SCHEDULE 14C INFORMATION
INFORMATION STATEMENT PURSUANT TO SECTION 14(c) OF THE
SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
Filed by the Registrant ☒ Filed by a Party other than the Registrant ☐
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☐ | | Preliminary Information Statement |
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☐ | | Confidential, for Use of the Commission Only (as permitted by Rule 14c-5(d)(2)) |
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☒ | | Definitive Information Statement |
Fidelity Rutland Square Trust II
(Name of Registrant as Specified In Its Charter)
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Information Statement
Strategic Advisers Funds
We appreciate your business and your trust in Fidelity Investments. As always, we are committed to keeping you informed about your Fidelity account(s), including any updates and/or changes.*
The enclosed information statement provides important information regarding a new manager that has been appointed to one or more of the Strategic Advisers Funds held within your Fidelity account.
Inside, you will find detailed information about the terms of an agreement with the new manager, which was selected by Strategic Advisers LLC, the adviser to the Strategic Advisers Funds and the portfolio manager for your Fidelity managed account. They believe these changes will provide your account with additional benefits, such as increased manager diversification, and help to ensure that the Fund can be effectively managed to meet its specific style exposure and investment objective.
Please read the enclosed information carefully. No other action is required by you. Should you have any questions, please call the appropriate number listed below.
• | | For current or former clients in a Fidelity managed account: Please call1-800-544-3455, Monday–Friday, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Eastern time (Strategic Advisers® International Fund). |
* | | You may have elected to suppress other legal notifications; however, certain regulatory requirements mean that we are legally bound to send you this notification. We apologize for any inconvenience. |
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IMPORTANT NOTICE REGARDING THE
AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION STATEMENT.
The Information Statement is available at www.proxyvote.com/proxy.
STRATEGIC ADVISERS® INTERNATIONAL FUND (THE FUND)
A SERIES OF
FIDELITY RUTLAND SQUARE TRUST II
245 SUMMER STREET
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02210
1-800-544-3455
INFORMATION STATEMENT
This Information Statement is being furnished by the Board of Trustees (the Board or Trustees) of Fidelity Rutland Square Trust II (the Trust) to the shareholders of Strategic Advisers® International Fund (the Fund), a series of the Trust. This Information Statement is provided in lieu of a proxy statement, pursuant to the terms of an exemptive order that the Trust has received from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that permits the Trust’s investment adviser, Strategic Advisers LLC (Strategic Advisers), to hire unaffiliated sub-advisers without obtaining shareholder approval, subject to the approval of the Trust’s Board.
This Information Statement is being mailed on or about November 8, 2019 to shareholders of record as of October 15, 2019. This Information Statement is intended to inform you that a new sub-adviser has been appointed to your fund. No action is required of you. We are not asking you for a proxy and you are requested not to send us a proxy.
The information contained in this Information Statement relates to the Trustees’ approval on September 4, 2019 of a new sub-adviser under a sub-advisory agreement (the Agreement) with T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. (T. Rowe Price or NewSub-Adviser).
The purpose of this Information Statement is to provide an overview of the Trustees’ decision to appoint T. Rowe Price as an additional sub-adviser for the Fund and to discuss the terms of the Agreement.
INTRODUCTION
Strategic Advisers is the Fund’s investment adviser. Pursuant to the terms of an exemptive order granted to Strategic Advisers and the Trust by the SEC on November 28, 2006 (SEC Order), Strategic Advisers employs a so-called “manager of managers” arrangement in managing the Fund. Section 15(a) of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the 1940 Act) generally requires that a fund’s shareholders approve all agreements pursuant to which persons serve as investment adviser or sub-adviser to a fund. The SEC Order exempts Strategic Advisers and the Trust from the shareholder voting requirements of Section 15(a) of the 1940 Act and allows the
Trustees, subject to certain conditions, to appoint new unaffiliated sub-advisers and approve their respective sub-advisory agreements on behalf of the Fund without a shareholder vote.
Consistent with the SEC Order, the Trustees, including a majority of the Trustees who are not parties to the Agreement or “interested persons” of any such party (the Independent Trustees), appointed the New Sub-Adviser as an additional sub-adviser to the Fund and approved the Agreement at an in-person meeting on September 4, 2019. As discussed later in this Information Statement, the Board carefully considered the matter and concluded that the appointment of the New Sub-Adviser under the terms of the Agreement was in the best interest of the Fund and its shareholders.
As a condition to relying on the SEC Order, Strategic Advisers and the Trust are required to furnish shareholders of the Fund with notification of the appointment of a new unaffiliated sub-adviser within ninety days from the date that the sub-adviser is hired. This Information Statement serves to provide such notice and give details of the new arrangement.
MANAGEMENT CONTRACT OF THE FUND
Strategic Advisers, located at 245 Summer Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02210, is the Fund’s investment adviser. Strategic Advisers directs the investments of the Fund in accordance with the Fund’s investment objective, policies and limitations pursuant to a management contract that was initially approved by the Board, including a majority of the Independent Trustees, on March 4, 2010, and by the initial sole shareholder on August 20, 2010.
The management contract for the Fund (the Management Contract) was most recently renewed by the Board, including a majority of the Independent Trustees, on September 4, 2019.
Strategic Advisers, or its affiliates, subject to the supervision of the Board, provides the management and administrative services necessary for the operation of the Fund. These services include, among others, supervising relations with, and monitoring the performance of, any sub-advisers; preparing all general shareholder communications, including shareholder reports; maintaining the Fund’s records; maintaining the registration and qualification of the Fund’s shares under federal and state law; and furnishing reports, evaluations, and analyses on a variety of subjects to the Trustees. In addition, Strategic Advisers or its affiliates also compensate all officers of the Fund and all personnel of Strategic Advisers for performing services relating to research, statistical and investment activities.
The Fund pays a monthly management fee to Strategic Advisers (the Management Fee). The Management Fee is calculated by adding Strategic Advisers’ annual Management Fee rate of 0.25% and the total fee, payable monthly, to the Fund’s sub-advisers based on each sub-adviser’s allocated portion of the Fund’s average daily net assets throughout the month. The Fund’s effective Management Fee may be higher or lower in the future based on factors such as the portion of fund assets managed by sub-advisers and the sub-advisory fee rates of the sub-advisers that may manage a Fund in the future.
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Strategic Advisers has contractually agreed to waive its portion of the Management Fee for the Fund in an amount equal to 0.25% of the Fund’s average daily net assets through September 30, 2022. Strategic Advisers has also contractually agreed that the maximum aggregate annual management fee rate of the Fund will not exceed 1.00%.
Strategic Advisers may not discontinue or modify the management fee waiver prior to its expiration date without the approval of the Board. The addition of the New Sub-Adviser will not result in a change to the maximum aggregate annual management fee payable by shareholders, the portion of the Management Fee retained by Strategic Advisers, if any, or the management fee waiver arrangement discussed above.
In addition to the New Sub-Adviser, the following serve as sub-advisers to the Fund: Arrowstreet Capital, Limited Partnership (Arrowstreet), Causeway Capital Management LLC (Causeway), FIAM LLC (FIAM), FIL Investment Advisors (FIA), Geode Capital Management, LLC (Geode), Massachusetts Financial Services Company (MFS), Thompson, Siegel & Walmsley, LLC (TSW), and William Blair Investment Management, LLC (William Blair). FIL Investment Advisors (UK) Limited (FIA(UK)) has been retained to serve as a sub-subadviser for the Fund. FIAM is an affiliate of Strategic Advisers.
The following table shows management fees paid by the Fund to Strategic Advisers and sub-advisory fees paid by Strategic Advisers to the Fund’s sub-advisers during the fiscal period ended February 28, 2019.
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Fund | | Management Fees Paid to Strategic AdvisersA | | Management Fees Paid to Strategic Advisers as a % of Average Net Assets of the FundA | | Aggregate Sub-Advisory Fees Paid by Strategic Advisers to Unaffiliated Sub-AdvisersB | | Sub-Advisory Fees Paid by Strategic Advisers to Unaffiliated Sub-Advisers as a % of Average Net Assets of the Fund |
International Fund | | $25,233,783 | | 0.16% | | $25,236,873 | | 0.16% |
A | After waivers reducing management fees in the amount of $40,403,749. |
B | Differences between the amount of the management fees paid by the Fund to Strategic Advisers and the aggregate amount of sub-advisory fees paid by Strategic Advisers to sub-advisers may be due to expense estimates which are accrued in the period to which they relate and adjusted when actual amounts are known. |
SUMMARY OF THE AGREEMENT WITH THE NEW SUB-ADVISER
On September 4, 2019, pursuant to the “managers of managers” arrangement, the Board approved the Agreement with the New Sub-Adviser on behalf of the Fund. Pursuant to the Agreement, the New Sub-Adviser has day-to-day responsibility for choosing
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investments for the portion of assets of the Fund allocated to it by Strategic Advisers and for voting proxies for the Fund with respect to those investments.
Pursuant to the Agreement, the New Sub-Adviser provides a program of continuous investment management for the portion of the Fund’s assets allocated to it in accordance with the Fund’s investment objective and policies as stated in the Fund’s prospectus and statement of additional information filed with the SEC on Form N-1A, as amended and supplemented from time to time (the Registration Statement), and such other limitations as the Trust, the Fund, the Board, or Strategic Advisers may impose. The New Sub-Adviser will vote the Fund’s proxies in accordance with the New Sub-Adviser’s proxy voting policies, as approved by the Board. Strategic Advisers has granted the New Sub-Adviser authority to invest and reinvest the assets of the Fund allocated to it by selecting the securities, instruments, repurchase agreements, financial futures contracts, options and other investments and techniques that the Fund may purchase, sell, enter into or use. For providing investment management services to its allocated portion of the Fund, Strategic Advisers pays the New Sub-Adviser a monthly asset-based fee out of the Management Fee payable by the Fund.
The Agreement may be terminated on sixty days’ written notice to the New Sub-Adviser: (i) by the Trust, pursuant to (A) action by the Board or (B) the vote of the holders of a “majority” (as defined in the 1940 Act) of the shares of the Fund or (ii) by Strategic Advisers. The Agreement is terminable, without penalty, by the New Sub-Adviser upon ninety days’ written notice to Strategic Advisers and the Trust. In addition, the Agreement will terminate in the event of the termination of the Management Contract with respect to the Fund. The Agreement will be terminated automatically in the event of its “assignment” (as defined in the 1940 Act).
INFORMATION ABOUT T. ROWE PRICE
T. Rowe Price’s main office is located at 100 East Pratt Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21202. T. Rowe Price is not affiliated with Strategic Advisers.
Investment Process
T. Rowe Price provides investment management services to the Fund through the International Core Equity Strategy. T. Rowe Price expects to invest significantly outside the U.S. and to diversify broadly among developed markets and, to a lesser extent, emerging market countries throughout the world. T. Rowe Price expects to diversity broadly by sector, but may at times invest significantly in certain sectors, such as the financials sector. T. Rowe Price takes a core approach to investing, which provides some exposure to both growth and value styles of investing. T. Rowe Price relies on a global research team to search for what it believes to be particularly promising stocks. The New Sub-Adviser will select securities that it believes have the most favorable combination of company fundamentals and valuation.
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Directors and Officers
The following are the directors, officers, and control persons of T. Rowe Price. Unless otherwise noted, the address of each is 100 East Pratt Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21202.
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DIRECTORS AND OFFICERS |
Name | | Position |
William J. Stromberg, CFA | | Chief Executive Officer, President, Director |
Céline Dufétel | | Chief Financial Officer |
Robert W. Sharps, CFA | | Group Chief Investment Officer, Director |
David Oestreicher | | Chief Legal Officer, Corporate Secretary, Director |
John Raymond Gilner, Esq. | | Chief Compliance Officer |
CONTROL PERSON |
Name | | Relationship |
T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. | | Owns 100% of T. Rowe Price |
No officer or Trustee of the Fund is an officer, employee, director, or shareholder of T. Rowe Price.
T. Rowe Price also acts as investment adviser or sub-adviser to other registered investment companies (or portions thereof) set forth below, which have investment objectives that are similar to the portion of the Fund that may be allocated to T. Rowe Price pursuant to the Agreement:
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Fund | | Net Assets as of August 31, 2019 |
T. Rowe Price Overseas Stock Fund | | $17,006,525,363 |
JPMorgan Trust I – JPMorgan Access Balanced Fund | | $7,779,638 |
JPMorgan Trust I – JPMorgan Access Growth Fund | | $9,041,047 |
Seasons Series Trust – SA Multi-Managed International Equity Portfolio | | $114,782,767 |
MATTERS CONSIDERED BY THE BOARD
IN APPROVING THE AGREEMENT
Matters Considered by the Board in Approving the Agreement is included in Appendix A.
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MANAGEMENT INFORMATION ABOUT STRATEGIC ADVISERS
The principal business address of Strategic Advisers, the Fund’s investment adviser, is 245 Summer Street, Boston, Massachusetts, 02210.
The principal business address of Fidelity Distributors Corporation, the Fund’s principal underwriter and distribution agent, is 900 Salem Street, Smithfield, Rhode Island 02917.
BROKERAGE INFORMATION
The following table shows the aggregate amount of commissions paid to any broker or dealer affiliated with the Fund through the fiscal period ended February 28, 2019:
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Broker | | Affiliated With | | Transactions Initiated By | | Commissions | | Percentage of Aggregate Brokerage Commissions |
Fidelity Capital Markets | | FMR LLC/ Strategic Advisers | | MFS | | $1,575 | | 0.03% |
Fidelity Capital Markets | | FMR LLC/ Strategic Advisers | | Strategic Advisers | | $1,532 | | 0.03% |
Luminex | | FMR LLC/ Strategic Advisers | | MFS | | $75 | | 0.00% |
OTHER INFORMATION
Outstanding Shares and Ownership of Shares. There were 1,585,106,901 shares of the Fund outstanding as of February 28, 2019. As of February 28, 2019, the Trustees, Members of the Advisory Board (if any), and officers of the Fund owned, in the aggregate, less than 1% of the Fund’s total outstanding shares.
To the knowledge of the Trust, no shareholder had substantial (5% or more) record and/or beneficial ownership of the Fund as of August 31, 2019.
Shareholder Proposals. The Trust does not hold regularly scheduled meetings of shareholders of the Fund. Any shareholder proposal for a shareholder meeting must be presented to the Trust within a reasonable time before proxy materials for such meeting are sent to shareholders. Shareholders wishing to submit proposals for inclusion in a proxy statement for a future shareholder meeting should send their written proposals to the Secretary of the Fund, attention “Fund Shareholder Meetings,” 245 Summer Street, Mailzone V10A, Boston, Massachusetts 02210.
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Annual Report. For a free copy of the Fund’s most recent annual report and semi- annual report, if any, call 1-800-544-3455 or write to Fidelity Distributors Corporation at 900 Salem Street, Smithfield, Rhode Island 02917. In addition, you may visit Fidelity’s website at www.fidelity.com for a free copy of a prospectus, statement of additional information, annual or semi-annual report, or to request other information.
NOTICE TO BANKS, BROKER-DEALERS
AND VOTING TRUSTEES AND THEIR NOMINEES
Please advise the Trust, in care of Fidelity Investments Institutional Operations Company, Inc., 245 Summer Street, Boston, Massachusetts, 02210, whether other persons are beneficial owners of shares for which the Information Statement is being mailed and, if so, the number of copies of the Information Statement and Annual Report you wish to receive in order to supply copies to the beneficial owners of the respective shares.
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APPENDIX A
MATTERS CONSIDERED BY THE BOARD
IN APPROVING THE AGREEMENT
On September 4, 2019, the Board of Trustees, including the Independent Trustees (together, the Board) voted at an in-person meeting to approve an investment advisory agreement (the Sub-Advisory Agreement) with T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. (New Sub-Adviser) for the fund.
The Board, assisted by the advice of fund counsel and Independent Trustees’ counsel, considered a broad range of information it believed relevant to the approval of the Sub-Advisory Agreement.
In considering whether to approve the Sub-Advisory Agreement, the Board reached a determination, with the assistance of fund counsel and Independent Trustees’ counsel and through the exercise of its business judgment, that the approval of the Sub-Advisory Agreement is in the best interests of the fund and its shareholders and that the approval of such agreement does not involve a conflict of interest from which Strategic Advisers LLC (Strategic Advisers) or its affiliates derive an inappropriate advantage. Also, the Board found that the sub-advisory fees to be charged under the Sub-Advisory Agreement bear a reasonable relationship to the services to be rendered and will be based upon services provided that will be in addition to, rather than duplicative of services provided under the advisory contract of any underlying fund in which the fund may invest. The Board’s decision to approve the Sub-Advisory Agreement was not based on any single factor, but rather was based on a comprehensive consideration of all the information provided to the Board. In addition, individual Trustees did not necessarily attribute the same weight or importance to each factor.
Nature, Extent, and Quality of Services Provided. The Board considered the backgrounds of the investment personnel that will provide services to the fund, and also took into consideration the fund’s investment objective, strategies and related investment philosophy and current sub-adviser line-up. The Board also considered the structure of the New Sub-Adviser’s portfolio manager compensation program and whether this structure provides appropriate incentives to act in the best interests of the fund. The Board noted that it is familiar with the nature, extent and quality of services provided by the New Sub-Adviser from its oversight of the New Sub-Adviser on behalf of other funds overseen by the Board and that the same support staff, including compliance personnel, that currently provides services to other Strategic Advisers funds will also provide services to the fund.
Resources Dedicated to Investment Management and Support Services. The Board reviewed the general qualifications and capabilities of the New Sub-Adviser’s investment staff, its use of technology, and the New Sub-Adviser’s approach to managing and compensating its investment personnel. The Board noted that the New Sub-Adviser will utilize a different investment mandate to manage the fund than it currently uses in managing other Strategic Advisers funds and reviewed the general qualifications and
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capabilities of the investment staff that will provide services to the fund and its use of technology. The Board noted that the New Sub-Adviser’s analysts have extensive resources, tools and capabilities which allow them to conduct sophisticated fundamental and/or quantitative analysis. Additionally, in its deliberations, the Board considered the New Sub-Adviser’s trading capabilities and resources which are integral parts of the investment management process.
Shareholder and Administrative Services. The Board considered (i) the nature, extent, quality, and cost of advisory services to be performed by the New Sub-Adviser under the Sub-Advisory Agreement and (ii) the resources to be devoted to the fund’s compliance policies and procedures.
Investment Performance. The Board also considered the historical investment performance of the New Sub-Adviser and the portfolio managers in managing accounts under a similar investment mandate.
Based on its review, the Board concluded that the nature, extent, and quality of services that will be provided to the fund under the Sub-Advisory Agreement should benefit the fund’s shareholders.
Competitiveness of Management Fee and Total Fund Expenses. In reviewing the Sub-Advisory Agreement, the Board considered the amount and nature of fees to be paid by the fund to the fund’s investment adviser, Strategic Advisers, the amount and nature of fees to be paid by Strategic Advisers to the New Sub-Adviser and the projected change in the fund’s management fee and total operating expenses, if any, as a result of hiring the New Sub-Adviser.
The Board noted that the fund’s maximum aggregate annual management fee rate may not exceed 1.00% of the fund’s average daily net assets and that the Sub-Advisory Agreement will not result in a change to the maximum aggregate annual management fee payable by the fund or Strategic Advisers’ portion of the management fee. The Board considered Strategic Advisers’ contractual agreement to waive its 0.25% portion of the fund’s management fee through September 30, 2021, and its proposal to extend the waiver through September 30, 2022. The Board also considered that after allocating assets to the New Sub-Adviser, the fund’s management fee and total net expenses are expected to continue to rank below the competitive peer group medians presented to the Board in the June 2019 management contract renewal materials.
Based on its review, the Board concluded that the fund’s management fee structure and any changes to projected total expenses bear a reasonable relationship to the services that the fund and its shareholders will receive and the other factors considered.
Because the Sub-Advisory Agreement was negotiated at arm’s length and will have no impact on the maximum management fees payable by the fund or Strategic Advisers’ portion of the management fee, the Board did not consider the costs of services and profitability to be significant factors in its decision to approve the Sub-Advisory Agreement.
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Potential Fall-Out Benefits. The Board considered that it reviews information regarding the potential of direct and indirect benefits to Strategic Advisers and its affiliates from their relationships with the fund, including non-advisory fee compensation paid to affiliates of Strategic Advisers, if any, as well as information regarding potential fall-out benefits accruing to each sub-adviser, if any, as a result of its relationship with the fund, during its annual renewal of the fund’s advisory agreement with Strategic Advisers and the fund’s sub-advisory agreements. With respect to the New Sub-Adviser, the Board considered management’s representation that it does not anticipate that the hiring of the New Sub-Adviser will have a significant impact on the potential for fall-out benefits to Strategic Advisers or its affiliates.
Possible Economies of Scale. The Board considered that it reviews whether there have been economies of scale in connection with the management of the fund during its annual renewal of the fund’s advisory agreement with Strategic Advisers and the fund’s sub-advisory agreements. The Board noted that the Sub-Advisory Agreement provides for breakpoints that have the potential to reduce sub-advisory fees paid to the NewSub-Adviser as assets allocated to the New Sub-Adviser grow.
Conclusion. Based on its evaluation of all of the conclusions noted above, and after considering all factors it believed relevant, the Board ultimately concluded that the Sub-Advisory Agreement’s fee structure bears a reasonable relationship to the services to be rendered and that the Sub-Advisory Agreement should be approved because the agreement is in the best interests of the fund and its shareholders. The Board also concluded that the sub-advisory fees to be charged thereunder will be based on services provided that will be in addition to, rather than duplicative of services provided under the advisory contract of any underlying fund in which the fund may invest. In addition, the Board concluded that the approval of the Sub-Advisory Agreement does not involve a conflict of interest from which Strategic Advisers or its affiliates derive an inappropriate advantage.
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The third-party marks appearing above are the marks of their respective owners.
Strategic Advisers is a registered service mark of FMR LLC.© 2019 FMR LLC. All rights reserved.
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1.9897061.100 | | | RTSQ419-PIS-1119 | |