INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT AGREEMENT
AGREEMENT made as of the 31st day of May, 1997 by and between Xxxx Xxxxxx
Multi-State Municipal Series Trust, an unincorporated business trust
organized under the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (hereinafter
called the "Fund"), and Xxxx Xxxxxx InterCapital Inc., a Delaware corporation
(hereinafter called the "Investment Manager"):
WHEREAS, The Fund is engaged in business as an open-end management
investment company and is registered as such under the Investment Company Act
of 1940, as amended (the "Act"); and
Whereas, The Investment Manager is registered as an investment adviser under
the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, and engages in the business of acting as
investment adviser; and
WHEREAS, The Fund presently offers shares in several Series, such Series
together with all other Series subsequently established by the Fund with
respect to which the Fund desires to retain the Investment Manager to render
management and investment advisory services in the manner and on the terms
and conditions hereinafter set forth being collectively referred to as the
"Series;" and
Whereas, The Investment Manager desires to be retained to perform services
on said terms and conditions:
Now, Therefore, this Agreement
W I T N E S S E T H:
that in consideration of the premises and the mutual covenants hereinafter
contained, the Fund and the Investment Manager agree as follows:
1. The Fund hereby retains the Investment Manager to act as investment
manager of the Series and, subject to the supervision of the Trustees, to
supervise the investment activities of the Series as hereinafter set forth.
Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the Investment Manager
shall obtain and evaluate such information and advice relating to the
economy, securities and commodities markets and securities and commodities as
it deems necessary or useful to discharge its duties hereunder; shall
continuously manage the assets of the Fund in a manner consistent with the
investment objectives and policies of the Series; shall determine the
securities and commodities to be purchased, sold or otherwise disposed of by
the Series and the timing of such purchases, sales and dispositions; and
shall take such further action, including the placing of purchase and sale
orders on behalf of the Series, as the Investment Manager shall deem
necessary or appropriate. The Investment Manager shall also furnish to or
place at the disposal of the Fund such of the information, evaluations,
analyses and opinions formulated or obtained by the Investment Manager in the
discharge of its duties as the Fund may, from time to time, reasonably
request.
In the event the Fund establishes another Series other than the current
Series with respect to which it desires to retain the Investment Manager to
render investment advisory services hereunder, it shall notify the Investment
Manager in writing. If the Investment Manager is willing to render such
services, it shall notify the Fund in writing, whereupon such other Series
shall become a Series hereunder.
2. The Investment Manager shall, at its own expense, maintain such staff
and employ or retain such personnel and consult with such other persons as it
shall from time to time determine to be necessary or useful to the
performance of its obligations under this Agreement. Without limiting the
generality of the foregoing, the staff and personnel of the Investment
Manager shall be deemed to include persons employed or otherwise retained by
the Investment Manager to furnish statistical and other factual data, advice
regarding economic factors and trends, information with respect to technical
and scientific developments, and such other information, advice and
assistance as the Investment Manager may desire. The Investment Manager
shall, as agent for the Fund, maintain the Fund's records and books of
account (other than those maintained by the Fund's transfer agent, registrar,
custodian and other agencies). All such books and records so maintained shall
be the property of the Fund and, upon request therefor, the Investment
Manager shall surrender to the Fund such of the books and records so
requested.
3. The Fund will, from time to time, furnish or otherwise make available
to the Investment Manager such financial reports, proxy statements and other
information relating to the business and affairs of the Fund as the
Investment Manager may reasonably require in order to discharge its duties
and obligations hereunder.
4. The Investment Manager shall bear the cost of rendering the investment
management and supervisory services to be performed by it under this
Agreement, and shall, at its own expense, pay the compensation of the
officers and employees, if any, of the Fund, and provide such office space,
facilities and equipment and such clerical help and bookkeeping services as
the Fund shall reasonably require in the conduct of its business. The
Investment Manager shall also bear the cost of telephone service, heat,
light, power and other utilities provided to the Fund.
5. The Fund assumes and shall pay or cause to be paid all other expenses
of the Fund, including without limitation: fees pursuant to any plan of
distribution that the Fund may adopt; the charges and expenses of any
registrar, any custodian or depository appointed by the Fund for the
safekeeping of its cash, portfolio securities or commodities and other
property, and any stock transfer or dividend agent or agents appointed by the
Fund; brokers' commissions chargeable to the Fund in connection with
portfolio transactions to which the Fund is a party; all taxes, including
securities or commodities issuance and transfer taxes, and fees payable by
the Fund to federal, state or other governmental agencies; the cost and
expense of engraving or printing certificates representing shares of the
Fund; all costs and expenses in connection with the registration and
maintenance of registration of the Fund and its shares with the Securities
and Exchange Commission and various states and other jurisdictions (including
filing fees and legal fees and disbursements of counsel); the cost and
expense of printing, including typesetting, and distributing prospectuses and
statements of additional information of the Fund and supplements thereto to
the Fund's shareholders; all expenses of shareholders' and Trustees' meetings
and of preparing, printing and mailing proxy statements and reports to
shareholders; fees and travel expenses of Trustees or members of any advisory
board or committee who are not employees of the Investment Manager or any
corporate affiliate of the Investment Manager; all expenses incident to the
payment of any dividend, distribution, withdrawal or redemption, whether in
shares or in cash; charges and expenses of any outside service used for
pricing of the Fund's shares; charges and expenses of legal counsel,
including counsel to the Trustees of the Fund who are not interested persons
(as defined in the Act) of the Fund or the Investment Manager, and of
independent accountants, in connection with any matter relating to the Fund;
membership dues of industry associations; interest payable on Fund
borrowings; postage; insurance premiums on property or personnel (including
officers and Trustees) of the Fund which inure to its benefit; extraordinary
expenses (including but not limited to legal claims and liabilities and
litigation costs and any indemnification related thereto); and all other
charges and costs of the Fund's operation unless otherwise explicitly
provided herein.
6. For the services to be rendered, the facilities furnished, and the
expenses assumed by the Investment Manager, the Fund shall pay to the
Investment Manager monthly compensation determined by applying the following
annual rate of 0.35% to the daily net assets of the respective Series
determined as of the close of each business day. Except as hereinafter set
forth, compensation under this Agreement shall be calculated and accrued
daily and the amounts of the daily accruals shall be paid monthly. Such
calculations shall be made by applying 1/365ths of the annual rates to the
Fund's net assets each day determined as of the close of business on that day
or the last previous business day. If this Agreement becomes effective
subsequent to the first day of a month or shall terminate before the last day
of a month, compensation for that part of the month this Agreement is in
effect shall be prorated in a manner consistent with the calculation of the
fees as set forth above.
Subject to the provisions of paragraph 7 hereof, payment of the Investment
Manager's compensation for the preceding month shall be made as promptly as
possible after completion of the computations contemplated by paragraph 7
hereof.
7. In the event the operating expenses of a Series, including amounts
payable to the Investment Manager pursuant to paragraph 6 hereof, for any
fiscal year ending on a date on which this Agreement is in effect, exceed the
expense limitations applicable to such Series imposed by state securities
laws or regulations thereunder, as such limitations may be raised or lowered
from time to time, the Investment Manager shall reduce its management fee in
respect to such Series to the extent of such excess and, if required,
pursuant to any such laws or regulations, will reimburse such Series for
annual operating expenses in excess of any expense limitation that may be
applicable; provided, however, there shall be excluded from such expenses the
amount of any interest, taxes, brokerage commissions, distribution fees and
extraordinary expenses (including but not limited to legal claims and
liabilities and litigation costs and any indemnification related thereto)
paid or payable by such Series. Such reduction, if any, shall be computed and
accrued daily, shall be settled on a monthly basis, and shall
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be based upon the expense limitation applicable to such Series as at the end
of the last business day of the month. Should two or more such expense
limitations be applicable as at the end of the last business day of the
month, that expense limitation which results in the largest reduction in the
Investment Manager's fee shall be applicable.
For purposes of this provision, should any applicable expense limitation
be based upon the gross income of such Series, such gross income shall
include, but not be limited to, interest on debt securities in the Fund's
portfolio of such Series accrued to and including the last day of the Fund's
fiscal year, and dividends declared on equity securities in the portfolio of
such Series, the record dates for which fall on or prior to the last day of
such fiscal year, but shall not include gains from the sale of securities.
8. The Investment Manager will use its best efforts in the supervision and
management of the investment activities of the Fund, but in the absence of
willful misfeasance, bad faith, gross negligence or reckless disregard of its
obligations hereunder, the Investment Manager shall not be liable to the Fund
or any of its investors for any error of judgment or mistake of law or for
any act or omission by the Investment Manager or for any losses sustained by
the Fund or its investors.
9. Nothing contained in this Agreement shall prevent the Investment
Manager or any affiliated person of the Investment Manager from acting as
investment adviser or manager for any other person, firm or corporation and
shall not in any way bind or restrict the Investment Manager or any such
affiliated person from buying, selling or trading any securities or
commodities for their own accounts or for the account of others for whom they
may be acting. Nothing in this Agreement shall limit or restrict the right of
any Trustee, officer or employee of the Investment Manager to engage in any
other business or to devote his or her time and attention in part to the
management or other aspects of any other business whether of a similar or
dissimilar nature.
10. With respect to each Series, this Agreement shall remain in effect
until April 30, 1999 and from year to year thereafter is approved at least
annually by the vote of holders of a majority, as defined in the Investment
Company Act of 1940, as amended (the "Act"), of the outstanding voting
securities of the Series or by the Trustees of the Fund; provided that in
either event such continuance is also approved annually by the vote of a
majority of the Trustees of the Fund who are not parties to this Agreement or
"interested persons" (as defined in the Act) of any such party, which vote
must be cast in person at a meeting called for the purpose of voting on such
approval; provided, however, that (a) the Fund may, at any time and without
the payment of any penalty, terminate this Agreement upon thirty days'
written notice to the Investment Manager, either by majority vote of the
Trustees of the Fund or, with respect to a Series, by the vote of a majority
of the outstanding voting securities of such Series; (b) this Agreement shall
immediately terminate in the event of its assignment (to the extent required
by the Act and the rules thereunder) unless such automatic terminations shall
be prevented by an exemptive order of the Securities and Exchange Commission;
and (c) the Investment Manager may terminate this Agreement without payment
of penalty on thirty days' written notice to the Fund. Any notice under this
Agreement shall be given in writing, addressed and delivered, or mailed
post-paid, to the other party at the principal office of such party.
Any approval of this Agreement by the holders of a majority of the
outstanding voting securities of any Series shall be effective to continue
this Agreement with respect to such Series notwithstanding (a) that this
Agreement has not been approved by the holders of a majority of the
outstanding voting securities of any other Series or (b) that this Agreement
has not been approved by the vote of a majority of the outstanding voting
securities of the Fund, unless such approval shall be required by any other
applicable law or otherwise.
11. This Agreement may be amended by the parties without the vote or
consent of the shareholders of the Fund to supply any omission, to cure,
correct or supplement any ambiguous, defective or inconsistent provision
hereof, or if they deem it necessary to conform this Agreement to the
requirements of applicable federal laws or regulations, but neither the Fund
nor the Investment Manager shall be liable for failing to do so.
12. This Agreement shall be construed in accordance with the laws of the
State of New York and the applicable provisions of the Act. To the extent the
applicable law of the State of New York, or any of the provisions herein,
conflicts with the applicable provisions of the Act, the latter shall
control.
13. The Investment Manager and the Fund each agree that the name "Xxxx
Xxxxxx," which comprises a component of the Fund's name, is a property right
of Xxxx Xxxxxx Xxxxxxxx Inc. The Fund agrees and consents
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that (i) it will only use the name "Xxxx Xxxxxx" as a component of its name
and for no other purpose, (ii) it will not purport to grant to any third
party the right to use the name "Xxxx Xxxxxx" for any purpose, (iii) the
Investment Manager or its parent, Xxxxxx Xxxxxxx, Xxxx Xxxxxx, Discover &
Co., or any corporate affiliate of the Investment Manager's parent, may use
or grant to others the right to use the name "Xxxx Xxxxxx," or any
combination or abbreviation thereof, as all or a portion of a corporate or
business name or for any commercial purpose, including a grant of such right
to any other investment company, (iv) at the request of the Investment
Manager or its parent, the Fund will take such action as may be required to
provide its consent to the use of the name "Xxxx Xxxxxx," or any combination
or abbreviation thereof by the Investment Manager or its parent or any
corporate affiliate of the Investment Manager's parent, or by any person to
whom the Investment Manager or its parent or any affiliate of the Investment
Manager's parent shall have granted the right to such use, and (v) upon the
termination of any investment advisory agreement into which the Investment
Manager and the Fund may enter, or upon termination of affiliation of the
Investment Manager with its parent, the Fund shall, upon request by the
Investment Manager or its parent, cease to use the name "Xxxx Xxxxxx" as a
component of its name, and shall not use the name, or any combination or
abbreviation thereof, as a part of its name or for any other commercial
purpose, and shall cause its officers, Trustees and shareholders to take any
and all actions which the Investment Manager or its parent may request to
effect the foregoing and to reconvey to the Investment Manager or its parent
any and all rights to such name.
14. The Declaration of Trust establishing Xxxx Xxxxxx Multi-State
Municipal Series Trust, dated October 29, 1990, a copy of which, together
with all amendments thereto (the "Declaration"), is on file in the office of
the Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, provides that the name
Xxxx Xxxxxx Multi-State Municipal Series Trust refers to the Trustees under
the Declaration collectively as Trustees, but not as individuals or
personally; and no Trustee, shareholder, officer, employee or agent of Xxxx
Xxxxxx Multi-State Municipal Series Trust shall be held to any personal
liability, nor shall resort be had to their private property for the
satisfaction of any obligation or claim or otherwise, in connection with the
affairs of said Xxxx Xxxxxx Multi-State Municipal Series Trust, but the Trust
Estate only shall be liable.
In Witness Whereof, the parties hereto have executed and delivered this
Agreement on the day and year first above written in New York, New York.
Xxxx Xxxxxx Multi-State Municipal Series Trust
By: /s/
...........................................
Attest:
/s/
..................................
Xxxx Xxxxxx InterCapital Inc.
By: /s/
...........................................
Attest:
/s/
..................................
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