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Exhibit (9)(a)
INTERIM ADMINISTRATION AGREEMENT
THIS INTERIM ADMINISTRATION AGREEMENT is made as of this 1st day of
April, 1998, by and between Armada Funds, a Massachusetts business trust, (the
"Trust"), and SEI Fund Resources (the "Administrator"), a Delaware business
trust.
WHEREAS, the Trust is an open-end diversified management investment
company registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the
"1940 Act"), consisting of several series of shares of Common Stock; and
WHEREAS, the Trust desires the Administrator to provide, and the
Administrator is willing to provide, management and administrative services to
such portfolios of the Trust as the Trust and the Administrator may agree on
("Portfolios") and as listed on the schedule attached hereto ("Schedule") and
made a part of this Agreement, on the terms and conditions hereinafter set
forth;
NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the premises and the covenants
hereinafter contained, the Trust and the Administrator hereby agree as follows:
ARTICLE 1. RETENTION OF THE ADMINISTRATOR. The Trust hereby retains the
Administrator to act as the administrator of the Portfolios and to furnish the
Portfolios with the management and administrative services as set forth in
Article 2 below. The Administrator hereby accepts such employment to perform the
duties set forth below.
The Administrator shall, for all purposes herein, be deemed to be an
independent contractor and, unless otherwise expressly provided or authorized,
shall have no authority to act for or represent the Trust in any way and shall
not be deemed an agent of the Trust.
ARTICLE 2. ADMINISTRATIVE AND ACCOUNTING SERVICES. The Administrator
shall perform or supervise the performance by others of other administrative
services in connection with the operations of the Portfolios, and, on behalf of
the Trust, will investigate, assist in the selection of and conduct relations
with custodians, depositories, accountants, legal counsel, underwriters, brokers
and dealers, corporate fiduciaries, insurers, banks and persons in any other
capacity deemed to be necessary or desirable for the Portfolios' operations. All
services provided hereunder shall be in conformity with the Declaration of
trust, Bylaws, resolutions and other instructions of the Board of trustees and
the current prospectuses and statements of additional information of the
Portfolios. The Administrator agrees to furnish the services set forth herein in
return for the compensation provided in Article 4 of this Agreement. The
Administrator shall provide the Trustees of the Trust with such reports
regarding investment performance and compliance with investment policies and
applicable laws, rules and regulations as they may reasonably request but shall
have no responsibility for supervising the performance by any investment adviser
or sub-adviser of its responsibilities, except with respect to the Portfolios'
compliance with investment objective and policies. The Administrator may appoint
a sub-administrator to perform certain of the services to be performed by the
Administrator
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hereunder. The Administrator acknowledges that as of the date stated above, it
shall enter into a sub-administration agreement with National City Bank, the
form of which is attached to this Agreement.
The Administrator shall provide the Trust with administrative services,
regulatory reporting, fund accounting and related portfolio accounting services
as set forth on Schedule II of this Agreement, all necessary office space,
equipment, personnel, compensation and facilities (including facilities for
Shareholders' and Trustees' meetings) for handling the affairs of the Portfolios
and such other services as the Trustees may, from time to time, reasonably
request and the Administrator shall, from time to time, reasonably determine to
be necessary to perform its obligations under this Agreement. In addition, at
the request of the Trust's Board of Trustees (the "Trustees"), the Administrator
shall make reports to the Trustees concerning the performance of its obligations
hereunder.
Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the Administrator shall:
(A) calculate contractual Trust expenses and control all
disbursements for the Trust, and as appropriate compute the
Trust's yields, total return, expense ratios, portfolio
turnover rate and, if required, portfolio average
dollar-weighed maturity;
(B) assist Trust counsel with the preparation of prospectuses,
statements of additional information, registration statements,
and proxy materials;
(C) prepare such reports, applications and documents (including
reports regarding the sale and redemption of Shares as may be
required in order to comply with Federal and state securities
law) as may be necessary or desirable to register the Trust's
shares with state securities authorities, monitor sale of
Trust shares for compliance with state securities laws, and
file with the appropriate state securities authorities the
registration statements and reports for the Trust and the
Trust's shares and all amendments thereto, as may be necessary
or convenient to register and keep effective the Trust and the
Trust's shares with state securities authorities to enable the
Trust to make a continuous offering of its shares;
(D) develop and prepare communications to shareholders, including
the annual report to shareholders, coordinate mailing
prospectuses, notices, proxy statements, proxies and other
reports to Trust shareholders, and supervise and facilitate
the solicitation of proxies solicited by the Trust for all
shareholder meetings, including tabulation process for
shareholder meetings;
(E) coordinate with Trust counsel the preparation of, and
administer contracts on behalf of the Trust with, among
others, the Trust's investment adviser, distributor,
custodian, and transfer agent;
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(F) maintain the Trust's general ledger and prepare the Trust's
financial statements, including expense accruals and payments,
determine the net asset value of the Trust's assets and of the
Trust's shares, and supervise the Trust's transfer agent with
respect to the payment of dividends and other distributions to
shareholders;
(G) calculate performance data of the Trust and its portfolios for
dissemination to information services covering the investment
company industry;
(H) coordinate and supervise the preparation and filing of the
Trust's tax returns;
(I) At the request of the Trustees, examine and review the
operations and performance of the various organizations
providing services to the Trust or any Portfolio of the Trust,
and report to the Trustees;
(J) assist with the layout and printing of publicly disseminated
prospectuses and assist with and coordinate layout and
printing of the Trust's semi-annual and annual reports to
shareholders;
(K) provide internal legal and administrative services as
requested by the Trust from time to time;
(L) assist with the design, development, and operation of the
Trust, including new portfolio and class investment
objectives, policies and structure;
(M) provide individuals acceptable to the Trustees for nomination,
appointment, or election as officers of the Trust, who will be
responsible for the management of certain of the Trust's
affairs as determined by the Trustees;
(N) advise the Trust and its Trustees on matters concerning the
Trust and its affairs;
(O) obtain and keep in effect fidelity bonds and directors and
officers/errors and omissions insurance policies for the Trust
in accordance with the requirements of Rules 17g-1 and
17d-1(7) under the 1940 Act as such bonds and policies are
approved by the Trust's Board of Trustees;
(P) monitor and advise the Trust and its Portfolios on their
registered investment company status under the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986, as amended;
(Q) perform all administrative services and functions of the Trust
and each Portfolio to the extent administrative services and
functions are not provided to the Trust or such Portfolio
pursuant to the Trust's or such Portfolio's investment
advisory agreement, distribution agreement, custodian
agreement and transfer agent agreement;
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(R) furnish advice and recommendations with respect to other
aspects of the business and affairs of the Portfolios as the
Trust and the Administrator shall determine desirable; and
(S) prepare and file with the SEC the semi-annual report for the
Trust on Form N-SAR and all required notices pursuant to Rule
24f-2.
Also, the Administrator will perform other services for the Trust as agreed from
time to time, including, but not limited to performing internal audit
examinations; mailing the annual reports of the Portfolios; preparing an annual
list of shareholders; and mailing notices of shareholders' meetings, proxies and
proxy statements, for all of which the Trust will pay the Administrator's or
Sub-Administrators out-of-pocket expenses.
In compliance with the requirements of Rule 31a-3 under the 1940 Act,
the Administrator agrees that all records which it maintains for the Trust are
the property of the Trust and further agrees to surrender promptly to the Trust
any of such records upon the Trust's request.
In the event that the Administrator cannot perform the services
required by this Agreement, SEI, the parent of the Administrator shall succeed
to the rights, duties, obligations and liabilities of the Administrator
hereunder, and may without limitation and whenever it deems necessary or
appropriate, subcontract, delegate or assign its rights, duties, obligations and
liabilities hereunder to subsidiaries or affiliates of the Administrator
following notice to the Trust. Such actions shall discharge the Administrator or
SEI from its obligations hereunder.
ARTICLE 3. ALLOCATION OF CHARGES AND EXPENSES.
(A) THE ADMINISTRATOR. The Administrator shall furnish at its own
expense the executive, supervisory and clerical personnel necessary to perform
its obligations under this Agreement. The Administrator shall also provide the
items which it is obligated to provide under this Agreement, and shall pay all
compensation, if any, of officers of the Trust as well as all Trustees of the
Trust who are affiliated persons of the Administrator or any affiliated
corporation of the Administrator; provided, however, that unless otherwise
specifically provided, the Administrator shall not be obligated to pay the
compensation of any employee of the Trust retained by the Trustees of the Trust
to perform services on behalf of the Trust.
(B) THE TRUST. The Trust assumes and shall pay or cause to be paid all
other expenses of the Trust not otherwise allocated herein, including, without
limitation, organizational costs, taxes, expenses for legal and auditing
services, the expenses of preparing (including typesetting), printing and
mailing reports, prospectuses, statements of additional information, proxy
solicitation material and notices to existing Shareholders, all expenses
incurred in connection with issuing and redeeming Shares, the costs of pricing
services, the costs of custodial services, the cost of initial and ongoing
registration of the Shares under Federal and state securities laws, fees and
out-of-pocket expenses of Trustees who are not affiliated persons of the
Administrator or the investment adviser to the Trust or any affiliated
corporation of the Administrator or the investment Adviser, the costs of
Trustees' meetings, insurance, interest, brokerage costs,
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litigation and other extraordinary or nonrecurring expenses, and all fees and
charges of investment advisers to the Trust.
ARTICLE 4. COMPENSATION OF THE ADMINISTRATOR.
(A) ADMINISTRATION FEE. For the services to be rendered, the facilities
furnished and the expenses assumed by the Administrator pursuant to this
Agreement, the Trust shall pay to the Administrator compensation at an annual
rate specified in the Schedule. Such compensation shall be calculated and
accrued daily, and paid to the Administrator monthly. The Trust shall also
reimburse the Administrator for its reasonable out-of-pocket expenses.
If this Agreement becomes effective subsequent to the first day of a
month or terminates before the last day of a month, the Administrator's
compensation for that part of the month in which this Agreement is in effect
shall be prorated in a manner consistent with the calculation of the fees as set
forth above. Payment of the Administrator's compensation for the preceding month
shall be made promptly.
(B) COMPENSATION FROM TRANSACTIONS. The Trust hereby authorizes any
entity or person associated with the Administrator which is a member of a
national securities exchange to effect any transaction on the exchange for the
account of the Trust which is permitted by Section 11 (a) of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 11a2-2(T) thereunder, and the Trust hereby
consents to the retention of compensation for such transactions in accordance
with Rule 11a2-2(T) (a) (2) (iv).
(C) SURVIVAL OF COMPENSATION RATES. All rights of compensation under
this Agreement for services performed as of the termination date shall survive
the termination of this Agreement.
ARTICLE 5. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY OF THE ADMINISTRATOR. The duties of
the Administrator shall be confined to those expressly set forth herein, and no
implied duties are assumed by or may be asserted against the Administrator
hereunder. The Administrator shall not be liable for any error of judgment or
mistake of law or for any loss arising out of any investment or for any act or
omission in carrying out its duties hereunder, except a loss resulting from
willful misfeasance, bad faith or negligence in the performance of its duties,
or by reason of reckless disregard of its obligations and duties hereunder,
except as may otherwise be provided under provisions of applicable law which
cannot be waived or modified hereby. (As used in this Article 5, the term
"Administrator" shall include directors, officers, employees and other agents of
the Administrator as well as that corporation itself.)
So long as the Administrator, or its agents, acts in good faith and
with due diligence the Trust assumes full responsibility and shall indemnify the
Administrator and hold it harmless from and against any and all actions, suits
and claims, whether groundless or otherwise, and from and against any and all
losses, damages, costs, charges, reasonable counsel fees and disbursements,
payments, expenses and liabilities (including reasonable investigation expenses)
arising directly or indirectly from any action which the Administrator takes or
does not take (i) at the request, on the direction of or in reliance on the
advice of the Trust pursuant to this
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agreement or (ii) upon oral or written instructions. The indemnity provision set
forth herein shall survive the termination of this Agreement.
The Administrator may apply to the Trust at any time for instructions
and may consult counsel for the Trust or its own counsel and with accountants
and other experts with respect to any matter arising in connection with the
Administrator's duties, and the Administrator shall not be liable or accountable
for any action taken or omitted by it in good faith in accordance with the
written opinion of such counsel, accountants or other experts.
Also, the Administrator shall be protected in acting upon any document
which it reasonably believes to be genuine and to have been signed or presented
by the proper person or persons. Nor shall the Administrator be held to have
notice of any change of authority of any officers, employee or agent of the
Trust until receipt of written notice thereof from the Trust.
ARTICLE 6. ACTIVITIES OF THE ADMINISTRATOR. The services of the
Administrator rendered to the Trust are not to be deemed to be exclusive. The
Administrator is free to render such services to others and to have other
businesses and interests. It is understood that Trustees, officers, employees
and Shareholders of the Trust are or may be or become interested in the
Administrator, as directors, officers, employees and shareholders or otherwise
and that directors, officers, employees and shareholders of the Administrator
and its counsel are or may be or become similarly interested in the Trust, and
that the Administrator may be or become interested in the Trust as a Shareholder
or otherwise.
ARTICLE 7. CONFIDENTIALITY. The Administrator agrees on behalf of
itself and its employees to treat confidentially all records and other
information relative to the Trust and its prior, present or potential
Shareholders and relative to the Adviser and its prior, present or potential
customers, except, after prior notification to and approval in writing by the
Trust, which approval shall not be unreasonably withheld and may not be withheld
where the Administrator may be exposed to civil or criminal contempt proceedings
for failure to comply, when requested to divulge such information by duly
constituted authorities, or when so requested by the Trust.
ARTICLE 8. EQUIPMENT FAILURES. In the event of equipment failures
beyond the Administrator's control, the Administrator shall, at no additional
expense to the Trust, take reasonable steps to minimize service interruptions
but shall have no liability with respect thereto. The Administrator shall
develop and maintain a plan for recovery from equipment failures which may
include contractual arrangements with appropriate parties making reasonable
provision for emergency use of electronic data processing equipment to the
extent appropriate equipment is available.
ARTICLE 9. YEAR 2000 COMPLIANT. The Administrator warrants that all
software code owned by or under the Administrator's control, used in the
performance of the Administrator's obligations under this contract, will be Year
2000 compliant. For purposes of this paragraph, "Year 2000 Compliant" means that
the software will continue to operate beyond December 31, 1999 without creating
any logical or mathematical inconsistencies
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concerning any date after December 31, 1999 and without decreasing the
functionality of the system applicable to dates prior to January 1, 2000
including, but not limited to, making changes to [a] date and data century
recognition; [b] calculations which accommodate same- and multi- century
formulas and date values; and [c] input/output of date values which reflect
century dates. All changes described in this paragraph will be made at no
additional cost to the Trust.
ARTICLE 10. COMPLIANCE WITH GOVERNMENTAL RULES AND REGULATIONS. The
Administrator undertakes to comply with all applicable requirements of the 1933
Act, the 1934 Act, the 1940 Act and any laws, rules and regulations of
governmental authorities having jurisdiction with respect to the duties to be
performed by the Administrator hereunder.
ARTICLE 11. DURATION AND TERMINATION OF THIS AGREEMENT. This Agreement
shall become effective on the date first set forth above and shall remain in
effect until the effective date of an administration agreement between The
Administrator and the Trust for the provision of administration services for all
of the Portfolios of the Trust.
This Agreement shall not be assignable by the Administrator, without
the prior written consent of the Trust, except to an entity that is controlled
by, or under common control, with, the Administrator.
ARTICLE 12. AMENDMENTS. This Agreement or any part hereof may be
changed or waived only by an instrument in writing signed by the party against
which enforcement of such change or waiver is sought.
ARTICLE 13. CERTAIN RECORDS. The Administrator shall maintain customary
records in connection with its duties as specified in this Agreement. Any
records required to be maintained and preserved pursuant to Rules 31a-1 and
31a-2 under the 1940 Act which are prepared or maintained by the Administrator
on behalf of the Trust shall be prepared and maintained at the expense of the
Administrator, but shall be the property of the Trust and will be made available
to or surrendered promptly to the Trust on request.
In case of any request or demand for the inspection of such records by
another party, the Administrator shall notify the Trust and follow the Trust's
instructions as to permitting or refusing such inspection; provided that the
Administrator may exhibit such records to any person in any case where it is
advised by its counsel that it may be held liable for failure to do so, unless
(in cases involving potential exposure only to civil liability) the Trust has
agreed to indemnify the Administrator against such liability.
ARTICLE 14. DEFINITIONS OF CERTAIN TERMS. The terms "interested person"
and "affiliated person," when used in this Agreement, shall have the respective
meanings specified in the 1940 Act and the rules and regulations thereunder,
subject to such exemptions as may be granted by the Securities and Exchange
Commission.
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ARTICLE 15. NOTICE. Any notice required or permitted to be given by
either party to the other shall be deemed sufficient if sent by registered or
certified mail, postage prepaid, addressed by the party giving notice to the
other party at the last address furnished by the other party to the party giving
notice: if to the Trust, at National City Bank, 0000 Xxxx 000xx Xxxxxx,
Xxxxxxxxx Xxxx 00000-0000; and if to the Administrator at 0 Xxxxxxx Xxxxxx
Xxxxx, Xxxx, Xxxxxxxxxxxx, 00000.
ARTICLE 16. GOVERNING LAW. This Agreement shall be construed in
accordance with the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the applicable
provisions of the 1940 Act. To the extent that the applicable laws of the
Commonwealth of Massachusetts, or any of the provisions herein, conflict with
the applicable provisions of the 1940 Act, the latter shall control.
ARTICLE 17. MULTIPLE ORIGINALS. This Agreement may be executed in two
or more counterparts, each of which when so executed shall be deemed to be an
original, but such counterparts shall together constitute but one and the same
instrument.
ARTICLE 18. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY. The Administrator is hereby
expressly put on notice of the limitation of liability as set forth in Article
XI of the Trust's Declaration of Trust and agrees that the obligations pursuant
to this Agreement of a particular Portfolio and of the Trust with respect to
that Portfolio shall be limited solely to the assets of that Portfolio, and the
Administrator shall not seek satisfaction of any such obligation from any other
Portfolio, the shareholders of any Portfolio, the Trustees, officers, employees
or agents of the Trust, or any of them.
ARTICLE 19. BINDING AGREEMENT. This Agreement, and the rights and
obligations of the parties and the Portfolios hereunder, shall be binding on,
and inure to the benefit of, the parties and the Portfolios and the respective
successors and assigns of each of them.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have executed and delivered this
Agreement as of the day and year first above written.
ARMADA FUNDS
By:__________________________
Attest: _____________________
SEI FUND RESOURCES
By:__________________________
Attest: _____________________
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SCHEDULE
TO THE INTERIM ADMINISTRATION AGREEMENT
DATED AS OF ______________, 1998
BETWEEN
ARMADA FUNDS
AND
SEI FUND RESOURCES
Portfolios: This Agreement shall apply to the following Portfolios of the
Trust: National Tax Exempt Fund and Tax Managed Equity Fund.
Fees: Pursuant to Article 4, Section A, the Trust shall pay the
Administrator compensation for services rendered to the
Portfolios at an annual rate, which is calculated daily and
paid monthly, equal to .07% fee, of average daily net assets
of each Portfolio.
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SCHEDULE II
ACCOUNTING SERVICES
The Administrator will perform the following accounting functions:
(i) Journalize each Portfolio's investment, capital share and income and
expense activities;
(ii) Receive duplicate investment buy/sell trade tickets and receivable
trades with the Fund's custodian;
(iii) Maintain individual ledgers for investment securities;
(iv) Maintain historical tax lots for each security;
(v) Reconcile cash and investment balances of each Portfolio with the
custodian, and prepare the beginning cash balance available for
investment purposes;
(vi) Update the cash availability throughout the day as required;
(vii) Post to and prepare each Portfolio's statement of Assets and
Liabilities and the Statement of Operations;
(viii) Calculate various contractual expenses (e.g., advisory and custody
fees);
(ix) Monitor the expense accruals and notify Fund management of any
proposed adjustments;
(x) Control all disbursements from each Portfolio and authorize such
disbursements upon Written Instruction;
(xi) Calculate capital gains and losses;
(xii) Determine each Portfolio's net income;
(xiii) Obtain security market quotes from independent pricing services
approved by the Fund, or if such quotes are unavailable, then obtain
such prices from the management of the Fund, and in either case
calculate the market value of each Portfolio's investment's;
(xiv) Transit or mail a copy of the daily portfolio valuation to each
Portfolio's investment advisor;
(xv) Compute the net asset value of each Portfolio;
(xvi) As appropriate, compute the yields, total return, expense ratios,
portfolio turnover rate, and, if required, portfolio average
dollar-weighted maturity; and
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(xvii) Prepare a monthly financial statement, which will include the following
items:
Schedule of Investments
Statement of Assets and Liabilities
Statement of Operations
Statement of Change in Net Assets
Cash Statement
Schedule of Capital Gains and Losses.
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