FORM OF
PUTNAM VARIABLE TRUST
(FORMERLY KNOWN AS XXXXXX CAPITAL MANAGER TRUST)
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AMENDED AND RESTATED AGREEMENT AND DECLARATION OF TRUST
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This AMENDED AND RESTATES AGREEMENT AND DECLARATION OF
TRUST
made at Boston, Massachusetts, this day of , 1996, hereby
amends and restate in its entirety this Trust's Agreement and
Declaration of Trust, dated September 24, 1987. This Amended and
Restated Agreement and Declaration of Trust shall take effect as
of 1996.
WITNESSETH that
WHEREAS, this Trust has been formed to carry on the
business
of an investment company; and
WHEREAS, the Trustees have agreed to manage all property
coming into their hands as trustees of a Massachusetts voluntary
association with transferable shares in accordance with the
provisions hereinafter set forth.
NOW, THEREFORE, the Trustees hereby declare that they
will
hold all cash, securities and other assets, which they may from
time to time acquire in any manner as Trustees hereunder IN TRUST
to manage and dispose of the same upon the following terms and
conditions for the pro rata benefit of the holders from time to
time of Shares in this Trust as hereinafter set forth.
ARTICLE I
Name and Definitions
NAME
Section 1. This Trust shall be known as "Xxxxxx
Variable
Trust" and the Trustees shall conduct the business of the Trust
under that name or any other name as they may from time to time
determine.
DEFINITIONS
Section 2. Whenever used herein, unless otherwise
required by
the context or specifically provided:
(a) The "Trust" refers to the Massachusetts business
trust established by this Agreement and Declaration of
Trust, as amended from time to time;
(b) "Trustees" refers to the Trustees of the Trust named
herein or elected in accordance with Article IV;
(c) "Shares" means the equal proportionate transferable
units of interest into which the beneficial interest in the
Trust shall be divided from time to time or, if more than
one series of Shares is authorized by the Trustees, the
equal proportionate transferable units into which each
series of Shares shall be divided from time to time;
(d) "Shareholder" means a record owner of Shares;
(e) The "1940 Act" refers to the Investment Company Act
of 1940 and the Rules and Regulations thereunder, all as
amended from time to time;
(f) The terms "Affiliated Person", "Assignment",
"Commission", "Interested Person", "Principal Underwriter"
and "Majority Shareholder Vote" (the 67% or 50% requirement
of the third sentence of Section 2(a)(42) of the 1940 Act,
whichever may be applicable) shall have the meanings given
them in the 1940 Act;
(g) "Declaration of Trust" shall mean this Amended and
Restated Agreement and Declaration of Trust as amended or
restated from time to time; and
(h) "Bylaws" shall mean the Bylaws of the Trust as
amended from time to time.
ARTICLE II
Purpose of Trust
The purpose of the Trust is to provide investors a
managed
investment primarily in securities, debt instruments and other
instruments and rights of a financial character.
ARTICLE III
Shares
DIVISION OF BENEFICIAL INTEREST
Section 1. The Shares of the Trust shall be issued in
one
or more series as the Trustees may, without shareholder approval,
authorize. Each series shall be preferred over all other series
in respect of the assets allocated to that series. The
beneficial interest in each series shall at all times be divided
into Shares, without par value, each of which shall represent an
equal proportionate interest in the series with each other Share
of the same series, none having priority or preference over
another. The number of Shares authorized shall be unlimited.
The Trustees may from time to time divide or combine the Shares
of any series into a greater or lesser number without thereby
changing the proportionate beneficial interests in the series.
OWNERSHIP OF SHARES
Section 2. The ownership of Shares shall be recorded on
the books of the Trust or a transfer or similar agent. No
certificates certifying the ownership of Shares shall be issued
except as the Trustees may otherwise determine from time to time.
The Trustees may make such rules as they consider appropriate for
the issuance of Share certificates, the transfer of Shares and
similar matters. The record books of the Trust as kept by the
Trust or any transfer or similar agent, as the case may be, shall
be conclusive as to who are the Shareholders of each series and
as to the number of Shares of each series held from time to time
by each Shareholder.
INVESTMENT IN THE TRUST
Section 3. The Trustees shall accept investments in the
Trust from such persons and on such terms and for such
consideration, which may consist of cash or tangible or
intangible property or a combination thereof, as they or the
Bylaws from time to time authorize.
All consideration received by the Trust for the issue or
sale of Shares of each series, together with all income,
earnings, profits, and proceeds thereof, including any proceeds
derived from the sale, exchange or liquidation thereof, and any
funds or payments derived from any reinvestment of such proceeds
in whatever form the same may be, shall irrevocably belong to the
series of Shares with respect to which the same were received by
the Trust for all purposes, subject only to the rights of
creditors, and shall be so handled upon the books of account of
the Trust and are herein referred to as "assets of" such series.
NO PREEMPTIVE RIGHTS
Section 4. Shareholders shall have no preemptive or
other
right to subscribe to any additional Shares or other securities
issued by the Trust.
STATUS OF SHARES AND LIMITATION OF PERSONAL LIABILITY
Section 5. Shares shall be deemed to be personal
property
giving only the rights provided in this instrument. Every
Shareholder by virtue of having become a Shareholder shall be
held to have expressly assented and agreed to the terms hereof
and to have become a party hereto. The death of a Shareholder
during the continuance of the Trust shall not operate to
terminate the same nor entitle the representative of any deceased
Shareholder to an accounting or to take any action in court or
elsewhere against the Trust or the Trustees, but only to the
rights of said decedent under this Trust. Ownership of Shares
shall not entitle the Shareholder to any title in or to the whole
or any part of the Trust property or right to call for a
partition or division of the same or for an accounting, nor shall
the ownership of Shares constitute the Shareholders partners.
Neither the Trust nor the Trustees, nor any officer, employee or
agent of the Trust shall have any power to bind personally any
Shareholder, nor except as specifically provided herein to call
upon any Shareholder for the payment of any sum of money or
assessment whatsoever other than such as the Shareholder may at
any time personally agree to pay.
ARTICLE IV
The Trustees
ELECTION
Section 1. A Trustee may be elected either by the
Trustees
or by the Shareholders. There shall be not less than three
Trustees. The number of Trustees shall be fixed by the Trustees.
Each Trustee elected by the Trustees or the Shareholders shall
serve until he or she retires, resigns, is removed or dies or
until the next meeting of Shareholders called for the purpose of
electing Trustees and until the election and qualification of his
or her successor. At any meeting called for the purpose, a
Trustee may be removed by vote of two-thirds of the outstanding
shares. The initial Trustees, each of whom shall serve until the
first meeting of Shareholders at which Trustees are elected and
until his successor is elected and qualified, or until he sooner
dies, resigns or is removed shall be Xxxxxx Xxxxxx, Xxxxxxx X.
Xxxxxx and Xxxx X'Xxxxx and such other persons as the Trustee or
Trustees then in office shall, prior to any sale of Shares
pursuant to public offering, appoint.
EFFECT OF DEATH, RESIGNATION, ETC. OF A TRUSTEE
Section 2. The death, declination, resignation,
retirement, removal or incapacity of the Trustees, or any one of
them, shall not operate to annul the Trust or to revoke any
existing agency created pursuant to the terms of this Declaration
of Trust.
POWERS
Section 3. Subject to the provisions of this
Declaration
of Trust, the business of the Trust shall be managed by the
Trustees, and they shall have all powers necessary or convenient
to carry out that responsibility. Without limiting the
foregoing, the Trustees may adopt Bylaws not inconsistent with
this Declaration of Trust providing for the conduct of the
business of the Trust and may amend and repeal them to the extent
that such Bylaws do not reserve that right to the Shareholders;
they may fill vacancies in or add to their number, and may elect
and remove such officers and appoint and terminate such agents as
they consider appropriate; they may appoint from their own
number, and terminate, any one or more committees consisting of
two or more Trustees, including an executive committee which may,
when the Trustees are not in session, exercise some or all of the
power and authority of the Trustees as the Trustees may
determine; they may employ one or more custodians of the assets
of the Trust and may authorize such custodians to employ
subcustodians and to deposit all or any part of such assets in a
system or systems for the central handling of securities, retain
a transfer agent or a Shareholder servicing agent, or both,
provide for the distribution of Shares by the Trust, through one
or more principal underwriters or otherwise, set record dates for
the determination of Shareholders with respect to various
matters, and in general delegate such authority as they consider
desirable to any officer of the Trust, to any committee of the
Trustees and to any agent or employee of the Trust or to any such
custodian or underwriter.
Without limiting the foregoing, the Trustees shall have
power and authority:
(a) To invest and reinvest cash, and to hold cash
uninvested;
(b) To sell, exchange, lend, pledge, mortgage,
hypothecate, write options on and lease any or all of the
assets of the Trust;
(c) To vote or give assent, or exercise any rights of
ownership, with respect to stock or other securities or
property; and to execute and deliver proxies or powers of
attorney to such person or persons as the Trustees shall
deem proper, granting to such person or persons such power
and discretion with relation to securities or property as
the Trustees shall deem proper;
(d) To exercise powers and rights of subscription or
otherwise which in any manner arise out of ownership of
securities;
(e) To hold any security or property in a form not
indicating any trust, whether in bearer, unregistered or
other negotiable form, or in the name of the Trustees or of
the Trust or in the name of a custodian, subcustodian or
other depositary or a nominee or nominees or otherwise;
(f) To allocate assets, liabilities and expenses of the
Trust to a particular series of Shares or to apportion the
same among two or more series, provided that any
liabilities or expenses incurred by a particular series of
Shares shall be payable solely out of the assets of that
series;
(g) To consent to or participate in any plan for the
reorganization, consolidation or merger of any corporation
or issuer, any security of which is or was held in the
Trust; to consent to any contract, lease, mortgage,
purchase or sale of property by such corporation or issuer,
and to pay calls or subscriptions with respect to any
security held in the Trust;
(h) To join with other security holders in acting through
a committee, depositary, voting trustee or otherwise, and
in that connection to deposit any security with, or
transfer any security to, any such committee, depositary or
trustee, and to delegate to them such power and authority
with relation to any security (whether or not so deposited
or transferred) as the Trustees shall deem proper, and to
agree to pay, and to pay, such portion of the expenses and
compensation of such committee, depositary or trustee as
the Trustees shall deem proper;
(i) To compromise, arbitrate or otherwise adjust claims in
favor of or against the Trust or any matter in
controversy, including but not limited to claims for taxes;
(j) To enter into joint ventures, general or limited
partnerships and any other combinations or associations;
(k) To borrow funds;
(l) To endorse or guarantee the payment of any notes or
other obligations of any person; to make contracts of
guaranty or suretyship, or otherwise assume liability for
payment thereof; and to mortgage and pledge the Trust
property or any part thereof to secure any of or all such
obligations;
(m) To purchase and pay for entirely out of Trust property
such insurance as they may deem necessary or appropriate
for the conduct of the business, including without
limitation, insurance policies insuring the assets of the
Trust and payment of distributions and principal on its
portfolio investments, and insurance policies insuring the
Shareholders, Trustees, officers, employees, agents,
investment advisers or managers, principal underwriters, or
independent contractors of the Trust individually against
all claims and liabilities of every nature arising by
reason of holding, being or having held any such office
or
position, or by reason of any action alleged to have been
taken or omitted by any such person as Shareholder,
Trustee,
officer, employee, agent, investment adviser or
manager,
principal underwriter, or independent contractor, including
any action taken or omitted that may be determined to
constitute negligence, whether or not the Trust would
have
the power to indemnify such person against such liability;
and
(n) To pay pensions for faithful service, as deemed
appropriate by the Trustees, and to adopt, establish and
carry out pension, profit-sharing, share bonus, share
purchase, savings, thrift and other retirement, incentive
and benefit plans, trusts and provisions, including the
purchasing of life insurance and annuity contracts as a
means of providing such retirement and other benefits, for
any or all of the Trustees, officers, employees and agents
of the Trust.
The Trustees shall not in any way be bound or limited by
any present or future law or custom in regard to investments by
trustees. Except as otherwise provided herein or from time to
time in the Bylaws, any action to be taken by the Trustees may be
taken by a majority of the Trustees present at a meeting of
Trustees (a quorum being present), within or without
Massachusetts, including any meeting held by means of a
conference telephone or other communications equipment by means
of which all persons participating in the meeting can hear each
other at the same time and participation by such means shall
constitute presence in person at a meeting, or by written
consents of a majority of the Trustees then in office.
PAYMENT OF EXPENSES BY TRUST
Section 4. The Trustees are authorized to pay or to
cause
to be paid out of the assets of the Trust all expenses, fees,
charges, taxes and liabilities incurred or arising in connection
with the Trust, or in connection with the management thereof,
including, but not limited to, the Trustees' compensation and
such expenses and charges for the services of the Trust's
officers, employees, investment adviser or manager, principal
underwriter, auditor, counsel, custodian, transfer agent,
Shareholder servicing agent, and such other agents or independent
contractors and such other expenses and charges as the Trustees
may deem necessary or proper to incur, provided, however, that
all expenses, fees, charges, taxes and liabilities incurred or
arising in connection with a particular series of Shares shall be
payable solely out of the assets of that series.
OWNERSHIP OF ASSETS OF THE TRUST
Section 5. Title to all of the assets of each series of
Shares and of the Trust shall at all times be considered as
vested in the Trustees.
ADVISORY, MANAGEMENT AND DISTRIBUTION
Section 6. Subject to a favorable Majority Shareholder
Vote, the Trustees may, at any time and from time to time,
contract for exclusive or nonexclusive advisory and/or management
services with any corporation, trust, association or other
organization (the "Manager"), every such contract to comply with
such requirements and restrictions as may be set forth in the
Bylaws; and any such contract may contain such other terms
interpretive of or in addition to said requirements and
restrictions as the Trustees may determine, including, without
limitation, authority to determine from time to time what
investments shall be purchased, held, sold or exchanged and what
portion, if any, of the assets of the Trust shall be held
uninvested and to make changes in the Trust's investments. The
Trustees may also, at any time and from time to time, contract
with the Manager or any other corporation, trust, association or
other organization, appointing it exclusive or nonexclusive
distributor or principal underwriter for the Shares, every such
contract to comply with such requirements and restrictions as may
be set forth in the Bylaws; and any such contract may contain
such other terms interpretive of or in addition to said
requirements and restrictions as the Trustees may determine.
The fact that:
(i) any of the Shareholders, Trustees or officers of the
Trust is a shareholder, director, officer, partner,
trustee, employee, manager, adviser, principal underwriter
or distributor or agent of or for any corporation, trust,
association, or other organization, or of or for any parent
or affiliate of any organization, with which an advisory or
management contract, or principal underwriter's or
distributor's contract, or transfer, Shareholder servicing
or other agency contract may have been or may hereafter be
made, or that any such organization, or any parent or
affiliate thereof, is a Shareholder or has an interest in
the Trust, or that
(ii) any corporation, trust, association or other
organization with which an advisory or management contract
or principal underwriter's or distributor's contract, or
transfer, Shareholder servicing or other agency contract
may have been or may hereafter be made also has an
advisory
or management contract, or transfer, Shareholder servicing
or other agency contract with one or more other
corporations, trusts, associations, or other organizations,
or has other business or interests shall not affect the
validity of any such contract or disqualify any
Shareholder, Trustee or officer of the Trust from voting
upon or executing the same or create any liability or
accountability to the Trust or its Shareholders.
ARTICLE V
Shareholders' Voting Powers and Meetings
VOTING POWERS
Section 1. The Shareholders shall have power to vote
only
(i) for the election of Trustees as provided in Article IV,
Section 1, (ii) for the removal of Trustees as provided in
Article IV, Section 1, (iii) with respect to any Manager as
provided in Article IV, Section 6, (iv) with respect to any
termination of this Trust to the extent and as provided in
Article IX, Section 4, (v) with respect to any amendment of this
Declaration of Trust to the extent and as provided in Article IX,
Section 7, (vi) to the same extent as the stockholders of a
Massachusetts business corporation as to whether or not a court
action, proceeding or claim should or should not be brought or
maintained derivatively or as a class action on behalf of the
Trust or the Shareholders, and (vii) with respect to such
additional matters relating to the Trust as may be required by
this Declaration of Trust, the Bylaws or any registration of the
Trust with the Commission (or any successor agency) or any state,
or as the Trustees may consider necessary or desirable. Each
whole Share shall be entitled to one vote as to any matter on
which it is entitled to vote and each fractional Share shall be
entitled to a proportionate fractional vote. Notwithstanding any
other provision of this Declaration of Trust, on any matter
submitted to a vote of Shareholders, all Shares of the Trust then
entitled to vote shall be voted by individual series, except (1)
when required by the 1940 Act, Shares shall be voted in the
aggregate and not by individual series; and (2) when the Trustees
have determined that the matter affects only the interests of one
or more series, then only Shareholders of such series shall be
entitled to vote thereon. There shall be no cumulative voting in
the election of Trustees. Shares may be voted in person or by
proxy. A proxy with respect to Shares held in the name of two or
more persons shall be valid if executed by any one of them unless
at or prior to exercise of the proxy the Trust receives a
specific written notice to the contrary from any one of them. A
proxy purporting to be executed by or on behalf of a Shareholder
shall be deemed valid unless challenged at or prior to its
exercise and the burden of proving invalidity shall rest on the
challenger. Until Shares are issued, the Trustees may exercise
all rights of Shareholders and may take any action required by
law, this Declaration of Trust or Bylaws to be taken by
Shareholders.
VOTING POWER AND MEETINGS
Section 2. Meetings of Shareholders of any or all
series
may be called by the Trustees from time to time for the purpose
of taking action upon any matter requiring the vote or authority
of the Shareholders of such series as herein provided or upon any
other matter deemed by the Trustees to be necessary or desirable.
Written notice of any meeting of Shareholders shall be given or
caused to be given by the Trustees by mailing such notice at
least seven days before such meeting, postage prepaid, stating
the time, place and purpose of the meeting, to each Shareholder
entitled to vote at such meeting at the Shareholder's address as
it appears on the records of the Trust. If the Trustees shall
fail to call or give notice of any meeting of Shareholders for a
period of 30 days after written application by Shareholders
holding at least 10% of the then outstanding Shares of each
series entitled to vote at such meeting or of all series if all
series are entitled to vote at such meeting requesting a meeting
to be called for a purpose requiring action by the Shareholders
as provided herein or in the Bylaws, then Shareholders holding at
least 10% of the then outstanding Shares of each series entitled
to vote at such meeting or of all series if all series are
entitled to vote at such meeting may call and give notice of such
meeting, and thereupon the meeting shall be held in the manner
provided for herein in case of call thereof by the Trustees.
Notice of a meeting need not be given to any Shareholder if a
written waiver of notice, executed by him or her before or after
the meeting, is filed with the records of the meeting, or to any
Shareholder who attends the meeting without protesting prior
thereto or at its commencement the lack of notice to him or her.
QUORUM AND REQUIRED VOTE
Section 3. Thirty percent of Shares entitled to vote
shall
be a quorum for the transaction of business at a Shareholders'
meeting, except that where any provision of law or of this
Declaration of Trust permits or requires that holders of any
series shall vote as a series, then thirty percent of the
aggregate number of Shares of that series entitled to vote shall
be necessary to constitute a quorum for the transaction of
business by that series. Any lesser number shall be sufficient
for adjournments. Any adjourned session or sessions may be held,
within a reasonable time after the date set for the original
meeting, without the necessity of further notice. Except when a
larger vote is required by any provision of this Declaration of
Trust or the Bylaws, a majority of the Shares voted shall decide
any questions and a plurality shall elect a Trustee, provided
that where any provision of law or of this Declaration of Trust
permits or requires that the holders of any series shall vote as
a series, then a majority of the Shares of that series voted on
the matter (or a plurality with respect to the election of a
Trustee) shall decide that matter insofar as that series is
concerned.
ACTION BY WRITTEN CONSENT
Section 4. Any action taken by Shareholders may be
taken
without a meeting if a majority of Shareholders entitled to vote
on the matter (or such larger proportion thereof as shall be
required by any express provision of this Declaration of Trust or
the Bylaws) consent to the action in writing and such written
consents are filed with the records of the meetings of
Shareholders. Such consent shall be treated for all purposes as
a vote taken at a meeting of Shareholders.
ADDITIONAL PROVISIONS
Section 5. The Bylaws may include further provisions of
Shareholders' votes and meetings and related matters.
ARTICLE VI
Distributions, Redemptions and Repurchases
DISTRIBUTIONS
Section 1. The Trustees may each year, or more
frequently
if they so determine, distribute to the Shareholders of each
series out of the assets of such series such amounts as the
Trustees may determine. Any such distribution to the
Shareholders of a particular series shall be made to said
Shareholders pro rata in proportion to the number of Shares of
such series held by each of them. Such distributions shall be
made in cash or Shares or a combination thereof as determined by
the Trustees. Any such distribution paid in Shares will be paid
at the net asset value thereof as determined in accordance with
the Bylaws.
Notwithstanding the provisions of the foregoing
paragraph,
with respect to any money market series seeking to maintain a
constant net asset value per share, the Trustees shall each year,
or more frequently if they so determine in their sole discretion,
distribute to the Shareholders of such series an amount
approximately equal to the Net Income of such series, and may
from time to time distribute such additional amounts as they may
authorize to the Shareholders of such series. Such Net Income
shall consist of: (i) all interest income (including both
original issue and market discount earned on discount paper
accrued ratably to the date of maturity) accrued on portfolio
investments of such series, (ii) plus or minus realized or
unrealized gains and losses on portfolio investments determined
by valuing the portfolio investments of such series in a manner
consistent with the requirements of the actual and accrued
expenses and liabilities of such series determined in accordance
with good accounting practices. Such Net Income shall be
determined by the Trustees or as they may authorize on each
business day at the times and in the manner provided in the
Bylaws, and all such Net Income, which is a positive amount,
since the last determination of Net Income, shall be declared as
a dividend on Shares of such series. Determinations of Net
Income of any such money market series made by the Trustees, or
as they may authorize, in good faith, shall be binding on all
parties concerned. If, for any reason, the Net Income of such
series determined at any time is a negative amount, each
Shareholder's pro rata share of such negative amount shall
constitute a liability of such Shareholder to the Trust which
shall be paid at such times and in such manner as the Trustees
may from time to time determine out of the accrued dividend
account of such Shareholder, by reducing the number of Shares of
such series in the account of such Shareholder or otherwise. As
a result of such determinations and declarations as a dividend of
the Net Income of such series, the net asset value per Share of
such series is intended to remain at a constant amount
immediately after each such determination and declaration;
subject, however, to the power of the Trustees as provided in
Section I of Article III to divide or combine the Shares of such
series into a greater or lesser number.
Notwithstanding the provisions of the foregoing
paragraph
for calculation and distribution of Net Income, the Trustees may,
from time to time and for so long as they may deem appropriate,
for purposes of calculating and distributing income of any such
money market series to the Shareholders of such series divide
Shares of such series into as many classes as they deem
appropriate and pay distributions of differing amounts to each
class of Shares (provided all Shares of the same class receive
equal distributions), provided, that the division of Shares of
any such money market series into classes and the payment of
differing distributions to such classes shall be made in a manner
consistent with the requirements of the 1940 Act, the rules and
regulations thereunder and exemptions therefrom, and provided
further, that except as otherwise specifically authorized by the
Trustees pursuant to this paragraph, the Trustees shall continue
to calculate and distribute Net Income of such series in the
manner provided in the preceding paragraph.
REDEMPTIONS AND REPURCHASES
Section 2. The Trust shall purchase such Shares as are
offered by any Shareholder for redemption, upon the presentation
of any certificate for the Shares to be purchased, a proper
instrument of transfer and a request directed to the Trust or a
person designated by the Trust that the Trust purchase such
Shares, or in accordance with such other procedures for
redemption as the Trustees may from time to time authorize; and
the Trust will pay therefor the net asset value thereof, as next
determined in accordance with the Bylaws. Payment for said
Shares shall be made by the Trust to the Shareholder within seven
days after the date on which the request is made. The obligation
set forth in this Section 2 is subject to the provision that in
the event that any time the New York Stock Exchange is closed for
other than customary weekends or holidays, or, if permitted by
rules of the Commission, during periods when trading on the
Exchange is restricted or during any emergency which makes it
impractical for the Trust to dispose of its investments or to
determine fairly the value of its net assets, or during any other
period permitted by order of the Commission for the protection of
investors, such obligation may be suspended or postponed by the
Trustees. The Trust may also purchase or repurchase Shares at a
price not exceeding the net asset value of such Shares in effect
when the purchase or repurchase or any contract to purchase or
repurchase is made.
REDEMPTIONS AT THE OPTION OF THE TRUST
Section 3. The Trust shall have the right at its option
and at any time to redeem Shares of any Shareholder at the net
asset value thereof as determined in accordance with the Bylaws:
(i) if at such time such Shareholder owns fewer Shares than, or
Shares having an aggregate net asset value of less than, an
amount determined from time to time by the Trustees; or (ii) to
the extent that such Shareholder owns Shares of a particular
series of Shares equal to or in excess of a percentage of the
outstanding Shares of that series determined from time to time by
the Trustees; or (iii) to the extent that such Shareholder owns
Shares of the Trust representing a percentage equal to or in
excess of such percentage of the aggregate number of outstanding
Shares of the Trust or the aggregate net asset value of the Trust
determined from time to time by the Trustees.
ARTICLE VII
Compensation and Limitation of Liability of Trustees
COMPENSATION
Section 1. The Trustees as such shall be entitled to
reasonable compensation from the Trust; they may fix the amount
of their compensation. Nothing herein shall in any way prevent
the employment of any Trustee for advisory, management, legal,
accounting, investment banking or other services and payment for
the same by the Trust.
LIMITATION OF LIABILITY
Section 2. The Trustees shall not be responsible or
liable
in any event for any neglect or wrongdoing of any officer, agent,
employee, manager or principal underwriter of the Trust, nor
shall any Trustee be responsible for the act or omission of any
other Trustee, but nothing herein contained shall protect any
Trustee against any liability to which he or she would otherwise
be subject by reason of wilful misfeasance, bad faith, gross
negligence or reckless disregard of the duties involved in the
conduct of his or her office.
Every note, bond, contract, instrument, certificate or
undertaking and every other act or thing whatsoever executed or
done by or on behalf of the Trust or the Trustees or any of them
in connection with the Trust shall be conclusively deemed to have
been executed or done only in or with respect to their or his or
her capacity as Trustees or Trustee, and such Trustees or Trustee
shall not be personally liable thereon.
ARTICLE VIII
Indemnification
TRUSTEES, OFFICERS, ETC.
Section 1. The Trust shall indemnify each of its
Trustees
and officers (including persons who serve at the Trust's request
as directors, officers or trustees of another organization in
which the Trust has any interest as a shareholder, creditor or
otherwise) (hereinafter referred to as a "Covered Person")
against all liabilities and expenses, including but not limited
to amounts paid in satisfaction of judgments, in compromise or as
fines and penalties, and counsel fees reasonably incurred by any
Covered Person in connection with the defense or disposition of
any action, suit or other proceeding, whether civil or criminal,
before any court or administrative or legislative body, in which
such Covered Person may be or may have been involved as a party
or otherwise or with which such Covered Person may be or may have
been threatened, while in office or thereafter, by reason of
being or having been such a Covered Person except with respect to
any matter as to which such Covered Person shall have been
finally adjudicated in any such action, suit or other proceeding
(a) not to have acted in good faith in the reasonable belief that
such Covered Person's action was in the best interests of the
Trust or (b) to be liable to the Trust or its Shareholders by
reason of wilful misfeasance, bad faith, gross negligence or
reckless disregard of the duties involved in the conduct of such
Covered Person's office. Expenses, including counsel fees so
incurred by any such Covered Person (but excluding amounts paid
in satisfaction of judgments, in compromise or as fines or
penalties), shall be paid from time to time by the Trust in
advance of the final disposition of any such action, suit or
proceeding upon receipt of an undertaking by or on behalf of such
Covered Person to repay amounts so paid to the Trust if it is
ultimately determined that indemnification of such expenses is
not authorized under this Article, provided, however, that either
(a) such Covered Person shall have provided appropriate security
for such undertaking, (b) the Trust shall be insured against
losses arising from any such advance payments or (c) either a
majority of the disinterested Trustees acting on the matter
(provided that a majority of the disinterested Trustees then in
office act on the matter), or independent legal counsel in a
written opinion, shall have determined, based upon a review of
readily available facts (as opposed to a full trial type inquiry)
that there is reason to believe that such Covered Person will be
found entitled to indemnification under this Article.
COMPROMISE PAYMENT
Section 2. As to any matter disposed of (whether by a
compromise payment, pursuant to a consent decree or otherwise)
without an adjudication by a court, or by any other body before
which the proceeding was brought, that such Covered Person either
(a) did not act in good faith in the reasonable belief that his
or her action was in the best interests of the Trust or (b) is
liable to the Trust or its Shareholders by reason of willful
misfeasance, bad faith, gross negligence or reckless disregard of
the duties involved in the conduct of his or her office,
indemnification shall be provided if (a) approved as in the best
interests of the Trust, after notice that it involves such
indemnification, by at least a majority of the disinterested
Trustees acting on the matter (provided that a majority of the
disinterested Trustees then in office act on the matter) upon a
determination, based upon a review of readily available facts (as
opposed to a full trial type inquiry) that such Covered Person
acted in good faith in the reasonable belief that his or her
action was in the best interests of the Trust and is not liable
to the Trust or its Shareholders by reason of wilful misfeasance,
bad faith, gross negligence or reckless disregard of the duties
involved in the conduct of his or her office, or (b) there has
been obtained an opinion in writing of independent legal counsel,
based upon a review of readily available facts (as opposed to a
full trial type inquiry) to the effect that such Covered Person
appears to have acted in good faith in the reasonable belief that
his or her action was in the best interests of the Trust and that
such indemnification would not protect such Covered Person
against any liability to the Trust to which he or she would
otherwise be subject by reason of wilful misfeasance, bad faith,
gross negligence or reckless disregard of the duties involved in
the conduct of his or her office. Any approval pursuant to this
Section shall not prevent the recovery from any Covered Person of
any amount paid to such Covered Person in accordance with this
Section as indemnification if such Covered Person is subsequently
adjudicated by a court of competent jurisdiction not to have
acted in good faith in the reasonable belief that such Covered
Person's action was in the best interests of the Trust or to have
been liable to the Trust or its Shareholders by reason of wilful
misfeasance, bad faith, gross negligence or reckless disregard of
the duties involved in the conduct of such Covered Person's
office.
INDEMNIFICATION NOT EXCLUSIVE
Section 3. The right of indemnification hereby provided
shall not be exclusive of or affect any other rights to which
such Covered Person may be entitled. As used in this Article
VIII, the term "Covered Person" shall include such person's
heirs, executors and administrators and a "disinterested Trustee"
is a Trustee who is not an "interested person" of the Trust as
defined in Section 2(a)(19) of the 1940 Act (or who has been
exempted from being an "interested person" by any rule,
regulation or order of the Commission) and against whom none of
such actions, suits or other proceedings or another action, suit
or other proceeding on the same or similar grounds is then or has
been pending. Nothing contained in this Article shall affect any
rights to indemnification to which personnel of the Trust, other
than Trustees or officers, and other persons may be entitled by
contract or otherwise under law, nor the power of the Trust to
purchase and maintain liability insurance on behalf of any such
person.
SHAREHOLDERS
Section 4. In case any Shareholder or former
Shareholder
shall be held to be personally liable solely by reason of his or
her being or having been a Shareholder and not because of his or
her acts or omissions or for some other reason, the Shareholder
or former Shareholder (or his or her heirs, executors,
administrators or other legal representatives or in the case of a
corporation or other entity, its corporate or other general
successor) shall be entitled to be held harmless from and
indemnified against all loss and expense arising from such
liability, but only out of the assets of the particular series of
Shares of which he or she is or was a Shareholder.
ARTICLE IX
Miscellaneous
TRUSTEES, SHAREHOLDERS, ETC. NOT PERSONALLY LIABLE; NOTICE
Section 1. All persons extending credit to, contracting
with or having any claim against the Trust or a particular series
of Shares shall look only to the assets of the Trust or the
assets of that particular series of Shares for payment under such
credit, contract or claim, and neither the Shareholders nor the
Trustees, nor any of the Trust's officers, employees or agents,
whether past, present or future, shall be personally liable
therefor. Nothing in this Declaration of Trust shall protect any
Trustee against any liability to which such Trustee would
otherwise be subject by reason of wilful misfeasance, bad faith,
gross negligence or reckless disregard of the duties involved in
the conduct of the office of Trustee.
Every note, bond, contract, instrument, certificate or
undertaking made or issued by the Trustees or by any officer or
officers shall give notice that this Declaration of Trust is on
file with the Secretary of The Commonwealth of Massachusetts and
shall recite that the same was executed or made by or on behalf
of the Trust or by them as Trustee or Trustees or as officer or
officers and not individually and that the obligations of such
instrument are not binding upon any of them or the Shareholders
individually but are binding only upon the assets and property of
the Trust, and may contain such further recital as he or she or
they may deem appropriate, but the omission thereof shall not
operate to bind any Trustee or Trustees or officer or officers or
Shareholder or Shareholders individually.
TRUSTEE'S GOOD FAITH ACTION, EXPERT ADVICE, NO BOND OR SURETY
Section 2. The exercise by the Trustees of their powers
and discretions hereunder shall be binding upon everyone
interested. A Trustee shall be liable for his or her own wilful
misfeasance, bad faith, gross negligence or reckless disregard of
the duties involved in the conduct of the office of Trustee, and
for nothing else, and shall not be liable for errors of judgment
or mistakes of fact or law. The Trustees may take advice of
counsel or other experts with respect to the meaning and
operation of this Declaration of Trust, and shall be under no
liability for any act or omission in accordance with such advice
or for failing to follow such advice. The Trustees shall not be
required to give any bond as such, nor any surety if a bond is
required.
LIABILITY OF THIRD PERSONS DEALING WITH TRUSTEE
Section 3. No person dealing with the Trustees shall be
bound to make any inquiry concerning the validity of any
transaction made or to be made by the Trustees or to see to the
application of any payments made or property transferred to the
Trust or upon its order.
DURATION AND TERMINATION OF TRUST
Section 4. Unless terminated as provided herein, the
Trust
shall continue without limitation of time. The Trust may be
terminated at any time by vote of Shareholders holding at least
66-2/3% of the Shares entitled to vote or by the Trustees by
written notice to the Shareholders. Any series of Shares may be
terminated at any time by vote of Shareholders holding at least
66-2/3% of the Shares of such series entitled to vote or by the
Trustees by written notice to the Shareholders of such series.
Upon termination of the Trust or of any one or more series of
Shares, after paying or otherwise providing for all charges,
taxes, expenses and liabilities, whether due or accrued or
anticipated, of the Trust or of the particular series as may be
determined by the Trustees, the Trust shall in accordance with
such procedures as the Trustees consider appropriate reduce the
remaining assets to distributable form in cash or shares or other
securities, or any combination thereof, and distribute the
proceeds to the Shareholders of the series involved, ratably
according to the number of Shares of such series held by the
several Shareholders of such series on the date of termination.
FILING OF COPIES, REFERENCES, HEADINGS
Section 5. The original or a copy of this instrument
and
of each amendment hereto shall be kept at the office of the Trust
where it may be inspected by any Shareholder. A copy of this
instrument and of each amendment hereto shall be filed by the
Trust with the Secretary of The Commonwealth of Massachusetts and
with the Boston City Clerk, as well as any other governmental
office where such filing may from time to time be required.
Anyone dealing with the Trust may rely on a certificate by an
officer of the Trust as to whether or not any such amendments
have been made and as to any matters in connection with the Trust
hereunder, and, with the same effect as if it were the original,
may rely on a copy certified by an officer of the Trust to be a
copy of this instrument or of any such amendments. In this
instrument and in any such amendment, references to this
instrument and all expressions like "herein", "hereof" and
"hereunder" shall be deemed to refer to this instrument as
amended or affected by any such amendments. Headings are placed
herein for convenience of reference only and shall not be taken
as a part hereof or control or affect the meaning, construction
or effect of this instrument. This instrument may be executed in
any number of counterparts each of which shall be deemed an
original.
APPLICABLE LAW
Section 6. This Declaration of Trust is made in The
Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and it is created under and is to
be governed by and construed and administered according to the
laws of said Commonwealth. The Trust shall be of the type
commonly called a Massachusetts business trust, and without
limiting the provisions hereof, the Trust may exercise all powers
which are ordinarily exercised by such a trust.
AMENDMENTS
Section 7. This Declaration of Trust may be amended at
any
time by an instrument in writing signed by a majority of the then
Trustees when authorized to do so by vote of Shareholders holding
a majority of the Shares entitled to vote, except that an
amendment which shall affect the holders of one or more series of
Shares but not the holders of all outstanding series shall be
authorized by vote of the Shareholders holding a majority of the
Shares entitled to vote of each series affected and no vote of
Shareholders of a series not affected shall be required.
Amendments having the purpose of changing the name of the Trust
or of supplying any omission, curing any ambiguity or curing,
correcting or supplementing any defective or inconsistent
provision contained herein shall not require authorization by
Shareholder vote.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the undersigned, being a majority of the
Trustees of the Trust, hereunto set their hands and seals in the
City of Boston, Massachusetts, for themselves and their assigns,
as of the day and year first above written.
------------------------ ---------------------------
Xxxxxx Xxxxxx Xxxxxx X. Xxxxxxx
------------------------ ---------------------------
Xxxxxxx X. Xxxxxx Xxxxxxx X. Pounds
------------------------ ---------------------------
Xxxx X. Xxxxx Xxxxxx Xxxxxx, III
------------------------ ---------------------------
Xxxx X. Xxxx Xxx Xxxxxxx
------------------------ ---------------------------
Xxxxxxxxx X. Xxxxxx A.J.C. Xxxxx
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Xxxxxxxx X. Xxxxxx W. Xxxxxxxx Xxxxxxxxx
------------------------
Xxxxxx X. Xxxxxxxxx
THE COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS
Suffolk, ss.
Xxxxxx, , 0000
Then personally appeared the above named Trustees of Xxxxxx
Variable Trust and acknowledged the foregoing instrument to be
their free act and deed, before me,
------------------------------
Notary Public
My Commission Expires: / /
The address of the Trust is: Xxx Xxxx Xxxxxx Xxxxxx, Xxxxxx,
Xxxxxxxxxxxxx 00000
