This Complaint Resolution Statement sets out the policy of BlackRock Investment Management (Australia) Limited ("BlackRock Australia") for dealing with your complaints. We are committed to the standards contained within the Australian Standard (AS ISO 10002-2006) on Complaints Handling and ASIC Regulatory Guide 165 on Internal and External Dispute Resolution.

 

BlackRock principles of complaint resolution

 

• You have the right to complain or comment, and you will be treated with courtesy, respect and confidentiality;
• We are committed to the efficient and fair resolution of complaints;
• Our complaints process is accessible to all;
• Complaints shall be dealt with as quickly and efficiently as possible;
• There will be no fee charged to complainants for our complaint resolution process; and
• You will be promptly informed of our decision and reason.

What is a complaint?

 

• A complaint is any expression of dissatisfaction with a product or service provided or offered by us or the complaints handling process itself, where a response or resolution is explicitly or implicitly expected.
• A complaint may be written or verbal and may be delivered in person, by mail, by telephone, by facsimile or by e-mail.
• A complaint can be made to any staff member of BlackRock Australia, and will be referred immediately to a BlackRock Representative for consideration.

Our complaint resolution process

Upon receipt of a complaint, our internal complaint resolution procedure will be activated. You should receive an acknowledgement to your written complaint within three business days. An internal review will be undertaken by a Complaints Officer, and we shall endeavour to provide you with a written response within 14 business days.

 

A number of remedies are available in response to complaints/disputes to ensure we resolve complaints in an appropriate manner.

Complaints received are recorded on an internal Complaints Register, are escalated to senior management as appropriate, and are reviewed quarterly by our Compliance Committee (principally comprising external members).

Periodic analysis of complaints received is also undertaken to enable identification and resolution of any systemic trends or issues, and implement focussed enhancements to our processes and systems.

 

What can you do if you remain unsatisfied by our treatment of your complaint?

We are a member of the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA), an ASIC approved external dispute resolution scheme which provides fair and independent financial services complaint resolution that is free to consumers. You have the right to pursue resolution of your complaint with AFCA if you are not satisfied with our response. AFCA can be contacted by telephone on 1800 931 678 or by email at info@afca.org.au.

 

What should you do if you wish to obtain further information or lodge a complaint? 
Complaints can be lodged with, and enquiries directed to:

Tel: 1800 367 287 
Fax: 1300 366 107 
International Tel: +61 3 9657 3100 
Email: clientservices.aus@blackrock.com

Client services manager 
Level 26, 101 Collins Street 
Melbourne VIC 3000

The BlackRock Australia website ("Website") including BlackRock Accounts Online and Gateway are owned and operated by BlackRock Investment Management (Australia) Limited (ABN 13 006 165 975) having its registered office at Level 26, 101 Collins Street, Melbourne, VIC, 3000.

The Website including BlackRock Accounts Online and Gateway covers the products and services of BlackRock Investment Management (Australia) Limited ("BlackRock Australia").

 

By using and accessing the Website or any of its pages, you agree to be legally bound by these Terms of Use (including the Privacy Policy) detailed below.

We may change the content or services on the Website without notice including the Terms of Use and the Privacy Policy. Your continued access to, or use of, the Website means that you agree to and accept the changes we make. We recommend that you periodically review the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy for changes.

The information provided on the Website is prepared for residents of Australia only and should not be relied upon by residents of any other jurisdiction.

Click on a topic title below to jump directly to the relevant section.

 

Alternatively, use the scroll-bar to browse the document.

Use of BlackRock Accounts Online
Use of Gateway
No Financial Product Advice 
Accuracy and Currency of Information 
Performance and Returns 
Investing on Current Offer Documents 
IDPS Accessible Funds
iShares ETFs
Return of Capital and Performance
Important Information from index providers 
Distribution Summary and Fund Payment Information 
Indemnity 
Password 
Copyright and Trademarks 
Interactive Data Real Time Services 
Morningstar web tools 
Loss or Damage to your Systems
Links to, and from, other Sites

 

Use of BlackRock Accounts Online

 

Users of BlackRock Accounts Online ("User") will be able to access information, which will be controlled by a Unique Identifier and Password. This is to allow us to implement measures to preserve the security of this information.

 

Use of BlackRock Accounts Online is subject to specific terms and conditions in addition to the general Terms of Use. By accessing BlackRock Accounts Online you are deemed to have read, understood and agreed to the following terms and conditions:

1. I acknowledge that I have read these Terms of Use and the Privacy Policy
2. I agree not to disclose my Unique Identifier and Password to any other person and notify BlackRock Australia immediately of any unauthorised access to, or use of my Unique Identifier and Password.
3. I agree to be responsible for the use by others of my Unique Identifier and Password.
4. I acknowledge that information in BlackRock Accounts Online relating to me or my clients (where relevant) will be disclosed to any User using a valid Unique Identifier and Password whether or not such use is authorised by me. Once access is granted, all actions will be deemed to be made by me.
5. I warrant that any information entered by me using my Unique Identifier and Password is accurate.
6. I acknowledge that my access to BlackRock Accounts Online may be revoked by BlackRock at any time without notice.
7. I agree to indemnify BlackRock Australia and its related body corporate and all other Users of BlackRock Accounts Online against any claim, loss, cost, damage, action or expense which BlackRock Australia or its related body corporate, or any other User of BlackRock Accounts Online may experience arising from:
(a) my use of BlackRock Accounts Online,
(b) my failure to keep my Password confidential, and
(c) the use of BlackRock Accounts Online by any other person on my behalf.

 

Use of Gateway

 

Users of Gateway ("User") will be able to access information on Gateway, which will be controlled by a Unique Identifier and Password selected by the User. This is to allow us to implement measures to preserve the security of this information. BlackRock Australia will not have access to the Password selected by the User.

Use of Gateway is subject to specific terms and conditions in addition to the general Terms of Use. By accessing Gateway you are deemed to have read, understood and agreed to the following terms and conditions:

1. I acknowledge that I have read these Terms of Use and the Privacy Policy.
2. I agree not to disclose my Unique Identifier and Password to any other person and notify BlackRock Australia immediately of any unauthorised access to, or use of my Unique Identifier and Password.
3. I agree to be responsible for the use by others of my Unique Identifier and Password.
4. I acknowledge that information in Gateway relating to me or my clients (where relevant) will be disclosed to any User using a valid Unique Identifier and Password whether or not such use is authorised by me. Once access is granted, all actions will be deemed to be made by me.
5. I warrant that any information entered by me using my Unique Identifier and Password is accurate.
6. I acknowledge that my access to Gateway may be revoked by BlackRock Australia at any time without notice.
7. I agree to indemnify BlackRock Australia and its related body corporate and all other Users of Gateway against any claim, loss, cost, damage, action or expense which BlackRock Australia or its related body corporate, or any other User of Gateway may experience arising from:
(a) my use of Gateway;
(b) my failure to keep my Password confidential; and
(c) the use of Gateway by any other person on my behalf.

 

No Financial Product Advice

 

The material on the Website provides general information only and has not been prepared having regards to your objectives, financial situation or needs. Before making an investment decision, you need to consider whether this information is appropriate to your objectives, financial situation or needs. Any potential investor should consider the latest disclosure document or PDS in deciding whether to acquire, or to continue to hold, an investment in any BlackRock fund. You should seek independent professional legal, financial, taxation, and/or other professional advice before making an investment decision.

 

Accuracy and Currency of Information

 

BlackRock Australia, its officers, employees, agents and associates believe that the information and material provided on the Website is correct at the time of compilation but do not warrant the accuracy, reliability or currency of that information and material. You should carefully check the date of compilation of the information and material (where relevant) to determine its currency. Save for statutory liability which cannot be excluded, BlackRock Australia, its officers, employees, agents, related body corporate and associates disclaim all responsibility for any loss or damage which any person may suffer from reliance on the information and material on the Website or any opinion, conclusion or recommendation in the information and material whether the loss or damage is caused by any fault or negligence on the part of BlackRock Australia (including its officers, employees, agents, related body corporate and associates) or otherwise.

 

Performance and Returns

 

All performance figures contained in the Website are sourced from internal and other sources as appropriate. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. The value of investments and the income from them may go down as well as up and are not guaranteed.

 

Investing on Current Offer Documents

 

BlackRock Investment Management (Australia) Limited ABN 13 006 165 975 (AFS Licence No 230523) ("BlackRock Australia") is the responsible entity for the Australian managed investment funds (including the Australian iShares ETFs, see section titled “iShares ETFs” below for further information) registered under the Corporations Act 2001 offered by BlackRock Australia. BlackRock Australia is the local agent and intermediary for the international iShares ETFs (see section titled “iShares ETFs” below for further information), issued by iShares, Inc. ARBN 125632 279 formed in Maryland, USA and iShares Trust ARBN 125 632 411 organised in Delaware, USA ("International iShares ETFs”). The international iShares ETFs are registered with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission under the Investment Company Act of 1940.

 

Investments into any fund detailed on the Website may only be made on the basis of an application form contained in, or accompanying a current Product Disclosure Statement (PDS), Disclosure Document/Information Memorandum or Prospectus (collectively “Offer Documents”). Offer Documents for any BlackRock Australia fund detailed on the Website are available from BlackRock Australia, or, in certain circumstances, can be downloaded from the Website as a PDF file. You should consider the relevant Offer Document in deciding whether to acquire or to continue to hold the product. If you would like a printed paper copy of an Offer Document, please call us on 1300 366 100 or alternatively, where available, you can download an electronic PDF copy from the website.

Offer Documents on this website are only intended for use by Australian residents. They have been prepared under Australian law and do not directly or indirectly amount to an offer in any other place other than Australia.

 

IDPS Accessible Funds

 

Interests in certain funds are accessible through investor directed portfolio services ("IDPS Accessible Funds") and are offered in a PDS available on the Website. Please read and consider the relevant PDS carefully before deciding to invest. Please note that persons intending to invest in the IDPS Accessible Funds will need to complete the applicable forms for the relevant service.

 

iShares ETFs

 

Generally, units/shares of iShares ETFs may only be created or redeemed directly from an iShares ETF by authorised participants (typically large institutional investors) in very large creation/redemption sizes. Other investors wishing to access iShares ETFs may do so via each fund’s listing on a market of the Australian Securities Exchange ("ASX") through a brokerage account. Transaction costs are incurred when buying or selling iShares ETF securities on ASX markets and brokerage commissions if such trades are done through a broker. iShares securities trade on ASX at market price (not at net asset value ("NAV")). Before investing in an iShares ETF, you should carefully consider whether such products are appropriate for you, read the applicable Offer Document, which are available from BlackRock Australia or can be downloaded from the Website in PDF format, and consult a financial or other professional adviser.

In respect of information relating to iShares ETFs listed on a market of the ASX, ASX takes no responsibility for any aspect of the Website or any decision to invest in an iShares ETFs. The admission by ASX of an issuer of an iShares ETF is in no way an endorsement by ASX of the issuer or of iShares ETF securities.

BlackRock Fund Advisors ("BFA") serves as an advisor to the International iShares ETFs. BFA is a subsidiary of BlackRock Institutional Trust Company, N.A. ("BTC"). BTC is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BlackRock, Inc^®. Information regarding foreign companies is provided solely to inform Australian residents of the role each of these foreign companies have in the International iShares ETFs listed on the ASX. Content is general in nature only.

Trades on the ASX in the shares of International iShares ETFs are settled using CHESS Depositary Interests. An investment in an International iShares ETF involves investing in international markets. In addition to the normal investment risks associated with investment type products, international investments may involve the risk of losing all or part of any capital from unfavourable fluctuations in currency values, from differences in generally accepted accounting principles or from economic or political instability in other nations. An investment in emerging markets and single countries may also involve heightened other risks such as increased volatility and the possibility of lower trading volume.

 

Return of Capital and Performance

 

None of BlackRock Australia, their associates, related body corporate and subsidiaries guarantees the success of any fund, or repayment of capital nor any particular rate of return on income or of capital. Investment type products are subject to investment risk, including delays in repayment.

 

Important Information from Index Providers

 

BlackRock funds are not sponsored, endorsed, issued, sold or promoted by ASX Operations Pty Limited (including its affiliates), Bloomberg Finance L.P. and its affiliates (“Bloomberg”), Barclays Capital Inc., FTSE International Limited (“FTSE”), JPMorgan Chase & Co., MSCI Inc. ("MSCI"), Markit Indices Limited, Morningstar, Inc., National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (“NAREIT”), Russell Investment Group ("Russell"), Standards & Poor’s ("S&P"), S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC, or The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. ("McGraw-Hill"). None of these companies make any representation or warranty regarding the advisability of investing in any BlackRock fund. BlackRock group of companies are not affiliated with the companies listed above. Index data related to the underlying indices are provided by the respective index companies listed above.

 

Neither FTSE nor NAREIT makes any warranty regarding the FTSE NAREIT Real Estate 50 Index, FTSE NAREIT All Residential Capped Index or FTSE NAREIT All Mortgage Capped Index; all rights vest in NAREIT. Neither FTSE nor NAREIT makes any warranty regarding the FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Developed Real Estate ex-U.S. Index, FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Developed Europe Index or FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Global REIT Index; all rights vest in FTSE, NAREIT and EPRA. The FTSE China 50 Index is calculated by FTSE.

“FTSE^®” is a trademark of London Stock Exchange Group companies and is used by FTSE under license. MSCI and the MSCI Index are trademarks and servicemarks of MSCI. Standard & Poor's^® and S&P^® are registered trademarks of S&P, a division of McGraw-Hill. ASX^® is a registered trademark of ASX Operations Pty Limited and has been licensed for use to S&P. The "Russell Index" is a trademark of Russell. Each of these companies has licensed the use of their respective trademarks and servicemarks to BlackRock Institutional Trust Company, N.A.

 

Bloomberg is not affiliated with BlackRock Australia and do not approve, endorse, review, or recommend iShares Composite Bond ETF, iShares Government Inflation ETF or iShares Treasury ETF. BLOOMBERG and the Bloomberg AusBond Composite Index℠, Bloomberg AusBond Inflation Government Index℠ and Bloomberg AusBond Treasury Index℠ are trademarks or servicemarks of Bloomberg and have been licensed to BlackRock Australia. Bloomberg does not guarantee the timeliness, accurateness, or completeness of any data or information relating to the Bloomberg AusBond Composite Index℠, Bloomberg AusBond Inflation Government Index℠ and Bloomberg AusBond Treasury Index℠.

 

The relevant product disclosure document or prospectus contains a more detailed description of the limited relationship the companies mentioned above have with BlackRock group of companies and any related funds.

 

Distribution Summary and Fund Payment Information

 

BlackRock Australia is required to disclose certain information to comply with the new withholding tax rules in relation to non-residents. Please consult your tax advisor to understand if and how the new disclosures may apply to you. The distribution details contained in these documents are estimates only.

Actual distribution information will be forwarded shortly after 30 June each year. The estimates are provided to you in good faith and have been derived from sources, materials and systems believed to be accurate and the best available at the time of the distribution. BlackRock Australia makes no representations and disclaims all express, implied and statutory warranties of any kind to you or any third party, including but not limited to, representations, and warranties regarding accuracy, timeliness or completeness of the estimate. In no event shall BlackRock Australia or any member of the BlackRock group of companies be liable for any damages, losses or expenses arising in connection with the use of, or reliance upon, the estimate by the recipient. A recipient must not provide distribution estimates to any third party unless consent is obtained from BlackRock Australia and they are accompanied by this disclaimer.

 

This information does not constitute general or personal financial product advice, nor does it constitute taxation advice. Investors should seek professional financial and taxation advice before making any investment decision. Please note that past distributions are not indicative of future distributions.

 

Indemnity

 

Where a claim is brought against BlackRock Australia or its related body corporate by a third party in relation to your use of the Website, you hereby agree to fully reimburse BlackRock Australia or its related body corporate for all losses, costs, actions, proceedings, claims, damages, expenses (including reasonable legal costs and expenses), or liabilities, whatsoever suffered or incurred directly by BlackRock Australia or its related body corporate as a consequence of improper use of the Website. Neither party should be liable to the other for any loss or damage which may be suffered by the other party due to any cause beyond the first party's reasonable control including without limitation any power failure.

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Password

You acknowledge and agree that it is your responsibility to keep secure and confidential any passwords that we issue to you and your authorised employees and not to let such password(s) become public knowledge. If any password(s) become known by someone other than you and your authorised employees, you must change those particular password(s) immediately using the function available for this purpose on the Website.

 

Copyright and Trademarks

 

Copyright in all the material, works, software, design, text, graphics and code contained on or used to produce the Website and in the information and material and in its arrangement or layout, is owned or licensed by BlackRock Australia or its related body corporate or its associates unless otherwise indicated. Other than as permitted below, your use of anything in which BlackRock Australia or its related body corporate or its associates own copyright is governed by the copyright laws of Australia and its international treaties with other countries, as applicable.

 

You are permitted to save or print a copy of the Website solely for your own information, research or study, but only if you do not modify the copy and you include the copyright notice "© BlackRock Investment Management (Australia) Limited" on the copy. You may not copy, publish, distribute, create works from or commercially exploit the content of the Website for any other purpose.

 

iShares® and BlackRock® are registered trademarks of BlackRock, Inc., or its subsidiaries. All other trademarks, servicemarks, or registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Nothing contained on the Website should be construed as granting, by implication, estoppel, or otherwise, any license or right to use any trademark displayed on the Website without the written permission of BlackRock Australia or such other third party that may own the trademark displayed on this website. Your use of the trademarks displayed on the Website, except as provided herein, is strictly prohibited.

 

Interactive Data Real Time Services

 

Certain information relating to iShares ETFs provided by Interactive Data Real Time Services ("Interactive Data") and its affiliates (the "Interactive Data Information") is owned by or licensed to Interactive Data and its affiliates. You are only permitted to use such Interactive Data Information for your own personal use. In no event shall you publish, retransmit, redistribute or otherwise reproduce any Interactive Data Information in any format to anyone, and you shall not use any Interactive Data Information in or in connection with any business or commercial enterprise, including, without limitation, any securities, investment, accounting, banking, legal or media business or enterprise.

 

Prior to the execution of an iShares ETF security trade based upon the Interactive Data Information, you are advised to consult with your broker or other financial representative to verify pricing information.

 

THE INTERACTIVE DATA INFORMATION IS PROVIDED TO THE USERS "AS IS." NEITHER INTERACTIVE DATA NOR ITS AFFILIATES MAKE ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND REGARDING THE INTERACTIVE DATA INFORMATION, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, ANY WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR USE. NEITHER INTERACTIVE DATA NOR ITS AFFILIATES GUARANTEE THE ADEQUACY, ACCURACY, TIMELINESS OR COMPLETENESS OF THE INTERACTIVE DATA INFORMATION NOR WILL THEY BE LIABLE TO ANY USER OR ANYONE ELSE FOR ANY INTERRUPTION, INACCURACY, ERROR OR OMISSION, REGARDLESS OF CAUSE, IN THE INTERACTIVE DATA INFORMATION OR FOR ANY DAMAGES (WHETHER DIRECT OR INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR EXEMPLARY) RESULTING THEREFROM.

The estimated NAV is indicative only, and the iShares ETFs are not open for transactions based on this price estimate. BlackRock Australia, its officers, employees and agents believe that the estimated NAV is correct as at its date of publication. While every care has been taken in the provision of the estimated NAV, BlackRock Australia makes no representations and disclaims all express, implied and statutory warranties of any kind to you or any third party, including but not limited to, representations, and warranties regarding accuracy, timeliness or completeness of the estimated NAV. Except where contrary to law, in no event shall BlackRock Australia or any member of the BlackRock group of companies be liable for any damages, losses or expenses arising in connection with the use of, or reliance upon, the estimated NAV.

 

Morningstar Web Tools

 

The Website includes certain web pages that provide access to information, data, analyses, reports, tools, and opinions (defined as “material”) that are provided by Morningstar Australasia Pty Limited ABN: 95 090 665 544, AFSL: 240892 and/or Morningstar Research Pty Ltd ABN 83 062 096 342, AFSL 243161 (both subsidiaries of Morningstar, Inc.). BlackRock Australia, its officers, employees and agents believe that the material is correct as at its date of publication. While every care has been taken in the provision of the material, BlackRock Australia makes no representations and disclaims all express, implied and statutory warranties of any kind to you or any third party, including but not limited to, representations, and warranties regarding accuracy, timeliness or completeness of the material. In no event shall BlackRock Australia or any member of the BlackRock group of companies be liable for any damages, losses or expenses arising in connection with your use of, or reliance upon, the material.

 

The material is only for use by financial adviser and institutional users. In accessing and using the material, you have registered and certified that you are an Australian Financial Services (AFS) Licensee or the representative of an AFS Licensee or a wholesale client within the meaning of the Corporations Act 2001. You assume full responsibility in determining the appropriateness of each fund, security, account or model chosen by you when using the material. The material is provided on an "as is" basis and for illustrative purposes only.

 

You cannot rely on the material as a guarantee against loss of capital nor as an assurance that an investment approach based on the material will be successful. BlackRock Australia does not provide financial advice.

 

This material is general in nature, and has been prepared without taking into account any individual’s objectives, financial situation, or needs. You should seek independent professional legal, financial, taxation, and/or other professional advice before making an investment decision. The material may include past performance. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.

 

Loss or Damage to your Systems

 

BlackRock Australia or its related body corporate will not be liable for any loss or damage from any cause to your system or website, or to people linking to this material from your website, caused by or in connection with the use or link to this material. Any such loss or damage will be your responsibility. BlackRock Australia advises you to take your own precautions in relation to protecting your system or website from malfunction or viruses.

 

Links to, and from, other Sites

 

When you use a link to go from the Website to another site, none of these links comprise or imply support, endorsement or recommendation of any other company, product or service by us. We do not control and are not responsible for the information on any other site found through the Website. Linking to and framing of the Website is not permitted without our express written consent.

BlackRock Investment Management (Australia) Limited (we, us and our) is an Australian Financial Services Licensee specialising in providing quality investment management products and services.

Protecting your personal information is important

We respect your privacy and we are committed to protecting your privacy. We are bound by, and committed to supporting, the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth). This Privacy Policy explains the way we collect, maintain and handle your personal information.

What personal information do we collect?

In the course of our activities, we collect and hold personal information about you. We will only collect personal information that is necessary to provide our products and services to you, including information needed to comply with legal and regulatory requirements.

We may collect the following types of personal information:

1. name;
2. email address, mailing or street address and other contact details;
3. date of birth;
4. information to verify your identity such as your driver’s licence number;
5. tax file number;
6. bank account details to enable payment of distributions or redemptions;
7. margin loan details relevant to your investment in our products; and
8. information about other products or services of ours or any related body corporate that you may hold or use.

We are required to collect your name, address, date of birth and other verification information under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 (Cth). We are authorised to collect tax file numbers under tax laws and the Privacy Act.

How do we collect your personal information?

We collect your personal information directly from you unless it is unreasonable or impracticable to do so. When collecting personal information from you, we may collect in ways including:

1. from your completion of application forms for our products;

2.though your use of our website; and

3.during communications between you and our representatives;

4.from our conduct of marketing activities which may include requests for more information for example competitions or requesting ‘business cards’

We may also collect personal information from third parties including your financial or other professional advisor or authorised representative.

If you are a contact of a corporate client or other organisation or an adviser within a dealer group, personal information may be collected from that entity.

For investors in iShares exchange traded funds traded on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) (“iShares”), Computershare Investors Services Limited ("Computershare") has been contracted by us to provide various registry services (e.g. processing distribution payments). When you become a shareholder or unitholder in an iShares fund, personal information about you will be collected. The collection of such information enables Computershare to perform its role as the registry services provider. Computershare may disclose this information to us upon reasonable request as part of our continual efforts to update and enhance the products and services we provide to our investors.

What happens if we cannot collect your personal information?

If we do not obtain all the information we need from you, some or all of the following may happen:

1. we may not be able to provide you with and subsequently administer some or all our products or services; or
2. we may not be able to provide you with information about our products and services.

How is your personal information used?

We will only use your personal information for the purpose of providing you with our investment products and services. In managing your investment for you, we will use your personal information to:

1.assess your application and provide our products and services to you;

2.communicate with you in relation to your investment;

3.monitor, audit, evaluate and otherwise administer our products and services;

4.provide you with access to protected areas of our websites;

5.provide continuous service to you and to conduct business processing functions including by providing personal information to our related bodies corporate, contractors, service providers or other third parties; and

6.assist with the administrative, marketing (including direct marketing), planning, product or service development, quality control or research purposes of BlackRock and its contractors and service providers.

Direct marketing

We may send you direct marketing communications and information about our products and services that we expect may be of interest to you. These communications may be sent in various forms, including mail, SMS, fax and email. You consent to us sending you those direct marketing communications by any of those methods. At any time you may opt-out of receiving marketing communications from us by contacting us using the contact details below or by using the opt-out facilities provided in the marketing communications.

Please note that, if we are currently providing you with services or products, we will still need to send you essential information about your account, the relevant services or products and other information required by law.

With whom does BlackRock Australia share your personal information?

To provide you with the services you require and for the purposes set out above, we may disclose your personal information to third party organisations. We take reasonable steps to ensure that third party organisations are bound by confidentiality and privacy obligations in relation to the protection of your personal information.

We may disclose your personal information to the following third parties:

1.service providers, such as your financial adviser. If a financial adviser’s stamp appears on your application form or if you otherwise inform us of having a financial adviser, we may supply your financial adviser with information about your accounts unless you instruct us otherwise in writing;

2.other professional advisors such as accountants, lawyers, consultants and other business advisors as advised to us;

3.mail houses, archive providers, our related bodies corporate, contractors, or other third parties for the purposes specified above; and

4.other third parties where required, or allowed under law, or in connection with legal proceedings.

We will not sell your personal information to other organisations. Nor will we provide organisations outside the BlackRock group with your personal information for purposes unrelated to the management of your investment or the distribution of marketing materials.

We may also disclose your personal information to entities located overseas for one or more of the purposes set out above. Typically, these entities are located in the United States, the United Kingdom and India.

BlackRock operates as a global organisation and to this end, functions generally operate from dedicated centers which also provide shared services around the globe. Personal information (generally other than personal information held in relation to individual investors) may be held within applications on our portfolio management system or client relationship management system which are potentially accessible by our related bodies corporate in any country in which BlackRock has an office. A list of those countries is available here. Key data is held either at a BlackRock related party site or third party site.

We take reasonable steps to ensure that the overseas recipients of your personal information do not breach the privacy obligations relating to your personal information.

Is your personal information secure?

We invest considerable resources to keep your personal information secure from misuse, loss, interference, unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. Access to and the use of personal information is regulated to prevent misuse or unlawful disclosure of the information. We use security procedures such as encryption, firewalls, intrusion detection and anti-virus technology to prevent unauthorised access. We also use valid log-in identification and password based security to achieve electronic information security. We retain information for as long as may be necessary to respond to issues that may arise at a later date, and longer where required by law. When personal information is no longer required by us, it is destroyed or de-identified.

As our website is linked to the internet, and the internet is inherently insecure, we cannot provide any assurance regarding the security of transmission of information you communicate to us online. We also cannot guarantee that the information you supply will not be intercepted while being transmitted over the internet. Accordingly, any personal information or other information which you transmit to us online is transmitted at your own risk.

How can you access your personal information?

You may contact us by mail, phone, fax or email using the details provided below and request access to your information. Before we give you access to information about you we will ask you to verify your identity. In normal circumstances we will give you full access to your information, however, at times there may be a legal reason why we must deny access, such as where granting access would interfere with the privacy of others or it would result in a breach of confidentiality. If access is denied we will give you the reasons for any refusal in writing and the mechanisms available to complain about the refusal.

There may be some charge to you to access your information depending on the ease of its retrieval. We will advise you of any cost when you seek the information. We will not charge you for making a request or for making any corrections to your personal information.

Correction of your personal information

We will endeavour to ensure your personal information is kept accurate, complete, up to date and relevant. Please let us know if any of your details change.

If you believe that the personal information we store about you is incorrect, incomplete, inaccurate or misleading, you may ask us to amend it. If we do not agree that there are grounds for amendment, we will give you the reasons for any refusal in writing and the mechanisms available to complain about the refusal, and we will add a note to the personal information stating that you disagree with the information.

Dealing with BlackRock online

We may use “cookies” to help us tailor our website to better suit your needs (eg, we may use cookies to enable us to save any personal preferences indicated by you) and to provide a more effective route to various components of our website. If you choose to disable cookies, some of our website’s functionality might be impaired. Cookies are small text files that are stored in your computer's memory and hard drive, in your mobile device or tablet when you visit certain web pages. They are used to enable websites to function or to provide information to the owners of a website or other third parties which receive data obtained from that website. This information might be about you, your preferences or your device and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to. The information does not usually directly identify you, but it can give you a more personalised web experience.

Cookies help us to provide customised services and information. We use cookies to tell us, in general terms, how and when pages in our websites are visited, what our users’ technology preferences are – such as what type of video player they use – and whether our website is functioning properly. Depending on their purpose, some cookies will only operate for the length of a single browsing session, while others have a longer life span to ensure that they fulfil their longer-term purposes (as explained in more detail below). Please note that, however long a cookie’s active life may be, you can delete cookies (and therefore stop any further data collection by them) as further described below.

If you are using a password-protected site, then the website may use cookies or other technology to help us authenticate you, store and recognise your configuration and user attributes, facilitate your navigation of the website and customise its content so that the information made available is likely to be of more interest to you.

In broad terms, we use cookies on our website for the following purposes:

1.Analytical purposes: Analytical cookies allow us to recognise, measure and track visitors to the website. This helps us to improve and develop the way the website works, for example, by determining whether site visitors can find information easily, or by identifying the aspects of the site that are of the most interest to them.

2.Usage preferences: Some of the cookies on the website are activated when visitors to our sites make a choice about their usage of the site. Our website then ‘remembers' the settings preferences of the user concerned. This allows us to tailor aspects of the site to the individual user.

3.Terms and conditions: We use cookies on the website to record when a site visitor has seen a policy, such as this one, or provided consent, such as consent to the terms and conditions on our website. This helps to improve the user's experience of the site – for example, it avoids a user from repeatedly being asked to consent to the same terms.

4.Session management: The software that runs the website uses cookies for technical purposes needed by the internal workings of our servers. For instance, we use cookies to distribute requests among multiple servers, authenticate users and determine what features of the site they can access, verify the origin of requests, keep track of information about a user's session and determine which options or pages to display in order for the site to function.

5.Functional purposes: Functional purpose cookies store information that is needed by our applications to process and operate. For example, where transactions or requests within an application involve multiple workflow stages, cookies are used to store the information from each stage temporarily, in order to facilitate completion of the overall transaction or request.

6. Advertising: Advertising cookies allow us (or third parties) to monitor the behaviour of users of our website. This information is used to ensure that products and services highlighted to those individuals are targeted in a focused and relevant manner – e.g. through advertisements on our website or through advertisements on third party websites which are based on your experience with our website; or to monitor the effectiveness of those digital marketing campaigns. We also monitor whether the adverts displayed on our website are of interest to users and retain this information to ensure that adverts seen by users of our website over a period of time are appropriate.

We may disclose details about the general use of our website to third parties – for example, to demonstrate patterns of use to advertisers and other business partners. Information we pass on for this purpose will not include any personal data by which you may be identified.

You can configure your browser to accept all cookies, reject all cookies, notify you when a cookie is set, or delete cookies that have already been set. Each browser is different, so check the "Help" menu of your browser to learn how to change your cookie preferences. You are always free to decline our cookies if your browser permits, although in that case you may not be able to use certain features on our website.

We may include content on the website designed for display using Adobe Flash Player, such as animations, videos and tools. Local flash storage (often referred to as "Flash cookies") can be used to help improve your experience as a user. Flash storage is retained on your device in much the same way as standard cookies, but is managed directly by your Flash software. If you wish to disable or delete information stored locally in Flash, please see the documentation for your Flash software, located at www.adobe.com. Please note that, if you disable Flash cookies, some site functionality may not work.

When you visit our website, you may receive cookies that are set by third parties. The kind of cookies and the consequent data processing carried out by such third parties are regulated by the third party’s privacy policy. We do not control the setting of these third party cookies. You may wish to check any such third party’s website for more information about their use of cookies and how to manage them.

What is the process for complaining about a breach of privacy?

If you believe that your privacy has been breached, please contact our Privacy Officer using the contact information below and provide details of the incident so that we can investigate it.

We request that complaints about breaches of privacy be made in writing, so we can be sure about the details of the complaint. We will attempt to confirm as appropriate and necessary with you your understanding of the conduct relevant to the complaint and what you expect as an outcome. We will inform you whether we will conduct an investigation, the name, title, and contact details of the investigating officer and the estimated completion date for the investigation process.

After we have completed our enquiries, we will contact you, usually in writing, to advise the outcome and invite a response to our conclusions about the complaint. If we receive a response from you, we will assess it and advise if we have changed our view.

Who can you contact at BlackRock?

If you have any queries or concerns about the privacy of your information, please contact our Privacy Officer via the following:

Phone: 1300 366 100
Facsimile: 1300 366 107
Email: clientservices.aus@blackrock.com
Mail: Level 26, 101 Collins Street, Melbourne VIC 3000
Please address all written requests: ‘Attention: Privacy Officer’.

Changes to this policy

We will review this policy from time to time and may update it at our discretion. This policy was last updated in February 2018.

Individual investor

No specified requirements.

 

Financial Adviser

I declare that I am a financial services licensee, as defined by the Corporations Act 2001 and hold an Australian financial services licence.

 

Institutional Investor

I declare that I am a wholesale client, as defined by the Corporations Act 2001 and that I satisfy the requirements of section 761G of the Corporations Act.

 

Wholesale clients commonly include a person or entity:

1. a. who holds an Australian Financial Services License
2. b. who has or controls at least $10 million (and may include funds held by an associate or under a trust that the person manages)
3. c. that is a body regulated by APRA other than a trustee of:
   (i) a superannuation fund;
   (ii) an approved deposit fund;
   (iii) a pooled superannuation trust; or
   (iv) a public sector superannuation scheme.
   within the meaning of the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993
4. d. that is a body registered under the Financial Corporations Act 1974.
5. e. that is a trustee of:
   (i) a superannuation fund; or
   (ii) an approved deposit fund; or
   (iii) a pooled superannuation trust; or
   (iv) a public sector superannuation scheme
   within the meaning of the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993 and the fund, trust or scheme has net assets of at least $10 million.
6. f. that is a listed entity or a related body corporate of a listed entity
7. g. that is an exempt public authority
8. h. that is a body corporate, or an unincorporated body, that:
   (i) carries on a business of investment in financial products, interests in land or other investments; and
   (ii) for those purposes, invests funds received (directly or indirectly) following an offer or invitation to the public, within the meaning of section 82 of the Corporations Act 2001, the terms of which provided for the funds subscribed to be invested for those purposes.
9. i. that is a foreign entity which, if established or incorporated in Australia, would be covered by one of the preceding paragraphs.