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Enter Symbol
or Name
USA
CA



National Bank of Canada
Symbol NA
Shares Issued 327,932,188
Close 2014-09-22 C$ 52.62
Market Cap C$ 17,255,791,733
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National Bank to set fixed admin fee on mutual funds

2014-09-23 11:55 ET - News Release

Mr. Jonathan Durocher reports

NATIONAL BANK INVESTMENTS INC. ANNOUNCES CHANGES TO INCREASE PREDICTABILITY AND CLARITY OF COSTS FOR NATIONAL BANK MUTUAL FUND INVESTORS

National Bank of Canada's National Bank Investments Inc. will start paying most operating expenses for National Bank mutual funds in return for the payment of a fixed-rate administration fee.

"With the introduction of fixed-rate administration fees for the National Bank mutual funds, we aim to provide our investors with enhanced clarity and greater predictability about the costs of investing," said Jonathan Durocher, president and chief executive officer of NBI. "The main components of the management expense ratio of these National Bank mutual funds will become fixed, rather than varying from year to year as they currently do," he added.

On or about Jan. 1, 2015, NBI will begin paying certain operating expenses of National Bank mutual funds in return for a new fixed-rate administration fee paid by each fund to NBI.

The fixed-rate administration fee for each National Bank mutual fund will be less than or equal to the actual annualized operating expenses paid by each fund during the six-month period ended June 30, 2014. Investors will be protected from potential increases in certain operating expenses, as these increases will be borne by NBI. By harmonizing its approach with the one used by its Meritage Portfolios, NBI wants to improve and simplify its investors' experience.

In addition, management fees will be reduced for F Series of National Bank Global Tactical Bond Fund, National Bank Corporate Bond Fund, National Bank High Yield Bond Fund, National Bank U.S. Dividend Fund, National Bank Global Equity Fund, Westwood Global Equity Fund and Westwood Global Dividend Fund, and for F5 Series of Westwood Global Dividend Fund, National Bank Global Equity Fund and National Bank High Yield Bond Fund, effective as of Sept. 23, 2014.

Further, National Bank Corporate Cash Management Fund and National Bank Treasury Management Fund will be closed to new purchases effective as of Oct. 31, 2014.

Fixed-rate administration fee

The introduction of these fixed-rate administration fees was submitted to the National Bank mutual funds' independent review committee (IRC). The IRC considered the proposal, and determined that it would achieve a fair and reasonable result for the National Bank mutual funds.

Currently, the National Bank mutual funds bear all of their operating expenses. As of 2015, the operating expenses payable by NBI will include, but are not limited to, transfer agency and record-keeping costs, custodial costs, accounting and valuation fees, audit fees, legal fees, the costs of preparing and distributing financial reports, simplified prospectuses, annual information forms, fund facts, continuous disclosure documents 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 National Bank mutual funds.

The fund costs that will continue to be paid by the National Bank mutual 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 Sept. 23, 2014; interest and borrowing costs, fees and expenses related to external services that were not commonly charged in the Canadian mutual fund industry as at Sept. 23, 2014; fees and expenses related to the board of directors of National Bank Funds Corp., National Bank AltaFund Investment Corp. and National Bank Dividend Income Fund Inc.; fees and expenses of the IRC; and operating expenses that are incurred outside the normal course of business of the National Bank mutual funds.

The fixed-rate administration fee will be subject to a transitional adjustment payment up to Dec. 31, 2015. Similar fixed-rate administration fees have been introduced for other mutual funds managed by large Canadian mutual fund companies, including the Meritage Portfolios managed by NBI.

National Bank Global Tactical Bond Fund, National Bank U.S. Dividend Fund and National Bank Floating Rate Income Fund are already subject to fixed-rate administration fees, and National Bank Income Fund and National Bank Asset Allocation Fund are excluded from this fixed-rate administration fee implementation.

Securityholder notification

Securityholders of all series other than Advisor Series and T5 Series will receive a written notice in mid-October, providing the details of the introduction of the fixed-rate administration fee, as required by securities regulations.

Advisor Series and T5 Series securities of the National Bank Mutual Funds require prior securityholder approval to implement this change. Securityholders of record on or about Oct. 31, 2014, in Advisor Series and T5 Series securities will receive meeting materials in November. Meetings for these securityholders will be held on or about Dec. 16, 2014.

Further information about the changes will be available in the amendment to the simplified prospectus for the National Bank mutual funds to be filed in connection with these changes, which will be posted on SEDAR and on the company's website.

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