Lawrence Asset Management Inc., the manager of Lawrence Payout Ratio Trust, a TSX-listed, closed-end investment fund, announced that it has called a special meeting of unitholders of the fund to propose the conversion of the fund into an open-ended mutual fund.

The special meeting will be held on August 7.

The conversion of the fund into an open-ended mutual fund is being proposed to provide unitholders with enhanced liquidity and improved valuation. If the conversion is approved, units of the fund will no longer be listed and posted for trading on the TSX, but instead will be redeemable at their net asset value on a weekly basis. The fund will continue its objective to pay unitholders monthly distributions of 5.83¢ a unit and the same low annual management fee of 0.45% will apply.

Upon conversion, the name of the fund will change to Lawrence Income & Growth Fund.

As of the close of business on June 27, units of the fund traded at a discount of approximately 4.66% to their net asset value, however, the historical discount to net asset value has typically been in the 5%-7% range.

If the conversion to an open-ended mutual fund is approved, investors will be able to redeem units at their net asset value on a weekly basis. In addition, client account statements will begin reporting the net asset value per unit of the fund rather than the market price.

Lawrence Asset Management Inc. is also proposing to give all existing unitholders the opportunity to purchase additional units of the fund at their net asset value on a weekly basis (subject to qualifying such additional units for distribution by simplified prospectus) at the same low annual management fee of 0.45%. This will allow existing investors to further enjoy the low-cost nature of the fund.

Over the past few months, investment advisors and retail investors have expressed their desire for Lawrence Asset Management Inc. to create an open-ended mutual fund available on a continuous basis to all investors. To address this interest, as a part of the conversion, unitholders of the fund will be asked to approve the creation of a new class of units to be offered to new investors (subject to qualifying the units for distribution by simplified prospectus). Similar to the existing class of units, the new class of units is expected to be available for purchases and redemptions on a weekly basis at the net asset value per unit and unitholders will expect to receive monthly distributions of 5.83¢ per unit. The annual management fee for the new class is expected to be 1%.