The list of documents may change. Current information is posted on the website of Otkritie Broker JSC https://open-broker.ru/documents/dokumenty/poryadok-priznaniya-kval.

Hello, dear readers and guests of my blog. Do you know that The domestic securities market gives investors little freedom. Minimizing risks and a lot of restrictions for individuals, on the one hand, are necessary for the safety of beginners. On the other hand, this prevents investors from truly realizing their potential. But it's not that bad. In Russia status of a qualified investor (hereinafter the abbreviation may be used CI) first started working in 2007 when the law was changed" About the securities market”, and specifically his article, which describes the regulation of the CI Institute.

In this article, I'll talk about how to become a Qualified Investor, what it will do for you, and whether you can become a successful investor without it.

Who is an investor

In short, then investor- This face, natural or legal, which invests somewhere means of obtaining profit or other benefit. Invested funds can be either your own or borrowed. And the range of possible investments today is quite wide:

• Securities;
• mutual funds;
• Bank deposits;
• Precious metals;
• Currency and cryptocurrency;
• Business and startups and so on.

Classification

I suggest you first figure it out, what types of investors are there?. Investors can be classified according to different criteria.

• For example, investors may be small or large, depending on the amount of funds invested.
• In relation to residence there are foreign And domestic investors.
• Short-, medium- and long-term investors depending on the timing of investments.
• Investment behavior, or the strategy followed by an investor, distinguishes conservative, aggressive and moderate depositors.
• Depending on the legal form, the investor may be state, a large group of legal entities (for example, a holding), an association of individuals with legal entities ( joint venture agreement ), individual.
• And finally, according to professional status, investors are divided into unqualified x and qualified.

It is the latter that I want to talk about in detail.

Who can be considered a qualified investor?

Both an individual and a legal entity can become a qualified investor. AND criteria for them are significantly different.

Individual

• Total amount of all financial assets(securities, derivative instruments, funds in accounts or deposits) that an investor can dispose of must be at least 6 million rubles.
• Experience work in the field of investment must make up at least 2 years in the company, which has the status qualified investor, or at least 3 years in another company.
• Over the past year, at least once a month and quarterly must be done at least 10 transactions with securities totaling from 6 million rubles. Or, in the same period, contracts that were derivative financial instruments should be concluded for a similar amount.
• Availability higher education in the field of professional activities in the securities market(state diploma of the Russian Federation). Or the following certificates: qualification insurance actuary certificate, qualifying auditor certificate, qualifying financial market specialist certificate, Chartered Financial Analyst certificate (CFA), Certified International Investment Analyst certificate (CIIA), Financial Risk Manager certificate (FRM).

Each of the requirements seems sufficient impressive for a private investor, is not it? But to assign status it is enough to complete at least one of them, less often – two.

Companies

For companies, wishing to become a qualified investor, have been determined more serious criteria:

• Equity organization must draw up not less than 200 million rubles.
• During a year the company must commit deals with financial assets for total cost not less than 50 million rubles. In this case, transactions must be made at least 5 times a quarter and at least 1 time a month.
• General amount of assets the company's balance sheet for the last year must be at least 2 billion rubles.

In addition there are institutional investors, which are sq. qualified investors by default due to their having the appropriate license. For example:

• Central Bank of the Russian Federation;
• Brokers;
• Banks and credit organizations;
• Insurance companies;
• Non-state pension funds;
• International financial organizations such as the World Bank.

How to obtain the status of a qualified investor: step-by-step instructions

If you meet at least one of the above requirements, you need:

1. Contact the organization closest to you that has the status of a qualified investor. For example, to a bank, at least to the same Sberbank. A list of offices that provide such services can be found on the official website of the bank of interest. If your city has broker offices, for example BCS, it is better to contact them, as the employees are more competent and will immediately understand how to resolve your issue.
2. Provide documentation that confirm your meeting at least one of the criteria status of a qualified investor. This could be a report confirming financial transactions, a diploma or certificate, or an extract from the work book.
3. Fill out and sign questionnaire and application to qualify you as a qualified investor.

Once the application is approved, your data will be entered into Register of qualified persons.

Qualified Investor Privileges

A qualified investor must, without a doubt, professional. Consequently, in the world of investments, trust in persons with this status is higher. It can be controlled riskier financial instruments, they do not need comprehensive protection.

In addition, the status of a qualified investor opens the path to working with many interesting assets, below I will talk a little about them.

Securities of foreign companies.

And that's not only Apple, Microsoft or Facebook shares. About 300 companies trade on the Russian stock market, while there are more than 7,000 of them in the USA. For now without CI status Russian brokers give access to 646 shares of American and European companies through the St. Petersburg stock exchange. The list of available shares can be viewed on the exchange website SpbExchange .

US market covers about half of the world's stock market. In addition, American stock exchanges are less politicized; the financial crisis will not stop prices from rising as it does in Russia. Add to this lower commissions, and the advantage will become obvious. If you are interested in stocks, I recommend starting by reading the article. It describes the general principles of exchange trading, there are useful tips.

In addition to trading, shares are interesting because their holders can receive dividends from the issuing company. I have already done it, I advise you to familiarize yourself with it too.

Structural notes

This is a very interesting asset. Represents note a set of various financial instruments and conditions the fulfillment of which affects profitability. In this case, a note can contain only one asset, but its distinguishing feature always remains the operating conditions.

Let's take it For example, a note based on the growth dynamics of the RTS index(Russian stock index). Profitability potential the notes will be 20 % , the note has protection against decrease in value.

And here there are three possible scenarios. In case of a fall the index values ​​at the end of the calculation period will be returned to the investor All his investment. If the index grows within 20%, the investor will receive the invested funds and profit corresponding to the percentage of index growth. If the index grows by more than 20%, the investor will be able to receive the invested funds and an amount equal to a certain pre-agreed percentage of the note's face value.

Brokers have these assets under the name “ structural products». Difficult to understand tool, is designed for investors who spend little time on their invested money and do not delve into the market. In fact your losses are averaging, if the market went down, and cutting profits if it went above forecast targets.

Depositary receipts ADRs and GDRs

For an investor, this is an opportunity to purchase shares of foreign companies, remaining within the jurisdiction of your country. For this there are depository banks. They purchase securities from issuing companies in order to then issue and sell depositary receipts of various denominations backed by these securities.

• ADR (American Depositary Receipts) are issued by depository banks located in USA.
• Global Depositary Receipts (GDRs) available from European depositories.

Investor(an individual or a large company like Gazprom), in this case is initiator of the release depository receipt.

Eurobonds or Eurobonds

This bonds, which I release in a currency that is foreign to the issuer. They are called Eurobonds because they first appeared in Europe. If a company, located in France, issues bonds in dollars, then these will be Eurobonds. And if in euros, then ordinary ones, since the euro is “its own” currency for France.

This asset is interesting for a private investor higher profitability than just a bank foreign currency deposit.

Foreign ETFs.

ETF (from exchange traded fund - exchange traded fund) according to its structure and purpose similar to mutual fund. Each fund share contains several stocks or other assets, such as precious metals or indices. For example, ticker SPY is an ETF for the SnP 500 index(500 largest US companies).

The advantages of an ETF over a mutual fund are working with the current market price and lower commissions.

Also, the interest is due to the fact that purchasing only one ETF share, the investor is already diversifies its investments. Compiling an investment portfolio of ordinary shares is a much more time-consuming and expensive undertaking. I have it on my blog. It covers in detail the issue of purchasing shares and receiving dividends by individuals.

How to bypass the restriction and buy all types of assets

The privileges described above sound extremely tempting, is not it? In the same time requirements to an individual, which will allow them to obtain the coveted status, for many look depressing. You may not have an economic education or the desire to spend a long time gaining experience so that you can be recognized as a qualified investor. Eat way to bypass restrictions Russian securities market. And he much easier than you think!

It is possible and necessary to work with foreign assets. To do this, you must enter into an agreement with a broker who is registered in a foreign jurisdiction and is not subject to the laws in force in the Russian Federation. It could be like foreign broker, so Russian, with subsidiaries in Cyprus, the USA or Asia.

Interactive Brokers

This the most reliable broker in the USA, which opens accounts for residents of the post-Soviet space if your capital is more than $10,000. Interactive Brokers has an excellent reputation and is the best choice for CIS investors. I tried this broker, I recommend checking it out. I will briefly summarize its features below.

Just2trade

If your capital is less than $10,000, the most affordable way enter the foreign market - open a brokerage account in the offshore subsidiaries of Russian brokers. Broker Just2trade this is my daughter Finama. My trading account is opened with this broker, I shared my personal experience with him.

Broker characteristics:

Also branches with offshore brokers have registration Otkritie, BKS and Zerich.

Open an account with Just2trade

United Traders

If of all foreign markets you are interested exchanges specifically USA, then the most profitable broker for you will be United Traders. The amount of the minimum deposit, as well as commissions for transactions, depends on tariff.

• Beginning. The minimum deposit is $300, the account is serviced free of charge. Commission $0.02 per share, leverage 1:10.
• Day trader. Minimum deposit $1,000, maintenance $60 per month. Commission 0.0066 per share, leverage 1:20.
• Investor. The minimum deposit is $5,000, the service is free. Commission 0.05% per turnover, leverage 1:5.

The remaining conditions are the same for all tariffs. Overnight leverage 1:2, 10% per annum for transferring positions.

Opening an account with United Traders

United Traders has access to exchanges NYSE, NASDAQ, AMEX, BATS - Stocks and ETFs. For a detailed review of this broker, see this.

Let's sum it up

I told you what qualifying investor status is and how you can do without it. A natural question arises: a Is it worth getting this status at all?? After all, a private investor has access to foreign markets without any paperwork?

Let's look at the current situation on the Russian market. It can be seen that being a qualified investor less profitable than working with a broker in a foreign jurisdiction. Foreign stock markets according to the variety of assets, conditions and their loyalty to where more attractive than Russian exchanges. In practice the privileges of a qualified investor in the Russian Federation are approaching zero. This is probably due to the fact that this class of investors has appeared in our country relatively recently, and in the future there will be much more opportunities.

You should only bother with obtaining status if, for some reason, it is important for you to remain in Russian jurisdiction and not get involved with foreign assets. If you are primarily interested in the return on your investment, choose the broker that suits you and act.

With this I say goodbye to you. Be sure to subscribe to updates - you will find a lot of useful information on my blog. Good luck!

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