Termination of H Series and FH Series of the NBI Strategic U.S.
Income and Growth Fund
NBI announced the termination of the H and FH Series of the NBI
Strategic U.S. Income and Growth Fund on or about May 19, 2021. The H
and FH Series will be closed to new subscriptions as of 11:59 p.m. on
March 1, 2021 with the exception of pre-established systematic
investment and distribution reinvestment plans.
Fixed-rate administration fee
NBI also announced today that it will begin paying, on or about May
19, 2021 (the “Effective Date”), certain operating expenses of the NBI
Jarislowsky Fraser Select Income Fund and the NBI Jarislowsky Fraser
Select Canadian Equity Fund (the “NBI JF Funds”) in return for the
payment to NBI of a fixed-rate administration fee by the NBI JF Funds.
The fixed-rate administration fee for every NBI JF Fund series will be
less than or equal to the actual operating expenses paid by such NBI
JF Fund series during its most recently completed financial year. As
the administration fee is a fixed percentage of assets, NBI will bear
the risk of any increases in operating expenses, but conversely, it
may also benefit from any future decreases in operating expenses. By
harmonizing its approach for the NBI JF Funds with the one used by
other NBI Funds, NBI seeks to improve and simplify its investors’ experience.
The introduction of these fixed-rate administration fees was
submitted to the IRC. The IRC considered the proposal and issued a
favourable recommendation with respect to the policies proposed by NBI
to address the related conflicts of interest and determined that it
would achieve a fair and reasonable result for the NBI JF Funds.
Currently, the NBI JF Funds bear all of their operating expenses. As
of the Effective Date, the operating expenses payable by NBI will
include, but will not be limited to, legal fees, audit fees, custodial
costs, transfer agency and recordkeeping costs, accounting and
valuation fees, the costs of preparing and distributing financial
reports, prospectuses, annual information forms, fund facts,
continuous disclosure materials and other investor communications and
the costs of trustee services relating to registered tax plans, as
applicable. NBI will pay these expenses, provided such expenses are
incurred in the normal course of business of the NBI JF Funds.
The fund costs that will continue to be paid by the NBI JF Funds
will include taxes, the costs of complying with any change to existing
regulatory requirements and/or with any new regulatory requirements,
including any new fees introduced after March 1, 2021, interest and
borrowing costs, fees and expenses related to external services that
were not commonly charged in the Canadian mutual fund industry as at
March 1, 2021, fees and expenses of the IRC and operating expenses
that are incurred outside the normal course of business of the NBI JF Funds.
Securityholders of all series of the NBI JF Funds other than the
Advisor Series and T5 Series will receive a written notice providing
the details of the introduction of the fixed-rate administration fee,
as required by securities regulations. The Advisor Series and T5
Series securities of the NBI JF Funds require securityholder approval
prior to implement this change. Advisor Series and T5 Series
securities securityholders of record, on or about April
1st, 2021, will receive Meeting materials for Meetings to
be held on or about May 17, 2021.
The above changes will be reflected in the upcoming amendment to the
simplified prospectus for the NBI Funds, which will be available on
the SEDAR website (www.sedar.com) as well as on the National Bank
Investments website (www.nbinvestments.ca).
