Is your advisor doing enough to protect your confidentiality?

DATA breaches appear to have been increasingly prevalent in recent months, and well-known multinational companies are coming under intense scrutiny on the way they collect, use and safeguard customers' personal data. Consider the following organisations that have found themselves in the news:

Protecting confidential information is critical for any business, and particularly so in the investment industry. For investment professionals, knowing your client and surveying the client's personal financial information is standard practice. It is a necessary prerequisite to establishing an investment policy statement and making investment recommendations that meet the client's financial situation, risk tolerance and objectives.

Of course, this exercise could reveal potentially sensitive or embarrassing issues from the past - everything from unfortunate business decisions to bankruptcy filings.