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Disclosure Document
Financial Planning Disclosure Documents Table of Contents: 1. DirectAdvice Form ADV Part II 2. DirectAdvice Terms of Use 3. DirectAdvice Limitation of Liability 4. Electronic Signatures Disclosure and Consent to Receive Documents Electronically 5. DirectAdvice Non-assignment of Financial Planning Agreement 6. DirectAdvice Privacy Policy DA_010 03/21/07 DirectAdvice Form ADV Part II FORM ADV Part II Uniform Application for Investment Adviser Registration DirectAdvice, Incorporated 111 Founders Plaza, Suite 1703 East Hartford, CT 06108 (860) 291-9969 Date: March 21, 2007 This part of Form ADV gives information about the investment adviser and its business for the use of clients. The information has not been approved or verified by any governmental authority. Table of Contents Item Number Item 1. Advisory Services and Fees 2. Types of Clients 3. Types of Investments 4. Methods of Analysis, Sources of Information and Investment Strategies 5. Education and Business Standards 6. Education and Business Background 7. Other Business Activities 8. Other Financial Industry Activities or Affiliations 9. Participation or Interest in Client Transactions 10. Conditions for Managing Accounts 11. Review of Accounts 12. Investment or Brokerage Discretion 13. Additional Compensation 14. Balance Sheet Continuation Sheet (Schedule F) 1.A. Advisory Services and Fees. (check the applicable boxes) For each type of service provided, state the approximate % of total advisory billings from that service. (See instructions below) Applicant: [ ] __% (1) Provides investment supervisory services [ ] __% (2) Manages investment advisory accounts not involving investment supervisory services [X] 15% (3) Furnishes investment advice through consultations not included in either service described above. [ ] __% (4) Issues periodicals about securities by subscription. [ ] __% (5) Issues special reports about securities not included in any service described above. [ ] __% (6) Issues, not as part of any service described above, any charts, graphs, formulas, or other devices which clients may use to evaluate securities. [X] 50% (7) On more than an occasional basis, furnishes advice to clients on matters not involving securities. [ ] __% (8) Provides a timing service. [X] 50% (9) Furnishes advice about securities in any manner not described above "(Financial Planning)". (Percentages should be based on applicant's last fiscal year. If applicant has not completed its first fiscal year, provide estimates of advisory billings for that year and state that the percentages are estimates.) ------------------------------------------------------------ 1.B. Does Applicant call the services it checked above financial planning or some similar term? Yes [X] No [ ] ------------------------------------------------------------ 1.C. Applicant offers investment advisory services for: (check all that apply) [X] (1) A percentage of assets under management [ ] (2) Hourly charges [X] (3) Fixed Fees (not including subscription fees) [X] (4) Subscription Fees [ ] (5) Commissions [ ] (6) Other ------------------------------------------------------------ 1.D. For each checked box in A above, describe on Schedule F: - the services provided, including the name of any publication or report issued by the adviser on a subscription basis or for a fee - applicant's basic fee schedule, how fees are charged and whether its fees are negotiable - when compensation is payable, and if compensation is payable before service is provided, how a client may get a refund or may terminate an investment advisory contract before its expiration date ------------------------------------------------------------ 2. Types of Clients - Applicant generally provides investment advice to: (check those that apply) [X] A. Individuals [ ] B. Banks of thrift institutions [ ] C. Investment companies [ ] D. Person and profit sharing plans [ ] E. Trusts, estates, or charitable organizations [ ] F. Corporations or business entities other than those listed above [ ] G. Other (describe on Schedule F) ------------------------------------------------------------ 3. Types of Investments. Applicant offers advice on the following: (check those that apply) A. Equity securities: [X] (1) exchange-listed securities [X] (2) securities traded over-the-counter [X] (3) foreign issuers [X] [ ] B. Warrants [X] C. Corporate debt securities (other than commercial paper) [X] D. Commercial Paper [X] E. Certificates of deposit [X] F. Municipal securities [X] G. Investment company securities: [X] (1) variable life insurance [X] (2) variable annuities [X] (3) mutual fund shares [ ] H. United States government securities [ ] I. Option contracts on: [ ] (1) securities [ ] (2) commodities J. Futures contracts on: [ ] (1) tangibles [ ] (2) intangibles K. Interests in partnerships investing in: [ ] (1) real estate [ ] (2) oil and gas interests [ ] (3) other (explain on Schedule F) [X] L. Other (explain on Schedule F) ------------------------------------------------------------ 4. Methods of Analysis, Sources of Information, and Investment Strategies. A. Applicant's security analysis methods include: (check those that apply) [ ] (1) Charting [X] (2) Fundamental [ ] (3) Technical [ ] (4) Cyclical [X] (5) Other (explain in Schedule F) B. The main sources of information applicant uses include: (check those that apply) [X] (1) Financial newspapers and magazines [ ] (2) Inspections of corporate activities [X] (3) Research materials prepared by others [ ] (4) Corporate rating services [ ] (5) Timing services [X] (6) Annual reports, prospectuses, filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission [ ] (7) Company press releases [X] (8) Other (explain on Schedule F) C. The Investment Strategies used to implement any investment advice given to clients include: (check those that apply) [X] (1) Long term purchases (securities held at least a year) [X] (2) Short term purchases (securities sold within a year) [ ] (3) Trading (securities sold within 30 days) [ ] (4) Short sales [ ] (5) Margin transactions [ ] (6) Option writing, including covered options, uncovered options, or spreading strategies [ ] (7) Other (explain on Schedule F) ------------------------------------------------------------ 5. Education and Business Standards Are there any general standards of education or business experience that applicant requires of those involved in determining or giving investment advice to clients? Yes[X] No[ ] (If yes, describe these standards on Schedule F.) ------------------------------------------------------------ 6. Education and Business Background For: * each member of the investment committee or group that determines general investment advice given to clients, or * if the applicant has no investment committee or group, each individual who determines general investment advice given to clients (if more than five, only the information of the supervisors will be included) * the principal executive officer of applicant or each person with similar status or performing similar functions. On Schedule F, give the: name, formal education after high school, year of birth, business background for the preceding five years ------------------------------------------------------------ 7. Other Business Activities: (check those that apply) [ ] A. Applicant is actively engaged in a business other than giving investment advice. [X] B. Applicant sells products or services other than investment advice to clients. [X] C. The principal business of applicant or its principal executive officers involves something other than providing investment advice. (For each checked box describe the other activities, including the time spent on them, on Schedule F.) ------------------------------------------------------------ 8. Other Financial Industry Activities or Affiliations: (check those that apply) [ ] A. Applicant is registered (or has an application pending) as a securities broker-dealer. [ ] B. Applicant is registered (or has an application pending) as a futures commission merchant, commodity pool operator or commodity trading adviser. [X] C. Applicant has arrangements that are material to its advisory business or its clients with a related person who is a: [X] (1) broker-dealer [ ] (2) investment company [ ] (3) other investment adviser [ ] (4) financial planning firm [ ] (5) commodity pool operator, commodity trading adviser or futures commission merchant [ ] (6) banking or thrift institution [ ] (7) accounting firm. [ ] (8) law firm [ ] (9) insurance company or agency [X] (10) pension consultant [ ] (11) real estate broker or dealer [ ] (12) entity that creates or packages limited partnerships (For each checked box in C, on Schedule F identify the related person and describe the relationship and the arrangements.) (D) Is applicant or a related person a general partner in any partnership in which clients are solicited to invest? Yes [ ] No [X] (If yes, describe on Schedule F the partnerships and what they invest in.) 9.Participation or Interest in Client Transactions Applicant or a related person: (check those that apply) [ ] A. As principal, buys securities for itself from or sells securities it owns to any client. [ ] B. As broker or agent effects securities transactions for compensation for any client. [ ] C. As broker or agent for any person other than a client effects transactions in which client securities are sold to or bought from a brokerage customer. [ ] D. Recommends to clients that they buy or sell securities or investment products in which the applicant or a related person has some financial interest. [X] E. Buys or sells for itself securities that it also recommends to clients. (For each box checked, describe on Schedule F when the applicant or a related person engages in these transactions and what restrictions, internal procedures, or disclosures are used for conflicts of interest in those transactions.) ------------------------------------------------------------ 10. Conditions for Managing Accounts. Does the applicant provide investment supervisory services, manage investment advisory accounts or hold itself out as providing financial planning or some similarly termed services and impose a minimum dollar value of assets or other conditions for starting or maintaining an account? Yes[ ] No[X] (If yes, describe on Schedule F.) ------------------------------------------------------------ 11. Review of Accounts. If applicant provides investment supervisory services, manages investment advisory accounts, or holds itself out as providing financial planning or some similarly termed services: A. Describe below the reviews and reviewers of the accounts. For reviews, include their frequency, different levels, and triggering factors. For reviewers, include the number of reviewers, their titles and functions, instructions they receive from applicant on performing reviews, and number of accounts assigned each. Please see Schedule F B. Describe below the nature and frequency of regular reports to clients on their accounts. Please see Schedule F ------------------------------------------------------------ 12. Investment or Brokerage Discretion A. Does applicant or any related person have authority to determine, without obtaining specific client consent, the: (1) securities to be bought or sold? Yes[ ] No[X] (2) amount of the securities to be bought or sold? Yes[ ] No[X] (3) broker or dealer to be used? Yes[ ] No[X] (4) commission rates paid? Yes[ ] No[X] B. Does applicant or a related person suggest brokers to clients? Yes [ ] No [X] For each yes answer to A describe on Schedule F any limitations on the authority. For each yes to A (3), A (4) or B, describe on Schedule F the factors considered in selecting brokers and determining the reasonableness of their commissions. If the value of products, research and services given to the applicant or a related person is a factor, describe: - the products, research and services - whether clients may pay commissions higher than those obtainable from other brokers in return for those products and services - whether research is used to service all of applicant's accounts or just those accounts paying for it; and - any procedures the applicant used during the last fiscal year to direct client transactions to a particular broker in return for products and research services received. ------------------------------------------------------------ 13. Additional Compensation Does the applicant or a related person have any arrangements, oral or in writing, where it: A. is paid cash by or receives some economic benefit (including commissions, equipment or non-research services) from a non-client in connection with giving advice to clients? Yes[ ] No[X] B. directly or indirectly compensates any person for client referrals? Yes[X] No[ ] (For each yes, describe the arrangements on Schedule F.) ------------------------------------------------------------ 14. Balance Sheet. Applicant must provide a balance sheet for the most recent fiscal year on Schedule G if applicant: - has custody of client funds or securities; or - requires prepayment of more than $500 in fees per client and 6 or more months in advance Has applicant provided a Schedule G balance sheet? Yes[ ] No[X] ------------------------------------------------------------ Schedule F Continuation Sheet for Form ADV Part II 1. Full name of applicant exactly as stated in Item 1A of Part I of Form ADV: DIRECTADVICE, INCORPORATED 1.D SERVICES PERSONALIZED FINANCIAL PLANNING DirectAdvice, Incorporated ('DirectAdvice') provides computerized financial planning services. Its Core Service delivers comprehensive planning. This Service generally follows the Six Financial Planning Practice Standards of the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. with Users having the responsibility for on-going review and modification of Plans. The Service uses an on-line Questionnaire to collect the requisite information to analyze all goals, recommend changes to taxable and tax-advantaged asset allocations and make investment recommendations. Goals typically covered in each personalized Plan are retirement, education, home ownership, special needs and a cash reserve for emergencies. DirectAdvice offers additional Services that deliver (a) A high-level Assessment that points out financial issues that require attention, (b) A Life Insurance Service that analyzes life insurance needs and recommends solutions and types of products (c) Investment analysis that recommends appropriate multi-class investment portfolios based on the user's needs and circumstances. The appropriate information is collected electronically and/or manually for each Service. All Services are delivered on a single technology platform, thus requiring only a single entry of each data element and assuring accurate, personalized advice based on all relevant user data irrespective of the Service being used. The Core service examines each customer's current asset allocation of common stocks, fixed income securities and cash equivalents. A separate analysis is completed for taxable and tax-advantaged savings. The purpose of this analysis is to recommend changes, when appropriate, to bring both allocations into line with the personalized information provided by each User. The analysis used to produce the recommended changes incorporates a sophisticated, proprietary methodology that considers each User's needs assessment, risk tolerance and asset-liability linkage requirements over a lifetime. Recommendations may reflect both deterministic and Monte Carlo analysis. Additional recommendations include: - Specific changes to establish the indicated asset allocation for taxable savings. - Specific changes to establish the indicated asset allocation for tax-advantaged savings. - Specific action steps the User should take when investing in cash equivalents, taxable or tax-exempt bonds, and common stocks. - Specific steps to be taken to achieve indicated cash reserves before and after retirement - Possible impact of these decisions on the User's ability to achieve each specified goal - Use of retirement savings plans, IRAs and annuities when saving and paying for retirement - Use of 529 Plans and other education savings plans when saving for education goals - Investment selection methods - Specific types and amounts of life insurance to be purchased based on the unique needs and circumstances of the User DirectAdvice delivers a comprehensive Financial Plan to each User. The Plan comments on the customer's planning assumptions, including cash reserve, the cost and timing of each goal, and the user's projected outcomes. These comments, which are a direct response to the User's unique needs and circumstances as reflected in the information provided, are intended to help the User adopt sound planning assumptions and make sound planning decisions. A Plan is delivered for viewing over the Internet. The Plan also can be formatted for local printing using the portable document format (PDF). Users can review plans online and make periodic adjustments to reflect the impact of new information or assumptions. DirectAdvice may provide its Services directly to Users and may enter into joint marketing relationships to enable other firms to offer one or more of the Services to their customers. For users redirected to DirectAdvice by The Motley Fool, Inc. ("TMF"), both DirectAdvice and The Ayco Company, L.P. ("Ayco") may act as Registered Investment Advisors, DirectAdvice for online advice and Ayco for telephonic advice. In addition, Ayco may provide support for questions from TMF members that result from usage of the DirectAdvice online Service made available through TMF. To better service the Users redirected from TMF, DirectAdvice and Ayco may also exchange user information from time-to-time. DirectAdvice also licenses its platform, products and Services to financial institutions, corporations and other entities that may deploy it under their name to their customers, employees or members. During an acceptance-testing period, DirectAdvice may allow a limited number of Users of the client institution to use DirectAdvice's financial planning service for a limited time, free of charge. Institutional clients who have a license relationship with DirectAdvice deliver the planning services under their own Registrations. FEES An annual subscription fee for each Financial Planning Service, ranging from $0 to $75, may be charged. Alternatively, the Services may be bundled with investment services provided by other financial institutions resulting in an annual fee computed using a basis points formula applied against assets held by such institutions. DirectAdvice may share in such fees. The fees charged may be determined based on the demand for the Services and the costs of providing them. It is anticipated that various prices may be tested from time to time as the Services are introduced to new groups of potential Users. Fees charged to Users in any group who are introduced by referring firms will not be higher than those charged to similar Users contracting directly with DirectAdvice from such group. The fees charged Users by DirectAdvice are payable in advance and are earned when received. Users who are not satisfied with the Service are guaranteed a refund during the first 30 days after purchasing the Service. Fees are refundable after the first 30 days at the discretion of the Company. Fees to individual Users are not negotiable. The annual subscription fee gives Users use of the on-line planning service for 12 months. In addition, Users may have access to education materials, moderated chat, answers to frequently asked questions and articles about financial and investment planning. Financial institutions, corporations and other entities that offer the Services to their customers, employees and members may pay a license and/or usage fee, which may be based on the number of individual Users. For Users who are offered the Services via such corporations etc., different subscription, renewal, cancellation, refund and User support policies may apply. Fees charged under an arrangement with a financial firm that requires DirectAdvice to deliver the Service on behalf of such firm are subject to negotiation with the firm. 3.L, 4.A.(5), 4.B.(8) TYPES OF INVESTMENTS, METHODS OF ANALYSIS AND SOURCES OF INFORMATION As disclosed in Item 1.D., Users receive separate asset allocations for taxable and tax-advantaged savings. The asset allocations cover common stocks, short-term fixed investments (taxable and tax-exempt) and cash equivalents. Recommended mutual funds are identified for each User based on selection criteria applied to information available from sources such as Morningstar, Inc., Lipper, Reuters and Value Line. The funds may be recommended in the form of generically created or personalized portfolios. Generic portfolios, which are fully diversified using Modern Portfolio techniques, may be personalized to each User by adjusting the percentage holdings in each asset and sub-asset category to correspond to the personalized asset allocations created for the User. Users are provided with information about the funds recommended in each sub-asset class to enable them to substitute similar funds if that is their preference. The discussion accompanying the recommendations explains how to create a fully diversified portfolio using both index and actively managed funds, how to reduce the risk in a portfolio by adjusting stock and bond allocations at both the asset and sub-asset class levels and the appropriate criteria to consider when selecting specific funds. 5 EDUCATION AND BUSINESS STANDARDS DirectAdvice requires that persons who are involved in providing investment advice on behalf of DirectAdvice possess appropriate business experience. 6 EDUCATION AND BUSINESS BACKGROUND JOHN C. WILLIAMS III Born: 1968 EDUCATION: University Of Florida - BA, 1995 The American Graduate School of International Management, MBA, 1996 BUSINESS BACKGROUND: DirectAdvice Inc., President and Chief Compliance Officer, 3/2007 to present. WESPAC, Manager of Advisory Services, 2002 - present. Registered Securities Representative (Series 7 & 63) Licensed Investment Advisory Representative (Series 65) JEREMY MICHAEL KISH Born: 1975 EDUCATION: Bucknell University - BA, 1998 BUSINESS BACKGROUND: DirectAdvice Inc., Secretary and Board Member, 9/2004 - present BenefitStreet, Director, Business Development, 4/2002- present. Universal Pensions - Product Manager, 1999 - 2001. Franklin Templeton - Management Trainee, 1998 - 1999. 7.B DirectAdvice may provide the Services directly to Users and may enter into joint marketing relationships with other firms and entities to offer the Services to the customers and Users of these other firms. DirectAdvice also licenses its platform, products and Services on a fully customized basis to financial institutions, corporations and other entities that may market it under their name to their customers, employees and members. Such entities will deliver advisory services on their own Registrations. During a test period, DirectAdvice may allow a limited number of Users of these entities to use DirectAdvice's financial planning service for a limited time, free of charge during acceptance testing. 7.C, 8.C.(1), & 8.C.(10) OTHER BUSINESS ACTIVITIES Two of the Officers of DirectAdvice are also employees of BenefitStreet, a third party administration service for pension plans. EA Invest Securities, an NASD Member Broker Dealer, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BenefitStreet. DirectAdvice does not have business arrangements with these companies. 9.E PARTICIPATION OR INTEREST IN CLIENT TRANSACTIONS Because DirectAdvice is not involved in the implementation of the Action Steps in a User's Plan, neither DirectAdvice nor its related persons will know which securities (if any) are being bought or sold by its Users. Therefore, while it is possible that DirectAdvice or its related persons may buy, sell or hold securities that are being purchased, sold or held by customers based on the information in DirectAdvice's plans, DirectAdvice may not know if its Users are acting on this information. DirectAdvice may store Users' trading data and may deliver this data to Users in formatted reports. DirectAdvice will regularly monitor compliance by all employees of its privacy policy, which prescribes the limited circumstance when User-personal data can be viewed by an employee and defines the limited number of employees who can view such data. 11.A REVIEWS AND REVIEWERS OF ACCOUNTS No regular periodic reviews are performed for Users of the Core Service. The Service is designed so that Users can periodically review their Plans, and as appropriate, make any indicated changes to their Plan covered in the update. Users may change the information used in the Core Service and create an updated Plan as often as they wish during the annual subscription period for no additional cost. DirectAdvice implements system updates at least quarterly. The objective of these updates is to make improvements in the operating system. These updates occur in the normal course of the business after appropriate time for user testing before being made available to Users. 11.B REGULAR REPORTS PROVIDED TO CLIENTS Users can initiate updated Plans during a subscription year for no additional fee. 13.B ADDITIONAL COMPENSATION DirectAdvice may from time to time compensate, either directly or indirectly, any person (defined as a natural person or a company) for customer referrals. DirectAdvice is aware of the special considerations promulgated under Section 206(4)-3 of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. As such, appropriate disclosure shall be made, DirectAdvice will maintain all written instruments and all applicable Federal and/or State laws will be observed. DirectAdvice Terms of Use DirectAdvice, Incorporated ("DirectAdvice"), is a registered investment adviser. The information contained on the DirectAdvice site is not intended, nor is it implied, to be a substitute for the professional advice you would receive from an accountant, attorney or qualified tax preparer. Always seek the advice of an accountant, attorney, qualified tax preparer or another registered investment advisor, with any questions you may have regarding the decisions you undertake as a result of using the information and advice on the DirectAdvice site. Certain links on this site will let you leave the DirectAdvice site. The linked sites are not under the control of DirectAdvice and DirectAdvice is not responsible for the contents of any linked site or any link contained in a linked site. We provide these links for your convenience only, and the inclusion of any link does not imply endorsement by DirectAdvice of any such linked site. Performance figures are hypothetical and cannot guarantee future comparable results. Investment return and principal value will fluctuate. Investing in stocks, bonds, mutual funds and variable annuities does not guarantee a profit. All of these investments are subject to investment risks, including possible loss of principal invested. An investment in a money market fund is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or government agency. Money market funds are managed to maintain a stable price of $1.00 per share although there is no guarantee that a particular money market fund will be able to maintain this stable value. The DirectAdvice Financial Planning Tool analyzes a host of personal factors, including your dependent status, income, retirement goals, debt status, insurance needs, estate planning status, social security, savings, cash reserve, investments, taxes and other information (e.g., your age and targeted goals) that we consider reasonable in making a suitable investment recommendation or range of recommendations to meet your articulated objectives and estimated targets. This analytical tool makes certain economic assumptions, such as inflation and interest rates. Through the use of a set of predetermined assumptions, which can be adjusted according to your preferences, the DirectAdvice Financial Planning Tool produces both a preliminary assessment and summary that includes a financial snapshot of where you are today and a determination of whether you are on track to reach your specific goals. Please review the related assumptions carefully. Of course, these economic assumptions can change over time in response to certain market events, which could have an adverse effect on the planning goals presented to you. The DirectAdvice Financial Planning Tool may under or over compensate for the impact, if any, of certain market factors, and the analysis may change over time with respect to the same investments. IMPORTANT: The information generated by The DirectAdvice Financial Planning Tool regarding the probabilities that the various investment outcomes might occur are hypothetical in nature, do not reflect actual investment results and are not guarantees of future investment results. The DirectAdvice Financial Planning Tool only presents a range of possible outcomes. THIS SITE MAY CONTAIN OPINIONS, STATEMENTS, RECOMMENDATIONS, AND INFORMATION FROM THIRD PARTY INDIVIDUALS AND ORGANIZATIONS. DIRECTADVICE DOES NOT ENDORSE OR MAKE ANY REPRESENTATIONS AS TO THE ACCURACY, TIMELINESS, COMPLETENESS OR CREDIBILITY OF ANY OPINION, STATEMENT, RECOMMENDATION OR OTHER CONTENT CONTAINED IN, UPLOADED TO, OR DISTRIBUTED THROUGH THIS SITE. YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT IF YOU RELY ON ANY SUCH OPINIONS, STATEMENTS, RECOMMENDATIONS, INFORMATION, AND SERVICE CONTENT THAT YOU WILL DO SO SOLELY AT YOUR OWN RISK. THIS SITE, THE SOFTWARE AND THIRD PARTY DATA ARE PROVIDED TO YOU "AS IS" WITH NO WARRANTY. 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TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, DIRECTADVICE OR ANY DATA PROVIDER SHALL NOT BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY LOSS OR DAMAGE, DIRECT, INDIRECT OR CONSEQUENTIAL, ARISING FROM (i) ANY INACCURACY OR INCOMPLETENESS IN, OR DELAYS, INTERRUPTIONS, ERRORS OR OMISSIONS, IN THE DELIVERY OF THE THIRD PARTY DATA OR ANY OTHER INFORMATION SUPPLIED TO YOU THROUGH THIS SITE OR (ii) ANY DECISION MADE OR ACTION TAKEN BY YOU OR ANY THIRD PARTY IN RELIANCE UPON THE THIRD PARTY DATA. BECAUSE SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, THE ABOVE LIMITATIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. ELECTRONIC SIGNATURES DISCLOSURE AND CONSENT TO RECEIVE DOCUMENTS ELECTRONICALLY For your convenience, DirectAdvice, Incorporated ("DA") has chosen to offer you the documents you have just viewed in electronic, rather than paper, form. If you choose to accept these documents electronically, DA will need to obtain your consent. You do have the right to receive these documents in non-electronic form. In addition, if you provide DA with your consent to receive these documents electronically, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time. There are no consequences for withdrawing your consent other than all transactions with you in the future must be in writing on a hard copy. Your consent below applies to receiving in electronic form the DA Form ADV Part II, DA Solicitors Disclosure Statement, and DA Security & Privacy Policy. If you would like to withdraw your consent to receiving and sending documents electronically or if you wish to update your email address, we ask you to do the following: contact DA at customer_service@directadvice.com. You may obtain a paper copy of your electronic record by contacting DA. There will not be a fee to obtain such copy. You may also obtain the electronic record of your acknowledgment of receipt and consent. If you wish to gain access to or retain the electronic record, you will need an Internet email address, access to a Pentium-grade computer with at least 16MB of RAM (capable of receiving and storing email) and a 28.8 Kbps speed modem or better. You will also need either Windows 95, 98, ME or 2000 or Macintosh 7.6.1 or better, and Microsoft Internet Explorer, Netscape Navigator, or a comparable browser. DirectAdvice Non Assignment of Financial Planning Agreement The financial planning services provided by DirectAdvice to a client cannot be assigned without the consent of the client and DirectAdvice. DirectAdvice Privacy Policy Protecting Your Privacy Our Pledge to You We consider it a privilege to serve your financial needs and we value the trust you have placed in us. As we serve your financial relationship, we are committed to safeguarding your customer information. Here is our privacy pledge to you: 1. Your privacy is a top priority. 2. The accounts and services you use are provided in a secure environment. 3. We collect information in order to service and administer your customer relationship. 4. Your customer information is shared only in limited ways and is carefully controlled. 5. We will work together with you to protect the security of your customer information, and to keep your information accurate and current. Please read the information below to learn more about our privacy policies. We take pride in our integrity and responsive personal service. A note about this information: The privacy policies described in this publication apply to individuals who obtain or apply for a financial product or service for personal, family, or household purposes, or have done so in the past. As described below, you will find our policies and practices for collecting, disclosing, and safeguarding "nonpublic personal information," which may include financial or other customer information. This notification replaces all previous statements of our consumer privacy policy, and may be amended at any time. We'll keep you informed of changes as required by law. This publication describes the privacy policies of DirectAdvice, Incorporated. 1. Your privacy is a top priority. We are committed to your privacy. We take great care to protect the security of your customer information and to control how it may be used. In addition, we will provide annual notification of our privacy policies and procedures to keep our customers informed about this issue. 2. The accounts and services you use are provided in a secure environment. We use sophisticated technology and security measures to protect your customer information. We maintain physical, electronic and procedural safeguards that comply with federal regulations to guard nonpublic personal information. We transfer all personal information over secure connections to ensure that others cannot view or intercept your confidential information as it is transmitted over the Internet or stored in our databases. Our security system protects your communications through industry-standard SSL (Secure Socket Layer) encryption of data. We are careful to limit access to your nonpublic personal information. Our employees have limited access to customer information based on their responsibilities. This access enables them to resolve any customer service issues that may arise. In addition, nonaffiliated third parties may be given access to customer information under certain circumstances. For example, a third party who provides a specialized service on our behalf may access only the information necessary to perform that service. Or, in cases when you authorize us to provide your customer information to others, we limit access only to the specified information, and only for the purpose you have authorized. 3. We collect information in order to service and administer your customer relationship. In the course of serving or administering your customer relationship, we collect a variety of nonpublic personal information which is provided by you, as well as other sources, and may include: When you register for an account on our site, you will complete a detailed questionnaire that includes certain personal and financial information about you including your name, date of birth, income, assets, goals, other financial information based on your household situation, and e-mail address. We collect this detailed information about your household situation in order to provide you with financial advice that is personalized to your unique goals and circumstances. We will only use your email address to provide you with customer service and to deliver information that will be helpful to you as a customer or is required by law or regulation. We also use cookies to collect information. A cookie is a small data file that some web sites write to your hard drive when you visit them. A cookie cannot read data off your hard drive or read cookie files created by other sites. In order to protect your privacy, we do not use cookies to store or transmit any personally identifiable information about you on the Internet. We use cookies for two purposes only: to track how you found us, and to identify your session so we can provide real-time customer service. We use your IP address to track generic marketing information about the domain through which you visited us. The information we collect is based on the services we may provide to you. This information is used or shared as described in the section that follows. 4. Your customer information is shared only in limited ways and is carefully controlled. We use or share customer information in a limited and carefully controlled manner. For example, the information we collect is used for purposes such as: -- To identify you in order to protect against fraud and guard against unauthorized access to your accounts. -- To enable us to provide you with quality customer service. -- To better serve your relationship by understanding which services may be the right match for your needs, and telling you about new offers that may be of interest to you. -- To help ensure that our information about you is current and accurate. Examples of categories of customer information that we may share include: -- Information we receive from you, such as your name and address, as provided, for example, on a financial planning questionnaire. -- Information about your transactions with our affiliates, others, and us. This customer information may be shared with authorized users, including both affiliates and nonaffiliated third parties, in order to provide you with the services and financial choices that are most likely to be of value to you. These sharing policies and practices are described in this section. With affiliates: We may share customer information with our various administrative and service departments who use customer information as part of their data processing requirements to service your accounts. With third parties not affiliated with us: We may share the customer information we collect, as described earlier in this section, on a limited basis with certain nonaffiliated third parties. We may also share this information with those who perform marketing services on our behalf, or financial institutions with whom we have joint marketing agreements. And we may share customer information with other nonaffiliated third parties as permitted by law. The third parties with whom customer information may be shared include: - Companies that provide services necessary to effect a transaction that you request or to service your account. - Companies or others that provide specialized services on our behalf, such as programming contractors, credit bureaus, or companies that help us market our services. - Financial service providers, such as registered investment advisors or banks. - Government agencies, courts, parties to lawsuits, or regulators to whom we may provide information about you and your transactions. For example, federal and state laws give people involved in lawsuits or other legal proceedings the right to obtain records and customer information from us. In such cases, we share only the information that we are required or authorized to share. 5. We will work together with you to protect the security of your customer information, and to keep your information accurate and current. As described above, we use a combination of safeguards such as employee training and accountability, strict privacy policies and rigorous security standards to protect your nonpublic personal information. You can help to maintain your privacy by taking such precautions as protecting your account numbers and passwords and not disclosing confidential information to unknown callers. To ensure that the personal financial information you provide to us in the questionnaire is accurate and current, you may review and change this information online at any time by logging in and updating it in the questionnaire. The only information we do not allow you to change is your date of birth, which we restrict for fraud protection. You may also have any of the personally identifiable information that we collect about you in the registration process changed in our database, or have your account deactivated at any time by contacting our customer service department. Privacy is a partnership. Because privacy matters, we pledge to work together with you to protect and control the security of your confidential financial information. Thank you for this opportunity to serve you. Your relationship and trust are very important to us. Please be assured that we will abide by our policies and procedures to protect your information.
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