E7-17076. Allianz RCM Global EcoTrends Fund, et al.

August 23, 2007.

AGENCY:

Securities and Exchange Commission (“Commission”).

ACTION:

Notice of an application under section 6(c) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the “Act”) for an exemption from sections 18(c) and 18(i) of the Act, under sections 6(c) and 23(c)(3) of the Act for an exemption from rule 23c-3 under the Act, and pursuant to section 17(d) of the Act and rule 17d-1 under the Act.

Summary of Application: Applicants request an order to permit certain registered closed-end management investment companies to issue multiple classes of shares and to impose asset-based distribution fees and early withdrawal charges.

Applicants: Allianz RCM Global EcoTrends Fund (the “EcoTrends Fund”), Allianz Global Investors Fund Management LLC (the “Manager”) and Allianz Global Investors Distributors LLC (the “Distributor”).

Filing Dates: The application was filed on February 15, 2007, and amended on July 26, 2007. Applicants have agreed to file an amendment during the notice period, the substance of which is reflected in this notice.

Hearing or Notification of Hearing: An order granting the application will be issued unless the Commission orders a hearing. Interested persons may request a hearing by writing to the Commission's Secretary and serving applicants with a copy of the request, personally or by mail.

Hearing requests should be received by the Commission by 5:30 p.m. on September 17, 2007, and should be accompanied by proof of service on the applicants, in the form of an affidavit, or, for lawyers, a certificate of service. Hearing requests should state the nature of the writer's interest, the reason for the request, and the issues contested. Persons who wish to be notified of a hearing may request notification by writing to the Commission's Secretary.

ADDRESSES:

Secretary, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, 100 F Street, NE., Washington, DC 20549-1090; Applicants, c/o William V. Healy, Esq., Allianz Global Investors Fund Management, LLC, 1345 Avenue of the Americas, 49th Floor, New York, New York 10105.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

John Yoder, Senior Counsel, at [phone] or Julia Kim Gilmer, Branch Chief, at [phone] (Division of Investment Management, Office of Investment Company Regulation).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

The following is a summary of the application. The complete application may be obtained for a fee at the Commission's Public Reference Desk, 100 F Street, NE., Washington DC 20549-0102 (telephone [phone]).

Applicants' Representations

1. The EcoTrends Fund is a continuously offered non-diversified closed-end management investment company registered under the Act and organized as a Massachusetts business trust. The Manager is registered as an investment adviser under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 and serves as investment adviser to the EcoTrends Fund. The Distributor, a broker-dealer registered under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, acts as principal underwriter to the EcoTrends Fund. The Distributor is under common control with the Manager and is an affiliated person, as defined in section 2(a)(3) of the Act, of the Manager.

2. Applicants request that the order also apply to any other continuously offered registered closed-end management investment companies existing now or in the future that operate as interval funds pursuant to rule 23c-3 under the Act for which the Manager, the Distributor, or any entity controlling, controlled by or under common control with the Manager or the Distributor acts as investment adviser, principal underwriter or administrator (such investment companies, together with the EcoTrends Fund, the “Funds”).^[1]

3. The EcoTrends Fund continuously offers its shares to the public pursuant to rule 415 under the Securities Act of 1933 at net asset value. The shares of the EcoTrends Fund are not listed on any securities exchange and will not be quoted on any quotation medium. Applicants do not expect that any secondary market will develop for the shares of the EcoTrends Fund. The EcoTrends Fund intends to operate as an “interval fund” pursuant to rule 23c-3 under the Act and to make periodic repurchase offers to its shareholders.

4. The Funds seek the flexibility to be structured as multiple class funds. The EcoTrends Fund currently offers one class of shares and intends to offer additional classes of shares. The EcoTrends Fund currently offers Class A shares at net asset value with a front-end sales charge of up to 4.5% and an annual servicing and/or distribution fee of up to .25% of average daily net assets. The EcoTrends Fund intends to offer Class C shares at net asset value with an annual distribution fee of up to 75% and an annual servicing fee of .25% (each based on average daily net assets) and no front-end sales charge. Class C shares would be subject to an early withdrawal charge (“EWC”) of 1% for shares repurchased within one year of purchase. The Funds may in the future offer additional classes of shares and/or another sales charge structure.

5. Applicants represent that any asset-based service and distribution fees will comply with the provisions of rule 2830(d) of the Conduct Rules of the National Association of Securities Dealers, Inc. (“NASD Sales Charge Rule”). Applicants also represent that each Fund will disclose in its prospectus, the fees, expenses and other characteristics of each class of shares offered for sale by the prospectus as is required for open-end multiple class funds under Form N-1A. As is required for open-end funds, each Fund will disclose its expenses in shareholder reports, and disclose any arrangements that result in breakpoints in or elimination of sales loads in its prospectus.^[2] Each Fund and the Distributor will also comply with any requirements that may be adopted by the Commission regarding disclosure at the point of sale and in transaction confirmations about the costs and conflicts of interest arising out of the distribution of open-end investment company shares, and regarding prospectus disclosure of sales loads and revenue sharing arrangements as if those requirements applied to the Fund and the Distributor.^[3]

6. Each Fund will allocate all expenses incurred by it among the various classes of shares based on the net assets of the Fund attributable to each class, except that the net asset value and expenses of each class will reflect distribution fees, service fees, and any other incremental expenses of that class. Expenses of a Fund allocated to a particular class of shares will be borne on a pro rata basis by each outstanding share of that class. Applicants state that each Fund will comply with the provisions of rule 18f-3 under the Act as if it were an open-end investment company.

7. Each Fund may waive the EWC for certain categories of shareholders or transactions to be established from time to time. With respect to any waiver of, scheduled variation in, or elimination of the EWC, each Fund will comply with rule 22d-1 under the Act as if the Fund were an open-end investment company.

8. Each Fund may offer its shareholders an exchange feature under which shareholders of the Fund may, during the Fund's periodic repurchase periods, exchange their shares for shares of the same class of other registered open-end investment companies or registered closed-end investment companies that comply with rule 23c-3 under the Act and continuously offer their shares at net asset value, and that are in the Fund's group of investment companies. Fund shares so exchanged will count as part of the repurchase offer amount as specified in rule 23c-3 under the Act. Any exchange option will comply with rule 11a-3 under the Act as if the Funds were open-end investment companies subject to that rule. In complying with rule 11a-3, each Fund will treat the EWCs as if they were a contingent deferred sales load (“CDSL”).

Applicants' Legal Analysis

Multiple Classes of Shares

1. Section 18(c) of the Act provides, in relevant part, that a closed-end investment company may not issue or sell any senior security if, immediately thereafter, the company has outstanding more than one class of senior security. Applicants state that the creation of multiple classes of shares of the Funds may be prohibited by section 18(c).

2. Section 18(i) of the Act provides that each share of stock issued by a registered management investment company will be a voting stock and have equal voting rights with every other outstanding voting stock. Applicants state that permitting multiple classes of shares of the Funds may violate section 18(i) of the Act because each class would be entitled to exclusive voting rights with respect to matters solely related to that class.

3. Section 6(c) of the Act provides that the Commission may exempt any person, security or transaction or any class or classes of persons, securities or transactions from any provision of the Act, or from any rule under the Act, if and to the extent such exemption is necessary or appropriate in the public interest and consistent with the protection of investors and the purposes fairly intended by the policy and provisions of the Act. Applicants request an exemption under section 6(c) from sections 18(c) and 18(i) to permit the Funds to issue multiple classes of shares.

4. Applicants submit that the proposed allocation of expenses and voting rights among multiple classes is equitable and will not discriminate against any group or class of shareholders. Applicants submit that the proposed arrangements would permit a Fund to facilitate the distribution of its shares and provide investors with a broader choice of shareholder services. Applicants assert that the proposed closed-end investment company multiple class structure does not raise the concerns underlying section 18 of the Act to any greater degree than open-end investment companies' multiple class structures that are permitted by rule 18f-3 under the Act. Applicants state that each Fund will comply with the provisions of rule 18f-3 as if it were an open-end investment company.

Early Withdrawal Charges

1. Section 23(c) of the Act provides, in relevant part, that no registered closed-end investment company will purchase securities of which it is the issuer, except: (a) On a securities exchange or other open market; (b) pursuant to tenders, after reasonable opportunity to submit tenders given to all holders of securities of the class to be purchased; or (c) under other circumstances as the Commission may permit by rules and regulations or orders for the protection of investors.

2. Rule 23c-3 under the Act permits a registered closed-end investment company (an “interval fund”) to make repurchase offers of between five and twenty-five percent of its outstanding shares at net asset value at periodic intervals pursuant to a fundamental policy of the interval fund. Rule 23c-3(b)(1) under the Act provides that an interval fund may deduct from repurchase proceeds only a repurchase fee, not to exceed two percent of the proceeds, that is reasonably intended to compensate the fund for expenses directly related to the repurchase.

3. Section 23(c)(3) provides that the Commission may issue an order that would permit a closed-end investment company to repurchase its shares in circumstances in which the repurchase is made in a manner or on a basis that does not unfairly discriminate against any holders of the class or classes of securities to be purchased. As noted above, section 6(c) provides that the Commission may exempt any person, security or transaction from any provision of the Act, if and to the extent that the exemption is necessary or appropriate in the public interest and consistent with the protection of investors and the purposes fairly intended by the policy and provisions of the Act. Because the Funds operate pursuant to rule 23c-3 under the Act, applicants request relief under sections 6(c) and 23(c) from rule 23c-3 to permit the Funds to impose EWCs on shares of the Funds submitted for repurchase that have been held for less than a specified period.

4. Applicants believe that the requested relief meets the standards of sections 6(c) and 23(c)(3). Rule 6c-10 under the Act permits open-end investment companies to impose CDSLs, subject to certain conditions. Applicants state that EWCs are functionally similar to CDSLs imposed by open-end investment companies under rule 6c-10. Applicants state that EWCs may be necessary for the Distributor to recover distribution costs. Applicants will comply with rule 6c-10 as if that rule applied to closed-end investment companies. The Funds also will disclose EWCs in accordance with the requirements of Form N-1A concerning CDSLs. Applicants further state that the Funds will apply the EWC (and any waivers or scheduled variations of the EWC) uniformly to all shareholders in a given class and consistently with the requirements of rule 22d-1 under the Act.

Asset-Based Distribution Fees

1. Section 17(d) of the Act and rule 17d-1 under the Act prohibit an affiliated person of a registered investment company or an affiliated person of such person, acting as principal, from participating in or effecting any transaction in connection with any joint enterprise or joint arrangement in which the investment company participates unless the Commission issues an order permitting the transaction. In reviewing applications submitted under section 17(d) and rule 17d-1, the Commission considers whether the participation of the investment company in a joint enterprise or joint arrangement is consistent with the provisions, policies and purposes of the Act, and the extent to which the participation is on a basis different from or less advantageous than that of other participants.

2. Rule 17d-3 under the Act provides an exemption from section 17(d) and rule 17d-1 to permit open-end investment companies to enter into distribution arrangements pursuant to rule 12b-1 under the Act. Applicants request an order under section 17(d) and rule 17d-1 under the Act to permit the Funds to impose asset-based distribution fees. Applicants have agreed to comply with rules 12b-1 and 17d-3 as if those rules applied to closed-end investment companies.

Applicants' Condition

Applicants agree that any order granting the requested relief will be subject to the following condition:

Each Fund relying on the order will comply with the provisions of rules 6c-10, 11a-3, 12b-1, 17d-3, 18f-3 and 22d-1 under the Act, as amended from time to time, as if those rules applied to closed-end management investment companies, and will comply with the NASD Sales Charge Rule, as amended from time to time.

For the Commission, by the Division of Investment Management, under delegated authority.

Florence E. Harmon,

Deputy Secretary.

Footnotes

1.  Any Fund relying on this relief in the future will do so in a manner consistent with the terms and conditions of the application. Applicants represent that each entity presently intending to rely on the requested relief is listed as an applicant.

2.  See Shareholder Reports and Quarterly Portfolio Disclosure of Registered Management Investment Companies, Investment Company Act Release No. 26372 (Feb. 27, 2004) (adopting release) (requiring open-end investment companies to disclose fund expenses in shareholder reports); and Disclosure of Breakpoint Discounts by Mutual Funds, Investment Company Act Release No. 26464 (June 7, 2004) (adopting release) (requiring open-end investment companies to provide prospectus disclosure of certain sales load information).

3.  Confirmation Requirements and Point of Sale Disclosure Requirements for Transactions in Certain Mutual Funds and Other Securities, and Other Confirmation Requirement Amendments, and Amendments to the Registration Form for Mutual Funds, Investment Company Act Release No. 26341 (Jan. 29, 2004) (proposing release).