Wilmington Funds and Their Distributors’ Privacy Notice
March 21, 2024
The Wilmington Funds, their distributor, and their agents (referred to as “the Funds”, “we” or “us”) recognize that consumers (referred to as “you” or “your”) expect us to protect both your assets and financial information. We respect your right to privacy and your expectation that all personal information about you or your account will be maintained in a secure manner. We are committed to maintaining the confidentiality, security and integrity of client and shareholder information. We want you to understand the Funds’ policy that governs the handling of your information, how the Funds gather information, how that information is used and how it is kept secure. In accordance with current regulations, the Funds will: collect from customers only the non-public personal information needed to conduct the Funds’ business; ensure the security and confidentiality of customer records and information; protect against unauthorized access to or use of customer records and information; protect against any anticipated threats or hazards to the security or integrity of customer records and information; and require companies that service the Funds to have an information security program in place that is reasonably designed to safeguard customer records and information.
Information Collected by the Funds
The Funds collect nonpublic personal information about you from the following sources:
- We may receive information from you, or from your financial representative, on account applications, other forms or electronically (such as through the Funds’ website or other electronic trading mechanisms). Examples of this information include your name, address, social security or taxpayer identification number, date of birth, assets, income, account balances, and investment activity.
- We may receive information from you, or from your financial representative, through transactions with us or others, correspondence, and other communications. Examples of this information include specific investments and your account balances.
- We may obtain other personal information from you in connection with providing you a financial product or service. Examples of this information include depository, debit or credit account numbers.
Information Sharing Practices
The Funds may share nonpublic personal information about you, as described above, with financial or non-financial companies or other entities, including companies that may be affiliated with the Funds and other nonaffiliated third parties, for the following purposes:
- We may share information when it is necessary and required to process a transaction or to service a customer relationship. For example, information may be shared with a company that provides account record keeping services or a company that provides proxy services to shareholders.
- We may share information when it is required or permitted by law. For example, information may be shared in response to a subpoena or to protect you against fraud or with someone who has established a legal beneficial interest, such as a power of attorney.
- We may disclose some or all the information described above to companies that perform marketing or other services on our behalf. For example, we may share information about you with the financial intermediary (bank, investment bank or broker-dealer) through whom you purchased the Funds’ products or services, or with providers of marketing, legal, accounting, or other professional services. The Funds will not, however, disclose a consumer’s account number or similar form of access number or access code for credit card, deposit or transaction accounts to any nonaffiliated third party for use in telemarketing, direct mail or other marketing purposes. In all such cases, we provide the third party with only the information necessary to carry out its assigned responsibilities and direct such third parties to only use your information for the purpose it was provided. We require these third parties to treat your personal information with the same high degree of confidentiality that we do.
Except as described above, the Funds do not share customer information. We will not rent, sell, trade, or otherwise release or disclose any personal information about you. Any information you provide to us is for the Funds’ use only. 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.
Information Security
When the Funds share nonpublic customer information with third parties hired to facilitate the delivery of certain products or services to our customers, such information is made available for limited purposes and under controlled circumstances designed to protect our customers’ privacy. We require third parties to comply with our standards regarding security and confidentiality of such information, and to have an information security program in place that is reasonably designed to safeguard customer records and information. We do not permit third parties to use that information for their own or any other purposes, or rent, sell, trade, or otherwise release or disclose the information to any other party. These requirements are reflected in written agreements between the Funds and the third-party service providers.
The Funds protect your personal information in several ways. We maintain physical, electronic, and procedural safeguards to guard your nonpublic personal information. In addition, the Funds’ Transfer Agent and Shareholder Servicing Agent have procedures in place for the appropriate disposal of nonpublic personal information when they are no longer required to maintain the information.
Each of the following sections explains an aspect of the Funds’ commitment to protecting your personal information and respecting your privacy.
Employee Access to Information
Our Code of Ethics, which applies to all employees, restricts the use of customer information, and requires that it be held in the strictest of confidence. Employee access to customer information is authorized for business purposes only, and the degree of access is based on the sensitivity of the information and on an employee’s or agent’s need to know the information to service a customer’s account or comply with legal requirements.
Visiting The Funds’ Website
The Funds’ website gathers and maintains statistics about the number of visitors as well as what information is viewed most frequently. This information is used to improve the content and level of service we provide to our clients and shareholders.
- Information or data entered into a website will be retained only as long as needed to fulfill the business purpose(s).
- Where registration to a website or re-entering personal information on a website is required, “cookies” are used to improve your online experience. A cookie is a way for websites to recognize whether you have visited the site before. It is a small file that is stored on your computer that identifies you each time you re-visit the Funds’ website, so you don’t have to resubmit personal information. Cookies provide faster access into the website.
- We may also collect non-personally identifiable Internet Protocol (“IP”) addresses for all other visitors to monitor the number of visitors to the site. These non-personally identifiable IP addresses are never shared with any third party.
- You can find additional information in the Wilmington Trust Digital Privacy Notice
E-mail
If you have opted to receive information from the Funds by e-mail, it is our policy to include instructions in all e-mail messages on how to unsubscribe from subsequent e-mail programs. Some products or services from the Funds are intended to be delivered and serviced electronically. E-mail communication may be utilized in such cases. If you participate in an employer-sponsored retirement plan administered by the Funds, we may, at your employer’s request, send you e-mails on matters pertaining to the retirement plan.
Please do not provide any account or personal information such as social security numbers, account numbers, or account balances within your e-mail correspondence to the Funds or its agents. We cannot use e-mail to execute transaction instructions, provide personal account information, or change account registration. We can, however, use e-mail to provide you with the necessary forms or you may contact customer service toll-free at 1-800-836- 2211.
What You Can Do
The safety and security of your Personal Information also depends on you. You are responsible for keeping your account information, such as your account number and login information for our website, confidential. For your protection, we recommend that you do not provide your account information to anyone except a representative of the Funds as appropriate for a transaction or to set up an account. If you become aware of any suspicious activity relating to your account, please contact us immediately.
Surveys/Aggregate Data
Periodically, the Funds may conduct surveys about financial products and services or review elements of customer information to forecast future business needs. The Funds then generate reports that include aggregate data regarding its customers. Aggregate data classifies customer information in various ways but that does not identify individual customers. These reports may also include information on website traffic patterns and related information. These reports are used for the Funds’ planning, statistical and other corporate purposes. Aggregate data may also be shared with external parties, such as marketing organizations. However, no information is shared by which any individual customer could be identified.
Changes to Our Privacy Statement
The effective date of this Notice is March 21, 2024. We reserve the right to modify this Notice at any time. When it is revised, reviewed or materially changed, we will update the effective date. You can determine whether there have been changes since the last time you reviewed by simply checking the effective date.
Notice will be provided to you in advance of any changes that would affect your rights under this Notice.