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EXHIBIT 6(a)(6)
MASTER DISTRIBUTION AGREEMENT
BETWEEN
AIM FUNDS GROUP
AND
A I M DISTRIBUTORS, INC.
(Applicable to Class A Shares
and AIM Cash Reserve Shares)
THIS AGREEMENT made this 28th day of February, 1997, by and between AIM
FUNDS GROUP, a Delaware business trust (the "Company"), with respect to the
series of beneficial interest set forth on Appendix A to this agreement, and
any applicable classes thereof, (the "Portfolios"), and A I M DISTRIBUTORS,
INC., a Delaware corporation (the "Distributor").
W I T N E S S E T H:
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:
FIRST: The Company on behalf of the Portfolios hereby appoints the
Distributor as its exclusive agent for the sale of shares of the Portfolios to
the public directly and through investment dealers and financial institutions
in the United States and throughout the world.
SECOND: The Company shall not sell any shares of the Portfolios except
through the Distributor and under the terms and conditions set forth in
paragraph FOURTH below. Notwithstanding the provisions of the foregoing
sentence, however:
(A) the Company may issue shares of the Portfolios to any other
investment company or personal holding company, or to the shareholders thereof,
in exchange for all or a majority of the shares or assets of any such company;
and
(B) the Company may issue shares of the Portfolios at their net asset
value in connection with certain classes of transactions or to certain classes
of persons, in accordance with Rule 22d-1
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under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the "1940 Act"), provided
that any such class is specified in the then current prospectus of the
applicable Portfolio.
THIRD: The Distributor hereby accepts appointment as exclusive agent
for the sale of the shares of the Portfolios and agrees that it will use its
best efforts to sell such shares; provided, however, that:
(A) the Distributor may, and when requested by the Company on behalf
of a Portfolio shall, suspend its efforts to effectuate such sales at any time
when, in the opinion of the Distributor or of the Company, no sales should be
made because of market or other economic considerations or abnormal
circumstances of any kind; and
(B) the Company may withdraw the offering of the shares of a
Portfolio(i) at any time with the consent of the Distributor, or (ii) without
such consent when so required by the provisions of any statute or of any order,
rule or regulation of any governmental body having jurisdiction. It is
mutually understood and agreed that the Distributor does not undertake to sell
any specific amount of the shares of the Portfolios. The Company shall have
the right to specify minimum amounts for initial and subsequent orders for the
purchase of shares of any Portfolio.
FOURTH:
(A) The public offering price of shares of a Portfolio (the "offering
price") shall be the net asset value per share of the applicable Portfolio plus
a sales charge, if any. Net asset value per share shall be determined in
accordance with the provisions of the then current prospectus of the applicable
Portfolio. The sales charge shall be established by the Distributor, may
reflect scheduled variations in, or the elimination of, sales charges on sales
of a Portfolio's shares either generally to the public, or to any specified
class of investors or in connection with any specified class of transactions,
in accordance with Rule 22d-1 and as set forth in the then current prospectus
of the applicable Portfolio. The Distributor shall apply any scheduled
variation in, or elimination of, the selling commission uniformly to all
offerees in the class specified.
(B) The Company shall allow directly to investment dealers and other
financial institutions through whom shares of the Portfolios are sold such
portion of the sales charge as may be payable
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to them and specified by the Distributor, up to but not exceeding the amount of
the total sales charge. The difference between any commissions so payable and
the total sales charges included in the offering price shall be paid to the
Distributor.
(C) No provision of this Agreement shall be deemed to prohibit any
payments by a Portfolio to the Distributor or by a Portfolio or the Distributor
to investment dealers, financial institutions and 401(k) plan service providers
where such payments are made under a distribution plan adopted by the Company
on behalf of a Portfolio pursuant to Rule 12b-1 under the 1940 Act.
FIFTH: The Distributor shall act as agent of the Company on behalf of
the Portfolios in connection with the sale and repurchase of shares of the
Portfolios. Except with respect to such sales and repurchases, the Distributor
shall act as principal in all matters relating to the promotion of the sale of
shares of the Portfolios and shall enter into all of its own engagements,
agreements and contracts as principal on its own account. The Distributor
shall enter into agreements with investment dealers and financial institutions
selected by the Distributor, authorizing such investment dealers and financial
institutions to offer and sell shares of the Portfolios to the public upon the
terms and conditions set forth therein, which shall not be inconsistent with
the provisions of this Agreement. Each agreement shall provide that the
investment dealer and financial institution shall act as a principal, and not
as an agent, of the Company on behalf of the Portfolios.
SIXTH: The Portfolios shall bear:
(A) the expenses of qualification of shares of the Portfolios for
sale in connection with such public offerings in such states as shall be
selected by the Distributor, and of continuing the qualification therein until
the Distributor notifies the Company that it does not wish such qualification
continued; and
(B) all legal expenses in connection with the foregoing.
SEVENTH:
(A) The Distributor shall bear the expenses of printing from the
final proof and distributing the Portfolios' prospectuses and statements of
additional information (including supplements thereto)
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relating to public offerings made by the Distributor pursuant to this Agreement
(which shall not include those prospectuses and statements of additional
information, and supplements thereto, to be distributed to shareholders of the
Portfolios), and any other promotional or sales literature used by the
Distributor or furnished by the Distributor to dealers in connection with such
public offerings, and expenses of advertising in connection with such public
offerings.
(B) The Distributor may be reimbursed for all or a portion of such
expenses, or may receive reasonable compensation for distribution related
services, to the extent permitted by a distribution plan adopted by the Company
on behalf of a Portfolio pursuant to Rule 12b-1 under the 1940 Act.
EIGHTH: The Distributor will accept orders for the purchase of shares
of the Portfolios only to the extent of purchase orders actually received and
not in excess of such orders, and it will not avail itself of any opportunity
of making a profit by expediting or withholding orders. It is mutually
understood and agreed that the Company may reject purchase orders where, in the
judgment of the Company, such rejection is in the best interest of the Company.
NINTH: The Company, on behalf of the Portfolios, and the Distributor
shall each comply with all applicable provisions of the 1940 Act, the
Securities Act of 1933 and of all other federal and state laws, rules and
regulations governing the issuance and sale of shares of the Portfolios.
TENTH:
(A) In the absence of willful misfeasance, bad faith, gross
negligence or reckless disregard of obligations or duties hereunder on the part
of the Distributor, the Company on behalf of the Portfolios agrees to indemnify
the Distributor against any and all claims, demands, liabilities and expenses
which the Distributor may incur under the Securities Act of 1933, or common law
or otherwise, arising out of or based upon any alleged untrue statement of a
material fact contained in any registration statement or prospectus of a
Portfolio, or any omission to state a material fact therein, the omission of
which makes any statement contained therein misleading, unless such statement
or omission was made in reliance upon, and in conformity with, information
furnished to the Company or a Portfolio in connection therewith by or on behalf
of the Distributor. The Distributor agrees to indemnify the Company and the
Portfolios against any and all claims, demands, liabilities and expenses which
the Company or a Portfolio may incur arising out of or based upon any act or
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deed of the Distributor or its sales representatives which has not been
authorized by the Company or a Portfolio in its prospectus or in this
Agreement.
(B) The Distributor agrees to indemnify the Company and the
Portfolios against any and all claims, demands, liabilities and expenses which
the Company or the Portfolios may incur under the Securities Act of 1933, or
common law or otherwise, arising out of or based upon any alleged untrue
statement of a material fact contained in any registration statement or
prospectus of a Portfolio, or any omission to state a material fact therein if
such statement or omission was made in reliance upon, and in conformity with,
information furnished to the Company or a Portfolio in connection therewith by
or on behalf of the Distributor.
(C) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Agreement, the
Distributor shall not be liable for any errors of the Portfolios' transfer
agent(s), or for any failure of any such transfer agent to perform its duties.
ELEVENTH: Nothing herein contained shall require the Company to take
any action contrary to any provision of its Agreement and Declaration of Trust,
or to any applicable statute or regulation.
TWELFTH: This Agreement shall become effective with respect to each
Portfolio as of the date hereof, shall continue in force and effect until
February 28, 1999, and shall continue in force and effect from year to year
thereafter, provided, that such continuance is specifically approved with
respect to such Portfolio at least annually (a)(i) by the Board of Trustees of
the Company or (ii) by the vote of a majority of the outstanding voting
securities (as defined in Section 2(a)(42) of the 1940 Act), and (b) by vote of
a majority of the Company's trustees who are not parties to this Agreement or
"interested persons" (as defined in Section 2(a)(19) of the 0000 Xxx) of any
party to this Agreement cast in person at a meeting called for such purpose.
THIRTEENTH:
(A) This Agreement may be terminated with respect to any Portfolio at
any time, without the payment of any penalty, by vote of the Board of Trustees
of the Company or by vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of
the applicable Portfolio, or by the Distributor, on sixty (60) days' written
notice to the other party.
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(B) This Agreement shall automatically terminate in the event of its
assignment, the term "assignment" having the meaning set forth in Section
2(a)(4) of the 1940 Act.
FOURTEENTH: Any notice under this Agreement shall be in writing,
addressed and delivered, or mailed postage prepaid, to the other party at such
address as the other party may designate for the receipt of notices. Until
further notice to the other party, it is agreed that the addresses of both the
Company and the Distributor shall be 00 Xxxxxxxx Xxxxx, Xxxxx 0000, Xxxxxxx,
Xxxxx 00000.
FIFTEENTH: Copies of the Agreement and Declaration of Trust, as
amended, establishing the Company are on file with the Secretary of State of
the State of Delaware, and notice is hereby given that, as provided by
applicable law, the obligations of or arising out of this Agreement are not
binding upon any of the shareholders of the Company individually, but are
binding only upon the assets and property of the Company and that the
shareholders shall be entitled, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable
law, to the same limitation on personal liability as stockholders of private
corporations for profit.
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IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties have caused this Agreement to be
executed in duplicate on the day and year first above written.
AIM FUNDS GROUP
By: /s/ XXXXXX X. XXXXXX
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Name: Xxxxxx X. Xxxxxx
Title: President
Attest:
/s/ XXXXX X. XXXX
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Name: Xxxxx X. Xxxx
Title: Assistant Secretary
A I M DISTRIBUTORS, INC.
By: /s/ XXXXXXX X. XXXX
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Name: Xxxxxxx X. Xxxx
Title: President
Attest:
/s/ XXXXXX X. XXXX
-----------------------------------
Name: Xxxxxx X. Xxxx
Title: Assistant Secretary
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APPENDIX A
TO
MASTER DISTRIBUTION AGREEMENT
OF
AIM FUNDS GROUP
CLASS A SHARES
---------------
AIM Balanced Fund
AIM Global Utilities Fund
AIM Growth Fund
AIM High Yield Fund
AIM Income Fund
AIM Intermediate Government Fund
AIM Money Market Fund
AIM Municipal Bond Fund
AIM Value Fund
AIM CASH RESERVE SHARES
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AIM Money Market Fund
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