Privacy Policy

If you deal with Generation in the capacity of an officer, employee, director and or principal of one of our corporate or institutional clients the typical personal information we collect about you would additionally include your role/position/title and area of responsibility and your authority.

Of course, except as otherwise agreed in particular contexts with us, you are not required to supply any of the personal information that we may request from you.  However, please note that failure to supply such information may result in you being unable to open or maintain an account with Generation or a Generation Fund. It may limit the services we can provide to you or your company.  While we make reasonable efforts to ensure that all information we hold about you is accurate, complete and up to date, you can help us in this regard by promptly notifying us if there are any changes to your personal information.  In certain cases, this is of such importance that we will ask you to represent that you will do so.

4. How we use your information

We may use your personal information in a range of different ways. The activities and the legal basis for such activities are set out in the table below.

5. When we will disclose your information within Generation

In order to service you better, and reflecting the globally integrated nature of our business, more than one entity within Generation may be given access to your personal information.  For example, our UK entity might share your information with our US entity in order to facilitate your instructions or the maintenance of your accounts.  At the date of this policy, Generation has established offices in the United Kingdom and the United States.  It may in the future open offices in other jurisdictions and will transfer your personal information between such present and future offices.  In doing this, we will adhere to applicable legal and industry standards regarding the protection of personal information but the jurisdictions concerned may not have data protection laws as strict as those in your home country. By submitting your personal information you agree to the transfer of your personal information, including to the UK and US. All of Generation’s entities will treat your personal information in accordance with this policy and if we transfer your personal information from the UK or the European Economic Area (‘EEA’) to another jurisdiction we will comply with our obligations under applicable law, including the use of appropriate safeguards such as Standard Contractual Clauses. Please contact us if you would like more information about these transfers.

6. When we will disclose information to persons outside Generation

Generation only discloses your personal information to third parties in accordance with this policy.  We may provide your personal information to non-affiliated companies that perform support services for your account, or to a Generation Fund operated by us - this includes any outsourcing arrangements made by Generation in respect of its business.

If we are transacting as agent on your behalf, we may disclose your personal information to third parties such as settlement agents, counterparties, banks or exchange or clearing houses to whom we disclose in the course of providing products and services to you.  We may also disclose personal information to persons who provide professional, legal or accounting services to us.  In addition, we may also disclose your personal information to fulfil your instructions, to protect our rights and interests and those of our business partners or otherwise with your consent. We may also disclose personal information about you in the event of a purchase of our business or assets by a third party.

Lastly, in a limited range of circumstances, we may disclose your personal information to third parties in accordance with applicable laws and regulations or pursuant to internal policies and procedures designed to facilitate compliance with such laws and regulations.  Examples of this would be: when responding to a writ or similar legal process; cooperation with law enforcement or regulatory authorities or with organisations such as exchanges and clearinghouse; making enquiries designed to assist with our client identification programme; prevent fraud or other financial crime.  Non-affiliated companies that assist Generation or a Generation Fund in providing services to you are required to maintain the confidentiality of such information and to use it only in the course of providing such services and for the purposes that Generation specifies.

These third parties may operate from locations outside the UK, the European Economic Area (“EEA”), and the US .  Again, some of these jurisdictions may not have data protection laws as strict as those in your home country. If we transfer your personal information from the UK or the EEA to another jurisdiction we will comply with our obligations under applicable law, including the use of appropriate safeguards such as Standard Contractual Clauses. Please contact us if you would like more information about these transfers.

7. Marketing

Generation will not sell, rent or trade your personal information nor will it pass it on to third parties for their marketing purposes without your prior consent.  Generation may occasionally, in accordance with applicable laws, contact you by post, telephone, electronic mail or facsimile with details of products and services, including Generation Funds, that we believe may be of interest to you. If you do not wish to be contacted in this way, please write to our General Counsel at the address below, or by clicking on the ‘unsubscribe’ link in the email. If you unsubscribe from marketing, please note we may still contact you with service messages from time to time, for example, relating to information about your account or investments.

8. How we protect the privacy of your information

We endeavour to protect your personal information at all times.  Primarily, we do this by utilising appropriate access controls to those data, so that only authorised Generation employees or agents and our third party service providers have access.  We subject such third parties to confidentiality obligations.  In addition, we maintain physical, electronic and procedural safeguards intended to protect your information against loss, misuse, damage or modification and unauthorised access or disclosure.  Those policies and procedures include educating those working for or on behalf of Generation on information security policies and responsibilities.

9. How long will we keep your information?

Generation will keep your personal information for as long as we need it for the purposes set out above (see section 4). This means the period for which your personal information is retained will vary depending on your interactions with us. For example, where you are a Generation client and have an account with us we will keep information relating to your account for the period necessary to meet our regulatory obligations, for instance the tax and reporting requirements we are subject to. We will also keep information for as long as is necessary to protect us from a legal claim.  Where we no longer have a need to keep your personal information, we will delete it. Please note that where you unsubscribe from our marketing communications, we will keep a record of your details to ensure we do not send you marketing emails in future.

10. What rights do you have under UK/EU data protection laws?

You may have certain specific rights provided under United Kingdom (“UK”) or European Union ("EU") data protection law in respect of your personal information, including the right to access, correct, request the erasure of and obtain a copy of your personal information and in some limited circumstances you may have a right to object to our processing of your personal information. We will deal with any such requests in accordance with applicable law. Please be aware, however, that there are a number of limitations to these rights and there may be circumstances where we are not able to comply with your request. If you wish to exercise one of these rights you can do so by written request to our General Counsel at the address set out below.

In the case of a request to exercise one of the rights listed above in relation to your personal information, you may be asked to supply a valid means of identification as a security precaution to minimise unauthorised disclosure.  We will process your request within the time provided by applicable law, which in the UK is one calendar month (although this can be extended to two months in certain circumstances).

11. Cookies

Cookies are small text files that are placed on your computer by websites that you visit.  Cookies are used to store information, such as the time of visit, number of visits and what site referred you to our Website. Cookies are widely used in order to make websites work, or work more efficiently, as well as to provide information to the owners of the website.  The Website of Generation Investment Management uses Google Analytics, a web analytics tool, to help us understand how visitors engage with our Website. Google Analytics uses cookies to track visitor interactions and collect information about how visitors use our site. We then may use the information to compile reports and to help us make improvements to our Website. Google Analytics collects information anonymously and reports website trends without identifying individual visitors. You can opt out of Google Analytics without affecting how you visit our site when choosing your cookie preferences when first visiting our site or by using the Cookie page, accessible from the footer of our site. For more information on opting out of being tracked by Google Analytics across all websites you use, visit this Google page.

Most web browsers also allow some control of most cookies through the browser settings. To find out more about cookies, including how to see what cookies have been set and how to manage and delete them, visit www.allaboutcookies.org.

Some of the emails sent to you by us may contain web beacons (also known as pixel tags). A web beacon is an electronic image, called a single-pixel (1x1) or clear GIF. These allow us to monitor the effectiveness of our communications by collecting information about how you interact with our email marketing campaigns. This may include your IP address, the date / time that you opened or interacted with an html email and any links within the email you may have clicked on. We may use the information we collect through web beacons to determine which email messages sent by Generation or on our behalf were opened, to note whether a message was acted upon, to understand how you use and interact with Generation products and services, and to provide you with relevant content.

By setting your email client to display HTML emails as text only, you may be able to prevent the use of some web beacons. Please consult the "Help" section of your email client for more information.

12. Ending Your relationship with Generation

If your relationship with Generation or a Generation Fund ends, we will continue to treat your personal information, to the extent we retain it, in accordance with this policy as updated from time to time. Please see section 9 above for further details on how long we may retain your personal information.

13. Contact us / Complaints 

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, you can contact us at [email protected].

If you are unhappy with how we have dealt with your query, in the first instance please contact us so that we can try to resolve the issue. If you are still unhappy with our response, you may have the right to complain to your Data Protection Authority. In the UK this is the Information Commissioner’s Office (“ICO”), which can be reached:

• via telephone on: 0303 123 1113
• online at: https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/

IMPORTANT INFORMATION ON ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS

1. Confidentiality

When you receive an e-mail or other forms of electronic communication from Generation, please be aware the information contained in or accompanying that communication may be confidential, subject to legal privilege, or otherwise protected from disclosure and (unless it expressly states otherwise) it is intended solely for the use of the intended recipient.  If you receive a communication from Generation and you are not the intended recipient of the communication, please delete it and destroy all copies in your possession, notify us that you have received the communication in error and note that any review or dissemination of, or the taking of any action in reliance on, any such electronic communication sent in error is expressly prohibited.

2. Right to request traditional delivery

If you have requested electronic delivery of any information, you have the right to request paper copies of any information that is sent to you electronically at any time after the consent noted below.  No additional fees are charged for requesting paper copies after consenting to electronic delivery and, thereafter, you will receive paper copies.

3. Risk of interception, viruses and defects

Electronic communications may contain computer viruses or other defects, may not be accurately replicated on other systems or may be intercepted, deleted or interfered with without the knowledge of the sender or the intended recipient.  Generation makes no warranty in relation to these matters.  As a result, it may be that you are not comfortable with the risks associated with e-mail messages and other forms of electronic communication.  If that is the case, please get in touch with your Generation contact and we will be pleased to arrange another means of communication with Generation.

4. Prohibition on publication and alteration of information

Unless you have the express written consent of Generation, you are not permitted to publish, transmit, or otherwise reproduce any information received from Generation, in whole or in part, in any format to any third party.  In addition, you are not permitted to alter, obscure, or remove any copyright, trademark or any other notices that are provided to you in connection with the information.  Generation reserves the right, at any time and from time to time, in the interests of its own editorial discretion and business judgement to add to, modify, or remove any of the information delivered to you.

5. Generation’s rights in respect of information

Unless there is express written agreement with Generation to the contrary, no information sent to you is intended to, and will not, transfer or grant any rights in or to that information and all rights not expressly so granted herein are reserved by Generation or, if applicable, the third party providers from whom Generation has obtained the information.

6. No warranties made as to content; responsibilities to update

Neither Generation nor its third party providers make any warranty, express or implied, concerning electronic communication.  If you elect to receive electronic communications, that is at your sole risk.  Generation expressly disclaims any implied warranty of satisfactory quality or fitness for a particular purpose, including any warranty as to the use or the results of the use of information with respect to its correctness, quality, accuracy, completeness, reliability, performance, timeliness, or continued availability.

7. Content not to be construed as a solicitation or recommendation

Unless it expressly agreed between the parties to the contrary, material provided electronically is for information purposes only without regard to the particular recipient’s investment objectives, financial situation, or means.  Generation is not soliciting any action based upon it.  Any such material is not to be construed as a recommendation, or an offer to buy or sell, or the solicitation of an offer to buy or sell any security or financial product in any jurisdiction in which such an offer or solicitation, or trading strategy would be illegal.  You should neither construe any of the material contained in an electronic communication as legal, regulatory, tax, or accounting advice nor make the Services the primary basis for any investment decisions made by you or your advisers.

8. No representations made as to other sites or links

Our electronic communications may provide links to certain Internet sites ("Sites") maintained by third parties.  In this case, Generation is providing such links solely as a convenience to you.  Accordingly, Generation makes no representations concerning the content of the Sites.  The fact that Generation has provided a link to the Sites does not constitute an endorsement, authorisation, sponsorship, or affiliation by Generation with respect to the Sites, their owners, or their providers.

CHANGES TO OUR POLICY

This policy provides a general overview of the ways in which we use your personal information and important information on electronic communication. Please be aware that we may request certain further confidentiality arrangements be put in place in respect of your interaction with us, especially when we believe there is a risk such information could be material price sensitive information.  This policy may be changed from time to time to reflect changes in our practices concerning the collection and use of personal information, or where required to comply with applicable law.  The revised policy will be effective immediately upon posting to our website, and so please check this policy periodically for changes.

This version of the Policy is effective 31 December 2023

CALIFORNIA PRIVACY NOTICE

This California Privacy Notice (“Notice”) applies only to California residents who are considered “Consumers” under the California Consumer Privacy Act, as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act (collectively, “CCPA”) and supplements our Privacy Policy. It explains how we collect, use, and share your Personal Information and how to exercise your rights under the CCPA.   In some circumstances, we may provide you with a different or other supplemental privacy notice because of the products or services you obtain from us or different laws that may apply to you and this privacy Notice might not apply. 

When we say “Personal Information” in this Notice, we mean information that identifies, relates to, describes, is reasonably capable of being associated with, or could reasonably be linked, directly or indirectly, with you. Personal Information does not include information that is aggregated or information that cannot be reasonably linked to you.

NOTICE AT COLLECTION

In particular, we have collected the following categories of personal information from consumers within the last twelve (12) months:

How Long We Retain Your Personal Information

Generation will keep the categories of personal information described above for as long as we need it for the purposes set out above (see section 4, How We Use Your Information). This means the period for which your personal information is retained will vary depending on your interactions with us.  Where we no longer have a need to keep your personal information, we will delete it.

How We Disclose Your Personal Information

We only disclose non-public client information to nonaffiliated third parties without prior client consent when we believe it necessary for the conduct of our business or as required or permitted by law, such as:

• If you request or authorize the disclosure of the information;
• To provide client account services or account maintenance;
• To respond to a subpoena or court order, judicial process, law enforcement or regulatory authorities;
• To perform services for the firm or on its behalf to develop or maintain proprietary trading or other software;
• In connection with a proposed or actual sale, merger, or transfer of all or a portion of our business or an operating unit;
• To help us prevent fraud;
• With rating agencies, persons assessing compliance with industry standards, or to the attorneys, accountants and auditors of the firm;
• To comply with federal, state or local laws, rules and other applicable legal requirements; and
• Pursuant to any other exceptions enumerated in the California Consumer Privacy Act.

In the preceding 12 months, we have disclosed personal information for the business and commercial information purposes described above and in the “How We Use Your Information” section above in furtherance of our legitimate business interests.

We do not “sell” or “share” your personal information, as those terms are defined under the California Consumer Privacy Act.

We do not knowingly sell or share personal information from consumers under 16 years of age.

We do not use or disclose sensitive personal information for the purpose of inferring characteristics about you, and we do not use or disclose sensitive personal information other than as described above.

Your California Privacy Rights

Under the CCPA, you have the following rights:

• Right to Know: You have the right to request that we disclose to you the Personal Information we collect, use, or disclose, and information about our data practices covering the 12 months preceding your request;
• Right to Request Deletion: You have the right to request that we delete your Personal Information that we have collected from you unless CCPA recognizes an exception;
  
  
• Right to Correct Inaccurate Personal Information: You have the right to request that we correct inaccurate personal information that we may maintain about you.
• Right to Non-Discrimination: We will not discriminate against you for exercising any of these rights.

To exercise your rights, please contact us via the following methods:

• Contact our SF Office Directly – 415.619.3242 and request to speak to a Compliance Officer
• Complete the online form here

Please note that to protect your information and the integrity of our Products, we may need to verify your identity before processing your request. In some cases we may need to collect additional information to verify your identity, such as a government issued ID.

Under the CCPA, you may exercise these rights yourself or you may designate an authorized agent to make these requests on your behalf. We may request that your authorized agent have written permission from you to make requests on your behalf and may need to verify your authorized agent’s identity.

We may change or update this Disclosure from time to time. When we do, we will post the revised Disclosure on this page with a new “Last Updated” date.

CONTACT

General Counsel

Generation Investment Management LLP
20 Air Street
London
United Kingdom
W1B 5AN
+44 207 534 4700
[email protected]

U.S. CCO & COO

Generation Investment Management US LLP
555 Mission Street, Suite 3400
San Francisco, CA 94105
+1 415 619 3242