1. | Definitions of Terms Used |
(a) | Access Person means (i) any Supervised Person (A) who has access to nonpublic information regarding any clients purchase or sale of securities, or nonpublic information regarding the portfolio holdings of any client; or (B) who is involved in making securities recommendations to clients, or who has access to such recommendations that are nonpublic; and (ii) all members of the management committee and officers of the Adviser. | ||
(b) | Automatic Investment Plan means a program, including a dividend reinvestment plan, in which regular periodic purchases (or withdrawals) are made |
automatically in (or from) investment accounts in accordance with a predetermined schedule and allocation. | |||
(c) | Beneficial ownership or beneficial interest shall be interpreted in the same manner as beneficial ownership would be under Rule 16a-1(a)(2) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 in determining whether a person has beneficial ownership of a security for purposes of Section 16 of that Act and the rules and regulations thereunder, which includes any interest in which a person, directly or indirectly, has or shares a direct or indirect pecuniary interest. A pecuniary interest is the opportunity, directly or indirectly, to profit or share in any profit derived from any transaction. Each Access Person will be assumed to have a pecuniary interest, and therefore, beneficial interest in or ownership of, all securities held by the Access Person, the Access Persons spouse, all minor children, all dependent adult children and adults sharing the same household with the Access Person (other than mere roommates) and in all accounts subject to their direct or indirect influence or control and/or through which they obtain the substantial equivalent of ownership, such as trusts in which they are a trustee or beneficiary, partnerships in which they are the general partner (except where the amount invested by the general partner is limited to an amount reasonably necessary in order to maintain the status as a general partner), corporations in which they are a controlling shareholder (except any investment company, trust or similar entity registered under applicable U.S. or foreign law) or any other similar arrangement. Any questions an Access Person may have about whether an interest in a security or an account constitutes beneficial interest or ownership should be directed to the Compliance Officer. | ||
(d) | Considering for purchase or sale shall mean when the portfolio manager communicates that he/she is seriously considering making such a transaction or when a recommendation to the portfolio manager to purchase or sell has been made or communicated by an analyst at the Adviser and, with respect to the analyst making the recommendation, when such analyst seriously considers making such a recommendation. | ||
(e) | Contemplated Security shall mean any security that the Adviser may recommend to its clients for purchase or sale, and any security related to or connected with such security.1 The term security shall have the meaning set forth in Section 2(a)(36) of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, including any right to acquire such security, such as puts, calls, other options or rights in such securities, and securities-based futures contracts. | ||
(f) | Covered Security shall mean any security, and any security related to or connected with such security. The term security shall have the meaning set forth in Section 202(a)(18) of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, as amended, |
1 | The Adviser currently may only recommend the purchase and sale of securities of energy infrastructure companies, Canadian royalty and income trusts, and high quality short-term debt investments. |
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including any right to acquire such security, such as puts, calls, other options or rights in such securities, and securities-based futures contracts, except that it shall not include (1) securities which are direct obligations of the government of the United States, (2) bankers acceptances, bank certificates of deposit, commercial paper or high quality short-term debt instruments, including repurchase agreements, (3) shares issued by money market Funds, (4) shares issued by U.S. registered open-end investment companies except Reportable Funds, and (5) shares issued by unit investment trusts that are invested exclusively in one or more open-end Funds, none of which are Reportable Funds. |
(g) | Compliance Officer shall mean the Chief Compliance Officer, as may be designated by the Adviser from time to time, or his designee. | ||
(h) | Federal Securities Laws means the Securities Act of 1933, the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, the Investment Company Act of 1940, the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, Title V of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, the Bank Secrecy Act as it applies to investment companies registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940 and investment advisers, each as may be amended or supplemented, and any rules adopted thereunder by the Securities and Exchange Commission or the Department of the Treasury, as applicable. | ||
(i) | Fund means any investment company registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended. | ||
(j) | Initial Public Offering means an offering of securities registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, the issuer of which, immediately before the registration, was not required to file reports under Sections 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or an initial public offering under comparable foreign law. | ||
(k) | Investment Personnel means any employee of the Adviser (or of any company in a control relationship to the Adviser) who, in connection with his or her regular functions or duties, makes or participates in making recommendations regarding the purchase or sale of securities for the Advisers clients. Investment Personnel also includes any natural person who controls the Adviser and who obtains information concerning recommendations made to the Advisers clients regarding the purchase or sale of securities for such clients. | ||
(l) | Knowingly/Knows/Knew means (i) actual knowledge or (ii) reason to believe but shall exclude institutional knowledge, where there is no affirmative conduct by the employee to obtain such knowledge, for example, querying the Advisers trading system or Investment Personnel. | ||
(m) | Limited Offering means an offering that is exempt from registration under Section 4(2) or Section 4(6) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or pursuant to Rule 504, Rule 505, or Rule 506 under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and similar restricted offerings under comparable foreign law. |
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(n) | Personal Benefit includes any intended benefit for oneself or any other individual, company, group or organization of any kind whatsoever except a benefit for a client. | ||
(o) | Reportable Fund means (i) any Fund for which we serve as an investment adviser, or (ii) any Fund whose investment adviser or principal underwriter controls us, we control or is under common control with us. For purposes of this definition, control has the meaning given to it in Section 2(a)(9) of the Investment Company Act of 1940. | ||
(p) | Supervised Person means any officer, member of the management committee or employee of the Adviser, or other person who provides investment advice on behalf of the Adviser and is subject to the supervision and control of the Adviser. |
2. | Compliance with Laws and Regulations |
(a) | Defraud the client in any manner; | ||
(b) | Mislead the client, including by making a statement that omits material facts; | ||
(c) | Engage in any act, practice or course of conduct which operates or would operate as a fraud or deceit upon the client; | ||
(d) | Engage in any manipulative practice with respect to the client; or | ||
(e) | Engage in any manipulative practice with respect to securities, including price manipulation. |
3. | Preferential Treatment, Gifts and Entertainment |
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4. | Conflicts of Interest |
5. | Service as a Director |
6. | Inside Information |
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7. | Restrictions on Personal Security Transactions |
(a) | Access Persons may not sell to, or purchase from, any client any security or other property (except merchandise in the ordinary course of business), in which such Person has or would acquire a beneficial interest, unless such purchase or sale involves shares of a Fund, or is otherwise permitted pursuant to Section 17 of the 1940 Act. | ||
(b) | Access Persons may only engage in the purchase and sale of shares of any Reportable Fund during the periods allowed by the policies and procedures of such Reportable Fund. However, even within those periods, no transactions should be entered into in violation of Rule 10b-5 prohibiting the use of inside information and all transactions should be carried out in compliance with Section 16 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 144 under the Securities Act of 1933. | ||
(c) | Access Persons shall not discuss with or otherwise inform others of any actual or contemplated security transaction by any client except in the performance of employment duties or in an official capacity and then only for the benefit of the client, and in no event for personal benefit or for the benefit of others. | ||
(d) | Access Persons shall not release information to dealers or brokers or others (except to those concerned with the execution and settlement of the transaction) as to any changes in any clients investments, proposed or in process, except (i) upon the completion of such changes, (ii) when the disclosure results from the publication of a prospectus by a Reportable Fund, (iii) in conjunction with a regular report to shareholders of a Reportable Fund, or to any governmental authority resulting in such information becoming public knowledge, or (iv) in connection with any report to which shareholders of a Reportable Fund are entitled by reason of provisions of the articles of incorporation, bylaws, rules and regulations, contracts or similar documents governing the operations of such company. |
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(e) | Access Persons may not use knowledge of portfolio transactions made or contemplated for any client to profit by the market effect of such transactions or otherwise engage in fraudulent conduct in connection with the purchase or sale of a security sold or acquired by any client. | ||
(f) | No Access Person shall knowingly take advantage of an opportunity of any client for personal benefit, or take action inconsistent with such Access Persons fiduciary obligations to the Advisers clients. All personal securities transactions must be consistent with this Code and Access Persons must avoid any actual or potential conflict of interest or any abuse of any Access Persons position of trust and responsibility. | ||
(g) | Any transaction in a Covered Security in anticipation of any clients transaction (front-running) is prohibited. | ||
(h) | No Access Person shall purchase or sell, directly or indirectly, any Covered Security which such Access Person knows that the Adviser either is purchasing or selling, or is considering for purchase or sale, for any client until either the clients transactions have been completed or consideration of such transaction is abandoned. | ||
(i) | When anything in this Section 7 prohibits the purchase or sale of a security, it also prohibits the purchase or sale of any related securities, such as puts, calls, other options or rights in such securities and securities-based futures contracts and any securities convertible into or exchangeable for such security. | ||
(j) | Any Access Person who trades in violation of this Section 7 must unwind the trade or disgorge the profits. |
8. | Preclearance |
(a) | No Access Person may buy or sell any Contemplated Security for an account beneficially owned by him without having first obtained specific permission from the Compliance Officer. In order to gain permission to trade, a completed Preclearance Form, which can be obtained from the Compliance Officer, must be signed by at least one authorized signatory. After a completed Preclearance Form has been approved, the transaction may be affected either internally or through an external broker. Transaction orders must be placed within one week of the day permission to trade is granted or such shorter period as is indicated on the approved Preclearance Form. | ||
(b) | No Access Person shall directly or indirectly acquire a beneficial interest in securities through a Limited Offering or in an Initial Public Offering without obtaining the prior consent of the Compliance Officer. Consideration will be given to whether or not the opportunity should be reserved for the Advisers clients. Such Officer will review these proposed investments on a case-by-case basis and approval may be appropriate when it is clear that conflicts are very |
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unlikely to arise due to the nature of the opportunity for investing in the Initial Public Offering or Limited Offering. |
9. | Excluded Transactions |
(a) | Transactions effected for any account over which the Access Person has no direct or indirect influence or control and which has been approved by the Compliance Officer pursuant to Section 10(f). | ||
(b) | Non-volitional purchases and sales, such as dividend reinvestment programs or calls or redemption of securities. | ||
(c) | The acquisition of securities by gift or inheritance or disposition of securities by gift to charitable organizations. | ||
(d) | Standing orders for retirement plans provided that prior clearance is obtained before an Access Person starts, increases, decreases or stops direct debits/standing orders for retirement plans. Lump sum investments in or withdrawals from such plans must be pre-cleared on a case-by-case basis and are subject to trading restrictions. |
10. | Reporting Procedures |
(a) | Brokerage Accounts. Before effecting personal transactions through an external broker, each Access Person must (i) inform the brokerage firm of his affiliation with the Adviser; (ii) make arrangements for copies of confirmations to be sent to the Compliance Officer within 24 hours of each transaction; and (iii) make arrangements for the Compliance Officer to receive duplicate account statements. | ||
(b) | Initial Holdings Report. Each Access Person must provide an initial holdings report which includes the following information within ten (10) days of becoming an Access Person: |
| The title, type of security, the exchange ticker symbol or CUSIP number (as applicable), number of shares and principal amount of each Covered Security in which the Access Person had any direct or indirect beneficial ownership; |
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| The name of any broker, dealer or bank with whom the Access Person maintains an account in which any securities are held for the direct or indirect benefit of the Access Person; and | ||
| The date that the report is submitted by the Access Person. |
The information contained in the initial holdings report must be current as of a date no more than 45 days prior to the date the person becomes an Access Person. |
(c) | Quarterly Transaction Reports. Not later than thirty (30) days following the end of a calendar quarter, each Access Person must submit a report which includes the following information with respect to any transaction in the quarter in a Covered Security in which the Access Person had, or as a result of the transaction acquired, any direct or indirect beneficial ownership: |
| The date of the transaction, the title, the exchange ticker symbol or CUSIP number, as applicable, interest rate and maturity date (if applicable), the number of shares and principal amount of each Covered Security involved; | ||
| The nature of the transaction (i.e., purchase, sale or other type of acquisition or disposition); | ||
| The price of the Covered Security at which the transaction was effected; | ||
| The name of the broker, dealer or bank with or through which the transaction was effected; and | ||
| The date that the report is submitted by the Access Person. |
An Access Person need not make a quarterly transaction report if the report would duplicate information contained in broker trade confirmations or account statements, so long as the confirmations or account statements are received by the Compliance Officer no later than thirty (30) days after the end of the applicable quarter. | |||
(d) | Annual Holdings Report. Each Access Person shall submit the information required in Section 10(b) above annually within thirty (30) days of the end of each calendar year. The information shall be current as of a date no more than forty-five (45) days before the report is submitted. | ||
(e) | Review of Reports. The Compliance Officer shall be responsible for identifying Access Persons, notifying them of their obligations under this Code and reviewing reports submitted by Access Persons. The Compliance Officer will maintain the names of the persons responsible for reviewing these reports, as well as records of all reports filed pursuant to these procedures. No person shall be permitted to |
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review his/her own reports. Such reports shall be reviewed by the Compliance Officer or other officer who is senior to the person submitting the report. | |||
(f) | Exceptions from Reporting Requirements. An Access Person need not make reports pursuant to this Section 10 with respect to transactions effected for, and Covered Securities held in, any account over which the Access Person has no direct or indirect influence or control. Access Persons wishing to rely on this exception must receive prior approval from the Compliance Officer. In addition, an Access Person need not make reports pursuant to Section 10(c) with respect to transactions effected pursuant to an Automatic Investment Plan. |
11. | Administration of Code |
12. | Reports to Board |
13. | Code Revisions |
14. | Recordkeeping Requirements |
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15. | Condition of Employment or Service |
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Date
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Signature |