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Exhibit 6(a)
MANAGEMENT AGREEMENT
AGREEMENT made this 9th day of September, 1997, as amended the 8th day
of May, 1998, by and between MERRILL LYNCH GLOBAL GROWTH FUND, INC., a Maryland
corporation (hereinafter referred to as the "Fund"), and MERRILL LYNCH ASSET
MANAGEMENT, L.P., a Delaware limited partnership (hereinafter referred to as the
"Manager").
W I T N E S S E T H:
WHEREAS, the Fund is engaged in business as an open-end investment
company registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended
(hereinafter referred to as the "Investment Company Act"); and
WHEREAS, the Manager is engaged principally in rendering management and
investment advisory services and is registered as an investment adviser under
the Investment Advisers Act of 1940; and
WHEREAS, the Fund desires to retain the Manager to render management
and investment advisory services to the Fund in the manner and on the terms
hereinafter set forth; and
WHEREAS, the Manager is willing to provide management and investment
advisory services to the Fund on the terms and conditions hereinafter set forth;
NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the promises and the covenants
hereinafter contained, the Fund and the Manager hereby agree as follows:
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ARTICLE I
Duties of the Manager
The Fund hereby employs the Manager to act as a manager and investment
adviser of the Fund and to furnish or arrange for affiliates to furnish, the
management and investment advisory services described below, subject to policies
of, review by and overall control of the Board of Directors of the Fund (the
"Directors"), for the period and on the terms and conditions set forth in this
Agreement. The Manager hereby accepts such employment and agrees during such
period, at its own expense, to render, or arrange for the rendering of, such
services and to assume the obligations herein set forth for the compensation
provided for herein. The Manager and its affiliates shall for all purposes
herein be deemed to be an independent contractor and shall, unless otherwise
expressly provided or authorized, have no authority to act for or represent the
Fund in any way or otherwise be deemed an agent of the Fund.
(a) Management and Administrative Services. The Manager shall perform
(or arrange for the performance by affiliates of) the management and
administrative services necessary for the operation of the Fund including
administering shareholder accounts and handling shareholder relations. The
Manager shall provide the Fund with office space, equipment and facilities and
such other services as the Manager, subject to review by the Directors, shall
from time to time determine to be necessary or useful to perform its obligations
under this Agreement. The Manager shall also, on behalf of the Fund, conduct
relations with custodians, depositories, transfer agents, dividend disbursing
agents, other shareholder service agents, accountants, attorneys, underwriters,
brokers and dealers, corporate fiduciaries, insurers, banks and such other
persons in any such other capacity deemed to be necessary or desirable. The
Manager shall generally monitor the Fund's compliance with investment policies
and
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restrictions as set forth in the currently effective prospectus and statement of
additional information relating to the shares of the Fund under the Securities
Act of 1933, as amended (the "Prospectus" and "Statement of Additional
Information", respectively). The Manager shall make reports to the Directors of
its performance of obligations hereunder and furnish advice and recommendations
with respect to such other aspects of the business and affairs of the Fund as it
shall determine to be desirable.
(b) Investment Advisory Services. The Manager shall provide (or arrange
for affiliates to provide) the Fund with such investment research, advice and
supervision as the latter may from time to time consider necessary for the
proper supervision of the assets of the Fund, shall furnish continuously an
investment program for the Fund and shall determine from time to time which
securities shall be purchased, sold or exchanged and what portion of the assets
of the Fund shall be held in the various securities in which the Fund invests,
options, futures, options on futures or cash, subject always to the restrictions
set forth in the Articles of Incorporation and By-Laws of the Fund, as amended
from time to time, the provisions of the Investment Company Act and the
statements relating to the Fund's investment objectives, investment policies and
investment restrictions as the same are set forth in the Prospectus and
Statement of Additional Information. The Manager shall also make decisions for
the Fund as to the manner in which voting rights, rights to consent to corporate
action and any other rights pertaining to the Fund's portfolio securities shall
be exercised. Should the Directors at any time, however, make any definite
determination as to investment policy and notify the Manager thereof in writing,
the Manager shall be bound by such determination for the period, if any,
specified in such notice or until similarly notified that such determination has
been revoked. The Manager shall take, on behalf of the Fund, all actions which
it deems necessary to implement the investment policies
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determined as provided above, and in particular to place all orders for the
purchase or sale of portfolio securities for the Fund's account with brokers or
dealers selected by it, and to that end, the Manager is authorized as the agent
of the Fund to give instructions to the Custodian of the Fund as to deliveries
of securities and payments of cash for the account of the Fund. In connection
with the selection of such brokers or dealers and the placing of such orders
with respect to assets of the Fund, the Manager is directed at all times to seek
to obtain execution and price within the policy guidelines determined by the
Directors as set forth in the Prospectus and Statement of Additional
Information. Subject to this requirement and the provisions of the Investment
Company Act, the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and other
applicable provisions of law, the Manager may select brokers or dealers with
which it or the Fund is affiliated.
(c) Notice Upon Change in Partners of Manager. The Manager is a limited
partnership and its limited partner is Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. and its general
partner is Princeton Services, Inc. The Manager will notify the Fund of any
change in the membership of the partnership within a reasonable time after such
change.
ARTICLE II
Allocation of Charges and Expenses
(a) The Manager. The Manager assumes and shall pay for maintaining the
staff and personnel necessary to perform its obligations under this Agreement,
and shall at its own expense, provide the office space, equipment and facilities
which it is obligated to provide under Article I hereof, and shall pay all
compensation of officers of the Fund and all Directors who are affiliated
persons of the Manager.
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(b) The Fund. The Fund assumes and shall pay or cause to be paid all
other expenses of the Fund (except for the expenses paid by the Distributor),
including, without limitation: redemption expenses, expenses of portfolio
transactions, expenses of registering shares under federal and state securities
laws, pricing costs (including the daily calculation of net asset value),
expenses of printing shareholder reports, stock certificates, prospectuses and
statements of additional information, Securities and Exchange Commission fees,
interest, taxes, custodian and transfer agency fees, fees and actual
out-of-pocket expenses of Directors who are not affiliated persons of the
Manager, fees for legal and auditing services, litigation expenses, costs of
printing proxies and other expenses related to shareholder meetings, and other
expenses properly payable by the Fund. It is also understood that the Fund will
reimburse the Manager for its costs in providing accounting services to the
Fund. The Distributor will pay certain of the expenses of the Fund incurred in
connection with the continuous offering of Fund shares.
ARTICLE III
Compensation of the Manager
Management Fee. For the services rendered, the facilities furnished and
expenses assumed by the Manager, the Fund shall pay to the Manager at the end of
each calendar month a fee based upon the average daily value of the net assets
of the Fund, as determined and computed in accordance with the description of
the determination of net asset value contained in the Prospectus and Statement
of Additional Information, at the annual rate of 0.75% of the average daily net
assets of the Fund not exceeding $1.5 billion and 0.725% of the average daily
net assets of the Fund in excess of $1.5 billion, commencing on the date of the
amendment hereof. If this Agreement becomes effective subsequent to the first
day of a month or shall terminate before the last day of a month, compensation
for that part of the month this Agreement
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is in effect shall be prorated in a manner consistent with the calculation of
the fee as set forth above. During any period when the determination of net
asset value is suspended by the Directors, the net asset value of a share as of
the last business day prior to such suspension shall for this purpose be deemed
to be the net asset value at the close of each succeeding business day until it
is again determined.
ARTICLE IV
Sub-Advisory Agreement
The Manager may enter into a separate sub-advisory agreement with
Merrill Lynch Asset Management U.K. Limited ("MLAM U.K.") in which the Manager
may contract for sub-advisory services and pay MLAM U.K. compensation for its
services out of the compensation received hereunder pursuant to Article III.
Such sub-advisory agreement will be coterminous with this Management Agreement.
ARTICLE V
Limitation of Liability of the Manager
The Manager shall not be liable for any error of judgment or mistake of
law or for any loss arising out of any investment or for any act or omission in
the management of the Fund, except for willful misfeasance, bad faith or gross
negligence in the performance of its duties, or by reason of reckless disregard
of its obligations and duties hereunder. As used in this Article V, the term
"Manager" shall include any affiliates of the Manager performing services for
the Fund contemplated hereby and directors, officers and employees of the
Manager and such affiliates.
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ARTICLE VI
Activities of the Manager
The services of the Manager to the Fund are not to be deemed to be
exclusive, and the Manager and any person controlled by or under common control
with the Manager (for purposes of Article VI referred to as "affiliates") is
free to render services to others. It is understood that Directors, officers,
employees and shareholders of the Fund are or may become interested in the
Manager and its affiliates, as directors, officers, employees and shareholders
or otherwise and that directors, officers, employees and shareholders of the
Manager and its affiliates are or may become similarly interested in the Fund,
and that the Manager and directors, officers, employees, partners and
shareholders of its affiliates may become interested in the Fund as shareholder
or otherwise.
ARTICLE VII
Duration and Termination of this Contract
This Agreement shall become effective as of the date of the
commencement of operations of the Fund as an open-end investment fund and shall
remain in force until August 31, 1999, and thereafter, but only so long as such
continuance is specifically approved at least annually by (i) the Directors, or
by the vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the Fund, and
(ii) a majority of those Directors who are not parties to this Agreement or
interested persons of any such party cast in person at a meeting called for the
purpose of voting on such approval.
This Agreement may be terminated at any time, without the payment of
any penalty, by the Directors or by vote of a majority of the outstanding voting
securities of the Fund, or by the Manager, on sixty days' written notice to the
other party. This Agreement shall automatically terminate in the event of its
assignment.
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ARTICLE VIII
Amendments of this Agreement
This Agreement may be amended by the parties only if such amendment is
specifically approved by (i) the vote of a majority of outstanding voting
securities of the Fund, and (ii) a majority of those Directors who are not
parties to this Agreement or interested persons of any such party cast in person
at a meeting called for the purpose of voting on such approval.
ARTICLE IX
Definitions of Certain Terms
The terms "vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities",
"assignment", "affiliated person" and "interested person", when used in this
Agreement, shall have the respective meanings specified in the Investment
Company Act and the Rules and Regulations thereunder, subject, however, to such
exemptions as may be granted by the Securities and Exchange Commission under the
Investment Company Act.
ARTICLE X
Governing Law
This Agreement shall be construed in accordance with laws of the State
of New York and the applicable provisions of the Investment Company Act. To the
extent that the applicable laws of the State of New York, or any of the
provisions herein, conflict with the applicable provisions of the Investment
Company Act, the latter shall control.
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IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have executed and delivered this
Agreement as of the day and year first above written.
MERRILL LYNCH GLOBAL GROWTH FUND, INC.
By /s/ Arthur Zeikel
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Name: Arthur Zeikel
Title: President
MERRILL LYNCH ASSET MANAGEMENT, L.P.
By /s/ Terry K. Glenn
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Name: Terry K. Glenn
Title: Executive Vice President
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