INVESTMENT ADVISORY AGREEMENT
This Agreement, made this 1st day of November, l993, by and between
Voyageur Mutual Funds III, Inc., a Minnesota corporation (the "Company"), on
behalf of each Fund represented by a series of shares of common stock of the
Fund that adopts this Agreement (each a "Fund" and, collectively, the "Funds")
(the Funds, together with the date each Fund adopts this Agreement, are set
forth in Exhibit A hereto, which shall be updated from time to time to reflect
additions, deletions or other changes thereto), and Voyageur Fund Managers,
Inc., a Minnesota corporation ("Voyageur"),
WITNESSETH:
1. INVESTMENT ADVISORY SERVICES.
(a) The Company hereby engages Voyageur on behalf of the Funds, and
Voyageur hereby agrees to act, as investment adviser for, and to manage the
investment of the assets of, the Funds.
(b) The investment of the assets of each Fund shall at all times be
subject to the applicable provisions of the Articles of Incorporation, the
Bylaws, the Registration Statement, and the current Prospectus and the Statement
of Additional Information, if any, of the Company and each Fund and shall
conform to the policies and purposes of each Fund as set forth in such documents
and as interpreted from time to time by the Board of Directors of the Company.
Within the framework of the investment policies of each Fund, and except as
otherwise permitted by this Agreement, Voyageur shall have the sole and
exclusive responsibility for the management of each Fund's investment portfolio
and for making and executing all investment decisions for each Fund. Voyageur
shall report to the Board of Directors regularly at such times and in such
detail as the Board may from time to time determine appropriate, in order to
permit the Board to determine the adherence of Voyageur to the investment
policies of the Funds.
(c) Voyageur shall, at its own expense, furnish all office facilities,
equipment and personnel necessary to discharge its responsibilities and duties
hereunder. Voyageur shall arrange, if requested by the Company, for officers or
employees of Voyageur to serve without compensation from any Fund as directors,
officers, or employees of the Company if duly elected to such positions by the
shareholders or directors of the Company (as required by law).
(d) Voyageur hereby acknowledges that all records pertaining to each
Fund's investments are the property of the Company, and in the event that a
transfer of investment advisory services to someone other than Voyageur should
ever occur, Voyageur will promptly, and at its own cost, take all steps
necessary to segregate such records and deliver them to the Company.
2. COMPENSATION FOR SERVICES.
In payment for the investment advisory and management services to be
rendered by Voyageur hereunder, each Fund shall pay to Voyageur a monthly fee,
which fee shall be paid to Voyageur not later than the fifth business day of the
month following the month in which said services were rendered. The monthly fee
payable by each Fund shall be as set forth in Exhibit A hereto, which may be
updated from time to time to reflect amendments, if any, to Exhibit A. The
monthly fee payable by each Fund shall be based on the average of the net asset
values of all of the issued and outstanding shares of the Fund as determined as
of the close of each business day of the month pursuant to the Articles of
Incorporation, Bylaws, and currently effective Prospectus and Statement of
Additional Information of the Company and the Fund. For purposes of calculating
each Fund's average daily net assets, as such term is used in this Agreement,
each Fund's net assets shall equal its total assets minus (a) its total
liabilities and (b) its net orders receivable from dealers.
3. ALLOCATION OF EXPENSES.
(a) In addition to the fee described in Section 2 hereof, each Fund
shall pay all its costs and expenses which are not assumed by Voyageur. These
Fund expenses include, by way of example, but not by way of limitation, all
expenses incurred in the operation of the Fund and any public offering of its
shares, including, among others, Rule 12b-1 plan of distribution fees (if any),
interest, taxes, brokerage fees and commissions, fees of the directors who are
not employees of Voyageur or the principal underwriter of the Fund's shares (the
"Underwriter"), or any of their affiliates, expenses of directors' and
shareholders' meetings, including the cost of printing and mailing proxies,
expenses of insurance premiums for fidelity and other coverage, expenses of
redemption of shares, expenses of issue and sale of shares (to the extent not
borne by the Underwriter under its agreement with the Fund), expenses of
printing and mailing stock certificates representing shares of the Fund,
association membership dues, charges of custodians, transfer agents, dividend
disbursing agents, accounting services agents, investor servicing agents, and
bookkeeping, auditing, and legal expenses. Each Fund will also pay the fees and
bear the expense of registering and maintaining the registration of the Fund and
its shares with the Securities and Exchange Commission and registering or
qualifying its shares under state or other securities laws and the expense of
preparing and mailing prospectuses and reports to shareholders.
(b) The Underwriter shall bear all advertising and promotional expenses
in connection with the distribution of each Fund's shares, including paying for
prospectuses for new shareholders, except as provided in the following sentence.
No Fund shall use any of its assets to finance costs incurred in connection with
the distribution of its shares except pursuant to a Plan of Distribution, if
any, adopted pursuant to Rule 12b-1 under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (as
amended, the "Act").
4. LIMIT ON EXPENSES.
It is understood that the laws of certain states in which Fund shares
are offered for sale may require that a Fund be reimbursed for excess Fund
expenses, and Voyageur agrees to make such reimbursement; provided, however,
that at no time shall Voyageur be required to make reimbursements for any fiscal
period in excess of fees received pursuant to Section 2 hereof for that same
period.
5. FREEDOM TO DEAL WITH THIRD PARTIES.
Voyageur shall be free to render services to others similar to those
rendered under this Agreement or of a different nature except as such services
may conflict with the services to be rendered or the duties to be assumed
hereunder.
6. REPORTS TO DIRECTORS OF THE FUND.
Appropriate officers of Voyageur shall provide the directors of the
Company with such information as is required by any plan of distribution adopted
by the Company on behalf of any Fund pursuant to Rule 12b-1 under the Act.
7. EFFECTIVE DATE, DURATION AND TERMINATION OF AGREEMENT.
(a) The effective date of this Agreement with respect to each Fund
shall be the date set forth on Exhibit A hereto.
(b) Unless sooner terminated as hereinafter provided, this Agreement
shall continue in effect with respect to each Fund for a period more than two
years from the date of its execution but only as long as such continuance is
specifically approved at least annually by (i) the Board of Directors of the
Company or by the vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the
applicable Fund, and (ii) by the vote of a majority of the directors of the
Company who are not parties to this Agreement or "interested persons", as
defined in the Act, of Voyageur or of the Company cast in person at a meeting
called for the purpose of voting on such approval.
(c) This Agreement may be terminated with respect to any Fund at any
time, without the payment of any penalty, by the Board of Directors of the
Company or by the vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of
such Fund, or by Voyageur, upon 60 days' written notice to the other party.
(d) This agreement shall terminate automatically in the event of its
"assignment" (as defined in the Act).
(e) No amendment to this Agreement shall be effective with respect to
any Fund until approved by the vote of: (i) a majority of the directors of the
Company who are not parties to this Agreement or "interested persons" (as
defined in the Act) of Voyageur or of the Company cast in person at a meeting
called for the purpose of voting on such approval; and (ii) a majority of the
outstanding voting securities of the applicable Fund.
(f) Wherever referred to in this Agreement, the vote or approval of the
holders of a majority of the outstanding voting securities or shares of a Fund
shall mean the lesser of (i) the vote of 67% or more of the voting securities of
such Fund present at a regular or special meeting of shareholders duly called,
if more than 50% of the Fund's outstanding voting securities are present or
represented by proxy, or (ii) the vote of more than 50% of the outstanding
voting securities of such Fund.
8. NOTICES.
Any notice under this Agreement shall be in writing, addressed,
delivered or mailed, postage prepaid, to the other party at such address as such
other party may designate in writing for receipt of such notice.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the Company and Voyageur have caused this Agreement
to be executed by their duly authorized officers as of the day and year first
above written.
VOYAGEUR MUTUAL FUNDS III, INC.
By /s/ Xxxx X. Xxxx
---------------------------------
Its President
VOYAGEUR FUND MANAGERS, INC.
By /s/ Xxxxxxxx X. Xxxxxx
---------------------------------
Its Vice President
Exhibit A
to
Investment Advisory Agreement
between
Voyageur Fund Managers, Inc.
and
Voyageur Mutual Funds III, Inc.
MONTHLY
ADVISORY FEE
(as % of average
FUND EFFECTIVE DATE daily net assets)
---- -------------- -----------------
Series A -- Voyageur Growth Stock Fund September 1, 1995 .083333%
Series B -- Voyageur International Equity Fund May 16, 1994 .083333%
Series C -- Voyageur Aggressive Growth Fund May 16, 1994 .083333%
Series D -- Voyageur Growth and Income Fund September 7, 1995 .062500%
Series E -- Voyageur Tax Efficient Equity Fund February 19, 1997 .083333%
