INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT AGREEMENT
AGREEMENT made as of the 31st day of May, 1997, and amended as of May 1,
1998 and May 1, 2000, by and between Xxxxxx Xxxxxxx Xxxx Xxxxxx Strategist Fund,
an unincorporated business trust organized under the laws of the Commonwealth of
Massachusetts (hereinafter called the "Fund"), and Xxxxxx Xxxxxxx Xxxx Xxxxxx
Advisors Inc., a Delaware corporation (hereinafter called the "Investment
Manager"):
WHEREAS, The Fund is engaged in business as an open-end management
investment company and is registered as such under the Investment Company Act of
1940, as amended (the "Act"); and
WHEREAS, The Investment Manager is registered as an investment adviser under
the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, and engages in the business of acting as
investment adviser; and
WHEREAS, The Fund desires to retain the Investment Manager to render
management and investment advisory services in the manner and on the terms and
conditions hereinafter set forth; and
WHEREAS, The Investment Manager desires to be retained to perform services
on said terms and conditions:
Now, Therefore, this Agreement
W I T N E S S E T H:
that in consideration of the premises and the mutual covenants hereinafter
contained, the Fund and the Investment Manager agree as follows:
1. The Fund hereby retains the Investment Manager to act as investment
manager of the Fund and, subject to the supervision of the Trustees, to
supervise the investment activities of the Fund as hereinafter set forth.
Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the Investment Manager shall
obtain and evaluate such information and advice relating to the economy,
securities and commodities markets and securities and commodities as it deems
necessary or useful to discharge its duties hereunder; shall continuously manage
the assets of the Fund in a manner consistent with the investment objectives and
policies of the Fund; shall determine the securities and commodities to be
purchased, sold or otherwise disposed of by the Fund and the timing of such
purchases, sales and dispositions; and shall take such further action, including
the placing of purchase and sale orders on behalf of the Fund, as the Investment
Manager shall deem necessary or appropriate. The Investment Manager shall also
furnish to or place at the disposal of the Fund such of the information,
evaluations, analyses and opinions formulated or obtained by the Investment
Manager in the discharge of its duties as the Fund may, from time to time,
reasonably request.
2. The Investment Manager shall, at its own expense, maintain such staff
and employ or retain such personnel and consult with such other persons as it
shall from time to time determine to be necessary or useful to the performance
of its obligations under this Agreement. Without limiting the generality of the
foregoing, the staff and personnel of the Investment Manager shall be deemed to
include persons employed or otherwise retained by the Investment Manager to
furnish statistical and other factual data, advice regarding economic factors
and trends, information with respect to technical and scientific developments,
and such other information, advice and assistance as the Investment Manager may
desire. The Investment Manager shall, as agent for the Fund, maintain the Fund's
records and books of account (other than those maintained by the Fund's transfer
agent, registrar, custodian and other agencies). All such books and records so
maintained shall be the property of the Fund and, upon request therefor, the
Investment Manager shall surrender to the Fund such of the books and records so
requested.
3. The Fund will, from time to time, furnish or otherwise make available to
the Investment Manager such financial reports, proxy statements and other
information relating to the business and affairs of the Fund as the Investment
Manager may reasonably require in order to discharge its duties and obligations
hereunder.
4. The Investment Manager shall bear the cost of rendering the investment
management and supervisory services to be performed by it under this Agreement,
and shall, at its own expense, pay the compensation of the officers and
employees, if any, of the Fund who are also directors, officers or employees of
the Investment Manager, and provide such office space, facilities and equipment
and such clerical help and
00NYC4617
bookkeeping services as the Fund shall reasonably require in the conduct of its
business. The Investment Manager shall also bear the cost of telephone service,
heat, light, power and other utilities provided to the Fund.
5. The Fund assumes and shall pay or cause to be paid all other expenses of
the Fund, including without limitation: fees pursuant to any plan of
distribution that the Fund may adopt; the charges and expenses of any registrar,
any custodian or depository appointed by the Fund for the safekeeping of its
cash, portfolio securities or commodities and other property, and any stock
transfer or dividend agent or agents appointed by the Fund; brokers' commissions
chargeable to the Fund in connection with portfolio transactions to which the
Fund is a party; all taxes, including securities or commodities issuance and
transfer taxes, and fees payable by the Fund to federal, state or other
governmental agencies; the cost and expense of engraving or printing
certificates representing shares of the Fund; all costs and expenses in
connection with the registration and maintenance of registration of the Fund and
its shares with the Securities and Exchange Commission and various states and
other jurisdictions (including filing fees and legal fees and disbursements of
counsel); the cost and expense of printing, including typesetting, and
distributing prospectuses and statements of additional information of the Fund
and supplements thereto to the Fund's shareholders; all expenses of
shareholders' and Trustees' meetings and of preparing, printing and mailing
proxy statements and reports to shareholders; fees and travel expenses of
Trustees or members of any advisory board or committee who are not employees of
the Investment Manager or any corporate affiliate of the Investment Manager; all
expenses incident to the payment of any dividend, distribution, withdrawal or
redemption, whether in shares or in cash; charges and expenses of any outside
service used for pricing of the Fund's shares; charges and expenses of legal
counsel, including counsel to the Trustees of the Fund who are not interested
persons (as defined in the Act) of the Fund or the Investment Manager, and of
independent accountants, in connection with any matter relating to the Fund;
membership dues of industry associations; interest payable on Fund borrowings;
postage; insurance premiums on property or personnel (including officers and
Trustees) of the Fund which inure to its benefit; extraordinary expenses
(including but not limited to legal claims and liabilities and litigation costs
and any indemnification related thereto); and all other charges and costs of the
Fund's operation unless otherwise explicitly provided herein.
6. For the services to be rendered, the facilities furnished, and the
expenses assumed by the Investment Manager, the Fund shall pay to the Investment
Manager monthly compensation determined by applying the following annual rates
to the Fund's daily net assets: 0.60% of daily net assets up to $500 million;
0.55% of the next $500 million; 0.50% of the next $500 million; 0.475% of the
next $500 million; 0.45% of the next $1 billion; and 0.425% of daily net assets
over $3 billion. Except as hereinafter set forth, compensation under this
Agreement shall be calculated and accrued daily and the amounts of the daily
accruals shall be paid monthly. Such calculations shall be made by applying
1/365ths of the annual rates to the Fund's net assets each day determined as of
the close of business on that day or the last previous business day. If this
Agreement becomes effective subsequent to the first day of a month or shall
terminate before the last day of a month, compensation for that part of the
month this Agreement is in effect shall be prorated in a manner consistent with
the calculation of the fees as set forth above.
Subject to the provisions of paragraph 7 hereof, payment of the Investment
Manager's compensation for the preceding month shall be made as promptly as
possible after completion of the computations contemplated by paragraph 7
hereof.
7. In the event the operating expenses of the Fund, including amounts
payable to the Investment Manager pursuant to paragraph 6 hereof, for any fiscal
year ending on a date on which this Agreement is in effect, exceed the expense
limitations applicable to the Fund imposed by state securities laws or
regulations thereunder, as such limitations may be raised or lowered from time
to time, the Investment Manager shall reduce its management fee to the extent of
such excess and, if required, pursuant to any such laws or regulations, will
reimburse the Fund for annual operating expenses in excess of any expense
limitation that may be applicable; provided, however, there shall be excluded
from such expenses the amount of any interest, taxes, brokerage commissions,
distribution fees and extraordinary expenses (including but not limited to legal
claims and liabilities and litigation costs and any indemnification related
thereto) paid or payable by the Fund. Such reduction, if any, shall be computed
and accrued daily, shall be settled on a monthly basis, and shall be based upon
the expense limitation applicable to the Fund as at the end of the last
2
business day of the month. Should two or more such expense limitations be
applicable as at the end of the last business day of the month, that expense
limitation which results in the largest reduction in the Investment Manager's
fee shall be applicable.
For purposes of this provision, should any applicable expense limitation be
based upon the gross income of the Fund, such gross income shall include, but
not be limited to, interest on debt securities in the Fund's portfolio accrued
to and including the last day of the Fund's fiscal year, and dividends declared
on equity securities in the Fund's portfolio, the record dates for which fall on
or prior to the last day of such fiscal year, but shall not include gains from
the sale of securities.
8. The Investment Manager will use its best efforts in the supervision and
management of the investment activities of the Fund, but in the absence of
willful misfeasance, bad faith, gross negligence or reckless disregard of its
obligations hereunder, the Investment Manager shall not be liable to the Fund or
any of its investors for any error of judgment or mistake of law or for any act
or omission by the Investment Manager or for any losses sustained by the Fund or
its investors.
9. Nothing contained in this Agreement shall prevent the Investment Manager
or any affiliated person of the Investment Manager from acting as investment
adviser or manager for any other person, firm or corporation and shall not in
any way bind or restrict the Investment Manager or any such affiliated person
from buying, selling or trading any securities or commodities for their own
accounts or for the account of others for whom they may be acting. Nothing in
this Agreement shall limit or restrict the right of any Trustee, officer or
employee of the Investment Manager to engage in any other business or to devote
his or her time and attention in part to the management or other aspects of any
other business whether of a similar or dissimilar nature.
10. This Agreement shall remain in effect until April 30, 2001 and from year
to year thereafter provided such continuance is approved at least annually by
the vote of holders of a majority, as defined in the Investment Company Act of
1940, as amended (the "Act"), of the outstanding voting securities of the Fund
or by the Trustees of the Fund; provided that in either event such continuance
is also approved annually by the vote of a majority of the Trustees of the Fund
who are not parties to this Agreement or "interested persons" (as defined in the
Act) of any such party, which vote must be cast in person at a meeting called
for the purpose of voting on such approval; provided, however, that (a) the Fund
may, at any time and without the payment of any penalty, terminate this
Agreement upon thirty days' written notice to the Investment Manager, either by
majority vote of the Trustees of the Fund or by the vote of a majority of the
outstanding voting securities of the Fund; (b) this Agreement shall immediately
terminate in the event of its assignment (to the extent required by the Act and
the rules thereunder) unless such automatic terminations shall be prevented by
an exemptive order of the Securities and Exchange Commission; and (c) the
Investment Manager may terminate this Agreement without payment of penalty on
thirty days' written notice to the Fund. Any notice under this Agreement shall
be given in writing, addressed and delivered, or mailed post-paid, to the other
party at the principal office of such party.
11. This Agreement may be amended by the parties without the vote or consent
of the shareholders of the Fund to supply any omission, to cure, correct or
supplement any ambiguous, defective or inconsistent provision hereof, or if they
deem it necessary to conform this Agreement to the requirements of applicable
federal laws or regulations, but neither the Fund nor the Investment Manager
shall be liable for failing to do so.
12. This Agreement shall be construed in accordance with the laws of the
State of New York and the applicable provisions of the Act. To the extent the
applicable law of the State of New York, or any of the provisions herein,
conflicts with the applicable provisions of the Act, the latter shall control.
13. The Investment Manager and the Fund each agree that the name "Xxxxxx
Xxxxxxx Xxxx Xxxxxx," which comprises a component of the Fund's name, is a
property right of Xxxxxx Xxxxxxx Xxxx Xxxxxx & Co. ("MSDW"), the parent of the
Investment Manager. The Fund agrees and consents that (i) it will only use the
name "Xxxxxx Xxxxxxx Xxxx Xxxxxx" as a component of its name and for no other
purpose, (ii) it will not purport to grant to any third party the right to use
the name "Xxxxxx Xxxxxxx Xxxx Xxxxxx" for any purpose, (iii) MSDW, or any
corporate affiliate of MSDW, may use or grant to others the right to use the
name "Xxxxxx Xxxxxxx Xxxx Xxxxxx," or any combination or abbreviation thereof,
as all or a portion of a
3
corporate or business name or for any commercial purpose, including a grant of
such right to any other investment company, (iv) at the request of MSDW or any
corporate affiliate of MSDW, the Fund will take such action as may be required
to provide its consent to the use of the name "Xxxxxx Xxxxxxx Xxxx Xxxxxx," or
any combination or abbreviation thereof, by MSDW or any corporate affiliate of
MSDW, or by any person to whom MSDW or a corporate affiliate of MSDW shall have
granted the right to such use, and (v) upon the termination of any investment
advisory agreement into which a corporate affiliate of MSDW and the Fund may
enter, or upon termination of affiliation of the Investment Manager with its
parent, the Fund shall, upon request of MSDW or any corporate affiliate of MSDW,
cease to use the name "Xxxxxx Xxxxxxx Xxxx Xxxxxx" as a component of its name,
and shall not use the name, or any combination or abbreviation thereof, as a
part of its name or for any other commercial purpose, and shall cause its
officers, directors and shareholders to take any and all actions which MSDW or
any corporate affiliate of MSDW may request to effect the foregoing and to
reconvey to MSDW any and all rights to such name.
14. The Declaration of Trust establishing Xxxxxx Xxxxxxx Xxxx Xxxxxx
Strategist Fund, dated August 4, 1988, a copy of which, together with all
amendments thereto (the "Declaration"), is on file in the office of the
Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, provides that the name Xxxxxx
Xxxxxxx Xxxx Xxxxxx Strategist Fund refers to the Trustees under the Declaration
collectively as Trustees, but not as individuals or personally; and no Trustee,
shareholder, officer, employee or agent of Xxxxxx Xxxxxxx Xxxx Xxxxxx Strategist
Fund shall be held to any personal liability, nor shall resort be had to their
private property for the satisfaction of any obligation or claim or otherwise,
in connection with the affairs of said Xxxxxx Xxxxxxx Xxxx Xxxxxx Strategist
Fund, but the Trust Estate only shall be liable.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have executed and delivered this
Agreement, as amended, on May 1, 2000 in New York, New York.
XXXXXX XXXXXXX XXXX XXXXXX STRATEGIST
FUND
By: /s/ Xxxxx Xxxx
......................................
Attest:
/s/ Xxxx Xxxx
.....................................
XXXXXX XXXXXXX XXXX XXXXXX ADVISORS
INC.
By: /s/ Xxxxxxx X. Xxxxx
......................................
Attest:
/s/ Xxxxxxx X. Xxxxxxx
.....................................
4
