Privacy policy

Privacy policy

Background

This Notice gives information on how Pacific Assets Trust plc collects, uses and protects the personal data held about investors, clients, directors, prospective directors, intermediaries, other business contacts and website users (you or your).

This Notice also describes how we will fulfil our obligations under applicable data protection laws, including Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 (the General Data Protection Regulation or GDPR) as it forms part of the laws of the United Kingdom (the UK GDPR).

Information about us

For the purposes of UK GDPR, Pacific Assets Trust plc of 16 Charlotte Square, Edinburgh EH2 4DF (PAT, we, us or our) is a data controller of your personal data.

First Sentier Investors (UK) Funds Limited in the UK and First Sentier Investors (Ireland) Limited in the European Economic Area (collectively "Stewart Investors") are responsible for the operation of this website and portfolio management. Stewart Investors may also collect and use your personal data through your interaction with this website (including by using cookies) and/or in connection with providing services to us (as further described in this policy). Please refer to Stewart Investors' privacy policy and cookies policy for further information on how Stewart Investors processes personal data. 

References in this Notice to us undertaking to do anything includes a reference to Stewart Investors in its capacity as website operator and portfolio manager, unless we otherwise specify.

Information we may collect

Personal data means any information about an individual from which that person can be identified. It does not include data where the identity has been removed (anonymous data). There are "special categories" of more sensitive personal data which require a higher level of protection. We do not usually collect any special category data relating to investors, clients, intermediaries, other business contacts or website users. However, in respect of directors and prospective directors, we may collect, store and use the following special category or sensitive personal data: information about your race or ethnicity, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, information about your health, including any medical condition or disability, health and sickness records and/or information about criminal convictions and offences.

We collect from time to time, personal data on investors, directors, prospective directors,  intermediaries and other business contacts from a number of sources, including from: fundraising documents and other Stewart Investors forms (including website forms); correspondence; application forms; recruiters; third party references; intermediaries; business cards; third party service providers (for example, transfer agents, administrators, distributors, custodians, paying agents and anti-money laundering check providers); advisers to shareholders; other third parties; and from public sources. This information may be collected directly from investors, intermediaries, directors, prospective directors, and business contacts, or indirectly from third parties, as follows:

From you

We may collect from you and process the following personal data, depending on the nature of our business relationship with you:

  • Your name; address (including proof of name and address); sex; gender; gender identity; pronoun preference; photo identification; contact details both personal and work (for example, your email and phone numbers); hobbies and interests; job title and company; nationality; citizenship; tax residency; date of birth; passport details; national insurance number and other tax details; adviser details; investment details; banking details; signed contracts with you; business cards, contact sheets and biographies; financial dealings; career data such as places of work, job history, qualifications and CV; marital status and details of other relatives or persons closely associated with you including family connections (including dependents, who may be under the age of 18) and beneficiaries; the number of shares legally and beneficially held by you or any person closely associated with you in PAT, and any such holdings in any other securities related to PAT; current and/or former directorships, details of any disqualifications as a director or  disqualifications from acting in company management or from conduct of company affairs; attendance and voting records at board meetings; financial data relating to insolvency proceedings involving you or entities you have been or are connected with; details of your company’s directors, secretaries, authorised signatories and identification documents; details of any complaints made; data received from due diligence activities (such as anti-money laundering, politically exposed persons and sanctions checks); data related to any public criticisms of you by statutory or regulatory authorities (including designated professional bodies); responses to surveys and competitions; fraud enquiries (for example, information from police reports); recordings of telephone conversations; electronic communications with our staff; and, if you are a director or prospective director, certain special category data and data considered more sensitive (which may include details of criminal convictions, ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, religion and beliefs, physical or mental impairment, socio-economic background and native language).
  • data collected by the use of cookies on this site in accordance with the cookies policy

From third parties

We may collect personal data about you from third parties, depending on the nature of our business relationship with you, in particular:

  • Third party service providers to our funds (for example, transfer agents, registrars, administrators, distributors, custodians and paying agents) – information received includes personal details of investors obtained from fund application forms such as: name; address; contact details; nationality; national insurance number; date of birth; tax residency; adviser details; investment details; bank account details.
  • Your advisers (including independent financial advisers) – information received may include your name, address, gender, date of birth; bank details.
  • Our vendors such as Experian and World-Check – information received includes the results of “Know Your Client”, anti-money laundering, politically exposed persons and sanctions checks.
  • Publically available sources such as MandateWire and LinkedIn – information available includes contact details of institutional investors (MandateWire) and details of job title, company, former employers and roles, and connections (LinkedIn).

How we will use the information we collect

The information we collect and use will depend on the nature of our business relationship with you, as follows:

  • Third party service providers (for example, recruitment agencies (such as executive search firms), transfer agents, registrars, administrators, distributors, custodians and paying agents) – information received in relation to investors includes personal details obtained from fundraising documents such as: name; address; contact details; nationality; national insurance number; date of birth; tax residency; adviser details; investment details; bank account details.
  • Third parties who assist with our diligence and background checks – information received includes data from due diligence activities, such as third party anti-money laundering searches, politically exposed persons and sanctions checks; data related to any public criticisms of you by statutory or regulatory authorities (including designated professional bodies); data from credit reference agencies and disclosure and barring services (regarding unspent criminal convictions); and data from former employers.
  • Your advisers (including independent financial advisers) – information received may include your name, address, gender, date of birth; bank details.
  • Vendors such as Experian and World-Check – information received includes the results of “Know Your Client”, anti-money laundering, politically exposed persons and sanctions checks.
  • Publicly available sources such as MandateWire, LinkedIn, the FCA register and Companies House – information available includes contact details of institutional investors (MandateWire), details of job title, company, former employers and roles, and connections (LinkedIn) and details of current and/or former directorships.

How we will use the information we collect and the legal bases for which we collect it

The information we collect and use will depend on the nature of our business relationship with you, as follows:

  • Registering you as a new investor. In relation to prospective investors, we may process personal data for identification purposes (prior to becoming an investor), for the purposes of anti-money laundering, counter terrorist financing, suitability and appropriateness assessments, “Know Your Client” and credit-worthiness checks, and for any other applicable legal or regulatory reasons.
  • Appointing you as a director and administering our relationship with you as a director. In relation to prospective directors, we may process personal data to carry out background and reference checks or to assess your skills and qualifications, to consider your suitability for the role of director and to decide whether to enter into a contract with you. We may also process data to communicate with you about the recruitment process and to keep records relating to our hiring process. In relation to directors, we may process your personal data to administer the contract we have entered into with you, including arranging the payment of directors' fees and the reimbursement of expenses.
  • To administer and manage our relationship with you and to provide you with services. In relation to investors, we may process information collected for the purpose of account administration and other general business purposes (for example, for processing subscriptions and investments; maintaining the share register of investors, carrying out investor instructions; handling any complaints and enquiries; and sending investor communications, including financial reports, valuations, corporate actions). In addition, in order to comply with regulatory obligations, we may collect and disclose certain information about our investors and certain related persons and their investments to HM Revenue & Customs and/or other relevant tax authorities overseas.
  • To comply with our legal or regulatory requirements. We may from time to time process personal data of directors, prospective directors and/or investors to comply with legal and regulatory requirements impacting our business. In particular, we may need in the context of our business: to obtain legal advice on legal and regulatory requirements; to report to relevant regulators; to make required public disclosures; to comply with market opening and registration requirements in the conduct of our business.
  • Market Research. In relation to intermediaries who introduce investors (such as distributors, platforms and independent financial advisers), we may process personal data to conduct market research, gauge product sales or product performance or assess the creditworthiness of intermediaries. In addition, we may process the personal data of investors introduced to us, as outlined above.
  • Monitoring purposes. we may process personal data to analyse the performance of IT systems, monitor usage of resources and systems and to improve products, services and usability of our technology platform, including telephone calls and electronic communications which may be recorded for the purposes of retaining a record of communications, in the interests of security, for training and compliance monitoring purposes and/or to comply with legal or regulatory obligations.
  • Conducting marketing campaigns/sending marketing communications. Where we have your consent, we may process your personal data for the purposes of conducting marketing campaigns and sending event invitations. You may withdraw your consent to receiving such communications at any time.

We will only use your personal information as the law permits. By law we are required to tell you the legal bases upon which we rely in processing your personal information. The legal bases we principally rely upon are these:

  • It is necessary for the performance of a contract between us and you and in order to take steps at your request prior to entering into such a contract.
  • It is necessary for the purposes of our legitimate interests (or the legitimate interests of one or more of Stewart Investors’ affiliates or our service providers), where such interests are not overridden by your rights or interests.
  • It is necessary for us to comply with a legal obligation on us.
  • It is necessary in order to establish, exercise or defend our legal rights or for the purpose of legal proceedings.
  • You have provided your consent to us processing your personal data.

Please note that even where such processing is being carried out on the basis that it is necessary to pursue our legitimate interests, we will always weigh our legitimate interests against your interests and your fundamental rights and freedoms and will not process on that basis if your interests outweigh ours.

We have set out below, in a table format, the legal bases we rely on to process your personal data. We have also identified what our legitimate interests are where appropriate.

Please note that we may process your personal data for more than one lawful ground depending on the specific purpose for which we are using your data. Please contact our us if you need us to confirm which of the legal bases set out above we relied upon in a specific type of processing for a particular category of personal data.

If we consider it necessary to obtain your consent in relation to a certain planned use of your personal data, we will contact you specifically to request this consent. In such circumstances, we will provide you with full details of the personal data that we would like to process and the reason we need to process it, so that you can carefully consider whether you wish to consent. Where you do consent and we rely on consent to process your personal information, you may withdraw that consent at any time by contacting us. 

Purpose / activityLegal basis for processing

Registering you as a new investor

{a) Taking steps to enter into a contract with you

(b) Necessary to comply with our legal obligations (to conduct due diligence on you)

Appointing (or considering appointing) you as a director and, if you are appointed as a director, administering our relationship with you as a director

(a) Taking steps to enter into a contract with you and, if you are appointed as a director, performing our contract with you

(b) Necessary to comply with our legal obligations (to conduct due diligence on you and to make public disclosures as required by law (e.g. under the FCA Listing Rules and Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules))

(c) Our legitimate interests of pursuing and developing our business and communicating and administering our relationship with directors and/or prospective directors

To administer and manage our relationship with you

(a) Performance of a contract with you

(b) Our legitimate interests of pursuing and developing our business

Providing you with services, or performing our obligations, in connection with any contract which you have entered into with us, including any services in connection with making any investment with us.

(a) Performance of a contract with you

(b) our legitimate interest in operating our business effectively and providing services to you

To comply with our legal or regulatory requirements

(a) Compliance with our legal and regulatory obligations

Market research

(a) Our legitimate interests of analysing trends and investigating product sales and performance

To monitor emails sent to us (including attachments) for viruses or malicious software

(a) Compliance with our legal obligations, including under data protection law

(b) Our legitimate interests to protect and maintain the security of our systems

To protect and manage email traffic

(a) Our legitimate interests to protect and maintain the security of our systems

To detect, prevent and/or investigate fraud and crime

(a) Our legitimate interests of maintaining the security of our premises and systems

(b) Compliance with our legal obligations, including under the FCA listing rules

Providing you with informational materials and suggestions and recommendations about our services that may be of interest to you, as well as information about events that we may organise that may be of interest to you.

(a) With your consent or if it relates to matters connected to those on which we have previously provided services to you, provided you have not opted out of receiving such information (which you may do at any time)

To send you updates, news items, articles or other material relating to services which we provide to you.

(a) With your consent or if it relates to matters connected to those on which we have previously provided services to you, provided you have not opted out of receiving such information (which you may do at any time)

To send you invitations to events which we think may be of interest to you

(a) With your consent or if it relates to matters connected to those on which we have previously provided services to you, provided you have not opted out of receiving such information (which you may do at any time)

Generally to manage our business activities, including by monitoring and recording electronic communications (including telephone calls and emails)

(a) Our legitimate interests of pursuing and developing our business

(b) Compliance with our legal obligations

Conducting marketing campaigns/sending marketing communications.

(a) With your consent or if the marketing relates to matters connected to those on which we have previously provided services to you, provided you have not opted out of receiving that marketing (which you may do at any time)

If you fail to provide personal information requested

If we need to collect personal data by law or to enter into a contract with you and you fail to provide that data when requested, we may not be able to perform the contract we have or are trying to enter into with you or provide you with the relevant service

Automated decision-making

You will not be subject to decisions that will have a significant impact on you based solely on automated decision-making.

Disclosure of your information

  • We may disclose your personal data to any member of the Stewart Investors group for internal business and administrative purposes (including to administer our products and services and for prudential and risk management purposes). We may also disclose personal data relating to our clients to members of the Stewart Investors group to whom we sub-delegate our services (for example, trade order execution, issuing updates and portfolio management).
  • We may disclose your personal data to Frostrow Capital LLP as our Alternative Investment Fund Manager and Company Secretary.
  • We may disclose your personal data to third parties that are specifically engaged by us to provide services to us, in which case we will require those parties to keep that information confidential and secure and to use it solely for the purpose of providing the specified services to us. The following is a list of the types of third parties who may process your personal data on our behalf:
    • third party service providers (for example, transfer agents, registrars, administrators, distributors, custodians, paying agents, recruiters and researchers);
    • credit reference agencies, debt collection agencies and other companies for use in credit decisions, for fraud prevention, to pursue debtors and for the verification of identity;
    • IT, software and software-as-a-service providers;
    • document storage providers;  
    • backup and disaster recovery service providers;
    • document execution vendors in relation to the execution of contracts with our clients;
    • insurance brokers;
    • professional advisers (for example, accountants/tax advisors and legal advisors);
    • telephone service providers.
  • Where we disclose your personal data to third party service providers, they may need to use your information to comply with their own legal obligations, including under anti-money laundering legislation. In the case of the custodians, your personal data may also be used by them in the discharge of their respective statutory oversight and monitoring obligations. Administrators may use your personal data for the purposes of anti-money laundering verification and monitoring in connection with investments made by you in other collective investment schemes administered by that administrator. In those cases, the relevant service provider will be acting as a controller in respect of your personal data, and its use of your personal data will be subject to its privacy policy (which they are required by law to make available to you).
  • Where your shares are held through a broker, dealer, bank, custodian, trust company, financial adviser or other nominee (each a "Nominee") and it is lawful for us to do so, then details of your investments and valuations may also be provided to such Nominee.
  • We may disclose to relevant tax authorities, regulators (including the FCA), government departments or competent authorities of the UK or of other countries (such as Companies House), any personal data (including sex, gender, ethnicity/ethnic background, tax status, identity or residency or other personal and payment information, documents or self- certifications) in order to comply with a court order or to meet legal and regulatory requirements arising in the conduct of our business. Such disclosure may be made directly to such regulators or competent authorities or made indirectly to our advisers or providers who will make such filings or disclosures on our behalf.
  • If you are a director we may make public disclosures of your personal data (including your sex, gender identity and ethnicity), including pursuant to the FCA's Listing Rules and Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules.

Special category data

In respect of directors and/or prospective directors, we may hold special category data if it is necessary for us to comply with legal and regulatory obligations (see further details below).

Where we process special category data, we ensure that such processing satisfies one of the additional conditions required for processing special categories of personal data. We may process special categories of personal data in the following circumstances:

  • in limited circumstances, with your explicit written consent; and
  • where it is needed in the public interest, such as for equality of opportunity or treatment, racial and ethnic diversity at senior levels of organisations or regulatory requirements relating to unlawful acts and dishonesty etc.

We do not otherwise knowingly or intentionally collect special category data from individuals, and you must not submit special category data to us. If, however, you otherwise inadvertently or intentionally transmit special category data to us, you will be considered to have explicitly consented to us processing that special category data under Article 9(2)(a) of the UK General Data Protection Regulation. We will use and process your special category data for the purposes of deleting it.

Processing of information about criminal convictions

We may process information about criminal convictions. Where you apply to become a director, you are required to disclose to us details of any unspent convictions in relation to indictable offences. We may also carry out a criminal records check in order to satisfy ourselves that there is nothing in your criminal convictions history which makes you unsuitable for the role.

We will only collect and use information about criminal convictions if it is appropriate given the nature of the role and where we have a lawful basis to do so. For example, we may use information relating to criminal convictions in relation to legal claims, where regulatory requirements relating to unlawful acts and dishonesty apply, to prevent fraud and to prevent and detect unlawful acts, to protect the public against dishonesty, or where you have already made the information public.

Transfers outside the UK and EEA

We may transfer your personal data to Stewart Investors’ overseas affiliates (including outside the UK and/or EEA) and/or allow the information to be accessed by their affiliates and their employees outside the UK and/or EEA as well as within. It may also be processed by personnel operating outside the UK and/or EEA who work for us or for one of our third party service providers.

Where we transfer your personal data outside the UK and/or EEA, we will ensure that it is protected in a manner that is consistent with how your personal data will be protected by us in the UK and EEA or that the transfer is otherwise compliant with data protection laws. This can be done in a number of ways, for example:

  • the country that we send the data to might be approved by the European Commission or UK Secretary of State (as applicable) as providing an adequate level of protection to personal data; or
  • the recipient might have signed up to a contract based on “model contractual clauses” approved by the European Commission or UK Secretary of State (as applicable), obliging them to protect your personal data.

You can obtain more details of the protection given to your personal data when it is transferred outside the UK and/or EEA (including a copy of any standard data protection clauses which we have entered into with recipients of your personal data) by contacting [email protected] or by writing to us at Stewart Investors, 23 St. Andrew Square, Edinburgh, EH2 1BB, Scotland.

How long will we store your data?

Personal data held by us will be kept confidential. How long we hold your personal data for will vary and will be determined by various criteria, including:

  • the purpose for which we are using it – we will need to keep the data for as long as is necessary for that purpose;
  • legal obligations – laws or regulations may set a minimum period for which we have to keep your personal data; and
  • the amount, nature, and sensitivity of the personal data, and the potential risk of harm from unauthorised use or disclosure of that personal data.

Your rights in relation to your data

If you wish to contact us for any of the reasons below, please e-mail us at [email protected] or write to us at Stewart Investors, 23 St. Andrew Square, Edinburgh, EH2 1BB, Scotland.

  • You have a right to access the information which we hold about you. If you wish to make an application to access or obtain this information, please contact us.
  • In some circumstances, you have the right to receive some personal data in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format and request that we transmit that data to a third party where this is technically feasible. Please note that this right only applies to personal data which you have provided to us.
  • We take reasonable steps to ensure that the personal data we collect, use or disclose is accurate, complete and up to date. Please contact us if any of the details you have provided change. You have a right to request correction of the personal data that we hold about you. This enables you to have any incomplete or inaccurate personal data we hold about you corrected. Please contact us if you believe that the information we have about you is not accurate, complete or up to date.
  • Of you wish us to erase or restrict using your data, please contact us. This right of erasure  enables you to ask us to delete or remove personal data where there is no justified reason for us continuing to process it. You also have the right to ask us to delete or remove your personal data where you have exercised your right to object to processing (see below). We may need to discuss with you the basis of your request as there may be circumstances where we are legally entitled to continue processing your personal data/refuse your request. The right of restriction enables you to ask us to suspend the processing of personal data about you, for example if you want us to establish its accuracy or the reason for processing it.
  • You have a right to object to processing of your personal data where we are relying on a legitimate interest (or those of a third party) and there is something about your particular situation which makes you want to object to processing on this ground. You also have the right to object where we are processing your personal data for direct marketing purposes. If you wish to object to our processing of your personal data, please contact us.
  • If you have previously provided your consent to our use of your data and you wish to withdraw such consent, please contact us. We may need to discuss with you whether our use of your data needs to continue for lawful purposes (i.e. because we have another legitimate reason (other than your consent) for doing so). Withdrawing your consent will not affect the lawfulness of processing based on consent before its withdrawal or the lawfulness of continued processing not based on consent.
  • If you have previously consented to being sent marketing communications, you may withdraw such consent by contacting us at any time, or by using the unsubscribe option in any marketing communication.
  • If you have any complaints in relation to the way we have used your personal data, we would appreciate the chance to deal with your concerns directly, so please contact us in the first instance. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office at any time at Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF (Tel: 0303 123 1113) or via https://ico.org.uk/global/contact-us/ if you think that any of your rights have been infringed by us.

You will not usually have to pay a fee to access your personal data (or to exercise any of the other rights). However, we may charge a reasonable fee if your request is clearly unfounded, repetitive or excessive. Alternatively, we may refuse to comply with your request in these circumstances.

We may need to request specific information from you to help us confirm your identity and ensure your right to access your personal data (or to exercise any of your other rights). This is a security measure to ensure that personal data is not disclosed to any person who has no right to receive it. We may also contact you to ask you for further information in relation to your request to speed up our response.

We try to respond to all legitimate requests within one month. Occasionally it may take us longer than a month if your request is particularly complex or you have made a number of requests. In this case, we will notify you and keep you updated.

Recording of telephone conversations and electronic communications

Please note that Stewart Investors (including on our behalf) may be required to record telephone conversations and to keep copies of electronic communications. They are required to keep copies of these recordings and electronic communications for a period of five years (or up to seven years at the request of a regulator). Copies may be provided to you upon request by contacting [email protected].

Changes to our Privacy Notice

This Notice was updated in November 2022.  We reserve the right to change this Notice at any time. We will ensure that any changes to this Notice are added to the Notice available on our website on their effective date.