fund. "Other expenses" means all of the expenses of the fund, excluding: advisory fees, taxes, brokerage commissions, interest expense, litigation and indemnification expenses and other extraordinary expenses not incurred in the ordinary course of the fund's business, class specific expenses, acquired fund fees, and short dividend expense. Prior to March 28, 2015, this waiver was voluntary. The current expense limitation agreement expires on November 30, 2016, unless renewed by mutual agreement of the fund and the Advisor based upon a determination that this is appropriate under the circumstances at that time.
The expense reductions described above amounted to the following for the year ended July 31, 2015:
| | | | |
Class | Expense reductions | | Class | Expense reductions |
Class A | $1,435 | | Class R4 | $3 |
Class C | 5,388 | | Class R6 | 11 |
Class I | 8,066 | | Class NAV | 9,220 |
Class R2 | 3 | | Total | $24,126 |
The investment management fees, including the impact of the waivers and reimbursement described above, incurred for the year ended July 31, 2015 were equivalent to a net annual effective rate of 0.66% of the fund's average daily net assets.
Expense recapture. Prior to October 1, 2014, the Advisor was allowed to recapture operating expenses reimbursed or fees waived under previous expense limitation or waiver arrangements for a period of three years following the month in which the reimbursements or waivers occurred to the extent that the fund was below its expense limitation during this period. The amount recovered during the year ended July 31, 2015 was $29,746. These amounts were $2,958, $26, $1,816, and $24,946, respectively for Class A, Class C, Class I, and Class NAV.
Effective October 1, 2014, the expense recapture program was terminated.
Accounting and legal services. Pursuant to a service agreement, the fund reimburses the Advisor for all expenses associated with providing the administrative, financial, legal, accounting and recordkeeping services to the fund, including the preparation of all tax returns, periodic reports to shareholders and regulatory reports, among other services. These expenses are allocated to each share class based on its relative net assets at the time the expense was incurred. These accounting and legal services fees incurred for the year ended July 31, 2015 amounted to an annual rate of 0.01% of the fund's average daily net assets.
Distribution and service plans. The fund has a distribution agreement with the Distributor. The fund has adopted distribution and service plans with respect to Class A, Class C, Class R2 and Class R4 shares pursuant to Rule 12b-1 under the 1940 Act, to pay the Distributor for services provided as the Distributor of shares of the fund. In addition, under a service plan for Class R2 and Class R4 shares, the fund pays for certain other services. The fund may pay up to the following contractual rates of distribution and service fees under these arrangements, expressed as an annual percentage of average daily net assets for each class of the fund's shares.
| | | | | | |
Class | Rule 12b-1 fee | Service fee | | Class | Rule 12b-1 fee | Service fee |
Class A | 0.30% | — | | Class R2 | 0.25% | 0.25% |
Class C | 1.00% | — | | Class R4 | 0.25% | 0.10% |
The fund's Distributor has contractually agreed to waive 0.10% of Rule 12b-1 fees for Class R4 shares. The current waiver agreement expires on November 30, 2016, unless renewed by mutual agreement of the fund and the Distributor based upon a determination that this is appropriate under the circumstances at that time. This contractual waiver amounted to $36 for Class R4 shares for the year ended July 31, 2015.
Sales charges. Class A shares are assessed up-front sales charges, which resulted in payments to the Distributor amounting to $114,847 for the year ended July 31, 2015. Of this amount, $19,001 was retained and used for printing prospectuses, advertising, sales literature and other purposes, $94,528 was paid as sales commissions to broker-dealers and $1,318 was paid as sales commissions to sales personnel of Signator Investors, Inc., a broker-dealer affiliate of the Advisor.