FUND ADMINISTRATION AGREEMENT
AGREEMENT dated as of July 15, 1997 between FRANKLIN STRATEGIC
SERIES, a Delaware business trust ("the Investment Company"), on behalf of its
series FRANKLIN BIOTECHNOLOGY DISCOVERY FUND (the "Fund") and FRANKLIN XXXXXXXXX
SERVICES, INC. (the "Administrator").
In consideration of the mutual agreements herein made, the parties
hereby agree as follows:
(1) The Administrator agrees, during the life of this Agreement, to
provide the following services to the Fund:
(a) providing office space, telephone, office equipment and
supplies for the Fund;
(b) providing trading desk facilities for the Fund, unless
these facilities are provided by the Fund's investment adviser;
(c) authorizing expenditures and approving bills for payment on
behalf of the Fund;
(d) supervising preparation of periodic reports to Shareholders,
notices of dividends, capital gains distributions and tax credits; and attending
to routine correspondence and other communications with individual Shareholders
when asked to do so by the Fund's shareholder servicing agent or other agents of
the Fund;
(e) coordinating the daily pricing of the Fund's investment
portfolio, including collecting quotations from pricing services engaged by the
Fund; providing fund accounting services, including preparing and supervising
publication of daily net asset value quotations, periodic earnings reports and
other financial data;
(f) monitoring relationships with organizations serving the Fund,
including custodians, transfer agents, public accounting firms, law firms,
printers and other third party service providers;
(g) supervising compliance by the Fund with recordkeeping
requirements under the federal securities laws, including the 1940 Act, and the
rules and regulations thereunder, supervising compliance with recordkeeping
requirements imposed by state laws or regulations, and maintaining books and
records for the Fund (other than those maintained by the custodian and transfer
agent);
(h) preparing and filing of tax reports including the Fund's income
tax returns, and monitoring the Fund's compliance with subchapter M of the
Internal Revenue Code, and other applicable tax laws and regulations;
(i) monitoring the Fund's compliance with: 1940 Act and other
federal securities laws, and rules and regulations thereunder; state and foreign
laws and regulations applicable to the operation of investment companies; the
Fund's investment objectives, policies and restrictions; and the Code of Ethics
and other policies adopted by the Investment Company's Board of Trustees or
("Board") or by the Adviser and applicable to the Fund;
(j) providing executive, clerical and secretarial personnel
needed to carry out the above responsibilities; and
(k) preparing regulatory reports, including without limitation
NSARs, proxy statements and U.S. and foreign ownership reports.
Nothing in this Agreement shall obligate the Investment Company or the Fund to
pay any compensation to the officers of the Investment Company. Nothing in this
Agreement shall obligate the Administrator to pay for the services of third
parties, including attorneys, auditors, printers, pricing services or others,
engaged directly by the Fund to perform services on behalf of the Fund.
(2) The Fund agrees to pay to the Administrator as compensation for such
services a monthly fee equal on an annual basis to 0.15% of the first $200
million of the average daily net assets of the Fund during the month preceding
each payment, reduced as follows: on such net assets in excess of $200 million
up to $700 million, a monthly fee equal on an annual basis to 0.135%; on such
net assets in excess of $700 million up to $1.2 billion, a monthly fee equal on
an annual basis to 0.10%; and on such net assets in excess of $1.2 billion, a
monthly fee equal on an annual basis to 0.075%.
From time to time, the Administrator may waive all or a portion of its fees
provided for hereunder and such waiver shall be treated as a reduction in the
purchase price of its services. The Administrator shall be contractually bound
hereunder by the terms of any publicly announced waiver of its fee, or any
limitation of each affected Fund's expenses, as if such waiver or limitation
were fully set forth herein.
(3) This Agreement shall remain in full force and effect through for one
year after its execution and thereafter from year to year to the extent
continuance is approved annually by the Board of the Investment Company.
(4) This Agreement may be terminated by the Investment Company at any time
on sixty (60) days' written notice without payment of penalty, provided that
such termination by the Investment Company shall be directed or approved by the
vote of a majority of the Board of the Investment Company in office at the time
or by the vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the
Investment Company (as defined by the 1940 Act); and shall automatically and
immediately terminate in the event of its assignment (as defined by the 1940
Act).
(5) In the absence of willful misfeasance, bad faith or gross negligence
on the part of the Administrator, or of reckless disregard of its duties and
obligations hereunder, the Administrator shall not be subject to liability for
any act or omission in the course of, or connected with, rendering services
hereunder.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have caused this Agreement to
be duly executed by their duly authorized officers.
FRANKLIN STRATEGIC SERIES on behalf of
Franklin Biotechnology Discovery Fund
By:/s/Xxxxxxx X. Xxxxxx
Xxxxxxx X. Xxxxxx
Vice President & Secretary
FRANKLIN XXXXXXXXX SERVICES, INC.
By:/s/Xxxxxx X. Xxxxx
Xxxxxx X. Xxxxx
Executive Vice President
