Business Continuity Statement
Asset Planning Corporation DBA APC Financial Planning (referred to as “APC”, “we”, “us”, or “our”) is committed to providing our clients with the highest level of advice, service, and information regarding the investments and assets they have entrusted to us for management. As part of this commitment, we have developed a Business Continuity Plan (“Plan”) to address how we will respond to events that significantly disrupt our business. We recognize that the unexpected can and does occur. Since the timing and impact of disasters and disruptions is unpredictable, we will have to be flexible in responding to actual events as they occur. With that in mind, we are providing you with this information on our Business Continuity Plan.
Contacting Us – If after a significant business disruption you cannot contact us at (865) 690-1231 or info@apcplan.com you should go to our website at www.apcplan.com to access our general contact form. If you cannot access us through those means, and need account information, please contact your account custodian directly (ex: Charles Schwab & Co., Inc.) as noted on your investment account statement(s). During these disruptions, we plan to notify you and provide information updates through our website, by email, or via regular mail.
Our Business Continuity Plan is designed to reasonably permit us to recover and resume operations as quickly as possible, given the scope and severity of an event. Our plan focuses on safeguarding our employees and property, making a financial and operational assessment, protecting the firm’s records, and enabling our clients to transact business as quickly as possible. Our plan addresses: data backup and recovery; mission critical systems; alternative communications with clients and regulators; alternate physical location of employees; critical supplier, contractor, bank and counter-party impact; loss of key employees; and assuring our clients’ prompt access to their investment information if we are temporarily unable to operate our business.
Our primary account custodian, Charles Schwab & Co., Inc., backs up important records in a remote location. While every emergency poses unique problems based on external factors, such as time of day and the severity of the disruption, we have performed our diligence on Schwab and have been advised that their objective is to restore their own operations and to be able to complete existing transactions and accept new transactions and payments within several hours of a disruption. Your transactions and requests for funds and securities could be delayed during this period. Other qualified custodians have similar policies and procedures.
Varying Disruptions – Significant business disruptions can vary in their scope, such as the building housing our firm, the business area where our firm is located, the city where we are located, or the whole region. Within each of these areas, the severity of the disruption can also vary from minimal to severe. Our Plan provides that in a disruption to only our firm or our office building, we will transfer our operations to a local site as needed and expect to recover and resume business within one business day. In a disruption affecting our business area, city, or region, we will transfer our operations to a site outside of the affected area and recover and resume business within three business days. If the business disruption is so severe that it prevents us from remaining in business, we will work diligently to assist with transitioning our clients to another advisor as needed.
Our Business Continuity Plan is reviewed and tested annually to ensure that it accounts for business and regulatory changes, technology, operations, structure, or location. The plan is subject to ongoing modification and upgrading by our firm. Should you have any additional questions please contact us at (865) 690-1231 or info@apcplan.com.