Document:

exv10w23

 

Exhibit 10.23 — Amendment to Custodian Agreement

AMENDMENT TO CUSTODIAN AGREEMENT

This Amendment to the Custodian Agreement is dated as of April 23, 2006 by and between U.S.
Global Accolade Funds, a Massachusetts business trust, on behalf of each of the portfolios listed
on Appendix C to the Custodian Agreement (the “Fund”) and attached hereto and Brown Brothers
Harriman & Co., a limited partnership organized under the laws of the State of New York (“BBH”)
(the Fund and BBH collectively known as the “Parties”).

Whereas pursuant to a Custodian Agreement dated as of November 1, 1997, by and between the Fund and
BBH, as amended to date (the “Agreement”) the latter has been appointed (i) custodian for the
purpose of holding foreign securities, cash and cash equivalents outside of the United States, (ii)
administrator, and (iii) fund accounting agent;

Whereas the Parties have agreed to make certain modifications to the Agreement in order to update
and amend the administrative services to be provided by BBH;

Now therefore, for good and valuable consideration, the receipt and sufficiency of which are
acknowledged, the parties hereby agree to amend the Agreement as follows:

III. Amendment to the Agreement

1. The Agreement is hereby amended by deleting the second paragraph of Section 8.5 in its entirety
and substituting therefor with the following:

          “In computing the net asset value, the Custodian may rely upon any information
furnished by Proper Instructions, including without limitation any information (1) as to
accrual of liabilities of the Fund and as to liabilities of the Fund not appearing on the
books of account kept by the Custodian, (2) as to the existence, status and proper treatment
of reserves, if any, authorized by the Fund, (3) as to the sources of quotations which BBH
was authorized to rely upon in computing the net asset value, including those listed in
Appendix B, (4) as to the fair value to be assigned to any securities or other property for
which price quotations are not readily available, and (5) as to the sources of information
with respect to “corporate actions” affecting portfolio securities of the Fund, which
sources BBH in its reasonable judgment shall have deemed appropriate for such information.
(Information as to “corporate actions” shall include information as to dividends,
distributions, stock splits, stock dividends, rights offerings, conversions, exchanges,
recapitalizations, mergers, redemptions, calls, maturity dates and similar transactions,
including the ex- and record dates and the amounts or other terms thereof.) The Fund may
instruct the Custodian to utilize a particular source for the valuation of a specific
Security or other Property and the Custodian shall be protected in utilizing the valuation
provided by such source without further inquiry (save for its usual and customary automated
review of price disparities) in order to effect calculation of the Fund’s net asset value.
Notwithstanding anything in this Agreement to the contrary, provided the Custodian shall
perform its duties under Sections 8.6(3) and 8.6(6) with reasonable care and diligence, the
Custodian shall not be responsible for the failure of the Fund or the Investment Adviser to
provide the Custodian with Proper Instructions regarding liabilities which ought to be
included in the calculation of the Fund’s net asset value.”

2. The Agreement is hereby amended by deleting Section 8.6 in its entirety and substituting
therefor with the following:

“8.6 Appointment as Administrator.

The Custodian is hereby appointed administrator of the Funds with responsibility for
performing the services set forth in this Section 8.6, subject to the supervision and
direction of the Trustees of the Funds, and subject to any changes or modifications to such
services that the Funds and Custodian shall from time to time agree in writing. In
performing its duties and obligations hereunder, the Custodian shall act in accordance with
the Funds’ Declaration of Trust, By-laws (or comparable documents) and Prospectus and
Statement of Additional Information and with the Proper Instructions of its Trustees,
Treasurer and any other person reasonably believed by the Custodian to be authorized to act
on behalf of the Funds. It is agreed and understood, however, that the Custodian shall not
be responsible for compliance of any Fund’s investments with any applicable documents, laws
or regulations, or for losses, costs or expenses arising out

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of such Fund’s failure to comply with said documents, laws, regulations, or for losses,
costs, or expenses arising out of the Fund’s failure or inability to correct any
non-compliance therewith and shall be protected in acting on any direction from the Funds’
Investment Advisor, Trustees, Treasurer and any other person reasonably believe by the
Custodian to be authorized to act on behalf of the Funds.

(1) Shareholder Reports. The Custodian shall accumulate information for and prepare
one annual and one semi-annual shareholder report for the Funds per fiscal year, such
preparation includes but is not limited to, the coordination of all printer and author
edits, the review of printer drafts and the coordination of the audit of the Funds by its
independent public auditor (e.g. manage open items lists, host weekly audit meeting, etc.)

(2) Regulatory Filings to the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Custodian
shall accumulate information for and prepare one annual report and one semi-annual report on
Form N-SAR, one first fiscal quarter report and one third fiscal quarter report on Form N-Q
and one annual Rule 24f-2 Notice for the Funds, as requested by the Funds’ Treasurer. Upon
acceptance of these reports by each of the Funds, the Custodian shall edgarize and file such
reports, including the edgarizing and filing of any applicable executed officer
certifications. The Custodian shall also prepare a 13f report and shall submit said report
to the Fund for review on a quarterly basis. For avoidance of doubt, the Custodian shall
not be responsible for approving or filing 13f reports.

(3) Treasurer Support Services. The Custodian shall provide the following support
services to the Treasurer of the Funds:

a. Expenses. The Custodian shall prepare all expense invoices for authorization
by the Funds and shall process all such authorized expenses. The Custodian shall review
all contractual expenses of the Funds submitted by the Investment Advisor prior to
processing such expenses. The Custodian shall prepare and periodically review the
expense accruals for all fixed vendor expenses of the Funds.

b. Budgets. The Custodian shall prepare and provide an analysis of each Fund’s
budget at the end of each fiscal quarter, which shall include a review of each Fund’s
fixed expenses accruals and recommendations, if any, for budget adjustments.

c. Monthly Expense Reports. The Custodian shall prepare and review Monthly
Expense Reports, which shall consist of for each Fund, (i) a reconciliation of fund
accounting monthly expenses to fund administration monthly expenses, (ii) a basis point
summary sheet, (iii) a cash disbursements journal, (iv) an expense accrual analysis
worksheet and (v) an average net assets worksheet.

d. Quarterly Reporting. In the Funds’ preparation of its quarterly reporting to
its Board of Trustees, the Custodian shall prepare various quarterly reports, which
shall consist of (i) a cost versus market value analysis for the applicable portfolios
listed on Appendix C attached hereto, (ii) an expense ratio report, (iii) an exit fee
calculation report and (iv) a portfolio turnover calculation report and shall provide
the broker reports that are electronically downloaded from the Custodian’s accounting
system and have been requested by the Funds.

(4) Compliance Support. The Custodian shall perform, in accordance with operating
procedures as the Custodian and the Funds shall from time to time agree in writing,
administrative compliance monitoring of the Funds with respect to the investment objectives,
restrictions and policies set forth in (i) the Fund’s current prospectus and statement of
additional information provided by the Funds, or otherwise available to the Custodian, (ii)
the 1940 Act and (iii) applicable IRS rules and regulations, using both manual compliance
testing and an automatic compliance system currently utilized by the Custodian through an
unaffiliated third party vendor. Any changes or modifications to the administrative
compliance monitoring provided by the Custodian shall be agreed upon by the Funds and the
Custodian in writing. In performing its compliance monitoring services, the Custodian shall
use post net asset value compliance monitoring.

a. The Custodian and the Funds agreed that each shall promptly notify the other of any
possible non-compliance by the Funds of their investment restrictions and policies.

b. The Custodian agrees that it shall provide the Investment Advisor with a compliance
summary report for the Funds for each fiscal month end.

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c. The Funds agree that they shall remain fully responsible for ensuring compliance of
the investments of the Funds with their investment restrictions and policies and that
assistance provided by the Custodian in monitoring investment restrictions and policies
shall not be deemed to be a delegation of responsibility to the Custodian. In addition,
the Funds agree that the Custodian shall not be liable for the accuracy, completeness or
use of any information or data generated by third party information sources in
connection with such administrative compliance monitoring on any given date.

d. The Funds acknowledge that the compliance monitoring of the investments of the Funds
with respect to investment restrictions and policies is subject to parameters that may
vary over time and that may be beyond the control or knowledge of the Custodian.
Consequently, the results of the monitoring as notified by the Custodian to the Funds
are to be considered merely as an indication of possible non-compliance with the
investment restrictions and policies of the Funds rather than an affirmative statement
as to non-compliance with the investment restrictions and policies. Moreover, the
Custodian might not detect a breach and consequently may not notify the Funds thereof if
information or data in its possession are inaccurate, incomplete or ambiguous. For
avoidance of doubt, the Custodian shall exercise reasonable care in carrying out its
compliance monitoring obligations hereunder.

(5) Fidelity Bond Coverage. The Custodian shall report monthly to the Fund’s
Treasurer on compliance of the Fund’s fidelity bond coverage with Rule 17g-1 of the 1940
Act. For avoidance of doubt, the Custodian shall not be responsible for approving or filing
the fidelity bond.

(6) Performance Information. The Custodian shall prepare the Funds’ performance
analysis reports (including yield and total return information) calculated in accordance
with applicable U.S. securities laws and in reporting portfolio holdings information to
external databases as may reasonably be requested.

(7) Tax Reporting. The Custodian shall assist the Funds’ Treasurer in preparing and
reporting all required information under the Federal, state and applicable local tax laws,
which shall consist of preparing fiscal and excise tax distribution calculations, preparing
and filing federal, state and any local income tax returns, including tax return extension
requests, preparing shareholder year end reporting statements, providing the appropriate
amounts and characterization of distributions declared during the calendar year for Forms
1099 reporting, periodically reviewing and determining the distributions to be paid to
shareholders, consulting with the Funds’ Treasurer regarding potential passive foreign
investment companies, and consulting with the Funds’ Treasurer on various tax issues as they
arise and with the Funds’ outside auditors, as appropriate.

(8) Blue Sky Compliance. The Custodian shall select and monitor an independent
service supplier to provide for reasonable and necessary monitoring of compliance with the
securities regulations of the fifty states of the United States on such terms as the Funds
may direct, or in the absence of such direction, as the Custodian shall reasonably deem
appropriate, provided however, that such arrangement shall require that such service
supplier act with reasonable care in the discharge of its duties. The Custodian shall
deliver to the Funds, or cause to be delivered to the Funds, regular reports and notices
with respect to blue sky compliance and shall be responsible to use reasonable efforts to
enforce the terms of the agreement with the service supplier on the Funds’ behalf. The
Funds shall be responsible to provide copies of its prospectus and other relevant documents
and information relating to the Funds as may be reasonably required for the performance of
state securities law compliance.

(9) Other Assistance. The Custodian shall consult with and assist the Funds’
Treasurer, officers and Investment Advisor in such as other matters as the Funds and the
Custodian shall from time to time agree in writing.

3. The Amendment is hereby amended by deleting Section 12 in its entirety and substituting therefor
with the following:

“12. Compensation. The Fund shall pay the Custodian such fee for custody,
administrative and fund accounting services as set forth in that certain Fee Agreement
between the Fund and the Custodian dated as of June 2005, as may be amended from time to
time by the Custodian and the Fund. Such fee, together with all out-of-pocket expenses for
which the Custodian is to be reimbursed, shall be billed to the Fund and be paid by cash or
wire transfer to the Custodian.”

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4. The Agreement is amended by replacing the existing Appendix B with the attached Appendix B,
which document shall list the sources of quotations approved by the Parties to be used in computing
the net asset value.

5. The Agreement is further amended by replacing the existing Appendix C with the attached Appendix
C, which document shall list the funds served under the Agreement.

IV. Miscellaneous

1. As amended and appended hereby, all terms and provisions of the Agreement are hereby ratified
and affirmed as of the date hereof and are hereby extended to give effect to the terms hereof.

2. Terms not otherwise defined herein shall have the definitions set forth in the Agreement.

3. By signing below where indicated, the Fund hereby ratifies and affirms each of the
representations and warranties set forth in the Agreement and confirms that each representation and
warranty remains true and correct as of the date hereof.

4. This Amendment, the Agreement and the other agreements, documents and certificates referred to
herein or therein constitute the entire understanding of the parties with respect to the subject
matter hereof and thereof and supersede all prior or current understandings and agreements, whether
written or oral.

5. Upon receipt by BBH of a fully executed copy of this Amendment, this Amendment shall be deemed
to be executed as an instrument under seal and governed by such laws as provided in Section 14.6 of
the Agreement. This Amendment may be executed in original counterparts, each of which shall be
deemed an original, but all of which together shall constitute one and the same Amendment.

	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 
	U.S. GLOBAL ACCOLADE FUNDS	 	BROWN BROTHERS HARRIMAN & CO.
	AS THE FUND	 	AS SERVICE PROVIDER
	 
	By:

	 	/s/ Susan B. McGee
 

Name: Susan B. McGee
	 	 	 	By:
	 	/s/ James R. Kent
 

Name: James R. Kent
	 	 
	 

	 	Title: Executive Vice President
	 	 	 	 	 	Title: Managing Director	 	 

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APPENDIX B

DATED AS OF MARCH 23, 2006

TO

CUSTODIAN AGREEMENT

WITH RESPECT TO

ADMINISTRATIVE AND FUND ACCOUNTING AGENCY SERVICES

THE FOLLOWING AUTHORIZED SOURCES ARE TO BE USED FOR PRICING:

AUTHORIZED SOURCES

BLOOMBERG

Fund Managers of the Advisor

INTERACTIVE DATA CORPORATION

REPUTABLE BROKERS

REUTERS

SUBCUSTODIAN

BANKS

TELEKURS

REPUTABLE FINANCIAL PUBLICATIONS

STOCK EXCHANGES

JJ KENNY

FRI CORPORATION

BRIDGE

FOREIGN EXCHANGE QUOTATIONS

PRICES ARE RETRIEVED DAILY @ 12:00 PM (NOON) EST

FOREIGN EXCHANGE AUTHORIZED SOURCE:

REUTERS

	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 
	APPROVED:

	 	/s/ Susan B. McGee
 

	
 
	
 
	 
	5/25/06
 

	 	 
	 	 	 	 	 	 	
DATE
	 	 

90

 

APPENDIX C

DATED AS OF MARCH 23, 2006

TO

CUSTODIAN AGREEMENT

WITH RESPECT TO

ADMINISTRATIVE AND FUND ACCOUNTING AGENCY SERVICES

The following is a list of Investment Companies for which BBH shall perform services
under a Custodian Agreement dated as of November 1, 1997, as amended.

U.S. Global Accolade Funds, a Massachusetts Business Trust, on behalf of each of the
following series:

MegaTrends Fund

Eastern European Fund

Holmes Growth Fund

Global Emerging Markets Fund

91WARRANT
CLARIFICATION AGREEMENT

This Warrant Clarification
Agreement (this ‘‘Agreement’’), dated
September  6,  2006, is to the Warrant Agreement, dated as
of April  18,  2005 (the ‘‘Warrant
Agreement’’), by and between Terra Nova Acquisition
Corporation, a Delaware corporation
(‘‘Company’’), and Continental Stock
Transfer & Trust Company, a New York corporation
(‘‘Warrant Agent’’).

WHEREAS,
Section 3.3.2 of the Warrant Agreement provides that Company shall not
be obligated to deliver any securities pursuant to the exercise of a
warrant unless a registration statement under the Securities Act of
1933, as amended (‘‘Securities Act’’), with
respect to the common stock is effective.

WHEREAS, in
furtherance of the foregoing, the Company’s final prospectus,
dated April  18,  2005, indicated (i) that no warrant would
be exercisable unless at the time of exercise a prospectus relating to
the common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrant is current and
the common stock has been registered under the Securities Act or
qualified or deemed to be exempt under the securities laws of the state
of residence of the holder of the warrant and (ii) that the warrant may
be deprived of any value and the market for the warrant may be limited
if the prospectus relating to the common stock issuable upon the
exercise of the warrant is not current or if the common stock is not
qualified or exempt from qualification in the jurisdictions in which
the holder of the warrant resides.

WHEREAS, as a result of
certain questions that have arisen regarding the accounting treatment
applicable to the warrants, the parties hereto deem it necessary and
desirable to amend the Warrant Agreement to clarify that the registered
holders do not have the right to receive a net cash settlement in the
event the Company does not maintain a current prospectus relating to
the common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants at the time
such warrants are exercisable.

NOW, THEREFORE, in
consideration of the mutual agreements contained herein and other good
and valuable consideration, the receipt and sufficiency of which are
hereby acknowledged, and intending to be legally bound hereby, the
parties hereto agree to amend the Warrant Agreement as set forth
herein.

1.    Warrant Agreement.    The Warrant
Agreement is hereby amended by adding the following sentence as the
penultimate sentence of Section
3.3.2:

‘‘Furthermore, if the
Company is unable to deliver any securities pursuant to the exercise of
a Warrant as a result of the foregoing situations, the Company will
have no obligation to pay such registered holder any cash or other
consideration or otherwise ‘‘net cash
settle’’ the
Warrant.’’

2.    Miscellaneous.

(a)    Governing
Law.    The validity, interpretation, and performance of this
Agreement and of the Warrants shall be governed in all respects by the
laws of the State of New York, without giving effect to conflicts of
law principles that would result in the application of the substantive
laws of another jurisdiction. The Company hereby agrees that any
action, proceeding or claim against it arising out of or relating in
any way to this Agreement shall be brought and enforced in the courts
of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the
Southern District of New York, and irrevocably submits to such
jurisdiction, which jurisdiction shall be exclusive. The Company hereby
waives any objection to such exclusive jurisdiction and that such
courts represent an inconvenient forum. Any such process or summons to
be served upon the Company may be served by transmitting a copy thereof
by registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, postage
prepaid, addressed to it at the address set forth in Section 9.2 of the
Warrant Agreement. Such mailing shall be deemed personal service and
shall be legal and binding upon the Company in any action, proceeding
or claim.

(b)    Binding Effect.    This Agreement
shall be binding upon and inure to the benefit of the parties hereto
and to their respective heirs, legal representatives, successors and
assigns.

(c)    Entire Agreement.    This
Agreement sets forth the entire agreement and understanding between the
parties as to the subject matter thereof and merges and supersedes all
prior discussions, 

agreements and understandings of any and every
nature among them. Except as set forth in this Agreement, provisions of
the Warrant Agreement which are not inconsistent with this Agreement
shall remain in full force and effect. This Agreement may be executed
in counterparts.

(d)    Severability.    This
Agreement shall be deemed severable, and the invalidity or
unenforceability of any term or provision hereof shall not affect the
validity or enforceability of this Agreement or of any other term or
provision hereof. Furthermore, in lieu of any such invalid or
unenforceable term or provision, the parties hereto intend that there
shall be added as part of this Agreement a provision as similar in
terms to such invalid or unenforceable provision as may be possible and
be valid and enforceable.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have
executed this Warrant Clarification Agreement as of the date first
written
above.

							
	 			TERRA
NOVA ACQUISTION
CORPORATION
	 			By:			/s/
Lee W. Chung
	 			 			Lee W. Chung,
Chief Financial
Officer
	 			CONTINENTAL
STOCK TRANSFER & TRUST
COMPANY
	 			By:			/s/
Frank DiPaolo
	 			 			Frank DiPaolo,
Chief Financial
Officer

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