Exhibit (5)(a)
NORWEST ADVANTAGE FUNDS
INVESTMENT ADVISORY AGREEMENT
AGREEMENT made as of the 1st day of June, 1997, as amended July 28,
1998, between Norwest Advantage Funds (the "Trust"), a business trust organized
under the laws of the State of Delaware with its principal place of business at
Two Xxxxxxxx Xxxxxx, Xxxxxxxx, Xxxxx 00000 and Norwest Investment Management,
Inc. (the "Adviser"), a corporation organized under the laws of the State of
Minnesota with its principal place of business at Xxxxx Xxxxxx xxx Xxxxxxxxx,
Xxxxxxxxxxx, Xxxxxxxxx 00000.
WHEREAS, the Trust is registered under the Investment Company Act of
1940, as amended, (the "Act") as an open-end management investment company and
is authorized to issue interests (as defined in the Trust's Trust Instrument),
in separate series;
WHEREAS, the Trust desires that the Adviser perform investment advisory
services for each series of the Trust as listed in Appendix A hereto (each a
"Fund" and collectively the "Funds"), and the Adviser is willing to provide
those services on the terms and conditions set forth in this Agreement;
NOW THEREFORE, the Trust and the Adviser agree as follows:
SECTION 1. THE TRUST; DELIVERY OF DOCUMENTS
The Trust is engaged in the business of investing and reinvesting its
assets in securities of the type and in accordance with the limitations
specified in its Trust Instrument, By-Laws and Registration Statement filed with
the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "Commission") under the Act and the
Securities Act of 1933 (the "Securities Act"), including any representations
made in the prospectus and statement of additional information relating to the
Funds contained therein and as may be supplemented from time to time, all in
such manner and to such extent as may from time to time be authorized by the
Trust's Board of Trustees (the "Board"). The Trust is currently authorized to
issue thirty-nine series of shares, and the Board is authorized to issue any
unissued shares in any number of additional classes or series. The Trust has
delivered copies of the documents listed in this Section 1 and will from time to
time furnish Adviser with any amendments thereof.
SECTION 2. INVESTMENT ADVISER; APPOINTMENT
The Trust hereby employs Adviser, subject to the direction and control
of the Board, to manage the investment and reinvestment of the assets in the
Funds and, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, to provide other
services specified in Section 3 hereof.
SECTION 3. DUTIES OF THE ADVISER
(a) The Adviser shall make decisions with respect to all purchases and
sales of securities and other investment assets in the Funds. Among other
things, the Adviser shall make all decisions with respect to the allocation of
the Funds' investments in various securities or other assets, in investment
styles and, if applicable, in other investment companies or pooled vehicles in
which a Fund may invest. To carry out such decisions, the Adviser is hereby
authorized, as agent and attorney-in-fact for the Trust, for the account of, at
the risk of and in the name of the Trust, to place orders and issue instructions
with respect to those transactions of the Funds. In all purchases, sales and
other transactions in securities for the Funds, the Adviser is authorized to
exercise full discretion and act for the Trust in the same manner and with the
same force and effect as the Trust might or could do with respect to such
purchases, sales or other transactions, as well as with respect to all other
things necessary or incidental to the furtherance or conduct of such purchases,
sales or other transactions.
(b) The Adviser will report to the Board at each meeting thereof all
changes in the Funds since the prior report, and will also keep the Board
informed of important developments affecting the Trust, each Fund and the
Adviser, and on its own initiative, will furnish the Board from time to time
with such information as the Adviser may believe appropriate for this purpose,
whether concerning the individual companies whose securities are included in a
Fund's holdings, the industries in which they engage, or the economic, social or
political conditions prevailing in each country in which a Fund maintains
investments. The Adviser will also furnish the Board with such statistical and
analytical information with respect to securities in the Funds as the Adviser
may believe appropriate or as the Board reasonably may request. In making
purchases and sales of securities for the Funds, the Adviser will bear in mind
the policies set from time to time by the Board as well as the limitations
imposed by the Trust's Trust Instrument, By-Laws and Registration Statement
under the Act and the Securities Act, the limitations in the Act and in the
Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, in respect of regulated investment
companies and the investment objectives, policies and restrictions of each Fund.
(c) The Adviser will from time to time employ or associate with such
persons as the Adviser believes to be particularly fitted to assist in the
execution of the Adviser's duties hereunder, the cost of performance of such
duties to be borne and paid by the Adviser. No obligation may be incurred on the
Trust's behalf in any such respect.
(d) The Adviser shall maintain records relating to portfolio
transactions and the placing and allocation of brokerage orders as are required
to be maintained by the Trust under the Act. The Adviser shall prepare and
maintain, or cause to be prepared and maintained, in such form, for such periods
and in such locations as may be required by applicable law, all documents and
records relating to the services provided by the Adviser pursuant to this
Agreement required to be prepared and maintained by the Trust pursuant to the
rules and regulations of any national, state, or local government entity with
jurisdiction over the Trust, including the Commission and the Internal Revenue
Service. The books and records pertaining to the Trust which are in possession
of the Adviser shall be the property of the Trust. The Trust, or the Trust's
authorized representatives, shall have access to such books and records at all
times during the Adviser's normal business hours. Upon the reasonable request of
the Trust, copies of any such books and records shall be provided promptly by
the Adviser to the Trust or the Trust's authorized representatives.
(e) With respect to a Fund, the Adviser shall have no duties or
obligations pursuant to this Agreement, including any obligation to reimburse
Fund expenses pursuant to Section 4 hereof, during any period during which the
Fund invests all (or substantially all) of its investment assets in a
registered, open-end management investment company, or separate series thereof,
in accordance with Section 12(d)(1)(E) under the Act.
SECTION 4. EXPENSES
(a) The Adviser shall be responsible for that portion of the net
expenses of the Fund (except interest, taxes, brokerage, fees and other expenses
paid by the fund in accordance with an effective plan pursuant to Rule 12b-1
under the Act and organization expenses, all to the extent such exceptions are
permitted by applicable state law and regulation) incurred by the Fund during
the Fund's fiscal year or portion thereof that this Agreement is in effect
which, as to the Funds, in any such year exceeds the limits applicable to the
Fund under the laws or regulations of any state in which shares of the Fund are
qualified for sale (reduced pro rata for any portion of less than a year) and
which is not assumed by Forum Financial Services, Inc., the Trust's manager and
distributor, or any other person.
(b) The Trust hereby confirms that, subject to the foregoing, the Trust
shall be responsible and shall assume the obligation for payment of all the
Trust's other expenses, including: interest charges, taxes, brokerage fees and
commissions; certain insurance premiums; fees, interest charges and expenses of
the Trust's custodian, transfer agent and dividend disbursing agent;
telecommunications expenses; auditing, legal and compliance expenses; costs of
the Trust's formation and maintaining its existence; costs of preparing and
printing the Trust's prospectuses, statements of additional information, account
application forms and shareholder reports and delivering them to existing and
prospective shareholders; costs of maintaining books of original entry for
portfolio and fund accounting and other required books and accounts and of
calculating the net asset value of shares in the Trust; costs of reproduction,
stationery and supplies; compensation of the Trust's trustees, officers,
employees and other personnel performing services for the Trust who are not the
Adviser's employees or employees of Forum Financial Services, Inc. or affiliated
persons of either; costs of corporate meetings; registration fees and related
expenses for registration with the Commission and the securities regulatory
authorities of other countries in which the Trust's shares are sold; state
securities law registration fees and related expenses; fees and out-of-pocket
expenses payable to Forum Financial Services, Inc. under any distribution,
management or similar agreement; and all other fees and expenses paid by the
Trust pursuant to any distribution or shareholder service plan adopted pursuant
to Rule 12b-1 under the Act.
SECTION 5. STANDARD OF CARE
The Trust shall expect of the Adviser, and the Adviser will give the
Trust the benefit of, the Adviser's best judgment and efforts in rendering its
services to the Trust, and as an inducement to the Adviser's undertaking these
services the Adviser shall not be liable hereunder for any mistake of judgment
or in any event whatsoever, except for lack of good faith, provided that nothing
herein shall be deemed to protect, or purport to protect, the Adviser against
any liability to the Trust or to the Trust's security holders to which the
Adviser would otherwise be subject by reason of willful misfeasance, bad faith
or gross negligence in the performance of the Adviser's duties hereunder, or by
reason of the Adviser's reckless disregard of its obligations and duties
hereunder.
SECTION 6. COMPENSATION
(a) In consideration of the foregoing, the Trust shall pay the Adviser, with
respect to each of the Funds, a fee at an annual rate as listed in Appendix A
hereto. Such fees shall be accrued by the Trust daily and shall be payable
monthly in arrears on the first day of each calendar month for services
performed hereunder during the prior calendar month. The Adviser's
reimbursement, if any, of a Fund's expenses as provided in Section 4 hereof,
shall be estimated and paid to the Trust monthly in arrears, at the same time as
the Trust's payment to the Adviser for such month. Payment of the advisory fee
will be reduced or postponed, if necessary, with any adjustments made after the
end of the year.
(b) No fee shall be payable hereunder with respect to a Fund during any period
in which the Fund invests all (or substantially all) of its investment assets in
a single registered, open-end management investment company, or separate series
thereof, in accordance with Section 12(d)(1)(E) under the 1940 Act;
(c) The adviser shall receive a fee of 0.25% (0.35% in the case of the
WealthBuilder Portfolios and 0.00% for Cash Investment Fund) for asset
allocation services if a Fund invests some or all (or substantially all) of its
investment assets in two or more registered, open-end management investment
companies, or separate series thereof, in each case, in accordance with Section
12(d)(1)(h) under the Act, the rules thereunder or an exemptive order issued by
the Commission exempting the Fund from the provisions of Section 12(d)(1)(A)
under the Act (a "Fund of Funds structure")
(d) To the extent the Board determines that a Fund should invest a portion of
its assets directly in portfolio securities, rather than in a portfolio of Core
Trust (Delaware) or other portfolio, with respect to those assets the Fund will
pay the Adviser the same fee that the portfolio was paying its adviser (the fees
of each portfolio will be disclosed in the proxy statement and prospectus).
SECTION 7. EFFECTIVENESS, DURATION AND TERMINATION
(a) This Agreement shall become effective with respect to a Fund
immediately upon approval by a majority of the outstanding voting securities of
that Fund.
(b) This Agreement shall remain in effect with respect to a Fund for a
period of one year from the date of its effectiveness and shall continue in
effect for successive twelve-month periods (computed from each anniversary date
of the approval) with respect to the Fund; provided that such continuance is
specifically approved at least annually (i) by the Board or by the vote of a
majority of the outstanding voting securities of the Fund, and, in either case,
(ii) by a majority of the Trust's trustees who are not parties to this Agreement
or interested persons of any such party (other than as trustees of the Trust);
provided further, however, that if this Agreement or the continuation of this
Agreement is not approved as to a Fund, the Adviser may continue to render to
that Fund the services described herein in the manner and to the extent
permitted by the Act and the rules and regulations thereunder.
(c) This Agreement may be terminated with respect to a Fund at any
time, without the payment of any penalty, (i) by the Board or by a vote of a
majority of the outstanding voting securities of the Fund on 60 days' written
notice to the Adviser or (ii) by the Adviser on 60 days' written notice to the
Trust. This Agreement shall terminate upon assignment.
SECTION 8. ACTIVITIES OF THE ADVISER
Except to the extent necessary to perform its obligations hereunder,
nothing herein shall be deemed to limit or restrict the Adviser's right, or the
right of any of the Adviser's officers, directors or employees who may also be a
trustee, officer or employee of the Trust, or persons otherwise affiliated
persons of the Trust to engage in any other business or to devote time and
attention to the management or other aspects of any other business, whether of a
similar or dissimilar nature, or to render services of any kind to any other
corporation, trust, firm, individual or association.
SECTION 9. SUBADVISERS
At its own expense, the Adviser may carry out any of its obligations
under this Agreement by employing, subject to your supervision, one or more
persons who are registered as investment advisers pursuant to the Investment
Advisers Act of 1940, as amended, or who are exempt from registration thereunder
("Subadvisers"). Each Subadviser's employment will be evidenced by a separate
written agreement approved by the Board and, if required, by the shareholders of
the Fund. The Adviser shall not be liable hereunder for any act or omission of
any Subadviser, except to exercise good faith in the employment of the
Subadviser and except with respect to matters as to which the Adviser assumes
responsibility in writing.
SECTION 10. LIMITATION OF SHAREHOLDER AND TRUSTEE LIABILITY
The Trustees of the Trust and the interest holders of the Fund shall
not be liable for any obligations of the Trust or of the Fund under this
Agreement, and the Adviser agrees that, in asserting any rights or claims under
this Agreement, it shall look only to the assets and property of the Trust or
the Fund to which the Adviser's rights or claims relate in settlement of such
rights or claims, and not to the Trustees of the Trust or the interest holders
of the Fund.
SECTION 11. "NORWEST" NAME
If the Adviser ceases to act as investment adviser to the Trust or any
Fund whose name includes the word "Norwest," or if the Adviser requests in
writing, the Trust shall take prompt action to change the name of the Trust any
such Fund to a name that does not include the word "Norwest." The Adviser may
from time to time make available without charge to the Trust for the Trust's use
any marks or symbols owned by the adviser, including marks or symbols containing
the word "Norwest" or any variation thereof, as the Adviser deems appropriate.
Upon the Adviser's request in writing, the Trust shall cease to use any such
xxxx or symbol at any time. The Trust acknowledges that any rights in or to the
word "Norwest" and any such marks or symbols which may exist on the date of this
Agreement or arise hereafter are, and under any and all circumstances shall
continue to be, the sole property of the Adviser. The Adviser may permit other
parties, including other investment companies, to use the word "Norwest" in
their names without the consent of the Trust. The Trust shall not use the word
"Norwest" in conducting any business other than that of an investment company
registered under the Act without the permission of the Adviser.
SECTION 12. MISCELLANEOUS
(a) No provisions of this Agreement may be amended or modified in any
manner except by a written agreement properly authorized and executed by both
parties hereto and, if required by the Act, by a vote of a majority of the
outstanding voting securities of any Fund thereby affected. No amendment to this
Agreement or the termination of this Agreement with respect to a Fund shall
effect this Agreement as it pertains to any other Fund, nor shall any such
amendment require the vote of any of the Fund's shareholders.
(b) Section headings in this Agreement are included for convenience
only and are not to be used to construe or interpret this Agreement.
(c) This Agreement shall be governed by and shall be construed in
accordance with the laws of the State of Delaware.
(d) The terms "vote of a majority of the outstanding voting
securities," "interested person," "affiliated person" and "assignment" shall
have the meanings ascribed thereto in the Act.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have caused this Agreement to be
duly executed effective as of the day and year first above written.
NORWEST ADVANTAGE FUNDS
By: Xxxx X. Xxxxxx
President
NORWEST INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT, INC.
By: P. Xxx Xxxxxxxxxx
President
NORWEST ADVANTAGE FUNDS
INVESTMENT ADVISORY AGREEMENT
Appendix A
(a) Investment Advisory Fees
Fee as a % of the Annual
Funds of the Trust Average Daily Net Assets of the Fund
Cash Investment Fund,
Treasury Plus Fund,
Treasury Fund and
U.S. Government Fund 0.20% of the first $300 million of assets
0.16% for next $400 million of assets
0.12% of the remaining net assets
Ready Cash Investment Fund 0.40% of the first $300 million of assets
0.36% for next $400 million of assets
0.32% of the remaining net assets
Municipal Money Market Fund
0.35% of the first
$500 million of assets
0.325% for next $500
million of assets
0.30% of the remaining
net assets
Stable Income Fund 0.30%
Limited Term Government Income Fund 0.33%
Intermediate Government Income Fund 0.33%
Diversified Bond Fund 0.35%
Income Fund 0.50%
Total Return Bond Fund 0.50%
Limited Term Tax-Free Fund 0.50%
Minnesota Intermediate Tax-Free Fund 0.25%
Minnesota Tax-Free Fund and
Colorado Tax-Free Fund 0.50% of the first $300 million of assets
0.46% of next $400 million of assets
0.42% of the remaining net assets
Tax-Free Income Fund 0.50%
Strategic Income Fund 0.45%
Moderate Balanced Fund 0.53%
Growth Balanced Fund 0.58%
Aggressive Balanced-Equity Fund 0.63%
Index Fund 0.15%
Income Equity Fund 0.50%
Fee as a % of the Annual
Funds of the Trust Average Daily Net Assets of the Fund
ValuGrowth Stock Fund 0.80% of the first $300 million of assets
0.76% of the next $400 million of assets
0.72% of the remaining net assets
Diversified Equity Fund 0.65%
Growth Equity Fund 0.90%
Large Company Growth Fund 0.65%
Diversified Small Cap Fund 0.90%
Small Company Stock Fund 0.90%
Small Company Growth Fund 0.90%
Small Cap Opportunities Fund 0.60%
International Fund 0.85%
Performa Strategic Value Bond Fund 0.50%
Performa Disciplined Growth Fund 0.90%
Performa Small Cap Value Fund 0.95%
Performa Global Growth Fund 0.65%
