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Exhibit 99.B6(b)
SELLING GROUP AGREEMENT XXXXXX DISTRIBUTORS, INC.
000 Xxxxx Xxxxxxxxx Xxxxx, Xxxxxxx, Xxxxxxxx 00000
Dear Financial Services Firm:
As principal underwriter and distributor, we invite you to join a
Selling Group for the distribution of shares of the Xxxxxx Funds (herein called
"Funds"), but only in those states in which the shares of the respective Funds
may legally be offered for sale. As exclusive agent of each of the Funds, we
offer to sell to you shares of the Funds on the following terms:
1. In all sales of these shares to the public you shall act as dealer
for your own account, and in no transaction shall you have any authority to act
as agent for the issuer, for us, or for any other member of the Selling Group.
2. Orders received from you will be accepted by us only at the public
offering price applicable to each order, as established by the Prospectus of
each Fund, subject to the discount, commission or other concession, if any, as
provided in such Prospectus. Upon receipt from you of any order to purchase
shares of a Fund, we shall confirm to you in writing or by wire to be followed
by a confirmation in writing. Additional instructions may be forwarded to you
from time to time. All orders are subject to acceptance or rejection by us in
our sole discretion.
3. You may offer and sell shares to your customers only at the public
offering price determined in the manner described in the applicable Prospectus.
The public offering price is the net asset value per share as provided in the
applicable Prospectus plus, with respect to certain Funds, a sales charge from
which you shall receive a discount equal to a percentage of the applicable
offering price as provided in the applicable Prospectus. You shall receive a
sales commission, with respect to certain Funds, equal to a percentage of the
amount invested as provided in the applicable Prospectus. You shall receive a
distribution service fee, for certain Funds for which such fees are available,
as provided in the applicable Prospectus which fee shall be payable with
respect to such assets, for such periods and at such intervals as are from time
to time specified by us. The discounts or other concessions to which you may be
entitled in connection with sales to your customers pursuant to any special
features of a Fund (such as cumulative discounts, letters of intent, etc., the
terms of which shall be as described in the applicable Prospectus and related
forms) shall be in accordance with the terms of such features. You may receive
an administrative service fee, with respect to certain Funds for which such
fees are available, as provided in the applicable Prospectus, which fee shall
be payable with respect to such assets, for such periods and at such intervals
as are from time
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to time specified by us. Our liability to you with respect to the
payment of any service fee is limited to the proceeds received by us from the
Funds for your services, and you waive any right you may have to payment of any
service fee until we are in receipt of the proceeds from the Funds that are
attributable to your services.
4. By accepting this agreement, you agree:
(a) To purchase shares only from us or from your customers.
(b) That you will purchase shares from us only to cover
purchase orders already received from your customers, or for your
own bona fide investments.
(c) That you will not purchase shares from your
customers at a price lower than the bid price then quoted by or
for the Fund involved. You may, however, sell shares for the
account of your customer to the Fund, or to us as agent for the
Fund, at the bid price currently quoted by or for the Fund and
charge your customer a fair commission for handling the
transaction.
(d) That you will not withhold placing with us orders
received from your customers so as to profit yourself as a result
of such withholding.
5. We will not accept from you any conditional orders for
shares.
6. If any shares confirmed to you under the terms of this agreement
are repurchased by the issuing Fund or by us as agent for the Fund, or are
tendered for repurchase, within seven business days after the date of our
confirmation of the original purchase order, you shall forthwith refund to us
the full discount, commission, finder's fee or other concession, if any,
allowed or paid to you on such shares.
7. Payment for shares ordered from us shall be in New York clearing
house funds and must be received by the appropriate Fund's shareholder service
agent within seven days after our acceptance of your order (or such shorter
time period as may be required by applicable regulations). If such payment is
not received, we reserve the right, without notice, forthwith to cancel the
sale or, at our option, to sell the shares ordered back to the Fund, in which
case we may hold you responsible for any loss, including loss of profit
suffered by us as a result of your failure to make such payment.
8. Shares sold to you hereunder shall be available in negotiable form
for delivery at the appropriate Fund's shareholder services agent, against
payment, unless other instructions have been given.
9. All sales will be made subject to our receipt of shares from the
Fund. We reserve the right, in our discretion, without notice, to suspend
sales or withdraw the offering of shares entirely. We reserve the right to
modify, cancel or change the terms of this agreement, upon 15 days prior
written notice to you. Also, the sales charges, discounts, commissions or
other concessions, service fees of any kind provided for hereunder are subject
to change at any time by the Funds and us.
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10. All communications to us should be sent to the address in the
heading above. Any notice to you shall be duly given if mailed or telegraphed
to you at the address specified by you below.
11. This agreement shall be construed in accordance with the laws of
Illinois. This agreement is subject to the Prospectuses of the Funds from time
to time in effect, and, in the event of a conflict, the terms of the
Prospectuses shall control. References herein to the "Prospectus" of a Fund
shall mean the prospectus and statement of additional information of such Fund
as from time to time in effect. Any changes, modifications or additions
reflected in any such Prospectus shall be effective on the date of such
Prospectus (or supplement thereto) unless specified otherwise.
12. This agreement is subject to the Additional Stipulations and
Conditions on the reverse side hereof, all of which are a part of this
agreement.
Xxxxxx Distributors, Inc.
By
----------------------------
Authorized Signature
Title
-------------------------
We have read the foregoing agreement and accept and agree to the
terms and conditions thereof.
Firm
-------------------------
Witness
------------------------ By
----------------------------
Authorized Representative
Dated Title
------------------------- -------------------------
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ADDITIONAL STIPULATIONS AND CONDITIONS
13. No person is authorized to make any representations concerning
shares of any Fund except those contained in the Prospectus of such Fund and in
printed information subsequently issued by the Fund or by us as information
supplemental to such Prospectus. If you wish to use your own advertising with
respect to a Fund, all such advertising must be approved by us or by the Fund
prior to use. You shall be responsible for any required filing of such
advertising.
14. Your acceptance of this agreement constitutes a representation (i)
that you are a registered security dealer and a member in good standing of the
National Association of Securities Dealers, Inc. and that you agree to comply
with all state and federal laws, rules and regulations applicable to
transactions hereunder and to the Rules of Fair Practice of the National
Association of Securities Dealers, Inc., or (ii) if you are offering and
selling shares of the Funds only in jurisdictions outside of the several
states, territories and possessions of the United States and are not otherwise
required to be a member of the National Association of Securities Dealers,
Inc., that you nevertheless agree to conduct your business in accordance with
the spirit of the Rules of Fair Practice of the National Association of
Securities Dealers, Inc., and to observe the laws and regulations of the
applicable jurisdiction. You likewise agree that you will not offer to sell
shares of any Fund in any state or other jurisdiction in which they may not
lawfully be offered for sale.
15. You shall make available an investment management account for your
customers through the Funds and shall provide such office space and equipment,
telephone facilities, personnel and literature distribution as is necessary or
appropriate for providing information and services to your customer. Such
services and assistance may include, but not be limited to, establishment and
maintenance of shareholder accounts and records, processing purchase and
redemption transactions, answering routine inquiries regarding the Funds, and
such other services as may be agreed upon from time to time and as may be
permitted by applicable statute, rule, or regulation. You agree to release,
indemnify and hold harmless the Funds, us and our respective representatives
and agents from any and all direct or indirect liabilities or losses resulting
from requests, directions, actions or inactions of or by you, your officers,
employees or agents regarding the purchase, redemption or transfer of
registration of shares of the Funds for accounts of you, your customers and
other shareholders or from any unauthorized or improper use of any on-line
computer facilities. You shall prepare such periodic reports for us as shall
reasonably be requested by us. You shall immediately inform the Funds or us of
all written complaints received by you from Fund shareholders relating to the
maintenance of their accounts and shall promptly answer all such complaints and
other similar correspondence. You shall provide the Funds and us on a timely
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basis with such information as may be required to complete various
regulatory forms.
16. As a result of the necessity to compute the amount of any
contingent deferred sales charge due with respect to the redemption of shares,
you may not hold shares of a Fund imposing such a charge in an account
registered in your name or in the name of your nominee for the benefit of
certain of your customers except with our prior written consent. Except as
otherwise permitted by us, shares of such a Fund owned by a shareholder must be
in a separate identifiable account for such shareholder.
17. Shares of certain Funds have been divided into separate classes:
Class A Shares, Class B Shares and Class C Shares. Class A Shares are offered
at net asset value plus an initial sales charge. Class B Shares are offered at
net asset value without an initial sales charge but are subject to a contingent
deferred sales charge and a Rule 12b-1 fee and have a conversion feature.
Class C Shares are offered at net asset value without an initial sales charge
but are subject to a contingent deferred sales charge and a Rule 12b-1 fee, and
have no conversion feature. Please see the appropriate Prospectuses for a more
complete description of the distinctions between the classes of shares.
It is important to investors not only to choose Funds appropriate for
their investment objectives, but also to choose the appropriate distribution
arrangement, based on the amount invested and the expected duration of the
investment. To assist investors in these decisions, we have instituted the
following policies with respect to orders for shares of the Funds. The
following policies and procedures with respect to sales of classes of shares of
the Funds apply to each broker/dealer that distributes shares of the Funds.
1. All purchase orders for $500,000 or more (not including street name
or omnibus accounts) should be for Class A Shares.
2. Any purchase order of less than $500,000 may be for either Class A,
Class B or Class C Shares in light of the relevant facts and circumstances,
including:
a. the specific purchase order dollar amount;
b. the length of time the investor expects to hold the
shares; and
c. any other relevant circumstances such as the
availability of purchases under a Letter of Intent, Combined
Purchases or Cumulative Discount Privilege.
There are instances when one pricing structure may be more appropriate
than another. For example, investors who would qualify for a reduced sales
charge on Class A Shares may determine that payment of a reduced front-end
sales charge is preferable to payment of an ongoing Rule 12b-1 fee. On the
other hand, investors whose orders would not qualify for such a discount and
who plan to hold their investment for more than six years may wish to defer the
sales charge and would consider Class B Shares. Investors who prefer not to
pay an initial sales charge and who plan to redeem their shares within six
years might consider Class C Shares.
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Appropriate supervisory personnel within your organization must ensure
that all employees receiving investor inquiries about the purchase of shares of
the Funds advise the investor of the available pricing structures offered by
the Funds and the impact of choosing one method over another, including
breakpoints and the availability of Letters of Intent, Combined Purchases and
Cumulative Discounts. In some instances it may be appropriate for a
supervisory person to discuss a purchase with the investor.
18. This agreement shall be in substitution of any prior selling group
agreement between you and us regarding these shares. This agreement shall not
be applicable to the provision of services for Cash Equivalent Fund, Tax-Exempt
California Money Market Fund, Tax-Exempt New York Money Market Fund, Investors
Cash Trust and similar wholesale money market funds. The payment of related
distribution and services fees, shall be subject to separate services
agreements.
