March 2016 – StockShield

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StockShield is Certified for Fiduciary Excellence

11 March 2016

StockShield is Certified for Fiduciary Excellence

Independent assessment demonstrates adherence to best fiduciary practices

The Centre for Fiduciary Excellence (CEFEX) has certified the investment fiduciary practices of StockShield as adhering to a global standard of excellence for Investment Stewards. StockShield is the manager of a portfolio risk solution for Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs) called the ESOP Protection Trust.

The CEFEX standard of excellence for Investment Stewards is based on 21 fiduciary practices that seek to increase long-term investment performance through excellence in fiduciary investment management. The practices also help uncover investment and/or procedural risk, which may assist in prioritizing investment management projects. CEFEX Managing Director Carlos Panksep said, “Through CEFEX’s independent assessment, the certification provides assurance to stakeholders that in the management of the investments within the ESOP Protection Trust, StockShield has demonstrated adherence to the industry’s best fiduciary practices.”

In conjunction with the certification process, Rehmann Financial, LLC, conducted incremental assessment activities including a review of documents and management/oversight procedures for the ESOP Protection Trust. Rehmann Financial Director of Consulting Services Gerald Wernette, CPA, CEBS, AIFA®, C(k)P™ said, “While ESOPs lack diversification – the hallmark of prudent management of ERISA retirement plans – the ESOP Protection Trust substantially mitigates the associated risks by injecting cash into ESOPs that suffer catastrophic losses on company stock.”

The 21 fiduciary practices are based on the fi360 Inc. publication Prudent Practices for Investment Stewards and are substantiated by legislation, case law, and regulatory opinion letters involving the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), Uniform Prudent Investor Act (UPIA), Uniform Prudent Management of Institutional Funds Act (UPMIFA) and the Uniform Management of Public Employee Retirement Systems Act (MPERS) in the U.S. A summary of the fiduciary practices can be viewed by clicking on StockShield’s on-line CEFEX certificate, available at www.cefex.org.

The annual certification process involves a detailed review of documents, investments, and procedures followed by on-site interviews with key personnel. A full copy of the standard is available at www.fi360.com. More information on StockShield is available at www.stockshield.com.

About CEFEX:
CEFEX, Centre for Fiduciary Excellence, LLC, an fi360 company, is an independent certification organization. CEFEX works closely with industry experts to provide comprehensive assessment programs to improve the fiduciary practices of investment stewards, advisors, recordkeepers, administrators and managers. CEFEX has offices in Pittsburgh, PA and Toronto, Canada.

Keeping Your Information Safe

Guiding Principles

StockShield, LLC strives to maintain your trust and confidence in our firm, an essential aspect of which is our commitment to protect your personal information to the best of our ability. We believe that each of our clients and anyone who contacts our firm values his or her privacy. As a result, we will not disclose your personal information to anyone unless it is required by law, at your direction, or is necessary to provide you with the services you request. We have not and will not sell your personal information to anyone.

This Privacy Notice outlines our policy regarding information we may collect about you and our use of that information. We therefore strongly encourage you to review it and to ask questions if you do not understand any of the following. This policy may change as we modify or expand our services and/or as legally required.

Information we collect

StockShield, LLC, does not collect any personal information about you unless you contact us and voluntarily provide it. When appropriate, we maintain the information to provide such services to you as you request and to comply with applicable laws and regulations. The types and categories of information we may collect and maintain about you include:

Information we receive to determine your eligibility and suitability to invest in a Stock Protection Trust
Information we receive to accept you as a client of our firm
Information we generate by sponsoring a Stock Protection Trust (such as performance and tax reporting information)
Information we receive from third parties with respect to a Stock Protection Trust (such as account statements from escrow agents).

Use of Information

If you or your agent provides information to us, we may use that information to determine your eligibility and suitability to invest in a Stock Protection Trust. If we determine you are not eligible or suitable, we will maintain and disclose your information only as required to comply with applicable laws and regulations. If we determine you are eligible and suitable to invest in a Stock Protection Trust, in order for us to provide services to you, we disclose your information in very limited instances, including:

Disclosures to unaffiliated third parties (subject to strict confidentiality agreements) that perform services on our behalf or on behalf of a Stock Protection Trust (such as trustees, escrow agents, accountants, auditors, and attorneys).

Disclosures to unaffiliated third parties as required by law in order to comply with government agency regulations, respond to a subpoena or court order, or to prevent money laundering and fraud

Responding to the Unpredictable

StockShield, LLC has developed a Business Continuity Plan on how we will respond to events that significantly disrupt our business. Because the timing and impact of disasters and disruptions is unpredictable, we will have to be flexible in responding to actual events as they occur. With that in mind, we are providing you with the following information on our Business Continuity Plan.

If after a significant business disruption you cannot contact us as you usually do at 310.203.8844, you should visit our web site at www.stockshield.com. If you cannot access us through either of these means, you should contact the trustee of your Stock Protection Trust.

Significant business disruptions can vary in their scope, such as only our firm, a single building housing our firm, the business district where our firm is located, the city where we are located, the state where we are located, or the whole West Coast region. Within each of these, the severity of the disruption can also vary from minimal to severe. In a disruption to only our firm or a building housing our firm, we plan to transfer our operations to a local site when needed and expect to recover and resume business within 24 hours. In a disruption affecting our business district, city, state, or region, we plan to transfer our operations to a site outside of the affected area, and recover and resume business within 48 hours. In either situation, we plan to continue in business, transfer operations to outside parties if necessary, and notify you through our web site (www.stockshield.com) how to contact us.

We plan to quickly recover and resume operations after a significant business disruption and respond by safeguarding our employees and property, making a financial and operational assessment, and protecting our firm’s books and records. In short, our Business Continuity Plan is designed to permit our firm to resume operations as quickly as possible, given the scope and severity of the significant business disruption.

Our Business Continuity Plan addresses: alternate physical location of employees; data back-up and recovery (hard copy and electronic); financial and operational assessments; mission critical systems; alternative communications with clients, employees, and regulators; critical service providers; banking relationships; regulatory reporting; and assuring our clients prompt access to information relating to their Stock Protection Trust.

Our firm does not maintain custody of clients’ funds or securities. These funds are custodied at institutional trustees that also maintain Business Continuity Plans.

In addition, our firm backs up our important hard copy documents in a secure location. In the event that a significant business disruption causes both our primary and backup records to be inaccessible, we will go directly to the trustee of your Stock Protection Trust to obtain copies of client records.

If you have questions about our business continuity planning, please call us at 310.203.8844.

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