INVESTMENT ADVISORY AGREEMENT BETWEEN MONTAGE MANAGERS TRUST AND TORTOISE INDEX SOLUTIONS, LLC
THIS INVESTMENT ADVISORY AGREEMENT (the “Agreement”), dated as of June 9, 2015, is entered into by and between Montage Managers Trust, a Delaware statutory trust (the “Trust”), on behalf of its series listed in Appendix A, as amended from time to time (the “Fund”) and Tortoise Index Solutions, LLC, a Delaware Limited Liability Company (the “Advisor”).
(a) Subject to the succeeding provisions of this section and subject to the direction and control of the Trust’s Board of Trustees (the “Board”), the Advisor shall (i) act as investment advisor for and supervise and manage the investment and reinvestment of the Fund’s assets and, in connection therewith, have complete discretion in purchasing and selling securities and other assets for the Fund and in voting, exercising consents and exercising all other rights appertaining to such securities and other assets on behalf of the Fund; (ii) supervise the investment program of the Fund and the composition of its investment portfolio; (iii) arrange, subject to the provisions of paragraph 3 hereof, for the purchase and sale of securities and other assets held in the investment portfolio of the Fund; (iv) keep the Trust fully informed with regard to the Fund’s investment performance and investment mandate compliance; and (v) furnish the Trust with such other documents and information as the Trust may from time to time reasonably request.
(b) In performing its duties under this Section 2 with respect to the Fund, the Advisor may choose to delegate some or all of its duties and obligations under this Agreement to one or more investment sub-advisors. If the Advisor chooses to do so, such delegation may include but is not limited to delegating the voting of proxies relating to the Fund’s portfolio securities in accordance with the proxy voting policies and procedures of such investment sub-advisor; provided, however, that any such delegation shall be pursuant to an agreement with terms agreed upon by the Trust and approved in a manner consistent with the 1940 Act; and provided, further, that no such delegation shall relieve the Advisor from its duties and obligations of management and supervision of the management of the Fund’s assets pursuant to this Agreement and to applicable law. If the Advisor delegates any of its duties and obligations under this Agreement with respect to the Fund to one or more investment sub-advisors, then subject to the requirements of the 1940 Act the Advisor shall have (i) overall supervisory responsibility for the general management and investment of the Fund’s assets; (ii) full discretion to select new or additional investment sub-advisors for the Fund; (iii) full discretion to enter into and materially modify existing sub-advisory agreements with investment sub-advisors; (iv) full discretion to terminate and replace any investment sub-advisor; and (v) full investment discretion to make all determinations with respect to the investment of the Fund’s assets not then managed by an investment sub-advisor. In connection with the Advisor’s responsibilities with respect to any sub-adviser to the Fund, the Advisor shall (x) assess the Fund’s investment focus and investment strategy for the sub-advised portfolio of the Fund; (y) perform diligence on and monitor the investment performance and adherence to compliance procedures of each investment sub-advisor providing services to the Fund; and (z) seek to implement decisions with respect to the allocation and reallocation of the Fund’s assets among one or more current or additional investment sub-advisors from time to time, as the Advisor deems appropriate, to enable the Fund to achieve its investment goals. In addition, the Advisor shall monitor compliance by each investment sub-advisor of the Fund with the investment objectives, policies and restrictions of the Fund, and review and periodically report to the Board of Trustees of the Trust on the performance of each investment sub-advisor.
(a) shall at all times conform to, and act in accordance with, any requirements imposed by: (i) the provisions of the 1940 Act and the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, as amended (the “Advisers Act”), and all applicable Rules and Regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”); (ii) any other applicable provision of law; (iii) the provisions of the Agreement and Declaration of Trust and By-Laws of the Trust, as such documents are amended from time to time; (iv) the investment objectives and policies of the Fund as set forth in its Registration Statement on Form N-1A; and (v) compliance policies and procedures of the Trust adopted by the Board of Trustees of the Trust;
(b) will, with respect to the Fund’s assets not managed by an investment sub-advisor, place orders either directly with the issuer or with any broker or dealer. Subject to the other provisions of this paragraph, in placing orders with brokers and dealers, the Advisor will attempt to obtain the best price and the most favorable execution of its orders. In placing orders, the Advisor will consider the experience and skill of the firm’s securities traders as well as the firm’s financial responsibility and administrative efficiency. Consistent with this obligation, the Advisor may select brokers on the basis of the research, statistical and pricing services they provide to the Fund and other clients of the Advisor. Information and research received from such brokers will be in addition to, and not in lieu of, the services required to be performed by the Advisor hereunder. A commission paid to such brokers may be higher than that which another qualified broker would have charged for effecting the same transaction, provided that the Advisor determines in good faith that such commission is reasonable in terms either of the transaction or the overall responsibility of the Advisor to the Fund and its other clients and that the total commissions paid by the Fund will be reasonable in relation to the benefits to the Fund over the long term. In no instance, however, will the Fund’s securities be purchased from or sold to the Advisor, or any affiliated person thereof, except to the extent permitted by the SEC or by applicable law;
(c) will treat confidentially and as proprietary information of the Fund all records and other information relative to the Fund, and the Fund’s prior, current or potential shareholders, and will not use such records and information for any purpose other than performance of its responsibilities and duties hereunder, except after prior notification to and approval in writing by the Fund, which approval shall not be unreasonably withheld and may not be withheld when the Advisor may be exposed to civil or criminal contempt proceedings for failure to comply, when requested to divulge such information by duly constituted authorities, or when so requested by the Fund;
(d) will maintain errors and omissions insurance in an amount at least equal to that disclosed to the Board of Trustees in connection with its approval of this Agreement;
(e) will supply such information to the Trust’s co-administrators and permit such compliance inspections by the Trust’s co-administrators as shall be reasonably necessary to permit the co-administrators to satisfy their obligations and respond to the reasonable requests of the Board of Trustees, including without limitation full copies of all letters received by the Advisor during the term of this Agreement from the staff of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission regarding its examination of the activities of the Advisor; and
(f) will use its best efforts to assist the Trust and the Fund in implementing the Trust’s disclosure controls and procedures, and will from time to time provide the Trust a written assessment of its compliance policies and procedures that is reasonably acceptable to the Trust to enable the Trust to fulfill its obligations pursuant to Rule 38a-1 under the 1940 Act.
13. Governing Law. This Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Delaware for contracts to be performed entirely therein without reference to choice of law principles thereof and in accordance with the applicable provisions of the 1940 Act.
15. Additional Limitation of Liability. The parties hereto are expressly put on notice that a Certificate of Trust, referring to the Trust’s Agreement and Declaration of Trust (the “Certificate”), is on file with the Secretary of the State of Delaware. The Certificate was executed by a trustee of the Trust on behalf of the Trust as trustee, and not individually, and, as provided in the Trust’s Agreement and Declaration of Trust, the obligations of the Trust are not binding on the Trust’s trustees, officers or shareholders individually but are binding only upon the assets and property of the Trust, or the particular series in question, as the case may be. Further, the liabilities and obligations of any series of the Fund shall be enforceable only against the assets belonging to such series, and not against the assets of any other series.
THE TRUST:
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on behalf of its series listed in Appendix A
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By:
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/s/ Xxxx X. Xxxxxx | ||
Name: Xxxx X. Xxxxxx
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Title: President
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THE ADVISOR:
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TORTOISE INDEX SOLUTIONS, LLC
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By:
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/s/ Xxxx Xxxxx | ||
Name: Xxxx Xxxxx
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Title: Board Member
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Fund
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Annual Rate
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Effective Date
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Tortoise North American Pipeline Fund
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0.70%
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6/9/2015
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