EXHIBIT 9(b)
EXPENSE LIMITATION AGREEMENT
EQ ADVISORS TRUST
EXPENSE LIMITATION AGREEMENT, effective as of April 14, 1997, by and
between EQ Financial Consultants, Inc. (the "Manager") and EQ Advisors Trust
(the "Trust"), on behalf of each series of the Trust set forth in Schedule A
(each a "Portfolio," and collectively, the "Portfolios").
WHEREAS, the Trust is a Delaware business trust organized under the
Amended and Restated Agreement and Declaration of Trust ("Declaration of
Trust"), and is registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as
amended (the "1940 Act"), as an open-end management company of the series
type, and each Portfolio is a series of the Trust; and
WHEREAS, the Trust and the Manager have entered into an Investment
Management Agreement (the "Management Agreement"), pursuant to which the
Manager will render investment management services to each Portfolio for
compensation based on the value of the average daily net assets of each such
Portfolio; and
WHEREAS, the Trust and the Manager have determined that it is
appropriate and in the best interests of each Portfolio and its shareholders
to maintain the expenses of each Portfolio at a level below the level to which
each such Portfolio would normally be subject during its start-up period.
NOW THEREFORE, the parties hereto agree as follows:
1. Expense Limitation
1.1 Applicable Expense Limit. To the extent that the aggregate
expenses of every character incurred by a Portfolio in any fiscal year,
including but not limited to investment management fees of the Manager (but
excluding interest, taxes, brokerage commissions, and other expenditures which
are capitalized in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles,
and other extraordinary expenses not incurred in the ordinary course of such
Portfolio's business) ("Portfolio Operating Expenses"), exceed the Operating
Expense Limit, as defined in Section 1.2 below, such excess amount (the
"Excess Amount") shall be the liability of the Manager.
1.2 Operating Expense Limit. The maximum Operating Expense Limit in
any year with respect to each Portfolio shall be the amount specified in
Schedule A based on a percentage of the average daily net assets of each
Portfolio.
1.3 Method of Computation. To determine the Manager's liability with
respect to the Excess Amount, each month the Portfolio Operating Expenses for
each Portfolio shall be annualized as of the last day of the month. If the
annualized Portfolio Operating Expenses for any month of a Portfolio exceed
the Operating Expense Limit of such Portfolio, the Manager shall first
waive or reduce its investment management fee for such month by an amount
sufficient to reduce the annualized Portfolio Operating Expenses to an amount
no higher than the Operating Expense Limit. If the amount of the waived or
reduced investment management fee for any such month is insufficient to pay
the Excess Amount, the Manager may also remit to the appropriate Portfolio or
Portfolios an amount that, together with the waived or reduced investment
management fee, is sufficient to pay such Excess Amount.
1.4 Year-End Adjustment. If necessary, on or before the last day of
the first month of each fiscal year, an adjustment payment shall be made by
the appropriate party in order that the amount of the investment management
fees waived or reduced and other payments remitted by the Manager to the
Portfolio or Portfolios with respect to the previous fiscal year shall equal
the Excess Amount.
2. Reimbursement of Fee Waivers and Expense Reimbursements.
2.1 Reimbursement. If in any year during which the total assets of a
Portfolio are greater than $100 million and in which the Management Agreement
is still in effect, the estimated aggregate Portfolio Operating Expenses of
such Portfolio for the fiscal year are less than the Operating Expense Limit
for that year, subject to quarterly approval by the Trust's Board of Trustees
as provided in Section 2.2 below, the Manager shall be entitled to
reimbursement by such Portfolio, in whole or in part as provided below, of the
investment management fees waived or reduced and other payments remitted by
the Manager to such Portfolio pursuant to Section 1 hereof. The total amount
of reimbursement to which the Manager may be entitled (the "Reimbursement
Amount") shall equal, at any time, the sum of all investment management fees
previously waived or reduced by the Manager and all other payments remitted by
the Manager to the Portfolio, pursuant to Section 1 hereof, during any of the
previous two (2) fiscal years, less any reimbursement previously paid by such
Portfolio to the Manager, pursuant to Sections 2.2 or 2.3 hereof, with respect
to such waivers, reductions, and payments. The Reimbursement Amount shall not
include any additional charges or fees whatsoever, including, e.g., interest
accruable on the Reimbursement Amount.
2.2 Board Approval. No reimbursement shall be paid to the Manager
with respect to any Portfolio pursuant to this provision in any fiscal
quarter, unless the Trust's Board of Trustees has determined that the payment
of such reimbursement is in the best interests of such Portfolio and its
shareholders. The Trust's Board of Trustees shall determine quarterly in
advance whether any reimbursement may be paid to the Manager with respect to
any Portfolio in such quarter.
2.3 Method of Computation. To determine each Portfolio's payments, if
any, to reimburse the Manager for the Reimbursement Amount, each month the
Portfolio Operating Expenses of each Portfolio shall be annualized as of the
last day of the month. If the annualized Portfolio Operating Expenses of a
Portfolio for any month are less than the Operating Expense Limit of such
Portfolio, such Portfolio, only with the prior approval of the Trust's Board
of Trustees, shall pay to the Manager an amount sufficient to increase the
annualized Portfolio
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Operating Expenses of that Portfolio to an amount no greater than the
Operating Expense Limit of that Portfolio, provided that such amount paid to
the Manager will in no event exceed the total Reimbursement Amount.
2.4 Year-End Adjustment. If necessary, on or before the last day of
the first month of each fiscal year, an adjustment payment shall be made by
the appropriate party in order that the actual Portfolio Operating Expenses of
a Portfolio for the prior fiscal year (including any reimbursement payments
hereunder with respect to such fiscal year) do not exceed the Operating
Expense Limit.
3. Term and Termination of Agreement.
This Agreement shall continue in effect for a period of one year from
the date of its execution and from year to year thereafter provided such
continuance is specifically approved by a majority of the Trustees of the
Trust who (i) are not "interested persons" of the Trust or any other party to
this Agreement, as defined in the 1940 Act, and (ii) have no direct or
indirect financial interest in the operation of this Agreement
("Non-Interested Trustees"). Nevertheless, this Agreement may be terminated by
either party hereto, without payment of any penalty, upon ninety (90) days'
prior written notice to the other party at its principal place of business;
provided that, in the case of termination by the Trust, such action shall be
authorized by resolution of a majority of the Non-Interested Trustees of the
Trust or by a vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the
Trust.
4. Miscellaneous.
4.1 Captions. The captions in this Agreement are included for
convenience of reference only and in no other way define or delineate any of
the provisions hereof or otherwise affect their construction or effect.
4.2 Interpretation. Nothing herein contained shall be deemed to
require the Trust or the Portfolios to take any action contrary to the Trust's
Declaration of Trust or By-Laws, or any applicable statutory or regulatory
requirement to which it is subject or by which it is bound, or to relieve or
deprive the Trust's Board of Trustees of its responsibility for and control of
the conduct of the affairs of the Trust or the Portfolios.
4.3 Definitions. Any question of interpretation of any term or
provision of this Agreement, including but not limited to the investment
management fee, the computations of net asset values, and the allocation of
expenses, having a counterpart in or otherwise derived from the terms and
provisions of the Management Agreement or the 1940 Act, shall have the same
meaning as and be resolved by reference to such Management Agreement or the
1940 Act.
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IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties have caused this Agreement to be
signed by their respective officers thereunto duly authorized and their
respective corporate seals to be hereunto affixed, as of the day and year
first above written.
EQ ADVISORS TRUST
ON BEHALF OF
EACH OF ITS SERIES
By: /s/
--------------------------------
Xxxxx X. Xxxxx
President and Trustee
EQ FINANCIAL CONSULTANTS, INC.
By: /s/
--------------------------------
Xxxxx X. Xxxxx
Executive Vice President
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SCHEDULE A
EXPENSE LIMITATION AMOUNTS
This Agreement relates to the following Portfolios of the Trust:
Maximum Expense
Name of Portfolio Limitation Amount
----------------- -----------------
X. Xxxx Price International Stock Portfolio 1.20%
X. Xxxx Price Equity Income Portfolio 0.85%
EQ/Xxxxxx Growth & Income Value Portfolio 0.85%
EQ/Xxxxxx International Equity Portfolio 1.20%
EQ/Xxxxxx Investors Growth Portfolio 0.85%
EQ/Xxxxxx Balanced Portfolio 0.90%
MFS Research Portfolio 0.85%
MFS Emerging Growth Companies Portfolio 0.85%
Xxxxxx Xxxxxxx Emerging Markets Equity Portfolio 1.75%
Warburg Pincus Small Company Value Portfolio 1.00%
Xxxxxxx Xxxxx World Strategy Portfolio 1.20%
Xxxxxxx Xxxxx Basic Value Equity Portfolio 0.85%
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