AMENDED AND RESTATED MASTER TRANSFER AND RECORDKEEPING AGREEMENT
AMENDED AND RESTATED
MASTER TRANSFER AND RECORDKEEPING AGREEMENT
AMENDED AND RESTATED MASTER TRANSFER AND RECORDKEEPING AGREEMENT made as of the 21st day of September, 2006 by and between each of the parties listed on Exhibit A which is attached hereto and made a part hereof (each a “Fund” or “Funds”), each for itself and not jointly, each having its principal place of business at 000 Xxxxxxxx Xxxxxx, Xxxxxx, Xxxxxxxxxxxxx 00000, and Evergreen Service Company, LLC (“ESC”), having its principal place of business at 000 Xxxxxxxx Xxxxxx, Xxxxxx, Xxxxxxxxxxxxx 00000.
WHEREAS, each fund and ESC desires to amend and restate the Master Transfer and Recordkeeping Agreement made as of the 18th day of September, 1997, by and between the Funds and ESC; and
1. ADDITIONAL PARTIES - Any other registered investment company for which Evergreen Investment Management Company, LLC (“EIMC”) (formerly Keystone Investment Management Company), Evergreen Asset Management Corp. (“Evergreen Asset”), Wachovia Bank N.A. (formerly First Union National Bank) or one of its affiliates serves as investment adviser, trustee or manager may become a Fund party to this Agreement, for itself and not jointly, by giving written notice to ESC that it has elected to become a Fund party hereto, to which election ESC has given its written consent.
ESC shall perform such other services in addition to those set forth on Exhibit B hereto as a Fund shall request in writing. Any of the services to be performed hereunder, and the manner in which such services are to be performed, shall be changed only pursuant to a written agreement signed by the parties hereto.
ESC will undertake no activity which, in its judgment, will adversely affect the performance of its obligations to a Fund under this Agreement.
3. FEES - Each Fund shall pay ESC for the services to be performed pursuant to this Agreement in accordance with and in the manner set forth with respect to such Fund on Exhibit C attached hereto and made a part hereof.
pursuant to Paragraph 1 hereof that it elects to become a party hereto as of the date of such notice.
5. TERM - This Agreement shall be in effect until terminated in accordance with Section 17 hereof.
7. STANDARD OF CARE - ESC shall at all times use its best efforts and act in good faith and in a non-negligent manner in performing all services pursuant to this Agreement.
8. UNCONTROLLABLE EVENTS - ESC shall not be liable for damage, loss of data, delays or errors occurring by reason of circumstances beyond its control, including, but not limited to, acts of civil or military authority, national emergencies, fire, flood or catastrophe, acts of God, insurrection, war, riots, or failure of transportation, communication or power supply. However, ESC shall keep in a separate and safe place additional copies of all records required to be maintained pursuant to this Agreement or additional tapes or discs necessary to reproduce all such records. Furthermore, at all times during this Agreement, ESC shall maintain an arrangement whereby ESC will have a backup computer facility available for its use in providing the services required hereunder in the event circumstances beyond ESC’s control result in ESC not being able to process the necessary work at its principal computer facility. ESC shall, from time to time, upon request from any Fund provide written evidence and details of its arrangement for obtaining the use of such a backup computer facility. ESC shall use reasonable care to minimize the likelihood of all damage, loss of data, delays and errors resulting from an uncontrollable event. Should such damage, loss of data, delays or errors occur, ESC shall use its best efforts to mitigate the effects of such occurrence. Representatives of each Fund shall be entitled to inspect the ESC premises and operating capabilities within reasonable business hours and upon reasonable notice to ESC.
In the event that ESC requests any Fund to indemnify or hold it harmless hereunder, ESC shall use its best efforts to inform the Fund of the relevant facts concerning the matter in question. ESC shall use reasonable care to identify and promptly notify a Fund concerning any matter which ESC believes may result in a claim for indemnification against such Fund, and shall notify the Fund within seven days of notice to ESC of the filing of any suit or other legal action or the institution by a government agency of any administrative action or investigation against ESC which involves its duties under this Agreement. Each Fund shall have the election of defending ESC against any claim with respect to such Fund which may be the subject of indemnification or holding it harmless hereunder. In the event a Fund so elects, it will so notify ESC. Thereupon the Fund shall take over defense of the claim, and, if so requested by a Fund, ESC shall incur no further legal or other expenses related thereto for which it shall be entitled to indemnity or holding harmless hereunder; provided, however, that nothing herein shall prevent ESC from retaining counsel to defend any claim at ESC’s own expense.
Except with the prior written consent of a Fund, ESC shall in no event confess any claim or make any compromise in any matter in which such Fund will be asked to indemnify or hold ESC harmless hereunder. ESC shall be without liability to a Fund with respect to anything done or omitted to be done in accordance with the terms of this Agreement or instructions properly received pursuant hereto if done in good faith and without negligence or willful or wanton misconduct. In no event shall ESC be liable for consequential damages, lost profits, or other special damages, even if ESC has been informed of the possibility of such damage or loss by the Fund or by third parties.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, ESC shall be liable to each Fund for any damage or losses suffered by such Fund as a result of a delay or negligence on the part of ESC in processing a purchase or liquidation transaction or in making payment to a shareholder of such Fund; it being agreed that, without in any way limiting ESC’s liability for other transactions hereunder, that such damages shall not be deemed to be consequential or special.
the persons authorized to give such non-written instructions, and is signed by one of the persons pursuant to the immediately preceding sentence of this Section 10. In the event ESC obtains a Fund’s written waiver, it may rely on non-written instructions received pursuant thereto.
11. CONFIDENTIALITY - ESC agrees to treat as confidential all records and other information relative to a Fund and the Fund’s shareholders. ESC, on behalf of itself and its employees, agrees to keep confidential all such information, except, after prior notification to and approval by a Fund (which approval shall not be unreasonably withheld and may not be withheld where ESC may be exposed to civil or criminal contempt proceedings) when requested to divulge such information by duly constituted authorities or when requested by a shareholder of a Fund seeking information about his own or an appropriately related account.
15. SUBCONTRACTING - Each Fund may require that ESC, or ESC may, with the prior written consent of such Fund, subcontract with one or more of its affiliated or other persons to perform all or part of its obligations hereunder, provided, however, that, notwithstanding any such subcontract, ESC shall be fully responsible to each Fund hereunder.
This Agreement may be terminated with respect to a Fund after written notice to ESC by the Fund if there is a material breach or violation of this Agreement or if ESC fails to perform any of its obligations under this Agreement and the failure continues for more than 30 days after the Fund gives notice of the failure to ESC or bankruptcy or insolvency proceedings of any nature are instituted by or against ESC.
19. AMENDMENT - This Agreement may be amended at any time by an instrument in writing executed by both ESC and any Fund which is a party hereto, or each of their respective successors, provided that any such amendment will conform to the requirements set forth in the 1940 Act and the rules and regulations thereunder.
21. SECTION HEADINGS - Section headings are included for convenience only and are not to be used to construe or interpret this Agreement.
applicable federal or state law or regulation and no such provision, addition, deletion or change shall be deemed to be an amendment of any provision of this Agreement with the exception of Exhibit B hereto.
23. GOVERNING LAW - This Agreement shall be governed by and its provisions shall be construed in accordance with the laws of The Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
EVERGREEN SERVICE COMPANY, LLC
By: ___/s/ Xxxxx Schooley________________________________
Xxxxx Xxxxxxxx
President
On behalf of the Funds listed on Exhibit A
By: ______/s/ Xxxxxxx X. Koonce_______________________
Xxxxxxx X. Xxxxxx
Secretary
As of May 30, 2008
EXHIBIT A
Evergreen Select Fixed Income Trust, a Delaware Statutory Trust consisting of the following series:
Evergreen Adjustable Rate Fund
Evergreen Core Bond Fund
Evergreen Institutional Enhanced Income Fund
Evergreen Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund
Evergreen International Bond Fund
Evergreen Select High Yield Bond Fund
Evergreen Short Intermediate Bond Fund
Evergreen Select Equity Trust, a Delaware Statutory Trust consisting of the following series:
Evergreen Equity Index Fund
Evergreen Special Equity Fund
Evergreen Strategic Growth Fund
Evergreen Select Money Market Trust, a Delaware Statutory Trust consisting of the following series:
Evergreen Institutional 100% Treasury Money Market Fund
Evergreen Institutional Money Market Fund
Evergreen Institutional Municipal Money Market Fund
Evergreen Institutional Treasury Money Market Fund
Evergreen Institutional U.S. Government Money Market Fund
Evergreen Prime Cash Management Money Market Fund
Evergreen Municipal Trust, a Delaware Statutory Trust consisting of the following series:
Evergreen California Municipal Bond Fund
Evergreen High Income Municipal Bond Fund
Evergreen Municipal Bond Fund
Evergreen North Carolina Municipal Bond Fund
Evergreen Pennsylvania Municipal Bond Fund
Evergreen Short-Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund
Evergreen Strategic Municipal Bond Fund
Evergreen Equity Trust, a Delaware Statutory Trust consisting of the following series:
Evergreen Asset Allocation Fund
Evergreen Diversified Capital Builder Fund (formerly Evergreen Balanced Fund)
Evergreen Disciplined Small-Mid Value Fund
Evergreen Disciplined Value Fund
Evergreen Envision Growth Fund
Evergreen Envision Growth and Income Fund
Evergreen Envision Income Fund
Evergreen Equity Income Fund
Evergreen Fundamental Large Cap Fund
Evergreen Fundamental Mid Cap Value Fund
Evergreen Golden Core Opportunities Fund
Evergreen Golden Large Cap Core Fund
Evergreen Golden Mid Cap Core Fund
Evergreen Growth Fund
Evergreen Health Care Fund
Evergreen Intrinsic Value Fund
Evergreen Enhanced S&P 500 ® Fund (formerly Evergreen Large Cap Equity Fund )
Evergreen Large Company Growth Fund
Evergreen Market Index Fund
Evergreen Market Index Growth Fund
Evergreen Market Index Value Fund
Evergreen Mid Cap Growth Fund
Evergreen Omega Fund
Evergreen Small Cap Value Fund
Evergreen Small-Mid Growth Fund
Evergreen Special Values Fund
Evergreen Utility and Telecommunications Fund
Evergreen Fixed Income Trust, a Delaware Statutory Trust consisting of the following series:
Evergreen Core Plus Bond Fund
Evergreen Diversified Income Builder
Evergreen High Income Fund
Evergreen Institutional Mortgage Portfolio
Evergreen U.S. Government Fund
Evergreen Ultra Short Opportunities Fund
Evergreen International Trust, a Delaware Statutory Trust consisting of the following series:
Evergreen Emerging Markets Growth Fund
Evergreen Global Large Cap Equity Fund
Evergreen Global Opportunities Fund
Evergreen Intrinsic World Equity Fund
Evergreen International Equity Fund
Evergreen Precious Metals Fund
Evergreen Money Market Trust, a Delaware Statutory Trust consisting of the following series:
Evergreen California Municipal Money Market Fund
Evergreen Money Market Fund
Evergreen Municipal Money Market Fund
Evergreen New Jersey Municipal Money Market Fund
Evergreen New York Municipal Money Market Fund
Evergreen Pennsylvania Municipal Money Market Fund
Evergreen Treasury Money Market Fund
Evergreen U.S. Government Money Market Fund
Evergreen Variable Annuity Trust, a Delaware Statutory Trust consisting of the following series:
Evergreen VA Diversified Capital Builder Fund (formerly Evergreen VA Balanced Fund)
Evergreen VA Core Bond Fund
Evergreen VA Diversified Income Builder
Evergreen VA Fundamental Large Cap Fund
Evergreen VA Growth Fund
Evergreen VA High Income Fund
Evergreen VA International Equity Fund
Evergreen VA Omega Fund
Evergreen VA Special Values Fund
Asset Allocation Trust, a Delaware Statutory Trust.
EXHIBIT B
The services provided for in this Agreement shall be performed by ESC, or any agent appointed by ESC pursuant to Section 15 of this Agreement, under the name of Evergreen Service Company, LLC (ESC) and this name or any similar name or logo will not be used by ESC or its agents for any purposes other than those related to this Agreement or to any other agreement which ESC may enter into with any of the Fund (s) or with companies affiliated with the Fund (s).
The offices of ESC shall be open to perform the services pursuant to this Agreement on all days when the Fund is open to transact business.
ESC will perform all services normally provided to investment companies such as the Fund(s), and the quality of such services shall be equal to or better than that provided to the other investment companies serviced by ESC. With respect to each Fund, by way of illustration, but not limitation, these services will include:
1. Establishing, maintaining, safeguarding and reporting on shareholder account information and account histories, (including registration, name and address recorded in generally accepted form, dealer, representative, branch, and territory information, mailing address, distribution address, various codes and specific information relating to (if applicable); withdrawal plans, letters of intent, systematic investing, insured redemptions plans, account groupings for rights of accumulation discount processing, and for account group reporting for plan accounts and other accounts grouped for master sub-account reporting.)
2. Recording and controlling shares outstanding in certificate (“issued”) and non- certificate (“unissued”) form.
3. Maintaining a record for each certificate issued to include certificate number,
account number, issued date, number of shares, canceled date or stop date, where appropriate.
4. Reconciling the number of outstanding shares of each Fund on a daily basis with the Fund and the Fund’s custodian, promptly correcting any differences noted.
5. Establishing and maintaining a trade file on behalf of each Fund based on trade information furnished to the transfer agent by the Fund or its distributors.
6. Accepting and processing direct cash investments however received and investing such investments promptly in shareholder accounts.
7. Passing upon the adequacy of documents properly endorsed and guaranteed submitted by or on behalf of a shareholder to transfer ownership or redeem shares.
8. Transferring ownership of shares upon the books of each Fund.
9. Redeeming shares and preparing and mailing redemption checks or wire proceeds as instructed.
10. Preparing and promptly mailing account statements to the shareholder or such other authorized address and, when appropriate, as instructed by a Fund, to the dealer or dealer branch, whenever transaction activity effecting share balances are posted to a Fund account that is of the type that should receive such statement.
11. Checking surrendered certificates for stop transfer instructions.
12. Canceling certificates surrendered.
13. Maintaining and updating a stop transfer file, promptly placing stop transfer codes upon notification of possible loss, destruction or disappearance of a certificate. Upon receipt of proper documentation obtaining necessary insurance forms and issuing replacement certificates.
14. Balancing outstanding shares of record with the custodian prior to each distribution and calculating and paying or reinvesting distributions to shareholders of record and to open trade receivables and free stock.
15. Processing exchanges of shares of one Fund or Portfolio for another, calculating proper sales charges and collecting fees as required.
16. Processing withdrawal plan liquidations according to plan instructions.
17. Reporting to each Fund and its custodian daily the capital stock activities and dollar amounts of transactions.
18. Promptly answering inquiries from shareholders, dealers, Fund personnel, and others as requested in accordance with the terms of this Agreement as to account matters, referring policy or investment matters to the Fund.
19. Mailing reports and special mailings, as directed by a Fund, to all shareholders or selected holders or dealers.
20. Providing services with regard to the annual or special meetings of a Fund, including preparation and timely mailing of proxy material to shareholders of
record and others as directed by the Fund, and receiving, examining and recording
all properly executed proxies and performing such follow-up as required by the Fund.
21. Providing periodic listings and tallies of shareholder votes and certifying the final tally.
22. Providing an inspector of elections at the annual or any special meetings of a Fund.
23. Maintaining tax information for each account, deducting amounts where required and furnishing to a Fund, its shareholders, dealers and, when appropriate, regulatory bodies, the necessary tax information, all in compliance with the various applicable laws.
24. Maintaining records of account and distribution information for checks and confirmations returned as undeliverable by the Post Office.
25. Maintaining records and reporting sales information for Blue Sky reporting purposes.
26. Calculating and processing Fund mergers or stock dividends, as directed by a Fund.
27. Maintaining all Fund records as required by state, federal, or securities laws.
28. Reconciling all investment, distribution and redemption accounts.
29. Providing for the replacement of uncashed distribution or redemption checks.
.Making available to a Fund and its distributors at their locations devices which will provide immediate electronic access to computerized records maintained for a Fund.
Providing space and such technical expertise as may be required to enable a Fund and its properly authorized auditors, examiners and others designated by the Fund in writing to properly understand and examine all books, records, computer files, microfilm and other items maintained pursuant to this Agreement, and to assist as required in such examination.
Mailing prospectuses to existing accounts on receipt of the first direct investment transaction after a new prospectus has been issued by a Fund.
Maintaining information, performing the necessary research and producing reports required to comply with all applicable state escheat or abandoned property laws.
Implementing and operating the Funds’ anti-money laundering program.
Monitoring compliance with prospectus rules and regulations.
With respect to each Fund, the Transfer Agent will produce reports as requested by a Fund including, but not limited to, the following:
Shareholder Account Confirmation As required
Redemption Checks When redemption is made
Withdrawal plan payment checks On payment cycle
Distribution checks As required
Name and address labels
(per account registration) As requested
Proxy When required
1099 Annually
1042-S Annually
Transaction journals Daily
Record date position control Daily
Daily and (monthly) cash proof Daily
Daily and (monthly) share proof Daily
Daily master control Daily
Blue Sky exception Daily
Blue Sky master list Monthly and whenever a new permit is issued by a state
Blue Sky sales report Cycle as designated in
advance by distributor
Check register Daily
Account information reports When requested
(Monthly) Cumulative Monthly
transaction
New account list Monthly
Shareholder master list When requested
Sales by State Monthly
Activities statistics Monthly
Distribution journals As required
Proxy tallies and vote listings When requested
Withdrawal plan account check Monthly
reconciliation
Dividend account check As required
reconciliation
As of January 1, 2008
EXHIBIT C
Transfer Agent Fee Schedule1, 2
I. Charges to Funds
Group 1 - Monthly Dividend Funds
Per open account per year3 $26.00
Per closed account per year 9.00
Group 2 - Quarterly Dividend Funds
Per open account per year3 $21.50
Per closed account per year 9.00
Group 3 - Semi-Annual and Annual Dividend Funds
Per open account per year3 $21.50
Per closed account per year 9.00
Group 4 - Money Market Funds
Per open account per year3 $26.00
Per closed account per year 9.00
II. Charges to Shareholders
Shareholders will be charged fees as described in the appropriate funds' prospectus.
1. This Fee Schedule is exclusive of out-of-pocket reimbursable expenses.
2. Funds that have “seed” capital only will not be charged until the Fund has public shareholders.
3. For shareholder accounts only. The Funds pay cost plus 12`% for broker accounts.
III. Out-of-Pocket Reimbursable Expenses
Out-of-pocket reimbursable expenses include, but are not limited to, the following:
Stationery and supplies
Checks
Express Delivery
Postage
Printing of forms
Telephone
Photocopies and Microfilm
Expenses for compliance with law and regulations
Dated: September 21, 2006