E X H I B I T 5
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THE WHITE ELK FUNDS
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Investment Management Agreement
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THIS INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT AGREEMENT made as of the 4th day of
February, 1998, by and between The White Elk Funds, a Massachusetts business
trust (hereinafter called the "Trust"), on behalf of each series of the Trust
listed in Appendix A hereto, as such may be amended from time to time
(hereinafter referred to individually as a "Fund" and collectively as the
"Funds"), and White Elk Asset Management, Inc., a Delaware corporation
(hereinafter called the "Manager").
WITNESSETH:
WHEREAS, the Trust is an open-end, diversified management investment
company, registered as such under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended
(the "1940 Act"); and
WHEREAS, the Manager is registered as an investment adviser under the
1940 Act, as amended, and is engaged in the business of supplying investment
advice, investment management and administrative services, as an independent
contractor; and
WHEREAS, the Trust desires to retain the Manager to render advice and
services to the Funds pursuant to the terms and provisions of this Agreement,
and the Manager is interested in furnishing said advice and services; and
WHEREAS, the Manager, subject to requisite approvals under the 1940
Act, may retain and hire other entities (the "Sub-Portfolio Managers") and
delegate to the Sub-Portfolio Managers pursuant to written agreements certain
duties of the Manager under this Agreement;
NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the covenants and the mutual
promises hereinafter set forth, the parties hereto, intending to be legally
bound hereby, mutually agree as follows:
1. APPOINTMENT OF MANAGER. The Trust hereby employs the Manager and
the Manager hereby accepts such employment, to render investment advice and
management services with respect to the assets of the Funds for the period and
on the terms set forth in this Agreement, subject to the supervision and
direction of the Trust's Board of Trustees.
2. DUTIES OF MANAGER.
(a) General Duties. The Manager shall act as investment manager to
the Funds and shall supervise investments of the Funds on behalf of the Funds in
accordance with the investment objectives, programs and restrictions of the
Funds as provided in the Trust's governing documents, including, without
limitation, the Trust's Agreement and Declaration of Trust and By-Laws, or
otherwise and such other limitations as the Trustees may impose from time to
time in writing to the Manager. Without limiting the generality of the
foregoing, the Manager shall: (i) furnish the Funds with advice and
recommendations with respect to the investment of each Fund's assets and the
purchase and sale of portfolio securities for the Funds, including the taking of
such other steps as may be necessary to implement such advice and
recommendations; (ii) furnish the Funds with reports, statements and other data
on securities, economic conditions and other pertinent subjects which the
Trust's Board of Trustees may reasonably request and furnish the Funds with
important developments materially affecting any Funds as the Manager, on its own
initiative, deems appropriate from time to time; (iii) manage the investments of
the Funds, subject to the ultimate supervision and direction of the Trust's
Board of Trustees; (iv) provide persons satisfactory to the Trust's Board of
Trustees to act as officers and employees of the Trust and the Funds (such
officers and employees, as well as certain trustees, may be trustees, directors,
officers, partners, or employees of the Manager or its affiliates) but not
including personnel to provide limited administrative services to the Fund not
typically provided by the Fund's administrator under separate agreement; and (v)
render to the Trust's Board of Trustees such periodic and special reports with
respect to each Fund's investment activities as the Board may reasonably
request.
(b) Sub-Portfolio Managers. The Manager, subject to requisite
approvals under the 1940 Act, may retain individuals or other business entities
to assist it in its duties hereunder to act as an investment manager to the
Funds on such terms and conditions as the Manager shall deem appropriate. Any
such individual or business entity shall be referred to as a Sub-Portfolio
Manager.
(c) Brokerage. The Manager shall place orders for the purchase and
sale of securities either directly with the issuer or with a broker or dealer
selected by the Manager. In placing each Fund's securities trades, it is
recognized that the Manager will give primary consideration to securing the most
favorable price and efficient execution, so that each Fund's total cost or
proceeds in each transaction will be the most favorable under all the
circumstances. Within the framework of this policy, the Manager may consider the
financial responsibility, research and investment information, and other
services provided by brokers or dealers who may effect or be a party to any such
transaction or other transactions to which other clients of the Manager may be a
party.
It is also understood that it is desirable for the Funds that the
Manager have access to investment and market research and securities and
economic analyses provided by brokers and others. It is also understood that
brokers providing such services may execute brokerage transactions at a higher
cost to the Funds than might result from the allocation of brokerage to other
brokers on the basis of seeking the most favorable price and efficient
execution. Therefore, the purchase and sale of securities for the Funds may be
made with brokers who provide such research and analysis, subject to review by
the Trust's Board of Trustees from time to time with respect to the extent and
continuation of this practice. It is understood by both parties that the Manager
may select broker-dealers for the execution of the Funds' portfolio transactions
who provide research and analysis as the Manager may lawfully and appropriately
use in its investment management and advisory capacities, whether or not such
research and analysis may also be useful to the Manager in connection with its
services to other clients.
On occasions when the Manager deems the purchase or sale of a
security to be in the best interest of one or more of the Funds as well as of
other clients, the Manager, to the extent permitted by applicable laws and
regulations, may aggregate the securities to be so purchased or sold in order to
obtain the most favorable price or lower brokerage commissions and the most
efficient execution. In such event, allocation of the securities so purchased or
sold, as well as the expenses incurred in the transaction, will be made by the
Manager in the manner it considers to be the most equitable and consistent with
its fiduciary obligations to the Funds and to such other clients.
(d) Administrative Services. The Manager shall oversee the
administration of the Funds' business and affairs although the provision of
administrative services, to the extent not covered by subparagraphs (a) or (b)
above, is not the obligation of the Manager under this Agreement.
Notwithstanding any other provisions of this Agreement, the Manager shall be
entitled to reimbursement from the Funds for all or a portion of the reasonable
costs and expenses, including salary, associated with the provision by Manager
of personnel to render administrative services to the Funds.
3. BEST EFFORTS AND JUDGMENT. The Manager shall use its best judgment
and efforts in rendering the advice and services to the Funds as contemplated by
this Agreement.
4. INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR. The Manager shall, for all purposes
herein, be deemed to be an independent contractor, and shall, unless otherwise
expressly provided and authorized to do so, have no authority to act for or
represent the Trust or the Funds in any way, or in any way be deemed an agent
for the Trust or for the Funds. It is expressly understood and agreed that the
services to be rendered by the Manager to the Funds under the provisions of this
Agreement are not to be deemed exclusive, and the Manager shall be free to
render similar or different services to others so long as its ability to render
the services provided for in this Agreement shall not be impaired thereby.
5. MANAGER'S PERSONNEL. The 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 to the
performance of its obligations under this Agreement. Without limiting the
generality of the foregoing, the staff and personnel of the Manager shall be
deemed to include persons employed or retained by the Manager to furnish
statistical information, research, and other factual information, advice
regarding economic factors and trends, information with respect to technical and
scientific developments, and such other information, advice and assistance as
the Manager or the Trust's Board of Trustees may desire and reasonably request.
6. REPORTS BY FUNDS TO MANAGER. Each Fund will from time to time
furnish to the Manager detailed statements of its investments and assets, and
information as to its investment objective and needs, and will make available to
the Manager such financial reports, proxy statements, legal and other
information relating to each Fund's investments as may be in its possession or
available to it, together with such other information as the Manager may
reasonably request.
7. EXPENSES.
(a) With respect to the operation of each Fund, the Manager is
responsible for (i) the compensation of any of the Trust's trustees, officers,
and employees who are affiliates of the Manager (but not the compensation of
employees performing services in connection with expenses which are the Fund's
responsibility under Subparagraph 7(b) below or the compensation of affiliates
performing distribution and marketing duties outside of the scope of this
Agreement if a Rule 12b-1 plan has been adopted by the Trust), (ii) the expenses
of printing and distributing the Funds' prospectuses, statements of additional
information, and sales and advertising materials (but not the legal, auditing or
accounting fees attendant thereto) to prospective investors (but not to existing
shareholders), and (iii) providing office space and equipment reasonably
necessary for the operation of the Funds.
(b) Each fund is responsible for and has assumed the obligation
for payment of all of its expenses, other than as stated in Subparagraph 7(a)
above, including but not limited to: fees and expenses incurred in connection
with the issuance, registration and transfer of its shares; brokerage and
commission expenses; all expenses of transfer, receipt, safekeeping, servicing
and accounting for the cash, securities and other property of the Trust for the
benefit of the Funds including all fees and expenses of its custodian,
shareholder services agent and accounting services agent; interest charges on
any borrowings; costs and expenses of pricing and calculating its daily net
asset value and of maintaining its books of account required under the 1940 Act;
taxes, if any; expenditures in connection with meetings of each Fund's
shareholders and Board of Trustees that are properly payable by the Fund;
salaries and expenses of officers and fees and expenses of members of the
Trust's Board of Trustees or members of any advisory board or committee who are
not members of, affiliated with or interested persons of the Manager; insurance
premiums on property or personnel of each Fund which inure to its benefit,
including liability and fidelity bond insurance; the cost of preparing and
printing reports, proxy statements, prospectuses and statements of additional
information of the Fund or other communications for distribution to existing
shareholders; legal, auditing and accounting fees; trade association dues; fees
and expenses (including legal fees) of registering and maintaining registration
of its shares for sale under federal and applicable state and foreign securities
laws; all expenses of maintaining and servicing shareholder accounts, including
all charges for transfer, shareholder recordkeeping, dividend disbursing,
redemption, and other agents for the benefit of the Funds, if any; and all other
charges and costs of its operation plus any extraordinary and non-recurring
expenses, except as herein otherwise prescribed.
(c) To the extent the Manager incurs any costs by assuming
expenses which are an obligation of a Fund as set forth herein, such Fund shall
promptly reimburse the Manager for such costs and expenses, except to the extent
the Manager has otherwise agreed to bear such expenses. To the extent the
services for which a Fund is obligated to pay are performed by the Manager, the
Manager shall be entitled to recover from such Fund to the extent of the
Manager's actual costs for providing such services.
8. INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT FEE.
(a) Each Fund shall pay to the Manager, and the Manager agrees to
accept, as full compensation for all administrative and investment management
services furnished or provided to such Fund pursuant to this Agreement, a
management fee at the annual rate set forth in the Fee Schedule attached hereto
as Appendix A, as may be amended in writing from time to time by the Trust and
the Manager.
(b) The management fee shall be accrued daily by each Fund and
paid to the Manager on the first business day of the succeeding month.
(c) The initial fee under this Agreement shall be payable on the
first business day of the first month following the effective date of this
Agreement and shall be prorated as set forth below. If this Agreement is
terminated before the end of any month, the fee to the Manager shall be prorated
for the portion of any month in which this Agreement is in effect which is not a
complete month according to the proportion which the number of calendar days in
the month during which the Agreement is in effect bears to the number of
calendar days in the month, and shall be payable within ten (10) days after the
date of termination.
(d) The Manager may reduce any portion of the compensation or
reimbursement of expenses due to it pursuant to this Agreement and may agree to
make payments to limit the expenses which are the responsibility of a Fund under
this Agreement. Any such reduction or payment shall be applicable only to such
specific reduction or payment and shall not constitute an agreement to reduce
any future compensation or reimbursement due to the Manager hereunder to
continue future payments. Any such reduction will be agreed to prior to accrual
of the related expense or fee and will be estimated daily and reconciled and
paid on a monthly basis. Any fee withheld pursuant to this paragraph from the
Manager shall be reimbursed by the appropriate Fund to the Manager in the first,
second or third (or any combination thereof) fiscal year next succeeding the
fiscal year of the withholding to the extent permitted by the applicable state
law if the aggregate expenses for the next succeeding fiscal year, second
succeeding fiscal year or third succeeding fiscal year do not exceed the
applicable state limitation or any more restrictive limitation to which the
Manager has agreed. The Manager may elect to seek reimbursement for the oldest
reductions and waivers before payment by a Fund of fees or expenses for the
current year.
(e) The Manager may agree not to require payment of any portion of
the compensation or reimbursement of expenses otherwise due to it pursuant to
this Agreement prior to the time such compensation or reimbursement has accrued
as a liability of the Fund. Any such agreement shall be applicable only with
respect to the specific items covered thereby and shall not constitute an
agreement not to require payment of any future compensation or reimbursement due
to the Manager hereunder.
9. FUND SHARE ACTIVITIES OF MANAGER'S OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES. The
Manager agrees that neither it nor any of its officers or employees shall take
any short position in the shares of the Funds. This prohibition shall not
prevent the purchase of such shares by any of the officers or bona fide
employees of the Manager or any trust, pension, profit-sharing or other benefit
plan for such persons or affiliates thereof, at a price not less than the net
asset value thereof at the time of purchase, as allowed pursuant to rules
promulgated under the 1940 Act.
10. CONFLICTS WITH TRUST'S GOVERNING DOCUMENTS AND APPLICABLE LAWS.
Nothing herein contained shall be deemed to require the Trust or the Funds to
take any action contrary to the Trust's Agreement and Declaration of Trust,
By-Laws, or any applicable statute or regulation, or to relieve or deprive the
Board of Trustees of the Trust of its responsibility for and control of the
conduct of the affairs of the Trust and Funds.
11. MANAGER'S LIABILITIES.
(a) In the absence of willful misfeasance, bad faith, gross
negligence, or reckless disregard of the obligations or duties hereunder on the
part of the Manager, the Manager shall not be subject to liability to the Trust
or the Funds or to any shareholder of the Funds for any act or omission in the
course of, or connected with, rendering services hereunder or for any losses
that may be sustained in the purchase, holding or sale of any security by the
Funds.
(b) The Funds shall indemnify and hold harmless the Manager and
the partners, members, officers and employees of the Manager and its general
partner (any such person, an "Indemnified Party") against any loss, liability,
claim, damage or expense (including the reasonable cost of investigating and
defending any alleged loss, liability, claim, damage or expenses and reasonable
counsel fees incurred in connection therewith) arising out of the Indemnified
Party's performance or non-performance of any duties under this Agreement
provided, however, that nothing herein shall be deemed to protect any
Indemnified Party against any liability to which such Indemnified Party would
otherwise be subject by reason of willful misfeasance, bad faith or gross
negligence in the performance of duties hereunder or by reason of reckless
disregard of obligations and duties under this Agreement.
(c) No provision of this Agreement shall be construed to protect
any Trustee or officer of the Trust, or officer of the Manager (or its general
partner), from liability in violation of Sections 17(h) and (i) of the 1940 Act.
12. NON-EXCLUSIVITY. The Trust's employment of the Manager is not an
exclusive arrangement, and the Trust may from time to time employ other
individuals or entities to furnish it with the services provided for herein. The
Manager may, from time to time hereafter, act as investment adviser to one or
more other investment companies and fiduciary or other managed accounts,
provided that when the purchase or sale of securities of the same issuer is
suitable for the investment objectives of two or more companies or accounts
managed by the Manager which have available funds for investment, the available
securities will be allocated in a manner believed by the Manager to be equitable
to each company or account. If this Agreement is terminated with respect to any
Fund, this Agreement shall remain in full force and effect with respect to all
other Funds listed on Appendix A hereto, as the same may be amended.
13. TERM. This Agreement shall become effective at the time the
Trust's initial Registration Statement under the Securities Act of 1933 with
respect to the shares of the Trust is declared effective by the Securities and
Exchange Commission and shall remain in effect for a period of two (2) years,
unless sooner terminated as hereinafter provided. This Agreement shall continue
in effect thereafter for additional periods not exceeding one (1) year so long
as such continuation is approved for each Fund at least annually by (i) the
Board of Trustees of the Trust or by the vote of a majority of the outstanding
voting securities of each Fund and (ii) the vote of a majority of the Trustees
of the Trust who are not parties to this Agreement nor interested persons
thereof, cast in person at a meeting called for the purpose of voting on such
approval.
14. TERMINATION. This Agreement may be terminated by the Trust on
behalf of any one or more of the Funds at any time without payment of any
penalty, by the Board of Trustees of the Trust or by vote of a majority of the
outstanding voting securities of a Fund, upon sixty (60) days' written notice to
the Manager, and by the Manager upon sixty (60) days' written notice to a Fund.
15. TERMINATION BY ASSIGNMENT. This Agreement shall terminate
automatically in the event of any transfer or assignment thereof, as defined in
the 1940 Act.
16. TRANSFER, ASSIGNMENT. This Agreement may not be transferred,
assigned, sold or in any manner hypothecated or pledged without the affirmative
vote or written consent of the holders of a majority of the outstanding voting
securities of each Fund.
17. SEVERABILITY. If any provision of this Agreement shall be held or
made invalid by a court decision, statute or rule, or shall be otherwise
rendered invalid, the remainder of this Agreement shall not be affected thereby.
18. DEFINITIONS. The terms "majority of the outstanding voting
securities" and "interested persons" shall have the meanings as set forth in the
1940 Act.
19. NOTICE OF DECLARATION OF TRUST. The Manager agrees that the
Trust's obligations under this Agreement shall be limited to the Funds and to
their assets, and that the Manager shall not seek satisfaction of any such
obligation from the shareholders of the Funds nor from any trustee, officer,
employee or agent of the Trust or the Funds.
20. CAPTIONS. The captions in this Agreement are included for
convenience of reference only and in no way define or limit any of the
provisions hereof or otherwise affect their construction or effect.
21. GOVERNING LAW. This Agreement shall be governed by, and construed
in accordance with, the laws of the State of New York without giving effect to
the conflict of laws principles thereof; provided that nothing herein shall be
construed to preempt, or to be inconsistent with, any federal law, regulation or
rule, including the 1940 Act and the Investment Advisors Act of 1940 and any
rules and regulations promulgated thereunder.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have caused this Agreement to
be duly executed and attested by their duly authorized officers, all on the day
and year first above written.
THE WHITE ELK FUNDS
By: /s/ Xxxxxxx X. Xxxxxx By: /s/ Xxxxxxx Xxxxxxx
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Title: President Title: Vice President
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WHITE ELK ASSET MANAGEMENT, INC.
By: /s/ Xxxxxxx X. Xxxxxx By: /s/ Xxxxxxx Xxxxxxx
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Title: President Title: Vice President
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FORM OF INVESTMENT
MANAGEMENT AGREEMENT
Appendix A
to Investment Management
Agreement
FEE SCHEDULE
Name of Fund Applicable Fee
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White Elk Large Cap Growth Fund 1.0%
White Elk Mid Cap Growth Fund 1.0%
White Elk Small Cap Growth Fund 1.0%
White Elk Large Cap Value Fund 1.0%
White Elk Mid Cap Value Fund 1.0%
White Elk Small Cap Value Fund 1.0%
White Elk Leveraged All Cap Fund 1.0%
White Elk Global Equity Fund 1.0%
White Elk Long-Term Bond Fund .50%
White Elk Medium-Term Bond Fund .50%
White Elk Money Market Fund .25%
THE WHITE ELK FUNDS
By: By:
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Title: Title:
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WHITE ELK ASSET MANAGEMENT, INC.
By: By:
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Title: Title:
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