1.00% of the first $50 million of the Funds average weekly net assets, 0.95% of the next $50 million and 0.90% of amounts above $100 million. For the six-month period ended June 30, 2013, AAMAL earned $610,304 for advisory services to the Fund.
(b) Fund Administration:
BBH & Co. is the Administrator for the Fund and certain other funds advised by AAMAL and its affiliates (collectively the Funds). The Funds pay BBH & Co. a monthly administration and fund accounting service fee at an annual rate of 0.02% of the Funds aggregate assets up to $250 million, 0.015% for the next $250 million and 0.01% in excess of $500 million.
Each Fund pays its pro rata portion of the fee based on its level of assets, with a monthly minimum of $2,500. For the six-month period ended June 30, 2013, BBH & Co. earned $14,875 from the Fund for administrative and fund accounting services.
(c) Investor Relations:
Under the terms of an Investor Relations Services Agreement, Aberdeen Asset Management Inc. (AAMI), an affiliate of AAMAL, provides investor relations services to the Fund and certain other funds advised by AAMAL or its affiliates.
Pursuant to the terms of the Investor Relations Services Agreement, AAMI, among other things, provides objective and timely information to shareholders based on publicly-available information; provides information efficiently through the use of technology while offering shareholders immediate access to knowledgeable investor relations representatives; develops and maintains effective communications with investment professionals from a wide variety of firms; creates and maintains investor relations communication materials such as fund manager interviews, films and webcasts, published white papers, magazine and articles and other relevant materials discussing the Funds investment results, portfolio positioning and outlook; develops and maintains effective communications with large institutional shareholders; responds to specific shareholder questions; and reports activities and results to the Board and management detailing insight into general shareholder sentiment.
For the six-month period ended June 30, 2013, the Fund paid fees of approximately $28,574 investor relations services. Investor relations fees and expenses in the Statement of Operations include certain out-of pocket expenses.
(d) Director Purchase Plan:
Fifty percent (50%) of the annual retainer of the Independent Directors is invested in Fund shares and, at the option of each Independent Director, 100% of the annual retainer can be invested in shares of the Fund. During
the six-month period ended June 30, 2013, there was no retainer paid to the Directors and therefore were no shares purchased pursuant to the Directors compensation plan. As of June 30, 2013, the Directors as a group owned less than 1% of the Funds outstanding shares.
4. Investment Transactions
For the six-month period ended June 30, 2013, Fund purchases and sales of securities, other than short-term investments, were $8,190,710 and $12,665,350, respectively.
5. Capital
The authorized capital stock of the Fund is 100,000,000 shares of common stock, $0.001 par value. As of June 30, 2013, the Fund had 9,485,247 shares issued and outstanding.
On December 7, 2012 the Board of Directors announced that it declared the payment of an elective cash distribution to be paid in the amount of $2.27950 per share of common stock on January 31, 2013 to shareholders of record at the close of business on December 21, 2012. As announced, the distribution was payable in the Funds common stock. However, shareholders had the option to request that their distributions be paid in cash in lieu of common stock. The aggregate amount of cash distributions to all stockholders was limited to 20% of the aggregate dollar amount of the total distribution. Because cash distribution requests exceeded this limit, the Fund prorated the cash distribution among all stockholders who made such requests. Shareholders who requested cash distributions received $0.67042 per share or 29.41% of the distribution in cash and received the balance in the Funds common stock. For purposes of computing the stock portion of the dividend, the common stock distributed was valued at $12.43 per share, which equaled the average closing price of the Funds common shares on the NYSE MKT on January 23, 2013 and the two preceding trading days. Following the closing of the elective cash distribution, the Funds number of outstanding shares was 9,485,247.
6. Open Market Repurchase Program
The Board authorized, but does not require, management to make open market purchases from time to time in an amount up to 10% of the Funds outstanding shares, in accordance with Rule 10b-18 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and other applicable federal securities laws. Such purchases may be made when, in the reasonable judgment of management, such repurchases may enhance shareholder value and when the Funds shares are trading at a discount to net asset value of 12% or more, subject to intraday fluctuations that may result in repurchases at discounts below 12%. The Board has instructed management to report repurchase activity to it regularly, and to post the number of shares repurchased on the Funds website