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SUBADVISORY AGREEMENT
THIS AGREEMENT is made this 30th day of October, 1998 by and between ING MUTUAL
FUNDS MANAGEMENT CO. LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (the "Investment
Adviser"), and Xxxxxx Xxxx Capital Management LLC (the "Sub-Adviser").
W I T N E S S E T H
WHEREAS, the Investment Adviser is registered and will remain registered
during the term of this Agreement as an investment adviser under the Investment
Advisers Act of 1940, as amended (the "Investment Advisers Act"), and engages in
the business of acting as an investment adviser; and
WHEREAS, the Sub-Adviser is registered and will remain registered during
the term of this Agreement as an investment adviser under the Investment
Advisers Act, and engages in the business of acting as an investment adviser;
and
WHEREAS, the Investment Adviser desires to retain the Sub-Adviser to
furnish investment advisory services to the Investment Adviser in connection
with the underlying investment funds specified on Schedule A hereto
(collectively, the "Funds," and each, a "Fund"), each of which is an investment
portfolio of the ING Funds Trust (the "Trust"); and
WHEREAS, the Sub-Adviser is willing to make available to the Investment
Adviser and to the Funds certain sub-investment advisory services;
NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the mutual covenants herein contained
and other good and valuable consideration, the receipt whereof is hereby
acknowledged, the parties hereto agree as follows:
1. Appointment. The Investment Adviser hereby appoints the Sub-Adviser to
provide certain sub-investment advisory services for the period and on the terms
set forth in this Agreement. The Sub-Adviser accepts such appointment and agrees
to furnish the services herein set forth for the compensation herein provided.
2. Sub-Investment Advisory Services. Subject always to the supervision of the
Investment Adviser and the Trust's Board of Trustees, the Sub-Adviser will
furnish an investment program in respect of, and make investment decisions for,
the portion of the Funds allocated to it by the Investment Adviser, and place
all orders for the purchase and sale of securities for such portions of the
Funds. In the performance of its duties, the Sub-Adviser will comply with the
provisions of the Trust's organizational documentation, and the respective
stated investment objective, policies and restrictions of the Funds, as amended,
will use its best efforts to safeguard and promote the welfare of the Funds, and
will comply with other policies which the Trust's Board of Trustees or the
Investment Adviser, as the case may be, may from time to time determine and
communicate in writing to the Sub-Adviser.
The Sub-Adviser further agrees that it:
(a) will use the same skill and care in providing such services as it
uses in providing services to other accounts for which it has
investment management responsibilities;
(b) will place orders pursuant to its investment determinations for the
Funds either directly with the issuer or with any broker or dealer;
(c) will report regularly to the Board of Trustees of the Trust and to
the Investment Adviser and will make appropriate persons available
for the purpose of reviewing with
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representatives of the Investment Adviser on a regular basis the
management of the Funds, including, without limitation, review of
the general investment strategy of the Funds, interest rate
considerations and general conditions affecting the marketplace;
(d) will maintain books and records with respect to the Funds'
securities transactions as are required by applicable laws and
regulations to be maintained and will furnish the Trust's Board of
Trustees such periodic and special reports as are required by
applicable laws and regulations to be furnished or as the Board may
reasonably request;
(e) will treat confidentially and as proprietary information of the
Trust all records and other information relative to the Trust, and
will not use records and information for any purpose other than
performance of its responsibilities and duties hereunder, except
after prior notification to and approval in writing by the Trust,
which approval shall not be unreasonably withheld and may not be
withheld where the Sub-Adviser may be exposed to civil or criminal
contempt proceedings for failure to comply, when requested to
divulge such information by duly constituted authorities, or when so
requested by the Trust;
(f) in making investment recommendations for the Funds, the
Sub-Adviser's personnel will not inquire as to or take into
consideration whether the issuers of securities proposed for
purchase or sale for a Fund's accounts are clients of the
Sub-Adviser or of its affiliates. In dealing with such clients, the
Sub-Adviser and its affiliates will not inquire as to or take into
consideration whether securities of those customers are held by the
Trust; and
(g) will provide advice and recommendations with respect to other
aspects of the business and affairs of the Funds and perform such
other functions related to the provision of investment management
services as the Investment Adviser may reasonably request.
3. Broker-Dealer Relationships. With regard to the portions of the Funds
allocated to it, the Sub-Adviser is responsible for decisions to buy and sell
securities, broker-dealer selection, and negotiation of brokerage commission
rates. The Sub-Adviser may select any affiliated person of the Trust, the
Investment Adviser, or the Sub-Adviser to the extent permitted pursuant to the
Trust's procedures for securities transactions with affiliated brokers pursuant
to Section 17(e)(2) and Rule 17e-1 under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as
amended (the "Investment Company Act").
The Sub-Adviser's primary consideration in effecting a security
transaction will be execution at a price that is reasonable and fair compared to
the commission, fee or other remuneration received or to be received by other
brokers in connection with comparable transactions, including similar securities
being purchased or sold on a securities exchange during a comparable period of
time. In selecting a broker-dealer to execute each particular transaction, the
Sub-Adviser will take the following into consideration: the best net price
available; the reliability, integrity and financial condition of the
broker-dealer; the size of and difficulty in executing the order; and the value
of the expected contribution of the broker-dealer to the investment performance
of the Fund on a continuing basis. Accordingly, the price to a Fund in any
transaction may be less favorable than that available from another broker-dealer
if the difference is reasonably justified by other aspects of the portfolio
execution services offered.
Subject to such policies and procedures as the Board of Trustees may
determine, the Sub-Adviser shall not be deemed to have acted unlawfully or to
have breached any duty created by this Agreement or otherwise solely by reason
of its having caused a Fund to pay a broker or dealer that provides brokerage
and research services to the Sub-Adviser for the Fund's use an amount of
commission for effecting a portfolio investment transaction in excess of the
amount of commission another broker or dealer would have charged for effecting
that transaction, if the Sub-Adviser determines in good faith that such amount
of commission was 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 Sub-Adviser's overall responsibilities with
respect to the Fund. The Sub-Adviser is further authorized to allocate the
orders placed by it on behalf of a Fund to such brokers and dealers who
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also provide research or statistical material, or other services to the Fund or
the Sub-Adviser for the Fund's use. Such allocation shall be in such amounts and
proportions as the Sub-Adviser shall determine and the Sub-Adviser will report
regularly to the Board of Trustees of the Trust indicating the brokers to whom
such allocations have been made and the basis therefor.
4. Compliance with Applicable Requirements. In carrying out its obligations
under this Agreement, the Sub-Adviser shall at all times conform to: (a) all
applicable provisions of the Investment Company Act and the Investment Advisers
Act and any rules and regulations adopted thereunder as amended; (b) the
provisions of the Registration Statement of the Trust under the Securities Act
of 1933, as amended, and the Investment Company Act; (c) the provisions of the
Trust Instrument of the Trust, as amended; (d) the provisions of the By-laws of
the Trust, as amended; and (e) any other applicable provisions of state and
federal law.
5. Books and Records. In compliance with Rule 3la-3 under the Investment
Company Act, the Sub-Adviser hereby agrees that all records which it maintains
for the Trust on behalf of the Investment Adviser are the property of the Trust
and further agrees to surrender promptly to the Trust or to the Investment
Adviser copies of any of such records upon request. The Sub-Adviser further
agrees to preserve for the periods prescribed by Rule 3la-2 adopted under the
Investment Company Act all records required to be maintained by the Sub-Adviser
on behalf of the Investment Adviser under Rule 3la-1(b)(5), (6), (7), (9) and
(10) under the Investment Company Act.
6. Expenses. During the term of this Agreement, the Sub-Adviser will pay all
expenses incurred by it in connection with its activities under this Agreement
other than the cost of securities (including brokerage commissions, if any)
purchased for the Funds.
7. Compensation. For the services provided and the expenses assumed pursuant
to this Agreement, the Investment Adviser will pay the Sub-Adviser and the
Sub-Adviser will accept as full compensation therefor a fee computed daily and
paid monthly in arrears at the annual rate set forth of Schedule A, based on
each Fund's average daily net assets, computed in the manner set forth in the
Registration Statement of the Trust. In the event that investment advisory fees
charged to a Fund by the Investment Adviser are waived, deferred or reduced,
then sub-advisory fees payable in accordance with this Paragraph 7 shall be
proportionally waived, deferred or reduced. Such fee reduction, if applicable,
shall be applied on a monthly basis at the time each payment of sub-advisory
fees is due hereunder. Further, if the fees payable to the Sub-Adviser begin to
accrue before the end of any month, or if this Agreement terminates before the
end of any month, then such fees for such month shall be prorated according to
the proportion which the partial period bears to the full month in which such
effectiveness or termination occurs.
8. Liability of Sub-Adviser. In the absence of willful misfeasance, bad
faith, gross negligence or reckless disregard of obligations or duties hereunder
on the part of the Sub-Adviser or any of its officers, directors or employees,
the Sub-Adviser shall not be subject to liability to the Investment Adviser for
any act or omission in the course of, or connected with, rendering services
hereunder or for any losses that may be sustained in the purchase, holding or
sale of any security.
9. Limit of Liability. The terms the "ING Funds Trust" and "Trustees" (of the
Trust) refer, respectively to the trust created and the Trustees, as trustees
but not individually or personally, acting from time to time under the Trust's
organizational documentation, to which reference is hereby made. The obligations
of the "ING Funds Trust" entered into in the name or on behalf thereof by any of
the Trustees, representatives or agents are made not individually, but in such
capacities and are not binding upon any of the Trustees, shareholders or
representatives of the Trust personally, but bind only the assets of the Funds,
and all persons dealing with the Funds or other series of the Trust must look
solely to the assets of the Funds for the enforcement of any claims against the
Trust.
10. Term. This Agreement shall become effective as it pertains to a Fund at
the close of business on the date opposite the Fund's name on Schedule A and
shall remain in force and effect for two years from such date and thereafter
from year to year, provided that such continuance is specifically approved
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at least annually: (a) (i) by the Trust's Board of Trustees or (ii) by the vote
of a majority of the Fund's outstanding voting securities (as defined in Section
2(a)(42) of the Investment Company Act); and (b) by the affirmative vote of a
majority of the Trustees who are not parties to this Agreement or interested
persons of a party to this Agreement (other than as Trust trustees), by votes
cast in person at a meeting specifically called for such purpose.
11. Termination. This Agreement may be terminated at any time as it pertains
to a Fund, without the payment of any penalty, by vote of the Trust's Board of
Trustees or by vote of a majority of the Fund's outstanding voting securities,
by the Investment Adviser, or by the Sub-Adviser on sixty (60) days' written
notice to the other parties. The notice provided for herein may be waived by any
party. This Agreement shall automatically terminate as it pertains to all Funds
in the event of its assignment. The term "assignment" for the purpose of this
paragraph has the meaning defined in Section 2(a)(4) of the Investment Company
Act.
12. Amendment of this Agreement. No provision of this Agreement may be
changed, waived, discharged or terminated orally, but only by an instrument in
writing signed by the party against which enforcement of the change, waiver,
discharge or termination is sought.
13. Notices. Any notices under this Agreement shall be in writing, addressed
and delivered or mailed postage paid to the other party at such address as such
other party may designate for the receipt of such notice. Until further notice
to the other party, it is agreed that the address of the Trust and the
Investment Adviser shall be 0000 Xxxxxxxx Xxxxx, Xxxx Xxxxxxx, XX 00000, and the
address of the Sub-Adviser shall be 000 Xxxx Xxxxxx, Xxx Xxxx, XX 00000, attn:
Xxxxxxx X. Xxxxxx.
14. Questions of Interpretation. Any question of interpretation of any term or
provision of this Agreement having a counterpart in or otherwise derived from a
term or provision of the Investment Company Act shall be resolved by reference
to such term or provision of the Act. In addition, where the effect of a
requirement of the Investment Company Act reflected in any provision of this
Agreement is released by rules, regulation or order of the Securities and
Exchange Commission, such provision shall be deemed to incorporate the effect of
such rule, regulation or order.
15. Counterparts. This Agreement may be executed in counterparts, each of
which shall constitute an original and both of which, collectively, shall
constitute one agreement.
16. Miscellaneous. The captions in this Agreement are included for convenience
of reference only and in no way define or delimit any of the provisions hereof
or otherwise affect their construction or effect. If any provision of this
Agreement shall be held or made invalid by a court decision, statute, rule or
otherwise, the remainder of this Agreement shall not be affected thereby. This
Agreement shall be binding upon and shall inure to the benefit of the parties
hereto and their respective successors and shall be governed by the laws of the
State of New York.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have caused this Agreement to be executed
in duplicate by their respective officers on the day and year first above
written.
XXXXXX XXXX CAPITAL MANAGEMENT ING MUTUAL FUNDS MANAGEMENT CO.
LLC LLC
By: /s/ Xxxxxxx X. Xxxxxx By: /s/ Xxxx X. Xxxxxxx
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Title: Vice President Title: President
Attest By: /s/ Xxxxxxx X. Xxxx Attest By: /s/ Xxxxx X. Xxxxxx
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Title: Managing Director Title: Vice President
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Schedule A
Name of Fund Fee Rate Approval Date
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ING National Tax-Exempt Bond Fund 0.250%* October 30, 1998
ING Mid Cap Growth Fund 0.500%* October 30, 1998
ING Balanced Fund 0.400%* October 30, 1998
ING Focus Fund 0.500%* October 30, 1998
ING National Municipal Money Market Fund 0.200%* March 26, 1999
ING Small Cap Growth Fund 0.500%** October 31, 1999
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* For the first year of operations, the fee rate will be one-quarter (1/4)
of the annual fee rate reflected herein. For the second year of
operations, the fee rate will be one-half (1/2) of the annual rate
reflected herein.
** For the fiscal year ended October 31, 2000, the fee rate will be one-half
(1/2) of the annual fee rate reflected herein.
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