DRAFT
FUND ADMINISTRATION AGREEMENT
AGREEMENT dated as of _____________ between FRANKLIN STRATEGIC
SERIES (the "Investment Company"), an investment company registered under the
Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended ("1940 Act"), on behalf of FRANKLIN
FOCUSED CORE EQUITY FUND (the "Fund"), and Franklin Xxxxxxxxx Services, LLC
("Administrator").
In consideration of the mutual agreements herein made, the
parties hereby agree as follows:
(1) The Administrator agrees, during the life of this Agreement,
to provide the following services to the Fund:
(a) providing office space, telephone, office equipment and
supplies for the Fund;
(b) providing trading desk facilities for the Fund, unless
these facilities are provided by the Fund's investment adviser;
(c) authorizing expenditures and approving bills for payment
on behalf of the Fund;
(d) supervising preparation of periodic reports to Fund
shareholders, notices of dividends, capital gains distributions and tax credits;
and attending to routine correspondence and other communications with individual
Fund shareholders when asked to do so by the Fund's shareholder servicing agent
or other agents of the Fund;
(e) coordinating the daily pricing of the Fund's investment
portfolio, including collecting quotations from pricing services engaged by the
Fund; providing fund accounting services, including preparing and supervising
publication of daily net asset value quotations, periodic earnings reports and
other financial data;
(f) monitoring relationships with organizations serving the
Fund, including custodians, transfer agents, public accounting firms, law firms,
printers and other third party service providers;
(g) supervising compliance by the Fund with recordkeeping
requirements under the federal securities laws, including the 1940 Act, and the
rules and regulations thereunder, supervising compliance with recordkeeping
requirements imposed by state laws or regulations, and maintaining books and
records for the Fund (other than those maintained by the custodian and transfer
agent);
(h) preparing and filing of tax reports including the Fund's
income tax returns, and monitoring the Fund's compliance with subchapter M of
the Internal Revenue Code, and other applicable tax laws and regulations;
(i) monitoring the Fund's compliance with: 1940 Act and other
federal securities laws, and rules and regulations thereunder; state and foreign
laws and regulations applicable to the operation of investment companies; the
Fund's investment objectives, policies and restrictions; and the Code of Ethics
and other policies adopted by the Investment Company's Board of Trustees
("Board") or by the Adviser and applicable to the Fund;
(j) providing executive, clerical and secretarial personnel
needed to carry out the above responsibilities; and
(k) preparing regulatory reports, including without
limitation, NSARs, proxy statements, and U.S. and foreign ownership reports.
Nothing in this Agreement shall obligate the Investment Company or the Fund to
pay any compensation to the officers of the Investment Company. Nothing in this
Agreement shall obligate the Administrator to pay for the services of third
parties, including attorneys, auditors, printers, pricing services or others,
engaged directly by the Fund to perform services on behalf of the Fund.
(2) The Fund agrees to pay to the Administrator as compensation for
such services a monthly fee equal on an annual basis to 0.20% of the average
daily net assets of the Fund.
From time to time, the Administrator may waive all or a portion of its fees
provided for hereunder and such waiver shall be treated as a reduction in the
purchase price of its services. The Administrator shall be contractually bound
hereunder by the terms of any publicly announced waiver of its fee, or any
limitation of each affected Fund's expenses, as if such waiver or limitation
were fully set forth herein.
(3) This Agreement shall remain in full force and effect through for
one year after its execution and thereafter from year to year to the extent
continuance is approved annually by the Board of the Investment Company.
(4) This Agreement may be terminated by the Investment Company at any
time on sixty (60) days' written notice without payment of penalty, provided
that such termination by the Investment Company shall be directed or approved by
the vote of a majority of the Board of the Investment Company in office at the
time or by the vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the
Investment Company (as defined by the 1940 Act); and shall automatically and
immediately terminate in the event of its assignment (as defined by the 1940
Act).
(5) In the absence of willful misfeasance, bad faith or gross
negligence on the part of the Administrator, or of reckless disregard of its
duties and obligations hereunder, the Administrator shall not be subject to
liability for any act or omission in the course of, or connected with, rendering
services hereunder.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have caused this
Agreement to be duly executed by their duly authorized officers.
FRANKLIN STRATEGIC SERIES
on behalf of FRANKLIN FOCUSED CORE EQUITY FUND
By: __________________________
Xxxxx X. Xxxxxxxx
Title: Vice President & Secretary
FRANKLIN XXXXXXXXX SERVICES, LLC
By: ___________________________
Xxxxx X. Xxxxxxx
Title: President
