Privacy Policy
Author John Morgan, Managing Director, Fortuna Asset Management Communications.
Date: 25 May 2018
Hello,
The good thing about the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is that it is a reminder of your rights in terms of other people holding onto our data. And like other companies, Fortuna Asset Management Communications Ltd has to have a privacy policy which communicates to you, who we are, what we do, and your rights of access to any data we hold on you.
So, our Privacy policy (the Policy) governs the collection, storage, use of your personal information which in the reality, from our perspective means your ‘contact details’ – held in our electronic ‘contact book’ (MS Outlook). This information is used by me and co-workers at Fortuna AMC so that we can maintain contact with you.
As journalism is a conduit to wider society so we believe there is a legitimate interest in us providing you with information which you can use to inform the public while ensuring that information meets regulatory standards in terms of us not providing investment advice. And while this data protection position can weigh against the rights of individuals, we believe you should still be given the option – because its good practice to do so – to enable you to let us know that you do not want us to hold your information and so not maintain contact with you.
This Policy document therefore lets you know how we use and take care of that information and your rights regarding it. It also offers me the opportunity to tell you more about our business, so that you can make informed decisions about whether or not you wish to stay in contact and receive messages from us. So, please take a close look at this document to ensure you understand it. If you need any assistance, then please contact me as I’m responsible for looking after the company’s compliance with Data Protection and the GDPR matters.
My email address is: - john@fortunaamc.co.uk.
And should you wish to write to us then do so as Fortuna AMC’s formal company details are:
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Fortuna Asset Management Communications Ltd. is registered in England and Wales - company number 8160791.
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Registered Office: 18 Greville Park Road, Ashtead, Surrey, United Kingdom. KT21 2QT.
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Fortunaamc.co.uk is the trading name of Fortuna Asset Management Communications Ltd.
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Directors: HJP Morgan (Chairman and Managing Director); AME Morgan (Director).
BACKGROUND
Fortuna Asset Management Communications (Fortuna AMC) and journalism.
Fortuna AMC was set up in 2013 by a former journalist and more recently an in-house PR practitioner to support boutique asset manager firms who wanted to communicate with investment and wealth management focused financial journalists in the media. Often these asset management firms were both excellent at what they did but suffered from being too small a business to adequately communicate with the media. As a former journalist, the idea was to help them build their reputations by encouraging them to communicate with journalists in a manner which made sense and was useful to the media. This ‘translation’ of technical material into a flow of useful, relevant news and other information, to be used by the media, is at the heart of what we do and what we wish to communicate to you as and when we feel it is appropriate.
Since founding the business, other asset management clients have asked us to represent them including one of the world’s largest fund platforms. So, our whole focus is on asset management news which is ultimately aimed to influence the Wealth Management and Asset Management sectors of the Financial Services industry. Thematically, we focus on providing views on company news, fund strategies, generalised product news, and micro and macro sectoral and economic developments.
In terms of targeting we therefore approach only those journalists who write about, or who have expressed an interest in, asset and wealth management. Occasionally, some information is relevant to more specialist writers such as property, ESG or risk, focused writers. In this case we add to our lists, those writers who have displayed an interest in those topics knowing, as a trained journalist myself – that news priorities dictate what is of interest on any particular day, week or month.
Fortuna AMC is not a marketing business. The firm does not seek to sell anything, nor does it encourage investors to invest in anything. Rather, it is a business to business content provider of news and other non-regulated information targeted specifically for the press. The material highlights current thinking from firms and individuals about matters related to their investment businesses and strategies rather than specific messages from which investment decisions can be made. Other investment professionals may also receive our information, should they have asked us for it.
This narrow focus on asset and wealth management, enables Fortuna to target those journalists who have expressed an interest, or who write about these subjects on a regular basis. The company is helped in this regard by using the services of Roxhill Media Ltd which provides a database of journalist contacts and which also conforms rigorously to data protection law and the GDPR regulation in particular. Fortuna AMC therefore uses two sources of information to ensure it, as closely as possible, targets journalists with relevant and tailored information. Fortuna AMC also has an exclusion list of named individuals who have expressed the view that they do not wish to receive information from us and so are excluded from our databases.
Fortuna AMC has significant experience in journalism and so uses journalistic methods and approaches when converting messages from asset management speak to something more readily understandable by the general public. It therefore strives to develop quality communications however they may be delivered.
Fortuna AMC and your data
Fortuna AMC is a ‘data controller’ in respect of the personal information – primarily your contact details. We do not need or wish to store any other personal information. As far as your contact details are concerned we know your name, email address and telephone numbers as well as your company’s postal addresses. This information has been collected over a number of years and was found primarily from the publications for which you write; from meetings with you and from publicly available information on the web and websites, such as LinkedIn. As mentioned earlier, we also use Roxhill Media who like us collect information from public sources and who also, like us, have to abide by data protection laws including GDPR.
Who are our clients? What stories do they have?
Fortuna AMC currently provides outsourced PR services primarily to asset managers, particularly a number of smaller boutique asset managers as well as a fund platform and one very large asset management business. It does not work with other sectors of the financial services industry. The communications we send to journalists are directly related to the conduct of these businesses. So, the communications cover corporate issues, issues relating to individuals e.g. appointments; views of asset managers, analysts and economists; as well as the strategies that these various fund managers pursue.
Data Handling
We take data handling very very seriously at Fortuna AMC. All the contact information that we have, including your personal data is used by myself and my co-workers and is stored on Fortuna AMCs chosen data storage provider - Microsoft - through its office 365 Cloud based storage facilities. The user interface to the services is the Microsoft office suite, Microsoft Outlook and the online versions of the service. Access to our computers and so databases is protected via password protection both at the PC and Cloud user interface levels. Microsoft has extensive information regarding the security of its systems which is widely available for anyone to read, on the Internet. Fortuna AMC has also recently introduced password protection and generation software to auto generate 14-18-digit passwords, in order to further enhance levels of security within the business - which includes the protection of your contact information. We do not generate cookies.
What do we do and do not do with your data?
Other than use it to contact you via telephone or electronic means (e-mail etc.,) we do not use your data in any other way. Also, it is worth noting that we do not share your data with anyone outside the Fortuna environment. This includes any third-party including our clients. In ‘Exceptional’ circumstances a client may receive your contact details this is primarily when you request a call back or some form of contact with that client.
Keeping up-to-date and relevance
As you will appreciate keeping up-to-date with every single move by a journalist between jobs is not easy. However, we do try as hard as possible to ensure that we maintain accurate, up-to-date information in terms of your contact details. We are greatly assisted by the use of the Roxhill media platform which provides another source of information.
Your rights:
You have the right to receive copies of any personal information that we hold in our databases. This provision is subject to you paying a fee which is specified by law. That said, should you exercise your legitimate interest in being concerned in any way about the contact details we hold on you, then Fortuna will not seek to charge you for such a service.
You also have the right to correct any data that is inaccurate. Hopefully, this situation will not arise, but should it come about then let us know and we will endeavour to ensure matters are corrected as quickly as possible.
You also may want, and have the right, to opt out of the services we provide journalists by simply clicking on the link below and following the simple instructions. Should you wish to go down this route, your information will be deleted from our contact book database.
If you want to exercise any of your rights, please write to us (either by post to the company address or by e-mail) to the address specified within this policy document.
If you wish to raise a complaint on how we have handled your personal data, you can contact me as I act as Data Protection Officer, in order to have the matter investigated. Please contact me at john@fortunaamc.co.uk.
If you are not satisfied with our response or believe we are not processing your personal information in accordance with the law, you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office https://ico.org.uk/ or seek a remedy through local courts if you believe your rights have been breached.
John Morgan
Managing Director,
Fortuna Asset Management Communications Ltd
25 May 2018