CODE of ETHICS REVISIONS.doc
Revised December 1999
CODE OF ETHICS AND INSIDER TRADING POLICY AND PROCEDURES
Calvert Asset Management Company, Inc.
Calvert-Sloan, Advisers, L.L.C.
Calvert Distributors, Inc.
First Variable Rate Fund for Government Income
Calvert Tax-Free Reserves
Calvert Social Investment Fund
The Calvert Fund
Calvert Municipal Fund Inc.
Calvert World Values Fund, Inc.
Calvert Variable Series, Inc.
Calvert Cash Reserves
Calvert New World Fund, Inc.
The Code of Ethics and Insider Trading Policies and Procedures are designed to
protect the public from abusive trading practices and to maintain ethical
standards for access persons when dealing with the public. Active leadership
and integrity of management dictates these principles be diligently implemented
and monitored. The Code of Ethics imposes the following general obligations:
- - Information concerning the purchase and sale of securities learned in
connection with an access person's service, is property of the Fund, Adviser or
employer and may not be used for personal benefit.
- - Fiduciary duties mandate suitable investment opportunities be presented
first to the Fund, Adviser, or employer and should not be exercised even after
full disclosure for personal benefit.
- - Material inside information must be kept confidential and restricts
trading of securities.
- - Front running, market manipulation and deceptive trading practices are
abusive techniques prohibited by these procedures and may result, in fines,
termination or legal actions by third parties.
- - Access persons may not purchase IPOs due to the high potential for abusive
trading practices.
- - Access persons must not trade in securities with knowledge that the Fund,
Adviser, Sub-Adviser or employer is considering to make a similar purchase or
sale of the same securities.
- - Access persons shall not engage in transactions that create a conflict of
interest including but not limited to inappropriately making decisions on behalf
of a Fund regarding securities or private placements personally owned by the
access person.
Code of Ethics Guidelines
The legal definition of a security is very broad and incorporates the purchase
and sale of public, private, registered and exempt from registration securities,
as well as derivatives. To ease the burden of following these guidelines, the
Code of Ethics reporting and disclosure obligations as well as preclearance
policies do not apply to the following:
1) The sale and purchase of open-end mutual funds including money market
funds.
2) The sale and purchase of U.S. Government, U.S. Government agency
securities and municipal securities in trade amounts of less than $20,000.
3) Acquisitions through stock dividend plans, spin-offs or other
distributions applied to all holders of the same class of securities.
4) Acquisitions through the exercise of rights issued pro rata to all
holders.
5) Acquisitions through gifts or bequests.
6) Trades in any S & P 500 company of 500 shares or less.
7) Trades in REITS and variable insurance products.
A. Disclosure of Holdings & Duplicate Statements and Confirmations for the
purchase and sale of securities or options on securities by access persons.
To assure that abusive or unethical trading practices are not conducted by
access persons, access persons are required to disclose personal securities
holdings including private placement holdings and send duplicate brokerage and
confirmation statements to the attention of the Compliance Officer at Calvert
Group, Ltd., 4550 Montgomery Avenue, Bethesda, MD 20814. Personal securities
holdings must be disclosed at the point of hire and upon annual acknowledgement
of these procedures. Duplicate statements and confirmations are required for
any access person's account or an account over which the access person has
either custody, control or beneficial ownership. Account statements for
immediate family members are also required."Beneficial ownership" shall have the
same meaning as in Rule 16a-1(a)(2) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
Generally, a person has a beneficial ownership in a security if he or she,
directly or indirectly, through any contract, arrangement, understanding,
relationship or otherwise, has or shares a direct or indirect pecuniary interest
in the security, [has or shares voting power (the power to vote or direct the
voting of the security) or investment power (the power to dispose of or direct
the disposition of the security).] Beneficial ownership" includes accounts of
a spouse, minor children and relatives resident in the access person's home, as
well as accounts of another person if by reason of any contract, understanding,
relationship, agreement or other arrangement the access person obtains therefrom
benefits substantially equivalent to those of ownership, e.g., as Trustee,
Settlor, Beneficiary, Power of Attorney.
All information provided to the Compliance Officer will be confidential.
Statements and confirmations will be reviewed by the Compliance Officer or his
or her designee(s) for any pattern of transactions involving parallel
transactions (portfolio and individual both buying or both selling the same
security) generally within a 15 day period before or after the transaction date.
Among the factors that will be considered in the analysis of whether any
provision of the Code has been violated will be the number and dollar value of
the transactions, the trading volume of the securities in question, the length
of time the security is held by the individual and the individual's involvement
in the investment process. While the focus of this procedure of the Code is on
"patterns", it is important to note that a violation could result from a single
transaction if the circumstances warrant a finding that the underlying
principles of fair dealing have been violated. The Compliance Officer or his or
her designee(s), will similarly review the personal securities holdings reports
provided to the Compliance Officer.
B. Preclearance Policy
Because of the sensitive nature of securities trading, the Compliance Officer
will notify certain access persons and investment personnel about the need to
follow a preclearance policy. Attachment A will be used by designated access
persons seeking preclearance for securities trades including preclearance by
investment personnel for private placement transactions. Those individuals
subject to the preclearance policy will not be exempt from the general
prohibitions listed in the Code or the Policies and Procedures designed to
prevent insider trading. The Compliance Officer will review with the
Directors/Trustees periodically a list of persons who are subject to the
preclearance policy and the criteria used to select such individuals.
The preclearance authorization shall be valid for a period of three business
days unless a further extension of time is indicated by the Compliance Officer.
C. Notification of Reporting Obligation - Annual Certification to Board
Members of the Legal Department will be responsible for notifying all access
persons about the duty to forward trade confirmations to the Compliance Officer.
Once informed of the duty to forward trade confirmations, an access person has a
continuing obligation to provide such confirms, in a timely manner, until such
time as notified otherwise. Information compiled in Compliance Officer reports
is available for inspection by the SEC or other regulatory authorities at any
time during the five-year period following the end of the fiscal year in which
each report is made.
Annually, the Legal Department will prepare a written " Issues and Certification
Report" for the Board that:
- - describes any issues that have arisen under this Code of Ethics or its
procedures since the last report, including information about material Code of
Ethics or procedure violations and sanctions imposed in response to those
violations; and
- - certifies to the Board that the adopted Code of Ethics and its procedures
provide reasonably necessary measures to prevent investment personnel from
violating the Code and applicable procedures.
The Code of Ethics and any material changes to its provisions and/or procedures
must be approved by a majority of the Board, including a majority of the
independent directors.
D. Restrictions as to Gifts, Entertainment, Favors and Directorships
1. Gifts, Entertainment and Favors. Access Persons must not make business
decisions that are influenced or appear to be influenced by giving or accepting
gifts, entertainment or favors. Access persons are prohibited from receiving any
gift or other thing of more than de minimis value from any person or entity that
does business with or on behalf of Calvert Asset Management Company,
Calvert-Sloan Advisers, or Calvert Distributors Inc. Invitations to an
occasional meal, sporting event or other similar activity will not be deemed to
violate this restriction unless the occurrence of such events is so frequent or
lavish as to suggest an impropriety. The President/CEO of Calvert Group must
approve the acceptance of any gift, entertainment or favor with a per gift value
of more than $100.00.
2. Directorships.
(a) General Rule:
No access person, other than a Disinterested Fund Director/Trustee, may serve on
the Board of Directors of a publicly-held or private for-profit company absent
prior written approval from the Calvert Group, Ltd. Board of Directors and/or
the applicable Fund's Board of Directors/Trustees. Disinterested
Directors/Trustees must provide annual disclosure about directorships and other
potential conflicts of interest.
(b) Applications for Approval:
Applications for approval to serve as a director of a publicly traded or private
for-profit company shall be directed, in writing, to the office of the General
Counsel for prompt forwarding to the Calvert Group, Ltd. Board of Directors and
the respective Fund's Board of Directors/Trustees. Authorization may be granted
where it is determined that such board service would be consistent with the
interests of the Funds and their shareholders.
(c) Subsequent Investment Management Activities:
Whenever an access person is granted approval to serve as a director of a
publicly-traded or private for-profit company, he or she shall personally
refrain from participating in any deliberation, recommendations, or
considerations of whether or not to recommend that any securities of that
company be purchased, sold or retained in the investment portfolio of any
Calvert Group Fund or Calvert Asset Management Company managed account.
E. Enforcement and Sanctions
Each violation of this Code shall be reported to the Board of
Directors/Trustees of the applicable Fund or entity at or before the next
regular meeting of the Board. Upon discovering or otherwise being informed of a
violation of this Code, the Board of Directors/Trustees may take any action it
deems appropriate including, inter alia, a letter of censure, termination with
respect to portfolio management duties regarding the Fund, or recommending to
the operating companies, suspension or removal from office, imposition of a fine
or termination of employment of the violator.
F. Recordkeeping
Each entity shall maintain such lists, records, and reports as are required
by law.
G. Insider Trading Policy and Procedures
1. Scope of Policy Statement
This Policy Statement is drafted broadly; it will be applied and
interpreted in a similar manner. This Policy Statement applies to securities
trading and information handling by all access persons.
The law of insider trading is unsettled; an individual legitimately may be
uncertain about the application of the Policy Statement in a particular
circumstance. Often, a single question can forestall disciplinary action or
complex legal problems. You should direct any questions relating to the Policy
Statement to an attorney in the Calvert Group Legal Department. You must also
notify an attorney in the Legal Department if you have any reason to believe
that a violation of the Policy Statement has occurred or is about to occur.
2. Policy Statement on Insider Trading
Calvert forbids any officer, director\trustee or employee from trading,
either personally or on behalf of others, including mutual funds managed by
Calvert, on material nonpublic information or communicating material nonpublic
information to others in violation of the law. This conduct is frequently
referred to as "insider trading." Calvert's policy applies to each Fund, its
investment advisor, its principal underwriter, and every officer, director and
employee thereof, and extends to activities within and outside their duties at
Calvert. Every officer, director, trustee and employee must read and retain this
policy statement. Any questions regarding Calvert's policy and procedures should
be referred to an attorney in the Calvert Legal Department. An officer,
director, trustee or employee must notify an attorney in the Legal Department
immediately if they have any reason to believe that a violation of the Policy
Statement has occurred or is about to occur.
The term "insider trading" is not defined in the federal securities laws,
but generally is used to refer to the use of material nonpublic information to
trade in securities (whether or not one is an "insider") or to communications of
material nonpublic information to others.
While the law concerning insider trading is not static, it is generally
understood that the law prohibits:
a) trading by an insider, while in possession of material
nonpublic information; or
b) trading by a non-insider, while in possession of material nonpublic
information, where the information either was disclosed to the non-insider in
violation of an insider's duty to keep it confidential or was misappropriated;
or
c) communicating material nonpublic information to others.
i. Who is an Insider?
The concept of "insider" is broad. It includes officers, directors,
trustees and employees of a company. In addition, a person can be a "temporary
insider" if he or she enters into a special confidential relationship in the
conduct of a company's affairs and as a result is given access to information
solely for the company's purposes. A temporary insider can include, among
others, a company's attorneys, accountants, consultants, bank lending officers,
and the employees of such organizations. In addition, Calvert may become a
temporary insider of a company it advises or for which it performs other
services. According to the Supreme Court, the company must expect the outsider
to keep the disclosed nonpublic information confidential and the relationship
must at least imply such a duty before the outsider will be considered an
insider.
ii. What is Material Information?
Trading on inside information is not a basis for liability unless the
information is material. "Material Information" generally is defined as
information for which there is a substantial likelihood that a reasonable
investor would consider it important in making his or her investment decisions,
or information that is reasonably certain to have a substantial effect on the
price of a company's securities. Information that officers, directors and
employees should consider material includes, but is not limited to: dividend
changes, earnings estimates, changes in previously released earnings estimates,
significant merger or acquisition proposals or agreements, major litigation,
liquidation problems, and extraordinary management developments.
Material information also may relate to the market for a company's securities.
Information about a significant order to purchase or sell securities may, in
some contexts, be deemed material. Similarly, prepublication information
regarding reports in the financial press also may be deemed material. For
example, the Supreme Court upheld the criminal convictions of insider trading
defendants who capitalized on prepublication information about the Wall Street
Journal's Heard on the Street column.
It is conceivable that similar advance reports of securities to be bought or
sold by a large, influential institutional investor, such as a Fund, may be
deemed material to an investment in those portfolio securities. Advance
knowledge of important proposed government regulation, for example, could also
be deemed material information regarding companies in the regulated industry.
iii. What is Nonpublic Information?
Information is nonpublic until it has been disseminated broadly to investors in
the market place. Tangible evidence of such dissemination is the best indication
that the information is public. For example, information is public after it has
become available to the general public through a public filing with the SEC or
some other governmental agency, the Dow Jones "tape" or the Wall Street Journal
or some other publication of general circulation, and after sufficient time has
passed so that the information has been disseminated widely
iv. Penalties for Insider Trading
Penalties for trading on or communicating material nonpublic
information are severe, both for individuals involved in such unlawful conduct
and their employers. A person can be subject to some or all of the penalties
below even if he or she does not personally benefit from the violation.
Penalties include:
- - civil injunctions
- - treble damages
- - disgorgement of profits
- - jail sentences
- - fines for the person who committed the violation of up to three times the
profit gained or loss avoided, whether or not the person actually benefited, and
- - fines for the employer or other controlling person of up to the greater of
$1,000,000 or three times the amount of the profit gained or loss avoided.
In addition, any violation of this policy statement can be expected to
result in serious sanctions by Calvert, up to and including dismissal of the
persons involved.
3. Identifying Inside Information
Before a Calvert employee executes any trade for him/herself or on
behalf of others, including investment companies managed by Calvert, in the
securities of a company about which the employee may have potential inside
information, the following questions should be considered:
a) Is the information material? Is this information that an investor
would consider important in making his or her investment decisions? Is this
information that would substantially affect the market price of the securities
if generally disclosed?
b) Is the information nonpublic? How was the information obtained? To
whom has this information been provided? Has the information been disseminated
broadly to investors in the marketplace by being published in Reuters, The Wall
Street Journal or other publications of general circulation? Is it on file with
the Securities and Exchange Commission?
If, after consideration of the above, it is found that the information is
material and nonpublic, or if there are questions as to whether the information
is material and nonpublic, the following steps should be taken:
a) Report the matter immediately to the Compliance Officer or an
attorney in the Legal Department.
b) The securities should not be purchased or sold by the officer,
director, trustee or employee for him/herself or on behalf of others, including
investment companies managed by Calvert.
c) The information should not be communicated inside or outside
Calvert, other than to the Legal Department.
d) After the issue has been reviewed, the Legal Department will
instruct the officer, director, or employee as to whether to continue the
prohibitions against trading and communication, or allowing the trade and
communication of the information.
4. Contacts with Public Companies.
For Calvert, contacts with public companies represent an important part of
our research efforts. Calvert may make investment decisions on the basis of the
firm's conclusions formed through such contacts and analysis of
publicly-available information. Difficult legal issues arise, however, when, in
the course of these contacts, a Calvert employee or other person subject to this
Policy Statement becomes aware of material, nonpublic information. This could
happen, for example, if a company's chief financial officer prematurely
discloses quarterly results to an analyst or an investor relation representative
makes a selective disclosure of adverse news to a handful of investors. In such
situation, Calvert must make a judgment as to its further conduct. For the
protection of the company and its employees, the Legal Department should be
contacted if an employee believes that he/she has received material, nonpublic
information.
5. Tender Offers
Tender offers represent a particular concern in the law of insider trading
for two reasons. First, tender offer activity often produces extraordinary
gyrations in the price of the target company's securities. Trading during this
time period is more likely to attract regulatory attention (and produces a
disproportionate percentage of insider trading cases). Second, the SEC has
adopted a rule which expressly forbids trading and "tipping" while in possession
of material, nonpublic information regarding a tender offer received from the
tender offeror, the target company or anyone acting on behalf of either. Calvert
employees and others subject to this Policy Statement should exercise particular
caution any time they become aware of nonpublic information relating to a tender
offer.
6. Education
Another aspect of Calvert's compliance procedures will be to keep Calvert
personnel and other access persons informed. This memorandum serves as a basic
primer on what constitutes inside information and periodic memoranda will be
distributed, particularly when a significant case dealing with the subject has
been decided.
All new employees will be given a copy of this statement and will be
required to read it and agree to its conditions. All employees will be required
to confirm their understanding and acknowledgment of the statement on an annual
basis.
Attachment A
[GRAPHIC OMITED]
MEMO
To: Legal Department; Compliance
From:
Re: Prior Approval of Access Person Trading in Securities
The following proposed security(ies) transaction(s) was (were) reviewed by the
Fund, or designated employee of the Advisor (Chief Investment Officer or
Director of Research) pursuant to Calvert Group's Code of Ethics:
Name of Advisory Person:
Security (ies) to be Purchased or Sold:
Basis of Approval or Denial:
Fund or Advisor Designee Signature
Signature Page
CODE OF ETHICS AND INSIDER TRADING POLICY AND PROCEDURES
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT FORM
I have read and understand Calvert Group's Code of Ethics and Insider Trading
Policy and Procedures and will comply in all respects with such procedures.
Signature Date
Print Name
ATTACHMENT B
ACCESS PERSONS SUBJECT TO PRECLEARANCE FOR SECURITIES TRANSACTIONS INCLUDING
PRIVATE PLACEMENTS
Michael Abramo
Fatima Batalvi
Susan Bender
Ying-Wei Chen
Tom Dailey
Ivy Duke
Patrick Faul
Victor Frye
David Gibson
Ceasar Gonzales
Donna Gomez
Greg Habeeb
Dan Hayes
Hui Ping Ho
Mohammed Javaid
Anu Khondokar
Tracy Knight
Barbara Krumsiek
Emmett Long
Reno Martini
Gary Miller
John Nichols
Matt Nottingham
Kendra Plemmons
Carmen Reid
Chris Santos
Bill Tartikoff
Laurie Webster
Ron Wolfsheimer
Mike Yuhas
INVESTMENT PERSONNEL SUBJECT SOLEY TO PRIVATE PLACEMENT PRECLEARANCE
Members of the Special Equities Committee of the Board of Directors/Trustees
The term "entity" will be used for any organization adopting these procedures.
For those organizations which are investment companies as defined under the
Investment Company Act of 1940, the term "Fund" may also be used if applicable.
Access person means any director/trustee, officer, general partner, or employee
of any entity adopting these procedures who participates in the selection of
securities (other than high social impact securities or special equity
securities) or who has access to information regarding impending purchases or
sales [See rule 17 j-1(e)]. The General Counsel or Compliance Officer may
designate any person, including an independent contractor or consultant, as an
access person, who, as such, shall provide signed acknowledgement of the receipt
of these procedures and their applicability. A current list of access persons
and investment personnel subject to preclearance or other requirements shall be
maintained by the Compliance Officer.
For this purpose, "securities" include options on securities and securities that
are convertible into or exchangeable for securities held or to be acquired by a
fund. A security is being considered for purchase once a recommendation has
been documented, communicated and under serious evaluation by the purchaser or
seller. Evidence of consideration may include such things as approved
recommendations in current research reports, pending or active order tickets,
and a watch list of securities under current evaluation.
Disinterested Directors and/or Trustees as defined by the Investment Company Act
of 1940, are excluded from the duplicate statement and confirmation requirement
unless the General Counsel or Compliance Officer imposes a different standard
due to an entity's active trading strategy and/or the information available to
the Disinterested Directors and/or Trustees.
All account information is subject to regulatory review. The trade confirmations
of persons other than disinterested directors or trustees may be disclosed to
other senior officers of the Fund or to legal counsel as deemed necessary for
compliance purposes and to otherwise administer the Code of Ethics.