Starlight Investments Capital LP
Headnote
National Policy 11-203 Process for Exemptive Relief Applications in Multiple Jurisdictions -- Relief from the conflict of interest restrictions in the Securities Act (Ontario) and the self-dealing prohibitions in National Instrument 31-103 Registration Requirements, Exemptions and Ongoing Registrant Obligations to permit fund-on-fund structures involving pooled funds under common management subject to conditions.
Applicable Legislative Provisions
Securities Act (Ontario), RSO 1990, c S.5, as am., ss. 111(2)(b), 111(2)(c), 111(4), 113.
National Instrument 31-103 Registration Requirements, Exemptions and Ongoing Registrant Obligations, ss. 13.5(2)(a), 15.1.
March 18, 2020
IN THE MATTER OF THE SECURITIES LEGISLATION OF ONTARIO (the Jurisdiction) AND IN THE MATTER OF THE PROCESS FOR EXEMPTIVE RELIEF APPLICATIONS IN MULTIPLE JURISDICTIONS AND IN THE MATTER OF STARLIGHT INVESTMENTS CAPITAL LP (Starlight) AND THE TOP FUNDS (as defined below)
DECISION
Background
The principal regulator in the Jurisdiction has received an application from Starlight, on behalf of Starlight and its affiliates (collectively, the Filer), Starlight Private Global Real Estate Pool and Starlight Private Global Infrastructure Pool (collectively, the Initial Top Funds) and any other existing or future mutual fund that is not or will not be, a reporting issuer, and that is, or will be, managed by the Filer in the future (the Future Top Funds, and together with the Initial Top Funds, the Top Funds) for a decision under the securities legislation of the Jurisdiction (the Legislation) in respect of the Fund-on-Fund Structure (as defined below) exempting the Filer and the Top Funds from:
(a) the restriction in the Legislation that prohibits an investment fund from knowingly making an investment in any person or company in which the investment fund, alone or together with one or more related investment funds, is a substantial securityholder;
(b) the restriction in the Legislation that prohibits an investment fund from knowingly making an investment in an issuer in which:
(i) any officer or director of the investment fund, its management company or distribution company or an associate of them, or
(ii) any person or company who is a substantial securityholder of the investment fund, its management company or its distribution company,
has a significant interest;
(c) the restriction in the Legislation that prohibits an investment fund, its management company or its distribution company from knowingly holding an investment described in paragraph (a) or (b) above (collectively, the Related Issuer Relief); and
(d) the restrictions contained in subsection 13.5(2)(a) of National Instrument 31-103 Registration Requirements, Exemptions and Ongoing Registrant Obligations (NI 31-103) which prohibit a registered adviser from knowingly causing an investment portfolio managed by it, including an investment fund for which it acts as an adviser, to purchase a security of an issuer in which a responsible person or an associate of a responsible person is a partner, officer or director unless (i) this fact is disclosed to the client and (ii) the written consent of the client to the purchase is obtained before the purchase (the Consent Relief, and together with the Related Issuer Relief, the Requested Relief),
to permit the Filer to cause the Top Funds to invest in the Underlying Funds (as defined below).
Under the Process for Exemptive Relief Applications in Multiple Jurisdictions (for a passport application):
(a) the Ontario Securities Commission is the principal regulator for this application; and
(b) the Filer has provided notice that section 4.7(1) of Multilateral Instrument 11-102 Passport System is intended to be relied upon in Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia, Nunavut, Québec, Prince Edward Island, Saskatchewan and Yukon (together with Ontario, the Jurisdictions).
Interpretation
Unless otherwise defined herein, terms in this decision have the respective meanings given to them in National Instrument 14-101 Definitions.
Representations
This decision is based on the following facts represented by the Filer:
Starlight
1. Starlight is a limited partnership formed under the laws of Ontario with its head office in Toronto, Ontario.
2. Starlight is registered as an investment fund manager, portfolio manager and exempt market dealer in each of Ontario, Québec, and Newfoundland and Labrador, and as a portfolio manager and an exempt market dealer in each of Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Saskatchewan.
3. Starlight is not a reporting issuer in any jurisdiction and is not in default of securities legislation of any jurisdiction of Canada.
Top Funds
4. Each Initial Top Fund will be a trust organized under the laws of Ontario. Each Future Top Fund will be organized as a limited partnership, trust or class of shares of a corporation under the laws of Ontario, another jurisdiction of Canada, or a foreign jurisdiction.
5. Each Top Fund will be a "mutual fund" for the purposes of the Legislation.
6. None of the Top Funds is, or will be, a reporting issuer in any province or territory of Canada.
7. The Filer is the investment fund manager of Starlight Private Global Real Estate Pool and Starlight Private Global Infrastructure Pool. The Filer is, or will be, the portfolio manager of each Top Fund. The Filer or a third party will act as trustee of each Top Fund and each Underlying Fund.
8. Securities of the Initial Top Funds and each Future Top Fund are, or will be, offered on a private placement basis to qualified investors pursuant to available exemptions from the prospectus requirements under Canadian securities legislation. Each investor is, or will be, responsible for making its own investment decisions regarding its purchases and/or redemptions of securities of a Top Fund.
9. The Initial Top Funds invest in units of the corresponding underlying funds (the Initial Underlying Funds).
10. In addition to the Initial Top Funds, each Top Fund may also invest in units of one or more Underlying Funds (as defined below) which investment or investments will be consistent with the Top Fund's investment objectives and strategies.
11. The investment objective of the Starlight Private Global Real Estate Pool is to achieve long-term capital appreciation and regular current income by investing globally in private real estate investments and in public real estate investment trusts (REITs) and equity securities of corporations participating in the residential and commercial real estate sector.
12. The investment objective of the Starlight Private Global Infrastructure Pool is to achieve long-term capital appreciation and regular current income by investing globally in private infrastructure and infrastructure-related investments and in publicly-traded companies with direct or indirect exposure to infrastructure.
Underlying Funds
13. Any future underlying investment fund that is, or will be, managed by the Filer and that is, or will be, invested in by a Top Fund (each, a Future Underlying Fund and, together with the Initial Underlying Funds, the Underlying Funds) will be sold to investors either pursuant to a prospectus qualified in one or more of the Jurisdictions or pursuant to an available exemption from the prospectus requirement under Canadian securities legislation.
14. The Initial Underlying Funds will be open-ended exempted limited partnerships to be established under the laws of the Province of Ontario. The Future Underlying Funds will be structured as limited partnerships, trusts or class of shares of a corporation under the laws of Ontario, another jurisdiction of Canada, or a foreign jurisdiction.
15. The general partner of the Initial Underlying Funds will be Starlight Investments Capital GP Inc. (the General Partner). The General Partner is a corporation established under the laws of Ontario and is the general partner of Starlight. The general partner of any Future Underlying Fund that is structured as a limited partnership may also be the General Partner or an affiliate of Starlight.
16. The investment objective of the Initial Underlying Fund for the Starlight Private Global Real Estate Pool is to achieve long-term capital appreciation and regular current income by investing globally in public real estate investment trusts (REITs) and equity securities or corporations participating in residential and commercial real estate sector.
17. The investment objective of the Initial Underling Fund for the Starlight Private Global Infrastructure Pool is to achieve long-term capital appreciation and regular current income by investing globally in publicly traded companies with direct or indirect exposure to infrastructure.
Fund-on-Fund Structure
18. The Initial Top Funds and Future Top Funds will be, created by the Filer to allow investors in the Top Funds to obtain indirect exposure to the investment portfolio of the Initial Underlying Funds or Future Underlying Funds and their investment strategies through direct investments by the Top Funds in securities of the Underlying Funds (the Fund-on-Fund Structure).
19. The Fund-on-Fund Structure permits the Filer to manage a single portfolio of assets for both a Top Fund and each Underlying Fund that the Top Fund holds in a single investment vehicle structure.
20. Managing a single pool of assets provides economies of scale, allows the Top Funds to achieve their investment objectives in a cost-efficient manner and is not detrimental to the interest of other securityholders of an Underlying Fund.
21. An investment in an Underlying Fund by a Top Fund is, or will be, effected at an objective price. In the case of an Underlying Fund that is not a reporting issuer, the Filer's policies and procedures provide that an objective price, for this purpose, is the net asset value (NAV) of that Underlying Fund. In the case of an Underlying Fund that is a reporting issuer, the objective price is the NAV of the applicable securities.
22. The portfolio of each Underlying Fund consists, or will consist, primarily of publicly traded securities, debt instruments and derivatives. No Underlying Fund holds, or will hold, more than 10% of its NAV in "illiquid assets" (as defined in National Instrument 81-102 -- Investment Funds (NI 81-102)).
23. The amounts invested, from time to time, in an Underlying Fund by one or more of the Top Funds or other related investment funds may exceed 20% of the outstanding voting securities of that Underlying Fund. Accordingly, each Top Fund could, either alone or together with one or more funds managed by the Filer, become a substantial securityholder of an Underlying Fund.
24. The Initial Top Funds will be, either alone or together with one or more funds managed by the Filer, substantial securityholders of certain of the Initial Underlying Funds.
25. No Underlying Fund will be a Top Fund in a Fund-on-Fund Structure.
26. Each Underlying Fund has, or may have, other investors in addition to the Top Funds.
27. A Top Fund and any corresponding Underlying Fund will have the same valuation and redemption dates.
28. In all cases, the Filer manages, or will manage, the liquidity of each Top Fund having regard to the redemption features of the corresponding Underlying Fund(s) to ensure that it can meet redemption requests from investors of the Top Funds.
29. In addition, the Fund-on Fund Structure may result in a Top Fund investing in an Underlying Fund (i) in which an officer or director of the Top Fund, of the Filer or of any associate of them, has a significant interest, and/or (ii) where a person or company who is a substantial securityholder of the Top Fund or the Filer, has a significant interest.
30. Currently, there is no officer or director of any Top Fund, such Top Fund's management company, or its distribution company, or any associate of them, who has a significant interest in an Initial Underlying Fund, however, there may be circumstances in the future which may cause them to have a significant interest.
31. The Top Funds and Underlying Funds subject to National Instrument 81-106 Investment Fund Continuous Disclosure (NI 81-106) will prepare annual audited financial statements and interim unaudited financial statements in accordance with NI 81-106 and will otherwise comply with the requirements of NI 81-106 applicable to them.
32. In the absence of the Related Issuer Relief, the Top Funds would be constrained by the investment restrictions in Canadian securities legislation in terms of the degree to which they could implement the Fund-on-Fund Structure. Specifically, the Top Funds would be prohibited from: (i) becoming substantial securityholders of the Underlying Funds, either alone or together with related investment funds; and (ii) a Top Fund investing in an Underlying Fund in which an officer or director of the Top Fund's management company has a significant interest and/or a Top Fund investing in an Underlying Fund in which a person or company who is a substantial securityholder of the Top Fund or the Top Fund's management company, has a significant interest.
33. In the absence of the Consent Relief, each Top Fund would be precluded from investing in one or more Underlying Funds unless the specific fact is disclosed to securityholders of the Top Fund and the written consent of the securityholders of the Top Fund to the investment is obtained prior to the purchase, since an officer and/or director of the Filer, who may be considered a "responsible person" (as per section 13.5 of NI 31-103) or an associate of a responsible person may also be a partner, officer and/or director of the applicable Underlying Fund, including a partner, officer and/or director of the general partner of an Underlying Fund where the Underlying Fund is a limited partnership.
34. The Fund-on-Fund Structure represents the business judgment of responsible persons uninfluenced by considerations other than the best interests of the investors in the Top Funds.
Decision
The principal regulator is satisfied that the decision meets the test set out in the Legislation for the principal regulator to make the decision.
The decision of the principal regulator under the Legislation is that the Requested Relief is granted provided that:
(a) securities of a Top Fund are distributed in Canada solely pursuant to exemptions from the prospectus requirement under applicable securities legislation;
(b) the investment by a Top Fund in an Underlying Fund is compatible with the fundamental investment objectives of the Top Fund;
(c) an investment in an Underlying Fund by a Top Fund will be effected at an objective price, calculated in accordance with section 14.2 of NI 81-106;
(d) a Top Fund will not invest in an Underlying Fund that is not a reporting issuer unless the Underlying Fund prepares annual audited financial statements for the Underlying Fund's most recently completed financial year and interim financial statements for the Underlying Fund's most recently completed interim period;
(e) no Top Fund will purchase or hold a security of an Underlying Fund unless at the time of purchasing securities of the Underlying Fund, the Underlying Fund holds no more than 10% of its NAV in securities of other mutual funds, unless the Underlying Fund:
(i) is a clone fund (as defined in NI 81-102);
(ii) purchases or holds securities of a 'money market fund' (as defined in NI 81-102); or
(iii) purchases or holds securities that are "index participation units" (as defined by NI 81-102) issued by an investment fund;
(f) no management fees or incentive fees are payable by a Top Fund that, to a reasonable person, would duplicate a fee payable by an Underlying Fund for the same service;
(g) no sales fees or redemption fees are payable by a Top Fund in relation to its purchases or redemptions of securities of an Underlying Fund that, to a reasonable person, would duplicate a fee payable by an investor in the Top Fund, other than brokerage fees incurred for the purchase or sale of an index participation unit issued by an investment fund;
(h) the Filer does not cause the securities of an Underlying Fund held by a Top Fund to be voted at any meeting of the holders of such securities, except that the Filer may arrange for the securities the Top Fund holds of an Underlying Fund to be voted by the beneficial owners of the securities of the Top Fund who are not the Filer or an officer, director or substantial securityholder of the Filer;
(i) when purchasing and/or redeeming securities of an Underlying Fund, the Filer shall as investment fund manager of the applicable Top Fund and Underlying Fund, act honestly, in good faith and in the best interests of the Top Fund and the Underlying Fund, respectively, and shall exercise the care and diligence that a reasonably prudent person would exercise in comparable circumstances;
(j) a disclosure document, including an offering memorandum where available, of a Top Fund shall be provided to each investor in a Top Fund prior to the time of investment, and will disclose:
(i) that a Top Fund may purchase securities of one or more applicable Underlying Funds;
(ii) that the Filer is the investment fund manager and portfolio manager of both the Top Fund and the Underlying Funds;
(iii) that the Top Fund may invest all, or substantially all, of its assets in securities of Underlying Funds;
(iv) the fees, expenses and any performance or special incentive distributions payable by the Underlying Funds in which a Top Fund invests;
(v) the process or criteria used to select the Underlying Funds, if applicable;
(vi) for each officer, director and/or substantial securityholder of the Filer, or of a Top Fund, that has a significant interest in an applicable Underlying Fund, and for the officers and directors and substantial securityholders who together in aggregate hold a significant interest in an applicable Underlying Fund, the approximate amount of the significant interest they hold, on an aggregate basis, expressed as a percentage of the applicable Underlying Fund's NAV, and the potential conflicts of interest which may arise from such relationship;
(vii) that investors are entitled to receive from the Filer, on request and free of charge, a copy of the prospectus, offering memorandum or other similar disclosure document of the Underlying Funds, if available; and
(viii) that investors are entitled to receive from the Filer, on request and free of charge, the annual audited financial statements and interim financial reports relating to the Underlying Funds in which the Top Fund invests; and
(k) the Filer shall annually inform investors in a Top Fund of their right to receive from the Filer, as applicable, on request and free of charge, a copy of the offering memorandum or other similar disclosure document of each Underlying Fund, if available, and the annual audited financial statements and interim financial reports relating to each Underlying Fund in which the Top Fund invests.
The Consent Relief:
"Neeti Varma"ManagerInvestment Funds and Structured Products BranchOntario Securities Commission
The Related Issuer Relief:
"Cecilia Williams"CommissionerOntario Securities Commission"Garnet Fenn"CommissionerOntario Securities Commission