See All of This Company's Exhibits
Exhibit (h)(2)(i)
GRANTHAM, MAYO, VAN OTTERLOO & CO. LLC
Amended and Restated Notification of Undertaking to
Reimburse Selected Fund Expenses and Waive Selected Fees
NOTIFICATION made as of December 20, 2024 by GRANTHAM, MAYO, VAN OTTERLOO & CO. LLC, a Massachusetts limited liability company (the Advisor), to GMO TRUST, a Massachusetts business trust (the Trust).
WHEREAS, the Advisor has historically paid for some of the operating expenses of the series of the Trust (the Funds); and
WHEREAS, the Advisor has historically waived some or all of the management and shareholder service fees charged by Funds that invest in other Funds in order to prevent the double payment of such fees; and
WHEREAS, the Advisor wishes to simplify those expense reimbursement undertakings and combine them into one document; and
WHEREAS, the Advisor notified the Trust of the Advisors undertaking as of June 30, 2024 to reimburse selected fund expenses and waive selected fees with respect to the Funds and the Trust (the Prior Notification); and
WHEREAS, the Advisor wishes to amend and restate the Prior Notification to reflect its undertaking to reimburse selected fund expenses and waive selected fees with respect to GMO Multi-Asset Credit Fund and GMO MAC Implementation Fund, each a newly created series of GMO Trust.
NOW, THEREFORE, the Advisor hereby notifies the Trust that, provided that the fee rates set forth in (i) the Management Contracts between each Fund and the Advisor and (ii) the Amended and Restated Servicing and Supplemental Support Agreement between the Trust and the Advisor remain unchanged, the Advisor shall, as set forth below, bear a portion of the expenses of the Funds through June 30, 2025 (and any subsequent periods as may be designated by the Advisor by notice to the Trust) and, with respect to GMO Multi-Asset Credit Fund and GMO MAC Implementation Fund, through December 20, 2025. During the period covered by this Notification, the arrangements set forth below may only be modified by the mutual consent of the Advisor and the Trust (such consent in the case of the Trust to require a majority vote of the non-interested trustees of the Trust (as defined under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended)).
Operating Expense Reimbursement
All Funds listed on Exhibit A
The Advisor will reimburse each Fund listed on Exhibit A for its Specified Operating Expenses (as defined below).
Funds with Expense Threshold Amount
The Advisor will reimburse each Fund for the portion of its Specified Operating Expenses (as defined below) that exceed the percentage of the Funds average daily net assets (the Expense Threshold Amount) set forth in the table below.
Fund |
Expense |
|||
GMO Resources Fund |
0.10 | % | ||
GMO U.S. Small Cap Value Fund |
0.10 | % | ||
GMO Opportunistic Income Fund |
||||
GMO U.S. Equity Fund |
||||
GMO International Equity Fund |
||||
GMO Multi-Sector Fixed Income Fund |
||||
GMO-Usonian Japan Value Creation Fund |
||||
GMO International Opportunistic Value Fund |
0.02 | % | ||
GMO Quality Cyclicals Fund |
||||
GMO Asset Allocation Bond Fund |
||||
GMO Emerging Country Debt Shares Fund |
||||
GMO U.S. Opportunistic Value Fund |
||||
GMO Implementation Fund |
Specified Operating Expenses
As used in this Notification, subject to the exceptions noted below, Specified Operating Expenses means: audit expenses, fund accounting and administration expenses, pricing service expenses, expenses of non-investment related tax services, transfer agency expenses (excluding any amounts paid to financial intermediaries for sub-transfer agency, recordkeeping and other administrative services provided with respect to Class I shareholders), expenses of non-investment related legal services provided to the Funds by or at the direction of the Advisor, organizational and start-up expenses, federal securities law filing expenses, printing expenses, state and federal registration fees and custody expenses. In the case of GMO Emerging Markets Fund, Specified Operating Expenses does not include custody expenses, and in the case of GMO Benchmark-Free Fund, Specified Operating Expenses does not include the Funds direct custody expenses attributable to its holdings of emerging market securities.
-2-
With respect to each Fund with an Expense Threshold Amount, the Advisor shall be permitted to recover from the Fund, on a class-by-class basis, expenses it has borne or reimbursed subsequent to the effective date of this Notification (whether through reduction of its management fee or otherwise) to the extent that the Funds Specified Operating Expenses in subsequent periods fall below the lesser of (1) the expense limit in effect at the time the Advisor waives or limits the expenses and (2) the expense limit in effect at the time the Advisor seeks to recover the expenses; provided, however, that such Fund will not be obligated to pay any amounts more than three years after the Advisor bore or reimbursed such amounts.
For GMO Climate Change Fund, GMO Alternative Allocation Fund, GMO Emerging Markets ex-China Fund, GMO High Yield Fund, GMO Quality Fund, GMO Resource Transition Fund, GMO Small Cap Quality Fund, and GMO Multi-Asset Credit Fund.
For each of the Funds noted above, the Advisor will reimburse the Fund to the extent necessary to prevent the Funds total annual fund operating expenses, exclusive of: (i) fees and expenses of the Independent Trustees and legal counsel to the Independent Trustees1, (ii) investment-related costs, such as brokerage commissions, interest, and acquired fund fees and expenses, (iii) taxes, (iv) litigation and indemnification expenses, (v) judgments, (vi) in the case of Class I shares, payments to intermediaries for sub-transfer agency, recordkeeping and other administrative services with respect to Class I shareholders and (vii) other extraordinary or non-recurring expenses not incurred in the ordinary course of the Funds business (collectively, Excluded Expenses), from exceeding the following amounts for each class of shares, in each case representing the average daily net assets for the indicated class of shares (each, an Expense Cap):
Class II | Class III | Class IV | Class V | Class VI | Class R6 | Class I | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Climate Change Fund |
N/A | 0.77 | % | 0.72 | % | 0.705 | % | 0.675 | % | 0.77 | % | 0.77 | % | |||||||||||||||
Alternative Allocation Fund |
0.99 | % | 0.92 | % | 0.875 | % | 0.855 | % | 0.825 | % | 0.99 | % | 0.99 | % | ||||||||||||||
Emerging Markets ex-China Fund |
0.85 | % | 0.80 | % | 0.75 | % | 0.70 | % | 0.67 | % | 0.85 | % | 0.85 | % | ||||||||||||||
High Yield Fund |
N/A | 0.55 | % | 0.50 | % | 0.485 | % | 0.455 | % | 0.55 | % | 0.55 | % | |||||||||||||||
Quality Fund |
N/A | 0.50 | % | 0.455 | % | 0.435 | % | 0.405 | % | 0.50 | % | 0.50 | % | |||||||||||||||
Resource Transition Fund |
N/A | 0.95 | % | 0.90 | % | 0.885 | % | 0.855 | % | 0.95 | % | 0.95 | % | |||||||||||||||
Small Cap Quality Fund |
N/A | 0.75 | % | 0.70 | % | 0.685 | % | 0.655 | % | 0.75 | % | 0.75 | % | |||||||||||||||
Multi-Asset Credit Fund |
0.57 | % | 0.52 | % | 0.47 | % | N/A | N/A | 0.57 | % | 0.57 | % |
GMO shall be permitted to recover from the Fund, on a class-by-class basis, expenses it has borne or reimbursed pursuant to the reimbursement set forth in the preceding paragraph and table (whether through reduction of its management fee or otherwise) to the extent that a Funds total
1 | Following discussions with the Board in connection with last years insurance renewals, GMO will treat insurance premiums for the dedicated Independent Trustee Side A policy as an expense of the Independent Trustees. |
-3-
annual operating expenses (less Excluded Expenses) in subsequent periods fall below the lesser of (1) the Expense Cap in effect at the time GMO waives or limits the expenses and (2) the Expense Cap in effect at the time GMO seeks to recover the expenses; provided, however, that the Fund will not be obligated to pay any amounts more than three years after GMO bore or reimbursed such amounts.
For all Funds offering Class I Shares
The Advisor will reimburse Class I shares of each Fund (other than Emerging Markets Fund and Multi-Asset Credit Fund) to the extent that amounts paid by the Fund out of the net assets attributable to Class I shares to financial intermediaries for sub-transfer agency, recordkeeping and other administrative services provided with respect to Class I shareholders exceed 0.15% of the average daily net assets attributable to Class I shares. The Advisor will reimburse Class I shares of Emerging Markets Fund and Multi-Asset Credit Fund to the extent that the amounts paid by each Fund out of the net assets attributable to financial intermediaries for sub-transfer agency, recordkeeping and other administrative services provided with respect to Class I shareholders exceed 0.10% (Emerging Markets Fund) and 0.8% (Multi-Asset Credit Fund) of the average daily net assets attributable to Class I shares.
Management Fee Waiver
For each Fund (other than GMO Benchmark-Free Allocation Fund2) that pays the Advisor a management fee, the Advisor will waive or reduce the Funds management fee, but not below zero, to the extent necessary to offset the management fees paid to the Advisor that are directly or indirectly borne by the Fund as a result of the Funds direct or indirect investments in other GMO Funds.
Shareholder Service Fee Waiver
For each Fund (other than GMO Benchmark-Free Allocation Fund3) that charges a shareholder service fee, the Advisor will waive or reduce the shareholder service fee charged to holders of each class of shares of the Fund, but not below zero, to the extent necessary to offset the shareholder service fees directly or indirectly borne by the class of shares of the Fund as a result of the Funds direct or indirect investments in other GMO Funds.
In addition, the Advisor will waive the shareholder service fees charged to holders of each class of shares of GMO Emerging Markets Fund listed below, but not below zero, to the extent necessary to prevent the shareholder service fees borne by each class from exceeding the specified percentage of the classs average daily net assets (the Shareholder Service Fee Expense Limitation) set forth below.
2 | GMO Benchmark-Free Allocation Funds management contract contains a contractual management fee reduction. |
3 | The Trusts Amended and Restated Servicing and Supplemental Support Agreement contains a contractual shareholder service fee reduction for GMO Benchmark-Free Allocation Fund. |
-4-
Class |
Shareholder Service Fee Expense Limitation |
|||
II |
0.20 | % | ||
III |
0.15 | % | ||
IV |
0.10 | % | ||
V |
0.05 | % | ||
VI |
0.02 | % | ||
R6 |
0.20 | % | ||
I |
0.20 | % |
Miscellaneous
In providing this Notification, the Advisor understands and acknowledges that the Trust intends to rely on this Notification, including in connection with the preparation and printing of the Trusts prospectuses and its daily calculation of each Funds or classs net asset value.
Please be advised that all previous notifications by the Advisor with respect to fee waivers and/or expense limitations regarding any of the Funds shall hereafter be null and void and of no further force and effect.
[Signatures appear on the following page]
-5-
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the Advisor has executed this Notification on the day and year first above written.
GRANTHAM, MAYO, VAN OTTERLOO & CO. LLC | ||
By: | /s/ Douglas Y. Charton | |
Name: | Douglas Y Charton | |
Title: | Counsel |
ACKNOWLEDGED AND AGREED: GMO TRUST, on behalf of each of its series | ||
By: | /s/ Douglas Y. Charton | |
Name: | Douglas Y Charton | |
Title: | Vice President-Law |
This instrument is executed on behalf of Grantham, Mayo, Van Otterloo & Co. LLC (GMO) by a duly authorized officer or other agent solely in his or her capacity as an authorized signatory, pursuant to delegated authority from GMO, and not individually. The obligations of or arising out of this instrument are not binding upon any officer or other agent, partner, member or director of GMO individually, but are binding only upon GMO and its assets. A Certificate of Organization of GMO is on file with the Secretary of The Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
A copy of the Amended and Restated Agreement and Declaration of Trust of the Trust is on file with the Secretary of The Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and notice is hereby given that this instrument is executed on behalf of the Trustees of the Trust as Trustees and not individually and that the obligations of this instrument are not binding upon any of the Trustees or shareholders individually but are binding only upon the assets and property of the Funds.
-6-
Exhibit A |
Emerging Markets Fund |
U.S. Treasury Fund |
Benchmark-Free Allocation Fund |
International Equity Allocation Fund |
Global Asset Allocation Fund |
Global Equity Allocation Fund |
Strategic Opportunities Allocation Fund |
Global Developed Equity Allocation Fund |
International Developed Equity Allocation Fund |
Benchmark-Free Fund |
MAC Implementation Fund |
-7-