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Türkiye’s Capital Markets Board (SPK) announced Friday that it raised the minimum financial asset requirement for professional investor status, which is required to invest in hedge funds and real estate investment funds, from ₺1 million ($23,393.73) to ₺10 million ($233,937.30).
In addition, the transaction volume requirement has also been raised sharply from ₺500,000 to ₺5 million.
Turkish Capital Markets Law defines a professional investor as a client with the experience, knowledge, and expertise to make investment decisions and evaluate the risks they assume.
Unlike retail clients, professional investors are permitted to access financial instruments that are generally subject to fewer regulatory protections.
In parallel, the agency also revised the financial benchmarks that legal entities must meet to be considered professional clients. These updates impact several SPK communiques that regulate "qualified investor" status, a designation that allows greater access to complex financial products.
However, the new thresholds will not apply to investors in real estate investment funds and venture capital investment funds. For these investors, the existing financial criteria, those in effect before the publication of SPK’s latest decision, will continue to be enforced.
The updated requirements will only apply to individuals or institutions seeking to obtain professional or qualified investor status for the first time.
Those who had already attained such status under the previous framework will retain their classification and continue to operate under prior rules.
The move follows heightened volatility in Türkiye’s mutual fund market in November, when a portfolio management firm experienced a sharp outflow from one of its funds, triggering a liquidity crunch and raising concerns about broader market stability.
The regulatory tightening is seen as a response to these developments, aiming to shield less experienced retail investors from the risks associated with hedge funds and other high-risk investment vehicles.
According to the latest data from the Türkiye Electronic Fund Trading Platform (TEFAS), hedge funds currently hold approximately ₺5 trillion ($116.96 billion) in assets.
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