Exhibit 99.h(3)
NEW ENGLAND FUNDS, L.P.
000 Xxxxxxxx Xxxxxx
Xxxxxx, Xxxxxxxxxxxxx 00000
DEALER AGREEMENT
As dealer for our own account, we offer to sell to you shares of each of the
Funds distributed by us (the "Funds" and each a "Fund"), each of which Funds we
are a principal underwriter as defined in the Investment Company Act of 1940
(the "Act") and from which we have the right to purchase shares.
With respect to each of the Funds (except for paragraph 4, which applies only
with respect to each Fund having in effect from time to time a service plan or
service and distribution plan adopted pursuant to Rule 12b-1 under the Act):
1. In all sales of shares of the Fund to the public you shall act as dealer for
your own account, and in no transaction shall you have any authority to act as
agent for any of the Funds or for us.
2. Orders received from you will be accepted by us only at the public offering
price applicable to each order, except for transactions to which a reduced
offering price applies as provided in the then current Prospectus (which term as
used herein shall include the Statement of Additional Information) of the Fund.
The minimum dollar purchase of shares of each Fund by any investor shall be the
applicable minimum amount described in the then current Prospectus of the fund
and no order for less than such amount will be accepted hereunder. The public
offering price shall be the net asset value per share plus the sales charge, if
any, applicable to the transaction, expressed as a percentage of the public
offering price, as determined and effective as of the time specified in the then
current Prospectus of the Fund. The procedures relating to the handling of
orders shall be subject to any instructions that we shall forward from time to
time to you. All orders are subject to acceptance or rejection by us in our sole
discretion. You hereby agree to comply with the attached POLICIES AND PROCEDURES
WITH RESPECT TO THE SALES OF SHARES OF NEW ENGLAND FUNDS OFFERING MULTIPLE
CLASSES OF SHARES.
3. The sales charge applicable to any sale of Fund shares by you and the dealer
concession or commission applicable to any order from you for the purchase of
Fund shares accepted by us shall be set forth in the then current Prospectus of
the Fund. You may be deemed to be an underwriter in connection with sales by you
of shares of the fund where you receive all or substantially all of the sales
charge as set forth in the Fund's Prospectus, and therefore you may be subject
to applicable provisions of the Securities Act of 1933.
We are entitled to a contingent deferred sales charge ("CDSC") on redemptions of
applicable Classes of shares of New England Funds, as described in the then
current Prospectus. You agree that you will sell shares subject to a CDSC and
that are to be held in omnibus accounts only if you are a NETWORKING participant
with the National Securities Clearing Corporation and if such accounts are
established pursuant to a NETWORKING Agreement.
Reduced sales charges or no sales charge may apply to certain transactions under
letter of intent, combined purchases or investments, reinvestment of dividends
and distributions, repurchase privilege, unit investment trust distribution
reinvestment or other programs, as described in the then current Prospectus of
the Fund.
4. Rule 12b-1 Plans. The substantive provisions of this Paragraph 4 have been
adopted pursuant to Rule 12b-1 under the Act by certain funds, under plans
pursuant to such Rule (each a "Plan")
(a) You agree to provide (i) for the Funds with a Service Plan, personal
services to investors in shares of the Funds and/or the maintenance of
shareholder accounts and (ii) for those Funds with a Service and Distribution
Plan, both personal services to investors in shares of the funds and/or the
maintenance of shareholder accounts and also distribution and marketing services
in the promotion of Fund shares. As compensation for these services, we shall
pay you, with respect to Fund shares which are owned of record by your firm as
nominee for your customers or which are owned by those shareholders whose
records, as maintained by the Fund or its agent, designate your firm as the
shareholder's dealer of record, a quarterly services fee or services fee and
distribution fee based on the average daily net asset value of such Fund shares
at the rate set forth with respect to the Fund in the then current Prospectus.
No such fee will be paid to you with respect to shares purchased by you and
redeemed or repurchased by the Fund or by us as an agent within seven (7)
business days after the date of our confirmation of such purchase. No such fee
will be paid to you with respect to any of your customers if the amount of such
fee based upon the value of such customer's Fund shares will be less than $5.00
Normally, payment of such fee to you shall be made within forty-five(45) days
after the close of each quarter for which such fee is payable.
(b) You shall furnish us and the Fund with such information as shall reasonably
be requested by the Trustees or Directors of the Fund with respect to the fees
paid to you pursuant to this paragraph 4.
(c) The provisions of this Paragraph 4 may be terminated by the vote of a
majority of the Trustees or Directors of the Fund who are not interested persons
of the fund and who have no direct or indirect financial interest in the
operation of the Plan or in any agreements related to the Plan, or by a vote of
a majority of the Fund's outstanding shares, on sixty (60) days' written notice,
without payment of any penalty. Such provisions will be terminated also by any
act that terminates either the Fund's Distributor's Contract or Underwriting
Agreement with us or this Dealer Agreement and shall terminate automatically in
the event of the assignment (as that term is defined in the Act) of this dealer
Agreement.
(d) The provisions of the Distributor's Contract or Underwriting Agreement
between the Fund and us, insofar as they relate to the Plan, are incorporated
herein by reference. The provisions of this paragraph 4 shall continue in full
force and effect only so long as the continuance of the Plan, the Distributor's
Contract or Underwriting Agreement and these provisions are approved at least
annually by a vote of the Trustees or Directors, including a majority of the
Trustees or Directors who are not interested persons of the Fund and who have no
direct or indirect financial interest in the operation of the Plan or in any
agreements related to the Plan, cast in person at a meeting called for the
purpose of voting thereon.
5. You agree to purchase shares only from us or from your customers. If you
purchase shares from us, you agree that all such purchases shall be made only:
(a) to cover orders already received by you from your customers; (b) for shares
being acquired by your customers pursuant to either Exchange privilege or the
Reinvestment Privilege, as described in the then current prospectus of the Fund;
(c) for your own bona fide investment; or (d) for investments by any IRS
qualified pension, profit sharing or other trust established for the benefit of
your employees or for investments in Individual Retirement Accounts established
by your employees, and if you so advise us in writing prior to any sale of Fund
shares pursuant to this subparagraph (d), you agree to waive all your dealer
concessions to all sales of Fund shares pursuant to this subparagraph (d). If
you purchase shares from your customers, you agree to pay such customers not
less than the applicable redemption price as established by the then current
Prospectus of the Fund. We agree that we will not purchase any securities from
the Fund except for our own bona fide investment purposes for the purpose of
covering purchase orders that we have already received or for shares to be
acquired by our customers pursuant to either exchange privilege or the
repurchase privilege, as described in the then current prospectus of the Fund.
6. You shall sell shares only: (a) to customers at the applicable public
offering price, except for shares being acquired by your customers at net asset
value pursuant to either the exchange privilege or the repurchase privilege as
described in the then current Prospectus of the Fund, and (b) to us agent for
the Fund at the redemption price. In such a sale to us, you may act as either as
principal for your own account or as agent for your customer. If you act as
principal for your own account in purchasing shares for resale to us, you agree
to pay your customer not less than the price that you receive from us. If you
act as an agent for your customer in selling shares to us, you agree not to
charge your customer more than a fair commission for handling the transaction,
except that you agree to receive no compensation of any kind based on the
reinvestment of redemption or repurchase proceeds pursuant to the repurchase
privilege, as described in the current Prospectus of the Fund.
7. You hereby certify that all of your customers' taxpayer identification
numbers ("TIN") or social security numbers ("SSN") furnished to us by you are
correct and that you will not open an account without providing the customer's
TIN or SSN.
8. You shall not withhold placing with us orders received from your customers so
as to profit yourself as a result of such withholding; e.g., by a change in the
net asset value from that used in determining the public offering price to your
customers.
9. We will not accept from you any conditional orders for shares.
10. If any Fund shares sold to you under the terms of this Agreement are
redeemed by the Fund or repurchased by us as agent for the Fund within seven (7)
business days after the date of our confirmation of the original purchase by
you, it is agreed that you shall forfeit your right to the dealer concession or
commission received by you on such Fund shares.
We will notify you of any such repurchase or redemption within ten (10) business
days after the date thereof and you shall forthwith refund to us the entire
concession or commission allowed or paid to you on such sale. We agree, in the
event of any such repurchase or redemption, to refund to the Fund the portion of
the sales charge if any, retained by us and upon receipt from you of the
concession allowed to you on Class A Shares, to pay such refund forthwith to the
Fund.
11. Payment for Fund shares sold to you shall be made on or before the
settlement date specified in our confirmation, at the office of our clearing
agent, and by check payable to the order or the Fund, which reserves the right
to delay issuance, redemption or transfer of shares until such check has
cleared. If such payment is not received by us, we reserve the right, without
notice, forthwith either to cancel the sale, or at our option, to sell the
shares ordered back to the Fund, resulting from your failure to make payment as
aforesaid.
12. You will also act as principal in all purchases by a shareholder for whom
you are the dealer of record of fund shares with payments sent directly by such
shareholder to the Shareholder Services and Transfer agent (the "Agent")
specified in the then current Prospectus of the Fund, and you authorize and
appoint the Agent to execute and confirm such purchases to such shareholder on
your behalf. The Agent will remit not less frequently than monthly to you the
amount of any concessions due with respect to such purchases, except that no
concessions will be paid to you on any transaction for which your net sales
concession is less than the total of $5.00 in any one month. You also represent
that with respect to all such direct purchases by such shareholder, you may
lawfully sell shares of such Fund in the state designated as such shareholder's
record address.
13. Stock certificates for shares sold to you shall be issued only if
specifically requested and upon terms specified from time-to-time by the
Trustees of the Fund. If no open account registration or transfer instructions
are received by the Agent within 20 days after payment by you for shares sold to
you, an open account for such shares will be established in your name. You agree
to hold harmless and indemnify us, the Agent and the Fund, for any loss or
expenses resulting from such open account registration of such shares.
14. No person is authorized to make any representations concerning shares of the
Fund except those contained in the then current Prospectuses of the Fund and in
sales literature issued by us supplemental to such Prospectuses. In purchasing
shares from us, you shall rely solely on the representations contained in such
Prospectus and such sales literature. We will furnish you with additional copies
of such Prospectuses and such sales literature and other releases and
information issued by us in reasonable quantities upon request.
If, with prior approval from us, you use any advertisement or sales literature
which has not been supplied by us, you are responsible for ensuring that the
material complies with all applicable regulations and has been filed with the
appropriate authorities. Also, you will send us copies of all such materials
within (10) days of first use.
You shall indemnify and hold us (Distributor and its directors, officers,
employees, and agents) harmless from and against any and all losses, claims,
liabilities and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees)("Losses")
incurred by any of them arising out of (i) your dissemination of information
regarding any Fund that is alleged to contain an untrue statement of material
fact or any omission of a material fact necessary in order to make the
statements made, in light of the circumstances under which they were made, not
misleading and that was not published or provided to you by or on behalf of us
or our affiliated persons ("Affiliates"), as defined under the Investment
Company Act of 1940, as amended (the "1940 Act"), or accurately derived from
information published or provided by or on behalf of us or any of our
affiliates, (ii) any breach by you of any representation, warranty or agreement
contained in this agreement, or (iii) any willful misconduct or negligence on
your part in the performance of, or failure to perform, your obligations under
this agreement, except to the extent such losses are caused by our breach of
this Agreement or our willful misconduct or negligence in the performance, or
failure to perform, its obligations under this Agreement. This Section (16)
shall survive termination of this Agreement.
15. The Fund reserves the right in its discretion and we reserve the right in
our discretion, without notice, to suspend sales or withdraw the offering of
Fund shares entirely. We reserve the right, by written notice to you, to amend,
modify or cancel this Dealer Agreement. Notice for all purposes shall be deemed
to be given when mailed or electronically transmitted to you.
16. This Dealer Agreement shall replace any prior agreement between you and us
and is conditioned upon your representation and warranty that you are a member
of the National Association of Securities Dealers, Inc. Or, in the alternative,
that you are a foreign dealer not eligible for membership in that Association,
in which case you agree that, in making any sales to purchasers within the
United States of securities acquired from us, you will conform to the provisions
of paragraphs (a) and (b) of Rule 2420 of that Association's Conduct Rules. You
and we agree to abide by the Rules and Regulations of the National Association
of Securities Dealers, Inc. Including without limitation Conduct Rules 2310,
3110, and 2830 , and all applicable state and federal laws, rules and
regulations.
You will not offer Fund shares for sale in any state (a) where they are not
qualified for sale under the blue sky laws and regulations of such state or (b)
where you are not qualified to act as a dealer.
In the event that you offer fund shares outside the United States, you agree to
comply with the applicable laws, rules and regulations of the foreign government
having jurisdiction over such sales, including any regulations of United States
military authorities applicable to solicitations to military personnel.
17. All communications to us should be sent to the above address. Any notice to
you shall be duly given if mailed or telegraphed to you at the address specified
by you below. This Agreement shall be effective when accepted by you below and
shall be construed under the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Accepted: New England Funds, L.P.
By:
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Dealer's Name
Address
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By:
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Authorized Signature of Dealer
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(Please print name)
Date:
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POLICIES AND PROCEDURES WITH RESPECT TO SALES OF NEW ENGLAND FUNDS
OFFERING MULTIPLE CLASSES OR SHARES
In connection with the offering by certain of New England Funds (the "Funds") of
multiple classes of shares, one subject to a front-end sales load and a service
fee or service and distribution fee ("Class A shares"), one subject to a service
fee, a distribution fee, no front-end sales load and a contingent deferred sales
charge ("CDSC") on redemptions within six years of purchase ("Class B shares"),
one subject to a service fee, distribution fee, no front-end sales load and a
CDSC if redeemed in the first year ("Class C shares") and one intended only for
certain institutional investors and subject to no front-end sales load ("Class Y
shares"), an investor must choose the method of purchasing shares which best
suits his/her particular circumstances. To assist investors in these decisions,
New England Funds, L.P. has instituted the following policies with respect to
orders for Fund shares. These policies apply to each broker/dealer which
distributes Fund shares.
1. No purchase order may be placed for Class B shares if the amount of the
orders equals or exceeds $1,000,000 or the order is eligible for a net
asset value purchase price (i.e. no front-end sales charge) of Class A
shares, as provided in the prospectus.
2. No purchase order may be placed for Class C shares if the amount of the
order equals or exceeds $1,000,000 or the order is eligible for a net
asset value purchase price (i.e. no front-end sales charge) of Class A
shares unless the investor indicates on the relevant section of the
application that the investor has been advised of the relative
advantages and disadvantages of Class A and C shares.
3. Any purchase order for less than $1,000,000 may be for either Class, A,
B or C shares in light of the relevant facts and circumstances,
including:
a) the specific purchase order dollar amount;
b) the length of time the investor expects to hold his/her shares; and
c) any other relevant circumstances such as the availability of purchase
under a Letter of Intent, a volume discount or rights of
accumulations, as described in the prospectus.
4. The following types of investors are eligible only to purchase Class Y
shares so long as they meet the minimum initial investment standard;
they are not eligible to invest in Class A, B or C shares:
a) tax-qualified retirement plans ($2,000,000 minimum initial
investment);
b) endowments, foundations and other tax-qualified organizations
($1,000,000 minimum initial investment);
c) separate accounts of New England Financial or any insurance company
affiliated with New England Financial (no minimum);
d) omnibus accounts of retirement plans with at least 500 eligible plan
participants and $1,000,000 of plan assets.
Institutional investors described above who will not make the initial minimum
investment amount are eligible to invest in Class A, B or C shares. They should
be advised, however, of the lower fees and expenses applicable to Class Y shares
and should consider whether a larger investment, to meet the Class Y
requirements, would be appropriate and desirable for their circumstances.
There are instances when one method of purchasing shares may be more appropriate
than the other. For example, investors who would qualify for a significant
discount from the maximum sales load on Class A shares may determine that
payment of such a reduced front-end sales load and service fee is preferable to
payment of a higher ongoing distribution fee. Investors whose orders would not
qualify for such a discount and who anticipate holding their investment for more
than eight years might consider Class B shares because 100% of the purchase
price is invested immediately. Investors making smaller investments who
anticipate redeeming their shares within eight years might consider Class C
shares for the same reason.
Appropriate supervisory personnel within your organization must ensure that all
employees and representatives receiving investor inquires about the purchase of
shares of a Fund advise the investor of then available pricing structures
offered by the Fund, and the impact of choosing one method over another. In some
instances it may be appropriate for a supervisory person to discuss a purchase
with the investor.
This policy is effective with respect to any order for the purchase of shares of
a New England Fund offering multiple classes of shares.
Questions relating to this policy should be directed to Xxxxx X. Xxxxx, Managing
Director, President and Chief Executive Officer, New England Funds, L.P. at
(000) 000-0000.
