Exhibit (e)(1)
XXXXXXX MUTUAL FUNDS, INC.
000 Xxxx Xxxxxx
Xxx Xxxx, Xxx Xxxx 00000
September 7, 1998
Xxxxxxx Investor Services, Inc.
Xxx Xxxxxxxxxxxxx Xxxxx
Xxxxxx, Xxxxxxxxxxxxx 00000
Underwriting Agreement
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Dear Ladies and Gentlemen:
Xxxxxxx Mutual Funds, Inc. (hereinafter called the "Fund") is a
Corporation organized under the laws of Maryland and is engaged in the business
of an investment company. The authorized capital of the Fund consists of shares
of capital stock, with par value of $0.01 per share ("Shares"), currently
divided into one active series ("Series"). The Series and, if applicable, the
classes thereof to which this Agreement applies are included under Schedule A.
Shares may be divided into additional Series of the Fund and the Series may be
terminated from time to time. The Fund has selected you to act as principal
underwriter (as such term is defined in Section 2(a)(29) of the Investment
Company Act of 1940, as amended (the "1940 Act")) of the Shares and you are
willing to act as such principal underwriter and to perform the duties and
functions of underwriter in the manner and on the terms and conditions
hereinafter set forth. Accordingly, the Fund hereby agrees with you as follows:
1. Delivery of Documents. The Fund has furnished you with copies properly
certified or authenticated of each of the following:
(a) Articles of Amendment and Restatement of the Fund, dated September 5,
1996, as amended to date.
(b) By-Laws of the Fund as in effect on the date hereof.
(c) Resolutions of the Board of Directors of the Fund selecting you as
principal underwriter and approving this form of Agreement.
The Fund will furnish you from time to time with copies, properly certified
or authenticated, of all amendments of or supplements to the foregoing, if any.
The Fund will furnish you promptly with properly certified or authenticated
copies of any registration statement filed by it with the Securities and
Exchange Commission under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, (the "1933
Act") or the 1940 Act, together with any financial statements and exhibits
included therein, and all amendments or supplements thereto hereafter filed.
2. Registration and Sale of Additional Shares. The Fund will from time to
time use its best efforts to register under the 1933 Act such number of Shares
not already so registered as you may reasonably be expected to sell on behalf of
the Fund. You and the Fund will cooperate in taking such action as may be
necessary from time to time to comply with requirements applicable to the sale
of Shares by you or the Fund in any states mutually agreeable to you and the
Fund, and to maintain such compliance. This Agreement relates to the issue and
sale of Shares that are duly authorized and registered under the 1933 Act and
available for sale by the Fund, including redeemed or repurchased Shares if and
to the extent that they may be legally sold and if, but only if, the Fund sees
fit to sell them.
3. Sale of Shares. Subject to the provisions of paragraphs 5 and 7 hereof
and to such minimum purchase requirements as may from time to time be currently
indicated in the Fund's prospectus or statement of additional information, you
are authorized to sell as agent on behalf of the Fund Shares authorized for
issue and registered under the 1933 Act. You may also purchase as principal
Shares for resale to the public. Such sales will be made by you on behalf of the
Fund by accepting unconditional orders to purchase Shares placed with you by
investors and such purchases will be made by you only after acceptance by you of
such orders. The sales price to the public of Shares shall be the public
offering price as defined in paragraph 6 hereof.
4. Solicitation of Orders. You will use your best efforts (but only in
states in which you may lawfully do so) to obtain from investors unconditional
orders for Shares authorized for issue by
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the Funds and registered under the 1933 Act, provided that you may in your
discretion refuse to accept orders for Shares from any particular applicant.
5. Sale of Shares by the Fund. Unless you are otherwise notified by the
Fund, any right granted to you to accept orders for Shares or to make sales on
behalf of the Fund or to purchase Shares for resale will not apply to (i) Shares
issued in connection with the merger or consolidation of any other investment
company with the Fund or its acquisition, by purchase or otherwise, of all or
substantially all of the assets of any investment company or substantially all
the outstanding shares of any such company, and (ii) to Shares that may be
offered by the Fund to shareholders of the Fund by virtue of their being such
shareholders.
6. Public Offering Price. All Shares sold to investors by you will be sold
at the public offering price. The public offering price for all accepted
subscriptions will be the net asset value per Share, determined, in the manner
provided in the Fund's registration statements as from time to time in effect
under the 1933 Act and the 1940 Act, next after the order is accepted by you.
7. Suspension of Sales. If and whenever the determination of net asset
value is suspended and until such suspension is terminated, no further orders
for Shares shall be accepted by you except unconditional orders placed with you
before you had knowledge of the suspension. In addition, the Fund reserves the
right to suspend sales and your authority to accept orders for Shares on behalf
of the Fund if, in the judgment of a majority of the Board of Directors or a
majority of the Executive Committee of such Board, if such body exists, it is in
the best interests of the Fund to do so, such suspension to continue for such
period as may be determined by such majority; and in that event, no Shares will
be sold by you on behalf of the Fund while such suspension remains in effect
except for Shares necessary to cover unconditional orders accepted by you before
you had knowledge of the suspension.
8. Portfolio Securities. Portfolio securities of any Series of the Fund may
be bought or sold by or through you and you may participate directly or
indirectly in brokerage commissions or "spread" in respect of transactions in
portfolio securities of any Series of the Fund; provided, however, that all sums
of money received by you as a result of such purchases and sales or as a result
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of such participation must, after reimbursement of your actual expenses in
connection with such activity, be paid over by you to or for the benefit of the
Fund.
9. Expenses. (a) The Fund will pay (or will enter into arrangements
providing that others than you will pay) all fees and expenses:
(1) in connection with the preparation, setting in type and filing of any
registration statement (including a prospectus and statement of
additional information) under the 1933 Act or the 1940 Act, or both,
and any amendments or supplements thereto that may be made from time
to time;
(2) in connection with the registration and qualification of Shares for
sale, or compliance with other conditions applicable to the sale of
Shares in the various jurisdictions in which the Fund shall determine
it advisable to sell such Shares (including registering the Fund as a
broker or dealer or any officer of the Fund or other person as agent
or salesman of the Fund in any such jurisdictions);
(3) of preparing, setting in type, printing and mailing any notice, proxy
statement, report, prospectus or other communication to shareholders
of the Fund in their capacity as such;
(4) of preparing, setting in type, printing and mailing prospectuses
annually, and any supplements thereto, to existing shareholders;
(5) in connection with the issue and transfer of Shares resulting from the
acceptance by you of orders to purchase Shares placed with you by
investors, including the expenses of printing and mailing
confirmations of such purchase orders and the expenses of printing and
mailing a prospectus included with the confirmation of such orders;
(6) of any issue taxes or any initial transfer taxes;
(7) of WATS (or equivalent) telephone lines other than the portion
allocated to you in this paragraph 9;
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(8) of wiring funds in payment of Share purchases or in satisfaction of
redemption or repurchase requests, unless such expenses are paid for
by the investor or shareholder who initiates the transaction;
(9) of the cost of printing and postage of business reply envelopes sent
to Fund shareholders;
(10) of one or more CRT terminals connected with the computer facilities of
the transfer agent other than the portion allocated to you in this
paragraph 9;
(11) permitted to be paid or assumed by the Fund pursuant to a plan ("12b-1
Plan"), if any, adopted by the Fund in conformity with the
requirements of Rule 12b-1 under the 1940 Act ("Rule 12b-1") or any
successor rule, notwithstanding any other provision to the contrary
herein;
(12) of the expense of setting in type, printing and postage of the
periodic newsletter to shareholders other than the portion allocated
to you in this paragraph 9; and
(13) of the salaries and overhead of persons employed by you as shareholder
representatives other than the portion allocated to you in this
paragraph 9.
b) You shall pay or arrange for the payment of all fees and expenses:
(1) of printing and distributing any prospectuses or reports prepared for
your use in connection with the offering of Shares to the public;
(2) of preparing, setting in type, printing and mailing any other
literature used by you in connection with the offering of Shares to
the public;
(3) of advertising in connection with the offering of Shares to the
public;
(4) incurred in connection with your registration as a broker or dealer or
the registration or qualification of your officers, directors, agents
or representatives under Federal and state laws;
(5) of that portion of WATS (or equivalent) telephone lines, allocated to
you on the basis of use by investors (but not shareholders) who
request information or prospectuses;
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(6) of that portion of the expenses of setting in type, printing and
postage of the periodic newsletter to shareholders attributable to
promotional material included in such newsletter at your request
concerning investment companies other than the Fund or concerning the
Fund to the extent you are required to assume the expense thereof
pursuant to paragraph 9(b)(8), except such material which is limited
to information, such as listings of other investment companies and
their investment objectives, given in connection with the exchange
privilege as from time to time described in the Fund's prospectus;
(7) of that portion of the salaries and overhead of persons employed by
you as shareholder representatives attributable to the time spent by
such persons in responding to requests from prospective investors and
shareholders for information about the Fund;
(8) of any activity which is primarily intended to result in the sale of
Shares, unless a 12b-1 Plan shall be in effect which provides that the
Fund shall bear some or all of such expenses, in which case the Fund
shall bear such expenses in accordance with such Plan; and
(9) of that portion of one or more CRT terminals connected with the
computer facilities of the transfer agent attributable to your use of
such terminal(s) to gain access to such of the transfer agent's
records as also serve as your records.
Expenses which are to be allocated between you and the Fund shall be
allocated pursuant to reasonable procedures or formulae mutually agreed upon
from time to time, which procedures or formulae shall to the extent practicable
reflect studies of relevant empirical data.
10. Conformity with Law. You agree that in selling Shares you will duly
conform in all respects with the laws of the United States and any state in
which Shares may be offered for sale by you pursuant to this Agreement and to
the rules and regulations of the National Association of Securities Dealers,
Inc., of which you are a member.
11. Independent Contractor. You shall be an independent contractor and
neither you nor any of your officers or employees is or shall be an employee of
the Fund in the performance of your
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duties hereunder. You shall be responsible for your own conduct and the
employment, control and conduct of your agents and employees and for injury to
such agents or employees or to others through your agents or employees. You
assume full responsibility for your agents and employees under applicable
statutes and agree to pay all employee taxes thereunder.
12. Indemnification. You agree to indemnify and hold harmless the Fund and
each of its Director and officers and each person, if any, who controls the Fund
within the meaning of Section 15 of the 1933 Act, against any and all losses,
claims, damages, liabilities or litigation (including legal and other expenses)
to which the Fund or such Directors, officers, or controlling person may become
subject under such Act, under any other statute, at common law or otherwise,
arising out of the acquisition of any Shares by any person which (i) may be
based upon any wrongful act by you or any of your employees or representatives,
or (ii) may be based upon any untrue statement or alleged untrue statement of a
material fact contained in a registration statement (including a prospectus or
statement of additional information) covering Shares or any amendment thereof or
supplement thereto or the omission or alleged omission to state therein a
material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statement
therein not misleading if such statement or omission was made in reliance upon
information furnished to the Fund by you, or (iii) may be incurred or arise by
reason of your acting as the Fund's agent instead of purchasing and reselling
Shares as principal in distributing the Shares to the public, provided, however,
that in no case (i) is your indemnity in favor of a Director or officer or any
other person deemed to protect such Director or officer or other person against
any liability to which any such person would otherwise be subject by reason of
willful misfeasance, bad faith, or gross negligence in the performance of his
duties or by reason of his reckless disregard of obligations and duties under
this Agreement or (ii) are you to be liable under your indemnity agreement
contained in this paragraph with respect to any claim made against the Fund or
any person indemnified unless the Fund or such person, as the case may be, shall
have notified you in writing within a reasonable time after the summons or other
first legal process giving information of the nature of the claims shall have
been served upon the Fund or upon such person (or after the Fund or such person
shall have received notice of such service on any designated agent), but
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failure to notify you of any such claim shall not relieve you from any liability
which you may have to the Fund or any person against whom such action is brought
otherwise than on account of your indemnity agreement contained in this
paragraph. You shall be entitled to participate, at your own expense, in the
defense, or, if you so elect, to assume the defense of any suit brought to
enforce any such liability, but if you elect to assume the defense, such defense
shall be conducted by counsel chosen by you and satisfactory to the Fund, to its
officers and Directors, or to any controlling person or persons, defendant or
defendants in the suit. In the event that you elect to assume the defense of any
such suit and retain such counsel, the Fund, such officers and Directors or
controlling person or persons, defendant or defendants in the suit shall bear
the fees and expenses of any additional counsel retained by them, but, in case
you do not elect to assume the defense of any such suit, you will reimburse the
Fund, such officers and Directors or controlling person or persons, defendant or
defendants in such suit for the reasonable fees and expenses of any counsel
retained by them. You agree promptly to notify the Fund of the commencement of
any litigation or proceedings against it in connection with the issue and sale
of any Shares.
The Fund agrees to indemnify and hold harmless you and each of your
directors and officers and each person, if any, who controls you within the
meaning of Section 15 of the 1933 Act, against any and all losses, claims,
damages, liabilities or litigation (including legal and other expenses) to which
you or such directors, officers or controlling person may become subject under
such Act, under any other statute, at common law or otherwise, arising out of
the acquisition of any Shares by any person which (i) may be based upon any
wrongful act by the Fund or any of its employees or representatives, or (ii) may
be based upon any untrue statement or alleged untrue statement of a material
fact contained in a registration statement (including a prospectus or statement
of additional information) covering Shares or any amendment thereof or
supplement thereto or the omission or alleged omission to state therein a
material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements
therein not misleading if such statement or omission was made in reliance upon
information furnished to you by the Fund; provided, however, that in no case (i)
is the Fund's indemnity in favor of you, a director or officer or any other
person deemed to protect you, such
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director or officer or other person against any liability to which any such
person would otherwise be subject by reason of willful misfeasance, bad faith,
or gross negligence in the performance of his duties or by reason of his
reckless disregard of obligations and duties under this Agreement or (ii) is the
Fund to be liable under its indemnity agreement contained in this paragraph with
respect to any claims made against you or any such director, officer or
controlling person unless you or such director, officer or controlling person,
as the case may be, shall have notified the Fund in writing within a reasonable
time after the summons or other first legal process giving information of the
nature of the claim shall have been served upon you or upon such director,
officer or controlling person (or after you or such director, officer or
controlling person shall have received notice of such service on any designated
agent), but failure to notify the Fund of any such claim shall not relieve it
from any liability which it may have to the person against whom such action is
brought otherwise than on account of its indemnity agreement contained in this
paragraph. The Fund will be entitled to participate at its own expense in the
defense, or, if it so elects, to assume the defense of any suit brought to
enforce any such liability, but if the Fund elects to assume the defense, such
defense shall be conducted by counsel chosen by it and satisfactory to you, your
directors, officers, or controlling person or persons, defendant or defendants
in the suit. In the event that the Fund elects to assume the defense of any such
suit and retain such counsel, you, your directors, officers or controlling
person or persons, defendant or defendants in the suit, shall bear the fees and
expenses of any additional counsel retained by them, but, in case the Fund does
not elect to assume the defense of any such suit, it will reimburse you or such
directors, officers or controlling person or persons, defendant or defendants in
the suit, for the reasonable fees and expenses of any counsel retained by them.
The Fund agrees promptly to notify you of the commencement of any litigation or
proceedings against it or any of its officers or directors in connection with
the issuance or sale of any Shares.
13. Authorized Representations. The Fund is not authorized to give any
information or to make any representations on behalf of you other than the
information and representations contained in a registration statement (including
a prospectus or statement of additional information) covering
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Shares, as such registration statement and prospectus may be amended or
supplemented from time to time.
You are not authorized to give any information or to make any
representations on behalf of the Fund or in connection with the sale of Shares
other than the information and representations contained in a registration
statement (including a prospectus or statement of additional information)
covering Shares, as such registration statement may be amended or supplemented
from time to time. No person other than you is authorized to act as principal
underwriter (as such term is defined in the 0000 Xxx) for the Fund.
14. Duration and Termination of this Agreement. This Agreement shall become
effective upon the date first written above and will remain in effect until
September 30, 1999 and from year to year thereafter, but only so long as such
continuance is specifically approved at least annually by the vote of a majority
of the Directors who are not interested persons of you or of the Fund, cast in
person at a meeting called for the purpose of voting on such approval, and by
vote of the Board of Directors or of a majority of the outstanding voting
securities of the Fund. This Agreement may, on 60 days' written notice, be
terminated at any time without the payment of any penalty, by the Board of
Directors of the Fund, by a vote of a majority of the outstanding voting
securities of the Fund, or by you. This Agreement will automatically terminate
in the event of its assignment. In interpreting the provisions of this paragraph
14, the definitions contained in Section 2(a) of the 1940 Act (particularly the
definitions of "interested person", "assignment" and "majority of the
outstanding voting securities"), as modified by any applicable order of the
Securities and Exchange Commission, shall be applied.
15. Amendment of this Agreement. No provisions 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. If the Fund should at any time deem it
necessary or advisable in the best interests of the Fund that any amendment of
this Agreement be made in order to comply with the recommendations or
requirements of the Securities and Exchange Commission or other governmental
authority or to obtain any advantage
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under state or federal tax laws and should notify you of the form of such
amendment, and the reasons therefor, and if you should decline to assent to such
amendment, the Fund may terminate this Agreement forthwith. If you should at any
time request that a change be made in the Fund's Articles of Incorporation or
By-laws or in its methods of doing business, in order to comply with any
requirements of federal law or regulations of the Securities and Exchange
Commission or of a national securities association of which you are or may be a
member relating to the sale of shares of the Fund, and the Fund should not make
such necessary change within a reasonable time, you may terminate this Agreement
forthwith.
16. Termination of Prior Agreements. This Agreement upon its effectiveness
terminates and supersedes all prior underwriting contracts between the parties.
17. 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. This
Agreement may be executed simultaneously in two or more counterparts, each of
which shall be deemed an original, but all of which together shall constitute
one and the same instrument.
The name "Xxxxxxx Mutual Funds, Inc." is the designation of the Directors
for the time being under Articles of Amendment and Restatement of the Fund dated
September 5, 1996, as amended from time to time, and all persons dealing with
the Fund must look solely to the property of the Fund for the enforcement of any
claims against the Fund, as neither the Directors, officers, agents or
shareholders assume any personal liability for obligations entered into on
behalf of the Fund.
If you are in agreement with the foregoing, please sign the form of
acceptance on the accompanying counterpart of this letter and return such
counterpart to the Fund, whereupon this letter shall become a binding contract.
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Very truly yours,
XXXXXXX MUTUAL FUNDS, INC.
By: /s/Xxxxxx X. XxXxxxxxx
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Xxxxxx X. XxXxxxxxx
Vice President
The foregoing agreement is hereby accepted as of the foregoing date
thereof.
XXXXXXX INVESTOR SERVICES, INC.
By: /s/Xxxxxx Xxxxxx
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Xxxxxx Xxxxxx
Vice President
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Schedule A
Xxxxxxx Gold Fund
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