Investment Advisory Agreement
This Agreement is made by and between Madison Investment
Advisors, Inc. (d.b.a. Bankers Finance Advisors, LLC), a
Wisconsin Corporation, Bankers Finance Advisors, LLC, a
Wisconsin limited liability company having its principal place
of business in Arlington, Virginia (the foregoing entities
referred to collectively as the "Advisor"), and GIT Equity
Trust, a Massachusetts business trust created pursuant to a
Declaration of Trust filed with the Clerk of the City of Boston,
Massachusetts (the "Trust").
The parties hereto, intending so to be legally bound,
agree with each other as follows:
1. Appointment and Acceptance. The Trust hereby
appoints the Advisor to manage the investment of its assets
and to administer its affairs; and the Advisor hereby
accepts such appointment. The Advisor shall employ its best
efforts to supervise the investment management of the Trust.
2. Discretion of the Advisor. In the performance of
its duties hereunder the Advisor shall have full authority
to act as it deems advisable, except that it shall be bound
by the terms of the Declaration of Trust and By-Laws of the
Trust, and by any written direction given by the Trustees of
the Trust not inconsistent with this Agreement; and it shall
be guided by the investment policies of the Trust from time
to time duly in effect. Subject only to the foregoing, the
Advisor shall have full authority to purchase and sell
securities for the Trust; the Advisor may determine the
persons with whom such securities transactions are to be
made and the terms thereof.
3. Other Activities of the Advisor. The Advisor and
any of its affiliates shall be free to engage in any other
lawful activity, including the rendering to others of
services similar to those rendered to the Trust hereunder;
and the Advisor or any interested person thereof shall be
free to invest in the Trust as a shareholder, to become an
officer or Trustee of the Trust if properly elected, or to
enter into any other relationship with the Trust approved by
the Trustees and in accordance with law.
The Advisor agrees that it will not deal with itself or
with any affiliated person or promoter or principal
underwriter of the Trust (or any affiliated person of the
foregoing) acting as a principal, in effecting securities
transactions for the account of the Trust. It is further
agreed that in effecting any such transaction with such a
person acting as a broker or agent, compensation to such
person shall be permitted, provided that the transaction is
in the ordinary course of such person's business and the
amount of such compensation does not exceed one percent of
the purchase or sale price of the securities involved.
If the Advisor or any affiliate thereof provides any
other goods or services which otherwise would be paid for by
the Trust pursuant to this Agreement, then the Trust shall
pay the Advisor or such affiliate the cost reasonably
allocated by the Advisor or affiliate to such goods or
services.
4. Investment by Advisor. The Advisor shall not take,
and shall not permit any of its shareholders, officers,
directors or employees to take long or short positions in
the shares of the Trust, except for the purchase of shares
of the Trust for investment purposes at the same price as
is available to the public at the time of purchase, or in
connection with the original capitalization of the Trust.
In connection with purchases or sales of portfolio
securities for the account of the Trust neither the Advisor
nor any officer, director or employee of the Advisor shall
act as a principal or receive any commission therefor.
5. Expenses of the Trust. The Trust shall pay all of
its expenses not expressly assumed by the Advisor herein.
Without limitation, the expenses of the Trust, assumed by
the Trust hereby, shall include the following:
a. Expenses related to the continued existence of the
Trust.
b. Fees and expenses of the Trustees (except those
affiliated with the Advisor), the officers and the
administrative employees of the Trust.
c. Fees paid to the Advisor hereunder.
d. Fees and expenses of preparing, printing and
distributing official filings, reports, prospectuses and
documents required pursuant to applicable state and Federal
securities law and expenses of reports to shareholders.
e. Fees and expenses of custodians, transfer agents,
dividend disbursing agents, shareholder servicing agents,
registrars, and similar agents.
f. Expenses related to the issuance, registration,
repurchase, exchange and redemption of shares and
certificates representing shares.
g. Auditing, accounting, legal, insurance, portfolio
administration, association membership, printing, postage,
and other administrative expenses.
h. Expenses relating to qualification or licensing of
the Trust, shares in the Trust, or officers, employees and
agents of the Trust under applicable state and Federal
securities law.
i. Expenses related to shareholder meetings and proxy
solicitations and materials.
j. Interest expense, taxes and franchise fees, and all
brokerage commissions and other costs related to purchase
and sales of portfolio securities.
In addition, the Trust shall assume all losses and
liabilities incurred in the administration to the Trust and
of its investment portfolio; and it shall pay such non-
recurring expenses as may arise through litigation,
administrative proceedings, claims against the Trust, the
indemnification of Trustees, officers, employees,
shareholders and agents, or otherwise.
6. Compensation to the Advisor. For its services
hereunder, the Trust shall pay to the Adviser a management
fee equal to three-quarters (3/4) percent per annum of the
average daily net assets of the portfolios comprising the
Special Growth Fund series of shares, the Select Growth
Fund series of shares and the Equity Income
Fund series of shares and a management fee equal to one (1)
percent per annum of the average daily net assets of the
portfolio comprising the Worldwide Growth Fund series of
shares. Such fee shall be payable quarterly as of the last
day of the month and shall be the sum of the daily fees
calculated as one-three hundred sixty-fifth (1/365), except
in leap years one-three hundred sixty-sixth (1/366), of the
annual fee based upon each portfolio's net assets calculated
for the day.
With respect to any portfolio of the Trust subsequently
authorized by the Trustees, the management fee provided
herein may be revised upward or downward by mutual agreement
between the parties at the time the additional portfolio is
authorized, provided such revision is approved by the
Trustees, including the vote of a majority of those Trustees
who are not interested persons of the Trust, cast in person
at a meeting called for that purpose. The Advisor shall
have the right to waive any portion of its management fee
during any period, and it may permanently reduce the amount
of the fee under such terms as it may determine by written
notice thereof to the Trust. The Advisor shall have the
right to share its management fee with others or make
payments out of its management fee to others, as it solely
determines.
7. Limitation of Expenses of the Trust. In addition
to investment management expenses related to the Trust, the
Advisor shall pay the fees and expenses of any Trustees and
officers of the Trust affiliated with the Advisor, all
promotional expenses of the Trust to the extent not paid for
by the Trust pursuant to a Plan of Distribution, the rent
expense of the Trust's principal executive office premises,
and the expenses of formation of the Trust.
The Advisor shall further reimburse the Trust for all
of its expenses, excluding securities transaction
commissions and expenses, taxes, interest, share
distribution expenses, and extra-ordinary and non-recurring
expenses, which exceed during any fiscal year the applicable
expense limitation in any State or other jurisdiction in
which the Trust, during the fiscal year, becomes subject to
regulation by qualification or sale of its shares. Any such
required reimbursement shall be made within a reasonable
period following the close of the fiscal year to which it
relates; and the Advisor may elect to pay all or a portion
of any such reimbursement it anticipates will be required at
any time or from time to time during the fiscal year to
which the reimbursement relates.
8. Limitation of Advisor's Liability. The Advisor
shall not be liable for any loss incurred in connection with
its duties hereunder, nor for any action taken, suffered or
omitted and believed by it to be advisable or within the
scope of its authority or discretion, except for acts or
omissions involving willful misfeasance, bad faith, gross
negligence or reckless disregard of the duties assumed by it
under this Agreement.
9. Limitation of Trust's Liability. The Advisor
acknowledges that it has received notice of and accepts the
limitations upon the Trust's liability set forth in its
Declaration of Trust. The Advisor agrees that the Trust's
obligations hereunder in any case shall be limited to the
Trust and to its assets and that the Advisor shall not seek
satisfaction of any such obligation from the shareholders of
the Trust nor from any Trustee, officer, employee or agent
of the Trust.
10. Term of Agreement. This Agreement shall continue
in effect for two years from the date of its execution; and
it shall continue in force thereafter (but subject to the
termination provisions below), provided that it is
specifically approved at least annually by the Trustees of
the Trust or by a majority vote of the outstanding
securities of each series and class of the Trust's shares
with respect to which it is to continue in effect, and in
either case by the vote of a majority of the Trustees who
are not interested persons of the Trust, cast in person at a
meeting called for that purpose.
11. Termination by Notice. Notwithstanding any
provision of this Agreement, it may be terminated at any
time, without penalty, by the Trustees of the Trust or, with
respect to any series or class of the Trust's shares, by the
vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of
such series or class, or by the Advisor, upon sixty days
written notice to the other party.
12. Termination Upon Assignment. This Agreement may
not be assigned by the Adviser and shall automatically
terminate immediately upon any assignment. Nothing herein
shall prevent the Advisor from employing any other persons
or agents, including Madison Investment Advisors, Inc., at
its own expense, to assist it in the performance of its
duties hereunder.
13. Name of the Trust. In consideration of its
formation of the Trust and the related expenses, the Advisor
has retained the rights to the name "GIT Equity Trust" (and
any similar name), which rights the Trust hereby
acknowledges. The Trust, however, shall have the exclusive
right to the use of the name "GIT Equity Trust" (although
its rights to the "GIT" portion of such name shall be non-
exclusive) so long as this contract shall remain in force,
except that the Advisor may withdraw such rights from the
Trust at any time, effective immediately or at a time
specified, upon written notice to the Trust. In the event
of such notice, the Trust agrees that it will cause the
question of continuation of this Agreement to be put to a
vote of the shareholders of the Trust as soon as practicable
after such notice has been given.
14. Use of Terms. The terms "affiliated person",
"interested person", "assignment", "broker", and "majority
of the outstanding voting securities" as used herein, shall
have the same meanings as in the Investment Company Act of
1940 and any applicable regulations thereunder.
15. Control of Advisor. Bankers Finance Advisors, LLC
is controlled by Madison Investment Advisors, Inc. a
registered investment advisor located in Madison, Wisconsin.
As such, it is expected that Bankers Finance Advisors, LLC
and Madison Investment Advisors, Inc. will work closely
together in the management of the portfolios including but
not limited to portfolio management, research, securities
trading, and other investment management responsibilities.
In Witness Whereof, the parties have caused this
Agreement to be signed on their behalf by their respective
officers duly authorized and their respective seals to be
affixed hereto, this 31 day of July, 1996.
Madison Investment Advisors, Inc.
By: (signature)
Xxxxxxxxx X. Xxxxx, its Vice President
Bankers Finance Advisors, LLC
By: (signature)
Xxxxx X. Xxxxxxx, Member
By: (signature)
Xxxxxxxxx X. Xxxxx, Madison Investment Advisors, Inc
Member
GIT Equity Trust
By: (signature)
Xxxxxx X. Xxxxxx, Trustee
By: (signature)
Xxxxx Xxxxxx, Xx., Trustee
By: (signature)
Xxxxxxx Xxxxxxx, Trustee
By: (signature)
Xxxxx X. Xxxxxxx, Trustee
