Popular Family of Funds
Code of Ethics for Principal Executive and Principal Financial Officers
The Popular Family of
Funds code of ethics (this “Code”) is intended to serve as the code of ethics
described in Section 406 of The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and Item 2 of Form
N-CSR. This Code shall be the sole code of ethics adopted by the Fund for
purposes of Section 406 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and the rules and forms
applicable to registered investment companies thereunder. Insofar as other
policies or procedures of the Fund, the Fund’s adviser(s), co-adviser(s),
sub-adviser(s), principal underwriter, or other service providers govern or
purport to govern the behavior or activities of the Covered Officers, as
defined herein, who are subject to this Code, such policies and procedures are
superseded by this Code to the extent that they overlap or conflict with the
provisions of this Code. The Fund’s, investment adviser’s, and principal
underwriter’s codes of ethics pursuant to Rule 17j-1 under the Investment
Company Act of 1940 (the “1940 Act”) are separate requirements applying to the
Covered Officers and others, and are not part of this Code.
All Covered Officers must
become familiar and fully comply with this Code. Because this Code cannot and
does not cover every applicable law or provide answers to all questions that
might arise, all Covered Officers are expected to use common sense about what
is right and wrong, including a sense of when it is proper to seek guidance
from others on the appropriate course of conduct.
The purpose of this Code
is to set standards for the Covered Officers that are reasonably designed to
deter wrongdoing and to promote:
honest and ethical conduct,
including the ethical handling of actual or apparent conflicts of interest
between personal and professional relationships;
full, fair, accurate, timely,
and understandable disclosure in reports and documents that the Fund files
with, or submits to, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) and in
any other public communications by the Fund;
compliance with applicable governmental
laws, rules and regulations;
the prompt internal reporting of
violations of the Code to the appropriate persons as set forth in the Code; and
accountability for adherence to
the Code.
This Code applies to the Fund’s
principal executive officers and principal financial officers, principal
accounting officer or controller or any persons performing similar functions on
behalf of the Fund (the “Covered Officers”). Each Covered Officer should
adhere to a high standard of business ethics and should be sensitive to
situations that may give rise to actual as well as apparent conflicts of
interest. Covered Officers are expected to act in accordance with the
standards set forth in this Code.
Honest and Ethical Conduct
A.
Honesty, Diligence and Professional Responsibility
Covered
Officers are expected to observe both the letter and the spirit of the ethical
principles contained in this Code. Covered Officers must perform their duties
and responsibilities for the Fund
with honesty, diligence, and a
commitment to professional and ethical responsibility;
carefully, thoroughly and in a
timely manner; and
in conformity with applicable
professional and technical standards.
Covered
Officers who are certified public accountants are expected to carry out their
duties and responsibilities in a manner consistent with the principles
governing the accounting profession, including any guidelines or principles
issued by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board or the American Institute
of Certified Public Accountants from time to time.
B.
Objectivity/Avoidance of Undisclosed Conflicts of Interest
Covered
Officers are expected to maintain objectivity and avoid undisclosed conflicts
of interest. In the performance of their duties and responsibilities for the Fund,
Covered Officers must not subordinate their judgment to personal gain and
advantage, or be unduly influenced by their own interests or by the interests
of others. Covered Officers must avoid participation in any activity or relationship
that constitutes a conflict of interest unless that conflict has been
completely disclosed to affected parties and waived by the Managers on behalf
of the Fund. Further, Covered Officers should avoid participation in any
activity or relationship that could create the appearance of an undisclosed
conflict of interest.
A
conflict of interest would generally arise if, for instance, a Covered Officer
directly or indirectly participates in any investment, interest, association,
activity or relationship that may impair or appear to impair the Covered
Officer’s objectivity or interfere with the interests of, or the Covered
Officer's service to, the Fund.
Any
Covered Officer who may be involved in a situation or activity that might be a
conflict of interest or give the appearance of a conflict of interest must
report such situation or activity using the reporting procedures set forth in
Section 6 (Reporting and Accountability).
Each Covered
Officer must not
use his or her personal
influence or personal relationships improperly to influence investment
decisions or financial reporting by the Fund whereby the Covered Officer would
benefit personally to the detriment of the Fund;
cause the Fund to take action, or fail to take actions, for the
individual personal benefit of the Covered Officer rather than the benefit of
the Fund; or
use material non-public knowledge of portfolio transactions made
or contemplated for the Fund to trade personally or cause others to trade
personally in contemplation of the market effect of such transactions.
Each
Covered Officer is responsible for his or her compliance with this conflict of
interest policy.
C.
Preparation of Financial Statements
Covered
Officers must not knowingly make any misrepresentations regarding the Fund’s financial
statements or any facts in the preparation of the Fund’s financial statements,
and must comply with all applicable laws, standards, principles, guidelines,
rules and regulations in the preparation of the Fund’s financial statements.
This section is intended to prohibit
making, or permitting or
directing another to make, materially false or misleading entries in the Fund’s
financial statements or records;
failing to correct the Fund’s
financial statements or records that are materially false or misleading when he
or she has the authority to record an entry; and
signing, or permitting or
directing another to sign, a document containing materially false or misleading
financial information.
Covered
Officers must be scrupulous in their application of generally accepted
accounting principles. No Covered Officer may (i) express an opinion or state
affirmatively that the financial statements or other financial data of the Fund
are presented in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles, or
(ii) state that he or she is not aware of any material modifications that
should be made to such statements or data in order for them to be in conformity
with generally accepted accounting principles If in either case such Covered
Officer knows or should know that such statements or data contain any departure
from generally accepted accounting principles then in effect in the United
States.
Covered
Officers must follow the laws, standards, principles, guidelines, rules and
regulations established by all applicable governmental bodies, commissions or
other regulatory agencies in the preparation of financial statements, records
and related information. If a Covered Officer prepares financial statements,
records or related information for purposes of reporting to such bodies,
commissions or regulatory agencies, the Covered Officer must follow the
requirements of such organizations in addition to generally accepted accounting
principles.
If a
Covered Officer and his or her supervisor have a disagreement or dispute
relating to the preparation of financial statements or the recording of
transactions, the Covered Officer should take the following steps to ensure
that the situation does not constitute an impermissible subordination of
judgment:
The Covered Officer should
consider whether (i) the entry or the failure to record a transaction in the
records, or (ii) the financial statement presentation or the nature or omission
of disclosure in the financial statements, as proposed by the supervisor,
represents the use of an acceptable alternative and does not materially
misrepresent the facts or result in an omission of a material fact. If, after
appropriate research or consultation, the Covered Officer concludes that the
matter has authoritative support and/or does not result in a material
misrepresentation, the Covered Officer need do nothing further.
If the Covered Officer concludes
that the financial statements or records could be materially misstated as a result
of the supervisor’s determination, the Covered Officer should follow the
reporting procedures set forth in Section 6 (Reporting and Accountability).
D.
Obligations in Dealing with the Independent Auditor of the Fund
In
dealing with the Fund’s independent auditor, Covered Officers must be candid and
not knowingly misrepresent facts or knowingly fail to disclose material facts,
and must respond to specific inquiries and requests by the Fund’s independent
auditor.
Covered
Officers must not take any action, or direct any person to take any action, to
fraudulently influence, coerce, manipulate or mislead the Fund’s independent
auditor in the performance of an audit of the Fund’s financial statements for
the purpose of rendering such financial statements materially misleading.
Full, Fair, Accurate, Timely and
Understandable Disclosure
The Fund’s policy is to
provide full, fair, accurate, timely, and understandable disclosure in reports
and documents that the Fund files with, or submits to, the SEC and in any other
public communications by the Fund. The Fund has designed and implemented
Disclosure Controls and Procedures to carry out this policy.
Covered Officers are
expected to familiarize themselves with the disclosure requirements generally
applicable to the Fund, and to use their best efforts to promote, facilitate,
and prepare full, fair, accurate, timely, and understandable disclosure in all
reports and documents that the Fund files with, or submits to, the SEC and in
any other public communications by the Fund.
Covered Officers must
review the Fund’s Disclosure Controls and Procedures to ensure they are aware
of and carry out their duties and responsibilities in accordance with the
Disclosure Controls and Procedures and the disclosure obligations of the Fund.
Covered Officers are responsible for monitoring the integrity and effectiveness
of the Fund’s Disclosure Controls and Procedures.
Compliance with Applicable Laws,
Rules and Regulations
Covered Officers are
expected to know, respect and comply with all laws, rules and regulations
applicable to the conduct of the Fund’s business. If a Covered Officer is in
doubt about the legality or propriety of an action, business practice or
policy, the Covered Officer should seek advice from the Covered Officer’s
supervisor or the Fund’s legal counsel.
In the performance of their work,
Covered Officers must not knowingly be a party to any illegal activity or
engage in acts that are discreditable to the Fund.
Covered Officers are
expected to promote the Fund’s compliance with applicable laws, rules and
regulations. To promote such compliance, Covered Officers may establish and
maintain mechanisms to educate employees carrying out the finance and
compliance functions of the Fund about any applicable laws, rules or
regulations that affect the operation of the finance and compliance functions
and the Fund generally.
Reporting and Accountability
All Covered Officers will
be held accountable for adherence to this Code. Each Covered Officer must, upon
the Fund’s adoption of this Code (or thereafter as applicable, upon becoming a
Covered Officer or upon the effectiveness of an amendment to the Code as set
forth in Section 9 (Amendment)), affirm in writing to the Board that he/she has
received, read, and understands this Code by signing the Acknowledgement Form
attached hereto as Appendix A. Thereafter, each Covered Officer, on an annual
basis, must affirm to the Board that he/she has complied with the requirements
of this Code.
Covered Officers may not
retaliate against any other Covered Officer of the Fund or their affiliated
persons for reports of potential violations that are made in good faith.
The Fund will follow
these procedures in investigating and enforcing this Code:
Any Covered Officer who knows of any violation of this Code or
who questions whether a situation, activity or practice is acceptable must
immediately report such practice to the Fund’s Chief Compliance Officer. The Chief
Compliance Officer shall take appropriate action to investigate any reported
potential violations. If, after such investigation, the Chief Compliance
Officer believes that no violation has occurred, the Chief Compliance Officer
is not required to take any further action. Any matter that the Chief
Compliance Officer believes is a violation will be reported to the Chairman of
the Board of Managers. The Chief Compliance Officer shall respond to the
Covered Officer within a reasonable period of time.
If the Covered Officer is not satisfied with the response of the Chief
Compliance Officer, the Covered Officer shall report the matter to the Chairman
of the Board of Managers. If the Chairman is unavailable, the Covered Officer
may report the matter to any other member of the Board of Managers. The person
receiving the report shall consider the matter, refer it to the full Board of Managers
if he or she deems appropriate, and respond to the Covered Officer within a
reasonable amount of time. If the Board of Managers concurs that a violation
has occurred, it will consider appropriate action, which may include review of
and appropriate modifications to applicable policies and procedures or
notification to appropriate personnel of the investment adviser or its board.
If the Board of Managers determines that a Covered Officer
violated this Code, failed to report a known or suspected violation of this
Code, or provided intentionally false or malicious information in connection
with an alleged violation of this Code, the Board of Managers may take
disciplinary
action against any such Covered Officer to the extent the
Board of Managers deems appropriate. No Covered Officer will be disciplined
for reporting a concern in good faith.
To the extent possible and as allowed by law, reports will be
treated as confidential. The Fund may report violations of the law to the
appropriate authorities.
This Code, and any
applicable waivers under Section 8 (Waivers) or amendments under Section 9
(Amendments), shall be disclosed to the public by at least one of the following
methods in the manner prescribed by the SEC, and as otherwise required by law:
filing a copy of this Code as an
exhibit to the Fund’s annual report on Form N-CSR;
posting the text of this Code on
the Fund’s Internet website and disclosing, in its most recent report on Form
N-CSR, its Internet address and the fact that it has posted this Code on its
Internet website; or
providing an undertaking in the Fund’s
most recent report on Form N-CSR to provide a copy of this Code to any person
without charge upon request, and explaining the manner in which such a request
may be made.
Any waiver of this Code,
including an implicit waiver, granted to a Covered Officer may be made only by
the Board of Managers or a committee of the Board to which such responsibility
has been delegated, and must be disclosed by the Fund in the manner prescribed
by law and as set forth above in Section 7 (Disclosure of this Code).
This Code may be amended
by the affirmative vote of a majority of the Board of Managers, including a
majority of the independent Managers. Any amendment of this Code must be
disclosed by the Fund in the manner prescribed by law and as set forth above in
Section 7 (Disclosure of this Code), unless such amendment is deemed to be
technical, administrative, or otherwise non-substantive. Any amendments to
this Code will be provided to the Covered Officers promptly upon adoption, as
well as a new Acknowledgment Form.
All reports and records prepared
or maintained pursuant to this Code will be considered confidential and shall
be maintained and protected accordingly. Except as otherwise required by law
or this Code, such matters shall not be disclosed to anyone other than the
Board of Managers of the Fund, the Chief Compliance Officer of the Fund, the
legal counsel to the Fund, legal counsel to the independent managers and such
other persons as a majority of the Board of Managers, including a majority of
the independent Managers, shall determine to be appropriate.