EXHIBIT 99.(5)(a)
XXXXX XXXXX GROWTH TRUST
INVESTMENT ADVISORY AGREEMENT
ON BEHALF OF EV MARATHON GOLD & NATURAL RESOURCES FUND
AGREEMENT made on the 15th day of August, 1995, by and between Xxxxx
Xxxxx Growth Trust, a Massachusetts business trust (the "Trust") on behalf of EV
Marathon Gold & Natural Resources Fund (the "Fund"), and Xxxxx Xxxxx Management,
a Massachusetts business trust (hereinafter sometimes called the "Adviser").
1. Duties of the Adviser. The Trust hereby employs the Adviser to act
as investment adviser for and to manage the investment and reinvestment of the
assets of the Fund and to administer its affairs, subject to the supervision of
the Board of Trustees of the Trust, for the period and on the terms set forth in
this Agreement.
The Adviser hereby accepts such employment, and undertakes to afford to
the Trust the advice and assistance of the Adviser's organization in the choice
of investments and in the purchase and sale of securities for the Fund and to
furnish for the use of the Fund office space and all necessary office
facilities, equipment and personnel for servicing the investments of the Fund.
The Adviser shall pay the salaries and fees of all officers and Trustees of
the Trust who are members of the Adviser's organization and of all personnel of
the Adviser performing services relating to research and investment activities.
The Adviser shall for all purposes herein be deemed to be an independent
contractor and shall, except otherwise expressly provided or authorized, have
no authority to act for or represent the Trust in any way or otherwise be
deemed an agent of the Trust.
The Adviser shall provide the Trust with such investment management and
supervision as the Trust may from time to time consider necessary for the proper
supervision of the Fund. As investment adviser to the Trust, the Adviser shall
furnish continuously an investment program and shall determine from time to time
what securities shall be purchased, sold or exchanged and what portion of the
Fund's assets shall be held uninvested, subject always to the applicable
restrictions of the Declaration of Trust, By-Laws and registration statement of
the Trust under the Investment Company Act of 1940, all as from time to time
amended. The Adviser is authorized, in its discretion and without prior
consultation with the Trust, to buy, sell, lend and otherwise trade in any and
all types of securities, commodities and investment instruments on behalf of the
Fund. Should the Trustees of the Trust at any time, however, make any specific
determination as to investment policy for the Fund and notify the Adviser
thereof in writing, the Adviser shall be bound by such determination for the
period, if any, specified in such notice or until similarly notified that such
determination has been revoked. The Adviser shall take, on behalf of the Trust,
all actions which it deems necessary or desirable to implement the investment
policies of the Trust and of the Fund.
The Adviser shall place all orders for the purchase or sale of
portfolio securities for the Fund's account with brokers or dealers or other
persons selected by the Adviser, and to that end the Adviser is authorized as
the agent of the Fund to give instructions to the custodian of the Fund as to
deliveries of securities and payments of cash for the account of the Fund. In
connection with the selection of such brokers or dealers or other persons and
the placing of such orders, the Adviser shall use its best efforts to seek to
execute security transactions at prices which are advantageous to the Fund and
at reasonably competitive spreads or (when a disclosed commission is being
charged) at reasonably competitive commission rates. In selecting brokers or
dealers qualified to execute a particular transaction, brokers or dealers may be
selected who also provide brokerage and research services (as those terms are
defined in Section 28(e) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934) to the Adviser,
and the Adviser is expressly authorized to pay any broker or dealer who provides
such brokerage and research services a commission for executing a security
transaction which is in excess of the amount of commission another broker or
dealer would have charged for effecting that transaction if the Adviser
determines in good faith that such amount of commission is reasonable in
relation to the value of the brokerage and research services provided by such
broker or dealer, viewed in terms of either that particular transaction or the
overall responsibilities which the Adviser and its affiliates have with respect
to accounts over which they exercise investment discretion. Subject to the
requirement set forth in the second sentence of this paragraph, the Adviser is
authorized to consider, as a factor in the selection of any broker or dealer
with whom purchase or sale orders may be placed, the fact that such broker or
dealer has sold or is selling shares of the Fund, or any other series of the
Trust, or of other investment companies sponsored by the Adviser.
2. Compensation of the Adviser. For the services, payments and
facilities to be furnished hereunder by the Adviser, the Fund shall pay to the
Adviser on the last day of such month a monthly fee based on the average daily
net assets of the Fund for the month, computed in accordance with the
Declaration of Trust of the Trust and any applicable votes of the Trustees of
the Trust.
Average Daily Net Monthly Fee Rate
Assets for the Month (For Each Level)
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Up to $500 million 1/16 of 1%
$500 million but less than $1 billion 11/192 of 1%
$1 billion but less than $1.5 billion 5/96 of 1%
$1.5 billion but less than $2 billion 3/64 of 1%
$2 billion but less than $3 billion 1/24 of 1%
$3 billion and over 7/192 of 1%
In case of initiation or termination of the Agreement during any month with
respect to the Fund, the fee for that month shall be reduced proportionately on
the basis of the number of calendar days during which it is in effect and the
fee shall be computed upon the basis of the average of valuations made
throughout such period.
The Adviser may, from time to time, waive all or a part of the above
compensation.
3. Allocation of Charges and Expenses. It is understood that the Fund
will pay all its expenses other than those expressly stated to be payable by the
Adviser hereunder, which expenses payable by the Fund shall include, without
implied limitation, (i) expenses of organizing and maintaining the Fund and
continuing its existence, (ii) registration of the Trust under the Investment
Company Act of 1940, (iii) commissions, spreads, fees and other expenses
connected with the purchase or sale of securities, (iv) auditing, accounting and
legal expenses, (v) taxes and interest, (vi) governmental fees, (vii) expenses
of issue, sale, repurchase and redemption of shares, (viii) expenses of
registering and qualifying the Fund and its shares under federal and state
securities laws and of preparing and printing prospectuses for such purposes and
for distributing the same to shareholders and investors, and fees and expenses
of registering and maintaining registrations of the Fund and of the Fund's
principal underwriter, if any, as broker-dealer or agent under state securities
laws, (ix) expenses of reports and notices to shareholders and of meetings of
shareholders and proxy solicitations therefor, (x) expenses of reports to
governmental officers and commissions, (xi) insurance expenses, (xii)
association membership dues, (xiii) fees, expenses and disbursements of
custodians and subcustodians for all services to the Fund (including without
limitation safekeeping of funds and securities, keeping of books and accounts
and determination of net asset values), (xiv) fees, expenses and disbursements
of transfer agents, dividend disbursing agents, shareholder servicing agents and
registrars for all services to the Fund, (xv) expenses for servicing shareholder
accounts, (xvi) any direct charges to shareholders approved by the Trustees of
the Trust, (xvii) compensation and expenses of Trustees of the Trust who are not
members of the Adviser's organization, (xviii) all payments to be made and
expenses to be assumed by the Fund pursuant to any one or more distribution
plans adopted by the Trust on behalf of the Fund pursuant to Rule 12b-1 under
the Investment Company Act of 1940, and (xix) such non-recurring items as may
arise, including expenses incurred in connection with litigation, proceedings
and claims and the obligation of the Trust to indemnify its Trustees and
officers with respect thereto.
4. Other Interests. It is understood that Trustees and officers of the
Trust and shareholders of the Fund are or may be or become interested in the
Adviser as trustees, officers, employees, shareholders or otherwise and that
trustees, officers, employees and shareholders of the Adviser are or may be or
become similarly interested in the Fund, and that the Adviser may be or become
interested in the Fund as a shareholder or otherwise. It is also understood that
trustees, officers, employees and shareholders of the Adviser may be or become
interested (as directors, trustees, officers, employees, stockholders or
otherwise) in other companies or entities (including, without limitation, other
investment companies) which the Adviser may organize, sponsor or acquire, or
with which it may merge or consolidate, and which may include the words "Xxxxx
Xxxxx" or any combination thereof as part of their name, and that the Adviser or
its subsidiaries or affiliates may enter into advisory or management agreements
or other contracts or relationships with such other companies or entities.
5. Limitation of Liability of the Adviser. The services of the Adviser
to the Trust are not to be deemed to be exclusive, the Adviser being free to
render services to others and engage in other business activities. In the
absence of willful misfeasance, bad faith, gross negligence or reckless
disregard of obligations or duties hereunder on the part of the Adviser, the
Adviser shall not be subject to liability to the Trust or to any shareholder of
the Fund for any act or omission in the course of, or connected with, rendering
services hereunder or for any losses which may be sustained in the purchase,
holding or sale of any security.
6. Sub-Investment Advisers. The Adviser may employ one or more
sub-investment advisers from time to time to perform such of the acts and
services of the Adviser, including the selection of brokers or dealers or other
persons to execute the Fund's portfolio security transactions, and upon such
terms and conditions as may be agreed upon between the Adviser and such
sub-investment adviser and approved by the Trustees of the Trust.
7. Duration and Termination of this Agreement. This Agreement shall
become effective upon the date of its execution, and, unless terminated as
herein provided, shall remain in full force and effect through and including
February 28, 1996 and shall continue in full force and effect indefinitely
thereafter, but only so long as such continuance after February 28, 1996 is
specifically approved at least annually (i) by the Board of Trustees of the
Trust or by vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the Fund
and (ii) by the vote of a majority of those Trustees of the Trust who are not
interested persons of the Adviser or the Trust cast in person at a meeting
called for the purpose of voting on such approval.
Either party hereto may, at any time on sixty (60) days' prior written
notice to the other, terminate this Agreement without the payment of any
penalty, by action of the Trustees of the Trust or the trustees of the Adviser,
as the case may be, and the Trust may, at any time upon such written notice to
the Adviser, terminate this Agreement by vote of a majority of the outstanding
voting securities of the Fund. This Agreement shall terminate automatically in
the event of its assignment.
8. Amendments of the Agreement. This Agreement may be amended by a
writing signed by both parties hereto, provided that no amendment to this
Agreement shall be effective until approved (i) by the vote of a majority of
those Trustees of the Trust who are not interested persons of the Adviser or the
Trust cast in person at a meeting called for the purpose of voting on such
approval, and (ii) by vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of
the Fund.
9. Limitation of Liability. The Adviser expressly acknowledges the
provision in the Declaration of Trust of the Trust limiting the personal
liability of shareholders of the Fund, and the Adviser hereby agrees that it
shall have recourse to the Trust or the Fund for payment of claims or
obligations as between the Trust or the Fund and the Adviser arising out of this
Agreement and shall not seek satisfaction from the shareholders or any
shareholder of the Fund.
10. Use of the Name "Xxxxx Xxxxx". The Adviser hereby consents to the
use by the Fund of the name "Xxxxx Xxxxx" as part of the Fund's name; provided,
however, that such consent shall be conditioned upon the employment of the
Adviser or one of its affiliates as the investment adviser of the Fund. The name
"Xxxxx Xxxxx" or any variation thereof may be used from time to time in other
connections and for other purposes by the Adviser and its affiliates and other
investment companies that have obtained consent to the use the name "Xxxxx
Xxxxx". The Adviser shall have the right to require the Fund to cease using the
name "Xxxxx Xxxxx" as part of the Fund's name if the Fund ceases, for any
reason, to employ the Adviser or one of its affiliates as the Fund's investment
adviser. Future names adopted by the Fund for itself, insofar as such names
include identifying words requiring the consent of the Adviser, shall be the
property of the Adviser and shall be subject to the same terms and conditions.
11. Certain Definitions. The terms "vote of a majority of the
outstanding voting securities", "assignment", and "interested persons", when
used herein, shall have the respective meanings specified in the Investment
Company Act of 1940 as now in effect or as hereafter amended, subject, however,
to such exemptions as may be granted by the Securities and Exchange Commission
by any rule, regulation or order.
12. This Agreement shall replace and be substituted for an agreement
originally executed on October 21, 1987, and re-executed on November 1, 1990.
The Trust and the Fund are the successors in operations to a predecessor fund
(EV Marathon Gold & Natural Resources Fund) pursuant to a reorganization and the
Trustees of the Trust have determined that it is desirable to replace the
original agreement with an investment advisory agreement with substantially the
same terms.
XXXXX XXXXX GROWTH TRUST (on behalf of XXXXX XXXXX MANAGEMENT
EV Marathon Gold & Natural Resources Fund)
by/s/ Xxxxx X. Xxxxxx by/s/ H. Day Xxxxxxx Xx.
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President Vice President,
and not individually
