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EXHIBIT 2(g)
INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT AGREEMENT
▇▇▇▇▇▇ FLOATING RATE FUND
▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇
▇▇▇▇▇▇▇, ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇
March 31, 1999
▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇▇ Investments, Inc.
▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇▇
▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇, ▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇
Ladies and Gentlemen:
The ▇▇▇▇▇▇ Floating Rate Fund (the "Fund") has been established as a
Massachusetts business trust to engage in the business of an investment company.
Pursuant to the Fund's Declaration of Trust, as amended from time-to-time (the
"Declaration"), the Board of Trustees may authorize the issuance of shares of
beneficial interest, par value $0.01 per share, (the "Shares") including shares
in separate classes and series.
The Fund has selected you to act as its investment manager 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 its assets in the manner and in accordance with the investment
objectives, policies and restrictions specified in the Fund's Prospectus (the
"Prospectus") and Statement of Additional Information (the "SAI") relating to
the Fund included in the Fund's Registration Statement on Form N-2, 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 (or will supply such copies prior to such time as the Fund commences
investment operations) properly certified or authenticated of each of the
following additional documents related to the Fund:
(a) The Declaration of Trust dated March 23, 1999, as amended to
date.
(b) By-Laws of the Fund as in effect on the date hereof (the
"By-Laws").
(c) Resolutions of the Trustees of the Fund and the shareholders
of the Fund selecting you as investment manager and approving
the form of this Agreement.
(d) Establishment and Designation of Classes of Shares of
Beneficial Interest dated March 31, 1999 relating to the Fund.
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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 objective, 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
Trustees. 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. 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 in complying
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. 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 Trustees 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 Trustees shall reasonably
request.
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 in the United States 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 on behalf of
the Fund necessary for operating as an closed-end
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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 Trustees and reports and notices to Fund shareholders,
including notification of repurchase offers pursuant to Rule 23c-3 under the
1940 Act; supervising, negotiating contractual arrangements with, to the extent
appropriate, and monitoring the performance of, accounting agents, custodians,
depositories, transfer agents 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 23c-3 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 and the calculation of net asset value; monitoring the
registration of Shares of the Fund 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 an authorized person; 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, the custodian, and the accounting agent 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
the Fund's business, subject to the direction and control of the Fund's Board of
Trustees. 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 Trustees,
officers and executive 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.
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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 Trustees and
officers as are directors, officers or employees of you whose services may be
involved, for the following expenses of the Fund: 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 accounting agent for which the
Fund is responsible pursuant to the terms of the Fund Accounting Services
Agreement, 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 Trustees, 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 Trustees and officers of the Fund; and costs of
shareholders' and other meetings.
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 on behalf of any class of Shares shall have adopted a distribution plan
providing that the Fund (or some other party) shall assume 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 in United States Dollars on the last day of each month the unpaid
balance of a fee equal to the excess of 1/12 of 0.50 of 1 percent of the average
daily net assets (as defined below)
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of the Fund for such month; provided that, for any calendar month during which
the average of such values exceeds $1 billion, the fee payable for that month
based on such excess shall be 1/12 of 0.49 of 1 percent of such portion; further
provided that, for any calendar month during which the average of such values
exceeds $3 billion the fee payable for that month based on such excess shall be
1/12 of 0.48 of 1 percent of such portion; further provided that, for any
calendar month during which the average of such values exceeds $5 billion the
fee payable for that month based on such excess shall be 1/12 of 0.47 of 1
percent of such portion; and further provided that, for any calendar month
during which the average of such values exceeds $10 billion the fee payable for
that month based on such excess shall be 1/12 of 0.45 of 1 percent of such
portion over any compensation waived or reduced by you from time to time (as
more fully described below). You shall be entitled to receive during any month
such interim payments of your fee hereunder as you shall request, provided that
no such payment shall exceed 75 percent of the amount of your fee then accrued
on the books of the Fund and unpaid.
The "average daily net assets" of the Fund shall be calculated at such time or
times as the Trustees may determine in accordance with the provisions of the
1940 Act. The value of the net assets of the Fund shall always be determined
pursuant to the applicable provisions of the Declaration and the Registration
Statement. If the determination of net asset value does not take place for any
particular day, for the purposes of this section 5, the net asset value shall be
deemed to be the net asset value as of the close of business on the last day on
which such calculation was made for the purpose of the foregoing computation. 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 may waive or reduce all or a portion of your fees provided for hereunder and
such waiver or reduction 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
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contractor and not an agent of the Fund. Whenever the Fund and one or more other
accounts or investment companies advised by you have available funds for
investment, investments suitable and appropriate for each shall be allocated in
accordance with procedures believed by you to be equitable to each entity.
Similarly, opportunities to sell securities shall be allocated in a manner
believed by you to be equitable. The Fund recognizes that in some cases this
procedure may adversely affect the size of the position that may be acquired or
disposed of for 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, 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.
8. Duration and Termination of This Agreement. This Agreement shall remain in
force until September 30, 2000, 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 Trustees 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 Trustees 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 and any applicable SEC exemptive order therefrom.
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 Trustees 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.
This Agreement may be terminated with respect to the Fund at any time without
the payment of any penalty by the Board of Trustees or by vote of a majority of
the outstanding voting securities of the Fund in the event that it shall have
been established by a court of competent jurisdiction that you or any of your
officers or directors has taken any action which results in a breach of your
covenants set forth herein.
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
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manner consistent with the 1940 Act and rules and regulations thereunder and any
applicable SEC exemptive order therefrom.
10. Limitation of Liability for Claims. The Declaration, a copy of which,
together with all amendments thereto, is on file in the Office of the Secretary
of The Commonwealth of Massachusetts, provides that the name "▇▇▇▇▇▇ Floating
Rate Fund" refers to the Trustees under the Declaration collectively as Trustees
and not as individuals or personally, and that no shareholder of the Fund, or
Trustee, officer, employee or agent of the Fund, shall be subject to claims
against or obligations of the Fund or of the Fund to any extent whatsoever, but
that the Fund estate only shall be liable.
You are hereby expressly put on notice of the limitation of liability as set
forth in the Declaration and you agree that the obligations assumed by the Fund
on behalf of the Fund pursuant to this Agreement shall be limited in all cases
to the Fund and its assets, and you shall not seek satisfaction of any such
obligation from the shareholders or any shareholder of the Fund or any other
series of the Fund, or from any Trustee, officer, employee or agent of the Fund.
You understand that the rights and obligations of each Fund, or series, under
the Declaration are separate and distinct from those of any and all other
series.
11. 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.
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
Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 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.
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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,
▇▇▇▇▇▇ FLOATING RATE FUND
/s/ ▇▇▇▇▇▇ ▇. ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇
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By: ▇▇▇▇▇▇ ▇. ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇
Title: Vice President
The foregoing Agreement is hereby accepted as of the date hereof.
▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇▇ INVESTMENTS, INC.
/s/ ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ ▇. ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇
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By: ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ ▇. ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇
Title: Managing Director