Investor eligibility

To invest through Bigstone, you must be a 'wholesale client' under the Corporations Act 2001.

You are a wholesale client if you pass one of the tests set out below.

Wealth test - sophisticated investors

This test requires the investor to have:

net assets of at least $2.5 million; or
a gross income for each of the last two financial years of at least $250,000.

When considering whether you pass this test, you should include the net assets or gross income of each company or trust (including SMSFs) that you control. Similarly, if you are eligible to be a wholesale client, then a company or trust (including SMSF) that you control is also a wholesale client.

Your accountant must provide us with a certificate confirming that you meet either of the above tests.

Our template accountant’s certificate is available here and must be dated within the last 2 years.

Professional investors

This exemption largely covers large institutional and specialised investment organisations.

You are a professional investor if you are:

a financial services licensee;
a person or company that controls at least $10 million;
a listed company or related body corporate;
an exempt public authority;
a body regulated by APRA other than a trustee of a superannuation product;
a body registered under the Financial Corporations Act 1974
- a trustee of a superannuation fund, approved deposit fund, pooled superannuation trust, or public sector superannuation scheme, that control at least $10 million;
a body that carries on an investment business that is offered to the public
a foreign entity that would meet one of these requirements had it been established in Australia.

We will require you to complete a declaration that you are a professional investor, and we will carry out further due diligence to confirm that fact.

Investment size

You will also be a wholesale client if you invest at least $500,000. Please contact us if you wish to qualify under this class.

Large businesses

This category applies if your investment is to be used in connection with a business that employs at least 20 employees - or at least 100 employees if the business is or includes the manufacture of goods.

Can I choose the loans I invest in?

When you invest in the Bigstone Loan Fund, you can choose between two simple options:

Pooled

Under the pooled option, Bigstone automatically invests your funds across every new loan that is made from the time you invest your funds, with the limitations agreed with you (if any). This option provides diversification of your investment across multiple loans.

Bigstone will allocate 5% of your total investment to each loan request (to a maximum of 10% of the loan request) that is listed on the Bigstone Loan Marketplace after you select the pooled option.

Bigstone will automatically re-invest repayments that you receive on the same basis (in tranches of a maximum of 5% of your total invested funds), unless you elect to opt out of reinvesting repayments.

Your investment will only be in new loans made since you select the pooled option (until your funds are all allocated), and your risk and returns will be from those loans only.

In the event that there are more funds ready to be allocated under the pooled option than there are available Loans, the available funds will be deployed proportionately, as assessed by Bigstone Lending in its discretion.

Pro

Under the Pro option, you can individually select the loan requests that you wish to fund.

You can filter by loan term, Loan amount, geography, available security, and other criteria. This gives you flexibility in your investment(s), and allows you to select more loans that you prefer (e.g. to Borrowers in a certain area) or avoid Loans you don’t want to invest in (e.g. to borrowers in certain industries).