EX-99.VOTEADV 6 tyg4163583-ex99voteadv.htm PROXY VOTING POLICIES AND PROCEDURES OF THE ADVISER

TORTOISE CAPITAL ADVISORS, L.L.C.
(THE “ADVISER”)

PROXY VOTING POLICIES AND PROCEDURES

1. Introduction

Unless a client is a registered investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940 or a client requests the Adviser to do so in writing, the Adviser does not vote proxy materials for its clients. In the event the Adviser receives any proxies intended for clients who have not delegated proxy voting responsibilities to the Adviser, the Adviser will promptly forward such proxies to the client for the client to vote. When requested by the client, the Adviser may provide advice to the client regarding proposals submitted to the client for voting. In the event an employee determines that the Adviser has a conflict of interest due to, for example, a relationship with a company or an affiliate of a company, or for any other reason which could influence the advice given, the employee will advise the Chief Compliance Officer who will advise the applicable Investment Committee, and the Investment Committee will decide which of the procedures set forth in Section 3 below the Adviser will use.

In cases in which the client is a registered investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940 or in cases where the client has delegated proxy voting responsibility and authority to the Adviser, the Adviser has adopted and implemented the following policies and procedures, which it believes are reasonably designed to ensure that proxies are voted in the best interests of its clients. In pursuing this policy, proxies should be voted in a manner that is intended to maximize value to the client. In situations where Adviser accepts such delegation and agrees to vote proxies, Adviser will do so in accordance with these Policies and Procedures. The Adviser may delegate its responsibilities under these Policies and Procedures to a third party, provided that no such delegation shall relieve the Adviser of its responsibilities hereunder and the Adviser shall retain final authority and fiduciary responsibility for such proxy voting. If there are any differences between these policies and procedures and the proxy voting policies and procedures adopted by a registered investment company client, the policies and procedures of the registered investment company client will supersede these policies and procedures.

2. General

| a. | Because of the unique nature of the Master Limited Partnerships (“MLPs”), the Adviser shall evaluate each proxy of an MLP on a case-by-case basis. Because proxies of MLPs are expected to relate only to extraordinary measures, the Adviser does not believe it is prudent to adopt pre-established voting guidelines.
| b. | In the event requests for proxies are received with respect to the voting of equity securities other than MLP equity units, on routine matters, such as election of directors or approval of auditors, the proxies usually will be voted with management unless the Adviser determines it has a conflict or the Adviser determines there are other reasons not to vote with management. On non-routine matters, such as amendments to governing instruments, proposals relating to compensation and stock option and equity compensation plans, corporate governance proposals and shareholder proposals, the Adviser will vote, or abstain from voting if deemed appropriate, on a case by case basis in a manner it believes to be in the best economic interest of its clients, and registered investment company clients’ shareholders. In the event requests for proxies are received with respect to debt securities, the Adviser will vote on a case by case basis in a manner it believes to be in the best economic interest of its clients, and registered investment company clients’ shareholders.

| c. | The applicable Investment Committee of the Adviser, or a Managing Director of the Adviser designated by the Investment Committee as listed on Exhibit A hereto (the “Designated Managing Director”), is responsible for monitoring Adviser’s proxy voting actions and ensuring that (i) proxies are received and forwarded to the appropriate decision makers; and (ii) proxies are voted in a timely manner upon receipt of voting instructions. The Adviser is not responsible for voting proxies it does not receive, but will make reasonable efforts to obtain missing proxies.
| d. | The applicable Investment Committee of the Adviser, or the Designated Managing Director, shall implement procedures to identify and monitor potential conflicts of interest that could affect the proxy voting process, including (i) significant client relationships; (ii) other potential material business relationships; and (iii) material personal and family relationships.
| e. | All decisions regarding proxy voting shall be determined by the applicable Investment Committee of the Adviser, or the Designated Managing Director, and shall be executed by a the Designated Managing Director or another portfolio team Managing Director of the Adviser or, if the proxy may be voted electronically, electronically voted by any such Managing Director of the Adviser or his designee, including any of the individuals listed on Exhibit A hereto. Every effort shall be made to consult with the portfolio manager and/or analyst covering the security.
| f. | The Adviser may determine not to vote a particular proxy, if the costs and burdens exceed the benefits of voting (e.g., when securities are subject to loan or to share blocking restrictions).

3. Conflicts of Interest

The Adviser shall use commercially reasonable efforts to determine whether a potential conflict may exist, and a potential conflict shall be deemed to exist only if one or more of the members of the applicable Investment Committee of the Adviser actually knew or should have known of the conflict. The Adviser is sensitive to conflicts of interest that may arise in the proxy decision-making process and has identified the following potential conflicts of interest:

● | A principal of the Adviser or any person involved in the proxy decision-making process currently serves on the Board of the portfolio company.
● | An immediate family member of a principal of the Adviser or any person involved in the proxy decision-making process currently serves as a director or executive officer of the portfolio company.
● | The Adviser, any venture capital fund managed by the Adviser, or any affiliate holds a significant ownership interest in the portfolio company.

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This list is not intended to be exclusive. All employees are obligated to disclose any potential conflict to the Adviser’s Chief Compliance Officer.

If a material conflict is identified, Adviser management may (i) disclose the potential conflict to the client and obtain consent; (ii) establish an ethical wall or other informational barriers between the person(s) that are involved in the conflict and the persons making the voting decisions, (iii) abstain from voting the proxies; or (iv) forward the proxies to clients so the clients may vote the proxies themselves.

4. Recordkeeping

The applicable Investment Committee of the Adviser, or personnel of the Adviser designated by the Investment Committee as listed on Exhibit A hereto, are responsible for maintaining the following records:

● | proxy voting policies and procedures;
● | proxy statements (provided, however, that the Adviser may rely on the Securities and Exchange Commission’s EDGAR system if the issuer filed its proxy statements via EDGAR or may rely on a third party as long as the third party has provided the Adviser with an undertaking to provide a copy of the proxy statement promptly upon request);
● | records of votes cast and abstentions; and
● | any records prepared by the Adviser that were material to a proxy voting decision or that memorialized a decision.

Please see the separate proxy voting policies and procedures for the Tortoise St. Louis team which makes separate and independent decisions from the other Adviser investment teams.

Revised effective as of August 25, 2020

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Exhibit A

Managing Director of the Adviser Designated by Investment Committee (“Designated Managing Director”)

Each of the following is a “Designated Managing Director” and may act individually as such for purposes of these Proxy Voting Policies and Procedures

Brian Kessens

James Mick

Matt Sallee

Rob Thummel

Nick Holmes

Stephen Pang

Designees for Electronic Voting of Proxies

Rob Thummel

Matt Sallee

James Mick

Brian Kessens

Braden Cielocha

Nick Holmes

Brett Castelli

Any other individual designated by one or more of the Designated Managing Directors

Designated Personnel for Record Keeping

Chief Compliance Officer, or his or her designee

SMA Operations team

Exhibit A amended effective as of August 25, 2020

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