MANAGEMENT CONTRACT
THIS AGREEMENT dated as of this ___ day of ______________, 2000 between
Pioneer Variable Contracts Trust, a Delaware business trust (the "Trust"), on
behalf of _______________ (the "Portfolio"), and Pioneer Investment Management,
Inc., a Delaware corporation (the "Manager").
W I T N E S S E T H
WHEREAS, the Trust is registered as an open-end management investment
company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the "1940 Act"),
and has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "Commission") a
registration statement for the purpose of registering its shares for public
offering under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "1933 Act").
WHEREAS, the parties hereto deem it mutually advantageous that the
Manager should be engaged, subject to the supervision of the Trust's Board of
Trustees and officers, to manage the Trust.
NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the mutual covenants and benefits
set forth herein, the Trust, on behalf of the Portfolio, and the Manager do
hereby agree as follows:
1. The Manager will regularly provide the Portfolio with investment
research, advice and supervision and will furnish continuously an investment
program for the Portfolio, consistent with the investment objective[s] and
policies of the Portfolio. The Manager will determine from time to time what
securities shall be purchased for the Portfolio, what securities shall be held
or sold by the Portfolio and what portion of the Portfolio's assets shall be
held uninvested as cash, subject always to the provisions of the Trust's
Certificate of Trust, Agreement and Declaration of Trust, By-Laws and its
registration statements under the 1940 Act and under the 1933 Act covering the
Trust's shares, as filed with the Commission, and to the investment
objective[s], policies and restrictions of the Portfolio, as each of the same
shall be from time to time in effect, and subject, further, to such policies and
instructions as the Board of Trustees of the Trust may from time to time
establish. To carry out such determinations, the Manager will exercise full
discretion and act for the Portfolio in the same manner and with the same force
and effect as the Portfolio itself might or could do with respect to purchases,
sales or other transactions, as well as with respect to all other things
necessary or incidental to the furtherance or conduct of such purchases, sales
or other transactions.
2. The Manager will, to the extent reasonably required in the conduct
of the business of the Portfolio and upon the Trust's request, furnish to the
Portfolio research, statistical and advisory reports upon the industries,
businesses, corporations or securities as to which such requests shall be made,
whether or not the Portfolio shall at the time have any investment in such
industries, businesses, corporations or securities. The Manager will use its
best efforts in the preparation of such reports and will endeavor to consult the
persons and sources believed by it to have information available with respect to
such industries, businesses, corporations or securities.
3. The Manager will maintain all books and records with respect to the
Portfolio's securities transactions required by subparagraphs (b)(5), (6), (9)
and (10) and paragraph (f) of Rule 31a-1 under the 1940 Act (other than those
records being maintained
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by the custodian or transfer agent appointed by the Trust) and preserve
such records for the periods prescribed therefor by Rule 31a-2 under the 1940
Act. The Manager will also provide to the Board of Trustees such periodic and
special reports as the Board may reasonably request.
4. Except as otherwise provided herein, the Manager, at its own
expense, shall furnish to the Trust office space in the offices of the Manager,
or in such other place as may be agreed upon from time to time, and all
necessary office facilities, equipment and personnel for managing the
Portfolio's affairs and investments, and shall arrange, if desired by the Trust,
for members of the Manager's organization to serve as officers or agents of the
Trust.
5. The Manager shall pay directly or reimburse the Trust for: (i) the
compensation (if any) of the Trustees who are affiliated with, or "interested
persons" (as defined in the 0000 Xxx) of, the Manager and all officers of the
Trust as such; and (ii) all expenses not hereinafter specifically assumed by the
Trust where such expenses are incurred by the Manager or by the Trust in
connection with the management of the affairs of, and the investment and
reinvestment of the assets of, the Portfolio.
6. The Trust, on behalf of the Portfolio, shall assume and shall pay:
(i) charges and expenses for fund accounting, pricing and appraisal services and
related overhead, including, to the extent such services are performed by
personnel of the Manager or its affiliates, office space and facilities, and
personnel compensation, training and benefits; (ii) the charges and expenses of
auditors; (iii) the charges and expenses of any custodian, transfer agent, plan
agent, dividend disbursing agent and registrar appointed by the Trust; (iv)
issue and transfer taxes chargeable to the Trust in connection with securities
transactions to which the Trust is a party; (v) insurance premiums, interest
charges, dues and fees for membership in trade associations and all taxes and
corporate fees payable by the Trust to federal, state or other governmental
agencies; (vi) fees and expenses involved in registering and maintaining
registrations of the Trust and/or its shares with federal regulatory agencies,
state or blue sky securities agencies and foreign jurisdictions, including the
preparation of prospectuses and statements of additional information for filing
with such regulatory authorities; (vii) all expenses of shareholders' and
Trustees' meetings and of preparing, printing and distributing prospectuses,
notices, proxy statements and all reports to shareholders and to governmental
agencies; (viii) charges and expenses of legal counsel to the Trust and the
Trustees; (ix) any distribution fees paid by the Trust in accordance with Rule
12b-1 promulgated by the Commission pursuant to the 1940 Act; (x) compensation
of those Trustees of the Trust who are not affiliated with, or "interested
persons" of, the Manager, the Trust (other than as Trustees), The Pioneer Group,
Inc. or Pioneer Funds Distributor, Inc.; (xi) the cost of preparing and printing
share certificates; and (xii) interest on borrowed money, if any.
7. In addition to the expenses described in Section 6 above, the Trust,
on behalf of the Portfolio, shall pay all brokers' and underwriting commissions
chargeable to the Trust in connection with securities transactions to which the
Portfolio is a party.
8. [FOR INVESTMENT ADVISORY FEE INFORMATION FOR EACH PORTFOLIO, PLEASE
SEE EXHIBIT B.]
9. The management fee payable hereunder shall be computed daily and
paid monthly in arrears. In the event of termination of this Agreement, the fee
provided in
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Section 8 shall be computed on the basis of the period ending on the
last business day on which this Agreement is in effect subject to a pro rata
adjustment based on the number of days elapsed in the current month as a
percentage of the total number of days in such month.
10. The Manager may from time to time agree not to impose all or a
portion of its fee otherwise payable hereunder (in advance of the time such fee
or a portion thereof would otherwise accrue) and/or undertake to pay or
reimburse the Portfolio for all or a portion of its expenses not otherwise
required to be borne or reimbursed by the Manager. Any such fee reduction or
undertaking may be discontinued or modified by the Manager at any time.
11. It is understood that the Manager may employ one or more
sub-investment advisers (each a "Subadviser") to provide investment advisory
services to the Portfolio by entering into a written agreement with each such
Subadviser; provided, that any such agreement first shall be approved by the
vote of a majority of the Trustees, including a majority of the Trustees who are
not "interested persons" (as defined in the 0000 Xxx) of the Trust, the Manager
or any such Subadviser, and otherwise approved in accordance with the
requirements of the 1940 Act or an exemption therefrom. The authority given to
the Manager in Sections 1 through 13 hereof may be delegated by it under any
such agreement; provided, that any Subadviser shall be subject to the same
restrictions and limitations on investments and brokerage discretion as the
Manager. The Trust agrees that the Manager shall not be accountable to the Trust
or the Portfolio or the Portfolio's shareholders for any loss or other liability
relating to specific investments directed by any Subadviser, even though the
Manager retains the right to reverse any such investment because, in the event a
Subadviser is retained, the Trust and the Manager will rely almost exclusively
on the expertise of such Subadviser for the selection and monitoring of specific
investments.
12. The Manager will not be liable for any error of judgment or mistake
of law or for any loss sustained by reason of the adoption of any investment
policy or the purchase, sale, or retention of any security on the recommendation
of the Manager, whether or not such recommendation shall have been based upon
its own investigation and research or upon investigation and research made by
any other individual, firm or corporation, but nothing contained herein will be
construed to protect the Manager against any liability to the Trust or its
shareholders by reason of willful misfeasance, bad faith or gross negligence in
the performance of its duties or by reason of its reckless disregard of its
obligations and duties under this Agreement.
13. Nothing in this Agreement will in any way limit or restrict the
Manager or any of its officers, directors, or employees from buying, selling or
trading in any securities for its or their own accounts or other accounts. The
Manager may act as an investment adviser to any other person, firm or
corporation, and may perform management and any other services for any other
person, association, corporation, firm or other entity pursuant to any contract
or otherwise, and take any action or do any thing in connection therewith or
related thereto; and no such performance of management or other services or
taking of any such action or doing of any such thing shall be in any manner
restricted or otherwise affected by any aspect of any relationship of the
Manager to or with the Trust or deemed to violate or give rise to any duty or
obligation of the Manager to the Trust except as otherwise imposed by law. The
Trust recognizes that the Manager, in effecting transactions for its various
accounts, may not always be able to take or liquidate investment positions in
the same security at the same time and at the same price.
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14. In connection with purchases or sales of securities for the account
of the Trust, neither the Manager nor any of its directors, officers or
employees will act as a principal or agent or receive any commission except as
permitted by the 1940 Act. The Manager shall arrange for the placing of all
orders for the purchase and sale of securities for the Portfolio's account with
brokers or dealers selected by the Manager. In the selection of such brokers or
dealers and the placing of such orders, the Manager is directed at all times to
seek for the Portfolio the most favorable execution and net price available
except as described herein. It is also understood that it is desirable for the
Portfolio that the Manager have access to supplemental investment and market
research and security and economic analyses provided by brokers who may execute
brokerage transactions at a higher cost to the Portfolio than may result when
allocating brokerage to other brokers on the basis of seeking the most favorable
price and efficient execution. Therefore, the Manager is authorized to place
orders for the purchase and sale of securities for the Portfolio with such
brokers, subject to review by the Trust's Trustees from time to time with
respect to the extent and continuation of this practice. It is understood that
the services provided by such brokers may be useful to the Manager in connection
with its or its affiliates' services to other clients. In addition, subject to
the Manager's obligation to seek the most favorable execution and net price
available, the Manager may consider the sale of the Trust's shares in selecting
brokers and dealers.
15. On occasions when the Manager deems the purchase or sale of a
security to be in the best interest of the Portfolio as well as other clients,
the Manager may, to the extent permitted by applicable laws and regulations,
aggregate the securities to be sold or purchased in order to obtain the best
execution and lower brokerage commissions, if any. 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 Portfolio
and to such clients.
16. This Agreement shall become effective on the date hereof and shall
remain in force until December 31, 2001 and from year to year thereafter, but
only so long as its continuance is approved in accordance with the requirements
of the 1940 Act or an exemption therefrom, subject to the right of the Trust and
the Manager to terminate this contract as provided in Section 17 hereof.
17. Either party hereto may, without penalty, terminate this Agreement
by vote of its Board of Trustees or Directors, as the case may be, or by vote of
a "majority of the outstanding voting securities" (as defined in the 0000 Xxx)
of the Portfolio or the Manager, as the case may be, and the giving of 60 days'
written notice to the other party.
18. This Agreement shall automatically terminate in the event of its
assignment. For purposes of this Agreement, the term "assignment" shall have the
meaning given it by Section 2(a)(4) of the 1940 Act.
19. The Trust agrees that in the event that neither the Manager nor any
of its affiliates acts as an investment adviser to the Portfolio, the name of
the Portfolio will be changed to one that does not contain the name "Pioneer" or
otherwise suggest an affiliation with the Manager.
20. The Manager is an independent contractor and not an employee of the
Trust for any purpose. If any occasion should arise in which the Manager gives
any advice
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to its clients concerning the shares of the Trust, the Manager will
act solely as investment counsel for such clients and not in any way on behalf
of the Trust.
21. This Agreement states the entire agreement of the parties hereto,
and is intended to be the complete and exclusive statement of the terms hereof.
It may not be added to or changed orally and may not be modified or rescinded
except by a writing signed by the parties hereto and in accordance with the 1940
Act, when applicable.
22. This Agreement and all performance hereunder shall be governed by
and construed in accordance with the laws of The Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
23. Any term or provision of this Agreement which is invalid or
unenforceable in any jurisdiction shall, as to such jurisdiction, be ineffective
to the extent of such invalidity or unenforceability without rendering invalid
or unenforceable the remaining terms or provisions of this Agreement or
affecting the validity or enforceability of any of the terms or provisions of
this Agreement in any other jurisdiction.
24. This Agreement may be executed simultaneously in two or more
counterparts, each of which shall be deemed an original, but all of which
together shall constitute one and the same instrument.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have caused this Agreement to be
executed by their duly authorized officers and their seal to be hereto affixed
as of the day and year first above written.
ATTEST: PIONEER VARIABLE CONTRACTS TRUST
ON BEHALF OF
------------------------ ------------------------
Xxxxxx X. Xxxxx Xxxx X. Xxxxx, Xx.
Secretary Chairman and President
ATTEST: PIONEER INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT, INC.
------------------------ ------------------------
Xxxxxx X. Xxxxx Xxxxx X. Xxxxxxx
Secretary President
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EXHIBIT B
MANAGEMENT FEE RATES
FEE AS A PERCENTAGE OF THE
PORTFOLIO PORTFOLIO'S
AVERAGE DAILY NET ASSETS
Pioneer Large-Cap Growth Portfolio 0.65%
Pioneer Large-Cap Value Portfolio 0.65%
Pioneer S&P 500 Index Portfolio 0.30%
Pioener Small Company Portfolio 0.75%
