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EXHIBIT 6(a)
DISTRIBUTION AGREEMENT
BETWEEN
AIM GROWTH SERIES
AND
A I M DISTRIBUTORS, INC.
CLASS A SHARES
THIS AGREEMENT made this 29th day of May, 1998, by and between AIM
Growth Series, 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 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
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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 Class A 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 and
statement of additional information 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
Class A 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 and
statement of additional information 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. The
Distributor shall be entitled to receive the amount of any applicable
contingent deferred sales charge that has been subtracted from gross redemption
proceeds (the "CDSC"), provided that the Shares being redeemed were (i) issued
by a Portfolio during the term of this Agreement and any predecessor Agreement
between the Company and the Distributor or Distributor's predecessor, GT
Global, Inc. ("GT Global"), or (ii) issued by a Portfolio during or after the
term of this Agreement or any predecessor Agreement between the Company and the
Distributor or GT Global in one or a series of free exchanges of Shares for
shares of the same class of another portfolio, which can be traced to Shares or
shares of the same class of another portfolio initially issued by a Portfolio
or such other portfolio during the term of this Agreement, any predecessor
Agreement or any other distribution agreement with the Distributor or GT Global
with respect to such other portfolio (the "Distributor's Earned CDSC"). The
Company shall pay or cause the Company's transfer agent to pay the
Distributor's Earned CDSC to the Distributor on the date net redemption
proceeds are payable to the redeeming shareholder.
(B) The Company shall allow directly to investment dealers and
other financial institutions through whom Class A shares of the Portfolios are
sold such portion of the sales charge as may be payable 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
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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) 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 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
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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 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 for two
years from the date hereof, 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.
(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 000, Xxxxxxx,
Xxxxx 00000.
FIFTEENTH: 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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SIXTEENTH: This Agreement shall be deemed to be a contract made in
the State of Delaware and governed by, construed in accordance with and
enforced pursuant to the internal laws of the State of Delaware without
reference to its conflicts of laws rules.
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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 GROWTH SERIES
By: /s/ XXXXXXX X. XXXXXXXXX
-----------------------------
Name: Xxxxxxx X. Xxxxxxxxx
Title: President
Attest:
/s/ XXXXXXX X. SILVER
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Name: Xxxxxxx X. Silver
Title: Assistant Secretary
A I M DISTRIBUTORS, INC.
By: /s/ XXXX XXXXXXXX
-----------------------------
Name: Xxxx Xxxxxxxx
Title: Senior Vice President
Attest:
/s/ XXXXXXXX X. XXXXXXXX
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Name: Xxxxxxxx X. Xxxxxxxx
Title: Secretary
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APPENDIX A
TO
DISTRIBUTION AGREEMENT
OF
AIM GROWTH SERIES
CLASS A SHARES
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AIM Worldwide Growth Fund
AIM International Growth Fund
AIM New Pacific Growth Fund
AIM Europe Growth Fund
AIM Japan Growth Fund
AIM Small Cap Equity Fund
AIM Mid Cap Growth Fund
AIM America Value Fund
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