Portfolio Construction Forum - Terms & Conditions of Use

By accessing and using the web application currently located at www.portfolioconstructionforum.edu.au (“the Site”), you are agreeing that you have read and understand this Terms and Conditions of Use (“the Agreement”) agree to be bound by them. The Publisher may amend this Agreement from time to time and you are responsible for regularly checking the Agreement for any such changes. By using the Site after the effective date of any change, you acknowledge you have read and accepted the Agreement as updated.

1. Grant of license

You agree that access to the Site is solely a license to use the Site subject to these Terms and Conditions of Use. You acknowledge that the Site is not intended for use by individual investors and is primarily designed for use by Australian residents in the business of providing securities advice as that term is defined in Australian Corporations Regulations. You acknowledge that the content of the Site should not under any circumstances be considered investment advice, a securities recommendation, legal advice, accounting advice or tax advice, that the content of the Site has been prepared for general information only and without regard to any particular person’s investment objectives, financial situation, attitudes or needs, and that before making any investment decision, an investor or prospective investor needs to consider, with or without the assistance of a securities adviser, whether an investment is appropriate in light of the investor’s particular investment objectives, financial circumstances, attitudes and needs.

The Site’s publisher, and its employees and contractors (the “Publisher”) reserves the right at all times and without notice to:

  • restrict or prevent you accessing the Site or any part thereof; and/or
  • modify or discontinue providing the Site or any part thereof.

You acknowledge that the Publisher has no obligation to correct or update the Site.

You acknowledge that the Site includes content sourced from and provided by third parties (“Content Providers”) over which content the Publisher retains full and exclusive editorial control, including what specific content to publish, whether and how to publish such content, and whether or not to charge a subscription fee to Members for access to such published content on the Site. The Publisher selects Content Providers, some of which are investment product providers, based on the calibre of their content as determined by the Publisher after conducting an independent research review and due diligence process which may include reference to and analysis from various external research and ratings firms. Some Content Providers are charged a fee by the Publisher in exchange for the display of their content, their brand and/or naming of their firm and/or links to their site on the Site. The Publisher receives no incentive or basis points fee from any Content Partner that is an investment product provider. Some Content Providers are paid a fee by the Publisher in exchange for a licence to publish their content on the Site. Content Providers retain ownership of the intellectual property that is legitimately theirs within the content published. The Publisher solely retains a limited license to publish a Content Provider’s content on the Site.

The Publisher may provide subscription fee materials, information and tools (collectively, “Additional Subscription Fee Services”) which are distributed through the Site. The Publisher will from time to time give you the option to subscribe to Additional Subscription Fee Services. You acknowledge that the Additional Subscription Fee Services are owned by the Publisher and/or its Content Providers and form part of the Site and you shall not acquire any property in the Additional Subscription Fee Services. The Publisher reserves the right to:

  • charge you a subscription fee prior to allowing you to access Additional Subscription Fee Services; and
  • require your agreement to these Terms and Conditions of Use as well as any additional terms and conditions specific to the Additional Subscription Fee Services (“Additional Subscription Fee Services Terms and Conditions”) accessed by you.

2. Member codes

You will be issued with a member name and password (collectively, “Member Codes”) to access the Site. You agree that you will:

  • keep any record of your Member Codes secure and protected;
  • keep your record of your member name and password separate and apart from each other;
  • not tell any other person your Member Codes; and,
  • not allow any other person to read, watch you enter, or view your Member Codes.

The Publisher may cancel your Member Codes at any time if the Publisher believes your Member Codes have been used or will be used in a way that will contravene this Agreement.

3. Restrictions on use

You agree that you are not authorised to use or distribute the Site including any content of the Site and the Additional Subscription Fee Services in any manner except to:

  • make copies for backup purposes;
  • assist in the analysis of individual securities and construction of portfolios;
  • prepare specific and individual investment advice for an individual client or prospective client; and/or
  • provide electronic or hardcopy printed extracts on a tailored, one-to-one basis to such a client or prospective client seeking specific and individual investment advice provided that you attribute the Site in the form: “Copyright Portfolio Construction Forum. All rights reserved. www.portfolioconstructionforum.edu.au” and the Additional Subscription Fee Services in the form specified in the Additional Subscription Fee Services Terms and Conditions of Use.

You agree that unless specifically authorised by the Publisher in accordance with this Agreement or separately in writing, you may not directly or indirectly:

  • use, reproduce, adapt, modify, merge, install, transfer, broadcast, store, distribute including without limitation link, imbed or otherwise insert the Site or Additional Subscription Fee Services or any part thereof within any other product or service, print, or publish the Site or Additional Subscription Fee Services or any part thereof;
  • alter, reverse-engineer, decompile, translate, disassemble or separate the components of the Site or Additional Subscription Fee Services or any part thereof including without limitation viewing or otherwise obtaining HTML source code; or,
  • use or apply the Site or Additional Subscription Fee Services or any part thereof for commercial purposes including without limitation, sublicensing, renting, selling, leasing the Site or Additional Subscription Fee Services or any part thereof, or using the Site or Additional Subscription Fee Services or any part thereof for third-party training, commercial time-sharing or service bureau use.

You agree that you must not use the Site for any of the following:

  • fraudulent purposes in connection with a criminal offence or otherwise unlawful activity;
  • to send, use or re-use any material that is illegal, offensive, abusive, indecent, defamatory, obscene or menacing; or in breach of copyright, trademark, confidence, privacy or any other right; or is otherwise injurious to third parties; or objectionable; or which consists of or contains software viruses, political campaigning, commercial solicitation, chain letters, mass mailings or any spam.
  • to cause annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety to the Publisher or any user of the Site.

4. Your content

You may at your sole discretion post comments to the Site and/or submit other material to the Publisher for publication on the Site (together “Your Content”) and if so you agree that:

  • The Publisher may edit Your Content or remove it from the Site at its sole discretion.
  • The Publisher may use all intellectual property rights in Your Content throughout the world, in perpetuity, without restriction and without making payment to you, including publication of that material in hard copy publications or in electronic media, using Your Content in advertising and promotional material for the Site and permitting others to do any of these, including when the Site and others receive payment for this.
  • You waive all moral rights in Your Content and consent to anything which the Publisher (or any person permitted to do so by the Publisher) may do in relation to Your Content which would otherwise be in breach of your moral rights. This includes that the Publisher may use Your Content without attributing you as the source of Your Content.
  • You warrant that:
  • You own Your Content and all rights in relation to Your Content;
  • You obtained Your Content in a manner which does not breach any laws or the rights of any person;
  • Your Content is accurate and reflects actual people and events and you did not digitally alter images or footage in any way to create your content or impersonate any person or entity or falsely state or otherwise misrepresent your affiliation with a person or entity;
  • Your Content, your provision of your content to the Publisher and the use by the Publisher of Your Content, in each case as contemplated in these terms and conditions, does not breach any law (including laws relating to privacy, intellectual property and defamation) or the rights of any person;
  • Your Content, at the time you send it to the Publisher, contains no virus or other code or material embedded in it which will have a negative impact on the Publisher’s services or infrastructure;
  • Your Content is not being provided for a commercial purpose (including that you are not soliciting funds or promoting particular goods or services); and
  • You did not forge any TCP/IP packet header or any part of the header information in any email or SMS.
  • The Publisher will be under no liability to you in respect of any loss or damage (including consequential loss or damage) which may be suffered or incurred or which may arise directly or indirectly in respect of your supply of Your Content to the Publisher, or the subsequent use of your content within goods or services supplied by the Publisher;
  • On providing Your Content to the Publisher for publication in any media, you indemnify the Publisher and its officers, employees and agents against any damage or loss made against or suffered by any of those indemnified arising, in whole or in part, as a result of:
  • the publication by the Publisher or a person permitted by the Publisher of Your Content; and/or,
  • a breach by you of these terms and conditions.
  • If Your Content is published on the Site, you may be identified on the Site as the provider of Your Content, at the Publisher’s sole discretion.

5. Term

For the Site, the term of this license will commence on the date on which you first access the Site and will continue until such time as the Publisher at its sole discretion decides to terminate it. The term for any Additional Subscription Fee Services will be documented in the relevant Additional Subscription Fee Services Terms and Conditions.

You acknowledge and agree that:

  • the Site and Additional Subscription Fee Services, including without limitation any modifications, enhancements and updates, and any originals and copies thereof, in whole or in part, and all intellectual property rights therein (collectively, “Proprietary Information”), is owned by the Publisher and/or its Content Providers as applicable and is protected by Australian copyright and intellectual property laws;
  • the Proprietary Information contains valuable copyright and proprietary material of the Publisher and Content Providers;
  • the Proprietary Information is licensed, rather than sold, to you pursuant to this Agreement;
  • you have no rights to the Proprietary Information, other than the rights and licenses granted pursuant to this Agreement.

The Publisher may disclose additional information to you in the form of upgrades, documentation or other support during the term of this Agreement and you agree that such information will also be deemed Proprietary Information.

7. Trademarks, brands and names

You acknowledge that all trademarks, brands and names appearing in the Site and Additional Subscription Fee Services are the property of their respective owners and that nothing contained in the Site and Additional Subscription Fee Services is intended to grant any express or implied right to you to use or exploit any patent, copyright, trademark or trade secret information.

8. Disclaimer of warranty

You acknowledge that the Site and Additional Subscription Fee Services are provided to you on an “as is” basis. Except where required by law, the Publisher makes no representations nor gives any guarantee or warranty as to the accuracy, timeliness, completeness, or quality of the Site, materials and information provided by Content Providers or any other website which you may access through the Site (“Third Party Site”).

The Additional Subscription Fee Services or Third Party Site are independent of the Publisher. You must take your own precautions to ensure that any Additional Subscription Fee Service or Third Party Site that you access from the Site is free from viruses, worms, Trojan horses and other material of a destructive nature.

Subject to any non-excludable provisions of the Australian Trade Practices Act, 1974, the Publisher expressly disclaims any implied or express warranties or conditions of any kind, including warranties of merchantable quality, fitness for a particular purpose, or non-infringement of intellectual property rights relating to the Site, any Additional Subscription Fee Services and/or Third Party Site.

9. Limitation of liability

The Publisher will not be liable in contract, tort (including for negligence) or otherwise for any loss, damage, cost, expense, claim or injury whatsoever including but without limitation, special, indirect, consequential or incidental damages, loss of profits or revenues, business interruption, loss of programs or other data on your information systems, or costs of replacement goods, or otherwise, even if the Publisher is expressly advised of the possibility of such loss or damage, which directly or indirectly results from:

  • your use or reliance, whether wholly or in part, on the Site or any part thereof including without limitation any Additional Subscription Fee Services and/or Third Party Site;

  • any delay, interruption, or other failure of the Site or any part thereof including without limitation any Additional Subscription Fee Service and/or Third Party Site; or,

  • any change in the Site or part thereof including without limitation any Additional Subscription Fee Services and/or Third Party Site.

You agree that the Disclaimers and Disclosures published within any Additional Subscription Fee Services to which you subscribe form part of this Agreement.

10. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify the Publisher in respect of any loss, damage, cost, expense, claim or injury whatsoever which may arise or result directly or indirectly from a breach by you of your obligations under this Agreement or which are caused by your negligence or willful default, fraud, dishonesty or other misconduct.

11. Confidentiality

You agree that the Publisher will not be liable for any unauthorised access by any means to personal information held by the Publisher about you, which information will be collected, used and disclosed in accordance with the Site’s Privacy Policy.

12. Termination

The Publisher may at its sole discretion, terminate this Agreement at any time without notice. Upon expiration or termination of this Agreement for any reason, all of your rights in and to the Site and Additional Subscription Fee Services will terminate. If the Publisher requests that you stop using the Site or any part thereof, or promptly return or destroy copies of the Site or any part thereof including the Additional Subscription Fee Services, you must immediately comply with that request and confirm in writing to the Publisher within five (5) business days after that request, that you have done so.

Your rights and obligations under clauses 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 13, 14, 16, 17 and 18 will survive termination of this Agreement.

You agree that should the Publisher exercise its right to terminate this Agreement and/or to discontinue providing any of the Additional Subscription Fee Services, the Publisher’s liability to you is limited to the pro-rata amount of the subscription fee paid by you, for the unexpired term of any Additional Subscription Fee Services.

You agree that should you exercise your right to terminate this Agreement, you will forfeit the pro-rata amount of any subscription fee paid by you, for the unexpired term of any Additional Subscription Fee Services.

13. Damages not adequate

You acknowledge that:

  • a breach by you of this Agreement may cause the Publisher irreparable damage for which monetary damages would not be adequate remedy; and
  • the Publisher may seek and obtain the remedies of injunction, specific performance and other equitable relief for any threatened, suspected or actual breach of the provisions of this Agreement.

14. Governing law

This Agreement is governed by the laws of New South Wales, Australia and any dispute arising hereunder will be determined by the courts of New South Wales.

15. Entire agreement; variation

This Agreement constitutes the entire agreement between you and the Publisher with respect to the Site; provided, however, that the Publisher reserves the right to, at its sole discretion, alter the terms and conditions of this Agreement at any time. If the Publisher alters the Agreement, the Publisher will post the revised Agreement and effective date on the Site. You are responsible for regularly checking the Site for any such changes. By using the Site after the effective date of any change, you agree to be bound by the revised Agreement.

16. Assignment

Your rights and obligations under this Agreement cannot be assigned, charged or otherwise dealt with, and you agree you will not attempt or purport to do so without the prior written consent of the Publisher, which may be granted or withheld at the Publisher’s sole discretion and which if granted may be granted subject to such terms and conditions that the Publisher may prescribe.

17. Severance

Any provision of this Agreement that is deemed by any person with authority to do so (including without limitation, a court) to be invalid or unenforceable in any jurisdiction will be ineffective in that jurisdiction only to the extent of the prohibition or unenforceability. That will not invalidate the remaining provisions of this Agreement nor affect the validity or enforceability of that provision in any other jurisdiction.

18. No waiver

The Publisher may exercise a right, power or remedy at its discretion and separately or concurrently with another right, power or remedy. Failure or delay by the Publisher in exercising any right, power or remedy under this Agreement will not operate as a waiver, nor will any single or partial exercise by the Publisher of any right, power or remedy preclude any other or further exercise by it of that or any other right, power or remedy.


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