[cortesoft]

I think Matt Levine has a good explanation about accredited investing and what private markets really mean:

> But in fact the main thing that distinguishes public and private markets is not their legal status—private markets are mostly open to accredited investors, while public markets are open to everyone—but the fact that private companies get to choose their investors, and public companies don’t. Hedge funds, for instance, are mostly open only to accredited investors, but not all hedge funds are open to all accredited investors. The very best hedge funds mostly aren’t open to anyone: They are at capacity, won’t take new money, and mostly manage money for their own very rich employees. Other hedge funds with long track records of good performance are open to big institutional allocators who can write very large checks. If you are a dentist making $205,000 a year, and you want to invest in hedge funds … someone will definitely sell you a hedge fund! It will not be Renaissance.

Just because we legally allow people to invest in whatever they want doesn't mean it will make equal footing between investors. The investments that will accept the people who are currently 'non-accreddited investors' are going to be the worst of the private investments; it will do nothing to help the little guy compete with the rich guys.

[wave_function]

Side question: does anyone know the origin of “dentist” being shorthand for “someone who is fairly educated/wealthy and thinks they’re sophisticated, but is actually just dumb money”? I’ve heard it quite a bit, curious about where it comes from.

[kenneth]

A self-reinforcing meme, I'd imagine. The more you hear it, the more you're likely to use it as an example. I've certainly used the phrase "dentist from Ohio" a few times myself — no offense meant to dentists and Ohioans.