| ACCOUNT SECURITY |
Beacon Investment Management, Inc. does not directly or indirectly maintain custody of client funds or securities. The Custodian for all accounts is Charles Schwab Institutional. Charles Schwab adheres to the SEC Rule 15c3-3 (Customer Protection Rule), which is designed to safeguard customer's cash and securities. Pursuant to the Rule, Schwab holds client's securities that are fully paid for, as well as any excess margin securities, either at Schwab or under the company's control at an SEC-approved depository. These securities must be maintained free of direct or indirect lien and cannot be used by Schwab for any purpose in our business. Further, in accordance with the Rule, Schwab maintains a special reserve bank account exclusively for the benefit of its customers. Schwab is required to make deposits to this account whenever the sum of client-related liabilities is greater than client-related assets. As of June 30, 2003, the amount required to be segreagated in the special reserve account equaled $22 billion, in accordance with the Rule.
Since Schwab is required to be a member of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC), the assets we custody with Schwab are insured by this entity. Under SIPC, clients of a failed brokerage firm receive all non-negotiable securities registered in their names, or in the process of being registered. All other securities are distributed on a pro-rata basis. to the extent that SIPC cannot recover securities owed to a client, funds from the SIPC reserve are available to satisfy the remaining claims up to a maximum of $500,000 per " client capacity" (e.g. sole owner, custodian, joint tenant). This figure included a maximum of $100,000 on claims for cash. Additional recovered funds are used to pay investors whose claims exceed SIPC's protection limit of $500,000. Additional account protection is provided through Underwriters at Lloyds of London. Under the policy secured with Lloyds underwriters, the additional protection of securities and cash is provided up to an aggregate of $600 million, limited to a combined return to any customer from a Trustee, SIPC and London of $150 million, including cash of up to $900,000 by the London policy.
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| PRIVACY POLICY |
We understand that privacy is an important issue for visitors to the Beacon Investment Management Web site. Specifically, Web users are concerned about what information is being collected, how it’s being collected and how it is being used. The following information is designed to help you understand our Web site Privacy Policy.
What Information Do We Collect and Why?
Public Area Whenever you visit the public area of our site, we recognize you only by your domain name. We do not collect any personal information about you. IF you should choose to use one of the ‘Interactive Calculators’ in our Planning section, please note these calculators are for your information and use only; we do not store or acknowledge any data you should input.
Private Area
As a registered user, when you select the option to access your personal reports, we will recognize you by your personal User ID and password. When your account is established, we will tell you your initial password (for security reasons we do not mail passwords - please call us and we will provide that information). We strongly recommend that you change your password upon accessing your account for the first time. You may change your password as often as you feel necessary. Your password will not be accessible to anyone other than authorized Beacon Investment Management personnel. We use software utilizing access controls, 128 bit encryption, and multiple levels of password protection to ensure a safe environment for sensitive client information.
We will never disclose your personal information or share it with any third party unless specifically instructed to do so by you.
If you would rather not have any of your monthly reports available on our Web site, please contact us and we will deactivate the information.
How Do We Protect Your Information?
When you access your financial data, we use a secure server to keep all of your personal information as secure as possible. The Secure Socket Layer (SSL) protocol provides secure communications on the Internet by doing three things:
1. SSL verifies that the server that you are communication with is the one it purports to be.
2. SSL creates a secure communication channel by encrypting all communication and viewing between the user and the server.
3. SSL conducts checks to verify data integrity between the server and the client (or user). SSL verifies that the entire message.
In addition, we have an internal firewall in place, and monitor that we have the latest in virus protection. This approach helps ensure that your personal data remain safe and private. We will continue to implement security features in the future that will maintain the highest levels of secure data transmissions.
Use of Cookies
The Beaconinvest.com site, like many web sites, uses “cookies” (information stored on your computer by your browser at our request). Cookies enable the site to ‘remember’ whom you are so that you can get navigate around it easier and more efficiently. We do not save any personal or sensitive information in our cookies.
Hyperlinks
Our Web site contains hyperlinks to other sites. Web sites we link to may have different privacy practices from the ones described here for www.beaconinvest.com. Visitors and clients should read the privacy statements of other Web sites they visit. This privacy statement applies solely to information collected by this Web site.
Electronic Message and E-mail Security
E-mail sent to Beacon Investment Management from within our Web site is secured with the same Secure Socket Layer (SSL) technology we use to transmit account reporting.
Logging Off
When you finish accessing your account, don’t forget to log off. This prevents someone else from accessing your account if you leave your computer and your session hasn’t “timed out”, or automatically shut down.
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| SUMMARY OF PROXY VOTING POLICIES AND PROCEDURES |
Beacon Investment Management, Inc. ("Beacon, or, the Firm") has adopted proxy voting policies and procedures which are described below. As a matter of policy and as fiduciary to our clients, Beacon has responsibility for voting proxies for portfolio securities consistent with the best economic interest of the clients.
Beacon votes consistently among clients, and does not engage in specific client voting. Any client wishing to vote proxies themselves for securities they own may do so at any time upon written request.
The Firm votes all proxies to, in it’s opinion, maximize shareholder value, which is defined as long-term value accretion through price appreciation. Beacon’s investment philosophy is to purchase "Quality" companies for the portfolios of its clients. One of the main criteria for "Quality" is trust and excellence in management. Beacon tends to vote non-shareholder value issues in alignment with management’s recommendations, if there is no conflict with shareholder value. These would include:
- • Appointment of auditors
- • Routine election of directors
- • Stock splits
- • Amendments of Articles of Incorporation or By-laws to coincide with changes in Federal or State regulations
- • Improvements in stock option (dilution not to exceed 1%)
All resolutions regarding anti-takeover measures will be considered individually with the intent of avoiding actions likely to diminish the value of the securities held by the client. When a proposal considered being economically detrimental, Beacon will vote against such proposal.
The firm may occasionally be subject to conflicts of interest in the voting of proxies because of business or personal relationships it maintains with persons having an interest in the outcome of specific votes. Beacon and its employees may also occasionally have business or personal relationships with other proponents of proxy proposals, participants in proxy contests or corporate directors. If at any time the responsible voting parties become aware of any type of potential conflict of interest relating to a particular proxy proposal, they will promptly report such conflict to the Compliance Officer. Conflicts of interest are handled in various ways depending on the type and materiality.
The custodian will be relied upon to forward all relevant proxy material to Beacon, either electronically or in the physical form to the address of record. Receipt of proxies will be recorded and will be voted upon a timely basis. Records of each proxy vote are retained by Beacon.
Clients may obtain a copy of the Policies by phoning Patricia Hall at (919) 821-5225 or via email at phall@beaconinvest.com. Information on how Beacon voted on a particular proxy for securities held can be obtained by either calling the above number or emailing.
Code of Business Conduct and Ethics (PDF)
Anti-money Laundering (PDF)
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| DISCLAIMER |
This web-site is for informational purposes only and does not constitute a complete description of our investment services or performance. This web-site is in no way a solicitation or offer to sell securities or investment advisory services except, where applicable, in states or countries where we are registered or where an exemption or exclusion from such registration exists. The information contained on this web site should not be construed as financial or investment advice on any subject matter. Beacon Investment Management expressly disclaims all liability in respect to actions taken based on any or all of the information on this web site. Information throughout this site, whether stock quotes, charts, links, articles, or any other statement or statements regarding market or other financial information, is obtained from sources which we, and our suppliers believe reliable, but we do not warrant or guarantee the timeliness or accuracy of this information. No information on this web-site should be interpreted to state or imply that past results are an indication of future performance. Neither we or our information providers shall be liable for any errors or inaccuracies, regardless of cause, or the lack of timeliness of, or for any delay or interruption in the transmission thereof to the user. There are no warranties, expressed or implied, as to accuracy, completeness, or results obtained from any information posted on this or any linked web-site.
The information provided on this site is not intended for distribution to, or use by, any person or entity in any jurisdiction or country where such distribution or use would be contrary to law or regulation or which would subject Beacon Investment Management to any registration requirement within such jurisdiction or country. You are solely responsible for your use of this web site. You shall indemnify and hold Beacon Investment Management harmless from and against any and all claims, damages, liability and/or costs relating to your use of this web site. Due to the increase of computer viruses affecting the Internet, we want to warn you about infections or virus contamination of your system. You solely have the responsibility to scan any and all downloaded materials received from the Internet. Beacon Investment Management is not responsible or liable for any damage or data loss due to these circumstances.
COPYRIGHT or OTHER NOTICES: If you download any information or software from this site, you agree that you will not copy it or remove or obscure any copyright or other notices or legends contained in any such information. You are prohibited and will be responsible for any and all of our unlawful use of this web site. Beacon Investment Management reserves the right to terminate, without prior notice to you, your access to this Web site.
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