Date of Last Modification: April 11, 2005
Guidant Financial Group, Inc. (“Guidant”) respects and enforces the
privacy expectations of our clients and potential clients. This notice discusses
what kinds of information we collect about our clients and how this information
may be disclosed to third parties who may or may not be affiliated with Guidant.
Collection of Information
Guidant's main purpose in collecting information from clients and potential clients
is for communication. However, personal non-public information is required for several
of our products:
- IRA/LLC and Entrepreneur Pension™ contracts and related forms, which include a customer's
name, address, social security number, information about the existing retirement
accounts a customer holds, and information about a customer's investment goals;
- Retirement account history, including information about the transactions and balances
in a customer's accounts; and
- Correspondence, written, telephonic or electronic between a customer and Guidant
or service providers to Guidant.
Disclosure of Client Information
We do not sell your personal information to anyone. We do not disclose personal information
to third parties who are not affiliated with Guidant, unless one or more of the
following circumstances exists;
- As Authorized - if you request or authorize the disclosure of the information (either
directly to your account representative at Guidant and to the custodian of any self-directed
Individual Retirement Account that you may set up as part of your contract with
Guidant, or through Guidant's Professional Network).
- As Permitted by Law - for example, sharing information with companies who maintain
or service customer accounts for Guidant is permitted and is essential for us to
provide clients with necessary or useful services with respect to their accounts.
Furthermore, we may disclose or report personal information, such as account and
transaction data, where we believe in good faith that disclosure is required or
permitted under law (e.g., to cooperate with regulators, receivers, or to resolve
client disputes).
- Outside Counsel – Guidant products/contracts generally include consultation with
outside counsel. Your information will be available to the outside counsel in order
to facilitate prompt communication and completion of your contract.
Security of Client Information
We train our staff to safeguard personal information of our clients, and they are
required to use such information for business purposes only. Guidant maintains the
following policies and procedures regarding privacy with its staff:
- Sensitive information stored electronically in our databases, such as Social Security
Numbers, Birth Dates, Credit Card Numbers, etc . . . is encrypted. Access to this
information is controlled.
- Paper files containing sensitive information are kept in secure areas where access
is closely controlled and monitored.
- Staff receives training on the types of information we can and cannot disclose to
individuals and/or organizations outside Guidant.
Questions
Privacy and Security are very important to Guidant. Maintaining privacy and security
means not disclosing specifics on all our internal practices. Should you have any
questions, feel free to contact us.
