1
Exhibit 99.(d)(1)(a)
INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT AGREEMENT
INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT AGREEMENT (this "Agreement"), dated March 20,
1998, as amended as of March 1, 2000, between WM TRUST I, a Massachusetts
business trust, (the "Trust"), on behalf of each of its series which are listed
on the signature page of this Agreement (each referred to herein as a "Fund")
and WM Advisors, Inc., a Washington corporation (the "Manager").
W I T N E S S E T H
WHEREAS, the Trust is an open-end series management investment company,
registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the "1940
Act"); and
WHEREAS, each Fund, as a separate series of the Trust, desires to retain
the Manager to render investment management services to the Fund, and the
Manager is willing to render such services;
NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the premises and the mutual
agreements herein contained, the parties hereto agree as follows:
1. Appointment. The Fund hereby appoints the Manager to act as investment
manager to the Fund for the period and on the terms set forth in this Agreement.
The Manager accepts such appointment and agrees to render the services herein
described, for the compensation herein provided.
2. Management. Subject to the supervision of the Board of Trustees of the Trust,
the Manager shall manage the investment operations of the Fund and the
composition of the Fund's portfolio, including the purchase, retention and
disposition of securities therefor, in accordance with the Fund's investment
objectives, policies and restrictions as stated in the Prospectus and Statement
of Additional Information (as such terms are hereinafter defined) and
resolutions of the Trust's Board of Trustees and subject to the following
understandings:
(a) The Manager shall provide supervision of the Fund's investments,
furnish a continuous investment program for the Fund's portfolio and
determine from time to time what securities will be purchased,
retained, or sold by the Fund, and what portion of the assets will be
invested or held as cash.
(b) The Manager, in the performance of its duties and obligations
under this Agreement, shall act in conformity with the Declaration of
Trust (as hereinafter defined) of the Trust and the investment
policies of the Fund as determined by the Board of Trustees of the
Trust.
2
(c) The Manager shall determine the securities to be purchased or
sold by the Fund and shall place orders for the purchase and sale of
portfolio securities pursuant to its determinations with brokers or
dealers selected by the Manager. In executing portfolio transactions
and selecting brokers or dealers, the Manager shall use its best
efforts to seek on behalf of the Fund the best overall terms
available. In assessing the best overall terms available for any
transaction, the Manager may consider all factors it deems relevant,
including the breadth of the market in the security, the price of the
security, the size of the transaction, the timing of the transaction,
the reputation, financial condition, experience, and execution
capability of a broker or dealer, the amount of commission, and the
value of any brokerage and research services (as those terms are
defined in Section 28(e) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as
amended) provided by a broker or dealer. The Manager is authorized to
pay to a broker or dealer who provides such brokerage and research
services a commission for executing a portfolio transaction for the
Fund which is in excess of the amount of commission another broker or
dealer would have charged for effecting the transaction if the
Manager determines in good faith that such commission was reasonable
in relation to the value of the brokerage and research services
provided by such broker or dealer, viewed in terms of that particular
transaction or in terms of the overall responsibilities of the
Manager to the Fund and/or other accounts over which the Manager
exercises investment discretion.
(d) On occasions when the Manager deems the purchase or sale of a
security to be in the best interest of the Fund as well as other
fiduciary accounts for which it has investment responsibility, the
Manager, to the extent permitted by applicable laws and regulations,
may aggregate the securities to be so sold or purchased in order to
obtain the best execution, most favorable net price or lower
brokerage commissions.
(e) Subject to the provisions of the Agreement and Declaration of
Trust of the Trust and the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended
(the "1940) Act"), the Manager, at its expense, may select and
contract with one or more investment advisers (the "Subadviser") for
the Fund to perform some or all of the services for which it is
responsible pursuant to this Section 2. The Manager shall be solely
responsible for the compensation of any Subadviser of the Fund for
its services to the Fund. The Manager may terminate the services of
any Subadviser at any time in its sole discretion, and shall at such
time assume the responsibilities of such Subadviser unless and until
a successor Subadviser is selected. To the extent that more than one
Subadviser is selected, the Manager shall, in its sole discretion,
determine the amount of the Fund's assets allocated to each such
Subadviser.
3. Services Not Exclusive. The investment management services rendered by the
Manager hereunder to the Fund are not to be deemed exclusive, and the Manager
shall
-2-
3
have the right to render similar services to others, including, without
limitation, other investment companies.
4. Expenses. During the term of this Agreement, the Manager shall pay all
expenses incurred by it in connection with its activities under this Agreement
including the salaries and expenses of any of the officers or employees of the
Manager who act as officers, Trustees or employees of the Trust but excluding
the cost of securities purchased for the Fund and the amount of any brokerage
fees and commissions incurred in executing portfolio transactions for the Fund,
and shall provide the Fund with suitable office space. Other expenses to be
incurred in the operation of the Fund (other than those borne by any third
party), including without limitation, taxes, interest, brokerage fees and
commissions, fees of Trustees who are not officers, directors, or employees of
the Manager, federal registration fees and state Blue Sky qualification fees,
administration fees, bookkeeping, charges of custodians, transfer and dividend
disbursing agents' fees, certain insurance premiums, industry association fees,
outside auditing and legal expenses, costs of maintaining the Fund's or the
Trust's existence, costs of independent pricing services, costs attributable to
investor services (including, without limitation, telephone and personnel
expenses), costs of preparing, printing and distributing prospectuses to
existing shareholders, costs of stockholders' reports and meetings of
shareholders and Trustees of the Fund or the Trust, as applicable, and any
extraordinary expenses will be borne by the Fund.
5. Compensation. For the services provided pursuant to this Agreement, each Fund
shall pay to the Manager as full compensation therefor a monthly fee computed on
the average daily net assets of the Fund as stated in Schedule A attached
hereto. The Fund acknowledges that the Manager, as agent for the Fund, will
allocate a portion of the fee equal to the sub-advisory fee payable to the
sub-advisor, if any, under its sub-advisory agreement to the sub-advisor for
sub-advisory services. The Fund acknowledges that the Manager, as agent for the
Fund, will allocate a portion of the fee to WM Shareholder Services, Inc. for
administrative services, portfolio accounting and regulatory compliance systems.
The Manager also from time to time and in such amounts as it shall determine in
its sole discretion may allocate a portion of the fee to WM Funds Distributor,
Inc. for facilitating distribution of the Fund. This payment would be made from
revenue which otherwise would be considered profit to the Manager for its
services. This disclosure is being made to the Fund solely for the purpose of
conforming with requirements of the Washington Department of Revenue for
exclusion of revenue from the Washington Business and Occupation Tax.
6. Limitation of Liability. The Manager shall not be liable for any error of
judgment or mistake of law or for any loss suffered by the Fund in connection
with the matters to which this Agreement relates, except a loss resulting from
willful misfeasance, bad faith or gross negligence on its part in the
performance of its duties or from reckless disregard by it of its obligations
and duties under this Agreement.
-3-
4
7. Delivery of Documents. The Trust has heretofore delivered to the Manager true
and complete copies of each of the following documents and shall promptly
deliver to it all future amendments and supplements thereto, if any:
Agreement and Declaration of Trust (such Agreement and
Declaration as presently in effect and as amended from time to time, the
"Declaration of Trust");
Bylaws of the Trust;
Registration Statement under the Securities Act of 1933 and under
the 1940 Act of the Trust on Form N-1A, and all amendments thereto, as
filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "Registration
Statement") relating to the Fund and the shares of the Fund;
Notification of Registration of the Trust under the 1940 Act on
Form N-8A;
Prospectuses of the Fund (such prospectuses as presently in
effect and/or as amended or supplemented from time to time, the
"Prospectus"); and
Statement of Additional Information of the Fund (such statement
as presently in effect and/or as amended or supplemented from time to
time, the "Statement of Additional Information").
8. Duration and Termination. This Agreement shall become effective as of the
date first above-written for an initial period of two years and shall continue
thereafter so long as such continuance is specifically approved at least
annually (a) by the vote of the Board of Trustees including a majority of those
members of the Trust's Board of Trustees who are not parties to this Agreement
or "interested persons" of any such party, cast in person at a meeting called
for that purpose, or by vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities
of the Fund. Notwithstanding the foregoing, (a) this Agreement may be terminated
at any time, without the payment of any penalty, by either the Fund (by vote of
the Trust's Board of Trustees or by vote of a majority of the outstanding voting
securities of the Fund) or the Manager, on sixty (60) days prior written notice
to the other and (b) shall automatically terminate in the event of its
assignment. As used in this Agreement, the terms "majority of the outstanding
voting securities, "interested persons" and "assignment" shall have the meanings
assigned to such terms in the 1940 Act.
9. Amendments. No provision of this Agreement may be amended, modified, waived
or supplemented except by a written instrument signed by the party against which
enforcement is sought. No amendment of this Agreement shall be effective until
approved in accordance with any applicable provisions of the 1940 Act.
-4-
5
10. Use of Name and Logo. The Fund agrees that it shall furnish to the Manager,
prior to any use or distribution thereof, copies of all prospectuses, statements
of additional information, proxy statements, reports to stockholders, sales
literature, advertisements, and other material prepared for distribution to
stockholders of the Fund or to the public, which in any way refer to or describe
the Manager or which include any trade names, trademarks or logos of the Manager
or of any affiliate of the Manager. The Fund further agrees that it shall not
use or distribute any such material if the Manager reasonably objects in writing
to such use or distribution within five (5) business days after the date such
material is furnished to the Manager.
The Manager and/or its affiliates own the names "Sierra", "Composite",
"WM", "WM Group" and derivations thereof and any other names which may be listed
from time to time on a Schedule B to be attached hereto that they may develop
for use in connection with the Fund, which names may be used by the Fund or the
Trust only with the consent of the Manager and/or its affiliates. The Manager,
on behalf of itself and/or its affiliates, consents to the use by the Trust and
by the Fund of such names or any other names embodying such names, but only on
condition and so long as (i) this Agreement shall remain in full force, (ii) the
Fund and the Trust shall fully perform, fulfill and comply with all provisions
of this Agreement expressed herein to be performed, fulfilled or complied with
by it, and (iii) the Manager is the manager of the Fund and the Trust. No such
name shall be used by the Fund or the Trust at any time or in any place or for
any purposes or under any conditions except as provided in this section. The
foregoing authorization by the Manager, on behalf of itself and/or its
affiliates, to the Fund and the Trust to use such names as part of a business or
name is not exclusive of the right of the Manager and/or its affiliates
themselves to use, or to authorize others to use, the same; the Fund and the
Trust acknowledge and agree that as between the Manager and/or its affiliates
and the Fund or the Trust, the Manager and/or its affiliates have the exclusive
right so to use, or authorize others to use, such names, and the Fund and the
Trust agree to take such action as may reasonably be requested by the Manager,
on behalf of itself and/or its affiliates, to give full effect to the provisions
of this section (including, without limitation, consenting to such use of such
names). Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the Fund and the Trust
agree that, upon (i) any violation of the provisions of this Agreement by the
Fund or the Trust or (ii) any termination of this Agreement, by either party or
otherwise, the Fund and the Trust will, at the request of the Manager, on behalf
of itself and/or its affiliates, made within six months after such violation or
termination, use its best efforts to change the name of the Fund and the Trust
so as to eliminate all reference, if any, to such names and will not thereafter
transact any business in a name containing such names in any form or combination
whatsoever, or designate itself as the same entity as or successor to an entity
of such names, or otherwise use such names or any other reference to the Manager
and/or its affiliates, except as may be required by law. Such covenants on the
part of the Fund and the Trust shall be binding upon it, its Trustees, officers,
shareholders, creditors and all other persons claiming under or through it.
-5-
6
The provisions of this section shall survive termination of this
Agreement.
11. Notices. Any notice or other communication required to be given pursuant to
this Agreement shall be deemed duly given if delivered or mailed by registered
mail, postage prepaid, if to the Fund: 0000 Xxxxx Xxxxxx, Xxxxx 0000, Xxxxxxx,
Xxxxxxxxxx 00000; or if to the Manager: 0000 Xxxxx Xxxxxx, Xxxxx 0000, Xxxxxxx,
Xxxxxxxxxx 00000; or to either party at such other address as such party shall
designate to the other by a notice given in accordance with the provisions of
this section.
12. Miscellaneous.
Except as otherwise expressly provided herein or authorized by
the Board of Trustees of the Trust from time to time, the Manager for
all purposes herein shall be deemed to be an independent contractor and
shall have no authority to act for or represent the Fund in any way or
otherwise be deemed an agent of the Fund.
The Trust shall furnish or otherwise make available to the
Manager such information relating to the business affairs of the Fund as
the Manager at any time or from time to time reasonably requests in
order to discharge its obligations hereunder.
This Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance
with the laws of The Commonwealth of Massachusetts and shall inure to
the benefit of the parties hereto and their respective successors.
If any provision of this Agreement shall be held or made invalid
or by any court decision, statute, rule or otherwise, the remainder of
this Agreement shall not be affected thereby.
13. Declaration of Trust and Limitation of Liability. A copy of the Declaration
of Trust of the Trust is on file with the Secretary of State of The Commonwealth
of Massachusetts, and notice is hereby given that this Agreement is executed by
an officer of the Trust on behalf of the Trustees of the Trust, as trustees and
not individually, on further behalf of the Fund, and that the obligations of
this Agreement shall be binding upon the assets and properties of the Fund only
and shall not be binding upon the assets and properties of any other series of
the Trust or upon any of the Trustees, officers, employees, agents or
shareholders of the Fund or the Trust individually.
-6-
7
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have caused this Agreement to be
executed by their officers designated below as of the date first above-written.
WM TRUST I, on behalf of its series
BOND & STOCK FUND,
GROWTH & INCOME FUND,
U.S. GOVERNMENT SECURITIES FUND,
INCOME FUND,
TAX-EXEMPT BOND FUND,
MONEY MARKET FUND,
TAX-EXEMPT MONEY MARKET FUND,
GROWTH FUND OF THE NORTHWEST
HIGH YIELD FUND
MID CAP STOCK FUND
By: Xxxxxxx X. Xxxxxx
-----------------------
Xxxxxxx X. Xxxxxx
President
Attest:
By: Xxxx X. Xxxx
---------------------
Xxxx X. Xxxx
Secretary
WM ADVISORS, INC.
By: Xxxxxxx X. Xxxxxx
-----------------------
Xxxxxxx X. Xxxxxx
President
Attest:
By: Xxxxxx X. Xxxxxxx
---------------------
Xxxxxx X. Xxxxxxx
Secretary
-7-
8
SCHEDULE A - WM TRUST I
INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT AGREEMENT
FUND FEE
------------------------------------ --------------------------------------------------
Bond & Stock Fund Monthly fee equal to .625% per annum computed on
Growth & Income Fund the average daily net assets of the Fund; on
High Yield Fund assets in excess of $250 million, the fee
decreases to .50% per annum.
Income Fund Monthly fee equal to .50% per annum computed on
U.S. Government Securities the average daily net assets of the Fund.
Fund
Tax-Exempt Bond Fund Monthly fee equal to .50% per annum computed on the
average daily net assets of the Fund; on assets in
excess of $250 million, the fee decreases to
.40% per annum.
Money Market Fund Monthly fee computed on the average daily net
Tax-Exempt Money Market assets of the Fund equal to .45% per annum on
Fund the first $1 billion of assets; .40% per annum
on assets in excess of $1 billion.
Growth Fund of the Northwest Monthly fee computed on the average daily net
assets of the Fund equal to .625% per annum on
the first $500 million of assets; .50% per annum
on the next $500 million; .375% per annum on assets
in excess of $1 billion and above.
Mid Cap Stock Fund Monthly fee equal to .75% per annum computed on the
average daily net assets of the Fund.
-8-
