The Putnam Funds
December 19, 2019
The Xxxxxx Funds
000 Xxxxxxx Xxxxxx
Boston, Massachusetts 02110
Ladies and Gentlemen:
Xxxxxx Investment Management, LLC (“PIM”) hereby contractually agrees, as of the date hereof, with respect to the funds specified below or in Schedule A, Schedule B, or Schedule C, to waive fees and reimburse certain expenses in the manner provided below:
- Other expenses.
- XXX agrees to waive fees and/or reimburse expenses of each open-end fund listed on Schedule A and each variable trust fund listed on Schedule B to the extent necessary to limit the cumulative expenses of the fund, exclusive of brokerage, interest, taxes, investment-related expenses (including borrowing costs, i.e., short selling and lines of credit costs), extraordinary expenses, acquired fund fees and expenses, and payments under the fund’s investor servicing contract, the fund’s investment management contract (including any applicable performance-based upward or downward adjustment to a fund’s base management fee), and the fund’s distribution plans, to an annual (measured on a fiscal year basis) rate of 0.20% of the fund’s average net assets. This contractual waiver will remain in effect for a fund through the expiration of one year following the effective date of the next annual update of the fund’s registration statement.
- XXX agrees to waive fees and/or reimburse expenses of Xxxxxx Dynamic Asset Allocation Equity Fund to the extent necessary to limit the cumulative expenses of the fund, exclusive of brokerage, interest, taxes, investment-related expenses (including borrowing costs, i.e., short selling and lines of credit costs), extraordinary expenses, acquired fund fees and expenses, and payments under the fund’s investor servicing contract, the fund’s investment management contract, and the fund’s distribution plans, to an annual (measured on a fiscal year basis) rate of 0.02% of the fund’s average net assets. This contractual waiver will remain in effect through the expiration of the one-year period following the effective date of the next annual update of the fund’s registration statement.
- Fund-specific expense limitations.
- As set forth in the table below, PIM agrees to waive fees and/or reimburse expenses of each fund set forth below to the extent that the total annual fund operating expenses for the fund -- exclusive of payments under the fund’s distribution plans, any applicable performance-based upward or downward adjustment to the fund’s base management fee, brokerage, interest, taxes, investment-related expenses (including borrowing costs, i.e., short selling and lines of credit costs), extraordinary expenses, and acquired fund fees and expenses – would exceed the specified rate through the specified date, which is the expiration of the one-year period following the effective date of the next annual update of each fund’s registration statement:
| Fund | Proposed Contractual Limitation on Total Fund Operating Expenses |
Expiration
| |
| Xxxxxx VT International Growth Fund | 1.09% | April 30, 2021 | |
| Xxxxxx VT Multi-Asset Absolute Return Fund | 0.90% | April 30, 2021 | |
| Xxxxxx VT Mortgage Securities Fund | 0.50% | April 30, 2021 | |
- As set forth in the table below, PIM agrees to waive fees and/or reimburse expenses of each fund set forth below to the extent that the total annual fund operating expenses for the fund – exclusive of payments under the fund’s distribution plans, payments under the fund’s investor servicing contract, any applicable performance-based upward or downward adjustment to the fund’s base management fee, brokerage, interest, taxes, investment-related expenses (including borrowing costs, i.e., short selling and lines of credit costs), extraordinary expenses, and acquired fund fees and expenses – would exceed the specified rate through the specified date, which is the expiration of the one-year period following the effective date of the next post-effective amendment of each fund’s registration statement:
| Fund | Proposed Contractual Limitation on Total Fund Operating Expenses |
Expiration
| |
| Xxxxxx Dynamic Risk Allocation Fund | 0.70% | Sept. 30, 2020 | |
| Xxxxxx Emerging Markets Equity Fund | 0.78% | December 30, 2020 | |
| Xxxxxx Income Fund | 0.32%/0.33%[1] | Feb. 28, 2021 | |
| Xxxxxx Intermediate-Term Municipal Income Fund | 0.52% | March 30, 2021 | |
| Xxxxxx International Growth Fund | 0.93% | January 30, 2021 | |
| Xxxxxx Mortgage Opportunities Fund | 0.46% | Sept. 30, 2020 | |
| Xxxxxx Mortgage Securities Fund | 0.32% | January 30, 2021 | |
| Xxxxxx Multi-Asset Absolute Return Fund | 0.77% | Feb. 28, 2021 | |
| Xxxxxx Ultra Short Duration Income Fund | 0.24% | Nov. 30, 2020 | |
| Xxxxxx Short-Term Municipal Income Fund | 0.28% | March 30, 2021 | |
[1] Effective December 1, 2019 through February 27, 2020, Xxxxxx Income Fund will have a contractual limitation on total fund operating expenses (subject to the exclusions detailed above) of 0.32%. Effective February 28, 2020 through February 28, 2021, Xxxxxx Income Fund will have a contractual limitation on total fund operating expenses (subject to the exclusions detailed above) of 0.33%.
- Xxxxxx Short Term Investment Fund. XXX agrees to waive the contractual management fee of 0.25% for Xxxxxx Short Term Investment Fund through November 30, 2020, the expiration of the one-year period following the effective date of the next annual update of the fund’s registration statement.
- Xxxxxx VT Global Equity Fund. Effective upon the closing of the merger of Xxxxxx VT Global Utilities Fund into Xxxxxx VT Global Equity Fund, PIM agrees to waive 5 basis points of the contractual management fee payable by Xxxxxx VT Global Equity Fund through April 30, 2021, the expiration of the one-year period following the effective date of the next annual update of the fund’s registration statement.
- Target Date Funds.
| a. | XXX agrees to reimburse the Xxxxxx fund-of-funds specified below for all other expenses – exclusive of payments under the fund’s distribution plans, brokerage, interest, taxes, investment-related expenses, extraordinary expenses, acquired fund fees and expenses and payments under the fund’s investor servicing contract – through the dates indicated below, which, with the exception of Xxxxxx RetirementReady® 2060 Fund, equate to the expiration of the one-year period following the effective date of the next annual update of each fund’s registration statement. |
| Fund | Expiration |
| Xxxxxx RetirementReady® Funds* | Nov. 30, 2020 |
* The expense limitation for Xxxxxx RetirementReady® 2060 Fund expires on Nov. 30, 2029
| b. | XXX agrees to waive fees, reimburse expenses of, or reimburse the Xxxxxx fund-of-funds specified below), an amount equal to each fund’s “acquired fund fees and expenses” through the dates indicated below. |
| Fund | Expiration |
| Xxxxxx Retirement Advantage Funds | The date that is three years after the effective date of each fund’s initial registration statement |
XXX agrees to waive fees and/or reimburse expenses of class R6 shares of each Xxxxxx Retirement Advantage Fund in an amount sufficient to result in total annual fund operating expenses for class R6 shares of each fund – exclusive of brokerage, interest, taxes, investment-related expenses (including borrowing costs, i.e., short selling and lines of credit costs), and extraordinary expenses – that equal 0.45% of the fund’s average net assets attributable to class R6 shares. This contractual waiver will remain in effect through the date that is three years after the effective date of the fund’s initial registration statement.
Effective December 1, 2019, this contractual undertaking supersedes any prior contractual expense limitation provisions between PIM and the funds. This undertaking shall be binding upon any successors and assignees of PIM.
A copy of the Declaration of Trust (including any amendments thereto) of each of The Xxxxxx Funds is on file with the Secretary of The Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and notice is hereby given that this instrument is executed on behalf of the Trustees of each Xxxxxx Fund as trustees and not individually and that the obligations of or arising out of this instrument are not binding upon any of the Trustees or officers or shareholders individually, but binding only upon the assets and property of each Xxxxxx Fund with respect to its obligations under this instrument. Furthermore, notice is given that the assets and liabilities of each series of each Xxxxxx Fund that is a series company are separate and distinct and that the obligations of or arising out of this instrument are several and not joint or joint and several and are binding only on the assets of each series with respect to its obligations under this instrument. Each fund is acting on its own behalf separately from all of the other investment companies and not jointly or jointly and severally with any of the other investment companies.
Very truly yours,
XXXXXX INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT, LLC
By: __/s/ Xxxxxx X. Xxxxx_______________
Xxxxxx X. Xxxxx
Vice President and Chief Legal Officer
Agreed and accepted by each Xxxxxx fund listed on Schedule A,
Schedule B and Schedule C
By: _/s/ Xxxxxxxx X. Xxxxxxx_______________
| Xxxxxxxx X. Xxxxxxx |
| Executive Vice President, Principal |
| Executive Officer, and Compliance Liaison |
Schedule A
Xxxxxx California Tax Exempt Income Fund
Xxxxxx Convertible Securities Fund
Xxxxxx Diversified Income Trust
Xxxxxx Asset Allocation Funds
- Xxxxxx Dynamic Asset Allocation Balanced Fund
- Xxxxxx Dynamic Asset Allocation Conservative Fund
- Xxxxxx Dynamic Asset Allocation Growth Fund
- Xxxxxx Income Strategies Portfolio
Xxxxxx Equity Income Fund
Xxxxxx Funds Trust
- Xxxxxx Capital Spectrum Fund
- Xxxxxx Dynamic Risk Allocation Fund
- Xxxxxx Emerging Markets Equity Fund
- Xxxxxx Equity Spectrum Fund
- Xxxxxx Fixed Income Absolute Return Fund
- Xxxxxx Floating Rate Income Fund
- Xxxxxx Focused Equity Fund
- Xxxxxx Global Technology Fund
- Xxxxxx Intermediate-Term Municipal Income Fund
- Xxxxxx International Value Fund
- Xxxxxx Mortgage Opportunities Fund
- Xxxxxx Multi-Asset Absolute Return Fund
- Xxxxxx Multi-Cap Core Fund
- Xxxxxx Short Duration Bond Fund
- Xxxxxx Short-Term Municipal Income Fund
- Xxxxxx Small Cap Growth Fund
- Xxxxxx Ultra Short Duration Income Fund
Xxxxxx Xxxxxx Balanced Fund
Xxxxxx Global Equity Fund
Xxxxxx Global Health Care Fund
Xxxxxx Global Income Trust
Xxxxxx High Yield Fund
Xxxxxx Income Fund
Xxxxxx International Equity Fund
Xxxxxx Investment Funds
-Xxxxxx Government Money Market Fund
-Xxxxxx Growth Opportunities Fund
-Xxxxxx International Capital Opportunities Fund
-Xxxxxx International Growth Fund
-Xxxxxx PanAgora Managed Futures Strategy
-Xxxxxx PanAgora Market Neutral Fund
-Xxxxxx PanAgora Risk Parity Fund
-Xxxxxx Research Fund
-Xxxxxx Small Cap Value Fund
-Xxxxxx Sustainable Future Fund
Xxxxxx Massachusetts Tax Exempt Income Fund
Xxxxxx Minnesota Tax Exempt Income Fund
Xxxxxx Money Market Fund
Xxxxxx Mortgage Securities Fund
Xxxxxx New Jersey Tax Exempt Income Fund
Xxxxxx New York Tax Exempt Income Fund
Xxxxxx Ohio Tax Exempt Income Fund
Xxxxxx Pennsylvania Tax Exempt Income Fund
Xxxxxx Sustainable Leaders Fund
Xxxxxx Tax Exempt Income Fund
Xxxxxx Tax-Free Income Trust
-Xxxxxx AMT-Free Municipal Fund
-Xxxxxx Tax-Free High Yield Fund
Schedule B
Xxxxxx Variable Trust
- Xxxxxx VT Diversified Income Fund
- Xxxxxx VT Equity Income Fund
- Xxxxxx VT Xxxxxx Xxxxxx Balanced Fund
- Xxxxxx VT Global Asset Allocation Fund
- Xxxxxx VT Global Equity Fund
- Xxxxxx VT Global Health Care Fund
- Xxxxxx VT Government Money Market Fund
- Xxxxxx VT Growth Opportunities Fund
- Xxxxxx VT High Yield Fund
- Xxxxxx VT Income Fund
- Xxxxxx VT International Equity Fund
- Xxxxxx VT International Growth Fund
- Xxxxxx VT International Value Fund
- Xxxxxx VT Mortgage Securities Fund
- Xxxxxx VT Multi-Asset Absolute Return Fund
- Xxxxxx VT Multi-Cap Core Fund
- Xxxxxx VT Research Fund
- Xxxxxx VT Small Cap Growth Fund
- Xxxxxx VT Small Cap Value Fund
- Xxxxxx VT Sustainable Future Fund
- Xxxxxx VT Sustainable Leaders Fund
Schedule C
Other Funds Subject to Expense Limitations
Xxxxxx Funds Trust
- Xxxxxx Dynamic Asset Allocation Equity Fund
- Xxxxxx Short Term Investment Fund
Xxxxxx Target Date Funds
- Xxxxxx RetirementReady Maturity Fund
- Xxxxxx RetirementReady 2060 Fund
- Xxxxxx RetirementReady 2055 Fund
- Xxxxxx RetirementReady 2050 Fund
- Xxxxxx RetirementReady 2045 Fund
- Xxxxxx RetirementReady 2040 Fund
- Xxxxxx RetirementReady 2035 Fund
- Xxxxxx RetirementReady 2030 Fund
- Xxxxxx RetirementReady 2025 Fund
- Xxxxxx RetirementReady 2020 Fund
- Xxxxxx Retirement Advantage Maturity Fund
- Xxxxxx Retirement Advantage 2060 Fund
- Xxxxxx Retirement Advantage 2055 Fund
- Xxxxxx Retirement Advantage 2050 Fund
- Xxxxxx Retirement Advantage 2045 Fund
- Xxxxxx Retirement Advantage 2040 Fund
- Xxxxxx Retirement Advantage 2035 Fund
- Xxxxxx Retirement Advantage 2030 Fund
- Xxxxxx Retirement Advantage 2025 Fund
- Xxxxxx Retirement Advantage 2020 Fund
