THE JAPAN FUND, INC.
000 Xxxx Xxxxxx
Xxx Xxxx, Xxx Xxxx 00000
January 1, 1994
Xxxxxxx, Xxxxxxx & Xxxxx, Inc.
000 Xxxx Xxxxxx
Xxx Xxxx, XX 00000
Investment Management Agreement
Dear Sirs:
The Japan Fund, Inc. (the "Fund") has been established as a Maryland
Corporation to engage in the business of an investment company.
The Fund has selected you (the "Advisor") to act as investment manager of
the Fund and to provide certain other services, as more fully set forth below,
and you have indicated that you are willing to act as such investment manager
and to perform such services under the terms and conditions hereinafter set
forth. Accordingly, the Fund agrees with you as follows:
1. Delivery of Documents. The Fund engages in the business of investing and
reinvesting the assets of the Fund in the manner and in accordance with the
investment objectives, policies and restrictions specified in the currently
effective Prospectus (the "Prospectus") and Statement of Additional Information
(the "SAI") included in the Fund's Registration Statement on Form N-1A, as
amended from time to time (the "Registration Statement"), filed by the Fund
under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the "1940 Act"), and the
Securities Act of 1933, as amended. Copies of the documents referred to in the
preceding sentence have been furnished to you by the Fund. The Fund has also
furnished you with copies properly certified or authenticated of each of the
following additional documents related to the Fund:
(a) Articles of Amendment and Restatement of the Fund dated January 7,
1992, as amended to date (the "Articles").
(b) By-Laws of the Fund as in effect on the date hereof (the "By-Laws").
(c) Resolutions of the Directors of the Fund and the shareholders of
the Fund selecting you as investment manager and approving the form of
this Agreement.
The Fund will furnish you from time to time with copies, properly certified
or authenticated, of all amendments of or supplements, if any, to the foregoing,
including the Prospectus, the SAI and the Registration Statement.
2. Portfolio Management Services. As manager of the assets of the Fund, you
shall provide continuing investment management of the assets of the Fund in
accordance with the investment objectives, policies and restrictions set forth
in the Prospectus and SAI; the applicable provisions of the 1940 Act and the
Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the "Code"), relating to regulated
investment companies and all rules and regulations thereunder; and all other
applicable federal and state laws and regulations of which you have knowledge;
subject always to policies and instructions adopted by the Fund's Board of
Directors. In connection therewith, you shall use reasonable efforts to manage
the Fund so that it will qualify as a regulated investment company under
Subchapter M of the Code and regulations issued thereunder. The Fund shall have
the benefit of the investment analysis and research, the review of current
economic conditions and trends and the consideration of long-range investment
policy generally available to your investment advisory clients. In managing the
Fund in accordance with the requirements set forth in this section 2, you shall
be entitled to receive and act upon advice of counsel to the Fund or counsel to
you. You shall also make available to the Fund promptly upon request all of the
Fund's investment records and ledgers as are necessary to assist the Fund to
comply with the requirements of the 1940 Act and other applicable laws. To the
extent required by law, you shall furnish to regulatory authorities having the
requisite authority any information or reports in connection with the services
provided pursuant to this Agreement which may be requested in order to ascertain
whether the operations of the Fund are being conducted in a manner consistent
with applicable laws and regulations.
You shall determine the securities, instruments, investments, currencies,
repurchase agreements, futures, options and other contracts relating to
investments to be purchased, sold or entered into by the Fund and place orders
with broker-dealers, foreign currency dealers, futures commission merchants or
others pursuant to your determinations and all in accordance with Fund policies
as expressed in the Registration Statement and with guidelines and directions
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from the Board of Directors. Subject to such policies and guidelines, you shall
determine what portion of the Fund's portfolio shall be invested in securities
and other assets and what portion, if any, should be held uninvested.
You shall furnish to the Fund's Board of Directors periodic reports on the
investment performance of the Fund and on the performance of your obligations
pursuant to this Agreement, and you shall supply such additional reports and
information as the Fund's officers or Board of Directors shall reasonably
request.
In rendering the services required under this section you may receive the
assistance of The Nikko International Capital Management Co., Ltd. ("NICAM"),
which is to furnish investment research services with respect to the Fund
pursuant to an agreement with the Advisor dated as of the date hereof (as the
same may be amended from time to time), and may contract with or consult with
such banks, other securities firms or other parties in Japan or elsewhere as it
may deem appropriate to obtain information and advice, including investment
recommendations, advice regarding economic factors and trends, advice as to
currency exchange matters, and clerical and accounting services and other
assistance, but any fees, compensation or expenses to be paid to any such
parties shall be paid by you, and no obligation shall be incurred on the Fund's
behalf in any such respect.
3. Administrative Services. In addition to the portfolio management
services specified above in section 2, you shall furnish at your expense for the
use of the Fund such office space and facilities as the Fund may require for its
reasonable needs, and you (or one or more of your affiliates designated by you)
shall render to the Fund administrative services necessary for operating as an
investment company and not provided by persons not parties to this Agreement
including, but not limited to, preparing reports to and meeting materials for
the Fund's Board of Directors and reports and notices to Fund shareholders;
supervising, negotiating contractual arrangements with, to the extent
appropriate, and monitoring the performance of, custodians, depositories,
transfer and pricing agents, accountants, attorneys, printers, underwriters,
brokers and dealers, insurers and other persons in any capacity deemed to be
necessary or desirable to Fund operations; preparing and making filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") and other regulatory and
self-regulatory organizations, including, but not limited to, preliminary and
definitive proxy materials, post-effective amendments to the Registration
Statement, semi-annual reports on Form N-SAR and notices pursuant to Rule 24f-2
under the 1940 Act; overseeing the tabulation of proxies by the Fund's transfer
agent; assisting in the preparation and filing of the Fund's federal, state and
local tax returns; preparing and filing the Fund's federal excise tax return
pursuant to Section 4982 of the Code; providing assistance with investor and
public relations matters; monitoring the valuation of portfolio securities, the
calculation of net asset value and the calculation and payment of distributions
to Fund shareholders; monitoring the registration of the Fund's shares of
capital stock, $.33 1/3 par value per share (the "Shares") under applicable
federal and state securities laws; maintaining or causing to be maintained for
the Fund all books, records and reports and any other information required under
the 1940 Act, to the extent that such books, records and reports and other
information are not maintained by the Fund's custodian or other agents of the
Fund; assisting in establishing the accounting policies of the Fund; assisting
in the resolution of accounting issues that may arise with respect to the Fund's
operations and consulting with the Fund's independent accountants, legal counsel
and the Fund's other agents as necessary in connection therewith; establishing
and monitoring the Fund's operating expense budgets; reviewing the Fund's bills;
processing the payment of bills that have been approved by a person authorized
by the Fund; assisting the Fund in determining the amount of dividends and
distributions available to be paid by the Fund to its shareholders, preparing
and arranging for the printing of dividend notices to shareholders, and
providing the transfer and dividend paying agent and the custodian with such
information as is required for such parties to effect the payment of dividends
and distributions; and otherwise assisting the Fund as it may reasonably request
in the conduct of its business, subject to the direction and control of the
Fund's Board of Directors. Nothing in this Agreement shall be deemed to shift to
you or to diminish the obligations of any agent of the Fund or any other person
not a party to this Agreement which is obligated to provide services to the
Fund.
4. Allocation of Charges and Expenses. Except as otherwise specifically
provided in this section 4, you shall pay the compensation and expenses of all
Directors, officers and employees of the Fund (including the Fund's share of
payroll taxes) who are affiliated persons of you and you shall make available,
without expense to the Fund, the services of such of your directors, officers
and employees as may duly be elected officers of the Fund, subject to their
individual consent to serve and to any limitations imposed by law. You shall
provide at your expense the portfolio management services described in section 2
hereof and the administrative services described in section 3 hereof.
You shall not be required to pay any expenses of the Fund other than those
specifically allocated to you in this section 4. In particular, but without
limiting the generality of the foregoing, you shall not be responsible, except
to the extent of the reasonable compensation of such of the Fund's Directors and
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officers as are directors, officers or employees of you whose services may be
involved, for the following expenses of the Fund, to the extent they are not
entailed in your provision of the services described in section 2 and section 3
hereof: organization expenses of the Fund (including out-of-pocket expenses, but
not including your overhead or employee costs); fees payable to you and to any
other Fund advisors or consultants; legal expenses; auditing and accounting
expenses; maintenance of books and records which are required to be maintained
by the Fund's custodian or other agents of the Fund; telephone, telex,
facsimile, postage and other communications expenses; taxes and governmental
fees; fees, dues and expenses incurred by the Fund in connection with membership
in investment company trade organizations; fees and expenses of the Fund's
custodians, subcustodians, transfer agents, dividend disbursing agents and
registrars; payment for portfolio pricing or valuation services to pricing
agents, accountants, bankers and other specialists, if any; expenses of
preparing share certificates and, except as provided below in this section 4,
other expenses in connection with the issuance, offering, distribution, sale,
redemption or repurchase of securities issued by the Fund; expenses relating to
investor and public relations; expenses and fees of registering or qualifying
Shares of the Fund for sale; interest charges, bond premiums and other insurance
expense; freight, insurance and other charges in connection with the shipment of
the Fund's portfolio securities; the compensation and all expenses (specifically
including travel expenses relating to Fund business) of Directors, officers and
employees of the Fund who are not affiliated persons of you; brokerage
commissions or other costs of acquiring or disposing of any portfolio securities
of the Fund; expenses of printing and distributing reports, notices and
dividends to shareholders; expenses of printing and mailing Prospectuses and
SAIs of the Fund and supplements thereto; costs of stationery; any litigation
expenses; indemnification of Directors and officers of the Fund; costs of
shareholders' and other meetings; and travel expenses (or an appropriate portion
thereof) of Directors and officers of the Fund who are directors, officers or
employees of you to the extent that such expenses relate to attendance at
meetings of the Board of Directors of the Fund or any committees thereof or
advisors thereto held outside of Boston, Massachusetts or New York, New York.
You shall not be required to pay expenses of any activity which is
primarily intended to result in sales of Shares of the Fund if and to the extent
that (i) such expenses are required to be borne by a principal underwriter which
acts as the distributor of the Fund's Shares pursuant to an underwriting
agreement which provides that the underwriter shall assume some or all of such
expenses, or (ii) the Fund shall have adopted a plan in conformity with the 1940
Act providing that the Fund (or some other party) shall assumed some or all of
such expenses. You shall be required to pay such of the foregoing sales expenses
as are not required to be paid by the principal underwriter pursuant to the
underwriting agreement or are not permitted to be paid by the Fund (or some
other party) pursuant to such a plan.
5. Management Fee. For all services to be rendered, payments to be made and
costs to be assumed by you as provided in sections 2, 3 and 4 hereof, the Fund
shall pay you a monthly fee, payable in dollars, equal on an annual basis to .85
of 1% of the value of the average daily net assets of the Fund up to and
including $100 million; plus .75 of 1% of the value of the average daily net
assets of the Fund over $100 million and up to and including $300 million; plus
.70 of 1% of the value of the average daily net assets of the Fund over $300
million and up to and including $600 million; plus .65 of 1% of the average
daily net assets over $600 million.
The "average daily net assets" of the Fund shall mean the average of the
values placed on the Fund's net assets as of 4:00 p.m. (New York time) on each
day on which the net asset value of the Fund is determined consistent with the
provisions of Rule 22c-1 under the 1940 Act or, if the Fund lawfully determines
the value of its net assets as of some other time on each business day, as of
such time. The value of the net assets of the Fund shall always be determined
pursuant to the applicable provisions of the Articles and the Registration
Statement. If the determination of net asset value does not take place for any
particular day, then for the purposes of this section 5, the value of the net
assets of the Fund as last determined shall be deemed to be the value of its net
assets as of 4:00 p.m. (New York time), or as of such other time as the value of
the net assets of the Fund's portfolio may be lawfully determined on that day.
If the Fund determines the value of the net assets of its portfolio more than
once on any day, then the last such determination thereof on that day shall be
deemed to be the sole determination thereof on that day for the purposes of this
section 5.
You agree that your gross compensation for any fiscal year shall not be
greater than an amount which, when added to the other expenses of the Fund,
shall cause the aggregate expenses of the Fund to equal the maximum expenses
under the lowest applicable expense limitation established pursuant to the
statutes or regulations of any jurisdiction in which the Shares of the Fund may
be qualified for offer and sale. Except to the extent that such amount has been
reflected in reduced payments to you, you shall refund to the Fund the amount of
any payment received in excess of the limitation pursuant to this section 5 as
promptly as practicable after the end of such fiscal year, provided that you
shall not be required to pay the Fund an amount greater than the fee paid to you
in respect of such year pursuant to this Agreement. As used in this section 5,
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"expenses" shall mean those expenses included in the applicable expense
limitation having the broadest specifications thereof, and "expense limitation"
means a limit on the maximum annual expenses which may be incurred by an
investment company determined (i) by multiplying a fixed percentage by the
average, or by multiplying more than one such percentage by different specified
amounts of the average, of the values of an investment company's net assets for
a fiscal year or (ii) by multiplying a fixed percentage by an investment
company's net investment income for a fiscal year. The words "lowest applicable
expense limitation" shall be construed to result in the largest reduction of
your compensation for any fiscal year of the Fund; provided, however, that
nothing in this Agreement shall limit your fees if not required by an applicable
statute or regulation referred to above in this section 5.
You may waive all or a portion of your fees provided for hereunder and such
waiver shall be treated as a reduction in purchase price of your services. You
shall be contractually bound hereunder by the terms of any publicly announced
waiver of your fee, or any limitation of the Fund's expenses, as if such waiver
or limitation were fully set forth herein.
6. Avoidance of Inconsistent Position; Services Not Exclusive. In
connection with purchases or sales of portfolio securities and other investments
for the account of the Fund, neither you nor any of your directors, officers or
employees shall act as a principal or agent or receive any commission. You or
your agent shall arrange for the placing of all orders for the purchase and sale
of portfolio securities and other investments for the Fund's account with
brokers or dealers selected by you in accordance with Fund policies as expressed
in the Registration Statement. If any occasion should arise in which you give
any advice to clients of yours concerning the Shares of the Fund, you shall act
solely as investment counsel for such clients and not in any way on behalf of
the Fund.
Your services to the Fund pursuant to this Agreement are not to be deemed
to be exclusive and it is understood that you may render investment advice,
management and services to others. In acting under this Agreement, you shall be
an independent contractor and not an agent of the Fund.
7. Limitation of Liability of Manager. As an inducement to your undertaking
to render services pursuant to this Agreement, the Fund agrees that you shall
not be liable under this Agreement for any error of judgment or mistake of law
or for any loss suffered by the Fund in connection with the matters to which
this Agreement relates, provided that nothing in this Agreement shall be deemed
to protect or purport to protect you against any liability to the Fund or its
shareholders to which you would otherwise be subject by reason of willful
misfeasance, bad faith or gross negligence in the performance of your duties, or
by reason of your reckless disregard of your obligations and duties hereunder.
Any person, even though also employed by you, who may be or become an employee
of and paid by the Fund shall be deemed, when acting within the scope of his or
her employment by the Fund, to be acting in such employment solely for the Fund
and not as your employee or agent.
8. Duration and Termination of This Agreement. This Agreement shall remain
in force until February 28, 1995, and continue in force from year to year
thereafter, but only so long as such continuance is specifically approved at
least annually (a) by the vote of a majority of the Directors who are not
parties to this Agreement or interested persons of any party to this Agreement,
cast in person at a meeting called for the purpose of voting on such approval
and (b) by the Directors of the Fund, or by the vote of a majority of the
outstanding voting securities of the Fund. The aforesaid requirement that
continuance of this Agreement be "specifically approved at least annually" shall
be construed in a manner consistent with the 1940 Act and the rules and
regulations thereunder.
This Agreement may be terminated with respect to the Fund at any time,
without the payment of any penalty, by the vote of a majority of the outstanding
voting securities of the Fund or by the Fund's Board of Directors on 60 days'
written notice to you, or by you on 60 days' written notice to the Fund. This
Agreement shall terminate automatically in the event of its assignment.
9. Amendment of This Agreement. No provision of this Agreement may be
changed, waived, discharged or terminated orally, but only by an instrument in
writing signed by the party against whom enforcement of the change, waiver,
discharge or termination is sought and no amendment of this Agreement shall be
effective until approved in a manner consistent with the 1940 Act and rules and
regulations thereunder.
10. Miscellaneous. 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. 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.
This Agreement shall not apply to the management of assets allocated to any
series of the Fund's Shares hereafter established by the Fund's Board of
Directors.
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In interpreting the provisions of this Agreement, the definitions contained
in Section 2(a) of the 1940 Act (particularly the definitions of "affiliated
person," "assignment" and "majority of the outstanding voting securities"), as
from time to time amended, shall be applied, subject, however, to such
exemptions as may be granted by the SEC by any rule, regulation or order.
This Agreement shall be construed in accordance with the laws of the State
of Maryland, provided that nothing herein shall be construed in a manner
inconsistent with the 1940 Act, or in a manner which would cause the Fund to
fail to comply with the requirements of Subchapter M of the Code.
This Agreement shall supersede all prior investment advisory or management
agreements entered into between you and the Fund.
If you are in agreement with the foregoing, please execute the form of
acceptance on the accompanying counterpart of this letter and return such
counterpart to the Fund, whereupon this letter shall become a binding contract
effective as of the date of this Agreement. Yours very truly,
THE JAPAN FUND, INC.
By /s/Xxxxxxx X. Xxxxxx
-------------------------
President
The foregoing Agreement is hereby accepted as of the date hereof.
XXXXXXX, XXXXXXX & XXXXX, INC.
By /s/Xxxxx X. Xxx
-------------------------
Managing Director
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