Privacy Policy

FACTS

 WHAT DOES COMMONWEALTH FINANCIAL NETWORK® DO WITH YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION?

Why

 Financial companies choose how they share your personal information. Federal law gives consumers the right to limit some, but not all, sharing. Federal law also requires us to tell you how we collect, share, and protect your personal information. Please read this notice carefully to understand what we do.

What

The types of personal information we collect and share depend on the product or service you have with us.

This information can include:
• Account number, address, social security number, date of birth
• Net worth, assets, income, investment experience
• Account balances, trading history, payment history
• Transactions or credit relationships with nonaffiliated third parties
• Medical information (if applying for insurance)

How

All financial companies need to share customers’ personal information to run their everyday business. In the section below, we list the reasons why financial companies can share their customers’ personal information, the reasons why Commonwealth Financial Network® chooses to share, and whether you can limit this sharing.
Reasons Why We Can Share Your Personal Information Does Commonwealth
Does Commonwealth Share?
Can You Limit This Sharing?
For our everyday business purposes — to process transactions, maintain your account(s), respond to court orders and legal investigations, or report to credit bureaus
Yes
No
For our marketing purposes — to offer new products or services to you
Yes
No
For joint marketing with other financial companies
Yes
No
For our affiliates’ everyday business purposes — we may share information about our customers with our affiliated insurance company to process transactions, maintain your account(s), or respond to court orders and legal investigations
Yes
No
For our affiliates' everyday business purposes — information about your creditworthiness
No
No
For nonaffiliates' everyday business purposes — to assist us in obtaining business or providing account maintenance or customer service to your account(s)
Yes
No
For our affiliates to market to you — to offer new products or services to you
No
No
For nonaffiliates to market to you — we do not sell, share, or disclose your nonpublic personal information to nonaffiliated third-party marketing companies
No
No
For advisors who leave Commonwealth — if you have a Commonwealth advisor servicing your account(s) who leaves Commonwealth to join another financial institution, the advisor may retain copies of your personal information so that he or she can continue to serve you at the new firm. In doing so, your advisor may share your information with the new firm but is otherwise required to keep confidential the personal information obtained from you while the advisor was affiliated with Commonwealth, and he or she may use it only to service your account(s). Please note: Certain states require affirmative consent to allow sharing. See below for more on your rights under state law. In the event that a Commonwealth advisor terminates his or her relationship with Commonwealth, and you want to follow your advisor to his or her new firm, please do not request to limit our sharing.
Yes
Yes

To limit our sharing
  • Call Commonwealth's Client Privacy Line at 844.668.9880
  • Mail your request to Commonwealth Financial Network, Attn: Privacy, 29 Sawyer Road, Waltham, MA 02453-3483
Please note: If you are a new customer, we can begin sharing your information from the date we provided you with this notice. When you are no longer our customer, we continue to share your information as described in this notice; however, you can contact us at any time to limit our sharing.

Questions?

Call 844.668.9880 or go to www.commonwealth.com.

WHO WE ARE

Who is providing this notice? Commonwealth Equity Services, Inc., doing business as Commonwealth Financial Network®, a dually registered investment adviser and broker/dealer, and its affiliate, CES Insurance, Inc. (collectively, "Commonwealth"), distribute a variety of financial products and services to you through our network of financial professionals who are independent registered representatives, investment adviser representatives, and insurance agents (collectively, "advisors"). Securities are not offered or provided by Commonwealth on behalf of the federal government, and the offer of such securities is not sanctioned, recommended, or encouraged by the federal government.

WHAT WE DO

How does Commonwealth protect my personal information? Commonwealth recognizes the need to prevent unauthorized access to the information we collect, including information held in electronic format, and we protect your personal information in the following ways:
  • We only grant access to your personal information to parties with whom we have executed confidentiality/nondisclosure agreements and who need that information to serve you or to assist us in conducting our operations.
  • We have physical and electronic safeguards in place to ensure that we comply with our own policy, industry practices, and federal and state regulations.
  • Our employees are trained in the proper handling of sensitive information.
  • If you decide to close your account(s) or become an inactive customer, we will adhere to the privacy policies and practices as described in this notice.
How does Commonwealth collect my personal information? Commonwealth collects nonpublic personal information from you, as well as from other sources. The sources and the information collected may include:
  • Information you provide to us, to our affiliated entities, or to your advisor on applications and related forms, through discussions with our customer service staff, or on our website
  • Information regarding your transaction history with us
  • Information from other nonaffiliated third parties, including employers, associations, benefit plan sponsors, and other institutions, if you transfer positions or funds to Commonwealth
Why can't I limit all sharing? Federal law gives you the right to limit only:
  • Sharing for affiliates’ everyday business purposes—information about your creditworthiness
  • Affiliates from using your information to market to you
  • Sharing for nonaffiliates to market to you
State laws and individual companies may give you additional rights to limit sharing. (See below for more on your rights under state law.)
What happens when I limit sharing for an account I hold jointly with someone else? If you have a joint account, we will treat an opt-out direction by a joint customer as applying to all associated joint customers.

DEFINITIONS

Affiliates: Companies related by common ownership or control. They can be financial and nonfinancial companies.
  • CES Insurance, Inc.
Nonaffiliates: Companies not related by common ownership or control. They can be financial and nonfinancial companies.
  • This may include insurance companies, broker/dealers, investment advisers, mutual fund companies, banks, investment firms, third-party administrators, clearing firms, retirement plan sponsors, and other third parties.
Joint marketing: A formal agreement between nonaffiliated financial companies that together market financial products or services to you.
  • This may include banks, credit unions, or other financial institutions with which we have a joint marketing agreement.

OTHER IMPORTANT INFORMATION

If you live in an "opt-in" state, where we are required to obtain your affirmative consent to share your nonpublic personal information with nonaffiliated third parties who do not currently assist us in servicing your account or conducting our business, your advisor is required to obtain your consent before your advisor can take your information with him or her should your advisor leave Commonwealth.

California residents: For accounts with a California mailing address, we will not share your personal information with a financial company for joint marketing purposes, except as required or permitted by law.

Vermont residents: For accounts with a Vermont mailing address, we will not share your creditworthiness information with our affiliates, except as required or permitted by law. For joint marketing with other financial companies, we will disclose only your name, contact information, and information about your transactions, unless otherwise required or permitted by law.