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the Period Shown in the Bar Chart Best 1st Quarter 2019 22.49% Worst 3rd Quarter 2011 -25.09%Best and Worst Quarterly Returns During the Period Shown in the Bar Chart Best 3rd Quarter 2010 6.15% Worst 3rd Quarter 2015 -3.17%Best and Worst Quarterly Returns During the Period Shown in the Bar Chart Best 4th Quarter 2013 4.66% Worst 2nd Quarter 2015 -5.10%Best and Worst Quarterly Returns During the Period Shown in the Bar Chart Best 1st Quarter 2019 11.16% Worst 3rd Quarter 2019 -2.31%Best and Worst Quarterly Returns During the Period Shown in the Bar Chart Best 1st Quarter 2013 13.54% Worst 4th Quarter 2018 -19.89%Best and Worst Quarterly Returns During the Period Shown in the Bar Chart Best 2nd Quarter 2019 3.42% Worst 4th Quarter 2016 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of this prospectus because the ratio of expenses to average net assets does not include acquired fund fees and expenses.Year to Date return as of September 30, 2020: 7.29%Year to Date return as of September 30, 2020: 28.40%Other expenses have been restated to reflect current fees paid by the Fund. Year to Date return as of September 30, 2020: 34.64%Other expenses have been restated to reflect current transfer agency fees paid by the Fund.Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC and certain of its affiliates have contractually agreed to waive fees and/or to reimburse expenses (excluding transaction costs and certain other investment related expenses, interest, taxes, acquired fund fees and expenses, and infrequent and/or unusual expenses) through December 31, 2021, unless sooner terminated at the sole discretion of the Fund’s Board of Trustees (the Board). Under this agreement, the Fund’s net operating expenses, subject to applicable exclusions, will not exceed the annual rates of 1.25% for Class A, 1.00% for Class Adv, 2.00% for Class C, 1.00% for Class Inst, 0.85% for Class Inst2, 0.81% for Class Inst3 and 1.50% for Class R.Year to Date return as of September 30, 2020: 6.93%Year to Date return as of September 30, 2020: -9.03%Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC and certain of its affiliates have contractually agreed to waive fees and/or to reimburse expenses (excluding transaction costs and certain other investment related expenses, interest, taxes, acquired fund fees and expenses, and infrequent and/or unusual expenses) through December 31, 2021, unless sooner terminated at the sole discretion of the Fund’s Board of Trustees (the Board). Under this agreement, the Fund’s net operating expenses, subject to applicable exclusions, will not exceed the annual rates of 1.53% for Class A, 1.28% for Class Adv, 2.28% for Class C, 1.28% for Class Inst, 1.16% for Class Inst2, 1.11% for Class Inst3 and 1.78% for Class R. The fee waivers and/or expense reimbursements shown in the table for Class Inst2 and Class Inst3 also reflect the contractual agreement of the Fund’s transfer agent to waive fees and/or to reimburse expenses through December 31, 2021, unless sooner terminated at the sole discretion of the Fund’s Board, so that the Fund’s transfer agency fees do not exceed the annual rate of 0.05% for Class Inst2 and 0.00% for Class Inst3.Year to Date return as of September 30, 2020: 10.83%Year to Date return as of September 30, 2020: 16.30%Year to Date return as of September 30, 2020: 32.59%Year to Date return as of September 30, 2020: 2.12%Year to Date return as of September 30, 2020: 2.42%Returns shown for periods prior to the inception date of the Fund's Class Inst shares include the returns of the Fund's Class A shares for the period from April 23, 2012 (the Fund's inception date) through January 2, 2017, as applicable. Class A shares were offered prior to the inception date of the Fund's Class Inst shares but have since been merged into the Fund's Class Inst shares.Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC and certain of its affiliates have contractually agreed to waive fees and/or to reimburse expenses (excluding transaction costs and certain other investment related expenses, interest, taxes, acquired fund fees and expenses, and infrequent and/or unusual expenses) through December 31, 2021, unless sooner terminated at the sole discretion of the Fund’s Board of Trustees (the Board). Under this agreement, the Fund’s net operating expenses, subject to applicable exclusions, will not exceed the annual rates of 0.99% for Class Inst and 0.84% for Class Inst3. The fee waivers and/or expense reimbursements shown in the table for Class Inst3 also reflect the contractual agreement of the Fund’s transfer agent to waive fees and/or to reimburse expenses through December 31, 2021, unless sooner terminated at the sole discretion of the Fund’s Board, so that the Fund’s transfer agency fees do not exceed the annual rate of 0.00% for Class Inst3. Year to Date return as of September 30, 2020: -2.88%Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC and certain of its affiliates have contractually agreed to waive fees and/or to reimburse expenses (excluding transaction costs and certain other investment related expenses, interest, taxes, acquired fund fees and expenses, and infrequent and/or unusual expenses) through December 31, 2021, unless sooner terminated at the sole discretion of the Fund’s Board of Trustees. Under this agreement, the Fund’s net operating expenses, subject to applicable exclusions, will not exceed the annual rates of 0.99% for Class Inst and 0.81% for Class Inst3. Year to Date return as of September 30, 2020: -7.71% Returns shown for periods prior to the inception date of the Fund's Class Inst shares include the returns of the Fund's Class A shares for the period from April 20, 2012 (the Fund's inception date) through January 2, 2017, and of the Fund's Class Inst shares for the period from January 3, 2017 through the inception date of such share class, as applicable. Class A shares were offered prior to the inception date of the Fund's Class Inst shares but have since been merged into the Fund's Class Inst shares. Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC and certain of its affiliates have contractually agreed to waive fees and/or to reimburse expenses (excluding transaction costs and certain other investment related expenses, interest, taxes, acquired fund fees and expenses, and infrequent and/or unusual expenses) through December 31, 2021, unless sooner terminated at the sole discretion of the Fund’s Board of Trustees (the Board). Under this agreement, the Fund’s net operating expenses, subject to applicable exclusions, will not exceed the annual rates of 0.49% for Class Inst and 0.46% for Class Inst3. The fee waivers and/or expense reimbursements shown in the table for Class Inst3 also reflect the contractual agreement of the Fund’s transfer agent to waive fees and/or to reimburse expenses through December 31, 2021, unless sooner terminated at the sole discretion of the Fund’s Board, so that the Fund’s transfer agency fees do not exceed the annual rate of 0.01% for Class Inst3. Year to Date return as of September 30, 2020: 6.87% The Investment Manager of the Fund does not charge a management fee to the Fund. However, the Fund is an integral part of broader SMA programs, and SMA clients pay a fee directly, or indirectly through Program Sponsors, to the Investment Manager for providing investment management services to the Program Sponsor or the SMA, including on assets that may be invested in the Fund. The Investment Manager or its affiliates will be compensated directly or indirectly by Program Sponsors or SMAs for providing investment management services to the SMA. Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC and certain of its affiliates have contractually agreed to waive fees and/or to reimburse expenses (excluding transaction costs and certain other investment related expenses, interest, taxes, and infrequent and/or unusual expenses) through December 31, 2022, unless sooner terminated at the sole discretion of the Fund’s Board of Trustees. 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As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on December 23, 2020.
Registration Nos. 2-99356
811-04367
811-04367
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, DC 20549
Form N-1A
REGISTRATION STATEMENT
UNDER
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THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933
|
☒ |
| Pre-Effective Amendment No. | ☐ |
| Post-Effective Amendment No. 383 | ☒ |
and/or
REGISTRATION STATEMENT
UNDER
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THE INVESTMENT COMPANY ACT OF 1940
|
☒ |
| Amendment No. 387 | ☒ |
(Check Appropriate Box or Boxes)
COLUMBIA FUNDS SERIES TRUST I
(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Charter)
225 Franklin Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02110
(Address of Principal Executive Offices) (Zip Code)
Registrant’s Telephone Number, Including Area Code: (800) 345-6611
|
Christopher O. Petersen, Esq.
c/o Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC 225 Franklin Street Boston, Massachusetts 02110 |
Ryan C. Larrenaga, Esq.
c/o Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC 225 Franklin Street Boston, Massachusetts 02110 |
(Name and Address of Agents for Service)
Approximate Date of Proposed Public Offering:
It is proposed that this filing will become effective (check appropriate box)
☐ Immediately upon filing pursuant to paragraph (b)
☒ On December 31, 2020 pursuant to paragraph (b)
☐ 60 days after filing pursuant to paragraph (a)(1)
☐ On (date) pursuant to paragraph (a)(1)
☐ 75 days after filing pursuant to paragraph (a)(2)
☐ On (date) pursuant to paragraph (a)(2) of rule 485.
If appropriate, check the following box:
☐ This post-effective amendment designates a new effective date for a previously filed post-effective amendment.
This Post-Effective Amendment relates solely to the Registrant’s
Columbia Balanced Fund, Columbia Contrarian Core Fund, Columbia Emerging Markets Fund, Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund, Columbia Greater China Fund, Columbia International Dividend Income Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Growth Fund, Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I, Columbia Strategic Income Fund, Multi-Manager Alternative Strategies Fund, Multi-Manager International Equity
Strategies Fund, Multi-Manager Small Cap Equity Strategies Fund, Multi-Manager Total Return Bond Strategies Fund, Multisector Bond SMA Completion Portfolio and Overseas SMA Completion Portfolio
series. Information contained in the Registrant’s Registration Statement relating to any other series of the Registrant is neither amended nor superseded hereby.
Prospectus
January 1, 2021
Columbia Balanced Fund
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Class
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Ticker Symbol
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| A | CBLAX | |
| Advisor (Class Adv) | CBDRX | |
| C | CBLCX | |
| Institutional (Class Inst) | CBALX | |
| Institutional 2 (Class Inst2) | CLREX | |
| Institutional 3 (Class Inst3) | CBDYX | |
| R | CBLRX |
Beginning on January 1, 2021, as permitted by regulations adopted by the Securities and Exchange Commission, paper copies of the Fund's annual and semiannual shareholder reports are no longer sent by mail, unless you specifically requested paper copies of the reports. Instead, the reports are made available on the Fund's website (columbiathreadneedleus.com/investor/), and each time a report is posted you will be notified by mail and provided with a website address to access the report.
If you have already elected to receive shareholder reports electronically, you will not be affected by this change and you need not take any action. You may elect to receive shareholder reports and other communications from the Fund electronically at any time by contacting your financial intermediary (such as a broker-dealer or bank) or, for Fund shares held directly with the Fund, by calling 800.345.6611 or by enrolling in “eDelivery” by logging into your account at columbiathreadneedleus.com/investor/.
You may elect to receive all future shareholder reports in paper free of charge. If you invest through a financial intermediary, you can contact your financial intermediary to request that you continue receiving paper copies of your shareholder reports. If you invest directly with the Fund, you can call 800.345.6611 to let the Fund know you wish to continue receiving paper copies of your shareholder reports. Your election to receive paper reports will apply to all Columbia Funds held in your account if you invest through a financial intermediary or all Columbia Funds held with the fund complex if you invest directly with the Fund.
As with all mutual funds, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has not approved or disapproved these securities or passed upon the adequacy of this prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.
Columbia Balanced Fund
Table of Contents
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A-1
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2
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Prospectus 2021
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Columbia Balanced Fund
Summary of the Fund
Investment Objective
Columbia Balanced Fund (the Fund) seeks high total return by investing in common stocks and debt securities.
Fees and Expenses of the Fund
This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold and sell shares of the Fund.
You may be required to pay such brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries when transacting in any class of Fund shares, including those that do not assess any front-end sales charge, contingent deferred sales charge, or other asset-based fee for sales or distribution. Such brokerage commissions and other fees are set by the financial intermediary.
You may qualify for sales charge discounts if you and members of your immediate family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $50,000 in certain classes of shares of eligible funds distributed by Columbia Management Investment Distributors, Inc. (the Distributor). More information is available about these and other sales charge discounts and waivers from your financial intermediary, and can be found in the
section beginning on page 30 of the Fund’s prospectus, in
to the prospectus beginning on page A-1 and in Appendix S to the Statement of Additional Information (SAI) under
beginning on page S-1.
You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the tables and examples below.
Choosing a Share Class
Appendix A
Sales Charge Waivers
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Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment)
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|||
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Class A
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Class C
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Classes Adv,
Inst, Inst2, Inst3 and R |
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| Maximum sales charge (load) imposed on purchases (as a % of offering price) | 5.75% | None | None |
| Maximum deferred sales charge (load) imposed on redemptions (as a % of the lower of the original purchase price or current net asset value) |
1.00%
(a)
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1.00%
(b)
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None |
| (a) | This charge is imposed on certain investments of between $1 million and $50 million redeemed within 18 months after purchase, as follows: 1.00% if redeemed within 12 months after purchase, and 0.50% if redeemed more than 12, but less than 18, months after purchase, with certain limited exceptions. |
| (b) | This charge applies to redemptions within 12 months after purchase, with certain limited exceptions. |
| (c) |
“Total annual Fund operating expenses” include acquired fund fees and expenses (expenses the Fund incurs indirectly through its investments in other investment companies) and may be higher than the ratio of expenses to average net assets shown in the
Financial Highlights
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Example
The following example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The example illustrates the hypothetical expenses that you would incur over the time periods indicated, and assumes that:
| ■ | you invest $10,000 in the applicable class of Fund shares for the periods indicated, |
| ■ | your investment has a 5% return each year, and |
| ■ |
the Fund’s total annual operating expenses remain the same as shown in the
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
|
| Prospectus 2021 | 3 |
Columbia Balanced Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on the assumptions listed above, your costs would be:
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1 year
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3 years
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5 years
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10 years
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Class A
(whether or not shares are redeemed)
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$666 | $860 | $1,070 | $1,674 |
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Class Adv
(whether or not shares are redeemed)
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$
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$224 |
$
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$
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Class C
(assuming redemption of all shares at the end of the period)
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$273 | $536 |
$
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$2,009 |
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Class C
(assuming no redemption of shares)
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$173 | $536 |
$
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$2,009 |
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Class Inst
(whether or not shares are redeemed)
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$
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$224 |
$
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$
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Class Inst2
(whether or not shares are redeemed)
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$
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$211 |
$
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$
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Class Inst3
(whether or not shares are redeemed)
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$
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$195 |
$
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$
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Class R
(whether or not shares are redeemed)
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$122 | $381 |
$
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$1,455 |
Portfolio Turnover
The Fund may pay transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 140% of the average value of its portfolio.
Principal Investment Strategies
Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests in a mix of equity and debt securities. The Fund’s assets are allocated among equity and debt securities (which includes cash and cash equivalents) based on an assessment of the relative risks and returns of each asset class. The Fund generally will invest between 35% and 65% of its net assets in each asset class, and in any event will invest at least 25% and no more than 75% of its net assets in each asset class under normal circumstances.
With respect to its equity securities investments, which may include among other types of equity securities, common stocks, preferred stocks and securities convertible into common or preferred stocks, the Fund invests primarily in equity securities of companies that, at the time of purchase, have large market capitalizations (generally over $5 billion). The Fund may use value-oriented investing strategies, amongst others.
With respect to its debt securities investments, the Fund invests primarily in securities that, at the time of purchase, are rated investment grade or are unrated but determined to be of comparable quality. These securities include debt securities issued by the U.S. Government and its agencies and instrumentalities, debt securities issued by corporations, mortgage- and other asset-backed securities, and other debt securities with intermediate- to long-term maturities. The Fund may invest up to 10% of its total assets in debt instruments that, at the time of purchase, are rated below investment grade or are unrated but determined to be of comparable quality (commonly referred to as “high-yield” investments or “junk” bonds).
The Fund may also invest up to 20% of its net assets in foreign securities. The Fund may invest directly in foreign securities or indirectly through depositary receipts.
The Fund may invest in derivatives, such as futures (including interest rate futures). The Fund may invest in derivatives for both hedging and non-hedging (investment) purposes, including, for example, to seek to enhance returns or as a substitute for a position in an underlying asset, as well as to manage duration, yield curve and/or interest rate exposure.
The Fund may purchase or sell securities on a when-issued, delayed delivery or forward commitment basis. Such securities may include mortgage-backed securities acquired or sold in the “to be announced” (TBA) market and those in a dollar roll transaction.
The Fund may invest in privately placed and other securities or instruments that are purchased and sold pursuant to Rule 144A or other exemptions under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, subject to certain regulatory restrictions.
| 4 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Balanced Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
The Fund’s investment strategy may involve the frequent trading of portfolio securities.
Principal Risks
An investment in the Fund involves risks, including
,
,
,
,
and
, among others. Descriptions of these and other principal risks of investing in the Fund are provided below.
. The value of the Fund’s holdings may decline, and the Fund’s net asset value (NAV) and share price may go down.
An investment in the Fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency.
Market Risk
Large-Cap Stock Risk
Interest Rate Risk
Credit Risk
Mortgage- and Other Asset-Backed Securities Risk
There is no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objective and you may lose money
Active Management Risk.
Due to its active management, the Fund could underperform its benchmark index and/or other funds with similar investment objectives and/or strategies.
Allocation Risk.
Because the Fund uses an asset allocation strategy in pursuit of its investment objective, there is a risk that the Fund's allocation among asset classes, investments, strategies and/or investment styles will cause the Fund's shares to lose value or cause the Fund to underperform other funds with similar investment objectives and/or strategies, or that the investments themselves will not produce the returns expected.
Changing Distribution Level Risk.
The Fund normally expects to receive income which may include interest, dividends and/or capital gains, depending upon its investments. The distribution amounts paid by the Fund will vary and generally depend on the amount of income the Fund earns (less expenses) on its portfolio holdings, and capital gains or losses it recognizes. A decline in the Fund’s income or net capital gains arising from its investments may reduce its distribution level.
Convertible Securities Risk.
Convertible securities are subject to the usual risks associated with debt instruments, such as interest rate risk and credit risk. Convertible securities also react to changes in the value of the common stock into which they convert, and are thus subject to market risk. The Fund may also be forced to convert a convertible security at an inopportune time, which may decrease the Fund’s return.
Counterparty Risk.
Counterparty risk is the risk that a counterparty to a transaction in a financial instrument held by the Fund or by a special purpose or structured vehicle invested in by the Fund may become insolvent or otherwise fail to perform its obligations. As a result, the Fund may obtain no or limited recovery of its investment, and any recovery may be significantly delayed.
Credit Risk.
Credit risk is the risk that the value of debt instruments may decline if the issuer thereof defaults or otherwise becomes unable or unwilling, or is perceived to be unable or unwilling, to honor its financial obligations, such as making payments to the Fund when due. Credit rating agencies assign credit ratings to certain debt instruments to indicate their credit risk. Unless otherwise provided in the Fund’s Principal Investment Strategies, investment grade debt instruments are those rated at or above BBB- by S&P Global Ratings, or equivalently rated by Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. or Fitch Ratings, Inc., or, if unrated, determined by the management team to be of comparable quality. Conversely, below investment grade (commonly called “high-yield” or “junk”) debt instruments are those rated below BBB- by S&P Global Ratings, or equivalently rated by Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. or Fitch Ratings, Inc., or, if unrated, determined by the management team to be of comparable quality. A rating downgrade by such agencies can negatively impact the value of such instruments. Lower quality or unrated instruments held by the Fund may present increased credit risk as compared to higher-rated instruments. Non-investment grade debt instruments may be subject to greater price fluctuations and are more likely to experience a default than investment grade debt instruments and therefore may expose the Fund to increased credit risk. If the Fund purchases unrated instruments, or if the ratings of instruments held by the Fund are lowered after purchase, the Fund will depend on analysis of credit risk more heavily than usual.
Depositary Receipts Risk.
Depositary receipts are receipts issued by a bank or trust company reflecting ownership of underlying securities issued by foreign companies. Some foreign securities are traded in the form of American Depositary Receipts and/or Global Depositary Receipts. Depositary receipts involve risks similar to the risks associated with investments in foreign securities, including those associated with investing in the particular country of an issuer, which may be related to the particular political, regulatory, economic, social and other conditions or events, including, for example, military confrontations, war, terrorism and disease/virus outbreaks and epidemics,
| Prospectus 2021 | 5 |
Columbia Balanced Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
occurring in the country and fluctuations in such country’s currency, as well as market risk tied to the underlying foreign company. In addition, holders of depositary receipts may have limited voting rights, may not have the same rights afforded to stockholders of a typical domestic company in the event of a corporate action, such as an acquisition, merger or rights offering, and may experience difficulty in receiving company stockholder communications. There is no guarantee that a financial institution will continue to sponsor a depositary receipt, or that a depositary receipt will continue to trade on an exchange, either of which could adversely affect the liquidity, availability and pricing of the depositary receipt. Changes in foreign currency exchange rates will affect the value of depositary receipts and, therefore, may affect the value of your investment in the Fund.
Derivatives Risk.
Derivatives may involve significant risks. Derivatives are financial instruments with a value in relation to, or derived from, the value of an underlying asset(s) or other reference, such as an index, rate or other economic indicator (each an underlying reference). Derivatives may include those that are privately placed or otherwise exempt from SEC registration, including certain Rule 144A eligible securities. Derivatives could result in Fund losses if the underlying reference does not perform as anticipated. Use of derivatives is a highly specialized activity that can involve investment techniques, risks, and tax planning different from those associated with more traditional investment instruments. The Fund’s derivatives strategy may not be successful and use of certain derivatives could result in substantial, potentially unlimited, losses to the Fund regardless of the Fund’s actual investment. A relatively small movement in the price, rate or other economic indicator associated with the underlying reference may result in substantial loss for the Fund. Derivatives may be more volatile than other types of investments. The value of derivatives may be influenced by a variety of factors, including national and international political and economic developments. Potential changes to the regulation of the derivatives markets may make derivatives more costly, may limit the market for derivatives, or may otherwise adversely affect the value or performance of derivatives. Derivatives can increase the Fund’s risk exposure to underlying references and their attendant risks, such as credit risk, market risk, foreign currency risk and interest rate risk, while exposing the Fund to correlation risk, counterparty risk, hedging risk, inflation risk, leverage risk, liquidity risk, pricing risk and volatility risk.
Derivatives Risk – Futures Contracts Risk.
A futures contract is an exchange-traded derivative transaction between two parties in which a buyer (holding the “long” position) agrees to pay a fixed price (or rate) at a specified future date for delivery of an underlying reference from a seller (holding the “short” position). The seller hopes that the market price on the delivery date is less than the agreed upon price, while the buyer hopes for the contrary. Certain futures contract markets are highly volatile, and futures contracts may be illiquid. Futures exchanges may limit fluctuations in futures contract prices by imposing a maximum permissible daily price movement. The Fund may be disadvantaged if it is prohibited from executing a trade outside the daily permissible price movement. At or prior to maturity of a futures contract, the Fund may enter into an offsetting contract and may incur a loss to the extent there has been adverse movement in futures contract prices. The liquidity of the futures markets depends on participants entering into offsetting transactions rather than making or taking delivery. To the extent participants make or take delivery, liquidity in the futures market could be reduced. As a result, a relatively small price movement in a futures contract may result in substantial losses to the Fund, exceeding the amount of the margin paid. For certain types of futures contracts, losses are potentially unlimited. Futures markets are highly volatile and the use of futures may increase the volatility of the Fund’s NAV. Futures contracts executed (if any) on foreign exchanges may not provide the same protection as U.S. exchanges. Futures contracts can increase the Fund’s risk exposure to underlying references and their attendant risks, such as credit risk, market risk, foreign currency risk and interest rate risk, while also exposing the Fund to correlation risk, counterparty risk, hedging risk, inflation risk, leverage risk, liquidity risk, pricing risk and volatility risk.
Foreign Securities Risk.
Investments in or exposure to foreign securities involve certain risks not associated with investments in or exposure to securities of U.S. companies. Foreign securities subject the Fund to the risks associated with investing in the particular country of an issuer, including political, regulatory, economic, social, diplomatic and other conditions or events (including, for example, military confrontations, war, terrorism and disease/virus outbreaks and epidemics), occurring in the country or region, as well as risks associated with less developed custody and settlement practices. Foreign securities may be more volatile and less liquid than securities of U.S. companies, and are subject to the risks associated with potential imposition of economic and other sanctions
| 6 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Balanced Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
against a particular foreign country, its nationals or industries or businesses within the country. In addition, foreign governments may impose withholding or other taxes on the Fund’s income, capital gains or proceeds from the disposition of foreign securities, which could reduce the Fund’s return on such securities. The performance of the Fund may also be negatively affected by fluctuations in a foreign currency's strength or weakness relative to the U.S. dollar, particularly to the extent the Fund invests a significant percentage of its assets in foreign securities or other assets denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar.
Forward Commitments on Mortgage-Backed Securities (including Dollar Rolls) Risk.
When purchasing mortgage-backed securities in the “to be announced” (TBA) market (MBS TBAs), the seller agrees to deliver mortgage-backed securities for an agreed upon price on an agreed upon date, but may make no guarantee as to the specific securities to be delivered. In lieu of taking delivery of mortgage-backed securities, the Fund could enter into dollar rolls, which are transactions in which the Fund sells securities to a counterparty and simultaneously agrees to purchase those or similar securities in the future at a predetermined price. Dollar rolls involve the risk that the market value of the securities the Fund is obligated to repurchase may decline below the repurchase price, or that the counterparty may default on its obligations. These transactions may also increase the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate. If the Fund reinvests the proceeds of the security sold, the Fund will also be subject to the risk that the investments purchased with such proceeds will decline in value (a form of leverage risk). MBS TBAs and dollar rolls are subject to the risk that the counterparty to the transaction may not perform or be unable to perform in accordance with the terms of the instrument.
Frequent Trading Risk.
The portfolio managers may actively and frequently trade investments in the Fund's portfolio to carry out its investment strategies. Frequent trading of investments increases the possibility that the Fund, as relevant, will realize taxable capital gains (including short-term capital gains, which are generally taxable to shareholders at higher rates than long-term capital gains for U.S. federal income tax purposes), which could reduce the Fund's after-tax return. Frequent trading can also mean higher brokerage and other transaction costs, which could reduce the Fund's return. The trading costs and tax effects associated with portfolio turnover may adversely affect the Fund’s performance.
High-Yield Investments Risk.
Securities and other debt instruments held by the Fund that are rated below investment grade (commonly called “high-yield” or “junk” bonds) and unrated debt instruments of comparable quality expose the Fund to a greater risk of loss of principal and income than a fund that invests solely or primarily in investment grade debt instruments. In addition, these investments have greater price fluctuations, are less liquid and are more likely to experience a default than higher-rated debt instruments. High-yield debt instruments are considered to be predominantly speculative with respect to the issuer’s capacity to pay interest and repay principal.
Interest Rate Risk.
Interest rate risk is the risk of losses attributable to changes in interest rates. In general, if prevailing interest rates rise, the values of debt instruments tend to fall, and if interest rates fall, the values of debt instruments tend to rise. Changes in the value of a debt instrument usually will not affect the amount of income the Fund receives from it but will generally affect the value of your investment in the Fund. Changes in interest rates may also affect the liquidity of the Fund’s investments in debt instruments. In general, the longer the maturity or duration of a debt instrument, the greater its sensitivity to changes in interest rates. Interest rate declines also may increase prepayments of debt obligations, which, in turn, would increase prepayment risk. Very low or negative interest rates may impact the Fund’s yield and may increase the risk that, if followed by rising interest rates, the Fund’s performance will be negatively impacted. The Fund is subject to the risk that the income generated by its investments may not keep pace with inflation. Actions by governments and central banking authorities can result in increases or decreases in interest rates. Such actions may negatively affect the value of debt instruments held by the Fund, resulting in a negative impact on the Fund's performance and NAV. Any interest rate increases could cause the value of the Fund’s investments in debt instruments to decrease. Rising interest rates may prompt redemptions from the Fund, which may force the Fund to sell investments at a time when it is not advantageous to do so, which could result in losses.
Issuer Risk.
An issuer in which the Fund invests or to which it has exposure may perform poorly or below expectations, and the value of its securities may therefore decline, which may negatively affect the Fund’s performance. Underperformance of an issuer may be caused by poor management decisions, competitive pressures,
| Prospectus 2021 | 7 |
Columbia Balanced Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
breakthroughs in technology, reliance on suppliers, labor problems or shortages, corporate restructurings, fraudulent disclosures, natural disasters, military confrontations, war, terrorism, disease/virus outbreaks, epidemics or other events, conditions and factors which may impair the value of an investment in the Fund.
Large-Cap Stock Risk.
Investments in larger, more established companies (larger companies) may involve certain risks associated with their larger size. For instance, larger companies may be less able to respond quickly to new competitive challenges, such as changes in consumer tastes or innovation from smaller competitors. Also, larger companies are sometimes less able to achieve as high growth rates as successful smaller companies, especially during extended periods of economic expansion.
Liquidity Risk.
Liquidity risk is the risk associated with any event, circumstance, or characteristic of an investment or market that negatively impacts the Fund’s ability to sell, or realize the proceeds from the sale of, an investment at a desirable time or price. Liquidity risk may arise because of, for example, a lack of marketability of the investment, which means that when seeking to sell its portfolio investments, the Fund could find that selling is more difficult than anticipated, especially during times of high market volatility. Decreases in the number of financial institutions, including banks and broker-dealers, willing to make markets (match up sellers and buyers) in the Fund’s investments or decreases in their capacity or willingness to trade such investments may increase the Fund’s exposure to this risk. The debt market has experienced considerable growth, and financial institutions making markets in instruments purchased and sold by the Fund (e.g., bond dealers) have been subject to increased regulation. The impact of that growth and regulation on the ability and willingness of financial institutions to engage in trading or “making a market” in such instruments remains unsettled. Certain types of investments, such as lower-rated securities or those that are purchased and sold in over-the-counter markets, may be especially subject to liquidity risk. Securities or other assets in which the Fund invests may be traded in the over-the-counter market rather than on an exchange and therefore may be more difficult to purchase or sell at a fair price, which may have a negative impact on the Fund’s performance. Market participants attempting to sell the same or a similar instrument at the same time as the Fund could exacerbate the Fund’s exposure to liquidity risk. The Fund may have to accept a lower selling price for the holding, sell other liquid or more liquid investments that it might otherwise prefer to hold (thereby increasing the proportion of the Fund’s investments in less liquid or illiquid securities), or forego another more appealing investment opportunity. The liquidity of Fund investments may change significantly over time and certain investments that were liquid when purchased by the Fund may later become illiquid, particularly in times of overall economic distress. Changing regulatory, market or other conditions or environments (for example, the interest rate or credit environments) may also adversely affect the liquidity and the price of the Fund's investments. Judgment plays a larger role in valuing illiquid or less liquid investments as compared to valuing liquid or more liquid investments. Price volatility may be higher for illiquid or less liquid investments as a result of, for example, the relatively less frequent pricing of such securities (as compared to liquid or more liquid investments). Generally, the less liquid the market at the time the Fund sells a portfolio investment, the greater the risk of loss or decline of value to the Fund. Overall market liquidity and other factors can lead to an increase in redemptions, which may negatively impact Fund performance and NAV, including, for example, if the Fund is forced to sell investments in a down market.
Market Risk.
The Fund may incur losses due to declines in the value of one or more securities in which it invests. These declines may be due to factors affecting a particular issuer, or the result of, among other things, political, regulatory, market, economic or social developments affecting the relevant market(s) more generally. In addition, turbulence in financial markets and reduced liquidity in equity, credit and/or fixed income markets may negatively affect many issuers, which could adversely affect the Fund, including causing difficulty in assigning prices to hard-to-value assets in thinly traded and closed markets, significant redemptions and operational challenges. Global economies and financial markets are increasingly interconnected, and conditions and events in one country, region or financial market may adversely impact issuers in a different country, region or financial market. These risks may be magnified if certain events or developments adversely interrupt the global supply chain; in these and other circumstances, such risks might affect companies worldwide. As a result, local, regional or global events such as terrorism, war, natural disasters, disease/virus outbreaks and epidemics or other public health issues, recessions, depressions or other events – or the potential for such events – could have a significant negative impact on global economic and market conditions.
| 8 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Balanced Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) public health crisis has become a pandemic that has resulted in, and may continue to result in, significant global economic and societal disruption and market volatility due to disruptions in market access, resource availability, facilities operations, imposition of tariffs, export controls and supply chain disruption, among others. Such disruptions may be caused, or exacerbated by, quarantines and travel restrictions, workforce displacement and loss in human and other resources. The uncertainty surrounding the magnitude, duration, reach, costs and effects of the global pandemic, as well as actions that have been or could be taken by governmental authorities or other third parties, present unknowns that are yet to unfold. The impacts, as well as the uncertainty over impacts to come, of COVID-19 – and any other infectious illness outbreaks, epidemics and pandemics that may arise in the future – could negatively affect global economies and markets in ways that cannot necessarily be foreseen. In addition, the impact of infectious illness outbreaks and epidemics in emerging market countries may be greater due to generally less established healthcare systems, governments and financial markets. Public health crises caused by the COVID-19 outbreak may exacerbate other pre-existing political, social and economic risks in certain countries or globally. The disruptions caused by COVID-19 could prevent the Fund from executing advantageous investment decisions in a timely manner and negatively impact the Fund’s ability to achieve its investment objective. Any such event(s) could have a significant adverse impact on the value and risk profile of the Fund.
Mortgage- and Other Asset-Backed Securities Risk.
The value of any mortgage-backed and other asset-backed securities including collateralized debt obligations and collateralized loan obligations, if any, held by the Fund may be affected by, among other things, changes or perceived changes in: interest rates; factors concerning the interests in and structure of the issuer or the originator of the mortgages or other assets; the creditworthiness of the entities that provide any supporting letters of credit, surety bonds or other credit enhancements; or the market's assessment of the quality of underlying assets. Payment of principal and interest on some mortgage-backed securities (but not the market value of the securities themselves) may be guaranteed by the full faith and credit of a particular U.S. Government agency, authority, enterprise or instrumentality, and some, but not all, are also insured or guaranteed by the U.S. Government. Mortgage-backed securities issued by non-governmental issuers (such as commercial banks, savings and loan institutions, private mortgage insurance companies, mortgage bankers and other secondary market issuers) may entail greater risk than obligations guaranteed by the U.S. Government. Mortgage- and other asset-backed securities are subject to liquidity risk and prepayment risk. A decline or flattening of housing values may cause delinquencies in mortgages (especially sub-prime or non-prime mortgages) underlying mortgage-backed securities and thereby adversely affect the ability of the mortgage-backed securities issuer to make principal and/or interest payments to mortgage-backed securities holders, including the Fund. Rising or high interest rates tend to extend the duration of mortgage- and other asset-backed securities, making their prices more volatile and more sensitive to changes in interest rates.
Preferred Stock Risk.
Preferred stock is a type of stock that may pay dividends at a different rate than common stock of the same issuer, if at all, and that has preference over common stock in the payment of dividends and the liquidation of assets. Preferred stock does not ordinarily carry voting rights. The price of a preferred stock is generally determined by earnings, type of products or services, projected growth rates, experience of management, liquidity, and general market conditions of the markets on which the stock trades. The most significant risks associated with investments in preferred stock include issuer risk, market risk and interest rate risk (the risk of losses attributable to changes in interest rates).
Prepayment and Extension Risk.
Prepayment and extension risk is the risk that a bond or other security or investment might, in the case of prepayment risk, be called or otherwise converted, prepaid or redeemed before maturity and, in the case of extension risk, that the investment might not be called as expected. In the case of prepayment risk, if the investment is converted, prepaid or redeemed before maturity, the portfolio managers may not be able to invest the proceeds in other investments providing as high a level of income, resulting in a reduced yield to the Fund. In the case of mortgage- or other asset-backed securities, as interest rates decrease or spreads narrow, the likelihood of prepayment increases. Conversely, extension risk is the risk that an unexpected rise in interest rates will extend the life of a mortgage- or other asset-backed security beyond the prepayment time. If the Fund’s investments are locked in at a lower interest rate for a longer period of time, the portfolio managers may be unable to capitalize on securities with higher interest rates or wider spreads.
| Prospectus 2021 | 9 |
Columbia Balanced Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
Reinvestment Risk.
Reinvestment risk arises when the Fund is unable to reinvest income or principal at the same or at least the same return it is currently earning.
Rule 144A and Other Exempted Securities Risk.
The Fund may invest in privately placed and other securities or instruments exempt from SEC registration (collectively “private placements”), subject to certain regulatory restrictions. In the U.S. market, private placements are typically sold only to qualified institutional buyers, or qualified purchasers, as applicable. An insufficient number of buyers interested in purchasing private placements at a particular time could adversely affect the marketability of such investments and the Fund might be unable to dispose of them promptly or at reasonable prices, subjecting the Fund to liquidity risk. The Fund’s holdings of private placements may increase the level of Fund illiquidity if eligible buyers are unable or unwilling to purchase them at a particular time. Issuers of Rule 144A eligible securities are required to furnish information to potential investors upon request. However, the required disclosure is much less extensive than that required of public companies and is not publicly available since the offering information is not filed with the SEC. Further, issuers of Rule 144A eligible securities can require recipients of the offering information (such as the Fund) to agree contractually to keep the information confidential, which could also adversely affect the Fund’s ability to dispose of the security.
U.S. Government Obligations Risk.
While U.S. Treasury obligations are backed by the “full faith and credit” of the U.S. Government, such securities are nonetheless subject to credit risk (i.e., the risk that the U.S. Government may be, or be perceived to be, unable or unwilling to honor its financial obligations, such as making payments). Securities issued or guaranteed by federal agencies or authorities and U.S. Government-sponsored instrumentalities or enterprises may or may not be backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. Government.
Value Securities Risk.
Value securities are securities of companies that may have experienced, for example, adverse business, industry or other developments or may be subject to special risks that have caused the securities to be out of favor and, in turn, potentially undervalued. The market value of a portfolio security may not meet portfolio management’s perceived value assessment of that security, or may decline in price, even though portfolio management believes the securities are already undervalued. There is also a risk that it may take longer than expected for the value of these investments to rise to portfolio management’s perceived value. In addition, value securities, at times, may not perform as well as growth securities or the stock market in general, and may be out of favor with investors for varying periods of time.
Performance Information
The following bar chart and table show you how the Fund has performed in the past, and can help you understand the risks of investing in the Fund. The bar chart shows how the Fund’s Class A share performance (without sales charges) has varied for each full calendar year shown. If the sales charges were reflected, returns shown would be lower.
The table below the bar chart compares the Fund’s returns (after applicable sales charges shown in the
table in this prospectus) for the periods shown with a blended benchmark that is intended to provide a measure of the Fund's performance given its investment strategy, as well as two additional measures of performance for markets in which the Fund may invest.
Shareholder Fees
The performance of one or more share classes shown in the table below begins before the indicated inception date for such share class. The returns shown for each such share class include the returns of the Fund’s Class Inst shares (adjusted to reflect the higher class-related operating expenses of such share classes, where applicable) for periods prior to its inception date. Share classes with expenses that are higher than Class Inst shares will have performance that is lower than Class Inst shares. Except for differences in annual returns resulting from differences in expenses and sales charges (where applicable), the share classes of the Fund would have substantially similar annual returns because all share classes of the Fund invest in the same portfolio of securities.
The after-tax returns shown in the
table below are calculated using the highest historical individual U.S. federal marginal income tax rates in effect during the period indicated in the table and do not reflect the impact of state, local or foreign taxes.
Your actual after-tax returns will depend on your personal tax situation and may differ from those shown in the table. In addition, the after-tax returns shown in the table do not apply to shares held in tax-advantaged accounts such as 401(k) plans or Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs). The after-tax returns are shown only for Class A shares and will vary for other share classes.
Average Annual Total Returns
| 10 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Balanced Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
The Fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) is no guarantee of how the Fund will perform in the future.
Updated performance information can be obtained by calling toll-free 800.345.6611 or visiting columbiathreadneedleus.com.
|
Year by Year Total Return (%)
as of December 31 Each Year* |
Best and Worst Quarterly Returns
During the Period Shown in the Bar Chart |
||
|
|
|
||
|
Best
Worst
|
1st Quarter 2019
3rd Quarter 2011
|
-9.68%
|
|
|
|
| * |
Year to Date return
as of September 30, 2020: 7.29%
|
Average Annual Total Returns After Applicable Sales Charges (for periods ended December 31, 2019)
|
Share Class
Inception Date |
1 Year
|
5 Years
|
10 Years
|
|
|
Class A
|
11/01/2002 | |||
| returns before taxes | 15.66% | 6.00% | 8.71% | |
| returns after taxes on distributions | 14.47% | 5.14% | 7.99% | |
| returns after taxes on distributions and sale of Fund shares | 9.89% | 4.56% | 6.99% | |
|
Class Adv
returns before taxes
|
11/08/2012 | 23.04% | 7.54% | 9.63% |
|
Class C
returns before taxes
|
10/13/2003 | 20.83% | 6.47% | 8.54% |
|
Class Inst
returns before taxes
|
10/01/1991 | 23.02% | 7.54% | 9.63% |
|
Class Inst2
returns before taxes
|
03/07/2011 | 23.10% | 7.61% | 9.71% |
|
Class Inst3
returns before taxes
|
11/08/2012 | 23.15% | 7.66% | 9.73% |
|
Class R
returns before taxes
|
09/27/2010 | 22.42% | 7.00% | 9.09% |
|
Blended Benchmark (consisting of 60% S&P 500
®
Index and 40% Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index)
(reflects no deductions for fees, expenses or taxes)
|
22.18% | 8.37% | 9.77% | |
|
S&P 500
®
Index
(reflects no deductions for fees, expenses or taxes)
|
31.49% | 11.70% | 13.56% | |
|
Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index
(reflects no deductions for fees, expenses or taxes)
|
8.72% | 3.05% | 3.75% |
| Prospectus 2021 | 11 |
Columbia Balanced Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
Fund Management
|
Portfolio Manager
|
Title
|
Role with Fund
|
Managed Fund Since
|
|||
| Guy Pope, CFA | Senior Portfolio Manager and Head of Contrarian Core Strategy | Lead Portfolio Manager | 1997 | |||
| Jason Callan | Senior Portfolio Manager and Head of Structured Assets | Portfolio Manager | 2018 | |||
| Gregory Liechty | Senior Portfolio Manager | Portfolio Manager | 2011 | |||
| Ronald Stahl, CFA | Senior Portfolio Manager and Head of Short Duration and Stable Value Team | Portfolio Manager | 2005 |
Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares
You may purchase or redeem shares of the Fund on any business day by contacting the Fund in the ways described below:
|
Online
|
Regular Mail
|
Express Mail
|
By Telephone
|
|||
| columbiathreadneedleus.com/investor/ |
Columbia Management
Investment Services Corp. P.O. Box 219104 Kansas City, MO 64121-9104 |
Columbia Management
Investment Services Corp. c/o DST Asset Manager Solutions, Inc. 430 W 7
th
Street, Suite 219104
Kansas City, MO 64105-1407 |
800.422.3737 |
You may purchase shares and receive redemption proceeds by electronic funds transfer, by check or by wire. If you maintain your account with a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary, you must contact that financial intermediary to buy, sell or exchange shares of the Fund through your account with the intermediary.
The minimum initial investment amounts for the share classes offered by the Fund are shown below:
Minimum Initial Investment
|
Class
|
Category of eligible account
|
For accounts other than
systematic investment plan accounts |
For systematic investment
plan accounts |
|
Classes A & C
|
All accounts other than IRAs | $2,000 | $100 |
| IRAs | $1,000 | $100 | |
|
Classes Adv & Inst
|
All eligible accounts |
$0, $1,000 or $2,000
depending upon the category of eligible investor |
$100 |
|
Classes Inst2 & R
|
All eligible accounts | None | N/A |
|
Class Inst3
|
All eligible accounts |
$0, $1,000, $2,000
or $1 million depending upon the category of eligible investor |
$100 (for certain
eligible investors) |
More information about these minimums can be found in the
section of the prospectus. There is no minimum additional investment for any share class.
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares - Buying Shares
Tax Information
The Fund normally distributes net investment income and net realized capital gains, if any, to shareholders. These distributions are generally taxable to you as ordinary income, qualified dividend income or capital gains, unless you are investing through a tax-advantaged account, such as a 401(k) plan or an IRA. If you are investing through a tax-advantaged account, you may be taxed upon withdrawals from that account.
| 12 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Balanced Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
If you purchase the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), the Fund and its related companies — including Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC (the Investment Manager), Columbia Management Investment Distributors, Inc. (the Distributor) and Columbia Management Investment Services Corp. (the Transfer Agent) — may pay the intermediary for the sale of Fund shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your financial advisor to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your financial advisor or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.
| Prospectus 2021 | 13 |
Columbia Balanced Fund
More Information About the Fund
Investment Objective
Columbia Balanced Fund (the Fund) seeks high total return by investing in common stocks and debt securities. Only shareholders can change the Fund’s investment objective. Because any investment involves risk, there is no assurance the Fund’s investment objective will be achieved.
Principal Investment Strategies
Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests in a mix of equity and debt securities. The Fund’s assets are allocated among equity and debt securities (which includes cash and cash equivalents) based on an assessment of the relative risks and returns of each asset class. The Fund generally will invest between 35% and 65% of its net assets in each asset class, and in any event will invest at least 25% and no more than 75% of its net assets in each asset class under normal circumstances.
With respect to its equity securities investments, which may include among other types of equity securities, common stocks, preferred stocks and securities convertible into common or preferred stocks, the Fund invests primarily in equity securities of companies that, at the time of purchase, have large market capitalizations (generally over $5 billion). The Fund may use value-oriented investing strategies, amongst others.
With respect to its debt securities investments, the Fund invests primarily in securities that, at the time of purchase, are rated investment grade or are unrated but determined to be of comparable quality. These securities include debt securities issued by the U.S. Government and its agencies and instrumentalities, debt securities issued by corporations, mortgage- and other asset-backed securities, and other debt securities with intermediate- to long-term maturities. The Fund may invest up to 10% of its total assets in debt instruments that, at the time of purchase, are rated below investment grade or are unrated but determined to be of comparable quality (commonly referred to as “high-yield” investments or “junk” bonds).
The Fund may also invest up to 20% of its net assets in foreign securities. The Fund may invest directly in foreign securities or indirectly through depositary receipts. Depositary receipts are receipts issued by a bank or trust company reflecting ownership of underlying securities issued by foreign companies.
The Fund may invest in derivatives, such as futures (including interest rate futures). The Fund may invest in derivatives for both hedging and non-hedging (investment) purposes, including, for example, to seek to enhance returns or as a substitute for a position in an underlying asset, as well as to manage duration, yield curve and/or interest rate exposure.
The Fund may purchase or sell securities on a when-issued, delayed delivery or forward commitment basis. Such securities may include mortgage-backed securities acquired or sold in the “to be announced” (TBA) market and those in a dollar roll transaction.
The Fund may invest in privately placed and other securities or instruments that are purchased and sold pursuant to Rule 144A or other exemptions under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, subject to certain regulatory restrictions.
The Fund’s assets are allocated among equity and debt securities (which includes cash and cash equivalents) based on an assessment of the relative risks and returns of each asset class.
Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC, (the Investment Manager) evaluates the relative attractiveness of each potential investment in constructing the Fund’s portfolio by considering a wide variety of factors, techniques and strategies, which for equity investments may include, among other criteria, fundamental and risk analysis, and economic and market data, conditions and expectations, and for debt investments may include, among other criteria, the creditworthiness of the issuer, the various features of the debt instrument, such as its interest rate, yield, maturity and call features, value relative to other investments, local, national and global economic and market conditions, interest rate movements and other relevant factors in allocating the Fund’s assets among issuers, securities, industry sectors and maturities.
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The Investment Manager may sell a security: when the Fund’s asset allocation changes; when the security’s price reaches a target set by the Investment Manager; if the Investment Manager believes that there is deterioration in the issuer’s financial circumstances or fundamental prospects, or that other investments are more attractive; if the security is believed to be overvalued relative to other potential investments; when the company no longer meets the Investment Manager’s performance expectation; if there is deterioration in a debt instrument’s credit rating; or for other reasons.
The Fund’s investment strategy may involve the frequent trading of portfolio securities.
Principal Risks
An investment in the Fund involves risks, including
,
,
,
,
and
, among others. Descriptions of these and other principal risks of investing in the Fund are provided below.
. The value of the Fund’s holdings may decline, and the Fund’s net asset value (NAV) and share price may go down. An investment in the Fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency.
Market Risk
Large-Cap Stock Risk
Interest Rate Risk
Credit Risk
Mortgage- and Other Asset-Backed Securities Risk
There is no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objective and you may lose money
Active Management Risk.
The Fund is actively managed and its performance therefore will reflect, in part, the ability of the portfolio managers to make investment decisions that seek to achieve the Fund’s investment objective. Due to its active management, the Fund could underperform its benchmark index and/or other funds with similar investment objectives and/or strategies.
Allocation Risk.
Because the Fund uses an asset allocation strategy in pursuit of its investment objective, there is a risk that the Fund's allocation among asset classes, investments, strategies and/or investment styles will cause the Fund's shares to lose value or cause the Fund to underperform other funds with similar investment objectives and/or strategies, or that the investments themselves will not produce the returns expected.
Changing Distribution Level Risk.
The Fund normally expects to receive income which may include interest, dividends and/or capital gains, depending upon its investments. The distribution amounts paid by the Fund will vary and generally depend on the amount of income the Fund earns (less expenses) on its portfolio holdings, and capital gains or losses it recognizes. A decline in the Fund’s income or net capital gains arising from its investments may reduce its distribution level.
Convertible Securities Risk.
Convertible securities are subject to the usual risks associated with debt instruments, such as interest rate risk (the risk of losses attributable to changes in interest rates) and credit risk (the risk that the issuer of a debt instrument will default or otherwise become unable, or be perceived to be unable or unwilling, to honor a financial obligation, such as making payments to the Fund when due). Convertible securities also react to changes in the value of the common stock into which they convert, and are thus subject to market risk (the risk that the market values of securities or other investments that the Fund holds will fall, sometimes rapidly or unpredictably, or fail to rise). Because the value of a convertible security can be influenced by both interest rates and the common stock's market movements, a convertible security generally is not as sensitive to interest rates as a similar debt instrument, and generally will not vary in value in response to other factors to the same extent as the underlying common stock. In the event of a liquidation of the issuing company, holders of convertible securities would typically be paid before the company's common stockholders but after holders of any senior debt obligations of the company. The Fund may be forced to convert a convertible security before it otherwise would choose to do so, which may decrease the Fund's return.
Counterparty Risk.
The risk exists that a counterparty to a transaction in a financial instrument held by the Fund or by a special purpose or structured vehicle in which the Fund invests may become insolvent or otherwise fail to perform its obligations, including making payments to the Fund, due to financial difficulties. The Fund may obtain no or limited recovery in a bankruptcy or other reorganizational proceedings, and any recovery may be significantly delayed. Transactions that the Fund enters into may involve counterparties in the financial services sector and, as a result, events affecting the financial services sector may cause the Fund’s share value to fluctuate.
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Credit Risk.
Credit risk is the risk that the value of debt instruments may decline if the issuer thereof defaults or otherwise becomes unable or unwilling, or is perceived to be unable or unwilling, to honor its financial obligations, such as making payments to the Fund when due. Various factors could affect the actual or perceived willingness or ability of the issuer to make timely interest or principal payments, including changes in the financial condition of the issuer or in general economic conditions. Credit rating agencies assign credit ratings to certain debt instruments to indicate their credit risk. Unless otherwise provided in the Fund’s Principal Investment Strategies, investment grade debt instruments are those rated at or above BBB- by S&P Global Ratings, or equivalently rated by Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. or Fitch Ratings, Inc., or, if unrated, determined by the management team to be of comparable quality. Conversely, below investment grade (commonly called “high-yield” or “junk”) debt instruments are those rated below BBB- by S&P Global Ratings, or equivalently rated by Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. or Fitch Ratings, Inc., or, if unrated, determined by the management team to be of comparable quality. A rating downgrade by such agencies can negatively impact the value of such instruments. Lower quality or unrated instruments held by the Fund may present increased credit risk as compared to higher-rated instruments. Non-investment grade debt instruments may be subject to greater price fluctuations and are more likely to experience a default than investment grade debt instruments and therefore may expose the Fund to increased credit risk. If the Fund purchases unrated instruments, or if the ratings of instruments held by the Fund are lowered after purchase, the Fund will depend on analysis of credit risk more heavily than usual.
Depositary Receipts Risk.
Depositary receipts are receipts issued by a bank or trust company reflecting ownership of underlying securities issued by foreign companies. Some foreign securities are traded in the form of American Depositary Receipts and/or Global Depositary Receipts. Depositary receipts involve risks similar to the risks associated with investments in foreign securities, including those associated with investing in the particular country of an issuer, which may be related to the particular political, regulatory, economic, social and other conditions or events, including, for example, military confrontations, war, terrorism and disease/virus outbreaks and epidemics, occurring in the country and fluctuations in such country’s currency, as well as market risk tied to the underlying foreign company. In addition, holders of depositary receipts may have limited voting rights, may not have the same rights afforded to stockholders of a typical domestic company in the event of a corporate action, such as an acquisition, merger or rights offering, and may experience difficulty in receiving company stockholder communications. There is no guarantee that a financial institution will continue to sponsor a depositary receipt, or that a depositary receipt will continue to trade on an exchange, either of which could adversely affect the liquidity, availability and pricing of the depositary receipt. Changes in foreign currency exchange rates will affect the value of depositary receipts and, therefore, may affect the value of your investment in the Fund.
Derivatives Risk.
Derivatives may involve significant risks. Derivatives are financial instruments, traded on an exchange or in the over-the-counter (OTC) markets, with a value in relation to, or derived from, the value of an underlying asset(s) (such as a security, commodity or currency) or other reference, such as an index, rate or other economic indicator (each an underlying reference). Derivatives may include those that are privately placed or otherwise exempt from SEC registration, including certain Rule 144A eligible securities. Derivatives could result in Fund losses if the underlying reference does not perform as anticipated. Use of derivatives is a highly specialized activity that can involve investment techniques, risks, and tax planning different from those associated with more traditional investment instruments. The Fund’s derivatives strategy may not be successful and use of certain derivatives could result in substantial, potentially unlimited, losses to the Fund regardless of the Fund’s actual investment. A relatively small movement in the price, rate or other economic indicator associated with the underlying reference may result in substantial loss for the Fund. Derivatives may be more volatile than other types of investments. Derivatives can increase the Fund’s risk exposure to underlying references and their attendant risks, including the risk of an adverse credit event associated with the underlying reference (credit risk), the risk of an adverse movement in the value, price or rate of the underlying reference (market risk), the risk of an adverse movement in the value of underlying currencies (foreign currency risk) and the risk of an adverse movement in underlying interest rates (interest rate risk). Derivatives may expose the Fund to additional risks, including the risk of loss due to a derivative position that is imperfectly correlated with the underlying reference it is intended to hedge or replicate (correlation risk), the risk that a counterparty will fail to perform as agreed (counterparty risk), the risk that a hedging strategy may fail to mitigate losses, and may offset gains (hedging risk), the risk that the return on an investment may not keep pace with inflation (inflation risk), the risk that losses may be greater than the amount
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invested (leverage risk), the risk that the Fund may be unable to sell an investment at an advantageous time or price (liquidity risk), the risk that the investment may be difficult to value (pricing risk), and the risk that the price or value of the investment fluctuates significantly over short periods of time (volatility risk). The value of derivatives may be influenced by a variety of factors, including national and international political and economic developments. Potential changes to the regulation of the derivatives markets may make derivatives more costly, may limit the market for derivatives, or may otherwise adversely affect the value or performance of derivatives.
Derivatives Risk – Futures Contracts Risk.
A futures contract is an exchange-traded derivative transaction between two parties in which a buyer (holding the “long” position) agrees to pay a fixed price (or rate) at a specified future date for delivery of an underlying reference from a seller (holding the “short” position). The seller hopes that the market price on the delivery date is less than the agreed upon price, while the buyer hopes for the contrary. Certain futures contract markets are highly volatile, and futures contracts may be illiquid. Futures exchanges may limit fluctuations in futures contract prices by imposing a maximum permissible daily price movement. The Fund may be disadvantaged if it is prohibited from executing a trade outside the daily permissible price movement. At or prior to maturity of a futures contract, the Fund may enter into an offsetting contract and may incur a loss to the extent there has been adverse movement in futures contract prices. The liquidity of the futures markets depends on participants entering into offsetting transactions rather than making or taking delivery. To the extent participants make or take delivery, liquidity in the futures market could be reduced. Positions in futures contracts may be closed out only on the exchange on which they were entered into or through a linked exchange, and no secondary market exists for such contracts. Futures positions are marked to market each day and variation margin payment must be paid to or by the Fund. As a result, a relatively small price movement in a futures contract may result in substantial losses to the Fund, exceeding the amount of the margin paid. For certain types of futures contracts, losses are potentially unlimited. Futures markets are highly volatile and the use of futures may increase the volatility of the Fund’s NAV. Futures contracts executed (if any) on foreign exchanges may not provide the same protection as U.S. exchanges. Futures contracts can increase the Fund’s risk exposure to underlying references and their attendant risks, such as credit risk, market risk, foreign currency risk and interest rate risk, while also exposing the Fund to correlation risk, counterparty risk, hedging risk, inflation risk, leverage risk, liquidity risk, pricing risk and volatility risk.
| ■ |
An
interest rate future
|
Foreign Securities Risk.
Investments in or exposure to foreign securities involve certain risks not associated with investments in or exposure to securities of U.S. companies. For example, foreign markets can be extremely volatile. Foreign securities may also be less liquid, making them more difficult to trade, than securities of U.S. companies so that the Fund may, at times, be unable to sell foreign securities at desirable times or prices. Brokerage commissions, custodial costs and other fees are also generally higher for foreign securities. The Fund may have limited or no legal recourse in the event of default with respect to certain foreign securities, including those issued by foreign governments. In addition, foreign governments may impose withholding or other taxes on the Fund’s income, capital gains or proceeds from the disposition of foreign securities, which could reduce the Fund’s return on such securities. In some cases, such withholding or other taxes could potentially be confiscatory. Other risks include: possible delays in the settlement of transactions or in the payment of income; generally less publicly available information about foreign companies; the impact of economic, political, social, diplomatic or other conditions or events (including, for example, military confrontations, war, terrorism and disease/virus outbreaks and epidemics), possible seizure, expropriation or nationalization of a company or its assets or the assets of a particular investor or category of investors; accounting, auditing and financial reporting standards that may be less comprehensive and stringent than those applicable to domestic companies; the imposition of economic and other sanctions against a particular foreign country, its nationals or industries or businesses within the country; and the generally less stringent standard of care to which local agents may be held in the local markets. In addition, it may be difficult to obtain reliable information about the securities and business operations of certain foreign issuers. Governments or trade groups may compel local agents to hold securities in designated depositories that are not subject to independent evaluation. The less developed a country’s securities market is, the greater the level of risks. The risks posed by sanctions against a particular foreign country, its nationals or industries or businesses within the country may be heightened to the
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extent the Fund invests significantly in the affected country or region or in issuers from the affected country that depend on global markets. Additionally, investments in certain countries may subject the Fund to a number of tax rules, the application of which may be uncertain. Countries may amend or revise their existing tax laws, regulations and/or procedures in the future, possibly with retroactive effect. Changes in or uncertainties regarding the laws, regulations or procedures of a country could reduce the after-tax profits of the Fund, directly or indirectly, including by reducing the after-tax profits of companies located in such countries in which the Fund invests, or result in unexpected tax liabilities for the Fund. The performance of the Fund may also be negatively affected by fluctuations in a foreign currency's strength or weakness relative to the U.S. dollar, particularly to the extent the Fund invests a significant percentage of its assets in foreign securities or other assets denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar. Currency rates in foreign countries may fluctuate significantly over short or long periods of time for a number of reasons, including changes in interest rates, imposition of currency exchange controls and economic or political developments in the U.S. or abroad. The Fund may also incur currency conversion costs when converting foreign currencies into U.S. dollars and vice versa.
Forward Commitments on Mortgage-Backed Securities (including Dollar Rolls) Risk.
When purchasing mortgage-backed securities in the “to be announced” (TBA) market (MBS TBAs), the seller agrees to deliver mortgage-backed securities for an agreed upon price on an agreed upon date, but may make no guarantee as to the specific securities to be delivered. In lieu of taking delivery of mortgage-backed securities, the Fund could enter into dollar rolls, which are transactions in which the Fund sells securities to a counterparty and simultaneously agrees to purchase those or similar securities in the future at a predetermined price. Dollar rolls involve the risk that the market value of the securities the Fund is obligated to repurchase may decline below the repurchase price, or that the counterparty may default on its obligations. These transactions may also increase the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate. If the Fund reinvests the proceeds of the security sold, the Fund will also be subject to the risk that the investments purchased with such proceeds will decline in value (a form of leverage risk). MBS TBAs and dollar rolls are subject to the risk that the counterparty to the transaction may not perform or be unable to perform in accordance with the terms of the instrument.
Frequent Trading Risk.
The portfolio managers may actively and frequently trade investments in the Fund's portfolio to carry out its investment strategies. Frequent trading of investments increases the possibility that the Fund, as relevant, will realize taxable capital gains (including short-term capital gains, which are generally taxable to shareholders at higher rates than long-term capital gains for U.S. federal income tax purposes), which could reduce the Fund's after-tax return. Frequent trading can also mean higher brokerage and other transaction costs, which could reduce the Fund's return. The trading costs and tax effects associated with portfolio turnover may adversely affect the Fund’s performance.
High-Yield Investments Risk.
Securities and other debt instruments held by the Fund that are rated below investment grade (commonly called “high-yield” or “junk” bonds) and unrated debt instruments of comparable quality tend to be more sensitive to credit risk than higher-rated debt instruments and may experience greater price fluctuations in response to perceived changes in the ability of the issuing entity or obligor to pay interest and principal when due than to changes in interest rates. These investments are generally more likely to experience a default than higher-rated debt instruments. High-yield debt instruments are considered to be predominantly speculative with respect to the issuer’s capacity to pay interest and repay principal. These debt instruments typically pay a premium – a higher interest rate or yield – because of the increased risk of loss, including default. High-yield debt instruments may require a greater degree of judgment to establish a price, may be difficult to sell at the time and price the Fund desires, may carry high transaction costs, and also are generally less liquid than higher-rated debt instruments. The ratings provided by third party rating agencies are based on analyses by these ratings agencies of the credit quality of the debt instruments and may not take into account every risk related to whether interest or principal will be timely repaid. In adverse economic and other circumstances, issuers of lower-rated debt instruments are more likely to have difficulty making principal and interest payments than issuers of higher-rated debt instruments.
Interest Rate Risk.
Interest rate risk is the risk of losses attributable to changes in interest rates. In general, if prevailing interest rates rise, the values of debt instruments tend to fall, and if interest rates fall, the values of debt instruments tend to rise. Changes in the value of a debt instrument usually will not affect the amount of income the Fund receives from it but will generally affect the value of your investment in the Fund. Changes in interest rates may
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also affect the liquidity of the Fund’s investments in debt instruments. In general, the longer the maturity or duration of a debt instrument, the greater its sensitivity to changes in interest rates. Interest rate declines also may increase prepayments of debt obligations, which, in turn, would increase prepayment risk (the risk that the Fund will have to reinvest the money received in securities that have lower yields). Very low or negative interest rates may impact the Fund’s yield and may increase the risk that, if followed by rising interest rates, the Fund’s performance will be negatively impacted. The Fund is subject to the risk that the income generated by its investments may not keep pace with inflation. Actions by governments and central banking authorities can result in increases or decreases in interest rates. Such actions may negatively affect the value of debt instruments held by the Fund, resulting in a negative impact on the Fund's performance and NAV. Any interest rate increases could cause the value of the Fund’s investments in debt instruments to decrease. Rising interest rates may prompt redemptions from the Fund, which may force the Fund to sell investments at a time when it is not advantageous to do so, which could result in losses.
Issuer Risk.
An issuer in which the Fund invests or to which it has exposure may perform poorly or below expectations, and the value of its securities may therefore decline, which may negatively affect the Fund’s performance. Underperformance of an issuer may be caused by poor management decisions, competitive pressures, breakthroughs in technology, reliance on suppliers, labor problems or shortages, corporate restructurings, fraudulent disclosures, natural disasters, military confrontations, war, terrorism, disease/virus outbreaks, epidemics or other events, conditions and factors which may impair the value of an investment in the Fund.
Large-Cap Stock Risk.
Investments in larger companies may involve certain risks associated with their larger size. For instance, larger companies may be less able to respond quickly to new competitive challenges, such as changes in consumer tastes or innovation from smaller competitors. Also, larger companies are sometimes less able to achieve as high growth rates as successful smaller companies, especially during extended periods of economic expansion.
Liquidity Risk.
Liquidity risk is the risk associated with any event, circumstance, or characteristic of an investment or market that negatively impacts the Fund’s ability to sell, or realize the proceeds from the sale of, an investment at a desirable time or price. Liquidity risk may arise because of, for example, a lack of marketability of the investment, which means that when seeking to sell its portfolio investments, the Fund could find that selling is more difficult than anticipated, especially during times of high market volatility. Decreases in the number of financial institutions, including banks and broker-dealers, willing to make markets (match up sellers and buyers) in the Fund’s investments or decreases in their capacity or willingness to trade such investments may increase the Fund’s exposure to this risk. The debt market has experienced considerable growth, and financial institutions making markets in instruments purchased and sold by the Fund (e.g., bond dealers) have been subject to increased regulation. The impact of that growth and regulation on the ability and willingness of financial institutions to engage in trading or “making a market” in such instruments remains unsettled. Certain types of investments, such as lower-rated securities or those that are purchased and sold in over-the-counter markets, may be especially subject to liquidity risk. Securities or other assets in which the Fund invests may be traded in the over-the-counter market rather than on an exchange and therefore may be more difficult to purchase or sell at a fair price, which may have a negative impact on the Fund’s performance. Market participants attempting to sell the same or a similar instrument at the same time as the Fund could exacerbate the Fund’s exposure to liquidity risk. The Fund may have to accept a lower selling price for the holding, sell other liquid or more liquid investments that it might otherwise prefer to hold (thereby increasing the proportion of the Fund’s investments in less liquid or illiquid securities), or forego another more appealing investment opportunity. The liquidity of Fund investments may change significantly over time and certain investments that were liquid when purchased by the Fund may later become illiquid, particularly in times of overall economic distress. Changing regulatory, market or other conditions or environments (for example, the interest rate or credit environments) may also adversely affect the liquidity and the price of the Fund's investments. Judgment plays a larger role in valuing illiquid or less liquid investments as compared to valuing liquid or more liquid investments. Price volatility may be higher for illiquid or less liquid investments as a result of, for example, the relatively less frequent pricing of such securities (as compared to liquid or more liquid investments). Generally, the less liquid the market at the time the Fund sells a portfolio investment, the greater the risk of loss or decline of value to the Fund. Overall market liquidity and other factors can lead to an increase in redemptions, which may negatively impact Fund performance and NAV, including, for example, if the Fund is forced to sell investments in a down market.
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Market Risk.
The Fund may incur losses due to declines in the value of one or more securities in which it invests. These declines may be due to factors affecting a particular issuer, or the result of, among other things, political, regulatory, market, economic or social developments affecting the relevant market(s) more generally. In addition, turbulence in financial markets and reduced liquidity in equity, credit and/or fixed income markets may negatively affect many issuers, which could adversely affect the Fund, including causing difficulty in assigning prices to hard-to-value assets in thinly traded and closed markets, significant redemptions and operational challenges. Global economies and financial markets are increasingly interconnected, and conditions and events in one country, region or financial market may adversely impact issuers in a different country, region or financial market. These risks may be magnified if certain events or developments adversely interrupt the global supply chain; in these and other circumstances, such risks might affect companies worldwide. As a result, local, regional or global events such as terrorism, war, natural disasters, disease/virus outbreaks and epidemics or other public health issues, recessions, depressions or other events – or the potential for such events – could have a significant negative impact on global economic and market conditions.
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) public health crisis has become a pandemic that has resulted in, and may continue to result in, significant global economic and societal disruption and market volatility due to disruptions in market access, resource availability, facilities operations, imposition of tariffs, export controls and supply chain disruption, among others. Such disruptions may be caused, or exacerbated by, quarantines and travel restrictions, workforce displacement and loss in human and other resources. The uncertainty surrounding the magnitude, duration, reach, costs and effects of the global pandemic, as well as actions that have been or could be taken by governmental authorities or other third parties, present unknowns that are yet to unfold. The impacts, as well as the uncertainty over impacts to come, of COVID-19 – and any other infectious illness outbreaks, epidemics and pandemics that may arise in the future – could negatively affect global economies and markets in ways that cannot necessarily be foreseen. In addition, the impact of infectious illness outbreaks and epidemics in emerging market countries may be greater due to generally less established healthcare systems, governments and financial markets. Public health crises caused by the COVID-19 outbreak may exacerbate other pre-existing political, social and economic risks in certain countries or globally. The disruptions caused by COVID-19 could prevent the Fund from executing advantageous investment decisions in a timely manner and negatively impact the Fund’s ability to achieve its investment objective. Any such event(s) could have a significant adverse impact on the value and risk profile of the Fund.
Mortgage- and Other Asset-Backed Securities Risk.
The value of any mortgage-backed and other asset-backed securities including collateralized debt obligations and collateralized loan obligations, if any, held by the Fund may be affected by, among other things, changes or perceived changes in: interest rates; factors concerning the interests in and structure of the issuer or the originator of the mortgages or other assets; the creditworthiness of the entities that provide any supporting letters of credit, surety bonds or other credit enhancements; or the market's assessment of the quality of underlying assets. Mortgage-backed securities represent interests in, or are backed by, pools of mortgages from which payments of interest and principal (net of fees paid to the issuer or guarantor of the securities) are distributed to the holders of the mortgage-backed securities. Other types of asset-backed securities typically represent interests in, or are backed by, pools of receivables such as credit, automobile, student and home equity loans. Mortgage- and other asset-backed securities can have a fixed or an adjustable rate. Mortgage- and other asset-backed securities are subject to liquidity risk (the risk that it may not be possible for the Fund to liquidate the instrument at an advantageous time or price) and prepayment risk (the risk that the underlying mortgage or other asset may be refinanced or prepaid prior to maturity during periods of declining or low interest rates, causing the Fund to have to reinvest the money received in securities that have lower yields). In addition, the impact of prepayments on the value of mortgage- and other asset-backed securities may be difficult to predict and may result in greater volatility. A decline or flattening of housing values may cause delinquencies in mortgages (especially sub-prime or non-prime mortgages) underlying mortgage-backed securities and thereby adversely affect the ability of the mortgage-backed securities issuer to make principal and/or interest payments to mortgage-backed securities holders, including the Fund. Rising or high interest rates tend to extend the duration of mortgage- and other asset-backed securities, making them more volatile and more sensitive to changes in interest rates. Payment of principal and interest on some mortgage-backed securities (but not the market value of the securities themselves) may be guaranteed (i) by the full faith and credit of the U.S. Government (in the case of securities guaranteed by the
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Government National Mortgage Association) or (ii) by its agencies, authorities, enterprises or instrumentalities (in the case of securities guaranteed by the Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA) or the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (FHLMC)), which are not insured or guaranteed by the U.S. Government (although FNMA and FHLMC may be able to access capital from the U.S. Treasury to meet their obligations under such securities). Mortgage-backed securities issued by non-governmental issuers (such as commercial banks, savings and loan institutions, private mortgage insurance companies, mortgage bankers and other secondary market issuers) may be supported by various credit enhancements, such as pool insurance, guarantees issued by governmental entities, letters of credit from a bank or senior/subordinated structures, and may entail greater risk than obligations guaranteed by the U.S. Government, whether or not such obligations are guaranteed by the private issuer.
Preferred Stock Risk.
Preferred stock is a type of stock that may pay dividends at a different rate than common stock of the same issuer, if at all, and that has preference over common stock in the payment of dividends and the liquidation of assets. Preferred stock does not ordinarily carry voting rights. The price of a preferred stock is generally determined by earnings, type of products or services, projected growth rates, experience of management, liquidity, and general market conditions of the markets on which the stock trades. The most significant risks associated with investments in preferred stock include issuer risk, market risk and interest rate risk (the risk of losses attributable to changes in interest rates).
Prepayment and Extension Risk.
Prepayment and extension risk is the risk that a bond or other security or investment might, in the case of prepayment risk, be called or otherwise converted, prepaid or redeemed before maturity and, in the case of extension risk, that the investment might not be called as expected. In the case of prepayment risk, if the investment is converted, prepaid or redeemed before maturity, the portfolio managers may not be able to invest the proceeds in other investments providing as high a level of income, resulting in a reduced yield to the Fund. In the case of mortgage- or other asset-backed securities, as interest rates decrease or spreads narrow, the likelihood of prepayment increases. Conversely, extension risk is the risk that an unexpected rise in interest rates will extend the life of a mortgage- or other asset-backed security beyond the prepayment time. If the Fund's investments are locked in at a lower interest rate for a longer period of time, the portfolio managers may be unable to capitalize on securities with higher interest rates or wider spreads.
Reinvestment Risk.
Reinvestment risk arises when the Fund is unable to reinvest income or principal at the same or at least the same return it is currently earning.
Rule 144A and Other Exempted Securities Risk.
The Fund may invest in privately placed and other securities or instruments exempt from SEC registration (collectively “private placements”), subject to certain regulatory restrictions. In the U.S. market, private placements are typically sold only to qualified institutional buyers, or qualified purchasers, as applicable. An insufficient number of buyers interested in purchasing private placements at a particular time could adversely affect the marketability of such investments and the Fund might be unable to dispose of them promptly or at reasonable prices, subjecting the Fund to liquidity risk (the risk that it may not be possible for the Fund to liquidate the instrument at an advantageous time or price). The Fund’s holdings of private placements may increase the level of Fund illiquidity if eligible buyers are unable or unwilling to purchase them at a particular time. The Fund may also have to bear the expense of registering the securities for resale and the risk of substantial delays in effecting the registration. Additionally, the purchase price and subsequent valuation of private placements typically reflect a discount, which may be significant, from the market price of comparable securities for which a more liquid market exists. Issuers of Rule 144A eligible securities are required to furnish information to potential investors upon request. However, the required disclosure is much less extensive than that required of public companies and is not publicly available since the offering information is not filed with the SEC. Further, issuers of Rule 144A eligible securities can require recipients of the offering information (such as the Fund) to agree contractually to keep the information confidential, which could also adversely affect the Fund’s ability to dispose of the security.
U.S. Government Obligations Risk.
While U.S. Treasury obligations are backed by the “full faith and credit” of the U.S. Government, such securities are nonetheless subject to credit risk (
i.e.
, the risk that the U.S. Government may be, or may be perceived to be, unable or unwilling to honor its financial obligations, such as making payments). Securities issued or guaranteed by federal agencies or authorities and U.S. Government-sponsored instrumentalities or enterprises may or may not be backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. Government. For example, securities issued by the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, the Federal National Mortgage Association and the Federal
| Prospectus 2021 | 21 |
Columbia Balanced Fund
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
Home Loan Banks are neither insured nor guaranteed by the U.S. Government. These securities may be supported by the ability to borrow from the U.S. Treasury or only by the credit of the issuing agency, authority, instrumentality or enterprise and, as a result, are subject to greater credit risk than securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Treasury.
Value Securities Risk.
Value securities are securities of companies that may have experienced, for example, adverse business, industry or other developments or may be subject to special risks that have caused the securities to be out of favor and, in turn, potentially undervalued. The market value of a portfolio security may not meet portfolio management’s perceived value assessment of that security, or may decline in price, even though portfolio management believes the securities are already undervalued. There is also a risk that it may take longer than expected for the value of these investments to rise to portfolio management’s perceived value. In addition, value securities, at times, may not perform as well as growth securities or the stock market in general, and may be out of favor with investors for varying periods of time.
Additional Investment Strategies and Policies
This section describes certain investment strategies and policies that the Fund may utilize in pursuit of its investment objective and some additional factors and risks involved with investing in the Fund.
Investment Guidelines
As a general matter, and except as specifically described in the discussion of the Fund's principal investment strategies in this prospectus or as otherwise required by the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the 1940 Act), the rules and regulations thereunder and any applicable exemptive relief, whenever an investment policy or limitation states a percentage of the Fund's assets that may be invested in any security or other asset or sets forth a policy regarding an investment standard, compliance with that percentage limitation or standard will be determined solely at the time of the Fund's investment in the security or asset.
Holding Other Kinds of Investments
The Fund may hold other investments that are not part of its principal investment strategies. These investments and their risks are described below and/or in the SAI. The Fund may choose not to invest in certain securities described in this prospectus and in the SAI, although it has the ability to do so. Information on the Fund’s holdings can be found in the Fund’s shareholder reports or by visiting columbiathreadneedleus.com.
Transactions in Derivatives
The Fund may enter into derivative transactions or otherwise have exposure to derivative transactions through underlying investments. Derivatives are financial contracts whose values are, for example, based on (or “derived” from) traditional securities (such as a stock or bond), assets (such as a commodity like gold or a foreign currency), reference rates (such as the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (commonly known as SOFR) or the London Interbank Offered Rate (commonly known as LIBOR)) or market indices (such as the Standard & Poor’s 500
®
Index). The use of derivatives is a highly specialized activity which involves investment techniques and risks different from those associated with ordinary portfolio securities transactions. Derivatives involve special risks and may result in losses or may limit the Fund’s potential gain from favorable market movements. Derivative strategies often involve leverage, which may exaggerate a loss, potentially causing the Fund to lose more money than it would have lost had it invested in the underlying security or other asset directly. The values of derivatives may move in unexpected ways, especially in unusual market conditions, and may result in increased volatility in the value of the derivative and/or the Fund’s shares, among other consequences. The use of derivatives may also increase the amount of taxes payable by shareholders holding shares in a taxable account. Other risks arise from the Fund’s potential inability to terminate or to sell derivative positions. A liquid secondary market may not always exist for the Fund’s derivative positions at times when the Fund might wish to terminate or to sell such positions. Over-the-counter instruments (investments not traded on an exchange) may be illiquid, and transactions in derivatives traded in the over-the-counter market are subject to the risk that the other party will not meet its obligations. The use of derivatives also involves the risks of mispricing or improper valuation and that changes in the value of the derivative may not correlate perfectly with the underlying security, asset, reference rate or index. The Fund also may not be able to find a suitable derivative
| 22 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Balanced Fund
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
transaction counterparty, and thus may be unable to engage in derivative transactions when it is deemed favorable to do so, or at all. U.S. federal legislation has been enacted that provides for new clearing, margin, reporting and registration requirements for participants in the derivatives market. These changes could restrict and/or impose significant costs or other burdens upon the Fund’s participation in derivatives transactions. For more information on the risks of derivative investments and strategies, see the SAI.
LIBOR Phase-Out Risk.
Many derivatives and other financial instruments utilize or are permitted to utilize a floating interest rate based on LIBOR. On July 27, 2017, the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority announced its intention to phase out the use of LIBOR by the end of 2021. More recently, in November 2020, Ice Benchmark Administrator (IBA) has announced its intention to consult on (i) the cessation of four LIBOR currencies (GBP, EUR, JPY and CHF) after the end of 2021 and (ii) on the cessation of the major USD LIBOR tenors (overnight, 1M, 3M, 6M and 12M) in mid-2023 and the cessation of the 1 week and 2M USD LIBOR by the end of 2021. IBA will make separate announcements following the outcome of the consultations. The interest rate benchmark(s) that will replace LIBOR in the capital markets remains uncertain, and the overall economic impact of the transition away from LIBOR cannot yet be determined. The Investment Manager monitors the Fund’s LIBOR exposure risks, including the extent to which any derivative and/or debt investments allow for the utilization of alternative rate(s) to LIBOR.
Affiliated Fund Investing
The Investment Manager or an affiliate serves as investment adviser to funds using the Columbia brand (Columbia Funds), including those that are structured as “fund-of-funds”, and provides asset-allocation services to (i) shareholders by investing in shares of other Columbia Funds, which may include the Fund (collectively referred to in this section as Underlying Funds), and (ii) discretionary managed accounts (collectively referred to as affiliated products) that invest exclusively in Underlying Funds. These affiliated products, individually or collectively, may own a significant percentage of the outstanding shares of one or more Underlying Funds, and the Investment Manager seeks to balance potential conflicts of interest between the affiliated products and the Underlying Funds in which they invest. The affiliated products’ investment in the Underlying Funds may have the effect of creating economies of scale, possibly resulting in lower expense ratios for the Underlying Funds, because the affiliated products may own substantial portions of the shares of Underlying Funds. However, redemption of Underlying Fund shares by one or more affiliated products could cause the expense ratio of an Underlying Fund to increase, as its fixed costs would be spread over a smaller asset base. Because of large positions of certain affiliated products, the Underlying Funds may experience relatively large inflows and outflows of cash due to affiliated products’ purchases and sales of Underlying Fund shares. Although the Investment Manager or its affiliate may seek to minimize the impact of these transactions where possible, for example, by structuring them over a reasonable period of time or through other measures, Underlying Funds may experience increased expenses as they buy and sell portfolio securities to manage the cash flow effect related to these transactions. Further, when the Investment Manager or its affiliate structures transactions over a reasonable period of time in order to manage the potential impact of the buy and sell decisions for the affiliated products, those affiliated products, including funds-of-funds, may pay more or less (for purchase activity), or receive more or less (for redemption activity), for shares of the Underlying Funds than if the transactions were executed in one transaction. In addition, substantial redemptions by affiliated products within a short period of time could require the Underlying Fund to liquidate positions more rapidly than would otherwise be desirable, which may have the effect of reducing or eliminating potential gain or causing it to realize a loss. In order to meet such redemptions, an Underlying Fund may be forced to sell its liquid (or more liquid) positions, leaving the Underlying Fund holding, post-redemption, a relatively larger position in illiquid investments (i.e., any investment that the Fund reasonably expects cannot be sold or disposed of in current market conditions in seven calendar days or less without the sale or disposition significantly changing the market value of the investment) or less liquid securities. Substantial redemptions may also adversely affect the ability of the Underlying Fund to implement its investment strategy. The Investment Manager or its affiliate also has a conflict of interest in determining the allocation of affiliated products’ assets among the Underlying Funds, as it earns different fees from the various Underlying Funds.
| Prospectus 2021 | 23 |
Columbia Balanced Fund
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
Investing in Money Market Funds
The Fund may invest cash in, or hold as collateral for certain investments, shares of registered or unregistered money market funds, including funds advised by the Investment Manager or its affiliates. These funds are not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) or any other government agency. The Fund and its shareholders indirectly bear a portion of the expenses of any money market fund or other fund in which the Fund may invest.
Lending of Portfolio Securities
The Fund may lend portfolio securities to broker-dealers or other financial intermediaries on a fully collateralized basis in order to earn additional income. The Fund may lose money from securities lending if, for example, it is delayed in or prevented from selling the collateral after the loan is made or recovering the securities loaned or if it incurs losses on the reinvestment of cash collateral.
The Fund currently does not participate in the securities lending program but the Board of Trustees (the Board) may determine to renew participation in the future. For more information on lending of portfolio securities and the risks involved, see the SAI and the annual and semiannual reports to shareholders.
Investing Defensively
The Fund may from time to time take temporary defensive investment positions that may be inconsistent with the Fund’s principal investment strategies in attempting to respond to adverse market, economic, political, social or other conditions, including, without limitation, investing some or all of its assets in money market instruments or shares of affiliated or unaffiliated money market funds or holding some or all of its assets in cash or cash equivalents. The Fund may take such defensive investment positions for as long a period as deemed necessary.
The Fund may not achieve its investment objective while it is investing defensively. Investing defensively may adversely affect Fund performance. During these times, the portfolio managers may make frequent portfolio holding changes, which could result in increased trading expenses and taxes, and decreased Fund performance. See also
above for more information.
Investing in Money Market Funds
Other Strategic and Investment Measures
The Fund may also from time to time take temporary portfolio positions that may or may not be consistent with the Fund’s principal investment strategies in attempting to respond to adverse market, economic, political, social or other conditions, including, without limitation, investing in derivatives, such as forward contracts, futures contracts, options, structured investments and swaps, for various purposes, including among others, investing in particular derivatives in seeking to reduce investment exposures, or in seeking to achieve indirect investment exposures, to a sector, country, region or currency where the Investment Manager believes such positioning is appropriate. The Fund may take such portfolio positions for as long a period as deemed necessary. While the Fund is so positioned, derivatives could comprise a substantial portion of the Fund’s investments and the Fund may not achieve its investment objective. Investing in this manner may adversely affect Fund performance. During these times, the portfolio managers may make frequent portfolio holding changes, which could result in increased trading expenses and taxes, and decreased Fund performance. For information on the risks of investing in derivatives, see
above.
Transactions in Derivatives
Portfolio Holdings Disclosure
The Board has adopted policies and procedures that govern the timing and circumstances of disclosure to shareholders and third parties of information regarding the securities owned by the Fund. A description of these policies and procedures is included in the SAI. Fund policy generally permits the disclosure of portfolio holdings information on the Fund's website (columbiathreadneedleus.com) only after a certain amount of time has passed, as described in the SAI.
Purchases and sales of portfolio securities can take place at any time, so the portfolio holdings information available on the Fund's website may not always be current.
| 24 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Balanced Fund
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
FUNDamentals
Portfolio Holdings Versus the Benchmarks
The Fund does not limit its investments to the securities within its benchmark(s), and accordingly the Fund's holdings may diverge significantly from those of its benchmark(s). In addition, the Fund may invest in securities outside any industry and geographic sectors represented in its benchmark(s). The Fund's weightings in individual securities, and in industry or geographic sectors, may also vary considerably from those of its benchmark(s).
eDelivery and Mailings to Households
In order to reduce shareholder expenses, the Fund may mail only one copy of the Fund’s prospectus and each annual and semiannual report to those addresses shared by two or more accounts. If you wish to receive separate copies of these documents, call 800.345.6611 or, if your shares are held through a financial intermediary, contact your intermediary directly. Additionally, you may elect to enroll in eDelivery to receive electronic versions of these documents, as well as quarterly statements and supplements, by logging into your account at columbiathreadneedleus.com/investor/.
Cash Flows
The timing and magnitude of cash inflows from investors buying Fund shares could prevent the Fund from always being fully invested. Conversely, the timing and magnitude of cash outflows to shareholders redeeming Fund shares could require the Fund to sell portfolio securities at less than opportune times or to hold ready reserves of uninvested cash in amounts larger than might otherwise be the case to meet shareholder redemptions. Either situation could adversely impact the Fund’s performance.
Understanding Annual Fund Operating Expenses
The Fund’s annual operating expenses, as presented in the
table in the
section of this prospectus, generally are based on expenses incurred during the Fund’s most recently completed fiscal year, may vary by share class and are expressed as a percentage (expense ratio) of the Fund’s average net assets during that fiscal year. The expense ratios reflect the Fund’s fee arrangements as of the date of this prospectus and, unless indicated otherwise, are based on expenses incurred during the Fund’s most recent fiscal year. The Fund’s assets will fluctuate, but unless indicated otherwise in the
table, no adjustments have been or will be made to the expense ratios to reflect any differences in the Fund’s average net assets between the most recently completed fiscal year and the date of this prospectus or a later date. In general, the Fund’s expense ratios will increase as its net assets decrease, such that the Fund’s actual expense ratios may be higher than the expense ratios presented in the
table if assets fall. As applicable, any commitment by the Investment Manager and/or its affiliates to waive fees and/or cap (reimburse) expenses is expected, in part, to limit the impact of any increase in the Fund’s expense ratios that would otherwise result because of a decrease in the Fund’s assets in the current fiscal year. The Fund’s annual operating expenses are comprised of (i) investment management fees, (ii) distribution and/or service fees, and (iii) other expenses. Management fees do not vary by class, but distribution and/or service fees and other expenses may vary by class.
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
Fees and Expenses of the Fund
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
| Prospectus 2021 | 25 |
Columbia Balanced Fund
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
FUNDamentals
Other Expenses
“Other expenses” consist of the fees the Fund pays to its custodian, transfer agent, auditors, lawyers and trustees, costs relating to compliance and miscellaneous expenses. Generally, these expenses are allocated on a pro rata basis across all share classes. These fees include certain sub-transfer agency and shareholder servicing fees. Transfer agency fees and certain shareholder servicing fees, however, are class specific. They differ by share class because the shareholder services provided to each share class may be different. Accordingly, the differences in “other expenses” among share classes are primarily the result of the different transfer agency and shareholder servicing fees applicable to each share class. For more information on these fees, see
Choosing a Share Class — Financial Intermediary Compensation.
Fee Waiver/Expense Reimbursement Arrangements and Impact on Past Performance
The Investment Manager and certain of its affiliates have contractually agreed to waive fees and/or reimburse expenses (excluding certain fees and expenses described below) through December 31, 2021, unless sooner terminated at the sole discretion of the Fund's Board, so that the Fund’s net operating expenses, after giving effect to fees waived/expenses reimbursed and any balance credits and/or overdraft charges from the Fund’s custodian, do not exceed the annual rates of:
|
Columbia Balanced Fund
|
|
| Class A | 1.08% |
| Class Adv | 0.83% |
| Class C | 1.83% |
| Class Inst | 0.83% |
| Class Inst2 | 0.79% |
| Class Inst3 | 0.74% |
| Class R | 1.33% |
Under the agreement, the following fees and expenses are excluded from the Fund’s operating expenses when calculating the waiver/reimbursement commitment, and therefore will be paid by the Fund, if applicable: taxes (including foreign transaction taxes), expenses associated with investment in affiliated and non-affiliated pooled investment vehicles (including mutual funds and exchange-traded funds), transaction costs and brokerage commissions, costs related to any securities lending program, dividend expenses associated with securities sold short, inverse floater program fees and expenses, transaction charges and interest on borrowed money, interest, infrequent and/or unusual expenses and any other expenses the exclusion of which is specifically approved by the Fund’s Board. This agreement may be modified or amended only with approval from all parties.
Effect of Fee Waivers and/or Expense Reimbursements on Past Performance.
The Fund’s returns shown in the
Performance Information
section of this prospectus reflect the effect of any fee waivers and/or reimbursements of Fund expenses by the Investment Manager and/or any of its affiliates and any predecessor firms that were in place during the performance period shown. Without such fee waivers/expense reimbursements, the Fund’s returns might have been lower.
Primary Service Providers
The Fund enters into contractual arrangements (Service Provider Contracts) with various service providers, including, among others, the Investment Manager, the Distributor, the Transfer Agent and the Fund’s custodian. The Fund’s Service Provider Contracts are solely among the parties thereto. Shareholders are not parties to, or intended to be third-party beneficiaries of, any Service Provider Contracts. Further, this prospectus, the SAI and any Service Provider Contracts are not intended to give rise to any agreement, duty, special relationship or other obligation between the Fund and any investor, or give rise to any contractual, tort or other rights in any individual shareholder, group of
| 26 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Balanced Fund
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
shareholders or other person, including any right to assert a fiduciary or other duty, enforce the Service Provider Contracts against the parties or to seek any remedy thereunder, either directly or on behalf of the Fund. Nothing in the previous sentence should be read to suggest any waiver of any rights under federal or state securities laws.
The Investment Manager, the Distributor, and the Transfer Agent are all affiliates of Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (Ameriprise Financial). They and their affiliates currently provide key services, including investment advisory, administration, distribution, shareholder servicing and transfer agency services, to the Fund and various other funds, including the Columbia Funds, and are paid for providing these services. These service relationships are described below.
The Investment Manager
Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC is located at 225 Franklin Street, Boston, MA 02110 and serves as investment adviser and administrator to the Columbia Funds. The Investment Manager is a registered investment adviser and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ameriprise Financial. The Investment Manager’s management experience covers all major asset classes, including equity securities, debt instruments and money market instruments. In addition to serving as an investment adviser to traditional mutual funds, exchange-traded funds and closed-end funds, the Investment Manager acts as an investment adviser for itself, its affiliates, individuals, corporations, retirement plans, private investment companies and financial intermediaries.
Subject to oversight by the Board, the Investment Manager manages the day-to-day operations of the Fund, determining what securities and other investments the Fund should buy or sell and executing portfolio transactions. The Investment Manager may use the research and other capabilities of its affiliates and third parties in managing the Fund’s investments. The Investment Manager is also responsible for overseeing the administrative operations of the Fund, including the general supervision of the Fund’s operations, the coordination of the Fund’s other service providers and the provision of related clerical and administrative services.
The SEC has issued an order that permits the Investment Manager, subject to the approval of the Board, to appoint unaffiliated subadvisers by entering into subadvisory agreements with them, and to change in material respects the terms of those subadvisory agreements, including the fees paid thereunder, for the Fund without first obtaining shareholder approval, thereby avoiding the expense and delays typically associated with obtaining shareholder approval. The Fund furnishes shareholders with information about new subadvisers retained in reliance on the order within 90 days after hiring the subadviser. The Investment Manager and its affiliates may have other relationships, including significant financial relationships, with current or potential subadvisers or their affiliates, which may create certain conflicts of interest. When making recommendations to the Board to appoint or to change a subadviser, or to change the terms of a subadvisory agreement, the Investment Manager discloses to the Board the nature of any such material relationships. At present, the Investment Manager has not engaged any investment subadviser for the Fund.
The Fund pays the Investment Manager a fee for its management services, which include investment advisory services and administrative services. The fee is calculated as a percentage of the daily net assets of the Fund and is paid monthly. For the Fund’s most recent fiscal year, management services fees paid to the Investment Manager by the Fund amounted to 0.58% of average daily net assets of the Fund, before any applicable reimbursements.
A discussion regarding the basis for the Board’s approval of the renewal of the Fund's management agreement is available in the Fund’s annual report to shareholders for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2020.
Portfolio Managers
Information about the portfolio managers primarily responsible for overseeing the Fund’s investments is shown below. The SAI provides additional information about the portfolio managers, including information relating to compensation, other accounts managed by the portfolio managers, and ownership by the portfolio managers of Fund shares.
| Prospectus 2021 | 27 |
Columbia Balanced Fund
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
|
Portfolio Manager
|
Title
|
Role with Fund
|
Managed Fund Since
|
|||
| Guy Pope, CFA | Senior Portfolio Manager and Head of Contrarian Core Strategy | Lead Portfolio Manager | 1997 | |||
| Jason Callan | Senior Portfolio Manager and Head of Structured Assets | Portfolio Manager | 2018 | |||
| Gregory Liechty | Senior Portfolio Manager | Portfolio Manager | 2011 | |||
| Ronald Stahl, CFA | Senior Portfolio Manager and Head of Short Duration and Stable Value Team | Portfolio Manager | 2005 |
Mr. Pope
joined one of the Columbia Management legacy firms or acquired business lines in 1993. Mr. Pope began his investment career in 1993 and earned a B.A. from Colorado College and an M.B.A. from Northwestern University.
Mr. Callan
joined the Investment Manager in 2007. Mr. Callan began his investment career in 2003 and earned a B.S. from the University of Minnesota and an M.B.A. from the University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management.
Mr. Liechty
joined one of the Columbia Management legacy firms or acquired business lines in 2005. Mr. Liechty began his investment career in 1995 and earned a B.A. and an M.B.A. from the University of North Florida.
Mr. Stahl
joined one of the Columbia Management legacy firms or acquired business lines in 1998. Mr. Stahl began his investment career in 1998 and earned a B.S. from Oregon State University and an M.B.A. from Portland State University.
The Distributor
Shares of the Fund are distributed by Columbia Management Investment Distributors, Inc., which is located at 225 Franklin Street, Boston, MA 02110. The Distributor is a registered broker-dealer and an indirect, wholly-owned subsidiary of Ameriprise Financial. The Distributor and its affiliates may pay commissions, distribution and service fees and/or other compensation to entities, including Ameriprise Financial affiliates, for selling shares and providing services to investors.
The Transfer Agent
Columbia Management Investment Services Corp. is a registered transfer agent and wholly-owned subsidiary of Ameriprise Financial. The Transfer Agent is located at 225 Franklin Street, Boston, MA 02110, and its responsibilities include processing purchases, redemptions and exchanges of Fund shares, calculating and paying distributions, maintaining shareholder records, preparing account statements and providing customer service. The Transfer Agent has engaged DST Asset Manager Solutions, Inc. to provide various shareholder or “sub-transfer agency” services. In addition, the Transfer Agent enters into agreements with various financial intermediaries through which you may hold Fund shares, pursuant to which the Transfer Agent pays these financial intermediaries for providing certain shareholder services. Depending on the type of account, the Fund pays the Transfer Agent a per account fee or a fee based on the assets invested through omnibus accounts, and reimburses the Transfer Agent for certain out-of-pocket expenses, including certain payments to financial intermediaries through which shares are held.
Other Roles and Relationships of Ameriprise Financial and its Affiliates — Certain Conflicts of Interest
The Investment Manager, Distributor and Transfer Agent, all affiliates of Ameriprise Financial, provide various services to the Fund and other Columbia Funds for which they are compensated. Ameriprise Financial and its other affiliates may also provide other services to these funds and be compensated for them.
The Investment Manager and its affiliates may provide investment advisory and other services to other clients and customers substantially similar to those provided to the Columbia Funds. These activities, and other financial services activities of Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates, may present actual and potential conflicts of interest and introduce certain investment constraints.
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Columbia Balanced Fund
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
Ameriprise Financial is a major financial services company, engaged in a broad range of financial activities beyond the fund-related activities of the Investment Manager, including, among others, insurance, broker-dealer (sales and trading), asset management, banking and other financial activities. These additional activities may involve multiple advisory, financial, insurance and other interests in securities and other instruments, and in companies that issue securities and other instruments, that may be bought, sold or held by the Columbia Funds.
Conflicts of interest and limitations that could affect a Columbia Fund may arise from, for example, the following:
| ■ | compensation and other benefits received by the Investment Manager and other Ameriprise Financial affiliates related to the management/administration of a Columbia Fund and the sale of its shares; |
| ■ | the allocation of, and competition for, investment opportunities among the Fund, other funds and accounts advised/managed by the Investment Manager and other Ameriprise Financial affiliates, or Ameriprise Financial itself and its affiliates; |
| ■ | separate and potentially divergent management of a Columbia Fund and other funds and accounts advised/managed by the Investment Manager and other Ameriprise Financial affiliates; |
| ■ | regulatory and other investment restrictions on investment activities of the Investment Manager and other Ameriprise Financial affiliates and accounts advised/managed by them; |
| ■ | insurance and other relationships of Ameriprise Financial affiliates with companies and other entities in which a Columbia Fund invests; and |
| ■ | regulatory and other restrictions relating to the sharing of information between Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates, including the Investment Manager, and a Columbia Fund. |
The Investment Manager and Ameriprise Financial have adopted various policies and procedures that are intended to identify, monitor and address conflicts of interest. However, there is no assurance that these policies, procedures and disclosures will be effective.
Additional information about Ameriprise Financial and the types of conflicts of interest and other matters referenced above is set forth in the
section of the SAI. Investors in the Columbia Funds should carefully review these disclosures and consult with their financial advisor if they have any questions.
Investment Management and Other Services — Other Roles and Relationships of Ameriprise Financial and its Affiliates — Certain Conflicts of Interest
Certain Legal Matters
Ameriprise Financial and certain of its affiliates have historically been involved in a number of legal, arbitration and regulatory proceedings, including routine litigation, class actions and governmental actions, concerning matters arising in connection with the conduct of their business activities. Ameriprise Financial believes that the Fund is not currently the subject of, and that neither Ameriprise Financial nor any of its affiliates are the subject of, any pending legal, arbitration or regulatory proceedings that are likely to have a material adverse effect on the Fund or the ability of Ameriprise Financial or its affiliates to perform under their contracts with the Fund. Information regarding certain pending and settled legal proceedings may be found in the Fund’s shareholder reports and in the SAI. Additionally, Ameriprise Financial is required to make quarterly (10-Q), annual (10-K) and, as necessary, 8-K filings with the SEC on legal and regulatory matters that relate to Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates. Copies of these filings may be obtained by accessing the SEC website at sec.gov.
| Prospectus 2021 | 29 |
Columbia Balanced Fund
Choosing a Share Class
The Funds
The Columbia Funds (referred to as the Funds) generally share the same policies and procedures for investor services, as described below. Each Fund is a series of Columbia Funds Series Trust (CFST), Columbia Funds Series Trust I (CFST I) or Columbia Funds Series Trust II (CFST II), and certain features of distribution and/or service plans may differ among these trusts. The Fund offered by this prospectus is a series of CFST I. Columbia Funds with names that include the words “Tax-Exempt” or “Municipal” (the Tax-Exempt Funds) have certain policies that differ from other Columbia Funds (the Taxable Funds). The Fund offered by this prospectus is treated as a Taxable Fund for these purposes.
Funds Contact Information
Additional information about the Funds, including sales charges and other class features and policies, can be obtained, free of charge, at columbiathreadneedleus.com,* by calling toll-free 800.345.6611, or by writing (regular mail) to Columbia Management Investment Services Corp., P.O. Box 219104, Kansas City, MO 64121-9104 or (express mail) Columbia Management Investment Services Corp., c/o DST Asset Manager Solutions, Inc., 430 W 7
th
Street, Ste 219104, Kansas City, MO 64105-1407.
| * | The website references in this prospectus are inactive links and information contained in or otherwise accessible through the referenced websites does not form a part of this prospectus. |
FUNDamentals
Financial Intermediaries
The term “financial intermediary” refers to the selling and servicing agents that are authorized to sell and/or service shares of the Funds. Financial intermediaries include broker-dealers and financial advisors as well as firms that employ broker-dealers and financial advisors, including, for example, brokerage firms, banks, investment advisers, third party administrators and other firms in the financial services industry.
Omnibus Accounts
The term “omnibus account” refers to a financial intermediary’s account with the Fund (held directly through the Transfer Agent) that represents the combined holdings of, and transactions in, Fund shares of one or more clients of the financial intermediary (beneficial Fund shareholders). Omnibus accounts are held in the name of the financial intermediaries and not in the name of the beneficial Fund shareholders invested in the Fund through omnibus accounts.
Retirement Plans and Omnibus Retirement Plans
The term “retirement plan” refers to retirement plans created under Sections 401(a), 401(k), 457 and 403(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the Code), and non-qualified deferred compensation plans governed by Section 409A of the Code and similar plans, but does not refer to individual retirement plans, such as traditional IRAs and Roth IRAs. The term “omnibus retirement plan” refers to a retirement plan that has a plan-level or omnibus account with the Transfer Agent.
Networked Accounts
Networking, offered by the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation’s Wealth Management Services (WMS), is the industry standard IT system for mutual fund account reconciliation and dividend processing.
Summary of Share Class Features
Each share class has its own investment eligibility criteria, cost structure and other features. You may not be eligible to invest in every share class. Your financial intermediary may not make every share class available or may cease to make available one or more share classes of the Fund. The share class you select through your financial intermediary may have higher fees and/or sales charges than other classes of shares available through other financial intermediaries. An investor transacting in a class of Fund shares without any front-end sales charge, contingent deferred sales charge (CDSC), or other asset-based fee for sales or distribution, such as a Rule 12b-1
| 30 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Balanced Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
fee, may be required to pay a commission to the financial intermediary for effecting such transactions. Each investor’s personal situation is different and you may wish to discuss with your financial intermediary the share classes the Fund offers, which share classes are available to you and which share class(es) is/are appropriate for you. In all instances, it is your responsibility to notify your financial intermediary or (for Direct-at-Fund Accounts, as defined below) the Fund at the time of purchase of any relationship or other facts that may qualify you for sales charge waivers or discounts. The Fund, the Distributor and the Transfer Agent do not provide investment advice or make recommendations regarding Fund share classes. Your financial intermediary may provide advice and recommendations to you, such as which share class(es) is/are appropriate for you.
When deciding which class of shares to buy, you should consider, among other things:
| ■ | The amount you plan to invest. |
| ■ | How long you intend to remain invested in the Fund. |
| ■ | The fees (e.g., sales charge or “load”) and expenses for each share class. |
| ■ | Whether you may be eligible for a reduction or waiver of sales charges when you buy or sell shares. |
FUNDamentals
Front-End Sales Charge Calculation
The front-end sales charge is calculated as a percentage of the offering price.
| ■ | The net asset value (NAV) per share is the price of a share calculated by the Fund every business day. |
| ■ | The offering price per share is the NAV per share plus any front-end sales charge (or load) that applies. |
The dollar amount of any applicable front-end sales charge is the difference between the offering price of the shares you buy and the NAV of those shares. To determine the front-end sales charge you will pay when you buy Class A and Class V shares, the Fund will add the amount of your investment to the value of your account (and any other accounts eligible for aggregation of which you or your financial intermediary notifies the Fund) and base the sales charge on the aggregate amount. For information on account value aggregation, sales charge waivers and other important information, see
.
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
FUNDamentals
Contingent Deferred Sales Charge
A contingent deferred sales charge (CDSC) is a sales charge applied at the time you sell your shares, unlike a front-end sales charge that is applied at the time of purchase. A CDSC can vary based on the length of time that you have held your shares. A CDSC is applied to the NAV at the time of your purchase or sale, whichever is lower, and will not be applied to any shares you receive through Fund distribution reinvestments or any amount that represents appreciation in the value of your shares. For purposes of calculating a CDSC, the start of the holding period is generally the first day of the month in which your purchase was made.
When you place an order to sell shares of a class that has a CDSC, the Fund will first redeem any shares that are not subject to a CDSC, followed by those you have held the longest. This means that if a CDSC is imposed, you cannot designate the individual shares being redeemed for U.S. federal income tax purposes. You should consult your tax advisor about the tax consequences of investing in the Fund. In certain circumstances, the CDSC may not apply. See
for details.
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
| Prospectus 2021 | 31 |
Columbia Balanced Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
Share Class Features
The following summarizes the primary features of Class A, Class Adv, Class C, Class Inst, Class Inst2, Class Inst3, Class R, and Class V shares.
Not all Funds offer every class of shares. The Fund offers the class(es) of shares set forth on the cover of this prospectus and may offer other share classes through a separate prospectus. Although certain share classes are generally closed to new and/or existing investors, information relating to these share classes is included in the table below because certain qualifying purchase orders are permitted, as described below.
The sales charge reductions and waivers available to investors who purchase and hold their Fund shares through different financial intermediaries may vary.
describes financial intermediary-specific reductions and/or waiver policies. A shareholder transacting in Fund shares through a financial intermediary identified in
should carefully read the terms and conditions of
. A reduction and/or waiver that is specific to a particular financial intermediary is not available to Direct-at-Fund Accounts, as defined below, or through another financial intermediary. The information in
may be provided by, or compiled from or based on information provided by the financial intermediaries identified in
. To obtain additional information regarding any sales charge reduction and/or waiver described in
, and to ensure that you receive any such reductions or waivers that may be available to you, please consult your financial intermediary.
Appendix A
Appendix A
Appendix A
Appendix A
Appendix A
Appendix A
|
Share Class
|
Eligible Investors
(a)
;
Minimum Initial Investments
(b)
;
Conversion Features
(c)
|
Front-End
Sales Charges
(d)
|
Contingent Deferred
Sales Charges (CDSCs)
(d)
|
Sales Charge
Reductions/Waivers |
Maximum Distribution
and/or Service Fees
(e)
|
| Class A |
Eligibility:
Available to the general public for investment
(f)
Minimum Initial Investment:
$2,000 ($1,000 for IRAs; $100 for systematic investment plan accounts)
|
Taxable Funds:
5.75% maximum, declining to 0.00% on investments of $1 million or more
Tax-Exempt Funds:
3.00% maximum, declining to 0.00% on investments of $500,000 or more
None for Columbia Government Money Market Fund and certain other Funds
(g)
|
Taxable Funds
(g)
CDSC on certain investments of between $1 million and $50 million redeemed within 18 months after purchase charged as follows:
• 1.00% CDSC if redeemed within 12 months after purchase, and
• 0.50% CDSC if redeemed more than 12, but less than 18, months after purchase
Tax-Exempt Funds
(g)
Maximum CDSC of 0.75% on certain investments of $500,000 or more redeemed within 12 months after purchase
|
Reductions
: Yes, see
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges – Class A and Class V Shares Front-End Sales Charge Reductions
Waivers
: Yes, on Fund distribution reinvestments. For additional waivers, see
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges – Class A and Class V Shares Front-End Sales Charge Waivers
, as well as
Choosing a Share Class — CDSC Waivers – Class A, Class C and Class V
Financial intermediary-specific waivers are also available, see
Appendix A
|
Distribution and Service
Fees:
up to 0.25%
|
|
Class
Adv |
Eligibility:
Available only to (i) omnibus retirement plans, including self-directed brokerage accounts within omnibus retirement plans that clear through institutional no transaction fee (NTF) platforms; (ii) trust companies or
|
None | None | N/A | None |
| 32 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Balanced Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
|
Share Class
|
Eligible Investors
(a)
;
Minimum Initial Investments
(b)
;
Conversion Features
(c)
|
Front-End
Sales Charges
(d)
|
Contingent Deferred
Sales Charges (CDSCs)
(d)
|
Sales Charge
Reductions/Waivers |
Maximum Distribution
and/or Service Fees
(e)
|
|
similar institutions; (iii) broker-dealers, banks, trust companies and similar institutions that clear Fund share transactions for their client or customer investment advisory or similar accounts through designated financial intermediaries and their mutual fund trading platforms that have been granted specific written authorization from the Transfer Agent with respect to Class Adv eligibility apart from selling, servicing or similar agreements; (iv) 501(c)(3) charitable organizations; (v) 529 plans; (vi) health savings accounts; (vii) investors participating in a fee-based advisory program sponsored by a financial intermediary or other entity that is not compensated by the Fund for those services, other than payments for shareholder servicing or sub-accounting performed in place of the Transfer Agent; and (viii) commissionable brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary, acting as broker on behalf of its customer, charges the customer a commission for effecting transactions in Fund shares, provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Adv shares within such platform.
(f)
Minimum Initial Investment:
|
|||||
| Class C |
Eligibility:
Available to the general public for investment
Minimum Initial Investment:
$2,000 ($1,000 for IRAs; $100 for systematic investment plan accounts)
Purchase Order Limit for Tax-Exempt Funds:
$499,999
(h)
, none for omnibus retirement plans
Purchase Order Limit for Taxable Funds:
$999,999
(h)
; none for omnibus retirement plans
Conversion Feature
: Yes, Class C shares generally automatically convert to Class A shares of the same Fund in the month of or the month following the 10-year
|
None |
1.00% on certain investments redeemed within one year of purchase
(i)
|
Waivers
: Yes, on Fund distribution reinvestments. For additional waivers, see
Choosing a Share Class – CDSC Waivers – Class A, Class C and Class V
Financial intermediary-specific CDSC waivers are also available, see
Appendix A
|
Distribution Fee:
0.75%
Service Fee:
0.25%
|
| Prospectus 2021 | 33 |
Columbia Balanced Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
|
Share Class
|
Eligible Investors
(a)
;
Minimum Initial Investments
(b)
;
Conversion Features
(c)
|
Front-End
Sales Charges
(d)
|
Contingent Deferred
Sales Charges (CDSCs)
(d)
|
Sales Charge
Reductions/Waivers |
Maximum Distribution
and/or Service Fees
(e)
|
|
anniversary of the Class C shares purchase date.
(c)
|
|||||
|
Class
Inst |
Eligibility:
Available only to certain eligible investors, which are subject to different minimum investment requirements, ranging from $0 to $2,000, including investors who purchase Fund shares through commissionable brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary holds the shares in an omnibus account and, acting as broker on behalf of its customer, charges the customer a commission for effecting transactions in Fund shares, provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst shares within such platform; closed to (i) accounts of financial intermediaries that clear Fund share transactions for their client or customer accounts through designated financial intermediaries and their mutual fund trading platforms that have been given specific written notice from the Transfer Agent of the termination of their eligibility for new purchases of Class Inst shares and (ii) omnibus group retirement plans, subject to certain exceptions
(f)(j)
Minimum Initial Investment:
See
Eligibility
above
|
None | None | N/A | None |
|
Class
Inst2 |
Eligibility:
Available only to (i) certain registered investment advisers and family offices that clear Fund share transactions for their client or customer accounts through designated financial intermediaries and their mutual fund trading platforms that have been granted specific written authorization from the Transfer Agent with respect to Class Inst2 eligibility apart from selling, servicing or similar agreements; (ii) omnibus retirement plans
(j)
; and (iii) institutional investors that are clients of the Columbia Threadneedle Global Institutional Distribution Team that invest in Class Inst2 shares for their own account through platforms approved by the Distributor or an affiliate thereof to offer and/or service Class Inst2 shares within such platform.
Minimum Initial Investment:
None
|
None | None | N/A | None |
| 34 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Balanced Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
|
Share Class
|
Eligible Investors
(a)
;
Minimum Initial Investments
(b)
;
Conversion Features
(c)
|
Front-End
Sales Charges
(d)
|
Contingent Deferred
Sales Charges (CDSCs)
(d)
|
Sales Charge
Reductions/Waivers |
Maximum Distribution
and/or Service Fees
(e)
|
|
Class
Inst3 |
Eligibility:
Available to (i) group retirement plans that maintain plan-level or omnibus accounts with the Fund
(j)
; (ii) institutional investors that are clients of the Columbia Threadneedle Global Institutional Distribution Team that invest in Class Inst3 shares for their own account through platforms approved by the Distributor or an affiliate thereof to offer and/or service Class Inst3 shares within such platform; (iii) collective trust funds; (iv) affiliated or unaffiliated mutual funds (e.g., funds operating as funds-of-funds); (v) fee-based platforms of financial intermediaries (or the clearing intermediary they trade through) that have an agreement with the Distributor or an affiliate thereof that specifically authorizes the financial intermediary to offer and/or service Class Inst3 shares within such platform, provided also that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account; (vi) commissionable brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary, acting as broker on behalf of its customer, charges the customer a commission for effecting transactions in Fund shares, provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst3 shares within such platform and that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account; and (vii) bank trust departments, subject to an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst3 shares and provided that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account. In each case above where noted that Fund shares are required to be held in an omnibus account, the Distributor may, in its discretion, determine to waive this requirement.
(f)
No minimum for the eligible investors described in (i), (iii), (iv), (v), and (vii) above; $2,000 ($1,000 for IRAs; $100 for systematic investment plan accounts) for the eligible investors described in (vi) above; and $1 million for all other eligible investors, unless waived in the discretion of the Distributor
|
None | None | N/A | None |
| Class R |
Eligibility:
Available only to eligible retirement plans, health savings
|
None | None | N/A |
Series of CFST & CFST I:
|
| Prospectus 2021 | 35 |
Columbia Balanced Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
|
Share Class
|
Eligible Investors
(a)
;
Minimum Initial Investments
(b)
;
Conversion Features
(c)
|
Front-End
Sales Charges
(d)
|
Contingent Deferred
Sales Charges (CDSCs)
(d)
|
Sales Charge
Reductions/Waivers |
Maximum Distribution
and/or Service Fees
(e)
|
|
accounts and, in the sole discretion of the Distributor, other types of retirement accounts held through platforms maintained by financial intermediaries approved by the Distributor
Minimum Initial Investment:
|
distribution fee of 0.50%
Series of CFST II:
|
||||
| Class V |
Eligibility:
Generally closed to new investors
(j)
N/A
|
5.75% maximum, declining to 0.00% on investments of $1 million or more |
CDSC on certain investments of between $1 million and $50 million redeemed within 18 months after purchase, charged as follows:
|
Reductions
: Yes, see
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges – Class A and Class V Shares Front-End Sales Charge Reductions
: Yes, on Fund distribution reinvestments.
For additional waivers, see
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges – Class A and Class V Shares Front-End Sales Charge Waivers
, as well as
Choosing a Share Class — CDSC Waivers – Class A, Class C and Class V
|
Service Fee:
up to 0.50%
|
| (a) | For Columbia Government Money Market Fund, new investments must be made in Class A, Class Inst, Class Inst3, or Class R shares, subject to eligibility. Class C shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund are available as a new investment only to investors in the Distributor's proprietary 401(k) products, provided that such investor is eligible to invest in the class and transact directly with the Fund or the Transfer Agent through a third party administrator or third party recordkeeper. Columbia Government Money Market Fund offers Class Inst2 shares only to facilitate exchanges with other Funds offering such share class. |
| (b) |
Certain share classes are subject to minimum account balance requirements, as described in
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares — Transaction Rules and Policies.
|
| (c) |
For more information on the conversion of Class C shares to Class A shares, see
Choosing a Share Class - Sales Charges and Commissions - Class C Shares - Conversion to Class A Shares
|
| (d) |
Actual front-end sales charges and CDSCs vary among the Funds. For more information on applicable sales charges, see
Choosing a Share Class — Sales Charges and Commissions,
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges.
|
| (e) |
These are the maximum applicable distribution and/or service fees. Except for Class V shares, these fees are paid under the Fund’s Rule 12b-1 plan. Fee rates and fee components (i.e., the portion of a combined fee that is a distribution or service fee) may vary among Funds. Because these fees are paid out of Fund assets on an ongoing basis, over time these fees will increase the cost of your investment and may cost you more than paying other types of distribution and/or service fees. Although Class A shares of certain series of CFST I are subject to a combined distribution and service fee of up to 0.35%, these Funds currently limit the combined fee to 0.25%. Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund pays a distribution and service fee of up to 0.15% on Class A shares. Columbia Government Money Market Fund pays a distribution and service fee of up to 0.10% on Class A shares and up to 0.75% distribution fee on Class C shares. Columbia High Yield Municipal Fund, Columbia Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund and Columbia Tax-Exempt Fund each pay a service fee of up to 0.20% on Class A and Class C shares. Columbia Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund pays a distribution fee of up to 0.65% on Class C shares. For more information on distribution and service fees, see
Choosing a Share Class — Distribution and Service Fees.
|
| (f) | Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund must be purchased through financial intermediaries that, by written agreement with the Distributor, are specifically authorized to sell the Fund’s shares. Class Adv shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund are also available to certain registered investment advisers that clear Fund share transactions for their client accounts through designated financial intermediaries with mutual fund trading platforms that have been granted specific written authorization from the Transfer Agent (apart from selling, servicing or similar agreements) to sell Class Inst2 shares, which are not offered by the Fund. Class Inst3 shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund that were open and funded accounts prior to November 30, 2018 (the conversion date from the former unnamed share class to Class Inst3 shares) are eligible for additional investment; however, any account established after that date must meet the current Class Inst3 eligibility requirements. |
| 36 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Balanced Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
| (g) | For Columbia Short Term Municipal Bond Fund, a CDSC of 0.50% is charged on certain investments of $500,000 or more redeemed within 12 months after purchase. The following Funds are not subject to a front-end sales charge or a CDSC on Class A shares: Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund, Columbia Small Cap Index Fund, Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund and Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund. |
| (h) |
If you are eligible to invest in Class A shares without a front-end sales charge, you should discuss your options with your financial intermediary. For more information, see
Choosing a Share Class – Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges.
|
| (i) | There is no CDSC on redemptions from Class C shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund. |
| (j) |
These share classes are closed to new accounts, or closed to previously eligible investors, subject to certain conditions, as summarized below and described in more detail under
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares — Buying Shares — Eligible Investors:
|
•
. Financial intermediaries that clear Fund share transactions through designated financial intermediaries and their mutual fund trading platforms that have been given specific written notice from the Transfer Agent, effective March 29, 2013, of the termination of their eligibility for new purchases of Class Inst shares and omnibus retirement plans are not permitted to establish new Class Inst accounts, subject to certain exceptions. Omnibus retirement plans that opened and, subject to exceptions, funded a Class Inst account as of close of business on March 28, 2013, and have continuously held Class Inst shares in such account after such date, may generally continue to make additional purchases of Class Inst shares, open new Class Inst accounts and add new participants. In certain circumstances and in the sole discretion of the Distributor, omnibus retirement plans affiliated with a grandfathered plan may also open new Class Inst accounts. Accounts of financial intermediaries (other than omnibus retirement plans) that clear Fund share transactions for their client or customer accounts through designated financial intermediaries and their mutual fund trading platforms are not permitted to establish new Class Inst accounts or make additional purchases of Class Inst shares (other than through Fund distribution reinvestments).
Class Inst Shares
•
. Shareholders with Class Inst2 accounts funded before November 8, 2012 who do not satisfy the current eligibility criteria for Class Inst2 shares may not establish new Class Inst2 accounts but may continue to make additional purchases of Class Inst2 shares in existing accounts. In addition, investment advisory programs and similar programs that opened a Class Inst2 account as of May 1, 2010, and continuously hold Class Inst2 shares in such account after such date, may generally not only continue to make additional purchases of Class Inst2 shares but also open new Class Inst2 accounts and add new shareholders in the program.
Class Inst2 Shares
•
. Shareholders with Class Inst3 accounts funded before November 8, 2012 who do not satisfy the current eligibility criteria for Class Inst3 shares may not establish new accounts for such share class but may continue to make additional purchases of Class Inst3 shares in existing accounts.
Class Inst3 Shares
•
Shareholders
with Class V accounts who received, and have continuously held, Class V shares (formerly named Class T shares) in connection with the merger of certain Galaxy funds into certain Funds that were then named Liberty funds may continue to make additional purchases of such share class.
Class V Shares.
Sales Charges and Commissions
Sales charges, commissions, and distribution fees compensate financial intermediaries (typically your financial advisor) for selling shares to you, and service fees compensate financial intermediaries for maintaining and servicing the shares held in your account with them. Distribution and service fees are discussed in a separate sub-section below. Depending on which share class you choose and the financial intermediary through which you purchase your shares, you may pay these charges at potentially different levels at the outset as a front-end sales charge, at the time you sell your shares as a CDSC and/or over time in the form of distribution and/or service fees.
As described in more detail below, Class A and Class V shares have a front-end sales charge, which is deducted from your purchase price when you buy your shares, and results in a smaller dollar amount being invested in the Fund than the purchase price you pay (unless you qualify for a waiver or reduction of the sales charge). The Fund’s other share classes do not have a front-end sales charge, so the full amount of your purchase price is invested in those classes. Class A and Class V shares have lower ongoing distribution and/or service fees than Class C and Class R shares of the Fund. Over time, Class C and Class R shares can incur distribution and/or service fees that are equal to or more than the front-end sales charge and the distribution and/or service fees you would pay for Class A and Class V shares. Although the full amount of your purchase price of Class C and Class R shares is invested in a Fund, your return on this money will be reduced by the expected higher annual expenses of Class C and Class R shares. In this regard, note that Class C shares will generally automatically convert to Class A shares of the same Fund in the month of or the month following the 10-year anniversary of the Class C shares purchase date. The Fund may convert Class C shares held through a financial intermediary to Class A shares sooner in connection with the withdrawal of Class C shares of the Fund from the financial intermediary’s platform or accounts. No sales charge or other charges will apply in connection with such conversions, and conversions are free from U.S. federal income tax. Once your Class C shares convert to Class A shares, your total returns from an investment in the Fund may increase as a result of the lower operating costs of Class A shares. Class Adv, Class Inst, Class Inst2 and Class Inst3 shares of the Fund do not have distribution and/or service fees.
| Prospectus 2021 | 37 |
Columbia Balanced Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
Whether the ultimate cost is higher for one share class over another depends on the amount you invest, how long you hold your shares, the fees (i.e., sales charges) and expenses of the class and whether you are eligible for reduced or waived sales charges, if available. You are responsible for choosing the share class most appropriate for you after taking into account your share class eligibility, class-specific features, and any applicable reductions in, or waivers of, sales charges. For more information, see
. We encourage you to consult with a financial advisor who can help you with your investment decisions. Please contact your financial intermediary for more information about services, fees and expenses, and other important information about investing in the Fund, as well as with any questions you may have about your investing options. In all instances, it is your responsibility to notify your financial intermediary or (for Direct-at-Fund Accounts, as defined below) the Fund at the time of purchase of any relationship or other facts that may qualify you for sales charge waivers or discounts.
Choosing a Share Class – Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
Class A Shares — Front-End Sales Charge
Unless your purchase qualifies for a waiver (e.g., you buy the shares through reinvested Fund dividends or distributions or subject to an applicable financial intermediary-specific waiver), you will pay a front-end sales charge when you buy Class A shares (other than shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund, Columbia Small Cap Index Fund, Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund and Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund), resulting in a smaller dollar amount being invested in a Fund than the purchase price you pay. The Class A shares sales charge is waived on Class C shares converted to Class A shares. For more information about sales charge waivers and reduction opportunities, see
and
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
Appendix A.
The Distributor receives the sales charge and re-allows (or pays) a portion of the sales charge to the financial intermediary through which you purchased the shares. The Distributor retains the balance of the sales charge. The Distributor retains the full sales charge you pay when you purchase shares of the Fund directly from the Fund (through the Transfer Agent, rather than through a financial intermediary).
The front-end sales charge you will pay on Class A shares:
| ■ | depends on the amount you are investing (generally, the larger the investment, the smaller the percentage sales charge), and |
| ■ | is based on the total amount of your purchase and the value of your account (and any other accounts eligible for aggregation of which you or your financial intermediary notifies the Fund). |
The table below presents the front-end sales charge as a percentage of both the offering price and the net amount invested.
| 38 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Balanced Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
|
Class A Shares — Front-End Sales Charge — Breakpoint Schedule*
|
||||
|
Breakpoint Schedule For:
|
Dollar amount of
shares bought
(a)
|
Sales
charge as a % of the offering price
(b)
|
Sales
charge as a % of the net amount invested
(b)
|
Amount
retained by or paid to financial intermediaries as a % of the offering price |
|
Fixed Income Funds (except those listed below),
Columbia Multi-Asset Income Fund and Funds-of-Funds (fixed income)* |
$
|
4.75% | 4.99% | 4.00% |
|
$
|
4.25% | 4.44% | 3.50% | |
| $100,000–$249,999 | 3.50% | 3.63% | 3.00% | |
| $250,000–$499,999 | 2.50% | 2.56% | 2.15% | |
| $500,000–$999,999 | 2.00% | 2.04% | 1.75% | |
|
$
|
0.00% | 0.00% |
0.00%
(c)
|
|
|
Tax-Exempt Funds (other than Columbia Short Term Municipal Bond Fund)
|
$
|
3.00% | 3.09% | 2.50% |
| $100,000–$249,999 | 2.50% | 2.56% | 2.15% | |
| $250,000–$499,999 | 1.50 % | 1.53% | 1.25% | |
|
$
|
0.00% | 0.00% |
0.00%
(c)
|
|
|
Columbia Floating Rate Fund,
Columbia Limited Duration Credit Fund, Columbia Mortgage Opportunities Fund, Columbia Quality Income Fund, and Columbia Total Return Bond Fund |
$
|
3.00% | 3.09% | 2.50% |
| $100,000–$249,999 | 2.50% | 2.56% | 2.15% | |
| $250,000–$499,999 | 2.00% | 2.04% | 1.75% | |
| $500,000–$999,999 | 1.50% | 1.52% | 1.25% | |
|
$
|
0.00% | 0.00% |
0.00%
(c)
|
|
|
Columbia Short Term Bond Fund
|
$
|
1.00% | 1.01% | 0.75% |
| $100,000–$249,999 | 0.75% | 0.76% | 0.50% | |
| $250,000–$999,999 | 0.50% | 0.50% | 0.40% | |
|
$
|
0.00% | 0.00% |
0.00%
(c)
|
|
|
Columbia Short Term Municipal Bond Fund
|
$
|
1.00% | 1.01% | 0.75% |
| $100,000–$249,999 | 0.75% | 0.76% | 0.50% | |
| $250,000–$499,999 | 0.50% | 0.50% | 0.40% | |
|
$
|
0.00% | 0.00% |
0.00%
(c)
|
|
| * |
The following Funds are not subject to a front-end sales charge or CDSC on Class A shares: Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund, Columbia Small Cap Index Fund, Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund and Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund.
"Funds-of-Funds (equity)"
. "Funds-of-Funds (fixed income)"
|
| (a) |
Purchase amounts and account values may be aggregated among all eligible Fund accounts for the purposes of this table. See
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
|
| (b) | Because the offering price is calculated to two decimal places, the dollar amount of the sales charge as a percentage of the offering price and your net amount invested for any particular purchase of Fund shares may be higher or lower depending on whether downward or upward rounding was required during the calculation process. Purchase price includes the sales charge. |
| (c) |
For information regarding cumulative commissions paid to your financial intermediary when you buy $1 million or more of Class A shares of a Taxable Fund or $500,000 or more of Class A shares of a Tax-Exempt Fund, see
Class A Shares — Commissions
|
| Prospectus 2021 | 39 |
Columbia Balanced Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
Class A Shares — CDSC
In some cases, you'll pay a CDSC if you sell Class A shares that you purchased without a front-end sales charge.
Tax-Exempt Funds
| ■ | If you purchased Class A shares of any Tax-Exempt Fund (other than Columbia Short Term Municipal Bond Fund) without paying a front-end sales charge because your eligible accounts aggregated $500,000 or more at the time of purchase, you will incur a CDSC of 0.75% if you redeem those shares within 12 months after purchase. Subsequent Class A share purchases that bring your aggregate account value to $500,000 or more will also be subject to a CDSC of 0.75% if you redeem those shares within 12 months after purchase. |
| ■ | If you purchased Class A shares of Columbia Short Term Municipal Bond Fund without paying a front-end sales charge because your eligible accounts aggregated $500,000 or more at the time of purchase, you will incur a CDSC of 0.50% if you redeem those shares within 12 months after purchase. Subsequent Class A share purchases that bring your aggregate account value to $500,000 or more will also be subject to a CDSC of 0.50% if you redeem those shares within 12 months after purchase. |
Taxable Funds
| ■ | If you purchased Class A shares of any Taxable Fund without paying a front-end sales charge because your eligible accounts aggregated between $1 million and $50 million at the time of purchase, you will incur a CDSC if you redeem those shares within 18 months after purchase, which is charged as follows: 1.00% CDSC if shares are redeemed within 12 months after purchase; and 0.50% CDSC if shares are redeemed more than 12, but less than 18, months after purchase. Subsequent Class A share purchases that bring your aggregate account value to $1 million or more (but less than $50 million) will also be subject to a CDSC if you redeem them within 18 months after purchase as described in the previous sentence. |
Class A Shares — Commissions
The Distributor may pay your financial intermediary an up-front commission when you buy Class A shares. The Distributor generally funds the commission through the applicable sales charge you paid. For more information, see
above
Class A Shares — Front-End Sales Charge
.
The Distributor may also pay your financial intermediary a cumulative commission when you buy Class A shares in amounts not subject to a front-end sales charge, according to the following schedules (assets initially purchased into Class A shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund, Columbia Small Cap Index Fund, Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund and Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund that were purchased without the application of a front-end sales charge are excluded for purposes of calculating a financial intermediary’s commission under these schedules):
| * | The commission level applies to the applicable asset level; therefore, for example, for a purchase of $5 million, the Distributor would pay a commission of 0.75% on the first $3,999,999 and 0.50% on the balance. |
| ** | The commission level on purchases of Class A shares of Columbia Short Term Municipal Bond Fund is: 0.50% on purchases of $500,000 to $19,999,999 and 0.25% on purchases of $20 million or more. |
| 40 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Balanced Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
|
Class A Shares of Taxable Funds — Commission Schedule (Paid by the Distributor to Financial Intermediaries)*
|
|
|
Purchase Amount
|
Commission Level**
(as a % of net asset value per share) |
| $1 million – $2,999,999 | 1.00% |
| $3 million – $49,999,999 | 0.50% |
| $50 million or more | 0.25% |
| * | Not applicable to Funds that do not assess a front-end sales charge. |
| ** | The commission level applies to the applicable asset level; therefore, for example, for a purchase of $5 million, the Distributor would pay a commission of 1.00% on the first $2,999,999 and 0.50% on the balance. |
Class C Shares — Front-End Sales Charge
You do not pay a front-end sales charge when you buy Class C shares, but you may pay a CDSC when you sell Class C shares. Although Class C shares do not have a front-end sales charge, over time Class C shares can incur distribution and/or service fees that are equal to or more than the front-end sales charge and distribution and/or service fees you would pay for Class A shares. Thus, although the full amount of your purchase of Class C shares is invested in a Fund, any positive investment return on this money may be partially or fully offset by the expected higher annual expenses of Class C shares. If you are eligible to invest in Class A shares without a front-end sales charge, you should discuss your options with your financial intermediary. For more information, see
Choosing a Share Class – Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges.
Class C Shares — Conversion to Class A Shares
Class C shares of a Fund generally automatically convert to Class A shares of the same Fund in the month of or the month following the 10-year anniversary of the Class C shares purchase date. Class C shares held through a financial intermediary in an omnibus account will be converted provided that the intermediary is able to track purchases to credit individual shareholders’ holding periods. It is the financial intermediary's (and not the Fund's) responsibility to keep records and to ensure that the shareholder is credited with the proper holding period. Not all financial intermediaries are able to track purchases to credit individual shareholders' holding periods. For example, group retirement plans held through third-party intermediaries that hold Class C shares in an omnibus account may not track participant level share lot aging. Please consult with your financial intermediary about your eligibility for Class C share conversion. The Fund may convert Class C shares held through a financial intermediary to Class A shares sooner in connection with the withdrawal of Class C shares of the Fund from the financial intermediary's platform or accounts. Once your Class C shares convert to Class A shares, your total returns from an investment in the Fund may increase as a result of the lower operating costs of Class A shares.
The following rules apply to the automatic conversion of Class C shares to Class A shares:
| ■ | Class C share accounts that are Direct-at-Fund Accounts and Networked Accounts for which the Transfer Agent (and not your financial intermediary) sends you Fund account transaction confirmations and statements, convert on or about the 15th day of the month (if the 15th is not a business day, then the next business day thereafter) that they become eligible for automatic conversion provided that the Fund has records that Class C shares have been held for the requisite time period. |
| ■ | For purposes of determining the month when your Class C shares are eligible for conversion, the start of the holding period is the first day of the month in which your purchase was made. Your financial intermediary may choose a different day of the month to convert Class C shares. Please contact your financial intermediary for more information on calculating the holding period. |
| ■ | Any shares you received from reinvested distributions on these shares generally will convert to Class A shares at the same time. |
| ■ | You’ll receive the same dollar value of Class A shares as the Class C shares that were automatically converted. Class C shares that you received from an exchange of Class C shares of another Fund will convert based on the day you bought the original shares. |
| Prospectus 2021 | 41 |
Columbia Balanced Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
| ■ | No sales charge or other charges apply in connection with this automatic conversion, and conversions are free from U.S. federal income tax. |
Class C Shares — CDSC
You will pay a CDSC of 1.00% if you redeem Class C shares within 12 months of buying them unless you qualify for a waiver of the CDSC (e.g., the shares you are selling were purchased with reinvested Fund distributions). Redemptions of Class C shares are not subject to a CDSC if redeemed after 12 months. Class C shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund are not subject to a CDSC. For more information, see
.
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
Class C Shares — Commissions
Although there is no front-end sales charge when you buy Class C shares, the Distributor makes an up-front payment (which includes a sales commission and an advance of service fees) directly to your financial intermediary of up to 1.00% of the NAV per share when you buy Class C shares (except on purchases of Class C shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund). A portion of this payment may be passed along to your financial advisor. The Distributor seeks to recover this payment through fees it receives under the Fund's distribution and/or service plan during the first 12 months following the sale of Class C shares, and any applicable CDSC when you sell your shares. For more information, see
Choosing a Share Class — Distribution and Service Fees.
Class V Shares — Front-End Sales Charge
Unless you qualify for a waiver (e.g., you purchase shares through reinvested Fund distributions), you will pay a front-end sales charge when you buy Class V shares, resulting in a smaller dollar amount being invested in a Fund than the purchase price you pay. For more information about sales charge waivers (as well as sales charge reduction opportunities), see
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges.
The front-end sales charge you will pay on Class V shares:
| ■ | depends on the amount you are investing (generally, the larger the investment, the smaller the percentage sales charge), and |
| ■ | is based on the total amount of your purchase and the value of your account (and any other accounts eligible for aggregation of which you notify your financial intermediary or, in the case of Direct-at-Fund Accounts (as defined below), you notify the Fund). |
| 42 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Balanced Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
|
Class V Shares — Front-End Sales Charge — Breakpoint Schedule
|
||||
|
Breakpoint Schedule For:
|
Dollar amount of
shares bought
(a)
|
Sales
charge as a % of the offering price
(b)
|
Sales
charge as a % of the net amount invested
(b)
|
Amount
retained by or paid to Financial Intermediaries as a % of the offering price |
|
Fixed Income Funds
|
$
|
4.75% | 4.99% | 4.25% |
|
$
|
4.50% | 4.71% | 3.75% | |
| $100,000–$249,999 | 3.50% | 3.63% | 2.75% | |
| $250,000–$499,999 | 2.50% | 2.56% | 2.00% | |
| $500,000–$999,999 | 2.00% | 2.04% | 1.75% | |
|
$
|
0.00% | 0.00% |
0.00%
(c)
|
|
| (a) | Purchase amounts and account values are aggregated among all eligible Fund accounts for the purposes of this table. |
| (b) | Because the offering price is calculated to two decimal places, the dollar amount of the sales charge as a percentage of the offering price and your net amount invested for any particular purchase of Fund shares may be higher or lower depending on whether downward or upward rounding was required during the calculation process. |
| (c) |
For more information regarding cumulative commissions paid to your financial intermediary when you buy $1 million or more of Class V shares, see
Class V Shares — Commissions
|
Class V Shares — CDSC
In some cases, you will pay a CDSC if you sell Class V shares that you bought without a front-end sales charge.
| ■ | If you purchased Class V shares without a front-end sales charge because your eligible accounts aggregated between $1 million and $50 million at the time of purchase, you will incur a CDSC if you redeem those shares within 18 months after purchase, which is charged as follows: 1.00% CDSC if shares are redeemed within 12 months after purchase, and 0.50% CDSC if shares are redeemed more than 12, but less than 18, months after purchase. |
| ■ | Subsequent Class V share purchases that bring your aggregate account value to $1 million or more (but less than $50 million) will also be subject to a CDSC if you redeem them within the time periods noted above. |
Class V Shares — Commissions
The Distributor may pay your financial intermediary an up-front commission when you buy Class V shares (a portion of this commission may, in turn, be paid to your financial advisor). For more information, see
Class V Shares — Front-End Sales Charge.
The Distributor may also pay your financial intermediary a cumulative commission when you buy $1 million or more of Class V shares, according to the following schedule:
|
Class V Shares
—
Commission Schedule (Paid by the Distributor to Financial Intermediaries)
|
|
|
Purchase
Amount |
Commission Level*
(as a % of net asset value per share) |
| $1 million – $2,999,999 | 1.00% |
| $3 million – $49,999,999 | 0.50% |
| $50 million or more | 0.25% |
| * | The commission level applies to the applicable asset level; therefore, for example, for a purchase of $5 million, the Distributor would pay a commission of 1.00% on the first $2,999,999 and 0.50% on the balance. |
| Prospectus 2021 | 43 |
Columbia Balanced Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
The availability of certain sales charge waivers and discounts will depend on whether you purchase your shares directly from the Fund (i.e., a Direct-at-Fund Account, as defined below) or through a financial intermediary. Financial intermediaries may have different policies and procedures regarding the availability of front-end sales charge and/or CDSC waivers. In all instances, it is your responsibility to notify your financial intermediary or (for Direct-at-Fund Accounts, as defined below) the Fund at the time of purchase of any relationship or other facts that may qualify you for sales charge waivers or discounts. In order to obtain waivers and discounts not available through a particular financial intermediary, shareholders will have to purchase Fund shares directly from the Fund (if permitted) or through a different financial intermediary. For a description of financial intermediary-specific sales charge reductions and/or waivers, see
.
Appendix A
Class A and Class V Shares Front-End Sales Charge Reductions
The Fund makes available two means of reducing the front-end sales charge that you may pay when you buy Class A shares or Class V shares of a Fund. These types of sales charge reductions are also referred to as breakpoint discounts.
First, through the right of accumulation (ROA), you may combine the value of eligible accounts (as described in the
section below) maintained by you and members of your immediate family to reach a breakpoint discount level and apply a lower front-end sales charge to your purchase. To calculate the combined value of your eligible Fund accounts in the particular class of shares, the Fund will use the current public offering price per share. For purposes of obtaining a breakpoint discount through ROA, you may aggregate your and your “immediate family” members' ownership (as described in the
box below) of certain classes of shares held in certain account types, as described in the
section below.
Eligible Accounts
FUNDamentals
Eligible Accounts
Second, by making a statement of intent to purchase additional shares (commonly referred to as a letter of intent (LOI)), you may pay a lower sales charge on all purchases of Class A shares or Class V shares made within 13 months after the date of your LOI. Your LOI must state the aggregate amount of purchases you intend to make in that 13-month period, which must be at least enough to reach the first (or next) breakpoint of the Fund. The required form of LOI may vary by financial intermediary, so please contact them directly for more information. Five percent of the purchase commitment amount will be placed in escrow. At the end of the 13-month period, the shares will be released from escrow, provided that you have invested the commitment amount. If you do not invest the commitment amount by the end of the 13 months, the remaining amount of the unpaid sales charge will be redeemed from the escrowed shares and the remaining balance released from escrow. To calculate the total value of the purchases you've made under an LOI, the Fund will use the historic cost (i.e., dollars invested and not current market value) of the shares held in each eligible account; reinvested dividends or capital gains, or purchases made through the reinstatement privilege do not count as purchases made under an LOI. For purposes of making an LOI to purchase additional shares, you may aggregate eligible shares owned by you or your immediate family members in eligible accounts, valued as of the day immediately before the initiation of your LOI.
You must request the reduced sales charge (whether through ROA or an LOI) when you buy shares. If you do not complete and file an LOI, or do not request the reduced sales charge at the time of purchase, you will not be eligible for the reduced sales charge. To obtain a breakpoint discount, you must notify your financial intermediary in writing at the time you buy your shares of each eligible account maintained by you and members of your immediate family, including accounts maintained through different financial intermediaries. You and your financial intermediary are responsible for ensuring that you receive discounts for which you are eligible. Please contact your financial intermediary with questions regarding application of the eligible discount to your account. You may be asked by your financial intermediary (or by the Fund if you hold your account directly with the Fund) for account statements or other records to verify your discount eligibility for new and subsequent purchases, including, when applicable, records for accounts opened with a different financial intermediary and records of accounts established by members of your immediate family.
The sales charge reductions available to investors who purchase and hold their Fund shares through different financial intermediaries may vary. For a description of such financial intermediary-specific sales charge reductions, see
.
Appendix A
| 44 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Balanced Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
FUNDamentals
Your “Immediate Family” and Account Value Aggregation
For purposes of obtaining a breakpoint discount for Class A shares or Class V shares, the value of your account will be deemed to include the value of all applicable shares in eligible Fund accounts that are held by you and your “immediate family,” which includes your spouse, domestic partner, parent, step-parent, legal guardian, child under 21, step-child under 21, father-in-law and mother-in-law, provided that you and your immediate family members share the same mailing address. Any Fund accounts linked together for account value aggregation purposes as of the close of business on September 3, 2010 will be permitted to remain linked together. Group retirement plan accounts are valued at the retirement plan level.
Eligible Accounts
The following accounts are eligible for account value aggregation as described above, provided that they are invested in Class A (excluding, in the case of Direct-at-Fund Accounts, Funds that do not assess a front-end sales charge, including Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund, Columbia Small Cap Index Fund, Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund and Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund, unless such shares were purchased via an exchange from Class A shares of a Fund on which you paid the Class A share applicable front-end sales charge), Class C, Class E, Class Inst or Class V shares of a Fund, or non-retirement plan accounts invested in Class Adv, Class Inst2 or Class Inst3 shares of a Fund: individual or joint accounts; Roth and traditional Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs); Simplified Employee Pension accounts (SEPs), Savings Investment Match Plans for Employees of Small Employers accounts (SIMPLEs) and Tax Sheltered Custodial Accounts (TSCAs); Uniform Gifts to Minors Act (UGMA)/Uniform Transfers to Minors Act (UTMA) accounts for which you, your spouse, or your domestic partner is parent or guardian of the minor child; revocable trust accounts for which you or an immediate family member, individually, is the beneficial owner/grantor; accounts held in the name of your, your spouse’s, or your domestic partner’s sole proprietorship or single owner limited liability company or S corporation; qualified retirement plan assets, provided that you are the sole owner of the business sponsoring the plan, are the sole participant (other than a spouse) in the plan, and have no intention of adding participants to the plan; and investments in wrap accounts.
The following accounts are
for account value aggregation as described above: accounts of pension and retirement plans with multiple participants, such as 401(k) plans (which are combined to reduce the sales charge for the entire pension or retirement plan and therefore are not used to reduce the sales charge for your individual accounts); investments in 529 plans, donor advised funds, variable annuities, variable insurance products or managed separate accounts; charitable and irrevocable trust accounts; accounts holding shares of money market funds that used the Columbia brand before May 1, 2010; accounts invested in Class R shares of a Fund; and retirement plan accounts invested in Class Adv, Class Inst2 or Class Inst3 shares of a Fund.
not eligible
Additionally, direct purchases of shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund may not be aggregated for account value aggregation purposes; however, shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund acquired by exchange from other Columbia Funds that assess a sales charge may be included in account value aggregation.
Class A and Class V Shares Front-End Sales Charge Waivers
There are no front-end sales charges on reinvested Fund distributions. The Class A shares sales charge is waived on conversions of Class C shares to Class A shares. The Distributor may waive front-end sales charges on purchases of Class A and Class V shares of the Funds by certain categories of investors, including Board members, certain employees of financial intermediaries, Fund portfolio managers, certain partners and employees of outside legal counsel to the Funds or the Board, separate accounts of an insurance company exempt from registration as an investment company under Section 3(c)(11) of the 1940 Act, registered broker-dealer firms that have an agreement with the Distributor purchasing Fund shares for their investment account only, and qualified employee benefit plan rollovers to Class A shares in the same Fund (see Appendix S to the SAI for details). For a more complete description of categories of investors who may purchase Class A and Class V shares of the Funds at NAV, without payment of any front-end sales charge that would otherwise apply, see Appendix S to the SAI.
| Prospectus 2021 | 45 |
Columbia Balanced Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
In addition, certain types of purchases of Class A and Class V shares may be made at NAV. The Distributor may waive front-end sales charges on (i) purchases (including exchanges) of Class A shares in accounts of financial intermediaries that have entered into agreements with the Distributor to offer Fund shares to self-directed investment brokerage accounts that may or may not charge a transaction fee to customers; (ii) exchanges of Class Inst shares of a Fund for Class A shares of the Fund; (iii) purchases of Class A shares on brokerage mutual fund-only platforms of financial intermediaries that have an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes the offering of Class A shares within such platform; (iv) purchases through certain wrap fee or other products or programs that involve fee-based compensation arrangements that have, or clear trades through a financial intermediary that has, a selling agreement with the Distributor; (v) purchases through state sponsored 529 Plans; (vi) purchases through banks, trust companies, and thrift institutions acting as fiduciaries; and (vii) purchases through certain employee benefit plans and certain qualified deferred compensation plans. For a more complete description of these eligible transactions, see Appendix S to the SAI.
The sales charge waivers available to investors who purchase and hold their Fund shares through different financial intermediaries may vary. For a description of such financial intermediary-specific sales charge waivers, see
.
Appendix A
CDSC Waivers – Class A, Class C and Class V
You may be able to avoid an otherwise applicable CDSC when you sell Class A, Class C or Class V shares of the Fund. This could happen because of the way in which you originally invested in the Fund, because of your relationship with the Funds or for other reasons. For example, the CDSC will be waived on redemptions of shares in the event of the shareholder's death; for which no sales commission or transaction fee was paid to an authorized financial intermediary at the time of purchase; purchased through reinvestment of dividends and capital gain distributions; that result from required minimum distributions taken from retirement accounts due to the shareholder reaching the qualified age based on applicable IRS regulations; that result from returns of excess contributions made to retirement plans or individual retirement accounts (subject to certain conditions); initially purchased by an employee benefit plan (for Class A shares) and that are not connected with a plan level termination (for Class C or Class V shares); in connection with the Fund's Small Account Policy (which is described in
); and by certain other investors and in certain other types of transactions or situations. Restrictions may apply to certain accounts and certain transactions. The Distributor may, in its sole discretion, authorize the waiver of the CDSC for additional classes of investors. The Fund may change or cancel these terms at any time. Any change or cancellation applies only to future purchases. For a more complete description of the available waivers of the CDSC on redemptions of Class A, Class C or Class V shares, see Appendix S to the SAI.
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares — Transaction Rules and Policies
The sales charge waivers available to investors who purchase and hold their Fund shares through different financial intermediaries may vary. For a description of such financial intermediary-specific sales charge waivers, see
.
Appendix A
Repurchases (Reinstatements)
As noted in the table below, you can redeem shares of certain classes (see Redeemed Share Class below) and use such redemption proceeds to buy shares of the Corresponding Repurchase Class without paying an otherwise applicable sales charge and/or CDSC (other than, in the case of Direct-at-Fund Accounts, redemptions from Funds that do not assess a front-end sales charge, including Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund, Columbia Small Cap Index Fund, Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund and Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund, unless such shares were purchased via an exchange from Class A shares of a Fund on which you paid the Class A share applicable front-end sales charge) within 90 days, up to the amount of the redemption proceeds.
|
Repurchases (Reinstatements)
|
|
|
Redeemed Share Class
|
Corresponding Repurchase Class
|
| Class A | Class A |
| Class C | Class C |
| 46 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Balanced Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
|
Repurchases (Reinstatements)
|
|
|
Redeemed Share Class
|
Corresponding Repurchase Class
|
| Class V | Class V |
Any CDSC paid upon redemption of your Class A, Class C or Class V shares of a Fund will not be reimbursed.
To be eligible for the repurchase (or reinstatement) privilege, the purchase must be made into an account for the same owner, but does not need to be into the same Fund from which the shares were sold. The Transfer Agent, Distributor or their agents must receive a written reinstatement request from you or your financial intermediary within 90 days after the shares are redeemed. The purchase of the Corresponding Repurchase Class (as noted in the table above) through this repurchase (or reinstatement) privilege will be made at the NAV of such shares next calculated after the request is received in “good form.” Systematic withdrawals and purchases are excluded from this policy.
Restrictions and Changes in Terms and Conditions
Restrictions may apply to certain accounts and certain transactions. The Funds and/or the Distributor may change or cancel these terms and conditions at any time. Unless you provide your financial intermediary with information in writing about all of the factors that may count toward available reductions or waivers of an applicable sales charge, there can be no assurance that you will receive all of the reductions and waivers for which you may be eligible. To the extent your Fund account is held directly with the Fund, you should provide this information to the Fund when placing your purchase or redemption order. Please see
to this prospectus and Appendix S of the SAI for more information about sales charge waivers.
Appendix A
Distribution and Service Fees
The Board has approved, and the Funds have adopted, distribution and/or shareholder service plans which set the distribution and/or service fees that are periodically deducted from the Funds’ assets. These fees are calculated daily, may vary by share class and are intended to compensate the Distributor and/or eligible financial intermediaries for, with regard to distribution fees, selling Fund shares and, with regard to service fees, directly or indirectly providing services to shareholders. Because the fees are paid out of the Fund's assets on an ongoing basis, they will increase the cost of your investment over time.
The table below shows the maximum annual distribution and/or service fees (as an annual percentage of average daily net assets) and the combined amount of such fees applicable to each share class:
| (a) | The service fees for Class A and Class C shares of certain Funds vary. The annual service fee for Class A and Class C shares of Columbia High Yield Municipal Fund, Columbia Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund and Columbia Tax-Exempt Fund may equal up to 0.20% of the average daily NAV of all shares of such Fund class. The annual distribution fee for Class C shares for Columbia Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund shall be 0.65% of the average daily net assets of the Fund’s Class C shares. The Distributor has contractually agreed to waive a portion of the service fee for Class A and Class C shares of Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund so that the service fee does not exceed 0.15% annually through August 31, 2021 unless sooner terminated at the sole discretion of the Fund’s Board. The Distributor has contractually agreed to waive a portion of the service fee for Class A shares of Columbia Strategic California Municipal Income Fund so that the service fee does not exceed 0.20% annually through February 28, 2022 unless modified or sooner terminated at the sole discretion of the Fund’s Board. |
| Prospectus 2021 | 47 |
Columbia Balanced Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
| (b) | The maximum distribution and service fees of Class A shares varies among the Funds, as shown in the table below: |
|
Funds
|
Maximum
Class A Distribution Fee |
Maximum
Class A Service Fee |
Maximum
Class A Combined Total |
|
Series of CFST and CFST II (other than Columbia
Government Money Market Fund) |
— | — |
0.25%; these Funds pay a
combined distribution and service fee |
| Columbia Government Money Market Fund | — | — | 0.10% |
| Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund | up to 0.15% | up to 0.15% | 0.15% |
| Columbia Balanced Fund, Columbia Contrarian Core Fund, Columbia Dividend Income Fund, Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund, Columbia Large Cap Growth Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Growth Fund, Columbia Oregon Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund, Columbia Real Estate Equity Fund, Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I, Columbia Total Return Bond Fund | up to 0.10% | up to 0.25% |
up to 0.35%; these Funds may
pay distribution and service fees up to a maximum of 0.35% of their average daily net assets attributable to Class A shares (comprised of up to 0.10% for distribution services and up to 0.25% for shareholder liaison services) but currently limit such fees to an aggregate fee of not more than 0.25% for Class A shares |
| Columbia Adaptive Risk Allocation Fund, Columbia Bond Fund, Columbia Connecticut Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund, Columbia Corporate Income Fund, Columbia Emerging Markets Fund, Columbia Greater China Fund, Columbia International Dividend Income Fund, Columbia Massachusetts Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund, Columbia Multi-Asset Income Fund, Columbia Multi Strategy Alternatives Fund, Columbia New York Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund, Columbia Pacific/Asia Fund, Columbia Select Large Cap Growth Fund, Columbia Small Cap Value Fund I, Columbia Strategic California Municipal Income Fund, Columbia Strategic Income Fund, Columbia Strategic New York Municipal Income Fund, Columbia U.S. Social Bond Fund, Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund | — | 0.25% | 0.25% |
| Columbia High Yield Municipal Fund, Columbia Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund, Columbia Tax-Exempt Fund | — | 0.20% | 0.20% |
| (c) | Fee amounts noted apply to all Funds other than Columbia Government Money Market Fund, which, for Class A shares, pays distribution and service fees of 0.10%, and for Class C shares pays distribution fees of 0.75%. The payment of the distribution and/or service fees payable by Columbia Government Money Market Fund under its Plan of Distribution has been suspended through November 30, 2021. This arrangement may be modified or terminated at the sole discretion of Columbia Government Money Market Fund’s Board at any time. Compensation paid to financial intermediaries is suspended for the duration of the suspension of payments under Columbia Government Money Market Fund’s Plan of Distribution. |
| (d) | The Distributor has contractually agreed to waive a portion of the distribution fee for Class C shares of the following Funds so that the distribution fee does not exceed the specified percentage annually through the specified date for each Fund: 0.45% for Columbia Connecticut Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund through February 28, 2022, Columbia Massachusetts Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund through February 28, 2022, Columbia New York Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund through February 28, 2022, Columbia Oregon Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund through November 30, 2021, Columbia Strategic California Municipal Income Fund through February 28, 2022, and Columbia Strategic New York Municipal Income Fund through August 31, 2021; 0.55% for Columbia Corporate Income Fund through August 31, 2021, and Columbia Short Term Bond Fund through August 31, 2021; 0.60% for Columbia High Yield Municipal Fund through September 30, 2021, Columbia Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund through August 31, 2021, and Columbia Tax-Exempt Fund through November 30, 2021; and 0.65% for Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund through August 31, 2021. These arrangements may be sooner terminated at the sole discretion of each Fund’s Board. |
| (e) | Class R shares of series of CFST and CFST I pay a distribution fee pursuant to a Rule 12b-1 plan. The Funds do not have a shareholder service plan for Class R shares. Series of CFST II have a distribution and shareholder service plan for Class R shares. For Class R shares of series of CFST II, the maximum fee under the plan reimbursed for distribution expenses is equal on an annual basis to 0.50% of the average daily net assets of the Fund attributable to Class R shares. Of that amount, up to 0.25% may be reimbursed for shareholder service expenses. |
| (f) |
The shareholder servicing fees for Class V shares are up to 0.50% of average daily net assets attributable to Class V shares for equity Funds and 0.40% for fixed income Funds. In general, the Funds currently limit such fees to a maximum of 0.25% for equity Funds and 0.15% for fixed-income Funds. These fees for Class V shares are not paid pursuant to a Rule 12b-1 plan. See
Class V Shareholder Service Fees
|
| 48 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Balanced Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
The distribution and/or service fees for Class A, Class C, and Class R shares, as applicable, are subject to the requirements of Rule 12b-1 under the 1940 Act. The Distributor may retain these fees otherwise payable to financial intermediaries if the amounts due are below an amount determined by the Distributor in its sole discretion.
For Class A shares, the Distributor begins to pay these fees immediately after purchase, except in the following case, in which the Distributor begins to pay these fees 12 months after purchase: a purchase of Class A shares of $1 million or more for Taxable Funds or $500,000 or more for Tax-Exempt Funds that pay a Class A up-front commission to your financial intermediary and the financial intermediary has opted to receive such commission. The Distributor’s policy to otherwise begin to pay these fees immediately on Class A shares also applies to purchases of funds that do not pay an up-front sales commission on Class A shares, which includes Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund, Columbia Small Cap Index Fund, Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund and Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund. For Class C shares, the Distributor begins to pay these fees 12 months after purchase. However, for Class C shares, financial intermediaries may opt to decline the up-front payment described in
and instead may receive these fees immediately after purchase. If the intermediary opts to receive the up-front payment, the Distributor retains the distribution and/or service fee for the first 12 months following the sale of Class C shares in order to recover the up-front payment made to financial intermediaries and to pay for other related expenses. For Class R shares, the Distributor begins to pay these fees immediately after purchase.
Choosing a Share Class – Sales Charges and Commissions – Class C Shares – Commissions
Series of CFST II.
The maximum fee for services under the distribution and/or shareholder servicing plan for series of CFST II is the lesser of the amount of reimbursable expenses and the fee rates in the table above. If a share class of a series of CFST II has no reimbursable distribution or shareholder servicing expenses, it will suspend the payment of any such fee. As a result of any such suspensions, the expense ratio of a Fund’s share class disclosed in the
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
table in the
Summary of the Fund
section of this prospectus may not match the ratio of expenses of such share class to average net assets shown in the
Financial Highlights
section of this prospectus.
If you maintain shares of the Fund directly with the Fund, without working with a financial advisor or other financial intermediary, distribution and service fees may be retained by the Distributor as payment or reimbursement for incurring certain distribution and shareholder service related expenses.
Over time, these distribution and/or service fees will reduce the return on your investment and may cost you more than paying other types of sales charges. The Fund will pay these fees to the Distributor and/or to eligible financial intermediaries for as long as the distribution plan and/or shareholder servicing plans continue in effect, which is expected to be indefinitely. However, the Fund may reduce or discontinue payments at any time. Your financial intermediary may also charge you other additional fees for providing services to your account, which may be different from those described here.
Class V Shareholder Services Fees
The Funds that offer Class V shares have adopted a shareholder services plan that permits them to pay for certain services provided to Class V shareholders by their financial intermediaries. Equity Funds may pay shareholder servicing fees up to an aggregate annual rate of 0.50% of the Fund's average daily net assets attributable to Class V shares (comprised of up to 0.25% for shareholder liaison services and up to 0.25% for administrative support services). Fixed income Funds may pay shareholder servicing fees up to an aggregate annual rate of 0.40% of the Fund's average daily net assets attributable to Class V shares (comprised of up to 0.20% for shareholder liaison services and up to 0.20% for administrative support services). These fees are currently limited to an aggregate annual rate of not more than 0.25% for equity Funds and not more than 0.15% for fixed income Funds. The Distributor begins to pay these fees immediately after purchase for purchases up to $1 million, for purchases of $1 million or more the Distributor will begin to pay these fees 12 months after purchase. These fees for Class V shares are not paid pursuant to a Rule 12b-1 plan. With respect to those Funds that declare dividends on a daily basis, the shareholder servicing fee shall be waived by the financial intermediaries to the extent necessary to prevent net investment income from falling below 0% on a daily basis. If you maintain shares of the Fund directly with the Fund, without working with a financial advisor or other intermediary, shareholder services fees may be retained by the Distributor as payment or reimbursement for incurring certain shareholder service related expenses.
| Prospectus 2021 | 49 |
Columbia Balanced Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
Financial Intermediary Compensation
The Distributor, the Investment Manager and their affiliates make payments, from their own resources, to financial intermediaries, including other Ameriprise Financial affiliates, for marketing/sales support services relating to the Funds (Marketing Support Payments). Such payments are generally based upon one or more of the following factors: average net assets of the Funds attributable to that financial intermediary; gross sales of the Funds attributable to that financial intermediary; reimbursement of ticket charges (fees that a financial intermediary charges its representatives for effecting transactions in Fund shares); or a negotiated lump sum payment. While the financial arrangements may vary for each financial intermediary, Marketing Support Payments to any one financial intermediary are generally between 0.05% and 0.40% on an annual basis for payments based on average net assets of the Fund attributable to the financial intermediary, and between 0.05% and 0.25% on an annual basis for firms receiving a payment based on gross sales of the Funds attributable to the financial intermediary. The Distributor, the Investment Manager and their affiliates may at times make payments with respect to a Fund or the Columbia Funds generally on a basis other than those described above, or in larger amounts, when dealing with certain financial intermediaries. Not all financial intermediaries receive Marketing Support Payments. The Distributor, the Investment Manager and their affiliates do not make Marketing Support Payments with respect to Class Inst3 shares.
In addition, the Transfer Agent has certain arrangements in place to compensate financial intermediaries, including other Ameriprise Financial affiliates, that hold Fund shares through networked and omnibus accounts, including omnibus retirement plans, for services that they provide to beneficial Fund shareholders (Shareholder Services). Shareholder Services and related fees vary by financial intermediary and according to distribution channel and may include sub-accounting, sub-transfer agency, participant recordkeeping, shareholder or participant reporting, shareholder or participant transaction processing, maintenance of shareholder records, preparation of account statements and provision of customer service, and are not intended to include services that are primarily intended to result in the sale of Fund shares. Payments for Shareholder Services generally are not expected, with certain limited exceptions, to exceed 0.40% of the average aggregate value of the Fund’s shares. Generally, each Fund pays the Transfer Agent a per account fee or a percentage of the average aggregate value of shares per annum maintained in omnibus accounts up to the lesser of the amount charged by the financial intermediary or a channel-specific or share class-specific cap established by the Board from time to time. Fee amounts in excess of the amount paid by the Fund are borne by the Transfer Agent, the Investment Manager and/or their affiliates. For Class Inst3 shares, the Transfer Agent does not pay financial intermediaries for Shareholder Services, except that for Class Inst3 shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund (formerly an unnamed share class of the Fund), the Transfer Agent makes Shareholder Services payments to a financial intermediary through which shares of this class were held (under its former unnamed share class name) as of November 30, 2018, and the Fund does not compensate the Transfer Agent for any Shareholder Services provided by financial intermediaries.
In addition to the payments described above, the Distributor, the Investment Manager and their affiliates typically make other payments or allow promotional incentives to certain broker-dealers to the extent permitted by the Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) rules and by other applicable laws and regulations.
Amounts paid by the Distributor, the Investment Manager and their affiliates are paid out of their own resources and do not increase the amount paid by you or the Fund. You can find further details in the SAI about the payments made by the Distributor, the Investment Manager and their affiliates, as well as a list of the financial intermediaries, including Ameriprise Financial affiliates, to which the Distributor, the Investment Manager or their affiliates have agreed to make Marketing Support Payments and pay Shareholder Services fees.
Your financial intermediary may charge you fees and commissions in addition to those described in this prospectus. You should consult with your financial intermediary and review carefully any disclosure your financial intermediary provides regarding its services and compensation. Depending on the financial arrangement in place at any particular time, a financial intermediary and its financial advisors may have a conflict of interest or financial incentive for recommending the Fund or a particular share class over others.
| 50 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Balanced Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
Share Price Determination
The price you pay or receive when you buy, sell or exchange shares is the Fund's next determined net asset value (or NAV) per share for a given share class. The Fund calculates the NAV per share for each class of shares of the Fund at the end of each business day, with the value of the Fund's shares based on the total value of all of the securities and other assets that it holds as of a specified time.
FUNDamentals
NAV Calculation
Each of the Fund's share classes calculates its NAV per share as follows:
NAV per share =
(Value of assets of the share class) – (Liabilities of the share class)
Number of outstanding shares of the class
FUNDamentals
Business Days
A business day is any day that the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is open. A business day typically ends at the close of regular trading on the NYSE, usually at 4:00 p.m. Eastern time. If the NYSE is scheduled to close early, the business day will be considered to end as of the time of the NYSE’s scheduled close. The Fund will not treat an intraday unscheduled disruption in NYSE trading or an intraday unscheduled closing as a close of regular trading on the NYSE for these purposes and will price its shares as of the regularly scheduled closing time for that day (typically, 4:00 p.m. Eastern time). Notwithstanding the foregoing, the NAV of Fund shares may be determined at such other time or times (in addition to or in lieu of the time set forth above) as the Fund’s Board may approve or ratify. On holidays and other days when the NYSE is closed, the Fund’s NAV is not calculated and the Fund does not accept buy or sell orders. However, the value of the Fund’s assets may still be affected on such days to the extent that the Fund holds foreign securities that trade on days that foreign securities markets are open.
Equity securities are valued primarily on the basis of market quotations reported on stock exchanges and other securities markets around the world. If an equity security is listed on a national exchange, the security is valued at the closing price or, if the closing price is not readily available, the mean of the closing bid and asked prices. Certain equity securities, debt securities and other assets are valued differently. For instance, bank loans trading in the secondary market are valued primarily on the basis of indicative bids, fixed income investments maturing in 60 days or less are valued primarily using the amortized cost method, unless this methodology results in a valuation that does not approximate the market value of these securities, and those maturing in excess of 60 days are valued primarily using a market-based price obtained from a pricing service, if available. Investments in other open-end funds are valued at their published NAVs. Both market quotations and indicative bids are obtained from outside pricing services approved and monitored pursuant to a policy approved by the Fund's Board.
If a market price is not readily available or is deemed not to reflect market value, the Fund will determine the price of a portfolio security based on a determination of the security's fair value pursuant to a policy approved by the Fund’s Board. In addition, the Fund may use fair valuation to price securities that trade on a foreign exchange when a significant event has occurred after the foreign exchange closes but before the time at which the Fund’s share price is calculated. Foreign exchanges typically close before the time at which Fund share prices are calculated, and may be closed altogether on days when the Fund is open. Such significant events affecting a foreign security may include, but are not limited to: (1) corporate actions, earnings announcements, litigation or other events impacting a single issuer; (2) governmental action that affects securities in one sector or country; (3) natural disasters or armed conflicts affecting a country or region; or (4) significant domestic or foreign market fluctuations. The Fund uses various criteria, including an evaluation of U.S. market moves after the close of foreign markets, in determining whether a foreign security's market price is readily available and reflective of market value and, if not, the fair value
| Prospectus 2021 | 51 |
Columbia Balanced Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
of the security. To the extent the Fund has significant holdings of small cap stocks, high-yield bonds, floating rate loans, or tax-exempt, foreign or other securities that may trade infrequently, fair valuation may be used more frequently than for other funds.
Fair valuation may have the effect of reducing stale pricing arbitrage opportunities presented by the pricing of Fund shares. However, when the Fund uses fair valuation to price securities, it may value those securities higher or lower than another fund would have priced the security. Also, the use of fair valuation may cause the Fund's performance to diverge to a greater degree from the performance of various benchmarks used to compare the Fund's performance because benchmarks generally do not use fair valuation techniques. Because of the judgment involved in fair valuation decisions, there can be no assurance that the value ascribed to a particular security is accurate. The Fund has retained one or more independent fair valuation pricing services to assist in the fair valuation process for foreign securities.
Transaction Rules and Policies
The Fund, the Distributor or the Transfer Agent may refuse any order to buy or exchange shares. If this happens, the Fund will return any money it received, but no interest will be paid on that money. Your financial intermediary may have rules and policies in place that are in addition to or different than those described below.
Order Processing
Orders to buy, sell or exchange Fund shares are processed on business days. Depending upon the class of shares, orders can be made by mail, by telephone or online. Orders received in “good form” by the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary before the end of a business day are priced at the NAV per share (plus any applicable sales charge) of the Fund's applicable share class on that day. Orders received after the end of a business day will receive the next business day's NAV per share (plus any applicable sales charge). For Direct-at-Fund Accounts (i.e., accounts established directly with the Fund), when a written order to buy, sell or exchange shares is sent to the Transfer Agent, the share price used to fill the order is the next price calculated by the Fund after the Transfer Agent receives the transaction request in “good form” at its transaction processing center (i.e., the Fund’s express mail address), not the P.O. Box provided for regular mail delivery. The market value of the Fund's investments may change between the time you submit your order and the time the Fund next calculates its NAV per share. The business day that applies to your order is also called the trade date.
“Good Form”
An order is in “good form” if the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary has received payment (in the case of purchases) and all of the information and documentation it deems necessary to effect your order. For example, when you sell shares, “good form” means that your request (i) has complete instructions and written requests include the signatures of all account owners, (ii) is for an amount that is less than or equal to the shares in your account for which payment has been received and collected, (iii) has a Medallion Signature Guarantee for amounts greater than $100,000 and certain other transactions, as described below, and (iv) includes any other required documents completed and attached. For the documents required for sales by corporations, agents, fiduciaries, surviving joint owners and other legal entities, call 800.345.6611.
Medallion Signature Guarantees
The Transfer Agent may require a Medallion Signature Guarantee for your signature in order to process certain transactions, including if: (i) the transaction amount is over $100,000; (ii) you want your check made payable to someone other than the registered account owner(s); (iii) the address of record has changed within the last 30 days; (iv) you want the check mailed to an address other than the address of record; (v) you want proceeds to be sent according to existing bank account instructions not coded for outgoing Automated Clearing House (ACH) or wire, or to a bank account not on file; or (vi) you are changing legal ownership of your account.
A Medallion Signature Guarantee helps assure that a signature is genuine and not a forgery. A Medallion Signature Guarantee must be provided by an eligible guarantor institution including, but not limited to, the following: a bank, credit union, savings association, broker or dealer that participates in the Securities Transfer Association Medallion Program (STAMP), the Stock Exchange Medallion Program (SEMP) or the New York Stock Exchange Medallion
| 52 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Balanced Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
Signature Program (MSP). For other transactions, the Transfer Agent may require a signature guarantee. Notarization by a notary public is not an acceptable signature guarantee. The Transfer Agent reserves the right to reject a signature guarantee and to request additional documentation for any transaction.
Customer Identification Program
Federal law requires the Fund to obtain and record specific personal information to verify your identity when you open an account. This information may include your name, address, date of birth (for individuals) and taxpayer or other government issued identification (e.g., social security number (SSN) or other taxpayer identification number (TIN)). If you fail to provide the requested information, the Fund may need to delay the date of your purchase or may be unable to open your account, which may result in a return of your investment monies. In addition, if the Fund is unable to verify your identity after your account is open, the Fund reserves the right to close your account or take other steps as deemed reasonable. The Fund will not be liable for any loss resulting from any purchase delay, application rejection or account closure due to a failure to provide proper identifying information.
Small Account Policy — Class A, Class C, Class Inst, and Class V Share Accounts Below the Minimum Account Balance
The Funds generally will automatically sell your shares if the value of your Fund account (treating each account of the Fund you own separately from any other account of the Fund you may own) falls below the applicable minimum account balance. Any otherwise applicable CDSC will not be imposed on such an automatic sale of your shares. Generally, you may avoid such an automatic sale by raising your account balance to at least $250 or consolidating your multiple accounts you may have with the Funds through an exchange (so as to maintain at least $250 in each of your accounts). The minimum account balance varies among share classes and types of accounts, as follows:
|
Minimum Account Balance
|
|
|
Minimum
Account Balance |
|
| For all classes and account types except those listed below |
$250 (None for accounts with
Systematic Investment Plans) |
| Individual Retirement Accounts for all classes except those listed below | None |
| Class Adv, Class Inst2, Class Inst3 and Class R | None |
For shares held directly with the Funds’ Transfer Agent, if your shares are sold, the Transfer Agent will remit the sale proceeds to you. The Transfer Agent will send you written notification in advance of any automatic sale, which will provide details on how you may avoid such an automatic sale. Generally, you may avoid such an automatic sale by raising your account balance to at least $250, consolidating your multiple accounts you may have with the Funds through an exchange (so as to maintain at least $250 in each of your accounts), or setting up a Systematic Investment Plan (described below). For more information, contact the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary. The Transfer Agent's contact information (toll-free number and mailing addresses) as well as the Funds’ website address can be found at the beginning of the section
.
Choosing a Share Class
For shares purchased and held for your benefit through a financial intermediary, the Funds may instruct the intermediary to automatically sell your Fund shares if the transaction can be operationally administered by the intermediary.
Small Account Policy — Class A, Class C, Class Inst, and Class V Share Accounts Minimum Balance Fee
If the value of your Fund account (treating each account of the Fund you own separately from any other account of the Fund you may own) falls below the minimum initial investment requirement applicable to you for any reason, including as a result of market decline, your account generally could be subject to a $20 annual fee. The Transfer Agent will reduce the expenses paid by the Fund by any amounts it collects from the assessment of this fee. For Funds that do not have transfer agency expenses against which to offset the amount collected through assessment of this fee, the
| Prospectus 2021 | 53 |
Columbia Balanced Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
fee will be paid directly to the Fund. The Funds reserve the right to lower the account size trigger point for the minimum balance fee in any year or for any class of shares when we believe it is appropriate to do so in light of declines in the market value of Fund shares or for other reasons.
For shares held directly with the Funds’ Transfer Agent, this fee will be assessed through the automatic sale of Fund shares in your account. Any otherwise applicable CDSC will not be imposed on such an automatic sale of your shares. The Transfer Agent will send you written notification in advance of assessing any fee, which will provide details on how you can avoid the imposition of such fee. Generally, you may avoid the imposition of such fee by raising your Fund account balance, consolidating your multiple accounts you may have with the Funds, or setting up a Systematic Investment Plan that invests at least monthly. For more information, contact the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary. The Transfer Agent's contact information (toll-free number and mailing addresses) as well as the Funds’ website address can be found at the beginning of the section
.
Choosing a Share Class
For shares purchased and held for your benefit through a financial intermediary, this fee could be assessed through the automatic sale of Fund shares in your account if instructed by the Fund and the transaction can be operationally administered by the intermediary.
Exceptions to the Small Account Policy (Accounts Below Minimum Account Balance) and Minimum Balance Fee
The automatic sale of Fund shares in accounts under $250 and the annual minimum balance fee described above do not apply to shareholders of Class Adv, Class Inst2, Class Inst3 and Class R shares; shareholders holding their shares through financial intermediary networked accounts; wrap fee and omnibus accounts; accounts with active Systematic Investment Plans; certain qualified retirement plans; and health savings accounts. The automatic sale of Fund shares of accounts under the applicable minimum account balance does not apply to individual retirement plans.
Small Account Policy — Financial Intermediary Networked and Wrap Fee Accounts
The Funds may automatically redeem, at any time, financial intermediary networked accounts and wrap fee accounts that have account balances of $20 or less or have less than one share.
For shares purchased and held for your benefit through a financial intermediary, the Funds may instruct the intermediary to automatically sell your Fund shares if the transaction can be operationally administered by the intermediary.
Information Sharing Agreements
As required by Rule 22c-2 under the 1940 Act, the Funds or certain of their service providers will enter into information sharing agreements with financial intermediaries, including participating life insurance companies and financial intermediaries that sponsor or offer retirement plans through which shares of the Funds are made available for purchase. Pursuant to Rule 22c-2, financial intermediaries are required, upon request, to: (i) provide shareholder account and transaction information; and (ii) execute instructions from the Fund to restrict or prohibit further purchases of Fund shares by shareholders who have been identified by the Fund as having engaged in transactions that violate the Fund's excessive trading policies and procedures.
Excessive Trading Practices Policy of Non-Money Market Funds
Right to Reject or Restrict Share Transaction Orders—
The Fund is intended for investors with long-term investment purposes and is not intended as a vehicle for frequent trading activity (market timing) that is excessive. Investors should transact in Fund shares primarily for investment purposes. The Board has adopted excessive trading policies and procedures that are designed to deter excessive trading by investors (the Excessive Trading Policies and Procedures).
The Fund discourages and does not accommodate excessive trading.
The Fund reserves the right to reject, without any prior notice, any purchase or exchange order for any reason, and will not be liable for any loss resulting from rejected orders. For example, the Fund may in its sole discretion restrict or reject a purchase or exchange order even if the transaction is not subject to the specific limitation described below if the Fund or its agents determine that accepting the order could interfere with efficient management of the Fund's
| 54 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Balanced Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
portfolio or is otherwise contrary to the Fund's best interests. The Excessive Trading Policies and Procedures apply equally to purchase or exchange transactions communicated directly to the Transfer Agent and to those received by financial intermediaries.
Specific Buying and Exchanging Limitations
— If a Fund detects that an investor has made two “material round trips” in any 28-day period, it will generally reject the investor's future purchase orders, including exchange purchase orders, involving any Fund.
For these purposes, a “round trip” is a purchase or exchange into the Fund followed by a sale or exchange out of the Fund, or a sale or exchange out of the Fund followed by a purchase or exchange into the Fund. A “material” round trip is one that is deemed by the Fund to be material in terms of its amount or its potential detrimental impact on the Fund. Independent of this limit, the Fund may, in its sole discretion, reject future purchase orders by any person, group or account that appears to have engaged in any type of excessive trading activity.
These limits generally do not apply to automated transactions or transactions by registered investment companies in a “fund-of-funds” structure. These limits do not apply to payroll deduction contributions by retirement plan participants, transactions initiated by a retirement plan sponsor or certain other retirement plan transactions consisting of rollover transactions, loan repayments and disbursements, and required minimum distribution redemptions. They may be modified or rescinded for accounts held by certain retirement plans to conform to plan limits, for considerations relating to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 or regulations of the Department of Labor, and for certain asset allocation or wrap programs. Accounts known to be under common ownership or control generally will be counted together, but accounts maintained or managed by a common intermediary generally will not be considered to be under common ownership or control. The Fund retains the right to modify these restrictions at any time without prior notice to shareholders. In addition, the Fund may, in its sole discretion, reinstate trading privileges that have been revoked under the Fund's Excessive Trading Policies and Procedures.
Limitations on the Ability to Detect and Prevent Excessive Trading Practices—
The Fund takes various steps designed to detect and prevent excessive trading, including daily review of available shareholder transaction information. However, the Fund receives buy, sell or exchange orders through financial intermediaries, and cannot always know of or reasonably detect excessive trading that may be facilitated by financial intermediaries or by the use of the omnibus account arrangements they offer. Omnibus account arrangements are common forms of holding shares of mutual funds, particularly among certain financial intermediaries such as broker-dealers, retirement plans and variable insurance products. These arrangements often permit financial intermediaries to aggregate their clients' transactions and accounts, and in these circumstances, the identities of the financial intermediary clients that beneficially own Fund shares are often not known to the Fund.
Some financial intermediaries apply their own restrictions or policies to their clients’ transactions and accounts, which may be more or less restrictive than those described here. This may impact the Fund's ability to curtail excessive trading, even where it is identified. For these and other reasons, it is possible that excessive trading may occur despite the Fund's efforts to detect and prevent it.
Although these restrictions and policies involve judgments that are inherently subjective and may involve some selectivity in their application, the Fund seeks to act in a manner that it believes is consistent with the best interests of Fund shareholders in making any such judgments.
Risks of Excessive Trading —
Excessive trading creates certain risks to the Fund's long-term shareholders and may create the following adverse effects:
| ■ | negative impact on the Fund's performance; |
| ■ | potential dilution of the value of the Fund's shares; |
| ■ | interference with the efficient management of the Fund's portfolio, such as the need to maintain undesirably large cash positions, the need to use its line of credit or the need to buy or sell securities it otherwise would not have bought or sold; |
| ■ | losses on the sale of investments resulting from the need to sell securities at less favorable prices; |
| Prospectus 2021 | 55 |
Columbia Balanced Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
| ■ | increased taxable gains to the Fund's remaining shareholders resulting from the need to sell securities to meet sell orders; and |
| ■ | increased brokerage and administrative costs. |
To the extent that the Fund invests significantly in foreign securities traded on markets that close before the Fund's valuation time, it may be particularly susceptible to dilution as a result of excessive trading. Because events may occur after the close of foreign markets and before the Fund's valuation time that influence the value of foreign securities, investors may seek to trade Fund shares in an effort to benefit from their understanding of the value of foreign securities as of the Fund's valuation time. This is often referred to as price arbitrage. The Fund has adopted procedures designed to adjust closing market prices of foreign securities under certain circumstances to reflect what the Fund believes to be the fair value of those securities as of its valuation time. To the extent the adjustments do not work fully, investors engaging in price arbitrage may cause dilution in the value of the Fund's shares held by other shareholders.
Similarly, to the extent that the Fund invests significantly in thinly traded securities and other debt instruments that are rated below investment grade (commonly called “high-yield” or “junk” bonds), equity securities of small-capitalization companies, floating rate loans, or tax-exempt or other securities that may trade infrequently, because
these securities are often traded infrequently, investors may seek to trade Fund shares in an effort to benefit from their understanding of the value of these securities as of the Fund's valuation time. This is also a type of price arbitrage. Any such frequent trading strategies may interfere with efficient management of the Fund's portfolio to a greater degree than would be the case for mutual funds that invest only, or significantly, in highly liquid securities, in part because the Fund may have difficulty selling these particular investments at advantageous times or prices to satisfy large and/or frequent sell orders. Any successful price arbitrage may also cause dilution in the value of Fund shares held by non-redeeming shareholders.
Excessive Trading Practices Policy of Columbia Government Money Market Fund
A money market fund is designed to offer investors a liquid cash option that they may buy and sell as often as they wish. Accordingly, the Board has not adopted policies and procedures designed to discourage excessive or short-term trading of Columbia Government Money Market Fund shares. However, since frequent purchases and sales of Columbia Government Money Market Fund shares could in certain instances harm shareholders in various ways, including reducing the returns to long-term shareholders by increasing costs (such as spreads paid to dealers who trade money market instruments with Columbia Government Money Market Fund) and disrupting portfolio management strategies, Columbia Government Money Market Fund reserves the right, but has no obligation, to reject any purchase or exchange transaction at any time. Except as expressly described in this prospectus (such as minimum purchase amounts), Columbia Government Money Market Fund has no limits on purchase or exchange transactions. In addition, Columbia Government Money Market Fund reserves the right to impose or modify restrictions on purchases, exchanges or trading of Fund shares at any time.
Opening an Account and Placing Orders
We encourage you to consult with a financial advisor who can help you with your investment decisions and who can help you open an account. Once you have an account, you can buy, sell or exchange shares by contacting your financial advisor who will send your order to the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary. As described below, once you have an account you can also communicate your orders directly to the Transfer Agent by mail, by telephone or online.
The Funds are generally available directly and through broker-dealers, banks and other financial intermediaries or institutions, and through certain qualified and non-qualified plans, wrap fee products or other investment products sponsored by financial intermediaries. You may buy, sell, or exchange shares through your financial intermediary. If you maintain your account directly with your financial intermediary, you must contact that agent to process your transaction.
| 56 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Balanced Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
Not all financial intermediaries offer the Funds (or all classes of Fund shares) and certain financial intermediaries that offer the Funds may not offer all Funds on all investment platforms or programs.
Please consult with your financial intermediary to determine the availability of the Funds. If you set up an account at a financial intermediary that does not have, and is unable to obtain, a selling agreement with the Distributor, you will not be able to transfer Fund holdings to that account. In that event, you must either maintain your Fund holdings with your current financial intermediary or find another financial intermediary with a selling agreement.
Financial intermediaries that offer the Funds may charge you additional fees for the services they provide and they may have different policies that are not described in this prospectus.
An investor transacting in a class of Fund shares without any front-end sales charge, CDSC, or other asset-based fee for sales or distribution, such as a Rule 12b-1 fee, may be required to pay a commission to the financial intermediary for effecting such transactions. The Funds are offered in a number of different share classes that have different fees and expenses and other features. Some differences in the policies of different financial intermediaries may include different minimum investment amounts, exchange privileges, Fund/class choices and cutoff times for investments. Additionally, recordkeeping, transaction processing and payments of distributions relating to your account may be performed by the financial intermediaries through which your shares of the Fund are held. Since the Fund (and its service providers) may not have a record of your account transactions, you should always contact the financial intermediary through which you purchased or at which you maintain your shares of the Fund to make changes to your account, to give instructions concerning your account, or to obtain information about your account. The Fund and its service providers, including the Distributor and the Transfer Agent, are not responsible for the failure of any financial intermediary to carry out its obligations to its customers.
The Fund may engage financial intermediaries to receive purchase, exchange and sell orders on its behalf. Accounts established directly with the Fund will be serviced by the Transfer Agent. The Funds, the Transfer Agent and the Distributor do not provide investment advice.
Direct-At-Fund Accounts (Accounts Established Directly with the Fund)
You can hold Fund shares through an account established and held through the financial intermediary through which you purchased Fund shares or you or your financial intermediary may establish an account directly with the Fund, in which case you will receive Fund account transaction confirmations and statements from the Transfer Agent, and not your financial intermediary (Direct-at-Fund Accounts).
To open a Direct-at-Fund Account, complete a Fund account application with your financial advisor or investment professional, and mail the account application to the Transfer Agent. Account applications may be obtained at columbiathreadneedleus.com or may be requested by calling 800.345.6611. Make your check payable to the Fund. You will be assessed a $15 fee for any checks rejected by your financial institution due to insufficient funds or other reasons. The Funds do not accept cash, credit card convenience checks, money orders, traveler's checks, starter checks, third or fourth party checks, or other cash equivalents.
Mail your check and completed application to the Transfer Agent at its regular or express mail address that can be found at the beginning of the section
. You may also use these addresses to request an exchange or redemption of Fund shares. When a written order to buy, sell or exchange shares is sent to the Transfer Agent, the share price used to fill the order is the next price calculated by the Fund after the Transfer Agent receives your transaction request in “good form” at its transaction processing center (i.e., the Fund’s express mail address), not the P.O. Box provided for regular mail delivery.
Choosing a Share Class
You will be sent a statement confirming your purchase and any subsequent transactions in your account. You will also be sent quarterly and annual statements detailing your transactions in the Fund and the other Funds you own under the same account. Duplicate quarterly account statements for the current year and duplicate annual statements for the most recent prior calendar year will be sent to you free of charge. Copies of year-end statements for prior years are available for a fee. Please contact the Transfer Agent for more information.
| Prospectus 2021 | 57 |
Columbia Balanced Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
Written Transactions – Direct-at-Fund Accounts
If you have a Direct-at-Fund Account, you can communicate written buy, sell or exchange orders to the Transfer Agent at its address that can be found at the beginning of the section
. When a written order to buy, sell or exchange shares is sent to the Transfer Agent, the share price used to fill the order is the next price calculated by the Fund after the Transfer Agent receives your transaction request in “good form” at its transaction processing center (i.e., the Fund’s express mail address), not the P.O. Box provided for regular mail delivery.
Choosing a Share Class
Include in your transaction request letter: your name; the name of the Fund(s); your account number; the class of shares to be purchased, exchanged or sold; your SSN or other TIN; the dollar amount or number of shares you want to purchase, exchange or sell; specific instructions regarding delivery of any redemption proceeds or exchange destination (i.e., the Fund/class to be exchanged into); signature(s) of all registered account owner(s); and any special documents the Transfer Agent may require in order to process your order.
Corporate, trust or partnership accounts may need to send additional documents. Payment will be mailed to the address of record and made payable to the names listed on the account, unless your request specifies differently and is signed by all owners.
Telephone Transactions – Direct-at-Fund Accounts
For Class A, Class C, Class Inst, Class Inst3, Class R and Class V shares, if you have a Direct-at-Fund Account, you may place orders to buy, sell or exchange shares by telephone through the Transfer Agent. To place orders by telephone, call 800.422.3737. Have your account number and SSN or TIN available when calling.
You can sell Fund shares via telephone and receive redemption proceeds: by electronic funds transfer via ACH, by wire, or by check to the address of record, subject to a maximum of $100,000 of shares per day, per Fund account. You can buy Fund shares via telephone by electronic funds transfer via ACH from your bank account up to a maximum of $100,000 of shares per day, per Fund account, or by wire from your bank account without a maximum. See below for more information regarding wire and electronic fund transfer transactions. Certain restrictions apply, so please call the Transfer Agent at 800.422.3737 for this and other information in advance of any need to transact via telephone.
Telephone orders may not be as secure as written orders. The Fund will take reasonable steps to confirm that telephone instructions are genuine. For example, we require proof of your identification before we will act on instructions received by telephone and may record telephone conversations. However, the Fund and its agents will not be responsible for any losses, costs or expenses resulting from an unauthorized telephone instruction when reasonable steps have been taken to confirm that telephone instructions are genuine. Telephone orders may be difficult to complete during periods of significant economic or market change or business interruption.
Online Transactions – Direct-at-Fund Accounts
For Class A, Class C, Class Inst, Class Inst3, Class R and Class V shares, if you have a Direct-at-Fund Account, you may be able to place orders to buy, sell, or exchange shares online. Contact the Transfer Agent at 800.345.6611 for more information on certain account trading restrictions and the special sign-up procedures required for online transactions. You can also go to columbiathreadneedleus.com/investor/ to sign up for online transactions. The Transfer Agent has procedures in place to authenticate electronic orders you send through the internet. You will be required to accept the terms of an online agreement and to establish an online account and utilize a password in order to access online account services. You can sell a maximum of $100,000 of shares per day, per Fund account through your online account if you qualify for internet orders. Wire transactions are not permitted online.
Wire Transactions – Direct-at-Fund Accounts
If you hold a Direct-at-Fund Account, you may purchase or redeem Class A, Class C, Class Inst, Class Inst3, Class R and Class V shares of a Fund by wiring money from (or to) your bank account to (or from) your Fund account. You must set up this feature prior to your request unless you are submitting your request in writing, which may require a Medallion Signature Guarantee. Please contact the Transfer Agent by calling 800.422.3737 to obtain the necessary forms and requirements. The Transfer Agent charges a fee for shares sold by wire. The Transfer Agent may waive the
| 58 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Balanced Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
fee for certain accounts. In the case of a redemption, the receiving bank may charge an additional fee. The minimum amount that can be redeemed by wire is $500. When selling Fund shares via a telephone request, the maximum amount that can be redeemed via wire transfer is $100,000 per day, per Fund account. Wire transactions are not permitted online.
Electronic Funds Transfer via ACH – Direct-at-Fund Accounts
If you hold a Direct-at-Fund Account, you may purchase or redeem Class A, Class C, Class Inst, Class Inst3, Class R and Class V shares of a Fund by electronically transferring money via Automated Clearing House (ACH) from (or to) your bank account to (or from) your Fund account subject to a maximum of $100,000 of shares per day, per Fund account. You must set up this feature prior to your request, unless you are submitting your request in writing, which may require a Medallion Signature Guarantee. Please contact the Transfer Agent by calling 800.422.3737 to obtain the necessary forms and requirements. Your bank may take up to three business days to post an electronic funds transfer to (or from) your Fund account.
Buying Shares
Eligible Investors
Class A Shares
Class A shares are available to the general public for investment. However, Class A shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund must be purchased through financial intermediaries that, by written agreement with the Distributor, are specifically authorized to sell the Fund’s shares.
Class Adv Shares
Class Adv shares are available only to (i) omnibus retirement plans, including self-directed brokerage accounts within omnibus retirement plans that clear through institutional no transaction fee (NTF) platforms, (ii) trust companies or similar institutions, (iii) broker-dealers, banks, trust companies and similar institutions that clear Fund share transactions for their client or customer investment advisory or similar accounts through designated financial intermediaries and their mutual fund trading platforms that have been granted specific written authorization from the Transfer Agent with respect to Class Adv eligibility apart from selling, servicing or similar agreements, (iv) 501(c)(3) charitable organizations, (v) 529 plans, (vi) health savings accounts, (vii) investors participating in a fee-based advisory program sponsored by a financial intermediary or other entity that is not compensated by the Fund for those services, other than payments for shareholder servicing or sub-accounting performed in place of the Transfer Agent, and (viii) commissionable brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary, acting as broker on behalf of its customer, charges the customer a commission for effecting transactions in Fund shares, provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Adv shares within such platform.
Class Adv shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund must be purchased through financial intermediaries that, by written agreement with the Distributor, are specifically authorized to sell the Fund’s shares. Class Adv shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund are also available to certain registered investment advisers that clear Fund share transactions for their client accounts through designated financial intermediaries with mutual fund trading platforms that have been granted specific written authorization from the Transfer Agent (apart from selling, servicing or similar agreements) to sell Class Inst2 shares, which are not offered by the Fund.
Class C Shares
Class C shares are available to the general public for investment.
Class Inst Shares
Class Inst shares are available only to the categories of eligible investors described below under
.
Class Inst Shares Minimum Initial Investments
Financial intermediaries that clear Fund share transactions through designated financial intermediaries and their mutual fund trading platforms that were given specific written notice from the
| Prospectus 2021 | 59 |
Columbia Balanced Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
Transfer Agent of the termination, effective March 29, 2013, of their eligibility for new purchases of Class Inst shares and omnibus retirement plans are not permitted to establish new Class Inst accounts, subject to certain exceptions described below.
Omnibus retirement plans that opened and, subject to certain exceptions, funded a Class Inst account with the Fund as of the close of business on March 28, 2013 and have continuously held Class Inst shares in such account after such date (each, a grandfathered plan), may generally continue to make additional purchases of Class Inst shares, open new Class Inst accounts and add new participants. In addition, an omnibus retirement plan affiliated with a grandfathered plan may, in the sole discretion of the Distributor, open new Class Inst accounts in a Fund if the affiliated plan opened a Class Inst account on or before March 28, 2013. If an omnibus retirement plan invested in Class Inst shares changes recordkeepers after March 28, 2013, any new accounts established for that plan may not be established in Class Inst shares, but such a plan may establish new accounts in a different share class for which the plan is eligible.
Accounts of financial intermediaries (other than omnibus retirement plans, which are discussed above) that clear Fund share transactions for their client or customer accounts through designated financial intermediaries and their mutual fund trading platforms that received specific written notice from the Transfer Agent of the termination, effective March 29, 2013, of their eligibility for new purchases of Class Inst shares will not be permitted to establish new Class Inst accounts or make additional purchases of Class Inst shares (other than through reinvestment of distributions). Any such account may, at its holder’s option, exchange Class Inst shares of a Fund, without the payment of a sales charge, for Class A shares of the same Fund.
Class Inst shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund must be purchased through financial intermediaries that, by written agreement with the Distributor, are specifically authorized to sell the Fund’s shares.
Class Inst2 Shares
Class Inst2 shares are available only to (i) certain registered investment advisers and family offices that clear Fund share transactions for their client or customer accounts through designated financial intermediaries and their mutual fund trading platforms that have been granted specific written authorization from the Transfer Agent with respect to Class Inst2 eligibility apart from selling, servicing or similar agreements; (ii) omnibus retirement plans; and (iii) institutional investors that are clients of the Columbia Threadneedle Global Institutional Distribution Team that invest in Class Inst2 shares for their own account through platforms approved by the Distributor or an affiliate thereof to offer and/or service Class Inst2 shares within such platform. Prior to November 8, 2012, Class Inst2 shares were closed to new investors and new accounts, subject to certain exceptions. Existing shareholders who do not satisfy the new eligibility requirements for investment in Class Inst2 may not establish new Class Inst2 accounts but may continue to make additional purchases of Class Inst2 shares in accounts opened and funded prior to November 8, 2012; provided, however, that investment advisory programs and similar programs that opened a Class Inst2 account as of May 1, 2010, and continuously hold Class Inst2 shares in such account after such date, may generally not only continue to make additional purchases of Class Inst2 shares but also open new Class Inst2 accounts for such pre-existing programs and add new shareholders in the program.
Class Inst3 Shares
Class Inst3 shares are available to: (i) group retirement plans that maintain plan-level or omnibus accounts with the Fund (through the Transfer Agent); (ii) institutional investors that are clients of the Columbia Threadneedle Global Institutional Distribution Team that invest in Class Inst3 shares for their own account through platforms approved by the Distributor or an affiliate thereof to offer and/or service Class Inst3 shares within such platform; (iii) collective trust funds; (iv) affiliated or unaffiliated mutual funds (e.g., funds operating as funds-of-funds); (v) fee-based platforms of financial intermediaries (or the clearing intermediary that they trade through) that have an agreement with the Distributor or an affiliate thereof that specifically authorizes the financial intermediary to offer and/or service Class Inst3 shares within such platform, provided also that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account; (vi) commissionable brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary, acting as broker on behalf of its customer, charges the customer a commission for effecting transactions in Fund shares, provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst3 shares within such platform and that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account; and (vii) bank trust departments, subject to an
| 60 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Balanced Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst3 shares and provided that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account. In each case above where noted that Fund shares are required to be held in an omnibus account, the Distributor may, in its discretion, determine to waive this requirement.
Class Inst3 shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund must be purchased through financial intermediaries that, by written agreement with the Distributor, are specifically authorized to sell the Fund’s shares. Please note that Class Inst3 shares that were open and funded accounts prior to November 30, 2018 (the conversion date from the former unnamed share class to Class Inst3 shares) are eligible for additional investment; however, any account established after that date must meet the current Class Inst3 eligibility requirements.
Class R Shares
Class R shares are available only to eligible health savings accounts sponsored by third party platforms, including those sponsored by Ameriprise Financial affiliates, eligible retirement plans and, in the sole discretion of the Distributor, other types of retirement accounts held through platforms maintained by financial intermediaries approved by the Distributor. Eligible retirement plans include any retirement plan other than individual 403(b) plans. Class R shares are generally not available for investment through retail nonretirement accounts, traditional and Roth IRAs, Coverdell Education Savings Accounts, SEPs, SAR-SEPs, Simple IRAs or 529 tuition programs. Contact the Transfer Agent or your retirement plan or health savings account administrator for more information about investing in Class R shares.
Class V Shares
Class V shares are available only to investors who received (and who have continuously held) Class V shares (formerly named Class T shares) in connection with the merger of certain Galaxy funds into certain Funds that were then named Liberty funds.
Additional Eligible Investors
In addition, the Distributor, in its sole discretion, may accept investments in any share class from investors other than those listed in this prospectus, and may also waive certain eligibility requirements for operational and other reasons, including but not limited to any requirement to maintain Fund shares in networked or omnibus accounts.
Minimum Initial Investments
The table below shows the Fund’s minimum initial investment requirements, which may vary by class and type of account.
The Fund reserves the right to redeem your shares if your account falls below the Fund’s minimum initial investment requirement.
|
Minimum Initial Investments
|
||
|
Minimum
Initial Investment
(a)
|
Minimum
Initial Investment for Accounts with Systematic Investment Plans |
|
| For all classes and account types except those listed below | $2,000 |
$100
(b)
|
| Individual Retirement Accounts for all classes except those listed below | $1,000 |
$100
(c)
|
| Group retirement plans | None | N/A |
| Class Adv and Class Inst |
$0, $1,000 or $2,000
(d)
|
$100
(d)
|
| Class Inst2 and Class R | None | N/A |
| Class Inst3 |
$0, $1,000, $2,000 or $1 million
(e)
|
$100
(e)
|
| (a) | If your Class A, Class Adv, Class C, Class Inst, Class Inst3 or Class V shares account balance falls below the minimum initial investment amount for any reason, including a market decline, you may be asked to increase it to the minimum initial investment amount or establish a monthly Systematic Investment Plan. If you do not do so, your account will be subject to a $20 annual low balance fee and/or shares may be |
| Prospectus 2021 | 61 |
Columbia Balanced Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
|
automatically redeemed and the proceeds mailed to you if the account falls below the minimum account balance. See
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares — Transaction Rules and Policies
|
| (b) |
Columbia Government Money Market Fund
—
|
| (c) |
Columbia Government Money Market Fund
—
|
| (d) |
The minimum initial investment in Class Adv shares is $2,000 ($1,000 for IRAs; $100 for systematic investment plan accounts) for commissionable brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary, acting as broker on behalf of its customers, charges the customer a commission for effecting transactions in Fund shares, provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Adv shares within such platform; for all other eligible Class Adv share investors (see
Buying Shares – Eligible Investors – Class Adv Shares
Class Inst Shares Minimum Initial Investments
|
| (e) | There is no minimum initial investment in Class Inst3 shares for: group retirement plans that maintain plan-level or omnibus accounts with the Fund; collective trust funds; affiliated or unaffiliated mutual funds (e.g., funds operating as funds-of-funds); fee-based platforms of financial intermediaries (or the clearing intermediary that they trade through) that have an agreement with the Distributor or an affiliate thereof that specifically authorizes the financial intermediary to offer and/or service Class Inst3 shares within such platform and Fund shares are held in an omnibus account; and bank trust departments, subject to an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst3 shares and provided that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account. The minimum initial investment in Class Inst3 shares is $2,000 ($1,000 for IRAs; $100 for systematic investment plan accounts) for commissionable brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary, acting as broker on behalf of its customer, charges the customer a commission for effecting transactions in Fund shares, provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst3 shares within such platform and Fund shares are held in an omnibus account. The minimum initial investment in Class Inst3 shares is $1 million, unless waived in the discretion of the Distributor, for the following investors: institutional investors that are clients of the Columbia Threadneedle Global Institutional Distribution Team that invest in Class Inst3 shares for their own account through platforms approved by the Distributor or an affiliate thereof to offer and/or service Class Inst3 shares within such platform. The Distributor may, in its discretion, waive the $1 million minimum initial investment required for these Class Inst3 investors. In each case above where noted that Fund shares are required to be held in an omnibus account, the Distributor may, in its discretion, determine to waive this requirement. |
Additional Information about Minimum Initial Investments
The minimum initial investment requirements may be waived for accounts that are managed by an investment professional, or for accounts held in approved discretionary or non-discretionary wrap programs. The Distributor, in its sole discretion, may also waive minimum initial investment requirements for other account types.
Minimum investment and related requirements may be modified at any time, with or without prior notice. If your account is closed and then re-opened with a systematic investment plan, your account must meet the then-current applicable minimum initial investment.
Class Inst Shares Minimum Initial Investments
There is no minimum initial investment in Class Inst shares for the following categories of eligible investors:
| ■ | Any health savings account sponsored by a third party platform. |
| ■ | Any investor participating in an account sponsored by a financial intermediary or other entity (that provides services to the account) that is paid a fee-based advisory fee by the investor and that is not compensated by the Fund for those services, other than payments for shareholder servicing or sub-accounting performed in place of the Transfer Agent. |
| ■ | Any commissionable brokerage account, if a financial intermediary has received a written approval from the Distributor to waive the minimum initial investment in Class Inst shares. |
The minimum initial investment in Class Inst shares for the following categories of eligible investors is $1,000:
| ■ | Individual retirement accounts (IRAs) on commissionable brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary, acting as broker on behalf of its customer, charges the customer a commission for effecting transactions in Fund shares, provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst shares within such platform. |
| ■ | Any current employee of Columbia Management Investment Advisers LLC, the Distributor or the Transfer Agent and immediate family members of any of the foregoing who share the same address are eligible to invest in Class Inst shares through an individual retirement account (IRA). If you maintain your account with a financial intermediary, you must contact that financial intermediary each time you seek to purchase shares to notify them that you qualify |
| 62 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Balanced Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
| for Class Inst shares. If Class Inst shares are not available at your financial intermediary, you may consider opening a Direct-at-Fund Account. It is your obligation to advise your financial intermediary or (in the case of Direct-at-Fund Accounts) the Transfer Agent that you qualify for Class Inst shares; be prepared to provide proof thereof. |
The minimum initial investment in Class Inst shares for the following categories of eligible investors is $2,000:
| ■ | Investors (except investors in individual retirement accounts (IRAs)) who purchase Fund shares through commissionable brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary holds the shares in an omnibus account and, acting as broker on behalf of its customer, charges the customer a commission for effecting transactions in Fund shares provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst shares within such platform. |
| ■ | Any current employee of Columbia Management Investment Advisers LLC, the Distributor or the Transfer Agent and immediate family members of any of the foregoing who share the same address are eligible to invest in Class Inst shares (other than individual retirement accounts (IRAs), for which the minimum initial investment is $1,000). If you maintain your account with a financial intermediary, you must contact that financial intermediary each time you seek to purchase shares to notify them that you qualify for Class Inst shares. If Class Inst shares are not available at your financial intermediary, you may consider opening a Direct-at-Fund Account. It is your obligation to advise your financial intermediary or (in the case of Direct-at-Fund Accounts) the Transfer Agent that you qualify for Class Inst shares; be prepared to provide proof thereof. |
| ■ | Certain financial institutions and intermediaries, such as insurance companies, trust companies, banks, endowments, investment companies or foundations, buying shares for their own account, including Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates and/or subsidiaries. |
| ■ | Bank trust departments that assess their clients an asset-based fee. |
| ■ | Certain other investors as set forth in more detail in the SAI. |
Systematic Investment Plan
The Systematic Investment Plan allows you to schedule regular purchases via automatic transfers from your bank account to the Fund on a monthly, quarterly or semiannual basis. Contact the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary to set up the plan. Systematic Investment Plans may not be available for all share classes. With the exception of Columbia Government Money Market Fund, the Systematic Investment Plan is confirmed on your quarterly account statement.
Dividend Diversification
Generally, you may automatically invest Fund distributions into the same class of shares (and in some cases certain other classes of shares) of another Fund without paying any applicable front-end sales charge. Call the Transfer Agent at 800.345.6611 for details. The ability to invest distributions from one Fund to another Fund may not be available to accounts held at all financial intermediaries.
Other Purchase Rules You Should Know
| ■ | Once the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary receives your purchase order in “good form,” your purchase will be made at the Fund’s next calculated public offering price per share, which is the NAV per share plus any sales charge that applies (i.e., the trade date). |
| ■ | Once the Fund receives your purchase request in “good form,” you cannot cancel it after the market closes. |
| ■ | You generally buy Class A and Class V shares at the public offering price per share because purchases of these share classes are generally subject to a front-end sales charge. |
| ■ | You buy Class Adv, Class C, Class Inst, Class Inst2, Class Inst3 and Class R shares at NAV per share because no front-end sales charge applies to purchases of these share classes. |
| ■ | Class A shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund are not eligible for purchase by a Direct-at-Fund Account. |
| Prospectus 2021 | 63 |
Columbia Balanced Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
| ■ | Class Inst shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund are not eligible for purchase by a Direct-at-Fund Account except for any current employee of Columbia Management Investment Advisers LLC, the Distributor or Transfer Agent and immediate family members of the foregoing who share the same address. |
| ■ | The Distributor and the Transfer Agent reserve the right to cancel your order request if the Fund does not receive payment within two business days of receiving your purchase order request. The Fund will return any payment received for orders that have been cancelled, but no interest will be paid on that money. |
| ■ | Financial intermediaries are responsible for sending your purchase orders to the Transfer Agent and ensuring that the Fund receives your money on time. |
| ■ | Shares purchased are recorded on the books of the Fund. The Fund does not issue certificates. |
Please also read
and contact your financial intermediary for more information regarding any reductions and/or waivers described therein.
Appendix A
Selling Shares
When you sell shares, the amount you receive may be more or less than the amount you invested. Your sale price will be the next NAV calculated after your request is received in “good form,” (i.e., the trade date) minus any applicable CDSC.
Systematic Withdrawal Plan
The Systematic Withdrawal Plan allows you to schedule regular redemptions from your account any business day on a monthly, quarterly or semiannual basis. Currently, Systematic Withdrawal Plans are generally available for Class A, Class Adv, Class C, Class Inst, Class Inst2, Class Inst3, and Class V share accounts. Contact the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary to set up the plan. To set up the plan, your account balance must meet the class minimum initial investment amount. A Systematic Withdrawal Plan cannot be set up on an account that already has a Systematic Investment Plan established. Note that a Medallion Signature Guarantee may be required if this service is established after your Fund account is opened.
You can choose to receive your withdrawals via check or direct deposit into your bank account. The Fund will deduct any applicable CDSC from the withdrawals before sending redemption proceeds to you. You can cancel the plan by giving the Fund 30 days’ notice in writing or by calling the Transfer Agent at 800.422.3737. It’s important to remember that if you withdraw more than your investment in the Fund is earning, you'll eventually withdraw your entire investment.
Check Redemption Service (for Columbia Government Money Market Fund)
Class A and Class Inst shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund (which is not offered in this prospectus) offer check writing privileges. If you have $2,000 in Columbia Government Money Market Fund, you may request checks which may be drawn against your account. The amount of any check drawn against your Columbia Government Money Market Fund must be at least $100 and not more than $100,000 per day. You can elect this service when you initially establish your account or thereafter. Call 800.345.6611 for the appropriate forms to establish this service. If you own Class A shares that were originally purchased in another Fund at NAV because of the size of the purchase, and then exchanged into Columbia Government Money Market Fund, check redemptions may be subject to a CDSC. A $15 charge will be assessed for any stop payment order requested by you or any overdraft in connection with checks written against your Columbia Government Money Market Fund account. Note that a Medallion Signature Guarantee may be required if this service is established after your Fund account is opened.
Satisfying Fund Redemption Requests
When you sell your Fund shares, the Fund is effectively buying them back from you. This is called a redemption. Except as noted below with respect to newly purchased shares, the Fund typically expects to send you payment for your shares within two business days after your trade date for all methods of payment. The Fund can suspend redemptions and/or delay payment of redemption proceeds for up to seven days. The Fund can also suspend
| 64 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Balanced Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
redemptions and/or delay payment of redemption proceeds in excess of seven days under certain circumstances, including when the NYSE is closed or trading thereon is restricted or during emergency or other circumstances, including as determined by the SEC.
The Fund typically seeks to satisfy redemption requests from cash or cash equivalents held by the Fund, from the proceeds of orders to purchase Fund shares or from the proceeds of sales of Fund holdings effected in the normal course of managing the Fund. However, the Fund may have to sell Fund holdings, including in down markets, to meet heavier than usual redemption requests. For example, under stressed or abnormal market conditions or circumstances, including circumstances adversely affecting the liquidity of the Fund’s investments, the Fund may be more likely to be forced to sell Fund holdings to meet redemptions than under normal market circumstances. In these situations, the Fund’s portfolio managers may have to sell Fund holdings that would not otherwise be sold because, among other reasons, the current price to be received is less than the value of the holdings perceived by the Fund’s portfolio managers. The Fund may also, under certain circumstances (but more likely under stressed or abnormal market conditions or circumstances), borrow money under a credit facility to which the Fund and certain other Columbia Funds are parties or from other Columbia Funds under an interfund lending program (except for closed-end funds and money market funds, which are not eligible to borrow under the program). The Fund and the other Columbia Funds are limited as to the amount that each may individually and collectively borrow under the credit facility and the interfund lending program. As a result, borrowings available to the Fund under the credit facility and the interfund lending program might be insufficient, alone or in combination with the other strategies described herein, to satisfy Fund redemption requests. Please see
in the SAI for more information about the credit facility and interfund lending program. The Fund is also limited in the total amount it may borrow. The Fund may only borrow to the extent permitted by the 1940 Act, the rules and regulations thereunder, and any exemptive relief available to the Fund, which currently limit Fund borrowings to 33 1/3% of total assets (including any amounts borrowed) less liabilities (other than borrowings), plus an additional 5% of its total assets for temporary purposes (to be repaid within 60 days without extension or renewal), in each case determined at the time the borrowing is made.
About Fund Investments – Borrowings – Interfund Lending
In addition, the Fund reserves the right to honor redemption orders in whole or in part with in-kind distributions of Fund portfolio securities instead of cash. Such in-kind distributions typically represent a pro-rata portion of Fund portfolio assets subject to adjustments (e.g., for non-transferable securities, round lots, and derivatives). In the event the Fund distributes portfolio securities in kind, you may incur brokerage and other transaction costs associated with converting the portfolio securities you receive into cash. Also, the portfolio securities you receive may increase or decrease in value after they are distributed but before you convert them into cash. For U.S. federal income tax purposes, redemptions paid in securities are generally treated the same as redemptions paid in cash. If, during any 90-day period, you redeem shares in an amount greater than $250,000 or 1% of the Fund’s net assets (whichever is less), and if the Investment Manager determines it to be feasible and appropriate, the Fund may pay the redemption amount above such threshold by an in-kind distribution of Fund portfolio securities.
While the Fund is not required (and may refuse in its discretion) to pay a redemption with an in-kind distribution of Fund portfolio securities and reserves the right to pay the redemption proceeds in cash, if you wish to request an in-kind redemption, please call the Transfer Agent at 800.345.6611. As a result of the operational steps needed to coordinate with the redeeming shareholder’s custodian, in-kind redemptions typically take several weeks to complete after a redemption request is received. The Fund and the redeeming shareholder will typically agree upon a redemption date. Since the Fund’s NAV may fluctuate during this time, the Fund’s NAV may be lower on the agreed-upon redemption date than on an earlier date on which the investment could have been redeemed for cash.
Redemption of Newly Purchased Shares
You may not redeem shares for which the Fund has not yet received payment. Shares purchased by check or electronically by ACH when the purchase payment is not guaranteed will be considered in “good form” for redemption only after they have been held in your account for 6 calendar days after the trade date of the purchase (Collected Shares). If you request a redemption for an amount that, based on the NAV next calculated after your redemption request is received, includes any shares that are not yet Collected Shares, the Fund will only process the redemption
| Prospectus 2021 | 65 |
Columbia Balanced Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
up to the amount of the value of Collected Shares available in your account. You must submit a new redemption request if you wish to redeem those shares that were not yet Collected Shares at the time the original redemption request was received by the Fund.
Other Redemption Rules You Should Know
| ■ | Once the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary receives your redemption order in “good form,” your shares will be sold at the Fund’s next calculated NAV per share (i.e., the trade date). Any applicable CDSC will be deducted from the amount you're selling and the balance will be remitted to you. |
| ■ | Once the Fund receives your redemption request in “good form,” you cannot cancel it after the market closes. |
| ■ | If you sell your shares that are held in a Direct-at-Fund Account, we will normally send the redemption proceeds by mail or electronically transfer them to your bank account the next business day after the trade date. Note that your bank may take up to three business days to post an electronic funds transfer from your account. |
| ■ | If you sell your shares through a financial intermediary, the Funds will normally send the redemption proceeds to your financial intermediary within two business days after the trade date. |
| ■ | No interest will be paid on uncashed redemption checks. |
| ■ | Other restrictions may apply to retirement accounts. For information about these restrictions, contact your retirement plan administrator. |
| ■ | For broker-dealer and wrap fee accounts: The Fund reserves the right to redeem your shares if your account falls below the Fund's minimum initial investment requirement. The Fund will notify your broker-dealer prior to redeeming shares, and will provide details on how to avoid such redemption. |
| ■ |
Also keep in mind the Funds' Small Account Policy, which is described above in
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares — Transaction Rules and Policies.
|
Exchanging Shares
You can generally sell shares of your Fund to buy shares of another Fund (subject to eligibility requirements), in what is called an exchange. You should read the prospectus of, and make sure you understand the investment objective, principal investment strategies, risks, fees and expenses of, the Fund into which you are exchanging. Although the Funds allow certain exchanges from one share class to another share class with higher expenses, you should consider the expenses of each class before making such an exchange. Please see
below for more information.
Same-Fund Exchange Privilege
You will be subject to a sales charge if, in a Direct-at-Fund Account, you exchange shares that have not previously paid a sales charge, including from Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund, Columbia Small Cap Index Fund, Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund or any other Columbia Fund that does not charge a front-end sales charge, into a Columbia Fund that does assess a sales charge.
Please contact your financial intermediary for more information.
If you hold your Fund shares through certain financial intermediaries, you may have limited exchangeability among the Funds.
Systematic Exchanges
You may buy Class A, Class C, Class Inst, Class Inst3 and Class V shares of a Fund by exchanging each month from another Fund for shares of the same class of the Fund at no additional cost, subject to the following exchange amount minimums: $50 each month for individual retirement accounts (i.e., tax qualified accounts); and $100 each month for non-retirement accounts. Contact the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary to set up the plan.
Exchanges will continue as long as your balance in the Fund you are exchanging shares from is sufficient to complete the systematic monthly exchange, subject to the Funds' Small Account Policy described above in
You may terminate the program or change the amount you would like to exchange (subject to the $50 and $100 minimum requirements noted immediately above) by calling the Transfer Agent at 800.345.6611.
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares — Transaction Rules and Policies.
| 66 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Balanced Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
Other Exchange Rules You Should Know
| ■ | Exchanges are made at the NAV next calculated (plus any applicable sales charge) after your exchange order is received in “good form” (i.e., the trade date). |
| ■ | Once the Fund receives your exchange request in “good form,” you cannot cancel it after the market closes. |
| ■ | The rules for buying shares of a Fund generally apply to exchanges into that Fund, including, if your exchange creates a new Fund account, it must satisfy the minimum investment amount, unless a waiver applies. |
| ■ | Shares of the purchased Fund may not be used on the same day for another exchange or sale. |
| ■ | If you exchange shares from Class A shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund to a non-money market Fund, any further exchanges must be between shares of the same class. For example, if you exchange from Class A shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund into Class C shares of a non-money market Fund, you may not exchange from Class C shares of that non-money market Fund back to Class A shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund or Class A shares of any other Fund. |
| ■ | A sales charge may apply when you exchange shares of a Fund that were not assessed a sales charge at the time you purchased such shares. If you invest through a Direct-at-Fund Account in Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund, Columbia Small Cap Index Fund, Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund, Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund or any other Columbia Fund that does not impose a front-end sales charge and then you exchange into a Fund that does assess a sales charge, your transaction is subject to a front-end sales charge if you exchange into Class A shares and to a CDSC if you exchange into Class C shares of the Columbia Funds. |
| ■ | If you purchased Class A shares of a Columbia Fund that imposes a front-end sales charge (and you paid any applicable sales charge) and you then exchange those shares into Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund, Columbia Small Cap Index Fund, Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund, Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund or any other Columbia Fund that does not impose a front-end sales charge, you may exchange that amount to Class A of another Fund in the future, including dividends earned on that amount, without paying a sales charge. |
| ■ | If your shares are subject to a CDSC, you will not be charged a CDSC upon the exchange of those shares. Any CDSC will be deducted when you sell the shares you received from the exchange. The CDSC imposed at that time will be based on the period that begins when you bought shares of the original Fund and ends when you sell the shares of the Fund you received from the exchange. Any applicable CDSC charged will be the CDSC of the original Fund. |
| ■ | You may make exchanges only into a Fund that is legally offered and sold in your state of residence. Contact the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary for more information. |
| ■ | You generally may make an exchange only into a Fund that is accepting investments. |
| ■ | The Fund may change or cancel your right to make an exchange by giving the amount of notice required by regulatory authorities (generally 60 days for a material change or cancellation). |
| ■ | Unless your account is part of a tax-advantaged arrangement, an exchange for shares of another Fund is a taxable event, and you may recognize a gain or loss for tax purposes. |
| ■ | Changing your investment to a different Fund will be treated as a sale and purchase, and you will be subject to applicable taxes on the sale and sales charges on the purchase of the new Fund. |
| ■ |
Class Inst shares of a Fund may be exchanged for Class A or Class Inst shares of another Fund. In certain circumstances, the front-end sales charge applicable to Class A shares may be waived on exchanges of Class Inst shares for Class A shares. See
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares — Buying Shares — Eligible Investors — Class Inst Shares
|
| ■ | Class A shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund are not eligible for exchange by a Direct-at-Fund Account. |
| Prospectus 2021 | 67 |
Columbia Balanced Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
| ■ | Class Inst shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund are not eligible for exchange by a Direct-at-Fund Account except for any current employee of the Investment Manager, the Distributor or the Transfer Agent and immediate family members of any of the foregoing who share the same address. |
| ■ | You may generally exchange Class V shares of a Fund for Class A shares of another Fund if the other Fund does not offer Class V shares. Class V shares exchanged into Class A shares cannot be exchanged back into Class V shares. |
Same-Fund Exchange Privilege
Shareholders may be eligible to invest in other classes of shares of the same Fund, and may exchange their current shares for another share class if deemed eligible and offered by the Fund. Such same-Fund exchanges could include an exchange of one class for another with higher expenses. Before making such an exchange, you should consider the expenses of each class. Shareholders should contact their financial intermediaries to learn more about the details of the same-Fund exchange privilege. Exchanges out of Class A, Class C and Class V shares will be subject to any applicable CDSC. Financial intermediaries that have a customized arrangement with regard to CDSCs are detailed in
.
Appendix A
Exchanges out of Class C shares to another share class of the same Fund are not permissible on Direct-at-Fund Accounts. Exchanges out of Class C shares to another share class of the same Fund within commissionable brokerage accounts are permitted only (1) by shareholders moving from a commissionable brokerage account to a fee-based advisory program or (2) when the exchange is part of a share class conversion (or a similar multiple shareholder transaction event) instituted by a financial intermediary and such conversion or similar type event is preapproved by the Distributor.
Ordinarily, shareholders will not recognize a gain or loss for U.S. federal income tax purposes upon a same-Fund exchange. You should consult your tax advisor about your particular exchanges.
| 68 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Balanced Fund
Distributions and Taxes
Distributions to Shareholders
A mutual fund can make money two ways:
| ■ | It can earn income on its investments. Examples of fund income are interest paid on money market instruments and bonds, and dividends paid on common stocks. |
| ■ | A mutual fund can also have capital gains if the value of its investments increases. While a fund continues to hold an investment, any gain is generally unrealized. If the fund sells an investment, it generally will realize a capital gain if it sells that investment for a higher price than its adjusted cost basis, and will generally realize a capital loss if it sells that investment for a lower price than its adjusted cost basis. Capital gains and losses are either short-term or long-term, depending on whether the fund holds the securities for one year or less (short-term) or more than one year (long-term). |
Mutual funds make payments of fund earnings to shareholders, distributing them among all shareholders of the fund. As a shareholder, you are entitled to your portion of a fund's distributed income, including capital gains. Reinvesting your distributions buys you more shares of a fund
which lets you take advantage of the potential for compound growth. Putting the money you earn back into your investment means it, in turn, may earn even more money (or be exposed to additional losses, if the fund earns a negative return). Over time, the power of compounding has the potential to significantly increase the value of your investment. There is no assurance, however, that you'll earn more money if you reinvest your distributions rather than receive them in cash.
—
The Fund intends to pay out, in the form of distributions to shareholders, a sufficient amount of its income and gains so that the Fund will qualify for treatment as a regulated investment company and generally will not have to pay any federal excise tax. The Fund generally intends to distribute any net realized capital gain (whether long-term or short-term gain) at least once a year. Normally, the Fund will declare and pay distributions of net investment income according to the following schedule:
|
Declaration and Distribution Schedule
|
|
| Declarations | Quarterly |
| Distributions | Quarterly |
The Fund may declare or pay distributions of net investment income more frequently.
Different share classes of the Fund usually pay different net investment income distribution amounts, because each class has different expenses. Each time a distribution is made, the NAV per share of the share class is reduced by the amount of the distribution.
The Fund generally pays cash distributions within five business days after the distribution was declared (or, if the Fund declares distributions daily, within five business days after the end of the month in which the distribution was declared). If you sell all of your shares after the record date, but before the payment date, for a distribution, you'll normally receive that distribution in cash within five business days after the sale was made.
The Fund will automatically reinvest distributions in additional shares of the same share class of the Fund unless you inform us you want to receive your distributions in cash (the financial intermediary through which you purchased shares may have different policies). You can do this by contacting the Funds at the addresses and telephone numbers listed at the beginning of the section entitled
. No sales charges apply to the purchase or sale of such shares.
Choosing a Share Class
For accounts held directly with the Fund (through the Transfer Agent), distributions of $10 or less will automatically be reinvested in additional Fund shares only. If you elect to receive distributions by check and the check is returned as undeliverable, all subsequent distributions will be reinvested in additional shares of the Fund.
Unless you are a tax-exempt investor or holding Fund shares through a tax-advantaged account (such as a 401(k) plan or IRA), you should consider avoiding buying Fund shares shortly before the Fund makes a distribution (other than distributions of net investment income that are declared daily) of net investment income or net realized capital gain, because doing so can cost you money in taxes to the extent the distribution consists of taxable income or gains. This is because you will, in effect, receive part of your purchase price back in the distribution. This is known as
| Prospectus 2021 | 69 |
Columbia Balanced Fund
Distributions and Taxes
(continued)
“buying a dividend.” To avoid “buying a dividend,” before you invest check the Fund's distribution schedule, which is available at the Funds' website and/or by calling the Funds' telephone number listed at the beginning of the section entitled
.
Choosing a Share Class
Taxes
You should be aware of the following considerations applicable to the Fund:
| ■ | The Fund intends to qualify and to be eligible for treatment each year as a regulated investment company. A regulated investment company generally is not subject to tax at the fund level on income and gains from investments that are distributed to shareholders. However, the Fund's failure to qualify for treatment as a regulated investment company would result in Fund-level taxation, and consequently, a reduction in income available for distribution to you and in the NAV of your shares. Even if the Fund qualifies for treatment as a regulated investment company, the Fund may be subject to federal excise tax on certain undistributed income or gains. |
| ■ | Otherwise taxable distributions generally are taxable to you when paid, whether they are paid in cash or automatically reinvested in additional Fund shares. Dividends paid in January are deemed paid on December 31 of the prior year if the dividend was declared and payable to shareholders of record in October, November, or December of such prior year. |
| ■ | Distributions of the Fund's ordinary income and net short-term capital gain, if any, generally are taxable to you as ordinary income. Distributions of the Fund's net long-term capital gain, if any, generally are taxable to you as long-term capital gain. Whether capital gains are long-term or short-term is determined by how long the Fund has owned the investments that generated them, rather than how long you have owned your shares. |
| ■ | From time to time, a distribution from the Fund could constitute a return of capital. A return of capital is a return of an amount of your original investment and is not a distribution of income or capital gain from the Fund. Therefore, a return of capital is not taxable to you so long as the amount of the distribution does not exceed your tax basis in your Fund shares. A return of capital reduces your tax basis in your Fund shares, with any amounts exceeding such basis generally taxable as capital gain. |
| ■ | If you are an individual and you meet certain holding period and other requirements for your Fund shares, a portion of your distributions may be treated as “qualified dividend income” taxable at the lower net long-term capital gain rates instead of the higher ordinary income rates. Qualified dividend income is income attributable to the Fund's dividends received from certain U.S. and foreign corporations, as long as the Fund meets certain holding period and other requirements for the stock producing such dividends. |
| ■ | Certain high-income individuals (as well as estates and trusts) are subject to a 3.8% tax on net investment income. For individuals, the 3.8% tax applies to the lesser of (1) the amount (if any) by which the taxpayer's modified adjusted gross income exceeds certain threshold amounts or (2) the taxpayer's “net investment income.” |
| Net investment income generally includes for this purpose dividends, including any capital gain dividends, paid by the Fund, and net gains recognized on the sale, redemption or exchange of shares of the Fund. |
| ■ | Certain derivative instruments when held in the Fund's portfolio subject the Fund to special tax rules, the effect of which may be to, among other things, accelerate income to the Fund, defer Fund losses, cause adjustments in the holding periods of Fund portfolio securities, or convert capital gains into ordinary income, short-term capital losses into long-term capital losses or long-term capital gains into short-term capital gains. These rules could therefore affect the amount, timing and/or character of distributions to shareholders. |
| ■ | Generally, a Fund realizes a capital gain or loss on an option when the option expires, or when it is exercised, sold or otherwise terminated. However, if an option is a “section 1256 contract,” which includes most traded options on a broad-based index, and the Fund holds such option at the end of its taxable year, the Fund is deemed to sell such option at fair market value at such time and recognize any gain or loss thereon, which is generally deemed to be 60% long-term and 40% short-term capital gain or loss, as described further in the SAI. |
| ■ | Income and proceeds received by the Fund from sources within foreign countries may be subject to foreign taxes. If at the end of the taxable year more than 50% of the value of the Fund's assets consists of securities of foreign |
| 70 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Balanced Fund
Distributions and Taxes
(continued)
| corporations, and the Fund makes a special election, you will generally be required to include in your income for U.S. federal income tax purposes your share of the qualifying foreign income taxes paid by the Fund in respect of its foreign portfolio securities. You may be able to claim a foreign tax credit or deduction in respect of this amount, subject to certain limitations. There is no assurance that the Fund will make this election for a taxable year, even if it is eligible to do so. |
| ■ | A sale, redemption or exchange of Fund shares is a taxable event. This includes redemptions where you are paid in securities. Your sales, redemptions and exchanges of Fund shares (including those paid in securities) usually will result in a taxable capital gain or loss to you, equal to the difference between the amount you receive for your shares (or are deemed to have received in the case of exchanges) and your adjusted tax basis in the shares, which is generally the amount you paid (or are deemed to have paid in the case of exchanges) for them. Any such capital gain or loss generally will be long-term capital gain or loss if you have held your Fund shares for more than one year at the time of sale or exchange. In certain circumstances, capital losses may be converted from short-term to long-term; in other circumstances, capital losses may be disallowed under the “wash sale” rules. |
| ■ | For sales, redemptions and exchanges of shares that were acquired in a non-qualified account after 2011, the Fund generally is required to report to shareholders and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) cost basis information with respect to those shares. The Fund uses average cost basis as its default method of calculating cost basis. For more information regarding average cost basis reporting, other available cost basis methods, and selecting or changing to a different cost basis method, please see the SAI, columbiathreadneedleus.com, or contact the Fund at 800.345.6611. If you hold Fund shares through a financial intermediary (e.g., a brokerage firm), you should contact your financial intermediary to learn about its cost basis reporting default method and the reporting elections available to your account. |
| ■ | The Fund is required by federal law to withhold tax on any taxable or tax-exempt distributions and redemption proceeds paid to you (including amounts paid to you in securities and amounts deemed to be paid to you upon an exchange of shares) if: you have not provided a correct TIN or have not certified to the Fund that withholding does not apply, the IRS has notified us that the TIN listed on your account is incorrect according to its records, or the IRS informs the Fund that you are otherwise subject to backup withholding. |
FUNDamentals
Taxes
The information provided above is only a summary of how U.S. federal income taxes may affect your investment in the Fund. It is not intended as a substitute for careful tax planning. Your investment in the Fund may have other tax implications. It does not apply to certain types of investors who may be subject to special rules, including foreign or tax-exempt investors or those holding Fund shares through a tax-advantaged account, such as a 401(k) plan or IRA. Please see the SAI for more detailed tax information. You should consult with your own tax advisor about the particular tax consequences to you of an investment in the Fund, including the effect of any foreign, state and local taxes, and the effect of possible changes in applicable tax laws.
| Prospectus 2021 | 71 |
Columbia Balanced Fund
Financial Highlights
The financial highlights table is intended to help you understand the Fund’s financial performance for the past five fiscal years or, if shorter, the Fund’s period of operations. Certain information reflects financial results for a single Fund share. Per share net investment income (loss) amounts are calculated based on average shares outstanding during the period. The total return in the table represents the rate that an investor would have earned (or lost) on an investment in the Fund assuming all dividends and distributions had been reinvested. Total return does not reflect payment of sales charges, if any. Total return and portfolio turnover are not annualized for periods of less than one year. The portfolio turnover rate is calculated without regard to purchase and sales transactions of short-term instruments and certain derivatives, if any. If such transactions were included, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate may be higher. This information has been audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm, whose report, along with the Fund’s financial statements, is included in the Fund’s annual report, which is available upon request.
| Prospectus 2021 | 73 |
Columbia Balanced Fund
Financial Highlights
(continued)
|
Net asset value,
beginning of period |
Net
investment income |
Net
realized and unrealized gain |
Total from
investment operations |
Distributions
from net investment income |
Distributions
from net realized gains |
Total
distributions to shareholders |
|
|
Class A
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $42.24 | 0.53 | 6.67 | 7.20 | (0.63) | (1.08) | (1.71) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $42.53 | 0.63 | 1.19 | 1.82 | (0.60) | (1.51) | (2.11) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $40.56 | 0.48 | 2.57 | 3.05 | (0.46) | (0.62) | (1.08) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $37.54 | 0.42 | 3.12 | 3.54 | (0.40) | (0.12) | (0.52) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $35.80 | 0.38 | 2.62 | 3.00 | (0.58) | (0.68) | (1.26) |
|
Advisor Class
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $42.58 | 0.64 | 6.72 | 7.36 | (0.73) | (1.08) | (1.81) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $42.86 | 0.73 | 1.21 | 1.94 | (0.71) | (1.51) | (2.22) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $40.87 | 0.58 | 2.59 | 3.17 | (0.56) | (0.62) | (1.18) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $37.82 | 0.53 | 3.14 | 3.67 | (0.50) | (0.12) | (0.62) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $36.06 | 0.48 | 2.63 | 3.11 | (0.67) | (0.68) | (1.35) |
|
Class C
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $42.08 | 0.21 | 6.65 | 6.86 | (0.30) | (1.08) | (1.38) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $42.38 | 0.32 | 1.19 | 1.51 | (0.30) | (1.51) | (1.81) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $40.42 | 0.17 | 2.56 | 2.73 | (0.15) | (0.62) | (0.77) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $37.42 | 0.14 | 3.10 | 3.24 | (0.12) | (0.12) | (0.24) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $35.68 | 0.11 | 2.62 | 2.73 | (0.31) | (0.68) | (0.99) |
|
Institutional Class
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $42.17 | 0.64 | 6.65 | 7.29 | (0.73) | (1.08) | (1.81) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $42.47 | 0.73 | 1.19 | 1.92 | (0.71) | (1.51) | (2.22) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $40.50 | 0.58 | 2.57 | 3.15 | (0.56) | (0.62) | (1.18) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $37.48 | 0.53 | 3.11 | 3.64 | (0.50) | (0.12) | (0.62) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $35.75 | 0.47 | 2.61 | 3.08 | (0.67) | (0.68) | (1.35) |
|
Institutional 2 Class
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $42.20 | 0.66 | 6.65 | 7.31 | (0.75) | (1.08) | (1.83) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $42.50 | 0.75 | 1.19 | 1.94 | (0.73) | (1.51) | (2.24) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $40.53 | 0.60 | 2.57 | 3.17 | (0.58) | (0.62) | (1.20) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $37.51 | 0.55 | 3.12 | 3.67 | (0.53) | (0.12) | (0.65) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $35.78 | 0.51 | 2.60 | 3.11 | (0.70) | (0.68) | (1.38) |
|
74
|
Prospectus 2021
|
Columbia Balanced Fund
Financial Highlights
(continued)
|
Net
asset value, end of period |
Total
return |
Total gross
expense ratio to average net assets
(a)
|
Total net
expense ratio to average net assets
(a), (b)
|
Net investment
income ratio to average net assets |
Portfolio
turnover |
Net
assets, end of period (000's) |
|
|
Class A
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $47.73 | 17.59% | 0.95% |
0.95%
(c)
|
1.23% | 140% | $2,954,559 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $42.24 | 4.79% | 0.95% | 0.95% | 1.55% | 119% | $2,685,001 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $42.53 | 7.63% | 0.95% |
0.95%
(c)
|
1.16% | 76% | $2,798,246 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $40.56 | 9.54% | 0.97% |
0.97%
(c)
|
1.10% | 63% | $2,876,519 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $37.54 | 8.60% | 1.03% |
1.03%
(c)
|
1.06% | 60% | $2,960,832 |
|
Advisor Class
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $48.13 | 17.89% | 0.70% |
0.70%
(c)
|
1.48% | 140% | $253,954 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $42.58 | 5.04% | 0.70% | 0.70% | 1.80% | 119% | $248,877 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $42.86 | 7.89% | 0.70% |
0.70%
(c)
|
1.41% | 76% | $262,644 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $40.87 | 9.82% | 0.72% |
0.72%
(c)
|
1.37% | 63% | $318,026 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $37.82 | 8.86% | 0.78% |
0.78%
(c)
|
1.33% | 60% | $112,108 |
|
Class C
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $47.56 | 16.73% | 1.70% |
1.70%
(c)
|
0.48% | 140% | $1,512,696 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $42.08 | 4.00% | 1.70% | 1.70% | 0.80% | 119% | $1,443,468 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $42.38 | 6.83% | 1.70% |
1.70%
(c)
|
0.42% | 76% | $1,591,465 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $40.42 | 8.71% | 1.72% |
1.72%
(c)
|
0.35% | 63% | $1,536,796 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $37.42 | 7.80% | 1.78% |
1.78%
(c)
|
0.32% | 60% | $1,265,079 |
|
Institutional Class
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $47.65 | 17.90% | 0.70% |
0.70%
(c)
|
1.48% | 140% | $1,876,178 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $42.17 | 5.04% | 0.70% | 0.70% | 1.80% | 119% | $1,672,560 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $42.47 | 7.91% | 0.70% |
0.70%
(c)
|
1.42% | 76% | $1,872,366 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $40.50 | 9.83% | 0.72% |
0.72%
(c)
|
1.36% | 63% | $1,753,306 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $37.48 | 8.85% | 0.78% |
0.78%
(c)
|
1.32% | 60% | $867,554 |
|
Institutional 2 Class
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $47.68 | 17.95% | 0.65% | 0.65% | 1.52% | 140% | $286,454 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $42.20 | 5.09% | 0.65% | 0.65% | 1.84% | 119% | $245,737 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $42.50 | 7.96% | 0.65% | 0.65% | 1.46% | 76% | $279,242 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $40.53 | 9.91% | 0.66% | 0.66% | 1.42% | 63% | $312,952 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $37.51 | 8.96% | 0.68% | 0.68% | 1.41% | 60% | $181,221 |
|
Prospectus 2021
|
75
|
Columbia Balanced Fund
Financial Highlights
(continued)
|
Net asset value,
beginning of period |
Net
investment income |
Net
realized and unrealized gain |
Total from
investment operations |
Distributions
from net investment income |
Distributions
from net realized gains |
Total
distributions to shareholders |
|
|
Institutional 3 Class
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $42.60 | 0.68 | 6.72 | 7.40 | (0.77) | (1.08) | (1.85) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $42.88 | 0.78 | 1.20 | 1.98 | (0.75) | (1.51) | (2.26) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $40.88 | 0.63 | 2.59 | 3.22 | (0.60) | (0.62) | (1.22) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $37.83 | 0.57 | 3.15 | 3.72 | (0.55) | (0.12) | (0.67) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $36.07 | 0.53 | 2.63 | 3.16 | (0.72) | (0.68) | (1.40) |
|
Class R
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $42.23 | 0.42 | 6.68 | 7.10 | (0.52) | (1.08) | (1.60) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $42.53 | 0.53 | 1.18 | 1.71 | (0.50) | (1.51) | (2.01) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $40.56 | 0.38 | 2.57 | 2.95 | (0.36) | (0.62) | (0.98) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $37.54 | 0.33 | 3.12 | 3.45 | (0.31) | (0.12) | (0.43) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $35.79 | 0.29 | 2.63 | 2.92 | (0.49) | (0.68) | (1.17) |
|
Notes to Financial Highlights
|
|
| (a) | In addition to the fees and expenses that the Fund bears directly, the Fund indirectly bears a pro rata share of the fees and expenses of any other funds in which it invests. Such indirect expenses are not included in the Fund's reported expense ratios. |
| (b) | Total net expenses include the impact of certain fee waivers/expense reimbursements made by the Investment Manager and certain of its affiliates, if applicable. |
| (c) | The benefits derived from expense reductions had an impact of less than 0.01%. |
|
76
|
Prospectus 2021
|
Columbia Balanced Fund
Financial Highlights
(continued)
|
Net
asset value, end of period |
Total
return |
Total gross
expense ratio to average net assets
(a)
|
Total net
expense ratio to average net assets
(a), (b)
|
Net investment
income ratio to average net assets |
Portfolio
turnover |
Net
assets, end of period (000's) |
|
|
Institutional 3 Class
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $48.15 | 18.00% | 0.61% | 0.61% | 1.56% | 140% | $573,567 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $42.60 | 5.14% | 0.61% | 0.61% | 1.90% | 119% | $377,342 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $42.88 | 8.01% | 0.60% | 0.60% | 1.53% | 76% | $308,783 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $40.88 | 9.96% | 0.61% | 0.61% | 1.47% | 63% | $190,322 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $37.83 | 9.02% | 0.63% | 0.63% | 1.47% | 60% | $118,553 |
|
Class R
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $47.73 | 17.32% | 1.20% |
1.20%
(c)
|
0.98% | 140% | $134,948 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $42.23 | 4.50% | 1.20% | 1.20% | 1.30% | 119% | $127,735 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $42.53 | 7.36% | 1.20% |
1.20%
(c)
|
0.91% | 76% | $133,485 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $40.56 | 9.27% | 1.22% |
1.22%
(c)
|
0.86% | 63% | $136,478 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $37.54 | 8.35% | 1.28% |
1.28%
(c)
|
0.82% | 60% | $79,917 |
|
Prospectus 2021
|
77
|
Columbia Balanced Fund
Appendix A: Financial Intermediary-Specific Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
As noted in the
section of the prospectus, the sales charge reductions and waivers available to investors who purchase and hold their Fund shares through different financial intermediaries may vary. This
describes financial intermediary-specific reductions and/or waiver policies applicable to Fund shares purchased and held through the particular financial intermediary. A reduction and/or waiver that is specific to a particular financial intermediary is not available to Direct-at-Fund Accounts and does not apply in any case to non-omnibus positions wherever held. These reductions and/or waivers may apply to purchases, sales, and exchanges of Fund shares. A shareholder transacting in Fund shares through a financial intermediary identified below should carefully read the terms and conditions of the reductions and/or waivers. Please consult your financial intermediary with respect to any sales charge reduction/waiver described below.
Choosing a Share Class
Appendix A
The financial intermediary-specific information below may be provided by, or compiled from or based on information provided by, the financial intermediaries noted. While the Funds, the Investment Manager and the Distributor do not establish these financial intermediary-specific policies, our representatives are available to answer questions about these financial intermediary-specific policies and can direct you to the financial intermediary if you need help understanding them.
Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC (Ameriprise Financial Services)
The following information has been provided by Ameriprise Financial Services:
Class A Shares Front-End Sales Charge Waivers Available at Ameriprise Financial Services:
The following information applies to Class A shares purchases if you have an account with or otherwise purchase Fund shares through Ameriprise Financial Services:
Effective June 1, 2018, shareholders purchasing Fund shares through an Ameriprise Financial Services platform or account will be eligible for the following front-end sales charge waivers and discounts, which may differ from those disclosed elsewhere in this prospectus or the Fund’s SAI:
| ■ | Employer-sponsored retirement plans (e.g., 401(k) plans, 457 plans, employer-sponsored 403(b) plans, profit sharing and money purchase pension plans and defined benefit plans). For purposes of this provision, employer-sponsored retirement plans do not include SEP IRAs, Simple IRAs or SAR-SEPs. |
| ■ | Shares purchased through an Ameriprise Financial Services investment advisory program (if an Advisory or similar share class for such investment advisory program is not available). |
| ■ | Shares purchased by third party investment advisors on behalf of their advisory clients through Ameriprise Financial Services’ platform (if an Advisory or similar share class for such investment advisory program is not available). |
| ■ | Shares purchased through reinvestment of dividends and capital gain distributions when purchasing shares of the same fund (but not any other fund within the Columbia Funds). |
| ■ | Shares exchanged from Class C shares of the same fund in the month of or following the 10-year anniversary of the purchase date. To the extent that this prospectus elsewhere provides for a waiver with respect to such shares following a shorter holding period, that waiver will apply to exchanges following such shorter period. To the extent that this prospectus elsewhere provides for a waiver with respect to exchanges of Class C shares for load waived shares, that waiver will also apply to such exchanges. |
| ■ | Employees and registered representatives of Ameriprise Financial Services or its affiliates and their immediate family members. |
| ■ | Shares purchased by or through qualified accounts (including IRAs, Coverdell Education Savings Accounts, 401(k)s, 403(b) TSCAs subject to ERISA and defined benefit plans) that are held by a covered family member, defined as an Ameriprise financial advisor and/or the advisor’s spouse, advisor’s lineal ascendant (mother, father, grandmother, grandfather, great grandmother, great grandfather), advisor’s lineal descendant (son, step-son, daughter, step-daughter, grandson, granddaughter, great grandson, great granddaughter) or any spouse of a covered family member who is a lineal descendant. |
| A-1 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Balanced Fund
Appendix A: Financial Intermediary-Specific Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
(continued)
| ■ | Shares purchased from the proceeds of redemptions within the Columbia Funds, provided (1) the repurchase occurs within 90 days following the redemption, (2) the redemption and purchase occur in the same account, and (3) redeemed shares were subject to a front-end or deferred sales load (i.e., rights of reinstatement). |
Robert W. Baird & Co. Incorporated (Baird)
The following information has been provided by Baird:
Effective June 30, 2020, shareholders purchasing Columbia Fund shares through a Baird platform or account that maintains an omnibus position with the Fund will only be eligible for the following sales charge waivers (front-end sales charge waivers and CDSC waivers) and discounts, which may differ from those disclosed elsewhere in this prospectus or the Fund’s SAI. A reduction and/or waiver that is specific to Baird will not apply to non-omnibus positions.
Front-End Sales Charge Waivers on Class A Shares Available at Baird:
| ■ | Shares purchased through reinvestment of capital gains distributions and dividend reinvestment when purchasing shares of the same Columbia Fund. |
| ■ | Share purchases by employees and registered representatives of Baird or its affiliates and their family members as designated by Baird. |
| ■ | Shares purchased with the proceeds of redemptions from another Columbia Fund, provided (1) the repurchase occurs within 90 days following the redemption, (2) the redemption and purchase occur in the same accounts, and (3) redeemed shares were subject to a front-end or deferred sales charge (known as rights of reinstatement). |
| ■ | A shareholder in the Fund’s Class C shares will have their shares converted at net asset value to Class A shares of the same Columbia Fund if the shares are no longer subject to CDSC and the conversion is in line with the policies and procedures of Baird. |
| ■ | Employer-sponsored retirement plans or charitable accounts in a transactional brokerage account at Baird, including 401(k) plans, 457 plans, employer-sponsored 403(b) plans, profit sharing and money purchase pension plans and defined benefit plans. For purposes of this provision, employer-sponsored retirement plans do not include SEP IRAs, Simple IRAs or SAR-SEPs. |
CDSC Waivers on Class A and Class C Shares Available at Baird:
| ■ | Shares sold due to death or disability of the shareholder. |
| ■ | Shares sold as part of a systematic withdrawal plan as described in this prospectus. |
| ■ | Shares purchased due to returns of excess contributions from an IRA account. |
| ■ | Shares sold as part of a required minimum distribution for IRA and retirement accounts due to the shareholder reaching the qualified age based on applicable IRS regulations. |
| ■ | Shares sold to pay Baird fees but only if the transaction is initiated by Baird. |
| ■ | Shares acquired through a right of reinstatement. |
Front-End Sales Charge Discounts Available at Baird: Breakpoints and/or Rights of Accumulations:
| ■ | Breakpoints as described in this prospectus. |
| ■ | Rights of accumulations which entitle shareholders to breakpoint discounts will be automatically calculated based on the aggregated holding of Columbia Fund assets held by accounts within the purchaser’s household at Baird. Eligible Columbia Fund assets not held at Baird may be included in the rights of accumulations calculation only if the shareholder notifies his or her financial advisor about such assets. |
| ■ | Letters of Intent (LOI) allow for breakpoint discounts based on anticipated purchases of Columbia Funds through Baird, over a 13-month period of time. |
| Prospectus 2021 | A-2 |
Columbia Balanced Fund
Appendix A: Financial Intermediary-Specific Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
(continued)
Edward D. Jones & Co., L.P. (Edward Jones)
The following information has been provided by Edward Jones:
Effective on or after April 17, 2020, clients of Edward Jones (also referred to as "shareholders") purchasing Columbia Fund shares on the Edward Jones commission and fee-based platforms are eligible only for the following sales charge discounts (also referred to as "breakpoints") and waivers, which can differ from breakpoints and waivers described elsewhere in this prospectus or the Fund’s SAI or through another broker-dealer. In all instances, it is the shareholder's responsibility to inform Edward Jones at the time of purchase of any relationship, holdings of Columbia Funds or other facts qualifying the purchaser for breakpoints or waivers. Edward Jones can ask for documentation of such circumstance.
Breakpoints
Rights of Accumulation (ROA)
| ■ | The applicable sales charge on a purchase of Class A shares is determined by taking into account all share classes (except any money market funds and retirement plan share classes) of Columbia Funds held by the shareholder or in an account grouped by Edward Jones with other accounts for the purpose of providing certain pricing considerations ("pricing groups"). This includes all share classes held on the Edward Jones platform and/or held on another platform. The inclusion of eligible Columbia Fund assets in the rights of accumulation calculation is dependent on the shareholder notifying his or her financial advisor of such assets at the time of calculation. |
| ■ | ROA is determined by calculating the higher of cost or market value (current shares x NAV). |
Letter of Intent (LOI)
| ■ | Through a LOI, shareholders can receive the sales charge and breakpoint discounts for purchases shareholders intend to make over a 13-month period from the date Edward Jones receives the LOI. The LOI is determined by calculating the higher of cost or market value of qualifying holdings at LOI initiation in combination with the value that the shareholder intends to buy over a 13-month period to calculate the front-end sales charge and any breakpoint discounts. Each purchase the shareholder makes during that 13-month period will receive the sales charge and breakpoint discount that applies to the total amount. The inclusion of eligible Columbia Fund assets in the LOI calculation is dependent on the shareholder notifying his or her financial advisor of such assets at the time of calculation. Purchases made before the LOI is received by Edward Jones are not covered under the LOI and will not reduce the sales charge previously paid. Sales charges will be adjusted if LOI is not met. |
Sales Charge Waivers
Sales charges are waived for the following shareholders and in the following situations:
| ■ | Associates of Edward Jones and its affiliates and their family members who are in the same pricing group (as determined by Edward Jones under its policies and procedures) as the associate. This waiver will continue for the remainder of the associate's life if the associate retires from Edward Jones in good-standing. |
| ■ | Shares purchased in an Edward Jones fee-based program. |
| ■ | Shares purchased through reinvestment of capital gains distributions and dividend reinvestment. |
| ■ | Shares purchased from the proceeds of redeemed shares of Columbia Funds so long as the following conditions are met: 1) the proceeds are from the sale of shares within 60 days of the purchase, and 2) the sale and purchase are made in the same share class and the same account or the purchase is made in an individual retirement account with proceeds from liquidations in a non-retirement account. |
| ■ | Shares exchanged into Class A shares from another share class so long as the exchange is into the same fund and was initiated at the discretion of Edward Jones. Edward Jones is responsible for any remaining CDSC due to the fund company, if applicable. Any future purchases are subject to the applicable sales charge as disclosed in this prospectus. |
| A-3 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Balanced Fund
Appendix A: Financial Intermediary-Specific Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
(continued)
| ■ | Exchanges from Class C shares to Class A shares of the same fund, generally, in the 84th month following the anniversary of the purchase date or earlier at the discretion of Edward Jones. |
CDSC Waivers
If the shareholder purchases shares that are subject to a CDSC and those shares are redeemed before the CDSC is expired, the shareholder is responsible to pay the CDSC except in the following conditions:
| ■ | The death or disability of the shareholder. |
| ■ | Systematic withdrawals with up to 10% per year of the account value. |
| ■ | Return of excess contributions from an Individual Retirement Account (IRA). |
| ■ | Shares sold as part of a required minimum distribution for IRA and retirement accounts if the redemption is taken in or after the year the shareholder reaches qualified age based on applicable IRS regulations. |
| ■ | Shares sold to pay Edward Jones fees or costs in such cases where the transaction is initiated by Edward Jones. |
| ■ | Shares exchanged in an Edward Jones fee-based program. |
| ■ | Shares acquired through NAV reinstatement. |
Other Important Information
Minimum Purchase Amounts
| ■ | $250 initial purchase minimum |
| ■ | $50 subsequent purchase minimum |
Minimum Balances
| ■ | Edward Jones has the right to redeem at its discretion fund holdings with a balance of $250 or less. The following are examples of accounts that are not included in this policy: |
| ■ | A fee-based account held on an Edward Jones platform. |
| ■ | A 529 account held on an Edward Jones platform. |
| ■ | An account with an active systematic investment plan or letter of intent (LOI). |
Changing Share Classes
| ■ | At any time it deems necessary, Edward Jones has the authority to exchange at NAV a shareholder's holdings in a fund to Class A shares. |
Janney Montgomery Scott LLC (Janney)
The following information has been provided by Janney:
Effective May 1, 2020, if you purchase Columbia Fund shares through a Janney brokerage account, you will be eligible for the following load waivers (front-end sales charge waivers and CDSC, or back-end sales charge, waivers) and discounts, which may differ from those disclosed elsewhere in this prospectus or the Fund’s SAI. A reduction and/or waiver that is specific to Janney does not apply to non-omnibus positions.
Front-End Sales Charge* Waivers on Class A Shares Available at Janney
| ■ | Shares purchased through reinvestment of capital gains distributions and dividend reinvestment when purchasing shares of the same fund (but not any other Columbia Fund). |
| ■ | Shares purchased by employees and registered representatives of Janney or its affiliates and their family members as designated by Janney. |
| Prospectus 2021 | A-4 |
Columbia Balanced Fund
Appendix A: Financial Intermediary-Specific Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
(continued)
| ■ | Shares purchased from the proceeds of redemptions from another Columbia Fund, provided (1) the repurchase occurs within ninety (90) days following the redemption, (2) the redemption and purchase occur in the same account, and (3) redeemed shares were subject to a front-end or deferred sales load (i.e., right of reinstatement). |
| ■ | Employer-sponsored retirement plans (e.g., 401(k) plans, 457 plans, employer-sponsored 403(b) plans, profit sharing and money purchase pension plans and defined benefit plans). For purposes of this provision, employer-sponsored retirement plans do not include SEP IRAs, Simple IRAs, SAR-SEPs or Keogh plans. |
| ■ | Shares acquired through a right of reinstatement. |
| ■ | Class C shares that are no longer subject to a CDSC and are converted to Class A shares of the same fund pursuant to Janney’s policies and procedures. |
CDSC Waivers on Class A and C Shares Available at Janney
| ■ | Shares sold upon the death or disability of the shareholder. |
| ■ | Shares sold as part of a systematic withdrawal plan as described in this prospectus. |
| ■ | Shares purchased in connection with a return of excess contributions from an IRA account. |
| ■ | Shares sold as part of a required minimum distribution for IRA and retirement accounts if the redemption is taken in or after the year the shareholder reaches qualified age based on applicable IRS regulations. |
| ■ | Shares sold to pay Janney fees but only if the transaction is initiated by Janney. |
| ■ | Shares acquired through a right of reinstatement. |
| ■ | Shares exchanged into the same share class of a different fund. |
Front-End Sales Charge* Discounts Available at Janney: Breakpoints, Rights of Accumulation, and/or Letters of Intent
| ■ | Breakpoints as described in this prospectus. |
| ■ | Rights of accumulation (“ROA”), which entitle shareholders to breakpoint discounts, will be automatically calculated based on the aggregated holding of Columbia Fund assets held by accounts within the purchaser’s household at Janney. Eligible Columbia Fund assets not held at Janney may be included in the ROA calculation only if the shareholder notifies his or her financial advisor about such assets. |
| ■ | Letters of intent which allow for breakpoint discounts based on anticipated purchases within the Columbia Funds, over a 13-month time period. Eligible Columbia Fund assets not held at Janney may be included in the calculation of letters of intent only if the shareholder notifies his or her financial advisor about such assets. |
* Also referred to as an “initial sales charge”.
Merrill Lynch Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated (Merrill Lynch)
The following information has been provided by Merrill Lynch:
Shareholders purchasing Columbia Fund shares through a Merrill Lynch platform or account will be eligible only for the following load waivers (front-end sales charge waivers and contingent deferred, or back-end, sales charge waivers) and discounts, which may differ from those disclosed elsewhere in this prospectus or the Fund’s SAI:
Front-End Load Discounts Available at Merrill Lynch:
Merrill Lynch makes available breakpoint discounts on shares of the Fund through:
| ■ | Breakpoints as described in this prospectus. |
| ■ | Rights of Accumulation (ROA) which entitle shareholders to breakpoint discounts as described in this prospectus will be automatically calculated based on the aggregated holding of Columbia Fund assets held by accounts (including 529 program holdings, where applicable) within the purchaser’s household at Merrill Lynch. Eligible Columbia Fund assets not held at Merrill Lynch may be included in the ROA calculation only if the shareholder notifies his or her financial advisor about such assets. |
| A-5 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Balanced Fund
Appendix A: Financial Intermediary-Specific Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
(continued)
| ■ | Letters of Intent (LOI) which allow for breakpoint discounts based on anticipated purchases of Columbia Funds, through Merrill Lynch, over a 13-month period of time (if applicable). |
Front-End Sales Load Waivers on Class A Shares Available at Merrill Lynch:
| ■ | Employer-sponsored retirement, deferred compensation and employee benefit plans (including health savings accounts) and trusts used to fund those plans, provided that the shares are not held in a commission-based brokerage account and shares are held for the benefit of the plan. |
| ■ | Shares purchased by a 529 Plan (does not include 529 Plan units or 529-specific share classes or equivalents). |
| ■ | Shares purchased through a Merrill Lynch affiliated investment advisory program. |
| ■ | Shares exchanged due to the holdings moving from a Merrill Lynch affiliated investment advisory program to a Merrill Lynch brokerage (non-advisory) account pursuant to Merrill Lynch’s policies relating to sales load discounts and waivers. |
| ■ | Shares purchased by third party investment advisors on behalf of their advisory clients through Merrill Lynch’s platform. |
| ■ | Shares of funds purchased through the Merrill Edge Self-Directed platform (if applicable). |
| ■ | Shares purchased through reinvestment of capital gains distributions and dividend reinvestment when purchasing shares of the same fund (but not any other Columbia Fund). |
| ■ | Shares exchanged from Class C (i.e., level-load) shares of the same fund pursuant to Merrill Lynch’s policies relating to sales load discounts and waivers. |
| ■ | Employees and registered representatives of Merrill Lynch or its affiliates and their family members. |
| ■ | Directors or Trustees of the Fund, and employees of the Fund’s investment adviser or any of its affiliates, as described in this prospectus. |
| ■ | Eligible shares purchased from the proceeds of redemptions from another Columbia Fund, provided (1) the repurchase occurs within 90 days following the redemption, (2) the redemption and purchase occur in the same account, and (3) redeemed shares were subject to a front-end or deferred sales load (known as Rights of Reinstatement). Automated transactions (i.e. systematic purchases and withdrawals) and purchases made after shares are automatically sold to pay Merrill Lynch’s account maintenance fees are not eligible for reinstatement. |
CDSC Waivers on Class A and C Shares Available at Merrill Lynch:
| ■ | Death or disability of the shareholder. |
| ■ | Shares sold as part of a systematic withdrawal plan as described in this prospectus. |
| ■ | Return of excess contributions from an IRA Account. |
| ■ | Shares sold as part of a required minimum distribution for IRA and retirement accounts pursuant to the Internal Revenue Code. |
| ■ | Shares sold to pay Merrill Lynch fees but only if the transaction is initiated by Merrill Lynch. |
| ■ | Shares acquired through a right of reinstatement. |
| ■ | Shares held in retirement brokerage accounts, that are exchanged for a lower cost share class due to transfer to certain fee based accounts or platforms (applicable to Class A and Class C shares only). |
| ■ | Shares received through an exchange due to the holdings moving from a Merrill Lynch affiliated investment advisory program to a Merrill Lynch brokerage (non-advisory) account pursuant to Merrill Lynch’s policies relating to sales load discounts and waivers. |
| Prospectus 2021 | A-6 |
Columbia Balanced Fund
Appendix A: Financial Intermediary-Specific Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
(continued)
Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, LLC (Morgan Stanley Wealth Management)
The following information has been provided by Morgan Stanley Wealth Management:
Shareholders purchasing Columbia Fund shares through a Morgan Stanley Wealth Management transactional brokerage account will be eligible only for the following front-end sales charge waivers with respect to Class A shares, which may differ from and may be more limited than those disclosed elsewhere in this prospectus or the Fund’s SAI.
Front-End Sales Charge Waivers on Class A Shares Available at Morgan Stanley Wealth Management:
| ■ | Employer-sponsored retirement plans (e.g., 401(k) plans, 457 plans, employer-sponsored 403(b) plans, profit sharing and money purchase pension plans and defined benefit plans). For purposes of this provision, employer-sponsored retirement plans do not include SEP IRAs, Simple IRAs, SAR-SEPs or Keogh plans. |
| ■ | Morgan Stanley employee and employee-related accounts according to Morgan Stanley’s account linking rules. |
| ■ | Shares purchased through reinvestment of dividends and capital gains distributions when purchasing shares of the same fund. |
| ■ | Shares purchased through a Morgan Stanley self-directed brokerage account. |
| ■ | Class C (i.e., level-load) shares that are no longer subject to a CDSC and are exchanged for Class A shares of the same fund pursuant to Morgan Stanley Wealth Management’s share class exchange program. |
| ■ | Shares purchased from the proceeds of redemptions from another Columbia Fund, provided (i) the repurchase occurs within 90 days following the redemption, (ii) the redemption and purchase occur in the same account, and (iii) redeemed shares were subject to a front-end or deferred sales charge. |
Raymond James & Associates, Inc., Raymond James Financial Services, Inc. and each entity’s affiliates (Raymond James)
The following information has been provided by Raymond James:
Intermediary-Defined Sales Charge Waiver Policies:
The availability of certain initial or deferred sales charge waivers and discounts may depend on the particular financial intermediary or type of account through which you purchase or hold Columbia Fund shares.
Intermediaries may have different policies and procedures regarding the availability of front-end sales load waivers or contingent deferred (back-end) sales load (CDSC) waivers, which are discussed below. In all instances, it is the purchaser’s responsibility to notify the Fund or the purchaser’s financial intermediary at the time of purchase of any relationship or other facts qualifying the purchaser for sales charge waivers or discounts. For waivers and discounts not available through a particular intermediary, shareholders will have to purchase Columbia Fund shares directly from the Fund or through another intermediary to receive these waivers or discounts.
Raymond James:
Effective March 1, 2019, shareholders purchasing Columbia Fund shares through a Raymond James platform or account, or through an introducing broker-dealer or independent registered investment adviser for which Raymond James provides trade execution, clearance, and/or custody services, will be eligible only for the following load waivers (front-end sales charge waivers and contingent deferred, or back-end, sales charge waivers) and discounts, which may differ from those disclosed elsewhere in this prospectus or the Fund’s SAI.
Front-End Sales Load Waivers on Class A Shares Available at Raymond James:
| ■ | Shares purchased in an investment advisory program. |
| ■ | Shares purchased within the Columbia Funds through a systematic reinvestment of capital gains and dividend distributions. |
| ■ | Employees and registered representatives of Raymond James or its affiliates and their family members as designated by Raymond James. |
| A-7 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Balanced Fund
Appendix A: Financial Intermediary-Specific Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
(continued)
| ■ | Shares purchased from the proceeds of redemptions within the Columbia Funds, provided (1) the repurchase occurs within 90 days following the redemption, (2) the redemption and purchase occur in the same account, and (3) redeemed shares were subject to a front-end or deferred sales load (known as Rights of Reinstatement). |
| ■ | A shareholder in the Fund’s Class C shares will have their shares converted at net asset value to Class A shares (or the appropriate share class) of the Fund if the shares are no longer subject to a CDSC and the conversion is in line with the policies and procedures of Raymond James. |
CDSC Waivers on Class A and Class C Shares Available at Raymond James:
| ■ | Death or disability of the shareholder. |
| ■ | Shares sold as part of a systematic withdrawal plan as described in this prospectus. |
| ■ | Return of excess contributions from an IRA Account. |
| ■ | Shares sold as part of a required minimum distribution for IRA and retirement accounts due to the shareholder reaching the qualified age based on applicable IRS regulations as described in this prospectus. |
| ■ | Shares sold to pay Raymond James fees but only if the transaction is initiated by Raymond James. |
| ■ | Shares acquired through a right of reinstatement. |
Front-End Load Discounts Available at Raymond James: Breakpoints, Rights of Accumulation and/or Letters of Intent:
| ■ | Breakpoints as described in this prospectus. |
| ■ | Rights of accumulation which entitle shareholders to breakpoint discounts will be automatically calculated based on the aggregated holding of Columbia Fund assets held by accounts within the purchaser’s household at Raymond James. Eligible Columbia Fund assets not held at Raymond James may be included in the calculation of rights of accumulation only if the shareholder notifies his or her financial advisor about such assets. |
| ■ | Letters of intent which allow for breakpoint discounts based on anticipated purchases within the Columbia Funds, over a 13-month time period. Eligible Columbia Fund assets not held at Raymond James may be included in the calculation of letters of intent only if the shareholder notifies his or her financial advisor about such assets. |
Stifel Financial Corp. (Stifel)
The following information has been provided by Stifel:
Effective June 30, 2020, Class C shares of Columbia Funds that were purchased through a Stifel platform or account that maintains an omnibus position with the Fund that are no longer subject to a CDSC are exchanged to Class A shares of the same Columbia Fund pursuant to Stifel’s policies and procedures. This does not apply to non-omnibus positions.
Additional Sales Charge Reductions and/or Waivers Available at Certain Financial Intermediaries
Shareholders purchasing Columbia Fund shares through a platform or account of RBC Capital Markets, LLC are eligible for the following sales charge waiver:
Class A Shares Front-End Sales Charge Waiver Available at RBC Capital Markets, LLC:
| ■ | For employer-sponsored retirement plans held through a commissionable brokerage account, Class A shares are available at NAV (i.e., without a sales charge). For this purpose, employer-sponsored retirement plans include, but are not limited to, 401(k) plans, 457 plans, employer-sponsored 403(b) plans, profit sharing and money purchase pension plans and defined benefit plans. For purposes of this provision, employer-sponsored retirement plans do not include SEP IRAs, Simple IRAs, SAR-SEPs or Keogh plans. |
| Prospectus 2021 | A-8 |
Columbia Balanced Fund
P.O. Box 219104
Kansas City, MO 64121-9104
Kansas City, MO 64121-9104
Additional Information About the Fund
Additional information about the Fund’s investments is available in the Fund’s annual and semiannual reports to shareholders. In the annual report, you will find a discussion of the market conditions and investment strategies that significantly affected the Fund’s performance during its last fiscal year. The SAI also provides additional information about the Fund and its policies. The SAI, which has been filed with the SEC, is legally part of this prospectus (incorporated by reference). To obtain these documents free of charge, to request other information about the Fund and to make shareholder inquiries, please contact the Fund as follows:
By Mail:
Columbia Management Investment Services Corp.
P.O. Box 219104
Kansas City, MO 64121-9104
P.O. Box 219104
Kansas City, MO 64121-9104
By Telephone:
800.345.6611
Online:
columbiathreadneedleus.com
Reports and other information about the Fund are also available in the EDGAR Database on the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov. You can receive copies of this information, for a duplication fee, by electronic request at the following e-mail address: publicinfo@sec.gov.
The investment company registration number of Columbia Funds Series Trust I, of which the Fund is a series, is 811-04367.
Columbia Threadneedle Investments is the global brand name of the Columbia and Threadneedle group of companies.
© 2021 Columbia Management Investment Distributors, Inc.
225 Franklin Street, Boston, MA 02110
225 Franklin Street, Boston, MA 02110
800.345.6611
PRO120_08_L01_(01/21)
Prospectus
January 1, 2021
Columbia Contrarian Core Fund
|
Class
|
Ticker Symbol
|
|
| A | LCCAX | |
| Advisor (Class Adv) | CORRX | |
| C | LCCCX | |
| Institutional (Class Inst) | SMGIX | |
| Institutional 2 (Class Inst2) | COFRX | |
| Institutional 3 (Class Inst3) | COFYX | |
| R | CCCRX | |
| V | SGIEX |
Beginning on January 1, 2021, as permitted by regulations adopted by the Securities and Exchange Commission, paper copies of the Fund's annual and semiannual shareholder reports are no longer sent by mail, unless you specifically requested paper copies of the reports. Instead, the reports are made available on the Fund's website (columbiathreadneedleus.com/investor/), and each time a report is posted you will be notified by mail and provided with a website address to access the report.
If you have already elected to receive shareholder reports electronically, you will not be affected by this change and you need not take any action. You may elect to receive shareholder reports and other communications from the Fund electronically at any time by contacting your financial intermediary (such as a broker-dealer or bank) or, for Fund shares held directly with the Fund, by calling 800.345.6611 or by enrolling in “eDelivery” by logging into your account at columbiathreadneedleus.com/investor/.
You may elect to receive all future shareholder reports in paper free of charge. If you invest through a financial intermediary, you can contact your financial intermediary to request that you continue receiving paper copies of your shareholder reports. If you invest directly with the Fund, you can call 800.345.6611 to let the Fund know you wish to continue receiving paper copies of your shareholder reports. Your election to receive paper reports will apply to all Columbia Funds held in your account if you invest through a financial intermediary or all Columbia Funds held with the fund complex if you invest directly with the Fund.
As with all mutual funds, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has not approved or disapproved these securities or passed upon the adequacy of this prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.
Columbia Contrarian Core Fund
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A-1
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2
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Prospectus 2021
|
Columbia Contrarian Core Fund
Summary of the Fund
Investment Objective
Columbia Contrarian Core Fund (the Fund) seeks total return, consisting of long-term capital appreciation and current income.
Fees and Expenses of the Fund
This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold and sell shares of the Fund.
You may be required to pay such brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries when transacting in any class of Fund shares, including those that do not assess any front-end sales charge, contingent deferred sales charge, or other asset-based fee for sales or distribution. Such brokerage commissions and other fees are set by the financial intermediary.
You may qualify for sales charge discounts if you and members of your immediate family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $50,000 in certain classes of shares of eligible funds distributed by Columbia Management Investment Distributors, Inc. (the Distributor). More information is available about these and other sales charge discounts and waivers from your financial intermediary, and can be found in the
section beginning on page 21 of the Fund’s prospectus, in
to the prospectus beginning on page A-1 and in Appendix S to the Statement of Additional Information (SAI) under
beginning on page S-1.
You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the tables and examples below.
Choosing a Share Class
Appendix A
Sales Charge Waivers
| (a) | This charge is imposed on certain investments of between $1 million and $50 million redeemed within 18 months after purchase, as follows: 1.00% if redeemed within 12 months after purchase, and 0.50% if redeemed more than 12, but less than 18, months after purchase, with certain limited exceptions. |
| (b) | This charge applies to redemptions within 12 months after purchase, with certain limited exceptions. |
Example
The following example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The example illustrates the hypothetical expenses that you would incur over the time periods indicated, and assumes that:
| ■ | you invest $10,000 in the applicable class of Fund shares for the periods indicated, |
| ■ | your investment has a 5% return each year, and |
| ■ |
the Fund’s total annual operating expenses remain the same as shown in the
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
|
Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on the assumptions listed above, your costs would be:
|
1 year
|
3 years
|
5 years
|
10 years
|
|
|
Class A
(whether or not shares are redeemed)
|
$673 | $881 | $1,106 | $1,751 |
| Prospectus 2021 | 3 |
Columbia Contrarian Core Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
|
1 year
|
3 years
|
5 years
|
10 years
|
|
|
Class Adv
(whether or not shares are redeemed)
|
$
|
$246 |
$
|
$
|
|
Class C
(assuming redemption of all shares at the end of the period)
|
$280 | $557 |
$
|
$2,084 |
|
Class C
(assuming no redemption of shares)
|
$180 | $557 |
$
|
$2,084 |
|
Class Inst
(whether or not shares are redeemed)
|
$
|
$246 |
$
|
$
|
|
Class Inst2
(whether or not shares are redeemed)
|
$
|
$221 |
$
|
$
|
|
Class Inst3
(whether or not shares are redeemed)
|
$
|
$205 |
$
|
$
|
|
Class R
(whether or not shares are redeemed)
|
$129 | $403 |
$
|
$1,534 |
|
Class V
(whether or not shares are redeemed)
|
$673 | $881 | $1,106 | $1,751 |
Portfolio Turnover
The Fund may pay transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 51% of the average value of its portfolio.
Principal Investment Strategies
Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets (including the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes) in common stocks. In addition, under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets in equity securities of U.S. companies that have large market capitalizations (generally over $2 billion) that the Fund’s investment manager believes are undervalued and have the potential for long-term growth and current income.
The Fund may also invest up to 20% of its net assets in foreign securities. The Fund may invest directly in foreign securities or indirectly through depositary receipts. The Fund may from time to time emphasize one or more sectors in selecting its investments, including the information technology sector.
Principal Risks
An investment in the Fund involves risks, including
, and
, among others. Descriptions of these and other principal risks of investing in the Fund are provided below.
. The value of the Fund’s holdings may decline, and the Fund’s net asset value (NAV) and share price may go down.
An investment in the Fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency.
Market Risk
Large-Cap Stock Risk
There is no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objective and you may lose money
Active Management Risk.
Due to its active management, the Fund could underperform its benchmark index and/or other funds with similar investment objectives and/or strategies.
Changing Distribution Level Risk.
The Fund normally expects to receive income which may include interest, dividends and/or capital gains, depending upon its investments. The distribution amounts paid by the Fund will vary and generally depend on the amount of income the Fund earns (less expenses) on its portfolio holdings, and capital gains or losses it recognizes. A decline in the Fund’s income or net capital gains arising from its investments may reduce its distribution level.
Depositary Receipts Risk.
Depositary receipts are receipts issued by a bank or trust company reflecting ownership of underlying securities issued by foreign companies. Some foreign securities are traded in the form of American Depositary Receipts and/or Global Depositary Receipts. Depositary receipts involve risks similar to the risks associated with investments in foreign securities, including those associated with investing in the particular country of an issuer, which may be related to the particular political, regulatory, economic, social and other conditions or events, including, for example, military confrontations, war, terrorism and disease/virus outbreaks and epidemics, occurring in the country and fluctuations in such country’s currency, as well as market risk tied to the underlying foreign company. In addition, holders of depositary receipts may have limited voting rights, may not have the same
| 4 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Contrarian Core Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
rights afforded to stockholders of a typical domestic company in the event of a corporate action, such as an acquisition, merger or rights offering, and may experience difficulty in receiving company stockholder communications. There is no guarantee that a financial institution will continue to sponsor a depositary receipt, or that a depositary receipt will continue to trade on an exchange, either of which could adversely affect the liquidity, availability and pricing of the depositary receipt. Changes in foreign currency exchange rates will affect the value of depositary receipts and, therefore, may affect the value of your investment in the Fund.
Foreign Securities Risk.
Investments in or exposure to foreign securities involve certain risks not associated with investments in or exposure to securities of U.S. companies. Foreign securities subject the Fund to the risks associated with investing in the particular country of an issuer, including political, regulatory, economic, social, diplomatic and other conditions or events (including, for example, military confrontations, war, terrorism and disease/virus outbreaks and epidemics), occurring in the country or region, as well as risks associated with less developed custody and settlement practices. Foreign securities may be more volatile and less liquid than securities of U.S. companies, and are subject to the risks associated with potential imposition of economic and other sanctions against a particular foreign country, its nationals or industries or businesses within the country. In addition, foreign governments may impose withholding or other taxes on the Fund’s income, capital gains or proceeds from the disposition of foreign securities, which could reduce the Fund’s return on such securities. The performance of the Fund may also be negatively affected by fluctuations in a foreign currency's strength or weakness relative to the U.S. dollar, particularly to the extent the Fund invests a significant percentage of its assets in foreign securities or other assets denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar.
Growth Securities Risk.
Growth securities typically trade at a higher multiple of earnings than other types of equity securities. Accordingly, the market values of growth securities may never reach their expected market value and may decline in price. In addition, growth securities, at times, may not perform as well as value securities or the stock market in general, and may be out of favor with investors for varying periods of time.
Issuer Risk.
An issuer in which the Fund invests or to which it has exposure may perform poorly or below expectations, and the value of its securities may therefore decline, which may negatively affect the Fund’s performance. Underperformance of an issuer may be caused by poor management decisions, competitive pressures, breakthroughs in technology, reliance on suppliers, labor problems or shortages, corporate restructurings, fraudulent disclosures, natural disasters, military confrontations, war, terrorism, disease/virus outbreaks, epidemics or other events, conditions and factors which may impair the value of an investment in the Fund.
Large-Cap Stock Risk.
Investments in larger, more established companies (larger companies) may involve certain risks associated with their larger size. For instance, larger companies may be less able to respond quickly to new competitive challenges, such as changes in consumer tastes or innovation from smaller competitors. Also, larger companies are sometimes less able to achieve as high growth rates as successful smaller companies, especially during extended periods of economic expansion.
Market Risk.
The Fund may incur losses due to declines in the value of one or more securities in which it invests. These declines may be due to factors affecting a particular issuer, or the result of, among other things, political, regulatory, market, economic or social developments affecting the relevant market(s) more generally. In addition, turbulence in financial markets and reduced liquidity in equity, credit and/or fixed income markets may negatively affect many issuers, which could adversely affect the Fund, including causing difficulty in assigning prices to hard-to-value assets in thinly traded and closed markets, significant redemptions and operational challenges. Global economies and financial markets are increasingly interconnected, and conditions and events in one country, region or financial market may adversely impact issuers in a different country, region or financial market. These risks may be magnified if certain events or developments adversely interrupt the global supply chain; in these and other circumstances, such risks might affect companies worldwide. As a result, local, regional or global events such as terrorism, war, natural disasters, disease/virus outbreaks and epidemics or other public health issues, recessions, depressions or other events – or the potential for such events – could have a significant negative impact on global economic and market conditions.
| Prospectus 2021 | 5 |
Columbia Contrarian Core Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) public health crisis has become a pandemic that has resulted in, and may continue to result in, significant global economic and societal disruption and market volatility due to disruptions in market access, resource availability, facilities operations, imposition of tariffs, export controls and supply chain disruption, among others. Such disruptions may be caused, or exacerbated by, quarantines and travel restrictions, workforce displacement and loss in human and other resources. The uncertainty surrounding the magnitude, duration, reach, costs and effects of the global pandemic, as well as actions that have been or could be taken by governmental authorities or other third parties, present unknowns that are yet to unfold. The impacts, as well as the uncertainty over impacts to come, of COVID-19 – and any other infectious illness outbreaks, epidemics and pandemics that may arise in the future – could negatively affect global economies and markets in ways that cannot necessarily be foreseen. In addition, the impact of infectious illness outbreaks and epidemics in emerging market countries may be greater due to generally less established healthcare systems, governments and financial markets. Public health crises caused by the COVID-19 outbreak may exacerbate other pre-existing political, social and economic risks in certain countries or globally. The disruptions caused by COVID-19 could prevent the Fund from executing advantageous investment decisions in a timely manner and negatively impact the Fund’s ability to achieve its investment objective. Any such event(s) could have a significant adverse impact on the value and risk profile of the Fund.
Sector Risk.
At times, the Fund may have a significant portion of its assets invested in securities of companies conducting business within one or more economic sectors, including the information technology sector. Companies in the same sector may be similarly affected by economic, regulatory, political or market events or conditions, which may make the Fund more vulnerable to unfavorable developments in that sector than funds that invest more broadly. Generally, the more broadly the Fund invests, the more it spreads risk and potentially reduces the risks of loss and volatility.
Information Technology Sector.
The Fund may be more susceptible to the particular risks that may affect companies in the information technology sector than if it were invested in a wider variety of companies in unrelated sectors. Companies in the information technology sector are subject to certain risks, including the risk that new services, equipment or technologies will not be accepted by consumers and businesses or will become rapidly obsolete. Performance of such companies may be affected by factors including obtaining and protecting patents (or the failure to do so) and significant competitive pressures, including aggressive pricing of their products or services, new market entrants, competition for market share and short product cycles due to an accelerated rate of technological developments. Such competitive pressures may lead to limited earnings and/or falling profit margins. As a result, the value of their securities may fall or fail to rise. In addition, many information technology sector companies have limited operating histories and prices of these companies’ securities historically have been more volatile than other securities, especially over the short term.
Value Securities Risk.
Value securities are securities of companies that may have experienced, for example, adverse business, industry or other developments or may be subject to special risks that have caused the securities to be out of favor and, in turn, potentially undervalued. The market value of a portfolio security may not meet portfolio management’s perceived value assessment of that security, or may decline in price, even though portfolio management believes the securities are already undervalued. There is also a risk that it may take longer than expected for the value of these investments to rise to portfolio management’s perceived value. In addition, value securities, at times, may not perform as well as growth securities or the stock market in general, and may be out of favor with investors for varying periods of time.
Performance Information
The following bar chart and table show you how the Fund has performed in the past, and can help you understand the risks of investing in the Fund.
The bar chart shows how the Fund’s Class A share performance (without sales charges) has varied for each full calendar year shown. If the sales charges were reflected, returns shown would be lower.
The table below the bar chart compares the Fund’s returns (after applicable sales charges shown in the
table in this prospectus) for the periods shown with a broad measure of market performance.
Shareholder Fees
| 6 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Contrarian Core Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
The performance of one or more share classes shown in the table below begins before the indicated inception date for such share class. The returns shown for each such share class include the returns of the Fund’s Class Inst shares (adjusted to reflect the higher class-related operating expenses of such share classes, where applicable) for periods prior to its inception date. Share classes with expenses that are higher than Class Inst shares will have performance that is lower than Class Inst shares. Except for differences in annual returns resulting from differences in expenses and sales charges (where applicable), the share classes of the Fund would have substantially similar annual returns because all share classes of the Fund invest in the same portfolio of securities.
The after-tax returns shown in the
table below are calculated using the highest historical individual U.S. federal marginal income tax rates in effect during the period indicated in the table and do not reflect the impact of state, local or foreign taxes.
Your actual after-tax returns will depend on your personal tax situation and may differ from those shown in the table. In addition, the after-tax returns shown in the table do not apply to shares held in tax-advantaged accounts such as 401(k) plans or Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs).
The after-tax returns are shown only for Class A shares and will vary for other share classes.
Average Annual Total Returns
The Fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) is no guarantee of how the Fund will perform in the future.
Updated performance information can be obtained by calling toll-free 800.345.6611 or visiting columbiathreadneedleus.com.
|
Year by Year Total Return (%)
as of December 31 Each Year* |
Best and Worst Quarterly Returns
During the Period Shown in the Bar Chart |
||
|
Best
|
1st Quarter 2012
|
14.50
%
|
|
Worst
|
3rd Quarter 2011
|
-16.08
%
|
|
| * | Year to Date return as of September 30, 2020: 6.93% |
Average Annual Total Returns After Applicable Sales Charges (for periods ended December 31, 2019)
|
Share Class
Inception Date |
1 Year
|
5 Years
|
10 Years
|
|
|
Class A
|
11/01/1998 | |||
| returns before taxes | 24.98% | 8.94% | 12.24% | |
| returns after taxes on distributions | 23.33% | 7.58% | 11.12% | |
| returns after taxes on distributions and sale of Fund shares | 15.89% | 6.84% | 9.97% | |
|
Class Adv
returns before taxes
|
11/08/2012 | 32.95% | 10.51% | 13.20% |
|
Class C
returns before taxes
|
12/09/2002 | 30.64% | 9.42% | 12.06% |
|
Class Inst
returns before taxes
|
12/14/1992 | 32.96% | 10.51% | 13.19% |
|
Class Inst2
returns before taxes
|
11/08/2012 | 33.05% | 10.63% | 13.29% |
|
Class Inst3
returns before taxes
|
11/08/2012 | 33.08% | 10.69% | 13.33% |
|
Class R
returns before taxes
|
09/27/2010 | 32.30% | 9.97% | 12.64% |
|
Class V
returns before taxes
|
02/12/1993 | 24.93% | 8.94% | 12.21% |
|
Russell 1000 Index
(reflects no deductions for fees, expenses or taxes)
|
31.43% | 11.48% | 13.54% |
| Prospectus 2021 | 7 |
Columbia Contrarian Core Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
Fund Management
|
Portfolio Manager
|
Title
|
Role with Fund
|
Managed Fund Since
|
|||
| Guy Pope, CFA | Senior Portfolio Manager and Head of Contrarian Core Strategy | Portfolio Manager | 2005 |
Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares
You may purchase or redeem shares of the Fund on any business day by contacting the Fund in the ways described below:
|
Online
|
Regular Mail
|
Express Mail
|
By Telephone
|
|||
| columbiathreadneedleus.com/investor/ |
Columbia Management
Investment Services Corp. P.O. Box 219104 Kansas City, MO 64121-9104 |
Columbia Management
Investment Services Corp. c/o DST Asset Manager Solutions, Inc. 430 W 7
th
Street, Suite 219104
Kansas City, MO 64105-1407 |
800.422.3737 |
You may purchase shares and receive redemption proceeds by electronic funds transfer, by check or by wire. If you maintain your account with a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary, you must contact that financial intermediary to buy, sell or exchange shares of the Fund through your account with the intermediary.
The minimum initial investment amounts for the share classes offered by the Fund are shown below:
Minimum Initial Investment
|
Class
|
Category of eligible account
|
For accounts other than
systematic investment plan accounts |
For systematic investment
plan accounts |
|
Classes A, C & V
(a)
|
All accounts other than IRAs | $2,000 | $100 |
| IRAs | $1,000 | $100 | |
|
Classes Adv
& Inst |
All eligible accounts |
$0, $1,000 or $2,000
depending upon the category of eligible investor |
$100 |
|
Classes Inst2
& R |
All eligible accounts | None | N/A |
|
Class Inst3
|
All eligible accounts |
$0, $1,000, $2,000
or $1 million depending upon the category of eligible investor |
$100 (for certain
eligible investors) |
| (a) | Class V shares are generally closed to new investors. |
More information about these minimums can be found in the
section of the prospectus. There is no minimum additional investment for any share class.
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares - Buying Shares
Tax Information
The Fund normally distributes net investment income and net realized capital gains, if any, to shareholders. These distributions are generally taxable to you as ordinary income, qualified dividend income or capital gains, unless you are investing through a tax-advantaged account, such as a 401(k) plan or an IRA. If you are investing through a tax-advantaged account, you may be taxed upon withdrawals from that account.
| 8 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Contrarian Core Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
If you purchase the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), the Fund and its related companies — including Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC (the Investment Manager), Columbia Management Investment Distributors, Inc. (the Distributor) and Columbia Management Investment Services Corp. (the Transfer Agent) — may pay the intermediary for the sale of Fund shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your financial advisor to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your financial advisor or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.
| Prospectus 2021 | 9 |
Columbia Contrarian Core Fund
More Information About the Fund
Investment Objective
Columbia Contrarian Core Fund (the Fund) seeks total return, consisting of long-term capital appreciation and current income. The Fund’s investment objective is not a fundamental policy and may be changed by the Fund’s Board of Trustees without shareholder approval. Because any investment involves risk, there is no assurance the Fund’s investment objective will be achieved.
Principal Investment Strategies
Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets (including the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes) in common stocks. In addition, under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets in equity securities of U.S. companies that have large market capitalizations (generally over $2 billion) that the Fund’s investment manager believes are undervalued and have the potential for long-term growth and current income.
The Fund may also invest up to 20% of its net assets in foreign securities. The Fund may invest directly in foreign securities or indirectly through depositary receipts. Depositary receipts are receipts issued by a bank or trust company reflecting ownership of underlying securities issued by foreign companies. The Fund may from time to time emphasize one or more sectors in selecting its investments, including the information technology sector.
The “contrarian” nature of the strategy places emphasis on considering securities believed to be suffering from price weaknesses due to current market reaction or sentiment, or liquidity-driven or other factors, but that are believed to possess identifiable price improvement catalysts. The strategy seeks to identify advantageous entry points to buy these securities to capture potential upward valuation contrary to prevailing market sentiment. Contrarian ideas are typically identified through the portfolio manager's bottom-up analysis. In selecting investments, Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC (the Investment Manager) employs fundamental analysis with risk management in identifying investment opportunities and constructing the Fund’s portfolio. The Investment Manager considers, among other factors:
| ■ | various measures of valuation, including price-to-cash flow, price-to-earnings, price-to-sales, price-to-book value and discounted cash flow. The Investment Manager believes that companies with lower valuations are generally more likely to provide opportunities for capital appreciation; |
| ■ | potential indicators of stock price appreciation, such as anticipated earnings growth, company restructuring, changes in management, business model changes, new product opportunities, or anticipated improvements in macroeconomic factors; |
| ■ | the financial condition and management of a company, including its competitive position, the quality of its balance sheet and earnings, its future prospects, and the potential for growth and stock price appreciation; and/or |
| ■ | overall economic and market conditions. |
The Investment Manager may sell a security when the security’s price reaches a target set by the Investment Manager; if the Investment Manager believes that there is deterioration in the issuer’s financial circumstances or fundamental prospects; if other investments are more attractive; or for other reasons.
Principal Risks
An investment in the Fund involves risks, including
, and
, among others. Descriptions of these and other principal risks of investing in the Fund are provided below.
. The value of the Fund’s holdings may decline, and the Fund’s net asset value (NAV) and share price may go down. An investment in the Fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency.
Market Risk
Large-Cap Stock Risk
There is no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objective and you may lose money
Active Management Risk.
The Fund is actively managed and its performance therefore will reflect, in part, the ability of the portfolio manager to make investment decisions that seek to achieve the Fund’s investment objective. Due to its active management, the Fund could underperform its benchmark index and/or other funds with similar investment objectives and/or strategies.
| 10 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Contrarian Core Fund
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
Changing Distribution Level Risk.
The Fund normally expects to receive income which may include interest, dividends and/or capital gains, depending upon its investments. The distribution amounts paid by the Fund will vary and generally depend on the amount of income the Fund earns (less expenses) on its portfolio holdings, and capital gains or losses it recognizes. A decline in the Fund’s income or net capital gains arising from its investments may reduce its distribution level.
Depositary Receipts Risk.
Depositary receipts are receipts issued by a bank or trust company reflecting ownership of underlying securities issued by foreign companies. Some foreign securities are traded in the form of American Depositary Receipts and/or Global Depositary Receipts. Depositary receipts involve risks similar to the risks associated with investments in foreign securities, including those associated with investing in the particular country of an issuer, which may be related to the particular political, regulatory, economic, social and other conditions or events, including, for example, military confrontations, war, terrorism and disease/virus outbreaks and epidemics, occurring in the country and fluctuations in such country’s currency, as well as market risk tied to the underlying foreign company. In addition, holders of depositary receipts may have limited voting rights, may not have the same rights afforded to stockholders of a typical domestic company in the event of a corporate action, such as an acquisition, merger or rights offering, and may experience difficulty in receiving company stockholder communications. There is no guarantee that a financial institution will continue to sponsor a depositary receipt, or that a depositary receipt will continue to trade on an exchange, either of which could adversely affect the liquidity, availability and pricing of the depositary receipt. Changes in foreign currency exchange rates will affect the value of depositary receipts and, therefore, may affect the value of your investment in the Fund.
Foreign Securities Risk.
Investments in or exposure to foreign securities involve certain risks not associated with investments in or exposure to securities of U.S. companies. For example, foreign markets can be extremely volatile. Foreign securities may also be less liquid, making them more difficult to trade, than securities of U.S. companies so that the Fund may, at times, be unable to sell foreign securities at desirable times or prices. Brokerage commissions, custodial costs and other fees are also generally higher for foreign securities. The Fund may have limited or no legal recourse in the event of default with respect to certain foreign securities, including those issued by foreign governments. In addition, foreign governments may impose withholding or other taxes on the Fund’s income, capital gains or proceeds from the disposition of foreign securities, which could reduce the Fund’s return on such securities. In some cases, such withholding or other taxes could potentially be confiscatory. Other risks include: possible delays in the settlement of transactions or in the payment of income; generally less publicly available information about foreign companies; the impact of economic, political, social, diplomatic or other conditions or events (including, for example, military confrontations, war, terrorism and disease/virus outbreaks and epidemics), possible seizure, expropriation or nationalization of a company or its assets or the assets of a particular investor or category of investors; accounting, auditing and financial reporting standards that may be less comprehensive and stringent than those applicable to domestic companies; the imposition of economic and other sanctions against a particular foreign country, its nationals or industries or businesses within the country; and the generally less stringent standard of care to which local agents may be held in the local markets. In addition, it may be difficult to obtain reliable information about the securities and business operations of certain foreign issuers. Governments or trade groups may compel local agents to hold securities in designated depositories that are not subject to independent evaluation. The less developed a country’s securities market is, the greater the level of risks. The risks posed by sanctions against a particular foreign country, its nationals or industries or businesses within the country may be heightened to the extent the Fund invests significantly in the affected country or region or in issuers from the affected country that depend on global markets. Additionally, investments in certain countries may subject the Fund to a number of tax rules, the application of which may be uncertain. Countries may amend or revise their existing tax laws, regulations and/or procedures in the future, possibly with retroactive effect. Changes in or uncertainties regarding the laws, regulations or procedures of a country could reduce the after-tax profits of the Fund, directly or indirectly, including by reducing the after-tax profits of companies located in such countries in which the Fund invests, or result in unexpected tax liabilities for the Fund. The performance of the Fund may also be negatively affected by fluctuations in a foreign currency's strength or weakness relative to the U.S. dollar, particularly to the extent the Fund invests a significant percentage of its assets in foreign securities or other assets denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar. Currency rates in foreign countries may fluctuate significantly over short or long periods of time for a
| Prospectus 2021 | 11 |
Columbia Contrarian Core Fund
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(continued)
number of reasons, including changes in interest rates, imposition of currency exchange controls and economic or political developments in the U.S. or abroad. The Fund may also incur currency conversion costs when converting foreign currencies into U.S. dollars and vice versa.
Growth Securities Risk.
Growth securities typically trade at a higher multiple of earnings than other types of equity securities. Accordingly, the market values of growth securities may never reach their expected market value and may decline in price. In addition, growth securities, at times, may not perform as well as value securities or the stock market in general, and may be out of favor with investors for varying periods of time.
Issuer Risk.
An issuer in which the Fund invests or to which it has exposure may perform poorly or below expectations, and the value of its securities may therefore decline, which may negatively affect the Fund’s performance. Underperformance of an issuer may be caused by poor management decisions, competitive pressures, breakthroughs in technology, reliance on suppliers, labor problems or shortages, corporate restructurings, fraudulent disclosures, natural disasters, military confrontations, war, terrorism, disease/virus outbreaks, epidemics or other events, conditions and factors which may impair the value of an investment in the Fund.
Large-Cap Stock Risk.
Investments in larger companies may involve certain risks associated with their larger size. For instance, larger companies may be less able to respond quickly to new competitive challenges, such as changes in consumer tastes or innovation from smaller competitors. Also, larger companies are sometimes less able to achieve as high growth rates as successful smaller companies, especially during extended periods of economic expansion.
Market Risk.
The Fund may incur losses due to declines in the value of one or more securities in which it invests. These declines may be due to factors affecting a particular issuer, or the result of, among other things, political, regulatory, market, economic or social developments affecting the relevant market(s) more generally. In addition, turbulence in financial markets and reduced liquidity in equity, credit and/or fixed income markets may negatively affect many issuers, which could adversely affect the Fund, including causing difficulty in assigning prices to hard-to-value assets in thinly traded and closed markets, significant redemptions and operational challenges. Global economies and financial markets are increasingly interconnected, and conditions and events in one country, region or financial market may adversely impact issuers in a different country, region or financial market. These risks may be magnified if certain events or developments adversely interrupt the global supply chain; in these and other circumstances, such risks might affect companies worldwide. As a result, local, regional or global events such as terrorism, war, natural disasters, disease/virus outbreaks and epidemics or other public health issues, recessions, depressions or other events – or the potential for such events – could have a significant negative impact on global economic and market conditions.
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) public health crisis has become a pandemic that has resulted in, and may continue to result in, significant global economic and societal disruption and market volatility due to disruptions in market access, resource availability, facilities operations, imposition of tariffs, export controls and supply chain disruption, among others. Such disruptions may be caused, or exacerbated by, quarantines and travel restrictions, workforce displacement and loss in human and other resources. The uncertainty surrounding the magnitude, duration, reach, costs and effects of the global pandemic, as well as actions that have been or could be taken by governmental authorities or other third parties, present unknowns that are yet to unfold. The impacts, as well as the uncertainty over impacts to come, of COVID-19 – and any other infectious illness outbreaks, epidemics and pandemics that may arise in the future – could negatively affect global economies and markets in ways that cannot necessarily be foreseen. In addition, the impact of infectious illness outbreaks and epidemics in emerging market countries may be greater due to generally less established healthcare systems, governments and financial markets. Public health crises caused by the COVID-19 outbreak may exacerbate other pre-existing political, social and economic risks in certain countries or globally. The disruptions caused by COVID-19 could prevent the Fund from executing advantageous investment decisions in a timely manner and negatively impact the Fund’s ability to achieve its investment objective. Any such event(s) could have a significant adverse impact on the value and risk profile of the Fund.
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Columbia Contrarian Core Fund
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Sector Risk.
At times, the Fund may have a significant portion of its assets invested in securities of companies conducting business within one or more economic sectors, including the information technology sector. Companies in the same sector may be similarly affected by economic, regulatory, political or market events or conditions, which may make the Fund more vulnerable to unfavorable developments in that sector than funds that invest more broadly. Generally, the more broadly the Fund invests, the more it spreads risk and potentially reduces the risks of loss and volatility.
Information Technology Sector.
The Fund may be more susceptible to the particular risks that may affect companies in the information technology sector than if it were invested in a wider variety of companies in unrelated sectors. Companies in the information technology sector are subject to certain risks, including the risk that new services, equipment or technologies will not be accepted by consumers and businesses or will become rapidly obsolete. Performance of such companies may be affected by factors including obtaining and protecting patents (or the failure to do so) and significant competitive pressures, including aggressive pricing of their products or services, new market entrants, competition for market share and short product cycles due to an accelerated rate of technological developments. Such competitive pressures may lead to limited earnings and/or falling profit margins. As a result, the value of their securities may fall or fail to rise. In addition, many information technology sector companies have limited operating histories and prices of these companies’ securities historically have been more volatile than other securities, especially over the short term.
Value Securities Risk.
Value securities are securities of companies that may have experienced, for example, adverse business, industry or other developments or may be subject to special risks that have caused the securities to be out of favor and, in turn, potentially undervalued. The market value of a portfolio security may not meet portfolio management’s perceived value assessment of that security, or may decline in price, even though portfolio management believes the securities are already undervalued. There is also a risk that it may take longer than expected for the value of these investments to rise to portfolio management’s perceived value. In addition, value securities, at times, may not perform as well as growth securities or the stock market in general, and may be out of favor with investors for varying periods of time.
Additional Investment Strategies and Policies
This section describes certain investment strategies and policies that the Fund may utilize in pursuit of its investment objective and some additional factors and risks involved with investing in the Fund.
Investment Guidelines
As a general matter, and except as specifically described in the discussion of the Fund's principal investment strategies in this prospectus or as otherwise required by the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the 1940 Act), the rules and regulations thereunder and any applicable exemptive relief, whenever an investment policy or limitation states a percentage of the Fund's assets that may be invested in any security or other asset or sets forth a policy regarding an investment standard, compliance with that percentage limitation or standard will be determined solely at the time of the Fund's investment in the security or asset.
Holding Other Kinds of Investments
The Fund may hold other investments that are not part of its principal investment strategies. These investments and their risks are described below and/or in the SAI. The Fund may choose not to invest in certain securities described in this prospectus and in the SAI, although it has the ability to do so. Information on the Fund’s holdings can be found in the Fund’s shareholder reports or by visiting columbiathreadneedleus.com.
Transactions in Derivatives
The Fund may enter into derivative transactions or otherwise have exposure to derivative transactions through underlying investments. Derivatives are financial contracts whose values are, for example, based on (or “derived” from) traditional securities (such as a stock or bond), assets (such as a commodity like gold or a foreign currency), reference rates (such as the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (commonly known as SOFR) or the London Interbank Offered Rate (commonly known as LIBOR)) or market indices (such as the Standard & Poor’s 500
®
Index). The use of derivatives is a highly specialized activity which involves investment techniques and risks different from those
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associated with ordinary portfolio securities transactions. Derivatives involve special risks and may result in losses or may limit the Fund’s potential gain from favorable market movements. Derivative strategies often involve leverage, which may exaggerate a loss, potentially causing the Fund to lose more money than it would have lost had it invested in the underlying security or other asset directly. The values of derivatives may move in unexpected ways, especially in unusual market conditions, and may result in increased volatility in the value of the derivative and/or the Fund’s shares, among other consequences. The use of derivatives may also increase the amount of taxes payable by shareholders holding shares in a taxable account. Other risks arise from the Fund’s potential inability to terminate or to sell derivative positions. A liquid secondary market may not always exist for the Fund’s derivative positions at times when the Fund might wish to terminate or to sell such positions. Over-the-counter instruments (investments not traded on an exchange) may be illiquid, and transactions in derivatives traded in the over-the-counter market are subject to the risk that the other party will not meet its obligations. The use of derivatives also involves the risks of mispricing or improper valuation and that changes in the value of the derivative may not correlate perfectly with the underlying security, asset, reference rate or index. The Fund also may not be able to find a suitable derivative transaction counterparty, and thus may be unable to engage in derivative transactions when it is deemed favorable to do so, or at all. U.S. federal legislation has been enacted that provides for new clearing, margin, reporting and registration requirements for participants in the derivatives market. These changes could restrict and/or impose significant costs or other burdens upon the Fund’s participation in derivatives transactions. For more information on the risks of derivative investments and strategies, see the SAI.
LIBOR Phase-Out Risk.
Many derivatives and other financial instruments utilize or are permitted to utilize a floating interest rate based on LIBOR. On July 27, 2017, the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority announced its intention to phase out the use of LIBOR by the end of 2021. More recently, in November 2020, Ice Benchmark Administrator (IBA) has announced its intention to consult on (i) the cessation of four LIBOR currencies (GBP, EUR, JPY and CHF) after the end of 2021 and (ii) on the cessation of the major USD LIBOR tenors (overnight, 1M, 3M, 6M and 12M) in mid-2023 and the cessation of the 1 week and 2M USD LIBOR by the end of 2021. IBA will make separate announcements following the outcome of the consultations. The interest rate benchmark(s) that will replace LIBOR in the capital markets remains uncertain, and the overall economic impact of the transition away from LIBOR cannot yet be determined. The Investment Manager monitors the Fund’s LIBOR exposure risks, including the extent to which any derivative and/or debt investments allow for the utilization of alternative rate(s) to LIBOR.
Affiliated Fund Investing
The Investment Manager or an affiliate serves as investment adviser to funds using the Columbia brand (Columbia Funds), including those that are structured as “fund-of-funds”, and provides asset-allocation services to (i) shareholders by investing in shares of other Columbia Funds, which may include the Fund (collectively referred to in this section as Underlying Funds), and (ii) discretionary managed accounts (collectively referred to as affiliated products) that invest exclusively in Underlying Funds. These affiliated products, individually or collectively, may own a significant percentage of the outstanding shares of one or more Underlying Funds, and the Investment Manager seeks to balance potential conflicts of interest between the affiliated products and the Underlying Funds in which they invest. The affiliated products’ investment in the Underlying Funds may have the effect of creating economies of scale, possibly resulting in lower expense ratios for the Underlying Funds, because the affiliated products may own substantial portions of the shares of Underlying Funds. However, redemption of Underlying Fund shares by one or more affiliated products could cause the expense ratio of an Underlying Fund to increase, as its fixed costs would be spread over a smaller asset base. Because of large positions of certain affiliated products, the Underlying Funds may experience relatively large inflows and outflows of cash due to affiliated products’ purchases and sales of Underlying Fund shares. Although the Investment Manager or its affiliate may seek to minimize the impact of these transactions where possible, for example, by structuring them over a reasonable period of time or through other measures, Underlying Funds may experience increased expenses as they buy and sell portfolio securities to manage the cash flow effect related to these transactions. Further, when the Investment Manager or its affiliate structures transactions over a reasonable period of time in order to manage the potential impact of the buy and sell decisions for the affiliated products, those affiliated products, including funds-of-funds, may pay more or less (for purchase activity), or receive more or less (for redemption activity), for shares of the Underlying Funds than if the transactions were executed in one transaction. In addition, substantial redemptions by affiliated products within a short period of
| 14 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Contrarian Core Fund
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time could require the Underlying Fund to liquidate positions more rapidly than would otherwise be desirable, which may have the effect of reducing or eliminating potential gain or causing it to realize a loss. In order to meet such redemptions, an Underlying Fund may be forced to sell its liquid (or more liquid) positions, leaving the Underlying Fund holding, post-redemption, a relatively larger position in illiquid investments (i.e., any investment that the Fund reasonably expects cannot be sold or disposed of in current market conditions in seven calendar days or less without the sale or disposition significantly changing the market value of the investment) or less liquid securities. Substantial redemptions may also adversely affect the ability of the Underlying Fund to implement its investment strategy. The Investment Manager or its affiliate also has a conflict of interest in determining the allocation of affiliated products’ assets among the Underlying Funds, as it earns different fees from the various Underlying Funds.
Investing in Money Market Funds
The Fund may invest cash in, or hold as collateral for certain investments, shares of registered or unregistered money market funds, including funds advised by the Investment Manager or its affiliates. These funds are not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) or any other government agency. The Fund and its shareholders indirectly bear a portion of the expenses of any money market fund or other fund in which the Fund may invest.
Lending of Portfolio Securities
The Fund may lend portfolio securities to broker-dealers or other financial intermediaries on a fully collateralized basis in order to earn additional income. The Fund may lose money from securities lending if, for example, it is delayed in or prevented from selling the collateral after the loan is made or recovering the securities loaned or if it incurs losses on the reinvestment of cash collateral.
The Fund currently does not participate in the securities lending program but the Board of Trustees (the Board) may determine to renew participation in the future. For more information on lending of portfolio securities and the risks involved, see the SAI and the annual and semiannual reports to shareholders.
Investing Defensively
The Fund may from time to time take temporary defensive investment positions that may be inconsistent with the Fund’s principal investment strategies in attempting to respond to adverse market, economic, political, social or other conditions, including, without limitation, investing some or all of its assets in money market instruments or shares of affiliated or unaffiliated money market funds or holding some or all of its assets in cash or cash equivalents. The Fund may take such defensive investment positions for as long a period as deemed necessary.
The Fund may not achieve its investment objective while it is investing defensively. Investing defensively may adversely affect Fund performance. During these times, the portfolio manager may make frequent portfolio holding changes, which could result in increased trading expenses and taxes, and decreased Fund performance. See also
above for more information.
Investing in Money Market Funds
Other Strategic and Investment Measures
The Fund may also from time to time take temporary portfolio positions that may or may not be consistent with the Fund’s principal investment strategies in attempting to respond to adverse market, economic, political, social or other conditions, including, without limitation, investing in derivatives, such as forward contracts, futures contracts, options, structured investments and swaps, for various purposes, including among others, investing in particular derivatives in seeking to reduce investment exposures, or in seeking to achieve indirect investment exposures, to a sector, country, region or currency where the Investment Manager believes such positioning is appropriate. The Fund may take such portfolio positions for as long a period as deemed necessary. While the Fund is so positioned, derivatives could comprise a substantial portion of the Fund’s investments and the Fund may not achieve its investment objective. Investing in this manner may adversely affect Fund performance. During these times, the portfolio manager may make frequent portfolio holding changes, which could result in increased trading expenses and taxes, and decreased Fund performance. For information on the risks of investing in derivatives, see
above.
Transactions in Derivatives
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Columbia Contrarian Core Fund
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Portfolio Holdings Disclosure
The Board has adopted policies and procedures that govern the timing and circumstances of disclosure to shareholders and third parties of information regarding the securities owned by the Fund. A description of these policies and procedures is included in the SAI. Fund policy generally permits the disclosure of portfolio holdings information on the Fund's website (columbiathreadneedleus.com) only after a certain amount of time has passed, as described in the SAI.
Purchases and sales of portfolio securities can take place at any time, so the portfolio holdings information available on the Fund's website may not always be current.
FUNDamentals
Portfolio Holdings Versus the Benchmarks
The Fund does not limit its investments to the securities within its benchmark(s), and accordingly the Fund's holdings may diverge significantly from those of its benchmark(s). In addition, the Fund may invest in securities outside any industry and geographic sectors represented in its benchmark(s). The Fund's weightings in individual securities, and in industry or geographic sectors, may also vary considerably from those of its benchmark(s).
eDelivery and Mailings to Households
In order to reduce shareholder expenses, the Fund may mail only one copy of the Fund’s prospectus and each annual and semiannual report to those addresses shared by two or more accounts. If you wish to receive separate copies of these documents, call 800.345.6611 or, if your shares are held through a financial intermediary, contact your intermediary directly. Additionally, you may elect to enroll in eDelivery to receive electronic versions of these documents, as well as quarterly statements and supplements, by logging into your account at columbiathreadneedleus.com/investor/.
Cash Flows
The timing and magnitude of cash inflows from investors buying Fund shares could prevent the Fund from always being fully invested. Conversely, the timing and magnitude of cash outflows to shareholders redeeming Fund shares could require the Fund to sell portfolio securities at less than opportune times or to hold ready reserves of uninvested cash in amounts larger than might otherwise be the case to meet shareholder redemptions. Either situation could adversely impact the Fund’s performance.
Understanding Annual Fund Operating Expenses
The Fund’s annual operating expenses, as presented in the
table in the
section of this prospectus, generally are based on expenses incurred during the Fund’s most recently completed fiscal year, may vary by share class and are expressed as a percentage (expense ratio) of the Fund’s average net assets during that fiscal year. The expense ratios reflect the Fund’s fee arrangements as of the date of this prospectus and, unless indicated otherwise, are based on expenses incurred during the Fund’s most recent fiscal year. The Fund’s assets will fluctuate, but unless indicated otherwise in the
table, no adjustments have been or will be made to the expense ratios to reflect any differences in the Fund’s average net assets between the most recently completed fiscal year and the date of this prospectus or a later date. In general, the Fund’s expense ratios will increase as its net assets decrease, such that the Fund’s actual expense ratios may be higher than the expense ratios presented in the
table if assets fall. As applicable, any commitment by the Investment Manager and/or its affiliates to waive fees and/or cap (reimburse) expenses is expected, in part, to limit the impact of any increase in the Fund’s expense ratios that would otherwise result because of a decrease in the Fund’s assets in the current fiscal year. The Fund’s annual operating expenses are comprised of (i) investment management fees, (ii) distribution and/or service fees, and (iii) other expenses. Management fees do not vary by class, but distribution and/or service fees and other expenses may vary by class.
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
Fees and Expenses of the Fund
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
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Columbia Contrarian Core Fund
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FUNDamentals
Other Expenses
“Other expenses” consist of the fees the Fund pays to its custodian, transfer agent, auditors, lawyers and trustees, costs relating to compliance and miscellaneous expenses. Generally, these expenses are allocated on a pro rata basis across all share classes. These fees include certain sub-transfer agency and shareholder servicing fees. Transfer agency fees and certain shareholder servicing fees, however, are class specific. They differ by share class because the shareholder services provided to each share class may be different. Accordingly, the differences in “other expenses” among share classes are primarily the result of the different transfer agency and shareholder servicing fees applicable to each share class. For more information on these fees, see
Choosing a Share Class — Financial Intermediary Compensation.
Fee Waiver/Expense Reimbursement Arrangements and Impact on Past Performance
The Investment Manager and certain of its affiliates have contractually agreed to waive fees and/or reimburse expenses (excluding certain fees and expenses described below) through December 31, 2021, unless sooner terminated at the sole discretion of the Fund's Board, so that the Fund’s net operating expenses, after giving effect to fees waived/expenses reimbursed and any balance credits and/or overdraft charges from the Fund’s custodian, do not exceed the annual rates of:
|
Columbia Contrarian Core Fund
|
|
| Class A | 1.03% |
| Class Adv | 0.78% |
| Class C | 1.78% |
| Class Inst | 0.78% |
| Class Inst2 | 0.71% |
| Class Inst3 | 0.66% |
| Class R | 1.28% |
| Class V | 1.03% |
Under the agreement, the following fees and expenses are excluded from the Fund’s operating expenses when calculating the waiver/reimbursement commitment, and therefore will be paid by the Fund, if applicable: taxes (including foreign transaction taxes), expenses associated with investment in affiliated and non-affiliated pooled investment vehicles (including mutual funds and exchange-traded funds), transaction costs and brokerage commissions, costs related to any securities lending program, dividend expenses associated with securities sold short, inverse floater program fees and expenses, transaction charges and interest on borrowed money, interest, infrequent and/or unusual expenses and any other expenses the exclusion of which is specifically approved by the Fund’s Board. This agreement may be modified or amended only with approval from all parties.
Effect of Fee Waivers and/or Expense Reimbursements on Past Performance.
The Fund’s returns shown in the
Performance Information
section of this prospectus reflect the effect of any fee waivers and/or reimbursements of Fund expenses by the Investment Manager and/or any of its affiliates and any predecessor firms that were in place during the performance period shown. Without such fee waivers/expense reimbursements, the Fund’s returns might have been lower.
Primary Service Providers
The Fund enters into contractual arrangements (Service Provider Contracts) with various service providers, including, among others, the Investment Manager, the Distributor, the Transfer Agent and the Fund’s custodian. The Fund’s Service Provider Contracts are solely among the parties thereto. Shareholders are not parties to, or intended to be third-party beneficiaries of, any Service Provider Contracts. Further, this prospectus, the SAI and any Service Provider Contracts are not intended to give rise to any agreement, duty, special relationship or other obligation between the
| Prospectus 2021 | 17 |
Columbia Contrarian Core Fund
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(continued)
Fund and any investor, or give rise to any contractual, tort or other rights in any individual shareholder, group of shareholders or other person, including any right to assert a fiduciary or other duty, enforce the Service Provider Contracts against the parties or to seek any remedy thereunder, either directly or on behalf of the Fund. Nothing in the previous sentence should be read to suggest any waiver of any rights under federal or state securities laws.
The Investment Manager, the Distributor, and the Transfer Agent are all affiliates of Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (Ameriprise Financial). They and their affiliates currently provide key services, including investment advisory, administration, distribution, shareholder servicing and transfer agency services, to the Fund and various other funds, including the Columbia Funds, and are paid for providing these services. These service relationships are described below.
The Investment Manager
Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC is located at 225 Franklin Street, Boston, MA 02110 and serves as investment adviser and administrator to the Columbia Funds. The Investment Manager is a registered investment adviser and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ameriprise Financial. The Investment Manager’s management experience covers all major asset classes, including equity securities, debt instruments and money market instruments. In addition to serving as an investment adviser to traditional mutual funds, exchange-traded funds and closed-end funds, the Investment Manager acts as an investment adviser for itself, its affiliates, individuals, corporations, retirement plans, private investment companies and financial intermediaries.
Subject to oversight by the Board, the Investment Manager manages the day-to-day operations of the Fund, determining what securities and other investments the Fund should buy or sell and executing portfolio transactions. The Investment Manager may use the research and other capabilities of its affiliates and third parties in managing the Fund’s investments. The Investment Manager is also responsible for overseeing the administrative operations of the Fund, including the general supervision of the Fund’s operations, the coordination of the Fund’s other service providers and the provision of related clerical and administrative services.
The SEC has issued an order that permits the Investment Manager, subject to the approval of the Board, to appoint unaffiliated subadvisers by entering into subadvisory agreements with them, and to change in material respects the terms of those subadvisory agreements, including the fees paid thereunder, for the Fund without first obtaining shareholder approval, thereby avoiding the expense and delays typically associated with obtaining shareholder approval. The Fund furnishes shareholders with information about new subadvisers retained in reliance on the order within 90 days after hiring the subadviser. The Investment Manager and its affiliates may have other relationships, including significant financial relationships, with current or potential subadvisers or their affiliates, which may create certain conflicts of interest. When making recommendations to the Board to appoint or to change a subadviser, or to change the terms of a subadvisory agreement, the Investment Manager discloses to the Board the nature of any such material relationships. At present, the Investment Manager has not engaged any investment subadviser for the Fund.
The Fund pays the Investment Manager a fee for its management services, which include investment advisory services and administrative services. The fee is calculated as a percentage of the daily net assets of the Fund and is paid monthly. For the Fund’s most recent fiscal year, management services fees paid to the Investment Manager by the Fund amounted to 0.62% of average daily net assets of the Fund, before any applicable reimbursements.
A discussion regarding the basis for the Board’s approval of the renewal of the Fund's management agreement is available in the Fund’s annual report to shareholders for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2020.
Portfolio Manager
Information about the portfolio manager primarily responsible for overseeing the Fund’s investments is shown below. The SAI provides additional information about the portfolio manager, including information relating to compensation, other accounts managed by the portfolio manager, and ownership by the portfolio manager of Fund shares.
|
Portfolio Manager
|
Title
|
Role with Fund
|
Managed Fund Since
|
|||
| Guy Pope, CFA | Senior Portfolio Manager and Head of Contrarian Core Strategy | Portfolio Manager | 2005 |
| 18 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Contrarian Core Fund
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Mr. Pope
joined one of the Columbia Management legacy firms or acquired business lines in 1993. Mr. Pope began his investment career in 1993 and earned a B.A. from Colorado College and an M.B.A. from Northwestern University.
The Distributor
Shares of the Fund are distributed by Columbia Management Investment Distributors, Inc., which is located at 225 Franklin Street, Boston, MA 02110. The Distributor is a registered broker-dealer and an indirect, wholly-owned subsidiary of Ameriprise Financial. The Distributor and its affiliates may pay commissions, distribution and service fees and/or other compensation to entities, including Ameriprise Financial affiliates, for selling shares and providing services to investors.
The Transfer Agent
Columbia Management Investment Services Corp. is a registered transfer agent and wholly-owned subsidiary of Ameriprise Financial. The Transfer Agent is located at 225 Franklin Street, Boston, MA 02110, and its responsibilities include processing purchases, redemptions and exchanges of Fund shares, calculating and paying distributions, maintaining shareholder records, preparing account statements and providing customer service. The Transfer Agent has engaged DST Asset Manager Solutions, Inc. to provide various shareholder or “sub-transfer agency” services. In addition, the Transfer Agent enters into agreements with various financial intermediaries through which you may hold Fund shares, pursuant to which the Transfer Agent pays these financial intermediaries for providing certain shareholder services. Depending on the type of account, the Fund pays the Transfer Agent a per account fee or a fee based on the assets invested through omnibus accounts, and reimburses the Transfer Agent for certain out-of-pocket expenses, including certain payments to financial intermediaries through which shares are held.
Other Roles and Relationships of Ameriprise Financial and its Affiliates — Certain Conflicts of Interest
The Investment Manager, Distributor and Transfer Agent, all affiliates of Ameriprise Financial, provide various services to the Fund and other Columbia Funds for which they are compensated. Ameriprise Financial and its other affiliates may also provide other services to these funds and be compensated for them.
The Investment Manager and its affiliates may provide investment advisory and other services to other clients and customers substantially similar to those provided to the Columbia Funds. These activities, and other financial services activities of Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates, may present actual and potential conflicts of interest and introduce certain investment constraints.
Ameriprise Financial is a major financial services company, engaged in a broad range of financial activities beyond the fund-related activities of the Investment Manager, including, among others, insurance, broker-dealer (sales and trading), asset management, banking and other financial activities. These additional activities may involve multiple advisory, financial, insurance and other interests in securities and other instruments, and in companies that issue securities and other instruments, that may be bought, sold or held by the Columbia Funds.
Conflicts of interest and limitations that could affect a Columbia Fund may arise from, for example, the following:
| ■ | compensation and other benefits received by the Investment Manager and other Ameriprise Financial affiliates related to the management/administration of a Columbia Fund and the sale of its shares; |
| ■ | the allocation of, and competition for, investment opportunities among the Fund, other funds and accounts advised/managed by the Investment Manager and other Ameriprise Financial affiliates, or Ameriprise Financial itself and its affiliates; |
| ■ | separate and potentially divergent management of a Columbia Fund and other funds and accounts advised/managed by the Investment Manager and other Ameriprise Financial affiliates; |
| ■ | regulatory and other investment restrictions on investment activities of the Investment Manager and other Ameriprise Financial affiliates and accounts advised/managed by them; |
| ■ | insurance and other relationships of Ameriprise Financial affiliates with companies and other entities in which a Columbia Fund invests; and |
| Prospectus 2021 | 19 |
Columbia Contrarian Core Fund
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
| ■ | regulatory and other restrictions relating to the sharing of information between Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates, including the Investment Manager, and a Columbia Fund. |
The Investment Manager and Ameriprise Financial have adopted various policies and procedures that are intended to identify, monitor and address conflicts of interest. However, there is no assurance that these policies, procedures and disclosures will be effective.
Additional information about Ameriprise Financial and the types of conflicts of interest and other matters referenced above is set forth in the
section of the SAI. Investors in the Columbia Funds should carefully review these disclosures and consult with their financial advisor if they have any questions.
Investment Management and Other Services — Other Roles and Relationships of Ameriprise Financial and its Affiliates — Certain Conflicts of Interest
Certain Legal Matters
Ameriprise Financial and certain of its affiliates have historically been involved in a number of legal, arbitration and regulatory proceedings, including routine litigation, class actions and governmental actions, concerning matters arising in connection with the conduct of their business activities. Ameriprise Financial believes that the Fund is not currently the subject of, and that neither Ameriprise Financial nor any of its affiliates are the subject of, any pending legal, arbitration or regulatory proceedings that are likely to have a material adverse effect on the Fund or the ability of Ameriprise Financial or its affiliates to perform under their contracts with the Fund. Information regarding certain pending and settled legal proceedings may be found in the Fund’s shareholder reports and in the SAI. Additionally, Ameriprise Financial is required to make quarterly (10-Q), annual (10-K) and, as necessary, 8-K filings with the SEC on legal and regulatory matters that relate to Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates. Copies of these filings may be obtained by accessing the SEC website at sec.gov.
| 20 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Contrarian Core Fund
Choosing a Share Class
The Funds
The Columbia Funds (referred to as the Funds) generally share the same policies and procedures for investor services, as described below. Each Fund is a series of Columbia Funds Series Trust (CFST), Columbia Funds Series Trust I (CFST I) or Columbia Funds Series Trust II (CFST II), and certain features of distribution and/or service plans may differ among these trusts. The Fund offered by this prospectus is a series of CFST I. Columbia Funds with names that include the words “Tax-Exempt” or “Municipal” (the Tax-Exempt Funds) have certain policies that differ from other Columbia Funds (the Taxable Funds). The Fund offered by this prospectus is treated as a Taxable Fund for these purposes.
Funds Contact Information
Additional information about the Funds, including sales charges and other class features and policies, can be obtained, free of charge, at columbiathreadneedleus.com,* by calling toll-free 800.345.6611, or by writing (regular mail) to Columbia Management Investment Services Corp., P.O. Box 219104, Kansas City, MO 64121-9104 or (express mail) Columbia Management Investment Services Corp., c/o DST Asset Manager Solutions, Inc., 430 W 7
th
Street, Ste 219104, Kansas City, MO 64105-1407.
| * | The website references in this prospectus are inactive links and information contained in or otherwise accessible through the referenced websites does not form a part of this prospectus. |
FUNDamentals
Financial Intermediaries
The term “financial intermediary” refers to the selling and servicing agents that are authorized to sell and/or service shares of the Funds. Financial intermediaries include broker-dealers and financial advisors as well as firms that employ broker-dealers and financial advisors, including, for example, brokerage firms, banks, investment advisers, third party administrators and other firms in the financial services industry.
Omnibus Accounts
The term “omnibus account” refers to a financial intermediary’s account with the Fund (held directly through the Transfer Agent) that represents the combined holdings of, and transactions in, Fund shares of one or more clients of the financial intermediary (beneficial Fund shareholders). Omnibus accounts are held in the name of the financial intermediaries and not in the name of the beneficial Fund shareholders invested in the Fund through omnibus accounts.
Retirement Plans and Omnibus Retirement Plans
The term “retirement plan” refers to retirement plans created under Sections 401(a), 401(k), 457 and 403(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the Code), and non-qualified deferred compensation plans governed by Section 409A of the Code and similar plans, but does not refer to individual retirement plans, such as traditional IRAs and Roth IRAs. The term “omnibus retirement plan” refers to a retirement plan that has a plan-level or omnibus account with the Transfer Agent.
Networked Accounts
Networking, offered by the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation’s Wealth Management Services (WMS), is the industry standard IT system for mutual fund account reconciliation and dividend processing.
Summary of Share Class Features
Each share class has its own investment eligibility criteria, cost structure and other features. You may not be eligible to invest in every share class. Your financial intermediary may not make every share class available or may cease to make available one or more share classes of the Fund. The share class you select through your financial intermediary may have higher fees and/or sales charges than other classes of shares available through other financial intermediaries. An investor transacting in a class of Fund shares without any front-end sales charge, contingent deferred sales charge (CDSC), or other asset-based fee for sales or distribution, such as a Rule 12b-1
| Prospectus 2021 | 21 |
Columbia Contrarian Core Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
fee, may be required to pay a commission to the financial intermediary for effecting such transactions. Each investor’s personal situation is different and you may wish to discuss with your financial intermediary the share classes the Fund offers, which share classes are available to you and which share class(es) is/are appropriate for you. In all instances, it is your responsibility to notify your financial intermediary or (for Direct-at-Fund Accounts, as defined below) the Fund at the time of purchase of any relationship or other facts that may qualify you for sales charge waivers or discounts. The Fund, the Distributor and the Transfer Agent do not provide investment advice or make recommendations regarding Fund share classes. Your financial intermediary may provide advice and recommendations to you, such as which share class(es) is/are appropriate for you.
When deciding which class of shares to buy, you should consider, among other things:
| ■ | The amount you plan to invest. |
| ■ | How long you intend to remain invested in the Fund. |
| ■ | The fees (e.g., sales charge or “load”) and expenses for each share class. |
| ■ | Whether you may be eligible for a reduction or waiver of sales charges when you buy or sell shares. |
FUNDamentals
Front-End Sales Charge Calculation
The front-end sales charge is calculated as a percentage of the offering price.
| ■ | The net asset value (NAV) per share is the price of a share calculated by the Fund every business day. |
| ■ | The offering price per share is the NAV per share plus any front-end sales charge (or load) that applies. |
The dollar amount of any applicable front-end sales charge is the difference between the offering price of the shares you buy and the NAV of those shares. To determine the front-end sales charge you will pay when you buy Class A and Class V shares, the Fund will add the amount of your investment to the value of your account (and any other accounts eligible for aggregation of which you or your financial intermediary notifies the Fund) and base the sales charge on the aggregate amount. For information on account value aggregation, sales charge waivers and other important information, see
.
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
FUNDamentals
Contingent Deferred Sales Charge
A contingent deferred sales charge (CDSC) is a sales charge applied at the time you sell your shares, unlike a front-end sales charge that is applied at the time of purchase. A CDSC can vary based on the length of time that you have held your shares. A CDSC is applied to the NAV at the time of your purchase or sale, whichever is lower, and will not be applied to any shares you receive through Fund distribution reinvestments or any amount that represents appreciation in the value of your shares. For purposes of calculating a CDSC, the start of the holding period is generally the first day of the month in which your purchase was made.
When you place an order to sell shares of a class that has a CDSC, the Fund will first redeem any shares that are not subject to a CDSC, followed by those you have held the longest. This means that if a CDSC is imposed, you cannot designate the individual shares being redeemed for U.S. federal income tax purposes. You should consult your tax advisor about the tax consequences of investing in the Fund. In certain circumstances, the CDSC may not apply. See
for details.
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
| 22 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Contrarian Core Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
Share Class Features
The following summarizes the primary features of Class A, Class Adv, Class C, Class Inst, Class Inst2, Class Inst3, Class R, and Class V shares.
Not all Funds offer every class of shares. The Fund offers the class(es) of shares set forth on the cover of this prospectus and may offer other share classes through a separate prospectus. Although certain share classes are generally closed to new and/or existing investors, information relating to these share classes is included in the table below because certain qualifying purchase orders are permitted, as described below.
The sales charge reductions and waivers available to investors who purchase and hold their Fund shares through different financial intermediaries may vary.
describes financial intermediary-specific reductions and/or waiver policies. A shareholder transacting in Fund shares through a financial intermediary identified in
should carefully read the terms and conditions of
. A reduction and/or waiver that is specific to a particular financial intermediary is not available to Direct-at-Fund Accounts, as defined below, or through another financial intermediary. The information in
may be provided by, or compiled from or based on information provided by the financial intermediaries identified in
. To obtain additional information regarding any sales charge reduction and/or waiver described in
, and to ensure that you receive any such reductions or waivers that may be available to you, please consult your financial intermediary.
Appendix A
Appendix A
Appendix A
Appendix A
Appendix A
Appendix A
|
Share Class
|
Eligible Investors
(a)
;
Minimum Initial Investments
(b)
;
Conversion Features
(c)
|
Front-End
Sales Charges
(d)
|
Contingent Deferred
Sales Charges (CDSCs)
(d)
|
Sales Charge
Reductions/Waivers |
Maximum Distribution
and/or Service Fees
(e)
|
| Class A |
Eligibility:
Available to the general public for investment
(f)
$2,000 ($1,000 for IRAs; $100 for systematic investment plan accounts)
|
Taxable Funds:
5.75% maximum, declining to 0.00% on investments of $1 million or more
3.00% maximum, declining to 0.00% on investments of $500,000 or more
None for Columbia Government Money Market Fund and certain other Funds
(g)
|
Taxable Funds
(g)
:
CDSC on certain investments of between $1 million and $50 million redeemed within 18 months after purchase charged as follows:
• 1.00% CDSC if redeemed within 12 months after purchase, and
• 0.50% CDSC if redeemed more than 12, but less than 18, months after purchase
(g)
:
Maximum CDSC of 0.75% on certain investments of $500,000 or more redeemed within 12 months after purchase
|
Reductions
: Yes, see
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges – Class A and Class V Shares Front-End Sales Charge Reductions
: Yes, on Fund distribution reinvestments. For additional waivers, see
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges – Class A and Class V Shares Front-End Sales Charge Waivers
, as well as
Choosing a Share Class — CDSC Waivers – Class A, Class C and Class V
Financial intermediary-specific waivers are also available, see
Appendix A
|
Distribution and Service
Fees:
up to 0.25%
|
|
Class
Adv |
Eligibility:
Available only to (i) omnibus retirement plans, including self-directed brokerage accounts within omnibus retirement plans that clear through institutional no transaction fee (NTF) platforms; (ii) trust companies or
|
None | None | N/A | None |
| Prospectus 2021 | 23 |
Columbia Contrarian Core Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
| Share Class |
Eligible Investors
(a)
;
Minimum Initial Investments
(b)
;
Conversion Features
(c)
|
Front-End
Sales Charges
(d)
|
Contingent Deferred
Sales Charges (CDSCs)
(d)
|
Sales Charge
Reductions/Waivers |
Maximum Distribution
and/or Service Fees
(e)
|
|
similar institutions; (iii) broker-dealers, banks, trust companies and similar institutions that clear Fund share transactions for their client or customer investment advisory or similar accounts through designated financial intermediaries and their mutual fund trading platforms that have been granted specific written authorization from the Transfer Agent with respect to Class Adv eligibility apart from selling, servicing or similar agreements; (iv) 501(c)(3) charitable organizations; (v) 529 plans; (vi) health savings accounts; (vii) investors participating in a fee-based advisory program sponsored by a financial intermediary or other entity that is not compensated by the Fund for those services, other than payments for shareholder servicing or sub-accounting performed in place of the Transfer Agent; and (viii) commissionable brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary, acting as broker on behalf of its customer, charges the customer a commission for effecting transactions in Fund shares, provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Adv shares within such platform.
(f)
Minimum Initial Investment:
None, except in the case of (viii) above, which is $2,000 ($1,000 for IRAs; $100 for systematic investment plan accounts)
|
|||||
| Class C |
Eligibility:
Available to the general public for investment
$2,000 ($1,000 for IRAs; $100 for systematic investment plan accounts)
$499,999
(h)
, none for omnibus retirement plans
$999,999
(h)
; none for omnibus retirement plans
: Yes, Class C shares generally automatically convert to Class A shares of the same Fund in the month of or the month following the 10-year
|
None |
1.00% on certain investments redeemed within one year of purchase
(i)
|
Waivers
: Yes, on Fund distribution reinvestments. For additional waivers, see
Choosing a Share Class – CDSC Waivers – Class A, Class C and Class V
Financial intermediary-specific CDSC waivers are also available, see
Appendix A
|
Distribution Fee:
0.75%
0.25%
|
| 24 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Contrarian Core Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
| Share Class |
Eligible Investors
(a)
;
Minimum Initial Investments
(b)
;
Conversion Features
(c)
|
Front-End
Sales Charges
(d)
|
Contingent Deferred
Sales Charges (CDSCs)
(d)
|
Sales Charge
Reductions/Waivers |
Maximum Distribution
and/or Service Fees
(e)
|
|
anniversary of the Class C shares purchase date.
(c)
|
|||||
|
Class
Inst |
Eligibility:
Available only to certain eligible investors, which are subject to different minimum investment requirements, ranging from $0 to $2,000, including investors who purchase Fund shares through commissionable brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary holds the shares in an omnibus account and, acting as broker on behalf of its customer, charges the customer a commission for effecting transactions in Fund shares, provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst shares within such platform; closed to (i) accounts of financial intermediaries that clear Fund share transactions for their client or customer accounts through designated financial intermediaries and their mutual fund trading platforms that have been given specific written notice from the Transfer Agent of the termination of their eligibility for new purchases of Class Inst shares and (ii) omnibus group retirement plans, subject to certain exceptions
(f)(j)
See
Eligibility
above
|
None | None | N/A | None |
|
Class
Inst2 |
Eligibility:
Available only to (i) certain registered investment advisers and family offices that clear Fund share transactions for their client or customer accounts through designated financial intermediaries and their mutual fund trading platforms that have been granted specific written authorization from the Transfer Agent with respect to Class Inst2 eligibility apart from selling, servicing or similar agreements; (ii) omnibus retirement plans
(j)
; and (iii) institutional investors that are clients of the Columbia Threadneedle Global Institutional Distribution Team that invest in Class Inst2 shares for their own account through platforms approved by the Distributor or an affiliate thereof to offer and/or service Class Inst2 shares within such platform.
None
|
None | None | N/A | None |
| Prospectus 2021 | 25 |
Columbia Contrarian Core Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
| Share Class |
Eligible Investors
(a)
;
Minimum Initial Investments
(b)
;
Conversion Features
(c)
|
Front-End
Sales Charges
(d)
|
Contingent Deferred
Sales Charges (CDSCs)
(d)
|
Sales Charge
Reductions/Waivers |
Maximum Distribution
and/or Service Fees
(e)
|
|
Class
Inst3 |
Eligibility:
Available to (i) group retirement plans that maintain plan-level or omnibus accounts with the Fund
(j)
; (ii) institutional investors that are clients of the Columbia Threadneedle Global Institutional Distribution Team that invest in Class Inst3 shares for their own account through platforms approved by the Distributor or an affiliate thereof to offer and/or service Class Inst3 shares within such platform; (iii) collective trust funds; (iv) affiliated or unaffiliated mutual funds (e.g., funds operating as funds-of-funds); (v) fee-based platforms of financial intermediaries (or the clearing intermediary they trade through) that have an agreement with the Distributor or an affiliate thereof that specifically authorizes the financial intermediary to offer and/or service Class Inst3 shares within such platform, provided also that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account; (vi) commissionable brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary, acting as broker on behalf of its customer, charges the customer a commission for effecting transactions in Fund shares, provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst3 shares within such platform and that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account; and (vii) bank trust departments, subject to an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst3 shares and provided that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account. In each case above where noted that Fund shares are required to be held in an omnibus account, the Distributor may, in its discretion, determine to waive this requirement.
(f)
No minimum for the eligible investors described in (i), (iii), (iv), (v), and (vii) above; $2,000 ($1,000 for IRAs; $100 for systematic investment plan accounts) for the eligible investors described in (vi) above; and $1 million for all other eligible investors, unless waived in the discretion of the Distributor
|
None | None | N/A | None |
| Class R |
Eligibility:
Available only to eligible retirement plans, health savings
|
None | None | N/A | Series of CFST & CFST I: |
| 26 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Contrarian Core Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
| Share Class |
Eligible Investors
(a)
;
Minimum Initial Investments
(b)
;
Conversion Features
(c)
|
Front-End
Sales Charges
(d)
|
Contingent Deferred
Sales Charges (CDSCs)
(d)
|
Sales Charge
Reductions/Waivers |
Maximum Distribution
and/or Service Fees
(e)
|
|
accounts and, in the sole discretion of the Distributor, other types of retirement accounts held through platforms maintained by financial intermediaries approved by the Distributor
Minimum Initial Investment:
None
|
distribution fee of 0.50%
Series of CFST II:
distribution and service fee of 0.50%, of which the service fee may be up to 0.25%
|
||||
| Class V |
Eligibility:
Generally closed to new investors
(j)
N/A
|
5.75% maximum, declining to 0.00% on investments of $1 million or more |
CDSC on certain investments of between $1 million and $50 million redeemed within 18 months after purchase, charged as follows:
|
Reductions
: Yes, see
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges – Class A and Class V Shares Front-End Sales Charge Reductions
: Yes, on Fund distribution reinvestments.
For additional waivers, see
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges – Class A and Class V Shares Front-End Sales Charge Waivers
, as well as
Choosing a Share Class — CDSC Waivers – Class A, Class C and Class V
|
Service Fee:
up to 0.50%
|
| (a) | For Columbia Government Money Market Fund, new investments must be made in Class A, Class Inst, Class Inst3, or Class R shares, subject to eligibility. Class C shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund are available as a new investment only to investors in the Distributor's proprietary 401(k) products, provided that such investor is eligible to invest in the class and transact directly with the Fund or the Transfer Agent through a third party administrator or third party recordkeeper. Columbia Government Money Market Fund offers Class Inst2 shares only to facilitate exchanges with other Funds offering such share class. |
| (b) |
Certain share classes are subject to minimum account balance requirements, as described in
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares — Transaction Rules and Policies.
|
| (c) |
For more information on the conversion of Class C shares to Class A shares, see
Choosing a Share Class - Sales Charges and Commissions - Class C Shares - Conversion to Class A Shares
.
|
| (d) |
Actual front-end sales charges and CDSCs vary among the Funds. For more information on applicable sales charges, see
Choosing a Share Class — Sales Charges and Commissions,
and for information about certain exceptions to these sales charges, see
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges.
|
| (e) |
These are the maximum applicable distribution and/or service fees. Except for Class V shares, these fees are paid under the Fund’s Rule 12b-1 plan. Fee rates and fee components (i.e., the portion of a combined fee that is a distribution or service fee) may vary among Funds. Because these fees are paid out of Fund assets on an ongoing basis, over time these fees will increase the cost of your investment and may cost you more than paying other types of distribution and/or service fees. Although Class A shares of certain series of CFST I are subject to a combined distribution and service fee of up to 0.35%, these Funds currently limit the combined fee to 0.25%. Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund pays a distribution and service fee of up to 0.15% on Class A shares. Columbia Government Money Market Fund pays a distribution and service fee of up to 0.10% on Class A shares and up to 0.75% distribution fee on Class C shares. Columbia High Yield Municipal Fund, Columbia Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund and Columbia Tax-Exempt Fund each pay a service fee of up to 0.20% on Class A and Class C shares. Columbia Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund pays a distribution fee of up to 0.65% on Class C shares. For more information on distribution and service fees, see
Choosing a Share Class — Distribution and Service Fees.
|
| (f) | Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund must be purchased through financial intermediaries that, by written agreement with the Distributor, are specifically authorized to sell the Fund’s shares. Class Adv shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund are also available to certain registered investment advisers that clear Fund share transactions for their client accounts through designated financial intermediaries with mutual fund trading platforms that have been granted specific written authorization from the Transfer Agent (apart from selling, servicing or similar agreements) to sell Class Inst2 shares, which are not offered by the Fund. Class Inst3 shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund that were open and funded accounts prior to November 30, 2018 (the conversion date from the former unnamed share class to Class Inst3 shares) are eligible for additional investment; however, any account established after that date must meet the current Class Inst3 eligibility requirements. |
| Prospectus 2021 | 27 |
Columbia Contrarian Core Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
| (g) | For Columbia Short Term Municipal Bond Fund, a CDSC of 0.50% is charged on certain investments of $500,000 or more redeemed within 12 months after purchase. The following Funds are not subject to a front-end sales charge or a CDSC on Class A shares: Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund, Columbia Small Cap Index Fund, Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund and Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund. |
| (h) |
If you are eligible to invest in Class A shares without a front-end sales charge, you should discuss your options with your financial intermediary. For more information, see
Choosing a Share Class – Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges.
|
| (i) | There is no CDSC on redemptions from Class C shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund. |
| (j) |
These share classes are closed to new accounts, or closed to previously eligible investors, subject to certain conditions, as summarized below and described in more detail under
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares — Buying Shares — Eligible Investors:
|
•
Class Inst Shares
. Financial intermediaries that clear Fund share transactions through designated financial intermediaries and their mutual fund trading platforms that have been given specific written notice from the Transfer Agent, effective March 29, 2013, of the termination of their eligibility for new purchases of Class Inst shares and omnibus retirement plans are not permitted to establish new Class Inst accounts, subject to certain exceptions. Omnibus retirement plans that opened and, subject to exceptions, funded a Class Inst account as of close of business on March 28, 2013, and have continuously held Class Inst shares in such account after such date, may generally continue to make additional purchases of Class Inst shares, open new Class Inst accounts and add new participants. In certain circumstances and in the sole discretion of the Distributor, omnibus retirement plans affiliated with a grandfathered plan may also open new Class Inst accounts. Accounts of financial intermediaries (other than omnibus retirement plans) that clear Fund share transactions for their client or customer accounts through designated financial intermediaries and their mutual fund trading platforms are not permitted to establish new Class Inst accounts or make additional purchases of Class Inst shares (other than through Fund distribution reinvestments).
•
Class Inst2 Shares
. Shareholders with Class Inst2 accounts funded before November 8, 2012 who do not satisfy the current eligibility criteria for Class Inst2 shares may not establish new Class Inst2 accounts but may continue to make additional purchases of Class Inst2 shares in existing accounts. In addition, investment advisory programs and similar programs that opened a Class Inst2 account as of May 1, 2010, and continuously hold Class Inst2 shares in such account after such date, may generally not only continue to make additional purchases of Class Inst2 shares but also open new Class Inst2 accounts and add new shareholders in the program.
•
Class Inst3 Shares
. Shareholders with Class Inst3 accounts funded before November 8, 2012 who do not satisfy the current eligibility criteria for Class Inst3 shares may not establish new accounts for such share class but may continue to make additional purchases of Class Inst3 shares in existing accounts.
•
with Class V accounts who received, and have continuously held, Class V shares (formerly named Class T shares) in connection with the merger of certain Galaxy funds into certain Funds that were then named Liberty funds may continue to make additional purchases of such share class.
Class V Shares.
Shareholders
Sales Charges and Commissions
Sales charges, commissions, and distribution fees compensate financial intermediaries (typically your financial advisor) for selling shares to you, and service fees compensate financial intermediaries for maintaining and servicing the shares held in your account with them. Distribution and service fees are discussed in a separate sub-section below. Depending on which share class you choose and the financial intermediary through which you purchase your shares, you may pay these charges at potentially different levels at the outset as a front-end sales charge, at the time you sell your shares as a CDSC and/or over time in the form of distribution and/or service fees.
As described in more detail below, Class A and Class V shares have a front-end sales charge, which is deducted from your purchase price when you buy your shares, and results in a smaller dollar amount being invested in the Fund than the purchase price you pay (unless you qualify for a waiver or reduction of the sales charge). The Fund’s other share classes do not have a front-end sales charge, so the full amount of your purchase price is invested in those classes. Class A and Class V shares have lower ongoing distribution and/or service fees than Class C and Class R shares of the Fund. Over time, Class C and Class R shares can incur distribution and/or service fees that are equal to or more than the front-end sales charge and the distribution and/or service fees you would pay for Class A and Class V shares. Although the full amount of your purchase price of Class C and Class R shares is invested in a Fund, your return on this money will be reduced by the expected higher annual expenses of Class C and Class R shares. In this regard, note that Class C shares will generally automatically convert to Class A shares of the same Fund in the month of or the month following the 10-year anniversary of the Class C shares purchase date. The Fund may convert Class C shares held through a financial intermediary to Class A shares sooner in connection with the withdrawal of Class C shares of the Fund from the financial intermediary’s platform or accounts. No sales charge or other charges will apply in connection with such conversions, and conversions are free from U.S. federal income tax. Once your Class C shares convert to Class A shares, your total returns from an investment in the Fund may increase as a result of the lower operating costs of Class A shares. Class Adv, Class Inst, Class Inst2 and Class Inst3 shares of the Fund do not have distribution and/or service fees.
| 28 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Contrarian Core Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
Whether the ultimate cost is higher for one share class over another depends on the amount you invest, how long you hold your shares, the fees (i.e., sales charges) and expenses of the class and whether you are eligible for reduced or waived sales charges, if available. You are responsible for choosing the share class most appropriate for you after taking into account your share class eligibility, class-specific features, and any applicable reductions in, or waivers of, sales charges. For more information, see
Choosing a Share Class – Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
. We encourage you to consult with a financial advisor who can help you with your investment decisions. Please contact your financial intermediary for more information about services, fees and expenses, and other important information about investing in the Fund, as well as with any questions you may have about your investing options. In all instances, it is your responsibility to notify your financial intermediary or (for Direct-at-Fund Accounts, as defined below) the Fund at the time of purchase of any relationship or other facts that may qualify you for sales charge waivers or discounts.
Class A Shares — Front-End Sales Charge
Unless your purchase qualifies for a waiver (e.g., you buy the shares through reinvested Fund dividends or distributions or subject to an applicable financial intermediary-specific waiver), you will pay a front-end sales charge when you buy Class A shares (other than shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund, Columbia Small Cap Index Fund, Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund and Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund), resulting in a smaller dollar amount being invested in a Fund than the purchase price you pay. The Class A shares sales charge is waived on Class C shares converted to Class A shares. For more information about sales charge waivers and reduction opportunities, see
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
and
Appendix A.
The Distributor receives the sales charge and re-allows (or pays) a portion of the sales charge to the financial intermediary through which you purchased the shares. The Distributor retains the balance of the sales charge. The Distributor retains the full sales charge you pay when you purchase shares of the Fund directly from the Fund (through the Transfer Agent, rather than through a financial intermediary).
The front-end sales charge you will pay on Class A shares:
| ■ | depends on the amount you are investing (generally, the larger the investment, the smaller the percentage sales charge), and |
| ■ | is based on the total amount of your purchase and the value of your account (and any other accounts eligible for aggregation of which you or your financial intermediary notifies the Fund). |
The table below presents the front-end sales charge as a percentage of both the offering price and the net amount invested.
| Prospectus 2021 | 29 |
Columbia Contrarian Core Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
| Class A Shares — Front-End Sales Charge — Breakpoint Schedule* | ||||
| Breakpoint Schedule For: |
Dollar amount of
shares bought
(a)
|
Sales
charge as a % of the offering price
(b)
|
Sales
charge as a % of the net amount invested
(b)
|
Amount
retained by or paid to financial intermediaries as a % of the offering price |
|
Fixed Income Funds (except those listed below),
Columbia Multi-Asset Income Fund and Funds-of-Funds (fixed income)* |
$
|
4.75% | 4.99% | 4.00% |
|
$
|
4.25% | 4.44% | 3.50% | |
| $100,000–$249,999 | 3.50% | 3.63% | 3.00% | |
| $250,000–$499,999 | 2.50% | 2.56% | 2.15% | |
| $500,000–$999,999 | 2.00% | 2.04% | 1.75% | |
|
$
|
0.00% | 0.00% |
0.00%
(c)
|
|
| Tax-Exempt Funds (other than Columbia Short Term Municipal Bond Fund) |
$
|
3.00% | 3.09% | 2.50% |
| $100,000–$249,999 | 2.50% | 2.56% | 2.15% | |
| $250,000–$499,999 | 1.50 % | 1.53% | 1.25% | |
|
$
|
0.00% | 0.00% |
0.00%
(c)
|
|
|
Columbia Floating Rate Fund,
Columbia Limited Duration Credit Fund, Columbia Mortgage Opportunities Fund, Columbia Quality Income Fund, and Columbia Total Return Bond Fund |
$
|
3.00% | 3.09% | 2.50% |
| $100,000–$249,999 | 2.50% | 2.56% | 2.15% | |
| $250,000–$499,999 | 2.00% | 2.04% | 1.75% | |
| $500,000–$999,999 | 1.50% | 1.52% | 1.25% | |
|
$
|
0.00% | 0.00% |
0.00%
(c)
|
|
| Columbia Short Term Bond Fund |
$
|
1.00% | 1.01% | 0.75% |
| $100,000–$249,999 | 0.75% | 0.76% | 0.50% | |
| $250,000–$999,999 | 0.50% | 0.50% | 0.40% | |
|
$
|
0.00% | 0.00% |
0.00%
(c)
|
|
| Columbia Short Term Municipal Bond Fund |
$
|
1.00% | 1.01% | 0.75% |
| $100,000–$249,999 | 0.75% | 0.76% | 0.50% | |
| $250,000–$499,999 | 0.50% | 0.50% | 0.40% | |
|
$
|
0.00% | 0.00% |
0.00%
(c)
|
|
| * |
The following Funds are not subject to a front-end sales charge or CDSC on Class A shares: Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund, Columbia Small Cap Index Fund, Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund and Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund.
"Funds-of-Funds (equity)"
includes Columbia Capital Allocation Aggressive Portfolio, Columbia Capital Allocation Moderate Aggressive Portfolio, Columbia Capital Allocation Moderate Conservative Portfolio and Columbia Capital Allocation Moderate Portfolio
. "Funds-of-Funds (fixed income)"
includes Columbia Capital Allocation Conservative Portfolio and Columbia Income Builder Fund. Columbia Balanced Fund, Columbia Flexible Capital Income Fund and Columbia Global Opportunities Fund are treated as equity Funds for purposes of the table.
|
| (a) |
Purchase amounts and account values may be aggregated among all eligible Fund accounts for the purposes of this table. See
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
for a discussion of account value aggregation.
|
| (b) | Because the offering price is calculated to two decimal places, the dollar amount of the sales charge as a percentage of the offering price and your net amount invested for any particular purchase of Fund shares may be higher or lower depending on whether downward or upward rounding was required during the calculation process. Purchase price includes the sales charge. |
| (c) |
For information regarding cumulative commissions paid to your financial intermediary when you buy $1 million or more of Class A shares of a Taxable Fund or $500,000 or more of Class A shares of a Tax-Exempt Fund, see
Class A Shares — Commissions
below.
|
| 30 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Contrarian Core Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
Class A Shares — CDSC
In some cases, you'll pay a CDSC if you sell Class A shares that you purchased without a front-end sales charge.
Tax-Exempt Funds
| ■ | If you purchased Class A shares of any Tax-Exempt Fund (other than Columbia Short Term Municipal Bond Fund) without paying a front-end sales charge because your eligible accounts aggregated $500,000 or more at the time of purchase, you will incur a CDSC of 0.75% if you redeem those shares within 12 months after purchase. Subsequent Class A share purchases that bring your aggregate account value to $500,000 or more will also be subject to a CDSC of 0.75% if you redeem those shares within 12 months after purchase. |
| ■ | If you purchased Class A shares of Columbia Short Term Municipal Bond Fund without paying a front-end sales charge because your eligible accounts aggregated $500,000 or more at the time of purchase, you will incur a CDSC of 0.50% if you redeem those shares within 12 months after purchase. Subsequent Class A share purchases that bring your aggregate account value to $500,000 or more will also be subject to a CDSC of 0.50% if you redeem those shares within 12 months after purchase. |
Taxable Funds
| ■ | If you purchased Class A shares of any Taxable Fund without paying a front-end sales charge because your eligible accounts aggregated between $1 million and $50 million at the time of purchase, you will incur a CDSC if you redeem those shares within 18 months after purchase, which is charged as follows: 1.00% CDSC if shares are redeemed within 12 months after purchase; and 0.50% CDSC if shares are redeemed more than 12, but less than 18, months after purchase. Subsequent Class A share purchases that bring your aggregate account value to $1 million or more (but less than $50 million) will also be subject to a CDSC if you redeem them within 18 months after purchase as described in the previous sentence. |
Class A Shares — Commissions
The Distributor may pay your financial intermediary an up-front commission when you buy Class A shares. The Distributor generally funds the commission through the applicable sales charge you paid. For more information, see
Class A Shares — Front-End Sales Charge
above
.
The Distributor may also pay your financial intermediary a cumulative commission when you buy Class A shares in amounts not subject to a front-end sales charge, according to the following schedules (assets initially purchased into Class A shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund, Columbia Small Cap Index Fund, Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund and Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund that were purchased without the application of a front-end sales charge are excluded for purposes of calculating a financial intermediary’s commission under these schedules):
| * | The commission level applies to the applicable asset level; therefore, for example, for a purchase of $5 million, the Distributor would pay a commission of 0.75% on the first $3,999,999 and 0.50% on the balance. |
| ** | The commission level on purchases of Class A shares of Columbia Short Term Municipal Bond Fund is: 0.50% on purchases of $500,000 to $19,999,999 and 0.25% on purchases of $20 million or more. |
| Prospectus 2021 | 31 |
Columbia Contrarian Core Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
| Class A Shares of Taxable Funds — Commission Schedule (Paid by the Distributor to Financial Intermediaries)* | |
| Purchase Amount |
Commission Level**
(as a % of net asset value per share) |
| $1 million – $2,999,999 | 1.00% |
| $3 million – $49,999,999 | 0.50% |
| $50 million or more | 0.25% |
| * | Not applicable to Funds that do not assess a front-end sales charge. |
| ** | The commission level applies to the applicable asset level; therefore, for example, for a purchase of $5 million, the Distributor would pay a commission of 1.00% on the first $2,999,999 and 0.50% on the balance. |
Class C Shares — Front-End Sales Charge
You do not pay a front-end sales charge when you buy Class C shares, but you may pay a CDSC when you sell Class C shares. Although Class C shares do not have a front-end sales charge, over time Class C shares can incur distribution and/or service fees that are equal to or more than the front-end sales charge and distribution and/or service fees you would pay for Class A shares. Thus, although the full amount of your purchase of Class C shares is invested in a Fund, any positive investment return on this money may be partially or fully offset by the expected higher annual expenses of Class C shares. If you are eligible to invest in Class A shares without a front-end sales charge, you should discuss your options with your financial intermediary. For more information, see
Choosing a Share Class – Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges.
Class C Shares — Conversion to Class A Shares
Class C shares of a Fund generally automatically convert to Class A shares of the same Fund in the month of or the month following the 10-year anniversary of the Class C shares purchase date. Class C shares held through a financial intermediary in an omnibus account will be converted provided that the intermediary is able to track purchases to credit individual shareholders’ holding periods. It is the financial intermediary's (and not the Fund's) responsibility to keep records and to ensure that the shareholder is credited with the proper holding period. Not all financial intermediaries are able to track purchases to credit individual shareholders' holding periods. For example, group retirement plans held through third-party intermediaries that hold Class C shares in an omnibus account may not track participant level share lot aging. Please consult with your financial intermediary about your eligibility for Class C share conversion. The Fund may convert Class C shares held through a financial intermediary to Class A shares sooner in connection with the withdrawal of Class C shares of the Fund from the financial intermediary's platform or accounts. Once your Class C shares convert to Class A shares, your total returns from an investment in the Fund may increase as a result of the lower operating costs of Class A shares.
The following rules apply to the automatic conversion of Class C shares to Class A shares:
| ■ | Class C share accounts that are Direct-at-Fund Accounts and Networked Accounts for which the Transfer Agent (and not your financial intermediary) sends you Fund account transaction confirmations and statements, convert on or about the 15th day of the month (if the 15th is not a business day, then the next business day thereafter) that they become eligible for automatic conversion provided that the Fund has records that Class C shares have been held for the requisite time period. |
| ■ | For purposes of determining the month when your Class C shares are eligible for conversion, the start of the holding period is the first day of the month in which your purchase was made. Your financial intermediary may choose a different day of the month to convert Class C shares. Please contact your financial intermediary for more information on calculating the holding period. |
| ■ | Any shares you received from reinvested distributions on these shares generally will convert to Class A shares at the same time. |
| ■ | You’ll receive the same dollar value of Class A shares as the Class C shares that were automatically converted. Class C shares that you received from an exchange of Class C shares of another Fund will convert based on the day you bought the original shares. |
| 32 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Contrarian Core Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
| ■ | No sales charge or other charges apply in connection with this automatic conversion, and conversions are free from U.S. federal income tax. |
Class C Shares — CDSC
You will pay a CDSC of 1.00% if you redeem Class C shares within 12 months of buying them unless you qualify for a waiver of the CDSC (e.g., the shares you are selling were purchased with reinvested Fund distributions). Redemptions of Class C shares are not subject to a CDSC if redeemed after 12 months. Class C shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund are not subject to a CDSC. For more information, see
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
.
Class C Shares — Commissions
Although there is no front-end sales charge when you buy Class C shares, the Distributor makes an up-front payment (which includes a sales commission and an advance of service fees) directly to your financial intermediary of up to 1.00% of the NAV per share when you buy Class C shares (except on purchases of Class C shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund). A portion of this payment may be passed along to your financial advisor. The Distributor seeks to recover this payment through fees it receives under the Fund's distribution and/or service plan during the first 12 months following the sale of Class C shares, and any applicable CDSC when you sell your shares. For more information, see
Choosing a Share Class — Distribution and Service Fees.
Class V Shares — Front-End Sales Charge
Unless you qualify for a waiver (e.g., you purchase shares through reinvested Fund distributions), you will pay a front-end sales charge when you buy Class V shares, resulting in a smaller dollar amount being invested in a Fund than the purchase price you pay. For more information about sales charge waivers (as well as sales charge reduction opportunities), see
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges.
The front-end sales charge you will pay on Class V shares:
| ■ | depends on the amount you are investing (generally, the larger the investment, the smaller the percentage sales charge), and |
| ■ | is based on the total amount of your purchase and the value of your account (and any other accounts eligible for aggregation of which you notify your financial intermediary or, in the case of Direct-at-Fund Accounts (as defined below), you notify the Fund). |
| Prospectus 2021 | 33 |
Columbia Contrarian Core Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
| Class V Shares — Front-End Sales Charge — Breakpoint Schedule | ||||
| Breakpoint Schedule For: |
Dollar amount of
shares bought
(a)
|
Sales
charge as a % of the offering price
(b)
|
Sales
charge as a % of the net amount invested
(b)
|
Amount
retained by or paid to Financial Intermediaries as a % of the offering price |
| Fixed Income Funds |
$
|
4.75% | 4.99% | 4.25% |
|
$
|
4.50% | 4.71% | 3.75% | |
| $100,000–$249,999 | 3.50% | 3.63% | 2.75% | |
| $250,000–$499,999 | 2.50% | 2.56% | 2.00% | |
| $500,000–$999,999 | 2.00% | 2.04% | 1.75% | |
|
$
|
0.00% | 0.00% |
0.00%
(c)
|
|
| (a) | Purchase amounts and account values are aggregated among all eligible Fund accounts for the purposes of this table. |
| (b) | Because the offering price is calculated to two decimal places, the dollar amount of the sales charge as a percentage of the offering price and your net amount invested for any particular purchase of Fund shares may be higher or lower depending on whether downward or upward rounding was required during the calculation process. |
| (c) |
For more information regarding cumulative commissions paid to your financial intermediary when you buy $1 million or more of Class V shares, see
Class V Shares — Commissions
below.
|
Class V Shares — CDSC
In some cases, you will pay a CDSC if you sell Class V shares that you bought without a front-end sales charge.
| ■ | If you purchased Class V shares without a front-end sales charge because your eligible accounts aggregated between $1 million and $50 million at the time of purchase, you will incur a CDSC if you redeem those shares within 18 months after purchase, which is charged as follows: 1.00% CDSC if shares are redeemed within 12 months after purchase, and 0.50% CDSC if shares are redeemed more than 12, but less than 18, months after purchase. |
| ■ | Subsequent Class V share purchases that bring your aggregate account value to $1 million or more (but less than $50 million) will also be subject to a CDSC if you redeem them within the time periods noted above. |
Class V Shares — Commissions
The Distributor may pay your financial intermediary an up-front commission when you buy Class V shares (a portion of this commission may, in turn, be paid to your financial advisor). For more information, see
Class V Shares — Front-End Sales Charge.
The Distributor may also pay your financial intermediary a cumulative commission when you buy $1 million or more of Class V shares, according to the following schedule:
|
Class V Shares
—
Commission Schedule (Paid by the Distributor to Financial Intermediaries)
|
|
|
Purchase
Amount |
Commission Level*
(as a % of net asset value per share) |
| $1 million – $2,999,999 | 1.00% |
| $3 million – $49,999,999 | 0.50% |
| $50 million or more | 0.25% |
| * | The commission level applies to the applicable asset level; therefore, for example, for a purchase of $5 million, the Distributor would pay a commission of 1.00% on the first $2,999,999 and 0.50% on the balance. |
| 34 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Contrarian Core Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
The availability of certain sales charge waivers and discounts will depend on whether you purchase your shares directly from the Fund (i.e., a Direct-at-Fund Account, as defined below) or through a financial intermediary. Financial intermediaries may have different policies and procedures regarding the availability of front-end sales charge and/or CDSC waivers. In all instances, it is your responsibility to notify your financial intermediary or (for Direct-at-Fund Accounts, as defined below) the Fund at the time of purchase of any relationship or other facts that may qualify you for sales charge waivers or discounts. In order to obtain waivers and discounts not available through a particular financial intermediary, shareholders will have to purchase Fund shares directly from the Fund (if permitted) or through a different financial intermediary. For a description of financial intermediary-specific sales charge reductions and/or waivers, see
Appendix A
.
Class A and Class V Shares Front-End Sales Charge Reductions
The Fund makes available two means of reducing the front-end sales charge that you may pay when you buy Class A shares or Class V shares of a Fund. These types of sales charge reductions are also referred to as breakpoint discounts.
First, through the right of accumulation (ROA), you may combine the value of eligible accounts (as described in the
Eligible Accounts
section below) maintained by you and members of your immediate family to reach a breakpoint discount level and apply a lower front-end sales charge to your purchase. To calculate the combined value of your eligible Fund accounts in the particular class of shares, the Fund will use the current public offering price per share. For purposes of obtaining a breakpoint discount through ROA, you may aggregate your and your “immediate family” members' ownership (as described in the
FUNDamentals
box below) of certain classes of shares held in certain account types, as described in the
Eligible Accounts
section below.
Second, by making a statement of intent to purchase additional shares (commonly referred to as a letter of intent (LOI)), you may pay a lower sales charge on all purchases of Class A shares or Class V shares made within 13 months after the date of your LOI. Your LOI must state the aggregate amount of purchases you intend to make in that 13-month period, which must be at least enough to reach the first (or next) breakpoint of the Fund. The required form of LOI may vary by financial intermediary, so please contact them directly for more information. Five percent of the purchase commitment amount will be placed in escrow. At the end of the 13-month period, the shares will be released from escrow, provided that you have invested the commitment amount. If you do not invest the commitment amount by the end of the 13 months, the remaining amount of the unpaid sales charge will be redeemed from the escrowed shares and the remaining balance released from escrow. To calculate the total value of the purchases you've made under an LOI, the Fund will use the historic cost (i.e., dollars invested and not current market value) of the shares held in each eligible account; reinvested dividends or capital gains, or purchases made through the reinstatement privilege do not count as purchases made under an LOI. For purposes of making an LOI to purchase additional shares, you may aggregate eligible shares owned by you or your immediate family members in eligible accounts, valued as of the day immediately before the initiation of your LOI.
You must request the reduced sales charge (whether through ROA or an LOI) when you buy shares. If you do not complete and file an LOI, or do not request the reduced sales charge at the time of purchase, you will not be eligible for the reduced sales charge. To obtain a breakpoint discount, you must notify your financial intermediary in writing at the time you buy your shares of each eligible account maintained by you and members of your immediate family, including accounts maintained through different financial intermediaries. You and your financial intermediary are responsible for ensuring that you receive discounts for which you are eligible. Please contact your financial intermediary with questions regarding application of the eligible discount to your account. You may be asked by your financial intermediary (or by the Fund if you hold your account directly with the Fund) for account statements or other records to verify your discount eligibility for new and subsequent purchases, including, when applicable, records for accounts opened with a different financial intermediary and records of accounts established by members of your immediate family.
The sales charge reductions available to investors who purchase and hold their Fund shares through different financial intermediaries may vary. For a description of such financial intermediary-specific sales charge reductions, see
Appendix A
.
| Prospectus 2021 | 35 |
Columbia Contrarian Core Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
FUNDamentals
Your “Immediate Family” and Account Value Aggregation
For purposes of obtaining a breakpoint discount for Class A shares or Class V shares, the value of your account will be deemed to include the value of all applicable shares in eligible Fund accounts that are held by you and your “immediate family,” which includes your spouse, domestic partner, parent, step-parent, legal guardian, child under 21, step-child under 21, father-in-law and mother-in-law, provided that you and your immediate family members share the same mailing address. Any Fund accounts linked together for account value aggregation purposes as of the close of business on September 3, 2010 will be permitted to remain linked together. Group retirement plan accounts are valued at the retirement plan level.
Eligible Accounts
The following accounts are eligible for account value aggregation as described above, provided that they are invested in Class A (excluding, in the case of Direct-at-Fund Accounts, Funds that do not assess a front-end sales charge, including Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund, Columbia Small Cap Index Fund, Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund and Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund, unless such shares were purchased via an exchange from Class A shares of a Fund on which you paid the Class A share applicable front-end sales charge), Class C, Class E, Class Inst or Class V shares of a Fund, or non-retirement plan accounts invested in Class Adv, Class Inst2 or Class Inst3 shares of a Fund: individual or joint accounts; Roth and traditional Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs); Simplified Employee Pension accounts (SEPs), Savings Investment Match Plans for Employees of Small Employers accounts (SIMPLEs) and Tax Sheltered Custodial Accounts (TSCAs); Uniform Gifts to Minors Act (UGMA)/Uniform Transfers to Minors Act (UTMA) accounts for which you, your spouse, or your domestic partner is parent or guardian of the minor child; revocable trust accounts for which you or an immediate family member, individually, is the beneficial owner/grantor; accounts held in the name of your, your spouse’s, or your domestic partner’s sole proprietorship or single owner limited liability company or S corporation; qualified retirement plan assets, provided that you are the sole owner of the business sponsoring the plan, are the sole participant (other than a spouse) in the plan, and have no intention of adding participants to the plan; and investments in wrap accounts.
The following accounts are
not eligible
for account value aggregation as described above: accounts of pension and retirement plans with multiple participants, such as 401(k) plans (which are combined to reduce the sales charge for the entire pension or retirement plan and therefore are not used to reduce the sales charge for your individual accounts); investments in 529 plans, donor advised funds, variable annuities, variable insurance products or managed separate accounts; charitable and irrevocable trust accounts; accounts holding shares of money market funds that used the Columbia brand before May 1, 2010; accounts invested in Class R shares of a Fund; and retirement plan accounts invested in Class Adv, Class Inst2 or Class Inst3 shares of a Fund.
Additionally, direct purchases of shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund may not be aggregated for account value aggregation purposes; however, shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund acquired by exchange from other Columbia Funds that assess a sales charge may be included in account value aggregation.
Class A and Class V Shares Front-End Sales Charge Waivers
There are no front-end sales charges on reinvested Fund distributions. The Class A shares sales charge is waived on conversions of Class C shares to Class A shares. The Distributor may waive front-end sales charges on purchases of Class A and Class V shares of the Funds by certain categories of investors, including Board members, certain employees of financial intermediaries, Fund portfolio managers, certain partners and employees of outside legal counsel to the Funds or the Board, separate accounts of an insurance company exempt from registration as an investment company under Section 3(c)(11) of the 1940 Act, registered broker-dealer firms that have an agreement with the Distributor purchasing Fund shares for their investment account only, and qualified employee benefit plan rollovers to Class A shares in the same Fund (see Appendix S to the SAI for details). For a more complete description of categories of investors who may purchase Class A and Class V shares of the Funds at NAV, without payment of any front-end sales charge that would otherwise apply, see Appendix S to the SAI.
| 36 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Contrarian Core Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
In addition, certain types of purchases of Class A and Class V shares may be made at NAV. The Distributor may waive front-end sales charges on (i) purchases (including exchanges) of Class A shares in accounts of financial intermediaries that have entered into agreements with the Distributor to offer Fund shares to self-directed investment brokerage accounts that may or may not charge a transaction fee to customers; (ii) exchanges of Class Inst shares of a Fund for Class A shares of the Fund; (iii) purchases of Class A shares on brokerage mutual fund-only platforms of financial intermediaries that have an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes the offering of Class A shares within such platform; (iv) purchases through certain wrap fee or other products or programs that involve fee-based compensation arrangements that have, or clear trades through a financial intermediary that has, a selling agreement with the Distributor; (v) purchases through state sponsored 529 Plans; (vi) purchases through banks, trust companies, and thrift institutions acting as fiduciaries; and (vii) purchases through certain employee benefit plans and certain qualified deferred compensation plans. For a more complete description of these eligible transactions, see Appendix S to the SAI.
The sales charge waivers available to investors who purchase and hold their Fund shares through different financial intermediaries may vary. For a description of such financial intermediary-specific sales charge waivers, see
Appendix A
.
CDSC Waivers – Class A, Class C and Class V
You may be able to avoid an otherwise applicable CDSC when you sell Class A, Class C or Class V shares of the Fund. This could happen because of the way in which you originally invested in the Fund, because of your relationship with the Funds or for other reasons. For example, the CDSC will be waived on redemptions of shares in the event of the shareholder's death; for which no sales commission or transaction fee was paid to an authorized financial intermediary at the time of purchase; purchased through reinvestment of dividends and capital gain distributions; that result from required minimum distributions taken from retirement accounts due to the shareholder reaching the qualified age based on applicable IRS regulations; that result from returns of excess contributions made to retirement plans or individual retirement accounts (subject to certain conditions); initially purchased by an employee benefit plan (for Class A shares) and that are not connected with a plan level termination (for Class C or Class V shares); in connection with the Fund's Small Account Policy (which is described in
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares — Transaction Rules and Policies
); and by certain other investors and in certain other types of transactions or situations. Restrictions may apply to certain accounts and certain transactions. The Distributor may, in its sole discretion, authorize the waiver of the CDSC for additional classes of investors. The Fund may change or cancel these terms at any time. Any change or cancellation applies only to future purchases. For a more complete description of the available waivers of the CDSC on redemptions of Class A, Class C or Class V shares, see Appendix S to the SAI.
The sales charge waivers available to investors who purchase and hold their Fund shares through different financial intermediaries may vary. For a description of such financial intermediary-specific sales charge waivers, see
Appendix A
.
Repurchases (Reinstatements)
As noted in the table below, you can redeem shares of certain classes (see Redeemed Share Class below) and use such redemption proceeds to buy shares of the Corresponding Repurchase Class without paying an otherwise applicable sales charge and/or CDSC (other than, in the case of Direct-at-Fund Accounts, redemptions from Funds that do not assess a front-end sales charge, including Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund, Columbia Small Cap Index Fund, Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund and Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund, unless such shares were purchased via an exchange from Class A shares of a Fund on which you paid the Class A share applicable front-end sales charge) within 90 days, up to the amount of the redemption proceeds.
| Repurchases (Reinstatements) | |
| Redeemed Share Class | Corresponding Repurchase Class |
| Class A | Class A |
| Class C | Class C |
| Prospectus 2021 | 37 |
Columbia Contrarian Core Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
|
Repurchases (Reinstatements)
|
|
|
Redeemed Share Class
|
Corresponding Repurchase Class
|
| Class V | Class V |
Any CDSC paid upon redemption of your Class A, Class C or Class V shares of a Fund will not be reimbursed.
To be eligible for the repurchase (or reinstatement) privilege, the purchase must be made into an account for the same owner, but does not need to be into the same Fund from which the shares were sold. The Transfer Agent, Distributor or their agents must receive a written reinstatement request from you or your financial intermediary within 90 days after the shares are redeemed. The purchase of the Corresponding Repurchase Class (as noted in the table above) through this repurchase (or reinstatement) privilege will be made at the NAV of such shares next calculated after the request is received in “good form.” Systematic withdrawals and purchases are excluded from this policy.
Restrictions and Changes in Terms and Conditions
Restrictions may apply to certain accounts and certain transactions. The Funds and/or the Distributor may change or cancel these terms and conditions at any time. Unless you provide your financial intermediary with information in writing about all of the factors that may count toward available reductions or waivers of an applicable sales charge, there can be no assurance that you will receive all of the reductions and waivers for which you may be eligible. To the extent your Fund account is held directly with the Fund, you should provide this information to the Fund when placing your purchase or redemption order. Please see
to this prospectus and Appendix S of the SAI for more information about sales charge waivers.
Appendix A
Distribution and Service Fees
The Board has approved, and the Funds have adopted, distribution and/or shareholder service plans which set the distribution and/or service fees that are periodically deducted from the Funds’ assets. These fees are calculated daily, may vary by share class and are intended to compensate the Distributor and/or eligible financial intermediaries for, with regard to distribution fees, selling Fund shares and, with regard to service fees, directly or indirectly providing services to shareholders. Because the fees are paid out of the Fund's assets on an ongoing basis, they will increase the cost of your investment over time.
The table below shows the maximum annual distribution and/or service fees (as an annual percentage of average daily net assets) and the combined amount of such fees applicable to each share class:
| (a) | The service fees for Class A and Class C shares of certain Funds vary. The annual service fee for Class A and Class C shares of Columbia High Yield Municipal Fund, Columbia Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund and Columbia Tax-Exempt Fund may equal up to 0.20% of the average daily NAV of all shares of such Fund class. The annual distribution fee for Class C shares for Columbia Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund shall be 0.65% of the average daily net assets of the Fund’s Class C shares. The Distributor has contractually agreed to waive a portion of the service fee for Class A and Class C shares of Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund so that the service fee does not exceed 0.15% annually through August 31, 2021 unless sooner terminated at the sole discretion of the Fund’s Board. The Distributor has contractually agreed to waive a portion of the service fee for Class A shares of Columbia Strategic California Municipal Income Fund so that the service fee does not exceed 0.20% annually through February 28, 2022 unless modified or sooner terminated at the sole discretion of the Fund’s Board. |
| 38 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Contrarian Core Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
| (b) | The maximum distribution and service fees of Class A shares varies among the Funds, as shown in the table below: |
|
Funds
|
Maximum
Class A Distribution Fee |
Maximum
Class A Service Fee |
Maximum
Class A Combined Total |
|
Series of CFST and CFST II (other than Columbia
Government Money Market Fund) |
— | — |
0.25%; these Funds pay a
combined distribution and service fee |
| Columbia Government Money Market Fund | — | — | 0.10% |
| Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund | up to 0.15% | up to 0.15% | 0.15% |
| Columbia Balanced Fund, Columbia Contrarian Core Fund, Columbia Dividend Income Fund, Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund, Columbia Large Cap Growth Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Growth Fund, Columbia Oregon Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund, Columbia Real Estate Equity Fund, Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I, Columbia Total Return Bond Fund | up to 0.10% | up to 0.25% |
up to 0.35%; these Funds may
pay distribution and service fees up to a maximum of 0.35% of their average daily net assets attributable to Class A shares (comprised of up to 0.10% for distribution services and up to 0.25% for shareholder liaison services) but currently limit such fees to an aggregate fee of not more than 0.25% for Class A shares |
| Columbia Adaptive Risk Allocation Fund, Columbia Bond Fund, Columbia Connecticut Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund, Columbia Corporate Income Fund, Columbia Emerging Markets Fund, Columbia Greater China Fund, Columbia International Dividend Income Fund, Columbia Massachusetts Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund, Columbia Multi-Asset Income Fund, Columbia Multi Strategy Alternatives Fund, Columbia New York Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund, Columbia Pacific/Asia Fund, Columbia Select Large Cap Growth Fund, Columbia Small Cap Value Fund I, Columbia Strategic California Municipal Income Fund, Columbia Strategic Income Fund, Columbia Strategic New York Municipal Income Fund, Columbia U.S. Social Bond Fund, Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund | — | 0.25% | 0.25% |
| Columbia High Yield Municipal Fund, Columbia Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund, Columbia Tax-Exempt Fund | — | 0.20% | 0.20% |
| (c) | Fee amounts noted apply to all Funds other than Columbia Government Money Market Fund, which, for Class A shares, pays distribution and service fees of 0.10%, and for Class C shares pays distribution fees of 0.75%. The payment of the distribution and/or service fees payable by Columbia Government Money Market Fund under its Plan of Distribution has been suspended through November 30, 2021. This arrangement may be modified or terminated at the sole discretion of Columbia Government Money Market Fund’s Board at any time. Compensation paid to financial intermediaries is suspended for the duration of the suspension of payments under Columbia Government Money Market Fund’s Plan of Distribution. |
| (d) | The Distributor has contractually agreed to waive a portion of the distribution fee for Class C shares of the following Funds so that the distribution fee does not exceed the specified percentage annually through the specified date for each Fund: 0.45% for Columbia Connecticut Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund through February 28, 2022, Columbia Massachusetts Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund through February 28, 2022, Columbia New York Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund through February 28, 2022, Columbia Oregon Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund through November 30, 2021, Columbia Strategic California Municipal Income Fund through February 28, 2022, and Columbia Strategic New York Municipal Income Fund through August 31, 2021; 0.55% for Columbia Corporate Income Fund through August 31, 2021, and Columbia Short Term Bond Fund through August 31, 2021; 0.60% for Columbia High Yield Municipal Fund through September 30, 2021, Columbia Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund through August 31, 2021, and Columbia Tax-Exempt Fund through November 30, 2021; and 0.65% for Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund through August 31, 2021. These arrangements may be sooner terminated at the sole discretion of each Fund’s Board. |
| (e) | Class R shares of series of CFST and CFST I pay a distribution fee pursuant to a Rule 12b-1 plan. The Funds do not have a shareholder service plan for Class R shares. Series of CFST II have a distribution and shareholder service plan for Class R shares. For Class R shares of series of CFST II, the maximum fee under the plan reimbursed for distribution expenses is equal on an annual basis to 0.50% of the average daily net assets of the Fund attributable to Class R shares. Of that amount, up to 0.25% may be reimbursed for shareholder service expenses. |
| (f) |
The shareholder servicing fees for Class V shares are up to 0.50% of average daily net assets attributable to Class V shares for equity Funds and 0.40% for fixed income Funds. In general, the Funds currently limit such fees to a maximum of 0.25% for equity Funds and 0.15% for fixed-income Funds. These fees for Class V shares are not paid pursuant to a Rule 12b-1 plan. See
Class V Shareholder Service Fees
|
| Prospectus 2021 | 39 |
Columbia Contrarian Core Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
The distribution and/or service fees for Class A, Class C, and Class R shares, as applicable, are subject to the requirements of Rule 12b-1 under the 1940 Act. The Distributor may retain these fees otherwise payable to financial intermediaries if the amounts due are below an amount determined by the Distributor in its sole discretion.
For Class A shares, the Distributor begins to pay these fees immediately after purchase, except in the following case, in which the Distributor begins to pay these fees 12 months after purchase: a purchase of Class A shares of $1 million or more for Taxable Funds or $500,000 or more for Tax-Exempt Funds that pay a Class A up-front commission to your financial intermediary and the financial intermediary has opted to receive such commission. The Distributor’s policy to otherwise begin to pay these fees immediately on Class A shares also applies to purchases of funds that do not pay an up-front sales commission on Class A shares, which includes Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund, Columbia Small Cap Index Fund, Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund and Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund. For Class C shares, the Distributor begins to pay these fees 12 months after purchase. However, for Class C shares, financial intermediaries may opt to decline the up-front payment described in
and instead may receive these fees immediately after purchase. If the intermediary opts to receive the up-front payment, the Distributor retains the distribution and/or service fee for the first 12 months following the sale of Class C shares in order to recover the up-front payment made to financial intermediaries and to pay for other related expenses. For Class R shares, the Distributor begins to pay these fees immediately after purchase.
Choosing a Share Class – Sales Charges and Commissions – Class C Shares – Commissions
Series of CFST II.
The maximum fee for services under the distribution and/or shareholder servicing plan for series of CFST II is the lesser of the amount of reimbursable expenses and the fee rates in the table above. If a share class of a series of CFST II has no reimbursable distribution or shareholder servicing expenses, it will suspend the payment of any such fee. As a result of any such suspensions, the expense ratio of a Fund’s share class disclosed in the
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
table in the
Summary of the Fund
section of this prospectus may not match the ratio of expenses of such share class to average net assets shown in the
Financial Highlights
section of this prospectus.
If you maintain shares of the Fund directly with the Fund, without working with a financial advisor or other financial intermediary, distribution and service fees may be retained by the Distributor as payment or reimbursement for incurring certain distribution and shareholder service related expenses.
Over time, these distribution and/or service fees will reduce the return on your investment and may cost you more than paying other types of sales charges. The Fund will pay these fees to the Distributor and/or to eligible financial intermediaries for as long as the distribution plan and/or shareholder servicing plans continue in effect, which is expected to be indefinitely. However, the Fund may reduce or discontinue payments at any time. Your financial intermediary may also charge you other additional fees for providing services to your account, which may be different from those described here.
Class V Shareholder Services Fees
The Funds that offer Class V shares have adopted a shareholder services plan that permits them to pay for certain services provided to Class V shareholders by their financial intermediaries. Equity Funds may pay shareholder servicing fees up to an aggregate annual rate of 0.50% of the Fund's average daily net assets attributable to Class V shares (comprised of up to 0.25% for shareholder liaison services and up to 0.25% for administrative support services). Fixed income Funds may pay shareholder servicing fees up to an aggregate annual rate of 0.40% of the Fund's average daily net assets attributable to Class V shares (comprised of up to 0.20% for shareholder liaison services and up to 0.20% for administrative support services). These fees are currently limited to an aggregate annual rate of not more than 0.25% for equity Funds and not more than 0.15% for fixed income Funds. The Distributor begins to pay these fees immediately after purchase for purchases up to $1 million, for purchases of $1 million or more the Distributor will begin to pay these fees 12 months after purchase. These fees for Class V shares are not paid pursuant to a Rule 12b-1 plan. With respect to those Funds that declare dividends on a daily basis, the shareholder servicing fee shall be waived by the financial intermediaries to the extent necessary to prevent net investment income from falling below 0% on a daily basis. If you maintain shares of the Fund directly with the Fund, without working with a financial advisor or other intermediary, shareholder services fees may be retained by the Distributor as payment or reimbursement for incurring certain shareholder service related expenses.
| 40 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Contrarian Core Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
Financial Intermediary Compensation
The Distributor, the Investment Manager and their affiliates make payments, from their own resources, to financial intermediaries, including other Ameriprise Financial affiliates, for marketing/sales support services relating to the Funds (Marketing Support Payments). Such payments are generally based upon one or more of the following factors: average net assets of the Funds attributable to that financial intermediary; gross sales of the Funds attributable to that financial intermediary; reimbursement of ticket charges (fees that a financial intermediary charges its representatives for effecting transactions in Fund shares); or a negotiated lump sum payment. While the financial arrangements may vary for each financial intermediary, Marketing Support Payments to any one financial intermediary are generally between 0.05% and 0.40% on an annual basis for payments based on average net assets of the Fund attributable to the financial intermediary, and between 0.05% and 0.25% on an annual basis for firms receiving a payment based on gross sales of the Funds attributable to the financial intermediary. The Distributor, the Investment Manager and their affiliates may at times make payments with respect to a Fund or the Columbia Funds generally on a basis other than those described above, or in larger amounts, when dealing with certain financial intermediaries. Not all financial intermediaries receive Marketing Support Payments. The Distributor, the Investment Manager and their affiliates do not make Marketing Support Payments with respect to Class Inst3 shares.
In addition, the Transfer Agent has certain arrangements in place to compensate financial intermediaries, including other Ameriprise Financial affiliates, that hold Fund shares through networked and omnibus accounts, including omnibus retirement plans, for services that they provide to beneficial Fund shareholders (Shareholder Services). Shareholder Services and related fees vary by financial intermediary and according to distribution channel and may include sub-accounting, sub-transfer agency, participant recordkeeping, shareholder or participant reporting, shareholder or participant transaction processing, maintenance of shareholder records, preparation of account statements and provision of customer service, and are not intended to include services that are primarily intended to result in the sale of Fund shares. Payments for Shareholder Services generally are not expected, with certain limited exceptions, to exceed 0.40% of the average aggregate value of the Fund’s shares. Generally, each Fund pays the Transfer Agent a per account fee or a percentage of the average aggregate value of shares per annum maintained in omnibus accounts up to the lesser of the amount charged by the financial intermediary or a channel-specific or share class-specific cap established by the Board from time to time. Fee amounts in excess of the amount paid by the Fund are borne by the Transfer Agent, the Investment Manager and/or their affiliates. For Class Inst3 shares, the Transfer Agent does not pay financial intermediaries for Shareholder Services, except that for Class Inst3 shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund (formerly an unnamed share class of the Fund), the Transfer Agent makes Shareholder Services payments to a financial intermediary through which shares of this class were held (under its former unnamed share class name) as of November 30, 2018, and the Fund does not compensate the Transfer Agent for any Shareholder Services provided by financial intermediaries.
In addition to the payments described above, the Distributor, the Investment Manager and their affiliates typically make other payments or allow promotional incentives to certain broker-dealers to the extent permitted by the Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) rules and by other applicable laws and regulations.
Amounts paid by the Distributor, the Investment Manager and their affiliates are paid out of their own resources and do not increase the amount paid by you or the Fund. You can find further details in the SAI about the payments made by the Distributor, the Investment Manager and their affiliates, as well as a list of the financial intermediaries, including Ameriprise Financial affiliates, to which the Distributor, the Investment Manager or their affiliates have agreed to make Marketing Support Payments and pay Shareholder Services fees.
Your financial intermediary may charge you fees and commissions in addition to those described in this prospectus. You should consult with your financial intermediary and review carefully any disclosure your financial intermediary provides regarding its services and compensation. Depending on the financial arrangement in place at any particular time, a financial intermediary and its financial advisors may have a conflict of interest or financial incentive for recommending the Fund or a particular share class over others.
| Prospectus 2021 | 41 |
Columbia Contrarian Core Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
Share Price Determination
The price you pay or receive when you buy, sell or exchange shares is the Fund's next determined net asset value (or NAV) per share for a given share class. The Fund calculates the NAV per share for each class of shares of the Fund at the end of each business day, with the value of the Fund's shares based on the total value of all of the securities and other assets that it holds as of a specified time.
FUNDamentals
NAV Calculation
Each of the Fund's share classes calculates its NAV per share as follows:
NAV per share =
(Value of assets of the share class) – (Liabilities of the share class)
Number of outstanding shares of the class
FUNDamentals
Business Days
A business day is any day that the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is open. A business day typically ends at the close of regular trading on the NYSE, usually at 4:00 p.m. Eastern time. If the NYSE is scheduled to close early, the business day will be considered to end as of the time of the NYSE’s scheduled close. The Fund will not treat an intraday unscheduled disruption in NYSE trading or an intraday unscheduled closing as a close of regular trading on the NYSE for these purposes and will price its shares as of the regularly scheduled closing time for that day (typically, 4:00 p.m. Eastern time). Notwithstanding the foregoing, the NAV of Fund shares may be determined at such other time or times (in addition to or in lieu of the time set forth above) as the Fund’s Board may approve or ratify. On holidays and other days when the NYSE is closed, the Fund’s NAV is not calculated and the Fund does not accept buy or sell orders. However, the value of the Fund’s assets may still be affected on such days to the extent that the Fund holds foreign securities that trade on days that foreign securities markets are open.
Equity securities are valued primarily on the basis of market quotations reported on stock exchanges and other securities markets around the world. If an equity security is listed on a national exchange, the security is valued at the closing price or, if the closing price is not readily available, the mean of the closing bid and asked prices. Certain equity securities, debt securities and other assets are valued differently. For instance, bank loans trading in the secondary market are valued primarily on the basis of indicative bids, fixed income investments maturing in 60 days or less are valued primarily using the amortized cost method, unless this methodology results in a valuation that does not approximate the market value of these securities, and those maturing in excess of 60 days are valued primarily using a market-based price obtained from a pricing service, if available. Investments in other open-end funds are valued at their published NAVs. Both market quotations and indicative bids are obtained from outside pricing services approved and monitored pursuant to a policy approved by the Fund's Board.
If a market price is not readily available or is deemed not to reflect market value, the Fund will determine the price of a portfolio security based on a determination of the security's fair value pursuant to a policy approved by the Fund’s Board. In addition, the Fund may use fair valuation to price securities that trade on a foreign exchange when a significant event has occurred after the foreign exchange closes but before the time at which the Fund’s share price is calculated. Foreign exchanges typically close before the time at which Fund share prices are calculated, and may be closed altogether on days when the Fund is open. Such significant events affecting a foreign security may include, but are not limited to: (1) corporate actions, earnings announcements, litigation or other events impacting a single issuer; (2) governmental action that affects securities in one sector or country; (3) natural disasters or armed conflicts affecting a country or region; or (4) significant domestic or foreign market fluctuations. The Fund uses various criteria, including an evaluation of U.S. market moves after the close of foreign markets, in determining whether a foreign security's market price is readily available and reflective of market value and, if not, the fair value
| 42 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Contrarian Core Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
of the security. To the extent the Fund has significant holdings of small cap stocks, high-yield bonds, floating rate loans, or tax-exempt, foreign or other securities that may trade infrequently, fair valuation may be used more frequently than for other funds.
Fair valuation may have the effect of reducing stale pricing arbitrage opportunities presented by the pricing of Fund shares. However, when the Fund uses fair valuation to price securities, it may value those securities higher or lower than another fund would have priced the security. Also, the use of fair valuation may cause the Fund's performance to diverge to a greater degree from the performance of various benchmarks used to compare the Fund's performance because benchmarks generally do not use fair valuation techniques. Because of the judgment involved in fair valuation decisions, there can be no assurance that the value ascribed to a particular security is accurate. The Fund has retained one or more independent fair valuation pricing services to assist in the fair valuation process for foreign securities.
Transaction Rules and Policies
The Fund, the Distributor or the Transfer Agent may refuse any order to buy or exchange shares. If this happens, the Fund will return any money it received, but no interest will be paid on that money. Your financial intermediary may have rules and policies in place that are in addition to or different than those described below.
Order Processing
Orders to buy, sell or exchange Fund shares are processed on business days. Depending upon the class of shares, orders can be made by mail, by telephone or online. Orders received in “good form” by the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary before the end of a business day are priced at the NAV per share (plus any applicable sales charge) of the Fund's applicable share class on that day. Orders received after the end of a business day will receive the next business day's NAV per share (plus any applicable sales charge). For Direct-at-Fund Accounts (i.e., accounts established directly with the Fund), when a written order to buy, sell or exchange shares is sent to the Transfer Agent, the share price used to fill the order is the next price calculated by the Fund after the Transfer Agent receives the transaction request in “good form” at its transaction processing center (i.e., the Fund’s express mail address), not the P.O. Box provided for regular mail delivery. The market value of the Fund's investments may change between the time you submit your order and the time the Fund next calculates its NAV per share. The business day that applies to your order is also called the trade date.
“Good Form”
An order is in “good form” if the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary has received payment (in the case of purchases) and all of the information and documentation it deems necessary to effect your order. For example, when you sell shares, “good form” means that your request (i) has complete instructions and written requests include the signatures of all account owners, (ii) is for an amount that is less than or equal to the shares in your account for which payment has been received and collected, (iii) has a Medallion Signature Guarantee for amounts greater than $100,000 and certain other transactions, as described below, and (iv) includes any other required documents completed and attached. For the documents required for sales by corporations, agents, fiduciaries, surviving joint owners and other legal entities, call 800.345.6611.
Medallion Signature Guarantees
The Transfer Agent may require a Medallion Signature Guarantee for your signature in order to process certain transactions, including if: (i) the transaction amount is over $100,000; (ii) you want your check made payable to someone other than the registered account owner(s); (iii) the address of record has changed within the last 30 days; (iv) you want the check mailed to an address other than the address of record; (v) you want proceeds to be sent according to existing bank account instructions not coded for outgoing Automated Clearing House (ACH) or wire, or to a bank account not on file; or (vi) you are changing legal ownership of your account.
A Medallion Signature Guarantee helps assure that a signature is genuine and not a forgery. A Medallion Signature Guarantee must be provided by an eligible guarantor institution including, but not limited to, the following: a bank, credit union, savings association, broker or dealer that participates in the Securities Transfer Association Medallion Program (STAMP), the Stock Exchange Medallion Program (SEMP) or the New York Stock Exchange Medallion
| Prospectus 2021 | 43 |
Columbia Contrarian Core Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
Signature Program (MSP). For other transactions, the Transfer Agent may require a signature guarantee. Notarization by a notary public is not an acceptable signature guarantee. The Transfer Agent reserves the right to reject a signature guarantee and to request additional documentation for any transaction.
Customer Identification Program
Federal law requires the Fund to obtain and record specific personal information to verify your identity when you open an account. This information may include your name, address, date of birth (for individuals) and taxpayer or other government issued identification (e.g., social security number (SSN) or other taxpayer identification number (TIN)). If you fail to provide the requested information, the Fund may need to delay the date of your purchase or may be unable to open your account, which may result in a return of your investment monies. In addition, if the Fund is unable to verify your identity after your account is open, the Fund reserves the right to close your account or take other steps as deemed reasonable. The Fund will not be liable for any loss resulting from any purchase delay, application rejection or account closure due to a failure to provide proper identifying information.
Small Account Policy — Class A, Class C, Class Inst, and Class V Share Accounts Below the Minimum Account Balance
The Funds generally will automatically sell your shares if the value of your Fund account (treating each account of the Fund you own separately from any other account of the Fund you may own) falls below the applicable minimum account balance. Any otherwise applicable CDSC will not be imposed on such an automatic sale of your shares. Generally, you may avoid such an automatic sale by raising your account balance to at least $250 or consolidating your multiple accounts you may have with the Funds through an exchange (so as to maintain at least $250 in each of your accounts). The minimum account balance varies among share classes and types of accounts, as follows:
|
Minimum Account Balance
|
|
|
Minimum
Account Balance |
|
| For all classes and account types except those listed below |
$250 (None for accounts with
Systematic Investment Plans) |
| Individual Retirement Accounts for all classes except those listed below | None |
| Class Adv, Class Inst2, Class Inst3 and Class R | None |
For shares held directly with the Funds’ Transfer Agent, if your shares are sold, the Transfer Agent will remit the sale proceeds to you. The Transfer Agent will send you written notification in advance of any automatic sale, which will provide details on how you may avoid such an automatic sale. Generally, you may avoid such an automatic sale by raising your account balance to at least $250, consolidating your multiple accounts you may have with the Funds through an exchange (so as to maintain at least $250 in each of your accounts), or setting up a Systematic Investment Plan (described below). For more information, contact the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary. The Transfer Agent's contact information (toll-free number and mailing addresses) as well as the Funds’ website address can be found at the beginning of the section
.
Choosing a Share Class
For shares purchased and held for your benefit through a financial intermediary, the Funds may instruct the intermediary to automatically sell your Fund shares if the transaction can be operationally administered by the intermediary.
Small Account Policy — Class A, Class C, Class Inst, and Class V Share Accounts Minimum Balance Fee
If the value of your Fund account (treating each account of the Fund you own separately from any other account of the Fund you may own) falls below the minimum initial investment requirement applicable to you for any reason, including as a result of market decline, your account generally could be subject to a $20 annual fee. The Transfer Agent will reduce the expenses paid by the Fund by any amounts it collects from the assessment of this fee. For Funds that do not have transfer agency expenses against which to offset the amount collected through assessment of this fee, the
| 44 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Contrarian Core Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
fee will be paid directly to the Fund. The Funds reserve the right to lower the account size trigger point for the minimum balance fee in any year or for any class of shares when we believe it is appropriate to do so in light of declines in the market value of Fund shares or for other reasons.
For shares held directly with the Funds’ Transfer Agent, this fee will be assessed through the automatic sale of Fund shares in your account. Any otherwise applicable CDSC will not be imposed on such an automatic sale of your shares. The Transfer Agent will send you written notification in advance of assessing any fee, which will provide details on how you can avoid the imposition of such fee. Generally, you may avoid the imposition of such fee by raising your Fund account balance, consolidating your multiple accounts you may have with the Funds, or setting up a Systematic Investment Plan that invests at least monthly. For more information, contact the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary. The Transfer Agent's contact information (toll-free number and mailing addresses) as well as the Funds’ website address can be found at the beginning of the section
.
Choosing a Share Class
For shares purchased and held for your benefit through a financial intermediary, this fee could be assessed through the automatic sale of Fund shares in your account if instructed by the Fund and the transaction can be operationally administered by the intermediary.
Exceptions to the Small Account Policy (Accounts Below Minimum Account Balance) and Minimum Balance Fee
The automatic sale of Fund shares in accounts under $250 and the annual minimum balance fee described above do not apply to shareholders of Class Adv, Class Inst2, Class Inst3 and Class R shares; shareholders holding their shares through financial intermediary networked accounts; wrap fee and omnibus accounts; accounts with active Systematic Investment Plans; certain qualified retirement plans; and health savings accounts. The automatic sale of Fund shares of accounts under the applicable minimum account balance does not apply to individual retirement plans.
Small Account Policy — Financial Intermediary Networked and Wrap Fee Accounts
The Funds may automatically redeem, at any time, financial intermediary networked accounts and wrap fee accounts that have account balances of $20 or less or have less than one share.
For shares purchased and held for your benefit through a financial intermediary, the Funds may instruct the intermediary to automatically sell your Fund shares if the transaction can be operationally administered by the intermediary.
Information Sharing Agreements
As required by Rule 22c-2 under the 1940 Act, the Funds or certain of their service providers will enter into information sharing agreements with financial intermediaries, including participating life insurance companies and financial intermediaries that sponsor or offer retirement plans through which shares of the Funds are made available for purchase. Pursuant to Rule 22c-2, financial intermediaries are required, upon request, to: (i) provide shareholder account and transaction information; and (ii) execute instructions from the Fund to restrict or prohibit further purchases of Fund shares by shareholders who have been identified by the Fund as having engaged in transactions that violate the Fund's excessive trading policies and procedures.
Excessive Trading Practices Policy of Non-Money Market Funds
Right to Reject or Restrict Share Transaction Orders—
The Fund is intended for investors with long-term investment purposes and is not intended as a vehicle for frequent trading activity (market timing) that is excessive. Investors should transact in Fund shares primarily for investment purposes. The Board has adopted excessive trading policies and procedures that are designed to deter excessive trading by investors (the Excessive Trading Policies and Procedures).
The Fund discourages and does not accommodate excessive trading.
The Fund reserves the right to reject, without any prior notice, any purchase or exchange order for any reason, and will not be liable for any loss resulting from rejected orders. For example, the Fund may in its sole discretion restrict or reject a purchase or exchange order even if the transaction is not subject to the specific limitation described below if the Fund or its agents determine that accepting the order could interfere with efficient management of the Fund's
| Prospectus 2021 | 45 |
Columbia Contrarian Core Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
portfolio or is otherwise contrary to the Fund's best interests. The Excessive Trading Policies and Procedures apply equally to purchase or exchange transactions communicated directly to the Transfer Agent and to those received by financial intermediaries.
Specific Buying and Exchanging Limitations
— If a Fund detects that an investor has made two “material round trips” in any 28-day period, it will generally reject the investor's future purchase orders, including exchange purchase orders, involving any Fund.
For these purposes, a “round trip” is a purchase or exchange into the Fund followed by a sale or exchange out of the Fund, or a sale or exchange out of the Fund followed by a purchase or exchange into the Fund. A “material” round trip is one that is deemed by the Fund to be material in terms of its amount or its potential detrimental impact on the Fund. Independent of this limit, the Fund may, in its sole discretion, reject future purchase orders by any person, group or account that appears to have engaged in any type of excessive trading activity.
These limits generally do not apply to automated transactions or transactions by registered investment companies in a “fund-of-funds” structure. These limits do not apply to payroll deduction contributions by retirement plan participants, transactions initiated by a retirement plan sponsor or certain other retirement plan transactions consisting of rollover transactions, loan repayments and disbursements, and required minimum distribution redemptions. They may be modified or rescinded for accounts held by certain retirement plans to conform to plan limits, for considerations relating to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 or regulations of the Department of Labor, and for certain asset allocation or wrap programs. Accounts known to be under common ownership or control generally will be counted together, but accounts maintained or managed by a common intermediary generally will not be considered to be under common ownership or control. The Fund retains the right to modify these restrictions at any time without prior notice to shareholders. In addition, the Fund may, in its sole discretion, reinstate trading privileges that have been revoked under the Fund's Excessive Trading Policies and Procedures.
Limitations on the Ability to Detect and Prevent Excessive Trading Practices—
The Fund takes various steps designed to detect and prevent excessive trading, including daily review of available shareholder transaction information. However, the Fund receives buy, sell or exchange orders through financial intermediaries, and cannot always know of or reasonably detect excessive trading that may be facilitated by financial intermediaries or by the use of the omnibus account arrangements they offer. Omnibus account arrangements are common forms of holding shares of mutual funds, particularly among certain financial intermediaries such as broker-dealers, retirement plans and variable insurance products. These arrangements often permit financial intermediaries to aggregate their clients' transactions and accounts, and in these circumstances, the identities of the financial intermediary clients that beneficially own Fund shares are often not known to the Fund.
Some financial intermediaries apply their own restrictions or policies to their clients’ transactions and accounts, which may be more or less restrictive than those described here. This may impact the Fund's ability to curtail excessive trading, even where it is identified. For these and other reasons, it is possible that excessive trading may occur despite the Fund's efforts to detect and prevent it.
Although these restrictions and policies involve judgments that are inherently subjective and may involve some selectivity in their application, the Fund seeks to act in a manner that it believes is consistent with the best interests of Fund shareholders in making any such judgments.
Risks of Excessive Trading —
Excessive trading creates certain risks to the Fund's long-term shareholders and may create the following adverse effects:
| ■ | negative impact on the Fund's performance; |
| ■ | potential dilution of the value of the Fund's shares; |
| ■ | interference with the efficient management of the Fund's portfolio, such as the need to maintain undesirably large cash positions, the need to use its line of credit or the need to buy or sell securities it otherwise would not have bought or sold; |
| ■ | losses on the sale of investments resulting from the need to sell securities at less favorable prices; |
| 46 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Contrarian Core Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
| ■ | increased taxable gains to the Fund's remaining shareholders resulting from the need to sell securities to meet sell orders; and |
| ■ | increased brokerage and administrative costs. |
To the extent that the Fund invests significantly in foreign securities traded on markets that close before the Fund's valuation time, it may be particularly susceptible to dilution as a result of excessive trading. Because events may occur after the close of foreign markets and before the Fund's valuation time that influence the value of foreign securities, investors may seek to trade Fund shares in an effort to benefit from their understanding of the value of foreign securities as of the Fund's valuation time. This is often referred to as price arbitrage. The Fund has adopted procedures designed to adjust closing market prices of foreign securities under certain circumstances to reflect what the Fund believes to be the fair value of those securities as of its valuation time. To the extent the adjustments do not work fully, investors engaging in price arbitrage may cause dilution in the value of the Fund's shares held by other shareholders.
Similarly, to the extent that the Fund invests significantly in thinly traded securities and other debt instruments that are rated below investment grade (commonly called “high-yield” or “junk” bonds), equity securities of small-capitalization companies, floating rate loans, or tax-exempt or other securities that may trade infrequently, because
these securities are often traded infrequently, investors may seek to trade Fund shares in an effort to benefit from their understanding of the value of these securities as of the Fund's valuation time. This is also a type of price arbitrage. Any such frequent trading strategies may interfere with efficient management of the Fund's portfolio to a greater degree than would be the case for mutual funds that invest only, or significantly, in highly liquid securities, in part because the Fund may have difficulty selling these particular investments at advantageous times or prices to satisfy large and/or frequent sell orders. Any successful price arbitrage may also cause dilution in the value of Fund shares held by non-redeeming shareholders.
Excessive Trading Practices Policy of Columbia Government Money Market Fund
A money market fund is designed to offer investors a liquid cash option that they may buy and sell as often as they wish. Accordingly, the Board has not adopted policies and procedures designed to discourage excessive or short-term trading of Columbia Government Money Market Fund shares. However, since frequent purchases and sales of Columbia Government Money Market Fund shares could in certain instances harm shareholders in various ways, including reducing the returns to long-term shareholders by increasing costs (such as spreads paid to dealers who trade money market instruments with Columbia Government Money Market Fund) and disrupting portfolio management strategies, Columbia Government Money Market Fund reserves the right, but has no obligation, to reject any purchase or exchange transaction at any time. Except as expressly described in this prospectus (such as minimum purchase amounts), Columbia Government Money Market Fund has no limits on purchase or exchange transactions. In addition, Columbia Government Money Market Fund reserves the right to impose or modify restrictions on purchases, exchanges or trading of Fund shares at any time.
Opening an Account and Placing Orders
We encourage you to consult with a financial advisor who can help you with your investment decisions and who can help you open an account. Once you have an account, you can buy, sell or exchange shares by contacting your financial advisor who will send your order to the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary. As described below, once you have an account you can also communicate your orders directly to the Transfer Agent by mail, by telephone or online.
The Funds are generally available directly and through broker-dealers, banks and other financial intermediaries or institutions, and through certain qualified and non-qualified plans, wrap fee products or other investment products sponsored by financial intermediaries. You may buy, sell, or exchange shares through your financial intermediary. If you maintain your account directly with your financial intermediary, you must contact that agent to process your transaction.
| Prospectus 2021 | 47 |
Columbia Contrarian Core Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
Not all financial intermediaries offer the Funds (or all classes of Fund shares) and certain financial intermediaries that offer the Funds may not offer all Funds on all investment platforms or programs.
Please consult with your financial intermediary to determine the availability of the Funds. If you set up an account at a financial intermediary that does not have, and is unable to obtain, a selling agreement with the Distributor, you will not be able to transfer Fund holdings to that account. In that event, you must either maintain your Fund holdings with your current financial intermediary or find another financial intermediary with a selling agreement.
Financial intermediaries that offer the Funds may charge you additional fees for the services they provide and they may have different policies that are not described in this prospectus.
An investor transacting in a class of Fund shares without any front-end sales charge, CDSC, or other asset-based fee for sales or distribution, such as a Rule 12b-1 fee, may be required to pay a commission to the financial intermediary for effecting such transactions. The Funds are offered in a number of different share classes that have different fees and expenses and other features. Some differences in the policies of different financial intermediaries may include different minimum investment amounts, exchange privileges, Fund/class choices and cutoff times for investments. Additionally, recordkeeping, transaction processing and payments of distributions relating to your account may be performed by the financial intermediaries through which your shares of the Fund are held. Since the Fund (and its service providers) may not have a record of your account transactions, you should always contact the financial intermediary through which you purchased or at which you maintain your shares of the Fund to make changes to your account, to give instructions concerning your account, or to obtain information about your account. The Fund and its service providers, including the Distributor and the Transfer Agent, are not responsible for the failure of any financial intermediary to carry out its obligations to its customers.
The Fund may engage financial intermediaries to receive purchase, exchange and sell orders on its behalf. Accounts established directly with the Fund will be serviced by the Transfer Agent. The Funds, the Transfer Agent and the Distributor do not provide investment advice.
Direct-At-Fund Accounts (Accounts Established Directly with the Fund)
You can hold Fund shares through an account established and held through the financial intermediary through which you purchased Fund shares or you or your financial intermediary may establish an account directly with the Fund, in which case you will receive Fund account transaction confirmations and statements from the Transfer Agent, and not your financial intermediary (Direct-at-Fund Accounts).
To open a Direct-at-Fund Account, complete a Fund account application with your financial advisor or investment professional, and mail the account application to the Transfer Agent. Account applications may be obtained at columbiathreadneedleus.com or may be requested by calling 800.345.6611. Make your check payable to the Fund. You will be assessed a $15 fee for any checks rejected by your financial institution due to insufficient funds or other reasons. The Funds do not accept cash, credit card convenience checks, money orders, traveler's checks, starter checks, third or fourth party checks, or other cash equivalents.
Mail your check and completed application to the Transfer Agent at its regular or express mail address that can be found at the beginning of the section
. You may also use these addresses to request an exchange or redemption of Fund shares. When a written order to buy, sell or exchange shares is sent to the Transfer Agent, the share price used to fill the order is the next price calculated by the Fund after the Transfer Agent receives your transaction request in “good form” at its transaction processing center (i.e., the Fund’s express mail address), not the P.O. Box provided for regular mail delivery.
Choosing a Share Class
You will be sent a statement confirming your purchase and any subsequent transactions in your account. You will also be sent quarterly and annual statements detailing your transactions in the Fund and the other Funds you own under the same account. Duplicate quarterly account statements for the current year and duplicate annual statements for the most recent prior calendar year will be sent to you free of charge. Copies of year-end statements for prior years are available for a fee. Please contact the Transfer Agent for more information.
| 48 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Contrarian Core Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
Written Transactions – Direct-at-Fund Accounts
If you have a Direct-at-Fund Account, you can communicate written buy, sell or exchange orders to the Transfer Agent at its address that can be found at the beginning of the section
. When a written order to buy, sell or exchange shares is sent to the Transfer Agent, the share price used to fill the order is the next price calculated by the Fund after the Transfer Agent receives your transaction request in “good form” at its transaction processing center (i.e., the Fund’s express mail address), not the P.O. Box provided for regular mail delivery.
Choosing a Share Class
Include in your transaction request letter: your name; the name of the Fund(s); your account number; the class of shares to be purchased, exchanged or sold; your SSN or other TIN; the dollar amount or number of shares you want to purchase, exchange or sell; specific instructions regarding delivery of any redemption proceeds or exchange destination (i.e., the Fund/class to be exchanged into); signature(s) of all registered account owner(s); and any special documents the Transfer Agent may require in order to process your order.
Corporate, trust or partnership accounts may need to send additional documents. Payment will be mailed to the address of record and made payable to the names listed on the account, unless your request specifies differently and is signed by all owners.
Telephone Transactions – Direct-at-Fund Accounts
For Class A, Class C, Class Inst, Class Inst3, Class R and Class V shares, if you have a Direct-at-Fund Account, you may place orders to buy, sell or exchange shares by telephone through the Transfer Agent. To place orders by telephone, call 800.422.3737. Have your account number and SSN or TIN available when calling.
You can sell Fund shares via telephone and receive redemption proceeds: by electronic funds transfer via ACH, by wire, or by check to the address of record, subject to a maximum of $100,000 of shares per day, per Fund account. You can buy Fund shares via telephone by electronic funds transfer via ACH from your bank account up to a maximum of $100,000 of shares per day, per Fund account, or by wire from your bank account without a maximum. See below for more information regarding wire and electronic fund transfer transactions. Certain restrictions apply, so please call the Transfer Agent at 800.422.3737 for this and other information in advance of any need to transact via telephone.
Telephone orders may not be as secure as written orders. The Fund will take reasonable steps to confirm that telephone instructions are genuine. For example, we require proof of your identification before we will act on instructions received by telephone and may record telephone conversations. However, the Fund and its agents will not be responsible for any losses, costs or expenses resulting from an unauthorized telephone instruction when reasonable steps have been taken to confirm that telephone instructions are genuine. Telephone orders may be difficult to complete during periods of significant economic or market change or business interruption.
Online Transactions – Direct-at-Fund Accounts
For Class A, Class C, Class Inst, Class Inst3, Class R and Class V shares, if you have a Direct-at-Fund Account, you may be able to place orders to buy, sell, or exchange shares online. Contact the Transfer Agent at 800.345.6611 for more information on certain account trading restrictions and the special sign-up procedures required for online transactions. You can also go to columbiathreadneedleus.com/investor/ to sign up for online transactions. The Transfer Agent has procedures in place to authenticate electronic orders you send through the internet. You will be required to accept the terms of an online agreement and to establish an online account and utilize a password in order to access online account services. You can sell a maximum of $100,000 of shares per day, per Fund account through your online account if you qualify for internet orders. Wire transactions are not permitted online.
| Prospectus 2021 | 49 |
Columbia Contrarian Core Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
Wire Transactions – Direct-at-Fund Accounts
If you hold a Direct-at-Fund Account, you may purchase or redeem Class A, Class C, Class Inst, Class Inst3, Class R and Class V shares of a Fund by wiring money from (or to) your bank account to (or from) your Fund account. You must set up this feature prior to your request unless you are submitting your request in writing, which may require a Medallion Signature Guarantee. Please contact the Transfer Agent by calling 800.422.3737 to obtain the necessary forms and requirements. The Transfer Agent charges a fee for shares sold by wire. The Transfer Agent may waive the fee for certain accounts. In the case of a redemption, the receiving bank may charge an additional fee. The minimum amount that can be redeemed by wire is $500. When selling Fund shares via a telephone request, the maximum amount that can be redeemed via wire transfer is $100,000 per day, per Fund account. Wire transactions are not permitted online.
Electronic Funds Transfer via ACH – Direct-at-Fund Accounts
If you hold a Direct-at-Fund Account, you may purchase or redeem Class A, Class C, Class Inst, Class Inst3, Class R and Class V shares of a Fund by electronically transferring money via Automated Clearing House (ACH) from (or to) your bank account to (or from) your Fund account subject to a maximum of $100,000 of shares per day, per Fund account. You must set up this feature prior to your request, unless you are submitting your request in writing, which may require a Medallion Signature Guarantee. Please contact the Transfer Agent by calling 800.422.3737 to obtain the necessary forms and requirements. Your bank may take up to three business days to post an electronic funds transfer to (or from) your Fund account.
Buying Shares
Eligible Investors
Class A Shares
Class A shares are available to the general public for investment. However, Class A shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund must be purchased through financial intermediaries that, by written agreement with the Distributor, are specifically authorized to sell the Fund’s shares.
Class Adv Shares
Class Adv shares are available only to (i) omnibus retirement plans, including self-directed brokerage accounts within omnibus retirement plans that clear through institutional no transaction fee (NTF) platforms, (ii) trust companies or similar institutions, (iii) broker-dealers, banks, trust companies and similar institutions that clear Fund share transactions for their client or customer investment advisory or similar accounts through designated financial intermediaries and their mutual fund trading platforms that have been granted specific written authorization from the Transfer Agent with respect to Class Adv eligibility apart from selling, servicing or similar agreements, (iv) 501(c)(3) charitable organizations, (v) 529 plans, (vi) health savings accounts, (vii) investors participating in a fee-based advisory program sponsored by a financial intermediary or other entity that is not compensated by the Fund for those services, other than payments for shareholder servicing or sub-accounting performed in place of the Transfer Agent, and (viii) commissionable brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary, acting as broker on behalf of its customer, charges the customer a commission for effecting transactions in Fund shares, provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Adv shares within such platform.
Class Adv shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund must be purchased through financial intermediaries that, by written agreement with the Distributor, are specifically authorized to sell the Fund’s shares. Class Adv shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund are also available to certain registered investment advisers that clear Fund share transactions for their client accounts through designated financial intermediaries with mutual fund trading platforms that have been granted specific written authorization from the Transfer Agent (apart from selling, servicing or similar agreements) to sell Class Inst2 shares, which are not offered by the Fund.
Class C Shares
Class C shares are available to the general public for investment.
| 50 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Contrarian Core Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
Class Inst Shares
Class Inst shares are available only to the categories of eligible investors described below under
.
Class Inst Shares Minimum Initial Investments
Financial intermediaries that clear Fund share transactions through designated financial intermediaries and their mutual fund trading platforms that were given specific written notice from the Transfer Agent of the termination, effective March 29, 2013, of their eligibility for new purchases of Class Inst shares and omnibus retirement plans are not permitted to establish new Class Inst accounts, subject to certain exceptions described below.
Omnibus retirement plans that opened and, subject to certain exceptions, funded a Class Inst account with the Fund as of the close of business on March 28, 2013 and have continuously held Class Inst shares in such account after such date (each, a grandfathered plan), may generally continue to make additional purchases of Class Inst shares, open new Class Inst accounts and add new participants. In addition, an omnibus retirement plan affiliated with a grandfathered plan may, in the sole discretion of the Distributor, open new Class Inst accounts in a Fund if the affiliated plan opened a Class Inst account on or before March 28, 2013. If an omnibus retirement plan invested in Class Inst shares changes recordkeepers after March 28, 2013, any new accounts established for that plan may not be established in Class Inst shares, but such a plan may establish new accounts in a different share class for which the plan is eligible.
Accounts of financial intermediaries (other than omnibus retirement plans, which are discussed above) that clear Fund share transactions for their client or customer accounts through designated financial intermediaries and their mutual fund trading platforms that received specific written notice from the Transfer Agent of the termination, effective March 29, 2013, of their eligibility for new purchases of Class Inst shares will not be permitted to establish new Class Inst accounts or make additional purchases of Class Inst shares (other than through reinvestment of distributions). Any such account may, at its holder’s option, exchange Class Inst shares of a Fund, without the payment of a sales charge, for Class A shares of the same Fund.
Class Inst shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund must be purchased through financial intermediaries that, by written agreement with the Distributor, are specifically authorized to sell the Fund’s shares.
Class Inst2 Shares
Class Inst2 shares are available only to (i) certain registered investment advisers and family offices that clear Fund share transactions for their client or customer accounts through designated financial intermediaries and their mutual fund trading platforms that have been granted specific written authorization from the Transfer Agent with respect to Class Inst2 eligibility apart from selling, servicing or similar agreements; (ii) omnibus retirement plans; and (iii) institutional investors that are clients of the Columbia Threadneedle Global Institutional Distribution Team that invest in Class Inst2 shares for their own account through platforms approved by the Distributor or an affiliate thereof to offer and/or service Class Inst2 shares within such platform. Prior to November 8, 2012, Class Inst2 shares were closed to new investors and new accounts, subject to certain exceptions. Existing shareholders who do not satisfy the new eligibility requirements for investment in Class Inst2 may not establish new Class Inst2 accounts but may continue to make additional purchases of Class Inst2 shares in accounts opened and funded prior to November 8, 2012; provided, however, that investment advisory programs and similar programs that opened a Class Inst2 account as of May 1, 2010, and continuously hold Class Inst2 shares in such account after such date, may generally not only continue to make additional purchases of Class Inst2 shares but also open new Class Inst2 accounts for such pre-existing programs and add new shareholders in the program.
Class Inst3 Shares
Class Inst3 shares are available to: (i) group retirement plans that maintain plan-level or omnibus accounts with the Fund (through the Transfer Agent); (ii) institutional investors that are clients of the Columbia Threadneedle Global Institutional Distribution Team that invest in Class Inst3 shares for their own account through platforms approved by the Distributor or an affiliate thereof to offer and/or service Class Inst3 shares within such platform; (iii) collective trust funds; (iv) affiliated or unaffiliated mutual funds (e.g., funds operating as funds-of-funds); (v) fee-based platforms of financial intermediaries (or the clearing intermediary that they trade through) that have an agreement with the Distributor or an affiliate thereof that specifically authorizes the financial intermediary to offer and/or service
| Prospectus 2021 | 51 |
Columbia Contrarian Core Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
Class Inst3 shares within such platform, provided also that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account; (vi) commissionable brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary, acting as broker on behalf of its customer, charges the customer a commission for effecting transactions in Fund shares, provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst3 shares within such platform and that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account; and (vii) bank trust departments, subject to an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst3 shares and provided that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account. In each case above where noted that Fund shares are required to be held in an omnibus account, the Distributor may, in its discretion, determine to waive this requirement.
Class Inst3 shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund must be purchased through financial intermediaries that, by written agreement with the Distributor, are specifically authorized to sell the Fund’s shares. Please note that Class Inst3 shares that were open and funded accounts prior to November 30, 2018 (the conversion date from the former unnamed share class to Class Inst3 shares) are eligible for additional investment; however, any account established after that date must meet the current Class Inst3 eligibility requirements.
Class R Shares
Class R shares are available only to eligible health savings accounts sponsored by third party platforms, including those sponsored by Ameriprise Financial affiliates, eligible retirement plans and, in the sole discretion of the Distributor, other types of retirement accounts held through platforms maintained by financial intermediaries approved by the Distributor. Eligible retirement plans include any retirement plan other than individual 403(b) plans. Class R shares are generally not available for investment through retail nonretirement accounts, traditional and Roth IRAs, Coverdell Education Savings Accounts, SEPs, SAR-SEPs, Simple IRAs or 529 tuition programs. Contact the Transfer Agent or your retirement plan or health savings account administrator for more information about investing in Class R shares.
Class V Shares
Class V shares are available only to investors who received (and who have continuously held) Class V shares (formerly named Class T shares) in connection with the merger of certain Galaxy funds into certain Funds that were then named Liberty funds.
Additional Eligible Investors
In addition, the Distributor, in its sole discretion, may accept investments in any share class from investors other than those listed in this prospectus, and may also waive certain eligibility requirements for operational and other reasons, including but not limited to any requirement to maintain Fund shares in networked or omnibus accounts.
Minimum Initial Investments
The table below shows the Fund’s minimum initial investment requirements, which may vary by class and type of account.
The Fund reserves the right to redeem your shares if your account falls below the Fund’s minimum initial investment requirement.
|
Minimum Initial Investments
|
||
|
Minimum
Initial Investment
(a)
|
Minimum
Initial Investment for Accounts with Systematic Investment Plans |
|
| For all classes and account types except those listed below | $2,000 |
$100
(b)
|
| Individual Retirement Accounts for all classes except those listed below | $1,000 |
$100
(c)
|
| Group retirement plans | None | N/A |
| Class Adv and Class Inst |
$0, $1,000 or $2,000
(d)
|
$100
(d)
|
| Class Inst2 and Class R | None | N/A |
| 52 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Contrarian Core Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
|
Minimum Initial Investments
|
||
|
Minimum
Initial Investment
(a)
|
Minimum
Initial Investment for Accounts with Systematic Investment Plans |
|
| Class Inst3 |
$0, $1,000, $2,000 or $1 million
(e)
|
$100
(e)
|
| (a) |
If your Class A, Class Adv, Class C, Class Inst, Class Inst3 or Class V shares account balance falls below the minimum initial investment amount for any reason, including a market decline, you may be asked to increase it to the minimum initial investment amount or establish a monthly Systematic Investment Plan. If you do not do so, your account will be subject to a $20 annual low balance fee and/or shares may be automatically redeemed and the proceeds mailed to you if the account falls below the minimum account balance. See
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares — Transaction Rules and Policies
|
| (b) |
Columbia Government Money Market Fund
—
|
| (c) |
Columbia Government Money Market Fund
—
|
| (d) |
The minimum initial investment in Class Adv shares is $2,000 ($1,000 for IRAs; $100 for systematic investment plan accounts) for commissionable brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary, acting as broker on behalf of its customers, charges the customer a commission for effecting transactions in Fund shares, provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Adv shares within such platform; for all other eligible Class Adv share investors (see
Buying Shares – Eligible Investors – Class Adv Shares
Class Inst Shares Minimum Initial Investments
|
| (e) | There is no minimum initial investment in Class Inst3 shares for: group retirement plans that maintain plan-level or omnibus accounts with the Fund; collective trust funds; affiliated or unaffiliated mutual funds (e.g., funds operating as funds-of-funds); fee-based platforms of financial intermediaries (or the clearing intermediary that they trade through) that have an agreement with the Distributor or an affiliate thereof that specifically authorizes the financial intermediary to offer and/or service Class Inst3 shares within such platform and Fund shares are held in an omnibus account; and bank trust departments, subject to an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst3 shares and provided that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account. The minimum initial investment in Class Inst3 shares is $2,000 ($1,000 for IRAs; $100 for systematic investment plan accounts) for commissionable brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary, acting as broker on behalf of its customer, charges the customer a commission for effecting transactions in Fund shares, provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst3 shares within such platform and Fund shares are held in an omnibus account. The minimum initial investment in Class Inst3 shares is $1 million, unless waived in the discretion of the Distributor, for the following investors: institutional investors that are clients of the Columbia Threadneedle Global Institutional Distribution Team that invest in Class Inst3 shares for their own account through platforms approved by the Distributor or an affiliate thereof to offer and/or service Class Inst3 shares within such platform. The Distributor may, in its discretion, waive the $1 million minimum initial investment required for these Class Inst3 investors. In each case above where noted that Fund shares are required to be held in an omnibus account, the Distributor may, in its discretion, determine to waive this requirement. |
Additional Information about Minimum Initial Investments
The minimum initial investment requirements may be waived for accounts that are managed by an investment professional, or for accounts held in approved discretionary or non-discretionary wrap programs. The Distributor, in its sole discretion, may also waive minimum initial investment requirements for other account types.
Minimum investment and related requirements may be modified at any time, with or without prior notice. If your account is closed and then re-opened with a systematic investment plan, your account must meet the then-current applicable minimum initial investment.
Class Inst Shares Minimum Initial Investments
There is no minimum initial investment in Class Inst shares for the following categories of eligible investors:
| ■ | Any health savings account sponsored by a third party platform. |
| ■ | Any investor participating in an account sponsored by a financial intermediary or other entity (that provides services to the account) that is paid a fee-based advisory fee by the investor and that is not compensated by the Fund for those services, other than payments for shareholder servicing or sub-accounting performed in place of the Transfer Agent. |
| ■ | Any commissionable brokerage account, if a financial intermediary has received a written approval from the Distributor to waive the minimum initial investment in Class Inst shares. |
The minimum initial investment in Class Inst shares for the following categories of eligible investors is $1,000:
| Prospectus 2021 | 53 |
Columbia Contrarian Core Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
| ■ | Individual retirement accounts (IRAs) on commissionable brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary, acting as broker on behalf of its customer, charges the customer a commission for effecting transactions in Fund shares, provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst shares within such platform. |
| ■ | Any current employee of Columbia Management Investment Advisers LLC, the Distributor or the Transfer Agent and immediate family members of any of the foregoing who share the same address are eligible to invest in Class Inst shares through an individual retirement account (IRA). If you maintain your account with a financial intermediary, you must contact that financial intermediary each time you seek to purchase shares to notify them that you qualify for Class Inst shares. If Class Inst shares are not available at your financial intermediary, you may consider opening a Direct-at-Fund Account. It is your obligation to advise your financial intermediary or (in the case of Direct-at-Fund Accounts) the Transfer Agent that you qualify for Class Inst shares; be prepared to provide proof thereof. |
The minimum initial investment in Class Inst shares for the following categories of eligible investors is $2,000:
| ■ | Investors (except investors in individual retirement accounts (IRAs)) who purchase Fund shares through commissionable brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary holds the shares in an omnibus account and, acting as broker on behalf of its customer, charges the customer a commission for effecting transactions in Fund shares provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst shares within such platform. |
| ■ | Any current employee of Columbia Management Investment Advisers LLC, the Distributor or the Transfer Agent and immediate family members of any of the foregoing who share the same address are eligible to invest in Class Inst shares (other than individual retirement accounts (IRAs), for which the minimum initial investment is $1,000). If you maintain your account with a financial intermediary, you must contact that financial intermediary each time you seek to purchase shares to notify them that you qualify for Class Inst shares. If Class Inst shares are not available at your financial intermediary, you may consider opening a Direct-at-Fund Account. It is your obligation to advise your financial intermediary or (in the case of Direct-at-Fund Accounts) the Transfer Agent that you qualify for Class Inst shares; be prepared to provide proof thereof. |
| ■ | Certain financial institutions and intermediaries, such as insurance companies, trust companies, banks, endowments, investment companies or foundations, buying shares for their own account, including Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates and/or subsidiaries. |
| ■ | Bank trust departments that assess their clients an asset-based fee. |
| ■ | Certain other investors as set forth in more detail in the SAI. |
Systematic Investment Plan
The Systematic Investment Plan allows you to schedule regular purchases via automatic transfers from your bank account to the Fund on a monthly, quarterly or semiannual basis. Contact the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary to set up the plan. Systematic Investment Plans may not be available for all share classes. With the exception of Columbia Government Money Market Fund, the Systematic Investment Plan is confirmed on your quarterly account statement.
Dividend Diversification
Generally, you may automatically invest Fund distributions into the same class of shares (and in some cases certain other classes of shares) of another Fund without paying any applicable front-end sales charge. Call the Transfer Agent at 800.345.6611 for details. The ability to invest distributions from one Fund to another Fund may not be available to accounts held at all financial intermediaries.
Other Purchase Rules You Should Know
| ■ | Once the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary receives your purchase order in “good form,” your purchase will be made at the Fund’s next calculated public offering price per share, which is the NAV per share plus any sales charge that applies (i.e., the trade date). |
| ■ | Once the Fund receives your purchase request in “good form,” you cannot cancel it after the market closes. |
| 54 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Contrarian Core Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
| ■ | You generally buy Class A and Class V shares at the public offering price per share because purchases of these share classes are generally subject to a front-end sales charge. |
| ■ | You buy Class Adv, Class C, Class Inst, Class Inst2, Class Inst3 and Class R shares at NAV per share because no front-end sales charge applies to purchases of these share classes. |
| ■ | Class A shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund are not eligible for purchase by a Direct-at-Fund Account. |
| ■ | Class Inst shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund are not eligible for purchase by a Direct-at-Fund Account except for any current employee of Columbia Management Investment Advisers LLC, the Distributor or Transfer Agent and immediate family members of the foregoing who share the same address. |
| ■ | The Distributor and the Transfer Agent reserve the right to cancel your order request if the Fund does not receive payment within two business days of receiving your purchase order request. The Fund will return any payment received for orders that have been cancelled, but no interest will be paid on that money. |
| ■ | Financial intermediaries are responsible for sending your purchase orders to the Transfer Agent and ensuring that the Fund receives your money on time. |
| ■ | Shares purchased are recorded on the books of the Fund. The Fund does not issue certificates. |
Please also read
and contact your financial intermediary for more information regarding any reductions and/or waivers described therein.
Appendix A
Selling Shares
When you sell shares, the amount you receive may be more or less than the amount you invested. Your sale price will be the next NAV calculated after your request is received in “good form,” (i.e., the trade date) minus any applicable CDSC.
Systematic Withdrawal Plan
The Systematic Withdrawal Plan allows you to schedule regular redemptions from your account any business day on a monthly, quarterly or semiannual basis. Currently, Systematic Withdrawal Plans are generally available for Class A, Class Adv, Class C, Class Inst, Class Inst2, Class Inst3, and Class V share accounts. Contact the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary to set up the plan. To set up the plan, your account balance must meet the class minimum initial investment amount. A Systematic Withdrawal Plan cannot be set up on an account that already has a Systematic Investment Plan established. Note that a Medallion Signature Guarantee may be required if this service is established after your Fund account is opened.
You can choose to receive your withdrawals via check or direct deposit into your bank account. The Fund will deduct any applicable CDSC from the withdrawals before sending redemption proceeds to you. You can cancel the plan by giving the Fund 30 days’ notice in writing or by calling the Transfer Agent at 800.422.3737. It’s important to remember that if you withdraw more than your investment in the Fund is earning, you'll eventually withdraw your entire investment.
Check Redemption Service (for Columbia Government Money Market Fund)
Class A and Class Inst shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund (which is not offered in this prospectus) offer check writing privileges. If you have $2,000 in Columbia Government Money Market Fund, you may request checks which may be drawn against your account. The amount of any check drawn against your Columbia Government Money Market Fund must be at least $100 and not more than $100,000 per day. You can elect this service when you initially establish your account or thereafter. Call 800.345.6611 for the appropriate forms to establish this service. If you own Class A shares that were originally purchased in another Fund at NAV because of the size of the purchase, and then exchanged into Columbia Government Money Market Fund, check redemptions may be subject to a CDSC. A $15 charge will be assessed for any stop payment order requested by you or any overdraft in connection with checks written against your Columbia Government Money Market Fund account. Note that a Medallion Signature Guarantee may be required if this service is established after your Fund account is opened.
| Prospectus 2021 | 55 |
Columbia Contrarian Core Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
Satisfying Fund Redemption Requests
When you sell your Fund shares, the Fund is effectively buying them back from you. This is called a redemption. Except as noted below with respect to newly purchased shares, the Fund typically expects to send you payment for your shares within two business days after your trade date for all methods of payment. The Fund can suspend redemptions and/or delay payment of redemption proceeds for up to seven days. The Fund can also suspend redemptions and/or delay payment of redemption proceeds in excess of seven days under certain circumstances, including when the NYSE is closed or trading thereon is restricted or during emergency or other circumstances, including as determined by the SEC.
The Fund typically seeks to satisfy redemption requests from cash or cash equivalents held by the Fund, from the proceeds of orders to purchase Fund shares or from the proceeds of sales of Fund holdings effected in the normal course of managing the Fund. However, the Fund may have to sell Fund holdings, including in down markets, to meet heavier than usual redemption requests. For example, under stressed or abnormal market conditions or circumstances, including circumstances adversely affecting the liquidity of the Fund’s investments, the Fund may be more likely to be forced to sell Fund holdings to meet redemptions than under normal market circumstances. In these situations, the Fund’s portfolio manager may have to sell Fund holdings that would not otherwise be sold because, among other reasons, the current price to be received is less than the value of the holdings perceived by the Fund’s portfolio manager. The Fund may also, under certain circumstances (but more likely under stressed or abnormal market conditions or circumstances), borrow money under a credit facility to which the Fund and certain other Columbia Funds are parties or from other Columbia Funds under an interfund lending program (except for closed-end funds and money market funds, which are not eligible to borrow under the program). The Fund and the other Columbia Funds are limited as to the amount that each may individually and collectively borrow under the credit facility and the interfund lending program. As a result, borrowings available to the Fund under the credit facility and the interfund lending program might be insufficient, alone or in combination with the other strategies described herein, to satisfy Fund redemption requests. Please see
in the SAI for more information about the credit facility and interfund lending program. The Fund is also limited in the total amount it may borrow. The Fund may only borrow to the extent permitted by the 1940 Act, the rules and regulations thereunder, and any exemptive relief available to the Fund, which currently limit Fund borrowings to 33 1/3% of total assets (including any amounts borrowed) less liabilities (other than borrowings), plus an additional 5% of its total assets for temporary purposes (to be repaid within 60 days without extension or renewal), in each case determined at the time the borrowing is made.
About Fund Investments – Borrowings – Interfund Lending
In addition, the Fund reserves the right to honor redemption orders in whole or in part with in-kind distributions of Fund portfolio securities instead of cash. Such in-kind distributions typically represent a pro-rata portion of Fund portfolio assets subject to adjustments (e.g., for non-transferable securities, round lots, and derivatives). In the event the Fund distributes portfolio securities in kind, you may incur brokerage and other transaction costs associated with converting the portfolio securities you receive into cash. Also, the portfolio securities you receive may increase or decrease in value after they are distributed but before you convert them into cash. For U.S. federal income tax purposes, redemptions paid in securities are generally treated the same as redemptions paid in cash. If, during any 90-day period, you redeem shares in an amount greater than $250,000 or 1% of the Fund’s net assets (whichever is less), and if the Investment Manager determines it to be feasible and appropriate, the Fund may pay the redemption amount above such threshold by an in-kind distribution of Fund portfolio securities.
While the Fund is not required (and may refuse in its discretion) to pay a redemption with an in-kind distribution of Fund portfolio securities and reserves the right to pay the redemption proceeds in cash, if you wish to request an in-kind redemption, please call the Transfer Agent at 800.345.6611. As a result of the operational steps needed to coordinate with the redeeming shareholder’s custodian, in-kind redemptions typically take several weeks to complete after a redemption request is received. The Fund and the redeeming shareholder will typically agree upon a redemption date. Since the Fund’s NAV may fluctuate during this time, the Fund’s NAV may be lower on the agreed-upon redemption date than on an earlier date on which the investment could have been redeemed for cash.
| 56 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Contrarian Core Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
Redemption of Newly Purchased Shares
You may not redeem shares for which the Fund has not yet received payment. Shares purchased by check or electronically by ACH when the purchase payment is not guaranteed will be considered in “good form” for redemption only after they have been held in your account for 6 calendar days after the trade date of the purchase (Collected Shares). If you request a redemption for an amount that, based on the NAV next calculated after your redemption request is received, includes any shares that are not yet Collected Shares, the Fund will only process the redemption up to the amount of the value of Collected Shares available in your account. You must submit a new redemption request if you wish to redeem those shares that were not yet Collected Shares at the time the original redemption request was received by the Fund.
Other Redemption Rules You Should Know
| ■ | Once the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary receives your redemption order in “good form,” your shares will be sold at the Fund’s next calculated NAV per share (i.e., the trade date). Any applicable CDSC will be deducted from the amount you're selling and the balance will be remitted to you. |
| ■ | Once the Fund receives your redemption request in “good form,” you cannot cancel it after the market closes. |
| ■ | If you sell your shares that are held in a Direct-at-Fund Account, we will normally send the redemption proceeds by mail or electronically transfer them to your bank account the next business day after the trade date. Note that your bank may take up to three business days to post an electronic funds transfer from your account. |
| ■ | If you sell your shares through a financial intermediary, the Funds will normally send the redemption proceeds to your financial intermediary within two business days after the trade date. |
| ■ | No interest will be paid on uncashed redemption checks. |
| ■ | Other restrictions may apply to retirement accounts. For information about these restrictions, contact your retirement plan administrator. |
| ■ | For broker-dealer and wrap fee accounts: The Fund reserves the right to redeem your shares if your account falls below the Fund's minimum initial investment requirement. The Fund will notify your broker-dealer prior to redeeming shares, and will provide details on how to avoid such redemption. |
| ■ |
Also keep in mind the Funds' Small Account Policy, which is described above in
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares — Transaction Rules and Policies.
|
Exchanging Shares
You can generally sell shares of your Fund to buy shares of another Fund (subject to eligibility requirements), in what is called an exchange. You should read the prospectus of, and make sure you understand the investment objective, principal investment strategies, risks, fees and expenses of, the Fund into which you are exchanging. Although the Funds allow certain exchanges from one share class to another share class with higher expenses, you should consider the expenses of each class before making such an exchange. Please see
Same-Fund Exchange Privilege
below for more information.
You will be subject to a sales charge if, in a Direct-at-Fund Account, you exchange shares that have not previously paid a sales charge, including from Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund, Columbia Small Cap Index Fund, Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund or any other Columbia Fund that does not charge a front-end sales charge, into a Columbia Fund that does assess a sales charge.
If you hold your Fund shares through certain financial intermediaries, you may have limited exchangeability among the Funds.
Please contact your financial intermediary for more information.
Systematic Exchanges
You may buy Class A, Class C, Class Inst, Class Inst3 and Class V shares of a Fund by exchanging each month from another Fund for shares of the same class of the Fund at no additional cost, subject to the following exchange amount minimums: $50 each month for individual retirement accounts (i.e., tax qualified accounts); and $100 each month for non-retirement accounts. Contact the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary to set up the plan.
| Prospectus 2021 | 57 |
Columbia Contrarian Core Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
Exchanges will continue as long as your balance in the Fund you are exchanging shares from is sufficient to complete the systematic monthly exchange, subject to the Funds' Small Account Policy described above in
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares — Transaction Rules and Policies.
You may terminate the program or change the amount you would like to exchange (subject to the $50 and $100 minimum requirements noted immediately above) by calling the Transfer Agent at 800.345.6611.
Other Exchange Rules You Should Know
| ■ | Exchanges are made at the NAV next calculated (plus any applicable sales charge) after your exchange order is received in “good form” (i.e., the trade date). |
| ■ | Once the Fund receives your exchange request in “good form,” you cannot cancel it after the market closes. |
| ■ | The rules for buying shares of a Fund generally apply to exchanges into that Fund, including, if your exchange creates a new Fund account, it must satisfy the minimum investment amount, unless a waiver applies. |
| ■ | Shares of the purchased Fund may not be used on the same day for another exchange or sale. |
| ■ | If you exchange shares from Class A shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund to a non-money market Fund, any further exchanges must be between shares of the same class. For example, if you exchange from Class A shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund into Class C shares of a non-money market Fund, you may not exchange from Class C shares of that non-money market Fund back to Class A shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund or Class A shares of any other Fund. |
| ■ | A sales charge may apply when you exchange shares of a Fund that were not assessed a sales charge at the time you purchased such shares. If you invest through a Direct-at-Fund Account in Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund, Columbia Small Cap Index Fund, Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund, Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund or any other Columbia Fund that does not impose a front-end sales charge and then you exchange into a Fund that does assess a sales charge, your transaction is subject to a front-end sales charge if you exchange into Class A shares and to a CDSC if you exchange into Class C shares of the Columbia Funds. |
| ■ | If you purchased Class A shares of a Columbia Fund that imposes a front-end sales charge (and you paid any applicable sales charge) and you then exchange those shares into Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund, Columbia Small Cap Index Fund, Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund, Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund or any other Columbia Fund that does not impose a front-end sales charge, you may exchange that amount to Class A of another Fund in the future, including dividends earned on that amount, without paying a sales charge. |
| ■ | If your shares are subject to a CDSC, you will not be charged a CDSC upon the exchange of those shares. Any CDSC will be deducted when you sell the shares you received from the exchange. The CDSC imposed at that time will be based on the period that begins when you bought shares of the original Fund and ends when you sell the shares of the Fund you received from the exchange. Any applicable CDSC charged will be the CDSC of the original Fund. |
| ■ | You may make exchanges only into a Fund that is legally offered and sold in your state of residence. Contact the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary for more information. |
| ■ | You generally may make an exchange only into a Fund that is accepting investments. |
| ■ | The Fund may change or cancel your right to make an exchange by giving the amount of notice required by regulatory authorities (generally 60 days for a material change or cancellation). |
| ■ | Unless your account is part of a tax-advantaged arrangement, an exchange for shares of another Fund is a taxable event, and you may recognize a gain or loss for tax purposes. |
| ■ | Changing your investment to a different Fund will be treated as a sale and purchase, and you will be subject to applicable taxes on the sale and sales charges on the purchase of the new Fund. |
| 58 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Contrarian Core Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
| ■ |
Class Inst shares of a Fund may be exchanged for Class A or Class Inst shares of another Fund. In certain circumstances, the front-end sales charge applicable to Class A shares may be waived on exchanges of Class Inst shares for Class A shares. See
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares — Buying Shares — Eligible Investors — Class Inst Shares
for details.
|
| ■ | Class A shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund are not eligible for exchange by a Direct-at-Fund Account. |
| ■ | Class Inst shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund are not eligible for exchange by a Direct-at-Fund Account except for any current employee of the Investment Manager, the Distributor or the Transfer Agent and immediate family members of any of the foregoing who share the same address. |
| ■ | You may generally exchange Class V shares of a Fund for Class A shares of another Fund if the other Fund does not offer Class V shares. Class V shares exchanged into Class A shares cannot be exchanged back into Class V shares. |
Same-Fund Exchange Privilege
Shareholders may be eligible to invest in other classes of shares of the same Fund, and may exchange their current shares for another share class if deemed eligible and offered by the Fund. Such same-Fund exchanges could include an exchange of one class for another with higher expenses. Before making such an exchange, you should consider the expenses of each class. Shareholders should contact their financial intermediaries to learn more about the details of the same-Fund exchange privilege. Exchanges out of Class A, Class C and Class V shares will be subject to any applicable CDSC. Financial intermediaries that have a customized arrangement with regard to CDSCs are detailed in
Appendix A
.
Exchanges out of Class C shares to another share class of the same Fund are not permissible on Direct-at-Fund Accounts. Exchanges out of Class C shares to another share class of the same Fund within commissionable brokerage accounts are permitted only (1) by shareholders moving from a commissionable brokerage account to a fee-based advisory program or (2) when the exchange is part of a share class conversion (or a similar multiple shareholder transaction event) instituted by a financial intermediary and such conversion or similar type event is preapproved by the Distributor.
Ordinarily, shareholders will not recognize a gain or loss for U.S. federal income tax purposes upon a same-Fund exchange. You should consult your tax advisor about your particular exchanges.
| Prospectus 2021 | 59 |
Columbia Contrarian Core Fund
Distributions and Taxes
Distributions to Shareholders
A mutual fund can make money two ways:
| ■ | It can earn income on its investments. Examples of fund income are interest paid on money market instruments and bonds, and dividends paid on common stocks. |
| ■ | A mutual fund can also have capital gains if the value of its investments increases. While a fund continues to hold an investment, any gain is generally unrealized. If the fund sells an investment, it generally will realize a capital gain if it sells that investment for a higher price than its adjusted cost basis, and will generally realize a capital loss if it sells that investment for a lower price than its adjusted cost basis. Capital gains and losses are either short-term or long-term, depending on whether the fund holds the securities for one year or less (short-term) or more than one year (long-term). |
Mutual funds make payments of fund earnings to shareholders, distributing them among all shareholders of the fund. As a shareholder, you are entitled to your portion of a fund's distributed income, including capital gains. Reinvesting your distributions buys you more shares of a fund
—
which lets you take advantage of the potential for compound growth. Putting the money you earn back into your investment means it, in turn, may earn even more money (or be exposed to additional losses, if the fund earns a negative return). Over time, the power of compounding has the potential to significantly increase the value of your investment. There is no assurance, however, that you'll earn more money if you reinvest your distributions rather than receive them in cash.
The Fund intends to pay out, in the form of distributions to shareholders, a sufficient amount of its income and gains so that the Fund will qualify for treatment as a regulated investment company and generally will not have to pay any federal excise tax. The Fund generally intends to distribute any net realized capital gain (whether long-term or short-term gain) at least once a year. Normally, the Fund will declare and pay distributions of net investment income according to the following schedule:
| Declaration and Distribution Schedule | |
| Declarations | Annually |
| Distributions | Annually |
The Fund may declare or pay distributions of net investment income more frequently.
Different share classes of the Fund usually pay different net investment income distribution amounts, because each class has different expenses. Each time a distribution is made, the NAV per share of the share class is reduced by the amount of the distribution.
The Fund generally pays cash distributions within five business days after the distribution was declared (or, if the Fund declares distributions daily, within five business days after the end of the month in which the distribution was declared). If you sell all of your shares after the record date, but before the payment date, for a distribution, you'll normally receive that distribution in cash within five business days after the sale was made.
The Fund will automatically reinvest distributions in additional shares of the same share class of the Fund unless you inform us you want to receive your distributions in cash (the financial intermediary through which you purchased shares may have different policies). You can do this by contacting the Funds at the addresses and telephone numbers listed at the beginning of the section entitled
Choosing a Share Class
. No sales charges apply to the purchase or sale of such shares.
For accounts held directly with the Fund (through the Transfer Agent), distributions of $10 or less will automatically be reinvested in additional Fund shares only. If you elect to receive distributions by check and the check is returned as undeliverable, all subsequent distributions will be reinvested in additional shares of the Fund.
Unless you are a tax-exempt investor or holding Fund shares through a tax-advantaged account (such as a 401(k) plan or IRA), you should consider avoiding buying Fund shares shortly before the Fund makes a distribution (other than distributions of net investment income that are declared daily) of net investment income or net realized capital gain, because doing so can cost you money in taxes to the extent the distribution consists of taxable income or gains. This is because you will, in effect, receive part of your purchase price back in the distribution. This is known as
| 60 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Contrarian Core Fund
Distributions and Taxes
(continued)
“buying a dividend.” To avoid “buying a dividend,” before you invest check the Fund's distribution schedule, which is available at the Funds' website and/or by calling the Funds' telephone number listed at the beginning of the section entitled
Choosing a Share Class
.
Taxes
You should be aware of the following considerations applicable to the Fund:
| ■ | The Fund intends to qualify and to be eligible for treatment each year as a regulated investment company. A regulated investment company generally is not subject to tax at the fund level on income and gains from investments that are distributed to shareholders. However, the Fund's failure to qualify for treatment as a regulated investment company would result in Fund-level taxation, and consequently, a reduction in income available for distribution to you and in the NAV of your shares. Even if the Fund qualifies for treatment as a regulated investment company, the Fund may be subject to federal excise tax on certain undistributed income or gains. |
| ■ | Otherwise taxable distributions generally are taxable to you when paid, whether they are paid in cash or automatically reinvested in additional Fund shares. Dividends paid in January are deemed paid on December 31 of the prior year if the dividend was declared and payable to shareholders of record in October, November, or December of such prior year. |
| ■ | Distributions of the Fund's ordinary income and net short-term capital gain, if any, generally are taxable to you as ordinary income. Distributions of the Fund's net long-term capital gain, if any, generally are taxable to you as long-term capital gain. Whether capital gains are long-term or short-term is determined by how long the Fund has owned the investments that generated them, rather than how long you have owned your shares. |
| ■ | From time to time, a distribution from the Fund could constitute a return of capital. A return of capital is a return of an amount of your original investment and is not a distribution of income or capital gain from the Fund. Therefore, a return of capital is not taxable to you so long as the amount of the distribution does not exceed your tax basis in your Fund shares. A return of capital reduces your tax basis in your Fund shares, with any amounts exceeding such basis generally taxable as capital gain. |
| ■ | If you are an individual and you meet certain holding period and other requirements for your Fund shares, a portion of your distributions may be treated as “qualified dividend income” taxable at the lower net long-term capital gain rates instead of the higher ordinary income rates. Qualified dividend income is income attributable to the Fund's dividends received from certain U.S. and foreign corporations, as long as the Fund meets certain holding period and other requirements for the stock producing such dividends. |
| ■ | Certain high-income individuals (as well as estates and trusts) are subject to a 3.8% tax on net investment income. For individuals, the 3.8% tax applies to the lesser of (1) the amount (if any) by which the taxpayer's modified adjusted gross income exceeds certain threshold amounts or (2) the taxpayer's “net investment income.” |
| Net investment income generally includes for this purpose dividends, including any capital gain dividends, paid by the Fund, and net gains recognized on the sale, redemption or exchange of shares of the Fund. |
| ■ | Certain derivative instruments when held in the Fund's portfolio subject the Fund to special tax rules, the effect of which may be to, among other things, accelerate income to the Fund, defer Fund losses, cause adjustments in the holding periods of Fund portfolio securities, or convert capital gains into ordinary income, short-term capital losses into long-term capital losses or long-term capital gains into short-term capital gains. These rules could therefore affect the amount, timing and/or character of distributions to shareholders. |
| ■ | Generally, a Fund realizes a capital gain or loss on an option when the option expires, or when it is exercised, sold or otherwise terminated. However, if an option is a “section 1256 contract,” which includes most traded options on a broad-based index, and the Fund holds such option at the end of its taxable year, the Fund is deemed to sell such option at fair market value at such time and recognize any gain or loss thereon, which is generally deemed to be 60% long-term and 40% short-term capital gain or loss, as described further in the SAI. |
| ■ | Income and proceeds received by the Fund from sources within foreign countries may be subject to foreign taxes. If at the end of the taxable year more than 50% of the value of the Fund's assets consists of securities of foreign |
| Prospectus 2021 | 61 |
Columbia Contrarian Core Fund
Distributions and Taxes
(continued)
| corporations, and the Fund makes a special election, you will generally be required to include in your income for U.S. federal income tax purposes your share of the qualifying foreign income taxes paid by the Fund in respect of its foreign portfolio securities. You may be able to claim a foreign tax credit or deduction in respect of this amount, subject to certain limitations. There is no assurance that the Fund will make this election for a taxable year, even if it is eligible to do so. |
| ■ | A sale, redemption or exchange of Fund shares is a taxable event. This includes redemptions where you are paid in securities. Your sales, redemptions and exchanges of Fund shares (including those paid in securities) usually will result in a taxable capital gain or loss to you, equal to the difference between the amount you receive for your shares (or are deemed to have received in the case of exchanges) and your adjusted tax basis in the shares, which is generally the amount you paid (or are deemed to have paid in the case of exchanges) for them. Any such capital gain or loss generally will be long-term capital gain or loss if you have held your Fund shares for more than one year at the time of sale or exchange. In certain circumstances, capital losses may be converted from short-term to long-term; in other circumstances, capital losses may be disallowed under the “wash sale” rules. |
| ■ | For sales, redemptions and exchanges of shares that were acquired in a non-qualified account after 2011, the Fund generally is required to report to shareholders and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) cost basis information with respect to those shares. The Fund uses average cost basis as its default method of calculating cost basis. For more information regarding average cost basis reporting, other available cost basis methods, and selecting or changing to a different cost basis method, please see the SAI, columbiathreadneedleus.com, or contact the Fund at 800.345.6611. If you hold Fund shares through a financial intermediary (e.g., a brokerage firm), you should contact your financial intermediary to learn about its cost basis reporting default method and the reporting elections available to your account. |
| ■ | The Fund is required by federal law to withhold tax on any taxable or tax-exempt distributions and redemption proceeds paid to you (including amounts paid to you in securities and amounts deemed to be paid to you upon an exchange of shares) if: you have not provided a correct TIN or have not certified to the Fund that withholding does not apply, the IRS has notified us that the TIN listed on your account is incorrect according to its records, or the IRS informs the Fund that you are otherwise subject to backup withholding. |
FUNDamentals
Taxes
The information provided above is only a summary of how U.S. federal income taxes may affect your investment in the Fund. It is not intended as a substitute for careful tax planning. Your investment in the Fund may have other tax implications. It does not apply to certain types of investors who may be subject to special rules, including foreign or tax-exempt investors or those holding Fund shares through a tax-advantaged account, such as a 401(k) plan or IRA. Please see the SAI for more detailed tax information. You should consult with your own tax advisor about the particular tax consequences to you of an investment in the Fund, including the effect of any foreign, state and local taxes, and the effect of possible changes in applicable tax laws.
| 62 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Contrarian Core Fund
Financial Highlights
The financial highlights table is intended to help you understand the Fund’s financial performance for the past five fiscal years or, if shorter, the Fund’s period of operations. Certain information reflects financial results for a single Fund share. Per share net investment income (loss) amounts are calculated based on average shares outstanding during the period. The total return in the table represents the rate that an investor would have earned (or lost) on an investment in the Fund assuming all dividends and distributions had been reinvested. Total return does not reflect payment of sales charges, if any. Total return and portfolio turnover are not annualized for periods of less than one year. The portfolio turnover rate is calculated without regard to purchase and sales transactions of short-term instruments and certain derivatives, if any. If such transactions were included, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate may be higher. This information has been audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm, whose report, along with the Fund’s financial statements, is included in the Fund’s annual report, which is available upon request.
| Prospectus 2021 | 63 |
Columbia Contrarian Core Fund
Financial Highlights
(continued)
|
Net asset value,
beginning of period |
Net
investment income (loss) |
Net
realized and unrealized gain |
Total from
investment operations |
Distributions
from net investment income |
Distributions
from net realized gains |
Total
distributions to shareholders |
|
| Class A | |||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $25.48 | 0.18 | 5.65 | 5.83 | (0.23) | (1.29) | (1.52) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $27.19 | 0.22 | 0.19 | 0.41 | (0.22) | (1.90) | (2.12) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $25.41 | 0.18 | 3.05 | 3.23 | (0.18) | (1.27) | (1.45) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $22.29 | 0.19 | 3.25 | 3.44 | (0.15) | (0.17) | (0.32) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $21.27 | 0.15 | 2.05 | 2.20 | (0.55) | (0.63) | (1.18) |
| Advisor Class | |||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $26.19 | 0.25 | 5.80 | 6.05 | (0.29) | (1.29) | (1.58) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $27.89 | 0.29 | 0.19 | 0.48 | (0.28) | (1.90) | (2.18) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $26.02 | 0.25 | 3.13 | 3.38 | (0.24) | (1.27) | (1.51) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $22.81 | 0.26 | 3.33 | 3.59 | (0.21) | (0.17) | (0.38) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $21.74 | 0.21 | 2.09 | 2.30 | (0.60) | (0.63) | (1.23) |
| Class C | |||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $22.84 | (0.02) | 5.04 | 5.02 | (0.04) | (1.29) | (1.33) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $24.57 | 0.04 | 0.15 | 0.19 | (0.02) | (1.90) | (1.92) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $23.09 | (0.01) | 2.76 | 2.75 | — | (1.27) | (1.27) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $20.28 | 0.01 | 2.97 | 2.98 |
(0.00)
(e)
|
(0.17) | (0.17) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $19.43 |
(0.00)
(e)
|
1.86 | 1.86 | (0.38) | (0.63) | (1.01) |
| Institutional Class | |||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $25.71 | 0.24 | 5.70 | 5.94 | (0.29) | (1.29) | (1.58) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $27.42 | 0.29 | 0.18 | 0.47 | (0.28) | (1.90) | (2.18) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $25.61 | 0.25 | 3.07 | 3.32 | (0.24) | (1.27) | (1.51) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $22.45 | 0.25 | 3.29 | 3.54 | (0.21) | (0.17) | (0.38) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $21.42 | 0.21 | 2.05 | 2.26 | (0.60) | (0.63) | (1.23) |
| Institutional 2 Class | |||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $26.17 | 0.27 | 5.80 | 6.07 | (0.31) | (1.29) | (1.60) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $27.88 | 0.32 | 0.18 | 0.50 | (0.31) | (1.90) | (2.21) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $26.01 | 0.28 | 3.13 | 3.41 | (0.27) | (1.27) | (1.54) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $22.80 | 0.28 | 3.33 | 3.61 | (0.23) | (0.17) | (0.40) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $21.73 | 0.24 | 2.09 | 2.33 | (0.63) | (0.63) | (1.26) |
| 64 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Contrarian Core Fund
Financial Highlights
(continued)
|
Net
asset value, end of period |
Total
return |
Total gross
expense ratio to average net assets
(a)
|
Total net
expense ratio to average net assets
(a), (b)
|
Net investment
income (loss) ratio to average net assets |
Portfolio
turnover |
Net
assets, end of period (000's) |
|
|
Class A
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $29.79 | 23.80% | 1.02% |
1.02%
(c)
|
0.67% | 51% | $1,648,211 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $25.48 | 2.49% |
1.03%
(d)
|
1.03%
(d)
|
0.91% | 53% | $1,568,622 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $27.19 | 13.09% | 1.02% |
1.02%
(c)
|
0.70% | 63% | $1,912,203 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $25.41 | 15.61% | 1.04% |
1.04%
(c)
|
0.82% | 52% | $1,941,062 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $22.29 | 10.79% | 1.07% |
1.07%
(c)
|
0.72% | 47% | $2,860,806 |
|
Advisor Class
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $30.66 | 24.06% | 0.77% |
0.77%
(c)
|
0.92% | 51% | $586,655 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $26.19 | 2.74% |
0.78%
(d)
|
0.78%
(d)
|
1.16% | 53% | $610,686 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $27.89 | 13.39% | 0.77% |
0.77%
(c)
|
0.95% | 63% | $743,515 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $26.02 | 15.91% | 0.80% |
0.80%
(c)
|
1.07% | 52% | $596,704 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $22.81 | 11.07% | 0.82% |
0.82%
(c)
|
0.99% | 47% | $377,946 |
|
Class C
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $26.53 | 22.85% | 1.77% |
1.77%
(c)
|
(0.08%) | 51% | $548,126 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $22.84 | 1.73% |
1.78%
(d)
|
1.78%
(d)
|
0.16% | 53% | $561,716 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $24.57 | 12.23% | 1.77% |
1.77%
(c)
|
(0.05%) | 63% | $708,041 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $23.09 | 14.80% | 1.79% |
1.79%
(c)
|
0.07% | 52% | $748,148 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $20.28 | 9.98% | 1.83% |
1.83%
(c)
|
(0.02%) | 47% | $669,226 |
|
Institutional Class
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $30.07 | 24.08% | 0.77% |
0.77%
(c)
|
0.92% | 51% | $4,230,127 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $25.71 | 2.75% |
0.78%
(d)
|
0.78%
(d)
|
1.16% | 53% | $3,961,440 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $27.42 | 13.37% | 0.77% |
0.77%
(c)
|
0.95% | 63% | $4,889,699 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $25.61 | 15.95% | 0.80% |
0.80%
(c)
|
1.07% | 52% | $4,958,099 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $22.45 | 11.05% | 0.82% |
0.82%
(c)
|
0.99% | 47% | $4,234,639 |
|
Institutional 2 Class
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $30.64 | 24.19% | 0.69% | 0.69% | 1.00% | 51% | $653,968 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $26.17 | 2.81% |
0.68%
(d)
|
0.68%
(d)
|
1.25% | 53% | $638,213 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $27.88 | 13.50% | 0.68% | 0.68% | 1.04% | 63% | $894,849 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $26.01 | 16.05% | 0.69% | 0.69% | 1.17% | 52% | $779,002 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $22.80 | 11.22% | 0.70% | 0.70% | 1.12% | 47% | $627,659 |
| Prospectus 2021 | 65 |
Columbia Contrarian Core Fund
Financial Highlights
(continued)
|
Net asset value,
beginning of period |
Net
investment income (loss) |
Net
realized and unrealized gain |
Total from
investment operations |
Distributions
from net investment income |
Distributions
from net realized gains |
Total
distributions to shareholders |
|
|
Institutional 3 Class
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $26.19 | 0.28 | 5.81 | 6.09 | (0.32) | (1.29) | (1.61) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $27.89 | 0.33 | 0.19 | 0.52 | (0.32) | (1.90) | (2.22) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $26.03 | 0.29 | 3.12 | 3.41 | (0.28) | (1.27) | (1.55) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $22.81 | 0.30 | 3.33 | 3.63 | (0.24) | (0.17) | (0.41) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $21.75 | 0.27 | 2.06 | 2.33 | (0.64) | (0.63) | (1.27) |
|
Class R
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $25.48 | 0.11 | 5.64 | 5.75 | (0.16) | (1.29) | (1.45) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $27.18 | 0.16 | 0.19 | 0.35 | (0.15) | (1.90) | (2.05) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $25.41 | 0.12 | 3.04 | 3.16 | (0.12) | (1.27) | (1.39) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $22.29 | 0.14 | 3.25 | 3.39 | (0.10) | (0.17) | (0.27) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $21.26 | 0.10 | 2.05 | 2.15 | (0.49) | (0.63) | (1.12) |
|
Class V
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $25.22 | 0.17 | 5.58 | 5.75 | (0.23) | (1.29) | (1.52) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $26.93 | 0.22 | 0.19 | 0.41 | (0.22) | (1.90) | (2.12) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $25.18 | 0.18 | 3.02 | 3.20 | (0.18) | (1.27) | (1.45) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $22.09 | 0.19 | 3.22 | 3.41 | (0.15) | (0.17) | (0.32) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $21.08 | 0.15 | 2.04 | 2.19 | (0.55) | (0.63) | (1.18) |
|
Notes to Financial Highlights
|
|
| (a) | In addition to the fees and expenses that the Fund bears directly, the Fund indirectly bears a pro rata share of the fees and expenses of any other funds in which it invests. Such indirect expenses are not included in the Fund's reported expense ratios. |
| (b) | Total net expenses include the impact of certain fee waivers/expense reimbursements made by the Investment Manager and certain of its affiliates, if applicable. |
| (c) | The benefits derived from expense reductions had an impact of less than 0.01%. |
| (d) | Ratios include interfund lending expense which is less than 0.01%. |
| (e) | Rounds to zero. |
| 66 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Contrarian Core Fund
Financial Highlights
(continued)
|
Net
asset value, end of period |
Total
return |
Total gross
expense ratio to average net assets
(a)
|
Total net
expense ratio to average net assets
(a), (b)
|
Net investment
income (loss) ratio to average net assets |
Portfolio
turnover |
Net
assets, end of period (000's) |
|
|
Institutional 3 Class
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $30.67 | 24.26% | 0.64% | 0.64% | 1.05% | 51% | $2,487,886 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $26.19 | 2.90% |
0.64%
(d)
|
0.64%
(d)
|
1.30% | 53% | $2,123,062 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $27.89 | 13.50% | 0.63% | 0.63% | 1.10% | 63% | $2,101,809 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $26.03 | 16.14% | 0.65% | 0.65% | 1.23% | 52% | $1,574,824 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $22.81 | 11.22% | 0.65% | 0.65% | 1.23% | 47% | $329,514 |
|
Class R
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $29.78 | 23.47% | 1.27% |
1.27%
(c)
|
0.42% | 51% | $124,853 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $25.48 | 2.24% |
1.28%
(d)
|
1.28%
(d)
|
0.66% | 53% | $124,951 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $27.18 | 12.78% | 1.27% |
1.27%
(c)
|
0.45% | 63% | $145,912 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $25.41 | 15.34% | 1.29% |
1.29%
(c)
|
0.57% | 52% | $132,392 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $22.29 | 10.55% | 1.32% |
1.32%
(c)
|
0.49% | 47% | $96,586 |
|
Class V
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $29.45 | 23.73% | 1.02% |
1.02%
(c)
|
0.67% | 51% | $172,192 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $25.22 | 2.52% |
1.03%
(d)
|
1.03%
(d)
|
0.91% | 53% | $150,836 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $26.93 | 13.09% | 1.02% |
1.02%
(c)
|
0.70% | 63% | $163,335 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $25.18 | 15.61% | 1.04% |
1.04%
(c)
|
0.82% | 52% | $154,392 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $22.09 | 10.83% | 1.08% |
1.08%
(c)
|
0.71% | 47% | $146,879 |
| Prospectus 2021 | 67 |
Columbia Contrarian Core Fund
Appendix A: Financial Intermediary-Specific Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
As noted in the
section of the prospectus, the sales charge reductions and waivers available to investors who purchase and hold their Fund shares through different financial intermediaries may vary. This
describes financial intermediary-specific reductions and/or waiver policies applicable to Fund shares purchased and held through the particular financial intermediary. A reduction and/or waiver that is specific to a particular financial intermediary is not available to Direct-at-Fund Accounts and does not apply in any case to non-omnibus positions wherever held. These reductions and/or waivers may apply to purchases, sales, and exchanges of Fund shares. A shareholder transacting in Fund shares through a financial intermediary identified below should carefully read the terms and conditions of the reductions and/or waivers. Please consult your financial intermediary with respect to any sales charge reduction/waiver described below.
Choosing a Share Class
Appendix A
The financial intermediary-specific information below may be provided by, or compiled from or based on information provided by, the financial intermediaries noted. While the Funds, the Investment Manager and the Distributor do not establish these financial intermediary-specific policies, our representatives are available to answer questions about these financial intermediary-specific policies and can direct you to the financial intermediary if you need help understanding them.
Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC (Ameriprise Financial Services)
The following information has been provided by Ameriprise Financial Services:
Class A Shares Front-End Sales Charge Waivers Available at Ameriprise Financial Services:
The following information applies to Class A shares purchases if you have an account with or otherwise purchase Fund shares through Ameriprise Financial Services:
Effective June 1, 2018, shareholders purchasing Fund shares through an Ameriprise Financial Services platform or account will be eligible for the following front-end sales charge waivers and discounts, which may differ from those disclosed elsewhere in this prospectus or the Fund’s SAI:
| ■ | Employer-sponsored retirement plans (e.g., 401(k) plans, 457 plans, employer-sponsored 403(b) plans, profit sharing and money purchase pension plans and defined benefit plans). For purposes of this provision, employer-sponsored retirement plans do not include SEP IRAs, Simple IRAs or SAR-SEPs. |
| ■ | Shares purchased through an Ameriprise Financial Services investment advisory program (if an Advisory or similar share class for such investment advisory program is not available). |
| ■ | Shares purchased by third party investment advisors on behalf of their advisory clients through Ameriprise Financial Services’ platform (if an Advisory or similar share class for such investment advisory program is not available). |
| ■ | Shares purchased through reinvestment of dividends and capital gain distributions when purchasing shares of the same fund (but not any other fund within the Columbia Funds). |
| ■ | Shares exchanged from Class C shares of the same fund in the month of or following the 10-year anniversary of the purchase date. To the extent that this prospectus elsewhere provides for a waiver with respect to such shares following a shorter holding period, that waiver will apply to exchanges following such shorter period. To the extent that this prospectus elsewhere provides for a waiver with respect to exchanges of Class C shares for load waived shares, that waiver will also apply to such exchanges. |
| ■ | Employees and registered representatives of Ameriprise Financial Services or its affiliates and their immediate family members. |
| ■ | Shares purchased by or through qualified accounts (including IRAs, Coverdell Education Savings Accounts, 401(k)s, 403(b) TSCAs subject to ERISA and defined benefit plans) that are held by a covered family member, defined as an Ameriprise financial advisor and/or the advisor’s spouse, advisor’s lineal ascendant (mother, father, grandmother, grandfather, great grandmother, great grandfather), advisor’s lineal descendant (son, step-son, daughter, step-daughter, grandson, granddaughter, great grandson, great granddaughter) or any spouse of a covered family member who is a lineal descendant. |
| A-1 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Contrarian Core Fund
Appendix A: Financial Intermediary-Specific Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
(continued)
| ■ | Shares purchased from the proceeds of redemptions within the Columbia Funds, provided (1) the repurchase occurs within 90 days following the redemption, (2) the redemption and purchase occur in the same account, and (3) redeemed shares were subject to a front-end or deferred sales load (i.e., rights of reinstatement). |
Robert W. Baird & Co. Incorporated (Baird)
The following information has been provided by Baird:
Effective June 30, 2020, shareholders purchasing Columbia Fund shares through a Baird platform or account that maintains an omnibus position with the Fund will only be eligible for the following sales charge waivers (front-end sales charge waivers and CDSC waivers) and discounts, which may differ from those disclosed elsewhere in this prospectus or the Fund’s SAI. A reduction and/or waiver that is specific to Baird will not apply to non-omnibus positions.
Front-End Sales Charge Waivers on Class A Shares Available at Baird:
| ■ | Shares purchased through reinvestment of capital gains distributions and dividend reinvestment when purchasing shares of the same Columbia Fund. |
| ■ | Share purchases by employees and registered representatives of Baird or its affiliates and their family members as designated by Baird. |
| ■ | Shares purchased with the proceeds of redemptions from another Columbia Fund, provided (1) the repurchase occurs within 90 days following the redemption, (2) the redemption and purchase occur in the same accounts, and (3) redeemed shares were subject to a front-end or deferred sales charge (known as rights of reinstatement). |
| ■ | A shareholder in the Fund’s Class C shares will have their shares converted at net asset value to Class A shares of the same Columbia Fund if the shares are no longer subject to CDSC and the conversion is in line with the policies and procedures of Baird. |
| ■ | Employer-sponsored retirement plans or charitable accounts in a transactional brokerage account at Baird, including 401(k) plans, 457 plans, employer-sponsored 403(b) plans, profit sharing and money purchase pension plans and defined benefit plans. For purposes of this provision, employer-sponsored retirement plans do not include SEP IRAs, Simple IRAs or SAR-SEPs. |
CDSC Waivers on Class A and Class C Shares Available at Baird:
| ■ | Shares sold due to death or disability of the shareholder. |
| ■ | Shares sold as part of a systematic withdrawal plan as described in this prospectus. |
| ■ | Shares purchased due to returns of excess contributions from an IRA account. |
| ■ | Shares sold as part of a required minimum distribution for IRA and retirement accounts due to the shareholder reaching the qualified age based on applicable IRS regulations. |
| ■ | Shares sold to pay Baird fees but only if the transaction is initiated by Baird. |
| ■ | Shares acquired through a right of reinstatement. |
Front-End Sales Charge Discounts Available at Baird: Breakpoints and/or Rights of Accumulations:
| ■ | Breakpoints as described in this prospectus. |
| ■ | Rights of accumulations which entitle shareholders to breakpoint discounts will be automatically calculated based on the aggregated holding of Columbia Fund assets held by accounts within the purchaser’s household at Baird. Eligible Columbia Fund assets not held at Baird may be included in the rights of accumulations calculation only if the shareholder notifies his or her financial advisor about such assets. |
| ■ | Letters of Intent (LOI) allow for breakpoint discounts based on anticipated purchases of Columbia Funds through Baird, over a 13-month period of time. |
| Prospectus 2021 | A-2 |
Columbia Contrarian Core Fund
Appendix A: Financial Intermediary-Specific Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
(continued)
Edward D. Jones & Co., L.P. (Edward Jones)
The following information has been provided by Edward Jones:
Effective on or after April 17, 2020, clients of Edward Jones (also referred to as "shareholders") purchasing Columbia Fund shares on the Edward Jones commission and fee-based platforms are eligible only for the following sales charge discounts (also referred to as "breakpoints") and waivers, which can differ from breakpoints and waivers described elsewhere in this prospectus or the Fund’s SAI or through another broker-dealer. In all instances, it is the shareholder's responsibility to inform Edward Jones at the time of purchase of any relationship, holdings of Columbia Funds or other facts qualifying the purchaser for breakpoints or waivers. Edward Jones can ask for documentation of such circumstance.
Breakpoints
Rights of Accumulation (ROA)
| ■ | The applicable sales charge on a purchase of Class A shares is determined by taking into account all share classes (except any money market funds and retirement plan share classes) of Columbia Funds held by the shareholder or in an account grouped by Edward Jones with other accounts for the purpose of providing certain pricing considerations ("pricing groups"). This includes all share classes held on the Edward Jones platform and/or held on another platform. The inclusion of eligible Columbia Fund assets in the rights of accumulation calculation is dependent on the shareholder notifying his or her financial advisor of such assets at the time of calculation. |
| ■ | ROA is determined by calculating the higher of cost or market value (current shares x NAV). |
Letter of Intent (LOI)
| ■ | Through a LOI, shareholders can receive the sales charge and breakpoint discounts for purchases shareholders intend to make over a 13-month period from the date Edward Jones receives the LOI. The LOI is determined by calculating the higher of cost or market value of qualifying holdings at LOI initiation in combination with the value that the shareholder intends to buy over a 13-month period to calculate the front-end sales charge and any breakpoint discounts. Each purchase the shareholder makes during that 13-month period will receive the sales charge and breakpoint discount that applies to the total amount. The inclusion of eligible Columbia Fund assets in the LOI calculation is dependent on the shareholder notifying his or her financial advisor of such assets at the time of calculation. Purchases made before the LOI is received by Edward Jones are not covered under the LOI and will not reduce the sales charge previously paid. Sales charges will be adjusted if LOI is not met. |
Sales Charge Waivers
Sales charges are waived for the following shareholders and in the following situations:
| ■ | Associates of Edward Jones and its affiliates and their family members who are in the same pricing group (as determined by Edward Jones under its policies and procedures) as the associate. This waiver will continue for the remainder of the associate's life if the associate retires from Edward Jones in good-standing. |
| ■ | Shares purchased in an Edward Jones fee-based program. |
| ■ | Shares purchased through reinvestment of capital gains distributions and dividend reinvestment. |
| ■ | Shares purchased from the proceeds of redeemed shares of Columbia Funds so long as the following conditions are met: 1) the proceeds are from the sale of shares within 60 days of the purchase, and 2) the sale and purchase are made in the same share class and the same account or the purchase is made in an individual retirement account with proceeds from liquidations in a non-retirement account. |
| ■ | Shares exchanged into Class A shares from another share class so long as the exchange is into the same fund and was initiated at the discretion of Edward Jones. Edward Jones is responsible for any remaining CDSC due to the fund company, if applicable. Any future purchases are subject to the applicable sales charge as disclosed in this prospectus. |
| A-3 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Contrarian Core Fund
Appendix A: Financial Intermediary-Specific Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
(continued)
| ■ | Exchanges from Class C shares to Class A shares of the same fund, generally, in the 84th month following the anniversary of the purchase date or earlier at the discretion of Edward Jones. |
CDSC Waivers
If the shareholder purchases shares that are subject to a CDSC and those shares are redeemed before the CDSC is expired, the shareholder is responsible to pay the CDSC except in the following conditions:
| ■ | The death or disability of the shareholder. |
| ■ | Systematic withdrawals with up to 10% per year of the account value. |
| ■ | Return of excess contributions from an Individual Retirement Account (IRA). |
| ■ | Shares sold as part of a required minimum distribution for IRA and retirement accounts if the redemption is taken in or after the year the shareholder reaches qualified age based on applicable IRS regulations. |
| ■ | Shares sold to pay Edward Jones fees or costs in such cases where the transaction is initiated by Edward Jones. |
| ■ | Shares exchanged in an Edward Jones fee-based program. |
| ■ | Shares acquired through NAV reinstatement. |
Other Important Information
Minimum Purchase Amounts
| ■ | $250 initial purchase minimum |
| ■ | $50 subsequent purchase minimum |
Minimum Balances
| ■ | Edward Jones has the right to redeem at its discretion fund holdings with a balance of $250 or less. The following are examples of accounts that are not included in this policy: |
| ■ | A fee-based account held on an Edward Jones platform. |
| ■ | A 529 account held on an Edward Jones platform. |
| ■ | An account with an active systematic investment plan or letter of intent (LOI). |
Changing Share Classes
| ■ | At any time it deems necessary, Edward Jones has the authority to exchange at NAV a shareholder's holdings in a fund to Class A shares. |
Janney Montgomery Scott LLC (Janney)
The following information has been provided by Janney:
Effective May 1, 2020, if you purchase Columbia Fund shares through a Janney brokerage account, you will be eligible for the following load waivers (front-end sales charge waivers and CDSC, or back-end sales charge, waivers) and discounts, which may differ from those disclosed elsewhere in this prospectus or the Fund’s SAI. A reduction and/or waiver that is specific to Janney does not apply to non-omnibus positions.
Front-End Sales Charge* Waivers on Class A Shares Available at Janney
| ■ | Shares purchased through reinvestment of capital gains distributions and dividend reinvestment when purchasing shares of the same fund (but not any other Columbia Fund). |
| ■ | Shares purchased by employees and registered representatives of Janney or its affiliates and their family members as designated by Janney. |
| Prospectus 2021 | A-4 |
Columbia Contrarian Core Fund
Appendix A: Financial Intermediary-Specific Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
(continued)
| ■ | Shares purchased from the proceeds of redemptions from another Columbia Fund, provided (1) the repurchase occurs within ninety (90) days following the redemption, (2) the redemption and purchase occur in the same account, and (3) redeemed shares were subject to a front-end or deferred sales load (i.e., right of reinstatement). |
| ■ | Employer-sponsored retirement plans (e.g., 401(k) plans, 457 plans, employer-sponsored 403(b) plans, profit sharing and money purchase pension plans and defined benefit plans). For purposes of this provision, employer-sponsored retirement plans do not include SEP IRAs, Simple IRAs, SAR-SEPs or Keogh plans. |
| ■ | Shares acquired through a right of reinstatement. |
| ■ | Class C shares that are no longer subject to a CDSC and are converted to Class A shares of the same fund pursuant to Janney’s policies and procedures. |
CDSC Waivers on Class A and C Shares Available at Janney
| ■ | Shares sold upon the death or disability of the shareholder. |
| ■ | Shares sold as part of a systematic withdrawal plan as described in this prospectus. |
| ■ | Shares purchased in connection with a return of excess contributions from an IRA account. |
| ■ | Shares sold as part of a required minimum distribution for IRA and retirement accounts if the redemption is taken in or after the year the shareholder reaches qualified age based on applicable IRS regulations. |
| ■ | Shares sold to pay Janney fees but only if the transaction is initiated by Janney. |
| ■ | Shares acquired through a right of reinstatement. |
| ■ | Shares exchanged into the same share class of a different fund. |
Front-End Sales Charge* Discounts Available at Janney: Breakpoints, Rights of Accumulation, and/or Letters of Intent
| ■ | Breakpoints as described in this prospectus. |
| ■ | Rights of accumulation (“ROA”), which entitle shareholders to breakpoint discounts, will be automatically calculated based on the aggregated holding of Columbia Fund assets held by accounts within the purchaser’s household at Janney. Eligible Columbia Fund assets not held at Janney may be included in the ROA calculation only if the shareholder notifies his or her financial advisor about such assets. |
| ■ | Letters of intent which allow for breakpoint discounts based on anticipated purchases within the Columbia Funds, over a 13-month time period. Eligible Columbia Fund assets not held at Janney may be included in the calculation of letters of intent only if the shareholder notifies his or her financial advisor about such assets. |
* Also referred to as an “initial sales charge”.
Merrill Lynch Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated (Merrill Lynch)
The following information has been provided by Merrill Lynch:
Shareholders purchasing Columbia Fund shares through a Merrill Lynch platform or account will be eligible only for the following load waivers (front-end sales charge waivers and contingent deferred, or back-end, sales charge waivers) and discounts, which may differ from those disclosed elsewhere in this prospectus or the Fund’s SAI:
Front-End Load Discounts Available at Merrill Lynch:
Merrill Lynch makes available breakpoint discounts on shares of the Fund through:
| ■ | Breakpoints as described in this prospectus. |
| ■ | Rights of Accumulation (ROA) which entitle shareholders to breakpoint discounts as described in this prospectus will be automatically calculated based on the aggregated holding of Columbia Fund assets held by accounts (including 529 program holdings, where applicable) within the purchaser’s household at Merrill Lynch. Eligible Columbia Fund assets not held at Merrill Lynch may be included in the ROA calculation only if the shareholder notifies his or her financial advisor about such assets. |
| A-5 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Contrarian Core Fund
Appendix A: Financial Intermediary-Specific Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
(continued)
| ■ | Letters of Intent (LOI) which allow for breakpoint discounts based on anticipated purchases of Columbia Funds, through Merrill Lynch, over a 13-month period of time (if applicable). |
Front-End Sales Load Waivers on Class A Shares Available at Merrill Lynch:
| ■ | Employer-sponsored retirement, deferred compensation and employee benefit plans (including health savings accounts) and trusts used to fund those plans, provided that the shares are not held in a commission-based brokerage account and shares are held for the benefit of the plan. |
| ■ | Shares purchased by a 529 Plan (does not include 529 Plan units or 529-specific share classes or equivalents). |
| ■ | Shares purchased through a Merrill Lynch affiliated investment advisory program. |
| ■ | Shares exchanged due to the holdings moving from a Merrill Lynch affiliated investment advisory program to a Merrill Lynch brokerage (non-advisory) account pursuant to Merrill Lynch’s policies relating to sales load discounts and waivers. |
| ■ | Shares purchased by third party investment advisors on behalf of their advisory clients through Merrill Lynch’s platform. |
| ■ | Shares of funds purchased through the Merrill Edge Self-Directed platform (if applicable). |
| ■ | Shares purchased through reinvestment of capital gains distributions and dividend reinvestment when purchasing shares of the same fund (but not any other Columbia Fund). |
| ■ | Shares exchanged from Class C (i.e., level-load) shares of the same fund pursuant to Merrill Lynch’s policies relating to sales load discounts and waivers. |
| ■ | Employees and registered representatives of Merrill Lynch or its affiliates and their family members. |
| ■ | Directors or Trustees of the Fund, and employees of the Fund’s investment adviser or any of its affiliates, as described in this prospectus. |
| ■ | Eligible shares purchased from the proceeds of redemptions from another Columbia Fund, provided (1) the repurchase occurs within 90 days following the redemption, (2) the redemption and purchase occur in the same account, and (3) redeemed shares were subject to a front-end or deferred sales load (known as Rights of Reinstatement). Automated transactions (i.e. systematic purchases and withdrawals) and purchases made after shares are automatically sold to pay Merrill Lynch’s account maintenance fees are not eligible for reinstatement. |
CDSC Waivers on Class A and C Shares Available at Merrill Lynch:
| ■ | Death or disability of the shareholder. |
| ■ | Shares sold as part of a systematic withdrawal plan as described in this prospectus. |
| ■ | Return of excess contributions from an IRA Account. |
| ■ | Shares sold as part of a required minimum distribution for IRA and retirement accounts pursuant to the Internal Revenue Code. |
| ■ | Shares sold to pay Merrill Lynch fees but only if the transaction is initiated by Merrill Lynch. |
| ■ | Shares acquired through a right of reinstatement. |
| ■ | Shares held in retirement brokerage accounts, that are exchanged for a lower cost share class due to transfer to certain fee based accounts or platforms (applicable to Class A and Class C shares only). |
| ■ | Shares received through an exchange due to the holdings moving from a Merrill Lynch affiliated investment advisory program to a Merrill Lynch brokerage (non-advisory) account pursuant to Merrill Lynch’s policies relating to sales load discounts and waivers. |
| Prospectus 2021 | A-6 |
Columbia Contrarian Core Fund
Appendix A: Financial Intermediary-Specific Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
(continued)
Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, LLC (Morgan Stanley Wealth Management)
The following information has been provided by Morgan Stanley Wealth Management:
Shareholders purchasing Columbia Fund shares through a Morgan Stanley Wealth Management transactional brokerage account will be eligible only for the following front-end sales charge waivers with respect to Class A shares, which may differ from and may be more limited than those disclosed elsewhere in this prospectus or the Fund’s SAI.
Front-End Sales Charge Waivers on Class A Shares Available at Morgan Stanley Wealth Management:
| ■ | Employer-sponsored retirement plans (e.g., 401(k) plans, 457 plans, employer-sponsored 403(b) plans, profit sharing and money purchase pension plans and defined benefit plans). For purposes of this provision, employer-sponsored retirement plans do not include SEP IRAs, Simple IRAs, SAR-SEPs or Keogh plans. |
| ■ | Morgan Stanley employee and employee-related accounts according to Morgan Stanley’s account linking rules. |
| ■ | Shares purchased through reinvestment of dividends and capital gains distributions when purchasing shares of the same fund. |
| ■ | Shares purchased through a Morgan Stanley self-directed brokerage account. |
| ■ | Class C (i.e., level-load) shares that are no longer subject to a CDSC and are exchanged for Class A shares of the same fund pursuant to Morgan Stanley Wealth Management’s share class exchange program. |
| ■ | Shares purchased from the proceeds of redemptions from another Columbia Fund, provided (i) the repurchase occurs within 90 days following the redemption, (ii) the redemption and purchase occur in the same account, and (iii) redeemed shares were subject to a front-end or deferred sales charge. |
Raymond James & Associates, Inc., Raymond James Financial Services, Inc. and each entity’s affiliates (Raymond James)
The following information has been provided by Raymond James:
Intermediary-Defined Sales Charge Waiver Policies:
The availability of certain initial or deferred sales charge waivers and discounts may depend on the particular financial intermediary or type of account through which you purchase or hold Columbia Fund shares.
Intermediaries may have different policies and procedures regarding the availability of front-end sales load waivers or contingent deferred (back-end) sales load (CDSC) waivers, which are discussed below. In all instances, it is the purchaser’s responsibility to notify the Fund or the purchaser’s financial intermediary at the time of purchase of any relationship or other facts qualifying the purchaser for sales charge waivers or discounts. For waivers and discounts not available through a particular intermediary, shareholders will have to purchase Columbia Fund shares directly from the Fund or through another intermediary to receive these waivers or discounts.
Raymond James:
Effective March 1, 2019, shareholders purchasing Columbia Fund shares through a Raymond James platform or account, or through an introducing broker-dealer or independent registered investment adviser for which Raymond James provides trade execution, clearance, and/or custody services, will be eligible only for the following load waivers (front-end sales charge waivers and contingent deferred, or back-end, sales charge waivers) and discounts, which may differ from those disclosed elsewhere in this prospectus or the Fund’s SAI.
Front-End Sales Load Waivers on Class A Shares Available at Raymond James:
| ■ | Shares purchased in an investment advisory program. |
| ■ | Shares purchased within the Columbia Funds through a systematic reinvestment of capital gains and dividend distributions. |
| ■ | Employees and registered representatives of Raymond James or its affiliates and their family members as designated by Raymond James. |
| A-7 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Contrarian Core Fund
Appendix A: Financial Intermediary-Specific Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
(continued)
| ■ | Shares purchased from the proceeds of redemptions within the Columbia Funds, provided (1) the repurchase occurs within 90 days following the redemption, (2) the redemption and purchase occur in the same account, and (3) redeemed shares were subject to a front-end or deferred sales load (known as Rights of Reinstatement). |
| ■ | A shareholder in the Fund’s Class C shares will have their shares converted at net asset value to Class A shares (or the appropriate share class) of the Fund if the shares are no longer subject to a CDSC and the conversion is in line with the policies and procedures of Raymond James. |
CDSC Waivers on Class A and Class C Shares Available at Raymond James:
| ■ | Death or disability of the shareholder. |
| ■ | Shares sold as part of a systematic withdrawal plan as described in this prospectus. |
| ■ | Return of excess contributions from an IRA Account. |
| ■ | Shares sold as part of a required minimum distribution for IRA and retirement accounts due to the shareholder reaching the qualified age based on applicable IRS regulations as described in this prospectus. |
| ■ | Shares sold to pay Raymond James fees but only if the transaction is initiated by Raymond James. |
| ■ | Shares acquired through a right of reinstatement. |
Front-End Load Discounts Available at Raymond James: Breakpoints, Rights of Accumulation and/or Letters of Intent:
| ■ | Breakpoints as described in this prospectus. |
| ■ | Rights of accumulation which entitle shareholders to breakpoint discounts will be automatically calculated based on the aggregated holding of Columbia Fund assets held by accounts within the purchaser’s household at Raymond James. Eligible Columbia Fund assets not held at Raymond James may be included in the calculation of rights of accumulation only if the shareholder notifies his or her financial advisor about such assets. |
| ■ | Letters of intent which allow for breakpoint discounts based on anticipated purchases within the Columbia Funds, over a 13-month time period. Eligible Columbia Fund assets not held at Raymond James may be included in the calculation of letters of intent only if the shareholder notifies his or her financial advisor about such assets. |
Stifel Financial Corp. (Stifel)
The following information has been provided by Stifel:
Effective June 30, 2020, Class C shares of Columbia Funds that were purchased through a Stifel platform or account that maintains an omnibus position with the Fund that are no longer subject to a CDSC are exchanged to Class A shares of the same Columbia Fund pursuant to Stifel’s policies and procedures. This does not apply to non-omnibus positions.
Additional Sales Charge Reductions and/or Waivers Available at Certain Financial Intermediaries
Shareholders purchasing Columbia Fund shares through a platform or account of RBC Capital Markets, LLC are eligible for the following sales charge waiver:
Class A Shares Front-End Sales Charge Waiver Available at RBC Capital Markets, LLC:
| ■ | For employer-sponsored retirement plans held through a commissionable brokerage account, Class A shares are available at NAV (i.e., without a sales charge). For this purpose, employer-sponsored retirement plans include, but are not limited to, 401(k) plans, 457 plans, employer-sponsored 403(b) plans, profit sharing and money purchase pension plans and defined benefit plans. For purposes of this provision, employer-sponsored retirement plans do not include SEP IRAs, Simple IRAs, SAR-SEPs or Keogh plans. |
| Prospectus 2021 | A-8 |
Columbia Contrarian Core Fund
P.O. Box 219104
Kansas City, MO 64121-9104
Kansas City, MO 64121-9104
Additional Information About the Fund
Additional information about the Fund’s investments is available in the Fund’s annual and semiannual reports to shareholders. In the annual report, you will find a discussion of the market conditions and investment strategies that significantly affected the Fund’s performance during its last fiscal year. The SAI also provides additional information about the Fund and its policies. The SAI, which has been filed with the SEC, is legally part of this prospectus (incorporated by reference). To obtain these documents free of charge, to request other information about the Fund and to make shareholder inquiries, please contact the Fund as follows:
By Mail:
Columbia Management Investment Services Corp.
P.O. Box 219104
Kansas City, MO 64121-9104
P.O. Box 219104
Kansas City, MO 64121-9104
By Telephone:
800.345.6611
Online:
columbiathreadneedleus.com
Reports and other information about the Fund are also available in the EDGAR Database on the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov. You can receive copies of this information, for a duplication fee, by electronic request at the following e-mail address: publicinfo@sec.gov.
The investment company registration number of Columbia Funds Series Trust I, of which the Fund is a series, is 811-04367.
Columbia Threadneedle Investments is the global brand name of the Columbia and Threadneedle group of companies.
© 2021 Columbia Management Investment Distributors, Inc.
225 Franklin Street, Boston, MA 02110
225 Franklin Street, Boston, MA 02110
800.345.6611
PRO133_08_L01_(01/21)
Prospectus
January 1, 2021
Columbia Emerging Markets Fund
|
Class
|
Ticker Symbol
|
|
| A | EEMAX | |
| Advisor (Class Adv) | CEMHX | |
| C | EEMCX | |
| Institutional (Class Inst) | UMEMX | |
| Institutional 2 (Class Inst2) | CEKRX | |
| Institutional 3 (Class Inst3) | CEKYX | |
| R | CEMRX |
Beginning on January 1, 2021, as permitted by regulations adopted by the Securities and Exchange Commission, paper copies of the Fund's annual and semiannual shareholder reports are no longer sent by mail, unless you specifically requested paper copies of the reports. Instead, the reports are made available on the Fund's website (columbiathreadneedleus.com/investor/), and each time a report is posted you will be notified by mail and provided with a website address to access the report.
If you have already elected to receive shareholder reports electronically, you will not be affected by this change and you need not take any action. You may elect to receive shareholder reports and other communications from the Fund electronically at any time by contacting your financial intermediary (such as a broker-dealer or bank) or, for Fund shares held directly with the Fund, by calling 800.345.6611 or by enrolling in “eDelivery” by logging into your account at columbiathreadneedleus.com/investor/.
You may elect to receive all future shareholder reports in paper free of charge. If you invest through a financial intermediary, you can contact your financial intermediary to request that you continue receiving paper copies of your shareholder reports. If you invest directly with the Fund, you can call 800.345.6611 to let the Fund know you wish to continue receiving paper copies of your shareholder reports. Your election to receive paper reports will apply to all Columbia Funds held in your account if you invest through a financial intermediary or all Columbia Funds held with the fund complex if you invest directly with the Fund.
As with all mutual funds, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has not approved or disapproved these securities or passed upon the adequacy of this prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.
Columbia Emerging Markets Fund
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A-1
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Prospectus 2021
|
Columbia Emerging Markets Fund
Summary of the Fund
Investment Objective
Columbia Emerging Markets Fund (the Fund) seeks long-term capital appreciation.
Fees and Expenses of the Fund
This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold and sell shares of the Fund.
You may be required to pay such brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries when transacting in any class of Fund shares, including those that do not assess any front-end sales charge, contingent deferred sales charge, or other asset-based fee for sales or distribution. Such brokerage commissions and other fees are set by the financial intermediary.
You may qualify for sales charge discounts if you and members of your immediate family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $50,000 in certain classes of shares of eligible funds distributed by Columbia Management Investment Distributors, Inc. (the Distributor). More information is available about these and other sales charge discounts and waivers from your financial intermediary, and can be found in the
section beginning on page 27 of the Fund’s prospectus, in
to the prospectus beginning on page A-1 and in Appendix S to the Statement of Additional Information (SAI) under
beginning on page S-1.
You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the tables and examples below.
Choosing a Share Class
Appendix A
Sales Charge Waivers
|
Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment)
|
|||
|
Class A
|
Class C
|
Classes Adv,
Inst, Inst2, Inst3 and R |
|
| Maximum sales charge (load) imposed on purchases (as a % of offering price) | 5.75% | None | None |
| Maximum deferred sales charge (load) imposed on redemptions (as a % of the lower of the original purchase price or current net asset value) |
1.00%
(a)
|
1.00%
(b)
|
None |
| (a) | This charge is imposed on certain investments of between $1 million and $50 million redeemed within 18 months after purchase, as follows: 1.00% if redeemed within 12 months after purchase, and 0.50% if redeemed more than 12, but less than 18, months after purchase, with certain limited exceptions. |
| (b) | This charge applies to redemptions within 12 months after purchase, with certain limited exceptions. |
| (c) | Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC and certain of its affiliates have contractually agreed to waive fees and/or to reimburse expenses (excluding transaction costs and certain other investment related expenses, interest, taxes, acquired fund fees and expenses, and infrequent and/or unusual expenses) through December 31, 2021, unless sooner terminated at the sole discretion of the Fund’s Board of Trustees (the Board). Under this agreement, the Fund’s net operating expenses, subject to applicable exclusions, will not exceed the annual rates of 1.53% for Class A, 1.28% for Class Adv, 2.28% for Class C, 1.28% for Class Inst, 1.16% for Class Inst2, 1.11% for Class Inst3 and 1.78% for Class R. The fee waivers and/or expense reimbursements shown in the table for Class Inst2 and Class Inst3 also reflect the contractual agreement of the Fund’s transfer agent to waive fees and/or to reimburse expenses through December 31, 2021, unless sooner terminated at the sole discretion of the Fund’s Board, so that the Fund’s transfer agency fees do not exceed the annual rate of 0.05% for Class Inst2 and 0.00% for Class Inst3. |
| Prospectus 2021 | 3 |
Columbia Emerging Markets Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
Example
The following example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The example illustrates the hypothetical expenses that you would incur over the time periods indicated, and assumes that:
| ■ | you invest $10,000 in the applicable class of Fund shares for the periods indicated, |
| ■ | your investment has a 5% return each year, and |
| ■ |
the Fund’s total annual operating expenses remain the same as shown in the
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
|
Since the waivers and/or reimbursements shown in the
table above expire as indicated in the preceding table, they are only reflected in the 1 year example and the first year of the other examples. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on the assumptions listed above, your costs would be:
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
|
1 year
|
3 years
|
5 years
|
10 years
|
|
|
Class A
(whether or not shares are redeemed)
|
$722 | $1,035 | $1,369 | $2,313 |
|
Class Adv
(whether or not shares are redeemed)
|
$130 |
$
|
$
|
$1,566 |
|
Class C
(assuming redemption of all shares at the end of the period)
|
$331 |
$
|
$1,228 | $2,634 |
|
Class C
(assuming no redemption of shares)
|
$231 |
$
|
$1,228 | $2,634 |
|
Class Inst
(whether or not shares are redeemed)
|
$130 |
$
|
$
|
$1,566 |
|
Class Inst2
(whether or not shares are redeemed)
|
$117 |
$
|
$
|
$1,408 |
|
Class Inst3
(whether or not shares are redeemed)
|
$112 |
$
|
$
|
$1,351 |
|
Class R
(whether or not shares are redeemed)
|
$181 |
$
|
$
|
$2,114 |
Portfolio Turnover
The Fund may pay transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 29% of the average value of its portfolio.
Principal Investment Strategies
Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets (including the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes) in equity securities (including, but not limited to, common stocks, preferred stocks and securities convertible into common or preferred stocks) of companies located in emerging market countries. The Fund may also gain exposure to such companies through investment in depositary receipts. Emerging market countries include those countries whose economies are considered to be developing or emerging from underdevelopment.
The Fund may invest in a variety of countries, industries and sectors and does not attempt to invest a specific percentage of its assets in any given country, industry or sector. However, the Fund has invested substantially in the consumer discretionary, financial services and information technology sectors and may continue to invest substantially in these or other sectors in the future. From time to time, the Fund may focus its investments in certain countries or geographic areas, including the Asia/Pacific region. The Fund may invest in companies that have market capitalizations of any size.
The Fund may invest in special situations, such as companies involved in initial public offerings, tender offers, mergers and other corporate restructurings, and in companies involved in management changes or companies developing new technologies.
| 4 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Emerging Markets Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
The Fund may invest in securities that the investment manager believes are undervalued, represent growth opportunities, or both.
Principal Risks
An investment in the Fund involves risks, including
,
,
, and
, among others. Descriptions of these and other principal risks of investing in the Fund are provided below.
. The value of the Fund’s holdings may decline, and the Fund’s net asset value (NAV) and share price may go down.
An investment in the Fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency.
Emerging Market Securities Risk
Foreign Securities Risk
Geographic Focus Risk
Market Risk
There is no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objective and you may lose money
Active Management Risk.
Due to its active management, the Fund could underperform its benchmark index and/or other funds with similar investment objectives and/or strategies.
Convertible Securities Risk.
Convertible securities are subject to the usual risks associated with debt instruments, such as interest rate risk and credit risk. Convertible securities also react to changes in the value of the common stock into which they convert, and are thus subject to market risk. The Fund may also be forced to convert a convertible security at an inopportune time, which may decrease the Fund’s return.
Depositary Receipts Risk.
Depositary receipts are receipts issued by a bank or trust company reflecting ownership of underlying securities issued by foreign companies. Some foreign securities are traded in the form of American Depositary Receipts and/or Global Depositary Receipts. Depositary receipts involve risks similar to the risks associated with investments in foreign securities, including those associated with investing in the particular country of an issuer, which may be related to the particular political, regulatory, economic, social and other conditions or events, including, for example, military confrontations, war, terrorism and disease/virus outbreaks and epidemics, occurring in the country and fluctuations in such country’s currency, as well as market risk tied to the underlying foreign company. In addition, holders of depositary receipts may have limited voting rights, may not have the same rights afforded to stockholders of a typical domestic company in the event of a corporate action, such as an acquisition, merger or rights offering, and may experience difficulty in receiving company stockholder communications. There is no guarantee that a financial institution will continue to sponsor a depositary receipt, or that a depositary receipt will continue to trade on an exchange, either of which could adversely affect the liquidity, availability and pricing of the depositary receipt. Changes in foreign currency exchange rates will affect the value of depositary receipts and, therefore, may affect the value of your investment in the Fund.
Emerging Market Securities Risk.
Securities issued by foreign governments or companies in emerging market countries, such as China, Russia and certain countries in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Latin America or Africa, are more likely to have greater exposure to the risks of investing in foreign securities that are described in Foreign Securities Risk. In addition, emerging market countries are more likely to experience instability resulting, for example, from rapid changes or developments in social, political, economic or other conditions. Their economies are usually less mature and their securities markets are typically less developed with more limited trading activity (i.e., lower trading volumes and less liquidity) than more developed countries. Emerging market securities tend to be more volatile than securities in more developed markets. Many emerging market countries are heavily dependent on international trade and have fewer trading partners, which makes them more sensitive to world commodity prices and economic downturns in other countries, and some have a higher risk of currency devaluations. Due to the differences in the nature and quality of financial information of issuers of emerging market securities, including auditing and financial reporting standards, financial information and disclosures about such issuers may be unavailable or, if made available, may be considerably less reliable than publicly available information about other foreign securities.
Foreign Securities Risk.
Investments in or exposure to foreign securities involve certain risks not associated with investments in or exposure to securities of U.S. companies. Foreign securities subject the Fund to the risks associated with investing in the particular country of an issuer, including political, regulatory, economic, social, diplomatic and other conditions or events (including, for example, military confrontations, war, terrorism and disease/virus outbreaks and epidemics), occurring in the country or region, as well as risks associated with less developed custody and settlement practices. Foreign securities may be more volatile and less liquid than securities
| Prospectus 2021 | 5 |
Columbia Emerging Markets Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
of U.S. companies, and are subject to the risks associated with potential imposition of economic and other sanctions against a particular foreign country, its nationals or industries or businesses within the country. In addition, foreign governments may impose withholding or other taxes on the Fund’s income, capital gains or proceeds from the disposition of foreign securities, which could reduce the Fund’s return on such securities. The performance of the Fund may also be negatively affected by fluctuations in a foreign currency's strength or weakness relative to the U.S. dollar, particularly to the extent the Fund invests a significant percentage of its assets in foreign securities or other assets denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar.
Geographic Focus Risk.
The Fund may be particularly susceptible to economic, political, regulatory or other events or conditions affecting issuers and countries within the specific geographic regions in which the Fund invests. The Fund’s NAV may be more volatile than the NAV of a more geographically diversified fund.
Asia Pacific Region.
Many of the countries in the Asia Pacific region are considered underdeveloped or developing, including from a political, economic and/or social perspective, and may have relatively unstable governments and economies based on limited business, industries and/or natural resources or commodities. Events in any one country within the region may impact other countries in the region or the region as a whole. As a result, events in the region will generally have a greater effect on the Fund than if the Fund were more geographically diversified. This could result in increased volatility in the value of the Fund’s investments and losses for the Fund. Also, securities of some companies in the region can be less liquid than U.S. or other foreign securities, potentially making it difficult for the Fund to sell such securities at a desirable time and price.
Greater China.
The Greater China region consists of Hong Kong, The People's Republic of China and Taiwan, among other countries, and the Fund's investments in the region are particularly susceptible to risks in that region. The Hong Kong, Taiwanese, and Chinese economies are dependent on the economies of other countries and can be significantly affected by currency fluctuations and increasing competition from other emerging economies in Asia with lower costs. Adverse events in any one country within the region may impact the other countries in the region or Asia as a whole. As a result, adverse events in the region will generally have a greater effect on the Fund than if the Fund were more geographically diversified, which could result in greater volatility in the Fund’s NAV and losses. Markets in the Greater China region can experience significant volatility due to social, economic, regulatory and political uncertainties. The public health crises caused by the COVID-19 outbreak have exacerbated political and diplomatic tensions between the United States and China, which could adversely affect international trade and the value of the Fund’s portfolio securities. Changes in Chinese government policy and economic growth rates could significantly affect local markets and the entire Greater China region. China has yet to develop comprehensive securities, corporate, or commercial laws, its market is relatively new and less developed, and its economy is experiencing a relative slowdown. Export growth continues to be a major driver of China’s economic growth. As a result, a reduction in spending on Chinese products and services, the institution of additional tariffs or other trade barriers, including as a result of heightened trade tensions between China and the United States, or a downturn in any of the economies of China’s key trading partners may have an adverse impact on the Chinese economy.
Growth Securities Risk.
Growth securities typically trade at a higher multiple of earnings than other types of equity securities. Accordingly, the market values of growth securities may never reach their expected market value and may decline in price. In addition, growth securities, at times, may not perform as well as value securities or the stock market in general, and may be out of favor with investors for varying periods of time.
Issuer Risk.
An issuer in which the Fund invests or to which it has exposure may perform poorly or below expectations, and the value of its securities may therefore decline, which may negatively affect the Fund’s performance. Underperformance of an issuer may be caused by poor management decisions, competitive pressures, breakthroughs in technology, reliance on suppliers, labor problems or shortages, corporate restructurings, fraudulent disclosures, natural disasters, military confrontations, war, terrorism, disease/virus outbreaks, epidemics or other events, conditions and factors which may impair the value of an investment in the Fund.
| 6 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Emerging Markets Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
Small- and Mid-Cap Stock Risk.
Investments in small- and mid-capitalization companies (small- and mid-cap companies) often involve greater risks than investments in larger, more established companies (larger companies) because small- and mid-cap companies tend to have less predictable earnings and may lack the management experience, financial resources, product diversification and competitive strengths of larger companies. Securities of small- and mid-cap companies may be less liquid and more volatile than the securities of larger companies.
Large-Cap Stock Risk.
Investments in larger companies may involve certain risks associated with their larger size. For instance, larger companies may be less able to respond quickly to new competitive challenges, such as changes in consumer tastes or innovation from smaller competitors. Also, larger companies are sometimes less able to achieve as high growth rates as successful smaller companies, especially during extended periods of economic expansion.
Liquidity Risk.
Liquidity risk is the risk associated with any event, circumstance, or characteristic of an investment or market that negatively impacts the Fund’s ability to sell, or realize the proceeds from the sale of, an investment at a desirable time or price. Liquidity risk may arise because of, for example, a lack of marketability of the investment, which means that when seeking to sell its portfolio investments, the Fund could find that selling is more difficult than anticipated, especially during times of high market volatility. Market participants attempting to sell the same or a similar instrument at the same time as the Fund could exacerbate the Fund’s exposure to liquidity risk. The Fund may have to accept a lower selling price for the holding, sell other liquid or more liquid investments that it might otherwise prefer to hold (thereby increasing the proportion of the Fund’s investments in less liquid or illiquid securities), or forego another more appealing investment opportunity. The liquidity of Fund investments may change significantly over time and certain investments that were liquid when purchased by the Fund may later become illiquid, particularly in times of overall economic distress. Changing regulatory, market or other conditions or environments (for example, the interest rate or credit environments) may also adversely affect the liquidity and the price of the Fund's investments. Judgment plays a larger role in valuing illiquid or less liquid investments as compared to valuing liquid or more liquid investments. Price volatility may be higher for illiquid or less liquid investments as a result of, for example, the relatively less frequent pricing of such securities (as compared to liquid or more liquid investments). Generally, the less liquid the market at the time the Fund sells a portfolio investment, the greater the risk of loss or decline of value to the Fund. Overall market liquidity and other factors can lead to an increase in redemptions, which may negatively impact Fund performance and NAV, including, for example, if the Fund is forced to sell investments in a down market. Foreign securities can present enhanced liquidity risks, including as a result of less developed custody, settlement or other practices of foreign markets.
Market Risk.
The Fund may incur losses due to declines in the value of one or more securities in which it invests. These declines may be due to factors affecting a particular issuer, or the result of, among other things, political, regulatory, market, economic or social developments affecting the relevant market(s) more generally. In addition, turbulence in financial markets and reduced liquidity in equity, credit and/or fixed income markets may negatively affect many issuers, which could adversely affect the Fund, including causing difficulty in assigning prices to hard-to-value assets in thinly traded and closed markets, significant redemptions and operational challenges. Global economies and financial markets are increasingly interconnected, and conditions and events in one country, region or financial market may adversely impact issuers in a different country, region or financial market. These risks may be magnified if certain events or developments adversely interrupt the global supply chain; in these and other circumstances, such risks might affect companies worldwide. As a result, local, regional or global events such as terrorism, war, natural disasters, disease/virus outbreaks and epidemics or other public health issues, recessions, depressions or other events – or the potential for such events – could have a significant negative impact on global economic and market conditions.
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) public health crisis has become a pandemic that has resulted in, and may continue to result in, significant global economic and societal disruption and market volatility due to disruptions in market access, resource availability, facilities operations, imposition of tariffs, export controls and supply chain disruption, among others. Such disruptions may be caused, or exacerbated by, quarantines and travel restrictions, workforce displacement and loss in human and other resources. The uncertainty surrounding the magnitude, duration, reach, costs and effects of the global pandemic, as well as actions that have been or could be taken by governmental authorities or other third parties, present unknowns that are yet to unfold. The impacts, as well as the
| Prospectus 2021 | 7 |
Columbia Emerging Markets Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
uncertainty over impacts to come, of COVID-19 – and any other infectious illness outbreaks, epidemics and pandemics that may arise in the future – could negatively affect global economies and markets in ways that cannot necessarily be foreseen. In addition, the impact of infectious illness outbreaks and epidemics in emerging market countries may be greater due to generally less established healthcare systems, governments and financial markets. Public health crises caused by the COVID-19 outbreak may exacerbate other pre-existing political, social and economic risks in certain countries or globally. The disruptions caused by COVID-19 could prevent the Fund from executing advantageous investment decisions in a timely manner and negatively impact the Fund’s ability to achieve its investment objective. Any such event(s) could have a significant adverse impact on the value and risk profile of the Fund.
Preferred Stock Risk.
Preferred stock is a type of stock that may pay dividends at a different rate than common stock of the same issuer, if at all, and that has preference over common stock in the payment of dividends and the liquidation of assets. Preferred stock does not ordinarily carry voting rights. The price of a preferred stock is generally determined by earnings, type of products or services, projected growth rates, experience of management, liquidity, and general market conditions of the markets on which the stock trades. The most significant risks associated with investments in preferred stock include issuer risk, market risk and interest rate risk (the risk of losses attributable to changes in interest rates).
Sector Risk.
At times, the Fund may have a significant portion of its assets invested in securities of companies conducting business within one or more economic sectors, including the consumer discretionary, financial services, and information technology sectors. Companies in the same sector may be similarly affected by economic, regulatory, political or market events or conditions, which may make the Fund more vulnerable to unfavorable developments in that sector than funds that invest more broadly. Generally, the more broadly the Fund invests, the more it spreads risk and potentially reduces the risks of loss and volatility.
Consumer Discretionary Sector.
The Fund may be more susceptible to the particular risks that may affect companies in the consumer discretionary sector than if it were invested in a wider variety of companies in unrelated sectors. Companies in the consumer discretionary sector are subject to certain risks, including fluctuations in the performance of the overall domestic and international economy, interest rate changes, increased competition and consumer confidence. Performance of such companies may be affected by factors including reduced disposable household income, reduced consumer spending, and changing demographics and consumer tastes.
Financial Services Sector.
The Fund may be more susceptible to the particular risks that may affect companies in the financial services sector than if it were invested in a wider variety of companies in unrelated sectors. Companies in the financial services sector are subject to certain risks, including the risk of regulatory change, decreased liquidity in credit markets and unstable interest rates. Such companies may have concentrated portfolios, such as a high level of loans to one or more industries or sectors, which makes them vulnerable to economic conditions that affect such industries or sectors. Performance of such companies may be affected by competitive pressures and exposure to investments, agreements and counterparties, including credit products that, under certain circumstances, may lead to losses (e.g., subprime loans). Companies in the financial services sector are subject to extensive governmental regulation that may limit the amount and types of loans and other financial commitments they can make, and the interest rates and fees they may charge. In addition, profitability of such companies is largely dependent upon the availability and the cost of capital.
Information Technology Sector.
The Fund may be more susceptible to the particular risks that may affect companies in the information technology sector than if it were invested in a wider variety of companies in unrelated sectors. Companies in the information technology sector are subject to certain risks, including the risk that new services, equipment or technologies will not be accepted by consumers and businesses or will become rapidly obsolete. Performance of such companies may be affected by factors including obtaining and protecting patents (or the failure to do so) and significant competitive pressures, including aggressive pricing of their products or services, new market entrants, competition for market share and short product cycles due to an accelerated rate of technological developments. Such competitive pressures may lead to limited earnings and/or falling profit margins. As a result, the value of their securities may fall or fail to rise. In addition, many information technology sector companies have limited operating histories and prices of these companies’ securities historically have been more volatile than other securities, especially over the short term.
| 8 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Emerging Markets Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
Special Situations Risk.
Securities of companies that are involved in an initial public offering or a major corporate event, such as a business consolidation or restructuring, may be exposed to heightened risk because of the high degree of uncertainty that can be associated with such events. Securities issued in initial public offerings often are issued by companies that are in the early stages of development, have a history of little or no revenues and may operate at a loss following the offering. It is possible that there will be no active trading market for the securities after the offering, and that the market price of the securities may be subject to significant and unpredictable fluctuations. Certain “special situation” investments are investments in securities or other instruments that may be classified as illiquid or lacking a readily ascertainable fair value. Certain special situation investments prevent ownership interests therein from being withdrawn until the special situation investment, or a portion thereof, is realized or deemed realized, which may negatively impact Fund performance. Investing in special situations may have a magnified effect on the performance of funds with small amounts of assets.
Value Securities Risk.
Value securities are securities of companies that may have experienced, for example, adverse business, industry or other developments or may be subject to special risks that have caused the securities to be out of favor and, in turn, potentially undervalued. The market value of a portfolio security may not meet portfolio management’s perceived value assessment of that security, or may decline in price, even though portfolio management believes the securities are already undervalued. There is also a risk that it may take longer than expected for the value of these investments to rise to portfolio management’s perceived value. In addition, value securities, at times, may not perform as well as growth securities or the stock market in general, and may be out of favor with investors for varying periods of time.
Performance Information
The following bar chart and table show you how the Fund has performed in the past, and can help you understand the risks of investing in the Fund.
The bar chart shows how the Fund’s Class A share performance (without sales charges) has varied for each full calendar year shown. If the sales charges were reflected, returns shown would be lower.
The table below the bar chart compares the Fund’s returns (after applicable sales charges shown in the
table in this prospectus) for the periods shown with a broad measure of market performance, as well as another measure of performance for markets in which the Fund may invest.
Shareholder Fees
The performance of one or more share classes shown in the table below begins before the indicated inception date for such share class. The returns shown for each such share class include the returns of the Fund’s Class Inst shares (adjusted to reflect the higher class-related operating expenses of such share classes, where applicable) for periods prior to its inception date. Share classes with expenses that are higher than Class Inst shares will have performance that is lower than Class Inst shares. Except for differences in annual returns resulting from differences in expenses and sales charges (where applicable), the share classes of the Fund would have substantially similar annual returns because all share classes of the Fund invest in the same portfolio of securities.
The after-tax returns shown in the
table below are calculated using the highest historical individual U.S. federal marginal income tax rates in effect during the period indicated in the table and do not reflect the impact of state, local or foreign taxes.
Your actual after-tax returns will depend on your personal tax situation and may differ from those shown in the table.
In addition, the after-tax returns shown in the table do not apply to shares held in tax-advantaged accounts such as 401(k) plans or Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs).
The after-tax returns are shown only for Class A shares and will vary for other share classes.
Average Annual Total Returns
The Fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) is no guarantee of how the Fund will perform in the future.
Updated performance information can be obtained by calling toll-free 800.345.6611 or visiting columbiathreadneedleus.com.
| Prospectus 2021 | 9 |
Columbia Emerging Markets Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
|
Year by Year Total Return (%)
as of December 31 Each Year* |
Best and Worst Quarterly Returns
During the Period Shown in the Bar Chart |
||
|
Best
|
3rd Quarter 2010
|
21.04%
|
|
Worst
|
3rd Quarter 2011
|
-22.41%
|
|
| * | Year to Date return as of September 30, 2020: 10.83% |
Average Annual Total Returns After Applicable Sales Charges (for periods ended December 31, 2019)
|
Share Class
Inception Date |
1 Year
|
5 Years
|
10 Years
|
|
|
Class A
|
09/28/2007 | |||
| returns before taxes | 23.23% | 6.09% | 4.41% | |
| returns after taxes on distributions | 23.34% | 6.26% | 4.19% | |
| returns after taxes on distributions and sale of Fund shares | 13.92% | 4.95% | 3.71% | |
|
Class Adv
returns before taxes
|
03/19/2013 | 31.06% | 7.63% | 5.29% |
|
Class C
returns before taxes
|
09/28/2007 | 28.70% | 6.55% | 4.24% |
|
Class Inst
returns before taxes
|
01/02/1998 | 31.10% | 7.64% | 5.29% |
|
Class Inst2
returns before taxes
|
11/08/2012 | 31.28% | 7.78% | 5.40% |
|
Class Inst3
returns before taxes
|
11/08/2012 | 31.28% | 7.83% | 5.44% |
|
Class R
returns before taxes
|
09/27/2010 | 30.50% | 7.09% | 4.77% |
|
MSCI Emerging Markets Index (Net)
(reflects reinvested dividends net of withholding taxes but reflects no deductions for fees, expenses or other taxes)
|
18.42% | 5.61% | 3.68% | |
|
MSCI EAFE Index (Net)
(reflects reinvested dividends net of withholding taxes but reflects no deductions for fees, expenses or other taxes)
|
22.01% | 5.67% | 5.50% |
Fund Management
|
Portfolio Manager
|
Title
|
Role with Fund
|
Managed Fund Since
|
|||
| Dara White, CFA | Senior Portfolio Manager | Lead Portfolio Manager | 2008 | |||
| Robert Cameron | Senior Portfolio Manager | Portfolio Manager | 2008 | |||
| Young Kim | Senior Portfolio Manager | Portfolio Manager | 2015 | |||
| Perry Vickery, CFA | Senior Portfolio Manager | Portfolio Manager | 2017 | |||
|
Derek Lin, CFA
|
Portfolio Manager | Portfolio Manager | 2020 |
| 10 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Emerging Markets Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares
You may purchase or redeem shares of the Fund on any business day by contacting the Fund in the ways described below:
|
Online
|
Regular Mail
|
Express Mail
|
By Telephone
|
|||
| columbiathreadneedleus.com/investor/ |
Columbia Management
Investment Services Corp. P.O. Box 219104 Kansas City, MO 64121-9104 |
Columbia Management
Investment Services Corp. c/o DST Asset Manager Solutions, Inc. 430 W 7
th
Street, Suite 219104
Kansas City, MO 64105-1407 |
800.422.3737 |
You may purchase shares and receive redemption proceeds by electronic funds transfer, by check or by wire. If you maintain your account with a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary, you must contact that financial intermediary to buy, sell or exchange shares of the Fund through your account with the intermediary.
The minimum initial investment amounts for the share classes offered by the Fund are shown below:
Minimum Initial Investment
|
Class
|
Category of eligible account
|
For accounts other than
systematic investment plan accounts |
For systematic investment
plan accounts |
|
Classes A & C
|
All accounts other than IRAs | $2,000 | $100 |
| IRAs | $1,000 | $100 | |
|
Classes Adv & Inst
|
All eligible accounts |
$0, $1,000 or $2,000
depending upon the category of eligible investor |
$100 |
|
Classes Inst2 & R
|
All eligible accounts | None | N/A |
|
Class Inst3
|
All eligible accounts |
$0, $1,000, $2,000
or $1 million depending upon the category of eligible investor |
$100 (for certain
eligible investors) |
More information about these minimums can be found in the
section of the prospectus. There is no minimum additional investment for any share class.
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares - Buying Shares
Tax Information
The Fund normally distributes net investment income and net realized capital gains, if any, to shareholders. These distributions are generally taxable to you as ordinary income, qualified dividend income or capital gains, unless you are investing through a tax-advantaged account, such as a 401(k) plan or an IRA. If you are investing through a tax-advantaged account, you may be taxed upon withdrawals from that account.
Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
If you purchase the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), the Fund and its related companies — including Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC (the Investment Manager), Columbia Management Investment Distributors, Inc. (the Distributor) and Columbia Management Investment Services Corp. (the Transfer Agent) — may pay the intermediary for the sale of Fund shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your financial advisor to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your financial advisor or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.
| Prospectus 2021 | 11 |
Columbia Emerging Markets Fund
More Information About the Fund
Investment Objective
Columbia Emerging Markets Fund (the Fund) seeks long-term capital appreciation. The Fund’s investment objective is not a fundamental policy and may be changed by the Fund’s Board of Trustees without shareholder approval.
Because any investment involves risk, there is no assurance the Fund’s investment objective will be achieved.
Principal Investment Strategies
Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets (including the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes) in equity securities (including, but not limited to, common stocks, preferred stocks and securities convertible into common or preferred stocks) of companies located in emerging market countries. The Fund may also gain exposure to such companies through investment in depositary receipts. Depository receipts are receipts issued by a bank or trust company reflecting ownership of underlying securities issued by foreign companies. Emerging market countries include those countries whose economies are considered to be developing or emerging from underdevelopment.
The Fund may invest in a variety of countries, industries and sectors and does not attempt to invest a specific percentage of its assets in any given country, industry or sector. However, the Fund has invested substantially in the consumer discretionary, financial services and information technology sectors and may continue to invest substantially in these or other sectors in the future. From time to time, the Fund may focus its investments in certain countries or geographic areas, including the Asia/Pacific region. The Fund may invest in companies that have market capitalizations of any size.
The Fund may invest in special situations, such as companies involved in initial public offerings, tender offers, mergers and other corporate restructurings, and in companies involved in management changes or companies developing new technologies.
The Fund may invest in securities that the investment manager believes are undervalued, represent growth opportunities, or both.
The investment manager employs fundamental analysis with risk management in identifying investment opportunities and constructing the Fund’s portfolio.
In selecting investments, Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC (the Investment Manager) considers, among other factors:
| ■ | various measures of valuation, including price-to-cash flow, price-to-earnings, price-to-sales, price-to-book value and discounted cash flow. The Investment Manager believes that companies with lower valuations are generally more likely to provide opportunities for capital appreciation; |
| ■ | potential indicators of stock price appreciation, such as anticipated earnings growth, company restructuring, changes in management, business model changes, new product opportunities, or anticipated improvements in macroeconomic factors; |
| ■ | the financial condition and management of a company, including its competitive position, the quality of its balance sheet and earnings, its future prospects, and the potential for growth and stock price appreciation; and/or |
| ■ | overall economic and market conditions. |
The Investment Manager may sell a security when the security’s price reaches a target set by the Investment Manager; if the Investment Manager believes that there is deterioration in the issuer’s financial circumstances or fundamental prospects; if other investments are more attractive; or for other reasons.
The Fund’s investment policy with respect to 80% of its net assets may be changed by the Fund’s Board of Trustees without shareholder approval as long as shareholders are given 60 days’ advance written notice of the change. Additionally, shareholders will be given 60 days’ notice of any change to the Fund’s investment objective made to comply with the SEC rule governing investment company names.
| 12 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Emerging Markets Fund
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
Principal Risks
An investment in the Fund involves risks, including
,
,
, and
, among others. Descriptions of these and other principal risks of investing in the Fund are provided below.
. The value of the Fund’s holdings may decline, and the Fund’s net asset value (NAV) and share price may go down. An investment in the Fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency.
Emerging Market Securities Risk
Foreign Securities Risk
Geographic Focus Risk
Market Risk
There is no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objective and you may lose money
Active Management Risk.
The Fund is actively managed and its performance therefore will reflect, in part, the ability of the portfolio managers to make investment decisions that seek to achieve the Fund’s investment objective. Due to its active management, the Fund could underperform its benchmark index and/or other funds with similar investment objectives and/or strategies.
Convertible Securities Risk.
Convertible securities are subject to the usual risks associated with debt instruments, such as interest rate risk (the risk of losses attributable to changes in interest rates) and credit risk (the risk that the issuer of a debt instrument will default or otherwise become unable, or be perceived to be unable or unwilling, to honor a financial obligation, such as making payments to the Fund when due). Convertible securities also react to changes in the value of the common stock into which they convert, and are thus subject to market risk (the risk that the market values of securities or other investments that the Fund holds will fall, sometimes rapidly or unpredictably, or fail to rise). Because the value of a convertible security can be influenced by both interest rates and the common stock's market movements, a convertible security generally is not as sensitive to interest rates as a similar debt instrument, and generally will not vary in value in response to other factors to the same extent as the underlying common stock. In the event of a liquidation of the issuing company, holders of convertible securities would typically be paid before the company's common stockholders but after holders of any senior debt obligations of the company. The Fund may be forced to convert a convertible security before it otherwise would choose to do so, which may decrease the Fund's return.
Depositary Receipts Risk.
Depositary receipts are receipts issued by a bank or trust company reflecting ownership of underlying securities issued by foreign companies. Some foreign securities are traded in the form of American Depositary Receipts and/or Global Depositary Receipts. Depositary receipts involve risks similar to the risks associated with investments in foreign securities, including those associated with investing in the particular country of an issuer, which may be related to the particular political, regulatory, economic, social and other conditions or events, including, for example, military confrontations, war, terrorism and disease/virus outbreaks and epidemics, occurring in the country and fluctuations in such country’s currency, as well as market risk tied to the underlying foreign company. In addition, holders of depositary receipts may have limited voting rights, may not have the same rights afforded to stockholders of a typical domestic company in the event of a corporate action, such as an acquisition, merger or rights offering, and may experience difficulty in receiving company stockholder communications. There is no guarantee that a financial institution will continue to sponsor a depositary receipt, or that a depositary receipt will continue to trade on an exchange, either of which could adversely affect the liquidity, availability and pricing of the depositary receipt. Changes in foreign currency exchange rates will affect the value of depositary receipts and, therefore, may affect the value of your investment in the Fund.
Emerging Market Securities Risk.
Securities issued by foreign governments or companies in emerging market countries, such as China, Russia and certain countries in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Latin America or Africa, are more likely to have greater exposure to the risks of investing in foreign securities that are described in Foreign Securities Risk. In addition, emerging market countries are more likely to experience instability resulting, for example, from rapid changes or developments in social, political, economic or other conditions. Their economies are usually less mature and their securities markets are typically less developed with more limited trading activity (i.e., lower trading volumes and less liquidity) than more developed countries. Emerging market securities tend to be more volatile than securities in more developed markets. Many emerging market countries are heavily dependent on international trade and have fewer trading partners, which makes them more sensitive to world commodity prices and economic downturns in other countries. Some emerging market countries have a higher risk of currency devaluations, and some of these countries may experience periods of high inflation or rapid changes in inflation rates and may
| Prospectus 2021 | 13 |
Columbia Emerging Markets Fund
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
have hostile relations with other countries. Due to the differences in the nature and quality of financial information of issuers of emerging market securities, including auditing and financial reporting standards, financial information and disclosures about such issuers may be unavailable or, if made available, may be considerably less reliable than publicly available information about other foreign securities. The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, which regulates auditors of U.S. public companies, is unable to inspect audit work papers in certain foreign countries. Investors in foreign countries often have limited rights and few practical remedies to pursue shareholder claims, including class actions or fraud claims, and the ability of the SEC, the U.S. Department of Justice and other authorities to bring and enforce actions against foreign issuers or foreign persons is limited.
Foreign Securities Risk.
Investments in or exposure to foreign securities involve certain risks not associated with investments in or exposure to securities of U.S. companies. For example, foreign markets can be extremely volatile. Foreign securities may also be less liquid, making them more difficult to trade, than securities of U.S. companies so that the Fund may, at times, be unable to sell foreign securities at desirable times or prices. Brokerage commissions, custodial costs and other fees are also generally higher for foreign securities. The Fund may have limited or no legal recourse in the event of default with respect to certain foreign securities, including those issued by foreign governments. In addition, foreign governments may impose withholding or other taxes on the Fund’s income, capital gains or proceeds from the disposition of foreign securities, which could reduce the Fund’s return on such securities. In some cases, such withholding or other taxes could potentially be confiscatory. Other risks include: possible delays in the settlement of transactions or in the payment of income; generally less publicly available information about foreign companies; the impact of economic, political, social, diplomatic or other conditions or events (including, for example, military confrontations, war, terrorism and disease/virus outbreaks and epidemics), possible seizure, expropriation or nationalization of a company or its assets or the assets of a particular investor or category of investors; accounting, auditing and financial reporting standards that may be less comprehensive and stringent than those applicable to domestic companies; the imposition of economic and other sanctions against a particular foreign country, its nationals or industries or businesses within the country; and the generally less stringent standard of care to which local agents may be held in the local markets. In addition, it may be difficult to obtain reliable information about the securities and business operations of certain foreign issuers. Governments or trade groups may compel local agents to hold securities in designated depositories that are not subject to independent evaluation. The less developed a country’s securities market is, the greater the level of risks. The risks posed by sanctions against a particular foreign country, its nationals or industries or businesses within the country may be heightened to the extent the Fund invests significantly in the affected country or region or in issuers from the affected country that depend on global markets. Additionally, investments in certain countries may subject the Fund to a number of tax rules, the application of which may be uncertain. Countries may amend or revise their existing tax laws, regulations and/or procedures in the future, possibly with retroactive effect. Changes in or uncertainties regarding the laws, regulations or procedures of a country could reduce the after-tax profits of the Fund, directly or indirectly, including by reducing the after-tax profits of companies located in such countries in which the Fund invests, or result in unexpected tax liabilities for the Fund. The performance of the Fund may also be negatively affected by fluctuations in a foreign currency's strength or weakness relative to the U.S. dollar, particularly to the extent the Fund invests a significant percentage of its assets in foreign securities or other assets denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar. Currency rates in foreign countries may fluctuate significantly over short or long periods of time for a number of reasons, including changes in interest rates, imposition of currency exchange controls and economic or political developments in the U.S. or abroad. The Fund may also incur currency conversion costs when converting foreign currencies into U.S. dollars and vice versa.
Geographic Focus Risk.
The Fund may be particularly susceptible to economic, political, regulatory or other events or conditions affecting issuers and countries within the specific geographic regions in which the Fund invests. Currency devaluations could occur in countries that have not yet experienced currency devaluation to date, or could continue to occur in countries that have already experienced such devaluations. As a result, the Fund’s NAV may be more volatile than the NAV of a more geographically diversified fund.
Asia Pacific Region.
A number of countries in the Asia Pacific region are considered underdeveloped or developing, including from a political, economic and/or social perspective, and may have relatively unstable governments and economies based on limited business, industries and/or natural resources or commodities. Events in any one
| 14 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Emerging Markets Fund
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
country within the region may impact that country, other countries in the region or the region as a whole. As a result, events in the region will generally have a greater effect on the Fund than if the Fund were more geographically diversified in a region with more developed countries and economies. This could result in increased volatility in the value of the Fund’s investments and losses for the Fund. Continued growth of economies and securities markets in the region will require sustained economic and fiscal discipline, as well as continued commitment to governmental and regulatory reforms. Development also may be influenced by international economic conditions, including those in the United States and Japan, and by world demand for goods or natural resources produced in countries in the Asia Pacific region. Securities markets in the region are generally smaller and have a lower trading volume than those in the United States, which may result in the securities of some companies in the region being less liquid than U.S. or other foreign securities. Some currencies, inflation rates or interest rates in the Asia Pacific region are or can be volatile, and some countries in the region may restrict the flow of money in and out of the country. The risks described under “Emerging Market Securities Risk” and “Foreign Securities Risk” may be more pronounced due to the Fund’s focus on investments in the region.
Greater China.
The Greater China region consists of Hong Kong, The People's Republic of China and Taiwan, among other countries, and the Fund's investments in the region are particularly susceptible to risks in that region. The Hong Kong, Taiwanese, and Chinese economies are dependent on the economies of other countries and can be significantly affected by currency fluctuations and increasing competition from other emerging economies in Asia with lower costs. Adverse events in any one country within the region may impact the other countries in the region or Asia as a whole. As a result, adverse events in the region will generally have a greater effect on the Fund than if the Fund were more geographically diversified, which could result in greater volatility in the Fund’s NAV and losses. Markets in the Greater China region can experience significant volatility due to social, economic, regulatory and political uncertainties. The public health crises caused by the COVID-19 outbreak have exacerbated political and diplomatic tensions between the United States and China, which could adversely affect international trade and the value of the Fund’s portfolio securities. Changes in Chinese government policy and economic growth rates could significantly affect local markets and the entire Greater China region. China has yet to develop comprehensive securities, corporate, or commercial laws, its market is relatively new and less developed, and its economy is experiencing a relative slowdown. Export growth continues to be a major driver of China’s economic growth. As a result, a reduction in spending on Chinese products and services, the institution of additional tariffs or other trade barriers, including as a result of heightened trade tensions between China and the United States, or a downturn in any of the economies of China’s key trading partners may have an adverse impact on the Chinese economy.
Growth Securities Risk.
Growth securities typically trade at a higher multiple of earnings than other types of equity securities. Accordingly, the market values of growth securities may never reach their expected market value and may decline in price. In addition, growth securities, at times, may not perform as well as value securities or the stock market in general, and may be out of favor with investors for varying periods of time.
Issuer Risk.
An issuer in which the Fund invests or to which it has exposure may perform poorly or below expectations, and the value of its securities may therefore decline, which may negatively affect the Fund’s performance. Underperformance of an issuer may be caused by poor management decisions, competitive pressures, breakthroughs in technology, reliance on suppliers, labor problems or shortages, corporate restructurings, fraudulent disclosures, natural disasters, military confrontations, war, terrorism, disease/virus outbreaks, epidemics or other events, conditions and factors which may impair the value of an investment in the Fund.
Small- and Mid-Cap Stock Risk.
Securities of small- and mid-cap companies can, in certain circumstances, have a higher potential for gains than securities of larger companies but are more likely to have more risk than larger companies. For example, small- and mid-cap companies may be more vulnerable to market downturns and adverse business or economic events than larger companies because they may have more limited financial resources and business operations. Small- and mid-cap companies are also more likely than larger companies to have more limited product lines and operating histories and to depend on smaller and generally less experienced management teams. Securities of small- and mid-cap companies may trade less frequently and in smaller volumes and may be less liquid and fluctuate more sharply in value than securities of larger companies. When the Fund takes significant positions in small- and mid-cap companies with limited trading volumes, the liquidation of those positions, particularly in a
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distressed market, could be prolonged and result in Fund investment losses that would affect the value of your investment in the Fund. In addition, some small- and mid-cap companies may not be widely followed by the investment community, which can lower the demand for their stocks.
Large-Cap Stock Risk.
Investments in larger companies may involve certain risks associated with their larger size. For instance, larger companies may be less able to respond quickly to new competitive challenges, such as changes in consumer tastes or innovation from smaller competitors. Also, larger companies are sometimes less able to achieve as high growth rates as successful smaller companies, especially during extended periods of economic expansion.
Liquidity Risk.
Liquidity risk is the risk associated with any event, circumstance, or characteristic of an investment or market that negatively impacts the Fund’s ability to sell, or realize the proceeds from the sale of, an investment at a desirable time or price. Liquidity risk may arise because of, for example, a lack of marketability of the investment, which means that when seeking to sell its portfolio investments, the Fund could find that selling is more difficult than anticipated, especially during times of high market volatility. Market participants attempting to sell the same or a similar instrument at the same time as the Fund could exacerbate the Fund’s exposure to liquidity risk. The Fund may have to accept a lower selling price for the holding, sell other liquid or more liquid investments that it might otherwise prefer to hold (thereby increasing the proportion of the Fund’s investments in less liquid or illiquid securities), or forego another more appealing investment opportunity. The liquidity of Fund investments may change significantly over time and certain investments that were liquid when purchased by the Fund may later become illiquid, particularly in times of overall economic distress. Changing regulatory, market or other conditions or environments (for example, the interest rate or credit environments) may also adversely affect the liquidity and the price of the Fund's investments. Judgment plays a larger role in valuing illiquid or less liquid investments as compared to valuing liquid or more liquid investments. Price volatility may be higher for illiquid or less liquid investments as a result of, for example, the relatively less frequent pricing of such securities (as compared to liquid or more liquid investments). Generally, the less liquid the market at the time the Fund sells a portfolio investment, the greater the risk of loss or decline of value to the Fund. Overall market liquidity and other factors can lead to an increase in redemptions, which may negatively impact Fund performance and NAV, including, for example, if the Fund is forced to sell investments in a down market. Foreign securities can present enhanced liquidity risks, including as a result of less developed custody, settlement or other practices of foreign markets.
Market Risk.
The Fund may incur losses due to declines in the value of one or more securities in which it invests. These declines may be due to factors affecting a particular issuer, or the result of, among other things, political, regulatory, market, economic or social developments affecting the relevant market(s) more generally. In addition, turbulence in financial markets and reduced liquidity in equity, credit and/or fixed income markets may negatively affect many issuers, which could adversely affect the Fund, including causing difficulty in assigning prices to hard-to-value assets in thinly traded and closed markets, significant redemptions and operational challenges. Global economies and financial markets are increasingly interconnected, and conditions and events in one country, region or financial market may adversely impact issuers in a different country, region or financial market. These risks may be magnified if certain events or developments adversely interrupt the global supply chain; in these and other circumstances, such risks might affect companies worldwide. As a result, local, regional or global events such as terrorism, war, natural disasters, disease/virus outbreaks and epidemics or other public health issues, recessions, depressions or other events – or the potential for such events – could have a significant negative impact on global economic and market conditions.
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) public health crisis has become a pandemic that has resulted in, and may continue to result in, significant global economic and societal disruption and market volatility due to disruptions in market access, resource availability, facilities operations, imposition of tariffs, export controls and supply chain disruption, among others. Such disruptions may be caused, or exacerbated by, quarantines and travel restrictions, workforce displacement and loss in human and other resources. The uncertainty surrounding the magnitude, duration, reach, costs and effects of the global pandemic, as well as actions that have been or could be taken by governmental authorities or other third parties, present unknowns that are yet to unfold. The impacts, as well as the uncertainty over impacts to come, of COVID-19 – and any other infectious illness outbreaks, epidemics and pandemics that may arise in the future – could negatively affect global economies and markets in ways that cannot
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necessarily be foreseen. In addition, the impact of infectious illness outbreaks and epidemics in emerging market countries may be greater due to generally less established healthcare systems, governments and financial markets. Public health crises caused by the COVID-19 outbreak may exacerbate other pre-existing political, social and economic risks in certain countries or globally. The disruptions caused by COVID-19 could prevent the Fund from executing advantageous investment decisions in a timely manner and negatively impact the Fund’s ability to achieve its investment objective. Any such event(s) could have a significant adverse impact on the value and risk profile of the Fund.
Preferred Stock Risk.
Preferred stock is a type of stock that may pay dividends at a different rate than common stock of the same issuer, if at all, and that has preference over common stock in the payment of dividends and the liquidation of assets. Preferred stock does not ordinarily carry voting rights. The price of a preferred stock is generally determined by earnings, type of products or services, projected growth rates, experience of management, liquidity, and general market conditions of the markets on which the stock trades. The most significant risks associated with investments in preferred stock include issuer risk, market risk and interest rate risk (the risk of losses attributable to changes in interest rates).
Sector Risk.
At times, the Fund may have a significant portion of its assets invested in securities of companies conducting business within one or more economic sectors, including the consumer discretionary, financial services, and information technology sectors. Companies in the same sector may be similarly affected by economic, regulatory, political or market events or conditions, which may make the Fund more vulnerable to unfavorable developments in that sector than funds that invest more broadly. Generally, the more broadly the Fund invests, the more it spreads risk and potentially reduces the risks of loss and volatility.
Consumer Discretionary Sector.
The Fund may be more susceptible to the particular risks that may affect companies in the consumer discretionary sector than if it were invested in a wider variety of companies in unrelated sectors. Companies in the consumer discretionary sector are subject to certain risks, including fluctuations in the performance of the overall domestic and international economy, interest rate changes, increased competition and consumer confidence. Performance of such companies may be affected by factors including reduced disposable household income, reduced consumer spending, and changing demographics and consumer tastes.
Financial Services Sector.
The Fund may be more susceptible to the particular risks that may affect companies in the financial services sector than if it were invested in a wider variety of companies in unrelated sectors. Companies in the financial services sector are subject to certain risks, including the risk of regulatory change, decreased liquidity in credit markets and unstable interest rates. Such companies may have concentrated portfolios, such as a high level of loans to one or more industries or sectors, which makes them vulnerable to economic conditions that affect such industries or sectors. Performance of such companies may be affected by competitive pressures and exposure to investments, agreements and counterparties, including credit products that, under certain circumstances, may lead to losses (e.g., subprime loans). Companies in the financial services sector are subject to extensive governmental regulation that may limit the amount and types of loans and other financial commitments they can make, and the interest rates and fees they may charge. In addition, profitability of such companies is largely dependent upon the availability and the cost of capital.
Information Technology Sector.
The Fund may be more susceptible to the particular risks that may affect companies in the information technology sector than if it were invested in a wider variety of companies in unrelated sectors. Companies in the information technology sector are subject to certain risks, including the risk that new services, equipment or technologies will not be accepted by consumers and businesses or will become rapidly obsolete. Performance of such companies may be affected by factors including obtaining and protecting patents (or the failure to do so) and significant competitive pressures, including aggressive pricing of their products or services, new market entrants, competition for market share and short product cycles due to an accelerated rate of technological developments. Such competitive pressures may lead to limited earnings and/or falling profit margins. As a result, the value of their securities may fall or fail to rise. In addition, many information technology sector companies have limited operating histories and prices of these companies’ securities historically have been more volatile than other securities, especially over the short term.
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Columbia Emerging Markets Fund
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Special Situations Risk.
Securities of companies that are involved in an initial public offering or a major corporate event, such as a business consolidation or restructuring, may be exposed to heightened risk because of the high degree of uncertainty that can be associated with such events. Securities issued in initial public offerings often are issued by companies that are in the early stages of development, have a history of little or no revenues and may operate at a loss following the offering. It is possible that there will be no active trading market for the securities after the offering, and that the market price of the securities may be subject to significant and unpredictable fluctuations. Initial public offerings are subject to many of the same risks as investing in companies with smaller market capitalizations. To the extent the Fund determines to invest in initial public offerings, it may not be able to invest to the extent desired, because, for example, only a small portion (if any) of the securities being offered in an initial public offering are available to the Fund. The investment performance of the Fund during periods when it is unable to invest significantly or at all in initial public offerings may be lower than during periods when the Fund is able to do so. Securities purchased in initial public offerings which are sold within 12 months after purchase may result in increased short-term capital gains, which will be taxable to the Fund’s shareholders as ordinary income. Certain “special situation” investments are investments in securities or other instruments that may be classified as illiquid or lacking a readily ascertainable fair value. Certain special situation investments prevent ownership interests therein from being withdrawn until the special situation investment, or a portion thereof, is realized or deemed realized, which may negatively impact Fund performance. Investing in special situations may have a magnified effect on the performance of funds with small amounts of assets.
Value Securities Risk.
Value securities are securities of companies that may have experienced, for example, adverse business, industry or other developments or may be subject to special risks that have caused the securities to be out of favor and, in turn, potentially undervalued. The market value of a portfolio security may not meet portfolio management’s perceived value assessment of that security, or may decline in price, even though portfolio management believes the securities are already undervalued. There is also a risk that it may take longer than expected for the value of these investments to rise to portfolio management’s perceived value. In addition, value securities, at times, may not perform as well as growth securities or the stock market in general, and may be out of favor with investors for varying periods of time.
Additional Investment Strategies and Policies
This section describes certain investment strategies and policies that the Fund may utilize in pursuit of its investment objective and some additional factors and risks involved with investing in the Fund.
Investment Guidelines
As a general matter, and except as specifically described in the discussion of the Fund's principal investment strategies in this prospectus or as otherwise required by the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the 1940 Act), the rules and regulations thereunder and any applicable exemptive relief, whenever an investment policy or limitation states a percentage of the Fund's assets that may be invested in any security or other asset or sets forth a policy regarding an investment standard, compliance with that percentage limitation or standard will be determined solely at the time of the Fund's investment in the security or asset.
Holding Other Kinds of Investments
The Fund may hold other investments that are not part of its principal investment strategies. These investments and their risks are described below and/or in the SAI. The Fund may choose not to invest in certain securities described in this prospectus and in the SAI, although it has the ability to do so. Information on the Fund’s holdings can be found in the Fund’s shareholder reports or by visiting columbiathreadneedleus.com.
Transactions in Derivatives
The Fund may enter into derivative transactions or otherwise have exposure to derivative transactions through underlying investments. Derivatives are financial contracts whose values are, for example, based on (or “derived” from) traditional securities (such as a stock or bond), assets (such as a commodity like gold or a foreign currency), reference rates (such as the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (commonly known as SOFR) or the London Interbank Offered Rate (commonly known as LIBOR)) or market indices (such as the Standard & Poor’s 500
®
Index). The use of
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derivatives is a highly specialized activity which involves investment techniques and risks different from those associated with ordinary portfolio securities transactions. Derivatives involve special risks and may result in losses or may limit the Fund’s potential gain from favorable market movements. Derivative strategies often involve leverage, which may exaggerate a loss, potentially causing the Fund to lose more money than it would have lost had it invested in the underlying security or other asset directly. The values of derivatives may move in unexpected ways, especially in unusual market conditions, and may result in increased volatility in the value of the derivative and/or the Fund’s shares, among other consequences. The use of derivatives may also increase the amount of taxes payable by shareholders holding shares in a taxable account. Other risks arise from the Fund’s potential inability to terminate or to sell derivative positions. A liquid secondary market may not always exist for the Fund’s derivative positions at times when the Fund might wish to terminate or to sell such positions. Over-the-counter instruments (investments not traded on an exchange) may be illiquid, and transactions in derivatives traded in the over-the-counter market are subject to the risk that the other party will not meet its obligations. The use of derivatives also involves the risks of mispricing or improper valuation and that changes in the value of the derivative may not correlate perfectly with the underlying security, asset, reference rate or index. The Fund also may not be able to find a suitable derivative transaction counterparty, and thus may be unable to engage in derivative transactions when it is deemed favorable to do so, or at all. U.S. federal legislation has been enacted that provides for new clearing, margin, reporting and registration requirements for participants in the derivatives market. These changes could restrict and/or impose significant costs or other burdens upon the Fund’s participation in derivatives transactions. For more information on the risks of derivative investments and strategies, see the SAI.
LIBOR Phase-Out Risk.
Many derivatives and other financial instruments utilize or are permitted to utilize a floating interest rate based on LIBOR. On July 27, 2017, the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority announced its intention to phase out the use of LIBOR by the end of 2021. More recently, in November 2020, Ice Benchmark Administrator (IBA) has announced its intention to consult on (i) the cessation of four LIBOR currencies (GBP, EUR, JPY and CHF) after the end of 2021 and (ii) on the cessation of the major USD LIBOR tenors (overnight, 1M, 3M, 6M and 12M) in mid-2023 and the cessation of the 1 week and 2M USD LIBOR by the end of 2021. IBA will make separate announcements following the outcome of the consultations. The interest rate benchmark(s) that will replace LIBOR in the capital markets remains uncertain, and the overall economic impact of the transition away from LIBOR cannot yet be determined. The Investment Manager monitors the Fund’s LIBOR exposure risks, including the extent to which any derivative and/or debt investments allow for the utilization of alternative rate(s) to LIBOR.
Affiliated Fund Investing
The Investment Manager or an affiliate serves as investment adviser to funds using the Columbia brand (Columbia Funds), including those that are structured as “fund-of-funds”, and provides asset-allocation services to (i) shareholders by investing in shares of other Columbia Funds, which may include the Fund (collectively referred to in this section as Underlying Funds), and (ii) discretionary managed accounts (collectively referred to as affiliated products) that invest exclusively in Underlying Funds. These affiliated products, individually or collectively, may own a significant percentage of the outstanding shares of one or more Underlying Funds, and the Investment Manager seeks to balance potential conflicts of interest between the affiliated products and the Underlying Funds in which they invest. The affiliated products’ investment in the Underlying Funds may have the effect of creating economies of scale, possibly resulting in lower expense ratios for the Underlying Funds, because the affiliated products may own substantial portions of the shares of Underlying Funds. However, redemption of Underlying Fund shares by one or more affiliated products could cause the expense ratio of an Underlying Fund to increase, as its fixed costs would be spread over a smaller asset base. Because of large positions of certain affiliated products, the Underlying Funds may experience relatively large inflows and outflows of cash due to affiliated products’ purchases and sales of Underlying Fund shares. Although the Investment Manager or its affiliate may seek to minimize the impact of these transactions where possible, for example, by structuring them over a reasonable period of time or through other measures, Underlying Funds may experience increased expenses as they buy and sell portfolio securities to manage the cash flow effect related to these transactions. Further, when the Investment Manager or its affiliate structures transactions over a reasonable period of time in order to manage the potential impact of the buy and sell decisions for the affiliated products, those affiliated products, including funds-of-funds, may pay more or less (for purchase activity), or receive more or less (for redemption activity), for shares of the Underlying Funds than if the transactions
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Columbia Emerging Markets Fund
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were executed in one transaction. In addition, substantial redemptions by affiliated products within a short period of time could require the Underlying Fund to liquidate positions more rapidly than would otherwise be desirable, which may have the effect of reducing or eliminating potential gain or causing it to realize a loss. In order to meet such redemptions, an Underlying Fund may be forced to sell its liquid (or more liquid) positions, leaving the Underlying Fund holding, post-redemption, a relatively larger position in illiquid investments (i.e., any investment that the Fund reasonably expects cannot be sold or disposed of in current market conditions in seven calendar days or less without the sale or disposition significantly changing the market value of the investment) or less liquid securities. Substantial redemptions may also adversely affect the ability of the Underlying Fund to implement its investment strategy. The Investment Manager or its affiliate also has a conflict of interest in determining the allocation of affiliated products’ assets among the Underlying Funds, as it earns different fees from the various Underlying Funds.
Investing in Money Market Funds
The Fund may invest cash in, or hold as collateral for certain investments, shares of registered or unregistered money market funds, including funds advised by the Investment Manager or its affiliates. These funds are not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) or any other government agency. The Fund and its shareholders indirectly bear a portion of the expenses of any money market fund or other fund in which the Fund may invest.
Lending of Portfolio Securities
The Fund may lend portfolio securities to broker-dealers or other financial intermediaries on a fully collateralized basis in order to earn additional income. The Fund may lose money from securities lending if, for example, it is delayed in or prevented from selling the collateral after the loan is made or recovering the securities loaned or if it incurs losses on the reinvestment of cash collateral.
The Fund currently does not participate in the securities lending program but the Board of Trustees (the Board) may determine to renew participation in the future. For more information on lending of portfolio securities and the risks involved, see the SAI and the annual and semiannual reports to shareholders.
Investing Defensively
The Fund may from time to time take temporary defensive investment positions that may be inconsistent with the Fund’s principal investment strategies in attempting to respond to adverse market, economic, political, social or other conditions, including, without limitation, investing some or all of its assets in money market instruments or shares of affiliated or unaffiliated money market funds or holding some or all of its assets in cash or cash equivalents. The Fund may take such defensive investment positions for as long a period as deemed necessary.
The Fund may not achieve its investment objective while it is investing defensively. Investing defensively may adversely affect Fund performance. During these times, the portfolio managers may make frequent portfolio holding changes, which could result in increased trading expenses and taxes, and decreased Fund performance. See also
above for more information.
Investing in Money Market Funds
Other Strategic and Investment Measures
The Fund may also from time to time take temporary portfolio positions that may or may not be consistent with the Fund’s principal investment strategies in attempting to respond to adverse market, economic, political, social or other conditions, including, without limitation, investing in derivatives, such as forward contracts, futures contracts, options, structured investments and swaps, for various purposes, including among others, investing in particular derivatives in seeking to reduce investment exposures, or in seeking to achieve indirect investment exposures, to a sector, country, region or currency where the Investment Manager believes such positioning is appropriate. The Fund may take such portfolio positions for as long a period as deemed necessary. While the Fund is so positioned, derivatives could comprise a substantial portion of the Fund’s investments and the Fund may not achieve its investment objective. Investing in this manner may adversely affect Fund performance. During these times, the portfolio managers may make frequent portfolio holding changes, which could result in increased trading expenses and taxes, and decreased Fund performance. For information on the risks of investing in derivatives, see
above.
Transactions in Derivatives
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Columbia Emerging Markets Fund
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Portfolio Holdings Disclosure
The Board has adopted policies and procedures that govern the timing and circumstances of disclosure to shareholders and third parties of information regarding the securities owned by the Fund. A description of these policies and procedures is included in the SAI. Fund policy generally permits the disclosure of portfolio holdings information on the Fund's website (columbiathreadneedleus.com) only after a certain amount of time has passed, as described in the SAI.
Purchases and sales of portfolio securities can take place at any time, so the portfolio holdings information available on the Fund's website may not always be current.
FUNDamentals
Portfolio Holdings Versus the Benchmarks
The Fund does not limit its investments to the securities within its benchmark(s), and accordingly the Fund's holdings may diverge significantly from those of its benchmark(s). In addition, the Fund may invest in securities outside any industry and geographic sectors represented in its benchmark(s). The Fund's weightings in individual securities, and in industry or geographic sectors, may also vary considerably from those of its benchmark(s).
eDelivery and Mailings to Households
In order to reduce shareholder expenses, the Fund may mail only one copy of the Fund’s prospectus and each annual and semiannual report to those addresses shared by two or more accounts. If you wish to receive separate copies of these documents, call 800.345.6611 or, if your shares are held through a financial intermediary, contact your intermediary directly. Additionally, you may elect to enroll in eDelivery to receive electronic versions of these documents, as well as quarterly statements and supplements, by logging into your account at columbiathreadneedleus.com/investor/.
Cash Flows
The timing and magnitude of cash inflows from investors buying Fund shares could prevent the Fund from always being fully invested. Conversely, the timing and magnitude of cash outflows to shareholders redeeming Fund shares could require the Fund to sell portfolio securities at less than opportune times or to hold ready reserves of uninvested cash in amounts larger than might otherwise be the case to meet shareholder redemptions. Either situation could adversely impact the Fund’s performance.
Understanding Annual Fund Operating Expenses
The Fund’s annual operating expenses, as presented in the
table in the
section of this prospectus, generally are based on expenses incurred during the Fund’s most recently completed fiscal year, may vary by share class and are expressed as a percentage (expense ratio) of the Fund’s average net assets during that fiscal year. The expense ratios reflect the Fund’s fee arrangements as of the date of this prospectus and, unless indicated otherwise, are based on expenses incurred during the Fund’s most recent fiscal year. The Fund’s assets will fluctuate, but unless indicated otherwise in the
table, no adjustments have been or will be made to the expense ratios to reflect any differences in the Fund’s average net assets between the most recently completed fiscal year and the date of this prospectus or a later date. In general, the Fund’s expense ratios will increase as its net assets decrease, such that the Fund’s actual expense ratios may be higher than the expense ratios presented in the
table if assets fall. As applicable, any commitment by the Investment Manager and/or its affiliates to waive fees and/or cap (reimburse) expenses is expected, in part, to limit the impact of any increase in the Fund’s expense ratios that would otherwise result because of a decrease in the Fund’s assets in the current fiscal year. The Fund’s annual operating expenses are comprised of (i) investment management fees, (ii) distribution and/or service fees, and (iii) other expenses. Management fees do not vary by class, but distribution and/or service fees and other expenses may vary by class.
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
Fees and Expenses of the Fund
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
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Columbia Emerging Markets Fund
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FUNDamentals
Other Expenses
“Other expenses” consist of the fees the Fund pays to its custodian, transfer agent, auditors, lawyers and trustees, costs relating to compliance and miscellaneous expenses. Generally, these expenses are allocated on a pro rata basis across all share classes. These fees include certain sub-transfer agency and shareholder servicing fees. Transfer agency fees and certain shareholder servicing fees, however, are class specific. They differ by share class because the shareholder services provided to each share class may be different. Accordingly, the differences in “other expenses” among share classes are primarily the result of the different transfer agency and shareholder servicing fees applicable to each share class. For more information on these fees, see
Choosing a Share Class — Financial Intermediary Compensation.
Fee Waiver/Expense Reimbursement Arrangements and Impact on Past Performance
The Investment Manager and certain of its affiliates have contractually agreed to waive fees and/or reimburse expenses (excluding certain fees and expenses described below) through December 31, 2021, unless sooner terminated at the sole discretion of the Fund's Board, so that the Fund’s net operating expenses, after giving effect to fees waived/expenses reimbursed and any balance credits and/or overdraft charges from the Fund’s custodian, do not exceed the annual rates of:
|
Columbia Emerging Markets Fund
|
|
| Class A | 1.53% |
| Class Adv | 1.28% |
| Class C | 2.28% |
| Class Inst | 1.28% |
| Class Inst2 | 1.16% |
| Class Inst3 | 1.11% |
| Class R | 1.78% |
Under the agreement, the following fees and expenses are excluded from the Fund’s operating expenses when calculating the waiver/reimbursement commitment, and therefore will be paid by the Fund, if applicable: taxes (including foreign transaction taxes), expenses associated with investment in affiliated and non-affiliated pooled investment vehicles (including mutual funds and exchange-traded funds), transaction costs and brokerage commissions, costs related to any securities lending program, dividend expenses associated with securities sold short, inverse floater program fees and expenses, transaction charges and interest on borrowed money, interest, infrequent and/or unusual expenses and any other expenses the exclusion of which is specifically approved by the Fund’s Board. This agreement may be modified or amended only with approval from all parties.
Reflected in the cap commitments with respect to Class Inst2 and Class Inst3 is a contractual agreement by the Transfer Agent to waive fees and/or to reimburse expenses through December 31, 2021, unless sooner terminated at the sole discretion of the Fund’s Board, so that the fees payable under the Fund’s transfer agency agreement do not exceed the annual rates of 0.05% for Class Inst2 and 0.00% for Class Inst3.
Effect of Fee Waivers and/or Expense Reimbursements on Past Performance.
The Fund’s returns shown in the
Performance Information
section of this prospectus reflect the effect of any fee waivers and/or reimbursements of Fund expenses by the Investment Manager and/or any of its affiliates and any predecessor firms that were in place during the performance period shown. Without such fee waivers/expense reimbursements, the Fund’s returns might have been lower.
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Primary Service Providers
The Fund enters into contractual arrangements (Service Provider Contracts) with various service providers, including, among others, the Investment Manager, the Distributor, the Transfer Agent and the Fund’s custodian. The Fund’s Service Provider Contracts are solely among the parties thereto. Shareholders are not parties to, or intended to be third-party beneficiaries of, any Service Provider Contracts. Further, this prospectus, the SAI and any Service Provider Contracts are not intended to give rise to any agreement, duty, special relationship or other obligation between the Fund and any investor, or give rise to any contractual, tort or other rights in any individual shareholder, group of shareholders or other person, including any right to assert a fiduciary or other duty, enforce the Service Provider Contracts against the parties or to seek any remedy thereunder, either directly or on behalf of the Fund. Nothing in the previous sentence should be read to suggest any waiver of any rights under federal or state securities laws.
The Investment Manager, the Distributor, and the Transfer Agent are all affiliates of Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (Ameriprise Financial). They and their affiliates currently provide key services, including investment advisory, administration, distribution, shareholder servicing and transfer agency services, to the Fund and various other funds, including the Columbia Funds, and are paid for providing these services. These service relationships are described below.
The Investment Manager
Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC is located at 225 Franklin Street, Boston, MA 02110 and serves as investment adviser and administrator to the Columbia Funds. The Investment Manager is a registered investment adviser and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ameriprise Financial. The Investment Manager’s management experience covers all major asset classes, including equity securities, debt instruments and money market instruments. In addition to serving as an investment adviser to traditional mutual funds, exchange-traded funds and closed-end funds, the Investment Manager acts as an investment adviser for itself, its affiliates, individuals, corporations, retirement plans, private investment companies and financial intermediaries.
Subject to oversight by the Board, the Investment Manager manages the day-to-day operations of the Fund, determining what securities and other investments the Fund should buy or sell and executing portfolio transactions. The Investment Manager may use the research and other capabilities of its affiliates and third parties in managing the Fund’s investments. The Investment Manager is also responsible for overseeing the administrative operations of the Fund, including the general supervision of the Fund’s operations, the coordination of the Fund’s other service providers and the provision of related clerical and administrative services.
The SEC has issued an order that permits the Investment Manager, subject to the approval of the Board, to appoint unaffiliated subadvisers by entering into subadvisory agreements with them, and to change in material respects the terms of those subadvisory agreements, including the fees paid thereunder, for the Fund without first obtaining shareholder approval, thereby avoiding the expense and delays typically associated with obtaining shareholder approval. The Fund furnishes shareholders with information about new subadvisers retained in reliance on the order within 90 days after hiring the subadviser. The Investment Manager and its affiliates may have other relationships, including significant financial relationships, with current or potential subadvisers or their affiliates, which may create certain conflicts of interest. When making recommendations to the Board to appoint or to change a subadviser, or to change the terms of a subadvisory agreement, the Investment Manager discloses to the Board the nature of any such material relationships. At present, the Investment Manager has not engaged any investment subadviser for the Fund.
The Fund pays the Investment Manager a fee for its management services, which include investment advisory services and administrative services. The fee is calculated as a percentage of the daily net assets of the Fund and is paid monthly. For the Fund’s most recent fiscal year, management services fees paid to the Investment Manager by the Fund amounted to 1.03% of average daily net assets of the Fund, before any applicable reimbursements.
A discussion regarding the basis for the Board’s approval of the renewal of the Fund's management agreement is available in the Fund’s annual report to shareholders for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2020.
| Prospectus 2021 | 23 |
Columbia Emerging Markets Fund
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
Portfolio Managers
Information about the portfolio managers primarily responsible for overseeing the Fund’s investments is shown below. The SAI provides additional information about the portfolio managers, including information relating to compensation, other accounts managed by the portfolio managers, and ownership by the portfolio managers of Fund shares.
|
Portfolio Manager
|
Title
|
Role with Fund
|
Managed Fund Since
|
|||
| Dara White, CFA | Senior Portfolio Manager | Lead Portfolio Manager | 2008 | |||
| Robert Cameron | Senior Portfolio Manager | Portfolio Manager | 2008 | |||
| Young Kim | Senior Portfolio Manager | Portfolio Manager | 2015 | |||
| Perry Vickery, CFA | Senior Portfolio Manager | Portfolio Manager | 2017 | |||
|
Derek Lin, CFA
|
Portfolio Manager | Portfolio Manager | 2020 |
Mr. White
joined one of the Columbia Management legacy firms or acquired business lines in 2006. Mr. White began his investment career in 1998 and earned a B.S. in Finance and a B.S. in Marketing from Boston College.
Mr. Cameron
joined one of the Columbia Management legacy firms or acquired business lines in 2008. He was a portfolio manager and managing member of Cameron Global Investments LLC during the period 2003 to 2008. Mr. Cameron began his investment career in 1983 and earned a B.A. from the University of Toronto.
Mr. Kim
joined the Investment Manager in 2011. Prior to joining the Investment Manager, Mr. Kim served as a senior equity analyst at Marathon Asset Management and Galleon Asia Management and worked in various operating and engineering roles in the technology industry. Mr. Kim began his investment career in 2005 and earned a B.S. and M.S. in engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.
Mr. Vickery
joined the Investment Manager in 2010. Mr. Vickery began his investment career in 2006 and earned a B.B.A. at the University of Georgia and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.
Mr. Lin
joined the Investment Manager in 2019. Prior to joining the Investment Manager, Mr. Lin worked as a senior analyst at Yulan Capital, LLC Group and previously worked as an analyst at Surveyor Capital (Citadel, LLC.), Merchants’ Gate Capital, LP and J.P. Morgan Securities. Mr. Lin began his investment career in 2006 and earned a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Queen’s University and an MBA from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.
The Distributor
Shares of the Fund are distributed by Columbia Management Investment Distributors, Inc., which is located at 225 Franklin Street, Boston, MA 02110. The Distributor is a registered broker-dealer and an indirect, wholly-owned subsidiary of Ameriprise Financial. The Distributor and its affiliates may pay commissions, distribution and service fees and/or other compensation to entities, including Ameriprise Financial affiliates, for selling shares and providing services to investors.
The Transfer Agent
Columbia Management Investment Services Corp. is a registered transfer agent and wholly-owned subsidiary of Ameriprise Financial. The Transfer Agent is located at 225 Franklin Street, Boston, MA 02110, and its responsibilities include processing purchases, redemptions and exchanges of Fund shares, calculating and paying distributions, maintaining shareholder records, preparing account statements and providing customer service. The Transfer Agent has engaged DST Asset Manager Solutions, Inc. to provide various shareholder or “sub-transfer agency” services. In addition, the Transfer Agent enters into agreements with various financial intermediaries through which you may hold Fund shares, pursuant to which the Transfer Agent pays these financial intermediaries for providing certain shareholder services. Depending on the type of account, the Fund pays the Transfer Agent a per account fee or a fee based on the assets invested through omnibus accounts, and reimburses the Transfer Agent for certain out-of-pocket expenses, including certain payments to financial intermediaries through which shares are held.
| 24 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Emerging Markets Fund
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
Other Roles and Relationships of Ameriprise Financial and its Affiliates — Certain Conflicts of Interest
The Investment Manager, Distributor and Transfer Agent, all affiliates of Ameriprise Financial, provide various services to the Fund and other Columbia Funds for which they are compensated. Ameriprise Financial and its other affiliates may also provide other services to these funds and be compensated for them.
The Investment Manager and its affiliates may provide investment advisory and other services to other clients and customers substantially similar to those provided to the Columbia Funds. These activities, and other financial services activities of Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates, may present actual and potential conflicts of interest and introduce certain investment constraints.
Ameriprise Financial is a major financial services company, engaged in a broad range of financial activities beyond the fund-related activities of the Investment Manager, including, among others, insurance, broker-dealer (sales and trading), asset management, banking and other financial activities. These additional activities may involve multiple advisory, financial, insurance and other interests in securities and other instruments, and in companies that issue securities and other instruments, that may be bought, sold or held by the Columbia Funds.
Conflicts of interest and limitations that could affect a Columbia Fund may arise from, for example, the following:
| ■ | compensation and other benefits received by the Investment Manager and other Ameriprise Financial affiliates related to the management/administration of a Columbia Fund and the sale of its shares; |
| ■ | the allocation of, and competition for, investment opportunities among the Fund, other funds and accounts advised/managed by the Investment Manager and other Ameriprise Financial affiliates, or Ameriprise Financial itself and its affiliates; |
| ■ | separate and potentially divergent management of a Columbia Fund and other funds and accounts advised/managed by the Investment Manager and other Ameriprise Financial affiliates; |
| ■ | regulatory and other investment restrictions on investment activities of the Investment Manager and other Ameriprise Financial affiliates and accounts advised/managed by them; |
| ■ | insurance and other relationships of Ameriprise Financial affiliates with companies and other entities in which a Columbia Fund invests; and |
| ■ | regulatory and other restrictions relating to the sharing of information between Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates, including the Investment Manager, and a Columbia Fund. |
The Investment Manager and Ameriprise Financial have adopted various policies and procedures that are intended to identify, monitor and address conflicts of interest. However, there is no assurance that these policies, procedures and disclosures will be effective.
Additional information about Ameriprise Financial and the types of conflicts of interest and other matters referenced above is set forth in the
section of the SAI. Investors in the Columbia Funds should carefully review these disclosures and consult with their financial advisor if they have any questions.
Investment Management and Other Services — Other Roles and Relationships of Ameriprise Financial and its Affiliates — Certain Conflicts of Interest
Certain Legal Matters
Ameriprise Financial and certain of its affiliates have historically been involved in a number of legal, arbitration and regulatory proceedings, including routine litigation, class actions and governmental actions, concerning matters arising in connection with the conduct of their business activities. Ameriprise Financial believes that the Fund is not currently the subject of, and that neither Ameriprise Financial nor any of its affiliates are the subject of, any pending legal, arbitration or regulatory proceedings that are likely to have a material adverse effect on the Fund or the ability of Ameriprise Financial or its affiliates to perform under their contracts with the Fund. Information regarding certain pending and settled legal proceedings may be found in the Fund’s shareholder reports and in the SAI. Additionally,
| Prospectus 2021 | 25 |
Columbia Emerging Markets Fund
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
Ameriprise Financial is required to make quarterly (10-Q), annual (10-K) and, as necessary, 8-K filings with the SEC on legal and regulatory matters that relate to Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates. Copies of these filings may be obtained by accessing the SEC website at sec.gov.
| 26 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Emerging Markets Fund
Choosing a Share Class
The Funds
The Columbia Funds (referred to as the Funds) generally share the same policies and procedures for investor services, as described below. Each Fund is a series of Columbia Funds Series Trust (CFST), Columbia Funds Series Trust I (CFST I) or Columbia Funds Series Trust II (CFST II), and certain features of distribution and/or service plans may differ among these trusts. The Fund offered by this prospectus is a series of CFST I. Columbia Funds with names that include the words “Tax-Exempt” or “Municipal” (the Tax-Exempt Funds) have certain policies that differ from other Columbia Funds (the Taxable Funds). The Fund offered by this prospectus is treated as a Taxable Fund for these purposes.
Funds Contact Information
Additional information about the Funds, including sales charges and other class features and policies, can be obtained, free of charge, at columbiathreadneedleus.com,* by calling toll-free 800.345.6611, or by writing (regular mail) to Columbia Management Investment Services Corp., P.O. Box 219104, Kansas City, MO 64121-9104 or (express mail) Columbia Management Investment Services Corp., c/o DST Asset Manager Solutions, Inc., 430 W 7
th
Street, Ste 219104, Kansas City, MO 64105-1407.
| * | The website references in this prospectus are inactive links and information contained in or otherwise accessible through the referenced websites does not form a part of this prospectus. |
FUNDamentals
Financial Intermediaries
The term “financial intermediary” refers to the selling and servicing agents that are authorized to sell and/or service shares of the Funds. Financial intermediaries include broker-dealers and financial advisors as well as firms that employ broker-dealers and financial advisors, including, for example, brokerage firms, banks, investment advisers, third party administrators and other firms in the financial services industry.
Omnibus Accounts
The term “omnibus account” refers to a financial intermediary’s account with the Fund (held directly through the Transfer Agent) that represents the combined holdings of, and transactions in, Fund shares of one or more clients of the financial intermediary (beneficial Fund shareholders). Omnibus accounts are held in the name of the financial intermediaries and not in the name of the beneficial Fund shareholders invested in the Fund through omnibus accounts.
Retirement Plans and Omnibus Retirement Plans
The term “retirement plan” refers to retirement plans created under Sections 401(a), 401(k), 457 and 403(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the Code), and non-qualified deferred compensation plans governed by Section 409A of the Code and similar plans, but does not refer to individual retirement plans, such as traditional IRAs and Roth IRAs. The term “omnibus retirement plan” refers to a retirement plan that has a plan-level or omnibus account with the Transfer Agent.
Networked Accounts
Networking, offered by the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation’s Wealth Management Services (WMS), is the industry standard IT system for mutual fund account reconciliation and dividend processing.
Summary of Share Class Features
Each share class has its own investment eligibility criteria, cost structure and other features. You may not be eligible to invest in every share class. Your financial intermediary may not make every share class available or may cease to make available one or more share classes of the Fund. The share class you select through your financial intermediary may have higher fees and/or sales charges than other classes of shares available through other financial intermediaries. An investor transacting in a class of Fund shares without any front-end sales charge, contingent deferred sales charge (CDSC), or other asset-based fee for sales or distribution, such as a Rule 12b-1
| Prospectus 2021 | 27 |
Columbia Emerging Markets Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
fee, may be required to pay a commission to the financial intermediary for effecting such transactions. Each investor’s personal situation is different and you may wish to discuss with your financial intermediary the share classes the Fund offers, which share classes are available to you and which share class(es) is/are appropriate for you. In all instances, it is your responsibility to notify your financial intermediary or (for Direct-at-Fund Accounts, as defined below) the Fund at the time of purchase of any relationship or other facts that may qualify you for sales charge waivers or discounts. The Fund, the Distributor and the Transfer Agent do not provide investment advice or make recommendations regarding Fund share classes. Your financial intermediary may provide advice and recommendations to you, such as which share class(es) is/are appropriate for you.
When deciding which class of shares to buy, you should consider, among other things:
| ■ | The amount you plan to invest. |
| ■ | How long you intend to remain invested in the Fund. |
| ■ | The fees (e.g., sales charge or “load”) and expenses for each share class. |
| ■ | Whether you may be eligible for a reduction or waiver of sales charges when you buy or sell shares. |
FUNDamentals
Front-End Sales Charge Calculation
The front-end sales charge is calculated as a percentage of the offering price.
| ■ | The net asset value (NAV) per share is the price of a share calculated by the Fund every business day. |
| ■ | The offering price per share is the NAV per share plus any front-end sales charge (or load) that applies. |
The dollar amount of any applicable front-end sales charge is the difference between the offering price of the shares you buy and the NAV of those shares. To determine the front-end sales charge you will pay when you buy Class A and Class V shares, the Fund will add the amount of your investment to the value of your account (and any other accounts eligible for aggregation of which you or your financial intermediary notifies the Fund) and base the sales charge on the aggregate amount. For information on account value aggregation, sales charge waivers and other important information, see
.
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
FUNDamentals
Contingent Deferred Sales Charge
A contingent deferred sales charge (CDSC) is a sales charge applied at the time you sell your shares, unlike a front-end sales charge that is applied at the time of purchase. A CDSC can vary based on the length of time that you have held your shares. A CDSC is applied to the NAV at the time of your purchase or sale, whichever is lower, and will not be applied to any shares you receive through Fund distribution reinvestments or any amount that represents appreciation in the value of your shares. For purposes of calculating a CDSC, the start of the holding period is generally the first day of the month in which your purchase was made.
When you place an order to sell shares of a class that has a CDSC, the Fund will first redeem any shares that are not subject to a CDSC, followed by those you have held the longest. This means that if a CDSC is imposed, you cannot designate the individual shares being redeemed for U.S. federal income tax purposes. You should consult your tax advisor about the tax consequences of investing in the Fund. In certain circumstances, the CDSC may not apply. See
for details.
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
| 28 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Emerging Markets Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
Share Class Features
The following summarizes the primary features of Class A, Class Adv, Class C, Class Inst, Class Inst2, Class Inst3, Class R, and Class V shares.
Not all Funds offer every class of shares. The Fund offers the class(es) of shares set forth on the cover of this prospectus and may offer other share classes through a separate prospectus. Although certain share classes are generally closed to new and/or existing investors, information relating to these share classes is included in the table below because certain qualifying purchase orders are permitted, as described below.
The sales charge reductions and waivers available to investors who purchase and hold their Fund shares through different financial intermediaries may vary.
describes financial intermediary-specific reductions and/or waiver policies. A shareholder transacting in Fund shares through a financial intermediary identified in
should carefully read the terms and conditions of
. A reduction and/or waiver that is specific to a particular financial intermediary is not available to Direct-at-Fund Accounts, as defined below, or through another financial intermediary. The information in
may be provided by, or compiled from or based on information provided by the financial intermediaries identified in
. To obtain additional information regarding any sales charge reduction and/or waiver described in
, and to ensure that you receive any such reductions or waivers that may be available to you, please consult your financial intermediary.
Appendix A
Appendix A
Appendix A
Appendix A
Appendix A
Appendix A
|
Share Class
|
Eligible Investors
(a)
;
Minimum Initial Investments
(b)
;
Conversion Features
(c)
|
Front-End
Sales Charges
(d)
|
Contingent Deferred
Sales Charges (CDSCs)
(d)
|
Sales Charge
Reductions/Waivers |
Maximum Distribution
and/or Service Fees
(e)
|
| Class A |
Eligibility:
Available to the general public for investment
(f)
$2,000 ($1,000 for IRAs; $100 for systematic investment plan accounts)
|
Taxable Funds:
5.75% maximum, declining to 0.00% on investments of $1 million or more
3.00% maximum, declining to 0.00% on investments of $500,000 or more
None for Columbia Government Money Market Fund and certain other Funds
(g)
|
Taxable Funds
(g)
:
CDSC on certain investments of between $1 million and $50 million redeemed within 18 months after purchase charged as follows:
• 1.00% CDSC if redeemed within 12 months after purchase, and
• 0.50% CDSC if redeemed more than 12, but less than 18, months after purchase
(g)
:
Maximum CDSC of 0.75% on certain investments of $500,000 or more redeemed within 12 months after purchase
|
Reductions
: Yes, see
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges – Class A and Class V Shares Front-End Sales Charge Reductions
: Yes, on Fund distribution reinvestments. For additional waivers, see
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges – Class A and Class V Shares Front-End Sales Charge Waivers
, as well as
Choosing a Share Class — CDSC Waivers – Class A, Class C and Class V
Financial intermediary-specific waivers are also available, see
Appendix A
|
Distribution and Service
Fees:
up to 0.25%
|
|
Class
Adv |
Eligibility:
Available only to (i) omnibus retirement plans, including self-directed brokerage accounts within omnibus retirement plans that clear through institutional no transaction fee (NTF) platforms; (ii) trust companies or
|
None | None | N/A | None |
| Prospectus 2021 | 29 |
Columbia Emerging Markets Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
|
Share Class
|
Eligible Investors
(a)
;
Minimum Initial Investments
(b)
;
Conversion Features
(c)
|
Front-End
Sales Charges
(d)
|
Contingent Deferred
Sales Charges (CDSCs)
(d)
|
Sales Charge
Reductions/Waivers |
Maximum Distribution
and/or Service Fees
(e)
|
|
similar institutions; (iii) broker-dealers, banks, trust companies and similar institutions that clear Fund share transactions for their client or customer investment advisory or similar accounts through designated financial intermediaries and their mutual fund trading platforms that have been granted specific written authorization from the Transfer Agent with respect to Class Adv eligibility apart from selling, servicing or similar agreements; (iv) 501(c)(3) charitable organizations; (v) 529 plans; (vi) health savings accounts; (vii) investors participating in a fee-based advisory program sponsored by a financial intermediary or other entity that is not compensated by the Fund for those services, other than payments for shareholder servicing or sub-accounting performed in place of the Transfer Agent; and (viii) commissionable brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary, acting as broker on behalf of its customer, charges the customer a commission for effecting transactions in Fund shares, provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Adv shares within such platform.
(f)
Minimum Initial Investment:
|
|||||
| Class C |
Eligibility:
Available to the general public for investment
$2,000 ($1,000 for IRAs; $100 for systematic investment plan accounts)
$499,999
(h)
, none for omnibus retirement plans
$999,999
(h)
; none for omnibus retirement plans
: Yes, Class C shares generally automatically convert to Class A shares of the same Fund in the month of or the month following the 10-year
|
None |
1.00% on certain investments redeemed within one year of purchase
(i)
|
Waivers
: Yes, on Fund distribution reinvestments. For additional waivers, see
Choosing a Share Class – CDSC Waivers – Class A, Class C and Class V
Financial intermediary-specific CDSC waivers are also available, see
Appendix A
|
Distribution Fee:
0.75%
0.25%
|
| 30 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Emerging Markets Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
|
Share Class
|
Eligible Investors
(a)
;
Minimum Initial Investments
(b)
;
Conversion Features
(c)
|
Front-End
Sales Charges
(d)
|
Contingent Deferred
Sales Charges (CDSCs)
(d)
|
Sales Charge
Reductions/Waivers |
Maximum Distribution
and/or Service Fees
(e)
|
|
anniversary of the Class C shares purchase date.
(c)
|
|||||
|
Class
Inst |
Eligibility:
Available only to certain eligible investors, which are subject to different minimum investment requirements, ranging from $0 to $2,000, including investors who purchase Fund shares through commissionable brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary holds the shares in an omnibus account and, acting as broker on behalf of its customer, charges the customer a commission for effecting transactions in Fund shares, provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst shares within such platform; closed to (i) accounts of financial intermediaries that clear Fund share transactions for their client or customer accounts through designated financial intermediaries and their mutual fund trading platforms that have been given specific written notice from the Transfer Agent of the termination of their eligibility for new purchases of Class Inst shares and (ii) omnibus group retirement plans, subject to certain exceptions
(f)(j)
See
Eligibility
above
|
None | None | N/A | None |
|
Class
Inst2 |
Eligibility:
Available only to (i) certain registered investment advisers and family offices that clear Fund share transactions for their client or customer accounts through designated financial intermediaries and their mutual fund trading platforms that have been granted specific written authorization from the Transfer Agent with respect to Class Inst2 eligibility apart from selling, servicing or similar agreements; (ii) omnibus retirement plans
(j)
; and (iii) institutional investors that are clients of the Columbia Threadneedle Global Institutional Distribution Team that invest in Class Inst2 shares for their own account through platforms approved by the Distributor or an affiliate thereof to offer and/or service Class Inst2 shares within such platform.
None
|
None | None | N/A | None |
| Prospectus 2021 | 31 |
Columbia Emerging Markets Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
|
Share Class
|
Eligible Investors
(a)
;
Minimum Initial Investments
(b)
;
Conversion Features
(c)
|
Front-End
Sales Charges
(d)
|
Contingent Deferred
Sales Charges (CDSCs)
(d)
|
Sales Charge
Reductions/Waivers |
Maximum Distribution
and/or Service Fees
(e)
|
|
Class
Inst3 |
Eligibility:
Available to (i) group retirement plans that maintain plan-level or omnibus accounts with the Fund
(j)
; (ii) institutional investors that are clients of the Columbia Threadneedle Global Institutional Distribution Team that invest in Class Inst3 shares for their own account through platforms approved by the Distributor or an affiliate thereof to offer and/or service Class Inst3 shares within such platform; (iii) collective trust funds; (iv) affiliated or unaffiliated mutual funds (e.g., funds operating as funds-of-funds); (v) fee-based platforms of financial intermediaries (or the clearing intermediary they trade through) that have an agreement with the Distributor or an affiliate thereof that specifically authorizes the financial intermediary to offer and/or service Class Inst3 shares within such platform, provided also that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account; (vi) commissionable brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary, acting as broker on behalf of its customer, charges the customer a commission for effecting transactions in Fund shares, provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst3 shares within such platform and that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account; and (vii) bank trust departments, subject to an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst3 shares and provided that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account. In each case above where noted that Fund shares are required to be held in an omnibus account, the Distributor may, in its discretion, determine to waive this requirement.
(f)
No minimum for the eligible investors described in (i), (iii), (iv), (v), and (vii) above; $2,000 ($1,000 for IRAs; $100 for systematic investment plan accounts) for the eligible investors described in (vi) above; and $1 million for all other eligible investors, unless waived in the discretion of the Distributor
|
None | None | N/A | None |
| Class R |
Eligibility:
Available only to eligible retirement plans, health savings
|
None | None | N/A |
Series of CFST & CFST I:
|
| 32 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Emerging Markets Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
|
Share Class
|
Eligible Investors
(a)
;
Minimum Initial Investments
(b)
;
Conversion Features
(c)
|
Front-End
Sales Charges
(d)
|
Contingent Deferred
Sales Charges (CDSCs)
(d)
|
Sales Charge
Reductions/Waivers |
Maximum Distribution
and/or Service Fees
(e)
|
|
accounts and, in the sole discretion of the Distributor, other types of retirement accounts held through platforms maintained by financial intermediaries approved by the Distributor
Minimum Initial Investment:
|
distribution fee of 0.50%
Series of CFST II:
|
||||
| Class V |
Eligibility:
Generally closed to new investors
(j)
N/A
|
5.75% maximum, declining to 0.00% on investments of $1 million or more |
CDSC on certain investments of between $1 million and $50 million redeemed within 18 months after purchase, charged as follows:
|
Reductions
: Yes, see
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges – Class A and Class V Shares Front-End Sales Charge Reductions
: Yes, on Fund distribution reinvestments.
For additional waivers, see
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges – Class A and Class V Shares Front-End Sales Charge Waivers
, as well as
Choosing a Share Class — CDSC Waivers – Class A, Class C and Class V
|
Service Fee:
up to 0.50%
|
| (a) | For Columbia Government Money Market Fund, new investments must be made in Class A, Class Inst, Class Inst3, or Class R shares, subject to eligibility. Class C shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund are available as a new investment only to investors in the Distributor's proprietary 401(k) products, provided that such investor is eligible to invest in the class and transact directly with the Fund or the Transfer Agent through a third party administrator or third party recordkeeper. Columbia Government Money Market Fund offers Class Inst2 shares only to facilitate exchanges with other Funds offering such share class. |
| (b) |
Certain share classes are subject to minimum account balance requirements, as described in
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares — Transaction Rules and Policies.
|
| (c) |
For more information on the conversion of Class C shares to Class A shares, see
Choosing a Share Class - Sales Charges and Commissions - Class C Shares - Conversion to Class A Shares
|
| (d) |
Actual front-end sales charges and CDSCs vary among the Funds. For more information on applicable sales charges, see
Choosing a Share Class — Sales Charges and Commissions,
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges.
|
| (e) |
These are the maximum applicable distribution and/or service fees. Except for Class V shares, these fees are paid under the Fund’s Rule 12b-1 plan. Fee rates and fee components (i.e., the portion of a combined fee that is a distribution or service fee) may vary among Funds. Because these fees are paid out of Fund assets on an ongoing basis, over time these fees will increase the cost of your investment and may cost you more than paying other types of distribution and/or service fees. Although Class A shares of certain series of CFST I are subject to a combined distribution and service fee of up to 0.35%, these Funds currently limit the combined fee to 0.25%. Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund pays a distribution and service fee of up to 0.15% on Class A shares. Columbia Government Money Market Fund pays a distribution and service fee of up to 0.10% on Class A shares and up to 0.75% distribution fee on Class C shares. Columbia High Yield Municipal Fund, Columbia Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund and Columbia Tax-Exempt Fund each pay a service fee of up to 0.20% on Class A and Class C shares. Columbia Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund pays a distribution fee of up to 0.65% on Class C shares. For more information on distribution and service fees, see
Choosing a Share Class — Distribution and Service Fees.
|
| (f) | Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund must be purchased through financial intermediaries that, by written agreement with the Distributor, are specifically authorized to sell the Fund’s shares. Class Adv shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund are also available to certain registered investment advisers that clear Fund share transactions for their client accounts through designated financial intermediaries with mutual fund trading platforms that have been granted specific written authorization from the Transfer Agent (apart from selling, servicing or similar agreements) to sell Class Inst2 shares, which are not offered by the Fund. Class Inst3 shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund that were open and funded accounts prior to November 30, 2018 (the conversion date from the former unnamed share class to Class Inst3 shares) are eligible for additional investment; however, any account established after that date must meet the current Class Inst3 eligibility requirements. |
| Prospectus 2021 | 33 |
Columbia Emerging Markets Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
| (g) | For Columbia Short Term Municipal Bond Fund, a CDSC of 0.50% is charged on certain investments of $500,000 or more redeemed within 12 months after purchase. The following Funds are not subject to a front-end sales charge or a CDSC on Class A shares: Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund, Columbia Small Cap Index Fund, Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund and Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund. |
| (h) |
If you are eligible to invest in Class A shares without a front-end sales charge, you should discuss your options with your financial intermediary. For more information, see
Choosing a Share Class – Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges.
|
| (i) | There is no CDSC on redemptions from Class C shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund. |
| (j) |
These share classes are closed to new accounts, or closed to previously eligible investors, subject to certain conditions, as summarized below and described in more detail under
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares — Buying Shares — Eligible Investors:
|
•
. Financial intermediaries that clear Fund share transactions through designated financial intermediaries and their mutual fund trading platforms that have been given specific written notice from the Transfer Agent, effective March 29, 2013, of the termination of their eligibility for new purchases of Class Inst shares and omnibus retirement plans are not permitted to establish new Class Inst accounts, subject to certain exceptions. Omnibus retirement plans that opened and, subject to exceptions, funded a Class Inst account as of close of business on March 28, 2013, and have continuously held Class Inst shares in such account after such date, may generally continue to make additional purchases of Class Inst shares, open new Class Inst accounts and add new participants. In certain circumstances and in the sole discretion of the Distributor, omnibus retirement plans affiliated with a grandfathered plan may also open new Class Inst accounts. Accounts of financial intermediaries (other than omnibus retirement plans) that clear Fund share transactions for their client or customer accounts through designated financial intermediaries and their mutual fund trading platforms are not permitted to establish new Class Inst accounts or make additional purchases of Class Inst shares (other than through Fund distribution reinvestments).
Class Inst Shares
•
. Shareholders with Class Inst2 accounts funded before November 8, 2012 who do not satisfy the current eligibility criteria for Class Inst2 shares may not establish new Class Inst2 accounts but may continue to make additional purchases of Class Inst2 shares in existing accounts. In addition, investment advisory programs and similar programs that opened a Class Inst2 account as of May 1, 2010, and continuously hold Class Inst2 shares in such account after such date, may generally not only continue to make additional purchases of Class Inst2 shares but also open new Class Inst2 accounts and add new shareholders in the program.
Class Inst2 Shares
•
. Shareholders with Class Inst3 accounts funded before November 8, 2012 who do not satisfy the current eligibility criteria for Class Inst3 shares may not establish new accounts for such share class but may continue to make additional purchases of Class Inst3 shares in existing accounts.
Class Inst3 Shares
•
Shareholders
with Class V accounts who received, and have continuously held, Class V shares (formerly named Class T shares) in connection with the merger of certain Galaxy funds into certain Funds that were then named Liberty funds may continue to make additional purchases of such share class.
Class V Shares.
Sales Charges and Commissions
Sales charges, commissions, and distribution fees compensate financial intermediaries (typically your financial advisor) for selling shares to you, and service fees compensate financial intermediaries for maintaining and servicing the shares held in your account with them. Distribution and service fees are discussed in a separate sub-section below. Depending on which share class you choose and the financial intermediary through which you purchase your shares, you may pay these charges at potentially different levels at the outset as a front-end sales charge, at the time you sell your shares as a CDSC and/or over time in the form of distribution and/or service fees.
As described in more detail below, Class A and Class V shares have a front-end sales charge, which is deducted from your purchase price when you buy your shares, and results in a smaller dollar amount being invested in the Fund than the purchase price you pay (unless you qualify for a waiver or reduction of the sales charge). The Fund’s other share classes do not have a front-end sales charge, so the full amount of your purchase price is invested in those classes. Class A and Class V shares have lower ongoing distribution and/or service fees than Class C and Class R shares of the Fund. Over time, Class C and Class R shares can incur distribution and/or service fees that are equal to or more than the front-end sales charge and the distribution and/or service fees you would pay for Class A and Class V shares. Although the full amount of your purchase price of Class C and Class R shares is invested in a Fund, your return on this money will be reduced by the expected higher annual expenses of Class C and Class R shares. In this regard, note that Class C shares will generally automatically convert to Class A shares of the same Fund in the month of or the month following the 10-year anniversary of the Class C shares purchase date. The Fund may convert Class C shares held through a financial intermediary to Class A shares sooner in connection with the withdrawal of Class C shares of the Fund from the financial intermediary’s platform or accounts. No sales charge or other charges will apply in connection with such conversions, and conversions are free from U.S. federal income tax. Once your Class C shares convert to Class A shares, your total returns from an investment in the Fund may increase as a result of the lower operating costs of Class A shares. Class Adv, Class Inst, Class Inst2 and Class Inst3 shares of the Fund do not have distribution and/or service fees.
| 34 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Emerging Markets Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
Whether the ultimate cost is higher for one share class over another depends on the amount you invest, how long you hold your shares, the fees (i.e., sales charges) and expenses of the class and whether you are eligible for reduced or waived sales charges, if available. You are responsible for choosing the share class most appropriate for you after taking into account your share class eligibility, class-specific features, and any applicable reductions in, or waivers of, sales charges. For more information, see
. We encourage you to consult with a financial advisor who can help you with your investment decisions. Please contact your financial intermediary for more information about services, fees and expenses, and other important information about investing in the Fund, as well as with any questions you may have about your investing options. In all instances, it is your responsibility to notify your financial intermediary or (for Direct-at-Fund Accounts, as defined below) the Fund at the time of purchase of any relationship or other facts that may qualify you for sales charge waivers or discounts.
Choosing a Share Class – Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
Class A Shares — Front-End Sales Charge
Unless your purchase qualifies for a waiver (e.g., you buy the shares through reinvested Fund dividends or distributions or subject to an applicable financial intermediary-specific waiver), you will pay a front-end sales charge when you buy Class A shares (other than shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund, Columbia Small Cap Index Fund, Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund and Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund), resulting in a smaller dollar amount being invested in a Fund than the purchase price you pay. The Class A shares sales charge is waived on Class C shares converted to Class A shares. For more information about sales charge waivers and reduction opportunities, see
and
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
Appendix A.
The Distributor receives the sales charge and re-allows (or pays) a portion of the sales charge to the financial intermediary through which you purchased the shares. The Distributor retains the balance of the sales charge. The Distributor retains the full sales charge you pay when you purchase shares of the Fund directly from the Fund (through the Transfer Agent, rather than through a financial intermediary).
The front-end sales charge you will pay on Class A shares:
| ■ | depends on the amount you are investing (generally, the larger the investment, the smaller the percentage sales charge), and |
| ■ | is based on the total amount of your purchase and the value of your account (and any other accounts eligible for aggregation of which you or your financial intermediary notifies the Fund). |
The table below presents the front-end sales charge as a percentage of both the offering price and the net amount invested.
| Prospectus 2021 | 35 |
Columbia Emerging Markets Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
|
Class A Shares — Front-End Sales Charge — Breakpoint Schedule*
|
||||
|
Breakpoint Schedule For:
|
Dollar amount of
shares bought
(a)
|
Sales
charge as a % of the offering price
(b)
|
Sales
charge as a % of the net amount invested
(b)
|
Amount
retained by or paid to financial intermediaries as a % of the offering price |
|
Fixed Income Funds (except those listed below),
Columbia Multi-Asset Income Fund and Funds-of-Funds (fixed income)* |
$
|
4.75% | 4.99% | 4.00% |
|
$
|
4.25% | 4.44% | 3.50% | |
| $100,000–$249,999 | 3.50% | 3.63% | 3.00% | |
| $250,000–$499,999 | 2.50% | 2.56% | 2.15% | |
| $500,000–$999,999 | 2.00% | 2.04% | 1.75% | |
|
$
|
0.00% | 0.00% |
0.00%
(c)
|
|
|
Tax-Exempt Funds (other than Columbia Short Term Municipal Bond Fund)
|
$
|
3.00% | 3.09% | 2.50% |
| $100,000–$249,999 | 2.50% | 2.56% | 2.15% | |
| $250,000–$499,999 | 1.50 % | 1.53% | 1.25% | |
|
$
|
0.00% | 0.00% |
0.00%
(c)
|
|
|
Columbia Floating Rate Fund,
Columbia Limited Duration Credit Fund, Columbia Mortgage Opportunities Fund, Columbia Quality Income Fund, and Columbia Total Return Bond Fund |
$
|
3.00% | 3.09% | 2.50% |
| $100,000–$249,999 | 2.50% | 2.56% | 2.15% | |
| $250,000–$499,999 | 2.00% | 2.04% | 1.75% | |
| $500,000–$999,999 | 1.50% | 1.52% | 1.25% | |
|
$
|
0.00% | 0.00% |
0.00%
(c)
|
|
|
Columbia Short Term Bond Fund
|
$
|
1.00% | 1.01% | 0.75% |
| $100,000–$249,999 | 0.75% | 0.76% | 0.50% | |
| $250,000–$999,999 | 0.50% | 0.50% | 0.40% | |
|
$
|
0.00% | 0.00% |
0.00%
(c)
|
|
|
Columbia Short Term Municipal Bond Fund
|
$
|
1.00% | 1.01% | 0.75% |
| $100,000–$249,999 | 0.75% | 0.76% | 0.50% | |
| $250,000–$499,999 | 0.50% | 0.50% | 0.40% | |
|
$
|
0.00% | 0.00% |
0.00%
(c)
|
|
| * |
The following Funds are not subject to a front-end sales charge or CDSC on Class A shares: Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund, Columbia Small Cap Index Fund, Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund and Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund.
"Funds-of-Funds (equity)"
. "Funds-of-Funds (fixed income)"
|
| (a) |
Purchase amounts and account values may be aggregated among all eligible Fund accounts for the purposes of this table. See
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
|
| (b) | Because the offering price is calculated to two decimal places, the dollar amount of the sales charge as a percentage of the offering price and your net amount invested for any particular purchase of Fund shares may be higher or lower depending on whether downward or upward rounding was required during the calculation process. Purchase price includes the sales charge. |
| (c) |
For information regarding cumulative commissions paid to your financial intermediary when you buy $1 million or more of Class A shares of a Taxable Fund or $500,000 or more of Class A shares of a Tax-Exempt Fund, see
Class A Shares — Commissions
|
| 36 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Emerging Markets Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
Class A Shares — CDSC
In some cases, you'll pay a CDSC if you sell Class A shares that you purchased without a front-end sales charge.
Tax-Exempt Funds
| ■ | If you purchased Class A shares of any Tax-Exempt Fund (other than Columbia Short Term Municipal Bond Fund) without paying a front-end sales charge because your eligible accounts aggregated $500,000 or more at the time of purchase, you will incur a CDSC of 0.75% if you redeem those shares within 12 months after purchase. Subsequent Class A share purchases that bring your aggregate account value to $500,000 or more will also be subject to a CDSC of 0.75% if you redeem those shares within 12 months after purchase. |
| ■ | If you purchased Class A shares of Columbia Short Term Municipal Bond Fund without paying a front-end sales charge because your eligible accounts aggregated $500,000 or more at the time of purchase, you will incur a CDSC of 0.50% if you redeem those shares within 12 months after purchase. Subsequent Class A share purchases that bring your aggregate account value to $500,000 or more will also be subject to a CDSC of 0.50% if you redeem those shares within 12 months after purchase. |
Taxable Funds
| ■ | If you purchased Class A shares of any Taxable Fund without paying a front-end sales charge because your eligible accounts aggregated between $1 million and $50 million at the time of purchase, you will incur a CDSC if you redeem those shares within 18 months after purchase, which is charged as follows: 1.00% CDSC if shares are redeemed within 12 months after purchase; and 0.50% CDSC if shares are redeemed more than 12, but less than 18, months after purchase. Subsequent Class A share purchases that bring your aggregate account value to $1 million or more (but less than $50 million) will also be subject to a CDSC if you redeem them within 18 months after purchase as described in the previous sentence. |
Class A Shares — Commissions
The Distributor may pay your financial intermediary an up-front commission when you buy Class A shares. The Distributor generally funds the commission through the applicable sales charge you paid. For more information, see
above
Class A Shares — Front-End Sales Charge
.
The Distributor may also pay your financial intermediary a cumulative commission when you buy Class A shares in amounts not subject to a front-end sales charge, according to the following schedules (assets initially purchased into Class A shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund, Columbia Small Cap Index Fund, Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund and Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund that were purchased without the application of a front-end sales charge are excluded for purposes of calculating a financial intermediary’s commission under these schedules):
| * | The commission level applies to the applicable asset level; therefore, for example, for a purchase of $5 million, the Distributor would pay a commission of 0.75% on the first $3,999,999 and 0.50% on the balance. |
| ** | The commission level on purchases of Class A shares of Columbia Short Term Municipal Bond Fund is: 0.50% on purchases of $500,000 to $19,999,999 and 0.25% on purchases of $20 million or more. |
| Prospectus 2021 | 37 |
Columbia Emerging Markets Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
|
Class A Shares of Taxable Funds — Commission Schedule (Paid by the Distributor to Financial Intermediaries)*
|
|
|
Purchase Amount
|
Commission Level**
(as a % of net asset value per share) |
| $1 million – $2,999,999 | 1.00% |
| $3 million – $49,999,999 | 0.50% |
| $50 million or more | 0.25% |
| * | Not applicable to Funds that do not assess a front-end sales charge. |
| ** | The commission level applies to the applicable asset level; therefore, for example, for a purchase of $5 million, the Distributor would pay a commission of 1.00% on the first $2,999,999 and 0.50% on the balance. |
Class C Shares — Front-End Sales Charge
You do not pay a front-end sales charge when you buy Class C shares, but you may pay a CDSC when you sell Class C shares. Although Class C shares do not have a front-end sales charge, over time Class C shares can incur distribution and/or service fees that are equal to or more than the front-end sales charge and distribution and/or service fees you would pay for Class A shares. Thus, although the full amount of your purchase of Class C shares is invested in a Fund, any positive investment return on this money may be partially or fully offset by the expected higher annual expenses of Class C shares. If you are eligible to invest in Class A shares without a front-end sales charge, you should discuss your options with your financial intermediary. For more information, see
Choosing a Share Class – Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges.
Class C Shares — Conversion to Class A Shares
Class C shares of a Fund generally automatically convert to Class A shares of the same Fund in the month of or the month following the 10-year anniversary of the Class C shares purchase date. Class C shares held through a financial intermediary in an omnibus account will be converted provided that the intermediary is able to track purchases to credit individual shareholders’ holding periods. It is the financial intermediary's (and not the Fund's) responsibility to keep records and to ensure that the shareholder is credited with the proper holding period. Not all financial intermediaries are able to track purchases to credit individual shareholders' holding periods. For example, group retirement plans held through third-party intermediaries that hold Class C shares in an omnibus account may not track participant level share lot aging. Please consult with your financial intermediary about your eligibility for Class C share conversion. The Fund may convert Class C shares held through a financial intermediary to Class A shares sooner in connection with the withdrawal of Class C shares of the Fund from the financial intermediary's platform or accounts. Once your Class C shares convert to Class A shares, your total returns from an investment in the Fund may increase as a result of the lower operating costs of Class A shares.
The following rules apply to the automatic conversion of Class C shares to Class A shares:
| ■ | Class C share accounts that are Direct-at-Fund Accounts and Networked Accounts for which the Transfer Agent (and not your financial intermediary) sends you Fund account transaction confirmations and statements, convert on or about the 15th day of the month (if the 15th is not a business day, then the next business day thereafter) that they become eligible for automatic conversion provided that the Fund has records that Class C shares have been held for the requisite time period. |
| ■ | For purposes of determining the month when your Class C shares are eligible for conversion, the start of the holding period is the first day of the month in which your purchase was made. Your financial intermediary may choose a different day of the month to convert Class C shares. Please contact your financial intermediary for more information on calculating the holding period. |
| ■ | Any shares you received from reinvested distributions on these shares generally will convert to Class A shares at the same time. |
| ■ | You’ll receive the same dollar value of Class A shares as the Class C shares that were automatically converted. Class C shares that you received from an exchange of Class C shares of another Fund will convert based on the day you bought the original shares. |
| 38 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Emerging Markets Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
| ■ | No sales charge or other charges apply in connection with this automatic conversion, and conversions are free from U.S. federal income tax. |
Class C Shares — CDSC
You will pay a CDSC of 1.00% if you redeem Class C shares within 12 months of buying them unless you qualify for a waiver of the CDSC (e.g., the shares you are selling were purchased with reinvested Fund distributions). Redemptions of Class C shares are not subject to a CDSC if redeemed after 12 months. Class C shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund are not subject to a CDSC. For more information, see
.
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
Class C Shares — Commissions
Although there is no front-end sales charge when you buy Class C shares, the Distributor makes an up-front payment (which includes a sales commission and an advance of service fees) directly to your financial intermediary of up to 1.00% of the NAV per share when you buy Class C shares (except on purchases of Class C shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund). A portion of this payment may be passed along to your financial advisor. The Distributor seeks to recover this payment through fees it receives under the Fund's distribution and/or service plan during the first 12 months following the sale of Class C shares, and any applicable CDSC when you sell your shares. For more information, see
Choosing a Share Class — Distribution and Service Fees.
Class V Shares — Front-End Sales Charge
Unless you qualify for a waiver (e.g., you purchase shares through reinvested Fund distributions), you will pay a front-end sales charge when you buy Class V shares, resulting in a smaller dollar amount being invested in a Fund than the purchase price you pay. For more information about sales charge waivers (as well as sales charge reduction opportunities), see
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges.
The front-end sales charge you will pay on Class V shares:
| ■ | depends on the amount you are investing (generally, the larger the investment, the smaller the percentage sales charge), and |
| ■ | is based on the total amount of your purchase and the value of your account (and any other accounts eligible for aggregation of which you notify your financial intermediary or, in the case of Direct-at-Fund Accounts (as defined below), you notify the Fund). |
| Prospectus 2021 | 39 |
Columbia Emerging Markets Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
|
Class V Shares — Front-End Sales Charge — Breakpoint Schedule
|
||||
|
Breakpoint Schedule For:
|
Dollar amount of
shares bought
(a)
|
Sales
charge as a % of the offering price
(b)
|
Sales
charge as a % of the net amount invested
(b)
|
Amount
retained by or paid to Financial Intermediaries as a % of the offering price |
|
Fixed Income Funds
|
$
|
4.75% | 4.99% | 4.25% |
|
$
|
4.50% | 4.71% | 3.75% | |
| $100,000–$249,999 | 3.50% | 3.63% | 2.75% | |
| $250,000–$499,999 | 2.50% | 2.56% | 2.00% | |
| $500,000–$999,999 | 2.00% | 2.04% | 1.75% | |
|
$
|
0.00% | 0.00% |
0.00%
(c)
|
|
| (a) | Purchase amounts and account values are aggregated among all eligible Fund accounts for the purposes of this table. |
| (b) | Because the offering price is calculated to two decimal places, the dollar amount of the sales charge as a percentage of the offering price and your net amount invested for any particular purchase of Fund shares may be higher or lower depending on whether downward or upward rounding was required during the calculation process. |
| (c) |
For more information regarding cumulative commissions paid to your financial intermediary when you buy $1 million or more of Class V shares, see
Class V Shares — Commissions
|
Class V Shares — CDSC
In some cases, you will pay a CDSC if you sell Class V shares that you bought without a front-end sales charge.
| ■ | If you purchased Class V shares without a front-end sales charge because your eligible accounts aggregated between $1 million and $50 million at the time of purchase, you will incur a CDSC if you redeem those shares within 18 months after purchase, which is charged as follows: 1.00% CDSC if shares are redeemed within 12 months after purchase, and 0.50% CDSC if shares are redeemed more than 12, but less than 18, months after purchase. |
| ■ | Subsequent Class V share purchases that bring your aggregate account value to $1 million or more (but less than $50 million) will also be subject to a CDSC if you redeem them within the time periods noted above. |
Class V Shares — Commissions
The Distributor may pay your financial intermediary an up-front commission when you buy Class V shares (a portion of this commission may, in turn, be paid to your financial advisor). For more information, see
Class V Shares — Front-End Sales Charge.
The Distributor may also pay your financial intermediary a cumulative commission when you buy $1 million or more of Class V shares, according to the following schedule:
|
Class V Shares
—
Commission Schedule (Paid by the Distributor to Financial Intermediaries)
|
|
|
Purchase
Amount |
Commission Level*
(as a % of net asset value per share) |
| $1 million – $2,999,999 | 1.00% |
| $3 million – $49,999,999 | 0.50% |
| $50 million or more | 0.25% |
| * | The commission level applies to the applicable asset level; therefore, for example, for a purchase of $5 million, the Distributor would pay a commission of 1.00% on the first $2,999,999 and 0.50% on the balance. |
| 40 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Emerging Markets Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
The availability of certain sales charge waivers and discounts will depend on whether you purchase your shares directly from the Fund (i.e., a Direct-at-Fund Account, as defined below) or through a financial intermediary. Financial intermediaries may have different policies and procedures regarding the availability of front-end sales charge and/or CDSC waivers. In all instances, it is your responsibility to notify your financial intermediary or (for Direct-at-Fund Accounts, as defined below) the Fund at the time of purchase of any relationship or other facts that may qualify you for sales charge waivers or discounts. In order to obtain waivers and discounts not available through a particular financial intermediary, shareholders will have to purchase Fund shares directly from the Fund (if permitted) or through a different financial intermediary. For a description of financial intermediary-specific sales charge reductions and/or waivers, see
.
Appendix A
Class A and Class V Shares Front-End Sales Charge Reductions
The Fund makes available two means of reducing the front-end sales charge that you may pay when you buy Class A shares or Class V shares of a Fund. These types of sales charge reductions are also referred to as breakpoint discounts.
First, through the right of accumulation (ROA), you may combine the value of eligible accounts (as described in the
section below) maintained by you and members of your immediate family to reach a breakpoint discount level and apply a lower front-end sales charge to your purchase. To calculate the combined value of your eligible Fund accounts in the particular class of shares, the Fund will use the current public offering price per share. For purposes of obtaining a breakpoint discount through ROA, you may aggregate your and your “immediate family” members' ownership (as described in the
box below) of certain classes of shares held in certain account types, as described in the
section below.
Eligible Accounts
FUNDamentals
Eligible Accounts
Second, by making a statement of intent to purchase additional shares (commonly referred to as a letter of intent (LOI)), you may pay a lower sales charge on all purchases of Class A shares or Class V shares made within 13 months after the date of your LOI. Your LOI must state the aggregate amount of purchases you intend to make in that 13-month period, which must be at least enough to reach the first (or next) breakpoint of the Fund. The required form of LOI may vary by financial intermediary, so please contact them directly for more information. Five percent of the purchase commitment amount will be placed in escrow. At the end of the 13-month period, the shares will be released from escrow, provided that you have invested the commitment amount. If you do not invest the commitment amount by the end of the 13 months, the remaining amount of the unpaid sales charge will be redeemed from the escrowed shares and the remaining balance released from escrow. To calculate the total value of the purchases you've made under an LOI, the Fund will use the historic cost (i.e., dollars invested and not current market value) of the shares held in each eligible account; reinvested dividends or capital gains, or purchases made through the reinstatement privilege do not count as purchases made under an LOI. For purposes of making an LOI to purchase additional shares, you may aggregate eligible shares owned by you or your immediate family members in eligible accounts, valued as of the day immediately before the initiation of your LOI.
You must request the reduced sales charge (whether through ROA or an LOI) when you buy shares. If you do not complete and file an LOI, or do not request the reduced sales charge at the time of purchase, you will not be eligible for the reduced sales charge. To obtain a breakpoint discount, you must notify your financial intermediary in writing at the time you buy your shares of each eligible account maintained by you and members of your immediate family, including accounts maintained through different financial intermediaries. You and your financial intermediary are responsible for ensuring that you receive discounts for which you are eligible. Please contact your financial intermediary with questions regarding application of the eligible discount to your account. You may be asked by your financial intermediary (or by the Fund if you hold your account directly with the Fund) for account statements or other records to verify your discount eligibility for new and subsequent purchases, including, when applicable, records for accounts opened with a different financial intermediary and records of accounts established by members of your immediate family.
The sales charge reductions available to investors who purchase and hold their Fund shares through different financial intermediaries may vary. For a description of such financial intermediary-specific sales charge reductions, see
.
Appendix A
| Prospectus 2021 | 41 |
Columbia Emerging Markets Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
FUNDamentals
Your “Immediate Family” and Account Value Aggregation
For purposes of obtaining a breakpoint discount for Class A shares or Class V shares, the value of your account will be deemed to include the value of all applicable shares in eligible Fund accounts that are held by you and your “immediate family,” which includes your spouse, domestic partner, parent, step-parent, legal guardian, child under 21, step-child under 21, father-in-law and mother-in-law, provided that you and your immediate family members share the same mailing address. Any Fund accounts linked together for account value aggregation purposes as of the close of business on September 3, 2010 will be permitted to remain linked together. Group retirement plan accounts are valued at the retirement plan level.
Eligible Accounts
The following accounts are eligible for account value aggregation as described above, provided that they are invested in Class A (excluding, in the case of Direct-at-Fund Accounts, Funds that do not assess a front-end sales charge, including Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund, Columbia Small Cap Index Fund, Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund and Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund, unless such shares were purchased via an exchange from Class A shares of a Fund on which you paid the Class A share applicable front-end sales charge), Class C, Class E, Class Inst or Class V shares of a Fund, or non-retirement plan accounts invested in Class Adv, Class Inst2 or Class Inst3 shares of a Fund: individual or joint accounts; Roth and traditional Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs); Simplified Employee Pension accounts (SEPs), Savings Investment Match Plans for Employees of Small Employers accounts (SIMPLEs) and Tax Sheltered Custodial Accounts (TSCAs); Uniform Gifts to Minors Act (UGMA)/Uniform Transfers to Minors Act (UTMA) accounts for which you, your spouse, or your domestic partner is parent or guardian of the minor child; revocable trust accounts for which you or an immediate family member, individually, is the beneficial owner/grantor; accounts held in the name of your, your spouse’s, or your domestic partner’s sole proprietorship or single owner limited liability company or S corporation; qualified retirement plan assets, provided that you are the sole owner of the business sponsoring the plan, are the sole participant (other than a spouse) in the plan, and have no intention of adding participants to the plan; and investments in wrap accounts.
The following accounts are
for account value aggregation as described above: accounts of pension and retirement plans with multiple participants, such as 401(k) plans (which are combined to reduce the sales charge for the entire pension or retirement plan and therefore are not used to reduce the sales charge for your individual accounts); investments in 529 plans, donor advised funds, variable annuities, variable insurance products or managed separate accounts; charitable and irrevocable trust accounts; accounts holding shares of money market funds that used the Columbia brand before May 1, 2010; accounts invested in Class R shares of a Fund; and retirement plan accounts invested in Class Adv, Class Inst2 or Class Inst3 shares of a Fund.
not eligible
Additionally, direct purchases of shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund may not be aggregated for account value aggregation purposes; however, shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund acquired by exchange from other Columbia Funds that assess a sales charge may be included in account value aggregation.
Class A and Class V Shares Front-End Sales Charge Waivers
There are no front-end sales charges on reinvested Fund distributions. The Class A shares sales charge is waived on conversions of Class C shares to Class A shares. The Distributor may waive front-end sales charges on purchases of Class A and Class V shares of the Funds by certain categories of investors, including Board members, certain employees of financial intermediaries, Fund portfolio managers, certain partners and employees of outside legal counsel to the Funds or the Board, separate accounts of an insurance company exempt from registration as an investment company under Section 3(c)(11) of the 1940 Act, registered broker-dealer firms that have an agreement with the Distributor purchasing Fund shares for their investment account only, and qualified employee benefit plan rollovers to Class A shares in the same Fund (see Appendix S to the SAI for details). For a more complete description of categories of investors who may purchase Class A and Class V shares of the Funds at NAV, without payment of any front-end sales charge that would otherwise apply, see Appendix S to the SAI.
| 42 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Emerging Markets Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
In addition, certain types of purchases of Class A and Class V shares may be made at NAV. The Distributor may waive front-end sales charges on (i) purchases (including exchanges) of Class A shares in accounts of financial intermediaries that have entered into agreements with the Distributor to offer Fund shares to self-directed investment brokerage accounts that may or may not charge a transaction fee to customers; (ii) exchanges of Class Inst shares of a Fund for Class A shares of the Fund; (iii) purchases of Class A shares on brokerage mutual fund-only platforms of financial intermediaries that have an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes the offering of Class A shares within such platform; (iv) purchases through certain wrap fee or other products or programs that involve fee-based compensation arrangements that have, or clear trades through a financial intermediary that has, a selling agreement with the Distributor; (v) purchases through state sponsored 529 Plans; (vi) purchases through banks, trust companies, and thrift institutions acting as fiduciaries; and (vii) purchases through certain employee benefit plans and certain qualified deferred compensation plans. For a more complete description of these eligible transactions, see Appendix S to the SAI.
The sales charge waivers available to investors who purchase and hold their Fund shares through different financial intermediaries may vary. For a description of such financial intermediary-specific sales charge waivers, see
.
Appendix A
CDSC Waivers – Class A, Class C and Class V
You may be able to avoid an otherwise applicable CDSC when you sell Class A, Class C or Class V shares of the Fund. This could happen because of the way in which you originally invested in the Fund, because of your relationship with the Funds or for other reasons. For example, the CDSC will be waived on redemptions of shares in the event of the shareholder's death; for which no sales commission or transaction fee was paid to an authorized financial intermediary at the time of purchase; purchased through reinvestment of dividends and capital gain distributions; that result from required minimum distributions taken from retirement accounts due to the shareholder reaching the qualified age based on applicable IRS regulations; that result from returns of excess contributions made to retirement plans or individual retirement accounts (subject to certain conditions); initially purchased by an employee benefit plan (for Class A shares) and that are not connected with a plan level termination (for Class C or Class V shares); in connection with the Fund's Small Account Policy (which is described in
); and by certain other investors and in certain other types of transactions or situations. Restrictions may apply to certain accounts and certain transactions. The Distributor may, in its sole discretion, authorize the waiver of the CDSC for additional classes of investors. The Fund may change or cancel these terms at any time. Any change or cancellation applies only to future purchases. For a more complete description of the available waivers of the CDSC on redemptions of Class A, Class C or Class V shares, see Appendix S to the SAI.
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares — Transaction Rules and Policies
The sales charge waivers available to investors who purchase and hold their Fund shares through different financial intermediaries may vary. For a description of such financial intermediary-specific sales charge waivers, see
.
Appendix A
Repurchases (Reinstatements)
As noted in the table below, you can redeem shares of certain classes (see Redeemed Share Class below) and use such redemption proceeds to buy shares of the Corresponding Repurchase Class without paying an otherwise applicable sales charge and/or CDSC (other than, in the case of Direct-at-Fund Accounts, redemptions from Funds that do not assess a front-end sales charge, including Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund, Columbia Small Cap Index Fund, Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund and Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund, unless such shares were purchased via an exchange from Class A shares of a Fund on which you paid the Class A share applicable front-end sales charge) within 90 days, up to the amount of the redemption proceeds.
|
Repurchases (Reinstatements)
|
|
|
Redeemed Share Class
|
Corresponding Repurchase Class
|
| Class A | Class A |
| Class C | Class C |
| Prospectus 2021 | 43 |
Columbia Emerging Markets Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
|
Repurchases (Reinstatements)
|
|
|
Redeemed Share Class
|
Corresponding Repurchase Class
|
| Class V | Class V |
Any CDSC paid upon redemption of your Class A, Class C or Class V shares of a Fund will not be reimbursed.
To be eligible for the repurchase (or reinstatement) privilege, the purchase must be made into an account for the same owner, but does not need to be into the same Fund from which the shares were sold. The Transfer Agent, Distributor or their agents must receive a written reinstatement request from you or your financial intermediary within 90 days after the shares are redeemed. The purchase of the Corresponding Repurchase Class (as noted in the table above) through this repurchase (or reinstatement) privilege will be made at the NAV of such shares next calculated after the request is received in “good form.” Systematic withdrawals and purchases are excluded from this policy.
Restrictions and Changes in Terms and Conditions
Restrictions may apply to certain accounts and certain transactions. The Funds and/or the Distributor may change or cancel these terms and conditions at any time. Unless you provide your financial intermediary with information in writing about all of the factors that may count toward available reductions or waivers of an applicable sales charge, there can be no assurance that you will receive all of the reductions and waivers for which you may be eligible. To the extent your Fund account is held directly with the Fund, you should provide this information to the Fund when placing your purchase or redemption order. Please see
to this prospectus and Appendix S of the SAI for more information about sales charge waivers.
Appendix A
Distribution and Service Fees
The Board has approved, and the Funds have adopted, distribution and/or shareholder service plans which set the distribution and/or service fees that are periodically deducted from the Funds’ assets. These fees are calculated daily, may vary by share class and are intended to compensate the Distributor and/or eligible financial intermediaries for, with regard to distribution fees, selling Fund shares and, with regard to service fees, directly or indirectly providing services to shareholders. Because the fees are paid out of the Fund's assets on an ongoing basis, they will increase the cost of your investment over time.
The table below shows the maximum annual distribution and/or service fees (as an annual percentage of average daily net assets) and the combined amount of such fees applicable to each share class:
| (a) | The service fees for Class A and Class C shares of certain Funds vary. The annual service fee for Class A and Class C shares of Columbia High Yield Municipal Fund, Columbia Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund and Columbia Tax-Exempt Fund may equal up to 0.20% of the average daily NAV of all shares of such Fund class. The annual distribution fee for Class C shares for Columbia Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund shall be 0.65% of the average daily net assets of the Fund’s Class C shares. The Distributor has contractually agreed to waive a portion of the service fee for Class A and Class C shares of Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund so that the service fee does not exceed 0.15% annually through August 31, 2021 unless sooner terminated at the sole discretion of the Fund’s Board. The Distributor has contractually agreed to waive a portion of the service fee for Class A shares of Columbia Strategic California Municipal Income Fund so that the service fee does not exceed 0.20% annually through February 28, 2022 unless modified or sooner terminated at the sole discretion of the Fund’s Board. |
| 44 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Emerging Markets Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
| (b) | The maximum distribution and service fees of Class A shares varies among the Funds, as shown in the table below: |
|
Funds
|
Maximum
Class A Distribution Fee |
Maximum
Class A Service Fee |
Maximum
Class A Combined Total |
|
Series of CFST and CFST II (other than Columbia
Government Money Market Fund) |
— | — |
0.25%; these Funds pay a
combined distribution and service fee |
| Columbia Government Money Market Fund | — | — | 0.10% |
| Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund | up to 0.15% | up to 0.15% | 0.15% |
| Columbia Balanced Fund, Columbia Contrarian Core Fund, Columbia Dividend Income Fund, Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund, Columbia Large Cap Growth Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Growth Fund, Columbia Oregon Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund, Columbia Real Estate Equity Fund, Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I, Columbia Total Return Bond Fund | up to 0.10% | up to 0.25% |
up to 0.35%; these Funds may
pay distribution and service fees up to a maximum of 0.35% of their average daily net assets attributable to Class A shares (comprised of up to 0.10% for distribution services and up to 0.25% for shareholder liaison services) but currently limit such fees to an aggregate fee of not more than 0.25% for Class A shares |
| Columbia Adaptive Risk Allocation Fund, Columbia Bond Fund, Columbia Connecticut Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund, Columbia Corporate Income Fund, Columbia Emerging Markets Fund, Columbia Greater China Fund, Columbia International Dividend Income Fund, Columbia Massachusetts Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund, Columbia Multi-Asset Income Fund, Columbia Multi Strategy Alternatives Fund, Columbia New York Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund, Columbia Pacific/Asia Fund, Columbia Select Large Cap Growth Fund, Columbia Small Cap Value Fund I, Columbia Strategic California Municipal Income Fund, Columbia Strategic Income Fund, Columbia Strategic New York Municipal Income Fund, Columbia U.S. Social Bond Fund, Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund | — | 0.25% | 0.25% |
| Columbia High Yield Municipal Fund, Columbia Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund, Columbia Tax-Exempt Fund | — | 0.20% | 0.20% |
| (c) | Fee amounts noted apply to all Funds other than Columbia Government Money Market Fund, which, for Class A shares, pays distribution and service fees of 0.10%, and for Class C shares pays distribution fees of 0.75%. The payment of the distribution and/or service fees payable by Columbia Government Money Market Fund under its Plan of Distribution has been suspended through November 30, 2021. This arrangement may be modified or terminated at the sole discretion of Columbia Government Money Market Fund’s Board at any time. Compensation paid to financial intermediaries is suspended for the duration of the suspension of payments under Columbia Government Money Market Fund’s Plan of Distribution. |
| (d) | The Distributor has contractually agreed to waive a portion of the distribution fee for Class C shares of the following Funds so that the distribution fee does not exceed the specified percentage annually through the specified date for each Fund: 0.45% for Columbia Connecticut Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund through February 28, 2022, Columbia Massachusetts Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund through February 28, 2022, Columbia New York Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund through February 28, 2022, Columbia Oregon Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund through November 30, 2021, Columbia Strategic California Municipal Income Fund through February 28, 2022, and Columbia Strategic New York Municipal Income Fund through August 31, 2021; 0.55% for Columbia Corporate Income Fund through August 31, 2021, and Columbia Short Term Bond Fund through August 31, 2021; 0.60% for Columbia High Yield Municipal Fund through September 30, 2021, Columbia Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund through August 31, 2021, and Columbia Tax-Exempt Fund through November 30, 2021; and 0.65% for Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund through August 31, 2021. These arrangements may be sooner terminated at the sole discretion of each Fund’s Board. |
| (e) | Class R shares of series of CFST and CFST I pay a distribution fee pursuant to a Rule 12b-1 plan. The Funds do not have a shareholder service plan for Class R shares. Series of CFST II have a distribution and shareholder service plan for Class R shares. For Class R shares of series of CFST II, the maximum fee under the plan reimbursed for distribution expenses is equal on an annual basis to 0.50% of the average daily net assets of the Fund attributable to Class R shares. Of that amount, up to 0.25% may be reimbursed for shareholder service expenses. |
| (f) |
The shareholder servicing fees for Class V shares are up to 0.50% of average daily net assets attributable to Class V shares for equity Funds and 0.40% for fixed income Funds. In general, the Funds currently limit such fees to a maximum of 0.25% for equity Funds and 0.15% for fixed-income Funds. These fees for Class V shares are not paid pursuant to a Rule 12b-1 plan. See
Class V Shareholder Service Fees
|
| Prospectus 2021 | 45 |
Columbia Emerging Markets Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
The distribution and/or service fees for Class A, Class C, and Class R shares, as applicable, are subject to the requirements of Rule 12b-1 under the 1940 Act. The Distributor may retain these fees otherwise payable to financial intermediaries if the amounts due are below an amount determined by the Distributor in its sole discretion.
For Class A shares, the Distributor begins to pay these fees immediately after purchase, except in the following case, in which the Distributor begins to pay these fees 12 months after purchase: a purchase of Class A shares of $1 million or more for Taxable Funds or $500,000 or more for Tax-Exempt Funds that pay a Class A up-front commission to your financial intermediary and the financial intermediary has opted to receive such commission. The Distributor’s policy to otherwise begin to pay these fees immediately on Class A shares also applies to purchases of funds that do not pay an up-front sales commission on Class A shares, which includes Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund, Columbia Small Cap Index Fund, Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund and Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund. For Class C shares, the Distributor begins to pay these fees 12 months after purchase. However, for Class C shares, financial intermediaries may opt to decline the up-front payment described in
and instead may receive these fees immediately after purchase. If the intermediary opts to receive the up-front payment, the Distributor retains the distribution and/or service fee for the first 12 months following the sale of Class C shares in order to recover the up-front payment made to financial intermediaries and to pay for other related expenses. For Class R shares, the Distributor begins to pay these fees immediately after purchase.
Choosing a Share Class – Sales Charges and Commissions – Class C Shares – Commissions
Series of CFST II.
The maximum fee for services under the distribution and/or shareholder servicing plan for series of CFST II is the lesser of the amount of reimbursable expenses and the fee rates in the table above. If a share class of a series of CFST II has no reimbursable distribution or shareholder servicing expenses, it will suspend the payment of any such fee. As a result of any such suspensions, the expense ratio of a Fund’s share class disclosed in the
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
table in the
Summary of the Fund
section of this prospectus may not match the ratio of expenses of such share class to average net assets shown in the
Financial Highlights
section of this prospectus.
If you maintain shares of the Fund directly with the Fund, without working with a financial advisor or other financial intermediary, distribution and service fees may be retained by the Distributor as payment or reimbursement for incurring certain distribution and shareholder service related expenses.
Over time, these distribution and/or service fees will reduce the return on your investment and may cost you more than paying other types of sales charges. The Fund will pay these fees to the Distributor and/or to eligible financial intermediaries for as long as the distribution plan and/or shareholder servicing plans continue in effect, which is expected to be indefinitely. However, the Fund may reduce or discontinue payments at any time. Your financial intermediary may also charge you other additional fees for providing services to your account, which may be different from those described here.
Class V Shareholder Services Fees
The Funds that offer Class V shares have adopted a shareholder services plan that permits them to pay for certain services provided to Class V shareholders by their financial intermediaries. Equity Funds may pay shareholder servicing fees up to an aggregate annual rate of 0.50% of the Fund's average daily net assets attributable to Class V shares (comprised of up to 0.25% for shareholder liaison services and up to 0.25% for administrative support services). Fixed income Funds may pay shareholder servicing fees up to an aggregate annual rate of 0.40% of the Fund's average daily net assets attributable to Class V shares (comprised of up to 0.20% for shareholder liaison services and up to 0.20% for administrative support services). These fees are currently limited to an aggregate annual rate of not more than 0.25% for equity Funds and not more than 0.15% for fixed income Funds. The Distributor begins to pay these fees immediately after purchase for purchases up to $1 million, for purchases of $1 million or more the Distributor will begin to pay these fees 12 months after purchase. These fees for Class V shares are not paid pursuant to a Rule 12b-1 plan. With respect to those Funds that declare dividends on a daily basis, the shareholder servicing fee shall be waived by the financial intermediaries to the extent necessary to prevent net investment income from falling below 0% on a daily basis. If you maintain shares of the Fund directly with the Fund, without working with a financial advisor or other intermediary, shareholder services fees may be retained by the Distributor as payment or reimbursement for incurring certain shareholder service related expenses.
| 46 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Emerging Markets Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
Financial Intermediary Compensation
The Distributor, the Investment Manager and their affiliates make payments, from their own resources, to financial intermediaries, including other Ameriprise Financial affiliates, for marketing/sales support services relating to the Funds (Marketing Support Payments). Such payments are generally based upon one or more of the following factors: average net assets of the Funds attributable to that financial intermediary; gross sales of the Funds attributable to that financial intermediary; reimbursement of ticket charges (fees that a financial intermediary charges its representatives for effecting transactions in Fund shares); or a negotiated lump sum payment. While the financial arrangements may vary for each financial intermediary, Marketing Support Payments to any one financial intermediary are generally between 0.05% and 0.40% on an annual basis for payments based on average net assets of the Fund attributable to the financial intermediary, and between 0.05% and 0.25% on an annual basis for firms receiving a payment based on gross sales of the Funds attributable to the financial intermediary. The Distributor, the Investment Manager and their affiliates may at times make payments with respect to a Fund or the Columbia Funds generally on a basis other than those described above, or in larger amounts, when dealing with certain financial intermediaries. Not all financial intermediaries receive Marketing Support Payments. The Distributor, the Investment Manager and their affiliates do not make Marketing Support Payments with respect to Class Inst3 shares.
In addition, the Transfer Agent has certain arrangements in place to compensate financial intermediaries, including other Ameriprise Financial affiliates, that hold Fund shares through networked and omnibus accounts, including omnibus retirement plans, for services that they provide to beneficial Fund shareholders (Shareholder Services). Shareholder Services and related fees vary by financial intermediary and according to distribution channel and may include sub-accounting, sub-transfer agency, participant recordkeeping, shareholder or participant reporting, shareholder or participant transaction processing, maintenance of shareholder records, preparation of account statements and provision of customer service, and are not intended to include services that are primarily intended to result in the sale of Fund shares. Payments for Shareholder Services generally are not expected, with certain limited exceptions, to exceed 0.40% of the average aggregate value of the Fund’s shares. Generally, each Fund pays the Transfer Agent a per account fee or a percentage of the average aggregate value of shares per annum maintained in omnibus accounts up to the lesser of the amount charged by the financial intermediary or a channel-specific or share class-specific cap established by the Board from time to time. Fee amounts in excess of the amount paid by the Fund are borne by the Transfer Agent, the Investment Manager and/or their affiliates. For Class Inst3 shares, the Transfer Agent does not pay financial intermediaries for Shareholder Services, except that for Class Inst3 shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund (formerly an unnamed share class of the Fund), the Transfer Agent makes Shareholder Services payments to a financial intermediary through which shares of this class were held (under its former unnamed share class name) as of November 30, 2018, and the Fund does not compensate the Transfer Agent for any Shareholder Services provided by financial intermediaries.
In addition to the payments described above, the Distributor, the Investment Manager and their affiliates typically make other payments or allow promotional incentives to certain broker-dealers to the extent permitted by the Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) rules and by other applicable laws and regulations.
Amounts paid by the Distributor, the Investment Manager and their affiliates are paid out of their own resources and do not increase the amount paid by you or the Fund. You can find further details in the SAI about the payments made by the Distributor, the Investment Manager and their affiliates, as well as a list of the financial intermediaries, including Ameriprise Financial affiliates, to which the Distributor, the Investment Manager or their affiliates have agreed to make Marketing Support Payments and pay Shareholder Services fees.
Your financial intermediary may charge you fees and commissions in addition to those described in this prospectus. You should consult with your financial intermediary and review carefully any disclosure your financial intermediary provides regarding its services and compensation. Depending on the financial arrangement in place at any particular time, a financial intermediary and its financial advisors may have a conflict of interest or financial incentive for recommending the Fund or a particular share class over others.
| Prospectus 2021 | 47 |
Columbia Emerging Markets Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
Share Price Determination
The price you pay or receive when you buy, sell or exchange shares is the Fund's next determined net asset value (or NAV) per share for a given share class. The Fund calculates the NAV per share for each class of shares of the Fund at the end of each business day, with the value of the Fund's shares based on the total value of all of the securities and other assets that it holds as of a specified time.
FUNDamentals
NAV Calculation
Each of the Fund's share classes calculates its NAV per share as follows:
NAV per share =
(Value of assets of the share class) – (Liabilities of the share class)
Number of outstanding shares of the class
FUNDamentals
Business Days
A business day is any day that the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is open. A business day typically ends at the close of regular trading on the NYSE, usually at 4:00 p.m. Eastern time. If the NYSE is scheduled to close early, the business day will be considered to end as of the time of the NYSE’s scheduled close. The Fund will not treat an intraday unscheduled disruption in NYSE trading or an intraday unscheduled closing as a close of regular trading on the NYSE for these purposes and will price its shares as of the regularly scheduled closing time for that day (typically, 4:00 p.m. Eastern time). Notwithstanding the foregoing, the NAV of Fund shares may be determined at such other time or times (in addition to or in lieu of the time set forth above) as the Fund’s Board may approve or ratify. On holidays and other days when the NYSE is closed, the Fund’s NAV is not calculated and the Fund does not accept buy or sell orders. However, the value of the Fund’s assets may still be affected on such days to the extent that the Fund holds foreign securities that trade on days that foreign securities markets are open.
Equity securities are valued primarily on the basis of market quotations reported on stock exchanges and other securities markets around the world. If an equity security is listed on a national exchange, the security is valued at the closing price or, if the closing price is not readily available, the mean of the closing bid and asked prices. Certain equity securities, debt securities and other assets are valued differently. For instance, bank loans trading in the secondary market are valued primarily on the basis of indicative bids, fixed income investments maturing in 60 days or less are valued primarily using the amortized cost method, unless this methodology results in a valuation that does not approximate the market value of these securities, and those maturing in excess of 60 days are valued primarily using a market-based price obtained from a pricing service, if available. Investments in other open-end funds are valued at their published NAVs. Both market quotations and indicative bids are obtained from outside pricing services approved and monitored pursuant to a policy approved by the Fund's Board.
If a market price is not readily available or is deemed not to reflect market value, the Fund will determine the price of a portfolio security based on a determination of the security's fair value pursuant to a policy approved by the Fund’s Board. In addition, the Fund may use fair valuation to price securities that trade on a foreign exchange when a significant event has occurred after the foreign exchange closes but before the time at which the Fund’s share price is calculated. Foreign exchanges typically close before the time at which Fund share prices are calculated, and may be closed altogether on days when the Fund is open. Such significant events affecting a foreign security may include, but are not limited to: (1) corporate actions, earnings announcements, litigation or other events impacting a single issuer; (2) governmental action that affects securities in one sector or country; (3) natural disasters or armed conflicts affecting a country or region; or (4) significant domestic or foreign market fluctuations. The Fund uses various criteria, including an evaluation of U.S. market moves after the close of foreign markets, in determining whether a foreign security's market price is readily available and reflective of market value and, if not, the fair value
| 48 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Emerging Markets Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
of the security. To the extent the Fund has significant holdings of small cap stocks, high-yield bonds, floating rate loans, or tax-exempt, foreign or other securities that may trade infrequently, fair valuation may be used more frequently than for other funds.
Fair valuation may have the effect of reducing stale pricing arbitrage opportunities presented by the pricing of Fund shares. However, when the Fund uses fair valuation to price securities, it may value those securities higher or lower than another fund would have priced the security. Also, the use of fair valuation may cause the Fund's performance to diverge to a greater degree from the performance of various benchmarks used to compare the Fund's performance because benchmarks generally do not use fair valuation techniques. Because of the judgment involved in fair valuation decisions, there can be no assurance that the value ascribed to a particular security is accurate. The Fund has retained one or more independent fair valuation pricing services to assist in the fair valuation process for foreign securities.
Transaction Rules and Policies
The Fund, the Distributor or the Transfer Agent may refuse any order to buy or exchange shares. If this happens, the Fund will return any money it received, but no interest will be paid on that money. Your financial intermediary may have rules and policies in place that are in addition to or different than those described below.
Order Processing
Orders to buy, sell or exchange Fund shares are processed on business days. Depending upon the class of shares, orders can be made by mail, by telephone or online. Orders received in “good form” by the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary before the end of a business day are priced at the NAV per share (plus any applicable sales charge) of the Fund's applicable share class on that day. Orders received after the end of a business day will receive the next business day's NAV per share (plus any applicable sales charge). For Direct-at-Fund Accounts (i.e., accounts established directly with the Fund), when a written order to buy, sell or exchange shares is sent to the Transfer Agent, the share price used to fill the order is the next price calculated by the Fund after the Transfer Agent receives the transaction request in “good form” at its transaction processing center (i.e., the Fund’s express mail address), not the P.O. Box provided for regular mail delivery. The market value of the Fund's investments may change between the time you submit your order and the time the Fund next calculates its NAV per share. The business day that applies to your order is also called the trade date.
“Good Form”
An order is in “good form” if the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary has received payment (in the case of purchases) and all of the information and documentation it deems necessary to effect your order. For example, when you sell shares, “good form” means that your request (i) has complete instructions and written requests include the signatures of all account owners, (ii) is for an amount that is less than or equal to the shares in your account for which payment has been received and collected, (iii) has a Medallion Signature Guarantee for amounts greater than $100,000 and certain other transactions, as described below, and (iv) includes any other required documents completed and attached. For the documents required for sales by corporations, agents, fiduciaries, surviving joint owners and other legal entities, call 800.345.6611.
Medallion Signature Guarantees
The Transfer Agent may require a Medallion Signature Guarantee for your signature in order to process certain transactions, including if: (i) the transaction amount is over $100,000; (ii) you want your check made payable to someone other than the registered account owner(s); (iii) the address of record has changed within the last 30 days; (iv) you want the check mailed to an address other than the address of record; (v) you want proceeds to be sent according to existing bank account instructions not coded for outgoing Automated Clearing House (ACH) or wire, or to a bank account not on file; or (vi) you are changing legal ownership of your account.
A Medallion Signature Guarantee helps assure that a signature is genuine and not a forgery. A Medallion Signature Guarantee must be provided by an eligible guarantor institution including, but not limited to, the following: a bank, credit union, savings association, broker or dealer that participates in the Securities Transfer Association Medallion Program (STAMP), the Stock Exchange Medallion Program (SEMP) or the New York Stock Exchange Medallion
| Prospectus 2021 | 49 |
Columbia Emerging Markets Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
Signature Program (MSP). For other transactions, the Transfer Agent may require a signature guarantee. Notarization by a notary public is not an acceptable signature guarantee. The Transfer Agent reserves the right to reject a signature guarantee and to request additional documentation for any transaction.
Customer Identification Program
Federal law requires the Fund to obtain and record specific personal information to verify your identity when you open an account. This information may include your name, address, date of birth (for individuals) and taxpayer or other government issued identification (e.g., social security number (SSN) or other taxpayer identification number (TIN)). If you fail to provide the requested information, the Fund may need to delay the date of your purchase or may be unable to open your account, which may result in a return of your investment monies. In addition, if the Fund is unable to verify your identity after your account is open, the Fund reserves the right to close your account or take other steps as deemed reasonable. The Fund will not be liable for any loss resulting from any purchase delay, application rejection or account closure due to a failure to provide proper identifying information.
Small Account Policy — Class A, Class C, Class Inst, and Class V Share Accounts Below the Minimum Account Balance
The Funds generally will automatically sell your shares if the value of your Fund account (treating each account of the Fund you own separately from any other account of the Fund you may own) falls below the applicable minimum account balance. Any otherwise applicable CDSC will not be imposed on such an automatic sale of your shares. Generally, you may avoid such an automatic sale by raising your account balance to at least $250 or consolidating your multiple accounts you may have with the Funds through an exchange (so as to maintain at least $250 in each of your accounts). The minimum account balance varies among share classes and types of accounts, as follows:
|
Minimum Account Balance
|
|
|
Minimum
Account Balance |
|
| For all classes and account types except those listed below |
$250 (None for accounts with
Systematic Investment Plans) |
| Individual Retirement Accounts for all classes except those listed below | None |
| Class Adv, Class Inst2, Class Inst3 and Class R | None |
For shares held directly with the Funds’ Transfer Agent, if your shares are sold, the Transfer Agent will remit the sale proceeds to you. The Transfer Agent will send you written notification in advance of any automatic sale, which will provide details on how you may avoid such an automatic sale. Generally, you may avoid such an automatic sale by raising your account balance to at least $250, consolidating your multiple accounts you may have with the Funds through an exchange (so as to maintain at least $250 in each of your accounts), or setting up a Systematic Investment Plan (described below). For more information, contact the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary. The Transfer Agent's contact information (toll-free number and mailing addresses) as well as the Funds’ website address can be found at the beginning of the section
.
Choosing a Share Class
For shares purchased and held for your benefit through a financial intermediary, the Funds may instruct the intermediary to automatically sell your Fund shares if the transaction can be operationally administered by the intermediary.
Small Account Policy — Class A, Class C, Class Inst, and Class V Share Accounts Minimum Balance Fee
If the value of your Fund account (treating each account of the Fund you own separately from any other account of the Fund you may own) falls below the minimum initial investment requirement applicable to you for any reason, including as a result of market decline, your account generally could be subject to a $20 annual fee. The Transfer Agent will reduce the expenses paid by the Fund by any amounts it collects from the assessment of this fee. For Funds that do not have transfer agency expenses against which to offset the amount collected through assessment of this fee, the
| 50 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Emerging Markets Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
fee will be paid directly to the Fund. The Funds reserve the right to lower the account size trigger point for the minimum balance fee in any year or for any class of shares when we believe it is appropriate to do so in light of declines in the market value of Fund shares or for other reasons.
For shares held directly with the Funds’ Transfer Agent, this fee will be assessed through the automatic sale of Fund shares in your account. Any otherwise applicable CDSC will not be imposed on such an automatic sale of your shares. The Transfer Agent will send you written notification in advance of assessing any fee, which will provide details on how you can avoid the imposition of such fee. Generally, you may avoid the imposition of such fee by raising your Fund account balance, consolidating your multiple accounts you may have with the Funds, or setting up a Systematic Investment Plan that invests at least monthly. For more information, contact the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary. The Transfer Agent's contact information (toll-free number and mailing addresses) as well as the Funds’ website address can be found at the beginning of the section
.
Choosing a Share Class
For shares purchased and held for your benefit through a financial intermediary, this fee could be assessed through the automatic sale of Fund shares in your account if instructed by the Fund and the transaction can be operationally administered by the intermediary.
Exceptions to the Small Account Policy (Accounts Below Minimum Account Balance) and Minimum Balance Fee
The automatic sale of Fund shares in accounts under $250 and the annual minimum balance fee described above do not apply to shareholders of Class Adv, Class Inst2, Class Inst3 and Class R shares; shareholders holding their shares through financial intermediary networked accounts; wrap fee and omnibus accounts; accounts with active Systematic Investment Plans; certain qualified retirement plans; and health savings accounts. The automatic sale of Fund shares of accounts under the applicable minimum account balance does not apply to individual retirement plans.
Small Account Policy — Financial Intermediary Networked and Wrap Fee Accounts
The Funds may automatically redeem, at any time, financial intermediary networked accounts and wrap fee accounts that have account balances of $20 or less or have less than one share.
For shares purchased and held for your benefit through a financial intermediary, the Funds may instruct the intermediary to automatically sell your Fund shares if the transaction can be operationally administered by the intermediary.
Information Sharing Agreements
As required by Rule 22c-2 under the 1940 Act, the Funds or certain of their service providers will enter into information sharing agreements with financial intermediaries, including participating life insurance companies and financial intermediaries that sponsor or offer retirement plans through which shares of the Funds are made available for purchase. Pursuant to Rule 22c-2, financial intermediaries are required, upon request, to: (i) provide shareholder account and transaction information; and (ii) execute instructions from the Fund to restrict or prohibit further purchases of Fund shares by shareholders who have been identified by the Fund as having engaged in transactions that violate the Fund's excessive trading policies and procedures.
Excessive Trading Practices Policy of Non-Money Market Funds
Right to Reject or Restrict Share Transaction Orders—
The Fund is intended for investors with long-term investment purposes and is not intended as a vehicle for frequent trading activity (market timing) that is excessive. Investors should transact in Fund shares primarily for investment purposes. The Board has adopted excessive trading policies and procedures that are designed to deter excessive trading by investors (the Excessive Trading Policies and Procedures).
The Fund discourages and does not accommodate excessive trading.
The Fund reserves the right to reject, without any prior notice, any purchase or exchange order for any reason, and will not be liable for any loss resulting from rejected orders. For example, the Fund may in its sole discretion restrict or reject a purchase or exchange order even if the transaction is not subject to the specific limitation described below if the Fund or its agents determine that accepting the order could interfere with efficient management of the Fund's
| Prospectus 2021 | 51 |
Columbia Emerging Markets Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
portfolio or is otherwise contrary to the Fund's best interests. The Excessive Trading Policies and Procedures apply equally to purchase or exchange transactions communicated directly to the Transfer Agent and to those received by financial intermediaries.
Specific Buying and Exchanging Limitations
— If a Fund detects that an investor has made two “material round trips” in any 28-day period, it will generally reject the investor's future purchase orders, including exchange purchase orders, involving any Fund.
For these purposes, a “round trip” is a purchase or exchange into the Fund followed by a sale or exchange out of the Fund, or a sale or exchange out of the Fund followed by a purchase or exchange into the Fund. A “material” round trip is one that is deemed by the Fund to be material in terms of its amount or its potential detrimental impact on the Fund. Independent of this limit, the Fund may, in its sole discretion, reject future purchase orders by any person, group or account that appears to have engaged in any type of excessive trading activity.
These limits generally do not apply to automated transactions or transactions by registered investment companies in a “fund-of-funds” structure. These limits do not apply to payroll deduction contributions by retirement plan participants, transactions initiated by a retirement plan sponsor or certain other retirement plan transactions consisting of rollover transactions, loan repayments and disbursements, and required minimum distribution redemptions. They may be modified or rescinded for accounts held by certain retirement plans to conform to plan limits, for considerations relating to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 or regulations of the Department of Labor, and for certain asset allocation or wrap programs. Accounts known to be under common ownership or control generally will be counted together, but accounts maintained or managed by a common intermediary generally will not be considered to be under common ownership or control. The Fund retains the right to modify these restrictions at any time without prior notice to shareholders. In addition, the Fund may, in its sole discretion, reinstate trading privileges that have been revoked under the Fund's Excessive Trading Policies and Procedures.
Limitations on the Ability to Detect and Prevent Excessive Trading Practices—
The Fund takes various steps designed to detect and prevent excessive trading, including daily review of available shareholder transaction information. However, the Fund receives buy, sell or exchange orders through financial intermediaries, and cannot always know of or reasonably detect excessive trading that may be facilitated by financial intermediaries or by the use of the omnibus account arrangements they offer. Omnibus account arrangements are common forms of holding shares of mutual funds, particularly among certain financial intermediaries such as broker-dealers, retirement plans and variable insurance products. These arrangements often permit financial intermediaries to aggregate their clients' transactions and accounts, and in these circumstances, the identities of the financial intermediary clients that beneficially own Fund shares are often not known to the Fund.
Some financial intermediaries apply their own restrictions or policies to their clients’ transactions and accounts, which may be more or less restrictive than those described here. This may impact the Fund's ability to curtail excessive trading, even where it is identified. For these and other reasons, it is possible that excessive trading may occur despite the Fund's efforts to detect and prevent it.
Although these restrictions and policies involve judgments that are inherently subjective and may involve some selectivity in their application, the Fund seeks to act in a manner that it believes is consistent with the best interests of Fund shareholders in making any such judgments.
Risks of Excessive Trading —
Excessive trading creates certain risks to the Fund's long-term shareholders and may create the following adverse effects:
| ■ | negative impact on the Fund's performance; |
| ■ | potential dilution of the value of the Fund's shares; |
| ■ | interference with the efficient management of the Fund's portfolio, such as the need to maintain undesirably large cash positions, the need to use its line of credit or the need to buy or sell securities it otherwise would not have bought or sold; |
| ■ | losses on the sale of investments resulting from the need to sell securities at less favorable prices; |
| 52 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Emerging Markets Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
| ■ | increased taxable gains to the Fund's remaining shareholders resulting from the need to sell securities to meet sell orders; and |
| ■ | increased brokerage and administrative costs. |
To the extent that the Fund invests significantly in foreign securities traded on markets that close before the Fund's valuation time, it may be particularly susceptible to dilution as a result of excessive trading. Because events may occur after the close of foreign markets and before the Fund's valuation time that influence the value of foreign securities, investors may seek to trade Fund shares in an effort to benefit from their understanding of the value of foreign securities as of the Fund's valuation time. This is often referred to as price arbitrage. The Fund has adopted procedures designed to adjust closing market prices of foreign securities under certain circumstances to reflect what the Fund believes to be the fair value of those securities as of its valuation time. To the extent the adjustments do not work fully, investors engaging in price arbitrage may cause dilution in the value of the Fund's shares held by other shareholders.
Similarly, to the extent that the Fund invests significantly in thinly traded securities and other debt instruments that are rated below investment grade (commonly called “high-yield” or “junk” bonds), equity securities of small-capitalization companies, floating rate loans, or tax-exempt or other securities that may trade infrequently, because
these securities are often traded infrequently, investors may seek to trade Fund shares in an effort to benefit from their understanding of the value of these securities as of the Fund's valuation time. This is also a type of price arbitrage. Any such frequent trading strategies may interfere with efficient management of the Fund's portfolio to a greater degree than would be the case for mutual funds that invest only, or significantly, in highly liquid securities, in part because the Fund may have difficulty selling these particular investments at advantageous times or prices to satisfy large and/or frequent sell orders. Any successful price arbitrage may also cause dilution in the value of Fund shares held by non-redeeming shareholders.
Excessive Trading Practices Policy of Columbia Government Money Market Fund
A money market fund is designed to offer investors a liquid cash option that they may buy and sell as often as they wish. Accordingly, the Board has not adopted policies and procedures designed to discourage excessive or short-term trading of Columbia Government Money Market Fund shares. However, since frequent purchases and sales of Columbia Government Money Market Fund shares could in certain instances harm shareholders in various ways, including reducing the returns to long-term shareholders by increasing costs (such as spreads paid to dealers who trade money market instruments with Columbia Government Money Market Fund) and disrupting portfolio management strategies, Columbia Government Money Market Fund reserves the right, but has no obligation, to reject any purchase or exchange transaction at any time. Except as expressly described in this prospectus (such as minimum purchase amounts), Columbia Government Money Market Fund has no limits on purchase or exchange transactions. In addition, Columbia Government Money Market Fund reserves the right to impose or modify restrictions on purchases, exchanges or trading of Fund shares at any time.
Opening an Account and Placing Orders
We encourage you to consult with a financial advisor who can help you with your investment decisions and who can help you open an account. Once you have an account, you can buy, sell or exchange shares by contacting your financial advisor who will send your order to the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary. As described below, once you have an account you can also communicate your orders directly to the Transfer Agent by mail, by telephone or online.
The Funds are generally available directly and through broker-dealers, banks and other financial intermediaries or institutions, and through certain qualified and non-qualified plans, wrap fee products or other investment products sponsored by financial intermediaries. You may buy, sell, or exchange shares through your financial intermediary. If you maintain your account directly with your financial intermediary, you must contact that agent to process your transaction.
| Prospectus 2021 | 53 |
Columbia Emerging Markets Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
Not all financial intermediaries offer the Funds (or all classes of Fund shares) and certain financial intermediaries that offer the Funds may not offer all Funds on all investment platforms or programs.
Please consult with your financial intermediary to determine the availability of the Funds. If you set up an account at a financial intermediary that does not have, and is unable to obtain, a selling agreement with the Distributor, you will not be able to transfer Fund holdings to that account. In that event, you must either maintain your Fund holdings with your current financial intermediary or find another financial intermediary with a selling agreement.
Financial intermediaries that offer the Funds may charge you additional fees for the services they provide and they may have different policies that are not described in this prospectus.
An investor transacting in a class of Fund shares without any front-end sales charge, CDSC, or other asset-based fee for sales or distribution, such as a Rule 12b-1 fee, may be required to pay a commission to the financial intermediary for effecting such transactions. The Funds are offered in a number of different share classes that have different fees and expenses and other features. Some differences in the policies of different financial intermediaries may include different minimum investment amounts, exchange privileges, Fund/class choices and cutoff times for investments. Additionally, recordkeeping, transaction processing and payments of distributions relating to your account may be performed by the financial intermediaries through which your shares of the Fund are held. Since the Fund (and its service providers) may not have a record of your account transactions, you should always contact the financial intermediary through which you purchased or at which you maintain your shares of the Fund to make changes to your account, to give instructions concerning your account, or to obtain information about your account. The Fund and its service providers, including the Distributor and the Transfer Agent, are not responsible for the failure of any financial intermediary to carry out its obligations to its customers.
The Fund may engage financial intermediaries to receive purchase, exchange and sell orders on its behalf. Accounts established directly with the Fund will be serviced by the Transfer Agent. The Funds, the Transfer Agent and the Distributor do not provide investment advice.
Direct-At-Fund Accounts (Accounts Established Directly with the Fund)
You can hold Fund shares through an account established and held through the financial intermediary through which you purchased Fund shares or you or your financial intermediary may establish an account directly with the Fund, in which case you will receive Fund account transaction confirmations and statements from the Transfer Agent, and not your financial intermediary (Direct-at-Fund Accounts).
To open a Direct-at-Fund Account, complete a Fund account application with your financial advisor or investment professional, and mail the account application to the Transfer Agent. Account applications may be obtained at columbiathreadneedleus.com or may be requested by calling 800.345.6611. Make your check payable to the Fund. You will be assessed a $15 fee for any checks rejected by your financial institution due to insufficient funds or other reasons. The Funds do not accept cash, credit card convenience checks, money orders, traveler's checks, starter checks, third or fourth party checks, or other cash equivalents.
Mail your check and completed application to the Transfer Agent at its regular or express mail address that can be found at the beginning of the section
. You may also use these addresses to request an exchange or redemption of Fund shares. When a written order to buy, sell or exchange shares is sent to the Transfer Agent, the share price used to fill the order is the next price calculated by the Fund after the Transfer Agent receives your transaction request in “good form” at its transaction processing center (i.e., the Fund’s express mail address), not the P.O. Box provided for regular mail delivery.
Choosing a Share Class
You will be sent a statement confirming your purchase and any subsequent transactions in your account. You will also be sent quarterly and annual statements detailing your transactions in the Fund and the other Funds you own under the same account. Duplicate quarterly account statements for the current year and duplicate annual statements for the most recent prior calendar year will be sent to you free of charge. Copies of year-end statements for prior years are available for a fee. Please contact the Transfer Agent for more information.
| 54 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Emerging Markets Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
Written Transactions – Direct-at-Fund Accounts
If you have a Direct-at-Fund Account, you can communicate written buy, sell or exchange orders to the Transfer Agent at its address that can be found at the beginning of the section
. When a written order to buy, sell or exchange shares is sent to the Transfer Agent, the share price used to fill the order is the next price calculated by the Fund after the Transfer Agent receives your transaction request in “good form” at its transaction processing center (i.e., the Fund’s express mail address), not the P.O. Box provided for regular mail delivery.
Choosing a Share Class
Include in your transaction request letter: your name; the name of the Fund(s); your account number; the class of shares to be purchased, exchanged or sold; your SSN or other TIN; the dollar amount or number of shares you want to purchase, exchange or sell; specific instructions regarding delivery of any redemption proceeds or exchange destination (i.e., the Fund/class to be exchanged into); signature(s) of all registered account owner(s); and any special documents the Transfer Agent may require in order to process your order.
Corporate, trust or partnership accounts may need to send additional documents. Payment will be mailed to the address of record and made payable to the names listed on the account, unless your request specifies differently and is signed by all owners.
Telephone Transactions – Direct-at-Fund Accounts
For Class A, Class C, Class Inst, Class Inst3, Class R and Class V shares, if you have a Direct-at-Fund Account, you may place orders to buy, sell or exchange shares by telephone through the Transfer Agent. To place orders by telephone, call 800.422.3737. Have your account number and SSN or TIN available when calling.
You can sell Fund shares via telephone and receive redemption proceeds: by electronic funds transfer via ACH, by wire, or by check to the address of record, subject to a maximum of $100,000 of shares per day, per Fund account. You can buy Fund shares via telephone by electronic funds transfer via ACH from your bank account up to a maximum of $100,000 of shares per day, per Fund account, or by wire from your bank account without a maximum. See below for more information regarding wire and electronic fund transfer transactions. Certain restrictions apply, so please call the Transfer Agent at 800.422.3737 for this and other information in advance of any need to transact via telephone.
Telephone orders may not be as secure as written orders. The Fund will take reasonable steps to confirm that telephone instructions are genuine. For example, we require proof of your identification before we will act on instructions received by telephone and may record telephone conversations. However, the Fund and its agents will not be responsible for any losses, costs or expenses resulting from an unauthorized telephone instruction when reasonable steps have been taken to confirm that telephone instructions are genuine. Telephone orders may be difficult to complete during periods of significant economic or market change or business interruption.
Online Transactions – Direct-at-Fund Accounts
For Class A, Class C, Class Inst, Class Inst3, Class R and Class V shares, if you have a Direct-at-Fund Account, you may be able to place orders to buy, sell, or exchange shares online. Contact the Transfer Agent at 800.345.6611 for more information on certain account trading restrictions and the special sign-up procedures required for online transactions. You can also go to columbiathreadneedleus.com/investor/ to sign up for online transactions. The Transfer Agent has procedures in place to authenticate electronic orders you send through the internet. You will be required to accept the terms of an online agreement and to establish an online account and utilize a password in order to access online account services. You can sell a maximum of $100,000 of shares per day, per Fund account through your online account if you qualify for internet orders. Wire transactions are not permitted online.
Wire Transactions – Direct-at-Fund Accounts
If you hold a Direct-at-Fund Account, you may purchase or redeem Class A, Class C, Class Inst, Class Inst3, Class R and Class V shares of a Fund by wiring money from (or to) your bank account to (or from) your Fund account. You must set up this feature prior to your request unless you are submitting your request in writing, which may require a Medallion Signature Guarantee. Please contact the Transfer Agent by calling 800.422.3737 to obtain the necessary forms and requirements. The Transfer Agent charges a fee for shares sold by wire. The Transfer Agent may waive the
| Prospectus 2021 | 55 |
Columbia Emerging Markets Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
fee for certain accounts. In the case of a redemption, the receiving bank may charge an additional fee. The minimum amount that can be redeemed by wire is $500. When selling Fund shares via a telephone request, the maximum amount that can be redeemed via wire transfer is $100,000 per day, per Fund account. Wire transactions are not permitted online.
Electronic Funds Transfer via ACH – Direct-at-Fund Accounts
If you hold a Direct-at-Fund Account, you may purchase or redeem Class A, Class C, Class Inst, Class Inst3, Class R and Class V shares of a Fund by electronically transferring money via Automated Clearing House (ACH) from (or to) your bank account to (or from) your Fund account subject to a maximum of $100,000 of shares per day, per Fund account. You must set up this feature prior to your request, unless you are submitting your request in writing, which may require a Medallion Signature Guarantee. Please contact the Transfer Agent by calling 800.422.3737 to obtain the necessary forms and requirements. Your bank may take up to three business days to post an electronic funds transfer to (or from) your Fund account.
Buying Shares
Eligible Investors
Class A Shares
Class A shares are available to the general public for investment. However, Class A shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund must be purchased through financial intermediaries that, by written agreement with the Distributor, are specifically authorized to sell the Fund’s shares.
Class Adv Shares
Class Adv shares are available only to (i) omnibus retirement plans, including self-directed brokerage accounts within omnibus retirement plans that clear through institutional no transaction fee (NTF) platforms, (ii) trust companies or similar institutions, (iii) broker-dealers, banks, trust companies and similar institutions that clear Fund share transactions for their client or customer investment advisory or similar accounts through designated financial intermediaries and their mutual fund trading platforms that have been granted specific written authorization from the Transfer Agent with respect to Class Adv eligibility apart from selling, servicing or similar agreements, (iv) 501(c)(3) charitable organizations, (v) 529 plans, (vi) health savings accounts, (vii) investors participating in a fee-based advisory program sponsored by a financial intermediary or other entity that is not compensated by the Fund for those services, other than payments for shareholder servicing or sub-accounting performed in place of the Transfer Agent, and (viii) commissionable brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary, acting as broker on behalf of its customer, charges the customer a commission for effecting transactions in Fund shares, provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Adv shares within such platform.
Class Adv shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund must be purchased through financial intermediaries that, by written agreement with the Distributor, are specifically authorized to sell the Fund’s shares. Class Adv shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund are also available to certain registered investment advisers that clear Fund share transactions for their client accounts through designated financial intermediaries with mutual fund trading platforms that have been granted specific written authorization from the Transfer Agent (apart from selling, servicing or similar agreements) to sell Class Inst2 shares, which are not offered by the Fund.
Class C Shares
Class C shares are available to the general public for investment.
Class Inst Shares
Class Inst shares are available only to the categories of eligible investors described below under
.
Class Inst Shares Minimum Initial Investments
Financial intermediaries that clear Fund share transactions through designated financial intermediaries and their mutual fund trading platforms that were given specific written notice from the
| 56 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Emerging Markets Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
Transfer Agent of the termination, effective March 29, 2013, of their eligibility for new purchases of Class Inst shares and omnibus retirement plans are not permitted to establish new Class Inst accounts, subject to certain exceptions described below.
Omnibus retirement plans that opened and, subject to certain exceptions, funded a Class Inst account with the Fund as of the close of business on March 28, 2013 and have continuously held Class Inst shares in such account after such date (each, a grandfathered plan), may generally continue to make additional purchases of Class Inst shares, open new Class Inst accounts and add new participants. In addition, an omnibus retirement plan affiliated with a grandfathered plan may, in the sole discretion of the Distributor, open new Class Inst accounts in a Fund if the affiliated plan opened a Class Inst account on or before March 28, 2013. If an omnibus retirement plan invested in Class Inst shares changes recordkeepers after March 28, 2013, any new accounts established for that plan may not be established in Class Inst shares, but such a plan may establish new accounts in a different share class for which the plan is eligible.
Accounts of financial intermediaries (other than omnibus retirement plans, which are discussed above) that clear Fund share transactions for their client or customer accounts through designated financial intermediaries and their mutual fund trading platforms that received specific written notice from the Transfer Agent of the termination, effective March 29, 2013, of their eligibility for new purchases of Class Inst shares will not be permitted to establish new Class Inst accounts or make additional purchases of Class Inst shares (other than through reinvestment of distributions). Any such account may, at its holder’s option, exchange Class Inst shares of a Fund, without the payment of a sales charge, for Class A shares of the same Fund.
Class Inst shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund must be purchased through financial intermediaries that, by written agreement with the Distributor, are specifically authorized to sell the Fund’s shares.
Class Inst2 Shares
Class Inst2 shares are available only to (i) certain registered investment advisers and family offices that clear Fund share transactions for their client or customer accounts through designated financial intermediaries and their mutual fund trading platforms that have been granted specific written authorization from the Transfer Agent with respect to Class Inst2 eligibility apart from selling, servicing or similar agreements; (ii) omnibus retirement plans; and (iii) institutional investors that are clients of the Columbia Threadneedle Global Institutional Distribution Team that invest in Class Inst2 shares for their own account through platforms approved by the Distributor or an affiliate thereof to offer and/or service Class Inst2 shares within such platform. Prior to November 8, 2012, Class Inst2 shares were closed to new investors and new accounts, subject to certain exceptions. Existing shareholders who do not satisfy the new eligibility requirements for investment in Class Inst2 may not establish new Class Inst2 accounts but may continue to make additional purchases of Class Inst2 shares in accounts opened and funded prior to November 8, 2012; provided, however, that investment advisory programs and similar programs that opened a Class Inst2 account as of May 1, 2010, and continuously hold Class Inst2 shares in such account after such date, may generally not only continue to make additional purchases of Class Inst2 shares but also open new Class Inst2 accounts for such pre-existing programs and add new shareholders in the program.
Class Inst3 Shares
Class Inst3 shares are available to: (i) group retirement plans that maintain plan-level or omnibus accounts with the Fund (through the Transfer Agent); (ii) institutional investors that are clients of the Columbia Threadneedle Global Institutional Distribution Team that invest in Class Inst3 shares for their own account through platforms approved by the Distributor or an affiliate thereof to offer and/or service Class Inst3 shares within such platform; (iii) collective trust funds; (iv) affiliated or unaffiliated mutual funds (e.g., funds operating as funds-of-funds); (v) fee-based platforms of financial intermediaries (or the clearing intermediary that they trade through) that have an agreement with the Distributor or an affiliate thereof that specifically authorizes the financial intermediary to offer and/or service Class Inst3 shares within such platform, provided also that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account; (vi) commissionable brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary, acting as broker on behalf of its customer, charges the customer a commission for effecting transactions in Fund shares, provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst3 shares within such platform and that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account; and (vii) bank trust departments, subject to an
| Prospectus 2021 | 57 |
Columbia Emerging Markets Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst3 shares and provided that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account. In each case above where noted that Fund shares are required to be held in an omnibus account, the Distributor may, in its discretion, determine to waive this requirement.
Class Inst3 shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund must be purchased through financial intermediaries that, by written agreement with the Distributor, are specifically authorized to sell the Fund’s shares. Please note that Class Inst3 shares that were open and funded accounts prior to November 30, 2018 (the conversion date from the former unnamed share class to Class Inst3 shares) are eligible for additional investment; however, any account established after that date must meet the current Class Inst3 eligibility requirements.
Class R Shares
Class R shares are available only to eligible health savings accounts sponsored by third party platforms, including those sponsored by Ameriprise Financial affiliates, eligible retirement plans and, in the sole discretion of the Distributor, other types of retirement accounts held through platforms maintained by financial intermediaries approved by the Distributor. Eligible retirement plans include any retirement plan other than individual 403(b) plans. Class R shares are generally not available for investment through retail nonretirement accounts, traditional and Roth IRAs, Coverdell Education Savings Accounts, SEPs, SAR-SEPs, Simple IRAs or 529 tuition programs. Contact the Transfer Agent or your retirement plan or health savings account administrator for more information about investing in Class R shares.
Class V Shares
Class V shares are available only to investors who received (and who have continuously held) Class V shares (formerly named Class T shares) in connection with the merger of certain Galaxy funds into certain Funds that were then named Liberty funds.
Additional Eligible Investors
In addition, the Distributor, in its sole discretion, may accept investments in any share class from investors other than those listed in this prospectus, and may also waive certain eligibility requirements for operational and other reasons, including but not limited to any requirement to maintain Fund shares in networked or omnibus accounts.
Minimum Initial Investments
The table below shows the Fund’s minimum initial investment requirements, which may vary by class and type of account.
The Fund reserves the right to redeem your shares if your account falls below the Fund’s minimum initial investment requirement.
|
Minimum Initial Investments
|
||
|
Minimum
Initial Investment
(a)
|
Minimum
Initial Investment for Accounts with Systematic Investment Plans |
|
| For all classes and account types except those listed below | $2,000 |
$100
(b)
|
| Individual Retirement Accounts for all classes except those listed below | $1,000 |
$100
(c)
|
| Group retirement plans | None | N/A |
| Class Adv and Class Inst |
$0, $1,000 or $2,000
(d)
|
$100
(d)
|
| Class Inst2 and Class R | None | N/A |
| Class Inst3 |
$0, $1,000, $2,000 or $1 million
(e)
|
$100
(e)
|
| (a) | If your Class A, Class Adv, Class C, Class Inst, Class Inst3 or Class V shares account balance falls below the minimum initial investment amount for any reason, including a market decline, you may be asked to increase it to the minimum initial investment amount or establish a monthly Systematic Investment Plan. If you do not do so, your account will be subject to a $20 annual low balance fee and/or shares may be |
| 58 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Emerging Markets Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
|
automatically redeemed and the proceeds mailed to you if the account falls below the minimum account balance. See
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares — Transaction Rules and Policies
|
| (b) |
Columbia Government Money Market Fund
—
|
| (c) |
Columbia Government Money Market Fund
—
|
| (d) |
The minimum initial investment in Class Adv shares is $2,000 ($1,000 for IRAs; $100 for systematic investment plan accounts) for commissionable brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary, acting as broker on behalf of its customers, charges the customer a commission for effecting transactions in Fund shares, provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Adv shares within such platform; for all other eligible Class Adv share investors (see
Buying Shares – Eligible Investors – Class Adv Shares
Class Inst Shares Minimum Initial Investments
|
| (e) | There is no minimum initial investment in Class Inst3 shares for: group retirement plans that maintain plan-level or omnibus accounts with the Fund; collective trust funds; affiliated or unaffiliated mutual funds (e.g., funds operating as funds-of-funds); fee-based platforms of financial intermediaries (or the clearing intermediary that they trade through) that have an agreement with the Distributor or an affiliate thereof that specifically authorizes the financial intermediary to offer and/or service Class Inst3 shares within such platform and Fund shares are held in an omnibus account; and bank trust departments, subject to an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst3 shares and provided that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account. The minimum initial investment in Class Inst3 shares is $2,000 ($1,000 for IRAs; $100 for systematic investment plan accounts) for commissionable brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary, acting as broker on behalf of its customer, charges the customer a commission for effecting transactions in Fund shares, provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst3 shares within such platform and Fund shares are held in an omnibus account. The minimum initial investment in Class Inst3 shares is $1 million, unless waived in the discretion of the Distributor, for the following investors: institutional investors that are clients of the Columbia Threadneedle Global Institutional Distribution Team that invest in Class Inst3 shares for their own account through platforms approved by the Distributor or an affiliate thereof to offer and/or service Class Inst3 shares within such platform. The Distributor may, in its discretion, waive the $1 million minimum initial investment required for these Class Inst3 investors. In each case above where noted that Fund shares are required to be held in an omnibus account, the Distributor may, in its discretion, determine to waive this requirement. |
Additional Information about Minimum Initial Investments
The minimum initial investment requirements may be waived for accounts that are managed by an investment professional, or for accounts held in approved discretionary or non-discretionary wrap programs. The Distributor, in its sole discretion, may also waive minimum initial investment requirements for other account types.
Minimum investment and related requirements may be modified at any time, with or without prior notice. If your account is closed and then re-opened with a systematic investment plan, your account must meet the then-current applicable minimum initial investment.
Class Inst Shares Minimum Initial Investments
There is no minimum initial investment in Class Inst shares for the following categories of eligible investors:
| ■ | Any health savings account sponsored by a third party platform. |
| ■ | Any investor participating in an account sponsored by a financial intermediary or other entity (that provides services to the account) that is paid a fee-based advisory fee by the investor and that is not compensated by the Fund for those services, other than payments for shareholder servicing or sub-accounting performed in place of the Transfer Agent. |
| ■ | Any commissionable brokerage account, if a financial intermediary has received a written approval from the Distributor to waive the minimum initial investment in Class Inst shares. |
The minimum initial investment in Class Inst shares for the following categories of eligible investors is $1,000:
| ■ | Individual retirement accounts (IRAs) on commissionable brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary, acting as broker on behalf of its customer, charges the customer a commission for effecting transactions in Fund shares, provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst shares within such platform. |
| ■ | Any current employee of Columbia Management Investment Advisers LLC, the Distributor or the Transfer Agent and immediate family members of any of the foregoing who share the same address are eligible to invest in Class Inst shares through an individual retirement account (IRA). If you maintain your account with a financial intermediary, you must contact that financial intermediary each time you seek to purchase shares to notify them that you qualify |
| Prospectus 2021 | 59 |
Columbia Emerging Markets Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
| for Class Inst shares. If Class Inst shares are not available at your financial intermediary, you may consider opening a Direct-at-Fund Account. It is your obligation to advise your financial intermediary or (in the case of Direct-at-Fund Accounts) the Transfer Agent that you qualify for Class Inst shares; be prepared to provide proof thereof. |
The minimum initial investment in Class Inst shares for the following categories of eligible investors is $2,000:
| ■ | Investors (except investors in individual retirement accounts (IRAs)) who purchase Fund shares through commissionable brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary holds the shares in an omnibus account and, acting as broker on behalf of its customer, charges the customer a commission for effecting transactions in Fund shares provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst shares within such platform. |
| ■ | Any current employee of Columbia Management Investment Advisers LLC, the Distributor or the Transfer Agent and immediate family members of any of the foregoing who share the same address are eligible to invest in Class Inst shares (other than individual retirement accounts (IRAs), for which the minimum initial investment is $1,000). If you maintain your account with a financial intermediary, you must contact that financial intermediary each time you seek to purchase shares to notify them that you qualify for Class Inst shares. If Class Inst shares are not available at your financial intermediary, you may consider opening a Direct-at-Fund Account. It is your obligation to advise your financial intermediary or (in the case of Direct-at-Fund Accounts) the Transfer Agent that you qualify for Class Inst shares; be prepared to provide proof thereof. |
| ■ | Certain financial institutions and intermediaries, such as insurance companies, trust companies, banks, endowments, investment companies or foundations, buying shares for their own account, including Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates and/or subsidiaries. |
| ■ | Bank trust departments that assess their clients an asset-based fee. |
| ■ | Certain other investors as set forth in more detail in the SAI. |
Systematic Investment Plan
The Systematic Investment Plan allows you to schedule regular purchases via automatic transfers from your bank account to the Fund on a monthly, quarterly or semiannual basis. Contact the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary to set up the plan. Systematic Investment Plans may not be available for all share classes. With the exception of Columbia Government Money Market Fund, the Systematic Investment Plan is confirmed on your quarterly account statement.
Dividend Diversification
Generally, you may automatically invest Fund distributions into the same class of shares (and in some cases certain other classes of shares) of another Fund without paying any applicable front-end sales charge. Call the Transfer Agent at 800.345.6611 for details. The ability to invest distributions from one Fund to another Fund may not be available to accounts held at all financial intermediaries.
Other Purchase Rules You Should Know
| ■ | Once the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary receives your purchase order in “good form,” your purchase will be made at the Fund’s next calculated public offering price per share, which is the NAV per share plus any sales charge that applies (i.e., the trade date). |
| ■ | Once the Fund receives your purchase request in “good form,” you cannot cancel it after the market closes. |
| ■ | You generally buy Class A and Class V shares at the public offering price per share because purchases of these share classes are generally subject to a front-end sales charge. |
| ■ | You buy Class Adv, Class C, Class Inst, Class Inst2, Class Inst3 and Class R shares at NAV per share because no front-end sales charge applies to purchases of these share classes. |
| ■ | Class A shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund are not eligible for purchase by a Direct-at-Fund Account. |
| 60 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Emerging Markets Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
| ■ | Class Inst shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund are not eligible for purchase by a Direct-at-Fund Account except for any current employee of Columbia Management Investment Advisers LLC, the Distributor or Transfer Agent and immediate family members of the foregoing who share the same address. |
| ■ | The Distributor and the Transfer Agent reserve the right to cancel your order request if the Fund does not receive payment within two business days of receiving your purchase order request. The Fund will return any payment received for orders that have been cancelled, but no interest will be paid on that money. |
| ■ | Financial intermediaries are responsible for sending your purchase orders to the Transfer Agent and ensuring that the Fund receives your money on time. |
| ■ | Shares purchased are recorded on the books of the Fund. The Fund does not issue certificates. |
Please also read
and contact your financial intermediary for more information regarding any reductions and/or waivers described therein.
Appendix A
Selling Shares
When you sell shares, the amount you receive may be more or less than the amount you invested. Your sale price will be the next NAV calculated after your request is received in “good form,” (i.e., the trade date) minus any applicable CDSC.
Systematic Withdrawal Plan
The Systematic Withdrawal Plan allows you to schedule regular redemptions from your account any business day on a monthly, quarterly or semiannual basis. Currently, Systematic Withdrawal Plans are generally available for Class A, Class Adv, Class C, Class Inst, Class Inst2, Class Inst3, and Class V share accounts. Contact the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary to set up the plan. To set up the plan, your account balance must meet the class minimum initial investment amount. A Systematic Withdrawal Plan cannot be set up on an account that already has a Systematic Investment Plan established. Note that a Medallion Signature Guarantee may be required if this service is established after your Fund account is opened.
You can choose to receive your withdrawals via check or direct deposit into your bank account. The Fund will deduct any applicable CDSC from the withdrawals before sending redemption proceeds to you. You can cancel the plan by giving the Fund 30 days’ notice in writing or by calling the Transfer Agent at 800.422.3737. It’s important to remember that if you withdraw more than your investment in the Fund is earning, you'll eventually withdraw your entire investment.
Check Redemption Service (for Columbia Government Money Market Fund)
Class A and Class Inst shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund (which is not offered in this prospectus) offer check writing privileges. If you have $2,000 in Columbia Government Money Market Fund, you may request checks which may be drawn against your account. The amount of any check drawn against your Columbia Government Money Market Fund must be at least $100 and not more than $100,000 per day. You can elect this service when you initially establish your account or thereafter. Call 800.345.6611 for the appropriate forms to establish this service. If you own Class A shares that were originally purchased in another Fund at NAV because of the size of the purchase, and then exchanged into Columbia Government Money Market Fund, check redemptions may be subject to a CDSC. A $15 charge will be assessed for any stop payment order requested by you or any overdraft in connection with checks written against your Columbia Government Money Market Fund account. Note that a Medallion Signature Guarantee may be required if this service is established after your Fund account is opened.
Satisfying Fund Redemption Requests
When you sell your Fund shares, the Fund is effectively buying them back from you. This is called a redemption. Except as noted below with respect to newly purchased shares, the Fund typically expects to send you payment for your shares within two business days after your trade date for all methods of payment. The Fund can suspend redemptions and/or delay payment of redemption proceeds for up to seven days. The Fund can also suspend
| Prospectus 2021 | 61 |
Columbia Emerging Markets Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
redemptions and/or delay payment of redemption proceeds in excess of seven days under certain circumstances, including when the NYSE is closed or trading thereon is restricted or during emergency or other circumstances, including as determined by the SEC.
The Fund typically seeks to satisfy redemption requests from cash or cash equivalents held by the Fund, from the proceeds of orders to purchase Fund shares or from the proceeds of sales of Fund holdings effected in the normal course of managing the Fund. However, the Fund may have to sell Fund holdings, including in down markets, to meet heavier than usual redemption requests. For example, under stressed or abnormal market conditions or circumstances, including circumstances adversely affecting the liquidity of the Fund’s investments, the Fund may be more likely to be forced to sell Fund holdings to meet redemptions than under normal market circumstances. In these situations, the Fund’s portfolio managers may have to sell Fund holdings that would not otherwise be sold because, among other reasons, the current price to be received is less than the value of the holdings perceived by the Fund’s portfolio managers. The Fund may also, under certain circumstances (but more likely under stressed or abnormal market conditions or circumstances), borrow money under a credit facility to which the Fund and certain other Columbia Funds are parties or from other Columbia Funds under an interfund lending program (except for closed-end funds and money market funds, which are not eligible to borrow under the program). The Fund and the other Columbia Funds are limited as to the amount that each may individually and collectively borrow under the credit facility and the interfund lending program. As a result, borrowings available to the Fund under the credit facility and the interfund lending program might be insufficient, alone or in combination with the other strategies described herein, to satisfy Fund redemption requests. Please see
in the SAI for more information about the credit facility and interfund lending program. The Fund is also limited in the total amount it may borrow. The Fund may only borrow to the extent permitted by the 1940 Act, the rules and regulations thereunder, and any exemptive relief available to the Fund, which currently limit Fund borrowings to 33 1/3% of total assets (including any amounts borrowed) less liabilities (other than borrowings), plus an additional 5% of its total assets for temporary purposes (to be repaid within 60 days without extension or renewal), in each case determined at the time the borrowing is made.
About Fund Investments – Borrowings – Interfund Lending
In addition, the Fund reserves the right to honor redemption orders in whole or in part with in-kind distributions of Fund portfolio securities instead of cash. Such in-kind distributions typically represent a pro-rata portion of Fund portfolio assets subject to adjustments (e.g., for non-transferable securities, round lots, and derivatives). In the event the Fund distributes portfolio securities in kind, you may incur brokerage and other transaction costs associated with converting the portfolio securities you receive into cash. Also, the portfolio securities you receive may increase or decrease in value after they are distributed but before you convert them into cash. For U.S. federal income tax purposes, redemptions paid in securities are generally treated the same as redemptions paid in cash. If, during any 90-day period, you redeem shares in an amount greater than $250,000 or 1% of the Fund’s net assets (whichever is less), and if the Investment Manager determines it to be feasible and appropriate, the Fund may pay the redemption amount above such threshold by an in-kind distribution of Fund portfolio securities.
While the Fund is not required (and may refuse in its discretion) to pay a redemption with an in-kind distribution of Fund portfolio securities and reserves the right to pay the redemption proceeds in cash, if you wish to request an in-kind redemption, please call the Transfer Agent at 800.345.6611. As a result of the operational steps needed to coordinate with the redeeming shareholder’s custodian, in-kind redemptions typically take several weeks to complete after a redemption request is received. The Fund and the redeeming shareholder will typically agree upon a redemption date. Since the Fund’s NAV may fluctuate during this time, the Fund’s NAV may be lower on the agreed-upon redemption date than on an earlier date on which the investment could have been redeemed for cash.
Redemption of Newly Purchased Shares
You may not redeem shares for which the Fund has not yet received payment. Shares purchased by check or electronically by ACH when the purchase payment is not guaranteed will be considered in “good form” for redemption only after they have been held in your account for 6 calendar days after the trade date of the purchase (Collected Shares). If you request a redemption for an amount that, based on the NAV next calculated after your redemption request is received, includes any shares that are not yet Collected Shares, the Fund will only process the redemption
| 62 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Emerging Markets Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
up to the amount of the value of Collected Shares available in your account. You must submit a new redemption request if you wish to redeem those shares that were not yet Collected Shares at the time the original redemption request was received by the Fund.
Other Redemption Rules You Should Know
| ■ | Once the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary receives your redemption order in “good form,” your shares will be sold at the Fund’s next calculated NAV per share (i.e., the trade date). Any applicable CDSC will be deducted from the amount you're selling and the balance will be remitted to you. |
| ■ | Once the Fund receives your redemption request in “good form,” you cannot cancel it after the market closes. |
| ■ | If you sell your shares that are held in a Direct-at-Fund Account, we will normally send the redemption proceeds by mail or electronically transfer them to your bank account the next business day after the trade date. Note that your bank may take up to three business days to post an electronic funds transfer from your account. |
| ■ | If you sell your shares through a financial intermediary, the Funds will normally send the redemption proceeds to your financial intermediary within two business days after the trade date. |
| ■ | No interest will be paid on uncashed redemption checks. |
| ■ | Other restrictions may apply to retirement accounts. For information about these restrictions, contact your retirement plan administrator. |
| ■ | For broker-dealer and wrap fee accounts: The Fund reserves the right to redeem your shares if your account falls below the Fund's minimum initial investment requirement. The Fund will notify your broker-dealer prior to redeeming shares, and will provide details on how to avoid such redemption. |
| ■ |
Also keep in mind the Funds' Small Account Policy, which is described above in
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares — Transaction Rules and Policies.
|
Exchanging Shares
You can generally sell shares of your Fund to buy shares of another Fund (subject to eligibility requirements), in what is called an exchange. You should read the prospectus of, and make sure you understand the investment objective, principal investment strategies, risks, fees and expenses of, the Fund into which you are exchanging. Although the Funds allow certain exchanges from one share class to another share class with higher expenses, you should consider the expenses of each class before making such an exchange. Please see
below for more information.
Same-Fund Exchange Privilege
You will be subject to a sales charge if, in a Direct-at-Fund Account, you exchange shares that have not previously paid a sales charge, including from Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund, Columbia Small Cap Index Fund, Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund or any other Columbia Fund that does not charge a front-end sales charge, into a Columbia Fund that does assess a sales charge.
Please contact your financial intermediary for more information.
If you hold your Fund shares through certain financial intermediaries, you may have limited exchangeability among the Funds.
Systematic Exchanges
You may buy Class A, Class C, Class Inst, Class Inst3 and Class V shares of a Fund by exchanging each month from another Fund for shares of the same class of the Fund at no additional cost, subject to the following exchange amount minimums: $50 each month for individual retirement accounts (i.e., tax qualified accounts); and $100 each month for non-retirement accounts. Contact the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary to set up the plan.
Exchanges will continue as long as your balance in the Fund you are exchanging shares from is sufficient to complete the systematic monthly exchange, subject to the Funds' Small Account Policy described above in
You may terminate the program or change the amount you would like to exchange (subject to the $50 and $100 minimum requirements noted immediately above) by calling the Transfer Agent at 800.345.6611.
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares — Transaction Rules and Policies.
| Prospectus 2021 | 63 |
Columbia Emerging Markets Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
Other Exchange Rules You Should Know
| ■ | Exchanges are made at the NAV next calculated (plus any applicable sales charge) after your exchange order is received in “good form” (i.e., the trade date). |
| ■ | Once the Fund receives your exchange request in “good form,” you cannot cancel it after the market closes. |
| ■ | The rules for buying shares of a Fund generally apply to exchanges into that Fund, including, if your exchange creates a new Fund account, it must satisfy the minimum investment amount, unless a waiver applies. |
| ■ | Shares of the purchased Fund may not be used on the same day for another exchange or sale. |
| ■ | If you exchange shares from Class A shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund to a non-money market Fund, any further exchanges must be between shares of the same class. For example, if you exchange from Class A shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund into Class C shares of a non-money market Fund, you may not exchange from Class C shares of that non-money market Fund back to Class A shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund or Class A shares of any other Fund. |
| ■ | A sales charge may apply when you exchange shares of a Fund that were not assessed a sales charge at the time you purchased such shares. If you invest through a Direct-at-Fund Account in Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund, Columbia Small Cap Index Fund, Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund, Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund or any other Columbia Fund that does not impose a front-end sales charge and then you exchange into a Fund that does assess a sales charge, your transaction is subject to a front-end sales charge if you exchange into Class A shares and to a CDSC if you exchange into Class C shares of the Columbia Funds. |
| ■ | If you purchased Class A shares of a Columbia Fund that imposes a front-end sales charge (and you paid any applicable sales charge) and you then exchange those shares into Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund, Columbia Small Cap Index Fund, Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund, Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund or any other Columbia Fund that does not impose a front-end sales charge, you may exchange that amount to Class A of another Fund in the future, including dividends earned on that amount, without paying a sales charge. |
| ■ | If your shares are subject to a CDSC, you will not be charged a CDSC upon the exchange of those shares. Any CDSC will be deducted when you sell the shares you received from the exchange. The CDSC imposed at that time will be based on the period that begins when you bought shares of the original Fund and ends when you sell the shares of the Fund you received from the exchange. Any applicable CDSC charged will be the CDSC of the original Fund. |
| ■ | You may make exchanges only into a Fund that is legally offered and sold in your state of residence. Contact the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary for more information. |
| ■ | You generally may make an exchange only into a Fund that is accepting investments. |
| ■ | The Fund may change or cancel your right to make an exchange by giving the amount of notice required by regulatory authorities (generally 60 days for a material change or cancellation). |
| ■ | Unless your account is part of a tax-advantaged arrangement, an exchange for shares of another Fund is a taxable event, and you may recognize a gain or loss for tax purposes. |
| ■ | Changing your investment to a different Fund will be treated as a sale and purchase, and you will be subject to applicable taxes on the sale and sales charges on the purchase of the new Fund. |
| ■ |
Class Inst shares of a Fund may be exchanged for Class A or Class Inst shares of another Fund. In certain circumstances, the front-end sales charge applicable to Class A shares may be waived on exchanges of Class Inst shares for Class A shares. See
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares — Buying Shares — Eligible Investors — Class Inst Shares
|
| ■ | Class A shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund are not eligible for exchange by a Direct-at-Fund Account. |
| 64 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Emerging Markets Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
| ■ | Class Inst shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund are not eligible for exchange by a Direct-at-Fund Account except for any current employee of the Investment Manager, the Distributor or the Transfer Agent and immediate family members of any of the foregoing who share the same address. |
| ■ | You may generally exchange Class V shares of a Fund for Class A shares of another Fund if the other Fund does not offer Class V shares. Class V shares exchanged into Class A shares cannot be exchanged back into Class V shares. |
Same-Fund Exchange Privilege
Shareholders may be eligible to invest in other classes of shares of the same Fund, and may exchange their current shares for another share class if deemed eligible and offered by the Fund. Such same-Fund exchanges could include an exchange of one class for another with higher expenses. Before making such an exchange, you should consider the expenses of each class. Shareholders should contact their financial intermediaries to learn more about the details of the same-Fund exchange privilege. Exchanges out of Class A, Class C and Class V shares will be subject to any applicable CDSC. Financial intermediaries that have a customized arrangement with regard to CDSCs are detailed in
.
Appendix A
Exchanges out of Class C shares to another share class of the same Fund are not permissible on Direct-at-Fund Accounts. Exchanges out of Class C shares to another share class of the same Fund within commissionable brokerage accounts are permitted only (1) by shareholders moving from a commissionable brokerage account to a fee-based advisory program or (2) when the exchange is part of a share class conversion (or a similar multiple shareholder transaction event) instituted by a financial intermediary and such conversion or similar type event is preapproved by the Distributor.
Ordinarily, shareholders will not recognize a gain or loss for U.S. federal income tax purposes upon a same-Fund exchange. You should consult your tax advisor about your particular exchanges.
| Prospectus 2021 | 65 |
Columbia Emerging Markets Fund
Distributions and Taxes
Distributions to Shareholders
A mutual fund can make money two ways:
| ■ | It can earn income on its investments. Examples of fund income are interest paid on money market instruments and bonds, and dividends paid on common stocks. |
| ■ | A mutual fund can also have capital gains if the value of its investments increases. While a fund continues to hold an investment, any gain is generally unrealized. If the fund sells an investment, it generally will realize a capital gain if it sells that investment for a higher price than its adjusted cost basis, and will generally realize a capital loss if it sells that investment for a lower price than its adjusted cost basis. Capital gains and losses are either short-term or long-term, depending on whether the fund holds the securities for one year or less (short-term) or more than one year (long-term). |
Mutual funds make payments of fund earnings to shareholders, distributing them among all shareholders of the fund. As a shareholder, you are entitled to your portion of a fund's distributed income, including capital gains. Reinvesting your distributions buys you more shares of a fund
which lets you take advantage of the potential for compound growth. Putting the money you earn back into your investment means it, in turn, may earn even more money (or be exposed to additional losses, if the fund earns a negative return). Over time, the power of compounding has the potential to significantly increase the value of your investment. There is no assurance, however, that you'll earn more money if you reinvest your distributions rather than receive them in cash.
—
The Fund intends to pay out, in the form of distributions to shareholders, a sufficient amount of its income and gains so that the Fund will qualify for treatment as a regulated investment company and generally will not have to pay any federal excise tax. The Fund generally intends to distribute any net realized capital gain (whether long-term or short-term gain) at least once a year. Normally, the Fund will declare and pay distributions of net investment income according to the following schedule:
|
Declaration and Distribution Schedule
|
|
| Declarations | Annually |
| Distributions | Annually |
The Fund may declare or pay distributions of net investment income more frequently.
Different share classes of the Fund usually pay different net investment income distribution amounts, because each class has different expenses. Each time a distribution is made, the NAV per share of the share class is reduced by the amount of the distribution.
The Fund generally pays cash distributions within five business days after the distribution was declared (or, if the Fund declares distributions daily, within five business days after the end of the month in which the distribution was declared). If you sell all of your shares after the record date, but before the payment date, for a distribution, you'll normally receive that distribution in cash within five business days after the sale was made.
The Fund will automatically reinvest distributions in additional shares of the same share class of the Fund unless you inform us you want to receive your distributions in cash (the financial intermediary through which you purchased shares may have different policies). You can do this by contacting the Funds at the addresses and telephone numbers listed at the beginning of the section entitled
. No sales charges apply to the purchase or sale of such shares.
Choosing a Share Class
For accounts held directly with the Fund (through the Transfer Agent), distributions of $10 or less will automatically be reinvested in additional Fund shares only. If you elect to receive distributions by check and the check is returned as undeliverable, all subsequent distributions will be reinvested in additional shares of the Fund.
Unless you are a tax-exempt investor or holding Fund shares through a tax-advantaged account (such as a 401(k) plan or IRA), you should consider avoiding buying Fund shares shortly before the Fund makes a distribution (other than distributions of net investment income that are declared daily) of net investment income or net realized capital gain, because doing so can cost you money in taxes to the extent the distribution consists of taxable income or gains. This is because you will, in effect, receive part of your purchase price back in the distribution. This is known as
| 66 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Emerging Markets Fund
Distributions and Taxes
(continued)
“buying a dividend.” To avoid “buying a dividend,” before you invest check the Fund's distribution schedule, which is available at the Funds' website and/or by calling the Funds' telephone number listed at the beginning of the section entitled
.
Choosing a Share Class
Taxes
You should be aware of the following considerations applicable to the Fund:
| ■ | The Fund intends to qualify and to be eligible for treatment each year as a regulated investment company. A regulated investment company generally is not subject to tax at the fund level on income and gains from investments that are distributed to shareholders. However, the Fund's failure to qualify for treatment as a regulated investment company would result in Fund-level taxation, and consequently, a reduction in income available for distribution to you and in the NAV of your shares. Even if the Fund qualifies for treatment as a regulated investment company, the Fund may be subject to federal excise tax on certain undistributed income or gains. |
| ■ | Otherwise taxable distributions generally are taxable to you when paid, whether they are paid in cash or automatically reinvested in additional Fund shares. Dividends paid in January are deemed paid on December 31 of the prior year if the dividend was declared and payable to shareholders of record in October, November, or December of such prior year. |
| ■ | Distributions of the Fund's ordinary income and net short-term capital gain, if any, generally are taxable to you as ordinary income. Distributions of the Fund's net long-term capital gain, if any, generally are taxable to you as long-term capital gain. Whether capital gains are long-term or short-term is determined by how long the Fund has owned the investments that generated them, rather than how long you have owned your shares. |
| ■ | From time to time, a distribution from the Fund could constitute a return of capital. A return of capital is a return of an amount of your original investment and is not a distribution of income or capital gain from the Fund. Therefore, a return of capital is not taxable to you so long as the amount of the distribution does not exceed your tax basis in your Fund shares. A return of capital reduces your tax basis in your Fund shares, with any amounts exceeding such basis generally taxable as capital gain. |
| ■ | If you are an individual and you meet certain holding period and other requirements for your Fund shares, a portion of your distributions may be treated as “qualified dividend income” taxable at the lower net long-term capital gain rates instead of the higher ordinary income rates. Qualified dividend income is income attributable to the Fund's dividends received from certain U.S. and foreign corporations, as long as the Fund meets certain holding period and other requirements for the stock producing such dividends. |
| ■ | Certain high-income individuals (as well as estates and trusts) are subject to a 3.8% tax on net investment income. For individuals, the 3.8% tax applies to the lesser of (1) the amount (if any) by which the taxpayer's modified adjusted gross income exceeds certain threshold amounts or (2) the taxpayer's “net investment income.” |
| Net investment income generally includes for this purpose dividends, including any capital gain dividends, paid by the Fund, and net gains recognized on the sale, redemption or exchange of shares of the Fund. |
| ■ | Certain derivative instruments when held in the Fund's portfolio subject the Fund to special tax rules, the effect of which may be to, among other things, accelerate income to the Fund, defer Fund losses, cause adjustments in the holding periods of Fund portfolio securities, or convert capital gains into ordinary income, short-term capital losses into long-term capital losses or long-term capital gains into short-term capital gains. These rules could therefore affect the amount, timing and/or character of distributions to shareholders. |
| ■ | Generally, a Fund realizes a capital gain or loss on an option when the option expires, or when it is exercised, sold or otherwise terminated. However, if an option is a “section 1256 contract,” which includes most traded options on a broad-based index, and the Fund holds such option at the end of its taxable year, the Fund is deemed to sell such option at fair market value at such time and recognize any gain or loss thereon, which is generally deemed to be 60% long-term and 40% short-term capital gain or loss, as described further in the SAI. |
| ■ | Income and proceeds received by the Fund from sources within foreign countries may be subject to foreign taxes. If at the end of the taxable year more than 50% of the value of the Fund's assets consists of securities of foreign |
| Prospectus 2021 | 67 |
Columbia Emerging Markets Fund
Distributions and Taxes
(continued)
| corporations, and the Fund makes a special election, you will generally be required to include in your income for U.S. federal income tax purposes your share of the qualifying foreign income taxes paid by the Fund in respect of its foreign portfolio securities. You may be able to claim a foreign tax credit or deduction in respect of this amount, subject to certain limitations. There is no assurance that the Fund will make this election for a taxable year, even if it is eligible to do so. |
| ■ | A sale, redemption or exchange of Fund shares is a taxable event. This includes redemptions where you are paid in securities. Your sales, redemptions and exchanges of Fund shares (including those paid in securities) usually will result in a taxable capital gain or loss to you, equal to the difference between the amount you receive for your shares (or are deemed to have received in the case of exchanges) and your adjusted tax basis in the shares, which is generally the amount you paid (or are deemed to have paid in the case of exchanges) for them. Any such capital gain or loss generally will be long-term capital gain or loss if you have held your Fund shares for more than one year at the time of sale or exchange. In certain circumstances, capital losses may be converted from short-term to long-term; in other circumstances, capital losses may be disallowed under the “wash sale” rules. |
| ■ | For sales, redemptions and exchanges of shares that were acquired in a non-qualified account after 2011, the Fund generally is required to report to shareholders and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) cost basis information with respect to those shares. The Fund uses average cost basis as its default method of calculating cost basis. For more information regarding average cost basis reporting, other available cost basis methods, and selecting or changing to a different cost basis method, please see the SAI, columbiathreadneedleus.com, or contact the Fund at 800.345.6611. If you hold Fund shares through a financial intermediary (e.g., a brokerage firm), you should contact your financial intermediary to learn about its cost basis reporting default method and the reporting elections available to your account. |
| ■ | The Fund is required by federal law to withhold tax on any taxable or tax-exempt distributions and redemption proceeds paid to you (including amounts paid to you in securities and amounts deemed to be paid to you upon an exchange of shares) if: you have not provided a correct TIN or have not certified to the Fund that withholding does not apply, the IRS has notified us that the TIN listed on your account is incorrect according to its records, or the IRS informs the Fund that you are otherwise subject to backup withholding. |
FUNDamentals
Taxes
The information provided above is only a summary of how U.S. federal income taxes may affect your investment in the Fund. It is not intended as a substitute for careful tax planning. Your investment in the Fund may have other tax implications. It does not apply to certain types of investors who may be subject to special rules, including foreign or tax-exempt investors or those holding Fund shares through a tax-advantaged account, such as a 401(k) plan or IRA. Please see the SAI for more detailed tax information. You should consult with your own tax advisor about the particular tax consequences to you of an investment in the Fund, including the effect of any foreign, state and local taxes, and the effect of possible changes in applicable tax laws.
| 68 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Emerging Markets Fund
Financial Highlights
The financial highlights table is intended to help you understand the Fund’s financial performance for the past five fiscal years or, if shorter, the Fund’s period of operations. Certain information reflects financial results for a single Fund share. Per share net investment income (loss) amounts are calculated based on average shares outstanding during the period. The total return in the table represents the rate that an investor would have earned (or lost) on an investment in the Fund assuming all dividends and distributions had been reinvested. Total return does not reflect payment of sales charges, if any. Total return and portfolio turnover are not annualized for periods of less than one year. The portfolio turnover rate is calculated without regard to purchase and sales transactions of short-term instruments and certain derivatives, if any. If such transactions were included, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate may be higher. This information has been audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm, whose report, along with the Fund’s financial statements, is included in the Fund’s annual report, which is available upon request.
| Prospectus 2021 | 69 |
Columbia Emerging Markets Fund
Financial Highlights
(continued)
|
Net asset value,
beginning of period |
Net
investment income (loss) |
Net
realized and unrealized gain (loss) |
Total from
investment operations |
Distributions
from net investment income |
Total
distributions to shareholders |
|
|
Class A
|
||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $12.15 | (0.04) | 3.51 | 3.47 | (0.02) | (0.02) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $12.15 | 0.01 | (0.01) |
0.00
(e)
|
— | — |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $12.62 | 0.02 | (0.47) | (0.45) | (0.02) | (0.02) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $9.99 | 0.01 | 2.62 | 2.63 | — | — |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $8.79 | (0.01) | 1.21 | 1.20 | — | — |
|
Advisor Class
|
||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $12.39 | (0.01) | 3.59 | 3.58 | (0.05) | (0.05) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $12.38 | 0.04 | (0.02) | 0.02 | (0.01) | (0.01) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $12.84 | 0.02 | (0.43) | (0.41) | (0.05) | (0.05) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $10.14 | 0.07 | 2.63 | 2.70 | — | — |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $8.90 | 0.01 | 1.23 | 1.24 | — | — |
|
Class C
|
||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $11.36 | (0.13) | 3.27 | 3.14 | — | — |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $11.45 | (0.08) | (0.01) | (0.09) | — | — |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $11.96 | (0.08) | (0.43) | (0.51) | — | — |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $9.54 | (0.06) | 2.48 | 2.42 | — | — |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $8.45 | (0.08) | 1.17 | 1.09 | — | — |
|
Institutional Class
|
||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $12.30 | (0.01) | 3.56 | 3.55 | (0.05) | (0.05) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $12.29 | 0.05 | (0.03) | 0.02 | (0.01) | (0.01) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $12.76 | 0.05 | (0.47) | (0.42) | (0.05) | (0.05) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $10.07 | 0.04 | 2.65 | 2.69 | — | — |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $8.84 | 0.01 | 1.22 | 1.23 | — | — |
|
Institutional 2 Class
|
||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $12.38 | 0.01 | 3.60 | 3.61 | (0.07) | (0.07) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $12.37 | 0.07 | (0.03) | 0.04 | (0.03) | (0.03) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $12.84 | 0.08 | (0.49) | (0.41) | (0.06) | (0.06) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $10.12 | 0.06 | 2.66 | 2.72 | — | — |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $8.87 | 0.05 | 1.20 | 1.25 | — | — |
| 70 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Emerging Markets Fund
Financial Highlights
(continued)
|
Net
asset value, end of period |
Total
return |
Total gross
expense ratio to average net assets
(a)
|
Total net
expense ratio to average net assets
(a), (b)
|
Net investment
income (loss) ratio to average net assets |
Portfolio
turnover |
Net
assets, end of period (000's) |
|
|
Class A
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $15.60 | 28.56% |
1.55%
(c)
|
1.54%
(c), (d)
|
(0.29%) | 29% | $280,741 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $12.15 | 0.00% |
1.58%
(c)
|
1.58%
(c)
|
0.12% | 38% | $249,512 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $12.15 | (3.58%) | 1.54% |
1.54%
(d)
|
0.12% | 39% | $276,209 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $12.62 | 26.33% |
1.65%
(f)
|
1.62%
(d), (f)
|
0.14% | 51% | $270,816 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $9.99 | 13.65% |
1.67%
(f)
|
1.67%
(d), (f)
|
(0.16%) | 81% | $244,190 |
|
Advisor Class
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $15.92 | 28.92% |
1.30%
(c)
|
1.29%
(c), (d)
|
(0.07%) | 29% | $43,986 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $12.39 | 0.20% |
1.33%
(c)
|
1.33%
(c)
|
0.36% | 38% | $23,161 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $12.38 | (3.26%) | 1.29% |
1.29%
(d)
|
0.14% | 39% | $24,379 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $12.84 | 26.63% |
1.41%
(f)
|
1.37%
(d), (f)
|
0.68% | 51% | $21,298 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $10.14 | 13.93% |
1.42%
(f)
|
1.42%
(d), (f)
|
0.13% | 81% | $2,205 |
|
Class C
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $14.50 | 27.64% |
2.30%
(c)
|
2.29%
(c), (d)
|
(1.04%) | 29% | $15,742 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $11.36 | (0.79%) |
2.33%
(c)
|
2.33%
(c)
|
(0.69%) | 38% | $14,830 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $11.45 | (4.26%) | 2.29% |
2.29%
(d)
|
(0.62%) | 39% | $22,177 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $11.96 | 25.37% |
2.40%
(f)
|
2.37%
(d), (f)
|
(0.57%) | 51% | $24,616 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $9.54 | 12.90% |
2.42%
(f)
|
2.42%
(d), (f)
|
(0.92%) | 81% | $19,419 |
|
Institutional Class
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $15.80 | 28.89% |
1.30%
(c)
|
1.29%
(c), (d)
|
(0.04%) | 29% | $260,558 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $12.30 | 0.20% |
1.33%
(c)
|
1.33%
(c)
|
0.41% | 38% | $210,844 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $12.29 | (3.35%) | 1.29% |
1.29%
(d)
|
0.40% | 39% | $203,193 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $12.76 | 26.71% |
1.40%
(f)
|
1.37%
(d), (f)
|
0.39% | 51% | $179,501 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $10.07 | 13.91% |
1.42%
(f)
|
1.42%
(d), (f)
|
0.07% | 81% | $647,011 |
|
Institutional 2 Class
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $15.92 | 29.19% |
1.16%
(c)
|
1.15%
(c)
|
0.10% | 29% | $238,994 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $12.38 | 0.36% |
1.18%
(c)
|
1.18%
(c)
|
0.55% | 38% | $161,554 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $12.37 | (3.22%) | 1.16% | 1.16% | 0.58% | 39% | $155,442 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $12.84 | 26.88% |
1.22%
(f)
|
1.22%
(f)
|
0.57% | 51% | $123,364 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $10.12 | 14.09% |
1.26%
(f)
|
1.26%
(f)
|
0.54% | 81% | $113,041 |
| Prospectus 2021 | 71 |
Columbia Emerging Markets Fund
Financial Highlights
(continued)
|
Net asset value,
beginning of period |
Net
investment income (loss) |
Net
realized and unrealized gain (loss) |
Total from
investment operations |
Distributions
from net investment income |
Total
distributions to shareholders |
|
|
Institutional 3 Class
|
||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $12.44 | 0.02 | 3.60 | 3.62 | (0.07) | (0.07) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $12.43 | 0.07 | (0.02) | 0.05 | (0.04) | (0.04) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $12.90 | 0.07 | (0.47) | (0.40) | (0.07) | (0.07) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $10.17 | 0.10 | 2.63 | 2.73 | — | — |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $8.90 | 0.05 | 1.22 | 1.27 | — | — |
|
Class R
|
||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $11.96 | (0.07) | 3.45 | 3.38 | — | — |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $11.99 | (0.02) | (0.01) | (0.03) | — | — |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $12.47 | (0.02) | (0.46) | (0.48) | — | — |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $9.89 | (0.01) | 2.59 | 2.58 | — | — |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $8.72 | (0.03) | 1.20 | 1.17 | — | — |
|
Notes to Financial Highlights
|
|
| (a) | In addition to the fees and expenses that the Fund bears directly, the Fund indirectly bears a pro rata share of the fees and expenses of any other funds in which it invests. Such indirect expenses are not included in the Fund's reported expense ratios. |
| (b) | Total net expenses include the impact of certain fee waivers/expense reimbursements made by the Investment Manager and certain of its affiliates, if applicable. |
| (c) | Ratios include interfund lending expense which is less than 0.01%. |
| (d) | The benefits derived from expense reductions had an impact of less than 0.01%. |
| (e) | Rounds to zero. |
| (f) | Ratios include line of credit interest expense which is less than 0.01%. |
| 72 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Emerging Markets Fund
Financial Highlights
(continued)
|
Net
asset value, end of period |
Total
return |
Total gross
expense ratio to average net assets
(a)
|
Total net
expense ratio to average net assets
(a), (b)
|
Net investment
income (loss) ratio to average net assets |
Portfolio
turnover |
Net
assets, end of period (000's) |
|
|
Institutional 3 Class
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $15.99 | 29.18% |
1.11%
(c)
|
1.10%
(c)
|
0.16% | 29% | $661,552 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $12.44 | 0.43% |
1.13%
(c)
|
1.13%
(c)
|
0.58% | 38% | $609,791 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $12.43 | (3.18%) | 1.10% | 1.10% | 0.54% | 39% | $673,688 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $12.90 | 26.84% |
1.19%
(f)
|
1.19%
(f)
|
0.86% | 51% | $726,291 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $10.17 | 14.27% |
1.20%
(f)
|
1.20%
(f)
|
0.58% | 81% | $22,104 |
|
Class R
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $15.34 | 28.26% |
1.80%
(c)
|
1.79%
(c), (d)
|
(0.54%) | 29% | $5,731 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $11.96 | (0.25%) |
1.83%
(c)
|
1.83%
(c)
|
(0.16%) | 38% | $7,125 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $11.99 | (3.85%) | 1.79% |
1.79%
(d)
|
(0.17%) | 39% | $9,847 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $12.47 | 26.09% |
1.90%
(f)
|
1.87%
(d), (f)
|
(0.08%) | 51% | $12,175 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $9.89 | 13.42% |
1.92%
(f)
|
1.92%
(d), (f)
|
(0.37%) | 81% | $9,683 |
| Prospectus 2021 | 73 |
Columbia Emerging Markets Fund
Appendix A: Financial Intermediary-Specific Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
As noted in the
section of the prospectus, the sales charge reductions and waivers available to investors who purchase and hold their Fund shares through different financial intermediaries may vary. This
describes financial intermediary-specific reductions and/or waiver policies applicable to Fund shares purchased and held through the particular financial intermediary. A reduction and/or waiver that is specific to a particular financial intermediary is not available to Direct-at-Fund Accounts and does not apply in any case to non-omnibus positions wherever held. These reductions and/or waivers may apply to purchases, sales, and exchanges of Fund shares. A shareholder transacting in Fund shares through a financial intermediary identified below should carefully read the terms and conditions of the reductions and/or waivers. Please consult your financial intermediary with respect to any sales charge reduction/waiver described below.
Choosing a Share Class
Appendix A
The financial intermediary-specific information below may be provided by, or compiled from or based on information provided by, the financial intermediaries noted. While the Funds, the Investment Manager and the Distributor do not establish these financial intermediary-specific policies, our representatives are available to answer questions about these financial intermediary-specific policies and can direct you to the financial intermediary if you need help understanding them.
Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC (Ameriprise Financial Services)
The following information has been provided by Ameriprise Financial Services:
Class A Shares Front-End Sales Charge Waivers Available at Ameriprise Financial Services:
The following information applies to Class A shares purchases if you have an account with or otherwise purchase Fund shares through Ameriprise Financial Services:
Effective June 1, 2018, shareholders purchasing Fund shares through an Ameriprise Financial Services platform or account will be eligible for the following front-end sales charge waivers and discounts, which may differ from those disclosed elsewhere in this prospectus or the Fund’s SAI:
| ■ | Employer-sponsored retirement plans (e.g., 401(k) plans, 457 plans, employer-sponsored 403(b) plans, profit sharing and money purchase pension plans and defined benefit plans). For purposes of this provision, employer-sponsored retirement plans do not include SEP IRAs, Simple IRAs or SAR-SEPs. |
| ■ | Shares purchased through an Ameriprise Financial Services investment advisory program (if an Advisory or similar share class for such investment advisory program is not available). |
| ■ | Shares purchased by third party investment advisors on behalf of their advisory clients through Ameriprise Financial Services’ platform (if an Advisory or similar share class for such investment advisory program is not available). |
| ■ | Shares purchased through reinvestment of dividends and capital gain distributions when purchasing shares of the same fund (but not any other fund within the Columbia Funds). |
| ■ | Shares exchanged from Class C shares of the same fund in the month of or following the 10-year anniversary of the purchase date. To the extent that this prospectus elsewhere provides for a waiver with respect to such shares following a shorter holding period, that waiver will apply to exchanges following such shorter period. To the extent that this prospectus elsewhere provides for a waiver with respect to exchanges of Class C shares for load waived shares, that waiver will also apply to such exchanges. |
| ■ | Employees and registered representatives of Ameriprise Financial Services or its affiliates and their immediate family members. |
| ■ | Shares purchased by or through qualified accounts (including IRAs, Coverdell Education Savings Accounts, 401(k)s, 403(b) TSCAs subject to ERISA and defined benefit plans) that are held by a covered family member, defined as an Ameriprise financial advisor and/or the advisor’s spouse, advisor’s lineal ascendant (mother, father, grandmother, grandfather, great grandmother, great grandfather), advisor’s lineal descendant (son, step-son, daughter, step-daughter, grandson, granddaughter, great grandson, great granddaughter) or any spouse of a covered family member who is a lineal descendant. |
| A-1 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Emerging Markets Fund
Appendix A: Financial Intermediary-Specific Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
(continued)
| ■ | Shares purchased from the proceeds of redemptions within the Columbia Funds, provided (1) the repurchase occurs within 90 days following the redemption, (2) the redemption and purchase occur in the same account, and (3) redeemed shares were subject to a front-end or deferred sales load (i.e., rights of reinstatement). |
Robert W. Baird & Co. Incorporated (Baird)
The following information has been provided by Baird:
Effective June 30, 2020, shareholders purchasing Columbia Fund shares through a Baird platform or account that maintains an omnibus position with the Fund will only be eligible for the following sales charge waivers (front-end sales charge waivers and CDSC waivers) and discounts, which may differ from those disclosed elsewhere in this prospectus or the Fund’s SAI. A reduction and/or waiver that is specific to Baird will not apply to non-omnibus positions.
Front-End Sales Charge Waivers on Class A Shares Available at Baird:
| ■ | Shares purchased through reinvestment of capital gains distributions and dividend reinvestment when purchasing shares of the same Columbia Fund. |
| ■ | Share purchases by employees and registered representatives of Baird or its affiliates and their family members as designated by Baird. |
| ■ | Shares purchased with the proceeds of redemptions from another Columbia Fund, provided (1) the repurchase occurs within 90 days following the redemption, (2) the redemption and purchase occur in the same accounts, and (3) redeemed shares were subject to a front-end or deferred sales charge (known as rights of reinstatement). |
| ■ | A shareholder in the Fund’s Class C shares will have their shares converted at net asset value to Class A shares of the same Columbia Fund if the shares are no longer subject to CDSC and the conversion is in line with the policies and procedures of Baird. |
| ■ | Employer-sponsored retirement plans or charitable accounts in a transactional brokerage account at Baird, including 401(k) plans, 457 plans, employer-sponsored 403(b) plans, profit sharing and money purchase pension plans and defined benefit plans. For purposes of this provision, employer-sponsored retirement plans do not include SEP IRAs, Simple IRAs or SAR-SEPs. |
CDSC Waivers on Class A and Class C Shares Available at Baird:
| ■ | Shares sold due to death or disability of the shareholder. |
| ■ | Shares sold as part of a systematic withdrawal plan as described in this prospectus. |
| ■ | Shares purchased due to returns of excess contributions from an IRA account. |
| ■ | Shares sold as part of a required minimum distribution for IRA and retirement accounts due to the shareholder reaching the qualified age based on applicable IRS regulations. |
| ■ | Shares sold to pay Baird fees but only if the transaction is initiated by Baird. |
| ■ | Shares acquired through a right of reinstatement. |
Front-End Sales Charge Discounts Available at Baird: Breakpoints and/or Rights of Accumulations:
| ■ | Breakpoints as described in this prospectus. |
| ■ | Rights of accumulations which entitle shareholders to breakpoint discounts will be automatically calculated based on the aggregated holding of Columbia Fund assets held by accounts within the purchaser’s household at Baird. Eligible Columbia Fund assets not held at Baird may be included in the rights of accumulations calculation only if the shareholder notifies his or her financial advisor about such assets. |
| ■ | Letters of Intent (LOI) allow for breakpoint discounts based on anticipated purchases of Columbia Funds through Baird, over a 13-month period of time. |
| Prospectus 2021 | A-2 |
Columbia Emerging Markets Fund
Appendix A: Financial Intermediary-Specific Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
(continued)
Edward D. Jones & Co., L.P. (Edward Jones)
The following information has been provided by Edward Jones:
Effective on or after April 17, 2020, clients of Edward Jones (also referred to as "shareholders") purchasing Columbia Fund shares on the Edward Jones commission and fee-based platforms are eligible only for the following sales charge discounts (also referred to as "breakpoints") and waivers, which can differ from breakpoints and waivers described elsewhere in this prospectus or the Fund’s SAI or through another broker-dealer. In all instances, it is the shareholder's responsibility to inform Edward Jones at the time of purchase of any relationship, holdings of Columbia Funds or other facts qualifying the purchaser for breakpoints or waivers. Edward Jones can ask for documentation of such circumstance.
Breakpoints
Rights of Accumulation (ROA)
| ■ | The applicable sales charge on a purchase of Class A shares is determined by taking into account all share classes (except any money market funds and retirement plan share classes) of Columbia Funds held by the shareholder or in an account grouped by Edward Jones with other accounts for the purpose of providing certain pricing considerations ("pricing groups"). This includes all share classes held on the Edward Jones platform and/or held on another platform. The inclusion of eligible Columbia Fund assets in the rights of accumulation calculation is dependent on the shareholder notifying his or her financial advisor of such assets at the time of calculation. |
| ■ | ROA is determined by calculating the higher of cost or market value (current shares x NAV). |
Letter of Intent (LOI)
| ■ | Through a LOI, shareholders can receive the sales charge and breakpoint discounts for purchases shareholders intend to make over a 13-month period from the date Edward Jones receives the LOI. The LOI is determined by calculating the higher of cost or market value of qualifying holdings at LOI initiation in combination with the value that the shareholder intends to buy over a 13-month period to calculate the front-end sales charge and any breakpoint discounts. Each purchase the shareholder makes during that 13-month period will receive the sales charge and breakpoint discount that applies to the total amount. The inclusion of eligible Columbia Fund assets in the LOI calculation is dependent on the shareholder notifying his or her financial advisor of such assets at the time of calculation. Purchases made before the LOI is received by Edward Jones are not covered under the LOI and will not reduce the sales charge previously paid. Sales charges will be adjusted if LOI is not met. |
Sales Charge Waivers
Sales charges are waived for the following shareholders and in the following situations:
| ■ | Associates of Edward Jones and its affiliates and their family members who are in the same pricing group (as determined by Edward Jones under its policies and procedures) as the associate. This waiver will continue for the remainder of the associate's life if the associate retires from Edward Jones in good-standing. |
| ■ | Shares purchased in an Edward Jones fee-based program. |
| ■ | Shares purchased through reinvestment of capital gains distributions and dividend reinvestment. |
| ■ | Shares purchased from the proceeds of redeemed shares of Columbia Funds so long as the following conditions are met: 1) the proceeds are from the sale of shares within 60 days of the purchase, and 2) the sale and purchase are made in the same share class and the same account or the purchase is made in an individual retirement account with proceeds from liquidations in a non-retirement account. |
| ■ | Shares exchanged into Class A shares from another share class so long as the exchange is into the same fund and was initiated at the discretion of Edward Jones. Edward Jones is responsible for any remaining CDSC due to the fund company, if applicable. Any future purchases are subject to the applicable sales charge as disclosed in this prospectus. |
| A-3 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Emerging Markets Fund
Appendix A: Financial Intermediary-Specific Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
(continued)
| ■ | Exchanges from Class C shares to Class A shares of the same fund, generally, in the 84th month following the anniversary of the purchase date or earlier at the discretion of Edward Jones. |
CDSC Waivers
If the shareholder purchases shares that are subject to a CDSC and those shares are redeemed before the CDSC is expired, the shareholder is responsible to pay the CDSC except in the following conditions:
| ■ | The death or disability of the shareholder. |
| ■ | Systematic withdrawals with up to 10% per year of the account value. |
| ■ | Return of excess contributions from an Individual Retirement Account (IRA). |
| ■ | Shares sold as part of a required minimum distribution for IRA and retirement accounts if the redemption is taken in or after the year the shareholder reaches qualified age based on applicable IRS regulations. |
| ■ | Shares sold to pay Edward Jones fees or costs in such cases where the transaction is initiated by Edward Jones. |
| ■ | Shares exchanged in an Edward Jones fee-based program. |
| ■ | Shares acquired through NAV reinstatement. |
Other Important Information
Minimum Purchase Amounts
| ■ | $250 initial purchase minimum |
| ■ | $50 subsequent purchase minimum |
Minimum Balances
| ■ | Edward Jones has the right to redeem at its discretion fund holdings with a balance of $250 or less. The following are examples of accounts that are not included in this policy: |
| ■ | A fee-based account held on an Edward Jones platform. |
| ■ | A 529 account held on an Edward Jones platform. |
| ■ | An account with an active systematic investment plan or letter of intent (LOI). |
Changing Share Classes
| ■ | At any time it deems necessary, Edward Jones has the authority to exchange at NAV a shareholder's holdings in a fund to Class A shares. |
Janney Montgomery Scott LLC (Janney)
The following information has been provided by Janney:
Effective May 1, 2020, if you purchase Columbia Fund shares through a Janney brokerage account, you will be eligible for the following load waivers (front-end sales charge waivers and CDSC, or back-end sales charge, waivers) and discounts, which may differ from those disclosed elsewhere in this prospectus or the Fund’s SAI. A reduction and/or waiver that is specific to Janney does not apply to non-omnibus positions.
Front-End Sales Charge* Waivers on Class A Shares Available at Janney
| ■ | Shares purchased through reinvestment of capital gains distributions and dividend reinvestment when purchasing shares of the same fund (but not any other Columbia Fund). |
| ■ | Shares purchased by employees and registered representatives of Janney or its affiliates and their family members as designated by Janney. |
| Prospectus 2021 | A-4 |
Columbia Emerging Markets Fund
Appendix A: Financial Intermediary-Specific Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
(continued)
| ■ | Shares purchased from the proceeds of redemptions from another Columbia Fund, provided (1) the repurchase occurs within ninety (90) days following the redemption, (2) the redemption and purchase occur in the same account, and (3) redeemed shares were subject to a front-end or deferred sales load (i.e., right of reinstatement). |
| ■ | Employer-sponsored retirement plans (e.g., 401(k) plans, 457 plans, employer-sponsored 403(b) plans, profit sharing and money purchase pension plans and defined benefit plans). For purposes of this provision, employer-sponsored retirement plans do not include SEP IRAs, Simple IRAs, SAR-SEPs or Keogh plans. |
| ■ | Shares acquired through a right of reinstatement. |
| ■ | Class C shares that are no longer subject to a CDSC and are converted to Class A shares of the same fund pursuant to Janney’s policies and procedures. |
CDSC Waivers on Class A and C Shares Available at Janney
| ■ | Shares sold upon the death or disability of the shareholder. |
| ■ | Shares sold as part of a systematic withdrawal plan as described in this prospectus. |
| ■ | Shares purchased in connection with a return of excess contributions from an IRA account. |
| ■ | Shares sold as part of a required minimum distribution for IRA and retirement accounts if the redemption is taken in or after the year the shareholder reaches qualified age based on applicable IRS regulations. |
| ■ | Shares sold to pay Janney fees but only if the transaction is initiated by Janney. |
| ■ | Shares acquired through a right of reinstatement. |
| ■ | Shares exchanged into the same share class of a different fund. |
Front-End Sales Charge* Discounts Available at Janney: Breakpoints, Rights of Accumulation, and/or Letters of Intent
| ■ | Breakpoints as described in this prospectus. |
| ■ | Rights of accumulation (“ROA”), which entitle shareholders to breakpoint discounts, will be automatically calculated based on the aggregated holding of Columbia Fund assets held by accounts within the purchaser’s household at Janney. Eligible Columbia Fund assets not held at Janney may be included in the ROA calculation only if the shareholder notifies his or her financial advisor about such assets. |
| ■ | Letters of intent which allow for breakpoint discounts based on anticipated purchases within the Columbia Funds, over a 13-month time period. Eligible Columbia Fund assets not held at Janney may be included in the calculation of letters of intent only if the shareholder notifies his or her financial advisor about such assets. |
* Also referred to as an “initial sales charge”.
Merrill Lynch Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated (Merrill Lynch)
The following information has been provided by Merrill Lynch:
Shareholders purchasing Columbia Fund shares through a Merrill Lynch platform or account will be eligible only for the following load waivers (front-end sales charge waivers and contingent deferred, or back-end, sales charge waivers) and discounts, which may differ from those disclosed elsewhere in this prospectus or the Fund’s SAI:
Front-End Load Discounts Available at Merrill Lynch:
Merrill Lynch makes available breakpoint discounts on shares of the Fund through:
| ■ | Breakpoints as described in this prospectus. |
| ■ | Rights of Accumulation (ROA) which entitle shareholders to breakpoint discounts as described in this prospectus will be automatically calculated based on the aggregated holding of Columbia Fund assets held by accounts (including 529 program holdings, where applicable) within the purchaser’s household at Merrill Lynch. Eligible Columbia Fund assets not held at Merrill Lynch may be included in the ROA calculation only if the shareholder notifies his or her financial advisor about such assets. |
| A-5 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Emerging Markets Fund
Appendix A: Financial Intermediary-Specific Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
(continued)
|
■
|
Letters of Intent (LOI) which allow for breakpoint discounts based on anticipated purchases of Columbia Funds, through Merrill Lynch, over a 13-month period of time (if applicable).
|
Front-End Sales Load Waivers on Class A Shares Available at Merrill Lynch:
|
■
|
Employer-sponsored retirement, deferred compensation and employee benefit plans (including health savings accounts) and trusts used to fund those plans, provided that the shares are not held in a commission-based brokerage account and shares are held for the benefit of the plan.
|
|
■
|
Shares purchased by a 529 Plan (does not include 529 Plan units or 529-specific share classes or equivalents).
|
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■
|
Shares purchased through a Merrill Lynch affiliated investment advisory program.
|
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■
|
Shares exchanged due to the holdings moving from a Merrill Lynch affiliated investment advisory program to a Merrill Lynch brokerage (non-advisory) account pursuant to Merrill Lynch’s policies relating to sales load discounts and waivers.
|
|
■
|
Shares purchased by third party investment advisors on behalf of their advisory clients through Merrill Lynch’s platform.
|
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■
|
Shares of funds purchased through the Merrill Edge Self-Directed platform (if applicable).
|
|
■
|
Shares purchased through reinvestment of capital gains distributions and dividend reinvestment when purchasing shares of the same fund (but not any other Columbia Fund).
|
|
■
|
Shares exchanged from Class C (i.e., level-load) shares of the same fund pursuant to Merrill Lynch’s policies relating to sales load discounts and waivers.
|
|
■
|
Employees and registered representatives of Merrill Lynch or its affiliates and their family members.
|
|
■
|
Directors or Trustees of the Fund, and employees of the Fund’s investment adviser or any of its affiliates, as described in this prospectus.
|
|
■
|
Eligible shares purchased from the proceeds of redemptions from another Columbia Fund, provided (1) the repurchase occurs within 90 days following the redemption, (2) the redemption and purchase occur in the same account, and (3) redeemed shares were subject to a front-end or deferred sales load (known as Rights of Reinstatement). Automated transactions (i.e. systematic purchases and withdrawals) and purchases made after shares are automatically sold to pay Merrill Lynch’s account maintenance fees are not eligible for reinstatement.
|
CDSC Waivers on Class A and C Shares Available at Merrill Lynch:
|
■
|
Death or disability of the shareholder.
|
|
■
|
Shares sold as part of a systematic withdrawal plan as described in this prospectus.
|
|
■
|
Return of excess contributions from an IRA Account.
|
|
■
|
Shares sold as part of a required minimum distribution for IRA and retirement accounts pursuant to the Internal Revenue Code.
|
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■
|
Shares sold to pay Merrill Lynch fees but only if the transaction is initiated by Merrill Lynch.
|
|
■
|
Shares acquired through a right of reinstatement.
|
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■
|
Shares held in retirement brokerage accounts, that are exchanged for a lower cost share class due to transfer to certain fee based accounts or platforms (applicable to Class A and Class C shares only).
|
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■
|
Shares received through an exchange due to the holdings moving from a Merrill Lynch affiliated investment advisory program to a Merrill Lynch brokerage (non-advisory) account pursuant to Merrill Lynch’s policies relating to sales load discounts and waivers.
|
|
Prospectus 2021
|
A-6
|
Columbia Emerging Markets Fund
Appendix A: Financial Intermediary-Specific Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
(continued)
Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, LLC (Morgan Stanley Wealth Management)
The following information has been provided by Morgan Stanley Wealth Management:
Shareholders purchasing Columbia Fund shares through a Morgan Stanley Wealth Management transactional brokerage account will be eligible only for the following front-end sales charge waivers with respect to Class A shares, which may differ from and may be more limited than those disclosed elsewhere in this prospectus or the Fund’s SAI.
Front-End Sales Charge Waivers on Class A Shares Available at Morgan Stanley Wealth Management:
|
■
|
Employer-sponsored retirement plans (e.g., 401(k) plans, 457 plans, employer-sponsored 403(b) plans, profit sharing and money purchase pension plans and defined benefit plans). For purposes of this provision, employer-sponsored retirement plans do not include SEP IRAs, Simple IRAs, SAR-SEPs or Keogh plans.
|
|
■
|
Morgan Stanley employee and employee-related accounts according to Morgan Stanley’s account linking rules.
|
|
■
|
Shares purchased through reinvestment of dividends and capital gains distributions when purchasing shares of the same fund.
|
|
■
|
Shares purchased through a Morgan Stanley self-directed brokerage account.
|
|
■
|
Class C (i.e., level-load) shares that are no longer subject to a CDSC and are exchanged for Class A shares of the same fund pursuant to Morgan Stanley Wealth Management’s share class exchange program.
|
|
■
|
Shares purchased from the proceeds of redemptions from another Columbia Fund, provided (i) the repurchase occurs within 90 days following the redemption, (ii) the redemption and purchase occur in the same account, and (iii) redeemed shares were subject to a front-end or deferred sales charge.
|
Raymond James & Associates, Inc., Raymond James Financial Services, Inc. and each entity’s affiliates (Raymond James)
The following information has been provided by Raymond James:
Intermediary-Defined Sales Charge Waiver Policies:
The availability of certain initial or deferred sales charge waivers and discounts may depend on the particular financial intermediary or type of account through which you purchase or hold Columbia Fund shares.
Intermediaries may have different policies and procedures regarding the availability of front-end sales load waivers or contingent deferred (back-end) sales load (CDSC) waivers, which are discussed below. In all instances, it is the purchaser’s responsibility to notify the Fund or the purchaser’s financial intermediary at the time of purchase of any relationship or other facts qualifying the purchaser for sales charge waivers or discounts. For waivers and discounts not available through a particular intermediary, shareholders will have to purchase Columbia Fund shares directly from the Fund or through another intermediary to receive these waivers or discounts.
Raymond James:
Effective March 1, 2019, shareholders purchasing Columbia Fund shares through a Raymond James platform or account, or through an introducing broker-dealer or independent registered investment adviser for which Raymond James provides trade execution, clearance, and/or custody services, will be eligible only for the following load waivers (front-end sales charge waivers and contingent deferred, or back-end, sales charge waivers) and discounts, which may differ from those disclosed elsewhere in this prospectus or the Fund’s SAI.
Front-End Sales Load Waivers on Class A Shares Available at Raymond James:
|
■
|
Shares purchased in an investment advisory program.
|
|
■
|
Shares purchased within the Columbia Funds through a systematic reinvestment of capital gains and dividend distributions.
|
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■
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Employees and registered representatives of Raymond James or its affiliates and their family members as designated by Raymond James.
|
|
A-7
|
Prospectus 2021
|
Columbia Emerging Markets Fund
Appendix A: Financial Intermediary-Specific Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
(continued)
|
■
|
Shares purchased from the proceeds of redemptions within the Columbia Funds, provided (1) the repurchase occurs within 90 days following the redemption, (2) the redemption and purchase occur in the same account, and (3) redeemed shares were subject to a front-end or deferred sales load (known as Rights of Reinstatement).
|
|
■
|
A shareholder in the Fund’s Class C shares will have their shares converted at net asset value to Class A shares (or the appropriate share class) of the Fund if the shares are no longer subject to a CDSC and the conversion is in line with the policies and procedures of Raymond James.
|
CDSC Waivers on Class A and Class C Shares Available at Raymond James:
|
■
|
Death or disability of the shareholder.
|
|
■
|
Shares sold as part of a systematic withdrawal plan as described in this prospectus.
|
|
■
|
Return of excess contributions from an IRA Account.
|
|
■
|
Shares sold as part of a required minimum distribution for IRA and retirement accounts due to the shareholder reaching the qualified age based on applicable IRS regulations as described in this prospectus.
|
|
■
|
Shares sold to pay Raymond James fees but only if the transaction is initiated by Raymond James.
|
|
■
|
Shares acquired through a right of reinstatement.
|
Front-End Load Discounts Available at Raymond James: Breakpoints, Rights of Accumulation and/or Letters of Intent:
|
■
|
Breakpoints as described in this prospectus.
|
|
■
|
Rights of accumulation which entitle shareholders to breakpoint discounts will be automatically calculated based on the aggregated holding of Columbia Fund assets held by accounts within the purchaser’s household at Raymond James. Eligible Columbia Fund assets not held at Raymond James may be included in the calculation of rights of accumulation only if the shareholder notifies his or her financial advisor about such assets.
|
|
■
|
Letters of intent which allow for breakpoint discounts based on anticipated purchases within the Columbia Funds, over a 13-month time period. Eligible Columbia Fund assets not held at Raymond James may be included in the calculation of letters of intent only if the shareholder notifies his or her financial advisor about such assets.
|
Stifel Financial Corp. (Stifel)
The following information has been provided by Stifel:
Effective June 30, 2020, Class C shares of Columbia Funds that were purchased through a Stifel platform or account that maintains an omnibus position with the Fund that are no longer subject to a CDSC are exchanged to Class A shares of the same Columbia Fund pursuant to Stifel’s policies and procedures. This does not apply to non-omnibus positions.
Additional Sales Charge Reductions and/or Waivers Available at Certain Financial Intermediaries
Shareholders purchasing Columbia Fund shares through a platform or account of RBC Capital Markets, LLC are eligible for the following sales charge waiver:
Class A Shares Front-End Sales Charge Waiver Available at RBC Capital Markets, LLC:
|
■
|
For employer-sponsored retirement plans held through a commissionable brokerage account, Class A shares are available at NAV (i.e., without a sales charge). For this purpose, employer-sponsored retirement plans include, but are not limited to, 401(k) plans, 457 plans, employer-sponsored 403(b) plans, profit sharing and money purchase pension plans and defined benefit plans. For purposes of this provision, employer-sponsored retirement plans do not include SEP IRAs, Simple IRAs, SAR-SEPs or Keogh plans.
|
|
Prospectus 2021
|
A-8
|
Columbia Emerging Markets Fund
P.O. Box 219104
Kansas City, MO 64121-9104
Kansas City, MO 64121-9104
Additional Information About the Fund
Additional information about the Fund’s investments is available in the Fund’s annual and semiannual reports to shareholders. In the annual report, you will find a discussion of the market conditions and investment strategies that significantly affected the Fund’s performance during its last fiscal year. The SAI also provides additional information about the Fund and its policies. The SAI, which has been filed with the SEC, is legally part of this prospectus (incorporated by reference). To obtain these documents free of charge, to request other information about the Fund and to make shareholder inquiries, please contact the Fund as follows:
By Mail:
Columbia Management Investment Services Corp.
P.O. Box 219104
Kansas City, MO 64121-9104
P.O. Box 219104
Kansas City, MO 64121-9104
By Telephone:
800.345.6611
Online:
columbiathreadneedleus.com
Reports and other information about the Fund are also available in the EDGAR Database on the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov. You can receive copies of this information, for a duplication fee, by electronic request at the following e-mail address: publicinfo@sec.gov.
The investment company registration number of Columbia Funds Series Trust I, of which the Fund is a series, is 811-04367.
Columbia Threadneedle Investments is the global brand name of the Columbia and Threadneedle group of companies.
© 2021 Columbia Management Investment Distributors, Inc.
225 Franklin Street, Boston, MA 02110
225 Franklin Street, Boston, MA 02110
800.345.6611
PRO142_08_L01_(01/21)
Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund
|
Class
|
Ticker Symbol
|
|
| A | CTCAX | |
| Advisor (Class Adv) | CTYRX | |
| C | CTHCX | |
| Institutional (Class Inst) | CMTFX | |
| Institutional 2 (Class Inst2) | CTHRX | |
| Institutional 3 (Class Inst3) | CGTUX |
Beginning on January 1, 2021, as permitted by regulations adopted by the Securities and Exchange Commission, paper copies of the Fund's annual and semiannual shareholder reports are no longer sent by mail, unless you specifically requested paper copies of the reports. Instead, the reports are made available on the Fund's website (columbiathreadneedleus.com/investor/), and each time a report is posted you will be notified by mail and provided with a website address to access the report.
If you have already elected to receive shareholder reports electronically, you will not be affected by this change and you need not take any action. You may elect to receive shareholder reports and other communications from the Fund electronically at any time by contacting your financial intermediary (such as a broker-dealer or bank) or, for Fund shares held directly with the Fund, by calling 800.345.6611 or by enrolling in “eDelivery” by logging into your account at columbiathreadneedleus.com/investor/.
You may elect to receive all future shareholder reports in paper free of charge. If you invest through a financial intermediary, you can contact your financial intermediary to request that you continue receiving paper copies of your shareholder reports. If you invest directly with the Fund, you can call 800.345.6611 to let the Fund know you wish to continue receiving paper copies of your shareholder reports. Your election to receive paper reports will apply to all Columbia Funds held in your account if you invest through a financial intermediary or all Columbia Funds held with the fund complex if you invest directly with the Fund.
As with all mutual funds, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has not approved or disapproved these securities or passed upon the adequacy of this prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.
Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund
Table of Contents
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A-1
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2
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Prospectus 2021
|
Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund
Summary of the Fund
Investment Objective
Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund (the Fund) seeks capital appreciation by investing, under normal market conditions, at least 80% of its total net assets (plus any borrowings for investment purposes) in stocks of technology companies that may benefit from technological improvements, advancements or developments.
Fees and Expenses of the Fund
This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold and sell shares of the Fund.
You may be required to pay such brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries when transacting in any class of Fund shares, including those that do not assess any front-end sales charge, contingent deferred sales charge, or other asset-based fee for sales or distribution. Such brokerage commissions and other fees are set by the financial intermediary.
You may qualify for sales charge discounts if you and members of your immediate family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $50,000 in certain classes of shares of eligible funds distributed by Columbia Management Investment Distributors, Inc. (the Distributor). More information is available about these and other sales charge discounts and waivers from your financial intermediary, and can be found in the
section beginning on page 23 of the Fund’s prospectus, in
to the prospectus beginning on page A-1 and in Appendix S to the Statement of Additional Information (SAI) under
beginning on page S-1.
You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the tables and examples below.
Choosing a Share Class
Appendix A
Sales Charge Waivers
| (a) | This charge is imposed on certain investments of between $1 million and $50 million redeemed within 18 months after purchase, as follows: 1.00% if redeemed within 12 months after purchase, and 0.50% if redeemed more than 12, but less than 18, months after purchase, with certain limited exceptions. |
| (b) | This charge applies to redemptions within 12 months after purchase, with certain limited exceptions. |
| Prospectus 2021 | 3 |
Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
Example
The following example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The example illustrates the hypothetical expenses that you would incur over the time periods indicated, and assumes that:
| ■ | you invest $10,000 in the applicable class of Fund shares for the periods indicated, |
| ■ | your investment has a 5% return each year, and |
| ■ |
the Fund’s total annual operating expenses remain the same as shown in the
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
|
Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on the assumptions listed above, your costs would be:
|
1 year
|
3 years
|
5 years
|
10 years
|
|
|
Class A
(whether or not shares are redeemed)
|
$692 | $940 | $1,207 | $1,967 |
|
Class Adv
(whether or not shares are redeemed)
|
$
|
$309 |
$
|
$1,190 |
|
Class C
(assuming redemption of all shares at the end of the period)
|
$300 | $618 | $1,062 | $2,296 |
|
Class C
(assuming no redemption of shares)
|
$200 | $618 | $1,062 | $2,296 |
|
Class Inst
(whether or not shares are redeemed)
|
$
|
$309 |
$
|
$1,190 |
|
Class Inst2
(whether or not shares are redeemed)
|
$
|
$287 |
$
|
$1,108 |
|
Class Inst3
(whether or not shares are redeemed)
|
$
|
$271 |
$
|
$1,049 |
Portfolio Turnover
The Fund may pay transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 12% of the average value of its portfolio.
Principal Investment Strategies
Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets (including the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes) in equity securities (including, but not limited to, common stocks, preferred stocks and securities convertible into common or preferred stocks) of technology companies that may benefit from technological improvements, advancements or developments. For these purposes, technology companies are those companies that, in the opinion of the Fund’s investment manager, use technology extensively to improve their business processes, applications and opportunities or seek to grow through technological developments and innovations. Technology companies include companies in technology-related industries or sectors, such as the information technology, communications, healthcare, media, consumer electronics, semi-conductor, internet commerce and advertising, environmental, aerospace and defense industries and sectors. The Fund may invest in companies that have market capitalizations of any size and may invest a significant amount of its assets in smaller companies.
Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 40% of its net assets in companies that maintain their principal place of business or conduct their principal business activities outside the U.S., companies that have their securities traded on non-U.S. exchanges, companies that have been formed under the laws of non-U.S. countries or foreign currencies. The Fund considers a company to conduct its principal business activities outside the U.S. if it derives at least 50% of its revenue or profits from business outside the U.S. or has at least 50% of its sales or assets outside the U.S. From time to time, the Fund may be below this 40% level and, in such circumstances, the Fund will endeavor to invest its assets to bring the Fund’s net assets above this 40% level while giving due regard to the Investment Manager’s view of market and other conditions and available investment opportunities.
| 4 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 25% of the value of its total net assets at the time of purchase in the securities of issuers conducting their principal business activities in the technology and related group of industries.
The Fund invests primarily in common stocks of companies that the investment manager believes have the potential for long-term growth.
The Fund’s investment strategy may involve the frequent trading of portfolio securities. The Fund may invest directly in foreign securities or indirectly through depositary receipts.
Principal Risks
An investment in the Fund involves risks, including
,
and
, among others. Descriptions of these and other principal risks of investing in the Fund are provided below.
. The value of the Fund’s holdings may decline, and the Fund’s net asset value (NAV) and share price may go down. An investment in the Fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency.
Foreign Securities Risk
Sector Risk
Market Risk
There is no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objective and you may lose money
Active Management Risk.
Due to its active management, the Fund could underperform its benchmark index and/or other funds with similar investment objectives and/or strategies.
Convertible Securities Risk.
Convertible securities are subject to the usual risks associated with debt instruments, such as interest rate risk and credit risk. Convertible securities also react to changes in the value of the common stock into which they convert, and are thus subject to market risk. The Fund may also be forced to convert a convertible security at an inopportune time, which may decrease the Fund’s return.
Depositary Receipts Risk.
Depositary receipts are receipts issued by a bank or trust company reflecting ownership of underlying securities issued by foreign companies. Some foreign securities are traded in the form of American Depositary Receipts and/or Global Depositary Receipts. Depositary receipts involve risks similar to the risks associated with investments in foreign securities, including those associated with investing in the particular country of an issuer, which may be related to the particular political, regulatory, economic, social and other conditions or events, including, for example, military confrontations, war, terrorism and disease/virus outbreaks and epidemics, occurring in the country and fluctuations in such country’s currency, as well as market risk tied to the underlying foreign company. In addition, holders of depositary receipts may have limited voting rights, may not have the same rights afforded to stockholders of a typical domestic company in the event of a corporate action, such as an acquisition, merger or rights offering, and may experience difficulty in receiving company stockholder communications. There is no guarantee that a financial institution will continue to sponsor a depositary receipt, or that a depositary receipt will continue to trade on an exchange, either of which could adversely affect the liquidity, availability and pricing of the depositary receipt. Changes in foreign currency exchange rates will affect the value of depositary receipts and, therefore, may affect the value of your investment in the Fund.
Foreign Securities Risk.
Investments in or exposure to foreign securities involve certain risks not associated with investments in or exposure to securities of U.S. companies. Foreign securities subject the Fund to the risks associated with investing in the particular country of an issuer, including political, regulatory, economic, social, diplomatic and other conditions or events (including, for example, military confrontations, war, terrorism and disease/virus outbreaks and epidemics), occurring in the country or region, as well as risks associated with less developed custody and settlement practices. Foreign securities may be more volatile and less liquid than securities of U.S. companies, and are subject to the risks associated with potential imposition of economic and other sanctions against a particular foreign country, its nationals or industries or businesses within the country. In addition, foreign governments may impose withholding or other taxes on the Fund’s income, capital gains or proceeds from the disposition of foreign securities, which could reduce the Fund’s return on such securities. The performance of the Fund may also be negatively affected by fluctuations in a foreign currency's strength or weakness relative to the U.S. dollar, particularly to the extent the Fund invests a significant percentage of its assets in foreign securities or other assets denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar.
| Prospectus 2021 | 5 |
Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
Frequent Trading Risk.
The portfolio manager may actively and frequently trade investments in the Fund's portfolio to carry out its investment strategies. Frequent trading of investments increases the possibility that the Fund, as relevant, will realize taxable capital gains (including short-term capital gains, which are generally taxable to shareholders at higher rates than long-term capital gains for U.S. federal income tax purposes), which could reduce the Fund's after-tax return. Frequent trading can also mean higher brokerage and other transaction costs, which could reduce the Fund's return. The trading costs and tax effects associated with portfolio turnover may adversely affect the Fund’s performance.
Growth Securities Risk.
Growth securities typically trade at a higher multiple of earnings than other types of equity securities. Accordingly, the market values of growth securities may never reach their expected market value and may decline in price. In addition, growth securities, at times, may not perform as well as value securities or the stock market in general, and may be out of favor with investors for varying periods of time.
Issuer Risk.
An issuer in which the Fund invests or to which it has exposure may perform poorly or below expectations, and the value of its securities may therefore decline, which may negatively affect the Fund’s performance. Underperformance of an issuer may be caused by poor management decisions, competitive pressures, breakthroughs in technology, reliance on suppliers, labor problems or shortages, corporate restructurings, fraudulent disclosures, natural disasters, military confrontations, war, terrorism, disease/virus outbreaks, epidemics or other events, conditions and factors which may impair the value of an investment in the Fund.
Small- and Mid-Cap Stock Risk.
Investments in small- and mid-capitalization companies (small- and mid-cap companies) often involve greater risks than investments in larger, more established companies (larger companies) because small- and mid-cap companies tend to have less predictable earnings and may lack the management experience, financial resources, product diversification and competitive strengths of larger companies. Securities of small- and mid-cap companies may be less liquid and more volatile than the securities of larger companies.
Large-Cap Stock Risk.
Investments in larger companies may involve certain risks associated with their larger size. For instance, larger companies may be less able to respond quickly to new competitive challenges, such as changes in consumer tastes or innovation from smaller competitors. Also, larger companies are sometimes less able to achieve as high growth rates as successful smaller companies, especially during extended periods of economic expansion.
Liquidity Risk.
Liquidity risk is the risk associated with any event, circumstance, or characteristic of an investment or market that negatively impacts the Fund’s ability to sell, or realize the proceeds from the sale of, an investment at a desirable time or price. Liquidity risk may arise because of, for example, a lack of marketability of the investment, which means that when seeking to sell its portfolio investments, the Fund could find that selling is more difficult than anticipated, especially during times of high market volatility. Market participants attempting to sell the same or a similar instrument at the same time as the Fund could exacerbate the Fund’s exposure to liquidity risk. The Fund may have to accept a lower selling price for the holding, sell other liquid or more liquid investments that it might otherwise prefer to hold (thereby increasing the proportion of the Fund’s investments in less liquid or illiquid securities), or forego another more appealing investment opportunity. The liquidity of Fund investments may change significantly over time and certain investments that were liquid when purchased by the Fund may later become illiquid, particularly in times of overall economic distress. Changing regulatory, market or other conditions or environments (for example, the interest rate or credit environments) may also adversely affect the liquidity and the price of the Fund's investments. Judgment plays a larger role in valuing illiquid or less liquid investments as compared to valuing liquid or more liquid investments. Price volatility may be higher for illiquid or less liquid investments as a result of, for example, the relatively less frequent pricing of such securities (as compared to liquid or more liquid investments). Generally, the less liquid the market at the time the Fund sells a portfolio investment, the greater the risk of loss or decline of value to the Fund. Overall market liquidity and other factors can lead to an increase in redemptions, which may negatively impact Fund performance and NAV, including, for example, if the Fund is forced to sell investments in a down market. Foreign securities can present enhanced liquidity risks, including as a result of less developed custody, settlement or other practices of foreign markets.
| 6 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
Market Risk.
The Fund may incur losses due to declines in the value of one or more securities in which it invests. These declines may be due to factors affecting a particular issuer, or the result of, among other things, political, regulatory, market, economic or social developments affecting the relevant market(s) more generally. In addition, turbulence in financial markets and reduced liquidity in equity, credit and/or fixed income markets may negatively affect many issuers, which could adversely affect the Fund, including causing difficulty in assigning prices to hard-to-value assets in thinly traded and closed markets, significant redemptions and operational challenges. Global economies and financial markets are increasingly interconnected, and conditions and events in one country, region or financial market may adversely impact issuers in a different country, region or financial market. These risks may be magnified if certain events or developments adversely interrupt the global supply chain; in these and other circumstances, such risks might affect companies worldwide. As a result, local, regional or global events such as terrorism, war, natural disasters, disease/virus outbreaks and epidemics or other public health issues, recessions, depressions or other events – or the potential for such events – could have a significant negative impact on global economic and market conditions.
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) public health crisis has become a pandemic that has resulted in, and may continue to result in, significant global economic and societal disruption and market volatility due to disruptions in market access, resource availability, facilities operations, imposition of tariffs, export controls and supply chain disruption, among others. Such disruptions may be caused, or exacerbated by, quarantines and travel restrictions, workforce displacement and loss in human and other resources. The uncertainty surrounding the magnitude, duration, reach, costs and effects of the global pandemic, as well as actions that have been or could be taken by governmental authorities or other third parties, present unknowns that are yet to unfold. The impacts, as well as the uncertainty over impacts to come, of COVID-19 – and any other infectious illness outbreaks, epidemics and pandemics that may arise in the future – could negatively affect global economies and markets in ways that cannot necessarily be foreseen. In addition, the impact of infectious illness outbreaks and epidemics in emerging market countries may be greater due to generally less established healthcare systems, governments and financial markets. Public health crises caused by the COVID-19 outbreak may exacerbate other pre-existing political, social and economic risks in certain countries or globally. The disruptions caused by COVID-19 could prevent the Fund from executing advantageous investment decisions in a timely manner and negatively impact the Fund’s ability to achieve its investment objective. Any such event(s) could have a significant adverse impact on the value and risk profile of the Fund.
Sector Risk.
At times, the Fund may have a significant portion of its assets invested in securities of companies conducting business within one or more economic sectors, including the information technology sector. Companies in the same sector may be similarly affected by economic, regulatory, political or market events or conditions, which may make the Fund more vulnerable to unfavorable developments in that sector than funds that invest more broadly. Generally, the more broadly the Fund invests, the more it spreads risk and potentially reduces the risks of loss and volatility.
Information Technology Sector.
The Fund may be more susceptible to the particular risks that may affect companies in the information technology sector than if it were invested in a wider variety of companies in unrelated sectors. Companies in the information technology sector are subject to certain risks, including the risk that new services, equipment or technologies will not be accepted by consumers and businesses or will become rapidly obsolete. Performance of such companies may be affected by factors including obtaining and protecting patents (or the failure to do so) and significant competitive pressures, including aggressive pricing of their products or services, new market entrants, competition for market share and short product cycles due to an accelerated rate of technological developments. Such competitive pressures may lead to limited earnings and/or falling profit margins. As a result, the value of their securities may fall or fail to rise. In addition, many information technology sector companies have limited operating histories and prices of these companies’ securities historically have been more volatile than other securities, especially over the short term.
| Prospectus 2021 | 7 |
Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
Performance Information
The following bar chart and table show you how the Fund has performed in the past, and can help you understand the risks of investing in the Fund.
The bar chart shows how the Fund’s Class A share performance (without sales charges) has varied for each full calendar year shown. If the sales charges were reflected, returns shown would be lower.
The table below the bar chart compares the Fund’s returns (after applicable sales charges shown in the
table in this prospectus) for the periods shown with a broad measure of market performance.
Shareholder Fees
The performance of one or more share classes shown in the table below begins before the indicated inception date for such share class. The returns shown for each such share class include the returns of the Fund’s Class Inst shares (adjusted to reflect the higher class-related operating expenses of such share classes, where applicable) for periods prior to its inception date. Share classes with expenses that are higher than Class Inst shares will have performance that is lower than Class Inst shares. Except for differences in annual returns resulting from differences in expenses and sales charges (where applicable), the share classes of the Fund would have substantially similar annual returns because all share classes of the Fund invest in the same portfolio of securities.
The after-tax returns shown in the
table below are calculated using the highest historical individual U.S. federal marginal income tax rates in effect during the period indicated in the table and do not reflect the impact of state, local or foreign taxes.
Your actual after-tax returns will depend on your personal tax situation and may differ from those shown in the table. In addition, the after-tax returns shown in the table do not apply to shares held in tax-advantaged accounts such as 401(k) plans or Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs). The after-tax returns are shown only for Class A shares and will vary for other share classes.
Average Annual Total Returns
The Fund’s performance prior to July 2014 reflects returns achieved pursuant to different principal investment strategies. If the Fund’s current strategies had been in place for the prior periods, results shown may have been different.
The Fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) is no guarantee of how the Fund will perform in the future.
Updated performance information can be obtained by calling toll-free 800.345.6611 or visiting columbiathreadneedleus.com.
|
Year by Year Total Return (%)
as of December 31 Each Year* |
Best and Worst Quarterly Returns
During the Period Shown in the Bar Chart |
||
|
Best
|
1st Quarter 2012
|
23.37
%
|
|
Worst
|
3rd Quarter 2011
|
-21.27
%
|
|
| * | Year to Date return as of September 30, 2020: 28.40% |
| 8 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
Average Annual Total Returns After Applicable Sales Charges (for periods ended December 31, 2019)
|
Share Class
Inception Date |
1 Year
|
5 Years
|
10 Years
|
|
|
Class A
|
11/01/2002 | |||
| returns before taxes | 33.85% | 18.59% | 17.62% | |
| returns after taxes on distributions | 33.44% | 17.84% | 17.07% | |
| returns after taxes on distributions and sale of Fund shares | 20.32% | 14.91% | 14.90% | |
|
Class Adv
returns before taxes
|
11/08/2012 | 42.38% | 20.30% | 18.61% |
|
Class C
returns before taxes
|
10/13/2003 | 39.95% | 19.10% | 17.42% |
|
Class Inst
returns before taxes
|
11/09/2000 | 42.39% | 20.30% | 18.61% |
|
Class Inst2
returns before taxes
|
11/08/2012 | 42.49% | 20.42% | 18.71% |
|
Class Inst3
returns before taxes
|
03/01/2016 | 42.56% | 20.43% | 18.67% |
|
S&P Global 1200 Information Technology Index (Net)
(reflects reinvested dividends net of withholding taxes but reflects no deductions for fees, expenses or other taxes)
|
47.74% | 18.67% | 15.62% |
Fund Management
|
Portfolio Manager
|
Title
|
Role with Fund
|
Managed Fund Since
|
|||
| Rahul Narang | Senior Portfolio Manager | Portfolio Manager | 2012 |
Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares
You may purchase or redeem shares of the Fund on any business day by contacting the Fund in the ways described below:
|
Online
|
Regular Mail
|
Express Mail
|
By Telephone
|
|||
| columbiathreadneedleus.com/investor/ |
Columbia Management
Investment Services Corp. P.O. Box 219104 Kansas City, MO 64121-9104 |
Columbia Management
Investment Services Corp. c/o DST Asset Manager Solutions, Inc. 430 W 7
th
Street, Suite 219104
Kansas City, MO 64105-1407 |
800.422.3737 |
You may purchase shares and receive redemption proceeds by electronic funds transfer, by check or by wire. If you maintain your account with a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary, you must contact that financial intermediary to buy, sell or exchange shares of the Fund through your account with the intermediary.
The minimum initial investment amounts for the share classes offered by the Fund are shown below:
Minimum Initial Investment
|
Class
|
Category of eligible account
|
For accounts other than
systematic investment plan accounts |
For systematic investment
plan accounts |
|
Classes A & C
|
All accounts other than IRAs | $2,000 | $100 |
| IRAs | $1,000 | $100 | |
|
Classes Adv & Inst
|
All eligible accounts |
$0, $1,000 or $2,000
depending upon the category of eligible investor |
$100 |
|
Class Inst2
|
All eligible accounts | None | N/A |
| Prospectus 2021 | 9 |
Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
|
Class
|
Category of eligible account
|
For accounts other than
systematic investment plan accounts |
For systematic investment
plan accounts |
|
Class Inst3
|
All eligible accounts |
$0, $1,000, $2,000
or $1 million depending upon the category of eligible investor |
$100 (for certain
eligible investors) |
More information about these minimums can be found in the
section of the prospectus. There is no minimum additional investment for any share class.
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares - Buying Shares
Tax Information
The Fund normally distributes net investment income and net realized capital gains, if any, to shareholders. These distributions are generally taxable to you as ordinary income, qualified dividend income or capital gains, unless you are investing through a tax-advantaged account, such as a 401(k) plan or an IRA. If you are investing through a tax-advantaged account, you may be taxed upon withdrawals from that account.
Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
If you purchase the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), the Fund and its related companies — including Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC (the Investment Manager), Columbia Management Investment Distributors, Inc. (the Distributor) and Columbia Management Investment Services Corp. (the Transfer Agent) — may pay the intermediary for the sale of Fund shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your financial advisor to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your financial advisor or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.
| 10 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund
More Information About the Fund
Investment Objective
Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund (the Fund) seeks capital appreciation by investing, under normal market conditions, at least 80% of its total net assets (plus any borrowings for investment purposes) in stocks of technology companies that may benefit from technological improvements, advancements or developments. Only shareholders can change the Fund’s investment objective. Because any investment involves risk, there is no assurance the Fund’s investment objective will be achieved.
Principal Investment Strategies
Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets (including the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes) in equity securities (including, but not limited to, common stocks, preferred stocks and securities convertible into common or preferred stocks) of technology companies that may benefit from technological improvements, advancements or developments. For these purposes, technology companies are those companies that, in the opinion of the Fund’s investment manager, use technology extensively to improve their business processes, applications and opportunities or seek to grow through technological developments and innovations. Technology companies include companies in technology-related industries or sectors, such as the information technology, communications, healthcare, media, consumer electronics, semi-conductor, internet commerce and advertising, environmental, aerospace and defense industries and sectors. The Fund may invest in companies that have market capitalizations of any size and may invest a significant amount of its assets in smaller companies.
Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 40% of its net assets in companies that maintain their principal place of business or conduct their principal business activities outside the U.S., companies that have their securities traded on non-U.S. exchanges, companies that have been formed under the laws of non-U.S. countries or foreign currencies. The Fund considers a company to conduct its principal business activities outside the U.S. if it derives at least 50% of its revenue or profits from business outside the U.S. or has at least 50% of its sales or assets outside the U.S. From time to time, the Fund may be below this 40% level and, in such circumstances, the Fund will endeavor to invest its assets to bring the Fund’s net assets above this 40% level while giving due regard to the Investment Manager’s view of market and other conditions and available investment opportunities.
Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 25% of the value of its total net assets at the time of purchase in the securities of issuers conducting their principal business activities in the technology and related group of industries.
The Fund invests primarily in common stocks of companies that the investment manager believes have the potential for long-term growth.
The Fund’s investment strategy may involve the frequent trading of portfolio securities. The Fund may invest directly in foreign securities or indirectly through depositary receipts. Depositary receipts are receipts issued by a bank or trust company reflecting ownership of underlying securities issued by foreign companies.
Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC (the Investment Manager) evaluates a number of factors in identifying investment opportunities and constructing the Fund’s portfolio.
The Investment Manager considers, among other factors:
| ■ | companies that have or that the Investment Manager believes will develop products, processes or services that will provide significant technological improvements, advances or developments. |
| ■ | companies that the Investment Manager expects to benefit from their extensive reliance on technology in connection with their operations and services. |
| ■ | companies from technology-related industries and other industries that may benefit from technological developments. |
| ■ | companies in all stages of corporate development, ranging from new companies developing a promising technology or scientific advancement to established companies with a record of producing breakthrough products and technologies from research and development efforts. |
| Prospectus 2021 | 11 |
Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
The Investment Manager may sell a security when the security’s price reaches a target set by the Investment Manager; if the Investment Manager believes that there is deterioration in the issuer’s financial circumstances or fundamental prospects; if other investments are more attractive; or for other reasons.
The Fund’s investment policy with respect to 80% of its net assets may not be changed without shareholder approval.
Principal Risks
An investment in the Fund involves risks, including
,
and
, among others. Descriptions of these and other principal risks of investing in the Fund are provided below.
. The value of the Fund’s holdings may decline, and the Fund’s net asset value (NAV) and share price may go down. An investment in the Fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency.
Foreign Securities Risk
Sector Risk
Market Risk
There is no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objective and you may lose money
Active Management Risk.
The Fund is actively managed and its performance therefore will reflect, in part, the ability of the portfolio manager to make investment decisions that seek to achieve the Fund’s investment objective. Due to its active management, the Fund could underperform its benchmark index and/or other funds with similar investment objectives and/or strategies.
Convertible Securities Risk.
Convertible securities are subject to the usual risks associated with debt instruments, such as interest rate risk (the risk of losses attributable to changes in interest rates) and credit risk (the risk that the issuer of a debt instrument will default or otherwise become unable, or be perceived to be unable or unwilling, to honor a financial obligation, such as making payments to the Fund when due). Convertible securities also react to changes in the value of the common stock into which they convert, and are thus subject to market risk (the risk that the market values of securities or other investments that the Fund holds will fall, sometimes rapidly or unpredictably, or fail to rise). Because the value of a convertible security can be influenced by both interest rates and the common stock's market movements, a convertible security generally is not as sensitive to interest rates as a similar debt instrument, and generally will not vary in value in response to other factors to the same extent as the underlying common stock. In the event of a liquidation of the issuing company, holders of convertible securities would typically be paid before the company's common stockholders but after holders of any senior debt obligations of the company. The Fund may be forced to convert a convertible security before it otherwise would choose to do so, which may decrease the Fund's return.
Depositary Receipts Risk.
Depositary receipts are receipts issued by a bank or trust company reflecting ownership of underlying securities issued by foreign companies. Some foreign securities are traded in the form of American Depositary Receipts and/or Global Depositary Receipts. Depositary receipts involve risks similar to the risks associated with investments in foreign securities, including those associated with investing in the particular country of an issuer, which may be related to the particular political, regulatory, economic, social and other conditions or events, including, for example, military confrontations, war, terrorism and disease/virus outbreaks and epidemics, occurring in the country and fluctuations in such country’s currency, as well as market risk tied to the underlying foreign company. In addition, holders of depositary receipts may have limited voting rights, may not have the same rights afforded to stockholders of a typical domestic company in the event of a corporate action, such as an acquisition, merger or rights offering, and may experience difficulty in receiving company stockholder communications. There is no guarantee that a financial institution will continue to sponsor a depositary receipt, or that a depositary receipt will continue to trade on an exchange, either of which could adversely affect the liquidity, availability and pricing of the depositary receipt. Changes in foreign currency exchange rates will affect the value of depositary receipts and, therefore, may affect the value of your investment in the Fund.
Foreign Securities Risk.
Investments in or exposure to foreign securities involve certain risks not associated with investments in or exposure to securities of U.S. companies. For example, foreign markets can be extremely volatile. Foreign securities may also be less liquid, making them more difficult to trade, than securities of U.S. companies so that the Fund may, at times, be unable to sell foreign securities at desirable times or prices. Brokerage commissions, custodial costs and other fees are also generally higher for foreign securities. The Fund may have limited or no legal recourse in the event of default with respect to certain foreign securities, including those issued by foreign
| 12 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
governments. In addition, foreign governments may impose withholding or other taxes on the Fund’s income, capital gains or proceeds from the disposition of foreign securities, which could reduce the Fund’s return on such securities. In some cases, such withholding or other taxes could potentially be confiscatory. Other risks include: possible delays in the settlement of transactions or in the payment of income; generally less publicly available information about foreign companies; the impact of economic, political, social, diplomatic or other conditions or events (including, for example, military confrontations, war, terrorism and disease/virus outbreaks and epidemics), possible seizure, expropriation or nationalization of a company or its assets or the assets of a particular investor or category of investors; accounting, auditing and financial reporting standards that may be less comprehensive and stringent than those applicable to domestic companies; the imposition of economic and other sanctions against a particular foreign country, its nationals or industries or businesses within the country; and the generally less stringent standard of care to which local agents may be held in the local markets. In addition, it may be difficult to obtain reliable information about the securities and business operations of certain foreign issuers. Governments or trade groups may compel local agents to hold securities in designated depositories that are not subject to independent evaluation. The less developed a country’s securities market is, the greater the level of risks. The risks posed by sanctions against a particular foreign country, its nationals or industries or businesses within the country may be heightened to the extent the Fund invests significantly in the affected country or region or in issuers from the affected country that depend on global markets. Additionally, investments in certain countries may subject the Fund to a number of tax rules, the application of which may be uncertain. Countries may amend or revise their existing tax laws, regulations and/or procedures in the future, possibly with retroactive effect. Changes in or uncertainties regarding the laws, regulations or procedures of a country could reduce the after-tax profits of the Fund, directly or indirectly, including by reducing the after-tax profits of companies located in such countries in which the Fund invests, or result in unexpected tax liabilities for the Fund. The performance of the Fund may also be negatively affected by fluctuations in a foreign currency's strength or weakness relative to the U.S. dollar, particularly to the extent the Fund invests a significant percentage of its assets in foreign securities or other assets denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar. Currency rates in foreign countries may fluctuate significantly over short or long periods of time for a number of reasons, including changes in interest rates, imposition of currency exchange controls and economic or political developments in the U.S. or abroad. The Fund may also incur currency conversion costs when converting foreign currencies into U.S. dollars and vice versa.
Frequent Trading Risk.
The portfolio manager may actively and frequently trade investments in the Fund's portfolio to carry out its investment strategies. Frequent trading of investments increases the possibility that the Fund, as relevant, will realize taxable capital gains (including short-term capital gains, which are generally taxable to shareholders at higher rates than long-term capital gains for U.S. federal income tax purposes), which could reduce the Fund's after-tax return. Frequent trading can also mean higher brokerage and other transaction costs, which could reduce the Fund's return. The trading costs and tax effects associated with portfolio turnover may adversely affect the Fund’s performance.
Growth Securities Risk.
Growth securities typically trade at a higher multiple of earnings than other types of equity securities. Accordingly, the market values of growth securities may never reach their expected market value and may decline in price. In addition, growth securities, at times, may not perform as well as value securities or the stock market in general, and may be out of favor with investors for varying periods of time.
Issuer Risk.
An issuer in which the Fund invests or to which it has exposure may perform poorly or below expectations, and the value of its securities may therefore decline, which may negatively affect the Fund’s performance. Underperformance of an issuer may be caused by poor management decisions, competitive pressures, breakthroughs in technology, reliance on suppliers, labor problems or shortages, corporate restructurings, fraudulent disclosures, natural disasters, military confrontations, war, terrorism, disease/virus outbreaks, epidemics or other events, conditions and factors which may impair the value of an investment in the Fund.
Small- and Mid-Cap Stock Risk.
Securities of small- and mid-cap companies can, in certain circumstances, have a higher potential for gains than securities of larger companies but are more likely to have more risk than larger companies. For example, small- and mid-cap companies may be more vulnerable to market downturns and adverse business or economic events than larger companies because they may have more limited financial resources and business operations. Small- and mid-cap companies are also more likely than larger companies to have more limited
| Prospectus 2021 | 13 |
Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
product lines and operating histories and to depend on smaller and generally less experienced management teams. Securities of small- and mid-cap companies may trade less frequently and in smaller volumes and may be less liquid and fluctuate more sharply in value than securities of larger companies. When the Fund takes significant positions in small- and mid-cap companies with limited trading volumes, the liquidation of those positions, particularly in a distressed market, could be prolonged and result in Fund investment losses that would affect the value of your investment in the Fund. In addition, some small- and mid-cap companies may not be widely followed by the investment community, which can lower the demand for their stocks.
Large-Cap Stock Risk.
Investments in larger companies may involve certain risks associated with their larger size. For instance, larger companies may be less able to respond quickly to new competitive challenges, such as changes in consumer tastes or innovation from smaller competitors. Also, larger companies are sometimes less able to achieve as high growth rates as successful smaller companies, especially during extended periods of economic expansion.
Liquidity Risk.
Liquidity risk is the risk associated with any event, circumstance, or characteristic of an investment or market that negatively impacts the Fund’s ability to sell, or realize the proceeds from the sale of, an investment at a desirable time or price. Liquidity risk may arise because of, for example, a lack of marketability of the investment, which means that when seeking to sell its portfolio investments, the Fund could find that selling is more difficult than anticipated, especially during times of high market volatility. Market participants attempting to sell the same or a similar instrument at the same time as the Fund could exacerbate the Fund’s exposure to liquidity risk. The Fund may have to accept a lower selling price for the holding, sell other liquid or more liquid investments that it might otherwise prefer to hold (thereby increasing the proportion of the Fund’s investments in less liquid or illiquid securities), or forego another more appealing investment opportunity. The liquidity of Fund investments may change significantly over time and certain investments that were liquid when purchased by the Fund may later become illiquid, particularly in times of overall economic distress. Changing regulatory, market or other conditions or environments (for example, the interest rate or credit environments) may also adversely affect the liquidity and the price of the Fund's investments. Judgment plays a larger role in valuing illiquid or less liquid investments as compared to valuing liquid or more liquid investments. Price volatility may be higher for illiquid or less liquid investments as a result of, for example, the relatively less frequent pricing of such securities (as compared to liquid or more liquid investments). Generally, the less liquid the market at the time the Fund sells a portfolio investment, the greater the risk of loss or decline of value to the Fund. Overall market liquidity and other factors can lead to an increase in redemptions, which may negatively impact Fund performance and NAV, including, for example, if the Fund is forced to sell investments in a down market. Foreign securities can present enhanced liquidity risks, including as a result of less developed custody, settlement or other practices of foreign markets.
Market Risk.
The Fund may incur losses due to declines in the value of one or more securities in which it invests. These declines may be due to factors affecting a particular issuer, or the result of, among other things, political, regulatory, market, economic or social developments affecting the relevant market(s) more generally. In addition, turbulence in financial markets and reduced liquidity in equity, credit and/or fixed income markets may negatively affect many issuers, which could adversely affect the Fund, including causing difficulty in assigning prices to hard-to-value assets in thinly traded and closed markets, significant redemptions and operational challenges. Global economies and financial markets are increasingly interconnected, and conditions and events in one country, region or financial market may adversely impact issuers in a different country, region or financial market. These risks may be magnified if certain events or developments adversely interrupt the global supply chain; in these and other circumstances, such risks might affect companies worldwide. As a result, local, regional or global events such as terrorism, war, natural disasters, disease/virus outbreaks and epidemics or other public health issues, recessions, depressions or other events – or the potential for such events – could have a significant negative impact on global economic and market conditions.
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) public health crisis has become a pandemic that has resulted in, and may continue to result in, significant global economic and societal disruption and market volatility due to disruptions in market access, resource availability, facilities operations, imposition of tariffs, export controls and supply chain disruption, among others. Such disruptions may be caused, or exacerbated by, quarantines and travel restrictions, workforce displacement and loss in human and other resources. The uncertainty surrounding the magnitude,
| 14 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
duration, reach, costs and effects of the global pandemic, as well as actions that have been or could be taken by governmental authorities or other third parties, present unknowns that are yet to unfold. The impacts, as well as the uncertainty over impacts to come, of COVID-19 – and any other infectious illness outbreaks, epidemics and pandemics that may arise in the future – could negatively affect global economies and markets in ways that cannot necessarily be foreseen. In addition, the impact of infectious illness outbreaks and epidemics in emerging market countries may be greater due to generally less established healthcare systems, governments and financial markets. Public health crises caused by the COVID-19 outbreak may exacerbate other pre-existing political, social and economic risks in certain countries or globally. The disruptions caused by COVID-19 could prevent the Fund from executing advantageous investment decisions in a timely manner and negatively impact the Fund’s ability to achieve its investment objective. Any such event(s) could have a significant adverse impact on the value and risk profile of the Fund.
Sector Risk.
At times, the Fund may have a significant portion of its assets invested in securities of companies conducting business within one or more economic sectors, including the information technology sector. Companies in the same sector may be similarly affected by economic, regulatory, political or market events or conditions, which may make the Fund more vulnerable to unfavorable developments in that sector than funds that invest more broadly. Generally, the more broadly the Fund invests, the more it spreads risk and potentially reduces the risks of loss and volatility.
Information Technology Sector.
The Fund may be more susceptible to the particular risks that may affect companies in the information technology sector than if it were invested in a wider variety of companies in unrelated sectors. Companies in the information technology sector are subject to certain risks, including the risk that new services, equipment or technologies will not be accepted by consumers and businesses or will become rapidly obsolete. Performance of such companies may be affected by factors including obtaining and protecting patents (or the failure to do so) and significant competitive pressures, including aggressive pricing of their products or services, new market entrants, competition for market share and short product cycles due to an accelerated rate of technological developments. Such competitive pressures may lead to limited earnings and/or falling profit margins. As a result, the value of their securities may fall or fail to rise. In addition, many information technology sector companies have limited operating histories and prices of these companies’ securities historically have been more volatile than other securities, especially over the short term.
Additional Investment Strategies and Policies
This section describes certain investment strategies and policies that the Fund may utilize in pursuit of its investment objective and some additional factors and risks involved with investing in the Fund.
Investment Guidelines
As a general matter, and except as specifically described in the discussion of the Fund's principal investment strategies in this prospectus or as otherwise required by the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the 1940 Act), the rules and regulations thereunder and any applicable exemptive relief, whenever an investment policy or limitation states a percentage of the Fund's assets that may be invested in any security or other asset or sets forth a policy regarding an investment standard, compliance with that percentage limitation or standard will be determined solely at the time of the Fund's investment in the security or asset.
Holding Other Kinds of Investments
The Fund may hold other investments that are not part of its principal investment strategies. These investments and their risks are described below and/or in the SAI. The Fund may choose not to invest in certain securities described in this prospectus and in the SAI, although it has the ability to do so. Information on the Fund’s holdings can be found in the Fund’s shareholder reports or by visiting columbiathreadneedleus.com.
Transactions in Derivatives
The Fund may enter into derivative transactions or otherwise have exposure to derivative transactions through underlying investments. Derivatives are financial contracts whose values are, for example, based on (or “derived” from) traditional securities (such as a stock or bond), assets (such as a commodity like gold or a foreign currency),
| Prospectus 2021 | 15 |
Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
reference rates (such as the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (commonly known as SOFR) or the London Interbank Offered Rate (commonly known as LIBOR)) or market indices (such as the Standard & Poor’s 500
®
Index). The use of derivatives is a highly specialized activity which involves investment techniques and risks different from those associated with ordinary portfolio securities transactions. Derivatives involve special risks and may result in losses or may limit the Fund’s potential gain from favorable market movements. Derivative strategies often involve leverage, which may exaggerate a loss, potentially causing the Fund to lose more money than it would have lost had it invested in the underlying security or other asset directly. The values of derivatives may move in unexpected ways, especially in unusual market conditions, and may result in increased volatility in the value of the derivative and/or the Fund’s shares, among other consequences. The use of derivatives may also increase the amount of taxes payable by shareholders holding shares in a taxable account. Other risks arise from the Fund’s potential inability to terminate or to sell derivative positions. A liquid secondary market may not always exist for the Fund’s derivative positions at times when the Fund might wish to terminate or to sell such positions. Over-the-counter instruments (investments not traded on an exchange) may be illiquid, and transactions in derivatives traded in the over-the-counter market are subject to the risk that the other party will not meet its obligations. The use of derivatives also involves the risks of mispricing or improper valuation and that changes in the value of the derivative may not correlate perfectly with the underlying security, asset, reference rate or index. The Fund also may not be able to find a suitable derivative transaction counterparty, and thus may be unable to engage in derivative transactions when it is deemed favorable to do so, or at all. U.S. federal legislation has been enacted that provides for new clearing, margin, reporting and registration requirements for participants in the derivatives market. These changes could restrict and/or impose significant costs or other burdens upon the Fund’s participation in derivatives transactions. For more information on the risks of derivative investments and strategies, see the SAI.
LIBOR Phase-Out Risk.
Many derivatives and other financial instruments utilize or are permitted to utilize a floating interest rate based on LIBOR. On July 27, 2017, the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority announced its intention to phase out the use of LIBOR by the end of 2021. More recently, in November 2020, Ice Benchmark Administrator (IBA) has announced its intention to consult on (i) the cessation of four LIBOR currencies (GBP, EUR, JPY and CHF) after the end of 2021 and (ii) on the cessation of the major USD LIBOR tenors (overnight, 1M, 3M, 6M and 12M) in mid-2023 and the cessation of the 1 week and 2M USD LIBOR by the end of 2021. IBA will make separate announcements following the outcome of the consultations. The interest rate benchmark(s) that will replace LIBOR in the capital markets remains uncertain, and the overall economic impact of the transition away from LIBOR cannot yet be determined. The Investment Manager monitors the Fund’s LIBOR exposure risks, including the extent to which any derivative and/or debt investments allow for the utilization of alternative rate(s) to LIBOR.
Affiliated Fund Investing
The Investment Manager or an affiliate serves as investment adviser to funds using the Columbia brand (Columbia Funds), including those that are structured as “fund-of-funds”, and provides asset-allocation services to (i) shareholders by investing in shares of other Columbia Funds, which may include the Fund (collectively referred to in this section as Underlying Funds), and (ii) discretionary managed accounts (collectively referred to as affiliated products) that invest exclusively in Underlying Funds. These affiliated products, individually or collectively, may own a significant percentage of the outstanding shares of one or more Underlying Funds, and the Investment Manager seeks to balance potential conflicts of interest between the affiliated products and the Underlying Funds in which they invest. The affiliated products’ investment in the Underlying Funds may have the effect of creating economies of scale, possibly resulting in lower expense ratios for the Underlying Funds, because the affiliated products may own substantial portions of the shares of Underlying Funds. However, redemption of Underlying Fund shares by one or more affiliated products could cause the expense ratio of an Underlying Fund to increase, as its fixed costs would be spread over a smaller asset base. Because of large positions of certain affiliated products, the Underlying Funds may experience relatively large inflows and outflows of cash due to affiliated products’ purchases and sales of Underlying Fund shares. Although the Investment Manager or its affiliate may seek to minimize the impact of these transactions where possible, for example, by structuring them over a reasonable period of time or through other measures, Underlying Funds may experience increased expenses as they buy and sell portfolio securities to manage the cash flow effect related to these transactions. Further, when the Investment Manager or its affiliate structures transactions over a reasonable period of time in order to manage the potential impact of the buy and sell decisions
| 16 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
for the affiliated products, those affiliated products, including funds-of-funds, may pay more or less (for purchase activity), or receive more or less (for redemption activity), for shares of the Underlying Funds than if the transactions were executed in one transaction. In addition, substantial redemptions by affiliated products within a short period of time could require the Underlying Fund to liquidate positions more rapidly than would otherwise be desirable, which may have the effect of reducing or eliminating potential gain or causing it to realize a loss. In order to meet such redemptions, an Underlying Fund may be forced to sell its liquid (or more liquid) positions, leaving the Underlying Fund holding, post-redemption, a relatively larger position in illiquid investments (i.e., any investment that the Fund reasonably expects cannot be sold or disposed of in current market conditions in seven calendar days or less without the sale or disposition significantly changing the market value of the investment) or less liquid securities. Substantial redemptions may also adversely affect the ability of the Underlying Fund to implement its investment strategy. The Investment Manager or its affiliate also has a conflict of interest in determining the allocation of affiliated products’ assets among the Underlying Funds, as it earns different fees from the various Underlying Funds.
Investing in Money Market Funds
The Fund may invest cash in, or hold as collateral for certain investments, shares of registered or unregistered money market funds, including funds advised by the Investment Manager or its affiliates. These funds are not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) or any other government agency. The Fund and its shareholders indirectly bear a portion of the expenses of any money market fund or other fund in which the Fund may invest.
Lending of Portfolio Securities
The Fund may lend portfolio securities to broker-dealers or other financial intermediaries on a fully collateralized basis in order to earn additional income. The Fund may lose money from securities lending if, for example, it is delayed in or prevented from selling the collateral after the loan is made or recovering the securities loaned or if it incurs losses on the reinvestment of cash collateral.
The Fund currently does not participate in the securities lending program but the Board of Trustees (the Board) may determine to renew participation in the future. For more information on lending of portfolio securities and the risks involved, see the SAI and the annual and semiannual reports to shareholders.
Investing Defensively
The Fund may from time to time take temporary defensive investment positions that may be inconsistent with the Fund’s principal investment strategies in attempting to respond to adverse market, economic, political, social or other conditions, including, without limitation, investing some or all of its assets in money market instruments or shares of affiliated or unaffiliated money market funds or holding some or all of its assets in cash or cash equivalents. The Fund may take such defensive investment positions for as long a period as deemed necessary.
The Fund may not achieve its investment objective while it is investing defensively. Investing defensively may adversely affect Fund performance. During these times, the portfolio manager may make frequent portfolio holding changes, which could result in increased trading expenses and taxes, and decreased Fund performance. See also
above for more information.
Investing in Money Market Funds
Other Strategic and Investment Measures
The Fund may also from time to time take temporary portfolio positions that may or may not be consistent with the Fund’s principal investment strategies in attempting to respond to adverse market, economic, political, social or other conditions, including, without limitation, investing in derivatives, such as forward contracts, futures contracts, options, structured investments and swaps, for various purposes, including among others, investing in particular derivatives in seeking to reduce investment exposures, or in seeking to achieve indirect investment exposures, to a sector, country, region or currency where the Investment Manager believes such positioning is appropriate. The Fund may take such portfolio positions for as long a period as deemed necessary. While the Fund is so positioned, derivatives could comprise a substantial portion of the Fund’s investments and the Fund may not achieve its investment objective. Investing in this manner may adversely affect Fund performance. During these times, the
| Prospectus 2021 | 17 |
Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
portfolio manager may make frequent portfolio holding changes, which could result in increased trading expenses and taxes, and decreased Fund performance. For information on the risks of investing in derivatives, see
above.
Transactions in Derivatives
Portfolio Holdings Disclosure
The Board has adopted policies and procedures that govern the timing and circumstances of disclosure to shareholders and third parties of information regarding the securities owned by the Fund. A description of these policies and procedures is included in the SAI. Fund policy generally permits the disclosure of portfolio holdings information on the Fund's website (columbiathreadneedleus.com) only after a certain amount of time has passed, as described in the SAI.
Purchases and sales of portfolio securities can take place at any time, so the portfolio holdings information available on the Fund's website may not always be current.
FUNDamentals
Portfolio Holdings Versus the Benchmarks
The Fund does not limit its investments to the securities within its benchmark(s), and accordingly the Fund's holdings may diverge significantly from those of its benchmark(s). In addition, the Fund may invest in securities outside any industry and geographic sectors represented in its benchmark(s). The Fund's weightings in individual securities, and in industry or geographic sectors, may also vary considerably from those of its benchmark(s).
eDelivery and Mailings to Households
In order to reduce shareholder expenses, the Fund may mail only one copy of the Fund’s prospectus and each annual and semiannual report to those addresses shared by two or more accounts. If you wish to receive separate copies of these documents, call 800.345.6611 or, if your shares are held through a financial intermediary, contact your intermediary directly. Additionally, you may elect to enroll in eDelivery to receive electronic versions of these documents, as well as quarterly statements and supplements, by logging into your account at columbiathreadneedleus.com/investor/.
Cash Flows
The timing and magnitude of cash inflows from investors buying Fund shares could prevent the Fund from always being fully invested. Conversely, the timing and magnitude of cash outflows to shareholders redeeming Fund shares could require the Fund to sell portfolio securities at less than opportune times or to hold ready reserves of uninvested cash in amounts larger than might otherwise be the case to meet shareholder redemptions. Either situation could adversely impact the Fund’s performance.
Understanding Annual Fund Operating Expenses
The Fund’s annual operating expenses, as presented in the
table in the
section of this prospectus, generally are based on expenses incurred during the Fund’s most recently completed fiscal year, may vary by share class and are expressed as a percentage (expense ratio) of the Fund’s average net assets during that fiscal year. The expense ratios reflect the Fund’s fee arrangements as of the date of this prospectus and, unless indicated otherwise, are based on expenses incurred during the Fund’s most recent fiscal year. The Fund’s assets will fluctuate, but unless indicated otherwise in the
table, no adjustments have been or will be made to the expense ratios to reflect any differences in the Fund’s average net assets between the most recently completed fiscal year and the date of this prospectus or a later date. In general, the Fund’s expense ratios will increase as its net assets decrease, such that the Fund’s actual expense ratios may be higher than the expense ratios presented in the
table if assets fall. As applicable, any commitment by the Investment Manager and/or its affiliates to waive fees and/or cap (reimburse) expenses is expected, in part, to limit the impact of any increase in the Fund’s expense ratios that would
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
Fees and Expenses of the Fund
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
| 18 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
otherwise result because of a decrease in the Fund’s assets in the current fiscal year. The Fund’s annual operating expenses are comprised of (i) investment management fees, (ii) distribution and/or service fees, and (iii) other expenses. Management fees do not vary by class, but distribution and/or service fees and other expenses may vary by class.
FUNDamentals
Other Expenses
“Other expenses” consist of the fees the Fund pays to its custodian, transfer agent, auditors, lawyers and trustees, costs relating to compliance and miscellaneous expenses. Generally, these expenses are allocated on a pro rata basis across all share classes. These fees include certain sub-transfer agency and shareholder servicing fees. Transfer agency fees and certain shareholder servicing fees, however, are class specific. They differ by share class because the shareholder services provided to each share class may be different. Accordingly, the differences in “other expenses” among share classes are primarily the result of the different transfer agency and shareholder servicing fees applicable to each share class. For more information on these fees, see
Choosing a Share Class — Financial Intermediary Compensation.
Fee Waiver/Expense Reimbursement Arrangements and Impact on Past Performance
The Investment Manager and certain of its affiliates have contractually agreed to waive fees and/or reimburse expenses (excluding certain fees and expenses described below) through December 31, 2021, unless sooner terminated at the sole discretion of the Fund's Board, so that the Fund’s net operating expenses, after giving effect to fees waived/expenses reimbursed and any balance credits and/or overdraft charges from the Fund’s custodian, do not exceed the annual rates of:
|
Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund
|
|
| Class A | 1.38% |
| Class Adv | 1.13% |
| Class C | 2.13% |
| Class Inst | 1.13% |
| Class Inst2 | 1.07% |
| Class Inst3 | 1.02% |
Under the agreement, the following fees and expenses are excluded from the Fund’s operating expenses when calculating the waiver/reimbursement commitment, and therefore will be paid by the Fund, if applicable: taxes (including foreign transaction taxes), expenses associated with investment in affiliated and non-affiliated pooled investment vehicles (including mutual funds and exchange-traded funds), transaction costs and brokerage commissions, costs related to any securities lending program, dividend expenses associated with securities sold short, inverse floater program fees and expenses, transaction charges and interest on borrowed money, interest, infrequent and/or unusual expenses and any other expenses the exclusion of which is specifically approved by the Fund’s Board. This agreement may be modified or amended only with approval from all parties.
Effect of Fee Waivers and/or Expense Reimbursements on Past Performance.
The Fund’s returns shown in the
Performance Information
section of this prospectus reflect the effect of any fee waivers and/or reimbursements of Fund expenses by the Investment Manager and/or any of its affiliates and any predecessor firms that were in place during the performance period shown. Without such fee waivers/expense reimbursements, the Fund’s returns might have been lower.
| Prospectus 2021 | 19 |
Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
Primary Service Providers
The Fund enters into contractual arrangements (Service Provider Contracts) with various service providers, including, among others, the Investment Manager, the Distributor, the Transfer Agent and the Fund’s custodian. The Fund’s Service Provider Contracts are solely among the parties thereto. Shareholders are not parties to, or intended to be third-party beneficiaries of, any Service Provider Contracts. Further, this prospectus, the SAI and any Service Provider Contracts are not intended to give rise to any agreement, duty, special relationship or other obligation between the Fund and any investor, or give rise to any contractual, tort or other rights in any individual shareholder, group of shareholders or other person, including any right to assert a fiduciary or other duty, enforce the Service Provider Contracts against the parties or to seek any remedy thereunder, either directly or on behalf of the Fund. Nothing in the previous sentence should be read to suggest any waiver of any rights under federal or state securities laws.
The Investment Manager, the Distributor, and the Transfer Agent are all affiliates of Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (Ameriprise Financial). They and their affiliates currently provide key services, including investment advisory, administration, distribution, shareholder servicing and transfer agency services, to the Fund and various other funds, including the Columbia Funds, and are paid for providing these services. These service relationships are described below.
The Investment Manager
Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC is located at 225 Franklin Street, Boston, MA 02110 and serves as investment adviser and administrator to the Columbia Funds. The Investment Manager is a registered investment adviser and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ameriprise Financial. The Investment Manager’s management experience covers all major asset classes, including equity securities, debt instruments and money market instruments. In addition to serving as an investment adviser to traditional mutual funds, exchange-traded funds and closed-end funds, the Investment Manager acts as an investment adviser for itself, its affiliates, individuals, corporations, retirement plans, private investment companies and financial intermediaries.
Subject to oversight by the Board, the Investment Manager manages the day-to-day operations of the Fund, determining what securities and other investments the Fund should buy or sell and executing portfolio transactions. The Investment Manager may use the research and other capabilities of its affiliates and third parties in managing the Fund’s investments. The Investment Manager is also responsible for overseeing the administrative operations of the Fund, including the general supervision of the Fund’s operations, the coordination of the Fund’s other service providers and the provision of related clerical and administrative services.
The SEC has issued an order that permits the Investment Manager, subject to the approval of the Board, to appoint unaffiliated subadvisers by entering into subadvisory agreements with them, and to change in material respects the terms of those subadvisory agreements, including the fees paid thereunder, for the Fund without first obtaining shareholder approval, thereby avoiding the expense and delays typically associated with obtaining shareholder approval. The Fund furnishes shareholders with information about new subadvisers retained in reliance on the order within 90 days after hiring the subadviser. The Investment Manager and its affiliates may have other relationships, including significant financial relationships, with current or potential subadvisers or their affiliates, which may create certain conflicts of interest. When making recommendations to the Board to appoint or to change a subadviser, or to change the terms of a subadvisory agreement, the Investment Manager discloses to the Board the nature of any such material relationships. At present, the Investment Manager has not engaged any investment subadviser for the Fund.
The Fund pays the Investment Manager a fee for its management services, which include investment advisory services and administrative services. The fee is calculated as a percentage of the daily net assets of the Fund and is paid monthly. For the Fund’s most recent fiscal year, management services fees paid to the Investment Manager by the Fund amounted to 0.81% of average daily net assets of the Fund, before any applicable reimbursements.
A discussion regarding the basis for the Board’s approval of the renewal of the Fund's management agreement is available in the Fund’s annual report to shareholders for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2020.
| 20 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
Portfolio Manager
Information about the portfolio manager primarily responsible for overseeing the Fund’s investments is shown below. The SAI provides additional information about the portfolio manager, including information relating to compensation, other accounts managed by the portfolio manager, and ownership by the portfolio manager of Fund shares.
|
Portfolio Manager
|
Title
|
Role with Fund
|
Managed Fund Since
|
|||
| Rahul Narang | Senior Portfolio Manager | Portfolio Manager | 2012 |
Mr. Narang
joined the Investment Manager in 2012. Mr. Narang began his investment career in 1994 and earned a B.S. in business administration from California Polytechnic State University.
The Distributor
Shares of the Fund are distributed by Columbia Management Investment Distributors, Inc., which is located at 225 Franklin Street, Boston, MA 02110. The Distributor is a registered broker-dealer and an indirect, wholly-owned subsidiary of Ameriprise Financial. The Distributor and its affiliates may pay commissions, distribution and service fees and/or other compensation to entities, including Ameriprise Financial affiliates, for selling shares and providing services to investors.
The Transfer Agent
Columbia Management Investment Services Corp. is a registered transfer agent and wholly-owned subsidiary of Ameriprise Financial. The Transfer Agent is located at 225 Franklin Street, Boston, MA 02110, and its responsibilities include processing purchases, redemptions and exchanges of Fund shares, calculating and paying distributions, maintaining shareholder records, preparing account statements and providing customer service. The Transfer Agent has engaged DST Asset Manager Solutions, Inc. to provide various shareholder or “sub-transfer agency” services. In addition, the Transfer Agent enters into agreements with various financial intermediaries through which you may hold Fund shares, pursuant to which the Transfer Agent pays these financial intermediaries for providing certain shareholder services. Depending on the type of account, the Fund pays the Transfer Agent a per account fee or a fee based on the assets invested through omnibus accounts, and reimburses the Transfer Agent for certain out-of-pocket expenses, including certain payments to financial intermediaries through which shares are held.
Other Roles and Relationships of Ameriprise Financial and its Affiliates — Certain Conflicts of Interest
The Investment Manager, Distributor and Transfer Agent, all affiliates of Ameriprise Financial, provide various services to the Fund and other Columbia Funds for which they are compensated. Ameriprise Financial and its other affiliates may also provide other services to these funds and be compensated for them.
The Investment Manager and its affiliates may provide investment advisory and other services to other clients and customers substantially similar to those provided to the Columbia Funds. These activities, and other financial services activities of Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates, may present actual and potential conflicts of interest and introduce certain investment constraints.
Ameriprise Financial is a major financial services company, engaged in a broad range of financial activities beyond the fund-related activities of the Investment Manager, including, among others, insurance, broker-dealer (sales and trading), asset management, banking and other financial activities. These additional activities may involve multiple advisory, financial, insurance and other interests in securities and other instruments, and in companies that issue securities and other instruments, that may be bought, sold or held by the Columbia Funds.
Conflicts of interest and limitations that could affect a Columbia Fund may arise from, for example, the following:
| ■ | compensation and other benefits received by the Investment Manager and other Ameriprise Financial affiliates related to the management/administration of a Columbia Fund and the sale of its shares; |
| ■ | the allocation of, and competition for, investment opportunities among the Fund, other funds and accounts advised/managed by the Investment Manager and other Ameriprise Financial affiliates, or Ameriprise Financial itself and its affiliates; |
| Prospectus 2021 | 21 |
Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
| ■ | separate and potentially divergent management of a Columbia Fund and other funds and accounts advised/managed by the Investment Manager and other Ameriprise Financial affiliates; |
| ■ | regulatory and other investment restrictions on investment activities of the Investment Manager and other Ameriprise Financial affiliates and accounts advised/managed by them; |
| ■ | insurance and other relationships of Ameriprise Financial affiliates with companies and other entities in which a Columbia Fund invests; and |
| ■ | regulatory and other restrictions relating to the sharing of information between Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates, including the Investment Manager, and a Columbia Fund. |
The Investment Manager and Ameriprise Financial have adopted various policies and procedures that are intended to identify, monitor and address conflicts of interest. However, there is no assurance that these policies, procedures and disclosures will be effective.
Additional information about Ameriprise Financial and the types of conflicts of interest and other matters referenced above is set forth in the
section of the SAI. Investors in the Columbia Funds should carefully review these disclosures and consult with their financial advisor if they have any questions.
Investment Management and Other Services — Other Roles and Relationships of Ameriprise Financial and its Affiliates — Certain Conflicts of Interest
Certain Legal Matters
Ameriprise Financial and certain of its affiliates have historically been involved in a number of legal, arbitration and regulatory proceedings, including routine litigation, class actions and governmental actions, concerning matters arising in connection with the conduct of their business activities. Ameriprise Financial believes that the Fund is not currently the subject of, and that neither Ameriprise Financial nor any of its affiliates are the subject of, any pending legal, arbitration or regulatory proceedings that are likely to have a material adverse effect on the Fund or the ability of Ameriprise Financial or its affiliates to perform under their contracts with the Fund. Information regarding certain pending and settled legal proceedings may be found in the Fund’s shareholder reports and in the SAI. Additionally, Ameriprise Financial is required to make quarterly (10-Q), annual (10-K) and, as necessary, 8-K filings with the SEC on legal and regulatory matters that relate to Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates. Copies of these filings may be obtained by accessing the SEC website at sec.gov.
| 22 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund
Choosing a Share Class
The Funds
The Columbia Funds (referred to as the Funds) generally share the same policies and procedures for investor services, as described below. Each Fund is a series of Columbia Funds Series Trust (CFST), Columbia Funds Series Trust I (CFST I) or Columbia Funds Series Trust II (CFST II), and certain features of distribution and/or service plans may differ among these trusts. The Fund offered by this prospectus is a series of CFST I. Columbia Funds with names that include the words “Tax-Exempt” or “Municipal” (the Tax-Exempt Funds) have certain policies that differ from other Columbia Funds (the Taxable Funds). The Fund offered by this prospectus is treated as a Taxable Fund for these purposes.
Funds Contact Information
Additional information about the Funds, including sales charges and other class features and policies, can be obtained, free of charge, at columbiathreadneedleus.com,* by calling toll-free 800.345.6611, or by writing (regular mail) to Columbia Management Investment Services Corp., P.O. Box 219104, Kansas City, MO 64121-9104 or (express mail) Columbia Management Investment Services Corp., c/o DST Asset Manager Solutions, Inc., 430 W 7
th
Street, Ste 219104, Kansas City, MO 64105-1407.
| * | The website references in this prospectus are inactive links and information contained in or otherwise accessible through the referenced websites does not form a part of this prospectus. |
FUNDamentals
Financial Intermediaries
The term “financial intermediary” refers to the selling and servicing agents that are authorized to sell and/or service shares of the Funds. Financial intermediaries include broker-dealers and financial advisors as well as firms that employ broker-dealers and financial advisors, including, for example, brokerage firms, banks, investment advisers, third party administrators and other firms in the financial services industry.
Omnibus Accounts
The term “omnibus account” refers to a financial intermediary’s account with the Fund (held directly through the Transfer Agent) that represents the combined holdings of, and transactions in, Fund shares of one or more clients of the financial intermediary (beneficial Fund shareholders). Omnibus accounts are held in the name of the financial intermediaries and not in the name of the beneficial Fund shareholders invested in the Fund through omnibus accounts.
Retirement Plans and Omnibus Retirement Plans
The term “retirement plan” refers to retirement plans created under Sections 401(a), 401(k), 457 and 403(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the Code), and non-qualified deferred compensation plans governed by Section 409A of the Code and similar plans, but does not refer to individual retirement plans, such as traditional IRAs and Roth IRAs. The term “omnibus retirement plan” refers to a retirement plan that has a plan-level or omnibus account with the Transfer Agent.
Networked Accounts
Networking, offered by the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation’s Wealth Management Services (WMS), is the industry standard IT system for mutual fund account reconciliation and dividend processing.
Summary of Share Class Features
Each share class has its own investment eligibility criteria, cost structure and other features. You may not be eligible to invest in every share class. Your financial intermediary may not make every share class available or may cease to make available one or more share classes of the Fund. The share class you select through your financial intermediary may have higher fees and/or sales charges than other classes of shares available through other financial intermediaries. An investor transacting in a class of Fund shares without any front-end sales charge, contingent deferred sales charge (CDSC), or other asset-based fee for sales or distribution, such as a Rule 12b-1
| Prospectus 2021 | 23 |
Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
fee, may be required to pay a commission to the financial intermediary for effecting such transactions. Each investor’s personal situation is different and you may wish to discuss with your financial intermediary the share classes the Fund offers, which share classes are available to you and which share class(es) is/are appropriate for you. In all instances, it is your responsibility to notify your financial intermediary or (for Direct-at-Fund Accounts, as defined below) the Fund at the time of purchase of any relationship or other facts that may qualify you for sales charge waivers or discounts. The Fund, the Distributor and the Transfer Agent do not provide investment advice or make recommendations regarding Fund share classes. Your financial intermediary may provide advice and recommendations to you, such as which share class(es) is/are appropriate for you.
When deciding which class of shares to buy, you should consider, among other things:
| ■ | The amount you plan to invest. |
| ■ | How long you intend to remain invested in the Fund. |
| ■ | The fees (e.g., sales charge or “load”) and expenses for each share class. |
| ■ | Whether you may be eligible for a reduction or waiver of sales charges when you buy or sell shares. |
FUNDamentals
Front-End Sales Charge Calculation
The front-end sales charge is calculated as a percentage of the offering price.
| ■ | The net asset value (NAV) per share is the price of a share calculated by the Fund every business day. |
| ■ | The offering price per share is the NAV per share plus any front-end sales charge (or load) that applies. |
The dollar amount of any applicable front-end sales charge is the difference between the offering price of the shares you buy and the NAV of those shares. To determine the front-end sales charge you will pay when you buy Class A and Class V shares, the Fund will add the amount of your investment to the value of your account (and any other accounts eligible for aggregation of which you or your financial intermediary notifies the Fund) and base the sales charge on the aggregate amount. For information on account value aggregation, sales charge waivers and other important information, see
.
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
FUNDamentals
Contingent Deferred Sales Charge
A contingent deferred sales charge (CDSC) is a sales charge applied at the time you sell your shares, unlike a front-end sales charge that is applied at the time of purchase. A CDSC can vary based on the length of time that you have held your shares. A CDSC is applied to the NAV at the time of your purchase or sale, whichever is lower, and will not be applied to any shares you receive through Fund distribution reinvestments or any amount that represents appreciation in the value of your shares. For purposes of calculating a CDSC, the start of the holding period is generally the first day of the month in which your purchase was made.
When you place an order to sell shares of a class that has a CDSC, the Fund will first redeem any shares that are not subject to a CDSC, followed by those you have held the longest. This means that if a CDSC is imposed, you cannot designate the individual shares being redeemed for U.S. federal income tax purposes. You should consult your tax advisor about the tax consequences of investing in the Fund. In certain circumstances, the CDSC may not apply. See
for details.
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
| 24 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
Share Class Features
The following summarizes the primary features of Class A, Class Adv, Class C, Class Inst, Class Inst2, Class Inst3, Class R, and Class V shares.
Not all Funds offer every class of shares. The Fund offers the class(es) of shares set forth on the cover of this prospectus and may offer other share classes through a separate prospectus. Although certain share classes are generally closed to new and/or existing investors, information relating to these share classes is included in the table below because certain qualifying purchase orders are permitted, as described below.
The sales charge reductions and waivers available to investors who purchase and hold their Fund shares through different financial intermediaries may vary.
describes financial intermediary-specific reductions and/or waiver policies. A shareholder transacting in Fund shares through a financial intermediary identified in
should carefully read the terms and conditions of
. A reduction and/or waiver that is specific to a particular financial intermediary is not available to Direct-at-Fund Accounts, as defined below, or through another financial intermediary. The information in
may be provided by, or compiled from or based on information provided by the financial intermediaries identified in
. To obtain additional information regarding any sales charge reduction and/or waiver described in
, and to ensure that you receive any such reductions or waivers that may be available to you, please consult your financial intermediary.
Appendix A
Appendix A
Appendix A
Appendix A
Appendix A
Appendix A
|
Share Class
|
Eligible Investors
(a)
;
Minimum Initial Investments
(b)
;
Conversion Features
(c)
|
Front-End
Sales Charges
(d)
|
Contingent Deferred
Sales Charges (CDSCs)
(d)
|
Sales Charge
Reductions/Waivers |
Maximum Distribution
and/or Service Fees
(e)
|
| Class A |
Eligibility:
Available to the general public for investment
(f)
$2,000 ($1,000 for IRAs; $100 for systematic investment plan accounts)
|
Taxable Funds:
5.75% maximum, declining to 0.00% on investments of $1 million or more
3.00% maximum, declining to 0.00% on investments of $500,000 or more
None for Columbia Government Money Market Fund and certain other Funds
(g)
|
Taxable Funds
(g)
:
CDSC on certain investments of between $1 million and $50 million redeemed within 18 months after purchase charged as follows:
• 1.00% CDSC if redeemed within 12 months after purchase, and
• 0.50% CDSC if redeemed more than 12, but less than 18, months after purchase
(g)
:
Maximum CDSC of 0.75% on certain investments of $500,000 or more redeemed within 12 months after purchase
|
Reductions
: Yes, see
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges – Class A and Class V Shares Front-End Sales Charge Reductions
: Yes, on Fund distribution reinvestments. For additional waivers, see
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges – Class A and Class V Shares Front-End Sales Charge Waivers
, as well as
Choosing a Share Class — CDSC Waivers – Class A, Class C and Class V
Financial intermediary-specific waivers are also available, see
Appendix A
|
Distribution and Service
Fees:
up to 0.25%
|
|
Class
Adv |
Eligibility:
Available only to (i) omnibus retirement plans, including self-directed brokerage accounts within omnibus retirement plans that clear through institutional no transaction fee (NTF) platforms; (ii) trust companies or
|
None | None | N/A | None |
| Prospectus 2021 | 25 |
Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
|
Share Class
|
Eligible Investors
(a)
;
Minimum Initial Investments
(b)
;
Conversion Features
(c)
|
Front-End
Sales Charges
(d)
|
Contingent Deferred
Sales Charges (CDSCs)
(d)
|
Sales Charge
Reductions/Waivers |
Maximum Distribution
and/or Service Fees
(e)
|
|
similar institutions; (iii) broker-dealers, banks, trust companies and similar institutions that clear Fund share transactions for their client or customer investment advisory or similar accounts through designated financial intermediaries and their mutual fund trading platforms that have been granted specific written authorization from the Transfer Agent with respect to Class Adv eligibility apart from selling, servicing or similar agreements; (iv) 501(c)(3) charitable organizations; (v) 529 plans; (vi) health savings accounts; (vii) investors participating in a fee-based advisory program sponsored by a financial intermediary or other entity that is not compensated by the Fund for those services, other than payments for shareholder servicing or sub-accounting performed in place of the Transfer Agent; and (viii) commissionable brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary, acting as broker on behalf of its customer, charges the customer a commission for effecting transactions in Fund shares, provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Adv shares within such platform.
(f)
Minimum Initial Investment:
|
|||||
| Class C |
Eligibility:
Available to the general public for investment
$2,000 ($1,000 for IRAs; $100 for systematic investment plan accounts)
$499,999
(h)
, none for omnibus retirement plans
$999,999
(h)
; none for omnibus retirement plans
: Yes, Class C shares generally automatically convert to Class A shares of the same Fund in the month of or the month following the 10-year
|
None |
1.00% on certain investments redeemed within one year of purchase
(i)
|
Waivers
: Yes, on Fund distribution reinvestments. For additional waivers, see
Choosing a Share Class – CDSC Waivers – Class A, Class C and Class V
Financial intermediary-specific CDSC waivers are also available, see
Appendix A
|
Distribution Fee:
0.75%
0.25%
|
| 26 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
|
Share Class
|
Eligible Investors
(a)
;
Minimum Initial Investments
(b)
;
Conversion Features
(c)
|
Front-End
Sales Charges
(d)
|
Contingent Deferred
Sales Charges (CDSCs)
(d)
|
Sales Charge
Reductions/Waivers |
Maximum Distribution
and/or Service Fees
(e)
|
|
anniversary of the Class C shares purchase date.
(c)
|
|||||
|
Class
Inst |
Eligibility:
Available only to certain eligible investors, which are subject to different minimum investment requirements, ranging from $0 to $2,000, including investors who purchase Fund shares through commissionable brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary holds the shares in an omnibus account and, acting as broker on behalf of its customer, charges the customer a commission for effecting transactions in Fund shares, provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst shares within such platform; closed to (i) accounts of financial intermediaries that clear Fund share transactions for their client or customer accounts through designated financial intermediaries and their mutual fund trading platforms that have been given specific written notice from the Transfer Agent of the termination of their eligibility for new purchases of Class Inst shares and (ii) omnibus group retirement plans, subject to certain exceptions
(f)(j)
See
Eligibility
above
|
None | None | N/A | None |
|
Class
Inst2 |
Eligibility:
Available only to (i) certain registered investment advisers and family offices that clear Fund share transactions for their client or customer accounts through designated financial intermediaries and their mutual fund trading platforms that have been granted specific written authorization from the Transfer Agent with respect to Class Inst2 eligibility apart from selling, servicing or similar agreements; (ii) omnibus retirement plans
(j)
; and (iii) institutional investors that are clients of the Columbia Threadneedle Global Institutional Distribution Team that invest in Class Inst2 shares for their own account through platforms approved by the Distributor or an affiliate thereof to offer and/or service Class Inst2 shares within such platform.
None
|
None | None | N/A | None |
| Prospectus 2021 | 27 |
Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
|
Share Class
|
Eligible Investors
(a)
;
Minimum Initial Investments
(b)
;
Conversion Features
(c)
|
Front-End
Sales Charges
(d)
|
Contingent Deferred
Sales Charges (CDSCs)
(d)
|
Sales Charge
Reductions/Waivers |
Maximum Distribution
and/or Service Fees
(e)
|
|
Class
Inst3 |
Eligibility:
Available to (i) group retirement plans that maintain plan-level or omnibus accounts with the Fund
(j)
; (ii) institutional investors that are clients of the Columbia Threadneedle Global Institutional Distribution Team that invest in Class Inst3 shares for their own account through platforms approved by the Distributor or an affiliate thereof to offer and/or service Class Inst3 shares within such platform; (iii) collective trust funds; (iv) affiliated or unaffiliated mutual funds (e.g., funds operating as funds-of-funds); (v) fee-based platforms of financial intermediaries (or the clearing intermediary they trade through) that have an agreement with the Distributor or an affiliate thereof that specifically authorizes the financial intermediary to offer and/or service Class Inst3 shares within such platform, provided also that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account; (vi) commissionable brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary, acting as broker on behalf of its customer, charges the customer a commission for effecting transactions in Fund shares, provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst3 shares within such platform and that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account; and (vii) bank trust departments, subject to an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst3 shares and provided that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account. In each case above where noted that Fund shares are required to be held in an omnibus account, the Distributor may, in its discretion, determine to waive this requirement.
(f)
No minimum for the eligible investors described in (i), (iii), (iv), (v), and (vii) above; $2,000 ($1,000 for IRAs; $100 for systematic investment plan accounts) for the eligible investors described in (vi) above; and $1 million for all other eligible investors, unless waived in the discretion of the Distributor
|
None | None | N/A | None |
| Class R |
Eligibility:
Available only to eligible retirement plans, health savings
|
None | None | N/A |
Series of CFST & CFST I:
|
| 28 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
|
Share Class
|
Eligible Investors
(a)
;
Minimum Initial Investments
(b)
;
Conversion Features
(c)
|
Front-End
Sales Charges
(d)
|
Contingent Deferred
Sales Charges (CDSCs)
(d)
|
Sales Charge
Reductions/Waivers |
Maximum Distribution
and/or Service Fees
(e)
|
|
accounts and, in the sole discretion of the Distributor, other types of retirement accounts held through platforms maintained by financial intermediaries approved by the Distributor
Minimum Initial Investment:
|
distribution fee of 0.50%
Series of CFST II:
|
||||
| Class V |
Eligibility:
Generally closed to new investors
(j)
N/A
|
5.75% maximum, declining to 0.00% on investments of $1 million or more |
CDSC on certain investments of between $1 million and $50 million redeemed within 18 months after purchase, charged as follows:
|
Reductions
: Yes, see
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges – Class A and Class V Shares Front-End Sales Charge Reductions
: Yes, on Fund distribution reinvestments.
For additional waivers, see
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges – Class A and Class V Shares Front-End Sales Charge Waivers
, as well as
Choosing a Share Class — CDSC Waivers – Class A, Class C and Class V
|
Service Fee:
up to 0.50%
|
| (a) | For Columbia Government Money Market Fund, new investments must be made in Class A, Class Inst, Class Inst3, or Class R shares, subject to eligibility. Class C shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund are available as a new investment only to investors in the Distributor's proprietary 401(k) products, provided that such investor is eligible to invest in the class and transact directly with the Fund or the Transfer Agent through a third party administrator or third party recordkeeper. Columbia Government Money Market Fund offers Class Inst2 shares only to facilitate exchanges with other Funds offering such share class. |
| (b) |
Certain share classes are subject to minimum account balance requirements, as described in
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares — Transaction Rules and Policies.
|
| (c) |
For more information on the conversion of Class C shares to Class A shares, see
Choosing a Share Class - Sales Charges and Commissions - Class C Shares - Conversion to Class A Shares
|
| (d) |
Actual front-end sales charges and CDSCs vary among the Funds. For more information on applicable sales charges, see
Choosing a Share Class — Sales Charges and Commissions,
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges.
|
| (e) |
These are the maximum applicable distribution and/or service fees. Except for Class V shares, these fees are paid under the Fund’s Rule 12b-1 plan. Fee rates and fee components (i.e., the portion of a combined fee that is a distribution or service fee) may vary among Funds. Because these fees are paid out of Fund assets on an ongoing basis, over time these fees will increase the cost of your investment and may cost you more than paying other types of distribution and/or service fees. Although Class A shares of certain series of CFST I are subject to a combined distribution and service fee of up to 0.35%, these Funds currently limit the combined fee to 0.25%. Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund pays a distribution and service fee of up to 0.15% on Class A shares. Columbia Government Money Market Fund pays a distribution and service fee of up to 0.10% on Class A shares and up to 0.75% distribution fee on Class C shares. Columbia High Yield Municipal Fund, Columbia Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund and Columbia Tax-Exempt Fund each pay a service fee of up to 0.20% on Class A and Class C shares. Columbia Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund pays a distribution fee of up to 0.65% on Class C shares. For more information on distribution and service fees, see
Choosing a Share Class — Distribution and Service Fees.
|
| (f) | Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund must be purchased through financial intermediaries that, by written agreement with the Distributor, are specifically authorized to sell the Fund’s shares. Class Adv shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund are also available to certain registered investment advisers that clear Fund share transactions for their client accounts through designated financial intermediaries with mutual fund trading platforms that have been granted specific written authorization from the Transfer Agent (apart from selling, servicing or similar agreements) to sell Class Inst2 shares, which are not offered by the Fund. Class Inst3 shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund that were open and funded accounts prior to November 30, 2018 (the conversion date from the former unnamed share class to Class Inst3 shares) are eligible for additional investment; however, any account established after that date must meet the current Class Inst3 eligibility requirements. |
| Prospectus 2021 | 29 |
Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
| (g) | For Columbia Short Term Municipal Bond Fund, a CDSC of 0.50% is charged on certain investments of $500,000 or more redeemed within 12 months after purchase. The following Funds are not subject to a front-end sales charge or a CDSC on Class A shares: Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund, Columbia Small Cap Index Fund, Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund and Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund. |
| (h) |
If you are eligible to invest in Class A shares without a front-end sales charge, you should discuss your options with your financial intermediary. For more information, see
Choosing a Share Class – Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges.
|
| (i) | There is no CDSC on redemptions from Class C shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund. |
| (j) |
These share classes are closed to new accounts, or closed to previously eligible investors, subject to certain conditions, as summarized below and described in more detail under
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares — Buying Shares — Eligible Investors:
|
•
. Financial intermediaries that clear Fund share transactions through designated financial intermediaries and their mutual fund trading platforms that have been given specific written notice from the Transfer Agent, effective March 29, 2013, of the termination of their eligibility for new purchases of Class Inst shares and omnibus retirement plans are not permitted to establish new Class Inst accounts, subject to certain exceptions. Omnibus retirement plans that opened and, subject to exceptions, funded a Class Inst account as of close of business on March 28, 2013, and have continuously held Class Inst shares in such account after such date, may generally continue to make additional purchases of Class Inst shares, open new Class Inst accounts and add new participants. In certain circumstances and in the sole discretion of the Distributor, omnibus retirement plans affiliated with a grandfathered plan may also open new Class Inst accounts. Accounts of financial intermediaries (other than omnibus retirement plans) that clear Fund share transactions for their client or customer accounts through designated financial intermediaries and their mutual fund trading platforms are not permitted to establish new Class Inst accounts or make additional purchases of Class Inst shares (other than through Fund distribution reinvestments).
Class Inst Shares
•
. Shareholders with Class Inst2 accounts funded before November 8, 2012 who do not satisfy the current eligibility criteria for Class Inst2 shares may not establish new Class Inst2 accounts but may continue to make additional purchases of Class Inst2 shares in existing accounts. In addition, investment advisory programs and similar programs that opened a Class Inst2 account as of May 1, 2010, and continuously hold Class Inst2 shares in such account after such date, may generally not only continue to make additional purchases of Class Inst2 shares but also open new Class Inst2 accounts and add new shareholders in the program.
Class Inst2 Shares
•
. Shareholders with Class Inst3 accounts funded before November 8, 2012 who do not satisfy the current eligibility criteria for Class Inst3 shares may not establish new accounts for such share class but may continue to make additional purchases of Class Inst3 shares in existing accounts.
Class Inst3 Shares
•
Shareholders
with Class V accounts who received, and have continuously held, Class V shares (formerly named Class T shares) in connection with the merger of certain Galaxy funds into certain Funds that were then named Liberty funds may continue to make additional purchases of such share class.
Class V Shares.
Sales Charges and Commissions
Sales charges, commissions, and distribution fees compensate financial intermediaries (typically your financial advisor) for selling shares to you, and service fees compensate financial intermediaries for maintaining and servicing the shares held in your account with them. Distribution and service fees are discussed in a separate sub-section below. Depending on which share class you choose and the financial intermediary through which you purchase your shares, you may pay these charges at potentially different levels at the outset as a front-end sales charge, at the time you sell your shares as a CDSC and/or over time in the form of distribution and/or service fees.
As described in more detail below, Class A and Class V shares have a front-end sales charge, which is deducted from your purchase price when you buy your shares, and results in a smaller dollar amount being invested in the Fund than the purchase price you pay (unless you qualify for a waiver or reduction of the sales charge). The Fund’s other share classes do not have a front-end sales charge, so the full amount of your purchase price is invested in those classes. Class A and Class V shares have lower ongoing distribution and/or service fees than Class C and Class R shares of the Fund. Over time, Class C and Class R shares can incur distribution and/or service fees that are equal to or more than the front-end sales charge and the distribution and/or service fees you would pay for Class A and Class V shares. Although the full amount of your purchase price of Class C and Class R shares is invested in a Fund, your return on this money will be reduced by the expected higher annual expenses of Class C and Class R shares. In this regard, note that Class C shares will generally automatically convert to Class A shares of the same Fund in the month of or the month following the 10-year anniversary of the Class C shares purchase date. The Fund may convert Class C shares held through a financial intermediary to Class A shares sooner in connection with the withdrawal of Class C shares of the Fund from the financial intermediary’s platform or accounts. No sales charge or other charges will apply in connection with such conversions, and conversions are free from U.S. federal income tax. Once your Class C shares convert to Class A shares, your total returns from an investment in the Fund may increase as a result of the lower operating costs of Class A shares. Class Adv, Class Inst, Class Inst2 and Class Inst3 shares of the Fund do not have distribution and/or service fees.
| 30 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
Whether the ultimate cost is higher for one share class over another depends on the amount you invest, how long you hold your shares, the fees (i.e., sales charges) and expenses of the class and whether you are eligible for reduced or waived sales charges, if available. You are responsible for choosing the share class most appropriate for you after taking into account your share class eligibility, class-specific features, and any applicable reductions in, or waivers of, sales charges. For more information, see
. We encourage you to consult with a financial advisor who can help you with your investment decisions. Please contact your financial intermediary for more information about services, fees and expenses, and other important information about investing in the Fund, as well as with any questions you may have about your investing options. In all instances, it is your responsibility to notify your financial intermediary or (for Direct-at-Fund Accounts, as defined below) the Fund at the time of purchase of any relationship or other facts that may qualify you for sales charge waivers or discounts.
Choosing a Share Class – Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
Class A Shares — Front-End Sales Charge
Unless your purchase qualifies for a waiver (e.g., you buy the shares through reinvested Fund dividends or distributions or subject to an applicable financial intermediary-specific waiver), you will pay a front-end sales charge when you buy Class A shares (other than shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund, Columbia Small Cap Index Fund, Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund and Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund), resulting in a smaller dollar amount being invested in a Fund than the purchase price you pay. The Class A shares sales charge is waived on Class C shares converted to Class A shares. For more information about sales charge waivers and reduction opportunities, see
and
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
Appendix A.
The Distributor receives the sales charge and re-allows (or pays) a portion of the sales charge to the financial intermediary through which you purchased the shares. The Distributor retains the balance of the sales charge. The Distributor retains the full sales charge you pay when you purchase shares of the Fund directly from the Fund (through the Transfer Agent, rather than through a financial intermediary).
The front-end sales charge you will pay on Class A shares:
| ■ | depends on the amount you are investing (generally, the larger the investment, the smaller the percentage sales charge), and |
| ■ | is based on the total amount of your purchase and the value of your account (and any other accounts eligible for aggregation of which you or your financial intermediary notifies the Fund). |
The table below presents the front-end sales charge as a percentage of both the offering price and the net amount invested.
| Prospectus 2021 | 31 |
Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
|
Class A Shares — Front-End Sales Charge — Breakpoint Schedule*
|
||||
|
Breakpoint Schedule For:
|
Dollar amount of
shares bought
(a)
|
Sales
charge as a % of the offering price
(b)
|
Sales
charge as a % of the net amount invested
(b)
|
Amount
retained by or paid to financial intermediaries as a % of the offering price |
|
Fixed Income Funds (except those listed below),
Columbia Multi-Asset Income Fund and Funds-of-Funds (fixed income)* |
$
|
4.75% | 4.99% | 4.00% |
|
$
|
4.25% | 4.44% | 3.50% | |
| $100,000–$249,999 | 3.50% | 3.63% | 3.00% | |
| $250,000–$499,999 | 2.50% | 2.56% | 2.15% | |
| $500,000–$999,999 | 2.00% | 2.04% | 1.75% | |
|
$
|
0.00% | 0.00% |
0.00%
(c)
|
|
|
Tax-Exempt Funds (other than Columbia Short Term Municipal Bond Fund)
|
$
|
3.00% | 3.09% | 2.50% |
| $100,000–$249,999 | 2.50% | 2.56% | 2.15% | |
| $250,000–$499,999 | 1.50 % | 1.53% | 1.25% | |
|
$
|
0.00% | 0.00% |
0.00%
(c)
|
|
|
Columbia Floating Rate Fund,
Columbia Limited Duration Credit Fund, Columbia Mortgage Opportunities Fund, Columbia Quality Income Fund, and Columbia Total Return Bond Fund |
$
|
3.00% | 3.09% | 2.50% |
| $100,000–$249,999 | 2.50% | 2.56% | 2.15% | |
| $250,000–$499,999 | 2.00% | 2.04% | 1.75% | |
| $500,000–$999,999 | 1.50% | 1.52% | 1.25% | |
|
$
|
0.00% | 0.00% |
0.00%
(c)
|
|
|
Columbia Short Term Bond Fund
|
$
|
1.00% | 1.01% | 0.75% |
| $100,000–$249,999 | 0.75% | 0.76% | 0.50% | |
| $250,000–$999,999 | 0.50% | 0.50% | 0.40% | |
|
$
|
0.00% | 0.00% |
0.00%
(c)
|
|
|
Columbia Short Term Municipal Bond Fund
|
$
|
1.00% | 1.01% | 0.75% |
| $100,000–$249,999 | 0.75% | 0.76% | 0.50% | |
| $250,000–$499,999 | 0.50% | 0.50% | 0.40% | |
|
$
|
0.00% | 0.00% |
0.00%
(c)
|
|
| * |
The following Funds are not subject to a front-end sales charge or CDSC on Class A shares: Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund, Columbia Small Cap Index Fund, Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund and Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund.
"Funds-of-Funds (equity)"
. "Funds-of-Funds (fixed income)"
|
| (a) |
Purchase amounts and account values may be aggregated among all eligible Fund accounts for the purposes of this table. See
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
|
| (b) | Because the offering price is calculated to two decimal places, the dollar amount of the sales charge as a percentage of the offering price and your net amount invested for any particular purchase of Fund shares may be higher or lower depending on whether downward or upward rounding was required during the calculation process. Purchase price includes the sales charge. |
| (c) |
For information regarding cumulative commissions paid to your financial intermediary when you buy $1 million or more of Class A shares of a Taxable Fund or $500,000 or more of Class A shares of a Tax-Exempt Fund, see
Class A Shares — Commissions
|
| 32 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
Class A Shares — CDSC
In some cases, you'll pay a CDSC if you sell Class A shares that you purchased without a front-end sales charge.
Tax-Exempt Funds
| ■ | If you purchased Class A shares of any Tax-Exempt Fund (other than Columbia Short Term Municipal Bond Fund) without paying a front-end sales charge because your eligible accounts aggregated $500,000 or more at the time of purchase, you will incur a CDSC of 0.75% if you redeem those shares within 12 months after purchase. Subsequent Class A share purchases that bring your aggregate account value to $500,000 or more will also be subject to a CDSC of 0.75% if you redeem those shares within 12 months after purchase. |
| ■ | If you purchased Class A shares of Columbia Short Term Municipal Bond Fund without paying a front-end sales charge because your eligible accounts aggregated $500,000 or more at the time of purchase, you will incur a CDSC of 0.50% if you redeem those shares within 12 months after purchase. Subsequent Class A share purchases that bring your aggregate account value to $500,000 or more will also be subject to a CDSC of 0.50% if you redeem those shares within 12 months after purchase. |
Taxable Funds
| ■ | If you purchased Class A shares of any Taxable Fund without paying a front-end sales charge because your eligible accounts aggregated between $1 million and $50 million at the time of purchase, you will incur a CDSC if you redeem those shares within 18 months after purchase, which is charged as follows: 1.00% CDSC if shares are redeemed within 12 months after purchase; and 0.50% CDSC if shares are redeemed more than 12, but less than 18, months after purchase. Subsequent Class A share purchases that bring your aggregate account value to $1 million or more (but less than $50 million) will also be subject to a CDSC if you redeem them within 18 months after purchase as described in the previous sentence. |
Class A Shares — Commissions
The Distributor may pay your financial intermediary an up-front commission when you buy Class A shares. The Distributor generally funds the commission through the applicable sales charge you paid. For more information, see
above
Class A Shares — Front-End Sales Charge
.
The Distributor may also pay your financial intermediary a cumulative commission when you buy Class A shares in amounts not subject to a front-end sales charge, according to the following schedules (assets initially purchased into Class A shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund, Columbia Small Cap Index Fund, Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund and Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund that were purchased without the application of a front-end sales charge are excluded for purposes of calculating a financial intermediary’s commission under these schedules):
| * | The commission level applies to the applicable asset level; therefore, for example, for a purchase of $5 million, the Distributor would pay a commission of 0.75% on the first $3,999,999 and 0.50% on the balance. |
| ** | The commission level on purchases of Class A shares of Columbia Short Term Municipal Bond Fund is: 0.50% on purchases of $500,000 to $19,999,999 and 0.25% on purchases of $20 million or more. |
| Prospectus 2021 | 33 |
Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
|
Class A Shares of Taxable Funds — Commission Schedule (Paid by the Distributor to Financial Intermediaries)*
|
|
|
Purchase Amount
|
Commission Level**
(as a % of net asset value per share) |
| $1 million – $2,999,999 | 1.00% |
| $3 million – $49,999,999 | 0.50% |
| $50 million or more | 0.25% |
| * | Not applicable to Funds that do not assess a front-end sales charge. |
| ** | The commission level applies to the applicable asset level; therefore, for example, for a purchase of $5 million, the Distributor would pay a commission of 1.00% on the first $2,999,999 and 0.50% on the balance. |
Class C Shares — Front-End Sales Charge
You do not pay a front-end sales charge when you buy Class C shares, but you may pay a CDSC when you sell Class C shares. Although Class C shares do not have a front-end sales charge, over time Class C shares can incur distribution and/or service fees that are equal to or more than the front-end sales charge and distribution and/or service fees you would pay for Class A shares. Thus, although the full amount of your purchase of Class C shares is invested in a Fund, any positive investment return on this money may be partially or fully offset by the expected higher annual expenses of Class C shares. If you are eligible to invest in Class A shares without a front-end sales charge, you should discuss your options with your financial intermediary. For more information, see
Choosing a Share Class – Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges.
Class C Shares — Conversion to Class A Shares
Class C shares of a Fund generally automatically convert to Class A shares of the same Fund in the month of or the month following the 10-year anniversary of the Class C shares purchase date. Class C shares held through a financial intermediary in an omnibus account will be converted provided that the intermediary is able to track purchases to credit individual shareholders’ holding periods. It is the financial intermediary's (and not the Fund's) responsibility to keep records and to ensure that the shareholder is credited with the proper holding period. Not all financial intermediaries are able to track purchases to credit individual shareholders' holding periods. For example, group retirement plans held through third-party intermediaries that hold Class C shares in an omnibus account may not track participant level share lot aging. Please consult with your financial intermediary about your eligibility for Class C share conversion. The Fund may convert Class C shares held through a financial intermediary to Class A shares sooner in connection with the withdrawal of Class C shares of the Fund from the financial intermediary's platform or accounts. Once your Class C shares convert to Class A shares, your total returns from an investment in the Fund may increase as a result of the lower operating costs of Class A shares.
The following rules apply to the automatic conversion of Class C shares to Class A shares:
| ■ | Class C share accounts that are Direct-at-Fund Accounts and Networked Accounts for which the Transfer Agent (and not your financial intermediary) sends you Fund account transaction confirmations and statements, convert on or about the 15th day of the month (if the 15th is not a business day, then the next business day thereafter) that they become eligible for automatic conversion provided that the Fund has records that Class C shares have been held for the requisite time period. |
| ■ | For purposes of determining the month when your Class C shares are eligible for conversion, the start of the holding period is the first day of the month in which your purchase was made. Your financial intermediary may choose a different day of the month to convert Class C shares. Please contact your financial intermediary for more information on calculating the holding period. |
| ■ | Any shares you received from reinvested distributions on these shares generally will convert to Class A shares at the same time. |
| ■ | You’ll receive the same dollar value of Class A shares as the Class C shares that were automatically converted. Class C shares that you received from an exchange of Class C shares of another Fund will convert based on the day you bought the original shares. |
| 34 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
| ■ | No sales charge or other charges apply in connection with this automatic conversion, and conversions are free from U.S. federal income tax. |
Class C Shares — CDSC
You will pay a CDSC of 1.00% if you redeem Class C shares within 12 months of buying them unless you qualify for a waiver of the CDSC (e.g., the shares you are selling were purchased with reinvested Fund distributions). Redemptions of Class C shares are not subject to a CDSC if redeemed after 12 months. Class C shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund are not subject to a CDSC. For more information, see
.
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
Class C Shares — Commissions
Although there is no front-end sales charge when you buy Class C shares, the Distributor makes an up-front payment (which includes a sales commission and an advance of service fees) directly to your financial intermediary of up to 1.00% of the NAV per share when you buy Class C shares (except on purchases of Class C shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund). A portion of this payment may be passed along to your financial advisor. The Distributor seeks to recover this payment through fees it receives under the Fund's distribution and/or service plan during the first 12 months following the sale of Class C shares, and any applicable CDSC when you sell your shares. For more information, see
Choosing a Share Class — Distribution and Service Fees.
Class V Shares — Front-End Sales Charge
Unless you qualify for a waiver (e.g., you purchase shares through reinvested Fund distributions), you will pay a front-end sales charge when you buy Class V shares, resulting in a smaller dollar amount being invested in a Fund than the purchase price you pay. For more information about sales charge waivers (as well as sales charge reduction opportunities), see
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges.
The front-end sales charge you will pay on Class V shares:
| ■ | depends on the amount you are investing (generally, the larger the investment, the smaller the percentage sales charge), and |
| ■ | is based on the total amount of your purchase and the value of your account (and any other accounts eligible for aggregation of which you notify your financial intermediary or, in the case of Direct-at-Fund Accounts (as defined below), you notify the Fund). |
| Prospectus 2021 | 35 |
Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
| Class V Shares — Front-End Sales Charge — Breakpoint Schedule | ||||
| Breakpoint Schedule For: |
Dollar amount of
shares bought
(a)
|
Sales
charge as a % of the offering price
(b)
|
Sales
charge as a % of the net amount invested
(b)
|
Amount
retained by or paid to Financial Intermediaries as a % of the offering price |
| Fixed Income Funds |
$
|
4.75% | 4.99% | 4.25% |
|
$
|
4.50% | 4.71% | 3.75% | |
| $100,000–$249,999 | 3.50% | 3.63% | 2.75% | |
| $250,000–$499,999 | 2.50% | 2.56% | 2.00% | |
| $500,000–$999,999 | 2.00% | 2.04% | 1.75% | |
|
$
|
0.00% | 0.00% |
0.00%
(c)
|
|
| (a) | Purchase amounts and account values are aggregated among all eligible Fund accounts for the purposes of this table. |
| (b) | Because the offering price is calculated to two decimal places, the dollar amount of the sales charge as a percentage of the offering price and your net amount invested for any particular purchase of Fund shares may be higher or lower depending on whether downward or upward rounding was required during the calculation process. |
| (c) |
For more information regarding cumulative commissions paid to your financial intermediary when you buy $1 million or more of Class V shares, see
Class V Shares — Commissions
below.
|
Class V Shares — CDSC
In some cases, you will pay a CDSC if you sell Class V shares that you bought without a front-end sales charge.
| ■ | If you purchased Class V shares without a front-end sales charge because your eligible accounts aggregated between $1 million and $50 million at the time of purchase, you will incur a CDSC if you redeem those shares within 18 months after purchase, which is charged as follows: 1.00% CDSC if shares are redeemed within 12 months after purchase, and 0.50% CDSC if shares are redeemed more than 12, but less than 18, months after purchase. |
| ■ | Subsequent Class V share purchases that bring your aggregate account value to $1 million or more (but less than $50 million) will also be subject to a CDSC if you redeem them within the time periods noted above. |
Class V Shares — Commissions
The Distributor may pay your financial intermediary an up-front commission when you buy Class V shares (a portion of this commission may, in turn, be paid to your financial advisor). For more information, see
Class V Shares — Front-End Sales Charge.
The Distributor may also pay your financial intermediary a cumulative commission when you buy $1 million or more of Class V shares, according to the following schedule:
|
Class V Shares
—
Commission Schedule (Paid by the Distributor to Financial Intermediaries)
|
|
|
Purchase
Amount |
Commission Level*
(as a % of net asset value per share) |
| $1 million – $2,999,999 | 1.00% |
| $3 million – $49,999,999 | 0.50% |
| $50 million or more | 0.25% |
| * | The commission level applies to the applicable asset level; therefore, for example, for a purchase of $5 million, the Distributor would pay a commission of 1.00% on the first $2,999,999 and 0.50% on the balance. |
| 36 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
The availability of certain sales charge waivers and discounts will depend on whether you purchase your shares directly from the Fund (i.e., a Direct-at-Fund Account, as defined below) or through a financial intermediary. Financial intermediaries may have different policies and procedures regarding the availability of front-end sales charge and/or CDSC waivers. In all instances, it is your responsibility to notify your financial intermediary or (for Direct-at-Fund Accounts, as defined below) the Fund at the time of purchase of any relationship or other facts that may qualify you for sales charge waivers or discounts. In order to obtain waivers and discounts not available through a particular financial intermediary, shareholders will have to purchase Fund shares directly from the Fund (if permitted) or through a different financial intermediary. For a description of financial intermediary-specific sales charge reductions and/or waivers, see
Appendix A
.
Class A and Class V Shares Front-End Sales Charge Reductions
The Fund makes available two means of reducing the front-end sales charge that you may pay when you buy Class A shares or Class V shares of a Fund. These types of sales charge reductions are also referred to as breakpoint discounts.
First, through the right of accumulation (ROA), you may combine the value of eligible accounts (as described in the
Eligible Accounts
section below) maintained by you and members of your immediate family to reach a breakpoint discount level and apply a lower front-end sales charge to your purchase. To calculate the combined value of your eligible Fund accounts in the particular class of shares, the Fund will use the current public offering price per share. For purposes of obtaining a breakpoint discount through ROA, you may aggregate your and your “immediate family” members' ownership (as described in the
FUNDamentals
box below) of certain classes of shares held in certain account types, as described in the
Eligible Accounts
section below.
Second, by making a statement of intent to purchase additional shares (commonly referred to as a letter of intent (LOI)), you may pay a lower sales charge on all purchases of Class A shares or Class V shares made within 13 months after the date of your LOI. Your LOI must state the aggregate amount of purchases you intend to make in that 13-month period, which must be at least enough to reach the first (or next) breakpoint of the Fund. The required form of LOI may vary by financial intermediary, so please contact them directly for more information. Five percent of the purchase commitment amount will be placed in escrow. At the end of the 13-month period, the shares will be released from escrow, provided that you have invested the commitment amount. If you do not invest the commitment amount by the end of the 13 months, the remaining amount of the unpaid sales charge will be redeemed from the escrowed shares and the remaining balance released from escrow. To calculate the total value of the purchases you've made under an LOI, the Fund will use the historic cost (i.e., dollars invested and not current market value) of the shares held in each eligible account; reinvested dividends or capital gains, or purchases made through the reinstatement privilege do not count as purchases made under an LOI. For purposes of making an LOI to purchase additional shares, you may aggregate eligible shares owned by you or your immediate family members in eligible accounts, valued as of the day immediately before the initiation of your LOI.
You must request the reduced sales charge (whether through ROA or an LOI) when you buy shares. If you do not complete and file an LOI, or do not request the reduced sales charge at the time of purchase, you will not be eligible for the reduced sales charge. To obtain a breakpoint discount, you must notify your financial intermediary in writing at the time you buy your shares of each eligible account maintained by you and members of your immediate family, including accounts maintained through different financial intermediaries. You and your financial intermediary are responsible for ensuring that you receive discounts for which you are eligible. Please contact your financial intermediary with questions regarding application of the eligible discount to your account. You may be asked by your financial intermediary (or by the Fund if you hold your account directly with the Fund) for account statements or other records to verify your discount eligibility for new and subsequent purchases, including, when applicable, records for accounts opened with a different financial intermediary and records of accounts established by members of your immediate family.
The sales charge reductions available to investors who purchase and hold their Fund shares through different financial intermediaries may vary. For a description of such financial intermediary-specific sales charge reductions, see
Appendix A
.
| Prospectus 2021 | 37 |
Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
FUNDamentals
Your “Immediate Family” and Account Value Aggregation
For purposes of obtaining a breakpoint discount for Class A shares or Class V shares, the value of your account will be deemed to include the value of all applicable shares in eligible Fund accounts that are held by you and your “immediate family,” which includes your spouse, domestic partner, parent, step-parent, legal guardian, child under 21, step-child under 21, father-in-law and mother-in-law, provided that you and your immediate family members share the same mailing address. Any Fund accounts linked together for account value aggregation purposes as of the close of business on September 3, 2010 will be permitted to remain linked together. Group retirement plan accounts are valued at the retirement plan level.
Eligible Accounts
The following accounts are eligible for account value aggregation as described above, provided that they are invested in Class A (excluding, in the case of Direct-at-Fund Accounts, Funds that do not assess a front-end sales charge, including Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund, Columbia Small Cap Index Fund, Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund and Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund, unless such shares were purchased via an exchange from Class A shares of a Fund on which you paid the Class A share applicable front-end sales charge), Class C, Class E, Class Inst or Class V shares of a Fund, or non-retirement plan accounts invested in Class Adv, Class Inst2 or Class Inst3 shares of a Fund: individual or joint accounts; Roth and traditional Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs); Simplified Employee Pension accounts (SEPs), Savings Investment Match Plans for Employees of Small Employers accounts (SIMPLEs) and Tax Sheltered Custodial Accounts (TSCAs); Uniform Gifts to Minors Act (UGMA)/Uniform Transfers to Minors Act (UTMA) accounts for which you, your spouse, or your domestic partner is parent or guardian of the minor child; revocable trust accounts for which you or an immediate family member, individually, is the beneficial owner/grantor; accounts held in the name of your, your spouse’s, or your domestic partner’s sole proprietorship or single owner limited liability company or S corporation; qualified retirement plan assets, provided that you are the sole owner of the business sponsoring the plan, are the sole participant (other than a spouse) in the plan, and have no intention of adding participants to the plan; and investments in wrap accounts.
The following accounts are
not eligible
for account value aggregation as described above: accounts of pension and retirement plans with multiple participants, such as 401(k) plans (which are combined to reduce the sales charge for the entire pension or retirement plan and therefore are not used to reduce the sales charge for your individual accounts); investments in 529 plans, donor advised funds, variable annuities, variable insurance products or managed separate accounts; charitable and irrevocable trust accounts; accounts holding shares of money market funds that used the Columbia brand before May 1, 2010; accounts invested in Class R shares of a Fund; and retirement plan accounts invested in Class Adv, Class Inst2 or Class Inst3 shares of a Fund.
Additionally, direct purchases of shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund may not be aggregated for account value aggregation purposes; however, shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund acquired by exchange from other Columbia Funds that assess a sales charge may be included in account value aggregation.
Class A and Class V Shares Front-End Sales Charge Waivers
There are no front-end sales charges on reinvested Fund distributions. The Class A shares sales charge is waived on conversions of Class C shares to Class A shares. The Distributor may waive front-end sales charges on purchases of Class A and Class V shares of the Funds by certain categories of investors, including Board members, certain employees of financial intermediaries, Fund portfolio managers, certain partners and employees of outside legal counsel to the Funds or the Board, separate accounts of an insurance company exempt from registration as an investment company under Section 3(c)(11) of the 1940 Act, registered broker-dealer firms that have an agreement with the Distributor purchasing Fund shares for their investment account only, and qualified employee benefit plan rollovers to Class A shares in the same Fund (see Appendix S to the SAI for details). For a more complete description of categories of investors who may purchase Class A and Class V shares of the Funds at NAV, without payment of any front-end sales charge that would otherwise apply, see Appendix S to the SAI.
| 38 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
In addition, certain types of purchases of Class A and Class V shares may be made at NAV. The Distributor may waive front-end sales charges on (i) purchases (including exchanges) of Class A shares in accounts of financial intermediaries that have entered into agreements with the Distributor to offer Fund shares to self-directed investment brokerage accounts that may or may not charge a transaction fee to customers; (ii) exchanges of Class Inst shares of a Fund for Class A shares of the Fund; (iii) purchases of Class A shares on brokerage mutual fund-only platforms of financial intermediaries that have an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes the offering of Class A shares within such platform; (iv) purchases through certain wrap fee or other products or programs that involve fee-based compensation arrangements that have, or clear trades through a financial intermediary that has, a selling agreement with the Distributor; (v) purchases through state sponsored 529 Plans; (vi) purchases through banks, trust companies, and thrift institutions acting as fiduciaries; and (vii) purchases through certain employee benefit plans and certain qualified deferred compensation plans. For a more complete description of these eligible transactions, see Appendix S to the SAI.
The sales charge waivers available to investors who purchase and hold their Fund shares through different financial intermediaries may vary. For a description of such financial intermediary-specific sales charge waivers, see
Appendix A
.
CDSC Waivers – Class A, Class C and Class V
You may be able to avoid an otherwise applicable CDSC when you sell Class A, Class C or Class V shares of the Fund. This could happen because of the way in which you originally invested in the Fund, because of your relationship with the Funds or for other reasons. For example, the CDSC will be waived on redemptions of shares in the event of the shareholder's death; for which no sales commission or transaction fee was paid to an authorized financial intermediary at the time of purchase; purchased through reinvestment of dividends and capital gain distributions; that result from required minimum distributions taken from retirement accounts due to the shareholder reaching the qualified age based on applicable IRS regulations; that result from returns of excess contributions made to retirement plans or individual retirement accounts (subject to certain conditions); initially purchased by an employee benefit plan (for Class A shares) and that are not connected with a plan level termination (for Class C or Class V shares); in connection with the Fund's Small Account Policy (which is described in
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares — Transaction Rules and Policies
); and by certain other investors and in certain other types of transactions or situations. Restrictions may apply to certain accounts and certain transactions. The Distributor may, in its sole discretion, authorize the waiver of the CDSC for additional classes of investors. The Fund may change or cancel these terms at any time. Any change or cancellation applies only to future purchases. For a more complete description of the available waivers of the CDSC on redemptions of Class A, Class C or Class V shares, see Appendix S to the SAI.
The sales charge waivers available to investors who purchase and hold their Fund shares through different financial intermediaries may vary. For a description of such financial intermediary-specific sales charge waivers, see
Appendix A
.
Repurchases (Reinstatements)
As noted in the table below, you can redeem shares of certain classes (see Redeemed Share Class below) and use such redemption proceeds to buy shares of the Corresponding Repurchase Class without paying an otherwise applicable sales charge and/or CDSC (other than, in the case of Direct-at-Fund Accounts, redemptions from Funds that do not assess a front-end sales charge, including Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund, Columbia Small Cap Index Fund, Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund and Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund, unless such shares were purchased via an exchange from Class A shares of a Fund on which you paid the Class A share applicable front-end sales charge) within 90 days, up to the amount of the redemption proceeds.
| Repurchases (Reinstatements) | |
| Redeemed Share Class | Corresponding Repurchase Class |
| Class A | Class A |
| Class C | Class C |
| Prospectus 2021 | 39 |
Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
| Repurchases (Reinstatements) | |
| Redeemed Share Class | Corresponding Repurchase Class |
| Class V | Class V |
Any CDSC paid upon redemption of your Class A, Class C or Class V shares of a Fund will not be reimbursed.
To be eligible for the repurchase (or reinstatement) privilege, the purchase must be made into an account for the same owner, but does not need to be into the same Fund from which the shares were sold. The Transfer Agent, Distributor or their agents must receive a written reinstatement request from you or your financial intermediary within 90 days after the shares are redeemed. The purchase of the Corresponding Repurchase Class (as noted in the table above) through this repurchase (or reinstatement) privilege will be made at the NAV of such shares next calculated after the request is received in “good form.” Systematic withdrawals and purchases are excluded from this policy.
Restrictions and Changes in Terms and Conditions
Restrictions may apply to certain accounts and certain transactions. The Funds and/or the Distributor may change or cancel these terms and conditions at any time. Unless you provide your financial intermediary with information in writing about all of the factors that may count toward available reductions or waivers of an applicable sales charge, there can be no assurance that you will receive all of the reductions and waivers for which you may be eligible. To the extent your Fund account is held directly with the Fund, you should provide this information to the Fund when placing your purchase or redemption order. Please see
Appendix A
to this prospectus and Appendix S of the SAI for more information about sales charge waivers.
Distribution and Service Fees
The Board has approved, and the Funds have adopted, distribution and/or shareholder service plans which set the distribution and/or service fees that are periodically deducted from the Funds’ assets. These fees are calculated daily, may vary by share class and are intended to compensate the Distributor and/or eligible financial intermediaries for, with regard to distribution fees, selling Fund shares and, with regard to service fees, directly or indirectly providing services to shareholders. Because the fees are paid out of the Fund's assets on an ongoing basis, they will increase the cost of your investment over time.
The table below shows the maximum annual distribution and/or service fees (as an annual percentage of average daily net assets) and the combined amount of such fees applicable to each share class:
| (a) | The service fees for Class A and Class C shares of certain Funds vary. The annual service fee for Class A and Class C shares of Columbia High Yield Municipal Fund, Columbia Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund and Columbia Tax-Exempt Fund may equal up to 0.20% of the average daily NAV of all shares of such Fund class. The annual distribution fee for Class C shares for Columbia Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund shall be 0.65% of the average daily net assets of the Fund’s Class C shares. The Distributor has contractually agreed to waive a portion of the service fee for Class A and Class C shares of Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund so that the service fee does not exceed 0.15% annually through August 31, 2021 unless sooner terminated at the sole discretion of the Fund’s Board. The Distributor has contractually agreed to waive a portion of the service fee for Class A shares of Columbia Strategic California Municipal Income Fund so that the service fee does not exceed 0.20% annually through February 28, 2022 unless modified or sooner terminated at the sole discretion of the Fund’s Board. |
| 40 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
| (b) | The maximum distribution and service fees of Class A shares varies among the Funds, as shown in the table below: |
| Funds |
Maximum
Class A Distribution Fee |
Maximum
Class A Service Fee |
Maximum
Class A Combined Total |
|
Series of CFST and CFST II (other than Columbia
Government Money Market Fund) |
— | — |
0.25%; these Funds pay a
combined distribution and service fee |
| Columbia Government Money Market Fund | — | — | 0.10% |
| Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund | up to 0.15% | up to 0.15% | 0.15% |
| Columbia Balanced Fund, Columbia Contrarian Core Fund, Columbia Dividend Income Fund, Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund, Columbia Large Cap Growth Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Growth Fund, Columbia Oregon Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund, Columbia Real Estate Equity Fund, Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I, Columbia Total Return Bond Fund | up to 0.10% | up to 0.25% |
up to 0.35%; these Funds may
pay distribution and service fees up to a maximum of 0.35% of their average daily net assets attributable to Class A shares (comprised of up to 0.10% for distribution services and up to 0.25% for shareholder liaison services) but currently limit such fees to an aggregate fee of not more than 0.25% for Class A shares |
| Columbia Adaptive Risk Allocation Fund, Columbia Bond Fund, Columbia Connecticut Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund, Columbia Corporate Income Fund, Columbia Emerging Markets Fund, Columbia Greater China Fund, Columbia International Dividend Income Fund, Columbia Massachusetts Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund, Columbia Multi-Asset Income Fund, Columbia Multi Strategy Alternatives Fund, Columbia New York Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund, Columbia Pacific/Asia Fund, Columbia Select Large Cap Growth Fund, Columbia Small Cap Value Fund I, Columbia Strategic California Municipal Income Fund, Columbia Strategic Income Fund, Columbia Strategic New York Municipal Income Fund, Columbia U.S. Social Bond Fund, Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund | — | 0.25% | 0.25% |
| Columbia High Yield Municipal Fund, Columbia Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund, Columbia Tax-Exempt Fund | — | 0.20% | 0.20% |
| (c) | Fee amounts noted apply to all Funds other than Columbia Government Money Market Fund, which, for Class A shares, pays distribution and service fees of 0.10%, and for Class C shares pays distribution fees of 0.75%. The payment of the distribution and/or service fees payable by Columbia Government Money Market Fund under its Plan of Distribution has been suspended through November 30, 2021. This arrangement may be modified or terminated at the sole discretion of Columbia Government Money Market Fund’s Board at any time. Compensation paid to financial intermediaries is suspended for the duration of the suspension of payments under Columbia Government Money Market Fund’s Plan of Distribution. |
| (d) | The Distributor has contractually agreed to waive a portion of the distribution fee for Class C shares of the following Funds so that the distribution fee does not exceed the specified percentage annually through the specified date for each Fund: 0.45% for Columbia Connecticut Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund through February 28, 2022, Columbia Massachusetts Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund through February 28, 2022, Columbia New York Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund through February 28, 2022, Columbia Oregon Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund through November 30, 2021, Columbia Strategic California Municipal Income Fund through February 28, 2022, and Columbia Strategic New York Municipal Income Fund through August 31, 2021; 0.55% for Columbia Corporate Income Fund through August 31, 2021, and Columbia Short Term Bond Fund through August 31, 2021; 0.60% for Columbia High Yield Municipal Fund through September 30, 2021, Columbia Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund through August 31, 2021, and Columbia Tax-Exempt Fund through November 30, 2021; and 0.65% for Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund through August 31, 2021. These arrangements may be sooner terminated at the sole discretion of each Fund’s Board. |
| (e) | Class R shares of series of CFST and CFST I pay a distribution fee pursuant to a Rule 12b-1 plan. The Funds do not have a shareholder service plan for Class R shares. Series of CFST II have a distribution and shareholder service plan for Class R shares. For Class R shares of series of CFST II, the maximum fee under the plan reimbursed for distribution expenses is equal on an annual basis to 0.50% of the average daily net assets of the Fund attributable to Class R shares. Of that amount, up to 0.25% may be reimbursed for shareholder service expenses. |
| (f) |
The shareholder servicing fees for Class V shares are up to 0.50% of average daily net assets attributable to Class V shares for equity Funds and 0.40% for fixed income Funds. In general, the Funds currently limit such fees to a maximum of 0.25% for equity Funds and 0.15% for fixed-income Funds. These fees for Class V shares are not paid pursuant to a Rule 12b-1 plan. See
Class V Shareholder Service Fees
below for more information.
|
| Prospectus 2021 | 41 |
Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
The distribution and/or service fees for Class A, Class C, and Class R shares, as applicable, are subject to the requirements of Rule 12b-1 under the 1940 Act. The Distributor may retain these fees otherwise payable to financial intermediaries if the amounts due are below an amount determined by the Distributor in its sole discretion.
For Class A shares, the Distributor begins to pay these fees immediately after purchase, except in the following case, in which the Distributor begins to pay these fees 12 months after purchase: a purchase of Class A shares of $1 million or more for Taxable Funds or $500,000 or more for Tax-Exempt Funds that pay a Class A up-front commission to your financial intermediary and the financial intermediary has opted to receive such commission. The Distributor’s policy to otherwise begin to pay these fees immediately on Class A shares also applies to purchases of funds that do not pay an up-front sales commission on Class A shares, which includes Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund, Columbia Small Cap Index Fund, Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund and Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund. For Class C shares, the Distributor begins to pay these fees 12 months after purchase. However, for Class C shares, financial intermediaries may opt to decline the up-front payment described in
Choosing a Share Class – Sales Charges and Commissions – Class C Shares – Commissions
and instead may receive these fees immediately after purchase. If the intermediary opts to receive the up-front payment, the Distributor retains the distribution and/or service fee for the first 12 months following the sale of Class C shares in order to recover the up-front payment made to financial intermediaries and to pay for other related expenses. For Class R shares, the Distributor begins to pay these fees immediately after purchase.
Series of CFST II.
The maximum fee for services under the distribution and/or shareholder servicing plan for series of CFST II is the lesser of the amount of reimbursable expenses and the fee rates in the table above. If a share class of a series of CFST II has no reimbursable distribution or shareholder servicing expenses, it will suspend the payment of any such fee. As a result of any such suspensions, the expense ratio of a Fund’s share class disclosed in the
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
table in the
Summary of the Fund
section of this prospectus may not match the ratio of expenses of such share class to average net assets shown in the
Financial Highlights
section of this prospectus.
If you maintain shares of the Fund directly with the Fund, without working with a financial advisor or other financial intermediary, distribution and service fees may be retained by the Distributor as payment or reimbursement for incurring certain distribution and shareholder service related expenses.
Over time, these distribution and/or service fees will reduce the return on your investment and may cost you more than paying other types of sales charges. The Fund will pay these fees to the Distributor and/or to eligible financial intermediaries for as long as the distribution plan and/or shareholder servicing plans continue in effect, which is expected to be indefinitely. However, the Fund may reduce or discontinue payments at any time. Your financial intermediary may also charge you other additional fees for providing services to your account, which may be different from those described here.
Class V Shareholder Services Fees
The Funds that offer Class V shares have adopted a shareholder services plan that permits them to pay for certain services provided to Class V shareholders by their financial intermediaries. Equity Funds may pay shareholder servicing fees up to an aggregate annual rate of 0.50% of the Fund's average daily net assets attributable to Class V shares (comprised of up to 0.25% for shareholder liaison services and up to 0.25% for administrative support services). Fixed income Funds may pay shareholder servicing fees up to an aggregate annual rate of 0.40% of the Fund's average daily net assets attributable to Class V shares (comprised of up to 0.20% for shareholder liaison services and up to 0.20% for administrative support services). These fees are currently limited to an aggregate annual rate of not more than 0.25% for equity Funds and not more than 0.15% for fixed income Funds. The Distributor begins to pay these fees immediately after purchase for purchases up to $1 million, for purchases of $1 million or more the Distributor will begin to pay these fees 12 months after purchase. These fees for Class V shares are not paid pursuant to a Rule 12b-1 plan. With respect to those Funds that declare dividends on a daily basis, the shareholder servicing fee shall be waived by the financial intermediaries to the extent necessary to prevent net investment income from falling below 0% on a daily basis. If you maintain shares of the Fund directly with the Fund, without working with a financial advisor or other intermediary, shareholder services fees may be retained by the Distributor as payment or reimbursement for incurring certain shareholder service related expenses.
| 42 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
Financial Intermediary Compensation
The Distributor, the Investment Manager and their affiliates make payments, from their own resources, to financial intermediaries, including other Ameriprise Financial affiliates, for marketing/sales support services relating to the Funds (Marketing Support Payments). Such payments are generally based upon one or more of the following factors: average net assets of the Funds attributable to that financial intermediary; gross sales of the Funds attributable to that financial intermediary; reimbursement of ticket charges (fees that a financial intermediary charges its representatives for effecting transactions in Fund shares); or a negotiated lump sum payment. While the financial arrangements may vary for each financial intermediary, Marketing Support Payments to any one financial intermediary are generally between 0.05% and 0.40% on an annual basis for payments based on average net assets of the Fund attributable to the financial intermediary, and between 0.05% and 0.25% on an annual basis for firms receiving a payment based on gross sales of the Funds attributable to the financial intermediary. The Distributor, the Investment Manager and their affiliates may at times make payments with respect to a Fund or the Columbia Funds generally on a basis other than those described above, or in larger amounts, when dealing with certain financial intermediaries. Not all financial intermediaries receive Marketing Support Payments. The Distributor, the Investment Manager and their affiliates do not make Marketing Support Payments with respect to Class Inst3 shares.
In addition, the Transfer Agent has certain arrangements in place to compensate financial intermediaries, including other Ameriprise Financial affiliates, that hold Fund shares through networked and omnibus accounts, including omnibus retirement plans, for services that they provide to beneficial Fund shareholders (Shareholder Services). Shareholder Services and related fees vary by financial intermediary and according to distribution channel and may include sub-accounting, sub-transfer agency, participant recordkeeping, shareholder or participant reporting, shareholder or participant transaction processing, maintenance of shareholder records, preparation of account statements and provision of customer service, and are not intended to include services that are primarily intended to result in the sale of Fund shares. Payments for Shareholder Services generally are not expected, with certain limited exceptions, to exceed 0.40% of the average aggregate value of the Fund’s shares. Generally, each Fund pays the Transfer Agent a per account fee or a percentage of the average aggregate value of shares per annum maintained in omnibus accounts up to the lesser of the amount charged by the financial intermediary or a channel-specific or share class-specific cap established by the Board from time to time. Fee amounts in excess of the amount paid by the Fund are borne by the Transfer Agent, the Investment Manager and/or their affiliates. For Class Inst3 shares, the Transfer Agent does not pay financial intermediaries for Shareholder Services, except that for Class Inst3 shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund (formerly an unnamed share class of the Fund), the Transfer Agent makes Shareholder Services payments to a financial intermediary through which shares of this class were held (under its former unnamed share class name) as of November 30, 2018, and the Fund does not compensate the Transfer Agent for any Shareholder Services provided by financial intermediaries.
In addition to the payments described above, the Distributor, the Investment Manager and their affiliates typically make other payments or allow promotional incentives to certain broker-dealers to the extent permitted by the Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) rules and by other applicable laws and regulations.
Amounts paid by the Distributor, the Investment Manager and their affiliates are paid out of their own resources and do not increase the amount paid by you or the Fund. You can find further details in the SAI about the payments made by the Distributor, the Investment Manager and their affiliates, as well as a list of the financial intermediaries, including Ameriprise Financial affiliates, to which the Distributor, the Investment Manager or their affiliates have agreed to make Marketing Support Payments and pay Shareholder Services fees.
Your financial intermediary may charge you fees and commissions in addition to those described in this prospectus. You should consult with your financial intermediary and review carefully any disclosure your financial intermediary provides regarding its services and compensation. Depending on the financial arrangement in place at any particular time, a financial intermediary and its financial advisors may have a conflict of interest or financial incentive for recommending the Fund or a particular share class over others.
| Prospectus 2021 | 43 |
Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
Share Price Determination
The price you pay or receive when you buy, sell or exchange shares is the Fund's next determined net asset value (or NAV) per share for a given share class. The Fund calculates the NAV per share for each class of shares of the Fund at the end of each business day, with the value of the Fund's shares based on the total value of all of the securities and other assets that it holds as of a specified time.
FUNDamentals
NAV Calculation
Each of the Fund's share classes calculates its NAV per share as follows:
NAV per share =
(Value of assets of the share class) – (Liabilities of the share class)
Number of outstanding shares of the class
FUNDamentals
Business Days
A business day is any day that the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is open. A business day typically ends at the close of regular trading on the NYSE, usually at 4:00 p.m. Eastern time. If the NYSE is scheduled to close early, the business day will be considered to end as of the time of the NYSE’s scheduled close. The Fund will not treat an intraday unscheduled disruption in NYSE trading or an intraday unscheduled closing as a close of regular trading on the NYSE for these purposes and will price its shares as of the regularly scheduled closing time for that day (typically, 4:00 p.m. Eastern time). Notwithstanding the foregoing, the NAV of Fund shares may be determined at such other time or times (in addition to or in lieu of the time set forth above) as the Fund’s Board may approve or ratify. On holidays and other days when the NYSE is closed, the Fund’s NAV is not calculated and the Fund does not accept buy or sell orders. However, the value of the Fund’s assets may still be affected on such days to the extent that the Fund holds foreign securities that trade on days that foreign securities markets are open.
Equity securities are valued primarily on the basis of market quotations reported on stock exchanges and other securities markets around the world. If an equity security is listed on a national exchange, the security is valued at the closing price or, if the closing price is not readily available, the mean of the closing bid and asked prices. Certain equity securities, debt securities and other assets are valued differently. For instance, bank loans trading in the secondary market are valued primarily on the basis of indicative bids, fixed income investments maturing in 60 days or less are valued primarily using the amortized cost method, unless this methodology results in a valuation that does not approximate the market value of these securities, and those maturing in excess of 60 days are valued primarily using a market-based price obtained from a pricing service, if available. Investments in other open-end funds are valued at their published NAVs. Both market quotations and indicative bids are obtained from outside pricing services approved and monitored pursuant to a policy approved by the Fund's Board.
If a market price is not readily available or is deemed not to reflect market value, the Fund will determine the price of a portfolio security based on a determination of the security's fair value pursuant to a policy approved by the Fund’s Board. In addition, the Fund may use fair valuation to price securities that trade on a foreign exchange when a significant event has occurred after the foreign exchange closes but before the time at which the Fund’s share price is calculated. Foreign exchanges typically close before the time at which Fund share prices are calculated, and may be closed altogether on days when the Fund is open. Such significant events affecting a foreign security may include, but are not limited to: (1) corporate actions, earnings announcements, litigation or other events impacting a single issuer; (2) governmental action that affects securities in one sector or country; (3) natural disasters or armed conflicts affecting a country or region; or (4) significant domestic or foreign market fluctuations. The Fund uses various criteria, including an evaluation of U.S. market moves after the close of foreign markets, in determining whether a foreign security's market price is readily available and reflective of market value and, if not, the fair value
| 44 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
of the security. To the extent the Fund has significant holdings of small cap stocks, high-yield bonds, floating rate loans, or tax-exempt, foreign or other securities that may trade infrequently, fair valuation may be used more frequently than for other funds.
Fair valuation may have the effect of reducing stale pricing arbitrage opportunities presented by the pricing of Fund shares. However, when the Fund uses fair valuation to price securities, it may value those securities higher or lower than another fund would have priced the security. Also, the use of fair valuation may cause the Fund's performance to diverge to a greater degree from the performance of various benchmarks used to compare the Fund's performance because benchmarks generally do not use fair valuation techniques. Because of the judgment involved in fair valuation decisions, there can be no assurance that the value ascribed to a particular security is accurate. The Fund has retained one or more independent fair valuation pricing services to assist in the fair valuation process for foreign securities.
Transaction Rules and Policies
The Fund, the Distributor or the Transfer Agent may refuse any order to buy or exchange shares. If this happens, the Fund will return any money it received, but no interest will be paid on that money. Your financial intermediary may have rules and policies in place that are in addition to or different than those described below.
Order Processing
Orders to buy, sell or exchange Fund shares are processed on business days. Depending upon the class of shares, orders can be made by mail, by telephone or online. Orders received in “good form” by the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary before the end of a business day are priced at the NAV per share (plus any applicable sales charge) of the Fund's applicable share class on that day. Orders received after the end of a business day will receive the next business day's NAV per share (plus any applicable sales charge). For Direct-at-Fund Accounts (i.e., accounts established directly with the Fund), when a written order to buy, sell or exchange shares is sent to the Transfer Agent, the share price used to fill the order is the next price calculated by the Fund after the Transfer Agent receives the transaction request in “good form” at its transaction processing center (i.e., the Fund’s express mail address), not the P.O. Box provided for regular mail delivery. The market value of the Fund's investments may change between the time you submit your order and the time the Fund next calculates its NAV per share. The business day that applies to your order is also called the trade date.
“Good Form”
An order is in “good form” if the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary has received payment (in the case of purchases) and all of the information and documentation it deems necessary to effect your order. For example, when you sell shares, “good form” means that your request (i) has complete instructions and written requests include the signatures of all account owners, (ii) is for an amount that is less than or equal to the shares in your account for which payment has been received and collected, (iii) has a Medallion Signature Guarantee for amounts greater than $100,000 and certain other transactions, as described below, and (iv) includes any other required documents completed and attached. For the documents required for sales by corporations, agents, fiduciaries, surviving joint owners and other legal entities, call 800.345.6611.
Medallion Signature Guarantees
The Transfer Agent may require a Medallion Signature Guarantee for your signature in order to process certain transactions, including if: (i) the transaction amount is over $100,000; (ii) you want your check made payable to someone other than the registered account owner(s); (iii) the address of record has changed within the last 30 days; (iv) you want the check mailed to an address other than the address of record; (v) you want proceeds to be sent according to existing bank account instructions not coded for outgoing Automated Clearing House (ACH) or wire, or to a bank account not on file; or (vi) you are changing legal ownership of your account.
A Medallion Signature Guarantee helps assure that a signature is genuine and not a forgery. A Medallion Signature Guarantee must be provided by an eligible guarantor institution including, but not limited to, the following: a bank, credit union, savings association, broker or dealer that participates in the Securities Transfer Association Medallion Program (STAMP), the Stock Exchange Medallion Program (SEMP) or the New York Stock Exchange Medallion
| Prospectus 2021 | 45 |
Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
Signature Program (MSP). For other transactions, the Transfer Agent may require a signature guarantee. Notarization by a notary public is not an acceptable signature guarantee. The Transfer Agent reserves the right to reject a signature guarantee and to request additional documentation for any transaction.
Customer Identification Program
Federal law requires the Fund to obtain and record specific personal information to verify your identity when you open an account. This information may include your name, address, date of birth (for individuals) and taxpayer or other government issued identification (e.g., social security number (SSN) or other taxpayer identification number (TIN)). If you fail to provide the requested information, the Fund may need to delay the date of your purchase or may be unable to open your account, which may result in a return of your investment monies. In addition, if the Fund is unable to verify your identity after your account is open, the Fund reserves the right to close your account or take other steps as deemed reasonable. The Fund will not be liable for any loss resulting from any purchase delay, application rejection or account closure due to a failure to provide proper identifying information.
Small Account Policy — Class A, Class C, Class Inst, and Class V Share Accounts Below the Minimum Account Balance
The Funds generally will automatically sell your shares if the value of your Fund account (treating each account of the Fund you own separately from any other account of the Fund you may own) falls below the applicable minimum account balance. Any otherwise applicable CDSC will not be imposed on such an automatic sale of your shares. Generally, you may avoid such an automatic sale by raising your account balance to at least $250 or consolidating your multiple accounts you may have with the Funds through an exchange (so as to maintain at least $250 in each of your accounts). The minimum account balance varies among share classes and types of accounts, as follows:
| Minimum Account Balance | |
|
Minimum
Account Balance |
|
| For all classes and account types except those listed below |
$250 (None for accounts with
Systematic Investment Plans) |
| Individual Retirement Accounts for all classes except those listed below | None |
| Class Adv, Class Inst2, Class Inst3 and Class R | None |
For shares held directly with the Funds’ Transfer Agent, if your shares are sold, the Transfer Agent will remit the sale proceeds to you. The Transfer Agent will send you written notification in advance of any automatic sale, which will provide details on how you may avoid such an automatic sale. Generally, you may avoid such an automatic sale by raising your account balance to at least $250, consolidating your multiple accounts you may have with the Funds through an exchange (so as to maintain at least $250 in each of your accounts), or setting up a Systematic Investment Plan (described below). For more information, contact the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary. The Transfer Agent's contact information (toll-free number and mailing addresses) as well as the Funds’ website address can be found at the beginning of the section
Choosing a Share Class
.
For shares purchased and held for your benefit through a financial intermediary, the Funds may instruct the intermediary to automatically sell your Fund shares if the transaction can be operationally administered by the intermediary.
Small Account Policy — Class A, Class C, Class Inst, and Class V Share Accounts Minimum Balance Fee
If the value of your Fund account (treating each account of the Fund you own separately from any other account of the Fund you may own) falls below the minimum initial investment requirement applicable to you for any reason, including as a result of market decline, your account generally could be subject to a $20 annual fee. The Transfer Agent will reduce the expenses paid by the Fund by any amounts it collects from the assessment of this fee. For Funds that do not have transfer agency expenses against which to offset the amount collected through assessment of this fee, the
| 46 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
fee will be paid directly to the Fund. The Funds reserve the right to lower the account size trigger point for the minimum balance fee in any year or for any class of shares when we believe it is appropriate to do so in light of declines in the market value of Fund shares or for other reasons.
For shares held directly with the Funds’ Transfer Agent, this fee will be assessed through the automatic sale of Fund shares in your account. Any otherwise applicable CDSC will not be imposed on such an automatic sale of your shares. The Transfer Agent will send you written notification in advance of assessing any fee, which will provide details on how you can avoid the imposition of such fee. Generally, you may avoid the imposition of such fee by raising your Fund account balance, consolidating your multiple accounts you may have with the Funds, or setting up a Systematic Investment Plan that invests at least monthly. For more information, contact the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary. The Transfer Agent's contact information (toll-free number and mailing addresses) as well as the Funds’ website address can be found at the beginning of the section
Choosing a Share Class
.
For shares purchased and held for your benefit through a financial intermediary, this fee could be assessed through the automatic sale of Fund shares in your account if instructed by the Fund and the transaction can be operationally administered by the intermediary.
Exceptions to the Small Account Policy (Accounts Below Minimum Account Balance) and Minimum Balance Fee
The automatic sale of Fund shares in accounts under $250 and the annual minimum balance fee described above do not apply to shareholders of Class Adv, Class Inst2, Class Inst3 and Class R shares; shareholders holding their shares through financial intermediary networked accounts; wrap fee and omnibus accounts; accounts with active Systematic Investment Plans; certain qualified retirement plans; and health savings accounts. The automatic sale of Fund shares of accounts under the applicable minimum account balance does not apply to individual retirement plans.
Small Account Policy — Financial Intermediary Networked and Wrap Fee Accounts
The Funds may automatically redeem, at any time, financial intermediary networked accounts and wrap fee accounts that have account balances of $20 or less or have less than one share.
For shares purchased and held for your benefit through a financial intermediary, the Funds may instruct the intermediary to automatically sell your Fund shares if the transaction can be operationally administered by the intermediary.
Information Sharing Agreements
As required by Rule 22c-2 under the 1940 Act, the Funds or certain of their service providers will enter into information sharing agreements with financial intermediaries, including participating life insurance companies and financial intermediaries that sponsor or offer retirement plans through which shares of the Funds are made available for purchase. Pursuant to Rule 22c-2, financial intermediaries are required, upon request, to: (i) provide shareholder account and transaction information; and (ii) execute instructions from the Fund to restrict or prohibit further purchases of Fund shares by shareholders who have been identified by the Fund as having engaged in transactions that violate the Fund's excessive trading policies and procedures.
Excessive Trading Practices Policy of Non-Money Market Funds
Right to Reject or Restrict Share Transaction Orders—
The Fund is intended for investors with long-term investment purposes and is not intended as a vehicle for frequent trading activity (market timing) that is excessive. Investors should transact in Fund shares primarily for investment purposes. The Board has adopted excessive trading policies and procedures that are designed to deter excessive trading by investors (the Excessive Trading Policies and Procedures).
The Fund discourages and does not accommodate excessive trading.
The Fund reserves the right to reject, without any prior notice, any purchase or exchange order for any reason, and will not be liable for any loss resulting from rejected orders. For example, the Fund may in its sole discretion restrict or reject a purchase or exchange order even if the transaction is not subject to the specific limitation described below if the Fund or its agents determine that accepting the order could interfere with efficient management of the Fund's
| Prospectus 2021 | 47 |
Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
portfolio or is otherwise contrary to the Fund's best interests. The Excessive Trading Policies and Procedures apply equally to purchase or exchange transactions communicated directly to the Transfer Agent and to those received by financial intermediaries.
Specific Buying and Exchanging Limitations
— If a Fund detects that an investor has made two “material round trips” in any 28-day period, it will generally reject the investor's future purchase orders, including exchange purchase orders, involving any Fund.
For these purposes, a “round trip” is a purchase or exchange into the Fund followed by a sale or exchange out of the Fund, or a sale or exchange out of the Fund followed by a purchase or exchange into the Fund. A “material” round trip is one that is deemed by the Fund to be material in terms of its amount or its potential detrimental impact on the Fund. Independent of this limit, the Fund may, in its sole discretion, reject future purchase orders by any person, group or account that appears to have engaged in any type of excessive trading activity.
These limits generally do not apply to automated transactions or transactions by registered investment companies in a “fund-of-funds” structure. These limits do not apply to payroll deduction contributions by retirement plan participants, transactions initiated by a retirement plan sponsor or certain other retirement plan transactions consisting of rollover transactions, loan repayments and disbursements, and required minimum distribution redemptions. They may be modified or rescinded for accounts held by certain retirement plans to conform to plan limits, for considerations relating to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 or regulations of the Department of Labor, and for certain asset allocation or wrap programs. Accounts known to be under common ownership or control generally will be counted together, but accounts maintained or managed by a common intermediary generally will not be considered to be under common ownership or control. The Fund retains the right to modify these restrictions at any time without prior notice to shareholders. In addition, the Fund may, in its sole discretion, reinstate trading privileges that have been revoked under the Fund's Excessive Trading Policies and Procedures.
Limitations on the Ability to Detect and Prevent Excessive Trading Practices—
The Fund takes various steps designed to detect and prevent excessive trading, including daily review of available shareholder transaction information. However, the Fund receives buy, sell or exchange orders through financial intermediaries, and cannot always know of or reasonably detect excessive trading that may be facilitated by financial intermediaries or by the use of the omnibus account arrangements they offer. Omnibus account arrangements are common forms of holding shares of mutual funds, particularly among certain financial intermediaries such as broker-dealers, retirement plans and variable insurance products. These arrangements often permit financial intermediaries to aggregate their clients' transactions and accounts, and in these circumstances, the identities of the financial intermediary clients that beneficially own Fund shares are often not known to the Fund.
Some financial intermediaries apply their own restrictions or policies to their clients’ transactions and accounts, which may be more or less restrictive than those described here. This may impact the Fund's ability to curtail excessive trading, even where it is identified. For these and other reasons, it is possible that excessive trading may occur despite the Fund's efforts to detect and prevent it.
Although these restrictions and policies involve judgments that are inherently subjective and may involve some selectivity in their application, the Fund seeks to act in a manner that it believes is consistent with the best interests of Fund shareholders in making any such judgments.
Risks of Excessive Trading —
Excessive trading creates certain risks to the Fund's long-term shareholders and may create the following adverse effects:
| ■ | negative impact on the Fund's performance; |
| ■ | potential dilution of the value of the Fund's shares; |
| ■ | interference with the efficient management of the Fund's portfolio, such as the need to maintain undesirably large cash positions, the need to use its line of credit or the need to buy or sell securities it otherwise would not have bought or sold; |
| ■ | losses on the sale of investments resulting from the need to sell securities at less favorable prices; |
| 48 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
| ■ | increased taxable gains to the Fund's remaining shareholders resulting from the need to sell securities to meet sell orders; and |
| ■ | increased brokerage and administrative costs. |
To the extent that the Fund invests significantly in foreign securities traded on markets that close before the Fund's valuation time, it may be particularly susceptible to dilution as a result of excessive trading. Because events may occur after the close of foreign markets and before the Fund's valuation time that influence the value of foreign securities, investors may seek to trade Fund shares in an effort to benefit from their understanding of the value of foreign securities as of the Fund's valuation time. This is often referred to as price arbitrage. The Fund has adopted procedures designed to adjust closing market prices of foreign securities under certain circumstances to reflect what the Fund believes to be the fair value of those securities as of its valuation time. To the extent the adjustments do not work fully, investors engaging in price arbitrage may cause dilution in the value of the Fund's shares held by other shareholders.
Similarly, to the extent that the Fund invests significantly in thinly traded securities and other debt instruments that are rated below investment grade (commonly called “high-yield” or “junk” bonds), equity securities of small-capitalization companies, floating rate loans, or tax-exempt or other securities that may trade infrequently, because
these securities are often traded infrequently, investors may seek to trade Fund shares in an effort to benefit from their understanding of the value of these securities as of the Fund's valuation time. This is also a type of price arbitrage. Any such frequent trading strategies may interfere with efficient management of the Fund's portfolio to a greater degree than would be the case for mutual funds that invest only, or significantly, in highly liquid securities, in part because the Fund may have difficulty selling these particular investments at advantageous times or prices to satisfy large and/or frequent sell orders. Any successful price arbitrage may also cause dilution in the value of Fund shares held by non-redeeming shareholders.
Excessive Trading Practices Policy of Columbia Government Money Market Fund
A money market fund is designed to offer investors a liquid cash option that they may buy and sell as often as they wish. Accordingly, the Board has not adopted policies and procedures designed to discourage excessive or short-term trading of Columbia Government Money Market Fund shares. However, since frequent purchases and sales of Columbia Government Money Market Fund shares could in certain instances harm shareholders in various ways, including reducing the returns to long-term shareholders by increasing costs (such as spreads paid to dealers who trade money market instruments with Columbia Government Money Market Fund) and disrupting portfolio management strategies, Columbia Government Money Market Fund reserves the right, but has no obligation, to reject any purchase or exchange transaction at any time. Except as expressly described in this prospectus (such as minimum purchase amounts), Columbia Government Money Market Fund has no limits on purchase or exchange transactions. In addition, Columbia Government Money Market Fund reserves the right to impose or modify restrictions on purchases, exchanges or trading of Fund shares at any time.
Opening an Account and Placing Orders
We encourage you to consult with a financial advisor who can help you with your investment decisions and who can help you open an account. Once you have an account, you can buy, sell or exchange shares by contacting your financial advisor who will send your order to the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary. As described below, once you have an account you can also communicate your orders directly to the Transfer Agent by mail, by telephone or online.
The Funds are generally available directly and through broker-dealers, banks and other financial intermediaries or institutions, and through certain qualified and non-qualified plans, wrap fee products or other investment products sponsored by financial intermediaries. You may buy, sell, or exchange shares through your financial intermediary. If you maintain your account directly with your financial intermediary, you must contact that agent to process your transaction.
| Prospectus 2021 | 49 |
Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
Not all financial intermediaries offer the Funds (or all classes of Fund shares) and certain financial intermediaries that offer the Funds may not offer all Funds on all investment platforms or programs.
Please consult with your financial intermediary to determine the availability of the Funds. If you set up an account at a financial intermediary that does not have, and is unable to obtain, a selling agreement with the Distributor, you will not be able to transfer Fund holdings to that account. In that event, you must either maintain your Fund holdings with your current financial intermediary or find another financial intermediary with a selling agreement.
Financial intermediaries that offer the Funds may charge you additional fees for the services they provide and they may have different policies that are not described in this prospectus.
An investor transacting in a class of Fund shares without any front-end sales charge, CDSC, or other asset-based fee for sales or distribution, such as a Rule 12b-1 fee, may be required to pay a commission to the financial intermediary for effecting such transactions. The Funds are offered in a number of different share classes that have different fees and expenses and other features. Some differences in the policies of different financial intermediaries may include different minimum investment amounts, exchange privileges, Fund/class choices and cutoff times for investments. Additionally, recordkeeping, transaction processing and payments of distributions relating to your account may be performed by the financial intermediaries through which your shares of the Fund are held. Since the Fund (and its service providers) may not have a record of your account transactions, you should always contact the financial intermediary through which you purchased or at which you maintain your shares of the Fund to make changes to your account, to give instructions concerning your account, or to obtain information about your account. The Fund and its service providers, including the Distributor and the Transfer Agent, are not responsible for the failure of any financial intermediary to carry out its obligations to its customers.
The Fund may engage financial intermediaries to receive purchase, exchange and sell orders on its behalf. Accounts established directly with the Fund will be serviced by the Transfer Agent. The Funds, the Transfer Agent and the Distributor do not provide investment advice.
Direct-At-Fund Accounts (Accounts Established Directly with the Fund)
You can hold Fund shares through an account established and held through the financial intermediary through which you purchased Fund shares or you or your financial intermediary may establish an account directly with the Fund, in which case you will receive Fund account transaction confirmations and statements from the Transfer Agent, and not your financial intermediary (Direct-at-Fund Accounts).
To open a Direct-at-Fund Account, complete a Fund account application with your financial advisor or investment professional, and mail the account application to the Transfer Agent. Account applications may be obtained at columbiathreadneedleus.com or may be requested by calling 800.345.6611. Make your check payable to the Fund. You will be assessed a $15 fee for any checks rejected by your financial institution due to insufficient funds or other reasons. The Funds do not accept cash, credit card convenience checks, money orders, traveler's checks, starter checks, third or fourth party checks, or other cash equivalents.
Mail your check and completed application to the Transfer Agent at its regular or express mail address that can be found at the beginning of the section
Choosing a Share Class
. You may also use these addresses to request an exchange or redemption of Fund shares. When a written order to buy, sell or exchange shares is sent to the Transfer Agent, the share price used to fill the order is the next price calculated by the Fund after the Transfer Agent receives your transaction request in “good form” at its transaction processing center (i.e., the Fund’s express mail address), not the P.O. Box provided for regular mail delivery.
You will be sent a statement confirming your purchase and any subsequent transactions in your account. You will also be sent quarterly and annual statements detailing your transactions in the Fund and the other Funds you own under the same account. Duplicate quarterly account statements for the current year and duplicate annual statements for the most recent prior calendar year will be sent to you free of charge. Copies of year-end statements for prior years are available for a fee. Please contact the Transfer Agent for more information.
| 50 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
Written Transactions – Direct-at-Fund Accounts
If you have a Direct-at-Fund Account, you can communicate written buy, sell or exchange orders to the Transfer Agent at its address that can be found at the beginning of the section
Choosing a Share Class
. When a written order to buy, sell or exchange shares is sent to the Transfer Agent, the share price used to fill the order is the next price calculated by the Fund after the Transfer Agent receives your transaction request in “good form” at its transaction processing center (i.e., the Fund’s express mail address), not the P.O. Box provided for regular mail delivery.
Include in your transaction request letter: your name; the name of the Fund(s); your account number; the class of shares to be purchased, exchanged or sold; your SSN or other TIN; the dollar amount or number of shares you want to purchase, exchange or sell; specific instructions regarding delivery of any redemption proceeds or exchange destination (i.e., the Fund/class to be exchanged into); signature(s) of all registered account owner(s); and any special documents the Transfer Agent may require in order to process your order.
Corporate, trust or partnership accounts may need to send additional documents. Payment will be mailed to the address of record and made payable to the names listed on the account, unless your request specifies differently and is signed by all owners.
Telephone Transactions – Direct-at-Fund Accounts
For Class A, Class C, Class Inst, Class Inst3, Class R and Class V shares, if you have a Direct-at-Fund Account, you may place orders to buy, sell or exchange shares by telephone through the Transfer Agent. To place orders by telephone, call 800.422.3737. Have your account number and SSN or TIN available when calling.
You can sell Fund shares via telephone and receive redemption proceeds: by electronic funds transfer via ACH, by wire, or by check to the address of record, subject to a maximum of $100,000 of shares per day, per Fund account. You can buy Fund shares via telephone by electronic funds transfer via ACH from your bank account up to a maximum of $100,000 of shares per day, per Fund account, or by wire from your bank account without a maximum. See below for more information regarding wire and electronic fund transfer transactions. Certain restrictions apply, so please call the Transfer Agent at 800.422.3737 for this and other information in advance of any need to transact via telephone.
Telephone orders may not be as secure as written orders. The Fund will take reasonable steps to confirm that telephone instructions are genuine. For example, we require proof of your identification before we will act on instructions received by telephone and may record telephone conversations. However, the Fund and its agents will not be responsible for any losses, costs or expenses resulting from an unauthorized telephone instruction when reasonable steps have been taken to confirm that telephone instructions are genuine. Telephone orders may be difficult to complete during periods of significant economic or market change or business interruption.
Online Transactions – Direct-at-Fund Accounts
For Class A, Class C, Class Inst, Class Inst3, Class R and Class V shares, if you have a Direct-at-Fund Account, you may be able to place orders to buy, sell, or exchange shares online. Contact the Transfer Agent at 800.345.6611 for more information on certain account trading restrictions and the special sign-up procedures required for online transactions. You can also go to columbiathreadneedleus.com/investor/ to sign up for online transactions. The Transfer Agent has procedures in place to authenticate electronic orders you send through the internet. You will be required to accept the terms of an online agreement and to establish an online account and utilize a password in order to access online account services. You can sell a maximum of $100,000 of shares per day, per Fund account through your online account if you qualify for internet orders. Wire transactions are not permitted online.
| Prospectus 2021 | 51 |
Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
Wire Transactions – Direct-at-Fund Accounts
If you hold a Direct-at-Fund Account, you may purchase or redeem Class A, Class C, Class Inst, Class Inst3, Class R and Class V shares of a Fund by wiring money from (or to) your bank account to (or from) your Fund account. You must set up this feature prior to your request unless you are submitting your request in writing, which may require a Medallion Signature Guarantee. Please contact the Transfer Agent by calling 800.422.3737 to obtain the necessary forms and requirements. The Transfer Agent charges a fee for shares sold by wire. The Transfer Agent may waive the fee for certain accounts. In the case of a redemption, the receiving bank may charge an additional fee. The minimum amount that can be redeemed by wire is $500. When selling Fund shares via a telephone request, the maximum amount that can be redeemed via wire transfer is $100,000 per day, per Fund account. Wire transactions are not permitted online.
Electronic Funds Transfer via ACH – Direct-at-Fund Accounts
If you hold a Direct-at-Fund Account, you may purchase or redeem Class A, Class C, Class Inst, Class Inst3, Class R and Class V shares of a Fund by electronically transferring money via Automated Clearing House (ACH) from (or to) your bank account to (or from) your Fund account subject to a maximum of $100,000 of shares per day, per Fund account. You must set up this feature prior to your request, unless you are submitting your request in writing, which may require a Medallion Signature Guarantee. Please contact the Transfer Agent by calling 800.422.3737 to obtain the necessary forms and requirements. Your bank may take up to three business days to post an electronic funds transfer to (or from) your Fund account.
Buying Shares
Eligible Investors
Class A Shares
Class A shares are available to the general public for investment. However, Class A shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund must be purchased through financial intermediaries that, by written agreement with the Distributor, are specifically authorized to sell the Fund’s shares.
Class Adv Shares
Class Adv shares are available only to (i) omnibus retirement plans, including self-directed brokerage accounts within omnibus retirement plans that clear through institutional no transaction fee (NTF) platforms, (ii) trust companies or similar institutions, (iii) broker-dealers, banks, trust companies and similar institutions that clear Fund share transactions for their client or customer investment advisory or similar accounts through designated financial intermediaries and their mutual fund trading platforms that have been granted specific written authorization from the Transfer Agent with respect to Class Adv eligibility apart from selling, servicing or similar agreements, (iv) 501(c)(3) charitable organizations, (v) 529 plans, (vi) health savings accounts, (vii) investors participating in a fee-based advisory program sponsored by a financial intermediary or other entity that is not compensated by the Fund for those services, other than payments for shareholder servicing or sub-accounting performed in place of the Transfer Agent, and (viii) commissionable brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary, acting as broker on behalf of its customer, charges the customer a commission for effecting transactions in Fund shares, provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Adv shares within such platform.
Class Adv shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund must be purchased through financial intermediaries that, by written agreement with the Distributor, are specifically authorized to sell the Fund’s shares. Class Adv shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund are also available to certain registered investment advisers that clear Fund share transactions for their client accounts through designated financial intermediaries with mutual fund trading platforms that have been granted specific written authorization from the Transfer Agent (apart from selling, servicing or similar agreements) to sell Class Inst2 shares, which are not offered by the Fund.
Class C Shares
Class C shares are available to the general public for investment.
| 52 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
Class Inst Shares
Class Inst shares are available only to the categories of eligible investors described below under
Class Inst Shares Minimum Initial Investments
.
Financial intermediaries that clear Fund share transactions through designated financial intermediaries and their mutual fund trading platforms that were given specific written notice from the Transfer Agent of the termination, effective March 29, 2013, of their eligibility for new purchases of Class Inst shares and omnibus retirement plans are not permitted to establish new Class Inst accounts, subject to certain exceptions described below.
Omnibus retirement plans that opened and, subject to certain exceptions, funded a Class Inst account with the Fund as of the close of business on March 28, 2013 and have continuously held Class Inst shares in such account after such date (each, a grandfathered plan), may generally continue to make additional purchases of Class Inst shares, open new Class Inst accounts and add new participants. In addition, an omnibus retirement plan affiliated with a grandfathered plan may, in the sole discretion of the Distributor, open new Class Inst accounts in a Fund if the affiliated plan opened a Class Inst account on or before March 28, 2013. If an omnibus retirement plan invested in Class Inst shares changes recordkeepers after March 28, 2013, any new accounts established for that plan may not be established in Class Inst shares, but such a plan may establish new accounts in a different share class for which the plan is eligible.
Accounts of financial intermediaries (other than omnibus retirement plans, which are discussed above) that clear Fund share transactions for their client or customer accounts through designated financial intermediaries and their mutual fund trading platforms that received specific written notice from the Transfer Agent of the termination, effective March 29, 2013, of their eligibility for new purchases of Class Inst shares will not be permitted to establish new Class Inst accounts or make additional purchases of Class Inst shares (other than through reinvestment of distributions). Any such account may, at its holder’s option, exchange Class Inst shares of a Fund, without the payment of a sales charge, for Class A shares of the same Fund.
Class Inst shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund must be purchased through financial intermediaries that, by written agreement with the Distributor, are specifically authorized to sell the Fund’s shares.
Class Inst2 Shares
Class Inst2 shares are available only to (i) certain registered investment advisers and family offices that clear Fund share transactions for their client or customer accounts through designated financial intermediaries and their mutual fund trading platforms that have been granted specific written authorization from the Transfer Agent with respect to Class Inst2 eligibility apart from selling, servicing or similar agreements; (ii) omnibus retirement plans; and (iii) institutional investors that are clients of the Columbia Threadneedle Global Institutional Distribution Team that invest in Class Inst2 shares for their own account through platforms approved by the Distributor or an affiliate thereof to offer and/or service Class Inst2 shares within such platform. Prior to November 8, 2012, Class Inst2 shares were closed to new investors and new accounts, subject to certain exceptions. Existing shareholders who do not satisfy the new eligibility requirements for investment in Class Inst2 may not establish new Class Inst2 accounts but may continue to make additional purchases of Class Inst2 shares in accounts opened and funded prior to November 8, 2012; provided, however, that investment advisory programs and similar programs that opened a Class Inst2 account as of May 1, 2010, and continuously hold Class Inst2 shares in such account after such date, may generally not only continue to make additional purchases of Class Inst2 shares but also open new Class Inst2 accounts for such pre-existing programs and add new shareholders in the program.
Class Inst3 Shares
Class Inst3 shares are available to: (i) group retirement plans that maintain plan-level or omnibus accounts with the Fund (through the Transfer Agent); (ii) institutional investors that are clients of the Columbia Threadneedle Global Institutional Distribution Team that invest in Class Inst3 shares for their own account through platforms approved by the Distributor or an affiliate thereof to offer and/or service Class Inst3 shares within such platform; (iii) collective trust funds; (iv) affiliated or unaffiliated mutual funds (e.g., funds operating as funds-of-funds); (v) fee-based platforms of financial intermediaries (or the clearing intermediary that they trade through) that have an agreement with the Distributor or an affiliate thereof that specifically authorizes the financial intermediary to offer and/or service
| Prospectus 2021 | 53 |
Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
Class Inst3 shares within such platform, provided also that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account; (vi) commissionable brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary, acting as broker on behalf of its customer, charges the customer a commission for effecting transactions in Fund shares, provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst3 shares within such platform and that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account; and (vii) bank trust departments, subject to an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst3 shares and provided that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account. In each case above where noted that Fund shares are required to be held in an omnibus account, the Distributor may, in its discretion, determine to waive this requirement.
Class Inst3 shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund must be purchased through financial intermediaries that, by written agreement with the Distributor, are specifically authorized to sell the Fund’s shares. Please note that Class Inst3 shares that were open and funded accounts prior to November 30, 2018 (the conversion date from the former unnamed share class to Class Inst3 shares) are eligible for additional investment; however, any account established after that date must meet the current Class Inst3 eligibility requirements.
Class R Shares
Class R shares are available only to eligible health savings accounts sponsored by third party platforms, including those sponsored by Ameriprise Financial affiliates, eligible retirement plans and, in the sole discretion of the Distributor, other types of retirement accounts held through platforms maintained by financial intermediaries approved by the Distributor. Eligible retirement plans include any retirement plan other than individual 403(b) plans. Class R shares are generally not available for investment through retail nonretirement accounts, traditional and Roth IRAs, Coverdell Education Savings Accounts, SEPs, SAR-SEPs, Simple IRAs or 529 tuition programs. Contact the Transfer Agent or your retirement plan or health savings account administrator for more information about investing in Class R shares.
Class V Shares
Class V shares are available only to investors who received (and who have continuously held) Class V shares (formerly named Class T shares) in connection with the merger of certain Galaxy funds into certain Funds that were then named Liberty funds.
Additional Eligible Investors
In addition, the Distributor, in its sole discretion, may accept investments in any share class from investors other than those listed in this prospectus, and may also waive certain eligibility requirements for operational and other reasons, including but not limited to any requirement to maintain Fund shares in networked or omnibus accounts.
Minimum Initial Investments
The table below shows the Fund’s minimum initial investment requirements, which may vary by class and type of account.
The Fund reserves the right to redeem your shares if your account falls below the Fund’s minimum initial investment requirement.
| Minimum Initial Investments | ||
|
Minimum
Initial Investment
(a)
|
Minimum
Initial Investment for Accounts with Systematic Investment Plans |
|
| For all classes and account types except those listed below | $2,000 |
$100
(b)
|
| Individual Retirement Accounts for all classes except those listed below | $1,000 |
$100
(c)
|
| Group retirement plans | None | N/A |
| Class Adv and Class Inst |
$0, $1,000 or $2,000
(d)
|
$100
(d)
|
| Class Inst2 and Class R | None | N/A |
| 54 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
|
Minimum Initial Investments
|
||
|
Minimum
Initial Investment
(a)
|
Minimum
Initial Investment for Accounts with Systematic Investment Plans |
|
| Class Inst3 |
$0, $1,000, $2,000 or $1 million
(e)
|
$100
(e)
|
| (a) |
If your Class A, Class Adv, Class C, Class Inst, Class Inst3 or Class V shares account balance falls below the minimum initial investment amount for any reason, including a market decline, you may be asked to increase it to the minimum initial investment amount or establish a monthly Systematic Investment Plan. If you do not do so, your account will be subject to a $20 annual low balance fee and/or shares may be automatically redeemed and the proceeds mailed to you if the account falls below the minimum account balance. See
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares — Transaction Rules and Policies
|
| (b) |
Columbia Government Money Market Fund
—
|
| (c) |
Columbia Government Money Market Fund
—
|
| (d) |
The minimum initial investment in Class Adv shares is $2,000 ($1,000 for IRAs; $100 for systematic investment plan accounts) for commissionable brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary, acting as broker on behalf of its customers, charges the customer a commission for effecting transactions in Fund shares, provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Adv shares within such platform; for all other eligible Class Adv share investors (see
Buying Shares – Eligible Investors – Class Adv Shares
Class Inst Shares Minimum Initial Investments
|
| (e) | There is no minimum initial investment in Class Inst3 shares for: group retirement plans that maintain plan-level or omnibus accounts with the Fund; collective trust funds; affiliated or unaffiliated mutual funds (e.g., funds operating as funds-of-funds); fee-based platforms of financial intermediaries (or the clearing intermediary that they trade through) that have an agreement with the Distributor or an affiliate thereof that specifically authorizes the financial intermediary to offer and/or service Class Inst3 shares within such platform and Fund shares are held in an omnibus account; and bank trust departments, subject to an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst3 shares and provided that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account. The minimum initial investment in Class Inst3 shares is $2,000 ($1,000 for IRAs; $100 for systematic investment plan accounts) for commissionable brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary, acting as broker on behalf of its customer, charges the customer a commission for effecting transactions in Fund shares, provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst3 shares within such platform and Fund shares are held in an omnibus account. The minimum initial investment in Class Inst3 shares is $1 million, unless waived in the discretion of the Distributor, for the following investors: institutional investors that are clients of the Columbia Threadneedle Global Institutional Distribution Team that invest in Class Inst3 shares for their own account through platforms approved by the Distributor or an affiliate thereof to offer and/or service Class Inst3 shares within such platform. The Distributor may, in its discretion, waive the $1 million minimum initial investment required for these Class Inst3 investors. In each case above where noted that Fund shares are required to be held in an omnibus account, the Distributor may, in its discretion, determine to waive this requirement. |
Additional Information about Minimum Initial Investments
The minimum initial investment requirements may be waived for accounts that are managed by an investment professional, or for accounts held in approved discretionary or non-discretionary wrap programs. The Distributor, in its sole discretion, may also waive minimum initial investment requirements for other account types.
Minimum investment and related requirements may be modified at any time, with or without prior notice. If your account is closed and then re-opened with a systematic investment plan, your account must meet the then-current applicable minimum initial investment.
Class Inst Shares Minimum Initial Investments
There is no minimum initial investment in Class Inst shares for the following categories of eligible investors:
| ■ | Any health savings account sponsored by a third party platform. |
| ■ | Any investor participating in an account sponsored by a financial intermediary or other entity (that provides services to the account) that is paid a fee-based advisory fee by the investor and that is not compensated by the Fund for those services, other than payments for shareholder servicing or sub-accounting performed in place of the Transfer Agent. |
| ■ | Any commissionable brokerage account, if a financial intermediary has received a written approval from the Distributor to waive the minimum initial investment in Class Inst shares. |
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Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
The minimum initial investment in Class Inst shares for the following categories of eligible investors is $1,000:
| ■ | Individual retirement accounts (IRAs) on commissionable brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary, acting as broker on behalf of its customer, charges the customer a commission for effecting transactions in Fund shares, provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst shares within such platform. |
| ■ | Any current employee of Columbia Management Investment Advisers LLC, the Distributor or the Transfer Agent and immediate family members of any of the foregoing who share the same address are eligible to invest in Class Inst shares through an individual retirement account (IRA). If you maintain your account with a financial intermediary, you must contact that financial intermediary each time you seek to purchase shares to notify them that you qualify for Class Inst shares. If Class Inst shares are not available at your financial intermediary, you may consider opening a Direct-at-Fund Account. It is your obligation to advise your financial intermediary or (in the case of Direct-at-Fund Accounts) the Transfer Agent that you qualify for Class Inst shares; be prepared to provide proof thereof. |
The minimum initial investment in Class Inst shares for the following categories of eligible investors is $2,000:
| ■ | Investors (except investors in individual retirement accounts (IRAs)) who purchase Fund shares through commissionable brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary holds the shares in an omnibus account and, acting as broker on behalf of its customer, charges the customer a commission for effecting transactions in Fund shares provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst shares within such platform. |
| ■ | Any current employee of Columbia Management Investment Advisers LLC, the Distributor or the Transfer Agent and immediate family members of any of the foregoing who share the same address are eligible to invest in Class Inst shares (other than individual retirement accounts (IRAs), for which the minimum initial investment is $1,000). If you maintain your account with a financial intermediary, you must contact that financial intermediary each time you seek to purchase shares to notify them that you qualify for Class Inst shares. If Class Inst shares are not available at your financial intermediary, you may consider opening a Direct-at-Fund Account. It is your obligation to advise your financial intermediary or (in the case of Direct-at-Fund Accounts) the Transfer Agent that you qualify for Class Inst shares; be prepared to provide proof thereof. |
| ■ | Certain financial institutions and intermediaries, such as insurance companies, trust companies, banks, endowments, investment companies or foundations, buying shares for their own account, including Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates and/or subsidiaries. |
| ■ | Bank trust departments that assess their clients an asset-based fee. |
| ■ | Certain other investors as set forth in more detail in the SAI. |
Systematic Investment Plan
The Systematic Investment Plan allows you to schedule regular purchases via automatic transfers from your bank account to the Fund on a monthly, quarterly or semiannual basis. Contact the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary to set up the plan. Systematic Investment Plans may not be available for all share classes. With the exception of Columbia Government Money Market Fund, the Systematic Investment Plan is confirmed on your quarterly account statement.
Dividend Diversification
Generally, you may automatically invest Fund distributions into the same class of shares (and in some cases certain other classes of shares) of another Fund without paying any applicable front-end sales charge. Call the Transfer Agent at 800.345.6611 for details. The ability to invest distributions from one Fund to another Fund may not be available to accounts held at all financial intermediaries.
Other Purchase Rules You Should Know
| ■ | Once the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary receives your purchase order in “good form,” your purchase will be made at the Fund’s next calculated public offering price per share, which is the NAV per share plus any sales charge that applies (i.e., the trade date). |
| 56 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
| ■ | Once the Fund receives your purchase request in “good form,” you cannot cancel it after the market closes. |
| ■ | You generally buy Class A and Class V shares at the public offering price per share because purchases of these share classes are generally subject to a front-end sales charge. |
| ■ | You buy Class Adv, Class C, Class Inst, Class Inst2, Class Inst3 and Class R shares at NAV per share because no front-end sales charge applies to purchases of these share classes. |
| ■ | Class A shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund are not eligible for purchase by a Direct-at-Fund Account. |
| ■ | Class Inst shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund are not eligible for purchase by a Direct-at-Fund Account except for any current employee of Columbia Management Investment Advisers LLC, the Distributor or Transfer Agent and immediate family members of the foregoing who share the same address. |
| ■ | The Distributor and the Transfer Agent reserve the right to cancel your order request if the Fund does not receive payment within two business days of receiving your purchase order request. The Fund will return any payment received for orders that have been cancelled, but no interest will be paid on that money. |
| ■ | Financial intermediaries are responsible for sending your purchase orders to the Transfer Agent and ensuring that the Fund receives your money on time. |
| ■ | Shares purchased are recorded on the books of the Fund. The Fund does not issue certificates. |
Please also read
and contact your financial intermediary for more information regarding any reductions and/or waivers described therein.
Appendix A
Selling Shares
When you sell shares, the amount you receive may be more or less than the amount you invested. Your sale price will be the next NAV calculated after your request is received in “good form,” (i.e., the trade date) minus any applicable CDSC.
Systematic Withdrawal Plan
The Systematic Withdrawal Plan allows you to schedule regular redemptions from your account any business day on a monthly, quarterly or semiannual basis. Currently, Systematic Withdrawal Plans are generally available for Class A, Class Adv, Class C, Class Inst, Class Inst2, Class Inst3, and Class V share accounts. Contact the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary to set up the plan. To set up the plan, your account balance must meet the class minimum initial investment amount. A Systematic Withdrawal Plan cannot be set up on an account that already has a Systematic Investment Plan established. Note that a Medallion Signature Guarantee may be required if this service is established after your Fund account is opened.
You can choose to receive your withdrawals via check or direct deposit into your bank account. The Fund will deduct any applicable CDSC from the withdrawals before sending redemption proceeds to you. You can cancel the plan by giving the Fund 30 days’ notice in writing or by calling the Transfer Agent at 800.422.3737. It’s important to remember that if you withdraw more than your investment in the Fund is earning, you'll eventually withdraw your entire investment.
Check Redemption Service (for Columbia Government Money Market Fund)
Class A and Class Inst shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund (which is not offered in this prospectus) offer check writing privileges. If you have $2,000 in Columbia Government Money Market Fund, you may request checks which may be drawn against your account. The amount of any check drawn against your Columbia Government Money Market Fund must be at least $100 and not more than $100,000 per day. You can elect this service when you initially establish your account or thereafter. Call 800.345.6611 for the appropriate forms to establish this service. If you own Class A shares that were originally purchased in another Fund at NAV because of the size of the purchase, and then exchanged into Columbia Government Money Market Fund, check redemptions may be subject to a CDSC. A $15 charge will be assessed for any stop payment order requested by you or any overdraft in connection with checks written against your Columbia Government Money Market Fund account. Note that a Medallion Signature Guarantee may be required if this service is established after your Fund account is opened.
| Prospectus 2021 | 57 |
Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
Satisfying Fund Redemption Requests
When you sell your Fund shares, the Fund is effectively buying them back from you. This is called a redemption. Except as noted below with respect to newly purchased shares, the Fund typically expects to send you payment for your shares within two business days after your trade date for all methods of payment. The Fund can suspend redemptions and/or delay payment of redemption proceeds for up to seven days. The Fund can also suspend redemptions and/or delay payment of redemption proceeds in excess of seven days under certain circumstances, including when the NYSE is closed or trading thereon is restricted or during emergency or other circumstances, including as determined by the SEC.
The Fund typically seeks to satisfy redemption requests from cash or cash equivalents held by the Fund, from the proceeds of orders to purchase Fund shares or from the proceeds of sales of Fund holdings effected in the normal course of managing the Fund. However, the Fund may have to sell Fund holdings, including in down markets, to meet heavier than usual redemption requests. For example, under stressed or abnormal market conditions or circumstances, including circumstances adversely affecting the liquidity of the Fund’s investments, the Fund may be more likely to be forced to sell Fund holdings to meet redemptions than under normal market circumstances. In these situations, the Fund’s portfolio manager may have to sell Fund holdings that would not otherwise be sold because, among other reasons, the current price to be received is less than the value of the holdings perceived by the Fund’s portfolio manager. The Fund may also, under certain circumstances (but more likely under stressed or abnormal market conditions or circumstances), borrow money under a credit facility to which the Fund and certain other Columbia Funds are parties or from other Columbia Funds under an interfund lending program (except for closed-end funds and money market funds, which are not eligible to borrow under the program). The Fund and the other Columbia Funds are limited as to the amount that each may individually and collectively borrow under the credit facility and the interfund lending program. As a result, borrowings available to the Fund under the credit facility and the interfund lending program might be insufficient, alone or in combination with the other strategies described herein, to satisfy Fund redemption requests. Please see
in the SAI for more information about the credit facility and interfund lending program. The Fund is also limited in the total amount it may borrow. The Fund may only borrow to the extent permitted by the 1940 Act, the rules and regulations thereunder, and any exemptive relief available to the Fund, which currently limit Fund borrowings to 33 1/3% of total assets (including any amounts borrowed) less liabilities (other than borrowings), plus an additional 5% of its total assets for temporary purposes (to be repaid within 60 days without extension or renewal), in each case determined at the time the borrowing is made.
About Fund Investments – Borrowings – Interfund Lending
In addition, the Fund reserves the right to honor redemption orders in whole or in part with in-kind distributions of Fund portfolio securities instead of cash. Such in-kind distributions typically represent a pro-rata portion of Fund portfolio assets subject to adjustments (e.g., for non-transferable securities, round lots, and derivatives). In the event the Fund distributes portfolio securities in kind, you may incur brokerage and other transaction costs associated with converting the portfolio securities you receive into cash. Also, the portfolio securities you receive may increase or decrease in value after they are distributed but before you convert them into cash. For U.S. federal income tax purposes, redemptions paid in securities are generally treated the same as redemptions paid in cash. If, during any 90-day period, you redeem shares in an amount greater than $250,000 or 1% of the Fund’s net assets (whichever is less), and if the Investment Manager determines it to be feasible and appropriate, the Fund may pay the redemption amount above such threshold by an in-kind distribution of Fund portfolio securities.
While the Fund is not required (and may refuse in its discretion) to pay a redemption with an in-kind distribution of Fund portfolio securities and reserves the right to pay the redemption proceeds in cash, if you wish to request an in-kind redemption, please call the Transfer Agent at 800.345.6611. As a result of the operational steps needed to coordinate with the redeeming shareholder’s custodian, in-kind redemptions typically take several weeks to complete after a redemption request is received. The Fund and the redeeming shareholder will typically agree upon a redemption date. Since the Fund’s NAV may fluctuate during this time, the Fund’s NAV may be lower on the agreed-upon redemption date than on an earlier date on which the investment could have been redeemed for cash.
| 58 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
Redemption of Newly Purchased Shares
You may not redeem shares for which the Fund has not yet received payment. Shares purchased by check or electronically by ACH when the purchase payment is not guaranteed will be considered in “good form” for redemption only after they have been held in your account for 6 calendar days after the trade date of the purchase (Collected Shares). If you request a redemption for an amount that, based on the NAV next calculated after your redemption request is received, includes any shares that are not yet Collected Shares, the Fund will only process the redemption up to the amount of the value of Collected Shares available in your account. You must submit a new redemption request if you wish to redeem those shares that were not yet Collected Shares at the time the original redemption request was received by the Fund.
Other Redemption Rules You Should Know
| ■ | Once the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary receives your redemption order in “good form,” your shares will be sold at the Fund’s next calculated NAV per share (i.e., the trade date). Any applicable CDSC will be deducted from the amount you're selling and the balance will be remitted to you. |
| ■ | Once the Fund receives your redemption request in “good form,” you cannot cancel it after the market closes. |
| ■ | If you sell your shares that are held in a Direct-at-Fund Account, we will normally send the redemption proceeds by mail or electronically transfer them to your bank account the next business day after the trade date. Note that your bank may take up to three business days to post an electronic funds transfer from your account. |
| ■ | If you sell your shares through a financial intermediary, the Funds will normally send the redemption proceeds to your financial intermediary within two business days after the trade date. |
| ■ | No interest will be paid on uncashed redemption checks. |
| ■ | Other restrictions may apply to retirement accounts. For information about these restrictions, contact your retirement plan administrator. |
| ■ | For broker-dealer and wrap fee accounts: The Fund reserves the right to redeem your shares if your account falls below the Fund's minimum initial investment requirement. The Fund will notify your broker-dealer prior to redeeming shares, and will provide details on how to avoid such redemption. |
| ■ |
Also keep in mind the Funds' Small Account Policy, which is described above in
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares — Transaction Rules and Policies.
|
Exchanging Shares
You can generally sell shares of your Fund to buy shares of another Fund (subject to eligibility requirements), in what is called an exchange. You should read the prospectus of, and make sure you understand the investment objective, principal investment strategies, risks, fees and expenses of, the Fund into which you are exchanging. Although the Funds allow certain exchanges from one share class to another share class with higher expenses, you should consider the expenses of each class before making such an exchange. Please see
below for more information.
Same-Fund Exchange Privilege
You will be subject to a sales charge if, in a Direct-at-Fund Account, you exchange shares that have not previously paid a sales charge, including from Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund, Columbia Small Cap Index Fund, Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund or any other Columbia Fund that does not charge a front-end sales charge, into a Columbia Fund that does assess a sales charge.
Please contact your financial intermediary for more information.
If you hold your Fund shares through certain financial intermediaries, you may have limited exchangeability among the Funds.
Systematic Exchanges
You may buy Class A, Class C, Class Inst, Class Inst3 and Class V shares of a Fund by exchanging each month from another Fund for shares of the same class of the Fund at no additional cost, subject to the following exchange amount minimums: $50 each month for individual retirement accounts (i.e., tax qualified accounts); and $100 each month for non-retirement accounts. Contact the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary to set up the plan.
| Prospectus 2021 | 59 |
Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
Exchanges will continue as long as your balance in the Fund you are exchanging shares from is sufficient to complete the systematic monthly exchange, subject to the Funds' Small Account Policy described above in
You may terminate the program or change the amount you would like to exchange (subject to the $50 and $100 minimum requirements noted immediately above) by calling the Transfer Agent at 800.345.6611.
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares — Transaction Rules and Policies.
Other Exchange Rules You Should Know
| ■ | Exchanges are made at the NAV next calculated (plus any applicable sales charge) after your exchange order is received in “good form” (i.e., the trade date). |
| ■ | Once the Fund receives your exchange request in “good form,” you cannot cancel it after the market closes. |
| ■ | The rules for buying shares of a Fund generally apply to exchanges into that Fund, including, if your exchange creates a new Fund account, it must satisfy the minimum investment amount, unless a waiver applies. |
| ■ | Shares of the purchased Fund may not be used on the same day for another exchange or sale. |
| ■ | If you exchange shares from Class A shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund to a non-money market Fund, any further exchanges must be between shares of the same class. For example, if you exchange from Class A shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund into Class C shares of a non-money market Fund, you may not exchange from Class C shares of that non-money market Fund back to Class A shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund or Class A shares of any other Fund. |
| ■ | A sales charge may apply when you exchange shares of a Fund that were not assessed a sales charge at the time you purchased such shares. If you invest through a Direct-at-Fund Account in Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund, Columbia Small Cap Index Fund, Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund, Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund or any other Columbia Fund that does not impose a front-end sales charge and then you exchange into a Fund that does assess a sales charge, your transaction is subject to a front-end sales charge if you exchange into Class A shares and to a CDSC if you exchange into Class C shares of the Columbia Funds. |
| ■ | If you purchased Class A shares of a Columbia Fund that imposes a front-end sales charge (and you paid any applicable sales charge) and you then exchange those shares into Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund, Columbia Small Cap Index Fund, Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund, Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund or any other Columbia Fund that does not impose a front-end sales charge, you may exchange that amount to Class A of another Fund in the future, including dividends earned on that amount, without paying a sales charge. |
| ■ | If your shares are subject to a CDSC, you will not be charged a CDSC upon the exchange of those shares. Any CDSC will be deducted when you sell the shares you received from the exchange. The CDSC imposed at that time will be based on the period that begins when you bought shares of the original Fund and ends when you sell the shares of the Fund you received from the exchange. Any applicable CDSC charged will be the CDSC of the original Fund. |
| ■ | You may make exchanges only into a Fund that is legally offered and sold in your state of residence. Contact the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary for more information. |
| ■ | You generally may make an exchange only into a Fund that is accepting investments. |
| ■ | The Fund may change or cancel your right to make an exchange by giving the amount of notice required by regulatory authorities (generally 60 days for a material change or cancellation). |
| ■ | Unless your account is part of a tax-advantaged arrangement, an exchange for shares of another Fund is a taxable event, and you may recognize a gain or loss for tax purposes. |
| ■ | Changing your investment to a different Fund will be treated as a sale and purchase, and you will be subject to applicable taxes on the sale and sales charges on the purchase of the new Fund. |
| 60 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
| ■ |
Class Inst shares of a Fund may be exchanged for Class A or Class Inst shares of another Fund. In certain circumstances, the front-end sales charge applicable to Class A shares may be waived on exchanges of Class Inst shares for Class A shares. See
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares — Buying Shares — Eligible Investors — Class Inst Shares
|
| ■ | Class A shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund are not eligible for exchange by a Direct-at-Fund Account. |
| ■ | Class Inst shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund are not eligible for exchange by a Direct-at-Fund Account except for any current employee of the Investment Manager, the Distributor or the Transfer Agent and immediate family members of any of the foregoing who share the same address. |
| ■ | You may generally exchange Class V shares of a Fund for Class A shares of another Fund if the other Fund does not offer Class V shares. Class V shares exchanged into Class A shares cannot be exchanged back into Class V shares. |
Same-Fund Exchange Privilege
Shareholders may be eligible to invest in other classes of shares of the same Fund, and may exchange their current shares for another share class if deemed eligible and offered by the Fund. Such same-Fund exchanges could include an exchange of one class for another with higher expenses. Before making such an exchange, you should consider the expenses of each class. Shareholders should contact their financial intermediaries to learn more about the details of the same-Fund exchange privilege. Exchanges out of Class A, Class C and Class V shares will be subject to any applicable CDSC. Financial intermediaries that have a customized arrangement with regard to CDSCs are detailed in
.
Appendix A
Exchanges out of Class C shares to another share class of the same Fund are not permissible on Direct-at-Fund Accounts. Exchanges out of Class C shares to another share class of the same Fund within commissionable brokerage accounts are permitted only (1) by shareholders moving from a commissionable brokerage account to a fee-based advisory program or (2) when the exchange is part of a share class conversion (or a similar multiple shareholder transaction event) instituted by a financial intermediary and such conversion or similar type event is preapproved by the Distributor.
Ordinarily, shareholders will not recognize a gain or loss for U.S. federal income tax purposes upon a same-Fund exchange. You should consult your tax advisor about your particular exchanges.
| Prospectus 2021 | 61 |
Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund
Distributions and Taxes
Distributions to Shareholders
A mutual fund can make money two ways:
| ■ | It can earn income on its investments. Examples of fund income are interest paid on money market instruments and bonds, and dividends paid on common stocks. |
| ■ | A mutual fund can also have capital gains if the value of its investments increases. While a fund continues to hold an investment, any gain is generally unrealized. If the fund sells an investment, it generally will realize a capital gain if it sells that investment for a higher price than its adjusted cost basis, and will generally realize a capital loss if it sells that investment for a lower price than its adjusted cost basis. Capital gains and losses are either short-term or long-term, depending on whether the fund holds the securities for one year or less (short-term) or more than one year (long-term). |
Mutual funds make payments of fund earnings to shareholders, distributing them among all shareholders of the fund. As a shareholder, you are entitled to your portion of a fund's distributed income, including capital gains. Reinvesting your distributions buys you more shares of a fund
which lets you take advantage of the potential for compound growth. Putting the money you earn back into your investment means it, in turn, may earn even more money (or be exposed to additional losses, if the fund earns a negative return). Over time, the power of compounding has the potential to significantly increase the value of your investment. There is no assurance, however, that you'll earn more money if you reinvest your distributions rather than receive them in cash.
—
The Fund intends to pay out, in the form of distributions to shareholders, a sufficient amount of its income and gains so that the Fund will qualify for treatment as a regulated investment company and generally will not have to pay any federal excise tax. The Fund generally intends to distribute any net realized capital gain (whether long-term or short-term gain) at least once a year. Normally, the Fund will declare and pay distributions of net investment income according to the following schedule:
|
Declaration and Distribution Schedule
|
|
| Declarations | Annually |
| Distributions | Annually |
The Fund may declare or pay distributions of net investment income more frequently.
Different share classes of the Fund usually pay different net investment income distribution amounts, because each class has different expenses. Each time a distribution is made, the NAV per share of the share class is reduced by the amount of the distribution.
The Fund generally pays cash distributions within five business days after the distribution was declared (or, if the Fund declares distributions daily, within five business days after the end of the month in which the distribution was declared). If you sell all of your shares after the record date, but before the payment date, for a distribution, you'll normally receive that distribution in cash within five business days after the sale was made.
The Fund will automatically reinvest distributions in additional shares of the same share class of the Fund unless you inform us you want to receive your distributions in cash (the financial intermediary through which you purchased shares may have different policies). You can do this by contacting the Funds at the addresses and telephone numbers listed at the beginning of the section entitled
. No sales charges apply to the purchase or sale of such shares.
Choosing a Share Class
For accounts held directly with the Fund (through the Transfer Agent), distributions of $10 or less will automatically be reinvested in additional Fund shares only. If you elect to receive distributions by check and the check is returned as undeliverable, all subsequent distributions will be reinvested in additional shares of the Fund.
Unless you are a tax-exempt investor or holding Fund shares through a tax-advantaged account (such as a 401(k) plan or IRA), you should consider avoiding buying Fund shares shortly before the Fund makes a distribution (other than distributions of net investment income that are declared daily) of net investment income or net realized capital gain, because doing so can cost you money in taxes to the extent the distribution consists of taxable income or gains. This is because you will, in effect, receive part of your purchase price back in the distribution. This is known as
| 62 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund
Distributions and Taxes
(continued)
“buying a dividend.” To avoid “buying a dividend,” before you invest check the Fund's distribution schedule, which is available at the Funds' website and/or by calling the Funds' telephone number listed at the beginning of the section entitled
.
Choosing a Share Class
Taxes
You should be aware of the following considerations applicable to the Fund:
| ■ | The Fund intends to qualify and to be eligible for treatment each year as a regulated investment company. A regulated investment company generally is not subject to tax at the fund level on income and gains from investments that are distributed to shareholders. However, the Fund's failure to qualify for treatment as a regulated investment company would result in Fund-level taxation, and consequently, a reduction in income available for distribution to you and in the NAV of your shares. Even if the Fund qualifies for treatment as a regulated investment company, the Fund may be subject to federal excise tax on certain undistributed income or gains. |
| ■ | Otherwise taxable distributions generally are taxable to you when paid, whether they are paid in cash or automatically reinvested in additional Fund shares. Dividends paid in January are deemed paid on December 31 of the prior year if the dividend was declared and payable to shareholders of record in October, November, or December of such prior year. |
| ■ | Distributions of the Fund's ordinary income and net short-term capital gain, if any, generally are taxable to you as ordinary income. Distributions of the Fund's net long-term capital gain, if any, generally are taxable to you as long-term capital gain. Whether capital gains are long-term or short-term is determined by how long the Fund has owned the investments that generated them, rather than how long you have owned your shares. |
| ■ | From time to time, a distribution from the Fund could constitute a return of capital. A return of capital is a return of an amount of your original investment and is not a distribution of income or capital gain from the Fund. Therefore, a return of capital is not taxable to you so long as the amount of the distribution does not exceed your tax basis in your Fund shares. A return of capital reduces your tax basis in your Fund shares, with any amounts exceeding such basis generally taxable as capital gain. |
| ■ | If you are an individual and you meet certain holding period and other requirements for your Fund shares, a portion of your distributions may be treated as “qualified dividend income” taxable at the lower net long-term capital gain rates instead of the higher ordinary income rates. Qualified dividend income is income attributable to the Fund's dividends received from certain U.S. and foreign corporations, as long as the Fund meets certain holding period and other requirements for the stock producing such dividends. |
| ■ | Certain high-income individuals (as well as estates and trusts) are subject to a 3.8% tax on net investment income. For individuals, the 3.8% tax applies to the lesser of (1) the amount (if any) by which the taxpayer's modified adjusted gross income exceeds certain threshold amounts or (2) the taxpayer's “net investment income.” |
| Net investment income generally includes for this purpose dividends, including any capital gain dividends, paid by the Fund, and net gains recognized on the sale, redemption or exchange of shares of the Fund. |
| ■ | Certain derivative instruments when held in the Fund's portfolio subject the Fund to special tax rules, the effect of which may be to, among other things, accelerate income to the Fund, defer Fund losses, cause adjustments in the holding periods of Fund portfolio securities, or convert capital gains into ordinary income, short-term capital losses into long-term capital losses or long-term capital gains into short-term capital gains. These rules could therefore affect the amount, timing and/or character of distributions to shareholders. |
| ■ | Generally, a Fund realizes a capital gain or loss on an option when the option expires, or when it is exercised, sold or otherwise terminated. However, if an option is a “section 1256 contract,” which includes most traded options on a broad-based index, and the Fund holds such option at the end of its taxable year, the Fund is deemed to sell such option at fair market value at such time and recognize any gain or loss thereon, which is generally deemed to be 60% long-term and 40% short-term capital gain or loss, as described further in the SAI. |
| ■ | Income and proceeds received by the Fund from sources within foreign countries may be subject to foreign taxes. If at the end of the taxable year more than 50% of the value of the Fund's assets consists of securities of foreign |
| Prospectus 2021 | 63 |
Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund
Distributions and Taxes
(continued)
| corporations, and the Fund makes a special election, you will generally be required to include in your income for U.S. federal income tax purposes your share of the qualifying foreign income taxes paid by the Fund in respect of its foreign portfolio securities. You may be able to claim a foreign tax credit or deduction in respect of this amount, subject to certain limitations. There is no assurance that the Fund will make this election for a taxable year, even if it is eligible to do so. |
| ■ | A sale, redemption or exchange of Fund shares is a taxable event. This includes redemptions where you are paid in securities. Your sales, redemptions and exchanges of Fund shares (including those paid in securities) usually will result in a taxable capital gain or loss to you, equal to the difference between the amount you receive for your shares (or are deemed to have received in the case of exchanges) and your adjusted tax basis in the shares, which is generally the amount you paid (or are deemed to have paid in the case of exchanges) for them. Any such capital gain or loss generally will be long-term capital gain or loss if you have held your Fund shares for more than one year at the time of sale or exchange. In certain circumstances, capital losses may be converted from short-term to long-term; in other circumstances, capital losses may be disallowed under the “wash sale” rules. |
| ■ | For sales, redemptions and exchanges of shares that were acquired in a non-qualified account after 2011, the Fund generally is required to report to shareholders and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) cost basis information with respect to those shares. The Fund uses average cost basis as its default method of calculating cost basis. For more information regarding average cost basis reporting, other available cost basis methods, and selecting or changing to a different cost basis method, please see the SAI, columbiathreadneedleus.com, or contact the Fund at 800.345.6611. If you hold Fund shares through a financial intermediary (e.g., a brokerage firm), you should contact your financial intermediary to learn about its cost basis reporting default method and the reporting elections available to your account. |
| ■ | The Fund is required by federal law to withhold tax on any taxable or tax-exempt distributions and redemption proceeds paid to you (including amounts paid to you in securities and amounts deemed to be paid to you upon an exchange of shares) if: you have not provided a correct TIN or have not certified to the Fund that withholding does not apply, the IRS has notified us that the TIN listed on your account is incorrect according to its records, or the IRS informs the Fund that you are otherwise subject to backup withholding. |
FUNDamentals
Taxes
The information provided above is only a summary of how U.S. federal income taxes may affect your investment in the Fund. It is not intended as a substitute for careful tax planning. Your investment in the Fund may have other tax implications. It does not apply to certain types of investors who may be subject to special rules, including foreign or tax-exempt investors or those holding Fund shares through a tax-advantaged account, such as a 401(k) plan or IRA. Please see the SAI for more detailed tax information. You should consult with your own tax advisor about the particular tax consequences to you of an investment in the Fund, including the effect of any foreign, state and local taxes, and the effect of possible changes in applicable tax laws.
| 64 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund
Financial Highlights
The financial highlights table is intended to help you understand the Fund’s financial performance for the past five fiscal years or, if shorter, the Fund’s period of operations. Certain information reflects financial results for a single Fund share. Per share net investment income (loss) amounts are calculated based on average shares outstanding during the period. The total return in the table represents the rate that an investor would have earned (or lost) on an investment in the Fund assuming all dividends and distributions had been reinvested. Total return does not reflect payment of sales charges, if any. Total return and portfolio turnover are not annualized for periods of less than one year. The portfolio turnover rate is calculated without regard to purchase and sales transactions of short-term instruments and certain derivatives, if any. If such transactions were included, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate may be higher. This information has been audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm, whose report, along with the Fund’s financial statements, is included in the Fund’s annual report, which is available upon request.
| Prospectus 2021 | 65 |
Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund
Financial Highlights
(continued)
|
Net asset value,
beginning of period |
Net
investment income (loss) |
Net
realized and unrealized gain |
Total from
investment operations |
Distributions
from net realized gains |
Total
distributions to shareholders |
|
|
Class A
|
||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $35.69 | (0.14) | 17.76 | 17.62 | (0.50) | (0.50) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $36.28 | (0.05) | 1.10 | 1.05 | (1.64) | (1.64) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $28.59 | (0.11) | 8.86 | 8.75 | (1.06) | (1.06) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $21.19 | (0.08) | 7.56 | 7.48 | (0.08) | (0.08) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $18.36 | (0.04) | 3.22 | 3.18 | (0.35) | (0.35) |
|
Advisor Class
|
||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $37.69 | (0.04) | 18.80 | 18.76 | (0.50) | (0.50) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $38.21 | 0.04 | 1.16 | 1.20 | (1.72) | (1.72) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $30.05 | (0.02) | 9.31 | 9.29 | (1.13) | (1.13) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $22.21 | (0.02) | 7.94 | 7.92 | (0.08) | (0.08) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $19.19 | 0.01 | 3.36 | 3.37 | (0.35) | (0.35) |
|
Class C
|
||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $31.88 | (0.40) | 15.77 | 15.37 | (0.50) | (0.50) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $32.54 | (0.27) | 0.99 | 0.72 | (1.38) | (1.38) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $25.78 | (0.32) | 7.97 | 7.65 | (0.89) | (0.89) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $19.26 | (0.24) | 6.84 | 6.60 | (0.08) | (0.08) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $16.84 | (0.17) | 2.94 | 2.77 | (0.35) | (0.35) |
|
Institutional Class
|
||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $37.17 | (0.04) | 18.55 | 18.51 | (0.50) | (0.50) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $37.72 | 0.03 | 1.15 | 1.18 | (1.73) | (1.73) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $29.68 | (0.03) | 9.20 | 9.17 | (1.13) | (1.13) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $21.94 | (0.02) | 7.84 | 7.82 | (0.08) | (0.08) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $18.95 | 0.01 | 3.33 | 3.34 | (0.35) | (0.35) |
|
Institutional 2 Class
|
||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $37.94 | (0.01) | 18.93 | 18.92 | (0.50) | (0.50) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $38.45 | 0.06 | 1.18 | 1.24 | (1.75) | (1.75) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $30.23 |
(0.00)
(d)
|
9.37 | 9.37 | (1.15) | (1.15) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $22.33 | 0.01 | 7.97 | 7.98 | (0.08) | (0.08) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $19.26 | 0.03 | 3.39 | 3.42 | (0.35) | (0.35) |
| 66 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund
Financial Highlights
(continued)
|
Net
asset value, end of period |
Total
return |
Total gross
expense ratio to average net assets
(a)
|
Total net
expense ratio to average net assets
(a), (b)
|
Net investment
income (loss) ratio to average net assets |
Portfolio
turnover |
Net
assets, end of period (000's) |
|
|
Class A
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $52.81 | 49.88% | 1.22% |
1.22%
(c)
|
(0.35%) | 12% | $542,684 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $35.69 | 4.08% | 1.24% | 1.24% | (0.16%) | 40% | $333,217 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $36.28 | 31.32% | 1.25% |
1.25%
(c)
|
(0.33%) | 28% | $372,730 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $28.59 | 35.41% | 1.32% |
1.32%
(c)
|
(0.33%) | 40% | $228,598 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $21.19 | 17.52% | 1.36% |
1.36%
(c)
|
(0.21%) | 55% | $165,271 |
|
Advisor Class
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $55.95 | 50.26% | 0.97% |
0.97%
(c)
|
(0.10%) | 12% | $228,489 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $37.69 | 4.33% | 0.99% | 0.99% | 0.11% | 40% | $135,472 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $38.21 | 31.65% | 1.01% |
1.01%
(c)
|
(0.05%) | 28% | $104,061 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $30.05 | 35.77% | 1.07% |
1.07%
(c)
|
(0.06%) | 40% | $13,629 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $22.21 | 17.76% | 1.11% |
1.11%
(c)
|
0.07% | 55% | $7,235 |
|
Class C
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $46.75 | 48.77% | 1.97% |
1.97%
(c)
|
(1.10%) | 12% | $207,808 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $31.88 | 3.31% | 1.99% | 1.99% | (0.90%) | 40% | $139,366 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $32.54 | 30.31% | 2.00% |
2.00%
(c)
|
(1.08%) | 28% | $139,590 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $25.78 | 34.39% | 2.07% |
2.07%
(c)
|
(1.08%) | 40% | $92,158 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $19.26 | 16.65% | 2.12% |
2.12%
(c)
|
(0.97%) | 55% | $60,684 |
|
Institutional Class
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $55.18 | 50.29% | 0.97% |
0.97%
(c)
|
(0.10%) | 12% | $1,143,613 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $37.17 | 4.32% | 0.99% | 0.99% | 0.09% | 40% | $693,232 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $37.72 | 31.64% | 1.00% |
1.00%
(c)
|
(0.09%) | 28% | $686,134 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $29.68 | 35.75% | 1.07% |
1.07%
(c)
|
(0.08%) | 40% | $398,021 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $21.94 | 17.82% | 1.11% |
1.11%
(c)
|
0.04% | 55% | $233,750 |
|
Institutional 2 Class
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $56.36 | 50.35% | 0.90% | 0.90% | (0.03%) | 12% | $184,262 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $37.94 | 4.42% | 0.92% | 0.92% | 0.17% | 40% | $130,115 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $38.45 | 31.73% | 0.93% | 0.93% |
(0.00%)
(d)
|
28% | $101,134 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $30.23 | 35.84% | 0.98% | 0.98% | 0.02% | 40% | $45,747 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $22.33 | 17.95% | 0.98% | 0.98% | 0.16% | 55% | $18,492 |
| Prospectus 2021 | 67 |
Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund
Financial Highlights
(continued)
|
Net asset value,
beginning of period |
Net
investment income (loss) |
Net
realized and unrealized gain |
Total from
investment operations |
Distributions
from net realized gains |
Total
distributions to shareholders |
|
|
Institutional 3 Class
|
||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $38.04 | 0.01 | 19.00 | 19.01 | (0.50) | (0.50) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $38.55 | 0.08 | 1.18 | 1.26 | (1.77) | (1.77) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $30.31 | 0.01 | 9.39 | 9.40 | (1.16) | (1.16) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $22.37 | 0.03 | 7.99 | 8.02 | (0.08) | (0.08) |
|
Year Ended 8/31/2016
(e)
|
$19.26 | 0.04 | 3.07 | 3.11 | — | — |
|
Notes to Financial Highlights
|
|
| (a) | In addition to the fees and expenses that the Fund bears directly, the Fund indirectly bears a pro rata share of the fees and expenses of any other funds in which it invests. Such indirect expenses are not included in the Fund's reported expense ratios. |
| (b) | Total net expenses include the impact of certain fee waivers/expense reimbursements made by the Investment Manager and certain of its affiliates, if applicable. |
| (c) | The benefits derived from expense reductions had an impact of less than 0.01%. |
| (d) | Rounds to zero. |
| (e) | Institutional 3 Class shares commenced operations on March 1, 2016. Per share data and total return reflect activity from that date. |
| (f) | Annualized. |
| 68 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund
Financial Highlights
(continued)
|
Net
asset value, end of period |
Total
return |
Total gross
expense ratio to average net assets
(a)
|
Total net
expense ratio to average net assets
(a), (b)
|
Net investment
income (loss) ratio to average net assets |
Portfolio
turnover |
Net
assets, end of period (000's) |
|
|
Institutional 3 Class
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $56.55 | 50.46% | 0.85% | 0.85% | 0.02% | 12% | $250,485 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $38.04 | 4.47% | 0.87% | 0.87% | 0.22% | 40% | $102,746 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $38.55 | 31.77% | 0.88% | 0.88% | 0.03% | 28% | $64,995 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $30.31 | 35.96% | 0.93% | 0.93% | 0.10% | 40% | $40,899 |
|
Year Ended 8/31/2016
(e)
|
$22.37 | 16.15% |
0.94%
(f)
|
0.94%
(f)
|
0.33%
(f)
|
55% | $675 |
| Prospectus 2021 | 69 |
Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund
Appendix A: Financial Intermediary-Specific Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
As noted in the
section of the prospectus, the sales charge reductions and waivers available to investors who purchase and hold their Fund shares through different financial intermediaries may vary. This
describes financial intermediary-specific reductions and/or waiver policies applicable to Fund shares purchased and held through the particular financial intermediary. A reduction and/or waiver that is specific to a particular financial intermediary is not available to Direct-at-Fund Accounts and does not apply in any case to non-omnibus positions wherever held. These reductions and/or waivers may apply to purchases, sales, and exchanges of Fund shares. A shareholder transacting in Fund shares through a financial intermediary identified below should carefully read the terms and conditions of the reductions and/or waivers. Please consult your financial intermediary with respect to any sales charge reduction/waiver described below.
Choosing a Share Class
Appendix A
The financial intermediary-specific information below may be provided by, or compiled from or based on information provided by, the financial intermediaries noted. While the Funds, the Investment Manager and the Distributor do not establish these financial intermediary-specific policies, our representatives are available to answer questions about these financial intermediary-specific policies and can direct you to the financial intermediary if you need help understanding them.
Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC (Ameriprise Financial Services)
The following information has been provided by Ameriprise Financial Services:
Class A Shares Front-End Sales Charge Waivers Available at Ameriprise Financial Services:
The following information applies to Class A shares purchases if you have an account with or otherwise purchase Fund shares through Ameriprise Financial Services:
Effective June 1, 2018, shareholders purchasing Fund shares through an Ameriprise Financial Services platform or account will be eligible for the following front-end sales charge waivers and discounts, which may differ from those disclosed elsewhere in this prospectus or the Fund’s SAI:
| ■ | Employer-sponsored retirement plans (e.g., 401(k) plans, 457 plans, employer-sponsored 403(b) plans, profit sharing and money purchase pension plans and defined benefit plans). For purposes of this provision, employer-sponsored retirement plans do not include SEP IRAs, Simple IRAs or SAR-SEPs. |
| ■ | Shares purchased through an Ameriprise Financial Services investment advisory program (if an Advisory or similar share class for such investment advisory program is not available). |
| ■ | Shares purchased by third party investment advisors on behalf of their advisory clients through Ameriprise Financial Services’ platform (if an Advisory or similar share class for such investment advisory program is not available). |
| ■ | Shares purchased through reinvestment of dividends and capital gain distributions when purchasing shares of the same fund (but not any other fund within the Columbia Funds). |
| ■ | Shares exchanged from Class C shares of the same fund in the month of or following the 10-year anniversary of the purchase date. To the extent that this prospectus elsewhere provides for a waiver with respect to such shares following a shorter holding period, that waiver will apply to exchanges following such shorter period. To the extent that this prospectus elsewhere provides for a waiver with respect to exchanges of Class C shares for load waived shares, that waiver will also apply to such exchanges. |
| ■ | Employees and registered representatives of Ameriprise Financial Services or its affiliates and their immediate family members. |
| ■ | Shares purchased by or through qualified accounts (including IRAs, Coverdell Education Savings Accounts, 401(k)s, 403(b) TSCAs subject to ERISA and defined benefit plans) that are held by a covered family member, defined as an Ameriprise financial advisor and/or the advisor’s spouse, advisor’s lineal ascendant (mother, father, grandmother, grandfather, great grandmother, great grandfather), advisor’s lineal descendant (son, step-son, daughter, step-daughter, grandson, granddaughter, great grandson, great granddaughter) or any spouse of a covered family member who is a lineal descendant. |
| A-1 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund
Appendix A: Financial Intermediary-Specific Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
(continued)
| ■ | Shares purchased from the proceeds of redemptions within the Columbia Funds, provided (1) the repurchase occurs within 90 days following the redemption, (2) the redemption and purchase occur in the same account, and (3) redeemed shares were subject to a front-end or deferred sales load (i.e., rights of reinstatement). |
Robert W. Baird & Co. Incorporated (Baird)
The following information has been provided by Baird:
Effective June 30, 2020, shareholders purchasing Columbia Fund shares through a Baird platform or account that maintains an omnibus position with the Fund will only be eligible for the following sales charge waivers (front-end sales charge waivers and CDSC waivers) and discounts, which may differ from those disclosed elsewhere in this prospectus or the Fund’s SAI. A reduction and/or waiver that is specific to Baird will not apply to non-omnibus positions.
Front-End Sales Charge Waivers on Class A Shares Available at Baird:
| ■ | Shares purchased through reinvestment of capital gains distributions and dividend reinvestment when purchasing shares of the same Columbia Fund. |
| ■ | Share purchases by employees and registered representatives of Baird or its affiliates and their family members as designated by Baird. |
| ■ | Shares purchased with the proceeds of redemptions from another Columbia Fund, provided (1) the repurchase occurs within 90 days following the redemption, (2) the redemption and purchase occur in the same accounts, and (3) redeemed shares were subject to a front-end or deferred sales charge (known as rights of reinstatement). |
| ■ | A shareholder in the Fund’s Class C shares will have their shares converted at net asset value to Class A shares of the same Columbia Fund if the shares are no longer subject to CDSC and the conversion is in line with the policies and procedures of Baird. |
| ■ | Employer-sponsored retirement plans or charitable accounts in a transactional brokerage account at Baird, including 401(k) plans, 457 plans, employer-sponsored 403(b) plans, profit sharing and money purchase pension plans and defined benefit plans. For purposes of this provision, employer-sponsored retirement plans do not include SEP IRAs, Simple IRAs or SAR-SEPs. |
CDSC Waivers on Class A and Class C Shares Available at Baird:
| ■ | Shares sold due to death or disability of the shareholder. |
| ■ | Shares sold as part of a systematic withdrawal plan as described in this prospectus. |
| ■ | Shares purchased due to returns of excess contributions from an IRA account. |
| ■ | Shares sold as part of a required minimum distribution for IRA and retirement accounts due to the shareholder reaching the qualified age based on applicable IRS regulations. |
| ■ | Shares sold to pay Baird fees but only if the transaction is initiated by Baird. |
| ■ | Shares acquired through a right of reinstatement. |
Front-End Sales Charge Discounts Available at Baird: Breakpoints and/or Rights of Accumulations:
| ■ | Breakpoints as described in this prospectus. |
| ■ | Rights of accumulations which entitle shareholders to breakpoint discounts will be automatically calculated based on the aggregated holding of Columbia Fund assets held by accounts within the purchaser’s household at Baird. Eligible Columbia Fund assets not held at Baird may be included in the rights of accumulations calculation only if the shareholder notifies his or her financial advisor about such assets. |
| ■ | Letters of Intent (LOI) allow for breakpoint discounts based on anticipated purchases of Columbia Funds through Baird, over a 13-month period of time. |
| Prospectus 2021 | A-2 |
Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund
Appendix A: Financial Intermediary-Specific Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
(continued)
Edward D. Jones & Co., L.P. (Edward Jones)
The following information has been provided by Edward Jones:
Effective on or after April 17, 2020, clients of Edward Jones (also referred to as "shareholders") purchasing Columbia Fund shares on the Edward Jones commission and fee-based platforms are eligible only for the following sales charge discounts (also referred to as "breakpoints") and waivers, which can differ from breakpoints and waivers described elsewhere in this prospectus or the Fund’s SAI or through another broker-dealer. In all instances, it is the shareholder's responsibility to inform Edward Jones at the time of purchase of any relationship, holdings of Columbia Funds or other facts qualifying the purchaser for breakpoints or waivers. Edward Jones can ask for documentation of such circumstance.
Breakpoints
Rights of Accumulation (ROA)
| ■ | The applicable sales charge on a purchase of Class A shares is determined by taking into account all share classes (except any money market funds and retirement plan share classes) of Columbia Funds held by the shareholder or in an account grouped by Edward Jones with other accounts for the purpose of providing certain pricing considerations ("pricing groups"). This includes all share classes held on the Edward Jones platform and/or held on another platform. The inclusion of eligible Columbia Fund assets in the rights of accumulation calculation is dependent on the shareholder notifying his or her financial advisor of such assets at the time of calculation. |
| ■ | ROA is determined by calculating the higher of cost or market value (current shares x NAV). |
Letter of Intent (LOI)
| ■ | Through a LOI, shareholders can receive the sales charge and breakpoint discounts for purchases shareholders intend to make over a 13-month period from the date Edward Jones receives the LOI. The LOI is determined by calculating the higher of cost or market value of qualifying holdings at LOI initiation in combination with the value that the shareholder intends to buy over a 13-month period to calculate the front-end sales charge and any breakpoint discounts. Each purchase the shareholder makes during that 13-month period will receive the sales charge and breakpoint discount that applies to the total amount. The inclusion of eligible Columbia Fund assets in the LOI calculation is dependent on the shareholder notifying his or her financial advisor of such assets at the time of calculation. Purchases made before the LOI is received by Edward Jones are not covered under the LOI and will not reduce the sales charge previously paid. Sales charges will be adjusted if LOI is not met. |
Sales Charge Waivers
Sales charges are waived for the following shareholders and in the following situations:
| ■ | Associates of Edward Jones and its affiliates and their family members who are in the same pricing group (as determined by Edward Jones under its policies and procedures) as the associate. This waiver will continue for the remainder of the associate's life if the associate retires from Edward Jones in good-standing. |
| ■ | Shares purchased in an Edward Jones fee-based program. |
| ■ | Shares purchased through reinvestment of capital gains distributions and dividend reinvestment. |
| ■ | Shares purchased from the proceeds of redeemed shares of Columbia Funds so long as the following conditions are met: 1) the proceeds are from the sale of shares within 60 days of the purchase, and 2) the sale and purchase are made in the same share class and the same account or the purchase is made in an individual retirement account with proceeds from liquidations in a non-retirement account. |
| ■ | Shares exchanged into Class A shares from another share class so long as the exchange is into the same fund and was initiated at the discretion of Edward Jones. Edward Jones is responsible for any remaining CDSC due to the fund company, if applicable. Any future purchases are subject to the applicable sales charge as disclosed in this prospectus. |
| A-3 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund
Appendix A: Financial Intermediary-Specific Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
(continued)
| ■ | Exchanges from Class C shares to Class A shares of the same fund, generally, in the 84th month following the anniversary of the purchase date or earlier at the discretion of Edward Jones. |
CDSC Waivers
If the shareholder purchases shares that are subject to a CDSC and those shares are redeemed before the CDSC is expired, the shareholder is responsible to pay the CDSC except in the following conditions:
| ■ | The death or disability of the shareholder. |
| ■ | Systematic withdrawals with up to 10% per year of the account value. |
| ■ | Return of excess contributions from an Individual Retirement Account (IRA). |
| ■ | Shares sold as part of a required minimum distribution for IRA and retirement accounts if the redemption is taken in or after the year the shareholder reaches qualified age based on applicable IRS regulations. |
| ■ | Shares sold to pay Edward Jones fees or costs in such cases where the transaction is initiated by Edward Jones. |
| ■ | Shares exchanged in an Edward Jones fee-based program. |
| ■ | Shares acquired through NAV reinstatement. |
Other Important Information
Minimum Purchase Amounts
| ■ | $250 initial purchase minimum |
| ■ | $50 subsequent purchase minimum |
Minimum Balances
| ■ | Edward Jones has the right to redeem at its discretion fund holdings with a balance of $250 or less. The following are examples of accounts that are not included in this policy: |
| ■ | A fee-based account held on an Edward Jones platform. |
| ■ | A 529 account held on an Edward Jones platform. |
| ■ | An account with an active systematic investment plan or letter of intent (LOI). |
Changing Share Classes
| ■ | At any time it deems necessary, Edward Jones has the authority to exchange at NAV a shareholder's holdings in a fund to Class A shares. |
Janney Montgomery Scott LLC (Janney)
The following information has been provided by Janney:
Effective May 1, 2020, if you purchase Columbia Fund shares through a Janney brokerage account, you will be eligible for the following load waivers (front-end sales charge waivers and CDSC, or back-end sales charge, waivers) and discounts, which may differ from those disclosed elsewhere in this prospectus or the Fund’s SAI. A reduction and/or waiver that is specific to Janney does not apply to non-omnibus positions.
Front-End Sales Charge* Waivers on Class A Shares Available at Janney
| ■ | Shares purchased through reinvestment of capital gains distributions and dividend reinvestment when purchasing shares of the same fund (but not any other Columbia Fund). |
| ■ | Shares purchased by employees and registered representatives of Janney or its affiliates and their family members as designated by Janney. |
| Prospectus 2021 | A-4 |
Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund
Appendix A: Financial Intermediary-Specific Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
(continued)
| ■ | Shares purchased from the proceeds of redemptions from another Columbia Fund, provided (1) the repurchase occurs within ninety (90) days following the redemption, (2) the redemption and purchase occur in the same account, and (3) redeemed shares were subject to a front-end or deferred sales load (i.e., right of reinstatement). |
| ■ | Employer-sponsored retirement plans (e.g., 401(k) plans, 457 plans, employer-sponsored 403(b) plans, profit sharing and money purchase pension plans and defined benefit plans). For purposes of this provision, employer-sponsored retirement plans do not include SEP IRAs, Simple IRAs, SAR-SEPs or Keogh plans. |
| ■ | Shares acquired through a right of reinstatement. |
| ■ | Class C shares that are no longer subject to a CDSC and are converted to Class A shares of the same fund pursuant to Janney’s policies and procedures. |
CDSC Waivers on Class A and C Shares Available at Janney
| ■ | Shares sold upon the death or disability of the shareholder. |
| ■ | Shares sold as part of a systematic withdrawal plan as described in this prospectus. |
| ■ | Shares purchased in connection with a return of excess contributions from an IRA account. |
| ■ | Shares sold as part of a required minimum distribution for IRA and retirement accounts if the redemption is taken in or after the year the shareholder reaches qualified age based on applicable IRS regulations. |
| ■ | Shares sold to pay Janney fees but only if the transaction is initiated by Janney. |
| ■ | Shares acquired through a right of reinstatement. |
| ■ | Shares exchanged into the same share class of a different fund. |
Front-End Sales Charge* Discounts Available at Janney: Breakpoints, Rights of Accumulation, and/or Letters of Intent
| ■ | Breakpoints as described in this prospectus. |
| ■ | Rights of accumulation (“ROA”), which entitle shareholders to breakpoint discounts, will be automatically calculated based on the aggregated holding of Columbia Fund assets held by accounts within the purchaser’s household at Janney. Eligible Columbia Fund assets not held at Janney may be included in the ROA calculation only if the shareholder notifies his or her financial advisor about such assets. |
| ■ | Letters of intent which allow for breakpoint discounts based on anticipated purchases within the Columbia Funds, over a 13-month time period. Eligible Columbia Fund assets not held at Janney may be included in the calculation of letters of intent only if the shareholder notifies his or her financial advisor about such assets. |
* Also referred to as an “initial sales charge”.
Merrill Lynch Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated (Merrill Lynch)
The following information has been provided by Merrill Lynch:
Shareholders purchasing Columbia Fund shares through a Merrill Lynch platform or account will be eligible only for the following load waivers (front-end sales charge waivers and contingent deferred, or back-end, sales charge waivers) and discounts, which may differ from those disclosed elsewhere in this prospectus or the Fund’s SAI:
Front-End Load Discounts Available at Merrill Lynch:
Merrill Lynch makes available breakpoint discounts on shares of the Fund through:
| ■ | Breakpoints as described in this prospectus. |
| ■ | Rights of Accumulation (ROA) which entitle shareholders to breakpoint discounts as described in this prospectus will be automatically calculated based on the aggregated holding of Columbia Fund assets held by accounts (including 529 program holdings, where applicable) within the purchaser’s household at Merrill Lynch. Eligible Columbia Fund assets not held at Merrill Lynch may be included in the ROA calculation only if the shareholder notifies his or her financial advisor about such assets. |
| A-5 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund
Appendix A: Financial Intermediary-Specific Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
(continued)
|
■
|
Letters of Intent (LOI) which allow for breakpoint discounts based on anticipated purchases of Columbia Funds, through Merrill Lynch, over a 13-month period of time (if applicable).
|
Front-End Sales Load Waivers on Class A Shares Available at Merrill Lynch:
|
■
|
Employer-sponsored retirement, deferred compensation and employee benefit plans (including health savings accounts) and trusts used to fund those plans, provided that the shares are not held in a commission-based brokerage account and shares are held for the benefit of the plan.
|
|
■
|
Shares purchased by a 529 Plan (does not include 529 Plan units or 529-specific share classes or equivalents).
|
|
■
|
Shares purchased through a Merrill Lynch affiliated investment advisory program.
|
|
■
|
Shares exchanged due to the holdings moving from a Merrill Lynch affiliated investment advisory program to a Merrill Lynch brokerage (non-advisory) account pursuant to Merrill Lynch’s policies relating to sales load discounts and waivers.
|
|
■
|
Shares purchased by third party investment advisors on behalf of their advisory clients through Merrill Lynch’s platform.
|
|
■
|
Shares of funds purchased through the Merrill Edge Self-Directed platform (if applicable).
|
|
■
|
Shares purchased through reinvestment of capital gains distributions and dividend reinvestment when purchasing shares of the same fund (but not any other Columbia Fund).
|
|
■
|
Shares exchanged from Class C (i.e., level-load) shares of the same fund pursuant to Merrill Lynch’s policies relating to sales load discounts and waivers.
|
|
■
|
Employees and registered representatives of Merrill Lynch or its affiliates and their family members.
|
|
■
|
Directors or Trustees of the Fund, and employees of the Fund’s investment adviser or any of its affiliates, as described in this prospectus.
|
|
■
|
Eligible shares purchased from the proceeds of redemptions from another Columbia Fund, provided (1) the repurchase occurs within 90 days following the redemption, (2) the redemption and purchase occur in the same account, and (3) redeemed shares were subject to a front-end or deferred sales load (known as Rights of Reinstatement). Automated transactions (i.e. systematic purchases and withdrawals) and purchases made after shares are automatically sold to pay Merrill Lynch’s account maintenance fees are not eligible for reinstatement.
|
CDSC Waivers on Class A and C Shares Available at Merrill Lynch:
|
■
|
Death or disability of the shareholder.
|
|
■
|
Shares sold as part of a systematic withdrawal plan as described in this prospectus.
|
|
■
|
Return of excess contributions from an IRA Account.
|
|
■
|
Shares sold as part of a required minimum distribution for IRA and retirement accounts pursuant to the Internal Revenue Code.
|
|
■
|
Shares sold to pay Merrill Lynch fees but only if the transaction is initiated by Merrill Lynch.
|
|
■
|
Shares acquired through a right of reinstatement.
|
|
■
|
Shares held in retirement brokerage accounts, that are exchanged for a lower cost share class due to transfer to certain fee based accounts or platforms (applicable to Class A and Class C shares only).
|
|
■
|
Shares received through an exchange due to the holdings moving from a Merrill Lynch affiliated investment advisory program to a Merrill Lynch brokerage (non-advisory) account pursuant to Merrill Lynch’s policies relating to sales load discounts and waivers.
|
|
Prospectus 2021
|
A-6
|
Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund
Appendix A: Financial Intermediary-Specific Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
(continued)
Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, LLC (Morgan Stanley Wealth Management)
The following information has been provided by Morgan Stanley Wealth Management:
Shareholders purchasing Columbia Fund shares through a Morgan Stanley Wealth Management transactional brokerage account will be eligible only for the following front-end sales charge waivers with respect to Class A shares, which may differ from and may be more limited than those disclosed elsewhere in this prospectus or the Fund’s SAI.
Front-End Sales Charge Waivers on Class A Shares Available at Morgan Stanley Wealth Management:
|
■
|
Employer-sponsored retirement plans (e.g., 401(k) plans, 457 plans, employer-sponsored 403(b) plans, profit sharing and money purchase pension plans and defined benefit plans). For purposes of this provision, employer-sponsored retirement plans do not include SEP IRAs, Simple IRAs, SAR-SEPs or Keogh plans.
|
|
■
|
Morgan Stanley employee and employee-related accounts according to Morgan Stanley’s account linking rules.
|
|
■
|
Shares purchased through reinvestment of dividends and capital gains distributions when purchasing shares of the same fund.
|
|
■
|
Shares purchased through a Morgan Stanley self-directed brokerage account.
|
|
■
|
Class C (i.e., level-load) shares that are no longer subject to a CDSC and are exchanged for Class A shares of the same fund pursuant to Morgan Stanley Wealth Management’s share class exchange program.
|
|
■
|
Shares purchased from the proceeds of redemptions from another Columbia Fund, provided (i) the repurchase occurs within 90 days following the redemption, (ii) the redemption and purchase occur in the same account, and (iii) redeemed shares were subject to a front-end or deferred sales charge.
|
Raymond James & Associates, Inc., Raymond James Financial Services, Inc. and each entity’s affiliates (Raymond James)
The following information has been provided by Raymond James:
Intermediary-Defined Sales Charge Waiver Policies:
The availability of certain initial or deferred sales charge waivers and discounts may depend on the particular financial intermediary or type of account through which you purchase or hold Columbia Fund shares.
Intermediaries may have different policies and procedures regarding the availability of front-end sales load waivers or contingent deferred (back-end) sales load (CDSC) waivers, which are discussed below. In all instances, it is the purchaser’s responsibility to notify the Fund or the purchaser’s financial intermediary at the time of purchase of any relationship or other facts qualifying the purchaser for sales charge waivers or discounts. For waivers and discounts not available through a particular intermediary, shareholders will have to purchase Columbia Fund shares directly from the Fund or through another intermediary to receive these waivers or discounts.
Raymond James:
Effective March 1, 2019, shareholders purchasing Columbia Fund shares through a Raymond James platform or account, or through an introducing broker-dealer or independent registered investment adviser for which Raymond James provides trade execution, clearance, and/or custody services, will be eligible only for the following load waivers (front-end sales charge waivers and contingent deferred, or back-end, sales charge waivers) and discounts, which may differ from those disclosed elsewhere in this prospectus or the Fund’s SAI.
Front-End Sales Load Waivers on Class A Shares Available at Raymond James:
|
■
|
Shares purchased in an investment advisory program.
|
|
■
|
Shares purchased within the Columbia Funds through a systematic reinvestment of capital gains and dividend distributions.
|
|
■
|
Employees and registered representatives of Raymond James or its affiliates and their family members as designated by Raymond James.
|
|
A-7
|
Prospectus 2021
|
Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund
Appendix A: Financial Intermediary-Specific Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
(continued)
|
■
|
Shares purchased from the proceeds of redemptions within the Columbia Funds, provided (1) the repurchase occurs within 90 days following the redemption, (2) the redemption and purchase occur in the same account, and (3) redeemed shares were subject to a front-end or deferred sales load (known as Rights of Reinstatement).
|
|
■
|
A shareholder in the Fund’s Class C shares will have their shares converted at net asset value to Class A shares (or the appropriate share class) of the Fund if the shares are no longer subject to a CDSC and the conversion is in line with the policies and procedures of Raymond James.
|
CDSC Waivers on Class A and Class C Shares Available at Raymond James:
|
■
|
Death or disability of the shareholder.
|
|
■
|
Shares sold as part of a systematic withdrawal plan as described in this prospectus.
|
|
■
|
Return of excess contributions from an IRA Account.
|
|
■
|
Shares sold as part of a required minimum distribution for IRA and retirement accounts due to the shareholder reaching the qualified age based on applicable IRS regulations as described in this prospectus.
|
|
■
|
Shares sold to pay Raymond James fees but only if the transaction is initiated by Raymond James.
|
|
■
|
Shares acquired through a right of reinstatement.
|
Front-End Load Discounts Available at Raymond James: Breakpoints, Rights of Accumulation and/or Letters of Intent:
|
■
|
Breakpoints as described in this prospectus.
|
|
■
|
Rights of accumulation which entitle shareholders to breakpoint discounts will be automatically calculated based on the aggregated holding of Columbia Fund assets held by accounts within the purchaser’s household at Raymond James. Eligible Columbia Fund assets not held at Raymond James may be included in the calculation of rights of accumulation only if the shareholder notifies his or her financial advisor about such assets.
|
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■
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Letters of intent which allow for breakpoint discounts based on anticipated purchases within the Columbia Funds, over a 13-month time period. Eligible Columbia Fund assets not held at Raymond James may be included in the calculation of letters of intent only if the shareholder notifies his or her financial advisor about such assets.
|
Stifel Financial Corp. (Stifel)
The following information has been provided by Stifel:
Effective June 30, 2020, Class C shares of Columbia Funds that were purchased through a Stifel platform or account that maintains an omnibus position with the Fund that are no longer subject to a CDSC are exchanged to Class A shares of the same Columbia Fund pursuant to Stifel’s policies and procedures. This does not apply to non-omnibus positions.
Additional Sales Charge Reductions and/or Waivers Available at Certain Financial Intermediaries
Shareholders purchasing Columbia Fund shares through a platform or account of RBC Capital Markets, LLC are eligible for the following sales charge waiver:
Class A Shares Front-End Sales Charge Waiver Available at RBC Capital Markets, LLC:
|
■
|
For employer-sponsored retirement plans held through a commissionable brokerage account, Class A shares are available at NAV (i.e., without a sales charge). For this purpose, employer-sponsored retirement plans include, but are not limited to, 401(k) plans, 457 plans, employer-sponsored 403(b) plans, profit sharing and money purchase pension plans and defined benefit plans. For purposes of this provision, employer-sponsored retirement plans do not include SEP IRAs, Simple IRAs, SAR-SEPs or Keogh plans.
|
|
Prospectus 2021
|
A-8
|
Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund
P.O. Box 219104
Kansas City, MO 64121-9104
Kansas City, MO 64121-9104
Additional Information About the Fund
Additional information about the Fund’s investments is available in the Fund’s annual and semiannual reports to shareholders. In the annual report, you will find a discussion of the market conditions and investment strategies that significantly affected the Fund’s performance during its last fiscal year. The SAI also provides additional information about the Fund and its policies. The SAI, which has been filed with the SEC, is legally part of this prospectus (incorporated by reference). To obtain these documents free of charge, to request other information about the Fund and to make shareholder inquiries, please contact the Fund as follows:
By Mail:
Columbia Management Investment Services Corp.
P.O. Box 219104
Kansas City, MO 64121-9104
P.O. Box 219104
Kansas City, MO 64121-9104
By Telephone:
800.345.6611
Online:
columbiathreadneedleus.com
Reports and other information about the Fund are also available in the EDGAR Database on the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov. You can receive copies of this information, for a duplication fee, by electronic request at the following e-mail address: publicinfo@sec.gov.
The investment company registration number of Columbia Funds Series Trust I, of which the Fund is a series, is 811-04367.
Columbia Threadneedle Investments is the global brand name of the Columbia and Threadneedle group of companies.
© 2021 Columbia Management Investment Distributors, Inc.
225 Franklin Street, Boston, MA 02110
225 Franklin Street, Boston, MA 02110
800.345.6611
PRO234_08_L01_(01/21)
Prospectus
January 1, 2021
Columbia Greater China Fund
|
Class
|
Ticker Symbol
|
|
| A | NGCAX | |
| Advisor (Class Adv) | CGCHX | |
| C | NGCCX | |
| Institutional (Class Inst) | LNGZX | |
| Institutional 2 (Class Inst2) | CGCRX | |
| Institutional 3 (Class Inst3) | CGCYX |
Beginning on January 1, 2021, as permitted by regulations adopted by the Securities and Exchange Commission, paper copies of the Fund's annual and semiannual shareholder reports are no longer sent by mail, unless you specifically requested paper copies of the reports. Instead, the reports are made available on the Fund's website (columbiathreadneedleus.com/investor/), and each time a report is posted you will be notified by mail and provided with a website address to access the report.
If you have already elected to receive shareholder reports electronically, you will not be affected by this change and you need not take any action. You may elect to receive shareholder reports and other communications from the Fund electronically at any time by contacting your financial intermediary (such as a broker-dealer or bank) or, for Fund shares held directly with the Fund, by calling 800.345.6611 or by enrolling in “eDelivery” by logging into your account at columbiathreadneedleus.com/investor/.
You may elect to receive all future shareholder reports in paper free of charge. If you invest through a financial intermediary, you can contact your financial intermediary to request that you continue receiving paper copies of your shareholder reports. If you invest directly with the Fund, you can call 800.345.6611 to let the Fund know you wish to continue receiving paper copies of your shareholder reports. Your election to receive paper reports will apply to all Columbia Funds held in your account if you invest through a financial intermediary or all Columbia Funds held with the fund complex if you invest directly with the Fund.
As with all mutual funds, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has not approved or disapproved these securities or passed upon the adequacy of this prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.
Columbia Greater China Fund
Table of Contents
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| 2 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Greater China Fund
Summary of the Fund
Investment Objective
Columbia Greater China Fund (the Fund) seeks long-term capital appreciation.
Fees and Expenses of the Fund
This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold and sell shares of the Fund.
You may be required to pay such brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries when transacting in any class of Fund shares, including those that do not assess any front-end sales charge, contingent deferred sales charge, or other asset-based fee for sales or distribution. Such brokerage commissions and other fees are set by the financial intermediary.
You may qualify for sales charge discounts if you and members of your immediate family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $50,000 in certain classes of shares of eligible funds distributed by Columbia Management Investment Distributors, Inc. (the Distributor). More information is available about these and other sales charge discounts and waivers from your financial intermediary, and can be found in the
section beginning on page 24 of the Fund’s prospectus, in
to the prospectus beginning on page A-1 and in Appendix S to the Statement of Additional Information (SAI) under
beginning on page S-1.
You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the tables and examples below.
Choosing a Share Class
Appendix A
Sales Charge Waivers
| (a) | This charge is imposed on certain investments of between $1 million and $50 million redeemed within 18 months after purchase, as follows: 1.00% if redeemed within 12 months after purchase, and 0.50% if redeemed more than 12, but less than 18, months after purchase, with certain limited exceptions. |
| (b) | This charge applies to redemptions within 12 months after purchase, with certain limited exceptions. |
| (c) | Other expenses have been restated to reflect current fees paid by the Fund. |
| Prospectus 2021 | 3 |
Columbia Greater China Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
Example
The following example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The example illustrates the hypothetical expenses that you would incur over the time periods indicated, and assumes that:
| ■ | you invest $10,000 in the applicable class of Fund shares for the periods indicated, |
| ■ | your investment has a 5% return each year, and |
| ■ |
the Fund’s total annual operating expenses remain the same as shown in the
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
|
Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on the assumptions listed above, your costs would be:
|
1 year
|
3 years
|
5 years
|
10 years
|
|
|
Class A
(whether or not shares are redeemed)
|
$718 | $1,019 | $1,341 | $2,252 |
|
Class Adv
(whether or not shares are redeemed)
|
$126 |
$
|
$
|
$1,500 |
|
Class C
(assuming redemption of all shares at the end of the period)
|
$327 |
$
|
$1,200 | $2,575 |
|
Class C
(assuming no redemption of shares)
|
$227 |
$
|
$1,200 | $2,575 |
|
Class Inst
(whether or not shares are redeemed)
|
$126 |
$
|
$
|
$1,500 |
|
Class Inst2
(whether or not shares are redeemed)
|
$119 |
$
|
$
|
$1,420 |
|
Class Inst3
(whether or not shares are redeemed)
|
$114 |
$
|
$
|
$1,363 |
Portfolio Turnover
The Fund may pay transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 27% of the average value of its portfolio.
Principal Investment Strategies
Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets (including the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes) in equity securities of companies whose principal activities are located in the Greater China region. The Greater China region includes Hong Kong, The People’s Republic of China, Taiwan and certain other countries. The Fund’s investments include securities of emerging market issuers. The investment manager determines if a company’s principal activities are located in the Greater China region by considering the company’s country of organization, its primary stock exchange listing, the source of its revenues, the location of its assets and other factors. The Fund may seek to achieve its objective through investments in, among other instruments, common stocks and depositary receipts.
The Fund may invest in companies that have market capitalizations of any size believed to be undervalued or have the potential for long-term growth. The Fund may from time to time emphasize one or more sectors in selecting its investments, including the communication services and consumer discretionary sectors.
The Fund is non-diversified, which means that it can invest a greater percentage of its assets in the securities of fewer issuers than can a diversified fund.
Principal Risks
An investment in the Fund involves risks, including
,
,
,
, and
, among others. Descriptions of these and other principal risks of investing in the Fund are provided below.
Market Risk
Foreign Securities Risk
Geographic Focus Risk
Emerging Market Securities Risk
Sector Risk
There is no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objective
| 4 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Greater China Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
and you may lose money.
The value of the Fund’s holdings may decline, and the Fund’s net asset value (NAV) and share price may go down. An investment in the Fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency.
Active Management Risk.
Due to its active management, the Fund could underperform its benchmark index and/or other funds with similar investment objectives and/or strategies.
Depositary Receipts Risk.
Depositary receipts are receipts issued by a bank or trust company reflecting ownership of underlying securities issued by foreign companies. Some foreign securities are traded in the form of American Depositary Receipts and/or Global Depositary Receipts. Depositary receipts involve risks similar to the risks associated with investments in foreign securities, including those associated with investing in the particular country of an issuer, which may be related to the particular political, regulatory, economic, social and other conditions or events, including, for example, military confrontations, war, terrorism and disease/virus outbreaks and epidemics, occurring in the country and fluctuations in such country’s currency, as well as market risk tied to the underlying foreign company. In addition, holders of depositary receipts may have limited voting rights, may not have the same rights afforded to stockholders of a typical domestic company in the event of a corporate action, such as an acquisition, merger or rights offering, and may experience difficulty in receiving company stockholder communications. There is no guarantee that a financial institution will continue to sponsor a depositary receipt, or that a depositary receipt will continue to trade on an exchange, either of which could adversely affect the liquidity, availability and pricing of the depositary receipt. Changes in foreign currency exchange rates will affect the value of depositary receipts and, therefore, may affect the value of your investment in the Fund.
Emerging Market Securities Risk.
Securities issued by foreign governments or companies in emerging market countries are more likely to have greater exposure to the risks of investing in foreign securities that are described in Foreign Securities Risk. In addition, emerging market countries are more likely to experience instability resulting, for example, from rapid changes or developments in social, political, economic or other conditions. Their economies are usually less mature and their securities markets are typically less developed with more limited trading activity (i.e., lower trading volumes and less liquidity) than more developed countries. Emerging market securities tend to be more volatile than securities in more developed markets. Many emerging market countries are heavily dependent on international trade and have fewer trading partners, which makes them more sensitive to world commodity prices and economic downturns in other countries, and some have a higher risk of currency devaluations. Due to the differences in the nature and quality of financial information of issuers of emerging market securities, including auditing and financial reporting standards, financial information and disclosures about such issuers may be unavailable or, if made available, may be considerably less reliable than publicly available information about other foreign securities.
Foreign Securities Risk.
Investments in or exposure to foreign securities involve certain risks not associated with investments in or exposure to securities of U.S. companies. Foreign securities subject the Fund to the risks associated with investing in the particular country of an issuer, including political, regulatory, economic, social, diplomatic and other conditions or events (including, for example, military confrontations, war, terrorism and disease/virus outbreaks and epidemics), occurring in the country or region, as well as risks associated with less developed custody and settlement practices. Foreign securities may be more volatile and less liquid than securities of U.S. companies, and are subject to the risks associated with potential imposition of economic and other sanctions against a particular foreign country, its nationals or industries or businesses within the country. In addition, foreign governments may impose withholding or other taxes on the Fund’s income, capital gains or proceeds from the disposition of foreign securities, which could reduce the Fund’s return on such securities. The performance of the Fund may also be negatively affected by fluctuations in a foreign currency's strength or weakness relative to the U.S. dollar, particularly to the extent the Fund invests a significant percentage of its assets in foreign securities or other assets denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar.
Geographic Focus Risk.
The Fund may be particularly susceptible to economic, political, regulatory or other events or conditions affecting issuers and countries within the specific geographic regions in which the Fund invests. The Fund’s NAV may be more volatile than the NAV of a more geographically diversified fund.
| Prospectus 2021 | 5 |
Columbia Greater China Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
Greater China.
The Greater China region consists of Hong Kong, The People's Republic of China and Taiwan, among other countries, and the Fund's investments in the region are particularly susceptible to risks in that region. The Hong Kong, Taiwanese, and Chinese economies are dependent on the economies of other countries and can be significantly affected by currency fluctuations and increasing competition from other emerging economies in Asia with lower costs. Adverse events in any one country within the region may impact the other countries in the region or Asia as a whole. As a result, adverse events in the region will generally have a greater effect on the Fund than if the Fund were more geographically diversified, which could result in greater volatility in the Fund’s NAV and losses. Markets in the Greater China region can experience significant volatility due to social, economic, regulatory and political uncertainties. The public health crises caused by the COVID-19 outbreak have exacerbated political and diplomatic tensions between the United States and China, which could adversely affect international trade and the value of the Fund’s portfolio securities. Changes in Chinese government policy and economic growth rates could significantly affect local markets and the entire Greater China region. China has yet to develop comprehensive securities, corporate, or commercial laws, its market is relatively new and less developed, and its economy is experiencing a relative slowdown. Export growth continues to be a major driver of China’s economic growth. As a result, a reduction in spending on Chinese products and services, the institution of additional tariffs or other trade barriers, including as a result of heightened trade tensions between China and the United States, or a downturn in any of the economies of China’s key trading partners may have an adverse impact on the Chinese economy.
Growth Securities Risk.
Growth securities typically trade at a higher multiple of earnings than other types of equity securities. Accordingly, the market values of growth securities may never reach their expected market value and may decline in price. In addition, growth securities, at times, may not perform as well as value securities or the stock market in general, and may be out of favor with investors for varying periods of time.
Issuer Risk.
An issuer in which the Fund invests or to which it has exposure may perform poorly or below expectations, and the value of its securities may therefore decline, which may negatively affect the Fund’s performance. Underperformance of an issuer may be caused by poor management decisions, competitive pressures, breakthroughs in technology, reliance on suppliers, labor problems or shortages, corporate restructurings, fraudulent disclosures, natural disasters, military confrontations, war, terrorism, disease/virus outbreaks, epidemics or other events, conditions and factors which may impair the value of an investment in the Fund.
Small- and Mid-Cap Stock Risk.
Investments in small- and mid-capitalization companies (small- and mid-cap companies) often involve greater risks than investments in larger, more established companies (larger companies) because small- and mid-cap companies tend to have less predictable earnings and may lack the management experience, financial resources, product diversification and competitive strengths of larger companies. Securities of small- and mid-cap companies may be less liquid and more volatile than the securities of larger companies.
Large-Cap Stock Risk.
Investments in larger companies may involve certain risks associated with their larger size. For instance, larger companies may be less able to respond quickly to new competitive challenges, such as changes in consumer tastes or innovation from smaller competitors. Also, larger companies are sometimes less able to achieve as high growth rates as successful smaller companies, especially during extended periods of economic expansion.
Liquidity Risk.
Liquidity risk is the risk associated with any event, circumstance, or characteristic of an investment or market that negatively impacts the Fund’s ability to sell, or realize the proceeds from the sale of, an investment at a desirable time or price. Liquidity risk may arise because of, for example, a lack of marketability of the investment, which means that when seeking to sell its portfolio investments, the Fund could find that selling is more difficult than anticipated, especially during times of high market volatility. Market participants attempting to sell the same or a similar instrument at the same time as the Fund could exacerbate the Fund’s exposure to liquidity risk. The Fund may have to accept a lower selling price for the holding, sell other liquid or more liquid investments that it might otherwise prefer to hold (thereby increasing the proportion of the Fund’s investments in less liquid or illiquid securities), or forego another more appealing investment opportunity. The liquidity of Fund investments may change significantly over time and certain investments that were liquid when purchased by the Fund may later become illiquid, particularly in times of overall economic distress. Changing regulatory, market or other conditions or environments (for example, the interest rate or credit environments) may also adversely affect the liquidity and the price of the Fund's investments. Judgment plays a larger role in valuing illiquid or less liquid investments as compared to valuing liquid
| 6 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Greater China Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
or more liquid investments. Price volatility may be higher for illiquid or less liquid investments as a result of, for example, the relatively less frequent pricing of such securities (as compared to liquid or more liquid investments). Generally, the less liquid the market at the time the Fund sells a portfolio investment, the greater the risk of loss or decline of value to the Fund. Overall market liquidity and other factors can lead to an increase in redemptions, which may negatively impact Fund performance and NAV, including, for example, if the Fund is forced to sell investments in a down market. Foreign securities can present enhanced liquidity risks, including as a result of less developed custody, settlement or other practices of foreign markets.
Market Risk.
The Fund may incur losses due to declines in the value of one or more securities in which it invests. These declines may be due to factors affecting a particular issuer, or the result of, among other things, political, regulatory, market, economic or social developments affecting the relevant market(s) more generally. In addition, turbulence in financial markets and reduced liquidity in equity, credit and/or fixed income markets may negatively affect many issuers, which could adversely affect the Fund, including causing difficulty in assigning prices to hard-to-value assets in thinly traded and closed markets, significant redemptions and operational challenges. Global economies and financial markets are increasingly interconnected, and conditions and events in one country, region or financial market may adversely impact issuers in a different country, region or financial market. These risks may be magnified if certain events or developments adversely interrupt the global supply chain; in these and other circumstances, such risks might affect companies worldwide. As a result, local, regional or global events such as terrorism, war, natural disasters, disease/virus outbreaks and epidemics or other public health issues, recessions, depressions or other events – or the potential for such events – could have a significant negative impact on global economic and market conditions.
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) public health crisis has become a pandemic that has resulted in, and may continue to result in, significant global economic and societal disruption and market volatility due to disruptions in market access, resource availability, facilities operations, imposition of tariffs, export controls and supply chain disruption, among others. Such disruptions may be caused, or exacerbated by, quarantines and travel restrictions, workforce displacement and loss in human and other resources. The uncertainty surrounding the magnitude, duration, reach, costs and effects of the global pandemic, as well as actions that have been or could be taken by governmental authorities or other third parties, present unknowns that are yet to unfold. The impacts, as well as the uncertainty over impacts to come, of COVID-19 – and any other infectious illness outbreaks, epidemics and pandemics that may arise in the future – could negatively affect global economies and markets in ways that cannot necessarily be foreseen. In addition, the impact of infectious illness outbreaks and epidemics in emerging market countries may be greater due to generally less established healthcare systems, governments and financial markets. Public health crises caused by the COVID-19 outbreak may exacerbate other pre-existing political, social and economic risks in certain countries or globally. The disruptions caused by COVID-19 could prevent the Fund from executing advantageous investment decisions in a timely manner and negatively impact the Fund’s ability to achieve its investment objective. Any such event(s) could have a significant adverse impact on the value and risk profile of the Fund.
Non-Diversified Fund Risk.
The Fund is non-diversified, which generally means that it will invest a greater percentage of its total assets in the securities of fewer issuers than a “diversified” fund. This increases the risk that a change in the value of any one investment held by the Fund could affect the overall value of the Fund more than it would affect that of a diversified fund holding a greater number of investments. Accordingly, the Fund's value will likely be more volatile than the value of a more diversified fund.
Sector Risk.
At times, the Fund may have a significant portion of its assets invested in securities of companies conducting business within one or more economic sectors, including the communication services and consumer discretionary sectors. Companies in the same sector may be similarly affected by economic, regulatory, political or market events or conditions, which may make the Fund more vulnerable to unfavorable developments in that sector than funds that invest more broadly. Generally, the more broadly the Fund invests, the more it spreads risk and potentially reduces the risks of loss and volatility.
Communication Services Sector.
The Fund may be more susceptible to the particular risks that may affect companies in the communication services sector than if it were invested in a wider variety of companies in unrelated sectors. Companies in the communication services sector are subject to certain risks, including the risk that new services,
| Prospectus 2021 | 7 |
Columbia Greater China Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
equipment or technologies will not be accepted by consumers and businesses or will become rapidly obsolete. Performance of such companies may be affected by factors including obtaining and protecting patents (or the failure to do so) and significant competitive pressures, including aggressive pricing of their products or services, new market entrants, competition for market share and short product cycles due to an accelerated rate of technological developments. Such competitive pressures may lead to limited earnings and/or falling profit margins. As a result, the value of their securities may fall or fail to rise. In addition, many communication services sector companies have limited operating histories and prices of these companies’ securities historically have been more volatile than other securities, especially over the short term.
Consumer Discretionary Sector.
The Fund may be more susceptible to the particular risks that may affect companies in the consumer discretionary sector than if it were invested in a wider variety of companies in unrelated sectors. Companies in the consumer discretionary sector are subject to certain risks, including fluctuations in the performance of the overall domestic and international economy, interest rate changes, increased competition and consumer confidence. Performance of such companies may be affected by factors including reduced disposable household income, reduced consumer spending, and changing demographics and consumer tastes.
Value Securities Risk.
Value securities are securities of companies that may have experienced, for example, adverse business, industry or other developments or may be subject to special risks that have caused the securities to be out of favor and, in turn, potentially undervalued. The market value of a portfolio security may not meet portfolio management’s perceived value assessment of that security, or may decline in price, even though portfolio management believes the securities are already undervalued. There is also a risk that it may take longer than expected for the value of these investments to rise to portfolio management’s perceived value. In addition, value securities, at times, may not perform as well as growth securities or the stock market in general, and may be out of favor with investors for varying periods of time.
Performance Information
The following bar chart and table show you how the Fund has performed in the past, and can help you understand the risks of investing in the Fund. The bar chart shows how the Fund’s Class A share performance (without sales charges) has varied for each full calendar year shown. If the sales charges were reflected, returns shown would be lower.
The table below the bar chart compares the Fund’s returns (after applicable sales charges shown in the
table in this prospectus) for the periods shown with a broad measure of market performance, as well as another measure of performance for markets in which the Fund may invest.
Shareholder Fees
The performance of one or more share classes shown in the table below begins before the indicated inception date for such share class. The returns shown for each such share class include the returns of the Fund’s Class A shares (without applicable sales charges and adjusted to reflect the higher class-related operating expenses of such share classes, where applicable) for periods prior to its inception date. Share classes with expenses that are higher than Class A shares will have performance that is lower than Class A shares (without sales charges). Except for differences in annual returns resulting from differences in expenses and sales charges (where applicable), the share classes of the Fund would have substantially similar annual returns because all share classes of the Fund invest in the same portfolio of securities.
The after-tax returns shown in the
table below are calculated using the highest historical individual U.S. federal marginal income tax rates in effect during the period indicated in the table and do not reflect the impact of state, local or foreign taxes.
Your actual after-tax returns will depend on your personal tax situation and may differ from those shown in the table. In addition, the after-tax returns shown in the table do not apply to shares held in tax-advantaged accounts such as 401(k) plans or Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs). The after-tax returns are shown only for Class A shares and will vary for other share classes.
Average Annual Total Returns
The Fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) is no guarantee of how the Fund will perform in the future.
Updated performance information can be obtained by calling toll-free 800.345.6611 or visiting columbiathreadneedleus.com.
| 8 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Greater China Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
|
Year by Year Total Return (%)
as of December 31 Each Year* |
Best and Worst Quarterly Returns
During the Period Shown in the Bar Chart |
||
|
Best
|
1st Quarter 2019
|
20.31
%
|
|
Worst
|
3rd Quarter 2011
|
-28.02
%
|
|
| * | Year to Date return as of September 30, 2020: 34.64% |
Average Annual Total Returns After Applicable Sales Charges (for periods ended December 31, 2019)
|
Share Class
Inception Date |
1 Year
|
5 Years
|
10 Years
|
|
|
Class A
|
05/16/1997 | |||
| returns before taxes | 24.98% | 8.34% | 6.58% | |
| returns after taxes on distributions | 24.60% | 7.70% | 5.06% | |
| returns after taxes on distributions and sale of Fund shares | 15.19% | 6.53% | 4.96% | |
|
Class Adv
returns before taxes
|
03/19/2013 | 32.92% | 9.90% | 7.39% |
|
Class C
returns before taxes
|
05/16/1997 | 30.58% | 8.80% | 6.41% |
|
Class Inst
returns before taxes
|
05/16/1997 | 32.94% | 9.90% | 7.48% |
|
Class Inst2
returns before taxes
|
11/08/2012 | 33.05% | 10.02% | 7.49% |
|
Class Inst3
returns before taxes
|
03/01/2017 | 33.10% | 9.87% | 7.33% |
|
MSCI China Index (Net)
(reflects reinvested dividends net of withholding taxes but reflects no deductions for fees, expenses or other taxes)
|
23.46% | 7.49% | 5.34% | |
|
Hang Seng Index
(reflects no deductions for fees, expenses or taxes)
|
9.59% | 3.52% | 2.52% |
Fund Management
|
Portfolio Manager
|
Title
|
Role with Fund
|
Managed Fund Since
|
|||
| Dara White, CFA | Senior Portfolio Manager | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2019 | |||
|
Derek Lin, CFA
|
Portfolio Manager | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2020 |
| Prospectus 2021 | 9 |
Columbia Greater China Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares
You may purchase or redeem shares of the Fund on any business day by contacting the Fund in the ways described below:
|
Online
|
Regular Mail
|
Express Mail
|
By Telephone
|
|||
| columbiathreadneedleus.com/investor/ |
Columbia Management
Investment Services Corp. P.O. Box 219104 Kansas City, MO 64121-9104 |
Columbia Management
Investment Services Corp. c/o DST Asset Manager Solutions, Inc. 430 W 7
th
Street, Suite 219104
Kansas City, MO 64105-1407 |
800.422.3737 |
You may purchase shares and receive redemption proceeds by electronic funds transfer, by check or by wire. If you maintain your account with a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary, you must contact that financial intermediary to buy, sell or exchange shares of the Fund through your account with the intermediary.
The minimum initial investment amounts for the share classes offered by the Fund are shown below:
Minimum Initial Investment
|
Class
|
Category of eligible account
|
For accounts other than
systematic investment plan accounts |
For systematic investment
plan accounts |
|
Classes A & C
|
All accounts other than IRAs | $2,000 | $100 |
| IRAs | $1,000 | $100 | |
|
Classes Adv & Inst
|
All eligible accounts |
$0, $1,000 or $2,000
depending upon the category of eligible investor |
$100 |
|
Class Inst2
|
All eligible accounts | None | N/A |
|
Class Inst3
|
All eligible accounts |
$0, $1,000, $2,000
or $1 million depending upon the category of eligible investor |
$100 (for certain
eligible investors) |
More information about these minimums can be found in the
section of the prospectus. There is no minimum additional investment for any share class.
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares - Buying Shares
Tax Information
The Fund normally distributes net investment income and net realized capital gains, if any, to shareholders. These distributions are generally taxable to you as ordinary income, qualified dividend income or capital gains, unless you are investing through a tax-advantaged account, such as a 401(k) plan or an IRA. If you are investing through a tax-advantaged account, you may be taxed upon withdrawals from that account.
Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
If you purchase the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), the Fund and its related companies — including Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC (the Investment Manager), Columbia Management Investment Distributors, Inc. (the Distributor) and Columbia Management Investment Services Corp. (the Transfer Agent) — may pay the intermediary for the sale of Fund shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your financial advisor to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your financial advisor or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.
| 10 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Greater China Fund
More Information About the Fund
Investment Objective
Columbia Greater China Fund (the Fund) seeks long-term capital appreciation. The Fund’s investment objective is not a fundamental policy and may be changed by the Fund’s Board of Trustees without shareholder approval. Because any investment involves risk, there is no assurance the Fund’s investment objective will be achieved.
Principal Investment Strategies
Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets (including the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes) in equity securities of companies whose principal activities are located in the Greater China region. The Greater China region includes Hong Kong, The People’s Republic of China, Taiwan and certain other countries. The Fund’s investments include securities of emerging market issuers. The investment manager determines if a company’s principal activities are located in the Greater China region by considering the company’s country of organization, its primary stock exchange listing, the source of its revenues, the location of its assets and other factors. The Fund may seek to achieve its objective through investments in, among other instruments, common stocks and depositary receipts. Depository receipts are receipts issued by a bank or trust company reflecting ownership of underlying securities issued by foreign companies.
The Fund may invest in companies that have market capitalizations of any size believed to be undervalued or have the potential for long-term growth. The Fund may from time to time emphasize one or more sectors in selecting its investments, including the communication services and consumer discretionary sectors.
The Fund is non-diversified, which means that it can invest a greater percentage of its assets in the securities of fewer issuers than can a diversified fund.
In selecting investments, Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC (the Investment Manager) employs fundamental analysis with risk management in identifying investment opportunities and constructing the Fund’s portfolio. The Investment Manager considers, among other factors:
| ■ | various measures of valuation, including price-to-cash flow, price-to-earnings, price-to-sales, price-to-book value and discounted cash flow. The Investment Manager believes that companies with lower valuations are generally more likely to provide opportunities for capital appreciation; |
| ■ | potential indicators of stock price appreciation, such as anticipated earnings growth, company restructuring, changes in management, business model changes, new product opportunities, or anticipated improvements in macroeconomic factors; |
| ■ | the financial condition and management of a company, including its competitive position, the quality of its balance sheet and earnings, its future prospects, and the potential for growth and stock price appreciation; and/or |
| ■ | overall economic and market conditions. |
The Investment Manager may sell a security when the security’s price reaches a target set by the Investment Manager; if the Investment Manager believes that there is deterioration in the issuer’s financial circumstances or fundamental prospects; if other investments are more attractive; or for other reasons.
The Fund’s investment policy with respect to 80% of its net assets may be changed by the Fund’s Board of Trustees without shareholder approval as long as shareholders are given 60 days’ advance written notice of the change. Additionally, shareholders will be given 60 days’ notice of any change to the Fund’s investment objective made to comply with the SEC rule governing investment company names.
Principal Risks
An investment in the Fund involves risks, including
,
,
,
, and
, among others. Descriptions of these and other principal risks of investing in the Fund are provided below.
. The value of the Fund’s holdings may decline, and the Fund’s net asset value (NAV) and share price may go down. An investment in the Fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency.
Market Risk
Foreign Securities Risk
Geographic Focus Risk
Emerging Market Securities Risk
Sector Risk
There is no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objective and you may lose money
| Prospectus 2021 | 11 |
Columbia Greater China Fund
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
Active Management Risk.
The Fund is actively managed and its performance therefore will reflect, in part, the ability of the portfolio managers to make investment decisions that seek to achieve the Fund’s investment objective. Due to its active management, the Fund could underperform its benchmark index and/or other funds with similar investment objectives and/or strategies.
Depositary Receipts Risk.
Depositary receipts are receipts issued by a bank or trust company reflecting ownership of underlying securities issued by foreign companies. Some foreign securities are traded in the form of American Depositary Receipts and/or Global Depositary Receipts. Depositary receipts involve risks similar to the risks associated with investments in foreign securities, including those associated with investing in the particular country of an issuer, which may be related to the particular political, regulatory, economic, social and other conditions or events, including, for example, military confrontations, war, terrorism and disease/virus outbreaks and epidemics, occurring in the country and fluctuations in such country’s currency, as well as market risk tied to the underlying foreign company. In addition, holders of depositary receipts may have limited voting rights, may not have the same rights afforded to stockholders of a typical domestic company in the event of a corporate action, such as an acquisition, merger or rights offering, and may experience difficulty in receiving company stockholder communications. There is no guarantee that a financial institution will continue to sponsor a depositary receipt, or that a depositary receipt will continue to trade on an exchange, either of which could adversely affect the liquidity, availability and pricing of the depositary receipt. Changes in foreign currency exchange rates will affect the value of depositary receipts and, therefore, may affect the value of your investment in the Fund.
Emerging Market Securities Risk.
Securities issued by foreign governments or companies in emerging market countries are more likely to have greater exposure to the risks of investing in foreign securities that are described in Foreign Securities Risk. In addition, emerging market countries are more likely to experience instability resulting, for example, from rapid changes or developments in social, political, economic or other conditions. Their economies are usually less mature and their securities markets are typically less developed with more limited trading activity (i.e., lower trading volumes and less liquidity) than more developed countries. Emerging market securities tend to be more volatile than securities in more developed markets. Many emerging market countries are heavily dependent on international trade and have fewer trading partners, which makes them more sensitive to world commodity prices and economic downturns in other countries. Some emerging market countries have a higher risk of currency devaluations, and some of these countries may experience periods of high inflation or rapid changes in inflation rates and may have hostile relations with other countries. Due to the differences in the nature and quality of financial information of issuers of emerging market securities, including auditing and financial reporting standards, financial information and disclosures about such issuers may be unavailable or, if made available, may be considerably less reliable than publicly available information about other foreign securities. The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, which regulates auditors of U.S. public companies, is unable to inspect audit work papers in certain foreign countries. Investors in foreign countries often have limited rights and few practical remedies to pursue shareholder claims, including class actions or fraud claims, and the ability of the SEC, the U.S. Department of Justice and other authorities to bring and enforce actions against foreign issuers or foreign persons is limited.
Foreign Securities Risk.
Investments in or exposure to foreign securities involve certain risks not associated with investments in or exposure to securities of U.S. companies. For example, foreign markets can be extremely volatile. Foreign securities may also be less liquid, making them more difficult to trade, than securities of U.S. companies so that the Fund may, at times, be unable to sell foreign securities at desirable times or prices. Brokerage commissions, custodial costs and other fees are also generally higher for foreign securities. The Fund may have limited or no legal recourse in the event of default with respect to certain foreign securities, including those issued by foreign governments. In addition, foreign governments may impose withholding or other taxes on the Fund’s income, capital gains or proceeds from the disposition of foreign securities, which could reduce the Fund’s return on such securities. In some cases, such withholding or other taxes could potentially be confiscatory. Other risks include: possible delays in the settlement of transactions or in the payment of income; generally less publicly available information about foreign companies; the impact of economic, political, social, diplomatic or other conditions or events (including, for example, military confrontations, war, terrorism and disease/virus outbreaks and epidemics), possible seizure, expropriation or nationalization of a company or its assets or the assets of a particular investor or category of investors; accounting, auditing and financial reporting standards that may be less comprehensive and stringent than
| 12 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Greater China Fund
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
those applicable to domestic companies; the imposition of economic and other sanctions against a particular foreign country, its nationals or industries or businesses within the country; and the generally less stringent standard of care to which local agents may be held in the local markets. In addition, it may be difficult to obtain reliable information about the securities and business operations of certain foreign issuers. Governments or trade groups may compel local agents to hold securities in designated depositories that are not subject to independent evaluation. The less developed a country’s securities market is, the greater the level of risks. The risks posed by sanctions against a particular foreign country, its nationals or industries or businesses within the country may be heightened to the extent the Fund invests significantly in the affected country or region or in issuers from the affected country that depend on global markets. Additionally, investments in certain countries may subject the Fund to a number of tax rules, the application of which may be uncertain. Countries may amend or revise their existing tax laws, regulations and/or procedures in the future, possibly with retroactive effect. Changes in or uncertainties regarding the laws, regulations or procedures of a country could reduce the after-tax profits of the Fund, directly or indirectly, including by reducing the after-tax profits of companies located in such countries in which the Fund invests, or result in unexpected tax liabilities for the Fund. The performance of the Fund may also be negatively affected by fluctuations in a foreign currency's strength or weakness relative to the U.S. dollar, particularly to the extent the Fund invests a significant percentage of its assets in foreign securities or other assets denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar. Currency rates in foreign countries may fluctuate significantly over short or long periods of time for a number of reasons, including changes in interest rates, imposition of currency exchange controls and economic or political developments in the U.S. or abroad. The Fund may also incur currency conversion costs when converting foreign currencies into U.S. dollars and vice versa.
Geographic Focus Risk.
The Fund may be particularly susceptible to economic, political, regulatory or other events or conditions affecting issuers and countries within the specific geographic regions in which the Fund invests. Currency devaluations could occur in countries that have not yet experienced currency devaluation to date, or could continue to occur in countries that have already experienced such devaluations. As a result, the Fund’s NAV may be more volatile than the NAV of a more geographically diversified fund.
Greater China.
The Greater China region consists of Hong Kong, The People's Republic of China and Taiwan, among other countries, and the Fund's investments in the region are particularly susceptible to risks in that region. The Hong Kong, Taiwanese, and Chinese economies are dependent on the economies of other countries and can be significantly affected by currency fluctuations and increasing competition from other emerging economies in Asia with lower costs. Adverse events in any one country within the region may impact the other countries in the region or Asia as a whole. As a result, adverse events in the region will generally have a greater effect on the Fund than if the Fund were more geographically diversified, which could result in greater volatility in the Fund’s NAV and losses. Markets in the Greater China region can experience significant volatility due to social, economic, regulatory and political uncertainties. The public health crises caused by the COVID-19 outbreak have exacerbated political and diplomatic tensions between the United States and China, which could adversely affect international trade and the value of the Fund’s portfolio securities. Changes in Chinese government policy and economic growth rates could significantly affect local markets and the entire Greater China region. China has yet to develop comprehensive securities, corporate, or commercial laws, its market is relatively new and less developed, and its economy is experiencing a relative slowdown. Export growth continues to be a major driver of China’s economic growth. As a result, a reduction in spending on Chinese products and services, the institution of additional tariffs or other trade barriers, including as a result of heightened trade tensions between China and the United States, or a downturn in any of the economies of China’s key trading partners may have an adverse impact on the Chinese economy.
Growth Securities Risk.
Growth securities typically trade at a higher multiple of earnings than other types of equity securities. Accordingly, the market values of growth securities may never reach their expected market value and may decline in price. In addition, growth securities, at times, may not perform as well as value securities or the stock market in general, and may be out of favor with investors for varying periods of time.
Issuer Risk.
An issuer in which the Fund invests or to which it has exposure may perform poorly or below expectations, and the value of its securities may therefore decline, which may negatively affect the Fund’s performance. Underperformance of an issuer may be caused by poor management decisions, competitive pressures,
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Columbia Greater China Fund
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
breakthroughs in technology, reliance on suppliers, labor problems or shortages, corporate restructurings, fraudulent disclosures, natural disasters, military confrontations, war, terrorism, disease/virus outbreaks, epidemics or other events, conditions and factors which may impair the value of an investment in the Fund.
Small- and Mid-Cap Stock Risk.
Securities of small- and mid-cap companies can, in certain circumstances, have a higher potential for gains than securities of larger companies but are more likely to have more risk than larger companies. For example, small- and mid-cap companies may be more vulnerable to market downturns and adverse business or economic events than larger companies because they may have more limited financial resources and business operations. Small- and mid-cap companies are also more likely than larger companies to have more limited product lines and operating histories and to depend on smaller and generally less experienced management teams. Securities of small- and mid-cap companies may trade less frequently and in smaller volumes and may be less liquid and fluctuate more sharply in value than securities of larger companies. When the Fund takes significant positions in small- and mid-cap companies with limited trading volumes, the liquidation of those positions, particularly in a distressed market, could be prolonged and result in Fund investment losses that would affect the value of your investment in the Fund. In addition, some small- and mid-cap companies may not be widely followed by the investment community, which can lower the demand for their stocks.
Large-Cap Stock Risk.
Investments in larger companies may involve certain risks associated with their larger size. For instance, larger companies may be less able to respond quickly to new competitive challenges, such as changes in consumer tastes or innovation from smaller competitors. Also, larger companies are sometimes less able to achieve as high growth rates as successful smaller companies, especially during extended periods of economic expansion.
Liquidity Risk.
Liquidity risk is the risk associated with any event, circumstance, or characteristic of an investment or market that negatively impacts the Fund’s ability to sell, or realize the proceeds from the sale of, an investment at a desirable time or price. Liquidity risk may arise because of, for example, a lack of marketability of the investment, which means that when seeking to sell its portfolio investments, the Fund could find that selling is more difficult than anticipated, especially during times of high market volatility. Market participants attempting to sell the same or a similar instrument at the same time as the Fund could exacerbate the Fund’s exposure to liquidity risk. The Fund may have to accept a lower selling price for the holding, sell other liquid or more liquid investments that it might otherwise prefer to hold (thereby increasing the proportion of the Fund’s investments in less liquid or illiquid securities), or forego another more appealing investment opportunity. The liquidity of Fund investments may change significantly over time and certain investments that were liquid when purchased by the Fund may later become illiquid, particularly in times of overall economic distress. Changing regulatory, market or other conditions or environments (for example, the interest rate or credit environments) may also adversely affect the liquidity and the price of the Fund's investments. Judgment plays a larger role in valuing illiquid or less liquid investments as compared to valuing liquid or more liquid investments. Price volatility may be higher for illiquid or less liquid investments as a result of, for example, the relatively less frequent pricing of such securities (as compared to liquid or more liquid investments). Generally, the less liquid the market at the time the Fund sells a portfolio investment, the greater the risk of loss or decline of value to the Fund. Overall market liquidity and other factors can lead to an increase in redemptions, which may negatively impact Fund performance and NAV, including, for example, if the Fund is forced to sell investments in a down market. Foreign securities can present enhanced liquidity risks, including as a result of less developed custody, settlement or other practices of foreign markets.
Market Risk.
The Fund may incur losses due to declines in the value of one or more securities in which it invests. These declines may be due to factors affecting a particular issuer, or the result of, among other things, political, regulatory, market, economic or social developments affecting the relevant market(s) more generally. In addition, turbulence in financial markets and reduced liquidity in equity, credit and/or fixed income markets may negatively affect many issuers, which could adversely affect the Fund, including causing difficulty in assigning prices to hard-to-value assets in thinly traded and closed markets, significant redemptions and operational challenges. Global economies and financial markets are increasingly interconnected, and conditions and events in one country, region or financial market may adversely impact issuers in a different country, region or financial market. These risks may be magnified if certain events or developments adversely interrupt the global supply chain; in these and other circumstances, such risks might affect companies worldwide. As a result, local, regional or global events such as
| 14 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Greater China Fund
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
terrorism, war, natural disasters, disease/virus outbreaks and epidemics or other public health issues, recessions, depressions or other events – or the potential for such events – could have a significant negative impact on global economic and market conditions.
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) public health crisis has become a pandemic that has resulted in, and may continue to result in, significant global economic and societal disruption and market volatility due to disruptions in market access, resource availability, facilities operations, imposition of tariffs, export controls and supply chain disruption, among others. Such disruptions may be caused, or exacerbated by, quarantines and travel restrictions, workforce displacement and loss in human and other resources. The uncertainty surrounding the magnitude, duration, reach, costs and effects of the global pandemic, as well as actions that have been or could be taken by governmental authorities or other third parties, present unknowns that are yet to unfold. The impacts, as well as the uncertainty over impacts to come, of COVID-19 – and any other infectious illness outbreaks, epidemics and pandemics that may arise in the future – could negatively affect global economies and markets in ways that cannot necessarily be foreseen. In addition, the impact of infectious illness outbreaks and epidemics in emerging market countries may be greater due to generally less established healthcare systems, governments and financial markets. Public health crises caused by the COVID-19 outbreak may exacerbate other pre-existing political, social and economic risks in certain countries or globally. The disruptions caused by COVID-19 could prevent the Fund from executing advantageous investment decisions in a timely manner and negatively impact the Fund’s ability to achieve its investment objective. Any such event(s) could have a significant adverse impact on the value and risk profile of the Fund.
Non-Diversified Fund Risk.
The Fund is non-diversified, which generally means that it will invest a greater percentage of its total assets in the securities of fewer issuers than a “diversified” fund. This increases the risk that a change in the value of any one investment held by the Fund could affect the overall value of the Fund more than it would affect that of a diversified fund holding a greater number of investments. Accordingly, the Fund's value will likely be more volatile than the value of a more diversified fund.
Sector Risk.
At times, the Fund may have a significant portion of its assets invested in securities of companies conducting business within one or more economic sectors, including the communication services and consumer discretionary sectors. Companies in the same sector may be similarly affected by economic, regulatory, political or market events or conditions, which may make the Fund more vulnerable to unfavorable developments in that sector than funds that invest more broadly. Generally, the more broadly the Fund invests, the more it spreads risk and potentially reduces the risks of loss and volatility.
Communication Services Sector.
The Fund may be more susceptible to the particular risks that may affect companies in the communication services sector than if it were invested in a wider variety of companies in unrelated sectors. Companies in the communication services sector are subject to certain risks, including the risk that new services, equipment or technologies will not be accepted by consumers and businesses or will become rapidly obsolete. Performance of such companies may be affected by factors including obtaining and protecting patents (or the failure to do so) and significant competitive pressures, including aggressive pricing of their products or services, new market entrants, competition for market share and short product cycles due to an accelerated rate of technological developments. Such competitive pressures may lead to limited earnings and/or falling profit margins. As a result, the value of their securities may fall or fail to rise. In addition, many communication services sector companies have limited operating histories and prices of these companies’ securities historically have been more volatile than other securities, especially over the short term.
Consumer Discretionary Sector.
The Fund may be more susceptible to the particular risks that may affect companies in the consumer discretionary sector than if it were invested in a wider variety of companies in unrelated sectors. Companies in the consumer discretionary sector are subject to certain risks, including fluctuations in the performance of the overall domestic and international economy, interest rate changes, increased competition and consumer confidence. Performance of such companies may be affected by factors including reduced disposable household income, reduced consumer spending, and changing demographics and consumer tastes.
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Columbia Greater China Fund
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
Value Securities Risk.
Value securities are securities of companies that may have experienced, for example, adverse business, industry or other developments or may be subject to special risks that have caused the securities to be out of favor and, in turn, potentially undervalued. The market value of a portfolio security may not meet portfolio management’s perceived value assessment of that security, or may decline in price, even though portfolio management believes the securities are already undervalued. There is also a risk that it may take longer than expected for the value of these investments to rise to portfolio management’s perceived value. In addition, value securities, at times, may not perform as well as growth securities or the stock market in general, and may be out of favor with investors for varying periods of time.
Additional Investment Strategies and Policies
This section describes certain investment strategies and policies that the Fund may utilize in pursuit of its investment objective and some additional factors and risks involved with investing in the Fund.
Investment Guidelines
As a general matter, and except as specifically described in the discussion of the Fund's principal investment strategies in this prospectus or as otherwise required by the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the 1940 Act), the rules and regulations thereunder and any applicable exemptive relief, whenever an investment policy or limitation states a percentage of the Fund's assets that may be invested in any security or other asset or sets forth a policy regarding an investment standard, compliance with that percentage limitation or standard will be determined solely at the time of the Fund's investment in the security or asset.
Holding Other Kinds of Investments
The Fund may hold other investments that are not part of its principal investment strategies. These investments and their risks are described below and/or in the SAI. The Fund may choose not to invest in certain securities described in this prospectus and in the SAI, although it has the ability to do so. Information on the Fund’s holdings can be found in the Fund’s shareholder reports or by visiting columbiathreadneedleus.com.
Transactions in Derivatives
The Fund may enter into derivative transactions or otherwise have exposure to derivative transactions through underlying investments. Derivatives are financial contracts whose values are, for example, based on (or “derived” from) traditional securities (such as a stock or bond), assets (such as a commodity like gold or a foreign currency), reference rates (such as the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (commonly known as SOFR) or the London Interbank Offered Rate (commonly known as LIBOR)) or market indices (such as the Standard & Poor’s 500
®
Index). The use of derivatives is a highly specialized activity which involves investment techniques and risks different from those associated with ordinary portfolio securities transactions. Derivatives involve special risks and may result in losses or may limit the Fund’s potential gain from favorable market movements. Derivative strategies often involve leverage, which may exaggerate a loss, potentially causing the Fund to lose more money than it would have lost had it invested in the underlying security or other asset directly. The values of derivatives may move in unexpected ways, especially in unusual market conditions, and may result in increased volatility in the value of the derivative and/or the Fund’s shares, among other consequences. The use of derivatives may also increase the amount of taxes payable by shareholders holding shares in a taxable account. Other risks arise from the Fund’s potential inability to terminate or to sell derivative positions. A liquid secondary market may not always exist for the Fund’s derivative positions at times when the Fund might wish to terminate or to sell such positions. Over-the-counter instruments (investments not traded on an exchange) may be illiquid, and transactions in derivatives traded in the over-the-counter market are subject to the risk that the other party will not meet its obligations. The use of derivatives also involves the risks of mispricing or improper valuation and that changes in the value of the derivative may not correlate perfectly with the underlying security, asset, reference rate or index. The Fund also may not be able to find a suitable derivative transaction counterparty, and thus may be unable to engage in derivative transactions when it is deemed favorable to do so, or at all. U.S. federal legislation has been enacted that provides for new clearing, margin, reporting and
| 16 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Greater China Fund
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
registration requirements for participants in the derivatives market. These changes could restrict and/or impose significant costs or other burdens upon the Fund’s participation in derivatives transactions. For more information on the risks of derivative investments and strategies, see the SAI.
LIBOR Phase-Out Risk.
Many derivatives and other financial instruments utilize or are permitted to utilize a floating interest rate based on LIBOR. On July 27, 2017, the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority announced its intention to phase out the use of LIBOR by the end of 2021. More recently, in November 2020, Ice Benchmark Administrator (IBA) has announced its intention to consult on (i) the cessation of four LIBOR currencies (GBP, EUR, JPY and CHF) after the end of 2021 and (ii) on the cessation of the major USD LIBOR tenors (overnight, 1M, 3M, 6M and 12M) in mid-2023 and the cessation of the 1 week and 2M USD LIBOR by the end of 2021. IBA will make separate announcements following the outcome of the consultations. The interest rate benchmark(s) that will replace LIBOR in the capital markets remains uncertain, and the overall economic impact of the transition away from LIBOR cannot yet be determined. The Investment Manager monitors the Fund’s LIBOR exposure risks, including the extent to which any derivative and/or debt investments allow for the utilization of alternative rate(s) to LIBOR.
Affiliated Fund Investing
The Investment Manager or an affiliate serves as investment adviser to funds using the Columbia brand (Columbia Funds), including those that are structured as “fund-of-funds”, and provides asset-allocation services to (i) shareholders by investing in shares of other Columbia Funds, which may include the Fund (collectively referred to in this section as Underlying Funds), and (ii) discretionary managed accounts (collectively referred to as affiliated products) that invest exclusively in Underlying Funds. These affiliated products, individually or collectively, may own a significant percentage of the outstanding shares of one or more Underlying Funds, and the Investment Manager seeks to balance potential conflicts of interest between the affiliated products and the Underlying Funds in which they invest. The affiliated products’ investment in the Underlying Funds may have the effect of creating economies of scale, possibly resulting in lower expense ratios for the Underlying Funds, because the affiliated products may own substantial portions of the shares of Underlying Funds. However, redemption of Underlying Fund shares by one or more affiliated products could cause the expense ratio of an Underlying Fund to increase, as its fixed costs would be spread over a smaller asset base. Because of large positions of certain affiliated products, the Underlying Funds may experience relatively large inflows and outflows of cash due to affiliated products’ purchases and sales of Underlying Fund shares. Although the Investment Manager or its affiliate may seek to minimize the impact of these transactions where possible, for example, by structuring them over a reasonable period of time or through other measures, Underlying Funds may experience increased expenses as they buy and sell portfolio securities to manage the cash flow effect related to these transactions. Further, when the Investment Manager or its affiliate structures transactions over a reasonable period of time in order to manage the potential impact of the buy and sell decisions for the affiliated products, those affiliated products, including funds-of-funds, may pay more or less (for purchase activity), or receive more or less (for redemption activity), for shares of the Underlying Funds than if the transactions were executed in one transaction. In addition, substantial redemptions by affiliated products within a short period of time could require the Underlying Fund to liquidate positions more rapidly than would otherwise be desirable, which may have the effect of reducing or eliminating potential gain or causing it to realize a loss. In order to meet such redemptions, an Underlying Fund may be forced to sell its liquid (or more liquid) positions, leaving the Underlying Fund holding, post-redemption, a relatively larger position in illiquid investments (i.e., any investment that the Fund reasonably expects cannot be sold or disposed of in current market conditions in seven calendar days or less without the sale or disposition significantly changing the market value of the investment) or less liquid securities. Substantial redemptions may also adversely affect the ability of the Underlying Fund to implement its investment strategy. The Investment Manager or its affiliate also has a conflict of interest in determining the allocation of affiliated products’ assets among the Underlying Funds, as it earns different fees from the various Underlying Funds.
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Columbia Greater China Fund
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Investing in Money Market Funds
The Fund may invest cash in, or hold as collateral for certain investments, shares of registered or unregistered money market funds, including funds advised by the Investment Manager or its affiliates. These funds are not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) or any other government agency. The Fund and its shareholders indirectly bear a portion of the expenses of any money market fund or other fund in which the Fund may invest.
Lending of Portfolio Securities
The Fund may lend portfolio securities to broker-dealers or other financial intermediaries on a fully collateralized basis in order to earn additional income. The Fund may lose money from securities lending if, for example, it is delayed in or prevented from selling the collateral after the loan is made or recovering the securities loaned or if it incurs losses on the reinvestment of cash collateral.
The Fund currently does not participate in the securities lending program but the Board of Trustees (the Board) may determine to renew participation in the future. For more information on lending of portfolio securities and the risks involved, see the SAI and the annual and semiannual reports to shareholders.
Investing Defensively
The Fund may from time to time take temporary defensive investment positions that may be inconsistent with the Fund’s principal investment strategies in attempting to respond to adverse market, economic, political, social or other conditions, including, without limitation, investing some or all of its assets in money market instruments or shares of affiliated or unaffiliated money market funds or holding some or all of its assets in cash or cash equivalents. The Fund may take such defensive investment positions for as long a period as deemed necessary.
The Fund may not achieve its investment objective while it is investing defensively. Investing defensively may adversely affect Fund performance. During these times, the portfolio managers may make frequent portfolio holding changes, which could result in increased trading expenses and taxes, and decreased Fund performance. See also
above for more information.
Investing in Money Market Funds
Other Strategic and Investment Measures
The Fund may also from time to time take temporary portfolio positions that may or may not be consistent with the Fund’s principal investment strategies in attempting to respond to adverse market, economic, political, social or other conditions, including, without limitation, investing in derivatives, such as forward contracts, futures contracts, options, structured investments and swaps, for various purposes, including among others, investing in particular derivatives in seeking to reduce investment exposures, or in seeking to achieve indirect investment exposures, to a sector, country, region or currency where the Investment Manager believes such positioning is appropriate. The Fund may take such portfolio positions for as long a period as deemed necessary. While the Fund is so positioned, derivatives could comprise a substantial portion of the Fund’s investments and the Fund may not achieve its investment objective. Investing in this manner may adversely affect Fund performance. During these times, the portfolio managers may make frequent portfolio holding changes, which could result in increased trading expenses and taxes, and decreased Fund performance. For information on the risks of investing in derivatives, see
above.
Transactions in Derivatives
Portfolio Holdings Disclosure
The Board has adopted policies and procedures that govern the timing and circumstances of disclosure to shareholders and third parties of information regarding the securities owned by the Fund. A description of these policies and procedures is included in the SAI. Fund policy generally permits the disclosure of portfolio holdings information on the Fund's website (columbiathreadneedleus.com) only after a certain amount of time has passed, as described in the SAI.
Purchases and sales of portfolio securities can take place at any time, so the portfolio holdings information available on the Fund's website may not always be current.
| 18 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Greater China Fund
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
FUNDamentals
Portfolio Holdings Versus the Benchmarks
The Fund does not limit its investments to the securities within its benchmark(s), and accordingly the Fund's holdings may diverge significantly from those of its benchmark(s). In addition, the Fund may invest in securities outside any industry and geographic sectors represented in its benchmark(s). The Fund's weightings in individual securities, and in industry or geographic sectors, may also vary considerably from those of its benchmark(s).
eDelivery and Mailings to Households
In order to reduce shareholder expenses, the Fund may mail only one copy of the Fund’s prospectus and each annual and semiannual report to those addresses shared by two or more accounts. If you wish to receive separate copies of these documents, call 800.345.6611 or, if your shares are held through a financial intermediary, contact your intermediary directly. Additionally, you may elect to enroll in eDelivery to receive electronic versions of these documents, as well as quarterly statements and supplements, by logging into your account at columbiathreadneedleus.com/investor/.
Cash Flows
The timing and magnitude of cash inflows from investors buying Fund shares could prevent the Fund from always being fully invested. Conversely, the timing and magnitude of cash outflows to shareholders redeeming Fund shares could require the Fund to sell portfolio securities at less than opportune times or to hold ready reserves of uninvested cash in amounts larger than might otherwise be the case to meet shareholder redemptions. Either situation could adversely impact the Fund’s performance.
Understanding Annual Fund Operating Expenses
The Fund’s annual operating expenses, as presented in the
table in the
section of this prospectus, generally are based on expenses incurred during the Fund’s most recently completed fiscal year, may vary by share class and are expressed as a percentage (expense ratio) of the Fund’s average net assets during that fiscal year. The expense ratios reflect the Fund’s fee arrangements as of the date of this prospectus and, unless indicated otherwise, are based on expenses incurred during the Fund’s most recent fiscal year. The Fund’s assets will fluctuate, but unless indicated otherwise in the
table, no adjustments have been or will be made to the expense ratios to reflect any differences in the Fund’s average net assets between the most recently completed fiscal year and the date of this prospectus or a later date. In general, the Fund’s expense ratios will increase as its net assets decrease, such that the Fund’s actual expense ratios may be higher than the expense ratios presented in the
table if assets fall. As applicable, any commitment by the Investment Manager and/or its affiliates to waive fees and/or cap (reimburse) expenses is expected, in part, to limit the impact of any increase in the Fund’s expense ratios that would otherwise result because of a decrease in the Fund’s assets in the current fiscal year. The Fund’s annual operating expenses are comprised of (i) investment management fees, (ii) distribution and/or service fees, and (iii) other expenses. Management fees do not vary by class, but distribution and/or service fees and other expenses may vary by class.
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
Fees and Expenses of the Fund
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
| Prospectus 2021 | 19 |
Columbia Greater China Fund
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
FUNDamentals
Other Expenses
“Other expenses” consist of the fees the Fund pays to its custodian, transfer agent, auditors, lawyers and trustees, costs relating to compliance and miscellaneous expenses. Generally, these expenses are allocated on a pro rata basis across all share classes. These fees include certain sub-transfer agency and shareholder servicing fees. Transfer agency fees and certain shareholder servicing fees, however, are class specific. They differ by share class because the shareholder services provided to each share class may be different. Accordingly, the differences in “other expenses” among share classes are primarily the result of the different transfer agency and shareholder servicing fees applicable to each share class. For more information on these fees, see
Choosing a Share Class — Financial Intermediary Compensation.
Fee Waiver/Expense Reimbursement Arrangements and Impact on Past Performance
The Investment Manager and certain of its affiliates have contractually agreed to waive fees and/or reimburse expenses (excluding certain fees and expenses described below) through December 31, 2021, unless sooner terminated at the sole discretion of the Fund's Board, so that the Fund’s net operating expenses, after giving effect to fees waived/expenses reimbursed and any balance credits and/or overdraft charges from the Fund’s custodian, do not exceed the annual rates of:
|
Columbia Greater China Fund
|
|
| Class A | 1.80% |
| Class Adv | 1.55% |
| Class C | 2.55% |
| Class Inst | 1.55% |
| Class Inst2 | 1.49% |
| Class Inst3 | 1.43% |
Under the agreement, the following fees and expenses are excluded from the Fund’s operating expenses when calculating the waiver/reimbursement commitment, and therefore will be paid by the Fund, if applicable: taxes (including foreign transaction taxes), expenses associated with investment in affiliated and non-affiliated pooled investment vehicles (including mutual funds and exchange-traded funds), transaction costs and brokerage commissions, costs related to any securities lending program, dividend expenses associated with securities sold short, inverse floater program fees and expenses, transaction charges and interest on borrowed money, interest, infrequent and/or unusual expenses and any other expenses the exclusion of which is specifically approved by the Fund’s Board. This agreement may be modified or amended only with approval from all parties.
Effect of Fee Waivers and/or Expense Reimbursements on Past Performance.
The Fund’s returns shown in the
Performance Information
section of this prospectus reflect the effect of any fee waivers and/or reimbursements of Fund expenses by the Investment Manager and/or any of its affiliates and any predecessor firms that were in place during the performance period shown. Without such fee waivers/expense reimbursements, the Fund’s returns might have been lower.
Primary Service Providers
The Fund enters into contractual arrangements (Service Provider Contracts) with various service providers, including, among others, the Investment Manager, the Distributor, the Transfer Agent and the Fund’s custodian. The Fund’s Service Provider Contracts are solely among the parties thereto. Shareholders are not parties to, or intended to be third-party beneficiaries of, any Service Provider Contracts. Further, this prospectus, the SAI and any Service Provider Contracts are not intended to give rise to any agreement, duty, special relationship or other obligation between the Fund and any investor, or give rise to any contractual, tort or other rights in any individual shareholder, group of
| 20 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Greater China Fund
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
shareholders or other person, including any right to assert a fiduciary or other duty, enforce the Service Provider Contracts against the parties or to seek any remedy thereunder, either directly or on behalf of the Fund. Nothing in the previous sentence should be read to suggest any waiver of any rights under federal or state securities laws.
The Investment Manager, the Distributor, and the Transfer Agent are all affiliates of Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (Ameriprise Financial). They and their affiliates currently provide key services, including investment advisory, administration, distribution, shareholder servicing and transfer agency services, to the Fund and various other funds, including the Columbia Funds, and are paid for providing these services. These service relationships are described below.
The Investment Manager
Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC is located at 225 Franklin Street, Boston, MA 02110 and serves as investment adviser and administrator to the Columbia Funds. The Investment Manager is a registered investment adviser and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ameriprise Financial. The Investment Manager’s management experience covers all major asset classes, including equity securities, debt instruments and money market instruments. In addition to serving as an investment adviser to traditional mutual funds, exchange-traded funds and closed-end funds, the Investment Manager acts as an investment adviser for itself, its affiliates, individuals, corporations, retirement plans, private investment companies and financial intermediaries.
Subject to oversight by the Board, the Investment Manager manages the day-to-day operations of the Fund, determining what securities and other investments the Fund should buy or sell and executing portfolio transactions. The Investment Manager may use the research and other capabilities of its affiliates and third parties in managing the Fund’s investments. The Investment Manager is also responsible for overseeing the administrative operations of the Fund, including the general supervision of the Fund’s operations, the coordination of the Fund’s other service providers and the provision of related clerical and administrative services.
The SEC has issued an order that permits the Investment Manager, subject to the approval of the Board, to appoint unaffiliated subadvisers by entering into subadvisory agreements with them, and to change in material respects the terms of those subadvisory agreements, including the fees paid thereunder, for the Fund without first obtaining shareholder approval, thereby avoiding the expense and delays typically associated with obtaining shareholder approval. The Fund furnishes shareholders with information about new subadvisers retained in reliance on the order within 90 days after hiring the subadviser. The Investment Manager and its affiliates may have other relationships, including significant financial relationships, with current or potential subadvisers or their affiliates, which may create certain conflicts of interest. When making recommendations to the Board to appoint or to change a subadviser, or to change the terms of a subadvisory agreement, the Investment Manager discloses to the Board the nature of any such material relationships. At present, the Investment Manager has not engaged any investment subadviser for the Fund.
The Fund pays the Investment Manager a fee for its management services, which include investment advisory services and administrative services. The fee is calculated as a percentage of the daily net assets of the Fund and is paid monthly. For the Fund’s most recent fiscal year, management services fees paid to the Investment Manager by the Fund amounted to 0.95% of average daily net assets of the Fund, before any applicable reimbursements.
A discussion regarding the basis for the Board’s approval of the renewal of the Fund's management agreement is available in the Fund’s annual report to shareholders for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2020.
Portfolio Managers
Information about the portfolio managers primarily responsible for overseeing the Fund’s investments is shown below. The SAI provides additional information about the portfolio managers, including information relating to compensation, other accounts managed by the portfolio managers, and ownership by the portfolio managers of Fund shares.
|
Portfolio Manager
|
Title
|
Role with Fund
|
Managed Fund Since
|
|||
| Dara White, CFA | Senior Portfolio Manager | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2019 |
| Prospectus 2021 | 21 |
Columbia Greater China Fund
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
|
Portfolio Manager
|
Title
|
Role with Fund
|
Managed Fund Since
|
|||
|
Derek Lin, CFA
|
Portfolio Manager | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2020 |
Mr. White
joined one of the Columbia Management legacy firms or acquired business lines in 2006. Mr. White began his investment career in 1998 and earned a B.S. in Finance and a B.S. in Marketing from Boston College.
Mr. Lin
joined the Investment Manager in 2019. Prior to joining the Investment Manager, Mr. Lin worked as a senior analyst at Yulan Capital, LLC Group and previously worked as an analyst at Surveyor Capital (Citadel, LLC.), Merchants’ Gate Capital, LP and J.P. Morgan Securities. Mr. Lin began his investment career in 2006 and earned a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Queen’s University and an MBA from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.
The Distributor
Shares of the Fund are distributed by Columbia Management Investment Distributors, Inc., which is located at 225 Franklin Street, Boston, MA 02110. The Distributor is a registered broker-dealer and an indirect, wholly-owned subsidiary of Ameriprise Financial. The Distributor and its affiliates may pay commissions, distribution and service fees and/or other compensation to entities, including Ameriprise Financial affiliates, for selling shares and providing services to investors.
The Transfer Agent
Columbia Management Investment Services Corp. is a registered transfer agent and wholly-owned subsidiary of Ameriprise Financial. The Transfer Agent is located at 225 Franklin Street, Boston, MA 02110, and its responsibilities include processing purchases, redemptions and exchanges of Fund shares, calculating and paying distributions, maintaining shareholder records, preparing account statements and providing customer service. The Transfer Agent has engaged DST Asset Manager Solutions, Inc. to provide various shareholder or “sub-transfer agency” services. In addition, the Transfer Agent enters into agreements with various financial intermediaries through which you may hold Fund shares, pursuant to which the Transfer Agent pays these financial intermediaries for providing certain shareholder services. Depending on the type of account, the Fund pays the Transfer Agent a per account fee or a fee based on the assets invested through omnibus accounts, and reimburses the Transfer Agent for certain out-of-pocket expenses, including certain payments to financial intermediaries through which shares are held.
Other Roles and Relationships of Ameriprise Financial and its Affiliates — Certain Conflicts of Interest
The Investment Manager, Distributor and Transfer Agent, all affiliates of Ameriprise Financial, provide various services to the Fund and other Columbia Funds for which they are compensated. Ameriprise Financial and its other affiliates may also provide other services to these funds and be compensated for them.
The Investment Manager and its affiliates may provide investment advisory and other services to other clients and customers substantially similar to those provided to the Columbia Funds. These activities, and other financial services activities of Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates, may present actual and potential conflicts of interest and introduce certain investment constraints.
Ameriprise Financial is a major financial services company, engaged in a broad range of financial activities beyond the fund-related activities of the Investment Manager, including, among others, insurance, broker-dealer (sales and trading), asset management, banking and other financial activities. These additional activities may involve multiple advisory, financial, insurance and other interests in securities and other instruments, and in companies that issue securities and other instruments, that may be bought, sold or held by the Columbia Funds.
Conflicts of interest and limitations that could affect a Columbia Fund may arise from, for example, the following:
| ■ | compensation and other benefits received by the Investment Manager and other Ameriprise Financial affiliates related to the management/administration of a Columbia Fund and the sale of its shares; |
| 22 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Greater China Fund
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
| ■ | the allocation of, and competition for, investment opportunities among the Fund, other funds and accounts advised/managed by the Investment Manager and other Ameriprise Financial affiliates, or Ameriprise Financial itself and its affiliates; |
| ■ | separate and potentially divergent management of a Columbia Fund and other funds and accounts advised/managed by the Investment Manager and other Ameriprise Financial affiliates; |
| ■ | regulatory and other investment restrictions on investment activities of the Investment Manager and other Ameriprise Financial affiliates and accounts advised/managed by them; |
| ■ | insurance and other relationships of Ameriprise Financial affiliates with companies and other entities in which a Columbia Fund invests; and |
| ■ | regulatory and other restrictions relating to the sharing of information between Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates, including the Investment Manager, and a Columbia Fund. |
The Investment Manager and Ameriprise Financial have adopted various policies and procedures that are intended to identify, monitor and address conflicts of interest. However, there is no assurance that these policies, procedures and disclosures will be effective.
Additional information about Ameriprise Financial and the types of conflicts of interest and other matters referenced above is set forth in the
section of the SAI. Investors in the Columbia Funds should carefully review these disclosures and consult with their financial advisor if they have any questions.
Investment Management and Other Services — Other Roles and Relationships of Ameriprise Financial and its Affiliates — Certain Conflicts of Interest
Certain Legal Matters
Ameriprise Financial and certain of its affiliates have historically been involved in a number of legal, arbitration and regulatory proceedings, including routine litigation, class actions and governmental actions, concerning matters arising in connection with the conduct of their business activities. Ameriprise Financial believes that the Fund is not currently the subject of, and that neither Ameriprise Financial nor any of its affiliates are the subject of, any pending legal, arbitration or regulatory proceedings that are likely to have a material adverse effect on the Fund or the ability of Ameriprise Financial or its affiliates to perform under their contracts with the Fund. Information regarding certain pending and settled legal proceedings may be found in the Fund’s shareholder reports and in the SAI. Additionally, Ameriprise Financial is required to make quarterly (10-Q), annual (10-K) and, as necessary, 8-K filings with the SEC on legal and regulatory matters that relate to Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates. Copies of these filings may be obtained by accessing the SEC website at sec.gov.
| Prospectus 2021 | 23 |
Columbia Greater China Fund
Choosing a Share Class
The Funds
The Columbia Funds (referred to as the Funds) generally share the same policies and procedures for investor services, as described below. Each Fund is a series of Columbia Funds Series Trust (CFST), Columbia Funds Series Trust I (CFST I) or Columbia Funds Series Trust II (CFST II), and certain features of distribution and/or service plans may differ among these trusts. The Fund offered by this prospectus is a series of CFST I. Columbia Funds with names that include the words “Tax-Exempt” or “Municipal” (the Tax-Exempt Funds) have certain policies that differ from other Columbia Funds (the Taxable Funds). The Fund offered by this prospectus is treated as a Taxable Fund for these purposes.
Funds Contact Information
Additional information about the Funds, including sales charges and other class features and policies, can be obtained, free of charge, at columbiathreadneedleus.com,* by calling toll-free 800.345.6611, or by writing (regular mail) to Columbia Management Investment Services Corp., P.O. Box 219104, Kansas City, MO 64121-9104 or (express mail) Columbia Management Investment Services Corp., c/o DST Asset Manager Solutions, Inc., 430 W 7
th
Street, Ste 219104, Kansas City, MO 64105-1407.
| * | The website references in this prospectus are inactive links and information contained in or otherwise accessible through the referenced websites does not form a part of this prospectus. |
FUNDamentals
Financial Intermediaries
The term “financial intermediary” refers to the selling and servicing agents that are authorized to sell and/or service shares of the Funds. Financial intermediaries include broker-dealers and financial advisors as well as firms that employ broker-dealers and financial advisors, including, for example, brokerage firms, banks, investment advisers, third party administrators and other firms in the financial services industry.
Omnibus Accounts
The term “omnibus account” refers to a financial intermediary’s account with the Fund (held directly through the Transfer Agent) that represents the combined holdings of, and transactions in, Fund shares of one or more clients of the financial intermediary (beneficial Fund shareholders). Omnibus accounts are held in the name of the financial intermediaries and not in the name of the beneficial Fund shareholders invested in the Fund through omnibus accounts.
Retirement Plans and Omnibus Retirement Plans
The term “retirement plan” refers to retirement plans created under Sections 401(a), 401(k), 457 and 403(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the Code), and non-qualified deferred compensation plans governed by Section 409A of the Code and similar plans, but does not refer to individual retirement plans, such as traditional IRAs and Roth IRAs. The term “omnibus retirement plan” refers to a retirement plan that has a plan-level or omnibus account with the Transfer Agent.
Networked Accounts
Networking, offered by the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation’s Wealth Management Services (WMS), is the industry standard IT system for mutual fund account reconciliation and dividend processing.
Summary of Share Class Features
Each share class has its own investment eligibility criteria, cost structure and other features. You may not be eligible to invest in every share class. Your financial intermediary may not make every share class available or may cease to make available one or more share classes of the Fund. The share class you select through your financial intermediary may have higher fees and/or sales charges than other classes of shares available through other financial intermediaries. An investor transacting in a class of Fund shares without any front-end sales charge, contingent deferred sales charge (CDSC), or other asset-based fee for sales or distribution, such as a Rule 12b-1
| 24 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Greater China Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
fee, may be required to pay a commission to the financial intermediary for effecting such transactions. Each investor’s personal situation is different and you may wish to discuss with your financial intermediary the share classes the Fund offers, which share classes are available to you and which share class(es) is/are appropriate for you. In all instances, it is your responsibility to notify your financial intermediary or (for Direct-at-Fund Accounts, as defined below) the Fund at the time of purchase of any relationship or other facts that may qualify you for sales charge waivers or discounts. The Fund, the Distributor and the Transfer Agent do not provide investment advice or make recommendations regarding Fund share classes. Your financial intermediary may provide advice and recommendations to you, such as which share class(es) is/are appropriate for you.
When deciding which class of shares to buy, you should consider, among other things:
| ■ | The amount you plan to invest. |
| ■ | How long you intend to remain invested in the Fund. |
| ■ | The fees (e.g., sales charge or “load”) and expenses for each share class. |
| ■ | Whether you may be eligible for a reduction or waiver of sales charges when you buy or sell shares. |
FUNDamentals
Front-End Sales Charge Calculation
The front-end sales charge is calculated as a percentage of the offering price.
| ■ | The net asset value (NAV) per share is the price of a share calculated by the Fund every business day. |
| ■ | The offering price per share is the NAV per share plus any front-end sales charge (or load) that applies. |
The dollar amount of any applicable front-end sales charge is the difference between the offering price of the shares you buy and the NAV of those shares. To determine the front-end sales charge you will pay when you buy Class A and Class V shares, the Fund will add the amount of your investment to the value of your account (and any other accounts eligible for aggregation of which you or your financial intermediary notifies the Fund) and base the sales charge on the aggregate amount. For information on account value aggregation, sales charge waivers and other important information, see
.
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
FUNDamentals
Contingent Deferred Sales Charge
A contingent deferred sales charge (CDSC) is a sales charge applied at the time you sell your shares, unlike a front-end sales charge that is applied at the time of purchase. A CDSC can vary based on the length of time that you have held your shares. A CDSC is applied to the NAV at the time of your purchase or sale, whichever is lower, and will not be applied to any shares you receive through Fund distribution reinvestments or any amount that represents appreciation in the value of your shares. For purposes of calculating a CDSC, the start of the holding period is generally the first day of the month in which your purchase was made.
When you place an order to sell shares of a class that has a CDSC, the Fund will first redeem any shares that are not subject to a CDSC, followed by those you have held the longest. This means that if a CDSC is imposed, you cannot designate the individual shares being redeemed for U.S. federal income tax purposes. You should consult your tax advisor about the tax consequences of investing in the Fund. In certain circumstances, the CDSC may not apply. See
for details.
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
| Prospectus 2021 | 25 |
Columbia Greater China Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
Share Class Features
The following summarizes the primary features of Class A, Class Adv, Class C, Class Inst, Class Inst2, Class Inst3, Class R, and Class V shares.
Not all Funds offer every class of shares. The Fund offers the class(es) of shares set forth on the cover of this prospectus and may offer other share classes through a separate prospectus. Although certain share classes are generally closed to new and/or existing investors, information relating to these share classes is included in the table below because certain qualifying purchase orders are permitted, as described below.
The sales charge reductions and waivers available to investors who purchase and hold their Fund shares through different financial intermediaries may vary.
describes financial intermediary-specific reductions and/or waiver policies. A shareholder transacting in Fund shares through a financial intermediary identified in
should carefully read the terms and conditions of
. A reduction and/or waiver that is specific to a particular financial intermediary is not available to Direct-at-Fund Accounts, as defined below, or through another financial intermediary. The information in
may be provided by, or compiled from or based on information provided by the financial intermediaries identified in
. To obtain additional information regarding any sales charge reduction and/or waiver described in
, and to ensure that you receive any such reductions or waivers that may be available to you, please consult your financial intermediary.
Appendix A
Appendix A
Appendix A
Appendix A
Appendix A
Appendix A
|
Share Class
|
Eligible Investors
(a)
;
Minimum Initial Investments
(b)
;
Conversion Features
(c)
|
Front-End
Sales Charges
(d)
|
Contingent Deferred
Sales Charges (CDSCs)
(d)
|
Sales Charge
Reductions/Waivers |
Maximum Distribution
and/or Service Fees
(e)
|
| Class A |
Eligibility:
Available to the general public for investment
(f)
$2,000 ($1,000 for IRAs; $100 for systematic investment plan accounts)
|
Taxable Funds:
5.75% maximum, declining to 0.00% on investments of $1 million or more
3.00% maximum, declining to 0.00% on investments of $500,000 or more
None for Columbia Government Money Market Fund and certain other Funds
(g)
|
Taxable Funds
(g)
:
CDSC on certain investments of between $1 million and $50 million redeemed within 18 months after purchase charged as follows:
• 1.00% CDSC if redeemed within 12 months after purchase, and
• 0.50% CDSC if redeemed more than 12, but less than 18, months after purchase
(g)
:
Maximum CDSC of 0.75% on certain investments of $500,000 or more redeemed within 12 months after purchase
|
Reductions
: Yes, see
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges – Class A and Class V Shares Front-End Sales Charge Reductions
: Yes, on Fund distribution reinvestments. For additional waivers, see
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges – Class A and Class V Shares Front-End Sales Charge Waivers
, as well as
Choosing a Share Class — CDSC Waivers – Class A, Class C and Class V
Financial intermediary-specific waivers are also available, see
Appendix A
|
Distribution and Service
Fees:
up to 0.25%
|
|
Class
Adv |
Eligibility:
Available only to (i) omnibus retirement plans, including self-directed brokerage accounts within omnibus retirement plans that clear through institutional no transaction fee (NTF) platforms; (ii) trust companies or
|
None | None | N/A | None |
| 26 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Greater China Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
|
Share Class
|
Eligible Investors
(a)
;
Minimum Initial Investments
(b)
;
Conversion Features
(c)
|
Front-End
Sales Charges
(d)
|
Contingent Deferred
Sales Charges (CDSCs)
(d)
|
Sales Charge
Reductions/Waivers |
Maximum Distribution
and/or Service Fees
(e)
|
|
similar institutions; (iii) broker-dealers, banks, trust companies and similar institutions that clear Fund share transactions for their client or customer investment advisory or similar accounts through designated financial intermediaries and their mutual fund trading platforms that have been granted specific written authorization from the Transfer Agent with respect to Class Adv eligibility apart from selling, servicing or similar agreements; (iv) 501(c)(3) charitable organizations; (v) 529 plans; (vi) health savings accounts; (vii) investors participating in a fee-based advisory program sponsored by a financial intermediary or other entity that is not compensated by the Fund for those services, other than payments for shareholder servicing or sub-accounting performed in place of the Transfer Agent; and (viii) commissionable brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary, acting as broker on behalf of its customer, charges the customer a commission for effecting transactions in Fund shares, provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Adv shares within such platform.
(f)
Minimum Initial Investment:
|
|||||
| Class C |
Eligibility:
Available to the general public for investment
$2,000 ($1,000 for IRAs; $100 for systematic investment plan accounts)
$499,999
(h)
, none for omnibus retirement plans
$999,999
(h)
; none for omnibus retirement plans
: Yes, Class C shares generally automatically convert to Class A shares of the same Fund in the month of or the month following the 10-year
|
None |
1.00% on certain investments redeemed within one year of purchase
(i)
|
Waivers
: Yes, on Fund distribution reinvestments. For additional waivers, see
Choosing a Share Class – CDSC Waivers – Class A, Class C and Class V
Financial intermediary-specific CDSC waivers are also available, see
Appendix A
|
Distribution Fee:
0.75%
0.25%
|
| Prospectus 2021 | 27 |
Columbia Greater China Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
|
Share Class
|
Eligible Investors
(a)
;
Minimum Initial Investments
(b)
;
Conversion Features
(c)
|
Front-End
Sales Charges
(d)
|
Contingent Deferred
Sales Charges (CDSCs)
(d)
|
Sales Charge
Reductions/Waivers |
Maximum Distribution
and/or Service Fees
(e)
|
|
anniversary of the Class C shares purchase date.
(c)
|
|||||
|
Class
Inst |
Eligibility:
Available only to certain eligible investors, which are subject to different minimum investment requirements, ranging from $0 to $2,000, including investors who purchase Fund shares through commissionable brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary holds the shares in an omnibus account and, acting as broker on behalf of its customer, charges the customer a commission for effecting transactions in Fund shares, provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst shares within such platform; closed to (i) accounts of financial intermediaries that clear Fund share transactions for their client or customer accounts through designated financial intermediaries and their mutual fund trading platforms that have been given specific written notice from the Transfer Agent of the termination of their eligibility for new purchases of Class Inst shares and (ii) omnibus group retirement plans, subject to certain exceptions
(f)(j)
See
Eligibility
above
|
None | None | N/A | None |
|
Class
Inst2 |
Eligibility:
Available only to (i) certain registered investment advisers and family offices that clear Fund share transactions for their client or customer accounts through designated financial intermediaries and their mutual fund trading platforms that have been granted specific written authorization from the Transfer Agent with respect to Class Inst2 eligibility apart from selling, servicing or similar agreements; (ii) omnibus retirement plans
(j)
; and (iii) institutional investors that are clients of the Columbia Threadneedle Global Institutional Distribution Team that invest in Class Inst2 shares for their own account through platforms approved by the Distributor or an affiliate thereof to offer and/or service Class Inst2 shares within such platform.
None
|
None | None | N/A | None |
| 28 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Greater China Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
|
Share Class
|
Eligible Investors
(a)
;
Minimum Initial Investments
(b)
;
Conversion Features
(c)
|
Front-End
Sales Charges
(d)
|
Contingent Deferred
Sales Charges (CDSCs)
(d)
|
Sales Charge
Reductions/Waivers |
Maximum Distribution
and/or Service Fees
(e)
|
|
Class
Inst3 |
Eligibility:
Available to (i) group retirement plans that maintain plan-level or omnibus accounts with the Fund
(j)
; (ii) institutional investors that are clients of the Columbia Threadneedle Global Institutional Distribution Team that invest in Class Inst3 shares for their own account through platforms approved by the Distributor or an affiliate thereof to offer and/or service Class Inst3 shares within such platform; (iii) collective trust funds; (iv) affiliated or unaffiliated mutual funds (e.g., funds operating as funds-of-funds); (v) fee-based platforms of financial intermediaries (or the clearing intermediary they trade through) that have an agreement with the Distributor or an affiliate thereof that specifically authorizes the financial intermediary to offer and/or service Class Inst3 shares within such platform, provided also that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account; (vi) commissionable brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary, acting as broker on behalf of its customer, charges the customer a commission for effecting transactions in Fund shares, provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst3 shares within such platform and that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account; and (vii) bank trust departments, subject to an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst3 shares and provided that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account. In each case above where noted that Fund shares are required to be held in an omnibus account, the Distributor may, in its discretion, determine to waive this requirement.
(f)
No minimum for the eligible investors described in (i), (iii), (iv), (v), and (vii) above; $2,000 ($1,000 for IRAs; $100 for systematic investment plan accounts) for the eligible investors described in (vi) above; and $1 million for all other eligible investors, unless waived in the discretion of the Distributor
|
None | None | N/A | None |
| Class R |
Eligibility:
Available only to eligible retirement plans, health savings
|
None | None | N/A |
Series of CFST & CFST I:
|
| Prospectus 2021 | 29 |
Columbia Greater China Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
|
Share Class
|
Eligible Investors
(a)
;
Minimum Initial Investments
(b)
;
Conversion Features
(c)
|
Front-End
Sales Charges
(d)
|
Contingent Deferred
Sales Charges (CDSCs)
(d)
|
Sales Charge
Reductions/Waivers |
Maximum Distribution
and/or Service Fees
(e)
|
|
accounts and, in the sole discretion of the Distributor, other types of retirement accounts held through platforms maintained by financial intermediaries approved by the Distributor
Minimum Initial Investment:
|
distribution fee of 0.50%
Series of CFST II:
|
||||
| Class V |
Eligibility:
Generally closed to new investors
(j)
N/A
|
5.75% maximum, declining to 0.00% on investments of $1 million or more |
CDSC on certain investments of between $1 million and $50 million redeemed within 18 months after purchase, charged as follows:
|
Reductions
: Yes, see
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges – Class A and Class V Shares Front-End Sales Charge Reductions
: Yes, on Fund distribution reinvestments.
For additional waivers, see
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges – Class A and Class V Shares Front-End Sales Charge Waivers
, as well as
Choosing a Share Class — CDSC Waivers – Class A, Class C and Class V
|
Service Fee:
up to 0.50%
|
| (a) | For Columbia Government Money Market Fund, new investments must be made in Class A, Class Inst, Class Inst3, or Class R shares, subject to eligibility. Class C shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund are available as a new investment only to investors in the Distributor's proprietary 401(k) products, provided that such investor is eligible to invest in the class and transact directly with the Fund or the Transfer Agent through a third party administrator or third party recordkeeper. Columbia Government Money Market Fund offers Class Inst2 shares only to facilitate exchanges with other Funds offering such share class. |
| (b) |
Certain share classes are subject to minimum account balance requirements, as described in
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares — Transaction Rules and Policies.
|
| (c) |
For more information on the conversion of Class C shares to Class A shares, see
Choosing a Share Class - Sales Charges and Commissions - Class C Shares - Conversion to Class A Shares
|
| (d) |
Actual front-end sales charges and CDSCs vary among the Funds. For more information on applicable sales charges, see
Choosing a Share Class — Sales Charges and Commissions,
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges.
|
| (e) |
These are the maximum applicable distribution and/or service fees. Except for Class V shares, these fees are paid under the Fund’s Rule 12b-1 plan. Fee rates and fee components (i.e., the portion of a combined fee that is a distribution or service fee) may vary among Funds. Because these fees are paid out of Fund assets on an ongoing basis, over time these fees will increase the cost of your investment and may cost you more than paying other types of distribution and/or service fees. Although Class A shares of certain series of CFST I are subject to a combined distribution and service fee of up to 0.35%, these Funds currently limit the combined fee to 0.25%. Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund pays a distribution and service fee of up to 0.15% on Class A shares. Columbia Government Money Market Fund pays a distribution and service fee of up to 0.10% on Class A shares and up to 0.75% distribution fee on Class C shares. Columbia High Yield Municipal Fund, Columbia Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund and Columbia Tax-Exempt Fund each pay a service fee of up to 0.20% on Class A and Class C shares. Columbia Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund pays a distribution fee of up to 0.65% on Class C shares. For more information on distribution and service fees, see
Choosing a Share Class — Distribution and Service Fees.
|
| (f) | Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund must be purchased through financial intermediaries that, by written agreement with the Distributor, are specifically authorized to sell the Fund’s shares. Class Adv shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund are also available to certain registered investment advisers that clear Fund share transactions for their client accounts through designated financial intermediaries with mutual fund trading platforms that have been granted specific written authorization from the Transfer Agent (apart from selling, servicing or similar agreements) to sell Class Inst2 shares, which are not offered by the Fund. Class Inst3 shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund that were open and funded accounts prior to November 30, 2018 (the conversion date from the former unnamed share class to Class Inst3 shares) are eligible for additional investment; however, any account established after that date must meet the current Class Inst3 eligibility requirements. |
| 30 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Greater China Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
| (g) | For Columbia Short Term Municipal Bond Fund, a CDSC of 0.50% is charged on certain investments of $500,000 or more redeemed within 12 months after purchase. The following Funds are not subject to a front-end sales charge or a CDSC on Class A shares: Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund, Columbia Small Cap Index Fund, Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund and Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund. |
| (h) |
If you are eligible to invest in Class A shares without a front-end sales charge, you should discuss your options with your financial intermediary. For more information, see
Choosing a Share Class – Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges.
|
| (i) | There is no CDSC on redemptions from Class C shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund. |
| (j) |
These share classes are closed to new accounts, or closed to previously eligible investors, subject to certain conditions, as summarized below and described in more detail under
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares — Buying Shares — Eligible Investors:
|
•
. Financial intermediaries that clear Fund share transactions through designated financial intermediaries and their mutual fund trading platforms that have been given specific written notice from the Transfer Agent, effective March 29, 2013, of the termination of their eligibility for new purchases of Class Inst shares and omnibus retirement plans are not permitted to establish new Class Inst accounts, subject to certain exceptions. Omnibus retirement plans that opened and, subject to exceptions, funded a Class Inst account as of close of business on March 28, 2013, and have continuously held Class Inst shares in such account after such date, may generally continue to make additional purchases of Class Inst shares, open new Class Inst accounts and add new participants. In certain circumstances and in the sole discretion of the Distributor, omnibus retirement plans affiliated with a grandfathered plan may also open new Class Inst accounts. Accounts of financial intermediaries (other than omnibus retirement plans) that clear Fund share transactions for their client or customer accounts through designated financial intermediaries and their mutual fund trading platforms are not permitted to establish new Class Inst accounts or make additional purchases of Class Inst shares (other than through Fund distribution reinvestments).
Class Inst Shares
•
. Shareholders with Class Inst2 accounts funded before November 8, 2012 who do not satisfy the current eligibility criteria for Class Inst2 shares may not establish new Class Inst2 accounts but may continue to make additional purchases of Class Inst2 shares in existing accounts. In addition, investment advisory programs and similar programs that opened a Class Inst2 account as of May 1, 2010, and continuously hold Class Inst2 shares in such account after such date, may generally not only continue to make additional purchases of Class Inst2 shares but also open new Class Inst2 accounts and add new shareholders in the program.
Class Inst2 Shares
•
. Shareholders with Class Inst3 accounts funded before November 8, 2012 who do not satisfy the current eligibility criteria for Class Inst3 shares may not establish new accounts for such share class but may continue to make additional purchases of Class Inst3 shares in existing accounts.
Class Inst3 Shares
•
Shareholders
with Class V accounts who received, and have continuously held, Class V shares (formerly named Class T shares) in connection with the merger of certain Galaxy funds into certain Funds that were then named Liberty funds may continue to make additional purchases of such share class.
Class V Shares.
Sales Charges and Commissions
Sales charges, commissions, and distribution fees compensate financial intermediaries (typically your financial advisor) for selling shares to you, and service fees compensate financial intermediaries for maintaining and servicing the shares held in your account with them. Distribution and service fees are discussed in a separate sub-section below. Depending on which share class you choose and the financial intermediary through which you purchase your shares, you may pay these charges at potentially different levels at the outset as a front-end sales charge, at the time you sell your shares as a CDSC and/or over time in the form of distribution and/or service fees.
As described in more detail below, Class A and Class V shares have a front-end sales charge, which is deducted from your purchase price when you buy your shares, and results in a smaller dollar amount being invested in the Fund than the purchase price you pay (unless you qualify for a waiver or reduction of the sales charge). The Fund’s other share classes do not have a front-end sales charge, so the full amount of your purchase price is invested in those classes. Class A and Class V shares have lower ongoing distribution and/or service fees than Class C and Class R shares of the Fund. Over time, Class C and Class R shares can incur distribution and/or service fees that are equal to or more than the front-end sales charge and the distribution and/or service fees you would pay for Class A and Class V shares. Although the full amount of your purchase price of Class C and Class R shares is invested in a Fund, your return on this money will be reduced by the expected higher annual expenses of Class C and Class R shares. In this regard, note that Class C shares will generally automatically convert to Class A shares of the same Fund in the month of or the month following the 10-year anniversary of the Class C shares purchase date. The Fund may convert Class C shares held through a financial intermediary to Class A shares sooner in connection with the withdrawal of Class C shares of the Fund from the financial intermediary’s platform or accounts. No sales charge or other charges will apply in connection with such conversions, and conversions are free from U.S. federal income tax. Once your Class C shares convert to Class A shares, your total returns from an investment in the Fund may increase as a result of the lower operating costs of Class A shares. Class Adv, Class Inst, Class Inst2 and Class Inst3 shares of the Fund do not have distribution and/or service fees.
| Prospectus 2021 | 31 |
Columbia Greater China Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
Whether the ultimate cost is higher for one share class over another depends on the amount you invest, how long you hold your shares, the fees (i.e., sales charges) and expenses of the class and whether you are eligible for reduced or waived sales charges, if available. You are responsible for choosing the share class most appropriate for you after taking into account your share class eligibility, class-specific features, and any applicable reductions in, or waivers of, sales charges. For more information, see
. We encourage you to consult with a financial advisor who can help you with your investment decisions. Please contact your financial intermediary for more information about services, fees and expenses, and other important information about investing in the Fund, as well as with any questions you may have about your investing options. In all instances, it is your responsibility to notify your financial intermediary or (for Direct-at-Fund Accounts, as defined below) the Fund at the time of purchase of any relationship or other facts that may qualify you for sales charge waivers or discounts.
Choosing a Share Class – Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
Class A Shares — Front-End Sales Charge
Unless your purchase qualifies for a waiver (e.g., you buy the shares through reinvested Fund dividends or distributions or subject to an applicable financial intermediary-specific waiver), you will pay a front-end sales charge when you buy Class A shares (other than shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund, Columbia Small Cap Index Fund, Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund and Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund), resulting in a smaller dollar amount being invested in a Fund than the purchase price you pay. The Class A shares sales charge is waived on Class C shares converted to Class A shares. For more information about sales charge waivers and reduction opportunities, see
and
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
Appendix A.
The Distributor receives the sales charge and re-allows (or pays) a portion of the sales charge to the financial intermediary through which you purchased the shares. The Distributor retains the balance of the sales charge. The Distributor retains the full sales charge you pay when you purchase shares of the Fund directly from the Fund (through the Transfer Agent, rather than through a financial intermediary).
The front-end sales charge you will pay on Class A shares:
| ■ | depends on the amount you are investing (generally, the larger the investment, the smaller the percentage sales charge), and |
| ■ | is based on the total amount of your purchase and the value of your account (and any other accounts eligible for aggregation of which you or your financial intermediary notifies the Fund). |
The table below presents the front-end sales charge as a percentage of both the offering price and the net amount invested.
| 32 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Greater China Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
|
Class A Shares — Front-End Sales Charge — Breakpoint Schedule*
|
||||
|
Breakpoint Schedule For:
|
Dollar amount of
shares bought
(a)
|
Sales
charge as a % of the offering price
(b)
|
Sales
charge as a % of the net amount invested
(b)
|
Amount
retained by or paid to financial intermediaries as a % of the offering price |
|
Fixed Income Funds (except those listed below),
Columbia Multi-Asset Income Fund and Funds-of-Funds (fixed income)* |
$
|
4.75% | 4.99% | 4.00% |
|
$
|
4.25% | 4.44% | 3.50% | |
| $100,000–$249,999 | 3.50% | 3.63% | 3.00% | |
| $250,000–$499,999 | 2.50% | 2.56% | 2.15% | |
| $500,000–$999,999 | 2.00% | 2.04% | 1.75% | |
|
$
|
0.00% | 0.00% |
0.00%
(c)
|
|
|
Tax-Exempt Funds (other than Columbia Short Term Municipal Bond Fund)
|
$
|
3.00% | 3.09% | 2.50% |
| $100,000–$249,999 | 2.50% | 2.56% | 2.15% | |
| $250,000–$499,999 | 1.50 % | 1.53% | 1.25% | |
|
$
|
0.00% | 0.00% |
0.00%
(c)
|
|
|
Columbia Floating Rate Fund,
Columbia Limited Duration Credit Fund, Columbia Mortgage Opportunities Fund, Columbia Quality Income Fund, and Columbia Total Return Bond Fund |
$
|
3.00% | 3.09% | 2.50% |
| $100,000–$249,999 | 2.50% | 2.56% | 2.15% | |
| $250,000–$499,999 | 2.00% | 2.04% | 1.75% | |
| $500,000–$999,999 | 1.50% | 1.52% | 1.25% | |
|
$
|
0.00% | 0.00% |
0.00%
(c)
|
|
|
Columbia Short Term Bond Fund
|
$
|
1.00% | 1.01% | 0.75% |
| $100,000–$249,999 | 0.75% | 0.76% | 0.50% | |
| $250,000–$999,999 | 0.50% | 0.50% | 0.40% | |
|
$
|
0.00% | 0.00% |
0.00%
(c)
|
|
|
Columbia Short Term Municipal Bond Fund
|
$
|
1.00% | 1.01% | 0.75% |
| $100,000–$249,999 | 0.75% | 0.76% | 0.50% | |
| $250,000–$499,999 | 0.50% | 0.50% | 0.40% | |
|
$
|
0.00% | 0.00% |
0.00%
(c)
|
|
| * |
The following Funds are not subject to a front-end sales charge or CDSC on Class A shares: Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund, Columbia Small Cap Index Fund, Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund and Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund.
"Funds-of-Funds (equity)"
. "Funds-of-Funds (fixed income)"
|
| (a) |
Purchase amounts and account values may be aggregated among all eligible Fund accounts for the purposes of this table. See
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
|
| (b) | Because the offering price is calculated to two decimal places, the dollar amount of the sales charge as a percentage of the offering price and your net amount invested for any particular purchase of Fund shares may be higher or lower depending on whether downward or upward rounding was required during the calculation process. Purchase price includes the sales charge. |
| (c) |
For information regarding cumulative commissions paid to your financial intermediary when you buy $1 million or more of Class A shares of a Taxable Fund or $500,000 or more of Class A shares of a Tax-Exempt Fund, see
Class A Shares — Commissions
|
| Prospectus 2021 | 33 |
Columbia Greater China Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
Class A Shares — CDSC
In some cases, you'll pay a CDSC if you sell Class A shares that you purchased without a front-end sales charge.
Tax-Exempt Funds
| ■ | If you purchased Class A shares of any Tax-Exempt Fund (other than Columbia Short Term Municipal Bond Fund) without paying a front-end sales charge because your eligible accounts aggregated $500,000 or more at the time of purchase, you will incur a CDSC of 0.75% if you redeem those shares within 12 months after purchase. Subsequent Class A share purchases that bring your aggregate account value to $500,000 or more will also be subject to a CDSC of 0.75% if you redeem those shares within 12 months after purchase. |
| ■ | If you purchased Class A shares of Columbia Short Term Municipal Bond Fund without paying a front-end sales charge because your eligible accounts aggregated $500,000 or more at the time of purchase, you will incur a CDSC of 0.50% if you redeem those shares within 12 months after purchase. Subsequent Class A share purchases that bring your aggregate account value to $500,000 or more will also be subject to a CDSC of 0.50% if you redeem those shares within 12 months after purchase. |
Taxable Funds
| ■ | If you purchased Class A shares of any Taxable Fund without paying a front-end sales charge because your eligible accounts aggregated between $1 million and $50 million at the time of purchase, you will incur a CDSC if you redeem those shares within 18 months after purchase, which is charged as follows: 1.00% CDSC if shares are redeemed within 12 months after purchase; and 0.50% CDSC if shares are redeemed more than 12, but less than 18, months after purchase. Subsequent Class A share purchases that bring your aggregate account value to $1 million or more (but less than $50 million) will also be subject to a CDSC if you redeem them within 18 months after purchase as described in the previous sentence. |
Class A Shares — Commissions
The Distributor may pay your financial intermediary an up-front commission when you buy Class A shares. The Distributor generally funds the commission through the applicable sales charge you paid. For more information, see
above
Class A Shares — Front-End Sales Charge
.
The Distributor may also pay your financial intermediary a cumulative commission when you buy Class A shares in amounts not subject to a front-end sales charge, according to the following schedules (assets initially purchased into Class A shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund, Columbia Small Cap Index Fund, Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund and Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund that were purchased without the application of a front-end sales charge are excluded for purposes of calculating a financial intermediary’s commission under these schedules):
| * | The commission level applies to the applicable asset level; therefore, for example, for a purchase of $5 million, the Distributor would pay a commission of 0.75% on the first $3,999,999 and 0.50% on the balance. |
| ** | The commission level on purchases of Class A shares of Columbia Short Term Municipal Bond Fund is: 0.50% on purchases of $500,000 to $19,999,999 and 0.25% on purchases of $20 million or more. |
| 34 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Greater China Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
|
Class A Shares of Taxable Funds — Commission Schedule (Paid by the Distributor to Financial Intermediaries)*
|
|
|
Purchase Amount
|
Commission Level**
(as a % of net asset value per share) |
| $1 million – $2,999,999 | 1.00% |
| $3 million – $49,999,999 | 0.50% |
| $50 million or more | 0.25% |
| * | Not applicable to Funds that do not assess a front-end sales charge. |
| ** | The commission level applies to the applicable asset level; therefore, for example, for a purchase of $5 million, the Distributor would pay a commission of 1.00% on the first $2,999,999 and 0.50% on the balance. |
Class C Shares — Front-End Sales Charge
You do not pay a front-end sales charge when you buy Class C shares, but you may pay a CDSC when you sell Class C shares. Although Class C shares do not have a front-end sales charge, over time Class C shares can incur distribution and/or service fees that are equal to or more than the front-end sales charge and distribution and/or service fees you would pay for Class A shares. Thus, although the full amount of your purchase of Class C shares is invested in a Fund, any positive investment return on this money may be partially or fully offset by the expected higher annual expenses of Class C shares. If you are eligible to invest in Class A shares without a front-end sales charge, you should discuss your options with your financial intermediary. For more information, see
Choosing a Share Class – Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges.
Class C Shares — Conversion to Class A Shares
Class C shares of a Fund generally automatically convert to Class A shares of the same Fund in the month of or the month following the 10-year anniversary of the Class C shares purchase date. Class C shares held through a financial intermediary in an omnibus account will be converted provided that the intermediary is able to track purchases to credit individual shareholders’ holding periods. It is the financial intermediary's (and not the Fund's) responsibility to keep records and to ensure that the shareholder is credited with the proper holding period. Not all financial intermediaries are able to track purchases to credit individual shareholders' holding periods. For example, group retirement plans held through third-party intermediaries that hold Class C shares in an omnibus account may not track participant level share lot aging. Please consult with your financial intermediary about your eligibility for Class C share conversion. The Fund may convert Class C shares held through a financial intermediary to Class A shares sooner in connection with the withdrawal of Class C shares of the Fund from the financial intermediary's platform or accounts. Once your Class C shares convert to Class A shares, your total returns from an investment in the Fund may increase as a result of the lower operating costs of Class A shares.
The following rules apply to the automatic conversion of Class C shares to Class A shares:
| ■ | Class C share accounts that are Direct-at-Fund Accounts and Networked Accounts for which the Transfer Agent (and not your financial intermediary) sends you Fund account transaction confirmations and statements, convert on or about the 15th day of the month (if the 15th is not a business day, then the next business day thereafter) that they become eligible for automatic conversion provided that the Fund has records that Class C shares have been held for the requisite time period. |
| ■ | For purposes of determining the month when your Class C shares are eligible for conversion, the start of the holding period is the first day of the month in which your purchase was made. Your financial intermediary may choose a different day of the month to convert Class C shares. Please contact your financial intermediary for more information on calculating the holding period. |
| ■ | Any shares you received from reinvested distributions on these shares generally will convert to Class A shares at the same time. |
| ■ | You’ll receive the same dollar value of Class A shares as the Class C shares that were automatically converted. Class C shares that you received from an exchange of Class C shares of another Fund will convert based on the day you bought the original shares. |
| Prospectus 2021 | 35 |
Columbia Greater China Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
| ■ | No sales charge or other charges apply in connection with this automatic conversion, and conversions are free from U.S. federal income tax. |
Class C Shares — CDSC
You will pay a CDSC of 1.00% if you redeem Class C shares within 12 months of buying them unless you qualify for a waiver of the CDSC (e.g., the shares you are selling were purchased with reinvested Fund distributions). Redemptions of Class C shares are not subject to a CDSC if redeemed after 12 months. Class C shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund are not subject to a CDSC. For more information, see
.
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
Class C Shares — Commissions
Although there is no front-end sales charge when you buy Class C shares, the Distributor makes an up-front payment (which includes a sales commission and an advance of service fees) directly to your financial intermediary of up to 1.00% of the NAV per share when you buy Class C shares (except on purchases of Class C shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund). A portion of this payment may be passed along to your financial advisor. The Distributor seeks to recover this payment through fees it receives under the Fund's distribution and/or service plan during the first 12 months following the sale of Class C shares, and any applicable CDSC when you sell your shares. For more information, see
Choosing a Share Class — Distribution and Service Fees.
Class V Shares — Front-End Sales Charge
Unless you qualify for a waiver (e.g., you purchase shares through reinvested Fund distributions), you will pay a front-end sales charge when you buy Class V shares, resulting in a smaller dollar amount being invested in a Fund than the purchase price you pay. For more information about sales charge waivers (as well as sales charge reduction opportunities), see
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges.
The front-end sales charge you will pay on Class V shares:
| ■ | depends on the amount you are investing (generally, the larger the investment, the smaller the percentage sales charge), and |
| ■ | is based on the total amount of your purchase and the value of your account (and any other accounts eligible for aggregation of which you notify your financial intermediary or, in the case of Direct-at-Fund Accounts (as defined below), you notify the Fund). |
| 36 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Greater China Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
|
Class V Shares — Front-End Sales Charge — Breakpoint Schedule
|
||||
|
Breakpoint Schedule For:
|
Dollar amount of
shares bought
(a)
|
Sales
charge as a % of the offering price
(b)
|
Sales
charge as a % of the net amount invested
(b)
|
Amount
retained by or paid to Financial Intermediaries as a % of the offering price |
|
Fixed Income Funds
|
$
|
4.75% | 4.99% | 4.25% |
|
$
|
4.50% | 4.71% | 3.75% | |
| $100,000–$249,999 | 3.50% | 3.63% | 2.75% | |
| $250,000–$499,999 | 2.50% | 2.56% | 2.00% | |
| $500,000–$999,999 | 2.00% | 2.04% | 1.75% | |
|
$
|
0.00% | 0.00% |
0.00%
(c)
|
|
| (a) | Purchase amounts and account values are aggregated among all eligible Fund accounts for the purposes of this table. |
| (b) | Because the offering price is calculated to two decimal places, the dollar amount of the sales charge as a percentage of the offering price and your net amount invested for any particular purchase of Fund shares may be higher or lower depending on whether downward or upward rounding was required during the calculation process. |
| (c) |
For more information regarding cumulative commissions paid to your financial intermediary when you buy $1 million or more of Class V shares, see
Class V Shares — Commissions
|
Class V Shares — CDSC
In some cases, you will pay a CDSC if you sell Class V shares that you bought without a front-end sales charge.
| ■ | If you purchased Class V shares without a front-end sales charge because your eligible accounts aggregated between $1 million and $50 million at the time of purchase, you will incur a CDSC if you redeem those shares within 18 months after purchase, which is charged as follows: 1.00% CDSC if shares are redeemed within 12 months after purchase, and 0.50% CDSC if shares are redeemed more than 12, but less than 18, months after purchase. |
| ■ | Subsequent Class V share purchases that bring your aggregate account value to $1 million or more (but less than $50 million) will also be subject to a CDSC if you redeem them within the time periods noted above. |
Class V Shares — Commissions
The Distributor may pay your financial intermediary an up-front commission when you buy Class V shares (a portion of this commission may, in turn, be paid to your financial advisor). For more information, see
Class V Shares — Front-End Sales Charge.
The Distributor may also pay your financial intermediary a cumulative commission when you buy $1 million or more of Class V shares, according to the following schedule:
|
Class V Shares
—
Commission Schedule (Paid by the Distributor to Financial Intermediaries)
|
|
|
Purchase
Amount |
Commission Level*
(as a % of net asset value per share) |
| $1 million – $2,999,999 | 1.00% |
| $3 million – $49,999,999 | 0.50% |
| $50 million or more | 0.25% |
| * | The commission level applies to the applicable asset level; therefore, for example, for a purchase of $5 million, the Distributor would pay a commission of 1.00% on the first $2,999,999 and 0.50% on the balance. |
| Prospectus 2021 | 37 |
Columbia Greater China Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
The availability of certain sales charge waivers and discounts will depend on whether you purchase your shares directly from the Fund (i.e., a Direct-at-Fund Account, as defined below) or through a financial intermediary. Financial intermediaries may have different policies and procedures regarding the availability of front-end sales charge and/or CDSC waivers. In all instances, it is your responsibility to notify your financial intermediary or (for Direct-at-Fund Accounts, as defined below) the Fund at the time of purchase of any relationship or other facts that may qualify you for sales charge waivers or discounts. In order to obtain waivers and discounts not available through a particular financial intermediary, shareholders will have to purchase Fund shares directly from the Fund (if permitted) or through a different financial intermediary. For a description of financial intermediary-specific sales charge reductions and/or waivers, see
.
Appendix A
Class A and Class V Shares Front-End Sales Charge Reductions
The Fund makes available two means of reducing the front-end sales charge that you may pay when you buy Class A shares or Class V shares of a Fund. These types of sales charge reductions are also referred to as breakpoint discounts.
First, through the right of accumulation (ROA), you may combine the value of eligible accounts (as described in the
section below) maintained by you and members of your immediate family to reach a breakpoint discount level and apply a lower front-end sales charge to your purchase. To calculate the combined value of your eligible Fund accounts in the particular class of shares, the Fund will use the current public offering price per share. For purposes of obtaining a breakpoint discount through ROA, you may aggregate your and your “immediate family” members' ownership (as described in the
box below) of certain classes of shares held in certain account types, as described in the
section below.
Eligible Accounts
FUNDamentals
Eligible Accounts
Second, by making a statement of intent to purchase additional shares (commonly referred to as a letter of intent (LOI)), you may pay a lower sales charge on all purchases of Class A shares or Class V shares made within 13 months after the date of your LOI. Your LOI must state the aggregate amount of purchases you intend to make in that 13-month period, which must be at least enough to reach the first (or next) breakpoint of the Fund. The required form of LOI may vary by financial intermediary, so please contact them directly for more information. Five percent of the purchase commitment amount will be placed in escrow. At the end of the 13-month period, the shares will be released from escrow, provided that you have invested the commitment amount. If you do not invest the commitment amount by the end of the 13 months, the remaining amount of the unpaid sales charge will be redeemed from the escrowed shares and the remaining balance released from escrow. To calculate the total value of the purchases you've made under an LOI, the Fund will use the historic cost (i.e., dollars invested and not current market value) of the shares held in each eligible account; reinvested dividends or capital gains, or purchases made through the reinstatement privilege do not count as purchases made under an LOI. For purposes of making an LOI to purchase additional shares, you may aggregate eligible shares owned by you or your immediate family members in eligible accounts, valued as of the day immediately before the initiation of your LOI.
You must request the reduced sales charge (whether through ROA or an LOI) when you buy shares. If you do not complete and file an LOI, or do not request the reduced sales charge at the time of purchase, you will not be eligible for the reduced sales charge. To obtain a breakpoint discount, you must notify your financial intermediary in writing at the time you buy your shares of each eligible account maintained by you and members of your immediate family, including accounts maintained through different financial intermediaries. You and your financial intermediary are responsible for ensuring that you receive discounts for which you are eligible. Please contact your financial intermediary with questions regarding application of the eligible discount to your account. You may be asked by your financial intermediary (or by the Fund if you hold your account directly with the Fund) for account statements or other records to verify your discount eligibility for new and subsequent purchases, including, when applicable, records for accounts opened with a different financial intermediary and records of accounts established by members of your immediate family.
The sales charge reductions available to investors who purchase and hold their Fund shares through different financial intermediaries may vary. For a description of such financial intermediary-specific sales charge reductions, see
.
Appendix A
| 38 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Greater China Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
FUNDamentals
Your “Immediate Family” and Account Value Aggregation
For purposes of obtaining a breakpoint discount for Class A shares or Class V shares, the value of your account will be deemed to include the value of all applicable shares in eligible Fund accounts that are held by you and your “immediate family,” which includes your spouse, domestic partner, parent, step-parent, legal guardian, child under 21, step-child under 21, father-in-law and mother-in-law, provided that you and your immediate family members share the same mailing address. Any Fund accounts linked together for account value aggregation purposes as of the close of business on September 3, 2010 will be permitted to remain linked together. Group retirement plan accounts are valued at the retirement plan level.
Eligible Accounts
The following accounts are eligible for account value aggregation as described above, provided that they are invested in Class A (excluding, in the case of Direct-at-Fund Accounts, Funds that do not assess a front-end sales charge, including Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund, Columbia Small Cap Index Fund, Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund and Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund, unless such shares were purchased via an exchange from Class A shares of a Fund on which you paid the Class A share applicable front-end sales charge), Class C, Class E, Class Inst or Class V shares of a Fund, or non-retirement plan accounts invested in Class Adv, Class Inst2 or Class Inst3 shares of a Fund: individual or joint accounts; Roth and traditional Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs); Simplified Employee Pension accounts (SEPs), Savings Investment Match Plans for Employees of Small Employers accounts (SIMPLEs) and Tax Sheltered Custodial Accounts (TSCAs); Uniform Gifts to Minors Act (UGMA)/Uniform Transfers to Minors Act (UTMA) accounts for which you, your spouse, or your domestic partner is parent or guardian of the minor child; revocable trust accounts for which you or an immediate family member, individually, is the beneficial owner/grantor; accounts held in the name of your, your spouse’s, or your domestic partner’s sole proprietorship or single owner limited liability company or S corporation; qualified retirement plan assets, provided that you are the sole owner of the business sponsoring the plan, are the sole participant (other than a spouse) in the plan, and have no intention of adding participants to the plan; and investments in wrap accounts.
The following accounts are
for account value aggregation as described above: accounts of pension and retirement plans with multiple participants, such as 401(k) plans (which are combined to reduce the sales charge for the entire pension or retirement plan and therefore are not used to reduce the sales charge for your individual accounts); investments in 529 plans, donor advised funds, variable annuities, variable insurance products or managed separate accounts; charitable and irrevocable trust accounts; accounts holding shares of money market funds that used the Columbia brand before May 1, 2010; accounts invested in Class R shares of a Fund; and retirement plan accounts invested in Class Adv, Class Inst2 or Class Inst3 shares of a Fund.
not eligible
Additionally, direct purchases of shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund may not be aggregated for account value aggregation purposes; however, shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund acquired by exchange from other Columbia Funds that assess a sales charge may be included in account value aggregation.
Class A and Class V Shares Front-End Sales Charge Waivers
There are no front-end sales charges on reinvested Fund distributions. The Class A shares sales charge is waived on conversions of Class C shares to Class A shares. The Distributor may waive front-end sales charges on purchases of Class A and Class V shares of the Funds by certain categories of investors, including Board members, certain employees of financial intermediaries, Fund portfolio managers, certain partners and employees of outside legal counsel to the Funds or the Board, separate accounts of an insurance company exempt from registration as an investment company under Section 3(c)(11) of the 1940 Act, registered broker-dealer firms that have an agreement with the Distributor purchasing Fund shares for their investment account only, and qualified employee benefit plan rollovers to Class A shares in the same Fund (see Appendix S to the SAI for details). For a more complete description of categories of investors who may purchase Class A and Class V shares of the Funds at NAV, without payment of any front-end sales charge that would otherwise apply, see Appendix S to the SAI.
| Prospectus 2021 | 39 |
Columbia Greater China Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
In addition, certain types of purchases of Class A and Class V shares may be made at NAV. The Distributor may waive front-end sales charges on (i) purchases (including exchanges) of Class A shares in accounts of financial intermediaries that have entered into agreements with the Distributor to offer Fund shares to self-directed investment brokerage accounts that may or may not charge a transaction fee to customers; (ii) exchanges of Class Inst shares of a Fund for Class A shares of the Fund; (iii) purchases of Class A shares on brokerage mutual fund-only platforms of financial intermediaries that have an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes the offering of Class A shares within such platform; (iv) purchases through certain wrap fee or other products or programs that involve fee-based compensation arrangements that have, or clear trades through a financial intermediary that has, a selling agreement with the Distributor; (v) purchases through state sponsored 529 Plans; (vi) purchases through banks, trust companies, and thrift institutions acting as fiduciaries; and (vii) purchases through certain employee benefit plans and certain qualified deferred compensation plans. For a more complete description of these eligible transactions, see Appendix S to the SAI.
The sales charge waivers available to investors who purchase and hold their Fund shares through different financial intermediaries may vary. For a description of such financial intermediary-specific sales charge waivers, see
.
Appendix A
CDSC Waivers – Class A, Class C and Class V
You may be able to avoid an otherwise applicable CDSC when you sell Class A, Class C or Class V shares of the Fund. This could happen because of the way in which you originally invested in the Fund, because of your relationship with the Funds or for other reasons. For example, the CDSC will be waived on redemptions of shares in the event of the shareholder's death; for which no sales commission or transaction fee was paid to an authorized financial intermediary at the time of purchase; purchased through reinvestment of dividends and capital gain distributions; that result from required minimum distributions taken from retirement accounts due to the shareholder reaching the qualified age based on applicable IRS regulations; that result from returns of excess contributions made to retirement plans or individual retirement accounts (subject to certain conditions); initially purchased by an employee benefit plan (for Class A shares) and that are not connected with a plan level termination (for Class C or Class V shares); in connection with the Fund's Small Account Policy (which is described in
); and by certain other investors and in certain other types of transactions or situations. Restrictions may apply to certain accounts and certain transactions. The Distributor may, in its sole discretion, authorize the waiver of the CDSC for additional classes of investors. The Fund may change or cancel these terms at any time. Any change or cancellation applies only to future purchases. For a more complete description of the available waivers of the CDSC on redemptions of Class A, Class C or Class V shares, see Appendix S to the SAI.
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares — Transaction Rules and Policies
The sales charge waivers available to investors who purchase and hold their Fund shares through different financial intermediaries may vary. For a description of such financial intermediary-specific sales charge waivers, see
.
Appendix A
Repurchases (Reinstatements)
As noted in the table below, you can redeem shares of certain classes (see Redeemed Share Class below) and use such redemption proceeds to buy shares of the Corresponding Repurchase Class without paying an otherwise applicable sales charge and/or CDSC (other than, in the case of Direct-at-Fund Accounts, redemptions from Funds that do not assess a front-end sales charge, including Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund, Columbia Small Cap Index Fund, Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund and Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund, unless such shares were purchased via an exchange from Class A shares of a Fund on which you paid the Class A share applicable front-end sales charge) within 90 days, up to the amount of the redemption proceeds.
|
Repurchases (Reinstatements)
|
|
|
Redeemed Share Class
|
Corresponding Repurchase Class
|
| Class A | Class A |
| Class C | Class C |
| 40 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Greater China Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
|
Repurchases (Reinstatements)
|
|
|
Redeemed Share Class
|
Corresponding Repurchase Class
|
| Class V | Class V |
Any CDSC paid upon redemption of your Class A, Class C or Class V shares of a Fund will not be reimbursed.
To be eligible for the repurchase (or reinstatement) privilege, the purchase must be made into an account for the same owner, but does not need to be into the same Fund from which the shares were sold. The Transfer Agent, Distributor or their agents must receive a written reinstatement request from you or your financial intermediary within 90 days after the shares are redeemed. The purchase of the Corresponding Repurchase Class (as noted in the table above) through this repurchase (or reinstatement) privilege will be made at the NAV of such shares next calculated after the request is received in “good form.” Systematic withdrawals and purchases are excluded from this policy.
Restrictions and Changes in Terms and Conditions
Restrictions may apply to certain accounts and certain transactions. The Funds and/or the Distributor may change or cancel these terms and conditions at any time. Unless you provide your financial intermediary with information in writing about all of the factors that may count toward available reductions or waivers of an applicable sales charge, there can be no assurance that you will receive all of the reductions and waivers for which you may be eligible. To the extent your Fund account is held directly with the Fund, you should provide this information to the Fund when placing your purchase or redemption order. Please see
to this prospectus and Appendix S of the SAI for more information about sales charge waivers.
Appendix A
Distribution and Service Fees
The Board has approved, and the Funds have adopted, distribution and/or shareholder service plans which set the distribution and/or service fees that are periodically deducted from the Funds’ assets. These fees are calculated daily, may vary by share class and are intended to compensate the Distributor and/or eligible financial intermediaries for, with regard to distribution fees, selling Fund shares and, with regard to service fees, directly or indirectly providing services to shareholders. Because the fees are paid out of the Fund's assets on an ongoing basis, they will increase the cost of your investment over time.
The table below shows the maximum annual distribution and/or service fees (as an annual percentage of average daily net assets) and the combined amount of such fees applicable to each share class:
| (a) | The service fees for Class A and Class C shares of certain Funds vary. The annual service fee for Class A and Class C shares of Columbia High Yield Municipal Fund, Columbia Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund and Columbia Tax-Exempt Fund may equal up to 0.20% of the average daily NAV of all shares of such Fund class. The annual distribution fee for Class C shares for Columbia Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund shall be 0.65% of the average daily net assets of the Fund’s Class C shares. The Distributor has contractually agreed to waive a portion of the service fee for Class A and Class C shares of Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund so that the service fee does not exceed 0.15% annually through August 31, 2021 unless sooner terminated at the sole discretion of the Fund’s Board. The Distributor has contractually agreed to waive a portion of the service fee for Class A shares of Columbia Strategic California Municipal Income Fund so that the service fee does not exceed 0.20% annually through February 28, 2022 unless modified or sooner terminated at the sole discretion of the Fund’s Board. |
| Prospectus 2021 | 41 |
Columbia Greater China Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
| (b) | The maximum distribution and service fees of Class A shares varies among the Funds, as shown in the table below: |
|
Funds
|
Maximum
Class A Distribution Fee |
Maximum
Class A Service Fee |
Maximum
Class A Combined Total |
|
Series of CFST and CFST II (other than Columbia
Government Money Market Fund) |
— | — |
0.25%; these Funds pay a
combined distribution and service fee |
| Columbia Government Money Market Fund | — | — | 0.10% |
| Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund | up to 0.15% | up to 0.15% | 0.15% |
| Columbia Balanced Fund, Columbia Contrarian Core Fund, Columbia Dividend Income Fund, Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund, Columbia Large Cap Growth Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Growth Fund, Columbia Oregon Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund, Columbia Real Estate Equity Fund, Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I, Columbia Total Return Bond Fund | up to 0.10% | up to 0.25% |
up to 0.35%; these Funds may
pay distribution and service fees up to a maximum of 0.35% of their average daily net assets attributable to Class A shares (comprised of up to 0.10% for distribution services and up to 0.25% for shareholder liaison services) but currently limit such fees to an aggregate fee of not more than 0.25% for Class A shares |
| Columbia Adaptive Risk Allocation Fund, Columbia Bond Fund, Columbia Connecticut Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund, Columbia Corporate Income Fund, Columbia Emerging Markets Fund, Columbia Greater China Fund, Columbia International Dividend Income Fund, Columbia Massachusetts Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund, Columbia Multi-Asset Income Fund, Columbia Multi Strategy Alternatives Fund, Columbia New York Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund, Columbia Pacific/Asia Fund, Columbia Select Large Cap Growth Fund, Columbia Small Cap Value Fund I, Columbia Strategic California Municipal Income Fund, Columbia Strategic Income Fund, Columbia Strategic New York Municipal Income Fund, Columbia U.S. Social Bond Fund, Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund | — | 0.25% | 0.25% |
| Columbia High Yield Municipal Fund, Columbia Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund, Columbia Tax-Exempt Fund | — | 0.20% | 0.20% |
| (c) | Fee amounts noted apply to all Funds other than Columbia Government Money Market Fund, which, for Class A shares, pays distribution and service fees of 0.10%, and for Class C shares pays distribution fees of 0.75%. The payment of the distribution and/or service fees payable by Columbia Government Money Market Fund under its Plan of Distribution has been suspended through November 30, 2021. This arrangement may be modified or terminated at the sole discretion of Columbia Government Money Market Fund’s Board at any time. Compensation paid to financial intermediaries is suspended for the duration of the suspension of payments under Columbia Government Money Market Fund’s Plan of Distribution. |
| (d) | The Distributor has contractually agreed to waive a portion of the distribution fee for Class C shares of the following Funds so that the distribution fee does not exceed the specified percentage annually through the specified date for each Fund: 0.45% for Columbia Connecticut Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund through February 28, 2022, Columbia Massachusetts Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund through February 28, 2022, Columbia New York Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund through February 28, 2022, Columbia Oregon Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund through November 30, 2021, Columbia Strategic California Municipal Income Fund through February 28, 2022, and Columbia Strategic New York Municipal Income Fund through August 31, 2021; 0.55% for Columbia Corporate Income Fund through August 31, 2021, and Columbia Short Term Bond Fund through August 31, 2021; 0.60% for Columbia High Yield Municipal Fund through September 30, 2021, Columbia Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund through August 31, 2021, and Columbia Tax-Exempt Fund through November 30, 2021; and 0.65% for Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund through August 31, 2021. These arrangements may be sooner terminated at the sole discretion of each Fund’s Board. |
| (e) | Class R shares of series of CFST and CFST I pay a distribution fee pursuant to a Rule 12b-1 plan. The Funds do not have a shareholder service plan for Class R shares. Series of CFST II have a distribution and shareholder service plan for Class R shares. For Class R shares of series of CFST II, the maximum fee under the plan reimbursed for distribution expenses is equal on an annual basis to 0.50% of the average daily net assets of the Fund attributable to Class R shares. Of that amount, up to 0.25% may be reimbursed for shareholder service expenses. |
| (f) |
The shareholder servicing fees for Class V shares are up to 0.50% of average daily net assets attributable to Class V shares for equity Funds and 0.40% for fixed income Funds. In general, the Funds currently limit such fees to a maximum of 0.25% for equity Funds and 0.15% for fixed-income Funds. These fees for Class V shares are not paid pursuant to a Rule 12b-1 plan. See
Class V Shareholder Service Fees
|
| 42 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Greater China Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
The distribution and/or service fees for Class A, Class C, and Class R shares, as applicable, are subject to the requirements of Rule 12b-1 under the 1940 Act. The Distributor may retain these fees otherwise payable to financial intermediaries if the amounts due are below an amount determined by the Distributor in its sole discretion.
For Class A shares, the Distributor begins to pay these fees immediately after purchase, except in the following case, in which the Distributor begins to pay these fees 12 months after purchase: a purchase of Class A shares of $1 million or more for Taxable Funds or $500,000 or more for Tax-Exempt Funds that pay a Class A up-front commission to your financial intermediary and the financial intermediary has opted to receive such commission. The Distributor’s policy to otherwise begin to pay these fees immediately on Class A shares also applies to purchases of funds that do not pay an up-front sales commission on Class A shares, which includes Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund, Columbia Small Cap Index Fund, Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund and Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund. For Class C shares, the Distributor begins to pay these fees 12 months after purchase. However, for Class C shares, financial intermediaries may opt to decline the up-front payment described in
and instead may receive these fees immediately after purchase. If the intermediary opts to receive the up-front payment, the Distributor retains the distribution and/or service fee for the first 12 months following the sale of Class C shares in order to recover the up-front payment made to financial intermediaries and to pay for other related expenses. For Class R shares, the Distributor begins to pay these fees immediately after purchase.
Choosing a Share Class – Sales Charges and Commissions – Class C Shares – Commissions
Series of CFST II.
The maximum fee for services under the distribution and/or shareholder servicing plan for series of CFST II is the lesser of the amount of reimbursable expenses and the fee rates in the table above. If a share class of a series of CFST II has no reimbursable distribution or shareholder servicing expenses, it will suspend the payment of any such fee. As a result of any such suspensions, the expense ratio of a Fund’s share class disclosed in the
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
table in the
Summary of the Fund
section of this prospectus may not match the ratio of expenses of such share class to average net assets shown in the
Financial Highlights
section of this prospectus.
If you maintain shares of the Fund directly with the Fund, without working with a financial advisor or other financial intermediary, distribution and service fees may be retained by the Distributor as payment or reimbursement for incurring certain distribution and shareholder service related expenses.
Over time, these distribution and/or service fees will reduce the return on your investment and may cost you more than paying other types of sales charges. The Fund will pay these fees to the Distributor and/or to eligible financial intermediaries for as long as the distribution plan and/or shareholder servicing plans continue in effect, which is expected to be indefinitely. However, the Fund may reduce or discontinue payments at any time. Your financial intermediary may also charge you other additional fees for providing services to your account, which may be different from those described here.
Class V Shareholder Services Fees
The Funds that offer Class V shares have adopted a shareholder services plan that permits them to pay for certain services provided to Class V shareholders by their financial intermediaries. Equity Funds may pay shareholder servicing fees up to an aggregate annual rate of 0.50% of the Fund's average daily net assets attributable to Class V shares (comprised of up to 0.25% for shareholder liaison services and up to 0.25% for administrative support services). Fixed income Funds may pay shareholder servicing fees up to an aggregate annual rate of 0.40% of the Fund's average daily net assets attributable to Class V shares (comprised of up to 0.20% for shareholder liaison services and up to 0.20% for administrative support services). These fees are currently limited to an aggregate annual rate of not more than 0.25% for equity Funds and not more than 0.15% for fixed income Funds. The Distributor begins to pay these fees immediately after purchase for purchases up to $1 million, for purchases of $1 million or more the Distributor will begin to pay these fees 12 months after purchase. These fees for Class V shares are not paid pursuant to a Rule 12b-1 plan. With respect to those Funds that declare dividends on a daily basis, the shareholder servicing fee shall be waived by the financial intermediaries to the extent necessary to prevent net investment income from falling below 0% on a daily basis. If you maintain shares of the Fund directly with the Fund, without working with a financial advisor or other intermediary, shareholder services fees may be retained by the Distributor as payment or reimbursement for incurring certain shareholder service related expenses.
| Prospectus 2021 | 43 |
Columbia Greater China Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
Financial Intermediary Compensation
The Distributor, the Investment Manager and their affiliates make payments, from their own resources, to financial intermediaries, including other Ameriprise Financial affiliates, for marketing/sales support services relating to the Funds (Marketing Support Payments). Such payments are generally based upon one or more of the following factors: average net assets of the Funds attributable to that financial intermediary; gross sales of the Funds attributable to that financial intermediary; reimbursement of ticket charges (fees that a financial intermediary charges its representatives for effecting transactions in Fund shares); or a negotiated lump sum payment. While the financial arrangements may vary for each financial intermediary, Marketing Support Payments to any one financial intermediary are generally between 0.05% and 0.40% on an annual basis for payments based on average net assets of the Fund attributable to the financial intermediary, and between 0.05% and 0.25% on an annual basis for firms receiving a payment based on gross sales of the Funds attributable to the financial intermediary. The Distributor, the Investment Manager and their affiliates may at times make payments with respect to a Fund or the Columbia Funds generally on a basis other than those described above, or in larger amounts, when dealing with certain financial intermediaries. Not all financial intermediaries receive Marketing Support Payments. The Distributor, the Investment Manager and their affiliates do not make Marketing Support Payments with respect to Class Inst3 shares.
In addition, the Transfer Agent has certain arrangements in place to compensate financial intermediaries, including other Ameriprise Financial affiliates, that hold Fund shares through networked and omnibus accounts, including omnibus retirement plans, for services that they provide to beneficial Fund shareholders (Shareholder Services). Shareholder Services and related fees vary by financial intermediary and according to distribution channel and may include sub-accounting, sub-transfer agency, participant recordkeeping, shareholder or participant reporting, shareholder or participant transaction processing, maintenance of shareholder records, preparation of account statements and provision of customer service, and are not intended to include services that are primarily intended to result in the sale of Fund shares. Payments for Shareholder Services generally are not expected, with certain limited exceptions, to exceed 0.40% of the average aggregate value of the Fund’s shares. Generally, each Fund pays the Transfer Agent a per account fee or a percentage of the average aggregate value of shares per annum maintained in omnibus accounts up to the lesser of the amount charged by the financial intermediary or a channel-specific or share class-specific cap established by the Board from time to time. Fee amounts in excess of the amount paid by the Fund are borne by the Transfer Agent, the Investment Manager and/or their affiliates. For Class Inst3 shares, the Transfer Agent does not pay financial intermediaries for Shareholder Services, except that for Class Inst3 shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund (formerly an unnamed share class of the Fund), the Transfer Agent makes Shareholder Services payments to a financial intermediary through which shares of this class were held (under its former unnamed share class name) as of November 30, 2018, and the Fund does not compensate the Transfer Agent for any Shareholder Services provided by financial intermediaries.
In addition to the payments described above, the Distributor, the Investment Manager and their affiliates typically make other payments or allow promotional incentives to certain broker-dealers to the extent permitted by the Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) rules and by other applicable laws and regulations.
Amounts paid by the Distributor, the Investment Manager and their affiliates are paid out of their own resources and do not increase the amount paid by you or the Fund. You can find further details in the SAI about the payments made by the Distributor, the Investment Manager and their affiliates, as well as a list of the financial intermediaries, including Ameriprise Financial affiliates, to which the Distributor, the Investment Manager or their affiliates have agreed to make Marketing Support Payments and pay Shareholder Services fees.
Your financial intermediary may charge you fees and commissions in addition to those described in this prospectus. You should consult with your financial intermediary and review carefully any disclosure your financial intermediary provides regarding its services and compensation. Depending on the financial arrangement in place at any particular time, a financial intermediary and its financial advisors may have a conflict of interest or financial incentive for recommending the Fund or a particular share class over others.
| 44 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Greater China Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
Share Price Determination
The price you pay or receive when you buy, sell or exchange shares is the Fund's next determined net asset value (or NAV) per share for a given share class. The Fund calculates the NAV per share for each class of shares of the Fund at the end of each business day, with the value of the Fund's shares based on the total value of all of the securities and other assets that it holds as of a specified time.
FUNDamentals
NAV Calculation
Each of the Fund's share classes calculates its NAV per share as follows:
NAV per share =
(Value of assets of the share class) – (Liabilities of the share class)
Number of outstanding shares of the class
FUNDamentals
Business Days
A business day is any day that the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is open. A business day typically ends at the close of regular trading on the NYSE, usually at 4:00 p.m. Eastern time. If the NYSE is scheduled to close early, the business day will be considered to end as of the time of the NYSE’s scheduled close. The Fund will not treat an intraday unscheduled disruption in NYSE trading or an intraday unscheduled closing as a close of regular trading on the NYSE for these purposes and will price its shares as of the regularly scheduled closing time for that day (typically, 4:00 p.m. Eastern time). Notwithstanding the foregoing, the NAV of Fund shares may be determined at such other time or times (in addition to or in lieu of the time set forth above) as the Fund’s Board may approve or ratify. On holidays and other days when the NYSE is closed, the Fund’s NAV is not calculated and the Fund does not accept buy or sell orders. However, the value of the Fund’s assets may still be affected on such days to the extent that the Fund holds foreign securities that trade on days that foreign securities markets are open.
Equity securities are valued primarily on the basis of market quotations reported on stock exchanges and other securities markets around the world. If an equity security is listed on a national exchange, the security is valued at the closing price or, if the closing price is not readily available, the mean of the closing bid and asked prices. Certain equity securities, debt securities and other assets are valued differently. For instance, bank loans trading in the secondary market are valued primarily on the basis of indicative bids, fixed income investments maturing in 60 days or less are valued primarily using the amortized cost method, unless this methodology results in a valuation that does not approximate the market value of these securities, and those maturing in excess of 60 days are valued primarily using a market-based price obtained from a pricing service, if available. Investments in other open-end funds are valued at their published NAVs. Both market quotations and indicative bids are obtained from outside pricing services approved and monitored pursuant to a policy approved by the Fund's Board.
If a market price is not readily available or is deemed not to reflect market value, the Fund will determine the price of a portfolio security based on a determination of the security's fair value pursuant to a policy approved by the Fund’s Board. In addition, the Fund may use fair valuation to price securities that trade on a foreign exchange when a significant event has occurred after the foreign exchange closes but before the time at which the Fund’s share price is calculated. Foreign exchanges typically close before the time at which Fund share prices are calculated, and may be closed altogether on days when the Fund is open. Such significant events affecting a foreign security may include, but are not limited to: (1) corporate actions, earnings announcements, litigation or other events impacting a single issuer; (2) governmental action that affects securities in one sector or country; (3) natural disasters or armed conflicts affecting a country or region; or (4) significant domestic or foreign market fluctuations. The Fund uses various criteria, including an evaluation of U.S. market moves after the close of foreign markets, in determining whether a foreign security's market price is readily available and reflective of market value and, if not, the fair value
| Prospectus 2021 | 45 |
Columbia Greater China Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
of the security. To the extent the Fund has significant holdings of small cap stocks, high-yield bonds, floating rate loans, or tax-exempt, foreign or other securities that may trade infrequently, fair valuation may be used more frequently than for other funds.
Fair valuation may have the effect of reducing stale pricing arbitrage opportunities presented by the pricing of Fund shares. However, when the Fund uses fair valuation to price securities, it may value those securities higher or lower than another fund would have priced the security. Also, the use of fair valuation may cause the Fund's performance to diverge to a greater degree from the performance of various benchmarks used to compare the Fund's performance because benchmarks generally do not use fair valuation techniques. Because of the judgment involved in fair valuation decisions, there can be no assurance that the value ascribed to a particular security is accurate. The Fund has retained one or more independent fair valuation pricing services to assist in the fair valuation process for foreign securities.
Transaction Rules and Policies
The Fund, the Distributor or the Transfer Agent may refuse any order to buy or exchange shares. If this happens, the Fund will return any money it received, but no interest will be paid on that money. Your financial intermediary may have rules and policies in place that are in addition to or different than those described below.
Order Processing
Orders to buy, sell or exchange Fund shares are processed on business days. Depending upon the class of shares, orders can be made by mail, by telephone or online. Orders received in “good form” by the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary before the end of a business day are priced at the NAV per share (plus any applicable sales charge) of the Fund's applicable share class on that day. Orders received after the end of a business day will receive the next business day's NAV per share (plus any applicable sales charge). For Direct-at-Fund Accounts (i.e., accounts established directly with the Fund), when a written order to buy, sell or exchange shares is sent to the Transfer Agent, the share price used to fill the order is the next price calculated by the Fund after the Transfer Agent receives the transaction request in “good form” at its transaction processing center (i.e., the Fund’s express mail address), not the P.O. Box provided for regular mail delivery. The market value of the Fund's investments may change between the time you submit your order and the time the Fund next calculates its NAV per share. The business day that applies to your order is also called the trade date.
“Good Form”
An order is in “good form” if the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary has received payment (in the case of purchases) and all of the information and documentation it deems necessary to effect your order. For example, when you sell shares, “good form” means that your request (i) has complete instructions and written requests include the signatures of all account owners, (ii) is for an amount that is less than or equal to the shares in your account for which payment has been received and collected, (iii) has a Medallion Signature Guarantee for amounts greater than $100,000 and certain other transactions, as described below, and (iv) includes any other required documents completed and attached. For the documents required for sales by corporations, agents, fiduciaries, surviving joint owners and other legal entities, call 800.345.6611.
Medallion Signature Guarantees
The Transfer Agent may require a Medallion Signature Guarantee for your signature in order to process certain transactions, including if: (i) the transaction amount is over $100,000; (ii) you want your check made payable to someone other than the registered account owner(s); (iii) the address of record has changed within the last 30 days; (iv) you want the check mailed to an address other than the address of record; (v) you want proceeds to be sent according to existing bank account instructions not coded for outgoing Automated Clearing House (ACH) or wire, or to a bank account not on file; or (vi) you are changing legal ownership of your account.
A Medallion Signature Guarantee helps assure that a signature is genuine and not a forgery. A Medallion Signature Guarantee must be provided by an eligible guarantor institution including, but not limited to, the following: a bank, credit union, savings association, broker or dealer that participates in the Securities Transfer Association Medallion Program (STAMP), the Stock Exchange Medallion Program (SEMP) or the New York Stock Exchange Medallion
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Columbia Greater China Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
Signature Program (MSP). For other transactions, the Transfer Agent may require a signature guarantee. Notarization by a notary public is not an acceptable signature guarantee. The Transfer Agent reserves the right to reject a signature guarantee and to request additional documentation for any transaction.
Customer Identification Program
Federal law requires the Fund to obtain and record specific personal information to verify your identity when you open an account. This information may include your name, address, date of birth (for individuals) and taxpayer or other government issued identification (e.g., social security number (SSN) or other taxpayer identification number (TIN)). If you fail to provide the requested information, the Fund may need to delay the date of your purchase or may be unable to open your account, which may result in a return of your investment monies. In addition, if the Fund is unable to verify your identity after your account is open, the Fund reserves the right to close your account or take other steps as deemed reasonable. The Fund will not be liable for any loss resulting from any purchase delay, application rejection or account closure due to a failure to provide proper identifying information.
Small Account Policy — Class A, Class C, Class Inst, and Class V Share Accounts Below the Minimum Account Balance
The Funds generally will automatically sell your shares if the value of your Fund account (treating each account of the Fund you own separately from any other account of the Fund you may own) falls below the applicable minimum account balance. Any otherwise applicable CDSC will not be imposed on such an automatic sale of your shares. Generally, you may avoid such an automatic sale by raising your account balance to at least $250 or consolidating your multiple accounts you may have with the Funds through an exchange (so as to maintain at least $250 in each of your accounts). The minimum account balance varies among share classes and types of accounts, as follows:
|
Minimum Account Balance
|
|
|
Minimum
Account Balance |
|
| For all classes and account types except those listed below |
$250 (None for accounts with
Systematic Investment Plans) |
| Individual Retirement Accounts for all classes except those listed below | None |
| Class Adv, Class Inst2, Class Inst3 and Class R | None |
For shares held directly with the Funds’ Transfer Agent, if your shares are sold, the Transfer Agent will remit the sale proceeds to you. The Transfer Agent will send you written notification in advance of any automatic sale, which will provide details on how you may avoid such an automatic sale. Generally, you may avoid such an automatic sale by raising your account balance to at least $250, consolidating your multiple accounts you may have with the Funds through an exchange (so as to maintain at least $250 in each of your accounts), or setting up a Systematic Investment Plan (described below). For more information, contact the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary. The Transfer Agent's contact information (toll-free number and mailing addresses) as well as the Funds’ website address can be found at the beginning of the section
.
Choosing a Share Class
For shares purchased and held for your benefit through a financial intermediary, the Funds may instruct the intermediary to automatically sell your Fund shares if the transaction can be operationally administered by the intermediary.
Small Account Policy — Class A, Class C, Class Inst, and Class V Share Accounts Minimum Balance Fee
If the value of your Fund account (treating each account of the Fund you own separately from any other account of the Fund you may own) falls below the minimum initial investment requirement applicable to you for any reason, including as a result of market decline, your account generally could be subject to a $20 annual fee. The Transfer Agent will reduce the expenses paid by the Fund by any amounts it collects from the assessment of this fee. For Funds that do not have transfer agency expenses against which to offset the amount collected through assessment of this fee, the
| Prospectus 2021 | 47 |
Columbia Greater China Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
fee will be paid directly to the Fund. The Funds reserve the right to lower the account size trigger point for the minimum balance fee in any year or for any class of shares when we believe it is appropriate to do so in light of declines in the market value of Fund shares or for other reasons.
For shares held directly with the Funds’ Transfer Agent, this fee will be assessed through the automatic sale of Fund shares in your account. Any otherwise applicable CDSC will not be imposed on such an automatic sale of your shares. The Transfer Agent will send you written notification in advance of assessing any fee, which will provide details on how you can avoid the imposition of such fee. Generally, you may avoid the imposition of such fee by raising your Fund account balance, consolidating your multiple accounts you may have with the Funds, or setting up a Systematic Investment Plan that invests at least monthly. For more information, contact the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary. The Transfer Agent's contact information (toll-free number and mailing addresses) as well as the Funds’ website address can be found at the beginning of the section
.
Choosing a Share Class
For shares purchased and held for your benefit through a financial intermediary, this fee could be assessed through the automatic sale of Fund shares in your account if instructed by the Fund and the transaction can be operationally administered by the intermediary.
Exceptions to the Small Account Policy (Accounts Below Minimum Account Balance) and Minimum Balance Fee
The automatic sale of Fund shares in accounts under $250 and the annual minimum balance fee described above do not apply to shareholders of Class Adv, Class Inst2, Class Inst3 and Class R shares; shareholders holding their shares through financial intermediary networked accounts; wrap fee and omnibus accounts; accounts with active Systematic Investment Plans; certain qualified retirement plans; and health savings accounts. The automatic sale of Fund shares of accounts under the applicable minimum account balance does not apply to individual retirement plans.
Small Account Policy — Financial Intermediary Networked and Wrap Fee Accounts
The Funds may automatically redeem, at any time, financial intermediary networked accounts and wrap fee accounts that have account balances of $20 or less or have less than one share.
For shares purchased and held for your benefit through a financial intermediary, the Funds may instruct the intermediary to automatically sell your Fund shares if the transaction can be operationally administered by the intermediary.
Information Sharing Agreements
As required by Rule 22c-2 under the 1940 Act, the Funds or certain of their service providers will enter into information sharing agreements with financial intermediaries, including participating life insurance companies and financial intermediaries that sponsor or offer retirement plans through which shares of the Funds are made available for purchase. Pursuant to Rule 22c-2, financial intermediaries are required, upon request, to: (i) provide shareholder account and transaction information; and (ii) execute instructions from the Fund to restrict or prohibit further purchases of Fund shares by shareholders who have been identified by the Fund as having engaged in transactions that violate the Fund's excessive trading policies and procedures.
Excessive Trading Practices Policy of Non-Money Market Funds
Right to Reject or Restrict Share Transaction Orders—
The Fund is intended for investors with long-term investment purposes and is not intended as a vehicle for frequent trading activity (market timing) that is excessive. Investors should transact in Fund shares primarily for investment purposes. The Board has adopted excessive trading policies and procedures that are designed to deter excessive trading by investors (the Excessive Trading Policies and Procedures).
The Fund discourages and does not accommodate excessive trading.
The Fund reserves the right to reject, without any prior notice, any purchase or exchange order for any reason, and will not be liable for any loss resulting from rejected orders. For example, the Fund may in its sole discretion restrict or reject a purchase or exchange order even if the transaction is not subject to the specific limitation described below if the Fund or its agents determine that accepting the order could interfere with efficient management of the Fund's
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Columbia Greater China Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
portfolio or is otherwise contrary to the Fund's best interests. The Excessive Trading Policies and Procedures apply equally to purchase or exchange transactions communicated directly to the Transfer Agent and to those received by financial intermediaries.
Specific Buying and Exchanging Limitations
— If a Fund detects that an investor has made two “material round trips” in any 28-day period, it will generally reject the investor's future purchase orders, including exchange purchase orders, involving any Fund.
For these purposes, a “round trip” is a purchase or exchange into the Fund followed by a sale or exchange out of the Fund, or a sale or exchange out of the Fund followed by a purchase or exchange into the Fund. A “material” round trip is one that is deemed by the Fund to be material in terms of its amount or its potential detrimental impact on the Fund. Independent of this limit, the Fund may, in its sole discretion, reject future purchase orders by any person, group or account that appears to have engaged in any type of excessive trading activity.
These limits generally do not apply to automated transactions or transactions by registered investment companies in a “fund-of-funds” structure. These limits do not apply to payroll deduction contributions by retirement plan participants, transactions initiated by a retirement plan sponsor or certain other retirement plan transactions consisting of rollover transactions, loan repayments and disbursements, and required minimum distribution redemptions. They may be modified or rescinded for accounts held by certain retirement plans to conform to plan limits, for considerations relating to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 or regulations of the Department of Labor, and for certain asset allocation or wrap programs. Accounts known to be under common ownership or control generally will be counted together, but accounts maintained or managed by a common intermediary generally will not be considered to be under common ownership or control. The Fund retains the right to modify these restrictions at any time without prior notice to shareholders. In addition, the Fund may, in its sole discretion, reinstate trading privileges that have been revoked under the Fund's Excessive Trading Policies and Procedures.
Limitations on the Ability to Detect and Prevent Excessive Trading Practices—
The Fund takes various steps designed to detect and prevent excessive trading, including daily review of available shareholder transaction information. However, the Fund receives buy, sell or exchange orders through financial intermediaries, and cannot always know of or reasonably detect excessive trading that may be facilitated by financial intermediaries or by the use of the omnibus account arrangements they offer. Omnibus account arrangements are common forms of holding shares of mutual funds, particularly among certain financial intermediaries such as broker-dealers, retirement plans and variable insurance products. These arrangements often permit financial intermediaries to aggregate their clients' transactions and accounts, and in these circumstances, the identities of the financial intermediary clients that beneficially own Fund shares are often not known to the Fund.
Some financial intermediaries apply their own restrictions or policies to their clients’ transactions and accounts, which may be more or less restrictive than those described here. This may impact the Fund's ability to curtail excessive trading, even where it is identified. For these and other reasons, it is possible that excessive trading may occur despite the Fund's efforts to detect and prevent it.
Although these restrictions and policies involve judgments that are inherently subjective and may involve some selectivity in their application, the Fund seeks to act in a manner that it believes is consistent with the best interests of Fund shareholders in making any such judgments.
Risks of Excessive Trading —
Excessive trading creates certain risks to the Fund's long-term shareholders and may create the following adverse effects:
| ■ | negative impact on the Fund's performance; |
| ■ | potential dilution of the value of the Fund's shares; |
| ■ | interference with the efficient management of the Fund's portfolio, such as the need to maintain undesirably large cash positions, the need to use its line of credit or the need to buy or sell securities it otherwise would not have bought or sold; |
| ■ | losses on the sale of investments resulting from the need to sell securities at less favorable prices; |
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Columbia Greater China Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
| ■ | increased taxable gains to the Fund's remaining shareholders resulting from the need to sell securities to meet sell orders; and |
| ■ | increased brokerage and administrative costs. |
To the extent that the Fund invests significantly in foreign securities traded on markets that close before the Fund's valuation time, it may be particularly susceptible to dilution as a result of excessive trading. Because events may occur after the close of foreign markets and before the Fund's valuation time that influence the value of foreign securities, investors may seek to trade Fund shares in an effort to benefit from their understanding of the value of foreign securities as of the Fund's valuation time. This is often referred to as price arbitrage. The Fund has adopted procedures designed to adjust closing market prices of foreign securities under certain circumstances to reflect what the Fund believes to be the fair value of those securities as of its valuation time. To the extent the adjustments do not work fully, investors engaging in price arbitrage may cause dilution in the value of the Fund's shares held by other shareholders.
Similarly, to the extent that the Fund invests significantly in thinly traded securities and other debt instruments that are rated below investment grade (commonly called “high-yield” or “junk” bonds), equity securities of small-capitalization companies, floating rate loans, or tax-exempt or other securities that may trade infrequently, because
these securities are often traded infrequently, investors may seek to trade Fund shares in an effort to benefit from their understanding of the value of these securities as of the Fund's valuation time. This is also a type of price arbitrage. Any such frequent trading strategies may interfere with efficient management of the Fund's portfolio to a greater degree than would be the case for mutual funds that invest only, or significantly, in highly liquid securities, in part because the Fund may have difficulty selling these particular investments at advantageous times or prices to satisfy large and/or frequent sell orders. Any successful price arbitrage may also cause dilution in the value of Fund shares held by non-redeeming shareholders.
Excessive Trading Practices Policy of Columbia Government Money Market Fund
A money market fund is designed to offer investors a liquid cash option that they may buy and sell as often as they wish. Accordingly, the Board has not adopted policies and procedures designed to discourage excessive or short-term trading of Columbia Government Money Market Fund shares. However, since frequent purchases and sales of Columbia Government Money Market Fund shares could in certain instances harm shareholders in various ways, including reducing the returns to long-term shareholders by increasing costs (such as spreads paid to dealers who trade money market instruments with Columbia Government Money Market Fund) and disrupting portfolio management strategies, Columbia Government Money Market Fund reserves the right, but has no obligation, to reject any purchase or exchange transaction at any time. Except as expressly described in this prospectus (such as minimum purchase amounts), Columbia Government Money Market Fund has no limits on purchase or exchange transactions. In addition, Columbia Government Money Market Fund reserves the right to impose or modify restrictions on purchases, exchanges or trading of Fund shares at any time.
Opening an Account and Placing Orders
We encourage you to consult with a financial advisor who can help you with your investment decisions and who can help you open an account. Once you have an account, you can buy, sell or exchange shares by contacting your financial advisor who will send your order to the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary. As described below, once you have an account you can also communicate your orders directly to the Transfer Agent by mail, by telephone or online.
The Funds are generally available directly and through broker-dealers, banks and other financial intermediaries or institutions, and through certain qualified and non-qualified plans, wrap fee products or other investment products sponsored by financial intermediaries. You may buy, sell, or exchange shares through your financial intermediary. If you maintain your account directly with your financial intermediary, you must contact that agent to process your transaction.
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Columbia Greater China Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
Not all financial intermediaries offer the Funds (or all classes of Fund shares) and certain financial intermediaries that offer the Funds may not offer all Funds on all investment platforms or programs.
Please consult with your financial intermediary to determine the availability of the Funds. If you set up an account at a financial intermediary that does not have, and is unable to obtain, a selling agreement with the Distributor, you will not be able to transfer Fund holdings to that account. In that event, you must either maintain your Fund holdings with your current financial intermediary or find another financial intermediary with a selling agreement.
Financial intermediaries that offer the Funds may charge you additional fees for the services they provide and they may have different policies that are not described in this prospectus.
An investor transacting in a class of Fund shares without any front-end sales charge, CDSC, or other asset-based fee for sales or distribution, such as a Rule 12b-1 fee, may be required to pay a commission to the financial intermediary for effecting such transactions. The Funds are offered in a number of different share classes that have different fees and expenses and other features. Some differences in the policies of different financial intermediaries may include different minimum investment amounts, exchange privileges, Fund/class choices and cutoff times for investments. Additionally, recordkeeping, transaction processing and payments of distributions relating to your account may be performed by the financial intermediaries through which your shares of the Fund are held. Since the Fund (and its service providers) may not have a record of your account transactions, you should always contact the financial intermediary through which you purchased or at which you maintain your shares of the Fund to make changes to your account, to give instructions concerning your account, or to obtain information about your account. The Fund and its service providers, including the Distributor and the Transfer Agent, are not responsible for the failure of any financial intermediary to carry out its obligations to its customers.
The Fund may engage financial intermediaries to receive purchase, exchange and sell orders on its behalf. Accounts established directly with the Fund will be serviced by the Transfer Agent. The Funds, the Transfer Agent and the Distributor do not provide investment advice.
Direct-At-Fund Accounts (Accounts Established Directly with the Fund)
You can hold Fund shares through an account established and held through the financial intermediary through which you purchased Fund shares or you or your financial intermediary may establish an account directly with the Fund, in which case you will receive Fund account transaction confirmations and statements from the Transfer Agent, and not your financial intermediary (Direct-at-Fund Accounts).
To open a Direct-at-Fund Account, complete a Fund account application with your financial advisor or investment professional, and mail the account application to the Transfer Agent. Account applications may be obtained at columbiathreadneedleus.com or may be requested by calling 800.345.6611. Make your check payable to the Fund. You will be assessed a $15 fee for any checks rejected by your financial institution due to insufficient funds or other reasons. The Funds do not accept cash, credit card convenience checks, money orders, traveler's checks, starter checks, third or fourth party checks, or other cash equivalents.
Mail your check and completed application to the Transfer Agent at its regular or express mail address that can be found at the beginning of the section
. You may also use these addresses to request an exchange or redemption of Fund shares. When a written order to buy, sell or exchange shares is sent to the Transfer Agent, the share price used to fill the order is the next price calculated by the Fund after the Transfer Agent receives your transaction request in “good form” at its transaction processing center (i.e., the Fund’s express mail address), not the P.O. Box provided for regular mail delivery.
Choosing a Share Class
You will be sent a statement confirming your purchase and any subsequent transactions in your account. You will also be sent quarterly and annual statements detailing your transactions in the Fund and the other Funds you own under the same account. Duplicate quarterly account statements for the current year and duplicate annual statements for the most recent prior calendar year will be sent to you free of charge. Copies of year-end statements for prior years are available for a fee. Please contact the Transfer Agent for more information.
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Columbia Greater China Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
Written Transactions – Direct-at-Fund Accounts
If you have a Direct-at-Fund Account, you can communicate written buy, sell or exchange orders to the Transfer Agent at its address that can be found at the beginning of the section
. When a written order to buy, sell or exchange shares is sent to the Transfer Agent, the share price used to fill the order is the next price calculated by the Fund after the Transfer Agent receives your transaction request in “good form” at its transaction processing center (i.e., the Fund’s express mail address), not the P.O. Box provided for regular mail delivery.
Choosing a Share Class
Include in your transaction request letter: your name; the name of the Fund(s); your account number; the class of shares to be purchased, exchanged or sold; your SSN or other TIN; the dollar amount or number of shares you want to purchase, exchange or sell; specific instructions regarding delivery of any redemption proceeds or exchange destination (i.e., the Fund/class to be exchanged into); signature(s) of all registered account owner(s); and any special documents the Transfer Agent may require in order to process your order.
Corporate, trust or partnership accounts may need to send additional documents. Payment will be mailed to the address of record and made payable to the names listed on the account, unless your request specifies differently and is signed by all owners.
Telephone Transactions – Direct-at-Fund Accounts
For Class A, Class C, Class Inst, Class Inst3, Class R and Class V shares, if you have a Direct-at-Fund Account, you may place orders to buy, sell or exchange shares by telephone through the Transfer Agent. To place orders by telephone, call 800.422.3737. Have your account number and SSN or TIN available when calling.
You can sell Fund shares via telephone and receive redemption proceeds: by electronic funds transfer via ACH, by wire, or by check to the address of record, subject to a maximum of $100,000 of shares per day, per Fund account. You can buy Fund shares via telephone by electronic funds transfer via ACH from your bank account up to a maximum of $100,000 of shares per day, per Fund account, or by wire from your bank account without a maximum. See below for more information regarding wire and electronic fund transfer transactions. Certain restrictions apply, so please call the Transfer Agent at 800.422.3737 for this and other information in advance of any need to transact via telephone.
Telephone orders may not be as secure as written orders. The Fund will take reasonable steps to confirm that telephone instructions are genuine. For example, we require proof of your identification before we will act on instructions received by telephone and may record telephone conversations. However, the Fund and its agents will not be responsible for any losses, costs or expenses resulting from an unauthorized telephone instruction when reasonable steps have been taken to confirm that telephone instructions are genuine. Telephone orders may be difficult to complete during periods of significant economic or market change or business interruption.
Online Transactions – Direct-at-Fund Accounts
For Class A, Class C, Class Inst, Class Inst3, Class R and Class V shares, if you have a Direct-at-Fund Account, you may be able to place orders to buy, sell, or exchange shares online. Contact the Transfer Agent at 800.345.6611 for more information on certain account trading restrictions and the special sign-up procedures required for online transactions. You can also go to columbiathreadneedleus.com/investor/ to sign up for online transactions. The Transfer Agent has procedures in place to authenticate electronic orders you send through the internet. You will be required to accept the terms of an online agreement and to establish an online account and utilize a password in order to access online account services. You can sell a maximum of $100,000 of shares per day, per Fund account through your online account if you qualify for internet orders. Wire transactions are not permitted online.
Wire Transactions – Direct-at-Fund Accounts
If you hold a Direct-at-Fund Account, you may purchase or redeem Class A, Class C, Class Inst, Class Inst3, Class R and Class V shares of a Fund by wiring money from (or to) your bank account to (or from) your Fund account. You must set up this feature prior to your request unless you are submitting your request in writing, which may require a Medallion Signature Guarantee. Please contact the Transfer Agent by calling 800.422.3737 to obtain the necessary forms and requirements. The Transfer Agent charges a fee for shares sold by wire. The Transfer Agent may waive the
| 52 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Greater China Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
fee for certain accounts. In the case of a redemption, the receiving bank may charge an additional fee. The minimum amount that can be redeemed by wire is $500. When selling Fund shares via a telephone request, the maximum amount that can be redeemed via wire transfer is $100,000 per day, per Fund account. Wire transactions are not permitted online.
Electronic Funds Transfer via ACH – Direct-at-Fund Accounts
If you hold a Direct-at-Fund Account, you may purchase or redeem Class A, Class C, Class Inst, Class Inst3, Class R and Class V shares of a Fund by electronically transferring money via Automated Clearing House (ACH) from (or to) your bank account to (or from) your Fund account subject to a maximum of $100,000 of shares per day, per Fund account. You must set up this feature prior to your request, unless you are submitting your request in writing, which may require a Medallion Signature Guarantee. Please contact the Transfer Agent by calling 800.422.3737 to obtain the necessary forms and requirements. Your bank may take up to three business days to post an electronic funds transfer to (or from) your Fund account.
Buying Shares
Eligible Investors
Class A Shares
Class A shares are available to the general public for investment. However, Class A shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund must be purchased through financial intermediaries that, by written agreement with the Distributor, are specifically authorized to sell the Fund’s shares.
Class Adv Shares
Class Adv shares are available only to (i) omnibus retirement plans, including self-directed brokerage accounts within omnibus retirement plans that clear through institutional no transaction fee (NTF) platforms, (ii) trust companies or similar institutions, (iii) broker-dealers, banks, trust companies and similar institutions that clear Fund share transactions for their client or customer investment advisory or similar accounts through designated financial intermediaries and their mutual fund trading platforms that have been granted specific written authorization from the Transfer Agent with respect to Class Adv eligibility apart from selling, servicing or similar agreements, (iv) 501(c)(3) charitable organizations, (v) 529 plans, (vi) health savings accounts, (vii) investors participating in a fee-based advisory program sponsored by a financial intermediary or other entity that is not compensated by the Fund for those services, other than payments for shareholder servicing or sub-accounting performed in place of the Transfer Agent, and (viii) commissionable brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary, acting as broker on behalf of its customer, charges the customer a commission for effecting transactions in Fund shares, provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Adv shares within such platform.
Class Adv shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund must be purchased through financial intermediaries that, by written agreement with the Distributor, are specifically authorized to sell the Fund’s shares. Class Adv shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund are also available to certain registered investment advisers that clear Fund share transactions for their client accounts through designated financial intermediaries with mutual fund trading platforms that have been granted specific written authorization from the Transfer Agent (apart from selling, servicing or similar agreements) to sell Class Inst2 shares, which are not offered by the Fund.
Class C Shares
Class C shares are available to the general public for investment.
Class Inst Shares
Class Inst shares are available only to the categories of eligible investors described below under
.
Class Inst Shares Minimum Initial Investments
Financial intermediaries that clear Fund share transactions through designated financial intermediaries and their mutual fund trading platforms that were given specific written notice from the
| Prospectus 2021 | 53 |
Columbia Greater China Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
Transfer Agent of the termination, effective March 29, 2013, of their eligibility for new purchases of Class Inst shares and omnibus retirement plans are not permitted to establish new Class Inst accounts, subject to certain exceptions described below.
Omnibus retirement plans that opened and, subject to certain exceptions, funded a Class Inst account with the Fund as of the close of business on March 28, 2013 and have continuously held Class Inst shares in such account after such date (each, a grandfathered plan), may generally continue to make additional purchases of Class Inst shares, open new Class Inst accounts and add new participants. In addition, an omnibus retirement plan affiliated with a grandfathered plan may, in the sole discretion of the Distributor, open new Class Inst accounts in a Fund if the affiliated plan opened a Class Inst account on or before March 28, 2013. If an omnibus retirement plan invested in Class Inst shares changes recordkeepers after March 28, 2013, any new accounts established for that plan may not be established in Class Inst shares, but such a plan may establish new accounts in a different share class for which the plan is eligible.
Accounts of financial intermediaries (other than omnibus retirement plans, which are discussed above) that clear Fund share transactions for their client or customer accounts through designated financial intermediaries and their mutual fund trading platforms that received specific written notice from the Transfer Agent of the termination, effective March 29, 2013, of their eligibility for new purchases of Class Inst shares will not be permitted to establish new Class Inst accounts or make additional purchases of Class Inst shares (other than through reinvestment of distributions). Any such account may, at its holder’s option, exchange Class Inst shares of a Fund, without the payment of a sales charge, for Class A shares of the same Fund.
Class Inst shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund must be purchased through financial intermediaries that, by written agreement with the Distributor, are specifically authorized to sell the Fund’s shares.
Class Inst2 Shares
Class Inst2 shares are available only to (i) certain registered investment advisers and family offices that clear Fund share transactions for their client or customer accounts through designated financial intermediaries and their mutual fund trading platforms that have been granted specific written authorization from the Transfer Agent with respect to Class Inst2 eligibility apart from selling, servicing or similar agreements; (ii) omnibus retirement plans; and (iii) institutional investors that are clients of the Columbia Threadneedle Global Institutional Distribution Team that invest in Class Inst2 shares for their own account through platforms approved by the Distributor or an affiliate thereof to offer and/or service Class Inst2 shares within such platform. Prior to November 8, 2012, Class Inst2 shares were closed to new investors and new accounts, subject to certain exceptions. Existing shareholders who do not satisfy the new eligibility requirements for investment in Class Inst2 may not establish new Class Inst2 accounts but may continue to make additional purchases of Class Inst2 shares in accounts opened and funded prior to November 8, 2012; provided, however, that investment advisory programs and similar programs that opened a Class Inst2 account as of May 1, 2010, and continuously hold Class Inst2 shares in such account after such date, may generally not only continue to make additional purchases of Class Inst2 shares but also open new Class Inst2 accounts for such pre-existing programs and add new shareholders in the program.
Class Inst3 Shares
Class Inst3 shares are available to: (i) group retirement plans that maintain plan-level or omnibus accounts with the Fund (through the Transfer Agent); (ii) institutional investors that are clients of the Columbia Threadneedle Global Institutional Distribution Team that invest in Class Inst3 shares for their own account through platforms approved by the Distributor or an affiliate thereof to offer and/or service Class Inst3 shares within such platform; (iii) collective trust funds; (iv) affiliated or unaffiliated mutual funds (e.g., funds operating as funds-of-funds); (v) fee-based platforms of financial intermediaries (or the clearing intermediary that they trade through) that have an agreement with the Distributor or an affiliate thereof that specifically authorizes the financial intermediary to offer and/or service Class Inst3 shares within such platform, provided also that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account; (vi) commissionable brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary, acting as broker on behalf of its customer, charges the customer a commission for effecting transactions in Fund shares, provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst3 shares within such platform and that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account; and (vii) bank trust departments, subject to an
| 54 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Greater China Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst3 shares and provided that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account. In each case above where noted that Fund shares are required to be held in an omnibus account, the Distributor may, in its discretion, determine to waive this requirement.
Class Inst3 shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund must be purchased through financial intermediaries that, by written agreement with the Distributor, are specifically authorized to sell the Fund’s shares. Please note that Class Inst3 shares that were open and funded accounts prior to November 30, 2018 (the conversion date from the former unnamed share class to Class Inst3 shares) are eligible for additional investment; however, any account established after that date must meet the current Class Inst3 eligibility requirements.
Class R Shares
Class R shares are available only to eligible health savings accounts sponsored by third party platforms, including those sponsored by Ameriprise Financial affiliates, eligible retirement plans and, in the sole discretion of the Distributor, other types of retirement accounts held through platforms maintained by financial intermediaries approved by the Distributor. Eligible retirement plans include any retirement plan other than individual 403(b) plans. Class R shares are generally not available for investment through retail nonretirement accounts, traditional and Roth IRAs, Coverdell Education Savings Accounts, SEPs, SAR-SEPs, Simple IRAs or 529 tuition programs. Contact the Transfer Agent or your retirement plan or health savings account administrator for more information about investing in Class R shares.
Class V Shares
Class V shares are available only to investors who received (and who have continuously held) Class V shares (formerly named Class T shares) in connection with the merger of certain Galaxy funds into certain Funds that were then named Liberty funds.
Additional Eligible Investors
In addition, the Distributor, in its sole discretion, may accept investments in any share class from investors other than those listed in this prospectus, and may also waive certain eligibility requirements for operational and other reasons, including but not limited to any requirement to maintain Fund shares in networked or omnibus accounts.
Minimum Initial Investments
The table below shows the Fund’s minimum initial investment requirements, which may vary by class and type of account.
The Fund reserves the right to redeem your shares if your account falls below the Fund’s minimum initial investment requirement.
|
Minimum Initial Investments
|
||
|
Minimum
Initial Investment
(a)
|
Minimum
Initial Investment for Accounts with Systematic Investment Plans |
|
| For all classes and account types except those listed below | $2,000 |
$100
(b)
|
| Individual Retirement Accounts for all classes except those listed below | $1,000 |
$100
(c)
|
| Group retirement plans | None | N/A |
| Class Adv and Class Inst |
$0, $1,000 or $2,000
(d)
|
$100
(d)
|
| Class Inst2 and Class R | None | N/A |
| Class Inst3 |
$0, $1,000, $2,000 or $1 million
(e)
|
$100
(e)
|
| (a) | If your Class A, Class Adv, Class C, Class Inst, Class Inst3 or Class V shares account balance falls below the minimum initial investment amount for any reason, including a market decline, you may be asked to increase it to the minimum initial investment amount or establish a monthly Systematic Investment Plan. If you do not do so, your account will be subject to a $20 annual low balance fee and/or shares may be |
| Prospectus 2021 | 55 |
Columbia Greater China Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
|
automatically redeemed and the proceeds mailed to you if the account falls below the minimum account balance. See
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares — Transaction Rules and Policies
|
| (b) |
Columbia Government Money Market Fund
—
|
| (c) |
Columbia Government Money Market Fund
—
|
| (d) |
The minimum initial investment in Class Adv shares is $2,000 ($1,000 for IRAs; $100 for systematic investment plan accounts) for commissionable brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary, acting as broker on behalf of its customers, charges the customer a commission for effecting transactions in Fund shares, provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Adv shares within such platform; for all other eligible Class Adv share investors (see
Buying Shares – Eligible Investors – Class Adv Shares
Class Inst Shares Minimum Initial Investments
|
| (e) | There is no minimum initial investment in Class Inst3 shares for: group retirement plans that maintain plan-level or omnibus accounts with the Fund; collective trust funds; affiliated or unaffiliated mutual funds (e.g., funds operating as funds-of-funds); fee-based platforms of financial intermediaries (or the clearing intermediary that they trade through) that have an agreement with the Distributor or an affiliate thereof that specifically authorizes the financial intermediary to offer and/or service Class Inst3 shares within such platform and Fund shares are held in an omnibus account; and bank trust departments, subject to an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst3 shares and provided that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account. The minimum initial investment in Class Inst3 shares is $2,000 ($1,000 for IRAs; $100 for systematic investment plan accounts) for commissionable brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary, acting as broker on behalf of its customer, charges the customer a commission for effecting transactions in Fund shares, provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst3 shares within such platform and Fund shares are held in an omnibus account. The minimum initial investment in Class Inst3 shares is $1 million, unless waived in the discretion of the Distributor, for the following investors: institutional investors that are clients of the Columbia Threadneedle Global Institutional Distribution Team that invest in Class Inst3 shares for their own account through platforms approved by the Distributor or an affiliate thereof to offer and/or service Class Inst3 shares within such platform. The Distributor may, in its discretion, waive the $1 million minimum initial investment required for these Class Inst3 investors. In each case above where noted that Fund shares are required to be held in an omnibus account, the Distributor may, in its discretion, determine to waive this requirement. |
Additional Information about Minimum Initial Investments
The minimum initial investment requirements may be waived for accounts that are managed by an investment professional, or for accounts held in approved discretionary or non-discretionary wrap programs. The Distributor, in its sole discretion, may also waive minimum initial investment requirements for other account types.
Minimum investment and related requirements may be modified at any time, with or without prior notice. If your account is closed and then re-opened with a systematic investment plan, your account must meet the then-current applicable minimum initial investment.
Class Inst Shares Minimum Initial Investments
There is no minimum initial investment in Class Inst shares for the following categories of eligible investors:
| ■ | Any health savings account sponsored by a third party platform. |
| ■ | Any investor participating in an account sponsored by a financial intermediary or other entity (that provides services to the account) that is paid a fee-based advisory fee by the investor and that is not compensated by the Fund for those services, other than payments for shareholder servicing or sub-accounting performed in place of the Transfer Agent. |
| ■ | Any commissionable brokerage account, if a financial intermediary has received a written approval from the Distributor to waive the minimum initial investment in Class Inst shares. |
The minimum initial investment in Class Inst shares for the following categories of eligible investors is $1,000:
| ■ | Individual retirement accounts (IRAs) on commissionable brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary, acting as broker on behalf of its customer, charges the customer a commission for effecting transactions in Fund shares, provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst shares within such platform. |
| ■ | Any current employee of Columbia Management Investment Advisers LLC, the Distributor or the Transfer Agent and immediate family members of any of the foregoing who share the same address are eligible to invest in Class Inst shares through an individual retirement account (IRA). If you maintain your account with a financial intermediary, you must contact that financial intermediary each time you seek to purchase shares to notify them that you qualify |
| 56 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Greater China Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
| for Class Inst shares. If Class Inst shares are not available at your financial intermediary, you may consider opening a Direct-at-Fund Account. It is your obligation to advise your financial intermediary or (in the case of Direct-at-Fund Accounts) the Transfer Agent that you qualify for Class Inst shares; be prepared to provide proof thereof. |
The minimum initial investment in Class Inst shares for the following categories of eligible investors is $2,000:
| ■ | Investors (except investors in individual retirement accounts (IRAs)) who purchase Fund shares through commissionable brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary holds the shares in an omnibus account and, acting as broker on behalf of its customer, charges the customer a commission for effecting transactions in Fund shares provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst shares within such platform. |
| ■ | Any current employee of Columbia Management Investment Advisers LLC, the Distributor or the Transfer Agent and immediate family members of any of the foregoing who share the same address are eligible to invest in Class Inst shares (other than individual retirement accounts (IRAs), for which the minimum initial investment is $1,000). If you maintain your account with a financial intermediary, you must contact that financial intermediary each time you seek to purchase shares to notify them that you qualify for Class Inst shares. If Class Inst shares are not available at your financial intermediary, you may consider opening a Direct-at-Fund Account. It is your obligation to advise your financial intermediary or (in the case of Direct-at-Fund Accounts) the Transfer Agent that you qualify for Class Inst shares; be prepared to provide proof thereof. |
| ■ | Certain financial institutions and intermediaries, such as insurance companies, trust companies, banks, endowments, investment companies or foundations, buying shares for their own account, including Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates and/or subsidiaries. |
| ■ | Bank trust departments that assess their clients an asset-based fee. |
| ■ | Certain other investors as set forth in more detail in the SAI. |
Systematic Investment Plan
The Systematic Investment Plan allows you to schedule regular purchases via automatic transfers from your bank account to the Fund on a monthly, quarterly or semiannual basis. Contact the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary to set up the plan. Systematic Investment Plans may not be available for all share classes. With the exception of Columbia Government Money Market Fund, the Systematic Investment Plan is confirmed on your quarterly account statement.
Dividend Diversification
Generally, you may automatically invest Fund distributions into the same class of shares (and in some cases certain other classes of shares) of another Fund without paying any applicable front-end sales charge. Call the Transfer Agent at 800.345.6611 for details. The ability to invest distributions from one Fund to another Fund may not be available to accounts held at all financial intermediaries.
Other Purchase Rules You Should Know
| ■ | Once the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary receives your purchase order in “good form,” your purchase will be made at the Fund’s next calculated public offering price per share, which is the NAV per share plus any sales charge that applies (i.e., the trade date). |
| ■ | Once the Fund receives your purchase request in “good form,” you cannot cancel it after the market closes. |
| ■ | You generally buy Class A and Class V shares at the public offering price per share because purchases of these share classes are generally subject to a front-end sales charge. |
| ■ | You buy Class Adv, Class C, Class Inst, Class Inst2, Class Inst3 and Class R shares at NAV per share because no front-end sales charge applies to purchases of these share classes. |
| ■ | Class A shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund are not eligible for purchase by a Direct-at-Fund Account. |
| Prospectus 2021 | 57 |
Columbia Greater China Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
| ■ | Class Inst shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund are not eligible for purchase by a Direct-at-Fund Account except for any current employee of Columbia Management Investment Advisers LLC, the Distributor or Transfer Agent and immediate family members of the foregoing who share the same address. |
| ■ | The Distributor and the Transfer Agent reserve the right to cancel your order request if the Fund does not receive payment within two business days of receiving your purchase order request. The Fund will return any payment received for orders that have been cancelled, but no interest will be paid on that money. |
| ■ | Financial intermediaries are responsible for sending your purchase orders to the Transfer Agent and ensuring that the Fund receives your money on time. |
| ■ | Shares purchased are recorded on the books of the Fund. The Fund does not issue certificates. |
Please also read
and contact your financial intermediary for more information regarding any reductions and/or waivers described therein.
Appendix A
Selling Shares
When you sell shares, the amount you receive may be more or less than the amount you invested. Your sale price will be the next NAV calculated after your request is received in “good form,” (i.e., the trade date) minus any applicable CDSC.
Systematic Withdrawal Plan
The Systematic Withdrawal Plan allows you to schedule regular redemptions from your account any business day on a monthly, quarterly or semiannual basis. Currently, Systematic Withdrawal Plans are generally available for Class A, Class Adv, Class C, Class Inst, Class Inst2, Class Inst3, and Class V share accounts. Contact the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary to set up the plan. To set up the plan, your account balance must meet the class minimum initial investment amount. A Systematic Withdrawal Plan cannot be set up on an account that already has a Systematic Investment Plan established. Note that a Medallion Signature Guarantee may be required if this service is established after your Fund account is opened.
You can choose to receive your withdrawals via check or direct deposit into your bank account. The Fund will deduct any applicable CDSC from the withdrawals before sending redemption proceeds to you. You can cancel the plan by giving the Fund 30 days’ notice in writing or by calling the Transfer Agent at 800.422.3737. It’s important to remember that if you withdraw more than your investment in the Fund is earning, you'll eventually withdraw your entire investment.
Check Redemption Service (for Columbia Government Money Market Fund)
Class A and Class Inst shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund (which is not offered in this prospectus) offer check writing privileges. If you have $2,000 in Columbia Government Money Market Fund, you may request checks which may be drawn against your account. The amount of any check drawn against your Columbia Government Money Market Fund must be at least $100 and not more than $100,000 per day. You can elect this service when you initially establish your account or thereafter. Call 800.345.6611 for the appropriate forms to establish this service. If you own Class A shares that were originally purchased in another Fund at NAV because of the size of the purchase, and then exchanged into Columbia Government Money Market Fund, check redemptions may be subject to a CDSC. A $15 charge will be assessed for any stop payment order requested by you or any overdraft in connection with checks written against your Columbia Government Money Market Fund account. Note that a Medallion Signature Guarantee may be required if this service is established after your Fund account is opened.
Satisfying Fund Redemption Requests
When you sell your Fund shares, the Fund is effectively buying them back from you. This is called a redemption. Except as noted below with respect to newly purchased shares, the Fund typically expects to send you payment for your shares within two business days after your trade date for all methods of payment. The Fund can suspend redemptions and/or delay payment of redemption proceeds for up to seven days. The Fund can also suspend
| 58 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Greater China Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
redemptions and/or delay payment of redemption proceeds in excess of seven days under certain circumstances, including when the NYSE is closed or trading thereon is restricted or during emergency or other circumstances, including as determined by the SEC.
The Fund typically seeks to satisfy redemption requests from cash or cash equivalents held by the Fund, from the proceeds of orders to purchase Fund shares or from the proceeds of sales of Fund holdings effected in the normal course of managing the Fund. However, the Fund may have to sell Fund holdings, including in down markets, to meet heavier than usual redemption requests. For example, under stressed or abnormal market conditions or circumstances, including circumstances adversely affecting the liquidity of the Fund’s investments, the Fund may be more likely to be forced to sell Fund holdings to meet redemptions than under normal market circumstances. In these situations, the Fund’s portfolio managers may have to sell Fund holdings that would not otherwise be sold because, among other reasons, the current price to be received is less than the value of the holdings perceived by the Fund’s portfolio managers. The Fund may also, under certain circumstances (but more likely under stressed or abnormal market conditions or circumstances), borrow money under a credit facility to which the Fund and certain other Columbia Funds are parties or from other Columbia Funds under an interfund lending program (except for closed-end funds and money market funds, which are not eligible to borrow under the program). The Fund and the other Columbia Funds are limited as to the amount that each may individually and collectively borrow under the credit facility and the interfund lending program. As a result, borrowings available to the Fund under the credit facility and the interfund lending program might be insufficient, alone or in combination with the other strategies described herein, to satisfy Fund redemption requests. Please see
in the SAI for more information about the credit facility and interfund lending program. The Fund is also limited in the total amount it may borrow. The Fund may only borrow to the extent permitted by the 1940 Act, the rules and regulations thereunder, and any exemptive relief available to the Fund, which currently limit Fund borrowings to 33 1/3% of total assets (including any amounts borrowed) less liabilities (other than borrowings), plus an additional 5% of its total assets for temporary purposes (to be repaid within 60 days without extension or renewal), in each case determined at the time the borrowing is made.
About Fund Investments – Borrowings – Interfund Lending
In addition, the Fund reserves the right to honor redemption orders in whole or in part with in-kind distributions of Fund portfolio securities instead of cash. Such in-kind distributions typically represent a pro-rata portion of Fund portfolio assets subject to adjustments (e.g., for non-transferable securities, round lots, and derivatives). In the event the Fund distributes portfolio securities in kind, you may incur brokerage and other transaction costs associated with converting the portfolio securities you receive into cash. Also, the portfolio securities you receive may increase or decrease in value after they are distributed but before you convert them into cash. For U.S. federal income tax purposes, redemptions paid in securities are generally treated the same as redemptions paid in cash. If, during any 90-day period, you redeem shares in an amount greater than $250,000 or 1% of the Fund’s net assets (whichever is less), and if the Investment Manager determines it to be feasible and appropriate, the Fund may pay the redemption amount above such threshold by an in-kind distribution of Fund portfolio securities.
While the Fund is not required (and may refuse in its discretion) to pay a redemption with an in-kind distribution of Fund portfolio securities and reserves the right to pay the redemption proceeds in cash, if you wish to request an in-kind redemption, please call the Transfer Agent at 800.345.6611. As a result of the operational steps needed to coordinate with the redeeming shareholder’s custodian, in-kind redemptions typically take several weeks to complete after a redemption request is received. The Fund and the redeeming shareholder will typically agree upon a redemption date. Since the Fund’s NAV may fluctuate during this time, the Fund’s NAV may be lower on the agreed-upon redemption date than on an earlier date on which the investment could have been redeemed for cash.
Redemption of Newly Purchased Shares
You may not redeem shares for which the Fund has not yet received payment. Shares purchased by check or electronically by ACH when the purchase payment is not guaranteed will be considered in “good form” for redemption only after they have been held in your account for 6 calendar days after the trade date of the purchase (Collected Shares). If you request a redemption for an amount that, based on the NAV next calculated after your redemption request is received, includes any shares that are not yet Collected Shares, the Fund will only process the redemption
| Prospectus 2021 | 59 |
Columbia Greater China Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
up to the amount of the value of Collected Shares available in your account. You must submit a new redemption request if you wish to redeem those shares that were not yet Collected Shares at the time the original redemption request was received by the Fund.
Other Redemption Rules You Should Know
| ■ | Once the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary receives your redemption order in “good form,” your shares will be sold at the Fund’s next calculated NAV per share (i.e., the trade date). Any applicable CDSC will be deducted from the amount you're selling and the balance will be remitted to you. |
| ■ | Once the Fund receives your redemption request in “good form,” you cannot cancel it after the market closes. |
| ■ | If you sell your shares that are held in a Direct-at-Fund Account, we will normally send the redemption proceeds by mail or electronically transfer them to your bank account the next business day after the trade date. Note that your bank may take up to three business days to post an electronic funds transfer from your account. |
| ■ | If you sell your shares through a financial intermediary, the Funds will normally send the redemption proceeds to your financial intermediary within two business days after the trade date. |
| ■ | No interest will be paid on uncashed redemption checks. |
| ■ | Other restrictions may apply to retirement accounts. For information about these restrictions, contact your retirement plan administrator. |
| ■ | For broker-dealer and wrap fee accounts: The Fund reserves the right to redeem your shares if your account falls below the Fund's minimum initial investment requirement. The Fund will notify your broker-dealer prior to redeeming shares, and will provide details on how to avoid such redemption. |
| ■ |
Also keep in mind the Funds' Small Account Policy, which is described above in
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares — Transaction Rules and Policies.
|
Exchanging Shares
You can generally sell shares of your Fund to buy shares of another Fund (subject to eligibility requirements), in what is called an exchange. You should read the prospectus of, and make sure you understand the investment objective, principal investment strategies, risks, fees and expenses of, the Fund into which you are exchanging. Although the Funds allow certain exchanges from one share class to another share class with higher expenses, you should consider the expenses of each class before making such an exchange. Please see
below for more information.
Same-Fund Exchange Privilege
You will be subject to a sales charge if, in a Direct-at-Fund Account, you exchange shares that have not previously paid a sales charge, including from Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund, Columbia Small Cap Index Fund, Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund or any other Columbia Fund that does not charge a front-end sales charge, into a Columbia Fund that does assess a sales charge.
Please contact your financial intermediary for more information.
If you hold your Fund shares through certain financial intermediaries, you may have limited exchangeability among the Funds.
Systematic Exchanges
You may buy Class A, Class C, Class Inst, Class Inst3 and Class V shares of a Fund by exchanging each month from another Fund for shares of the same class of the Fund at no additional cost, subject to the following exchange amount minimums: $50 each month for individual retirement accounts (i.e., tax qualified accounts); and $100 each month for non-retirement accounts. Contact the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary to set up the plan.
Exchanges will continue as long as your balance in the Fund you are exchanging shares from is sufficient to complete the systematic monthly exchange, subject to the Funds' Small Account Policy described above in
You may terminate the program or change the amount you would like to exchange (subject to the $50 and $100 minimum requirements noted immediately above) by calling the Transfer Agent at 800.345.6611.
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares — Transaction Rules and Policies.
| 60 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Greater China Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
Other Exchange Rules You Should Know
| ■ | Exchanges are made at the NAV next calculated (plus any applicable sales charge) after your exchange order is received in “good form” (i.e., the trade date). |
| ■ | Once the Fund receives your exchange request in “good form,” you cannot cancel it after the market closes. |
| ■ | The rules for buying shares of a Fund generally apply to exchanges into that Fund, including, if your exchange creates a new Fund account, it must satisfy the minimum investment amount, unless a waiver applies. |
| ■ | Shares of the purchased Fund may not be used on the same day for another exchange or sale. |
| ■ | If you exchange shares from Class A shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund to a non-money market Fund, any further exchanges must be between shares of the same class. For example, if you exchange from Class A shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund into Class C shares of a non-money market Fund, you may not exchange from Class C shares of that non-money market Fund back to Class A shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund or Class A shares of any other Fund. |
| ■ | A sales charge may apply when you exchange shares of a Fund that were not assessed a sales charge at the time you purchased such shares. If you invest through a Direct-at-Fund Account in Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund, Columbia Small Cap Index Fund, Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund, Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund or any other Columbia Fund that does not impose a front-end sales charge and then you exchange into a Fund that does assess a sales charge, your transaction is subject to a front-end sales charge if you exchange into Class A shares and to a CDSC if you exchange into Class C shares of the Columbia Funds. |
| ■ | If you purchased Class A shares of a Columbia Fund that imposes a front-end sales charge (and you paid any applicable sales charge) and you then exchange those shares into Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund, Columbia Small Cap Index Fund, Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund, Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund or any other Columbia Fund that does not impose a front-end sales charge, you may exchange that amount to Class A of another Fund in the future, including dividends earned on that amount, without paying a sales charge. |
| ■ | If your shares are subject to a CDSC, you will not be charged a CDSC upon the exchange of those shares. Any CDSC will be deducted when you sell the shares you received from the exchange. The CDSC imposed at that time will be based on the period that begins when you bought shares of the original Fund and ends when you sell the shares of the Fund you received from the exchange. Any applicable CDSC charged will be the CDSC of the original Fund. |
| ■ | You may make exchanges only into a Fund that is legally offered and sold in your state of residence. Contact the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary for more information. |
| ■ | You generally may make an exchange only into a Fund that is accepting investments. |
| ■ | The Fund may change or cancel your right to make an exchange by giving the amount of notice required by regulatory authorities (generally 60 days for a material change or cancellation). |
| ■ | Unless your account is part of a tax-advantaged arrangement, an exchange for shares of another Fund is a taxable event, and you may recognize a gain or loss for tax purposes. |
| ■ | Changing your investment to a different Fund will be treated as a sale and purchase, and you will be subject to applicable taxes on the sale and sales charges on the purchase of the new Fund. |
| ■ |
Class Inst shares of a Fund may be exchanged for Class A or Class Inst shares of another Fund. In certain circumstances, the front-end sales charge applicable to Class A shares may be waived on exchanges of Class Inst shares for Class A shares. See
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares — Buying Shares — Eligible Investors — Class Inst Shares
|
| ■ | Class A shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund are not eligible for exchange by a Direct-at-Fund Account. |
| Prospectus 2021 | 61 |
Columbia Greater China Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
| ■ | Class Inst shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund are not eligible for exchange by a Direct-at-Fund Account except for any current employee of the Investment Manager, the Distributor or the Transfer Agent and immediate family members of any of the foregoing who share the same address. |
| ■ | You may generally exchange Class V shares of a Fund for Class A shares of another Fund if the other Fund does not offer Class V shares. Class V shares exchanged into Class A shares cannot be exchanged back into Class V shares. |
Same-Fund Exchange Privilege
Shareholders may be eligible to invest in other classes of shares of the same Fund, and may exchange their current shares for another share class if deemed eligible and offered by the Fund. Such same-Fund exchanges could include an exchange of one class for another with higher expenses. Before making such an exchange, you should consider the expenses of each class. Shareholders should contact their financial intermediaries to learn more about the details of the same-Fund exchange privilege. Exchanges out of Class A, Class C and Class V shares will be subject to any applicable CDSC. Financial intermediaries that have a customized arrangement with regard to CDSCs are detailed in
.
Appendix A
Exchanges out of Class C shares to another share class of the same Fund are not permissible on Direct-at-Fund Accounts. Exchanges out of Class C shares to another share class of the same Fund within commissionable brokerage accounts are permitted only (1) by shareholders moving from a commissionable brokerage account to a fee-based advisory program or (2) when the exchange is part of a share class conversion (or a similar multiple shareholder transaction event) instituted by a financial intermediary and such conversion or similar type event is preapproved by the Distributor.
Ordinarily, shareholders will not recognize a gain or loss for U.S. federal income tax purposes upon a same-Fund exchange. You should consult your tax advisor about your particular exchanges.
| 62 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Greater China Fund
Distributions and Taxes
Distributions to Shareholders
A mutual fund can make money two ways:
| ■ | It can earn income on its investments. Examples of fund income are interest paid on money market instruments and bonds, and dividends paid on common stocks. |
| ■ | A mutual fund can also have capital gains if the value of its investments increases. While a fund continues to hold an investment, any gain is generally unrealized. If the fund sells an investment, it generally will realize a capital gain if it sells that investment for a higher price than its adjusted cost basis, and will generally realize a capital loss if it sells that investment for a lower price than its adjusted cost basis. Capital gains and losses are either short-term or long-term, depending on whether the fund holds the securities for one year or less (short-term) or more than one year (long-term). |
Mutual funds make payments of fund earnings to shareholders, distributing them among all shareholders of the fund. As a shareholder, you are entitled to your portion of a fund's distributed income, including capital gains. Reinvesting your distributions buys you more shares of a fund
which lets you take advantage of the potential for compound growth. Putting the money you earn back into your investment means it, in turn, may earn even more money (or be exposed to additional losses, if the fund earns a negative return). Over time, the power of compounding has the potential to significantly increase the value of your investment. There is no assurance, however, that you'll earn more money if you reinvest your distributions rather than receive them in cash.
—
The Fund intends to pay out, in the form of distributions to shareholders, a sufficient amount of its income and gains so that the Fund will qualify for treatment as a regulated investment company and generally will not have to pay any federal excise tax. The Fund generally intends to distribute any net realized capital gain (whether long-term or short-term gain) at least once a year. Normally, the Fund will declare and pay distributions of net investment income according to the following schedule:
|
Declaration and Distribution Schedule
|
|
| Declarations | Annually |
| Distributions | Annually |
The Fund may declare or pay distributions of net investment income more frequently.
Different share classes of the Fund usually pay different net investment income distribution amounts, because each class has different expenses. Each time a distribution is made, the NAV per share of the share class is reduced by the amount of the distribution.
The Fund generally pays cash distributions within five business days after the distribution was declared (or, if the Fund declares distributions daily, within five business days after the end of the month in which the distribution was declared). If you sell all of your shares after the record date, but before the payment date, for a distribution, you'll normally receive that distribution in cash within five business days after the sale was made.
The Fund will automatically reinvest distributions in additional shares of the same share class of the Fund unless you inform us you want to receive your distributions in cash (the financial intermediary through which you purchased shares may have different policies). You can do this by contacting the Funds at the addresses and telephone numbers listed at the beginning of the section entitled
. No sales charges apply to the purchase or sale of such shares.
Choosing a Share Class
For accounts held directly with the Fund (through the Transfer Agent), distributions of $10 or less will automatically be reinvested in additional Fund shares only. If you elect to receive distributions by check and the check is returned as undeliverable, all subsequent distributions will be reinvested in additional shares of the Fund.
Unless you are a tax-exempt investor or holding Fund shares through a tax-advantaged account (such as a 401(k) plan or IRA), you should consider avoiding buying Fund shares shortly before the Fund makes a distribution (other than distributions of net investment income that are declared daily) of net investment income or net realized capital gain, because doing so can cost you money in taxes to the extent the distribution consists of taxable income or gains. This is because you will, in effect, receive part of your purchase price back in the distribution. This is known as
| Prospectus 2021 | 63 |
Columbia Greater China Fund
Distributions and Taxes
(continued)
“buying a dividend.” To avoid “buying a dividend,” before you invest check the Fund's distribution schedule, which is available at the Funds' website and/or by calling the Funds' telephone number listed at the beginning of the section entitled
.
Choosing a Share Class
Taxes
You should be aware of the following considerations applicable to the Fund:
| ■ | The Fund intends to qualify and to be eligible for treatment each year as a regulated investment company. A regulated investment company generally is not subject to tax at the fund level on income and gains from investments that are distributed to shareholders. However, the Fund's failure to qualify for treatment as a regulated investment company would result in Fund-level taxation, and consequently, a reduction in income available for distribution to you and in the NAV of your shares. Even if the Fund qualifies for treatment as a regulated investment company, the Fund may be subject to federal excise tax on certain undistributed income or gains. |
| ■ | Otherwise taxable distributions generally are taxable to you when paid, whether they are paid in cash or automatically reinvested in additional Fund shares. Dividends paid in January are deemed paid on December 31 of the prior year if the dividend was declared and payable to shareholders of record in October, November, or December of such prior year. |
| ■ | Distributions of the Fund's ordinary income and net short-term capital gain, if any, generally are taxable to you as ordinary income. Distributions of the Fund's net long-term capital gain, if any, generally are taxable to you as long-term capital gain. Whether capital gains are long-term or short-term is determined by how long the Fund has owned the investments that generated them, rather than how long you have owned your shares. |
| ■ | From time to time, a distribution from the Fund could constitute a return of capital. A return of capital is a return of an amount of your original investment and is not a distribution of income or capital gain from the Fund. Therefore, a return of capital is not taxable to you so long as the amount of the distribution does not exceed your tax basis in your Fund shares. A return of capital reduces your tax basis in your Fund shares, with any amounts exceeding such basis generally taxable as capital gain. |
| ■ | If you are an individual and you meet certain holding period and other requirements for your Fund shares, a portion of your distributions may be treated as “qualified dividend income” taxable at the lower net long-term capital gain rates instead of the higher ordinary income rates. Qualified dividend income is income attributable to the Fund's dividends received from certain U.S. and foreign corporations, as long as the Fund meets certain holding period and other requirements for the stock producing such dividends. |
| ■ | Certain high-income individuals (as well as estates and trusts) are subject to a 3.8% tax on net investment income. For individuals, the 3.8% tax applies to the lesser of (1) the amount (if any) by which the taxpayer's modified adjusted gross income exceeds certain threshold amounts or (2) the taxpayer's “net investment income.” |
| Net investment income generally includes for this purpose dividends, including any capital gain dividends, paid by the Fund, and net gains recognized on the sale, redemption or exchange of shares of the Fund. |
| ■ | Certain derivative instruments when held in the Fund's portfolio subject the Fund to special tax rules, the effect of which may be to, among other things, accelerate income to the Fund, defer Fund losses, cause adjustments in the holding periods of Fund portfolio securities, or convert capital gains into ordinary income, short-term capital losses into long-term capital losses or long-term capital gains into short-term capital gains. These rules could therefore affect the amount, timing and/or character of distributions to shareholders. |
| ■ | Generally, a Fund realizes a capital gain or loss on an option when the option expires, or when it is exercised, sold or otherwise terminated. However, if an option is a “section 1256 contract,” which includes most traded options on a broad-based index, and the Fund holds such option at the end of its taxable year, the Fund is deemed to sell such option at fair market value at such time and recognize any gain or loss thereon, which is generally deemed to be 60% long-term and 40% short-term capital gain or loss, as described further in the SAI. |
| ■ | Income and proceeds received by the Fund from sources within foreign countries may be subject to foreign taxes. If at the end of the taxable year more than 50% of the value of the Fund's assets consists of securities of foreign |
| 64 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Greater China Fund
Distributions and Taxes
(continued)
| corporations, and the Fund makes a special election, you will generally be required to include in your income for U.S. federal income tax purposes your share of the qualifying foreign income taxes paid by the Fund in respect of its foreign portfolio securities. You may be able to claim a foreign tax credit or deduction in respect of this amount, subject to certain limitations. There is no assurance that the Fund will make this election for a taxable year, even if it is eligible to do so. |
| ■ | A sale, redemption or exchange of Fund shares is a taxable event. This includes redemptions where you are paid in securities. Your sales, redemptions and exchanges of Fund shares (including those paid in securities) usually will result in a taxable capital gain or loss to you, equal to the difference between the amount you receive for your shares (or are deemed to have received in the case of exchanges) and your adjusted tax basis in the shares, which is generally the amount you paid (or are deemed to have paid in the case of exchanges) for them. Any such capital gain or loss generally will be long-term capital gain or loss if you have held your Fund shares for more than one year at the time of sale or exchange. In certain circumstances, capital losses may be converted from short-term to long-term; in other circumstances, capital losses may be disallowed under the “wash sale” rules. |
| ■ | For sales, redemptions and exchanges of shares that were acquired in a non-qualified account after 2011, the Fund generally is required to report to shareholders and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) cost basis information with respect to those shares. The Fund uses average cost basis as its default method of calculating cost basis. For more information regarding average cost basis reporting, other available cost basis methods, and selecting or changing to a different cost basis method, please see the SAI, columbiathreadneedleus.com, or contact the Fund at 800.345.6611. If you hold Fund shares through a financial intermediary (e.g., a brokerage firm), you should contact your financial intermediary to learn about its cost basis reporting default method and the reporting elections available to your account. |
| ■ | The Fund is required by federal law to withhold tax on any taxable or tax-exempt distributions and redemption proceeds paid to you (including amounts paid to you in securities and amounts deemed to be paid to you upon an exchange of shares) if: you have not provided a correct TIN or have not certified to the Fund that withholding does not apply, the IRS has notified us that the TIN listed on your account is incorrect according to its records, or the IRS informs the Fund that you are otherwise subject to backup withholding. |
FUNDamentals
Taxes
The information provided above is only a summary of how U.S. federal income taxes may affect your investment in the Fund. It is not intended as a substitute for careful tax planning. Your investment in the Fund may have other tax implications. It does not apply to certain types of investors who may be subject to special rules, including foreign or tax-exempt investors or those holding Fund shares through a tax-advantaged account, such as a 401(k) plan or IRA. Please see the SAI for more detailed tax information. You should consult with your own tax advisor about the particular tax consequences to you of an investment in the Fund, including the effect of any foreign, state and local taxes, and the effect of possible changes in applicable tax laws.
| Prospectus 2021 | 65 |
Columbia Greater China Fund
Financial Highlights
The financial highlights table is intended to help you understand the Fund’s financial performance for the past five fiscal years or, if shorter, the Fund’s period of operations. Certain information reflects financial results for a single Fund share. Per share net investment income (loss) amounts are calculated based on average shares outstanding during the period. The total return in the table represents the rate that an investor would have earned (or lost) on an investment in the Fund assuming all dividends and distributions had been reinvested. Total return does not reflect payment of sales charges, if any. Total return and portfolio turnover are not annualized for periods of less than one year. The portfolio turnover rate is calculated without regard to purchase and sales transactions of short-term instruments and certain derivatives, if any. If such transactions were included, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate may be higher. This information has been audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm, whose report, along with the Fund’s financial statements, is included in the Fund’s annual report, which is available upon request.
| Prospectus 2021 | 67 |
Columbia Greater China Fund
Financial Highlights
(continued)
|
Net asset value,
beginning of period |
Net
investment income (loss) |
Net
realized and unrealized gain |
Total from
investment operations |
Distributions
from net investment income |
Distributions
from net realized gains |
Total
distributions to shareholders |
|
|
Class A
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $45.00 | (0.24) | 23.82 | 23.58 | — | (0.77) | (0.77) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $47.25 |
0.00
(e)
|
0.20
(f)
|
0.20 | — | (2.45) | (2.45) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $45.67 | (0.10) | 2.62 | 2.52 | (0.28) | (0.66) | (0.94) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $35.20 | 0.06 | 10.41 | 10.47 | — | — | — |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $33.33 | (0.04) | 3.66 | 3.62 | (0.05) | (1.70) | (1.75) |
|
Advisor Class
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $50.19 |
0.00
(e)
|
26.52 | 26.52 | — | (0.77) | (0.77) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $52.25 | (0.12) |
0.51
(f)
|
0.39 | — | (2.45) | (2.45) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $50.38 | 0.12 | 2.80 | 2.92 | (0.39) | (0.66) | (1.05) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $38.74 | 0.18 | 11.46 | 11.64 | — | — | — |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $36.53 | 0.11 | 3.96 | 4.07 | (0.16) | (1.70) | (1.86) |
|
Class C
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $40.96 | (0.59) | 21.56 | 20.97 | — | (0.77) | (0.77) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $43.57 | (0.41) |
0.25
(f)
|
(0.16) | — | (2.45) | (2.45) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $42.24 | (0.43) | 2.42 | 1.99 | — | (0.66) | (0.66) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $32.81 | (0.24) | 9.67 | 9.43 | — | — | — |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $31.35 | (0.22) | 3.38 | 3.16 | — | (1.70) | (1.70) |
|
Institutional Class
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $49.23 | (0.12) | 26.13 | 26.01 | — | (0.77) | (0.77) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $51.30 | 0.08 |
0.30
(f)
|
0.38 | — | (2.45) | (2.45) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $49.49 | 0.03 | 2.83 | 2.86 | (0.39) | (0.66) | (1.05) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $38.05 | 0.17 | 11.27 | 11.44 | — | — | — |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $35.91 | 0.12 | 3.87 | 3.99 | (0.15) | (1.70) | (1.85) |
|
Institutional 2 Class
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $50.38 | (0.10) | 26.77 | 26.67 | — | (0.77) | (0.77) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $52.38 | 0.16 |
0.29
(f)
|
0.45 | — | (2.45) | (2.45) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $50.52 | 0.11 | 2.84 | 2.95 | (0.43) | (0.66) | (1.09) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $38.80 | 0.22 | 11.50 | 11.72 | — | — | — |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $36.58 | 0.24 | 3.90 | 4.14 | (0.22) | (1.70) | (1.92) |
|
68
|
Prospectus 2021
|
Columbia Greater China Fund
Financial Highlights
(continued)
|
Net
asset value, end of period |
Total
return |
Total gross
expense ratio to average net assets
(a)
|
Total net
expense ratio to average net assets
(a), (b)
|
Net investment
income (loss) ratio to average net assets |
Portfolio
turnover |
Net
assets, end of period (000's) |
|
|
Class A
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $67.81 | 53.06% |
1.50%
(c)
|
1.50%
(c), (d)
|
(0.47%) | 27% | $91,892 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $45.00 | 1.28% |
1.53%
(c)
|
1.53%
(c)
|
0.00%
(e)
|
18% | $65,762 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $47.25 | 5.41% |
1.51%
(g)
|
1.51%
(d), (g)
|
(0.20%) | 26% | $73,210 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $45.67 | 29.74% |
1.55%
(h)
|
1.55%
(d), (h)
|
0.17% | 35% | $68,323 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $35.20 | 10.97% |
1.60%
(g)
|
1.60%
(d), (g)
|
(0.11%) | 39% | $58,385 |
|
Advisor Class
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $75.94 | 53.43% |
1.25%
(c)
|
1.25%
(c), (d)
|
0.01% | 27% | $3,084 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $50.19 | 1.53% |
1.29%
(c)
|
1.29%
(c)
|
(0.23%) | 18% | $1,027 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $52.25 | 5.69% |
1.26%
(g)
|
1.26%
(d), (g)
|
0.22% | 26% | $2,008 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $50.38 | 30.05% |
1.30%
(h)
|
1.30%
(d), (h)
|
0.43% | 35% | $3,220 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $38.74 | 11.27% |
1.36%
(g)
|
1.36%
(d), (g)
|
0.30% | 39% | $3,532 |
|
Class C
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $61.16 | 51.91% |
2.25%
(c)
|
2.25%
(c), (d)
|
(1.28%) | 27% | $2,517 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $40.96 | 0.53% |
2.28%
(c)
|
2.28%
(c)
|
(1.02%) | 18% | $2,554 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $43.57 | 4.63% |
2.26%
(g)
|
2.26%
(d), (g)
|
(0.90%) | 26% | $5,585 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $42.24 | 28.74% |
2.29%
(h)
|
2.29%
(d), (h)
|
(0.70%) | 35% | $9,130 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $32.81 | 10.15% |
2.36%
(g)
|
2.36%
(d), (g)
|
(0.71%) | 39% | $10,952 |
|
Institutional Class
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $74.47 | 53.44% |
1.25%
(c)
|
1.25%
(c), (d)
|
(0.22%) | 27% | $31,844 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $49.23 | 1.54% |
1.28%
(c)
|
1.28%
(c)
|
0.17% | 18% | $31,244 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $51.30 | 5.68% |
1.26%
(g)
|
1.26%
(d), (g)
|
0.05% | 26% | $42,542 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $49.49 | 30.07% |
1.29%
(h)
|
1.29%
(d), (h)
|
0.43% | 35% | $38,369 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $38.05 | 11.24% |
1.35%
(g)
|
1.35%
(d), (g)
|
0.34% | 39% | $40,293 |
|
Institutional 2 Class
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $76.28 | 53.53% |
1.17%
(c)
|
1.17%
(c)
|
(0.17%) | 27% | $2,842 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $50.38 | 1.65% |
1.20%
(c)
|
1.20%
(c)
|
0.32% | 18% | $3,001 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $52.38 | 5.73% |
1.18%
(g)
|
1.18%
(g)
|
0.19% | 26% | $2,330 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $50.52 | 30.21% |
1.18%
(h)
|
1.18%
(h)
|
0.54% | 35% | $900 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $38.80 | 11.44% |
1.21%
(g)
|
1.21%
(g)
|
0.66% | 39% | $879 |
|
Prospectus 2021
|
69
|
Columbia Greater China Fund
Financial Highlights
(continued)
|
Net asset value,
beginning of period |
Net
investment income (loss) |
Net
realized and unrealized gain |
Total from
investment operations |
Distributions
from net investment income |
Distributions
from net realized gains |
Total
distributions to shareholders |
|
|
Institutional 3 Class
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $49.08 | (0.02) | 26.03 | 26.01 | — | (0.77) | (0.77) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $51.08 | 0.20 |
0.25
(f)
|
0.45 | — | (2.45) | (2.45) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $49.25 | 0.09 | 2.83 | 2.92 | (0.43) | (0.66) | (1.09) |
|
Year Ended 8/31/2017
(i)
|
$38.50 | 0.22 | 10.53 | 10.75 | — | — | — |
|
Notes to Financial Highlights
|
|
| (a) | In addition to the fees and expenses that the Fund bears directly, the Fund indirectly bears a pro rata share of the fees and expenses of any other funds in which it invests. Such indirect expenses are not included in the Fund's reported expense ratios. |
| (b) | Total net expenses include the impact of certain fee waivers/expense reimbursements made by the Investment Manager and certain of its affiliates, if applicable. |
| (c) | Ratios include interfund lending expense which is less than 0.01%. |
| (d) | The benefits derived from expense reductions had an impact of less than 0.01%. |
| (e) | Rounds to zero. |
| (f) | Calculation of the net gain (loss) per share (both realized and unrealized) does not correlate to the aggregate realized and unrealized gain (loss) presented in the Statement of Operations due to the timing of subscriptions and redemptions of Fund shares in relation to fluctuations in the market value of the portfolio. |
| (g) | Ratios include line of credit interest expense which is less than 0.01%. |
| (h) | Expenses have been reduced due to a reimbursement of expenses overbilled by a third party. If the reimbursement had been excluded, the expense ratios would have been higher by the percentages shown for each class in the table below. All fee waivers and expense reimbursements by the Investment Manager and its affiliates were applied before giving effect to this third party reimbursement. |
|
Year Ended
|
Class A
|
Advisor
Class |
Class C
|
Institutional
Class |
Institutional 2
Class |
| 08/31/2017 | 0.06% | 0.05% | 0.06% | 0.06% | 0.06% |
| (i) | Institutional 3 Class shares commenced operations on March 1, 2017. Per share data and total return reflect activity from that date. |
| (j) | Annualized. |
|
70
|
Prospectus 2021
|
Columbia Greater China Fund
Financial Highlights
(continued)
|
Net
asset value, end of period |
Total
return |
Total gross
expense ratio to average net assets
(a)
|
Total net
expense ratio to average net assets
(a), (b)
|
Net investment
income (loss) ratio to average net assets |
Portfolio
turnover |
Net
assets, end of period (000's) |
|
|
Institutional 3 Class
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $74.32 | 53.60% |
1.12%
(c)
|
1.12%
(c)
|
(0.04%) | 27% | $31,974 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $49.08 | 1.69% |
1.14%
(c)
|
1.14%
(c)
|
0.42% | 18% | $5,391 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $51.08 | 5.82% |
1.13%
(g)
|
1.13%
(g)
|
0.17% | 26% | $4,768 |
|
Year Ended 8/31/2017
(i)
|
$49.25 | 27.92% |
1.22%
(j)
|
1.22%
(j)
|
1.45%
(j)
|
35% | $5,112 |
|
Prospectus 2021
|
71
|
Columbia Greater China Fund
Appendix A: Financial Intermediary-Specific Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
As noted in the
section of the prospectus, the sales charge reductions and waivers available to investors who purchase and hold their Fund shares through different financial intermediaries may vary. This
describes financial intermediary-specific reductions and/or waiver policies applicable to Fund shares purchased and held through the particular financial intermediary. A reduction and/or waiver that is specific to a particular financial intermediary is not available to Direct-at-Fund Accounts and does not apply in any case to non-omnibus positions wherever held. These reductions and/or waivers may apply to purchases, sales, and exchanges of Fund shares. A shareholder transacting in Fund shares through a financial intermediary identified below should carefully read the terms and conditions of the reductions and/or waivers. Please consult your financial intermediary with respect to any sales charge reduction/waiver described below.
Choosing a Share Class
Appendix A
The financial intermediary-specific information below may be provided by, or compiled from or based on information provided by, the financial intermediaries noted. While the Funds, the Investment Manager and the Distributor do not establish these financial intermediary-specific policies, our representatives are available to answer questions about these financial intermediary-specific policies and can direct you to the financial intermediary if you need help understanding them.
Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC (Ameriprise Financial Services)
The following information has been provided by Ameriprise Financial Services:
Class A Shares Front-End Sales Charge Waivers Available at Ameriprise Financial Services:
The following information applies to Class A shares purchases if you have an account with or otherwise purchase Fund shares through Ameriprise Financial Services:
Effective June 1, 2018, shareholders purchasing Fund shares through an Ameriprise Financial Services platform or account will be eligible for the following front-end sales charge waivers and discounts, which may differ from those disclosed elsewhere in this prospectus or the Fund’s SAI:
| ■ | Employer-sponsored retirement plans (e.g., 401(k) plans, 457 plans, employer-sponsored 403(b) plans, profit sharing and money purchase pension plans and defined benefit plans). For purposes of this provision, employer-sponsored retirement plans do not include SEP IRAs, Simple IRAs or SAR-SEPs. |
| ■ | Shares purchased through an Ameriprise Financial Services investment advisory program (if an Advisory or similar share class for such investment advisory program is not available). |
| ■ | Shares purchased by third party investment advisors on behalf of their advisory clients through Ameriprise Financial Services’ platform (if an Advisory or similar share class for such investment advisory program is not available). |
| ■ | Shares purchased through reinvestment of dividends and capital gain distributions when purchasing shares of the same fund (but not any other fund within the Columbia Funds). |
| ■ | Shares exchanged from Class C shares of the same fund in the month of or following the 10-year anniversary of the purchase date. To the extent that this prospectus elsewhere provides for a waiver with respect to such shares following a shorter holding period, that waiver will apply to exchanges following such shorter period. To the extent that this prospectus elsewhere provides for a waiver with respect to exchanges of Class C shares for load waived shares, that waiver will also apply to such exchanges. |
| ■ | Employees and registered representatives of Ameriprise Financial Services or its affiliates and their immediate family members. |
| ■ | Shares purchased by or through qualified accounts (including IRAs, Coverdell Education Savings Accounts, 401(k)s, 403(b) TSCAs subject to ERISA and defined benefit plans) that are held by a covered family member, defined as an Ameriprise financial advisor and/or the advisor’s spouse, advisor’s lineal ascendant (mother, father, grandmother, grandfather, great grandmother, great grandfather), advisor’s lineal descendant (son, step-son, daughter, step-daughter, grandson, granddaughter, great grandson, great granddaughter) or any spouse of a covered family member who is a lineal descendant. |
| A-1 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Greater China Fund
Appendix A: Financial Intermediary-Specific Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
(continued)
| ■ | Shares purchased from the proceeds of redemptions within the Columbia Funds, provided (1) the repurchase occurs within 90 days following the redemption, (2) the redemption and purchase occur in the same account, and (3) redeemed shares were subject to a front-end or deferred sales load (i.e., rights of reinstatement). |
Robert W. Baird & Co. Incorporated (Baird)
The following information has been provided by Baird:
Effective June 30, 2020, shareholders purchasing Columbia Fund shares through a Baird platform or account that maintains an omnibus position with the Fund will only be eligible for the following sales charge waivers (front-end sales charge waivers and CDSC waivers) and discounts, which may differ from those disclosed elsewhere in this prospectus or the Fund’s SAI. A reduction and/or waiver that is specific to Baird will not apply to non-omnibus positions.
Front-End Sales Charge Waivers on Class A Shares Available at Baird:
| ■ | Shares purchased through reinvestment of capital gains distributions and dividend reinvestment when purchasing shares of the same Columbia Fund. |
| ■ | Share purchases by employees and registered representatives of Baird or its affiliates and their family members as designated by Baird. |
| ■ | Shares purchased with the proceeds of redemptions from another Columbia Fund, provided (1) the repurchase occurs within 90 days following the redemption, (2) the redemption and purchase occur in the same accounts, and (3) redeemed shares were subject to a front-end or deferred sales charge (known as rights of reinstatement). |
| ■ | A shareholder in the Fund’s Class C shares will have their shares converted at net asset value to Class A shares of the same Columbia Fund if the shares are no longer subject to CDSC and the conversion is in line with the policies and procedures of Baird. |
| ■ | Employer-sponsored retirement plans or charitable accounts in a transactional brokerage account at Baird, including 401(k) plans, 457 plans, employer-sponsored 403(b) plans, profit sharing and money purchase pension plans and defined benefit plans. For purposes of this provision, employer-sponsored retirement plans do not include SEP IRAs, Simple IRAs or SAR-SEPs. |
CDSC Waivers on Class A and Class C Shares Available at Baird:
| ■ | Shares sold due to death or disability of the shareholder. |
| ■ | Shares sold as part of a systematic withdrawal plan as described in this prospectus. |
| ■ | Shares purchased due to returns of excess contributions from an IRA account. |
| ■ | Shares sold as part of a required minimum distribution for IRA and retirement accounts due to the shareholder reaching the qualified age based on applicable IRS regulations. |
| ■ | Shares sold to pay Baird fees but only if the transaction is initiated by Baird. |
| ■ | Shares acquired through a right of reinstatement. |
Front-End Sales Charge Discounts Available at Baird: Breakpoints and/or Rights of Accumulations:
| ■ | Breakpoints as described in this prospectus. |
| ■ | Rights of accumulations which entitle shareholders to breakpoint discounts will be automatically calculated based on the aggregated holding of Columbia Fund assets held by accounts within the purchaser’s household at Baird. Eligible Columbia Fund assets not held at Baird may be included in the rights of accumulations calculation only if the shareholder notifies his or her financial advisor about such assets. |
| ■ | Letters of Intent (LOI) allow for breakpoint discounts based on anticipated purchases of Columbia Funds through Baird, over a 13-month period of time. |
| Prospectus 2021 | A-2 |
Columbia Greater China Fund
Appendix A: Financial Intermediary-Specific Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
(continued)
Edward D. Jones & Co., L.P. (Edward Jones)
The following information has been provided by Edward Jones:
Effective on or after April 17, 2020, clients of Edward Jones (also referred to as "shareholders") purchasing Columbia Fund shares on the Edward Jones commission and fee-based platforms are eligible only for the following sales charge discounts (also referred to as "breakpoints") and waivers, which can differ from breakpoints and waivers described elsewhere in this prospectus or the Fund’s SAI or through another broker-dealer. In all instances, it is the shareholder's responsibility to inform Edward Jones at the time of purchase of any relationship, holdings of Columbia Funds or other facts qualifying the purchaser for breakpoints or waivers. Edward Jones can ask for documentation of such circumstance.
Breakpoints
Rights of Accumulation (ROA)
| ■ | The applicable sales charge on a purchase of Class A shares is determined by taking into account all share classes (except any money market funds and retirement plan share classes) of Columbia Funds held by the shareholder or in an account grouped by Edward Jones with other accounts for the purpose of providing certain pricing considerations ("pricing groups"). This includes all share classes held on the Edward Jones platform and/or held on another platform. The inclusion of eligible Columbia Fund assets in the rights of accumulation calculation is dependent on the shareholder notifying his or her financial advisor of such assets at the time of calculation. |
| ■ | ROA is determined by calculating the higher of cost or market value (current shares x NAV). |
Letter of Intent (LOI)
| ■ | Through a LOI, shareholders can receive the sales charge and breakpoint discounts for purchases shareholders intend to make over a 13-month period from the date Edward Jones receives the LOI. The LOI is determined by calculating the higher of cost or market value of qualifying holdings at LOI initiation in combination with the value that the shareholder intends to buy over a 13-month period to calculate the front-end sales charge and any breakpoint discounts. Each purchase the shareholder makes during that 13-month period will receive the sales charge and breakpoint discount that applies to the total amount. The inclusion of eligible Columbia Fund assets in the LOI calculation is dependent on the shareholder notifying his or her financial advisor of such assets at the time of calculation. Purchases made before the LOI is received by Edward Jones are not covered under the LOI and will not reduce the sales charge previously paid. Sales charges will be adjusted if LOI is not met. |
Sales Charge Waivers
Sales charges are waived for the following shareholders and in the following situations:
| ■ | Associates of Edward Jones and its affiliates and their family members who are in the same pricing group (as determined by Edward Jones under its policies and procedures) as the associate. This waiver will continue for the remainder of the associate's life if the associate retires from Edward Jones in good-standing. |
| ■ | Shares purchased in an Edward Jones fee-based program. |
| ■ | Shares purchased through reinvestment of capital gains distributions and dividend reinvestment. |
| ■ | Shares purchased from the proceeds of redeemed shares of Columbia Funds so long as the following conditions are met: 1) the proceeds are from the sale of shares within 60 days of the purchase, and 2) the sale and purchase are made in the same share class and the same account or the purchase is made in an individual retirement account with proceeds from liquidations in a non-retirement account. |
| ■ | Shares exchanged into Class A shares from another share class so long as the exchange is into the same fund and was initiated at the discretion of Edward Jones. Edward Jones is responsible for any remaining CDSC due to the fund company, if applicable. Any future purchases are subject to the applicable sales charge as disclosed in this prospectus. |
| A-3 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Greater China Fund
Appendix A: Financial Intermediary-Specific Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
(continued)
| ■ | Exchanges from Class C shares to Class A shares of the same fund, generally, in the 84th month following the anniversary of the purchase date or earlier at the discretion of Edward Jones. |
CDSC Waivers
If the shareholder purchases shares that are subject to a CDSC and those shares are redeemed before the CDSC is expired, the shareholder is responsible to pay the CDSC except in the following conditions:
| ■ | The death or disability of the shareholder. |
| ■ | Systematic withdrawals with up to 10% per year of the account value. |
| ■ | Return of excess contributions from an Individual Retirement Account (IRA). |
| ■ | Shares sold as part of a required minimum distribution for IRA and retirement accounts if the redemption is taken in or after the year the shareholder reaches qualified age based on applicable IRS regulations. |
| ■ | Shares sold to pay Edward Jones fees or costs in such cases where the transaction is initiated by Edward Jones. |
| ■ | Shares exchanged in an Edward Jones fee-based program. |
| ■ | Shares acquired through NAV reinstatement. |
Other Important Information
Minimum Purchase Amounts
| ■ | $250 initial purchase minimum |
| ■ | $50 subsequent purchase minimum |
Minimum Balances
| ■ | Edward Jones has the right to redeem at its discretion fund holdings with a balance of $250 or less. The following are examples of accounts that are not included in this policy: |
| ■ | A fee-based account held on an Edward Jones platform. |
| ■ | A 529 account held on an Edward Jones platform. |
| ■ | An account with an active systematic investment plan or letter of intent (LOI). |
Changing Share Classes
| ■ | At any time it deems necessary, Edward Jones has the authority to exchange at NAV a shareholder's holdings in a fund to Class A shares. |
Janney Montgomery Scott LLC (Janney)
The following information has been provided by Janney:
Effective May 1, 2020, if you purchase Columbia Fund shares through a Janney brokerage account, you will be eligible for the following load waivers (front-end sales charge waivers and CDSC, or back-end sales charge, waivers) and discounts, which may differ from those disclosed elsewhere in this prospectus or the Fund’s SAI. A reduction and/or waiver that is specific to Janney does not apply to non-omnibus positions.
Front-End Sales Charge* Waivers on Class A Shares Available at Janney
| ■ | Shares purchased through reinvestment of capital gains distributions and dividend reinvestment when purchasing shares of the same fund (but not any other Columbia Fund). |
| ■ | Shares purchased by employees and registered representatives of Janney or its affiliates and their family members as designated by Janney. |
| Prospectus 2021 | A-4 |
Columbia Greater China Fund
Appendix A: Financial Intermediary-Specific Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
(continued)
| ■ | Shares purchased from the proceeds of redemptions from another Columbia Fund, provided (1) the repurchase occurs within ninety (90) days following the redemption, (2) the redemption and purchase occur in the same account, and (3) redeemed shares were subject to a front-end or deferred sales load (i.e., right of reinstatement). |
| ■ | Employer-sponsored retirement plans (e.g., 401(k) plans, 457 plans, employer-sponsored 403(b) plans, profit sharing and money purchase pension plans and defined benefit plans). For purposes of this provision, employer-sponsored retirement plans do not include SEP IRAs, Simple IRAs, SAR-SEPs or Keogh plans. |
| ■ | Shares acquired through a right of reinstatement. |
| ■ | Class C shares that are no longer subject to a CDSC and are converted to Class A shares of the same fund pursuant to Janney’s policies and procedures. |
CDSC Waivers on Class A and C Shares Available at Janney
| ■ | Shares sold upon the death or disability of the shareholder. |
| ■ | Shares sold as part of a systematic withdrawal plan as described in this prospectus. |
| ■ | Shares purchased in connection with a return of excess contributions from an IRA account. |
| ■ | Shares sold as part of a required minimum distribution for IRA and retirement accounts if the redemption is taken in or after the year the shareholder reaches qualified age based on applicable IRS regulations. |
| ■ | Shares sold to pay Janney fees but only if the transaction is initiated by Janney. |
| ■ | Shares acquired through a right of reinstatement. |
| ■ | Shares exchanged into the same share class of a different fund. |
Front-End Sales Charge* Discounts Available at Janney: Breakpoints, Rights of Accumulation, and/or Letters of Intent
| ■ | Breakpoints as described in this prospectus. |
| ■ | Rights of accumulation (“ROA”), which entitle shareholders to breakpoint discounts, will be automatically calculated based on the aggregated holding of Columbia Fund assets held by accounts within the purchaser’s household at Janney. Eligible Columbia Fund assets not held at Janney may be included in the ROA calculation only if the shareholder notifies his or her financial advisor about such assets. |
| ■ | Letters of intent which allow for breakpoint discounts based on anticipated purchases within the Columbia Funds, over a 13-month time period. Eligible Columbia Fund assets not held at Janney may be included in the calculation of letters of intent only if the shareholder notifies his or her financial advisor about such assets. |
* Also referred to as an “initial sales charge”.
Merrill Lynch Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated (Merrill Lynch)
The following information has been provided by Merrill Lynch:
Shareholders purchasing Columbia Fund shares through a Merrill Lynch platform or account will be eligible only for the following load waivers (front-end sales charge waivers and contingent deferred, or back-end, sales charge waivers) and discounts, which may differ from those disclosed elsewhere in this prospectus or the Fund’s SAI:
Front-End Load Discounts Available at Merrill Lynch:
Merrill Lynch makes available breakpoint discounts on shares of the Fund through:
| ■ | Breakpoints as described in this prospectus. |
| ■ | Rights of Accumulation (ROA) which entitle shareholders to breakpoint discounts as described in this prospectus will be automatically calculated based on the aggregated holding of Columbia Fund assets held by accounts (including 529 program holdings, where applicable) within the purchaser’s household at Merrill Lynch. Eligible Columbia Fund assets not held at Merrill Lynch may be included in the ROA calculation only if the shareholder notifies his or her financial advisor about such assets. |
| A-5 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Greater China Fund
Appendix A: Financial Intermediary-Specific Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
(continued)
| ■ | Letters of Intent (LOI) which allow for breakpoint discounts based on anticipated purchases of Columbia Funds, through Merrill Lynch, over a 13-month period of time (if applicable). |
Front-End Sales Load Waivers on Class A Shares Available at Merrill Lynch:
| ■ | Employer-sponsored retirement, deferred compensation and employee benefit plans (including health savings accounts) and trusts used to fund those plans, provided that the shares are not held in a commission-based brokerage account and shares are held for the benefit of the plan. |
| ■ | Shares purchased by a 529 Plan (does not include 529 Plan units or 529-specific share classes or equivalents). |
| ■ | Shares purchased through a Merrill Lynch affiliated investment advisory program. |
| ■ | Shares exchanged due to the holdings moving from a Merrill Lynch affiliated investment advisory program to a Merrill Lynch brokerage (non-advisory) account pursuant to Merrill Lynch’s policies relating to sales load discounts and waivers. |
| ■ | Shares purchased by third party investment advisors on behalf of their advisory clients through Merrill Lynch’s platform. |
| ■ | Shares of funds purchased through the Merrill Edge Self-Directed platform (if applicable). |
| ■ | Shares purchased through reinvestment of capital gains distributions and dividend reinvestment when purchasing shares of the same fund (but not any other Columbia Fund). |
| ■ | Shares exchanged from Class C (i.e., level-load) shares of the same fund pursuant to Merrill Lynch’s policies relating to sales load discounts and waivers. |
| ■ | Employees and registered representatives of Merrill Lynch or its affiliates and their family members. |
| ■ | Directors or Trustees of the Fund, and employees of the Fund’s investment adviser or any of its affiliates, as described in this prospectus. |
| ■ | Eligible shares purchased from the proceeds of redemptions from another Columbia Fund, provided (1) the repurchase occurs within 90 days following the redemption, (2) the redemption and purchase occur in the same account, and (3) redeemed shares were subject to a front-end or deferred sales load (known as Rights of Reinstatement). Automated transactions (i.e. systematic purchases and withdrawals) and purchases made after shares are automatically sold to pay Merrill Lynch’s account maintenance fees are not eligible for reinstatement. |
CDSC Waivers on Class A and C Shares Available at Merrill Lynch:
| ■ | Death or disability of the shareholder. |
| ■ | Shares sold as part of a systematic withdrawal plan as described in this prospectus. |
| ■ | Return of excess contributions from an IRA Account. |
| ■ | Shares sold as part of a required minimum distribution for IRA and retirement accounts pursuant to the Internal Revenue Code. |
| ■ | Shares sold to pay Merrill Lynch fees but only if the transaction is initiated by Merrill Lynch. |
| ■ | Shares acquired through a right of reinstatement. |
| ■ | Shares held in retirement brokerage accounts, that are exchanged for a lower cost share class due to transfer to certain fee based accounts or platforms (applicable to Class A and Class C shares only). |
| ■ | Shares received through an exchange due to the holdings moving from a Merrill Lynch affiliated investment advisory program to a Merrill Lynch brokerage (non-advisory) account pursuant to Merrill Lynch’s policies relating to sales load discounts and waivers. |
| Prospectus 2021 | A-6 |
Columbia Greater China Fund
Appendix A: Financial Intermediary-Specific Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
(continued)
Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, LLC (Morgan Stanley Wealth Management)
The following information has been provided by Morgan Stanley Wealth Management:
Shareholders
purchasing Columbia Fund shares through a Morgan Stanley Wealth Management transactional brokerage account will be eligible only for the following front-end sales charge waivers with respect to Class A shares, which may differ from and may be more limited than those disclosed elsewhere in this prospectus or the Fund’s SAI.
Front-End Sales Charge Waivers on Class A Shares Available at Morgan Stanley Wealth Management:
| ■ |
Employer-sponsored retirement plans (e.g., 401(k) plans, 457 plans, employer-sponsored 403(b) plans, profit sharing and money purchase pension plans and defined benefit plans). For purposes of this provision, employer-sponsored retirement plans do not include SEP IRAs, Simple IRAs, SAR-SEPs or Keogh plans
.
|
| ■ |
Morgan Stanley employee and employee-related accounts according to Morgan Stanley’s account linking rules
.
|
| ■ |
Shares purchased through reinvestment of dividends and capital gains distributions when purchasing shares of the same fund
.
|
| ■ |
Shares purchased through a Morgan Stanley self-directed brokerage account
.
|
| ■ |
Class C (i.e., level-load) shares that are no longer subject to a CDSC and are exchanged for Class A shares of the same fund pursuant to Morgan Stanley Wealth Management’s share class exchange program
.
|
| ■ | Shares purchased from the proceeds of redemptions from another Columbia Fund, provided (i) the repurchase occurs within 90 days following the redemption, (ii) the redemption and purchase occur in the same account, and (iii) redeemed shares were subject to a front-end or deferred sales charge. |
Raymond James & Associates, Inc., Raymond James Financial Services, Inc. and each entity’s affiliates (Raymond James)
The following information has been provided by Raymond James:
Intermediary-Defined Sales Charge Waiver Policies:
The
availability of certain initial or deferred sales charge waivers and discounts may depend on the particular financial intermediary or type of account through which you purchase or hold Columbia Fund shares.
Intermediaries
may have different policies and procedures regarding the availability of front-end sales load waivers or contingent deferred (back-end) sales load (CDSC) waivers, which are discussed below. In all instances, it is the purchaser’s responsibility to notify the Fund or the purchaser’s financial intermediary at the time of purchase of any relationship or other facts qualifying the purchaser for sales charge waivers or discounts. For waivers and discounts not available through a particular intermediary, shareholders will have to purchase Columbia Fund shares directly from the Fund or through another intermediary to receive these waivers or discounts.
Raymond James:
Effective
March 1, 2019, shareholders purchasing Columbia Fund shares through a Raymond James platform or account, or through an introducing broker-dealer or independent registered investment adviser for which Raymond James provides trade execution, clearance, and/or custody services, will be eligible only for the following load waivers (front-end sales charge waivers and contingent deferred, or back-end, sales charge waivers) and discounts, which may differ from those disclosed elsewhere in this prospectus or the Fund’s SAI.
Front-End Sales Load Waivers on Class A Shares Available at Raymond James:
| ■ | Shares purchased in an investment advisory program. |
| ■ | Shares purchased within the Columbia Funds through a systematic reinvestment of capital gains and dividend distributions. |
| ■ | Employees and registered representatives of Raymond James or its affiliates and their family members as designated by Raymond James. |
| A-7 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Greater China Fund
Appendix A: Financial Intermediary-Specific Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
(continued)
| ■ | Shares purchased from the proceeds of redemptions within the Columbia Funds, provided (1) the repurchase occurs within 90 days following the redemption, (2) the redemption and purchase occur in the same account, and (3) redeemed shares were subject to a front-end or deferred sales load (known as Rights of Reinstatement). |
| ■ | A shareholder in the Fund’s Class C shares will have their shares converted at net asset value to Class A shares (or the appropriate share class) of the Fund if the shares are no longer subject to a CDSC and the conversion is in line with the policies and procedures of Raymond James. |
CDSC Waivers on Class A and Class C Shares Available at Raymond James:
| ■ | Death or disability of the shareholder. |
| ■ |
Shares sold as part of a systematic withdrawal plan as described in
this
prospectus.
|
| ■ | Return of excess contributions from an IRA Account. |
| ■ |
Shares sold as part of a required minimum distribution for IRA and retirement accounts due to the shareholder reaching the qualified age based on applicable IRS regulations as described in
this
prospectus.
|
| ■ | Shares sold to pay Raymond James fees but only if the transaction is initiated by Raymond James. |
| ■ | Shares acquired through a right of reinstatement. |
Front-End Load Discounts Available at Raymond James: Breakpoints, Rights of Accumulation and/or Letters of Intent:
| ■ | Breakpoints as described in this prospectus. |
| ■ | Rights of accumulation which entitle shareholders to breakpoint discounts will be automatically calculated based on the aggregated holding of Columbia Fund assets held by accounts within the purchaser’s household at Raymond James. Eligible Columbia Fund assets not held at Raymond James may be included in the calculation of rights of accumulation only if the shareholder notifies his or her financial advisor about such assets. |
| ■ | Letters of intent which allow for breakpoint discounts based on anticipated purchases within the Columbia Funds, over a 13-month time period. Eligible Columbia Fund assets not held at Raymond James may be included in the calculation of letters of intent only if the shareholder notifies his or her financial advisor about such assets. |
Stifel Financial Corp. (Stifel)
The following information has been provided by Stifel:
Effective June 30, 2020, Class C shares of Columbia Funds that were purchased through a Stifel platform or account that maintains an omnibus position with the Fund that are no longer subject to a CDSC are exchanged to Class A shares of the same Columbia Fund pursuant to Stifel’s policies and procedures. This does not apply to non-omnibus positions.
Additional Sales Charge Reductions and/or Waivers Available at Certain Financial Intermediaries
Shareholders purchasing
Columbia
Fund shares through a platform or account of RBC Capital Markets, LLC are eligible for the following sales charge waiver:
Class A Shares Front-End Sales Charge Waiver Available at RBC Capital Markets, LLC:
| ■ | For employer-sponsored retirement plans held through a commissionable brokerage account, Class A shares are available at NAV (i.e., without a sales charge). For this purpose, employer-sponsored retirement plans include, but are not limited to, 401(k) plans, 457 plans, employer-sponsored 403(b) plans, profit sharing and money purchase pension plans and defined benefit plans. For purposes of this provision, employer-sponsored retirement plans do not include SEP IRAs, Simple IRAs, SAR-SEPs or Keogh plans. |
| Prospectus 2021 | A-8 |
Columbia Greater China Fund
P.O. Box 219104
Kansas City, MO 64121-9104
Kansas City, MO 64121-9104
Additional Information About the Fund
Additional information about the Fund’s investments is available in the Fund’s annual and semiannual reports to shareholders. In the annual report, you will find a discussion of the market conditions and investment strategies that significantly affected the Fund’s performance during its last fiscal year. The SAI also provides additional information about the Fund and its policies. The SAI, which has been filed with the SEC, is legally part of this prospectus (incorporated by reference). To obtain these documents free of charge, to request other information about the Fund and to make shareholder inquiries, please contact the Fund as follows:
By Mail:
Columbia Management Investment Services Corp.
P.O. Box 219104
Kansas City, MO 64121-9104
P.O. Box 219104
Kansas City, MO 64121-9104
By Telephone:
800.345.6611
Online:
columbiathreadneedleus.com
Reports and other information about the Fund are also available in the EDGAR Database on the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov. You can receive copies of this information, for a duplication fee, by electronic request at the following e-mail address: publicinfo@sec.gov.
The investment company registration number of Columbia Funds Series Trust I, of which the Fund is a series, is 811-04367.
Columbia Threadneedle Investments is the global brand name of the Columbia and Threadneedle group of companies.
© 2021 Columbia Management Investment Distributors, Inc.
225 Franklin Street, Boston, MA 02110
225 Franklin Street, Boston, MA 02110
800.345.6611
PRO158_08_L01_(01/21)
Columbia International Dividend Income Fund
(formerly known as Columbia Global Dividend Opportunity Fund)
|
Class
|
Ticker Symbol
|
|
| A | CSVAX | |
| Advisor (Class Adv) | CGOLX | |
| C | CSRCX | |
| Institutional (Class Inst) | CSVFX | |
| Institutional 2 (Class Inst2) | CADPX | |
| Institutional 3 (Class Inst3) | CLSYX | |
| R | CSGRX |
Beginning on January 1, 2021, as permitted by regulations adopted by the Securities and Exchange Commission, paper copies of the Fund's annual and semiannual shareholder reports are no longer sent by mail, unless you specifically requested paper copies of the reports. Instead, the reports are made available on the Fund's website (columbiathreadneedleus.com/investor/), and each time a report is posted you will be notified by mail and provided with a website address to access the report.
If you have already elected to receive shareholder reports electronically, you will not be affected by this change and you need not take any action. You may elect to receive shareholder reports and other communications from the Fund electronically at any time by contacting your financial intermediary (such as a broker-dealer or bank) or, for Fund shares held directly with the Fund, by calling 800.345.6611 or by enrolling in “eDelivery” by logging into your account at columbiathreadneedleus.com/investor/.
You may elect to receive all future shareholder reports in paper free of charge. If you invest through a financial intermediary, you can contact your financial intermediary to request that you continue receiving paper copies of your shareholder reports. If you invest directly with the Fund, you can call 800.345.6611 to let the Fund know you wish to continue receiving paper copies of your shareholder reports. Your election to receive paper reports will apply to all Columbia Funds held in your account if you invest through a financial intermediary or all Columbia Funds held with the fund complex if you invest directly with the Fund.
As with all mutual funds, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has not approved or disapproved these securities or passed upon the adequacy of this prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.
Columbia International Dividend Income Fund
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A-1 |
| 2 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia International Dividend Income Fund
Summary of the Fund
Investment Objective
Columbia International Dividend Income Fund (the Fund) seeks total return, consisting of current income and capital appreciation.
Fees and Expenses of the Fund
This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold and sell shares of the Fund.
You may be required to pay such brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries when transacting in any class of Fund shares, including those that do not assess any front-end sales charge, contingent deferred sales charge, or other asset-based fee for sales or distribution. Such brokerage commissions and other fees are set by the financial intermediary.
You may qualify for sales charge discounts if you and members of your immediate family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $50,000 in certain classes of shares of eligible funds distributed by Columbia Management Investment Distributors, Inc. (the Distributor). More information is available about these and other sales charge discounts and waivers from your financial intermediary, and can be found in the
section beginning on page 24 of the Fund’s prospectus, in
to the prospectus beginning on page A-1 and in Appendix S to the Statement of Additional Information (SAI) under
beginning on page S-1.
You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the tables and examples below.
Choosing a Share Class
Appendix A
Sales Charge Waivers
| (a) | This charge is imposed on certain investments of between $1 million and $50 million redeemed within 18 months after purchase, as follows: 1.00% if redeemed within 12 months after purchase, and 0.50% if redeemed more than 12, but less than 18, months after purchase, with certain limited exceptions. |
| (b) | This charge applies to redemptions within 12 months after purchase, with certain limited exceptions. |
| (c) | Other expenses have been restated to reflect current transfer agency fees paid by the Fund. |
| (d) | Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC and certain of its affiliates have contractually agreed to waive fees and/or to reimburse expenses (excluding transaction costs and certain other investment related expenses, interest, taxes, acquired fund fees and expenses, and infrequent and/or unusual expenses) through December 31, 2021, unless sooner terminated at the sole discretion of the Fund’s Board of Trustees (the Board). Under this agreement, the Fund’s net operating expenses, subject to applicable exclusions, will not exceed the annual rates of 1.25% for Class A, 1.00% for Class Adv, 2.00% for Class C, 1.00% for Class Inst, 0.85% for Class Inst2, 0.81% for Class Inst3 and 1.50% for Class R. |
Example
The following example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The example illustrates the hypothetical expenses that you would incur over the time periods indicated, and assumes that:
| ■ | you invest $10,000 in the applicable class of Fund shares for the periods indicated, |
| Prospectus 2021 | 3 |
Columbia International Dividend Income Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
| ■ | your investment has a 5% return each year, and |
| ■ |
the Fund’s total annual operating expenses remain the same as shown in the
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
|
Since the waivers and/or reimbursements shown in the
table above expire as indicated in the preceding table, they are only reflected in the 1 year example and the first year of the other examples. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on the assumptions listed above, your costs would be:
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
|
1 year
|
3 years
|
5 years
|
10 years
|
|
|
Class A
(whether or not shares are redeemed)
|
$695 | $975 | $1,275 | $2,127 |
|
Class Adv
(whether or not shares are redeemed)
|
$102 | $346 |
$
|
$1,363 |
|
Class C
(assuming redemption of all shares at the end of the period)
|
$303 | $654 | $1,132 | $2,452 |
|
Class C
(assuming no redemption of shares)
|
$203 | $654 | $1,132 | $2,452 |
|
Class Inst
(whether or not shares are redeemed)
|
$102 | $346 |
$
|
$1,363 |
|
Class Inst2
(whether or not shares are redeemed)
|
$
|
$284 |
$
|
$1,114 |
|
Class Inst3
(whether or not shares are redeemed)
|
$
|
$269 |
$
|
$1,056 |
|
Class R
(whether or not shares are redeemed)
|
$153 | $502 |
$
|
$1,922 |
Portfolio Turnover
The Fund may pay transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 91% of the average value of its portfolio.
Principal Investment Strategies
Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets (including the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes) in income-producing (dividend-paying) equity securities of foreign companies, including securities of companies in emerging market countries. Equity securities include, for example, common stock, preferred stock, convertible securities and depositary receipts. The Fund focuses its investments on securities of companies believed to be attractively valued and to have the potential for long-term growth. The Fund may invest in companies that have market capitalizations of any size. The Fund may from time to time emphasize one or more sectors in selecting its investments, including the financial services sector.
The Fund may invest directly in foreign securities or indirectly through depositary receipts. From time to time, the Fund may focus its investments in certain countries or geographic areas, including the Asia/Pacific region and Europe.
The Fund typically employs a focused portfolio investing style, which results in fewer holdings than a fund that seeks to achieve its investment objective by investing in a greater number of issuers.
Principal Risks
An investment in the Fund involves risks, including
,
,
, and
, among others. Descriptions of these and other principal risks of investing in the Fund are provided below.
. The value of the Fund’s holdings may decline, and the Fund’s net asset value (NAV) and share price may go down. An investment in the Fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency.
Foreign Securities Risk
Market Risk
Changing Distribution Level Risk
Focused Portfolio Risk
There is no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objective and you may lose money
Active Management Risk.
Due to its active management, the Fund could underperform its benchmark index and/or other funds with similar investment objectives and/or strategies.
| 4 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia International Dividend Income Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
Changing Distribution Level Risk.
The Fund normally expects to receive income which may include interest, dividends and/or capital gains, depending upon its investments. The distribution amounts paid by the Fund will vary and generally depend on the amount of income the Fund earns (less expenses) on its portfolio holdings, and capital gains or losses it recognizes. A decline in the Fund’s income or net capital gains arising from its investments may reduce its distribution level.
Convertible Securities Risk.
Convertible securities are subject to the usual risks associated with debt instruments, such as interest rate risk and credit risk. Convertible securities also react to changes in the value of the common stock into which they convert, and are thus subject to market risk. The Fund may also be forced to convert a convertible security at an inopportune time, which may decrease the Fund’s return.
Depositary Receipts Risk.
Depositary receipts are receipts issued by a bank or trust company reflecting ownership of underlying securities issued by foreign companies. Some foreign securities are traded in the form of American Depositary Receipts and/or Global Depositary Receipts. Depositary receipts involve risks similar to the risks associated with investments in foreign securities, including those associated with investing in the particular country of an issuer, which may be related to the particular political, regulatory, economic, social and other conditions or events, including, for example, military confrontations, war, terrorism and disease/virus outbreaks and epidemics, occurring in the country and fluctuations in such country’s currency, as well as market risk tied to the underlying foreign company. In addition, holders of depositary receipts may have limited voting rights, may not have the same rights afforded to stockholders of a typical domestic company in the event of a corporate action, such as an acquisition, merger or rights offering, and may experience difficulty in receiving company stockholder communications. There is no guarantee that a financial institution will continue to sponsor a depositary receipt, or that a depositary receipt will continue to trade on an exchange, either of which could adversely affect the liquidity, availability and pricing of the depositary receipt. Changes in foreign currency exchange rates will affect the value of depositary receipts and, therefore, may affect the value of your investment in the Fund.
Emerging Market Securities Risk.
Securities issued by foreign governments or companies in emerging market countries, such as China, Russia and certain countries in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Latin America or Africa, are more likely to have greater exposure to the risks of investing in foreign securities that are described in Foreign Securities Risk. In addition, emerging market countries are more likely to experience instability resulting, for example, from rapid changes or developments in social, political, economic or other conditions. Their economies are usually less mature and their securities markets are typically less developed with more limited trading activity (i.e., lower trading volumes and less liquidity) than more developed countries. Emerging market securities tend to be more volatile than securities in more developed markets. Many emerging market countries are heavily dependent on international trade and have fewer trading partners, which makes them more sensitive to world commodity prices and economic downturns in other countries, and some have a higher risk of currency devaluations. Due to the differences in the nature and quality of financial information of issuers of emerging market securities, including auditing and financial reporting standards, financial information and disclosures about such issuers may be unavailable or, if made available, may be considerably less reliable than publicly available information about other foreign securities.
Focused Portfolio Risk.
Because the Fund may invest in a limited number of companies, the Fund as a whole is subject to greater risk of loss if any of those securities decline in price.
Foreign Securities Risk.
Investments in or exposure to foreign securities involve certain risks not associated with investments in or exposure to securities of U.S. companies. Foreign securities subject the Fund to the risks associated with investing in the particular country of an issuer, including political, regulatory, economic, social, diplomatic and other conditions or events (including, for example, military confrontations, war, terrorism and disease/virus outbreaks and epidemics), occurring in the country or region, as well as risks associated with less developed custody and settlement practices. Foreign securities may be more volatile and less liquid than securities of U.S. companies, and are subject to the risks associated with potential imposition of economic and other sanctions against a particular foreign country, its nationals or industries or businesses within the country. In addition, foreign governments may impose withholding or other taxes on the Fund’s income, capital gains or proceeds from the disposition of foreign securities, which could reduce the Fund’s return on such securities. The performance of the Fund may also be negatively affected by fluctuations in a foreign currency's strength or weakness relative to the U.S. dollar, particularly to the extent the Fund invests a significant percentage of its assets in foreign securities or other assets denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar.
| Prospectus 2021 | 5 |
Columbia International Dividend Income Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
Geographic Focus Risk.
The Fund may be particularly susceptible to economic, political, regulatory or other events or conditions affecting issuers and countries within the specific geographic regions in which the Fund invests. The Fund’s NAV may be more volatile than the NAV of a more geographically diversified fund.
Asia Pacific Region.
Many of the countries in the Asia Pacific region are considered underdeveloped or developing, including from a political, economic and/or social perspective, and may have relatively unstable governments and economies based on limited business, industries and/or natural resources or commodities. Events in any one country within the region may impact other countries in the region or the region as a whole. As a result, events in the region will generally have a greater effect on the Fund than if the Fund were more geographically diversified. This could result in increased volatility in the value of the Fund’s investments and losses for the Fund. Also, securities of some companies in the region can be less liquid than U.S. or other foreign securities, potentially making it difficult for the Fund to sell such securities at a desirable time and price.
Europe.
The Fund is particularly susceptible to economic, political, regulatory or other events or conditions affecting issuers and countries in Europe. In addition, the private and public sectors’ debt problems of a single European Union (EU) country can pose significant economic risks to the EU as a whole. As a result, the Fund’s NAV may be more volatile than the NAV of a more geographically diversified fund. If securities of issuers in Europe fall out of favor, it may cause the Fund to underperform other funds that do not focus their investments in this region of the world. The impact of any partial or complete dissolution of the EU on the United Kingdom (UK) and European economies and the broader global economy could be significant, resulting in negative impacts on currency and financial markets generally, such as increased volatility and illiquidity, and potentially lower economic growth in markets in Europe, which may adversely affect the value of your investment in the Fund.
Issuer Risk.
An issuer in which the Fund invests or to which it has exposure may perform poorly or below expectations, and the value of its securities may therefore decline, which may negatively affect the Fund’s performance. Underperformance of an issuer may be caused by poor management decisions, competitive pressures, breakthroughs in technology, reliance on suppliers, labor problems or shortages, corporate restructurings, fraudulent disclosures, natural disasters, military confrontations, war, terrorism, disease/virus outbreaks, epidemics or other events, conditions and factors which may impair the value of an investment in the Fund.
Small- and Mid-Cap Stock Risk.
Investments in small- and mid-capitalization companies (small- and mid-cap companies) often involve greater risks than investments in larger, more established companies (larger companies) because small- and mid-cap companies tend to have less predictable earnings and may lack the management experience, financial resources, product diversification and competitive strengths of larger companies. Securities of small- and mid-cap companies may be less liquid and more volatile than the securities of larger companies.
Large-Cap Stock Risk.
Investments in larger companies may involve certain risks associated with their larger size. For instance, larger companies may be less able to respond quickly to new competitive challenges, such as changes in consumer tastes or innovation from smaller competitors. Also, larger companies are sometimes less able to achieve as high growth rates as successful smaller companies, especially during extended periods of economic expansion.
Liquidity Risk.
Liquidity risk is the risk associated with any event, circumstance, or characteristic of an investment or market that negatively impacts the Fund’s ability to sell, or realize the proceeds from the sale of, an investment at a desirable time or price. Liquidity risk may arise because of, for example, a lack of marketability of the investment, which means that when seeking to sell its portfolio investments, the Fund could find that selling is more difficult than anticipated, especially during times of high market volatility. Market participants attempting to sell the same or a similar instrument at the same time as the Fund could exacerbate the Fund’s exposure to liquidity risk. The Fund may have to accept a lower selling price for the holding, sell other liquid or more liquid investments that it might otherwise prefer to hold (thereby increasing the proportion of the Fund’s investments in less liquid or illiquid securities), or forego another more appealing investment opportunity. The liquidity of Fund investments may change significantly over time and certain investments that were liquid when purchased by the Fund may later become illiquid, particularly in times of overall economic distress. Changing regulatory, market or other conditions or environments (for example, the interest rate or credit environments) may also adversely affect the liquidity and the price of the Fund's investments. Judgment plays a larger role in valuing illiquid or less liquid investments as compared to valuing liquid or more liquid investments. Price volatility may be higher for illiquid or less liquid investments as a result of, for example, the relatively less frequent pricing of such securities (as compared to liquid or more liquid investments). Generally, the less liquid the market at the time the Fund sells a portfolio investment, the greater the risk of loss or
| 6 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia International Dividend Income Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
decline of value to the Fund. Overall market liquidity and other factors can lead to an increase in redemptions, which may negatively impact Fund performance and NAV, including, for example, if the Fund is forced to sell investments in a down market. Foreign securities can present enhanced liquidity risks, including as a result of less developed custody, settlement or other practices of foreign markets.
Market Risk.
The Fund may incur losses due to declines in the value of one or more securities in which it invests. These declines may be due to factors affecting a particular issuer, or the result of, among other things, political, regulatory, market, economic or social developments affecting the relevant market(s) more generally. In addition, turbulence in financial markets and reduced liquidity in equity, credit and/or fixed income markets may negatively affect many issuers, which could adversely affect the Fund, including causing difficulty in assigning prices to hard-to-value assets in thinly traded and closed markets, significant redemptions and operational challenges. Global economies and financial markets are increasingly interconnected, and conditions and events in one country, region or financial market may adversely impact issuers in a different country, region or financial market. These risks may be magnified if certain events or developments adversely interrupt the global supply chain; in these and other circumstances, such risks might affect companies worldwide. As a result, local, regional or global events such as terrorism, war, natural disasters, disease/virus outbreaks and epidemics or other public health issues, recessions, depressions or other events – or the potential for such events – could have a significant negative impact on global economic and market conditions.
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) public health crisis has become a pandemic that has resulted in, and may continue to result in, significant global economic and societal disruption and market volatility due to disruptions in market access, resource availability, facilities operations, imposition of tariffs, export controls and supply chain disruption, among others. Such disruptions may be caused, or exacerbated by, quarantines and travel restrictions, workforce displacement and loss in human and other resources. The uncertainty surrounding the magnitude, duration, reach, costs and effects of the global pandemic, as well as actions that have been or could be taken by governmental authorities or other third parties, present unknowns that are yet to unfold. The impacts, as well as the uncertainty over impacts to come, of COVID-19 – and any other infectious illness outbreaks, epidemics and pandemics that may arise in the future – could negatively affect global economies and markets in ways that cannot necessarily be foreseen. In addition, the impact of infectious illness outbreaks and epidemics in emerging market countries may be greater due to generally less established healthcare systems, governments and financial markets. Public health crises caused by the COVID-19 outbreak may exacerbate other pre-existing political, social and economic risks in certain countries or globally. The disruptions caused by COVID-19 could prevent the Fund from executing advantageous investment decisions in a timely manner and negatively impact the Fund’s ability to achieve its investment objective. Any such event(s) could have a significant adverse impact on the value and risk profile of the Fund.
Preferred Stock Risk.
Preferred stock is a type of stock that may pay dividends at a different rate than common stock of the same issuer, if at all, and that has preference over common stock in the payment of dividends and the liquidation of assets. Preferred stock does not ordinarily carry voting rights. The price of a preferred stock is generally determined by earnings, type of products or services, projected growth rates, experience of management, liquidity, and general market conditions of the markets on which the stock trades. The most significant risks associated with investments in preferred stock include issuer risk, market risk and interest rate risk (the risk of losses attributable to changes in interest rates).
Sector Risk.
At times, the Fund may have a significant portion of its assets invested in securities of companies conducting business within one or more economic sectors, including the financial services sector. Companies in the same sector may be similarly affected by economic, regulatory, political or market events or conditions, which may make the Fund more vulnerable to unfavorable developments in that sector than funds that invest more broadly. Generally, the more broadly the Fund invests, the more it spreads risk and potentially reduces the risks of loss and volatility.
Financial Services Sector.
The Fund may be more susceptible to the particular risks that may affect companies in the financial services sector than if it were invested in a wider variety of companies in unrelated sectors. Companies in the financial services sector are subject to certain risks, including the risk of regulatory change, decreased liquidity in credit markets and unstable interest rates. Such companies may have concentrated portfolios, such as a high level of loans to one or more industries or sectors, which makes them vulnerable to economic conditions that affect such industries or sectors. Performance of such companies may be affected by competitive pressures and exposure
| Prospectus 2021 | 7 |
Columbia International Dividend Income Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
to investments, agreements and counterparties, including credit products that, under certain circumstances, may lead to losses (e.g., subprime loans). Companies in the financial services sector are subject to extensive governmental regulation that may limit the amount and types of loans and other financial commitments they can make, and the interest rates and fees they may charge. In addition, profitability of such companies is largely dependent upon the availability and the cost of capital.
Value Securities Risk.
Value securities are securities of companies that may have experienced, for example, adverse business, industry or other developments or may be subject to special risks that have caused the securities to be out of favor and, in turn, potentially undervalued. The market value of a portfolio security may not meet portfolio management’s perceived value assessment of that security, or may decline in price, even though portfolio management believes the securities are already undervalued. There is also a risk that it may take longer than expected for the value of these investments to rise to portfolio management’s perceived value. In addition, value securities, at times, may not perform as well as growth securities or the stock market in general, and may be out of favor with investors for varying periods of time.
Performance Information
The following bar chart and table show you how the Fund has performed in the past, and can help you understand the risks of investing in the Fund. The bar chart shows how the Fund’s Class A share performance (without sales charges) has varied for each full calendar year shown. If the sales charges were reflected, returns shown would be lower.
The table below the bar chart compares the Fund’s returns (after applicable sales charges shown in the
table in this prospectus) for the periods shown with a broad measure of market performance, as well as another measure of performance for markets in which the Fund may invest.
Shareholder Fees
Effective September 2, 2020, the Fund compares its performance to that of the MSCI ACWI ex USA Index (Net) and the MSCI ACWI ex USA Value Index (Net) (the New Indices). Prior to this date, the Fund compared its performance to that of the MSCI ACWI High Dividend Yield Index (Net) and the MSCI ACWI (Net) (the Former Indices). The Fund’s investment manager believes that the New Indices provide a more appropriate basis for comparing the Fund's performance in light of the changes made to the Fund's name and principal investment strategies. Information on the Former Indices also will be shown for a one-year transition period.
The performance of one or more share classes shown in the table below begins before the indicated inception date for such share class. The returns shown for each such share class include the returns of the Fund’s Class Inst shares (adjusted to reflect the higher class-related operating expenses of such share classes, where applicable) for periods prior to its inception date. Share classes with expenses that are higher than Class Inst shares will have performance that is lower than Class Inst shares. Except for differences in annual returns resulting from differences in expenses and sales charges (where applicable), the share classes of the Fund would have substantially similar annual returns because all share classes of the Fund invest in the same portfolio of securities.
The after-tax returns shown in the
table below are calculated using the highest historical individual U.S. federal marginal income tax rates in effect during the period indicated in the table and do not reflect the impact of state, local or foreign taxes.
Your actual after-tax returns will depend on your personal tax situation and may differ from those shown in the table. In addition, the after-tax returns shown in the table do not apply to shares held in tax-advantaged accounts such as 401(k) plans or Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs). The after-tax returns are shown only for Class A shares and will vary for other share classes.
Average Annual Total Returns
The Fund’s performance prior to September 2, 2020 reflects returns achieved according to different principal investment strategies. If the Fund's current strategies had been in place for the prior periods, results shown may have been different.
The Fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) is no guarantee of how the Fund will perform in the future.
Updated performance information can be obtained by calling toll-free 800.345.6611 or visiting columbiathreadneedleus.com.
| 8 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia International Dividend Income Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
|
Year by Year Total Return (%)
as of December 31 Each Year* |
Best and Worst Quarterly Returns
During the Period Shown in the Bar Chart |
||
|
Best
|
3rd Quarter 2010
|
14.39
%
|
|
Worst
|
3rd Quarter 2011
|
-20.78
%
|
|
| * | Year to Date return as of September 30, 2020: -9.03% |
Average Annual Total Returns After Applicable Sales Charges (for periods ended December 31, 2019)
|
Share Class
Inception Date |
1 Year
|
5 Years
|
10 Years
|
|
|
Class A
|
11/01/2002 | |||
| returns before taxes | 16.99% | 3.67% | 5.99% | |
| returns after taxes on distributions | 16.19% | 2.98% | 5.00% | |
| returns after taxes on distributions and sale of Fund shares | 10.78% | 2.88% | 4.78% | |
|
Class Adv
returns before taxes
|
03/19/2013 | 24.40% | 5.18% | 6.88% |
|
Class C
returns before taxes
|
10/13/2003 | 22.21% | 4.13% | 5.82% |
|
Class Inst
returns before taxes
|
11/09/2000 | 24.48% | 5.18% | 6.88% |
|
Class Inst2
returns before taxes
|
01/08/2014 | 24.57% | 5.32% | 6.98% |
|
Class Inst3
returns before taxes
|
07/15/2009 | 24.66% | 5.39% | 7.09% |
|
Class R
returns before taxes
|
09/27/2010 | 23.77% | 4.65% | 6.34% |
|
MSCI ACWI ex USA Index (Net)
(reflects reinvested dividends net of withholding taxes but reflects no deductions for fees, expenses or other taxes)
|
21.51% | 5.51% | 4.97% | |
|
MSCI ACWI ex USA Value Index (Net)
(reflects reinvested dividends net of withholding taxes but reflects no deductions for fees, expenses or other taxes)
|
15.71% | 3.65% | 3.64% | |
|
MSCI ACWI High Dividend Yield Index (Net)
(reflects reinvested dividends net of withholding taxes but reflects no deductions for fees, expenses or other taxes)
|
23.88% | 7.33% | 7.63% | |
|
MSCI ACWI (Net)
(reflects reinvested dividends net of withholding taxes but reflects no deductions for fees, expenses or other taxes)
|
26.60% | 8.41% | 8.79% |
Fund Management
|
Portfolio Manager
|
Title
|
Role with Fund
|
Managed Fund Since
|
|||
| Jonathan Crown | Portfolio Manager | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2016 | |||
| Georgina Hellyer, CFA | Portfolio Manager | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2018 |
| Prospectus 2021 | 9 |
Columbia International Dividend Income Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares
You may purchase or redeem shares of the Fund on any business day by contacting the Fund in the ways described below:
|
Online
|
Regular Mail
|
Express Mail
|
By Telephone
|
|||
| columbiathreadneedleus.com/investor/ |
Columbia Management
Investment Services Corp. P.O. Box 219104 Kansas City, MO 64121-9104 |
Columbia Management
Investment Services Corp. c/o DST Asset Manager Solutions, Inc. 430 W 7
th
Street, Suite 219104
Kansas City, MO 64105-1407 |
800.422.3737 |
You may purchase shares and receive redemption proceeds by electronic funds transfer, by check or by wire. If you maintain your account with a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary, you must contact that financial intermediary to buy, sell or exchange shares of the Fund through your account with the intermediary.
The minimum initial investment amounts for the share classes offered by the Fund are shown below:
Minimum Initial Investment
|
Class
|
Category of eligible account
|
For accounts other than
systematic investment plan accounts |
For systematic investment
plan accounts |
|
Classes A & C
|
All accounts other than IRAs | $2,000 | $100 |
| IRAs | $1,000 | $100 | |
|
Classes Adv & Inst
|
All eligible accounts |
$0, $1,000 or $2,000
depending upon the category of eligible investor |
$100 |
|
Classes Inst2 & R
|
All eligible accounts | None | N/A |
|
Class Inst3
|
All eligible accounts |
$0, $1,000, $2,000
or $1 million depending upon the category of eligible investor |
$100 (for certain
eligible investors) |
More information about these minimums can be found in the
section of the prospectus. There is no minimum additional investment for any share class.
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares - Buying Shares
Tax Information
The Fund normally distributes net investment income and net realized capital gains, if any, to shareholders. These distributions are generally taxable to you as ordinary income, qualified dividend income or capital gains, unless you are investing through a tax-advantaged account, such as a 401(k) plan or an IRA. If you are investing through a tax-advantaged account, you may be taxed upon withdrawals from that account.
Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
If you purchase the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), the Fund and its related companies — including Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC (the Investment Manager), Columbia Management Investment Distributors, Inc. (the Distributor) and Columbia Management Investment Services Corp. (the Transfer Agent) — may pay the intermediary for the sale of Fund shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your financial advisor to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your financial advisor or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.
| 10 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia International Dividend Income Fund
More Information About the Fund
Investment Objective
Columbia International Dividend Income Fund (the Fund) seeks total return, consisting of current income and capital appreciation. The Fund’s investment objective is not a fundamental policy and may be changed by the Fund’s Board of Trustees without shareholder approval. Because any investment involves risk, there is no assurance the Fund’s investment objective will be achieved.
Principal Investment Strategies
Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets (including the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes) in income-producing (dividend-paying) equity securities of foreign companies, including securities of companies in emerging market countries. Equity securities include, for example, common stock, preferred stock, convertible securities and depositary receipts. The Fund focuses its investments on securities of companies believed to be attractively valued and to have the potential for long-term growth. A dividend-paying equity security is an issuer security that, during the issuer’s most recent fiscal year for which financials are available, has paid a dividend. The Fund may invest in companies that have market capitalizations of any size. The Fund may from time to time emphasize one or more sectors in selecting its investments, including the financial services sector.
The Fund may invest directly in foreign securities or indirectly through depositary receipts. Depositary receipts are receipts issued by a bank or trust company reflecting ownership of underlying securities issued by foreign companies.
From time to time, the Fund may focus its investments in certain countries or geographic areas, including the Asia/Pacific region and Europe.
The Fund typically employs a focused portfolio investing style, which results in fewer holdings than a fund that seeks to achieve its investment objective by investing in a greater number of issuers.
The investment manager employs fundamental analysis with risk management in identifying investment opportunities and constructing the Fund’s portfolio.
In selecting investments, Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC (the Investment Manager) considers, among other factors:
| ■ | various measures of valuation, including price-to-cash flow, price-to-earnings, price-to-sales, price-to-book value, free cash flow yield and dividend yield and growth. The Investment Manager believes that companies with lower valuations are generally more likely to provide opportunities for capital appreciation; |
| ■ | potential indicators of stock price appreciation, such as anticipated earnings growth, company restructuring, changes in management, business model changes, new product opportunities, or anticipated improvements in macroeconomic factors; |
| ■ | the financial condition and management of a company, including its competitive position, capital allocation discipline, the quality of its balance sheet, cash flow and earnings, its future prospects, and the potential for growth and stock price appreciation; and/or |
| ■ | overall economic and market conditions. |
The Investment Manager may sell a security when it deems the security has become expensive relative to various valuation measures; if the Investment Manager believes that there is deterioration in the issuer’s financial circumstances or fundamental prospects; if other investments are more attractive; or for other reasons.
The Fund’s investment policy with respect to 80% of its net assets may be changed by the Fund’s Board of Trustees without shareholder approval as long as shareholders are given 60 days’ advance written notice of the change. Additionally, shareholders will be given 60 days’ notice of any change to the Fund’s investment objective made to comply with the SEC rule governing investment company names.
Principal Risks
An investment in the Fund involves risks, including
,
,
, and
, among others. Descriptions of these and other principal risks of investing in the Fund are provided below.
Foreign Securities Risk
Market Risk
Changing Distribution Level Risk
Focused Portfolio Risk
There is no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objective and you may
| Prospectus 2021 | 11 |
Columbia International Dividend Income Fund
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
lose money
. The value of the Fund’s holdings may decline, and the Fund’s net asset value (NAV) and share price may go down. An investment in the Fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency.
Active Management Risk.
The Fund is actively managed and its performance therefore will reflect, in part, the ability of the portfolio managers to make investment decisions that seek to achieve the Fund’s investment objective. Due to its active management, the Fund could underperform its benchmark index and/or other funds with similar investment objectives and/or strategies.
Changing Distribution Level Risk.
The Fund normally expects to receive income which may include interest, dividends and/or capital gains, depending upon its investments. The distribution amounts paid by the Fund will vary and generally depend on the amount of income the Fund earns (less expenses) on its portfolio holdings, and capital gains or losses it recognizes. A decline in the Fund’s income or net capital gains arising from its investments may reduce its distribution level.
Convertible Securities Risk.
Convertible securities are subject to the usual risks associated with debt instruments, such as interest rate risk (the risk of losses attributable to changes in interest rates) and credit risk (the risk that the issuer of a debt instrument will default or otherwise become unable, or be perceived to be unable or unwilling, to honor a financial obligation, such as making payments to the Fund when due). Convertible securities also react to changes in the value of the common stock into which they convert, and are thus subject to market risk (the risk that the market values of securities or other investments that the Fund holds will fall, sometimes rapidly or unpredictably, or fail to rise). Because the value of a convertible security can be influenced by both interest rates and the common stock's market movements, a convertible security generally is not as sensitive to interest rates as a similar debt instrument, and generally will not vary in value in response to other factors to the same extent as the underlying common stock. In the event of a liquidation of the issuing company, holders of convertible securities would typically be paid before the company's common stockholders but after holders of any senior debt obligations of the company. The Fund may be forced to convert a convertible security before it otherwise would choose to do so, which may decrease the Fund's return.
Depositary Receipts Risk.
Depositary receipts are receipts issued by a bank or trust company reflecting ownership of underlying securities issued by foreign companies. Some foreign securities are traded in the form of American Depositary Receipts and/or Global Depositary Receipts. Depositary receipts involve risks similar to the risks associated with investments in foreign securities, including those associated with investing in the particular country of an issuer, which may be related to the particular political, regulatory, economic, social and other conditions or events, including, for example, military confrontations, war, terrorism and disease/virus outbreaks and epidemics, occurring in the country and fluctuations in such country’s currency, as well as market risk tied to the underlying foreign company. In addition, holders of depositary receipts may have limited voting rights, may not have the same rights afforded to stockholders of a typical domestic company in the event of a corporate action, such as an acquisition, merger or rights offering, and may experience difficulty in receiving company stockholder communications. There is no guarantee that a financial institution will continue to sponsor a depositary receipt, or that a depositary receipt will continue to trade on an exchange, either of which could adversely affect the liquidity, availability and pricing of the depositary receipt. Changes in foreign currency exchange rates will affect the value of depositary receipts and, therefore, may affect the value of your investment in the Fund.
Emerging Market Securities Risk.
Securities issued by foreign governments or companies in emerging market countries, such as China, Russia and certain countries in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Latin America or Africa, are more likely to have greater exposure to the risks of investing in foreign securities that are described in Foreign Securities Risk. In addition, emerging market countries are more likely to experience instability resulting, for example, from rapid changes or developments in social, political, economic or other conditions. Their economies are usually less mature and their securities markets are typically less developed with more limited trading activity (i.e., lower trading volumes and less liquidity) than more developed countries. Emerging market securities tend to be more volatile than securities in more developed markets. Many emerging market countries are heavily dependent on international trade and have fewer trading partners, which makes them more sensitive to world commodity prices and economic downturns in other countries. Some emerging market countries have a higher risk of currency devaluations, and some of these countries may experience periods of high inflation or rapid changes in inflation rates and may have hostile relations with other countries. Due to the differences in the nature and quality of financial information of
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issuers of emerging market securities, including auditing and financial reporting standards, financial information and disclosures about such issuers may be unavailable or, if made available, may be considerably less reliable than publicly available information about other foreign securities.
Focused Portfolio Risk.
The Fund, because it may invest in a limited number of companies, may have more volatility in its NAV and is considered to have more risk than a fund that invests in a greater number of companies because changes in the value of a single security may have a more significant effect, either negative or positive, on the Fund’s NAV. To the extent the Fund invests its assets in fewer securities, the Fund is subject to greater risk of loss if any of those securities decline in price.
Foreign Securities Risk.
Investments in or exposure to foreign securities involve certain risks not associated with investments in or exposure to securities of U.S. companies. For example, foreign markets can be extremely volatile. Foreign securities may also be less liquid, making them more difficult to trade, than securities of U.S. companies so that the Fund may, at times, be unable to sell foreign securities at desirable times or prices. Brokerage commissions, custodial costs and other fees are also generally higher for foreign securities. The Fund may have limited or no legal recourse in the event of default with respect to certain foreign securities, including those issued by foreign governments. In addition, foreign governments may impose withholding or other taxes on the Fund’s income, capital gains or proceeds from the disposition of foreign securities, which could reduce the Fund’s return on such securities. In some cases, such withholding or other taxes could potentially be confiscatory. Other risks include: possible delays in the settlement of transactions or in the payment of income; generally less publicly available information about foreign companies; the impact of economic, political, social, diplomatic or other conditions or events (including, for example, military confrontations, war, terrorism and disease/virus outbreaks and epidemics), possible seizure, expropriation or nationalization of a company or its assets or the assets of a particular investor or category of investors; accounting, auditing and financial reporting standards that may be less comprehensive and stringent than those applicable to domestic companies; the imposition of economic and other sanctions against a particular foreign country, its nationals or industries or businesses within the country; and the generally less stringent standard of care to which local agents may be held in the local markets. In addition, it may be difficult to obtain reliable information about the securities and business operations of certain foreign issuers. Governments or trade groups may compel local agents to hold securities in designated depositories that are not subject to independent evaluation. The less developed a country’s securities market is, the greater the level of risks. The risks posed by sanctions against a particular foreign country, its nationals or industries or businesses within the country may be heightened to the extent the Fund invests significantly in the affected country or region or in issuers from the affected country that depend on global markets. Additionally, investments in certain countries may subject the Fund to a number of tax rules, the application of which may be uncertain. Countries may amend or revise their existing tax laws, regulations and/or procedures in the future, possibly with retroactive effect. Changes in or uncertainties regarding the laws, regulations or procedures of a country could reduce the after-tax profits of the Fund, directly or indirectly, including by reducing the after-tax profits of companies located in such countries in which the Fund invests, or result in unexpected tax liabilities for the Fund. The performance of the Fund may also be negatively affected by fluctuations in a foreign currency's strength or weakness relative to the U.S. dollar, particularly to the extent the Fund invests a significant percentage of its assets in foreign securities or other assets denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar. Currency rates in foreign countries may fluctuate significantly over short or long periods of time for a number of reasons, including changes in interest rates, imposition of currency exchange controls and economic or political developments in the U.S. or abroad. The Fund may also incur currency conversion costs when converting foreign currencies into U.S. dollars and vice versa.
Geographic Focus Risk.
The Fund may be particularly susceptible to economic, political, regulatory or other events or conditions affecting issuers and countries within the specific geographic regions in which the Fund invests. Currency devaluations could occur in countries that have not yet experienced currency devaluation to date, or could continue to occur in countries that have already experienced such devaluations. As a result, the Fund’s NAV may be more volatile than the NAV of a more geographically diversified fund.
Asia Pacific Region.
A number of countries in the Asia Pacific region are considered underdeveloped or developing, including from a political, economic and/or social perspective, and may have relatively unstable governments and economies based on limited business, industries and/or natural resources or commodities. Events in any one country within the region may impact that country, other countries in the region or the region as a whole. As a result, events in the region will generally have a greater effect on the Fund than if the Fund were more geographically diversified in a region with more developed countries and economies. This could result in increased volatility in the
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value of the Fund’s investments and losses for the Fund. Continued growth of economies and securities markets in the region will require sustained economic and fiscal discipline, as well as continued commitment to governmental and regulatory reforms. Development also may be influenced by international economic conditions, including those in the United States and Japan, and by world demand for goods or natural resources produced in countries in the Asia Pacific region. Securities markets in the region are generally smaller and have a lower trading volume than those in the United States, which may result in the securities of some companies in the region being less liquid than U.S. or other foreign securities. Some currencies, inflation rates or interest rates in the Asia Pacific region are or can be volatile, and some countries in the region may restrict the flow of money in and out of the country. The risks described under “Emerging Market Securities Risk” and “Foreign Securities Risk” may be more pronounced due to the Fund’s focus on investments in the region.
Europe.
The Fund is particularly susceptible to economic, political, regulatory or other events or conditions affecting issuers and countries in Europe. Most developed countries in Western Europe are members of the EU, and many are also members of the European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). European countries can be significantly affected by the tight fiscal and monetary controls that the EMU imposes on its members and with which candidates for EMU membership are required to comply. In addition, the private and public sectors’ debt problems of a single EU country can pose significant economic risks to the EU as a whole. Unemployment in Europe has historically been higher than in the United States and public deficits are an ongoing concern in many European countries. As a result, the Fund’s NAV may be more volatile than the NAV of a more geographically diversified fund. If securities of issuers in Europe fall out of favor, it may cause the Fund to underperform other funds that do not focus their investments in this region of the world. At a referendum in June 2016, the citizens of the UK voted to leave the EU (commonly known as “Brexit”). On January 31, 2020, the UK formally exited the EU on the terms of the Withdrawal Agreement, the deal agreed at a political level between the UK and the EU and entered into an implementation period until December 31, 2020, during which negotiations on the future relationship between the UK and the EU will take place. However, there is a significant degree of uncertainty as to the outcome of these negotiations, in particular relating to the final terms of the agreement to be negotiated with the EU or whether a final agreement will ultimately be reached by the end of the implementation period. The impact of any partial or complete dissolution of the EU on the UK and European economies and the broader global economy could be significant, resulting in negative impacts on currency and financial markets generally, such as increased volatility and illiquidity, and potentially lower economic growth in markets in the UK, Europe and globally, which may adversely affect the value of your investment in the Fund. The impact of Brexit in the near- and long-term is still unknown and could have additional adverse effects on economies, financial markets, currencies and asset valuations around the world. Any attempt by the Fund to hedge against or otherwise protect its portfolio or to profit from such circumstances may fail and, accordingly, an investment in the Fund could lose money over short or long periods. For more information on the risks associated with Brexit, see the Statement of Additional Information.
Issuer Risk.
An issuer in which the Fund invests or to which it has exposure may perform poorly or below expectations, and the value of its securities may therefore decline, which may negatively affect the Fund’s performance. Underperformance of an issuer may be caused by poor management decisions, competitive pressures, breakthroughs in technology, reliance on suppliers, labor problems or shortages, corporate restructurings, fraudulent disclosures, natural disasters, military confrontations, war, terrorism, disease/virus outbreaks, epidemics or other events, conditions and factors which may impair the value of an investment in the Fund.
Small- and Mid-Cap Stock Risk.
Securities of small- and mid-cap companies can, in certain circumstances, have a higher potential for gains than securities of larger companies but are more likely to have more risk than larger companies. For example, small- and mid-cap companies may be more vulnerable to market downturns and adverse business or economic events than larger companies because they may have more limited financial resources and business operations. Small- and mid-cap companies are also more likely than larger companies to have more limited product lines and operating histories and to depend on smaller and generally less experienced management teams. Securities of small- and mid-cap companies may trade less frequently and in smaller volumes and may be less liquid and fluctuate more sharply in value than securities of larger companies. When the Fund takes significant positions in small- and mid-cap companies with limited trading volumes, the liquidation of those positions, particularly in a distressed market, could be prolonged and result in Fund investment losses that would affect the value of your investment in the Fund. In addition, some small- and mid-cap companies may not be widely followed by the investment community, which can lower the demand for their stocks.
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Large-Cap Stock Risk.
Investments in larger companies may involve certain risks associated with their larger size. For instance, larger companies may be less able to respond quickly to new competitive challenges, such as changes in consumer tastes or innovation from smaller competitors. Also, larger companies are sometimes less able to achieve as high growth rates as successful smaller companies, especially during extended periods of economic expansion.
Liquidity Risk.
Liquidity risk is the risk associated with any event, circumstance, or characteristic of an investment or market that negatively impacts the Fund’s ability to sell, or realize the proceeds from the sale of, an investment at a desirable time or price. Liquidity risk may arise because of, for example, a lack of marketability of the investment, which means that when seeking to sell its portfolio investments, the Fund could find that selling is more difficult than anticipated, especially during times of high market volatility. Market participants attempting to sell the same or a similar instrument at the same time as the Fund could exacerbate the Fund’s exposure to liquidity risk. The Fund may have to accept a lower selling price for the holding, sell other liquid or more liquid investments that it might otherwise prefer to hold (thereby increasing the proportion of the Fund’s investments in less liquid or illiquid securities), or forego another more appealing investment opportunity. The liquidity of Fund investments may change significantly over time and certain investments that were liquid when purchased by the Fund may later become illiquid, particularly in times of overall economic distress. Changing regulatory, market or other conditions or environments (for example, the interest rate or credit environments) may also adversely affect the liquidity and the price of the Fund's investments. Judgment plays a larger role in valuing illiquid or less liquid investments as compared to valuing liquid or more liquid investments. Price volatility may be higher for illiquid or less liquid investments as a result of, for example, the relatively less frequent pricing of such securities (as compared to liquid or more liquid investments). Generally, the less liquid the market at the time the Fund sells a portfolio investment, the greater the risk of loss or decline of value to the Fund. Overall market liquidity and other factors can lead to an increase in redemptions, which may negatively impact Fund performance and NAV, including, for example, if the Fund is forced to sell investments in a down market. Foreign securities can present enhanced liquidity risks, including as a result of less developed custody, settlement or other practices of foreign markets.
Market Risk.
The Fund may incur losses due to declines in the value of one or more securities in which it invests. These declines may be due to factors affecting a particular issuer, or the result of, among other things, political, regulatory, market, economic or social developments affecting the relevant market(s) more generally. In addition, turbulence in financial markets and reduced liquidity in equity, credit and/or fixed income markets may negatively affect many issuers, which could adversely affect the Fund, including causing difficulty in assigning prices to hard-to-value assets in thinly traded and closed markets, significant redemptions and operational challenges. Global economies and financial markets are increasingly interconnected, and conditions and events in one country, region or financial market may adversely impact issuers in a different country, region or financial market. These risks may be magnified if certain events or developments adversely interrupt the global supply chain; in these and other circumstances, such risks might affect companies worldwide. As a result, local, regional or global events such as terrorism, war, natural disasters, disease/virus outbreaks and epidemics or other public health issues, recessions, depressions or other events – or the potential for such events – could have a significant negative impact on global economic and market conditions.
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) public health crisis has become a pandemic that has resulted in, and may continue to result in, significant global economic and societal disruption and market volatility due to disruptions in market access, resource availability, facilities operations, imposition of tariffs, export controls and supply chain disruption, among others. Such disruptions may be caused, or exacerbated by, quarantines and travel restrictions, workforce displacement and loss in human and other resources. The uncertainty surrounding the magnitude, duration, reach, costs and effects of the global pandemic, as well as actions that have been or could be taken by governmental authorities or other third parties, present unknowns that are yet to unfold. The impacts, as well as the uncertainty over impacts to come, of COVID-19 – and any other infectious illness outbreaks, epidemics and pandemics that may arise in the future – could negatively affect global economies and markets in ways that cannot necessarily be foreseen. In addition, the impact of infectious illness outbreaks and epidemics in emerging market countries may be greater due to generally less established healthcare systems, governments and financial markets. Public health crises caused by the COVID-19 outbreak may exacerbate other pre-existing political, social and
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economic risks in certain countries or globally. The disruptions caused by COVID-19 could prevent the Fund from executing advantageous investment decisions in a timely manner and negatively impact the Fund’s ability to achieve its investment objective. Any such event(s) could have a significant adverse impact on the value and risk profile of the Fund.
Preferred Stock Risk.
Preferred stock is a type of stock that may pay dividends at a different rate than common stock of the same issuer, if at all, and that has preference over common stock in the payment of dividends and the liquidation of assets. Preferred stock does not ordinarily carry voting rights. The price of a preferred stock is generally determined by earnings, type of products or services, projected growth rates, experience of management, liquidity, and general market conditions of the markets on which the stock trades. The most significant risks associated with investments in preferred stock include issuer risk, market risk and interest rate risk (the risk of losses attributable to changes in interest rates).
Sector Risk.
At times, the Fund may have a significant portion of its assets invested in securities of companies conducting business within one or more economic sectors, including the financial services sector. Companies in the same sector may be similarly affected by economic, regulatory, political or market events or conditions, which may make the Fund more vulnerable to unfavorable developments in that sector than funds that invest more broadly. Generally, the more broadly the Fund invests, the more it spreads risk and potentially reduces the risks of loss and volatility.
Financial Services Sector.
The Fund may be more susceptible to the particular risks that may affect companies in the financial services sector than if it were invested in a wider variety of companies in unrelated sectors. Companies in the financial services sector are subject to certain risks, including the risk of regulatory change, decreased liquidity in credit markets and unstable interest rates. Such companies may have concentrated portfolios, such as a high level of loans to one or more industries or sectors, which makes them vulnerable to economic conditions that affect such industries or sectors. Performance of such companies may be affected by competitive pressures and exposure to investments, agreements and counterparties, including credit products that, under certain circumstances, may lead to losses (e.g., subprime loans). Companies in the financial services sector are subject to extensive governmental regulation that may limit the amount and types of loans and other financial commitments they can make, and the interest rates and fees they may charge. In addition, profitability of such companies is largely dependent upon the availability and the cost of capital.
Value Securities Risk.
Value securities are securities of companies that may have experienced, for example, adverse business, industry or other developments or may be subject to special risks that have caused the securities to be out of favor and, in turn, potentially undervalued. The market value of a portfolio security may not meet portfolio management’s perceived value assessment of that security, or may decline in price, even though portfolio management believes the securities are already undervalued. There is also a risk that it may take longer than expected for the value of these investments to rise to portfolio management’s perceived value. In addition, value securities, at times, may not perform as well as growth securities or the stock market in general, and may be out of favor with investors for varying periods of time.
Additional Investment Strategies and Policies
This section describes certain investment strategies and policies that the Fund may utilize in pursuit of its investment objective and some additional factors and risks involved with investing in the Fund.
Investment Guidelines
As a general matter, and except as specifically described in the discussion of the Fund's principal investment strategies in this prospectus or as otherwise required by the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the 1940 Act), the rules and regulations thereunder and any applicable exemptive relief, whenever an investment policy or limitation states a percentage of the Fund's assets that may be invested in any security or other asset or sets forth a policy regarding an investment standard, compliance with that percentage limitation or standard will be determined solely at the time of the Fund's investment in the security or asset.
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Holding Other Kinds of Investments
The Fund may hold other investments that are not part of its principal investment strategies. These investments and their risks are described below and/or in the SAI. The Fund may choose not to invest in certain securities described in this prospectus and in the SAI, although it has the ability to do so. Information on the Fund’s holdings can be found in the Fund’s shareholder reports or by visiting columbiathreadneedleus.com.
Transactions in Derivatives
The Fund may enter into derivative transactions or otherwise have exposure to derivative transactions through underlying investments. Derivatives are financial contracts whose values are, for example, based on (or “derived” from) traditional securities (such as a stock or bond), assets (such as a commodity like gold or a foreign currency), reference rates (such as the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (commonly known as SOFR) or the London Interbank Offered Rate (commonly known as LIBOR)) or market indices (such as the Standard & Poor’s 500
®
Index). The use of derivatives is a highly specialized activity which involves investment techniques and risks different from those associated with ordinary portfolio securities transactions. Derivatives involve special risks and may result in losses or may limit the Fund’s potential gain from favorable market movements. Derivative strategies often involve leverage, which may exaggerate a loss, potentially causing the Fund to lose more money than it would have lost had it invested in the underlying security or other asset directly. The values of derivatives may move in unexpected ways, especially in unusual market conditions, and may result in increased volatility in the value of the derivative and/or the Fund’s shares, among other consequences. The use of derivatives may also increase the amount of taxes payable by shareholders holding shares in a taxable account. Other risks arise from the Fund’s potential inability to terminate or to sell derivative positions. A liquid secondary market may not always exist for the Fund’s derivative positions at times when the Fund might wish to terminate or to sell such positions. Over-the-counter instruments (investments not traded on an exchange) may be illiquid, and transactions in derivatives traded in the over-the-counter market are subject to the risk that the other party will not meet its obligations. The use of derivatives also involves the risks of mispricing or improper valuation and that changes in the value of the derivative may not correlate perfectly with the underlying security, asset, reference rate or index. The Fund also may not be able to find a suitable derivative transaction counterparty, and thus may be unable to engage in derivative transactions when it is deemed favorable to do so, or at all. U.S. federal legislation has been enacted that provides for new clearing, margin, reporting and registration requirements for participants in the derivatives market. These changes could restrict and/or impose significant costs or other burdens upon the Fund’s participation in derivatives transactions. For more information on the risks of derivative investments and strategies, see the SAI.
LIBOR Phase-Out Risk.
Many derivatives and other financial instruments utilize or are permitted to utilize a floating interest rate based on LIBOR. On July 27, 2017, the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority announced its intention to phase out the use of LIBOR by the end of 2021. More recently, in November 2020, Ice Benchmark Administrator (IBA) has announced its intention to consult on (i) the cessation of four LIBOR currencies (GBP, EUR, JPY and CHF) after the end of 2021 and (ii) on the cessation of the major USD LIBOR tenors (overnight, 1M, 3M, 6M and 12M) in mid-2023 and the cessation of the 1 week and 2M USD LIBOR by the end of 2021. IBA will make separate announcements following the outcome of the consultations. The interest rate benchmark(s) that will replace LIBOR in the capital markets remains uncertain, and the overall economic impact of the transition away from LIBOR cannot yet be determined. The Investment Manager monitors the Fund’s LIBOR exposure risks, including the extent to which any derivative and/or debt investments allow for the utilization of alternative rate(s) to LIBOR.
Affiliated Fund Investing
The Investment Manager or an affiliate serves as investment adviser to funds using the Columbia brand (Columbia Funds), including those that are structured as “fund-of-funds”, and provides asset-allocation services to (i) shareholders by investing in shares of other Columbia Funds, which may include the Fund (collectively referred to in this section as Underlying Funds), and (ii) discretionary managed accounts (collectively referred to as affiliated products) that invest exclusively in Underlying Funds. These affiliated products, individually or collectively, may own a significant percentage of the outstanding shares of one or more Underlying Funds, and the Investment Manager seeks to balance potential conflicts of interest between the affiliated products and the Underlying Funds in which they invest. The affiliated products’ investment in the Underlying Funds may have the effect of creating economies of scale, possibly resulting in lower expense ratios for the Underlying Funds, because the affiliated products may own substantial portions of the shares of Underlying Funds. However, redemption of Underlying Fund shares by one or
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more affiliated products could cause the expense ratio of an Underlying Fund to increase, as its fixed costs would be spread over a smaller asset base. Because of large positions of certain affiliated products, the Underlying Funds may experience relatively large inflows and outflows of cash due to affiliated products’ purchases and sales of Underlying Fund shares. Although the Investment Manager or its affiliate may seek to minimize the impact of these transactions where possible, for example, by structuring them over a reasonable period of time or through other measures, Underlying Funds may experience increased expenses as they buy and sell portfolio securities to manage the cash flow effect related to these transactions. Further, when the Investment Manager or its affiliate structures transactions over a reasonable period of time in order to manage the potential impact of the buy and sell decisions for the affiliated products, those affiliated products, including funds-of-funds, may pay more or less (for purchase activity), or receive more or less (for redemption activity), for shares of the Underlying Funds than if the transactions were executed in one transaction. In addition, substantial redemptions by affiliated products within a short period of time could require the Underlying Fund to liquidate positions more rapidly than would otherwise be desirable, which may have the effect of reducing or eliminating potential gain or causing it to realize a loss. In order to meet such redemptions, an Underlying Fund may be forced to sell its liquid (or more liquid) positions, leaving the Underlying Fund holding, post-redemption, a relatively larger position in illiquid investments (i.e., any investment that the Fund reasonably expects cannot be sold or disposed of in current market conditions in seven calendar days or less without the sale or disposition significantly changing the market value of the investment) or less liquid securities. Substantial redemptions may also adversely affect the ability of the Underlying Fund to implement its investment strategy. The Investment Manager or its affiliate also has a conflict of interest in determining the allocation of affiliated products’ assets among the Underlying Funds, as it earns different fees from the various Underlying Funds.
Investing in Money Market Funds
The Fund may invest cash in, or hold as collateral for certain investments, shares of registered or unregistered money market funds, including funds advised by the Investment Manager or its affiliates. These funds are not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) or any other government agency. The Fund and its shareholders indirectly bear a portion of the expenses of any money market fund or other fund in which the Fund may invest.
Lending of Portfolio Securities
The Fund may lend portfolio securities to broker-dealers or other financial intermediaries on a fully collateralized basis in order to earn additional income. The Fund may lose money from securities lending if, for example, it is delayed in or prevented from selling the collateral after the loan is made or recovering the securities loaned or if it incurs losses on the reinvestment of cash collateral.
The Fund currently does not participate in the securities lending program but the Board of Trustees (the Board) may determine to renew participation in the future. For more information on lending of portfolio securities and the risks involved, see the SAI and the annual and semiannual reports to shareholders.
Investing Defensively
The Fund may from time to time take temporary defensive investment positions that may be inconsistent with the Fund’s principal investment strategies in attempting to respond to adverse market, economic, political, social or other conditions, including, without limitation, investing some or all of its assets in money market instruments or shares of affiliated or unaffiliated money market funds or holding some or all of its assets in cash or cash equivalents. The Fund may take such defensive investment positions for as long a period as deemed necessary.
The Fund may not achieve its investment objective while it is investing defensively. Investing defensively may adversely affect Fund performance. During these times, the portfolio managers may make frequent portfolio holding changes, which could result in increased trading expenses and taxes, and decreased Fund performance. See also
above for more information.
Investing in Money Market Funds
Other Strategic and Investment Measures
The Fund may also from time to time take temporary portfolio positions that may or may not be consistent with the Fund’s principal investment strategies in attempting to respond to adverse market, economic, political, social or other conditions, including, without limitation, investing in derivatives, such as forward contracts, futures contracts, options, structured investments and swaps, for various purposes, including among others, investing in particular derivatives in seeking to reduce investment exposures, or in seeking to achieve indirect investment exposures, to a
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sector, country, region or currency where the Investment Manager believes such positioning is appropriate. The Fund may take such portfolio positions for as long a period as deemed necessary. While the Fund is so positioned, derivatives could comprise a substantial portion of the Fund’s investments and the Fund may not achieve its investment objective. Investing in this manner may adversely affect Fund performance. During these times, the portfolio managers may make frequent portfolio holding changes, which could result in increased trading expenses and taxes, and decreased Fund performance. For information on the risks of investing in derivatives, see
above.
Transactions in Derivatives
Portfolio Holdings Disclosure
The Board has adopted policies and procedures that govern the timing and circumstances of disclosure to shareholders and third parties of information regarding the securities owned by the Fund. A description of these policies and procedures is included in the SAI. Fund policy generally permits the disclosure of portfolio holdings information on the Fund's website (columbiathreadneedleus.com) only after a certain amount of time has passed, as described in the SAI.
Purchases and sales of portfolio securities can take place at any time, so the portfolio holdings information available on the Fund's website may not always be current.
FUNDamentals
Portfolio Holdings Versus the Benchmarks
The Fund does not limit its investments to the securities within its benchmark(s), and accordingly the Fund's holdings may diverge significantly from those of its benchmark(s). In addition, the Fund may invest in securities outside any industry and geographic sectors represented in its benchmark(s). The Fund's weightings in individual securities, and in industry or geographic sectors, may also vary considerably from those of its benchmark(s).
eDelivery and Mailings to Households
In order to reduce shareholder expenses, the Fund may mail only one copy of the Fund’s prospectus and each annual and semiannual report to those addresses shared by two or more accounts. If you wish to receive separate copies of these documents, call 800.345.6611 or, if your shares are held through a financial intermediary, contact your intermediary directly. Additionally, you may elect to enroll in eDelivery to receive electronic versions of these documents, as well as quarterly statements and supplements, by logging into your account at columbiathreadneedleus.com/investor/.
Cash Flows
The timing and magnitude of cash inflows from investors buying Fund shares could prevent the Fund from always being fully invested. Conversely, the timing and magnitude of cash outflows to shareholders redeeming Fund shares could require the Fund to sell portfolio securities at less than opportune times or to hold ready reserves of uninvested cash in amounts larger than might otherwise be the case to meet shareholder redemptions. Either situation could adversely impact the Fund’s performance.
Understanding Annual Fund Operating Expenses
The Fund’s annual operating expenses, as presented in the
table in the
section of this prospectus, generally are based on expenses incurred during the Fund’s most recently completed fiscal year, may vary by share class and are expressed as a percentage (expense ratio) of the Fund’s average net assets during that fiscal year. The expense ratios reflect the Fund’s fee arrangements as of the date of this prospectus and, unless indicated otherwise, are based on expenses incurred during the Fund’s most recent fiscal year. The Fund’s assets will fluctuate, but unless indicated otherwise in the
table, no adjustments have been or will be made to the expense ratios to reflect any differences in the Fund’s average net assets between the most recently completed fiscal year and the date of this prospectus or a later date. In general, the Fund’s expense ratios will increase as its net assets decrease, such that the Fund’s actual expense ratios may be higher than the expense ratios presented in the
table if assets fall. As applicable, any commitment by the Investment Manager and/or its affiliates to waive fees and/or cap (reimburse) expenses is expected, in part, to limit the impact of any increase in the Fund’s expense ratios that would
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
Fees and Expenses of the Fund
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
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otherwise result because of a decrease in the Fund’s assets in the current fiscal year. The Fund’s annual operating expenses are comprised of (i) investment management fees, (ii) distribution and/or service fees, and (iii) other expenses. Management fees do not vary by class, but distribution and/or service fees and other expenses may vary by class.
FUNDamentals
Other Expenses
“Other expenses” consist of the fees the Fund pays to its custodian, transfer agent, auditors, lawyers and trustees, costs relating to compliance and miscellaneous expenses. Generally, these expenses are allocated on a pro rata basis across all share classes. These fees include certain sub-transfer agency and shareholder servicing fees. Transfer agency fees and certain shareholder servicing fees, however, are class specific. They differ by share class because the shareholder services provided to each share class may be different. Accordingly, the differences in “other expenses” among share classes are primarily the result of the different transfer agency and shareholder servicing fees applicable to each share class. For more information on these fees, see
Choosing a Share Class — Financial Intermediary Compensation.
Fee Waiver/Expense Reimbursement Arrangements and Impact on Past Performance
The Investment Manager and certain of its affiliates have contractually agreed to waive fees and/or reimburse expenses (excluding certain fees and expenses described below) through December 31, 2021, unless sooner terminated at the sole discretion of the Fund's Board, so that the Fund’s net operating expenses, after giving effect to fees waived/expenses reimbursed and any balance credits and/or overdraft charges from the Fund’s custodian, do not exceed the annual rates of:
|
Columbia International Dividend Income Fund
|
|
| Class A | 1.25% |
| Class Adv | 1.00% |
| Class C | 2.00% |
| Class Inst | 1.00% |
| Class Inst2 | 0.85% |
| Class Inst3 | 0.81% |
| Class R | 1.50% |
Under the agreement, the following fees and expenses are excluded from the Fund’s operating expenses when calculating the waiver/reimbursement commitment, and therefore will be paid by the Fund, if applicable: taxes (including foreign transaction taxes), expenses associated with investment in affiliated and non-affiliated pooled investment vehicles (including mutual funds and exchange-traded funds), transaction costs and brokerage commissions, costs related to any securities lending program, dividend expenses associated with securities sold short, inverse floater program fees and expenses, transaction charges and interest on borrowed money, interest, infrequent and/or unusual expenses and any other expenses the exclusion of which is specifically approved by the Fund’s Board. This agreement may be modified or amended only with approval from all parties.
Effect of Fee Waivers and/or Expense Reimbursements on Past Performance.
The Fund’s returns shown in the
Performance Information
section of this prospectus reflect the effect of any fee waivers and/or reimbursements of Fund expenses by the Investment Manager and/or any of its affiliates and any predecessor firms that were in place during the performance period shown. Without such fee waivers/expense reimbursements, the Fund’s returns might have been lower.
Primary Service Providers
The Fund enters into contractual arrangements (Service Provider Contracts) with various service providers, including, among others, the Investment Manager, the Distributor, the Transfer Agent and the Fund’s custodian. The Fund’s Service Provider Contracts are solely among the parties thereto. Shareholders are not parties to, or intended to be
| 20 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia International Dividend Income Fund
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
third-party beneficiaries of, any Service Provider Contracts. Further, this prospectus, the SAI and any Service Provider Contracts are not intended to give rise to any agreement, duty, special relationship or other obligation between the Fund and any investor, or give rise to any contractual, tort or other rights in any individual shareholder, group of shareholders or other person, including any right to assert a fiduciary or other duty, enforce the Service Provider Contracts against the parties or to seek any remedy thereunder, either directly or on behalf of the Fund. Nothing in the previous sentence should be read to suggest any waiver of any rights under federal or state securities laws.
The Investment Manager, the Distributor, and the Transfer Agent are all affiliates of Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (Ameriprise Financial). They and their affiliates currently provide key services, including investment advisory, administration, distribution, shareholder servicing and transfer agency services, to the Fund and various other funds, including the Columbia Funds, and are paid for providing these services. These service relationships are described below.
The Investment Manager
Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC is located at 225 Franklin Street, Boston, MA 02110 and serves as investment adviser and administrator to the Columbia Funds. The Investment Manager is a registered investment adviser and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ameriprise Financial. The Investment Manager’s management experience covers all major asset classes, including equity securities, debt instruments and money market instruments. In addition to serving as an investment adviser to traditional mutual funds, exchange-traded funds and closed-end funds, the Investment Manager acts as an investment adviser for itself, its affiliates, individuals, corporations, retirement plans, private investment companies and financial intermediaries.
Subject to oversight by the Board, the Investment Manager manages the day-to-day operations of the Fund, determining what securities and other investments the Fund should buy or sell and executing portfolio transactions. The Investment Manager may use the research and other capabilities of its affiliates and third parties in managing the Fund’s investments. The Investment Manager is also responsible for overseeing the administrative operations of the Fund, including the general supervision of the Fund’s operations, the coordination of the Fund’s other service providers and the provision of related clerical and administrative services.
The SEC has issued an order that permits the Investment Manager, subject to the approval of the Board, to appoint unaffiliated subadvisers by entering into subadvisory agreements with them, and to change in material respects the terms of those subadvisory agreements, including the fees paid thereunder, for the Fund without first obtaining shareholder approval, thereby avoiding the expense and delays typically associated with obtaining shareholder approval. The Fund furnishes shareholders with information about new subadvisers retained in reliance on the order within 90 days after hiring the subadviser. The Investment Manager and its affiliates may have other relationships, including significant financial relationships, with current or potential subadvisers or their affiliates, which may create certain conflicts of interest. When making recommendations to the Board to appoint or to change a subadviser, or to change the terms of a subadvisory agreement, the Investment Manager discloses to the Board the nature of any such material relationships. At present, the Investment Manager has not engaged any investment subadviser for the Fund.
The Investment Manager and its investment advisory affiliates (Participating Affiliates) around the world may coordinate in providing services to their clients. From time to time, the Investment Manager (or any affiliated investment subadviser to the Fund, as the case may be) may engage its Participating Affiliates to provide a variety of services such as investment research, investment monitoring, trading, and discretionary investment management (including portfolio management) to certain accounts managed by the Investment Manager, including the Fund. These Participating Affiliates will provide services to these accounts of the Investment Manager (or any affiliated investment subadviser to the Fund, as the case may be) either pursuant to subadvisory agreements, delegation agreements, personnel-sharing agreements or similar inter-company or other arrangements or relationships and the Fund will pay no additional fees and expenses as a result of any such arrangements or relationships. These Participating Affiliates, like the Investment Manager, are direct or indirect subsidiaries of Ameriprise Financial and are registered with the appropriate respective regulators in their home jurisdictions and, where required, the SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in the United States.
| Prospectus 2021 | 21 |
Columbia International Dividend Income Fund
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
Pursuant to some of these arrangements or relationships, certain personnel of these Participating Affiliates may serve as “associated persons” or officers of the Investment Manager and, in this capacity, subject to the oversight and supervision of the Investment Manager and consistent with the investment objectives, policies and limitations set forth in this prospectus and the Fund's SAI, and with the Investment Manager’s and the Funds’ compliance policies and procedures, may provide such services to the Fund.
The Fund pays the Investment Manager a fee for its management services, which include investment advisory services and administrative services. The fee is calculated as a percentage of the daily net assets of the Fund and is paid monthly. For the Fund’s most recent fiscal year, management services fees paid to the Investment Manager by the Fund amounted to 0.77% of average daily net assets of the Fund, before any applicable reimbursements.
A discussion regarding the basis for the Board’s approval of the renewal of the Fund's management agreement is available in the Fund’s annual report to shareholders for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2020.
Portfolio Managers
Information about the portfolio managers primarily responsible for overseeing the Fund’s investments is shown below. The SAI provides additional information about the portfolio managers, including information relating to compensation, other accounts managed by the portfolio managers, and ownership by the portfolio managers of Fund shares.
|
Portfolio Manager
|
Title
|
Role with Fund
|
Managed Fund Since
|
|||
| Jonathan Crown | Portfolio Manager | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2016 | |||
| Georgina Hellyer, CFA | Portfolio Manager | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2018 |
Mr. Crown
joined Threadneedle, a Participating Affiliate, in 2005. Mr. Crown began his investment career in 2001 and earned an M.A. (Hons) degree in Economics from the University of St. Andrews.
Ms. Hellyer
joined Threadneedle, a Participating Affiliate, in 2011. Ms. Hellyer began her investment career in 2006 and earned a degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from the University of Oxford.
The Distributor
Shares of the Fund are distributed by Columbia Management Investment Distributors, Inc., which is located at 225 Franklin Street, Boston, MA 02110. The Distributor is a registered broker-dealer and an indirect, wholly-owned subsidiary of Ameriprise Financial. The Distributor and its affiliates may pay commissions, distribution and service fees and/or other compensation to entities, including Ameriprise Financial affiliates, for selling shares and providing services to investors.
The Transfer Agent
Columbia Management Investment Services Corp. is a registered transfer agent and wholly-owned subsidiary of Ameriprise Financial. The Transfer Agent is located at 225 Franklin Street, Boston, MA 02110, and its responsibilities include processing purchases, redemptions and exchanges of Fund shares, calculating and paying distributions, maintaining shareholder records, preparing account statements and providing customer service. The Transfer Agent has engaged DST Asset Manager Solutions, Inc. to provide various shareholder or “sub-transfer agency” services. In addition, the Transfer Agent enters into agreements with various financial intermediaries through which you may hold Fund shares, pursuant to which the Transfer Agent pays these financial intermediaries for providing certain shareholder services. Depending on the type of account, the Fund pays the Transfer Agent a per account fee or a fee based on the assets invested through omnibus accounts, and reimburses the Transfer Agent for certain out-of-pocket expenses, including certain payments to financial intermediaries through which shares are held.
Other Roles and Relationships of Ameriprise Financial and its Affiliates — Certain Conflicts of Interest
The Investment Manager, Distributor and Transfer Agent, all affiliates of Ameriprise Financial, provide various services to the Fund and other Columbia Funds for which they are compensated. Ameriprise Financial and its other affiliates may also provide other services to these funds and be compensated for them.
| 22 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia International Dividend Income Fund
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
The Investment Manager and its affiliates may provide investment advisory and other services to other clients and customers substantially similar to those provided to the Columbia Funds. These activities, and other financial services activities of Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates, may present actual and potential conflicts of interest and introduce certain investment constraints.
Ameriprise Financial is a major financial services company, engaged in a broad range of financial activities beyond the fund-related activities of the Investment Manager, including, among others, insurance, broker-dealer (sales and trading), asset management, banking and other financial activities. These additional activities may involve multiple advisory, financial, insurance and other interests in securities and other instruments, and in companies that issue securities and other instruments, that may be bought, sold or held by the Columbia Funds.
Conflicts of interest and limitations that could affect a Columbia Fund may arise from, for example, the following:
| ■ | compensation and other benefits received by the Investment Manager and other Ameriprise Financial affiliates related to the management/administration of a Columbia Fund and the sale of its shares; |
| ■ | the allocation of, and competition for, investment opportunities among the Fund, other funds and accounts advised/managed by the Investment Manager and other Ameriprise Financial affiliates, or Ameriprise Financial itself and its affiliates; |
| ■ | separate and potentially divergent management of a Columbia Fund and other funds and accounts advised/managed by the Investment Manager and other Ameriprise Financial affiliates; |
| ■ | regulatory and other investment restrictions on investment activities of the Investment Manager and other Ameriprise Financial affiliates and accounts advised/managed by them; |
| ■ | insurance and other relationships of Ameriprise Financial affiliates with companies and other entities in which a Columbia Fund invests; and |
| ■ | regulatory and other restrictions relating to the sharing of information between Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates, including the Investment Manager, and a Columbia Fund. |
The Investment Manager and Ameriprise Financial have adopted various policies and procedures that are intended to identify, monitor and address conflicts of interest. However, there is no assurance that these policies, procedures and disclosures will be effective.
Additional information about Ameriprise Financial and the types of conflicts of interest and other matters referenced above is set forth in the
section of the SAI. Investors in the Columbia Funds should carefully review these disclosures and consult with their financial advisor if they have any questions.
Investment Management and Other Services — Other Roles and Relationships of Ameriprise Financial and its Affiliates — Certain Conflicts of Interest
Certain Legal Matters
Ameriprise Financial and certain of its affiliates have historically been involved in a number of legal, arbitration and regulatory proceedings, including routine litigation, class actions and governmental actions, concerning matters arising in connection with the conduct of their business activities. Ameriprise Financial believes that the Fund is not currently the subject of, and that neither Ameriprise Financial nor any of its affiliates are the subject of, any pending legal, arbitration or regulatory proceedings that are likely to have a material adverse effect on the Fund or the ability of Ameriprise Financial or its affiliates to perform under their contracts with the Fund. Information regarding certain pending and settled legal proceedings may be found in the Fund’s shareholder reports and in the SAI. Additionally, Ameriprise Financial is required to make quarterly (10-Q), annual (10-K) and, as necessary, 8-K filings with the SEC on legal and regulatory matters that relate to Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates. Copies of these filings may be obtained by accessing the SEC website at sec.gov.
| Prospectus 2021 | 23 |
Columbia International Dividend Income Fund
Choosing a Share Class
The Funds
The Columbia Funds (referred to as the Funds) generally share the same policies and procedures for investor services, as described below. Each Fund is a series of Columbia Funds Series Trust (CFST), Columbia Funds Series Trust I (CFST I) or Columbia Funds Series Trust II (CFST II), and certain features of distribution and/or service plans may differ among these trusts. The Fund offered by this prospectus is a series of CFST I. Columbia Funds with names that include the words “Tax-Exempt” or “Municipal” (the Tax-Exempt Funds) have certain policies that differ from other Columbia Funds (the Taxable Funds). The Fund offered by this prospectus is treated as a Taxable Fund for these purposes.
Funds Contact Information
Additional information about the Funds, including sales charges and other class features and policies, can be obtained, free of charge, at columbiathreadneedleus.com,* by calling toll-free 800.345.6611, or by writing (regular mail) to Columbia Management Investment Services Corp., P.O. Box 219104, Kansas City, MO 64121-9104 or (express mail) Columbia Management Investment Services Corp., c/o DST Asset Manager Solutions, Inc., 430 W 7
th
Street, Ste 219104, Kansas City, MO 64105-1407.
| * | The website references in this prospectus are inactive links and information contained in or otherwise accessible through the referenced websites does not form a part of this prospectus. |
FUNDamentals
Financial Intermediaries
The term “financial intermediary” refers to the selling and servicing agents that are authorized to sell and/or service shares of the Funds. Financial intermediaries include broker-dealers and financial advisors as well as firms that employ broker-dealers and financial advisors, including, for example, brokerage firms, banks, investment advisers, third party administrators and other firms in the financial services industry.
Omnibus Accounts
The term “omnibus account” refers to a financial intermediary’s account with the Fund (held directly through the Transfer Agent) that represents the combined holdings of, and transactions in, Fund shares of one or more clients of the financial intermediary (beneficial Fund shareholders). Omnibus accounts are held in the name of the financial intermediaries and not in the name of the beneficial Fund shareholders invested in the Fund through omnibus accounts.
Retirement Plans and Omnibus Retirement Plans
The term “retirement plan” refers to retirement plans created under Sections 401(a), 401(k), 457 and 403(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the Code), and non-qualified deferred compensation plans governed by Section 409A of the Code and similar plans, but does not refer to individual retirement plans, such as traditional IRAs and Roth IRAs. The term “omnibus retirement plan” refers to a retirement plan that has a plan-level or omnibus account with the Transfer Agent.
Networked Accounts
Networking, offered by the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation’s Wealth Management Services (WMS), is the industry standard IT system for mutual fund account reconciliation and dividend processing.
Summary of Share Class Features
Each share class has its own investment eligibility criteria, cost structure and other features. You may not be eligible to invest in every share class. Your financial intermediary may not make every share class available or may cease to make available one or more share classes of the Fund. The share class you select through your financial intermediary may have higher fees and/or sales charges than other classes of shares available through other financial intermediaries. An investor transacting in a class of Fund shares without any front-end sales charge, contingent deferred sales charge (CDSC), or other asset-based fee for sales or distribution, such as a Rule 12b-1
| 24 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia International Dividend Income Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
fee, may be required to pay a commission to the financial intermediary for effecting such transactions. Each investor’s personal situation is different and you may wish to discuss with your financial intermediary the share classes the Fund offers, which share classes are available to you and which share class(es) is/are appropriate for you. In all instances, it is your responsibility to notify your financial intermediary or (for Direct-at-Fund Accounts, as defined below) the Fund at the time of purchase of any relationship or other facts that may qualify you for sales charge waivers or discounts. The Fund, the Distributor and the Transfer Agent do not provide investment advice or make recommendations regarding Fund share classes. Your financial intermediary may provide advice and recommendations to you, such as which share class(es) is/are appropriate for you.
When deciding which class of shares to buy, you should consider, among other things:
| ■ | The amount you plan to invest. |
| ■ | How long you intend to remain invested in the Fund. |
| ■ | The fees (e.g., sales charge or “load”) and expenses for each share class. |
| ■ | Whether you may be eligible for a reduction or waiver of sales charges when you buy or sell shares. |
FUNDamentals
Front-End Sales Charge Calculation
The front-end sales charge is calculated as a percentage of the offering price.
| ■ | The net asset value (NAV) per share is the price of a share calculated by the Fund every business day. |
| ■ | The offering price per share is the NAV per share plus any front-end sales charge (or load) that applies. |
The dollar amount of any applicable front-end sales charge is the difference between the offering price of the shares you buy and the NAV of those shares. To determine the front-end sales charge you will pay when you buy Class A and Class V shares, the Fund will add the amount of your investment to the value of your account (and any other accounts eligible for aggregation of which you or your financial intermediary notifies the Fund) and base the sales charge on the aggregate amount. For information on account value aggregation, sales charge waivers and other important information, see
.
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
FUNDamentals
Contingent Deferred Sales Charge
A contingent deferred sales charge (CDSC) is a sales charge applied at the time you sell your shares, unlike a front-end sales charge that is applied at the time of purchase. A CDSC can vary based on the length of time that you have held your shares. A CDSC is applied to the NAV at the time of your purchase or sale, whichever is lower, and will not be applied to any shares you receive through Fund distribution reinvestments or any amount that represents appreciation in the value of your shares. For purposes of calculating a CDSC, the start of the holding period is generally the first day of the month in which your purchase was made.
When you place an order to sell shares of a class that has a CDSC, the Fund will first redeem any shares that are not subject to a CDSC, followed by those you have held the longest. This means that if a CDSC is imposed, you cannot designate the individual shares being redeemed for U.S. federal income tax purposes. You should consult your tax advisor about the tax consequences of investing in the Fund. In certain circumstances, the CDSC may not apply. See
for details.
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
| Prospectus 2021 | 25 |
Columbia International Dividend Income Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
Share Class Features
The following summarizes the primary features of Class A, Class Adv, Class C, Class Inst, Class Inst2, Class Inst3, Class R, and Class V shares.
Not all Funds offer every class of shares. The Fund offers the class(es) of shares set forth on the cover of this prospectus and may offer other share classes through a separate prospectus. Although certain share classes are generally closed to new and/or existing investors, information relating to these share classes is included in the table below because certain qualifying purchase orders are permitted, as described below.
The sales charge reductions and waivers available to investors who purchase and hold their Fund shares through different financial intermediaries may vary.
describes financial intermediary-specific reductions and/or waiver policies. A shareholder transacting in Fund shares through a financial intermediary identified in
should carefully read the terms and conditions of
. A reduction and/or waiver that is specific to a particular financial intermediary is not available to Direct-at-Fund Accounts, as defined below, or through another financial intermediary. The information in
may be provided by, or compiled from or based on information provided by the financial intermediaries identified in
. To obtain additional information regarding any sales charge reduction and/or waiver described in
, and to ensure that you receive any such reductions or waivers that may be available to you, please consult your financial intermediary.
Appendix A
Appendix A
Appendix A
Appendix A
Appendix A
Appendix A
|
Share Class
|
Eligible Investors
(a)
;
Minimum Initial Investments
(b)
;
Conversion Features
(c)
|
Front-End
Sales Charges
(d)
|
Contingent Deferred
Sales Charges (CDSCs)
(d)
|
Sales Charge
Reductions/Waivers |
Maximum Distribution
and/or Service Fees
(e)
|
| Class A |
Eligibility:
Available to the general public for investment
(f)
$2,000 ($1,000 for IRAs; $100 for systematic investment plan accounts)
|
Taxable Funds:
5.75% maximum, declining to 0.00% on investments of $1 million or more
3.00% maximum, declining to 0.00% on investments of $500,000 or more
None for Columbia Government Money Market Fund and certain other Funds
(g)
|
Taxable Funds
(g)
:
CDSC on certain investments of between $1 million and $50 million redeemed within 18 months after purchase charged as follows:
• 1.00% CDSC if redeemed within 12 months after purchase, and
• 0.50% CDSC if redeemed more than 12, but less than 18, months after purchase
(g)
:
Maximum CDSC of 0.75% on certain investments of $500,000 or more redeemed within 12 months after purchase
|
Reductions
: Yes, see
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges – Class A and Class V Shares Front-End Sales Charge Reductions
: Yes, on Fund distribution reinvestments. For additional waivers, see
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges – Class A and Class V Shares Front-End Sales Charge Waivers
, as well as
Choosing a Share Class — CDSC Waivers – Class A, Class C and Class V
Financial intermediary-specific waivers are also available, see
Appendix A
|
Distribution and Service
Fees:
up to 0.25%
|
|
Class
Adv |
Eligibility:
Available only to (i) omnibus retirement plans, including self-directed brokerage accounts within omnibus retirement plans that clear through institutional no transaction fee (NTF) platforms; (ii) trust companies or
|
None | None | N/A | None |
| 26 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia International Dividend Income Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
|
Share Class
|
Eligible Investors
(a)
;
Minimum Initial Investments
(b)
;
Conversion Features
(c)
|
Front-End
Sales Charges
(d)
|
Contingent Deferred
Sales Charges (CDSCs)
(d)
|
Sales Charge
Reductions/Waivers |
Maximum Distribution
and/or Service Fees
(e)
|
|
similar institutions; (iii) broker-dealers, banks, trust companies and similar institutions that clear Fund share transactions for their client or customer investment advisory or similar accounts through designated financial intermediaries and their mutual fund trading platforms that have been granted specific written authorization from the Transfer Agent with respect to Class Adv eligibility apart from selling, servicing or similar agreements; (iv) 501(c)(3) charitable organizations; (v) 529 plans; (vi) health savings accounts; (vii) investors participating in a fee-based advisory program sponsored by a financial intermediary or other entity that is not compensated by the Fund for those services, other than payments for shareholder servicing or sub-accounting performed in place of the Transfer Agent; and (viii) commissionable brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary, acting as broker on behalf of its customer, charges the customer a commission for effecting transactions in Fund shares, provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Adv shares within such platform.
(f)
Minimum Initial Investment:
|
|||||
| Class C |
Eligibility:
Available to the general public for investment
$2,000 ($1,000 for IRAs; $100 for systematic investment plan accounts)
$499,999
(h)
, none for omnibus retirement plans
$999,999
(h)
; none for omnibus retirement plans
: Yes, Class C shares generally automatically convert to Class A shares of the same Fund in the month of or the month following the 10-year
|
None |
1.00% on certain investments redeemed within one year of purchase
(i)
|
Waivers
: Yes, on Fund distribution reinvestments. For additional waivers, see
Choosing a Share Class – CDSC Waivers – Class A, Class C and Class V
Financial intermediary-specific CDSC waivers are also available, see
Appendix A
|
Distribution Fee:
0.75%
0.25%
|
| Prospectus 2021 | 27 |
Columbia International Dividend Income Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
|
Share Class
|
Eligible Investors
(a)
;
Minimum Initial Investments
(b)
;
Conversion Features
(c)
|
Front-End
Sales Charges
(d)
|
Contingent Deferred
Sales Charges (CDSCs)
(d)
|
Sales Charge
Reductions/Waivers |
Maximum Distribution
and/or Service Fees
(e)
|
|
anniversary of the Class C shares purchase date.
(c)
|
|||||
|
Class
Inst |
Eligibility:
Available only to certain eligible investors, which are subject to different minimum investment requirements, ranging from $0 to $2,000, including investors who purchase Fund shares through commissionable brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary holds the shares in an omnibus account and, acting as broker on behalf of its customer, charges the customer a commission for effecting transactions in Fund shares, provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst shares within such platform; closed to (i) accounts of financial intermediaries that clear Fund share transactions for their client or customer accounts through designated financial intermediaries and their mutual fund trading platforms that have been given specific written notice from the Transfer Agent of the termination of their eligibility for new purchases of Class Inst shares and (ii) omnibus group retirement plans, subject to certain exceptions
(f)(j)
See
Eligibility
above
|
None | None | N/A | None |
|
Class
Inst2 |
Eligibility:
Available only to (i) certain registered investment advisers and family offices that clear Fund share transactions for their client or customer accounts through designated financial intermediaries and their mutual fund trading platforms that have been granted specific written authorization from the Transfer Agent with respect to Class Inst2 eligibility apart from selling, servicing or similar agreements; (ii) omnibus retirement plans
(j)
; and (iii) institutional investors that are clients of the Columbia Threadneedle Global Institutional Distribution Team that invest in Class Inst2 shares for their own account through platforms approved by the Distributor or an affiliate thereof to offer and/or service Class Inst2 shares within such platform.
None
|
None | None | N/A | None |
| 28 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia International Dividend Income Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
|
Share Class
|
Eligible Investors
(a)
;
Minimum Initial Investments
(b)
;
Conversion Features
(c)
|
Front-End
Sales Charges
(d)
|
Contingent Deferred
Sales Charges (CDSCs)
(d)
|
Sales Charge
Reductions/Waivers |
Maximum Distribution
and/or Service Fees
(e)
|
|
Class
Inst3 |
Eligibility:
Available to (i) group retirement plans that maintain plan-level or omnibus accounts with the Fund
(j)
; (ii) institutional investors that are clients of the Columbia Threadneedle Global Institutional Distribution Team that invest in Class Inst3 shares for their own account through platforms approved by the Distributor or an affiliate thereof to offer and/or service Class Inst3 shares within such platform; (iii) collective trust funds; (iv) affiliated or unaffiliated mutual funds (e.g., funds operating as funds-of-funds); (v) fee-based platforms of financial intermediaries (or the clearing intermediary they trade through) that have an agreement with the Distributor or an affiliate thereof that specifically authorizes the financial intermediary to offer and/or service Class Inst3 shares within such platform, provided also that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account; (vi) commissionable brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary, acting as broker on behalf of its customer, charges the customer a commission for effecting transactions in Fund shares, provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst3 shares within such platform and that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account; and (vii) bank trust departments, subject to an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst3 shares and provided that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account. In each case above where noted that Fund shares are required to be held in an omnibus account, the Distributor may, in its discretion, determine to waive this requirement.
(f)
No minimum for the eligible investors described in (i), (iii), (iv), (v), and (vii) above; $2,000 ($1,000 for IRAs; $100 for systematic investment plan accounts) for the eligible investors described in (vi) above; and $1 million for all other eligible investors, unless waived in the discretion of the Distributor
|
None | None | N/A | None |
| Class R |
Eligibility:
Available only to eligible retirement plans, health savings
|
None | None | N/A |
Series of CFST & CFST I:
|
| Prospectus 2021 | 29 |
Columbia International Dividend Income Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
|
Share Class
|
Eligible Investors
(a)
;
Minimum Initial Investments
(b)
;
Conversion Features
(c)
|
Front-End
Sales Charges
(d)
|
Contingent Deferred
Sales Charges (CDSCs)
(d)
|
Sales Charge
Reductions/Waivers |
Maximum Distribution
and/or Service Fees
(e)
|
|
accounts and, in the sole discretion of the Distributor, other types of retirement accounts held through platforms maintained by financial intermediaries approved by the Distributor
Minimum Initial Investment:
|
distribution fee of 0.50%
Series of CFST II:
|
||||
| Class V |
Eligibility:
Generally closed to new investors
(j)
N/A
|
5.75% maximum, declining to 0.00% on investments of $1 million or more |
CDSC on certain investments of between $1 million and $50 million redeemed within 18 months after purchase, charged as follows:
|
Reductions
: Yes, see
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges – Class A and Class V Shares Front-End Sales Charge Reductions
: Yes, on Fund distribution reinvestments.
For additional waivers, see
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges – Class A and Class V Shares Front-End Sales Charge Waivers
, as well as
Choosing a Share Class — CDSC Waivers – Class A, Class C and Class V
|
Service Fee:
up to 0.50%
|
| (a) | For Columbia Government Money Market Fund, new investments must be made in Class A, Class Inst, Class Inst3, or Class R shares, subject to eligibility. Class C shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund are available as a new investment only to investors in the Distributor's proprietary 401(k) products, provided that such investor is eligible to invest in the class and transact directly with the Fund or the Transfer Agent through a third party administrator or third party recordkeeper. Columbia Government Money Market Fund offers Class Inst2 shares only to facilitate exchanges with other Funds offering such share class. |
| (b) |
Certain share classes are subject to minimum account balance requirements, as described in
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares — Transaction Rules and Policies.
|
| (c) |
For more information on the conversion of Class C shares to Class A shares, see
Choosing a Share Class - Sales Charges and Commissions - Class C Shares - Conversion to Class A Shares
|
| (d) |
Actual front-end sales charges and CDSCs vary among the Funds. For more information on applicable sales charges, see
Choosing a Share Class — Sales Charges and Commissions,
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges.
|
| (e) |
These are the maximum applicable distribution and/or service fees. Except for Class V shares, these fees are paid under the Fund’s Rule 12b-1 plan. Fee rates and fee components (i.e., the portion of a combined fee that is a distribution or service fee) may vary among Funds. Because these fees are paid out of Fund assets on an ongoing basis, over time these fees will increase the cost of your investment and may cost you more than paying other types of distribution and/or service fees. Although Class A shares of certain series of CFST I are subject to a combined distribution and service fee of up to 0.35%, these Funds currently limit the combined fee to 0.25%. Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund pays a distribution and service fee of up to 0.15% on Class A shares. Columbia Government Money Market Fund pays a distribution and service fee of up to 0.10% on Class A shares and up to 0.75% distribution fee on Class C shares. Columbia High Yield Municipal Fund, Columbia Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund and Columbia Tax-Exempt Fund each pay a service fee of up to 0.20% on Class A and Class C shares. Columbia Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund pays a distribution fee of up to 0.65% on Class C shares. For more information on distribution and service fees, see
Choosing a Share Class — Distribution and Service Fees.
|
| (f) | Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund must be purchased through financial intermediaries that, by written agreement with the Distributor, are specifically authorized to sell the Fund’s shares. Class Adv shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund are also available to certain registered investment advisers that clear Fund share transactions for their client accounts through designated financial intermediaries with mutual fund trading platforms that have been granted specific written authorization from the Transfer Agent (apart from selling, servicing or similar agreements) to sell Class Inst2 shares, which are not offered by the Fund. Class Inst3 shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund that were open and funded accounts prior to November 30, 2018 (the conversion date from the former unnamed share class to Class Inst3 shares) are eligible for additional investment; however, any account established after that date must meet the current Class Inst3 eligibility requirements. |
| 30 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia International Dividend Income Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
| (g) | For Columbia Short Term Municipal Bond Fund, a CDSC of 0.50% is charged on certain investments of $500,000 or more redeemed within 12 months after purchase. The following Funds are not subject to a front-end sales charge or a CDSC on Class A shares: Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund, Columbia Small Cap Index Fund, Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund and Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund. |
| (h) |
If you are eligible to invest in Class A shares without a front-end sales charge, you should discuss your options with your financial intermediary. For more information, see
Choosing a Share Class – Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges.
|
| (i) | There is no CDSC on redemptions from Class C shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund. |
| (j) |
These share classes are closed to new accounts, or closed to previously eligible investors, subject to certain conditions, as summarized below and described in more detail under
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares — Buying Shares — Eligible Investors:
|
•
. Financial intermediaries that clear Fund share transactions through designated financial intermediaries and their mutual fund trading platforms that have been given specific written notice from the Transfer Agent, effective March 29, 2013, of the termination of their eligibility for new purchases of Class Inst shares and omnibus retirement plans are not permitted to establish new Class Inst accounts, subject to certain exceptions. Omnibus retirement plans that opened and, subject to exceptions, funded a Class Inst account as of close of business on March 28, 2013, and have continuously held Class Inst shares in such account after such date, may generally continue to make additional purchases of Class Inst shares, open new Class Inst accounts and add new participants. In certain circumstances and in the sole discretion of the Distributor, omnibus retirement plans affiliated with a grandfathered plan may also open new Class Inst accounts. Accounts of financial intermediaries (other than omnibus retirement plans) that clear Fund share transactions for their client or customer accounts through designated financial intermediaries and their mutual fund trading platforms are not permitted to establish new Class Inst accounts or make additional purchases of Class Inst shares (other than through Fund distribution reinvestments).
Class Inst Shares
•
. Shareholders with Class Inst2 accounts funded before November 8, 2012 who do not satisfy the current eligibility criteria for Class Inst2 shares may not establish new Class Inst2 accounts but may continue to make additional purchases of Class Inst2 shares in existing accounts. In addition, investment advisory programs and similar programs that opened a Class Inst2 account as of May 1, 2010, and continuously hold Class Inst2 shares in such account after such date, may generally not only continue to make additional purchases of Class Inst2 shares but also open new Class Inst2 accounts and add new shareholders in the program.
Class Inst2 Shares
•
. Shareholders with Class Inst3 accounts funded before November 8, 2012 who do not satisfy the current eligibility criteria for Class Inst3 shares may not establish new accounts for such share class but may continue to make additional purchases of Class Inst3 shares in existing accounts.
Class Inst3 Shares
•
Shareholders
with Class V accounts who received, and have continuously held, Class V shares (formerly named Class T shares) in connection with the merger of certain Galaxy funds into certain Funds that were then named Liberty funds may continue to make additional purchases of such share class.
Class V Shares.
Sales Charges and Commissions
Sales charges, commissions, and distribution fees compensate financial intermediaries (typically your financial advisor) for selling shares to you, and service fees compensate financial intermediaries for maintaining and servicing the shares held in your account with them. Distribution and service fees are discussed in a separate sub-section below. Depending on which share class you choose and the financial intermediary through which you purchase your shares, you may pay these charges at potentially different levels at the outset as a front-end sales charge, at the time you sell your shares as a CDSC and/or over time in the form of distribution and/or service fees.
As described in more detail below, Class A and Class V shares have a front-end sales charge, which is deducted from your purchase price when you buy your shares, and results in a smaller dollar amount being invested in the Fund than the purchase price you pay (unless you qualify for a waiver or reduction of the sales charge). The Fund’s other share classes do not have a front-end sales charge, so the full amount of your purchase price is invested in those classes. Class A and Class V shares have lower ongoing distribution and/or service fees than Class C and Class R shares of the Fund. Over time, Class C and Class R shares can incur distribution and/or service fees that are equal to or more than the front-end sales charge and the distribution and/or service fees you would pay for Class A and Class V shares. Although the full amount of your purchase price of Class C and Class R shares is invested in a Fund, your return on this money will be reduced by the expected higher annual expenses of Class C and Class R shares. In this regard, note that Class C shares will generally automatically convert to Class A shares of the same Fund in the month of or the month following the 10-year anniversary of the Class C shares purchase date. The Fund may convert Class C shares held through a financial intermediary to Class A shares sooner in connection with the withdrawal of Class C shares of the Fund from the financial intermediary’s platform or accounts. No sales charge or other charges will apply in connection with such conversions, and conversions are free from U.S. federal income tax. Once your Class C shares convert to Class A shares, your total returns from an investment in the Fund may increase as a result of the lower operating costs of Class A shares. Class Adv, Class Inst, Class Inst2 and Class Inst3 shares of the Fund do not have distribution and/or service fees.
| Prospectus 2021 | 31 |
Columbia International Dividend Income Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
Whether the ultimate cost is higher for one share class over another depends on the amount you invest, how long you hold your shares, the fees (i.e., sales charges) and expenses of the class and whether you are eligible for reduced or waived sales charges, if available. You are responsible for choosing the share class most appropriate for you after taking into account your share class eligibility, class-specific features, and any applicable reductions in, or waivers of, sales charges. For more information, see
. We encourage you to consult with a financial advisor who can help you with your investment decisions. Please contact your financial intermediary for more information about services, fees and expenses, and other important information about investing in the Fund, as well as with any questions you may have about your investing options. In all instances, it is your responsibility to notify your financial intermediary or (for Direct-at-Fund Accounts, as defined below) the Fund at the time of purchase of any relationship or other facts that may qualify you for sales charge waivers or discounts.
Choosing a Share Class – Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
Class A Shares — Front-End Sales Charge
Unless your purchase qualifies for a waiver (e.g., you buy the shares through reinvested Fund dividends or distributions or subject to an applicable financial intermediary-specific waiver), you will pay a front-end sales charge when you buy Class A shares (other than shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund, Columbia Small Cap Index Fund, Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund and Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund), resulting in a smaller dollar amount being invested in a Fund than the purchase price you pay. The Class A shares sales charge is waived on Class C shares converted to Class A shares. For more information about sales charge waivers and reduction opportunities, see
and
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
Appendix A.
The Distributor receives the sales charge and re-allows (or pays) a portion of the sales charge to the financial intermediary through which you purchased the shares. The Distributor retains the balance of the sales charge. The Distributor retains the full sales charge you pay when you purchase shares of the Fund directly from the Fund (through the Transfer Agent, rather than through a financial intermediary).
The front-end sales charge you will pay on Class A shares:
| ■ | depends on the amount you are investing (generally, the larger the investment, the smaller the percentage sales charge), and |
| ■ | is based on the total amount of your purchase and the value of your account (and any other accounts eligible for aggregation of which you or your financial intermediary notifies the Fund). |
The table below presents the front-end sales charge as a percentage of both the offering price and the net amount invested.
| 32 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia International Dividend Income Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
|
Class A Shares — Front-End Sales Charge — Breakpoint Schedule*
|
||||
|
Breakpoint Schedule For:
|
Dollar amount of
shares bought
(a)
|
Sales
charge as a % of the offering price
(b)
|
Sales
charge as a % of the net amount invested
(b)
|
Amount
retained by or paid to financial intermediaries as a % of the offering price |
|
Fixed Income Funds (except those listed below),
Columbia Multi-Asset Income Fund and Funds-of-Funds (fixed income)* |
$
|
4.75% | 4.99% | 4.00% |
|
$
|
4.25% | 4.44% | 3.50% | |
| $100,000–$249,999 | 3.50% | 3.63% | 3.00% | |
| $250,000–$499,999 | 2.50% | 2.56% | 2.15% | |
| $500,000–$999,999 | 2.00% | 2.04% | 1.75% | |
|
$
|
0.00% | 0.00% |
0.00%
(c)
|
|
|
Tax-Exempt Funds (other than Columbia Short Term Municipal Bond Fund)
|
$
|
3.00% | 3.09% | 2.50% |
| $100,000–$249,999 | 2.50% | 2.56% | 2.15% | |
| $250,000–$499,999 | 1.50 % | 1.53% | 1.25% | |
|
$
|
0.00% | 0.00% |
0.00%
(c)
|
|
|
Columbia Floating Rate Fund,
Columbia Limited Duration Credit Fund, Columbia Mortgage Opportunities Fund, Columbia Quality Income Fund, and Columbia Total Return Bond Fund |
$
|
3.00% | 3.09% | 2.50% |
| $100,000–$249,999 | 2.50% | 2.56% | 2.15% | |
| $250,000–$499,999 | 2.00% | 2.04% | 1.75% | |
| $500,000–$999,999 | 1.50% | 1.52% | 1.25% | |
|
$
|
0.00% | 0.00% |
0.00%
(c)
|
|
|
Columbia Short Term Bond Fund
|
$
|
1.00% | 1.01% | 0.75% |
| $100,000–$249,999 | 0.75% | 0.76% | 0.50% | |
| $250,000–$999,999 | 0.50% | 0.50% | 0.40% | |
|
$
|
0.00% | 0.00% |
0.00%
(c)
|
|
|
Columbia Short Term Municipal Bond Fund
|
$
|
1.00% | 1.01% | 0.75% |
| $100,000–$249,999 | 0.75% | 0.76% | 0.50% | |
| $250,000–$499,999 | 0.50% | 0.50% | 0.40% | |
|
$
|
0.00% | 0.00% |
0.00%
(c)
|
|
| * |
The following Funds are not subject to a front-end sales charge or CDSC on Class A shares: Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund, Columbia Small Cap Index Fund, Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund and Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund.
"Funds-of-Funds (equity)"
. "Funds-of-Funds (fixed income)"
|
| (a) |
Purchase amounts and account values may be aggregated among all eligible Fund accounts for the purposes of this table. See
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
|
| (b) | Because the offering price is calculated to two decimal places, the dollar amount of the sales charge as a percentage of the offering price and your net amount invested for any particular purchase of Fund shares may be higher or lower depending on whether downward or upward rounding was required during the calculation process. Purchase price includes the sales charge. |
| (c) |
For information regarding cumulative commissions paid to your financial intermediary when you buy $1 million or more of Class A shares of a Taxable Fund or $500,000 or more of Class A shares of a Tax-Exempt Fund, see
Class A Shares — Commissions
|
| Prospectus 2021 | 33 |
Columbia International Dividend Income Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
Class A Shares — CDSC
In some cases, you'll pay a CDSC if you sell Class A shares that you purchased without a front-end sales charge.
Tax-Exempt Funds
| ■ | If you purchased Class A shares of any Tax-Exempt Fund (other than Columbia Short Term Municipal Bond Fund) without paying a front-end sales charge because your eligible accounts aggregated $500,000 or more at the time of purchase, you will incur a CDSC of 0.75% if you redeem those shares within 12 months after purchase. Subsequent Class A share purchases that bring your aggregate account value to $500,000 or more will also be subject to a CDSC of 0.75% if you redeem those shares within 12 months after purchase. |
| ■ | If you purchased Class A shares of Columbia Short Term Municipal Bond Fund without paying a front-end sales charge because your eligible accounts aggregated $500,000 or more at the time of purchase, you will incur a CDSC of 0.50% if you redeem those shares within 12 months after purchase. Subsequent Class A share purchases that bring your aggregate account value to $500,000 or more will also be subject to a CDSC of 0.50% if you redeem those shares within 12 months after purchase. |
Taxable Funds
| ■ | If you purchased Class A shares of any Taxable Fund without paying a front-end sales charge because your eligible accounts aggregated between $1 million and $50 million at the time of purchase, you will incur a CDSC if you redeem those shares within 18 months after purchase, which is charged as follows: 1.00% CDSC if shares are redeemed within 12 months after purchase; and 0.50% CDSC if shares are redeemed more than 12, but less than 18, months after purchase. Subsequent Class A share purchases that bring your aggregate account value to $1 million or more (but less than $50 million) will also be subject to a CDSC if you redeem them within 18 months after purchase as described in the previous sentence. |
Class A Shares — Commissions
The Distributor may pay your financial intermediary an up-front commission when you buy Class A shares. The Distributor generally funds the commission through the applicable sales charge you paid. For more information, see
above
Class A Shares — Front-End Sales Charge
.
The Distributor may also pay your financial intermediary a cumulative commission when you buy Class A shares in amounts not subject to a front-end sales charge, according to the following schedules (assets initially purchased into Class A shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund, Columbia Small Cap Index Fund, Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund and Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund that were purchased without the application of a front-end sales charge are excluded for purposes of calculating a financial intermediary’s commission under these schedules):
| * | The commission level applies to the applicable asset level; therefore, for example, for a purchase of $5 million, the Distributor would pay a commission of 0.75% on the first $3,999,999 and 0.50% on the balance. |
| ** | The commission level on purchases of Class A shares of Columbia Short Term Municipal Bond Fund is: 0.50% on purchases of $500,000 to $19,999,999 and 0.25% on purchases of $20 million or more. |
| 34 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia International Dividend Income Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
|
Class A Shares of Taxable Funds — Commission Schedule (Paid by the Distributor to Financial Intermediaries)*
|
|
|
Purchase Amount
|
Commission Level**
(as a % of net asset value per share) |
| $1 million – $2,999,999 | 1.00% |
| $3 million – $49,999,999 | 0.50% |
| $50 million or more | 0.25% |
| * | Not applicable to Funds that do not assess a front-end sales charge. |
| ** | The commission level applies to the applicable asset level; therefore, for example, for a purchase of $5 million, the Distributor would pay a commission of 1.00% on the first $2,999,999 and 0.50% on the balance. |
Class C Shares — Front-End Sales Charge
You do not pay a front-end sales charge when you buy Class C shares, but you may pay a CDSC when you sell Class C shares. Although Class C shares do not have a front-end sales charge, over time Class C shares can incur distribution and/or service fees that are equal to or more than the front-end sales charge and distribution and/or service fees you would pay for Class A shares. Thus, although the full amount of your purchase of Class C shares is invested in a Fund, any positive investment return on this money may be partially or fully offset by the expected higher annual expenses of Class C shares. If you are eligible to invest in Class A shares without a front-end sales charge, you should discuss your options with your financial intermediary. For more information, see
Choosing a Share Class – Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges.
Class C Shares — Conversion to Class A Shares
Class C shares of a Fund generally automatically convert to Class A shares of the same Fund in the month of or the month following the 10-year anniversary of the Class C shares purchase date. Class C shares held through a financial intermediary in an omnibus account will be converted provided that the intermediary is able to track purchases to credit individual shareholders’ holding periods. It is the financial intermediary's (and not the Fund's) responsibility to keep records and to ensure that the shareholder is credited with the proper holding period. Not all financial intermediaries are able to track purchases to credit individual shareholders' holding periods. For example, group retirement plans held through third-party intermediaries that hold Class C shares in an omnibus account may not track participant level share lot aging. Please consult with your financial intermediary about your eligibility for Class C share conversion. The Fund may convert Class C shares held through a financial intermediary to Class A shares sooner in connection with the withdrawal of Class C shares of the Fund from the financial intermediary's platform or accounts. Once your Class C shares convert to Class A shares, your total returns from an investment in the Fund may increase as a result of the lower operating costs of Class A shares.
The following rules apply to the automatic conversion of Class C shares to Class A shares:
| ■ | Class C share accounts that are Direct-at-Fund Accounts and Networked Accounts for which the Transfer Agent (and not your financial intermediary) sends you Fund account transaction confirmations and statements, convert on or about the 15th day of the month (if the 15th is not a business day, then the next business day thereafter) that they become eligible for automatic conversion provided that the Fund has records that Class C shares have been held for the requisite time period. |
| ■ | For purposes of determining the month when your Class C shares are eligible for conversion, the start of the holding period is the first day of the month in which your purchase was made. Your financial intermediary may choose a different day of the month to convert Class C shares. Please contact your financial intermediary for more information on calculating the holding period. |
| ■ | Any shares you received from reinvested distributions on these shares generally will convert to Class A shares at the same time. |
| ■ | You’ll receive the same dollar value of Class A shares as the Class C shares that were automatically converted. Class C shares that you received from an exchange of Class C shares of another Fund will convert based on the day you bought the original shares. |
| Prospectus 2021 | 35 |
Columbia International Dividend Income Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
| ■ | No sales charge or other charges apply in connection with this automatic conversion, and conversions are free from U.S. federal income tax. |
Class C Shares — CDSC
You will pay a CDSC of 1.00% if you redeem Class C shares within 12 months of buying them unless you qualify for a waiver of the CDSC (e.g., the shares you are selling were purchased with reinvested Fund distributions). Redemptions of Class C shares are not subject to a CDSC if redeemed after 12 months. Class C shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund are not subject to a CDSC. For more information, see
.
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
Class C Shares — Commissions
Although there is no front-end sales charge when you buy Class C shares, the Distributor makes an up-front payment (which includes a sales commission and an advance of service fees) directly to your financial intermediary of up to 1.00% of the NAV per share when you buy Class C shares (except on purchases of Class C shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund). A portion of this payment may be passed along to your financial advisor. The Distributor seeks to recover this payment through fees it receives under the Fund's distribution and/or service plan during the first 12 months following the sale of Class C shares, and any applicable CDSC when you sell your shares. For more information, see
Choosing a Share Class — Distribution and Service Fees.
Class V Shares — Front-End Sales Charge
Unless you qualify for a waiver (e.g., you purchase shares through reinvested Fund distributions), you will pay a front-end sales charge when you buy Class V shares, resulting in a smaller dollar amount being invested in a Fund than the purchase price you pay. For more information about sales charge waivers (as well as sales charge reduction opportunities), see
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges.
The front-end sales charge you will pay on Class V shares:
| ■ | depends on the amount you are investing (generally, the larger the investment, the smaller the percentage sales charge), and |
| ■ | is based on the total amount of your purchase and the value of your account (and any other accounts eligible for aggregation of which you notify your financial intermediary or, in the case of Direct-at-Fund Accounts (as defined below), you notify the Fund). |
| 36 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia International Dividend Income Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
|
Class V Shares — Front-End Sales Charge — Breakpoint Schedule
|
||||
|
Breakpoint Schedule For:
|
Dollar amount of
shares bought
(a)
|
Sales
charge as a % of the offering price
(b)
|
Sales
charge as a % of the net amount invested
(b)
|
Amount
retained by or paid to Financial Intermediaries as a % of the offering price |
|
Fixed Income Funds
|
$
|
4.75% | 4.99% | 4.25% |
|
$
|
4.50% | 4.71% | 3.75% | |
| $100,000–$249,999 | 3.50% | 3.63% | 2.75% | |
| $250,000–$499,999 | 2.50% | 2.56% | 2.00% | |
| $500,000–$999,999 | 2.00% | 2.04% | 1.75% | |
|
$
|
0.00% | 0.00% |
0.00%
(c)
|
|
| (a) | Purchase amounts and account values are aggregated among all eligible Fund accounts for the purposes of this table. |
| (b) | Because the offering price is calculated to two decimal places, the dollar amount of the sales charge as a percentage of the offering price and your net amount invested for any particular purchase of Fund shares may be higher or lower depending on whether downward or upward rounding was required during the calculation process. |
| (c) |
For more information regarding cumulative commissions paid to your financial intermediary when you buy $1 million or more of Class V shares, see
Class V Shares — Commissions
|
Class V Shares — CDSC
In some cases, you will pay a CDSC if you sell Class V shares that you bought without a front-end sales charge.
| ■ | If you purchased Class V shares without a front-end sales charge because your eligible accounts aggregated between $1 million and $50 million at the time of purchase, you will incur a CDSC if you redeem those shares within 18 months after purchase, which is charged as follows: 1.00% CDSC if shares are redeemed within 12 months after purchase, and 0.50% CDSC if shares are redeemed more than 12, but less than 18, months after purchase. |
| ■ | Subsequent Class V share purchases that bring your aggregate account value to $1 million or more (but less than $50 million) will also be subject to a CDSC if you redeem them within the time periods noted above. |
Class V Shares — Commissions
The Distributor may pay your financial intermediary an up-front commission when you buy Class V shares (a portion of this commission may, in turn, be paid to your financial advisor). For more information, see
Class V Shares — Front-End Sales Charge.
The Distributor may also pay your financial intermediary a cumulative commission when you buy $1 million or more of Class V shares, according to the following schedule:
|
Class V Shares
—
Commission Schedule (Paid by the Distributor to Financial Intermediaries)
|
|
|
Purchase
Amount |
Commission Level*
(as a % of net asset value per share) |
| $1 million – $2,999,999 | 1.00% |
| $3 million – $49,999,999 | 0.50% |
| $50 million or more | 0.25% |
| * | The commission level applies to the applicable asset level; therefore, for example, for a purchase of $5 million, the Distributor would pay a commission of 1.00% on the first $2,999,999 and 0.50% on the balance. |
| Prospectus 2021 | 37 |
Columbia International Dividend Income Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
The availability of certain sales charge waivers and discounts will depend on whether you purchase your shares directly from the Fund (i.e., a Direct-at-Fund Account, as defined below) or through a financial intermediary. Financial intermediaries may have different policies and procedures regarding the availability of front-end sales charge and/or CDSC waivers. In all instances, it is your responsibility to notify your financial intermediary or (for Direct-at-Fund Accounts, as defined below) the Fund at the time of purchase of any relationship or other facts that may qualify you for sales charge waivers or discounts. In order to obtain waivers and discounts not available through a particular financial intermediary, shareholders will have to purchase Fund shares directly from the Fund (if permitted) or through a different financial intermediary. For a description of financial intermediary-specific sales charge reductions and/or waivers, see
.
Appendix A
Class A and Class V Shares Front-End Sales Charge Reductions
The Fund makes available two means of reducing the front-end sales charge that you may pay when you buy Class A shares or Class V shares of a Fund. These types of sales charge reductions are also referred to as breakpoint discounts.
First, through the right of accumulation (ROA), you may combine the value of eligible accounts (as described in the
section below) maintained by you and members of your immediate family to reach a breakpoint discount level and apply a lower front-end sales charge to your purchase. To calculate the combined value of your eligible Fund accounts in the particular class of shares, the Fund will use the current public offering price per share. For purposes of obtaining a breakpoint discount through ROA, you may aggregate your and your “immediate family” members' ownership (as described in the
box below) of certain classes of shares held in certain account types, as described in the
section below.
Eligible Accounts
FUNDamentals
Eligible Accounts
Second, by making a statement of intent to purchase additional shares (commonly referred to as a letter of intent (LOI)), you may pay a lower sales charge on all purchases of Class A shares or Class V shares made within 13 months after the date of your LOI. Your LOI must state the aggregate amount of purchases you intend to make in that 13-month period, which must be at least enough to reach the first (or next) breakpoint of the Fund. The required form of LOI may vary by financial intermediary, so please contact them directly for more information. Five percent of the purchase commitment amount will be placed in escrow. At the end of the 13-month period, the shares will be released from escrow, provided that you have invested the commitment amount. If you do not invest the commitment amount by the end of the 13 months, the remaining amount of the unpaid sales charge will be redeemed from the escrowed shares and the remaining balance released from escrow. To calculate the total value of the purchases you've made under an LOI, the Fund will use the historic cost (i.e., dollars invested and not current market value) of the shares held in each eligible account; reinvested dividends or capital gains, or purchases made through the reinstatement privilege do not count as purchases made under an LOI. For purposes of making an LOI to purchase additional shares, you may aggregate eligible shares owned by you or your immediate family members in eligible accounts, valued as of the day immediately before the initiation of your LOI.
You must request the reduced sales charge (whether through ROA or an LOI) when you buy shares. If you do not complete and file an LOI, or do not request the reduced sales charge at the time of purchase, you will not be eligible for the reduced sales charge. To obtain a breakpoint discount, you must notify your financial intermediary in writing at the time you buy your shares of each eligible account maintained by you and members of your immediate family, including accounts maintained through different financial intermediaries. You and your financial intermediary are responsible for ensuring that you receive discounts for which you are eligible. Please contact your financial intermediary with questions regarding application of the eligible discount to your account. You may be asked by your financial intermediary (or by the Fund if you hold your account directly with the Fund) for account statements or other records to verify your discount eligibility for new and subsequent purchases, including, when applicable, records for accounts opened with a different financial intermediary and records of accounts established by members of your immediate family.
The sales charge reductions available to investors who purchase and hold their Fund shares through different financial intermediaries may vary. For a description of such financial intermediary-specific sales charge reductions, see
.
Appendix A
| 38 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia International Dividend Income Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
FUNDamentals
Your “Immediate Family” and Account Value Aggregation
For purposes of obtaining a breakpoint discount for Class A shares or Class V shares, the value of your account will be deemed to include the value of all applicable shares in eligible Fund accounts that are held by you and your “immediate family,” which includes your spouse, domestic partner, parent, step-parent, legal guardian, child under 21, step-child under 21, father-in-law and mother-in-law, provided that you and your immediate family members share the same mailing address. Any Fund accounts linked together for account value aggregation purposes as of the close of business on September 3, 2010 will be permitted to remain linked together. Group retirement plan accounts are valued at the retirement plan level.
Eligible Accounts
The following accounts are eligible for account value aggregation as described above, provided that they are invested in Class A (excluding, in the case of Direct-at-Fund Accounts, Funds that do not assess a front-end sales charge, including Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund, Columbia Small Cap Index Fund, Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund and Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund, unless such shares were purchased via an exchange from Class A shares of a Fund on which you paid the Class A share applicable front-end sales charge), Class C, Class E, Class Inst or Class V shares of a Fund, or non-retirement plan accounts invested in Class Adv, Class Inst2 or Class Inst3 shares of a Fund: individual or joint accounts; Roth and traditional Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs); Simplified Employee Pension accounts (SEPs), Savings Investment Match Plans for Employees of Small Employers accounts (SIMPLEs) and Tax Sheltered Custodial Accounts (TSCAs); Uniform Gifts to Minors Act (UGMA)/Uniform Transfers to Minors Act (UTMA) accounts for which you, your spouse, or your domestic partner is parent or guardian of the minor child; revocable trust accounts for which you or an immediate family member, individually, is the beneficial owner/grantor; accounts held in the name of your, your spouse’s, or your domestic partner’s sole proprietorship or single owner limited liability company or S corporation; qualified retirement plan assets, provided that you are the sole owner of the business sponsoring the plan, are the sole participant (other than a spouse) in the plan, and have no intention of adding participants to the plan; and investments in wrap accounts.
The following accounts are
for account value aggregation as described above: accounts of pension and retirement plans with multiple participants, such as 401(k) plans (which are combined to reduce the sales charge for the entire pension or retirement plan and therefore are not used to reduce the sales charge for your individual accounts); investments in 529 plans, donor advised funds, variable annuities, variable insurance products or managed separate accounts; charitable and irrevocable trust accounts; accounts holding shares of money market funds that used the Columbia brand before May 1, 2010; accounts invested in Class R shares of a Fund; and retirement plan accounts invested in Class Adv, Class Inst2 or Class Inst3 shares of a Fund.
not eligible
Additionally, direct purchases of shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund may not be aggregated for account value aggregation purposes; however, shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund acquired by exchange from other Columbia Funds that assess a sales charge may be included in account value aggregation.
Class A and Class V Shares Front-End Sales Charge Waivers
There are no front-end sales charges on reinvested Fund distributions. The Class A shares sales charge is waived on conversions of Class C shares to Class A shares. The Distributor may waive front-end sales charges on purchases of Class A and Class V shares of the Funds by certain categories of investors, including Board members, certain employees of financial intermediaries, Fund portfolio managers, certain partners and employees of outside legal counsel to the Funds or the Board, separate accounts of an insurance company exempt from registration as an investment company under Section 3(c)(11) of the 1940 Act, registered broker-dealer firms that have an agreement with the Distributor purchasing Fund shares for their investment account only, and qualified employee benefit plan rollovers to Class A shares in the same Fund (see Appendix S to the SAI for details). For a more complete description of categories of investors who may purchase Class A and Class V shares of the Funds at NAV, without payment of any front-end sales charge that would otherwise apply, see Appendix S to the SAI.
| Prospectus 2021 | 39 |
Columbia International Dividend Income Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
In addition, certain types of purchases of Class A and Class V shares may be made at NAV. The Distributor may waive front-end sales charges on (i) purchases (including exchanges) of Class A shares in accounts of financial intermediaries that have entered into agreements with the Distributor to offer Fund shares to self-directed investment brokerage accounts that may or may not charge a transaction fee to customers; (ii) exchanges of Class Inst shares of a Fund for Class A shares of the Fund; (iii) purchases of Class A shares on brokerage mutual fund-only platforms of financial intermediaries that have an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes the offering of Class A shares within such platform; (iv) purchases through certain wrap fee or other products or programs that involve fee-based compensation arrangements that have, or clear trades through a financial intermediary that has, a selling agreement with the Distributor; (v) purchases through state sponsored 529 Plans; (vi) purchases through banks, trust companies, and thrift institutions acting as fiduciaries; and (vii) purchases through certain employee benefit plans and certain qualified deferred compensation plans. For a more complete description of these eligible transactions, see Appendix S to the SAI.
The sales charge waivers available to investors who purchase and hold their Fund shares through different financial intermediaries may vary. For a description of such financial intermediary-specific sales charge waivers, see
.
Appendix A
CDSC Waivers – Class A, Class C and Class V
You may be able to avoid an otherwise applicable CDSC when you sell Class A, Class C or Class V shares of the Fund. This could happen because of the way in which you originally invested in the Fund, because of your relationship with the Funds or for other reasons. For example, the CDSC will be waived on redemptions of shares in the event of the shareholder's death; for which no sales commission or transaction fee was paid to an authorized financial intermediary at the time of purchase; purchased through reinvestment of dividends and capital gain distributions; that result from required minimum distributions taken from retirement accounts due to the shareholder reaching the qualified age based on applicable IRS regulations; that result from returns of excess contributions made to retirement plans or individual retirement accounts (subject to certain conditions); initially purchased by an employee benefit plan (for Class A shares) and that are not connected with a plan level termination (for Class C or Class V shares); in connection with the Fund's Small Account Policy (which is described in
); and by certain other investors and in certain other types of transactions or situations. Restrictions may apply to certain accounts and certain transactions. The Distributor may, in its sole discretion, authorize the waiver of the CDSC for additional classes of investors. The Fund may change or cancel these terms at any time. Any change or cancellation applies only to future purchases. For a more complete description of the available waivers of the CDSC on redemptions of Class A, Class C or Class V shares, see Appendix S to the SAI.
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares — Transaction Rules and Policies
The sales charge waivers available to investors who purchase and hold their Fund shares through different financial intermediaries may vary. For a description of such financial intermediary-specific sales charge waivers, see
.
Appendix A
Repurchases (Reinstatements)
As noted in the table below, you can redeem shares of certain classes (see Redeemed Share Class below) and use such redemption proceeds to buy shares of the Corresponding Repurchase Class without paying an otherwise applicable sales charge and/or CDSC (other than, in the case of Direct-at-Fund Accounts, redemptions from Funds that do not assess a front-end sales charge, including Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund, Columbia Small Cap Index Fund, Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund and Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund, unless such shares were purchased via an exchange from Class A shares of a Fund on which you paid the Class A share applicable front-end sales charge) within 90 days, up to the amount of the redemption proceeds.
|
Repurchases (Reinstatements)
|
|
|
Redeemed Share Class
|
Corresponding Repurchase Class
|
| Class A | Class A |
| Class C | Class C |
| 40 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia International Dividend Income Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
|
Repurchases (Reinstatements)
|
|
|
Redeemed Share Class
|
Corresponding Repurchase Class
|
| Class V | Class V |
Any CDSC paid upon redemption of your Class A, Class C or Class V shares of a Fund will not be reimbursed.
To be eligible for the repurchase (or reinstatement) privilege, the purchase must be made into an account for the same owner, but does not need to be into the same Fund from which the shares were sold. The Transfer Agent, Distributor or their agents must receive a written reinstatement request from you or your financial intermediary within 90 days after the shares are redeemed. The purchase of the Corresponding Repurchase Class (as noted in the table above) through this repurchase (or reinstatement) privilege will be made at the NAV of such shares next calculated after the request is received in “good form.” Systematic withdrawals and purchases are excluded from this policy.
Restrictions and Changes in Terms and Conditions
Restrictions may apply to certain accounts and certain transactions. The Funds and/or the Distributor may change or cancel these terms and conditions at any time. Unless you provide your financial intermediary with information in writing about all of the factors that may count toward available reductions or waivers of an applicable sales charge, there can be no assurance that you will receive all of the reductions and waivers for which you may be eligible. To the extent your Fund account is held directly with the Fund, you should provide this information to the Fund when placing your purchase or redemption order. Please see
to this prospectus and Appendix S of the SAI for more information about sales charge waivers.
Appendix A
Distribution and Service Fees
The Board has approved, and the Funds have adopted, distribution and/or shareholder service plans which set the distribution and/or service fees that are periodically deducted from the Funds’ assets. These fees are calculated daily, may vary by share class and are intended to compensate the Distributor and/or eligible financial intermediaries for, with regard to distribution fees, selling Fund shares and, with regard to service fees, directly or indirectly providing services to shareholders. Because the fees are paid out of the Fund's assets on an ongoing basis, they will increase the cost of your investment over time.
The table below shows the maximum annual distribution and/or service fees (as an annual percentage of average daily net assets) and the combined amount of such fees applicable to each share class:
| (a) | The service fees for Class A and Class C shares of certain Funds vary. The annual service fee for Class A and Class C shares of Columbia High Yield Municipal Fund, Columbia Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund and Columbia Tax-Exempt Fund may equal up to 0.20% of the average daily NAV of all shares of such Fund class. The annual distribution fee for Class C shares for Columbia Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund shall be 0.65% of the average daily net assets of the Fund’s Class C shares. The Distributor has contractually agreed to waive a portion of the service fee for Class A and Class C shares of Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund so that the service fee does not exceed 0.15% annually through August 31, 2021 unless sooner terminated at the sole discretion of the Fund’s Board. The Distributor has contractually agreed to waive a portion of the service fee for Class A shares of Columbia Strategic California Municipal Income Fund so that the service fee does not exceed 0.20% annually through February 28, 2022 unless modified or sooner terminated at the sole discretion of the Fund’s Board. |
| Prospectus 2021 | 41 |
Columbia International Dividend Income Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
| (b) | The maximum distribution and service fees of Class A shares varies among the Funds, as shown in the table below: |
|
Funds
|
Maximum
Class A Distribution Fee |
Maximum
Class A Service Fee |
Maximum
Class A Combined Total |
|
Series of CFST and CFST II (other than Columbia
Government Money Market Fund) |
— | — |
0.25%; these Funds pay a
combined distribution and service fee |
| Columbia Government Money Market Fund | — | — | 0.10% |
| Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund | up to 0.15% | up to 0.15% | 0.15% |
| Columbia Balanced Fund, Columbia Contrarian Core Fund, Columbia Dividend Income Fund, Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund, Columbia Large Cap Growth Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Growth Fund, Columbia Oregon Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund, Columbia Real Estate Equity Fund, Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I, Columbia Total Return Bond Fund | up to 0.10% | up to 0.25% |
up to 0.35%; these Funds may
pay distribution and service fees up to a maximum of 0.35% of their average daily net assets attributable to Class A shares (comprised of up to 0.10% for distribution services and up to 0.25% for shareholder liaison services) but currently limit such fees to an aggregate fee of not more than 0.25% for Class A shares |
| Columbia Adaptive Risk Allocation Fund, Columbia Bond Fund, Columbia Connecticut Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund, Columbia Corporate Income Fund, Columbia Emerging Markets Fund, Columbia Greater China Fund, Columbia International Dividend Income Fund, Columbia Massachusetts Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund, Columbia Multi-Asset Income Fund, Columbia Multi Strategy Alternatives Fund, Columbia New York Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund, Columbia Pacific/Asia Fund, Columbia Select Large Cap Growth Fund, Columbia Small Cap Value Fund I, Columbia Strategic California Municipal Income Fund, Columbia Strategic Income Fund, Columbia Strategic New York Municipal Income Fund, Columbia U.S. Social Bond Fund, Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund | — | 0.25% | 0.25% |
| Columbia High Yield Municipal Fund, Columbia Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund, Columbia Tax-Exempt Fund | — | 0.20% | 0.20% |
| (c) | Fee amounts noted apply to all Funds other than Columbia Government Money Market Fund, which, for Class A shares, pays distribution and service fees of 0.10%, and for Class C shares pays distribution fees of 0.75%. The payment of the distribution and/or service fees payable by Columbia Government Money Market Fund under its Plan of Distribution has been suspended through November 30, 2021. This arrangement may be modified or terminated at the sole discretion of Columbia Government Money Market Fund’s Board at any time. Compensation paid to financial intermediaries is suspended for the duration of the suspension of payments under Columbia Government Money Market Fund’s Plan of Distribution. |
| (d) | The Distributor has contractually agreed to waive a portion of the distribution fee for Class C shares of the following Funds so that the distribution fee does not exceed the specified percentage annually through the specified date for each Fund: 0.45% for Columbia Connecticut Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund through February 28, 2022, Columbia Massachusetts Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund through February 28, 2022, Columbia New York Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund through February 28, 2022, Columbia Oregon Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund through November 30, 2021, Columbia Strategic California Municipal Income Fund through February 28, 2022, and Columbia Strategic New York Municipal Income Fund through August 31, 2021; 0.55% for Columbia Corporate Income Fund through August 31, 2021, and Columbia Short Term Bond Fund through August 31, 2021; 0.60% for Columbia High Yield Municipal Fund through September 30, 2021, Columbia Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund through August 31, 2021, and Columbia Tax-Exempt Fund through November 30, 2021; and 0.65% for Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund through August 31, 2021. These arrangements may be sooner terminated at the sole discretion of each Fund’s Board. |
| (e) | Class R shares of series of CFST and CFST I pay a distribution fee pursuant to a Rule 12b-1 plan. The Funds do not have a shareholder service plan for Class R shares. Series of CFST II have a distribution and shareholder service plan for Class R shares. For Class R shares of series of CFST II, the maximum fee under the plan reimbursed for distribution expenses is equal on an annual basis to 0.50% of the average daily net assets of the Fund attributable to Class R shares. Of that amount, up to 0.25% may be reimbursed for shareholder service expenses. |
| (f) |
The shareholder servicing fees for Class V shares are up to 0.50% of average daily net assets attributable to Class V shares for equity Funds and 0.40% for fixed income Funds. In general, the Funds currently limit such fees to a maximum of 0.25% for equity Funds and 0.15% for fixed-income Funds. These fees for Class V shares are not paid pursuant to a Rule 12b-1 plan. See
Class V Shareholder Service Fees
|
| 42 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia International Dividend Income Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
The distribution and/or service fees for Class A, Class C, and Class R shares, as applicable, are subject to the requirements of Rule 12b-1 under the 1940 Act. The Distributor may retain these fees otherwise payable to financial intermediaries if the amounts due are below an amount determined by the Distributor in its sole discretion.
For Class A shares, the Distributor begins to pay these fees immediately after purchase, except in the following case, in which the Distributor begins to pay these fees 12 months after purchase: a purchase of Class A shares of $1 million or more for Taxable Funds or $500,000 or more for Tax-Exempt Funds that pay a Class A up-front commission to your financial intermediary and the financial intermediary has opted to receive such commission. The Distributor’s policy to otherwise begin to pay these fees immediately on Class A shares also applies to purchases of funds that do not pay an up-front sales commission on Class A shares, which includes Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund, Columbia Small Cap Index Fund, Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund and Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund. For Class C shares, the Distributor begins to pay these fees 12 months after purchase. However, for Class C shares, financial intermediaries may opt to decline the up-front payment described in
Choosing a Share Class – Sales Charges and Commissions – Class C Shares – Commissions
and instead may receive these fees immediately after purchase. If the intermediary opts to receive the up-front payment, the Distributor retains the distribution and/or service fee for the first 12 months following the sale of Class C shares in order to recover the up-front payment made to financial intermediaries and to pay for other related expenses. For Class R shares, the Distributor begins to pay these fees immediately after purchase.
Series of CFST II.
The maximum fee for services under the distribution and/or shareholder servicing plan for series of CFST II is the lesser of the amount of reimbursable expenses and the fee rates in the table above. If a share class of a series of CFST II has no reimbursable distribution or shareholder servicing expenses, it will suspend the payment of any such fee. As a result of any such suspensions, the expense ratio of a Fund’s share class disclosed in the
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
table in the
Summary of the Fund
section of this prospectus may not match the ratio of expenses of such share class to average net assets shown in the
Financial Highlights
section of this prospectus.
If you maintain shares of the Fund directly with the Fund, without working with a financial advisor or other financial intermediary, distribution and service fees may be retained by the Distributor as payment or reimbursement for incurring certain distribution and shareholder service related expenses.
Over time, these distribution and/or service fees will reduce the return on your investment and may cost you more than paying other types of sales charges. The Fund will pay these fees to the Distributor and/or to eligible financial intermediaries for as long as the distribution plan and/or shareholder servicing plans continue in effect, which is expected to be indefinitely. However, the Fund may reduce or discontinue payments at any time. Your financial intermediary may also charge you other additional fees for providing services to your account, which may be different from those described here.
Class V Shareholder Services Fees
The Funds that offer Class V shares have adopted a shareholder services plan that permits them to pay for certain services provided to Class V shareholders by their financial intermediaries. Equity Funds may pay shareholder servicing fees up to an aggregate annual rate of 0.50% of the Fund's average daily net assets attributable to Class V shares (comprised of up to 0.25% for shareholder liaison services and up to 0.25% for administrative support services). Fixed income Funds may pay shareholder servicing fees up to an aggregate annual rate of 0.40% of the Fund's average daily net assets attributable to Class V shares (comprised of up to 0.20% for shareholder liaison services and up to 0.20% for administrative support services). These fees are currently limited to an aggregate annual rate of not more than 0.25% for equity Funds and not more than 0.15% for fixed income Funds. The Distributor begins to pay these fees immediately after purchase for purchases up to $1 million, for purchases of $1 million or more the Distributor will begin to pay these fees 12 months after purchase. These fees for Class V shares are not paid pursuant to a Rule 12b-1 plan. With respect to those Funds that declare dividends on a daily basis, the shareholder servicing fee shall be waived by the financial intermediaries to the extent necessary to prevent net investment income from falling below 0% on a daily basis. If you maintain shares of the Fund directly with the Fund, without working with a financial advisor or other intermediary, shareholder services fees may be retained by the Distributor as payment or reimbursement for incurring certain shareholder service related expenses.
| Prospectus 2021 | 43 |
Columbia International Dividend Income Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
Financial Intermediary Compensation
The Distributor, the Investment Manager and their affiliates make payments, from their own resources, to financial intermediaries, including other Ameriprise Financial affiliates, for marketing/sales support services relating to the Funds (Marketing Support Payments). Such payments are generally based upon one or more of the following factors: average net assets of the Funds attributable to that financial intermediary; gross sales of the Funds attributable to that financial intermediary; reimbursement of ticket charges (fees that a financial intermediary charges its representatives for effecting transactions in Fund shares); or a negotiated lump sum payment. While the financial arrangements may vary for each financial intermediary, Marketing Support Payments to any one financial intermediary are generally between 0.05% and 0.40% on an annual basis for payments based on average net assets of the Fund attributable to the financial intermediary, and between 0.05% and 0.25% on an annual basis for firms receiving a payment based on gross sales of the Funds attributable to the financial intermediary. The Distributor, the Investment Manager and their affiliates may at times make payments with respect to a Fund or the Columbia Funds generally on a basis other than those described above, or in larger amounts, when dealing with certain financial intermediaries. Not all financial intermediaries receive Marketing Support Payments. The Distributor, the Investment Manager and their affiliates do not make Marketing Support Payments with respect to Class Inst3 shares.
In addition, the Transfer Agent has certain arrangements in place to compensate financial intermediaries, including other Ameriprise Financial affiliates, that hold Fund shares through networked and omnibus accounts, including omnibus retirement plans, for services that they provide to beneficial Fund shareholders (Shareholder Services). Shareholder Services and related fees vary by financial intermediary and according to distribution channel and may include sub-accounting, sub-transfer agency, participant recordkeeping, shareholder or participant reporting, shareholder or participant transaction processing, maintenance of shareholder records, preparation of account statements and provision of customer service, and are not intended to include services that are primarily intended to result in the sale of Fund shares. Payments for Shareholder Services generally are not expected, with certain limited exceptions, to exceed 0.40% of the average aggregate value of the Fund’s shares. Generally, each Fund pays the Transfer Agent a per account fee or a percentage of the average aggregate value of shares per annum maintained in omnibus accounts up to the lesser of the amount charged by the financial intermediary or a channel-specific or share class-specific cap established by the Board from time to time. Fee amounts in excess of the amount paid by the Fund are borne by the Transfer Agent, the Investment Manager and/or their affiliates. For Class Inst3 shares, the Transfer Agent does not pay financial intermediaries for Shareholder Services, except that for Class Inst3 shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund (formerly an unnamed share class of the Fund), the Transfer Agent makes Shareholder Services payments to a financial intermediary through which shares of this class were held (under its former unnamed share class name) as of November 30, 2018, and the Fund does not compensate the Transfer Agent for any Shareholder Services provided by financial intermediaries.
In addition to the payments described above, the Distributor, the Investment Manager and their affiliates typically make other payments or allow promotional incentives to certain broker-dealers to the extent permitted by the Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) rules and by other applicable laws and regulations.
Amounts paid by the Distributor, the Investment Manager and their affiliates are paid out of their own resources and do not increase the amount paid by you or the Fund. You can find further details in the SAI about the payments made by the Distributor, the Investment Manager and their affiliates, as well as a list of the financial intermediaries, including Ameriprise Financial affiliates, to which the Distributor, the Investment Manager or their affiliates have agreed to make Marketing Support Payments and pay Shareholder Services fees.
Your financial intermediary may charge you fees and commissions in addition to those described in this prospectus. You should consult with your financial intermediary and review carefully any disclosure your financial intermediary provides regarding its services and compensation. Depending on the financial arrangement in place at any particular time, a financial intermediary and its financial advisors may have a conflict of interest or financial incentive for recommending the Fund or a particular share class over others.
| 44 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia International Dividend Income Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
Share Price Determination
The price you pay or receive when you buy, sell or exchange shares is the Fund's next determined net asset value (or NAV) per share for a given share class. The Fund calculates the NAV per share for each class of shares of the Fund at the end of each business day, with the value of the Fund's shares based on the total value of all of the securities and other assets that it holds as of a specified time.
FUNDamentals
NAV Calculation
Each of the Fund's share classes calculates its NAV per share as follows:
NAV per share =
(Value of assets of the share class) – (Liabilities of the share class)
Number of outstanding shares of the class
FUNDamentals
Business Days
A business day is any day that the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is open. A business day typically ends at the close of regular trading on the NYSE, usually at 4:00 p.m. Eastern time. If the NYSE is scheduled to close early, the business day will be considered to end as of the time of the NYSE’s scheduled close. The Fund will not treat an intraday unscheduled disruption in NYSE trading or an intraday unscheduled closing as a close of regular trading on the NYSE for these purposes and will price its shares as of the regularly scheduled closing time for that day (typically, 4:00 p.m. Eastern time). Notwithstanding the foregoing, the NAV of Fund shares may be determined at such other time or times (in addition to or in lieu of the time set forth above) as the Fund’s Board may approve or ratify. On holidays and other days when the NYSE is closed, the Fund’s NAV is not calculated and the Fund does not accept buy or sell orders. However, the value of the Fund’s assets may still be affected on such days to the extent that the Fund holds foreign securities that trade on days that foreign securities markets are open.
Equity securities are valued primarily on the basis of market quotations reported on stock exchanges and other securities markets around the world. If an equity security is listed on a national exchange, the security is valued at the closing price or, if the closing price is not readily available, the mean of the closing bid and asked prices. Certain equity securities, debt securities and other assets are valued differently. For instance, bank loans trading in the secondary market are valued primarily on the basis of indicative bids, fixed income investments maturing in 60 days or less are valued primarily using the amortized cost method, unless this methodology results in a valuation that does not approximate the market value of these securities, and those maturing in excess of 60 days are valued primarily using a market-based price obtained from a pricing service, if available. Investments in other open-end funds are valued at their published NAVs. Both market quotations and indicative bids are obtained from outside pricing services approved and monitored pursuant to a policy approved by the Fund's Board.
If a market price is not readily available or is deemed not to reflect market value, the Fund will determine the price of a portfolio security based on a determination of the security's fair value pursuant to a policy approved by the Fund’s Board. In addition, the Fund may use fair valuation to price securities that trade on a foreign exchange when a significant event has occurred after the foreign exchange closes but before the time at which the Fund’s share price is calculated. Foreign exchanges typically close before the time at which Fund share prices are calculated, and may be closed altogether on days when the Fund is open. Such significant events affecting a foreign security may include, but are not limited to: (1) corporate actions, earnings announcements, litigation or other events impacting a single issuer; (2) governmental action that affects securities in one sector or country; (3) natural disasters or armed conflicts affecting a country or region; or (4) significant domestic or foreign market fluctuations. The Fund uses various criteria, including an evaluation of U.S. market moves after the close of foreign markets, in determining whether a foreign security's market price is readily available and reflective of market value and, if not, the fair value
| Prospectus 2021 | 45 |
Columbia International Dividend Income Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
of the security. To the extent the Fund has significant holdings of small cap stocks, high-yield bonds, floating rate loans, or tax-exempt, foreign or other securities that may trade infrequently, fair valuation may be used more frequently than for other funds.
Fair valuation may have the effect of reducing stale pricing arbitrage opportunities presented by the pricing of Fund shares. However, when the Fund uses fair valuation to price securities, it may value those securities higher or lower than another fund would have priced the security. Also, the use of fair valuation may cause the Fund's performance to diverge to a greater degree from the performance of various benchmarks used to compare the Fund's performance because benchmarks generally do not use fair valuation techniques. Because of the judgment involved in fair valuation decisions, there can be no assurance that the value ascribed to a particular security is accurate. The Fund has retained one or more independent fair valuation pricing services to assist in the fair valuation process for foreign securities.
Transaction Rules and Policies
The Fund, the Distributor or the Transfer Agent may refuse any order to buy or exchange shares. If this happens, the Fund will return any money it received, but no interest will be paid on that money. Your financial intermediary may have rules and policies in place that are in addition to or different than those described below.
Order Processing
Orders to buy, sell or exchange Fund shares are processed on business days. Depending upon the class of shares, orders can be made by mail, by telephone or online. Orders received in “good form” by the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary before the end of a business day are priced at the NAV per share (plus any applicable sales charge) of the Fund's applicable share class on that day. Orders received after the end of a business day will receive the next business day's NAV per share (plus any applicable sales charge). For Direct-at-Fund Accounts (i.e., accounts established directly with the Fund), when a written order to buy, sell or exchange shares is sent to the Transfer Agent, the share price used to fill the order is the next price calculated by the Fund after the Transfer Agent receives the transaction request in “good form” at its transaction processing center (i.e., the Fund’s express mail address), not the P.O. Box provided for regular mail delivery. The market value of the Fund's investments may change between the time you submit your order and the time the Fund next calculates its NAV per share. The business day that applies to your order is also called the trade date.
“Good Form”
An order is in “good form” if the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary has received payment (in the case of purchases) and all of the information and documentation it deems necessary to effect your order. For example, when you sell shares, “good form” means that your request (i) has complete instructions and written requests include the signatures of all account owners, (ii) is for an amount that is less than or equal to the shares in your account for which payment has been received and collected, (iii) has a Medallion Signature Guarantee for amounts greater than $100,000 and certain other transactions, as described below, and (iv) includes any other required documents completed and attached. For the documents required for sales by corporations, agents, fiduciaries, surviving joint owners and other legal entities, call 800.345.6611.
Medallion Signature Guarantees
The Transfer Agent may require a Medallion Signature Guarantee for your signature in order to process certain transactions, including if: (i) the transaction amount is over $100,000; (ii) you want your check made payable to someone other than the registered account owner(s); (iii) the address of record has changed within the last 30 days; (iv) you want the check mailed to an address other than the address of record; (v) you want proceeds to be sent according to existing bank account instructions not coded for outgoing Automated Clearing House (ACH) or wire, or to a bank account not on file; or (vi) you are changing legal ownership of your account.
A Medallion Signature Guarantee helps assure that a signature is genuine and not a forgery. A Medallion Signature Guarantee must be provided by an eligible guarantor institution including, but not limited to, the following: a bank, credit union, savings association, broker or dealer that participates in the Securities Transfer Association Medallion Program (STAMP), the Stock Exchange Medallion Program (SEMP) or the New York Stock Exchange Medallion
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Columbia International Dividend Income Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
Signature Program (MSP). For other transactions, the Transfer Agent may require a signature guarantee. Notarization by a notary public is not an acceptable signature guarantee. The Transfer Agent reserves the right to reject a signature guarantee and to request additional documentation for any transaction.
Customer Identification Program
Federal law requires the Fund to obtain and record specific personal information to verify your identity when you open an account. This information may include your name, address, date of birth (for individuals) and taxpayer or other government issued identification (e.g., social security number (SSN) or other taxpayer identification number (TIN)). If you fail to provide the requested information, the Fund may need to delay the date of your purchase or may be unable to open your account, which may result in a return of your investment monies. In addition, if the Fund is unable to verify your identity after your account is open, the Fund reserves the right to close your account or take other steps as deemed reasonable. The Fund will not be liable for any loss resulting from any purchase delay, application rejection or account closure due to a failure to provide proper identifying information.
Small Account Policy — Class A, Class C, Class Inst, and Class V Share Accounts Below the Minimum Account Balance
The Funds generally will automatically sell your shares if the value of your Fund account (treating each account of the Fund you own separately from any other account of the Fund you may own) falls below the applicable minimum account balance. Any otherwise applicable CDSC will not be imposed on such an automatic sale of your shares. Generally, you may avoid such an automatic sale by raising your account balance to at least $250 or consolidating your multiple accounts you may have with the Funds through an exchange (so as to maintain at least $250 in each of your accounts). The minimum account balance varies among share classes and types of accounts, as follows:
| Minimum Account Balance | |
|
Minimum
Account Balance |
|
| For all classes and account types except those listed below |
$250 (None for accounts with
Systematic Investment Plans) |
| Individual Retirement Accounts for all classes except those listed below | None |
| Class Adv, Class Inst2, Class Inst3 and Class R | None |
For shares held directly with the Funds’ Transfer Agent, if your shares are sold, the Transfer Agent will remit the sale proceeds to you. The Transfer Agent will send you written notification in advance of any automatic sale, which will provide details on how you may avoid such an automatic sale. Generally, you may avoid such an automatic sale by raising your account balance to at least $250, consolidating your multiple accounts you may have with the Funds through an exchange (so as to maintain at least $250 in each of your accounts), or setting up a Systematic Investment Plan (described below). For more information, contact the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary. The Transfer Agent's contact information (toll-free number and mailing addresses) as well as the Funds’ website address can be found at the beginning of the section
Choosing a Share Class
.
For shares purchased and held for your benefit through a financial intermediary, the Funds may instruct the intermediary to automatically sell your Fund shares if the transaction can be operationally administered by the intermediary.
Small Account Policy — Class A, Class C, Class Inst, and Class V Share Accounts Minimum Balance Fee
If the value of your Fund account (treating each account of the Fund you own separately from any other account of the Fund you may own) falls below the minimum initial investment requirement applicable to you for any reason, including as a result of market decline, your account generally could be subject to a $20 annual fee. The Transfer Agent will reduce the expenses paid by the Fund by any amounts it collects from the assessment of this fee. For Funds that do not have transfer agency expenses against which to offset the amount collected through assessment of this fee, the
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Columbia International Dividend Income Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
fee will be paid directly to the Fund. The Funds reserve the right to lower the account size trigger point for the minimum balance fee in any year or for any class of shares when we believe it is appropriate to do so in light of declines in the market value of Fund shares or for other reasons.
For shares held directly with the Funds’ Transfer Agent, this fee will be assessed through the automatic sale of Fund shares in your account. Any otherwise applicable CDSC will not be imposed on such an automatic sale of your shares. The Transfer Agent will send you written notification in advance of assessing any fee, which will provide details on how you can avoid the imposition of such fee. Generally, you may avoid the imposition of such fee by raising your Fund account balance, consolidating your multiple accounts you may have with the Funds, or setting up a Systematic Investment Plan that invests at least monthly. For more information, contact the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary. The Transfer Agent's contact information (toll-free number and mailing addresses) as well as the Funds’ website address can be found at the beginning of the section
Choosing a Share Class
.
For shares purchased and held for your benefit through a financial intermediary, this fee could be assessed through the automatic sale of Fund shares in your account if instructed by the Fund and the transaction can be operationally administered by the intermediary.
Exceptions to the Small Account Policy (Accounts Below Minimum Account Balance) and Minimum Balance Fee
The automatic sale of Fund shares in accounts under $250 and the annual minimum balance fee described above do not apply to shareholders of Class Adv, Class Inst2, Class Inst3 and Class R shares; shareholders holding their shares through financial intermediary networked accounts; wrap fee and omnibus accounts; accounts with active Systematic Investment Plans; certain qualified retirement plans; and health savings accounts. The automatic sale of Fund shares of accounts under the applicable minimum account balance does not apply to individual retirement plans.
Small Account Policy — Financial Intermediary Networked and Wrap Fee Accounts
The Funds may automatically redeem, at any time, financial intermediary networked accounts and wrap fee accounts that have account balances of $20 or less or have less than one share.
For shares purchased and held for your benefit through a financial intermediary, the Funds may instruct the intermediary to automatically sell your Fund shares if the transaction can be operationally administered by the intermediary.
Information Sharing Agreements
As required by Rule 22c-2 under the 1940 Act, the Funds or certain of their service providers will enter into information sharing agreements with financial intermediaries, including participating life insurance companies and financial intermediaries that sponsor or offer retirement plans through which shares of the Funds are made available for purchase. Pursuant to Rule 22c-2, financial intermediaries are required, upon request, to: (i) provide shareholder account and transaction information; and (ii) execute instructions from the Fund to restrict or prohibit further purchases of Fund shares by shareholders who have been identified by the Fund as having engaged in transactions that violate the Fund's excessive trading policies and procedures.
Excessive Trading Practices Policy of Non-Money Market Funds
Right to Reject or Restrict Share Transaction Orders—
The Fund is intended for investors with long-term investment purposes and is not intended as a vehicle for frequent trading activity (market timing) that is excessive. Investors should transact in Fund shares primarily for investment purposes. The Board has adopted excessive trading policies and procedures that are designed to deter excessive trading by investors (the Excessive Trading Policies and Procedures).
The Fund discourages and does not accommodate excessive trading.
The Fund reserves the right to reject, without any prior notice, any purchase or exchange order for any reason, and will not be liable for any loss resulting from rejected orders. For example, the Fund may in its sole discretion restrict or reject a purchase or exchange order even if the transaction is not subject to the specific limitation described below if the Fund or its agents determine that accepting the order could interfere with efficient management of the Fund's
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Columbia International Dividend Income Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
portfolio or is otherwise contrary to the Fund's best interests. The Excessive Trading Policies and Procedures apply equally to purchase or exchange transactions communicated directly to the Transfer Agent and to those received by financial intermediaries.
Specific Buying and Exchanging Limitations
— If a Fund detects that an investor has made two “material round trips” in any 28-day period, it will generally reject the investor's future purchase orders, including exchange purchase orders, involving any Fund.
For these purposes, a “round trip” is a purchase or exchange into the Fund followed by a sale or exchange out of the Fund, or a sale or exchange out of the Fund followed by a purchase or exchange into the Fund. A “material” round trip is one that is deemed by the Fund to be material in terms of its amount or its potential detrimental impact on the Fund. Independent of this limit, the Fund may, in its sole discretion, reject future purchase orders by any person, group or account that appears to have engaged in any type of excessive trading activity.
These limits generally do not apply to automated transactions or transactions by registered investment companies in a “fund-of-funds” structure. These limits do not apply to payroll deduction contributions by retirement plan participants, transactions initiated by a retirement plan sponsor or certain other retirement plan transactions consisting of rollover transactions, loan repayments and disbursements, and required minimum distribution redemptions. They may be modified or rescinded for accounts held by certain retirement plans to conform to plan limits, for considerations relating to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 or regulations of the Department of Labor, and for certain asset allocation or wrap programs. Accounts known to be under common ownership or control generally will be counted together, but accounts maintained or managed by a common intermediary generally will not be considered to be under common ownership or control. The Fund retains the right to modify these restrictions at any time without prior notice to shareholders. In addition, the Fund may, in its sole discretion, reinstate trading privileges that have been revoked under the Fund's Excessive Trading Policies and Procedures.
Limitations on the Ability to Detect and Prevent Excessive Trading Practices—
The Fund takes various steps designed to detect and prevent excessive trading, including daily review of available shareholder transaction information. However, the Fund receives buy, sell or exchange orders through financial intermediaries, and cannot always know of or reasonably detect excessive trading that may be facilitated by financial intermediaries or by the use of the omnibus account arrangements they offer. Omnibus account arrangements are common forms of holding shares of mutual funds, particularly among certain financial intermediaries such as broker-dealers, retirement plans and variable insurance products. These arrangements often permit financial intermediaries to aggregate their clients' transactions and accounts, and in these circumstances, the identities of the financial intermediary clients that beneficially own Fund shares are often not known to the Fund.
Some financial intermediaries apply their own restrictions or policies to their clients’ transactions and accounts, which may be more or less restrictive than those described here. This may impact the Fund's ability to curtail excessive trading, even where it is identified. For these and other reasons, it is possible that excessive trading may occur despite the Fund's efforts to detect and prevent it.
Although these restrictions and policies involve judgments that are inherently subjective and may involve some selectivity in their application, the Fund seeks to act in a manner that it believes is consistent with the best interests of Fund shareholders in making any such judgments.
Risks of Excessive Trading —
Excessive trading creates certain risks to the Fund's long-term shareholders and may create the following adverse effects:
| ■ | negative impact on the Fund's performance; |
| ■ | potential dilution of the value of the Fund's shares; |
| ■ | interference with the efficient management of the Fund's portfolio, such as the need to maintain undesirably large cash positions, the need to use its line of credit or the need to buy or sell securities it otherwise would not have bought or sold; |
| ■ | losses on the sale of investments resulting from the need to sell securities at less favorable prices; |
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Columbia International Dividend Income Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
| ■ | increased taxable gains to the Fund's remaining shareholders resulting from the need to sell securities to meet sell orders; and |
| ■ | increased brokerage and administrative costs. |
To the extent that the Fund invests significantly in foreign securities traded on markets that close before the Fund's valuation time, it may be particularly susceptible to dilution as a result of excessive trading. Because events may occur after the close of foreign markets and before the Fund's valuation time that influence the value of foreign securities, investors may seek to trade Fund shares in an effort to benefit from their understanding of the value of foreign securities as of the Fund's valuation time. This is often referred to as price arbitrage. The Fund has adopted procedures designed to adjust closing market prices of foreign securities under certain circumstances to reflect what the Fund believes to be the fair value of those securities as of its valuation time. To the extent the adjustments do not work fully, investors engaging in price arbitrage may cause dilution in the value of the Fund's shares held by other shareholders.
Similarly, to the extent that the Fund invests significantly in thinly traded securities and other debt instruments that are rated below investment grade (commonly called “high-yield” or “junk” bonds), equity securities of small-capitalization companies, floating rate loans, or tax-exempt or other securities that may trade infrequently, because
these securities are often traded infrequently, investors may seek to trade Fund shares in an effort to benefit from their understanding of the value of these securities as of the Fund's valuation time. This is also a type of price arbitrage. Any such frequent trading strategies may interfere with efficient management of the Fund's portfolio to a greater degree than would be the case for mutual funds that invest only, or significantly, in highly liquid securities, in part because the Fund may have difficulty selling these particular investments at advantageous times or prices to satisfy large and/or frequent sell orders. Any successful price arbitrage may also cause dilution in the value of Fund shares held by non-redeeming shareholders.
Excessive Trading Practices Policy of Columbia Government Money Market Fund
A money market fund is designed to offer investors a liquid cash option that they may buy and sell as often as they wish. Accordingly, the Board has not adopted policies and procedures designed to discourage excessive or short-term trading of Columbia Government Money Market Fund shares. However, since frequent purchases and sales of Columbia Government Money Market Fund shares could in certain instances harm shareholders in various ways, including reducing the returns to long-term shareholders by increasing costs (such as spreads paid to dealers who trade money market instruments with Columbia Government Money Market Fund) and disrupting portfolio management strategies, Columbia Government Money Market Fund reserves the right, but has no obligation, to reject any purchase or exchange transaction at any time. Except as expressly described in this prospectus (such as minimum purchase amounts), Columbia Government Money Market Fund has no limits on purchase or exchange transactions. In addition, Columbia Government Money Market Fund reserves the right to impose or modify restrictions on purchases, exchanges or trading of Fund shares at any time.
Opening an Account and Placing Orders
We encourage you to consult with a financial advisor who can help you with your investment decisions and who can help you open an account. Once you have an account, you can buy, sell or exchange shares by contacting your financial advisor who will send your order to the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary. As described below, once you have an account you can also communicate your orders directly to the Transfer Agent by mail, by telephone or online.
The Funds are generally available directly and through broker-dealers, banks and other financial intermediaries or institutions, and through certain qualified and non-qualified plans, wrap fee products or other investment products sponsored by financial intermediaries. You may buy, sell, or exchange shares through your financial intermediary. If you maintain your account directly with your financial intermediary, you must contact that agent to process your transaction.
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Columbia International Dividend Income Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
Not all financial intermediaries offer the Funds (or all classes of Fund shares) and certain financial intermediaries that offer the Funds may not offer all Funds on all investment platforms or programs.
Please consult with your financial intermediary to determine the availability of the Funds. If you set up an account at a financial intermediary that does not have, and is unable to obtain, a selling agreement with the Distributor, you will not be able to transfer Fund holdings to that account. In that event, you must either maintain your Fund holdings with your current financial intermediary or find another financial intermediary with a selling agreement.
Financial intermediaries that offer the Funds may charge you additional fees for the services they provide and they may have different policies that are not described in this prospectus.
An investor transacting in a class of Fund shares without any front-end sales charge, CDSC, or other asset-based fee for sales or distribution, such as a Rule 12b-1 fee, may be required to pay a commission to the financial intermediary for effecting such transactions. The Funds are offered in a number of different share classes that have different fees and expenses and other features. Some differences in the policies of different financial intermediaries may include different minimum investment amounts, exchange privileges, Fund/class choices and cutoff times for investments. Additionally, recordkeeping, transaction processing and payments of distributions relating to your account may be performed by the financial intermediaries through which your shares of the Fund are held. Since the Fund (and its service providers) may not have a record of your account transactions, you should always contact the financial intermediary through which you purchased or at which you maintain your shares of the Fund to make changes to your account, to give instructions concerning your account, or to obtain information about your account. The Fund and its service providers, including the Distributor and the Transfer Agent, are not responsible for the failure of any financial intermediary to carry out its obligations to its customers.
The Fund may engage financial intermediaries to receive purchase, exchange and sell orders on its behalf. Accounts established directly with the Fund will be serviced by the Transfer Agent. The Funds, the Transfer Agent and the Distributor do not provide investment advice.
Direct-At-Fund Accounts (Accounts Established Directly with the Fund)
You can hold Fund shares through an account established and held through the financial intermediary through which you purchased Fund shares or you or your financial intermediary may establish an account directly with the Fund, in which case you will receive Fund account transaction confirmations and statements from the Transfer Agent, and not your financial intermediary (Direct-at-Fund Accounts).
To open a Direct-at-Fund Account, complete a Fund account application with your financial advisor or investment professional, and mail the account application to the Transfer Agent. Account applications may be obtained at columbiathreadneedleus.com or may be requested by calling 800.345.6611. Make your check payable to the Fund. You will be assessed a $15 fee for any checks rejected by your financial institution due to insufficient funds or other reasons. The Funds do not accept cash, credit card convenience checks, money orders, traveler's checks, starter checks, third or fourth party checks, or other cash equivalents.
Mail your check and completed application to the Transfer Agent at its regular or express mail address that can be found at the beginning of the section
Choosing a Share Class
. You may also use these addresses to request an exchange or redemption of Fund shares. When a written order to buy, sell or exchange shares is sent to the Transfer Agent, the share price used to fill the order is the next price calculated by the Fund after the Transfer Agent receives your transaction request in “good form” at its transaction processing center (i.e., the Fund’s express mail address), not the P.O. Box provided for regular mail delivery.
You will be sent a statement confirming your purchase and any subsequent transactions in your account. You will also be sent quarterly and annual statements detailing your transactions in the Fund and the other Funds you own under the same account. Duplicate quarterly account statements for the current year and duplicate annual statements for the most recent prior calendar year will be sent to you free of charge. Copies of year-end statements for prior years are available for a fee. Please contact the Transfer Agent for more information.
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Columbia International Dividend Income Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
Written Transactions – Direct-at-Fund Accounts
If you have a Direct-at-Fund Account, you can communicate written buy, sell or exchange orders to the Transfer Agent at its address that can be found at the beginning of the section
Choosing a Share Class
. When a written order to buy, sell or exchange shares is sent to the Transfer Agent, the share price used to fill the order is the next price calculated by the Fund after the Transfer Agent receives your transaction request in “good form” at its transaction processing center (i.e., the Fund’s express mail address), not the P.O. Box provided for regular mail delivery.
Include in your transaction request letter: your name; the name of the Fund(s); your account number; the class of shares to be purchased, exchanged or sold; your SSN or other TIN; the dollar amount or number of shares you want to purchase, exchange or sell; specific instructions regarding delivery of any redemption proceeds or exchange destination (i.e., the Fund/class to be exchanged into); signature(s) of all registered account owner(s); and any special documents the Transfer Agent may require in order to process your order.
Corporate, trust or partnership accounts may need to send additional documents. Payment will be mailed to the address of record and made payable to the names listed on the account, unless your request specifies differently and is signed by all owners.
Telephone Transactions – Direct-at-Fund Accounts
For Class A, Class C, Class Inst, Class Inst3, Class R and Class V shares, if you have a Direct-at-Fund Account, you may place orders to buy, sell or exchange shares by telephone through the Transfer Agent. To place orders by telephone, call 800.422.3737. Have your account number and SSN or TIN available when calling.
You can sell Fund shares via telephone and receive redemption proceeds: by electronic funds transfer via ACH, by wire, or by check to the address of record, subject to a maximum of $100,000 of shares per day, per Fund account. You can buy Fund shares via telephone by electronic funds transfer via ACH from your bank account up to a maximum of $100,000 of shares per day, per Fund account, or by wire from your bank account without a maximum. See below for more information regarding wire and electronic fund transfer transactions. Certain restrictions apply, so please call the Transfer Agent at 800.422.3737 for this and other information in advance of any need to transact via telephone.
Telephone orders may not be as secure as written orders. The Fund will take reasonable steps to confirm that telephone instructions are genuine. For example, we require proof of your identification before we will act on instructions received by telephone and may record telephone conversations. However, the Fund and its agents will not be responsible for any losses, costs or expenses resulting from an unauthorized telephone instruction when reasonable steps have been taken to confirm that telephone instructions are genuine. Telephone orders may be difficult to complete during periods of significant economic or market change or business interruption.
Online Transactions – Direct-at-Fund Accounts
For Class A, Class C, Class Inst, Class Inst3, Class R and Class V shares, if you have a Direct-at-Fund Account, you may be able to place orders to buy, sell, or exchange shares online. Contact the Transfer Agent at 800.345.6611 for more information on certain account trading restrictions and the special sign-up procedures required for online transactions. You can also go to columbiathreadneedleus.com/investor/ to sign up for online transactions. The Transfer Agent has procedures in place to authenticate electronic orders you send through the internet. You will be required to accept the terms of an online agreement and to establish an online account and utilize a password in order to access online account services. You can sell a maximum of $100,000 of shares per day, per Fund account through your online account if you qualify for internet orders. Wire transactions are not permitted online.
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Columbia International Dividend Income Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
Wire Transactions – Direct-at-Fund Accounts
If you hold a Direct-at-Fund Account, you may purchase or redeem Class A, Class C, Class Inst, Class Inst3, Class R and Class V shares of a Fund by wiring money from (or to) your bank account to (or from) your Fund account. You must set up this feature prior to your request unless you are submitting your request in writing, which may require a Medallion Signature Guarantee. Please contact the Transfer Agent by calling 800.422.3737 to obtain the necessary forms and requirements. The Transfer Agent charges a fee for shares sold by wire. The Transfer Agent may waive the fee for certain accounts. In the case of a redemption, the receiving bank may charge an additional fee. The minimum amount that can be redeemed by wire is $500. When selling Fund shares via a telephone request, the maximum amount that can be redeemed via wire transfer is $100,000 per day, per Fund account. Wire transactions are not permitted online.
Electronic Funds Transfer via ACH – Direct-at-Fund Accounts
If you hold a Direct-at-Fund Account, you may purchase or redeem Class A, Class C, Class Inst, Class Inst3, Class R and Class V shares of a Fund by electronically transferring money via Automated Clearing House (ACH) from (or to) your bank account to (or from) your Fund account subject to a maximum of $100,000 of shares per day, per Fund account. You must set up this feature prior to your request, unless you are submitting your request in writing, which may require a Medallion Signature Guarantee. Please contact the Transfer Agent by calling 800.422.3737 to obtain the necessary forms and requirements. Your bank may take up to three business days to post an electronic funds transfer to (or from) your Fund account.
Buying Shares
Eligible Investors
Class A Shares
Class A shares are available to the general public for investment. However, Class A shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund must be purchased through financial intermediaries that, by written agreement with the Distributor, are specifically authorized to sell the Fund’s shares.
Class Adv Shares
Class Adv shares are available only to (i) omnibus retirement plans, including self-directed brokerage accounts within omnibus retirement plans that clear through institutional no transaction fee (NTF) platforms, (ii) trust companies or similar institutions, (iii) broker-dealers, banks, trust companies and similar institutions that clear Fund share transactions for their client or customer investment advisory or similar accounts through designated financial intermediaries and their mutual fund trading platforms that have been granted specific written authorization from the Transfer Agent with respect to Class Adv eligibility apart from selling, servicing or similar agreements, (iv) 501(c)(3) charitable organizations, (v) 529 plans, (vi) health savings accounts, (vii) investors participating in a fee-based advisory program sponsored by a financial intermediary or other entity that is not compensated by the Fund for those services, other than payments for shareholder servicing or sub-accounting performed in place of the Transfer Agent, and (viii) commissionable brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary, acting as broker on behalf of its customer, charges the customer a commission for effecting transactions in Fund shares, provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Adv shares within such platform.
Class Adv shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund must be purchased through financial intermediaries that, by written agreement with the Distributor, are specifically authorized to sell the Fund’s shares. Class Adv shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund are also available to certain registered investment advisers that clear Fund share transactions for their client accounts through designated financial intermediaries with mutual fund trading platforms that have been granted specific written authorization from the Transfer Agent (apart from selling, servicing or similar agreements) to sell Class Inst2 shares, which are not offered by the Fund.
Class C Shares
Class C shares are available to the general public for investment.
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Columbia International Dividend Income Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
Class Inst Shares
Class Inst shares are available only to the categories of eligible investors described below under
Class Inst Shares Minimum Initial Investments
.
Financial intermediaries that clear Fund share transactions through designated financial intermediaries and their mutual fund trading platforms that were given specific written notice from the Transfer Agent of the termination, effective March 29, 2013, of their eligibility for new purchases of Class Inst shares and omnibus retirement plans are not permitted to establish new Class Inst accounts, subject to certain exceptions described below.
Omnibus retirement plans that opened and, subject to certain exceptions, funded a Class Inst account with the Fund as of the close of business on March 28, 2013 and have continuously held Class Inst shares in such account after such date (each, a grandfathered plan), may generally continue to make additional purchases of Class Inst shares, open new Class Inst accounts and add new participants. In addition, an omnibus retirement plan affiliated with a grandfathered plan may, in the sole discretion of the Distributor, open new Class Inst accounts in a Fund if the affiliated plan opened a Class Inst account on or before March 28, 2013. If an omnibus retirement plan invested in Class Inst shares changes recordkeepers after March 28, 2013, any new accounts established for that plan may not be established in Class Inst shares, but such a plan may establish new accounts in a different share class for which the plan is eligible.
Accounts of financial intermediaries (other than omnibus retirement plans, which are discussed above) that clear Fund share transactions for their client or customer accounts through designated financial intermediaries and their mutual fund trading platforms that received specific written notice from the Transfer Agent of the termination, effective March 29, 2013, of their eligibility for new purchases of Class Inst shares will not be permitted to establish new Class Inst accounts or make additional purchases of Class Inst shares (other than through reinvestment of distributions). Any such account may, at its holder’s option, exchange Class Inst shares of a Fund, without the payment of a sales charge, for Class A shares of the same Fund.
Class Inst shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund must be purchased through financial intermediaries that, by written agreement with the Distributor, are specifically authorized to sell the Fund’s shares.
Class Inst2 Shares
Class Inst2 shares are available only to (i) certain registered investment advisers and family offices that clear Fund share transactions for their client or customer accounts through designated financial intermediaries and their mutual fund trading platforms that have been granted specific written authorization from the Transfer Agent with respect to Class Inst2 eligibility apart from selling, servicing or similar agreements; (ii) omnibus retirement plans; and (iii) institutional investors that are clients of the Columbia Threadneedle Global Institutional Distribution Team that invest in Class Inst2 shares for their own account through platforms approved by the Distributor or an affiliate thereof to offer and/or service Class Inst2 shares within such platform. Prior to November 8, 2012, Class Inst2 shares were closed to new investors and new accounts, subject to certain exceptions. Existing shareholders who do not satisfy the new eligibility requirements for investment in Class Inst2 may not establish new Class Inst2 accounts but may continue to make additional purchases of Class Inst2 shares in accounts opened and funded prior to November 8, 2012; provided, however, that investment advisory programs and similar programs that opened a Class Inst2 account as of May 1, 2010, and continuously hold Class Inst2 shares in such account after such date, may generally not only continue to make additional purchases of Class Inst2 shares but also open new Class Inst2 accounts for such pre-existing programs and add new shareholders in the program.
Class Inst3 Shares
Class Inst3 shares are available to: (i) group retirement plans that maintain plan-level or omnibus accounts with the Fund (through the Transfer Agent); (ii) institutional investors that are clients of the Columbia Threadneedle Global Institutional Distribution Team that invest in Class Inst3 shares for their own account through platforms approved by the Distributor or an affiliate thereof to offer and/or service Class Inst3 shares within such platform; (iii) collective trust funds; (iv) affiliated or unaffiliated mutual funds (e.g., funds operating as funds-of-funds); (v) fee-based platforms of financial intermediaries (or the clearing intermediary that they trade through) that have an agreement with the Distributor or an affiliate thereof that specifically authorizes the financial intermediary to offer and/or service
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(continued)
Class Inst3 shares within such platform, provided also that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account; (vi) commissionable brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary, acting as broker on behalf of its customer, charges the customer a commission for effecting transactions in Fund shares, provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst3 shares within such platform and that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account; and (vii) bank trust departments, subject to an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst3 shares and provided that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account. In each case above where noted that Fund shares are required to be held in an omnibus account, the Distributor may, in its discretion, determine to waive this requirement.
Class Inst3 shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund must be purchased through financial intermediaries that, by written agreement with the Distributor, are specifically authorized to sell the Fund’s shares. Please note that Class Inst3 shares that were open and funded accounts prior to November 30, 2018 (the conversion date from the former unnamed share class to Class Inst3 shares) are eligible for additional investment; however, any account established after that date must meet the current Class Inst3 eligibility requirements.
Class R Shares
Class R shares are available only to eligible health savings accounts sponsored by third party platforms, including those sponsored by Ameriprise Financial affiliates, eligible retirement plans and, in the sole discretion of the Distributor, other types of retirement accounts held through platforms maintained by financial intermediaries approved by the Distributor. Eligible retirement plans include any retirement plan other than individual 403(b) plans. Class R shares are generally not available for investment through retail nonretirement accounts, traditional and Roth IRAs, Coverdell Education Savings Accounts, SEPs, SAR-SEPs, Simple IRAs or 529 tuition programs. Contact the Transfer Agent or your retirement plan or health savings account administrator for more information about investing in Class R shares.
Class V Shares
Class V shares are available only to investors who received (and who have continuously held) Class V shares (formerly named Class T shares) in connection with the merger of certain Galaxy funds into certain Funds that were then named Liberty funds.
Additional Eligible Investors
In addition, the Distributor, in its sole discretion, may accept investments in any share class from investors other than those listed in this prospectus, and may also waive certain eligibility requirements for operational and other reasons, including but not limited to any requirement to maintain Fund shares in networked or omnibus accounts.
Minimum Initial Investments
The table below shows the Fund’s minimum initial investment requirements, which may vary by class and type of account.
The Fund reserves the right to redeem your shares if your account falls below the Fund’s minimum initial investment requirement.
|
Minimum Initial Investments
|
||
|
Minimum
Initial Investment
(a)
|
Minimum
Initial Investment for Accounts with Systematic Investment Plans |
|
| For all classes and account types except those listed below | $2,000 |
$100
(b)
|
| Individual Retirement Accounts for all classes except those listed below | $1,000 |
$100
(c)
|
| Group retirement plans | None | N/A |
| Class Adv and Class Inst |
$0, $1,000 or $2,000
(d)
|
$100
(d)
|
| Class Inst2 and Class R | None | N/A |
| Prospectus 2021 | 55 |
Columbia International Dividend Income Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
|
Minimum Initial Investments
|
||
|
Minimum
Initial Investment
(a)
|
Minimum
Initial Investment for Accounts with Systematic Investment Plans |
|
| Class Inst3 |
$0, $1,000, $2,000 or $1 million
(e)
|
$100
(e)
|
| (a) |
If your Class A, Class Adv, Class C, Class Inst, Class Inst3 or Class V shares account balance falls below the minimum initial investment amount for any reason, including a market decline, you may be asked to increase it to the minimum initial investment amount or establish a monthly Systematic Investment Plan. If you do not do so, your account will be subject to a $20 annual low balance fee and/or shares may be automatically redeemed and the proceeds mailed to you if the account falls below the minimum account balance. See
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares — Transaction Rules and Policies
|
| (b) |
Columbia Government Money Market Fund
—
|
| (c) |
Columbia Government Money Market Fund
—
|
| (d) |
The minimum initial investment in Class Adv shares is $2,000 ($1,000 for IRAs; $100 for systematic investment plan accounts) for commissionable brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary, acting as broker on behalf of its customers, charges the customer a commission for effecting transactions in Fund shares, provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Adv shares within such platform; for all other eligible Class Adv share investors (see
Buying Shares – Eligible Investors – Class Adv Shares
Class Inst Shares Minimum Initial Investments
|
| (e) | There is no minimum initial investment in Class Inst3 shares for: group retirement plans that maintain plan-level or omnibus accounts with the Fund; collective trust funds; affiliated or unaffiliated mutual funds (e.g., funds operating as funds-of-funds); fee-based platforms of financial intermediaries (or the clearing intermediary that they trade through) that have an agreement with the Distributor or an affiliate thereof that specifically authorizes the financial intermediary to offer and/or service Class Inst3 shares within such platform and Fund shares are held in an omnibus account; and bank trust departments, subject to an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst3 shares and provided that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account. The minimum initial investment in Class Inst3 shares is $2,000 ($1,000 for IRAs; $100 for systematic investment plan accounts) for commissionable brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary, acting as broker on behalf of its customer, charges the customer a commission for effecting transactions in Fund shares, provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst3 shares within such platform and Fund shares are held in an omnibus account. The minimum initial investment in Class Inst3 shares is $1 million, unless waived in the discretion of the Distributor, for the following investors: institutional investors that are clients of the Columbia Threadneedle Global Institutional Distribution Team that invest in Class Inst3 shares for their own account through platforms approved by the Distributor or an affiliate thereof to offer and/or service Class Inst3 shares within such platform. The Distributor may, in its discretion, waive the $1 million minimum initial investment required for these Class Inst3 investors. In each case above where noted that Fund shares are required to be held in an omnibus account, the Distributor may, in its discretion, determine to waive this requirement. |
Additional Information about Minimum Initial Investments
The minimum initial investment requirements may be waived for accounts that are managed by an investment professional, or for accounts held in approved discretionary or non-discretionary wrap programs. The Distributor, in its sole discretion, may also waive minimum initial investment requirements for other account types.
Minimum investment and related requirements may be modified at any time, with or without prior notice. If your account is closed and then re-opened with a systematic investment plan, your account must meet the then-current applicable minimum initial investment.
Class Inst Shares Minimum Initial Investments
There is no minimum initial investment in Class Inst shares for the following categories of eligible investors:
| ■ | Any health savings account sponsored by a third party platform. |
| ■ | Any investor participating in an account sponsored by a financial intermediary or other entity (that provides services to the account) that is paid a fee-based advisory fee by the investor and that is not compensated by the Fund for those services, other than payments for shareholder servicing or sub-accounting performed in place of the Transfer Agent. |
| ■ | Any commissionable brokerage account, if a financial intermediary has received a written approval from the Distributor to waive the minimum initial investment in Class Inst shares. |
| 56 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia International Dividend Income Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
The minimum initial investment in Class Inst shares for the following categories of eligible investors is $1,000:
| ■ | Individual retirement accounts (IRAs) on commissionable brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary, acting as broker on behalf of its customer, charges the customer a commission for effecting transactions in Fund shares, provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst shares within such platform. |
| ■ | Any current employee of Columbia Management Investment Advisers LLC, the Distributor or the Transfer Agent and immediate family members of any of the foregoing who share the same address are eligible to invest in Class Inst shares through an individual retirement account (IRA). If you maintain your account with a financial intermediary, you must contact that financial intermediary each time you seek to purchase shares to notify them that you qualify for Class Inst shares. If Class Inst shares are not available at your financial intermediary, you may consider opening a Direct-at-Fund Account. It is your obligation to advise your financial intermediary or (in the case of Direct-at-Fund Accounts) the Transfer Agent that you qualify for Class Inst shares; be prepared to provide proof thereof. |
The minimum initial investment in Class Inst shares for the following categories of eligible investors is $2,000:
| ■ | Investors (except investors in individual retirement accounts (IRAs)) who purchase Fund shares through commissionable brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary holds the shares in an omnibus account and, acting as broker on behalf of its customer, charges the customer a commission for effecting transactions in Fund shares provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst shares within such platform. |
| ■ | Any current employee of Columbia Management Investment Advisers LLC, the Distributor or the Transfer Agent and immediate family members of any of the foregoing who share the same address are eligible to invest in Class Inst shares (other than individual retirement accounts (IRAs), for which the minimum initial investment is $1,000). If you maintain your account with a financial intermediary, you must contact that financial intermediary each time you seek to purchase shares to notify them that you qualify for Class Inst shares. If Class Inst shares are not available at your financial intermediary, you may consider opening a Direct-at-Fund Account. It is your obligation to advise your financial intermediary or (in the case of Direct-at-Fund Accounts) the Transfer Agent that you qualify for Class Inst shares; be prepared to provide proof thereof. |
| ■ | Certain financial institutions and intermediaries, such as insurance companies, trust companies, banks, endowments, investment companies or foundations, buying shares for their own account, including Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates and/or subsidiaries. |
| ■ | Bank trust departments that assess their clients an asset-based fee. |
| ■ | Certain other investors as set forth in more detail in the SAI. |
Systematic Investment Plan
The Systematic Investment Plan allows you to schedule regular purchases via automatic transfers from your bank account to the Fund on a monthly, quarterly or semiannual basis. Contact the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary to set up the plan. Systematic Investment Plans may not be available for all share classes. With the exception of Columbia Government Money Market Fund, the Systematic Investment Plan is confirmed on your quarterly account statement.
Dividend Diversification
Generally, you may automatically invest Fund distributions into the same class of shares (and in some cases certain other classes of shares) of another Fund without paying any applicable front-end sales charge. Call the Transfer Agent at 800.345.6611 for details. The ability to invest distributions from one Fund to another Fund may not be available to accounts held at all financial intermediaries.
Other Purchase Rules You Should Know
| ■ | Once the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary receives your purchase order in “good form,” your purchase will be made at the Fund’s next calculated public offering price per share, which is the NAV per share plus any sales charge that applies (i.e., the trade date). |
| Prospectus 2021 | 57 |
Columbia International Dividend Income Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
| ■ | Once the Fund receives your purchase request in “good form,” you cannot cancel it after the market closes. |
| ■ | You generally buy Class A and Class V shares at the public offering price per share because purchases of these share classes are generally subject to a front-end sales charge. |
| ■ | You buy Class Adv, Class C, Class Inst, Class Inst2, Class Inst3 and Class R shares at NAV per share because no front-end sales charge applies to purchases of these share classes. |
| ■ | Class A shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund are not eligible for purchase by a Direct-at-Fund Account. |
| ■ | Class Inst shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund are not eligible for purchase by a Direct-at-Fund Account except for any current employee of Columbia Management Investment Advisers LLC, the Distributor or Transfer Agent and immediate family members of the foregoing who share the same address. |
| ■ | The Distributor and the Transfer Agent reserve the right to cancel your order request if the Fund does not receive payment within two business days of receiving your purchase order request. The Fund will return any payment received for orders that have been cancelled, but no interest will be paid on that money. |
| ■ | Financial intermediaries are responsible for sending your purchase orders to the Transfer Agent and ensuring that the Fund receives your money on time. |
| ■ | Shares purchased are recorded on the books of the Fund. The Fund does not issue certificates. |
Please also read
and contact your financial intermediary for more information regarding any reductions and/or waivers described therein.
Appendix A
Selling Shares
When you sell shares, the amount you receive may be more or less than the amount you invested. Your sale price will be the next NAV calculated after your request is received in “good form,” (i.e., the trade date) minus any applicable CDSC.
Systematic Withdrawal Plan
The Systematic Withdrawal Plan allows you to schedule regular redemptions from your account any business day on a monthly, quarterly or semiannual basis. Currently, Systematic Withdrawal Plans are generally available for Class A, Class Adv, Class C, Class Inst, Class Inst2, Class Inst3, and Class V share accounts. Contact the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary to set up the plan. To set up the plan, your account balance must meet the class minimum initial investment amount. A Systematic Withdrawal Plan cannot be set up on an account that already has a Systematic Investment Plan established. Note that a Medallion Signature Guarantee may be required if this service is established after your Fund account is opened.
You can choose to receive your withdrawals via check or direct deposit into your bank account. The Fund will deduct any applicable CDSC from the withdrawals before sending redemption proceeds to you. You can cancel the plan by giving the Fund 30 days’ notice in writing or by calling the Transfer Agent at 800.422.3737. It’s important to remember that if you withdraw more than your investment in the Fund is earning, you'll eventually withdraw your entire investment.
Check Redemption Service (for Columbia Government Money Market Fund)
Class A and Class Inst shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund (which is not offered in this prospectus) offer check writing privileges. If you have $2,000 in Columbia Government Money Market Fund, you may request checks which may be drawn against your account. The amount of any check drawn against your Columbia Government Money Market Fund must be at least $100 and not more than $100,000 per day. You can elect this service when you initially establish your account or thereafter. Call 800.345.6611 for the appropriate forms to establish this service. If you own Class A shares that were originally purchased in another Fund at NAV because of the size of the purchase, and then exchanged into Columbia Government Money Market Fund, check redemptions may be subject to a CDSC. A $15 charge will be assessed for any stop payment order requested by you or any overdraft in connection with checks written against your Columbia Government Money Market Fund account. Note that a Medallion Signature Guarantee may be required if this service is established after your Fund account is opened.
| 58 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia International Dividend Income Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
Satisfying Fund Redemption Requests
When you sell your Fund shares, the Fund is effectively buying them back from you. This is called a redemption. Except as noted below with respect to newly purchased shares, the Fund typically expects to send you payment for your shares within two business days after your trade date for all methods of payment. The Fund can suspend redemptions and/or delay payment of redemption proceeds for up to seven days. The Fund can also suspend redemptions and/or delay payment of redemption proceeds in excess of seven days under certain circumstances, including when the NYSE is closed or trading thereon is restricted or during emergency or other circumstances, including as determined by the SEC.
The Fund typically seeks to satisfy redemption requests from cash or cash equivalents held by the Fund, from the proceeds of orders to purchase Fund shares or from the proceeds of sales of Fund holdings effected in the normal course of managing the Fund. However, the Fund may have to sell Fund holdings, including in down markets, to meet heavier than usual redemption requests. For example, under stressed or abnormal market conditions or circumstances, including circumstances adversely affecting the liquidity of the Fund’s investments, the Fund may be more likely to be forced to sell Fund holdings to meet redemptions than under normal market circumstances. In these situations, the Fund’s portfolio managers may have to sell Fund holdings that would not otherwise be sold because, among other reasons, the current price to be received is less than the value of the holdings perceived by the Fund’s portfolio managers. The Fund may also, under certain circumstances (but more likely under stressed or abnormal market conditions or circumstances), borrow money under a credit facility to which the Fund and certain other Columbia Funds are parties or from other Columbia Funds under an interfund lending program (except for closed-end funds and money market funds, which are not eligible to borrow under the program). The Fund and the other Columbia Funds are limited as to the amount that each may individually and collectively borrow under the credit facility and the interfund lending program. As a result, borrowings available to the Fund under the credit facility and the interfund lending program might be insufficient, alone or in combination with the other strategies described herein, to satisfy Fund redemption requests. Please see
in the SAI for more information about the credit facility and interfund lending program. The Fund is also limited in the total amount it may borrow. The Fund may only borrow to the extent permitted by the 1940 Act, the rules and regulations thereunder, and any exemptive relief available to the Fund, which currently limit Fund borrowings to 33 1/3% of total assets (including any amounts borrowed) less liabilities (other than borrowings), plus an additional 5% of its total assets for temporary purposes (to be repaid within 60 days without extension or renewal), in each case determined at the time the borrowing is made.
About Fund Investments – Borrowings – Interfund Lending
In addition, the Fund reserves the right to honor redemption orders in whole or in part with in-kind distributions of Fund portfolio securities instead of cash. Such in-kind distributions typically represent a pro-rata portion of Fund portfolio assets subject to adjustments (e.g., for non-transferable securities, round lots, and derivatives). In the event the Fund distributes portfolio securities in kind, you may incur brokerage and other transaction costs associated with converting the portfolio securities you receive into cash. Also, the portfolio securities you receive may increase or decrease in value after they are distributed but before you convert them into cash. For U.S. federal income tax purposes, redemptions paid in securities are generally treated the same as redemptions paid in cash. If, during any 90-day period, you redeem shares in an amount greater than $250,000 or 1% of the Fund’s net assets (whichever is less), and if the Investment Manager determines it to be feasible and appropriate, the Fund may pay the redemption amount above such threshold by an in-kind distribution of Fund portfolio securities.
While the Fund is not required (and may refuse in its discretion) to pay a redemption with an in-kind distribution of Fund portfolio securities and reserves the right to pay the redemption proceeds in cash, if you wish to request an in-kind redemption, please call the Transfer Agent at 800.345.6611. As a result of the operational steps needed to coordinate with the redeeming shareholder’s custodian, in-kind redemptions typically take several weeks to complete after a redemption request is received. The Fund and the redeeming shareholder will typically agree upon a redemption date. Since the Fund’s NAV may fluctuate during this time, the Fund’s NAV may be lower on the agreed-upon redemption date than on an earlier date on which the investment could have been redeemed for cash.
| Prospectus 2021 | 59 |
Columbia International Dividend Income Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
Redemption of Newly Purchased Shares
You may not redeem shares for which the Fund has not yet received payment. Shares purchased by check or electronically by ACH when the purchase payment is not guaranteed will be considered in “good form” for redemption only after they have been held in your account for 6 calendar days after the trade date of the purchase (Collected Shares). If you request a redemption for an amount that, based on the NAV next calculated after your redemption request is received, includes any shares that are not yet Collected Shares, the Fund will only process the redemption up to the amount of the value of Collected Shares available in your account. You must submit a new redemption request if you wish to redeem those shares that were not yet Collected Shares at the time the original redemption request was received by the Fund.
Other Redemption Rules You Should Know
| ■ | Once the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary receives your redemption order in “good form,” your shares will be sold at the Fund’s next calculated NAV per share (i.e., the trade date). Any applicable CDSC will be deducted from the amount you're selling and the balance will be remitted to you. |
| ■ | Once the Fund receives your redemption request in “good form,” you cannot cancel it after the market closes. |
| ■ | If you sell your shares that are held in a Direct-at-Fund Account, we will normally send the redemption proceeds by mail or electronically transfer them to your bank account the next business day after the trade date. Note that your bank may take up to three business days to post an electronic funds transfer from your account. |
| ■ | If you sell your shares through a financial intermediary, the Funds will normally send the redemption proceeds to your financial intermediary within two business days after the trade date. |
| ■ | No interest will be paid on uncashed redemption checks. |
| ■ | Other restrictions may apply to retirement accounts. For information about these restrictions, contact your retirement plan administrator. |
| ■ | For broker-dealer and wrap fee accounts: The Fund reserves the right to redeem your shares if your account falls below the Fund's minimum initial investment requirement. The Fund will notify your broker-dealer prior to redeeming shares, and will provide details on how to avoid such redemption. |
| ■ |
Also keep in mind the Funds' Small Account Policy, which is described above in
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares — Transaction Rules and Policies.
|
Exchanging Shares
You can generally sell shares of your Fund to buy shares of another Fund (subject to eligibility requirements), in what is called an exchange. You should read the prospectus of, and make sure you understand the investment objective, principal investment strategies, risks, fees and expenses of, the Fund into which you are exchanging. Although the Funds allow certain exchanges from one share class to another share class with higher expenses, you should consider the expenses of each class before making such an exchange. Please see
below for more information.
Same-Fund Exchange Privilege
You will be subject to a sales charge if, in a Direct-at-Fund Account, you exchange shares that have not previously paid a sales charge, including from Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund, Columbia Small Cap Index Fund, Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund or any other Columbia Fund that does not charge a front-end sales charge, into a Columbia Fund that does assess a sales charge.
Please contact your financial intermediary for more information.
If you hold your Fund shares through certain financial intermediaries, you may have limited exchangeability among the Funds.
Systematic Exchanges
You may buy Class A, Class C, Class Inst, Class Inst3 and Class V shares of a Fund by exchanging each month from another Fund for shares of the same class of the Fund at no additional cost, subject to the following exchange amount minimums: $50 each month for individual retirement accounts (i.e., tax qualified accounts); and $100 each month for non-retirement accounts. Contact the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary to set up the plan.
| 60 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia International Dividend Income Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
Exchanges will continue as long as your balance in the Fund you are exchanging shares from is sufficient to complete the systematic monthly exchange, subject to the Funds' Small Account Policy described above in
You may terminate the program or change the amount you would like to exchange (subject to the $50 and $100 minimum requirements noted immediately above) by calling the Transfer Agent at 800.345.6611.
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares — Transaction Rules and Policies.
Other Exchange Rules You Should Know
| ■ | Exchanges are made at the NAV next calculated (plus any applicable sales charge) after your exchange order is received in “good form” (i.e., the trade date). |
| ■ | Once the Fund receives your exchange request in “good form,” you cannot cancel it after the market closes. |
| ■ | The rules for buying shares of a Fund generally apply to exchanges into that Fund, including, if your exchange creates a new Fund account, it must satisfy the minimum investment amount, unless a waiver applies. |
| ■ | Shares of the purchased Fund may not be used on the same day for another exchange or sale. |
| ■ | If you exchange shares from Class A shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund to a non-money market Fund, any further exchanges must be between shares of the same class. For example, if you exchange from Class A shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund into Class C shares of a non-money market Fund, you may not exchange from Class C shares of that non-money market Fund back to Class A shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund or Class A shares of any other Fund. |
| ■ | A sales charge may apply when you exchange shares of a Fund that were not assessed a sales charge at the time you purchased such shares. If you invest through a Direct-at-Fund Account in Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund, Columbia Small Cap Index Fund, Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund, Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund or any other Columbia Fund that does not impose a front-end sales charge and then you exchange into a Fund that does assess a sales charge, your transaction is subject to a front-end sales charge if you exchange into Class A shares and to a CDSC if you exchange into Class C shares of the Columbia Funds. |
| ■ | If you purchased Class A shares of a Columbia Fund that imposes a front-end sales charge (and you paid any applicable sales charge) and you then exchange those shares into Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund, Columbia Small Cap Index Fund, Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund, Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund or any other Columbia Fund that does not impose a front-end sales charge, you may exchange that amount to Class A of another Fund in the future, including dividends earned on that amount, without paying a sales charge. |
| ■ | If your shares are subject to a CDSC, you will not be charged a CDSC upon the exchange of those shares. Any CDSC will be deducted when you sell the shares you received from the exchange. The CDSC imposed at that time will be based on the period that begins when you bought shares of the original Fund and ends when you sell the shares of the Fund you received from the exchange. Any applicable CDSC charged will be the CDSC of the original Fund. |
| ■ | You may make exchanges only into a Fund that is legally offered and sold in your state of residence. Contact the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary for more information. |
| ■ | You generally may make an exchange only into a Fund that is accepting investments. |
| ■ | The Fund may change or cancel your right to make an exchange by giving the amount of notice required by regulatory authorities (generally 60 days for a material change or cancellation). |
| ■ | Unless your account is part of a tax-advantaged arrangement, an exchange for shares of another Fund is a taxable event, and you may recognize a gain or loss for tax purposes. |
| ■ | Changing your investment to a different Fund will be treated as a sale and purchase, and you will be subject to applicable taxes on the sale and sales charges on the purchase of the new Fund. |
| Prospectus 2021 | 61 |
Columbia International Dividend Income Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
| ■ |
Class Inst shares of a Fund may be exchanged for Class A or Class Inst shares of another Fund. In certain circumstances, the front-end sales charge applicable to Class A shares may be waived on exchanges of Class Inst shares for Class A shares. See
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares — Buying Shares — Eligible Investors — Class Inst Shares
|
| ■ | Class A shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund are not eligible for exchange by a Direct-at-Fund Account. |
| ■ | Class Inst shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund are not eligible for exchange by a Direct-at-Fund Account except for any current employee of the Investment Manager, the Distributor or the Transfer Agent and immediate family members of any of the foregoing who share the same address. |
| ■ | You may generally exchange Class V shares of a Fund for Class A shares of another Fund if the other Fund does not offer Class V shares. Class V shares exchanged into Class A shares cannot be exchanged back into Class V shares. |
Same-Fund Exchange Privilege
Shareholders may be eligible to invest in other classes of shares of the same Fund, and may exchange their current shares for another share class if deemed eligible and offered by the Fund. Such same-Fund exchanges could include an exchange of one class for another with higher expenses. Before making such an exchange, you should consider the expenses of each class. Shareholders should contact their financial intermediaries to learn more about the details of the same-Fund exchange privilege. Exchanges out of Class A, Class C and Class V shares will be subject to any applicable CDSC. Financial intermediaries that have a customized arrangement with regard to CDSCs are detailed in
.
Appendix A
Exchanges out of Class C shares to another share class of the same Fund are not permissible on Direct-at-Fund Accounts. Exchanges out of Class C shares to another share class of the same Fund within commissionable brokerage accounts are permitted only (1) by shareholders moving from a commissionable brokerage account to a fee-based advisory program or (2) when the exchange is part of a share class conversion (or a similar multiple shareholder transaction event) instituted by a financial intermediary and such conversion or similar type event is preapproved by the Distributor.
Ordinarily, shareholders will not recognize a gain or loss for U.S. federal income tax purposes upon a same-Fund exchange. You should consult your tax advisor about your particular exchanges.
| 62 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia International Dividend Income Fund
Distributions and Taxes
Distributions to Shareholders
A mutual fund can make money two ways:
| ■ | It can earn income on its investments. Examples of fund income are interest paid on money market instruments and bonds, and dividends paid on common stocks. |
| ■ | A mutual fund can also have capital gains if the value of its investments increases. While a fund continues to hold an investment, any gain is generally unrealized. If the fund sells an investment, it generally will realize a capital gain if it sells that investment for a higher price than its adjusted cost basis, and will generally realize a capital loss if it sells that investment for a lower price than its adjusted cost basis. Capital gains and losses are either short-term or long-term, depending on whether the fund holds the securities for one year or less (short-term) or more than one year (long-term). |
Mutual funds make payments of fund earnings to shareholders, distributing them among all shareholders of the fund. As a shareholder, you are entitled to your portion of a fund's distributed income, including capital gains. Reinvesting your distributions buys you more shares of a fund
which lets you take advantage of the potential for compound growth. Putting the money you earn back into your investment means it, in turn, may earn even more money (or be exposed to additional losses, if the fund earns a negative return). Over time, the power of compounding has the potential to significantly increase the value of your investment. There is no assurance, however, that you'll earn more money if you reinvest your distributions rather than receive them in cash.
—
The Fund intends to pay out, in the form of distributions to shareholders, a sufficient amount of its income and gains so that the Fund will qualify for treatment as a regulated investment company and generally will not have to pay any federal excise tax. The Fund generally intends to distribute any net realized capital gain (whether long-term or short-term gain) at least once a year. Normally, the Fund will declare and pay distributions of net investment income according to the following schedule:
|
Declaration and Distribution Schedule
|
|
| Declarations | Quarterly |
| Distributions | Quarterly |
The Fund may declare or pay distributions of net investment income more frequently.
Different share classes of the Fund usually pay different net investment income distribution amounts, because each class has different expenses. Each time a distribution is made, the NAV per share of the share class is reduced by the amount of the distribution.
The Fund generally pays cash distributions within five business days after the distribution was declared (or, if the Fund declares distributions daily, within five business days after the end of the month in which the distribution was declared). If you sell all of your shares after the record date, but before the payment date, for a distribution, you'll normally receive that distribution in cash within five business days after the sale was made.
The Fund will automatically reinvest distributions in additional shares of the same share class of the Fund unless you inform us you want to receive your distributions in cash (the financial intermediary through which you purchased shares may have different policies). You can do this by contacting the Funds at the addresses and telephone numbers listed at the beginning of the section entitled
. No sales charges apply to the purchase or sale of such shares.
Choosing a Share Class
For accounts held directly with the Fund (through the Transfer Agent), distributions of $10 or less will automatically be reinvested in additional Fund shares only. If you elect to receive distributions by check and the check is returned as undeliverable, all subsequent distributions will be reinvested in additional shares of the Fund.
Unless you are a tax-exempt investor or holding Fund shares through a tax-advantaged account (such as a 401(k) plan or IRA), you should consider avoiding buying Fund shares shortly before the Fund makes a distribution (other than distributions of net investment income that are declared daily) of net investment income or net realized capital gain, because doing so can cost you money in taxes to the extent the distribution consists of taxable income or gains. This is because you will, in effect, receive part of your purchase price back in the distribution. This is known as
| Prospectus 2021 | 63 |
Columbia International Dividend Income Fund
Distributions and Taxes
(continued)
“buying a dividend.” To avoid “buying a dividend,” before you invest check the Fund's distribution schedule, which is available at the Funds' website and/or by calling the Funds' telephone number listed at the beginning of the section entitled
.
Choosing a Share Class
Taxes
You should be aware of the following considerations applicable to the Fund:
| ■ | The Fund intends to qualify and to be eligible for treatment each year as a regulated investment company. A regulated investment company generally is not subject to tax at the fund level on income and gains from investments that are distributed to shareholders. However, the Fund's failure to qualify for treatment as a regulated investment company would result in Fund-level taxation, and consequently, a reduction in income available for distribution to you and in the NAV of your shares. Even if the Fund qualifies for treatment as a regulated investment company, the Fund may be subject to federal excise tax on certain undistributed income or gains. |
| ■ | Otherwise taxable distributions generally are taxable to you when paid, whether they are paid in cash or automatically reinvested in additional Fund shares. Dividends paid in January are deemed paid on December 31 of the prior year if the dividend was declared and payable to shareholders of record in October, November, or December of such prior year. |
| ■ | Distributions of the Fund's ordinary income and net short-term capital gain, if any, generally are taxable to you as ordinary income. Distributions of the Fund's net long-term capital gain, if any, generally are taxable to you as long-term capital gain. Whether capital gains are long-term or short-term is determined by how long the Fund has owned the investments that generated them, rather than how long you have owned your shares. |
| ■ | From time to time, a distribution from the Fund could constitute a return of capital. A return of capital is a return of an amount of your original investment and is not a distribution of income or capital gain from the Fund. Therefore, a return of capital is not taxable to you so long as the amount of the distribution does not exceed your tax basis in your Fund shares. A return of capital reduces your tax basis in your Fund shares, with any amounts exceeding such basis generally taxable as capital gain. |
| ■ | If you are an individual and you meet certain holding period and other requirements for your Fund shares, a portion of your distributions may be treated as “qualified dividend income” taxable at the lower net long-term capital gain rates instead of the higher ordinary income rates. Qualified dividend income is income attributable to the Fund's dividends received from certain U.S. and foreign corporations, as long as the Fund meets certain holding period and other requirements for the stock producing such dividends. |
| ■ | Certain high-income individuals (as well as estates and trusts) are subject to a 3.8% tax on net investment income. For individuals, the 3.8% tax applies to the lesser of (1) the amount (if any) by which the taxpayer's modified adjusted gross income exceeds certain threshold amounts or (2) the taxpayer's “net investment income.” |
| Net investment income generally includes for this purpose dividends, including any capital gain dividends, paid by the Fund, and net gains recognized on the sale, redemption or exchange of shares of the Fund. |
| ■ | Certain derivative instruments when held in the Fund's portfolio subject the Fund to special tax rules, the effect of which may be to, among other things, accelerate income to the Fund, defer Fund losses, cause adjustments in the holding periods of Fund portfolio securities, or convert capital gains into ordinary income, short-term capital losses into long-term capital losses or long-term capital gains into short-term capital gains. These rules could therefore affect the amount, timing and/or character of distributions to shareholders. |
| ■ | Generally, a Fund realizes a capital gain or loss on an option when the option expires, or when it is exercised, sold or otherwise terminated. However, if an option is a “section 1256 contract,” which includes most traded options on a broad-based index, and the Fund holds such option at the end of its taxable year, the Fund is deemed to sell such option at fair market value at such time and recognize any gain or loss thereon, which is generally deemed to be 60% long-term and 40% short-term capital gain or loss, as described further in the SAI. |
| ■ | Income and proceeds received by the Fund from sources within foreign countries may be subject to foreign taxes. If at the end of the taxable year more than 50% of the value of the Fund's assets consists of securities of foreign |
| 64 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia International Dividend Income Fund
Distributions and Taxes
(continued)
| corporations, and the Fund makes a special election, you will generally be required to include in your income for U.S. federal income tax purposes your share of the qualifying foreign income taxes paid by the Fund in respect of its foreign portfolio securities. You may be able to claim a foreign tax credit or deduction in respect of this amount, subject to certain limitations. There is no assurance that the Fund will make this election for a taxable year, even if it is eligible to do so. |
| ■ | A sale, redemption or exchange of Fund shares is a taxable event. This includes redemptions where you are paid in securities. Your sales, redemptions and exchanges of Fund shares (including those paid in securities) usually will result in a taxable capital gain or loss to you, equal to the difference between the amount you receive for your shares (or are deemed to have received in the case of exchanges) and your adjusted tax basis in the shares, which is generally the amount you paid (or are deemed to have paid in the case of exchanges) for them. Any such capital gain or loss generally will be long-term capital gain or loss if you have held your Fund shares for more than one year at the time of sale or exchange. In certain circumstances, capital losses may be converted from short-term to long-term; in other circumstances, capital losses may be disallowed under the “wash sale” rules. |
| ■ | For sales, redemptions and exchanges of shares that were acquired in a non-qualified account after 2011, the Fund generally is required to report to shareholders and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) cost basis information with respect to those shares. The Fund uses average cost basis as its default method of calculating cost basis. For more information regarding average cost basis reporting, other available cost basis methods, and selecting or changing to a different cost basis method, please see the SAI, columbiathreadneedleus.com, or contact the Fund at 800.345.6611. If you hold Fund shares through a financial intermediary (e.g., a brokerage firm), you should contact your financial intermediary to learn about its cost basis reporting default method and the reporting elections available to your account. |
| ■ | The Fund is required by federal law to withhold tax on any taxable or tax-exempt distributions and redemption proceeds paid to you (including amounts paid to you in securities and amounts deemed to be paid to you upon an exchange of shares) if: you have not provided a correct TIN or have not certified to the Fund that withholding does not apply, the IRS has notified us that the TIN listed on your account is incorrect according to its records, or the IRS informs the Fund that you are otherwise subject to backup withholding. |
FUNDamentals
Taxes
The information provided above is only a summary of how U.S. federal income taxes may affect your investment in the Fund. It is not intended as a substitute for careful tax planning. Your investment in the Fund may have other tax implications. It does not apply to certain types of investors who may be subject to special rules, including foreign or tax-exempt investors or those holding Fund shares through a tax-advantaged account, such as a 401(k) plan or IRA. Please see the SAI for more detailed tax information. You should consult with your own tax advisor about the particular tax consequences to you of an investment in the Fund, including the effect of any foreign, state and local taxes, and the effect of possible changes in applicable tax laws.
| Prospectus 2021 | 65 |
Columbia International Dividend Income Fund
Financial Highlights
The financial highlights table is intended to help you understand the Fund’s financial performance for the past five fiscal years or, if shorter, the Fund’s period of operations. Certain information reflects financial results for a single Fund share. Per share net investment income (loss) amounts are calculated based on average shares outstanding during the period. The total return in the table represents the rate that an investor would have earned (or lost) on an investment in the Fund assuming all dividends and distributions had been reinvested. Total return does not reflect payment of sales charges, if any. Total return and portfolio turnover are not annualized for periods of less than one year. The portfolio turnover rate is calculated without regard to purchase and sales transactions of short-term instruments and certain derivatives, if any. If such transactions were included, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate may be higher. This information has been audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm, whose report, along with the Fund’s financial statements, is included in the Fund’s annual report, which is available upon request.
| Prospectus 2021 | 67 |
Columbia International Dividend Income Fund
Financial Highlights
(continued)
|
Net asset value,
beginning of period |
Net
investment income |
Net
realized and unrealized gain (loss) |
Total from
investment operations |
Distributions
from net investment income |
Distributions
from net realized gains |
Total
distributions to shareholders |
|
|
Class A
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $17.88 | 0.37 | 0.07 | 0.44 | (0.42) | (0.20) | (0.62) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $18.83 | 0.45 | (0.54) | (0.09) | (0.49) | (0.37) | (0.86) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $18.24 | 0.48 | 0.65 | 1.13 | (0.54) | — | (0.54) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $17.05 | 0.49 | 1.26 | 1.75 | (0.56) | — | (0.56) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $16.56 | 0.47 | 0.42 | 0.89 | (0.40) | — | (0.40) |
|
Advisor Class
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $18.04 | 0.40 | 0.08 | 0.48 | (0.46) | (0.20) | (0.66) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $18.99 | 0.51 | (0.55) | (0.04) | (0.54) | (0.37) | (0.91) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $18.39 | 0.54 | 0.64 | 1.18 | (0.58) | — | (0.58) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $17.19 | 0.54 | 1.26 | 1.80 | (0.60) | — | (0.60) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $16.69 | 0.52 | 0.43 | 0.95 | (0.45) | — | (0.45) |
|
Class C
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $16.70 | 0.22 | 0.06 | 0.28 | (0.28) | (0.20) | (0.48) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $17.63 | 0.29 | (0.49) | (0.20) | (0.36) | (0.37) | (0.73) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $17.10 | 0.31 | 0.62 | 0.93 | (0.40) | — | (0.40) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $16.02 | 0.33 | 1.18 | 1.51 | (0.43) | — | (0.43) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $15.56 | 0.32 | 0.42 | 0.74 | (0.28) | — | (0.28) |
|
Institutional Class
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $17.95 | 0.41 | 0.06 | 0.47 | (0.46) | (0.20) | (0.66) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $18.90 | 0.50 | (0.54) | (0.04) | (0.54) | (0.37) | (0.91) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $18.30 | 0.53 | 0.65 | 1.18 | (0.58) | — | (0.58) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $17.11 | 0.54 | 1.25 | 1.79 | (0.60) | — | (0.60) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $16.61 | 0.51 | 0.43 | 0.94 | (0.44) | — | (0.44) |
|
Institutional 2 Class
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $17.90 | 0.44 | 0.07 | 0.51 | (0.49) | (0.20) | (0.69) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $18.85 | 0.56 | (0.58) | (0.02) | (0.56) | (0.37) | (0.93) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $18.26 | 0.56 | 0.64 | 1.20 | (0.61) | — | (0.61) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $17.07 | 0.60 | 1.22 | 1.82 | (0.63) | — | (0.63) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $16.58 | 0.54 | 0.42 | 0.96 | (0.47) | — | (0.47) |
|
68
|
Prospectus 2021
|
Columbia International Dividend Income Fund
Financial Highlights
(continued)
|
Net
asset value, end of period |
Total
return |
Total gross
expense ratio to average net assets
(a)
|
Total net
expense ratio to average net assets
(a), (b)
|
Net investment
income ratio to average net assets |
Portfolio
turnover |
Net
assets, end of period (000's) |
|
|
Class A
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $17.70 | 2.65% |
1.38%
(c)
|
1.24%
(c), (d)
|
2.09% | 91% | $71,493 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $17.88 | (0.16%) | 1.44% | 1.25% | 2.56% | 56% | $78,887 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $18.83 | 6.21% | 1.44% |
1.26%
(d)
|
2.52% | 39% | $93,177 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $18.24 | 10.48% |
1.46%
(e)
|
1.29%
(d), (e)
|
2.79% | 43% | $100,146 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $17.05 | 5.51% | 1.45% |
1.30%
(d)
|
2.85% | 115% | $108,978 |
|
Advisor Class
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $17.86 | 2.90% |
1.12%
(c)
|
0.98%
(c), (d)
|
2.16% | 91% | $293 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $18.04 | 0.10% | 1.19% | 1.00% | 2.84% | 56% | $1,027 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $18.99 | 6.47% | 1.19% |
1.01%
(d)
|
2.82% | 39% | $1,141 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $18.39 | 10.73% |
1.21%
(e)
|
1.04%
(d), (e)
|
3.08% | 43% | $983 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $17.19 | 5.80% | 1.20% |
1.05%
(d)
|
3.12% | 115% | $853 |
|
Class C
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $16.50 | 1.83% |
2.13%
(c)
|
1.98%
(c), (d)
|
1.30% | 91% | $1,100 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $16.70 | (0.86%) | 2.19% | 2.00% | 1.72% | 56% | $1,745 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $17.63 | 5.42% | 2.19% |
2.01%
(d)
|
1.76% | 39% | $3,268 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $17.10 | 9.60% |
2.20%
(e)
|
2.04%
(d), (e)
|
2.03% | 43% | $7,795 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $16.02 | 4.82% | 2.20% |
2.05%
(d)
|
2.07% | 115% | $10,164 |
|
Institutional Class
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $17.76 | 2.86% |
1.13%
(c)
|
0.99%
(c), (d)
|
2.34% | 91% | $325,493 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $17.95 | 0.10% | 1.19% | 1.00% | 2.83% | 56% | $354,127 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $18.90 | 6.51% | 1.19% |
1.01%
(d)
|
2.78% | 39% | $395,163 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $18.30 | 10.72% |
1.21%
(e)
|
1.04%
(d), (e)
|
3.06% | 43% | $417,705 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $17.11 | 5.82% | 1.20% |
1.05%
(d)
|
3.10% | 115% | $424,724 |
|
Institutional 2 Class
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $17.72 | 3.07% |
0.90%
(c)
|
0.86%
(c)
|
2.49% | 91% | $873 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $17.90 | 0.23% | 0.91% | 0.87% | 3.13% | 56% | $1,337 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $18.85 | 6.62% | 0.91% | 0.88% | 2.93% | 39% | $553 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $18.26 | 10.92% | 0.91% | 0.91% | 3.37% | 43% | $506 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $17.07 | 5.96% | 0.88% | 0.88% | 3.26% | 115% | $175 |
|
Prospectus 2021
|
69
|
Columbia International Dividend Income Fund
Financial Highlights
(continued)
|
Net asset value,
beginning of period |
Net
investment income |
Net
realized and unrealized gain (loss) |
Total from
investment operations |
Distributions
from net investment income |
Distributions
from net realized gains |
Total
distributions to shareholders |
|
|
Institutional 3 Class
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $17.94 | 0.45 | 0.06 | 0.51 | (0.50) | (0.20) | (0.70) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $18.89 | 0.51 | (0.52) | (0.01) | (0.57) | (0.37) | (0.94) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $18.29 | 0.57 | 0.65 | 1.22 | (0.62) | — | (0.62) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $17.10 | 0.68 | 1.15 | 1.83 | (0.64) | — | (0.64) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $16.60 | 0.53 | 0.45 | 0.98 | (0.48) | — | (0.48) |
|
Class R
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $17.85 | 0.32 | 0.07 | 0.39 | (0.37) | (0.20) | (0.57) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $18.80 | 0.25 | (0.38) | (0.13) | (0.45) | (0.37) | (0.82) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $18.21 | 0.43 | 0.65 | 1.08 | (0.49) | — | (0.49) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $17.03 | 0.45 | 1.24 | 1.69 | (0.51) | — | (0.51) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $16.53 | 0.42 | 0.44 | 0.86 | (0.36) | — | (0.36) |
|
Notes to Financial Highlights
|
|
| (a) | In addition to the fees and expenses that the Fund bears directly, the Fund indirectly bears a pro rata share of the fees and expenses of any other funds in which it invests. Such indirect expenses are not included in the Fund's reported expense ratios. |
| (b) | Total net expenses include the impact of certain fee waivers/expense reimbursements made by the Investment Manager and certain of its affiliates, if applicable. |
| (c) | Ratios include interfund lending expense which is less than 0.01%. |
| (d) | The benefits derived from expense reductions had an impact of: |
|
Class
|
8/31/2020
|
8/31/2019
|
8/31/2018
|
8/31/2017
|
8/31/2016
|
| Class A | 0.02% | —% | 0.01% | 0.02% | 0.01% |
| Advisor Class | 0.03% | —% | 0.02% | 0.02% | 0.01% |
| Class C | 0.02% | —% | 0.02% | 0.02% | 0.01% |
| Institutional Class | 0.02% | —% | 0.02% | 0.02% | 0.01% |
| Class R | 0.02% | —% | 0.01% | 0.02% | 0.01% |
| (e) | Expenses have been reduced due to a reimbursement of expenses overbilled by a third party. If the reimbursement had been excluded, the expense ratios would have been higher by the percentages shown for each class in the table below. All fee waivers and expense reimbursements by the Investment Manager and its affiliates were applied before giving effect to this third party reimbursement. |
|
Year Ended
|
Class A
|
Advisor
Class |
Class C
|
Institutional
Class |
Class R
|
| 08/31/2017 | 0.01% | 0.01% | 0.01% | 0.01% | 0.01% |
|
70
|
Prospectus 2021
|
Columbia International Dividend Income Fund
Financial Highlights
(continued)
|
Net
asset value, end of period |
Total
return |
Total gross
expense ratio to average net assets
(a)
|
Total net
expense ratio to average net assets
(a), (b)
|
Net investment
income ratio to average net assets |
Portfolio
turnover |
Net
assets, end of period (000's) |
|
|
Institutional 3 Class
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $17.75 | 3.07% |
0.85%
(c)
|
0.81%
(c)
|
2.58% | 91% | $36,384 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $17.94 | 0.29% | 0.85% | 0.81% | 2.87% | 56% | $47,630 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $18.89 | 6.72% | 0.85% | 0.82% | 2.98% | 39% | $63,148 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $18.29 | 10.95% | 0.85% | 0.85% | 3.77% | 43% | $64,718 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $17.10 | 6.07% | 0.83% | 0.83% | 3.23% | 115% | $790 |
|
Class R
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $17.67 | 2.37% |
1.63%
(c)
|
1.49%
(c), (d)
|
1.84% | 91% | $104 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $17.85 | (0.41%) | 1.70% | 1.50% | 1.41% | 56% | $117 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $18.80 | 5.95% | 1.69% |
1.51%
(d)
|
2.27% | 39% | $1,705 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $18.21 | 10.16% |
1.71%
(e)
|
1.54%
(d), (e)
|
2.57% | 43% | $1,753 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $17.03 | 5.32% | 1.70% |
1.55%
(d)
|
2.57% | 115% | $1,533 |
|
Prospectus 2021
|
71
|
Columbia International Dividend Income Fund
Appendix A: Financial Intermediary-Specific Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
As noted in the
section of the prospectus, the sales charge reductions and waivers available to investors who purchase and hold their Fund shares through different financial intermediaries may vary. This
describes financial intermediary-specific reductions and/or waiver policies applicable to Fund shares purchased and held through the particular financial intermediary. A reduction and/or waiver that is specific to a particular financial intermediary is not available to Direct-at-Fund Accounts and does not apply in any case to non-omnibus positions wherever held. These reductions and/or waivers may apply to purchases, sales, and exchanges of Fund shares. A shareholder transacting in Fund shares through a financial intermediary identified below should carefully read the terms and conditions of the reductions and/or waivers. Please consult your financial intermediary with respect to any sales charge reduction/waiver described below.
Choosing a Share Class
Appendix A
The financial intermediary-specific information below may be provided by, or compiled from or based on information provided by, the financial intermediaries noted. While the Funds, the Investment Manager and the Distributor do not establish these financial intermediary-specific policies, our representatives are available to answer questions about these financial intermediary-specific policies and can direct you to the financial intermediary if you need help understanding them.
Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC (Ameriprise Financial Services)
The following information has been provided by Ameriprise Financial Services:
Class A Shares Front-End Sales Charge Waivers Available at Ameriprise Financial Services:
The following information applies to Class A shares purchases if you have an account with or otherwise purchase Fund shares through Ameriprise Financial Services:
Effective June 1, 2018, shareholders purchasing Fund shares through an Ameriprise Financial Services platform or account will be eligible for the following front-end sales charge waivers and discounts, which may differ from those disclosed elsewhere in this prospectus or the Fund’s SAI:
| ■ | Employer-sponsored retirement plans (e.g., 401(k) plans, 457 plans, employer-sponsored 403(b) plans, profit sharing and money purchase pension plans and defined benefit plans). For purposes of this provision, employer-sponsored retirement plans do not include SEP IRAs, Simple IRAs or SAR-SEPs. |
| ■ | Shares purchased through an Ameriprise Financial Services investment advisory program (if an Advisory or similar share class for such investment advisory program is not available). |
| ■ | Shares purchased by third party investment advisors on behalf of their advisory clients through Ameriprise Financial Services’ platform (if an Advisory or similar share class for such investment advisory program is not available). |
| ■ | Shares purchased through reinvestment of dividends and capital gain distributions when purchasing shares of the same fund (but not any other fund within the Columbia Funds). |
| ■ | Shares exchanged from Class C shares of the same fund in the month of or following the 10-year anniversary of the purchase date. To the extent that this prospectus elsewhere provides for a waiver with respect to such shares following a shorter holding period, that waiver will apply to exchanges following such shorter period. To the extent that this prospectus elsewhere provides for a waiver with respect to exchanges of Class C shares for load waived shares, that waiver will also apply to such exchanges. |
| ■ | Employees and registered representatives of Ameriprise Financial Services or its affiliates and their immediate family members. |
| ■ | Shares purchased by or through qualified accounts (including IRAs, Coverdell Education Savings Accounts, 401(k)s, 403(b) TSCAs subject to ERISA and defined benefit plans) that are held by a covered family member, defined as an Ameriprise financial advisor and/or the advisor’s spouse, advisor’s lineal ascendant (mother, father, grandmother, grandfather, great grandmother, great grandfather), advisor’s lineal descendant (son, step-son, daughter, step-daughter, grandson, granddaughter, great grandson, great granddaughter) or any spouse of a covered family member who is a lineal descendant. |
| A-1 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia International Dividend Income Fund
Appendix A: Financial Intermediary-Specific Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
(continued)
| ■ | Shares purchased from the proceeds of redemptions within the Columbia Funds, provided (1) the repurchase occurs within 90 days following the redemption, (2) the redemption and purchase occur in the same account, and (3) redeemed shares were subject to a front-end or deferred sales load (i.e., rights of reinstatement). |
Robert W. Baird & Co. Incorporated (Baird)
The following information has been provided by Baird:
Effective June 30, 2020, shareholders purchasing Columbia Fund shares through a Baird platform or account that maintains an omnibus position with the Fund will only be eligible for the following sales charge waivers (front-end sales charge waivers and CDSC waivers) and discounts, which may differ from those disclosed elsewhere in this prospectus or the Fund’s SAI. A reduction and/or waiver that is specific to Baird will not apply to non-omnibus positions.
Front-End Sales Charge Waivers on Class A Shares Available at Baird:
| ■ | Shares purchased through reinvestment of capital gains distributions and dividend reinvestment when purchasing shares of the same Columbia Fund. |
| ■ | Share purchases by employees and registered representatives of Baird or its affiliates and their family members as designated by Baird. |
| ■ | Shares purchased with the proceeds of redemptions from another Columbia Fund, provided (1) the repurchase occurs within 90 days following the redemption, (2) the redemption and purchase occur in the same accounts, and (3) redeemed shares were subject to a front-end or deferred sales charge (known as rights of reinstatement). |
| ■ | A shareholder in the Fund’s Class C shares will have their shares converted at net asset value to Class A shares of the same Columbia Fund if the shares are no longer subject to CDSC and the conversion is in line with the policies and procedures of Baird. |
| ■ | Employer-sponsored retirement plans or charitable accounts in a transactional brokerage account at Baird, including 401(k) plans, 457 plans, employer-sponsored 403(b) plans, profit sharing and money purchase pension plans and defined benefit plans. For purposes of this provision, employer-sponsored retirement plans do not include SEP IRAs, Simple IRAs or SAR-SEPs. |
CDSC Waivers on Class A and Class C Shares Available at Baird:
| ■ | Shares sold due to death or disability of the shareholder. |
| ■ | Shares sold as part of a systematic withdrawal plan as described in this prospectus. |
| ■ | Shares purchased due to returns of excess contributions from an IRA account. |
| ■ | Shares sold as part of a required minimum distribution for IRA and retirement accounts due to the shareholder reaching the qualified age based on applicable IRS regulations. |
| ■ | Shares sold to pay Baird fees but only if the transaction is initiated by Baird. |
| ■ | Shares acquired through a right of reinstatement. |
Front-End Sales Charge Discounts Available at Baird: Breakpoints and/or Rights of Accumulations:
| ■ | Breakpoints as described in this prospectus. |
| ■ | Rights of accumulations which entitle shareholders to breakpoint discounts will be automatically calculated based on the aggregated holding of Columbia Fund assets held by accounts within the purchaser’s household at Baird. Eligible Columbia Fund assets not held at Baird may be included in the rights of accumulations calculation only if the shareholder notifies his or her financial advisor about such assets. |
| ■ | Letters of Intent (LOI) allow for breakpoint discounts based on anticipated purchases of Columbia Funds through Baird, over a 13-month period of time. |
| Prospectus 2021 | A-2 |
Columbia International Dividend Income Fund
Appendix A: Financial Intermediary-Specific Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
(continued)
Edward D. Jones & Co., L.P. (Edward Jones)
The following information has been provided by Edward Jones:
Effective on or after April 17, 2020, clients of Edward Jones (also referred to as "shareholders") purchasing Columbia Fund shares on the Edward Jones commission and fee-based platforms are eligible only for the following sales charge discounts (also referred to as "breakpoints") and waivers, which can differ from breakpoints and waivers described elsewhere in this prospectus or the Fund’s SAI or through another broker-dealer. In all instances, it is the shareholder's responsibility to inform Edward Jones at the time of purchase of any relationship, holdings of Columbia Funds or other facts qualifying the purchaser for breakpoints or waivers. Edward Jones can ask for documentation of such circumstance.
Breakpoints
Rights of Accumulation (ROA)
| ■ | The applicable sales charge on a purchase of Class A shares is determined by taking into account all share classes (except any money market funds and retirement plan share classes) of Columbia Funds held by the shareholder or in an account grouped by Edward Jones with other accounts for the purpose of providing certain pricing considerations ("pricing groups"). This includes all share classes held on the Edward Jones platform and/or held on another platform. The inclusion of eligible Columbia Fund assets in the rights of accumulation calculation is dependent on the shareholder notifying his or her financial advisor of such assets at the time of calculation. |
| ■ | ROA is determined by calculating the higher of cost or market value (current shares x NAV). |
Letter of Intent (LOI)
| ■ | Through a LOI, shareholders can receive the sales charge and breakpoint discounts for purchases shareholders intend to make over a 13-month period from the date Edward Jones receives the LOI. The LOI is determined by calculating the higher of cost or market value of qualifying holdings at LOI initiation in combination with the value that the shareholder intends to buy over a 13-month period to calculate the front-end sales charge and any breakpoint discounts. Each purchase the shareholder makes during that 13-month period will receive the sales charge and breakpoint discount that applies to the total amount. The inclusion of eligible Columbia Fund assets in the LOI calculation is dependent on the shareholder notifying his or her financial advisor of such assets at the time of calculation. Purchases made before the LOI is received by Edward Jones are not covered under the LOI and will not reduce the sales charge previously paid. Sales charges will be adjusted if LOI is not met. |
Sales Charge Waivers
Sales charges are waived for the following shareholders and in the following situations:
| ■ | Associates of Edward Jones and its affiliates and their family members who are in the same pricing group (as determined by Edward Jones under its policies and procedures) as the associate. This waiver will continue for the remainder of the associate's life if the associate retires from Edward Jones in good-standing. |
| ■ | Shares purchased in an Edward Jones fee-based program. |
| ■ | Shares purchased through reinvestment of capital gains distributions and dividend reinvestment. |
| ■ | Shares purchased from the proceeds of redeemed shares of Columbia Funds so long as the following conditions are met: 1) the proceeds are from the sale of shares within 60 days of the purchase, and 2) the sale and purchase are made in the same share class and the same account or the purchase is made in an individual retirement account with proceeds from liquidations in a non-retirement account. |
| ■ | Shares exchanged into Class A shares from another share class so long as the exchange is into the same fund and was initiated at the discretion of Edward Jones. Edward Jones is responsible for any remaining CDSC due to the fund company, if applicable. Any future purchases are subject to the applicable sales charge as disclosed in this prospectus. |
| A-3 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia International Dividend Income Fund
Appendix A: Financial Intermediary-Specific Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
(continued)
| ■ | Exchanges from Class C shares to Class A shares of the same fund, generally, in the 84th month following the anniversary of the purchase date or earlier at the discretion of Edward Jones. |
CDSC Waivers
If the shareholder purchases shares that are subject to a CDSC and those shares are redeemed before the CDSC is expired, the shareholder is responsible to pay the CDSC except in the following conditions:
| ■ | The death or disability of the shareholder. |
| ■ | Systematic withdrawals with up to 10% per year of the account value. |
| ■ | Return of excess contributions from an Individual Retirement Account (IRA). |
| ■ | Shares sold as part of a required minimum distribution for IRA and retirement accounts if the redemption is taken in or after the year the shareholder reaches qualified age based on applicable IRS regulations. |
| ■ | Shares sold to pay Edward Jones fees or costs in such cases where the transaction is initiated by Edward Jones. |
| ■ | Shares exchanged in an Edward Jones fee-based program. |
| ■ | Shares acquired through NAV reinstatement. |
Other Important Information
Minimum Purchase Amounts
| ■ | $250 initial purchase minimum |
| ■ | $50 subsequent purchase minimum |
Minimum Balances
| ■ | Edward Jones has the right to redeem at its discretion fund holdings with a balance of $250 or less. The following are examples of accounts that are not included in this policy: |
| ■ | A fee-based account held on an Edward Jones platform. |
| ■ | A 529 account held on an Edward Jones platform. |
| ■ | An account with an active systematic investment plan or letter of intent (LOI). |
Changing Share Classes
| ■ | At any time it deems necessary, Edward Jones has the authority to exchange at NAV a shareholder's holdings in a fund to Class A shares. |
Janney Montgomery Scott LLC (Janney)
The following information has been provided by Janney:
Effective May 1, 2020, if you purchase Columbia Fund shares through a Janney brokerage account, you will be eligible for the following load waivers (front-end sales charge waivers and CDSC, or back-end sales charge, waivers) and discounts, which may differ from those disclosed elsewhere in this prospectus or the Fund’s SAI. A reduction and/or waiver that is specific to Janney does not apply to non-omnibus positions.
Front-End Sales Charge* Waivers on Class A Shares Available at Janney
| ■ | Shares purchased through reinvestment of capital gains distributions and dividend reinvestment when purchasing shares of the same fund (but not any other Columbia Fund). |
| ■ | Shares purchased by employees and registered representatives of Janney or its affiliates and their family members as designated by Janney. |
| Prospectus 2021 | A-4 |
Columbia International Dividend Income Fund
Appendix A: Financial Intermediary-Specific Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
(continued)
| ■ | Shares purchased from the proceeds of redemptions from another Columbia Fund, provided (1) the repurchase occurs within ninety (90) days following the redemption, (2) the redemption and purchase occur in the same account, and (3) redeemed shares were subject to a front-end or deferred sales load (i.e., right of reinstatement). |
| ■ | Employer-sponsored retirement plans (e.g., 401(k) plans, 457 plans, employer-sponsored 403(b) plans, profit sharing and money purchase pension plans and defined benefit plans). For purposes of this provision, employer-sponsored retirement plans do not include SEP IRAs, Simple IRAs, SAR-SEPs or Keogh plans. |
| ■ | Shares acquired through a right of reinstatement. |
| ■ | Class C shares that are no longer subject to a CDSC and are converted to Class A shares of the same fund pursuant to Janney’s policies and procedures. |
CDSC Waivers on Class A and C Shares Available at Janney
| ■ | Shares sold upon the death or disability of the shareholder. |
| ■ | Shares sold as part of a systematic withdrawal plan as described in this prospectus. |
| ■ | Shares purchased in connection with a return of excess contributions from an IRA account. |
| ■ | Shares sold as part of a required minimum distribution for IRA and retirement accounts if the redemption is taken in or after the year the shareholder reaches qualified age based on applicable IRS regulations. |
| ■ | Shares sold to pay Janney fees but only if the transaction is initiated by Janney. |
| ■ | Shares acquired through a right of reinstatement. |
| ■ | Shares exchanged into the same share class of a different fund. |
Front-End Sales Charge* Discounts Available at Janney: Breakpoints, Rights of Accumulation, and/or Letters of Intent
| ■ | Breakpoints as described in this prospectus. |
| ■ | Rights of accumulation (“ROA”), which entitle shareholders to breakpoint discounts, will be automatically calculated based on the aggregated holding of Columbia Fund assets held by accounts within the purchaser’s household at Janney. Eligible Columbia Fund assets not held at Janney may be included in the ROA calculation only if the shareholder notifies his or her financial advisor about such assets. |
| ■ | Letters of intent which allow for breakpoint discounts based on anticipated purchases within the Columbia Funds, over a 13-month time period. Eligible Columbia Fund assets not held at Janney may be included in the calculation of letters of intent only if the shareholder notifies his or her financial advisor about such assets. |
* Also referred to as an “initial sales charge”.
Merrill Lynch Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated (Merrill Lynch)
The following information has been provided by Merrill Lynch:
Shareholders purchasing Columbia Fund shares through a Merrill Lynch platform or account will be eligible only for the following load waivers (front-end sales charge waivers and contingent deferred, or back-end, sales charge waivers) and discounts, which may differ from those disclosed elsewhere in this prospectus or the Fund’s SAI:
Front-End Load Discounts Available at Merrill Lynch:
Merrill Lynch makes available breakpoint discounts on shares of the Fund through:
| ■ | Breakpoints as described in this prospectus. |
| ■ | Rights of Accumulation (ROA) which entitle shareholders to breakpoint discounts as described in this prospectus will be automatically calculated based on the aggregated holding of Columbia Fund assets held by accounts (including 529 program holdings, where applicable) within the purchaser’s household at Merrill Lynch. Eligible Columbia Fund assets not held at Merrill Lynch may be included in the ROA calculation only if the shareholder notifies his or her financial advisor about such assets. |
| A-5 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia International Dividend Income Fund
Appendix A: Financial Intermediary-Specific Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
(continued)
| ■ | Letters of Intent (LOI) which allow for breakpoint discounts based on anticipated purchases of Columbia Funds, through Merrill Lynch, over a 13-month period of time (if applicable). |
Front-End Sales Load Waivers on Class A Shares Available at Merrill Lynch:
| ■ |
Employer-sponsored retirement, deferred compensation and employee benefit plans (including health savings accounts) and trusts used to fund those plans, provided that the shares are not held in a commission-based brokerage account and shares are held for the benefit of the plan
.
|
| ■ |
Shares purchased by a 529 Plan (does not include 529 Plan units or 529-specific share classes or equivalents)
.
|
| ■ |
Shares purchased through a Merrill Lynch affiliated investment advisory program
.
|
| ■ |
Shares exchanged due to the holdings moving from a Merrill Lynch affiliated investment advisory program to a Merrill Lynch brokerage (non-advisory) account pursuant to Merrill Lynch’s policies relating to sales load discounts and waivers
.
|
| ■ |
Shares purchased by third party investment advisors on behalf of their advisory clients through Merrill Lynch’s platform
.
|
| ■ |
Shares of funds purchased through the Merrill Edge Self-Directed platform (if applicable)
.
|
| ■ |
Shares purchased through reinvestment of capital gains distributions and dividend reinvestment when purchasing shares of the same
f
und (but not any other Columbia Fund)
.
|
| ■ |
Shares exchanged from Class C (i.e., level-load) shares of the same fund pursuant to Merrill Lynch’s policies relating to sales load discounts and waivers
.
|
| ■ |
Employees and registered representatives of Merrill Lynch or its affiliates and their family members
.
|
| ■ |
Directors or Trustees of the Fund, and employees of the Fund’s investment adviser or any of its affiliates, as described in this prospectus
.
|
| ■ |
Eligible shares purchased from the proceeds of redemptions from another Columbia Fund, provided (1) the repurchase occurs within 90 days following the redemption, (2) the redemption and purchase occur in the same account, and (3) redeemed shares were subject to a front-end or deferred sales load (known as Rights of Reinstatement). Automated transactions (i.e. systematic purchases and withdrawals) and purchases made after shares are automatically sold to pay Merrill Lynch’s account maintenance fees are not eligible for reinstatement
.
|
CDSC Waivers on Class A and C Shares Available at Merrill Lynch:
| ■ |
Death or disability of the shareholder
.
|
| ■ |
Shares sold as part of a systematic withdrawal plan as described in
this
prospectus
.
|
| ■ |
Return of excess contributions from an IRA Account
.
|
| ■ |
Shares sold as part of a required minimum distribution for IRA and retirement accounts pursuant to the Internal Revenue Code
.
|
| ■ |
Shares sold to pay Merrill Lynch fees but only if the transaction is initiated by Merrill Lynch
.
|
| ■ |
Shares acquired through a right of reinstatement
.
|
| ■ |
Shares held in retirement brokerage accounts, that are exchanged for a lower cost share class due to transfer to certain fee based accounts or platforms (applicable to Class A and Class C shares only)
.
|
| ■ |
Shares received through an exchange due to the holdings moving from a Merrill Lynch affiliated investment advisory program to a Merrill Lynch brokerage (non-advisory) account pursuant to Merrill Lynch’s policies relating to sales load discounts and waivers
.
|
| Prospectus 2021 | A-6 |
Columbia International Dividend Income Fund
Appendix A: Financial Intermediary-Specific Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
(continued)
Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, LLC (Morgan Stanley Wealth Management)
The following information has been provided by Morgan Stanley Wealth Management:
Shareholders
purchasing Columbia Fund shares through a Morgan Stanley Wealth Management transactional brokerage account will be eligible only for the following front-end sales charge waivers with respect to Class A shares, which may differ from and may be more limited than those disclosed elsewhere in this prospectus or the Fund’s SAI.
Front-End Sales Charge Waivers on Class A Shares Available at Morgan Stanley Wealth Management:
| ■ |
Employer-sponsored retirement plans (e.g., 401(k) plans, 457 plans, employer-sponsored 403(b) plans, profit sharing and money purchase pension plans and defined benefit plans). For purposes of this provision, employer-sponsored retirement plans do not include SEP IRAs, Simple IRAs, SAR-SEPs or Keogh plans
.
|
| ■ |
Morgan Stanley employee and employee-related accounts according to Morgan Stanley’s account linking rules
.
|
| ■ |
Shares purchased through reinvestment of dividends and capital gains distributions when purchasing shares of the same fund
.
|
| ■ |
Shares purchased through a Morgan Stanley self-directed brokerage account
.
|
| ■ |
Class C (i.e., level-load) shares that are no longer subject to a CDSC and are exchanged for Class A shares of the same fund pursuant to Morgan Stanley Wealth Management’s share class exchange program
.
|
| ■ | Shares purchased from the proceeds of redemptions from another Columbia Fund, provided (i) the repurchase occurs within 90 days following the redemption, (ii) the redemption and purchase occur in the same account, and (iii) redeemed shares were subject to a front-end or deferred sales charge. |
Raymond James & Associates, Inc., Raymond James Financial Services, Inc. and each entity’s affiliates (Raymond James)
The following information has been provided by Raymond James:
Intermediary-Defined Sales Charge Waiver Policies:
The availability of certain initial or deferred sales charge waivers and discounts may depend on the particular financial intermediary or type of account through which you purchase or hold
Columbia
Fund shares.
Intermediaries
may have different policies and procedures regarding the availability of front-end sales load waivers or contingent deferred (back-end) sales load (CDSC) waivers, which are discussed below. In all instances, it is the purchaser’s responsibility to notify the Fund or the purchaser’s financial intermediary at the time of purchase of any relationship or other facts qualifying the purchaser for sales charge waivers or discounts. For waivers and discounts not available through a particular intermediary, shareholders will have to purchase Columbia Fund shares directly from the Fund or through another intermediary to receive these waivers or discounts.
Raymond James:
Effective
March 1, 2019, shareholders purchasing Columbia Fund shares through a Raymond James platform or account, or through an introducing broker-dealer or independent registered investment adviser for which Raymond James provides trade execution, clearance, and/or custody services, will be eligible only for the following load waivers (front-end sales charge waivers and contingent deferred, or back-end, sales charge waivers) and discounts, which may differ from those disclosed elsewhere in this prospectus or the Fund’s SAI.
Front-End Sales Load Waivers on Class A Shares Available at Raymond James:
| ■ | Shares purchased in an investment advisory program. |
| ■ | Shares purchased within the Columbia Funds through a systematic reinvestment of capital gains and dividend distributions. |
| ■ | Employees and registered representatives of Raymond James or its affiliates and their family members as designated by Raymond James. |
| A-7 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia International Dividend Income Fund
Appendix A: Financial Intermediary-Specific Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
(continued)
| ■ | Shares purchased from the proceeds of redemptions within the Columbia Funds, provided (1) the repurchase occurs within 90 days following the redemption, (2) the redemption and purchase occur in the same account, and (3) redeemed shares were subject to a front-end or deferred sales load (known as Rights of Reinstatement). |
| ■ | A shareholder in the Fund’s Class C shares will have their shares converted at net asset value to Class A shares (or the appropriate share class) of the Fund if the shares are no longer subject to a CDSC and the conversion is in line with the policies and procedures of Raymond James. |
CDSC Waivers on Class A and Class C Shares Available at Raymond James:
| ■ | Death or disability of the shareholder. |
| ■ |
Shares sold as part of a systematic withdrawal plan as described in
this
prospectus.
|
| ■ | Return of excess contributions from an IRA Account. |
| ■ |
Shares sold as part of a required minimum distribution for IRA and retirement accounts due to the shareholder reaching the qualified age based on applicable IRS regulations as described in
this
prospectus.
|
| ■ | Shares sold to pay Raymond James fees but only if the transaction is initiated by Raymond James. |
| ■ | Shares acquired through a right of reinstatement. |
Front-End Load Discounts Available at Raymond James: Breakpoints, Rights of Accumulation and/or Letters of Intent:
| ■ | Breakpoints as described in this prospectus. |
| ■ | Rights of accumulation which entitle shareholders to breakpoint discounts will be automatically calculated based on the aggregated holding of Columbia Fund assets held by accounts within the purchaser’s household at Raymond James. Eligible Columbia Fund assets not held at Raymond James may be included in the calculation of rights of accumulation only if the shareholder notifies his or her financial advisor about such assets. |
| ■ | Letters of intent which allow for breakpoint discounts based on anticipated purchases within the Columbia Funds, over a 13-month time period. Eligible Columbia Fund assets not held at Raymond James may be included in the calculation of letters of intent only if the shareholder notifies his or her financial advisor about such assets. |
Stifel Financial Corp. (Stifel)
The following information has been provided by Stifel:
Effective June 30, 2020, Class C shares of Columbia Funds that were purchased through a Stifel platform or account that maintains an omnibus position with the Fund that are no longer subject to a CDSC are exchanged to Class A shares of the same Columbia Fund pursuant to Stifel’s policies and procedures. This does not apply to non-omnibus positions.
Additional Sales Charge Reductions and/or Waivers Available at Certain Financial Intermediaries
Shareholders purchasing
Fund shares through a platform or account of RBC Capital Markets, LLC are eligible for the following sales charge waiver:
Columbia
Class A Shares Front-End Sales Charge Waiver Available at RBC Capital Markets, LLC:
| ■ | For employer-sponsored retirement plans held through a commissionable brokerage account, Class A shares are available at NAV (i.e., without a sales charge). For this purpose, employer-sponsored retirement plans include, but are not limited to, 401(k) plans, 457 plans, employer-sponsored 403(b) plans, profit sharing and money purchase pension plans and defined benefit plans. For purposes of this provision, employer-sponsored retirement plans do not include SEP IRAs, Simple IRAs, SAR-SEPs or Keogh plans. |
| Prospectus 2021 | A-8 |
Columbia International Dividend Income Fund
P.O. Box 219104
Kansas City, MO 64121-9104
Kansas City, MO 64121-9104
Additional Information About the Fund
Additional information about the Fund’s investments is available in the Fund’s annual and semiannual reports to shareholders. In the annual report, you will find a discussion of the market conditions and investment strategies that significantly affected the Fund’s performance during its last fiscal year. The SAI also provides additional information about the Fund and its policies. The SAI, which has been filed with the SEC, is legally part of this prospectus (incorporated by reference). To obtain these documents free of charge, to request other information about the Fund and to make shareholder inquiries, please contact the Fund as follows:
By Mail:
Columbia Management Investment Services Corp.
P.O. Box 219104
Kansas City, MO 64121-9104
P.O. Box 219104
Kansas City, MO 64121-9104
By Telephone:
800.345.6611
Online:
columbiathreadneedleus.com
Reports and other information about the Fund are also available in the EDGAR Database on the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov. You can receive copies of this information, for a duplication fee, by electronic request at the following e-mail address: publicinfo@sec.gov.
The investment company registration number of Columbia Funds Series Trust I, of which the Fund is a series, is 811-04367.
Columbia Threadneedle Investments is the global brand name of the Columbia and Threadneedle group of companies.
© 2021 Columbia Management Investment Distributors, Inc.
225 Franklin Street, Boston, MA 02110
225 Franklin Street, Boston, MA 02110
800.345.6611
PRO154_08_L01_(01/21)
Prospectus
January 1, 2021
Columbia Mid Cap Growth Fund
|
Class
|
Ticker Symbol
|
|
| A | CBSAX | |
| Advisor (Class Adv) | CPGRX | |
| C | CMCCX | |
| Institutional (Class Inst) | CLSPX | |
| Institutional 2 (Class Inst2) | CMGVX | |
| Institutional 3 (Class Inst3) | CMGYX | |
| R | CMGRX | |
| V | CBSTX |
Beginning on January 1, 2021, as permitted by regulations adopted by the Securities and Exchange Commission, paper copies of the Fund's annual and semiannual shareholder reports are no longer sent by mail, unless you specifically requested paper copies of the reports. Instead, the reports are made available on the Fund's website (columbiathreadneedleus.com/investor/), and each time a report is posted you will be notified by mail and provided with a website address to access the report.
If you have already elected to receive shareholder reports electronically, you will not be affected by this change and you need not take any action. You may elect to receive shareholder reports and other communications from the Fund electronically at any time by contacting your financial intermediary (such as a broker-dealer or bank) or, for Fund shares held directly with the Fund, by calling 800.345.6611 or by enrolling in “eDelivery” by logging into your account at columbiathreadneedleus.com/investor/.
You may elect to receive all future shareholder reports in paper free of charge. If you invest through a financial intermediary, you can contact your financial intermediary to request that you continue receiving paper copies of your shareholder reports. If you invest directly with the Fund, you can call 800.345.6611 to let the Fund know you wish to continue receiving paper copies of your shareholder reports. Your election to receive paper reports will apply to all Columbia Funds held in your account if you invest through a financial intermediary or all Columbia Funds held with the fund complex if you invest directly with the Fund.
As with all mutual funds, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has not approved or disapproved these securities or passed upon the adequacy of this prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.
Columbia Mid Cap Growth Fund
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A-1 |
| 2 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Mid Cap Growth Fund
Summary of the Fund
Investment Objective
Columbia Mid Cap Growth Fund (the Fund) seeks significant capital appreciation by investing, under normal market conditions, at least 80% of its net assets (plus any borrowings for investment purposes) in stocks of companies with a market capitalization, at the time of initial purchase, equal to or less than the largest stock in the Russell Midcap Index.
Fees and Expenses of the Fund
This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold and sell shares of the Fund.
You may be required to pay such brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries when transacting in any class of Fund shares, including those that do not assess any front-end sales charge, contingent deferred sales charge, or other asset-based fee for sales or distribution. Such brokerage commissions and other fees are set by the financial intermediary.
You may qualify for sales charge discounts if you and members of your immediate family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $50,000 in certain classes of shares of eligible funds distributed by Columbia Management Investment Distributors, Inc. (the Distributor). More information is available about these and other sales charge discounts and waivers from your financial intermediary, and can be found in the
section beginning on page 26 of the Fund’s prospectus, in
to the prospectus beginning on page A-1 and in Appendix S to the Statement of Additional Information (SAI) under
beginning on page S-1.
You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the tables and examples below.
Choosing a Share Class
Appendix A
Sales Charge Waivers
| (a) | This charge is imposed on certain investments of between $1 million and $50 million redeemed within 18 months after purchase, as follows: 1.00% if redeemed within 12 months after purchase, and 0.50% if redeemed more than 12, but less than 18, months after purchase, with certain limited exceptions. |
| (b) | This charge applies to redemptions within 12 months after purchase, with certain limited exceptions. |
| Prospectus 2021 | 3 |
Columbia Mid Cap Growth Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
Example
The following example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The example illustrates the hypothetical expenses that you would incur over the time periods indicated, and assumes that:
| ■ | you invest $10,000 in the applicable class of Fund shares for the periods indicated, |
| ■ | your investment has a 5% return each year, and |
| ■ |
the Fund’s total annual operating expenses remain the same as shown in the
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
|
Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on the assumptions listed above, your costs would be:
|
1 year
|
3 years
|
5 years
|
10 years
|
|
|
Class A
(whether or not shares are redeemed)
|
$685 | $919 | $1,172 | $1,892 |
|
Class Adv
(whether or not shares are redeemed)
|
$
|
$287 |
$
|
$1,108 |
|
Class C
(assuming redemption of all shares at the end of the period)
|
$293 | $597 | $1,026 | $2,222 |
|
Class C
(assuming no redemption of shares)
|
$193 | $597 | $1,026 | $2,222 |
|
Class Inst
(whether or not shares are redeemed)
|
$
|
$287 |
$
|
$1,108 |
|
Class Inst2
(whether or not shares are redeemed)
|
$
|
$268 |
$
|
$1,037 |
|
Class Inst3
(whether or not shares are redeemed)
|
$
|
$252 |
$
|
$
|
|
Class R
(whether or not shares are redeemed)
|
$143 | $443 |
$
|
$1,680 |
|
Class V
(whether or not shares are redeemed)
|
$685 | $919 | $1,172 | $1,892 |
Portfolio Turnover
The Fund may pay transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 63% of the average value of its portfolio.
Principal Investment Strategies
Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets (including the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes) in equity securities (including, but not limited to, common stocks, preferred stocks and securities convertible into common or preferred stocks) of companies that have market capitalizations in the range of the companies in the Russell Midcap Index (the Index) at the time of purchase (between $331.8 million and $60.4 billion as of November 30, 2020). The market capitalization range and composition of the companies in the Index are subject to change.
The Fund invests typically in common stocks of companies believed to have the potential for long-term, above-average earnings growth but may invest in companies for their short, medium or long-term prospects. The Fund may from time to time emphasize one or more sectors in selecting its investments, including the health care and information technology sectors.
The Fund may invest up to 20% of its total assets in foreign securities. The Fund may invest directly in foreign securities or indirectly through depositary receipts.
The Fund may invest in special situations, such as companies involved in initial public offerings, tender offers, mergers and other corporate restructurings, and in companies involved in management changes or companies developing new technologies.
| 4 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Mid Cap Growth Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
Principal Risks
An investment in the Fund involves risks, including
,
, and
, among others. Descriptions of these and other principal risks of investing in the Fund are provided below.
. The value of the Fund’s holdings may decline, and the Fund’s net asset value (NAV) and share price may go down. An investment in the Fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency.
Mid-Cap Stock Risk
Market Risk
Sector Risk
There is no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objective and you may lose money
Active Management Risk.
Due to its active management, the Fund could underperform its benchmark index and/or other funds with similar investment objectives and/or strategies.
Convertible Securities Risk.
Convertible securities are subject to the usual risks associated with debt instruments, such as interest rate risk and credit risk. Convertible securities also react to changes in the value of the common stock into which they convert, and are thus subject to market risk. The Fund may also be forced to convert a convertible security at an inopportune time, which may decrease the Fund’s return.
Depositary Receipts Risk.
Depositary receipts are receipts issued by a bank or trust company reflecting ownership of underlying securities issued by foreign companies. Some foreign securities are traded in the form of American Depositary Receipts and/or Global Depositary Receipts. Depositary receipts involve risks similar to the risks associated with investments in foreign securities, including those associated with investing in the particular country of an issuer, which may be related to the particular political, regulatory, economic, social and other conditions or events, including, for example, military confrontations, war, terrorism and disease/virus outbreaks and epidemics, occurring in the country and fluctuations in such country’s currency, as well as market risk tied to the underlying foreign company. In addition, holders of depositary receipts may have limited voting rights, may not have the same rights afforded to stockholders of a typical domestic company in the event of a corporate action, such as an acquisition, merger or rights offering, and may experience difficulty in receiving company stockholder communications. There is no guarantee that a financial institution will continue to sponsor a depositary receipt, or that a depositary receipt will continue to trade on an exchange, either of which could adversely affect the liquidity, availability and pricing of the depositary receipt. Changes in foreign currency exchange rates will affect the value of depositary receipts and, therefore, may affect the value of your investment in the Fund.
Foreign Securities Risk.
Investments in or exposure to foreign securities involve certain risks not associated with investments in or exposure to securities of U.S. companies. Foreign securities subject the Fund to the risks associated with investing in the particular country of an issuer, including political, regulatory, economic, social, diplomatic and other conditions or events (including, for example, military confrontations, war, terrorism and disease/virus outbreaks and epidemics), occurring in the country or region, as well as risks associated with less developed custody and settlement practices. Foreign securities may be more volatile and less liquid than securities of U.S. companies, and are subject to the risks associated with potential imposition of economic and other sanctions against a particular foreign country, its nationals or industries or businesses within the country. In addition, foreign governments may impose withholding or other taxes on the Fund’s income, capital gains or proceeds from the disposition of foreign securities, which could reduce the Fund’s return on such securities. The performance of the Fund may also be negatively affected by fluctuations in a foreign currency's strength or weakness relative to the U.S. dollar, particularly to the extent the Fund invests a significant percentage of its assets in foreign securities or other assets denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar.
Growth Securities Risk.
Growth securities typically trade at a higher multiple of earnings than other types of equity securities. Accordingly, the market values of growth securities may never reach their expected market value and may decline in price. In addition, growth securities, at times, may not perform as well as value securities or the stock market in general, and may be out of favor with investors for varying periods of time.
Issuer Risk.
An issuer in which the Fund invests or to which it has exposure may perform poorly or below expectations, and the value of its securities may therefore decline, which may negatively affect the Fund’s performance. Underperformance of an issuer may be caused by poor management decisions, competitive pressures,
| Prospectus 2021 | 5 |
Columbia Mid Cap Growth Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
breakthroughs in technology, reliance on suppliers, labor problems or shortages, corporate restructurings, fraudulent disclosures, natural disasters, military confrontations, war, terrorism, disease/virus outbreaks, epidemics or other events, conditions and factors which may impair the value of an investment in the Fund.
Mid-Cap Stock Risk.
Investments in mid-capitalization companies (mid-cap companies) often involve greater risks than investments in larger, more established companies (larger companies) because mid-cap companies tend to have less predictable earnings and may lack the management experience, financial resources, product diversification and competitive strengths of larger companies, and may be less liquid than the securities of larger companies.
Market Risk.
The Fund may incur losses due to declines in the value of one or more securities in which it invests. These declines may be due to factors affecting a particular issuer, or the result of, among other things, political, regulatory, market, economic or social developments affecting the relevant market(s) more generally. In addition, turbulence in financial markets and reduced liquidity in equity, credit and/or fixed income markets may negatively affect many issuers, which could adversely affect the Fund, including causing difficulty in assigning prices to hard-to-value assets in thinly traded and closed markets, significant redemptions and operational challenges. Global economies and financial markets are increasingly interconnected, and conditions and events in one country, region or financial market may adversely impact issuers in a different country, region or financial market. These risks may be magnified if certain events or developments adversely interrupt the global supply chain; in these and other circumstances, such risks might affect companies worldwide. As a result, local, regional or global events such as terrorism, war, natural disasters, disease/virus outbreaks and epidemics or other public health issues, recessions, depressions or other events – or the potential for such events – could have a significant negative impact on global economic and market conditions.
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) public health crisis has become a pandemic that has resulted in, and may continue to result in, significant global economic and societal disruption and market volatility due to disruptions in market access, resource availability, facilities operations, imposition of tariffs, export controls and supply chain disruption, among others. Such disruptions may be caused, or exacerbated by, quarantines and travel restrictions, workforce displacement and loss in human and other resources. The uncertainty surrounding the magnitude, duration, reach, costs and effects of the global pandemic, as well as actions that have been or could be taken by governmental authorities or other third parties, present unknowns that are yet to unfold. The impacts, as well as the uncertainty over impacts to come, of COVID-19 – and any other infectious illness outbreaks, epidemics and pandemics that may arise in the future – could negatively affect global economies and markets in ways that cannot necessarily be foreseen. In addition, the impact of infectious illness outbreaks and epidemics in emerging market countries may be greater due to generally less established healthcare systems, governments and financial markets. Public health crises caused by the COVID-19 outbreak may exacerbate other pre-existing political, social and economic risks in certain countries or globally. The disruptions caused by COVID-19 could prevent the Fund from executing advantageous investment decisions in a timely manner and negatively impact the Fund’s ability to achieve its investment objective. Any such event(s) could have a significant adverse impact on the value and risk profile of the Fund.
Preferred Stock Risk.
Preferred stock is a type of stock that may pay dividends at a different rate than common stock of the same issuer, if at all, and that has preference over common stock in the payment of dividends and the liquidation of assets. Preferred stock does not ordinarily carry voting rights. The price of a preferred stock is generally determined by earnings, type of products or services, projected growth rates, experience of management, liquidity, and general market conditions of the markets on which the stock trades. The most significant risks associated with investments in preferred stock include issuer risk, market risk and interest rate risk (the risk of losses attributable to changes in interest rates).
Sector Risk.
At times, the Fund may have a significant portion of its assets invested in securities of companies conducting business within one or more economic sectors, including the health care and information technology sectors. Companies in the same sector may be similarly affected by economic, regulatory, political or market events or conditions, which may make the Fund more vulnerable to unfavorable developments in that sector than funds that invest more broadly. Generally, the more broadly the Fund invests, the more it spreads risk and potentially reduces the risks of loss and volatility.
| 6 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Mid Cap Growth Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
Health Care Sector.
The Fund may be more susceptible to the particular risks that may affect companies in the health care sector than if it were invested in a wider variety of companies in unrelated sectors. Companies in the health care sector are subject to certain risks, including restrictions on government reimbursement for medical expenses, government approval of medical products and services, competitive pricing pressures, and the rising cost of medical products and services (especially for companies dependent upon a relatively limited number of products or services), among others. Performance of such companies may be affected by factors including, government regulation, obtaining and protecting patents (or the failure to do so), product liability and other similar litigation as well as product obsolescence.
Information Technology Sector.
The Fund may be more susceptible to the particular risks that may affect companies in the information technology sector than if it were invested in a wider variety of companies in unrelated sectors. Companies in the information technology sector are subject to certain risks, including the risk that new services, equipment or technologies will not be accepted by consumers and businesses or will become rapidly obsolete. Performance of such companies may be affected by factors including obtaining and protecting patents (or the failure to do so) and significant competitive pressures, including aggressive pricing of their products or services, new market entrants, competition for market share and short product cycles due to an accelerated rate of technological developments. Such competitive pressures may lead to limited earnings and/or falling profit margins. As a result, the value of their securities may fall or fail to rise. In addition, many information technology sector companies have limited operating histories and prices of these companies’ securities historically have been more volatile than other securities, especially over the short term.
| Prospectus 2021 | 7 |
Columbia Mid Cap Growth Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
Special Situations Risk.
Securities of companies that are involved in an initial public offering or a major corporate event, such as a business consolidation or restructuring, may be exposed to heightened risk because of the high degree of uncertainty that can be associated with such events. Securities issued in initial public offerings often are issued by companies that are in the early stages of development, have a history of little or no revenues and may operate at a loss following the offering. It is possible that there will be no active trading market for the securities after the offering, and that the market price of the securities may be subject to significant and unpredictable fluctuations. Certain “special situation” investments are investments in securities or other instruments that may be classified as illiquid or lacking a readily ascertainable fair value. Certain special situation investments prevent ownership interests therein from being withdrawn until the special situation investment, or a portion thereof, is realized or deemed realized, which may negatively impact Fund performance. Investing in special situations may have a magnified effect on the performance of funds with small amounts of assets.
| 8 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Mid Cap Growth Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
Performance Information
The following bar chart and table show you how the Fund has performed in the past, and can help you understand the risks of investing in the Fund. The bar chart shows how the Fund’s Class A share performance (without sales charges) has varied for each full calendar year shown. If the sales charges were reflected, returns shown would be lower.
The table below the bar chart compares the Fund’s returns (after applicable sales charges shown in the
table in this prospectus) for the periods shown with a broad measure of market performance, as well as another measure of performance for markets in which the Fund may invest.
Shareholder Fees
The performance of one or more share classes shown in the table below begins before the indicated inception date for such share class. The returns shown for each such share class include the returns of the Fund’s Class Inst shares (adjusted to reflect the higher class-related operating expenses of such share classes, where applicable) for periods prior to its inception date. Share classes with expenses that are higher than Class Inst shares will have performance that is lower than Class Inst shares. Except for differences in annual returns resulting from differences in expenses and sales charges (where applicable), the share classes of the Fund would have substantially similar annual returns because all share classes of the Fund invest in the same portfolio of securities.
The after-tax returns shown in the
table below are calculated using the highest historical individual U.S. federal marginal income tax rates in effect during the period indicated in the table and do not reflect the impact of state, local or foreign taxes.
Your actual after-tax returns will depend on your personal tax situation and may differ from those shown in the table. In addition, the after-tax returns shown in the table do not apply to shares held in tax-advantaged accounts such as 401(k) plans or Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs). The after-tax returns are shown only for Class A shares and will vary for other share classes.
Average Annual Total Returns
The Fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) is no guarantee of how the Fund will perform in the future.
Updated performance information can be obtained by calling toll-free 800.345.6611 or visiting columbiathreadneedleus.com.
|
Year by Year Total Return (%)
as of December 31 Each Year* |
Best and Worst Quarterly Returns
During the Period Shown in the Bar Chart |
||
|
Best
|
1st Quarter 2019
|
18.48
%
|
|
Worst
|
3rd Quarter 2011
|
-21.29
%
|
|
| * | Year to Date return as of September 30, 2020: 16.30% |
| Prospectus 2021 | 9 |
Columbia Mid Cap Growth Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
Average Annual Total Returns After Applicable Sales Charges (for periods ended December 31, 2019)
|
Share Class
Inception Date |
1 Year
|
5 Years
|
10 Years
|
|
|
Class A
|
11/01/2002 | |||
| returns before taxes | 27.06% | 9.53% | 11.68% | |
| returns after taxes on distributions | 24.49% | 6.09% | 9.15% | |
| returns after taxes on distributions and sale of Fund shares | 17.79% | 6.78% | 9.07% | |
|
Class Adv
returns before taxes
|
11/08/2012 | 35.12% | 11.11% | 12.61% |
|
Class C
returns before taxes
|
10/13/2003 | 32.85% | 10.00% | 11.51% |
|
Class Inst
returns before taxes
|
11/20/1985 | 35.16% | 11.11% | 12.62% |
|
Class Inst2
returns before taxes
|
03/07/2011 | 35.24% | 11.21% | 12.73% |
|
Class Inst3
returns before taxes
|
07/15/2009 | 35.27% | 11.28% | 12.78% |
|
Class R
returns before taxes
|
01/23/2006 | 34.51% | 10.56% | 12.06% |
|
Class V
returns before taxes
|
11/01/2002 | 27.04% | 9.52% | 11.65% |
|
Russell Midcap Growth Index
(reflects no deductions for fees, expenses or taxes)
|
35.47% | 11.60% | 14.24% | |
|
Russell Midcap Index
(reflects no deductions for fees, expenses or taxes)
|
30.54% | 9.33% | 13.19% |
Fund Management
|
Portfolio Manager
|
Title
|
Role with Fund
|
Managed Fund Since
|
|||
| Matthew A. Litfin, CFA | Director of Research (U.S.) and Senior Portfolio Manager at Columbia Wanger Asset Management, LLC, an investment advisory affiliate of Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC, and Portfolio Manager | Lead Portfolio Manager | 2018 | |||
| Erika K. Maschmeyer, CFA | Senior Portfolio Manager at Columbia Wanger Asset Management, LLC, an investment advisory affiliate of Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC, and Portfolio Manager | Portfolio Manager | 2018 | |||
| John L. Emerson, CFA | Senior Portfolio Manager at Columbia Wanger Asset Management, LLC, an investment advisory affiliate of Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC, and Portfolio Manager | Portfolio Manager | 2018 |
Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares
You may purchase or redeem shares of the Fund on any business day by contacting the Fund in the ways described below:
|
Online
|
Regular Mail
|
Express Mail
|
By Telephone
|
|||
| columbiathreadneedleus.com/investor/ |
Columbia Management
Investment Services Corp. P.O. Box 219104 Kansas City, MO 64121-9104 |
Columbia Management
Investment Services Corp. c/o DST Asset Manager Solutions, Inc. 430 W 7
th
Street, Suite 219104
Kansas City, MO 64105-1407 |
800.422.3737 |
| 10 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Mid Cap Growth Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
You may purchase shares and receive redemption proceeds by electronic funds transfer, by check or by wire. If you maintain your account with a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary, you must contact that financial intermediary to buy, sell or exchange shares of the Fund through your account with the intermediary.
The minimum initial investment amounts for the share classes offered by the Fund are shown below:
Minimum Initial Investment
| Class | Category of eligible account |
For accounts other than
systematic investment plan accounts |
For systematic investment
plan accounts |
|
Classes A, C & V
(a)
|
All accounts other than IRAs | $2,000 | $100 |
| IRAs | $1,000 | $100 | |
|
Classes Adv
& Inst |
All eligible accounts |
$0, $1,000 or $2,000
depending upon the category of eligible investor |
$100 |
|
Classes Inst2
& R |
All eligible accounts | None | N/A |
| Class Inst3 | All eligible accounts |
$0, $1,000, $2,000
or $1 million depending upon the category of eligible investor |
$100 (for certain
eligible investors) |
| (a) | Class V shares are generally closed to new investors. |
More information about these minimums can be found in the
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares - Buying Shares
section of the prospectus. There is no minimum additional investment for any share class.
Tax Information
The Fund normally distributes net investment income and net realized capital gains, if any, to shareholders. These distributions are generally taxable to you as ordinary income, qualified dividend income or capital gains, unless you are investing through a tax-advantaged account, such as a 401(k) plan or an IRA. If you are investing through a tax-advantaged account, you may be taxed upon withdrawals from that account.
Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
If you purchase the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), the Fund and its related companies — including Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC (the Investment Manager), Columbia Management Investment Distributors, Inc. (the Distributor) and Columbia Management Investment Services Corp. (the Transfer Agent) — may pay the intermediary for the sale of Fund shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your financial advisor to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your financial advisor or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.
| Prospectus 2021 | 11 |
Columbia Mid Cap Growth Fund
More Information About the Fund
Investment Objective
Columbia Mid Cap Growth Fund (the Fund) seeks significant capital appreciation by investing, under normal market conditions, at least 80% of its net assets (plus any borrowings for investment purposes) in stocks of companies with a market capitalization, at the time of initial purchase, equal to or less than the largest stock in the Russell Midcap Index. The Fund’s investment objective is not a fundamental policy and may be changed by the Fund’s Board of Trustees without shareholder approval. Because any investment involves risk, there is no assurance the Fund’s investment objective will be achieved.
Principal Investment Strategies
Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets (including the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes) in equity securities (including, but not limited to, common stocks, preferred stocks and securities convertible into common or preferred stocks) of companies that have market capitalizations in the range of the companies in the Russell Midcap Index (the Index) at the time of purchase (between $331.8 million and $60.4 billion as of November 30, 2020). The market capitalization range and composition of the companies in the Index are subject to change. As such, the size of the companies in which the Fund invests may change. As long as an investment continues to meet the Fund’s other investment criteria, the Fund may choose to continue to hold a security even if the company’s market capitalization grows beyond the market capitalization of the largest company within the Index or falls below the market capitalization of the smallest company within the Index.
The Fund invests typically in common stocks of companies believed to have the potential for long-term, above-average earnings growth but may invest in companies for their short, medium or long-term prospects. The Fund may from time to time emphasize one or more sectors in selecting its investments, including the health care and information technology sectors.
The Fund may invest up to 20% of its total assets in foreign securities. The Fund may invest directly in foreign securities or indirectly through depositary receipts. Depositary receipts are receipts issued by a bank or trust company reflecting ownership of underlying securities issued by foreign companies.
The Fund may invest in special situations, such as companies involved in initial public offerings, tender offers, mergers and other corporate restructurings, and in companies involved in management changes or companies developing new technologies.
The investment manager employs fundamental analysis with risk management in identifying investment opportunities and constructing the Fund’s portfolio.
Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC (the Investment Manager) considers, among other factors:
| ■ | overall economic and market conditions; and |
| ■ | the financial condition and management of a company, including its competitive position, the quality of its balance sheet and earnings, its future prospects, and the potential for growth and stock price appreciation. |
The Investment Manager may sell a security when the security’s price reaches a target set by the Investment Manager; if the Investment Manager believes that there is deterioration in the issuer’s financial circumstances or fundamental prospects; if other investments are more attractive; or for other reasons.
The Fund’s investment policy with respect to 80% of its net assets may be changed by the Fund’s Board of Trustees without shareholder approval as long as shareholders are given 60 days’ advance written notice of the change. Additionally, shareholders will be given 60 days’ notice of any change to the Fund’s investment objective made to comply with the SEC rule governing investment company names.
| 12 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Mid Cap Growth Fund
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
Principal Risks
An investment in the Fund involves risks, including
Mid-Cap Stock Risk
,
Market Risk
, and
Sector Risk
, among others. Descriptions of these and other principal risks of investing in the Fund are provided below.
There is no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objective and you may lose money
. The value of the Fund’s holdings may decline, and the Fund’s net asset value (NAV) and share price may go down. An investment in the Fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency.
Active Management Risk.
The Fund is actively managed and its performance therefore will reflect, in part, the ability of the portfolio managers to make investment decisions that seek to achieve the Fund’s investment objective. Due to its active management, the Fund could underperform its benchmark index and/or other funds with similar investment objectives and/or strategies.
Convertible Securities Risk.
Convertible securities are subject to the usual risks associated with debt instruments, such as interest rate risk (the risk of losses attributable to changes in interest rates) and credit risk (the risk that the issuer of a debt instrument will default or otherwise become unable, or be perceived to be unable or unwilling, to honor a financial obligation, such as making payments to the Fund when due). Convertible securities also react to changes in the value of the common stock into which they convert, and are thus subject to market risk (the risk that the market values of securities or other investments that the Fund holds will fall, sometimes rapidly or unpredictably, or fail to rise). Because the value of a convertible security can be influenced by both interest rates and the common stock's market movements, a convertible security generally is not as sensitive to interest rates as a similar debt instrument, and generally will not vary in value in response to other factors to the same extent as the underlying common stock. In the event of a liquidation of the issuing company, holders of convertible securities would typically be paid before the company's common stockholders but after holders of any senior debt obligations of the company. The Fund may be forced to convert a convertible security before it otherwise would choose to do so, which may decrease the Fund's return.
Depositary Receipts Risk.
Depositary receipts are receipts issued by a bank or trust company reflecting ownership of underlying securities issued by foreign companies. Some foreign securities are traded in the form of American Depositary Receipts and/or Global Depositary Receipts. Depositary receipts involve risks similar to the risks associated with investments in foreign securities, including those associated with investing in the particular country of an issuer, which may be related to the particular political, regulatory, economic, social and other conditions or events, including, for example, military confrontations, war, terrorism and disease/virus outbreaks and epidemics, occurring in the country and fluctuations in such country’s currency, as well as market risk tied to the underlying foreign company. In addition, holders of depositary receipts may have limited voting rights, may not have the same rights afforded to stockholders of a typical domestic company in the event of a corporate action, such as an acquisition, merger or rights offering, and may experience difficulty in receiving company stockholder communications. There is no guarantee that a financial institution will continue to sponsor a depositary receipt, or that a depositary receipt will continue to trade on an exchange, either of which could adversely affect the liquidity, availability and pricing of the depositary receipt. Changes in foreign currency exchange rates will affect the value of depositary receipts and, therefore, may affect the value of your investment in the Fund.
Foreign Securities Risk.
Investments in or exposure to foreign securities involve certain risks not associated with investments in or exposure to securities of U.S. companies. For example, foreign markets can be extremely volatile. Foreign securities may also be less liquid, making them more difficult to trade, than securities of U.S. companies so that the Fund may, at times, be unable to sell foreign securities at desirable times or prices. Brokerage commissions, custodial costs and other fees are also generally higher for foreign securities. The Fund may have limited or no legal recourse in the event of default with respect to certain foreign securities, including those issued by foreign governments. In addition, foreign governments may impose withholding or other taxes on the Fund’s income, capital gains or proceeds from the disposition of foreign securities, which could reduce the Fund’s return on such securities. In some cases, such withholding or other taxes could potentially be confiscatory. Other risks include: possible delays in the settlement of transactions or in the payment of income; generally less publicly available information about foreign companies; the impact of economic, political, social, diplomatic or other conditions or events (including, for
| Prospectus 2021 | 13 |
Columbia Mid Cap Growth Fund
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
example, military confrontations, war, terrorism and disease/virus outbreaks and epidemics), possible seizure, expropriation or nationalization of a company or its assets or the assets of a particular investor or category of investors; accounting, auditing and financial reporting standards that may be less comprehensive and stringent than those applicable to domestic companies; the imposition of economic and other sanctions against a particular foreign country, its nationals or industries or businesses within the country; and the generally less stringent standard of care to which local agents may be held in the local markets. In addition, it may be difficult to obtain reliable information about the securities and business operations of certain foreign issuers. Governments or trade groups may compel local agents to hold securities in designated depositories that are not subject to independent evaluation. The less developed a country’s securities market is, the greater the level of risks. The risks posed by sanctions against a particular foreign country, its nationals or industries or businesses within the country may be heightened to the extent the Fund invests significantly in the affected country or region or in issuers from the affected country that depend on global markets. Additionally, investments in certain countries may subject the Fund to a number of tax rules, the application of which may be uncertain. Countries may amend or revise their existing tax laws, regulations and/or procedures in the future, possibly with retroactive effect. Changes in or uncertainties regarding the laws, regulations or procedures of a country could reduce the after-tax profits of the Fund, directly or indirectly, including by reducing the after-tax profits of companies located in such countries in which the Fund invests, or result in unexpected tax liabilities for the Fund. The performance of the Fund may also be negatively affected by fluctuations in a foreign currency's strength or weakness relative to the U.S. dollar, particularly to the extent the Fund invests a significant percentage of its assets in foreign securities or other assets denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar. Currency rates in foreign countries may fluctuate significantly over short or long periods of time for a number of reasons, including changes in interest rates, imposition of currency exchange controls and economic or political developments in the U.S. or abroad. The Fund may also incur currency conversion costs when converting foreign currencies into U.S. dollars and vice versa.
Growth Securities Risk.
Growth securities typically trade at a higher multiple of earnings than other types of equity securities. Accordingly, the market values of growth securities may never reach their expected market value and may decline in price. In addition, growth securities, at times, may not perform as well as value securities or the stock market in general, and may be out of favor with investors for varying periods of time.
Issuer Risk.
An issuer in which the Fund invests or to which it has exposure may perform poorly or below expectations, and the value of its securities may therefore decline, which may negatively affect the Fund’s performance. Underperformance of an issuer may be caused by poor management decisions, competitive pressures, breakthroughs in technology, reliance on suppliers, labor problems or shortages, corporate restructurings, fraudulent disclosures, natural disasters, military confrontations, war, terrorism, disease/virus outbreaks, epidemics or other events, conditions and factors which may impair the value of an investment in the Fund.
Mid-Cap Stock Risk.
Securities of mid-cap companies can, in certain circumstances, have more risk than securities of larger companies. For example, mid-cap companies may be more vulnerable to market downturns and adverse business or economic events than larger companies because they may have more limited financial resources and business operations. Mid-cap companies are also more likely than larger companies to have more limited product lines and operating histories and to depend on smaller and generally less experienced management teams. Securities of mid-cap companies may trade less frequently and in smaller volumes and may fluctuate more sharply in value than securities of larger companies. When the Fund takes significant positions in mid-cap companies with limited trading volumes, the liquidation of those positions, particularly in a distressed market, could be difficult and result in Fund investment losses that would affect the value of your investment in the Fund. In addition, some mid-cap companies may not be widely followed by the investment community, which can lower the demand for their stocks.
Market Risk.
The Fund may incur losses due to declines in the value of one or more securities in which it invests. These declines may be due to factors affecting a particular issuer, or the result of, among other things, political, regulatory, market, economic or social developments affecting the relevant market(s) more generally. In addition, turbulence in financial markets and reduced liquidity in equity, credit and/or fixed income markets may negatively affect many issuers, which could adversely affect the Fund, including causing difficulty in assigning prices to hard-to-value assets in thinly traded and closed markets, significant redemptions and operational challenges. Global
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economies and financial markets are increasingly interconnected, and conditions and events in one country, region or financial market may adversely impact issuers in a different country, region or financial market. These risks may be magnified if certain events or developments adversely interrupt the global supply chain; in these and other circumstances, such risks might affect companies worldwide. As a result, local, regional or global events such as terrorism, war, natural disasters, disease/virus outbreaks and epidemics or other public health issues, recessions, depressions or other events – or the potential for such events – could have a significant negative impact on global economic and market conditions.
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) public health crisis has become a pandemic that has resulted in, and may continue to result in, significant global economic and societal disruption and market volatility due to disruptions in market access, resource availability, facilities operations, imposition of tariffs, export controls and supply chain disruption, among others. Such disruptions may be caused, or exacerbated by, quarantines and travel restrictions, workforce displacement and loss in human and other resources. The uncertainty surrounding the magnitude, duration, reach, costs and effects of the global pandemic, as well as actions that have been or could be taken by governmental authorities or other third parties, present unknowns that are yet to unfold. The impacts, as well as the uncertainty over impacts to come, of COVID-19 – and any other infectious illness outbreaks, epidemics and pandemics that may arise in the future – could negatively affect global economies and markets in ways that cannot necessarily be foreseen. In addition, the impact of infectious illness outbreaks and epidemics in emerging market countries may be greater due to generally less established healthcare systems, governments and financial markets. Public health crises caused by the COVID-19 outbreak may exacerbate other pre-existing political, social and economic risks in certain countries or globally. The disruptions caused by COVID-19 could prevent the Fund from executing advantageous investment decisions in a timely manner and negatively impact the Fund’s ability to achieve its investment objective. Any such event(s) could have a significant adverse impact on the value and risk profile of the Fund.
Preferred Stock Risk.
Preferred stock is a type of stock that may pay dividends at a different rate than common stock of the same issuer, if at all, and that has preference over common stock in the payment of dividends and the liquidation of assets. Preferred stock does not ordinarily carry voting rights. The price of a preferred stock is generally determined by earnings, type of products or services, projected growth rates, experience of management, liquidity, and general market conditions of the markets on which the stock trades. The most significant risks associated with investments in preferred stock include issuer risk, market risk and interest rate risk (the risk of losses attributable to changes in interest rates).
Sector Risk.
At times, the Fund may have a significant portion of its assets invested in securities of companies conducting business within one or more economic sectors, including the health care and information technology sectors. Companies in the same sector may be similarly affected by economic, regulatory, political or market events or conditions, which may make the Fund more vulnerable to unfavorable developments in that sector than funds that invest more broadly. Generally, the more broadly the Fund invests, the more it spreads risk and potentially reduces the risks of loss and volatility.
Health Care Sector.
The Fund may be more susceptible to the particular risks that may affect companies in the health care sector than if it were invested in a wider variety of companies in unrelated sectors. Companies in the health care sector are subject to certain risks, including restrictions on government reimbursement for medical expenses, government approval of medical products and services, competitive pricing pressures, and the rising cost of medical products and services (especially for companies dependent upon a relatively limited number of products or services), among others. Performance of such companies may be affected by factors including, government regulation, obtaining and protecting patents (or the failure to do so), product liability and other similar litigation as well as product obsolescence.
Information Technology Sector.
The Fund may be more susceptible to the particular risks that may affect companies in the information technology sector than if it were invested in a wider variety of companies in unrelated sectors. Companies in the information technology sector are subject to certain risks, including the risk that new services, equipment or technologies will not be accepted by consumers and businesses or will become rapidly obsolete. Performance of such companies may be affected by factors including obtaining and protecting patents (or the failure to do so) and significant competitive pressures, including aggressive pricing of their products or services, new market
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entrants, competition for market share and short product cycles due to an accelerated rate of technological developments. Such competitive pressures may lead to limited earnings and/or falling profit margins. As a result, the value of their securities may fall or fail to rise. In addition, many information technology sector companies have limited operating histories and prices of these companies’ securities historically have been more volatile than other securities, especially over the short term.
Special Situations Risk.
Securities of companies that are involved in an initial public offering or a major corporate event, such as a business consolidation or restructuring, may be exposed to heightened risk because of the high degree of uncertainty that can be associated with such events. Securities issued in initial public offerings often are issued by companies that are in the early stages of development, have a history of little or no revenues and may operate at a loss following the offering. It is possible that there will be no active trading market for the securities after the offering, and that the market price of the securities may be subject to significant and unpredictable fluctuations. Initial public offerings are subject to many of the same risks as investing in companies with smaller market capitalizations. To the extent the Fund determines to invest in initial public offerings, it may not be able to invest to the extent desired, because, for example, only a small portion (if any) of the securities being offered in an initial public offering are available to the Fund. The investment performance of the Fund during periods when it is unable to invest significantly or at all in initial public offerings may be lower than during periods when the Fund is able to do so. Securities purchased in initial public offerings which are sold within 12 months after purchase may result in increased short-term capital gains, which will be taxable to the Fund’s shareholders as ordinary income. Certain “special situation” investments are investments in securities or other instruments that may be classified as illiquid or lacking a readily ascertainable fair value. Certain special situation investments prevent ownership interests therein from being withdrawn until the special situation investment, or a portion thereof, is realized or deemed realized, which may negatively impact Fund performance. Investing in special situations may have a magnified effect on the performance of funds with small amounts of assets.
Additional Investment Strategies and Policies
This section describes certain investment strategies and policies that the Fund may utilize in pursuit of its investment objective and some additional factors and risks involved with investing in the Fund.
Investment Guidelines
As a general matter, and except as specifically described in the discussion of the Fund's principal investment strategies in this prospectus or as otherwise required by the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the 1940 Act), the rules and regulations thereunder and any applicable exemptive relief, whenever an investment policy or limitation states a percentage of the Fund's assets that may be invested in any security or other asset or sets forth a policy regarding an investment standard, compliance with that percentage limitation or standard will be determined solely at the time of the Fund's investment in the security or asset.
Holding Other Kinds of Investments
The Fund may hold other investments that are not part of its principal investment strategies. These investments and their risks are described below and/or in the SAI. The Fund may choose not to invest in certain securities described in this prospectus and in the SAI, although it has the ability to do so. Information on the Fund’s holdings can be found in the Fund’s shareholder reports or by visiting columbiathreadneedleus.com.
Transactions in Derivatives
The Fund may enter into derivative transactions or otherwise have exposure to derivative transactions through underlying investments. Derivatives are financial contracts whose values are, for example, based on (or “derived” from) traditional securities (such as a stock or bond), assets (such as a commodity like gold or a foreign currency), reference rates (such as the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (commonly known as SOFR) or the London Interbank Offered Rate (commonly known as LIBOR)) or market indices (such as the Standard & Poor’s 500
®
Index). The use of derivatives is a highly specialized activity which involves investment techniques and risks different from those associated with ordinary portfolio securities transactions. Derivatives involve special risks and may result in losses or may limit the Fund’s potential gain from favorable market movements. Derivative strategies often involve leverage,
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which may exaggerate a loss, potentially causing the Fund to lose more money than it would have lost had it invested in the underlying security or other asset directly. The values of derivatives may move in unexpected ways, especially in unusual market conditions, and may result in increased volatility in the value of the derivative and/or the Fund’s shares, among other consequences. The use of derivatives may also increase the amount of taxes payable by shareholders holding shares in a taxable account. Other risks arise from the Fund’s potential inability to terminate or to sell derivative positions. A liquid secondary market may not always exist for the Fund’s derivative positions at times when the Fund might wish to terminate or to sell such positions. Over-the-counter instruments (investments not traded on an exchange) may be illiquid, and transactions in derivatives traded in the over-the-counter market are subject to the risk that the other party will not meet its obligations. The use of derivatives also involves the risks of mispricing or improper valuation and that changes in the value of the derivative may not correlate perfectly with the underlying security, asset, reference rate or index. The Fund also may not be able to find a suitable derivative transaction counterparty, and thus may be unable to engage in derivative transactions when it is deemed favorable to do so, or at all. U.S. federal legislation has been enacted that provides for new clearing, margin, reporting and registration requirements for participants in the derivatives market. These changes could restrict and/or impose significant costs or other burdens upon the Fund’s participation in derivatives transactions. For more information on the risks of derivative investments and strategies, see the SAI.
LIBOR Phase-Out Risk.
Many derivatives and other financial instruments utilize or are permitted to utilize a floating interest rate based on LIBOR. On July 27, 2017, the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority announced its intention to phase out the use of LIBOR by the end of 2021. More recently, in November 2020, Ice Benchmark Administrator (IBA) has announced its intention to consult on (i) the cessation of four LIBOR currencies (GBP, EUR, JPY and CHF) after the end of 2021 and (ii) on the cessation of the major USD LIBOR tenors (overnight, 1M, 3M, 6M and 12M) in mid-2023 and the cessation of the 1 week and 2M USD LIBOR by the end of 2021. IBA will make separate announcements following the outcome of the consultations. The interest rate benchmark(s) that will replace LIBOR in the capital markets remains uncertain, and the overall economic impact of the transition away from LIBOR cannot yet be determined. The Investment Manager monitors the Fund’s LIBOR exposure risks, including the extent to which any derivative and/or debt investments allow for the utilization of alternative rate(s) to LIBOR.
Affiliated Fund Investing
The Investment Manager or an affiliate serves as investment adviser to funds using the Columbia brand (Columbia Funds), including those that are structured as “fund-of-funds”, and provides asset-allocation services to (i) shareholders by investing in shares of other Columbia Funds, which may include the Fund (collectively referred to in this section as Underlying Funds), and (ii) discretionary managed accounts (collectively referred to as affiliated products) that invest exclusively in Underlying Funds. These affiliated products, individually or collectively, may own a significant percentage of the outstanding shares of one or more Underlying Funds, and the Investment Manager seeks to balance potential conflicts of interest between the affiliated products and the Underlying Funds in which they invest. The affiliated products’ investment in the Underlying Funds may have the effect of creating economies of scale, possibly resulting in lower expense ratios for the Underlying Funds, because the affiliated products may own substantial portions of the shares of Underlying Funds. However, redemption of Underlying Fund shares by one or more affiliated products could cause the expense ratio of an Underlying Fund to increase, as its fixed costs would be spread over a smaller asset base. Because of large positions of certain affiliated products, the Underlying Funds may experience relatively large inflows and outflows of cash due to affiliated products’ purchases and sales of Underlying Fund shares. Although the Investment Manager or its affiliate may seek to minimize the impact of these transactions where possible, for example, by structuring them over a reasonable period of time or through other measures, Underlying Funds may experience increased expenses as they buy and sell portfolio securities to manage the cash flow effect related to these transactions. Further, when the Investment Manager or its affiliate structures transactions over a reasonable period of time in order to manage the potential impact of the buy and sell decisions for the affiliated products, those affiliated products, including funds-of-funds, may pay more or less (for purchase activity), or receive more or less (for redemption activity), for shares of the Underlying Funds than if the transactions were executed in one transaction. In addition, substantial redemptions by affiliated products within a short period of time could require the Underlying Fund to liquidate positions more rapidly than would otherwise be desirable, which may have the effect of reducing or eliminating potential gain or causing it to realize a loss. In order to meet such
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redemptions, an Underlying Fund may be forced to sell its liquid (or more liquid) positions, leaving the Underlying Fund holding, post-redemption, a relatively larger position in illiquid investments (i.e., any investment that the Fund reasonably expects cannot be sold or disposed of in current market conditions in seven calendar days or less without the sale or disposition significantly changing the market value of the investment) or less liquid securities. Substantial redemptions may also adversely affect the ability of the Underlying Fund to implement its investment strategy. The Investment Manager or its affiliate also has a conflict of interest in determining the allocation of affiliated products’ assets among the Underlying Funds, as it earns different fees from the various Underlying Funds.
Investing in Money Market Funds
The Fund may invest cash in, or hold as collateral for certain investments, shares of registered or unregistered money market funds, including funds advised by the Investment Manager or its affiliates. These funds are not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) or any other government agency. The Fund and its shareholders indirectly bear a portion of the expenses of any money market fund or other fund in which the Fund may invest.
Lending of Portfolio Securities
The Fund may lend portfolio securities to broker-dealers or other financial intermediaries on a fully collateralized basis in order to earn additional income. The Fund may lose money from securities lending if, for example, it is delayed in or prevented from selling the collateral after the loan is made or recovering the securities loaned or if it incurs losses on the reinvestment of cash collateral.
The Fund currently does not participate in the securities lending program but the Board of Trustees (the Board) may determine to renew participation in the future. For more information on lending of portfolio securities and the risks involved, see the SAI and the annual and semiannual reports to shareholders.
Investing Defensively
The Fund may from time to time take temporary defensive investment positions that may be inconsistent with the Fund’s principal investment strategies in attempting to respond to adverse market, economic, political, social or other conditions, including, without limitation, investing some or all of its assets in money market instruments or shares of affiliated or unaffiliated money market funds or holding some or all of its assets in cash or cash equivalents. The Fund may take such defensive investment positions for as long a period as deemed necessary.
The Fund may not achieve its investment objective while it is investing defensively. Investing defensively may adversely affect Fund performance. During these times, the portfolio managers may make frequent portfolio holding changes, which could result in increased trading expenses and taxes, and decreased Fund performance. See also
Investing in Money Market Funds
above for more information.
Other Strategic and Investment Measures
The Fund may also from time to time take temporary portfolio positions that may or may not be consistent with the Fund’s principal investment strategies in attempting to respond to adverse market, economic, political, social or other conditions, including, without limitation, investing in derivatives, such as forward contracts, futures contracts, options, structured investments and swaps, for various purposes, including among others, investing in particular derivatives in seeking to reduce investment exposures, or in seeking to achieve indirect investment exposures, to a sector, country, region or currency where the Investment Manager believes such positioning is appropriate. The Fund may take such portfolio positions for as long a period as deemed necessary. While the Fund is so positioned, derivatives could comprise a substantial portion of the Fund’s investments and the Fund may not achieve its investment objective. Investing in this manner may adversely affect Fund performance. During these times, the portfolio managers may make frequent portfolio holding changes, which could result in increased trading expenses and taxes, and decreased Fund performance. For information on the risks of investing in derivatives, see
Transactions in Derivatives
above.
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Portfolio Holdings Disclosure
The Board has adopted policies and procedures that govern the timing and circumstances of disclosure to shareholders and third parties of information regarding the securities owned by the Fund. A description of these policies and procedures is included in the SAI. Fund policy generally permits the disclosure of portfolio holdings information on the Fund's website (columbiathreadneedleus.com) only after a certain amount of time has passed, as described in the SAI.
Purchases and sales of portfolio securities can take place at any time, so the portfolio holdings information available on the Fund's website may not always be current.
FUNDamentals
Portfolio Holdings Versus the Benchmarks
The Fund does not limit its investments to the securities within its benchmark(s), and accordingly the Fund's holdings may diverge significantly from those of its benchmark(s). In addition, the Fund may invest in securities outside any industry and geographic sectors represented in its benchmark(s). The Fund's weightings in individual securities, and in industry or geographic sectors, may also vary considerably from those of its benchmark(s).
eDelivery and Mailings to Households
In order to reduce shareholder expenses, the Fund may mail only one copy of the Fund’s prospectus and each annual and semiannual report to those addresses shared by two or more accounts. If you wish to receive separate copies of these documents, call 800.345.6611 or, if your shares are held through a financial intermediary, contact your intermediary directly. Additionally, you may elect to enroll in eDelivery to receive electronic versions of these documents, as well as quarterly statements and supplements, by logging into your account at columbiathreadneedleus.com/investor/.
Cash Flows
The timing and magnitude of cash inflows from investors buying Fund shares could prevent the Fund from always being fully invested. Conversely, the timing and magnitude of cash outflows to shareholders redeeming Fund shares could require the Fund to sell portfolio securities at less than opportune times or to hold ready reserves of uninvested cash in amounts larger than might otherwise be the case to meet shareholder redemptions. Either situation could adversely impact the Fund’s performance.
Understanding Annual Fund Operating Expenses
The Fund’s annual operating expenses, as presented in the
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
table in the
Fees and Expenses of the Fund
section of this prospectus, generally are based on expenses incurred during the Fund’s most recently completed fiscal year, may vary by share class and are expressed as a percentage (expense ratio) of the Fund’s average net assets during that fiscal year. The expense ratios reflect the Fund’s fee arrangements as of the date of this prospectus and, unless indicated otherwise, are based on expenses incurred during the Fund’s most recent fiscal year. The Fund’s assets will fluctuate, but unless indicated otherwise in the
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
table, no adjustments have been or will be made to the expense ratios to reflect any differences in the Fund’s average net assets between the most recently completed fiscal year and the date of this prospectus or a later date. In general, the Fund’s expense ratios will increase as its net assets decrease, such that the Fund’s actual expense ratios may be higher than the expense ratios presented in the
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
table if assets fall. As applicable, any commitment by the Investment Manager and/or its affiliates to waive fees and/or cap (reimburse) expenses is expected, in part, to limit the impact of any increase in the Fund’s expense ratios that would otherwise result because of a decrease in the Fund’s assets in the current fiscal year. The Fund’s annual operating expenses are comprised of (i) investment management fees, (ii) distribution and/or service fees, and (iii) other expenses. Management fees do not vary by class, but distribution and/or service fees and other expenses may vary by class.
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FUNDamentals
Other Expenses
“Other expenses” consist of the fees the Fund pays to its custodian, transfer agent, auditors, lawyers and trustees, costs relating to compliance and miscellaneous expenses. Generally, these expenses are allocated on a pro rata basis across all share classes. These fees include certain sub-transfer agency and shareholder servicing fees. Transfer agency fees and certain shareholder servicing fees, however, are class specific. They differ by share class because the shareholder services provided to each share class may be different. Accordingly, the differences in “other expenses” among share classes are primarily the result of the different transfer agency and shareholder servicing fees applicable to each share class. For more information on these fees, see
Choosing a Share Class — Financial Intermediary Compensation.
Fee Waiver/Expense Reimbursement Arrangements and Impact on Past Performance
The Investment Manager and certain of its affiliates have contractually agreed to waive fees and/or reimburse expenses (excluding certain fees and expenses described below) through December 31, 2021, unless sooner terminated at the sole discretion of the Fund's Board, so that the Fund’s net operating expenses, after giving effect to fees waived/expenses reimbursed and any balance credits and/or overdraft charges from the Fund’s custodian, do not exceed the annual rates of:
| Columbia Mid Cap Growth Fund | |
| Class A | 1.20% |
| Class Adv | 0.95% |
| Class C | 1.95% |
| Class Inst | 0.95% |
| Class Inst2 | 0.90% |
| Class Inst3 | 0.86% |
| Class R | 1.45% |
| Class V | 1.20% |
Under the agreement, the following fees and expenses are excluded from the Fund’s operating expenses when calculating the waiver/reimbursement commitment, and therefore will be paid by the Fund, if applicable: taxes (including foreign transaction taxes), expenses associated with investment in affiliated and non-affiliated pooled investment vehicles (including mutual funds and exchange-traded funds), transaction costs and brokerage commissions, costs related to any securities lending program, dividend expenses associated with securities sold short, inverse floater program fees and expenses, transaction charges and interest on borrowed money, interest, infrequent and/or unusual expenses and any other expenses the exclusion of which is specifically approved by the Fund’s Board. This agreement may be modified or amended only with approval from all parties.
Effect of Fee Waivers and/or Expense Reimbursements on Past Performance.
The Fund’s returns shown in the
Performance Information
section of this prospectus reflect the effect of any fee waivers and/or reimbursements of Fund expenses by the Investment Manager and/or any of its affiliates and any predecessor firms that were in place during the performance period shown. Without such fee waivers/expense reimbursements, the Fund’s returns might have been lower.
Primary Service Providers
The Fund enters into contractual arrangements (Service Provider Contracts) with various service providers, including, among others, the Investment Manager, the Distributor, the Transfer Agent and the Fund’s custodian. The Fund’s Service Provider Contracts are solely among the parties thereto. Shareholders are not parties to, or intended to be third-party beneficiaries of, any Service Provider Contracts. Further, this prospectus, the SAI and any Service Provider Contracts are not intended to give rise to any agreement, duty, special relationship or other obligation between the
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Fund and any investor, or give rise to any contractual, tort or other rights in any individual shareholder, group of shareholders or other person, including any right to assert a fiduciary or other duty, enforce the Service Provider Contracts against the parties or to seek any remedy thereunder, either directly or on behalf of the Fund. Nothing in the previous sentence should be read to suggest any waiver of any rights under federal or state securities laws.
The Investment Manager, the Distributor, and the Transfer Agent are all affiliates of Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (Ameriprise Financial). They and their affiliates currently provide key services, including investment advisory, administration, distribution, shareholder servicing and transfer agency services, to the Fund and various other funds, including the Columbia Funds, and are paid for providing these services. These service relationships are described below.
The Investment Manager
Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC is located at 225 Franklin Street, Boston, MA 02110 and serves as investment adviser and administrator to the Columbia Funds. The Investment Manager is a registered investment adviser and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ameriprise Financial. The Investment Manager’s management experience covers all major asset classes, including equity securities, debt instruments and money market instruments. In addition to serving as an investment adviser to traditional mutual funds, exchange-traded funds and closed-end funds, the Investment Manager acts as an investment adviser for itself, its affiliates, individuals, corporations, retirement plans, private investment companies and financial intermediaries.
Subject to oversight by the Board, the Investment Manager manages the day-to-day operations of the Fund, determining what securities and other investments the Fund should buy or sell and executing portfolio transactions. The Investment Manager may use the research and other capabilities of its affiliates and third parties in managing the Fund’s investments. The Investment Manager is also responsible for overseeing the administrative operations of the Fund, including the general supervision of the Fund’s operations, the coordination of the Fund’s other service providers and the provision of related clerical and administrative services.
The SEC has issued an order that permits the Investment Manager, subject to the approval of the Board, to appoint unaffiliated subadvisers by entering into subadvisory agreements with them, and to change in material respects the terms of those subadvisory agreements, including the fees paid thereunder, for the Fund without first obtaining shareholder approval, thereby avoiding the expense and delays typically associated with obtaining shareholder approval. The Fund furnishes shareholders with information about new subadvisers retained in reliance on the order within 90 days after hiring the subadviser. The Investment Manager and its affiliates may have other relationships, including significant financial relationships, with current or potential subadvisers or their affiliates, which may create certain conflicts of interest. When making recommendations to the Board to appoint or to change a subadviser, or to change the terms of a subadvisory agreement, the Investment Manager discloses to the Board the nature of any such material relationships.
The Investment Manager and its investment advisory affiliates, including Columbia WAM (Affiliates), around the world may coordinate in providing services to their clients. From time to time, the Investment Manager (or any affiliated investment subadviser to the Fund, as the case may be) may engage its Affiliates to provide a variety of services such as investment research, investment monitoring, trading, and discretionary investment management (including portfolio management) to certain accounts managed by the Investment Manager, including the Fund. These Affiliates will provide services to these accounts of the Investment Manager (or any affiliated investment subadviser to the Fund, as the case may be) either pursuant to subadvisory agreements, delegation agreements, personnel-sharing agreements or similar inter-company or other arrangements or relationships and the Fund will pay no additional fees and expenses as a result of any such arrangements or relationships. These Affiliates, like the Investment Manager, are direct or indirect subsidiaries of Ameriprise Financial and are registered with the appropriate respective regulators and, where required, the SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in the United States.
Pursuant to some of these arrangements or relationships, certain personnel of Columbia WAM and other Affiliates may serve as “associated persons” or officers of the Investment Manager and, in this capacity, subject to the oversight and supervision of the Investment Manager and consistent with the investment objectives, policies and
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limitations set forth in this prospectus and the Fund's SAI, and with the Investment Manager’s and the Funds’ compliance policies and procedures, may provide such services to the Fund. At present, the Investment Manager has not engaged any investment subadviser for the Fund.
The Fund pays the Investment Manager a fee for its management services, which include investment advisory services and administrative services. The fee is calculated as a percentage of the daily net assets of the Fund and is paid monthly. For the Fund’s most recent fiscal year, management services fees paid to the Investment Manager by the Fund amounted to 0.76% of average daily net assets of the Fund, before any applicable reimbursements.
A discussion regarding the basis for the Board’s approval of the renewal of the Fund's management agreement is available in the Fund’s annual report to shareholders for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2020.
Portfolio Managers
Information about the portfolio managers primarily responsible for overseeing the Fund’s investments is shown below. The SAI provides additional information about the portfolio managers, including information relating to compensation, other accounts managed by the portfolio managers, and ownership by the portfolio managers of Fund shares.
|
Portfolio Manager
|
Title
|
Role with Fund
|
Managed Fund Since
|
|||
| Matthew A. Litfin, CFA | Director of Research (U.S.) and Senior Portfolio Manager at Columbia Wanger Asset Management, LLC, an investment advisory affiliate of Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC, and Portfolio Manager | Lead Portfolio Manager | 2018 | |||
| Erika K. Maschmeyer, CFA | Senior Portfolio Manager at Columbia Wanger Asset Management, LLC, an investment advisory affiliate of Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC, and Portfolio Manager | Portfolio Manager | 2018 | |||
| John L. Emerson, CFA | Senior Portfolio Manager at Columbia Wanger Asset Management, LLC, an investment advisory affiliate of Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC, and Portfolio Manager | Portfolio Manager | 2018 |
Mr. Litfin
joined Columbia Wanger Asset Management, LLC (Columbia WAM), an Affiliate, in 2015. Prior to joining Columbia WAM, Mr. Litfin served as a portfolio manager and analyst for funds that invested in small- and mid-cap companies. Mr. Litfin began his investment career in 1993 and earned a B.S. from the University of Tennessee and an M.B.A. from Harvard University.
Ms. Maschmeyer
joined Columbia WAM, an Affiliate, in 2016. Prior to joining Columbia WAM, Ms. Maschmeyer was a research analyst at an investment advisory firm where she was responsible for U.S. consumer discretionary/staples investments. Ms. Maschmeyer began her investment career in 2001 and earned a B.A. from Denison University and an M.B.A from the University of Chicago.
Mr. Emerson
joined Columbia WAM, an Affiliate, in 2003. Prior to joining Columbia WAM, Mr. Emerson was an equity research analyst for an equity research firm. Mr. Emerson began his investment career in 2002 and earned a B.S. from the University of Missouri and an M.B.A from the University of Chicago.
The Distributor
Shares of the Fund are distributed by Columbia Management Investment Distributors, Inc., which is located at 225 Franklin Street, Boston, MA 02110. The Distributor is a registered broker-dealer and an indirect, wholly-owned subsidiary of Ameriprise Financial. The Distributor and its affiliates may pay commissions, distribution and service fees and/or other compensation to entities, including Ameriprise Financial affiliates, for selling shares and providing services to investors.
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The Transfer Agent
Columbia Management Investment Services Corp. is a registered transfer agent and wholly-owned subsidiary of Ameriprise Financial. The Transfer Agent is located at 225 Franklin Street, Boston, MA 02110, and its responsibilities include processing purchases, redemptions and exchanges of Fund shares, calculating and paying distributions, maintaining shareholder records, preparing account statements and providing customer service. The Transfer Agent has engaged DST Asset Manager Solutions, Inc. to provide various shareholder or “sub-transfer agency” services. In addition, the Transfer Agent enters into agreements with various financial intermediaries through which you may hold Fund shares, pursuant to which the Transfer Agent pays these financial intermediaries for providing certain shareholder services. Depending on the type of account, the Fund pays the Transfer Agent a per account fee or a fee based on the assets invested through omnibus accounts, and reimburses the Transfer Agent for certain out-of-pocket expenses, including certain payments to financial intermediaries through which shares are held.
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Other Roles and Relationships of Ameriprise Financial and its Affiliates — Certain Conflicts of Interest
The Investment Manager, Distributor and Transfer Agent, all affiliates of Ameriprise Financial, provide various services to the Fund and other Columbia Funds for which they are compensated. Ameriprise Financial and its other affiliates may also provide other services to these funds and be compensated for them.
The Investment Manager and its affiliates may provide investment advisory and other services to other clients and customers substantially similar to those provided to the Columbia Funds. These activities, and other financial services activities of Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates, may present actual and potential conflicts of interest and introduce certain investment constraints.
Ameriprise Financial is a major financial services company, engaged in a broad range of financial activities beyond the fund-related activities of the Investment Manager, including, among others, insurance, broker-dealer (sales and trading), asset management, banking and other financial activities. These additional activities may involve multiple advisory, financial, insurance and other interests in securities and other instruments, and in companies that issue securities and other instruments, that may be bought, sold or held by the Columbia Funds.
Conflicts of interest and limitations that could affect a Columbia Fund may arise from, for example, the following:
| ■ | compensation and other benefits received by the Investment Manager and other Ameriprise Financial affiliates related to the management/administration of a Columbia Fund and the sale of its shares; |
| ■ | the allocation of, and competition for, investment opportunities among the Fund, other funds and accounts advised/managed by the Investment Manager and other Ameriprise Financial affiliates, or Ameriprise Financial itself and its affiliates; |
| ■ | separate and potentially divergent management of a Columbia Fund and other funds and accounts advised/managed by the Investment Manager and other Ameriprise Financial affiliates; |
| ■ | regulatory and other investment restrictions on investment activities of the Investment Manager and other Ameriprise Financial affiliates and accounts advised/managed by them; |
| ■ | insurance and other relationships of Ameriprise Financial affiliates with companies and other entities in which a Columbia Fund invests; and |
| ■ | regulatory and other restrictions relating to the sharing of information between Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates, including the Investment Manager, and a Columbia Fund. |
The Investment Manager and Ameriprise Financial have adopted various policies and procedures that are intended to identify, monitor and address conflicts of interest. However, there is no assurance that these policies, procedures and disclosures will be effective.
Additional information about Ameriprise Financial and the types of conflicts of interest and other matters referenced above is set forth in the
section of the SAI. Investors in the Columbia Funds should carefully review these disclosures and consult with their financial advisor if they have any questions.
Investment Management and Other Services — Other Roles and Relationships of Ameriprise Financial and its Affiliates — Certain Conflicts of Interest
| 24 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Mid Cap Growth Fund
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
Certain Legal Matters
Ameriprise Financial and certain of its affiliates have historically been involved in a number of legal, arbitration and regulatory proceedings, including routine litigation, class actions and governmental actions, concerning matters arising in connection with the conduct of their business activities. Ameriprise Financial believes that the Fund is not currently the subject of, and that neither Ameriprise Financial nor any of its affiliates are the subject of, any pending legal, arbitration or regulatory proceedings that are likely to have a material adverse effect on the Fund or the ability of Ameriprise Financial or its affiliates to perform under their contracts with the Fund. Information regarding certain pending and settled legal proceedings may be found in the Fund’s shareholder reports and in the SAI. Additionally, Ameriprise Financial is required to make quarterly (10-Q), annual (10-K) and, as necessary, 8-K filings with the SEC on legal and regulatory matters that relate to Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates. Copies of these filings may be obtained by accessing the SEC website at sec.gov.
| Prospectus 2021 | 25 |
Columbia Mid Cap Growth Fund
Choosing a Share Class
The Funds
The Columbia Funds (referred to as the Funds) generally share the same policies and procedures for investor services, as described below. Each Fund is a series of Columbia Funds Series Trust (CFST), Columbia Funds Series Trust I (CFST I) or Columbia Funds Series Trust II (CFST II), and certain features of distribution and/or service plans may differ among these trusts. The Fund offered by this prospectus is a series of CFST I. Columbia Funds with names that include the words “Tax-Exempt” or “Municipal” (the Tax-Exempt Funds) have certain policies that differ from other Columbia Funds (the Taxable Funds). The Fund offered by this prospectus is treated as a Taxable Fund for these purposes.
Funds Contact Information
Additional information about the Funds, including sales charges and other class features and policies, can be obtained, free of charge, at columbiathreadneedleus.com,* by calling toll-free 800.345.6611, or by writing (regular mail) to Columbia Management Investment Services Corp., P.O. Box 219104, Kansas City, MO 64121-9104 or (express mail) Columbia Management Investment Services Corp., c/o DST Asset Manager Solutions, Inc., 430 W 7
th
Street, Ste 219104, Kansas City, MO 64105-1407.
| * | The website references in this prospectus are inactive links and information contained in or otherwise accessible through the referenced websites does not form a part of this prospectus. |
FUNDamentals
Financial Intermediaries
The term “financial intermediary” refers to the selling and servicing agents that are authorized to sell and/or service shares of the Funds. Financial intermediaries include broker-dealers and financial advisors as well as firms that employ broker-dealers and financial advisors, including, for example, brokerage firms, banks, investment advisers, third party administrators and other firms in the financial services industry.
Omnibus Accounts
The term “omnibus account” refers to a financial intermediary’s account with the Fund (held directly through the Transfer Agent) that represents the combined holdings of, and transactions in, Fund shares of one or more clients of the financial intermediary (beneficial Fund shareholders). Omnibus accounts are held in the name of the financial intermediaries and not in the name of the beneficial Fund shareholders invested in the Fund through omnibus accounts.
Retirement Plans and Omnibus Retirement Plans
The term “retirement plan” refers to retirement plans created under Sections 401(a), 401(k), 457 and 403(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the Code), and non-qualified deferred compensation plans governed by Section 409A of the Code and similar plans, but does not refer to individual retirement plans, such as traditional IRAs and Roth IRAs. The term “omnibus retirement plan” refers to a retirement plan that has a plan-level or omnibus account with the Transfer Agent.
Networked Accounts
Networking, offered by the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation’s Wealth Management Services (WMS), is the industry standard IT system for mutual fund account reconciliation and dividend processing.
Summary of Share Class Features
Each share class has its own investment eligibility criteria, cost structure and other features. You may not be eligible to invest in every share class. Your financial intermediary may not make every share class available or may cease to make available one or more share classes of the Fund. The share class you select through your financial intermediary may have higher fees and/or sales charges than other classes of shares available through other financial intermediaries. An investor transacting in a class of Fund shares without any front-end sales charge, contingent deferred sales charge (CDSC), or other asset-based fee for sales or distribution, such as a Rule 12b-1
| 26 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Mid Cap Growth Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
fee, may be required to pay a commission to the financial intermediary for effecting such transactions. Each investor’s personal situation is different and you may wish to discuss with your financial intermediary the share classes the Fund offers, which share classes are available to you and which share class(es) is/are appropriate for you. In all instances, it is your responsibility to notify your financial intermediary or (for Direct-at-Fund Accounts, as defined below) the Fund at the time of purchase of any relationship or other facts that may qualify you for sales charge waivers or discounts. The Fund, the Distributor and the Transfer Agent do not provide investment advice or make recommendations regarding Fund share classes. Your financial intermediary may provide advice and recommendations to you, such as which share class(es) is/are appropriate for you.
When deciding which class of shares to buy, you should consider, among other things:
| ■ | The amount you plan to invest. |
| ■ | How long you intend to remain invested in the Fund. |
| ■ | The fees (e.g., sales charge or “load”) and expenses for each share class. |
| ■ | Whether you may be eligible for a reduction or waiver of sales charges when you buy or sell shares. |
FUNDamentals
Front-End Sales Charge Calculation
The front-end sales charge is calculated as a percentage of the offering price.
| ■ | The net asset value (NAV) per share is the price of a share calculated by the Fund every business day. |
| ■ | The offering price per share is the NAV per share plus any front-end sales charge (or load) that applies. |
The dollar amount of any applicable front-end sales charge is the difference between the offering price of the shares you buy and the NAV of those shares. To determine the front-end sales charge you will pay when you buy Class A and Class V shares, the Fund will add the amount of your investment to the value of your account (and any other accounts eligible for aggregation of which you or your financial intermediary notifies the Fund) and base the sales charge on the aggregate amount. For information on account value aggregation, sales charge waivers and other important information, see
.
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
FUNDamentals
Contingent Deferred Sales Charge
A contingent deferred sales charge (CDSC) is a sales charge applied at the time you sell your shares, unlike a front-end sales charge that is applied at the time of purchase. A CDSC can vary based on the length of time that you have held your shares. A CDSC is applied to the NAV at the time of your purchase or sale, whichever is lower, and will not be applied to any shares you receive through Fund distribution reinvestments or any amount that represents appreciation in the value of your shares. For purposes of calculating a CDSC, the start of the holding period is generally the first day of the month in which your purchase was made.
When you place an order to sell shares of a class that has a CDSC, the Fund will first redeem any shares that are not subject to a CDSC, followed by those you have held the longest. This means that if a CDSC is imposed, you cannot designate the individual shares being redeemed for U.S. federal income tax purposes. You should consult your tax advisor about the tax consequences of investing in the Fund. In certain circumstances, the CDSC may not apply. See
for details.
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
| Prospectus 2021 | 27 |
Columbia Mid Cap Growth Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
Share Class Features
The following summarizes the primary features of Class A, Class Adv, Class C, Class Inst, Class Inst2, Class Inst3, Class R, and Class V shares.
Not all Funds offer every class of shares. The Fund offers the class(es) of shares set forth on the cover of this prospectus and may offer other share classes through a separate prospectus. Although certain share classes are generally closed to new and/or existing investors, information relating to these share classes is included in the table below because certain qualifying purchase orders are permitted, as described below.
The sales charge reductions and waivers available to investors who purchase and hold their Fund shares through different financial intermediaries may vary.
describes financial intermediary-specific reductions and/or waiver policies. A shareholder transacting in Fund shares through a financial intermediary identified in
should carefully read the terms and conditions of
. A reduction and/or waiver that is specific to a particular financial intermediary is not available to Direct-at-Fund Accounts, as defined below, or through another financial intermediary. The information in
may be provided by, or compiled from or based on information provided by the financial intermediaries identified in
. To obtain additional information regarding any sales charge reduction and/or waiver described in
, and to ensure that you receive any such reductions or waivers that may be available to you, please consult your financial intermediary.
Appendix A
Appendix A
Appendix A
Appendix A
Appendix A
Appendix A
|
Share Class
|
Eligible Investors
(a)
;
Minimum Initial Investments
(b)
;
Conversion Features
(c)
|
Front-End
Sales Charges
(d)
|
Contingent Deferred
Sales Charges (CDSCs)
(d)
|
Sales Charge
Reductions/Waivers |
Maximum Distribution
and/or Service Fees
(e)
|
| Class A |
Eligibility:
Available to the general public for investment
(f)
$2,000 ($1,000 for IRAs; $100 for systematic investment plan accounts)
|
Taxable Funds:
5.75% maximum, declining to 0.00% on investments of $1 million or more
3.00% maximum, declining to 0.00% on investments of $500,000 or more
None for Columbia Government Money Market Fund and certain other Funds
(g)
|
Taxable Funds
(g)
:
CDSC on certain investments of between $1 million and $50 million redeemed within 18 months after purchase charged as follows:
• 1.00% CDSC if redeemed within 12 months after purchase, and
• 0.50% CDSC if redeemed more than 12, but less than 18, months after purchase
(g)
:
Maximum CDSC of 0.75% on certain investments of $500,000 or more redeemed within 12 months after purchase
|
Reductions
: Yes, see
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges – Class A and Class V Shares Front-End Sales Charge Reductions
: Yes, on Fund distribution reinvestments. For additional waivers, see
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges – Class A and Class V Shares Front-End Sales Charge Waivers
, as well as
Choosing a Share Class — CDSC Waivers – Class A, Class C and Class V
Financial intermediary-specific waivers are also available, see
Appendix A
|
Distribution and Service
Fees:
up to 0.25%
|
|
Class
Adv |
Eligibility:
Available only to (i) omnibus retirement plans, including self-directed brokerage accounts within omnibus retirement plans that clear through institutional no transaction fee (NTF) platforms; (ii) trust companies or
|
None | None | N/A | None |
| 28 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Mid Cap Growth Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
|
Share Class
|
Eligible Investors
(a)
;
Minimum Initial Investments
(b)
;
Conversion Features
(c)
|
Front-End
Sales Charges
(d)
|
Contingent Deferred
Sales Charges (CDSCs)
(d)
|
Sales Charge
Reductions/Waivers |
Maximum Distribution
and/or Service Fees
(e)
|
|
similar institutions; (iii) broker-dealers, banks, trust companies and similar institutions that clear Fund share transactions for their client or customer investment advisory or similar accounts through designated financial intermediaries and their mutual fund trading platforms that have been granted specific written authorization from the Transfer Agent with respect to Class Adv eligibility apart from selling, servicing or similar agreements; (iv) 501(c)(3) charitable organizations; (v) 529 plans; (vi) health savings accounts; (vii) investors participating in a fee-based advisory program sponsored by a financial intermediary or other entity that is not compensated by the Fund for those services, other than payments for shareholder servicing or sub-accounting performed in place of the Transfer Agent; and (viii) commissionable brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary, acting as broker on behalf of its customer, charges the customer a commission for effecting transactions in Fund shares, provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Adv shares within such platform.
(f)
Minimum Initial Investment:
|
|||||
| Class C |
Eligibility:
Available to the general public for investment
$2,000 ($1,000 for IRAs; $100 for systematic investment plan accounts)
$499,999
(h)
, none for omnibus retirement plans
$999,999
(h)
; none for omnibus retirement plans
: Yes, Class C shares generally automatically convert to Class A shares of the same Fund in the month of or the month following the 10-year
|
None |
1.00% on certain investments redeemed within one year of purchase
(i)
|
Waivers
: Yes, on Fund distribution reinvestments. For additional waivers, see
Choosing a Share Class – CDSC Waivers – Class A, Class C and Class V
Financial intermediary-specific CDSC waivers are also available, see
Appendix A
|
Distribution Fee:
0.75%
0.25%
|
| Prospectus 2021 | 29 |
Columbia Mid Cap Growth Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
|
Share Class
|
Eligible Investors
(a)
;
Minimum Initial Investments
(b)
;
Conversion Features
(c)
|
Front-End
Sales Charges
(d)
|
Contingent Deferred
Sales Charges (CDSCs)
(d)
|
Sales Charge
Reductions/Waivers |
Maximum Distribution
and/or Service Fees
(e)
|
|
anniversary of the Class C shares purchase date.
(c)
|
|||||
|
Class
Inst |
Eligibility:
Available only to certain eligible investors, which are subject to different minimum investment requirements, ranging from $0 to $2,000, including investors who purchase Fund shares through commissionable brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary holds the shares in an omnibus account and, acting as broker on behalf of its customer, charges the customer a commission for effecting transactions in Fund shares, provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst shares within such platform; closed to (i) accounts of financial intermediaries that clear Fund share transactions for their client or customer accounts through designated financial intermediaries and their mutual fund trading platforms that have been given specific written notice from the Transfer Agent of the termination of their eligibility for new purchases of Class Inst shares and (ii) omnibus group retirement plans, subject to certain exceptions
(f)(j)
See
Eligibility
above
|
None | None | N/A | None |
|
Class
Inst2 |
Eligibility:
Available only to (i) certain registered investment advisers and family offices that clear Fund share transactions for their client or customer accounts through designated financial intermediaries and their mutual fund trading platforms that have been granted specific written authorization from the Transfer Agent with respect to Class Inst2 eligibility apart from selling, servicing or similar agreements; (ii) omnibus retirement plans
(j)
; and (iii) institutional investors that are clients of the Columbia Threadneedle Global Institutional Distribution Team that invest in Class Inst2 shares for their own account through platforms approved by the Distributor or an affiliate thereof to offer and/or service Class Inst2 shares within such platform.
None
|
None | None | N/A | None |
| 30 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Mid Cap Growth Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
|
Share Class
|
Eligible Investors
(a)
;
Minimum Initial Investments
(b)
;
Conversion Features
(c)
|
Front-End
Sales Charges
(d)
|
Contingent Deferred
Sales Charges (CDSCs)
(d)
|
Sales Charge
Reductions/Waivers |
Maximum Distribution
and/or Service Fees
(e)
|
|
Class
Inst3 |
Eligibility:
Available to (i) group retirement plans that maintain plan-level or omnibus accounts with the Fund
(j)
; (ii) institutional investors that are clients of the Columbia Threadneedle Global Institutional Distribution Team that invest in Class Inst3 shares for their own account through platforms approved by the Distributor or an affiliate thereof to offer and/or service Class Inst3 shares within such platform; (iii) collective trust funds; (iv) affiliated or unaffiliated mutual funds (e.g., funds operating as funds-of-funds); (v) fee-based platforms of financial intermediaries (or the clearing intermediary they trade through) that have an agreement with the Distributor or an affiliate thereof that specifically authorizes the financial intermediary to offer and/or service Class Inst3 shares within such platform, provided also that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account; (vi) commissionable brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary, acting as broker on behalf of its customer, charges the customer a commission for effecting transactions in Fund shares, provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst3 shares within such platform and that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account; and (vii) bank trust departments, subject to an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst3 shares and provided that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account. In each case above where noted that Fund shares are required to be held in an omnibus account, the Distributor may, in its discretion, determine to waive this requirement.
(f)
No minimum for the eligible investors described in (i), (iii), (iv), (v), and (vii) above; $2,000 ($1,000 for IRAs; $100 for systematic investment plan accounts) for the eligible investors described in (vi) above; and $1 million for all other eligible investors, unless waived in the discretion of the Distributor
|
None | None | N/A | None |
| Class R |
Eligibility:
Available only to eligible retirement plans, health savings
|
None | None | N/A |
Series of CFST & CFST I:
|
| Prospectus 2021 | 31 |
Columbia Mid Cap Growth Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
| Share Class |
Eligible Investors
(a)
;
Minimum Initial Investments
(b)
;
Conversion Features
(c)
|
Front-End
Sales Charges
(d)
|
Contingent Deferred
Sales Charges (CDSCs)
(d)
|
Sales Charge
Reductions/Waivers |
Maximum Distribution
and/or Service Fees
(e)
|
|
accounts and, in the sole discretion of the Distributor, other types of retirement accounts held through platforms maintained by financial intermediaries approved by the Distributor
Minimum Initial Investment:
None
|
distribution fee of 0.50%
Series of CFST II:
distribution and service fee of 0.50%, of which the service fee may be up to 0.25%
|
||||
| Class V |
Eligibility:
Generally closed to new investors
(j)
N/A
|
5.75% maximum, declining to 0.00% on investments of $1 million or more |
CDSC on certain investments of between $1 million and $50 million redeemed within 18 months after purchase, charged as follows:
|
Reductions
: Yes, see
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges – Class A and Class V Shares Front-End Sales Charge Reductions
: Yes, on Fund distribution reinvestments.
For additional waivers, see
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges – Class A and Class V Shares Front-End Sales Charge Waivers
, as well as
Choosing a Share Class — CDSC Waivers – Class A, Class C and Class V
|
Service Fee:
up to 0.50%
|
| (a) | For Columbia Government Money Market Fund, new investments must be made in Class A, Class Inst, Class Inst3, or Class R shares, subject to eligibility. Class C shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund are available as a new investment only to investors in the Distributor's proprietary 401(k) products, provided that such investor is eligible to invest in the class and transact directly with the Fund or the Transfer Agent through a third party administrator or third party recordkeeper. Columbia Government Money Market Fund offers Class Inst2 shares only to facilitate exchanges with other Funds offering such share class. |
| (b) |
Certain share classes are subject to minimum account balance requirements, as described in
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares — Transaction Rules and Policies.
|
| (c) |
For more information on the conversion of Class C shares to Class A shares, see
Choosing a Share Class - Sales Charges and Commissions - Class C Shares - Conversion to Class A Shares
.
|
| (d) |
Actual front-end sales charges and CDSCs vary among the Funds. For more information on applicable sales charges, see
Choosing a Share Class — Sales Charges and Commissions,
and for information about certain exceptions to these sales charges, see
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges.
|
| (e) |
These are the maximum applicable distribution and/or service fees. Except for Class V shares, these fees are paid under the Fund’s Rule 12b-1 plan. Fee rates and fee components (i.e., the portion of a combined fee that is a distribution or service fee) may vary among Funds. Because these fees are paid out of Fund assets on an ongoing basis, over time these fees will increase the cost of your investment and may cost you more than paying other types of distribution and/or service fees. Although Class A shares of certain series of CFST I are subject to a combined distribution and service fee of up to 0.35%, these Funds currently limit the combined fee to 0.25%. Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund pays a distribution and service fee of up to 0.15% on Class A shares. Columbia Government Money Market Fund pays a distribution and service fee of up to 0.10% on Class A shares and up to 0.75% distribution fee on Class C shares. Columbia High Yield Municipal Fund, Columbia Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund and Columbia Tax-Exempt Fund each pay a service fee of up to 0.20% on Class A and Class C shares. Columbia Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund pays a distribution fee of up to 0.65% on Class C shares. For more information on distribution and service fees, see
Choosing a Share Class — Distribution and Service Fees.
|
| (f) | Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund must be purchased through financial intermediaries that, by written agreement with the Distributor, are specifically authorized to sell the Fund’s shares. Class Adv shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund are also available to certain registered investment advisers that clear Fund share transactions for their client accounts through designated financial intermediaries with mutual fund trading platforms that have been granted specific written authorization from the Transfer Agent (apart from selling, servicing or similar agreements) to sell Class Inst2 shares, which are not offered by the Fund. Class Inst3 shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund that were open and funded accounts prior to November 30, 2018 (the conversion date from the former unnamed share class to Class Inst3 shares) are eligible for additional investment; however, any account established after that date must meet the current Class Inst3 eligibility requirements. |
| 32 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Mid Cap Growth Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
| (g) | For Columbia Short Term Municipal Bond Fund, a CDSC of 0.50% is charged on certain investments of $500,000 or more redeemed within 12 months after purchase. The following Funds are not subject to a front-end sales charge or a CDSC on Class A shares: Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund, Columbia Small Cap Index Fund, Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund and Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund. |
| (h) |
If you are eligible to invest in Class A shares without a front-end sales charge, you should discuss your options with your financial intermediary. For more information, see
Choosing a Share Class – Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges.
|
| (i) | There is no CDSC on redemptions from Class C shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund. |
| (j) |
These share classes are closed to new accounts, or closed to previously eligible investors, subject to certain conditions, as summarized below and described in more detail under
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares — Buying Shares — Eligible Investors:
|
•
Class Inst Shares
. Financial intermediaries that clear Fund share transactions through designated financial intermediaries and their mutual fund trading platforms that have been given specific written notice from the Transfer Agent, effective March 29, 2013, of the termination of their eligibility for new purchases of Class Inst shares and omnibus retirement plans are not permitted to establish new Class Inst accounts, subject to certain exceptions. Omnibus retirement plans that opened and, subject to exceptions, funded a Class Inst account as of close of business on March 28, 2013, and have continuously held Class Inst shares in such account after such date, may generally continue to make additional purchases of Class Inst shares, open new Class Inst accounts and add new participants. In certain circumstances and in the sole discretion of the Distributor, omnibus retirement plans affiliated with a grandfathered plan may also open new Class Inst accounts. Accounts of financial intermediaries (other than omnibus retirement plans) that clear Fund share transactions for their client or customer accounts through designated financial intermediaries and their mutual fund trading platforms are not permitted to establish new Class Inst accounts or make additional purchases of Class Inst shares (other than through Fund distribution reinvestments).
•
Class Inst2 Shares
. Shareholders with Class Inst2 accounts funded before November 8, 2012 who do not satisfy the current eligibility criteria for Class Inst2 shares may not establish new Class Inst2 accounts but may continue to make additional purchases of Class Inst2 shares in existing accounts. In addition, investment advisory programs and similar programs that opened a Class Inst2 account as of May 1, 2010, and continuously hold Class Inst2 shares in such account after such date, may generally not only continue to make additional purchases of Class Inst2 shares but also open new Class Inst2 accounts and add new shareholders in the program.
•
Class Inst3 Shares
. Shareholders with Class Inst3 accounts funded before November 8, 2012 who do not satisfy the current eligibility criteria for Class Inst3 shares may not establish new accounts for such share class but may continue to make additional purchases of Class Inst3 shares in existing accounts.
•
with Class V accounts who received, and have continuously held, Class V shares (formerly named Class T shares) in connection with the merger of certain Galaxy funds into certain Funds that were then named Liberty funds may continue to make additional purchases of such share class.
Class V Shares.
Shareholders
Sales Charges and Commissions
Sales charges, commissions, and distribution fees compensate financial intermediaries (typically your financial advisor) for selling shares to you, and service fees compensate financial intermediaries for maintaining and servicing the shares held in your account with them. Distribution and service fees are discussed in a separate sub-section below. Depending on which share class you choose and the financial intermediary through which you purchase your shares, you may pay these charges at potentially different levels at the outset as a front-end sales charge, at the time you sell your shares as a CDSC and/or over time in the form of distribution and/or service fees.
As described in more detail below, Class A and Class V shares have a front-end sales charge, which is deducted from your purchase price when you buy your shares, and results in a smaller dollar amount being invested in the Fund than the purchase price you pay (unless you qualify for a waiver or reduction of the sales charge). The Fund’s other share classes do not have a front-end sales charge, so the full amount of your purchase price is invested in those classes. Class A and Class V shares have lower ongoing distribution and/or service fees than Class C and Class R shares of the Fund. Over time, Class C and Class R shares can incur distribution and/or service fees that are equal to or more than the front-end sales charge and the distribution and/or service fees you would pay for Class A and Class V shares. Although the full amount of your purchase price of Class C and Class R shares is invested in a Fund, your return on this money will be reduced by the expected higher annual expenses of Class C and Class R shares. In this regard, note that Class C shares will generally automatically convert to Class A shares of the same Fund in the month of or the month following the 10-year anniversary of the Class C shares purchase date. The Fund may convert Class C shares held through a financial intermediary to Class A shares sooner in connection with the withdrawal of Class C shares of the Fund from the financial intermediary’s platform or accounts. No sales charge or other charges will apply in connection with such conversions, and conversions are free from U.S. federal income tax. Once your Class C shares convert to Class A shares, your total returns from an investment in the Fund may increase as a result of the lower operating costs of Class A shares. Class Adv, Class Inst, Class Inst2 and Class Inst3 shares of the Fund do not have distribution and/or service fees.
| Prospectus 2021 | 33 |
Columbia Mid Cap Growth Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
Whether the ultimate cost is higher for one share class over another depends on the amount you invest, how long you hold your shares, the fees (i.e., sales charges) and expenses of the class and whether you are eligible for reduced or waived sales charges, if available. You are responsible for choosing the share class most appropriate for you after taking into account your share class eligibility, class-specific features, and any applicable reductions in, or waivers of, sales charges. For more information, see
Choosing a Share Class – Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
. We encourage you to consult with a financial advisor who can help you with your investment decisions. Please contact your financial intermediary for more information about services, fees and expenses, and other important information about investing in the Fund, as well as with any questions you may have about your investing options. In all instances, it is your responsibility to notify your financial intermediary or (for Direct-at-Fund Accounts, as defined below) the Fund at the time of purchase of any relationship or other facts that may qualify you for sales charge waivers or discounts.
Class A Shares — Front-End Sales Charge
Unless your purchase qualifies for a waiver (e.g., you buy the shares through reinvested Fund dividends or distributions or subject to an applicable financial intermediary-specific waiver), you will pay a front-end sales charge when you buy Class A shares (other than shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund, Columbia Small Cap Index Fund, Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund and Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund), resulting in a smaller dollar amount being invested in a Fund than the purchase price you pay. The Class A shares sales charge is waived on Class C shares converted to Class A shares. For more information about sales charge waivers and reduction opportunities, see
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
and
Appendix A.
The Distributor receives the sales charge and re-allows (or pays) a portion of the sales charge to the financial intermediary through which you purchased the shares. The Distributor retains the balance of the sales charge. The Distributor retains the full sales charge you pay when you purchase shares of the Fund directly from the Fund (through the Transfer Agent, rather than through a financial intermediary).
The front-end sales charge you will pay on Class A shares:
| ■ | depends on the amount you are investing (generally, the larger the investment, the smaller the percentage sales charge), and |
| ■ | is based on the total amount of your purchase and the value of your account (and any other accounts eligible for aggregation of which you or your financial intermediary notifies the Fund). |
The table below presents the front-end sales charge as a percentage of both the offering price and the net amount invested.
| 34 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Mid Cap Growth Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
| Class A Shares — Front-End Sales Charge — Breakpoint Schedule* | ||||
| Breakpoint Schedule For: |
Dollar amount of
shares bought
(a)
|
Sales
charge as a % of the offering price
(b)
|
Sales
charge as a % of the net amount invested
(b)
|
Amount
retained by or paid to financial intermediaries as a % of the offering price |
|
Fixed Income Funds (except those listed below),
Columbia Multi-Asset Income Fund and Funds-of-Funds (fixed income)* |
$
|
4.75% | 4.99% | 4.00% |
|
$
|
4.25% | 4.44% | 3.50% | |
| $100,000–$249,999 | 3.50% | 3.63% | 3.00% | |
| $250,000–$499,999 | 2.50% | 2.56% | 2.15% | |
| $500,000–$999,999 | 2.00% | 2.04% | 1.75% | |
|
$
|
0.00% | 0.00% |
0.00%
(c)
|
|
| Tax-Exempt Funds (other than Columbia Short Term Municipal Bond Fund) |
$
|
3.00% | 3.09% | 2.50% |
| $100,000–$249,999 | 2.50% | 2.56% | 2.15% | |
| $250,000–$499,999 | 1.50 % | 1.53% | 1.25% | |
|
$
|
0.00% | 0.00% |
0.00%
(c)
|
|
|
Columbia Floating Rate Fund,
Columbia Limited Duration Credit Fund, Columbia Mortgage Opportunities Fund, Columbia Quality Income Fund, and Columbia Total Return Bond Fund |
$
|
3.00% | 3.09% | 2.50% |
| $100,000–$249,999 | 2.50% | 2.56% | 2.15% | |
| $250,000–$499,999 | 2.00% | 2.04% | 1.75% | |
| $500,000–$999,999 | 1.50% | 1.52% | 1.25% | |
|
$
|
0.00% | 0.00% |
0.00%
(c)
|
|
| Columbia Short Term Bond Fund |
$
|
1.00% | 1.01% | 0.75% |
| $100,000–$249,999 | 0.75% | 0.76% | 0.50% | |
| $250,000–$999,999 | 0.50% | 0.50% | 0.40% | |
|
$
|
0.00% | 0.00% |
0.00%
(c)
|
|
| Columbia Short Term Municipal Bond Fund |
$
|
1.00% | 1.01% | 0.75% |
| $100,000–$249,999 | 0.75% | 0.76% | 0.50% | |
| $250,000–$499,999 | 0.50% | 0.50% | 0.40% | |
|
$
|
0.00% | 0.00% |
0.00%
(c)
|
|
| * |
The following Funds are not subject to a front-end sales charge or CDSC on Class A shares: Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund, Columbia Small Cap Index Fund, Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund and Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund.
"Funds-of-Funds (equity)"
includes Columbia Capital Allocation Aggressive Portfolio, Columbia Capital Allocation Moderate Aggressive Portfolio, Columbia Capital Allocation Moderate Conservative Portfolio and Columbia Capital Allocation Moderate Portfolio
. "Funds-of-Funds (fixed income)"
includes Columbia Capital Allocation Conservative Portfolio and Columbia Income Builder Fund. Columbia Balanced Fund, Columbia Flexible Capital Income Fund and Columbia Global Opportunities Fund are treated as equity Funds for purposes of the table.
|
| (a) |
Purchase amounts and account values may be aggregated among all eligible Fund accounts for the purposes of this table. See
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
for a discussion of account value aggregation.
|
| (b) | Because the offering price is calculated to two decimal places, the dollar amount of the sales charge as a percentage of the offering price and your net amount invested for any particular purchase of Fund shares may be higher or lower depending on whether downward or upward rounding was required during the calculation process. Purchase price includes the sales charge. |
| (c) |
For information regarding cumulative commissions paid to your financial intermediary when you buy $1 million or more of Class A shares of a Taxable Fund or $500,000 or more of Class A shares of a Tax-Exempt Fund, see
Class A Shares — Commissions
below.
|
| Prospectus 2021 | 35 |
Columbia Mid Cap Growth Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
Class A Shares — CDSC
In some cases, you'll pay a CDSC if you sell Class A shares that you purchased without a front-end sales charge.
Tax-Exempt Funds
| ■ | If you purchased Class A shares of any Tax-Exempt Fund (other than Columbia Short Term Municipal Bond Fund) without paying a front-end sales charge because your eligible accounts aggregated $500,000 or more at the time of purchase, you will incur a CDSC of 0.75% if you redeem those shares within 12 months after purchase. Subsequent Class A share purchases that bring your aggregate account value to $500,000 or more will also be subject to a CDSC of 0.75% if you redeem those shares within 12 months after purchase. |
| ■ | If you purchased Class A shares of Columbia Short Term Municipal Bond Fund without paying a front-end sales charge because your eligible accounts aggregated $500,000 or more at the time of purchase, you will incur a CDSC of 0.50% if you redeem those shares within 12 months after purchase. Subsequent Class A share purchases that bring your aggregate account value to $500,000 or more will also be subject to a CDSC of 0.50% if you redeem those shares within 12 months after purchase. |
Taxable Funds
| ■ | If you purchased Class A shares of any Taxable Fund without paying a front-end sales charge because your eligible accounts aggregated between $1 million and $50 million at the time of purchase, you will incur a CDSC if you redeem those shares within 18 months after purchase, which is charged as follows: 1.00% CDSC if shares are redeemed within 12 months after purchase; and 0.50% CDSC if shares are redeemed more than 12, but less than 18, months after purchase. Subsequent Class A share purchases that bring your aggregate account value to $1 million or more (but less than $50 million) will also be subject to a CDSC if you redeem them within 18 months after purchase as described in the previous sentence. |
Class A Shares — Commissions
The Distributor may pay your financial intermediary an up-front commission when you buy Class A shares. The Distributor generally funds the commission through the applicable sales charge you paid. For more information, see
Class A Shares — Front-End Sales Charge
above
.
The Distributor may also pay your financial intermediary a cumulative commission when you buy Class A shares in amounts not subject to a front-end sales charge, according to the following schedules (assets initially purchased into Class A shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund, Columbia Small Cap Index Fund, Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund and Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund that were purchased without the application of a front-end sales charge are excluded for purposes of calculating a financial intermediary’s commission under these schedules):
| * | The commission level applies to the applicable asset level; therefore, for example, for a purchase of $5 million, the Distributor would pay a commission of 0.75% on the first $3,999,999 and 0.50% on the balance. |
| ** | The commission level on purchases of Class A shares of Columbia Short Term Municipal Bond Fund is: 0.50% on purchases of $500,000 to $19,999,999 and 0.25% on purchases of $20 million or more. |
| 36 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Mid Cap Growth Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
|
Class A Shares of Taxable Funds — Commission Schedule (Paid by the Distributor to Financial Intermediaries)*
|
|
|
Purchase Amount
|
Commission Level**
(as a % of net asset value per share) |
| $1 million – $2,999,999 | 1.00% |
| $3 million – $49,999,999 | 0.50% |
| $50 million or more | 0.25% |
| * | Not applicable to Funds that do not assess a front-end sales charge. |
| ** | The commission level applies to the applicable asset level; therefore, for example, for a purchase of $5 million, the Distributor would pay a commission of 1.00% on the first $2,999,999 and 0.50% on the balance. |
Class C Shares — Front-End Sales Charge
You do not pay a front-end sales charge when you buy Class C shares, but you may pay a CDSC when you sell Class C shares. Although Class C shares do not have a front-end sales charge, over time Class C shares can incur distribution and/or service fees that are equal to or more than the front-end sales charge and distribution and/or service fees you would pay for Class A shares. Thus, although the full amount of your purchase of Class C shares is invested in a Fund, any positive investment return on this money may be partially or fully offset by the expected higher annual expenses of Class C shares. If you are eligible to invest in Class A shares without a front-end sales charge, you should discuss your options with your financial intermediary. For more information, see
Choosing a Share Class – Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges.
Class C Shares — Conversion to Class A Shares
Class C shares of a Fund generally automatically convert to Class A shares of the same Fund in the month of or the month following the 10-year anniversary of the Class C shares purchase date. Class C shares held through a financial intermediary in an omnibus account will be converted provided that the intermediary is able to track purchases to credit individual shareholders’ holding periods. It is the financial intermediary's (and not the Fund's) responsibility to keep records and to ensure that the shareholder is credited with the proper holding period. Not all financial intermediaries are able to track purchases to credit individual shareholders' holding periods. For example, group retirement plans held through third-party intermediaries that hold Class C shares in an omnibus account may not track participant level share lot aging. Please consult with your financial intermediary about your eligibility for Class C share conversion. The Fund may convert Class C shares held through a financial intermediary to Class A shares sooner in connection with the withdrawal of Class C shares of the Fund from the financial intermediary's platform or accounts. Once your Class C shares convert to Class A shares, your total returns from an investment in the Fund may increase as a result of the lower operating costs of Class A shares.
The following rules apply to the automatic conversion of Class C shares to Class A shares:
| ■ | Class C share accounts that are Direct-at-Fund Accounts and Networked Accounts for which the Transfer Agent (and not your financial intermediary) sends you Fund account transaction confirmations and statements, convert on or about the 15th day of the month (if the 15th is not a business day, then the next business day thereafter) that they become eligible for automatic conversion provided that the Fund has records that Class C shares have been held for the requisite time period. |
| ■ | For purposes of determining the month when your Class C shares are eligible for conversion, the start of the holding period is the first day of the month in which your purchase was made. Your financial intermediary may choose a different day of the month to convert Class C shares. Please contact your financial intermediary for more information on calculating the holding period. |
| ■ | Any shares you received from reinvested distributions on these shares generally will convert to Class A shares at the same time. |
| ■ | You’ll receive the same dollar value of Class A shares as the Class C shares that were automatically converted. Class C shares that you received from an exchange of Class C shares of another Fund will convert based on the day you bought the original shares. |
| Prospectus 2021 | 37 |
Columbia Mid Cap Growth Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
| ■ | No sales charge or other charges apply in connection with this automatic conversion, and conversions are free from U.S. federal income tax. |
Class C Shares — CDSC
You will pay a CDSC of 1.00% if you redeem Class C shares within 12 months of buying them unless you qualify for a waiver of the CDSC (e.g., the shares you are selling were purchased with reinvested Fund distributions). Redemptions of Class C shares are not subject to a CDSC if redeemed after 12 months. Class C shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund are not subject to a CDSC. For more information, see
.
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
Class C Shares — Commissions
Although there is no front-end sales charge when you buy Class C shares, the Distributor makes an up-front payment (which includes a sales commission and an advance of service fees) directly to your financial intermediary of up to 1.00% of the NAV per share when you buy Class C shares (except on purchases of Class C shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund). A portion of this payment may be passed along to your financial advisor. The Distributor seeks to recover this payment through fees it receives under the Fund's distribution and/or service plan during the first 12 months following the sale of Class C shares, and any applicable CDSC when you sell your shares. For more information, see
Choosing a Share Class — Distribution and Service Fees.
Class V Shares — Front-End Sales Charge
Unless you qualify for a waiver (e.g., you purchase shares through reinvested Fund distributions), you will pay a front-end sales charge when you buy Class V shares, resulting in a smaller dollar amount being invested in a Fund than the purchase price you pay. For more information about sales charge waivers (as well as sales charge reduction opportunities), see
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges.
The front-end sales charge you will pay on Class V shares:
| ■ | depends on the amount you are investing (generally, the larger the investment, the smaller the percentage sales charge), and |
| ■ | is based on the total amount of your purchase and the value of your account (and any other accounts eligible for aggregation of which you notify your financial intermediary or, in the case of Direct-at-Fund Accounts (as defined below), you notify the Fund). |
| 38 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Mid Cap Growth Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
|
Class V Shares — Front-End Sales Charge — Breakpoint Schedule
|
||||
|
Breakpoint Schedule For:
|
Dollar amount of
shares bought
(a)
|
Sales
charge as a % of the offering price
(b)
|
Sales
charge as a % of the net amount invested
(b)
|
Amount
retained by or paid to Financial Intermediaries as a % of the offering price |
|
Fixed Income Funds
|
$
|
4.75% | 4.99% | 4.25% |
|
$
|
4.50% | 4.71% | 3.75% | |
| $100,000–$249,999 | 3.50% | 3.63% | 2.75% | |
| $250,000–$499,999 | 2.50% | 2.56% | 2.00% | |
| $500,000–$999,999 | 2.00% | 2.04% | 1.75% | |
|
$
|
0.00% | 0.00% |
0.00%
(c)
|
|
| (a) | Purchase amounts and account values are aggregated among all eligible Fund accounts for the purposes of this table. |
| (b) | Because the offering price is calculated to two decimal places, the dollar amount of the sales charge as a percentage of the offering price and your net amount invested for any particular purchase of Fund shares may be higher or lower depending on whether downward or upward rounding was required during the calculation process. |
| (c) |
For more information regarding cumulative commissions paid to your financial intermediary when you buy $1 million or more of Class V shares, see
Class V Shares — Commissions
|
Class V Shares — CDSC
In some cases, you will pay a CDSC if you sell Class V shares that you bought without a front-end sales charge.
| ■ | If you purchased Class V shares without a front-end sales charge because your eligible accounts aggregated between $1 million and $50 million at the time of purchase, you will incur a CDSC if you redeem those shares within 18 months after purchase, which is charged as follows: 1.00% CDSC if shares are redeemed within 12 months after purchase, and 0.50% CDSC if shares are redeemed more than 12, but less than 18, months after purchase. |
| ■ | Subsequent Class V share purchases that bring your aggregate account value to $1 million or more (but less than $50 million) will also be subject to a CDSC if you redeem them within the time periods noted above. |
Class V Shares — Commissions
The Distributor may pay your financial intermediary an up-front commission when you buy Class V shares (a portion of this commission may, in turn, be paid to your financial advisor). For more information, see
Class V Shares — Front-End Sales Charge.
The Distributor may also pay your financial intermediary a cumulative commission when you buy $1 million or more of Class V shares, according to the following schedule:
|
Class V Shares
—
Commission Schedule (Paid by the Distributor to Financial Intermediaries)
|
|
|
Purchase
Amount |
Commission Level*
(as a % of net asset value per share) |
| $1 million – $2,999,999 | 1.00% |
| $3 million – $49,999,999 | 0.50% |
| $50 million or more | 0.25% |
| * | The commission level applies to the applicable asset level; therefore, for example, for a purchase of $5 million, the Distributor would pay a commission of 1.00% on the first $2,999,999 and 0.50% on the balance. |
| Prospectus 2021 | 39 |
Columbia Mid Cap Growth Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
The availability of certain sales charge waivers and discounts will depend on whether you purchase your shares directly from the Fund (i.e., a Direct-at-Fund Account, as defined below) or through a financial intermediary. Financial intermediaries may have different policies and procedures regarding the availability of front-end sales charge and/or CDSC waivers. In all instances, it is your responsibility to notify your financial intermediary or (for Direct-at-Fund Accounts, as defined below) the Fund at the time of purchase of any relationship or other facts that may qualify you for sales charge waivers or discounts. In order to obtain waivers and discounts not available through a particular financial intermediary, shareholders will have to purchase Fund shares directly from the Fund (if permitted) or through a different financial intermediary. For a description of financial intermediary-specific sales charge reductions and/or waivers, see
.
Appendix A
Class A and Class V Shares Front-End Sales Charge Reductions
The Fund makes available two means of reducing the front-end sales charge that you may pay when you buy Class A shares or Class V shares of a Fund. These types of sales charge reductions are also referred to as breakpoint discounts.
First, through the right of accumulation (ROA), you may combine the value of eligible accounts (as described in the
section below) maintained by you and members of your immediate family to reach a breakpoint discount level and apply a lower front-end sales charge to your purchase. To calculate the combined value of your eligible Fund accounts in the particular class of shares, the Fund will use the current public offering price per share. For purposes of obtaining a breakpoint discount through ROA, you may aggregate your and your “immediate family” members' ownership (as described in the
box below) of certain classes of shares held in certain account types, as described in the
section below.
Eligible Accounts
FUNDamentals
Eligible Accounts
Second, by making a statement of intent to purchase additional shares (commonly referred to as a letter of intent (LOI)), you may pay a lower sales charge on all purchases of Class A shares or Class V shares made within 13 months after the date of your LOI. Your LOI must state the aggregate amount of purchases you intend to make in that 13-month period, which must be at least enough to reach the first (or next) breakpoint of the Fund. The required form of LOI may vary by financial intermediary, so please contact them directly for more information. Five percent of the purchase commitment amount will be placed in escrow. At the end of the 13-month period, the shares will be released from escrow, provided that you have invested the commitment amount. If you do not invest the commitment amount by the end of the 13 months, the remaining amount of the unpaid sales charge will be redeemed from the escrowed shares and the remaining balance released from escrow. To calculate the total value of the purchases you've made under an LOI, the Fund will use the historic cost (i.e., dollars invested and not current market value) of the shares held in each eligible account; reinvested dividends or capital gains, or purchases made through the reinstatement privilege do not count as purchases made under an LOI. For purposes of making an LOI to purchase additional shares, you may aggregate eligible shares owned by you or your immediate family members in eligible accounts, valued as of the day immediately before the initiation of your LOI.
You must request the reduced sales charge (whether through ROA or an LOI) when you buy shares. If you do not complete and file an LOI, or do not request the reduced sales charge at the time of purchase, you will not be eligible for the reduced sales charge. To obtain a breakpoint discount, you must notify your financial intermediary in writing at the time you buy your shares of each eligible account maintained by you and members of your immediate family, including accounts maintained through different financial intermediaries. You and your financial intermediary are responsible for ensuring that you receive discounts for which you are eligible. Please contact your financial intermediary with questions regarding application of the eligible discount to your account. You may be asked by your financial intermediary (or by the Fund if you hold your account directly with the Fund) for account statements or other records to verify your discount eligibility for new and subsequent purchases, including, when applicable, records for accounts opened with a different financial intermediary and records of accounts established by members of your immediate family.
The sales charge reductions available to investors who purchase and hold their Fund shares through different financial intermediaries may vary. For a description of such financial intermediary-specific sales charge reductions, see
.
Appendix A
| 40 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Mid Cap Growth Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
FUNDamentals
Your “Immediate Family” and Account Value Aggregation
For purposes of obtaining a breakpoint discount for Class A shares or Class V shares, the value of your account will be deemed to include the value of all applicable shares in eligible Fund accounts that are held by you and your “immediate family,” which includes your spouse, domestic partner, parent, step-parent, legal guardian, child under 21, step-child under 21, father-in-law and mother-in-law, provided that you and your immediate family members share the same mailing address. Any Fund accounts linked together for account value aggregation purposes as of the close of business on September 3, 2010 will be permitted to remain linked together. Group retirement plan accounts are valued at the retirement plan level.
Eligible Accounts
The following accounts are eligible for account value aggregation as described above, provided that they are invested in Class A (excluding, in the case of Direct-at-Fund Accounts, Funds that do not assess a front-end sales charge, including Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund, Columbia Small Cap Index Fund, Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund and Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund, unless such shares were purchased via an exchange from Class A shares of a Fund on which you paid the Class A share applicable front-end sales charge), Class C, Class E, Class Inst or Class V shares of a Fund, or non-retirement plan accounts invested in Class Adv, Class Inst2 or Class Inst3 shares of a Fund: individual or joint accounts; Roth and traditional Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs); Simplified Employee Pension accounts (SEPs), Savings Investment Match Plans for Employees of Small Employers accounts (SIMPLEs) and Tax Sheltered Custodial Accounts (TSCAs); Uniform Gifts to Minors Act (UGMA)/Uniform Transfers to Minors Act (UTMA) accounts for which you, your spouse, or your domestic partner is parent or guardian of the minor child; revocable trust accounts for which you or an immediate family member, individually, is the beneficial owner/grantor; accounts held in the name of your, your spouse’s, or your domestic partner’s sole proprietorship or single owner limited liability company or S corporation; qualified retirement plan assets, provided that you are the sole owner of the business sponsoring the plan, are the sole participant (other than a spouse) in the plan, and have no intention of adding participants to the plan; and investments in wrap accounts.
The following accounts are
for account value aggregation as described above: accounts of pension and retirement plans with multiple participants, such as 401(k) plans (which are combined to reduce the sales charge for the entire pension or retirement plan and therefore are not used to reduce the sales charge for your individual accounts); investments in 529 plans, donor advised funds, variable annuities, variable insurance products or managed separate accounts; charitable and irrevocable trust accounts; accounts holding shares of money market funds that used the Columbia brand before May 1, 2010; accounts invested in Class R shares of a Fund; and retirement plan accounts invested in Class Adv, Class Inst2 or Class Inst3 shares of a Fund.
not eligible
Additionally, direct purchases of shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund may not be aggregated for account value aggregation purposes; however, shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund acquired by exchange from other Columbia Funds that assess a sales charge may be included in account value aggregation.
Class A and Class V Shares Front-End Sales Charge Waivers
There are no front-end sales charges on reinvested Fund distributions. The Class A shares sales charge is waived on conversions of Class C shares to Class A shares. The Distributor may waive front-end sales charges on purchases of Class A and Class V shares of the Funds by certain categories of investors, including Board members, certain employees of financial intermediaries, Fund portfolio managers, certain partners and employees of outside legal counsel to the Funds or the Board, separate accounts of an insurance company exempt from registration as an investment company under Section 3(c)(11) of the 1940 Act, registered broker-dealer firms that have an agreement with the Distributor purchasing Fund shares for their investment account only, and qualified employee benefit plan rollovers to Class A shares in the same Fund (see Appendix S to the SAI for details). For a more complete description of categories of investors who may purchase Class A and Class V shares of the Funds at NAV, without payment of any front-end sales charge that would otherwise apply, see Appendix S to the SAI.
| Prospectus 2021 | 41 |
Columbia Mid Cap Growth Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
In addition, certain types of purchases of Class A and Class V shares may be made at NAV. The Distributor may waive front-end sales charges on (i) purchases (including exchanges) of Class A shares in accounts of financial intermediaries that have entered into agreements with the Distributor to offer Fund shares to self-directed investment brokerage accounts that may or may not charge a transaction fee to customers; (ii) exchanges of Class Inst shares of a Fund for Class A shares of the Fund; (iii) purchases of Class A shares on brokerage mutual fund-only platforms of financial intermediaries that have an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes the offering of Class A shares within such platform; (iv) purchases through certain wrap fee or other products or programs that involve fee-based compensation arrangements that have, or clear trades through a financial intermediary that has, a selling agreement with the Distributor; (v) purchases through state sponsored 529 Plans; (vi) purchases through banks, trust companies, and thrift institutions acting as fiduciaries; and (vii) purchases through certain employee benefit plans and certain qualified deferred compensation plans. For a more complete description of these eligible transactions, see Appendix S to the SAI.
The sales charge waivers available to investors who purchase and hold their Fund shares through different financial intermediaries may vary. For a description of such financial intermediary-specific sales charge waivers, see
.
Appendix A
CDSC Waivers – Class A, Class C and Class V
You may be able to avoid an otherwise applicable CDSC when you sell Class A, Class C or Class V shares of the Fund. This could happen because of the way in which you originally invested in the Fund, because of your relationship with the Funds or for other reasons. For example, the CDSC will be waived on redemptions of shares in the event of the shareholder's death; for which no sales commission or transaction fee was paid to an authorized financial intermediary at the time of purchase; purchased through reinvestment of dividends and capital gain distributions; that result from required minimum distributions taken from retirement accounts due to the shareholder reaching the qualified age based on applicable IRS regulations; that result from returns of excess contributions made to retirement plans or individual retirement accounts (subject to certain conditions); initially purchased by an employee benefit plan (for Class A shares) and that are not connected with a plan level termination (for Class C or Class V shares); in connection with the Fund's Small Account Policy (which is described in
); and by certain other investors and in certain other types of transactions or situations. Restrictions may apply to certain accounts and certain transactions. The Distributor may, in its sole discretion, authorize the waiver of the CDSC for additional classes of investors. The Fund may change or cancel these terms at any time. Any change or cancellation applies only to future purchases. For a more complete description of the available waivers of the CDSC on redemptions of Class A, Class C or Class V shares, see Appendix S to the SAI.
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares — Transaction Rules and Policies
The sales charge waivers available to investors who purchase and hold their Fund shares through different financial intermediaries may vary. For a description of such financial intermediary-specific sales charge waivers, see
.
Appendix A
Repurchases (Reinstatements)
As noted in the table below, you can redeem shares of certain classes (see Redeemed Share Class below) and use such redemption proceeds to buy shares of the Corresponding Repurchase Class without paying an otherwise applicable sales charge and/or CDSC (other than, in the case of Direct-at-Fund Accounts, redemptions from Funds that do not assess a front-end sales charge, including Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund, Columbia Small Cap Index Fund, Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund and Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund, unless such shares were purchased via an exchange from Class A shares of a Fund on which you paid the Class A share applicable front-end sales charge) within 90 days, up to the amount of the redemption proceeds.
|
Repurchases (Reinstatements)
|
|
|
Redeemed Share Class
|
Corresponding Repurchase Class
|
| Class A | Class A |
| Class C | Class C |
| 42 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Mid Cap Growth Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
|
Repurchases (Reinstatements)
|
|
|
Redeemed Share Class
|
Corresponding Repurchase Class
|
| Class V | Class V |
Any CDSC paid upon redemption of your Class A, Class C or Class V shares of a Fund will not be reimbursed.
To be eligible for the repurchase (or reinstatement) privilege, the purchase must be made into an account for the same owner, but does not need to be into the same Fund from which the shares were sold. The Transfer Agent, Distributor or their agents must receive a written reinstatement request from you or your financial intermediary within 90 days after the shares are redeemed. The purchase of the Corresponding Repurchase Class (as noted in the table above) through this repurchase (or reinstatement) privilege will be made at the NAV of such shares next calculated after the request is received in “good form.” Systematic withdrawals and purchases are excluded from this policy.
Restrictions and Changes in Terms and Conditions
Restrictions may apply to certain accounts and certain transactions. The Funds and/or the Distributor may change or cancel these terms and conditions at any time. Unless you provide your financial intermediary with information in writing about all of the factors that may count toward available reductions or waivers of an applicable sales charge, there can be no assurance that you will receive all of the reductions and waivers for which you may be eligible. To the extent your Fund account is held directly with the Fund, you should provide this information to the Fund when placing your purchase or redemption order. Please see
to this prospectus and Appendix S of the SAI for more information about sales charge waivers.
Appendix A
Distribution and Service Fees
The Board has approved, and the Funds have adopted, distribution and/or shareholder service plans which set the distribution and/or service fees that are periodically deducted from the Funds’ assets. These fees are calculated daily, may vary by share class and are intended to compensate the Distributor and/or eligible financial intermediaries for, with regard to distribution fees, selling Fund shares and, with regard to service fees, directly or indirectly providing services to shareholders. Because the fees are paid out of the Fund's assets on an ongoing basis, they will increase the cost of your investment over time.
The table below shows the maximum annual distribution and/or service fees (as an annual percentage of average daily net assets) and the combined amount of such fees applicable to each share class:
| (a) | The service fees for Class A and Class C shares of certain Funds vary. The annual service fee for Class A and Class C shares of Columbia High Yield Municipal Fund, Columbia Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund and Columbia Tax-Exempt Fund may equal up to 0.20% of the average daily NAV of all shares of such Fund class. The annual distribution fee for Class C shares for Columbia Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund shall be 0.65% of the average daily net assets of the Fund’s Class C shares. The Distributor has contractually agreed to waive a portion of the service fee for Class A and Class C shares of Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund so that the service fee does not exceed 0.15% annually through August 31, 2021 unless sooner terminated at the sole discretion of the Fund’s Board. The Distributor has contractually agreed to waive a portion of the service fee for Class A shares of Columbia Strategic California Municipal Income Fund so that the service fee does not exceed 0.20% annually through February 28, 2022 unless modified or sooner terminated at the sole discretion of the Fund’s Board. |
| Prospectus 2021 | 43 |
Columbia Mid Cap Growth Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
| (b) | The maximum distribution and service fees of Class A shares varies among the Funds, as shown in the table below: |
| Funds |
Maximum
Class A Distribution Fee |
Maximum
Class A Service Fee |
Maximum
Class A Combined Total |
|
Series of CFST and CFST II (other than Columbia
Government Money Market Fund) |
— | — |
0.25%; these Funds pay a
combined distribution and service fee |
| Columbia Government Money Market Fund | — | — | 0.10% |
| Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund | up to 0.15% | up to 0.15% | 0.15% |
| Columbia Balanced Fund, Columbia Contrarian Core Fund, Columbia Dividend Income Fund, Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund, Columbia Large Cap Growth Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Growth Fund, Columbia Oregon Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund, Columbia Real Estate Equity Fund, Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I, Columbia Total Return Bond Fund | up to 0.10% | up to 0.25% |
up to 0.35%; these Funds may
pay distribution and service fees up to a maximum of 0.35% of their average daily net assets attributable to Class A shares (comprised of up to 0.10% for distribution services and up to 0.25% for shareholder liaison services) but currently limit such fees to an aggregate fee of not more than 0.25% for Class A shares |
| Columbia Adaptive Risk Allocation Fund, Columbia Bond Fund, Columbia Connecticut Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund, Columbia Corporate Income Fund, Columbia Emerging Markets Fund, Columbia Greater China Fund, Columbia International Dividend Income Fund, Columbia Massachusetts Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund, Columbia Multi-Asset Income Fund, Columbia Multi Strategy Alternatives Fund, Columbia New York Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund, Columbia Pacific/Asia Fund, Columbia Select Large Cap Growth Fund, Columbia Small Cap Value Fund I, Columbia Strategic California Municipal Income Fund, Columbia Strategic Income Fund, Columbia Strategic New York Municipal Income Fund, Columbia U.S. Social Bond Fund, Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund | — | 0.25% | 0.25% |
| Columbia High Yield Municipal Fund, Columbia Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund, Columbia Tax-Exempt Fund | — | 0.20% | 0.20% |
| (c) | Fee amounts noted apply to all Funds other than Columbia Government Money Market Fund, which, for Class A shares, pays distribution and service fees of 0.10%, and for Class C shares pays distribution fees of 0.75%. The payment of the distribution and/or service fees payable by Columbia Government Money Market Fund under its Plan of Distribution has been suspended through November 30, 2021. This arrangement may be modified or terminated at the sole discretion of Columbia Government Money Market Fund’s Board at any time. Compensation paid to financial intermediaries is suspended for the duration of the suspension of payments under Columbia Government Money Market Fund’s Plan of Distribution. |
| (d) | The Distributor has contractually agreed to waive a portion of the distribution fee for Class C shares of the following Funds so that the distribution fee does not exceed the specified percentage annually through the specified date for each Fund: 0.45% for Columbia Connecticut Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund through February 28, 2022, Columbia Massachusetts Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund through February 28, 2022, Columbia New York Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund through February 28, 2022, Columbia Oregon Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund through November 30, 2021, Columbia Strategic California Municipal Income Fund through February 28, 2022, and Columbia Strategic New York Municipal Income Fund through August 31, 2021; 0.55% for Columbia Corporate Income Fund through August 31, 2021, and Columbia Short Term Bond Fund through August 31, 2021; 0.60% for Columbia High Yield Municipal Fund through September 30, 2021, Columbia Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund through August 31, 2021, and Columbia Tax-Exempt Fund through November 30, 2021; and 0.65% for Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund through August 31, 2021. These arrangements may be sooner terminated at the sole discretion of each Fund’s Board. |
| (e) | Class R shares of series of CFST and CFST I pay a distribution fee pursuant to a Rule 12b-1 plan. The Funds do not have a shareholder service plan for Class R shares. Series of CFST II have a distribution and shareholder service plan for Class R shares. For Class R shares of series of CFST II, the maximum fee under the plan reimbursed for distribution expenses is equal on an annual basis to 0.50% of the average daily net assets of the Fund attributable to Class R shares. Of that amount, up to 0.25% may be reimbursed for shareholder service expenses. |
| (f) |
The shareholder servicing fees for Class V shares are up to 0.50% of average daily net assets attributable to Class V shares for equity Funds and 0.40% for fixed income Funds. In general, the Funds currently limit such fees to a maximum of 0.25% for equity Funds and 0.15% for fixed-income Funds. These fees for Class V shares are not paid pursuant to a Rule 12b-1 plan. See
Class V Shareholder Service Fees
below for more information.
|
| 44 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Mid Cap Growth Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
The distribution and/or service fees for Class A, Class C, and Class R shares, as applicable, are subject to the requirements of Rule 12b-1 under the 1940 Act. The Distributor may retain these fees otherwise payable to financial intermediaries if the amounts due are below an amount determined by the Distributor in its sole discretion.
For Class A shares, the Distributor begins to pay these fees immediately after purchase, except in the following case, in which the Distributor begins to pay these fees 12 months after purchase: a purchase of Class A shares of $1 million or more for Taxable Funds or $500,000 or more for Tax-Exempt Funds that pay a Class A up-front commission to your financial intermediary and the financial intermediary has opted to receive such commission. The Distributor’s policy to otherwise begin to pay these fees immediately on Class A shares also applies to purchases of funds that do not pay an up-front sales commission on Class A shares, which includes Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund, Columbia Small Cap Index Fund, Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund and Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund. For Class C shares, the Distributor begins to pay these fees 12 months after purchase. However, for Class C shares, financial intermediaries may opt to decline the up-front payment described in
Choosing a Share Class – Sales Charges and Commissions – Class C Shares – Commissions
and instead may receive these fees immediately after purchase. If the intermediary opts to receive the up-front payment, the Distributor retains the distribution and/or service fee for the first 12 months following the sale of Class C shares in order to recover the up-front payment made to financial intermediaries and to pay for other related expenses. For Class R shares, the Distributor begins to pay these fees immediately after purchase.
Series of CFST II.
The maximum fee for services under the distribution and/or shareholder servicing plan for series of CFST II is the lesser of the amount of reimbursable expenses and the fee rates in the table above. If a share class of a series of CFST II has no reimbursable distribution or shareholder servicing expenses, it will suspend the payment of any such fee. As a result of any such suspensions, the expense ratio of a Fund’s share class disclosed in the
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
table in the
Summary of the Fund
section of this prospectus may not match the ratio of expenses of such share class to average net assets shown in the
Financial Highlights
section of this prospectus.
If you maintain shares of the Fund directly with the Fund, without working with a financial advisor or other financial intermediary, distribution and service fees may be retained by the Distributor as payment or reimbursement for incurring certain distribution and shareholder service related expenses.
Over time, these distribution and/or service fees will reduce the return on your investment and may cost you more than paying other types of sales charges. The Fund will pay these fees to the Distributor and/or to eligible financial intermediaries for as long as the distribution plan and/or shareholder servicing plans continue in effect, which is expected to be indefinitely. However, the Fund may reduce or discontinue payments at any time. Your financial intermediary may also charge you other additional fees for providing services to your account, which may be different from those described here.
Class V Shareholder Services Fees
The Funds that offer Class V shares have adopted a shareholder services plan that permits them to pay for certain services provided to Class V shareholders by their financial intermediaries. Equity Funds may pay shareholder servicing fees up to an aggregate annual rate of 0.50% of the Fund's average daily net assets attributable to Class V shares (comprised of up to 0.25% for shareholder liaison services and up to 0.25% for administrative support services). Fixed income Funds may pay shareholder servicing fees up to an aggregate annual rate of 0.40% of the Fund's average daily net assets attributable to Class V shares (comprised of up to 0.20% for shareholder liaison services and up to 0.20% for administrative support services). These fees are currently limited to an aggregate annual rate of not more than 0.25% for equity Funds and not more than 0.15% for fixed income Funds. The Distributor begins to pay these fees immediately after purchase for purchases up to $1 million, for purchases of $1 million or more the Distributor will begin to pay these fees 12 months after purchase. These fees for Class V shares are not paid pursuant to a Rule 12b-1 plan. With respect to those Funds that declare dividends on a daily basis, the shareholder servicing fee shall be waived by the financial intermediaries to the extent necessary to prevent net investment income from falling below 0% on a daily basis. If you maintain shares of the Fund directly with the Fund, without working with a financial advisor or other intermediary, shareholder services fees may be retained by the Distributor as payment or reimbursement for incurring certain shareholder service related expenses.
| Prospectus 2021 | 45 |
Columbia Mid Cap Growth Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
Financial Intermediary Compensation
The Distributor, the Investment Manager and their affiliates make payments, from their own resources, to financial intermediaries, including other Ameriprise Financial affiliates, for marketing/sales support services relating to the Funds (Marketing Support Payments). Such payments are generally based upon one or more of the following factors: average net assets of the Funds attributable to that financial intermediary; gross sales of the Funds attributable to that financial intermediary; reimbursement of ticket charges (fees that a financial intermediary charges its representatives for effecting transactions in Fund shares); or a negotiated lump sum payment. While the financial arrangements may vary for each financial intermediary, Marketing Support Payments to any one financial intermediary are generally between 0.05% and 0.40% on an annual basis for payments based on average net assets of the Fund attributable to the financial intermediary, and between 0.05% and 0.25% on an annual basis for firms receiving a payment based on gross sales of the Funds attributable to the financial intermediary. The Distributor, the Investment Manager and their affiliates may at times make payments with respect to a Fund or the Columbia Funds generally on a basis other than those described above, or in larger amounts, when dealing with certain financial intermediaries. Not all financial intermediaries receive Marketing Support Payments. The Distributor, the Investment Manager and their affiliates do not make Marketing Support Payments with respect to Class Inst3 shares.
In addition, the Transfer Agent has certain arrangements in place to compensate financial intermediaries, including other Ameriprise Financial affiliates, that hold Fund shares through networked and omnibus accounts, including omnibus retirement plans, for services that they provide to beneficial Fund shareholders (Shareholder Services). Shareholder Services and related fees vary by financial intermediary and according to distribution channel and may include sub-accounting, sub-transfer agency, participant recordkeeping, shareholder or participant reporting, shareholder or participant transaction processing, maintenance of shareholder records, preparation of account statements and provision of customer service, and are not intended to include services that are primarily intended to result in the sale of Fund shares. Payments for Shareholder Services generally are not expected, with certain limited exceptions, to exceed 0.40% of the average aggregate value of the Fund’s shares. Generally, each Fund pays the Transfer Agent a per account fee or a percentage of the average aggregate value of shares per annum maintained in omnibus accounts up to the lesser of the amount charged by the financial intermediary or a channel-specific or share class-specific cap established by the Board from time to time. Fee amounts in excess of the amount paid by the Fund are borne by the Transfer Agent, the Investment Manager and/or their affiliates. For Class Inst3 shares, the Transfer Agent does not pay financial intermediaries for Shareholder Services, except that for Class Inst3 shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund (formerly an unnamed share class of the Fund), the Transfer Agent makes Shareholder Services payments to a financial intermediary through which shares of this class were held (under its former unnamed share class name) as of November 30, 2018, and the Fund does not compensate the Transfer Agent for any Shareholder Services provided by financial intermediaries.
In addition to the payments described above, the Distributor, the Investment Manager and their affiliates typically make other payments or allow promotional incentives to certain broker-dealers to the extent permitted by the Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) rules and by other applicable laws and regulations.
Amounts paid by the Distributor, the Investment Manager and their affiliates are paid out of their own resources and do not increase the amount paid by you or the Fund. You can find further details in the SAI about the payments made by the Distributor, the Investment Manager and their affiliates, as well as a list of the financial intermediaries, including Ameriprise Financial affiliates, to which the Distributor, the Investment Manager or their affiliates have agreed to make Marketing Support Payments and pay Shareholder Services fees.
Your financial intermediary may charge you fees and commissions in addition to those described in this prospectus. You should consult with your financial intermediary and review carefully any disclosure your financial intermediary provides regarding its services and compensation. Depending on the financial arrangement in place at any particular time, a financial intermediary and its financial advisors may have a conflict of interest or financial incentive for recommending the Fund or a particular share class over others.
| 46 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Mid Cap Growth Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
Share Price Determination
The price you pay or receive when you buy, sell or exchange shares is the Fund's next determined net asset value (or NAV) per share for a given share class. The Fund calculates the NAV per share for each class of shares of the Fund at the end of each business day, with the value of the Fund's shares based on the total value of all of the securities and other assets that it holds as of a specified time.
FUNDamentals
NAV Calculation
Each of the Fund's share classes calculates its NAV per share as follows:
NAV per share =
(Value of assets of the share class) – (Liabilities of the share class)
Number of outstanding shares of the class
FUNDamentals
Business Days
A business day is any day that the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is open. A business day typically ends at the close of regular trading on the NYSE, usually at 4:00 p.m. Eastern time. If the NYSE is scheduled to close early, the business day will be considered to end as of the time of the NYSE’s scheduled close. The Fund will not treat an intraday unscheduled disruption in NYSE trading or an intraday unscheduled closing as a close of regular trading on the NYSE for these purposes and will price its shares as of the regularly scheduled closing time for that day (typically, 4:00 p.m. Eastern time). Notwithstanding the foregoing, the NAV of Fund shares may be determined at such other time or times (in addition to or in lieu of the time set forth above) as the Fund’s Board may approve or ratify. On holidays and other days when the NYSE is closed, the Fund’s NAV is not calculated and the Fund does not accept buy or sell orders. However, the value of the Fund’s assets may still be affected on such days to the extent that the Fund holds foreign securities that trade on days that foreign securities markets are open.
Equity securities are valued primarily on the basis of market quotations reported on stock exchanges and other securities markets around the world. If an equity security is listed on a national exchange, the security is valued at the closing price or, if the closing price is not readily available, the mean of the closing bid and asked prices. Certain equity securities, debt securities and other assets are valued differently. For instance, bank loans trading in the secondary market are valued primarily on the basis of indicative bids, fixed income investments maturing in 60 days or less are valued primarily using the amortized cost method, unless this methodology results in a valuation that does not approximate the market value of these securities, and those maturing in excess of 60 days are valued primarily using a market-based price obtained from a pricing service, if available. Investments in other open-end funds are valued at their published NAVs. Both market quotations and indicative bids are obtained from outside pricing services approved and monitored pursuant to a policy approved by the Fund's Board.
If a market price is not readily available or is deemed not to reflect market value, the Fund will determine the price of a portfolio security based on a determination of the security's fair value pursuant to a policy approved by the Fund’s Board. In addition, the Fund may use fair valuation to price securities that trade on a foreign exchange when a significant event has occurred after the foreign exchange closes but before the time at which the Fund’s share price is calculated. Foreign exchanges typically close before the time at which Fund share prices are calculated, and may be closed altogether on days when the Fund is open. Such significant events affecting a foreign security may include, but are not limited to: (1) corporate actions, earnings announcements, litigation or other events impacting a single issuer; (2) governmental action that affects securities in one sector or country; (3) natural disasters or armed conflicts affecting a country or region; or (4) significant domestic or foreign market fluctuations. The Fund uses various criteria, including an evaluation of U.S. market moves after the close of foreign markets, in determining whether a foreign security's market price is readily available and reflective of market value and, if not, the fair value
| Prospectus 2021 | 47 |
Columbia Mid Cap Growth Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
of the security. To the extent the Fund has significant holdings of small cap stocks, high-yield bonds, floating rate loans, or tax-exempt, foreign or other securities that may trade infrequently, fair valuation may be used more frequently than for other funds.
Fair valuation may have the effect of reducing stale pricing arbitrage opportunities presented by the pricing of Fund shares. However, when the Fund uses fair valuation to price securities, it may value those securities higher or lower than another fund would have priced the security. Also, the use of fair valuation may cause the Fund's performance to diverge to a greater degree from the performance of various benchmarks used to compare the Fund's performance because benchmarks generally do not use fair valuation techniques. Because of the judgment involved in fair valuation decisions, there can be no assurance that the value ascribed to a particular security is accurate. The Fund has retained one or more independent fair valuation pricing services to assist in the fair valuation process for foreign securities.
Transaction Rules and Policies
The Fund, the Distributor or the Transfer Agent may refuse any order to buy or exchange shares. If this happens, the Fund will return any money it received, but no interest will be paid on that money. Your financial intermediary may have rules and policies in place that are in addition to or different than those described below.
Order Processing
Orders to buy, sell or exchange Fund shares are processed on business days. Depending upon the class of shares, orders can be made by mail, by telephone or online. Orders received in “good form” by the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary before the end of a business day are priced at the NAV per share (plus any applicable sales charge) of the Fund's applicable share class on that day. Orders received after the end of a business day will receive the next business day's NAV per share (plus any applicable sales charge). For Direct-at-Fund Accounts (i.e., accounts established directly with the Fund), when a written order to buy, sell or exchange shares is sent to the Transfer Agent, the share price used to fill the order is the next price calculated by the Fund after the Transfer Agent receives the transaction request in “good form” at its transaction processing center (i.e., the Fund’s express mail address), not the P.O. Box provided for regular mail delivery. The market value of the Fund's investments may change between the time you submit your order and the time the Fund next calculates its NAV per share. The business day that applies to your order is also called the trade date.
“Good Form”
An order is in “good form” if the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary has received payment (in the case of purchases) and all of the information and documentation it deems necessary to effect your order. For example, when you sell shares, “good form” means that your request (i) has complete instructions and written requests include the signatures of all account owners, (ii) is for an amount that is less than or equal to the shares in your account for which payment has been received and collected, (iii) has a Medallion Signature Guarantee for amounts greater than $100,000 and certain other transactions, as described below, and (iv) includes any other required documents completed and attached. For the documents required for sales by corporations, agents, fiduciaries, surviving joint owners and other legal entities, call 800.345.6611.
Medallion Signature Guarantees
The Transfer Agent may require a Medallion Signature Guarantee for your signature in order to process certain transactions, including if: (i) the transaction amount is over $100,000; (ii) you want your check made payable to someone other than the registered account owner(s); (iii) the address of record has changed within the last 30 days; (iv) you want the check mailed to an address other than the address of record; (v) you want proceeds to be sent according to existing bank account instructions not coded for outgoing Automated Clearing House (ACH) or wire, or to a bank account not on file; or (vi) you are changing legal ownership of your account.
A Medallion Signature Guarantee helps assure that a signature is genuine and not a forgery. A Medallion Signature Guarantee must be provided by an eligible guarantor institution including, but not limited to, the following: a bank, credit union, savings association, broker or dealer that participates in the Securities Transfer Association Medallion Program (STAMP), the Stock Exchange Medallion Program (SEMP) or the New York Stock Exchange Medallion
| 48 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Mid Cap Growth Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
Signature Program (MSP). For other transactions, the Transfer Agent may require a signature guarantee. Notarization by a notary public is not an acceptable signature guarantee. The Transfer Agent reserves the right to reject a signature guarantee and to request additional documentation for any transaction.
Customer Identification Program
Federal law requires the Fund to obtain and record specific personal information to verify your identity when you open an account. This information may include your name, address, date of birth (for individuals) and taxpayer or other government issued identification (e.g., social security number (SSN) or other taxpayer identification number (TIN)). If you fail to provide the requested information, the Fund may need to delay the date of your purchase or may be unable to open your account, which may result in a return of your investment monies. In addition, if the Fund is unable to verify your identity after your account is open, the Fund reserves the right to close your account or take other steps as deemed reasonable. The Fund will not be liable for any loss resulting from any purchase delay, application rejection or account closure due to a failure to provide proper identifying information.
Small Account Policy — Class A, Class C, Class Inst, and Class V Share Accounts Below the Minimum Account Balance
The Funds generally will automatically sell your shares if the value of your Fund account (treating each account of the Fund you own separately from any other account of the Fund you may own) falls below the applicable minimum account balance. Any otherwise applicable CDSC will not be imposed on such an automatic sale of your shares. Generally, you may avoid such an automatic sale by raising your account balance to at least $250 or consolidating your multiple accounts you may have with the Funds through an exchange (so as to maintain at least $250 in each of your accounts). The minimum account balance varies among share classes and types of accounts, as follows:
| Minimum Account Balance | |
|
Minimum
Account Balance |
|
| For all classes and account types except those listed below |
$250 (None for accounts with
Systematic Investment Plans) |
| Individual Retirement Accounts for all classes except those listed below | None |
| Class Adv, Class Inst2, Class Inst3 and Class R | None |
For shares held directly with the Funds’ Transfer Agent, if your shares are sold, the Transfer Agent will remit the sale proceeds to you. The Transfer Agent will send you written notification in advance of any automatic sale, which will provide details on how you may avoid such an automatic sale. Generally, you may avoid such an automatic sale by raising your account balance to at least $250, consolidating your multiple accounts you may have with the Funds through an exchange (so as to maintain at least $250 in each of your accounts), or setting up a Systematic Investment Plan (described below). For more information, contact the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary. The Transfer Agent's contact information (toll-free number and mailing addresses) as well as the Funds’ website address can be found at the beginning of the section
Choosing a Share Class
.
For shares purchased and held for your benefit through a financial intermediary, the Funds may instruct the intermediary to automatically sell your Fund shares if the transaction can be operationally administered by the intermediary.
Small Account Policy — Class A, Class C, Class Inst, and Class V Share Accounts Minimum Balance Fee
If the value of your Fund account (treating each account of the Fund you own separately from any other account of the Fund you may own) falls below the minimum initial investment requirement applicable to you for any reason, including as a result of market decline, your account generally could be subject to a $20 annual fee. The Transfer Agent will reduce the expenses paid by the Fund by any amounts it collects from the assessment of this fee. For Funds that do not have transfer agency expenses against which to offset the amount collected through assessment of this fee, the
| Prospectus 2021 | 49 |
Columbia Mid Cap Growth Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
fee will be paid directly to the Fund. The Funds reserve the right to lower the account size trigger point for the minimum balance fee in any year or for any class of shares when we believe it is appropriate to do so in light of declines in the market value of Fund shares or for other reasons.
For shares held directly with the Funds’ Transfer Agent, this fee will be assessed through the automatic sale of Fund shares in your account. Any otherwise applicable CDSC will not be imposed on such an automatic sale of your shares. The Transfer Agent will send you written notification in advance of assessing any fee, which will provide details on how you can avoid the imposition of such fee. Generally, you may avoid the imposition of such fee by raising your Fund account balance, consolidating your multiple accounts you may have with the Funds, or setting up a Systematic Investment Plan that invests at least monthly. For more information, contact the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary. The Transfer Agent's contact information (toll-free number and mailing addresses) as well as the Funds’ website address can be found at the beginning of the section
Choosing a Share Class
.
For shares purchased and held for your benefit through a financial intermediary, this fee could be assessed through the automatic sale of Fund shares in your account if instructed by the Fund and the transaction can be operationally administered by the intermediary.
Exceptions to the Small Account Policy (Accounts Below Minimum Account Balance) and Minimum Balance Fee
The automatic sale of Fund shares in accounts under $250 and the annual minimum balance fee described above do not apply to shareholders of Class Adv, Class Inst2, Class Inst3 and Class R shares; shareholders holding their shares through financial intermediary networked accounts; wrap fee and omnibus accounts; accounts with active Systematic Investment Plans; certain qualified retirement plans; and health savings accounts. The automatic sale of Fund shares of accounts under the applicable minimum account balance does not apply to individual retirement plans.
Small Account Policy — Financial Intermediary Networked and Wrap Fee Accounts
The Funds may automatically redeem, at any time, financial intermediary networked accounts and wrap fee accounts that have account balances of $20 or less or have less than one share.
For shares purchased and held for your benefit through a financial intermediary, the Funds may instruct the intermediary to automatically sell your Fund shares if the transaction can be operationally administered by the intermediary.
Information Sharing Agreements
As required by Rule 22c-2 under the 1940 Act, the Funds or certain of their service providers will enter into information sharing agreements with financial intermediaries, including participating life insurance companies and financial intermediaries that sponsor or offer retirement plans through which shares of the Funds are made available for purchase. Pursuant to Rule 22c-2, financial intermediaries are required, upon request, to: (i) provide shareholder account and transaction information; and (ii) execute instructions from the Fund to restrict or prohibit further purchases of Fund shares by shareholders who have been identified by the Fund as having engaged in transactions that violate the Fund's excessive trading policies and procedures.
Excessive Trading Practices Policy of Non-Money Market Funds
Right to Reject or Restrict Share Transaction Orders—
The Fund is intended for investors with long-term investment purposes and is not intended as a vehicle for frequent trading activity (market timing) that is excessive. Investors should transact in Fund shares primarily for investment purposes. The Board has adopted excessive trading policies and procedures that are designed to deter excessive trading by investors (the Excessive Trading Policies and Procedures).
The Fund discourages and does not accommodate excessive trading.
The Fund reserves the right to reject, without any prior notice, any purchase or exchange order for any reason, and will not be liable for any loss resulting from rejected orders. For example, the Fund may in its sole discretion restrict or reject a purchase or exchange order even if the transaction is not subject to the specific limitation described below if the Fund or its agents determine that accepting the order could interfere with efficient management of the Fund's
| 50 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Mid Cap Growth Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
portfolio or is otherwise contrary to the Fund's best interests. The Excessive Trading Policies and Procedures apply equally to purchase or exchange transactions communicated directly to the Transfer Agent and to those received by financial intermediaries.
Specific Buying and Exchanging Limitations
— If a Fund detects that an investor has made two “material round trips” in any 28-day period, it will generally reject the investor's future purchase orders, including exchange purchase orders, involving any Fund.
For these purposes, a “round trip” is a purchase or exchange into the Fund followed by a sale or exchange out of the Fund, or a sale or exchange out of the Fund followed by a purchase or exchange into the Fund. A “material” round trip is one that is deemed by the Fund to be material in terms of its amount or its potential detrimental impact on the Fund. Independent of this limit, the Fund may, in its sole discretion, reject future purchase orders by any person, group or account that appears to have engaged in any type of excessive trading activity.
These limits generally do not apply to automated transactions or transactions by registered investment companies in a “fund-of-funds” structure. These limits do not apply to payroll deduction contributions by retirement plan participants, transactions initiated by a retirement plan sponsor or certain other retirement plan transactions consisting of rollover transactions, loan repayments and disbursements, and required minimum distribution redemptions. They may be modified or rescinded for accounts held by certain retirement plans to conform to plan limits, for considerations relating to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 or regulations of the Department of Labor, and for certain asset allocation or wrap programs. Accounts known to be under common ownership or control generally will be counted together, but accounts maintained or managed by a common intermediary generally will not be considered to be under common ownership or control. The Fund retains the right to modify these restrictions at any time without prior notice to shareholders. In addition, the Fund may, in its sole discretion, reinstate trading privileges that have been revoked under the Fund's Excessive Trading Policies and Procedures.
Limitations on the Ability to Detect and Prevent Excessive Trading Practices—
The Fund takes various steps designed to detect and prevent excessive trading, including daily review of available shareholder transaction information. However, the Fund receives buy, sell or exchange orders through financial intermediaries, and cannot always know of or reasonably detect excessive trading that may be facilitated by financial intermediaries or by the use of the omnibus account arrangements they offer. Omnibus account arrangements are common forms of holding shares of mutual funds, particularly among certain financial intermediaries such as broker-dealers, retirement plans and variable insurance products. These arrangements often permit financial intermediaries to aggregate their clients' transactions and accounts, and in these circumstances, the identities of the financial intermediary clients that beneficially own Fund shares are often not known to the Fund.
Some financial intermediaries apply their own restrictions or policies to their clients’ transactions and accounts, which may be more or less restrictive than those described here. This may impact the Fund's ability to curtail excessive trading, even where it is identified. For these and other reasons, it is possible that excessive trading may occur despite the Fund's efforts to detect and prevent it.
Although these restrictions and policies involve judgments that are inherently subjective and may involve some selectivity in their application, the Fund seeks to act in a manner that it believes is consistent with the best interests of Fund shareholders in making any such judgments.
Risks of Excessive Trading —
Excessive trading creates certain risks to the Fund's long-term shareholders and may create the following adverse effects:
| ■ | negative impact on the Fund's performance; |
| ■ | potential dilution of the value of the Fund's shares; |
| ■ | interference with the efficient management of the Fund's portfolio, such as the need to maintain undesirably large cash positions, the need to use its line of credit or the need to buy or sell securities it otherwise would not have bought or sold; |
| ■ | losses on the sale of investments resulting from the need to sell securities at less favorable prices; |
| Prospectus 2021 | 51 |
Columbia Mid Cap Growth Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
| ■ | increased taxable gains to the Fund's remaining shareholders resulting from the need to sell securities to meet sell orders; and |
| ■ | increased brokerage and administrative costs. |
To the extent that the Fund invests significantly in foreign securities traded on markets that close before the Fund's valuation time, it may be particularly susceptible to dilution as a result of excessive trading. Because events may occur after the close of foreign markets and before the Fund's valuation time that influence the value of foreign securities, investors may seek to trade Fund shares in an effort to benefit from their understanding of the value of foreign securities as of the Fund's valuation time. This is often referred to as price arbitrage. The Fund has adopted procedures designed to adjust closing market prices of foreign securities under certain circumstances to reflect what the Fund believes to be the fair value of those securities as of its valuation time. To the extent the adjustments do not work fully, investors engaging in price arbitrage may cause dilution in the value of the Fund's shares held by other shareholders.
Similarly, to the extent that the Fund invests significantly in thinly traded securities and other debt instruments that are rated below investment grade (commonly called “high-yield” or “junk” bonds), equity securities of small-capitalization companies, floating rate loans, or tax-exempt or other securities that may trade infrequently, because
these securities are often traded infrequently, investors may seek to trade Fund shares in an effort to benefit from their understanding of the value of these securities as of the Fund's valuation time. This is also a type of price arbitrage. Any such frequent trading strategies may interfere with efficient management of the Fund's portfolio to a greater degree than would be the case for mutual funds that invest only, or significantly, in highly liquid securities, in part because the Fund may have difficulty selling these particular investments at advantageous times or prices to satisfy large and/or frequent sell orders. Any successful price arbitrage may also cause dilution in the value of Fund shares held by non-redeeming shareholders.
Excessive Trading Practices Policy of Columbia Government Money Market Fund
A money market fund is designed to offer investors a liquid cash option that they may buy and sell as often as they wish. Accordingly, the Board has not adopted policies and procedures designed to discourage excessive or short-term trading of Columbia Government Money Market Fund shares. However, since frequent purchases and sales of Columbia Government Money Market Fund shares could in certain instances harm shareholders in various ways, including reducing the returns to long-term shareholders by increasing costs (such as spreads paid to dealers who trade money market instruments with Columbia Government Money Market Fund) and disrupting portfolio management strategies, Columbia Government Money Market Fund reserves the right, but has no obligation, to reject any purchase or exchange transaction at any time. Except as expressly described in this prospectus (such as minimum purchase amounts), Columbia Government Money Market Fund has no limits on purchase or exchange transactions. In addition, Columbia Government Money Market Fund reserves the right to impose or modify restrictions on purchases, exchanges or trading of Fund shares at any time.
Opening an Account and Placing Orders
We encourage you to consult with a financial advisor who can help you with your investment decisions and who can help you open an account. Once you have an account, you can buy, sell or exchange shares by contacting your financial advisor who will send your order to the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary. As described below, once you have an account you can also communicate your orders directly to the Transfer Agent by mail, by telephone or online.
The Funds are generally available directly and through broker-dealers, banks and other financial intermediaries or institutions, and through certain qualified and non-qualified plans, wrap fee products or other investment products sponsored by financial intermediaries. You may buy, sell, or exchange shares through your financial intermediary. If you maintain your account directly with your financial intermediary, you must contact that agent to process your transaction.
| 52 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Mid Cap Growth Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
Not all financial intermediaries offer the Funds (or all classes of Fund shares) and certain financial intermediaries that offer the Funds may not offer all Funds on all investment platforms or programs.
Please consult with your financial intermediary to determine the availability of the Funds. If you set up an account at a financial intermediary that does not have, and is unable to obtain, a selling agreement with the Distributor, you will not be able to transfer Fund holdings to that account. In that event, you must either maintain your Fund holdings with your current financial intermediary or find another financial intermediary with a selling agreement.
Financial intermediaries that offer the Funds may charge you additional fees for the services they provide and they may have different policies that are not described in this prospectus.
An investor transacting in a class of Fund shares without any front-end sales charge, CDSC, or other asset-based fee for sales or distribution, such as a Rule 12b-1 fee, may be required to pay a commission to the financial intermediary for effecting such transactions. The Funds are offered in a number of different share classes that have different fees and expenses and other features. Some differences in the policies of different financial intermediaries may include different minimum investment amounts, exchange privileges, Fund/class choices and cutoff times for investments. Additionally, recordkeeping, transaction processing and payments of distributions relating to your account may be performed by the financial intermediaries through which your shares of the Fund are held. Since the Fund (and its service providers) may not have a record of your account transactions, you should always contact the financial intermediary through which you purchased or at which you maintain your shares of the Fund to make changes to your account, to give instructions concerning your account, or to obtain information about your account. The Fund and its service providers, including the Distributor and the Transfer Agent, are not responsible for the failure of any financial intermediary to carry out its obligations to its customers.
The Fund may engage financial intermediaries to receive purchase, exchange and sell orders on its behalf. Accounts established directly with the Fund will be serviced by the Transfer Agent. The Funds, the Transfer Agent and the Distributor do not provide investment advice.
Direct-At-Fund Accounts (Accounts Established Directly with the Fund)
You can hold Fund shares through an account established and held through the financial intermediary through which you purchased Fund shares or you or your financial intermediary may establish an account directly with the Fund, in which case you will receive Fund account transaction confirmations and statements from the Transfer Agent, and not your financial intermediary (Direct-at-Fund Accounts).
To open a Direct-at-Fund Account, complete a Fund account application with your financial advisor or investment professional, and mail the account application to the Transfer Agent. Account applications may be obtained at columbiathreadneedleus.com or may be requested by calling 800.345.6611. Make your check payable to the Fund. You will be assessed a $15 fee for any checks rejected by your financial institution due to insufficient funds or other reasons. The Funds do not accept cash, credit card convenience checks, money orders, traveler's checks, starter checks, third or fourth party checks, or other cash equivalents.
Mail your check and completed application to the Transfer Agent at its regular or express mail address that can be found at the beginning of the section
Choosing a Share Class
. You may also use these addresses to request an exchange or redemption of Fund shares. When a written order to buy, sell or exchange shares is sent to the Transfer Agent, the share price used to fill the order is the next price calculated by the Fund after the Transfer Agent receives your transaction request in “good form” at its transaction processing center (i.e., the Fund’s express mail address), not the P.O. Box provided for regular mail delivery.
You will be sent a statement confirming your purchase and any subsequent transactions in your account. You will also be sent quarterly and annual statements detailing your transactions in the Fund and the other Funds you own under the same account. Duplicate quarterly account statements for the current year and duplicate annual statements for the most recent prior calendar year will be sent to you free of charge. Copies of year-end statements for prior years are available for a fee. Please contact the Transfer Agent for more information.
| Prospectus 2021 | 53 |
Columbia Mid Cap Growth Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
Written Transactions – Direct-at-Fund Accounts
If you have a Direct-at-Fund Account, you can communicate written buy, sell or exchange orders to the Transfer Agent at its address that can be found at the beginning of the section
. When a written order to buy, sell or exchange shares is sent to the Transfer Agent, the share price used to fill the order is the next price calculated by the Fund after the Transfer Agent receives your transaction request in “good form” at its transaction processing center (i.e., the Fund’s express mail address), not the P.O. Box provided for regular mail delivery.
Choosing a Share Class
Include in your transaction request letter: your name; the name of the Fund(s); your account number; the class of shares to be purchased, exchanged or sold; your SSN or other TIN; the dollar amount or number of shares you want to purchase, exchange or sell; specific instructions regarding delivery of any redemption proceeds or exchange destination (i.e., the Fund/class to be exchanged into); signature(s) of all registered account owner(s); and any special documents the Transfer Agent may require in order to process your order.
Corporate, trust or partnership accounts may need to send additional documents. Payment will be mailed to the address of record and made payable to the names listed on the account, unless your request specifies differently and is signed by all owners.
Telephone Transactions – Direct-at-Fund Accounts
For Class A, Class C, Class Inst, Class Inst3, Class R and Class V shares, if you have a Direct-at-Fund Account, you may place orders to buy, sell or exchange shares by telephone through the Transfer Agent. To place orders by telephone, call 800.422.3737. Have your account number and SSN or TIN available when calling.
You can sell Fund shares via telephone and receive redemption proceeds: by electronic funds transfer via ACH, by wire, or by check to the address of record, subject to a maximum of $100,000 of shares per day, per Fund account. You can buy Fund shares via telephone by electronic funds transfer via ACH from your bank account up to a maximum of $100,000 of shares per day, per Fund account, or by wire from your bank account without a maximum. See below for more information regarding wire and electronic fund transfer transactions. Certain restrictions apply, so please call the Transfer Agent at 800.422.3737 for this and other information in advance of any need to transact via telephone.
Telephone orders may not be as secure as written orders. The Fund will take reasonable steps to confirm that telephone instructions are genuine. For example, we require proof of your identification before we will act on instructions received by telephone and may record telephone conversations. However, the Fund and its agents will not be responsible for any losses, costs or expenses resulting from an unauthorized telephone instruction when reasonable steps have been taken to confirm that telephone instructions are genuine. Telephone orders may be difficult to complete during periods of significant economic or market change or business interruption.
Online Transactions – Direct-at-Fund Accounts
For Class A, Class C, Class Inst, Class Inst3, Class R and Class V shares, if you have a Direct-at-Fund Account, you may be able to place orders to buy, sell, or exchange shares online. Contact the Transfer Agent at 800.345.6611 for more information on certain account trading restrictions and the special sign-up procedures required for online transactions. You can also go to columbiathreadneedleus.com/investor/ to sign up for online transactions. The Transfer Agent has procedures in place to authenticate electronic orders you send through the internet. You will be required to accept the terms of an online agreement and to establish an online account and utilize a password in order to access online account services. You can sell a maximum of $100,000 of shares per day, per Fund account through your online account if you qualify for internet orders. Wire transactions are not permitted online.
| 54 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Mid Cap Growth Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
Wire Transactions – Direct-at-Fund Accounts
If you hold a Direct-at-Fund Account, you may purchase or redeem Class A, Class C, Class Inst, Class Inst3, Class R and Class V shares of a Fund by wiring money from (or to) your bank account to (or from) your Fund account. You must set up this feature prior to your request unless you are submitting your request in writing, which may require a Medallion Signature Guarantee. Please contact the Transfer Agent by calling 800.422.3737 to obtain the necessary forms and requirements. The Transfer Agent charges a fee for shares sold by wire. The Transfer Agent may waive the fee for certain accounts. In the case of a redemption, the receiving bank may charge an additional fee. The minimum amount that can be redeemed by wire is $500. When selling Fund shares via a telephone request, the maximum amount that can be redeemed via wire transfer is $100,000 per day, per Fund account. Wire transactions are not permitted online.
Electronic Funds Transfer via ACH – Direct-at-Fund Accounts
If you hold a Direct-at-Fund Account, you may purchase or redeem Class A, Class C, Class Inst, Class Inst3, Class R and Class V shares of a Fund by electronically transferring money via Automated Clearing House (ACH) from (or to) your bank account to (or from) your Fund account subject to a maximum of $100,000 of shares per day, per Fund account. You must set up this feature prior to your request, unless you are submitting your request in writing, which may require a Medallion Signature Guarantee. Please contact the Transfer Agent by calling 800.422.3737 to obtain the necessary forms and requirements. Your bank may take up to three business days to post an electronic funds transfer to (or from) your Fund account.
Buying Shares
Eligible Investors
Class A Shares
Class A shares are available to the general public for investment. However, Class A shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund must be purchased through financial intermediaries that, by written agreement with the Distributor, are specifically authorized to sell the Fund’s shares.
Class Adv Shares
Class Adv shares are available only to (i) omnibus retirement plans, including self-directed brokerage accounts within omnibus retirement plans that clear through institutional no transaction fee (NTF) platforms, (ii) trust companies or similar institutions, (iii) broker-dealers, banks, trust companies and similar institutions that clear Fund share transactions for their client or customer investment advisory or similar accounts through designated financial intermediaries and their mutual fund trading platforms that have been granted specific written authorization from the Transfer Agent with respect to Class Adv eligibility apart from selling, servicing or similar agreements, (iv) 501(c)(3) charitable organizations, (v) 529 plans, (vi) health savings accounts, (vii) investors participating in a fee-based advisory program sponsored by a financial intermediary or other entity that is not compensated by the Fund for those services, other than payments for shareholder servicing or sub-accounting performed in place of the Transfer Agent, and (viii) commissionable brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary, acting as broker on behalf of its customer, charges the customer a commission for effecting transactions in Fund shares, provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Adv shares within such platform.
Class Adv shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund must be purchased through financial intermediaries that, by written agreement with the Distributor, are specifically authorized to sell the Fund’s shares. Class Adv shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund are also available to certain registered investment advisers that clear Fund share transactions for their client accounts through designated financial intermediaries with mutual fund trading platforms that have been granted specific written authorization from the Transfer Agent (apart from selling, servicing or similar agreements) to sell Class Inst2 shares, which are not offered by the Fund.
Class C Shares
Class C shares are available to the general public for investment.
| Prospectus 2021 | 55 |
Columbia Mid Cap Growth Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
Class Inst Shares
Class Inst shares are available only to the categories of eligible investors described below under
.
Class Inst Shares Minimum Initial Investments
Financial intermediaries that clear Fund share transactions through designated financial intermediaries and their mutual fund trading platforms that were given specific written notice from the Transfer Agent of the termination, effective March 29, 2013, of their eligibility for new purchases of Class Inst shares and omnibus retirement plans are not permitted to establish new Class Inst accounts, subject to certain exceptions described below.
Omnibus retirement plans that opened and, subject to certain exceptions, funded a Class Inst account with the Fund as of the close of business on March 28, 2013 and have continuously held Class Inst shares in such account after such date (each, a grandfathered plan), may generally continue to make additional purchases of Class Inst shares, open new Class Inst accounts and add new participants. In addition, an omnibus retirement plan affiliated with a grandfathered plan may, in the sole discretion of the Distributor, open new Class Inst accounts in a Fund if the affiliated plan opened a Class Inst account on or before March 28, 2013. If an omnibus retirement plan invested in Class Inst shares changes recordkeepers after March 28, 2013, any new accounts established for that plan may not be established in Class Inst shares, but such a plan may establish new accounts in a different share class for which the plan is eligible.
Accounts of financial intermediaries (other than omnibus retirement plans, which are discussed above) that clear Fund share transactions for their client or customer accounts through designated financial intermediaries and their mutual fund trading platforms that received specific written notice from the Transfer Agent of the termination, effective March 29, 2013, of their eligibility for new purchases of Class Inst shares will not be permitted to establish new Class Inst accounts or make additional purchases of Class Inst shares (other than through reinvestment of distributions). Any such account may, at its holder’s option, exchange Class Inst shares of a Fund, without the payment of a sales charge, for Class A shares of the same Fund.
Class Inst shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund must be purchased through financial intermediaries that, by written agreement with the Distributor, are specifically authorized to sell the Fund’s shares.
Class Inst2 Shares
Class Inst2 shares are available only to (i) certain registered investment advisers and family offices that clear Fund share transactions for their client or customer accounts through designated financial intermediaries and their mutual fund trading platforms that have been granted specific written authorization from the Transfer Agent with respect to Class Inst2 eligibility apart from selling, servicing or similar agreements; (ii) omnibus retirement plans; and (iii) institutional investors that are clients of the Columbia Threadneedle Global Institutional Distribution Team that invest in Class Inst2 shares for their own account through platforms approved by the Distributor or an affiliate thereof to offer and/or service Class Inst2 shares within such platform. Prior to November 8, 2012, Class Inst2 shares were closed to new investors and new accounts, subject to certain exceptions. Existing shareholders who do not satisfy the new eligibility requirements for investment in Class Inst2 may not establish new Class Inst2 accounts but may continue to make additional purchases of Class Inst2 shares in accounts opened and funded prior to November 8, 2012; provided, however, that investment advisory programs and similar programs that opened a Class Inst2 account as of May 1, 2010, and continuously hold Class Inst2 shares in such account after such date, may generally not only continue to make additional purchases of Class Inst2 shares but also open new Class Inst2 accounts for such pre-existing programs and add new shareholders in the program.
Class Inst3 Shares
Class Inst3 shares are available to: (i) group retirement plans that maintain plan-level or omnibus accounts with the Fund (through the Transfer Agent); (ii) institutional investors that are clients of the Columbia Threadneedle Global Institutional Distribution Team that invest in Class Inst3 shares for their own account through platforms approved by the Distributor or an affiliate thereof to offer and/or service Class Inst3 shares within such platform; (iii) collective trust funds; (iv) affiliated or unaffiliated mutual funds (e.g., funds operating as funds-of-funds); (v) fee-based platforms of financial intermediaries (or the clearing intermediary that they trade through) that have an agreement with the Distributor or an affiliate thereof that specifically authorizes the financial intermediary to offer and/or service
| 56 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Mid Cap Growth Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
Class Inst3 shares within such platform, provided also that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account; (vi) commissionable brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary, acting as broker on behalf of its customer, charges the customer a commission for effecting transactions in Fund shares, provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst3 shares within such platform and that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account; and (vii) bank trust departments, subject to an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst3 shares and provided that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account. In each case above where noted that Fund shares are required to be held in an omnibus account, the Distributor may, in its discretion, determine to waive this requirement.
Class Inst3 shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund must be purchased through financial intermediaries that, by written agreement with the Distributor, are specifically authorized to sell the Fund’s shares. Please note that Class Inst3 shares that were open and funded accounts prior to November 30, 2018 (the conversion date from the former unnamed share class to Class Inst3 shares) are eligible for additional investment; however, any account established after that date must meet the current Class Inst3 eligibility requirements.
Class R Shares
Class R shares are available only to eligible health savings accounts sponsored by third party platforms, including those sponsored by Ameriprise Financial affiliates, eligible retirement plans and, in the sole discretion of the Distributor, other types of retirement accounts held through platforms maintained by financial intermediaries approved by the Distributor. Eligible retirement plans include any retirement plan other than individual 403(b) plans. Class R shares are generally not available for investment through retail nonretirement accounts, traditional and Roth IRAs, Coverdell Education Savings Accounts, SEPs, SAR-SEPs, Simple IRAs or 529 tuition programs. Contact the Transfer Agent or your retirement plan or health savings account administrator for more information about investing in Class R shares.
Class V Shares
Class V shares are available only to investors who received (and who have continuously held) Class V shares (formerly named Class T shares) in connection with the merger of certain Galaxy funds into certain Funds that were then named Liberty funds.
Additional Eligible Investors
In addition, the Distributor, in its sole discretion, may accept investments in any share class from investors other than those listed in this prospectus, and may also waive certain eligibility requirements for operational and other reasons, including but not limited to any requirement to maintain Fund shares in networked or omnibus accounts.
Minimum Initial Investments
The table below shows the Fund’s minimum initial investment requirements, which may vary by class and type of account.
The Fund reserves the right to redeem your shares if your account falls below the Fund’s minimum initial investment requirement.
|
Minimum Initial Investments
|
||
|
Minimum
Initial Investment
(a)
|
Minimum
Initial Investment for Accounts with Systematic Investment Plans |
|
| For all classes and account types except those listed below | $2,000 |
$100
(b)
|
| Individual Retirement Accounts for all classes except those listed below | $1,000 |
$100
(c)
|
| Group retirement plans | None | N/A |
| Class Adv and Class Inst |
$0, $1,000 or $2,000
(d)
|
$100
(d)
|
| Class Inst2 and Class R | None | N/A |
| Prospectus 2021 | 57 |
Columbia Mid Cap Growth Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
|
Minimum Initial Investments
|
||
|
Minimum
Initial Investment
(a)
|
Minimum
Initial Investment for Accounts with Systematic Investment Plans |
|
| Class Inst3 |
$0, $1,000, $2,000 or $1 million
(e)
|
$100
(e)
|
| (a) |
If your Class A, Class Adv, Class C, Class Inst, Class Inst3 or Class V shares account balance falls below the minimum initial investment amount for any reason, including a market decline, you may be asked to increase it to the minimum initial investment amount or establish a monthly Systematic Investment Plan. If you do not do so, your account will be subject to a $20 annual low balance fee and/or shares may be automatically redeemed and the proceeds mailed to you if the account falls below the minimum account balance. See
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares — Transaction Rules and Policies
|
| (b) |
Columbia Government Money Market Fund
—
|
| (c) |
Columbia Government Money Market Fund
—
|
| (d) |
The minimum initial investment in Class Adv shares is $2,000 ($1,000 for IRAs; $100 for systematic investment plan accounts) for commissionable brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary, acting as broker on behalf of its customers, charges the customer a commission for effecting transactions in Fund shares, provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Adv shares within such platform; for all other eligible Class Adv share investors (see
Buying Shares – Eligible Investors – Class Adv Shares
Class Inst Shares Minimum Initial Investments
|
| (e) | There is no minimum initial investment in Class Inst3 shares for: group retirement plans that maintain plan-level or omnibus accounts with the Fund; collective trust funds; affiliated or unaffiliated mutual funds (e.g., funds operating as funds-of-funds); fee-based platforms of financial intermediaries (or the clearing intermediary that they trade through) that have an agreement with the Distributor or an affiliate thereof that specifically authorizes the financial intermediary to offer and/or service Class Inst3 shares within such platform and Fund shares are held in an omnibus account; and bank trust departments, subject to an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst3 shares and provided that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account. The minimum initial investment in Class Inst3 shares is $2,000 ($1,000 for IRAs; $100 for systematic investment plan accounts) for commissionable brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary, acting as broker on behalf of its customer, charges the customer a commission for effecting transactions in Fund shares, provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst3 shares within such platform and Fund shares are held in an omnibus account. The minimum initial investment in Class Inst3 shares is $1 million, unless waived in the discretion of the Distributor, for the following investors: institutional investors that are clients of the Columbia Threadneedle Global Institutional Distribution Team that invest in Class Inst3 shares for their own account through platforms approved by the Distributor or an affiliate thereof to offer and/or service Class Inst3 shares within such platform. The Distributor may, in its discretion, waive the $1 million minimum initial investment required for these Class Inst3 investors. In each case above where noted that Fund shares are required to be held in an omnibus account, the Distributor may, in its discretion, determine to waive this requirement. |
Additional Information about Minimum Initial Investments
The minimum initial investment requirements may be waived for accounts that are managed by an investment professional, or for accounts held in approved discretionary or non-discretionary wrap programs. The Distributor, in its sole discretion, may also waive minimum initial investment requirements for other account types.
Minimum investment and related requirements may be modified at any time, with or without prior notice. If your account is closed and then re-opened with a systematic investment plan, your account must meet the then-current applicable minimum initial investment.
Class Inst Shares Minimum Initial Investments
There is no minimum initial investment in Class Inst shares for the following categories of eligible investors:
| ■ | Any health savings account sponsored by a third party platform. |
| ■ | Any investor participating in an account sponsored by a financial intermediary or other entity (that provides services to the account) that is paid a fee-based advisory fee by the investor and that is not compensated by the Fund for those services, other than payments for shareholder servicing or sub-accounting performed in place of the Transfer Agent. |
| ■ | Any commissionable brokerage account, if a financial intermediary has received a written approval from the Distributor to waive the minimum initial investment in Class Inst shares. |
The minimum initial investment in Class Inst shares for the following categories of eligible investors is $1,000:
| 58 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Mid Cap Growth Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
| ■ | Individual retirement accounts (IRAs) on commissionable brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary, acting as broker on behalf of its customer, charges the customer a commission for effecting transactions in Fund shares, provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst shares within such platform. |
| ■ | Any current employee of Columbia Management Investment Advisers LLC, the Distributor or the Transfer Agent and immediate family members of any of the foregoing who share the same address are eligible to invest in Class Inst shares through an individual retirement account (IRA). If you maintain your account with a financial intermediary, you must contact that financial intermediary each time you seek to purchase shares to notify them that you qualify for Class Inst shares. If Class Inst shares are not available at your financial intermediary, you may consider opening a Direct-at-Fund Account. It is your obligation to advise your financial intermediary or (in the case of Direct-at-Fund Accounts) the Transfer Agent that you qualify for Class Inst shares; be prepared to provide proof thereof. |
The minimum initial investment in Class Inst shares for the following categories of eligible investors is $2,000:
| ■ | Investors (except investors in individual retirement accounts (IRAs)) who purchase Fund shares through commissionable brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary holds the shares in an omnibus account and, acting as broker on behalf of its customer, charges the customer a commission for effecting transactions in Fund shares provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst shares within such platform. |
| ■ | Any current employee of Columbia Management Investment Advisers LLC, the Distributor or the Transfer Agent and immediate family members of any of the foregoing who share the same address are eligible to invest in Class Inst shares (other than individual retirement accounts (IRAs), for which the minimum initial investment is $1,000). If you maintain your account with a financial intermediary, you must contact that financial intermediary each time you seek to purchase shares to notify them that you qualify for Class Inst shares. If Class Inst shares are not available at your financial intermediary, you may consider opening a Direct-at-Fund Account. It is your obligation to advise your financial intermediary or (in the case of Direct-at-Fund Accounts) the Transfer Agent that you qualify for Class Inst shares; be prepared to provide proof thereof. |
| ■ | Certain financial institutions and intermediaries, such as insurance companies, trust companies, banks, endowments, investment companies or foundations, buying shares for their own account, including Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates and/or subsidiaries. |
| ■ | Bank trust departments that assess their clients an asset-based fee. |
| ■ | Certain other investors as set forth in more detail in the SAI. |
Systematic Investment Plan
The Systematic Investment Plan allows you to schedule regular purchases via automatic transfers from your bank account to the Fund on a monthly, quarterly or semiannual basis. Contact the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary to set up the plan. Systematic Investment Plans may not be available for all share classes. With the exception of Columbia Government Money Market Fund, the Systematic Investment Plan is confirmed on your quarterly account statement.
Dividend Diversification
Generally, you may automatically invest Fund distributions into the same class of shares (and in some cases certain other classes of shares) of another Fund without paying any applicable front-end sales charge. Call the Transfer Agent at 800.345.6611 for details. The ability to invest distributions from one Fund to another Fund may not be available to accounts held at all financial intermediaries.
Other Purchase Rules You Should Know
| ■ | Once the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary receives your purchase order in “good form,” your purchase will be made at the Fund’s next calculated public offering price per share, which is the NAV per share plus any sales charge that applies (i.e., the trade date). |
| ■ | Once the Fund receives your purchase request in “good form,” you cannot cancel it after the market closes. |
| Prospectus 2021 | 59 |
Columbia Mid Cap Growth Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
| ■ | You generally buy Class A and Class V shares at the public offering price per share because purchases of these share classes are generally subject to a front-end sales charge. |
| ■ | You buy Class Adv, Class C, Class Inst, Class Inst2, Class Inst3 and Class R shares at NAV per share because no front-end sales charge applies to purchases of these share classes. |
| ■ | Class A shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund are not eligible for purchase by a Direct-at-Fund Account. |
| ■ | Class Inst shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund are not eligible for purchase by a Direct-at-Fund Account except for any current employee of Columbia Management Investment Advisers LLC, the Distributor or Transfer Agent and immediate family members of the foregoing who share the same address. |
| ■ | The Distributor and the Transfer Agent reserve the right to cancel your order request if the Fund does not receive payment within two business days of receiving your purchase order request. The Fund will return any payment received for orders that have been cancelled, but no interest will be paid on that money. |
| ■ | Financial intermediaries are responsible for sending your purchase orders to the Transfer Agent and ensuring that the Fund receives your money on time. |
| ■ | Shares purchased are recorded on the books of the Fund. The Fund does not issue certificates. |
Please also read
and contact your financial intermediary for more information regarding any reductions and/or waivers described therein.
Appendix A
Selling Shares
When you sell shares, the amount you receive may be more or less than the amount you invested. Your sale price will be the next NAV calculated after your request is received in “good form,” (i.e., the trade date) minus any applicable CDSC.
Systematic Withdrawal Plan
The Systematic Withdrawal Plan allows you to schedule regular redemptions from your account any business day on a monthly, quarterly or semiannual basis. Currently, Systematic Withdrawal Plans are generally available for Class A, Class Adv, Class C, Class Inst, Class Inst2, Class Inst3, and Class V share accounts. Contact the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary to set up the plan. To set up the plan, your account balance must meet the class minimum initial investment amount. A Systematic Withdrawal Plan cannot be set up on an account that already has a Systematic Investment Plan established. Note that a Medallion Signature Guarantee may be required if this service is established after your Fund account is opened.
You can choose to receive your withdrawals via check or direct deposit into your bank account. The Fund will deduct any applicable CDSC from the withdrawals before sending redemption proceeds to you. You can cancel the plan by giving the Fund 30 days’ notice in writing or by calling the Transfer Agent at 800.422.3737. It’s important to remember that if you withdraw more than your investment in the Fund is earning, you'll eventually withdraw your entire investment.
Check Redemption Service (for Columbia Government Money Market Fund)
Class A and Class Inst shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund (which is not offered in this prospectus) offer check writing privileges. If you have $2,000 in Columbia Government Money Market Fund, you may request checks which may be drawn against your account. The amount of any check drawn against your Columbia Government Money Market Fund must be at least $100 and not more than $100,000 per day. You can elect this service when you initially establish your account or thereafter. Call 800.345.6611 for the appropriate forms to establish this service. If you own Class A shares that were originally purchased in another Fund at NAV because of the size of the purchase, and then exchanged into Columbia Government Money Market Fund, check redemptions may be subject to a CDSC. A $15 charge will be assessed for any stop payment order requested by you or any overdraft in connection with checks written against your Columbia Government Money Market Fund account. Note that a Medallion Signature Guarantee may be required if this service is established after your Fund account is opened.
| 60 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Mid Cap Growth Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
Satisfying Fund Redemption Requests
When you sell your Fund shares, the Fund is effectively buying them back from you. This is called a redemption. Except as noted below with respect to newly purchased shares, the Fund typically expects to send you payment for your shares within two business days after your trade date for all methods of payment. The Fund can suspend redemptions and/or delay payment of redemption proceeds for up to seven days. The Fund can also suspend redemptions and/or delay payment of redemption proceeds in excess of seven days under certain circumstances, including when the NYSE is closed or trading thereon is restricted or during emergency or other circumstances, including as determined by the SEC.
The Fund typically seeks to satisfy redemption requests from cash or cash equivalents held by the Fund, from the proceeds of orders to purchase Fund shares or from the proceeds of sales of Fund holdings effected in the normal course of managing the Fund. However, the Fund may have to sell Fund holdings, including in down markets, to meet heavier than usual redemption requests. For example, under stressed or abnormal market conditions or circumstances, including circumstances adversely affecting the liquidity of the Fund’s investments, the Fund may be more likely to be forced to sell Fund holdings to meet redemptions than under normal market circumstances. In these situations, the Fund’s portfolio managers may have to sell Fund holdings that would not otherwise be sold because, among other reasons, the current price to be received is less than the value of the holdings perceived by the Fund’s portfolio managers. The Fund may also, under certain circumstances (but more likely under stressed or abnormal market conditions or circumstances), borrow money under a credit facility to which the Fund and certain other Columbia Funds are parties or from other Columbia Funds under an interfund lending program (except for closed-end funds and money market funds, which are not eligible to borrow under the program). The Fund and the other Columbia Funds are limited as to the amount that each may individually and collectively borrow under the credit facility and the interfund lending program. As a result, borrowings available to the Fund under the credit facility and the interfund lending program might be insufficient, alone or in combination with the other strategies described herein, to satisfy Fund redemption requests. Please see
in the SAI for more information about the credit facility and interfund lending program. The Fund is also limited in the total amount it may borrow. The Fund may only borrow to the extent permitted by the 1940 Act, the rules and regulations thereunder, and any exemptive relief available to the Fund, which currently limit Fund borrowings to 33 1/3% of total assets (including any amounts borrowed) less liabilities (other than borrowings), plus an additional 5% of its total assets for temporary purposes (to be repaid within 60 days without extension or renewal), in each case determined at the time the borrowing is made.
About Fund Investments – Borrowings – Interfund Lending
In addition, the Fund reserves the right to honor redemption orders in whole or in part with in-kind distributions of Fund portfolio securities instead of cash. Such in-kind distributions typically represent a pro-rata portion of Fund portfolio assets subject to adjustments (e.g., for non-transferable securities, round lots, and derivatives). In the event the Fund distributes portfolio securities in kind, you may incur brokerage and other transaction costs associated with converting the portfolio securities you receive into cash. Also, the portfolio securities you receive may increase or decrease in value after they are distributed but before you convert them into cash. For U.S. federal income tax purposes, redemptions paid in securities are generally treated the same as redemptions paid in cash. If, during any 90-day period, you redeem shares in an amount greater than $250,000 or 1% of the Fund’s net assets (whichever is less), and if the Investment Manager determines it to be feasible and appropriate, the Fund may pay the redemption amount above such threshold by an in-kind distribution of Fund portfolio securities.
While the Fund is not required (and may refuse in its discretion) to pay a redemption with an in-kind distribution of Fund portfolio securities and reserves the right to pay the redemption proceeds in cash, if you wish to request an in-kind redemption, please call the Transfer Agent at 800.345.6611. As a result of the operational steps needed to coordinate with the redeeming shareholder’s custodian, in-kind redemptions typically take several weeks to complete after a redemption request is received. The Fund and the redeeming shareholder will typically agree upon a redemption date. Since the Fund’s NAV may fluctuate during this time, the Fund’s NAV may be lower on the agreed-upon redemption date than on an earlier date on which the investment could have been redeemed for cash.
| Prospectus 2021 | 61 |
Columbia Mid Cap Growth Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
Redemption of Newly Purchased Shares
You may not redeem shares for which the Fund has not yet received payment. Shares purchased by check or electronically by ACH when the purchase payment is not guaranteed will be considered in “good form” for redemption only after they have been held in your account for 6 calendar days after the trade date of the purchase (Collected Shares). If you request a redemption for an amount that, based on the NAV next calculated after your redemption request is received, includes any shares that are not yet Collected Shares, the Fund will only process the redemption up to the amount of the value of Collected Shares available in your account. You must submit a new redemption request if you wish to redeem those shares that were not yet Collected Shares at the time the original redemption request was received by the Fund.
Other Redemption Rules You Should Know
| ■ | Once the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary receives your redemption order in “good form,” your shares will be sold at the Fund’s next calculated NAV per share (i.e., the trade date). Any applicable CDSC will be deducted from the amount you're selling and the balance will be remitted to you. |
| ■ | Once the Fund receives your redemption request in “good form,” you cannot cancel it after the market closes. |
| ■ | If you sell your shares that are held in a Direct-at-Fund Account, we will normally send the redemption proceeds by mail or electronically transfer them to your bank account the next business day after the trade date. Note that your bank may take up to three business days to post an electronic funds transfer from your account. |
| ■ | If you sell your shares through a financial intermediary, the Funds will normally send the redemption proceeds to your financial intermediary within two business days after the trade date. |
| ■ | No interest will be paid on uncashed redemption checks. |
| ■ | Other restrictions may apply to retirement accounts. For information about these restrictions, contact your retirement plan administrator. |
| ■ | For broker-dealer and wrap fee accounts: The Fund reserves the right to redeem your shares if your account falls below the Fund's minimum initial investment requirement. The Fund will notify your broker-dealer prior to redeeming shares, and will provide details on how to avoid such redemption. |
| ■ |
Also keep in mind the Funds' Small Account Policy, which is described above in
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares — Transaction Rules and Policies.
|
Exchanging Shares
You can generally sell shares of your Fund to buy shares of another Fund (subject to eligibility requirements), in what is called an exchange. You should read the prospectus of, and make sure you understand the investment objective, principal investment strategies, risks, fees and expenses of, the Fund into which you are exchanging. Although the Funds allow certain exchanges from one share class to another share class with higher expenses, you should consider the expenses of each class before making such an exchange. Please see
below for more information.
Same-Fund Exchange Privilege
You will be subject to a sales charge if, in a Direct-at-Fund Account, you exchange shares that have not previously paid a sales charge, including from Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund, Columbia Small Cap Index Fund, Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund or any other Columbia Fund that does not charge a front-end sales charge, into a Columbia Fund that does assess a sales charge.
Please contact your financial intermediary for more information.
If you hold your Fund shares through certain financial intermediaries, you may have limited exchangeability among the Funds.
Systematic Exchanges
You may buy Class A, Class C, Class Inst, Class Inst3 and Class V shares of a Fund by exchanging each month from another Fund for shares of the same class of the Fund at no additional cost, subject to the following exchange amount minimums: $50 each month for individual retirement accounts (i.e., tax qualified accounts); and $100 each month for non-retirement accounts. Contact the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary to set up the plan.
| 62 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Mid Cap Growth Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
Exchanges will continue as long as your balance in the Fund you are exchanging shares from is sufficient to complete the systematic monthly exchange, subject to the Funds' Small Account Policy described above in
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares — Transaction Rules and Policies.
You may terminate the program or change the amount you would like to exchange (subject to the $50 and $100 minimum requirements noted immediately above) by calling the Transfer Agent at 800.345.6611.
Other Exchange Rules You Should Know
| ■ | Exchanges are made at the NAV next calculated (plus any applicable sales charge) after your exchange order is received in “good form” (i.e., the trade date). |
| ■ | Once the Fund receives your exchange request in “good form,” you cannot cancel it after the market closes. |
| ■ | The rules for buying shares of a Fund generally apply to exchanges into that Fund, including, if your exchange creates a new Fund account, it must satisfy the minimum investment amount, unless a waiver applies. |
| ■ | Shares of the purchased Fund may not be used on the same day for another exchange or sale. |
| ■ | If you exchange shares from Class A shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund to a non-money market Fund, any further exchanges must be between shares of the same class. For example, if you exchange from Class A shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund into Class C shares of a non-money market Fund, you may not exchange from Class C shares of that non-money market Fund back to Class A shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund or Class A shares of any other Fund. |
| ■ | A sales charge may apply when you exchange shares of a Fund that were not assessed a sales charge at the time you purchased such shares. If you invest through a Direct-at-Fund Account in Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund, Columbia Small Cap Index Fund, Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund, Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund or any other Columbia Fund that does not impose a front-end sales charge and then you exchange into a Fund that does assess a sales charge, your transaction is subject to a front-end sales charge if you exchange into Class A shares and to a CDSC if you exchange into Class C shares of the Columbia Funds. |
| ■ | If you purchased Class A shares of a Columbia Fund that imposes a front-end sales charge (and you paid any applicable sales charge) and you then exchange those shares into Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund, Columbia Small Cap Index Fund, Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund, Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund or any other Columbia Fund that does not impose a front-end sales charge, you may exchange that amount to Class A of another Fund in the future, including dividends earned on that amount, without paying a sales charge. |
| ■ | If your shares are subject to a CDSC, you will not be charged a CDSC upon the exchange of those shares. Any CDSC will be deducted when you sell the shares you received from the exchange. The CDSC imposed at that time will be based on the period that begins when you bought shares of the original Fund and ends when you sell the shares of the Fund you received from the exchange. Any applicable CDSC charged will be the CDSC of the original Fund. |
| ■ | You may make exchanges only into a Fund that is legally offered and sold in your state of residence. Contact the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary for more information. |
| ■ | You generally may make an exchange only into a Fund that is accepting investments. |
| ■ | The Fund may change or cancel your right to make an exchange by giving the amount of notice required by regulatory authorities (generally 60 days for a material change or cancellation). |
| ■ | Unless your account is part of a tax-advantaged arrangement, an exchange for shares of another Fund is a taxable event, and you may recognize a gain or loss for tax purposes. |
| ■ | Changing your investment to a different Fund will be treated as a sale and purchase, and you will be subject to applicable taxes on the sale and sales charges on the purchase of the new Fund. |
| Prospectus 2021 | 63 |
Columbia Mid Cap Growth Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
| ■ |
Class Inst shares of a Fund may be exchanged for Class A or Class Inst shares of another Fund. In certain circumstances, the front-end sales charge applicable to Class A shares may be waived on exchanges of Class Inst shares for Class A shares. See
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares — Buying Shares — Eligible Investors — Class Inst Shares
for details.
|
| ■ | Class A shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund are not eligible for exchange by a Direct-at-Fund Account. |
| ■ | Class Inst shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund are not eligible for exchange by a Direct-at-Fund Account except for any current employee of the Investment Manager, the Distributor or the Transfer Agent and immediate family members of any of the foregoing who share the same address. |
| ■ | You may generally exchange Class V shares of a Fund for Class A shares of another Fund if the other Fund does not offer Class V shares. Class V shares exchanged into Class A shares cannot be exchanged back into Class V shares. |
Same-Fund Exchange Privilege
Shareholders may be eligible to invest in other classes of shares of the same Fund, and may exchange their current shares for another share class if deemed eligible and offered by the Fund. Such same-Fund exchanges could include an exchange of one class for another with higher expenses. Before making such an exchange, you should consider the expenses of each class. Shareholders should contact their financial intermediaries to learn more about the details of the same-Fund exchange privilege. Exchanges out of Class A, Class C and Class V shares will be subject to any applicable CDSC. Financial intermediaries that have a customized arrangement with regard to CDSCs are detailed in
Appendix A
.
Exchanges out of Class C shares to another share class of the same Fund are not permissible on Direct-at-Fund Accounts. Exchanges out of Class C shares to another share class of the same Fund within commissionable brokerage accounts are permitted only (1) by shareholders moving from a commissionable brokerage account to a fee-based advisory program or (2) when the exchange is part of a share class conversion (or a similar multiple shareholder transaction event) instituted by a financial intermediary and such conversion or similar type event is preapproved by the Distributor.
Ordinarily, shareholders will not recognize a gain or loss for U.S. federal income tax purposes upon a same-Fund exchange. You should consult your tax advisor about your particular exchanges.
| 64 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Mid Cap Growth Fund
Distributions and Taxes
Distributions to Shareholders
A mutual fund can make money two ways:
| ■ | It can earn income on its investments. Examples of fund income are interest paid on money market instruments and bonds, and dividends paid on common stocks. |
| ■ | A mutual fund can also have capital gains if the value of its investments increases. While a fund continues to hold an investment, any gain is generally unrealized. If the fund sells an investment, it generally will realize a capital gain if it sells that investment for a higher price than its adjusted cost basis, and will generally realize a capital loss if it sells that investment for a lower price than its adjusted cost basis. Capital gains and losses are either short-term or long-term, depending on whether the fund holds the securities for one year or less (short-term) or more than one year (long-term). |
Mutual funds make payments of fund earnings to shareholders, distributing them among all shareholders of the fund. As a shareholder, you are entitled to your portion of a fund's distributed income, including capital gains. Reinvesting your distributions buys you more shares of a fund
—
which lets you take advantage of the potential for compound growth. Putting the money you earn back into your investment means it, in turn, may earn even more money (or be exposed to additional losses, if the fund earns a negative return). Over time, the power of compounding has the potential to significantly increase the value of your investment. There is no assurance, however, that you'll earn more money if you reinvest your distributions rather than receive them in cash.
The Fund intends to pay out, in the form of distributions to shareholders, a sufficient amount of its income and gains so that the Fund will qualify for treatment as a regulated investment company and generally will not have to pay any federal excise tax. The Fund generally intends to distribute any net realized capital gain (whether long-term or short-term gain) at least once a year. Normally, the Fund will declare and pay distributions of net investment income according to the following schedule:
| Declaration and Distribution Schedule | |
| Declarations | Annually |
| Distributions | Annually |
The Fund may declare or pay distributions of net investment income more frequently.
Different share classes of the Fund usually pay different net investment income distribution amounts, because each class has different expenses. Each time a distribution is made, the NAV per share of the share class is reduced by the amount of the distribution.
The Fund generally pays cash distributions within five business days after the distribution was declared (or, if the Fund declares distributions daily, within five business days after the end of the month in which the distribution was declared). If you sell all of your shares after the record date, but before the payment date, for a distribution, you'll normally receive that distribution in cash within five business days after the sale was made.
The Fund will automatically reinvest distributions in additional shares of the same share class of the Fund unless you inform us you want to receive your distributions in cash (the financial intermediary through which you purchased shares may have different policies). You can do this by contacting the Funds at the addresses and telephone numbers listed at the beginning of the section entitled
Choosing a Share Class
. No sales charges apply to the purchase or sale of such shares.
For accounts held directly with the Fund (through the Transfer Agent), distributions of $10 or less will automatically be reinvested in additional Fund shares only. If you elect to receive distributions by check and the check is returned as undeliverable, all subsequent distributions will be reinvested in additional shares of the Fund.
Unless you are a tax-exempt investor or holding Fund shares through a tax-advantaged account (such as a 401(k) plan or IRA), you should consider avoiding buying Fund shares shortly before the Fund makes a distribution (other than distributions of net investment income that are declared daily) of net investment income or net realized capital gain, because doing so can cost you money in taxes to the extent the distribution consists of taxable income or gains. This is because you will, in effect, receive part of your purchase price back in the distribution. This is known as
| Prospectus 2021 | 65 |
Columbia Mid Cap Growth Fund
Distributions and Taxes
(continued)
“buying a dividend.” To avoid “buying a dividend,” before you invest check the Fund's distribution schedule, which is available at the Funds' website and/or by calling the Funds' telephone number listed at the beginning of the section entitled
Choosing a Share Class
.
Taxes
You should be aware of the following considerations applicable to the Fund:
| ■ | The Fund intends to qualify and to be eligible for treatment each year as a regulated investment company. A regulated investment company generally is not subject to tax at the fund level on income and gains from investments that are distributed to shareholders. However, the Fund's failure to qualify for treatment as a regulated investment company would result in Fund-level taxation, and consequently, a reduction in income available for distribution to you and in the NAV of your shares. Even if the Fund qualifies for treatment as a regulated investment company, the Fund may be subject to federal excise tax on certain undistributed income or gains. |
| ■ | Otherwise taxable distributions generally are taxable to you when paid, whether they are paid in cash or automatically reinvested in additional Fund shares. Dividends paid in January are deemed paid on December 31 of the prior year if the dividend was declared and payable to shareholders of record in October, November, or December of such prior year. |
| ■ | Distributions of the Fund's ordinary income and net short-term capital gain, if any, generally are taxable to you as ordinary income. Distributions of the Fund's net long-term capital gain, if any, generally are taxable to you as long-term capital gain. Whether capital gains are long-term or short-term is determined by how long the Fund has owned the investments that generated them, rather than how long you have owned your shares. |
| ■ | From time to time, a distribution from the Fund could constitute a return of capital. A return of capital is a return of an amount of your original investment and is not a distribution of income or capital gain from the Fund. Therefore, a return of capital is not taxable to you so long as the amount of the distribution does not exceed your tax basis in your Fund shares. A return of capital reduces your tax basis in your Fund shares, with any amounts exceeding such basis generally taxable as capital gain. |
| ■ | If you are an individual and you meet certain holding period and other requirements for your Fund shares, a portion of your distributions may be treated as “qualified dividend income” taxable at the lower net long-term capital gain rates instead of the higher ordinary income rates. Qualified dividend income is income attributable to the Fund's dividends received from certain U.S. and foreign corporations, as long as the Fund meets certain holding period and other requirements for the stock producing such dividends. |
| ■ | Certain high-income individuals (as well as estates and trusts) are subject to a 3.8% tax on net investment income. For individuals, the 3.8% tax applies to the lesser of (1) the amount (if any) by which the taxpayer's modified adjusted gross income exceeds certain threshold amounts or (2) the taxpayer's “net investment income.” |
| Net investment income generally includes for this purpose dividends, including any capital gain dividends, paid by the Fund, and net gains recognized on the sale, redemption or exchange of shares of the Fund. |
| ■ | Certain derivative instruments when held in the Fund's portfolio subject the Fund to special tax rules, the effect of which may be to, among other things, accelerate income to the Fund, defer Fund losses, cause adjustments in the holding periods of Fund portfolio securities, or convert capital gains into ordinary income, short-term capital losses into long-term capital losses or long-term capital gains into short-term capital gains. These rules could therefore affect the amount, timing and/or character of distributions to shareholders. |
| ■ | Generally, a Fund realizes a capital gain or loss on an option when the option expires, or when it is exercised, sold or otherwise terminated. However, if an option is a “section 1256 contract,” which includes most traded options on a broad-based index, and the Fund holds such option at the end of its taxable year, the Fund is deemed to sell such option at fair market value at such time and recognize any gain or loss thereon, which is generally deemed to be 60% long-term and 40% short-term capital gain or loss, as described further in the SAI. |
| ■ | Income and proceeds received by the Fund from sources within foreign countries may be subject to foreign taxes. If at the end of the taxable year more than 50% of the value of the Fund's assets consists of securities of foreign |
| 66 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Mid Cap Growth Fund
Distributions and Taxes
(continued)
| corporations, and the Fund makes a special election, you will generally be required to include in your income for U.S. federal income tax purposes your share of the qualifying foreign income taxes paid by the Fund in respect of its foreign portfolio securities. You may be able to claim a foreign tax credit or deduction in respect of this amount, subject to certain limitations. There is no assurance that the Fund will make this election for a taxable year, even if it is eligible to do so. |
| ■ | A sale, redemption or exchange of Fund shares is a taxable event. This includes redemptions where you are paid in securities. Your sales, redemptions and exchanges of Fund shares (including those paid in securities) usually will result in a taxable capital gain or loss to you, equal to the difference between the amount you receive for your shares (or are deemed to have received in the case of exchanges) and your adjusted tax basis in the shares, which is generally the amount you paid (or are deemed to have paid in the case of exchanges) for them. Any such capital gain or loss generally will be long-term capital gain or loss if you have held your Fund shares for more than one year at the time of sale or exchange. In certain circumstances, capital losses may be converted from short-term to long-term; in other circumstances, capital losses may be disallowed under the “wash sale” rules. |
| ■ | For sales, redemptions and exchanges of shares that were acquired in a non-qualified account after 2011, the Fund generally is required to report to shareholders and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) cost basis information with respect to those shares. The Fund uses average cost basis as its default method of calculating cost basis. For more information regarding average cost basis reporting, other available cost basis methods, and selecting or changing to a different cost basis method, please see the SAI, columbiathreadneedleus.com, or contact the Fund at 800.345.6611. If you hold Fund shares through a financial intermediary (e.g., a brokerage firm), you should contact your financial intermediary to learn about its cost basis reporting default method and the reporting elections available to your account. |
| ■ | The Fund is required by federal law to withhold tax on any taxable or tax-exempt distributions and redemption proceeds paid to you (including amounts paid to you in securities and amounts deemed to be paid to you upon an exchange of shares) if: you have not provided a correct TIN or have not certified to the Fund that withholding does not apply, the IRS has notified us that the TIN listed on your account is incorrect according to its records, or the IRS informs the Fund that you are otherwise subject to backup withholding. |
FUNDamentals
Taxes
The information provided above is only a summary of how U.S. federal income taxes may affect your investment in the Fund. It is not intended as a substitute for careful tax planning. Your investment in the Fund may have other tax implications. It does not apply to certain types of investors who may be subject to special rules, including foreign or tax-exempt investors or those holding Fund shares through a tax-advantaged account, such as a 401(k) plan or IRA. Please see the SAI for more detailed tax information. You should consult with your own tax advisor about the particular tax consequences to you of an investment in the Fund, including the effect of any foreign, state and local taxes, and the effect of possible changes in applicable tax laws.
| Prospectus 2021 | 67 |
Columbia Mid Cap Growth Fund
Financial Highlights
The financial highlights table is intended to help you understand the Fund’s financial performance for the past five fiscal years or, if shorter, the Fund’s period of operations. Certain information reflects financial results for a single Fund share. Per share net investment income (loss) amounts are calculated based on average shares outstanding during the period. The total return in the table represents the rate that an investor would have earned (or lost) on an investment in the Fund assuming all dividends and distributions had been reinvested. Total return does not reflect payment of sales charges, if any. Total return and portfolio turnover are not annualized for periods of less than one year. The portfolio turnover rate is calculated without regard to purchase and sales transactions of short-term instruments and certain derivatives, if any. If such transactions were included, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate may be higher. This information has been audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm, whose report, along with the Fund’s financial statements, is included in the Fund’s annual report, which is available upon request.
| Prospectus 2021 | 69 |
Columbia Mid Cap Growth Fund
Financial Highlights
(continued)
|
Net asset value,
beginning of period |
Net
investment income (loss) |
Net
realized and unrealized gain (loss) |
Total from
investment operations |
Distributions
from net investment income |
Distributions
from net realized gains |
Total
distributions to shareholders |
|
| Class A | |||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $23.44 | (0.14) | 6.01 | 5.87 | — | (2.14) | (2.14) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $28.83 | (0.07) | 0.09 | 0.02 | — | (5.41) | (5.41) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $26.90 | (0.10) | 5.54 | 5.44 | — | (3.51) | (3.51) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $25.09 | (0.09) | 3.42 | 3.33 | — | (1.52) | (1.52) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $28.69 | (0.06) | 0.84 | 0.78 | (0.26) | (4.12) | (4.38) |
| Advisor Class | |||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $26.43 | (0.09) | 6.83 | 6.74 | — | (2.14) | (2.14) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $31.71 | (0.02) | 0.20 | 0.18 | — | (5.46) | (5.46) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $29.26 | (0.05) | 6.07 | 6.02 | — | (3.57) | (3.57) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $27.12 | (0.03) | 3.71 | 3.68 | — | (1.54) | (1.54) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $30.67 |
0.00
(d)
|
0.91 | 0.91 | (0.34) | (4.12) | (4.46) |
| Class C | |||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $18.48 | (0.24) | 4.62 | 4.38 | — | (2.14) | (2.14) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $23.99 | (0.20) |
(0.04)
(e)
|
(0.24) | — | (5.27) | (5.27) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $22.91 | (0.26) | 4.64 | 4.38 | — | (3.30) | (3.30) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $21.70 | (0.24) | 2.93 | 2.69 | — | (1.48) | (1.48) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $25.34 | (0.21) | 0.72 | 0.51 | (0.03) | (4.12) | (4.15) |
| Institutional Class | |||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $25.49 | (0.08) | 6.56 | 6.48 | — | (2.14) | (2.14) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $30.80 | (0.01) | 0.16 | 0.15 | — | (5.46) | (5.46) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $28.52 | (0.04) | 5.89 | 5.85 | — | (3.57) | (3.57) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $26.46 | (0.03) | 3.63 | 3.60 | — | (1.54) | (1.54) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $30.03 | 0.01 | 0.87 | 0.88 | (0.33) | (4.12) | (4.45) |
| Institutional 2 Class | |||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $25.75 | (0.07) | 6.65 | 6.58 | — | (2.14) | (2.14) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $31.06 |
0.00
(d)
|
0.16 | 0.16 | — | (5.47) | (5.47) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $28.73 | (0.02) | 5.95 | 5.93 | — | (3.60) | (3.60) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $26.63 |
(0.00)
(d)
|
3.65 | 3.65 | — | (1.55) | (1.55) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $30.20 | 0.04 | 0.88 | 0.92 | (0.37) | (4.12) | (4.49) |
| 70 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Mid Cap Growth Fund
Financial Highlights
(continued)
|
Net
asset value, end of period |
Total
return |
Total gross
expense ratio to average net assets
(a)
|
Total net
expense ratio to average net assets
(a), (b)
|
Net investment
income (loss) ratio to average net assets |
Portfolio
turnover |
Net
assets, end of period (000's) |
|
|
Class A
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $27.17 | 26.66% | 1.15% |
1.15%
(c)
|
(0.58%) | 63% | $967,087 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $23.44 | 2.78% | 1.17% | 1.17% | (0.31%) | 89% | $810,161 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $28.83 | 22.23% | 1.16% |
1.16%
(c)
|
(0.38%) | 140% | $922,862 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $26.90 | 13.97% | 1.19% |
1.19%
(c)
|
(0.37%) | 119% | $834,347 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $25.09 | 2.83% | 1.19% |
1.19%
(c)
|
(0.23%) | 130% | $880,155 |
|
Advisor Class
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $31.03 | 26.95% | 0.90% |
0.90%
(c)
|
(0.33%) | 63% | $8,071 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $26.43 | 3.08% | 0.92% | 0.92% | (0.06%) | 89% | $17,075 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $31.71 | 22.50% | 0.91% |
0.91%
(c)
|
(0.16%) | 140% | $15,488 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $29.26 | 14.24% | 0.94% |
0.94%
(c)
|
(0.11%) | 119% | $35,473 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $27.12 | 3.10% | 0.94% |
0.94%
(c)
|
0.02% | 130% | $26,945 |
|
Class C
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $20.72 | 25.67% | 1.90% |
1.90%
(c)
|
(1.32%) | 63% | $11,759 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $18.48 | 2.03% | 1.92% | 1.92% | (1.05%) | 89% | $12,863 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $23.99 | 21.27% | 1.91% |
1.91%
(c)
|
(1.15%) | 140% | $17,458 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $22.91 | 13.12% | 1.94% |
1.94%
(c)
|
(1.12%) | 119% | $41,030 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $21.70 | 2.05% | 1.94% |
1.94%
(c)
|
(0.98%) | 130% | $46,355 |
|
Institutional Class
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $29.83 | 26.92% | 0.90% |
0.90%
(c)
|
(0.33%) | 63% | $748,236 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $25.49 | 3.07% | 0.92% | 0.92% | (0.05%) | 89% | $652,043 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $30.80 | 22.49% | 0.91% |
0.91%
(c)
|
(0.13%) | 140% | $758,444 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $28.52 | 14.29% | 0.94% |
0.94%
(c)
|
(0.12%) | 119% | $679,866 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $26.46 | 3.09% | 0.94% |
0.94%
(c)
|
0.02% | 130% | $813,009 |
|
Institutional 2 Class
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $30.19 | 27.05% | 0.84% | 0.84% | (0.26%) | 63% | $43,423 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $25.75 | 3.11% | 0.84% | 0.84% | 0.02% | 89% | $46,284 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $31.06 | 22.60% | 0.83% | 0.83% | (0.06%) | 140% | $48,792 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $28.73 | 14.40% | 0.84% | 0.84% | (0.01%) | 119% | $51,118 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $26.63 | 3.21% | 0.83% | 0.83% | 0.14% | 130% | $36,964 |
|
Prospectus 2021
|
71
|
Columbia Mid Cap Growth Fund
Financial Highlights
(continued)
|
Net asset value,
beginning of period |
Net
investment income (loss) |
Net
realized and unrealized gain (loss) |
Total from
investment operations |
Distributions
from net investment income |
Distributions
from net realized gains |
Total
distributions to shareholders |
|
|
Institutional 3 Class
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $25.77 | (0.06) | 6.65 | 6.59 | — | (2.14) | (2.14) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $31.07 | 0.02 | 0.16 | 0.18 | — | (5.48) | (5.48) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $28.74 |
(0.00)
(d)
|
5.94 | 5.94 | — | (3.61) | (3.61) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $26.63 | 0.03 | 3.63 | 3.66 | — | (1.55) | (1.55) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $30.21 | 0.03 | 0.91 | 0.94 | (0.40) | (4.12) | (4.52) |
|
Class R
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $22.22 | (0.18) | 5.65 | 5.47 | — | (2.14) | (2.14) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $27.64 | (0.12) | 0.07 | (0.05) | — | (5.37) | (5.37) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $25.93 | (0.16) | 5.31 | 5.15 | — | (3.44) | (3.44) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $24.27 | (0.15) | 3.31 | 3.16 | — | (1.50) | (1.50) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $27.88 | (0.12) | 0.81 | 0.69 | (0.18) | (4.12) | (4.30) |
|
Class V
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $23.33 | (0.14) | 5.97 | 5.83 | — | (2.14) | (2.14) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $28.71 | (0.07) | 0.10 | 0.03 | — | (5.41) | (5.41) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $26.81 | (0.10) | 5.51 | 5.41 | — | (3.51) | (3.51) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $25.01 | (0.09) | 3.41 | 3.32 | — | (1.52) | (1.52) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $28.61 | (0.06) | 0.83 | 0.77 | (0.25) | (4.12) | (4.37) |
|
Notes to Financial Highlights
|
|
| (a) | In addition to the fees and expenses that the Fund bears directly, the Fund indirectly bears a pro rata share of the fees and expenses of any other funds in which it invests. Such indirect expenses are not included in the Fund's reported expense ratios. |
| (b) | Total net expenses include the impact of certain fee waivers/expense reimbursements made by the Investment Manager and certain of its affiliates, if applicable. |
| (c) | The benefits derived from expense reductions had an impact of less than 0.01%. |
| (d) | Rounds to zero. |
| (e) | Calculation of the net gain (loss) per share (both realized and unrealized) does not correlate to the aggregate realized and unrealized gain (loss) presented in the Statement of Operations due to the timing of subscriptions and redemptions of Fund shares in relation to fluctuations in the market value of the portfolio. |
|
72
|
Prospectus 2021
|
Columbia Mid Cap Growth Fund
Financial Highlights
(continued)
|
Net
asset value, end of period |
Total
return |
Total gross
expense ratio to average net assets
(a)
|
Total net
expense ratio to average net assets
(a), (b)
|
Net investment
income (loss) ratio to average net assets |
Portfolio
turnover |
Net
assets, end of period (000's) |
|
|
Institutional 3 Class
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $30.22 | 27.07% | 0.79% | 0.79% | (0.22%) | 63% | $95,842 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $25.77 | 3.18% | 0.79% | 0.79% | 0.08% | 89% | $86,115 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $31.07 | 22.66% | 0.78% | 0.78% | (0.01%) | 140% | $135,728 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $28.74 | 14.45% | 0.79% | 0.79% | 0.11% | 119% | $145,597 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $26.63 | 3.27% | 0.79% | 0.79% | 0.13% | 130% | $5,869 |
|
Class R
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $25.55 | 26.31% | 1.40% |
1.40%
(c)
|
(0.82%) | 63% | $7,717 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $22.22 | 2.56% | 1.42% | 1.42% | (0.55%) | 89% | $10,593 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $27.64 | 21.89% | 1.41% |
1.41%
(c)
|
(0.63%) | 140% | $13,414 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $25.93 | 13.71% | 1.44% |
1.44%
(c)
|
(0.62%) | 119% | $15,333 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $24.27 | 2.58% | 1.44% |
1.44%
(c)
|
(0.48%) | 130% | $16,796 |
|
Class V
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $27.02 | 26.61% | 1.15% |
1.15%
(c)
|
(0.57%) | 63% | $25,875 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $23.33 | 2.83% | 1.17% | 1.17% | (0.31%) | 89% | $23,279 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $28.71 | 22.19% | 1.16% |
1.16%
(c)
|
(0.37%) | 140% | $25,566 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $26.81 | 13.97% | 1.19% |
1.19%
(c)
|
(0.36%) | 119% | $22,419 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $25.01 | 2.83% | 1.19% |
1.19%
(c)
|
(0.23%) | 130% | $21,346 |
|
Prospectus 2021
|
73
|
Columbia Mid Cap Growth Fund
Appendix A: Financial Intermediary-Specific Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
As noted in the
section of the prospectus, the sales charge reductions and waivers available to investors who purchase and hold their Fund shares through different financial intermediaries may vary. This
describes financial intermediary-specific reductions and/or waiver policies applicable to Fund shares purchased and held through the particular financial intermediary. A reduction and/or waiver that is specific to a particular financial intermediary is not available to Direct-at-Fund Accounts and does not apply in any case to non-omnibus positions wherever held. These reductions and/or waivers may apply to purchases, sales, and exchanges of Fund shares. A shareholder transacting in Fund shares through a financial intermediary identified below should carefully read the terms and conditions of the reductions and/or waivers. Please consult your financial intermediary with respect to any sales charge reduction/waiver described below.
Choosing a Share Class
Appendix A
The financial intermediary-specific information below may be provided by, or compiled from or based on information provided by, the financial intermediaries noted. While the Funds, the Investment Manager and the Distributor do not establish these financial intermediary-specific policies, our representatives are available to answer questions about these financial intermediary-specific policies and can direct you to the financial intermediary if you need help understanding them.
Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC (Ameriprise Financial Services)
The following information has been provided by Ameriprise Financial Services:
Class A Shares Front-End Sales Charge Waivers Available at Ameriprise Financial Services:
The following information applies to Class A shares purchases if you have an account with or otherwise purchase Fund shares through Ameriprise Financial Services:
Effective June 1, 2018, shareholders purchasing Fund shares through an Ameriprise Financial Services platform or account will be eligible for the following front-end sales charge waivers and discounts, which may differ from those disclosed elsewhere in this prospectus or the Fund’s SAI:
| ■ | Employer-sponsored retirement plans (e.g., 401(k) plans, 457 plans, employer-sponsored 403(b) plans, profit sharing and money purchase pension plans and defined benefit plans). For purposes of this provision, employer-sponsored retirement plans do not include SEP IRAs, Simple IRAs or SAR-SEPs. |
| ■ | Shares purchased through an Ameriprise Financial Services investment advisory program (if an Advisory or similar share class for such investment advisory program is not available). |
| ■ | Shares purchased by third party investment advisors on behalf of their advisory clients through Ameriprise Financial Services’ platform (if an Advisory or similar share class for such investment advisory program is not available). |
| ■ | Shares purchased through reinvestment of dividends and capital gain distributions when purchasing shares of the same fund (but not any other fund within the Columbia Funds). |
| ■ | Shares exchanged from Class C shares of the same fund in the month of or following the 10-year anniversary of the purchase date. To the extent that this prospectus elsewhere provides for a waiver with respect to such shares following a shorter holding period, that waiver will apply to exchanges following such shorter period. To the extent that this prospectus elsewhere provides for a waiver with respect to exchanges of Class C shares for load waived shares, that waiver will also apply to such exchanges. |
| ■ | Employees and registered representatives of Ameriprise Financial Services or its affiliates and their immediate family members. |
| ■ | Shares purchased by or through qualified accounts (including IRAs, Coverdell Education Savings Accounts, 401(k)s, 403(b) TSCAs subject to ERISA and defined benefit plans) that are held by a covered family member, defined as an Ameriprise financial advisor and/or the advisor’s spouse, advisor’s lineal ascendant (mother, father, grandmother, grandfather, great grandmother, great grandfather), advisor’s lineal descendant (son, step-son, daughter, step-daughter, grandson, granddaughter, great grandson, great granddaughter) or any spouse of a covered family member who is a lineal descendant. |
| A-1 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Mid Cap Growth Fund
Appendix A: Financial Intermediary-Specific Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
(continued)
| ■ | Shares purchased from the proceeds of redemptions within the Columbia Funds, provided (1) the repurchase occurs within 90 days following the redemption, (2) the redemption and purchase occur in the same account, and (3) redeemed shares were subject to a front-end or deferred sales load (i.e., rights of reinstatement). |
Robert W. Baird & Co. Incorporated (Baird)
The following information has been provided by Baird:
Effective June 30, 2020, shareholders purchasing Columbia Fund shares through a Baird platform or account that maintains an omnibus position with the Fund will only be eligible for the following sales charge waivers (front-end sales charge waivers and CDSC waivers) and discounts, which may differ from those disclosed elsewhere in this prospectus or the Fund’s SAI. A reduction and/or waiver that is specific to Baird will not apply to non-omnibus positions.
Front-End Sales Charge Waivers on Class A Shares Available at Baird:
| ■ | Shares purchased through reinvestment of capital gains distributions and dividend reinvestment when purchasing shares of the same Columbia Fund. |
| ■ | Share purchases by employees and registered representatives of Baird or its affiliates and their family members as designated by Baird. |
| ■ | Shares purchased with the proceeds of redemptions from another Columbia Fund, provided (1) the repurchase occurs within 90 days following the redemption, (2) the redemption and purchase occur in the same accounts, and (3) redeemed shares were subject to a front-end or deferred sales charge (known as rights of reinstatement). |
| ■ | A shareholder in the Fund’s Class C shares will have their shares converted at net asset value to Class A shares of the same Columbia Fund if the shares are no longer subject to CDSC and the conversion is in line with the policies and procedures of Baird. |
| ■ | Employer-sponsored retirement plans or charitable accounts in a transactional brokerage account at Baird, including 401(k) plans, 457 plans, employer-sponsored 403(b) plans, profit sharing and money purchase pension plans and defined benefit plans. For purposes of this provision, employer-sponsored retirement plans do not include SEP IRAs, Simple IRAs or SAR-SEPs. |
CDSC Waivers on Class A and Class C Shares Available at Baird:
| ■ | Shares sold due to death or disability of the shareholder. |
| ■ | Shares sold as part of a systematic withdrawal plan as described in this prospectus. |
| ■ | Shares purchased due to returns of excess contributions from an IRA account. |
| ■ | Shares sold as part of a required minimum distribution for IRA and retirement accounts due to the shareholder reaching the qualified age based on applicable IRS regulations. |
| ■ | Shares sold to pay Baird fees but only if the transaction is initiated by Baird. |
| ■ | Shares acquired through a right of reinstatement. |
Front-End Sales Charge Discounts Available at Baird: Breakpoints and/or Rights of Accumulations:
| ■ | Breakpoints as described in this prospectus. |
| ■ | Rights of accumulations which entitle shareholders to breakpoint discounts will be automatically calculated based on the aggregated holding of Columbia Fund assets held by accounts within the purchaser’s household at Baird. Eligible Columbia Fund assets not held at Baird may be included in the rights of accumulations calculation only if the shareholder notifies his or her financial advisor about such assets. |
| ■ | Letters of Intent (LOI) allow for breakpoint discounts based on anticipated purchases of Columbia Funds through Baird, over a 13-month period of time. |
| Prospectus 2021 | A-2 |
Columbia Mid Cap Growth Fund
Appendix A: Financial Intermediary-Specific Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
(continued)
Edward D. Jones & Co., L.P. (Edward Jones)
The following information has been provided by Edward Jones:
Effective on or after April 17, 2020, clients of Edward Jones (also referred to as "shareholders") purchasing Columbia Fund shares on the Edward Jones commission and fee-based platforms are eligible only for the following sales charge discounts (also referred to as "breakpoints") and waivers, which can differ from breakpoints and waivers described elsewhere in this prospectus or the Fund’s SAI or through another broker-dealer. In all instances, it is the shareholder's responsibility to inform Edward Jones at the time of purchase of any relationship, holdings of Columbia Funds or other facts qualifying the purchaser for breakpoints or waivers. Edward Jones can ask for documentation of such circumstance.
Breakpoints
Rights of Accumulation (ROA)
| ■ | The applicable sales charge on a purchase of Class A shares is determined by taking into account all share classes (except any money market funds and retirement plan share classes) of Columbia Funds held by the shareholder or in an account grouped by Edward Jones with other accounts for the purpose of providing certain pricing considerations ("pricing groups"). This includes all share classes held on the Edward Jones platform and/or held on another platform. The inclusion of eligible Columbia Fund assets in the rights of accumulation calculation is dependent on the shareholder notifying his or her financial advisor of such assets at the time of calculation. |
| ■ | ROA is determined by calculating the higher of cost or market value (current shares x NAV). |
Letter of Intent (LOI)
| ■ | Through a LOI, shareholders can receive the sales charge and breakpoint discounts for purchases shareholders intend to make over a 13-month period from the date Edward Jones receives the LOI. The LOI is determined by calculating the higher of cost or market value of qualifying holdings at LOI initiation in combination with the value that the shareholder intends to buy over a 13-month period to calculate the front-end sales charge and any breakpoint discounts. Each purchase the shareholder makes during that 13-month period will receive the sales charge and breakpoint discount that applies to the total amount. The inclusion of eligible Columbia Fund assets in the LOI calculation is dependent on the shareholder notifying his or her financial advisor of such assets at the time of calculation. Purchases made before the LOI is received by Edward Jones are not covered under the LOI and will not reduce the sales charge previously paid. Sales charges will be adjusted if LOI is not met. |
Sales Charge Waivers
Sales charges are waived for the following shareholders and in the following situations:
| ■ | Associates of Edward Jones and its affiliates and their family members who are in the same pricing group (as determined by Edward Jones under its policies and procedures) as the associate. This waiver will continue for the remainder of the associate's life if the associate retires from Edward Jones in good-standing. |
| ■ | Shares purchased in an Edward Jones fee-based program. |
| ■ | Shares purchased through reinvestment of capital gains distributions and dividend reinvestment. |
| ■ | Shares purchased from the proceeds of redeemed shares of Columbia Funds so long as the following conditions are met: 1) the proceeds are from the sale of shares within 60 days of the purchase, and 2) the sale and purchase are made in the same share class and the same account or the purchase is made in an individual retirement account with proceeds from liquidations in a non-retirement account. |
| ■ | Shares exchanged into Class A shares from another share class so long as the exchange is into the same fund and was initiated at the discretion of Edward Jones. Edward Jones is responsible for any remaining CDSC due to the fund company, if applicable. Any future purchases are subject to the applicable sales charge as disclosed in this prospectus. |
| A-3 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Mid Cap Growth Fund
Appendix A: Financial Intermediary-Specific Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
(continued)
| ■ | Exchanges from Class C shares to Class A shares of the same fund, generally, in the 84th month following the anniversary of the purchase date or earlier at the discretion of Edward Jones. |
CDSC Waivers
If the shareholder purchases shares that are subject to a CDSC and those shares are redeemed before the CDSC is expired, the shareholder is responsible to pay the CDSC except in the following conditions:
| ■ | The death or disability of the shareholder. |
| ■ | Systematic withdrawals with up to 10% per year of the account value. |
| ■ | Return of excess contributions from an Individual Retirement Account (IRA). |
| ■ | Shares sold as part of a required minimum distribution for IRA and retirement accounts if the redemption is taken in or after the year the shareholder reaches qualified age based on applicable IRS regulations. |
| ■ | Shares sold to pay Edward Jones fees or costs in such cases where the transaction is initiated by Edward Jones. |
| ■ | Shares exchanged in an Edward Jones fee-based program. |
| ■ | Shares acquired through NAV reinstatement. |
Other Important Information
Minimum Purchase Amounts
| ■ | $250 initial purchase minimum |
| ■ | $50 subsequent purchase minimum |
Minimum Balances
| ■ | Edward Jones has the right to redeem at its discretion fund holdings with a balance of $250 or less. The following are examples of accounts that are not included in this policy: |
| ■ | A fee-based account held on an Edward Jones platform. |
| ■ | A 529 account held on an Edward Jones platform. |
| ■ | An account with an active systematic investment plan or letter of intent (LOI). |
Changing Share Classes
| ■ | At any time it deems necessary, Edward Jones has the authority to exchange at NAV a shareholder's holdings in a fund to Class A shares. |
Janney Montgomery Scott LLC (Janney)
The following information has been provided by Janney:
Effective May 1, 2020, if you purchase Columbia Fund shares through a Janney brokerage account, you will be eligible for the following load waivers (front-end sales charge waivers and CDSC, or back-end sales charge, waivers) and discounts, which may differ from those disclosed elsewhere in this prospectus or the Fund’s SAI. A reduction and/or waiver that is specific to Janney does not apply to non-omnibus positions.
Front-End Sales Charge* Waivers on Class A Shares Available at Janney
| ■ | Shares purchased through reinvestment of capital gains distributions and dividend reinvestment when purchasing shares of the same fund (but not any other Columbia Fund). |
| ■ | Shares purchased by employees and registered representatives of Janney or its affiliates and their family members as designated by Janney. |
| Prospectus 2021 | A-4 |
Columbia Mid Cap Growth Fund
Appendix A: Financial Intermediary-Specific Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
(continued)
| ■ | Shares purchased from the proceeds of redemptions from another Columbia Fund, provided (1) the repurchase occurs within ninety (90) days following the redemption, (2) the redemption and purchase occur in the same account, and (3) redeemed shares were subject to a front-end or deferred sales load (i.e., right of reinstatement). |
| ■ | Employer-sponsored retirement plans (e.g., 401(k) plans, 457 plans, employer-sponsored 403(b) plans, profit sharing and money purchase pension plans and defined benefit plans). For purposes of this provision, employer-sponsored retirement plans do not include SEP IRAs, Simple IRAs, SAR-SEPs or Keogh plans. |
| ■ | Shares acquired through a right of reinstatement. |
| ■ | Class C shares that are no longer subject to a CDSC and are converted to Class A shares of the same fund pursuant to Janney’s policies and procedures. |
CDSC Waivers on Class A and C Shares Available at Janney
| ■ | Shares sold upon the death or disability of the shareholder. |
| ■ | Shares sold as part of a systematic withdrawal plan as described in this prospectus. |
| ■ | Shares purchased in connection with a return of excess contributions from an IRA account. |
| ■ | Shares sold as part of a required minimum distribution for IRA and retirement accounts if the redemption is taken in or after the year the shareholder reaches qualified age based on applicable IRS regulations. |
| ■ | Shares sold to pay Janney fees but only if the transaction is initiated by Janney. |
| ■ | Shares acquired through a right of reinstatement. |
| ■ | Shares exchanged into the same share class of a different fund. |
Front-End Sales Charge* Discounts Available at Janney: Breakpoints, Rights of Accumulation, and/or Letters of Intent
| ■ | Breakpoints as described in this prospectus. |
| ■ | Rights of accumulation (“ROA”), which entitle shareholders to breakpoint discounts, will be automatically calculated based on the aggregated holding of Columbia Fund assets held by accounts within the purchaser’s household at Janney. Eligible Columbia Fund assets not held at Janney may be included in the ROA calculation only if the shareholder notifies his or her financial advisor about such assets. |
| ■ | Letters of intent which allow for breakpoint discounts based on anticipated purchases within the Columbia Funds, over a 13-month time period. Eligible Columbia Fund assets not held at Janney may be included in the calculation of letters of intent only if the shareholder notifies his or her financial advisor about such assets. |
* Also referred to as an “initial sales charge”.
Merrill Lynch Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated (Merrill Lynch)
The following information has been provided by Merrill Lynch:
Shareholders
purchasing Columbia Fund shares through a Merrill Lynch platform or account will be eligible only for the following load waivers (front-end sales charge waivers and contingent deferred, or back-end, sales charge waivers) and discounts, which may differ from those disclosed elsewhere in this prospectus or the Fund’s SAI:
Front-End Load Discounts Available at Merrill Lynch:
Merrill Lynch makes available breakpoint discounts on shares of the Fund through:
| ■ | Breakpoints as described in this prospectus. |
| ■ | Rights of Accumulation (ROA) which entitle shareholders to breakpoint discounts as described in this prospectus will be automatically calculated based on the aggregated holding of Columbia Fund assets held by accounts (including 529 program holdings, where applicable) within the purchaser’s household at Merrill Lynch. Eligible Columbia Fund assets not held at Merrill Lynch may be included in the ROA calculation only if the shareholder notifies his or her financial advisor about such assets. |
| A-5 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Mid Cap Growth Fund
Appendix A: Financial Intermediary-Specific Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
(continued)
| ■ | Letters of Intent (LOI) which allow for breakpoint discounts based on anticipated purchases of Columbia Funds, through Merrill Lynch, over a 13-month period of time (if applicable). |
Front-End Sales Load Waivers on Class A Shares Available at Merrill Lynch:
| ■ |
Employer-sponsored retirement, deferred compensation and employee benefit plans (including health savings accounts) and trusts used to fund those plans, provided that the shares are not held in a commission-based brokerage account and shares are held for the benefit of the plan
.
|
| ■ |
Shares purchased by a 529 Plan (does not include 529 Plan units or 529-specific share classes or equivalents)
.
|
| ■ |
Shares purchased through a Merrill Lynch affiliated investment advisory program
.
|
| ■ |
Shares exchanged due to the holdings moving from a Merrill Lynch affiliated investment advisory program to a Merrill Lynch brokerage (non-advisory) account pursuant to Merrill Lynch’s policies relating to sales load discounts and waivers
.
|
| ■ |
Shares purchased by third party investment advisors on behalf of their advisory clients through Merrill Lynch’s platform
.
|
| ■ |
Shares of funds purchased through the Merrill Edge Self-Directed platform (if applicable)
.
|
| ■ |
Shares purchased through reinvestment of capital gains distributions and dividend reinvestment when purchasing shares of the same
f
und (but not any other Columbia Fund)
.
|
| ■ |
Shares exchanged from Class C (i.e., level-load) shares of the same fund pursuant to Merrill Lynch’s policies relating to sales load discounts and waivers
.
|
| ■ |
Employees and registered representatives of Merrill Lynch or its affiliates and their family members
.
|
| ■ |
Directors or Trustees of the Fund, and employees of the Fund’s investment adviser or any of its affiliates, as described in this prospectus
.
|
| ■ |
Eligible shares purchased from the proceeds of redemptions from another Columbia Fund, provided (1) the repurchase occurs within 90 days following the redemption, (2) the redemption and purchase occur in the same account, and (3) redeemed shares were subject to a front-end or deferred sales load (known as Rights of Reinstatement). Automated transactions (i.e. systematic purchases and withdrawals) and purchases made after shares are automatically sold to pay Merrill Lynch’s account maintenance fees are not eligible for reinstatement
.
|
CDSC Waivers on Class A and C Shares Available at Merrill Lynch:
| ■ |
Death or disability of the shareholder
.
|
| ■ |
Shares sold as part of a systematic withdrawal plan as described in
this
prospectus
.
|
| ■ |
Return of excess contributions from an IRA Account
.
|
| ■ |
Shares sold as part of a required minimum distribution for IRA and retirement accounts pursuant to the Internal Revenue Code
.
|
| ■ |
Shares sold to pay Merrill Lynch fees but only if the transaction is initiated by Merrill Lynch
.
|
| ■ |
Shares acquired through a right of reinstatement
.
|
| ■ |
Shares held in retirement brokerage accounts, that are exchanged for a lower cost share class due to transfer to certain fee based accounts or platforms (applicable to Class A and Class C shares only)
.
|
| ■ |
Shares received through an exchange due to the holdings moving from a Merrill Lynch affiliated investment advisory program to a Merrill Lynch brokerage (non-advisory) account pursuant to Merrill Lynch’s policies relating to sales load discounts and waivers
.
|
| Prospectus 2021 | A-6 |
Columbia Mid Cap Growth Fund
Appendix A: Financial Intermediary-Specific Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
(continued)
Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, LLC (Morgan Stanley Wealth Management)
The following information has been provided by Morgan Stanley Wealth Management:
Shareholders
purchasing Columbia Fund shares through a Morgan Stanley Wealth Management transactional brokerage account will be eligible only for the following front-end sales charge waivers with respect to Class A shares, which may differ from and may be more limited than those disclosed elsewhere in this prospectus or the Fund’s SAI.
Front-End Sales Charge Waivers on Class A Shares Available at Morgan Stanley Wealth Management:
| ■ |
Employer-sponsored retirement plans (e.g., 401(k) plans, 457 plans, employer-sponsored 403(b) plans, profit sharing and money purchase pension plans and defined benefit plans). For purposes of this provision, employer-sponsored retirement plans do not include SEP IRAs, Simple IRAs, SAR-SEPs or Keogh plans
.
|
| ■ |
Morgan Stanley employee and employee-related accounts according to Morgan Stanley’s account linking rules
.
|
| ■ |
Shares purchased through reinvestment of dividends and capital gains distributions when purchasing shares of the same fund
.
|
| ■ |
Shares purchased through a Morgan Stanley self-directed brokerage account
.
|
| ■ |
Class C (i.e., level-load) shares that are no longer subject to a CDSC and are exchanged for Class A shares of the same fund pursuant to Morgan Stanley Wealth Management’s share class exchange program
.
|
| ■ | Shares purchased from the proceeds of redemptions from another Columbia Fund, provided (i) the repurchase occurs within 90 days following the redemption, (ii) the redemption and purchase occur in the same account, and (iii) redeemed shares were subject to a front-end or deferred sales charge. |
Raymond James & Associates, Inc., Raymond James Financial Services, Inc. and each entity’s affiliates (Raymond James)
The following information has been provided by Raymond James:
Intermediary-Defined Sales Charge Waiver Policies:
The availability of certain initial or deferred sales charge waivers and discounts may depend on the particular financial intermediary or type of account through which you purchase or hold
Fund shares.
Columbia
Intermediaries may have different policies and procedures regarding the availability of front-end sales load waivers or contingent deferred (back-end) sales load (CDSC) waivers, which are discussed below. In all instances, it is the purchaser’s responsibility to notify the Fund or the purchaser’s financial intermediary at the time of purchase of any relationship or other facts qualifying the purchaser for sales charge waivers or discounts. For waivers and discounts not available through a particular intermediary, shareholders will have to purchase Columbia Fund shares directly from the Fund or through another intermediary to receive these waivers or discounts.
Raymond James:
Effective March 1, 2019, shareholders purchasing
shares through a Raymond James platform or account, or through an introducing broker-dealer or independent registered investment adviser for which Raymond James provides trade execution, clearance, and/or custody services, will be eligible only for the following load waivers (front-end sales charge waivers and contingent deferred, or back-end, sales charge waivers) and discounts, which may differ from those disclosed elsewhere in this prospectus or
SAI.
Columbia Fund
the Fund’s
Front-End Sales Load Waivers on Class A Shares Available at Raymond James:
| ■ | Shares purchased in an investment advisory program. |
| ■ | Shares purchased within the Columbia Funds through a systematic reinvestment of capital gains and dividend distributions. |
| ■ | Employees and registered representatives of Raymond James or its affiliates and their family members as designated by Raymond James. |
| A-7 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Mid Cap Growth Fund
Appendix A: Financial Intermediary-Specific Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
(continued)
|
■
|
Shares purchased from the proceeds of redemptions within the Columbia Funds, provided (1) the repurchase occurs within 90 days following the redemption, (2) the redemption and purchase occur in the same account, and (3) redeemed shares were subject to a front-end or deferred sales load (known as Rights of Reinstatement).
|
|
■
|
A shareholder in the Fund’s Class C shares will have their shares converted at net asset value to Class A shares (or the appropriate share class) of the Fund if the shares are no longer subject to a CDSC and the conversion is in line with the policies and procedures of Raymond James.
|
CDSC Waivers on Class A and Class C Shares Available at Raymond James:
|
■
|
Death or disability of the shareholder.
|
|
■
|
Shares sold as part of a systematic withdrawal plan as described in this prospectus.
|
|
■
|
Return of excess contributions from an IRA Account.
|
|
■
|
Shares sold as part of a required minimum distribution for IRA and retirement accounts due to the shareholder reaching the qualified age based on applicable IRS regulations as described in this prospectus.
|
|
■
|
Shares sold to pay Raymond James fees but only if the transaction is initiated by Raymond James.
|
|
■
|
Shares acquired through a right of reinstatement.
|
Front-End Load Discounts Available at Raymond James: Breakpoints, Rights of Accumulation and/or Letters of Intent:
|
■
|
Breakpoints as described in this prospectus.
|
|
■
|
Rights of accumulation which entitle shareholders to breakpoint discounts will be automatically calculated based on the aggregated holding of Columbia Fund assets held by accounts within the purchaser’s household at Raymond James. Eligible Columbia Fund assets not held at Raymond James may be included in the calculation of rights of accumulation only if the shareholder notifies his or her financial advisor about such assets.
|
|
■
|
Letters of intent which allow for breakpoint discounts based on anticipated purchases within the Columbia Funds, over a 13-month time period. Eligible Columbia Fund assets not held at Raymond James may be included in the calculation of letters of intent only if the shareholder notifies his or her financial advisor about such assets.
|
Stifel Financial Corp. (Stifel)
The following information has been provided by Stifel:
Effective June 30, 2020, Class C shares of Columbia Funds that were purchased through a Stifel platform or account that maintains an omnibus position with the Fund that are no longer subject to a CDSC are exchanged to Class A shares of the same Columbia Fund pursuant to Stifel’s policies and procedures. This does not apply to non-omnibus positions.
Additional Sales Charge Reductions and/or Waivers Available at Certain Financial Intermediaries
Shareholders purchasing Columbia Fund shares through a platform or account of RBC Capital Markets, LLC are eligible for the following sales charge waiver:
Class A Shares Front-End Sales Charge Waiver Available at RBC Capital Markets, LLC:
|
■
|
For employer-sponsored retirement plans held through a commissionable brokerage account, Class A shares are available at NAV (i.e., without a sales charge). For this purpose, employer-sponsored retirement plans include, but are not limited to, 401(k) plans, 457 plans, employer-sponsored 403(b) plans, profit sharing and money purchase pension plans and defined benefit plans. For purposes of this provision, employer-sponsored retirement plans do not include SEP IRAs, Simple IRAs, SAR-SEPs or Keogh plans.
|
|
Prospectus 2021
|
A-8
|
Columbia Mid Cap Growth Fund
P.O. Box 219104
Kansas City, MO 64121-9104
Kansas City, MO 64121-9104
Additional Information About the Fund
Additional information about the Fund’s investments is available in the Fund’s annual and semiannual reports to shareholders. In the annual report, you will find a discussion of the market conditions and investment strategies that significantly affected the Fund’s performance during its last fiscal year. The SAI also provides additional information about the Fund and its policies. The SAI, which has been filed with the SEC, is legally part of this prospectus (incorporated by reference). To obtain these documents free of charge, to request other information about the Fund and to make shareholder inquiries, please contact the Fund as follows:
By Mail:
Columbia Management Investment Services Corp.
P.O. Box 219104
Kansas City, MO 64121-9104
P.O. Box 219104
Kansas City, MO 64121-9104
By Telephone:
800.345.6611
Online:
columbiathreadneedleus.com
Reports and other information about the Fund are also available in the EDGAR Database on the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov. You can receive copies of this information, for a duplication fee, by electronic request at the following e-mail address: publicinfo@sec.gov.
The investment company registration number of Columbia Funds Series Trust I, of which the Fund is a series, is 811-04367.
Columbia Threadneedle Investments is the global brand name of the Columbia and Threadneedle group of companies.
© 2021 Columbia Management Investment Distributors, Inc.
225 Franklin Street, Boston, MA 02110
225 Franklin Street, Boston, MA 02110
800.345.6611
PRO194_08_L01_(01/21)
Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I
|
Class
|
Ticker Symbol
|
|
| A | CGOAX | |
| Advisor (Class Adv) | CHHRX | |
| C | CGOCX | |
| Institutional (Class Inst) | CMSCX | |
| Institutional 2 (Class Inst2) | CSCRX | |
| Institutional 3 (Class Inst3) | CSGYX | |
| R | CCRIX |
Beginning on January 1, 2021, as permitted by regulations adopted by the Securities and Exchange Commission, paper copies of the Fund's annual and semiannual shareholder reports are no longer sent by mail, unless you specifically requested paper copies of the reports. Instead, the reports are made available on the Fund's website (columbiathreadneedleus.com/investor/), and each time a report is posted you will be notified by mail and provided with a website address to access the report.
If you have already elected to receive shareholder reports electronically, you will not be affected by this change and you need not take any action. You may elect to receive shareholder reports and other communications from the Fund electronically at any time by contacting your financial intermediary (such as a broker-dealer or bank) or, for Fund shares held directly with the Fund, by calling 800.345.6611 or by enrolling in “eDelivery” by logging into your account at columbiathreadneedleus.com/investor/.
You may elect to receive all future shareholder reports in paper free of charge. If you invest through a financial intermediary, you can contact your financial intermediary to request that you continue receiving paper copies of your shareholder reports. If you invest directly with the Fund, you can call 800.345.6611 to let the Fund know you wish to continue receiving paper copies of your shareholder reports. Your election to receive paper reports will apply to all Columbia Funds held in your account if you invest through a financial intermediary or all Columbia Funds held with the fund complex if you invest directly with the Fund.
As with all mutual funds, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has not approved or disapproved these securities or passed upon the adequacy of this prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.
Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I
Table of Contents
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A-1 |
| 2 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I
Summary of the Fund
Investment Objective
Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I (the Fund) seeks long-term capital appreciation.
Fees and Expenses of the Fund
This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold and sell shares of the Fund.
You may be required to pay such brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries when transacting in any class of Fund shares, including those that do not assess any front-end sales charge, contingent deferred sales charge, or other asset-based fee for sales or distribution. Such brokerage commissions and other fees are set by the financial intermediary.
You may qualify for sales charge discounts if you and members of your immediate family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $50,000 in certain classes of shares of eligible funds distributed by Columbia Management Investment Distributors, Inc. (the Distributor). More information is available about these and other sales charge discounts and waivers from your financial intermediary, and can be found in the
section beginning on page 24 of the Fund’s prospectus, in
to the prospectus beginning on page A-1 and in Appendix S to the Statement of Additional Information (SAI) under
beginning on page S-1.
You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the tables and examples below.
Choosing a Share Class
Appendix A
Sales Charge Waivers
| (a) | This charge is imposed on certain investments of between $1 million and $50 million redeemed within 18 months after purchase, as follows: 1.00% if redeemed within 12 months after purchase, and 0.50% if redeemed more than 12, but less than 18, months after purchase, with certain limited exceptions. |
| (b) | This charge applies to redemptions within 12 months after purchase, with certain limited exceptions. |
| (c) | Other expenses have been restated to reflect current fees paid by the Fund. |
Example
The following example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The example illustrates the hypothetical expenses that you would incur over the time periods indicated, and assumes that:
| ■ | you invest $10,000 in the applicable class of Fund shares for the periods indicated, |
| ■ | your investment has a 5% return each year, and |
| ■ |
the Fund’s total annual operating expenses remain the same as shown in the
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
|
| Prospectus 2021 | 3 |
Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on the assumptions listed above, your costs would be:
|
1 year
|
3 years
|
5 years
|
10 years
|
|
|
Class A
(whether or not shares are redeemed)
|
$697 | $955 | $1,232 | $2,021 |
|
Class Adv
(whether or not shares are redeemed)
|
$104 | $325 |
$
|
$1,248 |
|
Class C
(assuming redemption of all shares at the end of the period)
|
$305 | $634 | $1,088 | $2,348 |
|
Class C
(assuming no redemption of shares)
|
$205 | $634 | $1,088 | $2,348 |
|
Class Inst
(whether or not shares are redeemed)
|
$104 | $325 |
$
|
$1,248 |
|
Class Inst2
(whether or not shares are redeemed)
|
$
|
$300 |
$
|
$1,155 |
|
Class Inst3
(whether or not shares are redeemed)
|
$
|
$284 |
$
|
$1,096 |
|
Class R
(whether or not shares are redeemed)
|
$155 | $480 |
$
|
$1,813 |
Portfolio Turnover
The Fund may pay transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 76% of the average value of its portfolio.
Principal Investment Strategies
Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets (including the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes) in equity securities (including, but not limited to, common stocks, preferred stocks and securities convertible into common or preferred stocks) of companies that have market capitalizations in the range of the companies in the Russell 2000 Growth Index (the Index) at the time of purchase (between $33.1 million and $14.2 billion as of November 30, 2020). The market capitalization range and composition of the companies in the Index are subject to change.
The Fund invests typically in common stocks of companies believed to have the potential for long-term, above-average earnings growth but may invest in companies for their short, medium or long-term prospects. The Fund may from time to time emphasize one or more sectors in selecting its investments, including the health care and information technology sectors.
The Fund may invest up to 20% of its total assets in foreign securities. The Fund may invest directly in foreign securities or indirectly through depositary receipts.
The Fund may invest in special situations, such as companies involved in initial public offerings, tender offers, mergers and other corporate restructurings, and in companies involved in management changes or companies developing new technologies.
The Fund’s investment strategy may involve the frequent trading of portfolio securities.
Principal Risks
An investment in the Fund involves risks, including
,
,
, and
, among others. Descriptions of these and other principal risks of investing in the Fund are provided below.
. The value of the Fund’s holdings may decline, and the Fund’s net asset value (NAV) and share price may go down. An investment in the Fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency.
Small-Cap Stock Risk
Market Risk
Growth Securities Risk
Sector Risk
There is no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objective and you may lose money
Active Management Risk.
Due to its active management, the Fund could underperform its benchmark index and/or other funds with similar investment objectives and/or strategies.
| 4 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
Convertible Securities Risk.
Convertible securities are subject to the usual risks associated with debt instruments, such as interest rate risk and credit risk. Convertible securities also react to changes in the value of the common stock into which they convert, and are thus subject to market risk. The Fund may also be forced to convert a convertible security at an inopportune time, which may decrease the Fund’s return.
Depositary Receipts Risk.
Depositary receipts are receipts issued by a bank or trust company reflecting ownership of underlying securities issued by foreign companies. Some foreign securities are traded in the form of American Depositary Receipts and/or Global Depositary Receipts. Depositary receipts involve risks similar to the risks associated with investments in foreign securities, including those associated with investing in the particular country of an issuer, which may be related to the particular political, regulatory, economic, social and other conditions or events, including, for example, military confrontations, war, terrorism and disease/virus outbreaks and epidemics, occurring in the country and fluctuations in such country’s currency, as well as market risk tied to the underlying foreign company. In addition, holders of depositary receipts may have limited voting rights, may not have the same rights afforded to stockholders of a typical domestic company in the event of a corporate action, such as an acquisition, merger or rights offering, and may experience difficulty in receiving company stockholder communications. There is no guarantee that a financial institution will continue to sponsor a depositary receipt, or that a depositary receipt will continue to trade on an exchange, either of which could adversely affect the liquidity, availability and pricing of the depositary receipt. Changes in foreign currency exchange rates will affect the value of depositary receipts and, therefore, may affect the value of your investment in the Fund.
Foreign Securities Risk.
Investments in or exposure to foreign securities involve certain risks not associated with investments in or exposure to securities of U.S. companies. Foreign securities subject the Fund to the risks associated with investing in the particular country of an issuer, including political, regulatory, economic, social, diplomatic and other conditions or events (including, for example, military confrontations, war, terrorism and disease/virus outbreaks and epidemics), occurring in the country or region, as well as risks associated with less developed custody and settlement practices. Foreign securities may be more volatile and less liquid than securities of U.S. companies, and are subject to the risks associated with potential imposition of economic and other sanctions against a particular foreign country, its nationals or industries or businesses within the country. In addition, foreign governments may impose withholding or other taxes on the Fund’s income, capital gains or proceeds from the disposition of foreign securities, which could reduce the Fund’s return on such securities. The performance of the Fund may also be negatively affected by fluctuations in a foreign currency's strength or weakness relative to the U.S. dollar, particularly to the extent the Fund invests a significant percentage of its assets in foreign securities or other assets denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar.
Frequent Trading Risk.
The portfolio managers may actively and frequently trade investments in the Fund's portfolio to carry out its investment strategies. Frequent trading of investments increases the possibility that the Fund, as relevant, will realize taxable capital gains (including short-term capital gains, which are generally taxable to shareholders at higher rates than long-term capital gains for U.S. federal income tax purposes), which could reduce the Fund's after-tax return. Frequent trading can also mean higher brokerage and other transaction costs, which could reduce the Fund's return. The trading costs and tax effects associated with portfolio turnover may adversely affect the Fund’s performance.
Growth Securities Risk.
Growth securities typically trade at a higher multiple of earnings than other types of equity securities. Accordingly, the market values of growth securities may never reach their expected market value and may decline in price. In addition, growth securities, at times, may not perform as well as value securities or the stock market in general, and may be out of favor with investors for varying periods of time.
Issuer Risk.
An issuer in which the Fund invests or to which it has exposure may perform poorly or below expectations, and the value of its securities may therefore decline, which may negatively affect the Fund’s performance. Underperformance of an issuer may be caused by poor management decisions, competitive pressures, breakthroughs in technology, reliance on suppliers, labor problems or shortages, corporate restructurings, fraudulent disclosures, natural disasters, military confrontations, war, terrorism, disease/virus outbreaks, epidemics or other events, conditions and factors which may impair the value of an investment in the Fund.
| Prospectus 2021 | 5 |
Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
Small-Cap Stock Risk.
Investments in small-capitalization companies (small-cap companies) often involve greater risks than investments in larger, more established companies (larger companies) because small-cap companies tend to have less predictable earnings and may lack the management experience, financial resources, product diversification and competitive strengths of larger companies, and securities of small-cap companies may be less liquid and more volatile than the securities of larger companies.
Market Risk.
The Fund may incur losses due to declines in the value of one or more securities in which it invests. These declines may be due to factors affecting a particular issuer, or the result of, among other things, political, regulatory, market, economic or social developments affecting the relevant market(s) more generally. In addition, turbulence in financial markets and reduced liquidity in equity, credit and/or fixed income markets may negatively affect many issuers, which could adversely affect the Fund, including causing difficulty in assigning prices to hard-to-value assets in thinly traded and closed markets, significant redemptions and operational challenges. Global economies and financial markets are increasingly interconnected, and conditions and events in one country, region or financial market may adversely impact issuers in a different country, region or financial market. These risks may be magnified if certain events or developments adversely interrupt the global supply chain; in these and other circumstances, such risks might affect companies worldwide. As a result, local, regional or global events such as terrorism, war, natural disasters, disease/virus outbreaks and epidemics or other public health issues, recessions, depressions or other events – or the potential for such events – could have a significant negative impact on global economic and market conditions.
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) public health crisis has become a pandemic that has resulted in, and may continue to result in, significant global economic and societal disruption and market volatility due to disruptions in market access, resource availability, facilities operations, imposition of tariffs, export controls and supply chain disruption, among others. Such disruptions may be caused, or exacerbated by, quarantines and travel restrictions, workforce displacement and loss in human and other resources. The uncertainty surrounding the magnitude, duration, reach, costs and effects of the global pandemic, as well as actions that have been or could be taken by governmental authorities or other third parties, present unknowns that are yet to unfold. The impacts, as well as the uncertainty over impacts to come, of COVID-19 – and any other infectious illness outbreaks, epidemics and pandemics that may arise in the future – could negatively affect global economies and markets in ways that cannot necessarily be foreseen. In addition, the impact of infectious illness outbreaks and epidemics in emerging market countries may be greater due to generally less established healthcare systems, governments and financial markets. Public health crises caused by the COVID-19 outbreak may exacerbate other pre-existing political, social and economic risks in certain countries or globally. The disruptions caused by COVID-19 could prevent the Fund from executing advantageous investment decisions in a timely manner and negatively impact the Fund’s ability to achieve its investment objective. Any such event(s) could have a significant adverse impact on the value and risk profile of the Fund.
Preferred Stock Risk.
Preferred stock is a type of stock that may pay dividends at a different rate than common stock of the same issuer, if at all, and that has preference over common stock in the payment of dividends and the liquidation of assets. Preferred stock does not ordinarily carry voting rights. The price of a preferred stock is generally determined by earnings, type of products or services, projected growth rates, experience of management, liquidity, and general market conditions of the markets on which the stock trades. The most significant risks associated with investments in preferred stock include issuer risk, market risk and interest rate risk (the risk of losses attributable to changes in interest rates).
Sector Risk.
At times, the Fund may have a significant portion of its assets invested in securities of companies conducting business within one or more economic sectors, including the health care and information technology sectors. Companies in the same sector may be similarly affected by economic, regulatory, political or market events or conditions, which may make the Fund more vulnerable to unfavorable developments in that sector than funds that invest more broadly. Generally, the more broadly the Fund invests, the more it spreads risk and potentially reduces the risks of loss and volatility.
Health Care Sector.
The Fund may be more susceptible to the particular risks that may affect companies in the health care sector than if it were invested in a wider variety of companies in unrelated sectors. Companies in the health care sector are subject to certain risks, including restrictions on government reimbursement for medical
| 6 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
expenses, government approval of medical products and services, competitive pricing pressures, and the rising cost of medical products and services (especially for companies dependent upon a relatively limited number of products or services), among others. Performance of such companies may be affected by factors including, government regulation, obtaining and protecting patents (or the failure to do so), product liability and other similar litigation as well as product obsolescence.
Information Technology Sector.
The Fund may be more susceptible to the particular risks that may affect companies in the information technology sector than if it were invested in a wider variety of companies in unrelated sectors. Companies in the information technology sector are subject to certain risks, including the risk that new services, equipment or technologies will not be accepted by consumers and businesses or will become rapidly obsolete. Performance of such companies may be affected by factors including obtaining and protecting patents (or the failure to do so) and significant competitive pressures, including aggressive pricing of their products or services, new market entrants, competition for market share and short product cycles due to an accelerated rate of technological developments. Such competitive pressures may lead to limited earnings and/or falling profit margins. As a result, the value of their securities may fall or fail to rise. In addition, many information technology sector companies have limited operating histories and prices of these companies’ securities historically have been more volatile than other securities, especially over the short term.
Special Situations Risk.
Securities of companies that are involved in an initial public offering or a major corporate event, such as a business consolidation or restructuring, may be exposed to heightened risk because of the high degree of uncertainty that can be associated with such events. Securities issued in initial public offerings often are issued by companies that are in the early stages of development, have a history of little or no revenues and may operate at a loss following the offering. It is possible that there will be no active trading market for the securities after the offering, and that the market price of the securities may be subject to significant and unpredictable fluctuations. Certain “special situation” investments are investments in securities or other instruments that may be classified as illiquid or lacking a readily ascertainable fair value. Certain special situation investments prevent ownership interests therein from being withdrawn until the special situation investment, or a portion thereof, is realized or deemed realized, which may negatively impact Fund performance. Investing in special situations may have a magnified effect on the performance of funds with small amounts of assets.
| Prospectus 2021 | 7 |
Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
Performance Information
The following bar chart and table show you how the Fund has performed in the past, and can help you understand the risks of investing in the Fund. The bar chart shows how the Fund’s Class A share performance has varied for each full calendar year shown. Class A share performance (without sales charges) is shown in the bar chart because Class A shares have at least ten calendar years of performance and Class A shares are the most common share class across the Columbia Funds complex that are available for investment by the general public.
The table below the bar chart compares the Fund’s returns (after applicable sales charges shown in the
table in this prospectus) for the periods shown with a broad measure of market performance, as well as another measure of performance for markets in which the Fund may invest.
Shareholder Fees
The performance of one or more share classes shown in the table below begins before the indicated inception date for such share class. The returns shown for each such share class include the returns of the Fund’s Class Inst shares (adjusted to reflect the higher class-related operating expenses of such share classes, where applicable) for periods prior to its inception date. Share classes with expenses that are higher than Class Inst shares will have performance that is lower than Class Inst shares. Except for differences in annual returns resulting from differences in expenses and sales charges (where applicable), the share classes of the Fund would have substantially similar annual returns because all share classes of the Fund invest in the same portfolio of securities.
The after-tax returns shown in the
table below are calculated using the highest historical individual U.S. federal marginal income tax rates in effect during the period indicated in the table and do not reflect the impact of state, local or foreign taxes.
Your actual after-tax returns will depend on your personal tax situation and may differ from those shown in the table. In addition, the after-tax returns shown in the table do not apply to shares held in tax-advantaged accounts such as 401(k) plans or Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs). The after-tax returns are shown only for Class A shares and will vary for other share classes. After-tax returns are shown for Class A shares because Class A shares have at least ten calendar years of performance and Class A shares are the most common share class across the Columbia Funds complex that are available for investment by the general public.
Average Annual Total Returns
The Fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) is no guarantee of how the Fund will perform in the future.
Updated performance information can be obtained by calling toll-free 800.345.6611 or visiting columbiathreadneedleus.com.
|
Year by Year Total Return (%)
as of December 31 Each Year* |
Best and Worst Quarterly Returns
During the Period Shown in the Bar Chart |
||
|
Best
|
1st Quarter 2019
|
22.49
%
|
|
Worst
|
3rd Quarter 2011
|
-25.09
%
|
|
| * | Year to Date return as of September 30, 2020: 32.59% |
| 8 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
Average Annual Total Returns After Applicable Sales Charges (for periods ended December 31, 2019)
|
Share Class
Inception Date |
1 Year
|
5 Years
|
10 Years
|
|
|
Class A
|
11/01/2005 | |||
| returns before taxes | 32.54% | 14.18% | 13.52% | |
| returns after taxes on distributions | 29.20% | 8.26% | 9.30% | |
| returns after taxes on distributions and sale of Fund shares | 20.55% | 8.96% | 9.60% | |
|
Class Adv
returns before taxes
|
11/08/2012 | 40.92% | 15.83% | 14.48% |
|
Class C
returns before taxes
|
11/01/2005 | 38.56% | 14.67% | 13.34% |
|
Class Inst
returns before taxes
|
10/01/1996 | 40.94% | 15.83% | 14.48% |
|
Class Inst2
returns before taxes
|
02/28/2013 | 41.10% | 15.96% | 14.61% |
|
Class Inst3
returns before taxes
|
07/15/2009 | 41.18% | 16.02% | 14.68% |
|
Class R
returns before taxes
|
09/27/2010 | 40.22% | 15.25% | 13.91% |
|
Russell 2000 Growth Index
(reflects no deductions for fees, expenses or taxes)
|
28.48% | 9.34% | 13.01% | |
|
Russell 2000 Index
(reflects no deductions for fees, expenses or taxes)
|
25.52% | 8.23% | 11.83% |
Fund Management
|
Portfolio Manager
|
Title
|
Role with Fund
|
Managed Fund Since
|
|||
| Daniel Cole, CFA | Senior Portfolio Manager | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2015 | |||
| Wayne Collette, CFA | Senior Portfolio Manager | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2006 |
Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares
You may purchase or redeem shares of the Fund on any business day by contacting the Fund in the ways described below:
|
Online
|
Regular Mail
|
Express Mail
|
By Telephone
|
|||
| columbiathreadneedleus.com/investor/ |
Columbia Management
Investment Services Corp. P.O. Box 219104 Kansas City, MO 64121-9104 |
Columbia Management
Investment Services Corp. c/o DST Asset Manager Solutions, Inc. 430 W 7
th
Street, Suite 219104
Kansas City, MO 64105-1407 |
800.422.3737 |
You may purchase shares and receive redemption proceeds by electronic funds transfer, by check or by wire. If you maintain your account with a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary, you must contact that financial intermediary to buy, sell or exchange shares of the Fund through your account with the intermediary.
| Prospectus 2021 | 9 |
Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
The minimum initial investment amounts for the share classes offered by the Fund are shown below:
Minimum Initial Investment
|
Class
|
Category of eligible account
|
For accounts other than
systematic investment plan accounts |
For systematic investment
plan accounts |
|
Classes A & C
|
All accounts other than IRAs | $2,000 | $100 |
| IRAs | $1,000 | $100 | |
|
Classes Adv & Inst
|
All eligible accounts |
$0, $1,000 or $2,000
depending upon the category of eligible investor |
$100 |
|
Classes Inst2 & R
|
All eligible accounts | None | N/A |
|
Class Inst3
|
All eligible accounts |
$0, $1,000, $2,000
or $1 million depending upon the category of eligible investor |
$100 (for certain
eligible investors) |
More information about these minimums can be found in the
section of the prospectus. There is no minimum additional investment for any share class.
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares - Buying Shares
Tax Information
The Fund normally distributes net investment income and net realized capital gains, if any, to shareholders. These distributions are generally taxable to you as ordinary income, qualified dividend income or capital gains, unless you are investing through a tax-advantaged account, such as a 401(k) plan or an IRA. If you are investing through a tax-advantaged account, you may be taxed upon withdrawals from that account.
Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
If you purchase the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), the Fund and its related companies — including Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC (the Investment Manager), Columbia Management Investment Distributors, Inc. (the Distributor) and Columbia Management Investment Services Corp. (the Transfer Agent) — may pay the intermediary for the sale of Fund shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your financial advisor to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your financial advisor or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.
| 10 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I
More Information About the Fund
Investment Objective
Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I (the Fund) seeks long-term capital appreciation. The Fund’s Board may change the investment objective, subject to Fund shareholder approval. Because any investment involves risk, there is no assurance the Fund’s investment objective will be achieved.
Principal Investment Strategies
Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets (including the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes) in equity securities (including, but not limited to, common stocks, preferred stocks and securities convertible into common or preferred stocks) of companies that have market capitalizations in the range of the companies in the Russell 2000 Growth Index (the Index) at the time of purchase (between $33.1 million and $14.2 billion as of November 30, 2020). The market capitalization range and composition of the companies in the Index are subject to change. As such, the size of the companies in which the Fund invests may change. As long as an investment continues to meet the Fund’s other investment criteria, the Fund may choose to continue to hold a security even if the company’s market capitalization grows beyond the market capitalization of the largest company within the Index or falls below the market capitalization of the smallest company within the Index.
The Fund invests typically in common stocks of companies believed to have the potential for long-term, above-average earnings growth but may invest in companies for their short, medium or long-term prospects. The Fund may from time to time emphasize one or more sectors in selecting its investments, including the health care and information technology sectors.
The Fund may invest up to 20% of its total assets in foreign securities. The Fund may invest directly in foreign securities or indirectly through depositary receipts. Depositary receipts are receipts issued by a bank or trust company reflecting ownership of underlying securities issued by foreign companies.
The Fund may invest in special situations, such as companies involved in initial public offerings, tender offers, mergers and other corporate restructurings, and in companies involved in management changes or companies developing new technologies.
The investment manager employs fundamental analysis with risk management in identifying investment opportunities and constructing the Fund’s portfolio.
Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC (the Investment Manager) considers, among other factors:
| ■ | overall economic and market conditions; and |
| ■ | the financial condition and management of a company, including its competitive position, the quality of its balance sheet and earnings, its future prospects, and the potential for growth and stock price appreciation. |
The Investment Manager may sell a security when the security’s price reaches a target set by the Investment Manager; if the Investment Manager believes that there is deterioration in the issuer’s financial circumstances or fundamental prospects; if other investments are more attractive; or for other reasons.
The Fund’s investment strategy may involve the frequent trading of portfolio securities.
The Fund’s investment policy with respect to 80% of its net assets may be changed by the Fund’s Board of Trustees without shareholder approval as long as shareholders are given 60 days’ advance written notice of the change.
Principal Risks
An investment in the Fund involves risks, including
Small-Cap Stock Risk
,
Market Risk
,
Growth Securities Risk
, and
Sector Risk
, among others. Descriptions of these and other principal risks of investing in the Fund are provided below.
There is no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objective and you may lose money
. The value of the Fund’s holdings may decline, and the Fund’s net asset value (NAV) and share price may go down. An investment in the Fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency.
| Prospectus 2021 | 11 |
Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
Active Management Risk.
The Fund is actively managed and its performance therefore will reflect, in part, the ability of the portfolio managers to make investment decisions that seek to achieve the Fund’s investment objective. Due to its active management, the Fund could underperform its benchmark index and/or other funds with similar investment objectives and/or strategies.
Convertible Securities Risk.
Convertible securities are subject to the usual risks associated with debt instruments, such as interest rate risk (the risk of losses attributable to changes in interest rates) and credit risk (the risk that the issuer of a debt instrument will default or otherwise become unable, or be perceived to be unable or unwilling, to honor a financial obligation, such as making payments to the Fund when due). Convertible securities also react to changes in the value of the common stock into which they convert, and are thus subject to market risk (the risk that the market values of securities or other investments that the Fund holds will fall, sometimes rapidly or unpredictably, or fail to rise). Because the value of a convertible security can be influenced by both interest rates and the common stock's market movements, a convertible security generally is not as sensitive to interest rates as a similar debt instrument, and generally will not vary in value in response to other factors to the same extent as the underlying common stock. In the event of a liquidation of the issuing company, holders of convertible securities would typically be paid before the company's common stockholders but after holders of any senior debt obligations of the company. The Fund may be forced to convert a convertible security before it otherwise would choose to do so, which may decrease the Fund's return.
Depositary Receipts Risk.
Depositary receipts are receipts issued by a bank or trust company reflecting ownership of underlying securities issued by foreign companies. Some foreign securities are traded in the form of American Depositary Receipts and/or Global Depositary Receipts. Depositary receipts involve risks similar to the risks associated with investments in foreign securities, including those associated with investing in the particular country of an issuer, which may be related to the particular political, regulatory, economic, social and other conditions or events, including, for example, military confrontations, war, terrorism and disease/virus outbreaks and epidemics, occurring in the country and fluctuations in such country’s currency, as well as market risk tied to the underlying foreign company. In addition, holders of depositary receipts may have limited voting rights, may not have the same rights afforded to stockholders of a typical domestic company in the event of a corporate action, such as an acquisition, merger or rights offering, and may experience difficulty in receiving company stockholder communications. There is no guarantee that a financial institution will continue to sponsor a depositary receipt, or that a depositary receipt will continue to trade on an exchange, either of which could adversely affect the liquidity, availability and pricing of the depositary receipt. Changes in foreign currency exchange rates will affect the value of depositary receipts and, therefore, may affect the value of your investment in the Fund.
Foreign Securities Risk.
Investments in or exposure to foreign securities involve certain risks not associated with investments in or exposure to securities of U.S. companies. For example, foreign markets can be extremely volatile. Foreign securities may also be less liquid, making them more difficult to trade, than securities of U.S. companies so that the Fund may, at times, be unable to sell foreign securities at desirable times or prices. Brokerage commissions, custodial costs and other fees are also generally higher for foreign securities. The Fund may have limited or no legal recourse in the event of default with respect to certain foreign securities, including those issued by foreign governments. In addition, foreign governments may impose withholding or other taxes on the Fund’s income, capital gains or proceeds from the disposition of foreign securities, which could reduce the Fund’s return on such securities. In some cases, such withholding or other taxes could potentially be confiscatory. Other risks include: possible delays in the settlement of transactions or in the payment of income; generally less publicly available information about foreign companies; the impact of economic, political, social, diplomatic or other conditions or events (including, for example, military confrontations, war, terrorism and disease/virus outbreaks and epidemics), possible seizure, expropriation or nationalization of a company or its assets or the assets of a particular investor or category of investors; accounting, auditing and financial reporting standards that may be less comprehensive and stringent than those applicable to domestic companies; the imposition of economic and other sanctions against a particular foreign country, its nationals or industries or businesses within the country; and the generally less stringent standard of care to which local agents may be held in the local markets. In addition, it may be difficult to obtain reliable information about the securities and business operations of certain foreign issuers. Governments or trade groups may compel local agents to hold securities in designated depositories that are not subject to independent evaluation. The less
| 12 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
developed a country’s securities market is, the greater the level of risks. The risks posed by sanctions against a particular foreign country, its nationals or industries or businesses within the country may be heightened to the extent the Fund invests significantly in the affected country or region or in issuers from the affected country that depend on global markets. Additionally, investments in certain countries may subject the Fund to a number of tax rules, the application of which may be uncertain. Countries may amend or revise their existing tax laws, regulations and/or procedures in the future, possibly with retroactive effect. Changes in or uncertainties regarding the laws, regulations or procedures of a country could reduce the after-tax profits of the Fund, directly or indirectly, including by reducing the after-tax profits of companies located in such countries in which the Fund invests, or result in unexpected tax liabilities for the Fund. The performance of the Fund may also be negatively affected by fluctuations in a foreign currency's strength or weakness relative to the U.S. dollar, particularly to the extent the Fund invests a significant percentage of its assets in foreign securities or other assets denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar. Currency rates in foreign countries may fluctuate significantly over short or long periods of time for a number of reasons, including changes in interest rates, imposition of currency exchange controls and economic or political developments in the U.S. or abroad. The Fund may also incur currency conversion costs when converting foreign currencies into U.S. dollars and vice versa.
Frequent Trading Risk.
The portfolio managers may actively and frequently trade investments in the Fund's portfolio to carry out its investment strategies. Frequent trading of investments increases the possibility that the Fund, as relevant, will realize taxable capital gains (including short-term capital gains, which are generally taxable to shareholders at higher rates than long-term capital gains for U.S. federal income tax purposes), which could reduce the Fund's after-tax return. Frequent trading can also mean higher brokerage and other transaction costs, which could reduce the Fund's return. The trading costs and tax effects associated with portfolio turnover may adversely affect the Fund’s performance.
Growth Securities Risk.
Growth securities typically trade at a higher multiple of earnings than other types of equity securities. Accordingly, the market values of growth securities may never reach their expected market value and may decline in price. In addition, growth securities, at times, may not perform as well as value securities or the stock market in general, and may be out of favor with investors for varying periods of time.
Issuer Risk.
An issuer in which the Fund invests or to which it has exposure may perform poorly or below expectations, and the value of its securities may therefore decline, which may negatively affect the Fund’s performance. Underperformance of an issuer may be caused by poor management decisions, competitive pressures, breakthroughs in technology, reliance on suppliers, labor problems or shortages, corporate restructurings, fraudulent disclosures, natural disasters, military confrontations, war, terrorism, disease/virus outbreaks, epidemics or other events, conditions and factors which may impair the value of an investment in the Fund.
Small-Cap Stock Risk.
Securities of small-cap companies can, in certain circumstances, have a higher potential for gains than securities of larger companies but are more likely to have more risk than larger companies. For example, small-cap companies may be more vulnerable to market downturns and adverse business or economic events than larger companies because they may have more limited financial resources and business operations. Small-cap companies are also more likely than larger companies to have more limited product lines and operating histories and to depend on smaller and generally less experienced management teams. Securities of small-cap companies may trade less frequently and in smaller volumes and may be less liquid and fluctuate more sharply in value than securities of larger companies. When the Fund takes significant positions in small-cap companies with limited trading volumes, the liquidation of those positions, particularly in a distressed market, could be prolonged and result in Fund investment losses that would affect the value of your investment in the Fund. In addition, some small-cap companies may not be widely followed by the investment community, which can lower the demand for their stocks.
Market Risk.
The Fund may incur losses due to declines in the value of one or more securities in which it invests. These declines may be due to factors affecting a particular issuer, or the result of, among other things, political, regulatory, market, economic or social developments affecting the relevant market(s) more generally. In addition, turbulence in financial markets and reduced liquidity in equity, credit and/or fixed income markets may negatively affect many issuers, which could adversely affect the Fund, including causing difficulty in assigning prices to hard-to-value assets in thinly traded and closed markets, significant redemptions and operational challenges. Global economies and financial markets are increasingly interconnected, and conditions and events in one country, region or
| Prospectus 2021 | 13 |
Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
financial market may adversely impact issuers in a different country, region or financial market. These risks may be magnified if certain events or developments adversely interrupt the global supply chain; in these and other circumstances, such risks might affect companies worldwide. As a result, local, regional or global events such as terrorism, war, natural disasters, disease/virus outbreaks and epidemics or other public health issues, recessions, depressions or other events – or the potential for such events – could have a significant negative impact on global economic and market conditions.
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) public health crisis has become a pandemic that has resulted in, and may continue to result in, significant global economic and societal disruption and market volatility due to disruptions in market access, resource availability, facilities operations, imposition of tariffs, export controls and supply chain disruption, among others. Such disruptions may be caused, or exacerbated by, quarantines and travel restrictions, workforce displacement and loss in human and other resources. The uncertainty surrounding the magnitude, duration, reach, costs and effects of the global pandemic, as well as actions that have been or could be taken by governmental authorities or other third parties, present unknowns that are yet to unfold. The impacts, as well as the uncertainty over impacts to come, of COVID-19 – and any other infectious illness outbreaks, epidemics and pandemics that may arise in the future – could negatively affect global economies and markets in ways that cannot necessarily be foreseen. In addition, the impact of infectious illness outbreaks and epidemics in emerging market countries may be greater due to generally less established healthcare systems, governments and financial markets. Public health crises caused by the COVID-19 outbreak may exacerbate other pre-existing political, social and economic risks in certain countries or globally. The disruptions caused by COVID-19 could prevent the Fund from executing advantageous investment decisions in a timely manner and negatively impact the Fund’s ability to achieve its investment objective. Any such event(s) could have a significant adverse impact on the value and risk profile of the Fund.
Preferred Stock Risk.
Preferred stock is a type of stock that may pay dividends at a different rate than common stock of the same issuer, if at all, and that has preference over common stock in the payment of dividends and the liquidation of assets. Preferred stock does not ordinarily carry voting rights. The price of a preferred stock is generally determined by earnings, type of products or services, projected growth rates, experience of management, liquidity, and general market conditions of the markets on which the stock trades. The most significant risks associated with investments in preferred stock include issuer risk, market risk and interest rate risk (the risk of losses attributable to changes in interest rates).
Sector Risk.
At times, the Fund may have a significant portion of its assets invested in securities of companies conducting business within one or more economic sectors, including the health care and information technology sectors. Companies in the same sector may be similarly affected by economic, regulatory, political or market events or conditions, which may make the Fund more vulnerable to unfavorable developments in that sector than funds that invest more broadly. Generally, the more broadly the Fund invests, the more it spreads risk and potentially reduces the risks of loss and volatility.
Health Care Sector.
The Fund may be more susceptible to the particular risks that may affect companies in the health care sector than if it were invested in a wider variety of companies in unrelated sectors. Companies in the health care sector are subject to certain risks, including restrictions on government reimbursement for medical expenses, government approval of medical products and services, competitive pricing pressures, and the rising cost of medical products and services (especially for companies dependent upon a relatively limited number of products or services), among others. Performance of such companies may be affected by factors including, government regulation, obtaining and protecting patents (or the failure to do so), product liability and other similar litigation as well as product obsolescence.
Information Technology Sector.
The Fund may be more susceptible to the particular risks that may affect companies in the information technology sector than if it were invested in a wider variety of companies in unrelated sectors. Companies in the information technology sector are subject to certain risks, including the risk that new services, equipment or technologies will not be accepted by consumers and businesses or will become rapidly obsolete. Performance of such companies may be affected by factors including obtaining and protecting patents (or the failure to do so) and significant competitive pressures, including aggressive pricing of their products or services, new market entrants, competition for market share and short product cycles due to an accelerated rate of technological
| 14 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
developments. Such competitive pressures may lead to limited earnings and/or falling profit margins. As a result, the value of their securities may fall or fail to rise. In addition, many information technology sector companies have limited operating histories and prices of these companies’ securities historically have been more volatile than other securities, especially over the short term.
Special Situations Risk.
Securities of companies that are involved in an initial public offering or a major corporate event, such as a business consolidation or restructuring, may be exposed to heightened risk because of the high degree of uncertainty that can be associated with such events. Securities issued in initial public offerings often are issued by companies that are in the early stages of development, have a history of little or no revenues and may operate at a loss following the offering. It is possible that there will be no active trading market for the securities after the offering, and that the market price of the securities may be subject to significant and unpredictable fluctuations. Initial public offerings are subject to many of the same risks as investing in companies with smaller market capitalizations. To the extent the Fund determines to invest in initial public offerings, it may not be able to invest to the extent desired, because, for example, only a small portion (if any) of the securities being offered in an initial public offering are available to the Fund. The investment performance of the Fund during periods when it is unable to invest significantly or at all in initial public offerings may be lower than during periods when the Fund is able to do so. Securities purchased in initial public offerings which are sold within 12 months after purchase may result in increased short-term capital gains, which will be taxable to the Fund’s shareholders as ordinary income. Certain “special situation” investments are investments in securities or other instruments that may be classified as illiquid or lacking a readily ascertainable fair value. Certain special situation investments prevent ownership interests therein from being withdrawn until the special situation investment, or a portion thereof, is realized or deemed realized, which may negatively impact Fund performance. Investing in special situations may have a magnified effect on the performance of funds with small amounts of assets.
| Prospectus 2021 | 15 |
Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
Additional Investment Strategies and Policies
This section describes certain investment strategies and policies that the Fund may utilize in pursuit of its investment objective and some additional factors and risks involved with investing in the Fund.
Investment Guidelines
As a general matter, and except as specifically described in the discussion of the Fund's principal investment strategies in this prospectus or as otherwise required by the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the 1940 Act), the rules and regulations thereunder and any applicable exemptive relief, whenever an investment policy or limitation states a percentage of the Fund's assets that may be invested in any security or other asset or sets forth a policy regarding an investment standard, compliance with that percentage limitation or standard will be determined solely at the time of the Fund's investment in the security or asset.
Holding Other Kinds of Investments
The Fund may hold other investments that are not part of its principal investment strategies. These investments and their risks are described below and/or in the SAI. The Fund may choose not to invest in certain securities described in this prospectus and in the SAI, although it has the ability to do so. Information on the Fund’s holdings can be found in the Fund’s shareholder reports or by visiting columbiathreadneedleus.com.
Transactions in Derivatives
The Fund may enter into derivative transactions or otherwise have exposure to derivative transactions through underlying investments. Derivatives are financial contracts whose values are, for example, based on (or “derived” from) traditional securities (such as a stock or bond), assets (such as a commodity like gold or a foreign currency), reference rates (such as the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (commonly known as SOFR) or the London Interbank Offered Rate (commonly known as LIBOR)) or market indices (such as the Standard & Poor’s 500
®
Index). The use of derivatives is a highly specialized activity which involves investment techniques and risks different from those associated with ordinary portfolio securities transactions. Derivatives involve special risks and may result in losses or may limit the Fund’s potential gain from favorable market movements. Derivative strategies often involve leverage, which may exaggerate a loss, potentially causing the Fund to lose more money than it would have lost had it invested in the underlying security or other asset directly. The values of derivatives may move in unexpected ways, especially in unusual market conditions, and may result in increased volatility in the value of the derivative and/or the Fund’s shares, among other consequences. The use of derivatives may also increase the amount of taxes payable by shareholders holding shares in a taxable account. Other risks arise from the Fund’s potential inability to terminate or to sell derivative positions. A liquid secondary market may not always exist for the Fund’s derivative positions at times when the Fund might wish to terminate or to sell such positions. Over-the-counter instruments (investments not traded on an exchange) may be illiquid, and transactions in derivatives traded in the over-the-counter market are subject to the risk that the other party will not meet its obligations. The use of derivatives also involves the risks of mispricing or improper valuation and that changes in the value of the derivative may not correlate perfectly with the underlying security, asset, reference rate or index. The Fund also may not be able to find a suitable derivative transaction counterparty, and thus may be unable to engage in derivative transactions when it is deemed favorable to do so, or at all. U.S. federal legislation has been enacted that provides for new clearing, margin, reporting and registration requirements for participants in the derivatives market. These changes could restrict and/or impose significant costs or other burdens upon the Fund’s participation in derivatives transactions. For more information on the risks of derivative investments and strategies, see the SAI.
LIBOR Phase-Out Risk.
Many derivatives and other financial instruments utilize or are permitted to utilize a floating interest rate based on LIBOR. On July 27, 2017, the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority announced its intention to phase out the use of LIBOR by the end of 2021. More recently, in November 2020, Ice Benchmark Administrator (IBA) has announced its intention to consult on (i) the cessation of four LIBOR currencies (GBP, EUR, JPY and CHF) after the end of 2021 and (ii) on the cessation of the major USD LIBOR tenors (overnight, 1M, 3M, 6M and 12M) in mid-2023 and the cessation of the 1 week and 2M USD LIBOR by the end of 2021. IBA will make separate announcements following the outcome of the consultations. The interest rate benchmark(s) that will replace
| 16 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
LIBOR in the capital markets remains uncertain, and the overall economic impact of the transition away from LIBOR cannot yet be determined. The Investment Manager monitors the Fund’s LIBOR exposure risks, including the extent to which any derivative and/or debt investments allow for the utilization of alternative rate(s) to LIBOR.
Affiliated Fund Investing
The Investment Manager or an affiliate serves as investment adviser to funds using the Columbia brand (Columbia Funds), including those that are structured as “fund-of-funds”, and provides asset-allocation services to (i) shareholders by investing in shares of other Columbia Funds, which may include the Fund (collectively referred to in this section as Underlying Funds), and (ii) discretionary managed accounts (collectively referred to as affiliated products) that invest exclusively in Underlying Funds. These affiliated products, individually or collectively, may own a significant percentage of the outstanding shares of one or more Underlying Funds, and the Investment Manager seeks to balance potential conflicts of interest between the affiliated products and the Underlying Funds in which they invest. The affiliated products’ investment in the Underlying Funds may have the effect of creating economies of scale, possibly resulting in lower expense ratios for the Underlying Funds, because the affiliated products may own substantial portions of the shares of Underlying Funds. However, redemption of Underlying Fund shares by one or more affiliated products could cause the expense ratio of an Underlying Fund to increase, as its fixed costs would be spread over a smaller asset base. Because of large positions of certain affiliated products, the Underlying Funds may experience relatively large inflows and outflows of cash due to affiliated products’ purchases and sales of Underlying Fund shares. Although the Investment Manager or its affiliate may seek to minimize the impact of these transactions where possible, for example, by structuring them over a reasonable period of time or through other measures, Underlying Funds may experience increased expenses as they buy and sell portfolio securities to manage the cash flow effect related to these transactions. Further, when the Investment Manager or its affiliate structures transactions over a reasonable period of time in order to manage the potential impact of the buy and sell decisions for the affiliated products, those affiliated products, including funds-of-funds, may pay more or less (for purchase activity), or receive more or less (for redemption activity), for shares of the Underlying Funds than if the transactions were executed in one transaction. In addition, substantial redemptions by affiliated products within a short period of time could require the Underlying Fund to liquidate positions more rapidly than would otherwise be desirable, which may have the effect of reducing or eliminating potential gain or causing it to realize a loss. In order to meet such redemptions, an Underlying Fund may be forced to sell its liquid (or more liquid) positions, leaving the Underlying Fund holding, post-redemption, a relatively larger position in illiquid investments (i.e., any investment that the Fund reasonably expects cannot be sold or disposed of in current market conditions in seven calendar days or less without the sale or disposition significantly changing the market value of the investment) or less liquid securities. Substantial redemptions may also adversely affect the ability of the Underlying Fund to implement its investment strategy. The Investment Manager or its affiliate also has a conflict of interest in determining the allocation of affiliated products’ assets among the Underlying Funds, as it earns different fees from the various Underlying Funds.
Investing in Money Market Funds
The Fund may invest cash in, or hold as collateral for certain investments, shares of registered or unregistered money market funds, including funds advised by the Investment Manager or its affiliates. These funds are not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) or any other government agency. The Fund and its shareholders indirectly bear a portion of the expenses of any money market fund or other fund in which the Fund may invest.
Lending of Portfolio Securities
The Fund may lend portfolio securities to broker-dealers or other financial intermediaries on a fully collateralized basis in order to earn additional income. The Fund may lose money from securities lending if, for example, it is delayed in or prevented from selling the collateral after the loan is made or recovering the securities loaned or if it incurs losses on the reinvestment of cash collateral.
The Fund currently does not participate in the securities lending program but the Board of Trustees (the Board) may determine to renew participation in the future. For more information on lending of portfolio securities and the risks involved, see the SAI and the annual and semiannual reports to shareholders.
| Prospectus 2021 | 17 |
Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
Investing Defensively
The Fund may from time to time take temporary defensive investment positions that may be inconsistent with the Fund’s principal investment strategies in attempting to respond to adverse market, economic, political, social or other conditions, including, without limitation, investing some or all of its assets in money market instruments or shares of affiliated or unaffiliated money market funds or holding some or all of its assets in cash or cash equivalents. The Fund may take such defensive investment positions for as long a period as deemed necessary.
The Fund may not achieve its investment objective while it is investing defensively. Investing defensively may adversely affect Fund performance. During these times, the portfolio managers may make frequent portfolio holding changes, which could result in increased trading expenses and taxes, and decreased Fund performance. See also
Investing in Money Market Funds
above for more information.
Other Strategic and Investment Measures
The Fund may also from time to time take temporary portfolio positions that may or may not be consistent with the Fund’s principal investment strategies in attempting to respond to adverse market, economic, political, social or other conditions, including, without limitation, investing in derivatives, such as forward contracts, futures contracts, options, structured investments and swaps, for various purposes, including among others, investing in particular derivatives in seeking to reduce investment exposures, or in seeking to achieve indirect investment exposures, to a sector, country, region or currency where the Investment Manager believes such positioning is appropriate. The Fund may take such portfolio positions for as long a period as deemed necessary. While the Fund is so positioned, derivatives could comprise a substantial portion of the Fund’s investments and the Fund may not achieve its investment objective. Investing in this manner may adversely affect Fund performance. During these times, the portfolio managers may make frequent portfolio holding changes, which could result in increased trading expenses and taxes, and decreased Fund performance. For information on the risks of investing in derivatives, see
Transactions in Derivatives
above.
Portfolio Holdings Disclosure
The Board has adopted policies and procedures that govern the timing and circumstances of disclosure to shareholders and third parties of information regarding the securities owned by the Fund. A description of these policies and procedures is included in the SAI. Fund policy generally permits the disclosure of portfolio holdings information on the Fund's website (columbiathreadneedleus.com) only after a certain amount of time has passed, as described in the SAI.
Purchases and sales of portfolio securities can take place at any time, so the portfolio holdings information available on the Fund's website may not always be current.
FUNDamentals
Portfolio Holdings Versus the Benchmarks
The Fund does not limit its investments to the securities within its benchmark(s), and accordingly the Fund's holdings may diverge significantly from those of its benchmark(s). In addition, the Fund may invest in securities outside any industry and geographic sectors represented in its benchmark(s). The Fund's weightings in individual securities, and in industry or geographic sectors, may also vary considerably from those of its benchmark(s).
eDelivery and Mailings to Households
In order to reduce shareholder expenses, the Fund may mail only one copy of the Fund’s prospectus and each annual and semiannual report to those addresses shared by two or more accounts. If you wish to receive separate copies of these documents, call 800.345.6611 or, if your shares are held through a financial intermediary, contact your intermediary directly. Additionally, you may elect to enroll in eDelivery to receive electronic versions of these documents, as well as quarterly statements and supplements, by logging into your account at columbiathreadneedleus.com/investor/.
| 18 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
Cash Flows
The timing and magnitude of cash inflows from investors buying Fund shares could prevent the Fund from always being fully invested. Conversely, the timing and magnitude of cash outflows to shareholders redeeming Fund shares could require the Fund to sell portfolio securities at less than opportune times or to hold ready reserves of uninvested cash in amounts larger than might otherwise be the case to meet shareholder redemptions. Either situation could adversely impact the Fund’s performance.
Understanding Annual Fund Operating Expenses
The Fund’s annual operating expenses, as presented in the
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
table in the
Fees and Expenses of the Fund
section of this prospectus, generally are based on expenses incurred during the Fund’s most recently completed fiscal year, may vary by share class and are expressed as a percentage (expense ratio) of the Fund’s average net assets during that fiscal year. The expense ratios reflect the Fund’s fee arrangements as of the date of this prospectus and, unless indicated otherwise, are based on expenses incurred during the Fund’s most recent fiscal year. The Fund’s assets will fluctuate, but unless indicated otherwise in the
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
table, no adjustments have been or will be made to the expense ratios to reflect any differences in the Fund’s average net assets between the most recently completed fiscal year and the date of this prospectus or a later date. In general, the Fund’s expense ratios will increase as its net assets decrease, such that the Fund’s actual expense ratios may be higher than the expense ratios presented in the
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
table if assets fall. As applicable, any commitment by the Investment Manager and/or its affiliates to waive fees and/or cap (reimburse) expenses is expected, in part, to limit the impact of any increase in the Fund’s expense ratios that would otherwise result because of a decrease in the Fund’s assets in the current fiscal year. The Fund’s annual operating expenses are comprised of (i) investment management fees, (ii) distribution and/or service fees, and (iii) other expenses. Management fees do not vary by class, but distribution and/or service fees and other expenses may vary by class.
FUNDamentals
Other Expenses
“Other expenses” consist of the fees the Fund pays to its custodian, transfer agent, auditors, lawyers and trustees, costs relating to compliance and miscellaneous expenses. Generally, these expenses are allocated on a pro rata basis across all share classes. These fees include certain sub-transfer agency and shareholder servicing fees. Transfer agency fees and certain shareholder servicing fees, however, are class specific. They differ by share class because the shareholder services provided to each share class may be different. Accordingly, the differences in “other expenses” among share classes are primarily the result of the different transfer agency and shareholder servicing fees applicable to each share class. For more information on these fees, see
Choosing a Share Class — Financial Intermediary Compensation.
Fee Waiver/Expense Reimbursement Arrangements and Impact on Past Performance
The Investment Manager and certain of its affiliates have contractually agreed to waive fees and/or reimburse expenses (excluding certain fees and expenses described below) through December 31, 2021, unless sooner terminated at the sole discretion of the Fund's Board, so that the Fund’s net operating expenses, after giving effect to fees waived/expenses reimbursed and any balance credits and/or overdraft charges from the Fund’s custodian, do not exceed the annual rates of:
| Prospectus 2021 | 19 |
Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
| Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I | |
| Class Inst2 | 1.00% |
| Class Inst3 | 0.94% |
| Class R | 1.56% |
Under the agreement, the following fees and expenses are excluded from the Fund’s operating expenses when calculating the waiver/reimbursement commitment, and therefore will be paid by the Fund, if applicable: taxes (including foreign transaction taxes), expenses associated with investment in affiliated and non-affiliated pooled investment vehicles (including mutual funds and exchange-traded funds), transaction costs and brokerage commissions, costs related to any securities lending program, dividend expenses associated with securities sold short, inverse floater program fees and expenses, transaction charges and interest on borrowed money, interest, infrequent and/or unusual expenses and any other expenses the exclusion of which is specifically approved by the Fund’s Board. This agreement may be modified or amended only with approval from all parties.
Effect of Fee Waivers and/or Expense Reimbursements on Past Performance.
The Fund’s returns shown in the
Performance Information
section of this prospectus reflect the effect of any fee waivers and/or reimbursements of Fund expenses by the Investment Manager and/or any of its affiliates and any predecessor firms that were in place during the performance period shown. Without such fee waivers/expense reimbursements, the Fund’s returns might have been lower.
Primary Service Providers
The Fund enters into contractual arrangements (Service Provider Contracts) with various service providers, including, among others, the Investment Manager, the Distributor, the Transfer Agent and the Fund’s custodian. The Fund’s Service Provider Contracts are solely among the parties thereto. Shareholders are not parties to, or intended to be third-party beneficiaries of, any Service Provider Contracts. Further, this prospectus, the SAI and any Service Provider Contracts are not intended to give rise to any agreement, duty, special relationship or other obligation between the Fund and any investor, or give rise to any contractual, tort or other rights in any individual shareholder, group of shareholders or other person, including any right to assert a fiduciary or other duty, enforce the Service Provider Contracts against the parties or to seek any remedy thereunder, either directly or on behalf of the Fund. Nothing in the previous sentence should be read to suggest any waiver of any rights under federal or state securities laws.
The Investment Manager, the Distributor, and the Transfer Agent are all affiliates of Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (Ameriprise Financial). They and their affiliates currently provide key services, including investment advisory, administration, distribution, shareholder servicing and transfer agency services, to the Fund and various other funds, including the Columbia Funds, and are paid for providing these services. These service relationships are described below.
The Investment Manager
Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC is located at 225 Franklin Street, Boston, MA 02110 and serves as investment adviser and administrator to the Columbia Funds. The Investment Manager is a registered investment adviser and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ameriprise Financial. The Investment Manager’s management experience covers all major asset classes, including equity securities, debt instruments and money market instruments. In addition to serving as an investment adviser to traditional mutual funds, exchange-traded funds and closed-end funds, the Investment Manager acts as an investment adviser for itself, its affiliates, individuals, corporations, retirement plans, private investment companies and financial intermediaries.
Subject to oversight by the Board, the Investment Manager manages the day-to-day operations of the Fund, determining what securities and other investments the Fund should buy or sell and executing portfolio transactions. The Investment Manager may use the research and other capabilities of its affiliates and third parties in managing the Fund’s investments. The Investment Manager is also responsible for overseeing the administrative operations of the Fund, including the general supervision of the Fund’s operations, the coordination of the Fund’s other service providers and the provision of related clerical and administrative services.
| 20 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
The SEC has issued an order that permits the Investment Manager, subject to the approval of the Board, to appoint unaffiliated subadvisers by entering into subadvisory agreements with them, and to change in material respects the terms of those subadvisory agreements, including the fees paid thereunder, for the Fund without first obtaining shareholder approval, thereby avoiding the expense and delays typically associated with obtaining shareholder approval. The Fund furnishes shareholders with information about new subadvisers retained in reliance on the order within 90 days after hiring the subadviser. The Investment Manager and its affiliates may have other relationships, including significant financial relationships, with current or potential subadvisers or their affiliates, which may create certain conflicts of interest. When making recommendations to the Board to appoint or to change a subadviser, or to change the terms of a subadvisory agreement, the Investment Manager discloses to the Board the nature of any such material relationships. At present, the Investment Manager has not engaged any investment subadviser for the Fund.
The Fund pays the Investment Manager a fee for its management services, which include investment advisory services and administrative services. The fee is calculated as a percentage of the daily net assets of the Fund and is paid monthly. For the Fund’s most recent fiscal year, management services fees paid to the Investment Manager by the Fund amounted to 0.84% of average daily net assets of the Fund, before any applicable reimbursements.
A discussion regarding the basis for the Board’s approval of the renewal of the Fund's management agreement is available in the Fund’s annual report to shareholders for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2020.
Portfolio Managers
Information about the portfolio managers primarily responsible for overseeing the Fund’s investments is shown below. The SAI provides additional information about the portfolio managers, including information relating to compensation, other accounts managed by the portfolio managers, and ownership by the portfolio managers of Fund shares.
| Portfolio Manager | Title | Role with Fund | Managed Fund Since | |||
| Daniel Cole, CFA | Senior Portfolio Manager | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2015 | |||
| Wayne Collette, CFA | Senior Portfolio Manager | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2006 |
Mr. Cole
joined the Investment Manager in 2014. Mr. Cole began his investment career in 1993 and earned a B.S. from Guilford College and an M.B.A. in finance from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.
Mr. Collette
joined one of the Columbia Management legacy firms or acquired business lines in 2001. Mr. Collette began his investment career in 1996 and earned a B.A. from Brandeis University and an M.B.A. in finance from the Columbia Business School at Columbia University.
The Distributor
Shares of the Fund are distributed by Columbia Management Investment Distributors, Inc., which is located at 225 Franklin Street, Boston, MA 02110. The Distributor is a registered broker-dealer and an indirect, wholly-owned subsidiary of Ameriprise Financial. The Distributor and its affiliates may pay commissions, distribution and service fees and/or other compensation to entities, including Ameriprise Financial affiliates, for selling shares and providing services to investors.
The Transfer Agent
Columbia Management Investment Services Corp. is a registered transfer agent and wholly-owned subsidiary of Ameriprise Financial. The Transfer Agent is located at 225 Franklin Street, Boston, MA 02110, and its responsibilities include processing purchases, redemptions and exchanges of Fund shares, calculating and paying distributions, maintaining shareholder records, preparing account statements and providing customer service. The Transfer Agent has engaged DST Asset Manager Solutions, Inc. to provide various shareholder or “sub-transfer agency” services. In addition, the Transfer Agent enters into agreements with various financial intermediaries through which you may hold Fund shares, pursuant to which the Transfer Agent pays these financial intermediaries for providing certain shareholder services. Depending on the type of account, the Fund pays the Transfer Agent a per account fee or a fee based on the assets invested through omnibus accounts, and reimburses the Transfer Agent for certain out-of-pocket expenses, including certain payments to financial intermediaries through which shares are held.
| Prospectus 2021 | 21 |
Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
Other Roles and Relationships of Ameriprise Financial and its Affiliates — Certain Conflicts of Interest
The Investment Manager, Distributor and Transfer Agent, all affiliates of Ameriprise Financial, provide various services to the Fund and other Columbia Funds for which they are compensated. Ameriprise Financial and its other affiliates may also provide other services to these funds and be compensated for them.
The Investment Manager and its affiliates may provide investment advisory and other services to other clients and customers substantially similar to those provided to the Columbia Funds. These activities, and other financial services activities of Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates, may present actual and potential conflicts of interest and introduce certain investment constraints.
Ameriprise Financial is a major financial services company, engaged in a broad range of financial activities beyond the fund-related activities of the Investment Manager, including, among others, insurance, broker-dealer (sales and trading), asset management, banking and other financial activities. These additional activities may involve multiple advisory, financial, insurance and other interests in securities and other instruments, and in companies that issue securities and other instruments, that may be bought, sold or held by the Columbia Funds.
Conflicts of interest and limitations that could affect a Columbia Fund may arise from, for example, the following:
| ■ | compensation and other benefits received by the Investment Manager and other Ameriprise Financial affiliates related to the management/administration of a Columbia Fund and the sale of its shares; |
| ■ | the allocation of, and competition for, investment opportunities among the Fund, other funds and accounts advised/managed by the Investment Manager and other Ameriprise Financial affiliates, or Ameriprise Financial itself and its affiliates; |
| ■ | separate and potentially divergent management of a Columbia Fund and other funds and accounts advised/managed by the Investment Manager and other Ameriprise Financial affiliates; |
| ■ | regulatory and other investment restrictions on investment activities of the Investment Manager and other Ameriprise Financial affiliates and accounts advised/managed by them; |
| ■ | insurance and other relationships of Ameriprise Financial affiliates with companies and other entities in which a Columbia Fund invests; and |
| ■ | regulatory and other restrictions relating to the sharing of information between Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates, including the Investment Manager, and a Columbia Fund. |
The Investment Manager and Ameriprise Financial have adopted various policies and procedures that are intended to identify, monitor and address conflicts of interest. However, there is no assurance that these policies, procedures and disclosures will be effective.
Additional information about Ameriprise Financial and the types of conflicts of interest and other matters referenced above is set forth in the
section of the SAI. Investors in the Columbia Funds should carefully review these disclosures and consult with their financial advisor if they have any questions.
Investment Management and Other Services — Other Roles and Relationships of Ameriprise Financial and its Affiliates — Certain Conflicts of Interest
| 22 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
Certain Legal Matters
Ameriprise Financial and certain of its affiliates have historically been involved in a number of legal, arbitration and regulatory proceedings, including routine litigation, class actions and governmental actions, concerning matters arising in connection with the conduct of their business activities. Ameriprise Financial believes that the Fund is not currently the subject of, and that neither Ameriprise Financial nor any of its affiliates are the subject of, any pending legal, arbitration or regulatory proceedings that are likely to have a material adverse effect on the Fund or the ability of Ameriprise Financial or its affiliates to perform under their contracts with the Fund. Information regarding certain pending and settled legal proceedings may be found in the Fund’s shareholder reports and in the SAI. Additionally, Ameriprise Financial is required to make quarterly (10-Q), annual (10-K) and, as necessary, 8-K filings with the SEC on legal and regulatory matters that relate to Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates. Copies of these filings may be obtained by accessing the SEC website at sec.gov.
| Prospectus 2021 | 23 |
Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I
Choosing a Share Class
The Funds
The Columbia Funds (referred to as the Funds) generally share the same policies and procedures for investor services, as described below. Each Fund is a series of Columbia Funds Series Trust (CFST), Columbia Funds Series Trust I (CFST I) or Columbia Funds Series Trust II (CFST II), and certain features of distribution and/or service plans may differ among these trusts. The Fund offered by this prospectus is a series of CFST I. Columbia Funds with names that include the words “Tax-Exempt” or “Municipal” (the Tax-Exempt Funds) have certain policies that differ from other Columbia Funds (the Taxable Funds). The Fund offered by this prospectus is treated as a Taxable Fund for these purposes.
Funds Contact Information
Additional information about the Funds, including sales charges and other class features and policies, can be obtained, free of charge, at columbiathreadneedleus.com,* by calling toll-free 800.345.6611, or by writing (regular mail) to Columbia Management Investment Services Corp., P.O. Box 219104, Kansas City, MO 64121-9104 or (express mail) Columbia Management Investment Services Corp., c/o DST Asset Manager Solutions, Inc., 430 W 7
th
Street, Ste 219104, Kansas City, MO 64105-1407.
| * | The website references in this prospectus are inactive links and information contained in or otherwise accessible through the referenced websites does not form a part of this prospectus. |
FUNDamentals
Financial Intermediaries
The term “financial intermediary” refers to the selling and servicing agents that are authorized to sell and/or service shares of the Funds. Financial intermediaries include broker-dealers and financial advisors as well as firms that employ broker-dealers and financial advisors, including, for example, brokerage firms, banks, investment advisers, third party administrators and other firms in the financial services industry.
Omnibus Accounts
The term “omnibus account” refers to a financial intermediary’s account with the Fund (held directly through the Transfer Agent) that represents the combined holdings of, and transactions in, Fund shares of one or more clients of the financial intermediary (beneficial Fund shareholders). Omnibus accounts are held in the name of the financial intermediaries and not in the name of the beneficial Fund shareholders invested in the Fund through omnibus accounts.
Retirement Plans and Omnibus Retirement Plans
The term “retirement plan” refers to retirement plans created under Sections 401(a), 401(k), 457 and 403(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the Code), and non-qualified deferred compensation plans governed by Section 409A of the Code and similar plans, but does not refer to individual retirement plans, such as traditional IRAs and Roth IRAs. The term “omnibus retirement plan” refers to a retirement plan that has a plan-level or omnibus account with the Transfer Agent.
Networked Accounts
Networking, offered by the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation’s Wealth Management Services (WMS), is the industry standard IT system for mutual fund account reconciliation and dividend processing.
Summary of Share Class Features
Each share class has its own investment eligibility criteria, cost structure and other features. You may not be eligible to invest in every share class. Your financial intermediary may not make every share class available or may cease to make available one or more share classes of the Fund. The share class you select through your financial intermediary may have higher fees and/or sales charges than other classes of shares available through other financial intermediaries. An investor transacting in a class of Fund shares without any front-end sales charge, contingent deferred sales charge (CDSC), or other asset-based fee for sales or distribution, such as a Rule 12b-1
| 24 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
fee, may be required to pay a commission to the financial intermediary for effecting such transactions. Each investor’s personal situation is different and you may wish to discuss with your financial intermediary the share classes the Fund offers, which share classes are available to you and which share class(es) is/are appropriate for you. In all instances, it is your responsibility to notify your financial intermediary or (for Direct-at-Fund Accounts, as defined below) the Fund at the time of purchase of any relationship or other facts that may qualify you for sales charge waivers or discounts. The Fund, the Distributor and the Transfer Agent do not provide investment advice or make recommendations regarding Fund share classes. Your financial intermediary may provide advice and recommendations to you, such as which share class(es) is/are appropriate for you.
When deciding which class of shares to buy, you should consider, among other things:
| ■ | The amount you plan to invest. |
| ■ | How long you intend to remain invested in the Fund. |
| ■ | The fees (e.g., sales charge or “load”) and expenses for each share class. |
| ■ | Whether you may be eligible for a reduction or waiver of sales charges when you buy or sell shares. |
FUNDamentals
Front-End Sales Charge Calculation
The front-end sales charge is calculated as a percentage of the offering price.
| ■ | The net asset value (NAV) per share is the price of a share calculated by the Fund every business day. |
| ■ | The offering price per share is the NAV per share plus any front-end sales charge (or load) that applies. |
The dollar amount of any applicable front-end sales charge is the difference between the offering price of the shares you buy and the NAV of those shares. To determine the front-end sales charge you will pay when you buy Class A and Class V shares, the Fund will add the amount of your investment to the value of your account (and any other accounts eligible for aggregation of which you or your financial intermediary notifies the Fund) and base the sales charge on the aggregate amount. For information on account value aggregation, sales charge waivers and other important information, see
.
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
FUNDamentals
Contingent Deferred Sales Charge
A contingent deferred sales charge (CDSC) is a sales charge applied at the time you sell your shares, unlike a front-end sales charge that is applied at the time of purchase. A CDSC can vary based on the length of time that you have held your shares. A CDSC is applied to the NAV at the time of your purchase or sale, whichever is lower, and will not be applied to any shares you receive through Fund distribution reinvestments or any amount that represents appreciation in the value of your shares. For purposes of calculating a CDSC, the start of the holding period is generally the first day of the month in which your purchase was made.
When you place an order to sell shares of a class that has a CDSC, the Fund will first redeem any shares that are not subject to a CDSC, followed by those you have held the longest. This means that if a CDSC is imposed, you cannot designate the individual shares being redeemed for U.S. federal income tax purposes. You should consult your tax advisor about the tax consequences of investing in the Fund. In certain circumstances, the CDSC may not apply. See
for details.
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
| Prospectus 2021 | 25 |
Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
Share Class Features
The following summarizes the primary features of Class A, Class Adv, Class C, Class Inst, Class Inst2, Class Inst3, Class R, and Class V shares.
Not all Funds offer every class of shares. The Fund offers the class(es) of shares set forth on the cover of this prospectus and may offer other share classes through a separate prospectus. Although certain share classes are generally closed to new and/or existing investors, information relating to these share classes is included in the table below because certain qualifying purchase orders are permitted, as described below.
The sales charge reductions and waivers available to investors who purchase and hold their Fund shares through different financial intermediaries may vary.
describes financial intermediary-specific reductions and/or waiver policies. A shareholder transacting in Fund shares through a financial intermediary identified in
should carefully read the terms and conditions of
. A reduction and/or waiver that is specific to a particular financial intermediary is not available to Direct-at-Fund Accounts, as defined below, or through another financial intermediary. The information in
may be provided by, or compiled from or based on information provided by the financial intermediaries identified in
. To obtain additional information regarding any sales charge reduction and/or waiver described in
, and to ensure that you receive any such reductions or waivers that may be available to you, please consult your financial intermediary.
Appendix A
Appendix A
Appendix A
Appendix A
Appendix A
Appendix A
|
Share Class
|
Eligible Investors
(a)
;
Minimum Initial Investments
(b)
;
Conversion Features
(c)
|
Front-End
Sales Charges
(d)
|
Contingent Deferred
Sales Charges (CDSCs)
(d)
|
Sales Charge
Reductions/Waivers |
Maximum Distribution
and/or Service Fees
(e)
|
| Class A |
Eligibility:
Available to the general public for investment
(f)
$2,000 ($1,000 for IRAs; $100 for systematic investment plan accounts)
|
Taxable Funds:
5.75% maximum, declining to 0.00% on investments of $1 million or more
3.00% maximum, declining to 0.00% on investments of $500,000 or more
None for Columbia Government Money Market Fund and certain other Funds
(g)
|
Taxable Funds
(g)
:
CDSC on certain investments of between $1 million and $50 million redeemed within 18 months after purchase charged as follows:
• 1.00% CDSC if redeemed within 12 months after purchase, and
• 0.50% CDSC if redeemed more than 12, but less than 18, months after purchase
(g)
:
Maximum CDSC of 0.75% on certain investments of $500,000 or more redeemed within 12 months after purchase
|
Reductions
: Yes, see
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges – Class A and Class V Shares Front-End Sales Charge Reductions
: Yes, on Fund distribution reinvestments. For additional waivers, see
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges – Class A and Class V Shares Front-End Sales Charge Waivers
, as well as
Choosing a Share Class — CDSC Waivers – Class A, Class C and Class V
Financial intermediary-specific waivers are also available, see
Appendix A
|
Distribution and Service
Fees:
up to 0.25%
|
|
Class
Adv |
Eligibility:
Available only to (i) omnibus retirement plans, including self-directed brokerage accounts within omnibus retirement plans that clear through institutional no transaction fee (NTF) platforms; (ii) trust companies or
|
None | None | N/A | None |
| 26 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
|
Share Class
|
Eligible Investors
(a)
;
Minimum Initial Investments
(b)
;
Conversion Features
(c)
|
Front-End
Sales Charges
(d)
|
Contingent Deferred
Sales Charges (CDSCs)
(d)
|
Sales Charge
Reductions/Waivers |
Maximum Distribution
and/or Service Fees
(e)
|
|
similar institutions; (iii) broker-dealers, banks, trust companies and similar institutions that clear Fund share transactions for their client or customer investment advisory or similar accounts through designated financial intermediaries and their mutual fund trading platforms that have been granted specific written authorization from the Transfer Agent with respect to Class Adv eligibility apart from selling, servicing or similar agreements; (iv) 501(c)(3) charitable organizations; (v) 529 plans; (vi) health savings accounts; (vii) investors participating in a fee-based advisory program sponsored by a financial intermediary or other entity that is not compensated by the Fund for those services, other than payments for shareholder servicing or sub-accounting performed in place of the Transfer Agent; and (viii) commissionable brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary, acting as broker on behalf of its customer, charges the customer a commission for effecting transactions in Fund shares, provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Adv shares within such platform.
(f)
Minimum Initial Investment:
|
|||||
| Class C |
Eligibility:
Available to the general public for investment
$2,000 ($1,000 for IRAs; $100 for systematic investment plan accounts)
$499,999
(h)
, none for omnibus retirement plans
$999,999
(h)
; none for omnibus retirement plans
: Yes, Class C shares generally automatically convert to Class A shares of the same Fund in the month of or the month following the 10-year
|
None |
1.00% on certain investments redeemed within one year of purchase
(i)
|
Waivers
: Yes, on Fund distribution reinvestments. For additional waivers, see
Choosing a Share Class – CDSC Waivers – Class A, Class C and Class V
Financial intermediary-specific CDSC waivers are also available, see
Appendix A
|
Distribution Fee:
0.75%
0.25%
|
| Prospectus 2021 | 27 |
Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
|
Share Class
|
Eligible Investors
(a)
;
Minimum Initial Investments
(b)
;
Conversion Features
(c)
|
Front-End
Sales Charges
(d)
|
Contingent Deferred
Sales Charges (CDSCs)
(d)
|
Sales Charge
Reductions/Waivers |
Maximum Distribution
and/or Service Fees
(e)
|
|
anniversary of the Class C shares purchase date.
(c)
|
|||||
|
Class
Inst |
Eligibility:
Available only to certain eligible investors, which are subject to different minimum investment requirements, ranging from $0 to $2,000, including investors who purchase Fund shares through commissionable brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary holds the shares in an omnibus account and, acting as broker on behalf of its customer, charges the customer a commission for effecting transactions in Fund shares, provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst shares within such platform; closed to (i) accounts of financial intermediaries that clear Fund share transactions for their client or customer accounts through designated financial intermediaries and their mutual fund trading platforms that have been given specific written notice from the Transfer Agent of the termination of their eligibility for new purchases of Class Inst shares and (ii) omnibus group retirement plans, subject to certain exceptions
(f)(j)
See
Eligibility
above
|
None | None | N/A | None |
|
Class
Inst2 |
Eligibility:
Available only to (i) certain registered investment advisers and family offices that clear Fund share transactions for their client or customer accounts through designated financial intermediaries and their mutual fund trading platforms that have been granted specific written authorization from the Transfer Agent with respect to Class Inst2 eligibility apart from selling, servicing or similar agreements; (ii) omnibus retirement plans
(j)
; and (iii) institutional investors that are clients of the Columbia Threadneedle Global Institutional Distribution Team that invest in Class Inst2 shares for their own account through platforms approved by the Distributor or an affiliate thereof to offer and/or service Class Inst2 shares within such platform.
None
|
None | None | N/A | None |
| 28 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
|
Share Class
|
Eligible Investors
(a)
;
Minimum Initial Investments
(b)
;
Conversion Features
(c)
|
Front-End
Sales Charges
(d)
|
Contingent Deferred
Sales Charges (CDSCs)
(d)
|
Sales Charge
Reductions/Waivers |
Maximum Distribution
and/or Service Fees
(e)
|
|
Class
Inst3 |
Eligibility:
Available to (i) group retirement plans that maintain plan-level or omnibus accounts with the Fund
(j)
; (ii) institutional investors that are clients of the Columbia Threadneedle Global Institutional Distribution Team that invest in Class Inst3 shares for their own account through platforms approved by the Distributor or an affiliate thereof to offer and/or service Class Inst3 shares within such platform; (iii) collective trust funds; (iv) affiliated or unaffiliated mutual funds (e.g., funds operating as funds-of-funds); (v) fee-based platforms of financial intermediaries (or the clearing intermediary they trade through) that have an agreement with the Distributor or an affiliate thereof that specifically authorizes the financial intermediary to offer and/or service Class Inst3 shares within such platform, provided also that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account; (vi) commissionable brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary, acting as broker on behalf of its customer, charges the customer a commission for effecting transactions in Fund shares, provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst3 shares within such platform and that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account; and (vii) bank trust departments, subject to an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst3 shares and provided that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account. In each case above where noted that Fund shares are required to be held in an omnibus account, the Distributor may, in its discretion, determine to waive this requirement.
(f)
No minimum for the eligible investors described in (i), (iii), (iv), (v), and (vii) above; $2,000 ($1,000 for IRAs; $100 for systematic investment plan accounts) for the eligible investors described in (vi) above; and $1 million for all other eligible investors, unless waived in the discretion of the Distributor
|
None | None | N/A | None |
| Class R |
Eligibility:
Available only to eligible retirement plans, health savings
|
None | None | N/A |
Series of CFST & CFST I:
|
| Prospectus 2021 | 29 |
Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
|
Share Class
|
Eligible Investors
(a)
;
Minimum Initial Investments
(b)
;
Conversion Features
(c)
|
Front-End
Sales Charges
(d)
|
Contingent Deferred
Sales Charges (CDSCs)
(d)
|
Sales Charge
Reductions/Waivers |
Maximum Distribution
and/or Service Fees
(e)
|
|
accounts and, in the sole discretion of the Distributor, other types of retirement accounts held through platforms maintained by financial intermediaries approved by the Distributor
Minimum Initial Investment:
|
distribution fee of 0.50%
Series of CFST II:
|
||||
| Class V |
Eligibility:
Generally closed to new investors
(j)
N/A
|
5.75% maximum, declining to 0.00% on investments of $1 million or more |
CDSC on certain investments of between $1 million and $50 million redeemed within 18 months after purchase, charged as follows:
|
Reductions
: Yes, see
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges – Class A and Class V Shares Front-End Sales Charge Reductions
: Yes, on Fund distribution reinvestments.
For additional waivers, see
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges – Class A and Class V Shares Front-End Sales Charge Waivers
, as well as
Choosing a Share Class — CDSC Waivers – Class A, Class C and Class V
|
Service Fee:
up to 0.50%
|
| (a) | For Columbia Government Money Market Fund, new investments must be made in Class A, Class Inst, Class Inst3, or Class R shares, subject to eligibility. Class C shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund are available as a new investment only to investors in the Distributor's proprietary 401(k) products, provided that such investor is eligible to invest in the class and transact directly with the Fund or the Transfer Agent through a third party administrator or third party recordkeeper. Columbia Government Money Market Fund offers Class Inst2 shares only to facilitate exchanges with other Funds offering such share class. |
| (b) |
Certain share classes are subject to minimum account balance requirements, as described in
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares — Transaction Rules and Policies.
|
| (c) |
For more information on the conversion of Class C shares to Class A shares, see
Choosing a Share Class - Sales Charges and Commissions - Class C Shares - Conversion to Class A Shares
|
| (d) |
Actual front-end sales charges and CDSCs vary among the Funds. For more information on applicable sales charges, see
Choosing a Share Class — Sales Charges and Commissions,
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges.
|
| (e) |
These are the maximum applicable distribution and/or service fees. Except for Class V shares, these fees are paid under the Fund’s Rule 12b-1 plan. Fee rates and fee components (i.e., the portion of a combined fee that is a distribution or service fee) may vary among Funds. Because these fees are paid out of Fund assets on an ongoing basis, over time these fees will increase the cost of your investment and may cost you more than paying other types of distribution and/or service fees. Although Class A shares of certain series of CFST I are subject to a combined distribution and service fee of up to 0.35%, these Funds currently limit the combined fee to 0.25%. Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund pays a distribution and service fee of up to 0.15% on Class A shares. Columbia Government Money Market Fund pays a distribution and service fee of up to 0.10% on Class A shares and up to 0.75% distribution fee on Class C shares. Columbia High Yield Municipal Fund, Columbia Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund and Columbia Tax-Exempt Fund each pay a service fee of up to 0.20% on Class A and Class C shares. Columbia Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund pays a distribution fee of up to 0.65% on Class C shares. For more information on distribution and service fees, see
Choosing a Share Class — Distribution and Service Fees.
|
| (f) | Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund must be purchased through financial intermediaries that, by written agreement with the Distributor, are specifically authorized to sell the Fund’s shares. Class Adv shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund are also available to certain registered investment advisers that clear Fund share transactions for their client accounts through designated financial intermediaries with mutual fund trading platforms that have been granted specific written authorization from the Transfer Agent (apart from selling, servicing or similar agreements) to sell Class Inst2 shares, which are not offered by the Fund. Class Inst3 shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund that were open and funded accounts prior to November 30, 2018 (the conversion date from the former unnamed share class to Class Inst3 shares) are eligible for additional investment; however, any account established after that date must meet the current Class Inst3 eligibility requirements. |
| 30 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
| (g) | For Columbia Short Term Municipal Bond Fund, a CDSC of 0.50% is charged on certain investments of $500,000 or more redeemed within 12 months after purchase. The following Funds are not subject to a front-end sales charge or a CDSC on Class A shares: Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund, Columbia Small Cap Index Fund, Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund and Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund. |
| (h) |
If you are eligible to invest in Class A shares without a front-end sales charge, you should discuss your options with your financial intermediary. For more information, see
Choosing a Share Class – Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges.
|
| (i) | There is no CDSC on redemptions from Class C shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund. |
| (j) |
These share classes are closed to new accounts, or closed to previously eligible investors, subject to certain conditions, as summarized below and described in more detail under
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares — Buying Shares — Eligible Investors:
|
•
. Financial intermediaries that clear Fund share transactions through designated financial intermediaries and their mutual fund trading platforms that have been given specific written notice from the Transfer Agent, effective March 29, 2013, of the termination of their eligibility for new purchases of Class Inst shares and omnibus retirement plans are not permitted to establish new Class Inst accounts, subject to certain exceptions. Omnibus retirement plans that opened and, subject to exceptions, funded a Class Inst account as of close of business on March 28, 2013, and have continuously held Class Inst shares in such account after such date, may generally continue to make additional purchases of Class Inst shares, open new Class Inst accounts and add new participants. In certain circumstances and in the sole discretion of the Distributor, omnibus retirement plans affiliated with a grandfathered plan may also open new Class Inst accounts. Accounts of financial intermediaries (other than omnibus retirement plans) that clear Fund share transactions for their client or customer accounts through designated financial intermediaries and their mutual fund trading platforms are not permitted to establish new Class Inst accounts or make additional purchases of Class Inst shares (other than through Fund distribution reinvestments).
Class Inst Shares
•
. Shareholders with Class Inst2 accounts funded before November 8, 2012 who do not satisfy the current eligibility criteria for Class Inst2 shares may not establish new Class Inst2 accounts but may continue to make additional purchases of Class Inst2 shares in existing accounts. In addition, investment advisory programs and similar programs that opened a Class Inst2 account as of May 1, 2010, and continuously hold Class Inst2 shares in such account after such date, may generally not only continue to make additional purchases of Class Inst2 shares but also open new Class Inst2 accounts and add new shareholders in the program.
Class Inst2 Shares
•
. Shareholders with Class Inst3 accounts funded before November 8, 2012 who do not satisfy the current eligibility criteria for Class Inst3 shares may not establish new accounts for such share class but may continue to make additional purchases of Class Inst3 shares in existing accounts.
Class Inst3 Shares
•
Shareholders
with Class V accounts who received, and have continuously held, Class V shares (formerly named Class T shares) in connection with the merger of certain Galaxy funds into certain Funds that were then named Liberty funds may continue to make additional purchases of such share class.
Class V Shares.
Sales Charges and Commissions
Sales charges, commissions, and distribution fees compensate financial intermediaries (typically your financial advisor) for selling shares to you, and service fees compensate financial intermediaries for maintaining and servicing the shares held in your account with them. Distribution and service fees are discussed in a separate sub-section below. Depending on which share class you choose and the financial intermediary through which you purchase your shares, you may pay these charges at potentially different levels at the outset as a front-end sales charge, at the time you sell your shares as a CDSC and/or over time in the form of distribution and/or service fees.
As described in more detail below, Class A and Class V shares have a front-end sales charge, which is deducted from your purchase price when you buy your shares, and results in a smaller dollar amount being invested in the Fund than the purchase price you pay (unless you qualify for a waiver or reduction of the sales charge). The Fund’s other share classes do not have a front-end sales charge, so the full amount of your purchase price is invested in those classes. Class A and Class V shares have lower ongoing distribution and/or service fees than Class C and Class R shares of the Fund. Over time, Class C and Class R shares can incur distribution and/or service fees that are equal to or more than the front-end sales charge and the distribution and/or service fees you would pay for Class A and Class V shares. Although the full amount of your purchase price of Class C and Class R shares is invested in a Fund, your return on this money will be reduced by the expected higher annual expenses of Class C and Class R shares. In this regard, note that Class C shares will generally automatically convert to Class A shares of the same Fund in the month of or the month following the 10-year anniversary of the Class C shares purchase date. The Fund may convert Class C shares held through a financial intermediary to Class A shares sooner in connection with the withdrawal of Class C shares of the Fund from the financial intermediary’s platform or accounts. No sales charge or other charges will apply in connection with such conversions, and conversions are free from U.S. federal income tax. Once your Class C shares convert to Class A shares, your total returns from an investment in the Fund may increase as a result of the lower operating costs of Class A shares. Class Adv, Class Inst, Class Inst2 and Class Inst3 shares of the Fund do not have distribution and/or service fees.
| Prospectus 2021 | 31 |
Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
Whether the ultimate cost is higher for one share class over another depends on the amount you invest, how long you hold your shares, the fees (i.e., sales charges) and expenses of the class and whether you are eligible for reduced or waived sales charges, if available. You are responsible for choosing the share class most appropriate for you after taking into account your share class eligibility, class-specific features, and any applicable reductions in, or waivers of, sales charges. For more information, see
. We encourage you to consult with a financial advisor who can help you with your investment decisions. Please contact your financial intermediary for more information about services, fees and expenses, and other important information about investing in the Fund, as well as with any questions you may have about your investing options. In all instances, it is your responsibility to notify your financial intermediary or (for Direct-at-Fund Accounts, as defined below) the Fund at the time of purchase of any relationship or other facts that may qualify you for sales charge waivers or discounts.
Choosing a Share Class – Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
Class A Shares — Front-End Sales Charge
Unless your purchase qualifies for a waiver (e.g., you buy the shares through reinvested Fund dividends or distributions or subject to an applicable financial intermediary-specific waiver), you will pay a front-end sales charge when you buy Class A shares (other than shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund, Columbia Small Cap Index Fund, Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund and Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund), resulting in a smaller dollar amount being invested in a Fund than the purchase price you pay. The Class A shares sales charge is waived on Class C shares converted to Class A shares. For more information about sales charge waivers and reduction opportunities, see
and
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
Appendix A.
The Distributor receives the sales charge and re-allows (or pays) a portion of the sales charge to the financial intermediary through which you purchased the shares. The Distributor retains the balance of the sales charge. The Distributor retains the full sales charge you pay when you purchase shares of the Fund directly from the Fund (through the Transfer Agent, rather than through a financial intermediary).
The front-end sales charge you will pay on Class A shares:
| ■ | depends on the amount you are investing (generally, the larger the investment, the smaller the percentage sales charge), and |
| ■ | is based on the total amount of your purchase and the value of your account (and any other accounts eligible for aggregation of which you or your financial intermediary notifies the Fund). |
The table below presents the front-end sales charge as a percentage of both the offering price and the net amount invested.
| 32 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
|
Class A Shares — Front-End Sales Charge — Breakpoint Schedule*
|
||||
|
Breakpoint Schedule For:
|
Dollar amount of
shares bought
(a)
|
Sales
charge as a % of the offering price
(b)
|
Sales
charge as a % of the net amount invested
(b)
|
Amount
retained by or paid to financial intermediaries as a % of the offering price |
|
Fixed Income Funds (except those listed below),
Columbia Multi-Asset Income Fund and Funds-of-Funds (fixed income)* |
$
|
4.75% | 4.99% | 4.00% |
|
$
|
4.25% | 4.44% | 3.50% | |
| $100,000–$249,999 | 3.50% | 3.63% | 3.00% | |
| $250,000–$499,999 | 2.50% | 2.56% | 2.15% | |
| $500,000–$999,999 | 2.00% | 2.04% | 1.75% | |
|
$
|
0.00% | 0.00% |
0.00%
(c)
|
|
|
Tax-Exempt Funds (other than Columbia Short Term Municipal Bond Fund)
|
$
|
3.00% | 3.09% | 2.50% |
| $100,000–$249,999 | 2.50% | 2.56% | 2.15% | |
| $250,000–$499,999 | 1.50 % | 1.53% | 1.25% | |
|
$
|
0.00% | 0.00% |
0.00%
(c)
|
|
|
Columbia Floating Rate Fund,
Columbia Limited Duration Credit Fund, Columbia Mortgage Opportunities Fund, Columbia Quality Income Fund, and Columbia Total Return Bond Fund |
$
|
3.00% | 3.09% | 2.50% |
| $100,000–$249,999 | 2.50% | 2.56% | 2.15% | |
| $250,000–$499,999 | 2.00% | 2.04% | 1.75% | |
| $500,000–$999,999 | 1.50% | 1.52% | 1.25% | |
|
$
|
0.00% | 0.00% |
0.00%
(c)
|
|
|
Columbia Short Term Bond Fund
|
$
|
1.00% | 1.01% | 0.75% |
| $100,000–$249,999 | 0.75% | 0.76% | 0.50% | |
| $250,000–$999,999 | 0.50% | 0.50% | 0.40% | |
|
$
|
0.00% | 0.00% |
0.00%
(c)
|
|
|
Columbia Short Term Municipal Bond Fund
|
$
|
1.00% | 1.01% | 0.75% |
| $100,000–$249,999 | 0.75% | 0.76% | 0.50% | |
| $250,000–$499,999 | 0.50% | 0.50% | 0.40% | |
|
$
|
0.00% | 0.00% |
0.00%
(c)
|
|
| * |
The following Funds are not subject to a front-end sales charge or CDSC on Class A shares: Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund, Columbia Small Cap Index Fund, Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund and Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund.
"Funds-of-Funds (equity)"
. "Funds-of-Funds (fixed income)"
|
| (a) |
Purchase amounts and account values may be aggregated among all eligible Fund accounts for the purposes of this table. See
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
|
| (b) | Because the offering price is calculated to two decimal places, the dollar amount of the sales charge as a percentage of the offering price and your net amount invested for any particular purchase of Fund shares may be higher or lower depending on whether downward or upward rounding was required during the calculation process. Purchase price includes the sales charge. |
| (c) |
For information regarding cumulative commissions paid to your financial intermediary when you buy $1 million or more of Class A shares of a Taxable Fund or $500,000 or more of Class A shares of a Tax-Exempt Fund, see
Class A Shares — Commissions
|
| Prospectus 2021 | 33 |
Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
Class A Shares — CDSC
In some cases, you'll pay a CDSC if you sell Class A shares that you purchased without a front-end sales charge.
Tax-Exempt Funds
| ■ | If you purchased Class A shares of any Tax-Exempt Fund (other than Columbia Short Term Municipal Bond Fund) without paying a front-end sales charge because your eligible accounts aggregated $500,000 or more at the time of purchase, you will incur a CDSC of 0.75% if you redeem those shares within 12 months after purchase. Subsequent Class A share purchases that bring your aggregate account value to $500,000 or more will also be subject to a CDSC of 0.75% if you redeem those shares within 12 months after purchase. |
| ■ | If you purchased Class A shares of Columbia Short Term Municipal Bond Fund without paying a front-end sales charge because your eligible accounts aggregated $500,000 or more at the time of purchase, you will incur a CDSC of 0.50% if you redeem those shares within 12 months after purchase. Subsequent Class A share purchases that bring your aggregate account value to $500,000 or more will also be subject to a CDSC of 0.50% if you redeem those shares within 12 months after purchase. |
Taxable Funds
| ■ | If you purchased Class A shares of any Taxable Fund without paying a front-end sales charge because your eligible accounts aggregated between $1 million and $50 million at the time of purchase, you will incur a CDSC if you redeem those shares within 18 months after purchase, which is charged as follows: 1.00% CDSC if shares are redeemed within 12 months after purchase; and 0.50% CDSC if shares are redeemed more than 12, but less than 18, months after purchase. Subsequent Class A share purchases that bring your aggregate account value to $1 million or more (but less than $50 million) will also be subject to a CDSC if you redeem them within 18 months after purchase as described in the previous sentence. |
Class A Shares — Commissions
The Distributor may pay your financial intermediary an up-front commission when you buy Class A shares. The Distributor generally funds the commission through the applicable sales charge you paid. For more information, see
above
Class A Shares — Front-End Sales Charge
.
The Distributor may also pay your financial intermediary a cumulative commission when you buy Class A shares in amounts not subject to a front-end sales charge, according to the following schedules (assets initially purchased into Class A shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund, Columbia Small Cap Index Fund, Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund and Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund that were purchased without the application of a front-end sales charge are excluded for purposes of calculating a financial intermediary’s commission under these schedules):
| * | The commission level applies to the applicable asset level; therefore, for example, for a purchase of $5 million, the Distributor would pay a commission of 0.75% on the first $3,999,999 and 0.50% on the balance. |
| ** | The commission level on purchases of Class A shares of Columbia Short Term Municipal Bond Fund is: 0.50% on purchases of $500,000 to $19,999,999 and 0.25% on purchases of $20 million or more. |
| 34 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
|
Class A Shares of Taxable Funds — Commission Schedule (Paid by the Distributor to Financial Intermediaries)*
|
|
|
Purchase Amount
|
Commission Level**
(as a % of net asset value per share) |
| $1 million – $2,999,999 | 1.00% |
| $3 million – $49,999,999 | 0.50% |
| $50 million or more | 0.25% |
| * | Not applicable to Funds that do not assess a front-end sales charge. |
| ** | The commission level applies to the applicable asset level; therefore, for example, for a purchase of $5 million, the Distributor would pay a commission of 1.00% on the first $2,999,999 and 0.50% on the balance. |
Class C Shares — Front-End Sales Charge
You do not pay a front-end sales charge when you buy Class C shares, but you may pay a CDSC when you sell Class C shares. Although Class C shares do not have a front-end sales charge, over time Class C shares can incur distribution and/or service fees that are equal to or more than the front-end sales charge and distribution and/or service fees you would pay for Class A shares. Thus, although the full amount of your purchase of Class C shares is invested in a Fund, any positive investment return on this money may be partially or fully offset by the expected higher annual expenses of Class C shares. If you are eligible to invest in Class A shares without a front-end sales charge, you should discuss your options with your financial intermediary. For more information, see
Choosing a Share Class – Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges.
Class C Shares — Conversion to Class A Shares
Class C shares of a Fund generally automatically convert to Class A shares of the same Fund in the month of or the month following the 10-year anniversary of the Class C shares purchase date. Class C shares held through a financial intermediary in an omnibus account will be converted provided that the intermediary is able to track purchases to credit individual shareholders’ holding periods. It is the financial intermediary's (and not the Fund's) responsibility to keep records and to ensure that the shareholder is credited with the proper holding period. Not all financial intermediaries are able to track purchases to credit individual shareholders' holding periods. For example, group retirement plans held through third-party intermediaries that hold Class C shares in an omnibus account may not track participant level share lot aging. Please consult with your financial intermediary about your eligibility for Class C share conversion. The Fund may convert Class C shares held through a financial intermediary to Class A shares sooner in connection with the withdrawal of Class C shares of the Fund from the financial intermediary's platform or accounts. Once your Class C shares convert to Class A shares, your total returns from an investment in the Fund may increase as a result of the lower operating costs of Class A shares.
The following rules apply to the automatic conversion of Class C shares to Class A shares:
| ■ | Class C share accounts that are Direct-at-Fund Accounts and Networked Accounts for which the Transfer Agent (and not your financial intermediary) sends you Fund account transaction confirmations and statements, convert on or about the 15th day of the month (if the 15th is not a business day, then the next business day thereafter) that they become eligible for automatic conversion provided that the Fund has records that Class C shares have been held for the requisite time period. |
| ■ | For purposes of determining the month when your Class C shares are eligible for conversion, the start of the holding period is the first day of the month in which your purchase was made. Your financial intermediary may choose a different day of the month to convert Class C shares. Please contact your financial intermediary for more information on calculating the holding period. |
| ■ | Any shares you received from reinvested distributions on these shares generally will convert to Class A shares at the same time. |
| ■ | You’ll receive the same dollar value of Class A shares as the Class C shares that were automatically converted. Class C shares that you received from an exchange of Class C shares of another Fund will convert based on the day you bought the original shares. |
| Prospectus 2021 | 35 |
Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
| ■ | No sales charge or other charges apply in connection with this automatic conversion, and conversions are free from U.S. federal income tax. |
Class C Shares — CDSC
You will pay a CDSC of 1.00% if you redeem Class C shares within 12 months of buying them unless you qualify for a waiver of the CDSC (e.g., the shares you are selling were purchased with reinvested Fund distributions). Redemptions of Class C shares are not subject to a CDSC if redeemed after 12 months. Class C shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund are not subject to a CDSC. For more information, see
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
.
Class C Shares — Commissions
Although there is no front-end sales charge when you buy Class C shares, the Distributor makes an up-front payment (which includes a sales commission and an advance of service fees) directly to your financial intermediary of up to 1.00% of the NAV per share when you buy Class C shares (except on purchases of Class C shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund). A portion of this payment may be passed along to your financial advisor. The Distributor seeks to recover this payment through fees it receives under the Fund's distribution and/or service plan during the first 12 months following the sale of Class C shares, and any applicable CDSC when you sell your shares. For more information, see
Choosing a Share Class — Distribution and Service Fees.
Class V Shares — Front-End Sales Charge
Unless you qualify for a waiver (e.g., you purchase shares through reinvested Fund distributions), you will pay a front-end sales charge when you buy Class V shares, resulting in a smaller dollar amount being invested in a Fund than the purchase price you pay. For more information about sales charge waivers (as well as sales charge reduction opportunities), see
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges.
The front-end sales charge you will pay on Class V shares:
| ■ | depends on the amount you are investing (generally, the larger the investment, the smaller the percentage sales charge), and |
| ■ | is based on the total amount of your purchase and the value of your account (and any other accounts eligible for aggregation of which you notify your financial intermediary or, in the case of Direct-at-Fund Accounts (as defined below), you notify the Fund). |
| 36 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
| Class V Shares — Front-End Sales Charge — Breakpoint Schedule | ||||
| Breakpoint Schedule For: |
Dollar amount of
shares bought
(a)
|
Sales
charge as a % of the offering price
(b)
|
Sales
charge as a % of the net amount invested
(b)
|
Amount
retained by or paid to Financial Intermediaries as a % of the offering price |
| Fixed Income Funds |
$
|
4.75% | 4.99% | 4.25% |
|
$
|
4.50% | 4.71% | 3.75% | |
| $100,000–$249,999 | 3.50% | 3.63% | 2.75% | |
| $250,000–$499,999 | 2.50% | 2.56% | 2.00% | |
| $500,000–$999,999 | 2.00% | 2.04% | 1.75% | |
|
$
|
0.00% | 0.00% |
0.00%
(c)
|
|
| (a) | Purchase amounts and account values are aggregated among all eligible Fund accounts for the purposes of this table. |
| (b) | Because the offering price is calculated to two decimal places, the dollar amount of the sales charge as a percentage of the offering price and your net amount invested for any particular purchase of Fund shares may be higher or lower depending on whether downward or upward rounding was required during the calculation process. |
| (c) |
For more information regarding cumulative commissions paid to your financial intermediary when you buy $1 million or more of Class V shares, see
Class V Shares — Commissions
below.
|
Class V Shares — CDSC
In some cases, you will pay a CDSC if you sell Class V shares that you bought without a front-end sales charge.
| ■ | If you purchased Class V shares without a front-end sales charge because your eligible accounts aggregated between $1 million and $50 million at the time of purchase, you will incur a CDSC if you redeem those shares within 18 months after purchase, which is charged as follows: 1.00% CDSC if shares are redeemed within 12 months after purchase, and 0.50% CDSC if shares are redeemed more than 12, but less than 18, months after purchase. |
| ■ | Subsequent Class V share purchases that bring your aggregate account value to $1 million or more (but less than $50 million) will also be subject to a CDSC if you redeem them within the time periods noted above. |
Class V Shares — Commissions
The Distributor may pay your financial intermediary an up-front commission when you buy Class V shares (a portion of this commission may, in turn, be paid to your financial advisor). For more information, see
Class V Shares — Front-End Sales Charge.
The Distributor may also pay your financial intermediary a cumulative commission when you buy $1 million or more of Class V shares, according to the following schedule:
|
Class V Shares
—
Commission Schedule (Paid by the Distributor to Financial Intermediaries)
|
|
|
Purchase
Amount |
Commission Level*
(as a % of net asset value per share) |
| $1 million – $2,999,999 | 1.00% |
| $3 million – $49,999,999 | 0.50% |
| $50 million or more | 0.25% |
| * | The commission level applies to the applicable asset level; therefore, for example, for a purchase of $5 million, the Distributor would pay a commission of 1.00% on the first $2,999,999 and 0.50% on the balance. |
| Prospectus 2021 | 37 |
Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
The availability of certain sales charge waivers and discounts will depend on whether you purchase your shares directly from the Fund (i.e., a Direct-at-Fund Account, as defined below) or through a financial intermediary. Financial intermediaries may have different policies and procedures regarding the availability of front-end sales charge and/or CDSC waivers. In all instances, it is your responsibility to notify your financial intermediary or (for Direct-at-Fund Accounts, as defined below) the Fund at the time of purchase of any relationship or other facts that may qualify you for sales charge waivers or discounts. In order to obtain waivers and discounts not available through a particular financial intermediary, shareholders will have to purchase Fund shares directly from the Fund (if permitted) or through a different financial intermediary. For a description of financial intermediary-specific sales charge reductions and/or waivers, see
Appendix A
.
Class A and Class V Shares Front-End Sales Charge Reductions
The Fund makes available two means of reducing the front-end sales charge that you may pay when you buy Class A shares or Class V shares of a Fund. These types of sales charge reductions are also referred to as breakpoint discounts.
First, through the right of accumulation (ROA), you may combine the value of eligible accounts (as described in the
Eligible Accounts
section below) maintained by you and members of your immediate family to reach a breakpoint discount level and apply a lower front-end sales charge to your purchase. To calculate the combined value of your eligible Fund accounts in the particular class of shares, the Fund will use the current public offering price per share. For purposes of obtaining a breakpoint discount through ROA, you may aggregate your and your “immediate family” members' ownership (as described in the
FUNDamentals
box below) of certain classes of shares held in certain account types, as described in the
Eligible Accounts
section below.
Second, by making a statement of intent to purchase additional shares (commonly referred to as a letter of intent (LOI)), you may pay a lower sales charge on all purchases of Class A shares or Class V shares made within 13 months after the date of your LOI. Your LOI must state the aggregate amount of purchases you intend to make in that 13-month period, which must be at least enough to reach the first (or next) breakpoint of the Fund. The required form of LOI may vary by financial intermediary, so please contact them directly for more information. Five percent of the purchase commitment amount will be placed in escrow. At the end of the 13-month period, the shares will be released from escrow, provided that you have invested the commitment amount. If you do not invest the commitment amount by the end of the 13 months, the remaining amount of the unpaid sales charge will be redeemed from the escrowed shares and the remaining balance released from escrow. To calculate the total value of the purchases you've made under an LOI, the Fund will use the historic cost (i.e., dollars invested and not current market value) of the shares held in each eligible account; reinvested dividends or capital gains, or purchases made through the reinstatement privilege do not count as purchases made under an LOI. For purposes of making an LOI to purchase additional shares, you may aggregate eligible shares owned by you or your immediate family members in eligible accounts, valued as of the day immediately before the initiation of your LOI.
You must request the reduced sales charge (whether through ROA or an LOI) when you buy shares. If you do not complete and file an LOI, or do not request the reduced sales charge at the time of purchase, you will not be eligible for the reduced sales charge. To obtain a breakpoint discount, you must notify your financial intermediary in writing at the time you buy your shares of each eligible account maintained by you and members of your immediate family, including accounts maintained through different financial intermediaries. You and your financial intermediary are responsible for ensuring that you receive discounts for which you are eligible. Please contact your financial intermediary with questions regarding application of the eligible discount to your account. You may be asked by your financial intermediary (or by the Fund if you hold your account directly with the Fund) for account statements or other records to verify your discount eligibility for new and subsequent purchases, including, when applicable, records for accounts opened with a different financial intermediary and records of accounts established by members of your immediate family.
The sales charge reductions available to investors who purchase and hold their Fund shares through different financial intermediaries may vary. For a description of such financial intermediary-specific sales charge reductions, see
Appendix A
.
| 38 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
FUNDamentals
Your “Immediate Family” and Account Value Aggregation
For purposes of obtaining a breakpoint discount for Class A shares or Class V shares, the value of your account will be deemed to include the value of all applicable shares in eligible Fund accounts that are held by you and your “immediate family,” which includes your spouse, domestic partner, parent, step-parent, legal guardian, child under 21, step-child under 21, father-in-law and mother-in-law, provided that you and your immediate family members share the same mailing address. Any Fund accounts linked together for account value aggregation purposes as of the close of business on September 3, 2010 will be permitted to remain linked together. Group retirement plan accounts are valued at the retirement plan level.
Eligible Accounts
The following accounts are eligible for account value aggregation as described above, provided that they are invested in Class A (excluding, in the case of Direct-at-Fund Accounts, Funds that do not assess a front-end sales charge, including Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund, Columbia Small Cap Index Fund, Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund and Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund, unless such shares were purchased via an exchange from Class A shares of a Fund on which you paid the Class A share applicable front-end sales charge), Class C, Class E, Class Inst or Class V shares of a Fund, or non-retirement plan accounts invested in Class Adv, Class Inst2 or Class Inst3 shares of a Fund: individual or joint accounts; Roth and traditional Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs); Simplified Employee Pension accounts (SEPs), Savings Investment Match Plans for Employees of Small Employers accounts (SIMPLEs) and Tax Sheltered Custodial Accounts (TSCAs); Uniform Gifts to Minors Act (UGMA)/Uniform Transfers to Minors Act (UTMA) accounts for which you, your spouse, or your domestic partner is parent or guardian of the minor child; revocable trust accounts for which you or an immediate family member, individually, is the beneficial owner/grantor; accounts held in the name of your, your spouse’s, or your domestic partner’s sole proprietorship or single owner limited liability company or S corporation; qualified retirement plan assets, provided that you are the sole owner of the business sponsoring the plan, are the sole participant (other than a spouse) in the plan, and have no intention of adding participants to the plan; and investments in wrap accounts.
The following accounts are
not eligible
for account value aggregation as described above: accounts of pension and retirement plans with multiple participants, such as 401(k) plans (which are combined to reduce the sales charge for the entire pension or retirement plan and therefore are not used to reduce the sales charge for your individual accounts); investments in 529 plans, donor advised funds, variable annuities, variable insurance products or managed separate accounts; charitable and irrevocable trust accounts; accounts holding shares of money market funds that used the Columbia brand before May 1, 2010; accounts invested in Class R shares of a Fund; and retirement plan accounts invested in Class Adv, Class Inst2 or Class Inst3 shares of a Fund.
Additionally, direct purchases of shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund may not be aggregated for account value aggregation purposes; however, shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund acquired by exchange from other Columbia Funds that assess a sales charge may be included in account value aggregation.
Class A and Class V Shares Front-End Sales Charge Waivers
There are no front-end sales charges on reinvested Fund distributions. The Class A shares sales charge is waived on conversions of Class C shares to Class A shares. The Distributor may waive front-end sales charges on purchases of Class A and Class V shares of the Funds by certain categories of investors, including Board members, certain employees of financial intermediaries, Fund portfolio managers, certain partners and employees of outside legal counsel to the Funds or the Board, separate accounts of an insurance company exempt from registration as an investment company under Section 3(c)(11) of the 1940 Act, registered broker-dealer firms that have an agreement with the Distributor purchasing Fund shares for their investment account only, and qualified employee benefit plan rollovers to Class A shares in the same Fund (see Appendix S to the SAI for details). For a more complete description of categories of investors who may purchase Class A and Class V shares of the Funds at NAV, without payment of any front-end sales charge that would otherwise apply, see Appendix S to the SAI.
| Prospectus 2021 | 39 |
Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
In addition, certain types of purchases of Class A and Class V shares may be made at NAV. The Distributor may waive front-end sales charges on (i) purchases (including exchanges) of Class A shares in accounts of financial intermediaries that have entered into agreements with the Distributor to offer Fund shares to self-directed investment brokerage accounts that may or may not charge a transaction fee to customers; (ii) exchanges of Class Inst shares of a Fund for Class A shares of the Fund; (iii) purchases of Class A shares on brokerage mutual fund-only platforms of financial intermediaries that have an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes the offering of Class A shares within such platform; (iv) purchases through certain wrap fee or other products or programs that involve fee-based compensation arrangements that have, or clear trades through a financial intermediary that has, a selling agreement with the Distributor; (v) purchases through state sponsored 529 Plans; (vi) purchases through banks, trust companies, and thrift institutions acting as fiduciaries; and (vii) purchases through certain employee benefit plans and certain qualified deferred compensation plans. For a more complete description of these eligible transactions, see Appendix S to the SAI.
The sales charge waivers available to investors who purchase and hold their Fund shares through different financial intermediaries may vary. For a description of such financial intermediary-specific sales charge waivers, see
Appendix A
.
CDSC Waivers – Class A, Class C and Class V
You may be able to avoid an otherwise applicable CDSC when you sell Class A, Class C or Class V shares of the Fund. This could happen because of the way in which you originally invested in the Fund, because of your relationship with the Funds or for other reasons. For example, the CDSC will be waived on redemptions of shares in the event of the shareholder's death; for which no sales commission or transaction fee was paid to an authorized financial intermediary at the time of purchase; purchased through reinvestment of dividends and capital gain distributions; that result from required minimum distributions taken from retirement accounts due to the shareholder reaching the qualified age based on applicable IRS regulations; that result from returns of excess contributions made to retirement plans or individual retirement accounts (subject to certain conditions); initially purchased by an employee benefit plan (for Class A shares) and that are not connected with a plan level termination (for Class C or Class V shares); in connection with the Fund's Small Account Policy (which is described in
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares — Transaction Rules and Policies
); and by certain other investors and in certain other types of transactions or situations. Restrictions may apply to certain accounts and certain transactions. The Distributor may, in its sole discretion, authorize the waiver of the CDSC for additional classes of investors. The Fund may change or cancel these terms at any time. Any change or cancellation applies only to future purchases. For a more complete description of the available waivers of the CDSC on redemptions of Class A, Class C or Class V shares, see Appendix S to the SAI.
The sales charge waivers available to investors who purchase and hold their Fund shares through different financial intermediaries may vary. For a description of such financial intermediary-specific sales charge waivers, see
Appendix A
.
Repurchases (Reinstatements)
As noted in the table below, you can redeem shares of certain classes (see Redeemed Share Class below) and use such redemption proceeds to buy shares of the Corresponding Repurchase Class without paying an otherwise applicable sales charge and/or CDSC (other than, in the case of Direct-at-Fund Accounts, redemptions from Funds that do not assess a front-end sales charge, including Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund, Columbia Small Cap Index Fund, Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund and Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund, unless such shares were purchased via an exchange from Class A shares of a Fund on which you paid the Class A share applicable front-end sales charge) within 90 days, up to the amount of the redemption proceeds.
| Repurchases (Reinstatements) | |
| Redeemed Share Class | Corresponding Repurchase Class |
| Class A | Class A |
| Class C | Class C |
| 40 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
| Repurchases (Reinstatements) | |
| Redeemed Share Class | Corresponding Repurchase Class |
| Class V | Class V |
Any CDSC paid upon redemption of your Class A, Class C or Class V shares of a Fund will not be reimbursed.
To be eligible for the repurchase (or reinstatement) privilege, the purchase must be made into an account for the same owner, but does not need to be into the same Fund from which the shares were sold. The Transfer Agent, Distributor or their agents must receive a written reinstatement request from you or your financial intermediary within 90 days after the shares are redeemed. The purchase of the Corresponding Repurchase Class (as noted in the table above) through this repurchase (or reinstatement) privilege will be made at the NAV of such shares next calculated after the request is received in “good form.” Systematic withdrawals and purchases are excluded from this policy.
Restrictions and Changes in Terms and Conditions
Restrictions may apply to certain accounts and certain transactions. The Funds and/or the Distributor may change or cancel these terms and conditions at any time. Unless you provide your financial intermediary with information in writing about all of the factors that may count toward available reductions or waivers of an applicable sales charge, there can be no assurance that you will receive all of the reductions and waivers for which you may be eligible. To the extent your Fund account is held directly with the Fund, you should provide this information to the Fund when placing your purchase or redemption order. Please see
Appendix A
to this prospectus and Appendix S of the SAI for more information about sales charge waivers.
Distribution and Service Fees
The Board has approved, and the Funds have adopted, distribution and/or shareholder service plans which set the distribution and/or service fees that are periodically deducted from the Funds’ assets. These fees are calculated daily, may vary by share class and are intended to compensate the Distributor and/or eligible financial intermediaries for, with regard to distribution fees, selling Fund shares and, with regard to service fees, directly or indirectly providing services to shareholders. Because the fees are paid out of the Fund's assets on an ongoing basis, they will increase the cost of your investment over time.
The table below shows the maximum annual distribution and/or service fees (as an annual percentage of average daily net assets) and the combined amount of such fees applicable to each share class:
| (a) | The service fees for Class A and Class C shares of certain Funds vary. The annual service fee for Class A and Class C shares of Columbia High Yield Municipal Fund, Columbia Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund and Columbia Tax-Exempt Fund may equal up to 0.20% of the average daily NAV of all shares of such Fund class. The annual distribution fee for Class C shares for Columbia Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund shall be 0.65% of the average daily net assets of the Fund’s Class C shares. The Distributor has contractually agreed to waive a portion of the service fee for Class A and Class C shares of Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund so that the service fee does not exceed 0.15% annually through August 31, 2021 unless sooner terminated at the sole discretion of the Fund’s Board. The Distributor has contractually agreed to waive a portion of the service fee for Class A shares of Columbia Strategic California Municipal Income Fund so that the service fee does not exceed 0.20% annually through February 28, 2022 unless modified or sooner terminated at the sole discretion of the Fund’s Board. |
| Prospectus 2021 | 41 |
Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
| (b) | The maximum distribution and service fees of Class A shares varies among the Funds, as shown in the table below: |
| Funds |
Maximum
Class A Distribution Fee |
Maximum
Class A Service Fee |
Maximum
Class A Combined Total |
|
Series of CFST and CFST II (other than Columbia
Government Money Market Fund) |
— | — |
0.25%; these Funds pay a
combined distribution and service fee |
| Columbia Government Money Market Fund | — | — | 0.10% |
| Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund | up to 0.15% | up to 0.15% | 0.15% |
| Columbia Balanced Fund, Columbia Contrarian Core Fund, Columbia Dividend Income Fund, Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund, Columbia Large Cap Growth Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Growth Fund, Columbia Oregon Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund, Columbia Real Estate Equity Fund, Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I, Columbia Total Return Bond Fund | up to 0.10% | up to 0.25% |
up to 0.35%; these Funds may
pay distribution and service fees up to a maximum of 0.35% of their average daily net assets attributable to Class A shares (comprised of up to 0.10% for distribution services and up to 0.25% for shareholder liaison services) but currently limit such fees to an aggregate fee of not more than 0.25% for Class A shares |
| Columbia Adaptive Risk Allocation Fund, Columbia Bond Fund, Columbia Connecticut Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund, Columbia Corporate Income Fund, Columbia Emerging Markets Fund, Columbia Greater China Fund, Columbia International Dividend Income Fund, Columbia Massachusetts Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund, Columbia Multi-Asset Income Fund, Columbia Multi Strategy Alternatives Fund, Columbia New York Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund, Columbia Pacific/Asia Fund, Columbia Select Large Cap Growth Fund, Columbia Small Cap Value Fund I, Columbia Strategic California Municipal Income Fund, Columbia Strategic Income Fund, Columbia Strategic New York Municipal Income Fund, Columbia U.S. Social Bond Fund, Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund | — | 0.25% | 0.25% |
| Columbia High Yield Municipal Fund, Columbia Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund, Columbia Tax-Exempt Fund | — | 0.20% | 0.20% |
| (c) | Fee amounts noted apply to all Funds other than Columbia Government Money Market Fund, which, for Class A shares, pays distribution and service fees of 0.10%, and for Class C shares pays distribution fees of 0.75%. The payment of the distribution and/or service fees payable by Columbia Government Money Market Fund under its Plan of Distribution has been suspended through November 30, 2021. This arrangement may be modified or terminated at the sole discretion of Columbia Government Money Market Fund’s Board at any time. Compensation paid to financial intermediaries is suspended for the duration of the suspension of payments under Columbia Government Money Market Fund’s Plan of Distribution. |
| (d) | The Distributor has contractually agreed to waive a portion of the distribution fee for Class C shares of the following Funds so that the distribution fee does not exceed the specified percentage annually through the specified date for each Fund: 0.45% for Columbia Connecticut Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund through February 28, 2022, Columbia Massachusetts Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund through February 28, 2022, Columbia New York Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund through February 28, 2022, Columbia Oregon Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund through November 30, 2021, Columbia Strategic California Municipal Income Fund through February 28, 2022, and Columbia Strategic New York Municipal Income Fund through August 31, 2021; 0.55% for Columbia Corporate Income Fund through August 31, 2021, and Columbia Short Term Bond Fund through August 31, 2021; 0.60% for Columbia High Yield Municipal Fund through September 30, 2021, Columbia Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund through August 31, 2021, and Columbia Tax-Exempt Fund through November 30, 2021; and 0.65% for Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund through August 31, 2021. These arrangements may be sooner terminated at the sole discretion of each Fund’s Board. |
| (e) | Class R shares of series of CFST and CFST I pay a distribution fee pursuant to a Rule 12b-1 plan. The Funds do not have a shareholder service plan for Class R shares. Series of CFST II have a distribution and shareholder service plan for Class R shares. For Class R shares of series of CFST II, the maximum fee under the plan reimbursed for distribution expenses is equal on an annual basis to 0.50% of the average daily net assets of the Fund attributable to Class R shares. Of that amount, up to 0.25% may be reimbursed for shareholder service expenses. |
| (f) |
The shareholder servicing fees for Class V shares are up to 0.50% of average daily net assets attributable to Class V shares for equity Funds and 0.40% for fixed income Funds. In general, the Funds currently limit such fees to a maximum of 0.25% for equity Funds and 0.15% for fixed-income Funds. These fees for Class V shares are not paid pursuant to a Rule 12b-1 plan. See
Class V Shareholder Service Fees
below for more information.
|
| 42 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
The distribution and/or service fees for Class A, Class C, and Class R shares, as applicable, are subject to the requirements of Rule 12b-1 under the 1940 Act. The Distributor may retain these fees otherwise payable to financial intermediaries if the amounts due are below an amount determined by the Distributor in its sole discretion.
For Class A shares, the Distributor begins to pay these fees immediately after purchase, except in the following case, in which the Distributor begins to pay these fees 12 months after purchase: a purchase of Class A shares of $1 million or more for Taxable Funds or $500,000 or more for Tax-Exempt Funds that pay a Class A up-front commission to your financial intermediary and the financial intermediary has opted to receive such commission. The Distributor’s policy to otherwise begin to pay these fees immediately on Class A shares also applies to purchases of funds that do not pay an up-front sales commission on Class A shares, which includes Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund, Columbia Small Cap Index Fund, Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund and Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund. For Class C shares, the Distributor begins to pay these fees 12 months after purchase. However, for Class C shares, financial intermediaries may opt to decline the up-front payment described in
and instead may receive these fees immediately after purchase. If the intermediary opts to receive the up-front payment, the Distributor retains the distribution and/or service fee for the first 12 months following the sale of Class C shares in order to recover the up-front payment made to financial intermediaries and to pay for other related expenses. For Class R shares, the Distributor begins to pay these fees immediately after purchase.
Choosing a Share Class – Sales Charges and Commissions – Class C Shares – Commissions
Series of CFST II.
The maximum fee for services under the distribution and/or shareholder servicing plan for series of CFST II is the lesser of the amount of reimbursable expenses and the fee rates in the table above. If a share class of a series of CFST II has no reimbursable distribution or shareholder servicing expenses, it will suspend the payment of any such fee. As a result of any such suspensions, the expense ratio of a Fund’s share class disclosed in the
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
table in the
Summary of the Fund
section of this prospectus may not match the ratio of expenses of such share class to average net assets shown in the
Financial Highlights
section of this prospectus.
If you maintain shares of the Fund directly with the Fund, without working with a financial advisor or other financial intermediary, distribution and service fees may be retained by the Distributor as payment or reimbursement for incurring certain distribution and shareholder service related expenses.
Over time, these distribution and/or service fees will reduce the return on your investment and may cost you more than paying other types of sales charges. The Fund will pay these fees to the Distributor and/or to eligible financial intermediaries for as long as the distribution plan and/or shareholder servicing plans continue in effect, which is expected to be indefinitely. However, the Fund may reduce or discontinue payments at any time. Your financial intermediary may also charge you other additional fees for providing services to your account, which may be different from those described here.
Class V Shareholder Services Fees
The Funds that offer Class V shares have adopted a shareholder services plan that permits them to pay for certain services provided to Class V shareholders by their financial intermediaries. Equity Funds may pay shareholder servicing fees up to an aggregate annual rate of 0.50% of the Fund's average daily net assets attributable to Class V shares (comprised of up to 0.25% for shareholder liaison services and up to 0.25% for administrative support services). Fixed income Funds may pay shareholder servicing fees up to an aggregate annual rate of 0.40% of the Fund's average daily net assets attributable to Class V shares (comprised of up to 0.20% for shareholder liaison services and up to 0.20% for administrative support services). These fees are currently limited to an aggregate annual rate of not more than 0.25% for equity Funds and not more than 0.15% for fixed income Funds. The Distributor begins to pay these fees immediately after purchase for purchases up to $1 million, for purchases of $1 million or more the Distributor will begin to pay these fees 12 months after purchase. These fees for Class V shares are not paid pursuant to a Rule 12b-1 plan. With respect to those Funds that declare dividends on a daily basis, the shareholder servicing fee shall be waived by the financial intermediaries to the extent necessary to prevent net investment income from falling below 0% on a daily basis. If you maintain shares of the Fund directly with the Fund, without working with a financial advisor or other intermediary, shareholder services fees may be retained by the Distributor as payment or reimbursement for incurring certain shareholder service related expenses.
| Prospectus 2021 | 43 |
Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
Financial Intermediary Compensation
The Distributor, the Investment Manager and their affiliates make payments, from their own resources, to financial intermediaries, including other Ameriprise Financial affiliates, for marketing/sales support services relating to the Funds (Marketing Support Payments). Such payments are generally based upon one or more of the following factors: average net assets of the Funds attributable to that financial intermediary; gross sales of the Funds attributable to that financial intermediary; reimbursement of ticket charges (fees that a financial intermediary charges its representatives for effecting transactions in Fund shares); or a negotiated lump sum payment. While the financial arrangements may vary for each financial intermediary, Marketing Support Payments to any one financial intermediary are generally between 0.05% and 0.40% on an annual basis for payments based on average net assets of the Fund attributable to the financial intermediary, and between 0.05% and 0.25% on an annual basis for firms receiving a payment based on gross sales of the Funds attributable to the financial intermediary. The Distributor, the Investment Manager and their affiliates may at times make payments with respect to a Fund or the Columbia Funds generally on a basis other than those described above, or in larger amounts, when dealing with certain financial intermediaries. Not all financial intermediaries receive Marketing Support Payments. The Distributor, the Investment Manager and their affiliates do not make Marketing Support Payments with respect to Class Inst3 shares.
In addition, the Transfer Agent has certain arrangements in place to compensate financial intermediaries, including other Ameriprise Financial affiliates, that hold Fund shares through networked and omnibus accounts, including omnibus retirement plans, for services that they provide to beneficial Fund shareholders (Shareholder Services). Shareholder Services and related fees vary by financial intermediary and according to distribution channel and may include sub-accounting, sub-transfer agency, participant recordkeeping, shareholder or participant reporting, shareholder or participant transaction processing, maintenance of shareholder records, preparation of account statements and provision of customer service, and are not intended to include services that are primarily intended to result in the sale of Fund shares. Payments for Shareholder Services generally are not expected, with certain limited exceptions, to exceed 0.40% of the average aggregate value of the Fund’s shares. Generally, each Fund pays the Transfer Agent a per account fee or a percentage of the average aggregate value of shares per annum maintained in omnibus accounts up to the lesser of the amount charged by the financial intermediary or a channel-specific or share class-specific cap established by the Board from time to time. Fee amounts in excess of the amount paid by the Fund are borne by the Transfer Agent, the Investment Manager and/or their affiliates. For Class Inst3 shares, the Transfer Agent does not pay financial intermediaries for Shareholder Services, except that for Class Inst3 shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund (formerly an unnamed share class of the Fund), the Transfer Agent makes Shareholder Services payments to a financial intermediary through which shares of this class were held (under its former unnamed share class name) as of November 30, 2018, and the Fund does not compensate the Transfer Agent for any Shareholder Services provided by financial intermediaries.
In addition to the payments described above, the Distributor, the Investment Manager and their affiliates typically make other payments or allow promotional incentives to certain broker-dealers to the extent permitted by the Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) rules and by other applicable laws and regulations.
Amounts paid by the Distributor, the Investment Manager and their affiliates are paid out of their own resources and do not increase the amount paid by you or the Fund. You can find further details in the SAI about the payments made by the Distributor, the Investment Manager and their affiliates, as well as a list of the financial intermediaries, including Ameriprise Financial affiliates, to which the Distributor, the Investment Manager or their affiliates have agreed to make Marketing Support Payments and pay Shareholder Services fees.
Your financial intermediary may charge you fees and commissions in addition to those described in this prospectus. You should consult with your financial intermediary and review carefully any disclosure your financial intermediary provides regarding its services and compensation. Depending on the financial arrangement in place at any particular time, a financial intermediary and its financial advisors may have a conflict of interest or financial incentive for recommending the Fund or a particular share class over others.
| 44 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
Share Price Determination
The price you pay or receive when you buy, sell or exchange shares is the Fund's next determined net asset value (or NAV) per share for a given share class. The Fund calculates the NAV per share for each class of shares of the Fund at the end of each business day, with the value of the Fund's shares based on the total value of all of the securities and other assets that it holds as of a specified time.
FUNDamentals
NAV Calculation
Each of the Fund's share classes calculates its NAV per share as follows:
NAV per share =
(Value of assets of the share class) – (Liabilities of the share class)
Number of outstanding shares of the class
FUNDamentals
Business Days
A business day is any day that the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is open. A business day typically ends at the close of regular trading on the NYSE, usually at 4:00 p.m. Eastern time. If the NYSE is scheduled to close early, the business day will be considered to end as of the time of the NYSE’s scheduled close. The Fund will not treat an intraday unscheduled disruption in NYSE trading or an intraday unscheduled closing as a close of regular trading on the NYSE for these purposes and will price its shares as of the regularly scheduled closing time for that day (typically, 4:00 p.m. Eastern time). Notwithstanding the foregoing, the NAV of Fund shares may be determined at such other time or times (in addition to or in lieu of the time set forth above) as the Fund’s Board may approve or ratify. On holidays and other days when the NYSE is closed, the Fund’s NAV is not calculated and the Fund does not accept buy or sell orders. However, the value of the Fund’s assets may still be affected on such days to the extent that the Fund holds foreign securities that trade on days that foreign securities markets are open.
Equity securities are valued primarily on the basis of market quotations reported on stock exchanges and other securities markets around the world. If an equity security is listed on a national exchange, the security is valued at the closing price or, if the closing price is not readily available, the mean of the closing bid and asked prices. Certain equity securities, debt securities and other assets are valued differently. For instance, bank loans trading in the secondary market are valued primarily on the basis of indicative bids, fixed income investments maturing in 60 days or less are valued primarily using the amortized cost method, unless this methodology results in a valuation that does not approximate the market value of these securities, and those maturing in excess of 60 days are valued primarily using a market-based price obtained from a pricing service, if available. Investments in other open-end funds are valued at their published NAVs. Both market quotations and indicative bids are obtained from outside pricing services approved and monitored pursuant to a policy approved by the Fund's Board.
If a market price is not readily available or is deemed not to reflect market value, the Fund will determine the price of a portfolio security based on a determination of the security's fair value pursuant to a policy approved by the Fund’s Board. In addition, the Fund may use fair valuation to price securities that trade on a foreign exchange when a significant event has occurred after the foreign exchange closes but before the time at which the Fund’s share price is calculated. Foreign exchanges typically close before the time at which Fund share prices are calculated, and may be closed altogether on days when the Fund is open. Such significant events affecting a foreign security may include, but are not limited to: (1) corporate actions, earnings announcements, litigation or other events impacting a single issuer; (2) governmental action that affects securities in one sector or country; (3) natural disasters or armed conflicts affecting a country or region; or (4) significant domestic or foreign market fluctuations. The Fund uses various criteria, including an evaluation of U.S. market moves after the close of foreign markets, in determining whether a foreign security's market price is readily available and reflective of market value and, if not, the fair value
| Prospectus 2021 | 45 |
Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
of the security. To the extent the Fund has significant holdings of small cap stocks, high-yield bonds, floating rate loans, or tax-exempt, foreign or other securities that may trade infrequently, fair valuation may be used more frequently than for other funds.
Fair valuation may have the effect of reducing stale pricing arbitrage opportunities presented by the pricing of Fund shares. However, when the Fund uses fair valuation to price securities, it may value those securities higher or lower than another fund would have priced the security. Also, the use of fair valuation may cause the Fund's performance to diverge to a greater degree from the performance of various benchmarks used to compare the Fund's performance because benchmarks generally do not use fair valuation techniques. Because of the judgment involved in fair valuation decisions, there can be no assurance that the value ascribed to a particular security is accurate. The Fund has retained one or more independent fair valuation pricing services to assist in the fair valuation process for foreign securities.
Transaction Rules and Policies
The Fund, the Distributor or the Transfer Agent may refuse any order to buy or exchange shares. If this happens, the Fund will return any money it received, but no interest will be paid on that money. Your financial intermediary may have rules and policies in place that are in addition to or different than those described below.
Order Processing
Orders to buy, sell or exchange Fund shares are processed on business days. Depending upon the class of shares, orders can be made by mail, by telephone or online. Orders received in “good form” by the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary before the end of a business day are priced at the NAV per share (plus any applicable sales charge) of the Fund's applicable share class on that day. Orders received after the end of a business day will receive the next business day's NAV per share (plus any applicable sales charge). For Direct-at-Fund Accounts (i.e., accounts established directly with the Fund), when a written order to buy, sell or exchange shares is sent to the Transfer Agent, the share price used to fill the order is the next price calculated by the Fund after the Transfer Agent receives the transaction request in “good form” at its transaction processing center (i.e., the Fund’s express mail address), not the P.O. Box provided for regular mail delivery. The market value of the Fund's investments may change between the time you submit your order and the time the Fund next calculates its NAV per share. The business day that applies to your order is also called the trade date.
“Good Form”
An order is in “good form” if the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary has received payment (in the case of purchases) and all of the information and documentation it deems necessary to effect your order. For example, when you sell shares, “good form” means that your request (i) has complete instructions and written requests include the signatures of all account owners, (ii) is for an amount that is less than or equal to the shares in your account for which payment has been received and collected, (iii) has a Medallion Signature Guarantee for amounts greater than $100,000 and certain other transactions, as described below, and (iv) includes any other required documents completed and attached. For the documents required for sales by corporations, agents, fiduciaries, surviving joint owners and other legal entities, call 800.345.6611.
Medallion Signature Guarantees
The Transfer Agent may require a Medallion Signature Guarantee for your signature in order to process certain transactions, including if: (i) the transaction amount is over $100,000; (ii) you want your check made payable to someone other than the registered account owner(s); (iii) the address of record has changed within the last 30 days; (iv) you want the check mailed to an address other than the address of record; (v) you want proceeds to be sent according to existing bank account instructions not coded for outgoing Automated Clearing House (ACH) or wire, or to a bank account not on file; or (vi) you are changing legal ownership of your account.
A Medallion Signature Guarantee helps assure that a signature is genuine and not a forgery. A Medallion Signature Guarantee must be provided by an eligible guarantor institution including, but not limited to, the following: a bank, credit union, savings association, broker or dealer that participates in the Securities Transfer Association Medallion Program (STAMP), the Stock Exchange Medallion Program (SEMP) or the New York Stock Exchange Medallion
| 46 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
Signature Program (MSP). For other transactions, the Transfer Agent may require a signature guarantee. Notarization by a notary public is not an acceptable signature guarantee. The Transfer Agent reserves the right to reject a signature guarantee and to request additional documentation for any transaction.
Customer Identification Program
Federal law requires the Fund to obtain and record specific personal information to verify your identity when you open an account. This information may include your name, address, date of birth (for individuals) and taxpayer or other government issued identification (e.g., social security number (SSN) or other taxpayer identification number (TIN)). If you fail to provide the requested information, the Fund may need to delay the date of your purchase or may be unable to open your account, which may result in a return of your investment monies. In addition, if the Fund is unable to verify your identity after your account is open, the Fund reserves the right to close your account or take other steps as deemed reasonable. The Fund will not be liable for any loss resulting from any purchase delay, application rejection or account closure due to a failure to provide proper identifying information.
Small Account Policy — Class A, Class C, Class Inst, and Class V Share Accounts Below the Minimum Account Balance
The Funds generally will automatically sell your shares if the value of your Fund account (treating each account of the Fund you own separately from any other account of the Fund you may own) falls below the applicable minimum account balance. Any otherwise applicable CDSC will not be imposed on such an automatic sale of your shares. Generally, you may avoid such an automatic sale by raising your account balance to at least $250 or consolidating your multiple accounts you may have with the Funds through an exchange (so as to maintain at least $250 in each of your accounts). The minimum account balance varies among share classes and types of accounts, as follows:
|
Minimum Account Balance
|
|
|
Minimum
Account Balance |
|
| For all classes and account types except those listed below |
$250 (None for accounts with
Systematic Investment Plans) |
| Individual Retirement Accounts for all classes except those listed below | None |
| Class Adv, Class Inst2, Class Inst3 and Class R | None |
For shares held directly with the Funds’ Transfer Agent, if your shares are sold, the Transfer Agent will remit the sale proceeds to you. The Transfer Agent will send you written notification in advance of any automatic sale, which will provide details on how you may avoid such an automatic sale. Generally, you may avoid such an automatic sale by raising your account balance to at least $250, consolidating your multiple accounts you may have with the Funds through an exchange (so as to maintain at least $250 in each of your accounts), or setting up a Systematic Investment Plan (described below). For more information, contact the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary. The Transfer Agent's contact information (toll-free number and mailing addresses) as well as the Funds’ website address can be found at the beginning of the section
.
Choosing a Share Class
For shares purchased and held for your benefit through a financial intermediary, the Funds may instruct the intermediary to automatically sell your Fund shares if the transaction can be operationally administered by the intermediary.
Small Account Policy — Class A, Class C, Class Inst, and Class V Share Accounts Minimum Balance Fee
If the value of your Fund account (treating each account of the Fund you own separately from any other account of the Fund you may own) falls below the minimum initial investment requirement applicable to you for any reason, including as a result of market decline, your account generally could be subject to a $20 annual fee. The Transfer Agent will reduce the expenses paid by the Fund by any amounts it collects from the assessment of this fee. For Funds that do not have transfer agency expenses against which to offset the amount collected through assessment of this fee, the
| Prospectus 2021 | 47 |
Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
fee will be paid directly to the Fund. The Funds reserve the right to lower the account size trigger point for the minimum balance fee in any year or for any class of shares when we believe it is appropriate to do so in light of declines in the market value of Fund shares or for other reasons.
For shares held directly with the Funds’ Transfer Agent, this fee will be assessed through the automatic sale of Fund shares in your account. Any otherwise applicable CDSC will not be imposed on such an automatic sale of your shares. The Transfer Agent will send you written notification in advance of assessing any fee, which will provide details on how you can avoid the imposition of such fee. Generally, you may avoid the imposition of such fee by raising your Fund account balance, consolidating your multiple accounts you may have with the Funds, or setting up a Systematic Investment Plan that invests at least monthly. For more information, contact the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary. The Transfer Agent's contact information (toll-free number and mailing addresses) as well as the Funds’ website address can be found at the beginning of the section
.
Choosing a Share Class
For shares purchased and held for your benefit through a financial intermediary, this fee could be assessed through the automatic sale of Fund shares in your account if instructed by the Fund and the transaction can be operationally administered by the intermediary.
Exceptions to the Small Account Policy (Accounts Below Minimum Account Balance) and Minimum Balance Fee
The automatic sale of Fund shares in accounts under $250 and the annual minimum balance fee described above do not apply to shareholders of Class Adv, Class Inst2, Class Inst3 and Class R shares; shareholders holding their shares through financial intermediary networked accounts; wrap fee and omnibus accounts; accounts with active Systematic Investment Plans; certain qualified retirement plans; and health savings accounts. The automatic sale of Fund shares of accounts under the applicable minimum account balance does not apply to individual retirement plans.
Small Account Policy — Financial Intermediary Networked and Wrap Fee Accounts
The Funds may automatically redeem, at any time, financial intermediary networked accounts and wrap fee accounts that have account balances of $20 or less or have less than one share.
For shares purchased and held for your benefit through a financial intermediary, the Funds may instruct the intermediary to automatically sell your Fund shares if the transaction can be operationally administered by the intermediary.
Information Sharing Agreements
As required by Rule 22c-2 under the 1940 Act, the Funds or certain of their service providers will enter into information sharing agreements with financial intermediaries, including participating life insurance companies and financial intermediaries that sponsor or offer retirement plans through which shares of the Funds are made available for purchase. Pursuant to Rule 22c-2, financial intermediaries are required, upon request, to: (i) provide shareholder account and transaction information; and (ii) execute instructions from the Fund to restrict or prohibit further purchases of Fund shares by shareholders who have been identified by the Fund as having engaged in transactions that violate the Fund's excessive trading policies and procedures.
Excessive Trading Practices Policy of Non-Money Market Funds
Right to Reject or Restrict Share Transaction Orders—
The Fund is intended for investors with long-term investment purposes and is not intended as a vehicle for frequent trading activity (market timing) that is excessive. Investors should transact in Fund shares primarily for investment purposes. The Board has adopted excessive trading policies and procedures that are designed to deter excessive trading by investors (the Excessive Trading Policies and Procedures).
The Fund discourages and does not accommodate excessive trading.
The Fund reserves the right to reject, without any prior notice, any purchase or exchange order for any reason, and will not be liable for any loss resulting from rejected orders. For example, the Fund may in its sole discretion restrict or reject a purchase or exchange order even if the transaction is not subject to the specific limitation described below if the Fund or its agents determine that accepting the order could interfere with efficient management of the Fund's
| 48 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
portfolio or is otherwise contrary to the Fund's best interests. The Excessive Trading Policies and Procedures apply equally to purchase or exchange transactions communicated directly to the Transfer Agent and to those received by financial intermediaries.
Specific Buying and Exchanging Limitations
— If a Fund detects that an investor has made two “material round trips” in any 28-day period, it will generally reject the investor's future purchase orders, including exchange purchase orders, involving any Fund.
For these purposes, a “round trip” is a purchase or exchange into the Fund followed by a sale or exchange out of the Fund, or a sale or exchange out of the Fund followed by a purchase or exchange into the Fund. A “material” round trip is one that is deemed by the Fund to be material in terms of its amount or its potential detrimental impact on the Fund. Independent of this limit, the Fund may, in its sole discretion, reject future purchase orders by any person, group or account that appears to have engaged in any type of excessive trading activity.
These limits generally do not apply to automated transactions or transactions by registered investment companies in a “fund-of-funds” structure. These limits do not apply to payroll deduction contributions by retirement plan participants, transactions initiated by a retirement plan sponsor or certain other retirement plan transactions consisting of rollover transactions, loan repayments and disbursements, and required minimum distribution redemptions. They may be modified or rescinded for accounts held by certain retirement plans to conform to plan limits, for considerations relating to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 or regulations of the Department of Labor, and for certain asset allocation or wrap programs. Accounts known to be under common ownership or control generally will be counted together, but accounts maintained or managed by a common intermediary generally will not be considered to be under common ownership or control. The Fund retains the right to modify these restrictions at any time without prior notice to shareholders. In addition, the Fund may, in its sole discretion, reinstate trading privileges that have been revoked under the Fund's Excessive Trading Policies and Procedures.
Limitations on the Ability to Detect and Prevent Excessive Trading Practices—
The Fund takes various steps designed to detect and prevent excessive trading, including daily review of available shareholder transaction information. However, the Fund receives buy, sell or exchange orders through financial intermediaries, and cannot always know of or reasonably detect excessive trading that may be facilitated by financial intermediaries or by the use of the omnibus account arrangements they offer. Omnibus account arrangements are common forms of holding shares of mutual funds, particularly among certain financial intermediaries such as broker-dealers, retirement plans and variable insurance products. These arrangements often permit financial intermediaries to aggregate their clients' transactions and accounts, and in these circumstances, the identities of the financial intermediary clients that beneficially own Fund shares are often not known to the Fund.
Some financial intermediaries apply their own restrictions or policies to their clients’ transactions and accounts, which may be more or less restrictive than those described here. This may impact the Fund's ability to curtail excessive trading, even where it is identified. For these and other reasons, it is possible that excessive trading may occur despite the Fund's efforts to detect and prevent it.
Although these restrictions and policies involve judgments that are inherently subjective and may involve some selectivity in their application, the Fund seeks to act in a manner that it believes is consistent with the best interests of Fund shareholders in making any such judgments.
Risks of Excessive Trading —
Excessive trading creates certain risks to the Fund's long-term shareholders and may create the following adverse effects:
| ■ | negative impact on the Fund's performance; |
| ■ | potential dilution of the value of the Fund's shares; |
| ■ | interference with the efficient management of the Fund's portfolio, such as the need to maintain undesirably large cash positions, the need to use its line of credit or the need to buy or sell securities it otherwise would not have bought or sold; |
| ■ | losses on the sale of investments resulting from the need to sell securities at less favorable prices; |
| Prospectus 2021 | 49 |
Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
| ■ | increased taxable gains to the Fund's remaining shareholders resulting from the need to sell securities to meet sell orders; and |
| ■ | increased brokerage and administrative costs. |
To the extent that the Fund invests significantly in foreign securities traded on markets that close before the Fund's valuation time, it may be particularly susceptible to dilution as a result of excessive trading. Because events may occur after the close of foreign markets and before the Fund's valuation time that influence the value of foreign securities, investors may seek to trade Fund shares in an effort to benefit from their understanding of the value of foreign securities as of the Fund's valuation time. This is often referred to as price arbitrage. The Fund has adopted procedures designed to adjust closing market prices of foreign securities under certain circumstances to reflect what the Fund believes to be the fair value of those securities as of its valuation time. To the extent the adjustments do not work fully, investors engaging in price arbitrage may cause dilution in the value of the Fund's shares held by other shareholders.
Similarly, to the extent that the Fund invests significantly in thinly traded securities and other debt instruments that are rated below investment grade (commonly called “high-yield” or “junk” bonds), equity securities of small-capitalization companies, floating rate loans, or tax-exempt or other securities that may trade infrequently, because
these securities are often traded infrequently, investors may seek to trade Fund shares in an effort to benefit from their understanding of the value of these securities as of the Fund's valuation time. This is also a type of price arbitrage. Any such frequent trading strategies may interfere with efficient management of the Fund's portfolio to a greater degree than would be the case for mutual funds that invest only, or significantly, in highly liquid securities, in part because the Fund may have difficulty selling these particular investments at advantageous times or prices to satisfy large and/or frequent sell orders. Any successful price arbitrage may also cause dilution in the value of Fund shares held by non-redeeming shareholders.
Excessive Trading Practices Policy of Columbia Government Money Market Fund
A money market fund is designed to offer investors a liquid cash option that they may buy and sell as often as they wish. Accordingly, the Board has not adopted policies and procedures designed to discourage excessive or short-term trading of Columbia Government Money Market Fund shares. However, since frequent purchases and sales of Columbia Government Money Market Fund shares could in certain instances harm shareholders in various ways, including reducing the returns to long-term shareholders by increasing costs (such as spreads paid to dealers who trade money market instruments with Columbia Government Money Market Fund) and disrupting portfolio management strategies, Columbia Government Money Market Fund reserves the right, but has no obligation, to reject any purchase or exchange transaction at any time. Except as expressly described in this prospectus (such as minimum purchase amounts), Columbia Government Money Market Fund has no limits on purchase or exchange transactions. In addition, Columbia Government Money Market Fund reserves the right to impose or modify restrictions on purchases, exchanges or trading of Fund shares at any time.
Opening an Account and Placing Orders
We encourage you to consult with a financial advisor who can help you with your investment decisions and who can help you open an account. Once you have an account, you can buy, sell or exchange shares by contacting your financial advisor who will send your order to the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary. As described below, once you have an account you can also communicate your orders directly to the Transfer Agent by mail, by telephone or online.
The Funds are generally available directly and through broker-dealers, banks and other financial intermediaries or institutions, and through certain qualified and non-qualified plans, wrap fee products or other investment products sponsored by financial intermediaries. You may buy, sell, or exchange shares through your financial intermediary. If you maintain your account directly with your financial intermediary, you must contact that agent to process your transaction.
| 50 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
Not all financial intermediaries offer the Funds (or all classes of Fund shares) and certain financial intermediaries that offer the Funds may not offer all Funds on all investment platforms or programs.
Please consult with your financial intermediary to determine the availability of the Funds. If you set up an account at a financial intermediary that does not have, and is unable to obtain, a selling agreement with the Distributor, you will not be able to transfer Fund holdings to that account. In that event, you must either maintain your Fund holdings with your current financial intermediary or find another financial intermediary with a selling agreement.
Financial intermediaries that offer the Funds may charge you additional fees for the services they provide and they may have different policies that are not described in this prospectus.
An investor transacting in a class of Fund shares without any front-end sales charge, CDSC, or other asset-based fee for sales or distribution, such as a Rule 12b-1 fee, may be required to pay a commission to the financial intermediary for effecting such transactions. The Funds are offered in a number of different share classes that have different fees and expenses and other features. Some differences in the policies of different financial intermediaries may include different minimum investment amounts, exchange privileges, Fund/class choices and cutoff times for investments. Additionally, recordkeeping, transaction processing and payments of distributions relating to your account may be performed by the financial intermediaries through which your shares of the Fund are held. Since the Fund (and its service providers) may not have a record of your account transactions, you should always contact the financial intermediary through which you purchased or at which you maintain your shares of the Fund to make changes to your account, to give instructions concerning your account, or to obtain information about your account. The Fund and its service providers, including the Distributor and the Transfer Agent, are not responsible for the failure of any financial intermediary to carry out its obligations to its customers.
The Fund may engage financial intermediaries to receive purchase, exchange and sell orders on its behalf. Accounts established directly with the Fund will be serviced by the Transfer Agent. The Funds, the Transfer Agent and the Distributor do not provide investment advice.
Direct-At-Fund Accounts (Accounts Established Directly with the Fund)
You can hold Fund shares through an account established and held through the financial intermediary through which you purchased Fund shares or you or your financial intermediary may establish an account directly with the Fund, in which case you will receive Fund account transaction confirmations and statements from the Transfer Agent, and not your financial intermediary (Direct-at-Fund Accounts).
To open a Direct-at-Fund Account, complete a Fund account application with your financial advisor or investment professional, and mail the account application to the Transfer Agent. Account applications may be obtained at columbiathreadneedleus.com or may be requested by calling 800.345.6611. Make your check payable to the Fund. You will be assessed a $15 fee for any checks rejected by your financial institution due to insufficient funds or other reasons. The Funds do not accept cash, credit card convenience checks, money orders, traveler's checks, starter checks, third or fourth party checks, or other cash equivalents.
Mail your check and completed application to the Transfer Agent at its regular or express mail address that can be found at the beginning of the section
. You may also use these addresses to request an exchange or redemption of Fund shares. When a written order to buy, sell or exchange shares is sent to the Transfer Agent, the share price used to fill the order is the next price calculated by the Fund after the Transfer Agent receives your transaction request in “good form” at its transaction processing center (i.e., the Fund’s express mail address), not the P.O. Box provided for regular mail delivery.
Choosing a Share Class
You will be sent a statement confirming your purchase and any subsequent transactions in your account. You will also be sent quarterly and annual statements detailing your transactions in the Fund and the other Funds you own under the same account. Duplicate quarterly account statements for the current year and duplicate annual statements for the most recent prior calendar year will be sent to you free of charge. Copies of year-end statements for prior years are available for a fee. Please contact the Transfer Agent for more information.
| Prospectus 2021 | 51 |
Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
Written Transactions – Direct-at-Fund Accounts
If you have a Direct-at-Fund Account, you can communicate written buy, sell or exchange orders to the Transfer Agent at its address that can be found at the beginning of the section
. When a written order to buy, sell or exchange shares is sent to the Transfer Agent, the share price used to fill the order is the next price calculated by the Fund after the Transfer Agent receives your transaction request in “good form” at its transaction processing center (i.e., the Fund’s express mail address), not the P.O. Box provided for regular mail delivery.
Choosing a Share Class
Include in your transaction request letter: your name; the name of the Fund(s); your account number; the class of shares to be purchased, exchanged or sold; your SSN or other TIN; the dollar amount or number of shares you want to purchase, exchange or sell; specific instructions regarding delivery of any redemption proceeds or exchange destination (i.e., the Fund/class to be exchanged into); signature(s) of all registered account owner(s); and any special documents the Transfer Agent may require in order to process your order.
Corporate, trust or partnership accounts may need to send additional documents. Payment will be mailed to the address of record and made payable to the names listed on the account, unless your request specifies differently and is signed by all owners.
Telephone Transactions – Direct-at-Fund Accounts
For Class A, Class C, Class Inst, Class Inst3, Class R and Class V shares, if you have a Direct-at-Fund Account, you may place orders to buy, sell or exchange shares by telephone through the Transfer Agent. To place orders by telephone, call 800.422.3737. Have your account number and SSN or TIN available when calling.
You can sell Fund shares via telephone and receive redemption proceeds: by electronic funds transfer via ACH, by wire, or by check to the address of record, subject to a maximum of $100,000 of shares per day, per Fund account. You can buy Fund shares via telephone by electronic funds transfer via ACH from your bank account up to a maximum of $100,000 of shares per day, per Fund account, or by wire from your bank account without a maximum. See below for more information regarding wire and electronic fund transfer transactions. Certain restrictions apply, so please call the Transfer Agent at 800.422.3737 for this and other information in advance of any need to transact via telephone.
Telephone orders may not be as secure as written orders. The Fund will take reasonable steps to confirm that telephone instructions are genuine. For example, we require proof of your identification before we will act on instructions received by telephone and may record telephone conversations. However, the Fund and its agents will not be responsible for any losses, costs or expenses resulting from an unauthorized telephone instruction when reasonable steps have been taken to confirm that telephone instructions are genuine. Telephone orders may be difficult to complete during periods of significant economic or market change or business interruption.
Online Transactions – Direct-at-Fund Accounts
For Class A, Class C, Class Inst, Class Inst3, Class R and Class V shares, if you have a Direct-at-Fund Account, you may be able to place orders to buy, sell, or exchange shares online. Contact the Transfer Agent at 800.345.6611 for more information on certain account trading restrictions and the special sign-up procedures required for online transactions. You can also go to columbiathreadneedleus.com/investor/ to sign up for online transactions. The Transfer Agent has procedures in place to authenticate electronic orders you send through the internet. You will be required to accept the terms of an online agreement and to establish an online account and utilize a password in order to access online account services. You can sell a maximum of $100,000 of shares per day, per Fund account through your online account if you qualify for internet orders. Wire transactions are not permitted online.
| 52 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
Wire Transactions – Direct-at-Fund Accounts
If you hold a Direct-at-Fund Account, you may purchase or redeem Class A, Class C, Class Inst, Class Inst3, Class R and Class V shares of a Fund by wiring money from (or to) your bank account to (or from) your Fund account. You must set up this feature prior to your request unless you are submitting your request in writing, which may require a Medallion Signature Guarantee. Please contact the Transfer Agent by calling 800.422.3737 to obtain the necessary forms and requirements. The Transfer Agent charges a fee for shares sold by wire. The Transfer Agent may waive the fee for certain accounts. In the case of a redemption, the receiving bank may charge an additional fee. The minimum amount that can be redeemed by wire is $500. When selling Fund shares via a telephone request, the maximum amount that can be redeemed via wire transfer is $100,000 per day, per Fund account. Wire transactions are not permitted online.
Electronic Funds Transfer via ACH – Direct-at-Fund Accounts
If you hold a Direct-at-Fund Account, you may purchase or redeem Class A, Class C, Class Inst, Class Inst3, Class R and Class V shares of a Fund by electronically transferring money via Automated Clearing House (ACH) from (or to) your bank account to (or from) your Fund account subject to a maximum of $100,000 of shares per day, per Fund account. You must set up this feature prior to your request, unless you are submitting your request in writing, which may require a Medallion Signature Guarantee. Please contact the Transfer Agent by calling 800.422.3737 to obtain the necessary forms and requirements. Your bank may take up to three business days to post an electronic funds transfer to (or from) your Fund account.
Buying Shares
Eligible Investors
Class A Shares
Class A shares are available to the general public for investment. However, Class A shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund must be purchased through financial intermediaries that, by written agreement with the Distributor, are specifically authorized to sell the Fund’s shares.
Class Adv Shares
Class Adv shares are available only to (i) omnibus retirement plans, including self-directed brokerage accounts within omnibus retirement plans that clear through institutional no transaction fee (NTF) platforms, (ii) trust companies or similar institutions, (iii) broker-dealers, banks, trust companies and similar institutions that clear Fund share transactions for their client or customer investment advisory or similar accounts through designated financial intermediaries and their mutual fund trading platforms that have been granted specific written authorization from the Transfer Agent with respect to Class Adv eligibility apart from selling, servicing or similar agreements, (iv) 501(c)(3) charitable organizations, (v) 529 plans, (vi) health savings accounts, (vii) investors participating in a fee-based advisory program sponsored by a financial intermediary or other entity that is not compensated by the Fund for those services, other than payments for shareholder servicing or sub-accounting performed in place of the Transfer Agent, and (viii) commissionable brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary, acting as broker on behalf of its customer, charges the customer a commission for effecting transactions in Fund shares, provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Adv shares within such platform.
Class Adv shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund must be purchased through financial intermediaries that, by written agreement with the Distributor, are specifically authorized to sell the Fund’s shares. Class Adv shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund are also available to certain registered investment advisers that clear Fund share transactions for their client accounts through designated financial intermediaries with mutual fund trading platforms that have been granted specific written authorization from the Transfer Agent (apart from selling, servicing or similar agreements) to sell Class Inst2 shares, which are not offered by the Fund.
Class C Shares
Class C shares are available to the general public for investment.
| Prospectus 2021 | 53 |
Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
Class Inst Shares
Class Inst shares are available only to the categories of eligible investors described below under
.
Class Inst Shares Minimum Initial Investments
Financial intermediaries that clear Fund share transactions through designated financial intermediaries and their mutual fund trading platforms that were given specific written notice from the Transfer Agent of the termination, effective March 29, 2013, of their eligibility for new purchases of Class Inst shares and omnibus retirement plans are not permitted to establish new Class Inst accounts, subject to certain exceptions described below.
Omnibus retirement plans that opened and, subject to certain exceptions, funded a Class Inst account with the Fund as of the close of business on March 28, 2013 and have continuously held Class Inst shares in such account after such date (each, a grandfathered plan), may generally continue to make additional purchases of Class Inst shares, open new Class Inst accounts and add new participants. In addition, an omnibus retirement plan affiliated with a grandfathered plan may, in the sole discretion of the Distributor, open new Class Inst accounts in a Fund if the affiliated plan opened a Class Inst account on or before March 28, 2013. If an omnibus retirement plan invested in Class Inst shares changes recordkeepers after March 28, 2013, any new accounts established for that plan may not be established in Class Inst shares, but such a plan may establish new accounts in a different share class for which the plan is eligible.
Accounts of financial intermediaries (other than omnibus retirement plans, which are discussed above) that clear Fund share transactions for their client or customer accounts through designated financial intermediaries and their mutual fund trading platforms that received specific written notice from the Transfer Agent of the termination, effective March 29, 2013, of their eligibility for new purchases of Class Inst shares will not be permitted to establish new Class Inst accounts or make additional purchases of Class Inst shares (other than through reinvestment of distributions). Any such account may, at its holder’s option, exchange Class Inst shares of a Fund, without the payment of a sales charge, for Class A shares of the same Fund.
Class Inst shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund must be purchased through financial intermediaries that, by written agreement with the Distributor, are specifically authorized to sell the Fund’s shares.
Class Inst2 Shares
Class Inst2 shares are available only to (i) certain registered investment advisers and family offices that clear Fund share transactions for their client or customer accounts through designated financial intermediaries and their mutual fund trading platforms that have been granted specific written authorization from the Transfer Agent with respect to Class Inst2 eligibility apart from selling, servicing or similar agreements; (ii) omnibus retirement plans; and (iii) institutional investors that are clients of the Columbia Threadneedle Global Institutional Distribution Team that invest in Class Inst2 shares for their own account through platforms approved by the Distributor or an affiliate thereof to offer and/or service Class Inst2 shares within such platform. Prior to November 8, 2012, Class Inst2 shares were closed to new investors and new accounts, subject to certain exceptions. Existing shareholders who do not satisfy the new eligibility requirements for investment in Class Inst2 may not establish new Class Inst2 accounts but may continue to make additional purchases of Class Inst2 shares in accounts opened and funded prior to November 8, 2012; provided, however, that investment advisory programs and similar programs that opened a Class Inst2 account as of May 1, 2010, and continuously hold Class Inst2 shares in such account after such date, may generally not only continue to make additional purchases of Class Inst2 shares but also open new Class Inst2 accounts for such pre-existing programs and add new shareholders in the program.
Class Inst3 Shares
Class Inst3 shares are available to: (i) group retirement plans that maintain plan-level or omnibus accounts with the Fund (through the Transfer Agent); (ii) institutional investors that are clients of the Columbia Threadneedle Global Institutional Distribution Team that invest in Class Inst3 shares for their own account through platforms approved by the Distributor or an affiliate thereof to offer and/or service Class Inst3 shares within such platform; (iii) collective trust funds; (iv) affiliated or unaffiliated mutual funds (e.g., funds operating as funds-of-funds); (v) fee-based platforms of financial intermediaries (or the clearing intermediary that they trade through) that have an agreement with the Distributor or an affiliate thereof that specifically authorizes the financial intermediary to offer and/or service
| 54 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
Class Inst3 shares within such platform, provided also that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account; (vi) commissionable brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary, acting as broker on behalf of its customer, charges the customer a commission for effecting transactions in Fund shares, provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst3 shares within such platform and that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account; and (vii) bank trust departments, subject to an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst3 shares and provided that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account. In each case above where noted that Fund shares are required to be held in an omnibus account, the Distributor may, in its discretion, determine to waive this requirement.
Class Inst3 shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund must be purchased through financial intermediaries that, by written agreement with the Distributor, are specifically authorized to sell the Fund’s shares. Please note that Class Inst3 shares that were open and funded accounts prior to November 30, 2018 (the conversion date from the former unnamed share class to Class Inst3 shares) are eligible for additional investment; however, any account established after that date must meet the current Class Inst3 eligibility requirements.
Class R Shares
Class R shares are available only to eligible health savings accounts sponsored by third party platforms, including those sponsored by Ameriprise Financial affiliates, eligible retirement plans and, in the sole discretion of the Distributor, other types of retirement accounts held through platforms maintained by financial intermediaries approved by the Distributor. Eligible retirement plans include any retirement plan other than individual 403(b) plans. Class R shares are generally not available for investment through retail nonretirement accounts, traditional and Roth IRAs, Coverdell Education Savings Accounts, SEPs, SAR-SEPs, Simple IRAs or 529 tuition programs. Contact the Transfer Agent or your retirement plan or health savings account administrator for more information about investing in Class R shares.
Class V Shares
Class V shares are available only to investors who received (and who have continuously held) Class V shares (formerly named Class T shares) in connection with the merger of certain Galaxy funds into certain Funds that were then named Liberty funds.
Additional Eligible Investors
In addition, the Distributor, in its sole discretion, may accept investments in any share class from investors other than those listed in this prospectus, and may also waive certain eligibility requirements for operational and other reasons, including but not limited to any requirement to maintain Fund shares in networked or omnibus accounts.
Minimum Initial Investments
The table below shows the Fund’s minimum initial investment requirements, which may vary by class and type of account.
The Fund reserves the right to redeem your shares if your account falls below the Fund’s minimum initial investment requirement.
|
Minimum Initial Investments
|
||
|
Minimum
Initial Investment
(a)
|
Minimum
Initial Investment for Accounts with Systematic Investment Plans |
|
| For all classes and account types except those listed below | $2,000 |
$100
(b)
|
| Individual Retirement Accounts for all classes except those listed below | $1,000 |
$100
(c)
|
| Group retirement plans | None | N/A |
| Class Adv and Class Inst |
$0, $1,000 or $2,000
(d)
|
$100
(d)
|
| Class Inst2 and Class R | None | N/A |
| Prospectus 2021 | 55 |
Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
|
Minimum Initial Investments
|
||
|
Minimum
Initial Investment
(a)
|
Minimum
Initial Investment for Accounts with Systematic Investment Plans |
|
| Class Inst3 |
$0, $1,000, $2,000 or $1 million
(e)
|
$100
(e)
|
| (a) |
If your Class A, Class Adv, Class C, Class Inst, Class Inst3 or Class V shares account balance falls below the minimum initial investment amount for any reason, including a market decline, you may be asked to increase it to the minimum initial investment amount or establish a monthly Systematic Investment Plan. If you do not do so, your account will be subject to a $20 annual low balance fee and/or shares may be automatically redeemed and the proceeds mailed to you if the account falls below the minimum account balance. See
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares — Transaction Rules and Policies
|
| (b) |
Columbia Government Money Market Fund
—
|
| (c) |
Columbia Government Money Market Fund
—
|
| (d) |
The minimum initial investment in Class Adv shares is $2,000 ($1,000 for IRAs; $100 for systematic investment plan accounts) for commissionable brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary, acting as broker on behalf of its customers, charges the customer a commission for effecting transactions in Fund shares, provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Adv shares within such platform; for all other eligible Class Adv share investors (see
Buying Shares – Eligible Investors – Class Adv Shares
Class Inst Shares Minimum Initial Investments
|
| (e) | There is no minimum initial investment in Class Inst3 shares for: group retirement plans that maintain plan-level or omnibus accounts with the Fund; collective trust funds; affiliated or unaffiliated mutual funds (e.g., funds operating as funds-of-funds); fee-based platforms of financial intermediaries (or the clearing intermediary that they trade through) that have an agreement with the Distributor or an affiliate thereof that specifically authorizes the financial intermediary to offer and/or service Class Inst3 shares within such platform and Fund shares are held in an omnibus account; and bank trust departments, subject to an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst3 shares and provided that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account. The minimum initial investment in Class Inst3 shares is $2,000 ($1,000 for IRAs; $100 for systematic investment plan accounts) for commissionable brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary, acting as broker on behalf of its customer, charges the customer a commission for effecting transactions in Fund shares, provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst3 shares within such platform and Fund shares are held in an omnibus account. The minimum initial investment in Class Inst3 shares is $1 million, unless waived in the discretion of the Distributor, for the following investors: institutional investors that are clients of the Columbia Threadneedle Global Institutional Distribution Team that invest in Class Inst3 shares for their own account through platforms approved by the Distributor or an affiliate thereof to offer and/or service Class Inst3 shares within such platform. The Distributor may, in its discretion, waive the $1 million minimum initial investment required for these Class Inst3 investors. In each case above where noted that Fund shares are required to be held in an omnibus account, the Distributor may, in its discretion, determine to waive this requirement. |
Additional Information about Minimum Initial Investments
The minimum initial investment requirements may be waived for accounts that are managed by an investment professional, or for accounts held in approved discretionary or non-discretionary wrap programs. The Distributor, in its sole discretion, may also waive minimum initial investment requirements for other account types.
Minimum investment and related requirements may be modified at any time, with or without prior notice. If your account is closed and then re-opened with a systematic investment plan, your account must meet the then-current applicable minimum initial investment.
Class Inst Shares Minimum Initial Investments
There is no minimum initial investment in Class Inst shares for the following categories of eligible investors:
| ■ | Any health savings account sponsored by a third party platform. |
| ■ | Any investor participating in an account sponsored by a financial intermediary or other entity (that provides services to the account) that is paid a fee-based advisory fee by the investor and that is not compensated by the Fund for those services, other than payments for shareholder servicing or sub-accounting performed in place of the Transfer Agent. |
| ■ | Any commissionable brokerage account, if a financial intermediary has received a written approval from the Distributor to waive the minimum initial investment in Class Inst shares. |
| 56 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
The minimum initial investment in Class Inst shares for the following categories of eligible investors is $1,000:
| ■ | Individual retirement accounts (IRAs) on commissionable brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary, acting as broker on behalf of its customer, charges the customer a commission for effecting transactions in Fund shares, provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst shares within such platform. |
| ■ | Any current employee of Columbia Management Investment Advisers LLC, the Distributor or the Transfer Agent and immediate family members of any of the foregoing who share the same address are eligible to invest in Class Inst shares through an individual retirement account (IRA). If you maintain your account with a financial intermediary, you must contact that financial intermediary each time you seek to purchase shares to notify them that you qualify for Class Inst shares. If Class Inst shares are not available at your financial intermediary, you may consider opening a Direct-at-Fund Account. It is your obligation to advise your financial intermediary or (in the case of Direct-at-Fund Accounts) the Transfer Agent that you qualify for Class Inst shares; be prepared to provide proof thereof. |
The minimum initial investment in Class Inst shares for the following categories of eligible investors is $2,000:
| ■ | Investors (except investors in individual retirement accounts (IRAs)) who purchase Fund shares through commissionable brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary holds the shares in an omnibus account and, acting as broker on behalf of its customer, charges the customer a commission for effecting transactions in Fund shares provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst shares within such platform. |
| ■ | Any current employee of Columbia Management Investment Advisers LLC, the Distributor or the Transfer Agent and immediate family members of any of the foregoing who share the same address are eligible to invest in Class Inst shares (other than individual retirement accounts (IRAs), for which the minimum initial investment is $1,000). If you maintain your account with a financial intermediary, you must contact that financial intermediary each time you seek to purchase shares to notify them that you qualify for Class Inst shares. If Class Inst shares are not available at your financial intermediary, you may consider opening a Direct-at-Fund Account. It is your obligation to advise your financial intermediary or (in the case of Direct-at-Fund Accounts) the Transfer Agent that you qualify for Class Inst shares; be prepared to provide proof thereof. |
| ■ | Certain financial institutions and intermediaries, such as insurance companies, trust companies, banks, endowments, investment companies or foundations, buying shares for their own account, including Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates and/or subsidiaries. |
| ■ | Bank trust departments that assess their clients an asset-based fee. |
| ■ | Certain other investors as set forth in more detail in the SAI. |
Systematic Investment Plan
The Systematic Investment Plan allows you to schedule regular purchases via automatic transfers from your bank account to the Fund on a monthly, quarterly or semiannual basis. Contact the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary to set up the plan. Systematic Investment Plans may not be available for all share classes. With the exception of Columbia Government Money Market Fund, the Systematic Investment Plan is confirmed on your quarterly account statement.
Dividend Diversification
Generally, you may automatically invest Fund distributions into the same class of shares (and in some cases certain other classes of shares) of another Fund without paying any applicable front-end sales charge. Call the Transfer Agent at 800.345.6611 for details. The ability to invest distributions from one Fund to another Fund may not be available to accounts held at all financial intermediaries.
Other Purchase Rules You Should Know
| ■ | Once the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary receives your purchase order in “good form,” your purchase will be made at the Fund’s next calculated public offering price per share, which is the NAV per share plus any sales charge that applies (i.e., the trade date). |
| Prospectus 2021 | 57 |
Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
| ■ | Once the Fund receives your purchase request in “good form,” you cannot cancel it after the market closes. |
| ■ | You generally buy Class A and Class V shares at the public offering price per share because purchases of these share classes are generally subject to a front-end sales charge. |
| ■ | You buy Class Adv, Class C, Class Inst, Class Inst2, Class Inst3 and Class R shares at NAV per share because no front-end sales charge applies to purchases of these share classes. |
| ■ | Class A shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund are not eligible for purchase by a Direct-at-Fund Account. |
| ■ | Class Inst shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund are not eligible for purchase by a Direct-at-Fund Account except for any current employee of Columbia Management Investment Advisers LLC, the Distributor or Transfer Agent and immediate family members of the foregoing who share the same address. |
| ■ | The Distributor and the Transfer Agent reserve the right to cancel your order request if the Fund does not receive payment within two business days of receiving your purchase order request. The Fund will return any payment received for orders that have been cancelled, but no interest will be paid on that money. |
| ■ | Financial intermediaries are responsible for sending your purchase orders to the Transfer Agent and ensuring that the Fund receives your money on time. |
| ■ | Shares purchased are recorded on the books of the Fund. The Fund does not issue certificates. |
Please also read
and contact your financial intermediary for more information regarding any reductions and/or waivers described therein.
Appendix A
Selling Shares
When you sell shares, the amount you receive may be more or less than the amount you invested. Your sale price will be the next NAV calculated after your request is received in “good form,” (i.e., the trade date) minus any applicable CDSC.
Systematic Withdrawal Plan
The Systematic Withdrawal Plan allows you to schedule regular redemptions from your account any business day on a monthly, quarterly or semiannual basis. Currently, Systematic Withdrawal Plans are generally available for Class A, Class Adv, Class C, Class Inst, Class Inst2, Class Inst3, and Class V share accounts. Contact the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary to set up the plan. To set up the plan, your account balance must meet the class minimum initial investment amount. A Systematic Withdrawal Plan cannot be set up on an account that already has a Systematic Investment Plan established. Note that a Medallion Signature Guarantee may be required if this service is established after your Fund account is opened.
You can choose to receive your withdrawals via check or direct deposit into your bank account. The Fund will deduct any applicable CDSC from the withdrawals before sending redemption proceeds to you. You can cancel the plan by giving the Fund 30 days’ notice in writing or by calling the Transfer Agent at 800.422.3737. It’s important to remember that if you withdraw more than your investment in the Fund is earning, you'll eventually withdraw your entire investment.
Check Redemption Service (for Columbia Government Money Market Fund)
Class A and Class Inst shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund (which is not offered in this prospectus) offer check writing privileges. If you have $2,000 in Columbia Government Money Market Fund, you may request checks which may be drawn against your account. The amount of any check drawn against your Columbia Government Money Market Fund must be at least $100 and not more than $100,000 per day. You can elect this service when you initially establish your account or thereafter. Call 800.345.6611 for the appropriate forms to establish this service. If you own Class A shares that were originally purchased in another Fund at NAV because of the size of the purchase, and then exchanged into Columbia Government Money Market Fund, check redemptions may be subject to a CDSC. A $15 charge will be assessed for any stop payment order requested by you or any overdraft in connection with checks written against your Columbia Government Money Market Fund account. Note that a Medallion Signature Guarantee may be required if this service is established after your Fund account is opened.
| 58 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
Satisfying Fund Redemption Requests
When you sell your Fund shares, the Fund is effectively buying them back from you. This is called a redemption. Except as noted below with respect to newly purchased shares, the Fund typically expects to send you payment for your shares within two business days after your trade date for all methods of payment. The Fund can suspend redemptions and/or delay payment of redemption proceeds for up to seven days. The Fund can also suspend redemptions and/or delay payment of redemption proceeds in excess of seven days under certain circumstances, including when the NYSE is closed or trading thereon is restricted or during emergency or other circumstances, including as determined by the SEC.
The Fund typically seeks to satisfy redemption requests from cash or cash equivalents held by the Fund, from the proceeds of orders to purchase Fund shares or from the proceeds of sales of Fund holdings effected in the normal course of managing the Fund. However, the Fund may have to sell Fund holdings, including in down markets, to meet heavier than usual redemption requests. For example, under stressed or abnormal market conditions or circumstances, including circumstances adversely affecting the liquidity of the Fund’s investments, the Fund may be more likely to be forced to sell Fund holdings to meet redemptions than under normal market circumstances. In these situations, the Fund’s portfolio managers may have to sell Fund holdings that would not otherwise be sold because, among other reasons, the current price to be received is less than the value of the holdings perceived by the Fund’s portfolio managers. The Fund may also, under certain circumstances (but more likely under stressed or abnormal market conditions or circumstances), borrow money under a credit facility to which the Fund and certain other Columbia Funds are parties or from other Columbia Funds under an interfund lending program (except for closed-end funds and money market funds, which are not eligible to borrow under the program). The Fund and the other Columbia Funds are limited as to the amount that each may individually and collectively borrow under the credit facility and the interfund lending program. As a result, borrowings available to the Fund under the credit facility and the interfund lending program might be insufficient, alone or in combination with the other strategies described herein, to satisfy Fund redemption requests. Please see
in the SAI for more information about the credit facility and interfund lending program. The Fund is also limited in the total amount it may borrow. The Fund may only borrow to the extent permitted by the 1940 Act, the rules and regulations thereunder, and any exemptive relief available to the Fund, which currently limit Fund borrowings to 33 1/3% of total assets (including any amounts borrowed) less liabilities (other than borrowings), plus an additional 5% of its total assets for temporary purposes (to be repaid within 60 days without extension or renewal), in each case determined at the time the borrowing is made.
About Fund Investments – Borrowings – Interfund Lending
In addition, the Fund reserves the right to honor redemption orders in whole or in part with in-kind distributions of Fund portfolio securities instead of cash. Such in-kind distributions typically represent a pro-rata portion of Fund portfolio assets subject to adjustments (e.g., for non-transferable securities, round lots, and derivatives). In the event the Fund distributes portfolio securities in kind, you may incur brokerage and other transaction costs associated with converting the portfolio securities you receive into cash. Also, the portfolio securities you receive may increase or decrease in value after they are distributed but before you convert them into cash. For U.S. federal income tax purposes, redemptions paid in securities are generally treated the same as redemptions paid in cash. If, during any 90-day period, you redeem shares in an amount greater than $250,000 or 1% of the Fund’s net assets (whichever is less), and if the Investment Manager determines it to be feasible and appropriate, the Fund may pay the redemption amount above such threshold by an in-kind distribution of Fund portfolio securities.
While the Fund is not required (and may refuse in its discretion) to pay a redemption with an in-kind distribution of Fund portfolio securities and reserves the right to pay the redemption proceeds in cash, if you wish to request an in-kind redemption, please call the Transfer Agent at 800.345.6611. As a result of the operational steps needed to coordinate with the redeeming shareholder’s custodian, in-kind redemptions typically take several weeks to complete after a redemption request is received. The Fund and the redeeming shareholder will typically agree upon a redemption date. Since the Fund’s NAV may fluctuate during this time, the Fund’s NAV may be lower on the agreed-upon redemption date than on an earlier date on which the investment could have been redeemed for cash.
| Prospectus 2021 | 59 |
Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
Redemption of Newly Purchased Shares
You may not redeem shares for which the Fund has not yet received payment. Shares purchased by check or electronically by ACH when the purchase payment is not guaranteed will be considered in “good form” for redemption only after they have been held in your account for 6 calendar days after the trade date of the purchase (Collected Shares). If you request a redemption for an amount that, based on the NAV next calculated after your redemption request is received, includes any shares that are not yet Collected Shares, the Fund will only process the redemption up to the amount of the value of Collected Shares available in your account. You must submit a new redemption request if you wish to redeem those shares that were not yet Collected Shares at the time the original redemption request was received by the Fund.
Other Redemption Rules You Should Know
| ■ | Once the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary receives your redemption order in “good form,” your shares will be sold at the Fund’s next calculated NAV per share (i.e., the trade date). Any applicable CDSC will be deducted from the amount you're selling and the balance will be remitted to you. |
| ■ | Once the Fund receives your redemption request in “good form,” you cannot cancel it after the market closes. |
| ■ | If you sell your shares that are held in a Direct-at-Fund Account, we will normally send the redemption proceeds by mail or electronically transfer them to your bank account the next business day after the trade date. Note that your bank may take up to three business days to post an electronic funds transfer from your account. |
| ■ | If you sell your shares through a financial intermediary, the Funds will normally send the redemption proceeds to your financial intermediary within two business days after the trade date. |
| ■ | No interest will be paid on uncashed redemption checks. |
| ■ | Other restrictions may apply to retirement accounts. For information about these restrictions, contact your retirement plan administrator. |
| ■ | For broker-dealer and wrap fee accounts: The Fund reserves the right to redeem your shares if your account falls below the Fund's minimum initial investment requirement. The Fund will notify your broker-dealer prior to redeeming shares, and will provide details on how to avoid such redemption. |
| ■ |
Also keep in mind the Funds' Small Account Policy, which is described above in
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares — Transaction Rules and Policies.
|
Exchanging Shares
You can generally sell shares of your Fund to buy shares of another Fund (subject to eligibility requirements), in what is called an exchange. You should read the prospectus of, and make sure you understand the investment objective, principal investment strategies, risks, fees and expenses of, the Fund into which you are exchanging. Although the Funds allow certain exchanges from one share class to another share class with higher expenses, you should consider the expenses of each class before making such an exchange. Please see
below for more information.
Same-Fund Exchange Privilege
You will be subject to a sales charge if, in a Direct-at-Fund Account, you exchange shares that have not previously paid a sales charge, including from Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund, Columbia Small Cap Index Fund, Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund or any other Columbia Fund that does not charge a front-end sales charge, into a Columbia Fund that does assess a sales charge.
Please contact your financial intermediary for more information.
If you hold your Fund shares through certain financial intermediaries, you may have limited exchangeability among the Funds.
Systematic Exchanges
You may buy Class A, Class C, Class Inst, Class Inst3 and Class V shares of a Fund by exchanging each month from another Fund for shares of the same class of the Fund at no additional cost, subject to the following exchange amount minimums: $50 each month for individual retirement accounts (i.e., tax qualified accounts); and $100 each month for non-retirement accounts. Contact the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary to set up the plan.
| 60 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
Exchanges will continue as long as your balance in the Fund you are exchanging shares from is sufficient to complete the systematic monthly exchange, subject to the Funds' Small Account Policy described above in
You may terminate the program or change the amount you would like to exchange (subject to the $50 and $100 minimum requirements noted immediately above) by calling the Transfer Agent at 800.345.6611.
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares — Transaction Rules and Policies.
Other Exchange Rules You Should Know
| ■ | Exchanges are made at the NAV next calculated (plus any applicable sales charge) after your exchange order is received in “good form” (i.e., the trade date). |
| ■ | Once the Fund receives your exchange request in “good form,” you cannot cancel it after the market closes. |
| ■ | The rules for buying shares of a Fund generally apply to exchanges into that Fund, including, if your exchange creates a new Fund account, it must satisfy the minimum investment amount, unless a waiver applies. |
| ■ | Shares of the purchased Fund may not be used on the same day for another exchange or sale. |
| ■ | If you exchange shares from Class A shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund to a non-money market Fund, any further exchanges must be between shares of the same class. For example, if you exchange from Class A shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund into Class C shares of a non-money market Fund, you may not exchange from Class C shares of that non-money market Fund back to Class A shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund or Class A shares of any other Fund. |
| ■ | A sales charge may apply when you exchange shares of a Fund that were not assessed a sales charge at the time you purchased such shares. If you invest through a Direct-at-Fund Account in Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund, Columbia Small Cap Index Fund, Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund, Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund or any other Columbia Fund that does not impose a front-end sales charge and then you exchange into a Fund that does assess a sales charge, your transaction is subject to a front-end sales charge if you exchange into Class A shares and to a CDSC if you exchange into Class C shares of the Columbia Funds. |
| ■ | If you purchased Class A shares of a Columbia Fund that imposes a front-end sales charge (and you paid any applicable sales charge) and you then exchange those shares into Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund, Columbia Small Cap Index Fund, Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund, Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund or any other Columbia Fund that does not impose a front-end sales charge, you may exchange that amount to Class A of another Fund in the future, including dividends earned on that amount, without paying a sales charge. |
| ■ | If your shares are subject to a CDSC, you will not be charged a CDSC upon the exchange of those shares. Any CDSC will be deducted when you sell the shares you received from the exchange. The CDSC imposed at that time will be based on the period that begins when you bought shares of the original Fund and ends when you sell the shares of the Fund you received from the exchange. Any applicable CDSC charged will be the CDSC of the original Fund. |
| ■ | You may make exchanges only into a Fund that is legally offered and sold in your state of residence. Contact the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary for more information. |
| ■ | You generally may make an exchange only into a Fund that is accepting investments. |
| ■ | The Fund may change or cancel your right to make an exchange by giving the amount of notice required by regulatory authorities (generally 60 days for a material change or cancellation). |
| ■ | Unless your account is part of a tax-advantaged arrangement, an exchange for shares of another Fund is a taxable event, and you may recognize a gain or loss for tax purposes. |
| ■ | Changing your investment to a different Fund will be treated as a sale and purchase, and you will be subject to applicable taxes on the sale and sales charges on the purchase of the new Fund. |
| Prospectus 2021 | 61 |
Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
| ■ |
Class Inst shares of a Fund may be exchanged for Class A or Class Inst shares of another Fund. In certain circumstances, the front-end sales charge applicable to Class A shares may be waived on exchanges of Class Inst shares for Class A shares. See
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares — Buying Shares — Eligible Investors — Class Inst Shares
|
| ■ | Class A shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund are not eligible for exchange by a Direct-at-Fund Account. |
| ■ | Class Inst shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund are not eligible for exchange by a Direct-at-Fund Account except for any current employee of the Investment Manager, the Distributor or the Transfer Agent and immediate family members of any of the foregoing who share the same address. |
| ■ | You may generally exchange Class V shares of a Fund for Class A shares of another Fund if the other Fund does not offer Class V shares. Class V shares exchanged into Class A shares cannot be exchanged back into Class V shares. |
Same-Fund Exchange Privilege
Shareholders may be eligible to invest in other classes of shares of the same Fund, and may exchange their current shares for another share class if deemed eligible and offered by the Fund. Such same-Fund exchanges could include an exchange of one class for another with higher expenses. Before making such an exchange, you should consider the expenses of each class. Shareholders should contact their financial intermediaries to learn more about the details of the same-Fund exchange privilege. Exchanges out of Class A, Class C and Class V shares will be subject to any applicable CDSC. Financial intermediaries that have a customized arrangement with regard to CDSCs are detailed in
.
Appendix A
Exchanges out of Class C shares to another share class of the same Fund are not permissible on Direct-at-Fund Accounts. Exchanges out of Class C shares to another share class of the same Fund within commissionable brokerage accounts are permitted only (1) by shareholders moving from a commissionable brokerage account to a fee-based advisory program or (2) when the exchange is part of a share class conversion (or a similar multiple shareholder transaction event) instituted by a financial intermediary and such conversion or similar type event is preapproved by the Distributor.
Ordinarily, shareholders will not recognize a gain or loss for U.S. federal income tax purposes upon a same-Fund exchange. You should consult your tax advisor about your particular exchanges.
| 62 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I
Distributions and Taxes
Distributions to Shareholders
A mutual fund can make money two ways:
| ■ | It can earn income on its investments. Examples of fund income are interest paid on money market instruments and bonds, and dividends paid on common stocks. |
| ■ | A mutual fund can also have capital gains if the value of its investments increases. While a fund continues to hold an investment, any gain is generally unrealized. If the fund sells an investment, it generally will realize a capital gain if it sells that investment for a higher price than its adjusted cost basis, and will generally realize a capital loss if it sells that investment for a lower price than its adjusted cost basis. Capital gains and losses are either short-term or long-term, depending on whether the fund holds the securities for one year or less (short-term) or more than one year (long-term). |
Mutual funds make payments of fund earnings to shareholders, distributing them among all shareholders of the fund. As a shareholder, you are entitled to your portion of a fund's distributed income, including capital gains. Reinvesting your distributions buys you more shares of a fund
which lets you take advantage of the potential for compound growth. Putting the money you earn back into your investment means it, in turn, may earn even more money (or be exposed to additional losses, if the fund earns a negative return). Over time, the power of compounding has the potential to significantly increase the value of your investment. There is no assurance, however, that you'll earn more money if you reinvest your distributions rather than receive them in cash.
—
The Fund intends to pay out, in the form of distributions to shareholders, a sufficient amount of its income and gains so that the Fund will qualify for treatment as a regulated investment company and generally will not have to pay any federal excise tax. The Fund generally intends to distribute any net realized capital gain (whether long-term or short-term gain) at least once a year. Normally, the Fund will declare and pay distributions of net investment income according to the following schedule:
|
Declaration and Distribution Schedule
|
|
| Declarations | Annually |
| Distributions | Annually |
The Fund may declare or pay distributions of net investment income more frequently.
Different share classes of the Fund usually pay different net investment income distribution amounts, because each class has different expenses. Each time a distribution is made, the NAV per share of the share class is reduced by the amount of the distribution.
The Fund generally pays cash distributions within five business days after the distribution was declared (or, if the Fund declares distributions daily, within five business days after the end of the month in which the distribution was declared). If you sell all of your shares after the record date, but before the payment date, for a distribution, you'll normally receive that distribution in cash within five business days after the sale was made.
The Fund will automatically reinvest distributions in additional shares of the same share class of the Fund unless you inform us you want to receive your distributions in cash (the financial intermediary through which you purchased shares may have different policies). You can do this by contacting the Funds at the addresses and telephone numbers listed at the beginning of the section entitled
. No sales charges apply to the purchase or sale of such shares.
Choosing a Share Class
For accounts held directly with the Fund (through the Transfer Agent), distributions of $10 or less will automatically be reinvested in additional Fund shares only. If you elect to receive distributions by check and the check is returned as undeliverable, all subsequent distributions will be reinvested in additional shares of the Fund.
Unless you are a tax-exempt investor or holding Fund shares through a tax-advantaged account (such as a 401(k) plan or IRA), you should consider avoiding buying Fund shares shortly before the Fund makes a distribution (other than distributions of net investment income that are declared daily) of net investment income or net realized capital gain, because doing so can cost you money in taxes to the extent the distribution consists of taxable income or gains. This is because you will, in effect, receive part of your purchase price back in the distribution. This is known as
| Prospectus 2021 | 63 |
Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I
Distributions and Taxes
(continued)
“buying a dividend.” To avoid “buying a dividend,” before you invest check the Fund's distribution schedule, which is available at the Funds' website and/or by calling the Funds' telephone number listed at the beginning of the section entitled
.
Choosing a Share Class
Taxes
You should be aware of the following considerations applicable to the Fund:
| ■ | The Fund intends to qualify and to be eligible for treatment each year as a regulated investment company. A regulated investment company generally is not subject to tax at the fund level on income and gains from investments that are distributed to shareholders. However, the Fund's failure to qualify for treatment as a regulated investment company would result in Fund-level taxation, and consequently, a reduction in income available for distribution to you and in the NAV of your shares. Even if the Fund qualifies for treatment as a regulated investment company, the Fund may be subject to federal excise tax on certain undistributed income or gains. |
| ■ | Otherwise taxable distributions generally are taxable to you when paid, whether they are paid in cash or automatically reinvested in additional Fund shares. Dividends paid in January are deemed paid on December 31 of the prior year if the dividend was declared and payable to shareholders of record in October, November, or December of such prior year. |
| ■ | Distributions of the Fund's ordinary income and net short-term capital gain, if any, generally are taxable to you as ordinary income. Distributions of the Fund's net long-term capital gain, if any, generally are taxable to you as long-term capital gain. Whether capital gains are long-term or short-term is determined by how long the Fund has owned the investments that generated them, rather than how long you have owned your shares. |
| ■ | From time to time, a distribution from the Fund could constitute a return of capital. A return of capital is a return of an amount of your original investment and is not a distribution of income or capital gain from the Fund. Therefore, a return of capital is not taxable to you so long as the amount of the distribution does not exceed your tax basis in your Fund shares. A return of capital reduces your tax basis in your Fund shares, with any amounts exceeding such basis generally taxable as capital gain. |
| ■ | If you are an individual and you meet certain holding period and other requirements for your Fund shares, a portion of your distributions may be treated as “qualified dividend income” taxable at the lower net long-term capital gain rates instead of the higher ordinary income rates. Qualified dividend income is income attributable to the Fund's dividends received from certain U.S. and foreign corporations, as long as the Fund meets certain holding period and other requirements for the stock producing such dividends. |
| ■ | Certain high-income individuals (as well as estates and trusts) are subject to a 3.8% tax on net investment income. For individuals, the 3.8% tax applies to the lesser of (1) the amount (if any) by which the taxpayer's modified adjusted gross income exceeds certain threshold amounts or (2) the taxpayer's “net investment income.” |
| Net investment income generally includes for this purpose dividends, including any capital gain dividends, paid by the Fund, and net gains recognized on the sale, redemption or exchange of shares of the Fund. |
| ■ | Certain derivative instruments when held in the Fund's portfolio subject the Fund to special tax rules, the effect of which may be to, among other things, accelerate income to the Fund, defer Fund losses, cause adjustments in the holding periods of Fund portfolio securities, or convert capital gains into ordinary income, short-term capital losses into long-term capital losses or long-term capital gains into short-term capital gains. These rules could therefore affect the amount, timing and/or character of distributions to shareholders. |
| ■ | Generally, a Fund realizes a capital gain or loss on an option when the option expires, or when it is exercised, sold or otherwise terminated. However, if an option is a “section 1256 contract,” which includes most traded options on a broad-based index, and the Fund holds such option at the end of its taxable year, the Fund is deemed to sell such option at fair market value at such time and recognize any gain or loss thereon, which is generally deemed to be 60% long-term and 40% short-term capital gain or loss, as described further in the SAI. |
| ■ | Income and proceeds received by the Fund from sources within foreign countries may be subject to foreign taxes. If at the end of the taxable year more than 50% of the value of the Fund's assets consists of securities of foreign |
| 64 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I
Distributions and Taxes
(continued)
| corporations, and the Fund makes a special election, you will generally be required to include in your income for U.S. federal income tax purposes your share of the qualifying foreign income taxes paid by the Fund in respect of its foreign portfolio securities. You may be able to claim a foreign tax credit or deduction in respect of this amount, subject to certain limitations. There is no assurance that the Fund will make this election for a taxable year, even if it is eligible to do so. |
| ■ | A sale, redemption or exchange of Fund shares is a taxable event. This includes redemptions where you are paid in securities. Your sales, redemptions and exchanges of Fund shares (including those paid in securities) usually will result in a taxable capital gain or loss to you, equal to the difference between the amount you receive for your shares (or are deemed to have received in the case of exchanges) and your adjusted tax basis in the shares, which is generally the amount you paid (or are deemed to have paid in the case of exchanges) for them. Any such capital gain or loss generally will be long-term capital gain or loss if you have held your Fund shares for more than one year at the time of sale or exchange. In certain circumstances, capital losses may be converted from short-term to long-term; in other circumstances, capital losses may be disallowed under the “wash sale” rules. |
| ■ | For sales, redemptions and exchanges of shares that were acquired in a non-qualified account after 2011, the Fund generally is required to report to shareholders and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) cost basis information with respect to those shares. The Fund uses average cost basis as its default method of calculating cost basis. For more information regarding average cost basis reporting, other available cost basis methods, and selecting or changing to a different cost basis method, please see the SAI, columbiathreadneedleus.com, or contact the Fund at 800.345.6611. If you hold Fund shares through a financial intermediary (e.g., a brokerage firm), you should contact your financial intermediary to learn about its cost basis reporting default method and the reporting elections available to your account. |
| ■ | The Fund is required by federal law to withhold tax on any taxable or tax-exempt distributions and redemption proceeds paid to you (including amounts paid to you in securities and amounts deemed to be paid to you upon an exchange of shares) if: you have not provided a correct TIN or have not certified to the Fund that withholding does not apply, the IRS has notified us that the TIN listed on your account is incorrect according to its records, or the IRS informs the Fund that you are otherwise subject to backup withholding. |
FUNDamentals
Taxes
The information provided above is only a summary of how U.S. federal income taxes may affect your investment in the Fund. It is not intended as a substitute for careful tax planning. Your investment in the Fund may have other tax implications. It does not apply to certain types of investors who may be subject to special rules, including foreign or tax-exempt investors or those holding Fund shares through a tax-advantaged account, such as a 401(k) plan or IRA. Please see the SAI for more detailed tax information. You should consult with your own tax advisor about the particular tax consequences to you of an investment in the Fund, including the effect of any foreign, state and local taxes, and the effect of possible changes in applicable tax laws.
| Prospectus 2021 | 65 |
Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I
Financial Highlights
The financial highlights table is intended to help you understand the Fund’s financial performance for the past five fiscal years or, if shorter, the Fund’s period of operations. Certain information reflects financial results for a single Fund share. Per share net investment income (loss) amounts are calculated based on average shares outstanding during the period. The total return in the table represents the rate that an investor would have earned (or lost) on an investment in the Fund assuming all dividends and distributions had been reinvested. Total return does not reflect payment of sales charges, if any. Total return and portfolio turnover are not annualized for periods of less than one year. The portfolio turnover rate is calculated without regard to purchase and sales transactions of short-term instruments and certain derivatives, if any. If such transactions were included, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate may be higher. This information has been audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm, whose report, along with the Fund’s financial statements, is included in the Fund’s annual report, which is available upon request.
| Prospectus 2021 | 67 |
Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I
Financial Highlights
(continued)
|
Net asset value,
beginning of period |
Net
investment income (loss) |
Net
realized and unrealized gain |
Total from
investment operations |
Distributions
from net realized gains |
Total
distributions to shareholders |
|
|
Class A
|
||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $19.72 | (0.18) | 7.28 | 7.10 | (1.77) | (1.77) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $22.05 | (0.15) | 1.12 | 0.97 | (3.30) | (3.30) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $19.46 | (0.15) | 5.87 | 5.72 | (3.13) | (3.13) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $17.29 | (0.13) | 3.78 | 3.65 | (1.48) | (1.48) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $27.22 |
(0.11)
(g)
|
0.40 | 0.29 | (10.22) | (10.22) |
|
Advisor Class
|
||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $22.48 | (0.15) | 8.38 | 8.23 | (1.81) | (1.81) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $24.61 | (0.11) | 1.33 | 1.22 | (3.35) | (3.35) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $21.38 | (0.12) | 6.53 | 6.41 | (3.18) | (3.18) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $18.86 | (0.09) | 4.13 | 4.04 | (1.52) | (1.52) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $28.69 |
(0.03)
(g)
|
0.42 | 0.39 | (10.22) | (10.22) |
|
Class C
|
||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $15.34 | (0.25) | 5.54 | 5.29 | (1.62) | (1.62) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $17.93 | (0.22) | 0.78 | 0.56 | (3.15) | (3.15) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $16.35 | (0.25) | 4.82 | 4.57 | (2.99) | (2.99) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $14.74 | (0.23) | 3.20 | 2.97 | (1.36) | (1.36) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $24.87 |
(0.21)
(g)
|
0.30 | 0.09 | (10.22) | (10.22) |
|
Institutional Class
|
||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $21.20 | (0.14) | 7.85 | 7.71 | (1.81) | (1.81) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $23.42 | (0.11) | 1.24 | 1.13 | (3.35) | (3.35) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $20.49 | (0.11) | 6.22 | 6.11 | (3.18) | (3.18) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $18.13 | (0.09) | 3.97 | 3.88 | (1.52) | (1.52) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $27.98 |
(0.07)
(g)
|
0.44 | 0.37 | (10.22) | (10.22) |
|
Institutional 2 Class
|
||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $21.47 | (0.13) | 7.98 | 7.85 | (1.83) | (1.83) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $23.68 | (0.09) | 1.26 | 1.17 | (3.38) | (3.38) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $20.68 | (0.09) | 6.29 | 6.20 | (3.20) | (3.20) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $18.28 | (0.07) | 4.01 | 3.94 | (1.54) | (1.54) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $28.11 |
(0.04)
(g)
|
0.43 | 0.39 | (10.22) | (10.22) |
|
68
|
Prospectus 2021
|
Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I
Financial Highlights
(continued)
|
Net
asset value, end of period |
Total
return |
Total gross
expense ratio to average net assets
(a)
|
Total net
expense ratio to average net assets
(a), (b)
|
Net investment
income (loss) ratio to average net assets |
Portfolio
turnover |
Net
assets, end of period (000's) |
|
|
Class A
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $25.05 | 39.06% |
1.29%
(c), (d)
|
1.29%
(c), (d), (e)
|
(0.89%) | 76% | $414,360 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $19.72 | 7.76% |
1.33%
(c)
|
1.33%
(c)
|
(0.79%) | 113% | $265,473 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $22.05 | 33.62% |
1.35%
(d)
|
1.34%
(d), (e)
|
(0.79%) | 156% | $249,156 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $19.46 | 22.42% |
1.39%
(f)
|
1.34%
(e), (f)
|
(0.74%) | 174% | $189,019 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $17.29 | 2.88% |
1.41%
(d)
|
1.36%
(d), (e)
|
(0.62%) | 142% | $174,183 |
|
Advisor Class
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $28.90 | 39.42% |
1.04%
(c), (d)
|
1.04%
(c), (d), (e)
|
(0.66%) | 76% | $83,934 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $22.48 | 8.05% |
1.07%
(c)
|
1.07%
(c)
|
(0.54%) | 113% | $20,203 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $24.61 | 33.91% |
1.10%
(d)
|
1.09%
(d), (e)
|
(0.53%) | 156% | $8,913 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $21.38 | 22.68% |
1.12%
(f)
|
1.09%
(e), (f)
|
(0.46%) | 174% | $1,734 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $18.86 | 3.15% |
1.16%
(d)
|
1.10%
(d), (e)
|
(0.16%) | 142% | $1,283 |
|
Class C
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $19.01 | 38.03% |
2.04%
(c), (d)
|
2.04%
(c), (d), (e)
|
(1.65%) | 76% | $20,142 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $15.34 | 6.93% |
2.08%
(c)
|
2.08%
(c)
|
(1.54%) | 113% | $8,887 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $17.93 | 32.58% |
2.10%
(d)
|
2.09%
(d), (e)
|
(1.54%) | 156% | $8,401 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $16.35 | 21.48% |
2.14%
(f)
|
2.09%
(e), (f)
|
(1.49%) | 174% | $12,281 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $14.74 | 2.12% |
2.16%
(d)
|
2.12%
(d), (e)
|
(1.37%) | 142% | $13,187 |
|
Institutional Class
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $27.10 | 39.35% |
1.04%
(c), (d)
|
1.04%
(c), (d), (e)
|
(0.65%) | 76% | $773,636 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $21.20 | 8.08% |
1.08%
(c)
|
1.08%
(c)
|
(0.54%) | 113% | $283,781 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $23.42 | 33.91% |
1.10%
(d)
|
1.09%
(d), (e)
|
(0.54%) | 156% | $226,120 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $20.49 | 22.72% |
1.14%
(f)
|
1.09%
(e), (f)
|
(0.49%) | 174% | $159,344 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $18.13 | 3.15% |
1.15%
(d)
|
1.12%
(d), (e)
|
(0.38%) | 142% | $157,826 |
|
Institutional 2 Class
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $27.49 | 39.50% |
0.96%
(c), (d)
|
0.96%
(c), (d)
|
(0.58%) | 76% | $104,108 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $21.47 | 8.16% |
0.97%
(c)
|
0.97%
(c)
|
(0.45%) | 113% | $26,190 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $23.68 | 34.07% |
0.99%
(d)
|
0.98%
(d)
|
(0.43%) | 156% | $21,024 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $20.68 | 22.87% |
1.00%
(f)
|
0.99%
(f)
|
(0.39%) | 174% | $15,478 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $18.28 | 3.24% |
0.99%
(d)
|
0.99%
(d)
|
(0.23%) | 142% | $11,704 |
|
Prospectus 2021
|
69
|
Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I
Financial Highlights
(continued)
|
Net asset value,
beginning of period |
Net
investment income (loss) |
Net
realized and unrealized gain |
Total from
investment operations |
Distributions
from net realized gains |
Total
distributions to shareholders |
|
|
Institutional 3 Class
|
||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $21.75 | (0.12) | 8.08 | 7.96 | (1.84) | (1.84) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $23.93 | (0.08) | 1.29 | 1.21 | (3.39) | (3.39) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $20.87 | (0.08) | 6.35 | 6.27 | (3.21) | (3.21) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $18.43 | (0.07) | 4.06 | 3.99 | (1.55) | (1.55) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $28.24 |
(0.03)
(g)
|
0.44 | 0.41 | (10.22) | (10.22) |
|
Class R
|
||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $19.22 | (0.23) | 7.08 | 6.85 | (1.72) | (1.72) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $21.57 | (0.19) | 1.09 | 0.90 | (3.25) | (3.25) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $19.10 | (0.20) | 5.75 | 5.55 | (3.08) | (3.08) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $17.00 | (0.17) | 3.71 | 3.54 | (1.44) | (1.44) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $26.99 |
(0.16)
(g)
|
0.39 | 0.23 | (10.22) | (10.22) |
|
Notes to Financial Highlights
|
|
| (a) | In addition to the fees and expenses that the Fund bears directly, the Fund indirectly bears a pro rata share of the fees and expenses of any other funds in which it invests. Such indirect expenses are not included in the Fund's reported expense ratios. |
| (b) | Total net expenses include the impact of certain fee waivers/expense reimbursements made by the Investment Manager and certain of its affiliates, if applicable. |
| (c) | Ratios include interfund lending expense which is less than 0.01%. |
| (d) | Ratios include line of credit interest expense which is less than 0.01%. |
| (e) | The benefits derived from expense reductions had an impact of less than 0.01%. |
| (f) | Expenses have been reduced due to a reimbursement of expenses overbilled by a third party. If the reimbursement had been excluded, the expense ratios would have been higher by the percentages shown for each class in the table below. All fee waivers and expense reimbursements by the Investment Manager and its affiliates were applied before giving effect to this third party reimbursement. |
|
Year Ended
|
Class A
|
Advisor
Class |
Class C
|
Institutional
Class |
Institutional 2
Class |
Class R
|
| 08/31/2017 | 0.01% | 0.01% | 0.01% | 0.01% | 0.01% | 0.01% |
| (g) | Net investment income per share includes special dividends. The per share effect of these dividends amounted to: |
|
Year Ended
|
Class A
|
Advisor
Class |
Class C
|
Institutional
Class |
Institutional 2
Class |
Institutional 3
Class |
Class R
|
| 08/31/2016 | $0.04 | $0.07 | $0.03 | $0.04 | $0.05 | $0.05 | $0.04 |
|
70
|
Prospectus 2021
|
Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I
Financial Highlights
(continued)
|
Net
asset value, end of period |
Total
return |
Total gross
expense ratio to average net assets
(a)
|
Total net
expense ratio to average net assets
(a), (b)
|
Net investment
income (loss) ratio to average net assets |
Portfolio
turnover |
Net
assets, end of period (000's) |
|
|
Institutional 3 Class
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $27.87 | 39.55% |
0.90%
(c), (d)
|
0.90%
(c), (d)
|
(0.52%) | 76% | $163,142 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $21.75 | 8.26% |
0.92%
(c)
|
0.92%
(c)
|
(0.38%) | 113% | $66,685 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $23.93 | 34.12% |
0.94%
(d)
|
0.93%
(d)
|
(0.38%) | 156% | $64,214 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $20.87 | 22.96% | 0.96% | 0.94% | (0.38%) | 174% | $54,574 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $18.43 | 3.30% |
0.94%
(d)
|
0.94%
(d)
|
(0.14%) | 142% | $6,562 |
|
Class R
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $24.35 | 38.67% |
1.54%
(c), (d)
|
1.54%
(c), (d), (e)
|
(1.16%) | 76% | $4,674 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $19.22 | 7.53% |
1.58%
(c)
|
1.58%
(c)
|
(1.03%) | 113% | $1,511 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $21.57 | 33.26% |
1.60%
(d)
|
1.59%
(d), (e)
|
(1.04%) | 156% | $1,651 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2017 | $19.10 | 22.10% |
1.64%
(f)
|
1.59%
(e), (f)
|
(0.99%) | 174% | $1,387 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2016 | $17.00 | 2.61% |
1.66%
(d)
|
1.62%
(d), (e)
|
(0.88%) | 142% | $1,356 |
|
Prospectus 2021
|
71
|
Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I
Appendix A: Financial Intermediary-Specific Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
As noted in the
section of the prospectus, the sales charge reductions and waivers available to investors who purchase and hold their Fund shares through different financial intermediaries may vary. This
describes financial intermediary-specific reductions and/or waiver policies applicable to Fund shares purchased and held through the particular financial intermediary. A reduction and/or waiver that is specific to a particular financial intermediary is not available to Direct-at-Fund Accounts and does not apply in any case to non-omnibus positions wherever held. These reductions and/or waivers may apply to purchases, sales, and exchanges of Fund shares. A shareholder transacting in Fund shares through a financial intermediary identified below should carefully read the terms and conditions of the reductions and/or waivers. Please consult your financial intermediary with respect to any sales charge reduction/waiver described below.
Choosing a Share Class
Appendix A
The financial intermediary-specific information below may be provided by, or compiled from or based on information provided by, the financial intermediaries noted. While the Funds, the Investment Manager and the Distributor do not establish these financial intermediary-specific policies, our representatives are available to answer questions about these financial intermediary-specific policies and can direct you to the financial intermediary if you need help understanding them.
Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC (Ameriprise Financial Services)
The following information has been provided by Ameriprise Financial Services:
Class A Shares Front-End Sales Charge Waivers Available at Ameriprise Financial Services:
The following information applies to Class A shares purchases if you have an account with or otherwise purchase Fund shares through Ameriprise Financial Services:
Effective June 1, 2018, shareholders purchasing Fund shares through an Ameriprise Financial Services platform or account will be eligible for the following front-end sales charge waivers and discounts, which may differ from those disclosed elsewhere in this prospectus or the Fund’s SAI:
|
■
|
Employer-sponsored retirement plans (e.g., 401(k) plans, 457 plans, employer-sponsored 403(b) plans, profit sharing and money purchase pension plans and defined benefit plans). For purposes of this provision, employer-sponsored retirement plans do not include SEP IRAs, Simple IRAs or SAR-SEPs.
|
|
■
|
Shares purchased through an Ameriprise Financial Services investment advisory program (if an Advisory or similar share class for such investment advisory program is not available).
|
|
■
|
Shares purchased by third party investment advisors on behalf of their advisory clients through Ameriprise Financial Services’ platform (if an Advisory or similar share class for such investment advisory program is not available).
|
|
■
|
Shares purchased through reinvestment of dividends and capital gain distributions when purchasing shares of the same fund (but not any other fund within the Columbia Funds).
|
|
■
|
Shares exchanged from Class C shares of the same fund in the month of or following the 10-year anniversary of the purchase date. To the extent that this prospectus elsewhere provides for a waiver with respect to such shares following a shorter holding period, that waiver will apply to exchanges following such shorter period. To the extent that this prospectus elsewhere provides for a waiver with respect to exchanges of Class C shares for load waived shares, that waiver will also apply to such exchanges.
|
|
■
|
Employees and registered representatives of Ameriprise Financial Services or its affiliates and their immediate family members.
|
|
■
|
Shares purchased by or through qualified accounts (including IRAs, Coverdell Education Savings Accounts, 401(k)s, 403(b) TSCAs subject to ERISA and defined benefit plans) that are held by a covered family member, defined as an Ameriprise financial advisor and/or the advisor’s spouse, advisor’s lineal ascendant (mother, father, grandmother, grandfather, great grandmother, great grandfather), advisor’s lineal descendant (son, step-son, daughter, step-daughter, grandson, granddaughter, great grandson, great granddaughter) or any spouse of a covered family member who is a lineal descendant.
|
| A-1 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I
Appendix A: Financial Intermediary-Specific Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
(continued)
| ■ | Shares purchased from the proceeds of redemptions within the Columbia Funds, provided (1) the repurchase occurs within 90 days following the redemption, (2) the redemption and purchase occur in the same account, and (3) redeemed shares were subject to a front-end or deferred sales load (i.e., rights of reinstatement). |
Robert W. Baird & Co. Incorporated (Baird)
The following information has been provided by Baird:
Effective June 30, 2020, shareholders purchasing Columbia Fund shares through a Baird platform or account that maintains an omnibus position with the Fund will only be eligible for the following sales charge waivers (front-end sales charge waivers and CDSC waivers) and discounts, which may differ from those disclosed elsewhere in this prospectus or the Fund’s SAI. A reduction and/or waiver that is specific to Baird will not apply to non-omnibus positions.
Front-End Sales Charge Waivers on Class A Shares Available at Baird:
|
■
|
Shares purchased through reinvestment of capital gains distributions and dividend reinvestment when purchasing shares of the same Columbia Fund.
|
|
■
|
Share purchases by employees and registered representatives of Baird or its affiliates and their family members as designated by Baird.
|
|
■
|
Shares purchased with the proceeds of redemptions from another Columbia Fund, provided (1) the repurchase occurs within 90 days following the redemption, (2) the redemption and purchase occur in the same accounts, and (3) redeemed shares were subject to a front-end or deferred sales charge (known as rights of reinstatement).
|
|
■
|
A shareholder in the Fund’s Class C shares will have their shares converted at net asset value to Class A shares of the same Columbia Fund if the shares are no longer subject to CDSC and the conversion is in line with the policies and procedures of Baird.
|
|
■
|
Employer-sponsored retirement plans or charitable accounts in a transactional brokerage account at Baird, including 401(k) plans, 457 plans, employer-sponsored 403(b) plans, profit sharing and money purchase pension plans and defined benefit plans. For purposes of this provision, employer-sponsored retirement plans do not include SEP IRAs, Simple IRAs or SAR-SEPs.
|
CDSC Waivers on Class A and Class C Shares Available at Baird:
|
■
|
Shares sold due to death or disability of the shareholder.
|
|
■
|
Shares sold as part of a systematic withdrawal plan as described in this prospectus.
|
|
■
|
Shares purchased due to returns of excess contributions from an IRA account.
|
|
■
|
Shares sold as part of a required minimum distribution for IRA and retirement accounts due to the shareholder reaching the qualified age based on applicable IRS regulations.
|
|
■
|
Shares sold to pay Baird fees but only if the transaction is initiated by Baird.
|
|
■
|
Shares acquired through a right of reinstatement.
|
Front-End Sales Charge Discounts Available at Baird: Breakpoints and/or Rights of Accumulations:
|
■
|
Breakpoints as described in this prospectus.
|
|
■
|
Rights of accumulations which entitle shareholders to breakpoint discounts will be automatically calculated based on the aggregated holding of Columbia Fund assets held by accounts within the purchaser’s household at Baird. Eligible Columbia Fund assets not held at Baird may be included in the rights of accumulations calculation only if the shareholder notifies his or her financial advisor about such assets.
|
|
■
|
Letters of Intent (LOI) allow for breakpoint discounts based on anticipated purchases of Columbia Funds through Baird, over a 13-month period of time.
|
| Prospectus 2021 | A-2 |
Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I
Appendix A: Financial Intermediary-Specific Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
(continued)
Edward D. Jones & Co., L.P. (Edward Jones)
The following information has been provided by Edward Jones:
Effective on or after April 17, 2020, clients of Edward Jones (also referred to as "shareholders") purchasing Columbia Fund shares on the Edward Jones commission and fee-based platforms are eligible only for the following sales charge discounts (also referred to as "breakpoints") and waivers, which can differ from breakpoints and waivers described elsewhere in this prospectus or the Fund’s SAI or through another broker-dealer. In all instances, it is the shareholder's responsibility to inform Edward Jones at the time of purchase of any relationship, holdings of Columbia Funds or other facts qualifying the purchaser for breakpoints or waivers. Edward Jones can ask for documentation of such circumstance.
Breakpoints
Rights of Accumulation (ROA)
| ■ | The applicable sales charge on a purchase of Class A shares is determined by taking into account all share classes (except any money market funds and retirement plan share classes) of Columbia Funds held by the shareholder or in an account grouped by Edward Jones with other accounts for the purpose of providing certain pricing considerations ("pricing groups"). This includes all share classes held on the Edward Jones platform and/or held on another platform. The inclusion of eligible Columbia Fund assets in the rights of accumulation calculation is dependent on the shareholder notifying his or her financial advisor of such assets at the time of calculation. |
| ■ | ROA is determined by calculating the higher of cost or market value (current shares x NAV). |
Letter of Intent (LOI)
| ■ | Through a LOI, shareholders can receive the sales charge and breakpoint discounts for purchases shareholders intend to make over a 13-month period from the date Edward Jones receives the LOI. The LOI is determined by calculating the higher of cost or market value of qualifying holdings at LOI initiation in combination with the value that the shareholder intends to buy over a 13-month period to calculate the front-end sales charge and any breakpoint discounts. Each purchase the shareholder makes during that 13-month period will receive the sales charge and breakpoint discount that applies to the total amount. The inclusion of eligible Columbia Fund assets in the LOI calculation is dependent on the shareholder notifying his or her financial advisor of such assets at the time of calculation. Purchases made before the LOI is received by Edward Jones are not covered under the LOI and will not reduce the sales charge previously paid. Sales charges will be adjusted if LOI is not met. |
Sales Charge Waivers
Sales charges are waived for the following shareholders and in the following situations:
| ■ | Associates of Edward Jones and its affiliates and their family members who are in the same pricing group (as determined by Edward Jones under its policies and procedures) as the associate. This waiver will continue for the remainder of the associate's life if the associate retires from Edward Jones in good-standing. |
| ■ | Shares purchased in an Edward Jones fee-based program. |
| ■ | Shares purchased through reinvestment of capital gains distributions and dividend reinvestment. |
| ■ | Shares purchased from the proceeds of redeemed shares of Columbia Funds so long as the following conditions are met: 1) the proceeds are from the sale of shares within 60 days of the purchase, and 2) the sale and purchase are made in the same share class and the same account or the purchase is made in an individual retirement account with proceeds from liquidations in a non-retirement account. |
| ■ | Shares exchanged into Class A shares from another share class so long as the exchange is into the same fund and was initiated at the discretion of Edward Jones. Edward Jones is responsible for any remaining CDSC due to the fund company, if applicable. Any future purchases are subject to the applicable sales charge as disclosed in this prospectus. |
| A-3 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I
Appendix A: Financial Intermediary-Specific Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
(continued)
| ■ | Exchanges from Class C shares to Class A shares of the same fund, generally, in the 84th month following the anniversary of the purchase date or earlier at the discretion of Edward Jones. |
CDSC Waivers
If the shareholder purchases shares that are subject to a CDSC and those shares are redeemed before the CDSC is expired, the shareholder is responsible to pay the CDSC except in the following conditions:
| ■ | The death or disability of the shareholder. |
| ■ | Systematic withdrawals with up to 10% per year of the account value. |
| ■ | Return of excess contributions from an Individual Retirement Account (IRA). |
| ■ | Shares sold as part of a required minimum distribution for IRA and retirement accounts if the redemption is taken in or after the year the shareholder reaches qualified age based on applicable IRS regulations. |
| ■ | Shares sold to pay Edward Jones fees or costs in such cases where the transaction is initiated by Edward Jones. |
| ■ | Shares exchanged in an Edward Jones fee-based program. |
| ■ | Shares acquired through NAV reinstatement. |
Other Important Information
Minimum Purchase Amounts
| ■ | $250 initial purchase minimum |
| ■ | $50 subsequent purchase minimum |
Minimum Balances
| ■ | Edward Jones has the right to redeem at its discretion fund holdings with a balance of $250 or less. The following are examples of accounts that are not included in this policy: |
| ■ | A fee-based account held on an Edward Jones platform. |
| ■ | A 529 account held on an Edward Jones platform. |
| ■ | An account with an active systematic investment plan or letter of intent (LOI). |
Changing Share Classes
| ■ | At any time it deems necessary, Edward Jones has the authority to exchange at NAV a shareholder's holdings in a fund to Class A shares. |
Janney Montgomery Scott LLC (Janney)
The following information has been provided by Janney:
Effective May 1, 2020, if you purchase Columbia Fund shares through a Janney brokerage account, you will be eligible for the following load waivers (front-end sales charge waivers and CDSC, or back-end sales charge, waivers) and discounts, which may differ from those disclosed elsewhere in this prospectus or the Fund’s SAI. A reduction and/or waiver that is specific to Janney does not apply to non-omnibus positions.
Front-End Sales Charge* Waivers on Class A Shares Available at Janney
| ■ | Shares purchased through reinvestment of capital gains distributions and dividend reinvestment when purchasing shares of the same fund (but not any other Columbia Fund). |
| ■ | Shares purchased by employees and registered representatives of Janney or its affiliates and their family members as designated by Janney. |
| Prospectus 2021 | A-4 |
Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I
Appendix A: Financial Intermediary-Specific Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
(continued)
| ■ | Shares purchased from the proceeds of redemptions from another Columbia Fund, provided (1) the repurchase occurs within ninety (90) days following the redemption, (2) the redemption and purchase occur in the same account, and (3) redeemed shares were subject to a front-end or deferred sales load (i.e., right of reinstatement). |
| ■ | Employer-sponsored retirement plans (e.g., 401(k) plans, 457 plans, employer-sponsored 403(b) plans, profit sharing and money purchase pension plans and defined benefit plans). For purposes of this provision, employer-sponsored retirement plans do not include SEP IRAs, Simple IRAs, SAR-SEPs or Keogh plans. |
| ■ | Shares acquired through a right of reinstatement. |
| ■ | Class C shares that are no longer subject to a CDSC and are converted to Class A shares of the same fund pursuant to Janney’s policies and procedures. |
CDSC Waivers on Class A and C Shares Available at Janney
| ■ | Shares sold upon the death or disability of the shareholder. |
| ■ | Shares sold as part of a systematic withdrawal plan as described in this prospectus. |
| ■ | Shares purchased in connection with a return of excess contributions from an IRA account. |
| ■ | Shares sold as part of a required minimum distribution for IRA and retirement accounts if the redemption is taken in or after the year the shareholder reaches qualified age based on applicable IRS regulations. |
| ■ | Shares sold to pay Janney fees but only if the transaction is initiated by Janney. |
| ■ | Shares acquired through a right of reinstatement. |
| ■ | Shares exchanged into the same share class of a different fund. |
Front-End Sales Charge* Discounts Available at Janney: Breakpoints, Rights of Accumulation, and/or Letters of Intent
| ■ | Breakpoints as described in this prospectus. |
| ■ | Rights of accumulation (“ROA”), which entitle shareholders to breakpoint discounts, will be automatically calculated based on the aggregated holding of Columbia Fund assets held by accounts within the purchaser’s household at Janney. Eligible Columbia Fund assets not held at Janney may be included in the ROA calculation only if the shareholder notifies his or her financial advisor about such assets. |
| ■ | Letters of intent which allow for breakpoint discounts based on anticipated purchases within the Columbia Funds, over a 13-month time period. Eligible Columbia Fund assets not held at Janney may be included in the calculation of letters of intent only if the shareholder notifies his or her financial advisor about such assets. |
* Also referred to as an “initial sales charge”.
Merrill Lynch Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated (Merrill Lynch)
The following information has been provided by Merrill Lynch:
Shareholders purchasing Columbia Fund shares through a Merrill Lynch platform or account will be eligible only for the following load waivers (front-end sales charge waivers and contingent deferred, or back-end, sales charge waivers) and discounts, which may differ from those disclosed elsewhere in this prospectus or the Fund’s SAI:
Front-End Load Discounts Available at Merrill Lynch:
Merrill Lynch makes available breakpoint discounts on shares of the Fund through:
| ■ | Breakpoints as described in this prospectus. |
| ■ | Rights of Accumulation (ROA) which entitle shareholders to breakpoint discounts as described in this prospectus will be automatically calculated based on the aggregated holding of Columbia Fund assets held by accounts (including 529 program holdings, where applicable) within the purchaser’s household at Merrill Lynch. Eligible Columbia Fund assets not held at Merrill Lynch may be included in the ROA calculation only if the shareholder notifies his or her financial advisor about such assets. |
| A-5 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I
Appendix A: Financial Intermediary-Specific Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
(continued)
| ■ | Letters of Intent (LOI) which allow for breakpoint discounts based on anticipated purchases of Columbia Funds, through Merrill Lynch, over a 13-month period of time (if applicable). |
Front-End Sales Load Waivers on Class A Shares Available at Merrill Lynch:
| ■ | Employer-sponsored retirement, deferred compensation and employee benefit plans (including health savings accounts) and trusts used to fund those plans, provided that the shares are not held in a commission-based brokerage account and shares are held for the benefit of the plan. |
| ■ | Shares purchased by a 529 Plan (does not include 529 Plan units or 529-specific share classes or equivalents). |
| ■ | Shares purchased through a Merrill Lynch affiliated investment advisory program. |
| ■ | Shares exchanged due to the holdings moving from a Merrill Lynch affiliated investment advisory program to a Merrill Lynch brokerage (non-advisory) account pursuant to Merrill Lynch’s policies relating to sales load discounts and waivers. |
| ■ | Shares purchased by third party investment advisors on behalf of their advisory clients through Merrill Lynch’s platform. |
| ■ | Shares of funds purchased through the Merrill Edge Self-Directed platform (if applicable). |
| ■ | Shares purchased through reinvestment of capital gains distributions and dividend reinvestment when purchasing shares of the same fund (but not any other Columbia Fund). |
| ■ | Shares exchanged from Class C (i.e., level-load) shares of the same fund pursuant to Merrill Lynch’s policies relating to sales load discounts and waivers. |
| ■ | Employees and registered representatives of Merrill Lynch or its affiliates and their family members. |
| ■ | Directors or Trustees of the Fund, and employees of the Fund’s investment adviser or any of its affiliates, as described in this prospectus. |
| ■ | Eligible shares purchased from the proceeds of redemptions from another Columbia Fund, provided (1) the repurchase occurs within 90 days following the redemption, (2) the redemption and purchase occur in the same account, and (3) redeemed shares were subject to a front-end or deferred sales load (known as Rights of Reinstatement). Automated transactions (i.e. systematic purchases and withdrawals) and purchases made after shares are automatically sold to pay Merrill Lynch’s account maintenance fees are not eligible for reinstatement. |
CDSC Waivers on Class A and C Shares Available at Merrill Lynch:
| ■ | Death or disability of the shareholder. |
| ■ | Shares sold as part of a systematic withdrawal plan as described in this prospectus. |
| ■ | Return of excess contributions from an IRA Account. |
| ■ | Shares sold as part of a required minimum distribution for IRA and retirement accounts pursuant to the Internal Revenue Code. |
| ■ | Shares sold to pay Merrill Lynch fees but only if the transaction is initiated by Merrill Lynch. |
| ■ | Shares acquired through a right of reinstatement. |
| ■ | Shares held in retirement brokerage accounts, that are exchanged for a lower cost share class due to transfer to certain fee based accounts or platforms (applicable to Class A and Class C shares only). |
| ■ | Shares received through an exchange due to the holdings moving from a Merrill Lynch affiliated investment advisory program to a Merrill Lynch brokerage (non-advisory) account pursuant to Merrill Lynch’s policies relating to sales load discounts and waivers. |
| Prospectus 2021 | A-6 |
Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I
Appendix A: Financial Intermediary-Specific Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
(continued)
Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, LLC (Morgan Stanley Wealth Management)
The following information has been provided by Morgan Stanley Wealth Management:
Shareholders purchasing Columbia Fund shares through a Morgan Stanley Wealth Management transactional brokerage account will be eligible only for the following front-end sales charge waivers with respect to Class A shares, which may differ from and may be more limited than those disclosed elsewhere in this prospectus or the Fund’s SAI.
Front-End Sales Charge Waivers on Class A Shares Available at Morgan Stanley Wealth Management:
| ■ | Employer-sponsored retirement plans (e.g., 401(k) plans, 457 plans, employer-sponsored 403(b) plans, profit sharing and money purchase pension plans and defined benefit plans). For purposes of this provision, employer-sponsored retirement plans do not include SEP IRAs, Simple IRAs, SAR-SEPs or Keogh plans. |
| ■ | Morgan Stanley employee and employee-related accounts according to Morgan Stanley’s account linking rules. |
| ■ | Shares purchased through reinvestment of dividends and capital gains distributions when purchasing shares of the same fund. |
| ■ | Shares purchased through a Morgan Stanley self-directed brokerage account. |
| ■ | Class C (i.e., level-load) shares that are no longer subject to a CDSC and are exchanged for Class A shares of the same fund pursuant to Morgan Stanley Wealth Management’s share class exchange program. |
| ■ | Shares purchased from the proceeds of redemptions from another Columbia Fund, provided (i) the repurchase occurs within 90 days following the redemption, (ii) the redemption and purchase occur in the same account, and (iii) redeemed shares were subject to a front-end or deferred sales charge. |
Raymond James & Associates, Inc., Raymond James Financial Services, Inc. and each entity’s affiliates (Raymond James)
The following information has been provided by Raymond James:
Intermediary-Defined Sales Charge Waiver Policies:
The availability of certain initial or deferred sales charge waivers and discounts may depend on the particular financial intermediary or type of account through which you purchase or hold Columbia Fund shares.
Intermediaries may have different policies and procedures regarding the availability of front-end sales load waivers or contingent deferred (back-end) sales load (CDSC) waivers, which are discussed below. In all instances, it is the purchaser’s responsibility to notify the Fund or the purchaser’s financial intermediary at the time of purchase of any relationship or other facts qualifying the purchaser for sales charge waivers or discounts. For waivers and discounts not available through a particular intermediary, shareholders will have to purchase Columbia Fund shares directly from the Fund or through another intermediary to receive these waivers or discounts.
Raymond James:
Effective March 1, 2019, shareholders purchasing Columbia Fund shares through a Raymond James platform or account, or through an introducing broker-dealer or independent registered investment adviser for which Raymond James provides trade execution, clearance, and/or custody services, will be eligible only for the following load waivers (front-end sales charge waivers and contingent deferred, or back-end, sales charge waivers) and discounts, which may differ from those disclosed elsewhere in this prospectus or the Fund’s SAI.
Front-End Sales Load Waivers on Class A Shares Available at Raymond James:
| ■ | Shares purchased in an investment advisory program. |
| ■ | Shares purchased within the Columbia Funds through a systematic reinvestment of capital gains and dividend distributions. |
| ■ | Employees and registered representatives of Raymond James or its affiliates and their family members as designated by Raymond James. |
| A-7 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I
Appendix A: Financial Intermediary-Specific Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
(continued)
| ■ | Shares purchased from the proceeds of redemptions within the Columbia Funds, provided (1) the repurchase occurs within 90 days following the redemption, (2) the redemption and purchase occur in the same account, and (3) redeemed shares were subject to a front-end or deferred sales load (known as Rights of Reinstatement). |
| ■ | A shareholder in the Fund’s Class C shares will have their shares converted at net asset value to Class A shares (or the appropriate share class) of the Fund if the shares are no longer subject to a CDSC and the conversion is in line with the policies and procedures of Raymond James. |
CDSC Waivers on Class A and Class C Shares Available at Raymond James:
| ■ | Death or disability of the shareholder. |
| ■ | Shares sold as part of a systematic withdrawal plan as described in this prospectus. |
| ■ | Return of excess contributions from an IRA Account. |
| ■ | Shares sold as part of a required minimum distribution for IRA and retirement accounts due to the shareholder reaching the qualified age based on applicable IRS regulations as described in this prospectus. |
| ■ | Shares sold to pay Raymond James fees but only if the transaction is initiated by Raymond James. |
| ■ | Shares acquired through a right of reinstatement. |
Front-End Load Discounts Available at Raymond James: Breakpoints, Rights of Accumulation and/or Letters of Intent:
| ■ | Breakpoints as described in this prospectus. |
| ■ | Rights of accumulation which entitle shareholders to breakpoint discounts will be automatically calculated based on the aggregated holding of Columbia Fund assets held by accounts within the purchaser’s household at Raymond James. Eligible Columbia Fund assets not held at Raymond James may be included in the calculation of rights of accumulation only if the shareholder notifies his or her financial advisor about such assets. |
| ■ | Letters of intent which allow for breakpoint discounts based on anticipated purchases within the Columbia Funds, over a 13-month time period. Eligible Columbia Fund assets not held at Raymond James may be included in the calculation of letters of intent only if the shareholder notifies his or her financial advisor about such assets. |
Stifel Financial Corp. (Stifel)
The following information has been provided by Stifel:
Effective June 30, 2020, Class C shares of Columbia Funds that were purchased through a Stifel platform or account that maintains an omnibus position with the Fund that are no longer subject to a CDSC are exchanged to Class A shares of the same Columbia Fund pursuant to Stifel’s policies and procedures. This does not apply to non-omnibus positions.
Additional Sales Charge Reductions and/or Waivers Available at Certain Financial Intermediaries
Shareholders purchasing Columbia Fund shares through a platform or account of RBC Capital Markets, LLC are eligible for the following sales charge waiver:
Class A Shares Front-End Sales Charge Waiver Available at RBC Capital Markets, LLC:
| ■ | For employer-sponsored retirement plans held through a commissionable brokerage account, Class A shares are available at NAV (i.e., without a sales charge). For this purpose, employer-sponsored retirement plans include, but are not limited to, 401(k) plans, 457 plans, employer-sponsored 403(b) plans, profit sharing and money purchase pension plans and defined benefit plans. For purposes of this provision, employer-sponsored retirement plans do not include SEP IRAs, Simple IRAs, SAR-SEPs or Keogh plans. |
| Prospectus 2021 | A-8 |
Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I
P.O. Box 219104
Kansas City, MO 64121-9104
Kansas City, MO 64121-9104
Additional Information About the Fund
Additional information about the Fund’s investments is available in the Fund’s annual and semiannual reports to shareholders. In the annual report, you will find a discussion of the market conditions and investment strategies that significantly affected the Fund’s performance during its last fiscal year. The SAI also provides additional information about the Fund and its policies. The SAI, which has been filed with the SEC, is legally part of this prospectus (incorporated by reference). To obtain these documents free of charge, to request other information about the Fund and to make shareholder inquiries, please contact the Fund as follows:
By Mail:
Columbia Management Investment Services Corp.
P.O. Box 219104
Kansas City, MO 64121-9104
P.O. Box 219104
Kansas City, MO 64121-9104
By Telephone:
800.345.6611
Online:
columbiathreadneedleus.com
Reports and other information about the Fund are also available in the EDGAR Database on the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov. You can receive copies of this information, for a duplication fee, by electronic request at the following e-mail address: publicinfo@sec.gov.
The investment company registration number of Columbia Funds Series Trust I, of which the Fund is a series, is 811-04367.
Columbia Threadneedle Investments is the global brand name of the Columbia and Threadneedle group of companies.
© 2021 Columbia Management Investment Distributors, Inc.
225 Franklin Street, Boston, MA 02110
225 Franklin Street, Boston, MA 02110
800.345.6611
PRO226_08_L01_(01/21)
Prospectus
January 1, 2021
Columbia Strategic Income Fund
|
Class
|
Ticker Symbol
|
|
| A | COSIX | |
| Advisor (Class Adv) | CMNRX | |
| C | CLSCX | |
| Institutional (Class Inst) | LSIZX | |
| Institutional 2 (Class Inst2) | CTIVX | |
| Institutional 3 (Class Inst3) | CPHUX | |
| R | CSNRX |
Beginning on January 1, 2021, as permitted by regulations adopted by the Securities and Exchange Commission, paper copies of the Fund's annual and semiannual shareholder reports are no longer sent by mail, unless you specifically requested paper copies of the reports. Instead, the reports are made available on the Fund's website (columbiathreadneedleus.com/investor/), and each time a report is posted you will be notified by mail and provided with a website address to access the report.
If you have already elected to receive shareholder reports electronically, you will not be affected by this change and you need not take any action. You may elect to receive shareholder reports and other communications from the Fund electronically at any time by contacting your financial intermediary (such as a broker-dealer or bank) or, for Fund shares held directly with the Fund, by calling 800.345.6611 or by enrolling in “eDelivery” by logging into your account at columbiathreadneedleus.com/investor/.
You may elect to receive all future shareholder reports in paper free of charge. If you invest through a financial intermediary, you can contact your financial intermediary to request that you continue receiving paper copies of your shareholder reports. If you invest directly with the Fund, you can call 800.345.6611 to let the Fund know you wish to continue receiving paper copies of your shareholder reports. Your election to receive paper reports will apply to all Columbia Funds held in your account if you invest through a financial intermediary or all Columbia Funds held with the fund complex if you invest directly with the Fund.
As with all mutual funds, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has not approved or disapproved these securities or passed upon the adequacy of this prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.
Columbia Strategic Income Fund
Table of Contents
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A-1
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2
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Prospectus 2021
|
Columbia Strategic Income Fund
Summary of the Fund
Investment Objective
Columbia Strategic Income Fund (the Fund) seeks total return, consisting of current income and capital appreciation.
Fees and Expenses of the Fund
This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold and sell shares of the Fund.
You may be required to pay such brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries when transacting in any class of Fund shares, including those that do not assess any front-end sales charge, contingent deferred sales charge, or other asset-based fee for sales or distribution. Such brokerage commissions and other fees are set by the financial intermediary.
You may qualify for sales charge discounts if you and members of your immediate family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $50,000 in certain classes of shares of eligible funds distributed by Columbia Management Investment Distributors, Inc. (the Distributor). More information is available about these and other sales charge discounts and waivers from your financial intermediary, and can be found in the
section beginning on page 36 of the Fund’s prospectus, in
to the prospectus beginning on page A-1 and in Appendix S to the Statement of Additional Information (SAI) under
beginning on page S-1.
You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the tables and examples below.
Choosing a Share Class
Appendix A
Sales Charge Waivers
| (a) | This charge is imposed on certain investments of between $1 million and $50 million redeemed within 18 months after purchase, as follows: 1.00% if redeemed within 12 months after purchase, and 0.50% if redeemed more than 12, but less than 18, months after purchase, with certain limited exceptions. |
| (b) | This charge applies to redemptions within 12 months after purchase, with certain limited exceptions. |
Example
The following example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The example illustrates the hypothetical expenses that you would incur over the time periods indicated, and assumes that:
| ■ | you invest $10,000 in the applicable class of Fund shares for the periods indicated, |
| ■ | your investment has a 5% return each year, and |
| ■ |
the Fund’s total annual operating expenses remain the same as shown in the
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
|
Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on the assumptions listed above, your costs would be:
|
1 year
|
3 years
|
5 years
|
10 years
|
|
|
Class A
(whether or not shares are redeemed)
|
$565 | $757 | $965 | $1,564 |
| Prospectus 2021 | 3 |
Columbia Strategic Income Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
|
1 year
|
3 years
|
5 years
|
10 years
|
|
|
Class Adv
(whether or not shares are redeemed)
|
$
|
$218 | $379 |
$
|
|
Class C
(assuming redemption of all shares at the end of the period)
|
$271 | $530 | $913 | $1,987 |
|
Class C
(assuming no redemption of shares)
|
$171 | $530 | $913 | $1,987 |
|
Class Inst
(whether or not shares are redeemed)
|
$
|
$218 | $379 |
$
|
|
Class Inst2
(whether or not shares are redeemed)
|
$
|
$205 | $357 |
$
|
|
Class Inst3
(whether or not shares are redeemed)
|
$
|
$189 | $329 |
$
|
|
Class R
(whether or not shares are redeemed)
|
$120 | $375 | $649 | $1,432 |
Portfolio Turnover
The Fund may pay transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 173% of the average value of its portfolio.
Principal Investment Strategies
Under normal circumstances, the Fund has substantial exposure to fixed-income/debt markets. The Fund has the flexibility to invest in any sector of the fixed-income/debt market and across the credit quality spectrum. The Fund may invest in U.S. Government bonds and notes (including those of its agencies and instrumentalities, and of government-sponsored enterprises), U.S. and international (including developed, developing and emerging markets) bonds and notes, investment grade corporate (or similar) bonds and notes, mortgage- and other asset-backed securities, high yield (i.e., “junk”) instruments, floating rate loans and other floating rate debt securities, inflation-protected/linked securities, convertible securities, cash/cash equivalents, as well as foreign government, sovereign and quasi-sovereign debt investments. The Fund’s investments may include non-U.S. dollar denominated instruments. The Fund may also invest in preferred securities. The Fund does not seek to maintain a particular dollar-weighted average maturity or duration target.
The Fund may invest in derivatives, such as forward contracts (including forward foreign currency contracts for investment and hedging purposes), futures (including bond futures for managing yield curve and duration risk, and index and interest rate futures for hedging and investment purposes), options (including options on listed futures for hedging purposes), options on swaps (commonly known as swaptions) for hedging purposes, and swaps (including credit default swaps, credit default swap indexes, inflation rate and interest rate swaps for hedging purposes, and total return swaps for investment purposes). The Fund’s use of derivatives creates leverage (market exposure in excess of the Fund’s assets) in the Fund’s portfolio. The Fund may invest in interest-only (IO) and principal-only (PO) bonds (commonly known as stripped securities) for investment purposes.
The Fund may purchase or sell securities on a when-issued, delayed delivery or forward commitment basis. Such securities may include mortgage-backed securities acquired or sold in the “to be announced” (TBA) market and those in a dollar roll transaction.
The Fund may invest in privately placed and other securities or instruments that are purchased and sold pursuant to Rule 144A or other exemptions under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, subject to certain regulatory restrictions.
The Fund’s investment strategy may involve the frequent trading of portfolio securities.
Principal Risks
An investment in the Fund involves risks, including
,
,
,
,
, and
, among others. Descriptions of these and other principal risks of investing in the Fund are provided below.
. The value of the Fund’s
Interest Rate Risk
Credit Risk
Market Risk
Mortgage- and Other Asset-Backed Securities Risk
High-Yield Investments Risk
Changing Distribution Level Risk
There is no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objective and you may lose money
| 4 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Strategic Income Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
holdings may decline, and the Fund’s net asset value (NAV) and share price may go down.
An investment in the Fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency.
Active Management Risk.
Due to its active management, the Fund could underperform its benchmark index and/or other funds with similar investment objectives and/or strategies.
Changing Distribution Level Risk.
The Fund normally expects to receive income which may include interest, dividends and/or capital gains, depending upon its investments. The distribution amounts paid by the Fund will vary and generally depend on the amount of income the Fund earns (less expenses) on its portfolio holdings, and capital gains or losses it recognizes. A decline in the Fund’s income or net capital gains arising from its investments may reduce its distribution level.
Convertible Securities Risk.
Convertible securities are subject to the usual risks associated with debt instruments, such as interest rate risk and credit risk. Convertible securities also react to changes in the value of the common stock into which they convert, and are thus subject to market risk. The Fund may also be forced to convert a convertible security at an inopportune time, which may decrease the Fund’s return.
Counterparty Risk.
Counterparty risk is the risk that a counterparty to a transaction in a financial instrument held by the Fund or by a special purpose or structured vehicle invested in by the Fund may become insolvent or otherwise fail to perform its obligations. As a result, the Fund may obtain no or limited recovery of its investment, and any recovery may be significantly delayed.
Credit Risk.
Credit risk is the risk that the value of loans or other debt instruments may decline if the borrower or the issuer thereof defaults or otherwise becomes unable or unwilling, or is perceived to be unable or unwilling, to honor its financial obligations, such as making payments to the Fund when due. Credit rating agencies assign credit ratings to certain loans and debt instruments to indicate their credit risk. Unless otherwise provided in the Fund’s Principal Investment Strategies, investment grade debt instruments are those rated at or above BBB- by S&P Global Ratings, or equivalently rated by Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. or Fitch Ratings, Inc., or, if unrated, determined by the management team to be of comparable quality. Conversely, below investment grade (commonly called “high-yield” or “junk”) debt instruments are those rated below BBB- by S&P Global Ratings, or equivalently rated by Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. or Fitch Ratings, Inc., or, if unrated, determined by the management team to be of comparable quality. A rating downgrade by such agencies can negatively impact the value of such instruments. Lower quality or unrated loans or instruments held by the Fund may present increased credit risk as compared to higher-rated loans or instruments. Non-investment grade loans or debt instruments may be subject to greater price fluctuations and are more likely to experience a default than investment grade loans or debt instruments and therefore may expose the Fund to increased credit risk. If the Fund purchases unrated loans or instruments, or if the ratings of loans or instruments held by the Fund are lowered after purchase, the Fund will depend on analysis of credit risk more heavily than usual. If the issuer of a loan declares bankruptcy or is declared bankrupt, there may be a delay before the Fund can act on the collateral securing the loan, which may adversely affect the Fund. Further, there is a risk that a court could take action with respect to a loan that is adverse to the holders of the loan. Such actions may include invalidating the loan, the lien on the collateral, the priority status of the loan, or ordering the refund of interest previously paid by the borrower. Any such actions by a court could adversely affect the Fund’s performance. A default or expected default of a loan could also make it difficult for the Fund to sell the loan at a price approximating the value previously placed on it. In order to enforce its rights in the event of a default, bankruptcy or similar situation, the Fund may be required to retain legal or similar counsel. This may increase the Fund’s operating expenses and adversely affect its NAV. Loans that have a lower priority for repayment in an issuer’s capital structure may involve a higher degree of overall risk than more senior loans of the same borrower.
Derivatives Risk.
Derivatives may involve significant risks. Derivatives are financial instruments with a value in relation to, or derived from, the value of an underlying asset(s) or other reference, such as an index, rate or other economic indicator (each an underlying reference). Derivatives may include those that are privately placed or otherwise exempt from SEC registration, including certain Rule 144A eligible securities. Derivatives could result in Fund losses if the underlying reference does not perform as anticipated. Use of derivatives is a highly specialized activity that can involve investment techniques, risks, and tax planning different from those associated with more
| Prospectus 2021 | 5 |
Columbia Strategic Income Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
traditional investment instruments. The Fund’s derivatives strategy may not be successful and use of certain derivatives could result in substantial, potentially unlimited, losses to the Fund regardless of the Fund’s actual investment. A relatively small movement in the price, rate or other economic indicator associated with the underlying reference may result in substantial loss for the Fund. Derivatives may be more volatile than other types of investments. The value of derivatives may be influenced by a variety of factors, including national and international political and economic developments. Potential changes to the regulation of the derivatives markets may make derivatives more costly, may limit the market for derivatives, or may otherwise adversely affect the value or performance of derivatives. Derivatives can increase the Fund’s risk exposure to underlying references and their attendant risks, such as credit risk, market risk, foreign currency risk and interest rate risk, while exposing the Fund to correlation risk, counterparty risk, hedging risk, inflation risk, leverage risk, liquidity risk, pricing risk and volatility risk.
Derivatives Risk – Forward Contracts Risk.
A forward contract is an over-the-counter derivative transaction between two parties to buy or sell a specified amount of an underlying reference at a specified price (or rate) on a specified date in the future. Forward contracts are negotiated on an individual basis and are not standardized or traded on exchanges. The market for forward contracts is substantially unregulated and can experience lengthy periods of illiquidity, unusually high trading volume and other negative impacts, such as political intervention, which may result in volatility or disruptions in such markets. A relatively small price movement in a forward contract may result in substantial losses to the Fund, exceeding the amount of the margin paid. Forward contracts can increase the Fund’s risk exposure to underlying references and their attendant risks, such as credit risk, market risk, foreign currency risk and interest rate risk, while also exposing the Fund to correlation risk, counterparty risk, hedging risk, inflation risk, leverage risk, liquidity risk, pricing risk and volatility risk.
Derivatives Risk – Futures Contracts Risk.
A futures contract is an exchange-traded derivative transaction between two parties in which a buyer (holding the “long” position) agrees to pay a fixed price (or rate) at a specified future date for delivery of an underlying reference from a seller (holding the “short” position). The seller hopes that the market price on the delivery date is less than the agreed upon price, while the buyer hopes for the contrary. Certain futures contract markets are highly volatile, and futures contracts may be illiquid. Futures exchanges may limit fluctuations in futures contract prices by imposing a maximum permissible daily price movement. The Fund may be disadvantaged if it is prohibited from executing a trade outside the daily permissible price movement. At or prior to maturity of a futures contract, the Fund may enter into an offsetting contract and may incur a loss to the extent there has been adverse movement in futures contract prices. The liquidity of the futures markets depends on participants entering into offsetting transactions rather than making or taking delivery. To the extent participants make or take delivery, liquidity in the futures market could be reduced. Because of the low margin deposits normally required in futures trading, it is possible that the Fund may employ a high degree of leverage in the portfolio. As a result, a relatively small price movement in a futures contract may result in substantial losses to the Fund, exceeding the amount of the margin paid. For certain types of futures contracts, losses are potentially unlimited. Futures markets are highly volatile and the use of futures may increase the volatility of the Fund’s NAV. Futures contracts executed (if any) on foreign exchanges may not provide the same protection as U.S. exchanges. Futures contracts can increase the Fund’s risk exposure to underlying references and their attendant risks, such as credit risk, market risk, foreign currency risk and interest rate risk, while also exposing the Fund to correlation risk, counterparty risk, hedging risk, inflation risk, leverage risk, liquidity risk, pricing risk and volatility risk.
Derivatives Risk – Options Risk.
Options are derivatives that give the purchaser the option to buy (call) or sell (put) an underlying reference from or to a counterparty at a specified price (the strike price) on or before an expiration date. By investing in options, the Fund is exposed to the risk that it may be required to buy or sell the underlying reference at a disadvantageous price on or before the expiration date. Options may involve economic leverage, which could result in greater volatility in price movement. The Fund's losses could be significant, and are potentially unlimited for certain types of options. Options may be traded on a securities exchange or in the over-the-counter market. At or prior to maturity of an options contract, the Fund may enter into an offsetting contract and may incur a loss to the extent there has been adverse movement in options prices. Options can increase the Fund’s risk
| 6 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Strategic Income Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
exposure to underlying references and their attendant risks such as credit risk, market risk, foreign currency risk and interest rate risk, while also exposing the Fund to correlation risk, counterparty risk, hedging risk, inflation risk, leverage risk, liquidity risk, pricing risk and volatility risk.
Derivatives Risk – Swaps Risk.
In a typical swap transaction, two parties agree to exchange the return earned on a specified underlying reference for a fixed return or the return from another underlying reference during a specified period of time. Swaps may be difficult to value and may be illiquid. Swaps could result in Fund losses if the underlying asset or reference does not perform as anticipated. Swaps create significant investment leverage such that a relatively small price movement in a swap may result in immediate and substantial losses to the Fund. The Fund may only close out a swap with its particular counterparty, and may only transfer a position with the consent of that counterparty. Certain swaps, such as short swap transactions and total return swaps, have the potential for unlimited losses, regardless of the size of the initial investment. Swaps can increase the Fund’s risk exposure to underlying references and their attendant risks, such as credit risk, market risk, foreign currency risk and interest rate risk, while also exposing the Fund to correlation risk, counterparty risk, hedging risk, inflation risk, leverage risk, liquidity risk, pricing risk and volatility risk.
Derivatives Risk – Swaptions Risk.
A swaption is an options contract on a swap agreement. These transactions give a party the right (but not the obligation) to enter into new swap agreements or to shorten, extend, cancel or otherwise modify an existing swap agreement at some designated future time on specified terms, in return for payment of the purchase price (the “premium”) of the option. The Fund may write (sell) and purchase put and call swaptions to the same extent it may make use of standard options on securities or other instruments. The writer of the contract receives the premium and bears the risk of unfavorable changes in the market value on the underlying swap agreement. Swaptions can be bundled and sold as a package. These are commonly called interest rate caps, floors and collars.
Emerging Market Securities Risk.
Securities issued by foreign governments or companies in emerging market countries, such as China, Russia and certain countries in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Latin America or Africa, are more likely to have greater exposure to the risks of investing in foreign securities that are described in Foreign Securities Risk. In addition, emerging market countries are more likely to experience instability resulting, for example, from rapid changes or developments in social, political, economic or other conditions. Their economies are usually less mature and their securities markets are typically less developed with more limited trading activity (i.e., lower trading volumes and less liquidity) than more developed countries. Emerging market securities tend to be more volatile than securities in more developed markets. Many emerging market countries are heavily dependent on international trade and have fewer trading partners, which makes them more sensitive to world commodity prices and economic downturns in other countries, and some have a higher risk of currency devaluations. Due to the differences in the nature and quality of financial information of issuers of emerging market securities, including auditing and financial reporting standards, financial information and disclosures about such issuers may be unavailable or, if made available, may be considerably less reliable than publicly available information about other foreign securities.
Foreign Securities Risk.
Investments in or exposure to foreign securities involve certain risks not associated with investments in or exposure to securities of U.S. companies. Foreign securities subject the Fund to the risks associated with investing in the particular country of an issuer, including political, regulatory, economic, social, diplomatic and other conditions or events (including, for example, military confrontations, war, terrorism and disease/virus outbreaks and epidemics), occurring in the country or region, as well as risks associated with less developed custody and settlement practices. Foreign securities may be more volatile and less liquid than securities of U.S. companies, and are subject to the risks associated with potential imposition of economic and other sanctions against a particular foreign country, its nationals or industries or businesses within the country. In addition, foreign governments may impose withholding or other taxes on the Fund’s income, capital gains or proceeds from the disposition of foreign securities, which could reduce the Fund’s return on such securities. The performance of the Fund may also be negatively affected by fluctuations in a foreign currency's strength or weakness relative to the U.S. dollar, particularly to the extent the Fund invests a significant percentage of its assets in foreign securities or other assets denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar.
| Prospectus 2021 | 7 |
Columbia Strategic Income Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
Forward Commitments on Mortgage-Backed Securities (including Dollar Rolls) Risk.
When purchasing mortgage-backed securities in the “to be announced” (TBA) market (MBS TBAs), the seller agrees to deliver mortgage-backed securities for an agreed upon price on an agreed upon date, but may make no guarantee as to the specific securities to be delivered. In lieu of taking delivery of mortgage-backed securities, the Fund could enter into dollar rolls, which are transactions in which the Fund sells securities to a counterparty and simultaneously agrees to purchase those or similar securities in the future at a predetermined price. Dollar rolls involve the risk that the market value of the securities the Fund is obligated to repurchase may decline below the repurchase price, or that the counterparty may default on its obligations. These transactions may also increase the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate. If the Fund reinvests the proceeds of the security sold, the Fund will also be subject to the risk that the investments purchased with such proceeds will decline in value (a form of leverage risk). MBS TBAs and dollar rolls are subject to the risk that the counterparty to the transaction may not perform or be unable to perform in accordance with the terms of the instrument.
Frequent Trading Risk.
The portfolio managers may actively and frequently trade investments in the Fund's portfolio to carry out its investment strategies. Frequent trading of investments increases the possibility that the Fund, as relevant, will realize taxable capital gains (including short-term capital gains, which are generally taxable to shareholders at higher rates than long-term capital gains for U.S. federal income tax purposes), which could reduce the Fund's after-tax return. Frequent trading can also mean higher brokerage and other transaction costs, which could reduce the Fund's return. The trading costs and tax effects associated with portfolio turnover may adversely affect the Fund’s performance.
High-Yield Investments Risk.
Securities and other debt instruments held by the Fund that are rated below investment grade (commonly called “high-yield” or “junk” bonds) and unrated debt instruments of comparable quality expose the Fund to a greater risk of loss of principal and income than a fund that invests solely or primarily in investment grade debt instruments. In addition, these investments have greater price fluctuations, are less liquid and are more likely to experience a default than higher-rated debt instruments. High-yield debt instruments are considered to be predominantly speculative with respect to the issuer’s capacity to pay interest and repay principal.
Impairment of Collateral Risk.
The value of collateral, if any, securing a loan can decline, and may be insufficient to meet the borrower’s obligations or difficult or costly to liquidate. In addition, the Fund’s access to collateral may be limited by bankruptcy or other insolvency laws. Further, certain floating rate and other loans may not be fully collateralized and may decline in value.
Inflation-Protected Securities Risk.
Inflation-protected debt securities tend to react to changes in real interest rates (i.e., nominal interest rates minus the expected impact of inflation). In general, the price of such securities falls when real interest rates rise, and rises when real interest rates fall. Interest payments on these securities will vary and may be more volatile than interest paid on ordinary bonds. In periods of deflation, the Fund may have no income at all from such investments.
Interest Rate Risk.
Interest rate risk is the risk of losses attributable to changes in interest rates. In general, if prevailing interest rates rise, the values of loans and other debt instruments tend to fall, and if interest rates fall, the values of loans and other debt instruments tend to rise. Changes in the value of a debt instrument usually will not affect the amount of income the Fund receives from it but will generally affect the value of your investment in the Fund. Changes in interest rates may also affect the liquidity of the Fund’s investments in debt instruments. In general, the longer the maturity or duration of a debt instrument, the greater its sensitivity to changes in interest rates. Interest rate declines also may increase prepayments of debt obligations, which, in turn, would increase prepayment risk. Very low or negative interest rates may impact the Fund’s yield and may increase the risk that, if followed by rising interest rates, the Fund’s performance will be negatively impacted. The Fund is subject to the risk that the income generated by its investments may not keep pace with inflation. Actions by governments and central banking authorities can result in increases or decreases in interest rates. Such actions may negatively affect the value of debt instruments held by the Fund, resulting in a negative impact on the Fund's performance and NAV. Debt instruments with floating coupon rates are typically less sensitive to interest rate changes, but these debt instruments may decline in value if their coupon rates do not rise as much as, or keep pace with, yields on such types of debt instruments. Because rates on certain floating rate loans and other debt instruments reset only periodically, changes in prevailing interest rates (and particularly sudden and significant changes) can be expected to
| 8 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Strategic Income Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
cause fluctuations in the Fund’s NAV. Any interest rate increases could cause the value of the Fund’s investments in debt instruments to decrease. Rising interest rates may prompt redemptions from the Fund, which may force the Fund to sell investments at a time when it is not advantageous to do so, which could result in losses.
Issuer Risk.
An issuer in which the Fund invests or to which it has exposure may perform poorly or below expectations, and the value of its loans or securities may therefore decline, which may negatively affect the Fund’s performance. Underperformance of an issuer may be caused by poor management decisions, competitive pressures, breakthroughs in technology, reliance on suppliers, labor problems or shortages, corporate restructurings, fraudulent disclosures, natural disasters, military confrontations, war, terrorism, disease/virus outbreaks, epidemics or other events, conditions and factors which may impair the value of an investment in the Fund.
Leverage Risk.
Leverage occurs when the Fund increases its assets available for investment using borrowings, derivatives, or similar instruments or techniques. Use of leverage can produce volatility and may exaggerate changes in the NAV of Fund shares and in the return on the Fund’s portfolio, which may increase the risk that the Fund will lose more than it has invested. If the Fund uses leverage, through the purchase of particular instruments such as derivatives, the Fund may experience capital losses that exceed the net assets of the Fund. Leverage can create an interest expense that may lower the Fund's overall returns. Leverage presents the opportunity for increased net income and capital gains, but may also exaggerate the Fund’s volatility and risk of loss. There can be no guarantee that a leveraging strategy will be successful.
LIBOR Replacement Risk.
The elimination of London Inter-Bank Offered Rate (LIBOR), among other “inter-bank offered” reference rates, may adversely affect the interest rates on, and value of, certain Fund investments for which the value is tied to LIBOR. Alternatives to LIBOR have been established or are in development in most major currencies including the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR) that is intended to replace U.S. dollar LIBOR. Markets are slowly developing in response to these new reference rates. Uncertainty related to the liquidity impact of the change in rates, and how to appropriately adjust these rates at the time of transition, poses risks for the Fund. These risks are likely to persist until new reference rates and fallbacks for both legacy and new instruments and contracts are commercially accepted and market practices become settled.
Liquidity Risk.
Liquidity risk is the risk associated with any event, circumstance, or characteristic of an investment or market that negatively impacts the Fund’s ability to sell, or realize the proceeds from the sale of, an investment at a desirable time or price. Liquidity risk may arise because of, for example, a lack of marketability of the investment, which means that when seeking to sell its portfolio investments, the Fund could find that selling is more difficult than anticipated, especially during times of high market volatility. Decreases in the number of financial institutions, including banks and broker-dealers, willing to make markets (match up sellers and buyers) in the Fund’s investments or decreases in their capacity or willingness to trade such investments may increase the Fund’s exposure to this risk. The debt market has experienced considerable growth, and financial institutions making markets in instruments purchased and sold by the Fund (e.g., bond dealers) have been subject to increased regulation. The impact of that growth and regulation on the ability and willingness of financial institutions to engage in trading or “making a market” in such instruments remains unsettled. Certain types of investments, such as lower-rated securities or those that are purchased and sold in over-the-counter markets, may be especially subject to liquidity risk. Securities or other assets in which the Fund invests may be traded in the over-the-counter market rather than on an exchange and therefore may be more difficult to purchase or sell at a fair price, which may have a negative impact on the Fund’s performance. Market participants attempting to sell the same or a similar instrument at the same time as the Fund could exacerbate the Fund’s exposure to liquidity risk. The Fund may have to accept a lower selling price for the holding, sell other liquid or more liquid investments that it might otherwise prefer to hold (thereby increasing the proportion of the Fund’s investments in less liquid or illiquid securities), or forego another more appealing investment opportunity. The liquidity of Fund investments may change significantly over time and certain investments that were liquid when purchased by the Fund may later become illiquid, particularly in times of overall economic distress. Changing regulatory, market or other conditions or environments (for example, the interest rate or credit environments) may also adversely affect the liquidity and the price of the Fund's investments. Judgment plays a larger role in valuing illiquid or less liquid investments as compared to valuing liquid or more liquid investments. Price volatility may be higher for illiquid or less liquid investments as a result of, for example, the relatively less frequent pricing of such securities (as compared to liquid or more liquid investments). Generally, the less liquid the market at the time the
| Prospectus 2021 | 9 |
Columbia Strategic Income Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
Fund sells a portfolio investment, the greater the risk of loss or decline of value to the Fund. Overall market liquidity and other factors can lead to an increase in redemptions, which may negatively impact Fund performance and NAV, including, for example, if the Fund is forced to sell investments in a down market. Floating rate loans generally are subject to legal or contractual restrictions on resale, may trade infrequently, their value may be impaired when the Fund needs to liquidate such loans, and are typically subject to extended settlement periods, each of which gives rise to liquidity risk.
Loan Interests Risk.
Loan interests may not be considered “securities,” and purchasers, such as the Fund, therefore may not be entitled to rely on the anti-fraud protections of the federal securities laws. Loan interests generally are subject to restrictions on transfer, and the Fund may be unable to sell its loan interests at a time when it may otherwise be desirable to do so or may be able to sell them only at prices that are less than what the Fund regards as their fair market value. Accordingly, loan interests may at times be illiquid. Loan interests may be difficult to value and typically have extended settlement periods (generally greater than 7 days). Extended settlement periods during significant Fund redemption activity could potentially cause increased short-term liquidity demands on the Fund. As a result, the Fund may be forced to sell investments at unfavorable prices, or borrow money or effect short settlements where possible (at a cost to the Fund), in an effort to generate sufficient cash to pay redeeming shareholders. The Fund’s actions in this regard may not be successful. Interests in loans created to finance highly leveraged companies or transactions, such as corporate acquisitions, may be especially vulnerable to adverse changes in economic or market conditions. Interests in secured loans have the benefit of collateral and, typically, of restrictive covenants limiting the ability of the borrower to further encumber its assets. There is a risk that the value of any collateral securing a loan in which the Fund has an interest may decline and that the collateral may not be sufficient to cover the amount owed on the loan. In the event the borrower defaults, the Fund’s access to the collateral may be limited or delayed by bankruptcy or other insolvency laws. Further, there is a risk that a court could take action with respect to a loan that is adverse to the holders of the loan, and the Fund, to enforce its rights in the event of a default, bankruptcy or similar situation, may need to retain legal or similar counsel. This may increase the Fund’s operating expenses and adversely affect its NAV. Loans that have a lower priority for repayment in an issuer’s capital structure may involve a higher degree of overall risk than more senior loans of the same borrower. In the event of a default, second lien secured loans will generally be paid only if the value of the collateral exceeds the amount of the borrower’s obligations to the first lien secured lenders, and the remaining collateral may not be sufficient to cover the full amount owed on the loan in which the Fund has an interest. The Fund may acquire a participation interest in a loan that is held by another party. When the Fund’s loan interest is a participation, the Fund may have less control over the exercise of remedies than the party selling the participation interest, and it normally would not have any direct rights against the borrower.
Market Risk.
The Fund may incur losses due to declines in the value of one or more securities in which it invests. These declines may be due to factors affecting a particular issuer, or the result of, among other things, political, regulatory, market, economic or social developments affecting the relevant market(s) more generally. In addition, turbulence in financial markets and reduced liquidity in equity, credit and/or fixed income markets may negatively affect many issuers, which could adversely affect the Fund, including causing difficulty in assigning prices to hard-to-value assets in thinly traded and closed markets, significant redemptions and operational challenges. Global economies and financial markets are increasingly interconnected, and conditions and events in one country, region or financial market may adversely impact issuers in a different country, region or financial market. These risks may be magnified if certain events or developments adversely interrupt the global supply chain; in these and other circumstances, such risks might affect companies worldwide. As a result, local, regional or global events such as terrorism, war, natural disasters, disease/virus outbreaks and epidemics or other public health issues, recessions, depressions or other events – or the potential for such events – could have a significant negative impact on global economic and market conditions.
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) public health crisis has become a pandemic that has resulted in, and may continue to result in, significant global economic and societal disruption and market volatility due to disruptions in market access, resource availability, facilities operations, imposition of tariffs, export controls and supply chain disruption, among others. Such disruptions may be caused, or exacerbated by, quarantines and travel restrictions, workforce displacement and loss in human and other resources. The uncertainty surrounding the magnitude,
| 10 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Strategic Income Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
duration, reach, costs and effects of the global pandemic, as well as actions that have been or could be taken by governmental authorities or other third parties, present unknowns that are yet to unfold. The impacts, as well as the uncertainty over impacts to come, of COVID-19 – and any other infectious illness outbreaks, epidemics and pandemics that may arise in the future – could negatively affect global economies and markets in ways that cannot necessarily be foreseen. In addition, the impact of infectious illness outbreaks and epidemics in emerging market countries may be greater due to generally less established healthcare systems, governments and financial markets. Public health crises caused by the COVID-19 outbreak may exacerbate other pre-existing political, social and economic risks in certain countries or globally. The disruptions caused by COVID-19 could prevent the Fund from executing advantageous investment decisions in a timely manner and negatively impact the Fund’s ability to achieve its investment objective. Any such event(s) could have a significant adverse impact on the value and risk profile of the Fund.
Mortgage- and Other Asset-Backed Securities Risk.
The value of any mortgage-backed and other asset-backed securities including collateralized debt obligations and collateralized loan obligations, if any, held by the Fund may be affected by, among other things, changes or perceived changes in: interest rates; factors concerning the interests in and structure of the issuer or the originator of the mortgages or other assets; the creditworthiness of the entities that provide any supporting letters of credit, surety bonds or other credit enhancements; or the market's assessment of the quality of underlying assets. Payment of principal and interest on some mortgage-backed securities (but not the market value of the securities themselves) may be guaranteed by the full faith and credit of a particular U.S. Government agency, authority, enterprise or instrumentality, and some, but not all, are also insured or guaranteed by the U.S. Government. Mortgage-backed securities issued by non-governmental issuers (such as commercial banks, savings and loan institutions, private mortgage insurance companies, mortgage bankers and other secondary market issuers) may entail greater risk than obligations guaranteed by the U.S. Government. Mortgage- and other asset-backed securities are subject to liquidity risk and prepayment risk. A decline or flattening of housing values may cause delinquencies in mortgages (especially sub-prime or non-prime mortgages) underlying mortgage-backed securities and thereby adversely affect the ability of the mortgage-backed securities issuer to make principal and/or interest payments to mortgage-backed securities holders, including the Fund. Rising or high interest rates tend to extend the duration of mortgage- and other asset-backed securities, making their prices more volatile and more sensitive to changes in interest rates.
Preferred Stock Risk.
Preferred stock is a type of stock that may pay dividends at a different rate than common stock of the same issuer, if at all, and that has preference over common stock in the payment of dividends and the liquidation of assets. Preferred stock does not ordinarily carry voting rights. The price of a preferred stock is generally determined by earnings, type of products or services, projected growth rates, experience of management, liquidity, and general market conditions of the markets on which the stock trades. The most significant risks associated with investments in preferred stock include issuer risk, market risk and interest rate risk (the risk of losses attributable to changes in interest rates).
Prepayment and Extension Risk.
Prepayment and extension risk is the risk that a loan, bond or other security or investment might, in the case of prepayment risk, be called or otherwise converted, prepaid or redeemed before maturity and, in the case of extension risk, that the investment might not be called as expected. In the case of prepayment risk, if the investment is converted, prepaid or redeemed before maturity, the portfolio managers may not be able to invest the proceeds in other investments providing as high a level of income, resulting in a reduced yield to the Fund. In the case of mortgage- or other asset-backed securities, as interest rates decrease or spreads narrow, the likelihood of prepayment increases. Conversely, extension risk is the risk that an unexpected rise in interest rates will extend the life of a mortgage- or other asset-backed security beyond the prepayment time. If the Fund’s investments are locked in at a lower interest rate for a longer period of time, the portfolio managers may be unable to capitalize on securities with higher interest rates or wider spreads.
Reinvestment Risk.
Reinvestment risk arises when the Fund is unable to reinvest income or principal at the same or at least the same return it is currently earning.
Rule 144A and Other Exempted Securities Risk.
The Fund may invest in privately placed and other securities or instruments exempt from SEC registration (collectively “private placements”), subject to certain regulatory restrictions. In the U.S. market, private placements are typically sold only to qualified institutional buyers, or qualified
| Prospectus 2021 | 11 |
Columbia Strategic Income Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
purchasers, as applicable. An insufficient number of buyers interested in purchasing private placements at a particular time could adversely affect the marketability of such investments and the Fund might be unable to dispose of them promptly or at reasonable prices, subjecting the Fund to liquidity risk. The Fund’s holdings of private placements may increase the level of Fund illiquidity if eligible buyers are unable or unwilling to purchase them at a particular time. Issuers of Rule 144A eligible securities are required to furnish information to potential investors upon request. However, the required disclosure is much less extensive than that required of public companies and is not publicly available since the offering information is not filed with the SEC. Further, issuers of Rule 144A eligible securities can require recipients of the offering information (such as the Fund) to agree contractually to keep the information confidential, which could also adversely affect the Fund’s ability to dispose of the security.
Sovereign Debt Risk.
A sovereign debtor’s willingness or ability to repay principal and pay interest in a timely manner may be affected by a variety of factors, including its cash flow situation, the extent of its reserves, the availability of sufficient foreign exchange on the date a payment is due, the relative size of the debt service burden to the economy as a whole, the sovereign debtor’s policy toward international lenders, and the political constraints to which a sovereign debtor may be subject. Sovereign debt risk is increased for emerging market issuers.
Stripped Securities Risk.
Stripped securities are the separate income or principal components of debt securities. These securities are particularly sensitive to changes in interest rates, and therefore subject to greater fluctuations in price than typical interest bearing debt securities.
U.S. Government Obligations Risk.
While U.S. Treasury obligations are backed by the “full faith and credit” of the U.S. Government, such securities are nonetheless subject to credit risk (i.e., the risk that the U.S. Government may be, or be perceived to be, unable or unwilling to honor its financial obligations, such as making payments). Securities issued or guaranteed by federal agencies or authorities and U.S. Government-sponsored instrumentalities or enterprises may or may not be backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. Government.
Performance Information
The following bar chart and table show you how the Fund has performed in the past, and can help you understand the risks of investing in the Fund.
The bar chart shows how the Fund’s Class A share performance (without sales charges) has varied for each full calendar year shown. If the sales charges were reflected, returns shown would be lower.
The table below the bar chart compares the Fund’s returns (after applicable sales charges shown in the
table in this prospectus) for the periods shown with a broad measure of market performance, as well as three additional measures of performance for markets in which the Fund may invest.
Shareholder Fees
The performance of one or more share classes shown in the table below begins before the indicated inception date for such share class. The returns shown for each such share class include the returns of the Fund’s Class A shares (without applicable sales charges and adjusted to reflect the higher class-related operating expenses of such share classes, where applicable) for periods prior to its inception date. Share classes with expenses that are higher than Class A shares will have performance that is lower than Class A shares (without sales charges). Except for differences in annual returns resulting from differences in expenses and sales charges (where applicable), the share classes of the Fund would have substantially similar annual returns because all share classes of the Fund invest in the same portfolio of securities.
The after-tax returns shown in the
table below are calculated using the highest historical individual U.S. federal marginal income tax rates in effect during the period indicated in the table and do not reflect the impact of state, local or foreign taxes.
Your actual after-tax returns will depend on your personal tax situation and may differ from those shown in the table.
In addition, the after-tax returns shown in the table do not apply to shares held in tax-advantaged accounts such as 401(k) plans or Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs).
The after-tax returns are shown only for Class A shares and will vary for other share classes.
Average Annual Total Returns
The Fund’s performance prior to August 29, 2014 reflects returns achieved pursuant to different principal investment strategies. If the Fund’s current strategies had been in place for the prior periods, results shown may have been different.
| 12 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Strategic Income Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
The Fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) is no guarantee of how the Fund will perform in the future.
Updated performance information can be obtained by calling toll-free 800.345.6611 or visiting columbiathreadneedleus.com.
|
Year by Year Total Return (%)
as of December 31 Each Year* |
Best and Worst Quarterly Returns
During the Period Shown in the Bar Chart |
||
|
Best
|
3rd Quarter 2010
|
6.15
%
|
|
Worst
|
3rd Quarter 2015
|
-3.17
%
|
|
| * | Year to Date return as of September 30, 2020: 2.12% |
Average Annual Total Returns After Applicable Sales Charges (for periods ended December 31, 2019)
|
Share Class
Inception Date |
1 Year
|
5 Years
|
10 Years
|
|
|
Class A
|
04/21/1977 | |||
| returns before taxes | 4.87% | 3.53% | 4.86% | |
| returns after taxes on distributions | 3.27% | 1.90% | 2.95% | |
| returns after taxes on distributions and sale of Fund shares | 2.85% | 1.96% | 2.96% | |
|
Class Adv
returns before taxes
|
11/08/2012 | 10.28% | 4.77% | 5.53% |
|
Class C
returns before taxes
|
07/01/1997 | 8.37% | 3.76% | 4.64% |
|
Class Inst
returns before taxes
|
01/29/1999 | 10.27% | 4.80% | 5.62% |
|
Class Inst2
returns before taxes
|
03/07/2011 | 10.31% | 4.84% | 5.67% |
|
Class Inst3
returns before taxes
|
06/13/2013 | 10.40% | 4.91% | 5.61% |
|
Class R
returns before taxes
|
09/27/2010 | 9.84% | 4.28% | 5.15% |
|
Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index
(reflects no deductions for fees, expenses or taxes)
|
8.72% | 3.05% | 3.75% | |
|
ICE BofA US Cash Pay High Yield Constrained Index
(reflects no deductions for fees, expenses or taxes)
|
14.40% | 6.13% | 7.47% | |
|
FTSE Non-U.S. World Government Bond (All Maturities) Index - Unhedged
(reflects no deductions for fees, expenses or taxes)
|
5.32% | 1.87% | 1.36% | |
|
JPMorgan Emerging Markets Bond Index - Global
(reflects no deductions for fees, expenses or taxes)
|
14.42% | 5.88% | 6.57% |
| Prospectus 2021 | 13 |
Columbia Strategic Income Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
Fund Management
|
Portfolio Manager
|
Title
|
Role with Fund
|
Managed Fund Since
|
|||
| Gene Tannuzzo, CFA | Deputy Global Head of Fixed Income and Senior Portfolio Manager | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2010 | |||
| Colin Lundgren, CFA* | Managing Director and Global Head of Fixed Income | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2010 | |||
| Jason Callan | Senior Portfolio Manager and Head of Structured Assets | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2017 |
| * | Colin Lundgren, CFA, has announced that he plans to retire from the Investment Manager, effective March 1, 2021. Accordingly, effective March 1, 2021, all references to Mr. Lundgren are hereby removed. Until then, Mr. Lundgren will continue to serve as a portfolio manager of the Fund. Mr. Lundgren plans to remain with Columbia Threadneedle Investments through 2021 to assist as needed. |
Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares
You may purchase or redeem shares of the Fund on any business day by contacting the Fund in the ways described below:
|
Online
|
Regular Mail
|
Express Mail
|
By Telephone
|
|||
| columbiathreadneedleus.com/investor/ |
Columbia Management
Investment Services Corp. P.O. Box 219104 Kansas City, MO 64121-9104 |
Columbia Management
Investment Services Corp. c/o DST Asset Manager Solutions, Inc. 430 W 7
th
Street, Suite 219104
Kansas City, MO 64105-1407 |
800.422.3737 |
You may purchase shares and receive redemption proceeds by electronic funds transfer, by check or by wire. If you maintain your account with a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary, you must contact that financial intermediary to buy, sell or exchange shares of the Fund through your account with the intermediary.
The minimum initial investment amounts for the share classes offered by the Fund are shown below:
Minimum Initial Investment
|
Class
|
Category of eligible account
|
For accounts other than
systematic investment plan accounts |
For systematic investment
plan accounts |
|
Classes A & C
|
All accounts other than IRAs | $2,000 | $100 |
| IRAs | $1,000 | $100 | |
|
Classes Adv & Inst
|
All eligible accounts |
$0, $1,000 or $2,000
depending upon the category of eligible investor |
$100 |
|
Classes Inst2 & R
|
All eligible accounts | None | N/A |
|
Class Inst3
|
All eligible accounts |
$0, $1,000, $2,000
or $1 million depending upon the category of eligible investor |
$100 (for certain
eligible investors) |
More information about these minimums can be found in the
section of the prospectus. There is no minimum additional investment for any share class.
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares - Buying Shares
Tax Information
The Fund normally distributes net investment income and net realized capital gains, if any, to shareholders. These distributions are generally taxable to you as ordinary income or capital gains, unless you are investing through a tax-advantaged account, such as a 401(k) plan or an IRA. If you are investing through a tax-advantaged account, you may be taxed upon withdrawals from that account.
| 14 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Strategic Income Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
If you purchase the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), the Fund and its related companies — including Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC (the Investment Manager), Columbia Management Investment Distributors, Inc. (the Distributor) and Columbia Management Investment Services Corp. (the Transfer Agent) — may pay the intermediary for the sale of Fund shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your financial advisor to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your financial advisor or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.
| Prospectus 2021 | 15 |
Columbia Strategic Income Fund
More Information About the Fund
Investment Objective
Columbia Strategic Income Fund (the Fund) seeks total return, consisting of current income and capital appreciation.
The Fund’s investment objective is not a fundamental policy and may be changed by the Fund’s Board of Trustees without shareholder approval. Because any investment involves risk, there is no assurance the Fund’s investment objective will be achieved.
Principal Investment Strategies
Under normal circumstances, the Fund has substantial exposure to fixed-income/debt markets. The Fund has the flexibility to invest in any sector of the fixed-income/debt market and across the credit quality spectrum. The Fund may invest in U.S. Government bonds and notes (including those of its agencies and instrumentalities, and of government-sponsored enterprises), U.S. and international (including developed, developing and emerging markets) bonds and notes, investment grade corporate (or similar) bonds and notes, mortgage- and other asset-backed securities, high yield (i.e., “junk”) instruments, floating rate loans and other floating rate debt securities, inflation-protected/linked securities, convertible securities, cash/cash equivalents, as well as foreign government, sovereign and quasi-sovereign debt investments. The Fund’s investments may include non-U.S. dollar denominated instruments. The Fund may also invest in preferred securities. The Fund does not seek to maintain a particular dollar-weighted average maturity or duration target.
The Fund may invest in derivatives, such as forward contracts (including forward foreign currency contracts for investment and hedging purposes), futures (including bond futures for managing yield curve and duration risk, and index and interest rate futures for hedging and investment purposes), options (including options on listed futures for hedging purposes), options on swaps (commonly known as swaptions) for hedging purposes, and swaps (including credit default swaps, credit default swap indexes, inflation rate and interest rate swaps for hedging purposes, and total return swaps for investment purposes). The Fund’s use of derivatives creates leverage (market exposure in excess of the Fund’s assets) in the Fund’s portfolio.
The Fund may invest in interest-only (IO) and principal-only (PO) bonds (commonly known as stripped securities) for investment purposes.
The Fund may purchase or sell securities on a when-issued, delayed delivery or forward commitment basis. Such securities may include mortgage-backed securities acquired or sold in the “to be announced” (TBA) market and those in a dollar roll transaction.
The Fund may invest in privately placed and other securities or instruments that are purchased and sold pursuant to Rule 144A or other exemptions under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, subject to certain regulatory restrictions.
The Fund’s investment strategy may involve the frequent trading of portfolio securities.
Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC (the Investment Manager) evaluates a number of factors in identifying investment opportunities and constructing the Fund’s portfolio. The Investment Manager also considers local, national and global economic conditions, market conditions, interest rate movements and other relevant factors in allocating the Fund’s assets among issuers, securities, industry sectors and maturities.
The Investment Manager, in connection with selecting individual investments for the Fund, evaluates a security based on its potential to generate income and/or capital appreciation. The Investment Manager considers, among other factors, the creditworthiness of the issuer of the security and the various features of the security, such as its interest rate, yield, maturity, any call features and value relative to other securities.
The Investment Manager may sell a security if the Investment Manager believes that there is deterioration in the issuer’s financial circumstances, or that other investments are more attractive; if there is deterioration in a security’s credit rating; or for other reasons.
| 16 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Strategic Income Fund
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
Principal Risks
An investment in the Fund involves risks, including
Interest Rate Risk
,
Credit Risk
,
Market Risk
,
Mortgage- and Other Asset-Backed Securities Risk
,
High-Yield Investments Risk
, and
Changing Distribution Level Risk
, among others. Descriptions of these and other principal risks of investing in the Fund are provided below.
There is no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objective and you may lose money
. The value of the Fund’s holdings may decline, and the Fund’s net asset value (NAV) and share price may go down. An investment in the Fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency.
Active Management Risk.
The Fund is actively managed and its performance therefore will reflect, in part, the ability of the portfolio managers to make investment decisions that seek to achieve the Fund’s investment objective. Due to its active management, the Fund could underperform its benchmark index and/or other funds with similar investment objectives and/or strategies.
Changing Distribution Level Risk.
The Fund normally expects to receive income which may include interest, dividends and/or capital gains, depending upon its investments. The distribution amounts paid by the Fund will vary and generally depend on the amount of income the Fund earns (less expenses) on its portfolio holdings, and capital gains or losses it recognizes. A decline in the Fund’s income or net capital gains arising from its investments may reduce its distribution level.
Convertible Securities Risk.
Convertible securities are subject to the usual risks associated with debt instruments, such as interest rate risk (the risk of losses attributable to changes in interest rates) and credit risk (the risk that the issuer of a debt instrument will default or otherwise become unable, or be perceived to be unable or unwilling, to honor a financial obligation, such as making payments to the Fund when due). Convertible securities also react to changes in the value of the common stock into which they convert, and are thus subject to market risk (the risk that the market values of securities or other investments that the Fund holds will fall, sometimes rapidly or unpredictably, or fail to rise). Because the value of a convertible security can be influenced by both interest rates and the common stock's market movements, a convertible security generally is not as sensitive to interest rates as a similar debt instrument, and generally will not vary in value in response to other factors to the same extent as the underlying common stock. In the event of a liquidation of the issuing company, holders of convertible securities would typically be paid before the company's common stockholders but after holders of any senior debt obligations of the company. The Fund may be forced to convert a convertible security before it otherwise would choose to do so, which may decrease the Fund's return.
Counterparty Risk.
The risk exists that a counterparty to a transaction in a financial instrument held by the Fund or by a special purpose or structured vehicle in which the Fund invests may become insolvent or otherwise fail to perform its obligations, including making payments to the Fund, due to financial difficulties. The Fund may obtain no or limited recovery in a bankruptcy or other reorganizational proceedings, and any recovery may be significantly delayed. Transactions that the Fund enters into may involve counterparties in the financial services sector and, as a result, events affecting the financial services sector may cause the Fund’s share value to fluctuate.
Credit Risk.
Credit risk is the risk that the value of loans or other debt instruments may decline if the borrower or the issuer thereof defaults or otherwise becomes unable or unwilling, or is perceived to be unable or unwilling, to honor its financial obligations, such as making payments to the Fund when due. Various factors could affect the actual or perceived willingness or ability of the borrower or the issuer to make timely interest or principal payments, including changes in the financial condition of the borrower or the issuer or in general economic conditions. Credit rating agencies assign credit ratings to certain loans and debt instruments to indicate their credit risk. Unless otherwise provided in the Fund’s Principal Investment Strategies, investment grade debt instruments are those rated at or above BBB- by S&P Global Ratings, or equivalently rated by Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. or Fitch Ratings, Inc., or, if unrated, determined by the management team to be of comparable quality. Conversely, below investment grade (commonly called “high-yield” or “junk”) debt instruments are those rated below BBB- by S&P Global Ratings, or equivalently rated by Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. or Fitch Ratings, Inc., or, if unrated, determined by the management team to be of comparable quality. A rating downgrade by such agencies can negatively impact the value of such instruments. Lower quality or unrated loans or instruments held by the Fund may present increased credit
| Prospectus 2021 | 17 |
Columbia Strategic Income Fund
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
risk as compared to higher-rated loans or instruments. Non-investment grade loans or debt instruments may be subject to greater price fluctuations and are more likely to experience a default than investment grade loans or debt instruments and therefore may expose the Fund to increased credit risk. If the Fund purchases unrated loans or instruments, or if the ratings of loans or instruments held by the Fund are lowered after purchase, the Fund will depend on analysis of credit risk more heavily than usual. If the issuer of a loan declares bankruptcy or is declared bankrupt, there may be a delay before the Fund can act on the collateral securing the loan, which may adversely affect the Fund. Further, there is a risk that a court could take action with respect to a loan that is adverse to the holders of the loan. Such actions may include invalidating the loan, the lien on the collateral, the priority status of the loan, or ordering the refund of interest previously paid by the borrower. Any such actions by a court could adversely affect the Fund’s performance. A default or expected default of a loan could also make it difficult for the Fund to sell the loan at a price approximating the value previously placed on it. In order to enforce its rights in the event of a default, bankruptcy or similar situation, the Fund may be required to retain legal or similar counsel. This may increase the Fund’s operating expenses and adversely affect its NAV. Loans that have a lower priority for repayment in an issuer’s capital structure may involve a higher degree of overall risk than more senior loans of the same borrower.
Derivatives Risk.
Derivatives may involve significant risks. Derivatives are financial instruments, traded on an exchange or in the over-the-counter (OTC) markets, with a value in relation to, or derived from, the value of an underlying asset(s) (such as a security, commodity or currency) or other reference, such as an index, rate or other economic indicator (each an underlying reference). Derivatives may include those that are privately placed or otherwise exempt from SEC registration, including certain Rule 144A eligible securities. Derivatives could result in Fund losses if the underlying reference does not perform as anticipated. Use of derivatives is a highly specialized activity that can involve investment techniques, risks, and tax planning different from those associated with more traditional investment instruments. The Fund’s derivatives strategy may not be successful and use of certain derivatives could result in substantial, potentially unlimited, losses to the Fund regardless of the Fund’s actual investment. A relatively small movement in the price, rate or other economic indicator associated with the underlying reference may result in substantial loss for the Fund. Derivatives may be more volatile than other types of investments. Derivatives can increase the Fund’s risk exposure to underlying references and their attendant risks, including the risk of an adverse credit event associated with the underlying reference (credit risk), the risk of an adverse movement in the value, price or rate of the underlying reference (market risk), the risk of an adverse movement in the value of underlying currencies (foreign currency risk) and the risk of an adverse movement in underlying interest rates (interest rate risk). Derivatives may expose the Fund to additional risks, including the risk of loss due to a derivative position that is imperfectly correlated with the underlying reference it is intended to hedge or replicate (correlation risk), the risk that a counterparty will fail to perform as agreed (counterparty risk), the risk that a hedging strategy may fail to mitigate losses, and may offset gains (hedging risk), the risk that the return on an investment may not keep pace with inflation (inflation risk), the risk that losses may be greater than the amount invested (leverage risk), the risk that the Fund may be unable to sell an investment at an advantageous time or price (liquidity risk), the risk that the investment may be difficult to value (pricing risk), and the risk that the price or value of the investment fluctuates significantly over short periods of time (volatility risk). The value of derivatives may be influenced by a variety of factors, including national and international political and economic developments. Potential changes to the regulation of the derivatives markets may make derivatives more costly, may limit the market for derivatives, or may otherwise adversely affect the value or performance of derivatives.
Derivatives Risk – Forward Contracts Risk.
A forward contract is an over-the-counter derivative transaction between two parties to buy or sell a specified amount of an underlying reference at a specified price (or rate) on a specified date in the future. Forward contracts are negotiated on an individual basis and are not standardized or traded on exchanges. The market for forward contracts is substantially unregulated (there is no limit on daily price movements and speculative position limits are not applicable). The principals who deal in certain forward contract markets are not required to continue to make markets in the underlying references in which they trade and these markets can experience periods of illiquidity, sometimes of significant duration. There have been periods during which certain participants in forward contract markets have refused to quote prices for certain underlying references or have quoted prices with an unusually wide spread between the price at which they were prepared to buy and that at which they were prepared to sell. At or prior to maturity of a forward contract, the Fund may enter into an offsetting contract and may incur a loss to the extent there has been adverse movement in forward contract prices. The liquidity of the
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markets for forward contracts depends on participants entering into offsetting transactions rather than making or taking delivery. To the extent participants make or take delivery, liquidity in the market for forwards could be reduced. A relatively small price movement in a forward contract may result in substantial losses to the Fund, exceeding the amount of the margin paid. Forward contracts can increase the Fund’s risk exposure to underlying references and their attendant risks, such as credit risk, market risk, foreign currency risk and interest rate risk, while also exposing the Fund to correlation risk, counterparty risk, hedging risk, inflation risk, leverage risk, liquidity risk, pricing risk and volatility risk.
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A
forward foreign currency contract
is a derivative (forward contract) in which the underlying reference is a country's or region’s currency. The Fund may agree to buy or sell a country's or region’s currency at a specific price on a specific date in the future. These instruments may fall in value (sometimes dramatically) due to foreign market downswings or foreign currency value fluctuations, subjecting the Fund to foreign currency risk (the risk that Fund performance may be negatively impacted by foreign currency strength or weakness relative to the U.S. dollar, particularly if the Fund exposes a significant percentage of its assets to currencies other than the U.S. dollar). The effectiveness of any currency strategy by a Fund may be reduced by the Fund's inability to precisely match forward contract amounts and the value of securities involved. Forward foreign currency contracts used for hedging may also limit any potential gain that might result from an increase or decrease in the value of the currency. Unanticipated changes in the currency markets could result in reduced performance for the Fund. When the Fund converts its foreign currencies into U.S. dollars, it may incur currency conversion costs due to the spread between the prices at which it may buy and sell various currencies in the market.
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Derivatives Risk – Futures Contracts Risk.
A futures contract is an exchange-traded derivative transaction between two parties in which a buyer (holding the “long” position) agrees to pay a fixed price (or rate) at a specified future date for delivery of an underlying reference from a seller (holding the “short” position). The seller hopes that the market price on the delivery date is less than the agreed upon price, while the buyer hopes for the contrary. Certain futures contract markets are highly volatile, and futures contracts may be illiquid. Futures exchanges may limit fluctuations in futures contract prices by imposing a maximum permissible daily price movement. The Fund may be disadvantaged if it is prohibited from executing a trade outside the daily permissible price movement. At or prior to maturity of a futures contract, the Fund may enter into an offsetting contract and may incur a loss to the extent there has been adverse movement in futures contract prices. The liquidity of the futures markets depends on participants entering into offsetting transactions rather than making or taking delivery. To the extent participants make or take delivery, liquidity in the futures market could be reduced. Positions in futures contracts may be closed out only on the exchange on which they were entered into or through a linked exchange, and no secondary market exists for such contracts. Futures positions are marked to market each day and variation margin payment must be paid to or by the Fund. Because of the low margin deposits normally required in futures trading, it is possible that the Fund may employ a high degree of leverage in the portfolio. As a result, a relatively small price movement in a futures contract may result in substantial losses to the Fund, exceeding the amount of the margin paid. For certain types of futures contracts, losses are potentially unlimited. Futures markets are highly volatile and the use of futures may increase the volatility of the Fund’s NAV. Futures contracts executed (if any) on foreign exchanges may not provide the same protection as U.S. exchanges. Futures contracts can increase the Fund’s risk exposure to underlying references and their attendant risks, such as credit risk, market risk, foreign currency risk and interest rate risk, while also exposing the Fund to correlation risk, counterparty risk, hedging risk, inflation risk, leverage risk, liquidity risk, pricing risk and volatility risk.
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A
bond (or debt instrument) future
is a derivative that is an agreement for the contract holder to buy or sell a bond or other debt instrument, a basket of bonds or other debt instrument, or the bonds or other debt instruments in an index on a specified date at a predetermined price. The buyer (long position) of a bond future is obliged to buy the underlying reference at the agreed price on expiry of the future.
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An
interest rate future
is a derivative that is an agreement whereby the buyer and seller agree to the future delivery of an interest-bearing instrument on a specific date at a pre-determined price. Examples include Treasury-bill futures, Treasury-bond futures and Eurodollar futures.
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Derivatives Risk – Options Risk.
Options are derivatives that give the purchaser the option to buy (call) or sell (put) an underlying reference from or to a counterparty at a specified price (the strike price) on or before an expiration date. The Fund may purchase or write (i.e., sell) put and call options on an underlying reference it is otherwise permitted to invest in. By investing in options, the Fund is exposed to the risk that it may be required to buy or sell the underlying reference at a disadvantageous price on or before the expiration date. If the Fund sells a put option, the Fund may be required to buy the underlying reference at a strike price that is above market price, resulting in a loss. If the Fund sells a call option, the Fund may be required to sell the underlying reference at a strike price that is below market price, resulting in a loss. If the Fund sells a call option that is not covered (it does not own the underlying reference), the Fund's losses are potentially unlimited. Options may involve economic leverage, which could result in greater volatility in price movement. Options may be traded on a securities exchange or in the over-the-counter market. At or prior to maturity of an options contract, the Fund may enter into an offsetting contract and may incur a loss to the extent there has been adverse movement in options prices. Options can increase the Fund’s risk exposure to underlying references and their attendant risks such as credit risk, market risk, foreign currency risk and interest rate risk, while also exposing the Fund to correlation risk, counterparty risk, hedging risk, inflation risk, leverage risk, liquidity risk, pricing risk and volatility risk.
Derivatives Risk – Swaps Risk.
In a typical swap transaction, two parties agree to exchange the return earned on a specified underlying reference for a fixed return or the return from another underlying reference during a specified period of time. Swaps may be difficult to value and may be illiquid. Swaps could result in Fund losses if the underlying asset or reference does not perform as anticipated. Swaps create significant investment leverage such that a relatively small price movement in a swap may result in immediate and substantial losses to the Fund. The Fund may only close out a swap with its particular counterparty, and may only transfer a position with the consent of that counterparty. Certain swaps, such as short swap transactions and total return swaps, have the potential for unlimited losses, regardless of the size of the initial investment. Swaps can increase the Fund’s risk exposure to underlying references and their attendant risks, such as credit risk, market risk, foreign currency risk and interest rate risk, while also exposing the Fund to correlation risk, counterparty risk, hedging risk, inflation risk, leverage risk, liquidity risk, pricing risk and volatility risk.
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credit default swap
(including a swap on a credit default index, sometimes referred to as a credit default swap index) is a derivative and special type of swap where one party pays, in effect, an insurance premium through a stream of payments to another party in exchange for the right to receive a specified return upon the occurrence of a particular credit event by one or more third parties, such as bankruptcy, default or a similar event. A credit default swap may be embedded within a structured note or other derivative instrument. Credit default swaps enable an investor to buy or sell protection against such a credit event (such as an issuer’s bankruptcy, restructuring or failure to make timely payments of interest or principal). Credit default swap indices are indices that reflect the performance of a basket of credit default swaps and are subject to the same risks as credit default swaps. If such a default were to occur, any contractual remedies that the Fund may have may be subject to bankruptcy and insolvency laws, which could delay or limit the Fund's recovery. Thus, if the counterparty under a credit default swap defaults on its obligation to make payments thereunder, as a result of its bankruptcy or otherwise, the Fund may lose such payments altogether, or collect only a portion thereof, which collection could involve costs or delays. The Fund’s return from investment in a credit default swap index may not match the return of the referenced index. Further, investment in a credit default swap index could result in losses if the referenced index does not perform as expected. Unexpected changes in the composition of the index may also affect performance of the credit default swap index. If a referenced index has a dramatic intraday move that causes a material decline in the Fund’s net assets, the terms of the Fund’s credit default swap index may permit the counterparty to immediately close out the transaction. In that event, the Fund may be unable to enter into another credit default swap index or otherwise achieve desired exposure, even if the referenced index reverses all or a portion of its intraday move.
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An
inflation rate swap
is a derivative typically used to transfer inflation risk from one party to another through an exchange of cash flows. In an inflation rate swap, one party pays a fixed rate on a notional principal amount, while the other party pays a floating rate linked to an inflation index, such as the Consumer Price Index (CPI).
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An
interest rate swap
is a derivative in which two parties agree to exchange interest rate cash flows, based on a specified notional amount from a fixed rate to a floating rate (or vice versa) or from one floating rate to another. Interest rate swaps can be based on various measures of interest rates, including swap rates, treasury rates, foreign interest rates and other reference rates.
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Total return swaps
are derivative swap transactions in which one party agrees to pay the other party an amount equal to the total return of a defined underlying reference during a specified period of time. In return, the other party would make periodic payments based on a fixed or variable interest rate or on the total return of a different underlying reference.
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Derivatives Risk – Swaptions Risk.
A swaption is an options contract on a swap agreement. These transactions give a party the right (but not the obligation) to enter into new swap agreements or to shorten, extend, cancel or otherwise modify an existing swap agreement at some designated future time on specified terms, in return for payment of the purchase price (the “premium”) of the option. The Fund may write (sell) and purchase put and call swaptions to the same extent it may make use of standard options on securities or other instruments. The writer of the contract receives the premium and bears the risk of unfavorable changes in the market value on the underlying swap agreement. Swaptions can be bundled and sold as a package. These are commonly called interest rate caps, floors and collars.
Emerging Market Securities Risk.
Securities issued by foreign governments or companies in emerging market countries, such as China, Russia and certain countries in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Latin America or Africa, are more likely to have greater exposure to the risks of investing in foreign securities that are described in Foreign Securities Risk. In addition, emerging market countries are more likely to experience instability resulting, for example, from rapid changes or developments in social, political, economic or other conditions. Their economies are usually less mature and their securities markets are typically less developed with more limited trading activity (i.e., lower trading volumes and less liquidity) than more developed countries. Emerging market securities tend to be more volatile than securities in more developed markets. Many emerging market countries are heavily dependent on international trade and have fewer trading partners, which makes them more sensitive to world commodity prices and economic downturns in other countries. Some emerging market countries have a higher risk of currency devaluations, and some of these countries may experience periods of high inflation or rapid changes in inflation rates and may have hostile relations with other countries. Due to the differences in the nature and quality of financial information of issuers of emerging market securities, including auditing and financial reporting standards, financial information and disclosures about such issuers may be unavailable or, if made available, may be considerably less reliable than publicly available information about other foreign securities.
Foreign Securities Risk.
Investments in or exposure to foreign securities involve certain risks not associated with investments in or exposure to securities of U.S. companies. For example, foreign markets can be extremely volatile. Foreign securities may also be less liquid, making them more difficult to trade, than securities of U.S. companies so that the Fund may, at times, be unable to sell foreign securities at desirable times or prices. Brokerage commissions, custodial costs and other fees are also generally higher for foreign securities. The Fund may have limited or no legal recourse in the event of default with respect to certain foreign securities, including those issued by foreign governments. In addition, foreign governments may impose withholding or other taxes on the Fund’s income, capital gains or proceeds from the disposition of foreign securities, which could reduce the Fund’s return on such securities. In some cases, such withholding or other taxes could potentially be confiscatory. Other risks include: possible delays in the settlement of transactions or in the payment of income; generally less publicly available information about foreign companies; the impact of economic, political, social, diplomatic or other conditions or events (including, for example, military confrontations, war, terrorism and disease/virus outbreaks and epidemics), possible seizure, expropriation or nationalization of a company or its assets or the assets of a particular investor or category of investors; accounting, auditing and financial reporting standards that may be less comprehensive and stringent than those applicable to domestic companies; the imposition of economic and other sanctions against a particular foreign country, its nationals or industries or businesses within the country; and the generally less stringent standard of care to which local agents may be held in the local markets. In addition, it may be difficult to obtain reliable information about the securities and business operations of certain foreign issuers. Governments or trade groups may compel local agents to hold securities in designated depositories that are not subject to independent evaluation. The less
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developed a country’s securities market is, the greater the level of risks. The risks posed by sanctions against a particular foreign country, its nationals or industries or businesses within the country may be heightened to the extent the Fund invests significantly in the affected country or region or in issuers from the affected country that depend on global markets. Additionally, investments in certain countries may subject the Fund to a number of tax rules, the application of which may be uncertain. Countries may amend or revise their existing tax laws, regulations and/or procedures in the future, possibly with retroactive effect. Changes in or uncertainties regarding the laws, regulations or procedures of a country could reduce the after-tax profits of the Fund, directly or indirectly, including by reducing the after-tax profits of companies located in such countries in which the Fund invests, or result in unexpected tax liabilities for the Fund. The performance of the Fund may also be negatively affected by fluctuations in a foreign currency's strength or weakness relative to the U.S. dollar, particularly to the extent the Fund invests a significant percentage of its assets in foreign securities or other assets denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar. Currency rates in foreign countries may fluctuate significantly over short or long periods of time for a number of reasons, including changes in interest rates, imposition of currency exchange controls and economic or political developments in the U.S. or abroad. The Fund may also incur currency conversion costs when converting foreign currencies into U.S. dollars and vice versa.
Forward Commitments on Mortgage-Backed Securities (including Dollar Rolls) Risk.
When purchasing mortgage-backed securities in the “to be announced” (TBA) market (MBS TBAs), the seller agrees to deliver mortgage-backed securities for an agreed upon price on an agreed upon date, but may make no guarantee as to the specific securities to be delivered. In lieu of taking delivery of mortgage-backed securities, the Fund could enter into dollar rolls, which are transactions in which the Fund sells securities to a counterparty and simultaneously agrees to purchase those or similar securities in the future at a predetermined price. Dollar rolls involve the risk that the market value of the securities the Fund is obligated to repurchase may decline below the repurchase price, or that the counterparty may default on its obligations. These transactions may also increase the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate. If the Fund reinvests the proceeds of the security sold, the Fund will also be subject to the risk that the investments purchased with such proceeds will decline in value (a form of leverage risk). MBS TBAs and dollar rolls are subject to the risk that the counterparty to the transaction may not perform or be unable to perform in accordance with the terms of the instrument.
Frequent Trading Risk.
The portfolio managers may actively and frequently trade investments in the Fund's portfolio to carry out its investment strategies. Frequent trading of investments increases the possibility that the Fund, as relevant, will realize taxable capital gains (including short-term capital gains, which are generally taxable to shareholders at higher rates than long-term capital gains for U.S. federal income tax purposes), which could reduce the Fund's after-tax return. Frequent trading can also mean higher brokerage and other transaction costs, which could reduce the Fund's return. The trading costs and tax effects associated with portfolio turnover may adversely affect the Fund’s performance.
High-Yield Investments Risk.
Securities and other debt instruments held by the Fund that are rated below investment grade (commonly called “high-yield” or “junk” bonds) and unrated debt instruments of comparable quality tend to be more sensitive to credit risk than higher-rated debt instruments and may experience greater price fluctuations in response to perceived changes in the ability of the issuing entity or obligor to pay interest and principal when due than to changes in interest rates. These investments are generally more likely to experience a default than higher-rated debt instruments. High-yield debt instruments are considered to be predominantly speculative with respect to the issuer’s capacity to pay interest and repay principal. These debt instruments typically pay a premium – a higher interest rate or yield – because of the increased risk of loss, including default. High-yield debt instruments may require a greater degree of judgment to establish a price, may be difficult to sell at the time and price the Fund desires, may carry high transaction costs, and also are generally less liquid than higher-rated debt instruments. The ratings provided by third party rating agencies are based on analyses by these ratings agencies of the credit quality of the debt instruments and may not take into account every risk related to whether interest or principal will be timely repaid. In adverse economic and other circumstances, issuers of lower-rated debt instruments are more likely to have difficulty making principal and interest payments than issuers of higher-rated debt instruments.
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Impairment of Collateral Risk.
The value of collateral, if any, securing a loan can decline, and may be insufficient to meet the borrower’s obligations or difficult or costly to liquidate. In addition, the Fund’s access to collateral may be limited by bankruptcy or other insolvency laws. Further, certain floating rate and other loans may not be fully collateralized and may decline in value.
Inflation-Protected Securities Risk.
Inflation-protected debt securities tend to react to changes in real interest rates. Real interest rates can be described as nominal interest rates minus the expected impact of inflation. In general, the price of an inflation-protected debt security falls when real interest rates rise, and rises when real interest rates fall. Interest payments on inflation-protected debt securities will vary as the principal and/or interest is adjusted for inflation and may be more volatile than interest paid on ordinary bonds. In periods of deflation, the Fund may have no income at all from such investments. Income earned by a shareholder depends on the amount of principal invested, and that principal will not grow with inflation unless the shareholder reinvests the portion of Fund distributions that comes from inflation adjustments.
Interest Rate Risk.
Interest rate risk is the risk of losses attributable to changes in interest rates. In general, if prevailing interest rates rise, the values of loans and other debt instruments tend to fall, and if interest rates fall, the values of loans and other debt instruments tend to rise. Changes in the value of a debt instrument usually will not affect the amount of income the Fund receives from it but will generally affect the value of your investment in the Fund. Changes in interest rates may also affect the liquidity of the Fund’s investments in debt instruments. In general, the longer the maturity or duration of a debt instrument, the greater its sensitivity to changes in interest rates. Interest rate declines also may increase prepayments of debt obligations, which, in turn, would increase prepayment risk (the risk that the Fund will have to reinvest the money received in securities that have lower yields). Very low or negative interest rates may impact the Fund’s yield and may increase the risk that, if followed by rising interest rates, the Fund’s performance will be negatively impacted. The Fund is subject to the risk that the income generated by its investments may not keep pace with inflation. Actions by governments and central banking authorities can result in increases or decreases in interest rates. Such actions may negatively affect the value of debt instruments held by the Fund, resulting in a negative impact on the Fund's performance and NAV. Debt instruments with floating coupon rates are typically less sensitive to interest rate changes, but these debt instruments may decline in value if their coupon rates do not rise as much as, or keep pace with, yields on such types of debt instruments. Because rates on certain floating rate loans and other debt instruments reset only periodically, changes in prevailing interest rates (and particularly sudden and significant changes) can be expected to cause fluctuations in the Fund’s NAV. Any interest rate increases could cause the value of the Fund’s investments in debt instruments to decrease. Rising interest rates may prompt redemptions from the Fund, which may force the Fund to sell investments at a time when it is not advantageous to do so, which could result in losses.
Issuer Risk.
An issuer in which the Fund invests or to which it has exposure may perform poorly or below expectations, and the value of its loans or securities may therefore decline, which may negatively affect the Fund’s performance. Underperformance of an issuer may be caused by poor management decisions, competitive pressures, breakthroughs in technology, reliance on suppliers, labor problems or shortages, corporate restructurings, fraudulent disclosures, natural disasters, military confrontations, war, terrorism, disease/virus outbreaks, epidemics or other events, conditions and factors which may impair the value of an investment in the Fund.
Leverage Risk.
Leverage occurs when the Fund increases its assets available for investment using borrowings, derivatives, or similar instruments or techniques. Use of leverage can produce volatility and may exaggerate changes in the NAV of Fund shares and in the return on the Fund’s portfolio, which may increase the risk that the Fund will lose more than it has invested. The use of leverage may cause the Fund to liquidate portfolio positions when it may not be advantageous to do so to satisfy its obligations or to meet any required asset segregation or position coverage requirements. Futures contracts, options on futures contracts, forward contracts and other derivatives can allow the Fund to obtain large investment exposures in return for meeting relatively small margin requirements. As a result, investments in those transactions may be highly leveraged. If the Fund uses leverage, through the purchase of particular instruments such as derivatives, the Fund may experience capital losses that exceed the net assets of the Fund. Leverage can create an interest expense that may lower the Fund's overall returns. Leverage presents the opportunity for increased net income and capital gains, but may also exaggerate the Fund's volatility and risk of loss. There can be no guarantee that a leveraging strategy will be successful.
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LIBOR Replacement Risk.
London Inter-Bank Offered Rate (LIBOR), which is used extensively in the U.S. and globally as a benchmark or reference rate for various commercial and financial contracts, among other “inter-bank offered” reference rates, is expected to be discontinued. The elimination of LIBOR may adversely affect the interest rates on, and value of, certain Fund investments that are tied to LIBOR. Such investments may include bank loans, derivatives, floating rate loans, and other assets or liabilities. On July 27, 2017, the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority announced that it intends to stop compelling or inducing banks to submit LIBOR rates after 2021. More recently, in November 2020, Ice Benchmark Administrator (IBA) has announced its intention to consult on (i) the cessation of four LIBOR currencies (GBP, EUR, JPY and CHF) after the end of 2021 and (ii) on the cessation of the major USD LIBOR tenors (overnight, 1M, 3M, 6M and 12M) in mid-2023 and the cessation of the 1 week and 2M USD LIBOR by the end of 2021. IBA will make separate announcements following the outcome of the consultations. Actions by regulators have resulted in the establishment of alternative reference rates in most major currencies. The U.S. Federal Reserve, based on the recommendations of the New York Federal Reserve’s Alternative Reference Rate Committee (comprised of major derivative market participants and their regulators), has begun publishing SOFR that is intended to replace U.S. dollar LIBOR. Proposals for alternative reference rates for other currencies have also been announced or have already begun publication. Markets are slowly developing in response to these new reference rates. Uncertainty related to the liquidity impact of the change in rates, and how to appropriately adjust these rates at the time of transition, poses risks for the Fund. The effect of any changes to, or discontinuation of, LIBOR on the Fund will depend on, among other things, (1) existing fallback or termination provisions in individual contracts and (2) whether, how, and when industry participants develop and adopt new reference rates and fallbacks for both legacy and new instruments and contracts. The expected discontinuation of LIBOR could have a significant impact on the financial markets in general and may also present heightened risk to market participants, including public companies, investment advisers, investment companies, and broker-dealers. The risks associated with this discontinuation and transition will be exacerbated if the work necessary to effect an orderly transition to an alternative reference rate is not completed in a timely manner. For example, current information technology systems may be unable to accommodate new instruments and rates with features that differ from LIBOR. Accordingly, it is difficult to predict the full impact of the transition away from LIBOR on the Fund until new reference rates and fallbacks for both legacy and new instruments and contracts are commercially accepted and market practices become settled.
Liquidity Risk.
Liquidity risk is the risk associated with any event, circumstance, or characteristic of an investment or market that negatively impacts the Fund’s ability to sell, or realize the proceeds from the sale of, an investment at a desirable time or price. Liquidity risk may arise because of, for example, a lack of marketability of the investment, which means that when seeking to sell its portfolio investments, the Fund could find that selling is more difficult than anticipated, especially during times of high market volatility. Decreases in the number of financial institutions, including banks and broker-dealers, willing to make markets (match up sellers and buyers) in the Fund’s investments or decreases in their capacity or willingness to trade such investments may increase the Fund’s exposure to this risk. The debt market has experienced considerable growth, and financial institutions making markets in instruments purchased and sold by the Fund (e.g., bond dealers) have been subject to increased regulation. The impact of that growth and regulation on the ability and willingness of financial institutions to engage in trading or “making a market” in such instruments remains unsettled. Certain types of investments, such as lower-rated securities or those that are purchased and sold in over-the-counter markets, may be especially subject to liquidity risk. Securities or other assets in which the Fund invests may be traded in the over-the-counter market rather than on an exchange and therefore may be more difficult to purchase or sell at a fair price, which may have a negative impact on the Fund’s performance. Market participants attempting to sell the same or a similar instrument at the same time as the Fund could exacerbate the Fund’s exposure to liquidity risk. The Fund may have to accept a lower selling price for the holding, sell other liquid or more liquid investments that it might otherwise prefer to hold (thereby increasing the proportion of the Fund’s investments in less liquid or illiquid securities), or forego another more appealing investment opportunity. The liquidity of Fund investments may change significantly over time and certain investments that were liquid when purchased by the Fund may later become illiquid, particularly in times of overall economic distress. Changing regulatory, market or other conditions or environments (for example, the interest rate or credit environments) may also adversely affect the liquidity and the price of the Fund's investments. Judgment plays a larger role in valuing illiquid or less liquid investments as compared to valuing liquid or more liquid investments. Price volatility may be higher for illiquid or less liquid investments as a result of, for example, the relatively less frequent pricing of such
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securities (as compared to liquid or more liquid investments). Generally, the less liquid the market at the time the Fund sells a portfolio investment, the greater the risk of loss or decline of value to the Fund. Overall market liquidity and other factors can lead to an increase in redemptions, which may negatively impact Fund performance and NAV, including, for example, if the Fund is forced to sell investments in a down market. Floating rate loans generally are subject to legal or contractual restrictions on resale, may trade infrequently, their value may be impaired when the Fund needs to liquidate such loans, and are typically subject to extended settlement periods, each of which gives rise to liquidity risk.
Loan Interests Risk.
Loan interests may not be considered “securities,” and purchasers, such as the Fund, therefore may not be entitled to rely on the anti-fraud protections of the federal securities laws. Loan interests generally are subject to restrictions on transfer, and the Fund may be unable to sell loan interests at a time when it may otherwise be desirable to do so or may be able to sell them only at prices that are less than what the Fund regards as their fair market value. Accordingly, loan interests may at times be illiquid. Loan interests may be difficult to value and typically have extended settlement periods (generally greater than 7 days). This exposes the Fund to the risk that the receipt of principal and interest payments may be late due to delayed interest settlement. Extended settlement periods during significant Fund redemption activity could potentially cause increased short-term liquidity demands on the Fund. As a result, the Fund may be forced to sell investments at unfavorable prices, or borrow money or effect short settlements where possible (at a cost to the Fund), in an effort to generate sufficient cash to pay redeeming shareholders. The Fund’s actions in this regard may not be successful. Interests in loans created to finance highly leveraged companies or transactions, such as corporate acquisitions, may be especially vulnerable to adverse changes in economic or market conditions.
Interests in secured loans have the benefit of collateral and, typically, of restrictive covenants limiting the ability of the borrower to further encumber its assets, although many covenants may be waived or modified with the consent of a certain percentage of the holders of the loans even if the Fund does not consent. There is a risk that the value of any collateral securing a loan in which the Fund has an interest may decline and that the collateral may not be sufficient to cover the amount owed on the loan. In most loan agreements there is no formal requirement to pledge additional collateral. In the event the borrower defaults, the Fund’s access to the collateral may be limited or delayed by bankruptcy or other insolvency laws. Further, there is a risk that a court could take action with respect to a loan that is adverse to the holders of the loan, including the Fund. Such actions may include invalidating the loan, the lien on the collateral, the priority status of the loan, or ordering the refund of interest previously paid by the borrower. Any such actions by a court could adversely affect the Fund’s performance. A default or expected default of a loan could also make it difficult for the Fund to sell the loan at a price approximating the value previously placed on it. In order to enforce its rights in the event of a default, bankruptcy or similar situation, the Fund may be required to retain legal or similar counsel. This may increase the Fund’s operating expenses and adversely affect its NAV. Loans that have a lower priority for repayment in an issuer’s capital structure may involve a higher degree of overall risk than more senior loans of the same borrower. In the event of a default, second lien secured loans will generally be paid only if the value of the collateral exceeds the amount of the borrower’s obligations to the first lien secured lenders. The remaining collateral may not be sufficient to cover the full amount owed on the loan in which the Fund has an interest. In addition, if a secured loan is foreclosed, the Fund would likely bear the costs and liabilities associated with owning and disposing of the collateral. The collateral may be difficult to sell and the Fund would bear the risk that the collateral may decline in value while the Fund is holding it. From time to time, disagreements may arise amongst the holders of loans and debt in the capital structure of an issuer, which may give rise to litigation risks, including the risk that a court could take action adverse to the holders of the loan, which could negatively impact the Fund’s performance.
The Fund may acquire a loan interest by obtaining an assignment of all or a portion of the interests in a particular loan that are held by an original lender or a prior assignee. As an assignee, the Fund will usually succeed to all rights and obligations of its assignor with respect to the portion of the loan that is being assigned. However, the rights and obligations acquired by the purchaser of a loan assignment may differ from, and be more limited than, those held by the original lenders or the assignor. Alternatively, the Fund may acquire a participation interest in a loan that is held by another party. When the Fund’s loan interest is a participation, the Fund may have less control over the exercise of remedies than the party selling the participation interest, and the Fund normally would not have any direct rights
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against the borrower. As a participant, the Fund would also be subject to the risk that the party selling the participation interest would not remit the Fund’s pro rata share of loan payments to the Fund. It may also be difficult for the Fund to obtain an accurate picture of a lending bank’s financial condition.
Market Risk.
The Fund may incur losses due to declines in the value of one or more securities in which it invests. These declines may be due to factors affecting a particular issuer, or the result of, among other things, political, regulatory, market, economic or social developments affecting the relevant market(s) more generally. In addition, turbulence in financial markets and reduced liquidity in equity, credit and/or fixed income markets may negatively affect many issuers, which could adversely affect the Fund, including causing difficulty in assigning prices to hard-to-value assets in thinly traded and closed markets, significant redemptions and operational challenges. Global economies and financial markets are increasingly interconnected, and conditions and events in one country, region or financial market may adversely impact issuers in a different country, region or financial market. These risks may be magnified if certain events or developments adversely interrupt the global supply chain; in these and other circumstances, such risks might affect companies worldwide. As a result, local, regional or global events such as terrorism, war, natural disasters, disease/virus outbreaks and epidemics or other public health issues, recessions, depressions or other events – or the potential for such events – could have a significant negative impact on global economic and market conditions.
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) public health crisis has become a pandemic that has resulted in, and may continue to result in, significant global economic and societal disruption and market volatility due to disruptions in market access, resource availability, facilities operations, imposition of tariffs, export controls and supply chain disruption, among others. Such disruptions may be caused, or exacerbated by, quarantines and travel restrictions, workforce displacement and loss in human and other resources. The uncertainty surrounding the magnitude, duration, reach, costs and effects of the global pandemic, as well as actions that have been or could be taken by governmental authorities or other third parties, present unknowns that are yet to unfold. The impacts, as well as the uncertainty over impacts to come, of COVID-19 – and any other infectious illness outbreaks, epidemics and pandemics that may arise in the future – could negatively affect global economies and markets in ways that cannot necessarily be foreseen. In addition, the impact of infectious illness outbreaks and epidemics in emerging market countries may be greater due to generally less established healthcare systems, governments and financial markets. Public health crises caused by the COVID-19 outbreak may exacerbate other pre-existing political, social and economic risks in certain countries or globally. The disruptions caused by COVID-19 could prevent the Fund from executing advantageous investment decisions in a timely manner and negatively impact the Fund’s ability to achieve its investment objective. Any such event(s) could have a significant adverse impact on the value and risk profile of the Fund.
Mortgage- and Other Asset-Backed Securities Risk.
The value of any mortgage-backed and other asset-backed securities including collateralized debt obligations and collateralized loan obligations, if any, held by the Fund may be affected by, among other things, changes or perceived changes in: interest rates; factors concerning the interests in and structure of the issuer or the originator of the mortgages or other assets; the creditworthiness of the entities that provide any supporting letters of credit, surety bonds or other credit enhancements; or the market's assessment of the quality of underlying assets. Mortgage-backed securities represent interests in, or are backed by, pools of mortgages from which payments of interest and principal (net of fees paid to the issuer or guarantor of the securities) are distributed to the holders of the mortgage-backed securities. Other types of asset-backed securities typically represent interests in, or are backed by, pools of receivables such as credit, automobile, student and home equity loans. Mortgage- and other asset-backed securities can have a fixed or an adjustable rate. Mortgage- and other asset-backed securities are subject to liquidity risk (the risk that it may not be possible for the Fund to liquidate the instrument at an advantageous time or price) and prepayment risk (the risk that the underlying mortgage or other asset may be refinanced or prepaid prior to maturity during periods of declining or low interest rates, causing the Fund to have to reinvest the money received in securities that have lower yields). In addition, the impact of prepayments on the value of mortgage- and other asset-backed securities may be difficult to predict and may result in greater volatility. A decline or flattening of housing values may cause delinquencies in mortgages (especially sub-prime or non-prime mortgages) underlying mortgage-backed securities and thereby adversely affect the ability of the mortgage-backed securities issuer to make principal and/or interest payments to mortgage-backed securities
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holders, including the Fund. Rising or high interest rates tend to extend the duration of mortgage- and other asset-backed securities, making them more volatile and more sensitive to changes in interest rates. Payment of principal and interest on some mortgage-backed securities (but not the market value of the securities themselves) may be guaranteed (i) by the full faith and credit of the U.S. Government (in the case of securities guaranteed by the Government National Mortgage Association) or (ii) by its agencies, authorities, enterprises or instrumentalities (in the case of securities guaranteed by the Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA) or the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (FHLMC)), which are not insured or guaranteed by the U.S. Government (although FNMA and FHLMC may be able to access capital from the U.S. Treasury to meet their obligations under such securities). Mortgage-backed securities issued by non-governmental issuers (such as commercial banks, savings and loan institutions, private mortgage insurance companies, mortgage bankers and other secondary market issuers) may be supported by various credit enhancements, such as pool insurance, guarantees issued by governmental entities, letters of credit from a bank or senior/subordinated structures, and may entail greater risk than obligations guaranteed by the U.S. Government, whether or not such obligations are guaranteed by the private issuer.
Preferred Stock Risk.
Preferred stock is a type of stock that may pay dividends at a different rate than common stock of the same issuer, if at all, and that has preference over common stock in the payment of dividends and the liquidation of assets. Preferred stock does not ordinarily carry voting rights. The price of a preferred stock is generally determined by earnings, type of products or services, projected growth rates, experience of management, liquidity, and general market conditions of the markets on which the stock trades. The most significant risks associated with investments in preferred stock include issuer risk, market risk and interest rate risk (the risk of losses attributable to changes in interest rates).
Prepayment and Extension Risk.
Prepayment and extension risk is the risk that a loan, bond or other security or investment might, in the case of prepayment risk, be called or otherwise converted, prepaid or redeemed before maturity and, in the case of extension risk, that the investment might not be called as expected. In the case of prepayment risk, if the investment is converted, prepaid or redeemed before maturity, the portfolio managers may not be able to invest the proceeds in other investments providing as high a level of income, resulting in a reduced yield to the Fund. In the case of mortgage- or other asset-backed securities, as interest rates decrease or spreads narrow, the likelihood of prepayment increases. Conversely, extension risk is the risk that an unexpected rise in interest rates will extend the life of a mortgage- or other asset-backed security beyond the prepayment time. If the Fund's investments are locked in at a lower interest rate for a longer period of time, the portfolio managers may be unable to capitalize on securities with higher interest rates or wider spreads.
Reinvestment Risk.
Reinvestment risk arises when the Fund is unable to reinvest income or principal at the same or at least the same return it is currently earning.
Rule 144A and Other Exempted Securities Risk.
The Fund may invest in privately placed and other securities or instruments exempt from SEC registration (collectively “private placements”), subject to certain regulatory restrictions. In the U.S. market, private placements are typically sold only to qualified institutional buyers, or qualified purchasers, as applicable. An insufficient number of buyers interested in purchasing private placements at a particular time could adversely affect the marketability of such investments and the Fund might be unable to dispose of them promptly or at reasonable prices, subjecting the Fund to liquidity risk (the risk that it may not be possible for the Fund to liquidate the instrument at an advantageous time or price). The Fund’s holdings of private placements may increase the level of Fund illiquidity if eligible buyers are unable or unwilling to purchase them at a particular time. The Fund may also have to bear the expense of registering the securities for resale and the risk of substantial delays in effecting the registration. Additionally, the purchase price and subsequent valuation of private placements typically reflect a discount, which may be significant, from the market price of comparable securities for which a more liquid market exists. Issuers of Rule 144A eligible securities are required to furnish information to potential investors upon request. However, the required disclosure is much less extensive than that required of public companies and is not publicly available since the offering information is not filed with the SEC. Further, issuers of Rule 144A eligible securities can require recipients of the offering information (such as the Fund) to agree contractually to keep the information confidential, which could also adversely affect the Fund’s ability to dispose of the security.
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Sovereign Debt Risk.
A sovereign debtor’s willingness or ability to repay principal and pay interest in a timely manner may be affected by a variety of factors, including its cash flow situation, the extent of its reserves, the availability of sufficient foreign exchange on the date a payment is due, the relative size of the debt service burden to the economy as a whole, the sovereign debtor’s policy toward international lenders, and the political constraints to which a sovereign debtor may be subject.
With respect to sovereign debt of emerging market issuers, investors should be aware that certain emerging market countries are among the largest debtors to commercial banks and foreign governments. At times, certain emerging market countries have declared moratoria on the payment of principal and interest on external debt. Certain emerging market countries have experienced difficulty in servicing their sovereign debt on a timely basis and that has led to defaults and the restructuring of certain indebtedness to the detriment of debtholders. Sovereign debt risk is increased for emerging market issuers.
Stripped Securities Risk.
Stripped securities are the separate income or principal components of debt securities. These securities are particularly sensitive to changes in interest rates, and therefore subject to greater fluctuations in price than typical interest bearing debt securities. For example, stripped mortgage-backed securities have greater interest rate risk than mortgage-backed securities with like maturities, and stripped treasury securities have greater interest rate risk (the risk of losses attributable to changes in interest rates) than traditional government securities with identical credit ratings.
U.S. Government Obligations Risk.
While U.S. Treasury obligations are backed by the “full faith and credit” of the U.S. Government, such securities are nonetheless subject to credit risk (
i.e.
, the risk that the U.S. Government may be, or may be perceived to be, unable or unwilling to honor its financial obligations, such as making payments). Securities issued or guaranteed by federal agencies or authorities and U.S. Government-sponsored instrumentalities or enterprises may or may not be backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. Government. For example, securities issued by the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, the Federal National Mortgage Association and the Federal Home Loan Banks are neither insured nor guaranteed by the U.S. Government. These securities may be supported by the ability to borrow from the U.S. Treasury or only by the credit of the issuing agency, authority, instrumentality or enterprise and, as a result, are subject to greater credit risk than securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Treasury.
Additional Investment Strategies and Policies
This section describes certain investment strategies and policies that the Fund may utilize in pursuit of its investment objective and some additional factors and risks involved with investing in the Fund.
Investment Guidelines
As a general matter, and except as specifically described in the discussion of the Fund's principal investment strategies in this prospectus or as otherwise required by the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the 1940 Act), the rules and regulations thereunder and any applicable exemptive relief, whenever an investment policy or limitation states a percentage of the Fund's assets that may be invested in any security or other asset or sets forth a policy regarding an investment standard, compliance with that percentage limitation or standard will be determined solely at the time of the Fund's investment in the security or asset.
Holding Other Kinds of Investments
The Fund may hold other investments that are not part of its principal investment strategies. These investments and their risks are described below and/or in the SAI. The Fund may choose not to invest in certain securities described in this prospectus and in the SAI, although it has the ability to do so. Information on the Fund’s holdings can be found in the Fund’s shareholder reports or by visiting columbiathreadneedleus.com.
Transactions in Derivatives
The Fund may enter into derivative transactions or otherwise have exposure to derivative transactions through underlying investments. Derivatives are financial contracts whose values are, for example, based on (or “derived” from) traditional securities (such as a stock or bond), assets (such as a commodity like gold or a foreign currency),
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reference rates (such as the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (commonly known as SOFR) or the London Interbank Offered Rate (commonly known as LIBOR)) or market indices (such as the Standard & Poor’s 500
®
Index). The use of derivatives is a highly specialized activity which involves investment techniques and risks different from those associated with ordinary portfolio securities transactions. Derivatives involve special risks and may result in losses or may limit the Fund’s potential gain from favorable market movements. Derivative strategies often involve leverage, which may exaggerate a loss, potentially causing the Fund to lose more money than it would have lost had it invested in the underlying security or other asset directly. The values of derivatives may move in unexpected ways, especially in unusual market conditions, and may result in increased volatility in the value of the derivative and/or the Fund’s shares, among other consequences. The use of derivatives may also increase the amount of taxes payable by shareholders holding shares in a taxable account. Other risks arise from the Fund’s potential inability to terminate or to sell derivative positions. A liquid secondary market may not always exist for the Fund’s derivative positions at times when the Fund might wish to terminate or to sell such positions. Over-the-counter instruments (investments not traded on an exchange) may be illiquid, and transactions in derivatives traded in the over-the-counter market are subject to the risk that the other party will not meet its obligations. The use of derivatives also involves the risks of mispricing or improper valuation and that changes in the value of the derivative may not correlate perfectly with the underlying security, asset, reference rate or index. The Fund also may not be able to find a suitable derivative transaction counterparty, and thus may be unable to engage in derivative transactions when it is deemed favorable to do so, or at all. U.S. federal legislation has been enacted that provides for new clearing, margin, reporting and registration requirements for participants in the derivatives market. These changes could restrict and/or impose significant costs or other burdens upon the Fund’s participation in derivatives transactions. For more information on the risks of derivative investments and strategies, see the SAI.
LIBOR Phase-Out Risk.
Many derivatives and other financial instruments utilize or are permitted to utilize a floating interest rate based on LIBOR. On July 27, 2017, the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority announced its intention to phase out the use of LIBOR by the end of 2021. More recently, in November 2020, Ice Benchmark Administrator (IBA) has announced its intention to consult on (i) the cessation of four LIBOR currencies (GBP, EUR, JPY and CHF) after the end of 2021 and (ii) on the cessation of the major USD LIBOR tenors (overnight, 1M, 3M, 6M and 12M) in mid-2023 and the cessation of the 1 week and 2M USD LIBOR by the end of 2021. IBA will make separate announcements following the outcome of the consultations. The interest rate benchmark(s) that will replace LIBOR in the capital markets remains uncertain, and the overall economic impact of the transition away from LIBOR cannot yet be determined. The Investment Manager monitors the Fund’s LIBOR exposure risks, including the extent to which any derivative and/or debt investments allow for the utilization of alternative rate(s) to LIBOR.
Affiliated Fund Investing
The Investment Manager or an affiliate serves as investment adviser to funds using the Columbia brand (Columbia Funds), including those that are structured as “fund-of-funds”, and provides asset-allocation services to (i) shareholders by investing in shares of other Columbia Funds, which may include the Fund (collectively referred to in this section as Underlying Funds), and (ii) discretionary managed accounts (collectively referred to as affiliated products) that invest exclusively in Underlying Funds. These affiliated products, individually or collectively, may own a significant percentage of the outstanding shares of one or more Underlying Funds, and the Investment Manager seeks to balance potential conflicts of interest between the affiliated products and the Underlying Funds in which they invest. The affiliated products’ investment in the Underlying Funds may have the effect of creating economies of scale, possibly resulting in lower expense ratios for the Underlying Funds, because the affiliated products may own substantial portions of the shares of Underlying Funds. However, redemption of Underlying Fund shares by one or more affiliated products could cause the expense ratio of an Underlying Fund to increase, as its fixed costs would be spread over a smaller asset base. Because of large positions of certain affiliated products, the Underlying Funds may experience relatively large inflows and outflows of cash due to affiliated products’ purchases and sales of Underlying Fund shares. Although the Investment Manager or its affiliate may seek to minimize the impact of these transactions where possible, for example, by structuring them over a reasonable period of time or through other measures, Underlying Funds may experience increased expenses as they buy and sell portfolio securities to manage the cash flow effect related to these transactions. Further, when the Investment Manager or its affiliate structures transactions over a reasonable period of time in order to manage the potential impact of the buy and sell decisions
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for the affiliated products, those affiliated products, including funds-of-funds, may pay more or less (for purchase activity), or receive more or less (for redemption activity), for shares of the Underlying Funds than if the transactions were executed in one transaction. In addition, substantial redemptions by affiliated products within a short period of time could require the Underlying Fund to liquidate positions more rapidly than would otherwise be desirable, which may have the effect of reducing or eliminating potential gain or causing it to realize a loss. In order to meet such redemptions, an Underlying Fund may be forced to sell its liquid (or more liquid) positions, leaving the Underlying Fund holding, post-redemption, a relatively larger position in illiquid investments (i.e., any investment that the Fund reasonably expects cannot be sold or disposed of in current market conditions in seven calendar days or less without the sale or disposition significantly changing the market value of the investment) or less liquid securities. Substantial redemptions may also adversely affect the ability of the Underlying Fund to implement its investment strategy. The Investment Manager or its affiliate also has a conflict of interest in determining the allocation of affiliated products’ assets among the Underlying Funds, as it earns different fees from the various Underlying Funds.
Investing in Money Market Funds
The Fund may invest cash in, or hold as collateral for certain investments, shares of registered or unregistered money market funds, including funds advised by the Investment Manager or its affiliates. These funds are not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) or any other government agency. The Fund and its shareholders indirectly bear a portion of the expenses of any money market fund or other fund in which the Fund may invest.
Lending of Portfolio Securities
The Fund may lend portfolio securities to broker-dealers or other financial intermediaries on a fully collateralized basis in order to earn additional income. The Fund may lose money from securities lending if, for example, it is delayed in or prevented from selling the collateral after the loan is made or recovering the securities loaned or if it incurs losses on the reinvestment of cash collateral.
The Fund currently does not participate in the securities lending program but the Board of Trustees (the Board) may determine to renew participation in the future. For more information on lending of portfolio securities and the risks involved, see the SAI and the annual and semiannual reports to shareholders.
Investing Defensively
The Fund may from time to time take temporary defensive investment positions that may be inconsistent with the Fund’s principal investment strategies in attempting to respond to adverse market, economic, political, social or other conditions, including, without limitation, investing some or all of its assets in money market instruments or shares of affiliated or unaffiliated money market funds or holding some or all of its assets in cash or cash equivalents. The Fund may take such defensive investment positions for as long a period as deemed necessary.
The Fund may not achieve its investment objective while it is investing defensively. Investing defensively may adversely affect Fund performance. During these times, the portfolio managers may make frequent portfolio holding changes, which could result in increased trading expenses and taxes, and decreased Fund performance. See also
Investing in Money Market Funds
above for more information.
Other Strategic and Investment Measures
The Fund may also from time to time take temporary portfolio positions that may or may not be consistent with the Fund’s principal investment strategies in attempting to respond to adverse market, economic, political, social or other conditions, including, without limitation, investing in derivatives, such as forward contracts, futures contracts, options, structured investments and swaps, for various purposes, including among others, investing in particular derivatives in seeking to reduce investment exposures, or in seeking to achieve indirect investment exposures, to a sector, country, region or currency where the Investment Manager believes such positioning is appropriate. The Fund may take such portfolio positions for as long a period as deemed necessary. While the Fund is so positioned, derivatives could comprise a substantial portion of the Fund’s investments and the Fund may not achieve its investment objective. Investing in this manner may adversely affect Fund performance. During these times, the
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portfolio managers may make frequent portfolio holding changes, which could result in increased trading expenses and taxes, and decreased Fund performance. For information on the risks of investing in derivatives, see
Transactions in Derivatives
above.
Portfolio Holdings Disclosure
The Board has adopted policies and procedures that govern the timing and circumstances of disclosure to shareholders and third parties of information regarding the securities owned by the Fund. A description of these policies and procedures is included in the SAI. Fund policy generally permits the disclosure of portfolio holdings information on the Fund's website (columbiathreadneedleus.com) only after a certain amount of time has passed, as described in the SAI.
Purchases and sales of portfolio securities can take place at any time, so the portfolio holdings information available on the Fund's website may not always be current.
FUNDamentals
Portfolio Holdings Versus the Benchmarks
The Fund does not limit its investments to the securities within its benchmark(s), and accordingly the Fund's holdings may diverge significantly from those of its benchmark(s). In addition, the Fund may invest in securities outside any industry and geographic sectors represented in its benchmark(s). The Fund's weightings in individual securities, and in industry or geographic sectors, may also vary considerably from those of its benchmark(s).
eDelivery and Mailings to Households
In order to reduce shareholder expenses, the Fund may mail only one copy of the Fund’s prospectus and each annual and semiannual report to those addresses shared by two or more accounts. If you wish to receive separate copies of these documents, call 800.345.6611 or, if your shares are held through a financial intermediary, contact your intermediary directly. Additionally, you may elect to enroll in eDelivery to receive electronic versions of these documents, as well as quarterly statements and supplements, by logging into your account at columbiathreadneedleus.com/investor/.
Cash Flows
The timing and magnitude of cash inflows from investors buying Fund shares could prevent the Fund from always being fully invested. Conversely, the timing and magnitude of cash outflows to shareholders redeeming Fund shares could require the Fund to sell portfolio securities at less than opportune times or to hold ready reserves of uninvested cash in amounts larger than might otherwise be the case to meet shareholder redemptions. Either situation could adversely impact the Fund’s performance.
Understanding Annual Fund Operating Expenses
The Fund’s annual operating expenses, as presented in the
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
table in the
Fees and Expenses of the Fund
section of this prospectus, generally are based on expenses incurred during the Fund’s most recently completed fiscal year, may vary by share class and are expressed as a percentage (expense ratio) of the Fund’s average net assets during that fiscal year. The expense ratios reflect the Fund’s fee arrangements as of the date of this prospectus and, unless indicated otherwise, are based on expenses incurred during the Fund’s most recent fiscal year. The Fund’s assets will fluctuate, but unless indicated otherwise in the
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
table, no adjustments have been or will be made to the expense ratios to reflect any differences in the Fund’s average net assets between the most recently completed fiscal year and the date of this prospectus or a later date. In general, the Fund’s expense ratios will increase as its net assets decrease, such that the Fund’s actual expense ratios may be higher than the expense ratios presented in the
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
table if assets fall. As applicable, any commitment by the Investment Manager and/or its affiliates to waive fees and/or cap (reimburse) expenses is expected, in part, to limit the impact of any increase in the Fund’s expense ratios that would
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otherwise result because of a decrease in the Fund’s assets in the current fiscal year. The Fund’s annual operating expenses are comprised of (i) investment management fees, (ii) distribution and/or service fees, and (iii) other expenses. Management fees do not vary by class, but distribution and/or service fees and other expenses may vary by class.
FUNDamentals
Other Expenses
“Other expenses” consist of the fees the Fund pays to its custodian, transfer agent, auditors, lawyers and trustees, costs relating to compliance and miscellaneous expenses. Generally, these expenses are allocated on a pro rata basis across all share classes. These fees include certain sub-transfer agency and shareholder servicing fees. Transfer agency fees and certain shareholder servicing fees, however, are class specific. They differ by share class because the shareholder services provided to each share class may be different. Accordingly, the differences in “other expenses” among share classes are primarily the result of the different transfer agency and shareholder servicing fees applicable to each share class. For more information on these fees, see
Choosing a Share Class — Financial Intermediary Compensation.
Fee Waiver/Expense Reimbursement Arrangements and Impact on Past Performance
The Investment Manager and certain of its affiliates have contractually agreed to waive fees and/or reimburse expenses (excluding certain fees and expenses described below) through December 31, 2021, unless sooner terminated at the sole discretion of the Fund's Board, so that the Fund’s net operating expenses, after giving effect to fees waived/expenses reimbursed and any balance credits and/or overdraft charges from the Fund’s custodian, do not exceed the annual rates of:
| Columbia Strategic Income Fund | |
| Class A | 0.98% |
| Class Adv | 0.73% |
| Class C | 1.73% |
| Class Inst | 0.73% |
| Class Inst2 | 0.70% |
| Class Inst3 | 0.65% |
| Class R | 1.23% |
Under the agreement, the following fees and expenses are excluded from the Fund’s operating expenses when calculating the waiver/reimbursement commitment, and therefore will be paid by the Fund, if applicable: taxes (including foreign transaction taxes), expenses associated with investment in affiliated and non-affiliated pooled investment vehicles (including mutual funds and exchange-traded funds), transaction costs and brokerage commissions, costs related to any securities lending program, dividend expenses associated with securities sold short, inverse floater program fees and expenses, transaction charges and interest on borrowed money, interest, infrequent and/or unusual expenses and any other expenses the exclusion of which is specifically approved by the Fund’s Board. This agreement may be modified or amended only with approval from all parties.
Effect of Fee Waivers and/or Expense Reimbursements on Past Performance.
The Fund’s returns shown in the
Performance Information
section of this prospectus reflect the effect of any fee waivers and/or reimbursements of Fund expenses by the Investment Manager and/or any of its affiliates and any predecessor firms that were in place during the performance period shown. Without such fee waivers/expense reimbursements, the Fund’s returns might have been lower.
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Primary Service Providers
The Fund enters into contractual arrangements (Service Provider Contracts) with various service providers, including, among others, the Investment Manager, the Distributor, the Transfer Agent and the Fund’s custodian. The Fund’s Service Provider Contracts are solely among the parties thereto. Shareholders are not parties to, or intended to be third-party beneficiaries of, any Service Provider Contracts. Further, this prospectus, the SAI and any Service Provider Contracts are not intended to give rise to any agreement, duty, special relationship or other obligation between the Fund and any investor, or give rise to any contractual, tort or other rights in any individual shareholder, group of shareholders or other person, including any right to assert a fiduciary or other duty, enforce the Service Provider Contracts against the parties or to seek any remedy thereunder, either directly or on behalf of the Fund. Nothing in the previous sentence should be read to suggest any waiver of any rights under federal or state securities laws.
The Investment Manager, the Distributor, and the Transfer Agent are all affiliates of Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (Ameriprise Financial). They and their affiliates currently provide key services, including investment advisory, administration, distribution, shareholder servicing and transfer agency services, to the Fund and various other funds, including the Columbia Funds, and are paid for providing these services. These service relationships are described below.
The Investment Manager
Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC is located at 225 Franklin Street, Boston, MA 02110 and serves as investment adviser and administrator to the Columbia Funds. The Investment Manager is a registered investment adviser and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ameriprise Financial. The Investment Manager’s management experience covers all major asset classes, including equity securities, debt instruments and money market instruments. In addition to serving as an investment adviser to traditional mutual funds, exchange-traded funds and closed-end funds, the Investment Manager acts as an investment adviser for itself, its affiliates, individuals, corporations, retirement plans, private investment companies and financial intermediaries.
Subject to oversight by the Board, the Investment Manager manages the day-to-day operations of the Fund, determining what securities and other investments the Fund should buy or sell and executing portfolio transactions. The Investment Manager may use the research and other capabilities of its affiliates and third parties in managing the Fund’s investments. The Investment Manager is also responsible for overseeing the administrative operations of the Fund, including the general supervision of the Fund’s operations, the coordination of the Fund’s other service providers and the provision of related clerical and administrative services.
The SEC has issued an order that permits the Investment Manager, subject to the approval of the Board, to appoint unaffiliated subadvisers by entering into subadvisory agreements with them, and to change in material respects the terms of those subadvisory agreements, including the fees paid thereunder, for the Fund without first obtaining shareholder approval, thereby avoiding the expense and delays typically associated with obtaining shareholder approval. The Fund furnishes shareholders with information about new subadvisers retained in reliance on the order within 90 days after hiring the subadviser. The Investment Manager and its affiliates may have other relationships, including significant financial relationships, with current or potential subadvisers or their affiliates, which may create certain conflicts of interest. When making recommendations to the Board to appoint or to change a subadviser, or to change the terms of a subadvisory agreement, the Investment Manager discloses to the Board the nature of any such material relationships. At present, the Investment Manager has not engaged any investment subadviser for the Fund.
The Fund pays the Investment Manager a fee for its management services, which include investment advisory services and administrative services. The fee is calculated as a percentage of the daily net assets of the Fund and is paid monthly. For the Fund’s most recent fiscal year, management services fees paid to the Investment Manager by the Fund amounted to 0.557% of average daily net assets of the Fund, before any applicable reimbursements.
A discussion regarding the basis for the Board’s approval of the renewal of the Fund's management agreement is available in the Fund’s annual report to shareholders for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2020.
| Prospectus 2021 | 33 |
Columbia Strategic Income Fund
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
Portfolio Managers
Information about the portfolio managers primarily responsible for overseeing the Fund’s investments is shown below. The SAI provides additional information about the portfolio managers, including information relating to compensation, other accounts managed by the portfolio managers, and ownership by the portfolio managers of Fund shares.
| Portfolio Manager | Title | Role with Fund | Managed Fund Since | |||
| Gene Tannuzzo, CFA | Deputy Global Head of Fixed Income and Senior Portfolio Manager | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2010 | |||
| Colin Lundgren, CFA* | Managing Director and Global Head of Fixed Income | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2010 | |||
| Jason Callan | Senior Portfolio Manager and Head of Structured Assets | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2017 |
| * | Colin Lundgren, CFA, has announced that he plans to retire from the Investment Manager, effective March 1, 2021. Accordingly, effective March 1, 2021, all references to Mr. Lundgren are hereby removed. Until then, Mr. Lundgren will continue to serve as a portfolio manager of the Fund. Mr. Lundgren plans to remain with Columbia Threadneedle Investments through 2021 to assist as needed. |
Mr. Tannuzzo
joined the Investment Manager in 2003. Mr. Tannuzzo began his investment career in 2003 and earned a B.S.B. and an M.B.A. from the University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management.
Mr. Lundgren
joined the Investment Manager in 1986. Mr. Lundgren began his investment career in 1986 and earned a B.A. from Lake Forest College.
Mr. Callan
joined the Investment Manager in 2007. Mr. Callan began his investment career in 2003 and earned a B.S. from the University of Minnesota and an M.B.A. from the University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management.
The Distributor
Shares of the Fund are distributed by Columbia Management Investment Distributors, Inc., which is located at 225 Franklin Street, Boston, MA 02110. The Distributor is a registered broker-dealer and an indirect, wholly-owned subsidiary of Ameriprise Financial. The Distributor and its affiliates may pay commissions, distribution and service fees and/or other compensation to entities, including Ameriprise Financial affiliates, for selling shares and providing services to investors.
The Transfer Agent
Columbia Management Investment Services Corp. is a registered transfer agent and wholly-owned subsidiary of Ameriprise Financial. The Transfer Agent is located at 225 Franklin Street, Boston, MA 02110, and its responsibilities include processing purchases, redemptions and exchanges of Fund shares, calculating and paying distributions, maintaining shareholder records, preparing account statements and providing customer service. The Transfer Agent has engaged DST Asset Manager Solutions, Inc. to provide various shareholder or “sub-transfer agency” services. In addition, the Transfer Agent enters into agreements with various financial intermediaries through which you may hold Fund shares, pursuant to which the Transfer Agent pays these financial intermediaries for providing certain shareholder services. Depending on the type of account, the Fund pays the Transfer Agent a per account fee or a fee based on the assets invested through omnibus accounts, and reimburses the Transfer Agent for certain out-of-pocket expenses, including certain payments to financial intermediaries through which shares are held.
Other Roles and Relationships of Ameriprise Financial and its Affiliates — Certain Conflicts of Interest
The Investment Manager, Distributor and Transfer Agent, all affiliates of Ameriprise Financial, provide various services to the Fund and other Columbia Funds for which they are compensated. Ameriprise Financial and its other affiliates may also provide other services to these funds and be compensated for them.
| 34 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Strategic Income Fund
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
The Investment Manager and its affiliates may provide investment advisory and other services to other clients and customers substantially similar to those provided to the Columbia Funds. These activities, and other financial services activities of Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates, may present actual and potential conflicts of interest and introduce certain investment constraints.
Ameriprise Financial is a major financial services company, engaged in a broad range of financial activities beyond the fund-related activities of the Investment Manager, including, among others, insurance, broker-dealer (sales and trading), asset management, banking and other financial activities. These additional activities may involve multiple advisory, financial, insurance and other interests in securities and other instruments, and in companies that issue securities and other instruments, that may be bought, sold or held by the Columbia Funds.
Conflicts of interest and limitations that could affect a Columbia Fund may arise from, for example, the following:
| ■ | compensation and other benefits received by the Investment Manager and other Ameriprise Financial affiliates related to the management/administration of a Columbia Fund and the sale of its shares; |
| ■ | the allocation of, and competition for, investment opportunities among the Fund, other funds and accounts advised/managed by the Investment Manager and other Ameriprise Financial affiliates, or Ameriprise Financial itself and its affiliates; |
| ■ | separate and potentially divergent management of a Columbia Fund and other funds and accounts advised/managed by the Investment Manager and other Ameriprise Financial affiliates; |
| ■ | regulatory and other investment restrictions on investment activities of the Investment Manager and other Ameriprise Financial affiliates and accounts advised/managed by them; |
| ■ | insurance and other relationships of Ameriprise Financial affiliates with companies and other entities in which a Columbia Fund invests; and |
| ■ | regulatory and other restrictions relating to the sharing of information between Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates, including the Investment Manager, and a Columbia Fund. |
The Investment Manager and Ameriprise Financial have adopted various policies and procedures that are intended to identify, monitor and address conflicts of interest. However, there is no assurance that these policies, procedures and disclosures will be effective.
Additional information about Ameriprise Financial and the types of conflicts of interest and other matters referenced above is set forth in the
Investment Management and Other Services — Other Roles and Relationships of Ameriprise Financial and its Affiliates — Certain Conflicts of Interest
section of the SAI. Investors in the Columbia Funds should carefully review these disclosures and consult with their financial advisor if they have any questions.
Certain Legal Matters
Ameriprise Financial and certain of its affiliates have historically been involved in a number of legal, arbitration and regulatory proceedings, including routine litigation, class actions and governmental actions, concerning matters arising in connection with the conduct of their business activities. Ameriprise Financial believes that the Fund is not currently the subject of, and that neither Ameriprise Financial nor any of its affiliates are the subject of, any pending legal, arbitration or regulatory proceedings that are likely to have a material adverse effect on the Fund or the ability of Ameriprise Financial or its affiliates to perform under their contracts with the Fund. Information regarding certain pending and settled legal proceedings may be found in the Fund’s shareholder reports and in the SAI. Additionally, Ameriprise Financial is required to make quarterly (10-Q), annual (10-K) and, as necessary, 8-K filings with the SEC on legal and regulatory matters that relate to Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates. Copies of these filings may be obtained by accessing the SEC website at sec.gov.
| Prospectus 2021 | 35 |
Columbia Strategic Income Fund
Choosing a Share Class
The Funds
The Columbia Funds (referred to as the Funds) generally share the same policies and procedures for investor services, as described below. Each Fund is a series of Columbia Funds Series Trust (CFST), Columbia Funds Series Trust I (CFST I) or Columbia Funds Series Trust II (CFST II), and certain features of distribution and/or service plans may differ among these trusts. The Fund offered by this prospectus is a series of CFST I. Columbia Funds with names that include the words “Tax-Exempt” or “Municipal” (the Tax-Exempt Funds) have certain policies that differ from other Columbia Funds (the Taxable Funds). The Fund offered by this prospectus is treated as a Taxable Fund for these purposes.
Funds Contact Information
Additional information about the Funds, including sales charges and other class features and policies, can be obtained, free of charge, at columbiathreadneedleus.com,* by calling toll-free 800.345.6611, or by writing (regular mail) to Columbia Management Investment Services Corp., P.O. Box 219104, Kansas City, MO 64121-9104 or (express mail) Columbia Management Investment Services Corp., c/o DST Asset Manager Solutions, Inc., 430 W 7
th
Street, Ste 219104, Kansas City, MO 64105-1407.
| * | The website references in this prospectus are inactive links and information contained in or otherwise accessible through the referenced websites does not form a part of this prospectus. |
FUNDamentals
Financial Intermediaries
The term “financial intermediary” refers to the selling and servicing agents that are authorized to sell and/or service shares of the Funds. Financial intermediaries include broker-dealers and financial advisors as well as firms that employ broker-dealers and financial advisors, including, for example, brokerage firms, banks, investment advisers, third party administrators and other firms in the financial services industry.
Omnibus Accounts
The term “omnibus account” refers to a financial intermediary’s account with the Fund (held directly through the Transfer Agent) that represents the combined holdings of, and transactions in, Fund shares of one or more clients of the financial intermediary (beneficial Fund shareholders). Omnibus accounts are held in the name of the financial intermediaries and not in the name of the beneficial Fund shareholders invested in the Fund through omnibus accounts.
Retirement Plans and Omnibus Retirement Plans
The term “retirement plan” refers to retirement plans created under Sections 401(a), 401(k), 457 and 403(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the Code), and non-qualified deferred compensation plans governed by Section 409A of the Code and similar plans, but does not refer to individual retirement plans, such as traditional IRAs and Roth IRAs. The term “omnibus retirement plan” refers to a retirement plan that has a plan-level or omnibus account with the Transfer Agent.
Networked Accounts
Networking, offered by the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation’s Wealth Management Services (WMS), is the industry standard IT system for mutual fund account reconciliation and dividend processing.
Summary of Share Class Features
Each share class has its own investment eligibility criteria, cost structure and other features. You may not be eligible to invest in every share class. Your financial intermediary may not make every share class available or may cease to make available one or more share classes of the Fund. The share class you select through your financial intermediary may have higher fees and/or sales charges than other classes of shares available through other financial intermediaries. An investor transacting in a class of Fund shares without any front-end sales charge, contingent deferred sales charge (CDSC), or other asset-based fee for sales or distribution, such as a Rule 12b-1
| 36 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Strategic Income Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
fee, may be required to pay a commission to the financial intermediary for effecting such transactions. Each investor’s personal situation is different and you may wish to discuss with your financial intermediary the share classes the Fund offers, which share classes are available to you and which share class(es) is/are appropriate for you. In all instances, it is your responsibility to notify your financial intermediary or (for Direct-at-Fund Accounts, as defined below) the Fund at the time of purchase of any relationship or other facts that may qualify you for sales charge waivers or discounts. The Fund, the Distributor and the Transfer Agent do not provide investment advice or make recommendations regarding Fund share classes. Your financial intermediary may provide advice and recommendations to you, such as which share class(es) is/are appropriate for you.
When deciding which class of shares to buy, you should consider, among other things:
| ■ | The amount you plan to invest. |
| ■ | How long you intend to remain invested in the Fund. |
| ■ | The fees (e.g., sales charge or “load”) and expenses for each share class. |
| ■ | Whether you may be eligible for a reduction or waiver of sales charges when you buy or sell shares. |
FUNDamentals
Front-End Sales Charge Calculation
The front-end sales charge is calculated as a percentage of the offering price.
| ■ | The net asset value (NAV) per share is the price of a share calculated by the Fund every business day. |
| ■ | The offering price per share is the NAV per share plus any front-end sales charge (or load) that applies. |
The dollar amount of any applicable front-end sales charge is the difference between the offering price of the shares you buy and the NAV of those shares. To determine the front-end sales charge you will pay when you buy Class A and Class V shares, the Fund will add the amount of your investment to the value of your account (and any other accounts eligible for aggregation of which you or your financial intermediary notifies the Fund) and base the sales charge on the aggregate amount. For information on account value aggregation, sales charge waivers and other important information, see
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
.
FUNDamentals
Contingent Deferred Sales Charge
A contingent deferred sales charge (CDSC) is a sales charge applied at the time you sell your shares, unlike a front-end sales charge that is applied at the time of purchase. A CDSC can vary based on the length of time that you have held your shares. A CDSC is applied to the NAV at the time of your purchase or sale, whichever is lower, and will not be applied to any shares you receive through Fund distribution reinvestments or any amount that represents appreciation in the value of your shares. For purposes of calculating a CDSC, the start of the holding period is generally the first day of the month in which your purchase was made.
When you place an order to sell shares of a class that has a CDSC, the Fund will first redeem any shares that are not subject to a CDSC, followed by those you have held the longest. This means that if a CDSC is imposed, you cannot designate the individual shares being redeemed for U.S. federal income tax purposes. You should consult your tax advisor about the tax consequences of investing in the Fund. In certain circumstances, the CDSC may not apply. See
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
for details.
| Prospectus 2021 | 37 |
Columbia Strategic Income Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
Share Class Features
The following summarizes the primary features of Class A, Class Adv, Class C, Class Inst, Class Inst2, Class Inst3, Class R, and Class V shares.
Not all Funds offer every class of shares. The Fund offers the class(es) of shares set forth on the cover of this prospectus and may offer other share classes through a separate prospectus. Although certain share classes are generally closed to new and/or existing investors, information relating to these share classes is included in the table below because certain qualifying purchase orders are permitted, as described below.
The sales charge reductions and waivers available to investors who purchase and hold their Fund shares through different financial intermediaries may vary.
Appendix A
describes financial intermediary-specific reductions and/or waiver policies. A shareholder transacting in Fund shares through a financial intermediary identified in
Appendix A
should carefully read the terms and conditions of
Appendix A
. A reduction and/or waiver that is specific to a particular financial intermediary is not available to Direct-at-Fund Accounts, as defined below, or through another financial intermediary. The information in
Appendix A
may be provided by, or compiled from or based on information provided by the financial intermediaries identified in
Appendix A
. To obtain additional information regarding any sales charge reduction and/or waiver described in
Appendix A
, and to ensure that you receive any such reductions or waivers that may be available to you, please consult your financial intermediary.
| Share Class |
Eligible Investors
(a)
;
Minimum Initial Investments
(b)
;
Conversion Features
(c)
|
Front-End
Sales Charges
(d)
|
Contingent Deferred
Sales Charges (CDSCs)
(d)
|
Sales Charge
Reductions/Waivers |
Maximum Distribution
and/or Service Fees
(e)
|
| Class A |
Eligibility:
Available to the general public for investment
(f)
$2,000 ($1,000 for IRAs; $100 for systematic investment plan accounts)
|
Taxable Funds:
5.75% maximum, declining to 0.00% on investments of $1 million or more
3.00% maximum, declining to 0.00% on investments of $500,000 or more
None for Columbia Government Money Market Fund and certain other Funds
(g)
|
Taxable Funds
(g)
:
CDSC on certain investments of between $1 million and $50 million redeemed within 18 months after purchase charged as follows:
• 1.00% CDSC if redeemed within 12 months after purchase, and
• 0.50% CDSC if redeemed more than 12, but less than 18, months after purchase
(g)
:
Maximum CDSC of 0.75% on certain investments of $500,000 or more redeemed within 12 months after purchase
|
Reductions
: Yes, see
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges – Class A and Class V Shares Front-End Sales Charge Reductions
: Yes, on Fund distribution reinvestments. For additional waivers, see
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges – Class A and Class V Shares Front-End Sales Charge Waivers
, as well as
Choosing a Share Class — CDSC Waivers – Class A, Class C and Class V
Financial intermediary-specific waivers are also available, see
Appendix A
|
Distribution and Service
Fees:
up to 0.25%
|
|
Class
Adv |
Eligibility:
Available only to (i) omnibus retirement plans, including self-directed brokerage accounts within omnibus retirement plans that clear through institutional no transaction fee (NTF) platforms; (ii) trust companies or
|
None | None | N/A | None |
| 38 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Strategic Income Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
| Share Class |
Eligible Investors
(a)
;
Minimum Initial Investments
(b)
;
Conversion Features
(c)
|
Front-End
Sales Charges
(d)
|
Contingent Deferred
Sales Charges (CDSCs)
(d)
|
Sales Charge
Reductions/Waivers |
Maximum Distribution
and/or Service Fees
(e)
|
|
similar institutions; (iii) broker-dealers, banks, trust companies and similar institutions that clear Fund share transactions for their client or customer investment advisory or similar accounts through designated financial intermediaries and their mutual fund trading platforms that have been granted specific written authorization from the Transfer Agent with respect to Class Adv eligibility apart from selling, servicing or similar agreements; (iv) 501(c)(3) charitable organizations; (v) 529 plans; (vi) health savings accounts; (vii) investors participating in a fee-based advisory program sponsored by a financial intermediary or other entity that is not compensated by the Fund for those services, other than payments for shareholder servicing or sub-accounting performed in place of the Transfer Agent; and (viii) commissionable brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary, acting as broker on behalf of its customer, charges the customer a commission for effecting transactions in Fund shares, provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Adv shares within such platform.
(f)
Minimum Initial Investment:
None, except in the case of (viii) above, which is $2,000 ($1,000 for IRAs; $100 for systematic investment plan accounts)
|
|||||
| Class C |
Eligibility:
Available to the general public for investment
$2,000 ($1,000 for IRAs; $100 for systematic investment plan accounts)
$499,999
(h)
, none for omnibus retirement plans
$999,999
(h)
; none for omnibus retirement plans
: Yes, Class C shares generally automatically convert to Class A shares of the same Fund in the month of or the month following the 10-year
|
None |
1.00% on certain investments redeemed within one year of purchase
(i)
|
Waivers
: Yes, on Fund distribution reinvestments. For additional waivers, see
Choosing a Share Class – CDSC Waivers – Class A, Class C and Class V
Financial intermediary-specific CDSC waivers are also available, see
Appendix A
|
Distribution Fee:
0.75%
0.25%
|
| Prospectus 2021 | 39 |
Columbia Strategic Income Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
| Share Class |
Eligible Investors
(a)
;
Minimum Initial Investments
(b)
;
Conversion Features
(c)
|
Front-End
Sales Charges
(d)
|
Contingent Deferred
Sales Charges (CDSCs)
(d)
|
Sales Charge
Reductions/Waivers |
Maximum Distribution
and/or Service Fees
(e)
|
|
anniversary of the Class C shares purchase date.
(c)
|
|||||
|
Class
Inst |
Eligibility:
Available only to certain eligible investors, which are subject to different minimum investment requirements, ranging from $0 to $2,000, including investors who purchase Fund shares through commissionable brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary holds the shares in an omnibus account and, acting as broker on behalf of its customer, charges the customer a commission for effecting transactions in Fund shares, provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst shares within such platform; closed to (i) accounts of financial intermediaries that clear Fund share transactions for their client or customer accounts through designated financial intermediaries and their mutual fund trading platforms that have been given specific written notice from the Transfer Agent of the termination of their eligibility for new purchases of Class Inst shares and (ii) omnibus group retirement plans, subject to certain exceptions
(f)(j)
See
Eligibility
above
|
None | None | N/A | None |
|
Class
Inst2 |
Eligibility:
Available only to (i) certain registered investment advisers and family offices that clear Fund share transactions for their client or customer accounts through designated financial intermediaries and their mutual fund trading platforms that have been granted specific written authorization from the Transfer Agent with respect to Class Inst2 eligibility apart from selling, servicing or similar agreements; (ii) omnibus retirement plans
(j)
; and (iii) institutional investors that are clients of the Columbia Threadneedle Global Institutional Distribution Team that invest in Class Inst2 shares for their own account through platforms approved by the Distributor or an affiliate thereof to offer and/or service Class Inst2 shares within such platform.
None
|
None | None | N/A | None |
| 40 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Strategic Income Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
| Share Class |
Eligible Investors
(a)
;
Minimum Initial Investments
(b)
;
Conversion Features
(c)
|
Front-End
Sales Charges
(d)
|
Contingent Deferred
Sales Charges (CDSCs)
(d)
|
Sales Charge
Reductions/Waivers |
Maximum Distribution
and/or Service Fees
(e)
|
|
Class
Inst3 |
Eligibility:
Available to (i) group retirement plans that maintain plan-level or omnibus accounts with the Fund
(j)
; (ii) institutional investors that are clients of the Columbia Threadneedle Global Institutional Distribution Team that invest in Class Inst3 shares for their own account through platforms approved by the Distributor or an affiliate thereof to offer and/or service Class Inst3 shares within such platform; (iii) collective trust funds; (iv) affiliated or unaffiliated mutual funds (e.g., funds operating as funds-of-funds); (v) fee-based platforms of financial intermediaries (or the clearing intermediary they trade through) that have an agreement with the Distributor or an affiliate thereof that specifically authorizes the financial intermediary to offer and/or service Class Inst3 shares within such platform, provided also that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account; (vi) commissionable brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary, acting as broker on behalf of its customer, charges the customer a commission for effecting transactions in Fund shares, provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst3 shares within such platform and that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account; and (vii) bank trust departments, subject to an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst3 shares and provided that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account. In each case above where noted that Fund shares are required to be held in an omnibus account, the Distributor may, in its discretion, determine to waive this requirement.
(f)
No minimum for the eligible investors described in (i), (iii), (iv), (v), and (vii) above; $2,000 ($1,000 for IRAs; $100 for systematic investment plan accounts) for the eligible investors described in (vi) above; and $1 million for all other eligible investors, unless waived in the discretion of the Distributor
|
None | None | N/A | None |
| Class R |
Eligibility:
Available only to eligible retirement plans, health savings
|
None | None | N/A | Series of CFST & CFST I: |
| Prospectus 2021 | 41 |
Columbia Strategic Income Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
| Share Class |
Eligible Investors
(a)
;
Minimum Initial Investments
(b)
;
Conversion Features
(c)
|
Front-End
Sales Charges
(d)
|
Contingent Deferred
Sales Charges (CDSCs)
(d)
|
Sales Charge
Reductions/Waivers |
Maximum Distribution
and/or Service Fees
(e)
|
|
accounts and, in the sole discretion of the Distributor, other types of retirement accounts held through platforms maintained by financial intermediaries approved by the Distributor
Minimum Initial Investment:
None
|
distribution fee of 0.50%
Series of CFST II:
distribution and service fee of 0.50%, of which the service fee may be up to 0.25%
|
||||
| Class V |
Eligibility:
Generally closed to new investors
(j)
N/A
|
5.75% maximum, declining to 0.00% on investments of $1 million or more |
CDSC on certain investments of between $1 million and $50 million redeemed within 18 months after purchase, charged as follows:
|
Reductions
: Yes, see
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges – Class A and Class V Shares Front-End Sales Charge Reductions
: Yes, on Fund distribution reinvestments.
For additional waivers, see
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges – Class A and Class V Shares Front-End Sales Charge Waivers
, as well as
Choosing a Share Class — CDSC Waivers – Class A, Class C and Class V
|
Service Fee:
up to 0.50%
|
| (a) | For Columbia Government Money Market Fund, new investments must be made in Class A, Class Inst, Class Inst3, or Class R shares, subject to eligibility. Class C shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund are available as a new investment only to investors in the Distributor's proprietary 401(k) products, provided that such investor is eligible to invest in the class and transact directly with the Fund or the Transfer Agent through a third party administrator or third party recordkeeper. Columbia Government Money Market Fund offers Class Inst2 shares only to facilitate exchanges with other Funds offering such share class. |
| (b) |
Certain share classes are subject to minimum account balance requirements, as described in
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares — Transaction Rules and Policies.
|
| (c) |
For more information on the conversion of Class C shares to Class A shares, see
Choosing a Share Class - Sales Charges and Commissions - Class C Shares - Conversion to Class A Shares
.
|
| (d) |
Actual front-end sales charges and CDSCs vary among the Funds. For more information on applicable sales charges, see
Choosing a Share Class — Sales Charges and Commissions,
and for information about certain exceptions to these sales charges, see
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges.
|
| (e) |
These are the maximum applicable distribution and/or service fees. Except for Class V shares, these fees are paid under the Fund’s Rule 12b-1 plan. Fee rates and fee components (i.e., the portion of a combined fee that is a distribution or service fee) may vary among Funds. Because these fees are paid out of Fund assets on an ongoing basis, over time these fees will increase the cost of your investment and may cost you more than paying other types of distribution and/or service fees. Although Class A shares of certain series of CFST I are subject to a combined distribution and service fee of up to 0.35%, these Funds currently limit the combined fee to 0.25%. Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund pays a distribution and service fee of up to 0.15% on Class A shares. Columbia Government Money Market Fund pays a distribution and service fee of up to 0.10% on Class A shares and up to 0.75% distribution fee on Class C shares. Columbia High Yield Municipal Fund, Columbia Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund and Columbia Tax-Exempt Fund each pay a service fee of up to 0.20% on Class A and Class C shares. Columbia Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund pays a distribution fee of up to 0.65% on Class C shares. For more information on distribution and service fees, see
Choosing a Share Class — Distribution and Service Fees.
|
| (f) | Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund must be purchased through financial intermediaries that, by written agreement with the Distributor, are specifically authorized to sell the Fund’s shares. Class Adv shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund are also available to certain registered investment advisers that clear Fund share transactions for their client accounts through designated financial intermediaries with mutual fund trading platforms that have been granted specific written authorization from the Transfer Agent (apart from selling, servicing or similar agreements) to sell Class Inst2 shares, which are not offered by the Fund. Class Inst3 shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund that were open and funded accounts prior to November 30, 2018 (the conversion date from the former unnamed share class to Class Inst3 shares) are eligible for additional investment; however, any account established after that date must meet the current Class Inst3 eligibility requirements. |
| 42 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Strategic Income Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
| (g) | For Columbia Short Term Municipal Bond Fund, a CDSC of 0.50% is charged on certain investments of $500,000 or more redeemed within 12 months after purchase. The following Funds are not subject to a front-end sales charge or a CDSC on Class A shares: Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund, Columbia Small Cap Index Fund, Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund and Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund. |
| (h) |
If you are eligible to invest in Class A shares without a front-end sales charge, you should discuss your options with your financial intermediary. For more information, see
Choosing a Share Class – Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges.
|
| (i) | There is no CDSC on redemptions from Class C shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund. |
| (j) |
These share classes are closed to new accounts, or closed to previously eligible investors, subject to certain conditions, as summarized below and described in more detail under
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares — Buying Shares — Eligible Investors:
|
•
Class Inst Shares
. Financial intermediaries that clear Fund share transactions through designated financial intermediaries and their mutual fund trading platforms that have been given specific written notice from the Transfer Agent, effective March 29, 2013, of the termination of their eligibility for new purchases of Class Inst shares and omnibus retirement plans are not permitted to establish new Class Inst accounts, subject to certain exceptions. Omnibus retirement plans that opened and, subject to exceptions, funded a Class Inst account as of close of business on March 28, 2013, and have continuously held Class Inst shares in such account after such date, may generally continue to make additional purchases of Class Inst shares, open new Class Inst accounts and add new participants. In certain circumstances and in the sole discretion of the Distributor, omnibus retirement plans affiliated with a grandfathered plan may also open new Class Inst accounts. Accounts of financial intermediaries (other than omnibus retirement plans) that clear Fund share transactions for their client or customer accounts through designated financial intermediaries and their mutual fund trading platforms are not permitted to establish new Class Inst accounts or make additional purchases of Class Inst shares (other than through Fund distribution reinvestments).
•
Class Inst2 Shares
. Shareholders with Class Inst2 accounts funded before November 8, 2012 who do not satisfy the current eligibility criteria for Class Inst2 shares may not establish new Class Inst2 accounts but may continue to make additional purchases of Class Inst2 shares in existing accounts. In addition, investment advisory programs and similar programs that opened a Class Inst2 account as of May 1, 2010, and continuously hold Class Inst2 shares in such account after such date, may generally not only continue to make additional purchases of Class Inst2 shares but also open new Class Inst2 accounts and add new shareholders in the program.
•
Class Inst3 Shares
. Shareholders with Class Inst3 accounts funded before November 8, 2012 who do not satisfy the current eligibility criteria for Class Inst3 shares may not establish new accounts for such share class but may continue to make additional purchases of Class Inst3 shares in existing accounts.
•
with Class V accounts who received, and have continuously held, Class V shares (formerly named Class T shares) in connection with the merger of certain Galaxy funds into certain Funds that were then named Liberty funds may continue to make additional purchases of such share class.
Class V Shares.
Shareholders
Sales Charges and Commissions
Sales charges, commissions, and distribution fees compensate financial intermediaries (typically your financial advisor) for selling shares to you, and service fees compensate financial intermediaries for maintaining and servicing the shares held in your account with them. Distribution and service fees are discussed in a separate sub-section below. Depending on which share class you choose and the financial intermediary through which you purchase your shares, you may pay these charges at potentially different levels at the outset as a front-end sales charge, at the time you sell your shares as a CDSC and/or over time in the form of distribution and/or service fees.
As described in more detail below, Class A and Class V shares have a front-end sales charge, which is deducted from your purchase price when you buy your shares, and results in a smaller dollar amount being invested in the Fund than the purchase price you pay (unless you qualify for a waiver or reduction of the sales charge). The Fund’s other share classes do not have a front-end sales charge, so the full amount of your purchase price is invested in those classes. Class A and Class V shares have lower ongoing distribution and/or service fees than Class C and Class R shares of the Fund. Over time, Class C and Class R shares can incur distribution and/or service fees that are equal to or more than the front-end sales charge and the distribution and/or service fees you would pay for Class A and Class V shares. Although the full amount of your purchase price of Class C and Class R shares is invested in a Fund, your return on this money will be reduced by the expected higher annual expenses of Class C and Class R shares. In this regard, note that Class C shares will generally automatically convert to Class A shares of the same Fund in the month of or the month following the 10-year anniversary of the Class C shares purchase date. The Fund may convert Class C shares held through a financial intermediary to Class A shares sooner in connection with the withdrawal of Class C shares of the Fund from the financial intermediary’s platform or accounts. No sales charge or other charges will apply in connection with such conversions, and conversions are free from U.S. federal income tax. Once your Class C shares convert to Class A shares, your total returns from an investment in the Fund may increase as a result of the lower operating costs of Class A shares. Class Adv, Class Inst, Class Inst2 and Class Inst3 shares of the Fund do not have distribution and/or service fees.
| Prospectus 2021 | 43 |
Columbia Strategic Income Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
Whether the ultimate cost is higher for one share class over another depends on the amount you invest, how long you hold your shares, the fees (i.e., sales charges) and expenses of the class and whether you are eligible for reduced or waived sales charges, if available. You are responsible for choosing the share class most appropriate for you after taking into account your share class eligibility, class-specific features, and any applicable reductions in, or waivers of, sales charges. For more information, see
Choosing a Share Class – Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
. We encourage you to consult with a financial advisor who can help you with your investment decisions. Please contact your financial intermediary for more information about services, fees and expenses, and other important information about investing in the Fund, as well as with any questions you may have about your investing options. In all instances, it is your responsibility to notify your financial intermediary or (for Direct-at-Fund Accounts, as defined below) the Fund at the time of purchase of any relationship or other facts that may qualify you for sales charge waivers or discounts.
Class A Shares — Front-End Sales Charge
Unless your purchase qualifies for a waiver (e.g., you buy the shares through reinvested Fund dividends or distributions or subject to an applicable financial intermediary-specific waiver), you will pay a front-end sales charge when you buy Class A shares (other than shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund, Columbia Small Cap Index Fund, Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund and Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund), resulting in a smaller dollar amount being invested in a Fund than the purchase price you pay. The Class A shares sales charge is waived on Class C shares converted to Class A shares. For more information about sales charge waivers and reduction opportunities, see
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
and
Appendix A.
The Distributor receives the sales charge and re-allows (or pays) a portion of the sales charge to the financial intermediary through which you purchased the shares. The Distributor retains the balance of the sales charge. The Distributor retains the full sales charge you pay when you purchase shares of the Fund directly from the Fund (through the Transfer Agent, rather than through a financial intermediary).
The front-end sales charge you will pay on Class A shares:
| ■ | depends on the amount you are investing (generally, the larger the investment, the smaller the percentage sales charge), and |
| ■ | is based on the total amount of your purchase and the value of your account (and any other accounts eligible for aggregation of which you or your financial intermediary notifies the Fund). |
The table below presents the front-end sales charge as a percentage of both the offering price and the net amount invested.
| 44 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Strategic Income Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
| Class A Shares — Front-End Sales Charge — Breakpoint Schedule* | ||||
| Breakpoint Schedule For: |
Dollar amount of
shares bought
(a)
|
Sales
charge as a % of the offering price
(b)
|
Sales
charge as a % of the net amount invested
(b)
|
Amount
retained by or paid to financial intermediaries as a % of the offering price |
|
Fixed Income Funds (except those listed below),
Columbia Multi-Asset Income Fund and Funds-of-Funds (fixed income)* |
$
|
4.75% | 4.99% | 4.00% |
|
$
|
4.25% | 4.44% | 3.50% | |
| $100,000–$249,999 | 3.50% | 3.63% | 3.00% | |
| $250,000–$499,999 | 2.50% | 2.56% | 2.15% | |
| $500,000–$999,999 | 2.00% | 2.04% | 1.75% | |
|
$
|
0.00% | 0.00% |
0.00%
(c)
|
|
| Tax-Exempt Funds (other than Columbia Short Term Municipal Bond Fund) |
$
|
3.00% | 3.09% | 2.50% |
| $100,000–$249,999 | 2.50% | 2.56% | 2.15% | |
| $250,000–$499,999 | 1.50 % | 1.53% | 1.25% | |
|
$
|
0.00% | 0.00% |
0.00%
(c)
|
|
|
Columbia Floating Rate Fund,
Columbia Limited Duration Credit Fund, Columbia Mortgage Opportunities Fund, Columbia Quality Income Fund, and Columbia Total Return Bond Fund |
$
|
3.00% | 3.09% | 2.50% |
| $100,000–$249,999 | 2.50% | 2.56% | 2.15% | |
| $250,000–$499,999 | 2.00% | 2.04% | 1.75% | |
| $500,000–$999,999 | 1.50% | 1.52% | 1.25% | |
|
$
|
0.00% | 0.00% |
0.00%
(c)
|
|
| Columbia Short Term Bond Fund |
$
|
1.00% | 1.01% | 0.75% |
| $100,000–$249,999 | 0.75% | 0.76% | 0.50% | |
| $250,000–$999,999 | 0.50% | 0.50% | 0.40% | |
|
$
|
0.00% | 0.00% |
0.00%
(c)
|
|
| Columbia Short Term Municipal Bond Fund |
$
|
1.00% | 1.01% | 0.75% |
| $100,000–$249,999 | 0.75% | 0.76% | 0.50% | |
| $250,000–$499,999 | 0.50% | 0.50% | 0.40% | |
|
$
|
0.00% | 0.00% |
0.00%
(c)
|
|
| * |
The following Funds are not subject to a front-end sales charge or CDSC on Class A shares: Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund, Columbia Small Cap Index Fund, Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund and Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund.
"Funds-of-Funds (equity)"
includes Columbia Capital Allocation Aggressive Portfolio, Columbia Capital Allocation Moderate Aggressive Portfolio, Columbia Capital Allocation Moderate Conservative Portfolio and Columbia Capital Allocation Moderate Portfolio
. "Funds-of-Funds (fixed income)"
includes Columbia Capital Allocation Conservative Portfolio and Columbia Income Builder Fund. Columbia Balanced Fund, Columbia Flexible Capital Income Fund and Columbia Global Opportunities Fund are treated as equity Funds for purposes of the table.
|
| (a) |
Purchase amounts and account values may be aggregated among all eligible Fund accounts for the purposes of this table. See
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
for a discussion of account value aggregation.
|
| (b) | Because the offering price is calculated to two decimal places, the dollar amount of the sales charge as a percentage of the offering price and your net amount invested for any particular purchase of Fund shares may be higher or lower depending on whether downward or upward rounding was required during the calculation process. Purchase price includes the sales charge. |
| (c) |
For information regarding cumulative commissions paid to your financial intermediary when you buy $1 million or more of Class A shares of a Taxable Fund or $500,000 or more of Class A shares of a Tax-Exempt Fund, see
Class A Shares — Commissions
below.
|
| Prospectus 2021 | 45 |
Columbia Strategic Income Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
Class A Shares — CDSC
In some cases, you'll pay a CDSC if you sell Class A shares that you purchased without a front-end sales charge.
Tax-Exempt Funds
| ■ | If you purchased Class A shares of any Tax-Exempt Fund (other than Columbia Short Term Municipal Bond Fund) without paying a front-end sales charge because your eligible accounts aggregated $500,000 or more at the time of purchase, you will incur a CDSC of 0.75% if you redeem those shares within 12 months after purchase. Subsequent Class A share purchases that bring your aggregate account value to $500,000 or more will also be subject to a CDSC of 0.75% if you redeem those shares within 12 months after purchase. |
| ■ | If you purchased Class A shares of Columbia Short Term Municipal Bond Fund without paying a front-end sales charge because your eligible accounts aggregated $500,000 or more at the time of purchase, you will incur a CDSC of 0.50% if you redeem those shares within 12 months after purchase. Subsequent Class A share purchases that bring your aggregate account value to $500,000 or more will also be subject to a CDSC of 0.50% if you redeem those shares within 12 months after purchase. |
Taxable Funds
| ■ | If you purchased Class A shares of any Taxable Fund without paying a front-end sales charge because your eligible accounts aggregated between $1 million and $50 million at the time of purchase, you will incur a CDSC if you redeem those shares within 18 months after purchase, which is charged as follows: 1.00% CDSC if shares are redeemed within 12 months after purchase; and 0.50% CDSC if shares are redeemed more than 12, but less than 18, months after purchase. Subsequent Class A share purchases that bring your aggregate account value to $1 million or more (but less than $50 million) will also be subject to a CDSC if you redeem them within 18 months after purchase as described in the previous sentence. |
Class A Shares — Commissions
The Distributor may pay your financial intermediary an up-front commission when you buy Class A shares. The Distributor generally funds the commission through the applicable sales charge you paid. For more information, see
above
Class A Shares — Front-End Sales Charge
.
The Distributor may also pay your financial intermediary a cumulative commission when you buy Class A shares in amounts not subject to a front-end sales charge, according to the following schedules (assets initially purchased into Class A shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund, Columbia Small Cap Index Fund, Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund and Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund that were purchased without the application of a front-end sales charge are excluded for purposes of calculating a financial intermediary’s commission under these schedules):
| * | The commission level applies to the applicable asset level; therefore, for example, for a purchase of $5 million, the Distributor would pay a commission of 0.75% on the first $3,999,999 and 0.50% on the balance. |
| ** | The commission level on purchases of Class A shares of Columbia Short Term Municipal Bond Fund is: 0.50% on purchases of $500,000 to $19,999,999 and 0.25% on purchases of $20 million or more. |
| 46 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Strategic Income Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
|
Class A Shares of Taxable Funds — Commission Schedule (Paid by the Distributor to Financial Intermediaries)*
|
|
|
Purchase Amount
|
Commission Level**
(as a % of net asset value per share) |
| $1 million – $2,999,999 | 1.00% |
| $3 million – $49,999,999 | 0.50% |
| $50 million or more | 0.25% |
| * | Not applicable to Funds that do not assess a front-end sales charge. |
| ** | The commission level applies to the applicable asset level; therefore, for example, for a purchase of $5 million, the Distributor would pay a commission of 1.00% on the first $2,999,999 and 0.50% on the balance. |
Class C Shares — Front-End Sales Charge
You do not pay a front-end sales charge when you buy Class C shares, but you may pay a CDSC when you sell Class C shares. Although Class C shares do not have a front-end sales charge, over time Class C shares can incur distribution and/or service fees that are equal to or more than the front-end sales charge and distribution and/or service fees you would pay for Class A shares. Thus, although the full amount of your purchase of Class C shares is invested in a Fund, any positive investment return on this money may be partially or fully offset by the expected higher annual expenses of Class C shares. If you are eligible to invest in Class A shares without a front-end sales charge, you should discuss your options with your financial intermediary. For more information, see
Choosing a Share Class – Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges.
Class C Shares — Conversion to Class A Shares
Class C shares of a Fund generally automatically convert to Class A shares of the same Fund in the month of or the month following the 10-year anniversary of the Class C shares purchase date. Class C shares held through a financial intermediary in an omnibus account will be converted provided that the intermediary is able to track purchases to credit individual shareholders’ holding periods. It is the financial intermediary's (and not the Fund's) responsibility to keep records and to ensure that the shareholder is credited with the proper holding period. Not all financial intermediaries are able to track purchases to credit individual shareholders' holding periods. For example, group retirement plans held through third-party intermediaries that hold Class C shares in an omnibus account may not track participant level share lot aging. Please consult with your financial intermediary about your eligibility for Class C share conversion. The Fund may convert Class C shares held through a financial intermediary to Class A shares sooner in connection with the withdrawal of Class C shares of the Fund from the financial intermediary's platform or accounts. Once your Class C shares convert to Class A shares, your total returns from an investment in the Fund may increase as a result of the lower operating costs of Class A shares.
The following rules apply to the automatic conversion of Class C shares to Class A shares:
| ■ | Class C share accounts that are Direct-at-Fund Accounts and Networked Accounts for which the Transfer Agent (and not your financial intermediary) sends you Fund account transaction confirmations and statements, convert on or about the 15th day of the month (if the 15th is not a business day, then the next business day thereafter) that they become eligible for automatic conversion provided that the Fund has records that Class C shares have been held for the requisite time period. |
| ■ | For purposes of determining the month when your Class C shares are eligible for conversion, the start of the holding period is the first day of the month in which your purchase was made. Your financial intermediary may choose a different day of the month to convert Class C shares. Please contact your financial intermediary for more information on calculating the holding period. |
| ■ | Any shares you received from reinvested distributions on these shares generally will convert to Class A shares at the same time. |
| ■ | You’ll receive the same dollar value of Class A shares as the Class C shares that were automatically converted. Class C shares that you received from an exchange of Class C shares of another Fund will convert based on the day you bought the original shares. |
| Prospectus 2021 | 47 |
Columbia Strategic Income Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
| ■ | No sales charge or other charges apply in connection with this automatic conversion, and conversions are free from U.S. federal income tax. |
Class C Shares — CDSC
You will pay a CDSC of 1.00% if you redeem Class C shares within 12 months of buying them unless you qualify for a waiver of the CDSC (e.g., the shares you are selling were purchased with reinvested Fund distributions). Redemptions of Class C shares are not subject to a CDSC if redeemed after 12 months. Class C shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund are not subject to a CDSC. For more information, see
.
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
Class C Shares — Commissions
Although there is no front-end sales charge when you buy Class C shares, the Distributor makes an up-front payment (which includes a sales commission and an advance of service fees) directly to your financial intermediary of up to 1.00% of the NAV per share when you buy Class C shares (except on purchases of Class C shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund). A portion of this payment may be passed along to your financial advisor. The Distributor seeks to recover this payment through fees it receives under the Fund's distribution and/or service plan during the first 12 months following the sale of Class C shares, and any applicable CDSC when you sell your shares. For more information, see
Choosing a Share Class — Distribution and Service Fees.
Class V Shares — Front-End Sales Charge
Unless you qualify for a waiver (e.g., you purchase shares through reinvested Fund distributions), you will pay a front-end sales charge when you buy Class V shares, resulting in a smaller dollar amount being invested in a Fund than the purchase price you pay. For more information about sales charge waivers (as well as sales charge reduction opportunities), see
Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges.
The front-end sales charge you will pay on Class V shares:
| ■ | depends on the amount you are investing (generally, the larger the investment, the smaller the percentage sales charge), and |
| ■ | is based on the total amount of your purchase and the value of your account (and any other accounts eligible for aggregation of which you notify your financial intermediary or, in the case of Direct-at-Fund Accounts (as defined below), you notify the Fund). |
| 48 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Strategic Income Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
|
Class V Shares — Front-End Sales Charge — Breakpoint Schedule
|
||||
|
Breakpoint Schedule For:
|
Dollar amount of
shares bought
(a)
|
Sales
charge as a % of the offering price
(b)
|
Sales
charge as a % of the net amount invested
(b)
|
Amount
retained by or paid to Financial Intermediaries as a % of the offering price |
|
Fixed Income Funds
|
$
|
4.75% | 4.99% | 4.25% |
|
$
|
4.50% | 4.71% | 3.75% | |
| $100,000–$249,999 | 3.50% | 3.63% | 2.75% | |
| $250,000–$499,999 | 2.50% | 2.56% | 2.00% | |
| $500,000–$999,999 | 2.00% | 2.04% | 1.75% | |
|
$
|
0.00% | 0.00% |
0.00%
(c)
|
|
| (a) | Purchase amounts and account values are aggregated among all eligible Fund accounts for the purposes of this table. |
| (b) | Because the offering price is calculated to two decimal places, the dollar amount of the sales charge as a percentage of the offering price and your net amount invested for any particular purchase of Fund shares may be higher or lower depending on whether downward or upward rounding was required during the calculation process. |
| (c) |
For more information regarding cumulative commissions paid to your financial intermediary when you buy $1 million or more of Class V shares, see
Class V Shares — Commissions
|
Class V Shares — CDSC
In some cases, you will pay a CDSC if you sell Class V shares that you bought without a front-end sales charge.
| ■ | If you purchased Class V shares without a front-end sales charge because your eligible accounts aggregated between $1 million and $50 million at the time of purchase, you will incur a CDSC if you redeem those shares within 18 months after purchase, which is charged as follows: 1.00% CDSC if shares are redeemed within 12 months after purchase, and 0.50% CDSC if shares are redeemed more than 12, but less than 18, months after purchase. |
| ■ | Subsequent Class V share purchases that bring your aggregate account value to $1 million or more (but less than $50 million) will also be subject to a CDSC if you redeem them within the time periods noted above. |
Class V Shares — Commissions
The Distributor may pay your financial intermediary an up-front commission when you buy Class V shares (a portion of this commission may, in turn, be paid to your financial advisor). For more information, see
Class V Shares — Front-End Sales Charge.
The Distributor may also pay your financial intermediary a cumulative commission when you buy $1 million or more of Class V shares, according to the following schedule:
|
Class V Shares
—
Commission Schedule (Paid by the Distributor to Financial Intermediaries)
|
|
|
Purchase
Amount |
Commission Level*
(as a % of net asset value per share) |
| $1 million – $2,999,999 | 1.00% |
| $3 million – $49,999,999 | 0.50% |
| $50 million or more | 0.25% |
| * | The commission level applies to the applicable asset level; therefore, for example, for a purchase of $5 million, the Distributor would pay a commission of 1.00% on the first $2,999,999 and 0.50% on the balance. |
| Prospectus 2021 | 49 |
Columbia Strategic Income Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
The availability of certain sales charge waivers and discounts will depend on whether you purchase your shares directly from the Fund (i.e., a Direct-at-Fund Account, as defined below) or through a financial intermediary. Financial intermediaries may have different policies and procedures regarding the availability of front-end sales charge and/or CDSC waivers. In all instances, it is your responsibility to notify your financial intermediary or (for Direct-at-Fund Accounts, as defined below) the Fund at the time of purchase of any relationship or other facts that may qualify you for sales charge waivers or discounts. In order to obtain waivers and discounts not available through a particular financial intermediary, shareholders will have to purchase Fund shares directly from the Fund (if permitted) or through a different financial intermediary. For a description of financial intermediary-specific sales charge reductions and/or waivers, see
.
Appendix A
Class A and Class V Shares Front-End Sales Charge Reductions
The Fund makes available two means of reducing the front-end sales charge that you may pay when you buy Class A shares or Class V shares of a Fund. These types of sales charge reductions are also referred to as breakpoint discounts.
First, through the right of accumulation (ROA), you may combine the value of eligible accounts (as described in the
section below) maintained by you and members of your immediate family to reach a breakpoint discount level and apply a lower front-end sales charge to your purchase. To calculate the combined value of your eligible Fund accounts in the particular class of shares, the Fund will use the current public offering price per share. For purposes of obtaining a breakpoint discount through ROA, you may aggregate your and your “immediate family” members' ownership (as described in the
box below) of certain classes of shares held in certain account types, as described in the
section below.
Eligible Accounts
FUNDamentals
Eligible Accounts
Second, by making a statement of intent to purchase additional shares (commonly referred to as a letter of intent (LOI)), you may pay a lower sales charge on all purchases of Class A shares or Class V shares made within 13 months after the date of your LOI. Your LOI must state the aggregate amount of purchases you intend to make in that 13-month period, which must be at least enough to reach the first (or next) breakpoint of the Fund. The required form of LOI may vary by financial intermediary, so please contact them directly for more information. Five percent of the purchase commitment amount will be placed in escrow. At the end of the 13-month period, the shares will be released from escrow, provided that you have invested the commitment amount. If you do not invest the commitment amount by the end of the 13 months, the remaining amount of the unpaid sales charge will be redeemed from the escrowed shares and the remaining balance released from escrow. To calculate the total value of the purchases you've made under an LOI, the Fund will use the historic cost (i.e., dollars invested and not current market value) of the shares held in each eligible account; reinvested dividends or capital gains, or purchases made through the reinstatement privilege do not count as purchases made under an LOI. For purposes of making an LOI to purchase additional shares, you may aggregate eligible shares owned by you or your immediate family members in eligible accounts, valued as of the day immediately before the initiation of your LOI.
You must request the reduced sales charge (whether through ROA or an LOI) when you buy shares. If you do not complete and file an LOI, or do not request the reduced sales charge at the time of purchase, you will not be eligible for the reduced sales charge. To obtain a breakpoint discount, you must notify your financial intermediary in writing at the time you buy your shares of each eligible account maintained by you and members of your immediate family, including accounts maintained through different financial intermediaries. You and your financial intermediary are responsible for ensuring that you receive discounts for which you are eligible. Please contact your financial intermediary with questions regarding application of the eligible discount to your account. You may be asked by your financial intermediary (or by the Fund if you hold your account directly with the Fund) for account statements or other records to verify your discount eligibility for new and subsequent purchases, including, when applicable, records for accounts opened with a different financial intermediary and records of accounts established by members of your immediate family.
The sales charge reductions available to investors who purchase and hold their Fund shares through different financial intermediaries may vary. For a description of such financial intermediary-specific sales charge reductions, see
.
Appendix A
| 50 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Strategic Income Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
FUNDamentals
Your “Immediate Family” and Account Value Aggregation
For purposes of obtaining a breakpoint discount for Class A shares or Class V shares, the value of your account will be deemed to include the value of all applicable shares in eligible Fund accounts that are held by you and your “immediate family,” which includes your spouse, domestic partner, parent, step-parent, legal guardian, child under 21, step-child under 21, father-in-law and mother-in-law, provided that you and your immediate family members share the same mailing address. Any Fund accounts linked together for account value aggregation purposes as of the close of business on September 3, 2010 will be permitted to remain linked together. Group retirement plan accounts are valued at the retirement plan level.
Eligible Accounts
The following accounts are eligible for account value aggregation as described above, provided that they are invested in Class A (excluding, in the case of Direct-at-Fund Accounts, Funds that do not assess a front-end sales charge, including Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund, Columbia Small Cap Index Fund, Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund and Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund, unless such shares were purchased via an exchange from Class A shares of a Fund on which you paid the Class A share applicable front-end sales charge), Class C, Class E, Class Inst or Class V shares of a Fund, or non-retirement plan accounts invested in Class Adv, Class Inst2 or Class Inst3 shares of a Fund: individual or joint accounts; Roth and traditional Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs); Simplified Employee Pension accounts (SEPs), Savings Investment Match Plans for Employees of Small Employers accounts (SIMPLEs) and Tax Sheltered Custodial Accounts (TSCAs); Uniform Gifts to Minors Act (UGMA)/Uniform Transfers to Minors Act (UTMA) accounts for which you, your spouse, or your domestic partner is parent or guardian of the minor child; revocable trust accounts for which you or an immediate family member, individually, is the beneficial owner/grantor; accounts held in the name of your, your spouse’s, or your domestic partner’s sole proprietorship or single owner limited liability company or S corporation; qualified retirement plan assets, provided that you are the sole owner of the business sponsoring the plan, are the sole participant (other than a spouse) in the plan, and have no intention of adding participants to the plan; and investments in wrap accounts.
The following accounts are
for account value aggregation as described above: accounts of pension and retirement plans with multiple participants, such as 401(k) plans (which are combined to reduce the sales charge for the entire pension or retirement plan and therefore are not used to reduce the sales charge for your individual accounts); investments in 529 plans, donor advised funds, variable annuities, variable insurance products or managed separate accounts; charitable and irrevocable trust accounts; accounts holding shares of money market funds that used the Columbia brand before May 1, 2010; accounts invested in Class R shares of a Fund; and retirement plan accounts invested in Class Adv, Class Inst2 or Class Inst3 shares of a Fund.
not eligible
Additionally, direct purchases of shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund may not be aggregated for account value aggregation purposes; however, shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund acquired by exchange from other Columbia Funds that assess a sales charge may be included in account value aggregation.
Class A and Class V Shares Front-End Sales Charge Waivers
There are no front-end sales charges on reinvested Fund distributions. The Class A shares sales charge is waived on conversions of Class C shares to Class A shares. The Distributor may waive front-end sales charges on purchases of Class A and Class V shares of the Funds by certain categories of investors, including Board members, certain employees of financial intermediaries, Fund portfolio managers, certain partners and employees of outside legal counsel to the Funds or the Board, separate accounts of an insurance company exempt from registration as an investment company under Section 3(c)(11) of the 1940 Act, registered broker-dealer firms that have an agreement with the Distributor purchasing Fund shares for their investment account only, and qualified employee benefit plan rollovers to Class A shares in the same Fund (see Appendix S to the SAI for details). For a more complete description of categories of investors who may purchase Class A and Class V shares of the Funds at NAV, without payment of any front-end sales charge that would otherwise apply, see Appendix S to the SAI.
| Prospectus 2021 | 51 |
Columbia Strategic Income Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
In addition, certain types of purchases of Class A and Class V shares may be made at NAV. The Distributor may waive front-end sales charges on (i) purchases (including exchanges) of Class A shares in accounts of financial intermediaries that have entered into agreements with the Distributor to offer Fund shares to self-directed investment brokerage accounts that may or may not charge a transaction fee to customers; (ii) exchanges of Class Inst shares of a Fund for Class A shares of the Fund; (iii) purchases of Class A shares on brokerage mutual fund-only platforms of financial intermediaries that have an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes the offering of Class A shares within such platform; (iv) purchases through certain wrap fee or other products or programs that involve fee-based compensation arrangements that have, or clear trades through a financial intermediary that has, a selling agreement with the Distributor; (v) purchases through state sponsored 529 Plans; (vi) purchases through banks, trust companies, and thrift institutions acting as fiduciaries; and (vii) purchases through certain employee benefit plans and certain qualified deferred compensation plans. For a more complete description of these eligible transactions, see Appendix S to the SAI.
The sales charge waivers available to investors who purchase and hold their Fund shares through different financial intermediaries may vary. For a description of such financial intermediary-specific sales charge waivers, see
.
Appendix A
CDSC Waivers – Class A, Class C and Class V
You may be able to avoid an otherwise applicable CDSC when you sell Class A, Class C or Class V shares of the Fund. This could happen because of the way in which you originally invested in the Fund, because of your relationship with the Funds or for other reasons. For example, the CDSC will be waived on redemptions of shares in the event of the shareholder's death; for which no sales commission or transaction fee was paid to an authorized financial intermediary at the time of purchase; purchased through reinvestment of dividends and capital gain distributions; that result from required minimum distributions taken from retirement accounts due to the shareholder reaching the qualified age based on applicable IRS regulations; that result from returns of excess contributions made to retirement plans or individual retirement accounts (subject to certain conditions); initially purchased by an employee benefit plan (for Class A shares) and that are not connected with a plan level termination (for Class C or Class V shares); in connection with the Fund's Small Account Policy (which is described in
); and by certain other investors and in certain other types of transactions or situations. Restrictions may apply to certain accounts and certain transactions. The Distributor may, in its sole discretion, authorize the waiver of the CDSC for additional classes of investors. The Fund may change or cancel these terms at any time. Any change or cancellation applies only to future purchases. For a more complete description of the available waivers of the CDSC on redemptions of Class A, Class C or Class V shares, see Appendix S to the SAI.
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares — Transaction Rules and Policies
The sales charge waivers available to investors who purchase and hold their Fund shares through different financial intermediaries may vary. For a description of such financial intermediary-specific sales charge waivers, see
.
Appendix A
Repurchases (Reinstatements)
As noted in the table below, you can redeem shares of certain classes (see Redeemed Share Class below) and use such redemption proceeds to buy shares of the Corresponding Repurchase Class without paying an otherwise applicable sales charge and/or CDSC (other than, in the case of Direct-at-Fund Accounts, redemptions from Funds that do not assess a front-end sales charge, including Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund, Columbia Small Cap Index Fund, Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund and Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund, unless such shares were purchased via an exchange from Class A shares of a Fund on which you paid the Class A share applicable front-end sales charge) within 90 days, up to the amount of the redemption proceeds.
|
Repurchases (Reinstatements)
|
|
|
Redeemed Share Class
|
Corresponding Repurchase Class
|
| Class A | Class A |
| Class C | Class C |
| 52 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Strategic Income Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
|
Repurchases (Reinstatements)
|
|
|
Redeemed Share Class
|
Corresponding Repurchase Class
|
| Class V | Class V |
Any CDSC paid upon redemption of your Class A, Class C or Class V shares of a Fund will not be reimbursed.
To be eligible for the repurchase (or reinstatement) privilege, the purchase must be made into an account for the same owner, but does not need to be into the same Fund from which the shares were sold. The Transfer Agent, Distributor or their agents must receive a written reinstatement request from you or your financial intermediary within 90 days after the shares are redeemed. The purchase of the Corresponding Repurchase Class (as noted in the table above) through this repurchase (or reinstatement) privilege will be made at the NAV of such shares next calculated after the request is received in “good form.” Systematic withdrawals and purchases are excluded from this policy.
Restrictions and Changes in Terms and Conditions
Restrictions may apply to certain accounts and certain transactions. The Funds and/or the Distributor may change or cancel these terms and conditions at any time. Unless you provide your financial intermediary with information in writing about all of the factors that may count toward available reductions or waivers of an applicable sales charge, there can be no assurance that you will receive all of the reductions and waivers for which you may be eligible. To the extent your Fund account is held directly with the Fund, you should provide this information to the Fund when placing your purchase or redemption order. Please see
to this prospectus and Appendix S of the SAI for more information about sales charge waivers.
Appendix A
Distribution and Service Fees
The Board has approved, and the Funds have adopted, distribution and/or shareholder service plans which set the distribution and/or service fees that are periodically deducted from the Funds’ assets. These fees are calculated daily, may vary by share class and are intended to compensate the Distributor and/or eligible financial intermediaries for, with regard to distribution fees, selling Fund shares and, with regard to service fees, directly or indirectly providing services to shareholders. Because the fees are paid out of the Fund's assets on an ongoing basis, they will increase the cost of your investment over time.
The table below shows the maximum annual distribution and/or service fees (as an annual percentage of average daily net assets) and the combined amount of such fees applicable to each share class:
| (a) | The service fees for Class A and Class C shares of certain Funds vary. The annual service fee for Class A and Class C shares of Columbia High Yield Municipal Fund, Columbia Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund and Columbia Tax-Exempt Fund may equal up to 0.20% of the average daily NAV of all shares of such Fund class. The annual distribution fee for Class C shares for Columbia Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund shall be 0.65% of the average daily net assets of the Fund’s Class C shares. The Distributor has contractually agreed to waive a portion of the service fee for Class A and Class C shares of Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund so that the service fee does not exceed 0.15% annually through August 31, 2021 unless sooner terminated at the sole discretion of the Fund’s Board. The Distributor has contractually agreed to waive a portion of the service fee for Class A shares of Columbia Strategic California Municipal Income Fund so that the service fee does not exceed 0.20% annually through February 28, 2022 unless modified or sooner terminated at the sole discretion of the Fund’s Board. |
| Prospectus 2021 | 53 |
Columbia Strategic Income Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
| (b) | The maximum distribution and service fees of Class A shares varies among the Funds, as shown in the table below: |
|
Funds
|
Maximum
Class A Distribution Fee |
Maximum
Class A Service Fee |
Maximum
Class A Combined Total |
|
Series of CFST and CFST II (other than Columbia
Government Money Market Fund) |
— | — |
0.25%; these Funds pay a
combined distribution and service fee |
| Columbia Government Money Market Fund | — | — | 0.10% |
| Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund | up to 0.15% | up to 0.15% | 0.15% |
| Columbia Balanced Fund, Columbia Contrarian Core Fund, Columbia Dividend Income Fund, Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund, Columbia Large Cap Growth Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Growth Fund, Columbia Oregon Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund, Columbia Real Estate Equity Fund, Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I, Columbia Total Return Bond Fund | up to 0.10% | up to 0.25% |
up to 0.35%; these Funds may
pay distribution and service fees up to a maximum of 0.35% of their average daily net assets attributable to Class A shares (comprised of up to 0.10% for distribution services and up to 0.25% for shareholder liaison services) but currently limit such fees to an aggregate fee of not more than 0.25% for Class A shares |
| Columbia Adaptive Risk Allocation Fund, Columbia Bond Fund, Columbia Connecticut Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund, Columbia Corporate Income Fund, Columbia Emerging Markets Fund, Columbia Greater China Fund, Columbia International Dividend Income Fund, Columbia Massachusetts Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund, Columbia Multi-Asset Income Fund, Columbia Multi Strategy Alternatives Fund, Columbia New York Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund, Columbia Pacific/Asia Fund, Columbia Select Large Cap Growth Fund, Columbia Small Cap Value Fund I, Columbia Strategic California Municipal Income Fund, Columbia Strategic Income Fund, Columbia Strategic New York Municipal Income Fund, Columbia U.S. Social Bond Fund, Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund | — | 0.25% | 0.25% |
| Columbia High Yield Municipal Fund, Columbia Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund, Columbia Tax-Exempt Fund | — | 0.20% | 0.20% |
| (c) | Fee amounts noted apply to all Funds other than Columbia Government Money Market Fund, which, for Class A shares, pays distribution and service fees of 0.10%, and for Class C shares pays distribution fees of 0.75%. The payment of the distribution and/or service fees payable by Columbia Government Money Market Fund under its Plan of Distribution has been suspended through November 30, 2021. This arrangement may be modified or terminated at the sole discretion of Columbia Government Money Market Fund’s Board at any time. Compensation paid to financial intermediaries is suspended for the duration of the suspension of payments under Columbia Government Money Market Fund’s Plan of Distribution. |
| (d) | The Distributor has contractually agreed to waive a portion of the distribution fee for Class C shares of the following Funds so that the distribution fee does not exceed the specified percentage annually through the specified date for each Fund: 0.45% for Columbia Connecticut Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund through February 28, 2022, Columbia Massachusetts Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund through February 28, 2022, Columbia New York Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund through February 28, 2022, Columbia Oregon Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund through November 30, 2021, Columbia Strategic California Municipal Income Fund through February 28, 2022, and Columbia Strategic New York Municipal Income Fund through August 31, 2021; 0.55% for Columbia Corporate Income Fund through August 31, 2021, and Columbia Short Term Bond Fund through August 31, 2021; 0.60% for Columbia High Yield Municipal Fund through September 30, 2021, Columbia Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund through August 31, 2021, and Columbia Tax-Exempt Fund through November 30, 2021; and 0.65% for Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund through August 31, 2021. These arrangements may be sooner terminated at the sole discretion of each Fund’s Board. |
| (e) | Class R shares of series of CFST and CFST I pay a distribution fee pursuant to a Rule 12b-1 plan. The Funds do not have a shareholder service plan for Class R shares. Series of CFST II have a distribution and shareholder service plan for Class R shares. For Class R shares of series of CFST II, the maximum fee under the plan reimbursed for distribution expenses is equal on an annual basis to 0.50% of the average daily net assets of the Fund attributable to Class R shares. Of that amount, up to 0.25% may be reimbursed for shareholder service expenses. |
| (f) |
The shareholder servicing fees for Class V shares are up to 0.50% of average daily net assets attributable to Class V shares for equity Funds and 0.40% for fixed income Funds. In general, the Funds currently limit such fees to a maximum of 0.25% for equity Funds and 0.15% for fixed-income Funds. These fees for Class V shares are not paid pursuant to a Rule 12b-1 plan. See
Class V Shareholder Service Fees
|
| 54 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Strategic Income Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
The distribution and/or service fees for Class A, Class C, and Class R shares, as applicable, are subject to the requirements of Rule 12b-1 under the 1940 Act. The Distributor may retain these fees otherwise payable to financial intermediaries if the amounts due are below an amount determined by the Distributor in its sole discretion.
For Class A shares, the Distributor begins to pay these fees immediately after purchase, except in the following case, in which the Distributor begins to pay these fees 12 months after purchase: a purchase of Class A shares of $1 million or more for Taxable Funds or $500,000 or more for Tax-Exempt Funds that pay a Class A up-front commission to your financial intermediary and the financial intermediary has opted to receive such commission. The Distributor’s policy to otherwise begin to pay these fees immediately on Class A shares also applies to purchases of funds that do not pay an up-front sales commission on Class A shares, which includes Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund, Columbia Small Cap Index Fund, Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund and Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund. For Class C shares, the Distributor begins to pay these fees 12 months after purchase. However, for Class C shares, financial intermediaries may opt to decline the up-front payment described in
and instead may receive these fees immediately after purchase. If the intermediary opts to receive the up-front payment, the Distributor retains the distribution and/or service fee for the first 12 months following the sale of Class C shares in order to recover the up-front payment made to financial intermediaries and to pay for other related expenses. For Class R shares, the Distributor begins to pay these fees immediately after purchase.
Choosing a Share Class – Sales Charges and Commissions – Class C Shares – Commissions
Series of CFST II.
The maximum fee for services under the distribution and/or shareholder servicing plan for series of CFST II is the lesser of the amount of reimbursable expenses and the fee rates in the table above. If a share class of a series of CFST II has no reimbursable distribution or shareholder servicing expenses, it will suspend the payment of any such fee. As a result of any such suspensions, the expense ratio of a Fund’s share class disclosed in the
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
table in the
Summary of the Fund
section of this prospectus may not match the ratio of expenses of such share class to average net assets shown in the
Financial Highlights
section of this prospectus.
If you maintain shares of the Fund directly with the Fund, without working with a financial advisor or other financial intermediary, distribution and service fees may be retained by the Distributor as payment or reimbursement for incurring certain distribution and shareholder service related expenses.
Over time, these distribution and/or service fees will reduce the return on your investment and may cost you more than paying other types of sales charges. The Fund will pay these fees to the Distributor and/or to eligible financial intermediaries for as long as the distribution plan and/or shareholder servicing plans continue in effect, which is expected to be indefinitely. However, the Fund may reduce or discontinue payments at any time. Your financial intermediary may also charge you other additional fees for providing services to your account, which may be different from those described here.
Class V Shareholder Services Fees
The Funds that offer Class V shares have adopted a shareholder services plan that permits them to pay for certain services provided to Class V shareholders by their financial intermediaries. Equity Funds may pay shareholder servicing fees up to an aggregate annual rate of 0.50% of the Fund's average daily net assets attributable to Class V shares (comprised of up to 0.25% for shareholder liaison services and up to 0.25% for administrative support services). Fixed income Funds may pay shareholder servicing fees up to an aggregate annual rate of 0.40% of the Fund's average daily net assets attributable to Class V shares (comprised of up to 0.20% for shareholder liaison services and up to 0.20% for administrative support services). These fees are currently limited to an aggregate annual rate of not more than 0.25% for equity Funds and not more than 0.15% for fixed income Funds. The Distributor begins to pay these fees immediately after purchase for purchases up to $1 million, for purchases of $1 million or more the Distributor will begin to pay these fees 12 months after purchase. These fees for Class V shares are not paid pursuant to a Rule 12b-1 plan. With respect to those Funds that declare dividends on a daily basis, the shareholder servicing fee shall be waived by the financial intermediaries to the extent necessary to prevent net investment income from falling below 0% on a daily basis. If you maintain shares of the Fund directly with the Fund, without working with a financial advisor or other intermediary, shareholder services fees may be retained by the Distributor as payment or reimbursement for incurring certain shareholder service related expenses.
| Prospectus 2021 | 55 |
Columbia Strategic Income Fund
Choosing a Share Class
(continued)
Financial Intermediary Compensation
The Distributor, the Investment Manager and their affiliates make payments, from their own resources, to financial intermediaries, including other Ameriprise Financial affiliates, for marketing/sales support services relating to the Funds (Marketing Support Payments). Such payments are generally based upon one or more of the following factors: average net assets of the Funds attributable to that financial intermediary; gross sales of the Funds attributable to that financial intermediary; reimbursement of ticket charges (fees that a financial intermediary charges its representatives for effecting transactions in Fund shares); or a negotiated lump sum payment. While the financial arrangements may vary for each financial intermediary, Marketing Support Payments to any one financial intermediary are generally between 0.05% and 0.40% on an annual basis for payments based on average net assets of the Fund attributable to the financial intermediary, and between 0.05% and 0.25% on an annual basis for firms receiving a payment based on gross sales of the Funds attributable to the financial intermediary. The Distributor, the Investment Manager and their affiliates may at times make payments with respect to a Fund or the Columbia Funds generally on a basis other than those described above, or in larger amounts, when dealing with certain financial intermediaries. Not all financial intermediaries receive Marketing Support Payments. The Distributor, the Investment Manager and their affiliates do not make Marketing Support Payments with respect to Class Inst3 shares.
In addition, the Transfer Agent has certain arrangements in place to compensate financial intermediaries, including other Ameriprise Financial affiliates, that hold Fund shares through networked and omnibus accounts, including omnibus retirement plans, for services that they provide to beneficial Fund shareholders (Shareholder Services). Shareholder Services and related fees vary by financial intermediary and according to distribution channel and may include sub-accounting, sub-transfer agency, participant recordkeeping, shareholder or participant reporting, shareholder or participant transaction processing, maintenance of shareholder records, preparation of account statements and provision of customer service, and are not intended to include services that are primarily intended to result in the sale of Fund shares. Payments for Shareholder Services generally are not expected, with certain limited exceptions, to exceed 0.40% of the average aggregate value of the Fund’s shares. Generally, each Fund pays the Transfer Agent a per account fee or a percentage of the average aggregate value of shares per annum maintained in omnibus accounts up to the lesser of the amount charged by the financial intermediary or a channel-specific or share class-specific cap established by the Board from time to time. Fee amounts in excess of the amount paid by the Fund are borne by the Transfer Agent, the Investment Manager and/or their affiliates. For Class Inst3 shares, the Transfer Agent does not pay financial intermediaries for Shareholder Services, except that for Class Inst3 shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund (formerly an unnamed share class of the Fund), the Transfer Agent makes Shareholder Services payments to a financial intermediary through which shares of this class were held (under its former unnamed share class name) as of November 30, 2018, and the Fund does not compensate the Transfer Agent for any Shareholder Services provided by financial intermediaries.
In addition to the payments described above, the Distributor, the Investment Manager and their affiliates typically make other payments or allow promotional incentives to certain broker-dealers to the extent permitted by the Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) rules and by other applicable laws and regulations.
Amounts paid by the Distributor, the Investment Manager and their affiliates are paid out of their own resources and do not increase the amount paid by you or the Fund. You can find further details in the SAI about the payments made by the Distributor, the Investment Manager and their affiliates, as well as a list of the financial intermediaries, including Ameriprise Financial affiliates, to which the Distributor, the Investment Manager or their affiliates have agreed to make Marketing Support Payments and pay Shareholder Services fees.
Your financial intermediary may charge you fees and commissions in addition to those described in this prospectus. You should consult with your financial intermediary and review carefully any disclosure your financial intermediary provides regarding its services and compensation. Depending on the financial arrangement in place at any particular time, a financial intermediary and its financial advisors may have a conflict of interest or financial incentive for recommending the Fund or a particular share class over others.
| 56 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Strategic Income Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
Share Price Determination
The price you pay or receive when you buy, sell or exchange shares is the Fund's next determined net asset value (or NAV) per share for a given share class. The Fund calculates the NAV per share for each class of shares of the Fund at the end of each business day, with the value of the Fund's shares based on the total value of all of the securities and other assets that it holds as of a specified time.
FUNDamentals
NAV Calculation
Each of the Fund's share classes calculates its NAV per share as follows:
NAV per share =
(Value of assets of the share class) – (Liabilities of the share class)
Number of outstanding shares of the class
FUNDamentals
Business Days
A business day is any day that the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is open. A business day typically ends at the close of regular trading on the NYSE, usually at 4:00 p.m. Eastern time. If the NYSE is scheduled to close early, the business day will be considered to end as of the time of the NYSE’s scheduled close. The Fund will not treat an intraday unscheduled disruption in NYSE trading or an intraday unscheduled closing as a close of regular trading on the NYSE for these purposes and will price its shares as of the regularly scheduled closing time for that day (typically, 4:00 p.m. Eastern time). Notwithstanding the foregoing, the NAV of Fund shares may be determined at such other time or times (in addition to or in lieu of the time set forth above) as the Fund’s Board may approve or ratify. On holidays and other days when the NYSE is closed, the Fund’s NAV is not calculated and the Fund does not accept buy or sell orders. However, the value of the Fund’s assets may still be affected on such days to the extent that the Fund holds foreign securities that trade on days that foreign securities markets are open.
Equity securities are valued primarily on the basis of market quotations reported on stock exchanges and other securities markets around the world. If an equity security is listed on a national exchange, the security is valued at the closing price or, if the closing price is not readily available, the mean of the closing bid and asked prices. Certain equity securities, debt securities and other assets are valued differently. For instance, bank loans trading in the secondary market are valued primarily on the basis of indicative bids, fixed income investments maturing in 60 days or less are valued primarily using the amortized cost method, unless this methodology results in a valuation that does not approximate the market value of these securities, and those maturing in excess of 60 days are valued primarily using a market-based price obtained from a pricing service, if available. Investments in other open-end funds are valued at their published NAVs. Both market quotations and indicative bids are obtained from outside pricing services approved and monitored pursuant to a policy approved by the Fund's Board.
If a market price is not readily available or is deemed not to reflect market value, the Fund will determine the price of a portfolio security based on a determination of the security's fair value pursuant to a policy approved by the Fund’s Board. In addition, the Fund may use fair valuation to price securities that trade on a foreign exchange when a significant event has occurred after the foreign exchange closes but before the time at which the Fund’s share price is calculated. Foreign exchanges typically close before the time at which Fund share prices are calculated, and may be closed altogether on days when the Fund is open. Such significant events affecting a foreign security may include, but are not limited to: (1) corporate actions, earnings announcements, litigation or other events impacting a single issuer; (2) governmental action that affects securities in one sector or country; (3) natural disasters or armed conflicts affecting a country or region; or (4) significant domestic or foreign market fluctuations. The Fund uses various criteria, including an evaluation of U.S. market moves after the close of foreign markets, in determining whether a foreign security's market price is readily available and reflective of market value and, if not, the fair value
| Prospectus 2021 | 57 |
Columbia Strategic Income Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
of the security. To the extent the Fund has significant holdings of small cap stocks, high-yield bonds, floating rate loans, or tax-exempt, foreign or other securities that may trade infrequently, fair valuation may be used more frequently than for other funds.
Fair valuation may have the effect of reducing stale pricing arbitrage opportunities presented by the pricing of Fund shares. However, when the Fund uses fair valuation to price securities, it may value those securities higher or lower than another fund would have priced the security. Also, the use of fair valuation may cause the Fund's performance to diverge to a greater degree from the performance of various benchmarks used to compare the Fund's performance because benchmarks generally do not use fair valuation techniques. Because of the judgment involved in fair valuation decisions, there can be no assurance that the value ascribed to a particular security is accurate. The Fund has retained one or more independent fair valuation pricing services to assist in the fair valuation process for foreign securities.
Transaction Rules and Policies
The Fund, the Distributor or the Transfer Agent may refuse any order to buy or exchange shares. If this happens, the Fund will return any money it received, but no interest will be paid on that money. Your financial intermediary may have rules and policies in place that are in addition to or different than those described below.
Order Processing
Orders to buy, sell or exchange Fund shares are processed on business days. Depending upon the class of shares, orders can be made by mail, by telephone or online. Orders received in “good form” by the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary before the end of a business day are priced at the NAV per share (plus any applicable sales charge) of the Fund's applicable share class on that day. Orders received after the end of a business day will receive the next business day's NAV per share (plus any applicable sales charge). For Direct-at-Fund Accounts (i.e., accounts established directly with the Fund), when a written order to buy, sell or exchange shares is sent to the Transfer Agent, the share price used to fill the order is the next price calculated by the Fund after the Transfer Agent receives the transaction request in “good form” at its transaction processing center (i.e., the Fund’s express mail address), not the P.O. Box provided for regular mail delivery. The market value of the Fund's investments may change between the time you submit your order and the time the Fund next calculates its NAV per share. The business day that applies to your order is also called the trade date.
“Good Form”
An order is in “good form” if the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary has received payment (in the case of purchases) and all of the information and documentation it deems necessary to effect your order. For example, when you sell shares, “good form” means that your request (i) has complete instructions and written requests include the signatures of all account owners, (ii) is for an amount that is less than or equal to the shares in your account for which payment has been received and collected, (iii) has a Medallion Signature Guarantee for amounts greater than $100,000 and certain other transactions, as described below, and (iv) includes any other required documents completed and attached. For the documents required for sales by corporations, agents, fiduciaries, surviving joint owners and other legal entities, call 800.345.6611.
Medallion Signature Guarantees
The Transfer Agent may require a Medallion Signature Guarantee for your signature in order to process certain transactions, including if: (i) the transaction amount is over $100,000; (ii) you want your check made payable to someone other than the registered account owner(s); (iii) the address of record has changed within the last 30 days; (iv) you want the check mailed to an address other than the address of record; (v) you want proceeds to be sent according to existing bank account instructions not coded for outgoing Automated Clearing House (ACH) or wire, or to a bank account not on file; or (vi) you are changing legal ownership of your account.
A Medallion Signature Guarantee helps assure that a signature is genuine and not a forgery. A Medallion Signature Guarantee must be provided by an eligible guarantor institution including, but not limited to, the following: a bank, credit union, savings association, broker or dealer that participates in the Securities Transfer Association Medallion Program (STAMP), the Stock Exchange Medallion Program (SEMP) or the New York Stock Exchange Medallion
| 58 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Strategic Income Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
Signature Program (MSP). For other transactions, the Transfer Agent may require a signature guarantee. Notarization by a notary public is not an acceptable signature guarantee. The Transfer Agent reserves the right to reject a signature guarantee and to request additional documentation for any transaction.
Customer Identification Program
Federal law requires the Fund to obtain and record specific personal information to verify your identity when you open an account. This information may include your name, address, date of birth (for individuals) and taxpayer or other government issued identification (e.g., social security number (SSN) or other taxpayer identification number (TIN)). If you fail to provide the requested information, the Fund may need to delay the date of your purchase or may be unable to open your account, which may result in a return of your investment monies. In addition, if the Fund is unable to verify your identity after your account is open, the Fund reserves the right to close your account or take other steps as deemed reasonable. The Fund will not be liable for any loss resulting from any purchase delay, application rejection or account closure due to a failure to provide proper identifying information.
Small Account Policy — Class A, Class C, Class Inst, and Class V Share Accounts Below the Minimum Account Balance
The Funds generally will automatically sell your shares if the value of your Fund account (treating each account of the Fund you own separately from any other account of the Fund you may own) falls below the applicable minimum account balance. Any otherwise applicable CDSC will not be imposed on such an automatic sale of your shares. Generally, you may avoid such an automatic sale by raising your account balance to at least $250 or consolidating your multiple accounts you may have with the Funds through an exchange (so as to maintain at least $250 in each of your accounts). The minimum account balance varies among share classes and types of accounts, as follows:
|
Minimum Account Balance
|
|
|
Minimum
Account Balance |
|
| For all classes and account types except those listed below |
$250 (None for accounts with
Systematic Investment Plans) |
| Individual Retirement Accounts for all classes except those listed below | None |
| Class Adv, Class Inst2, Class Inst3 and Class R | None |
For shares held directly with the Funds’ Transfer Agent, if your shares are sold, the Transfer Agent will remit the sale proceeds to you. The Transfer Agent will send you written notification in advance of any automatic sale, which will provide details on how you may avoid such an automatic sale. Generally, you may avoid such an automatic sale by raising your account balance to at least $250, consolidating your multiple accounts you may have with the Funds through an exchange (so as to maintain at least $250 in each of your accounts), or setting up a Systematic Investment Plan (described below). For more information, contact the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary. The Transfer Agent's contact information (toll-free number and mailing addresses) as well as the Funds’ website address can be found at the beginning of the section
.
Choosing a Share Class
For shares purchased and held for your benefit through a financial intermediary, the Funds may instruct the intermediary to automatically sell your Fund shares if the transaction can be operationally administered by the intermediary.
Small Account Policy — Class A, Class C, Class Inst, and Class V Share Accounts Minimum Balance Fee
If the value of your Fund account (treating each account of the Fund you own separately from any other account of the Fund you may own) falls below the minimum initial investment requirement applicable to you for any reason, including as a result of market decline, your account generally could be subject to a $20 annual fee. The Transfer Agent will reduce the expenses paid by the Fund by any amounts it collects from the assessment of this fee. For Funds that do not have transfer agency expenses against which to offset the amount collected through assessment of this fee, the
| Prospectus 2021 | 59 |
Columbia Strategic Income Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
fee will be paid directly to the Fund. The Funds reserve the right to lower the account size trigger point for the minimum balance fee in any year or for any class of shares when we believe it is appropriate to do so in light of declines in the market value of Fund shares or for other reasons.
For shares held directly with the Funds’ Transfer Agent, this fee will be assessed through the automatic sale of Fund shares in your account. Any otherwise applicable CDSC will not be imposed on such an automatic sale of your shares. The Transfer Agent will send you written notification in advance of assessing any fee, which will provide details on how you can avoid the imposition of such fee. Generally, you may avoid the imposition of such fee by raising your Fund account balance, consolidating your multiple accounts you may have with the Funds, or setting up a Systematic Investment Plan that invests at least monthly. For more information, contact the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary. The Transfer Agent's contact information (toll-free number and mailing addresses) as well as the Funds’ website address can be found at the beginning of the section
.
Choosing a Share Class
For shares purchased and held for your benefit through a financial intermediary, this fee could be assessed through the automatic sale of Fund shares in your account if instructed by the Fund and the transaction can be operationally administered by the intermediary.
Exceptions to the Small Account Policy (Accounts Below Minimum Account Balance) and Minimum Balance Fee
The automatic sale of Fund shares in accounts under $250 and the annual minimum balance fee described above do not apply to shareholders of Class Adv, Class Inst2, Class Inst3 and Class R shares; shareholders holding their shares through financial intermediary networked accounts; wrap fee and omnibus accounts; accounts with active Systematic Investment Plans; certain qualified retirement plans; and health savings accounts. The automatic sale of Fund shares of accounts under the applicable minimum account balance does not apply to individual retirement plans.
Small Account Policy — Financial Intermediary Networked and Wrap Fee Accounts
The Funds may automatically redeem, at any time, financial intermediary networked accounts and wrap fee accounts that have account balances of $20 or less or have less than one share.
For shares purchased and held for your benefit through a financial intermediary, the Funds may instruct the intermediary to automatically sell your Fund shares if the transaction can be operationally administered by the intermediary.
Information Sharing Agreements
As required by Rule 22c-2 under the 1940 Act, the Funds or certain of their service providers will enter into information sharing agreements with financial intermediaries, including participating life insurance companies and financial intermediaries that sponsor or offer retirement plans through which shares of the Funds are made available for purchase. Pursuant to Rule 22c-2, financial intermediaries are required, upon request, to: (i) provide shareholder account and transaction information; and (ii) execute instructions from the Fund to restrict or prohibit further purchases of Fund shares by shareholders who have been identified by the Fund as having engaged in transactions that violate the Fund's excessive trading policies and procedures.
Excessive Trading Practices Policy of Non-Money Market Funds
Right to Reject or Restrict Share Transaction Orders—
The Fund is intended for investors with long-term investment purposes and is not intended as a vehicle for frequent trading activity (market timing) that is excessive. Investors should transact in Fund shares primarily for investment purposes. The Board has adopted excessive trading policies and procedures that are designed to deter excessive trading by investors (the Excessive Trading Policies and Procedures).
The Fund discourages and does not accommodate excessive trading.
The Fund reserves the right to reject, without any prior notice, any purchase or exchange order for any reason, and will not be liable for any loss resulting from rejected orders. For example, the Fund may in its sole discretion restrict or reject a purchase or exchange order even if the transaction is not subject to the specific limitation described below if the Fund or its agents determine that accepting the order could interfere with efficient management of the Fund's
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Columbia Strategic Income Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
portfolio or is otherwise contrary to the Fund's best interests. The Excessive Trading Policies and Procedures apply equally to purchase or exchange transactions communicated directly to the Transfer Agent and to those received by financial intermediaries.
Specific Buying and Exchanging Limitations
— If a Fund detects that an investor has made two “material round trips” in any 28-day period, it will generally reject the investor's future purchase orders, including exchange purchase orders, involving any Fund.
For these purposes, a “round trip” is a purchase or exchange into the Fund followed by a sale or exchange out of the Fund, or a sale or exchange out of the Fund followed by a purchase or exchange into the Fund. A “material” round trip is one that is deemed by the Fund to be material in terms of its amount or its potential detrimental impact on the Fund. Independent of this limit, the Fund may, in its sole discretion, reject future purchase orders by any person, group or account that appears to have engaged in any type of excessive trading activity.
These limits generally do not apply to automated transactions or transactions by registered investment companies in a “fund-of-funds” structure. These limits do not apply to payroll deduction contributions by retirement plan participants, transactions initiated by a retirement plan sponsor or certain other retirement plan transactions consisting of rollover transactions, loan repayments and disbursements, and required minimum distribution redemptions. They may be modified or rescinded for accounts held by certain retirement plans to conform to plan limits, for considerations relating to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 or regulations of the Department of Labor, and for certain asset allocation or wrap programs. Accounts known to be under common ownership or control generally will be counted together, but accounts maintained or managed by a common intermediary generally will not be considered to be under common ownership or control. The Fund retains the right to modify these restrictions at any time without prior notice to shareholders. In addition, the Fund may, in its sole discretion, reinstate trading privileges that have been revoked under the Fund's Excessive Trading Policies and Procedures.
Limitations on the Ability to Detect and Prevent Excessive Trading Practices—
The Fund takes various steps designed to detect and prevent excessive trading, including daily review of available shareholder transaction information. However, the Fund receives buy, sell or exchange orders through financial intermediaries, and cannot always know of or reasonably detect excessive trading that may be facilitated by financial intermediaries or by the use of the omnibus account arrangements they offer. Omnibus account arrangements are common forms of holding shares of mutual funds, particularly among certain financial intermediaries such as broker-dealers, retirement plans and variable insurance products. These arrangements often permit financial intermediaries to aggregate their clients' transactions and accounts, and in these circumstances, the identities of the financial intermediary clients that beneficially own Fund shares are often not known to the Fund.
Some financial intermediaries apply their own restrictions or policies to their clients’ transactions and accounts, which may be more or less restrictive than those described here. This may impact the Fund's ability to curtail excessive trading, even where it is identified. For these and other reasons, it is possible that excessive trading may occur despite the Fund's efforts to detect and prevent it.
Although these restrictions and policies involve judgments that are inherently subjective and may involve some selectivity in their application, the Fund seeks to act in a manner that it believes is consistent with the best interests of Fund shareholders in making any such judgments.
Risks of Excessive Trading —
Excessive trading creates certain risks to the Fund's long-term shareholders and may create the following adverse effects:
| ■ | negative impact on the Fund's performance; |
| ■ | potential dilution of the value of the Fund's shares; |
| ■ | interference with the efficient management of the Fund's portfolio, such as the need to maintain undesirably large cash positions, the need to use its line of credit or the need to buy or sell securities it otherwise would not have bought or sold; |
| ■ | losses on the sale of investments resulting from the need to sell securities at less favorable prices; |
| Prospectus 2021 | 61 |
Columbia Strategic Income Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
| ■ | increased taxable gains to the Fund's remaining shareholders resulting from the need to sell securities to meet sell orders; and |
| ■ | increased brokerage and administrative costs. |
To the extent that the Fund invests significantly in foreign securities traded on markets that close before the Fund's valuation time, it may be particularly susceptible to dilution as a result of excessive trading. Because events may occur after the close of foreign markets and before the Fund's valuation time that influence the value of foreign securities, investors may seek to trade Fund shares in an effort to benefit from their understanding of the value of foreign securities as of the Fund's valuation time. This is often referred to as price arbitrage. The Fund has adopted procedures designed to adjust closing market prices of foreign securities under certain circumstances to reflect what the Fund believes to be the fair value of those securities as of its valuation time. To the extent the adjustments do not work fully, investors engaging in price arbitrage may cause dilution in the value of the Fund's shares held by other shareholders.
Similarly, to the extent that the Fund invests significantly in thinly traded securities and other debt instruments that are rated below investment grade (commonly called “high-yield” or “junk” bonds), equity securities of small-capitalization companies, floating rate loans, or tax-exempt or other securities that may trade infrequently, because
these securities are often traded infrequently, investors may seek to trade Fund shares in an effort to benefit from their understanding of the value of these securities as of the Fund's valuation time. This is also a type of price arbitrage. Any such frequent trading strategies may interfere with efficient management of the Fund's portfolio to a greater degree than would be the case for mutual funds that invest only, or significantly, in highly liquid securities, in part because the Fund may have difficulty selling these particular investments at advantageous times or prices to satisfy large and/or frequent sell orders. Any successful price arbitrage may also cause dilution in the value of Fund shares held by non-redeeming shareholders.
Excessive Trading Practices Policy of Columbia Government Money Market Fund
A money market fund is designed to offer investors a liquid cash option that they may buy and sell as often as they wish. Accordingly, the Board has not adopted policies and procedures designed to discourage excessive or short-term trading of Columbia Government Money Market Fund shares. However, since frequent purchases and sales of Columbia Government Money Market Fund shares could in certain instances harm shareholders in various ways, including reducing the returns to long-term shareholders by increasing costs (such as spreads paid to dealers who trade money market instruments with Columbia Government Money Market Fund) and disrupting portfolio management strategies, Columbia Government Money Market Fund reserves the right, but has no obligation, to reject any purchase or exchange transaction at any time. Except as expressly described in this prospectus (such as minimum purchase amounts), Columbia Government Money Market Fund has no limits on purchase or exchange transactions. In addition, Columbia Government Money Market Fund reserves the right to impose or modify restrictions on purchases, exchanges or trading of Fund shares at any time.
Opening an Account and Placing Orders
We encourage you to consult with a financial advisor who can help you with your investment decisions and who can help you open an account. Once you have an account, you can buy, sell or exchange shares by contacting your financial advisor who will send your order to the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary. As described below, once you have an account you can also communicate your orders directly to the Transfer Agent by mail, by telephone or online.
The Funds are generally available directly and through broker-dealers, banks and other financial intermediaries or institutions, and through certain qualified and non-qualified plans, wrap fee products or other investment products sponsored by financial intermediaries. You may buy, sell, or exchange shares through your financial intermediary. If you maintain your account directly with your financial intermediary, you must contact that agent to process your transaction.
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Columbia Strategic Income Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
Not all financial intermediaries offer the Funds (or all classes of Fund shares) and certain financial intermediaries that offer the Funds may not offer all Funds on all investment platforms or programs.
Please consult with your financial intermediary to determine the availability of the Funds. If you set up an account at a financial intermediary that does not have, and is unable to obtain, a selling agreement with the Distributor, you will not be able to transfer Fund holdings to that account. In that event, you must either maintain your Fund holdings with your current financial intermediary or find another financial intermediary with a selling agreement.
Financial intermediaries that offer the Funds may charge you additional fees for the services they provide and they may have different policies that are not described in this prospectus.
An investor transacting in a class of Fund shares without any front-end sales charge, CDSC, or other asset-based fee for sales or distribution, such as a Rule 12b-1 fee, may be required to pay a commission to the financial intermediary for effecting such transactions. The Funds are offered in a number of different share classes that have different fees and expenses and other features. Some differences in the policies of different financial intermediaries may include different minimum investment amounts, exchange privileges, Fund/class choices and cutoff times for investments. Additionally, recordkeeping, transaction processing and payments of distributions relating to your account may be performed by the financial intermediaries through which your shares of the Fund are held. Since the Fund (and its service providers) may not have a record of your account transactions, you should always contact the financial intermediary through which you purchased or at which you maintain your shares of the Fund to make changes to your account, to give instructions concerning your account, or to obtain information about your account. The Fund and its service providers, including the Distributor and the Transfer Agent, are not responsible for the failure of any financial intermediary to carry out its obligations to its customers.
The Fund may engage financial intermediaries to receive purchase, exchange and sell orders on its behalf. Accounts established directly with the Fund will be serviced by the Transfer Agent. The Funds, the Transfer Agent and the Distributor do not provide investment advice.
Direct-At-Fund Accounts (Accounts Established Directly with the Fund)
You can hold Fund shares through an account established and held through the financial intermediary through which you purchased Fund shares or you or your financial intermediary may establish an account directly with the Fund, in which case you will receive Fund account transaction confirmations and statements from the Transfer Agent, and not your financial intermediary (Direct-at-Fund Accounts).
To open a Direct-at-Fund Account, complete a Fund account application with your financial advisor or investment professional, and mail the account application to the Transfer Agent. Account applications may be obtained at columbiathreadneedleus.com or may be requested by calling 800.345.6611. Make your check payable to the Fund. You will be assessed a $15 fee for any checks rejected by your financial institution due to insufficient funds or other reasons. The Funds do not accept cash, credit card convenience checks, money orders, traveler's checks, starter checks, third or fourth party checks, or other cash equivalents.
Mail your check and completed application to the Transfer Agent at its regular or express mail address that can be found at the beginning of the section
. You may also use these addresses to request an exchange or redemption of Fund shares. When a written order to buy, sell or exchange shares is sent to the Transfer Agent, the share price used to fill the order is the next price calculated by the Fund after the Transfer Agent receives your transaction request in “good form” at its transaction processing center (i.e., the Fund’s express mail address), not the P.O. Box provided for regular mail delivery.
Choosing a Share Class
You will be sent a statement confirming your purchase and any subsequent transactions in your account. You will also be sent quarterly and annual statements detailing your transactions in the Fund and the other Funds you own under the same account. Duplicate quarterly account statements for the current year and duplicate annual statements for the most recent prior calendar year will be sent to you free of charge. Copies of year-end statements for prior years are available for a fee. Please contact the Transfer Agent for more information.
| Prospectus 2021 | 63 |
Columbia Strategic Income Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
Written Transactions – Direct-at-Fund Accounts
If you have a Direct-at-Fund Account, you can communicate written buy, sell or exchange orders to the Transfer Agent at its address that can be found at the beginning of the section
. When a written order to buy, sell or exchange shares is sent to the Transfer Agent, the share price used to fill the order is the next price calculated by the Fund after the Transfer Agent receives your transaction request in “good form” at its transaction processing center (i.e., the Fund’s express mail address), not the P.O. Box provided for regular mail delivery.
Choosing a Share Class
Include in your transaction request letter: your name; the name of the Fund(s); your account number; the class of shares to be purchased, exchanged or sold; your SSN or other TIN; the dollar amount or number of shares you want to purchase, exchange or sell; specific instructions regarding delivery of any redemption proceeds or exchange destination (i.e., the Fund/class to be exchanged into); signature(s) of all registered account owner(s); and any special documents the Transfer Agent may require in order to process your order.
Corporate, trust or partnership accounts may need to send additional documents. Payment will be mailed to the address of record and made payable to the names listed on the account, unless your request specifies differently and is signed by all owners.
Telephone Transactions – Direct-at-Fund Accounts
For Class A, Class C, Class Inst, Class Inst3, Class R and Class V shares, if you have a Direct-at-Fund Account, you may place orders to buy, sell or exchange shares by telephone through the Transfer Agent. To place orders by telephone, call 800.422.3737. Have your account number and SSN or TIN available when calling.
You can sell Fund shares via telephone and receive redemption proceeds: by electronic funds transfer via ACH, by wire, or by check to the address of record, subject to a maximum of $100,000 of shares per day, per Fund account. You can buy Fund shares via telephone by electronic funds transfer via ACH from your bank account up to a maximum of $100,000 of shares per day, per Fund account, or by wire from your bank account without a maximum. See below for more information regarding wire and electronic fund transfer transactions. Certain restrictions apply, so please call the Transfer Agent at 800.422.3737 for this and other information in advance of any need to transact via telephone.
Telephone orders may not be as secure as written orders. The Fund will take reasonable steps to confirm that telephone instructions are genuine. For example, we require proof of your identification before we will act on instructions received by telephone and may record telephone conversations. However, the Fund and its agents will not be responsible for any losses, costs or expenses resulting from an unauthorized telephone instruction when reasonable steps have been taken to confirm that telephone instructions are genuine. Telephone orders may be difficult to complete during periods of significant economic or market change or business interruption.
Online Transactions – Direct-at-Fund Accounts
For Class A, Class C, Class Inst, Class Inst3, Class R and Class V shares, if you have a Direct-at-Fund Account, you may be able to place orders to buy, sell, or exchange shares online. Contact the Transfer Agent at 800.345.6611 for more information on certain account trading restrictions and the special sign-up procedures required for online transactions. You can also go to columbiathreadneedleus.com/investor/ to sign up for online transactions. The Transfer Agent has procedures in place to authenticate electronic orders you send through the internet. You will be required to accept the terms of an online agreement and to establish an online account and utilize a password in order to access online account services. You can sell a maximum of $100,000 of shares per day, per Fund account through your online account if you qualify for internet orders. Wire transactions are not permitted online.
Wire Transactions – Direct-at-Fund Accounts
If you hold a Direct-at-Fund Account, you may purchase or redeem Class A, Class C, Class Inst, Class Inst3, Class R and Class V shares of a Fund by wiring money from (or to) your bank account to (or from) your Fund account. You must set up this feature prior to your request unless you are submitting your request in writing, which may require a Medallion Signature Guarantee. Please contact the Transfer Agent by calling 800.422.3737 to obtain the necessary forms and requirements. The Transfer Agent charges a fee for shares sold by wire. The Transfer Agent may waive the
| 64 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Strategic Income Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
fee for certain accounts. In the case of a redemption, the receiving bank may charge an additional fee. The minimum amount that can be redeemed by wire is $500. When selling Fund shares via a telephone request, the maximum amount that can be redeemed via wire transfer is $100,000 per day, per Fund account. Wire transactions are not permitted online.
Electronic Funds Transfer via ACH – Direct-at-Fund Accounts
If you hold a Direct-at-Fund Account, you may purchase or redeem Class A, Class C, Class Inst, Class Inst3, Class R and Class V shares of a Fund by electronically transferring money via Automated Clearing House (ACH) from (or to) your bank account to (or from) your Fund account subject to a maximum of $100,000 of shares per day, per Fund account. You must set up this feature prior to your request, unless you are submitting your request in writing, which may require a Medallion Signature Guarantee. Please contact the Transfer Agent by calling 800.422.3737 to obtain the necessary forms and requirements. Your bank may take up to three business days to post an electronic funds transfer to (or from) your Fund account.
Buying Shares
Eligible Investors
Class A Shares
Class A shares are available to the general public for investment. However, Class A shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund must be purchased through financial intermediaries that, by written agreement with the Distributor, are specifically authorized to sell the Fund’s shares.
Class Adv Shares
Class Adv shares are available only to (i) omnibus retirement plans, including self-directed brokerage accounts within omnibus retirement plans that clear through institutional no transaction fee (NTF) platforms, (ii) trust companies or similar institutions, (iii) broker-dealers, banks, trust companies and similar institutions that clear Fund share transactions for their client or customer investment advisory or similar accounts through designated financial intermediaries and their mutual fund trading platforms that have been granted specific written authorization from the Transfer Agent with respect to Class Adv eligibility apart from selling, servicing or similar agreements, (iv) 501(c)(3) charitable organizations, (v) 529 plans, (vi) health savings accounts, (vii) investors participating in a fee-based advisory program sponsored by a financial intermediary or other entity that is not compensated by the Fund for those services, other than payments for shareholder servicing or sub-accounting performed in place of the Transfer Agent, and (viii) commissionable brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary, acting as broker on behalf of its customer, charges the customer a commission for effecting transactions in Fund shares, provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Adv shares within such platform.
Class Adv shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund must be purchased through financial intermediaries that, by written agreement with the Distributor, are specifically authorized to sell the Fund’s shares. Class Adv shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund are also available to certain registered investment advisers that clear Fund share transactions for their client accounts through designated financial intermediaries with mutual fund trading platforms that have been granted specific written authorization from the Transfer Agent (apart from selling, servicing or similar agreements) to sell Class Inst2 shares, which are not offered by the Fund.
Class C Shares
Class C shares are available to the general public for investment.
Class Inst Shares
Class Inst shares are available only to the categories of eligible investors described below under
.
Class Inst Shares Minimum Initial Investments
Financial intermediaries that clear Fund share transactions through designated financial intermediaries and their mutual fund trading platforms that were given specific written notice from the
| Prospectus 2021 | 65 |
Columbia Strategic Income Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
Transfer Agent of the termination, effective March 29, 2013, of their eligibility for new purchases of Class Inst shares and omnibus retirement plans are not permitted to establish new Class Inst accounts, subject to certain exceptions described below.
Omnibus retirement plans that opened and, subject to certain exceptions, funded a Class Inst account with the Fund as of the close of business on March 28, 2013 and have continuously held Class Inst shares in such account after such date (each, a grandfathered plan), may generally continue to make additional purchases of Class Inst shares, open new Class Inst accounts and add new participants. In addition, an omnibus retirement plan affiliated with a grandfathered plan may, in the sole discretion of the Distributor, open new Class Inst accounts in a Fund if the affiliated plan opened a Class Inst account on or before March 28, 2013. If an omnibus retirement plan invested in Class Inst shares changes recordkeepers after March 28, 2013, any new accounts established for that plan may not be established in Class Inst shares, but such a plan may establish new accounts in a different share class for which the plan is eligible.
Accounts of financial intermediaries (other than omnibus retirement plans, which are discussed above) that clear Fund share transactions for their client or customer accounts through designated financial intermediaries and their mutual fund trading platforms that received specific written notice from the Transfer Agent of the termination, effective March 29, 2013, of their eligibility for new purchases of Class Inst shares will not be permitted to establish new Class Inst accounts or make additional purchases of Class Inst shares (other than through reinvestment of distributions). Any such account may, at its holder’s option, exchange Class Inst shares of a Fund, without the payment of a sales charge, for Class A shares of the same Fund.
Class Inst shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund must be purchased through financial intermediaries that, by written agreement with the Distributor, are specifically authorized to sell the Fund’s shares.
Class Inst2 Shares
Class Inst2 shares are available only to (i) certain registered investment advisers and family offices that clear Fund share transactions for their client or customer accounts through designated financial intermediaries and their mutual fund trading platforms that have been granted specific written authorization from the Transfer Agent with respect to Class Inst2 eligibility apart from selling, servicing or similar agreements; (ii) omnibus retirement plans; and (iii) institutional investors that are clients of the Columbia Threadneedle Global Institutional Distribution Team that invest in Class Inst2 shares for their own account through platforms approved by the Distributor or an affiliate thereof to offer and/or service Class Inst2 shares within such platform. Prior to November 8, 2012, Class Inst2 shares were closed to new investors and new accounts, subject to certain exceptions. Existing shareholders who do not satisfy the new eligibility requirements for investment in Class Inst2 may not establish new Class Inst2 accounts but may continue to make additional purchases of Class Inst2 shares in accounts opened and funded prior to November 8, 2012; provided, however, that investment advisory programs and similar programs that opened a Class Inst2 account as of May 1, 2010, and continuously hold Class Inst2 shares in such account after such date, may generally not only continue to make additional purchases of Class Inst2 shares but also open new Class Inst2 accounts for such pre-existing programs and add new shareholders in the program.
Class Inst3 Shares
Class Inst3 shares are available to: (i) group retirement plans that maintain plan-level or omnibus accounts with the Fund (through the Transfer Agent); (ii) institutional investors that are clients of the Columbia Threadneedle Global Institutional Distribution Team that invest in Class Inst3 shares for their own account through platforms approved by the Distributor or an affiliate thereof to offer and/or service Class Inst3 shares within such platform; (iii) collective trust funds; (iv) affiliated or unaffiliated mutual funds (e.g., funds operating as funds-of-funds); (v) fee-based platforms of financial intermediaries (or the clearing intermediary that they trade through) that have an agreement with the Distributor or an affiliate thereof that specifically authorizes the financial intermediary to offer and/or service Class Inst3 shares within such platform, provided also that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account; (vi) commissionable brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary, acting as broker on behalf of its customer, charges the customer a commission for effecting transactions in Fund shares, provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst3 shares within such platform and that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account; and (vii) bank trust departments, subject to an
| 66 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Strategic Income Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst3 shares and provided that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account. In each case above where noted that Fund shares are required to be held in an omnibus account, the Distributor may, in its discretion, determine to waive this requirement.
Class Inst3 shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund must be purchased through financial intermediaries that, by written agreement with the Distributor, are specifically authorized to sell the Fund’s shares. Please note that Class Inst3 shares that were open and funded accounts prior to November 30, 2018 (the conversion date from the former unnamed share class to Class Inst3 shares) are eligible for additional investment; however, any account established after that date must meet the current Class Inst3 eligibility requirements.
Class R Shares
Class R shares are available only to eligible health savings accounts sponsored by third party platforms, including those sponsored by Ameriprise Financial affiliates, eligible retirement plans and, in the sole discretion of the Distributor, other types of retirement accounts held through platforms maintained by financial intermediaries approved by the Distributor. Eligible retirement plans include any retirement plan other than individual 403(b) plans. Class R shares are generally not available for investment through retail nonretirement accounts, traditional and Roth IRAs, Coverdell Education Savings Accounts, SEPs, SAR-SEPs, Simple IRAs or 529 tuition programs. Contact the Transfer Agent or your retirement plan or health savings account administrator for more information about investing in Class R shares.
Class V Shares
Class V shares are available only to investors who received (and who have continuously held) Class V shares (formerly named Class T shares) in connection with the merger of certain Galaxy funds into certain Funds that were then named Liberty funds.
Additional Eligible Investors
In addition, the Distributor, in its sole discretion, may accept investments in any share class from investors other than those listed in this prospectus, and may also waive certain eligibility requirements for operational and other reasons, including but not limited to any requirement to maintain Fund shares in networked or omnibus accounts.
Minimum Initial Investments
The table below shows the Fund’s minimum initial investment requirements, which may vary by class and type of account.
The Fund reserves the right to redeem your shares if your account falls below the Fund’s minimum initial investment requirement.
|
Minimum Initial Investments
|
||
|
Minimum
Initial Investment
(a)
|
Minimum
Initial Investment for Accounts with Systematic Investment Plans |
|
| For all classes and account types except those listed below | $2,000 |
$100
(b)
|
| Individual Retirement Accounts for all classes except those listed below | $1,000 |
$100
(c)
|
| Group retirement plans | None | N/A |
| Class Adv and Class Inst |
$0, $1,000 or $2,000
(d)
|
$100
(d)
|
| Class Inst2 and Class R | None | N/A |
| Class Inst3 |
$0, $1,000, $2,000 or $1 million
(e)
|
$100
(e)
|
| (a) | If your Class A, Class Adv, Class C, Class Inst, Class Inst3 or Class V shares account balance falls below the minimum initial investment amount for any reason, including a market decline, you may be asked to increase it to the minimum initial investment amount or establish a monthly Systematic Investment Plan. If you do not do so, your account will be subject to a $20 annual low balance fee and/or shares may be |
| Prospectus 2021 | 67 |
Columbia Strategic Income Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
|
automatically redeemed and the proceeds mailed to you if the account falls below the minimum account balance. See
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares — Transaction Rules and Policies
|
| (b) |
Columbia Government Money Market Fund
—
|
| (c) |
Columbia Government Money Market Fund
—
|
| (d) |
The minimum initial investment in Class Adv shares is $2,000 ($1,000 for IRAs; $100 for systematic investment plan accounts) for commissionable brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary, acting as broker on behalf of its customers, charges the customer a commission for effecting transactions in Fund shares, provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Adv shares within such platform; for all other eligible Class Adv share investors (see
Buying Shares – Eligible Investors – Class Adv Shares
Class Inst Shares Minimum Initial Investments
|
| (e) | There is no minimum initial investment in Class Inst3 shares for: group retirement plans that maintain plan-level or omnibus accounts with the Fund; collective trust funds; affiliated or unaffiliated mutual funds (e.g., funds operating as funds-of-funds); fee-based platforms of financial intermediaries (or the clearing intermediary that they trade through) that have an agreement with the Distributor or an affiliate thereof that specifically authorizes the financial intermediary to offer and/or service Class Inst3 shares within such platform and Fund shares are held in an omnibus account; and bank trust departments, subject to an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst3 shares and provided that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account. The minimum initial investment in Class Inst3 shares is $2,000 ($1,000 for IRAs; $100 for systematic investment plan accounts) for commissionable brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary, acting as broker on behalf of its customer, charges the customer a commission for effecting transactions in Fund shares, provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst3 shares within such platform and Fund shares are held in an omnibus account. The minimum initial investment in Class Inst3 shares is $1 million, unless waived in the discretion of the Distributor, for the following investors: institutional investors that are clients of the Columbia Threadneedle Global Institutional Distribution Team that invest in Class Inst3 shares for their own account through platforms approved by the Distributor or an affiliate thereof to offer and/or service Class Inst3 shares within such platform. The Distributor may, in its discretion, waive the $1 million minimum initial investment required for these Class Inst3 investors. In each case above where noted that Fund shares are required to be held in an omnibus account, the Distributor may, in its discretion, determine to waive this requirement. |
Additional Information about Minimum Initial Investments
The minimum initial investment requirements may be waived for accounts that are managed by an investment professional, or for accounts held in approved discretionary or non-discretionary wrap programs. The Distributor, in its sole discretion, may also waive minimum initial investment requirements for other account types.
Minimum investment and related requirements may be modified at any time, with or without prior notice. If your account is closed and then re-opened with a systematic investment plan, your account must meet the then-current applicable minimum initial investment.
Class Inst Shares Minimum Initial Investments
There is no minimum initial investment in Class Inst shares for the following categories of eligible investors:
| ■ | Any health savings account sponsored by a third party platform. |
| ■ | Any investor participating in an account sponsored by a financial intermediary or other entity (that provides services to the account) that is paid a fee-based advisory fee by the investor and that is not compensated by the Fund for those services, other than payments for shareholder servicing or sub-accounting performed in place of the Transfer Agent. |
| ■ | Any commissionable brokerage account, if a financial intermediary has received a written approval from the Distributor to waive the minimum initial investment in Class Inst shares. |
The minimum initial investment in Class Inst shares for the following categories of eligible investors is $1,000:
| ■ | Individual retirement accounts (IRAs) on commissionable brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary, acting as broker on behalf of its customer, charges the customer a commission for effecting transactions in Fund shares, provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst shares within such platform. |
| ■ | Any current employee of Columbia Management Investment Advisers LLC, the Distributor or the Transfer Agent and immediate family members of any of the foregoing who share the same address are eligible to invest in Class Inst shares through an individual retirement account (IRA). If you maintain your account with a financial intermediary, you must contact that financial intermediary each time you seek to purchase shares to notify them that you qualify |
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Columbia Strategic Income Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
| for Class Inst shares. If Class Inst shares are not available at your financial intermediary, you may consider opening a Direct-at-Fund Account. It is your obligation to advise your financial intermediary or (in the case of Direct-at-Fund Accounts) the Transfer Agent that you qualify for Class Inst shares; be prepared to provide proof thereof. |
The minimum initial investment in Class Inst shares for the following categories of eligible investors is $2,000:
| ■ | Investors (except investors in individual retirement accounts (IRAs)) who purchase Fund shares through commissionable brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary holds the shares in an omnibus account and, acting as broker on behalf of its customer, charges the customer a commission for effecting transactions in Fund shares provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst shares within such platform. |
| ■ | Any current employee of Columbia Management Investment Advisers LLC, the Distributor or the Transfer Agent and immediate family members of any of the foregoing who share the same address are eligible to invest in Class Inst shares (other than individual retirement accounts (IRAs), for which the minimum initial investment is $1,000). If you maintain your account with a financial intermediary, you must contact that financial intermediary each time you seek to purchase shares to notify them that you qualify for Class Inst shares. If Class Inst shares are not available at your financial intermediary, you may consider opening a Direct-at-Fund Account. It is your obligation to advise your financial intermediary or (in the case of Direct-at-Fund Accounts) the Transfer Agent that you qualify for Class Inst shares; be prepared to provide proof thereof. |
| ■ | Certain financial institutions and intermediaries, such as insurance companies, trust companies, banks, endowments, investment companies or foundations, buying shares for their own account, including Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates and/or subsidiaries. |
| ■ | Bank trust departments that assess their clients an asset-based fee. |
| ■ | Certain other investors as set forth in more detail in the SAI. |
Systematic Investment Plan
The Systematic Investment Plan allows you to schedule regular purchases via automatic transfers from your bank account to the Fund on a monthly, quarterly or semiannual basis. Contact the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary to set up the plan. Systematic Investment Plans may not be available for all share classes. With the exception of Columbia Government Money Market Fund, the Systematic Investment Plan is confirmed on your quarterly account statement.
Dividend Diversification
Generally, you may automatically invest Fund distributions into the same class of shares (and in some cases certain other classes of shares) of another Fund without paying any applicable front-end sales charge. Call the Transfer Agent at 800.345.6611 for details. The ability to invest distributions from one Fund to another Fund may not be available to accounts held at all financial intermediaries.
Other Purchase Rules You Should Know
| ■ | Once the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary receives your purchase order in “good form,” your purchase will be made at the Fund’s next calculated public offering price per share, which is the NAV per share plus any sales charge that applies (i.e., the trade date). |
| ■ | Once the Fund receives your purchase request in “good form,” you cannot cancel it after the market closes. |
| ■ | You generally buy Class A and Class V shares at the public offering price per share because purchases of these share classes are generally subject to a front-end sales charge. |
| ■ | You buy Class Adv, Class C, Class Inst, Class Inst2, Class Inst3 and Class R shares at NAV per share because no front-end sales charge applies to purchases of these share classes. |
| ■ | Class A shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund are not eligible for purchase by a Direct-at-Fund Account. |
| Prospectus 2021 | 69 |
Columbia Strategic Income Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
| ■ | Class Inst shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund are not eligible for purchase by a Direct-at-Fund Account except for any current employee of Columbia Management Investment Advisers LLC, the Distributor or Transfer Agent and immediate family members of the foregoing who share the same address. |
| ■ | The Distributor and the Transfer Agent reserve the right to cancel your order request if the Fund does not receive payment within two business days of receiving your purchase order request. The Fund will return any payment received for orders that have been cancelled, but no interest will be paid on that money. |
| ■ | Financial intermediaries are responsible for sending your purchase orders to the Transfer Agent and ensuring that the Fund receives your money on time. |
| ■ | Shares purchased are recorded on the books of the Fund. The Fund does not issue certificates. |
Please also read
and contact your financial intermediary for more information regarding any reductions and/or waivers described therein.
Appendix A
Selling Shares
When you sell shares, the amount you receive may be more or less than the amount you invested. Your sale price will be the next NAV calculated after your request is received in “good form,” (i.e., the trade date) minus any applicable CDSC.
Systematic Withdrawal Plan
The Systematic Withdrawal Plan allows you to schedule regular redemptions from your account any business day on a monthly, quarterly or semiannual basis. Currently, Systematic Withdrawal Plans are generally available for Class A, Class Adv, Class C, Class Inst, Class Inst2, Class Inst3, and Class V share accounts. Contact the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary to set up the plan. To set up the plan, your account balance must meet the class minimum initial investment amount. A Systematic Withdrawal Plan cannot be set up on an account that already has a Systematic Investment Plan established. Note that a Medallion Signature Guarantee may be required if this service is established after your Fund account is opened.
You can choose to receive your withdrawals via check or direct deposit into your bank account. The Fund will deduct any applicable CDSC from the withdrawals before sending redemption proceeds to you. You can cancel the plan by giving the Fund 30 days’ notice in writing or by calling the Transfer Agent at 800.422.3737. It’s important to remember that if you withdraw more than your investment in the Fund is earning, you'll eventually withdraw your entire investment.
Check Redemption Service (for Columbia Government Money Market Fund)
Class A and Class Inst shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund (which is not offered in this prospectus) offer check writing privileges. If you have $2,000 in Columbia Government Money Market Fund, you may request checks which may be drawn against your account. The amount of any check drawn against your Columbia Government Money Market Fund must be at least $100 and not more than $100,000 per day. You can elect this service when you initially establish your account or thereafter. Call 800.345.6611 for the appropriate forms to establish this service. If you own Class A shares that were originally purchased in another Fund at NAV because of the size of the purchase, and then exchanged into Columbia Government Money Market Fund, check redemptions may be subject to a CDSC. A $15 charge will be assessed for any stop payment order requested by you or any overdraft in connection with checks written against your Columbia Government Money Market Fund account. Note that a Medallion Signature Guarantee may be required if this service is established after your Fund account is opened.
Satisfying Fund Redemption Requests
When you sell your Fund shares, the Fund is effectively buying them back from you. This is called a redemption. Except as noted below with respect to newly purchased shares, the Fund typically expects to send you payment for your shares within two business days after your trade date for all methods of payment. The Fund can suspend redemptions and/or delay payment of redemption proceeds for up to seven days. The Fund can also suspend
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Columbia Strategic Income Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
redemptions and/or delay payment of redemption proceeds in excess of seven days under certain circumstances, including when the NYSE is closed or trading thereon is restricted or during emergency or other circumstances, including as determined by the SEC.
The Fund typically seeks to satisfy redemption requests from cash or cash equivalents held by the Fund, from the proceeds of orders to purchase Fund shares or from the proceeds of sales of Fund holdings effected in the normal course of managing the Fund. However, the Fund may have to sell Fund holdings, including in down markets, to meet heavier than usual redemption requests. For example, under stressed or abnormal market conditions or circumstances, including circumstances adversely affecting the liquidity of the Fund’s investments, the Fund may be more likely to be forced to sell Fund holdings to meet redemptions than under normal market circumstances. In these situations, the Fund’s portfolio managers may have to sell Fund holdings that would not otherwise be sold because, among other reasons, the current price to be received is less than the value of the holdings perceived by the Fund’s portfolio managers. The Fund may also, under certain circumstances (but more likely under stressed or abnormal market conditions or circumstances), borrow money under a credit facility to which the Fund and certain other Columbia Funds are parties or from other Columbia Funds under an interfund lending program (except for closed-end funds and money market funds, which are not eligible to borrow under the program). The Fund and the other Columbia Funds are limited as to the amount that each may individually and collectively borrow under the credit facility and the interfund lending program. As a result, borrowings available to the Fund under the credit facility and the interfund lending program might be insufficient, alone or in combination with the other strategies described herein, to satisfy Fund redemption requests. Please see
in the SAI for more information about the credit facility and interfund lending program. The Fund is also limited in the total amount it may borrow. The Fund may only borrow to the extent permitted by the 1940 Act, the rules and regulations thereunder, and any exemptive relief available to the Fund, which currently limit Fund borrowings to 33 1/3% of total assets (including any amounts borrowed) less liabilities (other than borrowings), plus an additional 5% of its total assets for temporary purposes (to be repaid within 60 days without extension or renewal), in each case determined at the time the borrowing is made.
About Fund Investments – Borrowings – Interfund Lending
In addition, the Fund reserves the right to honor redemption orders in whole or in part with in-kind distributions of Fund portfolio securities instead of cash. Such in-kind distributions typically represent a pro-rata portion of Fund portfolio assets subject to adjustments (e.g., for non-transferable securities, round lots, and derivatives). In the event the Fund distributes portfolio securities in kind, you may incur brokerage and other transaction costs associated with converting the portfolio securities you receive into cash. Also, the portfolio securities you receive may increase or decrease in value after they are distributed but before you convert them into cash. For U.S. federal income tax purposes, redemptions paid in securities are generally treated the same as redemptions paid in cash. If, during any 90-day period, you redeem shares in an amount greater than $250,000 or 1% of the Fund’s net assets (whichever is less), and if the Investment Manager determines it to be feasible and appropriate, the Fund may pay the redemption amount above such threshold by an in-kind distribution of Fund portfolio securities.
While the Fund is not required (and may refuse in its discretion) to pay a redemption with an in-kind distribution of Fund portfolio securities and reserves the right to pay the redemption proceeds in cash, if you wish to request an in-kind redemption, please call the Transfer Agent at 800.345.6611. As a result of the operational steps needed to coordinate with the redeeming shareholder’s custodian, in-kind redemptions typically take several weeks to complete after a redemption request is received. The Fund and the redeeming shareholder will typically agree upon a redemption date. Since the Fund’s NAV may fluctuate during this time, the Fund’s NAV may be lower on the agreed-upon redemption date than on an earlier date on which the investment could have been redeemed for cash.
Redemption of Newly Purchased Shares
You may not redeem shares for which the Fund has not yet received payment. Shares purchased by check or electronically by ACH when the purchase payment is not guaranteed will be considered in “good form” for redemption only after they have been held in your account for 6 calendar days after the trade date of the purchase (Collected Shares). If you request a redemption for an amount that, based on the NAV next calculated after your redemption request is received, includes any shares that are not yet Collected Shares, the Fund will only process the redemption
| Prospectus 2021 | 71 |
Columbia Strategic Income Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
up to the amount of the value of Collected Shares available in your account. You must submit a new redemption request if you wish to redeem those shares that were not yet Collected Shares at the time the original redemption request was received by the Fund.
Other Redemption Rules You Should Know
| ■ | Once the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary receives your redemption order in “good form,” your shares will be sold at the Fund’s next calculated NAV per share (i.e., the trade date). Any applicable CDSC will be deducted from the amount you're selling and the balance will be remitted to you. |
| ■ | Once the Fund receives your redemption request in “good form,” you cannot cancel it after the market closes. |
| ■ | If you sell your shares that are held in a Direct-at-Fund Account, we will normally send the redemption proceeds by mail or electronically transfer them to your bank account the next business day after the trade date. Note that your bank may take up to three business days to post an electronic funds transfer from your account. |
| ■ | If you sell your shares through a financial intermediary, the Funds will normally send the redemption proceeds to your financial intermediary within two business days after the trade date. |
| ■ | No interest will be paid on uncashed redemption checks. |
| ■ | Other restrictions may apply to retirement accounts. For information about these restrictions, contact your retirement plan administrator. |
| ■ | For broker-dealer and wrap fee accounts: The Fund reserves the right to redeem your shares if your account falls below the Fund's minimum initial investment requirement. The Fund will notify your broker-dealer prior to redeeming shares, and will provide details on how to avoid such redemption. |
| ■ |
Also keep in mind the Funds' Small Account Policy, which is described above in
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares — Transaction Rules and Policies.
|
Exchanging Shares
You can generally sell shares of your Fund to buy shares of another Fund (subject to eligibility requirements), in what is called an exchange. You should read the prospectus of, and make sure you understand the investment objective, principal investment strategies, risks, fees and expenses of, the Fund into which you are exchanging. Although the Funds allow certain exchanges from one share class to another share class with higher expenses, you should consider the expenses of each class before making such an exchange. Please see
below for more information.
Same-Fund Exchange Privilege
You will be subject to a sales charge if, in a Direct-at-Fund Account, you exchange shares that have not previously paid a sales charge, including from Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund, Columbia Small Cap Index Fund, Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund or any other Columbia Fund that does not charge a front-end sales charge, into a Columbia Fund that does assess a sales charge.
Please contact your financial intermediary for more information.
If you hold your Fund shares through certain financial intermediaries, you may have limited exchangeability among the Funds.
Systematic Exchanges
You may buy Class A, Class C, Class Inst, Class Inst3 and Class V shares of a Fund by exchanging each month from another Fund for shares of the same class of the Fund at no additional cost, subject to the following exchange amount minimums: $50 each month for individual retirement accounts (i.e., tax qualified accounts); and $100 each month for non-retirement accounts. Contact the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary to set up the plan.
Exchanges will continue as long as your balance in the Fund you are exchanging shares from is sufficient to complete the systematic monthly exchange, subject to the Funds' Small Account Policy described above in
You may terminate the program or change the amount you would like to exchange (subject to the $50 and $100 minimum requirements noted immediately above) by calling the Transfer Agent at 800.345.6611.
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares — Transaction Rules and Policies.
| 72 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Strategic Income Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
Other Exchange Rules You Should Know
| ■ | Exchanges are made at the NAV next calculated (plus any applicable sales charge) after your exchange order is received in “good form” (i.e., the trade date). |
| ■ | Once the Fund receives your exchange request in “good form,” you cannot cancel it after the market closes. |
| ■ | The rules for buying shares of a Fund generally apply to exchanges into that Fund, including, if your exchange creates a new Fund account, it must satisfy the minimum investment amount, unless a waiver applies. |
| ■ | Shares of the purchased Fund may not be used on the same day for another exchange or sale. |
| ■ | If you exchange shares from Class A shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund to a non-money market Fund, any further exchanges must be between shares of the same class. For example, if you exchange from Class A shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund into Class C shares of a non-money market Fund, you may not exchange from Class C shares of that non-money market Fund back to Class A shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund or Class A shares of any other Fund. |
| ■ | A sales charge may apply when you exchange shares of a Fund that were not assessed a sales charge at the time you purchased such shares. If you invest through a Direct-at-Fund Account in Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund, Columbia Small Cap Index Fund, Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund, Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund or any other Columbia Fund that does not impose a front-end sales charge and then you exchange into a Fund that does assess a sales charge, your transaction is subject to a front-end sales charge if you exchange into Class A shares and to a CDSC if you exchange into Class C shares of the Columbia Funds. |
| ■ | If you purchased Class A shares of a Columbia Fund that imposes a front-end sales charge (and you paid any applicable sales charge) and you then exchange those shares into Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund, Columbia Small Cap Index Fund, Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund, Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund or any other Columbia Fund that does not impose a front-end sales charge, you may exchange that amount to Class A of another Fund in the future, including dividends earned on that amount, without paying a sales charge. |
| ■ | If your shares are subject to a CDSC, you will not be charged a CDSC upon the exchange of those shares. Any CDSC will be deducted when you sell the shares you received from the exchange. The CDSC imposed at that time will be based on the period that begins when you bought shares of the original Fund and ends when you sell the shares of the Fund you received from the exchange. Any applicable CDSC charged will be the CDSC of the original Fund. |
| ■ | You may make exchanges only into a Fund that is legally offered and sold in your state of residence. Contact the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary for more information. |
| ■ | You generally may make an exchange only into a Fund that is accepting investments. |
| ■ | The Fund may change or cancel your right to make an exchange by giving the amount of notice required by regulatory authorities (generally 60 days for a material change or cancellation). |
| ■ | Unless your account is part of a tax-advantaged arrangement, an exchange for shares of another Fund is a taxable event, and you may recognize a gain or loss for tax purposes. |
| ■ | Changing your investment to a different Fund will be treated as a sale and purchase, and you will be subject to applicable taxes on the sale and sales charges on the purchase of the new Fund. |
| ■ |
Class Inst shares of a Fund may be exchanged for Class A or Class Inst shares of another Fund. In certain circumstances, the front-end sales charge applicable to Class A shares may be waived on exchanges of Class Inst shares for Class A shares. See
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares — Buying Shares — Eligible Investors — Class Inst Shares
|
| ■ | Class A shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund are not eligible for exchange by a Direct-at-Fund Account. |
| Prospectus 2021 | 73 |
Columbia Strategic Income Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
| ■ | Class Inst shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund are not eligible for exchange by a Direct-at-Fund Account except for any current employee of the Investment Manager, the Distributor or the Transfer Agent and immediate family members of any of the foregoing who share the same address. |
| ■ | You may generally exchange Class V shares of a Fund for Class A shares of another Fund if the other Fund does not offer Class V shares. Class V shares exchanged into Class A shares cannot be exchanged back into Class V shares. |
Same-Fund Exchange Privilege
Shareholders may be eligible to invest in other classes of shares of the same Fund, and may exchange their current shares for another share class if deemed eligible and offered by the Fund. Such same-Fund exchanges could include an exchange of one class for another with higher expenses. Before making such an exchange, you should consider the expenses of each class. Shareholders should contact their financial intermediaries to learn more about the details of the same-Fund exchange privilege. Exchanges out of Class A, Class C and Class V shares will be subject to any applicable CDSC. Financial intermediaries that have a customized arrangement with regard to CDSCs are detailed in
.
Appendix A
Exchanges out of Class C shares to another share class of the same Fund are not permissible on Direct-at-Fund Accounts. Exchanges out of Class C shares to another share class of the same Fund within commissionable brokerage accounts are permitted only (1) by shareholders moving from a commissionable brokerage account to a fee-based advisory program or (2) when the exchange is part of a share class conversion (or a similar multiple shareholder transaction event) instituted by a financial intermediary and such conversion or similar type event is preapproved by the Distributor.
Ordinarily, shareholders will not recognize a gain or loss for U.S. federal income tax purposes upon a same-Fund exchange. You should consult your tax advisor about your particular exchanges.
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Columbia Strategic Income Fund
Distributions and Taxes
Distributions to Shareholders
A mutual fund can make money two ways:
| ■ | It can earn income on its investments. Examples of fund income are interest paid on money market instruments and bonds, and dividends paid on common stocks. |
| ■ | A mutual fund can also have capital gains if the value of its investments increases. While a fund continues to hold an investment, any gain is generally unrealized. If the fund sells an investment, it generally will realize a capital gain if it sells that investment for a higher price than its adjusted cost basis, and will generally realize a capital loss if it sells that investment for a lower price than its adjusted cost basis. Capital gains and losses are either short-term or long-term, depending on whether the fund holds the securities for one year or less (short-term) or more than one year (long-term). |
Mutual funds make payments of fund earnings to shareholders, distributing them among all shareholders of the fund. As a shareholder, you are entitled to your portion of a fund's distributed income, including capital gains. Reinvesting your distributions buys you more shares of a fund
which lets you take advantage of the potential for compound growth. Putting the money you earn back into your investment means it, in turn, may earn even more money (or be exposed to additional losses, if the fund earns a negative return). Over time, the power of compounding has the potential to significantly increase the value of your investment. There is no assurance, however, that you'll earn more money if you reinvest your distributions rather than receive them in cash.
—
The Fund intends to pay out, in the form of distributions to shareholders, a sufficient amount of its income and gains so that the Fund will qualify for treatment as a regulated investment company and generally will not have to pay any federal excise tax. The Fund generally intends to distribute any net realized capital gain (whether long-term or short-term gain) at least once a year. Normally, the Fund will declare and pay distributions of net investment income according to the following schedule:
|
Declaration and Distribution Schedule
|
|
| Declarations | Monthly |
| Distributions | Monthly |
The Fund may declare or pay distributions of net investment income more frequently.
Different share classes of the Fund usually pay different net investment income distribution amounts, because each class has different expenses. Each time a distribution is made, the NAV per share of the share class is reduced by the amount of the distribution.
The Fund generally pays cash distributions within five business days after the distribution was declared (or, if the Fund declares distributions daily, within five business days after the end of the month in which the distribution was declared). If you sell all of your shares after the record date, but before the payment date, for a distribution, you'll normally receive that distribution in cash within five business days after the sale was made.
The Fund will automatically reinvest distributions in additional shares of the same share class of the Fund unless you inform us you want to receive your distributions in cash (the financial intermediary through which you purchased shares may have different policies). You can do this by contacting the Funds at the addresses and telephone numbers listed at the beginning of the section entitled
. No sales charges apply to the purchase or sale of such shares.
Choosing a Share Class
For accounts held directly with the Fund (through the Transfer Agent), distributions of $10 or less will automatically be reinvested in additional Fund shares only. If you elect to receive distributions by check and the check is returned as undeliverable, all subsequent distributions will be reinvested in additional shares of the Fund.
Unless you are a tax-exempt investor or holding Fund shares through a tax-advantaged account (such as a 401(k) plan or IRA), you should consider avoiding buying Fund shares shortly before the Fund makes a distribution (other than distributions of net investment income that are declared daily) of net investment income or net realized capital gain, because doing so can cost you money in taxes to the extent the distribution consists of taxable income or gains. This is because you will, in effect, receive part of your purchase price back in the distribution. This is known as
| Prospectus 2021 | 75 |
Columbia Strategic Income Fund
Distributions and Taxes
(continued)
“buying a dividend.” To avoid “buying a dividend,” before you invest check the Fund's distribution schedule, which is available at the Funds' website and/or by calling the Funds' telephone number listed at the beginning of the section entitled
.
Choosing a Share Class
Taxes
You should be aware of the following considerations applicable to the Fund:
| ■ | The Fund intends to qualify and to be eligible for treatment each year as a regulated investment company. A regulated investment company generally is not subject to tax at the fund level on income and gains from investments that are distributed to shareholders. However, the Fund's failure to qualify for treatment as a regulated investment company would result in Fund-level taxation, and consequently, a reduction in income available for distribution to you and in the NAV of your shares. Even if the Fund qualifies for treatment as a regulated investment company, the Fund may be subject to federal excise tax on certain undistributed income or gains. |
| ■ | Otherwise taxable distributions generally are taxable to you when paid, whether they are paid in cash or automatically reinvested in additional Fund shares. Dividends paid in January are deemed paid on December 31 of the prior year if the dividend was declared and payable to shareholders of record in October, November, or December of such prior year. |
| ■ |
Distributions of the Fund's ordinary income and net short-term capital gain, if any, generally are taxable to you as ordinary income. Distributions of the Fund's net long-term capital gain, if any, generally are taxable to you as long-term capital gain. Whether capital gains are long-term or short-term is determined by how long the Fund has owned the investments that generated them, rather than how long you have owned your shares.
For taxable fixed income Funds:
|
| ■ | From time to time, a distribution from the Fund could constitute a return of capital. A return of capital is a return of an amount of your original investment and is not a distribution of income or capital gain from the Fund. Therefore, a return of capital is not taxable to you so long as the amount of the distribution does not exceed your tax basis in your Fund shares. A return of capital reduces your tax basis in your Fund shares, with any amounts exceeding such basis generally taxable as capital gain. |
| ■ | If you are an individual and you meet certain holding period and other requirements for your Fund shares, a portion of your distributions may be treated as “qualified dividend income” taxable at the lower net long-term capital gain rates instead of the higher ordinary income rates. Qualified dividend income is income attributable to the Fund's dividends received from certain U.S. and foreign corporations, as long as the Fund meets certain holding period and other requirements for the stock producing such dividends. The Fund does not expect a significant portion of Fund distributions to be eligible for treatment as qualified dividend income. |
| ■ | Certain high-income individuals (as well as estates and trusts) are subject to a 3.8% tax on net investment income. For individuals, the 3.8% tax applies to the lesser of (1) the amount (if any) by which the taxpayer's modified adjusted gross income exceeds certain threshold amounts or (2) the taxpayer's “net investment income.” |
| Net investment income generally includes for this purpose dividends, including any capital gain dividends, paid by the Fund, and net gains recognized on the sale, redemption or exchange of shares of the Fund. |
| ■ | Certain derivative instruments when held in the Fund's portfolio subject the Fund to special tax rules, the effect of which may be to, among other things, accelerate income to the Fund, defer Fund losses, cause adjustments in the holding periods of Fund portfolio securities, or convert capital gains into ordinary income, short-term capital losses into long-term capital losses or long-term capital gains into short-term capital gains. These rules could therefore affect the amount, timing and/or character of distributions to shareholders. |
| ■ | Generally, a Fund realizes a capital gain or loss on an option when the option expires, or when it is exercised, sold or otherwise terminated. However, if an option is a “section 1256 contract,” which includes most traded options on a broad-based index, and the Fund holds such option at the end of its taxable year, the Fund is deemed to sell such option at fair market value at such time and recognize any gain or loss thereon, which is generally deemed to be 60% long-term and 40% short-term capital gain or loss, as described further in the SAI. |
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Columbia Strategic Income Fund
Distributions and Taxes
(continued)
| ■ | Income and proceeds received by the Fund from sources within foreign countries may be subject to foreign taxes. If at the end of the taxable year more than 50% of the value of the Fund's assets consists of securities of foreign corporations, and the Fund makes a special election, you will generally be required to include in your income for U.S. federal income tax purposes your share of the qualifying foreign income taxes paid by the Fund in respect of its foreign portfolio securities. You may be able to claim a foreign tax credit or deduction in respect of this amount, subject to certain limitations. There is no assurance that the Fund will make this election for a taxable year, even if it is eligible to do so. |
| ■ | A sale, redemption or exchange of Fund shares is a taxable event. This includes redemptions where you are paid in securities. Your sales, redemptions and exchanges of Fund shares (including those paid in securities) usually will result in a taxable capital gain or loss to you, equal to the difference between the amount you receive for your shares (or are deemed to have received in the case of exchanges) and your adjusted tax basis in the shares, which is generally the amount you paid (or are deemed to have paid in the case of exchanges) for them. Any such capital gain or loss generally will be long-term capital gain or loss if you have held your Fund shares for more than one year at the time of sale or exchange. In certain circumstances, capital losses may be converted from short-term to long-term; in other circumstances, capital losses may be disallowed under the “wash sale” rules. |
| ■ | For sales, redemptions and exchanges of shares that were acquired in a non-qualified account after 2011, the Fund generally is required to report to shareholders and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) cost basis information with respect to those shares. The Fund uses average cost basis as its default method of calculating cost basis. For more information regarding average cost basis reporting, other available cost basis methods, and selecting or changing to a different cost basis method, please see the SAI, columbiathreadneedleus.com, or contact the Fund at 800.345.6611. If you hold Fund shares through a financial intermediary (e.g., a brokerage firm), you should contact your financial intermediary to learn about its cost basis reporting default method and the reporting elections available to your account. |
| ■ | The Fund is required by federal law to withhold tax on any taxable or tax-exempt distributions and redemption proceeds paid to you (including amounts paid to you in securities and amounts deemed to be paid to you upon an exchange of shares) if: you have not provided a correct TIN or have not certified to the Fund that withholding does not apply, the IRS has notified us that the TIN listed on your account is incorrect according to its records, or the IRS informs the Fund that you are otherwise subject to backup withholding. |
FUNDamentals
Taxes
The information provided above is only a summary of how U.S. federal income taxes may affect your investment in the Fund. It is not intended as a substitute for careful tax planning. Your investment in the Fund may have other tax implications. It does not apply to certain types of investors who may be subject to special rules, including foreign or tax-exempt investors or those holding Fund shares through a tax-advantaged account, such as a 401(k) plan or IRA. Please see the SAI for more detailed tax information. You should consult with your own tax advisor about the particular tax consequences to you of an investment in the Fund, including the effect of any foreign, state and local taxes, and the effect of possible changes in applicable tax laws.
| Prospectus 2021 | 77 |
Columbia Strategic Income Fund
Financial Highlights
The financial highlights table is intended to help you understand the Fund’s financial performance for the past five fiscal years or, if shorter, the Fund’s period of operations. Certain information reflects financial results for a single Fund share. Per share net investment income (loss) amounts are calculated based on average shares outstanding during the period. The total return in the table represents the rate that an investor would have earned (or lost) on an investment in the Fund assuming all dividends and distributions had been reinvested. Total return does not reflect payment of sales charges, if any. Total return and portfolio turnover are not annualized for periods of less than one year. The portfolio turnover rate is calculated without regard to purchase and sales transactions of short-term instruments and certain derivatives, if any. If such transactions were included, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate may be higher. The Fund’s Board of Trustees approved a reverse stock split of the issued and outstanding Class A, Advisor Class, Class C, Institutional Class, Institutional 2 Class, Institutional 3 Class and Class R shares of the Fund (the Reverse Stock Split). The intent of the Reverse Stock Split, which occurred in September 2020, was to bring the NAVs of the classes of the Fund into better alignment and to reduce marketplace confusion over NAV disparities amongst share classes of the Fund. The Reverse Stock Split did not affect the overall net assets of the class or any shareholder. This information has been audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm, whose report, along with the Fund’s financial statements, is included in the Fund’s annual report, which is available upon request.
| Prospectus 2021 | 79 |
Columbia Strategic Income Fund
Financial Highlights
(continued)
|
Net asset value,
beginning of period |
Net
investment income |
Net
realized and unrealized gain (loss) |
Total from
investment operations |
Distributions
from net investment income |
Distributions
from net realized gains |
Total
distributions to shareholders |
|
|
Class A
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $6.01 | 0.21 | 0.07 | 0.28 | (0.21) | — | (0.21) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $5.89 | 0.25 | 0.14 | 0.39 | (0.23) | (0.04) | (0.27) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $6.09 | 0.24 | (0.18) | 0.06 | (0.20) | (0.06) | (0.26) |
|
Year Ended 8/31/2017
(e)
|
$5.97 | 0.20 | 0.06 | 0.26 | (0.14) | — | (0.14) |
| Year Ended 10/31/2016 | $5.79 | 0.22 | 0.15 | 0.37 | (0.19) | — | (0.19) |
| Year Ended 10/31/2015 | $6.13 | 0.23 | (0.22) | 0.01 | (0.25) | (0.10) | (0.35) |
|
Advisor Class
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $5.90 | 0.22 | 0.06 | 0.28 | (0.22) | — | (0.22) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $5.79 | 0.26 | 0.13 | 0.39 | (0.24) | (0.04) | (0.28) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $5.99 | 0.25 | (0.17) | 0.08 | (0.22) | (0.06) | (0.28) |
|
Year Ended 8/31/2017
(e)
|
$5.88 | 0.21 | 0.05 | 0.26 | (0.15) | — | (0.15) |
| Year Ended 10/31/2016 | $5.70 | 0.23 | 0.16 | 0.39 | (0.21) | — | (0.21) |
| Year Ended 10/31/2015 | $6.04 | 0.24 | (0.21) | 0.03 | (0.27) | (0.10) | (0.37) |
|
Class C
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $6.01 | 0.16 | 0.08 | 0.24 | (0.17) | — | (0.17) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $5.89 | 0.20 | 0.14 | 0.34 | (0.18) | (0.04) | (0.22) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $6.09 | 0.19 | (0.17) | 0.02 | (0.16) | (0.06) | (0.22) |
|
Year Ended 8/31/2017
(e)
|
$5.97 | 0.17 | 0.05 | 0.22 | (0.10) | — | (0.10) |
| Year Ended 10/31/2016 | $5.79 | 0.18 | 0.15 | 0.33 | (0.15) | — | (0.15) |
| Year Ended 10/31/2015 | $6.13 | 0.19 | (0.22) | (0.03) | (0.21) | (0.10) | (0.31) |
|
Institutional Class
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $5.91 | 0.22 | 0.06 | 0.28 | (0.22) | — | (0.22) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $5.80 | 0.26 | 0.13 | 0.39 | (0.24) | (0.04) | (0.28) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $5.99 | 0.25 | (0.16) | 0.09 | (0.22) | (0.06) | (0.28) |
|
Year Ended 8/31/2017
(e)
|
$5.88 | 0.22 | 0.04 | 0.26 | (0.15) | — | (0.15) |
| Year Ended 10/31/2016 | $5.70 | 0.23 | 0.16 | 0.39 | (0.21) | — | (0.21) |
| Year Ended 10/31/2015 | $6.04 | 0.24 | (0.21) | 0.03 | (0.27) | (0.10) | (0.37) |
|
Institutional 2 Class
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $5.91 | 0.22 | 0.07 | 0.29 | (0.23) | — | (0.23) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $5.80 | 0.26 | 0.13 | 0.39 | (0.24) | (0.04) | (0.28) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $6.00 | 0.25 | (0.17) | 0.08 | (0.22) | (0.06) | (0.28) |
|
Year Ended 8/31/2017
(e)
|
$5.88 | 0.22 | 0.06 | 0.28 | (0.16) | — | (0.16) |
| Year Ended 10/31/2016 | $5.71 | 0.24 | 0.14 | 0.38 | (0.21) | — | (0.21) |
| Year Ended 10/31/2015 | $6.04 | 0.25 | (0.21) | 0.04 | (0.27) | (0.10) | (0.37) |
|
80
|
Prospectus 2021
|
Columbia Strategic Income Fund
Financial Highlights
(continued)
|
Net
asset value, end of period |
Total
Return |
Total gross
expense ratio to average net assets
(a)
|
Total net
expense ratio to average net assets
(a), (b)
|
Net investment
income ratio to average net assets |
Portfolio
turnover |
Net
assets, end of period (000's) |
|
|
Class A
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $6.08 | 4.84% |
0.93%
(c)
|
0.93%
(c), (d)
|
3.51% | 173% | $1,101,890 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $6.01 | 6.75% |
0.95%
(c)
|
0.95%
(c)
|
4.20% | 179% | $1,101,847 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $5.89 | 1.03% |
0.94%
(c)
|
0.94%
(c), (d)
|
3.94% | 152% | $1,059,907 |
|
Year Ended 8/31/2017
(e)
|
$6.09 | 4.42% |
0.95%
(f), (g)
|
0.95%
(d), (f), (g)
|
4.00%
(f)
|
110% | $1,100,585 |
| Year Ended 10/31/2016 | $5.97 | 6.57% | 1.03% |
1.02%
(d)
|
3.81% | 168% | $1,770,085 |
| Year Ended 10/31/2015 | $5.79 | 0.25% | 1.06% |
1.03%
(d)
|
3.94% | 169% | $1,461,248 |
|
Advisor Class
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $5.96 | 5.02% |
0.68%
(c)
|
0.68%
(c), (d)
|
3.76% | 173% | $194,094 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $5.90 | 6.96% |
0.70%
(c)
|
0.70%
(c)
|
4.42% | 179% | $285,983 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $5.79 | 1.30% |
0.69%
(c)
|
0.69%
(c), (d)
|
4.21% | 152% | $143,983 |
|
Year Ended 8/31/2017
(e)
|
$5.99 | 4.53% |
0.71%
(f), (g)
|
0.71%
(d), (f), (g)
|
4.38%
(f)
|
110% | $99,896 |
| Year Ended 10/31/2016 | $5.88 | 6.95% | 0.77% |
0.77%
(d)
|
4.02% | 168% | $53,447 |
| Year Ended 10/31/2015 | $5.70 | 0.52% | 0.82% |
0.78%
(d)
|
4.20% | 169% | $18,630 |
|
Class C
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $6.08 | 4.06% |
1.69%
(c)
|
1.69%
(c), (d)
|
2.76% | 173% | $280,497 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $6.01 | 5.97% |
1.70%
(c)
|
1.70%
(c)
|
3.45% | 179% | $282,018 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $5.89 | 0.28% |
1.69%
(c)
|
1.69%
(c), (d)
|
3.19% | 152% | $306,303 |
|
Year Ended 8/31/2017
(e)
|
$6.09 | 3.78% |
1.71%
(f), (g)
|
1.71%
(d), (f), (g)
|
3.33%
(f)
|
110% | $334,829 |
| Year Ended 10/31/2016 | $5.97 | 5.78% | 1.78% |
1.77%
(d)
|
3.05% | 168% | $316,346 |
| Year Ended 10/31/2015 | $5.79 | (0.49%) | 1.81% |
1.78%
(d)
|
3.19% | 169% | $219,782 |
|
Institutional Class
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $5.97 | 5.02% |
0.68%
(c)
|
0.68%
(c), (d)
|
3.76% | 173% | $3,083,643 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $5.91 | 6.96% |
0.70%
(c)
|
0.70%
(c)
|
4.44% | 179% | $2,843,762 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $5.80 | 1.47% |
0.69%
(c)
|
0.69%
(c), (d)
|
4.20% | 152% | $2,398,468 |
|
Year Ended 8/31/2017
(e)
|
$5.99 | 4.53% |
0.71%
(f), (g)
|
0.71%
(d), (f), (g)
|
4.42%
(f)
|
110% | $1,881,221 |
| Year Ended 10/31/2016 | $5.88 | 6.95% | 0.78% |
0.77%
(d)
|
4.05% | 168% | $910,452 |
| Year Ended 10/31/2015 | $5.70 | 0.51% | 0.81% |
0.78%
(d)
|
4.19% | 169% | $574,482 |
|
Institutional 2 Class
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $5.97 | 5.06% |
0.64%
(c)
|
0.64%
(c)
|
3.80% | 173% | $287,777 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $5.91 | 7.00% |
0.66%
(c)
|
0.66%
(c)
|
4.49% | 179% | $287,753 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $5.80 | 1.35% |
0.65%
(c)
|
0.65%
(c)
|
4.26% | 152% | $257,953 |
|
Year Ended 8/31/2017
(e)
|
$6.00 | 4.77% |
0.66%
(f), (g)
|
0.65%
(f), (g)
|
4.41%
(f)
|
110% | $155,372 |
| Year Ended 10/31/2016 | $5.88 | 6.87% | 0.67% | 0.67% | 4.11% | 168% | $103,204 |
| Year Ended 10/31/2015 | $5.71 | 0.80% | 0.68% | 0.68% | 4.32% | 169% | $12,231 |
|
Prospectus 2021
|
81
|
Columbia Strategic Income Fund
Financial Highlights
(continued)
|
Net asset value,
beginning of period |
Net
investment income |
Net
realized and unrealized gain (loss) |
Total from
investment operations |
Distributions
from net investment income |
Distributions
from net realized gains |
Total
distributions to shareholders |
|
|
Institutional 3 Class
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $5.89 | 0.22 | 0.07 | 0.29 | (0.23) | — | (0.23) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $5.78 | 0.26 | 0.14 | 0.40 | (0.25) | (0.04) | (0.29) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $5.98 | 0.25 | (0.17) | 0.08 | (0.22) | (0.06) | (0.28) |
|
Year Ended 8/31/2017
(e)
|
$5.87 | 0.22 | 0.05 | 0.27 | (0.16) | — | (0.16) |
| Year Ended 10/31/2016 | $5.69 | 0.24 | 0.15 | 0.39 | (0.21) | — | (0.21) |
| Year Ended 10/31/2015 | $6.03 | 0.25 | (0.21) | 0.04 | (0.28) | (0.10) | (0.38) |
|
Class R
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $6.06 | 0.20 | 0.06 | 0.26 | (0.20) | — | (0.20) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $5.93 | 0.23 | 0.15 | 0.38 | (0.21) | (0.04) | (0.25) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $6.13 | 0.22 | (0.17) | 0.05 | (0.19) | (0.06) | (0.25) |
|
Year Ended 8/31/2017
(e)
|
$6.01 | 0.19 | 0.06 | 0.25 | (0.13) | — | (0.13) |
| Year Ended 10/31/2016 | $5.82 | 0.21 | 0.16 | 0.37 | (0.18) | — | (0.18) |
| Year Ended 10/31/2015 | $6.16 | 0.22 | (0.22) |
0.00
(h)
|
(0.24) | (0.10) | (0.34) |
|
Notes to Financial Highlights
|
|
| (a) | In addition to the fees and expenses that the Fund bears directly, the Fund indirectly bears a pro rata share of the fees and expenses of any other funds in which it invests. Such indirect expenses are not included in the Fund's reported expense ratios. |
| (b) | Total net expenses include the impact of certain fee waivers/expense reimbursements made by the Investment Manager and certain of its affiliates, if applicable. |
| (c) | Ratios include interest on collateral expense. For the periods indicated below, if interest on collateral expense had been excluded, expenses would have been lower by: |
| (d) | The benefits derived from expense reductions had an impact of less than 0.01%. |
| (e) | For the period from November 1, 2016 to August 31, 2017. During the period, the Fund’s fiscal year end was changed from October 31 to August 31. |
| (f) | Annualized. |
| (g) | Expenses have been reduced due to a reimbursement of expenses overbilled by a third party. If the reimbursement had been excluded, the expense ratios would have been higher by the percentages shown for each class in the table below. All fee waivers and expense reimbursements by the Investment Manager and its affiliates were applied before giving effect to this third party reimbursement. |
|
Year Ended
|
Class A
|
Advisor
Class |
Class C
|
Institutional
Class |
Institutional 2
Class |
Institutional 3
Class |
Class R
|
| 08/31/2017 | 0.01% | 0.01% | 0.01% | 0.01% | 0.01% | 0.01% | 0.01% |
| (h) | Rounds to zero. |
|
82
|
Prospectus 2021
|
Columbia Strategic Income Fund
Financial Highlights
(continued)
|
Net
asset value, end of period |
Total
Return |
Total gross
expense ratio to average net assets
(a)
|
Total net
expense ratio to average net assets
(a), (b)
|
Net investment
income ratio to average net assets |
Portfolio
turnover |
Net
assets, end of period (000's) |
|
|
Institutional 3 Class
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $5.95 | 5.13% |
0.60%
(c)
|
0.60%
(c)
|
3.84% | 173% | $322,913 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $5.89 | 7.08% |
0.60%
(c)
|
0.60%
(c)
|
4.55% | 179% | $192,494 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $5.78 | 1.40% |
0.60%
(c)
|
0.60%
(c)
|
4.31% | 152% | $189,195 |
|
Year Ended 8/31/2017
(e)
|
$5.98 | 4.65% |
0.64%
(f), (g)
|
0.63%
(f), (g)
|
4.75%
(f)
|
110% | $100,173 |
| Year Ended 10/31/2016 | $5.87 | 7.13% | 0.62% | 0.62% | 4.24% | 168% | $10,642 |
| Year Ended 10/31/2015 | $5.69 | 0.68% | 0.64% | 0.64% | 4.35% | 169% | $10,704 |
|
Class R
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $6.12 | 4.38% |
1.18%
(c)
|
1.18%
(c), (d)
|
3.26% | 173% | $8,053 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $6.06 | 6.62% |
1.20%
(c)
|
1.20%
(c)
|
3.95% | 179% | $9,287 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $5.93 | 0.77% |
1.19%
(c)
|
1.19%
(c), (d)
|
3.70% | 152% | $7,075 |
|
Year Ended 8/31/2017
(e)
|
$6.13 | 4.18% |
1.21%
(f), (g)
|
1.21%
(d), (f), (g)
|
3.83%
(f)
|
110% | $6,443 |
| Year Ended 10/31/2016 | $6.01 | 6.45% | 1.28% |
1.27%
(d)
|
3.54% | 168% | $5,687 |
| Year Ended 10/31/2015 | $5.82 |
0.00%
(h)
|
1.31% |
1.28%
(d)
|
3.69% | 169% | $2,439 |
|
Prospectus 2021
|
83
|
Columbia Strategic Income Fund
Appendix A: Financial Intermediary-Specific Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
As noted in the
section of the prospectus, the sales charge reductions and waivers available to investors who purchase and hold their Fund shares through different financial intermediaries may vary. This
describes financial intermediary-specific reductions and/or waiver policies applicable to Fund shares purchased and held through the particular financial intermediary. A reduction and/or waiver that is specific to a particular financial intermediary is not available to Direct-at-Fund Accounts and does not apply in any case to non-omnibus positions wherever held. These reductions and/or waivers may apply to purchases, sales, and exchanges of Fund shares. A shareholder transacting in Fund shares through a financial intermediary identified below should carefully read the terms and conditions of the reductions and/or waivers. Please consult your financial intermediary with respect to any sales charge reduction/waiver described below.
Choosing a Share Class
Appendix A
The financial intermediary-specific information below may be provided by, or compiled from or based on information provided by, the financial intermediaries noted. While the Funds, the Investment Manager and the Distributor do not establish these financial intermediary-specific policies, our representatives are available to answer questions about these financial intermediary-specific policies and can direct you to the financial intermediary if you need help understanding them.
Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC (Ameriprise Financial Services)
The following information has been provided by Ameriprise Financial Services:
Class A Shares Front-End Sales Charge Waivers Available at Ameriprise Financial Services:
The following information applies to Class A shares purchases if you have an account with or otherwise purchase Fund shares through Ameriprise Financial Services:
Effective June 1, 2018, shareholders purchasing Fund shares through an Ameriprise Financial Services platform or account will be eligible for the following front-end sales charge waivers and discounts, which may differ from those disclosed elsewhere in this prospectus or the Fund’s SAI:
|
■
|
Employer-sponsored retirement plans (e.g., 401(k) plans, 457 plans, employer-sponsored 403(b) plans, profit sharing and money purchase pension plans and defined benefit plans). For purposes of this provision, employer-sponsored retirement plans do not include SEP IRAs, Simple IRAs or SAR-SEPs.
|
|
■
|
Shares purchased through an Ameriprise Financial Services investment advisory program (if an Advisory or similar share class for such investment advisory program is not available).
|
|
■
|
Shares purchased by third party investment advisors on behalf of their advisory clients through Ameriprise Financial Services’ platform (if an Advisory or similar share class for such investment advisory program is not available).
|
|
■
|
Shares purchased through reinvestment of dividends and capital gain distributions when purchasing shares of the same fund (but not any other fund within the Columbia Funds).
|
|
■
|
Shares exchanged from Class C shares of the same fund in the month of or following the 10-year anniversary of the purchase date. To the extent that this prospectus elsewhere provides for a waiver with respect to such shares following a shorter holding period, that waiver will apply to exchanges following such shorter period. To the extent that this prospectus elsewhere provides for a waiver with respect to exchanges of Class C shares for load waived shares, that waiver will also apply to such exchanges.
|
|
■
|
Employees and registered representatives of Ameriprise Financial Services or its affiliates and their immediate family members.
|
|
■
|
Shares purchased by or through qualified accounts (including IRAs, Coverdell Education Savings Accounts, 401(k)s, 403(b) TSCAs subject to ERISA and defined benefit plans) that are held by a covered family member, defined as an Ameriprise financial advisor and/or the advisor’s spouse, advisor’s lineal ascendant (mother, father, grandmother, grandfather, great grandmother, great grandfather), advisor’s lineal descendant (son, step-son, daughter, step-daughter, grandson, granddaughter, great grandson, great granddaughter) or any spouse of a covered family member who is a lineal descendant.
|
| A-1 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Strategic Income Fund
Appendix A: Financial Intermediary-Specific Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
(continued)
| ■ | Shares purchased from the proceeds of redemptions within the Columbia Funds, provided (1) the repurchase occurs within 90 days following the redemption, (2) the redemption and purchase occur in the same account, and (3) redeemed shares were subject to a front-end or deferred sales load (i.e., rights of reinstatement). |
Robert W. Baird & Co. Incorporated (Baird)
The following information has been provided by Baird:
Effective June 30, 2020, shareholders purchasing Columbia Fund shares through a Baird platform or account that maintains an omnibus position with the Fund will only be eligible for the following sales charge waivers (front-end sales charge waivers and CDSC waivers) and discounts, which may differ from those disclosed elsewhere in this prospectus or the Fund’s SAI. A reduction and/or waiver that is specific to Baird will not apply to non-omnibus positions.
Front-End Sales Charge Waivers on Class A Shares Available at Baird:
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Shares purchased through reinvestment of capital gains distributions and dividend reinvestment when purchasing shares of the same Columbia Fund.
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Share purchases by employees and registered representatives of Baird or its affiliates and their family members as designated by Baird.
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Shares purchased with the proceeds of redemptions from another Columbia Fund, provided (1) the repurchase occurs within 90 days following the redemption, (2) the redemption and purchase occur in the same accounts, and (3) redeemed shares were subject to a front-end or deferred sales charge (known as rights of reinstatement).
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A shareholder in the Fund’s Class C shares will have their shares converted at net asset value to Class A shares of the same Columbia Fund if the shares are no longer subject to CDSC and the conversion is in line with the policies and procedures of Baird.
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Employer-sponsored retirement plans or charitable accounts in a transactional brokerage account at Baird, including 401(k) plans, 457 plans, employer-sponsored 403(b) plans, profit sharing and money purchase pension plans and defined benefit plans. For purposes of this provision, employer-sponsored retirement plans do not include SEP IRAs, Simple IRAs or SAR-SEPs.
|
CDSC Waivers on Class A and Class C Shares Available at Baird:
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■
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Shares sold due to death or disability of the shareholder.
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Shares sold as part of a systematic withdrawal plan as described in this prospectus.
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Shares purchased due to returns of excess contributions from an IRA account.
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Shares sold as part of a required minimum distribution for IRA and retirement accounts due to the shareholder reaching the qualified age based on applicable IRS regulations.
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Shares sold to pay Baird fees but only if the transaction is initiated by Baird.
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Shares acquired through a right of reinstatement.
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Front-End Sales Charge Discounts Available at Baird: Breakpoints and/or Rights of Accumulations:
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■
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Breakpoints as described in this prospectus.
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Rights of accumulations which entitle shareholders to breakpoint discounts will be automatically calculated based on the aggregated holding of Columbia Fund assets held by accounts within the purchaser’s household at Baird. Eligible Columbia Fund assets not held at Baird may be included in the rights of accumulations calculation only if the shareholder notifies his or her financial advisor about such assets.
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Letters of Intent (LOI) allow for breakpoint discounts based on anticipated purchases of Columbia Funds through Baird, over a 13-month period of time.
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| Prospectus 2021 | A-2 |
Columbia Strategic Income Fund
Appendix A: Financial Intermediary-Specific Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
(continued)
Edward D. Jones & Co., L.P. (Edward Jones)
The following information has been provided by Edward Jones:
Effective on or after April 17, 2020, clients of Edward Jones (also referred to as "shareholders") purchasing Columbia Fund shares on the Edward Jones commission and fee-based platforms are eligible only for the following sales charge discounts (also referred to as "breakpoints") and waivers, which can differ from breakpoints and waivers described elsewhere in this prospectus or the Fund’s SAI or through another broker-dealer. In all instances, it is the shareholder's responsibility to inform Edward Jones at the time of purchase of any relationship, holdings of Columbia Funds or other facts qualifying the purchaser for breakpoints or waivers. Edward Jones can ask for documentation of such circumstance.
Breakpoints
Rights of Accumulation (ROA)
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■
|
The applicable sales charge on a purchase of Class A shares is determined by taking into account all share classes (except any money market funds and retirement plan share classes) of Columbia Funds held by the shareholder or in an account grouped by Edward Jones with other accounts for the purpose of providing certain pricing considerations ("pricing groups"). This includes all share classes held on the Edward Jones platform and/or held on another platform. The inclusion of eligible Columbia Fund assets in the rights of accumulation calculation is dependent on the shareholder notifying his or her financial advisor of such assets at the time of calculation.
|
|
■
|
ROA is determined by calculating the higher of cost or market value (current shares x NAV).
|
Letter of Intent (LOI)
|
■
|
Through a LOI, shareholders can receive the sales charge and breakpoint discounts for purchases shareholders intend to make over a 13-month period from the date Edward Jones receives the LOI. The LOI is determined by calculating the higher of cost or market value of qualifying holdings at LOI initiation in combination with the value that the shareholder intends to buy over a 13-month period to calculate the front-end sales charge and any breakpoint discounts. Each purchase the shareholder makes during that 13-month period will receive the sales charge and breakpoint discount that applies to the total amount. The inclusion of eligible Columbia Fund assets in the LOI calculation is dependent on the shareholder notifying his or her financial advisor of such assets at the time of calculation. Purchases made before the LOI is received by Edward Jones are not covered under the LOI and will not reduce the sales charge previously paid. Sales charges will be adjusted if LOI is not met.
|
Sales Charge Waivers
Sales charges are waived for the following shareholders and in the following situations:
|
■
|
Associates of Edward Jones and its affiliates and their family members who are in the same pricing group (as determined by Edward Jones under its policies and procedures) as the associate. This waiver will continue for the remainder of the associate's life if the associate retires from Edward Jones in good-standing.
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Shares purchased in an Edward Jones fee-based program.
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■
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Shares purchased through reinvestment of capital gains distributions and dividend reinvestment.
|
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■
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Shares purchased from the proceeds of redeemed shares of Columbia Funds so long as the following conditions are met: 1) the proceeds are from the sale of shares within 60 days of the purchase, and 2) the sale and purchase are made in the same share class and the same account or the purchase is made in an individual retirement account with proceeds from liquidations in a non-retirement account.
|
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■
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Shares exchanged into Class A shares from another share class so long as the exchange is into the same fund and was initiated at the discretion of Edward Jones. Edward Jones is responsible for any remaining CDSC due to the fund company, if applicable. Any future purchases are subject to the applicable sales charge as disclosed in this prospectus.
|
| A-3 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Strategic Income Fund
Appendix A: Financial Intermediary-Specific Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
(continued)
| ■ | Exchanges from Class C shares to Class A shares of the same fund, generally, in the 84th month following the anniversary of the purchase date or earlier at the discretion of Edward Jones. |
CDSC Waivers
If the shareholder purchases shares that are subject to a CDSC and those shares are redeemed before the CDSC is expired, the shareholder is responsible to pay the CDSC except in the following conditions:
| ■ | The death or disability of the shareholder. |
| ■ | Systematic withdrawals with up to 10% per year of the account value. |
| ■ | Return of excess contributions from an Individual Retirement Account (IRA). |
| ■ | Shares sold as part of a required minimum distribution for IRA and retirement accounts if the redemption is taken in or after the year the shareholder reaches qualified age based on applicable IRS regulations. |
| ■ | Shares sold to pay Edward Jones fees or costs in such cases where the transaction is initiated by Edward Jones. |
| ■ | Shares exchanged in an Edward Jones fee-based program. |
| ■ | Shares acquired through NAV reinstatement. |
Other Important Information
Minimum Purchase Amounts
| ■ | $250 initial purchase minimum |
| ■ | $50 subsequent purchase minimum |
Minimum Balances
| ■ | Edward Jones has the right to redeem at its discretion fund holdings with a balance of $250 or less. The following are examples of accounts that are not included in this policy: |
| ■ | A fee-based account held on an Edward Jones platform. |
| ■ | A 529 account held on an Edward Jones platform. |
| ■ | An account with an active systematic investment plan or letter of intent (LOI). |
Changing Share Classes
| ■ | At any time it deems necessary, Edward Jones has the authority to exchange at NAV a shareholder's holdings in a fund to Class A shares. |
Janney Montgomery Scott LLC (Janney)
The following information has been provided by Janney:
Effective May 1, 2020, if you purchase Columbia Fund shares through a Janney brokerage account, you will be eligible for the following load waivers (front-end sales charge waivers and CDSC, or back-end sales charge, waivers) and discounts, which may differ from those disclosed elsewhere in this prospectus or the Fund’s SAI. A reduction and/or waiver that is specific to Janney does not apply to non-omnibus positions.
Front-End Sales Charge* Waivers on Class A Shares Available at Janney
| ■ | Shares purchased through reinvestment of capital gains distributions and dividend reinvestment when purchasing shares of the same fund (but not any other Columbia Fund). |
| ■ | Shares purchased by employees and registered representatives of Janney or its affiliates and their family members as designated by Janney. |
| Prospectus 2021 | A-4 |
Columbia Strategic Income Fund
Appendix A: Financial Intermediary-Specific Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
(continued)
| ■ | Shares purchased from the proceeds of redemptions from another Columbia Fund, provided (1) the repurchase occurs within ninety (90) days following the redemption, (2) the redemption and purchase occur in the same account, and (3) redeemed shares were subject to a front-end or deferred sales load (i.e., right of reinstatement). |
| ■ | Employer-sponsored retirement plans (e.g., 401(k) plans, 457 plans, employer-sponsored 403(b) plans, profit sharing and money purchase pension plans and defined benefit plans). For purposes of this provision, employer-sponsored retirement plans do not include SEP IRAs, Simple IRAs, SAR-SEPs or Keogh plans. |
| ■ | Shares acquired through a right of reinstatement. |
| ■ | Class C shares that are no longer subject to a CDSC and are converted to Class A shares of the same fund pursuant to Janney’s policies and procedures. |
CDSC Waivers on Class A and C Shares Available at Janney
| ■ | Shares sold upon the death or disability of the shareholder. |
| ■ | Shares sold as part of a systematic withdrawal plan as described in this prospectus. |
| ■ | Shares purchased in connection with a return of excess contributions from an IRA account. |
| ■ | Shares sold as part of a required minimum distribution for IRA and retirement accounts if the redemption is taken in or after the year the shareholder reaches qualified age based on applicable IRS regulations. |
| ■ | Shares sold to pay Janney fees but only if the transaction is initiated by Janney. |
| ■ | Shares acquired through a right of reinstatement. |
| ■ | Shares exchanged into the same share class of a different fund. |
Front-End Sales Charge* Discounts Available at Janney: Breakpoints, Rights of Accumulation, and/or Letters of Intent
| ■ | Breakpoints as described in this prospectus. |
| ■ | Rights of accumulation (“ROA”), which entitle shareholders to breakpoint discounts, will be automatically calculated based on the aggregated holding of Columbia Fund assets held by accounts within the purchaser’s household at Janney. Eligible Columbia Fund assets not held at Janney may be included in the ROA calculation only if the shareholder notifies his or her financial advisor about such assets. |
| ■ | Letters of intent which allow for breakpoint discounts based on anticipated purchases within the Columbia Funds, over a 13-month time period. Eligible Columbia Fund assets not held at Janney may be included in the calculation of letters of intent only if the shareholder notifies his or her financial advisor about such assets. |
* Also referred to as an “initial sales charge”.
Merrill Lynch Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated (Merrill Lynch)
The following information has been provided by Merrill Lynch:
Shareholders purchasing Columbia Fund shares through a Merrill Lynch platform or account will be eligible only for the following load waivers (front-end sales charge waivers and contingent deferred, or back-end, sales charge waivers) and discounts, which may differ from those disclosed elsewhere in this prospectus or the Fund’s SAI:
Front-End Load Discounts Available at Merrill Lynch:
Merrill Lynch makes available breakpoint discounts on shares of the Fund through:
| ■ | Breakpoints as described in this prospectus. |
| ■ | Rights of Accumulation (ROA) which entitle shareholders to breakpoint discounts as described in this prospectus will be automatically calculated based on the aggregated holding of Columbia Fund assets held by accounts (including 529 program holdings, where applicable) within the purchaser’s household at Merrill Lynch. Eligible Columbia Fund assets not held at Merrill Lynch may be included in the ROA calculation only if the shareholder notifies his or her financial advisor about such assets. |
| A-5 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Strategic Income Fund
Appendix A: Financial Intermediary-Specific Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
(continued)
|
■
|
Letters of Intent (LOI) which allow for breakpoint discounts based on anticipated purchases of Columbia Funds, through Merrill Lynch, over a 13-month period of time (if applicable).
|
Front-End Sales Load Waivers on Class A Shares Available at Merrill Lynch:
|
■
|
Employer-sponsored retirement, deferred compensation and employee benefit plans (including health savings accounts) and trusts used to fund those plans, provided that the shares are not held in a commission-based brokerage account and shares are held for the benefit of the plan.
|
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■
|
Shares purchased by a 529 Plan (does not include 529 Plan units or 529-specific share classes or equivalents).
|
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■
|
Shares purchased through a Merrill Lynch affiliated investment advisory program.
|
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■
|
Shares exchanged due to the holdings moving from a Merrill Lynch affiliated investment advisory program to a Merrill Lynch brokerage (non-advisory) account pursuant to Merrill Lynch’s policies relating to sales load discounts and waivers.
|
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■
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Shares purchased by third party investment advisors on behalf of their advisory clients through Merrill Lynch’s platform.
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■
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Shares of funds purchased through the Merrill Edge Self-Directed platform (if applicable).
|
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■
|
Shares purchased through reinvestment of capital gains distributions and dividend reinvestment when purchasing shares of the same fund (but not any other Columbia Fund).
|
|
■
|
Shares exchanged from Class C (i.e., level-load) shares of the same fund pursuant to Merrill Lynch’s policies relating to sales load discounts and waivers.
|
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■
|
Employees and registered representatives of Merrill Lynch or its affiliates and their family members.
|
|
■
|
Directors or Trustees of the Fund, and employees of the Fund’s investment adviser or any of its affiliates, as described in this prospectus.
|
|
■
|
Eligible shares purchased from the proceeds of redemptions from another Columbia Fund, provided (1) the repurchase occurs within 90 days following the redemption, (2) the redemption and purchase occur in the same account, and (3) redeemed shares were subject to a front-end or deferred sales load (known as Rights of Reinstatement). Automated transactions (i.e. systematic purchases and withdrawals) and purchases made after shares are automatically sold to pay Merrill Lynch’s account maintenance fees are not eligible for reinstatement.
|
CDSC Waivers on Class A and C Shares Available at Merrill Lynch:
|
■
|
Death or disability of the shareholder.
|
|
■
|
Shares sold as part of a systematic withdrawal plan as described in this prospectus.
|
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■
|
Return of excess contributions from an IRA Account.
|
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■
|
Shares sold as part of a required minimum distribution for IRA and retirement accounts pursuant to the Internal Revenue Code.
|
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■
|
Shares sold to pay Merrill Lynch fees but only if the transaction is initiated by Merrill Lynch.
|
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■
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Shares acquired through a right of reinstatement.
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■
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Shares held in retirement brokerage accounts, that are exchanged for a lower cost share class due to transfer to certain fee based accounts or platforms (applicable to Class A and Class C shares only).
|
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■
|
Shares received through an exchange due to the holdings moving from a Merrill Lynch affiliated investment advisory program to a Merrill Lynch brokerage (non-advisory) account pursuant to Merrill Lynch’s policies relating to sales load discounts and waivers.
|
| Prospectus 2021 | A-6 |
Columbia Strategic Income Fund
Appendix A: Financial Intermediary-Specific Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
(continued)
Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, LLC (Morgan Stanley Wealth Management)
The following information has been provided by Morgan Stanley Wealth Management:
Shareholders purchasing Columbia Fund shares through a Morgan Stanley Wealth Management transactional brokerage account will be eligible only for the following front-end sales charge waivers with respect to Class A shares, which may differ from and may be more limited than those disclosed elsewhere in this prospectus or the Fund’s SAI.
Front-End Sales Charge Waivers on Class A Shares Available at Morgan Stanley Wealth Management:
|
■
|
Employer-sponsored retirement plans (e.g., 401(k) plans, 457 plans, employer-sponsored 403(b) plans, profit sharing and money purchase pension plans and defined benefit plans). For purposes of this provision, employer-sponsored retirement plans do not include SEP IRAs, Simple IRAs, SAR-SEPs or Keogh plans.
|
|
■
|
Morgan Stanley employee and employee-related accounts according to Morgan Stanley’s account linking rules.
|
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■
|
Shares purchased through reinvestment of dividends and capital gains distributions when purchasing shares of the same fund.
|
|
■
|
Shares purchased through a Morgan Stanley self-directed brokerage account.
|
|
■
|
Class C (i.e., level-load) shares that are no longer subject to a CDSC and are exchanged for Class A shares of the same fund pursuant to Morgan Stanley Wealth Management’s share class exchange program.
|
|
■
|
Shares purchased from the proceeds of redemptions from another Columbia Fund, provided (i) the repurchase occurs within 90 days following the redemption, (ii) the redemption and purchase occur in the same account, and (iii) redeemed shares were subject to a front-end or deferred sales charge.
|
Raymond James & Associates, Inc., Raymond James Financial Services, Inc. and each entity’s affiliates (Raymond James)
The following information has been provided by Raymond James:
Intermediary-Defined Sales Charge Waiver Policies:
The availability of certain initial or deferred sales charge waivers and discounts may depend on the particular financial intermediary or type of account through which you purchase or hold Columbia Fund shares.
Intermediaries may have different policies and procedures regarding the availability of front-end sales load waivers or contingent deferred (back-end) sales load (CDSC) waivers, which are discussed below. In all instances, it is the purchaser’s responsibility to notify the Fund or the purchaser’s financial intermediary at the time of purchase of any relationship or other facts qualifying the purchaser for sales charge waivers or discounts. For waivers and discounts not available through a particular intermediary, shareholders will have to purchase Columbia Fund shares directly from the Fund or through another intermediary to receive these waivers or discounts.
Raymond James:
Effective March 1, 2019, shareholders purchasing Columbia Fund shares through a Raymond James platform or account, or through an introducing broker-dealer or independent registered investment adviser for which Raymond James provides trade execution, clearance, and/or custody services, will be eligible only for the following load waivers (front-end sales charge waivers and contingent deferred, or back-end, sales charge waivers) and discounts, which may differ from those disclosed elsewhere in this prospectus or the Fund’s SAI.
Front-End Sales Load Waivers on Class A Shares Available at Raymond James:
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■
|
Shares purchased in an investment advisory program.
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■
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Shares purchased within the Columbia Funds through a systematic reinvestment of capital gains and dividend distributions.
|
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■
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Employees and registered representatives of Raymond James or its affiliates and their family members as designated by Raymond James.
|
| A-7 | Prospectus 2021 |
Columbia Strategic Income Fund
Appendix A: Financial Intermediary-Specific Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
(continued)
|
■
|
Shares purchased from the proceeds of redemptions within the Columbia Funds, provided (1) the repurchase occurs within 90 days following the redemption, (2) the redemption and purchase occur in the same account, and (3) redeemed shares were subject to a front-end or deferred sales load (known as Rights of Reinstatement).
|
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■
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A shareholder in the Fund’s Class C shares will have their shares converted at net asset value to Class A shares (or the appropriate share class) of the Fund if the shares are no longer subject to a CDSC and the conversion is in line with the policies and procedures of Raymond James.
|
CDSC Waivers on Class A and Class C Shares Available at Raymond James:
|
■
|
Death or disability of the shareholder.
|
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■
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Shares sold as part of a systematic withdrawal plan as described in this prospectus.
|
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■
|
Return of excess contributions from an IRA Account.
|
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■
|
Shares sold as part of a required minimum distribution for IRA and retirement accounts due to the shareholder reaching the qualified age based on applicable IRS regulations as described in this prospectus.
|
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■
|
Shares sold to pay Raymond James fees but only if the transaction is initiated by Raymond James.
|
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■
|
Shares acquired through a right of reinstatement.
|
Front-End Load Discounts Available at Raymond James: Breakpoints, Rights of Accumulation and/or Letters of Intent:
|
■
|
Breakpoints as described in this prospectus.
|
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■
|
Rights of accumulation which entitle shareholders to breakpoint discounts will be automatically calculated based on the aggregated holding of Columbia Fund assets held by accounts within the purchaser’s household at Raymond James. Eligible Columbia Fund assets not held at Raymond James may be included in the calculation of rights of accumulation only if the shareholder notifies his or her financial advisor about such assets.
|
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■
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Letters of intent which allow for breakpoint discounts based on anticipated purchases within the Columbia Funds, over a 13-month time period. Eligible Columbia Fund assets not held at Raymond James may be included in the calculation of letters of intent only if the shareholder notifies his or her financial advisor about such assets.
|
Stifel Financial Corp. (Stifel)
The following information has been provided by Stifel:
Effective June 30, 2020, Class C shares of Columbia Funds that were purchased through a Stifel platform or account that maintains an omnibus position with the Fund that are no longer subject to a CDSC are exchanged to Class A shares of the same Columbia Fund pursuant to Stifel’s policies and procedures. This does not apply to non-omnibus positions.
Additional Sales Charge Reductions and/or Waivers Available at Certain Financial Intermediaries
Shareholders purchasing Columbia Fund shares through a platform or account of RBC Capital Markets, LLC are eligible for the following sales charge waiver:
Class A Shares Front-End Sales Charge Waiver Available at RBC Capital Markets, LLC:
|
■
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For employer-sponsored retirement plans held through a commissionable brokerage account, Class A shares are available at NAV (i.e., without a sales charge). For this purpose, employer-sponsored retirement plans include, but are not limited to, 401(k) plans, 457 plans, employer-sponsored 403(b) plans, profit sharing and money purchase pension plans and defined benefit plans. For purposes of this provision, employer-sponsored retirement plans do not include SEP IRAs, Simple IRAs, SAR-SEPs or Keogh plans.
|
| Prospectus 2021 | A-8 |
Columbia Strategic Income Fund
P.O. Box 219104
Kansas City, MO 64121-9104
Kansas City, MO 64121-9104
Additional Information About the Fund
Additional information about the Fund’s investments is available in the Fund’s annual and semiannual reports to shareholders. In the annual report, you will find a discussion of the market conditions and investment strategies that significantly affected the Fund’s performance during its last fiscal year. The SAI also provides additional information about the Fund and its policies. The SAI, which has been filed with the SEC, is legally part of this prospectus (incorporated by reference). To obtain these documents free of charge, to request other information about the Fund and to make shareholder inquiries, please contact the Fund as follows:
By Mail:
Columbia Management Investment Services Corp.
P.O. Box 219104
Kansas City, MO 64121-9104
P.O. Box 219104
Kansas City, MO 64121-9104
By Telephone:
800.345.6611
Online:
columbiathreadneedleus.com
Reports and other information about the Fund are also available in the EDGAR Database on the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov. You can receive copies of this information, for a duplication fee, by electronic request at the following e-mail address: publicinfo@sec.gov.
The investment company registration number of Columbia Funds Series Trust I, of which the Fund is a series, is 811-04367.
Columbia Threadneedle Investments is the global brand name of the Columbia and Threadneedle group of companies.
© 2021 Columbia Management Investment Distributors, Inc.
225 Franklin Street, Boston, MA 02110
225 Franklin Street, Boston, MA 02110
800.345.6611
PRO232_08_L01_(01/21)
Prospectus
January 1, 2021
Multi-Manager Alternative Strategies Fund
|
Class
|
Ticker Symbol
|
|
| Institutional (Class Inst) | CZAMX |
The Fund is offered only through certain wrap fee programs sponsored and/or managed by Ameriprise Financial, Inc. or its affiliates, and to group retirement plan recordkeeping platforms that have an agreement with (i) Columbia Management Investment Distributors, Inc. or an affiliate thereof that specifically authorizes the group retirement plan recordkeeper to offer and/or service Class Inst3 shares within such platform, provided also that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account and (ii) Wilshire Associates, appointed or serving as investment manager or consultant to the recordkeeper’s group retirement plan platform. The Fund, together with the other funds managed by Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC that also share this same eligibility criteria, are referred to herein as the Multi-Manager Strategies Funds. The Fund does not currently offer Class Inst3 shares.
Beginning on January 1, 2021, as permitted by regulations adopted by the Securities and Exchange Commission, paper copies of the Fund's annual and semiannual shareholder reports are no longer sent by mail, unless you specifically requested paper copies of the reports. Instead, the reports are made available on the Fund's website (columbiathreadneedleus.com/investor/), and each time a report is posted you will be notified by mail and provided with a website address to access the report.
If you have already elected to receive shareholder reports electronically, you will not be affected by this change and you need not take any action. You may elect to receive shareholder reports and other communications from the Fund electronically at any time by contacting your financial intermediary (such as a broker-dealer or bank) or, for Fund shares held directly with the Fund, by calling 800.345.6611 or by enrolling in “eDelivery” by logging into your account at columbiathreadneedleus.com/investor/.
You may elect to receive all future shareholder reports in paper free of charge. If you invest through a financial intermediary, you can contact your financial intermediary to request that you continue receiving paper copies of your shareholder reports. If you invest directly with the Fund, you can call 800.345.6611 to let the Fund know you wish to continue receiving paper copies of your shareholder reports. Your election to receive paper reports will apply to all Columbia Funds held in your account if you invest through a financial intermediary or all Columbia Funds held with the fund complex if you invest directly with the Fund.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) have not approved or disapproved these securities or passed upon the adequacy of this prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.
Multi-Manager Alternative Strategies Fund
Table of Contents
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| 2 | Prospectus 2021 |
Multi-Manager Alternative Strategies Fund
Summary of the Fund
Investment Objective
Multi-Manager Alternative Strategies Fund (the Fund) seeks capital appreciation with an emphasis on absolute (positive) returns.
Fees and Expenses of the Fund
This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold and sell shares of the Fund.
You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the tables and examples below.
|
Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment)
|
|
|
Class Inst
|
|
| Maximum sales charge (load) imposed on purchases (as a % of offering price) | None |
| Maximum deferred sales charge (load) imposed on redemptions (as a % of the lower of the original purchase price or current net asset value) | None |
|
Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
|
|
|
Class Inst
|
|
| Management fees | 1.10% |
| Distribution and/or service (12b-1) fees | 0.00% |
| Other expenses | 0.29% |
| Dividend expenses and borrowing costs on securities sold short | 0.10% |
| Remainder of other expenses | 0.19% |
|
Total annual Fund operating expenses
|
1.39% |
Example
The following example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The example illustrates the hypothetical expenses that you would incur over the time periods indicated, and assumes that:
| ■ | you invest $10,000 in the share class for the periods indicated, |
| ■ | your investment has a 5% return each year, and |
| ■ |
the Fund’s total annual operating expenses remain the same as shown in the
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
|
Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on the assumptions listed above, your costs would be:
|
1 year
|
3 years
|
5 years
|
10 years
|
|
|
Class Inst
(whether or not shares are redeemed)
|
$142 | $440 | $761 | $1,669 |
Portfolio Turnover
The Fund may pay transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 188% of the average value of its portfolio.
| Prospectus 2021 | 3 |
Multi-Manager Alternative Strategies Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
Principal Investment Strategies
The Fund pursues its investment objective by allocating the Fund’s assets among different asset managers that use multiple investment styles and strategies across different markets. The Fund’s investment manager, Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC (Columbia Management or the Investment Manager), and investment subadvisers (Subadvisers) each provide day-to-day portfolio management of a portion of the Fund’s assets, or sleeve of the Fund. The Investment Manager and the Subadvisers employ a variety of investment strategies, techniques and practices that are designed to seek positive returns, with a low correlation to the performance of the broad equity and fixed income markets over a complete market cycle, which can be measured from market peak to peak or from market trough to trough.
Columbia Management is responsible for providing day-to-day portfolio management of a sleeve and is also responsible for oversight of the Subadvisers. The Fund’s Subadvisers are AlphaSimplex Group, LLC (AlphaSimplex), AQR Capital Management, LLC (AQR), Manulife Investment Management (US) LLC (Manulife), TCW Investment Management Company LLC (TCW) and Water Island Capital, LLC (Water Island). Columbia Management, subject to the oversight of the Fund’s Board of Trustees, determines the allocation of the Fund’s assets to each sleeve, and may change these allocations at any time. Columbia Management and the Subadvisers act independently of each other and use their own methodologies for selecting investments.
The Subadvisers’ investment strategies and techniques may involve seeking exposure to capital markets; seeking to exploit disparities or inefficiencies in markets, geographical areas and companies; seeking to take advantage of security mispricings or anticipated price movements; and/or seeking to benefit from cyclical themes and relationships or special situations and events (such as mergers, acquisitions or reorganizations). Such strategies are subject to risks that are relatively unrelated to the broad equity and fixed income markets.
The Fund may employ both long (an ordinary purchase) and short (described below) positions in equity securities (including common stock, preferred stock and convertible securities), fixed-income securities (including sovereign and quasi-sovereign debt obligations, corporate bonds, notes and debentures), derivative instruments (including futures, forwards, swaps and commodity-linked investments) and exchange-traded funds (ETFs). When the Fund takes a short position, it typically sells a currency, security or other asset in anticipation of a decline in the price of the asset. The Fund may also take short positions in derivative instruments. A sleeve may at any time have either a net long exposure or a net short exposure to markets, and neither the sleeves nor the Fund’s portfolio as a whole will be managed to maintain any fixed net long or net short market exposure. To close out a short position, the Fund buys back the same security or other asset in the market or allows the position to expire. If the price of the security or other asset falls sufficiently, the Fund will make money. If it instead increases in price, the Fund will lose money.
The Fund may invest in early stage companies and initial public offerings (IPOs). The Fund may invest in companies of any market capitalization and may invest without limitation in foreign securities or instruments and currencies, including investments in emerging market instruments. The Fund may invest in fixed income securities of any maturity (and does not seek to maintain a particular dollar-weighted average maturity) and of any credit quality, including investments that are rated below investment-grade (commonly referred to as “high yield securities” or “junk bonds”) or, if unrated, deemed by the Investment Manager or applicable Subadviser, as the case may be, to be of comparable quality. The Fund may also engage in repurchase agreements and reverse repurchase agreements. The Fund may invest in private placements.
It is anticipated that the Fund will make substantial use of derivatives, including both exchange-traded and over-the-counter (OTC) instruments. The Fund may invest in forward contracts (including forward foreign currency contracts and forward interest rate agreements), futures (including commodity-linked, currency, equity, index, interest rate, and other bond futures), options (including options on currencies, equities, and interest rates), structured investments (including commodity-linked structured notes), swaps (including equity swaps, swaps on commodity, equity and fixed income/bond futures, and credit default, cross-currency, interest rate and total return swaps) and options on swaps (commonly known as “swaptions”). The Fund may use these derivatives in an effort to implement the Fund’s strategy, to produce incremental earnings and enhance total return, to hedge existing positions, to increase market or credit exposure (including using derivatives as a substitute for the purchase or sale of the underlying security or other asset), to manage certain investment risks and/or as a substitute for the purchase or sale of securities,
| 4 | Prospectus 2021 |
Multi-Manager Alternative Strategies Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
currencies or commodities, and/or to change the Fund’s effective duration. One or more of the strategies used by the Fund and the Subsidiaries (as defined below) may result in leveraged exposure in general and to one or more specific asset classes.
The Fund may invest in securities and instruments, including derivatives, indirectly through two offshore, wholly-owned subsidiaries organized under the laws of the Cayman Islands (together the Subsidiaries, each a Subsidiary), managed by Columbia Management and subadvised by AlphaSimplex and AQR, respectively. The Subsidiaries have substantially the same investment objective as the Fund and their investments are consistent with the Fund’s investment restrictions applied on a “look through” basis. The Subsidiaries invest mainly in futures and/or swaps, including, but not limited to, commodity-related futures, swaps and swaps on commodity futures, but they may also make any other investments the Fund may make, including investments intended to serve as margin or collateral for the Subsidiaries’ derivative positions. Unlike the Fund (which is subject to limitations under U.S. federal income tax laws), the Subsidiaries may invest without limitation in commodity-linked derivatives; however, the Fund and its Subsidiaries will comply on a consolidated basis with asset coverage or segregation requirements. AlphaSimplex and AQR are expected to invest no more than 25% of the total assets of their respective sleeves in the Subsidiaries that they subadvise, and the Fund, in the aggregate, will not invest more than 25% of its total assets in the Subsidiaries.
The Fund expects to hold a significant amount of cash, U.S. Treasury securities, money market instruments (which may include investments in one or more affiliated or unaffiliated money market funds or similar vehicles), other high-quality, short-term investments or mortgage-backed securities, or other liquid assets to meet its segregation obligations as a result of its investments in derivatives.
The Subsidiaries’ commodity-linked investments are expected to produce leveraged exposure to the performance of the commodities markets. In addition to its investments in commodity-linked derivative instruments, the Fund may, through investments in the Subsidiaries, invest directly in physical commodities, including but not limited to, gold, silver, platinum and palladium.
Each sleeve manager’s investment strategy may involve the frequent trading of portfolio securities or instruments, which may increase brokerage and other transaction costs and have adverse tax consequences.
Principal Risks
An investment in the Fund involves risks, including
,
,
,
, and
, among others. Descriptions of these and other principal risks of investing in the Fund as well as those associated with the Fund’s investment in the Subsidiaries are provided below.
. The value of the Fund’s holdings may decline, and the Fund’s net asset value (NAV) and share price may go down.
An investment in the Fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency. (References in this section to “the Fund” also include the Subsidiaries, which share the same risks as the Fund.)
Alternative Strategies Investment Risk
Derivatives Risk
Short Positions Risk
Market Risk
Multi-Adviser Risk
There is no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objective and you may lose money
Active Management Risk.
Due to its active management, the Fund could underperform its benchmark index and/or other funds with similar investment objectives and/or strategies.
Allocation Risk.
Because the Fund uses an asset allocation strategy in pursuit of its investment objective, there is a risk that the Fund's allocation among asset classes, investments, managers, strategies and/or investment styles will cause the Fund's shares to lose value or cause the Fund to underperform other funds with similar investment objectives and/or strategies, or that the investments themselves will not produce the returns expected.
Alternative Strategies Investment Risk.
An investment in alternative investment strategies (Alternative Strategies), whether through direct investment or through one or more underlying funds that use Alternative Strategies, involves risks, which may be significant. Alternative Strategies may include strategies, instruments or other assets, such as derivatives, that seek investment returns uncorrelated with the broad equity and fixed income/debt markets, as well as those providing exposure to other markets (such as commodity markets), including but not limited to absolute
| Prospectus 2021 | 5 |
Multi-Manager Alternative Strategies Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
(positive) return strategies. Alternative Strategies may fail to achieve their desired performance, market or other exposure, or their returns (or lack thereof) may be more correlated with the broad equity and/or fixed income/debt markets than was anticipated, and the Fund may lose money. Some Alternative Strategies may be considered speculative.
Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Regulatory Risk.
The Fund does not qualify for an exemption from registration as a “commodity pool” under rules of the Commodity Exchange Act (the CEA). Accordingly, the Fund is a commodity pool under the CEA and the Investment Manager is registered as a “commodity pool operator” under the CEA. The Fund is subject to dual regulation by the SEC and the CFTC. Compliance with the CFTC’s regulatory requirements could increase Fund expenses, adversely affecting the Fund's total return.
Commodity-related Investment Risk.
The value of commodities investments will generally be affected by overall market movements and factors specific to a particular industry or commodity, which may include demand for the commodity, weather, embargoes, tariffs, and economic health, political, international, regulatory and other developments. Exposure to commodities and commodities markets may subject the value of the Fund’s investments to greater volatility than other types of investments. Commodities investments may also subject the Fund to counterparty risk and liquidity risk. The Fund may make commodity-related investments through one or more wholly-owned subsidiaries organized outside the U.S. that are generally not subject to U.S. laws (including securities laws) and their protections.
Commodity-related Tax Risk.
The Fund intends to qualify for treatment as a regulated investment company under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended. The Fund’s investments in commodities or commodity-related investments can be limited by the Fund’s intention to qualify as a regulated investment company and can limit the Fund’s ability to so qualify.
Convertible Securities Risk.
Convertible securities are subject to the usual risks associated with debt instruments, such as interest rate risk and credit risk. Convertible securities also react to changes in the value of the common stock into which they convert, and are thus subject to market risk. The Fund may also be forced to convert a convertible security at an inopportune time, which may decrease the Fund’s return.
Counterparty Risk.
Counterparty risk is the risk that a counterparty to a transaction in a financial instrument held by the Fund or by a special purpose or structured vehicle invested in by the Fund may become insolvent or otherwise fail to perform its obligations. As a result, the Fund may obtain no or limited recovery of its investment, and any recovery may be significantly delayed.
Credit Risk.
Credit risk is the risk that the value of debt instruments may decline if the issuer thereof defaults or otherwise becomes unable or unwilling, or is perceived to be unable or unwilling, to honor its financial obligations, such as making payments to the Fund when due. Credit rating agencies assign credit ratings to certain debt instruments to indicate their credit risk. Unless otherwise provided in the Fund’s Principal Investment Strategies, investment grade debt instruments are those rated at or above BBB- by S&P Global Ratings, or equivalently rated by Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. or Fitch Ratings, Inc., or, if unrated, determined by the management team to be of comparable quality. Conversely, below investment grade (commonly called “high-yield” or “junk”) debt instruments are those rated below BBB- by S&P Global Ratings, or equivalently rated by Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. or Fitch Ratings, Inc., or, if unrated, determined by the management team to be of comparable quality. A rating downgrade by such agencies can negatively impact the value of such instruments. Lower quality or unrated instruments held by the Fund may present increased credit risk as compared to higher-rated instruments. Non-investment grade debt instruments may be subject to greater price fluctuations and are more likely to experience a default than investment grade debt instruments and therefore may expose the Fund to increased credit risk. If the Fund purchases unrated instruments, or if the ratings of instruments held by the Fund are lowered after purchase, the Fund will depend on analysis of credit risk more heavily than usual.
Derivatives Risk.
Derivatives may involve significant risks. Derivatives are financial instruments with a value in relation to, or derived from, the value of an underlying asset(s) or other reference, such as an index, rate or other economic indicator (each an underlying reference). Derivatives may include those that are privately placed or otherwise exempt from SEC registration, including certain Rule 144A eligible securities. Derivatives could result in Fund losses if the underlying reference does not perform as anticipated. Use of derivatives is a highly specialized
| 6 | Prospectus 2021 |
Multi-Manager Alternative Strategies Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
activity that can involve investment techniques, risks, and tax planning different from those associated with more traditional investment instruments. The Fund’s derivatives strategy may not be successful and use of certain derivatives could result in substantial, potentially unlimited, losses to the Fund regardless of the Fund’s actual investment. A relatively small movement in the price, rate or other economic indicator associated with the underlying reference may result in substantial loss for the Fund. Derivatives may be more volatile than other types of investments. The value of derivatives may be influenced by a variety of factors, including national and international political and economic developments. Potential changes to the regulation of the derivatives markets may make derivatives more costly, may limit the market for derivatives, or may otherwise adversely affect the value or performance of derivatives. Derivatives can increase the Fund’s risk exposure to underlying references and their attendant risks, such as credit risk, market risk, foreign currency risk and interest rate risk, while exposing the Fund to correlation risk, counterparty risk, hedging risk, inflation risk, leverage risk, liquidity risk, pricing risk and volatility risk.
Derivatives Risk – Forward Contracts Risk.
A forward contract is an over-the-counter derivative transaction between two parties to buy or sell a specified amount of an underlying reference at a specified price (or rate) on a specified date in the future. Forward contracts are negotiated on an individual basis and are not standardized or traded on exchanges. The market for forward contracts is substantially unregulated and can experience lengthy periods of illiquidity, unusually high trading volume and other negative impacts, such as political intervention, which may result in volatility or disruptions in such markets. A relatively small price movement in a forward contract may result in substantial losses to the Fund, exceeding the amount of the margin paid. Forward contracts can increase the Fund’s risk exposure to underlying references and their attendant risks, such as credit risk, market risk, foreign currency risk and interest rate risk, while also exposing the Fund to correlation risk, counterparty risk, hedging risk, inflation risk, leverage risk, liquidity risk, pricing risk and volatility risk.
Derivatives Risk – Futures Contracts Risk.
A futures contract is an exchange-traded derivative transaction between two parties in which a buyer (holding the “long” position) agrees to pay a fixed price (or rate) at a specified future date for delivery of an underlying reference from a seller (holding the “short” position). The seller hopes that the market price on the delivery date is less than the agreed upon price, while the buyer hopes for the contrary. Certain futures contract markets are highly volatile, and futures contracts may be illiquid. Futures exchanges may limit fluctuations in futures contract prices by imposing a maximum permissible daily price movement. The Fund may be disadvantaged if it is prohibited from executing a trade outside the daily permissible price movement. At or prior to maturity of a futures contract, the Fund may enter into an offsetting contract and may incur a loss to the extent there has been adverse movement in futures contract prices. The liquidity of the futures markets depends on participants entering into offsetting transactions rather than making or taking delivery. To the extent participants make or take delivery, liquidity in the futures market could be reduced. Because of the low margin deposits normally required in futures trading, it is possible that the Fund may employ a high degree of leverage in the portfolio. As a result, a relatively small price movement in a futures contract may result in substantial losses to the Fund, exceeding the amount of the margin paid. For certain types of futures contracts, losses are potentially unlimited. Futures markets are highly volatile and the use of futures may increase the volatility of the Fund’s NAV. Futures contracts executed (if any) on foreign exchanges may not provide the same protection as U.S. exchanges. Futures contracts can increase the Fund’s risk exposure to underlying references and their attendant risks, such as credit risk, market risk, foreign currency risk and interest rate risk, while also exposing the Fund to correlation risk, counterparty risk, hedging risk, inflation risk, leverage risk, liquidity risk, pricing risk and volatility risk.
Derivatives Risk – Options Risk.
Options are derivatives that give the purchaser the option to buy (call) or sell (put) an underlying reference from or to a counterparty at a specified price (the strike price) on or before an expiration date. By investing in options, the Fund is exposed to the risk that it may be required to buy or sell the underlying reference at a disadvantageous price on or before the expiration date. Options may involve economic leverage, which could result in greater volatility in price movement. The Fund's losses could be significant, and are potentially unlimited for certain types of options. Options may be traded on a securities exchange or in the over-the-counter market. At or prior to maturity of an options contract, the Fund may enter into an offsetting contract and may incur a loss to the extent there has been adverse movement in options prices. Options can increase the Fund’s risk
| Prospectus 2021 | 7 |
Multi-Manager Alternative Strategies Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
exposure to underlying references and their attendant risks such as credit risk, market risk, foreign currency risk and interest rate risk, while also exposing the Fund to correlation risk, counterparty risk, hedging risk, inflation risk, leverage risk, liquidity risk, pricing risk and volatility risk.
Derivatives Risk – Structured Investments Risk.
Structured investments are over-the-counter derivatives that provide principal and/or interest payments based on the value of an underlying reference(s). Structured investments may lack a liquid secondary market and their prices or value can be volatile which could result in significant losses for the Fund. Structured investments may create economic leverage which may increase the volatility of the value of the investment. Structured investments can increase the Fund’s risk exposure to underlying references and their attendant risks, such as credit risk, market risk, foreign currency risk and interest rate risk, while also exposing the Fund to correlation risk, counterparty risk, hedging risk, inflation risk, leverage risk, liquidity risk, pricing risk and volatility risk.
Derivatives Risk – Swaps Risk.
In a typical swap transaction, two parties agree to exchange the return earned on a specified underlying reference for a fixed return or the return from another underlying reference during a specified period of time. Swaps may be difficult to value and may be illiquid. Swaps could result in Fund losses if the underlying asset or reference does not perform as anticipated. Swaps create significant investment leverage such that a relatively small price movement in a swap may result in immediate and substantial losses to the Fund. The Fund may only close out a swap with its particular counterparty, and may only transfer a position with the consent of that counterparty. Certain swaps, such as short swap transactions and total return swaps, have the potential for unlimited losses, regardless of the size of the initial investment. Swaps can increase the Fund’s risk exposure to underlying references and their attendant risks, such as credit risk, market risk, foreign currency risk and interest rate risk, while also exposing the Fund to correlation risk, counterparty risk, hedging risk, inflation risk, leverage risk, liquidity risk, pricing risk and volatility risk.
Derivatives Risk – Swaptions Risk.
A swaption is an options contract on a swap agreement. These transactions give a party the right (but not the obligation) to enter into new swap agreements or to shorten, extend, cancel or otherwise modify an existing swap agreement at some designated future time on specified terms, in return for payment of the purchase price (the “premium”) of the option. The Fund may write (sell) and purchase put and call swaptions to the same extent it may make use of standard options on securities or other instruments. The writer of the contract receives the premium and bears the risk of unfavorable changes in the market value on the underlying swap agreement. Swaptions can be bundled and sold as a package. These are commonly called interest rate caps, floors and collars.
Emerging Market Securities Risk.
Securities issued by foreign governments or companies in emerging market countries, such as China, Russia and certain countries in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Latin America or Africa, are more likely to have greater exposure to the risks of investing in foreign securities that are described in Foreign Securities Risk. In addition, emerging market countries are more likely to experience instability resulting, for example, from rapid changes or developments in social, political, economic or other conditions. Their economies are usually less mature and their securities markets are typically less developed with more limited trading activity (i.e., lower trading volumes and less liquidity) than more developed countries. Emerging market securities tend to be more volatile than securities in more developed markets. Many emerging market countries are heavily dependent on international trade and have fewer trading partners, which makes them more sensitive to world commodity prices and economic downturns in other countries, and some have a higher risk of currency devaluations. Due to the differences in the nature and quality of financial information of issuers of emerging market securities, including auditing and financial reporting standards, financial information and disclosures about such issuers may be unavailable or, if made available, may be considerably less reliable than publicly available information about other foreign securities.
Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) Risk.
Investments in ETFs have unique characteristics, including, but not limited to, the expense structure and additional expenses associated with investing in ETFs. ETFs are subject to, among other risks, tracking risk and passive and, in some cases, active investment risk. In addition, shareholders bear both their proportionate share of the Fund’s expenses, and indirectly the ETF’s expenses, incurred through the Fund’s ownership of the ETF. Due to the expenses and costs of an underlying ETF being shared by its investors, redemptions
| 8 | Prospectus 2021 |
Multi-Manager Alternative Strategies Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
by other investors in the ETF could result in decreased economies of scale and increased operating expenses for such ETF. The ETFs may not achieve their investment objective. The Fund, through its investment in ETFs, may not achieve its investment objective.
Foreign Currency Risk.
The performance of the Fund may be materially affected positively or negatively by foreign currency strength or weakness relative to the U.S. dollar, particularly if the Fund invests a significant percentage of its assets in foreign securities or other assets denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar.
Foreign Securities Risk.
Investments in or exposure to foreign securities involve certain risks not associated with investments in or exposure to securities of U.S. companies. Foreign securities subject the Fund to the risks associated with investing in the particular country of an issuer, including political, regulatory, economic, social, diplomatic and other conditions or events (including, for example, military confrontations, war, terrorism and disease/virus outbreaks and epidemics), occurring in the country or region, as well as risks associated with less developed custody and settlement practices. Foreign securities may be more volatile and less liquid than securities of U.S. companies, and are subject to the risks associated with potential imposition of economic and other sanctions against a particular foreign country, its nationals or industries or businesses within the country. In addition, foreign governments may impose withholding or other taxes on the Fund’s income, capital gains or proceeds from the disposition of foreign securities, which could reduce the Fund’s return on such securities.
Frequent Trading Risk.
The portfolio managers may actively and frequently trade investments in the Fund's portfolio to carry out its investment strategies. Frequent trading of investments increases the possibility that the Fund, as relevant, will realize taxable capital gains (including short-term capital gains, which are generally taxable to shareholders at higher rates than long-term capital gains for U.S. federal income tax purposes), which could reduce the Fund's after-tax return. Frequent trading can also mean higher brokerage and other transaction costs, which could reduce the Fund's return. The trading costs and tax effects associated with portfolio turnover may adversely affect the Fund’s performance.
High-Yield Investments Risk.
Securities and other debt instruments held by the Fund that are rated below investment grade (commonly called “high-yield” or “junk” bonds) and unrated debt instruments of comparable quality expose the Fund to a greater risk of loss of principal and income than a fund that invests solely or primarily in investment grade debt instruments. In addition, these investments have greater price fluctuations, are less liquid and are more likely to experience a default than higher-rated debt instruments. High-yield debt instruments are considered to be predominantly speculative with respect to the issuer’s capacity to pay interest and repay principal.
Interest Rate Risk.
Interest rate risk is the risk of losses attributable to changes in interest rates. In general, if prevailing interest rates rise, the values of debt instruments tend to fall, and if interest rates fall, the values of debt instruments tend to rise. Changes in the value of a debt instrument usually will not affect the amount of income the Fund receives from it but will generally affect the value of your investment in the Fund. Changes in interest rates may also affect the liquidity of the Fund’s investments in debt instruments. In general, the longer the maturity or duration of a debt instrument, the greater its sensitivity to changes in interest rates. Interest rate declines also may increase prepayments of debt obligations, which, in turn, would increase prepayment risk. Very low or negative interest rates may impact the Fund’s yield and may increase the risk that, if followed by rising interest rates, the Fund’s performance will be negatively impacted. The Fund is subject to the risk that the income generated by its investments may not keep pace with inflation. Actions by governments and central banking authorities can result in increases or decreases in interest rates. Such actions may negatively affect the value of debt instruments held by the Fund, resulting in a negative impact on the Fund's performance and NAV. Any interest rate increases could cause the value of the Fund’s investments in debt instruments to decrease. Rising interest rates may prompt redemptions from the Fund, which may force the Fund to sell investments at a time when it is not advantageous to do so, which could result in losses.
Investing in Wholly-Owned Subsidiary Risk.
By investing in a Subsidiary, the Fund is indirectly exposed to the risks associated with the Subsidiary’s investments. The Fund’s Principal Risks may also apply to a Subsidiary in which the Fund invests (which are described in this prospectus). There can be no assurance that the investment objective of a Subsidiary will be achieved. Changes in the laws of the United States and/or the Cayman Islands, under which the
| Prospectus 2021 | 9 |
Multi-Manager Alternative Strategies Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
Fund and any Subsidiary in which it invests, respectively, are organized, could result in the inability of the Fund and/or the Subsidiary to operate as described in this prospectus and the Fund’s Statement of Additional Information (SAI) and could adversely affect the Fund and its shareholders.
Issuer Risk.
An issuer in which the Fund invests or to which it has exposure may perform poorly or below expectations, and the value of its securities may therefore decline, which may negatively affect the Fund’s performance. Underperformance of an issuer may be caused by poor management decisions, competitive pressures, breakthroughs in technology, reliance on suppliers, labor problems or shortages, corporate restructurings, fraudulent disclosures, natural disasters, military confrontations, war, terrorism, disease/virus outbreaks, epidemics or other events, conditions and factors which may impair the value of an investment in the Fund.
Small- and Mid-Cap Stock Risk.
Investments in small- and mid-capitalization companies (small- and mid-cap companies) often involve greater risks than investments in larger, more established companies (larger companies) because small- and mid-cap companies tend to have less predictable earnings and may lack the management experience, financial resources, product diversification and competitive strengths of larger companies. Securities of small- and mid-cap companies may be less liquid and more volatile than the securities of larger companies.
Large-Cap Stock Risk.
Investments in larger companies may involve certain risks associated with their larger size. For instance, larger companies may be less able to respond quickly to new competitive challenges, such as changes in consumer tastes or innovation from smaller competitors. Also, larger companies are sometimes less able to achieve as high growth rates as successful smaller companies, especially during extended periods of economic expansion.
Leverage Risk.
Leverage occurs when the Fund increases its assets available for investment using borrowings, short sales, derivatives, or similar instruments or techniques. Use of leverage can produce volatility and may exaggerate changes in the NAV of Fund shares and in the return on the Fund’s portfolio, which may increase the risk that the Fund will lose more than it has invested. If the Fund uses leverage, through the purchase of particular instruments such as derivatives, the Fund may experience capital losses that exceed the net assets of the Fund. Because short sales involve borrowing securities and then selling them, the Fund’s short sales effectively leverage the Fund’s assets. The Fund's assets that are used as collateral to secure the Fund's obligations to return the securities sold short may decrease in value while the short positions are outstanding, which may force the Fund to use its other assets to increase the collateral. Leverage can create an interest expense that may lower the Fund's overall returns. Leverage presents the opportunity for increased net income and capital gains, but may also exaggerate the Fund’s volatility and risk of loss. There can be no guarantee that a leveraging strategy will be successful.
LIBOR Replacement Risk.
The elimination of London Inter-Bank Offered Rate (LIBOR), among other “inter-bank offered” reference rates, may adversely affect the interest rates on, and value of, certain Fund investments for which the value is tied to LIBOR. Alternatives to LIBOR have been established or are in development in most major currencies including the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR) that is intended to replace U.S. dollar LIBOR. Markets are slowly developing in response to these new reference rates. Uncertainty related to the liquidity impact of the change in rates, and how to appropriately adjust these rates at the time of transition, poses risks for the Fund. These risks are likely to persist until new reference rates and fallbacks for both legacy and new instruments and contracts are commercially accepted and market practices become settled.
Liquidity Risk.
Liquidity risk is the risk associated with any event, circumstance, or characteristic of an investment or market that negatively impacts the Fund’s ability to sell, or realize the proceeds from the sale of, an investment at a desirable time or price. Liquidity risk may arise because of, for example, a lack of marketability of the investment, which means that when seeking to sell its portfolio investments, the Fund could find that selling is more difficult than anticipated, especially during times of high market volatility. Decreases in the number of financial institutions, including banks and broker-dealers, willing to make markets (match up sellers and buyers) in the Fund’s investments or decreases in their capacity or willingness to trade such investments may increase the Fund’s exposure to this risk. The debt market has experienced considerable growth, and financial institutions making markets in instruments purchased and sold by the Fund (e.g., bond dealers) have been subject to increased regulation. The impact of that growth and regulation on the ability and willingness of financial institutions to engage in trading or “making a market” in such instruments remains unsettled. Certain types of investments, such as lower-rated securities or those that are
| 10 | Prospectus 2021 |
Multi-Manager Alternative Strategies Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
purchased and sold in over-the-counter markets, may be especially subject to liquidity risk. Securities or other assets in which the Fund invests may be traded in the over-the-counter market rather than on an exchange and therefore may be more difficult to purchase or sell at a fair price, which may have a negative impact on the Fund’s performance. Market participants attempting to sell the same or a similar instrument at the same time as the Fund could exacerbate the Fund’s exposure to liquidity risk. The Fund may have to accept a lower selling price for the holding, sell other liquid or more liquid investments that it might otherwise prefer to hold (thereby increasing the proportion of the Fund’s investments in less liquid or illiquid securities), or forego another more appealing investment opportunity. The liquidity of Fund investments may change significantly over time and certain investments that were liquid when purchased by the Fund may later become illiquid, particularly in times of overall economic distress. Changing regulatory, market or other conditions or environments (for example, the interest rate or credit environments) may also adversely affect the liquidity and the price of the Fund's investments. Judgment plays a larger role in valuing illiquid or less liquid investments as compared to valuing liquid or more liquid investments. Price volatility may be higher for illiquid or less liquid investments as a result of, for example, the relatively less frequent pricing of such securities (as compared to liquid or more liquid investments). Generally, the less liquid the market at the time the Fund sells a portfolio investment, the greater the risk of loss or decline of value to the Fund. Overall market liquidity and other factors can lead to an increase in redemptions, which may negatively impact Fund performance and NAV, including, for example, if the Fund is forced to sell investments in a down market.
Market Risk.
The Fund may incur losses due to declines in the value of one or more securities in which it invests. These declines may be due to factors affecting a particular issuer, or the result of, among other things, political, regulatory, market, economic or social developments affecting the relevant market(s) more generally. In addition, turbulence in financial markets and reduced liquidity in equity, credit and/or fixed income markets may negatively affect many issuers, which could adversely affect the Fund, including causing difficulty in assigning prices to hard-to-value assets in thinly traded and closed markets, significant redemptions and operational challenges. Global economies and financial markets are increasingly interconnected, and conditions and events in one country, region or financial market may adversely impact issuers in a different country, region or financial market. These risks may be magnified if certain events or developments adversely interrupt the global supply chain; in these and other circumstances, such risks might affect companies worldwide. As a result, local, regional or global events such as terrorism, war, natural disasters, disease/virus outbreaks and epidemics or other public health issues, recessions, depressions or other events – or the potential for such events – could have a significant negative impact on global economic and market conditions.
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) public health crisis has become a pandemic that has resulted in, and may continue to result in, significant global economic and societal disruption and market volatility due to disruptions in market access, resource availability, facilities operations, imposition of tariffs, export controls and supply chain disruption, among others. Such disruptions may be caused, or exacerbated by, quarantines and travel restrictions, workforce displacement and loss in human and other resources. The uncertainty surrounding the magnitude, duration, reach, costs and effects of the global pandemic, as well as actions that have been or could be taken by governmental authorities or other third parties, present unknowns that are yet to unfold. The impacts, as well as the uncertainty over impacts to come, of COVID-19 – and any other infectious illness outbreaks, epidemics and pandemics that may arise in the future – could negatively affect global economies and markets in ways that cannot necessarily be foreseen. In addition, the impact of infectious illness outbreaks and epidemics in emerging market countries may be greater due to generally less established healthcare systems, governments and financial markets. Public health crises caused by the COVID-19 outbreak may exacerbate other pre-existing political, social and economic risks in certain countries or globally. The disruptions caused by COVID-19 could prevent the Fund from executing advantageous investment decisions in a timely manner and negatively impact the Fund’s ability to achieve its investment objective. Any such event(s) could have a significant adverse impact on the value and risk profile of the Fund.
Model and Data Risk (AQR).
Given the complexity of the investments and strategies of the Fund, AQR may rely heavily on quantitative models and information and traditional and non-traditional data supplied or made available by third parties (Models and Data). Models and Data are used to construct sets of transactions and investments, to provide risk management insights, and to assist in hedging the Fund’s investments.
| Prospectus 2021 | 11 |
Multi-Manager Alternative Strategies Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
When Models and Data prove to be incorrect or incomplete, any decisions made in reliance thereon expose the Fund to potential risks. Similarly, any hedging based on faulty Models and Data may prove to be unsuccessful. Some of the models used by AQR for the Fund are predictive in nature. The use of predictive models has inherent risks. Because predictive models are usually constructed based on historical data supplied by third parties, the success of relying on such models may depend on the accuracy and reliability of the supplied historical data. The Fund bears the risk that the quantitative models used by AQR will not be successful in forecasting movements in industries, sectors or companies or in determining the weighting of investment positions that will enable the Fund to achieve its investment objective.
All models rely on correct data inputs. If incorrect data is entered into even a well-founded model, the resulting information will be incorrect. However, even if data is inputted correctly, “model prices” will often differ substantially from market prices, especially for instruments with complex characteristics, such as derivative instruments.
The Fund is unlikely to be successful unless the assumptions underlying the models are realistic and either remain realistic and relevant in the future or are adjusted to account for changes in the overall market environment. If such assumptions are inaccurate or become inaccurate and are not promptly adjusted, it is likely that profitable trading signals will not be generated, and major losses may result.
AQR, in its sole discretion, will continue to test, evaluate and add new models, which may result in the modification of existing models from time to time. There can be no assurance that model modifications will enable the Fund to achieve its investment objective.
Money Market Fund Investment Risk.
An investment in a money market fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by any bank, the FDIC or any other government agency. Certain money market funds float their NAV while others seek to preserve the value of investments at a stable NAV (typically, $1.00 per share). An investment in a money market fund, even an investment in a fund seeking to maintain a stable NAV per share, is not guaranteed and it is possible for the Fund to lose money by investing in these and other types of money market funds. If the liquidity of a money market fund’s portfolio deteriorates below certain levels, the money market fund may suspend redemptions (i.e., impose a redemption gate) and thereby prevent the Fund from selling its investment in the money market fund or impose a fee of up to 2% on amounts the Fund redeems from the money market fund (i.e., impose a liquidity fee). These measures may result in an investment loss or prohibit the Fund from redeeming shares when the Investment Manager would otherwise redeem shares. In addition to the fees and expenses that the Fund directly bears, the Fund indirectly bears the fees and expenses of any money market funds in which it invests, including affiliated money market funds. By investing in a money market fund, the Fund will be exposed to the investment risks of the money market fund in direct proportion to such investment. To the extent the Fund invests in instruments such as derivatives, the Fund may hold investments, which may be significant, in money market fund shares to cover its obligations resulting from the Fund’s investments in derivatives. Money market funds and the securities they invest in are subject to comprehensive regulations. The enactment of new legislation or regulations, as well as changes in interpretation and enforcement of current laws, may affect the manner of operation, performance and/or yield of money market funds.
Mortgage- and Other Asset-Backed Securities Risk.
The value of any mortgage-backed and other asset-backed securities including collateralized debt obligations and collateralized loan obligations, if any, held by the Fund may be affected by, among other things, changes or perceived changes in: interest rates; factors concerning the interests in and structure of the issuer or the originator of the mortgages or other assets; the creditworthiness of the entities that provide any supporting letters of credit, surety bonds or other credit enhancements; or the market's assessment of the quality of underlying assets. Payment of principal and interest on some mortgage-backed securities (but not the market value of the securities themselves) may be guaranteed by the full faith and credit of a particular U.S. Government agency, authority, enterprise or instrumentality, and some, but not all, are also insured or guaranteed by the U.S. Government. Mortgage-backed securities issued by non-governmental issuers (such as commercial banks, savings and loan institutions, private mortgage insurance companies, mortgage bankers and other secondary market issuers) may entail greater risk than obligations guaranteed by the U.S. Government. Mortgage- and other asset-backed securities are subject to liquidity risk and prepayment risk. A decline or flattening of housing values may cause delinquencies in mortgages (especially sub-prime or non-prime mortgages) underlying mortgage-backed securities and thereby adversely affect the ability of the mortgage-backed securities issuer to make principal and/or
| 12 | Prospectus 2021 |
Multi-Manager Alternative Strategies Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
interest payments to mortgage-backed securities holders, including the Fund. Rising or high interest rates tend to extend the duration of mortgage- and other asset-backed securities, making their prices more volatile and more sensitive to changes in interest rates.
Multi-Adviser Risk.
The Fund has multiple advisory firms that each manage a portion of the Fund’s net assets on a daily basis. Each adviser makes investment decisions independently from the other adviser(s). It is possible that the security selection process of one adviser will not complement or may conflict or even contradict that of the other adviser(s), including making off-setting trades that have no net effect to the Fund, but which may increase Fund expenses. As a result, the Fund's exposure to a given security, industry, sector or market capitalization could be smaller or larger than if the Fund were managed by a single adviser, which could adversely affect the Fund's performance.
Preferred Stock Risk.
Preferred stock is a type of stock that may pay dividends at a different rate than common stock of the same issuer, if at all, and that has preference over common stock in the payment of dividends and the liquidation of assets. Preferred stock does not ordinarily carry voting rights. The price of a preferred stock is generally determined by earnings, type of products or services, projected growth rates, experience of management, liquidity, and general market conditions of the markets on which the stock trades. The most significant risks associated with investments in preferred stock include issuer risk, market risk and interest rate risk (the risk of losses attributable to changes in interest rates).
Prepayment and Extension Risk.
Prepayment and extension risk is the risk that a loan, bond or other security or investment might, in the case of prepayment risk, be called or otherwise converted, prepaid or redeemed before maturity and, in the case of extension risk, that the investment might not be called as expected. In the case of prepayment risk, if the investment is converted, prepaid or redeemed before maturity, the portfolio managers may not be able to invest the proceeds in other investments providing as high a level of income, resulting in a reduced yield to the Fund. In the case of mortgage- or other asset-backed securities, as interest rates decrease or spreads narrow, the likelihood of prepayment increases. Conversely, extension risk is the risk that an unexpected rise in interest rates will extend the life of a mortgage- or other asset-backed security beyond the prepayment time. If the Fund’s investments are locked in at a lower interest rate for a longer period of time, the portfolio managers may be unable to capitalize on securities with higher interest rates or wider spreads.
Quantitative Model Risk.
Quantitative models used by the Fund may not effectively identify purchases and sales of Fund investments and may cause the Fund to underperform other investment strategies. Flaws or errors in the quantitative model’s assumptions, design, execution, or data inputs may adversely affect Fund performance. Quantitative models may not perform as expected and may underperform in certain market environments including in stressed or volatile market conditions. There can be no assurance that the use of quantitative models will enable the Fund to achieve its objective.
Regulatory Risk — Alternative Investments.
Legal, tax, and regulatory developments may adversely affect the Fund and its investments. The regulatory environment for the Fund and certain of its investments is evolving, and changes in the regulation of investment funds, their managers, and their trading activities and capital markets, or a regulator’s disagreement with the Fund’s or others’ interpretation of the application of certain regulations, may adversely affect the ability of the Fund to pursue its investment strategy, its ability to obtain leverage and financing, and the value of investments held by the Fund. There has been an increase in governmental, as well as self-regulatory, scrutiny of the investment industry in general and the alternative investment industry in particular. It is impossible to predict what, if any, changes in regulations may occur, but any regulation that restricts the ability of the Fund or any underlying funds or other investments to trade in securities or other instruments or the ability of the Fund or underlying funds to employ, or brokers and other counterparties to extend, credit in their trading (as well as other regulatory changes that result) could have a material adverse impact on the Fund’s performance.
Repurchase Agreements Risk.
Repurchase agreements are agreements in which the seller of a security to the Fund agrees to repurchase that security from the Fund at a mutually agreed upon price and time. Repurchase agreements carry the risk that the counterparty may not fulfill its obligations under the agreement. This could cause the Fund's income and the value of your investment in the Fund to decline.
| Prospectus 2021 | 13 |
Multi-Manager Alternative Strategies Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
Reverse Repurchase Agreements Risk.
Reverse repurchase agreements are agreements in which a Fund sells a security to a counterparty, such as a bank or broker-dealer, in return for cash and agrees to repurchase that security at a mutually agreed upon price and time. Reverse repurchase agreements carry the risk that the market value of the security sold by the Fund may decline below the price at which the Fund must repurchase the security. Reverse repurchase agreements also may be viewed as a form of borrowing, and borrowed assets used for investment creates leverage risk (the risk that losses may be greater than the amount invested). Leverage can create an interest expense that may lower the Fund's overall returns. Leverage presents the opportunity for increased net income and capital gains, but may also exaggerate the Fund’s volatility and risk of loss. There can be no guarantee that this strategy will be successful.
Rule 144A and Other Exempted Securities Risk.
The Fund may invest in privately placed and other securities or instruments exempt from SEC registration (collectively “private placements”), subject to certain regulatory restrictions. In the U.S. market, private placements are typically sold only to qualified institutional buyers, or qualified purchasers, as applicable. An insufficient number of buyers interested in purchasing private placements at a particular time could adversely affect the marketability of such investments and the Fund might be unable to dispose of them promptly or at reasonable prices, subjecting the Fund to liquidity risk. The Fund’s holdings of private placements may increase the level of Fund illiquidity if eligible buyers are unable or unwilling to purchase them at a particular time. Issuers of Rule 144A eligible securities are required to furnish information to potential investors upon request. However, the required disclosure is much less extensive than that required of public companies and is not publicly available since the offering information is not filed with the SEC. Further, issuers of Rule 144A eligible securities can require recipients of the offering information (such as the Fund) to agree contractually to keep the information confidential, which could also adversely affect the Fund’s ability to dispose of the security.
Sector Risk.
At times, the Fund may have a significant portion of its assets invested in securities of companies conducting business within one or more economic sectors. Companies in the same sector may be similarly affected by economic, regulatory, political or market events or conditions, which may make the Fund more vulnerable to unfavorable developments in that sector than funds that invest more broadly. Generally, the more broadly the Fund invests, the more it spreads risk and potentially reduces the risks of loss and volatility.
Short Positions Risk.
The Fund may establish short positions which introduce more risk to the Fund than long positions (where the Fund owns the instrument or other asset) because the maximum sustainable loss on an instrument or other asset purchased (held long) is limited to the amount paid for the instrument or other asset plus the transaction costs, whereas there is no maximum price of the shorted instrument or other asset when purchased in the open market. Therefore, in theory, short positions have unlimited risk. The Fund’s use of short positions in effect “leverages” the Fund. Leverage potentially exposes the Fund to greater risks of loss due to unanticipated market movements, which may magnify losses and increase the volatility of returns. To the extent the Fund takes a short position in a derivative instrument or other asset, this involves the risk of a potentially unlimited increase in the value of the underlying instrument or other asset.
Sovereign Debt Risk.
A sovereign debtor’s willingness or ability to repay principal and pay interest in a timely manner may be affected by a variety of factors, including its cash flow situation, the extent of its reserves, the availability of sufficient foreign exchange on the date a payment is due, the relative size of the debt service burden to the economy as a whole, the sovereign debtor’s policy toward international lenders, and the political constraints to which a sovereign debtor may be subject.
Special Situations Risk.
Securities of companies that are involved in an initial public offering or a major corporate event, such as a business consolidation or restructuring, may be exposed to heightened risk because of the high degree of uncertainty that can be associated with such events. Securities issued in initial public offerings often are issued by companies that are in the early stages of development, have a history of little or no revenues and may operate at a loss following the offering. It is possible that there will be no active trading market for the securities after the offering, and that the market price of the securities may be subject to significant and unpredictable fluctuations. Certain “special situation” investments are investments in securities or other instruments that may be classified as illiquid or lacking a readily ascertainable fair value. Certain special situation investments prevent
| 14 | Prospectus 2021 |
Multi-Manager Alternative Strategies Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
ownership interests therein from being withdrawn until the special situation investment, or a portion thereof, is realized or deemed realized, which may negatively impact Fund performance. Investing in special situations may have a magnified effect on the performance of funds with small amounts of assets.
Tax Risk.
To qualify for treatment as a regulated investment company, the Fund must meet certain requirements regarding the source of its income. The Fund's investments can be limited by the Fund's intention to qualify as a regulated investment company and can limit the Fund's ability to so qualify. The tax treatment of certain investments and of the income and gain therefrom under the qualifying income test applicable to regulated investment companies is uncertain, and an adverse determination or future guidance by the Internal Revenue Service (the IRS) may affect the Fund's ability to qualify for treatment as a regulated investment company, including on a retroactive basis. If the Fund were to fail to qualify as a regulated investment company, or if it were ineligible to or otherwise could not cure such failure, the Fund would be ineligible (including retroactively) for the favorable tax treatment afforded to regulated investment companies for one or more years, which would adversely affect the value of your investment in the Fund. The Fund intends to invest a portion of its assets in the Subsidiaries. The Fund and the Subsidiaries currently take steps to, and will continue to take steps to, ensure that the Fund's income in respect of the Subsidiaries will constitute qualifying income. Failure to do so could affect the ability of the Fund to qualify for treatment as a regulated investment company. If a net loss is realized by the Subsidiaries, such loss is not generally available to offset the income of the Fund. Also, net losses realized by the Subsidiaries cannot be carried forward to offset income of the Subsidiaries in future years.
U.S. Government Obligations Risk.
While U.S. Treasury obligations are backed by the “full faith and credit” of the U.S. Government, such securities are nonetheless subject to credit risk (i.e., the risk that the U.S. Government may be, or be perceived to be, unable or unwilling to honor its financial obligations, such as making payments). Securities issued or guaranteed by federal agencies or authorities and U.S. Government-sponsored instrumentalities or enterprises may or may not be backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. Government.
Value Securities Risk.
Value securities are securities of companies that may have experienced, for example, adverse business, industry or other developments or may be subject to special risks that have caused the securities to be out of favor and, in turn, potentially undervalued. The market value of a portfolio security may not meet portfolio management’s perceived value assessment of that security, or may decline in price, even though portfolio management believes the securities are already undervalued. There is also a risk that it may take longer than expected for the value of these investments to rise to portfolio management’s perceived value. In addition, value securities, at times, may not perform as well as growth securities or the stock market in general, and may be out of favor with investors for varying periods of time.
Volatility Risk.
The Fund may have investments that appreciate or decrease significantly in value over short periods of time. This may cause the Fund’s NAV per share to experience significant increases or declines in value over short periods of time, however, all investments long- or short-term are subject to risk of loss.
Performance Information
The following bar chart and table show you how the Fund has performed in the past, and can help you understand the risks of investing in the Fund. The bar chart shows how the Fund’s Class Inst share performance has varied for each full calendar year shown. Class Inst share performance is shown in the bar chart because Class Inst shares are the only share class currently offered by the Fund. The table below the bar chart compares the Fund’s returns for the periods shown with a broad measure of market performance.
The performance of Class Inst shares shown in the table below begins before the indicated inception date for such share class. The returns shown for such share class include the returns of the Fund’s Class A shares for the period from April 23, 2012 (the Fund's inception date) through January 2, 2017. Additionally, the returns shown in the bar chart include the performance of the Fund’s Class A shares for the period from January 1, 2013 through January 2, 2017 (performance of Class Inst shares is shown for all other periods since the Fund no longer offers Class A shares). Class A shares were offered prior to the inception date of the Fund’s Class Inst shares but have since been merged into the Fund’s Class Inst shares.
| Prospectus 2021 | 15 |
Multi-Manager Alternative Strategies Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
The after-tax returns shown in the
table below are calculated using the highest historical individual U.S. federal marginal income tax rates in effect during the period indicated in the table and do not reflect the impact of state, local or foreign taxes.
Your actual after-tax returns will depend on your personal tax situation and may differ from those shown in the table.
In addition, the after-tax returns shown in the table do not apply to shares held in tax-advantaged accounts such as 401(k) plans or Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs).
After-tax returns are shown for Class Inst shares because Class Inst shares are the only share class currently offered by the Fund.
Average Annual Total Returns
The Fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) is no guarantee of how the Fund will perform in the future.
Updated performance information can be obtained by calling toll-free 800.345.6611 or visiting columbiathreadneedleus.com.
|
Year by Year Total Return (%)
as of December 31 Each Year* |
Best and Worst Quarterly Returns
During the Period Shown in the Bar Chart |
||
|
Best
|
4th Quarter 2013
|
4.66
%
|
|
Worst
|
2nd Quarter 2015
|
-5.10
%
|
|
| * | Year to Date return as of September 30, 2020: 2.42% |
Average Annual Total Returns (for periods ended December 31, 2019)
|
Share Class
Inception Date |
1 Year
|
5 Years*
|
Life of Fund*
|
|
|
Class Inst
|
01/03/2017 | |||
| returns before taxes | 6.09% | -0.63% | 1.33% | |
| returns after taxes on distributions | 5.21% | -1.44% | 0.42% | |
| returns after taxes on distributions and sale of Fund shares | 3.63% | -0.80% | 0.71% | |
|
FTSE Three-Month U.S. Treasury Bill Index
(reflects no deductions for fees, expenses or taxes)
|
2.25% | 1.05% | 0.70% |
| * | Returns shown for periods prior to the inception date of the Fund's Class Inst shares include the returns of the Fund's Class A shares for the period from April 23, 2012 (the Fund's inception date) through January 2, 2017, as applicable. Class A shares were offered prior to the inception date of the Fund's Class Inst shares but have since been merged into the Fund's Class Inst shares. |
| 16 | Prospectus 2021 |
Multi-Manager Alternative Strategies Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
Fund Management
Subadviser:
AlphaSimplex Group, LLC (AlphaSimplex)
|
Portfolio Manager
|
Title
|
Role with Fund
|
Managed Fund Since
|
|||
| Alexander Healy, Ph.D. | Chief Investment Officer and Portfolio Manager of AlphaSimplex | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2018 | |||
| Kathryn Kaminski, Ph.D., CAIA | Chief Research Strategist and Portfolio Manager of AlphaSimplex | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2018 | |||
| Philippe Lüdi, Ph.D., CFA | Senior Research Scientist and Portfolio Manager of AlphaSimplex | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2018 | |||
| John Perry, Ph.D. | Senior Research Scientist and Portfolio Manager of AlphaSimplex | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2018 | |||
| Robert Rickard | Portfolio Manager of AlphaSimplex | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2018 |
Subadviser:
AQR Capital Management, LLC (AQR)
|
Portfolio Manager
|
Title
|
Role with Fund
|
Managed Fund Since
|
|||
| Clifford Asness, Ph.D., M.B.A. | Portfolio Manager and Managing and Founding Principal of AQR | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2012 | |||
| John Liew, Ph.D., M.B.A. | Portfolio Manager and Founding Principal of AQR | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2012 | |||
| Yao Hua Ooi | Portfolio Manager and Principal of AQR | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2012 | |||
| Ari Levine, M.S. | Portfolio Manager and Principal of AQR | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2014 |
Subadviser:
Manulife Investment Management (US) LLC (Manulife)
|
Portfolio Manager
|
Title
|
Role with Fund
|
Managed Fund Since
|
|||
| Daniel Janis III | Senior Managing Director and Senior Portfolio Manager of Manulife | Lead Portfolio Manager | 2017 | |||
| Christopher Chapman, CFA | Managing Director and Portfolio Manager of Manulife | Portfolio Manager | 2017 | |||
| Thomas Goggins | Senior Managing Director and Senior Portfolio Manager of Manulife | Portfolio Manager | 2017 | |||
| Kisoo Park | Managing Director and Portfolio Manager of Manulife | Portfolio Manager | 2017 |
Subadviser:
TCW Investment Management Company LLC (TCW)
|
Portfolio Manager
|
Title
|
Role with Fund
|
Managed Fund Since
|
|||
| Stephen Kane, CFA | Group Managing Director of TCW | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2017 | |||
| Laird Landmann | Co-Director of Fixed Income and Group Managing Director of TCW | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2017 | |||
| Tad Rivelle | Group Managing Director and Chief Investment Officer – Fixed Income of TCW since December 2009 | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2017 | |||
| Bryan Whalen, CFA | Group Managing Director of TCW | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2017 |
Subadviser:
Water Island Capital, LLC (Water Island)
|
Portfolio Manager
|
Title
|
Role with Fund
|
Managed Fund Since
|
|||
| Edward Chen | Portfolio Manager of Water Island | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2014 | |||
| Roger Foltynowicz, CFA, CAIA | Portfolio Manager of Water Island | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2012 | |||
| Gregg Loprete | Portfolio Manager of Water Island | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2012 | |||
| Todd Munn | Portfolio Manager of Water Island | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2012 |
| Prospectus 2021 | 17 |
Multi-Manager Alternative Strategies Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares
Fund shares are offered only through certain wrap fee programs sponsored and/or managed by Ameriprise Financial, Inc. or its affiliates, and to group retirement plan recordkeeping platforms that have an agreement with (i) Columbia Management Investment Distributors, Inc. or an affiliate thereof that specifically authorizes the group retirement plan recordkeeper to offer and/or service Class Inst3 shares within such platform, provided also that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account and (ii) Wilshire Associates, appointed or serving as investment manager or consultant to the recordkeeper’s group retirement plan platform. The Fund does not currently offer Class Inst3 shares. Fund shares are sold in accordance with the terms of the account through which you invested in the Fund and redeemed in accordance with the terms of the Fund’s prospectus. There is a $100 minimum initial investment and no minimum additional investment.
Generally, you may only exchange a share class of a Multi-Manager Strategies Fund for the same class of shares, if available, of another Multi-Manager Strategies Fund. Please refer to the
section of the prospectus for more information on exchangeability.
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares — Exchanging Shares
Tax Information
The Fund normally distributes net investment income and net realized capital gains, if any, to shareholders. These distributions are generally taxable to you as ordinary income, qualified dividend income or capital gains, unless you are investing through a tax-advantaged account, such as a 401(k) plan or an IRA. If you are investing through a tax-advantaged account, you may be taxed upon withdrawals from that account.
Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
If you purchase the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), the Fund and its related companies — including Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC (the Investment Manager), Columbia Management Investment Distributors, Inc. (the Distributor) and Columbia Management Investment Services Corp. (the Transfer Agent) — may pay the intermediary for the sale of Fund shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your financial advisor to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your financial advisor or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.
| 18 | Prospectus 2021 |
Multi-Manager Alternative Strategies Fund
More Information About the Fund
Investment Objective
Multi-Manager Alternative Strategies Fund (the Fund) seeks capital appreciation with an emphasis on absolute (positive) returns. The Fund’s investment objective is not a fundamental policy and may be changed by the Fund’s Board of Trustees without shareholder approval. Because any investment involves risk, there is no assurance the Fund’s investment objective will be achieved.
Principal Investment Strategies
The Fund pursues its investment objective by allocating the Fund’s assets among different asset managers that use multiple investment styles and strategies across different markets. The Fund’s investment manager, Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC (Columbia Management or the Investment Manager), and investment subadvisers (Subadvisers) each provide day-to-day portfolio management of a portion of the Fund’s assets, or sleeve of the Fund. The Investment Manager and the Subadvisers employ a variety of investment strategies, techniques and practices that are designed to seek positive returns, with a low correlation to the performance of the broad equity and fixed income markets over a complete market cycle, which can be measured from market peak to peak or from market trough to trough.
Columbia Management is responsible for providing day-to-day portfolio management of a sleeve and is also responsible for oversight of the Subadvisers. The Fund’s Subadvisers are AlphaSimplex Group, LLC (AlphaSimplex), AQR Capital Management, LLC (AQR), Manulife Investment Management (US) LLC (Manulife), TCW Investment Management Company LLC (TCW) and Water Island Capital, LLC (Water Island). Columbia Management, subject to the oversight of the Fund’s Board of Trustees, determines the allocation of the Fund’s assets to each sleeve, and may change these allocations at any time. Columbia Management and the Subadvisers act independently of each other and use their own methodologies for selecting investments.
The Subadvisers’ investment strategies and techniques may involve seeking exposure to capital markets; seeking to exploit disparities or inefficiencies in markets, geographical areas and companies; seeking to take advantage of security mispricings or anticipated price movements; and/or seeking to benefit from cyclical themes and relationships or special situations and events (such as mergers, acquisitions or reorganizations). Such strategies are subject to risks that are relatively unrelated to the broad equity and fixed income markets.
The Fund may employ both long (an ordinary purchase) and short (described below) positions in equity securities (including common stock, preferred stock and convertible securities), fixed-income securities (including sovereign and quasi-sovereign debt obligations, corporate bonds, notes and debentures), derivative instruments (including futures, forwards, swaps and commodity-linked investments) and exchange-traded funds (ETFs). When the Fund takes a short position, it typically sells a currency, security or other asset in anticipation of a decline in the price of the asset. The Fund may also take short positions in derivative instruments. A sleeve may at any time have either a net long exposure or a net short exposure to markets, and neither the sleeves nor the Fund’s portfolio as a whole will be managed to maintain any fixed net long or net short market exposure. To close out a short position, the Fund buys back the same security or other asset in the market or allows the position to expire. If the price of the security or other asset falls sufficiently, the Fund will make money. If it instead increases in price, the Fund will lose money.
The Fund may invest in early stage companies and initial public offerings (IPOs). The Fund may invest in companies of any market capitalization and may invest without limitation in foreign securities or instruments and currencies, including investments in emerging market instruments. The Fund may invest in fixed income securities of any maturity (and does not seek to maintain a particular dollar-weighted average maturity) and of any credit quality, including investments that are rated below investment-grade (commonly referred to as “high yield securities” or “junk bonds”) or, if unrated, deemed by the Investment Manager or applicable Subadviser, as the case may be, to be of comparable quality. The Fund may also engage in repurchase agreements and reverse repurchase agreements. The Fund may invest in private placements.
It is anticipated that the Fund will make substantial use of derivatives, including both exchange-traded and over-the-counter (OTC) instruments. The Fund may invest in forward contracts (including forward foreign currency contracts and forward interest rate agreements), futures (including commodity-linked, currency, equity, index, interest rate, and other bond futures), options (including options on currencies, equities, and interest rates), structured investments
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(including commodity-linked structured notes), swaps (including equity swaps, swaps on commodity, equity and fixed income/bond futures, and credit default, cross-currency, interest rate and total return swaps) and options on swaps (commonly known as “swaptions”). The Fund may use these derivatives in an effort to implement the Fund’s strategy, to produce incremental earnings and enhance total return, to hedge existing positions, to increase market or credit exposure (including using derivatives as a substitute for the purchase or sale of the underlying security or other asset), to manage certain investment risks and/or as a substitute for the purchase or sale of securities, currencies or commodities, and/or to change the Fund’s effective duration. One or more of the strategies used by the Fund and the Subsidiaries (as defined below) may result in leveraged exposure in general and to one or more specific asset classes.
The Fund may invest in securities and instruments, including derivatives, indirectly through two offshore, wholly-owned subsidiaries organized under the laws of the Cayman Islands (together the Subsidiaries, each a Subsidiary), managed by Columbia Management and subadvised by AlphaSimplex and AQR, respectively. The Subsidiaries have substantially the same investment objective as the Fund and their investments are consistent with the Fund’s investment restrictions applied on a “look through” basis. The Subsidiaries invest mainly in futures and/or swaps, including, but not limited to, commodity-related futures, swaps and swaps on commodity futures, but they may also make any other investments the Fund may make, including investments intended to serve as margin or collateral for the Subsidiaries’ derivative positions. Unlike the Fund (which is subject to limitations under U.S. federal income tax laws), the Subsidiaries may invest without limitation in commodity-linked derivatives; however, the Fund and its Subsidiaries will comply on a consolidated basis with asset coverage or segregation requirements. AlphaSimplex and AQR are expected to invest no more than 25% of the total assets of their respective sleeves in the Subsidiaries that they subadvise, and the Fund, in the aggregate, will not invest more than 25% of its total assets in the Subsidiaries.
The Fund expects to hold a significant amount of cash, U.S. Treasury securities, money market instruments (which may include investments in one or more affiliated or unaffiliated money market funds or similar vehicles), other high-quality, short-term investments or mortgage-backed securities, or other liquid assets to meet its segregation obligations as a result of its investments in derivatives.
The Subsidiaries’ commodity-linked investments are expected to produce leveraged exposure to the performance of the commodities markets. In addition to its investments in commodity-linked derivative instruments, the Fund may, through investments in the Subsidiaries, invest directly in physical commodities, including but not limited to, gold, silver, platinum and palladium.
Each sleeve manager’s investment strategy may involve the frequent trading of portfolio securities or instruments, which may increase brokerage and other transaction costs and have adverse tax consequences.
The AlphaSimplex Sleeve — Managed Futures Strategy
Under normal market conditions, AlphaSimplex extensively uses a variety of derivative instruments, including futures and forward contracts, to capture the exposures suggested by its absolute return strategy while also seeking to add value through volatility management. These market exposures, which are expected to change over time, may include, for example, exposures to the returns of U.S. and non-U.S. equity and fixed-income securities indices (including both broad- and narrow-based securities indices), currencies and commodities. AlphaSimplex has great flexibility to allocate derivatives exposure among various securities, indices, currencies, commodities and other instruments; the amount of the sleeve’s assets that may be allocated to derivative strategies and among these various instruments is expected to vary over time. AlphaSimplex uses proprietary quantitative models to identify price trends in equity, fixed-income, currency and commodity instruments across time periods of various lengths. AlphaSimplex believes that asset prices may show persistent trending behavior due to a number of behavioral biases among market participants as well as certain risk-management policies that will identify assets to purchase in upward-trending markets and identify assets to sell in downward-trending markets. AlphaSimplex believes that following trends across a widely diversified set of assets, combined with active risk management, may allow it to earn a positive expected return in its sleeve over time. The sleeve may have both “short” and “long” exposures within an asset class based upon AlphaSimplex’s analysis of multiple time horizons to identify trends in a particular asset class. AlphaSimplex scales the notional exposure of the futures and currency forward positions with the objective of targeting a relatively stable level of annualized volatility.
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AlphaSimplex’s sleeve may from time to time emphasize one or more sectors in selecting its investments, including the financial services sector.
Although AlphaSimplex does not intend to invest in physical commodities directly, it expects to obtain investment exposure to commodities and commodity-related derivatives by investing in its Subsidiary. AlphaSimplex sleeve’s investment returns may be volatile over short periods of time.
The AQR Sleeve — Managed Futures Strategy
AQR invests its sleeve primarily in a portfolio of futures contracts, futures-related instruments, forwards and swaps including, but not limited to, global developed and emerging market equity index futures, swaps on equity index futures and equity swaps; global developed and emerging market currencies and currency forwards and futures; commodity futures and swaps on commodity futures; global interest rate and bond futures and swaps on bond futures, either by investing directly in those instruments or indirectly by investing in a Subsidiary. AQR may invest this sleeve without limit in foreign instruments, including emerging market instruments. The sleeve's universe of investments includes global developed and emerging market exchange traded futures, futures related instruments, forward contracts and swaps across four major asset classes (commodities, currencies, fixed income and equities); however, this universe of investments may change as market conditions change and as these instruments evolve over time. The sleeve may also invest in exchange traded funds or exchange traded notes through which the Fund can participate in the performance of one or more instruments. The investment return of AQR's sleeve is expected to be derived principally from changes in the value of securities.
AQR uses a proprietary, systematic and quantitative process which seeks to benefit from price trends in equity, fixed income, currency and commodity instruments. As part of this process, the sleeve will take either a long or short position in the given instrument. The size and type (long or short) of the position taken will relate to various factors, including AQR’s systematic assessment of a trend and its likelihood of continuing as well as AQR’s estimate of the instrument’s risk. As such, AQR may reduce the sleeve’s position in an instrument if the trend strength weakens or for risk management purposes. The owner of a “long” position in a derivative instrument will benefit from an increase in the price of the underlying security or instrument. The owner of a “short” position in a derivative instrument will benefit from a decrease in the price of the underlying security or instrument. AQR generally expects that its sleeve will have long and short positions across all four major asset classes (commodities, currencies, fixed income and equities), but AQR may emphasize one or two of the asset classes or a limited number of exposures within an asset class.
AQR expects the value of sleeve assets over short-term periods to experience greater volatility because of the significant use of instruments that have a leveraging effect. Volatility is a statistical measurement of the dispersion of returns of a security or a fund or index, as measured by the annualized standard deviation of its returns.
The Manulife Sleeve – Strategic Fixed Income Opportunity Strategy
Under normal market conditions, Manulife invests its sleeve in a diversified portfolio of government, corporate and securitized debt securities and other instruments issued in developed and emerging market countries, which may be denominated in US dollars or other foreign currencies. Although Manulife may invest in non-investment grade rated debt instruments, including those in default (commonly referred to as “junk” bonds or securities), it intends to keep its average credit quality in the investment-grade range.
In managing its sleeve, Manulife allocates assets among the types of instruments noted above based on analysis of global economic factors, such as fiscal and monetary policies, projected international interest-rate movements, market volatility, political environments and currency trends. In abnormal circumstances, Manulife may invest up to 100% of the sleeve’s assets in any one type of instrument. Within each type of security, Manulife looks for investments that are appropriate in terms of yield, credit quality, structure and liquidity. Relative yield analysis and risk/reward ratios are the primary considerations in selecting securities.
Manulife may invest in derivatives such as futures, options, and swaps (including credit default swaps), as well as restricted or illiquid investments. Manulife may also invest its sleeve significantly in currency spots, forwards and options, and interest-rate futures and options for both hedging and non-hedging purposes, including for purposes of enhancing returns. In addition, Manulife may invest in domestic or foreign common stocks.
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The TCW Sleeve – Unconstrained Bond Strategy
TCW intends to utilize a flexible investment approach that allocates investments across a range of global investment opportunities related to credit, currencies and interest rates. The use of the term “unconstrained” in the sleeve’s name means that it is not limited by the types of investments in a particular securities index. The sleeve is not managed to be compared to any such index. The sleeve is also unconstrained in the sense that it is not limited to any single type of investment strategy.
TCW’s portfolio management team expects to actively evaluate each investment idea based on its potential return, its risk level and how it fits within the overall sleeve in determining whether to buy or sell investments. TCW will also actively manage risks on an on-going basis to mitigate the risks of excessive losses by the sleeve overall.
TCW will invest its sleeve, which includes borrowings for investment purposes, primarily in securities and instruments it regards as debt instruments in the U.S. and abroad, including emerging markets, and may purchase securities of varying maturities issued by domestic and foreign corporations and governments. TCW may invest in both investment grade and investments that are rated below investment-grade (commonly referred to as “high yield securities” or “junk” bonds), subject to investing no more than 50% of its total assets (measured at the time of investment) in securities rated below investment grade by Moody’s, S&P or Fitch, or, if unrated, determined by TCW to be of comparable quality. Under normal conditions, the average portfolio duration of the fixed-income portion of the sleeve may vary widely. There is no limit on the weighted average maturity.
TCW will invest a majority of the sleeve in U.S. securities, with the balance in foreign securities and currencies. Non-U.S. exposure may be invested in emerging markets and instruments that are economically tied to emerging market countries. A significant portion of the foreign exposure may be in non-U.S. dollar denominated securities or currencies. TCW reserves the right to hedge the sleeve’s exposure to foreign currencies to reduce the risk of loss from fluctuations in currency exchange rates, but will be under no obligation to do so under any circumstances.
The sleeve may invest, without limitation, in derivatives instruments, primarily futures and forward contracts, options, currency futures, and swap agreements (typically interest- and index-linked swaps, total return swaps and credit default swaps). The sleeve may invest in preferred and common stock of domestic and foreign companies.
The Water Island Sleeve — Multi-Event Arbitrage Strategies
Water Island invests its sleeve in equity and debt securities of companies whose prices Water Island believes are or will be impacted by a corporate event. Specifically, Water Island employs investment strategies designed to capture price movements generated by publicly announced or anticipated corporate events such as mergers, acquisitions, asset sales, restructurings, refinancings, recapitalizations, reorganizations, or other special situations.
Water Island seeks to profit from the various events by employing a specific strategy based on each event. In the case of mergers & acquisitions (M&A), the most common arbitrage activity, our investment approach generally involves purchasing the shares of an announced acquisition target at a discount to their expected value upon completion of the acquisition. Water Island may engage in short sales when the terms of a proposed acquisition call for the exchange of common stock and/or other securities. In such a case, the securities of the company to be acquired may be purchased and, at approximately the same time, an amount of the acquiring company’s common stock and/or other securities as per the terms of the transaction may be sold short. In other instances, Water Island will match a long position in a convertible security with a short position in the underlying common stock. Water Island seeks to purchase convertible securities at discounts to their expected future values and sell shares of the underlying common stock short to hedge against equity market movements. The positions are typically designed to earn income from coupon or dividend payments. In another scenario, Water Island may purchase a senior secured security of an issuer and sell short an unsecured security of the same issuer. In this example, the trade would be profitable if credit quality spreads widened or if the issuer went bankrupt and the recovery rate for the senior debt was higher than anticipated. It is expected that positions will be liquidated when pricing discrepancies disappear.
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Water Island classifies events with more definitive outcomes and shorter timelines as “hard” catalysts and those with less definitive outcomes and/or longer timelines as “soft” catalysts. Hard catalysts can include definitive M&A, M&A reversals, liquidations, Dutch tenders, yield to call, and spin-offs (pre-event). Soft catalysts can include speculative M&A, credit refinancings, turnaround plans, management changes, transformational re-ratings, and spin-offs (post-event).
In constructing its sleeve of the Fund, Water Island favors high conviction, hard and soft catalyst investments that meet or exceed its desired return threshold, with a preference for those investment opportunities with superior reward-to-risk profiles. The team considers various position sizing constraints, including each position’s risk impact assessment, which is a measure of the
sleeve-level
loss to assets under management if the position were to trade to its estimated downside price. Water Island also monitors macro, structural, and idiosyncratic risks across its sleeve of the Fund and seeks to mitigate undesired risk exposures through appropriate hedges.
Water Island continuously monitors its investments and evaluates each investment’s risk/return profile, taking into account each investment’s perceived risk versus its anticipated reward relative to its predetermined exit strategy and the availability of other event-driven opportunities. Water Island may sell or close out an investment when the securities of the companies involved in the transaction no longer meet the expected return threshold considering prevailing market prices and the relative risks of the opportunity or Water Island believes there are better risk-adjusted opportunities available.
Columbia Management — Liquidity Strategy Sleeve
Columbia Management is responsible for managing cash flows into and out of the Fund resulting from the purchase and redemption of Fund shares. Columbia Management typically invests this sleeve in U.S. government securities, high-quality, short-term debt instruments (including investments in affiliated or unaffiliated money market funds), ETFs, and futures (including index futures). Columbia Management may also use these instruments to manage the Fund’s overall risk exposure.
Principal Risks
An investment in the Fund involves risks, including
,
,
,
, and
, among others. Descriptions of these and other principal risks of investing in the Fund as well as those associated with the Fund’s investment in the Subsidiaries are provided below.
. The value of the Fund’s holdings may decline, and the Fund’s net asset value (NAV) and share price may go down. An investment in the Fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency. (References in this section to “the Fund” also include the Subsidiaries, which share the same risks as the Fund.)
Alternative Strategies Investment Risk
Derivatives Risk
Short Positions Risk
Market Risk
Multi-Adviser Risk
There is no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objective and you may lose money
Active Management Risk.
The Fund is actively managed and its performance therefore will reflect, in part, the ability of the portfolio managers to make investment decisions that seek to achieve the Fund’s investment objective. Due to its active management, the Fund could underperform its benchmark index and/or other funds with similar investment objectives and/or strategies.
Allocation Risk.
Because the Fund uses an asset allocation strategy in pursuit of its investment objective, there is a risk that the Fund's allocation among asset classes, investments, managers, strategies and/or investment styles will cause the Fund's shares to lose value or cause the Fund to underperform other funds with similar investment objectives and/or strategies, or that the investments themselves will not produce the returns expected.
Alternative Strategies Investment Risk.
An investment in alternative investment strategies (Alternative Strategies), whether through direct investment or through one or more underlying funds that use Alternative Strategies, involves risks, which may be significant. Alternative Strategies may include strategies, instruments or other assets, such as derivatives, that seek investment returns uncorrelated with the broad equity and fixed income/debt markets, as well as those providing exposure to other markets (such as commodity markets), including but not limited to absolute
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(positive) return strategies. Alternative Strategies may fail to achieve their desired performance, market or other exposure, or their returns (or lack thereof) may be more correlated with the broad equity and/or fixed income/debt markets than was anticipated, and the Fund may lose money. Some Alternative Strategies may be considered speculative.
Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Regulatory Risk.
The Fund does not qualify for an exemption from registration as a “commodity pool” under rules of the Commodity Exchange Act (the CEA). Accordingly, the Fund is a commodity pool under the CEA and the Investment Manager is registered as a “commodity pool operator” under the CEA. The Fund is subject to dual regulation by the SEC and the CFTC. Compliance with the CFTC’s regulatory requirements could increase Fund expenses, adversely affecting the Fund's total return.
Commodity-related Investment Risk.
The value of commodities investments will generally be affected by overall market movements and factors specific to a particular industry or commodity, which may include demand for the commodity, weather, embargoes, tariffs, and economic health, political, international, regulatory and other developments. Economic and other events (whether real or perceived) can reduce the demand for commodities, which may, in turn, reduce market prices and cause the value of Fund shares to fall. The frequency and magnitude of such changes cannot be predicted. Exposure to commodities and commodities markets may subject the value of the Fund's investments to greater volatility than other types of investments. No, or limited, active trading market may exist for certain commodities investments, which may impair the ability to sell or to realize the full value of such investments in the event of the need to liquidate such investments. In addition, adverse market conditions may impair the liquidity of actively traded commodities investments thereby subjecting the Fund to increased liquidity risk (the risk that it may not be possible for the Fund to liquidate the instrument at an advantageous time or price). Certain types of commodities instruments are subject to the risk that the counterparty to the transaction may not perform or be unable to perform in accordance with the terms of the instrument. The Fund may make commodity-related investments through one or more wholly-owned subsidiaries organized outside the U.S. that are generally not subject to U.S. laws (including securities laws) and their protections. However, any such subsidiary is wholly owned and controlled by the Fund, making it unlikely that the subsidiary will take action contrary to the interests of the Fund and its shareholders. Further, any such subsidiaries will be subject to the laws of a foreign jurisdiction, and can be adversely affected by developments in that jurisdiction.
Commodity-related Tax Risk.
The Fund intends to qualify for treatment as a regulated investment company under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended. The Fund’s investments in commodities or commodity-related investments can be limited by the Fund’s intention to qualify as a regulated investment company and can limit the Fund’s ability to so qualify.
Convertible Securities Risk.
Convertible securities are subject to the usual risks associated with debt instruments, such as interest rate risk (the risk of losses attributable to changes in interest rates) and credit risk (the risk that the issuer of a debt instrument will default or otherwise become unable, or be perceived to be unable or unwilling, to honor a financial obligation, such as making payments to the Fund when due). Convertible securities also react to changes in the value of the common stock into which they convert, and are thus subject to market risk (the risk that the market values of securities or other investments that the Fund holds will fall, sometimes rapidly or unpredictably, or fail to rise). Because the value of a convertible security can be influenced by both interest rates and the common stock's market movements, a convertible security generally is not as sensitive to interest rates as a similar debt instrument, and generally will not vary in value in response to other factors to the same extent as the underlying common stock. In the event of a liquidation of the issuing company, holders of convertible securities would typically be paid before the company's common stockholders but after holders of any senior debt obligations of the company. The Fund may be forced to convert a convertible security before it otherwise would choose to do so, which may decrease the Fund's return.
Counterparty Risk.
The risk exists that a counterparty to a transaction in a financial instrument held by the Fund or by a special purpose or structured vehicle in which the Fund invests may become insolvent or otherwise fail to perform its obligations, including making payments to the Fund, due to financial difficulties. The Fund may obtain no or limited recovery in a bankruptcy or other reorganizational proceedings, and any recovery may be significantly delayed. Transactions that the Fund enters into may involve counterparties in the financial services sector and, as a result, events affecting the financial services sector may cause the Fund’s share value to fluctuate.
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Credit Risk.
Credit risk is the risk that the value of debt instruments may decline if the issuer thereof defaults or otherwise becomes unable or unwilling, or is perceived to be unable or unwilling, to honor its financial obligations, such as making payments to the Fund when due. Various factors could affect the actual or perceived willingness or ability of the issuer to make timely interest or principal payments, including changes in the financial condition of the issuer or in general economic conditions. Credit rating agencies assign credit ratings to certain debt instruments to indicate their credit risk. Unless otherwise provided in the Fund’s Principal Investment Strategies, investment grade debt instruments are those rated at or above BBB- by S&P Global Ratings, or equivalently rated by Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. or Fitch Ratings, Inc., or, if unrated, determined by the management team to be of comparable quality. Conversely, below investment grade (commonly called “high-yield” or “junk”) debt instruments are those rated below BBB- by S&P Global Ratings, or equivalently rated by Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. or Fitch Ratings, Inc., or, if unrated, determined by the management team to be of comparable quality. A rating downgrade by such agencies can negatively impact the value of such instruments. Lower quality or unrated instruments held by the Fund may present increased credit risk as compared to higher-rated instruments. Non-investment grade debt instruments may be subject to greater price fluctuations and are more likely to experience a default than investment grade debt instruments and therefore may expose the Fund to increased credit risk. If the Fund purchases unrated instruments, or if the ratings of instruments held by the Fund are lowered after purchase, the Fund will depend on analysis of credit risk more heavily than usual.
Derivatives Risk.
Derivatives may involve significant risks. Derivatives are financial instruments, traded on an exchange or in the over-the-counter (OTC) markets, with a value in relation to, or derived from, the value of an underlying asset(s) (such as a security, commodity or currency) or other reference, such as an index, rate or other economic indicator (each an underlying reference). Derivatives may include those that are privately placed or otherwise exempt from SEC registration, including certain Rule 144A eligible securities. Derivatives could result in Fund losses if the underlying reference does not perform as anticipated. Use of derivatives is a highly specialized activity that can involve investment techniques, risks, and tax planning different from those associated with more traditional investment instruments. The Fund’s derivatives strategy may not be successful and use of certain derivatives could result in substantial, potentially unlimited, losses to the Fund regardless of the Fund’s actual investment. A relatively small movement in the price, rate or other economic indicator associated with the underlying reference may result in substantial loss for the Fund. Derivatives may be more volatile than other types of investments. Derivatives can increase the Fund’s risk exposure to underlying references and their attendant risks, including the risk of an adverse credit event associated with the underlying reference (credit risk), the risk of an adverse movement in the value, price or rate of the underlying reference (market risk), the risk of an adverse movement in the value of underlying currencies (foreign currency risk) and the risk of an adverse movement in underlying interest rates (interest rate risk). Derivatives may expose the Fund to additional risks, including the risk of loss due to a derivative position that is imperfectly correlated with the underlying reference it is intended to hedge or replicate (correlation risk), the risk that a counterparty will fail to perform as agreed (counterparty risk), the risk that a hedging strategy may fail to mitigate losses, and may offset gains (hedging risk), the risk that the return on an investment may not keep pace with inflation (inflation risk), the risk that losses may be greater than the amount invested (leverage risk), the risk that the Fund may be unable to sell an investment at an advantageous time or price (liquidity risk), the risk that the investment may be difficult to value (pricing risk), and the risk that the price or value of the investment fluctuates significantly over short periods of time (volatility risk). The value of derivatives may be influenced by a variety of factors, including national and international political and economic developments. Potential changes to the regulation of the derivatives markets may make derivatives more costly, may limit the market for derivatives, or may otherwise adversely affect the value or performance of derivatives.
Derivatives Risk – Forward Contracts Risk.
A forward contract is an over-the-counter derivative transaction between two parties to buy or sell a specified amount of an underlying reference at a specified price (or rate) on a specified date in the future. Forward contracts are negotiated on an individual basis and are not standardized or traded on exchanges. The market for forward contracts is substantially unregulated (there is no limit on daily price movements and speculative position limits are not applicable). The principals who deal in certain forward contract markets are not required to continue to make markets in the underlying references in which they trade and these markets can experience periods of illiquidity, sometimes of significant duration. There have been periods during which certain participants in forward contract markets have refused to quote prices for certain underlying references or have
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quoted prices with an unusually wide spread between the price at which they were prepared to buy and that at which they were prepared to sell. At or prior to maturity of a forward contract, the Fund may enter into an offsetting contract and may incur a loss to the extent there has been adverse movement in forward contract prices. The liquidity of the markets for forward contracts depends on participants entering into offsetting transactions rather than making or taking delivery. To the extent participants make or take delivery, liquidity in the market for forwards could be reduced. A relatively small price movement in a forward contract may result in substantial losses to the Fund, exceeding the amount of the margin paid. Forward contracts can increase the Fund’s risk exposure to underlying references and their attendant risks, such as credit risk, market risk, foreign currency risk and interest rate risk, while also exposing the Fund to correlation risk, counterparty risk, hedging risk, inflation risk, leverage risk, liquidity risk, pricing risk and volatility risk.
| ■ |
A
forward foreign currency contract
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A
forward interest rate agreement
|
Derivatives Risk – Futures Contracts Risk.
A futures contract is an exchange-traded derivative transaction between two parties in which a buyer (holding the “long” position) agrees to pay a fixed price (or rate) at a specified future date for delivery of an underlying reference from a seller (holding the “short” position). The seller hopes that the market price on the delivery date is less than the agreed upon price, while the buyer hopes for the contrary. Certain futures contract markets are highly volatile, and futures contracts may be illiquid. Futures exchanges may limit fluctuations in futures contract prices by imposing a maximum permissible daily price movement. The Fund may be disadvantaged if it is prohibited from executing a trade outside the daily permissible price movement. At or prior to maturity of a futures contract, the Fund may enter into an offsetting contract and may incur a loss to the extent there has been adverse movement in futures contract prices. The liquidity of the futures markets depends on participants entering into offsetting transactions rather than making or taking delivery. To the extent participants make or take delivery, liquidity in the futures market could be reduced. Positions in futures contracts may be closed out only on the exchange on which they were entered into or through a linked exchange, and no secondary market exists for such contracts. Futures positions are marked to market each day and variation margin payment must be paid to or by the Fund. Because of the low margin deposits normally required in futures trading, it is possible that the Fund may employ a high degree of leverage in the portfolio. As a result, a relatively small price movement in a futures contract may result in substantial losses to the Fund, exceeding the amount of the margin paid. For certain types of futures contracts, losses are potentially unlimited. Futures markets are highly volatile and the use of futures may increase the volatility of the Fund’s NAV. Futures contracts executed (if any) on foreign exchanges may not provide the same protection as U.S. exchanges. Futures contracts can increase the Fund’s risk exposure to underlying references and their attendant risks, such as credit risk, market risk, foreign currency risk and interest rate risk, while also exposing the Fund to correlation risk, counterparty risk, hedging risk, inflation risk, leverage risk, liquidity risk, pricing risk and volatility risk.
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bond (or debt instrument) future
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A
commodity-linked future
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A
currency future
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An
equity future
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An
interest rate future
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Derivatives Risk – Options Risk.
Options are derivatives that give the purchaser the option to buy (call) or sell (put) an underlying reference from or to a counterparty at a specified price (the strike price) on or before an expiration date. The Fund may purchase or write (i.e., sell) put and call options on an underlying reference it is otherwise permitted to invest in. By investing in options, the Fund is exposed to the risk that it may be required to buy or sell the underlying reference at a disadvantageous price on or before the expiration date. If the Fund sells a put option, the Fund may be required to buy the underlying reference at a strike price that is above market price, resulting in a loss. If the Fund sells a call option, the Fund may be required to sell the underlying reference at a strike price that is below market price, resulting in a loss. If the Fund sells a call option that is not covered (it does not own the underlying reference), the Fund's losses are potentially unlimited. Options may involve economic leverage, which could result in greater volatility in price movement. Options may be traded on a securities exchange or in the over-the-counter market. At or prior to maturity of an options contract, the Fund may enter into an offsetting contract and may incur a loss to the extent there has been adverse movement in options prices. Options can increase the Fund’s risk exposure to underlying references and their attendant risks such as credit risk, market risk, foreign currency risk and interest rate risk, while also exposing the Fund to correlation risk, counterparty risk, hedging risk, inflation risk, leverage risk, liquidity risk, pricing risk and volatility risk.
Derivatives Risk – Structured Investments Risk.
Structured investments are over-the-counter derivatives that provide principal and/or interest payments based on the value of an underlying reference(s). Structured investments typically provide interest income, thereby offering a potential yield advantage over investing directly in an underlying reference. Structured investments may lack a liquid secondary market and their prices or value can be volatile which could result in significant losses for the Fund. In some cases, depending on its terms, a structured investment may provide that principal and/or interest payments may be adjusted below zero resulting in a potential loss of principal and/or interest payments. Additionally, the particular terms of a structured investment may create economic leverage by requiring payment by the issuer of an amount that is a multiple of the price change of the underlying reference. Economic leverage will increase the volatility of structured investment prices, and could result in increased losses for the Fund. The Fund’s use of structured instruments may not work as intended. If structured investments are used to reduce the duration of the Fund’s portfolio, this may limit the Fund’s return when having a longer duration would be beneficial (for instance, when interest rates decline). Structured investments can increase the Fund’s risk exposure to underlying references and their attendant risks, such as credit risk, market risk, foreign currency risk and interest rate risk, while also exposing the Fund to correlation risk, counterparty risk, hedging risk, inflation risk, leverage risk, liquidity risk, pricing risk and volatility risk.
| ■ |
A
commodity-linked structured note
|
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| basket of commodities, commodity index or other economic variable, the Fund might not receive a portion (or any) of the principal at maturity of the investment or upon earlier exchange. At any time, the risk of loss associated with a particular structured note in the Fund’s portfolio may be significantly higher than the value of the note. A liquid secondary market may not exist for the commodity-linked structured notes held in the Fund’s portfolio, which may make it difficult for the notes to be sold at a price acceptable to the portfolio manager(s) or for the Fund to accurately value them. |
Derivatives Risk – Swaps Risk.
In a typical swap transaction, two parties agree to exchange the return earned on a specified underlying reference for a fixed return or the return from another underlying reference during a specified period of time. Swaps may be difficult to value and may be illiquid. Swaps could result in Fund losses if the underlying asset or reference does not perform as anticipated. Swaps create significant investment leverage such that a relatively small price movement in a swap may result in immediate and substantial losses to the Fund. The Fund may only close out a swap with its particular counterparty, and may only transfer a position with the consent of that counterparty. Certain swaps, such as short swap transactions and total return swaps, have the potential for unlimited losses, regardless of the size of the initial investment. Swaps can increase the Fund’s risk exposure to underlying references and their attendant risks, such as credit risk, market risk, foreign currency risk and interest rate risk, while also exposing the Fund to correlation risk, counterparty risk, hedging risk, inflation risk, leverage risk, liquidity risk, pricing risk and volatility risk.
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commodity-linked swap
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credit default swap
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An
interest rate swap
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Total return swaps
are derivative swap transactions in which one party agrees to pay the other party an amount equal to the total return of a defined underlying reference during a specified period of time. In return, the other party would make periodic payments based on a fixed or variable interest rate or on the total return of a different underlying reference.
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Derivatives Risk – Swaptions Risk.
A swaption is an options contract on a swap agreement. These transactions give a party the right (but not the obligation) to enter into new swap agreements or to shorten, extend, cancel or otherwise modify an existing swap agreement at some designated future time on specified terms, in return for payment of the purchase price (the “premium”) of the option. The Fund may write (sell) and purchase put and call swaptions to the same extent it may make use of standard options on securities or other instruments. The writer of the contract receives the premium and bears the risk of unfavorable changes in the market value on the underlying swap agreement. Swaptions can be bundled and sold as a package. These are commonly called interest rate caps, floors and collars.
Emerging Market Securities Risk.
Securities issued by foreign governments or companies in emerging market countries, such as China, Russia and certain countries in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Latin America or Africa, are more likely to have greater exposure to the risks of investing in foreign securities that are described in Foreign Securities Risk. In addition, emerging market countries are more likely to experience instability resulting, for example, from rapid changes or developments in social, political, economic or other conditions. Their economies are usually less mature and their securities markets are typically less developed with more limited trading activity (i.e., lower trading volumes and less liquidity) than more developed countries. Emerging market securities tend to be more volatile than securities in more developed markets. Many emerging market countries are heavily dependent on international trade and have fewer trading partners, which makes them more sensitive to world commodity prices and economic downturns in other countries. Some emerging market countries have a higher risk of currency devaluations, and some of these countries may experience periods of high inflation or rapid changes in inflation rates and may have hostile relations with other countries. Due to the differences in the nature and quality of financial information of issuers of emerging market securities, including auditing and financial reporting standards, financial information and disclosures about such issuers may be unavailable or, if made available, may be considerably less reliable than publicly available information about other foreign securities.
Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) Risk.
Investments in ETFs have unique characteristics, including, but not limited to, the expense structure and additional expenses associated with investing in ETFs. An ETF’s share price may not track its specified market index (if any) and may trade below its NAV. Certain ETFs use a “passive” investment strategy and do not take defensive positions in volatile or declining markets. Other ETFs in which the Fund may invest are actively managed ETFs (i.e., they do not track a particular benchmark), which indirectly subjects the Fund to active management risk. An active secondary market in ETF shares may not develop or be maintained and may be halted or interrupted due to actions by its listing exchange, unusual market conditions or other reasons. There can be no assurance that an ETF’s shares will continue to be listed on an active exchange. In addition, shareholders bear both their proportionate share of the Fund’s expenses and, indirectly, the ETF’s expenses, incurred through the Fund’s ownership of the ETF. Due to the expenses and costs of an underlying ETF being shared by its investors, redemptions by other investors in the ETF could result in decreased economies of scale and increased operating expenses for such ETF. These transactions might also result in higher brokerage, tax or other costs for the ETF. This risk may be particularly important when one investor owns a substantial portion of the ETF. There is a risk that ETFs in which the Fund invests may terminate due to extraordinary events. For example, any of the service providers to ETFs, such as the trustee or sponsor, may close or otherwise fail to perform their obligations to the ETF, and the ETF may not be able to find a substitute service provider. In addition, certain ETFs may be dependent upon licenses to use various indexes as a basis for determining their compositions and/or otherwise to use certain trade names. If these licenses are terminated, the ETFs may also terminate. An ETF may also terminate if its net assets fall below a certain amount.
Foreign Currency Risk.
The performance of the Fund may be materially affected positively or negatively by foreign currency strength or weakness relative to the U.S. dollar, particularly if the Fund invests a significant percentage of its assets in foreign securities or other assets denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar. Currency rates in foreign countries may fluctuate significantly over short or long periods of time for a number of reasons, including changes in interest rates, imposition of currency controls and economic or political developments in the U.S. or abroad. The Fund may also incur currency conversion costs when converting foreign currencies into U.S. dollars and vice versa. Restrictions on currency trading may be imposed by foreign countries, which may adversely affect the value of your investment in the Fund. Even though the currencies of some countries may be pegged to the U.S. dollar,
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the conversion rate may be controlled by government regulation or intervention at levels significantly different than what would normally prevail in a free market. Significant revaluations of the U.S. dollar exchange rate of these currencies could cause substantial reductions in the Fund’s NAV.
Foreign Securities Risk.
Investments in or exposure to foreign securities involve certain risks not associated with investments in or exposure to securities of U.S. companies. For example, foreign markets can be extremely volatile. Foreign securities may also be less liquid, making them more difficult to trade, than securities of U.S. companies so that the Fund may, at times, be unable to sell foreign securities at desirable times or prices. Brokerage commissions, custodial costs and other fees are also generally higher for foreign securities. The Fund may have limited or no legal recourse in the event of default with respect to certain foreign securities, including those issued by foreign governments. In addition, foreign governments may impose withholding or other taxes on the Fund’s income, capital gains or proceeds from the disposition of foreign securities, which could reduce the Fund’s return on such securities. In some cases, such withholding or other taxes could potentially be confiscatory. Other risks include: possible delays in the settlement of transactions or in the payment of income; generally less publicly available information about foreign companies; the impact of economic, political, social, diplomatic or other conditions or events (including, for example, military confrontations, war, terrorism and disease/virus outbreaks and epidemics), possible seizure, expropriation or nationalization of a company or its assets or the assets of a particular investor or category of investors; accounting, auditing and financial reporting standards that may be less comprehensive and stringent than those applicable to domestic companies; the imposition of economic and other sanctions against a particular foreign country, its nationals or industries or businesses within the country; and the generally less stringent standard of care to which local agents may be held in the local markets. In addition, it may be difficult to obtain reliable information about the securities and business operations of certain foreign issuers. Governments or trade groups may compel local agents to hold securities in designated depositories that are not subject to independent evaluation. The less developed a country’s securities market is, the greater the level of risks. The risks posed by sanctions against a particular foreign country, its nationals or industries or businesses within the country may be heightened to the extent the Fund invests significantly in the affected country or region or in issuers from the affected country that depend on global markets. Additionally, investments in certain countries may subject the Fund to a number of tax rules, the application of which may be uncertain. Countries may amend or revise their existing tax laws, regulations and/or procedures in the future, possibly with retroactive effect. Changes in or uncertainties regarding the laws, regulations or procedures of a country could reduce the after-tax profits of the Fund, directly or indirectly, including by reducing the after-tax profits of companies located in such countries in which the Fund invests, or result in unexpected tax liabilities for the Fund.
Frequent Trading Risk.
The portfolio managers may actively and frequently trade investments in the Fund's portfolio to carry out its investment strategies. Frequent trading of investments increases the possibility that the Fund, as relevant, will realize taxable capital gains (including short-term capital gains, which are generally taxable to shareholders at higher rates than long-term capital gains for U.S. federal income tax purposes), which could reduce the Fund's after-tax return. Frequent trading can also mean higher brokerage and other transaction costs, which could reduce the Fund's return. The trading costs and tax effects associated with portfolio turnover may adversely affect the Fund’s performance.
High-Yield Investments Risk.
Securities and other debt instruments held by the Fund that are rated below investment grade (commonly called “high-yield” or “junk” bonds) and unrated debt instruments of comparable quality tend to be more sensitive to credit risk than higher-rated debt instruments and may experience greater price fluctuations in response to perceived changes in the ability of the issuing entity or obligor to pay interest and principal when due than to changes in interest rates. These investments are generally more likely to experience a default than higher-rated debt instruments. High-yield debt instruments are considered to be predominantly speculative with respect to the issuer’s capacity to pay interest and repay principal. These debt instruments typically pay a premium – a higher interest rate or yield – because of the increased risk of loss, including default. High-yield debt instruments may require a greater degree of judgment to establish a price, may be difficult to sell at the time and price the Fund desires, may carry high transaction costs, and also are generally less liquid than higher-rated debt instruments. The ratings provided by third party rating agencies are based on analyses by these ratings agencies of the credit quality
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of the debt instruments and may not take into account every risk related to whether interest or principal will be timely repaid. In adverse economic and other circumstances, issuers of lower-rated debt instruments are more likely to have difficulty making principal and interest payments than issuers of higher-rated debt instruments.
Interest Rate Risk.
Interest rate risk is the risk of losses attributable to changes in interest rates. In general, if prevailing interest rates rise, the values of debt instruments tend to fall, and if interest rates fall, the values of debt instruments tend to rise. Changes in the value of a debt instrument usually will not affect the amount of income the Fund receives from it but will generally affect the value of your investment in the Fund. Changes in interest rates may also affect the liquidity of the Fund’s investments in debt instruments. In general, the longer the maturity or duration of a debt instrument, the greater its sensitivity to changes in interest rates. Interest rate declines also may increase prepayments of debt obligations, which, in turn, would increase prepayment risk (the risk that the Fund will have to reinvest the money received in securities that have lower yields). Very low or negative interest rates may impact the Fund’s yield and may increase the risk that, if followed by rising interest rates, the Fund’s performance will be negatively impacted. The Fund is subject to the risk that the income generated by its investments may not keep pace with inflation. Actions by governments and central banking authorities can result in increases or decreases in interest rates. Such actions may negatively affect the value of debt instruments held by the Fund, resulting in a negative impact on the Fund's performance and NAV. Any interest rate increases could cause the value of the Fund’s investments in debt instruments to decrease. Rising interest rates may prompt redemptions from the Fund, which may force the Fund to sell investments at a time when it is not advantageous to do so, which could result in losses.
Investing in Wholly-Owned Subsidiary Risk.
By investing in a Subsidiary, the Fund is indirectly exposed to the risks associated with the Subsidiary’s investments. The Fund’s Principal Risks may also apply to a Subsidiary in which the Fund invests (which are described in this prospectus). There can be no assurance that the investment objective of a Subsidiary will be achieved. No Subsidiary is registered under the 1940 Act and, except as otherwise noted in this prospectus, no Subsidiary is subject to the investor protections of the 1940 Act. However, the Fund wholly owns and controls any Subsidiary in which it invests, and the Fund and any Subsidiary in which it invests are managed by Columbia Management, making it unlikely that a Subsidiary will take action contrary to the interests of the Fund and its shareholders. The Fund’s Board has oversight responsibility for the investment activities of the Fund, including its investment in any Subsidiary, and the Fund’s role as sole shareholder of the Subsidiary. In managing a Subsidiary’s investment portfolio, Columbia Management, or the Subsidiary’s subadviser (if any), will manage the Subsidiary’s portfolio in accordance with the Fund’s investment policies and restrictions. Changes in the laws of the United States and/or the Cayman Islands, under which the Fund and any Subsidiary in which it invests, respectively, are organized, could result in the inability of the Fund and/or the Subsidiary to operate as described in this prospectus and the Statement of Additional Information and could adversely affect the Fund and its shareholders. For example, the Cayman Islands currently does not impose any income, corporate or capital gains tax, estate duty, inheritance tax, gift tax or withholding tax on any Subsidiary. If Cayman Islands law is changed and a Subsidiary is required to pay Cayman Island taxes, the investment returns of the Fund would likely decrease.
Issuer Risk.
An issuer in which the Fund invests or to which it has exposure may perform poorly or below expectations, and the value of its securities may therefore decline, which may negatively affect the Fund’s performance. Underperformance of an issuer may be caused by poor management decisions, competitive pressures, breakthroughs in technology, reliance on suppliers, labor problems or shortages, corporate restructurings, fraudulent disclosures, natural disasters, military confrontations, war, terrorism, disease/virus outbreaks, epidemics or other events, conditions and factors which may impair the value of an investment in the Fund.
Small- and Mid-Cap Stock Risk.
Securities of small- and mid-cap companies can, in certain circumstances, have a higher potential for gains than securities of larger companies but are more likely to have more risk than larger companies. For example, small- and mid-cap companies may be more vulnerable to market downturns and adverse business or economic events than larger companies because they may have more limited financial resources and business operations. Small- and mid-cap companies are also more likely than larger companies to have more limited product lines and operating histories and to depend on smaller and generally less experienced management teams. Securities of small- and mid-cap companies may trade less frequently and in smaller volumes and may be less liquid and fluctuate more sharply in value than securities of larger companies. When the Fund takes significant positions in small- and mid-cap companies with limited trading volumes, the liquidation of those positions, particularly in a
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distressed market, could be prolonged and result in Fund investment losses that would affect the value of your investment in the Fund. In addition, some small- and mid-cap companies may not be widely followed by the investment community, which can lower the demand for their stocks.
Large-Cap Stock Risk.
Investments in larger companies may involve certain risks associated with their larger size. For instance, larger companies may be less able to respond quickly to new competitive challenges, such as changes in consumer tastes or innovation from smaller competitors. Also, larger companies are sometimes less able to achieve as high growth rates as successful smaller companies, especially during extended periods of economic expansion.
Leverage Risk.
Leverage occurs when the Fund increases its assets available for investment using borrowings, short sales, derivatives, or similar instruments or techniques. Use of leverage can produce volatility and may exaggerate changes in the NAV of Fund shares and in the return on the Fund’s portfolio, which may increase the risk that the Fund will lose more than it has invested. The use of leverage may cause the Fund to liquidate portfolio positions when it may not be advantageous to do so to satisfy its obligations or to meet any required asset segregation or position coverage requirements. Futures contracts, options on futures contracts, forward contracts and other derivatives can allow the Fund to obtain large investment exposures in return for meeting relatively small margin requirements. As a result, investments in those transactions may be highly leveraged. If the Fund uses leverage, through the purchase of particular instruments such as derivatives, the Fund may experience capital losses that exceed the net assets of the Fund. Because short sales involve borrowing securities and then selling them, the Fund’s short sales effectively leverage the Fund’s assets. The Fund's assets that are used as collateral to secure the Fund's obligations to return the securities sold short may decrease in value while the short positions are outstanding, which may force the Fund to use its other assets to increase the collateral. Leverage can create an interest expense that may lower the Fund's overall returns. Leverage presents the opportunity for increased net income and capital gains, but may also exaggerate the Fund's volatility and risk of loss. There can be no guarantee that a leveraging strategy will be successful.
LIBOR Replacement Risk.
London Inter-Bank Offered Rate (LIBOR), which is used extensively in the U.S. and globally as a benchmark or reference rate for various commercial and financial contracts, among other “inter-bank offered” reference rates, is expected to be discontinued. The elimination of LIBOR may adversely affect the interest rates on, and value of, certain Fund investments that are tied to LIBOR. Such investments may include derivatives, and other assets or liabilities. On July 27, 2017, the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority announced that it intends to stop compelling or inducing banks to submit LIBOR rates after 2021. More recently, in November 2020, Ice Benchmark Administrator (IBA) has announced its intention to consult on (i) the cessation of four LIBOR currencies (GBP, EUR, JPY and CHF) after the end of 2021 and (ii) on the cessation of the major USD LIBOR tenors (overnight, 1M, 3M, 6M and 12M) in mid-2023 and the cessation of the 1 week and 2M USD LIBOR by the end of 2021. IBA will make separate announcements following the outcome of the consultations. Actions by regulators have resulted in the establishment of alternative reference rates in most major currencies. The U.S. Federal Reserve, based on the recommendations of the New York Federal Reserve’s Alternative Reference Rate Committee (comprised of major derivative market participants and their regulators), has begun publishing SOFR that is intended to replace U.S. dollar LIBOR. Proposals for alternative reference rates for other currencies have also been announced or have already begun publication. Markets are slowly developing in response to these new reference rates. Uncertainty related to the liquidity impact of the change in rates, and how to appropriately adjust these rates at the time of transition, poses risks for the Fund. The effect of any changes to, or discontinuation of, LIBOR on the Fund will depend on, among other things, (1) existing fallback or termination provisions in individual contracts and (2) whether, how, and when industry participants develop and adopt new reference rates and fallbacks for both legacy and new instruments and contracts. The expected discontinuation of LIBOR could have a significant impact on the financial markets in general and may also present heightened risk to market participants, including public companies, investment advisers, investment companies, and broker-dealers. The risks associated with this discontinuation and transition will be exacerbated if the work necessary to effect an orderly transition to an alternative reference rate is not completed in a timely manner. For example, current information technology systems may be unable to accommodate new
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instruments and rates with features that differ from LIBOR. Accordingly, it is difficult to predict the full impact of the transition away from LIBOR on the Fund until new reference rates and fallbacks for both legacy and new instruments and contracts are commercially accepted and market practices become settled.
Liquidity Risk.
Liquidity risk is the risk associated with any event, circumstance, or characteristic of an investment or market that negatively impacts the Fund’s ability to sell, or realize the proceeds from the sale of, an investment at a desirable time or price. Liquidity risk may arise because of, for example, a lack of marketability of the investment, which means that when seeking to sell its portfolio investments, the Fund could find that selling is more difficult than anticipated, especially during times of high market volatility. Decreases in the number of financial institutions, including banks and broker-dealers, willing to make markets (match up sellers and buyers) in the Fund’s investments or decreases in their capacity or willingness to trade such investments may increase the Fund’s exposure to this risk. The debt market has experienced considerable growth, and financial institutions making markets in instruments purchased and sold by the Fund (e.g., bond dealers) have been subject to increased regulation. The impact of that growth and regulation on the ability and willingness of financial institutions to engage in trading or “making a market” in such instruments remains unsettled. Certain types of investments, such as lower-rated securities or those that are purchased and sold in over-the-counter markets, may be especially subject to liquidity risk. Securities or other assets in which the Fund invests may be traded in the over-the-counter market rather than on an exchange and therefore may be more difficult to purchase or sell at a fair price, which may have a negative impact on the Fund’s performance. Market participants attempting to sell the same or a similar instrument at the same time as the Fund could exacerbate the Fund’s exposure to liquidity risk. The Fund may have to accept a lower selling price for the holding, sell other liquid or more liquid investments that it might otherwise prefer to hold (thereby increasing the proportion of the Fund’s investments in less liquid or illiquid securities), or forego another more appealing investment opportunity. The liquidity of Fund investments may change significantly over time and certain investments that were liquid when purchased by the Fund may later become illiquid, particularly in times of overall economic distress. Changing regulatory, market or other conditions or environments (for example, the interest rate or credit environments) may also adversely affect the liquidity and the price of the Fund's investments. Judgment plays a larger role in valuing illiquid or less liquid investments as compared to valuing liquid or more liquid investments. Price volatility may be higher for illiquid or less liquid investments as a result of, for example, the relatively less frequent pricing of such securities (as compared to liquid or more liquid investments). Generally, the less liquid the market at the time the Fund sells a portfolio investment, the greater the risk of loss or decline of value to the Fund. Overall market liquidity and other factors can lead to an increase in redemptions, which may negatively impact Fund performance and NAV, including, for example, if the Fund is forced to sell investments in a down market.
Market Risk.
The Fund may incur losses due to declines in the value of one or more securities in which it invests. These declines may be due to factors affecting a particular issuer, or the result of, among other things, political, regulatory, market, economic or social developments affecting the relevant market(s) more generally. In addition, turbulence in financial markets and reduced liquidity in equity, credit and/or fixed income markets may negatively affect many issuers, which could adversely affect the Fund, including causing difficulty in assigning prices to hard-to-value assets in thinly traded and closed markets, significant redemptions and operational challenges. Global economies and financial markets are increasingly interconnected, and conditions and events in one country, region or financial market may adversely impact issuers in a different country, region or financial market. These risks may be magnified if certain events or developments adversely interrupt the global supply chain; in these and other circumstances, such risks might affect companies worldwide. As a result, local, regional or global events such as terrorism, war, natural disasters, disease/virus outbreaks and epidemics or other public health issues, recessions, depressions or other events – or the potential for such events – could have a significant negative impact on global economic and market conditions.
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) public health crisis has become a pandemic that has resulted in, and may continue to result in, significant global economic and societal disruption and market volatility due to disruptions in market access, resource availability, facilities operations, imposition of tariffs, export controls and supply chain disruption, among others. Such disruptions may be caused, or exacerbated by, quarantines and travel restrictions, workforce displacement and loss in human and other resources. The uncertainty surrounding the magnitude, duration, reach, costs and effects of the global pandemic, as well as actions that have been or could be taken by
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governmental authorities or other third parties, present unknowns that are yet to unfold. The impacts, as well as the uncertainty over impacts to come, of COVID-19 – and any other infectious illness outbreaks, epidemics and pandemics that may arise in the future – could negatively affect global economies and markets in ways that cannot necessarily be foreseen. In addition, the impact of infectious illness outbreaks and epidemics in emerging market countries may be greater due to generally less established healthcare systems, governments and financial markets. Public health crises caused by the COVID-19 outbreak may exacerbate other pre-existing political, social and economic risks in certain countries or globally. The disruptions caused by COVID-19 could prevent the Fund from executing advantageous investment decisions in a timely manner and negatively impact the Fund’s ability to achieve its investment objective. Any such event(s) could have a significant adverse impact on the value and risk profile of the Fund.
Model and Data Risk (AQR).
Given the complexity of the investments and strategies of the Fund, AQR may rely heavily on quantitative models and information and traditional and non-traditional data supplied or made available by third parties (Models and Data). Models and Data are used to construct sets of transactions and investments, to provide risk management insights, and to assist in hedging the Fund’s investments.
When Models and Data prove to be incorrect or incomplete, any decisions made in reliance thereon expose the Fund to potential risks. For example, by relying on Models and Data, AQR may be induced to buy certain investments at prices that are too high, to sell certain other investments at prices that are too low, or to miss favorable opportunities altogether. Similarly, any hedging based on faulty Models and Data may prove to be unsuccessful. The Fund bears the risk that the quantitative models used by AQR will not be successful in forecasting movements in industries, sectors or companies and/or in determining the size, direction, and/or the weighting of investment positions that will enable the Fund to achieve its investment objective.
Some of the models used by AQR for the Fund are predictive in nature. The use of predictive models has inherent risks. For example, such models may incorrectly forecast future behavior, leading to potential losses on a cash flow and/or a mark-to-market basis. In addition, in unforeseen or certain low-probability scenarios (often involving a market disruption of some kind), such models may produce unexpected results, which can result in losses for the Fund. Furthermore, because predictive models are usually constructed based on historical data supplied by third parties, the success of relying on such models may depend on the accuracy and reliability of the supplied historical data.
All models rely on correct data inputs. If incorrect data is entered into even a well-founded model, the resulting information will be incorrect. However, even if data is inputted correctly, “model prices” will often differ substantially from market prices, especially for instruments with complex characteristics, such as derivative instruments. Model prices can differ from market prices as model prices are typically based on assumptions and estimates derived from recent market data that may not remain realistic or relevant in the future. To address these issues, AQR may evaluate model prices and outputs versus recent transactions or similar securities, and as a result, such models may be modified from time to time.
The Fund is unlikely to be successful unless the assumptions underlying the models are realistic and either remain realistic and relevant in the future or are adjusted to account for changes in the overall market environment. If such assumptions are inaccurate or become inaccurate and are not promptly adjusted, it is likely that profitable trading signals will not be generated. AQR’s testing of its Models and Data are directed in part at identifying these risks, but there is no guarantee that these risks will be effectively managed. If and to the extent that the models do not reflect certain factors, and AQR does not successfully address such omissions through its testing and evaluation and modify the models accordingly, major losses may result.
AQR, in its sole discretion, will continue to test, evaluate and add new models, which may result in the modification of existing models from time to time. Any modification of the models or strategies will not be subject to any requirement that shareholders receive notice of the change or that they consent to it. There can be no assurance that model modifications will enable the Fund to achieve its investment objective.
Money Market Fund Investment Risk.
An investment in a money market fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by any bank, the FDIC or any other government agency. Certain money market funds float their NAV while others seek to preserve the value of investments at a stable NAV (typically $1.00 per share). An
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investment in a money market fund, even an investment in a fund seeking to maintain a stable NAV per share, is not guaranteed and it is possible for the Fund to lose money by investing in these and other types of money market funds. If the liquidity of a money market fund’s portfolio deteriorates below certain levels, the money market fund may suspend redemptions (i.e., impose a redemption gate) and thereby prevent the Fund from selling its investment in the money market fund or impose a fee of up to 2% on amounts the Fund redeems from the money market fund (i.e., impose a liquidity fee). These measures may result in an investment loss or prohibit the Fund from redeeming shares when the Investment Manager would otherwise redeem shares. In addition to the fees and expenses that the Fund directly bears, the Fund indirectly bears the fees and expenses of any money market funds in which it invests, including affiliated money market funds. To the extent these fees and expenses, along with the fees and expenses of any other funds in which the Fund may invest, are expected to equal or exceed 0.01% of the Fund’s average daily net assets, they will be reflected in the Annual Fund Operating Expenses set forth in the table under “Fees and Expenses of the Fund.” By investing in a money market fund, the Fund will be exposed to the investment risks of the money market fund in direct proportion to such investment. The money market fund may not achieve its investment objective. The Fund, through its investment in the money market fund, may not achieve its investment objective. To the extent the Fund invests in instruments such as derivatives, the Fund may hold investments, which may be significant, in money market fund shares to cover its obligations resulting from the Fund’s investments in derivatives. Money market funds and the securities they invest in are subject to comprehensive regulations. The enactment of new legislation or regulations, as well as changes in interpretation and enforcement of current laws, may affect the manner of operation, performance and/or yield of money market funds.
Mortgage- and Other Asset-Backed Securities Risk.
The value of any mortgage-backed and other asset-backed securities including collateralized debt obligations and collateralized loan obligations, if any, held by the Fund may be affected by, among other things, changes or perceived changes in: interest rates; factors concerning the interests in and structure of the issuer or the originator of the mortgages or other assets; the creditworthiness of the entities that provide any supporting letters of credit, surety bonds or other credit enhancements; or the market's assessment of the quality of underlying assets. Mortgage-backed securities represent interests in, or are backed by, pools of mortgages from which payments of interest and principal (net of fees paid to the issuer or guarantor of the securities) are distributed to the holders of the mortgage-backed securities. Other types of asset-backed securities typically represent interests in, or are backed by, pools of receivables such as credit, automobile, student and home equity loans. Mortgage- and other asset-backed securities can have a fixed or an adjustable rate. Mortgage- and other asset-backed securities are subject to liquidity risk (the risk that it may not be possible for the Fund to liquidate the instrument at an advantageous time or price) and prepayment risk (the risk that the underlying mortgage or other asset may be refinanced or prepaid prior to maturity during periods of declining or low interest rates, causing the Fund to have to reinvest the money received in securities that have lower yields). In addition, the impact of prepayments on the value of mortgage- and other asset-backed securities may be difficult to predict and may result in greater volatility. A decline or flattening of housing values may cause delinquencies in mortgages (especially sub-prime or non-prime mortgages) underlying mortgage-backed securities and thereby adversely affect the ability of the mortgage-backed securities issuer to make principal and/or interest payments to mortgage-backed securities holders, including the Fund. Rising or high interest rates tend to extend the duration of mortgage- and other asset-backed securities, making them more volatile and more sensitive to changes in interest rates. Payment of principal and interest on some mortgage-backed securities (but not the market value of the securities themselves) may be guaranteed (i) by the full faith and credit of the U.S. Government (in the case of securities guaranteed by the Government National Mortgage Association) or (ii) by its agencies, authorities, enterprises or instrumentalities (in the case of securities guaranteed by the Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA) or the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (FHLMC)), which are not insured or guaranteed by the U.S. Government (although FNMA and FHLMC may be able to access capital from the U.S. Treasury to meet their obligations under such securities). Mortgage-backed securities issued by non-governmental issuers (such as commercial banks, savings and loan institutions, private mortgage insurance companies, mortgage bankers and other secondary market issuers) may be supported by various credit enhancements, such as pool insurance, guarantees issued by governmental entities, letters of credit from a bank or senior/subordinated structures, and may entail greater risk than obligations guaranteed by the U.S. Government, whether or not such obligations are guaranteed by the private issuer.
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Multi-Adviser Risk.
The Fund has multiple advisory firms that each manage a portion of the Fund’s net assets on a daily basis. Each adviser makes investment decisions independently from the other adviser(s). It is possible that the security selection process of one adviser will not complement or may conflict or even contradict that of the other adviser(s), including making off-setting trades that have no net effect to the Fund, but which may increase Fund expenses. As a result, the Fund's exposure to a given security, industry, sector or market capitalization could be smaller or larger than if the Fund were managed by a single adviser, which could adversely affect the Fund's performance.
Preferred Stock Risk.
Preferred stock is a type of stock that may pay dividends at a different rate than common stock of the same issuer, if at all, and that has preference over common stock in the payment of dividends and the liquidation of assets. Preferred stock does not ordinarily carry voting rights. The price of a preferred stock is generally determined by earnings, type of products or services, projected growth rates, experience of management, liquidity, and general market conditions of the markets on which the stock trades. The most significant risks associated with investments in preferred stock include issuer risk, market risk and interest rate risk (the risk of losses attributable to changes in interest rates).
Prepayment and Extension Risk.
Prepayment and extension risk is the risk that a loan, bond or other security or investment might, in the case of prepayment risk, be called or otherwise converted, prepaid or redeemed before maturity and, in the case of extension risk, that the investment might not be called as expected. In the case of prepayment risk, if the investment is converted, prepaid or redeemed before maturity, the portfolio managers may not be able to invest the proceeds in other investments providing as high a level of income, resulting in a reduced yield to the Fund. In the case of mortgage- or other asset-backed securities, as interest rates decrease or spreads narrow, the likelihood of prepayment increases. Conversely, extension risk is the risk that an unexpected rise in interest rates will extend the life of a mortgage- or other asset-backed security beyond the prepayment time. If the Fund's investments are locked in at a lower interest rate for a longer period of time, the portfolio managers may be unable to capitalize on securities with higher interest rates or wider spreads.
Quantitative Model Risk.
Quantitative models used by the Fund may not effectively identify purchases and sales of Fund investments and may cause the Fund to underperform other investment strategies for short or long periods of time. Performance will depend upon the quality and accuracy of the assumptions, theories and framework upon which a quantitative model is based. The success of a quantitative model will depend upon the model’s accurate reflection of market conditions, with proper adjustments as market conditions change over time. Adjustments, or lack of adjustments, to the models, including as conditions change, as well as any errors or imperfections in the models, could adversely affect Fund performance. Quantitative model performance depends upon the quality of its design and effective execution under actual market conditions. Even a well-designed quantitative model cannot be expected to perform well in all market conditions or across all time intervals. Quantitative models may underperform in certain market environments including stressed or volatile market conditions. Effective execution may depend, in part, upon subjective selection and application of factors and data inputs used by the quantitative model. Discretion may be used by the portfolio management team when determining the data collected and incorporated into a quantitative model. Shareholders should be aware that there is no guarantee that any specific data or type of data can or will be used in a quantitative model. The portfolio management team may also use discretion when interpreting and applying the results of a quantitative model, including emphasizing, discounting or disregarding its outputs. It is not possible or practicable for a quantitative model to factor in all relevant, available data. There is no guarantee that the data actually utilized in a quantitative model will be the most accurate data available or be free from errors. There can be no assurance that the use of quantitative models will enable the Fund to achieve its objective.
Regulatory Risk — Alternative Investments.
Legal, tax, and regulatory developments may adversely affect the Fund and its investments. The regulatory environment for the Fund and certain of its investments is evolving, and changes in the regulation of investment funds, their managers, and their trading activities and capital markets, or a regulator’s disagreement with the Fund’s or others’ interpretation of the application of certain regulations, may adversely affect the ability of the Fund to pursue its investment strategy, its ability to obtain leverage and financing, and the value of investments held by the Fund. There has been an increase in governmental, as well as self-regulatory, scrutiny of the investment industry in general and the alternative investment industry in particular. It is impossible to predict what, if any, changes in regulations may occur, but any regulation that restricts the ability of the Fund or any underlying funds
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or other investments to trade in securities or other instruments or the ability of the Fund or underlying funds to employ, or brokers and other counterparties to extend, credit in their trading (as well as other regulatory changes that result) could have a material adverse impact on the Fund’s performance.
Shareholders should understand that the Fund’s business is dynamic and is expected to change over time. Therefore, the Fund and its underlying investments may be subject to new or additional regulatory constraints in the future. Such regulations may have a significant impact on shareholders or the operations of the Fund, including, without limitation, restricting the types of investments the Fund may make, preventing the Fund from exercising its voting rights with regard to certain financial instruments, requiring the Fund to disclose the identity of its investors or otherwise. To the extent the Fund or its underlying investments are subject to such regulation, such regulations may have a detrimental effect on one or more shareholders. Prospective investors are encouraged to consult their own advisors regarding an investment in the Fund.
Repurchase Agreements Risk.
Repurchase agreements are agreements in which the seller of a security to the Fund agrees to repurchase that security from the Fund at a mutually agreed upon price and time. Repurchase agreements carry the risk that the counterparty may not fulfill its obligations under the agreement. This could cause the Fund's income and the value of your investment in the Fund to decline.
Reverse Repurchase Agreements Risk.
Reverse repurchase agreements are agreements in which a Fund sells a security to a counterparty, such as a bank or broker-dealer, in return for cash and agrees to repurchase that security at a mutually agreed upon price and time. Reverse repurchase agreements carry the risk that the market value of the security sold by the Fund may decline below the price at which the Fund must repurchase the security. Reverse repurchase agreements also may be viewed as a form of borrowing, and borrowed assets used for investment creates leverage risk (the risk that losses may be greater than the amount invested). Leverage can create an interest expense that may lower the Fund's overall returns. Leverage presents the opportunity for increased net income and capital gains, but may also exaggerate the Fund’s volatility and risk of loss. There can be no guarantee that this strategy will be successful.
Rule 144A and Other Exempted Securities Risk.
The Fund may invest in privately placed and other securities or instruments exempt from SEC registration (collectively “private placements”), subject to certain regulatory restrictions. In the U.S. market, private placements are typically sold only to qualified institutional buyers, or qualified purchasers, as applicable. An insufficient number of buyers interested in purchasing private placements at a particular time could adversely affect the marketability of such investments and the Fund might be unable to dispose of them promptly or at reasonable prices, subjecting the Fund to liquidity risk (the risk that it may not be possible for the Fund to liquidate the instrument at an advantageous time or price). The Fund’s holdings of private placements may increase the level of Fund illiquidity if eligible buyers are unable or unwilling to purchase them at a particular time. The Fund may also have to bear the expense of registering the securities for resale and the risk of substantial delays in effecting the registration. Additionally, the purchase price and subsequent valuation of private placements typically reflect a discount, which may be significant, from the market price of comparable securities for which a more liquid market exists. Issuers of Rule 144A eligible securities are required to furnish information to potential investors upon request. However, the required disclosure is much less extensive than that required of public companies and is not publicly available since the offering information is not filed with the SEC. Further, issuers of Rule 144A eligible securities can require recipients of the offering information (such as the Fund) to agree contractually to keep the information confidential, which could also adversely affect the Fund’s ability to dispose of the security.
Sector Risk.
At times, the Fund may have a significant portion of its assets invested in securities of companies conducting business within one or more economic sectors. Companies in the same sector may be similarly affected by economic, regulatory, political or market events or conditions, which may make the Fund more vulnerable to unfavorable developments in that sector than funds that invest more broadly. Generally, the more broadly the Fund invests, the more it spreads risk and potentially reduces the risks of loss and volatility.
Short Positions Risk.
The Fund may establish short positions which introduce more risk to the Fund than long positions (where the Fund owns the instrument or other asset) because the maximum sustainable loss on an instrument or other asset purchased (held long) is limited to the amount paid for the instrument or other asset plus the transaction costs, whereas there is no maximum price of the shorted instrument or other asset when purchased
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in the open market. Therefore, in theory, short positions have unlimited risk. The Fund’s use of short positions in effect “leverages” the Fund. Leverage potentially exposes the Fund to greater risks of loss due to unanticipated market movements, which may magnify losses and increase the volatility of returns. To the extent the Fund takes a short position in a derivative instrument or other asset, this involves the risk of a potentially unlimited increase in the value of the underlying instrument or other asset.
Sovereign Debt Risk.
A sovereign debtor’s willingness or ability to repay principal and pay interest in a timely manner may be affected by a variety of factors, including its cash flow situation, the extent of its reserves, the availability of sufficient foreign exchange on the date a payment is due, the relative size of the debt service burden to the economy as a whole, the sovereign debtor’s policy toward international lenders, and the political constraints to which a sovereign debtor may be subject.
With respect to sovereign debt of emerging market issuers, investors should be aware that certain emerging market countries are among the largest debtors to commercial banks and foreign governments. At times, certain emerging market countries have declared moratoria on the payment of principal and interest on external debt. Certain emerging market countries have experienced difficulty in servicing their sovereign debt on a timely basis and that has led to defaults and the restructuring of certain indebtedness to the detriment of debt-holders.
Special Situations Risk.
Securities of companies that are involved in an initial public offering or a major corporate event, such as a business consolidation or restructuring, may be exposed to heightened risk because of the high degree of uncertainty that can be associated with such events. Securities issued in initial public offerings often are issued by companies that are in the early stages of development, have a history of little or no revenues and may operate at a loss following the offering. It is possible that there will be no active trading market for the securities after the offering, and that the market price of the securities may be subject to significant and unpredictable fluctuations. Initial public offerings are subject to many of the same risks as investing in companies with smaller market capitalizations. To the extent the Fund determines to invest in initial public offerings, it may not be able to invest to the extent desired, because, for example, only a small portion (if any) of the securities being offered in an initial public offering are available to the Fund. The investment performance of the Fund during periods when it is unable to invest significantly or at all in initial public offerings may be lower than during periods when the Fund is able to do so. Securities purchased in initial public offerings which are sold within 12 months after purchase may result in increased short-term capital gains, which will be taxable to the Fund’s shareholders as ordinary income. Certain “special situation” investments are investments in securities or other instruments that may be classified as illiquid or lacking a readily ascertainable fair value. Certain special situation investments prevent ownership interests therein from being withdrawn until the special situation investment, or a portion thereof, is realized or deemed realized, which may negatively impact Fund performance. Investing in special situations may have a magnified effect on the performance of funds with small amounts of assets.
Tax Risk.
To qualify as a regulated investment company, the Fund must derive at least 90% of its gross income for each taxable year from sources treated as “qualifying income” under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, and meet certain asset diversification requirements, including that, at the end of each quarter of the Fund's taxable year, not more than 25% of the value of its total assets be invested including through corporations in which the Fund owns a 20% or greater voting stock interest in any single issuer. The Fund's investments can be limited by the Fund's intention to qualify as a regulated investment company and can limit the Fund's ability to so qualify. The tax treatment of certain of the Fund's investments and of the income and gain therefrom for these purposes is uncertain, and an adverse determination or future guidance by the IRS may affect the Fund's ability to qualify for treatment as a regulated investment company, including on a retroactive basis. If the Fund were to fail to qualify as a regulated investment company, or if it were ineligible to or otherwise could not cure such failure, the Fund would be ineligible (including retroactively) for the favorable tax treatment afforded to it as such for one or more years, which would adversely affect the value of your investment in the Fund. The Fund intends to invest a portion of its assets in the Subsidiaries. The Fund and the Subsidiaries currently take steps to, and will continue to take steps to, ensure that the Fund's income in respect of the Subsidiaries will constitute qualifying income. Failure to do so could affect the ability of the Fund to qualify for treatment as a regulated investment company. If a net loss is realized by the Subsidiaries, such loss is not generally available to offset the income of the Fund. Also, net losses
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realized by the Subsidiaries cannot be carried forward to offset income of the Subsidiaries in future years. Please refer to “Distributions and Taxes” in this prospectus or to “Taxation” in the SAI for additional information about the U.S. federal income tax treatment of the Fund.
U.S. Government Obligations Risk.
While U.S. Treasury obligations are backed by the “full faith and credit” of the U.S. Government, such securities are nonetheless subject to credit risk (
i.e.
, the risk that the U.S. Government may be, or may be perceived to be, unable or unwilling to honor its financial obligations, such as making payments). Securities issued or guaranteed by federal agencies or authorities and U.S. Government-sponsored instrumentalities or enterprises may or may not be backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. Government. For example, securities issued by the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, the Federal National Mortgage Association and the Federal Home Loan Banks are neither insured nor guaranteed by the U.S. Government. These securities may be supported by the ability to borrow from the U.S. Treasury or only by the credit of the issuing agency, authority, instrumentality or enterprise and, as a result, are subject to greater credit risk than securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Treasury.
Value Securities Risk.
Value securities are securities of companies that may have experienced, for example, adverse business, industry or other developments or may be subject to special risks that have caused the securities to be out of favor and, in turn, potentially undervalued. The market value of a portfolio security may not meet portfolio management’s perceived value assessment of that security, or may decline in price, even though portfolio management believes the securities are already undervalued. There is also a risk that it may take longer than expected for the value of these investments to rise to portfolio management’s perceived value. In addition, value securities, at times, may not perform as well as growth securities or the stock market in general, and may be out of favor with investors for varying periods of time.
Volatility Risk.
The Fund may have investments that appreciate or decrease significantly in value over short periods of time. This may cause the Fund’s NAV per share to experience significant increases or declines in value over short periods of time, however, all investments long- or short-term are subject to risk of loss.
Additional Investment Strategies and Policies
This section describes certain investment strategies and policies that the Fund may utilize in pursuit of its investment objective and some additional factors and risks involved with investing in the Fund.
Investment Guidelines
As a general matter, and except as specifically described in the discussion of the Fund's principal investment strategies in this prospectus or as otherwise required by the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the 1940 Act), the rules and regulations thereunder and any applicable exemptive relief, whenever an investment policy or limitation states a percentage of the Fund's assets that may be invested in any security or other asset or sets forth a policy regarding an investment standard, compliance with that percentage limitation or standard will be determined solely at the time of the Fund's investment in the security or asset.
Holding Other Kinds of Investments
The Fund may hold other investments that are not part of its principal investment strategies. These investments and their risks are described below and/or in the SAI. The Fund may choose not to invest in certain securities described in this prospectus and in the SAI, although it has the ability to do so. Information on the Fund’s holdings can be found in the Fund’s shareholder reports or by visiting columbiathreadneedleus.com.
Transactions in Derivatives
The Fund may enter into derivative transactions or otherwise have exposure to derivative transactions through underlying investments. Derivatives are financial contracts whose values are, for example, based on (or “derived” from) traditional securities (such as a stock or bond), assets (such as a commodity like gold or a foreign currency), reference rates (such as the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (commonly known as SOFR) or the London Interbank Offered Rate (commonly known as LIBOR)) or market indices (such as the Standard & Poor’s 500
®
Index). The use of derivatives is a highly specialized activity which involves investment techniques and risks different from those
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associated with ordinary portfolio securities transactions. Derivatives involve special risks and may result in losses or may limit the Fund’s potential gain from favorable market movements. Derivative strategies often involve leverage, which may exaggerate a loss, potentially causing the Fund to lose more money than it would have lost had it invested in the underlying security or other asset directly. The values of derivatives may move in unexpected ways, especially in unusual market conditions, and may result in increased volatility in the value of the derivative and/or the Fund’s shares, among other consequences. The use of derivatives may also increase the amount of taxes payable by shareholders holding shares in a taxable account. Other risks arise from the Fund’s potential inability to terminate or to sell derivative positions. A liquid secondary market may not always exist for the Fund’s derivative positions at times when the Fund might wish to terminate or to sell such positions. Over-the-counter instruments (investments not traded on an exchange) may be illiquid, and transactions in derivatives traded in the over-the-counter market are subject to the risk that the other party will not meet its obligations. The use of derivatives also involves the risks of mispricing or improper valuation and that changes in the value of the derivative may not correlate perfectly with the underlying security, asset, reference rate or index. The Fund also may not be able to find a suitable derivative transaction counterparty, and thus may be unable to engage in derivative transactions when it is deemed favorable to do so, or at all. U.S. federal legislation has been enacted that provides for new clearing, margin, reporting and registration requirements for participants in the derivatives market. These changes could restrict and/or impose significant costs or other burdens upon the Fund’s participation in derivatives transactions. For more information on the risks of derivative investments and strategies, see the SAI.
LIBOR Phase-Out Risk.
Many derivatives and other financial instruments utilize or are permitted to utilize a floating interest rate based on LIBOR. On July 27, 2017, the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority announced its intention to phase out the use of LIBOR by the end of 2021. More recently, in November 2020, Ice Benchmark Administrator (IBA) has announced its intention to consult on (i) the cessation of four LIBOR currencies (GBP, EUR, JPY and CHF) after the end of 2021 and (ii) on the cessation of the major USD LIBOR tenors (overnight, 1M, 3M, 6M and 12M) in mid-2023 and the cessation of the 1 week and 2M USD LIBOR by the end of 2021. IBA will make separate announcements following the outcome of the consultations. The interest rate benchmark(s) that will replace LIBOR in the capital markets remains uncertain, and the overall economic impact of the transition away from LIBOR cannot yet be determined. The Investment Manager monitors the Fund’s LIBOR exposure risks, including the extent to which any derivative and/or debt investments allow for the utilization of alternative rate(s) to LIBOR.
Affiliated Fund Investing
The Investment Manager or an affiliate serves as investment adviser to funds using the Columbia brand (Columbia Funds), including those that are structured as “fund-of-funds”, and provides asset-allocation services to (i) shareholders by investing in shares of other Columbia Funds, which may include the Fund (collectively referred to in this section as Underlying Funds), and (ii) discretionary managed accounts (collectively referred to as affiliated products) that invest exclusively in Underlying Funds. These affiliated products, individually or collectively, may own a significant percentage of the outstanding shares of one or more Underlying Funds, and the Investment Manager seeks to balance potential conflicts of interest between the affiliated products and the Underlying Funds in which they invest. The affiliated products’ investment in the Underlying Funds may have the effect of creating economies of scale, possibly resulting in lower expense ratios for the Underlying Funds, because the affiliated products may own substantial portions of the shares of Underlying Funds. However, redemption of Underlying Fund shares by one or more affiliated products could cause the expense ratio of an Underlying Fund to increase, as its fixed costs would be spread over a smaller asset base. Because of large positions of certain affiliated products, the Underlying Funds may experience relatively large inflows and outflows of cash due to affiliated products’ purchases and sales of Underlying Fund shares. Although the Investment Manager or its affiliate may seek to minimize the impact of these transactions where possible, for example, by structuring them over a reasonable period of time or through other measures, Underlying Funds may experience increased expenses as they buy and sell portfolio securities to manage the cash flow effect related to these transactions. Further, when the Investment Manager or its affiliate structures transactions over a reasonable period of time in order to manage the potential impact of the buy and sell decisions for the affiliated products, those affiliated products, including funds-of-funds, may pay more or less (for purchase activity), or receive more or less (for redemption activity), for shares of the Underlying Funds than if the transactions were executed in one transaction. In addition, substantial redemptions by affiliated products within a short period of
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time could require the Underlying Fund to liquidate positions more rapidly than would otherwise be desirable, which may have the effect of reducing or eliminating potential gain or causing it to realize a loss. In order to meet such redemptions, an Underlying Fund may be forced to sell its liquid (or more liquid) positions, leaving the Underlying Fund holding, post-redemption, a relatively larger position in illiquid investments (i.e., any investment that the Fund reasonably expects cannot be sold or disposed of in current market conditions in seven calendar days or less without the sale or disposition significantly changing the market value of the investment) or less liquid securities. Substantial redemptions may also adversely affect the ability of the Underlying Fund to implement its investment strategy. The Investment Manager or its affiliate also has a conflict of interest in determining the allocation of affiliated products’ assets among the Underlying Funds, as it earns different fees from the various Underlying Funds.
Investing in Money Market Funds
The Fund may invest cash in, or hold as collateral for certain investments, shares of registered or unregistered money market funds, including funds advised by the Investment Manager or its affiliates. These funds are not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) or any other government agency. The Fund and its shareholders indirectly bear a portion of the expenses of any money market fund or other fund in which the Fund may invest.
Lending of Portfolio Securities
The Fund may lend portfolio securities to broker-dealers or other financial intermediaries on a fully collateralized basis in order to earn additional income. The Fund may lose money from securities lending if, for example, it is delayed in or prevented from selling the collateral after the loan is made or recovering the securities loaned or if it incurs losses on the reinvestment of cash collateral.
The Fund currently does not participate in the securities lending program but the Board of Trustees (the Board) may determine to renew participation in the future. For more information on lending of portfolio securities and the risks involved, see the SAI and the annual and semiannual reports to shareholders.
Investing Defensively
The Fund may from time to time take temporary defensive investment positions that may be inconsistent with the Fund’s principal investment strategies in attempting to respond to adverse market, economic, political, social or other conditions, including, without limitation, investing some or all of its assets in money market instruments or shares of affiliated or unaffiliated money market funds or holding some or all of its assets in cash or cash equivalents. The Fund may take such defensive investment positions for as long a period as deemed necessary.
The Fund may not achieve its investment objective while it is investing defensively. Investing defensively may adversely affect Fund performance. During these times, the portfolio managers may make frequent portfolio holding changes, which could result in increased trading expenses and taxes, and decreased Fund performance. See also
above for more information.
Investing in Money Market Funds
Other Strategic and Investment Measures
The Fund may also from time to time take temporary portfolio positions that may or may not be consistent with the Fund’s principal investment strategies in attempting to respond to adverse market, economic, political, social or other conditions, including, without limitation, investing in derivatives, such as forward contracts, futures contracts, options, structured investments and swaps, for various purposes, including among others, investing in particular derivatives in seeking to reduce investment exposures, or in seeking to achieve indirect investment exposures, to a sector, country, region or currency where the Investment Manager believes such positioning is appropriate. The Fund may take such portfolio positions for as long a period as deemed necessary. While the Fund is so positioned, derivatives could comprise a substantial portion of the Fund’s investments and the Fund may not achieve its investment objective. Investing in this manner may adversely affect Fund performance. During these times, the portfolio managers may make frequent portfolio holding changes, which could result in increased trading expenses and taxes, and decreased Fund performance. For information on the risks of investing in derivatives, see
above.
Transactions in Derivatives
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Portfolio Holdings Disclosure
The Board has adopted policies and procedures that govern the timing and circumstances of disclosure to shareholders and third parties of information regarding the securities owned by the Fund. A description of these policies and procedures is included in the SAI. Fund policy generally permits the disclosure of portfolio holdings information on the Fund's website (columbiathreadneedleus.com) only after a certain amount of time has passed, as described in the SAI.
Purchases and sales of portfolio securities can take place at any time, so the portfolio holdings information available on the Fund's website may not always be current.
FUNDamentals
Portfolio Holdings Versus the Benchmarks
The Fund does not limit its investments to the securities within its benchmark(s), and accordingly the Fund's holdings may diverge significantly from those of its benchmark(s). In addition, the Fund may invest in securities outside any industry and geographic sectors represented in its benchmark(s). The Fund's weightings in individual securities, and in industry or geographic sectors, may also vary considerably from those of its benchmark(s). In addition, the value of the Fund’s investments may be significantly more volatile than the value of the securities or assets comprising the Fund’s benchmark. The Fund may be exposed to greater risk of loss than a direct investment in the securities or assets comprising the Fund’s benchmark.
eDelivery and Mailings to Households
In order to reduce shareholder expenses, the Fund may mail only one copy of the Fund’s prospectus and each annual and semiannual report to those addresses shared by two or more accounts. If you wish to receive separate copies of these documents, call 800.345.6611 or, if your shares are held through a financial intermediary, contact your intermediary directly. Additionally, you may elect to enroll in eDelivery to receive electronic versions of these documents, as well as quarterly statements and supplements, by logging into your account at columbiathreadneedleus.com/investor/.
Cash Flows
The timing and magnitude of cash inflows from investors buying Fund shares could prevent the Fund from always being fully invested. Conversely, the timing and magnitude of cash outflows to shareholders redeeming Fund shares could require the Fund to sell portfolio securities at less than opportune times or to hold ready reserves of uninvested cash in amounts larger than might otherwise be the case to meet shareholder redemptions. Either situation could adversely impact the Fund’s performance.
Understanding Annual Fund Operating Expenses
The Fund’s annual operating expenses, as presented in the
table in the
section of this prospectus, generally are based on expenses incurred during the Fund’s most recently completed fiscal year and are expressed as a percentage (expense ratio) of the Fund’s average net assets during that fiscal year. The expense ratio reflects the Fund’s fee arrangements as of the date of this prospectus and, unless indicated otherwise, is based on expenses incurred during the Fund’s most recent fiscal year. The Fund’s assets will fluctuate, but unless indicated otherwise in the
table, no adjustments have been or will be made to the expense ratio to reflect any differences in the Fund’s average net assets between the most recently completed fiscal year and the date of this prospectus or a later date. In general, the Fund’s expense ratio will increase as its net assets decrease, such that the Fund’s actual expense ratio may be higher than the expense ratio presented in the
table if assets fall. As applicable, any commitment by the Investment Manager and/or its affiliates to waive fees and/or cap (reimburse) expenses is expected, in part, to limit the impact of any increase in the Fund’s expense ratio that would otherwise result because of a decrease in the Fund’s assets in the current fiscal year. The Fund’s annual operating expenses are comprised of (i) investment management fees, (ii) distribution and/or service fees, and (iii) other expenses.
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
Fees and Expenses of the Fund
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
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Multi-Manager Alternative Strategies Fund
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
FUNDamentals
Other Expenses
“Other expenses” consist of the fees the Fund pays to its custodian, transfer agent, auditors, lawyers and trustees, costs relating to compliance and miscellaneous expenses. These fees include certain sub-transfer agency and shareholder servicing fees. For more information on these fees, see
About Fund Shares — Financial Intermediary Compensation.
Fee Waiver/Expense Reimbursement Arrangements and Impact on Past Performance
The Investment Manager and certain of its affiliates have contractually agreed to waive fees and/or reimburse expenses (excluding certain fees and expenses described below) through December 31, 2021, unless sooner terminated at the sole discretion of the Fund's Board, so that the Fund’s net operating expenses, after giving effect to fees waived/expenses reimbursed and any balance credits and/or overdraft charges from the Fund’s custodian, do not exceed the annual rate of:
|
Multi-Manager Alternative Strategies Fund
|
|
| Class Inst | 1.43% |
Under the agreement, the following fees and expenses are excluded from the Fund’s operating expenses when calculating the waiver/reimbursement commitment, and therefore will be paid by the Fund, if applicable: taxes (including foreign transaction taxes), expenses associated with investment in affiliated and non-affiliated pooled investment vehicles (including mutual funds and exchange-traded funds), transaction costs and brokerage commissions, costs related to any securities lending program, dividend expenses associated with securities sold short, inverse floater program fees and expenses, transaction charges and interest on borrowed money, interest, infrequent and/or unusual expenses and any other expenses the exclusion of which is specifically approved by the Fund’s Board. This agreement may be modified or amended only with approval from all parties.
Effect of Fee Waivers and/or Expense Reimbursements on Past Performance.
The Fund’s returns shown in the
Performance Information
section of this prospectus reflect the effect of any fee waivers and/or reimbursements of Fund expenses by the Investment Manager and/or any of its affiliates that were in place during the performance period shown. Without such fee waivers/expense reimbursements, the Fund’s returns might have been lower.
Obtaining Recent Net Asset Value Per Share
The price you pay or receive when you buy, sell or exchange shares is the Fund's next determined net asset value (or NAV) per share. The Fund calculates the NAV per share at the end of each business day, with the value of the Fund's shares based on the total value of all of the securities and other assets that it holds as of a specified time. For additional information on how the Fund calculates its NAV, see
—
below.
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
Share Price Determination
You may obtain the current NAV of Fund shares at no cost by calling 800.345.6611 or by sending an e-mail to serviceinquiries@columbiathreadneedle.com.
Primary Service Providers
The Fund enters into contractual arrangements (Service Provider Contracts) with various service providers, including, among others, the Investment Manager, the Distributor, the Transfer Agent and the Fund’s custodian. The Fund’s Service Provider Contracts are solely among the parties thereto. Shareholders are not parties to, or intended to be third-party beneficiaries of, any Service Provider Contracts. Further, this prospectus, the SAI and any Service Provider Contracts are not intended to give rise to any agreement, duty, special relationship or other obligation between the Fund and any investor, or give rise to any contractual, tort or other rights in any individual shareholder, group of shareholders or other person, including any right to assert a fiduciary or other duty, enforce the Service Provider Contracts against the parties or to seek any remedy thereunder, either directly or on behalf of the Fund. Nothing in the previous sentence should be read to suggest any waiver of any rights under federal or state securities laws.
| Prospectus 2021 | 43 |
Multi-Manager Alternative Strategies Fund
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
The Investment Manager, the Distributor, and the Transfer Agent are all affiliates of Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (Ameriprise Financial). They and their affiliates currently provide key services, including investment advisory, administration, distribution, shareholder servicing and transfer agency services, to the Fund and various other funds, including the Columbia Funds, and are paid for providing these services. These service relationships are described below.
The Investment Manager
Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC is located at 225 Franklin Street, Boston, MA 02110 and serves as investment adviser and administrator to the Columbia Funds. The Investment Manager is a registered investment adviser and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ameriprise Financial. The Investment Manager’s management experience covers all major asset classes, including equity securities, debt instruments and money market instruments. In addition to serving as an investment adviser to traditional mutual funds, exchange-traded funds and closed-end funds, the Investment Manager acts as an investment adviser for itself, its affiliates, individuals, corporations, retirement plans, private investment companies and financial intermediaries.
Subject to oversight by the Board, the Investment Manager manages the day-to-day operations of the Fund. The Investment Manager is responsible for the investment management of the Fund, but has delegated certain of its duties, including day-to-day portfolio management of all or a portion of the Fund’s assets to one or more investment subadvisers that determine what securities and other investments the Fund should buy or sell. The Investment Manager is also responsible for overseeing the administrative operations of the Fund, including the general supervision of the Fund’s operations, the coordination of the Fund’s other service providers and the provision of related clerical and administrative services.
The SEC has issued an order that permits the Investment Manager, subject to the approval of the Board, to appoint unaffiliated subadvisers by entering into subadvisory agreements with them, and to change in material respects the terms of those subadvisory agreements, including the fees paid thereunder, for the Fund without first obtaining shareholder approval, thereby avoiding the expense and delays typically associated with obtaining shareholder approval. The Fund furnishes shareholders with information about new subadvisers retained in reliance on the order within 90 days after hiring the subadviser. The Investment Manager and its affiliates may have other relationships, including significant financial relationships, with current or potential subadvisers or their affiliates, which may create certain conflicts of interest. When making recommendations to the Board to appoint or to change a subadviser, or to change the terms of a subadvisory agreement, the Investment Manager discloses to the Board the nature of any such material relationships.
The Fund pays the Investment Manager a fee for its management services, which include investment advisory services and administrative services. The fee is calculated as a percentage of the daily net assets of the Fund and is paid monthly. For the Fund’s most recent fiscal year, management services fees paid to the Investment Manager by the Fund amounted to 1.10% of average daily net assets of the Fund, before any applicable reimbursements.
A discussion regarding the basis for the Board’s approval of the renewal of the Fund's management agreement is available in the Fund’s annual report to shareholders for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2020.
The Investment Manager has, with the approval of the Board, engaged an investment subadviser(s) to make the day-to-day investment decisions for the Fund. The Investment Manager pays the subadviser(s) for investment advisory services and retains ultimate responsibility (subject to Board oversight) for overseeing any subadviser it engages and for evaluating the Fund’s needs and the subadvisers’ skills and abilities on an ongoing basis. Based on its evaluations, the Investment Manager may at times recommend to the Board that the Fund change, add or terminate one or more subadvisers; continue to retain a subadviser even though the subadviser’s ownership or corporate structure has changed; or materially change a subadvisory agreement with a subadviser. A discussion regarding the basis for the Board’s approval of the renewal of the investment subadvisory agreements with AlphaSimplex, AQR, Manulife, TCW and Water Island is available in the Fund’s annual report to shareholders for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2020.
| 44 | Prospectus 2021 |
Multi-Manager Alternative Strategies Fund
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
The date the Subadvisers began serving the Fund is set forth under
below. Any performance of the Fund prior to the date the Subadvisers began serving was achieved by one or more different subadvisers. Similarly, the portfolio turnover rate for periods prior to the Subadvisers’ management of the Fund was the result of management by one or more different subadvisers. A change in subadvisers may result in increased portfolio turnover.
Subadvisers
Subadvisers
AlphaSimplex, which has served as Subadviser to the Fund and its Subsidiary since May 2018, is located at 200 State Street, Boston MA 02109. AlphaSimplex, subject to the supervision of Columbia Management, provides day-to-day management of a portion of the Fund’s portfolio, as well as investment research and statistical information, under a Subadvisory Agreement with Columbia Management. AlphaSimplex has been a registered investment adviser with the SEC since 2003. AlphaSimplex was organized as a Delaware limited liability company in 1999 and specializes in providing quantitative advisory and subadvisory services.
AQR, which has served as Subadviser to the Fund and its Subsidiary since March 2012, is located at Two Greenwich Plaza, Greenwich, CT 06830. AQR, subject to the supervision of Columbia Management, provides day-to-day management of a portion of the Fund’s portfolio, as well as investment research and statistical information, under a subadvisory agreement with Columbia Management. AQR is a registered investment adviser. AQR was organized as a Delaware limited liability company in 1998 and provides investment management services to registered investment companies, collective investment vehicles, private investment partnerships, foreign investment companies and separately managed accounts.
Manulife, which has served as Subadviser to the Fund since September 2017, is located at 197 Clarendon Street, Boston, MA 02116. Manulife, subject to the supervision of Columbia Management, provides day-to-day management of a portion of the Fund’s portfolio, as well as investment research and statistical information, under a subadvisory agreement with Columbia Management. Manulife has been a registered investment adviser with the SEC since 1992. Manulife was organized in 1968 and provides asset management services to registered investment companies, institutional investors, and separately managed accounts.
TCW, which has served as Subadviser to the Fund since March 2017, is located at 865 South Figueroa Street, Suite 1800, Los Angeles, California 90017. TCW, subject to the supervision of Columbia Management, provides day-to-day management of a portion of the Fund’s portfolio, as well as investment research and statistical information, under a subadvisory agreement with Columbia Management. TCW is an independent registered investment adviser. TCW was organized in 1971 and provides a variety of investment management and investment advisory services.
Water Island, which has served as Subadviser to the Fund since March 2012, is located at 41 Madison Avenue, 42nd floor, New York, NY 10010. Water Island, subject to the supervision of Columbia Management, provides day-to-day management of a portion of the Fund’s portfolio, as well as investment research and statistical information, under a subadvisory agreement with Columbia Management. Water Island is an independent, employee-owned registered investment adviser. Water Island was organized in 2000 and provides investment management services to mutual funds, separately managed accounts, and unregistered investment companies such as pooled investment vehicles and hedge funds.
Portfolio Managers
Information about the portfolio managers primarily responsible for overseeing the Fund’s and the Subsidiaries' investments is shown below. The SAI provides additional information about the portfolio managers, including information relating to compensation, other accounts managed by the portfolio managers, and ownership by the portfolio managers of Fund shares.
| Prospectus 2021 | 45 |
Multi-Manager Alternative Strategies Fund
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
Subadviser:
AlphaSimplex Group, LLC (AlphaSimplex)
|
Portfolio Manager
|
Title
|
Role with Fund
|
Managed Fund Since
|
|||
| Alexander Healy, Ph.D. | Chief Investment Officer and Portfolio Manager of AlphaSimplex | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2018 | |||
| Kathryn Kaminski, Ph.D., CAIA | Chief Research Strategist and Portfolio Manager of AlphaSimplex | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2018 | |||
| Philippe Lüdi, Ph.D., CFA | Senior Research Scientist and Portfolio Manager of AlphaSimplex | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2018 | |||
| John Perry, Ph.D. | Senior Research Scientist and Portfolio Manager of AlphaSimplex | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2018 | |||
| Robert Rickard | Portfolio Manager of AlphaSimplex | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2018 |
Alexander Healy, Ph.D.
joined AlphaSimplex in 2007 and currently serves as Chief Investment Officer. Dr. Healy is responsible for the day-to-day supervision of the research team and the implementation of the firm’s investment strategies. Dr. Healy received an A.B. in Mathematics and Computer Science in 2002 and a Ph.D. in Theoretical Computer Science in 2007, both from Harvard University.
Kathryn Kaminski, Ph.D., CAIA
joined AlphaSimplex in 2018 and currently serves as Chief Research Strategist and Portfolio Manager, focusing on portfolio construction and risk management. Prior to joining AlphaSimplex, Dr. Kaminski was a visiting scientist at the MIT Laboratory for Financial Engineering and held portfolio management positions as a director, investment strategies at Campbell and Company and as a senior investment analyst at RPM, a CTA fund of funds. Dr. Kaminski received her B.S. in Electrical Engineering and Ph.D. in Operations Research from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Philippe Lüdi, Ph.D., CFA
joined AlphaSimplex in 2006 and currently serves as Senior Research Scientist, focusing on product and system engineering. Dr. Lüdi received the equivalent of an M.A. in Molecular and Computational Biology from the University of Basel in 2000, followed by an M.S. in Statistics in 2002 and a Ph.D. in Bioinformatics in 2006, both from Duke University.
John Perry, Ph.D.
joined AlphaSimplex in 2012 and currently serves as Senior Research Scientist, focusing on research and portfolio management. Dr. Perry received a B.S. in Computer Engineering from the University of Utah and an M.S. in Management and a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Robert Rickard
joined AlphaSimplex in 2015 and currently holds the position of Portfolio Manager. Mr. Rickard focuses on the management of short-term assets with AlphaSimplex’s products. Prior to joining AlphaSimplex, Mr. Rickard was at Reich & Tang. Mr. Rickard holds an M.B.A. in Finance from Pace University and a B.S. in Accounting from Siena College.
Subadviser:
AQR Capital Management, LLC (AQR)
|
Portfolio Manager
|
Title
|
Role with Fund
|
Managed Fund Since
|
|||
| Clifford Asness, Ph.D., M.B.A. | Portfolio Manager and Managing and Founding Principal of AQR | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2012 | |||
| John Liew, Ph.D., M.B.A. | Portfolio Manager and Founding Principal of AQR | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2012 | |||
| Yao Hua Ooi | Portfolio Manager and Principal of AQR | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2012 | |||
| Ari Levine, M.S. | Portfolio Manager and Principal of AQR | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2014 |
Clifford Asness, Ph.D., M.B.A.,
is the Managing and Founding Principal of AQR. Dr. Asness cofounded AQR in 1998 and serves as its chief investment officer. He earned a B.S. in economics from the Wharton School and a B.S. in engineering from the Moore School of Electrical Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania, as well as an M.B.A. and a Ph.D. in finance from the University of Chicago.
John Liew, Ph.D., M.B.A.,
is a Founding Principal of AQR. Dr. Liew cofounded AQR in 1998 where he oversees research and portfolio management and is a member of the firm’s Executive Committee. Dr. Liew earned a B.A. in economics, an M.B.A. and a Ph.D. in finance from the University of Chicago.
| 46 | Prospectus 2021 |
Multi-Manager Alternative Strategies Fund
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
Yao Hua Ooi
is a Principal of AQR. Mr. Ooi joined AQR in 2004 and is Head of the Macro and Multi-Strategy team. In this role, he leads the Research and Portfolio Management teams focused on the firm’s macro and multi-strategy funds. Mr. Ooi earned a B.S. in economics from the Wharton School and a B.S. in engineering from the School of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Pennsylvania.
Ari Levine, M.S.,
is a Principal of AQR. Mr. Levine joined AQR in 2007 and co-heads research and portfolio management efforts for AQR’s macro and multi-strategy funds. Mr. Levine earned a B.S. in finance and a B.S.E. and M.S.E. in electrical engineering from the University of Pennsylvania.
Subadviser:
Manulife Investment Management (US) LLC (Manulife)
|
Portfolio Manager
|
Title
|
Role with Fund
|
Managed Fund Since
|
|||
| Daniel Janis III | Senior Managing Director and Senior Portfolio Manager of Manulife | Lead Portfolio Manager | 2017 | |||
| Christopher Chapman, CFA | Managing Director and Portfolio Manager of Manulife | Portfolio Manager | 2017 | |||
| Thomas Goggins | Senior Managing Director and Senior Portfolio Manager of Manulife | Portfolio Manager | 2017 | |||
| Kisoo Park | Managing Director and Portfolio Manager of Manulife | Portfolio Manager | 2017 |
Mr. Janis
joined Manulife in 1999. Mr. Janis began his investment career in 1984 and earned an AB in Economics from Harvard University.
Mr. Chapman
joined Manulife in 2005. Mr. Chapman began his investment career in 1999 and earned a BSBA in Management from Stonehill College and MSF from Boston College.
Mr. Goggins
joined Manulife in 2009. Mr. Goggins began his investment career in 1989 and earned a BBA from the University of Wisconsin and MA in Finance from JL Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University.
Mr. Park
joined Manulife in 2011. Mr. Park began his investment career in 1986 and earned a BA in Economics from Tufts University and attended the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
Subadviser:
TCW Investment Management Company LLC (TCW)
|
Portfolio Manager
|
Title
|
Role with Fund
|
Managed Fund Since
|
|||
| Stephen Kane, CFA | Group Managing Director of TCW | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2017 | |||
| Laird Landmann | Co-Director of Fixed Income and Group Managing Director of TCW | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2017 | |||
| Tad Rivelle | Group Managing Director and Chief Investment Officer – Fixed Income of TCW since December 2009 | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2017 | |||
| Bryan Whalen, CFA | Group Managing Director of TCW | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2017 |
Mr. Kane
joined TCW in 2009 during the acquisition of Metropolitan West Asset Management, LLC (MetWest). Prior to joining TCW in December 2009, Mr. Kane was a portfolio manager and a founding partner with MetWest since 1996. Mr. Kane began his investment career in 1990 and earned a B.S. from the University of California, Berkeley and an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
Mr. Landmann
joined TCW in 2009 during the acquisition of MetWest. Prior to joining TCW in December 2009, Mr. Landmann was a portfolio manager and a founding partner with MetWest since 1996. Mr. Landmann began his investment career in 1986 and earned a B.S. from Dartmouth College and an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
Mr. Rivelle
joined TCW in 2009 during the acquisition of MetWest. Prior to joining TCW in December 2009, Mr. Rivelle was Chief Investment Officer, portfolio manager and a founding partner with MetWest since 1996. Mr. Rivelle began his investment career in 1986 and earned a B.S. from Yale University, a Master's Degree in applied mathematics from the University of Southern California and an M.B.A. from UCLA Anderson.
| Prospectus 2021 | 47 |
Multi-Manager Alternative Strategies Fund
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
Mr. Whalen
joined TCW in 2009 during the acquisition of MetWest. Prior to joining TCW in December 2009, Mr. Whalen was co-head of MetWest’s Securitized Products division. Mr. Whalen began his investment career in 1997 and earned a B.A. from Yale University.
Subadviser:
Water Island Capital, LLC (Water Island)
|
Portfolio Manager
|
Title
|
Role with Fund
|
Managed Fund Since
|
|||
| Edward Chen | Portfolio Manager of Water Island | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2014 | |||
| Roger Foltynowicz, CFA, CAIA | Portfolio Manager of Water Island | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2012 | |||
| Gregg Loprete | Portfolio Manager of Water Island | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2012 | |||
| Todd Munn | Portfolio Manager of Water Island | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2012 |
Mr. Chen
joined Water Island in 2013. Prior to joining Water Island, Mr. Chen was a Managing Director and Senior Event Driven Strategist for Jefferies LLC and an Event-Driven Analyst for Citigroup Global Markets, Inc. Mr. Chen began his investment career in 2006 and earned an M.B.A. from MIT Sloan School of Management and a B.S. from the University of Pennsylvania.
Mr. Foltynowicz
joined Water Island in 2003. Mr. Foltynowicz began his investment career in 2003 and earned a B.S. from Presbyterian College and an M.B.A. from Pace Graduate School of Business.
Mr. Loprete
joined Water Island in 2009. Prior to joining Water Island, Mr. Loprete worked at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods as a convertible and preferred trader. Mr. Loprete began his investment career in 1993 and earned a B.A. from the University of Delaware and an M.B.A. from New York University.
Mr. Munn
joined Water Island in 2003. Mr. Munn began his investment career in 1993 and earned a B.S. from Gettysburg College and an M.B.A. from Fordham Graduate School of Business.
The Distributor
Shares of the Fund are distributed by Columbia Management Investment Distributors, Inc., which is located at 225 Franklin Street, Boston, MA 02110. The Distributor is a registered broker-dealer and an indirect, wholly-owned subsidiary of Ameriprise Financial. The Distributor and its affiliates may pay commissions, distribution and service fees and/or other compensation to entities, including Ameriprise Financial affiliates, for selling shares and providing services to investors.
The Transfer Agent
Columbia Management Investment Services Corp. is a registered transfer agent and wholly-owned subsidiary of Ameriprise Financial. The Transfer Agent is located at 225 Franklin Street, Boston, MA 02110, and its responsibilities include processing purchases, redemptions and exchanges of Fund shares, calculating and paying distributions, maintaining shareholder records, preparing account statements and providing customer service. The Transfer Agent has engaged DST Asset Manager Solutions, Inc. to provide various shareholder or “sub-transfer agency” services. In addition, the Transfer Agent enters into agreements with various financial intermediaries through which you may hold Fund shares, pursuant to which the Transfer Agent pays these financial intermediaries for providing certain shareholder services. Depending on the type of account, the Fund pays the Transfer Agent a per account fee or a fee based on the assets invested through omnibus accounts, and reimburses the Transfer Agent for certain out-of-pocket expenses, including certain payments to financial intermediaries through which shares are held.
| 48 | Prospectus 2021 |
Multi-Manager Alternative Strategies Fund
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
Other Roles and Relationships of Ameriprise Financial and its Affiliates — Certain Conflicts of Interest
The Investment Manager, Distributor and Transfer Agent, all affiliates of Ameriprise Financial, provide various services to the Fund and other Columbia Funds for which they are compensated. Ameriprise Financial and its other affiliates may also provide other services to these funds and be compensated for them.
The Investment Manager and its affiliates may provide investment advisory and other services to other clients and customers substantially similar to those provided to the Columbia Funds. These activities, and other financial services activities of Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates, may present actual and potential conflicts of interest and introduce certain investment constraints.
Ameriprise Financial is a major financial services company, engaged in a broad range of financial activities beyond the fund-related activities of the Investment Manager, including, among others, insurance, broker-dealer (sales and trading), asset management, banking and other financial activities. These additional activities may involve multiple advisory, financial, insurance and other interests in securities and other instruments, and in companies that issue securities and other instruments, that may be bought, sold or held by the Columbia Funds.
Conflicts of interest and limitations that could affect a Columbia Fund may arise from, for example, the following:
| ■ | compensation and other benefits received by the Investment Manager and other Ameriprise Financial affiliates related to the management/administration of a Columbia Fund and the sale of its shares; |
| ■ | the allocation of, and competition for, investment opportunities among the Fund, other funds and accounts advised/managed by the Investment Manager and other Ameriprise Financial affiliates, or Ameriprise Financial itself and its affiliates; |
| ■ | separate and potentially divergent management of a Columbia Fund and other funds and accounts advised/managed by the Investment Manager and other Ameriprise Financial affiliates; |
| ■ | regulatory and other investment restrictions on investment activities of the Investment Manager and other Ameriprise Financial affiliates and accounts advised/managed by them; |
| ■ | insurance and other relationships of Ameriprise Financial affiliates with companies and other entities in which a Columbia Fund invests; and |
| ■ | regulatory and other restrictions relating to the sharing of information between Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates, including the Investment Manager, and a Columbia Fund. |
The Investment Manager and Ameriprise Financial have adopted various policies and procedures that are intended to identify, monitor and address conflicts of interest. However, there is no assurance that these policies, procedures and disclosures will be effective.
Additional information about Ameriprise Financial and the types of conflicts of interest and other matters referenced above is set forth in the
section of the SAI. Investors in the Columbia Funds should carefully review these disclosures and consult with their financial advisor if they have any questions.
Investment Management and Other Services — Other Roles and Relationships of Ameriprise Financial and its Affiliates — Certain Conflicts of Interest
Certain Legal Matters
Ameriprise Financial and certain of its affiliates have historically been involved in a number of legal, arbitration and regulatory proceedings, including routine litigation, class actions and governmental actions, concerning matters arising in connection with the conduct of their business activities. Ameriprise Financial believes that the Fund is not currently the subject of, and that neither Ameriprise Financial nor any of its affiliates are the subject of, any pending legal, arbitration or regulatory proceedings that are likely to have a material adverse effect on the Fund or the ability of Ameriprise Financial or its affiliates to perform under their contracts with the Fund. Information regarding certain pending and settled legal proceedings may be found in the Fund’s shareholder reports and in the SAI. Additionally,
| Prospectus 2021 | 49 |
Multi-Manager Alternative Strategies Fund
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
Ameriprise Financial is required to make quarterly (10-Q), annual (10-K) and, as necessary, 8-K filings with the SEC on legal and regulatory matters that relate to Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates. Copies of these filings may be obtained by accessing the SEC website at sec.gov.
About the Fund’s Wholly-Owned Subsidiary
The Fund may invest in one or more wholly-owned subsidiaries (for purposes of this section, referred to collectively as the Subsidiary). The Subsidiary is an exempted company organized under the laws of the Cayman Islands. The Fund will invest in the Subsidiary in order to gain exposure to the commodities markets within the limitations of Subchapter M of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, applicable to “regulated investment companies.” The Fund must invest no more than 25% of its total assets in the Subsidiary as of the end of each quarter of its taxable year.
The Subsidiary is overseen by its own board of directors. However, the Fund’s Board oversees investment activities of the Subsidiary generally as if the Subsidiary’s investments were held directly by the Fund. The Investment Manager is responsible for the Subsidiary’s day-to-day business pursuant to a separate management agreement, which includes investment advisory services and administrative services, between the Subsidiary and the Investment Manager. Under this agreement, the Investment Manager provides the Subsidiary with the same type of management services, under the same terms, as are provided to the Fund. The Subsidiary has entered into a separate contract for the provision of custody services with the same service provider who provides these services to the Fund. The Subsidiary will bear the fees and expenses incurred in connection with the management and custody services that it receives. The Fund expects that the expenses borne by the Subsidiary will not be material in relation to the value of the Fund’s assets.
In determining which investments should be bought and sold for the Subsidiary, and in adhering to the Fund’s compliance policies and procedures, the Investment Manager will treat the assets of the Subsidiary as if the assets were held directly by the Fund. The Investment Manager will, to the extent applicable, also treat the assets of the Subsidiary as if the assets were held directly by the Fund with respect to its adherence to the Fund’s investment policies and restrictions.
Please refer to the SAI for additional information about the organization and management of the Subsidiary.
| 50 | Prospectus 2021 |
Multi-Manager Alternative Strategies Fund
About Fund Shares
Description of the Share Classes
The Multi-Manager Strategies Funds, together with the other Columbia Funds, are referred to as the Funds.
Funds Contact Information
Additional information about the Funds, including sales charges and other class features and policies, can be obtained, free of charge, at columbiathreadneedleus.com,* by calling toll-free 800.345.6611, or by writing (regular mail) to Columbia Management Investment Services Corp., P.O. Box 219104, Kansas City, MO 64121-9104 or (express mail) Columbia Management Investment Services Corp., c/o DST Asset Manager Solutions, Inc., 430 W 7
th
Street, Ste 219104, Kansas City, MO 64105-1407.
| * | The website references in this prospectus are inactive links and information contained in or otherwise accessible through the referenced websites does not form a part of this prospectus. |
FUNDamentals
Financial Intermediaries
The term “financial intermediary” refers to the selling and servicing agents that are authorized to sell and/or service shares of the Funds. Financial intermediaries include broker-dealers and financial advisors as well as firms that employ broker-dealers and financial advisors, including, for example, brokerage firms, banks, investment advisers, third party administrators and other firms in the financial services industry.
Omnibus Accounts
The term “omnibus account” refers to a financial intermediary’s account with the Fund (held directly through the Transfer Agent) that represents the combined holdings of, and transactions in, Fund shares of one or more clients of the financial intermediary (beneficial Fund shareholders). Omnibus accounts are held in the name of the financial intermediaries and not in the name of the beneficial Fund shareholders invested in the Fund through omnibus accounts.
Retirement Plans and Omnibus Retirement Plans
The term “retirement plan” refers to retirement plans created under Sections 401(a), 401(k), 457 and 403(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the Code), and non-qualified deferred compensation plans governed by Section 409A of the Code and similar plans, but does not refer to individual retirement plans, such as traditional IRAs and Roth IRAs. The term “omnibus retirement plan” refers to a retirement plan that has a plan-level or omnibus account with the Transfer Agent.
Networked Accounts
Networking, offered by the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation’s Wealth Management Services (WMS), is the industry standard IT system for mutual fund account reconciliation and dividend processing.
Share Class Features
The following summarizes the primary features of Class Inst and Class Inst3 shares. Not all Multi-Manager Strategies Funds offer every class of shares. The Fund offers the class(es) of shares set forth on the cover of this prospectus and may offer other share classes through a separate prospectus. Contact your financial advisor or Columbia Funds for more information about the Fund’s shares.
|
Share Class
|
Eligible Investors & Minimum Initial Investments
(a)
|
Front-End Sales Charges
|
Contingent Deferred Sales Charges (CDSCs)
|
Conversion Features & Investment Limits
|
Maximum Distribution and/or Service Fees
|
|
Class
Inst |
Eligibility:
Available only through certain wrap fee programs sponsored and/or managed by Ameriprise Financial or its affiliates.
|
None | None | None | None |
| Prospectus 2021 | 51 |
Multi-Manager Alternative Strategies Fund
About Fund Shares
(continued)
|
Share Class
|
Eligible Investors & Minimum Initial Investments
(a)
|
Front-End Sales Charges
|
Contingent Deferred Sales Charges (CDSCs)
|
Conversion Features & Investment Limits
|
Maximum Distribution and/or Service Fees
|
|
Minimum Initial Investment:
$100
|
|||||
|
Class
Inst3 |
Eligibility
(b)
:
Available to (i) group retirement plans that maintain plan-level or omnibus accounts with the Fund; (ii) institutional investors that are clients of the Columbia Threadneedle Global Institutional Distribution Team that invest in Class Inst3 shares for their own account through platforms approved by the Distributor or an affiliate thereof to offer and/or service Class Inst3 shares within such platform; (iii) collective trust funds; (iv) affiliated or unaffiliated mutual funds (e.g., funds operating as funds-of-funds); (v) fee-based platforms of financial intermediaries (or the clearing intermediary they trade through) that have an agreement with the Distributor or an affiliate thereof that specifically authorizes the financial intermediary to offer and/or service Class Inst3 shares within such platform, provided also that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account; (vi) commissionable brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary, acting as broker on behalf of its customer, charges the customer a commission for effecting transactions in Fund shares, provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst3 shares within such platform and that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account; and (vii) bank trust departments, subject to an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst3 shares and provided that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account. In each case above where noted that Fund shares are required to be held in an omnibus account, the Distributor may, in its discretion, determine to waive this requirement.
No minimum for the eligible investors described in (i), (iii), (iv), (v), and (vii) above; $2,000 ($1,000 for IRAs; $100 for systematic investment plan accounts) for the eligible investors described in (vi) above; and $1 million for all other eligible investors, unless waived in the discretion of the Distributor
|
None | None | None | None |
| 52 | Prospectus 2021 |
Multi-Manager Alternative Strategies Fund
About Fund Shares
(continued)
| (a) |
See
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares — Buying Shares
|
| (b) | Currently, Class Inst3 shares of the Multi-Manager Strategies Funds are offered only to group retirement plan recordkeeping platforms that have an agreement with (i) the Distributor or an affiliate thereof that specifically authorizes the group retirement plan recordkeeper to offer and/or service Class Inst3 shares within such platform, provided also that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account and (ii) Wilshire Associates, appointed or serving as investment manager or consultant to the recordkeeper’s group retirement plan platform. There is no minimum initial investment for such accounts. |
Distribution and Service Fees
The Board has approved, and the Multi-Manager Strategies Funds have adopted, distribution and/or shareholder service plans which set the distribution and/or service fees that are periodically deducted from the Funds’ assets. These fees are calculated daily, may vary by share class and are intended to compensate the Distributor and/or eligible financial intermediaries for, with regard to distribution fees, selling Fund shares and, with regard to service fees, directly or indirectly providing services to shareholders. Because the fees are paid out of the Fund's assets on an ongoing basis, they will increase the cost of your investment over time. The table below shows the maximum annual distribution and/or service fees (as an annual percentage of average daily net assets) and the combined amount of such fees applicable to each class of shares:
If you maintain shares of the Fund directly with the Fund, without working with a financial advisor or other financial intermediary, distribution and service fees may be retained by the Distributor as payment or reimbursement for incurring certain distribution and shareholder service related expenses.
Over time, these distribution and/or service fees will reduce the return on your investment and may cost you more than paying other types of sales charges. The Fund will pay these fees to the Distributor and/or to eligible financial intermediaries for as long as the distribution plan and/or shareholder servicing plans continue in effect, which is expected to be indefinitely. However, the Fund may reduce or discontinue payments at any time. Your financial intermediary may also charge you other additional fees for providing services to your account, which may be different from those described here.
Financial Intermediary Compensation
The Distributor, the Investment Manager and their affiliates make payments, from their own resources, to financial intermediaries, including other Ameriprise Financial affiliates, for marketing/sales support services relating to the Funds (Marketing Support Payments). Such payments are generally based upon one or more of the following factors: average net assets of the Funds attributable to that financial intermediary; gross sales of the Funds attributable to that financial intermediary; reimbursement of ticket charges (fees that a financial intermediary charges its representatives for effecting transactions in Fund shares); or a negotiated lump sum payment. While the financial arrangements may vary for each financial intermediary, Marketing Support Payments to any one financial intermediary are generally between 0.05% and 0.40% on an annual basis for payments based on average net assets of the Fund attributable to the financial intermediary, and between 0.05% and 0.25% on an annual basis for firms receiving a payment based on gross sales of the Funds attributable to the financial intermediary. The Distributor, the Investment Manager and their affiliates may at times make payments with respect to a Fund or the Columbia Funds generally on a basis other than those described above, or in larger amounts, when dealing with certain financial intermediaries. Not all financial intermediaries receive Marketing Support Payments. The Distributor, the Investment Manager and their affiliates do not make Marketing Support Payments with respect to Class Inst3 shares.
In addition, the Transfer Agent has certain arrangements in place to compensate financial intermediaries, including other Ameriprise Financial affiliates, that hold Fund shares through networked and omnibus accounts, including omnibus retirement plans, for services that they provide to beneficial Fund shareholders (Shareholder Services). Shareholder Services and related fees vary by financial intermediary and according to distribution channel and may
| Prospectus 2021 | 53 |
Multi-Manager Alternative Strategies Fund
About Fund Shares
(continued)
include sub-accounting, sub-transfer agency, participant recordkeeping, shareholder or participant reporting, shareholder or participant transaction processing, maintenance of shareholder records, preparation of account statements and provision of customer service, and are not intended to include services that are primarily intended to result in the sale of Fund shares. Payments for Shareholder Services generally are not expected, with certain limited exceptions, to exceed 0.40% of the average aggregate value of the Fund’s shares. Generally, each Fund pays the Transfer Agent a per account fee or a percentage of the average aggregate value of shares per annum maintained in omnibus accounts up to the lesser of the amount charged by the financial intermediary or a channel-specific or share class-specific cap established by the Board from time to time. Fee amounts in excess of the amount paid by the Fund are borne by the Transfer Agent, the Investment Manager and/or their affiliates. For Class Inst3 shares, the Transfer Agent does not pay financial intermediaries for Shareholder Services, except that for Class Inst3 shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund (formerly an unnamed share class of the Fund), the Transfer Agent makes Shareholder Services payments to a financial intermediary through which shares of this class were held (under its former unnamed share class name) as of November 30, 2018, and the Fund does not compensate the Transfer Agent for any Shareholder Services provided by financial intermediaries.
In addition to the payments described above, the Distributor, the Investment Manager and their affiliates typically make other payments or allow promotional incentives to certain broker-dealers to the extent permitted by the Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) rules and by other applicable laws and regulations.
Amounts paid by the Distributor, the Investment Manager and their affiliates are paid out of their own resources and do not increase the amount paid by you or the Fund. You can find further details in the SAI about the payments made by the Distributor, the Investment Manager and their affiliates, as well as a list of the financial intermediaries, including Ameriprise Financial affiliates, to which the Distributor, the Investment Manager or their affiliates have agreed to make Marketing Support Payments and pay Shareholder Services fees.
Your financial intermediary may charge you fees and commissions in addition to those described in this prospectus. You should consult with your financial intermediary and review carefully any disclosure your financial intermediary provides regarding its services and compensation. Depending on the financial arrangement in place at any particular time, a financial intermediary and its financial advisors may have a conflict of interest or financial incentive for recommending the Fund or a particular share class over others.
| 54 | Prospectus 2021 |
Multi-Manager Alternative Strategies Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
Share Price Determination
The price you pay or receive when you buy, sell or exchange shares is the Fund's next determined net asset value (or NAV) per share. The Fund calculates the NAV per share at the end of each business day, with the value of the Fund's shares based on the total value of all of the securities and other assets that it holds as of a specified time.
FUNDamentals
NAV Calculation
The Fund calculates its NAV per share as follows:
NAV per share =
(Value of assets of the share class) – (Liabilities of the share class)
Number of outstanding shares of the class
FUNDamentals
Business Days
A business day is any day that the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is open. A business day typically ends at the close of regular trading on the NYSE, usually at 4:00 p.m. Eastern time. If the NYSE is scheduled to close early, the business day will be considered to end as of the time of the NYSE’s scheduled close. The Fund will not treat an intraday unscheduled disruption in NYSE trading or an intraday unscheduled closing as a close of regular trading on the NYSE for these purposes and will price its shares as of the regularly scheduled closing time for that day (typically, 4:00 p.m. Eastern time). Notwithstanding the foregoing, the NAV of Fund shares may be determined at such other time or times (in addition to or in lieu of the time set forth above) as the Fund’s Board may approve or ratify. On holidays and other days when the NYSE is closed, the Fund’s NAV is not calculated and the Fund does not accept buy or sell orders. However, the value of the Fund’s assets may still be affected on such days to the extent that the Fund holds foreign securities that trade on days that foreign securities markets are open.
Equity securities are valued primarily on the basis of market quotations reported on stock exchanges and other securities markets around the world. If an equity security is listed on a national exchange, the security is valued at the closing price or, if the closing price is not readily available, the mean of the closing bid and asked prices. Certain equity securities, debt securities and other assets are valued differently. For instance, bank loans trading in the secondary market are valued primarily on the basis of indicative bids, fixed income investments maturing in 60 days or less are valued primarily using the amortized cost method, unless this methodology results in a valuation that does not approximate the market value of these securities, and those maturing in excess of 60 days are valued primarily using a market-based price obtained from a pricing service, if available. Investments in other open-end funds are valued at their published NAVs. Both market quotations and indicative bids are obtained from outside pricing services approved and monitored pursuant to a policy approved by the Fund's Board.
If a market price is not readily available or is deemed not to reflect market value, the Fund will determine the price of a portfolio security based on a determination of the security's fair value pursuant to a policy approved by the Fund’s Board. In addition, the Fund may use fair valuation to price securities that trade on a foreign exchange when a significant event has occurred after the foreign exchange closes but before the time at which the Fund’s share price is calculated. Foreign exchanges typically close before the time at which Fund share prices are calculated, and may be closed altogether on days when the Fund is open. Such significant events affecting a foreign security may include, but are not limited to: (1) corporate actions, earnings announcements, litigation or other events impacting a single issuer; (2) governmental action that affects securities in one sector or country; (3) natural disasters or armed conflicts affecting a country or region; or (4) significant domestic or foreign market fluctuations. The Fund uses various criteria, including an evaluation of U.S. market moves after the close of foreign markets, in determining whether a foreign security's market price is readily available and reflective of market value and, if not, the fair value
| Prospectus 2021 | 55 |
Multi-Manager Alternative Strategies Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
of the security. To the extent the Fund has significant holdings of small cap stocks, high-yield bonds, floating rate loans, or tax-exempt, foreign or other securities that may trade infrequently, fair valuation may be used more frequently than for other funds.
Fair valuation may have the effect of reducing stale pricing arbitrage opportunities presented by the pricing of Fund shares. However, when the Fund uses fair valuation to price securities, it may value those securities higher or lower than another fund would have priced the security. Also, the use of fair valuation may cause the Fund's performance to diverge to a greater degree from the performance of various benchmarks used to compare the Fund's performance because benchmarks generally do not use fair valuation techniques. Because of the judgment involved in fair valuation decisions, there can be no assurance that the value ascribed to a particular security is accurate. The Fund has retained one or more independent fair valuation pricing services to assist in the fair valuation process for foreign securities.
Transaction Rules and Policies
The Fund, the Distributor or the Transfer Agent may refuse any order to buy or exchange shares. If this happens, the Fund will return any money it received, but no interest will be paid on that money. Your financial intermediary may have rules and policies in place that are in addition to or different than those described below.
Order Processing
Orders to buy, sell or exchange Fund shares are processed on business days. Orders can be made by mail, by telephone or online. Orders received in “good form” by the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary before the end of a business day are priced at the NAV per share (plus any applicable sales charge) of the Fund's applicable share class on that day. Orders received after the end of a business day will receive the next business day's NAV per share (plus any applicable sales charge). For Direct-at-Fund Accounts (i.e., accounts established directly with the Fund), when a written order to buy, sell or exchange shares is sent to the Transfer Agent, the share price used to fill the order is the next price calculated by the Fund after the Transfer Agent receives the transaction request in “good form” at its transaction processing center (i.e., the Fund’s express mail address), not the P.O. Box provided for regular mail delivery. The market value of the Fund's investments may change between the time you submit your order and the time the Fund next calculates its NAV per share. The business day that applies to your order is also called the trade date.
“Good Form”
An order is in “good form” if the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary has received payment (in the case of purchases) and all of the information and documentation it deems necessary to effect your order. For example, when you sell shares, “good form” means that your request (i) has complete instructions and written requests include the signatures of all account owners, (ii) is for an amount that is less than or equal to the shares in your account for which payment has been received and collected, (iii) has a Medallion Signature Guarantee for amounts greater than $100,000 and certain other transactions, as described below, and (iv) includes any other required documents completed and attached. For the documents required for sales by corporations, agents, fiduciaries, surviving joint owners and other legal entities, call 800.345.6611.
Medallion Signature Guarantees
The Transfer Agent may require a Medallion Signature Guarantee for your signature in order to process certain transactions, including if: (i) the transaction amount is over $100,000; (ii) you want your check made payable to someone other than the registered account owner(s); (iii) the address of record has changed within the last 30 days; (iv) you want the check mailed to an address other than the address of record; (v) you want proceeds to be sent according to existing bank account instructions not coded for outgoing Automated Clearing House (ACH) or wire, or to a bank account not on file; or (vi) you are changing legal ownership of your account.
A Medallion Signature Guarantee helps assure that a signature is genuine and not a forgery. A Medallion Signature Guarantee must be provided by an eligible guarantor institution including, but not limited to, the following: a bank, credit union, savings association, broker or dealer that participates in the Securities Transfer Association Medallion Program (STAMP), the Stock Exchange Medallion Program (SEMP) or the New York Stock Exchange Medallion
| 56 | Prospectus 2021 |
Multi-Manager Alternative Strategies Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
Signature Program (MSP). For other transactions, the Transfer Agent may require a signature guarantee. Notarization by a notary public is not an acceptable signature guarantee. The Transfer Agent reserves the right to reject a signature guarantee and to request additional documentation for any transaction.
Customer Identification Program
Federal law requires the Fund to obtain and record specific personal information to verify your identity when you open an account. This information may include your name, address, date of birth (for individuals) and taxpayer or other government issued identification (e.g., social security number (SSN) or other taxpayer identification number (TIN)). If you fail to provide the requested information, the Fund may need to delay the date of your purchase or may be unable to open your account, which may result in a return of your investment monies. In addition, if the Fund is unable to verify your identity after your account is open, the Fund reserves the right to close your account or take other steps as deemed reasonable. The Fund will not be liable for any loss resulting from any purchase delay, application rejection or account closure due to a failure to provide proper identifying information.
Small Account Policy — Financial Intermediary Networked and Wrap Fee Accounts
The Funds may automatically redeem, at any time, financial intermediary networked accounts and wrap fee accounts that have account balances of $20 or less or have less than one share.
For shares purchased and held for your benefit through a financial intermediary, the Funds may instruct the intermediary to automatically sell your Fund shares if the transaction can be operationally administered by the intermediary.
Information Sharing Agreements
As required by Rule 22c-2 under the 1940 Act, the Funds or certain of their service providers will enter into information sharing agreements with financial intermediaries, including participating life insurance companies and financial intermediaries that sponsor or offer retirement plans through which shares of the Funds are made available for purchase. Pursuant to Rule 22c-2, financial intermediaries are required, upon request, to: (i) provide shareholder account and transaction information; and (ii) execute instructions from the Fund to restrict or prohibit further purchases of Fund shares by shareholders who have been identified by the Fund as having engaged in transactions that violate the Fund's excessive trading policies and procedures.
Excessive Trading Practices Policy
Right to Reject or Restrict Share Transaction Orders—
The Fund is intended for investors with long-term investment purposes and is not intended as a vehicle for frequent trading activity (market timing) that is excessive. Investors should transact in Fund shares primarily for investment purposes. The Board has adopted excessive trading policies and procedures that are designed to deter excessive trading by investors (the Excessive Trading Policies and Procedures).
The Fund discourages and does not accommodate excessive trading.
The Fund reserves the right to reject, without any prior notice, any purchase or exchange order for any reason, and will not be liable for any loss resulting from rejected orders. For example, the Fund may in its sole discretion restrict or reject a purchase or exchange order even if the transaction is not subject to the specific limitation described below if the Fund or its agents determine that accepting the order could interfere with efficient management of the Fund's portfolio or is otherwise contrary to the Fund's best interests. The Excessive Trading Policies and Procedures apply equally to purchase or exchange transactions communicated directly to the Transfer Agent and to those received by financial intermediaries.
Specific Buying and Exchanging Limitations
— If a Fund detects that an investor has made two “material round trips” in any 28-day period, it will generally reject the investor's future purchase orders, including exchange purchase orders, involving any Fund.
For these purposes, a “round trip” is a purchase or exchange into the Fund followed by a sale or exchange out of the Fund, or a sale or exchange out of the Fund followed by a purchase or exchange into the Fund. A “material” round trip is one that is deemed by the Fund to be material in terms of its amount or its potential detrimental impact on the Fund. Independent of this limit, the Fund may, in its sole discretion, reject future purchase orders by any person, group or account that appears to have engaged in any type of excessive trading activity.
| Prospectus 2021 | 57 |
Multi-Manager Alternative Strategies Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
These limits generally do not apply to automated transactions or transactions by registered investment companies in a “fund-of-funds” structure. These limits do not apply to payroll deduction contributions by retirement plan participants, transactions initiated by a retirement plan sponsor or certain other retirement plan transactions consisting of rollover transactions, loan repayments and disbursements, and required minimum distribution redemptions. They may be modified or rescinded for accounts held by certain retirement plans to conform to plan limits, for considerations relating to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 or regulations of the Department of Labor, and for certain asset allocation or wrap programs. Accounts known to be under common ownership or control generally will be counted together, but accounts maintained or managed by a common intermediary generally will not be considered to be under common ownership or control. The Fund retains the right to modify these restrictions at any time without prior notice to shareholders. In addition, the Fund may, in its sole discretion, reinstate trading privileges that have been revoked under the Fund's Excessive Trading Policies and Procedures.
Limitations on the Ability to Detect and Prevent Excessive Trading Practices—
The Fund takes various steps designed to detect and prevent excessive trading, including daily review of available shareholder transaction information. However, the Fund receives buy, sell or exchange orders through financial intermediaries, and cannot always know of or reasonably detect excessive trading that may be facilitated by financial intermediaries or by the use of the omnibus account arrangements they offer. Omnibus account arrangements are common forms of holding shares of mutual funds, particularly among certain financial intermediaries such as broker-dealers, retirement plans and variable insurance products. These arrangements often permit financial intermediaries to aggregate their clients' transactions and accounts, and in these circumstances, the identities of the financial intermediary clients that beneficially own Fund shares are often not known to the Fund.
Some financial intermediaries apply their own restrictions or policies to their clients’ transactions and accounts, which may be more or less restrictive than those described here. This may impact the Fund's ability to curtail excessive trading, even where it is identified. For these and other reasons, it is possible that excessive trading may occur despite the Fund's efforts to detect and prevent it.
Although these restrictions and policies involve judgments that are inherently subjective and may involve some selectivity in their application, the Fund seeks to act in a manner that it believes is consistent with the best interests of Fund shareholders in making any such judgments.
Risks of Excessive Trading —
Excessive trading creates certain risks to the Fund's long-term shareholders and may create the following adverse effects:
| ■ | negative impact on the Fund's performance; |
| ■ | potential dilution of the value of the Fund's shares; |
| ■ | interference with the efficient management of the Fund's portfolio, such as the need to maintain undesirably large cash positions, the need to use its line of credit or the need to buy or sell securities it otherwise would not have bought or sold; |
| ■ | losses on the sale of investments resulting from the need to sell securities at less favorable prices; |
| ■ | increased taxable gains to the Fund's remaining shareholders resulting from the need to sell securities to meet sell orders; and |
| ■ | increased brokerage and administrative costs. |
To the extent that the Fund invests significantly in foreign securities traded on markets that close before the Fund's valuation time, it may be particularly susceptible to dilution as a result of excessive trading. Because events may occur after the close of foreign markets and before the Fund's valuation time that influence the value of foreign securities, investors may seek to trade Fund shares in an effort to benefit from their understanding of the value of foreign securities as of the Fund's valuation time. This is often referred to as price arbitrage. The Fund has adopted procedures designed to adjust closing market prices of foreign securities under certain circumstances to reflect what the Fund believes to be the fair value of those securities as of its valuation time. To the extent the adjustments do not work fully, investors engaging in price arbitrage may cause dilution in the value of the Fund's shares held by other shareholders.
| 58 | Prospectus 2021 |
Multi-Manager Alternative Strategies Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
Similarly, to the extent that the Fund invests significantly in thinly traded securities and other debt instruments that are rated below investment grade (commonly called “high-yield” or “junk” bonds), equity securities of small-capitalization companies, floating rate loans, or tax-exempt or other securities that may trade infrequently, because
these securities are often traded infrequently, investors may seek to trade Fund shares in an effort to benefit from their understanding of the value of these securities as of the Fund's valuation time. This is also a type of price arbitrage. Any such frequent trading strategies may interfere with efficient management of the Fund's portfolio to a greater degree than would be the case for mutual funds that invest only, or significantly, in highly liquid securities, in part because the Fund may have difficulty selling these particular investments at advantageous times or prices to satisfy large and/or frequent sell orders. Any successful price arbitrage may also cause dilution in the value of Fund shares held by non-redeeming shareholders. The risks of excessive trading described above also apply to any underlying funds in which the Fund invests.
Opening an Account and Placing Orders
We encourage you to consult with a financial advisor who can help you with your investment decisions and who can help you open an account. Once you have an account, you can buy, sell or exchange shares by contacting your financial advisor who will send your order to the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary. As described below, once you have an account you can also communicate your orders directly to the Transfer Agent by mail, by telephone or online.
The Funds are generally available directly and through broker-dealers, banks and other financial intermediaries or institutions, and through certain qualified and non-qualified plans, wrap fee products or other investment products sponsored by financial intermediaries. You may buy, sell, or exchange shares through your financial intermediary. If you maintain your account directly with your financial intermediary, you must contact that agent to process your transaction.
Not all financial intermediaries offer the Funds (or all classes of Fund shares) and certain financial intermediaries that offer the Funds may not offer all Funds on all investment platforms or programs.
Please consult with your financial intermediary to determine the availability of the Funds. If you set up an account at a financial intermediary that does not have, and is unable to obtain, a selling agreement with the Distributor, you will not be able to transfer Fund holdings to that account. In that event, you must either maintain your Fund holdings with your current financial intermediary or find another financial intermediary with a selling agreement.
Financial intermediaries that offer the Funds may charge you additional fees for the services they provide and they may have different policies that are not described in this prospectus.
An investor transacting in a class of Fund shares without any front-end sales charge, CDSC, or other asset-based fee for sales or distribution, such as a Rule 12b-1 fee, may be required to pay a commission to the financial intermediary for effecting such transactions. The Funds are offered in a number of different share classes that have different fees and expenses and other features. Some differences in the policies of different financial intermediaries may include different minimum investment amounts, exchange privileges, Fund/class choices and cutoff times for investments. Additionally, recordkeeping, transaction processing and payments of distributions relating to your account may be performed by the financial intermediaries through which your shares of the Fund are held. Since the Fund (and its service providers) may not have a record of your account transactions, you should always contact the financial intermediary through which you purchased or at which you maintain your shares of the Fund to make changes to your account, to give instructions concerning your account, or to obtain information about your account. The Fund and its service providers, including the Distributor and the Transfer Agent, are not responsible for the failure of any financial intermediary to carry out its obligations to its customers.
The Fund may engage financial intermediaries to receive purchase, exchange and sell orders on its behalf. Accounts established directly with the Fund will be serviced by the Transfer Agent. The Funds, the Transfer Agent and the Distributor do not provide investment advice.
| Prospectus 2021 | 59 |
Multi-Manager Alternative Strategies Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
Buying Shares
Eligible Investors
Class Inst Shares
Class Inst shares are offered only through certain wrap fee programs sponsored and/or managed by Ameriprise Financial or its affiliates.
Class Inst3 Shares
Class Inst3 shares are available to: (i) group retirement plans that maintain plan-level or omnibus accounts with the Fund (through the Transfer Agent); (ii) institutional investors that are clients of the Columbia Threadneedle Global Institutional Distribution Team that invest in Class Inst3 shares for their own account through platforms approved by the Distributor or an affiliate thereof to offer and/or service Class Inst3 shares within such platform; (iii) collective trust funds; (iv) affiliated or unaffiliated mutual funds (e.g., funds operating as funds-of-funds); (v) fee-based platforms of financial intermediaries (or the clearing intermediary that they trade through) that have an agreement with the Distributor or an affiliate thereof that specifically authorizes the financial intermediary to offer and/or service Class Inst3 shares within such platform, provided also that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account; (vi) commissionable brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary, acting as broker on behalf of its customer, charges the customer a commission for effecting transactions in Fund shares, provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst3 shares within such platform and that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account; and (vii) bank trust departments, subject to an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst3 shares and provided that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account. In each case above where noted that Fund shares are required to be held in an omnibus account, the Distributor may, in its discretion, determine to waive this requirement.
Currently, Class Inst3 shares of the Multi-Manager Strategies Funds are offered only to group retirement plan recordkeeping platforms that have an agreement with (i) the Distributor or an affiliate thereof that specifically authorizes the group retirement plan recordkeeper to offer and/or service Class Inst3 shares within such platform, provided also that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account and (ii) Wilshire Associates, appointed or serving as investment manager or consultant to the recordkeeper’s group retirement plan platform. The Fund does not currently offer Class Inst3 shares.
Minimum Initial Investments and Account Balances
The minimum initial investment for Class Inst shares is $100, and there is no minimum initial investment for Class Inst3 shares. There is no minimum additional investment amount for these share classes.
For Class Inst: If you no longer hold or invest Fund shares through a wrap account (i.e., you “unwrap” your Ameriprise wrap account), you may continue to hold, but not purchase additional shares of, the Multi-Manager Strategies Funds. However, if you transfer your account to another financial intermediary, your holdings in Multi-Manager Strategies Funds are not transferable; you may liquidate your Multi-Manager Strategies Fund holdings or continue to hold them in your Ameriprise brokerage account.
For Class Inst3: If you transfer your account to another financial intermediary, you may continue to hold, but not purchase additional shares of, the Multi-Manager Strategies Funds.
Please refer to the
s —
section above for information on the Fund’s Small Account Policy. Each Multi-Manager Strategies Fund reserves the right to modify its minimum investment and related requirements at any time, with or without prior notice.
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Share
Transaction Rules and Policies
Other Purchase Rules You Should Know
| ■ | Once the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary receives your buy order in “good form,” your purchase will be made at the next calculated public offering price per share, which is the net asset value per share plus any sales charge that applies (i.e., the trade date). |
| ■ | Once the Fund receives your purchase request in “good form,” you cannot cancel it after the market closes. |
| 60 | Prospectus 2021 |
Multi-Manager Alternative Strategies Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
| ■ | You generally buy shares of Multi-Manager Strategies Funds at NAV per share because no front-end sales charge applies to purchases of shares of Multi-Manager Strategies Funds. |
| ■ | The Distributor and the Transfer Agent reserve the right to cancel your order request if the Fund does not receive payment within two business days of receiving your purchase order request. The Fund will return any payment received for orders that have been cancelled, but no interest will be paid on that money. |
| ■ | Financial intermediaries are responsible for sending your purchase orders to the Transfer Agent and ensuring that the Fund receives your money on time. |
| ■ | Shares purchased are recorded on the books of the Fund. The Fund does not issue certificates. |
Selling Shares
When you sell shares, the amount you receive may be more or less than the amount you invested. Your sale price will be the next NAV calculated after your request is received in “good form” (i.e., the trade date).
Multi-Manager Strategies Funds are sold only through certain wrap fee programs sponsored and/or managed by Ameriprise Financial or its affiliates, and to group retirement plan recordkeeping platforms that have an agreement with (i) the Distributor or an affiliate thereof that specifically authorizes the group retirement plan recordkeeper to offer and/or service Class Inst3 shares within such platform, provided also that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account and (ii) Wilshire Associates, appointed or serving as investment manager or consultant to the recordkeeper’s group retirement plan platform. The Fund does not currently offer Class Inst3 shares. For detailed rules regarding the sale of shares of these Funds, contact your financial intermediary.
Satisfying Fund Redemption Requests
When you sell your Fund shares, the Fund is effectively buying them back from you. This is called a redemption. Except as noted below with respect to newly purchased shares, the Fund typically expects to send you payment for your shares within two business days after your trade date for all methods of payment. The Fund can suspend redemptions and/or delay payment of redemption proceeds for up to seven days. The Fund can also suspend redemptions and/or delay payment of redemption proceeds in excess of seven days under certain circumstances, including when the NYSE is closed or trading thereon is restricted or during emergency or other circumstances, including as determined by the SEC.
The Fund typically seeks to satisfy redemption requests from cash or cash equivalents held by the Fund, from the proceeds of orders to purchase Fund shares or from the proceeds of sales of Fund holdings effected in the normal course of managing the Fund. However, the Fund may have to sell Fund holdings, including in down markets, to meet heavier than usual redemption requests. For example, under stressed or abnormal market conditions or circumstances, including circumstances adversely affecting the liquidity of the Fund’s investments, the Fund may be more likely to be forced to sell Fund holdings to meet redemptions than under normal market circumstances. In these situations, the Fund’s portfolio managers may have to sell Fund holdings that would not otherwise be sold because, among other reasons, the current price to be received is less than the value of the holdings perceived by the Fund’s portfolio managers. The Fund may also, under certain circumstances (but more likely under stressed or abnormal market conditions or circumstances), borrow money under a credit facility to which the Fund and certain other Columbia Funds are parties or from other Columbia Funds under an interfund lending program (except for closed-end funds and money market funds, which are not eligible to borrow under the program). The Fund and the other Columbia Funds are limited as to the amount that each may individually and collectively borrow under the credit facility and the interfund lending program. As a result, borrowings available to the Fund under the credit facility and the interfund lending program might be insufficient, alone or in combination with the other strategies described herein, to satisfy Fund redemption requests. Please see
in the SAI for more information about the credit facility and interfund lending program. The Fund is also limited in the total amount it may borrow. The Fund may only borrow to the extent permitted by the 1940 Act, the rules and regulations thereunder, and any exemptive relief available to the Fund, which currently limit Fund borrowings to 33
About Fund Investments – Borrowings – Interfund Lending
| Prospectus 2021 | 61 |
Multi-Manager Alternative Strategies Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
1/3% of total assets (including any amounts borrowed) less liabilities (other than borrowings), plus an additional 5% of its total assets for temporary purposes (to be repaid within 60 days without extension or renewal), in each case determined at the time the borrowing is made.
In addition, the Fund reserves the right to honor redemption orders in whole or in part with in-kind distributions of Fund portfolio securities instead of cash. Such in-kind distributions typically represent a pro-rata portion of Fund portfolio assets subject to adjustments (e.g., for non-transferable securities, round lots, and derivatives). In the event the Fund distributes portfolio securities in kind, you may incur brokerage and other transaction costs associated with converting the portfolio securities you receive into cash. Also, the portfolio securities you receive may increase or decrease in value after they are distributed but before you convert them into cash. For U.S. federal income tax purposes, redemptions paid in securities are generally treated the same as redemptions paid in cash. If, during any 90-day period, you redeem shares in an amount greater than $250,000 or 1% of the Fund’s net assets (whichever is less), and if the Investment Manager determines it to be feasible and appropriate, the Fund may pay the redemption amount above such threshold by an in-kind distribution of Fund portfolio securities.
While the Fund is not required (and may refuse in its discretion) to pay a redemption with an in-kind distribution of Fund portfolio securities and reserves the right to pay the redemption proceeds in cash, if you wish to request an in-kind redemption, please call the Transfer Agent at 800.345.6611. As a result of the operational steps needed to coordinate with the redeeming shareholder’s custodian, in-kind redemptions typically take several weeks to complete after a redemption request is received. The Fund and the redeeming shareholder will typically agree upon a redemption date. Since the Fund’s NAV may fluctuate during this time, the Fund’s NAV may be lower on the agreed-upon redemption date than on an earlier date on which the investment could have been redeemed for cash.
Redemption of Newly Purchased Shares
You may not redeem shares for which the Fund has not yet received payment. Shares purchased by check or electronically by ACH when the purchase payment is not guaranteed will be considered in “good form” for redemption only after they have been held in your account for 6 calendar days after the trade date of the purchase (Collected Shares). If you request a redemption for an amount that, based on the NAV next calculated after your redemption request is received, includes any shares that are not yet Collected Shares, the Fund will only process the redemption up to the amount of the value of Collected Shares available in your account. You must submit a new redemption request if you wish to redeem those shares that were not yet Collected Shares at the time the original redemption request was received by the Fund.
Other Redemption Rules You Should Know
| ■ | Once the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary receives your redemption order in “good form,” your shares will be sold at the next calculated NAV per share (i.e., the trade date). |
| ■ | Once the Fund receives your redemption request in “good form,” you cannot cancel it after the market closes. |
| ■ | If you sell your shares that are held in a Direct-at-Fund Account, we will normally send the redemption proceeds by mail or electronically transfer them to your bank account the next business day after the trade date. Note that your bank may take up to three business days to post an electronic funds transfer from your account. |
| ■ | If you sell your shares through a financial intermediary, the Funds will normally send the redemption proceeds to your financial intermediary within two business days after the trade date. |
| ■ | No interest will be paid on uncashed redemption checks. |
| ■ | Other restrictions may apply to retirement accounts. For information about these restrictions, contact your retirement plan administrator. |
| ■ | For broker-dealer and wrap fee accounts: The Fund reserves the right to redeem your shares if your account falls below the Fund's minimum initial investment requirement. The Fund will notify your broker-dealer prior to redeeming shares, and will provide details on how to avoid such redemption. |
| ■ |
Also keep in mind the Funds' Small Account Policy, which is described above in
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares — Transaction Rules and Policies.
|
| 62 | Prospectus 2021 |
Multi-Manager Alternative Strategies Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
Exchanging Shares
You can generally sell shares of your Multi-Manager Strategies Fund to buy shares of another Multi-Manager Strategies Fund, in what is called an exchange. You should read the prospectus of, and make sure you understand the investment objective, principal investment strategies, risks, fees and expenses of, the Fund into which you are exchanging.
Please contact your financial intermediary for more information.
Other Exchange Rules You Should Know
| ■ | Exchanges are made at the NAV next calculated after your exchange order is received in “good form” (i.e., the trade date). |
| ■ | Once the Fund receives your exchange request in “good form,” you cannot cancel it after the market closes. |
| ■ | The rules for buying shares of a Fund generally apply to exchanges into that Fund, including, if your exchange creates a new Fund account, it must satisfy the minimum investment amount, unless a waiver applies. |
| ■ | Shares of the purchased Fund may not be used on the same day for another exchange or sale. |
| ■ | You may make exchanges only into a Fund that is legally offered and sold in your state of residence. Contact the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary for more information. |
| ■ | You generally may make an exchange only into a Fund that is accepting investments. |
| ■ | The Fund may change or cancel your right to make an exchange by giving the amount of notice required by regulatory authorities (generally 60 days for a material change or cancellation). |
| ■ | Unless your account is part of a tax-advantaged arrangement, an exchange for shares of another Fund is a taxable event, and you may recognize a gain or loss for tax purposes. |
| ■ | You may only exchange Class Inst shares and Class Inst3 shares of a Multi-Manager Strategies Fund for the same class of shares of another Multi-Manager Strategies Fund. |
| Prospectus 2021 | 63 |
Multi-Manager Alternative Strategies Fund
Distributions and Taxes
Distributions to Shareholders
A mutual fund can make money two ways:
| ■ | It can earn income on its investments. Examples of fund income are interest paid on money market instruments and bonds, and dividends paid on common stocks. |
| ■ | A mutual fund can also have capital gains if the value of its investments increases. While a fund continues to hold an investment, any gain is generally unrealized. If the fund sells an investment, it generally will realize a capital gain if it sells that investment for a higher price than its adjusted cost basis, and will generally realize a capital loss if it sells that investment for a lower price than its adjusted cost basis. Capital gains and losses are either short-term or long-term, depending on whether the fund holds the securities for one year or less (short-term) or more than one year (long-term). |
Mutual funds make payments of fund earnings to shareholders, distributing them among all shareholders of the fund. As a shareholder, you are entitled to your portion of a fund's distributed income, including capital gains. Reinvesting your distributions buys you more shares of a fund
which lets you take advantage of the potential for compound growth. Putting the money you earn back into your investment means it, in turn, may earn even more money (or be exposed to additional losses, if the fund earns a negative return). Over time, the power of compounding has the potential to significantly increase the value of your investment. There is no assurance, however, that you'll earn more money if you reinvest your distributions rather than receive them in cash.
—
The Fund intends to pay out, in the form of distributions to shareholders, a sufficient amount of its income and gains so that the Fund will qualify for treatment as a regulated investment company and generally will not have to pay any federal excise tax. The Fund generally intends to distribute any net realized capital gain (whether long-term or short-term gain) at least once a year. Normally, the Fund will declare and pay distributions of net investment income according to the following schedule:
|
Declaration and Distribution Schedule
|
|
| Declarations | Annually |
| Distributions | Annually |
The Fund may declare or pay distributions of net investment income more frequently.
Each time a distribution is made, the NAV per share is reduced by the amount of the distribution.
The Fund generally pays cash distributions within five business days after the distribution was declared (or, if the Fund declares distributions daily, within five business days after the end of the month in which the distribution was declared). If you sell all of your shares after the record date, but before the payment date, for a distribution, you'll normally receive that distribution in cash within five business days after the sale was made.
The Fund will automatically reinvest distributions in additional shares of the same share class of the Fund unless you inform us you want to receive your distributions in cash (the financial intermediary through which you purchased shares may have different policies). You can do this by contacting the Fund at the address on the back cover, or by calling us at 800.345.6611. No sales charges apply to the purchase or sale of such shares.
For accounts held directly with the Fund (through the Transfer Agent), distributions of $10 or less will automatically be reinvested in additional Fund shares only. If you elect to receive distributions by check and the check is returned as undeliverable, all subsequent distributions will be reinvested in additional shares of the Fund.
Unless you are a tax-exempt investor or holding Fund shares through a tax-advantaged account (such as a 401(k) plan or IRA), you should consider avoiding buying Fund shares shortly before the Fund makes a distribution (other than distributions of net investment income that are declared daily) of net investment income or net realized capital gain, because doing so can cost you money in taxes to the extent the distribution consists of taxable income or gains. This is because you will, in effect, receive part of your purchase price back in the distribution. This is known as “buying a dividend.” To avoid “buying a dividend,” before you invest check the Fund's distribution schedule, which is available at the Funds' website and/or by calling the Funds' telephone number listed at the beginning of the section entitled
.
About Fund Shares
| 64 | Prospectus 2021 |
Multi-Manager Alternative Strategies Fund
Distributions and Taxes
(continued)
Taxes
You should be aware of the following considerations applicable to the Fund:
| ■ | The Fund intends to qualify and to be eligible for treatment each year as a regulated investment company. A regulated investment company generally is not subject to tax at the fund level on income and gains from investments that are distributed to shareholders. However, the Fund's failure to qualify for treatment as a regulated investment company would result in Fund-level taxation, and consequently, a reduction in income available for distribution to you and in the NAV of your shares. Even if the Fund qualifies for treatment as a regulated investment company, the Fund may be subject to federal excise tax on certain undistributed income or gains. |
| ■ | Otherwise taxable distributions generally are taxable to you when paid, whether they are paid in cash or automatically reinvested in additional Fund shares. Dividends paid in January are deemed paid on December 31 of the prior year if the dividend was declared and payable to shareholders of record in October, November, or December of such prior year. |
| ■ | Distributions of the Fund's ordinary income and net short-term capital gain, if any, generally are taxable to you as ordinary income. Distributions of the Fund's net long-term capital gain, if any, generally are taxable to you as long-term capital gain. Whether capital gains are long-term or short-term is determined by how long the Fund has owned the investments that generated them, rather than how long you have owned your shares. |
| ■ | From time to time, a distribution from the Fund could constitute a return of capital. A return of capital is a return of an amount of your original investment and is not a distribution of income or capital gain from the Fund. Therefore, a return of capital is not taxable to you so long as the amount of the distribution does not exceed your tax basis in your Fund shares. A return of capital reduces your tax basis in your Fund shares, with any amounts exceeding such basis generally taxable as capital gain. |
| ■ | If you are an individual and you meet certain holding period and other requirements for your Fund shares, a portion of your distributions may be treated as “qualified dividend income” taxable at the lower net long-term capital gain rates instead of the higher ordinary income rates. Qualified dividend income is income attributable to the Fund's dividends received from certain U.S. and foreign corporations, as long as the Fund meets certain holding period and other requirements for the stock producing such dividends. |
| ■ | Certain high-income individuals (as well as estates and trusts) are subject to a 3.8% tax on net investment income. For individuals, the 3.8% tax applies to the lesser of (1) the amount (if any) by which the taxpayer's modified adjusted gross income exceeds certain threshold amounts or (2) the taxpayer's “net investment income.” |
| Net investment income generally includes for this purpose dividends, including any capital gain dividends, paid by the Fund, and net gains recognized on the sale, redemption or exchange of shares of the Fund. |
| ■ | Certain derivative instruments when held in the Fund's portfolio subject the Fund to special tax rules, the effect of which may be to, among other things, accelerate income to the Fund, defer Fund losses, cause adjustments in the holding periods of Fund portfolio securities, or convert capital gains into ordinary income, short-term capital losses into long-term capital losses or long-term capital gains into short-term capital gains. These rules could therefore affect the amount, timing and/or character of distributions to shareholders. |
| ■ | Generally, a Fund realizes a capital gain or loss on an option when the option expires, or when it is exercised, sold or otherwise terminated. However, if an option is a “section 1256 contract,” which includes most traded options on a broad-based index, and the Fund holds such option at the end of its taxable year, the Fund is deemed to sell such option at fair market value at such time and recognize any gain or loss thereon, which is generally deemed to be 60% long-term and 40% short-term capital gain or loss, as described further in the SAI. |
| ■ | Income and proceeds received by the Fund from sources within foreign countries may be subject to foreign taxes. If at the end of the taxable year more than 50% of the value of the Fund's assets consists of securities of foreign corporations, and the Fund makes a special election, you will generally be required to include in your income for U.S. federal income tax purposes your share of the qualifying foreign income taxes paid by the Fund in respect of |
| Prospectus 2021 | 65 |
Multi-Manager Alternative Strategies Fund
Distributions and Taxes
(continued)
| its foreign portfolio securities. You may be able to claim a foreign tax credit or deduction in respect of this amount, subject to certain limitations. There is no assurance that the Fund will make this election for a taxable year, even if it is eligible to do so. |
| ■ | A sale, redemption or exchange of Fund shares is a taxable event. This includes redemptions where you are paid in securities. Your sales, redemptions and exchanges of Fund shares (including those paid in securities) usually will result in a taxable capital gain or loss to you, equal to the difference between the amount you receive for your shares (or are deemed to have received in the case of exchanges) and your adjusted tax basis in the shares, which is generally the amount you paid (or are deemed to have paid in the case of exchanges) for them. Any such capital gain or loss generally will be long-term capital gain or loss if you have held your Fund shares for more than one year at the time of sale or exchange. In certain circumstances, capital losses may be converted from short-term to long-term; in other circumstances, capital losses may be disallowed under the “wash sale” rules. |
| ■ | For sales, redemptions and exchanges of shares that were acquired in a non-qualified account after 2011, the Fund generally is required to report to shareholders and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) cost basis information with respect to those shares. The Fund uses average cost basis as its default method of calculating cost basis. For more information regarding average cost basis reporting, other available cost basis methods, and selecting or changing to a different cost basis method, please see the SAI, columbiathreadneedleus.com, or contact the Fund at 800.345.6611. If you hold Fund shares through a financial intermediary (e.g., a brokerage firm), you should contact your financial intermediary to learn about its cost basis reporting default method and the reporting elections available to your account. |
| ■ | The Fund is required by federal law to withhold tax on any taxable or tax-exempt distributions and redemption proceeds paid to you (including amounts paid to you in securities and amounts deemed to be paid to you upon an exchange of shares) if: you have not provided a correct TIN or have not certified to the Fund that withholding does not apply, the IRS has notified us that the TIN listed on your account is incorrect according to its records, or the IRS informs the Fund that you are otherwise subject to backup withholding. |
FUNDamentals
Taxes
The information provided above is only a summary of how U.S. federal income taxes may affect your investment in the Fund. It is not intended as a substitute for careful tax planning. Your investment in the Fund may have other tax implications. It does not apply to certain types of investors who may be subject to special rules, including foreign or tax-exempt investors or those holding Fund shares through a tax-advantaged account, such as a 401(k) plan or IRA. Please see the SAI for more detailed tax information. You should consult with your own tax advisor about the particular tax consequences to you of an investment in the Fund, including the effect of any foreign, state and local taxes, and the effect of possible changes in applicable tax laws.
| 66 | Prospectus 2021 |
Multi-Manager Alternative Strategies Fund
Consolidated Financial Highlights
The financial highlights table is intended to help you understand the Fund’s financial performance for the past five fiscal years or, if shorter, the Fund’s period of operations. Certain information reflects financial results for a single Fund share. Per share net investment income (loss) amounts are calculated based on average shares outstanding during the period. The total return in the table represents the rate that an investor would have earned (or lost) on an investment in the Fund assuming all dividends and distributions had been reinvested. Total return does not reflect payment of sales charges, if any. Total return and portfolio turnover are not annualized for periods of less than one year. The portfolio turnover rate is calculated without regard to purchase and sales transactions of short-term instruments and certain derivatives, if any. If such transactions were included, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate may be higher. This information has been audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm, whose report, along with the Fund’s financial statements, is included in the Fund’s annual report, which is available upon request.
|
Institutional Class
|
Year Ended August 31,
|
|||
|
2020
|
2019
|
2018
|
2017
(a)
|
|
|
Per share data
|
||||
| Net asset value, beginning of period | $9.36 | $9.08 | $9.03 | $9.10 |
|
Income (loss) from investment operations:
|
||||
| Net investment income | 0.08 | 0.22 | 0.11 | 0.02 |
| Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) | 0.13 | 0.19 | (0.06) | (0.09) |
| Total from investment operations | 0.21 | 0.41 | 0.05 | (0.07) |
|
Distributions to shareholders
|
||||
| Distributions from net investment income | (0.19) | (0.13) | — | — |
| Total distributions to shareholders | (0.19) | (0.13) | — | — |
| Net asset value, end of period | $9.38 | $9.36 | $9.08 | $9.03 |
| Total return | 2.34% | 4.62% | 0.55% | (0.77%) |
|
Ratios to average net assets
|
||||
|
Total gross expenses
(b)
|
1.39%
(c)
|
1.27% |
1.34%
(c)
|
1.45%
(c),(d)
|
|
Total net expenses
(b),(e)
|
1.39%
(c)
|
1.27% |
1.34%
(c)
|
1.45%
(c),(d)
|
| Net investment income | 0.91% | 2.43% | 1.18% |
0.34%
(d)
|
|
Supplemental data
|
||||
| Net assets, end of period (in thousands) | $480,367 | $502,726 | $570,839 | $578,239 |
| Portfolio turnover | 188% | 226% | 256% | 444% |
|
Notes to Consolidated Financial Highlights
|
|
| (a) | Institutional Class shares commenced operations on January 3, 2017. Per share data and total return reflect activity from that date. |
| (b) | In addition to the fees and expenses that the Fund bears directly, the Fund indirectly bears a pro rata share of the fees and expenses of any other funds in which it invests. Such indirect expenses are not included in the Fund's reported expense ratios. |
| (c) | Ratios include dividends and interest on securities sold short. If dividends and interest on securities sold short had been excluded, expenses would have been lower by: |
|
Class
|
8/31/2020
|
8/31/2019
|
8/31/2018
|
8/31/2017
|
| Institutional Class | 0.10% | —% | 0.07% | 0.15% |
| (d) | Annualized. |
| (e) | Total net expenses include the impact of certain fee waivers/expense reimbursements made by the Investment Manager and certain of its affiliates, if applicable. |
| Prospectus 2021 | 67 |
Multi-Manager Alternative Strategies Fund
P.O. Box 219104
Kansas City, MO 64121-9104
Kansas City, MO 64121-9104
Additional Information About the Fund
Additional information about the Fund’s investments is available in the Fund’s annual and semiannual reports to shareholders. In the annual report, you will find a discussion of the market conditions and investment strategies that significantly affected the Fund’s performance during its last fiscal year. The SAI also provides additional information about the Fund and its policies. The SAI, which has been filed with the SEC, is legally part of this prospectus (incorporated by reference). To obtain these documents free of charge, to request other information about the Fund and to make shareholder inquiries, please contact the Fund as follows:
By Mail:
Columbia Management Investment Services Corp.
P.O. Box 219104
Kansas City, MO 64121-9104
P.O. Box 219104
Kansas City, MO 64121-9104
By Telephone:
800.345.6611
Online:
columbiathreadneedleus.com
Reports and other information about the Fund are also available in the EDGAR Database on the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov. You can receive copies of this information, for a duplication fee, by electronic request at the following e-mail address: publicinfo@sec.gov.
The investment company registration number of Columbia Funds Series Trust I, of which the Fund is a series, is 811-04367.
Columbia Threadneedle Investments is the global brand name of the Columbia and Threadneedle group of companies.
© 2021 Columbia Management Investment Distributors, Inc.
225 Franklin Street, Boston, MA 02110
225 Franklin Street, Boston, MA 02110
800.345.6611
PRO100_08_L01_(01/21)
Prospectus
January 1, 2021
Multi-Manager International Equity Strategies Fund
|
Class
|
Ticker Symbol
|
|
| Institutional (Class Inst) | CMIEX | |
| Institutional 3 (Class Inst3) | CIEEX |
The Fund is offered only through certain wrap fee programs sponsored and/or managed by Ameriprise Financial, Inc. or its affiliates, and to group retirement plan recordkeeping platforms that have an agreement with (i) Columbia Management Investment Distributors, Inc. or an affiliate thereof that specifically authorizes the group retirement plan recordkeeper to offer and/or service Class Inst3 shares within such platform, provided also that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account and (ii) Wilshire Associates, appointed or serving as investment manager or consultant to the recordkeeper’s group retirement plan platform. The Fund, together with the other funds managed by Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC that also share this same eligibility criteria, are referred to herein as the Multi-Manager Strategies Funds.
Beginning on January 1, 2021, as permitted by regulations adopted by the Securities and Exchange Commission, paper copies of the Fund's annual and semiannual shareholder reports are no longer sent by mail, unless you specifically requested paper copies of the reports. Instead, the reports are made available on the Fund's website (columbiathreadneedleus.com/investor/), and each time a report is posted you will be notified by mail and provided with a website address to access the report.
If you have already elected to receive shareholder reports electronically, you will not be affected by this change and you need not take any action. You may elect to receive shareholder reports and other communications from the Fund electronically at any time by contacting your financial intermediary (such as a broker-dealer or bank) or, for Fund shares held directly with the Fund, by calling 800.345.6611 or by enrolling in “eDelivery” by logging into your account at columbiathreadneedleus.com/investor/.
You may elect to receive all future shareholder reports in paper free of charge. If you invest through a financial intermediary, you can contact your financial intermediary to request that you continue receiving paper copies of your shareholder reports. If you invest directly with the Fund, you can call 800.345.6611 to let the Fund know you wish to continue receiving paper copies of your shareholder reports. Your election to receive paper reports will apply to all Columbia Funds held in your account if you invest through a financial intermediary or all Columbia Funds held with the fund complex if you invest directly with the Fund.
As with all mutual funds, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has not approved or disapproved these securities or passed upon the adequacy of this prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.
Multi-Manager International Equity Strategies Fund
Table of Contents
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| 2 | Prospectus 2021 |
Multi-Manager International Equity Strategies Fund
Summary of the Fund
Investment Objective
Multi-Manager International Equity Strategies Fund (the Fund) seeks long-term capital appreciation.
Fees and Expenses of the Fund
This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold and sell shares of the Fund.
You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the tables and examples below.
|
Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment)
|
|
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Class Inst and Inst3
|
|
| Maximum sales charge (load) imposed on purchases (as a % of offering price) | None |
| Maximum deferred sales charge (load) imposed on redemptions (as a % of the lower of the original purchase price or current net asset value) | None |
| (a) |
“Total annual Fund operating expenses” include acquired fund fees and expenses (expenses the Fund incurs indirectly through its investments in other investment companies) and may be higher than the ratio of expenses to average net assets shown in the
Financial Highlights
|
| (b) | Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC and certain of its affiliates have contractually agreed to waive fees and/or to reimburse expenses (excluding transaction costs and certain other investment related expenses, interest, taxes, acquired fund fees and expenses, and infrequent and/or unusual expenses) through December 31, 2021, unless sooner terminated at the sole discretion of the Fund’s Board of Trustees (the Board). Under this agreement, the Fund’s net operating expenses, subject to applicable exclusions, will not exceed the annual rates of 0.99% for Class Inst and 0.84% for Class Inst3. The fee waivers and/or expense reimbursements shown in the table for Class Inst3 also reflect the contractual agreement of the Fund’s transfer agent to waive fees and/or to reimburse expenses through December 31, 2021, unless sooner terminated at the sole discretion of the Fund’s Board, so that the Fund’s transfer agency fees do not exceed the annual rate of 0.00% for Class Inst3. |
Example
The following example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The example illustrates the hypothetical expenses that you would incur over the time periods indicated, and assumes that:
| ■ | you invest $10,000 in the applicable class of Fund shares for the periods indicated, |
| ■ | your investment has a 5% return each year, and |
| ■ |
the Fund’s total annual operating expenses remain the same as shown in the
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
|
| Prospectus 2021 | 3 |
Multi-Manager International Equity Strategies Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
Since the waivers and/or reimbursements shown in the
table above expire as indicated in the preceding table, they are only reflected in the 1 year example and the first year of the other examples. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on the assumptions listed above, your costs would be:
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
|
1 year
|
3 years
|
5 years
|
10 years
|
|
|
Class Inst
(whether or not shares are redeemed)
|
$101 | $317 | $551 | $1,224 |
|
Class Inst3
(whether or not shares are redeemed)
|
$
|
$272 | $475 | $1,059 |
Portfolio Turnover
The Fund may pay transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 89% of the average value of its portfolio.
Principal Investment Strategies
The Fund pursues its investment objective by allocating the Fund’s assets among different asset managers that use various investment styles and strategies to invest in equity securities of foreign companies. The Fund’s investment manager, Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC (Columbia Management or the Investment Manager), and investment subadvisers (Subadvisers) each provide day-to-day portfolio management of a portion of the Fund’s assets, or sleeve of the Fund. Columbia Management and the Subadvisers employ different investment styles and processes that, in the aggregate, are designed to complement the strategies of one another in pursuit of the Fund’s investment objective.
Columbia Management is responsible for providing day-to-day portfolio management of a sleeve of the Fund and is also responsible for oversight of the Fund's Subadvisers. The Subadvisers are Arrowstreet Capital, Limited Partnership (Arrowstreet), Baillie Gifford Overseas Limited (Baillie Gifford) and Causeway Capital Management LLC (Causeway). Columbia Management, subject to the oversight of the Fund's Board of Trustees, determines the allocation of the Fund's assets to each sleeve, and may change these allocations at any time. Columbia Management and the Subadvisers act independently of one another and use their own methodologies for selecting investments.
Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets (including the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes) in equity securities of foreign companies. The Fund may invest in emerging market countries. The Fund may invest directly in foreign equity securities, such as common and preferred stock and convertible securities, or indirectly through mutual funds and closed-end funds, as well as depositary receipts. Depositary receipts are receipts issued by a bank or trust company reflecting ownership of underlying securities issued by foreign companies. The Fund may invest in securities of or relating to issuers believed to be undervalued (i.e., “value” stocks), represent growth opportunities (i.e., “growth” stocks), or both. The Fund can invest in issuers of any size, including small-, mid- and large-capitalization companies. The Fund also may invest in real estate investment trusts.
The Fund may invest in companies involved in initial public offerings, tender offers, mergers, other corporate restructurings and other special situations. From time to time, the Fund may focus its investments in certain countries or geographic areas, including Europe. The Fund may from time to time emphasize one or more sectors in selecting its investments, including the financial services, and industrials sectors.
The Fund may invest in derivatives, such as forward contracts (including forward foreign currency contracts, including those regulated as swaps) and futures (including equity futures and index futures), for both hedging and non-hedging purposes including, for example, for investment purposes to seek to enhance returns or, in certain circumstances, when holding a derivative is deemed preferable to holding the underlying asset. In particular, the Fund may invest in forward currency contracts to hedge the currency exposure associated with some or all of the Fund’s securities, to shift investment exposure from one currency to another, to shift U.S. dollar exposure to achieve a representative
| 4 | Prospectus 2021 |
Multi-Manager International Equity Strategies Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
weighted mix of major currencies in its benchmark, or to adjust an underweight country exposure in its portfolio. The Fund may also invest in equity index futures to manage exposure to the securities market and to maintain equity market exposure while managing cash flows.
Each sleeve manager’s investment strategy may involve the frequent trading of portfolio securities.
Principal Risks
An investment in the Fund involves risks, including
,
, and
, among others. Descriptions of these and other principal risks of investing in the Fund are provided below.
. The value of the Fund’s holdings may decline, and the Fund’s net asset value (NAV) and share price may go down.
An investment in the Fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency.
Foreign Securities Risk
Market Risk
Multi-Adviser Risk
There is no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objective and you may lose money
Active Management Risk.
Due to its active management, the Fund could underperform its benchmark index and/or other funds with similar investment objectives and/or strategies.
Closed-End Investment Company Risk.
Closed-end investment companies frequently trade at a discount to their NAV, which may affect whether the Fund will realize gain or loss upon its sale of the closed-end investment company’s shares. Closed-end investment companies may employ leverage, which also subjects the closed-end investment company to increased risks such as increased volatility.
Convertible Securities Risk.
Convertible securities are subject to the usual risks associated with debt instruments, such as interest rate risk and credit risk. Convertible securities also react to changes in the value of the common stock into which they convert, and are thus subject to market risk. The Fund may also be forced to convert a convertible security at an inopportune time, which may decrease the Fund’s return.
Counterparty Risk.
Counterparty risk is the risk that a counterparty to a transaction in a financial instrument held by the Fund or by a special purpose or structured vehicle invested in by the Fund may become insolvent or otherwise fail to perform its obligations. As a result, the Fund may obtain no or limited recovery of its investment, and any recovery may be significantly delayed.
Depositary Receipts Risk.
Depositary receipts are receipts issued by a bank or trust company reflecting ownership of underlying securities issued by foreign companies. Some foreign securities are traded in the form of American Depositary Receipts and/or Global Depositary Receipts. Depositary receipts involve risks similar to the risks associated with investments in foreign securities, including those associated with investing in the particular country of an issuer, which may be related to the particular political, regulatory, economic, social and other conditions or events, including, for example, military confrontations, war, terrorism and disease/virus outbreaks and epidemics, occurring in the country and fluctuations in such country’s currency, as well as market risk tied to the underlying foreign company. In addition, holders of depositary receipts may have limited voting rights, may not have the same rights afforded to stockholders of a typical domestic company in the event of a corporate action, such as an acquisition, merger or rights offering, and may experience difficulty in receiving company stockholder communications. There is no guarantee that a financial institution will continue to sponsor a depositary receipt, or that a depositary receipt will continue to trade on an exchange, either of which could adversely affect the liquidity, availability and pricing of the depositary receipt. Changes in foreign currency exchange rates will affect the value of depositary receipts and, therefore, may affect the value of your investment in the Fund. The Fund may invest significantly in depositary receipts.
Derivatives Risk.
Derivatives may involve significant risks. Derivatives are financial instruments with a value in relation to, or derived from, the value of an underlying asset(s) or other reference, such as an index, rate or other economic indicator (each an underlying reference). Derivatives may include those that are privately placed or otherwise exempt from SEC registration, including certain Rule 144A eligible securities. Derivatives could result in Fund losses if the underlying reference does not perform as anticipated. Use of derivatives is a highly specialized activity that can involve investment techniques, risks, and tax planning different from those associated with more traditional investment instruments. The Fund’s derivatives strategy may not be successful and use of certain derivatives could result in substantial, potentially unlimited, losses to the Fund regardless of the Fund’s actual
| Prospectus 2021 | 5 |
Multi-Manager International Equity Strategies Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
investment. A relatively small movement in the price, rate or other economic indicator associated with the underlying reference may result in substantial loss for the Fund. Derivatives may be more volatile than other types of investments. The value of derivatives may be influenced by a variety of factors, including national and international political and economic developments. Potential changes to the regulation of the derivatives markets may make derivatives more costly, may limit the market for derivatives, or may otherwise adversely affect the value or performance of derivatives. Derivatives can increase the Fund’s risk exposure to underlying references and their attendant risks, such as credit risk, market risk, foreign currency risk and interest rate risk, while exposing the Fund to correlation risk, counterparty risk, hedging risk, inflation risk, leverage risk, liquidity risk, pricing risk and volatility risk.
Derivatives Risk – Forward Contracts Risk.
A forward contract is an over-the-counter derivative transaction between two parties to buy or sell a specified amount of an underlying reference at a specified price (or rate) on a specified date in the future. Forward contracts are negotiated on an individual basis and are not standardized or traded on exchanges. The market for forward contracts is substantially unregulated and can experience lengthy periods of illiquidity, unusually high trading volume and other negative impacts, such as political intervention, which may result in volatility or disruptions in such markets. A relatively small price movement in a forward contract may result in substantial losses to the Fund, exceeding the amount of the margin paid. Forward contracts can increase the Fund’s risk exposure to underlying references and their attendant risks, such as credit risk, market risk, foreign currency risk and interest rate risk, while also exposing the Fund to correlation risk, counterparty risk, hedging risk, inflation risk, leverage risk, liquidity risk, pricing risk and volatility risk.
Derivatives Risk – Futures Contracts Risk.
A futures contract is an exchange-traded derivative transaction between two parties in which a buyer (holding the “long” position) agrees to pay a fixed price (or rate) at a specified future date for delivery of an underlying reference from a seller (holding the “short” position). The seller hopes that the market price on the delivery date is less than the agreed upon price, while the buyer hopes for the contrary. Certain futures contract markets are highly volatile, and futures contracts may be illiquid. Futures exchanges may limit fluctuations in futures contract prices by imposing a maximum permissible daily price movement. The Fund may be disadvantaged if it is prohibited from executing a trade outside the daily permissible price movement. At or prior to maturity of a futures contract, the Fund may enter into an offsetting contract and may incur a loss to the extent there has been adverse movement in futures contract prices. The liquidity of the futures markets depends on participants entering into offsetting transactions rather than making or taking delivery. To the extent participants make or take delivery, liquidity in the futures market could be reduced. Because of the low margin deposits normally required in futures trading, it is possible that the Fund may employ a high degree of leverage in the portfolio. As a result, a relatively small price movement in a futures contract may result in substantial losses to the Fund, exceeding the amount of the margin paid. For certain types of futures contracts, losses are potentially unlimited. Futures markets are highly volatile and the use of futures may increase the volatility of the Fund’s NAV. Futures contracts executed (if any) on foreign exchanges may not provide the same protection as U.S. exchanges. Futures contracts can increase the Fund’s risk exposure to underlying references and their attendant risks, such as credit risk, market risk, foreign currency risk and interest rate risk, while also exposing the Fund to correlation risk, counterparty risk, hedging risk, inflation risk, leverage risk, liquidity risk, pricing risk and volatility risk.
Emerging Market Securities Risk.
Securities issued by foreign governments or companies in emerging market countries, such as China, Russia and certain countries in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Latin America or Africa, are more likely to have greater exposure to the risks of investing in foreign securities that are described in Foreign Securities Risk. In addition, emerging market countries are more likely to experience instability resulting, for example, from rapid changes or developments in social, political, economic or other conditions. Their economies are usually less mature and their securities markets are typically less developed with more limited trading activity (i.e., lower trading volumes and less liquidity) than more developed countries. Emerging market securities tend to be more volatile than securities in more developed markets. Many emerging market countries are heavily dependent on international trade and have fewer trading partners, which makes them more sensitive to world commodity prices and economic downturns in other countries, and some have a higher risk of currency devaluations. Due to the differences
| 6 | Prospectus 2021 |
Multi-Manager International Equity Strategies Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
in the nature and quality of financial information of issuers of emerging market securities, including auditing and financial reporting standards, financial information and disclosures about such issuers may be unavailable or, if made available, may be considerably less reliable than publicly available information about other foreign securities.
Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) Risk.
Investments in ETFs have unique characteristics, including, but not limited to, the expense structure and additional expenses associated with investing in ETFs. ETFs are subject to, among other risks, tracking risk and passive and, in some cases, active investment risk. In addition, shareholders bear both their proportionate share of the Fund’s expenses, and indirectly the ETF’s expenses, incurred through the Fund’s ownership of the ETF. Due to the expenses and costs of an underlying ETF being shared by its investors, redemptions by other investors in the ETF could result in decreased economies of scale and increased operating expenses for such ETF. The ETFs may not achieve their investment objective. The Fund, through its investment in ETFs, may not achieve its investment objective.
Foreign Securities Risk.
Investments in or exposure to foreign securities involve certain risks not associated with investments in or exposure to securities of U.S. companies. Foreign securities subject the Fund to the risks associated with investing in the particular country of an issuer, including political, regulatory, economic, social, diplomatic and other conditions or events (including, for example, military confrontations, war, terrorism and disease/virus outbreaks and epidemics), occurring in the country or region, as well as risks associated with less developed custody and settlement practices. Foreign securities may be more volatile and less liquid than securities of U.S. companies, and are subject to the risks associated with potential imposition of economic and other sanctions against a particular foreign country, its nationals or industries or businesses within the country. In addition, foreign governments may impose withholding or other taxes on the Fund’s income, capital gains or proceeds from the disposition of foreign securities, which could reduce the Fund’s return on such securities. The performance of the Fund may also be negatively affected by fluctuations in a foreign currency's strength or weakness relative to the U.S. dollar, particularly to the extent the Fund invests a significant percentage of its assets in foreign securities or other assets denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar.
Frequent Trading Risk.
The portfolio managers may actively and frequently trade investments in the Fund's portfolio to carry out its investment strategies. Frequent trading of investments increases the possibility that the Fund, as relevant, will realize taxable capital gains (including short-term capital gains, which are generally taxable to shareholders at higher rates than long-term capital gains for U.S. federal income tax purposes), which could reduce the Fund's after-tax return. Frequent trading can also mean higher brokerage and other transaction costs, which could reduce the Fund's return. The trading costs and tax effects associated with portfolio turnover may adversely affect the Fund’s performance.
Geographic Focus Risk.
The Fund may be particularly susceptible to economic, political, regulatory or other events or conditions affecting issuers and countries within the specific geographic regions in which the Fund invests. The Fund’s NAV may be more volatile than the NAV of a more geographically diversified fund.
Europe.
The Fund is particularly susceptible to economic, political, regulatory or other events or conditions affecting issuers and countries in Europe. In addition, the private and public sectors’ debt problems of a single European Union (EU) country can pose significant economic risks to the EU as a whole. As a result, the Fund’s NAV may be more volatile than the NAV of a more geographically diversified fund. If securities of issuers in Europe fall out of favor, it may cause the Fund to underperform other funds that do not focus their investments in this region of the world. The impact of any partial or complete dissolution of the EU on the United Kingdom (UK) and European economies and the broader global economy could be significant, resulting in negative impacts on currency and financial markets generally, such as increased volatility and illiquidity, and potentially lower economic growth in markets in Europe, which may adversely affect the value of your investment in the Fund.
Growth Securities Risk.
Growth securities typically trade at a higher multiple of earnings than other types of equity securities. Accordingly, the market values of growth securities may never reach their expected market value and may decline in price. In addition, growth securities, at times, may not perform as well as value securities or the stock market in general, and may be out of favor with investors for varying periods of time.
| Prospectus 2021 | 7 |
Multi-Manager International Equity Strategies Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
Issuer Risk.
An issuer in which the Fund invests or to which it has exposure may perform poorly or below expectations, and the value of its securities may therefore decline, which may negatively affect the Fund’s performance. Underperformance of an issuer may be caused by poor management decisions, competitive pressures, breakthroughs in technology, reliance on suppliers, labor problems or shortages, corporate restructurings, fraudulent disclosures, natural disasters, military confrontations, war, terrorism, disease/virus outbreaks, epidemics or other events, conditions and factors which may impair the value of an investment in the Fund.
Small- and Mid-Cap Stock Risk.
Investments in small- and mid-capitalization companies (small- and mid-cap companies) often involve greater risks than investments in larger, more established companies (larger companies) because small- and mid-cap companies tend to have less predictable earnings and may lack the management experience, financial resources, product diversification and competitive strengths of larger companies. Securities of small- and mid-cap companies may be less liquid and more volatile than the securities of larger companies.
Large-Cap Stock Risk.
Investments in larger companies may involve certain risks associated with their larger size. For instance, larger companies may be less able to respond quickly to new competitive challenges, such as changes in consumer tastes or innovation from smaller competitors. Also, larger companies are sometimes less able to achieve as high growth rates as successful smaller companies, especially during extended periods of economic expansion.
Liquidity Risk.
Liquidity risk is the risk associated with any event, circumstance, or characteristic of an investment or market that negatively impacts the Fund’s ability to sell, or realize the proceeds from the sale of, an investment at a desirable time or price. Liquidity risk may arise because of, for example, a lack of marketability of the investment, which means that when seeking to sell its portfolio investments, the Fund could find that selling is more difficult than anticipated, especially during times of high market volatility. Market participants attempting to sell the same or a similar instrument at the same time as the Fund could exacerbate the Fund’s exposure to liquidity risk. The Fund may have to accept a lower selling price for the holding, sell other liquid or more liquid investments that it might otherwise prefer to hold (thereby increasing the proportion of the Fund’s investments in less liquid or illiquid securities), or forego another more appealing investment opportunity. The liquidity of Fund investments may change significantly over time and certain investments that were liquid when purchased by the Fund may later become illiquid, particularly in times of overall economic distress. Changing regulatory, market or other conditions or environments (for example, the interest rate or credit environments) may also adversely affect the liquidity and the price of the Fund's investments. Judgment plays a larger role in valuing illiquid or less liquid investments as compared to valuing liquid or more liquid investments. Price volatility may be higher for illiquid or less liquid investments as a result of, for example, the relatively less frequent pricing of such securities (as compared to liquid or more liquid investments). Generally, the less liquid the market at the time the Fund sells a portfolio investment, the greater the risk of loss or decline of value to the Fund. Overall market liquidity and other factors can lead to an increase in redemptions, which may negatively impact Fund performance and NAV, including, for example, if the Fund is forced to sell investments in a down market. Foreign securities can present enhanced liquidity risks, including as a result of less developed custody, settlement or other practices of foreign markets.
Market Risk.
The Fund may incur losses due to declines in the value of one or more securities in which it invests. These declines may be due to factors affecting a particular issuer, or the result of, among other things, political, regulatory, market, economic or social developments affecting the relevant market(s) more generally. In addition, turbulence in financial markets and reduced liquidity in equity, credit and/or fixed income markets may negatively affect many issuers, which could adversely affect the Fund, including causing difficulty in assigning prices to hard-to-value assets in thinly traded and closed markets, significant redemptions and operational challenges. Global economies and financial markets are increasingly interconnected, and conditions and events in one country, region or financial market may adversely impact issuers in a different country, region or financial market. These risks may be magnified if certain events or developments adversely interrupt the global supply chain; in these and other circumstances, such risks might affect companies worldwide. As a result, local, regional or global events such as terrorism, war, natural disasters, disease/virus outbreaks and epidemics or other public health issues, recessions, depressions or other events – or the potential for such events – could have a significant negative impact on global economic and market conditions.
| 8 | Prospectus 2021 |
Multi-Manager International Equity Strategies Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) public health crisis has become a pandemic that has resulted in, and may continue to result in, significant global economic and societal disruption and market volatility due to disruptions in market access, resource availability, facilities operations, imposition of tariffs, export controls and supply chain disruption, among others. Such disruptions may be caused, or exacerbated by, quarantines and travel restrictions, workforce displacement and loss in human and other resources. The uncertainty surrounding the magnitude, duration, reach, costs and effects of the global pandemic, as well as actions that have been or could be taken by governmental authorities or other third parties, present unknowns that are yet to unfold. The impacts, as well as the uncertainty over impacts to come, of COVID-19 – and any other infectious illness outbreaks, epidemics and pandemics that may arise in the future – could negatively affect global economies and markets in ways that cannot necessarily be foreseen. In addition, the impact of infectious illness outbreaks and epidemics in emerging market countries may be greater due to generally less established healthcare systems, governments and financial markets. Public health crises caused by the COVID-19 outbreak may exacerbate other pre-existing political, social and economic risks in certain countries or globally. The disruptions caused by COVID-19 could prevent the Fund from executing advantageous investment decisions in a timely manner and negatively impact the Fund’s ability to achieve its investment objective. Any such event(s) could have a significant adverse impact on the value and risk profile of the Fund.
Money Market Fund Investment Risk.
An investment in a money market fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by any bank, the FDIC or any other government agency. Certain money market funds float their NAV while others seek to preserve the value of investments at a stable NAV (typically, $1.00 per share). An investment in a money market fund, even an investment in a fund seeking to maintain a stable NAV per share, is not guaranteed and it is possible for the Fund to lose money by investing in these and other types of money market funds. If the liquidity of a money market fund’s portfolio deteriorates below certain levels, the money market fund may suspend redemptions (i.e., impose a redemption gate) and thereby prevent the Fund from selling its investment in the money market fund or impose a fee of up to 2% on amounts the Fund redeems from the money market fund (i.e., impose a liquidity fee). These measures may result in an investment loss or prohibit the Fund from redeeming shares when the Investment Manager would otherwise redeem shares. In addition to the fees and expenses that the Fund directly bears, the Fund indirectly bears the fees and expenses of any money market funds in which it invests, including affiliated money market funds. By investing in a money market fund, the Fund will be exposed to the investment risks of the money market fund in direct proportion to such investment. To the extent the Fund invests in instruments such as derivatives, the Fund may hold investments, which may be significant, in money market fund shares to cover its obligations resulting from the Fund’s investments in derivatives. Money market funds and the securities they invest in are subject to comprehensive regulations. The enactment of new legislation or regulations, as well as changes in interpretation and enforcement of current laws, may affect the manner of operation, performance and/or yield of money market funds.
Multi-Adviser Risk.
The Fund has multiple advisory firms that each manage a portion of the Fund’s net assets on a daily basis. Each adviser makes investment decisions independently from the other adviser(s). It is possible that the security selection process of one adviser will not complement or may conflict or even contradict that of the other adviser(s), including making off-setting trades that have no net effect to the Fund, but which may increase Fund expenses. As a result, the Fund's exposure to a given security, industry, sector or market capitalization could be smaller or larger than if the Fund were managed by a single adviser, which could adversely affect the Fund's performance.
Preferred Stock Risk.
Preferred stock is a type of stock that may pay dividends at a different rate than common stock of the same issuer, if at all, and that has preference over common stock in the payment of dividends and the liquidation of assets. Preferred stock does not ordinarily carry voting rights. The price of a preferred stock is generally determined by earnings, type of products or services, projected growth rates, experience of management, liquidity, and general market conditions of the markets on which the stock trades. The most significant risks associated with investments in preferred stock include issuer risk, market risk and interest rate risk (the risk of losses attributable to changes in interest rates).
| Prospectus 2021 | 9 |
Multi-Manager International Equity Strategies Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
Quantitative Model Risk.
Quantitative models used by the Fund may not effectively identify purchases and sales of Fund investments and may cause the Fund to underperform other investment strategies. Flaws or errors in the quantitative model’s assumptions, design, execution, or data inputs may adversely affect Fund performance. Quantitative models may not perform as expected and may underperform in certain market environments including in stressed or volatile market conditions. There can be no assurance that the use of quantitative models will enable the Fund to achieve its objective.
Real Estate-Related Investment Risk.
Investments in real estate investment trusts (REITs) and in securities of other companies (wherever organized) principally engaged in the real estate industry subject the Fund to, among other things, risks similar to those of direct investments in real estate and the real estate industry in general. These include risks related to general and local economic conditions, possible lack of availability of financing and changes in interest rates or property values. The value of interests in a REIT may be affected by, among other factors, changes in the value of the underlying properties owned by the REIT, changes in the prospect for earnings and/or cash flow growth of the REIT itself, defaults by borrowers or tenants, market saturation, decreases in market rates for rents, and other economic, political, or regulatory matters affecting the real estate industry, including REITs. REITs may be subject to more abrupt or erratic price movements than the overall securities markets. REITs are also subject to the risk of failing to qualify for favorable tax treatment under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended. The failure of a REIT to continue to qualify as a REIT for tax purposes can materially and adversely affect its value. Some REITs (especially mortgage REITs) are affected by risks similar to those associated with investments in debt securities including changes in interest rates and the quality of credit extended.
Sector Risk.
At times, the Fund may have a significant portion of its assets invested in securities of companies conducting business within one or more economic sectors, including the financial services, and industrials sectors. Companies in the same sector may be similarly affected by economic, regulatory, political or market events or conditions, which may make the Fund more vulnerable to unfavorable developments in that sector than funds that invest more broadly. Generally, the more broadly the Fund invests, the more it spreads risk and potentially reduces the risks of loss and volatility.
Financial Services Sector.
The Fund may be more susceptible to the particular risks that may affect companies in the financial services sector than if it were invested in a wider variety of companies in unrelated sectors. Companies in the financial services sector are subject to certain risks, including the risk of regulatory change, decreased liquidity in credit markets and unstable interest rates. Such companies may have concentrated portfolios, such as a high level of loans to one or more industries or sectors, which makes them vulnerable to economic conditions that affect such industries or sectors. Performance of such companies may be affected by competitive pressures and exposure to investments, agreements and counterparties, including credit products that, under certain circumstances, may lead to losses (e.g., subprime loans). Companies in the financial services sector are subject to extensive governmental regulation that may limit the amount and types of loans and other financial commitments they can make, and the interest rates and fees they may charge. In addition, profitability of such companies is largely dependent upon the availability and the cost of capital.
Industrials Sector.
The Fund may be more susceptible to the particular risks that may affect companies in the industrials sector than if it were invested in a wider variety of companies in unrelated sectors. Companies in the industrials sector are subject to certain risks, including changes in supply and demand for their specific product or service and for industrial sector products in general, including decline in demand for such products due to rapid technological developments and frequent new product introduction. Performance of such companies may be affected by factors including government regulation, world events and economic conditions and risks for environmental damage and product liability claims.
Special Situations Risk.
Securities of companies that are involved in an initial public offering or a major corporate event, such as a business consolidation or restructuring, may be exposed to heightened risk because of the high degree of uncertainty that can be associated with such events. Securities issued in initial public offerings often are issued by companies that are in the early stages of development, have a history of little or no revenues and may operate at a loss following the offering. It is possible that there will be no active trading market for the securities after the offering, and that the market price of the securities may be subject to significant and unpredictable fluctuations. Certain “special situation” investments are investments in securities or other instruments that may be
| 10 | Prospectus 2021 |
Multi-Manager International Equity Strategies Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
classified as illiquid or lacking a readily ascertainable fair value. Certain special situation investments prevent ownership interests therein from being withdrawn until the special situation investment, or a portion thereof, is realized or deemed realized, which may negatively impact Fund performance. Investing in special situations may have a magnified effect on the performance of funds with small amounts of assets.
Value Securities Risk.
Value securities are securities of companies that may have experienced, for example, adverse business, industry or other developments or may be subject to special risks that have caused the securities to be out of favor and, in turn, potentially undervalued. The market value of a portfolio security may not meet portfolio management’s perceived value assessment of that security, or may decline in price, even though portfolio management believes the securities are already undervalued. There is also a risk that it may take longer than expected for the value of these investments to rise to portfolio management’s perceived value. In addition, value securities, at times, may not perform as well as growth securities or the stock market in general, and may be out of favor with investors for varying periods of time.
Performance Information
The following bar chart and table show you how the Fund has performed in the past, and can help you understand the risks of investing in the Fund. The bar chart shows how the Fund’s Class Inst share performance has varied for each full calendar year shown. The table below the bar chart compares the Fund’s returns for the periods shown with a broad measure of market performance.
The performance of one or more share classes shown in the table below begins before the indicated inception date for such share class. The returns shown for each such share class include the returns of the Fund’s Class Inst shares for periods prior to its inception date. Share classes with expenses that are higher than Class Inst shares will have performance that is lower than Class Inst shares. Except for differences in annual returns resulting from differences in expenses (where applicable), the share classes of the Fund would have substantially similar annual returns because all share classes of the Fund invest in the same portfolio of securities.
The after-tax returns shown in the
table below are calculated using the highest historical individual U.S. federal marginal income tax rates in effect during the period indicated in the table and do not reflect the impact of state, local or foreign taxes.
Your actual after-tax returns will depend on your personal tax situation and may differ from those shown in the table.
In addition, the after-tax returns shown in the table do not apply to shares held in tax-advantaged accounts such as 401(k) plans or Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs).
The after-tax returns are shown only for Class Inst shares and will vary for other share classes.
Average Annual Total Returns
The Fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) is no guarantee of how the Fund will perform in the future.
Updated performance information can be obtained by calling toll-free 800.345.6611 or visiting columbiathreadneedleus.com.
|
Year by Year Total Return (%)
as of December 31 Each Year* |
Best and Worst Quarterly Returns
During the Period Shown in the Bar Chart |
||
|
Best
|
1st Quarter 2019
|
11.16%
|
|
Worst
|
3rd Quarter 2019
|
-2.31%
|
|
| * | Year to Date return as of September 30, 2020: -2.88% |
| Prospectus 2021 | 11 |
Multi-Manager International Equity Strategies Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
Average Annual Total Returns (for periods ended December 31, 2019)
|
Share Class
Inception Date |
1 Year
|
Life of Fund
|
|
|
Class Inst
|
05/17/2018 | ||
| returns before taxes | 23.88% | 2.47% | |
| returns after taxes on distributions | 23.42% | 2.17% | |
| returns after taxes on distributions and sale of Fund shares | 14.89% | 2.05% | |
|
Class Inst3
returns before taxes
|
12/18/2019 | 23.88% | 2.47% |
|
MSCI EAFE Index (Net)
(reflects reinvested dividends net of withholding taxes but reflects no deductions for fees, expenses or other taxes)
|
22.01% | 2.27% |
Fund Management
Subadviser:
Arrowstreet Capital, Limited Partnership (Arrowstreet)
|
Portfolio Manager
|
Title
|
Role with Fund
|
Managed Fund Since
|
|||
| Peter Rathjens, Ph.D. | Partner and Chief Investment Officer of Arrowstreet | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2018 | |||
| Manolis Liodakis, Ph.D., M.B.A. | Partner and Head of Portfolio Management of Arrowstreet | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2018 | |||
| John Campbell, Ph.D. | Partner and Co-Head of Research of Arrowstreet | Co-Portfolio Manager | December 2020 | |||
| Derek Vance, CFA | Partner and Co-Head of Research of Arrowstreet | Co-Portfolio Manager | December 2020 | |||
| Christopher Malloy, Ph.D. | Manager, Research of Arrowstreet | Co-Portfolio Manager | December 2020 |
Subadviser:
Baillie Gifford Overseas Limited (Baillie Gifford)
|
Portfolio Manager
|
Title
|
Role with Fund
|
Managed Fund Since
|
|||
| Donald Farquharson, CFA | Investment Manager, and Partner of Baillie Gifford & Co. | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2018 | |||
| Angus Franklin | Investment Manager, and Partner of Baillie Gifford & Co. | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2018 | |||
| Andrew Stobart | Investment Manager of Baillie Gifford | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2018 | |||
| Jenny Davis | Investment Manager of Baillie Gifford | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2018 | |||
| Tom Walsh, CFA | Investment Manager of Baillie Gifford | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2018 |
Subadviser:
Causeway Capital Management LLC (Causeway)
|
Portfolio Manager
|
Title
|
Role with Fund
|
Managed Fund Since
|
|||
| Sarah Ketterer, M.B.A. | Chief Executive Officer and Portfolio Manager of Causeway | Co-Lead Portfolio Manager | 2018 | |||
| Harry Hartford | President and Portfolio Manager of Causeway | Co-Lead Portfolio Manager | 2018 | |||
| Conor Muldoon, CFA, M.B.A. | Portfolio Manager of Causeway | Portfolio Manager | 2018 | |||
| Alessandro Valentini, CFA, M.B.A. | Portfolio Manager of Causeway | Portfolio Manager | 2018 | |||
| Jonathan Eng, M.B.A. | Portfolio Manager of Causeway | Portfolio Manager | 2018 | |||
| Ellen Lee, M.B.A. | Portfolio Manager of Causeway | Portfolio Manager | 2018 |
| 12 | Prospectus 2021 |
Multi-Manager International Equity Strategies Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares
Fund shares are offered only through certain wrap fee programs sponsored and/or managed by Ameriprise Financial, Inc. or its affiliates, and to group retirement plan recordkeeping platforms that have an agreement with (i) Columbia Management Investment Distributors, Inc. or an affiliate thereof that specifically authorizes the group retirement plan recordkeeper to offer and/or service Class Inst3 shares within such platform, provided also that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account and (ii) Wilshire Associates, appointed or serving as investment manager or consultant to the recordkeeper’s group retirement plan platform. Fund shares are sold in accordance with the terms of the account through which you invested in the Fund and redeemed in accordance with the terms of the Fund’s prospectus. There is a $100 minimum initial investment and no minimum additional investment.
Generally, you may only exchange a share class of a Multi-Manager Strategies Fund for the same class of shares, if available, of another Multi-Manager Strategies Fund. Please refer to the
section of the prospectus for more information on exchangeability.
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares — Exchanging Shares
Tax Information
The Fund normally distributes net investment income and net realized capital gains, if any, to shareholders. These distributions are generally taxable to you as ordinary income, qualified dividend income or capital gains, unless you are investing through a tax-advantaged account, such as a 401(k) plan or an IRA. If you are investing through a tax-advantaged account, you may be taxed upon withdrawals from that account.
Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
If you purchase the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), the Fund and its related companies — including Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC (the Investment Manager), Columbia Management Investment Distributors, Inc. (the Distributor) and Columbia Management Investment Services Corp. (the Transfer Agent) — may pay the intermediary for the sale of Fund shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your financial advisor to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your financial advisor or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.
| Prospectus 2021 | 13 |
Multi-Manager International Equity Strategies Fund
More Information About the Fund
Investment Objective
Multi-Manager International Equity Strategies Fund (the Fund) seeks long-term capital appreciation. The Fund’s investment objective is not a fundamental policy and may be changed by the Fund’s Board of Trustees without shareholder approval. Because any investment involves risk, there is no assurance the Fund’s investment objective will be achieved.
Principal Investment Strategies
The Fund pursues its investment objective by allocating the Fund’s assets among different asset managers that use various investment styles and strategies to invest in equity securities of foreign companies. The Fund’s investment manager, Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC (Columbia Management or the Investment Manager), and investment subadvisers (Subadvisers) each provide day-to-day portfolio management of a portion of the Fund’s assets, or sleeve of the Fund. Columbia Management and the Subadvisers employ different investment styles and processes that, in the aggregate, are designed to complement the strategies of one another in pursuit of the Fund’s investment objective.
Columbia Management is responsible for providing day-to-day portfolio management of a sleeve of the Fund and is also responsible for oversight of the Fund's Subadvisers. The Subadvisers are Arrowstreet Capital, Limited Partnership (Arrowstreet), Baillie Gifford Overseas Limited (Baillie Gifford) and Causeway Capital Management LLC (Causeway). Columbia Management, subject to the oversight of the Fund's Board of Trustees, determines the allocation of the Fund's assets to each sleeve, and may change these allocations at any time. Columbia Management and the Subadvisers act independently of one another and use their own methodologies for selecting investments.
Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets (including the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes) in equity securities of foreign companies. The Fund may invest in emerging market countries. The Fund may invest directly in foreign equity securities, such as common and preferred stock and convertible securities, or indirectly through mutual funds and closed-end funds, as well as depositary receipts. Depositary receipts are receipts issued by a bank or trust company reflecting ownership of underlying securities issued by foreign companies. The Fund may invest in securities of or relating to issuers believed to be undervalued (i.e., “value” stocks), represent growth opportunities (i.e., “growth” stocks), or both. The Fund can invest in issuers of any size, including small-, mid- and large-capitalization companies. The Fund also may invest in real estate investment trusts.
The Fund may invest in companies involved in initial public offerings, tender offers, mergers, other corporate restructurings and other special situations. From time to time, the Fund may focus its investments in certain countries or geographic areas, including Europe. The Fund may from time to time emphasize one or more sectors in selecting its investments, including the financial services, and industrials sectors.
The Fund may invest in derivatives, such as forward contracts (including forward foreign currency contracts, including those regulated as swaps) and futures (including equity futures and index futures), for both hedging and non-hedging purposes including, for example, for investment purposes to seek to enhance returns or, in certain circumstances, when holding a derivative is deemed preferable to holding the underlying asset. In particular, the Fund may invest in forward currency contracts to hedge the currency exposure associated with some or all of the Fund’s securities, to shift investment exposure from one currency to another, to shift U.S. dollar exposure to achieve a representative weighted mix of major currencies in its benchmark, or to adjust an underweight country exposure in its portfolio. The Fund may also invest in equity index futures to manage exposure to the securities market and to maintain equity market exposure while managing cash flows.
Each sleeve manager’s investment strategy may involve the frequent trading of portfolio securities.
Arrowstreet — International Core Strategy Sleeve
Arrowstreet primarily invests its sleeve in equities (such as common and preferred stock and depositary receipts for common and preferred stock) of international corporations traded on stock exchanges around the world. Under normal market conditions, Arrowstreet will invest a majority of the sleeve’s assets in stocks of non-U.S. companies,
| 14 | Prospectus 2021 |
Multi-Manager International Equity Strategies Fund
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
which may include companies located or operating in developed or emerging market countries. Arrowstreet generally constructs its sleeve by using proprietary forecasting models and a proprietary optimization process that balances the trade-off between a stock’s expected return, its contribution to sleeve level risk, sleeve specific restrictions, and its explicit and implicit trading costs. Buys and sells occur when Arrowstreet identifies an opportunity to improve the sleeve’s risk adjusted benchmark relative expected returns, after transaction costs.
Arrowstreet believes the key to generating alpha involves evaluating securities on an integrated basis, taking into consideration direct effects and indirect, or spillover, effects. Arrowstreet utilizes quantitative tools to forecast equity returns in excess of the broad market. Arrowstreet’s integrated and dynamic forecasting model measures a stock’s expected excess return by including the following influences:
| ■ | Direct Effects: characteristics of the company itself; and |
| ■ | Indirect Effects: characteristics of: |
| ■ | other companies that are related, according to our proprietary linkage model, to the company in question; |
| ■ | companies that are linked by virtue of common country and sector affiliation (called country/sector baskets); |
| ■ | companies that are linked by virtue of common country affiliation; and |
| ■ | companies that are linked by virtue of common global sector affiliation. |
Baillie Gifford — International Growth Strategy Sleeve
Baillie Gifford invests its sleeve primarily in common stocks and other equity securities. Baillie Gifford ordinarily invests in securities of issuers located in at least three countries outside the U.S. and predominantly in securities issued by companies located in countries contained in the MSCI ACWI (ex U.S.) Index, which includes issuers from a range of developed and emerging markets countries.
Baillie Gifford focuses on company research and the long-term outlook of companies and industries. Ideas can come from a wide variety of sources, including, but not limited to, research trips, company meetings, relationships with industry thought leaders and academics, and wider reading. Baillie Gifford researches stock ideas to assess a range of factors, including: backdrop, competitive advantage, management, financial strength and valuation.
Baillie Gifford employs a bottom up stock-picking approach that seeks to make long-term investments in well-managed businesses which enjoy genuine and sustainable competitive advantages. Baillie Gifford seeks to identify companies that are likely to generate above average growth in earnings and cash flows, based on fundamental analysis, which focuses on:
| ■ | the opportunity for an issuer to deliver superior returns; |
| ■ | the ability of the issuer to execute on that opportunity; and |
| ■ | the current market valuation of the issuer. |
Baillie Gifford may sell a holding if they determine there has been a material deterioration in the investment case or as appropriate to make other investments or meet redemptions.
Causeway — International Value Select Strategy Sleeve
Causeway primarily invests its sleeve in common stocks of companies in developed countries outside the U.S. Causeway generally invests in companies with market capitalizations of $5 billion or greater at the time of investment, but may invest in companies with market capitalizations of any size. When investing the sleeve’s assets, Causeway follows a value style, performing fundamental research supplemented by quantitative analysis. Causeway initially narrows the universe of investment candidates by applying quantitative market capitalization and valuation screens. To select investments, Causeway then performs fundamental research, which generally includes company-specific research, company visits, and interviews of suppliers, customers, competitors, industry analysts, and experts. Causeway also applies a proprietary quantitative risk model to adjust return forecasts based on risk assessments. Using a value style means that Causeway buys stocks that it believes have lower prices than their true
| Prospectus 2021 | 15 |
Multi-Manager International Equity Strategies Fund
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
worth. For example, stocks may be “undervalued” because the issuing companies are in industries that are currently out of favor with their investors. However, even in those industries, certain companies may have high rates of growth of earnings and be financially sound.
Causeway considers whether a company has each of the following value characteristics in purchasing or selling securities for the Fund:
| ■ | Low price-to-earnings ratio (stock price divided by earnings per share) relative to the sector |
| ■ | High yield (percentage rate of return paid on a stock in dividends and share repurchase) relative to the market |
| ■ | Low price-to-book value ratio (stock price divided by book value per share) relative to the market |
| ■ | Low price-to-cash flow ratio (stock price divided by net income plus noncash charges per share) relative to the market |
| ■ | Financial strength |
Generally, price-to-earnings ratio and yield are the most important factors.
Columbia Management — Liquidity Strategy Sleeve
Columbia Management is responsible for managing cash flows into and out of the Fund resulting from the purchase and redemption of Fund shares. Columbia Management typically invests this sleeve in U.S. government securities, high-quality, short-term debt instruments (including investments in affiliated or unaffiliated money market funds), ETFs, and futures (including index futures). Columbia Management may also use these instruments to manage the Fund’s overall risk exposure.
The Fund’s investment policy with respect to 80% of its net assets may be changed by the Fund’s Board of Trustees without shareholder approval as long as shareholders are given 60 days’ advance written notice of the change. Additionally, shareholders will be given 60 days’ notice of any change to the Fund’s investment objective made to comply with the SEC rule governing investment company names.
Principal Risks
An investment in the Fund involves risks, including
,
, and
, among others. Descriptions of these and other principal risks of investing in the Fund are provided below.
. The value of the Fund’s holdings may decline, and the Fund’s net asset value (NAV) and share price may go down. An investment in the Fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency.
Foreign Securities Risk
Market Risk
Multi-Adviser Risk
There is no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objective and you may lose money
Active Management Risk.
The Fund is actively managed and its performance therefore will reflect, in part, the ability of the portfolio managers to make investment decisions that seek to achieve the Fund’s investment objective. Due to its active management, the Fund could underperform its benchmark index and/or other funds with similar investment objectives and/or strategies.
Closed-End Investment Company Risk.
Closed-end investment companies frequently trade at a discount to their NAV, which may affect whether the Fund will realize gain or loss upon its sale of the closed-end investment company’s shares. Closed-end investment companies may employ leverage, which also subjects the closed-end investment company to increased risks such as increased volatility.
Convertible Securities Risk.
Convertible securities are subject to the usual risks associated with debt instruments, such as interest rate risk (the risk of losses attributable to changes in interest rates) and credit risk (the risk that the issuer of a debt instrument will default or otherwise become unable, or be perceived to be unable or unwilling, to honor a financial obligation, such as making payments to the Fund when due). Convertible securities also react to changes in the value of the common stock into which they convert, and are thus subject to market risk (the risk that the market values of securities or other investments that the Fund holds will fall, sometimes rapidly or unpredictably, or fail to rise). Because the value of a convertible security can be influenced by both interest rates and the common stock's market movements, a convertible security generally is not as sensitive to interest rates as a similar debt
| 16 | Prospectus 2021 |
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More Information About the Fund
(continued)
instrument, and generally will not vary in value in response to other factors to the same extent as the underlying common stock. In the event of a liquidation of the issuing company, holders of convertible securities would typically be paid before the company's common stockholders but after holders of any senior debt obligations of the company. The Fund may be forced to convert a convertible security before it otherwise would choose to do so, which may decrease the Fund's return.
Counterparty Risk.
The risk exists that a counterparty to a transaction in a financial instrument held by the Fund or by a special purpose or structured vehicle in which the Fund invests may become insolvent or otherwise fail to perform its obligations, including making payments to the Fund, due to financial difficulties. The Fund may obtain no or limited recovery in a bankruptcy or other reorganizational proceedings, and any recovery may be significantly delayed. Transactions that the Fund enters into may involve counterparties in the financial services sector and, as a result, events affecting the financial services sector may cause the Fund’s share value to fluctuate.
Depositary Receipts Risk.
Depositary receipts are receipts issued by a bank or trust company reflecting ownership of underlying securities issued by foreign companies. Some foreign securities are traded in the form of American Depositary Receipts and/or Global Depositary Receipts. Depositary receipts involve risks similar to the risks associated with investments in foreign securities, including those associated with investing in the particular country of an issuer, which may be related to the particular political, regulatory, economic, social and other conditions or events, including, for example, military confrontations, war, terrorism and disease/virus outbreaks and epidemics, occurring in the country and fluctuations in such country’s currency, as well as market risk tied to the underlying foreign company. In addition, holders of depositary receipts may have limited voting rights, may not have the same rights afforded to stockholders of a typical domestic company in the event of a corporate action, such as an acquisition, merger or rights offering, and may experience difficulty in receiving company stockholder communications. There is no guarantee that a financial institution will continue to sponsor a depositary receipt, or that a depositary receipt will continue to trade on an exchange, either of which could adversely affect the liquidity, availability and pricing of the depositary receipt. Changes in foreign currency exchange rates will affect the value of depositary receipts and, therefore, may affect the value of your investment in the Fund. The Fund may invest significantly in depositary receipts.
Derivatives Risk.
Derivatives may involve significant risks. Derivatives are financial instruments, traded on an exchange or in the over-the-counter (OTC) markets, with a value in relation to, or derived from, the value of an underlying asset(s) (such as a security, commodity or currency) or other reference, such as an index, rate or other economic indicator (each an underlying reference). Derivatives may include those that are privately placed or otherwise exempt from SEC registration, including certain Rule 144A eligible securities. Derivatives could result in Fund losses if the underlying reference does not perform as anticipated. Use of derivatives is a highly specialized activity that can involve investment techniques, risks, and tax planning different from those associated with more traditional investment instruments. The Fund’s derivatives strategy may not be successful and use of certain derivatives could result in substantial, potentially unlimited, losses to the Fund regardless of the Fund’s actual investment. A relatively small movement in the price, rate or other economic indicator associated with the underlying reference may result in substantial loss for the Fund. Derivatives may be more volatile than other types of investments. Derivatives can increase the Fund’s risk exposure to underlying references and their attendant risks, including the risk of an adverse credit event associated with the underlying reference (credit risk), the risk of an adverse movement in the value, price or rate of the underlying reference (market risk), the risk of an adverse movement in the value of underlying currencies (foreign currency risk) and the risk of an adverse movement in underlying interest rates (interest rate risk). Derivatives may expose the Fund to additional risks, including the risk of loss due to a derivative position that is imperfectly correlated with the underlying reference it is intended to hedge or replicate (correlation risk), the risk that a counterparty will fail to perform as agreed (counterparty risk), the risk that a hedging strategy may fail to mitigate losses, and may offset gains (hedging risk), the risk that the return on an investment may not keep pace with inflation (inflation risk), the risk that losses may be greater than the amount invested (leverage risk), the risk that the Fund may be unable to sell an investment at an advantageous time or price (liquidity risk), the risk that the investment may be difficult to value (pricing risk), and the risk that the price or value of the investment fluctuates significantly over short periods of time (volatility risk). The value of derivatives may be
| Prospectus 2021 | 17 |
Multi-Manager International Equity Strategies Fund
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
influenced by a variety of factors, including national and international political and economic developments. Potential changes to the regulation of the derivatives markets may make derivatives more costly, may limit the market for derivatives, or may otherwise adversely affect the value or performance of derivatives.
Derivatives Risk – Forward Contracts Risk.
A forward contract is an over-the-counter derivative transaction between two parties to buy or sell a specified amount of an underlying reference at a specified price (or rate) on a specified date in the future. Forward contracts are negotiated on an individual basis and are not standardized or traded on exchanges. The market for forward contracts is substantially unregulated (there is no limit on daily price movements and speculative position limits are not applicable). The principals who deal in certain forward contract markets are not required to continue to make markets in the underlying references in which they trade and these markets can experience periods of illiquidity, sometimes of significant duration. There have been periods during which certain participants in forward contract markets have refused to quote prices for certain underlying references or have quoted prices with an unusually wide spread between the price at which they were prepared to buy and that at which they were prepared to sell. At or prior to maturity of a forward contract, the Fund may enter into an offsetting contract and may incur a loss to the extent there has been adverse movement in forward contract prices. The liquidity of the markets for forward contracts depends on participants entering into offsetting transactions rather than making or taking delivery. To the extent participants make or take delivery, liquidity in the market for forwards could be reduced. A relatively small price movement in a forward contract may result in substantial losses to the Fund, exceeding the amount of the margin paid. Forward contracts can increase the Fund’s risk exposure to underlying references and their attendant risks, such as credit risk, market risk, foreign currency risk and interest rate risk, while also exposing the Fund to correlation risk, counterparty risk, hedging risk, inflation risk, leverage risk, liquidity risk, pricing risk and volatility risk.
| ■ |
A
forward foreign currency contract
|
Derivatives Risk – Futures Contracts Risk.
A futures contract is an exchange-traded derivative transaction between two parties in which a buyer (holding the “long” position) agrees to pay a fixed price (or rate) at a specified future date for delivery of an underlying reference from a seller (holding the “short” position). The seller hopes that the market price on the delivery date is less than the agreed upon price, while the buyer hopes for the contrary. Certain futures contract markets are highly volatile, and futures contracts may be illiquid. Futures exchanges may limit fluctuations in futures contract prices by imposing a maximum permissible daily price movement. The Fund may be disadvantaged if it is prohibited from executing a trade outside the daily permissible price movement. At or prior to maturity of a futures contract, the Fund may enter into an offsetting contract and may incur a loss to the extent there has been adverse movement in futures contract prices. The liquidity of the futures markets depends on participants entering into offsetting transactions rather than making or taking delivery. To the extent participants make or take delivery, liquidity in the futures market could be reduced. Positions in futures contracts may be closed out only on the exchange on which they were entered into or through a linked exchange, and no secondary market exists for such contracts. Futures positions are marked to market each day and variation margin payment must be paid to or by the Fund. Because of the low margin deposits normally required in futures trading, it is possible that the Fund may employ a high degree of leverage in the portfolio. As a result, a relatively small price movement in a futures contract may result in substantial losses to the Fund, exceeding the amount of the margin paid. For certain types of futures contracts, losses are potentially unlimited. Futures markets are highly volatile and the use of futures may increase the volatility of the Fund’s NAV. Futures contracts executed (if any) on foreign exchanges may not provide the same
| 18 | Prospectus 2021 |
Multi-Manager International Equity Strategies Fund
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
protection as U.S. exchanges. Futures contracts can increase the Fund’s risk exposure to underlying references and their attendant risks, such as credit risk, market risk, foreign currency risk and interest rate risk, while also exposing the Fund to correlation risk, counterparty risk, hedging risk, inflation risk, leverage risk, liquidity risk, pricing risk and volatility risk.
| ■ |
An
equity future
|
Emerging Market Securities Risk.
Securities issued by foreign governments or companies in emerging market countries, such as China, Russia and certain countries in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Latin America or Africa, are more likely to have greater exposure to the risks of investing in foreign securities that are described in Foreign Securities Risk. In addition, emerging market countries are more likely to experience instability resulting, for example, from rapid changes or developments in social, political, economic or other conditions. Their economies are usually less mature and their securities markets are typically less developed with more limited trading activity (i.e., lower trading volumes and less liquidity) than more developed countries. Emerging market securities tend to be more volatile than securities in more developed markets. Many emerging market countries are heavily dependent on international trade and have fewer trading partners, which makes them more sensitive to world commodity prices and economic downturns in other countries. Some emerging market countries have a higher risk of currency devaluations, and some of these countries may experience periods of high inflation or rapid changes in inflation rates and may have hostile relations with other countries. Due to the differences in the nature and quality of financial information of issuers of emerging market securities, including auditing and financial reporting standards, financial information and disclosures about such issuers may be unavailable or, if made available, may be considerably less reliable than publicly available information about other foreign securities.
Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) Risk.
Investments in ETFs have unique characteristics, including, but not limited to, the expense structure and additional expenses associated with investing in ETFs. An ETF’s share price may not track its specified market index (if any) and may trade below its NAV. Certain ETFs use a “passive” investment strategy and do not take defensive positions in volatile or declining markets. Other ETFs in which the Fund may invest are actively managed ETFs (i.e., they do not track a particular benchmark), which indirectly subjects the Fund to active management risk. An active secondary market in ETF shares may not develop or be maintained and may be halted or interrupted due to actions by its listing exchange, unusual market conditions or other reasons. There can be no assurance that an ETF’s shares will continue to be listed on an active exchange. In addition, shareholders bear both their proportionate share of the Fund’s expenses and, indirectly, the ETF’s expenses, incurred through the Fund’s ownership of the ETF. Due to the expenses and costs of an underlying ETF being shared by its investors, redemptions by other investors in the ETF could result in decreased economies of scale and increased operating expenses for such ETF. These transactions might also result in higher brokerage, tax or other costs for the ETF. This risk may be particularly important when one investor owns a substantial portion of the ETF. There is a risk that ETFs in which the Fund invests may terminate due to extraordinary events. For example, any of the service providers to ETFs, such as the trustee or sponsor, may close or otherwise fail to perform their obligations to the ETF, and the ETF may not be able to find a substitute service provider. In addition, certain ETFs may be dependent upon licenses to use various indexes as a basis for determining their compositions and/or otherwise to use certain trade names. If these licenses are terminated, the ETFs may also terminate. An ETF may also terminate if its net assets fall below a certain amount.
Foreign Securities Risk.
Investments in or exposure to foreign securities involve certain risks not associated with investments in or exposure to securities of U.S. companies. For example, foreign markets can be extremely volatile. Foreign securities may also be less liquid, making them more difficult to trade, than securities of U.S. companies so that the Fund may, at times, be unable to sell foreign securities at desirable times or prices. Brokerage commissions, custodial costs and other fees are also generally higher for foreign securities. The Fund may have limited or no legal recourse in the event of default with respect to certain foreign securities, including those issued by foreign governments. In addition, foreign governments may impose withholding or other taxes on the Fund’s income, capital gains or proceeds from the disposition of foreign securities, which could reduce the Fund’s return on such securities. In some cases, such withholding or other taxes could potentially be confiscatory. Other risks include: possible delays in the settlement of transactions or in the payment of income; generally less publicly available information about
| Prospectus 2021 | 19 |
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More Information About the Fund
(continued)
foreign companies; the impact of economic, political, social, diplomatic or other conditions or events (including, for example, military confrontations, war, terrorism and disease/virus outbreaks and epidemics), possible seizure, expropriation or nationalization of a company or its assets or the assets of a particular investor or category of investors; accounting, auditing and financial reporting standards that may be less comprehensive and stringent than those applicable to domestic companies; the imposition of economic and other sanctions against a particular foreign country, its nationals or industries or businesses within the country; and the generally less stringent standard of care to which local agents may be held in the local markets. In addition, it may be difficult to obtain reliable information about the securities and business operations of certain foreign issuers. Governments or trade groups may compel local agents to hold securities in designated depositories that are not subject to independent evaluation. The less developed a country’s securities market is, the greater the level of risks. The risks posed by sanctions against a particular foreign country, its nationals or industries or businesses within the country may be heightened to the extent the Fund invests significantly in the affected country or region or in issuers from the affected country that depend on global markets. Additionally, investments in certain countries may subject the Fund to a number of tax rules, the application of which may be uncertain. Countries may amend or revise their existing tax laws, regulations and/or procedures in the future, possibly with retroactive effect. Changes in or uncertainties regarding the laws, regulations or procedures of a country could reduce the after-tax profits of the Fund, directly or indirectly, including by reducing the after-tax profits of companies located in such countries in which the Fund invests, or result in unexpected tax liabilities for the Fund. The performance of the Fund may also be negatively affected by fluctuations in a foreign currency's strength or weakness relative to the U.S. dollar, particularly to the extent the Fund invests a significant percentage of its assets in foreign securities or other assets denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar. Currency rates in foreign countries may fluctuate significantly over short or long periods of time for a number of reasons, including changes in interest rates, imposition of currency exchange controls and economic or political developments in the U.S. or abroad. The Fund may also incur currency conversion costs when converting foreign currencies into U.S. dollars and vice versa.
Frequent Trading Risk.
The portfolio managers may actively and frequently trade investments in the Fund's portfolio to carry out its investment strategies. Frequent trading of investments increases the possibility that the Fund, as relevant, will realize taxable capital gains (including short-term capital gains, which are generally taxable to shareholders at higher rates than long-term capital gains for U.S. federal income tax purposes), which could reduce the Fund's after-tax return. Frequent trading can also mean higher brokerage and other transaction costs, which could reduce the Fund's return. The trading costs and tax effects associated with portfolio turnover may adversely affect the Fund’s performance.
Geographic Focus Risk.
The Fund may be particularly susceptible to economic, political, regulatory or other events or conditions affecting issuers and countries within the specific geographic regions in which the Fund invests. Currency devaluations could occur in countries that have not yet experienced currency devaluation to date, or could continue to occur in countries that have already experienced such devaluations. As a result, the Fund’s NAV may be more volatile than the NAV of a more geographically diversified fund.
Europe.
The Fund is particularly susceptible to economic, political, regulatory or other events or conditions affecting issuers and countries in Europe. Most developed countries in Western Europe are members of the EU, and many are also members of the European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). European countries can be significantly affected by the tight fiscal and monetary controls that the EMU imposes on its members and with which candidates for EMU membership are required to comply. In addition, the private and public sectors’ debt problems of a single EU country can pose significant economic risks to the EU as a whole. Unemployment in Europe has historically been higher than in the United States and public deficits are an ongoing concern in many European countries. As a result, the Fund’s NAV may be more volatile than the NAV of a more geographically diversified fund. If securities of issuers in Europe fall out of favor, it may cause the Fund to underperform other funds that do not focus their investments in this region of the world. At a referendum in June 2016, the citizens of the UK voted to leave the EU (commonly known as “Brexit”). On January 31, 2020, the UK formally exited the EU on the terms of the Withdrawal Agreement, the deal agreed at a political level between the UK and the EU and entered into an implementation period until December 31, 2020, during which negotiations on the future relationship between the UK and the EU will take place. However, there is a significant degree of uncertainty as to the outcome of these negotiations, in particular relating to the final terms
| 20 | Prospectus 2021 |
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of the agreement to be negotiated with the EU or whether a final agreement will ultimately be reached by the end of the implementation period. The impact of any partial or complete dissolution of the EU on the UK and European economies and the broader global economy could be significant, resulting in negative impacts on currency and financial markets generally, such as increased volatility and illiquidity, and potentially lower economic growth in markets in the UK, Europe and globally, which may adversely affect the value of your investment in the Fund. The impact of Brexit in the near- and long-term is still unknown and could have additional adverse effects on economies, financial markets, currencies and asset valuations around the world. Any attempt by the Fund to hedge against or otherwise protect its portfolio or to profit from such circumstances may fail and, accordingly, an investment in the Fund could lose money over short or long periods. For more information on the risks associated with Brexit, see the Statement of Additional Information.
Growth Securities Risk.
Growth securities typically trade at a higher multiple of earnings than other types of equity securities. Accordingly, the market values of growth securities may never reach their expected market value and may decline in price. In addition, growth securities, at times, may not perform as well as value securities or the stock market in general, and may be out of favor with investors for varying periods of time.
Issuer Risk.
An issuer in which the Fund invests or to which it has exposure may perform poorly or below expectations, and the value of its securities may therefore decline, which may negatively affect the Fund’s performance. Underperformance of an issuer may be caused by poor management decisions, competitive pressures, breakthroughs in technology, reliance on suppliers, labor problems or shortages, corporate restructurings, fraudulent disclosures, natural disasters, military confrontations, war, terrorism, disease/virus outbreaks, epidemics or other events, conditions and factors which may impair the value of an investment in the Fund.
Small- and Mid-Cap Stock Risk.
Securities of small- and mid-cap companies can, in certain circumstances, have a higher potential for gains than securities of larger companies but are more likely to have more risk than larger companies. For example, small- and mid-cap companies may be more vulnerable to market downturns and adverse business or economic events than larger companies because they may have more limited financial resources and business operations. Small- and mid-cap companies are also more likely than larger companies to have more limited product lines and operating histories and to depend on smaller and generally less experienced management teams. Securities of small- and mid-cap companies may trade less frequently and in smaller volumes and may be less liquid and fluctuate more sharply in value than securities of larger companies. When the Fund takes significant positions in small- and mid-cap companies with limited trading volumes, the liquidation of those positions, particularly in a distressed market, could be prolonged and result in Fund investment losses that would affect the value of your investment in the Fund. In addition, some small- and mid-cap companies may not be widely followed by the investment community, which can lower the demand for their stocks.
Large-Cap Stock Risk.
Investments in larger companies may involve certain risks associated with their larger size. For instance, larger companies may be less able to respond quickly to new competitive challenges, such as changes in consumer tastes or innovation from smaller competitors. Also, larger companies are sometimes less able to achieve as high growth rates as successful smaller companies, especially during extended periods of economic expansion.
Liquidity Risk.
Liquidity risk is the risk associated with any event, circumstance, or characteristic of an investment or market that negatively impacts the Fund’s ability to sell, or realize the proceeds from the sale of, an investment at a desirable time or price. Liquidity risk may arise because of, for example, a lack of marketability of the investment, which means that when seeking to sell its portfolio investments, the Fund could find that selling is more difficult than anticipated, especially during times of high market volatility. Market participants attempting to sell the same or a similar instrument at the same time as the Fund could exacerbate the Fund’s exposure to liquidity risk. The Fund may have to accept a lower selling price for the holding, sell other liquid or more liquid investments that it might otherwise prefer to hold (thereby increasing the proportion of the Fund’s investments in less liquid or illiquid securities), or forego another more appealing investment opportunity. The liquidity of Fund investments may change significantly over time and certain investments that were liquid when purchased by the Fund may later become illiquid, particularly in times of overall economic distress. Changing regulatory, market or other conditions or environments (for example, the interest rate or credit environments) may also adversely affect the liquidity and the price of the Fund's investments. Judgment plays a larger role in valuing illiquid or less liquid investments as compared to valuing liquid
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or more liquid investments. Price volatility may be higher for illiquid or less liquid investments as a result of, for example, the relatively less frequent pricing of such securities (as compared to liquid or more liquid investments). Generally, the less liquid the market at the time the Fund sells a portfolio investment, the greater the risk of loss or decline of value to the Fund. Overall market liquidity and other factors can lead to an increase in redemptions, which may negatively impact Fund performance and NAV, including, for example, if the Fund is forced to sell investments in a down market. Foreign securities can present enhanced liquidity risks, including as a result of less developed custody, settlement or other practices of foreign markets.
Market Risk.
The Fund may incur losses due to declines in the value of one or more securities in which it invests. These declines may be due to factors affecting a particular issuer, or the result of, among other things, political, regulatory, market, economic or social developments affecting the relevant market(s) more generally. In addition, turbulence in financial markets and reduced liquidity in equity, credit and/or fixed income markets may negatively affect many issuers, which could adversely affect the Fund, including causing difficulty in assigning prices to hard-to-value assets in thinly traded and closed markets, significant redemptions and operational challenges. Global economies and financial markets are increasingly interconnected, and conditions and events in one country, region or financial market may adversely impact issuers in a different country, region or financial market. These risks may be magnified if certain events or developments adversely interrupt the global supply chain; in these and other circumstances, such risks might affect companies worldwide. As a result, local, regional or global events such as terrorism, war, natural disasters, disease/virus outbreaks and epidemics or other public health issues, recessions, depressions or other events – or the potential for such events – could have a significant negative impact on global economic and market conditions.
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) public health crisis has become a pandemic that has resulted in, and may continue to result in, significant global economic and societal disruption and market volatility due to disruptions in market access, resource availability, facilities operations, imposition of tariffs, export controls and supply chain disruption, among others. Such disruptions may be caused, or exacerbated by, quarantines and travel restrictions, workforce displacement and loss in human and other resources. The uncertainty surrounding the magnitude, duration, reach, costs and effects of the global pandemic, as well as actions that have been or could be taken by governmental authorities or other third parties, present unknowns that are yet to unfold. The impacts, as well as the uncertainty over impacts to come, of COVID-19 – and any other infectious illness outbreaks, epidemics and pandemics that may arise in the future – could negatively affect global economies and markets in ways that cannot necessarily be foreseen. In addition, the impact of infectious illness outbreaks and epidemics in emerging market countries may be greater due to generally less established healthcare systems, governments and financial markets. Public health crises caused by the COVID-19 outbreak may exacerbate other pre-existing political, social and economic risks in certain countries or globally. The disruptions caused by COVID-19 could prevent the Fund from executing advantageous investment decisions in a timely manner and negatively impact the Fund’s ability to achieve its investment objective. Any such event(s) could have a significant adverse impact on the value and risk profile of the Fund.
Money Market Fund Investment Risk.
An investment in a money market fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by any bank, the FDIC or any other government agency. Certain money market funds float their NAV while others seek to preserve the value of investments at a stable NAV (typically $1.00 per share). An investment in a money market fund, even an investment in a fund seeking to maintain a stable NAV per share, is not guaranteed and it is possible for the Fund to lose money by investing in these and other types of money market funds. If the liquidity of a money market fund’s portfolio deteriorates below certain levels, the money market fund may suspend redemptions (i.e., impose a redemption gate) and thereby prevent the Fund from selling its investment in the money market fund or impose a fee of up to 2% on amounts the Fund redeems from the money market fund (i.e., impose a liquidity fee). These measures may result in an investment loss or prohibit the Fund from redeeming shares when the Investment Manager would otherwise redeem shares. In addition to the fees and expenses that the Fund directly bears, the Fund indirectly bears the fees and expenses of any money market funds in which it invests, including affiliated money market funds. To the extent these fees and expenses, along with the fees and expenses of any other funds in which the Fund may invest, are expected to equal or exceed 0.01% of the Fund’s average daily net assets, they will be reflected in the Annual Fund Operating Expenses set forth in the table under “Fees and Expenses
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of the Fund.” By investing in a money market fund, the Fund will be exposed to the investment risks of the money market fund in direct proportion to such investment. The money market fund may not achieve its investment objective. The Fund, through its investment in the money market fund, may not achieve its investment objective. To the extent the Fund invests in instruments such as derivatives, the Fund may hold investments, which may be significant, in money market fund shares to cover its obligations resulting from the Fund’s investments in derivatives. Money market funds and the securities they invest in are subject to comprehensive regulations. The enactment of new legislation or regulations, as well as changes in interpretation and enforcement of current laws, may affect the manner of operation, performance and/or yield of money market funds.
Multi-Adviser Risk.
The Fund has multiple advisory firms that each manage a portion of the Fund’s net assets on a daily basis. Each adviser makes investment decisions independently from the other adviser(s). It is possible that the security selection process of one adviser will not complement or may conflict or even contradict that of the other adviser(s), including making off-setting trades that have no net effect to the Fund, but which may increase Fund expenses. As a result, the Fund's exposure to a given security, industry, sector or market capitalization could be smaller or larger than if the Fund were managed by a single adviser, which could adversely affect the Fund's performance.
Preferred Stock Risk.
Preferred stock is a type of stock that may pay dividends at a different rate than common stock of the same issuer, if at all, and that has preference over common stock in the payment of dividends and the liquidation of assets. Preferred stock does not ordinarily carry voting rights. The price of a preferred stock is generally determined by earnings, type of products or services, projected growth rates, experience of management, liquidity, and general market conditions of the markets on which the stock trades. The most significant risks associated with investments in preferred stock include issuer risk, market risk and interest rate risk (the risk of losses attributable to changes in interest rates).
Quantitative Model Risk.
Quantitative models used by the Fund may not effectively identify purchases and sales of Fund investments and may cause the Fund to underperform other investment strategies for short or long periods of time. Performance will depend upon the quality and accuracy of the assumptions, theories and framework upon which a quantitative model is based. The success of a quantitative model will depend upon the model’s accurate reflection of market conditions, with proper adjustments as market conditions change over time. Adjustments, or lack of adjustments, to the models, including as conditions change, as well as any errors or imperfections in the models, could adversely affect Fund performance. Quantitative model performance depends upon the quality of its design and effective execution under actual market conditions. Even a well-designed quantitative model cannot be expected to perform well in all market conditions or across all time intervals. Quantitative models may underperform in certain market environments including stressed or volatile market conditions. Effective execution may depend, in part, upon subjective selection and application of factors and data inputs used by the quantitative model. Discretion may be used by the portfolio management team when determining the data collected and incorporated into a quantitative model. Shareholders should be aware that there is no guarantee that any specific data or type of data can or will be used in a quantitative model. The portfolio management team may also use discretion when interpreting and applying the results of a quantitative model, including emphasizing, discounting or disregarding its outputs. It is not possible or practicable for a quantitative model to factor in all relevant, available data. There is no guarantee that the data actually utilized in a quantitative model will be the most accurate data available or be free from errors. There can be no assurance that the use of quantitative models will enable the Fund to achieve its objective.
Real Estate-Related Investment Risk.
Investments in real estate investment trusts (REITs) and in securities of other companies (wherever organized) principally engaged in the real estate industry subject the Fund to, among other things, risks similar to those of direct investments in real estate and the real estate industry in general. These include risks related to general and local economic conditions, possible lack of availability of financing and changes in interest rates or property values. REITs are entities that either own properties or make construction or mortgage loans, and also may include operating or finance companies. The value of interests in a REIT may be affected by, among other factors, changes in the value of the underlying properties owned by the REIT, changes in the prospect for earnings and/or cash flow growth of the REIT itself, defaults by borrowers or tenants, market saturation, decreases in market rates for rents, and other economic, political, or regulatory matters affecting the real estate industry, including REITs. REITs and similar non-U.S. entities depend upon specialized management skills, may have
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limited financial resources, may have less trading volume in their securities, and may be subject to more abrupt or erratic price movements than the overall securities markets. REITs are also subject to the risk of failing to qualify for favorable tax treatment under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended. The failure of a REIT to continue to qualify as a REIT for tax purposes can materially and adversely affect its value. Some REITs (especially mortgage REITs) are affected by risks similar to those associated with investments in debt securities including changes in interest rates and the quality of credit extended.
Sector Risk.
At times, the Fund may have a significant portion of its assets invested in securities of companies conducting business within one or more economic sectors, including the financial services, and industrials sectors. Companies in the same sector may be similarly affected by economic, regulatory, political or market events or conditions, which may make the Fund more vulnerable to unfavorable developments in that sector than funds that invest more broadly. Generally, the more broadly the Fund invests, the more it spreads risk and potentially reduces the risks of loss and volatility.
Financial Services Sector.
The Fund may be more susceptible to the particular risks that may affect companies in the financial services sector than if it were invested in a wider variety of companies in unrelated sectors. Companies in the financial services sector are subject to certain risks, including the risk of regulatory change, decreased liquidity in credit markets and unstable interest rates. Such companies may have concentrated portfolios, such as a high level of loans to one or more industries or sectors, which makes them vulnerable to economic conditions that affect such industries or sectors. Performance of such companies may be affected by competitive pressures and exposure to investments, agreements and counterparties, including credit products that, under certain circumstances, may lead to losses (e.g., subprime loans). Companies in the financial services sector are subject to extensive governmental regulation that may limit the amount and types of loans and other financial commitments they can make, and the interest rates and fees they may charge. In addition, profitability of such companies is largely dependent upon the availability and the cost of capital.
Industrials Sector.
The Fund may be more susceptible to the particular risks that may affect companies in the industrials sector than if it were invested in a wider variety of companies in unrelated sectors. Companies in the industrials sector are subject to certain risks, including changes in supply and demand for their specific product or service and for industrial sector products in general, including decline in demand for such products due to rapid technological developments and frequent new product introduction. Performance of such companies may be affected by factors including government regulation, world events and economic conditions and risks for environmental damage and product liability claims.
Special Situations Risk.
Securities of companies that are involved in an initial public offering or a major corporate event, such as a business consolidation or restructuring, may be exposed to heightened risk because of the high degree of uncertainty that can be associated with such events. Securities issued in initial public offerings often are issued by companies that are in the early stages of development, have a history of little or no revenues and may operate at a loss following the offering. It is possible that there will be no active trading market for the securities after the offering, and that the market price of the securities may be subject to significant and unpredictable fluctuations. Initial public offerings are subject to many of the same risks as investing in companies with smaller market capitalizations. To the extent the Fund determines to invest in initial public offerings, it may not be able to invest to the extent desired, because, for example, only a small portion (if any) of the securities being offered in an initial public offering are available to the Fund. The investment performance of the Fund during periods when it is unable to invest significantly or at all in initial public offerings may be lower than during periods when the Fund is able to do so. Securities purchased in initial public offerings which are sold within 12 months after purchase may result in increased short-term capital gains, which will be taxable to the Fund’s shareholders as ordinary income. Certain “special situation” investments are investments in securities or other instruments that may be classified as illiquid or lacking a readily ascertainable fair value. Certain special situation investments prevent ownership interests therein from being withdrawn until the special situation investment, or a portion thereof, is realized or deemed realized, which may negatively impact Fund performance. Investing in special situations may have a magnified effect on the performance of funds with small amounts of assets.
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Value Securities Risk.
Value securities are securities of companies that may have experienced, for example, adverse business, industry or other developments or may be subject to special risks that have caused the securities to be out of favor and, in turn, potentially undervalued. The market value of a portfolio security may not meet portfolio management’s perceived value assessment of that security, or may decline in price, even though portfolio management believes the securities are already undervalued. There is also a risk that it may take longer than expected for the value of these investments to rise to portfolio management’s perceived value. In addition, value securities, at times, may not perform as well as growth securities or the stock market in general, and may be out of favor with investors for varying periods of time.
Additional Investment Strategies and Policies
This section describes certain investment strategies and policies that the Fund may utilize in pursuit of its investment objective and some additional factors and risks involved with investing in the Fund.
Investment Guidelines
As a general matter, and except as specifically described in the discussion of the Fund's principal investment strategies in this prospectus or as otherwise required by the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the 1940 Act), the rules and regulations thereunder and any applicable exemptive relief, whenever an investment policy or limitation states a percentage of the Fund's assets that may be invested in any security or other asset or sets forth a policy regarding an investment standard, compliance with that percentage limitation or standard will be determined solely at the time of the Fund's investment in the security or asset.
Holding Other Kinds of Investments
The Fund may hold other investments that are not part of its principal investment strategies. These investments and their risks are described below and/or in the Statement of Additional Information (SAI). The Fund may choose not to invest in certain securities described in this prospectus and in the SAI, although it has the ability to do so. Information on the Fund’s holdings can be found in the Fund’s shareholder reports or by visiting columbiathreadneedleus.com.
Transactions in Derivatives
The Fund may enter into derivative transactions or otherwise have exposure to derivative transactions through underlying investments. Derivatives are financial contracts whose values are, for example, based on (or “derived” from) traditional securities (such as a stock or bond), assets (such as a commodity like gold or a foreign currency), reference rates (such as the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (commonly known as SOFR) or the London Interbank Offered Rate (commonly known as LIBOR)) or market indices (such as the Standard & Poor’s 500
®
Index). The use of derivatives is a highly specialized activity which involves investment techniques and risks different from those associated with ordinary portfolio securities transactions. Derivatives involve special risks and may result in losses or may limit the Fund’s potential gain from favorable market movements. Derivative strategies often involve leverage, which may exaggerate a loss, potentially causing the Fund to lose more money than it would have lost had it invested in the underlying security or other asset directly. The values of derivatives may move in unexpected ways, especially in unusual market conditions, and may result in increased volatility in the value of the derivative and/or the Fund’s shares, among other consequences. The use of derivatives may also increase the amount of taxes payable by shareholders holding shares in a taxable account. Other risks arise from the Fund’s potential inability to terminate or to sell derivative positions. A liquid secondary market may not always exist for the Fund’s derivative positions at times when the Fund might wish to terminate or to sell such positions. Over-the-counter instruments (investments not traded on an exchange) may be illiquid, and transactions in derivatives traded in the over-the-counter market are subject to the risk that the other party will not meet its obligations. The use of derivatives also involves the risks of mispricing or improper valuation and that changes in the value of the derivative may not correlate perfectly with the underlying security, asset, reference rate or index. The Fund also may not be able to find a suitable derivative transaction counterparty, and thus may be unable to engage in derivative transactions when it is deemed favorable to do so, or at all. U.S. federal legislation has been enacted that provides for new clearing, margin, reporting and
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registration requirements for participants in the derivatives market. These changes could restrict and/or impose significant costs or other burdens upon the Fund’s participation in derivatives transactions. For more information on the risks of derivative investments and strategies, see the SAI.
LIBOR Phase-Out Risk.
Many derivatives and other financial instruments utilize or are permitted to utilize a floating interest rate based on LIBOR. On July 27, 2017, the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority announced its intention to phase out the use of LIBOR by the end of 2021. More recently, in November 2020, Ice Benchmark Administrator (IBA) has announced its intention to consult on (i) the cessation of four LIBOR currencies (GBP, EUR, JPY and CHF) after the end of 2021 and (ii) on the cessation of the major USD LIBOR tenors (overnight, 1M, 3M, 6M and 12M) in mid-2023 and the cessation of the 1 week and 2M USD LIBOR by the end of 2021. IBA will make separate announcements following the outcome of the consultations. The interest rate benchmark(s) that will replace LIBOR in the capital markets remains uncertain, and the overall economic impact of the transition away from LIBOR cannot yet be determined. The Investment Manager monitors the Fund’s LIBOR exposure risks, including the extent to which any derivative and/or debt investments allow for the utilization of alternative rate(s) to LIBOR.
Affiliated Fund Investing
The Investment Manager or an affiliate serves as investment adviser to funds using the Columbia brand (Columbia Funds), including those that are structured as “fund-of-funds”, and provides asset-allocation services to (i) shareholders by investing in shares of other Columbia Funds, which may include the Fund (collectively referred to in this section as Underlying Funds), and (ii) discretionary managed accounts (collectively referred to as affiliated products) that invest exclusively in Underlying Funds. These affiliated products, individually or collectively, may own a significant percentage of the outstanding shares of one or more Underlying Funds, and the Investment Manager seeks to balance potential conflicts of interest between the affiliated products and the Underlying Funds in which they invest. The affiliated products’ investment in the Underlying Funds may have the effect of creating economies of scale, possibly resulting in lower expense ratios for the Underlying Funds, because the affiliated products may own substantial portions of the shares of Underlying Funds. However, redemption of Underlying Fund shares by one or more affiliated products could cause the expense ratio of an Underlying Fund to increase, as its fixed costs would be spread over a smaller asset base. Because of large positions of certain affiliated products, the Underlying Funds may experience relatively large inflows and outflows of cash due to affiliated products’ purchases and sales of Underlying Fund shares. Although the Investment Manager or its affiliate may seek to minimize the impact of these transactions where possible, for example, by structuring them over a reasonable period of time or through other measures, Underlying Funds may experience increased expenses as they buy and sell portfolio securities to manage the cash flow effect related to these transactions. Further, when the Investment Manager or its affiliate structures transactions over a reasonable period of time in order to manage the potential impact of the buy and sell decisions for the affiliated products, those affiliated products, including funds-of-funds, may pay more or less (for purchase activity), or receive more or less (for redemption activity), for shares of the Underlying Funds than if the transactions were executed in one transaction. In addition, substantial redemptions by affiliated products within a short period of time could require the Underlying Fund to liquidate positions more rapidly than would otherwise be desirable, which may have the effect of reducing or eliminating potential gain or causing it to realize a loss. In order to meet such redemptions, an Underlying Fund may be forced to sell its liquid (or more liquid) positions, leaving the Underlying Fund holding, post-redemption, a relatively larger position in illiquid investments (i.e., any investment that the Fund reasonably expects cannot be sold or disposed of in current market conditions in seven calendar days or less without the sale or disposition significantly changing the market value of the investment) or less liquid securities. Substantial redemptions may also adversely affect the ability of the Underlying Fund to implement its investment strategy. The Investment Manager or its affiliate also has a conflict of interest in determining the allocation of affiliated products’ assets among the Underlying Funds, as it earns different fees from the various Underlying Funds.
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Investing in Money Market Funds
The Fund may invest cash in, or hold as collateral for certain investments, shares of registered or unregistered money market funds, including funds advised by the Investment Manager or its affiliates. These funds are not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) or any other government agency. The Fund and its shareholders indirectly bear a portion of the expenses of any money market fund or other fund in which the Fund may invest.
Lending of Portfolio Securities
The Fund may lend portfolio securities to broker-dealers or other financial intermediaries on a fully collateralized basis in order to earn additional income. The Fund may lose money from securities lending if, for example, it is delayed in or prevented from selling the collateral after the loan is made or recovering the securities loaned or if it incurs losses on the reinvestment of cash collateral.
The Fund currently does not participate in the securities lending program but the Board of Trustees (the Board) may determine to renew participation in the future. For more information on lending of portfolio securities and the risks involved, see the SAI and the annual and semiannual reports to shareholders.
Investing Defensively
The Fund may from time to time take temporary defensive investment positions that may be inconsistent with the Fund’s principal investment strategies in attempting to respond to adverse market, economic, political, social or other conditions, including, without limitation, investing some or all of its assets in money market instruments or shares of affiliated or unaffiliated money market funds or holding some or all of its assets in cash or cash equivalents. The Fund may take such defensive investment positions for as long a period as deemed necessary.
The Fund may not achieve its investment objective while it is investing defensively. Investing defensively may adversely affect Fund performance. During these times, the portfolio managers may make frequent portfolio holding changes, which could result in increased trading expenses and taxes, and decreased Fund performance. See also
above for more information.
Investing in Money Market Funds
Other Strategic and Investment Measures
The Fund may also from time to time take temporary portfolio positions that may or may not be consistent with the Fund’s principal investment strategies in attempting to respond to adverse market, economic, political, social or other conditions, including, without limitation, investing in derivatives, such as forward contracts, futures contracts, options, structured investments and swaps, for various purposes, including among others, investing in particular derivatives in seeking to reduce investment exposures, or in seeking to achieve indirect investment exposures, to a sector, country, region or currency where the Investment Manager believes such positioning is appropriate. The Fund may take such portfolio positions for as long a period as deemed necessary. While the Fund is so positioned, derivatives could comprise a substantial portion of the Fund’s investments and the Fund may not achieve its investment objective. Investing in this manner may adversely affect Fund performance. During these times, the portfolio managers may make frequent portfolio holding changes, which could result in increased trading expenses and taxes, and decreased Fund performance. For information on the risks of investing in derivatives, see
above.
Transactions in Derivatives
Portfolio Holdings Disclosure
The Board has adopted policies and procedures that govern the timing and circumstances of disclosure to shareholders and third parties of information regarding the securities owned by the Fund. A description of these policies and procedures is included in the SAI. Fund policy generally permits the disclosure of portfolio holdings information on the Fund's website (columbiathreadneedleus.com) only after a certain amount of time has passed, as described in the SAI.
Purchases and sales of portfolio securities can take place at any time, so the portfolio holdings information available on the Fund's website may not always be current.
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FUNDamentals
Portfolio Holdings Versus the Benchmarks
The Fund does not limit its investments to the securities within its benchmark(s), and accordingly the Fund's holdings may diverge significantly from those of its benchmark(s). In addition, the Fund may invest in securities outside any industry and geographic sectors represented in its benchmark(s). The Fund's weightings in individual securities, and in industry or geographic sectors, may also vary considerably from those of its benchmark(s).
eDelivery and Mailings to Households
In order to reduce shareholder expenses, the Fund may mail only one copy of the Fund’s prospectus and each annual and semiannual report to those addresses shared by two or more accounts. If you wish to receive separate copies of these documents, call 800.345.6611 or, if your shares are held through a financial intermediary, contact your intermediary directly. Additionally, you may elect to enroll in eDelivery to receive electronic versions of these documents, as well as quarterly statements and supplements, by logging into your account at columbiathreadneedleus.com/investor/.
Cash Flows
The timing and magnitude of cash inflows from investors buying Fund shares could prevent the Fund from always being fully invested. Conversely, the timing and magnitude of cash outflows to shareholders redeeming Fund shares could require the Fund to sell portfolio securities at less than opportune times or to hold ready reserves of uninvested cash in amounts larger than might otherwise be the case to meet shareholder redemptions. Either situation could adversely impact the Fund’s performance.
Understanding Annual Fund Operating Expenses
The Fund’s annual operating expenses, as presented in the
table in the
section of this prospectus, generally are based on expenses incurred during the Fund’s most recently completed fiscal year, may vary by share class and are expressed as a percentage (expense ratio) of the Fund’s average net assets during that fiscal year. The expense ratios reflect the Fund’s fee arrangements as of the date of this prospectus and, unless indicated otherwise, are based on expenses incurred during the Fund’s most recent fiscal year. The Fund’s assets will fluctuate, but unless indicated otherwise in the
table, no adjustments have been or will be made to the expense ratios to reflect any differences in the Fund’s average net assets between the most recently completed fiscal year and the date of this prospectus or a later date. In general, the Fund’s expense ratios will increase as its net assets decrease, such that the Fund’s actual expense ratios may be higher than the expense ratios presented in the
table if assets fall. As applicable, any commitment by the Investment Manager and/or its affiliates to waive fees and/or cap (reimburse) expenses is expected, in part, to limit the impact of any increase in the Fund’s expense ratios that would otherwise result because of a decrease in the Fund’s assets in the current fiscal year. The Fund’s annual operating expenses are comprised of (i) investment management fees, (ii) distribution and/or service fees, and (iii) other expenses. Management fees do not vary by class, but distribution and/or service fees and other expenses may vary by class.
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
Fees and Expenses of the Fund
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
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FUNDamentals
Other Expenses
“Other expenses” consist of the fees the Fund pays to its custodian, transfer agent, auditors, lawyers and trustees, costs relating to compliance and miscellaneous expenses. Generally, these expenses are allocated on a pro rata basis across all share classes. These fees include certain sub-transfer agency and shareholder servicing fees. Transfer agency fees and certain shareholder servicing fees, however, are class specific. They differ by share class because the shareholder services provided to each share class may be different. Accordingly, the differences in “other expenses” among share classes are primarily the result of the different transfer agency and shareholder servicing fees applicable to each share class. For more information on these fees, see
About Fund Shares — Financial Intermediary Compensation.
Fee Waiver/Expense Reimbursement Arrangements and Impact on Past Performance
The Investment Manager and certain of its affiliates have contractually agreed to waive fees and/or reimburse expenses (excluding certain fees and expenses described below) through December 31, 2021, unless sooner terminated at the sole discretion of the Fund's Board, so that the Fund’s net operating expenses, after giving effect to fees waived/expenses reimbursed and any balance credits and/or overdraft charges from the Fund’s custodian, do not exceed the annual rates of:
|
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|
| Class Inst | 0.99% |
| Class Inst3 | 0.84% |
Under the agreement, the following fees and expenses are excluded from the Fund’s operating expenses when calculating the waiver/reimbursement commitment, and therefore will be paid by the Fund, if applicable: taxes (including foreign transaction taxes), expenses associated with investment in affiliated and non-affiliated pooled investment vehicles (including mutual funds and exchange-traded funds), transaction costs and brokerage commissions, costs related to any securities lending program, dividend expenses associated with securities sold short, inverse floater program fees and expenses, transaction charges and interest on borrowed money, interest, infrequent and/or unusual expenses and any other expenses the exclusion of which is specifically approved by the Fund’s Board. This agreement may be modified or amended only with approval from all parties.
Reflected in the cap commitments with respect to Class Inst3 is a contractual agreement by the Transfer Agent to waive fees and/or to reimburse expenses through December 31, 2021, unless sooner terminated at the sole discretion of the Fund’s Board, so that the fees payable under the Fund’s transfer agency agreement do not exceed the annual rate of 0.00% for Class Inst3.
Effect of Fee Waivers and/or Expense Reimbursements on Past Performance.
The Fund’s returns shown in the
Performance Information
section of this prospectus reflect the effect of any fee waivers and/or reimbursements of Fund expenses by the Investment Manager and/or any of its affiliates that were in place during the performance period shown. Without such fee waivers/expense reimbursements, the Fund’s returns might have been lower.
Primary Service Providers
The Fund enters into contractual arrangements (Service Provider Contracts) with various service providers, including, among others, the Investment Manager, the Distributor, the Transfer Agent and the Fund’s custodian. The Fund’s Service Provider Contracts are solely among the parties thereto. Shareholders are not parties to, or intended to be third-party beneficiaries of, any Service Provider Contracts. Further, this prospectus, the SAI and any Service Provider Contracts are not intended to give rise to any agreement, duty, special relationship or other obligation between the Fund and any investor, or give rise to any contractual, tort or other rights in any individual shareholder, group of shareholders or other person, including any right to assert a fiduciary or other duty, enforce the Service Provider Contracts against the parties or to seek any remedy thereunder, either directly or on behalf of the Fund. Nothing in the previous sentence should be read to suggest any waiver of any rights under federal or state securities laws.
| Prospectus 2021 | 29 |
Multi-Manager International Equity Strategies Fund
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
The Investment Manager, the Distributor, and the Transfer Agent are all affiliates of Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (Ameriprise Financial). They and their affiliates currently provide key services, including investment advisory, administration, distribution, shareholder servicing and transfer agency services, to the Fund and various other funds, including the Columbia Funds, and are paid for providing these services. These service relationships are described below.
The Investment Manager
Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC is located at 225 Franklin Street, Boston, MA 02110 and serves as investment adviser and administrator to the Columbia Funds. The Investment Manager is a registered investment adviser and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ameriprise Financial. The Investment Manager’s management experience covers all major asset classes, including equity securities, debt instruments and money market instruments. In addition to serving as an investment adviser to traditional mutual funds, exchange-traded funds and closed-end funds, the Investment Manager acts as an investment adviser for itself, its affiliates, individuals, corporations, retirement plans, private investment companies and financial intermediaries.
Subject to oversight by the Board, the Investment Manager manages the day-to-day operations of the Fund. The Investment Manager is responsible for the investment management of the Fund, but has delegated certain of its duties, including day-to-day portfolio management of all or a portion of the Fund’s assets to one or more investment subadvisers that determine what securities and other investments the Fund should buy or sell. The Investment Manager is also responsible for overseeing the administrative operations of the Fund, including the general supervision of the Fund’s operations, the coordination of the Fund’s other service providers and the provision of related clerical and administrative services.
The SEC has issued an order that permits the Investment Manager, subject to the approval of the Board, to appoint affiliated and unaffiliated subadvisers by entering into subadvisory agreements with them, and to change in material respects the terms of those subadvisory agreements, including the fees paid thereunder, for the Fund without first obtaining shareholder approval, thereby avoiding the expense and delays typically associated with obtaining shareholder approval. The Fund furnishes shareholders with information about new subadvisers retained in reliance on the order within 90 days after hiring the subadviser. The Investment Manager and its affiliates may have other relationships, including significant financial relationships, with current or potential subadvisers or their affiliates, which may create certain conflicts of interest. When making recommendations to the Board to appoint or to change a subadviser, or to change the terms of a subadvisory agreement, the Investment Manager discloses to the Board the nature of any such material relationships.
With respect to the Fund, the Fund’s Board has approved a subadvisory agreement between the Investment Manager and Threadneedle International Limited (Threadneedle), an affiliate of the Investment Manager and an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Ameriprise Financial. At present, Threadneedle is not providing services to the Fund pursuant to the subadvisory agreement.
The Fund pays the Investment Manager a fee for its management services, which include investment advisory services and administrative services. The fee is calculated as a percentage of the daily net assets of the Fund and is paid monthly. For the Fund’s most recent fiscal year, management services fees paid to the Investment Manager by the Fund amounted to 0.80% of average daily net assets of the Fund, before any applicable reimbursements.
A discussion regarding the basis for the Board’s approval of the renewal of the Fund's management agreement is available in the Fund’s annual report to shareholders for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2020.
The Investment Manager has, with the approval of the Board, engaged an investment subadviser(s) to make the day-to-day investment decisions for the Fund. The Investment Manager pays the subadviser(s) for investment advisory services and retains ultimate responsibility (subject to Board oversight) for overseeing any subadviser it engages and for evaluating the Fund’s needs and the subadvisers’ skills and abilities on an ongoing basis. Based on its evaluations, the Investment Manager may at times recommend to the Board that the Fund change, add or terminate one or more subadvisers; continue to retain a subadviser even though the subadviser’s ownership or corporate
| 30 | Prospectus 2021 |
Multi-Manager International Equity Strategies Fund
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
structure has changed; or materially change a subadvisory agreement with a subadviser. A discussion regarding the basis for the Board’s approval of the renewal of the investment subadvisory agreements with Arrowstreet, Baillie Gifford, and Causeway is available in the Fund’s annual report to shareholders for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2020.
Subadvisers
Arrowstreet, which has served as Subadviser to the Fund since May 2018, is located at 200 Clarendon Street, 30th Floor, Boston, MA 02116. Arrowstreet, subject to the supervision of Columbia Management, provides day-to-day management of a portion of the Fund’s portfolio, as well as investment research and statistical information, under a subadvisory agreement with Columbia Management. Arrowstreet is a registered investment adviser. Arrowstreet was organized as a Massachusetts limited partnership in 1999 and provides a select range of global equity investment strategies.
Baillie Gifford, which has served as Subadviser to the Fund since May 2018, is located at Calton Square, 1 Greenside Row, Edinburgh, EH1 3AN, United Kingdom. Baillie Gifford, subject to the supervision of Columbia Management, provides day-to-day management of a portion of the Fund’s portfolio, as well as investment research and statistical information, under a subadvisory agreement with Columbia Management. Baillie Gifford is a registered investment adviser. Baillie Gifford was incorporated in 1983. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Baillie Gifford & Co, which is a privately-owned UK investment management firm that has been in operation since 1908. Baillie Gifford provides investment management and advisory services to non-UK clients, including management of global and international equities and fixed income securities for institutional clients, including registered investment companies and unregistered private funds.
Causeway, which has served as Subadviser to the Fund since May 2018, is located at 11111 Santa Monica Boulevard, 15th Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90025. Causeway, subject to the supervision of Columbia Management, provides day-to-day management of a portion of the Fund’s portfolio, as well as investment research and statistical information, under a subadvisory agreement with Columbia Management. Causeway is a registered investment adviser. Causeway was organized in 2001 and provides international, global, and emerging markets equity investment management services to institutional clients.
Portfolio Managers
Information about the portfolio managers primarily responsible for overseeing the Fund’s investments is shown below. The SAI provides additional information about the portfolio managers, including information relating to compensation, other accounts managed by the portfolio managers, and ownership by the portfolio managers of Fund shares.
Subadviser:
Arrowstreet Capital, Limited Partnership (Arrowstreet)
|
Portfolio Manager
|
Title
|
Role with Fund
|
Managed Fund Since
|
|||
| Peter Rathjens, Ph.D. | Partner and Chief Investment Officer of Arrowstreet | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2018 | |||
| Manolis Liodakis, Ph.D., M.B.A. | Partner and Head of Portfolio Management of Arrowstreet | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2018 | |||
| John Campbell, Ph.D. | Partner and Co-Head of Research of Arrowstreet | Co-Portfolio Manager | December 2020 | |||
| Derek Vance, CFA | Partner and Co-Head of Research of Arrowstreet | Co-Portfolio Manager | December 2020 | |||
| Christopher Malloy, Ph.D. | Manager, Research of Arrowstreet | Co-Portfolio Manager | December 2020 |
Mr. Rathjens
joined Arrowstreet in 1999. Mr. Rathjens began his investment career in 1983 and earned a Ph.D. and M.A. from Princeton University and a B.A. from Oberlin College.
Mr. Liodakis
joined Arrowstreet in 2012. Mr. Liodakis began his investment career in 2000 and earned a Ph.D. from City, University of London, an M.B.A. from University of Birmingham and a B.S. from Athens University.
Mr. Campbell
joined Arrowstreet in 1999. Mr. Campbell began his investment career in 1998 and earned a Ph.D. from Yale University and a B.A. from Oxford University.
| Prospectus 2021 | 31 |
Multi-Manager International Equity Strategies Fund
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
Mr. Vance
joined Arrowstreet in 2008. Mr. Vance began his investment career in 2007 and earned an A.B. from Harvard College.
Mr. Malloy
joined Arrowstreet in 2019. Mr. Malloy began his investment career in 2003 and earned a Ph.D. and M.B.A. from The University of Chicago Graduate School of Business, and a B.A. from Yale University.
Subadviser:
Baillie Gifford Overseas Limited (Baillie Gifford)
|
Portfolio Manager
|
Title
|
Role with Fund
|
Managed Fund Since
|
|||
| Donald Farquharson, CFA | Investment Manager, and Partner of Baillie Gifford & Co. | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2018 | |||
| Angus Franklin | Investment Manager, and Partner of Baillie Gifford & Co. | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2018 | |||
| Andrew Stobart | Investment Manager of Baillie Gifford | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2018 | |||
| Jenny Davis | Investment Manager of Baillie Gifford | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2018 | |||
| Tom Walsh, CFA | Investment Manager of Baillie Gifford | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2018 |
Mr. Farquharson
joined Baillie Gifford in 2008. Mr. Farquharson began his investment career in 1988 and earned an M.A. from University of St. Andrews.
Mr. Franklin
joined Baillie Gifford in 1994. Mr. Franklin began his investment career in 1994 and earned an M.A. from University of St. Andrews.
Mr. Stobart
joined Baillie Gifford in 1991. Mr. Stobart began his investment career in 1991 and earned an M.A. from Cambridge University.
Ms. Davis
joined Baillie Gifford in 2011. Ms. Davis began her investment career in 2009 and earned a B.A. from Oxford University.
Mr. Walsh
joined Baillie Gifford in 2009. Mr. Walsh began his investment career in 2004 and earned an LL.B. from the University of Edinburgh.
Subadviser:
Causeway Capital Management LLC (Causeway)
|
Portfolio Manager
|
Title
|
Role with Fund
|
Managed Fund Since
|
|||
| Sarah Ketterer, M.B.A. | Chief Executive Officer and Portfolio Manager of Causeway | Co-Lead Portfolio Manager | 2018 | |||
| Harry Hartford | President and Portfolio Manager of Causeway | Co-Lead Portfolio Manager | 2018 | |||
| Conor Muldoon, CFA, M.B.A. | Portfolio Manager of Causeway | Portfolio Manager | 2018 | |||
| Alessandro Valentini, CFA, M.B.A. | Portfolio Manager of Causeway | Portfolio Manager | 2018 | |||
| Jonathan Eng, M.B.A. | Portfolio Manager of Causeway | Portfolio Manager | 2018 | |||
| Ellen Lee, M.B.A. | Portfolio Manager of Causeway | Portfolio Manager | 2018 |
Ms. Ketterer
co-founded Causeway in 2001. Ms. Ketterer began her investment career in 1986 and earned an M.B.A from Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College and a B.A. from Stanford University.
Mr. Hartford
co-founded Causeway in 2001. Mr. Hartford began his investment career in 1984 and earned an M.S. from Oklahoma State University and a B.A. from Trinity College at the University of Dublin.
Mr. Muldoon
joined Causeway in 2003. Mr. Muldoon began his investment career in 1996 and earned an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, and an M.A. and B.S. from Trinity College at the University of Dublin.
Mr. Valentini
joined Causeway in 2006. Mr. Valentini began his investment career in 2002 and earned an M.B.A. from Columbia Business School, and an M.A. and B.S. from Georgetown University.
Mr. Eng
joined Causeway in 2001. Mr. Eng began his investment career in 1992 and earned an M.B.A. from the Anderson Graduate School of Management at UCLA and a B.A. from Brandeis University.
Ms. Lee
joined Causeway in 2007. Ms. Lee began her investment career in 2004 and earned an M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and a B.A. from Seoul National University.
| 32 | Prospectus 2021 |
Multi-Manager International Equity Strategies Fund
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
The Distributor
Shares of the Fund are distributed by Columbia Management Investment Distributors, Inc., which is located at 225 Franklin Street, Boston, MA 02110. The Distributor is a registered broker-dealer and an indirect, wholly-owned subsidiary of Ameriprise Financial. The Distributor and its affiliates may pay commissions, distribution and service fees and/or other compensation to entities, including Ameriprise Financial affiliates, for selling shares and providing services to investors.
The Transfer Agent
Columbia Management Investment Services Corp. is a registered transfer agent and wholly-owned subsidiary of Ameriprise Financial. The Transfer Agent is located at 225 Franklin Street, Boston, MA 02110, and its responsibilities include processing purchases, redemptions and exchanges of Fund shares, calculating and paying distributions, maintaining shareholder records, preparing account statements and providing customer service. The Transfer Agent has engaged DST Asset Manager Solutions, Inc. to provide various shareholder or “sub-transfer agency” services. In addition, the Transfer Agent enters into agreements with various financial intermediaries through which you may hold Fund shares, pursuant to which the Transfer Agent pays these financial intermediaries for providing certain shareholder services. Depending on the type of account, the Fund pays the Transfer Agent a per account fee or a fee based on the assets invested through omnibus accounts, and reimburses the Transfer Agent for certain out-of-pocket expenses, including certain payments to financial intermediaries through which shares are held.
Other Roles and Relationships of Ameriprise Financial and its Affiliates — Certain Conflicts of Interest
The Investment Manager, Distributor and Transfer Agent, all affiliates of Ameriprise Financial, provide various services to the Fund and other Columbia Funds for which they are compensated. Ameriprise Financial and its other affiliates may also provide other services to these funds and be compensated for them.
The Investment Manager and its affiliates may provide investment advisory and other services to other clients and customers substantially similar to those provided to the Columbia Funds. These activities, and other financial services activities of Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates, may present actual and potential conflicts of interest and introduce certain investment constraints.
Ameriprise Financial is a major financial services company, engaged in a broad range of financial activities beyond the fund-related activities of the Investment Manager, including, among others, insurance, broker-dealer (sales and trading), asset management, banking and other financial activities. These additional activities may involve multiple advisory, financial, insurance and other interests in securities and other instruments, and in companies that issue securities and other instruments, that may be bought, sold or held by the Columbia Funds.
Conflicts of interest and limitations that could affect a Columbia Fund may arise from, for example, the following:
| ■ | compensation and other benefits received by the Investment Manager and other Ameriprise Financial affiliates related to the management/administration of a Columbia Fund and the sale of its shares; |
| ■ | the allocation of, and competition for, investment opportunities among the Fund, other funds and accounts advised/managed by the Investment Manager and other Ameriprise Financial affiliates, or Ameriprise Financial itself and its affiliates; |
| ■ | separate and potentially divergent management of a Columbia Fund and other funds and accounts advised/managed by the Investment Manager and other Ameriprise Financial affiliates; |
| ■ | regulatory and other investment restrictions on investment activities of the Investment Manager and other Ameriprise Financial affiliates and accounts advised/managed by them; |
| ■ | insurance and other relationships of Ameriprise Financial affiliates with companies and other entities in which a Columbia Fund invests; and |
| ■ | regulatory and other restrictions relating to the sharing of information between Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates, including the Investment Manager, and a Columbia Fund. |
| Prospectus 2021 | 33 |
Multi-Manager International Equity Strategies Fund
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
The Investment Manager and Ameriprise Financial have adopted various policies and procedures that are intended to identify, monitor and address conflicts of interest. However, there is no assurance that these policies, procedures and disclosures will be effective.
Additional information about Ameriprise Financial and the types of conflicts of interest and other matters referenced above is set forth in the
section of the SAI. Investors in the Columbia Funds should carefully review these disclosures and consult with their financial advisor if they have any questions.
Investment Management and Other Services — Other Roles and Relationships of Ameriprise Financial and its Affiliates — Certain Conflicts of Interest
Certain Legal Matters
Ameriprise Financial and certain of its affiliates have historically been involved in a number of legal, arbitration and regulatory proceedings, including routine litigation, class actions and governmental actions, concerning matters arising in connection with the conduct of their business activities. Ameriprise Financial believes that the Fund is not currently the subject of, and that neither Ameriprise Financial nor any of its affiliates are the subject of, any pending legal, arbitration or regulatory proceedings that are likely to have a material adverse effect on the Fund or the ability of Ameriprise Financial or its affiliates to perform under their contracts with the Fund. Information regarding certain pending and settled legal proceedings may be found in the Fund’s shareholder reports and in the SAI. Additionally, Ameriprise Financial is required to make quarterly (10-Q), annual (10-K) and, as necessary, 8-K filings with the SEC on legal and regulatory matters that relate to Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates. Copies of these filings may be obtained by accessing the SEC website at sec.gov.
| 34 | Prospectus 2021 |
Multi-Manager International Equity Strategies Fund
About Fund Shares
Description of the Share Classes
The Multi-Manager Strategies Funds, together with the other Columbia Funds, are referred to as the Funds.
Funds Contact Information
Additional information about the Funds, including sales charges and other class features and policies, can be obtained, free of charge, at columbiathreadneedleus.com,* by calling toll-free 800.345.6611, or by writing (regular mail) to Columbia Management Investment Services Corp., P.O. Box 219104, Kansas City, MO 64121-9104 or (express mail) Columbia Management Investment Services Corp., c/o DST Asset Manager Solutions, Inc., 430 W 7
th
Street, Ste 219104, Kansas City, MO 64105-1407.
| * | The website references in this prospectus are inactive links and information contained in or otherwise accessible through the referenced websites does not form a part of this prospectus. |
FUNDamentals
Financial Intermediaries
The term “financial intermediary” refers to the selling and servicing agents that are authorized to sell and/or service shares of the Funds. Financial intermediaries include broker-dealers and financial advisors as well as firms that employ broker-dealers and financial advisors, including, for example, brokerage firms, banks, investment advisers, third party administrators and other firms in the financial services industry.
Omnibus Accounts
The term “omnibus account” refers to a financial intermediary’s account with the Fund (held directly through the Transfer Agent) that represents the combined holdings of, and transactions in, Fund shares of one or more clients of the financial intermediary (beneficial Fund shareholders). Omnibus accounts are held in the name of the financial intermediaries and not in the name of the beneficial Fund shareholders invested in the Fund through omnibus accounts.
Retirement Plans and Omnibus Retirement Plans
The term “retirement plan” refers to retirement plans created under Sections 401(a), 401(k), 457 and 403(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the Code), and non-qualified deferred compensation plans governed by Section 409A of the Code and similar plans, but does not refer to individual retirement plans, such as traditional IRAs and Roth IRAs. The term “omnibus retirement plan” refers to a retirement plan that has a plan-level or omnibus account with the Transfer Agent.
Networked Accounts
Networking, offered by the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation’s Wealth Management Services (WMS), is the industry standard IT system for mutual fund account reconciliation and dividend processing.
Share Class Features
The following summarizes the primary features of Class Inst and Class Inst3 shares. Not all Multi-Manager Strategies Funds offer every class of shares. The Fund offers the class(es) of shares set forth on the cover of this prospectus and may offer other share classes through a separate prospectus. Contact your financial advisor or Columbia Funds for more information about the Fund’s shares.
| Prospectus 2021 | 35 |
Multi-Manager International Equity Strategies Fund
About Fund Shares
(continued)
|
Share Class
|
Eligible Investors & Minimum Initial Investments
(a)
|
Front-End Sales Charges
|
Contingent Deferred Sales Charges (CDSCs)
|
Conversion Features & Investment Limits
|
Maximum Distribution and/or Service Fees
|
|
Class
Inst |
Eligibility:
Available only through certain wrap fee programs sponsored and/or managed by Ameriprise Financial or its affiliates.
$100
|
None | None | None | None |
|
Class
Inst3 |
Eligibility
(b)
:
Available to (i) group retirement plans that maintain plan-level or omnibus accounts with the Fund; (ii) institutional investors that are clients of the Columbia Threadneedle Global Institutional Distribution Team that invest in Class Inst3 shares for their own account through platforms approved by the Distributor or an affiliate thereof to offer and/or service Class Inst3 shares within such platform; (iii) collective trust funds; (iv) affiliated or unaffiliated mutual funds (e.g., funds operating as funds-of-funds); (v) fee-based platforms of financial intermediaries (or the clearing intermediary they trade through) that have an agreement with the Distributor or an affiliate thereof that specifically authorizes the financial intermediary to offer and/or service Class Inst3 shares within such platform, provided also that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account; (vi) commissionable brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary, acting as broker on behalf of its customer, charges the customer a commission for effecting transactions in Fund shares, provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst3 shares within such platform and that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account; and (vii) bank trust departments, subject to an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst3 shares and provided that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account. In each case above where noted that Fund shares are required to be held in an omnibus account, the Distributor may, in its discretion, determine to waive this requirement.
No minimum for the eligible investors described in (i), (iii), (iv), (v), and (vii) above; $2,000 ($1,000 for IRAs; $100 for systematic investment plan accounts) for the eligible investors described in (vi) above; and $1
|
None | None | None | None |
| 36 | Prospectus 2021 |
Multi-Manager International Equity Strategies Fund
About Fund Shares
(continued)
|
Share Class
|
Eligible Investors & Minimum Initial Investments
(a)
|
Front-End Sales Charges
|
Contingent Deferred Sales Charges (CDSCs)
|
Conversion Features & Investment Limits
|
Maximum Distribution and/or Service Fees
|
| million for all other eligible investors, unless waived in the discretion of the Distributor |
| (a) |
See
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares — Buying Shares
|
| (b) | Currently, Class Inst3 shares of the Multi-Manager Strategies Funds are offered only to group retirement plan recordkeeping platforms that have an agreement with (i) the Distributor or an affiliate thereof that specifically authorizes the group retirement plan recordkeeper to offer and/or service Class Inst3 shares within such platform, provided also that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account and (ii) Wilshire Associates, appointed or serving as investment manager or consultant to the recordkeeper’s group retirement plan platform. There is no minimum initial investment for such accounts. |
Distribution and Service Fees
The Board has approved, and the Multi-Manager Strategies Funds have adopted, distribution and/or shareholder service plans which set the distribution and/or service fees that are periodically deducted from the Funds’ assets. These fees are calculated daily, may vary by share class and are intended to compensate the Distributor and/or eligible financial intermediaries for, with regard to distribution fees, selling Fund shares and, with regard to service fees, directly or indirectly providing services to shareholders. Because the fees are paid out of the Fund's assets on an ongoing basis, they will increase the cost of your investment over time. The table below shows the maximum annual distribution and/or service fees (as an annual percentage of average daily net assets) and the combined amount of such fees applicable to each class of shares:
If you maintain shares of the Fund directly with the Fund, without working with a financial advisor or other financial intermediary, distribution and service fees may be retained by the Distributor as payment or reimbursement for incurring certain distribution and shareholder service related expenses.
Over time, these distribution and/or service fees will reduce the return on your investment and may cost you more than paying other types of sales charges. The Fund will pay these fees to the Distributor and/or to eligible financial intermediaries for as long as the distribution plan and/or shareholder servicing plans continue in effect, which is expected to be indefinitely. However, the Fund may reduce or discontinue payments at any time. Your financial intermediary may also charge you other additional fees for providing services to your account, which may be different from those described here.
Financial Intermediary Compensation
The Distributor, the Investment Manager and their affiliates make payments, from their own resources, to financial intermediaries, including other Ameriprise Financial affiliates, for marketing/sales support services relating to the Funds (Marketing Support Payments). Such payments are generally based upon one or more of the following factors: average net assets of the Funds attributable to that financial intermediary; gross sales of the Funds attributable to that financial intermediary; reimbursement of ticket charges (fees that a financial intermediary charges its representatives for effecting transactions in Fund shares); or a negotiated lump sum payment. While the financial arrangements may vary for each financial intermediary, Marketing Support Payments to any one financial intermediary are generally between 0.05% and 0.40% on an annual basis for payments based on average net assets of the Fund attributable to the financial intermediary, and between 0.05% and 0.25% on an annual basis for firms receiving a payment based on gross sales of the Funds attributable to the financial intermediary. The Distributor, the Investment Manager and their affiliates may at times make payments with respect to a Fund or the Columbia Funds
| Prospectus 2021 | 37 |
Multi-Manager International Equity Strategies Fund
About Fund Shares
(continued)
generally on a basis other than those described above, or in larger amounts, when dealing with certain financial intermediaries. Not all financial intermediaries receive Marketing Support Payments. The Distributor, the Investment Manager and their affiliates do not make Marketing Support Payments with respect to Class Inst3 shares.
In addition, the Transfer Agent has certain arrangements in place to compensate financial intermediaries, including other Ameriprise Financial affiliates, that hold Fund shares through networked and omnibus accounts, including omnibus retirement plans, for services that they provide to beneficial Fund shareholders (Shareholder Services). Shareholder Services and related fees vary by financial intermediary and according to distribution channel and may include sub-accounting, sub-transfer agency, participant recordkeeping, shareholder or participant reporting, shareholder or participant transaction processing, maintenance of shareholder records, preparation of account statements and provision of customer service, and are not intended to include services that are primarily intended to result in the sale of Fund shares. Payments for Shareholder Services generally are not expected, with certain limited exceptions, to exceed 0.40% of the average aggregate value of the Fund’s shares. Generally, each Fund pays the Transfer Agent a per account fee or a percentage of the average aggregate value of shares per annum maintained in omnibus accounts up to the lesser of the amount charged by the financial intermediary or a channel-specific or share class-specific cap established by the Board from time to time. Fee amounts in excess of the amount paid by the Fund are borne by the Transfer Agent, the Investment Manager and/or their affiliates. For Class Inst3 shares, the Transfer Agent does not pay financial intermediaries for Shareholder Services, except that for Class Inst3 shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund (formerly an unnamed share class of the Fund), the Transfer Agent makes Shareholder Services payments to a financial intermediary through which shares of this class were held (under its former unnamed share class name) as of November 30, 2018, and the Fund does not compensate the Transfer Agent for any Shareholder Services provided by financial intermediaries.
In addition to the payments described above, the Distributor, the Investment Manager and their affiliates typically make other payments or allow promotional incentives to certain broker-dealers to the extent permitted by the Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) rules and by other applicable laws and regulations.
Amounts paid by the Distributor, the Investment Manager and their affiliates are paid out of their own resources and do not increase the amount paid by you or the Fund. You can find further details in the SAI about the payments made by the Distributor, the Investment Manager and their affiliates, as well as a list of the financial intermediaries, including Ameriprise Financial affiliates, to which the Distributor, the Investment Manager or their affiliates have agreed to make Marketing Support Payments and pay Shareholder Services fees.
Your financial intermediary may charge you fees and commissions in addition to those described in this prospectus. You should consult with your financial intermediary and review carefully any disclosure your financial intermediary provides regarding its services and compensation. Depending on the financial arrangement in place at any particular time, a financial intermediary and its financial advisors may have a conflict of interest or financial incentive for recommending the Fund or a particular share class over others.
| 38 | Prospectus 2021 |
Multi-Manager International Equity Strategies Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
Share Price Determination
The price you pay or receive when you buy, sell or exchange shares is the Fund's next determined net asset value (or NAV) per share for a given share class. The Fund calculates the NAV per share for each class of shares of the Fund at the end of each business day, with the value of the Fund's shares based on the total value of all of the securities and other assets that it holds as of a specified time.
FUNDamentals
NAV Calculation
Each of the Fund's share classes calculates its NAV per share as follows:
NAV per share =
(Value of assets of the share class) – (Liabilities of the share class)
Number of outstanding shares of the class
FUNDamentals
Business Days
A business day is any day that the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is open. A business day typically ends at the close of regular trading on the NYSE, usually at 4:00 p.m. Eastern time. If the NYSE is scheduled to close early, the business day will be considered to end as of the time of the NYSE’s scheduled close. The Fund will not treat an intraday unscheduled disruption in NYSE trading or an intraday unscheduled closing as a close of regular trading on the NYSE for these purposes and will price its shares as of the regularly scheduled closing time for that day (typically, 4:00 p.m. Eastern time). Notwithstanding the foregoing, the NAV of Fund shares may be determined at such other time or times (in addition to or in lieu of the time set forth above) as the Fund’s Board may approve or ratify. On holidays and other days when the NYSE is closed, the Fund’s NAV is not calculated and the Fund does not accept buy or sell orders. However, the value of the Fund’s assets may still be affected on such days to the extent that the Fund holds foreign securities that trade on days that foreign securities markets are open.
Equity securities are valued primarily on the basis of market quotations reported on stock exchanges and other securities markets around the world. If an equity security is listed on a national exchange, the security is valued at the closing price or, if the closing price is not readily available, the mean of the closing bid and asked prices. Certain equity securities, debt securities and other assets are valued differently. For instance, bank loans trading in the secondary market are valued primarily on the basis of indicative bids, fixed income investments maturing in 60 days or less are valued primarily using the amortized cost method, unless this methodology results in a valuation that does not approximate the market value of these securities, and those maturing in excess of 60 days are valued primarily using a market-based price obtained from a pricing service, if available. Investments in other open-end funds are valued at their published NAVs. Both market quotations and indicative bids are obtained from outside pricing services approved and monitored pursuant to a policy approved by the Fund's Board.
If a market price is not readily available or is deemed not to reflect market value, the Fund will determine the price of a portfolio security based on a determination of the security's fair value pursuant to a policy approved by the Fund’s Board. In addition, the Fund may use fair valuation to price securities that trade on a foreign exchange when a significant event has occurred after the foreign exchange closes but before the time at which the Fund’s share price is calculated. Foreign exchanges typically close before the time at which Fund share prices are calculated, and may be closed altogether on days when the Fund is open. Such significant events affecting a foreign security may include, but are not limited to: (1) corporate actions, earnings announcements, litigation or other events impacting a single issuer; (2) governmental action that affects securities in one sector or country; (3) natural disasters or armed conflicts affecting a country or region; or (4) significant domestic or foreign market fluctuations. The Fund uses various criteria, including an evaluation of U.S. market moves after the close of foreign markets, in determining whether a foreign security's market price is readily available and reflective of market value and, if not, the fair value
| Prospectus 2021 | 39 |
Multi-Manager International Equity Strategies Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
of the security. To the extent the Fund has significant holdings of small cap stocks, high-yield bonds, floating rate loans, or tax-exempt, foreign or other securities that may trade infrequently, fair valuation may be used more frequently than for other funds.
Fair valuation may have the effect of reducing stale pricing arbitrage opportunities presented by the pricing of Fund shares. However, when the Fund uses fair valuation to price securities, it may value those securities higher or lower than another fund would have priced the security. Also, the use of fair valuation may cause the Fund's performance to diverge to a greater degree from the performance of various benchmarks used to compare the Fund's performance because benchmarks generally do not use fair valuation techniques. Because of the judgment involved in fair valuation decisions, there can be no assurance that the value ascribed to a particular security is accurate. The Fund has retained one or more independent fair valuation pricing services to assist in the fair valuation process for foreign securities.
Transaction Rules and Policies
The Fund, the Distributor or the Transfer Agent may refuse any order to buy or exchange shares. If this happens, the Fund will return any money it received, but no interest will be paid on that money. Your financial intermediary may have rules and policies in place that are in addition to or different than those described below.
Order Processing
Orders to buy, sell or exchange Fund shares are processed on business days. Orders can be made by mail, by telephone or online. Orders received in “good form” by the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary before the end of a business day are priced at the NAV per share (plus any applicable sales charge) of the Fund's applicable share class on that day. Orders received after the end of a business day will receive the next business day's NAV per share (plus any applicable sales charge). For Direct-at-Fund Accounts (i.e., accounts established directly with the Fund), when a written order to buy, sell or exchange shares is sent to the Transfer Agent, the share price used to fill the order is the next price calculated by the Fund after the Transfer Agent receives the transaction request in “good form” at its transaction processing center (i.e., the Fund’s express mail address), not the P.O. Box provided for regular mail delivery. The market value of the Fund's investments may change between the time you submit your order and the time the Fund next calculates its NAV per share. The business day that applies to your order is also called the trade date.
“Good Form”
An order is in “good form” if the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary has received payment (in the case of purchases) and all of the information and documentation it deems necessary to effect your order. For example, when you sell shares, “good form” means that your request (i) has complete instructions and written requests include the signatures of all account owners, (ii) is for an amount that is less than or equal to the shares in your account for which payment has been received and collected, (iii) has a Medallion Signature Guarantee for amounts greater than $100,000 and certain other transactions, as described below, and (iv) includes any other required documents completed and attached. For the documents required for sales by corporations, agents, fiduciaries, surviving joint owners and other legal entities, call 800.345.6611.
Medallion Signature Guarantees
The Transfer Agent may require a Medallion Signature Guarantee for your signature in order to process certain transactions, including if: (i) the transaction amount is over $100,000; (ii) you want your check made payable to someone other than the registered account owner(s); (iii) the address of record has changed within the last 30 days; (iv) you want the check mailed to an address other than the address of record; (v) you want proceeds to be sent according to existing bank account instructions not coded for outgoing Automated Clearing House (ACH) or wire, or to a bank account not on file; or (vi) you are changing legal ownership of your account.
A Medallion Signature Guarantee helps assure that a signature is genuine and not a forgery. A Medallion Signature Guarantee must be provided by an eligible guarantor institution including, but not limited to, the following: a bank, credit union, savings association, broker or dealer that participates in the Securities Transfer Association Medallion Program (STAMP), the Stock Exchange Medallion Program (SEMP) or the New York Stock Exchange Medallion
| 40 | Prospectus 2021 |
Multi-Manager International Equity Strategies Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
Signature Program (MSP). For other transactions, the Transfer Agent may require a signature guarantee. Notarization by a notary public is not an acceptable signature guarantee. The Transfer Agent reserves the right to reject a signature guarantee and to request additional documentation for any transaction.
Customer Identification Program
Federal law requires the Fund to obtain and record specific personal information to verify your identity when you open an account. This information may include your name, address, date of birth (for individuals) and taxpayer or other government issued identification (e.g., social security number (SSN) or other taxpayer identification number (TIN)). If you fail to provide the requested information, the Fund may need to delay the date of your purchase or may be unable to open your account, which may result in a return of your investment monies. In addition, if the Fund is unable to verify your identity after your account is open, the Fund reserves the right to close your account or take other steps as deemed reasonable. The Fund will not be liable for any loss resulting from any purchase delay, application rejection or account closure due to a failure to provide proper identifying information.
Small Account Policy — Financial Intermediary Networked and Wrap Fee Accounts
The Funds may automatically redeem, at any time, financial intermediary networked accounts and wrap fee accounts that have account balances of $20 or less or have less than one share.
For shares purchased and held for your benefit through a financial intermediary, the Funds may instruct the intermediary to automatically sell your Fund shares if the transaction can be operationally administered by the intermediary.
Information Sharing Agreements
As required by Rule 22c-2 under the 1940 Act, the Funds or certain of their service providers will enter into information sharing agreements with financial intermediaries, including participating life insurance companies and financial intermediaries that sponsor or offer retirement plans through which shares of the Funds are made available for purchase. Pursuant to Rule 22c-2, financial intermediaries are required, upon request, to: (i) provide shareholder account and transaction information; and (ii) execute instructions from the Fund to restrict or prohibit further purchases of Fund shares by shareholders who have been identified by the Fund as having engaged in transactions that violate the Fund's excessive trading policies and procedures.
Excessive Trading Practices Policy
Right to Reject or Restrict Share Transaction Orders—
The Fund is intended for investors with long-term investment purposes and is not intended as a vehicle for frequent trading activity (market timing) that is excessive. Investors should transact in Fund shares primarily for investment purposes. The Board has adopted excessive trading policies and procedures that are designed to deter excessive trading by investors (the Excessive Trading Policies and Procedures).
The Fund discourages and does not accommodate excessive trading.
The Fund reserves the right to reject, without any prior notice, any purchase or exchange order for any reason, and will not be liable for any loss resulting from rejected orders. For example, the Fund may in its sole discretion restrict or reject a purchase or exchange order even if the transaction is not subject to the specific limitation described below if the Fund or its agents determine that accepting the order could interfere with efficient management of the Fund's portfolio or is otherwise contrary to the Fund's best interests. The Excessive Trading Policies and Procedures apply equally to purchase or exchange transactions communicated directly to the Transfer Agent and to those received by financial intermediaries.
Specific Buying and Exchanging Limitations
— If a Fund detects that an investor has made two “material round trips” in any 28-day period, it will generally reject the investor's future purchase orders, including exchange purchase orders, involving any Fund.
For these purposes, a “round trip” is a purchase or exchange into the Fund followed by a sale or exchange out of the Fund, or a sale or exchange out of the Fund followed by a purchase or exchange into the Fund. A “material” round trip is one that is deemed by the Fund to be material in terms of its amount or its potential detrimental impact on the Fund. Independent of this limit, the Fund may, in its sole discretion, reject future purchase orders by any person, group or account that appears to have engaged in any type of excessive trading activity.
| Prospectus 2021 | 41 |
Multi-Manager International Equity Strategies Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
These limits generally do not apply to automated transactions or transactions by registered investment companies in a “fund-of-funds” structure. These limits do not apply to payroll deduction contributions by retirement plan participants, transactions initiated by a retirement plan sponsor or certain other retirement plan transactions consisting of rollover transactions, loan repayments and disbursements, and required minimum distribution redemptions. They may be modified or rescinded for accounts held by certain retirement plans to conform to plan limits, for considerations relating to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 or regulations of the Department of Labor, and for certain asset allocation or wrap programs. Accounts known to be under common ownership or control generally will be counted together, but accounts maintained or managed by a common intermediary generally will not be considered to be under common ownership or control. The Fund retains the right to modify these restrictions at any time without prior notice to shareholders. In addition, the Fund may, in its sole discretion, reinstate trading privileges that have been revoked under the Fund's Excessive Trading Policies and Procedures.
Limitations on the Ability to Detect and Prevent Excessive Trading Practices—
The Fund takes various steps designed to detect and prevent excessive trading, including daily review of available shareholder transaction information. However, the Fund receives buy, sell or exchange orders through financial intermediaries, and cannot always know of or reasonably detect excessive trading that may be facilitated by financial intermediaries or by the use of the omnibus account arrangements they offer. Omnibus account arrangements are common forms of holding shares of mutual funds, particularly among certain financial intermediaries such as broker-dealers, retirement plans and variable insurance products. These arrangements often permit financial intermediaries to aggregate their clients' transactions and accounts, and in these circumstances, the identities of the financial intermediary clients that beneficially own Fund shares are often not known to the Fund.
Some financial intermediaries apply their own restrictions or policies to their clients’ transactions and accounts, which may be more or less restrictive than those described here. This may impact the Fund's ability to curtail excessive trading, even where it is identified. For these and other reasons, it is possible that excessive trading may occur despite the Fund's efforts to detect and prevent it.
Although these restrictions and policies involve judgments that are inherently subjective and may involve some selectivity in their application, the Fund seeks to act in a manner that it believes is consistent with the best interests of Fund shareholders in making any such judgments.
Risks of Excessive Trading —
Excessive trading creates certain risks to the Fund's long-term shareholders and may create the following adverse effects:
| ■ | negative impact on the Fund's performance; |
| ■ | potential dilution of the value of the Fund's shares; |
| ■ | interference with the efficient management of the Fund's portfolio, such as the need to maintain undesirably large cash positions, the need to use its line of credit or the need to buy or sell securities it otherwise would not have bought or sold; |
| ■ | losses on the sale of investments resulting from the need to sell securities at less favorable prices; |
| ■ | increased taxable gains to the Fund's remaining shareholders resulting from the need to sell securities to meet sell orders; and |
| ■ | increased brokerage and administrative costs. |
To the extent that the Fund invests significantly in foreign securities traded on markets that close before the Fund's valuation time, it may be particularly susceptible to dilution as a result of excessive trading. Because events may occur after the close of foreign markets and before the Fund's valuation time that influence the value of foreign securities, investors may seek to trade Fund shares in an effort to benefit from their understanding of the value of foreign securities as of the Fund's valuation time. This is often referred to as price arbitrage. The Fund has adopted procedures designed to adjust closing market prices of foreign securities under certain circumstances to reflect what the Fund believes to be the fair value of those securities as of its valuation time. To the extent the adjustments do not work fully, investors engaging in price arbitrage may cause dilution in the value of the Fund's shares held by other shareholders.
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Multi-Manager International Equity Strategies Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
Similarly, to the extent that the Fund invests significantly in thinly traded securities and other debt instruments that are rated below investment grade (commonly called “high-yield” or “junk” bonds), equity securities of small-capitalization companies, floating rate loans, or tax-exempt or other securities that may trade infrequently, because
these securities are often traded infrequently, investors may seek to trade Fund shares in an effort to benefit from their understanding of the value of these securities as of the Fund's valuation time. This is also a type of price arbitrage. Any such frequent trading strategies may interfere with efficient management of the Fund's portfolio to a greater degree than would be the case for mutual funds that invest only, or significantly, in highly liquid securities, in part because the Fund may have difficulty selling these particular investments at advantageous times or prices to satisfy large and/or frequent sell orders. Any successful price arbitrage may also cause dilution in the value of Fund shares held by non-redeeming shareholders.
Opening an Account and Placing Orders
We encourage you to consult with a financial advisor who can help you with your investment decisions and who can help you open an account. Once you have an account, you can buy, sell or exchange shares by contacting your financial advisor who will send your order to the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary. As described below, once you have an account you can also communicate your orders directly to the Transfer Agent by mail, by telephone or online.
The Funds are generally available directly and through broker-dealers, banks and other financial intermediaries or institutions, and through certain qualified and non-qualified plans, wrap fee products or other investment products sponsored by financial intermediaries. You may buy, sell, or exchange shares through your financial intermediary. If you maintain your account directly with your financial intermediary, you must contact that agent to process your transaction.
Not all financial intermediaries offer the Funds (or all classes of Fund shares) and certain financial intermediaries that offer the Funds may not offer all Funds on all investment platforms or programs.
Please consult with your financial intermediary to determine the availability of the Funds. If you set up an account at a financial intermediary that does not have, and is unable to obtain, a selling agreement with the Distributor, you will not be able to transfer Fund holdings to that account. In that event, you must either maintain your Fund holdings with your current financial intermediary or find another financial intermediary with a selling agreement.
Financial intermediaries that offer the Funds may charge you additional fees for the services they provide and they may have different policies that are not described in this prospectus.
An investor transacting in a class of Fund shares without any front-end sales charge, CDSC, or other asset-based fee for sales or distribution, such as a Rule 12b-1 fee, may be required to pay a commission to the financial intermediary for effecting such transactions. The Funds are offered in a number of different share classes that have different fees and expenses and other features. Some differences in the policies of different financial intermediaries may include different minimum investment amounts, exchange privileges, Fund/class choices and cutoff times for investments. Additionally, recordkeeping, transaction processing and payments of distributions relating to your account may be performed by the financial intermediaries through which your shares of the Fund are held. Since the Fund (and its service providers) may not have a record of your account transactions, you should always contact the financial intermediary through which you purchased or at which you maintain your shares of the Fund to make changes to your account, to give instructions concerning your account, or to obtain information about your account. The Fund and its service providers, including the Distributor and the Transfer Agent, are not responsible for the failure of any financial intermediary to carry out its obligations to its customers.
The Fund may engage financial intermediaries to receive purchase, exchange and sell orders on its behalf. Accounts established directly with the Fund will be serviced by the Transfer Agent. The Funds, the Transfer Agent and the Distributor do not provide investment advice.
| Prospectus 2021 | 43 |
Multi-Manager International Equity Strategies Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
Buying Shares
Eligible Investors
Class Inst Shares
Class Inst shares are offered only through certain wrap fee programs sponsored and/or managed by Ameriprise Financial or its affiliates.
Class Inst3 Shares
Class Inst3 shares are available to: (i) group retirement plans that maintain plan-level or omnibus accounts with the Fund (through the Transfer Agent); (ii) institutional investors that are clients of the Columbia Threadneedle Global Institutional Distribution Team that invest in Class Inst3 shares for their own account through platforms approved by the Distributor or an affiliate thereof to offer and/or service Class Inst3 shares within such platform; (iii) collective trust funds; (iv) affiliated or unaffiliated mutual funds (e.g., funds operating as funds-of-funds); (v) fee-based platforms of financial intermediaries (or the clearing intermediary that they trade through) that have an agreement with the Distributor or an affiliate thereof that specifically authorizes the financial intermediary to offer and/or service Class Inst3 shares within such platform, provided also that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account; (vi) commissionable brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary, acting as broker on behalf of its customer, charges the customer a commission for effecting transactions in Fund shares, provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst3 shares within such platform and that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account; and (vii) bank trust departments, subject to an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst3 shares and provided that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account. In each case above where noted that Fund shares are required to be held in an omnibus account, the Distributor may, in its discretion, determine to waive this requirement.
Currently, Class Inst3 shares of the Multi-Manager Strategies Funds are offered only to group retirement plan recordkeeping platforms that have an agreement with (i) the Distributor or an affiliate thereof that specifically authorizes the group retirement plan recordkeeper to offer and/or service Class Inst3 shares within such platform, provided also that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account and (ii) Wilshire Associates, appointed or serving as investment manager or consultant to the recordkeeper’s group retirement plan platform.
Minimum Initial Investments and Account Balances
The minimum initial investment for Class Inst shares is $100, and there is no minimum initial investment for Class Inst3 shares. There is no minimum additional investment amount for these share classes.
For Class Inst: If you no longer hold or invest Fund shares through a wrap account (i.e., you “unwrap” your Ameriprise wrap account), you may continue to hold, but not purchase additional shares of, the Multi-Manager Strategies Funds. However, if you transfer your account to another financial intermediary, your holdings in Multi-Manager Strategies Funds are not transferable; you may liquidate your Multi-Manager Strategies Fund holdings or continue to hold them in your Ameriprise brokerage account.
For Class Inst3: If you transfer your account to another financial intermediary, you may continue to hold, but not purchase additional shares of, the Multi-Manager Strategies Funds.
Please refer to the
s —
section above for information on the Fund’s Small Account Policy. Each Multi-Manager Strategies Fund reserves the right to modify its minimum investment and related requirements at any time, with or without prior notice.
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Share
Transaction Rules and Policies
Other Purchase Rules You Should Know
| ■ | Once the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary receives your buy order in “good form,” your purchase will be made at the next calculated public offering price per share, which is the net asset value per share plus any sales charge that applies (i.e., the trade date). |
| ■ | Once the Fund receives your purchase request in “good form,” you cannot cancel it after the market closes. |
| 44 | Prospectus 2021 |
Multi-Manager International Equity Strategies Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
| ■ | You generally buy shares of Multi-Manager Strategies Funds at NAV per share because no front-end sales charge applies to purchases of shares of Multi-Manager Strategies Funds. |
| ■ | The Distributor and the Transfer Agent reserve the right to cancel your order request if the Fund does not receive payment within two business days of receiving your purchase order request. The Fund will return any payment received for orders that have been cancelled, but no interest will be paid on that money. |
| ■ | Financial intermediaries are responsible for sending your purchase orders to the Transfer Agent and ensuring that the Fund receives your money on time. |
| ■ | Shares purchased are recorded on the books of the Fund. The Fund does not issue certificates. |
Selling Shares
When you sell shares, the amount you receive may be more or less than the amount you invested. Your sale price will be the next NAV calculated after your request is received in “good form” (i.e., the trade date).
Multi-Manager Strategies Funds are sold only through certain wrap fee programs sponsored and/or managed by Ameriprise Financial or its affiliates, and to group retirement plan recordkeeping platforms that have an agreement with (i) the Distributor or an affiliate thereof that specifically authorizes the group retirement plan recordkeeper to offer and/or service Class Inst3 shares within such platform, provided also that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account and (ii) Wilshire Associates, appointed or serving as investment manager or consultant to the recordkeeper’s group retirement plan platform. For detailed rules regarding the sale of shares of these Funds, contact your financial intermediary.
Satisfying Fund Redemption Requests
When you sell your Fund shares, the Fund is effectively buying them back from you. This is called a redemption. Except as noted below with respect to newly purchased shares, the Fund typically expects to send you payment for your shares within two business days after your trade date for all methods of payment. The Fund can suspend redemptions and/or delay payment of redemption proceeds for up to seven days. The Fund can also suspend redemptions and/or delay payment of redemption proceeds in excess of seven days under certain circumstances, including when the NYSE is closed or trading thereon is restricted or during emergency or other circumstances, including as determined by the SEC.
The Fund typically seeks to satisfy redemption requests from cash or cash equivalents held by the Fund, from the proceeds of orders to purchase Fund shares or from the proceeds of sales of Fund holdings effected in the normal course of managing the Fund. However, the Fund may have to sell Fund holdings, including in down markets, to meet heavier than usual redemption requests. For example, under stressed or abnormal market conditions or circumstances, including circumstances adversely affecting the liquidity of the Fund’s investments, the Fund may be more likely to be forced to sell Fund holdings to meet redemptions than under normal market circumstances. In these situations, the Fund’s portfolio managers may have to sell Fund holdings that would not otherwise be sold because, among other reasons, the current price to be received is less than the value of the holdings perceived by the Fund’s portfolio managers. The Fund may also, under certain circumstances (but more likely under stressed or abnormal market conditions or circumstances), borrow money under a credit facility to which the Fund and certain other Columbia Funds are parties or from other Columbia Funds under an interfund lending program (except for closed-end funds and money market funds, which are not eligible to borrow under the program). The Fund and the other Columbia Funds are limited as to the amount that each may individually and collectively borrow under the credit facility and the interfund lending program. As a result, borrowings available to the Fund under the credit facility and the interfund lending program might be insufficient, alone or in combination with the other strategies described herein, to satisfy Fund redemption requests. Please see
in the SAI for more information about the credit facility and interfund lending program. The Fund is also limited in the total amount it may borrow. The Fund may only borrow to the extent permitted by the 1940 Act, the rules and regulations thereunder, and any exemptive relief available to the Fund, which currently limit Fund borrowings to 33
About Fund Investments – Borrowings – Interfund Lending
| Prospectus 2021 | 45 |
Multi-Manager International Equity Strategies Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
1/3% of total assets (including any amounts borrowed) less liabilities (other than borrowings), plus an additional 5% of its total assets for temporary purposes (to be repaid within 60 days without extension or renewal), in each case determined at the time the borrowing is made.
In addition, the Fund reserves the right to honor redemption orders in whole or in part with in-kind distributions of Fund portfolio securities instead of cash. Such in-kind distributions typically represent a pro-rata portion of Fund portfolio assets subject to adjustments (e.g., for non-transferable securities, round lots, and derivatives). In the event the Fund distributes portfolio securities in kind, you may incur brokerage and other transaction costs associated with converting the portfolio securities you receive into cash. Also, the portfolio securities you receive may increase or decrease in value after they are distributed but before you convert them into cash. For U.S. federal income tax purposes, redemptions paid in securities are generally treated the same as redemptions paid in cash. If, during any 90-day period, you redeem shares in an amount greater than $250,000 or 1% of the Fund’s net assets (whichever is less), and if the Investment Manager determines it to be feasible and appropriate, the Fund may pay the redemption amount above such threshold by an in-kind distribution of Fund portfolio securities.
While the Fund is not required (and may refuse in its discretion) to pay a redemption with an in-kind distribution of Fund portfolio securities and reserves the right to pay the redemption proceeds in cash, if you wish to request an in-kind redemption, please call the Transfer Agent at 800.345.6611. As a result of the operational steps needed to coordinate with the redeeming shareholder’s custodian, in-kind redemptions typically take several weeks to complete after a redemption request is received. The Fund and the redeeming shareholder will typically agree upon a redemption date. Since the Fund’s NAV may fluctuate during this time, the Fund’s NAV may be lower on the agreed-upon redemption date than on an earlier date on which the investment could have been redeemed for cash.
Redemption of Newly Purchased Shares
You may not redeem shares for which the Fund has not yet received payment. Shares purchased by check or electronically by ACH when the purchase payment is not guaranteed will be considered in “good form” for redemption only after they have been held in your account for 6 calendar days after the trade date of the purchase (Collected Shares). If you request a redemption for an amount that, based on the NAV next calculated after your redemption request is received, includes any shares that are not yet Collected Shares, the Fund will only process the redemption up to the amount of the value of Collected Shares available in your account. You must submit a new redemption request if you wish to redeem those shares that were not yet Collected Shares at the time the original redemption request was received by the Fund.
Other Redemption Rules You Should Know
| ■ | Once the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary receives your redemption order in “good form,” your shares will be sold at the next calculated NAV per share (i.e., the trade date). |
| ■ | Once the Fund receives your redemption request in “good form,” you cannot cancel it after the market closes. |
| ■ | If you sell your shares that are held in a Direct-at-Fund Account, we will normally send the redemption proceeds by mail or electronically transfer them to your bank account the next business day after the trade date. Note that your bank may take up to three business days to post an electronic funds transfer from your account. |
| ■ | If you sell your shares through a financial intermediary, the Funds will normally send the redemption proceeds to your financial intermediary within two business days after the trade date. |
| ■ | No interest will be paid on uncashed redemption checks. |
| ■ | Other restrictions may apply to retirement accounts. For information about these restrictions, contact your retirement plan administrator. |
| ■ | For broker-dealer and wrap fee accounts: The Fund reserves the right to redeem your shares if your account falls below the Fund's minimum initial investment requirement. The Fund will notify your broker-dealer prior to redeeming shares, and will provide details on how to avoid such redemption. |
| ■ |
Also keep in mind the Funds' Small Account Policy, which is described above in
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares — Transaction Rules and Policies.
|
| 46 | Prospectus 2021 |
Multi-Manager International Equity Strategies Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
Exchanging Shares
You can generally sell shares of your Multi-Manager Strategies Fund to buy shares of another Multi-Manager Strategies Fund, in what is called an exchange. You should read the prospectus of, and make sure you understand the investment objective, principal investment strategies, risks, fees and expenses of, the Fund into which you are exchanging.
Please contact your financial intermediary for more information.
Other Exchange Rules You Should Know
| ■ | Exchanges are made at the NAV next calculated after your exchange order is received in “good form” (i.e., the trade date). |
| ■ | Once the Fund receives your exchange request in “good form,” you cannot cancel it after the market closes. |
| ■ | The rules for buying shares of a Fund generally apply to exchanges into that Fund, including, if your exchange creates a new Fund account, it must satisfy the minimum investment amount, unless a waiver applies. |
| ■ | Shares of the purchased Fund may not be used on the same day for another exchange or sale. |
| ■ | You may make exchanges only into a Fund that is legally offered and sold in your state of residence. Contact the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary for more information. |
| ■ | You generally may make an exchange only into a Fund that is accepting investments. |
| ■ | The Fund may change or cancel your right to make an exchange by giving the amount of notice required by regulatory authorities (generally 60 days for a material change or cancellation). |
| ■ | Unless your account is part of a tax-advantaged arrangement, an exchange for shares of another Fund is a taxable event, and you may recognize a gain or loss for tax purposes. |
| ■ | You may only exchange Class Inst shares and Class Inst3 shares of a Multi-Manager Strategies Fund for the same class of shares of another Multi-Manager Strategies Fund. |
| Prospectus 2021 | 47 |
Multi-Manager International Equity Strategies Fund
Distributions and Taxes
Distributions to Shareholders
A mutual fund can make money two ways:
| ■ | It can earn income on its investments. Examples of fund income are interest paid on money market instruments and bonds, and dividends paid on common stocks. |
| ■ | A mutual fund can also have capital gains if the value of its investments increases. While a fund continues to hold an investment, any gain is generally unrealized. If the fund sells an investment, it generally will realize a capital gain if it sells that investment for a higher price than its adjusted cost basis, and will generally realize a capital loss if it sells that investment for a lower price than its adjusted cost basis. Capital gains and losses are either short-term or long-term, depending on whether the fund holds the securities for one year or less (short-term) or more than one year (long-term). |
Mutual funds make payments of fund earnings to shareholders, distributing them among all shareholders of the fund. As a shareholder, you are entitled to your portion of a fund's distributed income, including capital gains. Reinvesting your distributions buys you more shares of a fund
which lets you take advantage of the potential for compound growth. Putting the money you earn back into your investment means it, in turn, may earn even more money (or be exposed to additional losses, if the fund earns a negative return). Over time, the power of compounding has the potential to significantly increase the value of your investment. There is no assurance, however, that you'll earn more money if you reinvest your distributions rather than receive them in cash.
—
The Fund intends to pay out, in the form of distributions to shareholders, a sufficient amount of its income and gains so that the Fund will qualify for treatment as a regulated investment company and generally will not have to pay any federal excise tax. The Fund generally intends to distribute any net realized capital gain (whether long-term or short-term gain) at least once a year. Normally, the Fund will declare and pay distributions of net investment income according to the following schedule:
|
Declaration and Distribution Schedule
|
|
| Declarations | Annually |
| Distributions | Annually |
The Fund may declare or pay distributions of net investment income more frequently.
Different share classes of the Fund usually pay different net investment income distribution amounts, because each class has different expenses. Each time a distribution is made, the NAV per share of the share class is reduced by the amount of the distribution.
The Fund generally pays cash distributions within five business days after the distribution was declared (or, if the Fund declares distributions daily, within five business days after the end of the month in which the distribution was declared). If you sell all of your shares after the record date, but before the payment date, for a distribution, you'll normally receive that distribution in cash within five business days after the sale was made.
The Fund will automatically reinvest distributions in additional shares of the same share class of the Fund unless you inform us you want to receive your distributions in cash (the financial intermediary through which you purchased shares may have different policies). You can do this by contacting the Fund at the address on the back cover, or by calling us at 800.345.6611. No sales charges apply to the purchase or sale of such shares.
For accounts held directly with the Fund (through the Transfer Agent), distributions of $10 or less will automatically be reinvested in additional Fund shares only. If you elect to receive distributions by check and the check is returned as undeliverable, all subsequent distributions will be reinvested in additional shares of the Fund.
Unless you are a tax-exempt investor or holding Fund shares through a tax-advantaged account (such as a 401(k) plan or IRA), you should consider avoiding buying Fund shares shortly before the Fund makes a distribution (other than distributions of net investment income that are declared daily) of net investment income or net realized capital gain, because doing so can cost you money in taxes to the extent the distribution consists of taxable income or gains. This is because you will, in effect, receive part of your purchase price back in the distribution. This is known as
| 48 | Prospectus 2021 |
Multi-Manager International Equity Strategies Fund
Distributions and Taxes
(continued)
“buying a dividend.” To avoid “buying a dividend,” before you invest check the Fund's distribution schedule, which is available at the Funds' website and/or by calling the Funds' telephone number listed at the beginning of the section entitled
.
About Fund Shares
Taxes
You should be aware of the following considerations applicable to the Fund:
| ■ | The Fund intends to qualify and to be eligible for treatment each year as a regulated investment company. A regulated investment company generally is not subject to tax at the fund level on income and gains from investments that are distributed to shareholders. However, the Fund's failure to qualify for treatment as a regulated investment company would result in Fund-level taxation, and consequently, a reduction in income available for distribution to you and in the NAV of your shares. Even if the Fund qualifies for treatment as a regulated investment company, the Fund may be subject to federal excise tax on certain undistributed income or gains. |
| ■ | Otherwise taxable distributions generally are taxable to you when paid, whether they are paid in cash or automatically reinvested in additional Fund shares. Dividends paid in January are deemed paid on December 31 of the prior year if the dividend was declared and payable to shareholders of record in October, November, or December of such prior year. |
| ■ | Distributions of the Fund's ordinary income and net short-term capital gain, if any, generally are taxable to you as ordinary income. Distributions of the Fund's net long-term capital gain, if any, generally are taxable to you as long-term capital gain. Whether capital gains are long-term or short-term is determined by how long the Fund has owned the investments that generated them, rather than how long you have owned your shares. |
| ■ | From time to time, a distribution from the Fund could constitute a return of capital. A return of capital is a return of an amount of your original investment and is not a distribution of income or capital gain from the Fund. Therefore, a return of capital is not taxable to you so long as the amount of the distribution does not exceed your tax basis in your Fund shares. A return of capital reduces your tax basis in your Fund shares, with any amounts exceeding such basis generally taxable as capital gain. |
| ■ | If you are an individual and you meet certain holding period and other requirements for your Fund shares, a portion of your distributions may be treated as “qualified dividend income” taxable at the lower net long-term capital gain rates instead of the higher ordinary income rates. Qualified dividend income is income attributable to the Fund's dividends received from certain U.S. and foreign corporations, as long as the Fund meets certain holding period and other requirements for the stock producing such dividends. |
| ■ | Certain high-income individuals (as well as estates and trusts) are subject to a 3.8% tax on net investment income. For individuals, the 3.8% tax applies to the lesser of (1) the amount (if any) by which the taxpayer's modified adjusted gross income exceeds certain threshold amounts or (2) the taxpayer's “net investment income.” |
| Net investment income generally includes for this purpose dividends, including any capital gain dividends, paid by the Fund, and net gains recognized on the sale, redemption or exchange of shares of the Fund. |
| ■ | Certain derivative instruments when held in the Fund's portfolio subject the Fund to special tax rules, the effect of which may be to, among other things, accelerate income to the Fund, defer Fund losses, cause adjustments in the holding periods of Fund portfolio securities, or convert capital gains into ordinary income, short-term capital losses into long-term capital losses or long-term capital gains into short-term capital gains. These rules could therefore affect the amount, timing and/or character of distributions to shareholders. |
| ■ | Generally, a Fund realizes a capital gain or loss on an option when the option expires, or when it is exercised, sold or otherwise terminated. However, if an option is a “section 1256 contract,” which includes most traded options on a broad-based index, and the Fund holds such option at the end of its taxable year, the Fund is deemed to sell such option at fair market value at such time and recognize any gain or loss thereon, which is generally deemed to be 60% long-term and 40% short-term capital gain or loss, as described further in the SAI. |
| ■ | Income and proceeds received by the Fund from sources within foreign countries may be subject to foreign taxes. If at the end of the taxable year more than 50% of the value of the Fund's assets consists of securities of foreign |
| Prospectus 2021 | 49 |
Multi-Manager International Equity Strategies Fund
Distributions and Taxes
(continued)
| corporations, and the Fund makes a special election, you will generally be required to include in your income for U.S. federal income tax purposes your share of the qualifying foreign income taxes paid by the Fund in respect of its foreign portfolio securities. You may be able to claim a foreign tax credit or deduction in respect of this amount, subject to certain limitations. There is no assurance that the Fund will make this election for a taxable year, even if it is eligible to do so. |
| ■ | A sale, redemption or exchange of Fund shares is a taxable event. This includes redemptions where you are paid in securities. Your sales, redemptions and exchanges of Fund shares (including those paid in securities) usually will result in a taxable capital gain or loss to you, equal to the difference between the amount you receive for your shares (or are deemed to have received in the case of exchanges) and your adjusted tax basis in the shares, which is generally the amount you paid (or are deemed to have paid in the case of exchanges) for them. Any such capital gain or loss generally will be long-term capital gain or loss if you have held your Fund shares for more than one year at the time of sale or exchange. In certain circumstances, capital losses may be converted from short-term to long-term; in other circumstances, capital losses may be disallowed under the “wash sale” rules. |
| ■ | For sales, redemptions and exchanges of shares that were acquired in a non-qualified account after 2011, the Fund generally is required to report to shareholders and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) cost basis information with respect to those shares. The Fund uses average cost basis as its default method of calculating cost basis. For more information regarding average cost basis reporting, other available cost basis methods, and selecting or changing to a different cost basis method, please see the SAI, columbiathreadneedleus.com, or contact the Fund at 800.345.6611. If you hold Fund shares through a financial intermediary (e.g., a brokerage firm), you should contact your financial intermediary to learn about its cost basis reporting default method and the reporting elections available to your account. |
| ■ | The Fund is required by federal law to withhold tax on any taxable or tax-exempt distributions and redemption proceeds paid to you (including amounts paid to you in securities and amounts deemed to be paid to you upon an exchange of shares) if: you have not provided a correct TIN or have not certified to the Fund that withholding does not apply, the IRS has notified us that the TIN listed on your account is incorrect according to its records, or the IRS informs the Fund that you are otherwise subject to backup withholding. |
FUNDamentals
Taxes
The information provided above is only a summary of how U.S. federal income taxes may affect your investment in the Fund. It is not intended as a substitute for careful tax planning. Your investment in the Fund may have other tax implications. It does not apply to certain types of investors who may be subject to special rules, including foreign or tax-exempt investors or those holding Fund shares through a tax-advantaged account, such as a 401(k) plan or IRA. Please see the SAI for more detailed tax information. You should consult with your own tax advisor about the particular tax consequences to you of an investment in the Fund, including the effect of any foreign, state and local taxes, and the effect of possible changes in applicable tax laws.
| 50 | Prospectus 2021 |
Multi-Manager International Equity Strategies Fund
Financial Highlights
The financial highlights table is intended to help you understand the Fund’s financial performance for the past five fiscal years or, if shorter, the Fund’s period of operations. Certain information reflects financial results for a single Fund share. Per share net investment income (loss) amounts are calculated based on average shares outstanding during the period. The total return in the table represents the rate that an investor would have earned (or lost) on an investment in the Fund assuming all dividends and distributions had been reinvested. Total return does not reflect payment of sales charges, if any. Total return and portfolio turnover are not annualized for periods of less than one year. The portfolio turnover rate is calculated without regard to purchase and sales transactions of short-term instruments and certain derivatives, if any. If such transactions were included, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate may be higher. This information has been audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm, whose report, along with the Fund’s financial statements, is included in the Fund’s annual report, which is available upon request.
| Prospectus 2021 | 51 |
Multi-Manager International Equity Strategies Fund
Financial Highlights
(continued)
|
Net asset value,
beginning of period |
Net
investment income |
Net
realized and unrealized gain (loss) |
Total from
investment operations |
Distributions
from net investment income |
Total
distributions to shareholders |
|
|
Institutional Class
|
||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $9.06 | 0.11 | 1.10 | 1.21 | (0.25) | (0.25) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $9.67 | 0.23 | (0.77) | (0.54) | (0.07) | (0.07) |
|
Year Ended 8/31/2018
(e)
|
$10.00 | 0.04 | (0.37) | (0.33) | — | — |
|
Institutional 3 Class
|
||||||
|
Year Ended 8/31/2020
(g)
|
$10.04 | 0.10 |
(0.09)
(h)
|
0.01 | — | — |
|
Notes to Financial Highlights
|
|
| (a) | In addition to the fees and expenses that the Fund bears directly, the Fund indirectly bears a pro rata share of the fees and expenses of any other funds in which it invests. Such indirect expenses are not included in the Fund's reported expense ratios. |
| (b) | Total net expenses include the impact of certain fee waivers/expense reimbursements made by the Investment Manager and certain of its affiliates, if applicable. |
| (c) | Ratios include interfund lending expense which is less than 0.01%. |
| (d) | Ratios include line of credit interest expense which is less than 0.01%. |
| (e) | Institutional Class shares commenced operations on May 17, 2018. Per share data and total return reflect activity from that date. |
| (f) | Annualized. |
| (g) | Institutional 3 Class shares commenced operations on December 18, 2019. Per share data and total return reflect activity from that date. |
| (h) | Calculation of the net gain (loss) per share (both realized and unrealized) does not correlate to the aggregate realized and unrealized gain (loss) presented in the Statement of Operations due to the timing of subscriptions and redemptions of Fund shares in relation to fluctuations in the market value of the portfolio. |
| 52 | Prospectus 2021 |
Multi-Manager International Equity Strategies Fund
Financial Highlights
(continued)
|
Net
asset value, end of period |
Total
return |
Total gross
expense ratio to average net assets
(a)
|
Total net
expense ratio to average net assets
(a), (b)
|
Net investment
income ratio to average net assets |
Portfolio
turnover |
Net
assets, end of period (000's) |
|
|
Institutional Class
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $10.02 | 13.34% |
1.00%
(c), (d)
|
0.98%
(c), (d)
|
1.22% | 89% | $2,045,267 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $9.06 | (5.53%) |
1.02%
(c)
|
1.02%
(c)
|
2.54% | 63% | $1,901,132 |
|
Year Ended 8/31/2018
(e)
|
$9.67 | (3.30%) |
1.05%
(f)
|
1.05%
(f)
|
1.51%
(f)
|
17% | $2,043,274 |
|
Institutional 3 Class
|
|||||||
|
Year Ended 8/31/2020
(g)
|
$10.05 | 0.10% |
0.86%
(c), (f)
|
0.84%
(c), (f)
|
1.57%
(f)
|
89% | $3 |
| Prospectus 2021 | 53 |
Multi-Manager International Equity Strategies Fund
P.O. Box 219104
Kansas City, MO 64121-9104
Kansas City, MO 64121-9104
Additional Information About the Fund
Additional information about the Fund’s investments is available in the Fund’s annual and semiannual reports to shareholders. In the annual report, you will find a discussion of the market conditions and investment strategies that significantly affected the Fund’s performance during its last fiscal year. The SAI also provides additional information about the Fund and its policies. The SAI, which has been filed with the SEC, is legally part of this prospectus (incorporated by reference). To obtain these documents free of charge, to request other information about the Fund and to make shareholder inquiries, please contact the Fund as follows:
By Mail:
Columbia Management Investment Services Corp.
P.O. Box 219104
Kansas City, MO 64121-9104
P.O. Box 219104
Kansas City, MO 64121-9104
By Telephone:
800.345.6611
Online:
columbiathreadneedleus.com
Reports and other information about the Fund are also available in the EDGAR Database on the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov. You can receive copies of this information, for a duplication fee, by electronic request at the following e-mail address: publicinfo@sec.gov.
The investment company registration number of Columbia Funds Series Trust I, of which the Fund is a series, is 811-04367.
Columbia Threadneedle Investments is the global brand name of the Columbia and Threadneedle group of companies.
© 2021 Columbia Management Investment Distributors, Inc.
225 Franklin Street, Boston, MA 02110
225 Franklin Street, Boston, MA 02110
800.345.6611
PRO302_08_L01_(01/21)
Prospectus
January 1, 2021
Multi-Manager Small Cap Equity Strategies Fund
|
Class
|
Ticker Symbol
|
|
| Institutional (Class Inst) | CZMSX | |
| Institutional 3 (Class Inst3) | CSCLX |
The Fund is offered only through certain wrap fee programs sponsored and/or managed by Ameriprise Financial, Inc. or its affiliates, and to group retirement plan recordkeeping platforms that have an agreement with (i) Columbia Management Investment Distributors, Inc. or an affiliate thereof that specifically authorizes the group retirement plan recordkeeper to offer and/or service Class Inst3 shares within such platform, provided also that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account and (ii) Wilshire Associates, appointed or serving as investment manager or consultant to the recordkeeper’s group retirement plan platform. The Fund, together with the other funds managed by Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC that also share this same eligibility criteria, are referred to herein as the Multi-Manager Strategies Funds.
Beginning on January 1, 2021, as permitted by regulations adopted by the Securities and Exchange Commission, paper copies of the Fund's annual and semiannual shareholder reports are no longer sent by mail, unless you specifically requested paper copies of the reports. Instead, the reports are made available on the Fund's website (columbiathreadneedleus.com/investor/), and each time a report is posted you will be notified by mail and provided with a website address to access the report.
If you have already elected to receive shareholder reports electronically, you will not be affected by this change and you need not take any action. You may elect to receive shareholder reports and other communications from the Fund electronically at any time by contacting your financial intermediary (such as a broker-dealer or bank) or, for Fund shares held directly with the Fund, by calling 800.345.6611 or by enrolling in “eDelivery” by logging into your account at columbiathreadneedleus.com/investor/.
You may elect to receive all future shareholder reports in paper free of charge. If you invest through a financial intermediary, you can contact your financial intermediary to request that you continue receiving paper copies of your shareholder reports. If you invest directly with the Fund, you can call 800.345.6611 to let the Fund know you wish to continue receiving paper copies of your shareholder reports. Your election to receive paper reports will apply to all Columbia Funds held in your account if you invest through a financial intermediary or all Columbia Funds held with the fund complex if you invest directly with the Fund.
As with all mutual funds, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has not approved or disapproved these securities or passed upon the adequacy of this prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.
Multi-Manager Small Cap Equity Strategies Fund
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| 2 | Prospectus 2021 |
Multi-Manager Small Cap Equity Strategies Fund
Summary of the Fund
Investment Objective
Multi-Manager Small Cap Equity Strategies Fund (the Fund) seeks long-term capital appreciation.
Fees and Expenses of the Fund
This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold and sell shares of the Fund.
You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the tables and examples below.
|
Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment)
|
|
|
Class Inst and Inst3
|
|
| Maximum sales charge (load) imposed on purchases (as a % of offering price) | None |
| Maximum deferred sales charge (load) imposed on redemptions (as a % of the lower of the original purchase price or current net asset value) | None |
| (a) |
"Total annual Fund operating expenses” include acquired fund fees and expenses (expenses the Fund incurs indirectly through its investments in other investment companies) and may be higher than the ratio of expenses to average net assets shown in the
Financial Highlights
|
| (b) | Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC and certain of its affiliates have contractually agreed to waive fees and/or to reimburse expenses (excluding transaction costs and certain other investment related expenses, interest, taxes, acquired fund fees and expenses, and infrequent and/or unusual expenses) through December 31, 2021, unless sooner terminated at the sole discretion of the Fund’s Board of Trustees. Under this agreement, the Fund’s net operating expenses, subject to applicable exclusions, will not exceed the annual rates of 0.99% for Class Inst and 0.81% for Class Inst3. |
Example
The following example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The example illustrates the hypothetical expenses that you would incur over the time periods indicated, and assumes that:
| ■ | you invest $10,000 in the applicable class of Fund shares for the periods indicated, |
| ■ | your investment has a 5% return each year, and |
| ■ |
the Fund’s total annual operating expenses remain the same as shown in the
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
|
Since the waivers and/or reimbursements shown in the
table above expire as indicated in the preceding table, they are only reflected in the 1 year example and the first year of the other examples. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on the assumptions listed above, your costs would be:
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
|
1 year
|
3 years
|
5 years
|
10 years
|
|
|
Class Inst
(whether or not shares are redeemed)
|
$101 | $337 | $591 | $1,320 |
|
Class Inst3
(whether or not shares are redeemed)
|
$
|
$274 | $481 | $1,078 |
| Prospectus 2021 | 3 |
Multi-Manager Small Cap Equity Strategies Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
Portfolio Turnover
The Fund may pay transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 83% of the average value of its portfolio.
Principal Investment Strategies
The Fund pursues its investment objective by allocating the Fund’s assets among different asset managers that use multiple investment styles to invest in equity securities. The Fund’s investment manager, Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC (Columbia Management or the Investment Manager), and investment subadvisers (Subadvisers) each provide day-to-day portfolio management of a portion of the Fund’s assets, or sleeve of the Fund. Columbia Management and the Subadvisers employ different investment styles and processes that, in the aggregate, are designed to complement the strategies of one another in pursuit of the Fund’s investment objective.
Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets (including the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes) in equity securities (including common stocks, preferred stocks and convertible securities) of companies that have market capitalizations in the range of the companies in the Russell 2000
®
Index at the time of purchase (between $33.1 million and $14.2 billion as of November 30, 2020). The market capitalization range and composition of the companies in the Index are subject to change.
The Fund may invest up to 25% of its net assets in foreign investments. The Fund may also invest in real estate investment trusts (REITs) and exchange-traded funds. The Fund may from time to time emphasize one or more sectors in selecting its investments, including the financial services, industrials, and information technology sectors.
The Fund may invest in derivatives, such as futures (including equity index futures) to gain market exposure on the Fund’s uninvested cash pending investment in securities or to maintain liquidity to pay redemptions, to hedge existing positions, to increase market exposure and investment flexibility, including using the derivative as a substitute for the purchase or sale of an underlying security(ies) or basket of securities.
The Fund may also hold/invest in cash, money market instruments (which may include investments in one or more affiliated or unaffiliated money market funds or similar vehicles) or other high-quality, short-term investments, including for the purpose of covering its obligations with respect to, or that may result from, the Fund’s investments in derivatives.
The Fund’s Subadvisers are BMO Asset Management Corp. (BMO), Conestoga Capital Advisors, LLC (Conestoga), Hotchkis and Wiley Capital Management, LLC (Hotchkis & Wiley) and J.P. Morgan Investment Management Inc. (JPMIM). Columbia Management and the Subadvisers act independently of each other and use their own methodologies for selecting investments. Columbia Management, subject to the oversight of the Fund’s Board of Trustees, determines the allocation of the Fund’s assets to each sleeve and may change these allocations at any time.
Each sleeve manager’s investment strategy may involve the frequent trading of portfolio securities.
Principal Risks
An investment in the Fund involves risks, including
,
, and
, among others. Descriptions of these and other principal risks of investing in the Fund are provided below.
. The value of the Fund’s holdings may decline, and the Fund’s net asset value (NAV) and share price may go down.
An investment in the Fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency.
Small-Cap Stock Risk
Market Risk
Multi-Adviser Risk
There is no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objective and you may lose money
Active Management Risk.
Due to its active management, the Fund could underperform its benchmark index and/or other funds with similar investment objectives and/or strategies.
| 4 | Prospectus 2021 |
Multi-Manager Small Cap Equity Strategies Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
Allocation Risk.
Because the Fund uses an asset allocation strategy in pursuit of its investment objective, there is a risk that the Fund's allocation among asset classes, investments, managers, strategies and/or investment styles will cause the Fund's shares to lose value or cause the Fund to underperform other funds with similar investment objectives and/or strategies, or that the investments themselves will not produce the returns expected.
Counterparty Risk.
Counterparty risk is the risk that a counterparty to a transaction in a financial instrument held by the Fund or by a special purpose or structured vehicle invested in by the Fund may become insolvent or otherwise fail to perform its obligations. As a result, the Fund may obtain no or limited recovery of its investment, and any recovery may be significantly delayed.
Derivatives Risk.
Derivatives may involve significant risks. Derivatives are financial instruments with a value in relation to, or derived from, the value of an underlying asset(s) or other reference, such as an index, rate or other economic indicator (each an underlying reference). Derivatives may include those that are privately placed or otherwise exempt from SEC registration, including certain Rule 144A eligible securities. Derivatives could result in Fund losses if the underlying reference does not perform as anticipated. Use of derivatives is a highly specialized activity that can involve investment techniques, risks, and tax planning different from those associated with more traditional investment instruments. The Fund’s derivatives strategy may not be successful and use of certain derivatives could result in substantial, potentially unlimited, losses to the Fund regardless of the Fund’s actual investment. A relatively small movement in the price, rate or other economic indicator associated with the underlying reference may result in substantial loss for the Fund. Derivatives may be more volatile than other types of investments. The value of derivatives may be influenced by a variety of factors, including national and international political and economic developments. Potential changes to the regulation of the derivatives markets may make derivatives more costly, may limit the market for derivatives, or may otherwise adversely affect the value or performance of derivatives. Derivatives can increase the Fund’s risk exposure to underlying references and their attendant risks, such as credit risk, market risk, foreign currency risk and interest rate risk, while exposing the Fund to correlation risk, counterparty risk, hedging risk, inflation risk, leverage risk, liquidity risk, pricing risk and volatility risk.
Derivatives Risk – Futures Contracts Risk.
A futures contract is an exchange-traded derivative transaction between two parties in which a buyer (holding the “long” position) agrees to pay a fixed price (or rate) at a specified future date for delivery of an underlying reference from a seller (holding the “short” position). The seller hopes that the market price on the delivery date is less than the agreed upon price, while the buyer hopes for the contrary. Certain futures contract markets are highly volatile, and futures contracts may be illiquid. Futures exchanges may limit fluctuations in futures contract prices by imposing a maximum permissible daily price movement. The Fund may be disadvantaged if it is prohibited from executing a trade outside the daily permissible price movement. At or prior to maturity of a futures contract, the Fund may enter into an offsetting contract and may incur a loss to the extent there has been adverse movement in futures contract prices. The liquidity of the futures markets depends on participants entering into offsetting transactions rather than making or taking delivery. To the extent participants make or take delivery, liquidity in the futures market could be reduced. Because of the low margin deposits normally required in futures trading, it is possible that the Fund may employ a high degree of leverage in the portfolio. As a result, a relatively small price movement in a futures contract may result in substantial losses to the Fund, exceeding the amount of the margin paid. For certain types of futures contracts, losses are potentially unlimited. Futures markets are highly volatile and the use of futures may increase the volatility of the Fund’s NAV. Futures contracts executed (if any) on foreign exchanges may not provide the same protection as U.S. exchanges. Futures contracts can increase the Fund’s risk exposure to underlying references and their attendant risks, such as credit risk, market risk, foreign currency risk and interest rate risk, while also exposing the Fund to correlation risk, counterparty risk, hedging risk, inflation risk, leverage risk, liquidity risk, pricing risk and volatility risk.
Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) Risk.
Investments in ETFs have unique characteristics, including, but not limited to, the expense structure and additional expenses associated with investing in ETFs. ETFs are subject to, among other risks, tracking risk and passive and, in some cases, active investment risk. In addition, shareholders bear both their proportionate share of the Fund’s expenses, and indirectly the ETF’s expenses, incurred through the Fund’s ownership of the ETF. Due to the expenses and costs of an underlying ETF being shared by its investors, redemptions
| Prospectus 2021 | 5 |
Multi-Manager Small Cap Equity Strategies Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
by other investors in the ETF could result in decreased economies of scale and increased operating expenses for such ETF. The ETFs may not achieve their investment objective. The Fund, through its investment in ETFs, may not achieve its investment objective.
Foreign Securities Risk.
Investments in or exposure to foreign securities involve certain risks not associated with investments in or exposure to securities of U.S. companies. Foreign securities subject the Fund to the risks associated with investing in the particular country of an issuer, including political, regulatory, economic, social, diplomatic and other conditions or events (including, for example, military confrontations, war, terrorism and disease/virus outbreaks and epidemics), occurring in the country or region, as well as risks associated with less developed custody and settlement practices. Foreign securities may be more volatile and less liquid than securities of U.S. companies, and are subject to the risks associated with potential imposition of economic and other sanctions against a particular foreign country, its nationals or industries or businesses within the country. In addition, foreign governments may impose withholding or other taxes on the Fund’s income, capital gains or proceeds from the disposition of foreign securities, which could reduce the Fund’s return on such securities. The performance of the Fund may also be negatively affected by fluctuations in a foreign currency's strength or weakness relative to the U.S. dollar, particularly to the extent the Fund invests a significant percentage of its assets in foreign securities or other assets denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar.
Frequent Trading Risk.
The portfolio managers may actively and frequently trade investments in the Fund's portfolio to carry out its investment strategies. Frequent trading of investments increases the possibility that the Fund, as relevant, will realize taxable capital gains (including short-term capital gains, which are generally taxable to shareholders at higher rates than long-term capital gains for U.S. federal income tax purposes), which could reduce the Fund's after-tax return. Frequent trading can also mean higher brokerage and other transaction costs, which could reduce the Fund's return. The trading costs and tax effects associated with portfolio turnover may adversely affect the Fund’s performance.
Growth Securities Risk.
Growth securities typically trade at a higher multiple of earnings than other types of equity securities. Accordingly, the market values of growth securities may never reach their expected market value and may decline in price. In addition, growth securities, at times, may not perform as well as value securities or the stock market in general, and may be out of favor with investors for varying periods of time.
Issuer Risk.
An issuer in which the Fund invests or to which it has exposure may perform poorly or below expectations, and the value of its securities may therefore decline, which may negatively affect the Fund’s performance. Underperformance of an issuer may be caused by poor management decisions, competitive pressures, breakthroughs in technology, reliance on suppliers, labor problems or shortages, corporate restructurings, fraudulent disclosures, natural disasters, military confrontations, war, terrorism, disease/virus outbreaks, epidemics or other events, conditions and factors which may impair the value of an investment in the Fund.
Small-Cap Stock Risk.
Investments in small-capitalization companies (small-cap companies) often involve greater risks than investments in larger, more established companies (larger companies) because small-cap companies tend to have less predictable earnings and may lack the management experience, financial resources, product diversification and competitive strengths of larger companies, and securities of small-cap companies may be less liquid and more volatile than the securities of larger companies.
Liquidity Risk.
Liquidity risk is the risk associated with any event, circumstance, or characteristic of an investment or market that negatively impacts the Fund’s ability to sell, or realize the proceeds from the sale of, an investment at a desirable time or price. Liquidity risk may arise because of, for example, a lack of marketability of the investment, which means that when seeking to sell its portfolio investments, the Fund could find that selling is more difficult than anticipated, especially during times of high market volatility. Market participants attempting to sell the same or a similar instrument at the same time as the Fund could exacerbate the Fund’s exposure to liquidity risk. The Fund may have to accept a lower selling price for the holding, sell other liquid or more liquid investments that it might otherwise prefer to hold (thereby increasing the proportion of the Fund’s investments in less liquid or illiquid securities), or forego another more appealing investment opportunity. The liquidity of Fund investments may change significantly over time and certain investments that were liquid when purchased by the Fund may later become illiquid, particularly in times of overall economic distress. Changing regulatory, market or other conditions or environments (for example,
| 6 | Prospectus 2021 |
Multi-Manager Small Cap Equity Strategies Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
the interest rate or credit environments) may also adversely affect the liquidity and the price of the Fund's investments. Judgment plays a larger role in valuing illiquid or less liquid investments as compared to valuing liquid or more liquid investments. Price volatility may be higher for illiquid or less liquid investments as a result of, for example, the relatively less frequent pricing of such securities (as compared to liquid or more liquid investments). Generally, the less liquid the market at the time the Fund sells a portfolio investment, the greater the risk of loss or decline of value to the Fund. Overall market liquidity and other factors can lead to an increase in redemptions, which may negatively impact Fund performance and NAV, including, for example, if the Fund is forced to sell investments in a down market.
Market Risk.
The Fund may incur losses due to declines in the value of one or more securities in which it invests. These declines may be due to factors affecting a particular issuer, or the result of, among other things, political, regulatory, market, economic or social developments affecting the relevant market(s) more generally. In addition, turbulence in financial markets and reduced liquidity in equity, credit and/or fixed income markets may negatively affect many issuers, which could adversely affect the Fund, including causing difficulty in assigning prices to hard-to-value assets in thinly traded and closed markets, significant redemptions and operational challenges. Global economies and financial markets are increasingly interconnected, and conditions and events in one country, region or financial market may adversely impact issuers in a different country, region or financial market. These risks may be magnified if certain events or developments adversely interrupt the global supply chain; in these and other circumstances, such risks might affect companies worldwide. As a result, local, regional or global events such as terrorism, war, natural disasters, disease/virus outbreaks and epidemics or other public health issues, recessions, depressions or other events – or the potential for such events – could have a significant negative impact on global economic and market conditions.
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) public health crisis has become a pandemic that has resulted in, and may continue to result in, significant global economic and societal disruption and market volatility due to disruptions in market access, resource availability, facilities operations, imposition of tariffs, export controls and supply chain disruption, among others. Such disruptions may be caused, or exacerbated by, quarantines and travel restrictions, workforce displacement and loss in human and other resources. The uncertainty surrounding the magnitude, duration, reach, costs and effects of the global pandemic, as well as actions that have been or could be taken by governmental authorities or other third parties, present unknowns that are yet to unfold. The impacts, as well as the uncertainty over impacts to come, of COVID-19 – and any other infectious illness outbreaks, epidemics and pandemics that may arise in the future – could negatively affect global economies and markets in ways that cannot necessarily be foreseen. In addition, the impact of infectious illness outbreaks and epidemics in emerging market countries may be greater due to generally less established healthcare systems, governments and financial markets. Public health crises caused by the COVID-19 outbreak may exacerbate other pre-existing political, social and economic risks in certain countries or globally. The disruptions caused by COVID-19 could prevent the Fund from executing advantageous investment decisions in a timely manner and negatively impact the Fund’s ability to achieve its investment objective. Any such event(s) could have a significant adverse impact on the value and risk profile of the Fund.
Money Market Fund Investment Risk.
An investment in a money market fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by any bank, the FDIC or any other government agency. Certain money market funds float their NAV while others seek to preserve the value of investments at a stable NAV (typically, $1.00 per share). An investment in a money market fund, even an investment in a fund seeking to maintain a stable NAV per share, is not guaranteed and it is possible for the Fund to lose money by investing in these and other types of money market funds. If the liquidity of a money market fund’s portfolio deteriorates below certain levels, the money market fund may suspend redemptions (i.e., impose a redemption gate) and thereby prevent the Fund from selling its investment in the money market fund or impose a fee of up to 2% on amounts the Fund redeems from the money market fund (i.e., impose a liquidity fee). These measures may result in an investment loss or prohibit the Fund from redeeming shares when the Investment Manager would otherwise redeem shares. In addition to the fees and expenses that the Fund directly bears, the Fund indirectly bears the fees and expenses of any money market funds in which it invests, including affiliated money market funds. By investing in a money market fund, the Fund will be exposed to the investment risks of the money market fund in direct proportion to such investment. To the extent the Fund invests in
| Prospectus 2021 | 7 |
Multi-Manager Small Cap Equity Strategies Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
instruments such as derivatives, the Fund may hold investments, which may be significant, in money market fund shares to cover its obligations resulting from the Fund’s investments in derivatives. Money market funds and the securities they invest in are subject to comprehensive regulations. The enactment of new legislation or regulations, as well as changes in interpretation and enforcement of current laws, may affect the manner of operation, performance and/or yield of money market funds.
Multi-Adviser Risk.
The Fund has multiple advisory firms that each manage a portion of the Fund’s net assets on a daily basis. Each adviser makes investment decisions independently from the other adviser(s). It is possible that the security selection process of one adviser will not complement or may conflict or even contradict that of the other adviser(s), including making off-setting trades that have no net effect to the Fund, but which may increase Fund expenses. As a result, the Fund's exposure to a given security, industry, sector or market capitalization could be smaller or larger than if the Fund were managed by a single adviser, which could adversely affect the Fund's performance.
Real Estate-Related Investment Risk.
Investments in real estate investment trusts (REITs) and in securities of other companies (wherever organized) principally engaged in the real estate industry subject the Fund to, among other things, risks similar to those of direct investments in real estate and the real estate industry in general. These include risks related to general and local economic conditions, possible lack of availability of financing and changes in interest rates or property values. The value of interests in a REIT may be affected by, among other factors, changes in the value of the underlying properties owned by the REIT, changes in the prospect for earnings and/or cash flow growth of the REIT itself, defaults by borrowers or tenants, market saturation, decreases in market rates for rents, and other economic, political, or regulatory matters affecting the real estate industry, including REITs. REITs may be subject to more abrupt or erratic price movements than the overall securities markets. REITs are also subject to the risk of failing to qualify for favorable tax treatment under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended. The failure of a REIT to continue to qualify as a REIT for tax purposes can materially and adversely affect its value. Some REITs (especially mortgage REITs) are affected by risks similar to those associated with investments in debt securities including changes in interest rates and the quality of credit extended.
Sector Risk.
At times, the Fund may have a significant portion of its assets invested in securities of companies conducting business within one or more economic sectors, including the financial services, industrials, and information technology sectors. Companies in the same sector may be similarly affected by economic, regulatory, political or market events or conditions, which may make the Fund more vulnerable to unfavorable developments in that sector than funds that invest more broadly. Generally, the more broadly the Fund invests, the more it spreads risk and potentially reduces the risks of loss and volatility.
Financial Services Sector.
The Fund may be more susceptible to the particular risks that may affect companies in the financial services sector than if it were invested in a wider variety of companies in unrelated sectors. Companies in the financial services sector are subject to certain risks, including the risk of regulatory change, decreased liquidity in credit markets and unstable interest rates. Such companies may have concentrated portfolios, such as a high level of loans to one or more industries or sectors, which makes them vulnerable to economic conditions that affect such industries or sectors. Performance of such companies may be affected by competitive pressures and exposure to investments, agreements and counterparties, including credit products that, under certain circumstances, may lead to losses (e.g., subprime loans). Companies in the financial services sector are subject to extensive governmental regulation that may limit the amount and types of loans and other financial commitments they can make, and the interest rates and fees they may charge. In addition, profitability of such companies is largely dependent upon the availability and the cost of capital.
Industrials Sector.
The Fund may be more susceptible to the particular risks that may affect companies in the industrials sector than if it were invested in a wider variety of companies in unrelated sectors. Companies in the industrials sector are subject to certain risks, including changes in supply and demand for their specific product or service and for industrial sector products in general, including decline in demand for such products due to rapid technological developments and frequent new product introduction. Performance of such companies may be affected by factors including government regulation, world events and economic conditions and risks for environmental damage and product liability claims.
| 8 | Prospectus 2021 |
Multi-Manager Small Cap Equity Strategies Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
Information Technology Sector.
The Fund may be more susceptible to the particular risks that may affect companies in the information technology sector than if it were invested in a wider variety of companies in unrelated sectors. Companies in the information technology sector are subject to certain risks, including the risk that new services, equipment or technologies will not be accepted by consumers and businesses or will become rapidly obsolete. Performance of such companies may be affected by factors including obtaining and protecting patents (or the failure to do so) and significant competitive pressures, including aggressive pricing of their products or services, new market entrants, competition for market share and short product cycles due to an accelerated rate of technological developments. Such competitive pressures may lead to limited earnings and/or falling profit margins. As a result, the value of their securities may fall or fail to rise. In addition, many information technology sector companies have limited operating histories and prices of these companies’ securities historically have been more volatile than other securities, especially over the short term.
Value Securities Risk.
Value securities are securities of companies that may have experienced, for example, adverse business, industry or other developments or may be subject to special risks that have caused the securities to be out of favor and, in turn, potentially undervalued. The market value of a portfolio security may not meet portfolio management’s perceived value assessment of that security, or may decline in price, even though portfolio management believes the securities are already undervalued. There is also a risk that it may take longer than expected for the value of these investments to rise to portfolio management’s perceived value. In addition, value securities, at times, may not perform as well as growth securities or the stock market in general, and may be out of favor with investors for varying periods of time.
Performance Information
The following bar chart and table show you how the Fund has performed in the past, and can help you understand the risks of investing in the Fund. The bar chart shows how the Fund’s Class Inst share performance has varied for each full calendar year shown. Class Inst share performance is shown in the bar chart because Class Inst shares are the oldest share class currently offered by the Fund.
The table below the bar chart compares the Fund’s returns for the periods shown with a broad measure of market performance.
The performance of one or more share classes shown in the table below begins before the indicated inception date for such share class. The returns shown for such share class include the returns of the Fund’s Class A shares for the period from April 20, 2012 (the Fund's inception date) through January 2, 2017, and of the Fund's Class Inst shares for the period from January 3, 2017 through the inception date of such share class. Additionally, the returns shown in the bar chart include the performance of the Fund’s Class A shares for the period from January 1, 2013 through January 2, 2017 (performance of Class Inst shares is shown for all other periods since the Fund no longer offers Class A shares). Class A shares were offered prior to the inception date of the Fund’s Class Inst shares but have since been merged into the Fund’s Class Inst shares. Except for differences in annual returns resulting from differences in expenses (where applicable), the share classes of the Fund would have substantially similar annual returns because all share classes of the Fund invest in the same portfolio of securities.
The after-tax returns shown in the
table below are calculated using the highest historical individual U.S. federal marginal income tax rates in effect during the period indicated in the table and do not reflect the impact of state, local or foreign taxes.
Your actual after-tax returns will depend on your personal tax situation and may differ from those shown in the table.
In addition, the after-tax returns shown in the table do not apply to shares held in tax-advantaged accounts such as 401(k) plans or Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs).
The after-tax returns are shown only for Class Inst shares and will vary for other share classes.
After-tax returns are shown for Class Inst shares because Class Inst shares are the oldest share class currently offered by the Fund.
Average Annual Total Returns
The Fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) is no guarantee of how the Fund will perform in the future.
Updated performance information can be obtained by calling toll-free 800.345.6611 or visiting columbiathreadneedleus.com.
| Prospectus 2021 | 9 |
Multi-Manager Small Cap Equity Strategies Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
|
Year by Year Total Return (%)
as of December 31 Each Year* |
Best and Worst Quarterly Returns
During the Period Shown in the Bar Chart |
||
|
Best
|
1st Quarter 2013
|
13.54
%
|
|
Worst
|
4th Quarter 2018
|
-19.89
%
|
|
| * | Year to Date return as of September 30, 2020: -7.71% |
Average Annual Total Returns (for periods ended December 31, 2019)
|
Share Class
Inception Date |
1 Year
|
5 Years*
|
Life of Fund*
|
|
|
Class Inst
|
01/03/2017 | |||
| returns before taxes | 23.62% | 8.37% | 11.01% | |
| returns after taxes on distributions | 22.73% | 7.19% | 9.66% | |
| returns after taxes on distributions and sale of Fund shares | 14.59% | 6.37% | 8.61% | |
|
Class Inst3
returns before taxes
|
12/18/2019 | 23.62% | 8.37% | 11.01% |
|
Russell 2000 Index
(reflects no deductions for fees, expenses or taxes)
|
25.52% | 8.23% | 11.49% |
| * | Returns shown for periods prior to the inception date of the Fund's Class Inst shares include the returns of the Fund's Class A shares for the period from April 20, 2012 (the Fund's inception date) through January 2, 2017, and of the Fund's Class Inst shares for the period from January 3, 2017 through the inception date of such share class, as applicable. Class A shares were offered prior to the inception date of the Fund's Class Inst shares but have since been merged into the Fund's Class Inst shares. |
Fund Management
|
Portfolio Manager
|
Title
|
Role with Fund
|
Managed Fund Since
|
|||
| David Corris, CFA | Portfolio Manager of BMO | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2015 | |||
| Thomas Lettenberger, CFA | Portfolio Manager of BMO | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2015 |
|
Portfolio Manager
|
Title
|
Role with Fund
|
Managed Fund Since
|
|||
| Christian Stadlinger, Ph.D., CFA | Senior Portfolio Manager | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2012 | |||
| Jarl Ginsberg, CFA, CAIA | Senior Portfolio Manager | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2012 |
Subadviser:
Conestoga Capital Advisors, LLC (Conestoga)
|
Portfolio Manager
|
Title
|
Role with Fund
|
Managed Fund Since
|
|||
| Robert Mitchell | Managing Partner and Portfolio Manager of Conestoga | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2012 | |||
| Joseph Monahan, CFA | Managing Partner and Portfolio Manager of Conestoga | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2014 |
| 10 | Prospectus 2021 |
Multi-Manager Small Cap Equity Strategies Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
Subadviser:
Hotchkis and Wiley Capital Management, LLC (Hotchkis & Wiley)
|
Portfolio Manager
|
Title
|
Role with Fund
|
Managed Fund Since
|
|||
| Judd Peters, CFA | Portfolio Manager of Hotchkis & Wiley | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2019 | |||
| Ryan Thomes, CFA | Portfolio Manager of Hotchkis & Wiley | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2019 |
Subadviser:
J.P. Morgan Investment Management Inc. (JPMIM)
|
Portfolio Manager
|
Title
|
Role with Fund
|
Managed Fund Since
|
|||
| Eytan Shapiro, CFA | Managing Director of JPMIM | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2018 | |||
| Felise Agranoff, CFA | Managing Director of JPMIM | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2018 | |||
| Matthew Cohen | Managing Director of JPMIM | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2018 |
Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares
Fund shares are offered only through certain wrap fee programs sponsored and/or managed by Ameriprise Financial, Inc. or its affiliates, and to group retirement plan recordkeeping platforms that have an agreement with (i) Columbia Management Investment Distributors, Inc. or an affiliate thereof that specifically authorizes the group retirement plan recordkeeper to offer and/or service Class Inst3 shares within such platform, provided also that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account and (ii) Wilshire Associates, appointed or serving as investment manager or consultant to the recordkeeper’s group retirement plan platform. Fund shares are sold in accordance with the terms of the account through which you invested in the Fund and redeemed in accordance with the terms of the Fund’s prospectus. There is a $100 minimum initial investment and no minimum additional investment.
Generally, you may only exchange a share class of a Multi-Manager Strategies Fund for the same class of shares, if available, of another Multi-Manager Strategies Fund. Please refer to the
section of the prospectus for more information on exchangeability.
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares — Exchanging Shares
Tax Information
The Fund normally distributes net investment income and net realized capital gains, if any, to shareholders. These distributions are generally taxable to you as ordinary income, qualified dividend income or capital gains, unless you are investing through a tax-advantaged account, such as a 401(k) plan or an IRA. If you are investing through a tax-advantaged account, you may be taxed upon withdrawals from that account.
Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
If you purchase the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), the Fund and its related companies — including Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC (the Investment Manager), Columbia Management Investment Distributors, Inc. (the Distributor) and Columbia Management Investment Services Corp. (the Transfer Agent) — may pay the intermediary for the sale of Fund shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your financial advisor to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your financial advisor or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.
| Prospectus 2021 | 11 |
Multi-Manager Small Cap Equity Strategies Fund
More Information About the Fund
Investment Objective
Multi-Manager Small Cap Equity Strategies Fund (the Fund) seeks long-term capital appreciation. The Fund’s investment objective is not a fundamental policy and may be changed by the Fund’s Board of Trustees without shareholder approval. Because any investment involves risk, there is no assurance the Fund’s investment objective will be achieved.
Principal Investment Strategies
The Fund pursues its investment objective by allocating the Fund’s assets among different asset managers that use multiple investment styles to invest in equity securities. The Fund’s investment manager, Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC (Columbia Management or the Investment Manager), and investment subadvisers (Subadvisers) each provide day-to-day portfolio management of a portion of the Fund’s assets, or sleeve of the Fund. Columbia Management and the Subadvisers employ different investment styles and processes that, in the aggregate, are designed to complement the strategies of one another in pursuit of the Fund’s investment objective.
Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets (including the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes) in equity securities (including common stocks, preferred stocks and convertible securities) of companies that have market capitalizations in the range of the companies in the Russell 2000
®
Index at the time of purchase (between $33.1 million and $14.2 billion as of November 30, 2020). The market capitalization range and composition of the companies in the Index are subject to change. As such, the size of the companies in which the Fund invests may change. As long as an investment continues to meet the Fund’s other investment criteria, the Fund may choose to continue to hold a security even if the company’s market capitalization grows beyond the market capitalization of the largest company within the Index or falls below the market capitalization of the smallest company within the Index.
The Fund may invest up to 25% of its net assets in foreign investments. The Fund may also invest in real estate investment trusts (REITs) and exchange-traded funds. The Fund may from time to time emphasize one or more sectors in selecting its investments, including the financial services, industrials, and information technology sectors.
The Fund may invest in derivatives, such as futures (including equity index futures) to gain market exposure on the Fund’s uninvested cash pending investment in securities or to maintain liquidity to pay redemptions, to hedge existing positions, to increase market exposure and investment flexibility, including using the derivative as a substitute for the purchase or sale of an underlying security(ies) or basket of securities.
The Fund may also hold/invest in cash, money market instruments (which may include investments in one or more affiliated or unaffiliated money market funds or similar vehicles) or other high-quality, short-term investments, including for the purpose of covering its obligations with respect to, or that may result from, the Fund’s investments in derivatives.
Columbia Management is responsible for providing day-to-day portfolio management of two sleeves of the Fund and is also responsible for oversight of the Subadvisers.
The Fund’s Subadvisers are BMO Asset Management Corp. (BMO), Conestoga Capital Advisors, LLC (Conestoga), Hotchkis and Wiley Capital Management, LLC (Hotchkis & Wiley) and J.P. Morgan Investment Management Inc. (JPMIM). Columbia Management and the Subadvisers act independently of each other and use their own methodologies for selecting investments. Columbia Management, subject to the oversight of the Fund’s Board of Trustees, determines the allocation of the Fund’s assets to each sleeve and may change these allocations at any time.
Each sleeve manager’s investment strategy may involve the frequent trading of portfolio securities.
| 12 | Prospectus 2021 |
Multi-Manager Small Cap Equity Strategies Fund
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
BMO – Disciplined Small Cap Value Strategy Sleeve
BMO seeks to integrate fundamental and quantitative investing. BMO focuses on company fundamentals by using a quantitative process to identify companies that, in BMO’s opinion, exhibit good value based on a comparison of price to a fundamentals-based intrinsic value, the quality and sustainability of a company’s underlying fundamentals such as growth, profitability, earnings quality, capital usage efficiency and operating trends, and improving investor interest. BMO’s quantitative process uses a multi-factor risk/return investment model based on internal research and academic studies to select investments for its sleeve. The model ranks each stock in order of attractiveness. BMO periodically modifies the investment model based upon its fundamental analysis of the output of the model and the designated risk parameters. BMO selects securities generated by the model based on a goal of optimizing its sleeve by constructing a diversified portfolio intended to maximize expected risk-adjusted returns.
BMO’s integrated process is grounded in two core beliefs:
| ■ | Companies that are undervalued relative to their fundamentals and exhibit improving investor interest outperform the market over the long run |
| ■ | A systematic approach to stock evaluation and portfolio construction maximizes risk-adjusted returns over full market cycles |
BMO may sell a security when its expected return deteriorates; when BMO believes its exclusion improves the overall risk/return profile of the portfolio; or for other reasons.
Columbia Management – Small Cap Value Strategy Sleeve
Columbia Management combines fundamental and quantitative analysis with risk management in seeking to identify value opportunities and construct this sleeve. When selecting investments, Columbia Management considers, among other factors:
| ■ | businesses that are believed to be fundamentally sound and undervalued due to investor indifference, investor misperception of company prospects, or other factors; |
| ■ | various measures of valuation, including price-to-cash flow, price-to-earnings, price-to-sales, and price-to-book value. The Investment Manager believes that companies with lower valuations are generally more likely to provide opportunities for long-term capital appreciation; |
| ■ | a company’s current operating margins relative to its historic range and future potential; and |
| ■ | potential indicators of stock price appreciation, such as anticipated earnings growth, company restructuring, changes in management, business model changes, new product opportunities, or anticipated improvements in macroeconomic factors. |
Columbia Management may sell a security when the security’s price reaches a target set by Columbia Management; if Columbia Management believes that there is deterioration in the issuer’s financial circumstances or fundamental prospects, or that other investments are more attractive; or for other reasons.
Columbia Management is also responsible for managing cash flows into and out of the Fund resulting from the purchase and redemption of Fund shares. For this purpose, Columbia Management may invest in the instruments described above as well as in affiliated or unaffiliated money market funds. Columbia Management may also use these instruments to manage the Fund’s overall risk exposure.
Conestoga – Small Cap Growth Strategy Sleeve
Conestoga follows an investment style sometimes called “GARP” or “Growth at a Reasonable Price.” Conestoga generally invests its sleeve assets in small-cap companies with expected earnings growth rates that exceed the average expected growth rate of all U.S. publicly traded companies, where Conestoga believes valuations seem reasonable compared to the expected earnings growth, fundamental financial characteristics appear to be strong, the business model offers a sustainable competitive advantage, and management has an important ownership stake in
| Prospectus 2021 | 13 |
Multi-Manager Small Cap Equity Strategies Fund
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
the company. Conestoga uses a bottom-up approach in selecting securities. Conestoga may sell a security when the security becomes overvalued in Conestoga’s opinion; if Conestoga believes that there is deterioration in the issuer’s financial circumstances or fundamental prospects, or that other investments are more attractive; or for other reasons.
Hotchkis & Wiley – Small Cap Value Strategy Sleeve
Hotchkis & Wiley seeks to invest in stocks whose future prospects it believes are misunderstood or not fully recognized by the market. Hotchkis & Wiley employs a fundamental value investing approach which seeks to exploit market inefficiencies created by irrational investor behavior. To identify these investment opportunities, Hotchkis & Wiley employs a disciplined, bottom-up investment process based on a proprietary model that is augmented with internally-generated fundamental research. Hotchkis & Wiley seeks broad diversified exposure to these investment opportunities. With the exception of diversification guidelines, Hotchkis & Wiley does not employ pre-determined rules when considering which investments to sell; rather, Hotchkis & Wiley evaluates each sell candidate based on the candidate’s specific risk and return characteristics which include: 1) relative valuation; 2) fundamental operating trends; 3) deterioration of fundamentals; and 4) diversification guidelines.
JPMIM – Small Cap Growth Strategy Sleeve
In managing its sleeve of the Fund, JPMIM will invest primarily in common stocks. Typically, JPMIM invests in securities of companies with a history of above-average growth, as well as companies expected to have above-average growth.
JPMIM employs a process that combines research, valuation and stock selection to identify companies that have a history of above-average growth or which JPMIM believes will achieve above average growth in the future. Growth companies selected by JPMIM include those with leading competitive positions that JPMIM believes can achieve sustainable growth.
JPMIM may sell a security for several reasons. A security may be sold due to a change in the company’s fundamentals or if JPMIM believes the security is no longer attractively valued. Investments may also be sold if JPMIM identifies a stock that it believes offers a better investment opportunity.
The Fund’s investment policy with respect to 80% of its net assets may be changed by the Fund’s Board of Trustees without shareholder approval as long as shareholders are given 60 days’ advance written notice of the change. Additionally, shareholders will be given 60 days’ notice of any change to the Fund’s investment objective made to comply with the SEC rule governing investment company names.
Principal Risks
An investment in the Fund involves risks, including
,
, and
, among others. Descriptions of these and other principal risks of investing in the Fund are provided below.
. The value of the Fund’s holdings may decline, and the Fund’s net asset value (NAV) and share price may go down. An investment in the Fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency.
Small-Cap Stock Risk
Market Risk
Multi-Adviser Risk
There is no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objective and you may lose money
Active Management Risk.
The Fund is actively managed and its performance therefore will reflect, in part, the ability of the portfolio managers to make investment decisions that seek to achieve the Fund’s investment objective. Due to its active management, the Fund could underperform its benchmark index and/or other funds with similar investment objectives and/or strategies.
Allocation Risk.
Because the Fund uses an asset allocation strategy in pursuit of its investment objective, there is a risk that the Fund's allocation among asset classes, investments, managers, strategies and/or investment styles will cause the Fund's shares to lose value or cause the Fund to underperform other funds with similar investment objectives and/or strategies, or that the investments themselves will not produce the returns expected.
Counterparty Risk.
The risk exists that a counterparty to a transaction in a financial instrument held by the Fund or by a special purpose or structured vehicle in which the Fund invests may become insolvent or otherwise fail to perform its obligations, including making payments to the Fund, due to financial difficulties. The Fund may obtain no
| 14 | Prospectus 2021 |
Multi-Manager Small Cap Equity Strategies Fund
More Information About the Fund
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or limited recovery in a bankruptcy or other reorganizational proceedings, and any recovery may be significantly delayed. Transactions that the Fund enters into may involve counterparties in the financial services sector and, as a result, events affecting the financial services sector may cause the Fund’s share value to fluctuate.
Derivatives Risk.
Derivatives may involve significant risks. Derivatives are financial instruments, traded on an exchange or in the over-the-counter (OTC) markets, with a value in relation to, or derived from, the value of an underlying asset(s) (such as a security, commodity or currency) or other reference, such as an index, rate or other economic indicator (each an underlying reference). Derivatives may include those that are privately placed or otherwise exempt from SEC registration, including certain Rule 144A eligible securities. Derivatives could result in Fund losses if the underlying reference does not perform as anticipated. Use of derivatives is a highly specialized activity that can involve investment techniques, risks, and tax planning different from those associated with more traditional investment instruments. The Fund’s derivatives strategy may not be successful and use of certain derivatives could result in substantial, potentially unlimited, losses to the Fund regardless of the Fund’s actual investment. A relatively small movement in the price, rate or other economic indicator associated with the underlying reference may result in substantial loss for the Fund. Derivatives may be more volatile than other types of investments. Derivatives can increase the Fund’s risk exposure to underlying references and their attendant risks, including the risk of an adverse credit event associated with the underlying reference (credit risk), the risk of an adverse movement in the value, price or rate of the underlying reference (market risk), the risk of an adverse movement in the value of underlying currencies (foreign currency risk) and the risk of an adverse movement in underlying interest rates (interest rate risk). Derivatives may expose the Fund to additional risks, including the risk of loss due to a derivative position that is imperfectly correlated with the underlying reference it is intended to hedge or replicate (correlation risk), the risk that a counterparty will fail to perform as agreed (counterparty risk), the risk that a hedging strategy may fail to mitigate losses, and may offset gains (hedging risk), the risk that the return on an investment may not keep pace with inflation (inflation risk), the risk that losses may be greater than the amount invested (leverage risk), the risk that the Fund may be unable to sell an investment at an advantageous time or price (liquidity risk), the risk that the investment may be difficult to value (pricing risk), and the risk that the price or value of the investment fluctuates significantly over short periods of time (volatility risk). The value of derivatives may be influenced by a variety of factors, including national and international political and economic developments. Potential changes to the regulation of the derivatives markets may make derivatives more costly, may limit the market for derivatives, or may otherwise adversely affect the value or performance of derivatives.
Derivatives Risk – Futures Contracts Risk.
A futures contract is an exchange-traded derivative transaction between two parties in which a buyer (holding the “long” position) agrees to pay a fixed price (or rate) at a specified future date for delivery of an underlying reference from a seller (holding the “short” position). The seller hopes that the market price on the delivery date is less than the agreed upon price, while the buyer hopes for the contrary. Certain futures contract markets are highly volatile, and futures contracts may be illiquid. Futures exchanges may limit fluctuations in futures contract prices by imposing a maximum permissible daily price movement. The Fund may be disadvantaged if it is prohibited from executing a trade outside the daily permissible price movement. At or prior to maturity of a futures contract, the Fund may enter into an offsetting contract and may incur a loss to the extent there has been adverse movement in futures contract prices. The liquidity of the futures markets depends on participants entering into offsetting transactions rather than making or taking delivery. To the extent participants make or take delivery, liquidity in the futures market could be reduced. Positions in futures contracts may be closed out only on the exchange on which they were entered into or through a linked exchange, and no secondary market exists for such contracts. Futures positions are marked to market each day and variation margin payment must be paid to or by the Fund. Because of the low margin deposits normally required in futures trading, it is possible that the Fund may employ a high degree of leverage in the portfolio. As a result, a relatively small price movement in a futures contract may result in substantial losses to the Fund, exceeding the amount of the margin paid. For certain types of futures contracts, losses are potentially unlimited. Futures markets are highly volatile and the use of futures may increase the volatility of the Fund’s NAV. Futures contracts executed (if any) on foreign exchanges may not provide the same protection as U.S. exchanges. Futures contracts can increase the Fund’s risk exposure to underlying references and their attendant risks, such as credit risk, market risk, foreign currency risk and interest rate risk, while also exposing the Fund to correlation risk, counterparty risk, hedging risk, inflation risk, leverage risk, liquidity risk, pricing risk and volatility risk.
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An
equity future
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Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) Risk.
Investments in ETFs have unique characteristics, including, but not limited to, the expense structure and additional expenses associated with investing in ETFs. An ETF’s share price may not track its specified market index (if any) and may trade below its NAV. Certain ETFs use a “passive” investment strategy and do not take defensive positions in volatile or declining markets. Other ETFs in which the Fund may invest are actively managed ETFs (i.e., they do not track a particular benchmark), which indirectly subjects the Fund to active management risk. An active secondary market in ETF shares may not develop or be maintained and may be halted or interrupted due to actions by its listing exchange, unusual market conditions or other reasons. There can be no assurance that an ETF’s shares will continue to be listed on an active exchange. In addition, shareholders bear both their proportionate share of the Fund’s expenses and, indirectly, the ETF’s expenses, incurred through the Fund’s ownership of the ETF. Due to the expenses and costs of an underlying ETF being shared by its investors, redemptions by other investors in the ETF could result in decreased economies of scale and increased operating expenses for such ETF. These transactions might also result in higher brokerage, tax or other costs for the ETF. This risk may be particularly important when one investor owns a substantial portion of the ETF. There is a risk that ETFs in which the Fund invests may terminate due to extraordinary events. For example, any of the service providers to ETFs, such as the trustee or sponsor, may close or otherwise fail to perform their obligations to the ETF, and the ETF may not be able to find a substitute service provider. In addition, certain ETFs may be dependent upon licenses to use various indexes as a basis for determining their compositions and/or otherwise to use certain trade names. If these licenses are terminated, the ETFs may also terminate. An ETF may also terminate if its net assets fall below a certain amount.
Foreign Securities Risk.
Investments in or exposure to foreign securities involve certain risks not associated with investments in or exposure to securities of U.S. companies. For example, foreign markets can be extremely volatile. Foreign securities may also be less liquid, making them more difficult to trade, than securities of U.S. companies so that the Fund may, at times, be unable to sell foreign securities at desirable times or prices. Brokerage commissions, custodial costs and other fees are also generally higher for foreign securities. The Fund may have limited or no legal recourse in the event of default with respect to certain foreign securities, including those issued by foreign governments. In addition, foreign governments may impose withholding or other taxes on the Fund’s income, capital gains or proceeds from the disposition of foreign securities, which could reduce the Fund’s return on such securities. In some cases, such withholding or other taxes could potentially be confiscatory. Other risks include: possible delays in the settlement of transactions or in the payment of income; generally less publicly available information about foreign companies; the impact of economic, political, social, diplomatic or other conditions or events (including, for example, military confrontations, war, terrorism and disease/virus outbreaks and epidemics), possible seizure, expropriation or nationalization of a company or its assets or the assets of a particular investor or category of investors; accounting, auditing and financial reporting standards that may be less comprehensive and stringent than those applicable to domestic companies; the imposition of economic and other sanctions against a particular foreign country, its nationals or industries or businesses within the country; and the generally less stringent standard of care to which local agents may be held in the local markets. In addition, it may be difficult to obtain reliable information about the securities and business operations of certain foreign issuers. Governments or trade groups may compel local agents to hold securities in designated depositories that are not subject to independent evaluation. The less developed a country’s securities market is, the greater the level of risks. The risks posed by sanctions against a particular foreign country, its nationals or industries or businesses within the country may be heightened to the extent the Fund invests significantly in the affected country or region or in issuers from the affected country that depend on global markets. Additionally, investments in certain countries may subject the Fund to a number of tax rules, the application of which may be uncertain. Countries may amend or revise their existing tax laws, regulations and/or procedures in the future, possibly with retroactive effect. Changes in or uncertainties regarding the laws, regulations or procedures of a country could reduce the after-tax profits of the Fund, directly or indirectly, including by reducing the after-tax profits of companies located in such countries in which the Fund invests, or result in unexpected tax liabilities for the Fund. The performance of the Fund may also be negatively affected by fluctuations in a foreign currency's strength or weakness relative to the U.S. dollar, particularly to the extent the Fund invests a significant percentage of its assets in foreign securities or other assets denominated in currencies other than the
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U.S. dollar. Currency rates in foreign countries may fluctuate significantly over short or long periods of time for a number of reasons, including changes in interest rates, imposition of currency exchange controls and economic or political developments in the U.S. or abroad. The Fund may also incur currency conversion costs when converting foreign currencies into U.S. dollars and vice versa.
Frequent Trading Risk.
The portfolio managers may actively and frequently trade investments in the Fund's portfolio to carry out its investment strategies. Frequent trading of investments increases the possibility that the Fund, as relevant, will realize taxable capital gains (including short-term capital gains, which are generally taxable to shareholders at higher rates than long-term capital gains for U.S. federal income tax purposes), which could reduce the Fund's after-tax return. Frequent trading can also mean higher brokerage and other transaction costs, which could reduce the Fund's return. The trading costs and tax effects associated with portfolio turnover may adversely affect the Fund’s performance.
Growth Securities Risk.
Growth securities typically trade at a higher multiple of earnings than other types of equity securities. Accordingly, the market values of growth securities may never reach their expected market value and may decline in price. In addition, growth securities, at times, may not perform as well as value securities or the stock market in general, and may be out of favor with investors for varying periods of time.
Issuer Risk.
An issuer in which the Fund invests or to which it has exposure may perform poorly or below expectations, and the value of its securities may therefore decline, which may negatively affect the Fund’s performance. Underperformance of an issuer may be caused by poor management decisions, competitive pressures, breakthroughs in technology, reliance on suppliers, labor problems or shortages, corporate restructurings, fraudulent disclosures, natural disasters, military confrontations, war, terrorism, disease/virus outbreaks, epidemics or other events, conditions and factors which may impair the value of an investment in the Fund.
Small-Cap Stock Risk.
Securities of small-cap companies can, in certain circumstances, have a higher potential for gains than securities of larger companies but are more likely to have more risk than larger companies. For example, small-cap companies may be more vulnerable to market downturns and adverse business or economic events than larger companies because they may have more limited financial resources and business operations. Small-cap companies are also more likely than larger companies to have more limited product lines and operating histories and to depend on smaller and generally less experienced management teams. Securities of small-cap companies may trade less frequently and in smaller volumes and may be less liquid and fluctuate more sharply in value than securities of larger companies. When the Fund takes significant positions in small-cap companies with limited trading volumes, the liquidation of those positions, particularly in a distressed market, could be prolonged and result in Fund investment losses that would affect the value of your investment in the Fund. In addition, some small-cap companies may not be widely followed by the investment community, which can lower the demand for their stocks.
Liquidity Risk.
Liquidity risk is the risk associated with any event, circumstance, or characteristic of an investment or market that negatively impacts the Fund’s ability to sell, or realize the proceeds from the sale of, an investment at a desirable time or price. Liquidity risk may arise because of, for example, a lack of marketability of the investment, which means that when seeking to sell its portfolio investments, the Fund could find that selling is more difficult than anticipated, especially during times of high market volatility. Market participants attempting to sell the same or a similar instrument at the same time as the Fund could exacerbate the Fund’s exposure to liquidity risk. The Fund may have to accept a lower selling price for the holding, sell other liquid or more liquid investments that it might otherwise prefer to hold (thereby increasing the proportion of the Fund’s investments in less liquid or illiquid securities), or forego another more appealing investment opportunity. The liquidity of Fund investments may change significantly over time and certain investments that were liquid when purchased by the Fund may later become illiquid, particularly in times of overall economic distress. Changing regulatory, market or other conditions or environments (for example, the interest rate or credit environments) may also adversely affect the liquidity and the price of the Fund's investments. Judgment plays a larger role in valuing illiquid or less liquid investments as compared to valuing liquid or more liquid investments. Price volatility may be higher for illiquid or less liquid investments as a result of, for example, the relatively less frequent pricing of such securities (as compared to liquid or more liquid investments).
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Generally, the less liquid the market at the time the Fund sells a portfolio investment, the greater the risk of loss or decline of value to the Fund. Overall market liquidity and other factors can lead to an increase in redemptions, which may negatively impact Fund performance and NAV, including, for example, if the Fund is forced to sell investments in a down market.
Market Risk.
The Fund may incur losses due to declines in the value of one or more securities in which it invests. These declines may be due to factors affecting a particular issuer, or the result of, among other things, political, regulatory, market, economic or social developments affecting the relevant market(s) more generally. In addition, turbulence in financial markets and reduced liquidity in equity, credit and/or fixed income markets may negatively affect many issuers, which could adversely affect the Fund, including causing difficulty in assigning prices to hard-to-value assets in thinly traded and closed markets, significant redemptions and operational challenges. Global economies and financial markets are increasingly interconnected, and conditions and events in one country, region or financial market may adversely impact issuers in a different country, region or financial market. These risks may be magnified if certain events or developments adversely interrupt the global supply chain; in these and other circumstances, such risks might affect companies worldwide. As a result, local, regional or global events such as terrorism, war, natural disasters, disease/virus outbreaks and epidemics or other public health issues, recessions, depressions or other events – or the potential for such events – could have a significant negative impact on global economic and market conditions.
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) public health crisis has become a pandemic that has resulted in, and may continue to result in, significant global economic and societal disruption and market volatility due to disruptions in market access, resource availability, facilities operations, imposition of tariffs, export controls and supply chain disruption, among others. Such disruptions may be caused, or exacerbated by, quarantines and travel restrictions, workforce displacement and loss in human and other resources. The uncertainty surrounding the magnitude, duration, reach, costs and effects of the global pandemic, as well as actions that have been or could be taken by governmental authorities or other third parties, present unknowns that are yet to unfold. The impacts, as well as the uncertainty over impacts to come, of COVID-19 – and any other infectious illness outbreaks, epidemics and pandemics that may arise in the future – could negatively affect global economies and markets in ways that cannot necessarily be foreseen. In addition, the impact of infectious illness outbreaks and epidemics in emerging market countries may be greater due to generally less established healthcare systems, governments and financial markets. Public health crises caused by the COVID-19 outbreak may exacerbate other pre-existing political, social and economic risks in certain countries or globally. The disruptions caused by COVID-19 could prevent the Fund from executing advantageous investment decisions in a timely manner and negatively impact the Fund’s ability to achieve its investment objective. Any such event(s) could have a significant adverse impact on the value and risk profile of the Fund.
Money Market Fund Investment Risk.
An investment in a money market fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by any bank, the FDIC or any other government agency. Certain money market funds float their NAV while others seek to preserve the value of investments at a stable NAV (typically $1.00 per share). An investment in a money market fund, even an investment in a fund seeking to maintain a stable NAV per share, is not guaranteed and it is possible for the Fund to lose money by investing in these and other types of money market funds. If the liquidity of a money market fund’s portfolio deteriorates below certain levels, the money market fund may suspend redemptions (i.e., impose a redemption gate) and thereby prevent the Fund from selling its investment in the money market fund or impose a fee of up to 2% on amounts the Fund redeems from the money market fund (i.e., impose a liquidity fee). These measures may result in an investment loss or prohibit the Fund from redeeming shares when the Investment Manager would otherwise redeem shares. In addition to the fees and expenses that the Fund directly bears, the Fund indirectly bears the fees and expenses of any money market funds in which it invests, including affiliated money market funds. To the extent these fees and expenses, along with the fees and expenses of any other funds in which the Fund may invest, are expected to equal or exceed 0.01% of the Fund’s average daily net assets, they will be reflected in the Annual Fund Operating Expenses set forth in the table under “Fees and Expenses of the Fund.” By investing in a money market fund, the Fund will be exposed to the investment risks of the money market fund in direct proportion to such investment. The money market fund may not achieve its investment objective. The Fund, through its investment in the money market fund, may not achieve its investment objective. To
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the extent the Fund invests in instruments such as derivatives, the Fund may hold investments, which may be significant, in money market fund shares to cover its obligations resulting from the Fund’s investments in derivatives. Money market funds and the securities they invest in are subject to comprehensive regulations. The enactment of new legislation or regulations, as well as changes in interpretation and enforcement of current laws, may affect the manner of operation, performance and/or yield of money market funds.
Multi-Adviser Risk.
The Fund has multiple advisory firms that each manage a portion of the Fund’s net assets on a daily basis. Each adviser makes investment decisions independently from the other adviser(s). It is possible that the security selection process of one adviser will not complement or may conflict or even contradict that of the other adviser(s), including making off-setting trades that have no net effect to the Fund, but which may increase Fund expenses. As a result, the Fund's exposure to a given security, industry, sector or market capitalization could be smaller or larger than if the Fund were managed by a single adviser, which could adversely affect the Fund's performance.
Real Estate-Related Investment Risk.
Investments in real estate investment trusts (REITs) and in securities of other companies (wherever organized) principally engaged in the real estate industry subject the Fund to, among other things, risks similar to those of direct investments in real estate and the real estate industry in general. These include risks related to general and local economic conditions, possible lack of availability of financing and changes in interest rates or property values. REITs are entities that either own properties or make construction or mortgage loans, and also may include operating or finance companies. The value of interests in a REIT may be affected by, among other factors, changes in the value of the underlying properties owned by the REIT, changes in the prospect for earnings and/or cash flow growth of the REIT itself, defaults by borrowers or tenants, market saturation, decreases in market rates for rents, and other economic, political, or regulatory matters affecting the real estate industry, including REITs. REITs and similar non-U.S. entities depend upon specialized management skills, may have limited financial resources, may have less trading volume in their securities, and may be subject to more abrupt or erratic price movements than the overall securities markets. REITs are also subject to the risk of failing to qualify for favorable tax treatment under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended. The failure of a REIT to continue to qualify as a REIT for tax purposes can materially and adversely affect its value. Some REITs (especially mortgage REITs) are affected by risks similar to those associated with investments in debt securities including changes in interest rates and the quality of credit extended.
Sector Risk.
At times, the Fund may have a significant portion of its assets invested in securities of companies conducting business within one or more economic sectors, including the financial services, industrials, and information technology sectors. Companies in the same sector may be similarly affected by economic, regulatory, political or market events or conditions, which may make the Fund more vulnerable to unfavorable developments in that sector than funds that invest more broadly. Generally, the more broadly the Fund invests, the more it spreads risk and potentially reduces the risks of loss and volatility.
Financial Services Sector.
The Fund may be more susceptible to the particular risks that may affect companies in the financial services sector than if it were invested in a wider variety of companies in unrelated sectors. Companies in the financial services sector are subject to certain risks, including the risk of regulatory change, decreased liquidity in credit markets and unstable interest rates. Such companies may have concentrated portfolios, such as a high level of loans to one or more industries or sectors, which makes them vulnerable to economic conditions that affect such industries or sectors. Performance of such companies may be affected by competitive pressures and exposure to investments, agreements and counterparties, including credit products that, under certain circumstances, may lead to losses (e.g., subprime loans). Companies in the financial services sector are subject to extensive governmental regulation that may limit the amount and types of loans and other financial commitments they can make, and the interest rates and fees they may charge. In addition, profitability of such companies is largely dependent upon the availability and the cost of capital.
Industrials Sector.
The Fund may be more susceptible to the particular risks that may affect companies in the industrials sector than if it were invested in a wider variety of companies in unrelated sectors. Companies in the industrials sector are subject to certain risks, including changes in supply and demand for their specific product or service and for industrial sector products in general, including decline in demand for such products due to rapid
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technological developments and frequent new product introduction. Performance of such companies may be affected by factors including government regulation, world events and economic conditions and risks for environmental damage and product liability claims.
Information Technology Sector.
The Fund may be more susceptible to the particular risks that may affect companies in the information technology sector than if it were invested in a wider variety of companies in unrelated sectors. Companies in the information technology sector are subject to certain risks, including the risk that new services, equipment or technologies will not be accepted by consumers and businesses or will become rapidly obsolete. Performance of such companies may be affected by factors including obtaining and protecting patents (or the failure to do so) and significant competitive pressures, including aggressive pricing of their products or services, new market entrants, competition for market share and short product cycles due to an accelerated rate of technological developments. Such competitive pressures may lead to limited earnings and/or falling profit margins. As a result, the value of their securities may fall or fail to rise. In addition, many information technology sector companies have limited operating histories and prices of these companies’ securities historically have been more volatile than other securities, especially over the short term.
Value Securities Risk.
Value securities are securities of companies that may have experienced, for example, adverse business, industry or other developments or may be subject to special risks that have caused the securities to be out of favor and, in turn, potentially undervalued. The market value of a portfolio security may not meet portfolio management’s perceived value assessment of that security, or may decline in price, even though portfolio management believes the securities are already undervalued. There is also a risk that it may take longer than expected for the value of these investments to rise to portfolio management’s perceived value. In addition, value securities, at times, may not perform as well as growth securities or the stock market in general, and may be out of favor with investors for varying periods of time.
Additional Investment Strategies and Policies
This section describes certain investment strategies and policies that the Fund may utilize in pursuit of its investment objective and some additional factors and risks involved with investing in the Fund.
Investment Guidelines
As a general matter, and except as specifically described in the discussion of the Fund's principal investment strategies in this prospectus or as otherwise required by the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the 1940 Act), the rules and regulations thereunder and any applicable exemptive relief, whenever an investment policy or limitation states a percentage of the Fund's assets that may be invested in any security or other asset or sets forth a policy regarding an investment standard, compliance with that percentage limitation or standard will be determined solely at the time of the Fund's investment in the security or asset.
Holding Other Kinds of Investments
The Fund may hold other investments that are not part of its principal investment strategies. These investments and their risks are described below and/or in the Statement of Additional Information (SAI). The Fund may choose not to invest in certain securities described in this prospectus and in the SAI, although it has the ability to do so. Information on the Fund’s holdings can be found in the Fund’s shareholder reports or by visiting columbiathreadneedleus.com.
Transactions in Derivatives
The Fund may enter into derivative transactions or otherwise have exposure to derivative transactions through underlying investments. Derivatives are financial contracts whose values are, for example, based on (or “derived” from) traditional securities (such as a stock or bond), assets (such as a commodity like gold or a foreign currency), reference rates (such as the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (commonly known as SOFR) or the London Interbank Offered Rate (commonly known as LIBOR)) or market indices (such as the Standard & Poor’s 500
®
Index). The use of derivatives is a highly specialized activity which involves investment techniques and risks different from those associated with ordinary portfolio securities transactions. Derivatives involve special risks and may result in losses or may limit the Fund’s potential gain from favorable market movements. Derivative strategies often involve leverage,
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which may exaggerate a loss, potentially causing the Fund to lose more money than it would have lost had it invested in the underlying security or other asset directly. The values of derivatives may move in unexpected ways, especially in unusual market conditions, and may result in increased volatility in the value of the derivative and/or the Fund’s shares, among other consequences. The use of derivatives may also increase the amount of taxes payable by shareholders holding shares in a taxable account. Other risks arise from the Fund’s potential inability to terminate or to sell derivative positions. A liquid secondary market may not always exist for the Fund’s derivative positions at times when the Fund might wish to terminate or to sell such positions. Over-the-counter instruments (investments not traded on an exchange) may be illiquid, and transactions in derivatives traded in the over-the-counter market are subject to the risk that the other party will not meet its obligations. The use of derivatives also involves the risks of mispricing or improper valuation and that changes in the value of the derivative may not correlate perfectly with the underlying security, asset, reference rate or index. The Fund also may not be able to find a suitable derivative transaction counterparty, and thus may be unable to engage in derivative transactions when it is deemed favorable to do so, or at all. U.S. federal legislation has been enacted that provides for new clearing, margin, reporting and registration requirements for participants in the derivatives market. These changes could restrict and/or impose significant costs or other burdens upon the Fund’s participation in derivatives transactions. For more information on the risks of derivative investments and strategies, see the SAI.
LIBOR Phase-Out Risk.
Many derivatives and other financial instruments utilize or are permitted to utilize a floating interest rate based on LIBOR. On July 27, 2017, the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority announced its intention to phase out the use of LIBOR by the end of 2021. More recently, in November 2020, Ice Benchmark Administrator (IBA) has announced its intention to consult on (i) the cessation of four LIBOR currencies (GBP, EUR, JPY and CHF) after the end of 2021 and (ii) on the cessation of the major USD LIBOR tenors (overnight, 1M, 3M, 6M and 12M) in mid-2023 and the cessation of the 1 week and 2M USD LIBOR by the end of 2021. IBA will make separate announcements following the outcome of the consultations. The interest rate benchmark(s) that will replace LIBOR in the capital markets remains uncertain, and the overall economic impact of the transition away from LIBOR cannot yet be determined. The Investment Manager monitors the Fund’s LIBOR exposure risks, including the extent to which any derivative and/or debt investments allow for the utilization of alternative rate(s) to LIBOR.
Affiliated Fund Investing
The Investment Manager or an affiliate serves as investment adviser to funds using the Columbia brand (Columbia Funds), including those that are structured as “fund-of-funds”, and provides asset-allocation services to (i) shareholders by investing in shares of other Columbia Funds, which may include the Fund (collectively referred to in this section as Underlying Funds), and (ii) discretionary managed accounts (collectively referred to as affiliated products) that invest exclusively in Underlying Funds. These affiliated products, individually or collectively, may own a significant percentage of the outstanding shares of one or more Underlying Funds, and the Investment Manager seeks to balance potential conflicts of interest between the affiliated products and the Underlying Funds in which they invest. The affiliated products’ investment in the Underlying Funds may have the effect of creating economies of scale, possibly resulting in lower expense ratios for the Underlying Funds, because the affiliated products may own substantial portions of the shares of Underlying Funds. However, redemption of Underlying Fund shares by one or more affiliated products could cause the expense ratio of an Underlying Fund to increase, as its fixed costs would be spread over a smaller asset base. Because of large positions of certain affiliated products, the Underlying Funds may experience relatively large inflows and outflows of cash due to affiliated products’ purchases and sales of Underlying Fund shares. Although the Investment Manager or its affiliate may seek to minimize the impact of these transactions where possible, for example, by structuring them over a reasonable period of time or through other measures, Underlying Funds may experience increased expenses as they buy and sell portfolio securities to manage the cash flow effect related to these transactions. Further, when the Investment Manager or its affiliate structures transactions over a reasonable period of time in order to manage the potential impact of the buy and sell decisions for the affiliated products, those affiliated products, including funds-of-funds, may pay more or less (for purchase activity), or receive more or less (for redemption activity), for shares of the Underlying Funds than if the transactions were executed in one transaction. In addition, substantial redemptions by affiliated products within a short period of time could require the Underlying Fund to liquidate positions more rapidly than would otherwise be desirable, which may have the effect of reducing or eliminating potential gain or causing it to realize a loss. In order to meet such
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redemptions, an Underlying Fund may be forced to sell its liquid (or more liquid) positions, leaving the Underlying Fund holding, post-redemption, a relatively larger position in illiquid investments (i.e., any investment that the Fund reasonably expects cannot be sold or disposed of in current market conditions in seven calendar days or less without the sale or disposition significantly changing the market value of the investment) or less liquid securities. Substantial redemptions may also adversely affect the ability of the Underlying Fund to implement its investment strategy. The Investment Manager or its affiliate also has a conflict of interest in determining the allocation of affiliated products’ assets among the Underlying Funds, as it earns different fees from the various Underlying Funds.
Investing in Money Market Funds
The Fund may invest cash in, or hold as collateral for certain investments, shares of registered or unregistered money market funds, including funds advised by the Investment Manager or its affiliates. These funds are not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) or any other government agency. The Fund and its shareholders indirectly bear a portion of the expenses of any money market fund or other fund in which the Fund may invest.
Lending of Portfolio Securities
The Fund may lend portfolio securities to broker-dealers or other financial intermediaries on a fully collateralized basis in order to earn additional income. The Fund may lose money from securities lending if, for example, it is delayed in or prevented from selling the collateral after the loan is made or recovering the securities loaned or if it incurs losses on the reinvestment of cash collateral.
The Fund currently does not participate in the securities lending program but the Board of Trustees (the Board) may determine to renew participation in the future. For more information on lending of portfolio securities and the risks involved, see the SAI and the annual and semiannual reports to shareholders.
Investing Defensively
The Fund may from time to time take temporary defensive investment positions that may be inconsistent with the Fund’s principal investment strategies in attempting to respond to adverse market, economic, political, social or other conditions, including, without limitation, investing some or all of its assets in money market instruments or shares of affiliated or unaffiliated money market funds or holding some or all of its assets in cash or cash equivalents. The Fund may take such defensive investment positions for as long a period as deemed necessary.
The Fund may not achieve its investment objective while it is investing defensively. Investing defensively may adversely affect Fund performance. During these times, the portfolio managers may make frequent portfolio holding changes, which could result in increased trading expenses and taxes, and decreased Fund performance. See also
above for more information.
Investing in Money Market Funds
Other Strategic and Investment Measures
The Fund may also from time to time take temporary portfolio positions that may or may not be consistent with the Fund’s principal investment strategies in attempting to respond to adverse market, economic, political, social or other conditions, including, without limitation, investing in derivatives, such as forward contracts, futures contracts, options, structured investments and swaps, for various purposes, including among others, investing in particular derivatives in seeking to reduce investment exposures, or in seeking to achieve indirect investment exposures, to a sector, country, region or currency where the Investment Manager believes such positioning is appropriate. The Fund may take such portfolio positions for as long a period as deemed necessary. While the Fund is so positioned, derivatives could comprise a substantial portion of the Fund’s investments and the Fund may not achieve its investment objective. Investing in this manner may adversely affect Fund performance. During these times, the portfolio managers may make frequent portfolio holding changes, which could result in increased trading expenses and taxes, and decreased Fund performance. For information on the risks of investing in derivatives, see
above.
Transactions in Derivatives
| 22 | Prospectus 2021 |
Multi-Manager Small Cap Equity Strategies Fund
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
Portfolio Holdings Disclosure
The Board has adopted policies and procedures that govern the timing and circumstances of disclosure to shareholders and third parties of information regarding the securities owned by the Fund. A description of these policies and procedures is included in the SAI. Fund policy generally permits the disclosure of portfolio holdings information on the Fund's website (columbiathreadneedleus.com) only after a certain amount of time has passed, as described in the SAI.
Purchases and sales of portfolio securities can take place at any time, so the portfolio holdings information available on the Fund's website may not always be current.
FUNDamentals
Portfolio Holdings Versus the Benchmarks
The Fund does not limit its investments to the securities within its benchmark(s), and accordingly the Fund's holdings may diverge significantly from those of its benchmark(s). In addition, the Fund may invest in securities outside any industry and geographic sectors represented in its benchmark(s). The Fund's weightings in individual securities, and in industry or geographic sectors, may also vary considerably from those of its benchmark(s).
eDelivery and Mailings to Households
In order to reduce shareholder expenses, the Fund may mail only one copy of the Fund’s prospectus and each annual and semiannual report to those addresses shared by two or more accounts. If you wish to receive separate copies of these documents, call 800.345.6611 or, if your shares are held through a financial intermediary, contact your intermediary directly. Additionally, you may elect to enroll in eDelivery to receive electronic versions of these documents, as well as quarterly statements and supplements, by logging into your account at columbiathreadneedleus.com/investor/.
Cash Flows
The timing and magnitude of cash inflows from investors buying Fund shares could prevent the Fund from always being fully invested. Conversely, the timing and magnitude of cash outflows to shareholders redeeming Fund shares could require the Fund to sell portfolio securities at less than opportune times or to hold ready reserves of uninvested cash in amounts larger than might otherwise be the case to meet shareholder redemptions. Either situation could adversely impact the Fund’s performance.
Understanding Annual Fund Operating Expenses
The Fund’s annual operating expenses, as presented in the
table in the
section of this prospectus, generally are based on expenses incurred during the Fund’s most recently completed fiscal year, may vary by share class and are expressed as a percentage (expense ratio) of the Fund’s average net assets during that fiscal year. The expense ratios reflect the Fund’s fee arrangements as of the date of this prospectus and, unless indicated otherwise, are based on expenses incurred during the Fund’s most recent fiscal year. The Fund’s assets will fluctuate, but unless indicated otherwise in the
table, no adjustments have been or will be made to the expense ratios to reflect any differences in the Fund’s average net assets between the most recently completed fiscal year and the date of this prospectus or a later date. In general, the Fund’s expense ratios will increase as its net assets decrease, such that the Fund’s actual expense ratios may be higher than the expense ratios presented in the
table if assets fall. As applicable, any commitment by the Investment Manager and/or its affiliates to waive fees and/or cap (reimburse) expenses is expected, in part, to limit the impact of any increase in the Fund’s expense ratios that would otherwise result because of a decrease in the Fund’s assets in the current fiscal year. The Fund’s annual operating expenses are comprised of (i) investment management fees, (ii) distribution and/or service fees, and (iii) other expenses. Management fees do not vary by class, but distribution and/or service fees and other expenses may vary by class.
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
Fees and Expenses of the Fund
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
| Prospectus 2021 | 23 |
Multi-Manager Small Cap Equity Strategies Fund
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
FUNDamentals
Other Expenses
“Other expenses” consist of the fees the Fund pays to its custodian, transfer agent, auditors, lawyers and trustees, costs relating to compliance and miscellaneous expenses. Generally, these expenses are allocated on a pro rata basis across all share classes. These fees include certain sub-transfer agency and shareholder servicing fees. Transfer agency fees and certain shareholder servicing fees, however, are class specific. They differ by share class because the shareholder services provided to each share class may be different. Accordingly, the differences in “other expenses” among share classes are primarily the result of the different transfer agency and shareholder servicing fees applicable to each share class. For more information on these fees, see
About Fund Shares — Financial Intermediary Compensation.
Fee Waiver/Expense Reimbursement Arrangements and Impact on Past Performance
The Investment Manager and certain of its affiliates have contractually agreed to waive fees and/or reimburse expenses (excluding certain fees and expenses described below) through December 31, 2021, unless sooner terminated at the sole discretion of the Fund's Board, so that the Fund’s net operating expenses, after giving effect to fees waived/expenses reimbursed and any balance credits and/or overdraft charges from the Fund’s custodian, do not exceed the annual rates of:
|
Multi-Manager Small Cap Equity Strategies Fund
|
|
| Class Inst | 0.99% |
| Class Inst3 | 0.81% |
Under the agreement, the following fees and expenses are excluded from the Fund’s operating expenses when calculating the waiver/reimbursement commitment, and therefore will be paid by the Fund, if applicable: taxes (including foreign transaction taxes), expenses associated with investment in affiliated and non-affiliated pooled investment vehicles (including mutual funds and exchange-traded funds), transaction costs and brokerage commissions, costs related to any securities lending program, dividend expenses associated with securities sold short, inverse floater program fees and expenses, transaction charges and interest on borrowed money, interest, infrequent and/or unusual expenses and any other expenses the exclusion of which is specifically approved by the Fund’s Board. This agreement may be modified or amended only with approval from all parties.
Effect of Fee Waivers and/or Expense Reimbursements on Past Performance.
The Fund’s returns shown in the
Performance Information
section of this prospectus reflect the effect of any fee waivers and/or reimbursements of Fund expenses by the Investment Manager and/or any of its affiliates that were in place during the performance period shown. Without such fee waivers/expense reimbursements, the Fund’s returns might have been lower.
Primary Service Providers
The Fund enters into contractual arrangements (Service Provider Contracts) with various service providers, including, among others, the Investment Manager, the Distributor, the Transfer Agent and the Fund’s custodian. The Fund’s Service Provider Contracts are solely among the parties thereto. Shareholders are not parties to, or intended to be third-party beneficiaries of, any Service Provider Contracts. Further, this prospectus, the SAI and any Service Provider Contracts are not intended to give rise to any agreement, duty, special relationship or other obligation between the Fund and any investor, or give rise to any contractual, tort or other rights in any individual shareholder, group of shareholders or other person, including any right to assert a fiduciary or other duty, enforce the Service Provider Contracts against the parties or to seek any remedy thereunder, either directly or on behalf of the Fund. Nothing in the previous sentence should be read to suggest any waiver of any rights under federal or state securities laws.
| 24 | Prospectus 2021 |
Multi-Manager Small Cap Equity Strategies Fund
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
The Investment Manager, the Distributor, and the Transfer Agent are all affiliates of Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (Ameriprise Financial). They and their affiliates currently provide key services, including investment advisory, administration, distribution, shareholder servicing and transfer agency services, to the Fund and various other funds, including the Columbia Funds, and are paid for providing these services. These service relationships are described below.
The Investment Manager
Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC is located at 225 Franklin Street, Boston, MA 02110 and serves as investment adviser and administrator to the Columbia Funds. The Investment Manager is a registered investment adviser and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ameriprise Financial. The Investment Manager’s management experience covers all major asset classes, including equity securities, debt instruments and money market instruments. In addition to serving as an investment adviser to traditional mutual funds, exchange-traded funds and closed-end funds, the Investment Manager acts as an investment adviser for itself, its affiliates, individuals, corporations, retirement plans, private investment companies and financial intermediaries.
Subject to oversight by the Board, the Investment Manager manages the day-to-day operations of the Fund. The Investment Manager is responsible for the investment management of the Fund, but has delegated certain of its duties, including day-to-day portfolio management of all or a portion of the Fund’s assets to one or more investment subadvisers that determine what securities and other investments the Fund should buy or sell. The Investment Manager is also responsible for overseeing the administrative operations of the Fund, including the general supervision of the Fund’s operations, the coordination of the Fund’s other service providers and the provision of related clerical and administrative services.
The SEC has issued an order that permits the Investment Manager, subject to the approval of the Board, to appoint unaffiliated subadvisers by entering into subadvisory agreements with them, and to change in material respects the terms of those subadvisory agreements, including the fees paid thereunder, for the Fund without first obtaining shareholder approval, thereby avoiding the expense and delays typically associated with obtaining shareholder approval. The Fund furnishes shareholders with information about new subadvisers retained in reliance on the order within 90 days after hiring the subadviser. The Investment Manager and its affiliates may have other relationships, including significant financial relationships, with current or potential subadvisers or their affiliates, which may create certain conflicts of interest. When making recommendations to the Board to appoint or to change a subadviser, or to change the terms of a subadvisory agreement, the Investment Manager discloses to the Board the nature of any such material relationships.
The Fund pays the Investment Manager a fee for its management services, which include investment advisory services and administrative services. The fee is calculated as a percentage of the daily net assets of the Fund and is paid monthly. For the Fund’s most recent fiscal year, management services fees paid to the Investment Manager by the Fund amounted to 0.82% of average daily net assets of the Fund, before any applicable reimbursements.
A discussion regarding the basis for the Board’s approval of the renewal of the Fund's management agreement is available in the Fund’s annual report to shareholders for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2020.
The Investment Manager has, with the approval of the Board, engaged an investment subadviser(s) to make the day-to-day investment decisions for the Fund. The Investment Manager pays the subadviser(s) for investment advisory services and retains ultimate responsibility (subject to Board oversight) for overseeing any subadviser it engages and for evaluating the Fund’s needs and the subadvisers’ skills and abilities on an ongoing basis. Based on its evaluations, the Investment Manager may at times recommend to the Board that the Fund change, add or terminate one or more subadvisers; continue to retain a subadviser even though the subadviser’s ownership or corporate structure has changed; or materially change a subadvisory agreement with a subadviser. A discussion regarding the basis for the Board’s approval of the renewal of the investment subadvisory agreements with BMO, Conestoga, Hotchkis & Wiley, and JPMIM is available in the Fund’s annual report to shareholders for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2020.
| Prospectus 2021 | 25 |
Multi-Manager Small Cap Equity Strategies Fund
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
The date the Subadvisers began serving the Fund is set forth under
below. Any performance of the Fund prior to the date the Subadvisers began serving was achieved by one or more different subadvisers (as well as the Investment Manager). Similarly, the portfolio turnover rate for periods prior to the Subadvisers’ management of the Fund was the result of management by one or more different subadvisers (as well as the Investment Manager). A change in subadvisers may result in increased portfolio turnover.
Subadvisers
Subadvisers
BMO, which has served as Subadviser to the Fund since October 2015, is located at 115 South LaSalle Street, 11th Floor, Chicago, IL 60603. BMO, subject to the supervision of Columbia Management, provides day-to-day management of a portion of the Fund’s portfolio, as well as investment research and statistical information under a subadvisory agreement with Columbia Management. BMO was established in 1989 and provides discretionary and non-discretionary investment advisory services to: (i) institutions, including pension and other employee benefit plans, trusts, endowments and foundations, investment companies (including mutual funds), private pooled vehicles, insurance companies and corporations; (ii) individuals; (iii) third-party sponsors of, and clients participating in, wrap-fee programs; and (iv) common and collective portfolios for which BMO Harris Bank, N.A., an affiliate of BMO, acts as trustee.
Conestoga, which has served as Subadviser to the Fund since October 2012, is located at CrossPoint at Valley Forge, 550 E. Swedesford Road, Suite 120 East, Wayne, PA 19087. Conestoga, subject to the supervision of Columbia Management, provides day-to-day management of a portion of the Fund’s portfolio, as well as investment research and statistical information under a subadvisory agreement with Columbia Management. Conestoga is an independent registered investment adviser. Conestoga was organized in 2001 and provides investment management services to institutional and individual clients.
Hotchkis & Wiley, which has served as Subadviser to the Fund since February 2019, is located at 601 South Figueroa Street, 39th Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90017-5439. Hotchkis & Wiley, subject to the supervision of Columbia Management, provides day-to-day management of a portion of the Fund’s portfolio, as well as investment research and statistical information, under a subadvisory agreement with Columbia Management. Hotchkis & Wiley is an independent registered investment adviser. Hotchkis & Wiley was organized in 1980 and provides investment management services to institutional clients, individual/high net worth clients, mutual funds and private accounts.
JPMIM, which has served as Subadviser to the Fund since December 2018, is located at 383 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10179. JPMIM, subject to the supervision of Columbia Management, provides day-to-day management of a portion of the Fund’s portfolio, as well as investment research and statistical information, under a subadvisory agreement with Columbia Management. JPMIM was incorporated in 1984 and provides a broad range of investment strategies to meet the diverse requirements of their clients’ investment needs.
Portfolio Managers
Information about the portfolio managers primarily responsible for overseeing the Fund’s investments is shown below. The SAI provides additional information about the portfolio managers, including information relating to compensation, other accounts managed by the portfolio managers, and ownership by the portfolio managers of Fund shares.
Subadviser:
BMO Asset Management Corp. (BMO)
|
Portfolio Manager
|
Title
|
Role with Fund
|
Managed Fund Since
|
|||
| David Corris, CFA | Portfolio Manager of BMO | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2015 | |||
| Thomas Lettenberger, CFA | Portfolio Manager of BMO | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2015 |
Mr. Corris
joined BMO in 2008. Mr. Corris began his investment career in 1999 and earned a B.S. from the University of Wisconsin and an M.B.A. from Harvard University.
Mr. Lettenberger
joined BMO in 2005. Mr. Lettenberger began his investment career in 1994 and earned a B.B.A. and a M.A. from the University of Michigan.
| 26 | Prospectus 2021 |
Multi-Manager Small Cap Equity Strategies Fund
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC
|
Portfolio Manager
|
Title
|
Role with Fund
|
Managed Fund Since
|
|||
| Christian Stadlinger, Ph.D., CFA | Senior Portfolio Manager | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2012 | |||
| Jarl Ginsberg, CFA, CAIA | Senior Portfolio Manager | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2012 |
Dr. Stadlinger
joined one of the Columbia Management legacy firms or acquired business lines in 2002. Dr. Stadlinger began his investment career in 1989 and earned an M.S. in economics from the University of Vienna and a Ph.D. in economics from Northwestern University.
Mr. Ginsberg
joined one of the Columbia Management legacy firms or acquired business lines in 2003. Mr. Ginsberg began his investment career in 1987 and earned an A.B. from Brown University and an M.P.P.M. in finance from Yale School of Management.
Subadviser:
Conestoga Capital Advisors, LLC (Conestoga)
|
Portfolio Manager
|
Title
|
Role with Fund
|
Managed Fund Since
|
|||
| Robert Mitchell | Managing Partner and Portfolio Manager of Conestoga | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2012 | |||
| Joseph Monahan, CFA | Managing Partner and Portfolio Manager of Conestoga | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2014 |
Mr. Mitchell
co-founded Conestoga in 2001. Mr. Mitchell began his investment career in 1995 and earned a B.A. from the University of Notre Dame and an M.B.A. from Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business.
Mr. Monahan
joined Conestoga in 2008 and became Managing Partner in 2010. Mr. Monahan began his investment career in 1982 and earned a B.S. from Pennsylvania State University and an M.B.A. from Temple University.
Subadviser:
Hotchkis and Wiley Capital Management, LLC (Hotchkis & Wiley)
|
Portfolio Manager
|
Title
|
Role with Fund
|
Managed Fund Since
|
|||
| Judd Peters, CFA | Portfolio Manager of Hotchkis & Wiley | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2019 | |||
| Ryan Thomes, CFA | Portfolio Manager of Hotchkis & Wiley | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2019 |
Mr. Peters
joined Hotchkis & Wiley’s predecessor as equity analyst in 1999 and became portfolio manager of Hotchkis & Wiley in 2003. Mr. Peters began his investment career in 1997 and earned a B.A. and a B.S. from University of California, San Diego.
Mr. Thomes
joined Hotchkis & Wiley in 2008 as portfolio analyst and became portfolio manager in 2018. Mr. Thomes began his investment career in 2002 and earned a B.S. from University of Minnesota.
Subadviser:
J.P. Morgan Investment Management Inc. (JPMIM)
|
Portfolio Manager
|
Title
|
Role with Fund
|
Managed Fund Since
|
|||
| Eytan Shapiro, CFA | Managing Director of JPMIM | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2018 | |||
| Felise Agranoff, CFA | Managing Director of JPMIM | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2018 | |||
| Matthew Cohen | Managing Director of JPMIM | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2018 |
Mr. Shapiro
is the Chief Investment Officer of JPMIM’s U.S. Equity Growth and Small Cap portfolio management teams. Mr. Shapiro joined JPMIM in 1985. He began his investment career in 1982 and earned an M.Phil. from Oxford University and a B.Sc. from City University in London.
Ms. Agranoff
is a Managing Director of JPMIM and joined the firm in 2004. Ms. Agranoff began her investment career in 2004 and earned a B.S. from McIntire School of Commerce at the University of Virginia.
Dr. Cohen
is a Managing Director of JPMIM and joined the firm in 2005. Dr. Cohen began his investment career in 2000 and earned an M.B.A. from New York University’s Stern School of Business and an M.D. from McGill University in Montreal.
| Prospectus 2021 | 27 |
Multi-Manager Small Cap Equity Strategies Fund
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
The Distributor
Shares of the Fund are distributed by Columbia Management Investment Distributors, Inc., which is located at 225 Franklin Street, Boston, MA 02110. The Distributor is a registered broker-dealer and an indirect, wholly-owned subsidiary of Ameriprise Financial. The Distributor and its affiliates may pay commissions, distribution and service fees and/or other compensation to entities, including Ameriprise Financial affiliates, for selling shares and providing services to investors.
The Transfer Agent
Columbia Management Investment Services Corp. is a registered transfer agent and wholly-owned subsidiary of Ameriprise Financial. The Transfer Agent is located at 225 Franklin Street, Boston, MA 02110, and its responsibilities include processing purchases, redemptions and exchanges of Fund shares, calculating and paying distributions, maintaining shareholder records, preparing account statements and providing customer service. The Transfer Agent has engaged DST Asset Manager Solutions, Inc. to provide various shareholder or “sub-transfer agency” services. In addition, the Transfer Agent enters into agreements with various financial intermediaries through which you may hold Fund shares, pursuant to which the Transfer Agent pays these financial intermediaries for providing certain shareholder services. Depending on the type of account, the Fund pays the Transfer Agent a per account fee or a fee based on the assets invested through omnibus accounts, and reimburses the Transfer Agent for certain out-of-pocket expenses, including certain payments to financial intermediaries through which shares are held.
Other Roles and Relationships of Ameriprise Financial and its Affiliates — Certain Conflicts of Interest
The Investment Manager, Distributor and Transfer Agent, all affiliates of Ameriprise Financial, provide various services to the Fund and other Columbia Funds for which they are compensated. Ameriprise Financial and its other affiliates may also provide other services to these funds and be compensated for them.
The Investment Manager and its affiliates may provide investment advisory and other services to other clients and customers substantially similar to those provided to the Columbia Funds. These activities, and other financial services activities of Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates, may present actual and potential conflicts of interest and introduce certain investment constraints.
Ameriprise Financial is a major financial services company, engaged in a broad range of financial activities beyond the fund-related activities of the Investment Manager, including, among others, insurance, broker-dealer (sales and trading), asset management, banking and other financial activities. These additional activities may involve multiple advisory, financial, insurance and other interests in securities and other instruments, and in companies that issue securities and other instruments, that may be bought, sold or held by the Columbia Funds.
Conflicts of interest and limitations that could affect a Columbia Fund may arise from, for example, the following:
| ■ | compensation and other benefits received by the Investment Manager and other Ameriprise Financial affiliates related to the management/administration of a Columbia Fund and the sale of its shares; |
| ■ | the allocation of, and competition for, investment opportunities among the Fund, other funds and accounts advised/managed by the Investment Manager and other Ameriprise Financial affiliates, or Ameriprise Financial itself and its affiliates; |
| ■ | separate and potentially divergent management of a Columbia Fund and other funds and accounts advised/managed by the Investment Manager and other Ameriprise Financial affiliates; |
| ■ | regulatory and other investment restrictions on investment activities of the Investment Manager and other Ameriprise Financial affiliates and accounts advised/managed by them; |
| ■ | insurance and other relationships of Ameriprise Financial affiliates with companies and other entities in which a Columbia Fund invests; and |
| ■ | regulatory and other restrictions relating to the sharing of information between Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates, including the Investment Manager, and a Columbia Fund. |
| 28 | Prospectus 2021 |
Multi-Manager Small Cap Equity Strategies Fund
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
The Investment Manager and Ameriprise Financial have adopted various policies and procedures that are intended to identify, monitor and address conflicts of interest. However, there is no assurance that these policies, procedures and disclosures will be effective.
Additional information about Ameriprise Financial and the types of conflicts of interest and other matters referenced above is set forth in the
section of the SAI. Investors in the Columbia Funds should carefully review these disclosures and consult with their financial advisor if they have any questions.
Investment Management and Other Services — Other Roles and Relationships of Ameriprise Financial and its Affiliates — Certain Conflicts of Interest
Certain Legal Matters
Ameriprise Financial and certain of its affiliates have historically been involved in a number of legal, arbitration and regulatory proceedings, including routine litigation, class actions and governmental actions, concerning matters arising in connection with the conduct of their business activities. Ameriprise Financial believes that the Fund is not currently the subject of, and that neither Ameriprise Financial nor any of its affiliates are the subject of, any pending legal, arbitration or regulatory proceedings that are likely to have a material adverse effect on the Fund or the ability of Ameriprise Financial or its affiliates to perform under their contracts with the Fund. Information regarding certain pending and settled legal proceedings may be found in the Fund’s shareholder reports and in the SAI. Additionally, Ameriprise Financial is required to make quarterly (10-Q), annual (10-K) and, as necessary, 8-K filings with the SEC on legal and regulatory matters that relate to Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates. Copies of these filings may be obtained by accessing the SEC website at sec.gov.
| Prospectus 2021 | 29 |
Multi-Manager Small Cap Equity Strategies Fund
About Fund Shares
Description of the Share Classes
The Multi-Manager Strategies Funds, together with the other Columbia Funds, are referred to as the Funds.
Funds Contact Information
Additional information about the Funds, including sales charges and other class features and policies, can be obtained, free of charge, at columbiathreadneedleus.com,* by calling toll-free 800.345.6611, or by writing (regular mail) to Columbia Management Investment Services Corp., P.O. Box 219104, Kansas City, MO 64121-9104 or (express mail) Columbia Management Investment Services Corp., c/o DST Asset Manager Solutions, Inc., 430 W 7
th
Street, Ste 219104, Kansas City, MO 64105-1407.
| * | The website references in this prospectus are inactive links and information contained in or otherwise accessible through the referenced websites does not form a part of this prospectus. |
FUNDamentals
Financial Intermediaries
The term “financial intermediary” refers to the selling and servicing agents that are authorized to sell and/or service shares of the Funds. Financial intermediaries include broker-dealers and financial advisors as well as firms that employ broker-dealers and financial advisors, including, for example, brokerage firms, banks, investment advisers, third party administrators and other firms in the financial services industry.
Omnibus Accounts
The term “omnibus account” refers to a financial intermediary’s account with the Fund (held directly through the Transfer Agent) that represents the combined holdings of, and transactions in, Fund shares of one or more clients of the financial intermediary (beneficial Fund shareholders). Omnibus accounts are held in the name of the financial intermediaries and not in the name of the beneficial Fund shareholders invested in the Fund through omnibus accounts.
Retirement Plans and Omnibus Retirement Plans
The term “retirement plan” refers to retirement plans created under Sections 401(a), 401(k), 457 and 403(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the Code), and non-qualified deferred compensation plans governed by Section 409A of the Code and similar plans, but does not refer to individual retirement plans, such as traditional IRAs and Roth IRAs. The term “omnibus retirement plan” refers to a retirement plan that has a plan-level or omnibus account with the Transfer Agent.
Networked Accounts
Networking, offered by the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation’s Wealth Management Services (WMS), is the industry standard IT system for mutual fund account reconciliation and dividend processing.
Share Class Features
The following summarizes the primary features of Class Inst and Class Inst3 shares. Not all Multi-Manager Strategies Funds offer every class of shares. The Fund offers the class(es) of shares set forth on the cover of this prospectus and may offer other share classes through a separate prospectus. Contact your financial advisor or Columbia Funds for more information about the Fund’s shares.
| 30 | Prospectus 2021 |
Multi-Manager Small Cap Equity Strategies Fund
About Fund Shares
(continued)
|
Share Class
|
Eligible Investors & Minimum Initial Investments
(a)
|
Front-End Sales Charges
|
Contingent Deferred Sales Charges (CDSCs)
|
Conversion Features & Investment Limits
|
Maximum Distribution and/or Service Fees
|
|
Class
Inst |
Eligibility:
Available only through certain wrap fee programs sponsored and/or managed by Ameriprise Financial or its affiliates.
$100
|
None | None | None | None |
|
Class
Inst3 |
Eligibility
(b)
:
Available to (i) group retirement plans that maintain plan-level or omnibus accounts with the Fund; (ii) institutional investors that are clients of the Columbia Threadneedle Global Institutional Distribution Team that invest in Class Inst3 shares for their own account through platforms approved by the Distributor or an affiliate thereof to offer and/or service Class Inst3 shares within such platform; (iii) collective trust funds; (iv) affiliated or unaffiliated mutual funds (e.g., funds operating as funds-of-funds); (v) fee-based platforms of financial intermediaries (or the clearing intermediary they trade through) that have an agreement with the Distributor or an affiliate thereof that specifically authorizes the financial intermediary to offer and/or service Class Inst3 shares within such platform, provided also that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account; (vi) commissionable brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary, acting as broker on behalf of its customer, charges the customer a commission for effecting transactions in Fund shares, provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst3 shares within such platform and that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account; and (vii) bank trust departments, subject to an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst3 shares and provided that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account. In each case above where noted that Fund shares are required to be held in an omnibus account, the Distributor may, in its discretion, determine to waive this requirement.
No minimum for the eligible investors described in (i), (iii), (iv), (v), and (vii) above; $2,000 ($1,000 for IRAs; $100 for systematic investment plan accounts) for the eligible investors described in (vi) above; and $1
|
None | None | None | None |
| Prospectus 2021 | 31 |
Multi-Manager Small Cap Equity Strategies Fund
About Fund Shares
(continued)
|
Share Class
|
Eligible Investors & Minimum Initial Investments
(a)
|
Front-End Sales Charges
|
Contingent Deferred Sales Charges (CDSCs)
|
Conversion Features & Investment Limits
|
Maximum Distribution and/or Service Fees
|
| million for all other eligible investors, unless waived in the discretion of the Distributor |
| (a) |
See
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares — Buying Shares
|
| (b) | Currently, Class Inst3 shares of the Multi-Manager Strategies Funds are offered only to group retirement plan recordkeeping platforms that have an agreement with (i) the Distributor or an affiliate thereof that specifically authorizes the group retirement plan recordkeeper to offer and/or service Class Inst3 shares within such platform, provided also that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account and (ii) Wilshire Associates, appointed or serving as investment manager or consultant to the recordkeeper’s group retirement plan platform. There is no minimum initial investment for such accounts. |
Distribution and Service Fees
The Board has approved, and the Multi-Manager Strategies Funds have adopted, distribution and/or shareholder service plans which set the distribution and/or service fees that are periodically deducted from the Funds’ assets. These fees are calculated daily, may vary by share class and are intended to compensate the Distributor and/or eligible financial intermediaries for, with regard to distribution fees, selling Fund shares and, with regard to service fees, directly or indirectly providing services to shareholders. Because the fees are paid out of the Fund's assets on an ongoing basis, they will increase the cost of your investment over time. The table below shows the maximum annual distribution and/or service fees (as an annual percentage of average daily net assets) and the combined amount of such fees applicable to each class of shares:
If you maintain shares of the Fund directly with the Fund, without working with a financial advisor or other financial intermediary, distribution and service fees may be retained by the Distributor as payment or reimbursement for incurring certain distribution and shareholder service related expenses.
Over time, these distribution and/or service fees will reduce the return on your investment and may cost you more than paying other types of sales charges. The Fund will pay these fees to the Distributor and/or to eligible financial intermediaries for as long as the distribution plan and/or shareholder servicing plans continue in effect, which is expected to be indefinitely. However, the Fund may reduce or discontinue payments at any time. Your financial intermediary may also charge you other additional fees for providing services to your account, which may be different from those described here.
Financial Intermediary Compensation
The Distributor, the Investment Manager and their affiliates make payments, from their own resources, to financial intermediaries, including other Ameriprise Financial affiliates, for marketing/sales support services relating to the Funds (Marketing Support Payments). Such payments are generally based upon one or more of the following factors: average net assets of the Funds attributable to that financial intermediary; gross sales of the Funds attributable to that financial intermediary; reimbursement of ticket charges (fees that a financial intermediary charges its representatives for effecting transactions in Fund shares); or a negotiated lump sum payment. While the financial arrangements may vary for each financial intermediary, Marketing Support Payments to any one financial intermediary are generally between 0.05% and 0.40% on an annual basis for payments based on average net assets of the Fund attributable to the financial intermediary, and between 0.05% and 0.25% on an annual basis for firms receiving a payment based on gross sales of the Funds attributable to the financial intermediary. The Distributor, the Investment Manager and their affiliates may at times make payments with respect to a Fund or the Columbia Funds
| 32 | Prospectus 2021 |
Multi-Manager Small Cap Equity Strategies Fund
About Fund Shares
(continued)
generally on a basis other than those described above, or in larger amounts, when dealing with certain financial intermediaries. Not all financial intermediaries receive Marketing Support Payments. The Distributor, the Investment Manager and their affiliates do not make Marketing Support Payments with respect to Class Inst3 shares.
In addition, the Transfer Agent has certain arrangements in place to compensate financial intermediaries, including other Ameriprise Financial affiliates, that hold Fund shares through networked and omnibus accounts, including omnibus retirement plans, for services that they provide to beneficial Fund shareholders (Shareholder Services). Shareholder Services and related fees vary by financial intermediary and according to distribution channel and may include sub-accounting, sub-transfer agency, participant recordkeeping, shareholder or participant reporting, shareholder or participant transaction processing, maintenance of shareholder records, preparation of account statements and provision of customer service, and are not intended to include services that are primarily intended to result in the sale of Fund shares. Payments for Shareholder Services generally are not expected, with certain limited exceptions, to exceed 0.40% of the average aggregate value of the Fund’s shares. Generally, each Fund pays the Transfer Agent a per account fee or a percentage of the average aggregate value of shares per annum maintained in omnibus accounts up to the lesser of the amount charged by the financial intermediary or a channel-specific or share class-specific cap established by the Board from time to time. Fee amounts in excess of the amount paid by the Fund are borne by the Transfer Agent, the Investment Manager and/or their affiliates. For Class Inst3 shares, the Transfer Agent does not pay financial intermediaries for Shareholder Services, except that for Class Inst3 shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund (formerly an unnamed share class of the Fund), the Transfer Agent makes Shareholder Services payments to a financial intermediary through which shares of this class were held (under its former unnamed share class name) as of November 30, 2018, and the Fund does not compensate the Transfer Agent for any Shareholder Services provided by financial intermediaries.
In addition to the payments described above, the Distributor, the Investment Manager and their affiliates typically make other payments or allow promotional incentives to certain broker-dealers to the extent permitted by the Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) rules and by other applicable laws and regulations.
Amounts paid by the Distributor, the Investment Manager and their affiliates are paid out of their own resources and do not increase the amount paid by you or the Fund. You can find further details in the SAI about the payments made by the Distributor, the Investment Manager and their affiliates, as well as a list of the financial intermediaries, including Ameriprise Financial affiliates, to which the Distributor, the Investment Manager or their affiliates have agreed to make Marketing Support Payments and pay Shareholder Services fees.
Your financial intermediary may charge you fees and commissions in addition to those described in this prospectus. You should consult with your financial intermediary and review carefully any disclosure your financial intermediary provides regarding its services and compensation. Depending on the financial arrangement in place at any particular time, a financial intermediary and its financial advisors may have a conflict of interest or financial incentive for recommending the Fund or a particular share class over others.
| Prospectus 2021 | 33 |
Multi-Manager Small Cap Equity Strategies Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
Share Price Determination
The price you pay or receive when you buy, sell or exchange shares is the Fund's next determined net asset value (or NAV) per share for a given share class. The Fund calculates the NAV per share for each class of shares of the Fund at the end of each business day, with the value of the Fund's shares based on the total value of all of the securities and other assets that it holds as of a specified time.
FUNDamentals
NAV Calculation
Each of the Fund's share classes calculates its NAV per share as follows:
NAV per share =
(Value of assets of the share class) – (Liabilities of the share class)
Number of outstanding shares of the class
FUNDamentals
Business Days
A business day is any day that the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is open. A business day typically ends at the close of regular trading on the NYSE, usually at 4:00 p.m. Eastern time. If the NYSE is scheduled to close early, the business day will be considered to end as of the time of the NYSE’s scheduled close. The Fund will not treat an intraday unscheduled disruption in NYSE trading or an intraday unscheduled closing as a close of regular trading on the NYSE for these purposes and will price its shares as of the regularly scheduled closing time for that day (typically, 4:00 p.m. Eastern time). Notwithstanding the foregoing, the NAV of Fund shares may be determined at such other time or times (in addition to or in lieu of the time set forth above) as the Fund’s Board may approve or ratify. On holidays and other days when the NYSE is closed, the Fund’s NAV is not calculated and the Fund does not accept buy or sell orders. However, the value of the Fund’s assets may still be affected on such days to the extent that the Fund holds foreign securities that trade on days that foreign securities markets are open.
Equity securities are valued primarily on the basis of market quotations reported on stock exchanges and other securities markets around the world. If an equity security is listed on a national exchange, the security is valued at the closing price or, if the closing price is not readily available, the mean of the closing bid and asked prices. Certain equity securities, debt securities and other assets are valued differently. For instance, bank loans trading in the secondary market are valued primarily on the basis of indicative bids, fixed income investments maturing in 60 days or less are valued primarily using the amortized cost method, unless this methodology results in a valuation that does not approximate the market value of these securities, and those maturing in excess of 60 days are valued primarily using a market-based price obtained from a pricing service, if available. Investments in other open-end funds are valued at their published NAVs. Both market quotations and indicative bids are obtained from outside pricing services approved and monitored pursuant to a policy approved by the Fund's Board.
If a market price is not readily available or is deemed not to reflect market value, the Fund will determine the price of a portfolio security based on a determination of the security's fair value pursuant to a policy approved by the Fund’s Board. In addition, the Fund may use fair valuation to price securities that trade on a foreign exchange when a significant event has occurred after the foreign exchange closes but before the time at which the Fund’s share price is calculated. Foreign exchanges typically close before the time at which Fund share prices are calculated, and may be closed altogether on days when the Fund is open. Such significant events affecting a foreign security may include, but are not limited to: (1) corporate actions, earnings announcements, litigation or other events impacting a single issuer; (2) governmental action that affects securities in one sector or country; (3) natural disasters or armed conflicts affecting a country or region; or (4) significant domestic or foreign market fluctuations. The Fund uses various criteria, including an evaluation of U.S. market moves after the close of foreign markets, in determining whether a foreign security's market price is readily available and reflective of market value and, if not, the fair value
| 34 | Prospectus 2021 |
Multi-Manager Small Cap Equity Strategies Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
of the security. To the extent the Fund has significant holdings of small cap stocks, high-yield bonds, floating rate loans, or tax-exempt, foreign or other securities that may trade infrequently, fair valuation may be used more frequently than for other funds.
Fair valuation may have the effect of reducing stale pricing arbitrage opportunities presented by the pricing of Fund shares. However, when the Fund uses fair valuation to price securities, it may value those securities higher or lower than another fund would have priced the security. Also, the use of fair valuation may cause the Fund's performance to diverge to a greater degree from the performance of various benchmarks used to compare the Fund's performance because benchmarks generally do not use fair valuation techniques. Because of the judgment involved in fair valuation decisions, there can be no assurance that the value ascribed to a particular security is accurate. The Fund has retained one or more independent fair valuation pricing services to assist in the fair valuation process for foreign securities.
Transaction Rules and Policies
The Fund, the Distributor or the Transfer Agent may refuse any order to buy or exchange shares. If this happens, the Fund will return any money it received, but no interest will be paid on that money. Your financial intermediary may have rules and policies in place that are in addition to or different than those described below.
Order Processing
Orders to buy, sell or exchange Fund shares are processed on business days. Orders can be made by mail, by telephone or online. Orders received in “good form” by the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary before the end of a business day are priced at the NAV per share (plus any applicable sales charge) of the Fund's applicable share class on that day. Orders received after the end of a business day will receive the next business day's NAV per share (plus any applicable sales charge). For Direct-at-Fund Accounts (i.e., accounts established directly with the Fund), when a written order to buy, sell or exchange shares is sent to the Transfer Agent, the share price used to fill the order is the next price calculated by the Fund after the Transfer Agent receives the transaction request in “good form” at its transaction processing center (i.e., the Fund’s express mail address), not the P.O. Box provided for regular mail delivery. The market value of the Fund's investments may change between the time you submit your order and the time the Fund next calculates its NAV per share. The business day that applies to your order is also called the trade date.
“Good Form”
An order is in “good form” if the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary has received payment (in the case of purchases) and all of the information and documentation it deems necessary to effect your order. For example, when you sell shares, “good form” means that your request (i) has complete instructions and written requests include the signatures of all account owners, (ii) is for an amount that is less than or equal to the shares in your account for which payment has been received and collected, (iii) has a Medallion Signature Guarantee for amounts greater than $100,000 and certain other transactions, as described below, and (iv) includes any other required documents completed and attached. For the documents required for sales by corporations, agents, fiduciaries, surviving joint owners and other legal entities, call 800.345.6611.
Medallion Signature Guarantees
The Transfer Agent may require a Medallion Signature Guarantee for your signature in order to process certain transactions, including if: (i) the transaction amount is over $100,000; (ii) you want your check made payable to someone other than the registered account owner(s); (iii) the address of record has changed within the last 30 days; (iv) you want the check mailed to an address other than the address of record; (v) you want proceeds to be sent according to existing bank account instructions not coded for outgoing Automated Clearing House (ACH) or wire, or to a bank account not on file; or (vi) you are changing legal ownership of your account.
A Medallion Signature Guarantee helps assure that a signature is genuine and not a forgery. A Medallion Signature Guarantee must be provided by an eligible guarantor institution including, but not limited to, the following: a bank, credit union, savings association, broker or dealer that participates in the Securities Transfer Association Medallion Program (STAMP), the Stock Exchange Medallion Program (SEMP) or the New York Stock Exchange Medallion
| Prospectus 2021 | 35 |
Multi-Manager Small Cap Equity Strategies Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
Signature Program (MSP). For other transactions, the Transfer Agent may require a signature guarantee. Notarization by a notary public is not an acceptable signature guarantee. The Transfer Agent reserves the right to reject a signature guarantee and to request additional documentation for any transaction.
Customer Identification Program
Federal law requires the Fund to obtain and record specific personal information to verify your identity when you open an account. This information may include your name, address, date of birth (for individuals) and taxpayer or other government issued identification (e.g., social security number (SSN) or other taxpayer identification number (TIN)). If you fail to provide the requested information, the Fund may need to delay the date of your purchase or may be unable to open your account, which may result in a return of your investment monies. In addition, if the Fund is unable to verify your identity after your account is open, the Fund reserves the right to close your account or take other steps as deemed reasonable. The Fund will not be liable for any loss resulting from any purchase delay, application rejection or account closure due to a failure to provide proper identifying information.
Small Account Policy — Financial Intermediary Networked and Wrap Fee Accounts
The Funds may automatically redeem, at any time, financial intermediary networked accounts and wrap fee accounts that have account balances of $20 or less or have less than one share.
For shares purchased and held for your benefit through a financial intermediary, the Funds may instruct the intermediary to automatically sell your Fund shares if the transaction can be operationally administered by the intermediary.
Information Sharing Agreements
As required by Rule 22c-2 under the 1940 Act, the Funds or certain of their service providers will enter into information sharing agreements with financial intermediaries, including participating life insurance companies and financial intermediaries that sponsor or offer retirement plans through which shares of the Funds are made available for purchase. Pursuant to Rule 22c-2, financial intermediaries are required, upon request, to: (i) provide shareholder account and transaction information; and (ii) execute instructions from the Fund to restrict or prohibit further purchases of Fund shares by shareholders who have been identified by the Fund as having engaged in transactions that violate the Fund's excessive trading policies and procedures.
Excessive Trading Practices Policy
Right to Reject or Restrict Share Transaction Orders—
The Fund is intended for investors with long-term investment purposes and is not intended as a vehicle for frequent trading activity (market timing) that is excessive. Investors should transact in Fund shares primarily for investment purposes. The Board has adopted excessive trading policies and procedures that are designed to deter excessive trading by investors (the Excessive Trading Policies and Procedures).
The Fund discourages and does not accommodate excessive trading.
The Fund reserves the right to reject, without any prior notice, any purchase or exchange order for any reason, and will not be liable for any loss resulting from rejected orders. For example, the Fund may in its sole discretion restrict or reject a purchase or exchange order even if the transaction is not subject to the specific limitation described below if the Fund or its agents determine that accepting the order could interfere with efficient management of the Fund's portfolio or is otherwise contrary to the Fund's best interests. The Excessive Trading Policies and Procedures apply equally to purchase or exchange transactions communicated directly to the Transfer Agent and to those received by financial intermediaries.
Specific Buying and Exchanging Limitations
— If a Fund detects that an investor has made two “material round trips” in any 28-day period, it will generally reject the investor's future purchase orders, including exchange purchase orders, involving any Fund.
For these purposes, a “round trip” is a purchase or exchange into the Fund followed by a sale or exchange out of the Fund, or a sale or exchange out of the Fund followed by a purchase or exchange into the Fund. A “material” round trip is one that is deemed by the Fund to be material in terms of its amount or its potential detrimental impact on the Fund. Independent of this limit, the Fund may, in its sole discretion, reject future purchase orders by any person, group or account that appears to have engaged in any type of excessive trading activity.
| 36 | Prospectus 2021 |
Multi-Manager Small Cap Equity Strategies Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
These limits generally do not apply to automated transactions or transactions by registered investment companies in a “fund-of-funds” structure. These limits do not apply to payroll deduction contributions by retirement plan participants, transactions initiated by a retirement plan sponsor or certain other retirement plan transactions consisting of rollover transactions, loan repayments and disbursements, and required minimum distribution redemptions. They may be modified or rescinded for accounts held by certain retirement plans to conform to plan limits, for considerations relating to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 or regulations of the Department of Labor, and for certain asset allocation or wrap programs. Accounts known to be under common ownership or control generally will be counted together, but accounts maintained or managed by a common intermediary generally will not be considered to be under common ownership or control. The Fund retains the right to modify these restrictions at any time without prior notice to shareholders. In addition, the Fund may, in its sole discretion, reinstate trading privileges that have been revoked under the Fund's Excessive Trading Policies and Procedures.
Limitations on the Ability to Detect and Prevent Excessive Trading Practices—
The Fund takes various steps designed to detect and prevent excessive trading, including daily review of available shareholder transaction information. However, the Fund receives buy, sell or exchange orders through financial intermediaries, and cannot always know of or reasonably detect excessive trading that may be facilitated by financial intermediaries or by the use of the omnibus account arrangements they offer. Omnibus account arrangements are common forms of holding shares of mutual funds, particularly among certain financial intermediaries such as broker-dealers, retirement plans and variable insurance products. These arrangements often permit financial intermediaries to aggregate their clients' transactions and accounts, and in these circumstances, the identities of the financial intermediary clients that beneficially own Fund shares are often not known to the Fund.
Some financial intermediaries apply their own restrictions or policies to their clients’ transactions and accounts, which may be more or less restrictive than those described here. This may impact the Fund's ability to curtail excessive trading, even where it is identified. For these and other reasons, it is possible that excessive trading may occur despite the Fund's efforts to detect and prevent it.
Although these restrictions and policies involve judgments that are inherently subjective and may involve some selectivity in their application, the Fund seeks to act in a manner that it believes is consistent with the best interests of Fund shareholders in making any such judgments.
Risks of Excessive Trading —
Excessive trading creates certain risks to the Fund's long-term shareholders and may create the following adverse effects:
| ■ | negative impact on the Fund's performance; |
| ■ | potential dilution of the value of the Fund's shares; |
| ■ | interference with the efficient management of the Fund's portfolio, such as the need to maintain undesirably large cash positions, the need to use its line of credit or the need to buy or sell securities it otherwise would not have bought or sold; |
| ■ | losses on the sale of investments resulting from the need to sell securities at less favorable prices; |
| ■ | increased taxable gains to the Fund's remaining shareholders resulting from the need to sell securities to meet sell orders; and |
| ■ | increased brokerage and administrative costs. |
To the extent that the Fund invests significantly in foreign securities traded on markets that close before the Fund's valuation time, it may be particularly susceptible to dilution as a result of excessive trading. Because events may occur after the close of foreign markets and before the Fund's valuation time that influence the value of foreign securities, investors may seek to trade Fund shares in an effort to benefit from their understanding of the value of foreign securities as of the Fund's valuation time. This is often referred to as price arbitrage. The Fund has adopted procedures designed to adjust closing market prices of foreign securities under certain circumstances to reflect what the Fund believes to be the fair value of those securities as of its valuation time. To the extent the adjustments do not work fully, investors engaging in price arbitrage may cause dilution in the value of the Fund's shares held by other shareholders.
| Prospectus 2021 | 37 |
Multi-Manager Small Cap Equity Strategies Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
Similarly, to the extent that the Fund invests significantly in thinly traded securities and other debt instruments that are rated below investment grade (commonly called “high-yield” or “junk” bonds), equity securities of small-capitalization companies, floating rate loans, or tax-exempt or other securities that may trade infrequently, because
these securities are often traded infrequently, investors may seek to trade Fund shares in an effort to benefit from their understanding of the value of these securities as of the Fund's valuation time. This is also a type of price arbitrage. Any such frequent trading strategies may interfere with efficient management of the Fund's portfolio to a greater degree than would be the case for mutual funds that invest only, or significantly, in highly liquid securities, in part because the Fund may have difficulty selling these particular investments at advantageous times or prices to satisfy large and/or frequent sell orders. Any successful price arbitrage may also cause dilution in the value of Fund shares held by non-redeeming shareholders.
Opening an Account and Placing Orders
We encourage you to consult with a financial advisor who can help you with your investment decisions and who can help you open an account. Once you have an account, you can buy, sell or exchange shares by contacting your financial advisor who will send your order to the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary. As described below, once you have an account you can also communicate your orders directly to the Transfer Agent by mail, by telephone or online.
The Funds are generally available directly and through broker-dealers, banks and other financial intermediaries or institutions, and through certain qualified and non-qualified plans, wrap fee products or other investment products sponsored by financial intermediaries. You may buy, sell, or exchange shares through your financial intermediary. If you maintain your account directly with your financial intermediary, you must contact that agent to process your transaction.
Not all financial intermediaries offer the Funds (or all classes of Fund shares) and certain financial intermediaries that offer the Funds may not offer all Funds on all investment platforms or programs.
Please consult with your financial intermediary to determine the availability of the Funds. If you set up an account at a financial intermediary that does not have, and is unable to obtain, a selling agreement with the Distributor, you will not be able to transfer Fund holdings to that account. In that event, you must either maintain your Fund holdings with your current financial intermediary or find another financial intermediary with a selling agreement.
Financial intermediaries that offer the Funds may charge you additional fees for the services they provide and they may have different policies that are not described in this prospectus.
An investor transacting in a class of Fund shares without any front-end sales charge, CDSC, or other asset-based fee for sales or distribution, such as a Rule 12b-1 fee, may be required to pay a commission to the financial intermediary for effecting such transactions. The Funds are offered in a number of different share classes that have different fees and expenses and other features. Some differences in the policies of different financial intermediaries may include different minimum investment amounts, exchange privileges, Fund/class choices and cutoff times for investments. Additionally, recordkeeping, transaction processing and payments of distributions relating to your account may be performed by the financial intermediaries through which your shares of the Fund are held. Since the Fund (and its service providers) may not have a record of your account transactions, you should always contact the financial intermediary through which you purchased or at which you maintain your shares of the Fund to make changes to your account, to give instructions concerning your account, or to obtain information about your account. The Fund and its service providers, including the Distributor and the Transfer Agent, are not responsible for the failure of any financial intermediary to carry out its obligations to its customers.
The Fund may engage financial intermediaries to receive purchase, exchange and sell orders on its behalf. Accounts established directly with the Fund will be serviced by the Transfer Agent. The Funds, the Transfer Agent and the Distributor do not provide investment advice.
| 38 | Prospectus 2021 |
Multi-Manager Small Cap Equity Strategies Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
Buying Shares
Eligible Investors
Class Inst Shares
Class Inst shares are offered only through certain wrap fee programs sponsored and/or managed by Ameriprise Financial or its affiliates.
Class Inst3 Shares
Class Inst3 shares are available to: (i) group retirement plans that maintain plan-level or omnibus accounts with the Fund (through the Transfer Agent); (ii) institutional investors that are clients of the Columbia Threadneedle Global Institutional Distribution Team that invest in Class Inst3 shares for their own account through platforms approved by the Distributor or an affiliate thereof to offer and/or service Class Inst3 shares within such platform; (iii) collective trust funds; (iv) affiliated or unaffiliated mutual funds (e.g., funds operating as funds-of-funds); (v) fee-based platforms of financial intermediaries (or the clearing intermediary that they trade through) that have an agreement with the Distributor or an affiliate thereof that specifically authorizes the financial intermediary to offer and/or service Class Inst3 shares within such platform, provided also that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account; (vi) commissionable brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary, acting as broker on behalf of its customer, charges the customer a commission for effecting transactions in Fund shares, provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst3 shares within such platform and that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account; and (vii) bank trust departments, subject to an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst3 shares and provided that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account. In each case above where noted that Fund shares are required to be held in an omnibus account, the Distributor may, in its discretion, determine to waive this requirement.
Currently, Class Inst3 shares of the Multi-Manager Strategies Funds are offered only to group retirement plan recordkeeping platforms that have an agreement with (i) the Distributor or an affiliate thereof that specifically authorizes the group retirement plan recordkeeper to offer and/or service Class Inst3 shares within such platform, provided also that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account and (ii) Wilshire Associates, appointed or serving as investment manager or consultant to the recordkeeper’s group retirement plan platform.
Minimum Initial Investments and Account Balances
The minimum initial investment for Class Inst shares is $100, and there is no minimum initial investment for Class Inst3 shares. There is no minimum additional investment amount for these share classes.
For Class Inst: If you no longer hold or invest Fund shares through a wrap account (i.e., you “unwrap” your Ameriprise wrap account), you may continue to hold, but not purchase additional shares of, the Multi-Manager Strategies Funds. However, if you transfer your account to another financial intermediary, your holdings in Multi-Manager Strategies Funds are not transferable; you may liquidate your Multi-Manager Strategies Fund holdings or continue to hold them in your Ameriprise brokerage account.
For Class Inst3: If you transfer your account to another financial intermediary, you may continue to hold, but not purchase additional shares of, the Multi-Manager Strategies Funds.
Please refer to the
s —
section above for information on the Fund’s Small Account Policy. Each Multi-Manager Strategies Fund reserves the right to modify its minimum investment and related requirements at any time, with or without prior notice.
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Share
Transaction Rules and Policies
Other Purchase Rules You Should Know
| ■ | Once the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary receives your buy order in “good form,” your purchase will be made at the next calculated public offering price per share, which is the net asset value per share plus any sales charge that applies (i.e., the trade date). |
| ■ | Once the Fund receives your purchase request in “good form,” you cannot cancel it after the market closes. |
| Prospectus 2021 | 39 |
Multi-Manager Small Cap Equity Strategies Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
| ■ | You generally buy shares of Multi-Manager Strategies Funds at NAV per share because no front-end sales charge applies to purchases of shares of Multi-Manager Strategies Funds. |
| ■ | The Distributor and the Transfer Agent reserve the right to cancel your order request if the Fund does not receive payment within two business days of receiving your purchase order request. The Fund will return any payment received for orders that have been cancelled, but no interest will be paid on that money. |
| ■ | Financial intermediaries are responsible for sending your purchase orders to the Transfer Agent and ensuring that the Fund receives your money on time. |
| ■ | Shares purchased are recorded on the books of the Fund. The Fund does not issue certificates. |
Selling Shares
When you sell shares, the amount you receive may be more or less than the amount you invested. Your sale price will be the next NAV calculated after your request is received in “good form” (i.e., the trade date).
Multi-Manager Strategies Funds are sold only through certain wrap fee programs sponsored and/or managed by Ameriprise Financial or its affiliates, and to group retirement plan recordkeeping platforms that have an agreement with (i) the Distributor or an affiliate thereof that specifically authorizes the group retirement plan recordkeeper to offer and/or service Class Inst3 shares within such platform, provided also that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account and (ii) Wilshire Associates, appointed or serving as investment manager or consultant to the recordkeeper’s group retirement plan platform. For detailed rules regarding the sale of shares of these Funds, contact your financial intermediary.
Satisfying Fund Redemption Requests
When you sell your Fund shares, the Fund is effectively buying them back from you. This is called a redemption. Except as noted below with respect to newly purchased shares, the Fund typically expects to send you payment for your shares within two business days after your trade date for all methods of payment. The Fund can suspend redemptions and/or delay payment of redemption proceeds for up to seven days. The Fund can also suspend redemptions and/or delay payment of redemption proceeds in excess of seven days under certain circumstances, including when the NYSE is closed or trading thereon is restricted or during emergency or other circumstances, including as determined by the SEC.
The Fund typically seeks to satisfy redemption requests from cash or cash equivalents held by the Fund, from the proceeds of orders to purchase Fund shares or from the proceeds of sales of Fund holdings effected in the normal course of managing the Fund. However, the Fund may have to sell Fund holdings, including in down markets, to meet heavier than usual redemption requests. For example, under stressed or abnormal market conditions or circumstances, including circumstances adversely affecting the liquidity of the Fund’s investments, the Fund may be more likely to be forced to sell Fund holdings to meet redemptions than under normal market circumstances. In these situations, the Fund’s portfolio managers may have to sell Fund holdings that would not otherwise be sold because, among other reasons, the current price to be received is less than the value of the holdings perceived by the Fund’s portfolio managers. The Fund may also, under certain circumstances (but more likely under stressed or abnormal market conditions or circumstances), borrow money under a credit facility to which the Fund and certain other Columbia Funds are parties or from other Columbia Funds under an interfund lending program (except for closed-end funds and money market funds, which are not eligible to borrow under the program). The Fund and the other Columbia Funds are limited as to the amount that each may individually and collectively borrow under the credit facility and the interfund lending program. As a result, borrowings available to the Fund under the credit facility and the interfund lending program might be insufficient, alone or in combination with the other strategies described herein, to satisfy Fund redemption requests. Please see
in the SAI for more information about the credit facility and interfund lending program. The Fund is also limited in the total amount it may borrow. The Fund may only borrow to the extent permitted by the 1940 Act, the rules and regulations thereunder, and any exemptive relief available to the Fund, which currently limit Fund borrowings to 33
About Fund Investments – Borrowings – Interfund Lending
| 40 | Prospectus 2021 |
Multi-Manager Small Cap Equity Strategies Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
1/3% of total assets (including any amounts borrowed) less liabilities (other than borrowings), plus an additional 5% of its total assets for temporary purposes (to be repaid within 60 days without extension or renewal), in each case determined at the time the borrowing is made.
In addition, the Fund reserves the right to honor redemption orders in whole or in part with in-kind distributions of Fund portfolio securities instead of cash. Such in-kind distributions typically represent a pro-rata portion of Fund portfolio assets subject to adjustments (e.g., for non-transferable securities, round lots, and derivatives). In the event the Fund distributes portfolio securities in kind, you may incur brokerage and other transaction costs associated with converting the portfolio securities you receive into cash. Also, the portfolio securities you receive may increase or decrease in value after they are distributed but before you convert them into cash. For U.S. federal income tax purposes, redemptions paid in securities are generally treated the same as redemptions paid in cash. If, during any 90-day period, you redeem shares in an amount greater than $250,000 or 1% of the Fund’s net assets (whichever is less), and if the Investment Manager determines it to be feasible and appropriate, the Fund may pay the redemption amount above such threshold by an in-kind distribution of Fund portfolio securities.
While the Fund is not required (and may refuse in its discretion) to pay a redemption with an in-kind distribution of Fund portfolio securities and reserves the right to pay the redemption proceeds in cash, if you wish to request an in-kind redemption, please call the Transfer Agent at 800.345.6611. As a result of the operational steps needed to coordinate with the redeeming shareholder’s custodian, in-kind redemptions typically take several weeks to complete after a redemption request is received. The Fund and the redeeming shareholder will typically agree upon a redemption date. Since the Fund’s NAV may fluctuate during this time, the Fund’s NAV may be lower on the agreed-upon redemption date than on an earlier date on which the investment could have been redeemed for cash.
Redemption of Newly Purchased Shares
You may not redeem shares for which the Fund has not yet received payment. Shares purchased by check or electronically by ACH when the purchase payment is not guaranteed will be considered in “good form” for redemption only after they have been held in your account for 6 calendar days after the trade date of the purchase (Collected Shares). If you request a redemption for an amount that, based on the NAV next calculated after your redemption request is received, includes any shares that are not yet Collected Shares, the Fund will only process the redemption up to the amount of the value of Collected Shares available in your account. You must submit a new redemption request if you wish to redeem those shares that were not yet Collected Shares at the time the original redemption request was received by the Fund.
Other Redemption Rules You Should Know
| ■ | Once the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary receives your redemption order in “good form,” your shares will be sold at the next calculated NAV per share (i.e., the trade date). |
| ■ | Once the Fund receives your redemption request in “good form,” you cannot cancel it after the market closes. |
| ■ | If you sell your shares that are held in a Direct-at-Fund Account, we will normally send the redemption proceeds by mail or electronically transfer them to your bank account the next business day after the trade date. Note that your bank may take up to three business days to post an electronic funds transfer from your account. |
| ■ | If you sell your shares through a financial intermediary, the Funds will normally send the redemption proceeds to your financial intermediary within two business days after the trade date. |
| ■ | No interest will be paid on uncashed redemption checks. |
| ■ | Other restrictions may apply to retirement accounts. For information about these restrictions, contact your retirement plan administrator. |
| ■ | For broker-dealer and wrap fee accounts: The Fund reserves the right to redeem your shares if your account falls below the Fund's minimum initial investment requirement. The Fund will notify your broker-dealer prior to redeeming shares, and will provide details on how to avoid such redemption. |
| ■ |
Also keep in mind the Funds' Small Account Policy, which is described above in
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares — Transaction Rules and Policies.
|
| Prospectus 2021 | 41 |
Multi-Manager Small Cap Equity Strategies Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
Exchanging Shares
You can generally sell shares of your Multi-Manager Strategies Fund to buy shares of another Multi-Manager Strategies Fund, in what is called an exchange. You should read the prospectus of, and make sure you understand the investment objective, principal investment strategies, risks, fees and expenses of, the Fund into which you are exchanging.
Please contact your financial intermediary for more information.
Other Exchange Rules You Should Know
| ■ | Exchanges are made at the NAV next calculated after your exchange order is received in “good form” (i.e., the trade date). |
| ■ | Once the Fund receives your exchange request in “good form,” you cannot cancel it after the market closes. |
| ■ | The rules for buying shares of a Fund generally apply to exchanges into that Fund, including, if your exchange creates a new Fund account, it must satisfy the minimum investment amount, unless a waiver applies. |
| ■ | Shares of the purchased Fund may not be used on the same day for another exchange or sale. |
| ■ | You may make exchanges only into a Fund that is legally offered and sold in your state of residence. Contact the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary for more information. |
| ■ | You generally may make an exchange only into a Fund that is accepting investments. |
| ■ | The Fund may change or cancel your right to make an exchange by giving the amount of notice required by regulatory authorities (generally 60 days for a material change or cancellation). |
| ■ | Unless your account is part of a tax-advantaged arrangement, an exchange for shares of another Fund is a taxable event, and you may recognize a gain or loss for tax purposes. |
| ■ | You may only exchange Class Inst shares and Class Inst3 shares of a Multi-Manager Strategies Fund for the same class of shares of another Multi-Manager Strategies Fund. |
| 42 | Prospectus 2021 |
Multi-Manager Small Cap Equity Strategies Fund
Distributions and Taxes
Distributions to Shareholders
A mutual fund can make money two ways:
| ■ | It can earn income on its investments. Examples of fund income are interest paid on money market instruments and bonds, and dividends paid on common stocks. |
| ■ | A mutual fund can also have capital gains if the value of its investments increases. While a fund continues to hold an investment, any gain is generally unrealized. If the fund sells an investment, it generally will realize a capital gain if it sells that investment for a higher price than its adjusted cost basis, and will generally realize a capital loss if it sells that investment for a lower price than its adjusted cost basis. Capital gains and losses are either short-term or long-term, depending on whether the fund holds the securities for one year or less (short-term) or more than one year (long-term). |
Mutual funds make payments of fund earnings to shareholders, distributing them among all shareholders of the fund. As a shareholder, you are entitled to your portion of a fund's distributed income, including capital gains. Reinvesting your distributions buys you more shares of a fund
which lets you take advantage of the potential for compound growth. Putting the money you earn back into your investment means it, in turn, may earn even more money (or be exposed to additional losses, if the fund earns a negative return). Over time, the power of compounding has the potential to significantly increase the value of your investment. There is no assurance, however, that you'll earn more money if you reinvest your distributions rather than receive them in cash.
—
The Fund intends to pay out, in the form of distributions to shareholders, a sufficient amount of its income and gains so that the Fund will qualify for treatment as a regulated investment company and generally will not have to pay any federal excise tax. The Fund generally intends to distribute any net realized capital gain (whether long-term or short-term gain) at least once a year. Normally, the Fund will declare and pay distributions of net investment income according to the following schedule:
|
Declaration and Distribution Schedule
|
|
| Declarations | Annually |
| Distributions | Annually |
The Fund may declare or pay distributions of net investment income more frequently.
Different share classes of the Fund usually pay different net investment income distribution amounts, because each class has different expenses. Each time a distribution is made, the NAV per share of the share class is reduced by the amount of the distribution.
The Fund generally pays cash distributions within five business days after the distribution was declared (or, if the Fund declares distributions daily, within five business days after the end of the month in which the distribution was declared). If you sell all of your shares after the record date, but before the payment date, for a distribution, you'll normally receive that distribution in cash within five business days after the sale was made.
The Fund will automatically reinvest distributions in additional shares of the same share class of the Fund unless you inform us you want to receive your distributions in cash (the financial intermediary through which you purchased shares may have different policies). You can do this by contacting the Fund at the address on the back cover, or by calling us at 800.345.6611. No sales charges apply to the purchase or sale of such shares.
For accounts held directly with the Fund (through the Transfer Agent), distributions of $10 or less will automatically be reinvested in additional Fund shares only. If you elect to receive distributions by check and the check is returned as undeliverable, all subsequent distributions will be reinvested in additional shares of the Fund.
Unless you are a tax-exempt investor or holding Fund shares through a tax-advantaged account (such as a 401(k) plan or IRA), you should consider avoiding buying Fund shares shortly before the Fund makes a distribution (other than distributions of net investment income that are declared daily) of net investment income or net realized capital gain, because doing so can cost you money in taxes to the extent the distribution consists of taxable income or gains. This is because you will, in effect, receive part of your purchase price back in the distribution. This is known as
| Prospectus 2021 | 43 |
Multi-Manager Small Cap Equity Strategies Fund
Distributions and Taxes
(continued)
“buying a dividend.” To avoid “buying a dividend,” before you invest check the Fund's distribution schedule, which is available at the Funds' website and/or by calling the Funds' telephone number listed at the beginning of the section entitled
.
About Fund Shares
Taxes
You should be aware of the following considerations applicable to the Fund:
| ■ | The Fund intends to qualify and to be eligible for treatment each year as a regulated investment company. A regulated investment company generally is not subject to tax at the fund level on income and gains from investments that are distributed to shareholders. However, the Fund's failure to qualify for treatment as a regulated investment company would result in Fund-level taxation, and consequently, a reduction in income available for distribution to you and in the NAV of your shares. Even if the Fund qualifies for treatment as a regulated investment company, the Fund may be subject to federal excise tax on certain undistributed income or gains. |
| ■ | Otherwise taxable distributions generally are taxable to you when paid, whether they are paid in cash or automatically reinvested in additional Fund shares. Dividends paid in January are deemed paid on December 31 of the prior year if the dividend was declared and payable to shareholders of record in October, November, or December of such prior year. |
| ■ | Distributions of the Fund's ordinary income and net short-term capital gain, if any, generally are taxable to you as ordinary income. Distributions of the Fund's net long-term capital gain, if any, generally are taxable to you as long-term capital gain. Whether capital gains are long-term or short-term is determined by how long the Fund has owned the investments that generated them, rather than how long you have owned your shares. |
| ■ | From time to time, a distribution from the Fund could constitute a return of capital. A return of capital is a return of an amount of your original investment and is not a distribution of income or capital gain from the Fund. Therefore, a return of capital is not taxable to you so long as the amount of the distribution does not exceed your tax basis in your Fund shares. A return of capital reduces your tax basis in your Fund shares, with any amounts exceeding such basis generally taxable as capital gain. |
| ■ | If you are an individual and you meet certain holding period and other requirements for your Fund shares, a portion of your distributions may be treated as “qualified dividend income” taxable at the lower net long-term capital gain rates instead of the higher ordinary income rates. Qualified dividend income is income attributable to the Fund's dividends received from certain U.S. and foreign corporations, as long as the Fund meets certain holding period and other requirements for the stock producing such dividends. |
| ■ | Certain high-income individuals (as well as estates and trusts) are subject to a 3.8% tax on net investment income. For individuals, the 3.8% tax applies to the lesser of (1) the amount (if any) by which the taxpayer's modified adjusted gross income exceeds certain threshold amounts or (2) the taxpayer's “net investment income.” |
| Net investment income generally includes for this purpose dividends, including any capital gain dividends, paid by the Fund, and net gains recognized on the sale, redemption or exchange of shares of the Fund. |
| ■ | Certain derivative instruments when held in the Fund's portfolio subject the Fund to special tax rules, the effect of which may be to, among other things, accelerate income to the Fund, defer Fund losses, cause adjustments in the holding periods of Fund portfolio securities, or convert capital gains into ordinary income, short-term capital losses into long-term capital losses or long-term capital gains into short-term capital gains. These rules could therefore affect the amount, timing and/or character of distributions to shareholders. |
| ■ | Generally, a Fund realizes a capital gain or loss on an option when the option expires, or when it is exercised, sold or otherwise terminated. However, if an option is a “section 1256 contract,” which includes most traded options on a broad-based index, and the Fund holds such option at the end of its taxable year, the Fund is deemed to sell such option at fair market value at such time and recognize any gain or loss thereon, which is generally deemed to be 60% long-term and 40% short-term capital gain or loss, as described further in the SAI. |
| ■ | Income and proceeds received by the Fund from sources within foreign countries may be subject to foreign taxes. If at the end of the taxable year more than 50% of the value of the Fund's assets consists of securities of foreign |
| 44 | Prospectus 2021 |
Multi-Manager Small Cap Equity Strategies Fund
Distributions and Taxes
(continued)
| corporations, and the Fund makes a special election, you will generally be required to include in your income for U.S. federal income tax purposes your share of the qualifying foreign income taxes paid by the Fund in respect of its foreign portfolio securities. You may be able to claim a foreign tax credit or deduction in respect of this amount, subject to certain limitations. There is no assurance that the Fund will make this election for a taxable year, even if it is eligible to do so. |
| ■ | A sale, redemption or exchange of Fund shares is a taxable event. This includes redemptions where you are paid in securities. Your sales, redemptions and exchanges of Fund shares (including those paid in securities) usually will result in a taxable capital gain or loss to you, equal to the difference between the amount you receive for your shares (or are deemed to have received in the case of exchanges) and your adjusted tax basis in the shares, which is generally the amount you paid (or are deemed to have paid in the case of exchanges) for them. Any such capital gain or loss generally will be long-term capital gain or loss if you have held your Fund shares for more than one year at the time of sale or exchange. In certain circumstances, capital losses may be converted from short-term to long-term; in other circumstances, capital losses may be disallowed under the “wash sale” rules. |
| ■ | For sales, redemptions and exchanges of shares that were acquired in a non-qualified account after 2011, the Fund generally is required to report to shareholders and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) cost basis information with respect to those shares. The Fund uses average cost basis as its default method of calculating cost basis. For more information regarding average cost basis reporting, other available cost basis methods, and selecting or changing to a different cost basis method, please see the SAI, columbiathreadneedleus.com, or contact the Fund at 800.345.6611. If you hold Fund shares through a financial intermediary (e.g., a brokerage firm), you should contact your financial intermediary to learn about its cost basis reporting default method and the reporting elections available to your account. |
| ■ | The Fund is required by federal law to withhold tax on any taxable or tax-exempt distributions and redemption proceeds paid to you (including amounts paid to you in securities and amounts deemed to be paid to you upon an exchange of shares) if: you have not provided a correct TIN or have not certified to the Fund that withholding does not apply, the IRS has notified us that the TIN listed on your account is incorrect according to its records, or the IRS informs the Fund that you are otherwise subject to backup withholding. |
FUNDamentals
Taxes
The information provided above is only a summary of how U.S. federal income taxes may affect your investment in the Fund. It is not intended as a substitute for careful tax planning. Your investment in the Fund may have other tax implications. It does not apply to certain types of investors who may be subject to special rules, including foreign or tax-exempt investors or those holding Fund shares through a tax-advantaged account, such as a 401(k) plan or IRA. Please see the SAI for more detailed tax information. You should consult with your own tax advisor about the particular tax consequences to you of an investment in the Fund, including the effect of any foreign, state and local taxes, and the effect of possible changes in applicable tax laws.
| Prospectus 2021 | 45 |
Multi-Manager Small Cap Equity Strategies Fund
Financial Highlights
The financial highlights table is intended to help you understand the Fund’s financial performance for the past five fiscal years or, if shorter, the Fund’s period of operations. Certain information reflects financial results for a single Fund share. Per share net investment income (loss) amounts are calculated based on average shares outstanding during the period. The total return in the table represents the rate that an investor would have earned (or lost) on an investment in the Fund assuming all dividends and distributions had been reinvested. Total return does not reflect payment of sales charges, if any. Total return and portfolio turnover are not annualized for periods of less than one year. The portfolio turnover rate is calculated without regard to purchase and sales transactions of short-term instruments and certain derivatives, if any. If such transactions were included, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate may be higher. This information has been audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm, whose report, along with the Fund’s financial statements, is included in the Fund’s annual report, which is available upon request.
| Prospectus 2021 | 47 |
Multi-Manager Small Cap Equity Strategies Fund
Financial Highlights
(continued)
|
Net asset value,
beginning of period |
Net
investment income (loss) |
Net
realized and unrealized gain (loss) |
Total from
investment operations |
Distributions
from net investment income |
Distributions
from net realized gains |
Total
distributions to shareholders |
|
|
Institutional Class
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $14.39 | 0.04 | 0.80 | 0.84 | (0.05) | (0.42) | (0.47) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $17.75 | 0.03 | (2.37) | (2.34) | (0.02) | (1.00) | (1.02) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $15.18 | (0.01) | 3.80 | 3.79 | (0.01) | (1.21) | (1.22) |
|
Year Ended 8/31/2017
(d)
|
$14.60 | (0.04) | 0.62 | 0.58 | — | — | — |
|
Institutional 3 Class
|
|||||||
|
Year Ended 8/31/2020
(f)
|
$15.37 | 0.04 |
(0.68)
(g)
|
(0.64) | — | — | — |
|
Notes to Financial Highlights
|
|
| (a) | In addition to the fees and expenses that the Fund bears directly, the Fund indirectly bears a pro rata share of the fees and expenses of any other funds in which it invests. Such indirect expenses are not included in the Fund's reported expense ratios. |
| (b) | Total net expenses include the impact of certain fee waivers/expense reimbursements made by the Investment Manager and certain of its affiliates, if applicable. |
| (c) | Ratios include line of credit interest expense which is less than 0.01%. |
| (d) | Institutional Class shares commenced operations on January 3, 2017. Per share data and total return reflect activity from that date. |
| (e) | Annualized. |
| (f) | Institutional 3 Class shares commenced operations on December 18, 2019. Per share data and total return reflect activity from that date. |
| (g) | Calculation of the net gain (loss) per share (both realized and unrealized) does not correlate to the aggregate realized and unrealized gain (loss) presented in the Statement of Operations due to the timing of subscriptions and redemptions of Fund shares in relation to fluctuations in the market value of the portfolio. |
|
48
|
Prospectus 2021
|
Multi-Manager Small Cap Equity Strategies Fund
Financial Highlights
(continued)
|
Net
asset value, end of period |
Total
return |
Total gross
expense ratio to average net assets
(a)
|
Total net
expense ratio to average net assets
(a), (b)
|
Net investment
income (loss) ratio to average net assets |
Portfolio
turnover |
Net
assets, end of period (000's) |
|
|
Institutional Class
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $14.76 | 5.76% | 1.09% | 0.99% | 0.26% | 83% | $1,167,589 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $14.39 | (12.85%) | 1.06% | 1.05% | 0.22% | 97% | $1,664,350 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $17.75 | 26.26% |
1.17%
(c)
|
1.09%
(c)
|
(0.04%) | 82% | $1,794,886 |
|
Year Ended 8/31/2017
(d)
|
$15.18 | 3.97% |
1.33%
(e)
|
1.09%
(e)
|
(0.37%)
(e)
|
85% | $964,381 |
|
Institutional 3 Class
|
|||||||
|
Year Ended 8/31/2020
(f)
|
$14.73 | (4.16%) |
0.86%
(e)
|
0.81%
(e)
|
0.38%
(e)
|
83% | $2 |
|
Prospectus 2021
|
49
|
Multi-Manager Small Cap Equity Strategies Fund
P.O. Box 219104
Kansas City, MO 64121-9104
Kansas City, MO 64121-9104
Additional Information About the Fund
Additional information about the Fund’s investments is available in the Fund’s annual and semiannual reports to shareholders. In the annual report, you will find a discussion of the market conditions and investment strategies that significantly affected the Fund’s performance during its last fiscal year. The SAI also provides additional information about the Fund and its policies. The SAI, which has been filed with the SEC, is legally part of this prospectus (incorporated by reference). To obtain these documents free of charge, to request other information about the Fund and to make shareholder inquiries, please contact the Fund as follows:
By Mail:
Columbia Management Investment Services Corp.
P.O. Box 219104
Kansas City, MO 64121-9104
P.O. Box 219104
Kansas City, MO 64121-9104
By Telephone:
800.345.6611
Online:
columbiathreadneedleus.com
Reports and other information about the Fund are also available in the EDGAR Database on the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov. You can receive copies of this information, for a duplication fee, by electronic request at the following e-mail address: publicinfo@sec.gov.
The investment company registration number of Columbia Funds Series Trust I, of which the Fund is a series, is 811-04367.
Columbia Threadneedle Investments is the global brand name of the Columbia and Threadneedle group of companies.
© 2021 Columbia Management Investment Distributors, Inc.
225 Franklin Street, Boston, MA 02110
225 Franklin Street, Boston, MA 02110
800.345.6611
PRO102_08_L01_(01/21)
Prospectus
January 1, 2021
Multi-Manager Total Return Bond Strategies Fund
|
Class
|
Ticker Symbol
|
|
| Institutional (Class Inst) | CTRZX | |
| Institutional 3 (Class Inst3) | CTREX |
The Fund is offered only through certain wrap fee programs sponsored and/or managed by Ameriprise Financial, Inc. or its affiliates, and to group retirement plan recordkeeping platforms that have an agreement with (i) Columbia Management Investment Distributors, Inc. or an affiliate thereof that specifically authorizes the group retirement plan recordkeeper to offer and/or service Class Inst3 shares within such platform, provided also that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account and (ii) Wilshire Associates, appointed or serving as investment manager or consultant to the recordkeeper’s group retirement plan platform. The Fund, together with the other funds managed by Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC that also share this same eligibility criteria, are referred to herein as the Multi-Manager Strategies Funds.
Beginning on January 1, 2021, as permitted by regulations adopted by the Securities and Exchange Commission, paper copies of the Fund's annual and semiannual shareholder reports are no longer sent by mail, unless you specifically requested paper copies of the reports. Instead, the reports are made available on the Fund's website (columbiathreadneedleus.com/investor/), and each time a report is posted you will be notified by mail and provided with a website address to access the report.
If you have already elected to receive shareholder reports electronically, you will not be affected by this change and you need not take any action. You may elect to receive shareholder reports and other communications from the Fund electronically at any time by contacting your financial intermediary (such as a broker-dealer or bank) or, for Fund shares held directly with the Fund, by calling 800.345.6611 or by enrolling in “eDelivery” by logging into your account at columbiathreadneedleus.com/investor/.
You may elect to receive all future shareholder reports in paper free of charge. If you invest through a financial intermediary, you can contact your financial intermediary to request that you continue receiving paper copies of your shareholder reports. If you invest directly with the Fund, you can call 800.345.6611 to let the Fund know you wish to continue receiving paper copies of your shareholder reports. Your election to receive paper reports will apply to all Columbia Funds held in your account if you invest through a financial intermediary or all Columbia Funds held with the fund complex if you invest directly with the Fund.
As with all mutual funds, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has not approved or disapproved these securities or passed upon the adequacy of this prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.
Multi-Manager Total Return Bond Strategies Fund
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| 2 | Prospectus 2021 |
Multi-Manager Total Return Bond Strategies Fund
Summary of the Fund
Investment Objective
Multi-Manager Total Return Bond Strategies Fund (the Fund) seeks total return, consisting of capital appreciation and current income.
Fees and Expenses of the Fund
This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold and sell shares of the Fund.
You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the tables and examples below.
|
Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment)
|
|
|
Class Inst and Inst3
|
|
| Maximum sales charge (load) imposed on purchases (as a % of offering price) | None |
| Maximum deferred sales charge (load) imposed on redemptions (as a % of the lower of the original purchase price or current net asset value) | None |
| (a) | Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC and certain of its affiliates have contractually agreed to waive fees and/or to reimburse expenses (excluding transaction costs and certain other investment related expenses, interest, taxes, acquired fund fees and expenses, and infrequent and/or unusual expenses) through December 31, 2021, unless sooner terminated at the sole discretion of the Fund’s Board of Trustees (the Board). Under this agreement, the Fund’s net operating expenses, subject to applicable exclusions, will not exceed the annual rates of 0.49% for Class Inst and 0.46% for Class Inst3. The fee waivers and/or expense reimbursements shown in the table for Class Inst3 also reflect the contractual agreement of the Fund’s transfer agent to waive fees and/or to reimburse expenses through December 31, 2021, unless sooner terminated at the sole discretion of the Fund’s Board, so that the Fund’s transfer agency fees do not exceed the annual rate of 0.01% for Class Inst3. |
Example
The following example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The example illustrates the hypothetical expenses that you would incur over the time periods indicated, and assumes that:
| ■ | you invest $10,000 in the applicable class of Fund shares for the periods indicated, |
| ■ | your investment has a 5% return each year, and |
| ■ |
the Fund’s total annual operating expenses remain the same as shown in the
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
|
Since the waivers and/or reimbursements shown in the
table above expire as indicated in the preceding table, they are only reflected in the 1 year example and the first year of the other examples. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on the assumptions listed above, your costs would be:
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
|
1 year
|
3 years
|
5 years
|
10 years
|
|
|
Class Inst
(whether or not shares are redeemed)
|
$50 | $162 | $283 | $639 |
|
Class Inst3
(whether or not shares are redeemed)
|
$47 | $152 | $267 | $602 |
| Prospectus 2021 | 3 |
Multi-Manager Total Return Bond Strategies Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
Portfolio Turnover
The Fund may pay transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 184% of the average value of its portfolio.
Principal Investment Strategies
The Fund pursues its investment objective by allocating the Fund's assets among different asset managers that use various investment styles to invest in bonds and other debt instruments. The Fund's investment manager, Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC (Columbia Management or the Investment Manager), and investment subadvisers (Subadvisers) each provide day-to-day portfolio management for a portion of the Fund's assets, or sleeve of the Fund. Columbia Management and the Subadvisers employ investment styles and processes that, in the aggregate, are intended to complement the strategies of one another in pursuit of the Fund's investment objective.
Under normal market conditions, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets (including the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes) in bonds and other debt securities, including debt securities issued by the U.S. Government, its agencies, instrumentalities or sponsored corporations, debt securities issued by corporations, mortgage- and other asset-backed securities, dollar-denominated securities issued by foreign governments, companies or other entities, bank loans and other obligations. Other obligations include any other security or instrument in which there is a requirement or obligation to repay money borrowed. For purposes of its 80% test, the Fund treats investment in loans as “debt securities,” even though loans may not be “securities” under certain of the federal securities laws. The Fund may invest up to 20% of its net assets in debt instruments that, at the time of purchase, are rated below investment grade or are unrated but determined to be of comparable quality (commonly referred to as “high-yield” investments or “junk” bonds). The Fund may invest in fixed income securities of any maturity and does not seek to maintain a particular dollar-weighted average maturity or duration at the Fund level.
Up to 25% of the Fund's net assets may be invested in foreign investments (including in emerging markets), which may include investments of up to 20% of the Fund’s assets in non-U.S. dollar denominated securities. In connection with its strategy relating to foreign investments, the Fund may buy or sell foreign currencies in lieu of or in addition to non-dollar denominated fixed-income securities in order to increase or decrease its exposure to foreign interest rate and/or currency markets.
The Fund may invest in derivatives, including forward contracts (including forward foreign currency contracts), futures contracts (including currency futures, index futures (including fixed income index and volatility index futures), interest rate futures and other bond futures), inverse variable- or floating-rate obligations (commonly referred to as inverse floaters), options (including options on futures contracts and interest rate options), options on swaps (commonly known as swaptions), and swaps (including credit default swaps, credit default swap indexes, interest rate swaps, and total return swaps). The Fund may use derivatives in an effort to produce incremental earnings, to hedge existing positions, to increase market or credit exposure and investment flexibility (including using the derivative as a substitute for the purchase or sale of the underlying security, currency or other asset), to manage credit and interest rate exposure, and/or to manage duration and yield curve of the Fund or a sleeve of the Fund.
The Fund’s investments in mortgage-related securities include investments in stripped mortgage-backed securities such as interest-only (IO) and principal-only (PO) securities. The Fund may also invest in exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
The Fund may purchase or sell securities on a when-issued, delayed delivery or forward commitment basis. Such securities may include mortgage-backed securities acquired or sold in the “to be announced” (TBA) market and those in a dollar roll transaction.
The Fund may invest in privately placed and other securities or instruments that are purchased and sold pursuant to Rule 144A or other exemptions under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, subject to certain regulatory restrictions.
| 4 | Prospectus 2021 |
Multi-Manager Total Return Bond Strategies Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
The Fund may also hold/invest in cash, money market instruments (which may include investments in one or more affiliated or unaffiliated money market funds or similar vehicles) or other high-quality, short-term investments, including for the purpose of covering its obligations with respect to, or that may result from, the Fund’s investments in derivatives.
Each sleeve manager’s investment strategy may involve the frequent trading of portfolio securities. One or more of the Fund’s subadvisers use quantitative methods to identify investment opportunities and construct their portion of the Fund’s portfolio.
Principal Risks
An investment in the Fund involves risks, including
,
,
,
,
,
and
, among others. Descriptions of these and other principal risks of investing in the Fund are provided below.
. The value of the Fund’s holdings may decline, and the Fund’s net asset value (NAV) and share price may go down.
An investment in the Fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency.
Interest Rate Risk
Credit Risk
Mortgage- and Other Asset-Backed Securities Risk
Market Risk
Multi-Adviser Risk
Changing Distribution Level Risk
There is no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objective and you may lose money
Active Management Risk.
Due to its active management, the Fund could underperform its benchmark index and/or other funds with similar investment objectives and/or strategies.
Allocation Risk.
Because the Fund uses an asset allocation strategy in pursuit of its investment objective, there is a risk that the Fund's allocation among investments, managers, strategies and/or investment styles will cause the Fund's shares to lose value or cause the Fund to underperform other funds with similar investment objectives and/or strategies, or that the investments themselves will not produce the returns expected.
Changing Distribution Level Risk.
The Fund normally expects to receive income which may include interest, dividends and/or capital gains, depending upon its investments. The distribution amounts paid by the Fund will vary and generally depend on the amount of income the Fund earns (less expenses) on its portfolio holdings, and capital gains or losses it recognizes. A decline in the Fund’s income or net capital gains arising from its investments may reduce its distribution level.
Confidential Information Access Risk.
Portfolio managers may avoid the receipt of material, non-public information (Confidential Information) about the issuers of floating rate loans (including from the issuer itself) being considered for acquisition by the Fund, or held in the Fund. A decision not to receive Confidential Information may disadvantage the Fund and could adversely affect the Fund’s performance.
Counterparty Risk.
Counterparty risk is the risk that a counterparty to a transaction in a financial instrument held by the Fund or by a special purpose or structured vehicle invested in by the Fund may become insolvent or otherwise fail to perform its obligations. As a result, the Fund may obtain no or limited recovery of its investment, and any recovery may be significantly delayed.
Credit Risk.
Credit risk is the risk that the value of loans or other debt instruments may decline if the borrower or the issuer thereof defaults or otherwise becomes unable or unwilling, or is perceived to be unable or unwilling, to honor its financial obligations, such as making payments to the Fund when due. Credit rating agencies assign credit ratings to certain loans and debt instruments to indicate their credit risk. Unless otherwise provided in the Fund’s Principal Investment Strategies, investment grade debt instruments are those rated at or above BBB- by S&P Global Ratings, or equivalently rated by Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. or Fitch Ratings, Inc., or, if unrated, determined by the management team to be of comparable quality. Conversely, below investment grade (commonly called “high-yield” or “junk”) debt instruments are those rated below BBB- by S&P Global Ratings, or equivalently rated by Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. or Fitch Ratings, Inc., or, if unrated, determined by the management team to be of comparable quality. A rating downgrade by such agencies can negatively impact the value of such instruments. Lower quality or unrated loans or instruments held by the Fund may present increased credit risk as compared to higher-rated loans or instruments. Non-investment grade loans or debt instruments may be subject to greater price fluctuations and are more likely to experience a default than investment grade loans or debt instruments and therefore may expose the Fund to increased credit risk. If the Fund purchases unrated loans or instruments, or if the ratings of loans or instruments held by the Fund are lowered after purchase, the Fund will depend on analysis of credit risk more heavily
| Prospectus 2021 | 5 |
Multi-Manager Total Return Bond Strategies Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
than usual. If the issuer of a loan declares bankruptcy or is declared bankrupt, there may be a delay before the Fund can act on the collateral securing the loan, which may adversely affect the Fund. Further, there is a risk that a court could take action with respect to a loan that is adverse to the holders of the loan. Such actions may include invalidating the loan, the lien on the collateral, the priority status of the loan, or ordering the refund of interest previously paid by the borrower. Any such actions by a court could adversely affect the Fund’s performance. A default or expected default of a loan could also make it difficult for the Fund to sell the loan at a price approximating the value previously placed on it. In order to enforce its rights in the event of a default, bankruptcy or similar situation, the Fund may be required to retain legal or similar counsel. This may increase the Fund’s operating expenses and adversely affect its NAV. Loans that have a lower priority for repayment in an issuer’s capital structure may involve a higher degree of overall risk than more senior loans of the same borrower.
Derivatives Risk.
Derivatives may involve significant risks. Derivatives are financial instruments with a value in relation to, or derived from, the value of an underlying asset(s) or other reference, such as an index, rate or other economic indicator (each an underlying reference). Derivatives may include those that are privately placed or otherwise exempt from SEC registration, including certain Rule 144A eligible securities. Derivatives could result in Fund losses if the underlying reference does not perform as anticipated. Use of derivatives is a highly specialized activity that can involve investment techniques, risks, and tax planning different from those associated with more traditional investment instruments. The Fund’s derivatives strategy may not be successful and use of certain derivatives could result in substantial, potentially unlimited, losses to the Fund regardless of the Fund’s actual investment. A relatively small movement in the price, rate or other economic indicator associated with the underlying reference may result in substantial loss for the Fund. Derivatives may be more volatile than other types of investments. The value of derivatives may be influenced by a variety of factors, including national and international political and economic developments. Potential changes to the regulation of the derivatives markets may make derivatives more costly, may limit the market for derivatives, or may otherwise adversely affect the value or performance of derivatives. Derivatives can increase the Fund’s risk exposure to underlying references and their attendant risks, such as credit risk, market risk, foreign currency risk and interest rate risk, while exposing the Fund to correlation risk, counterparty risk, hedging risk, inflation risk, leverage risk, liquidity risk, pricing risk and volatility risk.
Derivatives Risk – Forward Contracts Risk.
A forward contract is an over-the-counter derivative transaction between two parties to buy or sell a specified amount of an underlying reference at a specified price (or rate) on a specified date in the future. Forward contracts are negotiated on an individual basis and are not standardized or traded on exchanges. The market for forward contracts is substantially unregulated and can experience lengthy periods of illiquidity, unusually high trading volume and other negative impacts, such as political intervention, which may result in volatility or disruptions in such markets. A relatively small price movement in a forward contract may result in substantial losses to the Fund, exceeding the amount of the margin paid. Forward contracts can increase the Fund’s risk exposure to underlying references and their attendant risks, such as credit risk, market risk, foreign currency risk and interest rate risk, while also exposing the Fund to correlation risk, counterparty risk, hedging risk, inflation risk, leverage risk, liquidity risk, pricing risk and volatility risk.
Derivatives Risk – Futures Contracts Risk.
A futures contract is an exchange-traded derivative transaction between two parties in which a buyer (holding the “long” position) agrees to pay a fixed price (or rate) at a specified future date for delivery of an underlying reference from a seller (holding the “short” position). The seller hopes that the market price on the delivery date is less than the agreed upon price, while the buyer hopes for the contrary. Certain futures contract markets are highly volatile, and futures contracts may be illiquid. Futures exchanges may limit fluctuations in futures contract prices by imposing a maximum permissible daily price movement. The Fund may be disadvantaged if it is prohibited from executing a trade outside the daily permissible price movement. At or prior to maturity of a futures contract, the Fund may enter into an offsetting contract and may incur a loss to the extent there has been adverse movement in futures contract prices. The liquidity of the futures markets depends on participants entering into offsetting transactions rather than making or taking delivery. To the extent participants make or take delivery, liquidity in the futures market could be reduced. Because of the low margin deposits normally required in futures trading, it is possible that the Fund may employ a high degree of leverage in the portfolio. As a result, a relatively small price movement in a futures contract may result in substantial losses to the Fund, exceeding the
| 6 | Prospectus 2021 |
Multi-Manager Total Return Bond Strategies Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
amount of the margin paid. For certain types of futures contracts, losses are potentially unlimited. Futures markets are highly volatile and the use of futures may increase the volatility of the Fund’s NAV. Futures contracts executed (if any) on foreign exchanges may not provide the same protection as U.S. exchanges. Futures contracts can increase the Fund’s risk exposure to underlying references and their attendant risks, such as credit risk, market risk, foreign currency risk and interest rate risk, while also exposing the Fund to correlation risk, counterparty risk, hedging risk, inflation risk, leverage risk, liquidity risk, pricing risk and volatility risk.
Derivatives Risk – Inverse Floaters Risk.
Inverse variable or floating rate obligations, sometimes referred to as inverse floaters, are a type of over-the-counter derivative debt instrument with a variable or floating coupon rate that moves in the opposite direction of an underlying reference, typically short-term interest rates. While inverse floaters tend to provide more income than similar term and credit quality fixed-rate bonds, they also exhibit greater volatility in price movement, which could result in significant losses for the Fund. An inverse floater may have the effect of investment leverage to the extent that its coupon rate varies by a magnitude that exceeds the magnitude of the change in the index or reference rate of interest, which could result in increased losses for the Fund. Inverse floaters can increase the Fund’s risk exposure to underlying references and their attendant risks, such as credit risk, market risk, foreign currency risk and interest rate risk, while also exposing the Fund to correlation risk, counterparty risk, hedging risk, inflation risk, leverage risk, liquidity risk, pricing risk and volatility risk.
Derivatives Risk – Options Risk.
Options are derivatives that give the purchaser the option to buy (call) or sell (put) an underlying reference from or to a counterparty at a specified price (the strike price) on or before an expiration date. By investing in options, the Fund is exposed to the risk that it may be required to buy or sell the underlying reference at a disadvantageous price on or before the expiration date. Options may involve economic leverage, which could result in greater volatility in price movement. The Fund's losses could be significant, and are potentially unlimited for certain types of options. Options may be traded on a securities exchange or in the over-the-counter market. At or prior to maturity of an options contract, the Fund may enter into an offsetting contract and may incur a loss to the extent there has been adverse movement in options prices. Options can increase the Fund’s risk exposure to underlying references and their attendant risks such as credit risk, market risk, foreign currency risk and interest rate risk, while also exposing the Fund to correlation risk, counterparty risk, hedging risk, inflation risk, leverage risk, liquidity risk, pricing risk and volatility risk.
Derivatives Risk – Swaps Risk.
In a typical swap transaction, two parties agree to exchange the return earned on a specified underlying reference for a fixed return or the return from another underlying reference during a specified period of time. Swaps may be difficult to value and may be illiquid. Swaps could result in Fund losses if the underlying asset or reference does not perform as anticipated. Swaps create significant investment leverage such that a relatively small price movement in a swap may result in immediate and substantial losses to the Fund. The Fund may only close out a swap with its particular counterparty, and may only transfer a position with the consent of that counterparty. Certain swaps, such as short swap transactions and total return swaps, have the potential for unlimited losses, regardless of the size of the initial investment. Swaps can increase the Fund’s risk exposure to underlying references and their attendant risks, such as credit risk, market risk, foreign currency risk and interest rate risk, while also exposing the Fund to correlation risk, counterparty risk, hedging risk, inflation risk, leverage risk, liquidity risk, pricing risk and volatility risk.
Derivatives Risk – Swaptions Risk.
A swaption is an options contract on a swap agreement. These transactions give a party the right (but not the obligation) to enter into new swap agreements or to shorten, extend, cancel or otherwise modify an existing swap agreement at some designated future time on specified terms, in return for payment of the purchase price (the “premium”) of the option. The Fund may write (sell) and purchase put and call swaptions to the same extent it may make use of standard options on securities or other instruments. The writer of the contract receives the premium and bears the risk of unfavorable changes in the market value on the underlying swap agreement. Swaptions can be bundled and sold as a package. These are commonly called interest rate caps, floors and collars.
Emerging Market Securities Risk.
Securities issued by foreign governments or companies in emerging market countries, such as China, Russia and certain countries in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Latin America or Africa, are more likely to have greater exposure to the risks of investing in foreign securities that are described in Foreign Securities Risk. In addition, emerging market countries are more likely to experience instability resulting, for
| Prospectus 2021 | 7 |
Multi-Manager Total Return Bond Strategies Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
example, from rapid changes or developments in social, political, economic or other conditions. Their economies are usually less mature and their securities markets are typically less developed with more limited trading activity (i.e., lower trading volumes and less liquidity) than more developed countries. Emerging market securities tend to be more volatile than securities in more developed markets. Many emerging market countries are heavily dependent on international trade and have fewer trading partners, which makes them more sensitive to world commodity prices and economic downturns in other countries, and some have a higher risk of currency devaluations. Due to the differences in the nature and quality of financial information of issuers of emerging market securities, including auditing and financial reporting standards, financial information and disclosures about such issuers may be unavailable or, if made available, may be considerably less reliable than publicly available information about other foreign securities.
Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) Risk.
Investments in ETFs have unique characteristics, including, but not limited to, the expense structure and additional expenses associated with investing in ETFs. ETFs are subject to, among other risks, tracking risk and passive and, in some cases, active investment risk. In addition, shareholders bear both their proportionate share of the Fund’s expenses, and indirectly the ETF’s expenses, incurred through the Fund’s ownership of the ETF. Due to the expenses and costs of an underlying ETF being shared by its investors, redemptions by other investors in the ETF could result in decreased economies of scale and increased operating expenses for such ETF. The ETFs may not achieve their investment objective. The Fund, through its investment in ETFs, may not achieve its investment objective.
Foreign Currency Risk.
The performance of the Fund may be materially affected positively or negatively by foreign currency strength or weakness relative to the U.S. dollar, particularly if the Fund invests a significant percentage of its assets in foreign securities or other assets denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar.
Foreign Securities Risk.
Investments in or exposure to foreign securities involve certain risks not associated with investments in or exposure to securities of U.S. companies. Foreign securities subject the Fund to the risks associated with investing in the particular country of an issuer, including political, regulatory, economic, social, diplomatic and other conditions or events (including, for example, military confrontations, war, terrorism and disease/virus outbreaks and epidemics), occurring in the country or region, as well as risks associated with less developed custody and settlement practices. Foreign securities may be more volatile and less liquid than securities of U.S. companies, and are subject to the risks associated with potential imposition of economic and other sanctions against a particular foreign country, its nationals or industries or businesses within the country. In addition, foreign governments may impose withholding or other taxes on the Fund’s income, capital gains or proceeds from the disposition of foreign securities, which could reduce the Fund’s return on such securities.
Forward Commitments on Mortgage-Backed Securities (including Dollar Rolls) Risk.
When purchasing mortgage-backed securities in the “to be announced” (TBA) market (MBS TBAs), the seller agrees to deliver mortgage-backed securities for an agreed upon price on an agreed upon date, but may make no guarantee as to the specific securities to be delivered. In lieu of taking delivery of mortgage-backed securities, the Fund could enter into dollar rolls, which are transactions in which the Fund sells securities to a counterparty and simultaneously agrees to purchase those or similar securities in the future at a predetermined price. Dollar rolls involve the risk that the market value of the securities the Fund is obligated to repurchase may decline below the repurchase price, or that the counterparty may default on its obligations. These transactions may also increase the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate. If the Fund reinvests the proceeds of the security sold, the Fund will also be subject to the risk that the investments purchased with such proceeds will decline in value (a form of leverage risk). MBS TBAs and dollar rolls are subject to the risk that the counterparty to the transaction may not perform or be unable to perform in accordance with the terms of the instrument.
Frequent Trading Risk.
The portfolio managers may actively and frequently trade investments in the Fund's portfolio to carry out its investment strategies. Frequent trading of investments increases the possibility that the Fund, as relevant, will realize taxable capital gains (including short-term capital gains, which are generally taxable to shareholders at higher rates than long-term capital gains for U.S. federal income tax purposes), which could reduce the Fund's after-tax return. Frequent trading can also mean higher brokerage and other transaction costs, which could reduce the Fund's return. The trading costs and tax effects associated with portfolio turnover may adversely affect the Fund’s performance.
| 8 | Prospectus 2021 |
Multi-Manager Total Return Bond Strategies Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
High-Yield Investments Risk.
Securities and other debt instruments held by the Fund that are rated below investment grade (commonly called “high-yield” or “junk” bonds) and unrated debt instruments of comparable quality expose the Fund to a greater risk of loss of principal and income than a fund that invests solely or primarily in investment grade debt instruments. In addition, these investments have greater price fluctuations, are less liquid and are more likely to experience a default than higher-rated debt instruments. High-yield debt instruments are considered to be predominantly speculative with respect to the issuer’s capacity to pay interest and repay principal.
Impairment of Collateral Risk.
The value of collateral, if any, securing a loan can decline, and may be insufficient to meet the borrower’s obligations or difficult or costly to liquidate. In addition, the Fund’s access to collateral may be limited by bankruptcy or other insolvency laws. Further, certain floating rate and other loans may not be fully collateralized and may decline in value.
Interest Rate Risk.
Interest rate risk is the risk of losses attributable to changes in interest rates. In general, if prevailing interest rates rise, the values of loans and other debt instruments tend to fall, and if interest rates fall, the values of loans and other debt instruments tend to rise. Changes in the value of a debt instrument usually will not affect the amount of income the Fund receives from it but will generally affect the value of your investment in the Fund. Changes in interest rates may also affect the liquidity of the Fund’s investments in debt instruments. In general, the longer the maturity or duration of a debt instrument, the greater its sensitivity to changes in interest rates. Interest rate declines also may increase prepayments of debt obligations, which, in turn, would increase prepayment risk. Very low or negative interest rates may impact the Fund’s yield and may increase the risk that, if followed by rising interest rates, the Fund’s performance will be negatively impacted. The Fund is subject to the risk that the income generated by its investments may not keep pace with inflation. Actions by governments and central banking authorities can result in increases or decreases in interest rates. Such actions may negatively affect the value of debt instruments held by the Fund, resulting in a negative impact on the Fund's performance and NAV. Debt instruments with floating coupon rates are typically less sensitive to interest rate changes, but these debt instruments may decline in value if their coupon rates do not rise as much as, or keep pace with, yields on such types of debt instruments. Because rates on certain floating rate loans and other debt instruments reset only periodically, changes in prevailing interest rates (and particularly sudden and significant changes) can be expected to cause fluctuations in the Fund’s NAV. Any interest rate increases could cause the value of the Fund’s investments in debt instruments to decrease. Rising interest rates may prompt redemptions from the Fund, which may force the Fund to sell investments at a time when it is not advantageous to do so, which could result in losses.
Issuer Risk.
An issuer in which the Fund invests or to which it has exposure may perform poorly or below expectations, and the value of its loans or securities may therefore decline, which may negatively affect the Fund’s performance. Underperformance of an issuer may be caused by poor management decisions, competitive pressures, breakthroughs in technology, reliance on suppliers, labor problems or shortages, corporate restructurings, fraudulent disclosures, natural disasters, military confrontations, war, terrorism, disease/virus outbreaks, epidemics or other events, conditions and factors which may impair the value of an investment in the Fund.
LIBOR Replacement Risk.
The elimination of London Inter-Bank Offered Rate (LIBOR), among other “inter-bank offered” reference rates, may adversely affect the interest rates on, and value of, certain Fund investments for which the value is tied to LIBOR. Alternatives to LIBOR have been established or are in development in most major currencies including the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR) that is intended to replace U.S. dollar LIBOR. Markets are slowly developing in response to these new reference rates. Uncertainty related to the liquidity impact of the change in rates, and how to appropriately adjust these rates at the time of transition, poses risks for the Fund. These risks are likely to persist until new reference rates and fallbacks for both legacy and new instruments and contracts are commercially accepted and market practices become settled.
Liquidity Risk.
Liquidity risk is the risk associated with any event, circumstance, or characteristic of an investment or market that negatively impacts the Fund’s ability to sell, or realize the proceeds from the sale of, an investment at a desirable time or price. Liquidity risk may arise because of, for example, a lack of marketability of the investment, which means that when seeking to sell its portfolio investments, the Fund could find that selling is more difficult than anticipated, especially during times of high market volatility. Decreases in the number of financial institutions, including banks and broker-dealers, willing to make markets (match up sellers and buyers) in the Fund’s investments or decreases in their capacity or willingness to trade such investments may increase the Fund’s exposure to this risk.
| Prospectus 2021 | 9 |
Multi-Manager Total Return Bond Strategies Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
The debt market has experienced considerable growth, and financial institutions making markets in instruments purchased and sold by the Fund (e.g., bond dealers) have been subject to increased regulation. The impact of that growth and regulation on the ability and willingness of financial institutions to engage in trading or “making a market” in such instruments remains unsettled. Certain types of investments, such as lower-rated securities or those that are purchased and sold in over-the-counter markets, may be especially subject to liquidity risk. Securities or other assets in which the Fund invests may be traded in the over-the-counter market rather than on an exchange and therefore may be more difficult to purchase or sell at a fair price, which may have a negative impact on the Fund’s performance. Market participants attempting to sell the same or a similar instrument at the same time as the Fund could exacerbate the Fund’s exposure to liquidity risk. The Fund may have to accept a lower selling price for the holding, sell other liquid or more liquid investments that it might otherwise prefer to hold (thereby increasing the proportion of the Fund’s investments in less liquid or illiquid securities), or forego another more appealing investment opportunity. The liquidity of Fund investments may change significantly over time and certain investments that were liquid when purchased by the Fund may later become illiquid, particularly in times of overall economic distress. Changing regulatory, market or other conditions or environments (for example, the interest rate or credit environments) may also adversely affect the liquidity and the price of the Fund's investments. Judgment plays a larger role in valuing illiquid or less liquid investments as compared to valuing liquid or more liquid investments. Price volatility may be higher for illiquid or less liquid investments as a result of, for example, the relatively less frequent pricing of such securities (as compared to liquid or more liquid investments). Generally, the less liquid the market at the time the Fund sells a portfolio investment, the greater the risk of loss or decline of value to the Fund. Overall market liquidity and other factors can lead to an increase in redemptions, which may negatively impact Fund performance and NAV, including, for example, if the Fund is forced to sell investments in a down market. Floating rate loans generally are subject to legal or contractual restrictions on resale, may trade infrequently, their value may be impaired when the Fund needs to liquidate such loans, and are typically subject to extended settlement periods, each of which gives rise to liquidity risk.
Loan Interests Risk.
Loan interests may not be considered “securities,” and purchasers, such as the Fund, therefore may not be entitled to rely on the anti-fraud protections of the federal securities laws. Loan interests generally are subject to restrictions on transfer, and the Fund may be unable to sell its loan interests at a time when it may otherwise be desirable to do so or may be able to sell them only at prices that are less than what the Fund regards as their fair market value. Accordingly, loan interests may at times be illiquid. Loan interests may be difficult to value and typically have extended settlement periods (generally greater than 7 days). Extended settlement periods during significant Fund redemption activity could potentially cause increased short-term liquidity demands on the Fund. As a result, the Fund may be forced to sell investments at unfavorable prices, or borrow money or effect short settlements where possible (at a cost to the Fund), in an effort to generate sufficient cash to pay redeeming shareholders. The Fund’s actions in this regard may not be successful. Interests in loans created to finance highly leveraged companies or transactions, such as corporate acquisitions, may be especially vulnerable to adverse changes in economic or market conditions. Interests in secured loans have the benefit of collateral and, typically, of restrictive covenants limiting the ability of the borrower to further encumber its assets. There is a risk that the value of any collateral securing a loan in which the Fund has an interest may decline and that the collateral may not be sufficient to cover the amount owed on the loan. In the event the borrower defaults, the Fund’s access to the collateral may be limited or delayed by bankruptcy or other insolvency laws. Further, there is a risk that a court could take action with respect to a loan that is adverse to the holders of the loan, and the Fund, to enforce its rights in the event of a default, bankruptcy or similar situation, may need to retain legal or similar counsel. This may increase the Fund’s operating expenses and adversely affect its NAV. Loans that have a lower priority for repayment in an issuer’s capital structure may involve a higher degree of overall risk than more senior loans of the same borrower. In the event of a default, second lien secured loans will generally be paid only if the value of the collateral exceeds the amount of the borrower’s obligations to the first lien secured lenders, and the remaining collateral may not be sufficient to cover the full amount owed on the loan in which the Fund has an interest. The Fund may acquire a participation interest in a loan that is held by another party. When the Fund’s loan interest is a participation, the Fund may have less control over the exercise of remedies than the party selling the participation interest, and it normally would not have any direct rights against the borrower.
| 10 | Prospectus 2021 |
Multi-Manager Total Return Bond Strategies Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
Market Risk.
The Fund may incur losses due to declines in the value of one or more securities in which it invests. These declines may be due to factors affecting a particular issuer, or the result of, among other things, political, regulatory, market, economic or social developments affecting the relevant market(s) more generally. In addition, turbulence in financial markets and reduced liquidity in equity, credit and/or fixed income markets may negatively affect many issuers, which could adversely affect the Fund, including causing difficulty in assigning prices to hard-to-value assets in thinly traded and closed markets, significant redemptions and operational challenges. Global economies and financial markets are increasingly interconnected, and conditions and events in one country, region or financial market may adversely impact issuers in a different country, region or financial market. These risks may be magnified if certain events or developments adversely interrupt the global supply chain; in these and other circumstances, such risks might affect companies worldwide. As a result, local, regional or global events such as terrorism, war, natural disasters, disease/virus outbreaks and epidemics or other public health issues, recessions, depressions or other events – or the potential for such events – could have a significant negative impact on global economic and market conditions.
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) public health crisis has become a pandemic that has resulted in, and may continue to result in, significant global economic and societal disruption and market volatility due to disruptions in market access, resource availability, facilities operations, imposition of tariffs, export controls and supply chain disruption, among others. Such disruptions may be caused, or exacerbated by, quarantines and travel restrictions, workforce displacement and loss in human and other resources. The uncertainty surrounding the magnitude, duration, reach, costs and effects of the global pandemic, as well as actions that have been or could be taken by governmental authorities or other third parties, present unknowns that are yet to unfold. The impacts, as well as the uncertainty over impacts to come, of COVID-19 – and any other infectious illness outbreaks, epidemics and pandemics that may arise in the future – could negatively affect global economies and markets in ways that cannot necessarily be foreseen. In addition, the impact of infectious illness outbreaks and epidemics in emerging market countries may be greater due to generally less established healthcare systems, governments and financial markets. Public health crises caused by the COVID-19 outbreak may exacerbate other pre-existing political, social and economic risks in certain countries or globally. The disruptions caused by COVID-19 could prevent the Fund from executing advantageous investment decisions in a timely manner and negatively impact the Fund’s ability to achieve its investment objective. Any such event(s) could have a significant adverse impact on the value and risk profile of the Fund.
Money Market Fund Investment Risk.
An investment in a money market fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by any bank, the FDIC or any other government agency. Certain money market funds float their NAV while others seek to preserve the value of investments at a stable NAV (typically, $1.00 per share). An investment in a money market fund, even an investment in a fund seeking to maintain a stable NAV per share, is not guaranteed and it is possible for the Fund to lose money by investing in these and other types of money market funds. If the liquidity of a money market fund’s portfolio deteriorates below certain levels, the money market fund may suspend redemptions (i.e., impose a redemption gate) and thereby prevent the Fund from selling its investment in the money market fund or impose a fee of up to 2% on amounts the Fund redeems from the money market fund (i.e., impose a liquidity fee). These measures may result in an investment loss or prohibit the Fund from redeeming shares when the Investment Manager would otherwise redeem shares. In addition to the fees and expenses that the Fund directly bears, the Fund indirectly bears the fees and expenses of any money market funds in which it invests, including affiliated money market funds. By investing in a money market fund, the Fund will be exposed to the investment risks of the money market fund in direct proportion to such investment. To the extent the Fund invests in instruments such as derivatives, the Fund may hold investments, which may be significant, in money market fund shares to cover its obligations resulting from the Fund’s investments in derivatives. Money market funds and the securities they invest in are subject to comprehensive regulations. The enactment of new legislation or regulations, as well as changes in interpretation and enforcement of current laws, may affect the manner of operation, performance and/or yield of money market funds.
Mortgage- and Other Asset-Backed Securities Risk.
The value of any mortgage-backed and other asset-backed securities including collateralized debt obligations and collateralized loan obligations, if any, held by the Fund may be affected by, among other things, changes or perceived changes in: interest rates; factors concerning the interests in
| Prospectus 2021 | 11 |
Multi-Manager Total Return Bond Strategies Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
and structure of the issuer or the originator of the mortgages or other assets; the creditworthiness of the entities that provide any supporting letters of credit, surety bonds or other credit enhancements; or the market's assessment of the quality of underlying assets. Payment of principal and interest on some mortgage-backed securities (but not the market value of the securities themselves) may be guaranteed by the full faith and credit of a particular U.S. Government agency, authority, enterprise or instrumentality, and some, but not all, are also insured or guaranteed by the U.S. Government. Mortgage-backed securities issued by non-governmental issuers (such as commercial banks, savings and loan institutions, private mortgage insurance companies, mortgage bankers and other secondary market issuers) may entail greater risk than obligations guaranteed by the U.S. Government. Mortgage- and other asset-backed securities are subject to liquidity risk and prepayment risk. A decline or flattening of housing values may cause delinquencies in mortgages (especially sub-prime or non-prime mortgages) underlying mortgage-backed securities and thereby adversely affect the ability of the mortgage-backed securities issuer to make principal and/or interest payments to mortgage-backed securities holders, including the Fund. Rising or high interest rates tend to extend the duration of mortgage- and other asset-backed securities, making their prices more volatile and more sensitive to changes in interest rates.
Multi-Adviser Risk.
The Fund has multiple advisory firms that each manage a portion of the Fund’s net assets on a daily basis. Each adviser makes investment decisions independently from the other adviser(s). It is possible that the security selection process of one adviser will not complement or may conflict or even contradict that of the other adviser(s), including making off-setting trades that have no net effect to the Fund, but which may increase Fund expenses. As a result, the Fund's exposure to a given security, industry, sector or market capitalization could be smaller or larger than if the Fund were managed by a single adviser, which could adversely affect the Fund's performance.
Prepayment and Extension Risk.
Prepayment and extension risk is the risk that a loan, bond or other security or investment might, in the case of prepayment risk, be called or otherwise converted, prepaid or redeemed before maturity and, in the case of extension risk, that the investment might not be called as expected. In the case of prepayment risk, if the investment is converted, prepaid or redeemed before maturity, the portfolio managers may not be able to invest the proceeds in other investments providing as high a level of income, resulting in a reduced yield to the Fund. In the case of mortgage- or other asset-backed securities, as interest rates decrease or spreads narrow, the likelihood of prepayment increases. Conversely, extension risk is the risk that an unexpected rise in interest rates will extend the life of a mortgage- or other asset-backed security beyond the prepayment time. If the Fund’s investments are locked in at a lower interest rate for a longer period of time, the portfolio managers may be unable to capitalize on securities with higher interest rates or wider spreads.
Quantitative Model Risk.
Quantitative models used by the Fund may not effectively identify purchases and sales of Fund investments and may cause the Fund to underperform other investment strategies. Flaws or errors in the quantitative model’s assumptions, design, execution, or data inputs may adversely affect Fund performance. Quantitative models may not perform as expected and may underperform in certain market environments including in stressed or volatile market conditions. There can be no assurance that the use of quantitative models will enable the Fund to achieve its objective.
Reinvestment Risk.
Reinvestment risk arises when the Fund is unable to reinvest income or principal at the same or at least the same return it is currently earning.
Rule 144A and Other Exempted Securities Risk.
The Fund may invest in privately placed and other securities or instruments exempt from SEC registration (collectively “private placements”), subject to certain regulatory restrictions. In the U.S. market, private placements are typically sold only to qualified institutional buyers, or qualified purchasers, as applicable. An insufficient number of buyers interested in purchasing private placements at a particular time could adversely affect the marketability of such investments and the Fund might be unable to dispose of them promptly or at reasonable prices, subjecting the Fund to liquidity risk. The Fund’s holdings of private placements may increase the level of Fund illiquidity if eligible buyers are unable or unwilling to purchase them at a particular time. Issuers of Rule 144A eligible securities are required to furnish information to potential investors upon request. However, the required disclosure is much less extensive than that required of public companies and is not
| 12 | Prospectus 2021 |
Multi-Manager Total Return Bond Strategies Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
publicly available since the offering information is not filed with the SEC. Further, issuers of Rule 144A eligible securities can require recipients of the offering information (such as the Fund) to agree contractually to keep the information confidential, which could also adversely affect the Fund’s ability to dispose of the security.
Sovereign Debt Risk.
A sovereign debtor’s willingness or ability to repay principal and pay interest in a timely manner may be affected by a variety of factors, including its cash flow situation, the extent of its reserves, the availability of sufficient foreign exchange on the date a payment is due, the relative size of the debt service burden to the economy as a whole, the sovereign debtor’s policy toward international lenders, and the political constraints to which a sovereign debtor may be subject. Sovereign debt risk is increased for emerging market issuers.
Stripped Mortgage-Backed Securities Risk.
Stripped mortgage-backed securities are a type of mortgage-backed security that receive differing proportions of the interest and principal payments from the underlying assets. Generally, there are two classes of stripped mortgage-backed securities: Interest Only (IO) and Principal Only (PO). IOs entitle the holder to receive distributions consisting of all or a portion of the interest on the underlying pool of mortgage loans or mortgage-backed securities. POs entitle the holder to receive distributions consisting of all or a portion of the principal of the underlying pool of mortgage loans or mortgage-backed securities. The cash flows and yields on IOs and POs are extremely sensitive to the rate of principal payments (including prepayments) on the underlying mortgage loans or mortgage-backed securities. A rapid rate of principal payments may adversely affect the yield to maturity of IOs. A slow rate of principal payments may adversely affect the yield to maturity of POs. If prepayments of principal are greater than anticipated, an investor in IOs may incur substantial losses. If prepayments of principal are slower than anticipated, the yield on a PO will be affected more severely than would be the case with a traditional mortgage-backed security.
U.S. Government Obligations Risk.
While U.S. Treasury obligations are backed by the “full faith and credit” of the U.S. Government, such securities are nonetheless subject to credit risk (i.e., the risk that the U.S. Government may be, or be perceived to be, unable or unwilling to honor its financial obligations, such as making payments). Securities issued or guaranteed by federal agencies or authorities and U.S. Government-sponsored instrumentalities or enterprises may or may not be backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. Government.
Performance Information
The following bar chart and table show you how the Fund has performed in the past, and can help you understand the risks of investing in the Fund. The bar chart shows how the Fund’s Class Inst share performance has varied for each full calendar year shown. Class Inst share performance is shown in the bar chart because Class Inst shares are the oldest share class currently offered by the Fund.
The table below the bar chart compares the Fund’s returns for the periods shown with a broad measure of market performance.
The performance of one or more share classes shown in the table below begins before the indicated inception date for such share class. The returns shown for such share class include the returns of the Fund’s Class A shares for the period from April 20, 2012 (the Fund's inception date) through January 2, 2017, and of the Fund's Class Inst shares for the period from January 3, 2017 through the inception date of such share class. Additionally, the returns shown in the bar chart include the performance of the Fund’s Class A shares for the period from January 1, 2013 through January 2, 2017 (performance of Class Inst shares is shown for all other periods since the Fund no longer offers Class A shares). Class A shares were offered prior to the inception date of the Fund’s Class Inst shares but have since been merged into the Fund’s Class Inst shares. Except for differences in annual returns resulting from differences in expenses (where applicable), the share classes of the Fund would have substantially similar annual returns because all share classes of the Fund invest in the same portfolio of securities.
The after-tax returns shown in the
table below are calculated using the highest historical individual U.S. federal marginal income tax rates in effect during the period indicated in the table and do not reflect the impact of state, local or foreign taxes.
Your actual after-tax returns will depend on your personal tax situation and may differ from those shown in the table.
In addition, the after-tax returns shown in the table do not
Average Annual Total Returns
| Prospectus 2021 | 13 |
Multi-Manager Total Return Bond Strategies Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
apply to shares held in tax-advantaged accounts such as 401(k) plans or Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs).
The after-tax returns are shown only for Class Inst shares and will vary for other share classes.
After-tax returns are shown for Class Inst shares because Class Inst shares are the oldest share class currently offered by the Fund.
The Fund’s performance prior to October 2018 reflects returns achieved pursuant to different principal investment strategies. If the Fund’s current principal investment strategies had been in place for the prior periods, results shown may have been different.
The Fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) is no guarantee of how the Fund will perform in the future.
Updated performance information can be obtained by calling toll-free 800.345.6611 or visiting columbiathreadneedleus.com.
|
Year by Year Total Return (%)
as of December 31 Each Year* |
Best and Worst Quarterly Returns
During the Period Shown in the Bar Chart |
||
|
Best
|
2nd Quarter 2019
|
3.42
%
|
|
Worst
|
4th Quarter 2016
|
-2.72
%
|
|
| * | Year to Date return as of September 30, 2020: 6.87% |
Average Annual Total Returns (for periods ended December 31, 2019)
|
Share Class
Inception Date |
1 Year
|
5 Years*
|
Life of Fund*
|
|
|
Class Inst
|
01/03/2017 | |||
| returns before taxes | 9.07% | 2.98% | 3.00% | |
| returns after taxes on distributions | 7.64% | 1.76% | 1.87% | |
| returns after taxes on distributions and sale of Fund shares | 5.40% | 1.73% | 1.80% | |
|
Class Inst3
returns before taxes
|
12/18/2019 | 8.95% | 2.96% | 2.98% |
|
Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index
(reflects no deductions for fees, expenses or taxes)
|
8.72% | 3.05% | 2.86% |
| * | Returns shown for periods prior to the inception date of the Fund's Class Inst shares include the returns of the Fund's Class A shares for the period from April 20, 2012 (the Fund's inception date) through January 2, 2017, and of the Fund's Class Inst shares for the period from January 3, 2017 through the inception date of such share class, as applicable. Class A shares were offered prior to the inception date of the Fund's Class Inst shares but have since been merged into the Fund's Class Inst shares. |
Fund Management
Subadviser:
Loomis, Sayles & Company, L.P. (Loomis Sayles)
|
Portfolio Manager
|
Title
|
Role with Fund
|
Managed Fund Since
|
|||
| Christopher Harms | Vice President of Loomis Sayles | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2016 | |||
| Clifton Rowe, CFA | Vice President of Loomis Sayles | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2016 | |||
| Daniel Conklin, CFA | Vice President of Loomis Sayles | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2019 |
Subadviser:
PGIM, Inc., the asset management arm of Prudential Financial (PGIM Fixed Income)
| 14 | Prospectus 2021 |
Multi-Manager Total Return Bond Strategies Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
|
Portfolio Manager
|
Title
|
Role with Fund
|
Managed Fund Since
|
|||
| Michael Collins, CFA | Managing Director and Senior Portfolio Manager for PGIM Fixed Income | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2016 | |||
| Robert Tipp, CFA | Managing Director, Chief Investment Strategist and Head of Global Bonds for PGIM Fixed Income | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2016 | |||
| Richard Piccirillo | Managing Director and Senior Portfolio Manager for PGIM Fixed Income | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2016 | |||
| Gregory Peters | Managing Director and Head of PGIM Fixed Income’s Multi-Sector and Strategy | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2016 |
Subadviser:
TCW Investment Management Company LLC (TCW)
|
Portfolio Manager
|
Title
|
Role with Fund
|
Managed Fund Since
|
|||
| Stephen Kane, CFA | Group Managing Director of TCW | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2012 | |||
| Laird Landmann | Co-Director of Fixed Income and Group Managing Director of TCW | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2012 | |||
| Tad Rivelle | Group Managing Director and Chief Investment Officer – Fixed Income of TCW since December 2009 | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2012 | |||
| Bryan Whalen, CFA | Group Managing Director of TCW | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2013 |
Subadviser:
Voya Investment Management Co. LLC (Voya)
|
Portfolio Manager
|
Title
|
Role with Fund
|
Managed Fund Since
|
|||
| Matthew Toms, CFA | Chief Investment Officer, Fixed Income of Voya | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2018 | |||
| Randall Parrish, CFA | Head of Credit of Voya | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2018 | |||
| David Goodson | Head of Securitized of Voya | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2018 |
Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares
Fund shares are offered only through certain wrap fee programs sponsored and/or managed by Ameriprise Financial, Inc. or its affiliates, and to group retirement plan recordkeeping platforms that have an agreement with (i) Columbia Management Investment Distributors, Inc. or an affiliate thereof that specifically authorizes the group retirement plan recordkeeper to offer and/or service Class Inst3 shares within such platform, provided also that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account and (ii) Wilshire Associates, appointed or serving as investment manager or consultant to the recordkeeper’s group retirement plan platform. Fund shares are sold in accordance with the terms of the account through which you invested in the Fund and redeemed in accordance with the terms of the Fund’s prospectus. There is a $100 minimum initial investment and no minimum additional investment.
Generally, you may only exchange a share class of a Multi-Manager Strategies Fund for the same class of shares, if available, of another Multi-Manager Strategies Fund. Please refer to the
section of the prospectus for more information on exchangeability.
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares — Exchanging Shares
Tax Information
The Fund normally distributes net investment income and net realized capital gains, if any, to shareholders. These distributions are generally taxable to you as ordinary income or capital gains, unless you are investing through a tax-advantaged account, such as a 401(k) plan or an IRA. If you are investing through a tax-advantaged account, you may be taxed upon withdrawals from that account.
Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
If you purchase the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), the Fund and its related companies — including Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC (the Investment Manager), Columbia Management Investment Distributors, Inc. (the Distributor) and Columbia Management Investment Services Corp. (the Transfer Agent) — may pay the intermediary for the sale of Fund shares and related services. These payments
| Prospectus 2021 | 15 |
Multi-Manager Total Return Bond Strategies Fund
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your financial advisor to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your financial advisor or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.
| 16 | Prospectus 2021 |
Multi-Manager Total Return Bond Strategies Fund
More Information About the Fund
Investment Objective
Multi-Manager Total Return Bond Strategies Fund (the Fund) seeks total return, consisting of capital appreciation and current income. The Fund’s investment objective is not a fundamental policy and may be changed by the Fund’s Board of Trustees without shareholder approval. Because any investment involves risk, there is no assurance the Fund’s investment objective will be achieved.
Principal Investment Strategies
The Fund pursues its investment objective by allocating the Fund's assets among different asset managers that use various investment styles to invest in bonds and other debt instruments. The Fund's investment manager, Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC (Columbia Management or the Investment Manager), and investment subadvisers (Subadvisers) each provide day-to-day portfolio management of a portion of the Fund's assets, or sleeve of the Fund. Columbia Management and the Subadvisers employ investment styles and processes that, in the aggregate, are intended to complement the strategies of one another in pursuit of the Fund's investment objective.
Columbia Management is responsible for providing day-to-day portfolio management of a sleeve of the Fund and is also responsible for oversight of the Fund's Subadvisers. The Subadvisers are Loomis, Sayles & Company, L.P. (Loomis Sayles), PGIM, Inc., the asset management arm of Prudential Financial (PGIM Fixed Income), TCW Investment Management Company LLC (TCW), and Voya Investment Management Co. LLC (Voya). Columbia Management, subject to the oversight of the Fund's Board of Trustees, determines the allocation of the Fund's assets to each sleeve, and may change these allocations at any time. Columbia Management and the Subadvisers act independently of one another and use their own methodologies for selecting investments.
Under normal market conditions, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets (including the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes) in bonds and other debt securities, including debt securities issued by the U.S. Government, its agencies, instrumentalities or sponsored corporations, debt securities issued by corporations, mortgage- and other asset-backed securities, dollar-denominated securities issued by foreign governments, companies or other entities, bank loans and other obligations. Other obligations include any other security or instrument in which there is a requirement or obligation to repay money borrowed. For purposes of its 80% test, the Fund treats investment in loans as “debt securities,” even though loans may not be “securities” under certain of the federal securities laws. The Fund may invest up to 20% of its net assets in debt instruments that, at the time of purchase, are rated below investment grade or are unrated but determined to be of comparable quality (commonly referred to as “high-yield” investments or “junk” bonds).
The Fund may invest in fixed income securities of any maturity and does not seek to maintain a particular dollar-weighted average maturity or duration at the Fund level. The Fund’s dollar-weighted average maturity and duration will vary over time depending on expectations for market and economic conditions. A bond is issued with a specific maturity date, which is the date when the issuer must pay back the bond’s principal (face value). Bond maturities range from less than 1 year to more than 30 years. Typically, the longer a bond’s maturity, the more price risk the Fund and the Fund’s investors face as interest rates rise, but the Fund could receive a higher yield in return for that longer maturity and higher interest rate risk. Duration measures the sensitivity of bond prices to changes in interest rates. The longer the duration of a bond, the more sensitive it will be to changes in interest rates. For example, a three-year duration means a bond is expected to decrease in value by 3% if interest rates rise 1% and increase in value by 3% if interest rates fall 1%.
Up to 25% of the Fund's net assets may be invested in foreign investments (including in emerging markets), which may include investments of up to 20% of the Fund’s assets in non-U.S. dollar denominated securities. In connection with its strategy relating to foreign investments, the Fund may buy or sell foreign currencies in lieu of or in addition to non-dollar denominated fixed-income securities in order to increase or decrease its exposure to foreign interest rate and/or currency markets.
The Fund may invest in derivatives, including forward contracts (including forward foreign currency contracts), futures contracts (including currency futures, index futures (including fixed income index and volatility index futures), interest rate futures and other bond futures), inverse variable- or floating-rate obligations (commonly referred to as inverse floaters), options (including options on futures contracts and interest rate options), options on swaps (commonly
| Prospectus 2021 | 17 |
Multi-Manager Total Return Bond Strategies Fund
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
known as swaptions), and swaps (including credit default swaps, credit default swap indexes, interest rate swaps, and total return swaps). The Fund may use derivatives in an effort to produce incremental earnings, to hedge existing positions, to increase market or credit exposure and investment flexibility (including using the derivative as a substitute for the purchase or sale of the underlying security, currency or other asset), to manage credit and interest rate exposure, and/or to manage duration and yield curve of the Fund or a sleeve of the Fund.
The Fund’s investments in mortgage-related securities include investments in stripped mortgage-backed securities such as interest-only (IO) and principal-only (PO) securities. The Fund may also invest in exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
The Fund may purchase or sell securities on a when-issued, delayed delivery or forward commitment basis. Such securities may include mortgage-backed securities acquired or sold in the “to be announced” (TBA) market and those in a dollar roll transaction.
The Fund may invest in privately placed and other securities or instruments that are purchased and sold pursuant to Rule 144A or other exemptions under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, subject to certain regulatory restrictions.
The Fund may also hold/invest in cash, money market instruments (which may include investments in one or more affiliated or unaffiliated money market funds or similar vehicles) or other high-quality, short-term investments, including for the purpose of covering its obligations with respect to, or that may result from, the Fund’s investments in derivatives.
Each sleeve manager’s investment strategy may involve the frequent trading of portfolio securities.
Loomis Sayles Sleeve
In deciding which securities to buy and sell, Loomis Sayles may consider a number of factors related to the bond issue and the current bond market, including, for example, the stability and volatility of a country’s bond markets, the financial strength of the issuer, current interest rates, current valuations, Loomis Sayles’ expectations regarding general trends in interest rates and currency considerations. Loomis Sayles also considers how purchasing or selling a bond could impact the sleeve’s overall risk profile (for example, its sensitivity to currency risk, interest rate risk and sector-specific risk) and potential return (income and capital gains).
Three themes typically drive Loomis Sayles’ investment approach. First, Loomis Sayles generally seeks fixed-income securities from across the different sectors of the U.S. investment grade bond market with yields that appear attractive based on the fundamentals of the issuer and the issue, such as credit quality, maturity, covenant features, and prepayment risk. Loomis Sayles’ research team utilizes fundamental and quantitative analysis in its investment process and produces internally generated ratings on issuers worldwide. This broad coverage is an important component of the investment approach. Second, Loomis Sayles is, within the portion of Fund assets allocated to it, mindful of broad exposure across issuers, industries, and sectors of the U.S. investment grade bond market. Third, Loomis Sayles analyzes the fundamentals of different sectors of the market and differences in their yields in an effort to emphasize those sectors of the market that it believes may produce attractive returns relative to their risk.
PGIM Fixed Income Sleeve
With respect to its sleeve, PGIM Fixed Income invests in fixed-income securities across different sectors of the fixed-income securities markets. PGIM Fixed Income has a team of fixed-income professionals, including credit analysts and traders, with experience in many sectors of the U.S. and foreign fixed-income securities markets. PGIM Fixed Income utilizes an investment process that emphasizes active sector allocation and bottom-up research based sub-sector and security selection. These strategies are combined with active management of duration, yield curve and currency. Risk budgeting is also a key aspect of the investment approach.
In managing the sleeve’s assets, PGIM Fixed Income uses a combination of top-down economic analysis and bottom-up research in conjunction with proprietary quantitative models and risk management systems. In the top-down economic analysis, PGIM Fixed Income develops views on economic, policy and market trends by continually evaluating economic data that affect the movement of markets and securities prices. This top-down macroeconomic analysis is integrated into PGIM Fixed Income’s bottom-up research which informs security selection. In its bottom-up
| 18 | Prospectus 2021 |
Multi-Manager Total Return Bond Strategies Fund
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
research, PGIM Fixed Income develops an internal rating and outlook on issuers. The rating and outlook is determined based on a thorough review of the financial health and trends of the issuer, which include a review of the composition of revenue, profitability, cash flow margin, and leverage.
PGIM Fixed Income may also consider investment factors such as expected total return, yield, spread and potential for price appreciation as well as credit quality, maturity and risk. PGIM Fixed Income may invest in a security based upon the expected total return rather than the yield of such security.
PGIM Fixed Income may also utilize proprietary quantitative tools to support relative value trading and asset allocation for portfolio management as well as various risk models to support risk management.
TCW Sleeve
With respect to its sleeve, TCW seeks to enhance the Fund's performance through the measured and diversified application of five fixed income management strategies: (1) duration management, (2) yield curve positioning, (3) sector allocation, (4) security selection, and (5) opportunistic execution. TCW's investment philosophy is predicated on a long-term economic outlook, and investments are characterized by diversification among the sectors of the fixed income marketplace. In seeking to identify undervalued securities, TCW focuses on such investment metrics as current yield, potential for price appreciation, position in capital structure relative to other creditors, yield to maturity, rating, duration, and liquidity. The most important facet of TCW's portfolio construction process is the application of independent, bottom-up research in an effort to identify securities that are undervalued and that offer a superior risk/return profile. TCW seeks to control risk through a variety of techniques including diversification, duration constraints, and quantitative scenario analysis. Under normal market conditions, TCW seeks to construct for its sleeve an investment portfolio with a weighted average effective duration of no more than eight years.
TCW may sell portfolio securities when it determines to take advantage of a better investment opportunity because TCW believes that its current portfolio securities within its sleeve no longer represent relatively attractive investment opportunities.
Voya Sleeve
With respect to its sleeve, Voya believes that relationships between the drivers of debt instrument returns change over time and that recognizing this is key to managing debt instrument assets. In deciding what securities to buy and sell, Voya employs a dynamic investment process that seeks to balance top-down macro-economic considerations and fundamental bottom-up analysis, focusing on sector allocation, security selection, duration and yield curve management, and risk management. Voya also leverages proprietary qualitative analysis along with quantitative tools throughout the portfolio construction process.
Voya may sell securities for a variety of reasons, such as to secure gains, limit losses, or redeploy assets into opportunities believed to be more promising.
Columbia Management — Liquidity Strategy Sleeve
Columbia Management is responsible for managing cash flows into and out of the Fund resulting from the purchase and redemption of Fund shares. Columbia Management typically invests this sleeve in U.S. government securities, high-quality, short-term debt instruments (including investments in affiliated or unaffiliated money market funds), ETFs, futures (including index futures and interest rate futures), and swaps (including credit default swaps and interest rate swaps). Columbia Management may also use these instruments to manage the Fund’s overall risk exposure.
The Fund’s investment policy with respect to 80% of its net assets may be changed by the Fund’s Board of Trustees without shareholder approval as long as shareholders are given 60 days’ advance written notice of the change. Additionally, shareholders will be given 60 days’ notice of any change to the Fund’s investment objective made to comply with the SEC rule governing investment company names.
| Prospectus 2021 | 19 |
Multi-Manager Total Return Bond Strategies Fund
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
Principal Risks
An investment in the Fund involves risks, including
,
,
,
,
,
and
, among others. Descriptions of these and other principal risks of investing in the Fund are provided below.
. The value of the Fund’s holdings may decline, and the Fund’s net asset value (NAV) and share price may go down. An investment in the Fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency.
Interest Rate Risk
Credit Risk
Mortgage- and Other Asset-Backed Securities Risk
Market Risk
Multi-Adviser Risk
Changing Distribution Level Risk
There is no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objective and you may lose money
Active Management Risk.
The Fund is actively managed and its performance therefore will reflect, in part, the ability of the portfolio managers to make investment decisions that seek to achieve the Fund’s investment objective. Due to its active management, the Fund could underperform its benchmark index and/or other funds with similar investment objectives and/or strategies.
Allocation Risk.
Because the Fund uses an asset allocation strategy in pursuit of its investment objective, there is a risk that the Fund's allocation among investments, managers, strategies and/or investment styles will cause the Fund's shares to lose value or cause the Fund to underperform other funds with similar investment objectives and/or strategies, or that the investments themselves will not produce the returns expected.
Changing Distribution Level Risk.
The Fund normally expects to receive income which may include interest, dividends and/or capital gains, depending upon its investments. The distribution amounts paid by the Fund will vary and generally depend on the amount of income the Fund earns (less expenses) on its portfolio holdings, and capital gains or losses it recognizes. A decline in the Fund’s income or net capital gains arising from its investments may reduce its distribution level.
Confidential Information Access Risk.
In many instances, issuers of floating rate loans offer to furnish material, non-public information (Confidential Information) to prospective purchasers or holders of the issuer’s floating rate loans to help potential investors assess the value of the loan. Portfolio managers may avoid the receipt of Confidential Information about the issuers of floating rate loans being considered for acquisition by the Fund, or held in the Fund. A decision not to receive Confidential Information from these issuers may disadvantage the Fund as compared to other floating rate loan investors, and may adversely affect the price the Fund pays for the loans it purchases, or the price at which the Fund sells the loans. Further, in situations when holders of floating rate loans are asked, for example, to grant consents, waivers or amendments, the ability to assess the desirability thereof may be compromised. For these and other reasons, it is possible that the decision not to receive Confidential Information could adversely affect the Fund’s performance.
Counterparty Risk.
The risk exists that a counterparty to a transaction in a financial instrument held by the Fund or by a special purpose or structured vehicle in which the Fund invests may become insolvent or otherwise fail to perform its obligations, including making payments to the Fund, due to financial difficulties. The Fund may obtain no or limited recovery in a bankruptcy or other reorganizational proceedings, and any recovery may be significantly delayed. Transactions that the Fund enters into may involve counterparties in the financial services sector and, as a result, events affecting the financial services sector may cause the Fund’s share value to fluctuate.
Credit Risk.
Credit risk is the risk that the value of loans or other debt instruments may decline if the borrower or the issuer thereof defaults or otherwise becomes unable or unwilling, or is perceived to be unable or unwilling, to honor its financial obligations, such as making payments to the Fund when due. Various factors could affect the actual or perceived willingness or ability of the borrower or the issuer to make timely interest or principal payments, including changes in the financial condition of the borrower or the issuer or in general economic conditions. Credit rating agencies assign credit ratings to certain loans and debt instruments to indicate their credit risk. Unless otherwise provided in the Fund’s Principal Investment Strategies, investment grade debt instruments are those rated at or above BBB- by S&P Global Ratings, or equivalently rated by Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. or Fitch Ratings, Inc., or, if unrated, determined by the management team to be of comparable quality. Conversely, below investment grade (commonly called “high-yield” or “junk”) debt instruments are those rated below BBB- by S&P Global Ratings, or equivalently rated by Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. or Fitch Ratings, Inc., or, if unrated, determined by the management team to be of comparable quality. A rating downgrade by such agencies can negatively impact the value of such instruments. Lower quality or unrated loans or instruments held by the Fund may present increased credit
| 20 | Prospectus 2021 |
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risk as compared to higher-rated loans or instruments. Non-investment grade loans or debt instruments may be subject to greater price fluctuations and are more likely to experience a default than investment grade loans or debt instruments and therefore may expose the Fund to increased credit risk. If the Fund purchases unrated loans or instruments, or if the ratings of loans or instruments held by the Fund are lowered after purchase, the Fund will depend on analysis of credit risk more heavily than usual. If the issuer of a loan declares bankruptcy or is declared bankrupt, there may be a delay before the Fund can act on the collateral securing the loan, which may adversely affect the Fund. Further, there is a risk that a court could take action with respect to a loan that is adverse to the holders of the loan. Such actions may include invalidating the loan, the lien on the collateral, the priority status of the loan, or ordering the refund of interest previously paid by the borrower. Any such actions by a court could adversely affect the Fund’s performance. A default or expected default of a loan could also make it difficult for the Fund to sell the loan at a price approximating the value previously placed on it. In order to enforce its rights in the event of a default, bankruptcy or similar situation, the Fund may be required to retain legal or similar counsel. This may increase the Fund’s operating expenses and adversely affect its NAV. Loans that have a lower priority for repayment in an issuer’s capital structure may involve a higher degree of overall risk than more senior loans of the same borrower.
Derivatives Risk.
Derivatives may involve significant risks. Derivatives are financial instruments, traded on an exchange or in the over-the-counter (OTC) markets, with a value in relation to, or derived from, the value of an underlying asset(s) (such as a security, commodity or currency) or other reference, such as an index, rate or other economic indicator (each an underlying reference). Derivatives may include those that are privately placed or otherwise exempt from SEC registration, including certain Rule 144A eligible securities. Derivatives could result in Fund losses if the underlying reference does not perform as anticipated. Use of derivatives is a highly specialized activity that can involve investment techniques, risks, and tax planning different from those associated with more traditional investment instruments. The Fund’s derivatives strategy may not be successful and use of certain derivatives could result in substantial, potentially unlimited, losses to the Fund regardless of the Fund’s actual investment. A relatively small movement in the price, rate or other economic indicator associated with the underlying reference may result in substantial loss for the Fund. Derivatives may be more volatile than other types of investments. Derivatives can increase the Fund’s risk exposure to underlying references and their attendant risks, including the risk of an adverse credit event associated with the underlying reference (credit risk), the risk of an adverse movement in the value, price or rate of the underlying reference (market risk), the risk of an adverse movement in the value of underlying currencies (foreign currency risk) and the risk of an adverse movement in underlying interest rates (interest rate risk). Derivatives may expose the Fund to additional risks, including the risk of loss due to a derivative position that is imperfectly correlated with the underlying reference it is intended to hedge or replicate (correlation risk), the risk that a counterparty will fail to perform as agreed (counterparty risk), the risk that a hedging strategy may fail to mitigate losses, and may offset gains (hedging risk), the risk that the return on an investment may not keep pace with inflation (inflation risk), the risk that losses may be greater than the amount invested (leverage risk), the risk that the Fund may be unable to sell an investment at an advantageous time or price (liquidity risk), the risk that the investment may be difficult to value (pricing risk), and the risk that the price or value of the investment fluctuates significantly over short periods of time (volatility risk). The value of derivatives may be influenced by a variety of factors, including national and international political and economic developments. Potential changes to the regulation of the derivatives markets may make derivatives more costly, may limit the market for derivatives, or may otherwise adversely affect the value or performance of derivatives.
Derivatives Risk – Forward Contracts Risk.
A forward contract is an over-the-counter derivative transaction between two parties to buy or sell a specified amount of an underlying reference at a specified price (or rate) on a specified date in the future. Forward contracts are negotiated on an individual basis and are not standardized or traded on exchanges. The market for forward contracts is substantially unregulated (there is no limit on daily price movements and speculative position limits are not applicable). The principals who deal in certain forward contract markets are not required to continue to make markets in the underlying references in which they trade and these markets can experience periods of illiquidity, sometimes of significant duration. There have been periods during which certain participants in forward contract markets have refused to quote prices for certain underlying references or have quoted prices with an unusually wide spread between the price at which they were prepared to buy and that at which they were prepared to sell. At or prior to maturity of a forward contract, the Fund may enter into an offsetting contract and may incur a loss to the extent there has been adverse movement in forward contract prices. The liquidity of the
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Multi-Manager Total Return Bond Strategies Fund
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markets for forward contracts depends on participants entering into offsetting transactions rather than making or taking delivery. To the extent participants make or take delivery, liquidity in the market for forwards could be reduced. A relatively small price movement in a forward contract may result in substantial losses to the Fund, exceeding the amount of the margin paid. Forward contracts can increase the Fund’s risk exposure to underlying references and their attendant risks, such as credit risk, market risk, foreign currency risk and interest rate risk, while also exposing the Fund to correlation risk, counterparty risk, hedging risk, inflation risk, leverage risk, liquidity risk, pricing risk and volatility risk.
| ■ |
A
forward foreign currency contract
|
Derivatives Risk – Futures Contracts Risk.
A futures contract is an exchange-traded derivative transaction between two parties in which a buyer (holding the “long” position) agrees to pay a fixed price (or rate) at a specified future date for delivery of an underlying reference from a seller (holding the “short” position). The seller hopes that the market price on the delivery date is less than the agreed upon price, while the buyer hopes for the contrary. Certain futures contract markets are highly volatile, and futures contracts may be illiquid. Futures exchanges may limit fluctuations in futures contract prices by imposing a maximum permissible daily price movement. The Fund may be disadvantaged if it is prohibited from executing a trade outside the daily permissible price movement. At or prior to maturity of a futures contract, the Fund may enter into an offsetting contract and may incur a loss to the extent there has been adverse movement in futures contract prices. The liquidity of the futures markets depends on participants entering into offsetting transactions rather than making or taking delivery. To the extent participants make or take delivery, liquidity in the futures market could be reduced. Positions in futures contracts may be closed out only on the exchange on which they were entered into or through a linked exchange, and no secondary market exists for such contracts. Futures positions are marked to market each day and variation margin payment must be paid to or by the Fund. Because of the low margin deposits normally required in futures trading, it is possible that the Fund may employ a high degree of leverage in the portfolio. As a result, a relatively small price movement in a futures contract may result in substantial losses to the Fund, exceeding the amount of the margin paid. For certain types of futures contracts, losses are potentially unlimited. Futures markets are highly volatile and the use of futures may increase the volatility of the Fund’s NAV. Futures contracts executed (if any) on foreign exchanges may not provide the same protection as U.S. exchanges. Futures contracts can increase the Fund’s risk exposure to underlying references and their attendant risks, such as credit risk, market risk, foreign currency risk and interest rate risk, while also exposing the Fund to correlation risk, counterparty risk, hedging risk, inflation risk, leverage risk, liquidity risk, pricing risk and volatility risk.
| ■ |
A
bond (or debt instrument) future
|
| ■ |
A
currency future
|
| ■ |
An
interest rate future
|
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Derivatives Risk – Inverse Floaters Risk.
Inverse variable or floating rate obligations, sometimes referred to as inverse floaters, are a type of over-the-counter derivative debt instrument with a variable or floating coupon rate that moves in the opposite direction of an underlying reference, typically short-term interest rates. As short-term interest rates go down, the holders of the inverse floaters receive more income and, as short-term interest rates go up, the holders of the inverse floaters receive less income. Variable rate securities provide for a specified periodic adjustment in the coupon rate, while floating rate securities have a coupon rate that changes whenever there is a change in a designated benchmark index or the issuer’s credit rating. While inverse floaters tend to provide more income than similar term and credit quality fixed-rate bonds, they also exhibit greater volatility in price movement, which could result in significant losses for the Fund. An inverse floater may have the effect of investment leverage to the extent that its coupon rate varies by a magnitude that exceeds the magnitude of the change in the index or reference rate of interest, which could result in increased losses for the Fund. There is a risk that the current interest rate on variable and floating rate instruments may not accurately reflect current market interest rates or adequately compensate the holder for the current creditworthiness of the issuer. Some inverse floaters are structured with liquidity features and may include market-dependent liquidity features that may expose the Fund to greater liquidity risk. Inverse floaters can increase the Fund’s risk exposure to underlying references and their attendant risks, such as credit risk, market risk, foreign currency risk and interest rate risk, while also exposing the Fund to correlation risk, counterparty risk, hedging risk, inflation risk, leverage risk, liquidity risk, pricing risk and volatility risk.
Derivatives Risk – Options Risk.
Options are derivatives that give the purchaser the option to buy (call) or sell (put) an underlying reference from or to a counterparty at a specified price (the strike price) on or before an expiration date. The Fund may purchase or write (i.e., sell) put and call options on an underlying reference it is otherwise permitted to invest in. By investing in options, the Fund is exposed to the risk that it may be required to buy or sell the underlying reference at a disadvantageous price on or before the expiration date. If the Fund sells a put option, the Fund may be required to buy the underlying reference at a strike price that is above market price, resulting in a loss. If the Fund sells a call option, the Fund may be required to sell the underlying reference at a strike price that is below market price, resulting in a loss. If the Fund sells a call option that is not covered (it does not own the underlying reference), the Fund's losses are potentially unlimited. Options may involve economic leverage, which could result in greater volatility in price movement. Options may be traded on a securities exchange or in the over-the-counter market. At or prior to maturity of an options contract, the Fund may enter into an offsetting contract and may incur a loss to the extent there has been adverse movement in options prices. Options can increase the Fund’s risk exposure to underlying references and their attendant risks such as credit risk, market risk, foreign currency risk and interest rate risk, while also exposing the Fund to correlation risk, counterparty risk, hedging risk, inflation risk, leverage risk, liquidity risk, pricing risk and volatility risk.
Derivatives Risk – Swaps Risk.
In a typical swap transaction, two parties agree to exchange the return earned on a specified underlying reference for a fixed return or the return from another underlying reference during a specified period of time. Swaps may be difficult to value and may be illiquid. Swaps could result in Fund losses if the underlying asset or reference does not perform as anticipated. Swaps create significant investment leverage such that a relatively small price movement in a swap may result in immediate and substantial losses to the Fund. The Fund may only close out a swap with its particular counterparty, and may only transfer a position with the consent of that counterparty. Certain swaps, such as short swap transactions and total return swaps, have the potential for unlimited losses, regardless of the size of the initial investment. Swaps can increase the Fund’s risk exposure to underlying references and their attendant risks, such as credit risk, market risk, foreign currency risk and interest rate risk, while also exposing the Fund to correlation risk, counterparty risk, hedging risk, inflation risk, leverage risk, liquidity risk, pricing risk and volatility risk.
| ■ |
A
credit default swap
|
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| that reflect the performance of a basket of credit default swaps and are subject to the same risks as credit default swaps. If such a default were to occur, any contractual remedies that the Fund may have may be subject to bankruptcy and insolvency laws, which could delay or limit the Fund's recovery. Thus, if the counterparty under a credit default swap defaults on its obligation to make payments thereunder, as a result of its bankruptcy or otherwise, the Fund may lose such payments altogether, or collect only a portion thereof, which collection could involve costs or delays. The Fund’s return from investment in a credit default swap index may not match the return of the referenced index. Further, investment in a credit default swap index could result in losses if the referenced index does not perform as expected. Unexpected changes in the composition of the index may also affect performance of the credit default swap index. If a referenced index has a dramatic intraday move that causes a material decline in the Fund’s net assets, the terms of the Fund’s credit default swap index may permit the counterparty to immediately close out the transaction. In that event, the Fund may be unable to enter into another credit default swap index or otherwise achieve desired exposure, even if the referenced index reverses all or a portion of its intraday move. |
| ■ |
An
interest rate swap
|
| ■ |
Total return swaps
are derivative swap transactions in which one party agrees to pay the other party an amount equal to the total return of a defined underlying reference during a specified period of time. In return, the other party would make periodic payments based on a fixed or variable interest rate or on the total return of a different underlying reference.
|
Derivatives Risk – Swaptions Risk.
A swaption is an options contract on a swap agreement. These transactions give a party the right (but not the obligation) to enter into new swap agreements or to shorten, extend, cancel or otherwise modify an existing swap agreement at some designated future time on specified terms, in return for payment of the purchase price (the “premium”) of the option. The Fund may write (sell) and purchase put and call swaptions to the same extent it may make use of standard options on securities or other instruments. The writer of the contract receives the premium and bears the risk of unfavorable changes in the market value on the underlying swap agreement. Swaptions can be bundled and sold as a package. These are commonly called interest rate caps, floors and collars.
Emerging Market Securities Risk.
Securities issued by foreign governments or companies in emerging market countries, such as China, Russia and certain countries in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Latin America or Africa, are more likely to have greater exposure to the risks of investing in foreign securities that are described in Foreign Securities Risk. In addition, emerging market countries are more likely to experience instability resulting, for example, from rapid changes or developments in social, political, economic or other conditions. Their economies are usually less mature and their securities markets are typically less developed with more limited trading activity (i.e., lower trading volumes and less liquidity) than more developed countries. Emerging market securities tend to be more volatile than securities in more developed markets. Many emerging market countries are heavily dependent on international trade and have fewer trading partners, which makes them more sensitive to world commodity prices and economic downturns in other countries. Some emerging market countries have a higher risk of currency devaluations, and some of these countries may experience periods of high inflation or rapid changes in inflation rates and may have hostile relations with other countries. Due to the differences in the nature and quality of financial information of issuers of emerging market securities, including auditing and financial reporting standards, financial information and disclosures about such issuers may be unavailable or, if made available, may be considerably less reliable than publicly available information about other foreign securities.
Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) Risk.
Investments in ETFs have unique characteristics, including, but not limited to, the expense structure and additional expenses associated with investing in ETFs. An ETF’s share price may not track its specified market index (if any) and may trade below its NAV. Certain ETFs use a “passive” investment strategy and do not take defensive positions in volatile or declining markets. Other ETFs in which the Fund may invest are actively managed ETFs (i.e., they do not track a particular benchmark), which indirectly subjects the Fund to active management risk. An active secondary market in ETF shares may not develop or be maintained and may be halted or
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interrupted due to actions by its listing exchange, unusual market conditions or other reasons. There can be no assurance that an ETF’s shares will continue to be listed on an active exchange. In addition, shareholders bear both their proportionate share of the Fund’s expenses and, indirectly, the ETF’s expenses, incurred through the Fund’s ownership of the ETF. Due to the expenses and costs of an underlying ETF being shared by its investors, redemptions by other investors in the ETF could result in decreased economies of scale and increased operating expenses for such ETF. These transactions might also result in higher brokerage, tax or other costs for the ETF. This risk may be particularly important when one investor owns a substantial portion of the ETF. There is a risk that ETFs in which the Fund invests may terminate due to extraordinary events. For example, any of the service providers to ETFs, such as the trustee or sponsor, may close or otherwise fail to perform their obligations to the ETF, and the ETF may not be able to find a substitute service provider. In addition, certain ETFs may be dependent upon licenses to use various indexes as a basis for determining their compositions and/or otherwise to use certain trade names. If these licenses are terminated, the ETFs may also terminate. An ETF may also terminate if its net assets fall below a certain amount.
Foreign Currency Risk.
The performance of the Fund may be materially affected positively or negatively by foreign currency strength or weakness relative to the U.S. dollar, particularly if the Fund invests a significant percentage of its assets in foreign securities or other assets denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar. Currency rates in foreign countries may fluctuate significantly over short or long periods of time for a number of reasons, including changes in interest rates, imposition of currency controls and economic or political developments in the U.S. or abroad. The Fund may also incur currency conversion costs when converting foreign currencies into U.S. dollars and vice versa. Restrictions on currency trading may be imposed by foreign countries, which may adversely affect the value of your investment in the Fund. Even though the currencies of some countries may be pegged to the U.S. dollar, the conversion rate may be controlled by government regulation or intervention at levels significantly different than what would normally prevail in a free market. Significant revaluations of the U.S. dollar exchange rate of these currencies could cause substantial reductions in the Fund’s NAV.
Foreign Securities Risk.
Investments in or exposure to foreign securities involve certain risks not associated with investments in or exposure to securities of U.S. companies. For example, foreign markets can be extremely volatile. Foreign securities may also be less liquid, making them more difficult to trade, than securities of U.S. companies so that the Fund may, at times, be unable to sell foreign securities at desirable times or prices. Brokerage commissions, custodial costs and other fees are also generally higher for foreign securities. The Fund may have limited or no legal recourse in the event of default with respect to certain foreign securities, including those issued by foreign governments. In addition, foreign governments may impose withholding or other taxes on the Fund’s income, capital gains or proceeds from the disposition of foreign securities, which could reduce the Fund’s return on such securities. In some cases, such withholding or other taxes could potentially be confiscatory. Other risks include: possible delays in the settlement of transactions or in the payment of income; generally less publicly available information about foreign companies; the impact of economic, political, social, diplomatic or other conditions or events (including, for example, military confrontations, war, terrorism and disease/virus outbreaks and epidemics), possible seizure, expropriation or nationalization of a company or its assets or the assets of a particular investor or category of investors; accounting, auditing and financial reporting standards that may be less comprehensive and stringent than those applicable to domestic companies; the imposition of economic and other sanctions against a particular foreign country, its nationals or industries or businesses within the country; and the generally less stringent standard of care to which local agents may be held in the local markets. In addition, it may be difficult to obtain reliable information about the securities and business operations of certain foreign issuers. Governments or trade groups may compel local agents to hold securities in designated depositories that are not subject to independent evaluation. The less developed a country’s securities market is, the greater the level of risks. The risks posed by sanctions against a particular foreign country, its nationals or industries or businesses within the country may be heightened to the extent the Fund invests significantly in the affected country or region or in issuers from the affected country that depend on global markets. Additionally, investments in certain countries may subject the Fund to a number of tax rules, the application of which may be uncertain. Countries may amend or revise their existing tax laws, regulations and/or procedures in the future, possibly with retroactive effect. Changes in or uncertainties regarding the laws, regulations or procedures of a country could reduce the after-tax profits of the Fund, directly or indirectly, including by reducing the after-tax profits of companies located in such countries in which the Fund invests, or result in unexpected tax liabilities for the Fund.
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Multi-Manager Total Return Bond Strategies Fund
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(continued)
Forward Commitments on Mortgage-Backed Securities (including Dollar Rolls) Risk.
When purchasing mortgage-backed securities in the “to be announced” (TBA) market (MBS TBAs), the seller agrees to deliver mortgage-backed securities for an agreed upon price on an agreed upon date, but may make no guarantee as to the specific securities to be delivered. In lieu of taking delivery of mortgage-backed securities, the Fund could enter into dollar rolls, which are transactions in which the Fund sells securities to a counterparty and simultaneously agrees to purchase those or similar securities in the future at a predetermined price. Dollar rolls involve the risk that the market value of the securities the Fund is obligated to repurchase may decline below the repurchase price, or that the counterparty may default on its obligations. These transactions may also increase the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate. If the Fund reinvests the proceeds of the security sold, the Fund will also be subject to the risk that the investments purchased with such proceeds will decline in value (a form of leverage risk). MBS TBAs and dollar rolls are subject to the risk that the counterparty to the transaction may not perform or be unable to perform in accordance with the terms of the instrument.
Frequent Trading Risk.
The portfolio managers may actively and frequently trade investments in the Fund's portfolio to carry out its investment strategies. Frequent trading of investments increases the possibility that the Fund, as relevant, will realize taxable capital gains (including short-term capital gains, which are generally taxable to shareholders at higher rates than long-term capital gains for U.S. federal income tax purposes), which could reduce the Fund's after-tax return. Frequent trading can also mean higher brokerage and other transaction costs, which could reduce the Fund's return. The trading costs and tax effects associated with portfolio turnover may adversely affect the Fund’s performance.
High-Yield Investments Risk.
Securities and other debt instruments held by the Fund that are rated below investment grade (commonly called “high-yield” or “junk” bonds) and unrated debt instruments of comparable quality tend to be more sensitive to credit risk than higher-rated debt instruments and may experience greater price fluctuations in response to perceived changes in the ability of the issuing entity or obligor to pay interest and principal when due than to changes in interest rates. These investments are generally more likely to experience a default than higher-rated debt instruments. High-yield debt instruments are considered to be predominantly speculative with respect to the issuer’s capacity to pay interest and repay principal. These debt instruments typically pay a premium – a higher interest rate or yield – because of the increased risk of loss, including default. High-yield debt instruments may require a greater degree of judgment to establish a price, may be difficult to sell at the time and price the Fund desires, may carry high transaction costs, and also are generally less liquid than higher-rated debt instruments. The ratings provided by third party rating agencies are based on analyses by these ratings agencies of the credit quality of the debt instruments and may not take into account every risk related to whether interest or principal will be timely repaid. In adverse economic and other circumstances, issuers of lower-rated debt instruments are more likely to have difficulty making principal and interest payments than issuers of higher-rated debt instruments.
Impairment of Collateral Risk.
The value of collateral, if any, securing a loan can decline, and may be insufficient to meet the borrower’s obligations or difficult or costly to liquidate. In addition, the Fund’s access to collateral may be limited by bankruptcy or other insolvency laws. Further, certain floating rate and other loans may not be fully collateralized and may decline in value.
Interest Rate Risk.
Interest rate risk is the risk of losses attributable to changes in interest rates. In general, if prevailing interest rates rise, the values of loans and other debt instruments tend to fall, and if interest rates fall, the values of loans and other debt instruments tend to rise. Changes in the value of a debt instrument usually will not affect the amount of income the Fund receives from it but will generally affect the value of your investment in the Fund. Changes in interest rates may also affect the liquidity of the Fund’s investments in debt instruments. In general, the longer the maturity or duration of a debt instrument, the greater its sensitivity to changes in interest rates. Interest rate declines also may increase prepayments of debt obligations, which, in turn, would increase prepayment risk (the risk that the Fund will have to reinvest the money received in securities that have lower yields). Very low or negative interest rates may impact the Fund’s yield and may increase the risk that, if followed by rising interest rates, the Fund’s performance will be negatively impacted. The Fund is subject to the risk that the income generated by its investments may not keep pace with inflation. Actions by governments and central banking authorities can result in increases or decreases in interest rates. Such actions may negatively affect the value of debt instruments held by the Fund, resulting in a negative impact on the Fund's performance and NAV. Debt
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instruments with floating coupon rates are typically less sensitive to interest rate changes, but these debt instruments may decline in value if their coupon rates do not rise as much as, or keep pace with, yields on such types of debt instruments. Because rates on certain floating rate loans and other debt instruments reset only periodically, changes in prevailing interest rates (and particularly sudden and significant changes) can be expected to cause fluctuations in the Fund’s NAV. Any interest rate increases could cause the value of the Fund’s investments in debt instruments to decrease. Rising interest rates may prompt redemptions from the Fund, which may force the Fund to sell investments at a time when it is not advantageous to do so, which could result in losses.
Issuer Risk.
An issuer in which the Fund invests or to which it has exposure may perform poorly or below expectations, and the value of its loans or securities may therefore decline, which may negatively affect the Fund’s performance. Underperformance of an issuer may be caused by poor management decisions, competitive pressures, breakthroughs in technology, reliance on suppliers, labor problems or shortages, corporate restructurings, fraudulent disclosures, natural disasters, military confrontations, war, terrorism, disease/virus outbreaks, epidemics or other events, conditions and factors which may impair the value of an investment in the Fund.
LIBOR Replacement Risk.
London Inter-Bank Offered Rate (LIBOR), which is used extensively in the U.S. and globally as a benchmark or reference rate for various commercial and financial contracts, among other “inter-bank offered” reference rates, is expected to be discontinued. The elimination of LIBOR may adversely affect the interest rates on, and value of, certain Fund investments that are tied to LIBOR. Such investments may include bank loans, derivatives, floating rate loans, and other assets or liabilities. On July 27, 2017, the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority announced that it intends to stop compelling or inducing banks to submit LIBOR rates after 2021. More recently, in November 2020, Ice Benchmark Administrator (IBA) has announced its intention to consult on (i) the cessation of four LIBOR currencies (GBP, EUR, JPY and CHF) after the end of 2021 and (ii) on the cessation of the major USD LIBOR tenors (overnight, 1M, 3M, 6M and 12M) in mid-2023 and the cessation of the 1 week and 2M USD LIBOR by the end of 2021. IBA will make separate announcements following the outcome of the consultations. Actions by regulators have resulted in the establishment of alternative reference rates in most major currencies. The U.S. Federal Reserve, based on the recommendations of the New York Federal Reserve’s Alternative Reference Rate Committee (comprised of major derivative market participants and their regulators), has begun publishing SOFR that is intended to replace U.S. dollar LIBOR. Proposals for alternative reference rates for other currencies have also been announced or have already begun publication. Markets are slowly developing in response to these new reference rates. Uncertainty related to the liquidity impact of the change in rates, and how to appropriately adjust these rates at the time of transition, poses risks for the Fund. The effect of any changes to, or discontinuation of, LIBOR on the Fund will depend on, among other things, (1) existing fallback or termination provisions in individual contracts and (2) whether, how, and when industry participants develop and adopt new reference rates and fallbacks for both legacy and new instruments and contracts. The expected discontinuation of LIBOR could have a significant impact on the financial markets in general and may also present heightened risk to market participants, including public companies, investment advisers, investment companies, and broker-dealers. The risks associated with this discontinuation and transition will be exacerbated if the work necessary to effect an orderly transition to an alternative reference rate is not completed in a timely manner. For example, current information technology systems may be unable to accommodate new instruments and rates with features that differ from LIBOR. Accordingly, it is difficult to predict the full impact of the transition away from LIBOR on the Fund until new reference rates and fallbacks for both legacy and new instruments and contracts are commercially accepted and market practices become settled.
Liquidity Risk.
Liquidity risk is the risk associated with any event, circumstance, or characteristic of an investment or market that negatively impacts the Fund’s ability to sell, or realize the proceeds from the sale of, an investment at a desirable time or price. Liquidity risk may arise because of, for example, a lack of marketability of the investment, which means that when seeking to sell its portfolio investments, the Fund could find that selling is more difficult than anticipated, especially during times of high market volatility. Decreases in the number of financial institutions, including banks and broker-dealers, willing to make markets (match up sellers and buyers) in the Fund’s investments or decreases in their capacity or willingness to trade such investments may increase the Fund’s exposure to this risk. The debt market has experienced considerable growth, and financial institutions making markets in instruments purchased and sold by the Fund (e.g., bond dealers) have been subject to increased regulation. The impact of that growth and regulation on the ability and willingness of financial institutions to engage in trading or “making a market”
| Prospectus 2021 | 27 |
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in such instruments remains unsettled. Certain types of investments, such as lower-rated securities or those that are purchased and sold in over-the-counter markets, may be especially subject to liquidity risk. Securities or other assets in which the Fund invests may be traded in the over-the-counter market rather than on an exchange and therefore may be more difficult to purchase or sell at a fair price, which may have a negative impact on the Fund’s performance. Market participants attempting to sell the same or a similar instrument at the same time as the Fund could exacerbate the Fund’s exposure to liquidity risk. The Fund may have to accept a lower selling price for the holding, sell other liquid or more liquid investments that it might otherwise prefer to hold (thereby increasing the proportion of the Fund’s investments in less liquid or illiquid securities), or forego another more appealing investment opportunity. The liquidity of Fund investments may change significantly over time and certain investments that were liquid when purchased by the Fund may later become illiquid, particularly in times of overall economic distress. Changing regulatory, market or other conditions or environments (for example, the interest rate or credit environments) may also adversely affect the liquidity and the price of the Fund's investments. Judgment plays a larger role in valuing illiquid or less liquid investments as compared to valuing liquid or more liquid investments. Price volatility may be higher for illiquid or less liquid investments as a result of, for example, the relatively less frequent pricing of such securities (as compared to liquid or more liquid investments). Generally, the less liquid the market at the time the Fund sells a portfolio investment, the greater the risk of loss or decline of value to the Fund. Overall market liquidity and other factors can lead to an increase in redemptions, which may negatively impact Fund performance and NAV, including, for example, if the Fund is forced to sell investments in a down market. Floating rate loans generally are subject to legal or contractual restrictions on resale, may trade infrequently, their value may be impaired when the Fund needs to liquidate such loans, and are typically subject to extended settlement periods, each of which gives rise to liquidity risk.
Loan Interests Risk.
Loan interests may not be considered “securities,” and purchasers, such as the Fund, therefore may not be entitled to rely on the anti-fraud protections of the federal securities laws. Loan interests generally are subject to restrictions on transfer, and the Fund may be unable to sell loan interests at a time when it may otherwise be desirable to do so or may be able to sell them only at prices that are less than what the Fund regards as their fair market value. Accordingly, loan interests may at times be illiquid. Loan interests may be difficult to value and typically have extended settlement periods (generally greater than 7 days). This exposes the Fund to the risk that the receipt of principal and interest payments may be late due to delayed interest settlement. Extended settlement periods during significant Fund redemption activity could potentially cause increased short-term liquidity demands on the Fund. As a result, the Fund may be forced to sell investments at unfavorable prices, or borrow money or effect short settlements where possible (at a cost to the Fund), in an effort to generate sufficient cash to pay redeeming shareholders. The Fund’s actions in this regard may not be successful. Interests in loans created to finance highly leveraged companies or transactions, such as corporate acquisitions, may be especially vulnerable to adverse changes in economic or market conditions.
Interests in secured loans have the benefit of collateral and, typically, of restrictive covenants limiting the ability of the borrower to further encumber its assets, although many covenants may be waived or modified with the consent of a certain percentage of the holders of the loans even if the Fund does not consent. There is a risk that the value of any collateral securing a loan in which the Fund has an interest may decline and that the collateral may not be sufficient to cover the amount owed on the loan. In most loan agreements there is no formal requirement to pledge additional collateral. In the event the borrower defaults, the Fund’s access to the collateral may be limited or delayed by bankruptcy or other insolvency laws. Further, there is a risk that a court could take action with respect to a loan that is adverse to the holders of the loan, including the Fund. Such actions may include invalidating the loan, the lien on the collateral, the priority status of the loan, or ordering the refund of interest previously paid by the borrower. Any such actions by a court could adversely affect the Fund’s performance. A default or expected default of a loan could also make it difficult for the Fund to sell the loan at a price approximating the value previously placed on it. In order to enforce its rights in the event of a default, bankruptcy or similar situation, the Fund may be required to retain legal or similar counsel. This may increase the Fund’s operating expenses and adversely affect its NAV. Loans that have a lower priority for repayment in an issuer’s capital structure may involve a higher degree of overall risk than more senior loans of the same borrower. In the event of a default, second lien secured loans will generally be paid only if the value of the collateral exceeds the amount of the borrower’s obligations to the first lien secured lenders. The remaining collateral may not be sufficient to cover the full amount owed on the loan in which the Fund has an
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interest. In addition, if a secured loan is foreclosed, the Fund would likely bear the costs and liabilities associated with owning and disposing of the collateral. The collateral may be difficult to sell and the Fund would bear the risk that the collateral may decline in value while the Fund is holding it. From time to time, disagreements may arise amongst the holders of loans and debt in the capital structure of an issuer, which may give rise to litigation risks, including the risk that a court could take action adverse to the holders of the loan, which could negatively impact the Fund’s performance.
The Fund may acquire a loan interest by obtaining an assignment of all or a portion of the interests in a particular loan that are held by an original lender or a prior assignee. As an assignee, the Fund will usually succeed to all rights and obligations of its assignor with respect to the portion of the loan that is being assigned. However, the rights and obligations acquired by the purchaser of a loan assignment may differ from, and be more limited than, those held by the original lenders or the assignor. Alternatively, the Fund may acquire a participation interest in a loan that is held by another party. When the Fund’s loan interest is a participation, the Fund may have less control over the exercise of remedies than the party selling the participation interest, and the Fund normally would not have any direct rights against the borrower. As a participant, the Fund would also be subject to the risk that the party selling the participation interest would not remit the Fund’s pro rata share of loan payments to the Fund. It may also be difficult for the Fund to obtain an accurate picture of a lending bank’s financial condition.
Market Risk.
The Fund may incur losses due to declines in the value of one or more securities in which it invests. These declines may be due to factors affecting a particular issuer, or the result of, among other things, political, regulatory, market, economic or social developments affecting the relevant market(s) more generally. In addition, turbulence in financial markets and reduced liquidity in equity, credit and/or fixed income markets may negatively affect many issuers, which could adversely affect the Fund, including causing difficulty in assigning prices to hard-to-value assets in thinly traded and closed markets, significant redemptions and operational challenges. Global economies and financial markets are increasingly interconnected, and conditions and events in one country, region or financial market may adversely impact issuers in a different country, region or financial market. These risks may be magnified if certain events or developments adversely interrupt the global supply chain; in these and other circumstances, such risks might affect companies worldwide. As a result, local, regional or global events such as terrorism, war, natural disasters, disease/virus outbreaks and epidemics or other public health issues, recessions, depressions or other events – or the potential for such events – could have a significant negative impact on global economic and market conditions.
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) public health crisis has become a pandemic that has resulted in, and may continue to result in, significant global economic and societal disruption and market volatility due to disruptions in market access, resource availability, facilities operations, imposition of tariffs, export controls and supply chain disruption, among others. Such disruptions may be caused, or exacerbated by, quarantines and travel restrictions, workforce displacement and loss in human and other resources. The uncertainty surrounding the magnitude, duration, reach, costs and effects of the global pandemic, as well as actions that have been or could be taken by governmental authorities or other third parties, present unknowns that are yet to unfold. The impacts, as well as the uncertainty over impacts to come, of COVID-19 – and any other infectious illness outbreaks, epidemics and pandemics that may arise in the future – could negatively affect global economies and markets in ways that cannot necessarily be foreseen. In addition, the impact of infectious illness outbreaks and epidemics in emerging market countries may be greater due to generally less established healthcare systems, governments and financial markets. Public health crises caused by the COVID-19 outbreak may exacerbate other pre-existing political, social and economic risks in certain countries or globally. The disruptions caused by COVID-19 could prevent the Fund from executing advantageous investment decisions in a timely manner and negatively impact the Fund’s ability to achieve its investment objective. Any such event(s) could have a significant adverse impact on the value and risk profile of the Fund.
Money Market Fund Investment Risk.
An investment in a money market fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by any bank, the FDIC or any other government agency. Certain money market funds float their NAV while others seek to preserve the value of investments at a stable NAV (typically $1.00 per share). An investment in a money market fund, even an investment in a fund seeking to maintain a stable NAV per share, is not guaranteed and it is possible for the Fund to lose money by investing in these and other types of money market
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funds. If the liquidity of a money market fund’s portfolio deteriorates below certain levels, the money market fund may suspend redemptions (i.e., impose a redemption gate) and thereby prevent the Fund from selling its investment in the money market fund or impose a fee of up to 2% on amounts the Fund redeems from the money market fund (i.e., impose a liquidity fee). These measures may result in an investment loss or prohibit the Fund from redeeming shares when the Investment Manager would otherwise redeem shares. In addition to the fees and expenses that the Fund directly bears, the Fund indirectly bears the fees and expenses of any money market funds in which it invests, including affiliated money market funds. To the extent these fees and expenses, along with the fees and expenses of any other funds in which the Fund may invest, are expected to equal or exceed 0.01% of the Fund’s average daily net assets, they will be reflected in the Annual Fund Operating Expenses set forth in the table under “Fees and Expenses of the Fund.” By investing in a money market fund, the Fund will be exposed to the investment risks of the money market fund in direct proportion to such investment. The money market fund may not achieve its investment objective. The Fund, through its investment in the money market fund, may not achieve its investment objective. To the extent the Fund invests in instruments such as derivatives, the Fund may hold investments, which may be significant, in money market fund shares to cover its obligations resulting from the Fund’s investments in derivatives. Money market funds and the securities they invest in are subject to comprehensive regulations. The enactment of new legislation or regulations, as well as changes in interpretation and enforcement of current laws, may affect the manner of operation, performance and/or yield of money market funds.
Mortgage- and Other Asset-Backed Securities Risk.
The value of any mortgage-backed and other asset-backed securities including collateralized debt obligations and collateralized loan obligations, if any, held by the Fund may be affected by, among other things, changes or perceived changes in: interest rates; factors concerning the interests in and structure of the issuer or the originator of the mortgages or other assets; the creditworthiness of the entities that provide any supporting letters of credit, surety bonds or other credit enhancements; or the market's assessment of the quality of underlying assets. Mortgage-backed securities represent interests in, or are backed by, pools of mortgages from which payments of interest and principal (net of fees paid to the issuer or guarantor of the securities) are distributed to the holders of the mortgage-backed securities. Other types of asset-backed securities typically represent interests in, or are backed by, pools of receivables such as credit, automobile, student and home equity loans. Mortgage- and other asset-backed securities can have a fixed or an adjustable rate. Mortgage- and other asset-backed securities are subject to liquidity risk (the risk that it may not be possible for the Fund to liquidate the instrument at an advantageous time or price) and prepayment risk (the risk that the underlying mortgage or other asset may be refinanced or prepaid prior to maturity during periods of declining or low interest rates, causing the Fund to have to reinvest the money received in securities that have lower yields). In addition, the impact of prepayments on the value of mortgage- and other asset-backed securities may be difficult to predict and may result in greater volatility. A decline or flattening of housing values may cause delinquencies in mortgages (especially sub-prime or non-prime mortgages) underlying mortgage-backed securities and thereby adversely affect the ability of the mortgage-backed securities issuer to make principal and/or interest payments to mortgage-backed securities holders, including the Fund. Rising or high interest rates tend to extend the duration of mortgage- and other asset-backed securities, making them more volatile and more sensitive to changes in interest rates. Payment of principal and interest on some mortgage-backed securities (but not the market value of the securities themselves) may be guaranteed (i) by the full faith and credit of the U.S. Government (in the case of securities guaranteed by the Government National Mortgage Association) or (ii) by its agencies, authorities, enterprises or instrumentalities (in the case of securities guaranteed by the Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA) or the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (FHLMC)), which are not insured or guaranteed by the U.S. Government (although FNMA and FHLMC may be able to access capital from the U.S. Treasury to meet their obligations under such securities). Mortgage-backed securities issued by non-governmental issuers (such as commercial banks, savings and loan institutions, private mortgage insurance companies, mortgage bankers and other secondary market issuers) may be supported by various credit enhancements, such as pool insurance, guarantees issued by governmental entities, letters of credit from a bank or senior/subordinated structures, and may entail greater risk than obligations guaranteed by the U.S. Government, whether or not such obligations are guaranteed by the private issuer.
Multi-Adviser Risk.
The Fund has multiple advisory firms that each manage a portion of the Fund’s net assets on a daily basis. Each adviser makes investment decisions independently from the other adviser(s). It is possible that the security selection process of one adviser will not complement or may conflict or even contradict that of the other
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adviser(s), including making off-setting trades that have no net effect to the Fund, but which may increase Fund expenses. As a result, the Fund's exposure to a given security, industry, sector or market capitalization could be smaller or larger than if the Fund were managed by a single adviser, which could adversely affect the Fund's performance.
Prepayment and Extension Risk.
Prepayment and extension risk is the risk that a loan, bond or other security or investment might, in the case of prepayment risk, be called or otherwise converted, prepaid or redeemed before maturity and, in the case of extension risk, that the investment might not be called as expected. In the case of prepayment risk, if the investment is converted, prepaid or redeemed before maturity, the portfolio managers may not be able to invest the proceeds in other investments providing as high a level of income, resulting in a reduced yield to the Fund. In the case of mortgage- or other asset-backed securities, as interest rates decrease or spreads narrow, the likelihood of prepayment increases. Conversely, extension risk is the risk that an unexpected rise in interest rates will extend the life of a mortgage- or other asset-backed security beyond the prepayment time. If the Fund's investments are locked in at a lower interest rate for a longer period of time, the portfolio managers may be unable to capitalize on securities with higher interest rates or wider spreads.
Quantitative Model Risk.
Quantitative models used by the Fund may not effectively identify purchases and sales of Fund investments and may cause the Fund to underperform other investment strategies for short or long periods of time. Performance will depend upon the quality and accuracy of the assumptions, theories and framework upon which a quantitative model is based. The success of a quantitative model will depend upon the model’s accurate reflection of market conditions, with proper adjustments as market conditions change over time. Adjustments, or lack of adjustments, to the models, including as conditions change, as well as any errors or imperfections in the models, could adversely affect Fund performance. Quantitative model performance depends upon the quality of its design and effective execution under actual market conditions. Even a well-designed quantitative model cannot be expected to perform well in all market conditions or across all time intervals. Quantitative models may underperform in certain market environments including stressed or volatile market conditions. Effective execution may depend, in part, upon subjective selection and application of factors and data inputs used by the quantitative model. Discretion may be used by the portfolio management team when determining the data collected and incorporated into a quantitative model. Shareholders should be aware that there is no guarantee that any specific data or type of data can or will be used in a quantitative model. The portfolio management team may also use discretion when interpreting and applying the results of a quantitative model, including emphasizing, discounting or disregarding its outputs. It is not possible or practicable for a quantitative model to factor in all relevant, available data. There is no guarantee that the data actually utilized in a quantitative model will be the most accurate data available or be free from errors. There can be no assurance that the use of quantitative models will enable the Fund to achieve its objective.
Reinvestment Risk.
Reinvestment risk arises when the Fund is unable to reinvest income or principal at the same or at least the same return it is currently earning.
Rule 144A and Other Exempted Securities Risk.
The Fund may invest in privately placed and other securities or instruments exempt from SEC registration (collectively “private placements”), subject to certain regulatory restrictions. In the U.S. market, private placements are typically sold only to qualified institutional buyers, or qualified purchasers, as applicable. An insufficient number of buyers interested in purchasing private placements at a particular time could adversely affect the marketability of such investments and the Fund might be unable to dispose of them promptly or at reasonable prices, subjecting the Fund to liquidity risk (the risk that it may not be possible for the Fund to liquidate the instrument at an advantageous time or price). The Fund’s holdings of private placements may increase the level of Fund illiquidity if eligible buyers are unable or unwilling to purchase them at a particular time. The Fund may also have to bear the expense of registering the securities for resale and the risk of substantial delays in effecting the registration. Additionally, the purchase price and subsequent valuation of private placements typically reflect a discount, which may be significant, from the market price of comparable securities for which a more liquid market exists. Issuers of Rule 144A eligible securities are required to furnish information to potential investors upon request. However, the required disclosure is much less extensive than that required of public companies and is not publicly available since the offering information is not filed with the SEC. Further, issuers of Rule 144A eligible securities can require recipients of the offering information (such as the Fund) to agree contractually to keep the information confidential, which could also adversely affect the Fund’s ability to dispose of the security.
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Sovereign Debt Risk.
A sovereign debtor’s willingness or ability to repay principal and pay interest in a timely manner may be affected by a variety of factors, including its cash flow situation, the extent of its reserves, the availability of sufficient foreign exchange on the date a payment is due, the relative size of the debt service burden to the economy as a whole, the sovereign debtor’s policy toward international lenders, and the political constraints to which a sovereign debtor may be subject.
With respect to sovereign debt of emerging market issuers, investors should be aware that certain emerging market countries are among the largest debtors to commercial banks and foreign governments. At times, certain emerging market countries have declared moratoria on the payment of principal and interest on external debt. Certain emerging market countries have experienced difficulty in servicing their sovereign debt on a timely basis and that has led to defaults and the restructuring of certain indebtedness to the detriment of debtholders. Sovereign debt risk is increased for emerging market issuers.
Stripped Mortgage-Backed Securities Risk.
Stripped mortgage-backed securities are a type of mortgage-backed security that receive differing proportions of the interest and principal payments from the underlying assets. Generally, there are two classes of stripped mortgage-backed securities: Interest Only (IO) and Principal Only (PO). IOs entitle the holder to receive distributions consisting of all or a portion of the interest on the underlying pool of mortgage loans or mortgage-backed securities. POs entitle the holder to receive distributions consisting of all or a portion of the principal of the underlying pool of mortgage loans or mortgage-backed securities. The cash flows and yields on IOs and POs are extremely sensitive to the rate of principal payments (including prepayments) on the underlying mortgage loans or mortgage-backed securities. A rapid rate of principal payments may adversely affect the yield to maturity of IOs. A slow rate of principal payments may adversely affect the yield to maturity of POs. If prepayments of principal are greater than anticipated, an investor in IOs may incur substantial losses. If prepayments of principal are slower than anticipated, the yield on a PO will be affected more severely than would be the case with a traditional mortgage-backed security.
U.S. Government Obligations Risk.
While U.S. Treasury obligations are backed by the “full faith and credit” of the U.S. Government, such securities are nonetheless subject to credit risk (
i.e.
, the risk that the U.S. Government may be, or may be perceived to be, unable or unwilling to honor its financial obligations, such as making payments). Securities issued or guaranteed by federal agencies or authorities and U.S. Government-sponsored instrumentalities or enterprises may or may not be backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. Government. For example, securities issued by the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, the Federal National Mortgage Association and the Federal Home Loan Banks are neither insured nor guaranteed by the U.S. Government. These securities may be supported by the ability to borrow from the U.S. Treasury or only by the credit of the issuing agency, authority, instrumentality or enterprise and, as a result, are subject to greater credit risk than securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Treasury.
Additional Investment Strategies and Policies
This section describes certain investment strategies and policies that the Fund may utilize in pursuit of its investment objective and some additional factors and risks involved with investing in the Fund.
Investment Guidelines
As a general matter, and except as specifically described in the discussion of the Fund's principal investment strategies in this prospectus or as otherwise required by the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the 1940 Act), the rules and regulations thereunder and any applicable exemptive relief, whenever an investment policy or limitation states a percentage of the Fund's assets that may be invested in any security or other asset or sets forth a policy regarding an investment standard, compliance with that percentage limitation or standard will be determined solely at the time of the Fund's investment in the security or asset.
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Holding Other Kinds of Investments
The Fund may hold other investments that are not part of its principal investment strategies. These investments and their risks are described below and/or in the Statement of Additional Information (SAI). The Fund may choose not to invest in certain securities described in this prospectus and in the SAI, although it has the ability to do so. Information on the Fund’s holdings can be found in the Fund’s shareholder reports or by visiting columbiathreadneedleus.com.
Transactions in Derivatives
The Fund may enter into derivative transactions or otherwise have exposure to derivative transactions through underlying investments. Derivatives are financial contracts whose values are, for example, based on (or “derived” from) traditional securities (such as a stock or bond), assets (such as a commodity like gold or a foreign currency), reference rates (such as the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (commonly known as SOFR) or the London Interbank Offered Rate (commonly known as LIBOR)) or market indices (such as the Standard & Poor’s 500
®
Index). The use of derivatives is a highly specialized activity which involves investment techniques and risks different from those associated with ordinary portfolio securities transactions. Derivatives involve special risks and may result in losses or may limit the Fund’s potential gain from favorable market movements. Derivative strategies often involve leverage, which may exaggerate a loss, potentially causing the Fund to lose more money than it would have lost had it invested in the underlying security or other asset directly. The values of derivatives may move in unexpected ways, especially in unusual market conditions, and may result in increased volatility in the value of the derivative and/or the Fund’s shares, among other consequences. The use of derivatives may also increase the amount of taxes payable by shareholders holding shares in a taxable account. Other risks arise from the Fund’s potential inability to terminate or to sell derivative positions. A liquid secondary market may not always exist for the Fund’s derivative positions at times when the Fund might wish to terminate or to sell such positions. Over-the-counter instruments (investments not traded on an exchange) may be illiquid, and transactions in derivatives traded in the over-the-counter market are subject to the risk that the other party will not meet its obligations. The use of derivatives also involves the risks of mispricing or improper valuation and that changes in the value of the derivative may not correlate perfectly with the underlying security, asset, reference rate or index. The Fund also may not be able to find a suitable derivative transaction counterparty, and thus may be unable to engage in derivative transactions when it is deemed favorable to do so, or at all. U.S. federal legislation has been enacted that provides for new clearing, margin, reporting and registration requirements for participants in the derivatives market. These changes could restrict and/or impose significant costs or other burdens upon the Fund’s participation in derivatives transactions. For more information on the risks of derivative investments and strategies, see the SAI.
LIBOR Phase-Out Risk.
Many derivatives and other financial instruments utilize or are permitted to utilize a floating interest rate based on LIBOR. On July 27, 2017, the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority announced its intention to phase out the use of LIBOR by the end of 2021. More recently, in November 2020, Ice Benchmark Administrator (IBA) has announced its intention to consult on (i) the cessation of four LIBOR currencies (GBP, EUR, JPY and CHF) after the end of 2021 and (ii) on the cessation of the major USD LIBOR tenors (overnight, 1M, 3M, 6M and 12M) in mid-2023 and the cessation of the 1 week and 2M USD LIBOR by the end of 2021. IBA will make separate announcements following the outcome of the consultations. The interest rate benchmark(s) that will replace LIBOR in the capital markets remains uncertain, and the overall economic impact of the transition away from LIBOR cannot yet be determined. The Investment Manager monitors the Fund’s LIBOR exposure risks, including the extent to which any derivative and/or debt investments allow for the utilization of alternative rate(s) to LIBOR.
Affiliated Fund Investing
The Investment Manager or an affiliate serves as investment adviser to funds using the Columbia brand (Columbia Funds), including those that are structured as “fund-of-funds”, and provides asset-allocation services to (i) shareholders by investing in shares of other Columbia Funds, which may include the Fund (collectively referred to in this section as Underlying Funds), and (ii) discretionary managed accounts (collectively referred to as affiliated products) that invest exclusively in Underlying Funds. These affiliated products, individually or collectively, may own a significant percentage of the outstanding shares of one or more Underlying Funds, and the Investment Manager seeks to balance potential conflicts of interest between the affiliated products and the Underlying Funds in which
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they invest. The affiliated products’ investment in the Underlying Funds may have the effect of creating economies of scale, possibly resulting in lower expense ratios for the Underlying Funds, because the affiliated products may own substantial portions of the shares of Underlying Funds. However, redemption of Underlying Fund shares by one or more affiliated products could cause the expense ratio of an Underlying Fund to increase, as its fixed costs would be spread over a smaller asset base. Because of large positions of certain affiliated products, the Underlying Funds may experience relatively large inflows and outflows of cash due to affiliated products’ purchases and sales of Underlying Fund shares. Although the Investment Manager or its affiliate may seek to minimize the impact of these transactions where possible, for example, by structuring them over a reasonable period of time or through other measures, Underlying Funds may experience increased expenses as they buy and sell portfolio securities to manage the cash flow effect related to these transactions. Further, when the Investment Manager or its affiliate structures transactions over a reasonable period of time in order to manage the potential impact of the buy and sell decisions for the affiliated products, those affiliated products, including funds-of-funds, may pay more or less (for purchase activity), or receive more or less (for redemption activity), for shares of the Underlying Funds than if the transactions were executed in one transaction. In addition, substantial redemptions by affiliated products within a short period of time could require the Underlying Fund to liquidate positions more rapidly than would otherwise be desirable, which may have the effect of reducing or eliminating potential gain or causing it to realize a loss. In order to meet such redemptions, an Underlying Fund may be forced to sell its liquid (or more liquid) positions, leaving the Underlying Fund holding, post-redemption, a relatively larger position in illiquid investments (i.e., any investment that the Fund reasonably expects cannot be sold or disposed of in current market conditions in seven calendar days or less without the sale or disposition significantly changing the market value of the investment) or less liquid securities. Substantial redemptions may also adversely affect the ability of the Underlying Fund to implement its investment strategy. The Investment Manager or its affiliate also has a conflict of interest in determining the allocation of affiliated products’ assets among the Underlying Funds, as it earns different fees from the various Underlying Funds.
Investing in Money Market Funds
The Fund may invest cash in, or hold as collateral for certain investments, shares of registered or unregistered money market funds, including funds advised by the Investment Manager or its affiliates. These funds are not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) or any other government agency. The Fund and its shareholders indirectly bear a portion of the expenses of any money market fund or other fund in which the Fund may invest.
Lending of Portfolio Securities
The Fund may lend portfolio securities to broker-dealers or other financial intermediaries on a fully collateralized basis in order to earn additional income. The Fund may lose money from securities lending if, for example, it is delayed in or prevented from selling the collateral after the loan is made or recovering the securities loaned or if it incurs losses on the reinvestment of cash collateral.
The Fund currently does not participate in the securities lending program but the Board of Trustees (the Board) may determine to renew participation in the future. For more information on lending of portfolio securities and the risks involved, see the SAI and the annual and semiannual reports to shareholders.
Investing Defensively
The Fund may from time to time take temporary defensive investment positions that may be inconsistent with the Fund’s principal investment strategies in attempting to respond to adverse market, economic, political, social or other conditions, including, without limitation, investing some or all of its assets in money market instruments or shares of affiliated or unaffiliated money market funds or holding some or all of its assets in cash or cash equivalents. The Fund may take such defensive investment positions for as long a period as deemed necessary.
The Fund may not achieve its investment objective while it is investing defensively. Investing defensively may adversely affect Fund performance. During these times, the portfolio managers may make frequent portfolio holding changes, which could result in increased trading expenses and taxes, and decreased Fund performance. See also
above for more information.
Investing in Money Market Funds
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Other Strategic and Investment Measures
The Fund may also from time to time take temporary portfolio positions that may or may not be consistent with the Fund’s principal investment strategies in attempting to respond to adverse market, economic, political, social or other conditions, including, without limitation, investing in derivatives, such as forward contracts, futures contracts, options, structured investments and swaps, for various purposes, including among others, investing in particular derivatives in seeking to reduce investment exposures, or in seeking to achieve indirect investment exposures, to a sector, country, region or currency where the Investment Manager believes such positioning is appropriate. The Fund may take such portfolio positions for as long a period as deemed necessary. While the Fund is so positioned, derivatives could comprise a substantial portion of the Fund’s investments and the Fund may not achieve its investment objective. Investing in this manner may adversely affect Fund performance. During these times, the portfolio managers may make frequent portfolio holding changes, which could result in increased trading expenses and taxes, and decreased Fund performance. For information on the risks of investing in derivatives, see
above.
Transactions in Derivatives
Portfolio Holdings Disclosure
The Board has adopted policies and procedures that govern the timing and circumstances of disclosure to shareholders and third parties of information regarding the securities owned by the Fund. A description of these policies and procedures is included in the SAI. Fund policy generally permits the disclosure of portfolio holdings information on the Fund's website (columbiathreadneedleus.com) only after a certain amount of time has passed, as described in the SAI.
Purchases and sales of portfolio securities can take place at any time, so the portfolio holdings information available on the Fund's website may not always be current.
FUNDamentals
Portfolio Holdings Versus the Benchmarks
The Fund does not limit its investments to the securities within its benchmark(s), and accordingly the Fund's holdings may diverge significantly from those of its benchmark(s). In addition, the Fund may invest in securities outside any industry and geographic sectors represented in its benchmark(s). The Fund's weightings in individual securities, and in industry or geographic sectors, may also vary considerably from those of its benchmark(s).
eDelivery and Mailings to Households
In order to reduce shareholder expenses, the Fund may mail only one copy of the Fund’s prospectus and each annual and semiannual report to those addresses shared by two or more accounts. If you wish to receive separate copies of these documents, call 800.345.6611 or, if your shares are held through a financial intermediary, contact your intermediary directly. Additionally, you may elect to enroll in eDelivery to receive electronic versions of these documents, as well as quarterly statements and supplements, by logging into your account at columbiathreadneedleus.com/investor/.
Cash Flows
The timing and magnitude of cash inflows from investors buying Fund shares could prevent the Fund from always being fully invested. Conversely, the timing and magnitude of cash outflows to shareholders redeeming Fund shares could require the Fund to sell portfolio securities at less than opportune times or to hold ready reserves of uninvested cash in amounts larger than might otherwise be the case to meet shareholder redemptions. Either situation could adversely impact the Fund’s performance.
Understanding Annual Fund Operating Expenses
The Fund’s annual operating expenses, as presented in the
table in the
section of this prospectus, generally are based on expenses incurred during the Fund’s most recently completed fiscal year, may vary by share class and are expressed as a percentage (expense ratio) of the
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
Fees and Expenses of the Fund
| Prospectus 2021 | 35 |
Multi-Manager Total Return Bond Strategies Fund
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
Fund’s average net assets during that fiscal year. The expense ratios reflect the Fund’s fee arrangements as of the date of this prospectus and, unless indicated otherwise, are based on expenses incurred during the Fund’s most recent fiscal year. The Fund’s assets will fluctuate, but unless indicated otherwise in the
table, no adjustments have been or will be made to the expense ratios to reflect any differences in the Fund’s average net assets between the most recently completed fiscal year and the date of this prospectus or a later date. In general, the Fund’s expense ratios will increase as its net assets decrease, such that the Fund’s actual expense ratios may be higher than the expense ratios presented in the
table if assets fall. As applicable, any commitment by the Investment Manager and/or its affiliates to waive fees and/or cap (reimburse) expenses is expected, in part, to limit the impact of any increase in the Fund’s expense ratios that would otherwise result because of a decrease in the Fund’s assets in the current fiscal year. The Fund’s annual operating expenses are comprised of (i) investment management fees, (ii) distribution and/or service fees, and (iii) other expenses. Management fees do not vary by class, but distribution and/or service fees and other expenses may vary by class.
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
FUNDamentals
Other Expenses
“Other expenses” consist of the fees the Fund pays to its custodian, transfer agent, auditors, lawyers and trustees, costs relating to compliance and miscellaneous expenses. Generally, these expenses are allocated on a pro rata basis across all share classes. These fees include certain sub-transfer agency and shareholder servicing fees. Transfer agency fees and certain shareholder servicing fees, however, are class specific. They differ by share class because the shareholder services provided to each share class may be different. Accordingly, the differences in “other expenses” among share classes are primarily the result of the different transfer agency and shareholder servicing fees applicable to each share class. For more information on these fees, see
About Fund Shares — Financial Intermediary Compensation.
Fee Waiver/Expense Reimbursement Arrangements and Impact on Past Performance
The Investment Manager and certain of its affiliates have contractually agreed to waive fees and/or reimburse expenses (excluding certain fees and expenses described below) through December 31, 2021, unless sooner terminated at the sole discretion of the Fund's Board, so that the Fund’s net operating expenses, after giving effect to fees waived/expenses reimbursed and any balance credits and/or overdraft charges from the Fund’s custodian, do not exceed the annual rates of:
|
Multi-Manager Total Return Bond Strategies Fund
|
|
| Class Inst | 0.49% |
| Class Inst3 | 0.46% |
Under the agreement, the following fees and expenses are excluded from the Fund’s operating expenses when calculating the waiver/reimbursement commitment, and therefore will be paid by the Fund, if applicable: taxes (including foreign transaction taxes), expenses associated with investment in affiliated and non-affiliated pooled investment vehicles (including mutual funds and exchange-traded funds), transaction costs and brokerage commissions, costs related to any securities lending program, dividend expenses associated with securities sold short, inverse floater program fees and expenses, transaction charges and interest on borrowed money, interest, infrequent and/or unusual expenses and any other expenses the exclusion of which is specifically approved by the Fund’s Board. This agreement may be modified or amended only with approval from all parties.
The Investment Manager has voluntarily agreed to waive a portion of the management fee on Fund assets that are invested in affiliated mutual funds, ETFs and closed-end funds that pay a management fee or, where applicable, an advisory fee to the Investment Manager. This arrangement may be modified or terminated by the Investment Manager at any time.
| 36 | Prospectus 2021 |
Multi-Manager Total Return Bond Strategies Fund
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
Reflected in the cap commitments with respect to Class Inst3 is a contractual agreement by the Transfer Agent to waive fees and/or to reimburse expenses through December 31, 2021, unless sooner terminated at the sole discretion of the Fund’s Board, so that the fees payable under the Fund’s transfer agency agreement do not exceed the annual rate of 0.01% for Class Inst3.
Effect of Fee Waivers and/or Expense Reimbursements on Past Performance.
The Fund’s returns shown in the
Performance Information
section of this prospectus reflect the effect of any fee waivers and/or reimbursements of Fund expenses by the Investment Manager and/or any of its affiliates that were in place during the performance period shown. Without such fee waivers/expense reimbursements, the Fund’s returns might have been lower.
Primary Service Providers
The Fund enters into contractual arrangements (Service Provider Contracts) with various service providers, including, among others, the Investment Manager, the Distributor, the Transfer Agent and the Fund’s custodian. The Fund’s Service Provider Contracts are solely among the parties thereto. Shareholders are not parties to, or intended to be third-party beneficiaries of, any Service Provider Contracts. Further, this prospectus, the SAI and any Service Provider Contracts are not intended to give rise to any agreement, duty, special relationship or other obligation between the Fund and any investor, or give rise to any contractual, tort or other rights in any individual shareholder, group of shareholders or other person, including any right to assert a fiduciary or other duty, enforce the Service Provider Contracts against the parties or to seek any remedy thereunder, either directly or on behalf of the Fund. Nothing in the previous sentence should be read to suggest any waiver of any rights under federal or state securities laws.
The Investment Manager, the Distributor, and the Transfer Agent are all affiliates of Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (Ameriprise Financial). They and their affiliates currently provide key services, including investment advisory, administration, distribution, shareholder servicing and transfer agency services, to the Fund and various other funds, including the Columbia Funds, and are paid for providing these services. These service relationships are described below.
The Investment Manager
Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC is located at 225 Franklin Street, Boston, MA 02110 and serves as investment adviser and administrator to the Columbia Funds. The Investment Manager is a registered investment adviser and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ameriprise Financial. The Investment Manager’s management experience covers all major asset classes, including equity securities, debt instruments and money market instruments. In addition to serving as an investment adviser to traditional mutual funds, exchange-traded funds and closed-end funds, the Investment Manager acts as an investment adviser for itself, its affiliates, individuals, corporations, retirement plans, private investment companies and financial intermediaries.
Subject to oversight by the Board, the Investment Manager manages the day-to-day operations of the Fund. The Investment Manager is responsible for the investment management of the Fund, but has delegated certain of its duties, including day-to-day portfolio management of all or a portion of the Fund’s assets to one or more investment subadvisers that determine what securities and other investments the Fund should buy or sell. The Investment Manager is also responsible for overseeing the administrative operations of the Fund, including the general supervision of the Fund’s operations, the coordination of the Fund’s other service providers and the provision of related clerical and administrative services.
The SEC has issued an order that permits the Investment Manager, subject to the approval of the Board, to appoint unaffiliated subadvisers by entering into subadvisory agreements with them, and to change in material respects the terms of those subadvisory agreements, including the fees paid thereunder, for the Fund without first obtaining shareholder approval, thereby avoiding the expense and delays typically associated with obtaining shareholder approval. The Fund furnishes shareholders with information about new subadvisers retained in reliance on the order within 90 days after hiring the subadviser. The Investment Manager and its affiliates may have other relationships, including significant financial relationships, with current or potential subadvisers or their affiliates, which may create certain conflicts of interest. When making recommendations to the Board to appoint or to change a subadviser, or to change the terms of a subadvisory agreement, the Investment Manager discloses to the Board the nature of any such material relationships.
| Prospectus 2021 | 37 |
Multi-Manager Total Return Bond Strategies Fund
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
The Fund pays the Investment Manager a fee for its management services, which include investment advisory services and administrative services. The fee is calculated as a percentage of the daily net assets of the Fund and is paid monthly. For the Fund’s most recent fiscal year, management services fees paid to the Investment Manager by the Fund amounted to 0.45% of average daily net assets of the Fund, before any applicable reimbursements.
A discussion regarding the basis for the Board’s approval of the renewal of the Fund's management agreement is available in the Fund’s annual report to shareholders for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2020.
The Investment Manager has, with the approval of the Board, engaged an investment subadviser(s) to make the day-to-day investment decisions for the Fund. The Investment Manager pays the subadviser(s) for investment advisory services and retains ultimate responsibility (subject to Board oversight) for overseeing any subadviser it engages and for evaluating the Fund’s needs and the subadvisers’ skills and abilities on an ongoing basis. Based on its evaluations, the Investment Manager may at times recommend to the Board that the Fund change, add or terminate one or more subadvisers; continue to retain a subadviser even though the subadviser’s ownership or corporate structure has changed; or materially change a subadvisory agreement with a subadviser. A discussion regarding the basis for the Board’s approval of the renewal of the investment subadvisory agreements with Loomis Sayles, PGIM Fixed Income, TCW, and Voya is available in the Fund’s annual report to shareholders for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2020.
The date the Subadvisers began serving the Fund is set forth under
below. Any performance of the Fund prior to the date the Subadvisers began serving was achieved by one or more different subadvisers (as well as the Investment Manager). Similarly, the portfolio turnover rate for periods prior to the Subadvisers’ management of the Fund was the result of management by one or more different subadvisers (as well as the Investment Manager). A change in subadvisers may result in increased portfolio turnover.
Subadvisers
Subadvisers
Loomis Sayles, which has served as Subadviser to the Fund since April 2016, is located at One Financial Center, Boston, MA 02111. Loomis Sayles, subject to the supervision of Columbia Management, provides day-to-day management of a portion of the Fund’s portfolio, as well as investment research and statistical information, under a subadvisory agreement with Columbia Management. Loomis Sayles is an indirect subsidiary of Natixis Investment Managers, LLC. which is an indirect subsidiary of Natixis Investment Managers (Natixis IM), an international asset management group based in Paris, France. Natixis IM is in turn owned by Natixis, a French investment banking and financial services firm. Natixis is principally owned by BPCE, France’s second largest banking group. Loomis Sayles provides discretionary and non-discretionary investment advisory or subadvisory services to a variety of investment funds and institutional clients through its separate account management services, as well as, investment advisory or subadvisory services in connection with certain wrap programs.
PGIM Fixed Income, which has served as Subadviser to the Fund since May 2016, is located at 655 Broad Street, Newark, New Jersey 07102. PGIM Fixed Income, subject to the supervision of Columbia Management, provides day-to-day management of a portion of the Fund’s portfolio, as well as investment research and statistical information, under a subadvisory agreement with Columbia Management. PGIM Fixed Income is an indirect, wholly-owned subsidiary of Prudential Financial, Inc. PGIM Fixed Income was organized in 1984 and provides a variety of trust, investment management and investment advisory services.
TCW, which has served as Subadviser to the Fund since March 2012, is located at 865 South Figueroa Street, Suite 1800, Los Angeles, California 90017. TCW, subject to the supervision of Columbia Management, provides day-to-day management of a portion of the Fund’s portfolio, as well as investment research and statistical information, under a subadvisory agreement with Columbia Management. TCW is an independent registered investment adviser. TCW was organized in 1971 and provides a variety of investment management and investment advisory services.
Voya, which has served as Subadviser to the Fund since December 2018, is located at 230 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10169. Voya, subject to the supervision of Columbia Management, provides day-to-day management of a portion of the Fund’s portfolio, as well as investment research and statistical information, under a subadvisory agreement with Columbia Management. Voya is an indirect, wholly-owned subsidiary of Voya Financial, Inc. Voya was organized in 1972 and provides a variety of investment management and investment advisory services.
| 38 | Prospectus 2021 |
Multi-Manager Total Return Bond Strategies Fund
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
Portfolio Managers
Information about the portfolio managers primarily responsible for overseeing the Fund’s investments is shown below. The SAI provides additional information about the portfolio managers, including information relating to compensation, other accounts managed by the portfolio managers, and ownership by the portfolio managers of Fund shares.
Subadviser:
Loomis, Sayles & Company, L.P. (Loomis Sayles)
|
Portfolio Manager
|
Title
|
Role with Fund
|
Managed Fund Since
|
|||
| Christopher Harms | Vice President of Loomis Sayles | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2016 | |||
| Clifton Rowe, CFA | Vice President of Loomis Sayles | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2016 | |||
| Daniel Conklin, CFA | Vice President of Loomis Sayles | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2019 |
Mr. Harms
joined Loomis Sayles in 2010. Mr. Harms began his investment career in 1981 and earned a B.S.B.A. from Villanova University and an M.B.A. from Drexel University.
Mr. Rowe
joined Loomis Sayles in 1992. Mr. Rowe began his investment career in 1992 and earned a B.B.A. from James Madison University and an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago.
Mr. Conklin
joined Loomis Sayles in 2012. Mr. Conklin began his investment career in 2010 and earned a B.S. from the University of Massachusetts, Lowell and an M.S. from Northeastern University.
Subadviser:
PGIM, Inc., the asset management arm of Prudential Financial (PGIM Fixed Income)
|
Portfolio Manager
|
Title
|
Role with Fund
|
Managed Fund Since
|
|||
| Michael Collins, CFA | Managing Director and Senior Portfolio Manager for PGIM Fixed Income | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2016 | |||
| Robert Tipp, CFA | Managing Director, Chief Investment Strategist and Head of Global Bonds for PGIM Fixed Income | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2016 | |||
| Richard Piccirillo | Managing Director and Senior Portfolio Manager for PGIM Fixed Income | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2016 | |||
| Gregory Peters | Managing Director and Head of PGIM Fixed Income’s Multi-Sector and Strategy | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2016 |
Mr. Collins
joined PGIM Fixed Income in 1986. Mr. Collins began his investment career in 1993 and earned a B.S. from the State University of New York at Binghamton and an M.B.A. in Finance from New York University.
Mr. Tipp
joined PGIM Fixed Income in 1991. Mr. Tipp began his investment career in 1984 and earned a B.S. and an M.B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley.
Mr. Piccirillo
joined PGIM Fixed Income in 1993. Mr. Piccirillo began his investment career in 1991 and earned a B.B.A. from George Washington University and an M.B.A. in Finance and International Business from New York University.
Mr. Peters
joined PGIM Fixed Income in 2014. Prior to joining PGIM Fixed Income, Mr. Peters was the Chief Global Cross Asset Strategist and Global Director of Fixed Income & Economic Research at Morgan Stanley. Mr. Peters began his investment career in 1994 and earned a B.A. from The College of New Jersey and an M.B.A. from Fordham University.
Subadviser:
TCW Investment Management Company LLC (TCW)
|
Portfolio Manager
|
Title
|
Role with Fund
|
Managed Fund Since
|
|||
| Stephen Kane, CFA | Group Managing Director of TCW | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2012 | |||
| Laird Landmann | Co-Director of Fixed Income and Group Managing Director of TCW | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2012 | |||
| Tad Rivelle | Group Managing Director and Chief Investment Officer – Fixed Income of TCW since December 2009 | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2012 | |||
| Bryan Whalen, CFA | Group Managing Director of TCW | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2013 |
| Prospectus 2021 | 39 |
Multi-Manager Total Return Bond Strategies Fund
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
Mr. Kane
joined TCW in 2009 during the acquisition of Metropolitan West Asset Management, LLC (MetWest). Prior to joining TCW in December 2009, Mr. Kane was a portfolio manager and a founding partner with MetWest since 1996. Mr. Kane began his investment career in 1990 and earned a B.S. from the University of California, Berkeley and an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
Mr. Landmann
joined TCW in 2009 during the acquisition of MetWest. Prior to joining TCW in December 2009, Mr. Landmann was a portfolio manager and a founding partner with MetWest since 1996. Mr. Landmann began his investment career in 1986 and earned a B.S. from Dartmouth College and an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
Mr. Rivelle
joined TCW in 2009 during the acquisition of MetWest. Prior to joining TCW in December 2009, Mr. Rivelle was Chief Investment Officer, portfolio manager and a founding partner with MetWest since 1996. Mr. Rivelle began his investment career in 1986 and earned a B.S. from Yale University, a Master's Degree in applied mathematics from the University of Southern California and an M.B.A. from UCLA Anderson.
Mr. Whalen
joined TCW in 2009 during the acquisition of MetWest. Prior to joining TCW in December 2009, Mr. Whalen was co-head of MetWest’s Securitized Products division. Mr. Whalen began his investment career in 1997 and earned a B.A. from Yale University.
Subadviser:
Voya Investment Management Co. LLC (Voya)
|
Portfolio Manager
|
Title
|
Role with Fund
|
Managed Fund Since
|
|||
| Matthew Toms, CFA | Chief Investment Officer, Fixed Income of Voya | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2018 | |||
| Randall Parrish, CFA | Head of Credit of Voya | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2018 | |||
| David Goodson | Head of Securitized of Voya | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2018 |
Mr. Toms
joined Voya in 2009. Mr. Toms began his investment career in 1994 and earned a BBA from the University of Michigan.
Mr. Parrish
joined Voya in 2001. Mr. Parrish began his investment career in 1990 and earned a BBA in business administration from the University of Georgia.
Mr. Goodson
joined Voya in 2002. Mr. Goodson began his investment career in 1996 and earned a BS in management from Georgia Institute of Technology.
The Distributor
Shares of the Fund are distributed by Columbia Management Investment Distributors, Inc., which is located at 225 Franklin Street, Boston, MA 02110. The Distributor is a registered broker-dealer and an indirect, wholly-owned subsidiary of Ameriprise Financial. The Distributor and its affiliates may pay commissions, distribution and service fees and/or other compensation to entities, including Ameriprise Financial affiliates, for selling shares and providing services to investors.
The Transfer Agent
Columbia Management Investment Services Corp. is a registered transfer agent and wholly-owned subsidiary of Ameriprise Financial. The Transfer Agent is located at 225 Franklin Street, Boston, MA 02110, and its responsibilities include processing purchases, redemptions and exchanges of Fund shares, calculating and paying distributions, maintaining shareholder records, preparing account statements and providing customer service. The Transfer Agent has engaged DST Asset Manager Solutions, Inc. to provide various shareholder or “sub-transfer agency” services. In addition, the Transfer Agent enters into agreements with various financial intermediaries through which you may hold Fund shares, pursuant to which the Transfer Agent pays these financial intermediaries for providing certain shareholder services. Depending on the type of account, the Fund pays the Transfer Agent a per account fee or a fee based on the assets invested through omnibus accounts, and reimburses the Transfer Agent for certain out-of-pocket expenses, including certain payments to financial intermediaries through which shares are held.
| 40 | Prospectus 2021 |
Multi-Manager Total Return Bond Strategies Fund
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
Other Roles and Relationships of Ameriprise Financial and its Affiliates — Certain Conflicts of Interest
The Investment Manager, Distributor and Transfer Agent, all affiliates of Ameriprise Financial, provide various services to the Fund and other Columbia Funds for which they are compensated. Ameriprise Financial and its other affiliates may also provide other services to these funds and be compensated for them.
The Investment Manager and its affiliates may provide investment advisory and other services to other clients and customers substantially similar to those provided to the Columbia Funds. These activities, and other financial services activities of Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates, may present actual and potential conflicts of interest and introduce certain investment constraints.
Ameriprise Financial is a major financial services company, engaged in a broad range of financial activities beyond the fund-related activities of the Investment Manager, including, among others, insurance, broker-dealer (sales and trading), asset management, banking and other financial activities. These additional activities may involve multiple advisory, financial, insurance and other interests in securities and other instruments, and in companies that issue securities and other instruments, that may be bought, sold or held by the Columbia Funds.
Conflicts of interest and limitations that could affect a Columbia Fund may arise from, for example, the following:
| ■ | compensation and other benefits received by the Investment Manager and other Ameriprise Financial affiliates related to the management/administration of a Columbia Fund and the sale of its shares; |
| ■ | the allocation of, and competition for, investment opportunities among the Fund, other funds and accounts advised/managed by the Investment Manager and other Ameriprise Financial affiliates, or Ameriprise Financial itself and its affiliates; |
| ■ | separate and potentially divergent management of a Columbia Fund and other funds and accounts advised/managed by the Investment Manager and other Ameriprise Financial affiliates; |
| ■ | regulatory and other investment restrictions on investment activities of the Investment Manager and other Ameriprise Financial affiliates and accounts advised/managed by them; |
| ■ | insurance and other relationships of Ameriprise Financial affiliates with companies and other entities in which a Columbia Fund invests; and |
| ■ | regulatory and other restrictions relating to the sharing of information between Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates, including the Investment Manager, and a Columbia Fund. |
The Investment Manager and Ameriprise Financial have adopted various policies and procedures that are intended to identify, monitor and address conflicts of interest. However, there is no assurance that these policies, procedures and disclosures will be effective.
Additional information about Ameriprise Financial and the types of conflicts of interest and other matters referenced above is set forth in the
section of the SAI. Investors in the Columbia Funds should carefully review these disclosures and consult with their financial advisor if they have any questions.
Investment Management and Other Services — Other Roles and Relationships of Ameriprise Financial and its Affiliates — Certain Conflicts of Interest
Certain Legal Matters
Ameriprise Financial and certain of its affiliates have historically been involved in a number of legal, arbitration and regulatory proceedings, including routine litigation, class actions and governmental actions, concerning matters arising in connection with the conduct of their business activities. Ameriprise Financial believes that the Fund is not currently the subject of, and that neither Ameriprise Financial nor any of its affiliates are the subject of, any pending legal, arbitration or regulatory proceedings that are likely to have a material adverse effect on the Fund or the ability of Ameriprise Financial or its affiliates to perform under their contracts with the Fund. Information regarding certain pending and settled legal proceedings may be found in the Fund’s shareholder reports and in the SAI. Additionally,
| Prospectus 2021 | 41 |
Multi-Manager Total Return Bond Strategies Fund
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
Ameriprise Financial is required to make quarterly (10-Q), annual (10-K) and, as necessary, 8-K filings with the SEC on legal and regulatory matters that relate to Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates. Copies of these filings may be obtained by accessing the SEC website at sec.gov.
| 42 | Prospectus 2021 |
Multi-Manager Total Return Bond Strategies Fund
About Fund Shares
Description of the Share Classes
The Multi-Manager Strategies Funds, together with the other Columbia Funds, are referred to as the Funds.
Funds Contact Information
Additional information about the Funds, including sales charges and other class features and policies, can be obtained, free of charge, at columbiathreadneedleus.com,* by calling toll-free 800.345.6611, or by writing (regular mail) to Columbia Management Investment Services Corp., P.O. Box 219104, Kansas City, MO 64121-9104 or (express mail) Columbia Management Investment Services Corp., c/o DST Asset Manager Solutions, Inc., 430 W 7
th
Street, Ste 219104, Kansas City, MO 64105-1407.
| * | The website references in this prospectus are inactive links and information contained in or otherwise accessible through the referenced websites does not form a part of this prospectus. |
FUNDamentals
Financial Intermediaries
The term “financial intermediary” refers to the selling and servicing agents that are authorized to sell and/or service shares of the Funds. Financial intermediaries include broker-dealers and financial advisors as well as firms that employ broker-dealers and financial advisors, including, for example, brokerage firms, banks, investment advisers, third party administrators and other firms in the financial services industry.
Omnibus Accounts
The term “omnibus account” refers to a financial intermediary’s account with the Fund (held directly through the Transfer Agent) that represents the combined holdings of, and transactions in, Fund shares of one or more clients of the financial intermediary (beneficial Fund shareholders). Omnibus accounts are held in the name of the financial intermediaries and not in the name of the beneficial Fund shareholders invested in the Fund through omnibus accounts.
Retirement Plans and Omnibus Retirement Plans
The term “retirement plan” refers to retirement plans created under Sections 401(a), 401(k), 457 and 403(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the Code), and non-qualified deferred compensation plans governed by Section 409A of the Code and similar plans, but does not refer to individual retirement plans, such as traditional IRAs and Roth IRAs. The term “omnibus retirement plan” refers to a retirement plan that has a plan-level or omnibus account with the Transfer Agent.
Networked Accounts
Networking, offered by the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation’s Wealth Management Services (WMS), is the industry standard IT system for mutual fund account reconciliation and dividend processing.
Share Class Features
The following summarizes the primary features of Class Inst and Class Inst3 shares. Not all Multi-Manager Strategies Funds offer every class of shares. The Fund offers the class(es) of shares set forth on the cover of this prospectus and may offer other share classes through a separate prospectus. Contact your financial advisor or Columbia Funds for more information about the Fund’s shares.
| Prospectus 2021 | 43 |
Multi-Manager Total Return Bond Strategies Fund
About Fund Shares
(continued)
|
Share Class
|
Eligible Investors & Minimum Initial Investments
(a)
|
Front-End Sales Charges
|
Contingent Deferred Sales Charges (CDSCs)
|
Conversion Features & Investment Limits
|
Maximum Distribution and/or Service Fees
|
|
Class
Inst |
Eligibility:
Available only through certain wrap fee programs sponsored and/or managed by Ameriprise Financial or its affiliates.
$100
|
None | None | None | None |
|
Class
Inst3 |
Eligibility
(b)
:
Available to (i) group retirement plans that maintain plan-level or omnibus accounts with the Fund; (ii) institutional investors that are clients of the Columbia Threadneedle Global Institutional Distribution Team that invest in Class Inst3 shares for their own account through platforms approved by the Distributor or an affiliate thereof to offer and/or service Class Inst3 shares within such platform; (iii) collective trust funds; (iv) affiliated or unaffiliated mutual funds (e.g., funds operating as funds-of-funds); (v) fee-based platforms of financial intermediaries (or the clearing intermediary they trade through) that have an agreement with the Distributor or an affiliate thereof that specifically authorizes the financial intermediary to offer and/or service Class Inst3 shares within such platform, provided also that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account; (vi) commissionable brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary, acting as broker on behalf of its customer, charges the customer a commission for effecting transactions in Fund shares, provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst3 shares within such platform and that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account; and (vii) bank trust departments, subject to an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst3 shares and provided that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account. In each case above where noted that Fund shares are required to be held in an omnibus account, the Distributor may, in its discretion, determine to waive this requirement.
No minimum for the eligible investors described in (i), (iii), (iv), (v), and (vii) above; $2,000 ($1,000 for IRAs; $100 for systematic investment plan accounts) for the eligible investors described in (vi) above; and $1
|
None | None | None | None |
| 44 | Prospectus 2021 |
Multi-Manager Total Return Bond Strategies Fund
About Fund Shares
(continued)
|
Share Class
|
Eligible Investors & Minimum Initial Investments
(a)
|
Front-End Sales Charges
|
Contingent Deferred Sales Charges (CDSCs)
|
Conversion Features & Investment Limits
|
Maximum Distribution and/or Service Fees
|
| million for all other eligible investors, unless waived in the discretion of the Distributor |
| (a) |
See
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares — Buying Shares
|
| (b) | Currently, Class Inst3 shares of the Multi-Manager Strategies Funds are offered only to group retirement plan recordkeeping platforms that have an agreement with (i) the Distributor or an affiliate thereof that specifically authorizes the group retirement plan recordkeeper to offer and/or service Class Inst3 shares within such platform, provided also that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account and (ii) Wilshire Associates, appointed or serving as investment manager or consultant to the recordkeeper’s group retirement plan platform. There is no minimum initial investment for such accounts. |
Distribution and Service Fees
The Board has approved, and the Multi-Manager Strategies Funds have adopted, distribution and/or shareholder service plans which set the distribution and/or service fees that are periodically deducted from the Funds’ assets. These fees are calculated daily, may vary by share class and are intended to compensate the Distributor and/or eligible financial intermediaries for, with regard to distribution fees, selling Fund shares and, with regard to service fees, directly or indirectly providing services to shareholders. Because the fees are paid out of the Fund's assets on an ongoing basis, they will increase the cost of your investment over time. The table below shows the maximum annual distribution and/or service fees (as an annual percentage of average daily net assets) and the combined amount of such fees applicable to each class of shares:
If you maintain shares of the Fund directly with the Fund, without working with a financial advisor or other financial intermediary, distribution and service fees may be retained by the Distributor as payment or reimbursement for incurring certain distribution and shareholder service related expenses.
Over time, these distribution and/or service fees will reduce the return on your investment and may cost you more than paying other types of sales charges. The Fund will pay these fees to the Distributor and/or to eligible financial intermediaries for as long as the distribution plan and/or shareholder servicing plans continue in effect, which is expected to be indefinitely. However, the Fund may reduce or discontinue payments at any time. Your financial intermediary may also charge you other additional fees for providing services to your account, which may be different from those described here.
Financial Intermediary Compensation
The Distributor, the Investment Manager and their affiliates make payments, from their own resources, to financial intermediaries, including other Ameriprise Financial affiliates, for marketing/sales support services relating to the Funds (Marketing Support Payments). Such payments are generally based upon one or more of the following factors: average net assets of the Funds attributable to that financial intermediary; gross sales of the Funds attributable to that financial intermediary; reimbursement of ticket charges (fees that a financial intermediary charges its representatives for effecting transactions in Fund shares); or a negotiated lump sum payment. While the financial arrangements may vary for each financial intermediary, Marketing Support Payments to any one financial intermediary are generally between 0.05% and 0.40% on an annual basis for payments based on average net assets of the Fund attributable to the financial intermediary, and between 0.05% and 0.25% on an annual basis for firms receiving a payment based on gross sales of the Funds attributable to the financial intermediary. The Distributor, the Investment Manager and their affiliates may at times make payments with respect to a Fund or the Columbia Funds
| Prospectus 2021 | 45 |
Multi-Manager Total Return Bond Strategies Fund
About Fund Shares
(continued)
generally on a basis other than those described above, or in larger amounts, when dealing with certain financial intermediaries. Not all financial intermediaries receive Marketing Support Payments. The Distributor, the Investment Manager and their affiliates do not make Marketing Support Payments with respect to Class Inst3 shares.
In addition, the Transfer Agent has certain arrangements in place to compensate financial intermediaries, including other Ameriprise Financial affiliates, that hold Fund shares through networked and omnibus accounts, including omnibus retirement plans, for services that they provide to beneficial Fund shareholders (Shareholder Services). Shareholder Services and related fees vary by financial intermediary and according to distribution channel and may include sub-accounting, sub-transfer agency, participant recordkeeping, shareholder or participant reporting, shareholder or participant transaction processing, maintenance of shareholder records, preparation of account statements and provision of customer service, and are not intended to include services that are primarily intended to result in the sale of Fund shares. Payments for Shareholder Services generally are not expected, with certain limited exceptions, to exceed 0.40% of the average aggregate value of the Fund’s shares. Generally, each Fund pays the Transfer Agent a per account fee or a percentage of the average aggregate value of shares per annum maintained in omnibus accounts up to the lesser of the amount charged by the financial intermediary or a channel-specific or share class-specific cap established by the Board from time to time. Fee amounts in excess of the amount paid by the Fund are borne by the Transfer Agent, the Investment Manager and/or their affiliates. For Class Inst3 shares, the Transfer Agent does not pay financial intermediaries for Shareholder Services, except that for Class Inst3 shares of Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund (formerly an unnamed share class of the Fund), the Transfer Agent makes Shareholder Services payments to a financial intermediary through which shares of this class were held (under its former unnamed share class name) as of November 30, 2018, and the Fund does not compensate the Transfer Agent for any Shareholder Services provided by financial intermediaries.
In addition to the payments described above, the Distributor, the Investment Manager and their affiliates typically make other payments or allow promotional incentives to certain broker-dealers to the extent permitted by the Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) rules and by other applicable laws and regulations.
Amounts paid by the Distributor, the Investment Manager and their affiliates are paid out of their own resources and do not increase the amount paid by you or the Fund. You can find further details in the SAI about the payments made by the Distributor, the Investment Manager and their affiliates, as well as a list of the financial intermediaries, including Ameriprise Financial affiliates, to which the Distributor, the Investment Manager or their affiliates have agreed to make Marketing Support Payments and pay Shareholder Services fees.
Your financial intermediary may charge you fees and commissions in addition to those described in this prospectus. You should consult with your financial intermediary and review carefully any disclosure your financial intermediary provides regarding its services and compensation. Depending on the financial arrangement in place at any particular time, a financial intermediary and its financial advisors may have a conflict of interest or financial incentive for recommending the Fund or a particular share class over others.
| 46 | Prospectus 2021 |
Multi-Manager Total Return Bond Strategies Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
Share Price Determination
The price you pay or receive when you buy, sell or exchange shares is the Fund's next determined net asset value (or NAV) per share for a given share class. The Fund calculates the NAV per share for each class of shares of the Fund at the end of each business day, with the value of the Fund's shares based on the total value of all of the securities and other assets that it holds as of a specified time.
FUNDamentals
NAV Calculation
Each of the Fund's share classes calculates its NAV per share as follows:
NAV per share =
(Value of assets of the share class) – (Liabilities of the share class)
Number of outstanding shares of the class
FUNDamentals
Business Days
A business day is any day that the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is open. A business day typically ends at the close of regular trading on the NYSE, usually at 4:00 p.m. Eastern time. If the NYSE is scheduled to close early, the business day will be considered to end as of the time of the NYSE’s scheduled close. The Fund will not treat an intraday unscheduled disruption in NYSE trading or an intraday unscheduled closing as a close of regular trading on the NYSE for these purposes and will price its shares as of the regularly scheduled closing time for that day (typically, 4:00 p.m. Eastern time). Notwithstanding the foregoing, the NAV of Fund shares may be determined at such other time or times (in addition to or in lieu of the time set forth above) as the Fund’s Board may approve or ratify. On holidays and other days when the NYSE is closed, the Fund’s NAV is not calculated and the Fund does not accept buy or sell orders. However, the value of the Fund’s assets may still be affected on such days to the extent that the Fund holds foreign securities that trade on days that foreign securities markets are open.
Equity securities are valued primarily on the basis of market quotations reported on stock exchanges and other securities markets around the world. If an equity security is listed on a national exchange, the security is valued at the closing price or, if the closing price is not readily available, the mean of the closing bid and asked prices. Certain equity securities, debt securities and other assets are valued differently. For instance, bank loans trading in the secondary market are valued primarily on the basis of indicative bids, fixed income investments maturing in 60 days or less are valued primarily using the amortized cost method, unless this methodology results in a valuation that does not approximate the market value of these securities, and those maturing in excess of 60 days are valued primarily using a market-based price obtained from a pricing service, if available. Investments in other open-end funds are valued at their published NAVs. Both market quotations and indicative bids are obtained from outside pricing services approved and monitored pursuant to a policy approved by the Fund's Board.
If a market price is not readily available or is deemed not to reflect market value, the Fund will determine the price of a portfolio security based on a determination of the security's fair value pursuant to a policy approved by the Fund’s Board. In addition, the Fund may use fair valuation to price securities that trade on a foreign exchange when a significant event has occurred after the foreign exchange closes but before the time at which the Fund’s share price is calculated. Foreign exchanges typically close before the time at which Fund share prices are calculated, and may be closed altogether on days when the Fund is open. Such significant events affecting a foreign security may include, but are not limited to: (1) corporate actions, earnings announcements, litigation or other events impacting a single issuer; (2) governmental action that affects securities in one sector or country; (3) natural disasters or armed conflicts affecting a country or region; or (4) significant domestic or foreign market fluctuations. The Fund uses various criteria, including an evaluation of U.S. market moves after the close of foreign markets, in determining whether a foreign security's market price is readily available and reflective of market value and, if not, the fair value
| Prospectus 2021 | 47 |
Multi-Manager Total Return Bond Strategies Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
of the security. To the extent the Fund has significant holdings of small cap stocks, high-yield bonds, floating rate loans, or tax-exempt, foreign or other securities that may trade infrequently, fair valuation may be used more frequently than for other funds.
Fair valuation may have the effect of reducing stale pricing arbitrage opportunities presented by the pricing of Fund shares. However, when the Fund uses fair valuation to price securities, it may value those securities higher or lower than another fund would have priced the security. Also, the use of fair valuation may cause the Fund's performance to diverge to a greater degree from the performance of various benchmarks used to compare the Fund's performance because benchmarks generally do not use fair valuation techniques. Because of the judgment involved in fair valuation decisions, there can be no assurance that the value ascribed to a particular security is accurate. The Fund has retained one or more independent fair valuation pricing services to assist in the fair valuation process for foreign securities.
Transaction Rules and Policies
The Fund, the Distributor or the Transfer Agent may refuse any order to buy or exchange shares. If this happens, the Fund will return any money it received, but no interest will be paid on that money. Your financial intermediary may have rules and policies in place that are in addition to or different than those described below.
Order Processing
Orders to buy, sell or exchange Fund shares are processed on business days. Orders can be made by mail, by telephone or online. Orders received in “good form” by the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary before the end of a business day are priced at the NAV per share (plus any applicable sales charge) of the Fund's applicable share class on that day. Orders received after the end of a business day will receive the next business day's NAV per share (plus any applicable sales charge). For Direct-at-Fund Accounts (i.e., accounts established directly with the Fund), when a written order to buy, sell or exchange shares is sent to the Transfer Agent, the share price used to fill the order is the next price calculated by the Fund after the Transfer Agent receives the transaction request in “good form” at its transaction processing center (i.e., the Fund’s express mail address), not the P.O. Box provided for regular mail delivery. The market value of the Fund's investments may change between the time you submit your order and the time the Fund next calculates its NAV per share. The business day that applies to your order is also called the trade date.
“Good Form”
An order is in “good form” if the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary has received payment (in the case of purchases) and all of the information and documentation it deems necessary to effect your order. For example, when you sell shares, “good form” means that your request (i) has complete instructions and written requests include the signatures of all account owners, (ii) is for an amount that is less than or equal to the shares in your account for which payment has been received and collected, (iii) has a Medallion Signature Guarantee for amounts greater than $100,000 and certain other transactions, as described below, and (iv) includes any other required documents completed and attached. For the documents required for sales by corporations, agents, fiduciaries, surviving joint owners and other legal entities, call 800.345.6611.
Medallion Signature Guarantees
The Transfer Agent may require a Medallion Signature Guarantee for your signature in order to process certain transactions, including if: (i) the transaction amount is over $100,000; (ii) you want your check made payable to someone other than the registered account owner(s); (iii) the address of record has changed within the last 30 days; (iv) you want the check mailed to an address other than the address of record; (v) you want proceeds to be sent according to existing bank account instructions not coded for outgoing Automated Clearing House (ACH) or wire, or to a bank account not on file; or (vi) you are changing legal ownership of your account.
A Medallion Signature Guarantee helps assure that a signature is genuine and not a forgery. A Medallion Signature Guarantee must be provided by an eligible guarantor institution including, but not limited to, the following: a bank, credit union, savings association, broker or dealer that participates in the Securities Transfer Association Medallion Program (STAMP), the Stock Exchange Medallion Program (SEMP) or the New York Stock Exchange Medallion
| 48 | Prospectus 2021 |
Multi-Manager Total Return Bond Strategies Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
Signature Program (MSP). For other transactions, the Transfer Agent may require a signature guarantee. Notarization by a notary public is not an acceptable signature guarantee. The Transfer Agent reserves the right to reject a signature guarantee and to request additional documentation for any transaction.
Customer Identification Program
Federal law requires the Fund to obtain and record specific personal information to verify your identity when you open an account. This information may include your name, address, date of birth (for individuals) and taxpayer or other government issued identification (e.g., social security number (SSN) or other taxpayer identification number (TIN)). If you fail to provide the requested information, the Fund may need to delay the date of your purchase or may be unable to open your account, which may result in a return of your investment monies. In addition, if the Fund is unable to verify your identity after your account is open, the Fund reserves the right to close your account or take other steps as deemed reasonable. The Fund will not be liable for any loss resulting from any purchase delay, application rejection or account closure due to a failure to provide proper identifying information.
Small Account Policy — Financial Intermediary Networked and Wrap Fee Accounts
The Funds may automatically redeem, at any time, financial intermediary networked accounts and wrap fee accounts that have account balances of $20 or less or have less than one share.
For shares purchased and held for your benefit through a financial intermediary, the Funds may instruct the intermediary to automatically sell your Fund shares if the transaction can be operationally administered by the intermediary.
Information Sharing Agreements
As required by Rule 22c-2 under the 1940 Act, the Funds or certain of their service providers will enter into information sharing agreements with financial intermediaries, including participating life insurance companies and financial intermediaries that sponsor or offer retirement plans through which shares of the Funds are made available for purchase. Pursuant to Rule 22c-2, financial intermediaries are required, upon request, to: (i) provide shareholder account and transaction information; and (ii) execute instructions from the Fund to restrict or prohibit further purchases of Fund shares by shareholders who have been identified by the Fund as having engaged in transactions that violate the Fund's excessive trading policies and procedures.
Excessive Trading Practices Policy
Right to Reject or Restrict Share Transaction Orders—
The Fund is intended for investors with long-term investment purposes and is not intended as a vehicle for frequent trading activity (market timing) that is excessive. Investors should transact in Fund shares primarily for investment purposes. The Board has adopted excessive trading policies and procedures that are designed to deter excessive trading by investors (the Excessive Trading Policies and Procedures).
The Fund discourages and does not accommodate excessive trading.
The Fund reserves the right to reject, without any prior notice, any purchase or exchange order for any reason, and will not be liable for any loss resulting from rejected orders. For example, the Fund may in its sole discretion restrict or reject a purchase or exchange order even if the transaction is not subject to the specific limitation described below if the Fund or its agents determine that accepting the order could interfere with efficient management of the Fund's portfolio or is otherwise contrary to the Fund's best interests. The Excessive Trading Policies and Procedures apply equally to purchase or exchange transactions communicated directly to the Transfer Agent and to those received by financial intermediaries.
Specific Buying and Exchanging Limitations
— If a Fund detects that an investor has made two “material round trips” in any 28-day period, it will generally reject the investor's future purchase orders, including exchange purchase orders, involving any Fund.
For these purposes, a “round trip” is a purchase or exchange into the Fund followed by a sale or exchange out of the Fund, or a sale or exchange out of the Fund followed by a purchase or exchange into the Fund. A “material” round trip is one that is deemed by the Fund to be material in terms of its amount or its potential detrimental impact on the Fund. Independent of this limit, the Fund may, in its sole discretion, reject future purchase orders by any person, group or account that appears to have engaged in any type of excessive trading activity.
| Prospectus 2021 | 49 |
Multi-Manager Total Return Bond Strategies Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
These limits generally do not apply to automated transactions or transactions by registered investment companies in a “fund-of-funds” structure. These limits do not apply to payroll deduction contributions by retirement plan participants, transactions initiated by a retirement plan sponsor or certain other retirement plan transactions consisting of rollover transactions, loan repayments and disbursements, and required minimum distribution redemptions. They may be modified or rescinded for accounts held by certain retirement plans to conform to plan limits, for considerations relating to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 or regulations of the Department of Labor, and for certain asset allocation or wrap programs. Accounts known to be under common ownership or control generally will be counted together, but accounts maintained or managed by a common intermediary generally will not be considered to be under common ownership or control. The Fund retains the right to modify these restrictions at any time without prior notice to shareholders. In addition, the Fund may, in its sole discretion, reinstate trading privileges that have been revoked under the Fund's Excessive Trading Policies and Procedures.
Limitations on the Ability to Detect and Prevent Excessive Trading Practices—
The Fund takes various steps designed to detect and prevent excessive trading, including daily review of available shareholder transaction information. However, the Fund receives buy, sell or exchange orders through financial intermediaries, and cannot always know of or reasonably detect excessive trading that may be facilitated by financial intermediaries or by the use of the omnibus account arrangements they offer. Omnibus account arrangements are common forms of holding shares of mutual funds, particularly among certain financial intermediaries such as broker-dealers, retirement plans and variable insurance products. These arrangements often permit financial intermediaries to aggregate their clients' transactions and accounts, and in these circumstances, the identities of the financial intermediary clients that beneficially own Fund shares are often not known to the Fund.
Some financial intermediaries apply their own restrictions or policies to their clients’ transactions and accounts, which may be more or less restrictive than those described here. This may impact the Fund's ability to curtail excessive trading, even where it is identified. For these and other reasons, it is possible that excessive trading may occur despite the Fund's efforts to detect and prevent it.
Although these restrictions and policies involve judgments that are inherently subjective and may involve some selectivity in their application, the Fund seeks to act in a manner that it believes is consistent with the best interests of Fund shareholders in making any such judgments.
Risks of Excessive Trading —
Excessive trading creates certain risks to the Fund's long-term shareholders and may create the following adverse effects:
| ■ | negative impact on the Fund's performance; |
| ■ | potential dilution of the value of the Fund's shares; |
| ■ | interference with the efficient management of the Fund's portfolio, such as the need to maintain undesirably large cash positions, the need to use its line of credit or the need to buy or sell securities it otherwise would not have bought or sold; |
| ■ | losses on the sale of investments resulting from the need to sell securities at less favorable prices; |
| ■ | increased taxable gains to the Fund's remaining shareholders resulting from the need to sell securities to meet sell orders; and |
| ■ | increased brokerage and administrative costs. |
To the extent that the Fund invests significantly in foreign securities traded on markets that close before the Fund's valuation time, it may be particularly susceptible to dilution as a result of excessive trading. Because events may occur after the close of foreign markets and before the Fund's valuation time that influence the value of foreign securities, investors may seek to trade Fund shares in an effort to benefit from their understanding of the value of foreign securities as of the Fund's valuation time. This is often referred to as price arbitrage. The Fund has adopted procedures designed to adjust closing market prices of foreign securities under certain circumstances to reflect what the Fund believes to be the fair value of those securities as of its valuation time. To the extent the adjustments do not work fully, investors engaging in price arbitrage may cause dilution in the value of the Fund's shares held by other shareholders.
| 50 | Prospectus 2021 |
Multi-Manager Total Return Bond Strategies Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
Similarly, to the extent that the Fund invests significantly in thinly traded securities and other debt instruments that are rated below investment grade (commonly called “high-yield” or “junk” bonds), equity securities of small-capitalization companies, floating rate loans, or tax-exempt or other securities that may trade infrequently, because
these securities are often traded infrequently, investors may seek to trade Fund shares in an effort to benefit from their understanding of the value of these securities as of the Fund's valuation time. This is also a type of price arbitrage. Any such frequent trading strategies may interfere with efficient management of the Fund's portfolio to a greater degree than would be the case for mutual funds that invest only, or significantly, in highly liquid securities, in part because the Fund may have difficulty selling these particular investments at advantageous times or prices to satisfy large and/or frequent sell orders. Any successful price arbitrage may also cause dilution in the value of Fund shares held by non-redeeming shareholders.
Opening an Account and Placing Orders
We encourage you to consult with a financial advisor who can help you with your investment decisions and who can help you open an account. Once you have an account, you can buy, sell or exchange shares by contacting your financial advisor who will send your order to the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary. As described below, once you have an account you can also communicate your orders directly to the Transfer Agent by mail, by telephone or online.
The Funds are generally available directly and through broker-dealers, banks and other financial intermediaries or institutions, and through certain qualified and non-qualified plans, wrap fee products or other investment products sponsored by financial intermediaries. You may buy, sell, or exchange shares through your financial intermediary. If you maintain your account directly with your financial intermediary, you must contact that agent to process your transaction.
Not all financial intermediaries offer the Funds (or all classes of Fund shares) and certain financial intermediaries that offer the Funds may not offer all Funds on all investment platforms or programs.
Please consult with your financial intermediary to determine the availability of the Funds. If you set up an account at a financial intermediary that does not have, and is unable to obtain, a selling agreement with the Distributor, you will not be able to transfer Fund holdings to that account. In that event, you must either maintain your Fund holdings with your current financial intermediary or find another financial intermediary with a selling agreement.
Financial intermediaries that offer the Funds may charge you additional fees for the services they provide and they may have different policies that are not described in this prospectus.
An investor transacting in a class of Fund shares without any front-end sales charge, CDSC, or other asset-based fee for sales or distribution, such as a Rule 12b-1 fee, may be required to pay a commission to the financial intermediary for effecting such transactions. The Funds are offered in a number of different share classes that have different fees and expenses and other features. Some differences in the policies of different financial intermediaries may include different minimum investment amounts, exchange privileges, Fund/class choices and cutoff times for investments. Additionally, recordkeeping, transaction processing and payments of distributions relating to your account may be performed by the financial intermediaries through which your shares of the Fund are held. Since the Fund (and its service providers) may not have a record of your account transactions, you should always contact the financial intermediary through which you purchased or at which you maintain your shares of the Fund to make changes to your account, to give instructions concerning your account, or to obtain information about your account. The Fund and its service providers, including the Distributor and the Transfer Agent, are not responsible for the failure of any financial intermediary to carry out its obligations to its customers.
The Fund may engage financial intermediaries to receive purchase, exchange and sell orders on its behalf. Accounts established directly with the Fund will be serviced by the Transfer Agent. The Funds, the Transfer Agent and the Distributor do not provide investment advice.
| Prospectus 2021 | 51 |
Multi-Manager Total Return Bond Strategies Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
Buying Shares
Eligible Investors
Class Inst Shares
Class Inst shares are offered only through certain wrap fee programs sponsored and/or managed by Ameriprise Financial or its affiliates.
Class Inst3 Shares
Class Inst3 shares are available to: (i) group retirement plans that maintain plan-level or omnibus accounts with the Fund (through the Transfer Agent); (ii) institutional investors that are clients of the Columbia Threadneedle Global Institutional Distribution Team that invest in Class Inst3 shares for their own account through platforms approved by the Distributor or an affiliate thereof to offer and/or service Class Inst3 shares within such platform; (iii) collective trust funds; (iv) affiliated or unaffiliated mutual funds (e.g., funds operating as funds-of-funds); (v) fee-based platforms of financial intermediaries (or the clearing intermediary that they trade through) that have an agreement with the Distributor or an affiliate thereof that specifically authorizes the financial intermediary to offer and/or service Class Inst3 shares within such platform, provided also that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account; (vi) commissionable brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary, acting as broker on behalf of its customer, charges the customer a commission for effecting transactions in Fund shares, provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst3 shares within such platform and that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account; and (vii) bank trust departments, subject to an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst3 shares and provided that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account. In each case above where noted that Fund shares are required to be held in an omnibus account, the Distributor may, in its discretion, determine to waive this requirement.
Currently, Class Inst3 shares of the Multi-Manager Strategies Funds are offered only to group retirement plan recordkeeping platforms that have an agreement with (i) the Distributor or an affiliate thereof that specifically authorizes the group retirement plan recordkeeper to offer and/or service Class Inst3 shares within such platform, provided also that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account and (ii) Wilshire Associates, appointed or serving as investment manager or consultant to the recordkeeper’s group retirement plan platform.
Minimum Initial Investments and Account Balances
The minimum initial investment for Class Inst shares is $100, and there is no minimum initial investment for Class Inst3 shares. There is no minimum additional investment amount for these share classes.
For Class Inst: If you no longer hold or invest Fund shares through a wrap account (i.e., you “unwrap” your Ameriprise wrap account), you may continue to hold, but not purchase additional shares of, the Multi-Manager Strategies Funds. However, if you transfer your account to another financial intermediary, your holdings in Multi-Manager Strategies Funds are not transferable; you may liquidate your Multi-Manager Strategies Fund holdings or continue to hold them in your Ameriprise brokerage account.
For Class Inst3: If you transfer your account to another financial intermediary, you may continue to hold, but not purchase additional shares of, the Multi-Manager Strategies Funds.
Please refer to the
s —
section above for information on the Fund’s Small Account Policy. Each Multi-Manager Strategies Fund reserves the right to modify its minimum investment and related requirements at any time, with or without prior notice.
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Share
Transaction Rules and Policies
Other Purchase Rules You Should Know
| ■ | Once the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary receives your buy order in “good form,” your purchase will be made at the next calculated public offering price per share, which is the net asset value per share plus any sales charge that applies (i.e., the trade date). |
| ■ | Once the Fund receives your purchase request in “good form,” you cannot cancel it after the market closes. |
| 52 | Prospectus 2021 |
Multi-Manager Total Return Bond Strategies Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
| ■ | You generally buy shares of Multi-Manager Strategies Funds at NAV per share because no front-end sales charge applies to purchases of shares of Multi-Manager Strategies Funds. |
| ■ | The Distributor and the Transfer Agent reserve the right to cancel your order request if the Fund does not receive payment within two business days of receiving your purchase order request. The Fund will return any payment received for orders that have been cancelled, but no interest will be paid on that money. |
| ■ | Financial intermediaries are responsible for sending your purchase orders to the Transfer Agent and ensuring that the Fund receives your money on time. |
| ■ | Shares purchased are recorded on the books of the Fund. The Fund does not issue certificates. |
Selling Shares
When you sell shares, the amount you receive may be more or less than the amount you invested. Your sale price will be the next NAV calculated after your request is received in “good form” (i.e., the trade date).
Multi-Manager Strategies Funds are sold only through certain wrap fee programs sponsored and/or managed by Ameriprise Financial or its affiliates, and to group retirement plan recordkeeping platforms that have an agreement with (i) the Distributor or an affiliate thereof that specifically authorizes the group retirement plan recordkeeper to offer and/or service Class Inst3 shares within such platform, provided also that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account and (ii) Wilshire Associates, appointed or serving as investment manager or consultant to the recordkeeper’s group retirement plan platform. For detailed rules regarding the sale of shares of these Funds, contact your financial intermediary.
Satisfying Fund Redemption Requests
When you sell your Fund shares, the Fund is effectively buying them back from you. This is called a redemption. Except as noted below with respect to newly purchased shares, the Fund typically expects to send you payment for your shares within two business days after your trade date for all methods of payment. The Fund can suspend redemptions and/or delay payment of redemption proceeds for up to seven days. The Fund can also suspend redemptions and/or delay payment of redemption proceeds in excess of seven days under certain circumstances, including when the NYSE is closed or trading thereon is restricted or during emergency or other circumstances, including as determined by the SEC.
The Fund typically seeks to satisfy redemption requests from cash or cash equivalents held by the Fund, from the proceeds of orders to purchase Fund shares or from the proceeds of sales of Fund holdings effected in the normal course of managing the Fund. However, the Fund may have to sell Fund holdings, including in down markets, to meet heavier than usual redemption requests. For example, under stressed or abnormal market conditions or circumstances, including circumstances adversely affecting the liquidity of the Fund’s investments, the Fund may be more likely to be forced to sell Fund holdings to meet redemptions than under normal market circumstances. In these situations, the Fund’s portfolio managers may have to sell Fund holdings that would not otherwise be sold because, among other reasons, the current price to be received is less than the value of the holdings perceived by the Fund’s portfolio managers. The Fund may also, under certain circumstances (but more likely under stressed or abnormal market conditions or circumstances), borrow money under a credit facility to which the Fund and certain other Columbia Funds are parties or from other Columbia Funds under an interfund lending program (except for closed-end funds and money market funds, which are not eligible to borrow under the program). The Fund and the other Columbia Funds are limited as to the amount that each may individually and collectively borrow under the credit facility and the interfund lending program. As a result, borrowings available to the Fund under the credit facility and the interfund lending program might be insufficient, alone or in combination with the other strategies described herein, to satisfy Fund redemption requests. Please see
in the SAI for more information about the credit facility and interfund lending program. The Fund is also limited in the total amount it may borrow. The Fund may only borrow to the extent permitted by the 1940 Act, the rules and regulations thereunder, and any exemptive relief available to the Fund, which currently limit Fund borrowings to 33
About Fund Investments – Borrowings – Interfund Lending
| Prospectus 2021 | 53 |
Multi-Manager Total Return Bond Strategies Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
1/3% of total assets (including any amounts borrowed) less liabilities (other than borrowings), plus an additional 5% of its total assets for temporary purposes (to be repaid within 60 days without extension or renewal), in each case determined at the time the borrowing is made.
In addition, the Fund reserves the right to honor redemption orders in whole or in part with in-kind distributions of Fund portfolio securities instead of cash. Such in-kind distributions typically represent a pro-rata portion of Fund portfolio assets subject to adjustments (e.g., for non-transferable securities, round lots, and derivatives). In the event the Fund distributes portfolio securities in kind, you may incur brokerage and other transaction costs associated with converting the portfolio securities you receive into cash. Also, the portfolio securities you receive may increase or decrease in value after they are distributed but before you convert them into cash. For U.S. federal income tax purposes, redemptions paid in securities are generally treated the same as redemptions paid in cash. If, during any 90-day period, you redeem shares in an amount greater than $250,000 or 1% of the Fund’s net assets (whichever is less), and if the Investment Manager determines it to be feasible and appropriate, the Fund may pay the redemption amount above such threshold by an in-kind distribution of Fund portfolio securities.
While the Fund is not required (and may refuse in its discretion) to pay a redemption with an in-kind distribution of Fund portfolio securities and reserves the right to pay the redemption proceeds in cash, if you wish to request an in-kind redemption, please call the Transfer Agent at 800.345.6611. As a result of the operational steps needed to coordinate with the redeeming shareholder’s custodian, in-kind redemptions typically take several weeks to complete after a redemption request is received. The Fund and the redeeming shareholder will typically agree upon a redemption date. Since the Fund’s NAV may fluctuate during this time, the Fund’s NAV may be lower on the agreed-upon redemption date than on an earlier date on which the investment could have been redeemed for cash.
Redemption of Newly Purchased Shares
You may not redeem shares for which the Fund has not yet received payment. Shares purchased by check or electronically by ACH when the purchase payment is not guaranteed will be considered in “good form” for redemption only after they have been held in your account for 6 calendar days after the trade date of the purchase (Collected Shares). If you request a redemption for an amount that, based on the NAV next calculated after your redemption request is received, includes any shares that are not yet Collected Shares, the Fund will only process the redemption up to the amount of the value of Collected Shares available in your account. You must submit a new redemption request if you wish to redeem those shares that were not yet Collected Shares at the time the original redemption request was received by the Fund.
Other Redemption Rules You Should Know
| ■ | Once the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary receives your redemption order in “good form,” your shares will be sold at the next calculated NAV per share (i.e., the trade date). |
| ■ | Once the Fund receives your redemption request in “good form,” you cannot cancel it after the market closes. |
| ■ | If you sell your shares that are held in a Direct-at-Fund Account, we will normally send the redemption proceeds by mail or electronically transfer them to your bank account the next business day after the trade date. Note that your bank may take up to three business days to post an electronic funds transfer from your account. |
| ■ | If you sell your shares through a financial intermediary, the Funds will normally send the redemption proceeds to your financial intermediary within two business days after the trade date. |
| ■ | No interest will be paid on uncashed redemption checks. |
| ■ | Other restrictions may apply to retirement accounts. For information about these restrictions, contact your retirement plan administrator. |
| ■ | For broker-dealer and wrap fee accounts: The Fund reserves the right to redeem your shares if your account falls below the Fund's minimum initial investment requirement. The Fund will notify your broker-dealer prior to redeeming shares, and will provide details on how to avoid such redemption. |
| ■ |
Also keep in mind the Funds' Small Account Policy, which is described above in
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares — Transaction Rules and Policies.
|
| 54 | Prospectus 2021 |
Multi-Manager Total Return Bond Strategies Fund
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
(continued)
Exchanging Shares
You can generally sell shares of your Multi-Manager Strategies Fund to buy shares of another Multi-Manager Strategies Fund, in what is called an exchange. You should read the prospectus of, and make sure you understand the investment objective, principal investment strategies, risks, fees and expenses of, the Fund into which you are exchanging.
Please contact your financial intermediary for more information.
Other Exchange Rules You Should Know
| ■ | Exchanges are made at the NAV next calculated after your exchange order is received in “good form” (i.e., the trade date). |
| ■ | Once the Fund receives your exchange request in “good form,” you cannot cancel it after the market closes. |
| ■ | The rules for buying shares of a Fund generally apply to exchanges into that Fund, including, if your exchange creates a new Fund account, it must satisfy the minimum investment amount, unless a waiver applies. |
| ■ | Shares of the purchased Fund may not be used on the same day for another exchange or sale. |
| ■ | You may make exchanges only into a Fund that is legally offered and sold in your state of residence. Contact the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary for more information. |
| ■ | You generally may make an exchange only into a Fund that is accepting investments. |
| ■ | The Fund may change or cancel your right to make an exchange by giving the amount of notice required by regulatory authorities (generally 60 days for a material change or cancellation). |
| ■ | Unless your account is part of a tax-advantaged arrangement, an exchange for shares of another Fund is a taxable event, and you may recognize a gain or loss for tax purposes. |
| ■ | You may only exchange Class Inst shares and Class Inst3 shares of a Multi-Manager Strategies Fund for the same class of shares of another Multi-Manager Strategies Fund. |
| Prospectus 2021 | 55 |
Multi-Manager Total Return Bond Strategies Fund
Distributions and Taxes
Distributions to Shareholders
A mutual fund can make money two ways:
| ■ | It can earn income on its investments. Examples of fund income are interest paid on money market instruments and bonds, and dividends paid on common stocks. |
| ■ | A mutual fund can also have capital gains if the value of its investments increases. While a fund continues to hold an investment, any gain is generally unrealized. If the fund sells an investment, it generally will realize a capital gain if it sells that investment for a higher price than its adjusted cost basis, and will generally realize a capital loss if it sells that investment for a lower price than its adjusted cost basis. Capital gains and losses are either short-term or long-term, depending on whether the fund holds the securities for one year or less (short-term) or more than one year (long-term). |
Mutual funds make payments of fund earnings to shareholders, distributing them among all shareholders of the fund. As a shareholder, you are entitled to your portion of a fund's distributed income, including capital gains. Reinvesting your distributions buys you more shares of a fund
which lets you take advantage of the potential for compound growth. Putting the money you earn back into your investment means it, in turn, may earn even more money (or be exposed to additional losses, if the fund earns a negative return). Over time, the power of compounding has the potential to significantly increase the value of your investment. There is no assurance, however, that you'll earn more money if you reinvest your distributions rather than receive them in cash.
—
The Fund intends to pay out, in the form of distributions to shareholders, a sufficient amount of its income and gains so that the Fund will qualify for treatment as a regulated investment company and generally will not have to pay any federal excise tax. The Fund generally intends to distribute any net realized capital gain (whether long-term or short-term gain) at least once a year. Normally, the Fund will declare and pay distributions of net investment income according to the following schedule:
|
Declaration and Distribution Schedule
|
|
| Declarations | Daily |
| Distributions | Monthly |
The Fund may declare or pay distributions of net investment income more frequently.
Different share classes of the Fund usually pay different net investment income distribution amounts, because each class has different expenses. Each time a distribution is made, the NAV per share of the share class is reduced by the amount of the distribution.
The Fund generally pays cash distributions within five business days after the distribution was declared (or, if the Fund declares distributions daily, within five business days after the end of the month in which the distribution was declared). If you sell all of your shares after the record date, but before the payment date, for a distribution, you'll normally receive that distribution in cash within five business days after the sale was made.
The Fund will automatically reinvest distributions in additional shares of the same share class of the Fund unless you inform us you want to receive your distributions in cash (the financial intermediary through which you purchased shares may have different policies). You can do this by contacting the Fund at the address on the back cover, or by calling us at 800.345.6611. No sales charges apply to the purchase or sale of such shares.
For accounts held directly with the Fund (through the Transfer Agent), distributions of $10 or less will automatically be reinvested in additional Fund shares only. If you elect to receive distributions by check and the check is returned as undeliverable, all subsequent distributions will be reinvested in additional shares of the Fund.
Unless you are a tax-exempt investor or holding Fund shares through a tax-advantaged account (such as a 401(k) plan or IRA), you should consider avoiding buying Fund shares shortly before the Fund makes a distribution (other than distributions of net investment income that are declared daily) of net investment income or net realized capital gain, because doing so can cost you money in taxes to the extent the distribution consists of taxable income or gains. This is because you will, in effect, receive part of your purchase price back in the distribution. This is known as
| 56 | Prospectus 2021 |
Multi-Manager Total Return Bond Strategies Fund
Distributions and Taxes
(continued)
“buying a dividend.” To avoid “buying a dividend,” before you invest check the Fund's distribution schedule, which is available at the Funds' website and/or by calling the Funds' telephone number listed at the beginning of the section entitled
.
About Fund Shares
Taxes
You should be aware of the following considerations applicable to the Fund:
| ■ | The Fund intends to qualify and to be eligible for treatment each year as a regulated investment company. A regulated investment company generally is not subject to tax at the fund level on income and gains from investments that are distributed to shareholders. However, the Fund's failure to qualify for treatment as a regulated investment company would result in Fund-level taxation, and consequently, a reduction in income available for distribution to you and in the NAV of your shares. Even if the Fund qualifies for treatment as a regulated investment company, the Fund may be subject to federal excise tax on certain undistributed income or gains. |
| ■ | Otherwise taxable distributions generally are taxable to you when paid, whether they are paid in cash or automatically reinvested in additional Fund shares. Dividends paid in January are deemed paid on December 31 of the prior year if the dividend was declared and payable to shareholders of record in October, November, or December of such prior year. |
| ■ |
Distributions of the Fund's ordinary income and net short-term capital gain, if any, generally are taxable to you as ordinary income. Distributions of the Fund's net long-term capital gain, if any, generally are taxable to you as long-term capital gain. Whether capital gains are long-term or short-term is determined by how long the Fund has owned the investments that generated them, rather than how long you have owned your shares.
For taxable fixed income Funds:
|
| ■ | From time to time, a distribution from the Fund could constitute a return of capital. A return of capital is a return of an amount of your original investment and is not a distribution of income or capital gain from the Fund. Therefore, a return of capital is not taxable to you so long as the amount of the distribution does not exceed your tax basis in your Fund shares. A return of capital reduces your tax basis in your Fund shares, with any amounts exceeding such basis generally taxable as capital gain. |
| ■ | If you are an individual and you meet certain holding period and other requirements for your Fund shares, a portion of your distributions may be treated as “qualified dividend income” taxable at the lower net long-term capital gain rates instead of the higher ordinary income rates. Qualified dividend income is income attributable to the Fund's dividends received from certain U.S. and foreign corporations, as long as the Fund meets certain holding period and other requirements for the stock producing such dividends. The Fund does not expect a significant portion of Fund distributions to be eligible for treatment as qualified dividend income. |
| ■ | Certain high-income individuals (as well as estates and trusts) are subject to a 3.8% tax on net investment income. For individuals, the 3.8% tax applies to the lesser of (1) the amount (if any) by which the taxpayer's modified adjusted gross income exceeds certain threshold amounts or (2) the taxpayer's “net investment income.” |
| Net investment income generally includes for this purpose dividends, including any capital gain dividends, paid by the Fund, and net gains recognized on the sale, redemption or exchange of shares of the Fund. |
| ■ | Certain derivative instruments when held in the Fund's portfolio subject the Fund to special tax rules, the effect of which may be to, among other things, accelerate income to the Fund, defer Fund losses, cause adjustments in the holding periods of Fund portfolio securities, or convert capital gains into ordinary income, short-term capital losses into long-term capital losses or long-term capital gains into short-term capital gains. These rules could therefore affect the amount, timing and/or character of distributions to shareholders. |
| ■ | Generally, a Fund realizes a capital gain or loss on an option when the option expires, or when it is exercised, sold or otherwise terminated. However, if an option is a “section 1256 contract,” which includes most traded options on a broad-based index, and the Fund holds such option at the end of its taxable year, the Fund is deemed to sell such option at fair market value at such time and recognize any gain or loss thereon, which is generally deemed to be 60% long-term and 40% short-term capital gain or loss, as described further in the SAI. |
| Prospectus 2021 | 57 |
Multi-Manager Total Return Bond Strategies Fund
Distributions and Taxes
(continued)
| ■ | Income and proceeds received by the Fund from sources within foreign countries may be subject to foreign taxes. If at the end of the taxable year more than 50% of the value of the Fund's assets consists of securities of foreign corporations, and the Fund makes a special election, you will generally be required to include in your income for U.S. federal income tax purposes your share of the qualifying foreign income taxes paid by the Fund in respect of its foreign portfolio securities. You may be able to claim a foreign tax credit or deduction in respect of this amount, subject to certain limitations. There is no assurance that the Fund will make this election for a taxable year, even if it is eligible to do so. |
| ■ | A sale, redemption or exchange of Fund shares is a taxable event. This includes redemptions where you are paid in securities. Your sales, redemptions and exchanges of Fund shares (including those paid in securities) usually will result in a taxable capital gain or loss to you, equal to the difference between the amount you receive for your shares (or are deemed to have received in the case of exchanges) and your adjusted tax basis in the shares, which is generally the amount you paid (or are deemed to have paid in the case of exchanges) for them. Any such capital gain or loss generally will be long-term capital gain or loss if you have held your Fund shares for more than one year at the time of sale or exchange. In certain circumstances, capital losses may be converted from short-term to long-term; in other circumstances, capital losses may be disallowed under the “wash sale” rules. |
| ■ | For sales, redemptions and exchanges of shares that were acquired in a non-qualified account after 2011, the Fund generally is required to report to shareholders and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) cost basis information with respect to those shares. The Fund uses average cost basis as its default method of calculating cost basis. For more information regarding average cost basis reporting, other available cost basis methods, and selecting or changing to a different cost basis method, please see the SAI, columbiathreadneedleus.com, or contact the Fund at 800.345.6611. If you hold Fund shares through a financial intermediary (e.g., a brokerage firm), you should contact your financial intermediary to learn about its cost basis reporting default method and the reporting elections available to your account. |
| ■ | The Fund is required by federal law to withhold tax on any taxable or tax-exempt distributions and redemption proceeds paid to you (including amounts paid to you in securities and amounts deemed to be paid to you upon an exchange of shares) if: you have not provided a correct TIN or have not certified to the Fund that withholding does not apply, the IRS has notified us that the TIN listed on your account is incorrect according to its records, or the IRS informs the Fund that you are otherwise subject to backup withholding. |
FUNDamentals
Taxes
The information provided above is only a summary of how U.S. federal income taxes may affect your investment in the Fund. It is not intended as a substitute for careful tax planning. Your investment in the Fund may have other tax implications. It does not apply to certain types of investors who may be subject to special rules, including foreign or tax-exempt investors or those holding Fund shares through a tax-advantaged account, such as a 401(k) plan or IRA. Please see the SAI for more detailed tax information. You should consult with your own tax advisor about the particular tax consequences to you of an investment in the Fund, including the effect of any foreign, state and local taxes, and the effect of possible changes in applicable tax laws.
| 58 | Prospectus 2021 |
Multi-Manager Total Return Bond Strategies Fund
Financial Highlights
The financial highlights table is intended to help you understand the Fund’s financial performance for the past five fiscal years or, if shorter, the Fund’s period of operations. Certain information reflects financial results for a single Fund share. Per share net investment income (loss) amounts are calculated based on average shares outstanding during the period. The total return in the table represents the rate that an investor would have earned (or lost) on an investment in the Fund assuming all dividends and distributions had been reinvested. Total return does not reflect payment of sales charges, if any. Total return and portfolio turnover are not annualized for periods of less than one year. The portfolio turnover rate is calculated without regard to purchase and sales transactions of short-term instruments and certain derivatives, if any. If such transactions were included, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate may be higher. This information has been audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm, whose report, along with the Fund’s financial statements, is included in the Fund’s annual report, which is available upon request.
| Prospectus 2021 | 59 |
Multi-Manager Total Return Bond Strategies Fund
Financial Highlights
(continued)
|
Net asset value,
beginning of period |
Net
investment income |
Net
realized and unrealized gain (loss) |
Total from
investment operations |
Distributions
from net investment income |
Distributions
from net realized gains |
Total
distributions to shareholders |
|
|
Institutional Class
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $10.38 | 0.27 | 0.42 | 0.69 | (0.28) | (0.03) | (0.31) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $9.80 | 0.30 | 0.59 | 0.89 | (0.31) | — | (0.31) |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $10.17 | 0.26 | (0.38) | (0.12) | (0.25) |
(0.00)
(d)
|
(0.25) |
|
Year Ended 8/31/2017
(e)
|
$9.91 | 0.16 |
0.26
(f)
|
0.42 | (0.16) | — | (0.16) |
|
Institutional 3 Class
|
|||||||
|
Year Ended 8/31/2020
(h)
|
$10.23 | 0.19 | 0.53 | 0.72 | (0.18) | — | (0.18) |
|
Notes to Financial Highlights
|
|
| (a) | In addition to the fees and expenses that the Fund bears directly, the Fund indirectly bears a pro rata share of the fees and expenses of any other funds in which it invests. Such indirect expenses are not included in the Fund's reported expense ratios. |
| (b) | Total net expenses include the impact of certain fee waivers/expense reimbursements made by the Investment Manager and certain of its affiliates, if applicable. |
| (c) | Ratios include interfund lending expense which is less than 0.01%. |
| (d) | Rounds to zero. |
| (e) | Institutional Class shares commenced operations on January 3, 2017. Per share data and total return reflect activity from that date. |
| (f) | Calculation of the net gain (loss) per share (both realized and unrealized) does not correlate to the aggregate realized and unrealized gain (loss) presented in the Statement of Operations due to the timing of subscriptions and redemptions of Fund shares in relation to fluctuations in the market value of the portfolio. |
| (g) | Annualized. |
| (h) | Institutional 3 Class shares commenced operations on December 18, 2019. Per share data and total return reflect activity from that date. |
| 60 | Prospectus 2021 |
Multi-Manager Total Return Bond Strategies Fund
Financial Highlights
(continued)
|
Net
asset value, end of period |
Total
return |
Total gross
expense ratio to average net assets
(a)
|
Total net
expense ratio to average net assets
(a), (b)
|
Net investment
income ratio to average net assets |
Portfolio
turnover |
Net
assets, end of period (000's) |
|
|
Institutional Class
|
|||||||
| Year Ended 8/31/2020 | $10.76 | 6.77% | 0.51% | 0.49% | 2.59% | 184% | $9,404,198 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2019 | $10.38 | 9.33% |
0.52%
(c)
|
0.52%
(c)
|
3.05% | 219% | $8,398,508 |
| Year Ended 8/31/2018 | $9.80 | (1.16%) | 0.52% | 0.52% | 2.66% | 228% | $7,969,883 |
|
Year Ended 8/31/2017
(e)
|
$10.17 | 4.28% |
0.54%
(g)
|
0.53%
(g)
|
2.48%
(g)
|
345% | $7,549,220 |
|
Institutional 3 Class
|
|||||||
|
Year Ended 8/31/2020
(h)
|
$10.77 | 7.11% |
0.48%
(g)
|
0.46%
(g)
|
2.53%
(g)
|
184% | $11 |
| Prospectus 2021 | 61 |
[This page intentionally left blank]
Multi-Manager Total Return Bond Strategies Fund
P.O. Box 219104
Kansas City, MO 64121-9104
Kansas City, MO 64121-9104
Additional Information About the Fund
Additional information about the Fund’s investments is available in the Fund’s annual and semiannual reports to shareholders. In the annual report, you will find a discussion of the market conditions and investment strategies that significantly affected the Fund’s performance during its last fiscal year. The SAI also provides additional information about the Fund and its policies. The SAI, which has been filed with the SEC, is legally part of this prospectus (incorporated by reference). To obtain these documents free of charge, to request other information about the Fund and to make shareholder inquiries, please contact the Fund as follows:
By Mail:
Columbia Management Investment Services Corp.
P.O. Box 219104
Kansas City, MO 64121-9104
P.O. Box 219104
Kansas City, MO 64121-9104
By Telephone:
800.345.6611
Online:
columbiathreadneedleus.com
Reports and other information about the Fund are also available in the EDGAR Database on the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov. You can receive copies of this information, for a duplication fee, by electronic request at the following e-mail address: publicinfo@sec.gov.
The investment company registration number of Columbia Funds Series Trust I, of which the Fund is a series, is 811-04367.
Columbia Threadneedle Investments is the global brand name of the Columbia and Threadneedle group of companies.
© 2021 Columbia Management Investment Distributors, Inc.
225 Franklin Street, Boston, MA 02110
225 Franklin Street, Boston, MA 02110
800.345.6611
PRO101_08_L01_(01/21)
Prospectus
January 1, 2021
Multisector Bond SMA Completion Portfolio
A Solution Series Fund
|
Ticker Symbol
|
||
| MBSAX |
* Shares of the Fund may only be purchased and held by or on behalf of separately managed account clients as described in this Prospectus.
Beginning on January 1, 2021, as permitted by regulations adopted by the Securities and Exchange Commission, paper copies of the Fund’s annual and semiannual shareholder reports are no longer sent by mail, unless you specifically requested paper copies of the reports. Instead, the reports are made available on the Fund’s website (https://www.columbiathreadneedleus.com/investment-products/managed-accounts/), and each time a report is posted you will be notified by mail and provided with a website address to access the report.
If you have already elected to receive shareholder reports electronically, you will not be affected by this change and you need not take any action. You may elect to receive shareholder reports and other communications from the Fund electronically at any time by contacting your financial intermediary.
You may elect to receive all future shareholder reports in paper free of charge. If you invest through a financial intermediary, you can contact your financial intermediary to request that you continue receiving paper copies of your shareholder reports. If you invest directly with a Fund, you can call 800.345.6611 to let the Fund know you wish to continue receiving paper copies of your shareholder reports. Your election to receive paper reports will apply to all Columbia Funds held in your account if you invest through a financial intermediary or all Columbia Funds held with the fund complex if you invest directly with the Fund.
As with all mutual funds, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has not approved or disapproved these securities or passed upon the adequacy of this prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.
Multisector Bond SMA Completion Portfolio
Summary of the Fund
Investment Objective
Multisector Bond SMA Completion Portfolio (the Fund) seeks total return, consisting of current income and capital appreciation.
The Fund is intended to be used as part of a broader separately managed account (SMA) program. The objective of the Fund is intended to be evaluated in the context of the broader SMA program. The Fund is not designed to be used as a stand-alone investment.
Fees and Expenses of the Fund
This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold and sell shares of the Fund.
The Fund does not pay a management fee to the Fund’s investment manager, Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC (the Investment Manager). However, Fund shares may only be purchased and held by or on behalf of SMAs where the Investment Manager has an agreement with the SMA program sponsor (the Program Sponsor), or directly with the SMA client, to provide investment management services to the Program Sponsor or the SMA, as applicable. SMAs pay a fee directly, or indirectly through Program Sponsors, to the Investment Manager for providing investment management services to the Program Sponsor or the SMA, including on assets that may be invested in the Fund. You should read carefully the SMA program information provided to you by your Program Sponsor or financial intermediary, including information about the fees charged to you and the fees paid to them for SMA investment management services.
You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the tables and examples below.
|
Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment)
|
|
| Maximum sales charge (load) imposed on purchases (as a % of offering price) | None |
| Maximum deferred sales charge (load) imposed on redemptions (as a % of the lower of the original purchase price or current net asset value) | None |
| (a) | The Investment Manager of the Fund does not charge a management fee to the Fund. However, the Fund is an integral part of broader SMA programs, and SMA clients pay a fee directly, or indirectly through Program Sponsors, to the Investment Manager for providing investment management services to the Program Sponsor or the SMA, including on assets that may be invested in the Fund. The Investment Manager or its affiliates will be compensated directly or indirectly by Program Sponsors or SMAs for providing investment management services to the SMA. |
| (b) | Other expenses have been restated to reflect current fees paid by the Fund. |
| (c) | Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC and certain of its affiliates have contractually agreed to waive fees and/or to reimburse expenses (excluding transaction costs and certain other investment related expenses, interest, taxes, and infrequent and/or unusual expenses) through December 31, 2022, unless sooner terminated at the sole discretion of the Fund’s Board of Trustees. Under this agreement, the Fund’s net operating expenses, subject to applicable exclusions, will not exceed the annual rate of 0.00%. |
Example
The following example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The example illustrates the hypothetical expenses that you would incur over the time periods indicated, and assumes that:
| ■ | you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the periods indicated, |
| ■ | your investment has a 5% return each year, and |
| Prospectus 2021 | 3 |
Multisector Bond SMA Completion Portfolio
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
| ■ |
the Fund’s total annual operating expenses remain the same as shown in the
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
|
Since the waivers and/or reimbursements shown in the
table above expire as indicated in the preceding table, they are only reflected in the 1 year example and the first two years of the other examples. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on the assumptions listed above, your costs would be:
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
|
1 year
|
3 years
|
5 years
|
10 years
|
|
| $ — | $554 | $1,663 | $4,431 |
SMA clients pay a fee directly, or indirectly through Program Sponsors, to the Investment Manager for providing investment management services to the Program Sponsor or the SMA, including on assets that may be invested in the Fund. Such fees are not reflected in the
.
Example
Portfolio Turnover
The Fund may pay transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance. For the fiscal period from October 29, 2019 (commencement of operations) to August 31, 2020, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 0% of the average value of its portfolio.
Principal Investment Strategies
Under normal circumstances, the Fund has substantial exposure, at least 80% of its net assets, to fixed-income/debt markets. While the Fund has the flexibility to invest in any sector of the fixed-income/debt market and across the credit quality spectrum, the Fund focuses its investment exposure on international (including developed, developing and emerging markets) bonds and notes, mortgage- and other asset-backed securities, high yield (i.e., “junk”) instruments, floating rate loans and other floating rate debt securities, as well as foreign government, sovereign and quasi-sovereign debt investments, which the Fund may invest in directly or indirectly through derivatives. The Fund currently expects to gain its desired investment exposures primarily through investments in derivatives. The Fund expects to hold cash/cash equivalents, primarily as collateral for its investments in derivatives. The Fund’s investments may include non-U.S. dollar denominated instruments. The Fund does not seek to maintain a particular dollar-weighted average maturity or duration target. The Fund is intended to be used as part of a broader SMA program, and it is expected that the Fund will hold securities that the Investment Manager believes will help the overall SMA program achieve its investment objective, but that the Investment Manager believes may be transacted in more efficiently through a collective vehicle, such as the Fund, than by each individual SMA. The performance and objectives of the Fund should be evaluated in the context of the broader SMA program. The Fund is not designed to be used as a stand-alone investment.
The Fund may invest in derivatives, such as forward contracts (including forward foreign currency contracts for investment and hedging purposes), futures (including bond futures for managing yield curve and duration risk, and index and interest rate futures for hedging and investment purposes), options (including options on listed futures for hedging purposes), and swaps (including credit default swaps, credit default swap indexes and interest rate swaps for hedging purposes, and total return swaps for investment purposes). The Fund’s use of derivatives creates leverage (market exposure in excess of the Fund’s assets) in the Fund’s portfolio. The Fund may invest in interest-only (IO) and principal-only (PO) bonds (commonly known as stripped securities) for investment purposes.
The Fund may purchase or sell securities on a when-issued, delayed delivery or forward commitment basis. Such securities may include mortgage-backed securities acquired or sold in the “to be announced” (TBA) market and those in a dollar roll transaction.
The Fund may invest in privately placed and other securities or instruments that are purchased and sold pursuant to Rule 144A or other exemptions under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, subject to certain regulatory restrictions.
| 4 | Prospectus 2021 |
Multisector Bond SMA Completion Portfolio
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
The Fund may also hold/invest in cash, money market instruments (which may include investments in one or more affiliated or unaffiliated money market funds or similar vehicles) or other high-quality, short-term investments, including for the purpose of covering its obligations with respect to, or that may result from, the Fund’s investments in derivatives.
The Fund is non-diversified, which means that it can invest a greater percentage of its assets in the securities of fewer issuers than can a diversified fund. The Fund expects to invest in a limited or small number of holdings relative to a traditional bond fund that is offered more broadly to non-SMA accounts.
The Fund’s investment strategy may involve the frequent trading of portfolio securities.
Principal Risks
An investment in the Fund involves risks, including
,
,
,
,
and
.
The Fund’s Focused Portfolio Risk heightens the Fund’s other risks due to the Fund’s investment in a small number of holdings, among others. Descriptions of these and other principal risks of investing in the Fund are provided below.
. The value of the Fund’s holdings may decline, and the Fund’s net asset value (NAV) and share price may go down. An investment in the Fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency.
Completion Funds Risk
Derivatives Risk
Non-Diversified Fund Risk
Focused Portfolio Risk
Market Risk
There is no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objective and you may lose money
Active Management Risk.
Due to its active management, the Fund could underperform its benchmark index and/or other funds with similar investment objectives and/or strategies.
Changing Distribution Level Risk.
The Fund normally expects to receive income which may include interest, dividends and/or capital gains, depending upon its investments. The distribution amounts paid by the Fund will vary and generally depend on the amount of income the Fund earns (less expenses) on its portfolio holdings, and capital gains or losses it recognizes. A decline in the Fund’s income or net capital gains arising from its investments may reduce its distribution level.
Completion Funds Risk.
Investors should be aware that the investments made by the Fund and the results achieved by the Fund at any given time are not expected to be the same as those made by other funds for which the Investment Manager serves as investment adviser, including funds with names, investment objectives and policies similar to the Fund. This may be attributable to a wide variety of factors, including, but not limited to, the use of a differentiated investment strategy. The Fund is intended to be used as part of a broader SMA program. The performance and objectives of the Fund should be evaluated in the context of the broader SMA program. The Fund is not designed to be used as a stand-alone investment. Please contact your program sponsor or financial intermediary for more information.
Counterparty Risk.
Counterparty risk is the risk that a counterparty to a transaction in a financial instrument held by the Fund or by a special purpose or structured vehicle invested in by the Fund may become insolvent or otherwise fail to perform its obligations. As a result, the Fund may obtain no or limited recovery of its investment, and any recovery may be significantly delayed.
Credit Risk.
Credit risk is the risk that the value of loans or other debt instruments may decline if the borrower or the issuer thereof defaults or otherwise becomes unable or unwilling, or is perceived to be unable or unwilling, to honor its financial obligations, such as making payments to the Fund when due. Credit rating agencies assign credit ratings to certain loans and debt instruments to indicate their credit risk. Unless otherwise provided in the Fund’s Principal Investment Strategies, investment grade debt instruments are those rated at or above BBB- by S&P Global Ratings, or equivalently rated by Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. or Fitch Ratings, Inc., or, if unrated, determined by the management team to be of comparable quality. Conversely, below investment grade (commonly called “high-yield” or “junk”) debt instruments are those rated below BBB- by S&P Global Ratings, or equivalently rated by Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. or Fitch Ratings, Inc., or, if unrated, determined by the management team to be of comparable quality. A rating downgrade by such agencies can negatively impact the value of such instruments. Lower quality or unrated loans or instruments held by the Fund may present increased credit risk as compared to higher-rated loans or instruments. Non-investment grade loans or debt instruments may be subject to greater price fluctuations and are more likely to experience a default than investment grade loans or debt instruments and therefore may expose the
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Fund to increased credit risk. If the Fund purchases unrated loans or instruments, or if the ratings of loans or instruments held by the Fund are lowered after purchase, the Fund will depend on analysis of credit risk more heavily than usual. If the issuer of a loan declares bankruptcy or is declared bankrupt, there may be a delay before the Fund can act on the collateral securing the loan, which may adversely affect the Fund. Further, there is a risk that a court could take action with respect to a loan that is adverse to the holders of the loan. Such actions may include invalidating the loan, the lien on the collateral, the priority status of the loan, or ordering the refund of interest previously paid by the borrower. Any such actions by a court could adversely affect the Fund’s performance. A default or expected default of a loan could also make it difficult for the Fund to sell the loan at a price approximating the value previously placed on it. In order to enforce its rights in the event of a default, bankruptcy or similar situation, the Fund may be required to retain legal or similar counsel. This may increase the Fund’s operating expenses and adversely affect its NAV. Loans that have a lower priority for repayment in an issuer’s capital structure may involve a higher degree of overall risk than more senior loans of the same borrower.
Derivatives Risk.
Derivatives may involve significant risks. Derivatives are financial instruments with a value in relation to, or derived from, the value of an underlying asset(s) or other reference, such as an index, rate or other economic indicator (each an underlying reference). Derivatives may include those that are privately placed or otherwise exempt from SEC registration, including certain Rule 144A eligible securities. Derivatives could result in Fund losses if the underlying reference does not perform as anticipated. Use of derivatives is a highly specialized activity that can involve investment techniques, risks, and tax planning different from those associated with more traditional investment instruments. The Fund’s derivatives strategy may not be successful and use of certain derivatives could result in substantial, potentially unlimited, losses to the Fund regardless of the Fund’s actual investment. A relatively small movement in the price, rate or other economic indicator associated with the underlying reference may result in substantial loss for the Fund. Derivatives may be more volatile than other types of investments. The value of derivatives may be influenced by a variety of factors, including national and international political and economic developments. Potential changes to the regulation of the derivatives markets may make derivatives more costly, may limit the market for derivatives, or may otherwise adversely affect the value or performance of derivatives. Derivatives can increase the Fund’s risk exposure to underlying references and their attendant risks, such as credit risk, market risk, foreign currency risk and interest rate risk, while exposing the Fund to correlation risk, counterparty risk, hedging risk, inflation risk, leverage risk, liquidity risk, pricing risk and volatility risk.
Derivatives Risk – Forward Contracts Risk.
A forward contract is an over-the-counter derivative transaction between two parties to buy or sell a specified amount of an underlying reference at a specified price (or rate) on a specified date in the future. Forward contracts are negotiated on an individual basis and are not standardized or traded on exchanges. The market for forward contracts is substantially unregulated and can experience lengthy periods of illiquidity, unusually high trading volume and other negative impacts, such as political intervention, which may result in volatility or disruptions in such markets. A relatively small price movement in a forward contract may result in substantial losses to the Fund, exceeding the amount of the margin paid. Forward contracts can increase the Fund’s risk exposure to underlying references and their attendant risks, such as credit risk, market risk, foreign currency risk and interest rate risk, while also exposing the Fund to correlation risk, counterparty risk, hedging risk, inflation risk, leverage risk, liquidity risk, pricing risk and volatility risk.
Derivatives Risk – Futures Contracts Risk.
A futures contract is an exchange-traded derivative transaction between two parties in which a buyer (holding the “long” position) agrees to pay a fixed price (or rate) at a specified future date for delivery of an underlying reference from a seller (holding the “short” position). The seller hopes that the market price on the delivery date is less than the agreed upon price, while the buyer hopes for the contrary. Certain futures contract markets are highly volatile, and futures contracts may be illiquid. Futures exchanges may limit fluctuations in futures contract prices by imposing a maximum permissible daily price movement. The Fund may be disadvantaged if it is prohibited from executing a trade outside the daily permissible price movement. At or prior to maturity of a futures contract, the Fund may enter into an offsetting contract and may incur a loss to the extent there has been adverse movement in futures contract prices. The liquidity of the futures markets depends on participants entering into offsetting transactions rather than making or taking delivery. To the extent participants make or take delivery, liquidity in the futures market could be reduced. Because of the low margin deposits normally required in
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futures trading, it is possible that the Fund may employ a high degree of leverage in the portfolio. As a result, a relatively small price movement in a futures contract may result in substantial losses to the Fund, exceeding the amount of the margin paid. For certain types of futures contracts, losses are potentially unlimited. Futures markets are highly volatile and the use of futures may increase the volatility of the Fund’s NAV. Futures contracts executed (if any) on foreign exchanges may not provide the same protection as U.S. exchanges. Futures contracts can increase the Fund’s risk exposure to underlying references and their attendant risks, such as credit risk, market risk, foreign currency risk and interest rate risk, while also exposing the Fund to correlation risk, counterparty risk, hedging risk, inflation risk, leverage risk, liquidity risk, pricing risk and volatility risk.
Derivatives Risk – Options Risk.
Options are derivatives that give the purchaser the option to buy (call) or sell (put) an underlying reference from or to a counterparty at a specified price (the strike price) on or before an expiration date. By investing in options, the Fund is exposed to the risk that it may be required to buy or sell the underlying reference at a disadvantageous price on or before the expiration date. Options may involve economic leverage, which could result in greater volatility in price movement. The Fund's losses could be significant, and are potentially unlimited for certain types of options. Options may be traded on a securities exchange or in the over-the-counter market. At or prior to maturity of an options contract, the Fund may enter into an offsetting contract and may incur a loss to the extent there has been adverse movement in options prices. Options can increase the Fund’s risk exposure to underlying references and their attendant risks such as credit risk, market risk, foreign currency risk and interest rate risk, while also exposing the Fund to correlation risk, counterparty risk, hedging risk, inflation risk, leverage risk, liquidity risk, pricing risk and volatility risk.
Derivatives Risk – Swaps Risk.
In a typical swap transaction, two parties agree to exchange the return earned on a specified underlying reference for a fixed return or the return from another underlying reference during a specified period of time. Swaps may be difficult to value and may be illiquid. Swaps could result in Fund losses if the underlying asset or reference does not perform as anticipated. Swaps create significant investment leverage such that a relatively small price movement in a swap may result in immediate and substantial losses to the Fund. The Fund may only close out a swap with its particular counterparty, and may only transfer a position with the consent of that counterparty. Certain swaps, such as short swap transactions and total return swaps, have the potential for unlimited losses, regardless of the size of the initial investment. Swaps can increase the Fund’s risk exposure to underlying references and their attendant risks, such as credit risk, market risk, foreign currency risk and interest rate risk, while also exposing the Fund to correlation risk, counterparty risk, hedging risk, inflation risk, leverage risk, liquidity risk, pricing risk and volatility risk.
Emerging Market Securities Risk.
Securities issued by foreign governments or companies in emerging market countries, such as China, Russia and certain countries in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Latin America or Africa, are more likely to have greater exposure to the risks of investing in foreign securities that are described in Foreign Securities Risk. In addition, emerging market countries are more likely to experience instability resulting, for example, from rapid changes or developments in social, political, economic or other conditions. Their economies are usually less mature and their securities markets are typically less developed with more limited trading activity (i.e., lower trading volumes and less liquidity) than more developed countries. Emerging market securities tend to be more volatile than securities in more developed markets. Many emerging market countries are heavily dependent on international trade and have fewer trading partners, which makes them more sensitive to world commodity prices and economic downturns in other countries, and some have a higher risk of currency devaluations. Due to the differences in the nature and quality of financial information of issuers of emerging market securities, including auditing and financial reporting standards, financial information and disclosures about such issuers may be unavailable or, if made available, may be considerably less reliable than publicly available information about other foreign securities.
Focused Portfolio Risk.
Because the Fund may invest in a limited number of companies, the Fund as a whole is subject to greater risk of loss if any of those securities decline in price.
Foreign Securities Risk.
Investments in or exposure to foreign securities involve certain risks not associated with investments in or exposure to securities of U.S. companies. Foreign securities subject the Fund to the risks associated with investing in the particular country of an issuer, including political, regulatory, economic, social, diplomatic and other conditions or events (including, for example, military confrontations, war, terrorism and disease/virus outbreaks and epidemics), occurring in the country or region, as well as risks associated with less
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developed custody and settlement practices. Foreign securities may be more volatile and less liquid than securities of U.S. companies, and are subject to the risks associated with potential imposition of economic and other sanctions against a particular foreign country, its nationals or industries or businesses within the country. In addition, foreign governments may impose withholding or other taxes on the Fund’s income, capital gains or proceeds from the disposition of foreign securities, which could reduce the Fund’s return on such securities. The performance of the Fund may also be negatively affected by fluctuations in a foreign currency's strength or weakness relative to the U.S. dollar, particularly to the extent the Fund invests a significant percentage of its assets in foreign securities or other assets denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar.
Forward Commitments on Mortgage-Backed Securities (including Dollar Rolls) Risk.
When purchasing mortgage-backed securities in the “to be announced” (TBA) market (MBS TBAs), the seller agrees to deliver mortgage-backed securities for an agreed upon price on an agreed upon date, but may make no guarantee as to the specific securities to be delivered. In lieu of taking delivery of mortgage-backed securities, the Fund could enter into dollar rolls, which are transactions in which the Fund sells securities to a counterparty and simultaneously agrees to purchase those or similar securities in the future at a predetermined price. Dollar rolls involve the risk that the market value of the securities the Fund is obligated to repurchase may decline below the repurchase price, or that the counterparty may default on its obligations. These transactions may also increase the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate. If the Fund reinvests the proceeds of the security sold, the Fund will also be subject to the risk that the investments purchased with such proceeds will decline in value (a form of leverage risk). MBS TBAs and dollar rolls are subject to the risk that the counterparty to the transaction may not perform or be unable to perform in accordance with the terms of the instrument.
Frequent Trading Risk.
The portfolio managers may actively and frequently trade investments in the Fund's portfolio to carry out its investment strategies. Frequent trading of investments increases the possibility that the Fund, as relevant, will realize taxable capital gains (including short-term capital gains, which are generally taxable to shareholders at higher rates than long-term capital gains for U.S. federal income tax purposes), which could reduce the Fund's after-tax return. Frequent trading can also mean higher brokerage and other transaction costs, which could reduce the Fund's return. The trading costs and tax effects associated with portfolio turnover may adversely affect the Fund’s performance.
High-Yield Investments Risk.
Securities and other debt instruments held by the Fund that are rated below investment grade (commonly called “high-yield” or “junk” bonds) and unrated debt instruments of comparable quality expose the Fund to a greater risk of loss of principal and income than a fund that invests solely or primarily in investment grade debt instruments. In addition, these investments have greater price fluctuations, are less liquid and are more likely to experience a default than higher-rated debt instruments. High-yield debt instruments are considered to be predominantly speculative with respect to the issuer’s capacity to pay interest and repay principal.
Impairment of Collateral Risk.
The value of collateral, if any, securing a loan can decline, and may be insufficient to meet the borrower’s obligations or difficult or costly to liquidate. In addition, the Fund’s access to collateral may be limited by bankruptcy or other insolvency laws. Further, certain floating rate and other loans may not be fully collateralized and may decline in value.
Interest Rate Risk.
Interest rate risk is the risk of losses attributable to changes in interest rates. In general, if prevailing interest rates rise, the values of loans and other debt instruments tend to fall, and if interest rates fall, the values of loans and other debt instruments tend to rise. Changes in the value of a debt instrument usually will not affect the amount of income the Fund receives from it but will generally affect the value of your investment in the Fund. Changes in interest rates may also affect the liquidity of the Fund’s investments in debt instruments. In general, the longer the maturity or duration of a debt instrument, the greater its sensitivity to changes in interest rates. Interest rate declines also may increase prepayments of debt obligations, which, in turn, would increase prepayment risk. Very low or negative interest rates may impact the Fund’s yield and may increase the risk that, if followed by rising interest rates, the Fund’s performance will be negatively impacted. The Fund is subject to the risk that the income generated by its investments may not keep pace with inflation. Actions by governments and central banking authorities can result in increases or decreases in interest rates. Such actions may negatively affect the value of debt instruments held by the Fund, resulting in a negative impact on the Fund's performance and NAV. Debt instruments with floating coupon rates are typically less sensitive to interest rate changes, but these debt
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instruments may decline in value if their coupon rates do not rise as much as, or keep pace with, yields on such types of debt instruments. Because rates on certain floating rate loans and other debt instruments reset only periodically, changes in prevailing interest rates (and particularly sudden and significant changes) can be expected to cause fluctuations in the Fund’s NAV. Any interest rate increases could cause the value of the Fund’s investments in debt instruments to decrease. Rising interest rates may prompt redemptions from the Fund, which may force the Fund to sell investments at a time when it is not advantageous to do so, which could result in losses.
Issuer Risk.
An issuer in which the Fund invests or to which it has exposure may perform poorly or below expectations, and the value of its loans or securities may therefore decline, which may negatively affect the Fund’s performance. Underperformance of an issuer may be caused by poor management decisions, competitive pressures, breakthroughs in technology, reliance on suppliers, labor problems or shortages, corporate restructurings, fraudulent disclosures, natural disasters, military confrontations, war, terrorism, disease/virus outbreaks, epidemics or other events, conditions and factors which may impair the value of an investment in the Fund.
Large Fund Investor Risk.
The Fund is intended to be a part of a broader SMA program. As such, the Fund may from time to time sell a substantial amount of its shares to relatively few investors or a single investor, including SMAs or Program Sponsors. If a Program Sponsor decides to remove the strategy as an available option for its SMA program or if a SMA client with a large investment in the Fund decides to terminate or modify its account, the Fund may experience relatively large redemptions and could be required to liquidate its assets at inopportune times or at a loss or depressed value, which could cause the value of your investment to decline.
Leverage Risk.
Leverage occurs when the Fund increases its assets available for investment using borrowings, derivatives, or similar instruments or techniques. Use of leverage can produce volatility and may exaggerate changes in the NAV of Fund shares and in the return on the Fund’s portfolio, which may increase the risk that the Fund will lose more than it has invested. If the Fund uses leverage, through the purchase of particular instruments such as derivatives, the Fund may experience capital losses that exceed the net assets of the Fund. Leverage can create an interest expense that may lower the Fund's overall returns. Leverage presents the opportunity for increased net income and capital gains, but may also exaggerate the Fund’s volatility and risk of loss. There can be no guarantee that a leveraging strategy will be successful.
Liquidity Risk.
Liquidity risk is the risk associated with any event, circumstance, or characteristic of an investment or market that negatively impacts the Fund’s ability to sell, or realize the proceeds from the sale of, an investment at a desirable time or price. Liquidity risk may arise because of, for example, a lack of marketability of the investment, which means that when seeking to sell its portfolio investments, the Fund could find that selling is more difficult than anticipated, especially during times of high market volatility. Decreases in the number of financial institutions, including banks and broker-dealers, willing to make markets (match up sellers and buyers) in the Fund’s investments or decreases in their capacity or willingness to trade such investments may increase the Fund’s exposure to this risk. The debt market has experienced considerable growth, and financial institutions making markets in instruments purchased and sold by the Fund (e.g., bond dealers) have been subject to increased regulation. The impact of that growth and regulation on the ability and willingness of financial institutions to engage in trading or “making a market” in such instruments remains unsettled. Certain types of investments, such as lower-rated securities or those that are purchased and sold in over-the-counter markets, may be especially subject to liquidity risk. Securities or other assets in which the Fund invests may be traded in the over-the-counter market rather than on an exchange and therefore may be more difficult to purchase or sell at a fair price, which may have a negative impact on the Fund’s performance. Market participants attempting to sell the same or a similar instrument at the same time as the Fund could exacerbate the Fund’s exposure to liquidity risk. The Fund may have to accept a lower selling price for the holding, sell other liquid or more liquid investments that it might otherwise prefer to hold (thereby increasing the proportion of the Fund’s investments in less liquid or illiquid securities), or forego another more appealing investment opportunity. The liquidity of Fund investments may change significantly over time and certain investments that were liquid when purchased by the Fund may later become illiquid, particularly in times of overall economic distress. Changing regulatory, market or other conditions or environments (for example, the interest rate or credit environments) may also adversely affect the liquidity and the price of the Fund's investments. Judgment plays a larger role in valuing illiquid or less liquid investments as compared to valuing liquid or more liquid investments. Price volatility may be higher for illiquid or less liquid investments as a result of, for example, the relatively less frequent pricing of such
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securities (as compared to liquid or more liquid investments). Generally, the less liquid the market at the time the Fund sells a portfolio investment, the greater the risk of loss or decline of value to the Fund. Overall market liquidity and other factors can lead to an increase in redemptions, which may negatively impact Fund performance and NAV, including, for example, if the Fund is forced to sell investments in a down market. Floating rate loans generally are subject to legal or contractual restrictions on resale, may trade infrequently, their value may be impaired when the Fund needs to liquidate such loans, and are typically subject to extended settlement periods, each of which gives rise to liquidity risk.
Loan Interests Risk.
Loan interests may not be considered “securities,” and purchasers, such as the Fund, therefore may not be entitled to rely on the anti-fraud protections of the federal securities laws. Loan interests generally are subject to restrictions on transfer, and the Fund may be unable to sell its loan interests at a time when it may otherwise be desirable to do so or may be able to sell them only at prices that are less than what the Fund regards as their fair market value. Accordingly, loan interests may at times be illiquid. Loan interests may be difficult to value and typically have extended settlement periods (generally greater than 7 days). Extended settlement periods during significant Fund redemption activity could potentially cause increased short-term liquidity demands on the Fund. As a result, the Fund may be forced to sell investments at unfavorable prices, or borrow money or effect short settlements where possible (at a cost to the Fund), in an effort to generate sufficient cash to pay redeeming shareholders. The Fund’s actions in this regard may not be successful. Interests in loans created to finance highly leveraged companies or transactions, such as corporate acquisitions, may be especially vulnerable to adverse changes in economic or market conditions. Interests in secured loans have the benefit of collateral and, typically, of restrictive covenants limiting the ability of the borrower to further encumber its assets. There is a risk that the value of any collateral securing a loan in which the Fund has an interest may decline and that the collateral may not be sufficient to cover the amount owed on the loan. In the event the borrower defaults, the Fund’s access to the collateral may be limited or delayed by bankruptcy or other insolvency laws. Further, there is a risk that a court could take action with respect to a loan that is adverse to the holders of the loan, and the Fund, to enforce its rights in the event of a default, bankruptcy or similar situation, may need to retain legal or similar counsel. This may increase the Fund’s operating expenses and adversely affect its NAV. Loans that have a lower priority for repayment in an issuer’s capital structure may involve a higher degree of overall risk than more senior loans of the same borrower. In the event of a default, second lien secured loans will generally be paid only if the value of the collateral exceeds the amount of the borrower’s obligations to the first lien secured lenders, and the remaining collateral may not be sufficient to cover the full amount owed on the loan in which the Fund has an interest. The Fund may acquire a participation interest in a loan that is held by another party. When the Fund’s loan interest is a participation, the Fund may have less control over the exercise of remedies than the party selling the participation interest, and it normally would not have any direct rights against the borrower.
Market Risk.
The Fund may incur losses due to declines in the value of one or more securities in which it invests. These declines may be due to factors affecting a particular issuer, or the result of, among other things, political, regulatory, market, economic or social developments affecting the relevant market(s) more generally. In addition, turbulence in financial markets and reduced liquidity in equity, credit and/or fixed income markets may negatively affect many issuers, which could adversely affect the Fund, including causing difficulty in assigning prices to hard-to-value assets in thinly traded and closed markets, significant redemptions and operational challenges. Global economies and financial markets are increasingly interconnected, and conditions and events in one country, region or financial market may adversely impact issuers in a different country, region or financial market. These risks may be magnified if certain events or developments adversely interrupt the global supply chain; in these and other circumstances, such risks might affect companies worldwide. As a result, local, regional or global events such as terrorism, war, natural disasters, disease/virus outbreaks and epidemics or other public health issues, recessions, depressions or other events – or the potential for such events – could have a significant negative impact on global economic and market conditions.
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) public health crisis has become a pandemic that has resulted in, and may continue to result in, significant global economic and societal disruption and market volatility due to disruptions in market access, resource availability, facilities operations, imposition of tariffs, export controls and supply chain disruption, among others. Such disruptions may be caused, or exacerbated by, quarantines and travel restrictions,
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workforce displacement and loss in human and other resources. The uncertainty surrounding the magnitude, duration, reach, costs and effects of the global pandemic, as well as actions that have been or could be taken by governmental authorities or other third parties, present unknowns that are yet to unfold. The impacts, as well as the uncertainty over impacts to come, of COVID-19 – and any other infectious illness outbreaks, epidemics and pandemics that may arise in the future – could negatively affect global economies and markets in ways that cannot necessarily be foreseen. In addition, the impact of infectious illness outbreaks and epidemics in emerging market countries may be greater due to generally less established healthcare systems, governments and financial markets. Public health crises caused by the COVID-19 outbreak may exacerbate other pre-existing political, social and economic risks in certain countries or globally. The disruptions caused by COVID-19 could prevent the Fund from executing advantageous investment decisions in a timely manner and negatively impact the Fund’s ability to achieve its investment objective. Any such event(s) could have a significant adverse impact on the value and risk profile of the Fund.
Money Market Fund Investment Risk.
An investment in a money market fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by any bank, the FDIC or any other government agency. Certain money market funds float their NAV while others seek to preserve the value of investments at a stable NAV (typically, $1.00 per share). An investment in a money market fund, even an investment in a fund seeking to maintain a stable NAV per share, is not guaranteed and it is possible for the Fund to lose money by investing in these and other types of money market funds. If the liquidity of a money market fund’s portfolio deteriorates below certain levels, the money market fund may suspend redemptions (i.e., impose a redemption gate) and thereby prevent the Fund from selling its investment in the money market fund or impose a fee of up to 2% on amounts the Fund redeems from the money market fund (i.e., impose a liquidity fee). These measures may result in an investment loss or prohibit the Fund from redeeming shares when the Investment Manager would otherwise redeem shares. In addition to the fees and expenses that the Fund directly bears, the Fund indirectly bears the fees and expenses of any money market funds in which it invests, including affiliated money market funds. By investing in a money market fund, the Fund will be exposed to the investment risks of the money market fund in direct proportion to such investment. To the extent the Fund invests in instruments such as derivatives, the Fund may hold investments, which may be significant, in money market fund shares to cover its obligations resulting from the Fund’s investments in derivatives. Money market funds and the securities they invest in are subject to comprehensive regulations. The enactment of new legislation or regulations, as well as changes in interpretation and enforcement of current laws, may affect the manner of operation, performance and/or yield of money market funds.
Mortgage- and Other Asset-Backed Securities Risk.
The value of any mortgage-backed and other asset-backed securities including collateralized debt obligations and collateralized loan obligations, if any, held by the Fund may be affected by, among other things, changes or perceived changes in: interest rates; factors concerning the interests in and structure of the issuer or the originator of the mortgages or other assets; the creditworthiness of the entities that provide any supporting letters of credit, surety bonds or other credit enhancements; or the market's assessment of the quality of underlying assets. Payment of principal and interest on some mortgage-backed securities (but not the market value of the securities themselves) may be guaranteed by the full faith and credit of a particular U.S. Government agency, authority, enterprise or instrumentality, and some, but not all, are also insured or guaranteed by the U.S. Government. Mortgage-backed securities issued by non-governmental issuers (such as commercial banks, savings and loan institutions, private mortgage insurance companies, mortgage bankers and other secondary market issuers) may entail greater risk than obligations guaranteed by the U.S. Government. Mortgage- and other asset-backed securities are subject to liquidity risk and prepayment risk. A decline or flattening of housing values may cause delinquencies in mortgages (especially sub-prime or non-prime mortgages) underlying mortgage-backed securities and thereby adversely affect the ability of the mortgage-backed securities issuer to make principal and/or interest payments to mortgage-backed securities holders, including the Fund. Rising or high interest rates tend to extend the duration of mortgage- and other asset-backed securities, making their prices more volatile and more sensitive to changes in interest rates.
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New Fund Risk.
Investors in newly formed funds bear the risk that the fund may not be successful in implementing its investment strategy, and may not employ a successful investment strategy, either of which could result in the fund being liquidated at any time without shareholder approval and/or at a time that may not be favorable for certain shareholders. Such a liquidation could have negative tax consequences for shareholders.
Non-Diversified Fund Risk.
The Fund is non-diversified, which generally means that it will invest a greater percentage of its total assets in the securities of fewer issuers than a “diversified” fund. This increases the risk that a change in the value of any one investment held by the Fund could affect the overall value of the Fund more than it would affect that of a diversified fund holding a greater number of investments. Accordingly, the Fund's value will likely be more volatile than the value of a more diversified fund.
Prepayment and Extension Risk.
Prepayment and extension risk is the risk that a loan, bond or other security or investment might, in the case of prepayment risk, be called or otherwise converted, prepaid or redeemed before maturity and, in the case of extension risk, that the investment might not be called as expected. In the case of prepayment risk, if the investment is converted, prepaid or redeemed before maturity, the portfolio managers may not be able to invest the proceeds in other investments providing as high a level of income, resulting in a reduced yield to the Fund. In the case of mortgage- or other asset-backed securities, as interest rates decrease or spreads narrow, the likelihood of prepayment increases. Conversely, extension risk is the risk that an unexpected rise in interest rates will extend the life of a mortgage- or other asset-backed security beyond the prepayment time. If the Fund’s investments are locked in at a lower interest rate for a longer period of time, the portfolio managers may be unable to capitalize on securities with higher interest rates or wider spreads.
Reinvestment Risk.
Reinvestment risk arises when the Fund is unable to reinvest income or principal at the same or at least the same return it is currently earning.
Rule 144A and Other Exempted Securities Risk.
The Fund may invest in privately placed and other securities or instruments exempt from SEC registration (collectively “private placements”), subject to certain regulatory restrictions. In the U.S. market, private placements are typically sold only to qualified institutional buyers, or qualified purchasers, as applicable. An insufficient number of buyers interested in purchasing private placements at a particular time could adversely affect the marketability of such investments and the Fund might be unable to dispose of them promptly or at reasonable prices, subjecting the Fund to liquidity risk. The Fund’s holdings of private placements may increase the level of Fund illiquidity if eligible buyers are unable or unwilling to purchase them at a particular time. Issuers of Rule 144A eligible securities are required to furnish information to potential investors upon request. However, the required disclosure is much less extensive than that required of public companies and is not publicly available since the offering information is not filed with the SEC. Further, issuers of Rule 144A eligible securities can require recipients of the offering information (such as the Fund) to agree contractually to keep the information confidential, which could also adversely affect the Fund’s ability to dispose of the security.
Sovereign Debt Risk.
A sovereign debtor’s willingness or ability to repay principal and pay interest in a timely manner may be affected by a variety of factors, including its cash flow situation, the extent of its reserves, the availability of sufficient foreign exchange on the date a payment is due, the relative size of the debt service burden to the economy as a whole, the sovereign debtor’s policy toward international lenders, and the political constraints to which a sovereign debtor may be subject. Sovereign debt risk is increased for emerging market issuers.
Stripped Securities Risk.
Stripped securities are the separate income or principal components of debt securities. These securities are particularly sensitive to changes in interest rates, and therefore subject to greater fluctuations in price than typical interest bearing debt securities.
U.S. Government Obligations Risk.
While U.S. Treasury obligations are backed by the “full faith and credit” of the U.S. Government, such securities are nonetheless subject to credit risk (i.e., the risk that the U.S. Government may be, or be perceived to be, unable or unwilling to honor its financial obligations, such as making payments). Securities issued or guaranteed by federal agencies or authorities and U.S. Government-sponsored instrumentalities or enterprises may or may not be backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. Government.
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Performance Information
The Fund has not had a full calendar year of operations as of the date of this prospectus and therefore performance information is not available.
When available, the Fund intends to compare its performance to the performance of Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index; however, the benchmark is not intended to represent how the Fund is expected to perform.
Updated performance information can be obtained by calling toll-free 800.345.6611.
The Fund is intended to be used as part of a broader SMA program. The performance and objectives of the Fund should be evaluated in the context of the broader SMA program. The Fund is only offered to SMA clients as described in this Prospectus, and the Fund’s performance, when available, will not reflect payment to Program Sponsors or the Investment Manager of any applicable fees by clients in SMA programs and will differ from the performance of a participant’s overall SMA. For more information about your SMA’s performance, please contact your Program Sponsor or financial intermediary.
Fund Management
Investment Manager:
Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC
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Portfolio Manager
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Title
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Role with Fund
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Managed Fund Since
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| Gene Tannuzzo, CFA | Deputy Global Head of Fixed Income and Senior Portfolio Manager | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2019 | |||
| Colin Lundgren, CFA* | Managing Director and Global Head of Fixed Income | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2019 | |||
| Jason Callan | Senior Portfolio Manager and Head of Structured Assets | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2019 |
| * | Colin Lundgren, CFA, has announced that he plans to retire from the Investment Manager, effective March 1, 2021. Accordingly, effective March 1, 2021, all references to Mr. Lundgren are hereby removed. Until then, Mr. Lundgren will continue to serve as a portfolio manager of the Fund. Mr. Lundgren plans to remain with Columbia Threadneedle Investments through 2021 to assist as needed. |
Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares
Fund shares may only be purchased and held by or on behalf of SMAs where the Investment Manager has an agreement with the Program Sponsor, or directly with the SMA client, to provide investment management services to the Program Sponsor or the SMA, as applicable. Contact your Program Sponsor or financial intermediary for information about establishing an SMA which may invest in the Fund.
There are no maximum or minimum (initial or additional) investment requirements in the Fund, although your Program Sponsor may have investment minimums or other requirements.
Purchase and redemption orders are made based on instructions from the Investment Manager or from the Program Sponsor and are processed at the Fund’s net asset value (NAV) next calculated after receipt of the order by the Fund or its designee on each day the New York Stock Exchange is open.
If you close your SMA, you cannot continue to hold shares of the Fund, and the shares will be redeemed as a result of your election to close the SMA.
Tax Information
The Fund normally distributes net investment income and net realized capital gains, if any, to shareholders. These distributions are generally taxable to you as ordinary income or capital gains, unless you are investing through a tax-advantaged account, such as a 401(k) plan or an IRA. If you are investing through a tax-advantaged account, you may be taxed upon withdrawals from that account.
| Prospectus 2021 | 13 |
Multisector Bond SMA Completion Portfolio
More Information About the Fund
Investment Objective
Multisector Bond SMA Completion Portfolio (the Fund) seeks total return, consisting of current income and capital appreciation. The Fund’s investment objective is not a fundamental policy and may be changed by the Fund’s Board of Trustees without shareholder approval. Because any investment involves risk, there is no assurance the Fund’s investment objective will be achieved.
The Fund is intended to be used as part of a broader separately managed account (SMA) program. The objective of the Fund is intended to be evaluated in the context of the broader SMA program. The Fund is not designed to be used as a stand-alone investment.
Principal Investment Strategies
Under normal circumstances, the Fund has substantial exposure, at least 80% of its net assets, to fixed-income/debt markets. While the Fund has the flexibility to invest in any sector of the fixed-income/debt market and across the credit quality spectrum, the Fund focuses its investment exposure on international (including developed, developing and emerging markets) bonds and notes, mortgage- and other asset-backed securities, high yield (i.e., “junk”) instruments, floating rate loans and other floating rate debt securities, as well as foreign government, sovereign and quasi-sovereign debt investments, which the Fund may invest in directly or indirectly through derivatives. The Fund currently expects to gain its desired investment exposures primarily through investments in derivatives. The Fund expects to hold cash/cash equivalents, primarily as collateral for its investments in derivatives. The Fund’s investments may include non-U.S. dollar denominated instruments. The Fund does not seek to maintain a particular dollar-weighted average maturity or duration target. The Fund is intended to be used as part of a broader SMA program, and it is expected that the Fund will hold securities that the Investment Manager believes will help the overall SMA program achieve its investment objective, but that the Investment Manager believes may be transacted in more efficiently through a collective vehicle, such as the Fund, than by each individual SMA. The performance and objectives of the Fund should be evaluated in the context of the broader SMA program. The Fund is not designed to be used as a stand-alone investment.
The Fund may invest in derivatives, such as forward contracts (including forward foreign currency contracts for investment and hedging purposes), futures (including bond futures for managing yield curve and duration risk, and index and interest rate futures for hedging and investment purposes), options (including options on listed futures for hedging purposes), and swaps (including credit default swaps, credit default swap indexes and interest rate swaps for hedging purposes, and total return swaps for investment purposes). The Fund’s use of derivatives creates leverage (market exposure in excess of the Fund’s assets) in the Fund’s portfolio.
The Fund may invest in interest-only (IO) and principal-only (PO) bonds (commonly known as stripped securities) for investment purposes.
The Fund may purchase or sell securities on a when-issued, delayed delivery or forward commitment basis. Such securities may include mortgage-backed securities acquired or sold in the “to be announced” (TBA) market and those in a dollar roll transaction.
The Fund may invest in privately placed and other securities or instruments that are purchased and sold pursuant to Rule 144A or other exemptions under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, subject to certain regulatory restrictions.
The Fund may also hold/invest in cash, money market instruments (which may include investments in one or more affiliated or unaffiliated money market funds or similar vehicles) or other high-quality, short-term investments, including for the purpose of covering its obligations with respect to, or that may result from, the Fund’s investments in derivatives.
The Fund is non-diversified, which means that it can invest a greater percentage of its assets in the securities of fewer issuers than can a diversified fund. The Fund expects to invest in a limited or small number of holdings relative to a traditional bond fund that is offered more broadly to non-SMA accounts.
The Fund’s investment strategy may involve the frequent trading of portfolio securities.
| 14 | Prospectus 2021 |
Multisector Bond SMA Completion Portfolio
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(continued)
Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC (the Investment Manager) evaluates a number of factors in identifying investment opportunities and constructing the Fund’s portfolio. The Investment Manager also considers local, national and global economic conditions, market conditions, interest rate movements and other relevant factors in allocating the Fund’s assets among issuers, securities, industry sectors and maturities.
The Investment Manager, in connection with selecting individual investments for the Fund, evaluates a security based on its potential to generate income and/or capital appreciation. The Investment Manager considers, among other factors, the creditworthiness of the issuer of the security and the various features of the security, such as its interest rate, yield, maturity, any call features and value relative to other securities.
The Investment Manager may sell a security if the Investment Manager believes that there is deterioration in the issuer’s financial circumstances, or that other investments are more attractive; if there is deterioration in a security’s credit rating; or for other reasons.
The Fund’s investment policy with respect to 80% of its net assets may be changed by the Fund’s Board of Trustees without shareholder approval as long as shareholders are given 60 days’ advance written notice of the change. Additionally, shareholders will be given 60 days’ notice of any change to the Fund’s investment objective made to comply with the SEC rule governing investment company names.
Principal Risks
An investment in the Fund involves risks, including
,
,
,
,
and
.
The Fund’s Focused Portfolio Risk heightens the Fund’s other risks due to the Fund’s investment in a small number of holdings, among others. Descriptions of these and other principal risks of investing in the Fund are provided below.
. The value of the Fund’s holdings may decline, and the Fund’s net asset value (NAV) and share price may go down. An investment in the Fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency.
Completion Funds Risk
Derivatives Risk
Non-Diversified Fund Risk
Focused Portfolio Risk
Market Risk
There is no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objective and you may lose money
Active Management Risk.
The Fund is actively managed and its performance therefore will reflect, in part, the ability of the portfolio managers to make investment decisions that seek to achieve the Fund’s investment objective. Due to its active management, the Fund could underperform its benchmark index and/or other funds with similar investment objectives and/or strategies.
Changing Distribution Level Risk.
The Fund normally expects to receive income which may include interest, dividends and/or capital gains, depending upon its investments. The distribution amounts paid by the Fund will vary and generally depend on the amount of income the Fund earns (less expenses) on its portfolio holdings, and capital gains or losses it recognizes. A decline in the Fund’s income or net capital gains arising from its investments may reduce its distribution level.
Completion Funds Risk.
Investors should be aware that the investments made by the Fund and the results achieved by the Fund at any given time are not expected to be the same as those made by other funds for which the Investment Manager serves as investment adviser, including funds with names, investment objectives and policies similar to the Fund. This may be attributable to a wide variety of factors, including, but not limited to, the use of a differentiated investment strategy. The Fund is intended to be used as part of a broader SMA program. The performance and objectives of the Fund should be evaluated in the context of the broader SMA program. The Fund is not designed to be used as a stand-alone investment. Please contact your program sponsor or financial intermediary for more information.
Counterparty Risk.
The risk exists that a counterparty to a transaction in a financial instrument held by the Fund or by a special purpose or structured vehicle in which the Fund invests may become insolvent or otherwise fail to perform its obligations, including making payments to the Fund, due to financial difficulties. The Fund may obtain no or limited recovery in a bankruptcy or other reorganizational proceedings, and any recovery may be significantly delayed. Transactions that the Fund enters into may involve counterparties in the financial services sector and, as a result, events affecting the financial services sector may cause the Fund’s share value to fluctuate.
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More Information About the Fund
(continued)
Credit Risk.
Credit risk is the risk that the value of loans or other debt instruments may decline if the borrower or the issuer thereof defaults or otherwise becomes unable or unwilling, or is perceived to be unable or unwilling, to honor its financial obligations, such as making payments to the Fund when due. Various factors could affect the actual or perceived willingness or ability of the borrower or the issuer to make timely interest or principal payments, including changes in the financial condition of the borrower or the issuer or in general economic conditions. Credit rating agencies assign credit ratings to certain loans and debt instruments to indicate their credit risk. Unless otherwise provided in the Fund’s Principal Investment Strategies, investment grade debt instruments are those rated at or above BBB- by S&P Global Ratings, or equivalently rated by Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. or Fitch Ratings, Inc., or, if unrated, determined by the management team to be of comparable quality. Conversely, below investment grade (commonly called “high-yield” or “junk”) debt instruments are those rated below BBB- by S&P Global Ratings, or equivalently rated by Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. or Fitch Ratings, Inc., or, if unrated, determined by the management team to be of comparable quality. A rating downgrade by such agencies can negatively impact the value of such instruments. Lower quality or unrated loans or instruments held by the Fund may present increased credit risk as compared to higher-rated loans or instruments. Non-investment grade loans or debt instruments may be subject to greater price fluctuations and are more likely to experience a default than investment grade loans or debt instruments and therefore may expose the Fund to increased credit risk. If the Fund purchases unrated loans or instruments, or if the ratings of loans or instruments held by the Fund are lowered after purchase, the Fund will depend on analysis of credit risk more heavily than usual. If the issuer of a loan declares bankruptcy or is declared bankrupt, there may be a delay before the Fund can act on the collateral securing the loan, which may adversely affect the Fund. Further, there is a risk that a court could take action with respect to a loan that is adverse to the holders of the loan. Such actions may include invalidating the loan, the lien on the collateral, the priority status of the loan, or ordering the refund of interest previously paid by the borrower. Any such actions by a court could adversely affect the Fund’s performance. A default or expected default of a loan could also make it difficult for the Fund to sell the loan at a price approximating the value previously placed on it. In order to enforce its rights in the event of a default, bankruptcy or similar situation, the Fund may be required to retain legal or similar counsel. This may increase the Fund’s operating expenses and adversely affect its NAV. Loans that have a lower priority for repayment in an issuer’s capital structure may involve a higher degree of overall risk than more senior loans of the same borrower.
Derivatives Risk.
Derivatives may involve significant risks. Derivatives are financial instruments, traded on an exchange or in the over-the-counter (OTC) markets, with a value in relation to, or derived from, the value of an underlying asset(s) (such as a security, commodity or currency) or other reference, such as an index, rate or other economic indicator (each an underlying reference). Derivatives may include those that are privately placed or otherwise exempt from SEC registration, including certain Rule 144A eligible securities. Derivatives could result in Fund losses if the underlying reference does not perform as anticipated. Use of derivatives is a highly specialized activity that can involve investment techniques, risks, and tax planning different from those associated with more traditional investment instruments. The Fund’s derivatives strategy may not be successful and use of certain derivatives could result in substantial, potentially unlimited, losses to the Fund regardless of the Fund’s actual investment. A relatively small movement in the price, rate or other economic indicator associated with the underlying reference may result in substantial loss for the Fund. Derivatives may be more volatile than other types of investments. Derivatives can increase the Fund’s risk exposure to underlying references and their attendant risks, including the risk of an adverse credit event associated with the underlying reference (credit risk), the risk of an adverse movement in the value, price or rate of the underlying reference (market risk), the risk of an adverse movement in the value of underlying currencies (foreign currency risk) and the risk of an adverse movement in underlying interest rates (interest rate risk). Derivatives may expose the Fund to additional risks, including the risk of loss due to a derivative position that is imperfectly correlated with the underlying reference it is intended to hedge or replicate (correlation risk), the risk that a counterparty will fail to perform as agreed (counterparty risk), the risk that a hedging strategy may fail to mitigate losses, and may offset gains (hedging risk), the risk that the return on an investment may not keep pace with inflation (inflation risk), the risk that losses may be greater than the amount invested (leverage risk), the risk that the Fund may be unable to sell an investment at an advantageous time or price (liquidity risk), the risk that the investment may be difficult to value (pricing risk), and the risk that the price or value of the investment fluctuates significantly over short periods of time (volatility risk). The value of derivatives may be
| 16 | Prospectus 2021 |
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More Information About the Fund
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influenced by a variety of factors, including national and international political and economic developments. Potential changes to the regulation of the derivatives markets may make derivatives more costly, may limit the market for derivatives, or may otherwise adversely affect the value or performance of derivatives.
Derivatives Risk – Forward Contracts Risk.
A forward contract is an over-the-counter derivative transaction between two parties to buy or sell a specified amount of an underlying reference at a specified price (or rate) on a specified date in the future. Forward contracts are negotiated on an individual basis and are not standardized or traded on exchanges. The market for forward contracts is substantially unregulated (there is no limit on daily price movements and speculative position limits are not applicable). The principals who deal in certain forward contract markets are not required to continue to make markets in the underlying references in which they trade and these markets can experience periods of illiquidity, sometimes of significant duration. There have been periods during which certain participants in forward contract markets have refused to quote prices for certain underlying references or have quoted prices with an unusually wide spread between the price at which they were prepared to buy and that at which they were prepared to sell. At or prior to maturity of a forward contract, the Fund may enter into an offsetting contract and may incur a loss to the extent there has been adverse movement in forward contract prices. The liquidity of the markets for forward contracts depends on participants entering into offsetting transactions rather than making or taking delivery. To the extent participants make or take delivery, liquidity in the market for forwards could be reduced. A relatively small price movement in a forward contract may result in substantial losses to the Fund, exceeding the amount of the margin paid. Forward contracts can increase the Fund’s risk exposure to underlying references and their attendant risks, such as credit risk, market risk, foreign currency risk and interest rate risk, while also exposing the Fund to correlation risk, counterparty risk, hedging risk, inflation risk, leverage risk, liquidity risk, pricing risk and volatility risk.
| ■ |
A
forward foreign currency contract
|
Derivatives Risk – Futures Contracts Risk.
A futures contract is an exchange-traded derivative transaction between two parties in which a buyer (holding the “long” position) agrees to pay a fixed price (or rate) at a specified future date for delivery of an underlying reference from a seller (holding the “short” position). The seller hopes that the market price on the delivery date is less than the agreed upon price, while the buyer hopes for the contrary. Certain futures contract markets are highly volatile, and futures contracts may be illiquid. Futures exchanges may limit fluctuations in futures contract prices by imposing a maximum permissible daily price movement. The Fund may be disadvantaged if it is prohibited from executing a trade outside the daily permissible price movement. At or prior to maturity of a futures contract, the Fund may enter into an offsetting contract and may incur a loss to the extent there has been adverse movement in futures contract prices. The liquidity of the futures markets depends on participants entering into offsetting transactions rather than making or taking delivery. To the extent participants make or take delivery, liquidity in the futures market could be reduced. Positions in futures contracts may be closed out only on the exchange on which they were entered into or through a linked exchange, and no secondary market exists for such contracts. Futures positions are marked to market each day and variation margin payment must be paid to or by the Fund. Because of the low margin deposits normally required in futures trading, it is possible that the Fund may employ a high degree of leverage in the portfolio. As a result, a relatively small price movement in a futures contract may result in substantial losses to the Fund, exceeding the amount of the margin paid. For certain types of futures contracts, losses are potentially unlimited. Futures markets are highly volatile and the use of futures may increase
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the volatility of the Fund’s NAV. Futures contracts executed (if any) on foreign exchanges may not provide the same protection as U.S. exchanges. Futures contracts can increase the Fund’s risk exposure to underlying references and their attendant risks, such as credit risk, market risk, foreign currency risk and interest rate risk, while also exposing the Fund to correlation risk, counterparty risk, hedging risk, inflation risk, leverage risk, liquidity risk, pricing risk and volatility risk.
| ■ |
A
bond (or debt instrument) future
|
| ■ |
An
interest rate future
|
Derivatives Risk – Options Risk.
Options are derivatives that give the purchaser the option to buy (call) or sell (put) an underlying reference from or to a counterparty at a specified price (the strike price) on or before an expiration date. The Fund may purchase or write (i.e., sell) put and call options on an underlying reference it is otherwise permitted to invest in. By investing in options, the Fund is exposed to the risk that it may be required to buy or sell the underlying reference at a disadvantageous price on or before the expiration date. If the Fund sells a put option, the Fund may be required to buy the underlying reference at a strike price that is above market price, resulting in a loss. If the Fund sells a call option, the Fund may be required to sell the underlying reference at a strike price that is below market price, resulting in a loss. If the Fund sells a call option that is not covered (it does not own the underlying reference), the Fund's losses are potentially unlimited. Options may involve economic leverage, which could result in greater volatility in price movement. Options may be traded on a securities exchange or in the over-the-counter market. At or prior to maturity of an options contract, the Fund may enter into an offsetting contract and may incur a loss to the extent there has been adverse movement in options prices. Options can increase the Fund’s risk exposure to underlying references and their attendant risks such as credit risk, market risk, foreign currency risk and interest rate risk, while also exposing the Fund to correlation risk, counterparty risk, hedging risk, inflation risk, leverage risk, liquidity risk, pricing risk and volatility risk.
Derivatives Risk – Swaps Risk.
In a typical swap transaction, two parties agree to exchange the return earned on a specified underlying reference for a fixed return or the return from another underlying reference during a specified period of time. Swaps may be difficult to value and may be illiquid. Swaps could result in Fund losses if the underlying asset or reference does not perform as anticipated. Swaps create significant investment leverage such that a relatively small price movement in a swap may result in immediate and substantial losses to the Fund. The Fund may only close out a swap with its particular counterparty, and may only transfer a position with the consent of that counterparty. Certain swaps, such as short swap transactions and total return swaps, have the potential for unlimited losses, regardless of the size of the initial investment. Swaps can increase the Fund’s risk exposure to underlying references and their attendant risks, such as credit risk, market risk, foreign currency risk and interest rate risk, while also exposing the Fund to correlation risk, counterparty risk, hedging risk, inflation risk, leverage risk, liquidity risk, pricing risk and volatility risk.
| ■ |
A
credit default swap
|
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| involve costs or delays. The Fund’s return from investment in a credit default swap index may not match the return of the referenced index. Further, investment in a credit default swap index could result in losses if the referenced index does not perform as expected. Unexpected changes in the composition of the index may also affect performance of the credit default swap index. If a referenced index has a dramatic intraday move that causes a material decline in the Fund’s net assets, the terms of the Fund’s credit default swap index may permit the counterparty to immediately close out the transaction. In that event, the Fund may be unable to enter into another credit default swap index or otherwise achieve desired exposure, even if the referenced index reverses all or a portion of its intraday move. |
| ■ |
An
interest rate swap
|
| ■ |
Total return swaps
are derivative swap transactions in which one party agrees to pay the other party an amount equal to the total return of a defined underlying reference during a specified period of time. In return, the other party would make periodic payments based on a fixed or variable interest rate or on the total return of a different underlying reference.
|
Emerging Market Securities Risk.
Securities issued by foreign governments or companies in emerging market countries, such as China, Russia and certain countries in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Latin America or Africa, are more likely to have greater exposure to the risks of investing in foreign securities that are described in Foreign Securities Risk. In addition, emerging market countries are more likely to experience instability resulting, for example, from rapid changes or developments in social, political, economic or other conditions. Their economies are usually less mature and their securities markets are typically less developed with more limited trading activity (i.e., lower trading volumes and less liquidity) than more developed countries. Emerging market securities tend to be more volatile than securities in more developed markets. Many emerging market countries are heavily dependent on international trade and have fewer trading partners, which makes them more sensitive to world commodity prices and economic downturns in other countries. Some emerging market countries have a higher risk of currency devaluations, and some of these countries may experience periods of high inflation or rapid changes in inflation rates and may have hostile relations with other countries. Due to the differences in the nature and quality of financial information of issuers of emerging market securities, including auditing and financial reporting standards, financial information and disclosures about such issuers may be unavailable or, if made available, may be considerably less reliable than publicly available information about other foreign securities.
Focused Portfolio Risk.
The Fund, because it may invest in a limited number of companies, may have more volatility in its NAV and is considered to have more risk than a fund that invests in a greater number of companies because changes in the value of a single security may have a more significant effect, either negative or positive, on the Fund’s NAV. To the extent the Fund invests its assets in fewer securities, the Fund is subject to greater risk of loss if any of those securities decline in price.
Foreign Securities Risk.
Investments in or exposure to foreign securities involve certain risks not associated with investments in or exposure to securities of U.S. companies. For example, foreign markets can be extremely volatile. Foreign securities may also be less liquid, making them more difficult to trade, than securities of U.S. companies so that the Fund may, at times, be unable to sell foreign securities at desirable times or prices. Brokerage commissions, custodial costs and other fees are also generally higher for foreign securities. The Fund may have limited or no legal recourse in the event of default with respect to certain foreign securities, including those issued by foreign governments. In addition, foreign governments may impose withholding or other taxes on the Fund’s income, capital gains or proceeds from the disposition of foreign securities, which could reduce the Fund’s return on such securities. In some cases, such withholding or other taxes could potentially be confiscatory. Other risks include: possible delays in the settlement of transactions or in the payment of income; generally less publicly available information about foreign companies; the impact of economic, political, social, diplomatic or other conditions or events (including, for example, military confrontations, war, terrorism and disease/virus outbreaks and epidemics), possible seizure, expropriation or nationalization of a company or its assets or the assets of a particular investor or category of investors; accounting, auditing and financial reporting standards that may be less comprehensive and stringent than
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(continued)
those applicable to domestic companies; the imposition of economic and other sanctions against a particular foreign country, its nationals or industries or businesses within the country; and the generally less stringent standard of care to which local agents may be held in the local markets. In addition, it may be difficult to obtain reliable information about the securities and business operations of certain foreign issuers. Governments or trade groups may compel local agents to hold securities in designated depositories that are not subject to independent evaluation. The less developed a country’s securities market is, the greater the level of risks. The risks posed by sanctions against a particular foreign country, its nationals or industries or businesses within the country may be heightened to the extent the Fund invests significantly in the affected country or region or in issuers from the affected country that depend on global markets. Additionally, investments in certain countries may subject the Fund to a number of tax rules, the application of which may be uncertain. Countries may amend or revise their existing tax laws, regulations and/or procedures in the future, possibly with retroactive effect. Changes in or uncertainties regarding the laws, regulations or procedures of a country could reduce the after-tax profits of the Fund, directly or indirectly, including by reducing the after-tax profits of companies located in such countries in which the Fund invests, or result in unexpected tax liabilities for the Fund. The performance of the Fund may also be negatively affected by fluctuations in a foreign currency's strength or weakness relative to the U.S. dollar, particularly to the extent the Fund invests a significant percentage of its assets in foreign securities or other assets denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar. Currency rates in foreign countries may fluctuate significantly over short or long periods of time for a number of reasons, including changes in interest rates, imposition of currency exchange controls and economic or political developments in the U.S. or abroad. The Fund may also incur currency conversion costs when converting foreign currencies into U.S. dollars and vice versa.
Forward Commitments on Mortgage-Backed Securities (including Dollar Rolls) Risk.
When purchasing mortgage-backed securities in the “to be announced” (TBA) market (MBS TBAs), the seller agrees to deliver mortgage-backed securities for an agreed upon price on an agreed upon date, but may make no guarantee as to the specific securities to be delivered. In lieu of taking delivery of mortgage-backed securities, the Fund could enter into dollar rolls, which are transactions in which the Fund sells securities to a counterparty and simultaneously agrees to purchase those or similar securities in the future at a predetermined price. Dollar rolls involve the risk that the market value of the securities the Fund is obligated to repurchase may decline below the repurchase price, or that the counterparty may default on its obligations. These transactions may also increase the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate. If the Fund reinvests the proceeds of the security sold, the Fund will also be subject to the risk that the investments purchased with such proceeds will decline in value (a form of leverage risk). MBS TBAs and dollar rolls are subject to the risk that the counterparty to the transaction may not perform or be unable to perform in accordance with the terms of the instrument.
Frequent Trading Risk.
The portfolio managers may actively and frequently trade investments in the Fund's portfolio to carry out its investment strategies. Frequent trading of investments increases the possibility that the Fund, as relevant, will realize taxable capital gains (including short-term capital gains, which are generally taxable to shareholders at higher rates than long-term capital gains for U.S. federal income tax purposes), which could reduce the Fund's after-tax return. Frequent trading can also mean higher brokerage and other transaction costs, which could reduce the Fund's return. The trading costs and tax effects associated with portfolio turnover may adversely affect the Fund’s performance.
High-Yield Investments Risk.
Securities and other debt instruments held by the Fund that are rated below investment grade (commonly called “high-yield” or “junk” bonds) and unrated debt instruments of comparable quality tend to be more sensitive to credit risk than higher-rated debt instruments and may experience greater price fluctuations in response to perceived changes in the ability of the issuing entity or obligor to pay interest and principal when due than to changes in interest rates. These investments are generally more likely to experience a default than higher-rated debt instruments. High-yield debt instruments are considered to be predominantly speculative with respect to the issuer’s capacity to pay interest and repay principal. These debt instruments typically pay a premium – a higher interest rate or yield – because of the increased risk of loss, including default. High-yield debt instruments may require a greater degree of judgment to establish a price, may be difficult to sell at the time and price the Fund desires, may carry high transaction costs, and also are generally less liquid than higher-rated debt instruments. The ratings provided by third party rating agencies are based on analyses by these ratings agencies of the credit quality
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of the debt instruments and may not take into account every risk related to whether interest or principal will be timely repaid. In adverse economic and other circumstances, issuers of lower-rated debt instruments are more likely to have difficulty making principal and interest payments than issuers of higher-rated debt instruments.
Impairment of Collateral Risk.
The value of collateral, if any, securing a loan can decline, and may be insufficient to meet the borrower’s obligations or difficult or costly to liquidate. In addition, the Fund’s access to collateral may be limited by bankruptcy or other insolvency laws. Further, certain floating rate and other loans may not be fully collateralized and may decline in value.
Interest Rate Risk.
Interest rate risk is the risk of losses attributable to changes in interest rates. In general, if prevailing interest rates rise, the values of loans and other debt instruments tend to fall, and if interest rates fall, the values of loans and other debt instruments tend to rise. Changes in the value of a debt instrument usually will not affect the amount of income the Fund receives from it but will generally affect the value of your investment in the Fund. Changes in interest rates may also affect the liquidity of the Fund’s investments in debt instruments. In general, the longer the maturity or duration of a debt instrument, the greater its sensitivity to changes in interest rates. Interest rate declines also may increase prepayments of debt obligations, which, in turn, would increase prepayment risk (the risk that the Fund will have to reinvest the money received in securities that have lower yields). Very low or negative interest rates may impact the Fund’s yield and may increase the risk that, if followed by rising interest rates, the Fund’s performance will be negatively impacted. The Fund is subject to the risk that the income generated by its investments may not keep pace with inflation. Actions by governments and central banking authorities can result in increases or decreases in interest rates. Such actions may negatively affect the value of debt instruments held by the Fund, resulting in a negative impact on the Fund's performance and NAV. Debt instruments with floating coupon rates are typically less sensitive to interest rate changes, but these debt instruments may decline in value if their coupon rates do not rise as much as, or keep pace with, yields on such types of debt instruments. Because rates on certain floating rate loans and other debt instruments reset only periodically, changes in prevailing interest rates (and particularly sudden and significant changes) can be expected to cause fluctuations in the Fund’s NAV. Any interest rate increases could cause the value of the Fund’s investments in debt instruments to decrease. Rising interest rates may prompt redemptions from the Fund, which may force the Fund to sell investments at a time when it is not advantageous to do so, which could result in losses.
Issuer Risk.
An issuer in which the Fund invests or to which it has exposure may perform poorly or below expectations, and the value of its loans or securities may therefore decline, which may negatively affect the Fund’s performance. Underperformance of an issuer may be caused by poor management decisions, competitive pressures, breakthroughs in technology, reliance on suppliers, labor problems or shortages, corporate restructurings, fraudulent disclosures, natural disasters, military confrontations, war, terrorism, disease/virus outbreaks, epidemics or other events, conditions and factors which may impair the value of an investment in the Fund.
Large Fund Investor Risk.
The Fund is intended to be a part of a broader SMA program. As such, the Fund may from time to time sell a substantial amount of its shares to relatively few investors or a single investor, including SMAs or Program Sponsors. If a Program Sponsor decides to remove the strategy as an available option for its SMA program or if a SMA client with a large investment in the Fund decides to terminate or modify its account, the Fund may experience potentially adverse effects. While it is not possible to predict the overall effect of such sales and redemptions, such transactions may adversely affect the Fund’s performance to the extent that the Fund is required to invest cash received in connection with a sale or to sell a substantial amount of its portfolio securities to facilitate a redemption, in either case, at a time when the Fund would otherwise prefer not to invest or sell, such as in an up market or down market, respectively. Such transactions may also increase the Fund’s transaction costs, which would also detract from Fund performance, while also having potentially negative tax consequences to investors. The Fund, because of a large redemption, may be forced to sell its liquid or more liquid positions, resulting in the Fund holding a higher percentage of less liquid or illiquid securities (i.e., investments that a Fund reasonably expects cannot be sold or disposed of in current market conditions in seven calendar days or less without the sale or disposition significantly changing the market value of the instrument). Because the expenses and costs of the Fund are shared
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by its investors, large redemptions in the Fund could result in decreased economies of scale and increased operating expenses for non-redeeming Fund shareholders. In addition, in the event of a Fund proxy proposal, a large investor(s) could dictate with its/their vote the results of the proposal, which may have a less favorable impact on minority-stake shareholders.
Leverage Risk.
Leverage occurs when the Fund increases its assets available for investment using borrowings, derivatives, or similar instruments or techniques. Use of leverage can produce volatility and may exaggerate changes in the NAV of Fund shares and in the return on the Fund’s portfolio, which may increase the risk that the Fund will lose more than it has invested. The use of leverage may cause the Fund to liquidate portfolio positions when it may not be advantageous to do so to satisfy its obligations or to meet any required asset segregation or position coverage requirements. Futures contracts, options on futures contracts, forward contracts and other derivatives can allow the Fund to obtain large investment exposures in return for meeting relatively small margin requirements. As a result, investments in those transactions may be highly leveraged. If the Fund uses leverage, through the purchase of particular instruments such as derivatives, the Fund may experience capital losses that exceed the net assets of the Fund. Leverage can create an interest expense that may lower the Fund's overall returns. Leverage presents the opportunity for increased net income and capital gains, but may also exaggerate the Fund's volatility and risk of loss. There can be no guarantee that a leveraging strategy will be successful.
Liquidity Risk.
Liquidity risk is the risk associated with any event, circumstance, or characteristic of an investment or market that negatively impacts the Fund’s ability to sell, or realize the proceeds from the sale of, an investment at a desirable time or price. Liquidity risk may arise because of, for example, a lack of marketability of the investment, which means that when seeking to sell its portfolio investments, the Fund could find that selling is more difficult than anticipated, especially during times of high market volatility. Decreases in the number of financial institutions, including banks and broker-dealers, willing to make markets (match up sellers and buyers) in the Fund’s investments or decreases in their capacity or willingness to trade such investments may increase the Fund’s exposure to this risk. The debt market has experienced considerable growth, and financial institutions making markets in instruments purchased and sold by the Fund (e.g., bond dealers) have been subject to increased regulation. The impact of that growth and regulation on the ability and willingness of financial institutions to engage in trading or “making a market” in such instruments remains unsettled. Certain types of investments, such as lower-rated securities or those that are purchased and sold in over-the-counter markets, may be especially subject to liquidity risk. Securities or other assets in which the Fund invests may be traded in the over-the-counter market rather than on an exchange and therefore may be more difficult to purchase or sell at a fair price, which may have a negative impact on the Fund’s performance. Market participants attempting to sell the same or a similar instrument at the same time as the Fund could exacerbate the Fund’s exposure to liquidity risk. The Fund may have to accept a lower selling price for the holding, sell other liquid or more liquid investments that it might otherwise prefer to hold (thereby increasing the proportion of the Fund’s investments in less liquid or illiquid securities), or forego another more appealing investment opportunity. The liquidity of Fund investments may change significantly over time and certain investments that were liquid when purchased by the Fund may later become illiquid, particularly in times of overall economic distress. Changing regulatory, market or other conditions or environments (for example, the interest rate or credit environments) may also adversely affect the liquidity and the price of the Fund's investments. Judgment plays a larger role in valuing illiquid or less liquid investments as compared to valuing liquid or more liquid investments. Price volatility may be higher for illiquid or less liquid investments as a result of, for example, the relatively less frequent pricing of such securities (as compared to liquid or more liquid investments). Generally, the less liquid the market at the time the Fund sells a portfolio investment, the greater the risk of loss or decline of value to the Fund. Overall market liquidity and other factors can lead to an increase in redemptions, which may negatively impact Fund performance and NAV, including, for example, if the Fund is forced to sell investments in a down market. Floating rate loans generally are subject to legal or contractual restrictions on resale, may trade infrequently, their value may be impaired when the Fund needs to liquidate such loans, and are typically subject to extended settlement periods, each of which gives rise to liquidity risk.
Loan Interests Risk.
Loan interests may not be considered “securities,” and purchasers, such as the Fund, therefore may not be entitled to rely on the anti-fraud protections of the federal securities laws. Loan interests generally are subject to restrictions on transfer, and the Fund may be unable to sell loan interests at a time when it may otherwise
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be desirable to do so or may be able to sell them only at prices that are less than what the Fund regards as their fair market value. Accordingly, loan interests may at times be illiquid. Loan interests may be difficult to value and typically have extended settlement periods (generally greater than 7 days). This exposes the Fund to the risk that the receipt of principal and interest payments may be late due to delayed interest settlement. Extended settlement periods during significant Fund redemption activity could potentially cause increased short-term liquidity demands on the Fund. As a result, the Fund may be forced to sell investments at unfavorable prices, or borrow money or effect short settlements where possible (at a cost to the Fund), in an effort to generate sufficient cash to pay redeeming shareholders. The Fund’s actions in this regard may not be successful. Interests in loans created to finance highly leveraged companies or transactions, such as corporate acquisitions, may be especially vulnerable to adverse changes in economic or market conditions.
Interests in secured loans have the benefit of collateral and, typically, of restrictive covenants limiting the ability of the borrower to further encumber its assets, although many covenants may be waived or modified with the consent of a certain percentage of the holders of the loans even if the Fund does not consent. There is a risk that the value of any collateral securing a loan in which the Fund has an interest may decline and that the collateral may not be sufficient to cover the amount owed on the loan. In most loan agreements there is no formal requirement to pledge additional collateral. In the event the borrower defaults, the Fund’s access to the collateral may be limited or delayed by bankruptcy or other insolvency laws. Further, there is a risk that a court could take action with respect to a loan that is adverse to the holders of the loan, including the Fund. Such actions may include invalidating the loan, the lien on the collateral, the priority status of the loan, or ordering the refund of interest previously paid by the borrower. Any such actions by a court could adversely affect the Fund’s performance. A default or expected default of a loan could also make it difficult for the Fund to sell the loan at a price approximating the value previously placed on it. In order to enforce its rights in the event of a default, bankruptcy or similar situation, the Fund may be required to retain legal or similar counsel. This may increase the Fund’s operating expenses and adversely affect its NAV. Loans that have a lower priority for repayment in an issuer’s capital structure may involve a higher degree of overall risk than more senior loans of the same borrower. In the event of a default, second lien secured loans will generally be paid only if the value of the collateral exceeds the amount of the borrower’s obligations to the first lien secured lenders. The remaining collateral may not be sufficient to cover the full amount owed on the loan in which the Fund has an interest. In addition, if a secured loan is foreclosed, the Fund would likely bear the costs and liabilities associated with owning and disposing of the collateral. The collateral may be difficult to sell and the Fund would bear the risk that the collateral may decline in value while the Fund is holding it. From time to time, disagreements may arise amongst the holders of loans and debt in the capital structure of an issuer, which may give rise to litigation risks, including the risk that a court could take action adverse to the holders of the loan, which could negatively impact the Fund’s performance.
The Fund may acquire a loan interest by obtaining an assignment of all or a portion of the interests in a particular loan that are held by an original lender or a prior assignee. As an assignee, the Fund will usually succeed to all rights and obligations of its assignor with respect to the portion of the loan that is being assigned. However, the rights and obligations acquired by the purchaser of a loan assignment may differ from, and be more limited than, those held by the original lenders or the assignor. Alternatively, the Fund may acquire a participation interest in a loan that is held by another party. When the Fund’s loan interest is a participation, the Fund may have less control over the exercise of remedies than the party selling the participation interest, and the Fund normally would not have any direct rights against the borrower. As a participant, the Fund would also be subject to the risk that the party selling the participation interest would not remit the Fund’s pro rata share of loan payments to the Fund. It may also be difficult for the Fund to obtain an accurate picture of a lending bank’s financial condition.
Market Risk.
The Fund may incur losses due to declines in the value of one or more securities in which it invests. These declines may be due to factors affecting a particular issuer, or the result of, among other things, political, regulatory, market, economic or social developments affecting the relevant market(s) more generally. In addition, turbulence in financial markets and reduced liquidity in equity, credit and/or fixed income markets may negatively affect many issuers, which could adversely affect the Fund, including causing difficulty in assigning prices to hard-to-value assets in thinly traded and closed markets, significant redemptions and operational challenges. Global economies and financial markets are increasingly interconnected, and conditions and events in one country, region or
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financial market may adversely impact issuers in a different country, region or financial market. These risks may be magnified if certain events or developments adversely interrupt the global supply chain; in these and other circumstances, such risks might affect companies worldwide. As a result, local, regional or global events such as terrorism, war, natural disasters, disease/virus outbreaks and epidemics or other public health issues, recessions, depressions or other events – or the potential for such events – could have a significant negative impact on global economic and market conditions.
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) public health crisis has become a pandemic that has resulted in, and may continue to result in, significant global economic and societal disruption and market volatility due to disruptions in market access, resource availability, facilities operations, imposition of tariffs, export controls and supply chain disruption, among others. Such disruptions may be caused, or exacerbated by, quarantines and travel restrictions, workforce displacement and loss in human and other resources. The uncertainty surrounding the magnitude, duration, reach, costs and effects of the global pandemic, as well as actions that have been or could be taken by governmental authorities or other third parties, present unknowns that are yet to unfold. The impacts, as well as the uncertainty over impacts to come, of COVID-19 – and any other infectious illness outbreaks, epidemics and pandemics that may arise in the future – could negatively affect global economies and markets in ways that cannot necessarily be foreseen. In addition, the impact of infectious illness outbreaks and epidemics in emerging market countries may be greater due to generally less established healthcare systems, governments and financial markets. Public health crises caused by the COVID-19 outbreak may exacerbate other pre-existing political, social and economic risks in certain countries or globally. The disruptions caused by COVID-19 could prevent the Fund from executing advantageous investment decisions in a timely manner and negatively impact the Fund’s ability to achieve its investment objective. Any such event(s) could have a significant adverse impact on the value and risk profile of the Fund.
Money Market Fund Investment Risk.
An investment in a money market fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by any bank, the FDIC or any other government agency. Certain money market funds float their NAV while others seek to preserve the value of investments at a stable NAV (typically $1.00 per share). An investment in a money market fund, even an investment in a fund seeking to maintain a stable NAV per share, is not guaranteed and it is possible for the Fund to lose money by investing in these and other types of money market funds. If the liquidity of a money market fund’s portfolio deteriorates below certain levels, the money market fund may suspend redemptions (i.e., impose a redemption gate) and thereby prevent the Fund from selling its investment in the money market fund or impose a fee of up to 2% on amounts the Fund redeems from the money market fund (i.e., impose a liquidity fee). These measures may result in an investment loss or prohibit the Fund from redeeming shares when the Investment Manager would otherwise redeem shares. In addition to the fees and expenses that the Fund directly bears, the Fund indirectly bears the fees and expenses of any money market funds in which it invests, including affiliated money market funds. To the extent these fees and expenses, along with the fees and expenses of any other funds in which the Fund may invest, are expected to equal or exceed 0.01% of the Fund’s average daily net assets, they will be reflected in the Annual Fund Operating Expenses set forth in the table under “Fees and Expenses of the Fund.” By investing in a money market fund, the Fund will be exposed to the investment risks of the money market fund in direct proportion to such investment. The money market fund may not achieve its investment objective. The Fund, through its investment in the money market fund, may not achieve its investment objective. To the extent the Fund invests in instruments such as derivatives, the Fund may hold investments, which may be significant, in money market fund shares to cover its obligations resulting from the Fund’s investments in derivatives. Money market funds and the securities they invest in are subject to comprehensive regulations. The enactment of new legislation or regulations, as well as changes in interpretation and enforcement of current laws, may affect the manner of operation, performance and/or yield of money market funds.
Mortgage- and Other Asset-Backed Securities Risk.
The value of any mortgage-backed and other asset-backed securities including collateralized debt obligations and collateralized loan obligations, if any, held by the Fund may be affected by, among other things, changes or perceived changes in: interest rates; factors concerning the interests in and structure of the issuer or the originator of the mortgages or other assets; the creditworthiness of the entities that provide any supporting letters of credit, surety bonds or other credit enhancements; or the market's assessment of the quality of underlying assets. Mortgage-backed securities represent interests in, or are backed by, pools of
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mortgages from which payments of interest and principal (net of fees paid to the issuer or guarantor of the securities) are distributed to the holders of the mortgage-backed securities. Other types of asset-backed securities typically represent interests in, or are backed by, pools of receivables such as credit, automobile, student and home equity loans. Mortgage- and other asset-backed securities can have a fixed or an adjustable rate. Mortgage- and other asset-backed securities are subject to liquidity risk (the risk that it may not be possible for the Fund to liquidate the instrument at an advantageous time or price) and prepayment risk (the risk that the underlying mortgage or other asset may be refinanced or prepaid prior to maturity during periods of declining or low interest rates, causing the Fund to have to reinvest the money received in securities that have lower yields). In addition, the impact of prepayments on the value of mortgage- and other asset-backed securities may be difficult to predict and may result in greater volatility. A decline or flattening of housing values may cause delinquencies in mortgages (especially sub-prime or non-prime mortgages) underlying mortgage-backed securities and thereby adversely affect the ability of the mortgage-backed securities issuer to make principal and/or interest payments to mortgage-backed securities holders, including the Fund. Rising or high interest rates tend to extend the duration of mortgage- and other asset-backed securities, making them more volatile and more sensitive to changes in interest rates. Payment of principal and interest on some mortgage-backed securities (but not the market value of the securities themselves) may be guaranteed (i) by the full faith and credit of the U.S. Government (in the case of securities guaranteed by the Government National Mortgage Association) or (ii) by its agencies, authorities, enterprises or instrumentalities (in the case of securities guaranteed by the Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA) or the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (FHLMC)), which are not insured or guaranteed by the U.S. Government (although FNMA and FHLMC may be able to access capital from the U.S. Treasury to meet their obligations under such securities). Mortgage-backed securities issued by non-governmental issuers (such as commercial banks, savings and loan institutions, private mortgage insurance companies, mortgage bankers and other secondary market issuers) may be supported by various credit enhancements, such as pool insurance, guarantees issued by governmental entities, letters of credit from a bank or senior/subordinated structures, and may entail greater risk than obligations guaranteed by the U.S. Government, whether or not such obligations are guaranteed by the private issuer.
New Fund Risk.
Investors in newly formed funds bear the risk that the fund may not be successful in implementing its investment strategy, and may not employ a successful investment strategy, either of which could result in the fund being liquidated at any time without shareholder approval and/or at a time that may not be favorable for certain shareholders. Such a liquidation could have negative tax consequences for shareholders.
Non-Diversified Fund Risk.
The Fund is non-diversified, which generally means that it will invest a greater percentage of its total assets in the securities of fewer issuers than a “diversified” fund. This increases the risk that a change in the value of any one investment held by the Fund could affect the overall value of the Fund more than it would affect that of a diversified fund holding a greater number of investments. Accordingly, the Fund's value will likely be more volatile than the value of a more diversified fund.
Prepayment and Extension Risk.
Prepayment and extension risk is the risk that a loan, bond or other security or investment might, in the case of prepayment risk, be called or otherwise converted, prepaid or redeemed before maturity and, in the case of extension risk, that the investment might not be called as expected. In the case of prepayment risk, if the investment is converted, prepaid or redeemed before maturity, the portfolio managers may not be able to invest the proceeds in other investments providing as high a level of income, resulting in a reduced yield to the Fund. In the case of mortgage- or other asset-backed securities, as interest rates decrease or spreads narrow, the likelihood of prepayment increases. Conversely, extension risk is the risk that an unexpected rise in interest rates will extend the life of a mortgage- or other asset-backed security beyond the prepayment time. If the Fund's investments are locked in at a lower interest rate for a longer period of time, the portfolio managers may be unable to capitalize on securities with higher interest rates or wider spreads.
Reinvestment Risk.
Reinvestment risk arises when the Fund is unable to reinvest income or principal at the same or at least the same return it is currently earning.
Rule 144A and Other Exempted Securities Risk.
The Fund may invest in privately placed and other securities or instruments exempt from SEC registration (collectively “private placements”), subject to certain regulatory restrictions. In the U.S. market, private placements are typically sold only to qualified institutional buyers, or qualified purchasers, as applicable. An insufficient number of buyers interested in purchasing private placements at a
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particular time could adversely affect the marketability of such investments and the Fund might be unable to dispose of them promptly or at reasonable prices, subjecting the Fund to liquidity risk (the risk that it may not be possible for the Fund to liquidate the instrument at an advantageous time or price). The Fund’s holdings of private placements may increase the level of Fund illiquidity if eligible buyers are unable or unwilling to purchase them at a particular time. The Fund may also have to bear the expense of registering the securities for resale and the risk of substantial delays in effecting the registration. Additionally, the purchase price and subsequent valuation of private placements typically reflect a discount, which may be significant, from the market price of comparable securities for which a more liquid market exists. Issuers of Rule 144A eligible securities are required to furnish information to potential investors upon request. However, the required disclosure is much less extensive than that required of public companies and is not publicly available since the offering information is not filed with the SEC. Further, issuers of Rule 144A eligible securities can require recipients of the offering information (such as the Fund) to agree contractually to keep the information confidential, which could also adversely affect the Fund’s ability to dispose of the security.
Sovereign Debt Risk.
A sovereign debtor’s willingness or ability to repay principal and pay interest in a timely manner may be affected by a variety of factors, including its cash flow situation, the extent of its reserves, the availability of sufficient foreign exchange on the date a payment is due, the relative size of the debt service burden to the economy as a whole, the sovereign debtor’s policy toward international lenders, and the political constraints to which a sovereign debtor may be subject.
With respect to sovereign debt of emerging market issuers, investors should be aware that certain emerging market countries are among the largest debtors to commercial banks and foreign governments. At times, certain emerging market countries have declared moratoria on the payment of principal and interest on external debt. Certain emerging market countries have experienced difficulty in servicing their sovereign debt on a timely basis and that has led to defaults and the restructuring of certain indebtedness to the detriment of debtholders. Sovereign debt risk is increased for emerging market issuers.
Stripped Securities Risk.
Stripped securities are the separate income or principal components of debt securities. These securities are particularly sensitive to changes in interest rates, and therefore subject to greater fluctuations in price than typical interest bearing debt securities. For example, stripped mortgage-backed securities have greater interest rate risk than mortgage-backed securities with like maturities, and stripped treasury securities have greater interest rate risk (the risk of losses attributable to changes in interest rates) than traditional government securities with identical credit ratings.
U.S. Government Obligations Risk.
While U.S. Treasury obligations are backed by the “full faith and credit” of the U.S. Government, such securities are nonetheless subject to credit risk (
i.e.
, the risk that the U.S. Government may be, or may be perceived to be, unable or unwilling to honor its financial obligations, such as making payments). Securities issued or guaranteed by federal agencies or authorities and U.S. Government-sponsored instrumentalities or enterprises may or may not be backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. Government. For example, securities issued by the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, the Federal National Mortgage Association and the Federal Home Loan Banks are neither insured nor guaranteed by the U.S. Government. These securities may be supported by the ability to borrow from the U.S. Treasury or only by the credit of the issuing agency, authority, instrumentality or enterprise and, as a result, are subject to greater credit risk than securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Treasury.
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Additional Information About the Fund
The Investment Manager developed the Fund exclusively for use within SMAs. The Fund was designed to be used in combination with selected individual securities and other instruments and assets to effectively model institutional-level investment strategies. Although the Fund is non-diversified, the Fund may permit, as a complement to a broad SMA program, greater diversification than smaller SMAs might otherwise efficiently achieve.
Additional Investment Strategies and Policies
This section describes certain investment strategies and policies that the Fund may utilize in pursuit of its investment objective and some additional factors and risks involved with investing in the Fund.
Investment Guidelines
As a general matter, and except as specifically described in the discussion of the Fund's principal investment strategies in this prospectus or as otherwise required by the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the 1940 Act), the rules and regulations thereunder and any applicable exemptive relief, whenever an investment policy or limitation states a percentage of the Fund's assets that may be invested in any security or other asset or sets forth a policy regarding an investment standard, compliance with that percentage limitation or standard will be determined solely at the time of the Fund's investment in the security or asset.
Holding Other Kinds of Investments
The Fund may hold other investments that are not part of its principal investment strategies. These investments and their risks are described below and/or in the Statement of Additional Information (SAI). The Fund may choose not to invest in certain securities described in this prospectus and in the SAI, although it has the ability to do so. Information on the Fund’s holdings can be found in the Fund’s shareholder reports or by visiting columbiathreadneedleus.com.
Transactions in Derivatives
The Fund may enter into derivative transactions or otherwise have exposure to derivative transactions through underlying investments. Derivatives are financial contracts whose values are, for example, based on (or “derived” from) traditional securities (such as a stock or bond), assets (such as a commodity like gold or a foreign currency), reference rates (such as the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (commonly known as SOFR) or the London Interbank Offered Rate (commonly known as LIBOR)) or market indices (such as the Standard & Poor’s 500
®
Index). The use of derivatives is a highly specialized activity which involves investment techniques and risks different from those associated with ordinary portfolio securities transactions. Derivatives involve special risks and may result in losses or may limit the Fund’s potential gain from favorable market movements. Derivative strategies often involve leverage, which may exaggerate a loss, potentially causing the Fund to lose more money than it would have lost had it invested in the underlying security or other asset directly. The values of derivatives may move in unexpected ways, especially in unusual market conditions, and may result in increased volatility in the value of the derivative and/or the Fund’s shares, among other consequences. The use of derivatives may also increase the amount of taxes payable by shareholders holding shares in a taxable account. Other risks arise from the Fund’s potential inability to terminate or to sell derivative positions. A liquid secondary market may not always exist for the Fund’s derivative positions at times when the Fund might wish to terminate or to sell such positions. Over-the-counter instruments (investments not traded on an exchange) may be illiquid, and transactions in derivatives traded in the over-the-counter market are subject to the risk that the other party will not meet its obligations. The use of derivatives also involves the risks of mispricing or improper valuation and that changes in the value of the derivative may not correlate perfectly with the underlying security, asset, reference rate or index. The Fund also may not be able to find a suitable derivative transaction counterparty, and thus may be unable to engage in derivative transactions when it is deemed favorable to do so, or at all. U.S. federal legislation has been enacted that provides for new clearing, margin, reporting and registration requirements for participants in the derivatives market. These changes could restrict and/or impose significant costs or other burdens upon the Fund’s participation in derivatives transactions. For more information on the risks of derivative investments and strategies, see the SAI.
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LIBOR Phase-Out Risk.
Many derivatives and other financial instruments utilize or are permitted to utilize a floating interest rate based on LIBOR. On July 27, 2017, the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority announced its intention to phase out the use of LIBOR by the end of 2021. More recently, in November 2020, Ice Benchmark Administrator (IBA) has announced its intention to consult on (i) the cessation of four LIBOR currencies (GBP, EUR, JPY and CHF) after the end of 2021 and (ii) on the cessation of the major USD LIBOR tenors (overnight, 1M, 3M, 6M and 12M) in mid-2023 and the cessation of the 1 week and 2M USD LIBOR by the end of 2021. IBA will make separate announcements following the outcome of the consultations. The interest rate benchmark(s) that will replace LIBOR in the capital markets remains uncertain, and the overall economic impact of the transition away from LIBOR cannot yet be determined. The Investment Manager monitors the Fund’s LIBOR exposure risks, including the extent to which any derivative and/or debt investments allow for the utilization of alternative rate(s) to LIBOR.
Investing in Money Market Funds
The Fund may invest cash in, or hold as collateral for certain investments, shares of registered or unregistered money market funds, including funds advised by the Investment Manager or its affiliates. These funds are not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) or any other government agency. The Fund and its shareholders indirectly bear a portion of the expenses of any money market fund or other fund in which the Fund may invest.
Lending of Portfolio Securities
The Fund may lend portfolio securities to broker-dealers or other financial intermediaries on a fully collateralized basis in order to earn additional income. The Fund may lose money from securities lending if, for example, it is delayed in or prevented from selling the collateral after the loan is made or recovering the securities loaned or if it incurs losses on the reinvestment of cash collateral.
The Fund currently does not participate in the securities lending program but the Board of Trustees (the Board) may determine to renew participation in the future. For more information on lending of portfolio securities and the risks involved, see the SAI and the annual and semiannual reports to shareholders.
Investing Defensively
The Fund may from time to time take temporary defensive investment positions that may be inconsistent with the Fund’s principal investment strategies in attempting to respond to adverse market, economic, political, social or other conditions, including, without limitation, investing some or all of its assets in money market instruments or shares of affiliated or unaffiliated money market funds or holding some or all of its assets in cash or cash equivalents. The Fund may take such defensive investment positions for as long a period as deemed necessary.
The Fund may not achieve its investment objective while it is investing defensively. Investing defensively may adversely affect Fund performance. During these times, the portfolio managers may make frequent portfolio holding changes, which could result in increased trading expenses and taxes, and decreased Fund performance. See also
above for more information.
Investing in Money Market Funds
Other Strategic and Investment Measures
The Fund may also from time to time take temporary portfolio positions that may or may not be consistent with the Fund’s principal investment strategies in attempting to respond to adverse market, economic, political, social or other conditions, including, without limitation, investing in derivatives, such as forward contracts, futures contracts, options, structured investments and swaps, for various purposes, including among others, investing in particular derivatives in seeking to reduce investment exposures, or in seeking to achieve indirect investment exposures, to a sector, country, region or currency where the Investment Manager believes such positioning is appropriate. The Fund may take such portfolio positions for as long a period as deemed necessary. While the Fund is so positioned, derivatives could comprise a substantial portion of the Fund’s investments and the Fund may not achieve its investment objective. Investing in this manner may adversely affect Fund performance. During these times, the portfolio managers may make frequent portfolio holding changes, which could result in increased trading expenses and taxes, and decreased Fund performance. For information on the risks of investing in derivatives, see
above.
Transactions in Derivatives
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Portfolio Holdings Disclosure
The Board has adopted policies and procedures that govern the timing and circumstances of disclosure to shareholders and third parties of information regarding the securities owned by the Fund. A description of these policies and procedures is included in the SAI. Fund policy generally permits the disclosure of portfolio holdings information on the Fund's website (columbiathreadneedleus.com) only after a certain amount of time has passed, as described in the SAI.
Purchases and sales of portfolio securities can take place at any time, so the portfolio holdings information available on the Fund's website may not always be current.
FUNDamentals
Portfolio Holdings Versus the Benchmarks
The Fund does not limit its investments to the securities within its benchmark(s), and accordingly the Fund's holdings may diverge significantly from those of its benchmark(s). In addition, the Fund may invest in securities outside any industry and geographic sectors represented in its benchmark(s). The Fund's weightings in individual securities, and in industry or geographic sectors, may also vary considerably from those of its benchmark(s).
eDelivery and Mailings to Households
In order to reduce shareholder expenses, the Fund may mail only one copy of the Fund’s prospectus and each annual and semiannual report to those addresses shared by two or more accounts. If you wish to receive separate copies of these documents, call 800.345.6611 or, if your shares are held through a financial intermediary, contact your intermediary directly.
Cash Flows
The timing and magnitude of cash inflows from investors buying Fund shares could prevent the Fund from always being fully invested. Conversely, the timing and magnitude of cash outflows to shareholders redeeming Fund shares could require the Fund to sell portfolio securities at less than opportune times or to hold ready reserves of uninvested cash in amounts larger than might otherwise be the case to meet shareholder redemptions. Either situation could adversely impact the Fund’s performance.
Understanding Annual Fund Operating Expenses
The Fund’s annual operating expenses, as presented in the
table in the
section of this prospectus, generally are based on expenses incurred during the Fund’s most recently completed fiscal year and are expressed as a percentage (expense ratio) of the Fund’s average net assets during that fiscal year. The expense ratio reflects the Fund’s fee arrangements as of the date of this prospectus and, unless indicated otherwise, is based on expenses incurred during the Fund’s most recent fiscal year. The Fund’s assets will fluctuate, but unless indicated otherwise in the
table, no adjustments have been or will be made to the expense ratio to reflect any differences in the Fund’s average net assets between the most recently completed fiscal year and the date of this prospectus or a later date. In general, the Fund’s expense ratio will increase as its net assets decrease, such that the Fund’s actual expense ratio may be higher than the expense ratio presented in the
table if assets fall. As applicable, any commitment by the Investment Manager and/or its affiliates to waive fees and/or cap (reimburse) expenses is expected, in part, to limit the impact of any increase in the Fund’s expense ratio that would otherwise result because of a decrease in the Fund’s assets in the current fiscal year. The Fund’s annual operating expenses are comprised of (i) investment management fees, (ii) distribution and/or service fees (no such fee is currently paid by the Fund), and (iii) other expenses.
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
Fees and Expenses of the Fund
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
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Multisector Bond SMA Completion Portfolio
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
FUNDamentals
Other Expenses
“Other expenses” consist of the fees the Fund pays to its custodian, transfer agent, auditors, lawyers and trustees, costs relating to compliance and miscellaneous expenses. For more information on these fees, see
About Fund Shares — Financial Intermediary Compensation.
Fee Waiver/Expense Reimbursement Arrangements
The Investment Manager and certain of its affiliates have contractually agreed to waive fees and/or reimburse expenses (excluding certain fees and expenses described below) through December 31, 2022, unless sooner terminated at the sole discretion of the Fund's Board, so that the Fund’s net operating expenses, after giving effect to fees waived/expenses reimbursed and any balance credits and/or overdraft charges from the Fund’s custodian, do not exceed the annual rate of:
|
Multisector Bond SMA Completion Portfolio
|
|
| 0.00% | |
Under the agreement, the following fees and expenses are excluded from the Fund’s operating expenses when calculating the waiver/reimbursement commitment, and therefore will be paid by the Fund, if applicable: taxes (including foreign transaction taxes), transaction costs and brokerage commissions, costs related to any securities lending program, dividend expenses associated with securities sold short, inverse floater program fees and expenses, transaction charges and interest on borrowed money, interest, infrequent and/or unusual expenses and any other expenses the exclusion of which is specifically approved by a Fund’s Board. This agreement may be modified or amended only with approval from all parties.
Primary Service Providers
The Fund enters into contractual arrangements (Service Provider Contracts) with various service providers, including, among others, the Investment Manager, the Distributor, the Transfer Agent and the Fund’s custodian. The Fund’s Service Provider Contracts are solely among the parties thereto. Shareholders are not parties to, or intended to be third-party beneficiaries of, any Service Provider Contracts. Further, this prospectus, the SAI and any Service Provider Contracts are not intended to give rise to any agreement, duty, special relationship or other obligation between the Fund and any investor, or give rise to any contractual, tort or other rights in any individual shareholder, group of shareholders or other person, including any right to assert a fiduciary or other duty, enforce the Service Provider Contracts against the parties or to seek any remedy thereunder, either directly or on behalf of the Fund. Nothing in the previous sentence should be read to suggest any waiver of any rights under federal or state securities laws.
The Investment Manager, the Distributor, and the Transfer Agent are all affiliates of Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (Ameriprise Financial). They and their affiliates currently provide key services, including investment advisory, administration, distribution, shareholder servicing and transfer agency services, to the Fund and various other funds, including the Columbia Funds, and are paid for providing these services. These service relationships are described below.
The Investment Manager
Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC is located at 225 Franklin Street, Boston, MA 02110 and serves as investment adviser and administrator to the Columbia Funds. The Investment Manager is a registered investment adviser and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ameriprise Financial. The Investment Manager’s management experience covers all major asset classes, including equity securities, debt instruments and money market instruments. In addition to serving as an investment adviser to traditional mutual funds, exchange-traded funds and closed-end funds, the Investment Manager acts as an investment adviser for itself, its affiliates, individuals, corporations, retirement plans, private investment companies and financial intermediaries.
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More Information About the Fund
(continued)
Subject to oversight by the Board, the Investment Manager manages the day-to-day operations of the Fund, determining what securities and other investments the Fund should buy or sell and executing portfolio transactions. The Investment Manager may use the research and other capabilities of its affiliates and third parties in managing the Fund’s investments. The Investment Manager is also responsible for overseeing the administrative operations of the Fund, including the general supervision of the Fund’s operations, the coordination of the Fund’s other service providers and the provision of related clerical and administrative services.
The SEC has issued an order that permits the Investment Manager, subject to the approval of the Board, to appoint affiliated and unaffiliated subadvisers by entering into subadvisory agreements with them, and to change in material respects the terms of those subadvisory agreements, including the fees paid thereunder, for the Fund without first obtaining shareholder approval, thereby avoiding the expense and delays typically associated with obtaining shareholder approval. The Fund furnishes shareholders with information about new subadvisers retained in reliance on the order within 90 days after hiring the subadviser. The Investment Manager and its affiliates may have other relationships, including significant financial relationships, with current or potential subadvisers or their affiliates, which may create certain conflicts of interest. When making recommendations to the Board to appoint or to change a subadviser, or to change the terms of a subadvisory agreement, the Investment Manager discloses to the Board the nature of any such material relationships. At present, the Investment Manager has not engaged any investment subadviser for the Fund.
The Fund does not pay a management fee to the Investment Manager. However, Fund shares may only be purchased and held by or on behalf of SMAs where the Investment Manager has an agreement with the Program Sponsor, or directly with the SMA client, to provide investment management services to the Program Sponsor or the SMA clients. SMAs pay a fee directly, or indirectly through Program Sponsors, to the Investment Manager for providing investment management services to the Program Sponsor or the SMA, including on assets that may be invested in the Fund. You should read carefully the SMA program information provided to you by your Program Sponsor or financial intermediary, including information about the fees charged to you and the fees paid to them for SMA investment management services.
A discussion regarding the basis for the Board’s approval of the renewal of the Fund's management agreement is available in the Fund’s annual report to shareholders for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2020.
Portfolio Managers
Information about the portfolio managers primarily responsible for overseeing the Fund’s investments is shown below. The SAI provides additional information about the portfolio managers, including information relating to compensation, other accounts managed by the portfolio managers, and ownership by the portfolio managers of Fund shares.
|
Portfolio Manager
|
Title
|
Role with Fund
|
Managed Fund Since
|
|||
| Gene Tannuzzo, CFA | Deputy Global Head of Fixed Income and Senior Portfolio Manager | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2019 | |||
| Colin Lundgren, CFA* | Managing Director and Global Head of Fixed Income | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2019 | |||
| Jason Callan | Senior Portfolio Manager and Head of Structured Assets | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2019 |
| * | Colin Lundgren, CFA, has announced that he plans to retire from the Investment Manager, effective March 1, 2021. Accordingly, effective March 1, 2021, all references to Mr. Lundgren are hereby removed. Until then, Mr. Lundgren will continue to serve as a portfolio manager of the Fund. Mr. Lundgren plans to remain with Columbia Threadneedle Investments through 2021 to assist as needed. |
Mr. Tannuzzo
joined the Investment Manager in 2003. Mr. Tannuzzo began his investment career in 2003 and earned a B.S.B. and an M.B.A. from the University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management.
Mr. Lundgren
joined the Investment Manager in 1986. Mr. Lundgren began his investment career in 1986 and earned a B.A. from Lake Forest College.
Mr. Callan
joined the Investment Manager in 2007. Mr. Callan began his investment career in 2003 and earned a B.S. from the University of Minnesota and an M.B.A. from the University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management.
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More Information About the Fund
(continued)
The Distributor
Shares of the Fund are distributed by Columbia Management Investment Distributors, Inc., which is located at 225 Franklin Street, Boston, MA 02110. The Distributor is a registered broker-dealer and an indirect, wholly-owned subsidiary of Ameriprise Financial.
The Transfer Agent
Columbia Management Investment Services Corp. is a registered transfer agent and wholly-owned subsidiary of Ameriprise Financial. The Transfer Agent is located at 225 Franklin Street, Boston, MA 02110, and its responsibilities include processing purchases and redemptions of Fund shares, calculating and paying distributions, maintaining shareholder records, preparing account statements and providing customer service. The Transfer Agent has engaged DST Asset Manager Solutions, Inc. to provide various shareholder services. Depending on the type of account, the Fund pays the Transfer Agent a per account fee or a fee based on the assets invested through omnibus accounts, and reimburses the Transfer Agent for certain out-of-pocket expenses.
Other Roles and Relationships of Ameriprise Financial and its Affiliates — Certain Conflicts of Interest
The Investment Manager, Distributor and Transfer Agent, all affiliates of Ameriprise Financial, provide various services to the Fund and other Columbia Funds for which they are compensated. Ameriprise Financial and its other affiliates may also provide other services to these funds and be compensated for them.
The Investment Manager and its affiliates may provide investment advisory and other services to other clients and customers substantially similar to those provided to the Columbia Funds. These activities, and other financial services activities of Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates, may present actual and potential conflicts of interest and introduce certain investment constraints.
Ameriprise Financial is a major financial services company, engaged in a broad range of financial activities beyond the fund-related activities of the Investment Manager, including, among others, insurance, broker-dealer (sales and trading), asset management, banking and other financial activities. These additional activities may involve multiple advisory, financial, insurance and other interests in securities and other instruments, and in companies that issue securities and other instruments, that may be bought, sold or held by the Columbia Funds.
Conflicts of interest and limitations that could affect a Columbia Fund may arise from, for example, the following:
| ■ | compensation and other benefits received by the Investment Manager and other Ameriprise Financial affiliates related to the management/administration of a Columbia Fund and the sale of its shares; |
| ■ | the allocation of, and competition for, investment opportunities among the Fund, other funds and accounts advised/managed by the Investment Manager and other Ameriprise Financial affiliates, or Ameriprise Financial itself and its affiliates; |
| ■ | separate and potentially divergent management of a Columbia Fund and other funds and accounts advised/managed by the Investment Manager and other Ameriprise Financial affiliates; |
| ■ | regulatory and other investment restrictions on investment activities of the Investment Manager and other Ameriprise Financial affiliates and accounts advised/managed by them; |
| ■ | insurance and other relationships of Ameriprise Financial affiliates with companies and other entities in which a Columbia Fund invests; and |
| ■ | regulatory and other restrictions relating to the sharing of information between Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates, including the Investment Manager, and a Columbia Fund. |
The Investment Manager and Ameriprise Financial have adopted various policies and procedures that are intended to identify, monitor and address conflicts of interest. However, there is no assurance that these policies, procedures and disclosures will be effective.
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More Information About the Fund
(continued)
Additional information about Ameriprise Financial and the types of conflicts of interest and other matters referenced above is set forth in the
section of the SAI. Investors in the Columbia Funds should carefully review these disclosures and consult with their financial advisor if they have any questions.
Investment Management and Other Services — Other Roles and Relationships of Ameriprise Financial and its Affiliates — Certain Conflicts of Interest
Certain Legal Matters
Ameriprise Financial and certain of its affiliates have historically been involved in a number of legal, arbitration and regulatory proceedings, including routine litigation, class actions and governmental actions, concerning matters arising in connection with the conduct of their business activities. Ameriprise Financial believes that the Fund is not currently the subject of, and that neither Ameriprise Financial nor any of its affiliates are the subject of, any pending legal, arbitration or regulatory proceedings that are likely to have a material adverse effect on the Fund or the ability of Ameriprise Financial or its affiliates to perform under their contracts with the Fund. Information regarding certain pending and settled legal proceedings may be found in the Fund’s shareholder reports and in the SAI. Additionally, Ameriprise Financial is required to make quarterly (10-Q), annual (10-K) and, as necessary, 8-K filings with the SEC on legal and regulatory matters that relate to Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates. Copies of these filings may be obtained by accessing the SEC website at sec.gov.
| Prospectus 2021 | 33 |
Multisector Bond SMA Completion Portfolio
About Fund Shares
Fund Features
| Investment Minimums | None (but your Program Sponsor may have investment minimums) |
| Investment Limits | None (but your Program Sponsor may have investment limits) |
| Conversion Features | None |
| Front-End Sales Charges | None |
| Contingent Deferred Sales Charges (CDSCs) | None |
| Exchangeability | None |
| Maximum Distribution and/or Service Fees | None |
The website references in this prospectus are inactive links and information contained in or otherwise accessible through the referenced websites does not form a part of this prospectus.
FUNDamentals
Financial Intermediaries
The term “financial intermediary” refers to the selling and servicing agents that are authorized to sell and/or service shares of the Columbia Funds (referred to as the Funds). Financial intermediaries include broker-dealers and financial advisors as well as firms that employ broker-dealers and financial advisors, including, for example, brokerage firms, banks, investment advisers, third party administrators and other firms in the financial services industry.
Distribution and Service Fees
The Board has approved, and the Fund has adopted, distribution and/or shareholder service plans (the Plans) pursuant to Rule 12b-1 under the 1940 Act. Under the Plans, the Fund is authorized to pay fees to the Distributor and other firms that provide distribution and shareholder services. The Fund may pay at an annual rate a distribution fee of up to 0.25% and a shareholder servicing fee of up to 0.25%, provided that the combined distribution and servicing fee does not exceed a combined total of 0.25% of average daily net assets, pursuant to Rule 12b-1 under the 1940 Act.
No distribution or service fees are currently paid by the Fund under the Plans, however, and there are no current plans to impose these fees. Future payments may be made under the Plans without any further shareholder approval. In the event Rule 12b-1 fees are charged, over time they would increase the cost of an investment in the Fund.
Financial Intermediary Compensation
The Distributor, the Investment Manager and their affiliates make payments, from their own resources, to financial intermediaries, including other Ameriprise Financial affiliates, for marketing/sales support services relating to the Funds (Marketing Support Payments). Such payments are generally based upon one or more of the following factors: average net assets of the Funds attributable to that financial intermediary; gross sales of the Funds attributable to that financial intermediary; reimbursement of ticket charges (fees that a financial intermediary charges its representatives for effecting transactions in Fund shares); or a negotiated lump sum payment. Not all financial intermediaries receive Marketing Support Payments. The Distributor, the Investment Manager and their affiliates do not make Marketing Support Payments with respect to the Fund.
In addition, the Transfer Agent has certain arrangements in place to compensate financial intermediaries, including other Ameriprise Financial affiliates, that hold shares of the Funds through networked and omnibus accounts, including omnibus retirement plans, for services that they provide to beneficial shareholders (Shareholder Services). Shareholder Services and related fees vary by financial intermediary and according to distribution channel and may include sub-accounting, sub-transfer agency, participant recordkeeping, shareholder or participant reporting,
| 34 | Prospectus 2021 |
Multisector Bond SMA Completion Portfolio
About Fund Shares
(continued)
shareholder or participant transaction processing, maintenance of shareholder records, preparation of account statements and provision of customer service, and are not intended to include services that are primarily intended to result in the sale of Fund shares. The Transfer Agent does not pay financial intermediaries for Shareholder Services for the Fund.
The Investment Manager and their affiliates typically make other payments or allow promotional incentives to certain broker-dealers to the extent permitted by the Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) rules and by other applicable laws and regulations.
Amounts paid by the Distributor, the Investment Manager and their affiliates are paid out of their own resources and do not increase the amount paid by you or the Fund. You can find further details in the SAI about the payments made by the Distributor, the Investment Manager and their affiliates, as well as a list of the financial intermediaries, including Ameriprise Financial affiliates, to which the Distributor, the Investment Manager or their affiliates have agreed to make Marketing Support Payments and pay Shareholder Services fees.
Your Program Sponsor and financial intermediary may charge you fees and commissions in addition to those described in this prospectus. You should consult with your Program Sponsor or financial intermediary and review carefully any disclosure they provide you regarding its services and compensation. Depending on the financial arrangement in place at any particular time, a financial intermediary and its financial advisors may have a conflict of interest or financial incentive for recommending the Fund or a managed account strategy of which the fund is a part.
| Prospectus 2021 | 35 |
Multisector Bond SMA Completion Portfolio
Buying and Selling Shares
Share Price Determination
The price you pay or receive when you buy or sell shares is the Fund's next determined net asset value (or NAV) per share. The Fund calculates the NAV per share at the end of each business day, with the value of the Fund's shares based on the total value of all of the securities and other assets that it holds as of a specified time.
FUNDamentals
NAV Calculation
The Fund calculates its NAV per share as follows:
NAV per share =
(Value of assets of the Fund’s shares) – (Liabilities of the Fund’s shares)
Number of outstanding Fund shares
FUNDamentals
Business Days
A business day is any day that the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is open. A business day typically ends at the close of regular trading on the NYSE, usually at 4:00 p.m. Eastern time. If the NYSE is scheduled to close early, the business day will be considered to end as of the time of the NYSE’s scheduled close. The Fund will not treat an intraday unscheduled disruption in NYSE trading or an intraday unscheduled closing as a close of regular trading on the NYSE for these purposes and will price its shares as of the regularly scheduled closing time for that day (typically, 4:00 p.m. Eastern time). Notwithstanding the foregoing, the NAV of Fund shares may be determined at such other time or times (in addition to or in lieu of the time set forth above) as the Fund’s Board may approve or ratify. On holidays and other days when the NYSE is closed, the Fund’s NAV is not calculated and the Fund does not accept buy or sell orders. However, the value of the Fund’s assets may still be affected on such days to the extent that the Fund holds foreign securities that trade on days that foreign securities markets are open.
Equity securities are valued primarily on the basis of market quotations reported on stock exchanges and other securities markets around the world. If an equity security is listed on a national exchange, the security is valued at the closing price or, if the closing price is not readily available, the mean of the closing bid and asked prices. Certain equity securities, debt securities and other assets are valued differently. For instance, bank loans trading in the secondary market are valued primarily on the basis of indicative bids, fixed income investments maturing in 60 days or less are valued primarily using the amortized cost method, unless this methodology results in a valuation that does not approximate the market value of these securities, and those maturing in excess of 60 days are valued primarily using a market-based price obtained from a pricing service, if available. Investments in other open-end funds are valued at their published NAVs. Both market quotations and indicative bids are obtained from outside pricing services approved and monitored pursuant to a policy approved by the Fund's Board.
If a market price is not readily available or is deemed not to reflect market value, the Fund will determine the price of a portfolio security based on a determination of the security's fair value pursuant to a policy approved by the Fund’s Board. In addition, the Fund may use fair valuation to price securities that trade on a foreign exchange when a significant event has occurred after the foreign exchange closes but before the time at which the Fund’s share price is calculated. Foreign exchanges typically close before the time at which Fund share prices are calculated, and may be closed altogether on days when the Fund is open. Such significant events affecting a foreign security may include, but are not limited to: (1) corporate actions, earnings announcements, litigation or other events impacting a single issuer; (2) governmental action that affects securities in one sector or country; (3) natural disasters or armed conflicts affecting a country or region; or (4) significant domestic or foreign market fluctuations. The Fund uses various criteria, including an evaluation of U.S. market moves after the close of foreign markets, in determining whether a foreign security's market price is readily available and reflective of market value and, if not, the fair value
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Multisector Bond SMA Completion Portfolio
Buying and Selling Shares
(continued)
of the security. To the extent the Fund has significant holdings of small cap stocks, high-yield bonds, floating rate loans, or tax-exempt, foreign or other securities that may trade infrequently, fair valuation may be used more frequently than for other funds.
Fair valuation may have the effect of reducing stale pricing arbitrage opportunities presented by the pricing of Fund shares. However, when the Fund uses fair valuation to price securities, it may value those securities higher or lower than another fund would have priced the security. Also, the use of fair valuation may cause the Fund's performance to diverge to a greater degree from the performance of various benchmarks used to compare the Fund's performance because benchmarks generally do not use fair valuation techniques. Because of the judgment involved in fair valuation decisions, there can be no assurance that the value ascribed to a particular security is accurate. The Fund has retained one or more independent fair valuation pricing services to assist in the fair valuation process for foreign securities.
Transaction Rules and Policies
The Fund, the Distributor or the Transfer Agent may refuse any order to buy shares. If this happens, the Fund will return any money it received, but no interest will be paid on that money. Your Program Sponsor or financial intermediary may have rules and policies in place that are in addition to or different than those described below.
Order Processing
Orders to buy or sell Fund shares are processed on business days. Contact your Program Sponsor or financial intermediary for information about establishing an SMA which may invest in the Fund. Orders received in “good form” by the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary before the end of a business day are priced at the NAV per share on that day. Orders received after the end of a business day will receive the next business day's NAV per share. When a written order to buy or sell shares is sent to the Transfer Agent, the share price used to fill the order is the next price calculated by the Fund after the Transfer Agent receives the transaction request in “good form” at its transaction processing center (i.e., the Fund’s express mail address), not the P.O. Box provided for regular mail delivery. The market value of the Fund's investments may change between the time you submit your order and the time the Fund next calculates its NAV per share. The business day that applies to your order is also called the trade date.
“Good Form”
An order is in “good form” if the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary has received payment (in the case of purchases) and all of the information and documentation it deems necessary to effect your order. For example, when you sell shares, “good form” means that your request (i) has complete instructions and written requests include the signatures of all account owners, (ii) is for an amount that is less than or equal to the shares in your account for which payment has been received and collected, (iii) has a Medallion Signature Guarantee for amounts greater than $100,000 and certain other transactions, as described below, and (iv) includes any other required documents completed and attached. For the documents required for sales by corporations, agents, fiduciaries, surviving joint owners and other legal entities, call 800.345.6611.
Customer Identification Program
Federal law requires the Fund to obtain and record specific personal information to verify your identity when you open an account. This information may include your name, address, date of birth (for individuals) and taxpayer or other government issued identification (e.g., social security number (SSN) or other taxpayer identification number (TIN)). If you fail to provide the requested information, the Fund may need to delay the date of your purchase or may be unable to open your account, which may result in a return of your investment monies. In addition, if the Fund is unable to verify your identity after your account is open, the Fund reserves the right to close your account or take other steps as deemed reasonable. The Fund will not be liable for any loss resulting from any purchase delay, application rejection or account closure due to a failure to provide proper identifying information.
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Multisector Bond SMA Completion Portfolio
Buying and Selling Shares
(continued)
Information Sharing Agreements
As required by Rule 22c-2 under the 1940 Act, the Funds or certain of their service providers will enter into information sharing agreements with financial intermediaries, including participating life insurance companies and financial intermediaries that sponsor or offer retirement plans through which shares of the Funds are made available for purchase. Pursuant to Rule 22c-2, financial intermediaries are required, upon request, to: (i) provide shareholder account and transaction information; and (ii) execute instructions from the Fund to restrict or prohibit further purchases of Fund shares by shareholders who have been identified by the Fund as having engaged in transactions that violate the Fund's excessive trading policies and procedures.
Excessive Trading Practices Policy
Because the Fund is designed to be a component of SMAs that also invest, at the direction of or based on the advice of the Investment Manager, in individual securities and other investments, Fund shares may be purchased or redeemed on a frequent basis for rebalancing purposes or to invest new monies (including through dividend reinvestment) or to accommodate reductions in account size. The Fund is managed in a manner that is consistent with its role in SMAs. SMA clients are typically not in a position to directly effect purchase and redemption orders under the terms of their SMA and are, therefore, unable to directly trade in Fund shares. Accordingly, the Board of Trustees has not adopted specific buying and exchanging limitations based on trading frequency for the Fund.
The Fund reserves the right to reject, without any prior notice, any purchase order for any reason, and will not be liable for any loss resulting from rejected orders. For example, the Fund may in its sole discretion restrict or reject a purchase order if the Fund or its agents determine that accepting the order could interfere with efficient management of the Fund's portfolio or is otherwise contrary to the Fund's best interests. Your Program Sponsor or financial intermediary may have their own market timing policy, which may be more restrictive.
Opening an Account and Placing Orders
Buying Shares
Eligible Investors
The Fund intends to redeem shares held by or on behalf of any shareholder who ceases to be an eligible investor as described above and, each shareholder, by purchasing shares of the Fund, agrees to any such redemption. The liquidation of such shares may have tax consequences for the investor. Investors should carefully consider the potential impact of such liquidations and restrictions before selecting a wrap-fee account strategy that contemplates investment in the Fund. Please contact your Program Sponsor or financial intermediary for further information.
Other Purchase Rules You Should Know
| ■ | The Distributor and the Transfer Agent reserve the right to cancel your order request if the Fund does not receive payment within two business days of receiving your purchase order request. The Fund will return any payment received for orders that have been cancelled, but no interest will be paid on that money. |
| ■ | Financial intermediaries are responsible for sending your purchase orders to the Transfer Agent and ensuring that the Fund receives your money on time. |
| ■ | Shares purchased are recorded on the books of the Fund. The Fund does not issue certificates. |
Selling Shares
When you sell shares, the amount you receive may be more or less than the amount you invested.
Satisfying Fund Redemption Requests
When you sell your Fund shares, the Fund is effectively buying them back from you. This is called a redemption. Except as noted below with respect to newly purchased shares, the Fund typically expects to send you payment for your shares within two business days after your trade date for all methods of payment. The Fund can suspend redemptions and/or delay payment of redemption proceeds for up to seven days. The Fund can also suspend
| 38 | Prospectus 2021 |
Multisector Bond SMA Completion Portfolio
Buying and Selling Shares
(continued)
redemptions and/or delay payment of redemption proceeds in excess of seven days under certain circumstances, including when the NYSE is closed or trading thereon is restricted or during emergency or other circumstances, including as determined by the SEC.
The Fund typically seeks to satisfy redemption requests from cash or cash equivalents held by the Fund, from the proceeds of orders to purchase Fund shares or from the proceeds of sales of Fund holdings effected in the normal course of managing the Fund. However, the Fund may have to sell Fund holdings, including in down markets, to meet heavier than usual redemption requests. For example, under stressed or abnormal market conditions or circumstances, including circumstances adversely affecting the liquidity of the Fund’s investments, the Fund may be more likely to be forced to sell Fund holdings to meet redemptions than under normal market circumstances. In these situations, the Fund’s portfolio managers may have to sell Fund holdings that would not otherwise be sold because, among other reasons, the current price to be received is less than the value of the holdings perceived by the Fund’s portfolio managers. The Fund may also, under certain circumstances (but more likely under stressed or abnormal market conditions or circumstances), borrow money under a credit facility to which the Fund and certain other Columbia Funds are parties or from other Columbia Funds under an interfund lending program (except for closed-end funds and money market funds, which are not eligible to borrow under the program). The Fund and the other Columbia Funds are limited as to the amount that each may individually and collectively borrow under the credit facility and the interfund lending program. As a result, borrowings available to the Fund under the credit facility and the interfund lending program might be insufficient, alone or in combination with the other strategies described herein, to satisfy Fund redemption requests. Please see
in the SAI for more information about the credit facility and interfund lending program. The Fund is also limited in the total amount it may borrow. The Fund may only borrow to the extent permitted by the 1940 Act, the rules and regulations thereunder, and any exemptive relief available to the Fund, which currently limit Fund borrowings to 33 1/3% of total assets (including any amounts borrowed) less liabilities (other than borrowings), plus an additional 5% of its total assets for temporary purposes (to be repaid within 60 days without extension or renewal), in each case determined at the time the borrowing is made.
About Fund Investments – Borrowings – Interfund Lending
In addition, the Fund reserves the right to honor redemption orders in whole or in part with in-kind distributions of Fund portfolio securities instead of cash. Such in-kind distributions typically represent a pro-rata portion of Fund portfolio assets subject to adjustments (e.g., for non-transferable securities, round lots, and derivatives). In the event the Fund distributes portfolio securities in kind, you may incur brokerage and other transaction costs associated with converting the portfolio securities you receive into cash. Also, the portfolio securities you receive may increase or decrease in value after they are distributed but before you convert them into cash. For U.S. federal income tax purposes, redemptions paid in securities are generally treated the same as redemptions paid in cash. If, during any 90-day period, you redeem shares in an amount greater than $250,000 or 1% of the Fund’s net assets (whichever is less), and if the Investment Manager determines it to be feasible and appropriate, the Fund may pay the redemption amount above such threshold by an in-kind distribution of Fund portfolio securities.
While the Fund is not required (and may refuse in its discretion) to pay a redemption with an in-kind distribution of Fund portfolio securities and reserves the right to pay the redemption proceeds in cash, if you wish to request an in-kind redemption, please call the Transfer Agent at 800.345.6611. As a result of the operational steps needed to coordinate with the redeeming shareholder’s custodian, in-kind redemptions typically take several weeks to complete after a redemption request is received. The Fund and the redeeming shareholder will typically agree upon a redemption date. Since the Fund’s NAV may fluctuate during this time, the Fund’s NAV may be lower on the agreed-upon redemption date than on an earlier date on which the investment could have been redeemed for cash.
Redemption of Newly Purchased Shares
You may not redeem shares for which the Fund has not yet received payment. Shares purchased by check or electronically by ACH when the purchase payment is not guaranteed will be considered in “good form” for redemption only after they have been held in your account for 6 calendar days after the trade date of the purchase (Collected Shares). If you request a redemption for an amount that, based on the NAV next calculated after your redemption request is received, includes any shares that are not yet Collected Shares, the Fund will only process the redemption
| Prospectus 2021 | 39 |
Multisector Bond SMA Completion Portfolio
Buying and Selling Shares
(continued)
up to the amount of the value of Collected Shares available in your account. You must submit a new redemption request if you wish to redeem those shares that were not yet Collected Shares at the time the original redemption request was received by the Fund.
Other Redemption Rules You Should Know
| ■ | Once the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary receives your redemption order in “good form,” your shares will be sold at the next calculated NAV per share (i.e., the trade date). |
| ■ | Once the Fund receives your redemption request in “good form,” you cannot cancel it after the market closes. |
| ■ | If you sell your shares through a financial intermediary, the Fund will normally send the redemption proceeds to your financial intermediary within two business days after the trade date. |
| ■ | No interest will be paid on uncashed redemption checks. |
Exchanging Shares
Fund shares are not eligible for exchange.
| 40 | Prospectus 2021 |
Multisector Bond SMA Completion Portfolio
Distributions and Taxes
Distributions to Shareholders
A mutual fund can make money two ways:
| ■ | It can earn income on its investments. Examples of fund income are interest paid on money market instruments and bonds, and dividends paid on common stocks. |
| ■ | A mutual fund can also have capital gains if the value of its investments increases. While a fund continues to hold an investment, any gain is generally unrealized. If the fund sells an investment, it generally will realize a capital gain if it sells that investment for a higher price than its adjusted cost basis, and will generally realize a capital loss if it sells that investment for a lower price than its adjusted cost basis. Capital gains and losses are either short-term or long-term, depending on whether the fund holds the securities for one year or less (short-term) or more than one year (long-term). |
Mutual funds make payments of fund earnings to shareholders, distributing them among all shareholders of the fund. As a shareholder, you are entitled to your portion of a fund's distributed income, including capital gains. Reinvesting your distributions buys you more shares of a fund
which lets you take advantage of the potential for compound growth. Putting the money you earn back into your investment means it, in turn, may earn even more money (or be exposed to additional losses, if the fund earns a negative return). Over time, the power of compounding has the potential to significantly increase the value of your investment. There is no assurance, however, that you'll earn more money if you reinvest your distributions rather than receive them in cash.
—
The Fund intends to pay out, in the form of distributions to shareholders, a sufficient amount of its income and gains so that the Fund will qualify for treatment as a regulated investment company and generally will not have to pay any federal excise tax. The Fund generally intends to distribute any net realized capital gain (whether long-term or short-term gain) at least once a year. Normally, the Fund will declare and pay distributions of net investment income according to the following schedule:
|
Declaration and Distribution Schedule
|
|
| Declarations | Monthly |
| Distributions | Monthly |
The Fund may declare or pay distributions of net investment income more frequently.
Each time a distribution is made, the NAV per share is reduced by the amount of the distribution.
The Fund generally pays cash distributions within five business days after the distribution was declared (or, if the Fund declares distributions daily, within five business days after the end of the month in which the distribution was declared). If you sell all of your shares after the record date, but before the payment date, for a distribution, you'll normally receive that distribution in cash within five business days after the sale was made.
The Fund will automatically reinvest distributions in additional shares of the same share class of the Fund unless you inform us you want to receive your distributions in cash (the financial intermediary through which you purchased shares may have different policies). No sales charges apply to the purchase or sale of such shares.
For accounts held directly with the Fund (through the Transfer Agent), distributions of $10 or less will automatically be reinvested in additional Fund shares only. If you elect to receive distributions by check and the check is returned as undeliverable, all subsequent distributions will be reinvested in additional shares of the Fund.
Unless you are a tax-exempt investor or holding Fund shares through a tax-advantaged account (such as a 401(k) plan or IRA), you should consider avoiding buying Fund shares shortly before the Fund makes a distribution (other than distributions of net investment income that are declared daily) of net investment income or net realized capital gain, because doing so can cost you money in taxes to the extent the distribution consists of taxable income or gains. This is because you will, in effect, receive part of your purchase price back in the distribution. This is known as “buying a dividend.” To avoid “buying a dividend,” before you invest check the Fund's distribution schedule, which is available at the Fund’s website.
| Prospectus 2021 | 41 |
Multisector Bond SMA Completion Portfolio
Distributions and Taxes
(continued)
Taxes
You should be aware of the following considerations applicable to the Fund:
| ■ | The Fund intends to qualify and to be eligible for treatment each year as a regulated investment company. A regulated investment company generally is not subject to tax at the fund level on income and gains from investments that are distributed to shareholders. However, the Fund's failure to qualify for treatment as a regulated investment company would result in Fund-level taxation, and consequently, a reduction in income available for distribution to you and in the NAV of your shares. Even if the Fund qualifies for treatment as a regulated investment company, the Fund may be subject to federal excise tax on certain undistributed income or gains. |
| ■ | Otherwise taxable distributions generally are taxable to you when paid, whether they are paid in cash or automatically reinvested in additional Fund shares. Dividends paid in January are deemed paid on December 31 of the prior year if the dividend was declared and payable to shareholders of record in October, November, or December of such prior year. |
| ■ |
Distributions of the Fund's ordinary income and net short-term capital gain, if any, generally are taxable to you as ordinary income. Distributions of the Fund's net long-term capital gain, if any, generally are taxable to you as long-term capital gain. Whether capital gains are long-term or short-term is determined by how long the Fund has owned the investments that generated them, rather than how long you have owned your shares.
For taxable fixed income Funds:
|
| ■ | From time to time, a distribution from the Fund could constitute a return of capital. A return of capital is a return of an amount of your original investment and is not a distribution of income or capital gain from the Fund. Therefore, a return of capital is not taxable to you so long as the amount of the distribution does not exceed your tax basis in your Fund shares. A return of capital reduces your tax basis in your Fund shares, with any amounts exceeding such basis generally taxable as capital gain. |
| ■ | If you are an individual and you meet certain holding period and other requirements for your Fund shares, a portion of your distributions may be treated as “qualified dividend income” taxable at the lower net long-term capital gain rates instead of the higher ordinary income rates. Qualified dividend income is income attributable to the Fund's dividends received from certain U.S. and foreign corporations, as long as the Fund meets certain holding period and other requirements for the stock producing such dividends. The Fund does not expect a significant portion of Fund distributions to be eligible for treatment as qualified dividend income. |
| ■ | Certain high-income individuals (as well as estates and trusts) are subject to a 3.8% tax on net investment income. For individuals, the 3.8% tax applies to the lesser of (1) the amount (if any) by which the taxpayer's modified adjusted gross income exceeds certain threshold amounts or (2) the taxpayer's “net investment income.” |
| Net investment income generally includes for this purpose dividends, including any capital gain dividends, paid by the Fund, and net gains recognized on the sale, redemption or exchange of shares of the Fund. |
| ■ | Certain derivative instruments when held in the Fund's portfolio subject the Fund to special tax rules, the effect of which may be to, among other things, accelerate income to the Fund, defer Fund losses, cause adjustments in the holding periods of Fund portfolio securities, or convert capital gains into ordinary income, short-term capital losses into long-term capital losses or long-term capital gains into short-term capital gains. These rules could therefore affect the amount, timing and/or character of distributions to shareholders. |
| ■ | Generally, a Fund realizes a capital gain or loss on an option when the option expires, or when it is exercised, sold or otherwise terminated. However, if an option is a “section 1256 contract,” which includes most traded options on a broad-based index, and the Fund holds such option at the end of its taxable year, the Fund is deemed to sell such option at fair market value at such time and recognize any gain or loss thereon, which is generally deemed to be 60% long-term and 40% short-term capital gain or loss, as described further in the SAI. |
| ■ | Income and proceeds received by the Fund from sources within foreign countries may be subject to foreign taxes. If at the end of the taxable year more than 50% of the value of the Fund's assets consists of securities of foreign corporations, and the Fund makes a special election, you will generally be required to include in your income for U.S. federal income tax purposes your share of the qualifying foreign income taxes paid by the Fund in respect of |
| 42 | Prospectus 2021 |
Multisector Bond SMA Completion Portfolio
Distributions and Taxes
(continued)
| its foreign portfolio securities. You may be able to claim a foreign tax credit or deduction in respect of this amount, subject to certain limitations. There is no assurance that the Fund will make this election for a taxable year, even if it is eligible to do so. |
| ■ | A sale, redemption or exchange of Fund shares is a taxable event. This includes redemptions where you are paid in securities. Your sales, redemptions and exchanges of Fund shares (including those paid in securities) usually will result in a taxable capital gain or loss to you, equal to the difference between the amount you receive for your shares (or are deemed to have received in the case of exchanges) and your adjusted tax basis in the shares, which is generally the amount you paid (or are deemed to have paid in the case of exchanges) for them. Any such capital gain or loss generally will be long-term capital gain or loss if you have held your Fund shares for more than one year at the time of sale or exchange. In certain circumstances, capital losses may be converted from short-term to long-term; in other circumstances, capital losses may be disallowed under the “wash sale” rules. |
| ■ | For sales, redemptions and exchanges of shares that were acquired in a non-qualified account after 2011, the Fund generally is required to report to shareholders and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) cost basis information with respect to those shares. The Fund uses average cost basis as its default method of calculating cost basis. For more information regarding average cost basis reporting, other available cost basis methods, and selecting or changing to a different cost basis method, please see the SAI, or the Fund's website. If you hold Fund shares through a financial intermediary (e.g., a brokerage firm), you should contact your financial intermediary to learn about its cost basis reporting default method and the reporting elections available to your account. |
| ■ | The Fund is required by federal law to withhold tax on any taxable or tax-exempt distributions and redemption proceeds paid to you (including amounts paid to you in securities and amounts deemed to be paid to you upon an exchange of shares) if: you have not provided a correct TIN or have not certified to the Fund that withholding does not apply, the IRS has notified us that the TIN listed on your account is incorrect according to its records, or the IRS informs the Fund that you are otherwise subject to backup withholding. |
FUNDamentals
Taxes
The information provided above is only a summary of how U.S. federal income taxes may affect your investment in the Fund. It is not intended as a substitute for careful tax planning. Your investment in the Fund may have other tax implications. It does not apply to certain types of investors who may be subject to special rules, including foreign or tax-exempt investors or those holding Fund shares through a tax-advantaged account, such as a 401(k) plan or IRA. Please see the SAI for more detailed tax information. You should consult with your own tax advisor about the particular tax consequences to you of an investment in the Fund, including the effect of any foreign, state and local taxes, and the effect of possible changes in applicable tax laws.
| Prospectus 2021 | 43 |
Multisector Bond SMA Completion Portfolio
Financial Highlights
The financial highlights table is intended to help you understand the Fund’s financial performance for the past five fiscal years or, if shorter, the Fund’s period of operations. Certain information reflects financial results for a single Fund share. Per share net investment income (loss) amounts are calculated based on average shares outstanding during the period. The total return in the table represents the rate that an investor would have earned (or lost) on an investment in the Fund assuming all dividends and distributions had been reinvested. Total return does not reflect payment of sales charges, if any. Total return and portfolio turnover are not annualized for periods of less than one year. The portfolio turnover rate is calculated without regard to purchase and sales transactions of short-term instruments and certain derivatives, if any. If such transactions were included, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate may be higher. This information has been audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm, whose report, along with the Fund’s financial statements, is included in the Fund’s annual report, which is available upon request.
|
Year Ended August 31,
2020
(a)
|
|
|
Per share data
|
|
| Net asset value, beginning of period | $12.00 |
|
Income from investment operations:
|
|
| Net investment income | 0.12 |
| Net realized and unrealized loss | (0.26) |
| Total from investment operations | (0.14) |
|
Less distributions to shareholders from:
|
|
| Net investment income | (0.13) |
| Total distributions to shareholders | (0.13) |
| Net asset value, end of period | $11.73 |
| Total return | (1.16)% |
|
Ratios to average net assets
|
|
|
Total gross expenses
(b)
|
5.21%
(c)
|
|
Total net expenses
(b),(d)
|
0.00%
(c)
|
| Net investment income |
1.28%
(c)
|
|
Supplemental data
|
|
| Portfolio turnover | 0% |
| Net assets, end of period (in thousands) | $2,054 |
|
Notes to Financial Highlights
|
|
| (a) | The Fund commenced operations on October 29, 2019. Per share data and total return reflect activity from that date. |
| (b) | In addition to the fees and expenses that the Fund bears directly, the Fund indirectly bears a pro rata share of the fees and expenses of any other funds in which it invests. Such indirect expenses are not included in the Fund's reported expense ratios. |
| (c) | Annualized. |
| (d) | Total net expenses include the impact of certain fee waivers/expense reimbursements made by the Investment Manager and certain of its affiliates, if applicable. |
| 44 | Prospectus 2021 |
Multisector Bond SMA Completion Portfolio
P.O. Box 219104
Kansas City, MO 64121-9104
Kansas City, MO 64121-9104
Additional Information About the Fund
Additional information about the Fund’s investments is available in the Fund’s annual and semiannual reports to shareholders. In the annual report, you will find a discussion of the market conditions and investment strategies that significantly affected the Fund’s performance during its last fiscal year. The SAI also provides additional information about the Fund and its policies. The SAI, which has been filed with the SEC, is legally part of this prospectus (incorporated by reference). To obtain these documents free of charge, to request other information about the Fund and to make shareholder inquiries, please contact the Fund as follows:
By Mail:
Columbia Management Investment Services Corp.
P.O. Box 219104
Kansas City, MO 64121-9104
P.O. Box 219104
Kansas City, MO 64121-9104
By Telephone:
800.345.6611
Online:
columbiathreadneedleus.com
Reports and other information about the Fund are also available in the EDGAR Database on the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov. You can receive copies of this information, for a duplication fee, by electronic request at the following e-mail address: publicinfo@sec.gov.
The investment company registration number of Columbia Funds Series Trust I, of which the Fund is a series, is 811-04367.
Columbia Threadneedle Investments is the global brand name of the Columbia and Threadneedle group of companies.
© 2021 Columbia Management Investment Distributors, Inc.
225 Franklin Street, Boston, MA 02110
225 Franklin Street, Boston, MA 02110
800.345.6611
PRO308_08_L01_(01/21)
Prospectus
January 1, 2021
Overseas SMA Completion Portfolio
A Solution Series Fund
|
Ticker Symbol
|
||
| OSCBX |
* Shares of the Fund may only be purchased and held by or on behalf of separately managed account clients as described in this Prospectus.
Beginning on January 1, 2021, as permitted by regulations adopted by the Securities and Exchange Commission, paper copies of the Fund’s annual and semiannual shareholder reports are no longer sent by mail, unless you specifically requested paper copies of the reports. Instead, the reports are made available on the Fund’s website (https://www.columbiathreadneedleus.com/investment-products/managed-accounts/), and each time a report is posted you will be notified by mail and provided with a website address to access the report.
If you have already elected to receive shareholder reports electronically, you will not be affected by this change and you need not take any action. You may elect to receive shareholder reports and other communications from the Fund electronically at any time by contacting your financial intermediary.
You may elect to receive all future shareholder reports in paper free of charge. If you invest through a financial intermediary, you can contact your financial intermediary to request that you continue receiving paper copies of your shareholder reports. If you invest directly with a Fund, you can call 800.345.6611 to let the Fund know you wish to continue receiving paper copies of your shareholder reports. Your election to receive paper reports will apply to all Columbia Funds held in your account if you invest through a financial intermediary or all Columbia Funds held with the fund complex if you invest directly with the Fund.
As with all mutual funds, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has not approved or disapproved these securities or passed upon the adequacy of this prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.
Overseas SMA Completion Portfolio
Summary of the Fund
Investment Objective
Overseas SMA Completion Portfolio (the Fund) seeks long-term capital appreciation.
The Fund is intended to be used as part of a broader separately managed account (SMA) program. The objective of the Fund is intended to be evaluated in the context of the broader SMA program. The Fund is not designed to be used as a stand-alone investment.
Fees and Expenses of the Fund
This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold and sell shares of the Fund.
The Fund does not pay a management fee to the Fund’s investment manager, Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC (the Investment Manager). However, Fund shares may only be purchased and held by or on behalf of SMAs where the Investment Manager has an agreement with the SMA program sponsor (the Program Sponsor), or directly with the SMA client, to provide investment management services to the Program Sponsor or the SMA, as applicable. SMAs pay a fee directly, or indirectly through Program Sponsors, to the Investment Manager for providing investment management services to the Program Sponsor or the SMA, including on assets that may be invested in the Fund. You should read carefully the SMA program information provided to you by your Program Sponsor or financial intermediary, including information about the fees charged to you and the fees paid to them for SMA investment management services.
You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the tables and examples below.
|
Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment)
|
|
| Maximum sales charge (load) imposed on purchases (as a % of offering price) | None |
| Maximum deferred sales charge (load) imposed on redemptions (as a % of the lower of the original purchase price or current net asset value) | None |
| (a) |
The Investment Manager of the Fund does not charge a management fee to the Fund. However, the Fund is an integral part of broader SMA programs, and SMA clients pay a fee directly, or indirectly through Program Sponsors, to the Investment Manager for providing investment management services to the Program Sponsor or the SMA, including on assets that may be invested in the Fund. The Investment Manager or
its affiliates will be compensated directly or indirectly by Program Sponsors or SMAs for providing investment management services to the SMA. |
| (b) | Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC and certain of its affiliates have contractually agreed to waive fees and/or to reimburse expenses (excluding transaction costs and certain other investment related expenses, interest, taxes, and infrequent and/or unusual expenses) through December 31, 2022, unless sooner terminated at the sole discretion of the Fund’s Board of Trustees. Under this agreement, the Fund’s net operating expenses, subject to applicable exclusions, will not exceed the annual rate of 0.00%. |
Example
The following example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The example illustrates the hypothetical expenses that you would incur over the time periods indicated, and assumes that:
| ■ | you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the periods indicated, |
| ■ | your investment has a 5% return each year, and |
| ■ |
the Fund’s total annual operating expenses remain the same as shown in the
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
|
| Prospectus 2021 | 3 |
Overseas SMA Completion Portfolio
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
Since the waivers and/or reimbursements shown in the
table above expire as indicated in the preceding table, they are only reflected in the 1 year example and the first two years of the other examples. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on the assumptions listed above, your costs would be:
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
|
1 year
|
3 years
|
5 years
|
10 years
|
|
| $ — | $650 | $1,931 | $5,033 |
SMA clients pay a fee directly, or indirectly through Program Sponsors, to the Investment Manager for providing investment management services to the Program Sponsor or the SMA, including on assets that may be invested in the Fund. Such fees are not reflected in the
.
Example
Portfolio Turnover
The Fund may pay transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance. For the fiscal period from September 12, 2019 (commencement of operations) to August 31, 2020, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 47% of the average value of its portfolio.
Principal Investment Strategies
Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of total assets (including the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes) in equity securities of foreign companies that have market capitalizations of more than $1 billion at the time of purchase that the Investment Manager believes are undervalued. Foreign companies are those economically tied to a non-U.S. country. The Fund is intended to be used as part of a broader SMA program, and it is expected that the Fund will hold securities that the Investment Manager believes will help the overall SMA program achieve its investment objective, but that the Investment Manager believes may be transacted in more efficiently through a collective vehicle, such as the Fund, than by each individual SMA. The Investment Manager currently expects that these investments will consist primarily of securities listed only on foreign exchanges (referred to as foreign ordinary shares) and relatively small positions in American depositary receipts. The performance and objectives of the Fund should be evaluated in the context of the broader SMA program. The Fund is not designed to be used as a stand-alone investment.
The Fund typically invests in foreign companies in at least three countries, other than the United States, at any one time and may invest in emerging markets. The Fund may invest directly in foreign securities, including common and preferred stocks, or indirectly through depositary receipts. From time to time, the Fund may focus its investments in certain countries or geographic areas, including the Asia/Pacific region and Europe. The Fund may from time to time emphasize one or more sectors in selecting its investments, including the financial services and industrials sectors.
The Fund is non-diversified, which means that it can invest a greater percentage of its assets in the securities of fewer issuers than can a diversified fund. The Fund expects to invest in a limited or small number of holdings relative to a traditional mutual fund that is offered more broadly to non-SMA accounts.
Principal Risks
An investment in the Fund involves risks, including
,
,
,
,
and
. The Fund’s Focused Portfolio Risk heightens the Fund’s other risks due to the Fund’s investment in a small number of holdings, which consist primarily of securities listed only on foreign exchanges, among others. Descriptions of these and other principal risks of investing in the Fund are provided below.
. The value of the Fund’s holdings may decline, and the Fund’s net asset value (NAV) and share price may go down. An investment in the Fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency.
Completion Funds Risk
Market Risk
Focused Portfolio Risk
Foreign Securities Risk
Depositary Receipts
Risk
There is no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objective and you may lose money
| 4 | Prospectus 2021 |
Overseas SMA Completion Portfolio
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
Active Management Risk.
Due to its active management, the Fund could underperform its benchmark index and/or other funds with similar investment objectives and/or strategies.
Completion Funds Risk.
Investors should be aware that the investments made by the Fund and the results achieved by the Fund at any given time are not expected to be the same as those made by other funds for which the Investment Manager serves as investment adviser, including funds with names, investment objectives and policies similar to the Fund. This may be attributable to a wide variety of factors, including, but not limited to, the use of a differentiated investment strategy. The Fund is intended to be used as part of a broader SMA program. The performance and objectives of the Fund should be evaluated in the context of the broader SMA program. The Fund is not designed to be used as a stand-alone investment. Please contact your program sponsor or financial intermediary for more information.
Depositary Receipts Risk.
Depositary receipts are receipts issued by a bank or trust company reflecting ownership of underlying securities issued by foreign companies. Some foreign securities are traded in the form of American Depositary Receipts and/or Global Depositary Receipts. Depositary receipts involve risks similar to the risks associated with investments in foreign securities, including those associated with investing in the particular country of an issuer, which may be related to the particular political, regulatory, economic, social and other conditions or events, including, for example, military confrontations, war, terrorism and disease/virus outbreaks and epidemics, occurring in the country and fluctuations in such country’s currency, as well as market risk tied to the underlying foreign company. In addition, holders of depositary receipts may have limited voting rights, may not have the same rights afforded to stockholders of a typical domestic company in the event of a corporate action, such as an acquisition, merger or rights offering, and may experience difficulty in receiving company stockholder communications. There is no guarantee that a financial institution will continue to sponsor a depositary receipt, or that a depositary receipt will continue to trade on an exchange, either of which could adversely affect the liquidity, availability and pricing of the depositary receipt. Changes in foreign currency exchange rates will affect the value of depositary receipts and, therefore, may affect the value of your investment in the Fund. The Fund may invest significantly in depositary receipts.
Emerging Market Securities Risk.
Securities issued by foreign governments or companies in emerging market countries, such as China, Russia and certain countries in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Latin America or Africa, are more likely to have greater exposure to the risks of investing in foreign securities that are described in Foreign Securities Risk. In addition, emerging market countries are more likely to experience instability resulting, for example, from rapid changes or developments in social, political, economic or other conditions. Their economies are usually less mature and their securities markets are typically less developed with more limited trading activity (i.e., lower trading volumes and less liquidity) than more developed countries. Emerging market securities tend to be more volatile than securities in more developed markets. Many emerging market countries are heavily dependent on international trade and have fewer trading partners, which makes them more sensitive to world commodity prices and economic downturns in other countries, and some have a higher risk of currency devaluations. Due to the differences in the nature and quality of financial information of issuers of emerging market securities, including auditing and financial reporting standards, financial information and disclosures about such issuers may be unavailable or, if made available, may be considerably less reliable than publicly available information about other foreign securities.
Focused Portfolio Risk.
Because the Fund may invest in a limited number of companies, the Fund as a whole is subject to greater risk of loss if any of those securities decline in price.
Foreign Securities Risk.
Investments in or exposure to foreign securities involve certain risks not associated with investments in or exposure to securities of U.S. companies. Foreign securities subject the Fund to the risks associated with investing in the particular country of an issuer, including political, regulatory, economic, social, diplomatic and other conditions or events (including, for example, military confrontations, war, terrorism and disease/virus outbreaks and epidemics), occurring in the country or region, as well as risks associated with less developed custody and settlement practices. Foreign securities may be more volatile and less liquid than securities of U.S. companies, and are subject to the risks associated with potential imposition of economic and other sanctions against a particular foreign country, its nationals or industries or businesses within the country. In addition, foreign governments may impose withholding or other taxes on the Fund’s income, capital gains or proceeds from the disposition of foreign securities, which could reduce the Fund’s return on such securities. The performance of the
| Prospectus 2021 | 5 |
Overseas SMA Completion Portfolio
Summary of the Fund
(continued)
Fund may also be negatively affected by fluctuations in a foreign currency's strength or weakness relative to the U.S. dollar, particularly to the extent the Fund invests a significant percentage of its assets in foreign securities or other assets denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar.
Geographic Focus Risk.
The Fund may be particularly susceptible to economic, political, regulatory or other events or conditions affecting issuers and countries within the specific geographic regions in which the Fund invests. The Fund’s NAV may be more volatile than the NAV of a more geographically diversified fund.
Asia Pacific Region.
Many of the countries in the Asia Pacific region are considered underdeveloped or developing, including from a political, economic and/or social perspective, and may have relatively unstable governments and economies based on limited business, industries and/or natural resources or commodities. Events in any one country within the region may impact other countries in the region or the region as a whole. As a result, events in the region will generally have a greater effect on the Fund than if the Fund were more geographically diversified. This could result in increased volatility in the value of the Fund’s investments and losses for the Fund. Also, securities of some companies in the region can be less liquid than U.S. or other foreign securities, potentially making it difficult for the Fund to sell such securities at a desirable time and price.
Europe.
The Fund is particularly susceptible to economic, political, regulatory or other events or conditions affecting issuers and countries in Europe. In addition, the private and public sectors’ debt problems of a single European Union (EU) country can pose significant economic risks to the EU as a whole. As a result, the Fund’s NAV may be more volatile than the NAV of a more geographically diversified fund. If securities of issuers in Europe fall out of favor, it may cause the Fund to underperform other funds that do not focus their investments in this region of the world. The impact of any partial or complete dissolution of the EU on the United Kingdom (UK) and European economies and the broader global economy could be significant, resulting in negative impacts on currency and financial markets generally, such as increased volatility and illiquidity, and potentially lower economic growth in markets in Europe, which may adversely affect the value of your investment in the Fund.
Issuer Risk.
An issuer in which the Fund invests or to which it has exposure may perform poorly or below expectations, and the value of its securities may therefore decline, which may negatively affect the Fund’s performance. Underperformance of an issuer may be caused by poor management decisions, competitive pressures, breakthroughs in technology, reliance on suppliers, labor problems or shortages, corporate restructurings, fraudulent disclosures, natural disasters, military confrontations, war, terrorism, disease/virus outbreaks, epidemics or other events, conditions and factors which may impair the value of an investment in the Fund.
Small- and Mid-Cap Stock Risk.
Investments in small- and mid-capitalization companies (small- and mid-cap companies) often involve greater risks than investments in larger, more established companies (larger companies) because small- and mid-cap companies tend to have less predictable earnings and may lack the management experience, financial resources, product diversification and competitive strengths of larger companies. Securities of small- and mid-cap companies may be less liquid and more volatile than the securities of larger companies.
Large-Cap Stock Risk.
Investments in larger companies may involve certain risks associated with their larger size. For instance, larger companies may be less able to respond quickly to new competitive challenges, such as changes in consumer tastes or innovation from smaller competitors. Also, larger companies are sometimes less able to achieve as high growth rates as successful smaller companies, especially during extended periods of economic expansion.
Large Fund Investor Risk.
The Fund is intended to be a part of a broader SMA program. As such, the Fund may from time to time sell a substantial amount of its shares to relatively few investors or a single investor, including SMAs or Program Sponsors. If a Program Sponsor decides to remove the strategy as an available option for its SMA program or if a SMA client with a large investment in the Fund decides to terminate or modify its account, the Fund may experience relatively large redemptions and could be required to liquidate its assets at inopportune times or at a loss or depressed value, which could cause the value of your investment to decline.
Liquidity Risk.
Liquidity risk is the risk associated with any event, circumstance, or characteristic of an investment or market that negatively impacts the Fund’s ability to sell, or realize the proceeds from the sale of, an investment at a desirable time or price. Liquidity risk may arise because of, for example, a lack of marketability of the investment, which means that when seeking to sell its portfolio investments, the Fund could find that selling is more difficult than
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anticipated, especially during times of high market volatility. Market participants attempting to sell the same or a similar instrument at the same time as the Fund could exacerbate the Fund’s exposure to liquidity risk. The Fund may have to accept a lower selling price for the holding, sell other liquid or more liquid investments that it might otherwise prefer to hold (thereby increasing the proportion of the Fund’s investments in less liquid or illiquid securities), or forego another more appealing investment opportunity. The liquidity of Fund investments may change significantly over time and certain investments that were liquid when purchased by the Fund may later become illiquid, particularly in times of overall economic distress. Changing regulatory, market or other conditions or environments (for example, the interest rate or credit environments) may also adversely affect the liquidity and the price of the Fund's investments. Judgment plays a larger role in valuing illiquid or less liquid investments as compared to valuing liquid or more liquid investments. Price volatility may be higher for illiquid or less liquid investments as a result of, for example, the relatively less frequent pricing of such securities (as compared to liquid or more liquid investments). Generally, the less liquid the market at the time the Fund sells a portfolio investment, the greater the risk of loss or decline of value to the Fund. Overall market liquidity and other factors can lead to an increase in redemptions, which may negatively impact Fund performance and NAV, including, for example, if the Fund is forced to sell investments in a down market. Foreign securities can present enhanced liquidity risks, including as a result of less developed custody, settlement or other practices of foreign markets.
Market Risk.
The Fund may incur losses due to declines in the value of one or more securities in which it invests. These declines may be due to factors affecting a particular issuer, or the result of, among other things, political, regulatory, market, economic or social developments affecting the relevant market(s) more generally. In addition, turbulence in financial markets and reduced liquidity in equity, credit and/or fixed income markets may negatively affect many issuers, which could adversely affect the Fund, including causing difficulty in assigning prices to hard-to-value assets in thinly traded and closed markets, significant redemptions and operational challenges. Global economies and financial markets are increasingly interconnected, and conditions and events in one country, region or financial market may adversely impact issuers in a different country, region or financial market. These risks may be magnified if certain events or developments adversely interrupt the global supply chain; in these and other circumstances, such risks might affect companies worldwide. As a result, local, regional or global events such as terrorism, war, natural disasters, disease/virus outbreaks and epidemics or other public health issues, recessions, depressions or other events – or the potential for such events – could have a significant negative impact on global economic and market conditions.
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) public health crisis has become a pandemic that has resulted in, and may continue to result in, significant global economic and societal disruption and market volatility due to disruptions in market access, resource availability, facilities operations, imposition of tariffs, export controls and supply chain disruption, among others. Such disruptions may be caused, or exacerbated by, quarantines and travel restrictions, workforce displacement and loss in human and other resources. The uncertainty surrounding the magnitude, duration, reach, costs and effects of the global pandemic, as well as actions that have been or could be taken by governmental authorities or other third parties, present unknowns that are yet to unfold. The impacts, as well as the uncertainty over impacts to come, of COVID-19 – and any other infectious illness outbreaks, epidemics and pandemics that may arise in the future – could negatively affect global economies and markets in ways that cannot necessarily be foreseen. In addition, the impact of infectious illness outbreaks and epidemics in emerging market countries may be greater due to generally less established healthcare systems, governments and financial markets. Public health crises caused by the COVID-19 outbreak may exacerbate other pre-existing political, social and economic risks in certain countries or globally. The disruptions caused by COVID-19 could prevent the Fund from executing advantageous investment decisions in a timely manner and negatively impact the Fund’s ability to achieve its investment objective. Any such event(s) could have a significant adverse impact on the value and risk profile of the Fund.
New Fund Risk.
Investors in newly formed funds bear the risk that the fund may not be successful in implementing its investment strategy, and may not employ a successful investment strategy, either of which could result in the fund being liquidated at any time without shareholder approval and/or at a time that may not be favorable for certain shareholders. Such a liquidation could have negative tax consequences for shareholders.
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(continued)
Non-Diversified Fund Risk.
The Fund is non-diversified, which generally means that it will invest a greater percentage of its total assets in the securities of fewer issuers than a “diversified” fund. This increases the risk that a change in the value of any one investment held by the Fund could affect the overall value of the Fund more than it would affect that of a diversified fund holding a greater number of investments. Accordingly, the Fund's value will likely be more volatile than the value of a more diversified fund.
Preferred Stock Risk.
Preferred stock is a type of stock that may pay dividends at a different rate than common stock of the same issuer, if at all, and that has preference over common stock in the payment of dividends and the liquidation of assets. Preferred stock does not ordinarily carry voting rights. The price of a preferred stock is generally determined by earnings, type of products or services, projected growth rates, experience of management, liquidity, and general market conditions of the markets on which the stock trades. The most significant risks associated with investments in preferred stock include issuer risk, market risk and interest rate risk (the risk of losses attributable to changes in interest rates).
Sector Risk.
At times, the Fund may have a significant portion of its assets invested in securities of companies conducting business within one or more economic sectors, including the financial services and industrials sectors. Companies in the same sector may be similarly affected by economic, regulatory, political or market events or conditions, which may make the Fund more vulnerable to unfavorable developments in that sector than funds that invest more broadly. Generally, the more broadly the Fund invests, the more it spreads risk and potentially reduces the risks of loss and volatility.
Financial Services Sector.
The Fund may be more susceptible to the particular risks that may affect companies in the financial services sector than if it were invested in a wider variety of companies in unrelated sectors. Companies in the financial services sector are subject to certain risks, including the risk of regulatory change, decreased liquidity in credit markets and unstable interest rates. Such companies may have concentrated portfolios, such as a high level of loans to one or more industries or sectors, which makes them vulnerable to economic conditions that affect such industries or sectors. Performance of such companies may be affected by competitive pressures and exposure to investments, agreements and counterparties, including credit products that, under certain circumstances, may lead to losses (e.g., subprime loans). Companies in the financial services sector are subject to extensive governmental regulation that may limit the amount and types of loans and other financial commitments they can make, and the interest rates and fees they may charge. In addition, profitability of such companies is largely dependent upon the availability and the cost of capital.
Industrials Sector.
The Fund may be more susceptible to the particular risks that may affect companies in the industrials sector than if it were invested in a wider variety of companies in unrelated sectors. Companies in the industrials sector are subject to certain risks, including changes in supply and demand for their specific product or service and for industrial sector products in general, including decline in demand for such products due to rapid technological developments and frequent new product introduction. Performance of such companies may be affected by factors including government regulation, world events and economic conditions and risks for environmental damage and product liability claims.
Value Securities Risk.
Value securities are securities of companies that may have experienced, for example, adverse business, industry or other developments or may be subject to special risks that have caused the securities to be out of favor and, in turn, potentially undervalued. The market value of a portfolio security may not meet portfolio management’s perceived value assessment of that security, or may decline in price, even though portfolio management believes the securities are already undervalued. There is also a risk that it may take longer than expected for the value of these investments to rise to portfolio management’s perceived value. In addition, value securities, at times, may not perform as well as growth securities or the stock market in general, and may be out of favor with investors for varying periods of time.
Performance Information
The Fund has not had a full calendar year of operations as of the date of this prospectus and therefore performance information is not available.
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When available, the Fund intends to compare its performance to the performance of MSCI EAFE Value Index (Net); however, the benchmark is not intended to represent how the Fund is expected to perform.
Updated performance information can be obtained by calling toll-free 800.345.6611.
The Fund is intended to be used as part of a broader SMA program. The performance and objectives of the Fund should be evaluated in the context of the broader SMA program. The Fund is only offered to SMA clients as described in this Prospectus, and the Fund’s performance, when available, will not reflect payment to Program Sponsors or the Investment Manager of any applicable fees by clients in SMA programs and will differ from the performance of a participant’s overall SMA. For more information about your SMA’s performance, please contact your Program Sponsor or financial intermediary.
Fund Management
Investment Manager:
Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC
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Portfolio Manager
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Title
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Role with Fund
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Managed Fund Since
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| Fred Copper, CFA | Senior Portfolio Manager | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2019 | |||
| Daisuke Nomoto, CMA (SAAJ) | Senior Portfolio Manager | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2019 |
Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares
Fund shares may only be purchased and held by or on behalf of SMAs where the Investment Manager has an agreement with the Program Sponsor, or directly with the SMA client, to provide investment management services to the Program Sponsor or the SMA, as applicable. Contact your Program Sponsor or financial intermediary for information about establishing an SMA which may invest in the Fund.
There are no maximum or minimum (initial or additional) investment requirements in the Fund, although your Program Sponsor may have investment minimums or other requirements.
Purchase and redemption orders are made based on instructions from the Investment Manager or from the Program Sponsor and are processed at the Fund’s net asset value (NAV) next calculated after receipt of the order by the Fund or its designee on each day the New York Stock Exchange is open.
If you close your SMA, you cannot continue to hold shares of the Fund, and the shares will be redeemed as a result of your election to close the SMA.
Tax Information
The Fund normally distributes net investment income and net realized capital gains, if any, to shareholders. These distributions are generally taxable to you as ordinary income, qualified dividend income or capital gains, unless you are investing through a tax-advantaged account, such as a 401(k) plan or an IRA. If you are investing through a tax-advantaged account, you may be taxed upon withdrawals from that account.
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Overseas SMA Completion Portfolio
More Information About the Fund
Investment Objective
Overseas SMA Completion Portfolio (the Fund) seeks long-term capital appreciation. The Fund’s investment objective is not a fundamental policy and may be changed by the Fund’s Board of Trustees without shareholder approval.
Because any investment involves risk, there is no assurance the Fund’s investment objective will be achieved.
The Fund is intended to be used as part of a broader separately managed account (SMA) program. The objective of the Fund is intended to be evaluated in the context of the broader SMA program. The Fund is not designed to be used as a stand-alone investment.
Principal Investment Strategies
Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of total assets (including the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes) in equity securities of foreign companies that have market capitalizations of more than $1 billion at the time of purchase that the Investment Manager believes are undervalued. Foreign companies are those economically tied to a non-U.S. country, which includes investment in foreign currencies, and securities and instruments of issuers organized or located outside the U.S., issuers that primarily trade in a market located outside the U.S., or issuers doing a substantial amount of business outside the U.S. The Fund considers issuers to conduct a substantial amount of business outside the U.S. if they derive at least 50% of their revenue or profits from business outside the U.S. or have at least 50% of their sales or assets outside the U.S. The Fund is intended to be used as part of a broader SMA program, and it is expected that the Fund will hold securities that the Investment Manager believes will help the overall SMA program achieve its investment objective, but that the Investment Manager believes may be transacted in more efficiently through a collective vehicle, such as the Fund, than by each individual SMA. The Investment Manager currently expects that these investments will consist primarily of securities listed only on foreign exchanges (referred to as foreign ordinary shares) and relatively small positions in American depositary receipts. The performance and objectives of the Fund should be evaluated in the context of the broader SMA program. The Fund is not designed to be used as a stand-alone investment.
The Fund typically invests in foreign companies in at least three countries, other than the United States, at any one time and may invest in emerging markets. The Fund may invest directly in foreign securities, including common and preferred stocks, or indirectly through depositary receipts. Depositary receipts are receipts issued by a bank or trust company reflecting ownership of underlying securities issued by foreign companies. From time to time, the Fund may focus its investments in certain countries or geographic areas, including the Asia/Pacific region and Europe. The Fund may from time to time emphasize one or more sectors in selecting its investments, including the financial services and industrials sectors.
The Fund is non-diversified, which means that it can invest a greater percentage of its assets in the securities of fewer issuers than can a diversified fund. The Fund expects to invest in a limited or small number of holdings relative to a traditional mutual fund that is offered more broadly to non-SMA accounts.
The investment manager employs fundamental analysis with risk management in identifying value opportunities and constructing the Fund's portfolio.
In selecting investments, Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC (the Investment Manager) considers, among other factors:
| ■ | businesses that are believed to be fundamentally sound and undervalued due to investor indifference, investor misperception of company prospects, or other factors; |
| ■ | various measures of valuation, including price-to-cash flow, price-to-earnings, price-to-sales, and price-to-book value. The Investment Manager believes that companies with lower valuations are generally more likely to provide opportunities for capital appreciation; |
| ■ | a company’s current operating margins relative to its historic range and future potential; and/or |
| ■ | potential indicators of stock price appreciation, such as anticipated earnings growth, company restructuring, changes in management, business model changes, new product opportunities or anticipated improvements in macroeconomic factors. |
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More Information About the Fund
(continued)
The Investment Manager may sell a security when the security’s price reaches a target set by the Investment Manager; if the Investment Manager believes that there is deterioration in the issuer’s financial circumstances or fundamental prospects; if other investments are more attractive; or for other reasons.
Principal Risks
An investment in the Fund involves risks, including
,
,
,
,
and
. The Fund’s Focused Portfolio Risk heightens the Fund’s other risks due to the Fund’s investment in a small number of holdings, which consist primarily of securities listed only on foreign exchanges, among others. Descriptions of these and other principal risks of investing in the Fund are provided below.
. The value of the Fund’s holdings may decline, and the Fund’s net asset value (NAV) and share price may go down. An investment in the Fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency.
Completion Funds Risk
Market Risk
Focused Portfolio Risk
Foreign Securities Risk
Depositary Receipts
Risk
There is no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objective and you may lose money
Active Management Risk.
The Fund is actively managed and its performance therefore will reflect, in part, the ability of the portfolio managers to make investment decisions that seek to achieve the Fund’s investment objective. Due to its active management, the Fund could underperform its benchmark index and/or other funds with similar investment objectives and/or strategies.
Completion Funds Risk.
Investors should be aware that the investments made by the Fund and the results achieved by the Fund at any given time are not expected to be the same as those made by other funds for which the Investment Manager serves as investment adviser, including funds with names, investment objectives and policies similar to the Fund. This may be attributable to a wide variety of factors, including, but not limited to, the use of a differentiated investment strategy. The Fund is intended to be used as part of a broader SMA program. The performance and objectives of the Fund should be evaluated in the context of the broader SMA program. The Fund is not designed to be used as a stand-alone investment. Please contact your program sponsor or financial intermediary for more information.
Depositary Receipts Risk.
Depositary receipts are receipts issued by a bank or trust company reflecting ownership of underlying securities issued by foreign companies. Some foreign securities are traded in the form of American Depositary Receipts and/or Global Depositary Receipts. Depositary receipts involve risks similar to the risks associated with investments in foreign securities, including those associated with investing in the particular country of an issuer, which may be related to the particular political, regulatory, economic, social and other conditions or events, including, for example, military confrontations, war, terrorism and disease/virus outbreaks and epidemics, occurring in the country and fluctuations in such country’s currency, as well as market risk tied to the underlying foreign company. In addition, holders of depositary receipts may have limited voting rights, may not have the same rights afforded to stockholders of a typical domestic company in the event of a corporate action, such as an acquisition, merger or rights offering, and may experience difficulty in receiving company stockholder communications. There is no guarantee that a financial institution will continue to sponsor a depositary receipt, or that a depositary receipt will continue to trade on an exchange, either of which could adversely affect the liquidity, availability and pricing of the depositary receipt. Changes in foreign currency exchange rates will affect the value of depositary receipts and, therefore, may affect the value of your investment in the Fund. The Fund may invest significantly in depositary receipts.
Emerging Market Securities Risk.
Securities issued by foreign governments or companies in emerging market countries, such as China, Russia and certain countries in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Latin America or Africa, are more likely to have greater exposure to the risks of investing in foreign securities that are described in Foreign Securities Risk. In addition, emerging market countries are more likely to experience instability resulting, for example, from rapid changes or developments in social, political, economic or other conditions. Their economies are usually less mature and their securities markets are typically less developed with more limited trading activity (i.e., lower trading volumes and less liquidity) than more developed countries. Emerging market securities tend to be more volatile than securities in more developed markets. Many emerging market countries are heavily dependent on international trade and have fewer trading partners, which makes them more sensitive to world commodity prices and economic downturns in other countries. Some emerging market countries have a higher risk of currency devaluations,
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Overseas SMA Completion Portfolio
More Information About the Fund
(continued)
and some of these countries may experience periods of high inflation or rapid changes in inflation rates and may have hostile relations with other countries. Due to the differences in the nature and quality of financial information of issuers of emerging market securities, including auditing and financial reporting standards, financial information and disclosures about such issuers may be unavailable or, if made available, may be considerably less reliable than publicly available information about other foreign securities.
Focused Portfolio Risk.
The Fund, because it may invest in a limited number of companies, may have more volatility in its NAV and is considered to have more risk than a fund that invests in a greater number of companies because changes in the value of a single security may have a more significant effect, either negative or positive, on the Fund’s NAV. To the extent the Fund invests its assets in fewer securities, the Fund is subject to greater risk of loss if any of those securities decline in price.
Foreign Securities Risk.
Investments in or exposure to foreign securities involve certain risks not associated with investments in or exposure to securities of U.S. companies. For example, foreign markets can be extremely volatile. Foreign securities may also be less liquid, making them more difficult to trade, than securities of U.S. companies so that the Fund may, at times, be unable to sell foreign securities at desirable times or prices. Brokerage commissions, custodial costs and other fees are also generally higher for foreign securities. The Fund may have limited or no legal recourse in the event of default with respect to certain foreign securities, including those issued by foreign governments. In addition, foreign governments may impose withholding or other taxes on the Fund’s income, capital gains or proceeds from the disposition of foreign securities, which could reduce the Fund’s return on such securities. In some cases, such withholding or other taxes could potentially be confiscatory. Other risks include: possible delays in the settlement of transactions or in the payment of income; generally less publicly available information about foreign companies; the impact of economic, political, social, diplomatic or other conditions or events (including, for example, military confrontations, war, terrorism and disease/virus outbreaks and epidemics), possible seizure, expropriation or nationalization of a company or its assets or the assets of a particular investor or category of investors; accounting, auditing and financial reporting standards that may be less comprehensive and stringent than those applicable to domestic companies; the imposition of economic and other sanctions against a particular foreign country, its nationals or industries or businesses within the country; and the generally less stringent standard of care to which local agents may be held in the local markets. In addition, it may be difficult to obtain reliable information about the securities and business operations of certain foreign issuers. Governments or trade groups may compel local agents to hold securities in designated depositories that are not subject to independent evaluation. The less developed a country’s securities market is, the greater the level of risks. The risks posed by sanctions against a particular foreign country, its nationals or industries or businesses within the country may be heightened to the extent the Fund invests significantly in the affected country or region or in issuers from the affected country that depend on global markets. Additionally, investments in certain countries may subject the Fund to a number of tax rules, the application of which may be uncertain. Countries may amend or revise their existing tax laws, regulations and/or procedures in the future, possibly with retroactive effect. Changes in or uncertainties regarding the laws, regulations or procedures of a country could reduce the after-tax profits of the Fund, directly or indirectly, including by reducing the after-tax profits of companies located in such countries in which the Fund invests, or result in unexpected tax liabilities for the Fund. The performance of the Fund may also be negatively affected by fluctuations in a foreign currency's strength or weakness relative to the U.S. dollar, particularly to the extent the Fund invests a significant percentage of its assets in foreign securities or other assets denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar. Currency rates in foreign countries may fluctuate significantly over short or long periods of time for a number of reasons, including changes in interest rates, imposition of currency exchange controls and economic or political developments in the U.S. or abroad. The Fund may also incur currency conversion costs when converting foreign currencies into U.S. dollars and vice versa.
Geographic Focus Risk.
The Fund may be particularly susceptible to economic, political, regulatory or other events or conditions affecting issuers and countries within the specific geographic regions in which the Fund invests. Currency devaluations could occur in countries that have not yet experienced currency devaluation to date, or could continue to occur in countries that have already experienced such devaluations. As a result, the Fund’s NAV may be more volatile than the NAV of a more geographically diversified fund.
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More Information About the Fund
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Asia Pacific Region.
A number of countries in the Asia Pacific region are considered underdeveloped or developing, including from a political, economic and/or social perspective, and may have relatively unstable governments and economies based on limited business, industries and/or natural resources or commodities. Events in any one country within the region may impact that country, other countries in the region or the region as a whole. As a result, events in the region will generally have a greater effect on the Fund than if the Fund were more geographically diversified in a region with more developed countries and economies. This could result in increased volatility in the value of the Fund’s investments and losses for the Fund. Continued growth of economies and securities markets in the region will require sustained economic and fiscal discipline, as well as continued commitment to governmental and regulatory reforms. Development also may be influenced by international economic conditions, including those in the United States and Japan, and by world demand for goods or natural resources produced in countries in the Asia Pacific region. Securities markets in the region are generally smaller and have a lower trading volume than those in the United States, which may result in the securities of some companies in the region being less liquid than U.S. or other foreign securities. Some currencies, inflation rates or interest rates in the Asia Pacific region are or can be volatile, and some countries in the region may restrict the flow of money in and out of the country. The risks described under “Emerging Market Securities Risk” and “Foreign Securities Risk” may be more pronounced due to the Fund’s focus on investments in the region.
Europe.
The Fund is particularly susceptible to economic, political, regulatory or other events or conditions affecting issuers and countries in Europe. Most developed countries in Western Europe are members of the EU, and many are also members of the European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). European countries can be significantly affected by the tight fiscal and monetary controls that the EMU imposes on its members and with which candidates for EMU membership are required to comply. In addition, the private and public sectors’ debt problems of a single EU country can pose significant economic risks to the EU as a whole. Unemployment in Europe has historically been higher than in the United States and public deficits are an ongoing concern in many European countries. As a result, the Fund’s NAV may be more volatile than the NAV of a more geographically diversified fund. If securities of issuers in Europe fall out of favor, it may cause the Fund to underperform other funds that do not focus their investments in this region of the world. At a referendum in June 2016, the citizens of the UK voted to leave the EU (commonly known as “Brexit”). On January 31, 2020, the UK formally exited the EU on the terms of the Withdrawal Agreement, the deal agreed at a political level between the UK and the EU and entered into an implementation period until December 31, 2020, during which negotiations on the future relationship between the UK and the EU will take place. However, there is a significant degree of uncertainty as to the outcome of these negotiations, in particular relating to the final terms of the agreement to be negotiated with the EU or whether a final agreement will ultimately be reached by the end of the implementation period. The impact of any partial or complete dissolution of the EU on the UK and European economies and the broader global economy could be significant, resulting in negative impacts on currency and financial markets generally, such as increased volatility and illiquidity, and potentially lower economic growth in markets in the UK, Europe and globally, which may adversely affect the value of your investment in the Fund. The impact of Brexit in the near- and long-term is still unknown and could have additional adverse effects on economies, financial markets, currencies and asset valuations around the world. Any attempt by the Fund to hedge against or otherwise protect its portfolio or to profit from such circumstances may fail and, accordingly, an investment in the Fund could lose money over short or long periods. For more information on the risks associated with Brexit, see the Statement of Additional Information.
Issuer Risk.
An issuer in which the Fund invests or to which it has exposure may perform poorly or below expectations, and the value of its securities may therefore decline, which may negatively affect the Fund’s performance. Underperformance of an issuer may be caused by poor management decisions, competitive pressures, breakthroughs in technology, reliance on suppliers, labor problems or shortages, corporate restructurings, fraudulent disclosures, natural disasters, military confrontations, war, terrorism, disease/virus outbreaks, epidemics or other events, conditions and factors which may impair the value of an investment in the Fund.
Small- and Mid-Cap Stock Risk.
Securities of small- and mid-cap companies can, in certain circumstances, have a higher potential for gains than securities of larger companies but are more likely to have more risk than larger companies. For example, small- and mid-cap companies may be more vulnerable to market downturns and adverse business or economic events than larger companies because they may have more limited financial resources and
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More Information About the Fund
(continued)
business operations. Small- and mid-cap companies are also more likely than larger companies to have more limited product lines and operating histories and to depend on smaller and generally less experienced management teams. Securities of small- and mid-cap companies may trade less frequently and in smaller volumes and may be less liquid and fluctuate more sharply in value than securities of larger companies. When the Fund takes significant positions in small- and mid-cap companies with limited trading volumes, the liquidation of those positions, particularly in a distressed market, could be prolonged and result in Fund investment losses that would affect the value of your investment in the Fund. In addition, some small- and mid-cap companies may not be widely followed by the investment community, which can lower the demand for their stocks.
Large-Cap Stock Risk.
Investments in larger companies may involve certain risks associated with their larger size. For instance, larger companies may be less able to respond quickly to new competitive challenges, such as changes in consumer tastes or innovation from smaller competitors. Also, larger companies are sometimes less able to achieve as high growth rates as successful smaller companies, especially during extended periods of economic expansion.
Large Fund Investor Risk.
The Fund is intended to be a part of a broader SMA program. As such, the Fund may from time to time sell a substantial amount of its shares to relatively few investors or a single investor, including SMAs or Program Sponsors. If a Program Sponsor decides to remove the strategy as an available option for its SMA program or if a SMA client with a large investment in the Fund decides to terminate or modify its account, the Fund may experience potentially adverse effects. While it is not possible to predict the overall effect of such sales and redemptions, such transactions may adversely affect the Fund’s performance to the extent that the Fund is required to invest cash received in connection with a sale or to sell a substantial amount of its portfolio securities to facilitate a redemption, in either case, at a time when the Fund would otherwise prefer not to invest or sell, such as in an up market or down market, respectively. Such transactions may also increase the Fund’s transaction costs, which would also detract from Fund performance, while also having potentially negative tax consequences to investors. The Fund, because of a large redemption, may be forced to sell its liquid or more liquid positions, resulting in the Fund holding a higher percentage of less liquid or illiquid securities (i.e., investments that a Fund reasonably expects cannot be sold or disposed of in current market conditions in seven calendar days or less without the sale or disposition significantly changing the market value of the instrument). Because the expenses and costs of the Fund are shared by its investors, large redemptions in the Fund could result in decreased economies of scale and increased operating expenses for non-redeeming Fund shareholders. In addition, in the event of a Fund proxy proposal, a large investor(s) could dictate with its/their vote the results of the proposal, which may have a less favorable impact on minority-stake shareholders.
Liquidity Risk.
Liquidity risk is the risk associated with any event, circumstance, or characteristic of an investment or market that negatively impacts the Fund’s ability to sell, or realize the proceeds from the sale of, an investment at a desirable time or price. Liquidity risk may arise because of, for example, a lack of marketability of the investment, which means that when seeking to sell its portfolio investments, the Fund could find that selling is more difficult than anticipated, especially during times of high market volatility. Market participants attempting to sell the same or a similar instrument at the same time as the Fund could exacerbate the Fund’s exposure to liquidity risk. The Fund may have to accept a lower selling price for the holding, sell other liquid or more liquid investments that it might otherwise prefer to hold (thereby increasing the proportion of the Fund’s investments in less liquid or illiquid securities), or forego another more appealing investment opportunity. The liquidity of Fund investments may change significantly over time and certain investments that were liquid when purchased by the Fund may later become illiquid, particularly in times of overall economic distress. Changing regulatory, market or other conditions or environments (for example, the interest rate or credit environments) may also adversely affect the liquidity and the price of the Fund's investments. Judgment plays a larger role in valuing illiquid or less liquid investments as compared to valuing liquid or more liquid investments. Price volatility may be higher for illiquid or less liquid investments as a result of, for example, the relatively less frequent pricing of such securities (as compared to liquid or more liquid investments). Generally, the less liquid the market at the time the Fund sells a portfolio investment, the greater the risk of loss or decline of value to the Fund. Overall market liquidity and other factors can lead to an increase in redemptions, which
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may negatively impact Fund performance and NAV, including, for example, if the Fund is forced to sell investments in a down market. Foreign securities can present enhanced liquidity risks, including as a result of less developed custody, settlement or other practices of foreign markets.
Market Risk.
The Fund may incur losses due to declines in the value of one or more securities in which it invests. These declines may be due to factors affecting a particular issuer, or the result of, among other things, political, regulatory, market, economic or social developments affecting the relevant market(s) more generally. In addition, turbulence in financial markets and reduced liquidity in equity, credit and/or fixed income markets may negatively affect many issuers, which could adversely affect the Fund, including causing difficulty in assigning prices to hard-to-value assets in thinly traded and closed markets, significant redemptions and operational challenges. Global economies and financial markets are increasingly interconnected, and conditions and events in one country, region or financial market may adversely impact issuers in a different country, region or financial market. These risks may be magnified if certain events or developments adversely interrupt the global supply chain; in these and other circumstances, such risks might affect companies worldwide. As a result, local, regional or global events such as terrorism, war, natural disasters, disease/virus outbreaks and epidemics or other public health issues, recessions, depressions or other events – or the potential for such events – could have a significant negative impact on global economic and market conditions.
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) public health crisis has become a pandemic that has resulted in, and may continue to result in, significant global economic and societal disruption and market volatility due to disruptions in market access, resource availability, facilities operations, imposition of tariffs, export controls and supply chain disruption, among others. Such disruptions may be caused, or exacerbated by, quarantines and travel restrictions, workforce displacement and loss in human and other resources. The uncertainty surrounding the magnitude, duration, reach, costs and effects of the global pandemic, as well as actions that have been or could be taken by governmental authorities or other third parties, present unknowns that are yet to unfold. The impacts, as well as the uncertainty over impacts to come, of COVID-19 – and any other infectious illness outbreaks, epidemics and pandemics that may arise in the future – could negatively affect global economies and markets in ways that cannot necessarily be foreseen. In addition, the impact of infectious illness outbreaks and epidemics in emerging market countries may be greater due to generally less established healthcare systems, governments and financial markets. Public health crises caused by the COVID-19 outbreak may exacerbate other pre-existing political, social and economic risks in certain countries or globally. The disruptions caused by COVID-19 could prevent the Fund from executing advantageous investment decisions in a timely manner and negatively impact the Fund’s ability to achieve its investment objective. Any such event(s) could have a significant adverse impact on the value and risk profile of the Fund.
New Fund Risk.
Investors in newly formed funds bear the risk that the fund may not be successful in implementing its investment strategy, and may not employ a successful investment strategy, either of which could result in the fund being liquidated at any time without shareholder approval and/or at a time that may not be favorable for certain shareholders. Such a liquidation could have negative tax consequences for shareholders.
Non-Diversified Fund Risk.
The Fund is non-diversified, which generally means that it will invest a greater percentage of its total assets in the securities of fewer issuers than a “diversified” fund. This increases the risk that a change in the value of any one investment held by the Fund could affect the overall value of the Fund more than it would affect that of a diversified fund holding a greater number of investments. Accordingly, the Fund's value will likely be more volatile than the value of a more diversified fund.
Preferred Stock Risk.
Preferred stock is a type of stock that may pay dividends at a different rate than common stock of the same issuer, if at all, and that has preference over common stock in the payment of dividends and the liquidation of assets. Preferred stock does not ordinarily carry voting rights. The price of a preferred stock is generally determined by earnings, type of products or services, projected growth rates, experience of management, liquidity, and general market conditions of the markets on which the stock trades. The most significant risks associated with investments in preferred stock include issuer risk, market risk and interest rate risk (the risk of losses attributable to changes in interest rates).
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Sector Risk.
At times, the Fund may have a significant portion of its assets invested in securities of companies conducting business within one or more economic sectors, including the financial services and industrials sectors. Companies in the same sector may be similarly affected by economic, regulatory, political or market events or conditions, which may make the Fund more vulnerable to unfavorable developments in that sector than funds that invest more broadly. Generally, the more broadly the Fund invests, the more it spreads risk and potentially reduces the risks of loss and volatility.
Financial Services Sector.
The Fund may be more susceptible to the particular risks that may affect companies in the financial services sector than if it were invested in a wider variety of companies in unrelated sectors. Companies in the financial services sector are subject to certain risks, including the risk of regulatory change, decreased liquidity in credit markets and unstable interest rates. Such companies may have concentrated portfolios, such as a high level of loans to one or more industries or sectors, which makes them vulnerable to economic conditions that affect such industries or sectors. Performance of such companies may be affected by competitive pressures and exposure to investments, agreements and counterparties, including credit products that, under certain circumstances, may lead to losses (e.g., subprime loans). Companies in the financial services sector are subject to extensive governmental regulation that may limit the amount and types of loans and other financial commitments they can make, and the interest rates and fees they may charge. In addition, profitability of such companies is largely dependent upon the availability and the cost of capital.
Industrials Sector.
The Fund may be more susceptible to the particular risks that may affect companies in the industrials sector than if it were invested in a wider variety of companies in unrelated sectors. Companies in the industrials sector are subject to certain risks, including changes in supply and demand for their specific product or service and for industrial sector products in general, including decline in demand for such products due to rapid technological developments and frequent new product introduction. Performance of such companies may be affected by factors including government regulation, world events and economic conditions and risks for environmental damage and product liability claims.
Value Securities Risk.
Value securities are securities of companies that may have experienced, for example, adverse business, industry or other developments or may be subject to special risks that have caused the securities to be out of favor and, in turn, potentially undervalued. The market value of a portfolio security may not meet portfolio management’s perceived value assessment of that security, or may decline in price, even though portfolio management believes the securities are already undervalued. There is also a risk that it may take longer than expected for the value of these investments to rise to portfolio management’s perceived value. In addition, value securities, at times, may not perform as well as growth securities or the stock market in general, and may be out of favor with investors for varying periods of time.
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Additional Information About the Fund
The Investment Manager developed the Fund exclusively for use within SMAs. The Fund was designed to be used in combination with selected individual securities and other instruments and assets to effectively model institutional-level investment strategies. Although the Fund is non-diversified, the Fund may permit, as a complement to a broad SMA program, greater diversification than smaller SMAs might otherwise efficiently achieve.
Additional Investment Strategies and Policies
This section describes certain investment strategies and policies that the Fund may utilize in pursuit of its investment objective and some additional factors and risks involved with investing in the Fund.
Investment Guidelines
As a general matter, and except as specifically described in the discussion of the Fund's principal investment strategies in this prospectus or as otherwise required by the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the 1940 Act), the rules and regulations thereunder and any applicable exemptive relief, whenever an investment policy or limitation states a percentage of the Fund's assets that may be invested in any security or other asset or sets forth a policy regarding an investment standard, compliance with that percentage limitation or standard will be determined solely at the time of the Fund's investment in the security or asset.
Holding Other Kinds of Investments
The Fund may hold other investments that are not part of its principal investment strategies. These investments and their risks are described below and/or in the Statement of Additional Information (SAI). The Fund may choose not to invest in certain securities described in this prospectus and in the SAI, although it has the ability to do so. Information on the Fund’s holdings can be found in the Fund’s shareholder reports or by visiting columbiathreadneedleus.com.
Transactions in Derivatives
The Fund may enter into derivative transactions or otherwise have exposure to derivative transactions through underlying investments. Derivatives are financial contracts whose values are, for example, based on (or “derived” from) traditional securities (such as a stock or bond), assets (such as a commodity like gold or a foreign currency), reference rates (such as the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (commonly known as SOFR) or the London Interbank Offered Rate (commonly known as LIBOR)) or market indices (such as the Standard & Poor’s 500
®
Index). The use of derivatives is a highly specialized activity which involves investment techniques and risks different from those associated with ordinary portfolio securities transactions. Derivatives involve special risks and may result in losses or may limit the Fund’s potential gain from favorable market movements. The values of derivatives may move in unexpected ways, especially in unusual market conditions, and may result in increased volatility in the value of the derivative and/or the Fund’s shares, among other consequences. The use of derivatives may also increase the amount of taxes payable by shareholders holding shares in a taxable account. Other risks arise from the Fund’s potential inability to terminate or to sell derivative positions. A liquid secondary market may not always exist for the Fund’s derivative positions at times when the Fund might wish to terminate or to sell such positions. Over-the-counter instruments (investments not traded on an exchange) may be illiquid, and transactions in derivatives traded in the over-the-counter market are subject to the risk that the other party will not meet its obligations. The use of derivatives also involves the risks of mispricing or improper valuation and that changes in the value of the derivative may not correlate perfectly with the underlying security, asset, reference rate or index. The Fund also may not be able to find a suitable derivative transaction counterparty, and thus may be unable to engage in derivative transactions when it is deemed favorable to do so, or at all. U.S. federal legislation has been enacted that provides for new clearing, margin, reporting and registration requirements for participants in the derivatives market. These changes could restrict and/or impose significant costs or other burdens upon the Fund’s participation in derivatives transactions. For more information on the risks of derivative investments and strategies, see the SAI.
LIBOR Phase-Out Risk.
Many derivatives and other financial instruments utilize or are permitted to utilize a floating interest rate based on LIBOR. On July 27, 2017, the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority announced its intention to phase out the use of LIBOR by the end of 2021. More recently, in November 2020, Ice Benchmark
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(continued)
Administrator (IBA) has announced its intention to consult on (i) the cessation of four LIBOR currencies (GBP, EUR, JPY and CHF) after the end of 2021 and (ii) on the cessation of the major USD LIBOR tenors (overnight, 1M, 3M, 6M and 12M) in mid-2023 and the cessation of the 1 week and 2M USD LIBOR by the end of 2021. IBA will make separate announcements following the outcome of the consultations. The interest rate benchmark(s) that will replace LIBOR in the capital markets remains uncertain, and the overall economic impact of the transition away from LIBOR cannot yet be determined. The Investment Manager monitors the Fund’s LIBOR exposure risks, including the extent to which any derivative and/or debt investments allow for the utilization of alternative rate(s) to LIBOR.
Investing in Money Market Funds
The Fund may invest cash in, or hold as collateral for certain investments, shares of registered or unregistered money market funds, including funds advised by the Investment Manager or its affiliates. These funds are not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) or any other government agency. The Fund and its shareholders indirectly bear a portion of the expenses of any money market fund or other fund in which the Fund may invest.
Lending of Portfolio Securities
The Fund may lend portfolio securities to broker-dealers or other financial intermediaries on a fully collateralized basis in order to earn additional income. The Fund may lose money from securities lending if, for example, it is delayed in or prevented from selling the collateral after the loan is made or recovering the securities loaned or if it incurs losses on the reinvestment of cash collateral.
The Fund currently does not participate in the securities lending program but the Board of Trustees (the Board) may determine to renew participation in the future. For more information on lending of portfolio securities and the risks involved, see the SAI and the annual and semiannual reports to shareholders.
Investing Defensively
The Fund may from time to time take temporary defensive investment positions that may be inconsistent with the Fund’s principal investment strategies in attempting to respond to adverse market, economic, political, social or other conditions, including, without limitation, investing some or all of its assets in money market instruments or shares of affiliated or unaffiliated money market funds or holding some or all of its assets in cash or cash equivalents. The Fund may take such defensive investment positions for as long a period as deemed necessary.
The Fund may not achieve its investment objective while it is investing defensively. Investing defensively may adversely affect Fund performance. During these times, the portfolio managers may make frequent portfolio holding changes, which could result in increased trading expenses and taxes, and decreased Fund performance. See also
above for more information.
Investing in Money Market Funds
Other Strategic and Investment Measures
The Fund may also from time to time take temporary portfolio positions that may or may not be consistent with the Fund’s principal investment strategies in attempting to respond to adverse market, economic, political, social or other conditions, including, without limitation, investing in derivatives, such as forward contracts, futures contracts, options, structured investments and swaps, for various purposes, including among others, investing in particular derivatives in seeking to reduce investment exposures, or in seeking to achieve indirect investment exposures, to a sector, country, region or currency where the Investment Manager believes such positioning is appropriate. The Fund may take such portfolio positions for as long a period as deemed necessary. While the Fund is so positioned, derivatives could comprise a substantial portion of the Fund’s investments and the Fund may not achieve its investment objective. Investing in this manner may adversely affect Fund performance. During these times, the portfolio managers may make frequent portfolio holding changes, which could result in increased trading expenses and taxes, and decreased Fund performance. For information on the risks of investing in derivatives, see
above.
Transactions in Derivatives
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Portfolio Holdings Disclosure
The Board has adopted policies and procedures that govern the timing and circumstances of disclosure to shareholders and third parties of information regarding the securities owned by the Fund. A description of these policies and procedures is included in the SAI. Fund policy generally permits the disclosure of portfolio holdings information on the Fund's website (columbiathreadneedleus.com) only after a certain amount of time has passed, as described in the SAI.
Purchases and sales of portfolio securities can take place at any time, so the portfolio holdings information available on the Fund's website may not always be current.
FUNDamentals
Portfolio Holdings Versus the Benchmarks
The Fund does not limit its investments to the securities within its benchmark(s), and accordingly the Fund's holdings may diverge significantly from those of its benchmark(s). In addition, the Fund may invest in securities outside any industry and geographic sectors represented in its benchmark(s). The Fund's weightings in individual securities, and in industry or geographic sectors, may also vary considerably from those of its benchmark(s).
eDelivery and Mailings to Households
In order to reduce shareholder expenses, the Fund may mail only one copy of the Fund’s prospectus and each annual and semiannual report to those addresses shared by two or more accounts. If you wish to receive separate copies of these documents, call 800.345.6611 or, if your shares are held through a financial intermediary, contact your intermediary directly.
Cash Flows
The timing and magnitude of cash inflows from investors buying Fund shares could prevent the Fund from always being fully invested. Conversely, the timing and magnitude of cash outflows to shareholders redeeming Fund shares could require the Fund to sell portfolio securities at less than opportune times or to hold ready reserves of uninvested cash in amounts larger than might otherwise be the case to meet shareholder redemptions. Either situation could adversely impact the Fund’s performance.
Understanding Annual Fund Operating Expenses
The Fund’s annual operating expenses, as presented in the
table in the
section of this prospectus, generally are based on expenses incurred during the Fund’s most recently completed fiscal year and are expressed as a percentage (expense ratio) of the Fund’s average net assets during that fiscal year. The expense ratio reflects the Fund’s fee arrangements as of the date of this prospectus and, unless indicated otherwise, is based on expenses incurred during the Fund’s most recent fiscal year. The Fund’s assets will fluctuate, but unless indicated otherwise in the
table, no adjustments have been or will be made to the expense ratio to reflect any differences in the Fund’s average net assets between the most recently completed fiscal year and the date of this prospectus or a later date. In general, the Fund’s expense ratio will increase as its net assets decrease, such that the Fund’s actual expense ratio may be higher than the expense ratio presented in the
table if assets fall. As applicable, any commitment by the Investment Manager and/or its affiliates to waive fees and/or cap (reimburse) expenses is expected, in part, to limit the impact of any increase in the Fund’s expense ratio that would otherwise result because of a decrease in the Fund’s assets in the current fiscal year. The Fund’s annual operating expenses are comprised of (i) investment management fees, (ii) distribution and/or service fees (no such fee is currently paid by the Fund), and (iii) other expenses.
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
Fees and Expenses of the Fund
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
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FUNDamentals
Other Expenses
“Other expenses” consist of the fees the Fund pays to its custodian, transfer agent, auditors, lawyers and trustees, costs relating to compliance and miscellaneous expenses. For more information on these fees, see
About Fund Shares — Financial Intermediary Compensation.
Fee Waiver/Expense Reimbursement Arrangements
The Investment Manager and certain of its affiliates have contractually agreed to waive fees and/or reimburse expenses (excluding certain fees and expenses described below) through December 31, 2022, unless sooner terminated at the sole discretion of the Fund's Board, so that the Fund’s net operating expenses, after giving effect to fees waived/expenses reimbursed and any balance credits and/or overdraft charges from the Fund’s custodian, do not exceed the annual rate of:
|
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|
|
| 0.00% | |
Under the agreement, the following fees and expenses are excluded from the Fund’s operating expenses when calculating the waiver/reimbursement commitment, and therefore will be paid by the Fund, if applicable: taxes (including foreign transaction taxes), transaction costs and brokerage commissions, costs related to any securities lending program, dividend expenses associated with securities sold short, inverse floater program fees and expenses, transaction charges and interest on borrowed money, interest, infrequent and/or unusual expenses and any other expenses the exclusion of which is specifically approved by a Fund’s Board. This agreement may be modified or amended only with approval from all parties.
Primary Service Providers
The Fund enters into contractual arrangements (Service Provider Contracts) with various service providers, including, among others, the Investment Manager, the Distributor, the Transfer Agent and the Fund’s custodian. The Fund’s Service Provider Contracts are solely among the parties thereto. Shareholders are not parties to, or intended to be third-party beneficiaries of, any Service Provider Contracts. Further, this prospectus, the SAI and any Service Provider Contracts are not intended to give rise to any agreement, duty, special relationship or other obligation between the Fund and any investor, or give rise to any contractual, tort or other rights in any individual shareholder, group of shareholders or other person, including any right to assert a fiduciary or other duty, enforce the Service Provider Contracts against the parties or to seek any remedy thereunder, either directly or on behalf of the Fund. Nothing in the previous sentence should be read to suggest any waiver of any rights under federal or state securities laws.
The Investment Manager, the Distributor, and the Transfer Agent are all affiliates of Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (Ameriprise Financial). They and their affiliates currently provide key services, including investment advisory, administration, distribution, shareholder servicing and transfer agency services, to the Fund and various other funds, including the Columbia Funds, and are paid for providing these services. These service relationships are described below.
The Investment Manager
Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC is located at 225 Franklin Street, Boston, MA 02110 and serves as investment adviser and administrator to the Columbia Funds. The Investment Manager is a registered investment adviser and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ameriprise Financial. The Investment Manager’s management experience covers all major asset classes, including equity securities, debt instruments and money market instruments. In addition to serving as an investment adviser to traditional mutual funds, exchange-traded funds and closed-end funds, the Investment Manager acts as an investment adviser for itself, its affiliates, individuals, corporations, retirement plans, private investment companies and financial intermediaries.
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Subject to oversight by the Board, the Investment Manager manages the day-to-day operations of the Fund, determining what securities and other investments the Fund should buy or sell and executing portfolio transactions. The Investment Manager may use the research and other capabilities of its affiliates and third parties in managing the Fund’s investments. The Investment Manager is also responsible for overseeing the administrative operations of the Fund, including the general supervision of the Fund’s operations, the coordination of the Fund’s other service providers and the provision of related clerical and administrative services.
The SEC has issued an order that permits the Investment Manager, subject to the approval of the Board, to appoint affiliated and unaffiliated subadvisers by entering into subadvisory agreements with them, and to change in material respects the terms of those subadvisory agreements, including the fees paid thereunder, for the Fund without first obtaining shareholder approval, thereby avoiding the expense and delays typically associated with obtaining shareholder approval. The Fund furnishes shareholders with information about new subadvisers retained in reliance on the order within 90 days after hiring the subadviser. The Investment Manager and its affiliates may have other relationships, including significant financial relationships, with current or potential subadvisers or their affiliates, which may create certain conflicts of interest. When making recommendations to the Board to appoint or to change a subadviser, or to change the terms of a subadvisory agreement, the Investment Manager discloses to the Board the nature of any such material relationships. At present, the Investment Manager has not engaged any investment subadviser for the Fund.
The Fund does not pay a management fee to the Investment Manager. However, Fund shares may only be purchased and held by or on behalf of SMAs where the Investment Manager has an agreement with the Program Sponsor, or directly with the SMA client, to provide investment management services to the Program Sponsor or the SMA clients. SMAs pay a fee directly, or indirectly through Program Sponsors, to the Investment Manager for providing investment management services to the Program Sponsor or the SMA, including on assets that may be invested in the Fund. You should read carefully the SMA program information provided to you by your Program Sponsor or financial intermediary, including information about the fees charged to you and the fees paid to them for SMA investment management services.
A discussion regarding the basis for the Board’s approval of the renewal of the Fund's management agreement is available in the Fund’s annual report to shareholders for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2020.
Portfolio Managers
Information about the portfolio managers primarily responsible for overseeing the Fund’s investments is shown below. The SAI provides additional information about the portfolio managers, including information relating to compensation, other accounts managed by the portfolio managers, and ownership by the portfolio managers of Fund shares.
|
Portfolio Manager
|
Title
|
Role with Fund
|
Managed Fund Since
|
|||
| Fred Copper, CFA | Senior Portfolio Manager | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2019 | |||
| Daisuke Nomoto, CMA (SAAJ) | Senior Portfolio Manager | Co-Portfolio Manager | 2019 |
Mr. Copper
joined one of the Columbia Management legacy firms or acquired business lines in 2005. Mr. Copper began his investment career in 1990 and earned a B.S. from Boston College and an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago.
Mr. Nomoto
joined one of the Columbia Management legacy firms or acquired business lines in 2005. Mr. Nomoto began his investment career in 1993 and earned a B.A. from Shiga University, Japan.
The Distributor
Shares of the Fund are distributed by Columbia Management Investment Distributors, Inc., which is located at 225 Franklin Street, Boston, MA 02110. The Distributor is a registered broker-dealer and an indirect, wholly-owned subsidiary of Ameriprise Financial.
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The Transfer Agent
Columbia Management Investment Services Corp. is a registered transfer agent and wholly-owned subsidiary of Ameriprise Financial. The Transfer Agent is located at 225 Franklin Street, Boston, MA 02110, and its responsibilities include processing purchases and redemptions of Fund shares, calculating and paying distributions, maintaining shareholder records, preparing account statements and providing customer service. The Transfer Agent has engaged DST Asset Manager Solutions, Inc. to provide various shareholder services. Depending on the type of account, the Fund pays the Transfer Agent a per account fee or a fee based on the assets invested through omnibus accounts, and reimburses the Transfer Agent for certain out-of-pocket expenses.
Other Roles and Relationships of Ameriprise Financial and its Affiliates — Certain Conflicts of Interest
The Investment Manager, Distributor and Transfer Agent, all affiliates of Ameriprise Financial, provide various services to the Fund and other Columbia Funds for which they are compensated. Ameriprise Financial and its other affiliates may also provide other services to these funds and be compensated for them.
The Investment Manager and its affiliates may provide investment advisory and other services to other clients and customers substantially similar to those provided to the Columbia Funds. These activities, and other financial services activities of Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates, may present actual and potential conflicts of interest and introduce certain investment constraints.
Ameriprise Financial is a major financial services company, engaged in a broad range of financial activities beyond the fund-related activities of the Investment Manager, including, among others, insurance, broker-dealer (sales and trading), asset management, banking and other financial activities. These additional activities may involve multiple advisory, financial, insurance and other interests in securities and other instruments, and in companies that issue securities and other instruments, that may be bought, sold or held by the Columbia Funds.
Conflicts of interest and limitations that could affect a Columbia Fund may arise from, for example, the following:
| ■ | compensation and other benefits received by the Investment Manager and other Ameriprise Financial affiliates related to the management/administration of a Columbia Fund and the sale of its shares; |
| ■ | the allocation of, and competition for, investment opportunities among the Fund, other funds and accounts advised/managed by the Investment Manager and other Ameriprise Financial affiliates, or Ameriprise Financial itself and its affiliates; |
| ■ | separate and potentially divergent management of a Columbia Fund and other funds and accounts advised/managed by the Investment Manager and other Ameriprise Financial affiliates; |
| ■ | regulatory and other investment restrictions on investment activities of the Investment Manager and other Ameriprise Financial affiliates and accounts advised/managed by them; |
| ■ | insurance and other relationships of Ameriprise Financial affiliates with companies and other entities in which a Columbia Fund invests; and |
| ■ | regulatory and other restrictions relating to the sharing of information between Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates, including the Investment Manager, and a Columbia Fund. |
The Investment Manager and Ameriprise Financial have adopted various policies and procedures that are intended to identify, monitor and address conflicts of interest. However, there is no assurance that these policies, procedures and disclosures will be effective.
Additional information about Ameriprise Financial and the types of conflicts of interest and other matters referenced above is set forth in the
section of the SAI. Investors in the Columbia Funds should carefully review these disclosures and consult with their financial advisor if they have any questions.
Investment Management and Other Services — Other Roles and Relationships of Ameriprise Financial and its Affiliates — Certain Conflicts of Interest
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Certain Legal Matters
Ameriprise Financial and certain of its affiliates have historically been involved in a number of legal, arbitration and regulatory proceedings, including routine litigation, class actions and governmental actions, concerning matters arising in connection with the conduct of their business activities. Ameriprise Financial believes that the Fund is not currently the subject of, and that neither Ameriprise Financial nor any of its affiliates are the subject of, any pending legal, arbitration or regulatory proceedings that are likely to have a material adverse effect on the Fund or the ability of Ameriprise Financial or its affiliates to perform under their contracts with the Fund. Information regarding certain pending and settled legal proceedings may be found in the Fund’s shareholder reports and in the SAI. Additionally, Ameriprise Financial is required to make quarterly (10-Q), annual (10-K) and, as necessary, 8-K filings with the SEC on legal and regulatory matters that relate to Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates. Copies of these filings may be obtained by accessing the SEC website at sec.gov.
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About Fund Shares
Fund Features
| Investment Minimums | None (but your Program Sponsor may have investment minimums) |
| Investment Limits | None (but your Program Sponsor may have investment limits) |
| Conversion Features | None |
| Front-End Sales Charges | None |
| Contingent Deferred Sales Charges (CDSCs) | None |
| Exchangeability | None |
| Maximum Distribution and/or Service Fees | None |
The website references in this prospectus are inactive links and information contained in or otherwise accessible through the referenced websites does not form a part of this prospectus.
FUNDamentals
Financial Intermediaries
The term “financial intermediary” refers to the selling and servicing agents that are authorized to sell and/or service shares of the Columbia Funds (referred to as the Funds). Financial intermediaries include broker-dealers and financial advisors as well as firms that employ broker-dealers and financial advisors, including, for example, brokerage firms, banks, investment advisers, third party administrators and other firms in the financial services industry.
Distribution and Service Fees
The Board has approved, and the Fund has adopted, distribution and/or shareholder service plans (the Plans) pursuant to Rule 12b-1 under the 1940 Act. Under the Plans, the Fund is authorized to pay fees to the Distributor and other firms that provide distribution and shareholder services. The Fund may pay at an annual rate a distribution fee of up to 0.25% and a shareholder servicing fee of up to 0.25%, provided that the combined distribution and servicing fee does not exceed a combined total of 0.25% of average daily net assets, pursuant to Rule 12b-1 under the 1940 Act.
No distribution or service fees are currently paid by the Fund under the Plans, however, and there are no current plans to impose these fees. Future payments may be made under the Plans without any further shareholder approval. In the event Rule 12b-1 fees are charged, over time they would increase the cost of an investment in the Fund.
Financial Intermediary Compensation
The Distributor, the Investment Manager and their affiliates make payments, from their own resources, to financial intermediaries, including other Ameriprise Financial affiliates, for marketing/sales support services relating to the Funds (Marketing Support Payments). Such payments are generally based upon one or more of the following factors: average net assets of the Funds attributable to that financial intermediary; gross sales of the Funds attributable to that financial intermediary; reimbursement of ticket charges (fees that a financial intermediary charges its representatives for effecting transactions in Fund shares); or a negotiated lump sum payment. Not all financial intermediaries receive Marketing Support Payments. The Distributor, the Investment Manager and their affiliates do not make Marketing Support Payments with respect to the Fund.
In addition, the Transfer Agent has certain arrangements in place to compensate financial intermediaries, including other Ameriprise Financial affiliates, that hold shares of the Funds through networked and omnibus accounts, including omnibus retirement plans, for services that they provide to beneficial shareholders (Shareholder Services). Shareholder Services and related fees vary by financial intermediary and according to distribution channel and may include sub-accounting, sub-transfer agency, participant recordkeeping, shareholder or participant reporting,
| 24 | Prospectus 2021 |
Overseas SMA Completion Portfolio
About Fund Shares
(continued)
shareholder or participant transaction processing, maintenance of shareholder records, preparation of account statements and provision of customer service, and are not intended to include services that are primarily intended to result in the sale of Fund shares. The Transfer Agent does not pay financial intermediaries for Shareholder Services for the Fund.
The Investment Manager and their affiliates typically make other payments or allow promotional incentives to certain broker-dealers to the extent permitted by the Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) rules and by other applicable laws and regulations.
Amounts paid by the Distributor, the Investment Manager and their affiliates are paid out of their own resources and do not increase the amount paid by you or the Fund. You can find further details in the SAI about the payments made by the Distributor, the Investment Manager and their affiliates, as well as a list of the financial intermediaries, including Ameriprise Financial affiliates, to which the Distributor, the Investment Manager or their affiliates have agreed to make Marketing Support Payments and pay Shareholder Services fees.
Your Program Sponsor and financial intermediary may charge you fees and commissions in addition to those described in this prospectus. You should consult with your Program Sponsor or financial intermediary and review carefully any disclosure they provide you regarding its services and compensation. Depending on the financial arrangement in place at any particular time, a financial intermediary and its financial advisors may have a conflict of interest or financial incentive for recommending the Fund or a managed account strategy of which the fund is a part.
| Prospectus 2021 | 25 |
Overseas SMA Completion Portfolio
Buying and Selling Shares
Share Price Determination
The price you pay or receive when you buy or sell shares is the Fund's next determined net asset value (or NAV) per share. The Fund calculates the NAV per share at the end of each business day, with the value of the Fund's shares based on the total value of all of the securities and other assets that it holds as of a specified time.
FUNDamentals
NAV Calculation
The Fund calculates its NAV per share as follows:
NAV per share =
(Value of assets of the Fund’s shares) – (Liabilities of the Fund’s shares)
Number of outstanding Fund shares
FUNDamentals
Business Days
A business day is any day that the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is open. A business day typically ends at the close of regular trading on the NYSE, usually at 4:00 p.m. Eastern time. If the NYSE is scheduled to close early, the business day will be considered to end as of the time of the NYSE’s scheduled close. The Fund will not treat an intraday unscheduled disruption in NYSE trading or an intraday unscheduled closing as a close of regular trading on the NYSE for these purposes and will price its shares as of the regularly scheduled closing time for that day (typically, 4:00 p.m. Eastern time). Notwithstanding the foregoing, the NAV of Fund shares may be determined at such other time or times (in addition to or in lieu of the time set forth above) as the Fund’s Board may approve or ratify. On holidays and other days when the NYSE is closed, the Fund’s NAV is not calculated and the Fund does not accept buy or sell orders. However, the value of the Fund’s assets may still be affected on such days to the extent that the Fund holds foreign securities that trade on days that foreign securities markets are open.
Equity securities are valued primarily on the basis of market quotations reported on stock exchanges and other securities markets around the world. If an equity security is listed on a national exchange, the security is valued at the closing price or, if the closing price is not readily available, the mean of the closing bid and asked prices. Certain equity securities, debt securities and other assets are valued differently. For instance, bank loans trading in the secondary market are valued primarily on the basis of indicative bids, fixed income investments maturing in 60 days or less are valued primarily using the amortized cost method, unless this methodology results in a valuation that does not approximate the market value of these securities, and those maturing in excess of 60 days are valued primarily using a market-based price obtained from a pricing service, if available. Investments in other open-end funds are valued at their published NAVs. Both market quotations and indicative bids are obtained from outside pricing services approved and monitored pursuant to a policy approved by the Fund's Board.
If a market price is not readily available or is deemed not to reflect market value, the Fund will determine the price of a portfolio security based on a determination of the security's fair value pursuant to a policy approved by the Fund’s Board. In addition, the Fund may use fair valuation to price securities that trade on a foreign exchange when a significant event has occurred after the foreign exchange closes but before the time at which the Fund’s share price is calculated. Foreign exchanges typically close before the time at which Fund share prices are calculated, and may be closed altogether on days when the Fund is open. Such significant events affecting a foreign security may include, but are not limited to: (1) corporate actions, earnings announcements, litigation or other events impacting a single issuer; (2) governmental action that affects securities in one sector or country; (3) natural disasters or armed conflicts affecting a country or region; or (4) significant domestic or foreign market fluctuations. The Fund uses various criteria, including an evaluation of U.S. market moves after the close of foreign markets, in determining whether a foreign security's market price is readily available and reflective of market value and, if not, the fair value
| 26 | Prospectus 2021 |
Overseas SMA Completion Portfolio
Buying and Selling Shares
(continued)
of the security. To the extent the Fund has significant holdings of small cap stocks, high-yield bonds, floating rate loans, or tax-exempt, foreign or other securities that may trade infrequently, fair valuation may be used more frequently than for other funds.
Fair valuation may have the effect of reducing stale pricing arbitrage opportunities presented by the pricing of Fund shares. However, when the Fund uses fair valuation to price securities, it may value those securities higher or lower than another fund would have priced the security. Also, the use of fair valuation may cause the Fund's performance to diverge to a greater degree from the performance of various benchmarks used to compare the Fund's performance because benchmarks generally do not use fair valuation techniques. Because of the judgment involved in fair valuation decisions, there can be no assurance that the value ascribed to a particular security is accurate. The Fund has retained one or more independent fair valuation pricing services to assist in the fair valuation process for foreign securities.
Transaction Rules and Policies
The Fund, the Distributor or the Transfer Agent may refuse any order to buy shares. If this happens, the Fund will return any money it received, but no interest will be paid on that money. Your Program Sponsor or financial intermediary may have rules and policies in place that are in addition to or different than those described below.
Order Processing
Orders to buy or sell Fund shares are processed on business days. Contact your Program Sponsor or financial intermediary for information about establishing an SMA which may invest in the Fund. Orders received in “good form” by the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary before the end of a business day are priced at the NAV per share on that day. Orders received after the end of a business day will receive the next business day's NAV per share. When a written order to buy or sell shares is sent to the Transfer Agent, the share price used to fill the order is the next price calculated by the Fund after the Transfer Agent receives the transaction request in “good form” at its transaction processing center (i.e., the Fund’s express mail address), not the P.O. Box provided for regular mail delivery. The market value of the Fund's investments may change between the time you submit your order and the time the Fund next calculates its NAV per share. The business day that applies to your order is also called the trade date.
“Good Form”
An order is in “good form” if the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary has received payment (in the case of purchases) and all of the information and documentation it deems necessary to effect your order. For example, when you sell shares, “good form” means that your request (i) has complete instructions and written requests include the signatures of all account owners, (ii) is for an amount that is less than or equal to the shares in your account for which payment has been received and collected, (iii) has a Medallion Signature Guarantee for amounts greater than $100,000 and certain other transactions, as described below, and (iv) includes any other required documents completed and attached. For the documents required for sales by corporations, agents, fiduciaries, surviving joint owners and other legal entities, call 800.345.6611.
Customer Identification Program
Federal law requires the Fund to obtain and record specific personal information to verify your identity when you open an account. This information may include your name, address, date of birth (for individuals) and taxpayer or other government issued identification (e.g., social security number (SSN) or other taxpayer identification number (TIN)). If you fail to provide the requested information, the Fund may need to delay the date of your purchase or may be unable to open your account, which may result in a return of your investment monies. In addition, if the Fund is unable to verify your identity after your account is open, the Fund reserves the right to close your account or take other steps as deemed reasonable. The Fund will not be liable for any loss resulting from any purchase delay, application rejection or account closure due to a failure to provide proper identifying information.
| Prospectus 2021 | 27 |
Overseas SMA Completion Portfolio
Buying and Selling Shares
(continued)
Information Sharing Agreements
As required by Rule 22c-2 under the 1940 Act, the Funds or certain of their service providers will enter into information sharing agreements with financial intermediaries, including participating life insurance companies and financial intermediaries that sponsor or offer retirement plans through which shares of the Funds are made available for purchase. Pursuant to Rule 22c-2, financial intermediaries are required, upon request, to: (i) provide shareholder account and transaction information; and (ii) execute instructions from the Fund to restrict or prohibit further purchases of Fund shares by shareholders who have been identified by the Fund as having engaged in transactions that violate the Fund's excessive trading policies and procedures.
Excessive Trading Practices Policy
Because the Fund is designed to be a component of SMAs that also invest, at the direction of or based on the advice of the Investment Manager, in individual securities and other investments, Fund shares may be purchased or redeemed on a frequent basis for rebalancing purposes or to invest new monies (including through dividend reinvestment) or to accommodate reductions in account size. The Fund is managed in a manner that is consistent with its role in SMAs. SMA clients are typically not in a position to directly effect purchase and redemption orders under the terms of their SMA and are, therefore, unable to directly trade in Fund shares. Accordingly, the Board of Trustees has not adopted specific buying and exchanging limitations based on trading frequency for the Fund.
The Fund reserves the right to reject, without any prior notice, any purchase order for any reason, and will not be liable for any loss resulting from rejected orders. For example, the Fund may in its sole discretion restrict or reject a purchase order if the Fund or its agents determine that accepting the order could interfere with efficient management of the Fund's portfolio or is otherwise contrary to the Fund's best interests. Your Program Sponsor or financial intermediary may have their own market timing policy, which may be more restrictive.
Opening an Account and Placing Orders
Buying Shares
Eligible Investors
The Fund intends to redeem shares held by or on behalf of any shareholder who ceases to be an eligible investor as described above and, each shareholder, by purchasing shares of the Fund, agrees to any such redemption. The liquidation of such shares may have tax consequences for the investor. Investors should carefully consider the potential impact of such liquidations and restrictions before selecting a wrap-fee account strategy that contemplates investment in the Fund. Please contact your Program Sponsor or financial intermediary for further information.
Other Purchase Rules You Should Know
| ■ | The Distributor and the Transfer Agent reserve the right to cancel your order request if the Fund does not receive payment within two business days of receiving your purchase order request. The Fund will return any payment received for orders that have been cancelled, but no interest will be paid on that money. |
| ■ | Financial intermediaries are responsible for sending your purchase orders to the Transfer Agent and ensuring that the Fund receives your money on time. |
| ■ | Shares purchased are recorded on the books of the Fund. The Fund does not issue certificates. |
Selling Shares
When you sell shares, the amount you receive may be more or less than the amount you invested.
Satisfying Fund Redemption Requests
When you sell your Fund shares, the Fund is effectively buying them back from you. This is called a redemption. Except as noted below with respect to newly purchased shares, the Fund typically expects to send you payment for your shares within two business days after your trade date for all methods of payment. The Fund can suspend redemptions and/or delay payment of redemption proceeds for up to seven days. The Fund can also suspend
| 28 | Prospectus 2021 |
Overseas SMA Completion Portfolio
Buying and Selling Shares
(continued)
redemptions and/or delay payment of redemption proceeds in excess of seven days under certain circumstances, including when the NYSE is closed or trading thereon is restricted or during emergency or other circumstances, including as determined by the SEC.
The Fund typically seeks to satisfy redemption requests from cash or cash equivalents held by the Fund, from the proceeds of orders to purchase Fund shares or from the proceeds of sales of Fund holdings effected in the normal course of managing the Fund. However, the Fund may have to sell Fund holdings, including in down markets, to meet heavier than usual redemption requests. For example, under stressed or abnormal market conditions or circumstances, including circumstances adversely affecting the liquidity of the Fund’s investments, the Fund may be more likely to be forced to sell Fund holdings to meet redemptions than under normal market circumstances. In these situations, the Fund’s portfolio managers may have to sell Fund holdings that would not otherwise be sold because, among other reasons, the current price to be received is less than the value of the holdings perceived by the Fund’s portfolio managers. The Fund may also, under certain circumstances (but more likely under stressed or abnormal market conditions or circumstances), borrow money under a credit facility to which the Fund and certain other Columbia Funds are parties or from other Columbia Funds under an interfund lending program (except for closed-end funds and money market funds, which are not eligible to borrow under the program). The Fund and the other Columbia Funds are limited as to the amount that each may individually and collectively borrow under the credit facility and the interfund lending program. As a result, borrowings available to the Fund under the credit facility and the interfund lending program might be insufficient, alone or in combination with the other strategies described herein, to satisfy Fund redemption requests. Please see
in the SAI for more information about the credit facility and interfund lending program. The Fund is also limited in the total amount it may borrow. The Fund may only borrow to the extent permitted by the 1940 Act, the rules and regulations thereunder, and any exemptive relief available to the Fund, which currently limit Fund borrowings to 33 1/3% of total assets (including any amounts borrowed) less liabilities (other than borrowings), plus an additional 5% of its total assets for temporary purposes (to be repaid within 60 days without extension or renewal), in each case determined at the time the borrowing is made.
About Fund Investments – Borrowings – Interfund Lending
In addition, the Fund reserves the right to honor redemption orders in whole or in part with in-kind distributions of Fund portfolio securities instead of cash. Such in-kind distributions typically represent a pro-rata portion of Fund portfolio assets subject to adjustments (e.g., for non-transferable securities, round lots, and derivatives). In the event the Fund distributes portfolio securities in kind, you may incur brokerage and other transaction costs associated with converting the portfolio securities you receive into cash. Also, the portfolio securities you receive may increase or decrease in value after they are distributed but before you convert them into cash. For U.S. federal income tax purposes, redemptions paid in securities are generally treated the same as redemptions paid in cash. If, during any 90-day period, you redeem shares in an amount greater than $250,000 or 1% of the Fund’s net assets (whichever is less), and if the Investment Manager determines it to be feasible and appropriate, the Fund may pay the redemption amount above such threshold by an in-kind distribution of Fund portfolio securities.
While the Fund is not required (and may refuse in its discretion) to pay a redemption with an in-kind distribution of Fund portfolio securities and reserves the right to pay the redemption proceeds in cash, if you wish to request an in-kind redemption, please call the Transfer Agent at 800.345.6611. As a result of the operational steps needed to coordinate with the redeeming shareholder’s custodian, in-kind redemptions typically take several weeks to complete after a redemption request is received. The Fund and the redeeming shareholder will typically agree upon a redemption date. Since the Fund’s NAV may fluctuate during this time, the Fund’s NAV may be lower on the agreed-upon redemption date than on an earlier date on which the investment could have been redeemed for cash.
Redemption of Newly Purchased Shares
You may not redeem shares for which the Fund has not yet received payment. Shares purchased by check or electronically by ACH when the purchase payment is not guaranteed will be considered in “good form” for redemption only after they have been held in your account for 6 calendar days after the trade date of the purchase (Collected Shares). If you request a redemption for an amount that, based on the NAV next calculated after your redemption request is received, includes any shares that are not yet Collected Shares, the Fund will only process the redemption
| Prospectus 2021 | 29 |
Overseas SMA Completion Portfolio
Buying and Selling Shares
(continued)
up to the amount of the value of Collected Shares available in your account. You must submit a new redemption request if you wish to redeem those shares that were not yet Collected Shares at the time the original redemption request was received by the Fund.
Other Redemption Rules You Should Know
| ■ | Once the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary receives your redemption order in “good form,” your shares will be sold at the next calculated NAV per share (i.e., the trade date). |
| ■ | Once the Fund receives your redemption request in “good form,” you cannot cancel it after the market closes. |
| ■ | If you sell your shares through a financial intermediary, the Fund will normally send the redemption proceeds to your financial intermediary within two business days after the trade date. |
| ■ | No interest will be paid on uncashed redemption checks. |
Exchanging Shares
Fund shares are not eligible for exchange.
| 30 | Prospectus 2021 |
Overseas SMA Completion Portfolio
Distributions and Taxes
Distributions to Shareholders
A mutual fund can make money two ways:
| ■ | It can earn income on its investments. Examples of fund income are interest paid on money market instruments and bonds, and dividends paid on common stocks. |
| ■ | A mutual fund can also have capital gains if the value of its investments increases. While a fund continues to hold an investment, any gain is generally unrealized. If the fund sells an investment, it generally will realize a capital gain if it sells that investment for a higher price than its adjusted cost basis, and will generally realize a capital loss if it sells that investment for a lower price than its adjusted cost basis. Capital gains and losses are either short-term or long-term, depending on whether the fund holds the securities for one year or less (short-term) or more than one year (long-term). |
Mutual funds make payments of fund earnings to shareholders, distributing them among all shareholders of the fund. As a shareholder, you are entitled to your portion of a fund's distributed income, including capital gains. Reinvesting your distributions buys you more shares of a fund
which lets you take advantage of the potential for compound growth. Putting the money you earn back into your investment means it, in turn, may earn even more money (or be exposed to additional losses, if the fund earns a negative return). Over time, the power of compounding has the potential to significantly increase the value of your investment. There is no assurance, however, that you'll earn more money if you reinvest your distributions rather than receive them in cash.
—
The Fund intends to pay out, in the form of distributions to shareholders, a sufficient amount of its income and gains so that the Fund will qualify for treatment as a regulated investment company and generally will not have to pay any federal excise tax. The Fund generally intends to distribute any net realized capital gain (whether long-term or short-term gain) at least once a year. Normally, the Fund will declare and pay distributions of net investment income according to the following schedule:
|
Declaration and Distribution Schedule
|
|
| Declarations | Annually |
| Distributions | Annually |
The Fund may declare or pay distributions of net investment income more frequently.
Each time a distribution is made, the NAV per share is reduced by the amount of the distribution.
The Fund generally pays cash distributions within five business days after the distribution was declared (or, if the Fund declares distributions daily, within five business days after the end of the month in which the distribution was declared). If you sell all of your shares after the record date, but before the payment date, for a distribution, you'll normally receive that distribution in cash within five business days after the sale was made.
The Fund will automatically reinvest distributions in additional shares of the same share class of the Fund unless you inform us you want to receive your distributions in cash (the financial intermediary through which you purchased shares may have different policies). No sales charges apply to the purchase or sale of such shares.
For accounts held directly with the Fund (through the Transfer Agent), distributions of $10 or less will automatically be reinvested in additional Fund shares only. If you elect to receive distributions by check and the check is returned as undeliverable, all subsequent distributions will be reinvested in additional shares of the Fund.
Unless you are a tax-exempt investor or holding Fund shares through a tax-advantaged account (such as a 401(k) plan or IRA), you should consider avoiding buying Fund shares shortly before the Fund makes a distribution (other than distributions of net investment income that are declared daily) of net investment income or net realized capital gain, because doing so can cost you money in taxes to the extent the distribution consists of taxable income or gains. This is because you will, in effect, receive part of your purchase price back in the distribution. This is known as “buying a dividend.” To avoid “buying a dividend,” before you invest check the Fund's distribution schedule, which is available at the Fund’s website.
| Prospectus 2021 | 31 |
Overseas SMA Completion Portfolio
Distributions and Taxes
(continued)
Taxes
You should be aware of the following considerations applicable to the Fund:
| ■ | The Fund intends to qualify and to be eligible for treatment each year as a regulated investment company. A regulated investment company generally is not subject to tax at the fund level on income and gains from investments that are distributed to shareholders. However, the Fund's failure to qualify for treatment as a regulated investment company would result in Fund-level taxation, and consequently, a reduction in income available for distribution to you and in the NAV of your shares. Even if the Fund qualifies for treatment as a regulated investment company, the Fund may be subject to federal excise tax on certain undistributed income or gains. |
| ■ | Otherwise taxable distributions generally are taxable to you when paid, whether they are paid in cash or automatically reinvested in additional Fund shares. Dividends paid in January are deemed paid on December 31 of the prior year if the dividend was declared and payable to shareholders of record in October, November, or December of such prior year. |
| ■ | Distributions of the Fund's ordinary income and net short-term capital gain, if any, generally are taxable to you as ordinary income. Distributions of the Fund's net long-term capital gain, if any, generally are taxable to you as long-term capital gain. Whether capital gains are long-term or short-term is determined by how long the Fund has owned the investments that generated them, rather than how long you have owned your shares. |
| ■ | From time to time, a distribution from the Fund could constitute a return of capital. A return of capital is a return of an amount of your original investment and is not a distribution of income or capital gain from the Fund. Therefore, a return of capital is not taxable to you so long as the amount of the distribution does not exceed your tax basis in your Fund shares. A return of capital reduces your tax basis in your Fund shares, with any amounts exceeding such basis generally taxable as capital gain. |
| ■ | If you are an individual and you meet certain holding period and other requirements for your Fund shares, a portion of your distributions may be treated as “qualified dividend income” taxable at the lower net long-term capital gain rates instead of the higher ordinary income rates. Qualified dividend income is income attributable to the Fund's dividends received from certain U.S. and foreign corporations, as long as the Fund meets certain holding period and other requirements for the stock producing such dividends. |
| ■ | Certain high-income individuals (as well as estates and trusts) are subject to a 3.8% tax on net investment income. For individuals, the 3.8% tax applies to the lesser of (1) the amount (if any) by which the taxpayer's modified adjusted gross income exceeds certain threshold amounts or (2) the taxpayer's “net investment income.” |
| Net investment income generally includes for this purpose dividends, including any capital gain dividends, paid by the Fund, and net gains recognized on the sale, redemption or exchange of shares of the Fund. |
| ■ | Certain derivative instruments when held in the Fund's portfolio subject the Fund to special tax rules, the effect of which may be to, among other things, accelerate income to the Fund, defer Fund losses, cause adjustments in the holding periods of Fund portfolio securities, or convert capital gains into ordinary income, short-term capital losses into long-term capital losses or long-term capital gains into short-term capital gains. These rules could therefore affect the amount, timing and/or character of distributions to shareholders. |
| ■ | Generally, a Fund realizes a capital gain or loss on an option when the option expires, or when it is exercised, sold or otherwise terminated. However, if an option is a “section 1256 contract,” which includes most traded options on a broad-based index, and the Fund holds such option at the end of its taxable year, the Fund is deemed to sell such option at fair market value at such time and recognize any gain or loss thereon, which is generally deemed to be 60% long-term and 40% short-term capital gain or loss, as described further in the SAI. |
| ■ | Income and proceeds received by the Fund from sources within foreign countries may be subject to foreign taxes. If at the end of the taxable year more than 50% of the value of the Fund's assets consists of securities of foreign corporations, and the Fund makes a special election, you will generally be required to include in your income for U.S. federal income tax purposes your share of the qualifying foreign income taxes paid by the Fund in respect of |
| 32 | Prospectus 2021 |
Overseas SMA Completion Portfolio
Distributions and Taxes
(continued)
| its foreign portfolio securities. You may be able to claim a foreign tax credit or deduction in respect of this amount, subject to certain limitations. There is no assurance that the Fund will make this election for a taxable year, even if it is eligible to do so. |
| ■ | A sale, redemption or exchange of Fund shares is a taxable event. This includes redemptions where you are paid in securities. Your sales, redemptions and exchanges of Fund shares (including those paid in securities) usually will result in a taxable capital gain or loss to you, equal to the difference between the amount you receive for your shares (or are deemed to have received in the case of exchanges) and your adjusted tax basis in the shares, which is generally the amount you paid (or are deemed to have paid in the case of exchanges) for them. Any such capital gain or loss generally will be long-term capital gain or loss if you have held your Fund shares for more than one year at the time of sale or exchange. In certain circumstances, capital losses may be converted from short-term to long-term; in other circumstances, capital losses may be disallowed under the “wash sale” rules. |
| ■ | For sales, redemptions and exchanges of shares that were acquired in a non-qualified account after 2011, the Fund generally is required to report to shareholders and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) cost basis information with respect to those shares. The Fund uses average cost basis as its default method of calculating cost basis. For more information regarding average cost basis reporting, other available cost basis methods, and selecting or changing to a different cost basis method, please see the SAI, or the Fund's website. If you hold Fund shares through a financial intermediary (e.g., a brokerage firm), you should contact your financial intermediary to learn about its cost basis reporting default method and the reporting elections available to your account. |
| ■ | The Fund is required by federal law to withhold tax on any taxable or tax-exempt distributions and redemption proceeds paid to you (including amounts paid to you in securities and amounts deemed to be paid to you upon an exchange of shares) if: you have not provided a correct TIN or have not certified to the Fund that withholding does not apply, the IRS has notified us that the TIN listed on your account is incorrect according to its records, or the IRS informs the Fund that you are otherwise subject to backup withholding. |
FUNDamentals
Taxes
The information provided above is only a summary of how U.S. federal income taxes may affect your investment in the Fund. It is not intended as a substitute for careful tax planning. Your investment in the Fund may have other tax implications. It does not apply to certain types of investors who may be subject to special rules, including foreign or tax-exempt investors or those holding Fund shares through a tax-advantaged account, such as a 401(k) plan or IRA. Please see the SAI for more detailed tax information. You should consult with your own tax advisor about the particular tax consequences to you of an investment in the Fund, including the effect of any foreign, state and local taxes, and the effect of possible changes in applicable tax laws.
| Prospectus 2021 | 33 |
Overseas SMA Completion Portfolio
Financial Highlights
The financial highlights table is intended to help you understand the Fund’s financial performance for the past five fiscal years or, if shorter, the Fund’s period of operations. Certain information reflects financial results for a single Fund share. Per share net investment income (loss) amounts are calculated based on average shares outstanding during the period. The total return in the table represents the rate that an investor would have earned (or lost) on an investment in the Fund assuming all dividends and distributions had been reinvested. Total return does not reflect payment of sales charges, if any. Total return and portfolio turnover are not annualized for periods of less than one year. The portfolio turnover rate is calculated without regard to purchase and sales transactions of short-term instruments and certain derivatives, if any. If such transactions were included, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate may be higher. This information has been audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm, whose report, along with the Fund’s financial statements, is included in the Fund’s annual report, which is available upon request.
|
Year Ended August 31,
2020
(a)
|
|
|
Per share data
|
|
| Net asset value, beginning of period | $12.00 |
|
Income from investment operations:
|
|
| Net investment income | 0.31 |
| Net realized and unrealized gain | 0.01 |
| Total from investment operations | 0.32 |
|
Less distributions to shareholders from:
|
|
| Net investment income | (0.18) |
| Total distributions to shareholders | (0.18) |
| Net asset value, end of period | $12.14 |
| Total return | 2.57% |
|
Ratios to average net assets
|
|
|
Total gross expenses
(b)
|
5.92%
(c)
|
|
Total net expenses
(b),(d)
|
0.00%
(c)
|
| Net investment income |
2.79%
(c)
|
|
Supplemental data
|
|
| Portfolio turnover | 47% |
| Net assets, end of period (in thousands) | $2,296 |
|
Notes to Financial Highlights
|
|
| (a) | The Fund commenced operations on September 12, 2019. Per share data and total return reflect activity from that date. |
| (b) | In addition to the fees and expenses that the Fund bears directly, the Fund indirectly bears a pro rata share of the fees and expenses of any other funds in which it invests. Such indirect expenses are not included in the Fund's reported expense ratios. |
| (c) | Annualized. |
| (d) | Total net expenses include the impact of certain fee waivers/expense reimbursements made by the Investment Manager and certain of its affiliates, if applicable. |
| 34 | Prospectus 2021 |
Overseas SMA Completion Portfolio
P.O. Box 219104
Kansas City, MO 64121-9104
Kansas City, MO 64121-9104
Additional Information About the Fund
Additional information about the Fund’s investments is available in the Fund’s annual and semiannual reports to shareholders. In the annual report, you will find a discussion of the market conditions and investment strategies that significantly affected the Fund’s performance during its last fiscal year. The SAI also provides additional information about the Fund and its policies. The SAI, which has been filed with the SEC, is legally part of this prospectus (incorporated by reference). To obtain these documents free of charge, to request other information about the Fund and to make shareholder inquiries, please contact the Fund as follows:
By Mail:
Columbia Management Investment Services Corp.
P.O. Box 219104
Kansas City, MO 64121-9104
P.O. Box 219104
Kansas City, MO 64121-9104
By Telephone:
800.345.6611
Online:
columbiathreadneedleus.com
Reports and other information about the Fund are also available in the EDGAR Database on the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov. You can receive copies of this information, for a duplication fee, by electronic request at the following e-mail address: publicinfo@sec.gov.
The investment company registration number of Columbia Funds Series Trust I, of which the Fund is a series, is 811-04367.
Columbia Threadneedle Investments is the global brand name of the Columbia and Threadneedle group of companies.
© 2021 Columbia Management Investment Distributors, Inc.
225 Franklin Street, Boston, MA 02110
225 Franklin Street, Boston, MA 02110
800.345.6611
PRO307_08_L01_(01/21)
STATEMENT OF ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
January 1, 2021
Columbia Funds Series Trust I
| Columbia Adaptive Retirement 2020 Fund | ||
| Class Adv: CARGX | Class Inst3: CARHX | |
| Columbia Adaptive Retirement 2025 Fund | ||
| Class Adv: CAAHX | Class Inst3: CAIDX | |
| Columbia Adaptive Retirement 2030 Fund | ||
| Class Adv: CARLX | Class Inst3: CARMX | |
| Columbia Adaptive Retirement 2035 Fund | ||
| Class Adv: CARJX | Class Inst3: CAIEX | |
| Columbia Adaptive Retirement 2040 Fund | ||
| Class Adv: CAROX | Class Inst3: CARQX | |
| Columbia Adaptive Retirement 2045 Fund | ||
| Class Adv: CARPX | Class Inst3: CAIHX | |
| Columbia Adaptive Retirement 2050 Fund | ||
| Class Adv: CARSX | Class Inst3: CARUX | |
| Columbia Adaptive Retirement 2055 Fund | ||
| Class Adv: CARFX | Class Inst3: CAIJX | |
| Columbia Adaptive Retirement 2060 Fund | ||
| Class Adv: CARKX | Class Inst3: CARVX | |
| Columbia Adaptive Risk Allocation Fund | ||
| Class A: CRAAX | Class Adv: CARRX | Class C: CRACX |
| Class Inst: CRAZX | Class Inst2: CRDRX | Class Inst3: CARYX |
| Class R: CRKRX | ||
| Columbia Balanced Fund | ||
| Class A: CBLAX | Class Adv: CBDRX | Class C: CBLCX |
| Class Inst: CBALX | Class Inst2: CLREX | Class Inst3: CBDYX |
| Class R: CBLRX | ||
| Columbia Bond Fund | ||
| Class A: CNDAX | Class Adv: CNDRX | Class C: CNDCX |
| Class Inst: UMMGX | Class Inst2: CNFRX | Class Inst3: CBFYX |
| Class R: CBFRX | Class V: CNDTX | |
| Columbia Connecticut Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund | ||
| Class A: LCTAX | Class Adv: CCTMX | Class C: LCTCX |
| Class Inst: SCTEX | Class Inst3: CCTYX | Class V: GCBAX |
| Columbia Contrarian Core Fund | ||
| Class A: LCCAX | Class Adv: CORRX | Class C: LCCCX |
| Class Inst: SMGIX | Class Inst2: COFRX | Class Inst3: COFYX |
| Class R: CCCRX | Class V: SGIEX | |
| Columbia Corporate Income Fund | ||
| Class A: LIIAX | Class Adv: CIFRX | Class C: CIOCX |
| Class Inst: SRINX | Class Inst2: CPIRX | Class Inst3: CRIYX |
| Columbia Dividend Income Fund | ||
| Class A: LBSAX | Class Adv: CVIRX | Class C: LBSCX |
| Class Inst: GSFTX | Class Inst2: CDDRX | Class Inst3: CDDYX |
| Class R: CDIRX | Class V: GEQAX | |
| Columbia Emerging Markets Fund | ||
| Class A: EEMAX | Class Adv: CEMHX | Class C: EEMCX |
| Class Inst: UMEMX | Class Inst2: CEKRX | Class Inst3: CEKYX |
| Class R: CEMRX | ||
| Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund | ||
| Class A: CTCAX | Class Adv: CTYRX | Class C: CTHCX |
| Class Inst: CMTFX | Class Inst2: CTHRX | Class Inst3: CGTUX |
| Columbia Greater China Fund | ||
| Class A: NGCAX | Class Adv: CGCHX | Class C: NGCCX |
| Class Inst: LNGZX | Class Inst2: CGCRX | Class Inst3: CGCYX |
| Columbia High Yield Municipal Fund | ||
| Class A: LHIAX | Class Adv: CHIYX | Class C: CHMCX |
| Class Inst: SRHMX | Class Inst2: CHMYX | Class Inst3: CHHYX |
| Columbia Strategic Income Fund | ||
| Class A: COSIX | Class Adv: CMNRX | Class C: CLSCX |
| Class Inst: LSIZX | Class Inst2: CTIVX | Class Inst3: CPHUX |
| Class R: CSNRX | ||
| Columbia Strategic New York Municipal Income Fund | ||
| Class A: COLNX | Class Adv: CNYEX | Class C: CNYCX |
| Class Inst: CNYZX | Class Inst2: CNYRX | Class Inst3: CNTYX |
| Columbia Tax-Exempt Fund | ||
| Class A: COLTX | Class Adv: CTERX | Class C: COLCX |
| Class Inst: CTEZX | Class Inst2: CADMX | Class Inst3: CTEYX |
| Columbia Total Return Bond Fund | ||
| Class A: LIBAX | Class Adv: CBNRX | Class C: LIBCX |
| Class Inst: SRBFX | Class Inst2: CTBRX | Class Inst3: CTBYX |
| Class R: CIBRX | ||
| Columbia U.S. Social Bond Fund | ||
| Class A: CONAX | Class Adv: CONFX | Class C: CONCX |
| Class Inst: CONZX | Class Inst2: COVNX | Class Inst3: CONYX |
| Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund | ||
| Class A: LUTAX | Class C: LUTCX | Class Inst: IUTIX |
| Class Inst2: CUTRX | Class Inst3: CUTYX | |
| Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund | ||
| Class A: CUSOX | Class Adv: CUSHX | Class Inst: CUSBX |
| Class Inst3: CMGUX | ||
| Multi-Manager Alternative Strategies Fund | ||
| Class Inst: CZAMX | ||
| Multi-Manager Directional Alternative Strategies Fund | ||
| Class Inst: CDAZX | ||
| Multi-Manager Growth Strategies Fund | ||
| Class Inst: CZMGX | Class Inst3: CABGX | |
| Multi-Manager International Equity Strategies Fund | ||
| Class Inst: CMIEX | Class Inst3: CIEEX | |
| Multi-Manager Small Cap Equity Strategies Fund | ||
| Class Inst: CZMSX | Class Inst3: CSCLX | |
| Multi-Manager Total Return Bond Strategies Fund | ||
| Class Inst: CTRZX | Class Inst3: CTREX | |
| Multisector Bond SMA Completion Portfolio | ||
| MBSAX | ||
| Overseas SMA Completion Portfolio | ||
| OSCBX | ||
| * | The Fund’s Board of Trustees has approved a Plan of Liquidation and Termination pursuant to which the Fund is expected to be liquidated on or about February 5, 2021. Please refer to the Fund’s prospectus for further details regarding the liquidation. |
Certain share classes in the table above, and throughout this SAI, are referred to using their abbreviated form. These full share class names are as follows: Advisor Class (Class Adv); Institutional Class (Class Inst); Institutional 2 Class (Class Inst2); and Institutional 3 Class (Class Inst3).
Unless the context indicates otherwise, references herein to “each Fund,” “the Fund,” “a Fund,” “the Funds” or “Funds” refer to each Fund listed above.
This Statement of Additional Information (SAI) is not a prospectus, is not a substitute for reading any prospectus and is intended to be read in conjunction with each Fund’s current prospectus (as amended or supplemented), the date of which may be found in the section of this SAI entitled About the Trust. The most recent annual report for each Fund identified in the table below (as applicable), which includes the Fund’s audited financial statements for its most recent fiscal period, is incorporated herein by reference.
Copies of the Funds' current prospectuses and annual and semiannual reports (once available, as applicable) may be obtained without charge by writing Columbia Management Investment Services Corp., P.O. Box 219104, Kansas City, MO 64121-9104, by calling Columbia Funds at 800.345.6611 or by visiting the Columbia Funds’ website at columbiathreadneedleus.com.
Shareholder Reports
| Fund Name and Fiscal Year End: | Shareholder Report: |
|
March 31
Columbia Adaptive Retirement 2020 Fund Columbia Adaptive Retirement 2025 Fund Columbia Adaptive Retirement 2030 Fund Columbia Adaptive Retirement 2035 Fund Columbia Adaptive Retirement 2040 Fund Columbia Adaptive Retirement 2045 Fund Columbia Adaptive Retirement 2050 Fund Columbia Adaptive Retirement 2055 Fund Columbia Adaptive Retirement 2060 Fund Columbia Pacific/Asia Fund Columbia Select Large Cap Growth Fund Columbia Solutions Aggressive Portfolio Columbia Solutions Conservative Portfolio Multi-Manager Growth Strategies Fund |
Annual Report |
| Fund Name and Fiscal Year End: | Shareholder Report: |
|
April 30
Columbia Bond Fund Columbia Corporate Income Fund Columbia Multi-Asset Income Fund Columbia Small Cap Value Fund I Columbia Total Return Bond Fund Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund Multi-Manager Directional Alternative Strategies Fund |
Annual Report |
|
May 31
Columbia Adaptive Risk Allocation Fund Columbia Dividend Income Fund Columbia High Yield Municipal Fund Columbia Multi Strategy Alternatives Fund |
Annual Report |
|
July 31
Columbia Large Cap Growth Fund Columbia Oregon Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund Columbia Tax-Exempt Fund Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund Columbia U.S. Social Bond Fund |
Annual Report |
|
August 31
Columbia Balanced Fund Columbia Contrarian Core Fund Columbia Emerging Markets Fund Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund Columbia Greater China Fund Columbia International Dividend Income Fund Columbia Mid Cap Growth Fund Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I Columbia Strategic Income Fund Multi-Manager Alternative Strategies Fund Multi-Manager International Equity Strategies Fund Multi-Manager Small Cap Equity Strategies Fund Multi-Manager Total Return Bond Fund Multisector Bond SMA Completion Portfolio Overseas SMA Completion Portfolio |
Annual Report |
|
October 31
Columbia Connecticut Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund Columbia Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund Columbia Massachusetts Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund Columbia New York Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund Columbia Strategic California Municipal Income Fund Columbia Strategic New York Municipal Income Fund |
Annual Report |
|
December 31
Columbia Real Estate Equity Fund |
Annual Report |
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S-1 |
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 1 |
SAI PRIMER
The SAI is a part of the Funds' registration statement that is filed with the SEC. The registration statement includes the Funds' prospectuses, the SAI and certain exhibits. The SAI, and any supplements to it, can be found online at columbiathreadneedleus.com and/or by accessing the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov.
For purposes of any electronic version of this SAI, all references to websites or universal resource locators (URLs), are intended to be inactive and are not meant to incorporate the contents of any such website or URL into this SAI, with the exception of the most recent annual report for each Fund, as noted on the front cover of this SAI.
The SAI generally provides additional information about the Funds that is not required to be in the Funds' prospectuses. The SAI expands discussions of certain matters described in the Funds' prospectuses and provides certain additional information about the Funds that may be of interest to some investors. Among other things, the SAI provides information about:
| ■ | the organization of the Trust; |
| ■ | the Funds' investments; |
| ■ | the Funds' investment adviser, investment subadviser(s) (if any) and other service providers, including roles and relationships of Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates, and conflicts of interest; |
| ■ | the governance of the Funds; |
| ■ | the Funds' brokerage practices; |
| ■ | the share classes offered by the Funds; |
| ■ | the purchase, redemption and pricing of Fund shares; and |
| ■ | the application of U.S. federal income tax laws. |
Investors may find this information important and helpful. If you have any questions about the Funds, please call Columbia Funds at 800.345.6611 or contact your financial advisor.
Throughout this SAI, the term “financial intermediary” may refer, generally, to one or more of the selling agents and/or servicing agents that are authorized to sell and/or service shares of the Funds, which may include broker-dealers and financial advisors as well as firms that employ such broker-dealers and financial advisors, including, for example, brokerage firms, banks, investment advisers, third party administrators and other financial intermediaries, including Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates.
Each Fund typically updates its registration statement approximately four months after the end of its fiscal year, although in certain circumstances a Fund may update its registration statement sooner. Some of the information in this SAI is reported for a Fund as of the end of the Fund’s last fiscal year (or period) or during the Fund’s last fiscal year (or period). This is a reference to the fiscal year (or period) ending prior to the Fund’s last annual update, which may be fifteen months or more prior to the date of the SAI. See About the Trusts for each Fund’s fiscal year end and most recent prospectus date (i.e., the date of the Fund’s last annual update).
Columbia Threadneedle Investments is the global brand name of the Columbia and Threadneedle group of companies.
Before reading the SAI, you should consult the prospectus for the Fund as well as the Glossary below, which defines certain of the terms used in the SAI. Terms not defined in the Glossary below generally have the same meaning as otherwise ascribed in a Fund’s prospectus.
Glossary
| 1933 Act | Securities Act of 1933, as amended |
| 1934 Act | Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended |
| 1940 Act | Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended |
| Adaptive Retirement Funds | The Funds within the Columbia Funds Complex that include “Adaptive Retirement” within the fund name. |
| AlphaSimplex | AlphaSimplex Group, LLC |
| Administrative Services Agreement | The Administrative Services Agreement, as amended, if applicable, between the Trust, on behalf of the Funds, and the Investment Manager |
| Ameriprise Financial | Ameriprise Financial, Inc. |
| AQR | AQR Capital Management, LLC |
| Arrowstreet | Arrowstreet Capital, Limited Partnership |
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 2 |
| Baillie Gifford | Baillie Gifford Overseas Limited |
| Bank of America | Bank of America Corporation |
| BMO | BMO Asset Management Corp. |
| Board | The Trust’s Board of Trustees |
| Boston Partners | Boston Partners Global Investors, Inc. |
| Business Day | Any day on which the NYSE is open for business. A business day typically ends at the close of regular trading on the NYSE, usually at 4:00 p.m. Eastern time. If the NYSE is scheduled to close early, the business day will be considered to end as of the time of the NYSE’s scheduled close. The Fund will not treat an intraday unscheduled disruption in NYSE trading or an intraday unscheduled closing as a close of regular trading on the NYSE for these purposes and will price its shares as of the regularly scheduled closing time for that day (typically, 4:00 p.m. Eastern time). Notwithstanding the foregoing, the NAV of Fund shares may be determined at such other time or times (in addition to or in lieu of the time set forth above) as the Fund’s Board may approve or ratify. On holidays and other days when the NYSE is closed, the Fund's NAV is not calculated and the Fund does not accept buy or sell orders. However, the value of the Fund's assets may still be affected on such days to the extent that the Fund holds foreign securities that trade on days that foreign securities markets are open. |
| Causeway | Causeway Capital Management LLC |
| CEA | Commodity Exchange Act |
| CFST | Columbia Funds Series Trust |
| CFST I | Columbia Funds Series Trust I |
| CFST II | Columbia Funds Series Trust II |
| CFTC | The United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission |
| Code | Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended |
| Codes of Ethics | The codes of ethics adopted by the Funds, the Investment Manager, Columbia Management Investment Distributors, Inc. and/or any sub-adviser, as applicable, pursuant to Rule 17j-1 under the 1940 Act |
| Columbia Funds or Columbia Funds Complex | The fund complex, including the Funds, that is comprised of the registered investment companies, including traditional mutual funds, closed-end funds, and ETFs, advised by the Investment Manager or its affiliates |
| Columbia Management | Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC |
| Columbia WAM | Columbia Wanger Asset Management, LLC |
| Conestoga | Conestoga Capital Advisors, LLC |
| Custodian | JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. |
| DBRS | DBRS Morningstar |
| Distribution Agreement | The Distribution Agreement between the Trust, on behalf of its Funds, and the Distributor |
| Distribution Plan(s) | One or more of the plans adopted by the Board pursuant to Rule 12b-1 under the 1940 Act for the distribution of the Funds’ shares |
| Distributor | Columbia Management Investment Distributors, Inc. |
| DST | DST Asset Manager Solutions, Inc. |
| FDIC | Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation |
| FHLMC | The Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation |
| Fitch | Fitch Ratings, Inc. |
| FNMA | Federal National Mortgage Association |
| The Fund(s) or a Fund | One or more of the open-end management investment companies listed on the front cover of this SAI |
| GNMA | Government National Mortgage Association |
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 3 |
| Hotchkis & Wiley | Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management, LLC |
| Independent Trustees | The Trustees of the Board who are not “interested persons” (as defined in the 1940 Act) of the Funds |
| Interested Trustee | A Trustee of the Board who is currently deemed to be an “interested person” (as defined in the 1940 Act) of the Funds |
| Investment Management Services Agreement | The Investment Management Services Agreement, as amended, if applicable, between the Trust, on behalf of its Funds, and the Investment Manager |
| Investment Manager | Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC |
| IRS | United States Internal Revenue Service |
| Manulife | Manulife Investment Management (US) LLC |
| Management Agreement | The Management Agreements, as amended, if applicable, between the Trust, on behalf of the Funds, and the Investment Manager |
| Moody’s | Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. |
| Multi-Manager Strategies Funds | Multi-Manager Alternative Strategies Fund, Multi-Manager Directional Alternative Strategies Fund, Multi-Manager Growth Strategies Fund, Multi-Manager International Equity Strategies Fund, Multi-Manager Small Cap Equity Strategies Fund, Multi-Manager Total Return Bond Strategies Fund and Multi-Manager Value Strategies Fund. Shares of the Multi-Manager Strategies Funds are offered only through certain wrap fee programs sponsored and/or managed by Ameriprise Financial, Inc. or its affiliates. |
| NASDAQ | National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations system |
| NAV | Net asset value per share of a Fund |
| NRSRO | Nationally recognized statistical ratings organization (such as, for example, Moody’s, Fitch or S&P) |
| NSCC | National Securities Clearing Corporation |
| NYSE | New York Stock Exchange |
| PGIM | PGIM, Inc., the asset management arm of Prudential Financial, Inc. |
| PwC | PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP |
| QMA | QMA LLC |
| REIT | Real estate investment trust |
| REMIC | Real estate mortgage investment conduit |
| RIC | A “regulated investment company,” as such term is used in the Code |
| S&P | Standard & Poor’s, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. (“Standard & Poor’s” and “S&P” are trademarks of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. and have been licensed for use by the Investment Manager. The Columbia Funds are not sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by Standard & Poor’s and Standard & Poor’s makes no representation regarding the advisability of investing in the Columbia Funds) |
| SAI | This Statement of Additional Information, as amended and supplemented from time-to-time |
| SEC | United States Securities and Exchange Commission |
| Shares | Shares of a Fund |
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 4 |
| SOFR | Secured Overnight Financing Rate |
| Solution Series Funds | Columbia Solutions Aggressive Portfolio, Columbia Solutions Conservative Portfolio, Multisector Bond SMA Completion Portfolio and Overseas SMA Completion Portfolio |
| Subadvisory Agreement | The Subadvisory Agreement among the Trust on behalf of the Fund(s), the Investment Manager and a Fund’s investment subadviser(s), as the context may require |
| Subsidiary | One or more wholly-owned subsidiaries of a Fund |
| TCW | TCW Investment Management Company LLC |
| Threadneedle | Threadneedle International Limited |
| Transfer Agency Agreement | The Transfer and Dividend Disbursing Agent Agreement between the Trust, on behalf of its Funds, and the Transfer Agent |
| Transfer Agent | Columbia Management Investment Services Corp. |
| Trustee(s) | One or more members of the Board |
| Trust | Columbia Funds Series Trust I, the registered investment company in the Columbia Funds Complex to which this SAI relates |
| Voya | Voya Investment Management Co. LLC |
| VP – Managed Volatility Funds | Any variable portfolio fund that includes the words “Managed Risk,” “Managed Volatility,” or “U.S. Flexible” as part of the Fund’s name |
| Water Island | Water Island Capital, LLC |
| WellsCap | Wells Capital Management Incorporated |
| * | On July 27, 2017, the head of the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority announced a desire to phase out the use of LIBOR by the end of 2021. There remains uncertainty regarding the future utilization of LIBOR and the nature of any replacement rate. |
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 5 |
Throughout this SAI, the Funds are referred to as follows:
| Fund Name: | Referred to as: | |
| Columbia Adaptive Retirement 2020 Fund | Adaptive Retirement 2020 Fund | |
| Columbia Adaptive Retirement 2025 Fund | Adaptive Retirement 2025 Fund | |
| Columbia Adaptive Retirement 2030 Fund | Adaptive Retirement 2030 Fund | |
| Columbia Adaptive Retirement 2035 Fund | Adaptive Retirement 2035 Fund | |
| Columbia Adaptive Retirement 2040 Fund | Adaptive Retirement 2040 Fund | |
| Columbia Adaptive Retirement 2045 Fund | Adaptive Retirement 2045 Fund | |
| Columbia Adaptive Retirement 2050 Fund | Adaptive Retirement 2050 Fund | |
| Columbia Adaptive Retirement 2055 Fund | Adaptive Retirement 2055 Fund | |
| Columbia Adaptive Retirement 2060 Fund | Adaptive Retirement 2060 Fund | |
| Columbia Adaptive Risk Allocation Fund | Adaptive Risk Allocation Fund | |
| Columbia Balanced Fund | Balanced Fund | |
| Columbia Bond Fund | Bond Fund | |
| Columbia Connecticut Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund | CT Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund | |
| Columbia Contrarian Core Fund | Contrarian Core Fund | |
| Columbia Corporate Income Fund | Corporate Income Fund | |
| Columbia Dividend Income Fund | Dividend Income Fund | |
| Columbia Emerging Markets Fund | Emerging Markets Fund | |
| Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund | Global Technology Growth Fund | |
| Columbia Greater China Fund | Greater China Fund | |
| Columbia High Yield Municipal Fund | HY Municipal Fund | |
| Columbia Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund | Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund | |
| Columbia International Dividend Income Fund | International Dividend Income Fund | |
| Columbia Large Cap Growth Fund | Large Cap Growth Fund | |
| Columbia Massachusetts Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund | MA Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund | |
| Columbia Mid Cap Growth Fund | Mid Cap Growth Fund | |
| Columbia Multi-Asset Income Fund | Multi-Asset Income Fund | |
| Columbia Multi Strategy Alternatives Fund | Multi Strategy Alternatives Fund | |
| Columbia New York Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund | NY Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund | |
| Columbia Oregon Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund | OR Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund | |
| Columbia Pacific/Asia Fund | Pacific/Asia Fund | |
| Columbia Real Estate Equity Fund | Real Estate Equity Fund | |
| Columbia Select Large Cap Growth Fund | Select Large Cap Growth Fund | |
| Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I | Small Cap Growth Fund I | |
| Columbia Small Cap Value Fund I | Small Cap Value Fund I | |
| Columbia Solutions Aggressive Portfolio | Solutions Aggressive Portfolio | |
| Columbia Solutions Conservative Portfolio | Solutions Conservative Portfolio | |
| Columbia Strategic California Municipal Income Fund | Strategic CA Municipal Income Fund | |
| Columbia Strategic Income Fund | Strategic Income Fund | |
| Columbia Strategic New York Municipal Income Fund | Strategic NY Municipal Income Fund | |
| Columbia Tax-Exempt Fund | Tax-Exempt Fund | |
| Columbia Total Return Bond Fund | Total Return Bond Fund | |
| Columbia U.S. Social Bond Fund | U.S. Social Bond Fund | |
| Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund | U.S. Treasury Index Fund |
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 6 |
| Fund Name: | Referred to as: | |
| Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund | Ultra Short Term Bond Fund | |
| Multi-Manager Alternative Strategies Fund | MM Alternative Strategies Fund | |
| Multi-Manager Directional Alternative Strategies Fund | MM Directional Alternative Strategies Fund | |
| Multi-Manager Growth Strategies Fund | MM Growth Strategies Fund | |
| Multi-Manager International Equity Strategies Fund | MM International Equity Strategies Fund | |
| Multi-Manager Small Cap Equity Strategies Fund | MM Small Cap Equity Strategies Fund | |
| Multi-Manager Total Return Bond Fund | MM Total Return Bond Strategies Fund | |
| Multisector Bond SMA Completion Portfolio | Multisector Bond SMA Completion Portfolio | |
| Overseas SMA Completion Portfolio | Overseas SMA Completion Portfolio |
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 7 |
ABOUT THE Trust
The Trust is an open-end management investment company registered with the SEC under the 1940 Act with an address at 225 Franklin Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02110.
The Trust was organized as a Massachusetts business trust on October 6, 1987. On October 13, 2003, the Trust changed its name from Liberty-Stein Roe Funds Municipal Trust to Columbia Funds Trust IX. On September 19, 2005, the Trust changed its name from Columbia Funds Trust IX to its current name. The offering of the shares is registered under the 1933 Act.
| Fund | Fiscal Year End | Prospectus Date |
Date Began
Operations* |
Diversified** | Fund Investment Category*** |
| Adaptive Retirement 2020 Fund | March 31 | 8/1/2020 | 10/24/2017 | No | Fund-of-funds – alternative |
| Adaptive Retirement 2025 Fund | March 31 | 8/1/2020 | 4/4/2018 | No | Fund-of-funds – alternative |
| Adaptive Retirement 2030 Fund | March 31 | 8/1/2020 | 10/24/2017 | No | Fund-of-funds – alternative |
| Adaptive Retirement 2035 Fund | March 31 | 8/1/2020 | 4/4/2018 | No | Fund-of-funds – alternative |
| Adaptive Retirement 2040 Fund | March 31 | 8/1/2020 | 10/24/2017 | No | Fund-of-funds – alternative |
| Adaptive Retirement 2045 Fund | March 31 | 8/1/2020 | 4/4/2018 | No | Fund-of-funds – alternative |
| Adaptive Retirement 2050 Fund | March 31 | 8/1/2020 | 10/24/2017 | No | Fund-of-funds – alternative |
| Adaptive Retirement 2055 Fund | March 31 | 8/1/2020 | 4/4/2018 | No | Fund-of-funds – alternative |
| Adaptive Retirement 2060 Fund | March 31 | 8/1/2020 | 10/24/2017 | No | Fund-of-funds – alternative |
| Adaptive Risk Allocation Fund | May 31 | 10/1/2020 | 6/19/2012 | No | Alternative |
| Balanced Fund | August 31 | 1/1/2021 | 10/1/1991 | Yes | Equity/Taxable fixed-income |
| Bond Fund | April 30 | 9/1/2020 | 1/9/1986 | Yes | Taxable fixed-income |
| Contrarian Core Fund | August 31 | 1/1/2021 | 12/14/1992 | Yes | Equity |
| Corporate Income Fund | April 30 | 9/1/2020 | 3/5/1986 | Yes | Taxable fixed-income |
|
CT Intermediate Municipal
Bond Fund |
October 31 | 3/1/2020 | 8/1/1994 | No | Tax-exempt fixed-income |
| Dividend Income Fund | May 31 | 10/1/2020 | 3/4/1998 | Yes | Equity |
| Emerging Markets Fund | August 31 | 1/1/2021 | 1/2/1998 | Yes | Equity |
| Global Technology Growth Fund | August 31 | 1/1/2021 | 11/9/2000 | Yes | Equity |
| Greater China Fund | August 31 | 1/1/2021 | 5/16/1997 | No | Equity |
| HY Municipal Fund | May 31 | 10/1/2020 | 3/5/1984 | Yes | Tax-exempt fixed-income |
| Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund | October 31 | 3/1/2020 | 6/14/1993 | Yes | Tax-exempt fixed-income |
| International Dividend Income Fund | August 31 | 1/1/2021 | 11/9/2000 | Yes | Equity |
| Large Cap Growth Fund | July 31 | 12/1/2020 | 12/14/1990 | Yes | Equity |
|
MA Intermediate Municipal
Bond Fund |
October 31 | 3/1/2020 | 6/14/1993 | No | Tax-exempt fixed-income |
| Mid Cap Growth Fund | August 31 | 1/1/2021 | 11/20/1985 | Yes | Equity |
| MM Alternative Strategies Fund | August 31 | 1/1/2021 | 4/23/2012 | No | Alternative |
| MM Directional Alternative Strategies Fund | April 30 | 9/1/2020 | 10/17/2016 | No | Alternative |
| MM Growth Strategies Fund | March 31 | 8/1/2020 | 4/20/2012 | Yes | Equity |
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 8 |
| Fund | Fiscal Year End | Prospectus Date |
Date Began
Operations* |
Diversified** | Fund Investment Category*** |
|
MM International Equity
Strategies Fund |
August 31 | 1/1/2021 | 5/17/2018 | Yes | Equity |
|
MM Small Cap Equity
Strategies Fund |
August 31 | 1/1/2021 | 4/20/2012 | Yes | Equity |
|
MM Total Return Bond
Strategies Fund |
August 31 | 1/1/2021 | 4/20/2012 | Yes | Taxable fixed-income |
| Multi-Asset Income Fund | April 30 | 9/1/2020 | 3/27/2015 | Yes | Flexible |
|
Multisector Bond SMA
Completion Portfolio |
August 31 | 1/1/2021 | 10/29/2019 | No | Taxable fixed-income |
| Multi Strategy Alternatives Fund | May 31 | 10/1/2020 | 1/28/2015 | No | Alternative |
|
NY Intermediate Municipal
Bond Fund |
October 31 | 3/1/2020 | 12/31/1991 | No | Tax-exempt fixed-income |
|
OR Intermediate Municipal
Bond Fund |
July 31 | 12/1/2020 | 7/2/1984 | Yes | Tax-exempt fixed-income |
|
Overseas SMA
Completion Portfolio |
August 31 | 1/1/2021 | 9/12/2019 | No | Equity |
| Pacific/Asia Fund | March 31 | 8/1/2020 | 12/31/1992 | Yes | Equity |
| Real Estate Equity Fund | December 31 | 5/1/2020 | 4/1/1994 | No | Equity |
| Select Large Cap Growth Fund | March 31 | 8/1/2020 | 10/1/1997 | Yes | Equity |
| Small Cap Growth Fund I | August 31 | 1/1/2021 | 10/1/1996 | Yes | Equity |
| Small Cap Value Fund I | April 30 | 9/1/2020 | 7/25/1986 | Yes | Equity |
| Solutions Aggressive Portfolio | March 31 | 8/1/2020 | 10/24/2017 | Yes | Alternative |
| Solutions Conservative Portfolio | March 31 | 8/1/2020 | 10/24/2017 | Yes | Alternative |
|
Strategic CA Municipal
Income Fund |
October 31 | 3/1/2020 | 6/16/1986 | Yes | Tax-exempt fixed-income |
| Strategic Income Fund | August 31 | 1/1/2021 | 4/21/1977 | Yes | Taxable fixed-income |
|
Strategic NY Municipal
Income Fund |
October 31 | 3/1/2020 | 9/26/1986 | No | Tax-exempt fixed-income |
| Tax-Exempt Fund | July 31 | 12/1/2020 | 11/21/1978 | Yes | Tax-exempt fixed-income |
| Total Return Bond Fund | April 30 | 9/1/2020 | 12/5/1978 | Yes | Taxable fixed-income |
| U.S. Social Bond Fund | July 31 | 12/1/2020 | 3/26/2015 | Yes | Tax-exempt fixed-income |
| U.S. Treasury Index Fund | April 30 | 9/1/2020 | 6/4/1991 | Yes | Taxable fixed-income |
| Ultra Short Term Bond Fund | July 31 | 12/1/2020 | 3/8/2004 | Yes | Taxable fixed-income |
| * | Certain Funds reorganized into series of the Trust. The date of operations for these Funds represents the date on which the predecessor funds began operation. |
| ** | A “diversified” Fund may not, with respect to 75% of its total assets, invest more than 5% of its total assets in securities of any one issuer or purchase more than 10% of the outstanding voting securities of any one issuer, except obligations issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government, its agencies or instrumentalities and except securities of other investment companies. A “non-diversified” Fund may invest a greater percentage of its total assets in the securities of fewer issuers than a “diversified” fund, which increases the risk that a change in the value of any one investment held by the Fund could affect the overall value of the Fund more than it would affect that of a “diversified” fund holding a greater number of investments. Accordingly, a “non-diversified” Fund’s value will likely be more volatile than the value of a more diversified fund. |
| *** | The Fund Investment Category is used as a convenient way to describe Funds in this SAI and should not be deemed a description of the Fund’s principal investment strategies, which are described in the Fund’s prospectus. |
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 9 |
Name Changes. The table below identifies the Funds whose names have changed in the past five years, the effective date of the name change and the former name.
| Fund | Effective Date of Name Change | Previous Fund Name |
| CT Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund |
May 14, 2019
|
Columbia AMT-Free Connecticut Intermediate Muni Bond Fund |
| Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund |
May 14, 2019
|
Columbia AMT-Free Intermediate Muni Bond Fund |
| International Dividend Income Fund | September 2, 2020 | Columbia Global Dividend Opportunity Fund |
| MA Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund |
May 14, 2019
|
Columbia AMT-Free Massachusetts Intermediate Muni Bond Fund |
| MM Alternative Strategies Fund |
February 28, 2017
October 12, 2016 |
Active Portfolios® Multi-Manager Alternatives Fund
Active Portfolios® Multi-Manager Alternative Strategies Fund |
| MM Directional Alternative Strategies Fund | February 28, 2017 | Active Portfolios® Multi-Manager Directional Alternatives Fund |
| MM Growth Strategies Fund |
February 28, 2017
|
Active Portfolios® Multi-Manager Growth Fund |
| MM Small Cap Equity Strategies Fund | February 28, 2017 | Active Portfolios® Multi-Manager Small Cap Equity Strategies Fund |
| MM Total Return Bond Strategies Fund |
February 28, 2017
April 11, 2016 |
Active Portfolios® Multi-Manager Total Return Bond Fund
Active Portfolios® Multi-Manager Core Plus Bond Fund |
| Multi Strategy Alternatives Fund |
August 1, 2019
October 1, 2016 |
Columbia Alternative Beta Fund
Columbia Adaptive Alternatives Fund |
| NY Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund |
May 14, 2019
|
Columbia AMT-Free New York Intermediate Muni Bond Fund |
| OR Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund |
May 14, 2019
|
Columbia AMT-Free Oregon Intermediate Muni Bond Fund |
| Strategic CA Municipal Income Fund | January 22, 2018 | Columbia California Tax-Exempt Fund |
| Strategic NY Municipal Income Fund | January 22, 2018 | Columbia New York Tax-Exempt Fund |
| Total Return Bond Fund | February 19, 2016 | Columbia Intermediate Bond Fund |
| Ultra Short Term Bond Fund | December 1, 2018 | CMG Ultra Short Term Bond Fund |
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 10 |
FUNDAMENTAL AND NON-FUNDAMENTAL INVESTMENT POLICIES
The following discussion of “fundamental” and “non-fundamental” investment policies and limitations for each Fund supplements the discussion of investment policies in the Funds' prospectuses. A fundamental policy may be changed only with Board and shareholder approval. A non-fundamental policy may be changed only with Board approval and does not require shareholder approval.
Unless otherwise noted in a Fund’s prospectus or this SAI, whenever an investment policy or limitation states a maximum percentage of a Fund’s assets that may be invested in any security or other asset, or sets forth a policy regarding an investment standard, compliance with such percentage limitation or standard will be determined solely at the time of the Fund’s acquisition of such security or asset (Time of Purchase Standard). Thus, a Fund may continue to hold a security even though it causes the Fund to exceed a percentage limitation because of fluctuation in the value of the Fund’s assets.
Notwithstanding any of a Fund’s other investment policies, the Fund, subject to certain limitations, may invest its assets in another investment company. These underlying funds have adopted their own investment policies that may be more or less restrictive than those of the Fund. Unless a Fund has a policy to consider the policies of underlying funds, the Fund may engage in investment strategies indirectly that would otherwise be prohibited under the Fund’s investment policies.
In adhering to the fundamental and non-fundamental investment restrictions and policies applicable to each of MM Alternative Strategies Fund and Multi Strategy Alternatives Fund, each Fund will, to the extent possible, treat any assets of its Subsidiary generally as if the assets were held directly by the Fund.
Fundamental Policies
The table below shows Fund-specific policies that may be changed only with a “vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities” of the Fund, which means the affirmative vote of the lesser of (1) more than 50% of the outstanding shares of the Fund, or (2) 67% or more of the shares present at a meeting if more than 50% of the outstanding shares are represented at the meeting in person or by proxy. The table indicates whether or not a fund has a policy on a particular topic. A dash indicates that the Fund does not have a Fundamental policy on a particular topic. The specific policy is stated in the paragraphs that follow the table.
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 11 |
| A. | Buy or sell real estate |
| A1 – | The Fund may not purchase or sell real estate, except each Fund may: (i) purchase securities of issuers which deal or invest in real estate, (ii) purchase securities which are secured by real estate or interests in real estate and (iii) hold and dispose of real estate or interests in real estate acquired through the exercise of its rights as a holder of securities which are secured by real estate or interests therein. |
| A2 – | The Fund will not buy or sell real estate, unless acquired as a result of ownership of securities or other instruments, except this shall not prevent the Fund from investing in: (i) securities or other instruments backed by real estate or interests in real estate, (ii) securities or other instruments of issuers or entities that deal in real estate or are engaged in the real estate business, (iii) real estate investment trusts (REITs) or entities similar to REITs formed under the laws of non-U.S. countries or (iv) real estate or interests in real estate acquired through the exercise of its rights as a holder of securities secured by real estate or interests therein. |
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 12 |
| B. | Buy or sell physical commodities |
| B1 – | The Fund may not purchase or sell commodities, except that each Fund may to the extent consistent with its investment objective: (i) invest in securities of companies that purchase or sell commodities or which invest in such programs, (ii) purchase and sell options, forward contracts, futures contracts, and options on futures contracts and (iii) enter into swap contracts and other financial transactions relating to commodities.(a) This limitation does not apply to foreign currency transactions including without limitation forward currency contracts. |
| B2 – | The Fund may invest up to 25% of its total assets in one or more wholly-owned subsidiaries that may invest in commodities, thereby indirectly gaining exposure to commodities, and may, to the extent consistent with its investment objective, (i) invest in securities of companies that purchase or sell commodities or which invest in such programs, (ii) purchase and sell options, forward contracts, futures contracts, and options on futures contracts and (iii) enter into swap contracts and other financial transactions relating to commodities. This policy does not limit foreign currency transactions including without limitation forward currency contracts. |
| B3 – | The Fund will not purchase or sell commodities, except to the extent permitted by the 1940 Act, the rules and regulations thereunder and any applicable exemptive relief, as interpreted or modified by regulatory authority having jurisdiction, from time to time. |
| B4 – | The Fund will not purchase or sell commodities, except to the extent permitted by the 1940 Act, the rules and regulations thereunder and any applicable exemptive relief. |
| (a) | For purposes of the fundamental investment policy on buying and selling physical commodities above, at the time of the establishment of the restriction for certain Funds, swap contracts on financial instruments or rates were not within the understanding of the term “commodities.” Notwithstanding any federal legislation or regulatory action by the CFTC that subjects such swaps to regulation by the CFTC, these Funds will not consider such instruments to be commodities for purposes of this restriction. |
| C. | Issuer Diversification*† |
| C1 – | The Fund may not purchase securities (except securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government, its agencies or instrumentalities) of any one issuer if, as a result, more than 5% of its total assets will be invested in the securities of such issuer or it would own more than 10% of the voting securities of such issuer, except that: (i) up to 25% of its total assets may be invested without regard to these limitations and (ii) a Fund’s assets may be invested in the securities of one or more management investment companies to the extent permitted by the 1940 Act, the rules and regulations thereunder, or any applicable exemptive relief. |
| C2 – | The Fund may not, as a matter of fundamental policy, purchase securities (except securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government, its agencies or instrumentalities) of any one issuer if, as a result, more than 5% of its total assets will be invested in the securities of such issuer or it would own more than 10% of the voting securities of such issuer, except that: (i) up to 50% of its total assets may be invested without regard to these limitations and (ii) the Fund’s assets may be invested in the securities of one or more management investment companies to the extent permitted by the 1940 Act, the rules and regulations thereunder, or any applicable exemptive relief. |
| C3 – | The Fund will not make any investment inconsistent with its classification as a diversified company under the 1940 Act. |
| C4 – | The Fund will not purchase securities (except securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government, its agencies or instrumentalities) of any one issuer if, as a result, more than 5% of its total assets will be invested in the securities of such issuer or it would own more than 10% of the voting securities of such issuer, except that: (a) up to 25% of its total assets may be invested without regard to these limitations; and (b) a Fund’s assets may be invested in the securities of one or more management investment companies to the extent permitted by the 1940 Act, the rules and regulations thereunder, or any applicable exemptive relief, as interpreted or modified by regulatory authority having jurisdiction, from time to time. |
| C5 – | The Fund will not purchase securities (except securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government, its agencies or instrumentalities) of any one issuer if, as a result, more than 5% of its total assets will be invested in the securities of such issuer or it would own more than 10% of the voting securities of such issuer, except that: (a) up to 25% of its total assets may be invested without regard to these limitations; and (b) a Fund’s assets may be invested in the securities of one or more management investment companies to the extent permitted by the 1940 Act, the rules and regulations thereunder, or any applicable exemptive relief. |
| C6 – | The Fund operates as a diversified company under the 1940 Act. |
| * | For purposes of applying the limitation set forth in its issuer diversification policy above, a Fund does not consider futures or swaps central counterparties, where the Fund has exposure to such central counterparties in the course of making investments in futures and securities, to be issuers. |
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 13 |
| † | For purposes of applying the limitation set forth in its issuer diversification policy, under certain circumstances, a Fund may treat an investment, if any, in a municipal bond refunded with escrowed U.S. Government securities as an investment in U.S. Government securities. |
| D. | Concentration* |
| D1 – | The Fund may not purchase any securities which would cause 25% or more of the value of its total assets at the time of purchase to be invested in the securities of one or more issuers conducting their principal business activities in the same industry, provided that: (i) there is no limitation with respect to obligations issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government, any state or territory of the United States or any of their agencies, instrumentalities or political subdivisions; and (ii) notwithstanding this limitation or any other fundamental investment limitation, assets may be invested in the securities of one or more management investment companies or subsidiaries to the extent permitted by the 1940 Act, the rules and regulations thereunder and any applicable exemptive relief. |
| D2 – | The Fund will invest at least 65% of the value of its total assets in securities of companies principally engaged in the real estate industry. |
| D3 – | The Fund will, under normal market conditions, invest at least 25% of the value of its total assets at the time of purchase in the securities of issuers conducting their principal business activities in the technology and related group of industries, provided that: (i) there is no limitation with respect to obligations issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government, any state or territory of the United States or any of their agencies, instrumentalities or political subdivisions; and (ii) notwithstanding this limitation or any other fundamental investment limitation, assets may be invested in the securities of one or more management investment companies or subsidiaries to the extent permitted by the 1940 Act, the rules and regulations thereunder and any applicable exemptive relief. |
| D4 – | The Fund will not purchase any securities which would cause 25% or more of the value of its total assets at the time of purchase to be invested in the securities of one or more issuers conducting their principal business activities in the same industry, provided that: (i) there is no limitation with respect to obligations issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government, any state, municipality or territory of the United States or any of their agencies, instrumentalities or political subdivisions; and (ii) notwithstanding this limitation or any other fundamental investment limitation, assets may be invested in the securities of one or more investment companies or subsidiaries to the extent permitted by the 1940 Act, the rules and regulations thereunder and any applicable exemptive relief, as interpreted or modified by regulatory authority having jurisdiction, from time to time. The Fund will consider the concentration policies of any underlying funds in which it invests when evaluating compliance with its concentration policy. |
| D5 – | The Fund will not purchase any securities which would cause 25% or more of the value of its total assets at the time of purchase to be invested in the securities of one or more issuers conducting their principal business activities in the same industry, provided that: (i) there is no limitation with respect to obligations issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government, any state or territory of the United States or any of their agencies, instrumentalities or political subdivisions; and (ii) notwithstanding this limitation or any other fundamental investment limitation, assets may be invested in the securities of one or more investment companies or subsidiaries to the extent permitted by the 1940 Act, the rules and regulations thereunder and any applicable exemptive relief. |
| * | For purposes of applying the limitation set forth in its concentration policy, above, a Fund will generally use the industry classifications provided by the Global Industry Classification System (GICS) for classification of issuers of equity securities and the classifications provided by the Barclays Capital Aggregate Bond Index for classification of issues of fixed-income securities. To the extent that a Fund’s concentration policy requires the Fund to consider the concentration policies of any underlying funds in which it invests, the Fund will consider the portfolio positions at the time of purchase, which in the case of unaffiliated underlying funds is based on portfolio information made publicly available by them. A Fund does not consider futures or swaps clearinghouses or securities clearinghouses, where the Fund has exposure to such clearinghouses in the course of making investments in futures and securities, to be part of any industry. |
| E. | Invest 80% |
| E1 – | The Fund will, under normal circumstances, invest at least 80% of its total assets in state bonds, subject to applicable state requirements. |
| E2 – | Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of net assets in municipal securities that pay interest exempt from federal income tax (including the federal alternative minimum tax) and Connecticut individual income tax. These securities are issued by the State of Connecticut and its political subdivisions, agencies, authorities and instrumentalities, by other qualified issuers (such as Guam, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands) and by mutual funds that invest in such securities. Dividends derived from interest on municipal securities other than such securities will generally be exempt from regular federal income tax (including the federal alternative minimum tax) but subject to Connecticut personal income tax. The Fund may comply with this 80% policy by investing in a partnership, trust or regulated investment company which invests in such securities, in which case the Fund’s investment in such entity shall be deemed to be an investment in the underlying securities in the same proportion as such entity’s investment in such securities bears to its net assets. |
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 14 |
| E3 – | As a matter of fundamental policy, under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of net assets in municipal securities that pay interest exempt from federal income tax (including the federal alternative minimum tax). These securities are issued by states and their political subdivisions, agencies, authorities and instrumentalities, by other qualified issuers (such as Guam, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands) and by mutual funds that invest in such securities. The Fund may comply with this 80% policy by investing in a partnership, trust, or regulated investment company which invests in such securities, in which case the Fund’s investment in such entity shall be deemed to be an investment in the underlying securities in the same proportion as such entity’s investment in such securities bears to its net assets. |
| E4 – | Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of net assets in municipal securities that pay interest exempt from federal income tax (including the federal alternative minimum tax) and Massachusetts individual income tax. These securities are issued by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and its political subdivisions, agencies, authorities and instrumentalities, by other qualified issuers (such as Guam, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands) and by mutual funds that invest in such securities. Dividends derived from interest on municipal securities other than such securities will generally be exempt from regular federal income tax (including the federal alternative minimum tax) but may be subject to Massachusetts personal income tax. The Fund may comply with this 80% policy by investing in a partnership, trust, or regulated investment company which invests in such securities, in which case the Fund’s investment in such entity shall be deemed to be an investment in the underlying securities in the same proportion as such entity’s investment in such securities bears to its net assets. |
| E5 – | As a matter of fundamental policy, under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of net assets in municipal securities that pay interest exempt from federal income tax (including the federal alternative minimum tax) and New York State individual income tax. These securities are issued by the State of New York and its political subdivisions, agencies, authorities and instrumentalities and by other qualified issuers (such as Guam, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands). Dividends derived from interest on municipal securities other than such securities will generally be exempt from regular federal income tax (including the federal alternative minimum tax) but may be subject to New York State and New York City personal income tax. The Fund may comply with this 80% policy by investing in a partnership, trust or regulated investment company which invests in such securities, in which case the Fund’s investment in such entity shall be deemed to be an investment in the underlying securities in the same proportion as such entity’s investment in such securities bears to its net assets. |
| E6 – | Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets in municipal securities issued by the State of Oregon and its political subdivisions, agencies, authorities and instrumentalities. |
| E7 – | Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets in equity securities of companies principally engaged in the real estate industry, including REITs. |
| E8 – | Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its total assets in tax-exempt bonds. |
| E9 – | Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of net assets in equity securities (including, but not limited to, common stocks, preferred stocks and securities convertible into common or preferred stocks) of technology companies that may benefit from technological improvements, advancements or developments. |
| F. | Act as an underwriter |
| F1 – | The Fund may not underwrite any issue of securities issued by other persons within the meaning of the 1933 Act except when it might be deemed to be an underwriter either: (i) in connection with the disposition of a portfolio security; or (ii) in connection with the purchase of securities directly from the issuer thereof in accordance with the Fund’s investment objective. This restriction shall not limit the Fund’s ability to invest in securities issued by other registered investment companies. |
| F2 – | The Fund will not underwrite any issue of securities issued by other persons within the meaning of the 1933 Act except when it might be deemed to be an underwriter either: (i) in connection with the disposition of a portfolio security; or (ii) in connection with the purchase of securities directly from the issuer where the Fund later resells such securities. This restriction shall not limit the Fund’s ability to invest in securities issued by other registered investment companies. |
| G. | Lending |
| G1 – | The Fund may not make loans, except to the extent permitted by the 1940 Act, the rules and regulations thereunder and any applicable exemptive relief. |
| G2 – | The Fund will not make loans, except to the extent permitted by the 1940 Act, the rules and regulations thereunder and any applicable exemptive relief, as interpreted or modified by regulatory authority having jurisdiction, from time to time. |
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 15 |
| G3 – | The Fund will not make loans, except to the extent permitted by the 1940 Act, the rules and regulations thereunder and any applicable exemptive relief. |
| H. | Borrowing |
| H1 – | The Fund may not borrow money except to the extent permitted by the 1940 Act, the rules and regulations thereunder and any applicable exemptive relief. |
| H2 – | The Fund will not borrow money except to the extent permitted by the 1940 Act, the rules and regulations thereunder and any applicable exemptive relief, as interpreted or modified by regulatory authority having jurisdiction, from time to time. |
| H3 – | The Fund will not borrow money except to the extent permitted by the 1940 Act, the rules and regulations thereunder and any applicable exemptive relief. |
| I. | Issue senior securities |
| I1 – | The Fund may not issue senior securities, except as permitted under the 1940 Act, the rules and regulations thereunder and any applicable exemptive relief. |
| I2 – | The Fund will not issue senior securities, except as permitted under the 1940 Act, the rules and regulations thereunder and any applicable exemptive relief, as interpreted or modified by regulatory authority having jurisdiction, from time to time. |
| I3 – | The Fund will not issue senior securities, except as permitted under the 1940 Act, the rules and regulations thereunder and any applicable exemptive relief. |
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 16 |
Non-fundamental Policies
The following non-fundamental policies may be changed by the Board at any time and may be in addition to those described in the Funds' prospectus.
Investment in Illiquid Investments
No Fund may acquire any illiquid investment if, immediately after the acquisition, the Fund would have invested more than 15% of its net assets in illiquid investments that are assets. For these purposes, an “illiquid investment” means any investment that the Fund reasonably expects cannot be sold or disposed of in current market conditions in seven calendar days or less without the sale or disposition significantly changing the market value of the investment.
Investment in Other Investment Companies
The Funds may not purchase securities of other investment companies except to the extent permitted by the 1940 Act, the rules and regulations thereunder and any applicable exemptive relief.
Investment in Foreign Securities
| ■ | Bond Fund may invest up to 25% of its assets in dollar-denominated debt securities issued by foreign governments, companies or other entities. |
| ■ | Balanced Fund, Contrarian Core Fund and Dividend Income Fund each may invest up to 20% of its net assets in foreign securities. |
| ■ | Large Cap Growth Fund, Mid Cap Growth Fund, Small Cap Growth Fund I and Small Cap Value Fund I each may invest up to 20% of its total assets in foreign securities. |
| ■ | Up to 25% of the net assets of MM Total Return Bond Strategies Fund may be invested in foreign investments, which may include investments in non-U.S. dollar denominated securities, as well as investments in emerging markets securities. |
| ■ | MM Small Cap Equity Strategies Fund may invest up to 25% of its net assets in foreign investments. |
| ■ | Ultra Short Term Bond Fund may invest up to 20% of its total assets in dollar-denominated foreign debt securities. |
Selling Securities Short
| ■ | Each Fund (other than those Funds listed below) may not sell securities short, except as permitted by the 1940 Act, the rules and regulations thereunder and any applicable exemptive relief. |
| ■ | The following Funds may not sell securities short: Balanced Fund, Bond Fund, Emerging Markets Fund, Global Technology Growth Fund, International Dividend Income Fund, Mid Cap Growth Fund, MM Growth Strategies Fund, MM Total Return Bond Strategies Fund, OR Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund, Pacific/Asia Fund, Real Estate Equity Fund, Select Large Cap Growth Fund and Small Cap Growth Fund I. |
| ■ | Tax-Exempt Fund may not have a short position, unless the Fund owns, or owns rights (exercisable without payment) to acquire, an equal amount of such securities. |
Purchasing on Margin
| ■ | Tax-Exempt Fund may not purchase securities on margin, but may receive short-term credit to clear securities transactions and may make initial or maintenance margin deposits in connection with futures transactions. |
Additional Information About Concentration
The Adaptive Retirement Funds have adopted a policy to not concentrate their investments in any particular industry or group of industries. However, because these Funds invest principally in underlying funds, they may indirectly concentrate in a particular industry or group of industries through investments in the underlying funds.
Multi-Manager International Equity Strategies Fund may indirectly concentrate in a particular industry or group of industries through investments in underlying funds.
Names Rule Policy
To the extent a Fund is subject to Rule 35d-1 under the 1940 Act (the Names Rule), and does not otherwise have a fundamental policy in place to comply with the Names Rule, such Fund has adopted the following non-fundamental policy: Shareholders will receive at least 60 days’ notice of any change to the Fund’s investment objective or principal investment strategies made in order to comply with the Names Rule. The notice will be provided in plain English in a separate written document, and will contain the following prominent statement or similar statement in bold-face type: “Important Notice Regarding Change in Investment Policy.” This statement will appear on both the notice and the envelope in which it is delivered, unless it is delivered separately
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 17 |
from other communications to investors, in which case the statement will appear either on the notice or the envelope in which the notice is delivered. A Fund subject to a fundamental policy in place to comply with the Names Rule will disclose in the More Information About the Fund section of its prospectus that its 80% policy cannot be changed without shareholder approval.
To the extent that the Fund counts derivatives towards compliance with its 80% policy, such instruments will be valued based on their market value or fair value (determined in accordance with the Fund’s valuation procedures) or, when the adviser determines that the notional value of such instruments is a more appropriate measure of the Fund’s exposure to economic characteristics of investments that are consistent with the Fund’s 80% policy, at such notional value.
Summary of 1940 Act Restrictions on Certain Activities
Certain of the Fund’s fundamental and, if any, non-fundamental policies set forth above prohibit transactions “except to the extent permitted by the 1940 Act, the rules and regulations thereunder and any applicable exemptive relief.” The following discussion summarizes the flexibility that the Fund currently gains from these exceptions. To the extent the 1940 Act or the rules and regulations thereunder may, in the future, be amended to provide greater flexibility, or to the extent the SEC may in the future grant exemptive relief providing greater flexibility, the Fund will be able to use that flexibility without seeking shareholder approval of its fundamental policies.
Borrowing money – The 1940 Act permits a Fund to borrow up to 33 1⁄3% of its total assets (including the amounts borrowed) from banks, plus an additional 5% of its total assets for temporary purposes, which may be borrowed from banks or other sources. The exception in the fundamental policy allows the Funds to borrow money subject to these conditions. Compliance with this limitation is not measured under the Time of Purchase Standard (meaning, a Fund may not exceed these thresholds including if, after borrowing, the Fund’s net assets decrease due to market fluctuations).
Buy or sell physical commodities – The 1940 Act does not directly limit a Fund’s ability to invest directly in physical commodities. However, a Fund’s direct and indirect investments in physical commodities may be limited by the Fund’s intention to qualify as a RIC, and can limit the Fund’s ability to so qualify. One of the requirements for favorable tax treatment as a RIC under the Code is that a Fund derive at least 90 percent of its gross income from certain qualifying sources of income. Income and gains from direct commodities investments, and from certain indirect investments therein, do not constitute qualifying income for this purpose. A Fund that qualifies for an exclusion from the definition of a commodity pool under the CEA and has on file a notice of exclusion under CFTC Rule 4.5 is limited in its ability to use certain financial instruments regulated under the CEA (“commodity interests”).
Investing in other investment companies – The 1940 Act, in summary, provides that a fund generally may not: (i) purchase more than 3% of the outstanding voting stock of another investment company; (ii) purchase securities issued by another investment company in an amount representing more than 5% of the investing fund’s total assets; or (iii) purchase securities issued by investment companies that in the aggregate represent more than 10% of the acquiring fund’s total assets (the “3, 5 and 10 Rule”). Affiliated funds-of-funds (i.e., those funds that invest in other funds within the same fund family), with respect to investments in such affiliated underlying funds, are not subject to the 3, 5 and 10 Rule and, therefore, may invest in affiliated underlying funds without restriction. A fund-of-funds may also invest its assets in unaffiliated funds, but the fund-of-funds generally may not purchase more than 3% of the outstanding voting stock of any one unaffiliated fund. Additionally, certain exceptions to these limitations apply to investments in money market open-end funds. If shares of the Fund are purchased by an affiliated fund beyond the 3, 5 and 10 Rule in reliance on Section 12(d)(1)(G) of the 1940 Act, for so long as shares of the Fund are held by such other affiliated fund beyond the 3, 5 and 10 Rule, the Fund will not purchase securities of a registered open-end investment company or registered unit investment trust in reliance on Section 12(d)(1)(F) or Section 12(d)(1)(G) of the 1940 Act. In December 2018, the SEC issued a proposed rulemaking package related to investments in other investment companies that, if adopted, could require the Funds to adjust their investments.
Issuing senior securities – A “senior security” is an obligation with respect to the earnings or assets of a company that takes precedence over the claims of that company’s common stock with respect to the same earnings or assets. The 1940 Act prohibits an open-end fund from issuing senior securities other than certain borrowings from a bank, but SEC staff interpretations allow a Fund to engage in certain types of transactions that otherwise might raise senior security concerns (such as short sales, buying and selling financial futures contracts and other derivative instruments and selling put and call options), provided that the Fund segregates or designates on the Fund’s books and records liquid assets, or, as permitted in accordance with SEC staff interpretations, otherwise covers the transaction with offsetting portfolio securities, in amounts sufficient to offset any liability associated with the transaction. The exception in the fundamental policy allows the Fund to operate in reliance upon these staff interpretations.
Making loans (Lending) – Under the 1940 Act, an open-end fund may loan money or property to persons who do not control and are not under common control with the Fund, except that a Fund may make loans to a wholly-owned subsidiary. In addition, the SEC staff takes the position that a Fund may not lend portfolio securities representing more than one-third of the Fund’s total
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value. A Fund must receive from the borrower collateral at least equal in value to the loaned securities, marked to market daily. The exception in the fundamental policy allows the Fund to make loans to third parties, including loans of its portfolio securities, subject to these conditions.
Selling securities short – A Fund may sell a security short by borrowing the security, then selling it to a third party. The Fund will eventually need to close out the short sale by buying the security and returning it, together with interest, to the party from whom the Fund borrowed the security. The SEC staff takes the position that, as described under “Issuing senior securities” above, a mutual fund must segregate or designate on the Fund’s books and records liquid assets with a value equal to, or otherwise cover the obligation to return, the security. The exception in the fundamental policy allows the Fund to sell securities short provided it designates liquid assets with a value equal to, or otherwise covers the obligation to return, the security.
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ABOUT FUND INVESTMENTS
Each Fund’s investment objective, principal investment strategies and related principal risks are discussed in each Fund’s prospectus. Each Fund’s prospectus identifies the types of securities in which the Fund invests principally and summarizes the principal risks to the Fund’s portfolio as a whole associated with such investments. Unless otherwise indicated in the prospectus or this SAI, the investment objective and policies of a Fund may be changed without shareholder approval.
To the extent that a type of security identified in the table below for a Fund is not described in the Fund’s prospectus (or as a sub-category of such security type in this SAI), the Fund generally invests in such security type, if at all, as part of its non-principal investment strategies.
Information about individual types of securities (including certain of their associated risks) in which some or all of the Funds may invest is set forth below. Each Fund may invest in these types of securities, subject to its investment objective and fundamental and non-fundamental investment policies. A Fund is not required to invest in any or all of the types of securities listed below.
Funds-of-funds invest in a combination of underlying funds, although they may also invest directly in stocks, bonds and other securities. These underlying funds have their own investment strategies and types of investments they are allowed to engage in and purchase. Funds-of-funds may invest directly or indirectly through investments in underlying funds, in securities and other instruments and may engage in the investment strategies indicated in the table below.
Certain Investment Activity Limits. The overall investment and other activities of the Investment Manager and its affiliates may limit the investment opportunities for each Fund in certain markets, industries or transactions or in individual issuers where limitations are imposed upon the aggregate amount of investment by the Funds and other accounts managed by the Investment Manager and accounts of its affiliates (collectively, affiliated investors). From time to time, each Fund’s activities also may be restricted because of regulatory restrictions applicable to the Investment Manager and its affiliates and/or because of their internal policies. See Investment Management and Other Services – Other Roles and Relationships of Ameriprise Financial and its Affiliates – Certain Conflicts of Interest.
Temporary Defensive Positions. Each Fund may from time to time take temporary defensive investment positions that may be inconsistent with the Fund’s principal investment strategies in attempting to respond to adverse market, economic, political, social or other conditions, including, without limitation investing some or all of its assets in money market instruments or shares of affiliated or unaffiliated money market funds or holding some or all of its assets in cash or cash equivalents. The Fund may take such defensive investment positions for as long a period as deemed necessary.
Other Strategic and Investment Measures. A Fund may also from time to time take temporary portfolio positions that may or may not be consistent with the Fund’s principal investment strategies in attempting to respond to adverse market, economic, political, social or other conditions, including, without limitation, investing in derivatives, such as forward contracts, futures contracts, options, structured investments and swaps, for various purposes, including among others, investing in particular derivatives in seeking to reduce investment exposure, or in seeking to achieve indirect investment exposure, to a sector, country, region or currency where the Investment Manager (or Fund subadviser, if applicable) believes such defensive positioning is appropriate. Each Fund may do so without limit and for as long a period as deemed necessary, when the Investment Manager or the Fund’s subadviser, if applicable: (i) believes that market conditions are not favorable for profitable investing or to avoid losses, (ii) is unable to locate favorable investment opportunities; or (iii) determines that a temporary defensive position is advisable or necessary in order to meet anticipated redemption requests, or for other reasons. While the Fund is so positioned, derivatives could comprise a substantial portion of the Fund’s investments and the Fund may not achieve its investment objective. Investing in this manner may adversely affect Fund performance. During these times, the portfolio managers may make frequent portfolio holding changes, which could result in increased trading expenses and taxes, and decreased Fund performance.
Types of Investments
A black circle indicates that the investment strategy or type of investment generally is authorized for a category of Funds. Exceptions are noted following the table. See About the Trust for fund investment categories.
| Type of Investment | Alternative and Fund-of-Funds – Alternative |
Equity
and Flexible |
Funds-of-Funds
– Equity and Fixed Income |
Taxable
Fixed Income(a) |
Tax-Exempt
Fixed Income |
| Asset-Backed Securities | • | • | • | • | • |
| Bank Obligations (Domestic and Foreign) | • | • | • | • | • |
| Collateralized Bond Obligations | • | • | • | • | • |
| Commercial Paper | • | • | • | • | • |
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| Type of Investment | Alternative and Fund-of-Funds – Alternative |
Equity
and Flexible |
Funds-of-Funds
– Equity and Fixed Income |
Taxable
Fixed Income(a) |
Tax-Exempt
Fixed Income |
| Common Stock | • | • | • | • | — |
| Convertible Securities | • | • | • | • | • |
| Corporate Debt Securities | • | • | • | • | • |
| Custody Receipts and Trust Certificates | • | • | • | • | • |
| Debt Obligations | • | • | • | • | • |
| Depositary Receipts | • | • | • | • | — |
| Derivatives | • | • | • | • | • |
| Dollar Rolls | • | • | • | • | • |
| Exchange-Traded Notes | • | • | • | • | • |
| Foreign Currency Transactions | • | • | • | • | • |
| Foreign Securities | • | • | • | • | • |
| Guaranteed Investment Contracts (Funding Agreements) | • | • | • | • | • |
| High-Yield Securities | • | • | • | • | • |
| Illiquid Investments | • | • | • | • | • |
| Inflation Protected Securities | • | • | • | • | • |
| Initial Public Offerings | • | • | • | • | • |
| Inverse Floaters | • | • | • | • | • |
| Investments in Other Investment Companies (Including ETFs) | • | • | • | • | • |
| Listed Private Equity Funds | • | • | • | • | • |
| Money Market Instruments | • | • | • | • | • |
| Mortgage-Backed Securities | • | • | • | • | • |
| Municipal Securities | • | • | • | • | • |
| Participation Interests | • | • | • | • | • |
| Partnership Securities | • | • | • | • | • |
| Preferred Stock | • | • | • | • | • |
| Private Placement and Other Restricted Securities | • | • | • | • | • |
| Real Estate Investment Trusts | • | • | • | • | • |
| Repurchase Agreements | • | • | • | • | • |
| Reverse Repurchase Agreements | • | • | • | • | • |
| Short Sales(b) | • | • | • | • | • |
| Sovereign Debt | • | • | • | • | • |
| Standby Commitments | • | • | • | • | • |
| U.S. Government and Related Obligations | • | • | • | • | • |
| Variable and Floating Rate Obligations | • | • | • | • | • |
| Warrants and Rights | • | • | • | • | • |
| (a) | Total Return Bond Fund is not authorized to purchase common stock or bank obligations. U.S. Treasury Index Fund is not authorized to purchase asset-backed securities, bank obligations, convertible securities, corporate debt obligations (other than money market instruments), depositary receipts, dollar rolls, foreign currency transactions, foreign securities, guaranteed investment contracts, inverse floaters, high-yield securities, mortgage-backed securities, municipal securities, participation interests, partnership securities, REITs, reverse repurchase agreements, short sales, sovereign debt and standby commitments. Ultra Short Term Bond is not authorized to purchase common stock, foreign currency transactions and short sales. |
| (b) | See Fundamental and Non-Fundamental Investment Policies for Funds that are not permitted to sell securities short. |
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Asset-Backed Securities
Asset-backed securities represent interests in, or debt instruments that are backed by, pools of various types of assets that generate cash payments generally over fixed periods of time, such as, among others, motor vehicle installment sales, contracts, installment loan contracts, leases of various types of real and personal property, and receivables from revolving (credit card) agreements. Such securities entitle the security holders to receive distributions (i.e., principal and interest) that are tied to the payments made by the borrower on the underlying assets (less fees paid to the originator, servicer, or other parties, and fees paid for credit enhancement), so that the payments made on the underlying assets effectively pass through to such security holders. Asset-backed securities typically are created by an originator of loans or owner of accounts receivable that sells such underlying assets to a special purpose entity in a process called a securitization. The special purpose entity issues securities that are backed by the payments on the underlying assets, and have a minimum denomination and specific term. Asset-backed securities may be structured as fixed-, variable- or floating-rate obligations or as zero-coupon, pay-in-kind and step-coupon securities and may be privately placed or publicly offered. Collateralized loan obligations (CLOs) and collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) are examples of asset-backed securities. See Types of Investments – Variable- and Floating-Rate Obligations, – Debt Obligations – Zero-Coupon, Pay-in-Kind and Step-Coupon Securities and – Private Placement and Other Restricted Securities for more information.
Although one or more of the other risks described in this SAI may also apply, the risks typically associated with asset-backed securities include: Credit Risk, Interest Rate Risk, Liquidity Risk and Prepayment and Extension Risk.
Bank Obligations (Domestic and Foreign)
Bank obligations include certificates of deposit, bankers’ acceptances, time deposits and promissory notes that earn a specified rate of return and may be issued by (i) a domestic branch of a domestic bank, (ii) a foreign branch of a domestic bank, (iii) a domestic branch of a foreign bank or (iv) a foreign branch of a foreign bank. Bank obligations may be structured as fixed-, variable- or floating-rate obligations. See Types of Investments – Variable- and Floating-Rate Obligations for more information.
Certificates of deposit, or so-called CDs, typically are interest-bearing debt instruments issued by banks and have maturities ranging from a few weeks to several years. Yankee dollar certificates of deposit are negotiable CDs issued in the United States by branches and agencies of foreign banks. Eurodollar certificates of deposit are CDs issued by foreign banks with interest and principal paid in U.S. dollars. Eurodollar and Yankee Dollar CDs typically have maturities of less than two years and have interest rates that typically are pegged to a reference rate, such as LIBOR or SOFR. Bankers’ acceptances are time drafts drawn on and accepted by banks, are a customary means of effecting payment for merchandise sold in import-export transactions and are a general source of financing. A time deposit can be either a savings account or CD that is an obligation of a financial institution for a fixed term. Typically, there are penalties for early withdrawals of time deposits. Promissory notes are written commitments of the maker to pay the payee a specified sum of money either on demand or at a fixed or determinable future date, with or without interest.
Bank investment contracts are issued by banks. Pursuant to such contracts, a Fund may make cash contributions to a deposit fund of a bank. The bank then credits to the Fund payments at floating or fixed interest rates. A Fund also may hold funds on deposit with its custodian for temporary purposes.
Certain bank obligations, such as some CDs, are insured by the FDIC up to certain specified limits. Many other bank obligations, however, are neither guaranteed nor insured by the FDIC or the U.S. Government. These bank obligations are “backed” only by the creditworthiness of the issuing bank or parent financial institution. Domestic and foreign banks are subject to different governmental regulation. Accordingly, certain obligations of foreign banks, including Eurodollar and Yankee dollar obligations, involve different and/or heightened investment risks than those affecting obligations of domestic banks, including, among others, the possibilities that: (i) their liquidity could be impaired because of political or economic developments; (ii) the obligations may be less marketable than comparable obligations of domestic banks; (iii) a foreign jurisdiction might impose withholding and other taxes at high levels on interest income; (iv) foreign deposits may be seized or nationalized; (v) foreign governmental restrictions such as exchange controls may be imposed, which could adversely affect the payment of principal and/or interest on those obligations; (vi) there may be less publicly available information concerning foreign banks issuing the obligations; and (vii) the reserve requirements and accounting, auditing and financial reporting standards, practices and requirements applicable to foreign banks may differ (including, less stringent) from those applicable to domestic banks. Foreign banks generally are not subject to examination by any U.S. Government agency or instrumentality. See Types of Investments – Foreign Securities.
Although one or more of the other risks described in this SAI may also apply, the risks typically associated with bank obligations include: Counterparty Risk, Credit Risk, Interest Rate Risk, Issuer Risk, Liquidity Risk, and Prepayment and Extension Risk.
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Collateralized Bond Obligations
Collateralized bond obligations (CBOs) are investment grade bonds backed by a pool of bonds, which may include junk bonds (which are considered speculative investments). CBOs are similar in concept to collateralized mortgage obligations (CMOs), but differ in that CBOs represent different degrees of credit quality rather than different maturities. (See Types of Investments – Mortgage-Backed Securities and – Asset-Backed Securities.) CBOs are often privately offered and sold, and thus not registered under the federal securities laws.
Underwriters of CBOs package a large and diversified pool of high-risk, high-yield junk bonds, which is then structured into “tranches.” Typically, the first tranche represents a senior claim on collateral and pays the lowest interest rate; the second tranche is junior to the first tranche and therefore subject to greater risk and pays a higher rate; the third tranche is junior to both the first and second tranche, represents the lowest credit quality and instead of receiving a fixed interest rate receives the residual interest payments — money that is left over after the higher tranches have been paid. CBOs, like CMOs, are substantially overcollateralized and this, plus the diversification of the pool backing them, may earn certain of the tranches investment-grade bond ratings. Holders of third-tranche CBOs stand to earn higher or lower yields depending on the rate of defaults in the collateral pool. See Types of Investments – High-Yield Securities.
Although one or more of the other risks described in this SAI may also apply, the risks typically associated with CBOs include: Credit Risk, Interest Rate Risk, Liquidity Risk, High-Yield Securities Risk and Prepayment and Extension Risk.
Commercial Paper
Commercial paper is a short-term debt obligation, usually sold on a discount basis, with a maturity ranging from 2 to 270 days issued by banks, corporations and other borrowers. It is sold to investors with temporary idle cash as a way to increase returns on a short-term basis. These instruments are generally unsecured, which increases the credit risk associated with this type of investment. See Types of Investments — Debt Obligations and — Illiquid Investments. See Appendix A for a discussion of securities ratings.
Although one or more of the other risks described in this SAI may also apply, the risks typically associated with commercial paper include: Credit Risk and Liquidity Risk.
Common Stock
Common stock represents a unit of equity ownership of a corporation. Owners typically are entitled to vote on the selection of directors and other important corporate governance matters, and to receive dividend payments, if any, on their holdings. However, ownership of common stock does not entitle owners to participate in the day-to-day operations of the corporation. Common stocks of domestic and foreign public corporations can be listed, and their shares traded, on domestic stock exchanges, such as the NYSE or the NASDAQ Stock Market. Domestic and foreign corporations also may have their shares traded on foreign exchanges, such as the London Stock Exchange or Tokyo Stock Exchange. See Types of Investments – Foreign Securities. Common stock may be privately placed or publicly offered. The price of common stock is generally determined by corporate earnings, type of products or services offered, projected growth rates, experience of management, liquidity, and market conditions generally. In the event that a corporation declares bankruptcy or is liquidated, the claims of secured and unsecured creditors and owners of bonds and preferred stock take precedence over the claims of those who own common stock. See Types of Investments – Private Placement and Other Restricted Securities, – Preferred Stock and – Convertible Securities for more information.
Although one or more of the other risks described in this SAI may also apply, the risks typically associated with common stock include: Issuer Risk and Market Risk.
Convertible Securities
Convertible securities include bonds, debentures, notes, preferred stocks or other securities that may be converted or exchanged (by the holder or by the issuer) into shares of the underlying common stock (or cash or securities of equivalent value) at a stated exchange ratio or predetermined price (the conversion price). As such, convertible securities combine the investment characteristics of debt securities and equity securities. A holder of convertible securities is entitled to receive the income of a bond, debenture or note or the dividend of a preferred stock until the conversion privilege is exercised. The market value of convertible securities generally is a function of, among other factors, interest rates, the rates of return of similar nonconvertible securities and the financial strength of the issuer. The market value of convertible securities tends to decline as interest rates rise and, conversely, to rise as interest rates decline. However, a convertible security’s market value tends to reflect the market price of the common stock of the issuing company when that stock price approaches or is greater than its conversion price. As the market price of the underlying common stock declines, the price of the convertible security tends to be influenced more by the rate of return of the convertible security. Because both interest rate and common stock’s market movements can influence their value, convertible securities generally are not as sensitive to changes in interest rates as similar non-convertible debt securities nor generally as sensitive to changes in share price as the underlying common stock. Convertible securities may be structured as
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fixed-, variable- or floating-rate obligations or as zero-coupon, pay-in-kind and step-coupon securities and may be privately placed or publicly offered. See Types of Investments — Variable- and Floating-Rate Obligations, — Debt Obligations - Zero-Coupon, Pay-in-Kind and Step-Coupon Securities, — Common Stock, — Corporate Debt Securities and — Private Placement and Other Restricted Securities for more information.
Certain convertible securities may have a mandatory conversion feature, pursuant to which the securities convert automatically into common stock or other equity securities (of the same or a different issuer) at a specified date and at a specified exchange ratio. Certain convertible securities may be convertible at the option of the issuer, which may require a holder to convert the security into the underlying common stock, even at times when the value of the underlying common stock or other equity security has declined substantially. In addition, some convertible securities may be rated below investment grade or may not be rated and, therefore, may be considered speculative investments. Companies that issue convertible securities frequently are small- and mid-capitalization companies and, accordingly, carry the risks associated with such companies. In addition, the credit rating of a company’s convertible securities generally is lower than that of its conventional debt securities. Convertible securities are senior to equity securities and have a claim to the assets of an issuer prior to the holders of the issuer’s common stock in the event of liquidation but generally are subordinate to similar non-convertible debt securities of the same issuer. Some convertible securities are particularly sensitive to changes in interest rates when their predetermined conversion price is much higher than the price for the issuing company’s common stock.
Although one or more of the other risks described in this SAI may also apply, the risks typically associated with convertible securities include: Convertible Securities Risk, Interest Rate Risk, Issuer Risk, Market Risk, Prepayment and Extension Risk, and Reinvestment Risk.
Corporate Debt Securities
Corporate debt securities are long and short term fixed income securities typically issued by businesses to finance their operations. Corporate debt securities are issued by public or private companies, as distinct from debt securities issued by a government or its agencies. The issuer of a corporate debt security often has a contractual obligation to pay interest at a stated rate on specific dates and to repay principal periodically or on a specified maturity date. Corporate debt securities typically have four distinguishing features: (1) they are taxable; (2) they have a par value of $1,000; (3) they have a term maturity, which means they come due at a specified time period; and (4) many are traded on major securities exchanges. Notes, bonds, debentures and commercial paper are the most common types of corporate debt securities, with the primary difference being their interest rates, maturity dates and secured or unsecured status. Commercial paper has the shortest term and usually is unsecured, as are debentures. The broad category of corporate debt securities includes debt issued by domestic or foreign companies of all kinds, including those with small-, mid- and large-capitalizations. The category also includes bank loans, as well as assignments, participations and other interests in bank loans. Corporate debt securities may be rated investment grade or below investment grade and may be structured as fixed-, variable or floating-rate obligations or as zero-coupon, pay-in-kind and step-coupon securities and may be privately placed or publicly offered. They may also be senior or subordinated obligations. See Appendix A for a discussion of securities ratings. See Types of Investments — Variable- and Floating-Rate Obligations, — Private Placement and Other Restricted Securities, — Debt Obligations, — Commercial Paper and — High-Yield Securities for more information.
Extendible commercial notes (ECNs) are very similar to commercial paper except that, with ECNs, the issuer has the option to extend the notes’ maturity. ECNs are issued at a discount rate, with an initial redemption of not more than 90 days from the date of issue. If ECNs are not redeemed by the issuer on the initial redemption date, the issuer will pay a premium (step-up) rate based on the ECN’s credit rating at the time.
Because of the wide range of types and maturities of corporate debt securities, as well as the range of creditworthiness of issuers, corporate debt securities can have widely varying risk/return profiles. For example, commercial paper issued by a large established domestic corporation that is rated by an NRSRO as investment grade may have a relatively modest return on principal but present relatively limited risk. On the other hand, a long-term corporate note issued, for example, by a small foreign corporation from an emerging market country that has not been rated by an NRSRO may have the potential for relatively large returns on principal but carries a relatively high degree of risk.
Although one or more of the other risks described in this SAI may also apply, the risks typically associated with corporate debt securities include: Credit Risk, Interest Rate Risk, Issuer Risk, High-Yield Securities Risk, Prepayment and Extension Risk and Reinvestment Risk.
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Custody Receipts and Trust Certificates
Custody receipts and trust certificates are derivative products that evidence direct ownership in a pool of securities. Typically, a sponsor will deposit a pool of securities with a custodian in exchange for custody receipts evidencing interests in those securities. The sponsor generally then will sell the custody receipts or trust certificates in negotiated transactions at varying prices. Each custody receipt or trust certificate evidences the individual securities in the pool and the holder of a custody receipt or trust certificate generally will have all the rights and privileges of owners of those securities.
Although one or more of the other risks described in this SAI may also apply, the risks typically associated with custody receipts and trust certificates include: Liquidity Risk and Counterparty Risk. In addition, custody receipts and trust certificates generally are subject to the same risks as the securities evidenced by the receipts or certificates.
Debt Obligations
Many different types of debt obligations exist (for example, bills, bonds, and notes). Issuers of debt obligations have a contractual obligation to pay interest at a fixed, variable or floating rate on specified dates and to repay principal by a specified maturity date. Certain debt obligations (usually intermediate and long-term bonds) have provisions that allow the issuer to redeem or “call” a bond before its maturity. Issuers are most likely to call these securities during periods of falling interest rates. When this happens, an investor may have to replace these securities with lower yielding securities, which could result in a lower return.
The market value of debt obligations is affected primarily by changes in prevailing interest rates and the issuer’s perceived ability to repay the debt. The market value of a debt obligation generally reacts inversely to interest rate changes. When prevailing interest rates decline, the market value of the bond usually rises, and when prevailing interest rates rise, the market value of the bond usually declines.
In general, the longer the maturity of a debt obligation, the higher its yield and the greater the sensitivity to changes in interest rates. Conversely, the shorter the maturity, the lower the yield and the lower the sensitivity to changes in interest rates.
As noted, the values of debt obligations also may be affected by changes in the credit rating or financial condition of their issuers. Generally, the lower the quality rating of a security, the higher the degree of risk as to the payment of interest and return of principal. To compensate investors for taking on such increased risk, those issuers deemed to be less creditworthy generally must offer their investors higher interest rates than do issuers with better credit ratings. See Types of Investments — Corporate Debt Securities, — High-Yield Securities and — Preferred Stock - Trust-Preferred Securities for information.
Event-Linked Instruments/Catastrophe Bonds. A Fund may obtain event-linked exposure by investing in “event-linked bonds” or “event-linked swaps” or by implementing “event-linked strategies.” Event-linked exposure results in gains or losses that typically are contingent on, or formulaically related to, defined trigger events. Examples of trigger events include hurricanes, earthquakes, weather-related phenomena or statistics relating to such events. Some event-linked bonds are commonly referred to as “catastrophe bonds.” If a trigger event occurs, the principal amount of the bond is reduced (potentially to zero), and a Fund may lose all or a portion of its entire principal invested in the bond or the entire notional amount on a swap.
Stripped Securities. Stripped securities are the separate income or principal payments of a debt security and evidence ownership in either the future interest or principal payments on an instrument. There are many different types and variations of stripped securities. For example, Separate Trading of Registered Interest and Principal Securities (STRIPS) can be component parts of a U.S. Treasury security where the principal and interest components are traded independently through DTC, a clearing agency registered pursuant to Section 17A of the 1934 Act and created to hold securities for its participants, and to facilitate the clearance and settlement of securities transactions between participants through electronic computerized book-entries, thereby eliminating the need for physical movement of certificates. Treasury Investor Growth Receipts (TIGERs) are U.S. Treasury securities stripped by brokers. Stripped mortgage-backed securities, (SMBS) also can be issued by the U.S. Government or its agencies. Stripped securities may be structured as fixed-, variable- or floating-rate obligations.
SMBS usually are structured with two or more classes that receive different proportions of the interest and principal distributions from a pool of mortgage-backed assets. Common types of SMBS will be structured so that one class receives some of the interest and most of the principal from the mortgage-backed assets, while another class receives most of the interest and the remainder of the principal.
See Types of Investments – Mortgage-Backed Securities, – Variable- and Floating-Rate Obligations and – U.S. Government and Related Obligations for more information.
Although one or more of the other risks described in this SAI may also apply, the risks typically associated with stripped securities include: Credit Risk, Interest Rate Risk, Liquidity Risk, Prepayment and Extension Risk and Stripped Securities Risk
When-Issued, Delayed Delivery and Forward Commitment Transactions. When-issued, delayed delivery and forward commitment transactions involve the purchase or sale of securities by a Fund, with payment and delivery taking place in the future after the customary settlement period for that type of security. Normally, the settlement date occurs within 45 days of the
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 25 |
purchase although in some cases settlement may take longer. The investor does not pay for the securities or receive dividends or interest on them until the contractual settlement date. When engaging in when-issued, delayed delivery and forward commitment transactions, a Fund typically will designate liquid assets in an amount equal to or greater than the purchase price. The payment obligation and, if applicable, the interest rate that will be received on the securities, are fixed at the time that a Fund agrees to purchase the securities. A Fund generally will enter into when-issued, delayed delivery and forward commitment transactions only with the intention of completing such transactions.
However, a Fund’s portfolio manager may determine not to complete a transaction if he or she deems it appropriate to close out the transaction prior to its completion. In such cases, a Fund may realize short-term gains or losses. See Types of Investments — Asset-Backed Securities and — Mortgage-Backed Securities for more information.
To Be Announced Securities (“TBAs”). As with other delayed delivery transactions, a seller agrees to issue a TBA security at a future date. However, the seller does not specify the particular securities to be delivered. Instead, the Fund agrees to accept any security that meets specified terms. For example, in a TBA mortgage-backed security transaction, the Fund and the seller would agree upon the issuer, interest rate and terms of the underlying mortgages. The seller would not identify the specific underlying mortgages until it issues the security. TBA mortgage-backed securities increase market risks because the underlying mortgages may be less favorable than anticipated by the Fund. See Types of Investments — Asset-Backed Securities and — Mortgage-Backed Securities for more information. In order to better define contractual rights and to secure rights that will help a Fund mitigate their counterparty risk, TBA transactions may be entered into by a Fund under Master Securities Forward Transaction Agreements (each, an “MSFTA”). An MSFTA typically contains, among other things, collateral posting terms and netting provisions in the event of default and/or termination event. The collateral requirements are typically calculated by netting the mark-to-market amount for each transaction under such agreement and comparing that amount to the value of the collateral currently pledged by a fund and the counterparty. To the extent amounts due to a Fund are not fully collateralized, contractually or otherwise, a Fund bears the risk of loss from counterparty non-performance.
Although one or more of the other risks described in this SAI may also apply, the risks typically associated with when-issued, delayed delivery and forward commitment transactions include: Counterparty Risk, Credit Risk and Market Risk.
Zero-Coupon, Pay-in-Kind and Step-Coupon Securities. Zero-coupon, pay-in-kind and step-coupon securities are types of debt instruments that do not necessarily make payments of interest in fixed amounts or at fixed intervals. Asset-backed securities, convertible securities, corporate debt securities, foreign securities, high-yield securities, mortgage-backed securities, municipal securities, participation interests, stripped securities, U.S. Government and related obligations and other types of debt instruments may be structured as zero-coupon, pay-in-kind and step-coupon securities.
Zero-coupon securities do not pay interest on a current basis but instead accrue interest over the life of the security. These securities include, among others, zero-coupon bonds, which either may be issued at a discount by a corporation or government entity or may be created by a brokerage firm when it strips the coupons from a bond or note and then sells the bond or note and the coupon separately. This technique is used frequently with U.S. Treasury bonds, and zero-coupon securities are marketed under such names as CATS (Certificate of Accrual on Treasury Securities), TIGERs or STRIPS. Zero-coupon bonds also are issued by municipalities. Buying a municipal zero-coupon bond frees its purchaser of the obligation to pay regular federal income tax on imputed interest, since the interest is exempt for regular federal income tax purposes. Zero-coupon certificates of deposit and zero-coupon mortgages are generally structured in the same fashion as zero-coupon bonds; the certificate of deposit holder or mortgage holder receives face value at maturity and no payments until then.
Pay-in-kind securities normally give the issuer an option to pay cash at a coupon payment date or to give the holder of the security a similar security with the same coupon rate and a face value equal to the amount of the coupon payment that would have been made.
Step-coupon securities trade at a discount from their face value and pay coupon interest that gradually increases over time. The coupon rate is paid according to a schedule for a series of periods, typically lower for an initial period and then increasing to a higher coupon rate thereafter. The discount from the face amount or par value depends on the time remaining until cash payments begin, prevailing interest rates, liquidity of the security and the perceived credit quality of the issue.
Zero-coupon, pay-in-kind and step-coupon securities holders generally have substantially all the rights and privileges of holders of the underlying coupon obligations or principal obligations. Holders of these securities typically have the right upon default on the underlying coupon obligations or principal obligations to proceed directly and individually against the issuer and are not required to act in concert with other holders of such securities.
See Appendix A for a discussion of securities ratings. See Types of Investments — Asset-Backed Securities and — Mortgage-Backed Securities for more information.
Although one or more of the other risks described in this SAI may also apply, the risks typically associated with zero-coupon, step-coupon, and pay-in-kind securities include: Credit Risk, Interest Rate Risk and Zero-Coupon Bonds Risk.
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Determining Investment Grade for Purposes of Investment Policies. Unless otherwise stated in the Fund’s prospectus, when determining, under a Fund’s investment policies, whether a debt instrument is investment grade or below investment grade for purposes of purchase by the Fund, the Fund will apply a particular credit quality rating methodology, as described within the Fund’s shareholder reports, when available. These methodologies typically make use of credit quality ratings assigned by a third-party rating agency or agencies, when available. Credit quality ratings assigned by a rating agency are subjective opinions, not statements of fact, and are subject to change, including daily. Credit quality ratings apply to the Fund’s debt instrument investments and not the Fund itself.
Ratings limitations under a Fund’s investment policies are applied at the time of purchase by a Fund. Subsequent to purchase, a debt instrument may cease to be rated by a rating agency or its rating may be reduced by a rating agency(ies) below the minimum required for purchase by a Fund. Neither event will require the sale of such debt instrument, but it may be a factor in considering whether to continue to hold the instrument. Unless otherwise stated in a Fund’s prospectus or in this SAI, a Fund may invest in debt instruments that are not rated by a rating agency. When a debt instrument is not rated by a rating agency, the Investment Manager or, as applicable, a Fund subadviser determines, at the time of purchase, whether such debt instrument is of investment grade or below investment grade (e.g., junk bond) quality. A Fund’s debt instrument holdings that are not rated by a rating agency are typically referred to as “Not Rated” within the Fund’s shareholder reports.
See Appendix A for a discussion of securities ratings.
Although one or more of the other risks described in this SAI may also apply, the risks typically associated with debt obligations include: Confidential Information Access Risk, Credit Risk, Highly Leveraged Transactions Risk, Impairment of Collateral Risk, Interest Rate Risk, Issuer Risk, Liquidity Risk, Prepayment and Extension Risk and Reinvestment Risk.
Determining Average Maturity. When determining the average maturity of a Fund's portfolio, the Fund may use the effective maturity of a portfolio security by, among other things, adjusting for interest rate reset dates, call dates or “put” dates.
Depositary Receipts
See Types of Investments – Foreign Securities below.
Derivatives
General
Derivatives are financial instruments whose values are based on (or “derived” from) traditional securities (such as a stock or a bond), assets (such as a commodity, like gold), reference rates (such as LIBOR and SOFR), market indices (such as the S&P 500® Index) or customized baskets of securities or instruments. Some forms of derivatives, such as exchange-traded futures and options on securities, commodities, or indices, are traded on regulated exchanges. These types of derivatives are standardized contracts that can easily be bought and sold, and whose market values are determined and published daily. Non-standardized derivatives, on the other hand, tend to be more specialized or complex, and may be harder to value. Many derivative instruments often require little or no initial payment and therefore often create inherent economic leverage. Derivatives, when used properly, can enhance returns and be useful in hedging portfolios and managing risk. Some common types of derivatives include futures; options; options on futures; forward foreign currency exchange contracts; forward contracts on securities and securities indices; linked securities and structured products; CMOs; swap agreements and swaptions.
A Fund may use derivatives for a variety of reasons, including, for example: (i) to enhance its return; (ii) to attempt to protect against possible unfavorable changes in the market value of securities held in or to be purchased for its portfolio resulting from securities markets or currency exchange rate fluctuations (i.e., to hedge); (iii) to protect its unrealized gains reflected in the value of its portfolio securities; (iv) to facilitate the sale of such securities for investment purposes; (v) to reduce transaction costs; (vi) to manage the effective maturity or duration of its portfolio; and/or (vii) to maintain cash reserves while remaining fully invested.
Certain Funds may employ portfolio margining with respect to derivatives investments, which creates leverage in a Fund’s portfolio (subjecting the Fund to Leverage Risk). Portfolio margining is a methodology that computes margin requirements for an account based on the greatest projected net loss of all positions in a product class or group, and uses computer modeling to perform risk analysis using multiple pricing scenarios. The pricing scenarios are designed to measure the theoretical loss of the positions, given changes in the underlying price and implied volatility inputs to the model. Accordingly, the margin required is based on the greatest loss that would be incurred in a portfolio if the value of its components move up or down by a predetermined amount.
A Fund may use any or all of the above investment techniques and may purchase different types of derivative instruments at any time and in any combination. The use of derivatives is a function of numerous variables, including market conditions. See also Types of Investments — Warrants and Rights and — Debt Obligations - When Issued, Delayed Delivery and Forward Commitment Transactions.
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Although one or more of the other risks described in this SAI may also apply, the risks typically associated with transactions in derivatives (including the derivatives instruments discussed below) include: Counterparty Risk, Credit Risk, Interest Rate Risk, Leverage Risk, Liquidity Risk, Market Risk, Derivatives Risk, Derivatives Risk – Forward Contracts Risk, Derivatives Risk – Futures Contracts Risk, Derivatives Risk – Inverse Floaters Risk, Derivatives Risk – Options Risk, Derivatives Risk – Structured Investments Risk and/or Derivatives Risk – Swaps Risk.
Structured Investments (Indexed or Linked Securities)
General. Indexed or linked securities, also often referred to as “structured products,” are instruments that may have varying combinations of equity and debt characteristics. These instruments are structured to recast the investment characteristics of the underlying security or reference asset. If the issuer is a unit investment trust or other special purpose vehicle, the structuring will typically involve the deposit with or purchase by such issuer of specified instruments (such as commercial bank loans or securities) and/or the execution of various derivative transactions, and the issuance by that entity of one or more classes of securities (structured securities) backed by, or representing interests in, the underlying instruments. The cash flow on the underlying instruments may be apportioned among the newly issued structured securities to create securities with different investment characteristics, such as varying maturities, payment priorities and interest rate provisions, and the extent of such payments made with respect to structured securities is dependent on the extent of the cash flow on the underlying instruments.
Indexed and Inverse Floating Rate Securities. A Fund may invest in securities that provide a potential return based on a particular index or interest rates. For example, a Fund may invest in debt securities that pay interest based on an index of interest rates. The principal amount payable upon maturity of certain securities also may be based on the value of the index. To the extent a Fund invests in these types of securities, a Fund’s return on such securities will rise and fall with the value of the particular index: that is, if the value of the index falls, the value of the indexed securities owned by a Fund will fall. Interest and principal payable on certain securities may also be based on relative changes among particular indices.
A Fund may also invest in so-called “inverse floaters” or “residual interest bonds” on which the interest rates vary inversely with a floating rate (which may be reset periodically by a dutch auction, a remarketing agent, or by reference to a short-term tax-exempt interest rate index). A Fund may purchase synthetically-created inverse floating rate bonds evidenced by custodial or trust receipts. A trust funds the purchase of a bond by issuing two classes of certificates: short-term floating rate notes (typically sold to third parties) and the inverse floaters (also known as residual certificates). No additional income beyond that provided by the trust’s underlying bond is created; rather, that income is merely divided-up between the two classes of certificates. Generally, income on inverse floating rate bonds will decrease when interest rates increase, and will increase when interest rates decrease. Such securities can have the effect of providing a degree of investment leverage, since they may increase or decrease in value in response to changes in market interest rates at a rate that is a multiple of the actual rate at which fixed-rate securities increase or decrease in response to such changes. As a result, the market values of such securities will generally be more volatile than the market values of fixed-rate securities. To seek to limit the volatility of these securities, a Fund may purchase inverse floating obligations that have shorter-term maturities or that contain limitations on the extent to which the interest rate may vary. Certain investments in such obligations may be illiquid. Furthermore, where such a security includes a contingent liability, in the event of an adverse movement in the underlying index or interest rate, a Fund may be required to pay substantial additional margin to maintain the position.
Credit-Linked Securities. Among the income-producing securities in which a Fund may invest are credit linked securities. The issuers of these securities frequently are limited purpose trusts or other special purpose vehicles that, in turn, invest in a derivative instrument or basket of derivative instruments, such as credit default swaps, interest rate swaps and other securities, in order to provide exposure to certain fixed income markets. For instance, a Fund may invest in credit-linked securities as a cash management tool in order to gain exposure to a certain market and/or to remain fully invested when more traditional income-producing securities are not available. Like an investment in a bond, investments in these credit linked securities represent the right to receive periodic income payments (in the form of distributions) and payment of principal at the end of the term of the security. However, these payments are conditioned on or linked to the issuer’s receipt of payments from, and the issuer’s potential obligations to, the counterparties to the derivative instruments and other securities in which the issuer invests. For instance, the issuer may sell one or more credit default swaps, under which the issuer would receive a stream of payments over the term of the swap agreements provided that no event of default has occurred with respect to the referenced debt obligation upon which the swap is based. If a default occurs, the stream of payments may stop and the issuer would be obligated to pay the counterparty the par (or other agreed upon value) of the referenced debt obligation. This, in turn, would reduce the amount of income and/or principal that a Fund would receive. A Fund’s investments in these securities are indirectly subject to the risks associated with derivative instruments. These securities generally are exempt from registration under the 1933 Act. Accordingly, there may be no established trading market for the securities and they may be illiquid.
Equity-Linked Notes. An equity-linked note (ELN) is a debt instrument whose value is based on the value of a single equity security, basket of equity securities or an index of equity securities (each, an Underlying Equity). An ELN typically provides interest income, thereby offering a yield advantage over investing directly in an Underlying Equity. The Fund may purchase
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ELNs that trade on a securities exchange or those that trade on the over-the-counter markets, including Rule 144A securities. The Fund may also purchase ELNs in a privately negotiated transaction with the issuer of the ELNs (or its broker-dealer affiliate). The Fund may or may not hold an ELN until its maturity.
Equity-linked securities also include issues such as Structured Yield Product Exchangeable for Stock (STRYPES), Trust Automatic Common Exchange Securities (TRACES), Trust Issued Mandatory Exchange Securities (TIMES) and Trust Enhanced Dividend Securities (TRENDS). The issuers of these equity-linked securities generally purchase and hold a portfolio of stripped U.S. Treasury securities maturing on a quarterly basis through the conversion date, and a forward purchase contract with an existing shareholder of the company relating to the common stock. Quarterly distributions on such equity-linked securities generally consist of the cash received from the U.S. Treasury securities and such equity-linked securities generally are not entitled to any dividends that may be declared on the common stock.
ELNs also include participation notes issued by a bank or broker-dealer that entitles the Fund to a return measured by the change in value of an Underlying Equity. Participation notes are typically used when a direct investment in the Underlying Equity is restricted due to country-specific regulations. Investment in a participation note is not the same as investment in the constituent shares of the company (or other issuer type) to which the Underlying Equity is economically tied. A participation note represents only an obligation of the company or other issuer type to provide the Fund the economic performance equivalent to holding shares of the Underlying Equity. A participation note does not provide any beneficial or equitable entitlement or interest in the relevant Underlying Equity. In other words, shares of the Underlying Equity are not in any way owned by the Fund.
Although one or more of the other risks described in this SAI may also apply, the risks typically associated with equity-linked notes include: Counterparty Risk, Credit Risk, Liquidity Risk and Market Risk.
Index-, Commodity- and Currency-Linked Securities. “Index-linked” or “commodity-linked” notes are debt securities of companies that call for interest payments and/or payment at maturity in different terms than the typical note where the borrower agrees to make fixed interest payments and to pay a fixed sum at maturity. Principal and/or interest payments on an index-linked or commodity-linked note depend on the performance of one or more market indices, such as the S&P 500® Index, a weighted index of commodity futures such as crude oil, gasoline and natural gas or the market prices of a particular commodity or basket of commodities or securities. Currency-linked debt securities are short-term or intermediate-term instruments having a value at maturity, and/or an interest rate, determined by reference to one or more foreign currencies. Payment of principal or periodic interest may be calculated as a multiple of the movement of one currency against another currency, or against an index.
Index-, commodity- and currency-linked securities may entail substantial risks. Such instruments may be subject to significant price volatility. The company issuing the instrument may fail to pay the amount due on maturity. The underlying investment may not perform as expected by a Fund’s portfolio manager. Markets and underlying investments and indexes may move in a direction that was not anticipated by a Fund’s portfolio manager. Performance of the derivatives may be influenced by interest rate and other market changes in the United States and abroad, and certain derivative instruments may be illiquid.
Linked securities are often issued by unit investment trusts. Examples of this include such index-linked securities as S&P Depositary Receipts (SPDRs), which is an interest in a unit investment trust holding a portfolio of securities linked to the S&P 500® Index, and a type of exchange-traded fund (ETF). Because a unit investment trust is an investment company under the 1940 Act, a Fund’s investments in SPDRs are subject to the limitations set forth in Section 12(d)(1)(A) of the 1940 Act, although the SEC has issued exemptive relief permitting investment companies such as the Funds to invest beyond the limits of Section 12(d)(1)(A) subject to certain conditions. SPDRs generally closely track the underlying portfolio of securities, trade like a share of common stock and pay periodic dividends proportionate to those paid by the portfolio of stocks that comprise the S&P 500® Index. As a holder of interests in a unit investment trust, a Fund would indirectly bear its ratable share of that unit investment trust’s expenses. At the same time, a Fund would continue to pay its own management and advisory fees and other expenses, as a result of which a Fund and its shareholders in effect would be absorbing levels of fees with respect to investments in such unit investment trusts.
Because linked securities typically involve no credit enhancement, their credit risk generally will be equivalent to that of the underlying instruments. Investments in structured products may be structured as a class that is either subordinated or unsubordinated to the right of payment of another class. Subordinated linked securities typically have higher rates of return and present greater risks than unsubordinated structured products. Structured products sometimes are sold in private placement transactions and often have a limited trading market.
Investments in linked securities have the potential to lead to significant losses because of unexpected movements in the underlying financial asset, index, currency or other investment. The ability of a Fund to utilize linked securities successfully will depend on its ability correctly to predict pertinent market movements, which cannot be assured. Because currency-linked securities usually relate to foreign currencies, some of which may be currencies from emerging market countries, there are certain additional risks associated with such investments.
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Futures Contracts and Options on Futures Contracts
Futures Contracts. A futures contract sale creates an obligation by the seller to deliver the type of security or other asset called for in the contract at a specified delivery time for a stated price. A futures contract purchase creates an obligation by the purchaser to take delivery of the type of security or other asset called for in the contract at a specified delivery time for a stated price. The specific security or other asset delivered or taken at the settlement date is not determined until on or near that date. The determination is made in accordance with the rules of the exchange on which the futures contract was made. A Fund may enter into futures contracts which are traded on national or foreign futures exchanges and are standardized as to maturity date and underlying security or other asset. Futures exchanges and trading in the United States are regulated under the CEA by the CFTC, a U.S. Government agency. See CFTC Regulation below for information on CFTC regulation.
Traders in futures contracts may be broadly classified as either “hedgers” or “speculators.” Hedgers use the futures markets primarily to offset unfavorable changes (anticipated or potential) in the value of securities or other assets currently owned or expected to be acquired by them. Speculators less often own the securities or other assets underlying the futures contracts which they trade, and generally use futures contracts with the expectation of realizing profits from fluctuations in the value of the underlying securities or other assets.
Upon entering into futures contracts, in compliance with regulatory requirements, cash or liquid securities, at least equal in value to the amount of a Fund’s obligation under the contract (less any applicable margin deposits and any assets that constitute “cover” for such obligation), will be designated in a Fund’s books and records.
Unlike when a Fund purchases or sells a security, no price is paid or received by a Fund upon the purchase or sale of a futures contract, although a Fund is required to deposit with its custodian in a segregated account in the name of the futures broker an amount of cash and/or U.S. Government securities in order to initiate and maintain open positions in futures contracts. This amount is known as “initial margin.” The nature of initial margin in futures transactions is different from that of margin in security transactions, in that futures contract margin does not involve the borrowing of funds by a Fund to finance the transactions. Rather, initial margin is in the nature of a performance bond or good faith deposit intended to assure completion of the contract (delivery or acceptance of the underlying security or other asset) that is returned to a Fund upon termination of the futures contract, assuming all contractual obligations have been satisfied. Minimum initial margin requirements are established by the relevant futures exchange and may be changed. Brokers may establish deposit requirements which are higher than the exchange minimums. Futures contracts are customarily purchased and sold on margin which may range upward from less than 5% of the value of the contract being traded. Subsequent payments, called “variation margin,” to and from the broker (or the custodian) are made on a daily basis as the price of the underlying security or other asset fluctuates, a process known as “marking to market.” If the futures contract price changes to the extent that the margin on deposit does not satisfy margin requirements, payment of additional variation margin will be required. Conversely, a change in the contract value may reduce the required margin, resulting in a repayment of excess margin to the contract holder. Variation margin payments are made for as long as the contract remains open. A Fund expects to earn interest income on its margin deposits.
Although futures contracts by their terms call for actual delivery or acceptance of securities or other assets (stock index futures contracts or futures contracts that reference other intangible assets do not permit delivery of the referenced assets), the contracts usually are closed out before the settlement date without the making or taking of delivery. A Fund may elect to close some or all of its futures positions at any time prior to their expiration. The purpose of taking such action would be to reduce or eliminate the position then currently held by a Fund. Closing out an open futures position is done by taking an opposite position (“buying” a contract which has previously been “sold,” “selling” a contract previously “purchased”) in an identical contract (i.e., the same aggregate amount of the specific type of security or other asset with the same delivery date) to terminate the position. Final determinations are made as to whether the price of the initial sale of the futures contract exceeds or is below the price of the offsetting purchase, or whether the purchase price exceeds or is below the offsetting sale price. Final determinations of variation margin are then made, additional cash is required to be paid by or released to a Fund, and a Fund realizes a loss or a gain. Brokerage commissions are incurred when a futures contract is bought or sold.
Successful use of futures contracts by a Fund is subject to its portfolio manager’s ability to predict correctly movements in the direction of interest rates and other factors affecting securities and commodities markets. This requires different skills and techniques than those required to predict changes in the prices of individual securities. A Fund, therefore, bears the risk that future market trends will be incorrectly predicted.
The risk of loss in trading futures contracts in some strategies can be substantial, due both to the relatively low margin deposits required and the potential for an extremely high degree of leverage involved in futures contracts. As a result, a relatively small price movement in a futures contract may result in an immediate and substantial loss to the investor. For example, if at the time of purchase, 10% of the value of the futures contract is deposited as margin, a subsequent 10% decrease in the value of the
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futures contract would result in a total loss of the margin deposit, before any deduction for the transaction costs, if the account were then closed out. A 15% decrease would result in a loss equal to 150% of the original margin deposit if the contract were closed out. Thus, a purchase or sale of a futures contract may result in losses in excess of the amount posted as initial margin for the contract.
In the event of adverse price movements, a Fund would continue to be required to make daily cash payments in order to maintain its required margin. In such a situation, if a Fund has insufficient cash, it may have to sell portfolio securities in order to meet daily margin requirements at a time when it may be disadvantageous to do so. The inability to close the futures position also could have an adverse impact on the ability to hedge effectively.
To reduce or eliminate a hedge position held by a Fund, a Fund may seek to close out a position. The ability to establish and close out positions will be subject to the development and maintenance of a liquid secondary market. It is not certain that this market will develop or continue to exist for a particular futures contract, which may limit a Fund’s ability to realize its profits or limit its losses. Reasons for the absence of a liquid secondary market on an exchange include the following: (i) there may be insufficient trading interest in certain contracts; (ii) restrictions may be imposed by an exchange on opening transactions, closing transactions or both; (iii) trading halts, suspensions or other restrictions may be imposed with respect to particular classes or series of contracts, or underlying securities; (iv) unusual or unforeseen circumstances, such as volume in excess of trading or clearing capability, may interrupt normal operations on an exchange; (v) the facilities of an exchange or a clearing corporation may not at all times be adequate to handle current trading volume; or (vi) one or more exchanges could, for economic or other reasons, decide or be compelled at some future date to discontinue the trading of contracts (or a particular class or series of contracts), in which event the secondary market on that exchange (or in the class or series of contracts) would cease to exist, although outstanding contracts on the exchange that had been issued by a clearing corporation as a result of trades on that exchange would continue to be exercisable in accordance with their terms.
Interest Rate Futures Contracts. Bond prices are established in both the cash market and the futures market. In the cash market, bonds are purchased and sold with payment for the full purchase price of the bond being made in cash, generally within five business days after the trade. In the futures market, a contract is made to purchase or sell a bond in the future for a set price on a certain date. Historically, the prices for bonds established in the futures markets have tended to move generally in the aggregate in concert with the cash market prices and have maintained fairly predictable relationships. Accordingly, a Fund may use interest rate futures contracts as a defense, or hedge, against anticipated interest rate changes. A Fund presently could accomplish a similar result to that which it hopes to achieve through the use of interest rate futures contracts by selling bonds with long maturities and investing in bonds with short maturities when interest rates are expected to increase, or conversely, selling bonds with short maturities and investing in bonds with long maturities when interest rates are expected to decline. However, because of the liquidity that is often available in the futures market, the protection is more likely to be achieved, perhaps at a lower cost and without changing the rate of interest being earned by a Fund, through using futures contracts.
Interest rate futures contracts are traded in an auction environment on the floors of several exchanges — principally, the Chicago Board of Trade, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and the New York Futures Exchange. Each exchange guarantees performance under contract provisions through a clearing corporation, a nonprofit organization managed by the exchange membership. A public market exists in futures contracts covering various financial instruments including long-term U.S. Treasury Bonds and Notes; GNMA modified pass-through mortgage backed securities; three-month U.S. Treasury Bills; and ninety-day commercial paper. A Fund may also invest in exchange-traded Eurodollar contracts, which are interest rate futures on the forward level of a reference rate, such as LIBOR or SOFR. These contracts are generally considered liquid securities and trade on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. Such Eurodollar contracts are generally used to “lock-in” or hedge the future level of short-term rates. A Fund may trade in any interest rate futures contracts for which there exists a public market, including, without limitation, the foregoing instruments.
Index Futures Contracts. An index futures contract is a contract to buy or sell units of an index at a specified future date at a price agreed upon when the contract is made. Entering into a contract to buy units of an index is commonly referred to as buying or purchasing a contract or holding a long position in the index. Entering into a contract to sell units of an index is commonly referred to as selling a contract or holding a short position in the index. A unit is the current value of the index. A Fund may enter into stock index futures contracts, debt index futures contracts, or other index futures contracts appropriate to its objective(s).
Municipal Bond Index Futures Contracts. Municipal bond index futures contracts may act as a hedge against changes in market conditions. A municipal bond index assigns values daily to the municipal bonds included in the index based on the independent assessment of dealer-to-dealer municipal bond brokers. A municipal bond index futures contract represents a firm commitment by which two parties agree to take or make delivery of an amount equal to a specified dollar amount multiplied by the difference between the municipal bond index value on the last trading date of the contract and the price at which the futures contract is originally struck. No physical delivery of the underlying securities in the index is made.
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Commodity-Linked Futures Contracts. Commodity-linked futures contracts are traded on futures exchanges. These futures exchanges offer a central marketplace in which to transact in futures contracts, a clearing corporation to process trades, and standardization of expiration dates and contract sizes. Futures markets also specify the terms and conditions of delivery as well as the maximum permissible price movement during a trading session. Additionally, the commodity futures exchanges may have position limit rules that limit the amount of futures contracts that any one party may hold in a particular commodity at any point in time. These position limit rules are designed to prevent any one participant from controlling a significant portion of the market.
Commodity-linked futures contracts are generally based upon commodities within six main commodity groups: (1) energy, which includes, among others, crude oil, brent crude oil, gas oil, natural gas, gasoline and heating oil; (2) livestock, which includes, among others, feeder cattle, live cattle and hogs; (3) agriculture, which includes, among others, wheat (Kansas wheat and Chicago wheat), corn and soybeans; (4) industrial metals, which includes, among others, aluminum, copper, lead, nickel and zinc; (5) precious metals, which includes, among others, gold and silver; and (6) softs, which includes cotton, coffee, sugar and cocoa. A Fund may purchase commodity futures contracts, swaps on commodity futures contracts, options on futures contracts and options and futures on commodity indices with respect to these six main commodity groups and the individual commodities within each group, as well as other types of commodities.
The price of a commodity futures contract will reflect the storage costs of purchasing the physical commodity. These storage costs include the time value of money invested in the physical commodity plus the actual costs of storing the commodity less any benefits from ownership of the physical commodity that are not obtained by the holder of a futures contract (this is sometimes referred to as the “convenience yield”). To the extent that these storage costs change for an underlying commodity while a Fund is long futures contracts on that commodity, the value of the futures contract may change proportionately.
In the commodity futures markets, if producers of the underlying commodity wish to hedge the price risk of selling the commodity, they will sell futures contracts today to lock in the price of the commodity at delivery tomorrow. In order to induce speculators to take the corresponding long side of the same futures contract, the commodity producer must be willing to sell the futures contract at a price that is below the expected future spot price. Conversely, if the predominant hedgers in the futures market are the purchasers of the underlying commodity who purchase futures contracts to hedge against a rise in prices, then speculators will only take the short side of the futures contract if the futures price is greater than the expected future spot price of the commodity.
The changing nature of the hedgers and speculators in the commodity markets will influence whether futures contract prices are above or below the expected future spot price. This can have significant implications for a Fund when it is time to replace an existing contract with a new contract. If the nature of hedgers and speculators in futures markets has shifted such that commodity purchasers are the predominant hedgers in the market, a Fund might open the new futures position at a higher price or choose other related commodity-linked investments.
The values of commodities which underlie commodity futures contracts are subject to additional variables which may be less significant to the values of traditional securities such as stocks and bonds. Variables such as drought, floods, weather, livestock disease, embargoes and tariffs may have a larger impact on commodity prices and commodity-linked investments, including futures contracts, commodity-linked structured notes, commodity-linked options and commodity-linked swaps, than on traditional securities. These additional variables may create additional investment risks which subject a Fund’s commodity-linked investments to greater volatility than investments in traditional securities.
Options on Futures Contracts. A Fund may purchase and write call and put options on those futures contracts that it is permitted to buy or sell. A Fund may use such options on futures contracts in lieu of writing options directly on the underlying securities or other assets or purchasing and selling the underlying futures contracts. Such options generally operate in the same manner as options purchased or written directly on the underlying investments. A futures option gives the holder, in return for the premium paid, the right, but not the obligation, to buy from (call) or sell to (put) the writer of the option a futures contract at a specified price at any time during the period of the option. Upon exercise, the writer of the option is obligated to pay the difference between the cash value of the futures contract and the exercise price. Like the buyer or seller of a futures contract, the holder or writer of an option has the right to terminate its position prior to the scheduled expiration of the option by selling or purchasing an option of the same series, at which time the person entering into the closing purchase transaction will realize a gain or loss. There is no guarantee that such closing purchase transactions can be effected.
A Fund will enter into written options on futures contracts only when, in compliance with regulatory requirements, it has designated cash or liquid securities at least equal in value to the underlying security’s or other asset’s value (less any applicable margin deposits). A Fund will be required to deposit initial margin and maintenance margin with respect to put and call options on futures contracts written by it pursuant to brokers’ requirements similar to those described above.
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Options on Index Futures Contracts. A Fund may also purchase and sell options on index futures contracts. Options on index futures give the purchaser the right, in return for the premium paid, to assume a position in an index futures contract (a long position if the option is a call and a short position if the option is a put), at a specified exercise price at any time during the period of the option. Upon exercise of the option, the delivery of the futures position by the writer of the option to the holder of the option will be accompanied by delivery of the accumulated balance in the writer’s futures margin account, which represents the amount by which the market price of the index futures contract, at exercise, exceeds (in the case of a call) or is less than (in the case of a put) the exercise price of the option on the index future. If an option is exercised on the last trading day prior to the expiration date of the option, the settlement will be made entirely in cash equal to the difference between the exercise price of the option and the closing level of the index on which the future is based on the expiration date. Purchasers of options who fail to exercise their options prior to the exercise date suffer a loss of the premium paid.
Use by Tax-Exempt Funds of Interest Rate and U.S. Treasury Security Futures Contracts and Options. If a Fund invests in tax-exempt securities, it may purchase and sell futures contracts and related options on interest rate and U.S. Treasury securities when, in the opinion of a Fund’s portfolio manager, price movements in these security futures and related options will correlate closely with price movements in the tax-exempt securities which are the subject of the hedge. Interest rate and U.S. Treasury securities futures contracts require the seller to deliver, or the purchaser to take delivery of, the type of security called for in the contract at a specified date and price. Options on interest rate and U.S. Treasury security futures contracts give the purchaser the right in return for the premium paid to assume a position in a futures contract at the specified option exercise price at any time during the period of the option.
Eurodollar and Yankee Dollar Futures Contracts and Options Thereon. Eurodollar futures contracts enable purchasers to obtain a fixed rate for the lending of funds and sellers to obtain a fixed rate for borrowings. A Fund may use Eurodollar futures contracts and options thereon to hedge against changes in a reference rate, such as LIBOR or SOFR, to which many interest rate swaps and fixed income instruments are linked.
Options
Options on Stocks, Stock Indices and Other Indices. A Fund may purchase and write (i.e., sell) put and call options. Such options may relate to particular stocks or stock indices, and may or may not be listed on a domestic or foreign securities exchange and may or may not be issued by the Options Clearing Corporation (OCC). Stock index options are put options and call options on various stock indices. In most respects, they are identical to listed options on common stocks.
There is a key difference between stock options and index options in connection with their exercise. In the case of stock options, the underlying security, common stock, is delivered. However, upon the exercise of an index option, settlement does not occur by delivery of the securities comprising the index. The option holder who exercises the index option receives an amount of cash if the closing level of the stock index upon which the option is based is greater than (in the case of a call) or less than (in the case of a put) the exercise price of the option. This amount of cash is equal to the difference between the closing price of the stock index and the exercise price of the option expressed in dollars times a specified multiple. A stock index fluctuates with changes in the market value of the securities included in the index. For example, some stock index options are based on a broad market index, such as the S&P 500® Index or a narrower market index, such as the S&P 100® Index. Indices may also be based on an industry or market segment.
A Fund may, for the purpose of hedging its portfolio, subject to applicable securities regulations, purchase and write put and call options on foreign stock indices listed on foreign and domestic stock exchanges.
As an alternative to purchasing call and put options on index futures, a Fund may purchase call and put options on the underlying indices themselves. Such options could be used in a manner identical to the use of options on index futures. Options involving securities indices provide the holder with the right to make or receive a cash settlement upon exercise of the option based on movements in the relevant index. Such options must be listed on a national securities exchange and issued by the OCC. Such options may relate to particular securities or to various stock indices, except that a Fund may not write covered options on an index.
Writing Covered Options. A Fund may write covered call options and covered put options on securities held in its portfolio. Call options written by a Fund give the purchaser the right to buy the underlying securities from a Fund at the stated exercise price at any time prior to the expiration date of the option, regardless of the security’s market price; put options give the purchaser the right to sell the underlying securities to a Fund at the stated exercise price at any time prior to the expiration date of the option, regardless of the security’s market price.
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A Fund may write covered options, which means that, so long as a Fund is obligated as the writer of a call option, it will own the underlying securities subject to the option (or comparable securities satisfying the cover requirements of securities exchanges). In the case of put options, a Fund will hold liquid assets equal to the price to be paid if the option is exercised. In addition, a Fund will be considered to have covered a put or call option if and to the extent that it holds an option that offsets some or all of the risk of the option it has written. A Fund may write combinations of covered puts and calls (straddles) on the same underlying security.
A Fund will receive a premium from writing a put or call option, which increases a Fund’s return on the underlying security if the option expires unexercised or is closed out at a profit. The amount of the premium reflects, among other things, the relationship between the exercise price and the current market value of the underlying security, the volatility of the underlying security, the amount of time remaining until expiration, current interest rates, and the effect of supply and demand in the options market and in the market for the underlying security. By writing a call option, a Fund limits its opportunity to profit from any increase in the market value of the underlying security above the exercise price of the option but continues to bear the risk of a decline in the value of the underlying security. By writing a put option, a Fund assumes the risk that it may be required to purchase the underlying security for an exercise price higher than the security’s then-current market value, resulting in a potential capital loss unless the security subsequently appreciates in value.
A Fund’s obligation to sell an instrument subject to a call option written by it, or to purchase an instrument subject to a put option written by it, may be terminated prior to the expiration date of the option by a Fund’s execution of a closing purchase transaction, which is effected by purchasing on an exchange an offsetting option of the same series (i.e., same underlying instrument, exercise price and expiration date) as the option previously written. A closing purchase transaction will ordinarily be effected in order to realize a profit on an outstanding option, to prevent an underlying instrument from being called, to permit the sale of the underlying instrument or to permit the writing of a new option containing different terms on such underlying instrument. A Fund realizes a profit or loss from a closing purchase transaction if the cost of the transaction (option premium plus transaction costs) is less or more than the premium received from writing the option. Because increases in the market price of a call option generally reflect increases in the market price of the security underlying the option, any loss resulting from a closing purchase transaction may be offset in whole or in part by unrealized appreciation of the underlying security.
If a Fund writes a call option but does not own the underlying security, and when it writes a put option, a Fund may be required to deposit cash or securities with its broker as “margin” or collateral for its obligation to buy or sell the underlying security. As the value of the underlying security varies, a Fund may also have to deposit additional margin with the broker. Margin requirements are complex and are fixed by individual brokers, subject to minimum requirements currently imposed by the Federal Reserve Board and by stock exchanges and other self-regulatory organizations.
Purchasing Put Options. A Fund may purchase put options to protect its portfolio holdings in an underlying security against a decline in market value. Such hedge protection is provided during the life of the put option since a Fund, as holder of the put option, is able to sell the underlying security at the put exercise price regardless of any decline in the underlying security’s market price. For a put option to be profitable, the market price of the underlying security must decline sufficiently below the exercise price to cover the premium and transaction costs. By using put options in this manner, a Fund will reduce any profit it might otherwise have realized from appreciation of the underlying security by the premium paid for the put option and by transaction costs.
Purchasing Call Options. A Fund may purchase call options, including call options to hedge against an increase in the price of securities that a Fund wants ultimately to buy. Such hedge protection is provided during the life of the call option since a Fund, as holder of the call option, is able to buy the underlying security at the exercise price regardless of any increase in the underlying security’s market price. In order for a call option to be profitable, the market price of the underlying security must rise sufficiently above the exercise price to cover the premium and transaction costs. These costs will reduce any profit a Fund might have realized had it bought the underlying security at the time it purchased the call option.
Over-the-Counter (OTC) Options. OTC options (options not traded on exchanges) are generally established through negotiation with the other party to the options contract. A Fund will enter into OTC options transactions only with primary dealers in U.S. Government securities and, in the case of OTC options written by a Fund, only pursuant to agreements that will assure that a Fund will at all times have the right to repurchase the option written by it from the dealer at a specified formula price.
Swap Agreements
General. Swap agreements are derivative instruments that can be individually negotiated and structured to include exposure to a variety of different types of investments or market factors. Depending on their structure, swap agreements may increase or decrease a Fund’s exposure to long- or short-term interest rates, foreign currency values, mortgage securities, corporate borrowing rates, or other factors such as security prices or inflation rates. A Fund may enter into a variety of swap agreements,
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including interest rate, index, commodity, commodity futures, equity, equity index, credit default, bond futures, total return, currency exchange rate, and other types of swap agreements such as caps, collars and floors. A Fund also may enter into swaptions, which are options to enter into a swap agreement.
Swap agreements are usually entered into without an upfront payment because the value of each party’s position is the same. The market values of the underlying commitments will change over time, resulting in one of the commitments being worth more than the other and the net market value creating a risk exposure for one party or the other.
In a typical interest rate swap, one party agrees to make regular payments equal to a floating interest rate times a “notional principal amount,” in return for payments equal to a fixed rate times the same amount, for a specified period of time. If a swap agreement provides for payments in different currencies, the parties might agree to exchange notional principal amounts as well. In a total return swap agreement, the non-floating rate side of the swap is based on the total return of an individual security, a basket of securities, an index or another reference asset. Swaps may also depend on other prices or rates, such as the value of an index or mortgage prepayment rates.
In a typical cap or floor agreement, one party agrees to make payments only under specified circumstances, usually in return for payment of a fee by the other party. For example, the buyer of an interest rate cap obtains the right to receive payments to the extent that a specified interest rate exceeds an agreed-upon level, while the seller of an interest rate floor is obligated to make payments to the extent that a specified interest rate falls below an agreed-upon level. Caps and floors have an effect similar to buying or writing options. A collar combines elements of buying a cap and selling a floor. In interest rate collar transactions, one party sells a cap and purchases a floor, or vice versa, in an attempt to protect itself against interest rate movements exceeding given minimum or maximum levels or collar amounts.
Swap agreements will tend to shift a Fund’s investment exposure from one type of investment to another. For example, if a Fund agreed to pay fixed rates in exchange for floating rates while holding fixed-rate bonds, the swap would tend to decrease a Fund’s exposure to long-term interest rates. Another example is if a Fund agreed to exchange payments in dollars for payments in foreign currency. In that case, the swap agreement would tend to decrease a Fund’s exposure to U.S. interest rates and increase its exposure to foreign currency and interest rates.
Because swaps are two-party contracts that may be subject to contractual restrictions on transferability and termination and because they may have terms of greater than seven days, swap agreements may be considered to be illiquid. If a swap is not liquid, it may not be possible to initiate a transaction or liquidate a position at an advantageous time or price, which may result in significant losses.
Moreover, a Fund bears the risk of loss of the amount expected to be received under a swap agreement in the event of the default or bankruptcy of a swap agreement counterparty. When a counterparty’s obligations are not fully secured by collateral, then the Fund is essentially an unsecured creditor of the counterparty. If the counterparty defaults, the Fund will have contractual remedies, but there is no assurance that a counterparty will be able to meet its obligations pursuant to such contracts or that, in the event of default, the Fund will succeed in enforcing contractual remedies. Counterparty risk still exists even if a counterparty’s obligations are secured by collateral because the Fund’s interest in collateral may not be perfected or additional collateral may not be promptly posted as required. Counterparty risk also may be more pronounced if a counterparty’s obligations exceed the amount of collateral held by the Fund (if any), the Fund is unable to exercise its interest in collateral upon default by the counterparty, or the termination value of the instrument varies significantly from the marked-to-market value of the instrument.
Counterparty risk with respect to derivatives will be affected by new rules and regulations affecting the derivatives market. Some derivatives transactions are required to be centrally cleared, and a party to a cleared derivatives transaction is subject to the credit risk of the clearing house and the clearing member through which it holds its cleared position, rather than the credit risk of its original counterparty to the derivative transaction. Credit risk of market participants with respect to derivatives that are centrally cleared is concentrated in a few clearing houses, and it is not clear how an insolvency proceeding of a clearing house would be conducted and what impact an insolvency of a clearing house would have on the financial system. A clearing member is obligated by contract and by applicable regulation to segregate all funds received from customers with respect to cleared derivatives transactions from the clearing member’s proprietary assets. However, all funds and other property received by a clearing broker from its customers are generally held by the clearing broker on a commingled basis in an omnibus account, and the clearing member may invest those funds in certain instruments permitted under the applicable regulations. The assets of a Fund might not be fully protected in the event of the bankruptcy of a Fund’s clearing member, because the Fund would be limited to recovering only a pro rata share of all available funds segregated on behalf of the clearing broker’s customers for a relevant account class. Also, the clearing member is required to transfer to the clearing organization the amount of margin required by the clearing organization for cleared derivatives, which amounts are generally held in an omnibus account at the clearing organization for all customers of the clearing member. Regulations promulgated by the CFTC require that the clearing member notify the clearing house of the amount of initial margin provided by the clearing member to the clearing organization that is attributable to each customer. However, if the clearing member does not provide accurate reporting, the Funds are subject
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to the risk that a clearing organization will use a Fund’s assets held in an omnibus account at the clearing organization to satisfy payment obligations of a defaulting customer of the clearing member to the clearing organization. In addition, clearing members generally provide to the clearing organization the net amount of variation margin required for cleared swaps for all of its customers in the aggregate, rather than the gross amount of each customer. The Funds are therefore subject to the risk that a clearing organization will not make variation margin payments owed to a Fund if another customer of the clearing member has suffered a loss and is in default, and the risk that a Fund will be required to provide additional variation margin to the clearing house before the clearing house will move the Fund’s cleared derivatives transactions to another clearing member. In addition, if a clearing member does not comply with the applicable regulations or its agreement with the Funds, or in the event of fraud or misappropriation of customer assets by a clearing member, a Fund could have only an unsecured creditor claim in an insolvency of the clearing member with respect to the margin held by the clearing member.
Interest Rate Swaps. Interest rate swap agreements are often used to obtain or preserve a desired return or spread at a lower cost than through a direct investment in an instrument that yields the desired return or spread. They are financial instruments that involve the exchange of one type of interest rate cash flow for another type of interest rate cash flow on specified dates in the future. In a standard interest rate swap transaction, two parties agree to exchange their respective commitments to pay fixed or floating interest rates on a predetermined specified (notional) amount. The swap agreement’s notional amount is the predetermined basis for calculating the obligations that the swap counterparties have agreed to exchange. Under most swap agreements, the obligations of the parties are exchanged on a net basis. The two payment streams are netted out, with each party receiving or paying, as the case may be, only the net amount of the two payments. Interest rate swaps can be based on various measures of interest rates, including swap rates, Treasury rates, foreign interest rates and other reference rates.
Credit Default Swap Agreements. A Fund may enter into credit default swap agreements, which may have as reference obligations one or more securities or a basket of securities that are or are not currently held by a Fund. The protection “buyer” in a credit default contract is generally obligated to pay the protection “seller” an upfront or a periodic stream of payments over the term of the contract provided that no credit event, such as a default, on a reference obligation has occurred. If a credit event occurs, the seller generally must pay the buyer the “par value” (full notional value) of the swap in exchange for an equal face amount of deliverable obligations of the reference entity described in the swap, or the seller may be required to deliver the related net cash amount, if the swap is cash settled. A Fund may be either the buyer or seller in a credit default swap. If a Fund is a buyer and no credit event occurs, a Fund may recover nothing if the swap is held through its termination date. However, if a credit event occurs, the buyer generally may elect to receive the full notional value of the swap in exchange for an equal face amount of deliverable obligations of the reference entity whose value may have significantly decreased. As a seller, a Fund generally receives an upfront payment or a fixed rate of income throughout the term of the swap provided that there is no credit event. As the seller, a Fund would effectively add leverage to its portfolio because, in addition to its total net assets, a Fund would be subject to investment exposure on the notional amount of the swap.
Credit default swap agreements may involve greater risks than if a Fund had invested in the reference obligation directly since, in addition to risks relating to the reference obligation, credit default swaps are subject to liquidity risk, counterparty risk and credit risk. A Fund will enter into credit default swap agreements generally with counterparties that meet certain standards of creditworthiness. A buyer generally will lose its investment and recover nothing if no credit event occurs and the swap is held to its termination date. If a credit event were to occur, the value of any deliverable obligation received by the seller, coupled with the upfront or periodic payments previously received, may be less than the full notional value it pays to the buyer, resulting in a loss of value to the seller.
A Fund’s obligations under a credit default swap agreement will be accrued daily (offset against any amounts owing to the Fund). For bilateral credit default swaps (CDS) where the Fund is the seller of protection, the Fund will cover the full notional amount of the swap minus any collateral on deposit. In connection with credit default swaps in which a Fund is the buyer, the Fund will segregate or designate cash or other liquid assets in accordance with its policies and procedures. Such segregation or designation will ensure that a Fund has assets available to satisfy its obligations with respect to the transaction. Such segregation or designation will not limit a Fund’s exposure to loss.
Equity Swaps. A Fund may engage in equity swaps. Equity swaps allow the parties to the swap agreement to exchange components of return on one equity investment (e.g., a basket of equity securities or an index) for a component of return on another non-equity or equity investment, including an exchange of differential rates of return. Equity swaps may be used to invest in a market without owning or taking physical custody of securities in circumstances where direct investment may be restricted for legal reasons or is otherwise impractical. Equity swaps also may be used for other purposes, such as hedging or seeking to increase total return.
Total Return Swap Agreements. Total return swap agreements are contracts in which one party agrees to make periodic payments to another party based on the change in market value of the assets underlying the contract, which may include a specified security, basket of securities or securities indices during the specified period, in return for periodic payments based on a fixed or variable interest rate or the total return from other underlying assets. Total return swap agreements may be used to
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obtain exposure to a security or market without owning or taking physical custody of such security or investing directly in such market. Total return swap agreements may effectively add leverage to a Fund’s portfolio because, in addition to its total net assets, a Fund would be subject to investment exposure on the notional amount of the swap.
Total return swap agreements are subject to the risk that a counterparty will default on its payment obligations to a Fund thereunder, and conversely, that a Fund will not be able to meet its obligation to the counterparty. Generally, a Fund will enter into total return swaps on a net basis (i.e., the two payment streams are netted against one another with a Fund receiving or paying, as the case may be, only the net amount of the two payments). The net amount of the excess, if any, of a Fund’s obligations over its entitlements with respect to each total return swap will be accrued on a daily basis, and an amount of liquid assets having an aggregate net asset value at least equal to the accrued excess will be designated by a Fund in its books and records. If the total return swap transaction is entered into on other than a net basis, the full amount of a Fund’s obligations will be accrued on a daily basis, and the full amount of a Fund’s obligations will be designated by a Fund in an amount equal to or greater than the market value of the liabilities under the total return swap agreement or the amount it would have cost a Fund initially to make an equivalent direct investment, plus or minus any amount a Fund is obligated to pay or is to receive under the total return swap agreement.
Variance, Volatility and Correlation Swap Agreements. Variance and volatility swaps are contracts that provide exposure to increases or decreases in the volatility of certain referenced assets. Correlation swaps are contracts that provide exposure to increases or decreases in the correlation between the prices of different assets or different market rates.
Commodity-Linked Swaps. Commodity-linked swaps are two-party contracts in which the parties agree to exchange the return or interest rate on one instrument for the return of a particular commodity, commodity index or commodities futures or options contract. The payment streams are calculated by reference to an agreed upon notional amount. A one-period swap contract operates in a manner similar to a forward or futures contract because there is an agreement to swap a commodity for cash at only one forward date. A Fund may engage in swap transactions that have more than one period and therefore more than one exchange of commodities.
A Fund may invest in total return commodity swaps to gain exposure to the overall commodity markets. In a total return commodity swap, a Fund will receive the price appreciation of a commodity index, a portion of the index, or a single commodity in exchange for paying an agreed-upon fee. If the commodity swap is for one period, the Fund will pay a fixed fee, established at the outset of the swap. However, if the term of the commodity swap is more than one period, with interim swap payments, the Fund will pay an adjustable or floating fee. With a “floating” rate, the fee is pegged to a reference rate such as LIBOR or SOFR, and is adjusted each period. Therefore, if interest rates increase over the term of the swap contract, a Fund may be required to pay a higher fee at each swap reset date.
Cross Currency Swaps. Cross currency swaps are similar to interest rate swaps, except that they involve multiple currencies. A Fund may enter into a cross currency swap when it has exposure to one currency and desires exposure to a different currency. Typically, the interest rates that determine the currency swap payments are fixed, although occasionally one or both parties may pay a floating rate of interest. Unlike an interest rate swap, however, the principal amounts are exchanged at the beginning of the contract and returned at the end of the contract. In addition to paying and receiving amounts at the beginning and termination of the agreements, both sides will have to pay in full periodically based upon the currency they have borrowed. Changes in foreign exchange currency rates and changes in interest rates, as described above, may negatively affect currency swaps.
Contracts for Differences. Contracts for differences are swap arrangements in which the parties agree that their return (or loss) will be based on the relative performance of two different groups or baskets of securities. Often, one or both baskets will be an established securities index. A Fund’s return will be based on changes in value of theoretical long futures positions in the securities comprising one basket (with an aggregate face value equal to the notional amount of the contract for differences) and theoretical short futures positions in the securities comprising the other basket. A Fund also may use actual long and short futures positions and achieve similar market exposure by netting the payment obligations of the two contracts. A Fund typically enters into contracts for differences (and analogous futures positions) when its portfolio manager believes that the basket of securities constituting the long position will outperform the basket constituting the short position. If the short basket outperforms the long basket, a Fund will realize a loss — even in circumstances when the securities in both the long and short baskets appreciate in value.
Swaptions. A swaption is an options contract on a swap agreement. These transactions give a party the right (but not the obligation) to enter into new swap agreements or to shorten, extend, cancel or otherwise modify an existing swap agreement (which are described herein) at some designated future time on specified terms, in return for payment of the purchase price (the “premium”) of the option. A Fund may write (sell) and purchase put and call swaptions to the same extent it may make use of standard options on securities or other instruments. The writer of the contract receives the premium and bears the risk of unfavorable changes in the market value on the underlying swap agreement. Swaptions can be bundled and sold as a package. These are commonly called interest rate caps, floors and collars (which are described herein).
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Many swaps are complex and often valued subjectively. Many over-the-counter derivatives are complex and their valuation often requires modeling and judgment, which increases the risk of mispricing or incorrect valuation. The pricing models used may not produce valuations that are consistent with the values the Fund realizes when it closes or sells an over-the-counter derivative. Valuation risk is more pronounced when the Fund enters into over-the-counter derivatives with specialized terms because the market value of those derivatives in some cases is determined in part by reference to similar derivatives with more standardized terms. Incorrect valuations may result in increased cash payment requirements to counterparties, undercollateralization and/or errors in calculation of the Fund’s net asset value.
Title VII of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “Dodd-Frank Act”) established a framework for the regulation of OTC swap markets; the framework outlined the joint responsibility of the CFTC and the SEC in regulating swaps. The CFTC is responsible for the regulation of swaps, the SEC is responsible for the regulation of security-based swaps and they are both jointly responsible for the regulation of mixed swaps.
Risk of Potential Governmental Regulation of Derivatives
It is possible that government regulation of various types of derivative instruments, including futures and swap agreements, may limit or prevent the Funds from using such instruments as a part of their investment strategy, and could ultimately prevent the Funds from being able to achieve their investment objectives. The effects of present or future legislation and regulation in this area are not known, but the effects could be substantial and adverse.
The futures markets are subject to comprehensive statutes, regulations, and margin requirements. In addition, the SEC, CFTC and the exchanges are authorized to take extraordinary actions in the event of a market emergency, including, for example, the implementation or reduction of speculative position limits, the implementation of higher margin requirements, the establishment of daily price limits and the suspension of trading.
The regulation of swaps and futures transactions in the U.S. is a rapidly changing area of law and is subject to modification by government and judicial action. There is a possibility of future regulatory changes altering, perhaps to a material extent, the nature of an investment in a Fund or the ability of a Fund to continue to implement its investment strategies. In particular, the Dodd-Frank Act, which was signed into law in July 2010, has changed the way in which the U.S. financial system is supervised and regulated. Title VII of the Dodd-Frank Act sets forth a new legislative framework for OTC derivatives, such as swaps, in which the Funds may invest. Title VII of the Dodd-Frank Act makes broad changes to the OTC derivatives market, grants significant new authority to the SEC and the CFTC to regulate OTC derivatives and market participants, and will require clearing of many OTC derivatives transactions.
Recent U.S. and non-U.S. legislative and regulatory reforms, including those related to the Dodd-Frank Act, have resulted in, and may in the future result in, new regulation of derivative instruments and the Fund's use of such instruments. New regulations could, among other things, restrict the Fund's ability to engage in derivative transactions (for example, by making certain types of derivative instruments or transactions no longer available to the Fund) and/or increase the costs of such transactions, and the Fund may as a result be unable to execute its investment strategies in a manner the Investment Manager might otherwise choose.
Additional Risk Factors in Cleared Derivatives Transactions
Under recently adopted rules and regulations, transactions in some types of swaps (including interest rate swaps and credit default swaps on North American and European indices) are required to be centrally cleared. In a transaction involving those swaps (“cleared derivatives”), a Fund’s counterparty is a clearing house, rather than a bank or broker. Since the Funds are not members of clearing houses and only members of a clearing house (“clearing members”) can participate directly in the clearing house, the Funds will hold cleared derivatives through accounts at clearing members. In a cleared derivatives transaction, the Funds will make payments (including margin payments) to and receive payments from a clearing house through their accounts at clearing members. Clearing members guarantee performance of their clients’ obligations to the clearing house.
In many ways, centrally cleared derivative arrangements are less favorable to open-end funds than bilateral arrangements. For example, the Funds may be required to provide greater amounts of margin for cleared derivatives positions than for bilateral derivatives transactions. Also, in contrast to a bilateral derivatives position, following a period of notice to a Fund, a clearing member generally can require termination of an existing cleared derivatives position at any time or increases in margin requirements above the margin that the clearing member required at the beginning of a transaction. Clearing houses also have broad rights to increase margin requirements for existing positions or to terminate those positions at any time. Any increase in margin requirements or termination of existing cleared derivatives positions by the clearing member or the clearing house could interfere with the ability of a Fund to pursue its investment strategy. Further, any increase in margin requirements by a clearing member could also expose a Fund to greater credit risk to its clearing member, because margin for cleared derivatives transactions in excess of clearing house’s margin requirements typically is held by the clearing member. Also, a Fund is subject to risk if it enters into a derivatives transaction that is required to be cleared (or that the Investment Manager expects to be cleared), and no clearing member is willing or able to clear the transaction on the Fund’s behalf. While the documentation in place between the Funds and their clearing members generally provides that the clearing members will accept for clearing all
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transactions submitted for clearing that are within credit limits (specified in advance) for each Fund, the Funds are still subject to the risk that no clearing member will be willing or able to clear a transaction. In those cases, the position might have to be terminated, and the Fund could lose some or all of the benefit of the position, including loss of an increase in the value of the position and/or loss of hedging protection. In addition, the documentation governing the relationship between the Funds and clearing members is developed by the clearing members and generally is less favorable to the Funds than typical bilateral derivatives documentation. For example, documentation relating to cleared derivatives generally includes a one-way indemnity by the Funds in favor of the clearing member for losses the clearing member incurs as the Funds’ clearing member and typically does not provide the Funds any remedies if the clearing member defaults or becomes insolvent. While futures contracts entail similar risks, the risks likely are more pronounced for cleared swaps due to their more limited liquidity and market history.
Some types of cleared derivatives are required to be executed on an exchange or on a swap execution facility. A swap execution facility is a trading platform where multiple market participants can execute derivatives by accepting bids and offers made by multiple other participants in the platform. While this execution requirement is designed to increase transparency and liquidity in the cleared derivatives market, trading on a swap execution facility can create additional costs and risks for the Funds. For example, swap execution facilities typically charge fees, and if a Fund executes derivatives on a swap execution facility through a broker intermediary, the intermediary may impose fees as well. Also, a Fund may indemnify a swap execution facility, or a broker intermediary who executes cleared derivatives on a swap execution facility on the Fund’s behalf, against any losses or costs that may be incurred as a result of the Fund’s transactions on the swap execution facility.
These and other new rules and regulations could, among other things, further restrict a Fund’s ability to engage in, or increase the cost to the Fund of, derivatives transactions, for example, by making some types of derivatives no longer available to the Fund, increasing margin or capital requirements, or otherwise limiting liquidity or increasing transaction costs. These regulations are new and evolving, so their potential impact on the Funds and the financial system are not yet known. While the new regulations and the central clearing of some derivatives transactions are designed to reduce systemic risk (i.e., the risk that the interdependence of large derivatives dealers could cause a number of those dealers to suffer liquidity, solvency or other challenges simultaneously), there is no assurance that the new clearing mechanisms will achieve that result, and in the meantime, as noted above, central clearing and related requirements expose the Funds to new kinds of risks and costs.
CFTC Regulation
Pursuant to Rule 4.5 under the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA), each of Adaptive Risk Allocation Fund, MM Alternative Strategies Fund, MM Directional Alternative Strategies Fund and Multi Strategy Alternatives Fund do not qualify for an exclusion from the definition of a commodity pool. Accordingly, each of these Funds is registered as a "commodity pool" and the Investment Manager is registered as a "commodity pool operator" with respect to these Funds under the CEA.
Each of the other Funds listed on the cover of this SAI qualifies for an exclusion from the definition of a commodity pool under the CEA and has on file a notice of exclusion under CFTC Rule 4.5. Accordingly, the Investment Manager is not subject to registration or regulation as a “commodity pool operator” under the CEA with respect to these Funds, although the Investment Manager is a registered “commodity pool operator” and “commodity trading advisor”. To remain eligible for the exclusion, each of these Funds is limited in its ability to use certain financial instruments regulated under the CEA (“commodity interests”), including futures and options on futures and certain swaps transactions. In the event that a Fund’s investments in commodity interests are not within the thresholds set forth in the exclusion, one or more Funds not currently registered as a “commodity pool” may be required to register as such, which could increase Fund expenses, adversely affecting the Fund’s total return.
Dollar Rolls
Dollar rolls involve selling securities (e.g., mortgage-backed securities or U.S. Treasury securities) and simultaneously entering into a commitment to purchase those or similar securities on a specified future date and price from the same party. Mortgage dollar rolls and U.S. Treasury rolls are types of dollar rolls. A Fund foregoes principal and interest paid on the securities during the “roll” period. A Fund is compensated by the difference between the current sales price and the lower forward price for the future purchase of the securities, as well as the interest earned on the cash proceeds of the initial sale. The investor also could be compensated through the receipt of fee income equivalent to a lower forward price. Dollar roll transactions may result in higher transaction costs for a Fund.
Although one or more of the other risks described in this SAI may also apply, the risks typically associated with mortgage dollar rolls include: Counterparty Risk, Credit Risk and Interest Rate Risk.
Exchange-traded notes (ETNs)
ETNs are instruments that combine aspects of bonds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and are designed to provide investors with access to the returns, less investor fees and expenses, of various market benchmarks or strategies to which they are usually linked. When an investor buys an ETN, the issuer, typically an underwriting bank, promises to pay upon maturity the amount reflected in the benchmark or strategy (minus fees and expenses). Some ETNs make periodic coupon payments. Like ETFs,
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ETNs are traded on an exchange, but ETNs have additional risks compared to ETFs, including the risk that if the credit of the ETN issuer becomes suspect, the investment might lose some or all of its value. Though linked to the performance, for example, of a market benchmark, ETNs are not equities or index funds, but they do share several characteristics. Similar to equities, ETNs are traded on an exchange and can be sold short. Similar to index funds, ETNs may be linked to the return of a benchmark or strategy, but ETNs do not have an ownership interest in the instruments underlying the benchmark or strategy the ETN is tracking.
Although one or more of the other risks described in this SAI may also apply, the risks typically associated with exchange-traded notes include: Counterparty Risk, Credit Risk and Market Risk.
Foreign Currency Transactions
Because investments in foreign securities usually involve currencies of foreign countries and because a Fund may hold cash and cash equivalent investments in foreign currencies, the value of a Fund’s assets as measured in U.S. dollars may be affected favorably or unfavorably by changes in currency exchange rates and exchange control regulations. Also, a Fund may incur costs in connection with conversions between various currencies. Currency exchange rates may fluctuate significantly over short periods of time, causing a Fund’s NAV to fluctuate. Currency exchange rates are generally determined by the forces of supply and demand in the foreign exchange markets, actual or anticipated changes in interest rates, and other complex factors. Currency exchange rates also can be affected by the intervention of U.S. or foreign governments or central banks, or the failure to intervene, or by currency controls or political developments.
Spot Rates and Derivative Instruments. A Fund may conduct its foreign currency exchange transactions either at the spot (cash) rate prevailing in the foreign currency exchange market or by entering into forward foreign currency exchange contracts (forward contracts). (See Types of Investments – Derivatives.) These contracts are traded in the interbank market conducted directly between currency traders (usually large commercial banks) and their customers. Because foreign currency transactions occurring in the interbank market might involve substantially larger amounts than those involved in the use of such derivative instruments, a Fund could be disadvantaged by having to deal in the odd lot market for the underlying foreign currencies at prices that are less favorable than for round lots.
A Fund may enter into forward contracts for a variety of reasons, including for risk management (hedging) or for investment purposes.
When a Fund enters into a contract for the purchase or sale of a security denominated in a foreign currency or has been notified of a dividend or interest payment, it may desire to lock in the price of the security or the amount of the payment, usually in U.S. dollars, although it could desire to lock in the price of the security in another currency. By entering into a forward contract, a Fund would be able to protect itself against a possible loss resulting from an adverse change in the relationship between different currencies from the date the security is purchased or sold to the date on which payment is made or received or when the dividend or interest is actually received.
A Fund may enter into forward contracts when management of the Fund believes the currency of a particular foreign country may decline in value relative to another currency. When selling currencies forward in this fashion, a Fund may seek to hedge the value of foreign securities it holds against an adverse move in exchange rates. The precise matching of forward contract amounts and the value of securities involved generally will not be possible since the future value of securities in foreign currencies more than likely will change between the date the forward contract is entered into and the date it matures. The projection of short-term currency market movements is extremely difficult and successful execution of a short-term hedging strategy is highly uncertain.
This method of protecting the value of a Fund’s securities against a decline in the value of a currency does not eliminate fluctuations in the underlying prices of the securities. It simply establishes a rate of exchange that can be achieved at some point in time. Although forward contracts can be used to minimize the risk of loss due to a decline in value of hedged currency, they will also limit any potential gain that might result should the value of such currency increase.
A Fund may also enter into forward contracts when the Fund’s portfolio manager believes the currency of a particular country will increase in value relative to another currency. A Fund may buy currencies forward to gain exposure to a currency without incurring the additional costs of purchasing securities denominated in that currency.
For example, the combination of U.S. dollar-denominated instruments with long forward currency exchange contracts creates a position economically equivalent to a position in the foreign currency, in anticipation of an increase in the value of the foreign currency against the U.S. dollar. Conversely, the combination of U.S. dollar-denominated instruments with short forward currency exchange contracts is economically equivalent to borrowing the foreign currency for delivery at a specified date in the future, in anticipation of a decrease in the value of the foreign currency against the U.S. dollar.
Unanticipated changes in the currency exchange results could result in poorer performance for Funds that enter into these types of transactions.
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A Fund may designate cash or securities in an amount equal to the value of the Fund’s total assets committed to consummating forward contracts entered into under the circumstance set forth above. If the value of the securities declines, additional cash or securities will be designated on a daily basis so that the value of the cash or securities will equal the amount of the Fund’s commitments on such contracts.
At maturity of a forward contract, a Fund may either deliver (if a contract to sell) or take delivery of (if a contract to buy) the foreign currency or terminate its contractual obligation by entering into an offsetting contract with the same currency trader, having the same maturity date, and covering the same amount of foreign currency.
If a Fund engages in an offsetting transaction, it will incur a gain or loss to the extent there has been movement in forward contract prices. If a Fund engages in an offsetting transaction, it may subsequently enter into a new forward contract to buy or sell the foreign currency.
Although a Fund values its assets each business day in terms of U.S. dollars, it may not intend to convert its foreign currencies into U.S. dollars on a daily basis. However, it will do so from time to time, and such conversions involve certain currency conversion costs. Although foreign exchange dealers do not charge a fee for conversion, they do realize a profit based on the difference (spread) between the prices at which they buy and sell various currencies. Thus, a dealer may offer to sell a foreign currency to a Fund at one rate, while offering a lesser rate of exchange should a Fund desire to resell that currency to the dealer.
It is possible, under certain circumstances, including entering into forward currency contracts for investment purposes, that a Fund will be required to limit or restructure its forward contract currency transactions to qualify as a “regulated investment company” under the Code.
Options on Foreign Currencies. A Fund may buy put and call options and write covered call and cash-secured put options on foreign currencies for hedging purposes and to gain exposure to foreign currencies. For example, a decline in the dollar value of a foreign currency in which securities are denominated will reduce the dollar value of such securities, even if their value in the foreign currency remains constant. In order to protect against the diminutions in the value of securities, a Fund may buy put options on the foreign currency. If the value of the currency does decline, a Fund would have the right to sell the currency for a fixed amount in dollars and would thereby offset, in whole or in part, the adverse effect on its portfolio that otherwise would have resulted.
Conversely, where a change in the dollar value of a currency would increase the cost of securities a Fund plans to buy, or where a Fund would benefit from increased exposure to the currency, a Fund may buy call options on the foreign currency, giving it the right to purchase the currency for a fixed amount in dollars. The purchase of the options could offset, at least partially, the changes in exchange rates.
As in the case of other types of options, however, the benefit to a Fund derived from purchases of foreign currency options would be reduced by the amount of the premium and related transaction costs. In addition, where currency exchange rates do not move in the direction or to the extent anticipated, a Fund could sustain losses on transactions in foreign currency options that would require it to forego a portion or all of the benefits of advantageous changes in rates.
A Fund may write options on foreign currencies for similar purposes. For example, when a Fund anticipates a decline in the dollar value of foreign-denominated securities due to adverse fluctuations in exchange rates, it could, instead of purchasing a put option, write a call option on the relevant currency, giving the option holder the right to purchase that currency from the Fund for a fixed amount in dollars. If the expected decline occurs, the option would most likely not be exercised and the diminution in value of securities would be offset, at least partially, by the amount of the premium received.
Similarly, instead of purchasing a call option when a foreign currency is expected to appreciate, a Fund could write a put option on the relevant currency, giving the option holder the right to that currency from the Fund for a fixed amount in dollars. If rates move in the manner projected, the put option would expire unexercised and allow the Fund to hedge increased cost up to the amount of the premium.
As in the case of other types of options, however, the writing of a foreign currency option will constitute only a partial hedge up to the amount of the premium, and only if rates move in the expected direction. If this does not occur, the option may be exercised and the Fund would be required to buy or sell the underlying currency at a loss that may not be offset by the amount of the premium. Through the writing of options on foreign currencies, the Fund also may be required to forego all or a portion of the benefits that might otherwise have been obtained from favorable movements on exchange rates.
An option written on foreign currencies is covered if a Fund holds currency sufficient to cover the option or has an absolute and immediate right to acquire that currency without additional cash consideration upon conversion of assets denominated in that currency or exchange of other currency held in its portfolio. An option writer could lose amounts substantially in excess of its initial investments, due to the margin and collateral requirements associated with such positions.
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Options on foreign currencies are traded through financial institutions acting as market-makers, although foreign currency options also are traded on certain national securities exchanges, such as the Philadelphia Stock Exchange and the Chicago Board Options Exchange, subject to SEC regulation. In an over-the-counter trading environment, many of the protections afforded to exchange participants will not be available. For example, there are no daily price fluctuation limits, and adverse market movements could therefore continue to an unlimited extent over a period of time. Although the purchaser of an option cannot lose more than the amount of the premium plus related transaction costs, this entire amount could be lost.
Foreign currency option positions entered into on a national securities exchange are cleared and guaranteed by the OCC, thereby reducing the risk of counterparty default. Further, a liquid secondary market in options traded on a national securities exchange may be more readily available than in the over-the-counter market, potentially permitting a Fund to liquidate open positions at a profit prior to exercise or expiration, or to limit losses in the event of adverse market movements.
Foreign Currency Futures and Related Options. A Fund may enter into currency futures contracts to buy or sell currencies. It also may buy put and call options and write covered call and cash-secured put options on currency futures. Currency futures contracts are similar to currency forward contracts, except that they are traded on exchanges (and have margin requirements) and are standardized as to contract size and delivery date. Most currency futures call for payment of delivery in U.S. dollars. A Fund may use currency futures for the same purposes as currency forward contracts, subject to CFTC limitations.
Currency futures and options on futures values can be expected to correlate with exchange rates, but will not reflect other factors that may affect the value of the Fund’s investments. A currency hedge, for example, should protect a Yen-denominated bond against a decline in the Yen, but will not protect a Fund against price decline if the issuer’s creditworthiness deteriorates. Because the value of a Fund’s investments denominated in foreign currency will change in response to many factors other than exchange rates, it may not be possible to match the amount of a forward contract to the value of a Fund’s investments denominated in that currency over time.
Although one or more of the other risks described in this SAI may also apply, the risks typically associated with foreign currency transactions include: Foreign Currency Risk, Derivatives Risk, Interest Rate Risk, and Liquidity Risk.
Foreign Securities
Unless otherwise stated in a Fund’s prospectus, stocks, bonds and other securities or investments are deemed to be “foreign” based primarily on the issuer’s place of organization/incorporation, but the Fund may also consider the issuer’s domicile, its principal place of business, its primary stock exchange listing, the source of its revenue or other factors. A Fund’s investments in foreign markets, may include issuers in emerging markets, as well as frontier markets, each of which carry heightened risks as compared with investments in other typical foreign markets. Unless otherwise stated in a Fund’s prospectus, emerging market countries are generally those either defined by World Bank-defined per capita income brackets or determined to be an emerging market based on the Fund portfolio manager’s qualitative judgments about a country’s level of economic and institutional development, among other factors. Frontier market countries generally have smaller economies and even less developed capital markets than typical emerging market countries (which themselves have increased investment risk relative to investing in more developed markets) and, as a result, the risks of investing in emerging market countries are magnified in frontier market countries. Foreign securities may be structured as fixed-, variable- or floating-rate obligations or as zero-coupon, pay-in-kind and step-coupon securities and may be privately placed or publicly offered. See Types of Investments — Variable- and Floating-Rate Obligations, — Debt Obligations - Zero-Coupon, Pay-in-Kind and Step-Coupon Securities and — Private Placement and Other Restricted Securities for more information.
Due to the potential for foreign withholding taxes, MSCI publishes two versions of its indices reflecting the reinvestment of dividends using two different methodologies: gross dividends and net dividends. While both versions reflect reinvested dividends, they differ with respect to the manner in which taxes associated with dividend payments are treated. In calculating the net dividends version, MSCI incorporates reinvested dividends applying the withholding tax rate applicable to foreign non-resident institutional investors that do not benefit from double taxation treaties. The Investment Manager believes that the net dividends version of MSCI indices better reflects the returns U.S. investors might expect were they to invest directly in the component securities of an MSCI index.
There is a practice in certain foreign markets under which an issuer’s securities are blocked from trading at the custodian or sub-custodian level for a specified number of days before and, in certain instances, after a shareholder meeting where such shares are voted. This is referred to as “share blocking.” The blocking period can last up to several weeks. Share blocking may prevent a Fund from buying or selling securities during this period, because during the time shares are blocked, trades in such securities will not settle. It may be difficult or impossible to lift blocking restrictions, with the particular requirements varying widely by country. As a consequence of these restrictions, the Investment Manager, on behalf of a Fund, may abstain from voting proxies in markets that require share blocking.
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Foreign securities may include depositary receipts, such as American Depositary Receipts (ADRs), European Depositary Receipts (EDRs) and Global Depositary Receipts (GDRs). ADRs are U.S. dollar-denominated receipts issued in registered form by a domestic bank or trust company that evidence ownership of underlying securities issued by a foreign issuer. EDRs are foreign currency-denominated receipts issued in Europe, typically by foreign banks or trust companies and foreign branches of domestic banks, that evidence ownership of foreign or domestic securities. GDRs are receipts structured similarly to ADRs and EDRs and are marketed globally. Depositary receipts will not necessarily be denominated in the same currency as their underlying securities. In general, ADRs, in registered form, are designed for use in the U.S. securities markets, and EDRs, in bearer form, are designed for use in European securities markets. GDRs are tradable both in the United States and in Europe and are designed for use throughout the world. A Fund may invest in depositary receipts through “sponsored” or “unsponsored” facilities. A sponsored facility is established jointly by the issuer of the underlying security and a depositary, whereas a depositary may establish an unsponsored facility without participation by the issuer of the deposited security. Holders of unsponsored depositary receipts generally bear all the costs of such facilities and the depositary of an unsponsored facility frequently is under no obligation to distribute interest holder communications received from the issuer of the deposited security or to pass through voting rights to the holders of such receipts in respect of the deposited securities. The issuers of unsponsored depositary receipts are not obligated to disclose material information in the United States, and, therefore, there may be limited information available regarding such issuers and/or limited correlation between available information and the market value of the depositary receipts.
Although one or more of the other risks described in this SAI may also apply, the risks typically associated with foreign securities include: Emerging Markets Securities Risk, Foreign Currency Risk, Foreign Securities Risk, Frontier Market Risk, Geographic Focus Risk, Issuer Risk and Market Risk.
Guaranteed Investment Contracts (Funding Agreements)
Guaranteed investment contracts, or funding agreements, are short-term, privately placed debt instruments issued by insurance companies. Pursuant to such contracts, a Fund may make cash contributions to a deposit fund of the insurance company’s general account. The insurance company then credits to a Fund payments at negotiated, floating or fixed interest rates. A Fund will purchase guaranteed investment contracts only from issuers that, at the time of purchase, meet certain credit and quality standards. In general, guaranteed investment contracts are not assignable or transferable without the permission of the issuing insurance companies, and an active secondary market does not exist for these investments. In addition, the issuer may not be able to pay the principal amount to a Fund on seven days’ notice or less, at which time the investment may be considered illiquid. See Types of Investments – Illiquid Investments.
Although one or more of the other risks described in this SAI may also apply, the risks typically associated with guaranteed investment contracts (funding agreements) include: Credit Risk and Liquidity Risk.
High-Yield Securities
High-yield, or low and below investment grade securities (below investment grade securities are also known as “junk bonds”) are debt securities with the lowest investment grade rating (e.g., BBB by S&P and Fitch or Baa by Moody’s), that are below investment grade (e.g., lower than BBB by S&P and Fitch or Baa by Moody’s) or that are unrated but determined by a Fund’s portfolio manager to be of comparable quality. These types of securities may be issued to fund corporate transactions or restructurings, such as leveraged buyouts, mergers, acquisitions, debt reclassifications or similar events, are more speculative in nature than securities with higher ratings and tend to be more sensitive to credit risk, particularly during a downturn in the economy. These types of securities generally are issued by unseasoned companies without long track records of sales and earnings, or by companies or municipalities that have questionable credit strength. High-yield securities and comparable unrated securities: (i) likely will have some quality and protective characteristics that, in the judgment of one or more NRSROs, are outweighed by large uncertainties or major risk exposures to adverse conditions; (ii) are speculative with respect to the issuer’s capacity to pay interest and repay principal in accordance with the terms of the obligation; and (iii) may have a less liquid secondary market, potentially making it difficult to value or sell such securities. Credit ratings issued by credit rating agencies are designed to evaluate the safety of principal and interest payments of rated securities. They do not, however, evaluate the market value risk of lower-quality securities and, therefore, may not fully reflect the true risks of an investment. In addition, credit rating agencies may or may not make timely changes in a rating to reflect changes in the economy or in the condition of the issuer that affect the market value of the securities. Consequently, credit ratings are used only as a preliminary indicator of investment quality. High-yield securities may be structured as fixed-, variable- or floating-rate obligations or as zero-coupon, pay-in-kind and step-coupon securities and may be privately placed or publicly offered. See Types of Investments – Variable- and Floating-Rate Obligations, – Debt Obligations – Zero-Coupon, Pay-in-Kind and Step-Coupon Securities and – Private Placement and Other Restricted Securities for more information.
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The rates of return on these types of securities generally are higher than the rates of return available on more highly rated securities, but generally involve greater volatility of price and risk of loss of principal and income, including the possibility of default by or insolvency of the issuers of such securities. Accordingly, a Fund may be more dependent on the Investment Manager’s (or, if applicable, a subadviser’s) credit analysis with respect to these types of securities than is the case for more highly rated securities.
The market values of certain high-yield securities and comparable unrated securities tend to be more sensitive to individual corporate developments and changes in economic conditions than are the market values of more highly rated securities. In addition, issuers of high-yield and comparable unrated securities often are highly leveraged and may not have more traditional methods of financing available to them, so that their ability to service their debt obligations during an economic downturn or during sustained periods of rising interest rates may be impaired.
The risk of loss due to default is greater for high-yield and comparable unrated securities than it is for higher rated securities because high-yield securities and comparable unrated securities generally are unsecured and frequently are subordinated to more senior indebtedness. A Fund may incur additional expenses to the extent that it is required to seek recovery upon a default in the payment of principal or interest on its holdings of such securities. The existence of limited markets for lower-rated debt securities may diminish a Fund’s ability to: (i) obtain accurate market quotations for purposes of valuing such securities and calculating portfolio net asset value; and (ii) sell the securities at fair market value either to meet redemption requests or to respond to changes in the economy or in financial markets.
Many lower-rated securities are not registered for offer and sale to the public under the 1933 Act. Investments in these restricted securities may be determined to be liquid (able to be sold or disposed of in current market conditions in seven days or less without the sales or dispositions significantly changing the market value of the investment) pursuant to the Funds’ liquidity risk management program. A Fund may not purchase or otherwise acquire any illiquid investments if, immediately after the acquisition, the value of illiquid investments held by the Fund would exceed 15% of the Fund’s net assets. A Fund is not otherwise subject to any limitation on its ability to invest in restricted securities. Restricted securities may be less liquid than other lower-rated securities, potentially making it difficult to value or sell such securities.
Although one or more of the other risks described in this SAI may also apply, the risks typically associated with high-yield securities include: Credit Risk, Interest Rate Risk, High-Yield Securities Risk and Prepayment and Extension Risk.
Illiquid Investments
An illiquid investment is any investment that the Fund reasonably expects cannot be sold or disposed of in current market conditions in seven calendar days or less without the sale or disposition significantly changing the market value of the investment. Some securities, such as those not registered under U.S. securities laws, cannot be sold in public transactions. Some securities are deemed to be illiquid because they are subject to contractual or legal restrictions on resale. Subject to its investment policies, a Fund may invest in illiquid investments and may invest in certain restricted securities that are deemed to be illiquid investments at the time of purchase.
Although one or more of the other risks described in this SAI may also apply, the risk typically associated with illiquid investments include: Liquidity Risk.
Inflation-Protected Securities
Inflation is a general rise in prices of goods and services. Inflation erodes the purchasing power of an investor’s assets. For example, if an investment provides a total return of 7% in a given year and inflation is 3% during that period, the inflation-adjusted, or real, return is 4%. Inflation-protected securities are debt securities whose principal and/or interest payments are adjusted for inflation, unlike debt securities that make fixed principal and interest payments. One type of inflation-protected debt security is issued by the U.S. Treasury. The principal of these securities is adjusted for inflation as indicated by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for urban consumers and interest is paid on the adjusted amount. The CPI is a measurement of changes in the cost of living, made up of components such as housing, food, transportation and energy.
If the CPI falls, the principal value of inflation-protected securities will be adjusted downward, and consequently the interest payable on these securities (calculated with respect to a smaller principal amount) will be reduced. Conversely, if the CPI rises, the principal value of inflation-protected securities will be adjusted upward, and consequently the interest payable on these securities will be increased. Repayment of the original bond principal upon maturity is guaranteed in the case of U.S. Treasury inflation-protected securities, even during a period of deflation. However, the current market value of the inflation-protected securities is not guaranteed and will fluctuate. Other inflation-indexed securities include inflation-related bonds, which may or may not provide a similar guarantee. If a guarantee of principal is not provided, the adjusted principal value of the bond repaid at maturity may be less than the original principal.
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Other issuers of inflation-protected debt securities include other U.S. government agencies or instrumentalities, corporations and foreign governments. There can be no assurance that the CPI or any foreign inflation index will accurately measure the real rate of inflation in the prices of goods and services. Moreover, there can be no assurance that the rate of inflation in a foreign country will be correlated to the rate of inflation in the United States. If interest rates rise due to reasons other than inflation (for example, due to changes in currency exchange rates), investors in these securities may not be protected to the extent that the increase is not reflected in the bond’s inflation measure.
Any increase in principal for an inflation-protected security resulting from inflation adjustments is considered by IRS regulations to be taxable income in the year it occurs. For direct holders of an inflation-protected security, this means that taxes must be paid on principal adjustments even though these amounts are not received until the bond matures. Similarly, a Fund treated as a regulated investment company (RIC) under the Code that holds these securities distributes both interest income and the income attributable to principal adjustments in the form of cash or reinvested shares, which are taxable to shareholders.
Although one or more of the other risks described in this SAI may also apply, the risks typically associated with inflation-protected securities include: Inflation-Protected Securities Risk, Interest Rate Risk and Market Risk. In addition, inflation-protected securities issued by non-U.S. government agencies or instrumentalities are subject to Credit Risk.
Initial Public Offerings
A Fund may invest in initial public offerings (IPOs) of common stock or other primary or secondary syndicated offerings of equity or debt securities issued by a corporate issuer. Fixed income funds frequently invest in these types of offerings of debt securities. A purchase of IPO securities often involves higher transaction costs than those associated with the purchase of securities already traded on exchanges or markets. A Fund may hold IPO securities for a period of time, or may sell them soon after the purchase. Investments in IPOs could have a magnified impact — either positive or negative — on a Fund’s performance while the Fund’s assets are relatively small. The impact of an IPO on a Fund’s performance may tend to diminish as the Fund’s assets grow. In circumstances when investments in IPOs make a significant contribution to a Fund’s performance, there can be no assurance that similar contributions from IPOs will continue in the future.
Although one or more risks described in this SAI may also apply, the risks typically associated with IPOs include: IPO Risk, Issuer Risk, Liquidity Risk, Market Risk and Small Company Securities Risk.
Inverse Floaters
See Types of Investments – Derivatives – Indexed or Linked Securities (Structured Products) above.
Investments in Other Investment Companies (Including ETFs)
Investing in other investment companies may be a means by which a Fund seeks to achieve its investment objective. A Fund may invest in securities issued by other investment companies within the limits prescribed by the 1940 Act, the rules and regulations thereunder and any exemptive relief currently or in the future available to a Fund. These securities include shares of other affiliated or unaffiliated open-end investment companies (i.e., mutual funds), closed-end funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), UCITS funds (pooled investment vehicles established in accordance with the Undertaking for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities) and business development companies.
Except with respect to funds structured as funds-of-funds or so-called master/feeder funds or other funds whose strategies otherwise allow such investments, the 1940 Act generally requires that a fund limit its investments in another investment company or series thereof so that, as determined at the time a securities purchase is made: (i) no more than 5% of the value of its total assets will be invested in the securities of any one investment company; (ii) no more than 10% of the value of its total assets will be invested in the aggregate in securities of other investment companies; and (iii) no more than 3% of the outstanding voting stock of any one investment company or series thereof will be owned by a fund or by companies controlled by a fund. Such other investment companies may include ETFs, which are shares of publicly traded unit investment trusts, open-end funds or depositary receipts that may be passively managed (e.g., they seek to track the performance of specific indexes or companies in related industries) or they may be actively managed. The SEC has granted orders for exemptive relief to certain ETFs that permit investments in those ETFs by certain other registered investment companies in excess of these limits.
ETFs are listed on an exchange and trade in the secondary market on a per-share basis, which allows investors to purchase and sell ETF shares at their market price throughout the day. Certain ETFs, such as passively managed ETFs, hold portfolios of securities that are designed to replicate, as closely as possible before expenses, the price and yield of a specified market index. The performance results of these ETFs will not replicate exactly the performance of the pertinent index due to transaction and other expenses, including fees to service providers borne by ETFs. ETF shares are sold and redeemed at net asset value only in large blocks called creation units. The Funds’ ability to redeem creation units may be limited by the 1940 Act, which provides that ETFs will not be obligated to redeem shares held by the Funds in an amount exceeding one percent of their total outstanding securities during any period of less than 30 days.
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Although a Fund may derive certain advantages from being able to invest in shares of other investment companies, such as to be fully invested, there may be potential disadvantages. Investing in other investment companies may result in higher fees and expenses for a Fund and its shareholders. A shareholder may be charged fees not only on Fund shares held directly but also on the investment company shares that a Fund purchases. Because these investment companies may invest in other securities, they are also subject to the risks associated with a variety of investment instruments as described in this SAI.
Under the 1940 Act and rules and regulations thereunder, a Fund may purchase shares of affiliated funds, subject to certain conditions. Investing in affiliated funds presents certain actual or potential conflicts of interest. For more information about such actual and potential conflicts of interest, see Investment Management and Other Services – Other Roles and Relationships of Ameriprise Financial and its Affiliates – Certain Conflicts of Interest.
Although one or more of the other risks described in this SAI may also apply, the risks typically associated with the securities of other investment companies include: Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) Risk, Investing in Other Funds Risk, Issuer Risk and Market Risk.
Listed Private Equity Funds
A Fund may invest directly in listed private equity funds, which may include, among others, business development companies, investment holding companies, publicly traded limited partnership interests (common units), publicly traded venture capital funds, publicly traded venture capital trusts, publicly traded private equity funds, publicly traded private equity investment trusts, publicly traded closed-end funds, publicly traded financial institutions that lend to or invest in privately held companies and any other publicly traded vehicle whose purpose is to invest in privately held companies.
A Fund may invest in listed private equity funds that hold investments in a wide array of businesses and industries at various stages of development, from early stage to later stage to fully mature businesses. A Fund may invest in listed private equity funds that emphasize making equity and equity-like (preferred stock, convertible stock and warrants) investments in later stage to mature businesses, or may invest in listed private equity funds making debt investments or investments in companies at other stages of development. In addition, a Fund may invest in the common stock of closed-end management investment companies, including business development companies that invest in securities of listed private equity companies.
Although one or more of the other risks described in this SAI may also apply, the risks typically associated with investment in listed private equity funds include: Credit Risk, Liquidity Risk, Market Risk, Sector Risk, and Valuation Risk.
Money Market Instruments
Money market instruments include cash equivalents and short-term debt obligations which include: (i) bank obligations, including certificates of deposit (CDs), time deposits and bankers’ acceptances, and letters of credit of banks or savings and loan associations having capital surplus and undivided profits (as of the date of its most recently published annual financial statements) in excess of $100 million (or the equivalent in the instance of a foreign branch of a U.S. bank) at the date of investment; (ii) funding agreements; (iii) repurchase agreements; (iv) obligations of the United States, foreign countries and supranational entities, and each of their subdivisions, agencies and instrumentalities; (v) certain corporate debt securities, such as commercial paper, short-term corporate obligations and extendible commercial notes; (vi) participation interests; and (vii) municipal securities. Money market instruments may be structured as fixed-, variable- or floating-rate obligations and may be privately placed or publicly offered. A Fund may also invest in affiliated and unaffiliated money market mutual funds, which invest primarily in money market instruments. See Types of Investments — Variable- and Floating-Rate Obligations and — Private Placement and Other Restricted Securities for more information.
With respect to money market securities, certain U.S. Government obligations are backed or insured by the U.S. Government, its agencies or its instrumentalities. Other money market securities are backed only by the claims paying ability or creditworthiness of the issuer.
Bankers’ acceptances are marketable short-term credit instruments used to finance the import, export, transfer or storage of goods. They are termed “accepted” when a bank unconditionally guarantees their payment at maturity.
A Fund may invest its daily cash balance in Columbia Short-Term Cash Fund, a money market fund established for the exclusive use of the funds in the Columbia Fund Complex and other institutional clients of the Investment Manager.
Although one or more of the other risks described in this SAI may also apply, the risks typically associated with money market instruments include: Credit Risk, Inflation Risk, Interest Rate Risk, Issuer Risk and Money Market Fund Risk.
Mortgage-Backed Securities
Mortgage-backed securities are a type of asset-backed security that represent interests in, or debt instruments backed by, pools of underlying mortgages. In some cases, these underlying mortgages may be insured or guaranteed by the U.S. Government or its agencies. Mortgage-backed securities entitle the security holders to receive distributions that are tied to the payments made on the underlying mortgage collateral (less fees paid to the originator, servicer, or other parties, and fees paid for credit
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enhancement), so that the payments made on the underlying mortgage collateral effectively pass through to such security holders. Mortgage-backed securities are created when mortgage originators (or mortgage loan sellers who have purchased mortgage loans from mortgage loan originators) sell the underlying mortgages to a special purpose entity in a process called a securitization. The special purpose entity issues securities that are backed by the payments on the underlying mortgage loans, and have a minimum denomination and specific term. A decline or flattening of housing values may cause delinquencies in mortgages (especially sub-prime or non-prime mortgages) underlying mortgage-backed securities and thereby adversely affect the ability of the mortgage-backed securities issuer to make principal and/or interest payments to mortgage-backed securities holders. Mortgage-backed securities may be structured as fixed-, variable- or floating-rate obligations or as zero-coupon, pay-in-kind and step-coupon securities and may be privately placed or publicly offered. See Types of Investments — Variable- and Floating-Rate Obligations, — Debt Obligations - Zero-Coupon, Pay-in-Kind and Step-Coupon Securities and — Private Placement and Other Restricted Securities for more information.
Mortgage-backed securities may be issued or guaranteed by GNMA (also known as Ginnie Mae), FNMA (also known as Fannie Mae), or FHLMC (also known as Freddie Mac), but also may be issued or guaranteed by other issuers, including private companies. GNMA is a government-owned corporation that is an agency of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. It guarantees, with the full faith and credit of the United States, full and timely payment of all monthly principal and interest on its mortgage-backed securities. Until recently, FNMA and FHLMC were government-sponsored corporations owned entirely by private stockholders. Both issue mortgage-related securities that contain guarantees as to timely payment of interest and principal but that are not backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. Government. The value of the companies’ securities fell sharply in 2008 due to concerns that the firms did not have sufficient capital to offset losses. The U.S. Treasury has historically had the authority to purchase obligations of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. In addition, in 2008, due to capitalization concerns, Congress provided the U.S. Treasury with additional authority to lend Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac emergency funds and to purchase the companies’ stock, as described below. In September 2008, the U.S. Treasury and the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had been placed in conservatorship.
In the past Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have received significant capital support through U.S. Treasury preferred stock purchases and Federal Reserve purchases of their mortgage-backed securities. There can be no assurance that these or other agencies of the government will provide such support in the future. The future status of Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac could be impacted by, among other things, the actions taken and restrictions placed on Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac by the FHFA in its role as conservator, the restrictions placed on Fannie Mae’s or Freddie Mac’s operations and activities under the senior stock purchase agreements, market responses to developments at Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, and future legislative and regulatory action that alters the operations, ownership structure and/or mission of Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, each of which may, in turn, impact the value of, and cash flows on, any securities guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
The FHFA recently announced plans to consider taking Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac out of conservatorship. Should Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac be taken out of conservatorship, it is unclear whether the U.S. Treasury would continue to enforce its rights or perform its obligations under the senior stock purchase agreements. It is also unclear how the capital structure of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would be constructed post-conservatorship, and what effects, if any, the privatization of the enterprises will have on their creditworthiness and guarantees of certain mortgage-backed securities. Accordingly, should the FHFA take the enterprises out of conservatorship, there could be an adverse impact on the value of securities guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac which could cause a Fund’s shares to lose value.
Stripped mortgage-backed securities are a type of mortgage-backed security that receives differing proportions of the interest and principal payments from the underlying assets. Generally, there are two classes of stripped mortgage-backed securities: Interest Only (IO) and Principal Only (PO). IOs entitle the holder to receive distributions consisting of all or a portion of the interest on the underlying pool of mortgage loans or mortgage-backed securities. POs entitle the holder to receive distributions consisting of all or a portion of the principal of the underlying pool of mortgage loans or mortgage-backed securities. See Types of Investments — Debt Obligations - Stripped Securities for more information.
Collateralized Mortgage Obligations (CMOs) are hybrid mortgage-related instruments issued by special purpose entities secured by pools of mortgage loans or other mortgage-related securities, such as mortgage pass-through securities or stripped mortgage-backed securities. CMOs may be structured into multiple classes, often referred to as “tranches,” with each class bearing a different stated maturity and entitled to a different schedule for payments of principal and interest, including prepayments. Principal prepayments on collateral underlying a CMO may cause it to be retired substantially earlier than its stated maturity or final distribution dates, resulting in a loss of all or part of the premium if any has been paid. The yield characteristics of mortgage-backed securities differ from those of other debt securities. Among the differences are that interest and principal payments are made more frequently on mortgage-backed securities, usually monthly, and principal may be repaid at any time. These factors may reduce the expected yield. Interest is paid or accrues on all classes of the CMOs on a periodic basis. The principal and interest payments on the underlying mortgage assets may be allocated among the various classes of CMOs in
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several ways. Typically, payments of principal, including any prepayments, on the underlying mortgage assets are applied to the classes in the order of their respective stated maturities or final distribution dates, so that no payment of principal is made on CMOs of a class until all CMOs of other classes having earlier stated maturities or final distribution dates have been paid in full.
Commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) are a specific type of mortgage-backed security collateralized by a pool of mortgages on commercial real estate.
CMO residuals are mortgage securities issued by agencies or instrumentalities of the U.S. Government or by private originators of, or investors in, mortgage loans, including savings and loan associations, homebuilders, mortgage banks, commercial banks, investment banks and special purpose entities of the foregoing. The cash flow generated by the mortgage assets underlying a series of CMOs is applied first to make required payments of principal and interest on the CMOs and second to pay the related administrative expenses and any management fee of the issuer. The residual in a CMO structure generally represents the interest in any excess cash flow remaining after making the foregoing payments. Each payment of such excess cash flow to a holder of the related CMO residual represents income and/or a return of capital. The amount of residual cash flow resulting from a CMO will depend on, among other things, the characteristics of the mortgage assets, the coupon rate of each class of CMO, prevailing interest rates, the amount of administrative expenses and the pre-payment experience on the mortgage assets. In particular, the yield to maturity on CMO residuals is extremely sensitive to pre-payments on the related underlying mortgage assets, in the same manner as an interest-only (“IO”) class of stripped mortgage-backed securities. In addition, if a series of a CMO includes a class that bears interest at an adjustable rate, the yield to maturity on the related CMO residual will also be extremely sensitive to changes in the level of the index upon which interest rate adjustments are based. As described below with respect to stripped mortgage-backed securities, in certain circumstances an ETF may fail to recoup fully its initial investment in a CMO residual. CMO residuals are generally purchased and sold by institutional investors through several investment banking firms acting as brokers or dealers. Transactions in CMO residuals are generally completed only after careful review of the characteristics of the securities in question. In addition, CMO residuals may or, pursuant to an exemption therefrom, may not have been registered under the 1933 Act. CMO residuals, whether or not registered under the 1933 Act, may be subject to certain restrictions on transferability, and may be deemed “illiquid” and subject to a Fund’s limitations on investment in illiquid investments.
Mortgage pass-through securities are interests in pools of mortgage-related securities that differ from other forms of debt securities, which normally provide for periodic payment of interest in fixed amounts with principal payments at maturity or specified call dates. Instead, these securities provide a monthly payment which consists of both interest and principal payments. In effect, these payments are a “pass-through” of the monthly payments made by the individual borrowers on their residential or commercial mortgage loans, net of any fees paid to the issuer or guarantor of such securities. Additional payments are caused by repayments of principal resulting from the sale of the underlying property, refinancing or foreclosure, net of fees or costs which may be incurred. Some mortgage-related securities (such as securities issued by the GNMA) are described as “modified pass-through.” These securities entitle the holder to receive all interest and principal payments owed on the mortgage pool, net of certain fees, at the scheduled payment dates regardless of whether or not the mortgagor actually makes the payment.
REMICs are entities that own mortgages and elect REMIC status under the Code and, like CMOs, issue debt obligations collateralized by underlying mortgage assets that have characteristics similar to those issued by CMOs.
Although one or more of the other risks described in this SAI may also apply, the risks typically associated with mortgage- and asset-backed securities include: Credit Risk, Interest Rate Risk, Issuer Risk, Liquidity Risk, Mortgage- and Other Asset-Backed Securities Risk, Prepayment and Extension Risk and Reinvestment Risk.
Municipal Securities
Municipal securities include debt obligations issued by governmental entities, including states, political subdivisions, agencies, instrumentalities, and authorities, as well as U.S. territories, commonwealths and possessions (such as Guam, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands) and their political subdivisions, agencies, instrumentalities, and authorities, to obtain funds for various public purposes, including the construction of a wide range of public facilities, the refunding of outstanding obligations, the payment of general operating expenses, and the extension of loans to public institutions and facilities.
Municipal securities may include municipal bonds, municipal notes and municipal leases, which are described below. Municipal bonds are debt obligations of a governmental entity that obligate the municipality to pay the holder a specified sum of money at specified intervals and to repay the principal amount of the loan at maturity. Municipal securities can be classified into two principal categories, including “general obligation” bonds and other securities and “revenue” bonds and other securities. General obligation bonds are secured by the issuer’s full faith, credit and taxing power for the payment of principal and interest. Revenue securities are payable only from the revenues derived from a particular facility or class of facilities or, in some cases, from the proceeds of a special excise tax or other specific revenue source, such as the user of the facility being financed. Municipal securities also may include “moral obligation” securities, which normally are issued by special purpose public authorities. If the issuer of moral obligation securities is unable to meet its debt service obligations from current revenues, it may draw on a reserve fund, the restoration of which is a moral commitment but not a legal obligation of the governmental entity that created
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the special purpose public authority. Municipal securities may be structured as fixed-, variable- or floating-rate obligations or as zero-coupon, pay-in-kind and step-coupon securities and may be privately placed or publicly offered. See Types of Investments – Variable- and Floating-Rate Obligations, – Debt Obligations – Zero-Coupon, Pay-in-Kind and Step-Coupon Securities and – Private Placement and Other Restricted Securities for more information.
Municipal notes may be issued by governmental entities and other tax-exempt issuers in order to finance short-term cash needs or, occasionally, to finance construction. Most municipal notes are general obligations of the issuing entity payable from taxes or designated revenues expected to be received within the relevant fiscal period. Municipal notes generally have maturities of one year or less. Municipal notes can be subdivided into two sub-categories: (i) municipal commercial paper and (ii) municipal demand obligations.
Municipal commercial paper typically consists of very short-term unsecured negotiable promissory notes that are sold, for example, to meet seasonal working capital or interim construction financing needs of a governmental entity or agency. While these obligations are intended to be paid from general revenues or refinanced with long-term debt, they frequently are backed by letters of credit, lending agreements, note repurchase agreements or other credit facility agreements offered by banks or institutions. See Types of Investments – Commercial Paper for more information.
Municipal demand obligations can be subdivided into two general types: variable rate demand notes and master demand obligations. Variable rate demand notes are tax-exempt municipal obligations or participation interests that provide for a periodic adjustment in the interest rate paid on the notes. They permit the holder to demand payment of the notes, or to demand purchase of the notes at a purchase price equal to the unpaid principal balance, plus accrued interest either directly by the issuer or by drawing on a bank letter of credit or guaranty issued with respect to such note. The issuer of the municipal obligation may have a corresponding right to prepay at its discretion the outstanding principal of the note plus accrued interest upon notice comparable to that required for the holder to demand payment. The variable rate demand notes in which a Fund may invest are payable, or are subject to purchase, on demand, usually on notice of seven calendar days or less. The terms of the notes generally provide that interest rates are adjustable at intervals ranging from daily to six months.
Master demand obligations are tax-exempt municipal obligations that provide for a periodic adjustment in the interest rate paid and permit daily changes in the amount borrowed. The interest on such obligations is, in the opinion of counsel for the borrower, excluded from gross income for U.S. federal income tax purposes (but not necessarily for alternative minimum tax purposes). Although there is no secondary market for master demand obligations, such obligations are considered by a Fund to be liquid because they are payable upon demand.
Municipal lease obligations are participations in privately arranged loans to state or local government borrowers and may take the form of a lease, an installment purchase, or a conditional sales contract. They are issued by state and local governments and authorities to acquire land, equipment, and facilities. An investor may purchase these obligations directly, or it may purchase participation interests in such obligations. In general, municipal lease obligations are unrated, in which case they will be determined by a Fund’s portfolio manager to be of comparable quality at the time of purchase to rated instruments that may be acquired by a Fund. Frequently, privately arranged loans have variable interest rates and may be backed by a bank letter of credit. In other cases, they may be unsecured or may be secured by assets not easily liquidated.
Moreover, such loans in most cases are not backed by the taxing authority of the issuers and may have limited marketability or may be marketable only by virtue of a provision requiring repayment following demand by the lender.
Municipal leases may be subject to greater risks than general obligation or revenue bonds. State constitutions and statutes set forth requirements that states or municipalities must meet in order to issue municipal obligations. Municipal leases may contain a covenant by the state or municipality to budget for and make payments due under the obligation. Certain municipal leases may, however, provide that the issuer is not obligated to make payments on the obligation in future years unless funds have been appropriated for this purpose each year.
Although lease obligations do not constitute general obligations of the municipal issuer to which the government’s taxing power is pledged, a lease obligation ordinarily is backed by the government’s covenant to budget for, appropriate, and make the payments due under the lease obligation. However, certain lease obligations contain “non-appropriation” clauses that provide that the government has no obligation to make lease or installment purchase payments in future years unless money is appropriated for such purpose on a periodic basis. In the case of a “non-appropriation” lease, a Fund’s ability to recover under the lease in the event of non-appropriation or default likely will be limited to the repossession of the leased property in the event that foreclosure proves difficult.
Tender option bonds are municipal securities having relatively long maturities and bearing interest at a fixed interest rate substantially higher than prevailing short-term tax-exempt rates that is coupled with the agreement of a third party, such as a bank, broker-dealer or other financial institution, to grant the security holders the option, at periodic intervals, to tender their
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securities to the institution and receive the face value thereof. The financial institution receives periodic fees equal to the difference between the municipal security’s coupon rate and the rate that would cause the security to trade at face value on the date of determination.
There are variations in the quality of municipal securities, both within a particular classification and between classifications, and the rates of return on municipal securities can depend on a variety of factors, including general money market conditions, the financial condition of the issuer, general conditions of the municipal bond market, the size of a particular offering, the maturity of the obligation, and the rating of the issue. The ratings of NRSROs represent their opinions as to the quality of municipal securities. It should be emphasized, however, that these ratings are general and are not absolute standards of quality, and municipal securities with the same maturity, interest rate, and rating may have different rates of return while municipal securities of the same maturity and interest rate with different ratings may have the same rate of return. The municipal bond market is characterized by a large number of different issuers, many having smaller sized bond issues, and a wide choice of different maturities within each issue. For these reasons, most municipal bonds do not trade on a daily basis and many trade only rarely. Because many of these bonds trade infrequently, the spread between the bid and offer may be wider and the time needed to develop a bid or an offer may be longer than for other security markets. See Appendix A for a discussion of securities ratings. (See Types of Investments – Debt Obligations.)
Standby Commitments. Standby commitments are securities under which a purchaser, usually a bank or broker-dealer, agrees to purchase, for a fee, an amount of a Fund’s municipal obligations. The amount payable by a bank or broker-dealer to purchase securities subject to a standby commitment typically will be substantially the same as the value of the underlying municipal securities. A Fund may pay for standby commitments either separately in cash or by paying a higher price for portfolio securities that are acquired subject to such a commitment.
Although one or more of the other risks described in this SAI may also apply, the risks typically associated with standby commitments include: Counterparty Risk, Market Risk and Municipal Securities Risk.
Taxable Municipal Obligations. Interest or other investment return is subject to federal income tax for certain types of municipal obligations for a variety of reasons. These municipal obligations do not qualify for the federal income tax exemption because (a) they did not receive necessary authorization for tax-exempt treatment from state or local government authorities, (b) they exceed certain regulatory limitations on the cost of issuance for tax-exempt financing or (c) they finance public or private activities that do not qualify for the federal income tax exemption. These non-qualifying activities might include, for example, certain types of multi-family housing, certain professional and local sports facilities, refinancing of certain municipal debt, and borrowing to replenish a municipality’s underfunded pension plan.
For more information about the key risks associated with investments in municipal securities of particular states, see Appendix C. See Appendix A for a discussion of securities ratings. (See Types of Investments – Debt Obligations.)
Although one or more of the other risks described in this SAI may also apply, the risks typically associated with municipal securities include: Credit Risk, Inflation Risk, Interest Rate Risk, Market Risk and Municipal Securities Risk.
Participation Interests
Participation interests (also called pass-through certificates or securities) represent an interest in a pool of debt obligations, such as municipal bonds or notes that have been “packaged” by an intermediary, such as a bank or broker-dealer. Participation interests typically are issued by partnerships or trusts through which a Fund receives principal and interest payments that are passed through to the holder of the participation interest from the payments made on the underlying debt obligations. The purchaser of a participation interest receives an undivided interest in the underlying debt obligations. The issuers of the underlying debt obligations make interest and principal payments to the intermediary, as an initial purchaser, which are passed through to purchasers in the secondary market, such as a Fund. Mortgage-backed securities are a common type of participation interest. Participation interests may be structured as fixed-, variable- or floating-rate obligations or as zero-coupon, pay-in- kind and step-coupon securities and may be privately placed or publicly offered. See Types of Investments – Variable- and Floating-Rate Obligations, – Debt Obligations – Zero-Coupon, Pay-in-Kind and Step-Coupon Securities and – Private Placement and Other Restricted Securities for more information.
Loan participations also are a type of participation interest. Loans, loan participations, and interests in securitized loan pools are interests in amounts owed by a corporate, governmental, or other borrower to a lender or consortium of lenders (typically banks, insurance companies, investment banks, government agencies, or international agencies).
Although one or more of the other risks described in this SAI may also apply, the risks typically associated with loan participations include: Confidential Information Access Risk, Credit Risk and Interest Rate Risk.
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Partnership Securities
The Fund may invest in securities issued by publicly traded partnerships or master limited partnerships or limited liability companies (together referred to as “PTPs/MLPs”). These entities are limited partnerships or limited liability companies that may be publicly traded on stock exchanges or markets such as the NYSE, the NYSE Alternext US LLC (formerly the American Stock Exchange) and NASDAQ. PTPs/MLPs often own businesses or properties relating to energy, natural resources or real estate, or may be involved in the film industry or research and development activities. Generally PTPs/MLPs are operated under the supervision of one or more managing partners or members. Limited partners, unit holders, or members (such as a fund that invests in a partnership) are not involved in the day-to-day management of the company. Limited partners, unit holders, or members are allocated income and capital gains associated with the partnership project in accordance with the terms of the partnership or limited liability company agreement.
At times PTPs/MLPs may potentially offer relatively high yields compared to common stocks. Because PTPs/MLPs are generally treated as partnerships or similar limited liability “pass-through” entities for tax purposes, they do not ordinarily pay income taxes, but pass their earnings on to unit holders (except in the case of some publicly traded firms that may be taxed as corporations). For tax purposes, unit holders may initially be deemed to receive only a portion of the distributions attributed to them because certain other portions may be attributed to the repayment of initial investments and may thereby lower the cost basis of the units or shares owned by unit holders. As a result, unit holders may effectively defer taxation on the receipt of some distributions until they sell their units. These tax consequences may differ for different types of entities.
Although one or more of the other risks described in this SAI may also apply, the risks typically associated with partnership securities include: Interest Rate Risk, Issuer Risk, Liquidity Risk and Market Risk.
Preferred Stock
Preferred stock represents units of ownership of a corporation that frequently have dividends that are set at a specified rate. Preferred stock has preference over common stock in the payment of dividends and the liquidation of assets. Preferred stock shares some of the characteristics of both debt and equity. Preferred stock ordinarily does not carry voting rights. Most preferred stock is cumulative; if dividends are passed (i.e., not paid for any reason), they accumulate and must be paid before common stock dividends. Participating preferred stock entitles its holders to share in profits above and beyond the declared dividend, along with common shareholders, as distinguished from nonparticipating preferred stock, which is limited to the stipulated dividend. Convertible preferred stock is exchangeable for a given number of shares of common stock and thus tends to be more volatile than nonconvertible preferred stock, which generally behaves more like a fixed income bond. Preferred stock may be privately placed or publicly offered. The price of a preferred stock is generally determined by earnings, type of products or services, projected growth rates, experience of management, liquidity, and general market conditions of the markets on which the stock trades. See Types of Investments – Private Placement and Other Restricted Securities for more information.
Auction preferred stock (APS) is a type of adjustable-rate preferred stock with a dividend determined periodically in a Dutch auction process by corporate bidders. An APS is distinguished from standard preferred stock because its dividends change from time to time. Shares typically are bought and sold at face values generally ranging from $100,000 to $500,000 per share. Holders of APS may not be able to sell their shares if an auction fails, such as when there are more shares of APS for sale at an auction than there are purchase bids.
Although one or more of the other risks described in this SAI may also apply, the risks typically associated with preferred stock include: Convertible Securities Risk, Issuer Risk, Liquidity Risk and Market Risk.
Trust-Preferred Securities. Trust-preferred securities, also known as trust-issued securities, are securities that have characteristics of both debt and equity instruments and are typically treated by the Funds as debt investments.
Generally, trust-preferred securities are cumulative preferred stocks issued by a trust that is created by a financial institution, such as a bank holding company. The financial institution typically creates the trust with the objective of increasing its capital by issuing subordinated debt to the trust in return for cash proceeds that are reflected on the financial institutions balance sheet.
The primary asset owned by the trust is the subordinated debt issued to the trust by the financial institution. The financial institution makes periodic interest payments on the debt as discussed further below. The financial institution will subsequently own the trust’s common securities, which may typically represent a small percentage of the trust’s capital structure. The remainder of the trust’s capital structure typically consists of trust-preferred securities which are sold to investors. The trust uses the sales proceeds to purchase the subordinated debt issued by the financial institution. The financial institution uses the proceeds from the subordinated debt sale to increase its capital while the trust receives periodic interest payments from the financial institution for holding the subordinated debt.
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The trust uses the interest received to make dividend payments to the holders of the trust-preferred securities. The dividends are generally paid on a quarterly basis and are often higher than other dividends potentially available on the financial institution’s common stocks. The interests of the holders of the trust-preferred securities are senior to those of common stockholders in the event that the financial institution is liquidated, although their interests are typically subordinated to those of other holders of other debt issued by the institution.
The primary benefit for the financial institution in using this particular structure is that the trust-preferred securities issued by the trust are treated by the financial institution as debt securities for tax purposes (as a consequence of which the expense of paying interest on the securities is tax deductible), but are treated as more desirable equity securities for purposes of the calculation of capital requirements.
In certain instances, the structure involves more than one financial institution and thus, more than one trust. In such a pooled offering, an additional separate trust may be created. This trust will issue securities to investors and use the proceeds to purchase the trust-preferred securities issued by other trust subsidiaries of the participating financial institutions. In such a structure, the trust-preferred securities held by the investors are backed by other trust-preferred securities issued by the trust subsidiaries.
If a financial institution is financially unsound and defaults on interest payments to the trust, the trust will not be able to make dividend payments to holders of the trust-preferred securities such as the Fund, as the trust typically has no business operations other than holding the subordinated debt issued by the financial institution(s) and issuing the trust-preferred securities and common stock backed by the subordinated debt.
Although one or more of the other risks described in this SAI may also apply, the risks typically associated with trust-preferred securities include: Credit Risk, Interest Rate Risk, Liquidity Risk and Prepayment and Extension Risk.
Private Placement and Other Restricted Securities
Private placement securities are securities that have been privately placed and are not registered under the 1933 Act. They are generally eligible for sale only to certain eligible investors. Private placements often may offer attractive opportunities for investment not otherwise available on the open market. Private placement and other “restricted” securities often cannot be sold to the public without registration under the 1933 Act or the availability of an exemption from registration (such as Rules 144 or 144A), or they are “not readily marketable” because they are subject to other legal or contractual delays in or restrictions on resale. Asset-backed securities, common stock, convertible securities, corporate debt securities, foreign securities, high-yield securities, money market instruments, mortgage-backed securities, municipal securities, participation interests, preferred stock and other types of equity and debt instruments may be privately placed or restricted securities.
Private placements typically may be sold only to qualified institutional buyers or, in the case of the initial sale of certain securities, such as those issued in collateralized debt obligations or collateralized loan obligations, to accredited investors (as defined in Rule 501(a) under the 1933 Act), or in a privately negotiated transaction or to a limited number of qualified purchasers, or in limited quantities after they have been held for a specified period of time and other conditions are met pursuant to an exemption from registration.
Although one or more of the other risks described in this SAI may also apply, the risks typically associated with private placement and other restricted securities include: Issuer Risk, Liquidity Risk, Market Risk and Confidential Information Access Risk.
Real Estate Investment Trusts
Real estate investment trusts (REITs) are pooled investment vehicles that manage a portfolio of real estate or real estate related loans to earn profits for their shareholders. REITs are generally classified as equity REITs, mortgage REITs or a combination of equity and mortgage REITs. Equity REITs invest the majority of their assets directly in real property, such as shopping centers, nursing homes, office buildings, apartment complexes, and hotels, and derive income primarily from the collection of rents. Equity REITs can also realize capital gains by selling properties that have appreciated in value. Mortgage REITs invest the majority of their assets in real estate mortgages and derive income from the collection of interest payments. REITs can be subject to extreme volatility due to fluctuations in the demand for real estate, changes in interest rates, and adverse economic conditions.
Partnership units of real estate and other types of companies sometimes are organized as master limited partnerships in which ownership interests are publicly traded.
Similar to regulated investment companies, REITs are not taxed on income distributed to shareholders provided they comply with certain requirements under the Code. A Fund will indirectly bear its proportionate share of any expenses paid by a REIT in which it invests. REITs often do not provide complete tax information until after the calendar year-end. Consequently, because of the delay, it may be necessary for a Fund investing in REITs to request permission to extend the deadline for issuance of Forms 1099-DIV beyond January 31. In the alternative, amended Forms 1099-DIV may be sent.
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Although one or more of the other risks described in this SAI may also apply, the risks typically associated with REITs include: Interest Rate Risk, Issuer Risk, Market Risk and Real Estate-Related Investment Risk.
Repurchase Agreements
Repurchase agreements are agreements under which a Fund acquires a security for a relatively short period of time (usually within seven days) subject to the obligation of a seller to repurchase and a Fund to resell such security at a fixed time and price (representing the Fund’s cost plus interest). The repurchase agreement specifies the yield during the purchaser’s holding period. Repurchase agreements also may be viewed as loans made by a Fund that are collateralized by the securities subject to repurchase, which may consist of a variety of security types. A Fund typically will enter into repurchase agreements only with commercial banks, registered broker-dealers and the Fixed Income Clearing Corporation. Such transactions are monitored to ensure that the value of the underlying securities will be at least equal at all times to the total amount of the repurchase obligation, including any accrued interest.
Although one or more of the other risks described in this SAI may also apply, the risks typically associated with repurchase agreements include: Counterparty Risk, Credit Risk, Issuer Risk, Market Risk and Repurchase Agreements Risk.
Reverse Repurchase Agreements
Reverse repurchase agreements are agreements under which a Fund temporarily transfers possession of a portfolio instrument to another party, such as a bank or broker-dealer, in return for cash. At the same time, the Fund agrees to repurchase the instrument at an agreed-upon time (normally within 7 days) and price which reflects an interest payment. A Fund generally retains the right to interest and principal payments on the security. Reverse repurchase agreements also may be viewed as borrowings made by a Fund.
Although one or more of the other risks described in this SAI may also apply, the risks typically associated with reverse repurchase agreements include: Credit Risk, Interest Rate Risk, Issuer Risk, Leverage Risk, Market Risk and Reverse Repurchase Agreements Risk.
Short Sales
A Fund may sometimes sell securities short when it owns an equal amount of the securities sold short. This is a technique known as selling short “against the box.” If a Fund makes a short sale “against the box,” it would not immediately deliver the securities sold and would not receive the proceeds from the sale. The seller is said to have a short position in the securities sold until it delivers the securities sold, at which time it receives the proceeds of the sale. To secure its obligation to deliver securities sold short, a Fund will deposit in escrow in a separate account with the custodian an equal amount of the securities sold short or securities convertible into or exchangeable for such securities. A Fund can close out its short position by purchasing and delivering an equal amount of the securities sold short, rather than by delivering securities already held by a Fund, because a Fund might want to continue to receive interest and dividend payments on securities in its portfolio that are convertible into the securities sold short.
Short sales “against the box” entail many of the same risks and considerations described below regarding short sales not “against the box.” However, when a Fund sells short “against the box” it typically limits the amount of its effective leverage. A Fund’s decision to make a short sale “against the box” may be a technique to hedge against market risks when a Fund’s portfolio manager believes that the price of a security may decline, causing a decline in the value of a security owned by a Fund or a security convertible into or exchangeable for such security. In such case, any future losses in a Fund’s long position would be reduced by a gain in the short position. The extent to which such gains or losses in the long position are reduced will depend upon the amount of securities sold short relative to the amount of the securities a Fund owns, either directly or indirectly, and, in the case where a Fund owns convertible securities, changes in the investment values or conversion premiums of such securities. Short sales may have adverse tax consequences to a Fund and its shareholders.
Subject to its fundamental and non-fundamental investment policies, a Fund may engage in short sales that are not “against the box,” which are sales by a Fund of securities, contracts or instruments that it does not own in hopes of purchasing the same security, contract or instrument at a later date at a lower price. The technique is also used to protect a profit in a long-term position in a security, commodity futures contract or other instrument. To make delivery to the buyer, a Fund must borrow or purchase the security. If borrowed, a Fund is then obligated to replace the security borrowed from the third party, so a Fund must purchase the security at the market price at a later time. If the price of the security has increased during this time, then a Fund will incur a loss equal to the increase in price of the security from the time of the short sale plus any premiums and interest paid to the third party. (Until the security is replaced, a Fund is required to pay to the lender amounts equal to any dividends or interest which accrue during the period of the loan. To borrow the security, a Fund also may be required to pay a premium, which would increase the cost of the security sold. The proceeds of the short sale will be retained by the broker, to the extent necessary
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to meet the margin requirements, until the short position is closed out.) Short sales of forward commitments and derivatives do not involve borrowing a security. These types of short sales may include futures, options, contracts for differences, forward contracts on financial instruments and options such as contracts, credit-linked instruments, and swap contracts.
Although one or more of the other risks described in this SAI may also apply, the risks typically associated with short sales include: Leverage Risk, Market Risk and Short Positions Risk.
Sovereign Debt
Sovereign debt obligations are issued or guaranteed by foreign governments or their agencies. It may be in the form of conventional securities or other types of debt instruments such as loans or loan participations. A sovereign debtor’s willingness or ability to repay principal and pay interest in a timely manner may be affected by a variety of factors, including its cash flow situation, the extent of its reserves, the availability of sufficient foreign exchange on the date a payment is due, the relative size of the debt service burden to the economy as a whole, the sovereign debtor’s policy toward international lenders, and the political constraints to which a sovereign debtor may be subject. (See also Types of Investments – Foreign Securities.) In addition, there may be no legal recourse against a sovereign debtor in the event of a default.
Sovereign debt includes Brady Bonds, which are securities issued under the framework of the Brady Plan, an initiative announced by former U.S. Treasury Secretary Nicholas F. Brady in 1989 as a mechanism for debtor nations to restructure their outstanding external commercial bank indebtedness.
Although one or more of the other risks described in this SAI may also apply, the risks typically associated with sovereign debt include: Credit Risk, Emerging Markets Securities Risk, Foreign Securities Risk, Issuer Risk and Market Risk.
Standby Commitments
See Types of Investments – Municipal Securities above.
U.S. Government and Related Obligations
U.S. Government obligations include U.S. Treasury obligations and securities issued or guaranteed by various agencies of the U.S. Government or by various agencies or instrumentalities established or sponsored by the U.S. Government. U.S. Treasury obligations and securities issued or guaranteed by various agencies or instrumentalities of the U.S. Government differ in their interest rates, maturities and time of issuance, as well as with respect to whether they are guaranteed by the U.S. Government. U.S. Government and related obligations may be structured as fixed-, variable- or floating-rate obligations. See Types of Investments – Variable- and Floating-Rate Obligations for more information.
Investing in U.S. Government and related obligations is subject to certain risks. While U.S. Treasury obligations are backed by the “full faith and credit” of the U.S. Government, such securities are nonetheless subject to credit risk (i.e., the risk that the U.S. Government may be, or be perceived to be, unable or unwilling to honor its financial obligations, such as making payments). Securities issued or guaranteed by federal agencies and U.S. Government-sponsored instrumentalities may or may not be backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. Government. These securities may be supported by the ability to borrow from the U.S. Treasury or only by the credit of the issuing agency or instrumentality and, as a result, may be subject to greater credit risk than securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Treasury. Obligations of U.S. Government agencies, authorities, instrumentalities and sponsored enterprises historically have involved limited risk of loss of principal if held to maturity. However, no assurance can be given that the U.S. Government would provide financial support to any of these entities if it is not obligated to do so by law.
Government-sponsored entities issuing securities include privately owned, publicly chartered entities created to reduce borrowing costs for certain sectors of the economy, such as farmers, homeowners, and students. They include the Federal Farm Credit Bank System, Farm Credit Financial Assistance Corporation, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Student Loan Marketing Association (SLMA), and Resolution Trust Corporation (RTC). Government-sponsored entities may issue discount notes (with maturities ranging from overnight to 360 days) and bonds. On September 7, 2008, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), an agency of the U.S. Government, placed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac into conservatorship, a statutory process with the objective of returning the entities to normal business operations. FHFA will act as the conservator to operate the enterprises until they are stabilized.
Although one or more of the other risks described in this SAI may also apply, the risks typically associated with U.S. Government and related obligations include: Credit Risk, Inflation Risk, Interest Rate Risk, Prepayment and Extension Risk, Reinvestment Risk and U.S. Government Obligations Risk.
Variable- and Floating-Rate Obligations
Variable- and floating-rate obligations are debt instruments that provide for periodic adjustments in the interest rate and, under certain circumstances, varying principal amounts. Unlike a fixed interest rate, a variable, or floating, rate is one that rises and declines based on the movement of an underlying index of interest rates and may pay interest at rates that are adjusted periodically according to a specified formula. Variable- or floating-rate securities frequently include a demand feature enabling
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the holder to sell the securities to the issuer at par. In many cases, the demand feature can be exercised at any time. Some securities that do not have variable or floating interest rates may be accompanied by puts producing similar results and price characteristics. Variable-rate demand notes include master demand notes that are obligations that permit the investor to invest fluctuating amounts, which may change daily without penalty, pursuant to direct arrangements between the investor (as lender), and the borrower. The interest rates on these notes fluctuate. The issuer of such obligations normally has a corresponding right, after a given period, to prepay in its discretion the outstanding principal amount of the obligations plus accrued interest upon a specified number of days’ notice to the holders of such obligations. Because these obligations are direct lending arrangements between the lender and borrower, it is not contemplated that such instruments generally will be traded. There generally is not an established secondary market for these obligations. Accordingly, where these obligations are not secured by letters of credit or other credit support arrangements, the lender’s right to redeem is dependent on the ability of the borrower to pay principal and interest on demand. Such obligations frequently are not rated by credit rating agencies and may involve heightened risk of default by the issuer. Asset-backed securities, bank obligations, convertible securities, corporate debt securities, foreign securities, high-yield securities, money market instruments, mortgage-backed securities, municipal securities, participation interests, stripped securities, U.S. Government and related obligations and other types of debt instruments may be structured as variable- and floating-rate obligations.
Most floating rate loans are acquired directly from the agent bank or from another holder of the loan by assignment. Most such loans are secured, and most impose restrictive covenants on the borrower. These loans are typically made by a syndicate of banks and institutional investors, represented by an agent bank which has negotiated and structured the loan and which is responsible generally for collecting interest, principal, and other amounts from the borrower on its own behalf and on behalf of the other lending institutions in the syndicate, and for enforcing its rights and the rights of the syndicate against the borrower. Each of the lending institutions, including the agent bank, lends to the borrower a portion of the total amount of the loan, and retains the corresponding interest in the loan. Floating rate loans may include delayed draw term loans and prefunded or synthetic letters of credit.
A Fund’s ability to receive payments of principal and interest and other amounts in connection with loans held by it will depend primarily on the financial condition of the borrower. The failure by the Fund to receive scheduled interest or principal payments on a loan would adversely affect the income of the Fund and would likely reduce the value of its assets, which would be reflected in a reduction in the Fund’s NAV. Banks and other lending institutions generally perform a credit analysis of the borrower before originating a loan or purchasing an assignment in a loan. In selecting the loans in which the Fund will invest, however, the Investment Manager will not rely on that credit analysis of the agent bank, but will perform its own investment analysis of the borrowers. The Investment Manager’s analysis may include consideration of the borrower’s financial strength and managerial experience, debt coverage, additional borrowing requirements or debt maturity schedules, changing financial conditions, and responsiveness to changes in business conditions and interest rates. Investments in loans may be of any quality, including “distressed” loans, and will be subject to the Fund’s credit quality policy.
Loans may be structured in different forms, including assignments and participations. In an assignment, a Fund purchases an assignment of a portion of a lender’s interest in a loan. In this case, the Fund may be required generally to rely upon the assigning bank to demand payment and enforce its rights against the borrower, but would otherwise be entitled to all of such bank’s rights in the loan.
The borrower of a loan may, either at its own election or pursuant to terms of the loan documentation, prepay amounts of the loan from time to time. There is no assurance that a Fund will be able to reinvest the proceeds of any loan prepayment at the same interest rate or on the same terms as those of the original loan.
Corporate loans in which a Fund may purchase a loan assignment are made generally to finance internal growth, mergers, acquisitions, recapitalizations, stock repurchases, leveraged buy-outs, dividend payments to sponsors and other corporate activities. The highly leveraged capital structure of certain borrowers may make such loans especially vulnerable to adverse changes in economic or market conditions. The Fund may hold investments in loans for a very short period of time when opportunities to resell the investments that a Fund’s portfolio manager believes are attractive arise.
Certain of the loans acquired by a Fund may involve revolving credit facilities under which a borrower may from time to time borrow and repay amounts up to the maximum amount of the facility. In such cases, the Fund would have an obligation to advance its portion of such additional borrowings upon the terms specified in the loan assignment. To the extent that the Fund is committed to make additional loans under such an assignment, it will at all times designate cash or securities in an amount sufficient to meet such commitments.
Notwithstanding its intention in certain situations to not receive material, non-public information with respect to its management of investments in floating rate loans, the Investment Manager may from time to time come into possession of material, non-public information about the issuers of loans that may be held in a Fund’s portfolio. Possession of such information may in some instances occur despite the Investment Manager’s efforts to avoid such possession, but in other instances the Investment Manager may choose to receive such information (for example, in connection with participation in a creditors’ committee with respect to a
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financially distressed issuer). As, and to the extent, required by applicable law, the Investment Manager’s ability to trade in these loans for the account of the Fund could potentially be limited by its possession of such information. Such limitations on the Investment Manager’s ability to trade could have an adverse effect on the Fund by, for example, preventing the Fund from selling a loan that is experiencing a material decline in value. In some instances, these trading restrictions could continue in effect for a substantial period of time.
In some instances, other accounts managed by the Investment Manager may hold other securities issued by borrowers whose floating rate loans may be held in a Fund’s portfolio. These other securities may include, for example, debt securities that are subordinate to the floating rate loans held in the Fund’s portfolio, convertible debt or common or preferred equity securities.
In certain circumstances, such as if the credit quality of the issuer deteriorates, the interests of holders of these other securities may conflict with the interests of the holders of the issuer’s floating rate loans. In such cases, the Investment Manager may owe conflicting fiduciary duties to the Fund and other client accounts. The Investment Manager will endeavor to carry out its obligations to all of its clients to the fullest extent possible, recognizing that in some cases certain clients may achieve a lower economic return, as a result of these conflicting client interests, than if the Investment Manager’s client accounts collectively held only a single category of the issuer’s securities.
Although one or more of the other risks described in this SAI may also apply, the risks typically associated with variable- or floating-rate obligations include: Counterparty Risk, Credit Risk, Interest Rate Risk, Liquidity Risk and Prepayment and Extension Risk.
Warrants and Rights
Warrants and rights are types of securities that give a holder a right to purchase shares of common stock. Warrants usually are issued together with a bond or preferred stock and entitle a holder to purchase a specified amount of common stock at a specified price typically for a period of years. Rights usually have a specified purchase price that is lower than the current market price and entitle a holder to purchase a specified amount of common stock typically for a period of only weeks. Warrants may be used to enhance the marketability of a bond or preferred stock. Warrants do not carry with them the right to dividends or voting rights and they do not represent any rights in the assets of the issuer. Warrants may be considered to have more speculative characteristics than certain other types of investments. In addition, the value of a warrant does not necessarily change with the value of the underlying securities, and a warrant ceases to have value if it is not exercised prior to its expiration date, if any.
The potential exercise price of warrants or rights may exceed their market price, such as when there is no movement in the market price or the market price of the common stock declines.
Although one or more of the other risks described in this SAI may also apply, the risks typically associated with warrants and rights include: Convertible Securities Risk, Counterparty Risk, Credit Risk, Issuer Risk and Market Risk.
Information Regarding Risks
The following is a summary of risks of investing in the Funds and the risk characteristics associated with the various securities, instruments, assets and investments as well as strategies and techniques that may be available to the Funds for investment. A Fund’s risk profile is largely determined by each Fund’s portfolio holdings and principal investment strategies (see the Fund’s most recent annual or semiannual report for portfolio holdings information and see the Fund’s current prospectus for the description of the Fund’s principal investment strategies and principal risks). The Funds are allowed to invest in other securities, instruments, assets and investments, and may engage in strategies and techniques other than those described in the Fund’s current prospectus, subjecting the Fund to the risks associated with these other securities, instruments, assets, investments, strategies and techniques.
An investment in the Funds is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by any bank, the FDIC or any other government agency. One or more of the following risks may be associated with an investment in a Fund at any time:
Active Management Risk. The Fund is actively managed and its performance therefore will reflect, in part, the ability of the portfolio managers to make investment decisions that seek to achieve the Fund’s investment objective. Due to its active management, the Fund could underperform its benchmark index and/or other funds with similar investment objectives and/or strategies.
Activist Strategies Risk. The Fund may purchase securities of a company that is the subject of a proxy contest or which activist investors are attempting to influence, in the expectation that new management or a change in business strategies will cause the price of the company’s securities to increase. If the proxy contest, or the new management, is not successful, the market price of the company’s securities will typically fall.
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In addition, where an acquisition or restructuring transaction or proxy fight is opposed by the subject company’s management, the transaction often becomes the subject of litigation. Such litigation involves substantial uncertainties and may impose substantial cost and expense on the Fund.
Allocation Risk. For any Fund that uses an asset allocation strategy in pursuit of its investment objective, there is a risk that the Fund's allocation among asset classes, investments, managers, strategies and/or investment styles will cause the Fund's shares to lose value or cause the Fund to underperform other funds with similar investment objectives and/or strategies, or that the investments themselves will not produce the returns expected.
Alternative Strategies Investment Risk. An investment in alternative investment strategies (Alternative Strategies), whether through direct investment or through one or more underlying funds that use Alternative Strategies, involves risks, which may be significant. Alternative Strategies may include strategies, instruments or other assets, such as derivatives, that seek investment returns uncorrelated with the broad equity and fixed income/debt markets, as well as those providing exposure to other markets (such as commodity markets), including but not limited to absolute (positive) return strategies. Alternative Strategies may fail to achieve their desired performance, market or other exposure, or their returns (or lack thereof) may be more correlated with the broad equity and/or fixed income/debt markets than was anticipated, and the Fund may lose money. Some Alternative Strategies may be considered speculative.
To the extent that an underlying fund is charged a performance (or incentive) fee (which would indirectly be borne by the Fund’s shareholders), such fees may create incentives for the underlying fund’s manager to make investments that are riskier or more speculative than in the absence of these fees. Because these fees are often based on both realized and unrealized appreciation, the fee may be greater than if it were based only on realized gains. In addition, underlying fund managers may receive compensation for relative performance of the underlying fund even if the underlying fund’s overall returns are negative.
Arbitrage Strategies Risk. The Fund may purchase securities at prices only slightly below the anticipated value to be paid or exchanged for such securities in a merger, exchange offer or cash tender offer, and substantially above the prices at which such securities traded immediately prior to announcement of the transaction. If there is a perception that the proposed transaction will not be consummated or will be delayed, the market price of the security may decline sharply, which would result in a loss to the Fund. In addition, if the manager determines that the offer is likely to be increased, either by the original bidder or by another party, the Fund may purchase securities above the offer price; such purchases are subject to a high degree of risk.
The consummation of mergers and tender and exchange offers can be prevented or delayed by a variety of factors, including opposition by the management or shareholders of the target company, private litigation or litigation involving regulatory agencies, and approval or non-action of regulatory agencies. The likelihood of occurrence of these and other factors, and their impact on an investment, can be very difficult to evaluate.
Bankruptcy Process and Trade Claims Risk. The Fund may purchase bankruptcy claims. There are a number of significant risks inherent in the bankruptcy process. The effect of a bankruptcy filing on a company may adversely and permanently affect the company and cause it to be incapable of restoring itself as a viable business. Many events in a bankruptcy are the product of contested matters and adversarial proceedings. The duration of a bankruptcy proceeding is difficult to predict and a creditor’s return on investment can be adversely affected by delays while the plan of reorganization is being finalized. The administrative costs in connection with a bankruptcy proceeding are frequently high and are paid out of the debtor’s estate before any return to creditors. The Fund may also purchase trade claims against companies, including companies in bankruptcy or reorganization proceedings, which include claims of suppliers for unpaid goods delivered, claims for unpaid services rendered, claims for contract rejection damages and claims related to litigation. An investment in trade claims is very speculative, illiquid, and carries a high degree of risk. The markets in trade claims are generally not regulated by U.S. federal securities laws or the SEC.
Changing Distribution Level Risk. The Fund normally expects to receive income which may include interest, dividends and/or capital gains, depending upon its investments. The distribution amounts paid by the Fund will vary and generally depend on the amount of income the Fund earns (less expenses) on its portfolio holdings, and capital gains or losses it recognizes. A decline in the Fund’s income or net capital gains arising from its investments may reduce its distribution level.
Closed-End Investment Company Risk. Closed-end investment companies frequently trade at a discount to their NAV, which may affect whether the Fund will realize gain or loss upon its sale of the closed-end investment company’s shares. Closed-end investment companies may employ leverage, which also subjects the closed-end investment company to increased risks such as increased volatility.
Commodity-related Investment Risk. The value of commodities investments will generally be affected by overall market movements and factors specific to a particular industry or commodity, which may include demand for the commodity, weather, embargoes, tariffs, and economic health, political, international, regulatory and other developments. Economic and other events (whether real or perceived) can reduce the demand for commodities, which may, in turn, reduce market prices and cause the value of Fund shares to fall. The frequency and magnitude of such changes cannot be predicted. Exposure to commodities and commodities markets may subject the value of the Fund's investments to greater volatility than other types of investments. No,
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or limited, active trading market may exist for certain commodities investments, which may impair the ability to sell or to realize the full value of such investments in the event of the need to liquidate such investments. In addition, adverse market conditions may impair the liquidity of actively traded commodities investments thereby subjecting the Fund to increased liquidity risk (the risk that it may not be possible for the Fund to liquidate the instrument at an advantageous time or price). Certain types of commodities instruments are subject to the risk that the counterparty to the transaction may not perform or be unable to perform in accordance with the terms of the instrument. The Fund may make commodity-related investments through, and may invest in one or more underlying funds that make commodity-related investments through, one or more wholly-owned subsidiaries organized outside the U.S. that are generally not subject to U.S. laws (including securities laws) and their protections. However, any such subsidiary is wholly owned and controlled by the Fund and any underlying fund subsidiary is wholly-owned and controlled by the underlying fund, making it unlikely that the subsidiary will take action contrary to the interests of the Fund or the underlying fund and their shareholders. Further, any such subsidiaries will be subject to the laws of a foreign jurisdiction, and can be adversely affected by developments in that jurisdiction.
Concentration Risk. To the extent that the Fund concentrates its investment in particular issuers, countries, geographic regions, industries or sectors, the Fund may be subject to greater risks of adverse developments in such areas of focus than a fund that invests in a wider variety of issuers, countries, geographic regions, industries, sectors or investments.
Confidential Information Access Risk. In many instances, issuers of floating rate loans offer to furnish material, non-public information (Confidential Information) to prospective purchasers or holders of the issuer’s floating rate loans to help potential investors assess the value of the loan. Portfolio managers may avoid the receipt of Confidential Information about the issuers of floating rate loans being considered for acquisition by the Fund, or held in the Fund. A decision not to receive Confidential Information from these issuers may disadvantage the Fund as compared to other floating rate loan investors, and may adversely affect the price the Fund pays for the loans it purchases, or the price at which the Fund sells the loans. Further, in situations when holders of floating rate loans are asked, for example, to grant consents, waivers or amendments, the ability to assess the desirability thereof may be compromised. For these and other reasons, it is possible that the decision not to receive Confidential Information could adversely affect the Fund’s performance.
Convertible Securities Risk. Convertible securities are subject to the usual risks associated with debt instruments, such as interest rate risk (the risk of losses attributable to changes in interest rates) and credit risk (the risk that the issuer of a debt instrument will default or otherwise become unable, or be perceived to be unable or unwilling, to honor a financial obligation, such as making payments to the Fund when due). Convertible securities also react to changes in the value of the common stock into which they convert, and are thus subject to market risk (the risk that the market values of securities or other investments that the Fund holds will fall, sometimes rapidly or unpredictably, or fail to rise). Because the value of a convertible security can be influenced by both interest rates and the common stock's market movements, a convertible security generally is not as sensitive to interest rates as a similar debt instrument, and generally will not vary in value in response to other factors to the same extent as the underlying common stock. In the event of a liquidation of the issuing company, holders of convertible securities would typically be paid before the company's common stockholders but after holders of any senior debt obligations of the company. The Fund may be forced to convert a convertible security before it otherwise would choose to do so, which may decrease the Fund's return.
Counterparty Risk. The risk exists that a counterparty to a transaction in a financial instrument held by the Fund or by a special purpose or structured vehicle in which the Fund invests may become insolvent or otherwise fail to perform its obligations, including making payments to the Fund, due to financial difficulties. The Fund may obtain no or limited recovery in a bankruptcy or other reorganizational proceedings, and any recovery may be significantly delayed. Transactions that the Fund enters into may involve counterparties in the financial services sector and, as a result, events affecting the financial services sector may cause the Fund’s share value to fluctuate.
In the event of a counterparty’s (or its affiliate’s) insolvency, the Fund’s ability to exercise remedies, such as the termination of transactions, netting of obligations and realization on collateral, could be stayed or eliminated under new special resolution regimes adopted in the United States, the European Union and various other jurisdictions. Such regimes generally provide government authorities with broad authority to intervene when a financial institution is experiencing financial difficulty. In particular, the regulatory authorities could reduce, eliminate or convert to equity the liabilities to the Fund of a counterparty subject to such proceedings in the European Union (sometimes referred to as a “bail in”).
Credit Risk. Credit risk is the risk that the value of loans or other debt instruments may decline if the borrower or the issuer thereof defaults or otherwise becomes unable or unwilling, or is perceived to be unable or unwilling, to honor its financial obligations, such as making payments to the Fund when due. Various factors could affect the actual or perceived willingness or ability of the borrower or the issuer to make timely interest or principal payments, including changes in the financial condition of the borrower or the issuer or in general economic conditions. Debt instruments backed by an issuer's taxing authority may be subject to legal limits on the issuer's power to increase taxes or otherwise to raise revenue, or may be dependent on legislative appropriation or government aid. Certain debt instruments are backed only by revenues derived from a particular project or
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source, rather than by an issuer's taxing authority, and thus may have a greater risk of default. Credit rating agencies assign credit ratings to certain loans and debt instruments to indicate their credit risk. Unless otherwise provided in the Fund’s Principal Investment Strategies, investment grade debt instruments are those rated at or above BBB- by S&P Global Ratings, or equivalently rated by Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. or Fitch Ratings, Inc., or, if unrated, determined by the management team to be of comparable quality. Conversely, below investment grade (commonly called “high-yield” or “junk”) debt instruments are those rated below BBB- by S&P Global Ratings, or equivalently rated by Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. or Fitch Ratings, Inc., or, if unrated, determined by the management team to be of comparable quality. A rating downgrade by such agencies can negatively impact the value of such instruments. Lower quality or unrated loans or instruments held by the Fund may present increased credit risk as compared to higher-rated loans or instruments. Non-investment grade loans or debt instruments may be subject to greater price fluctuations and are more likely to experience a default than investment grade loans or debt instruments and therefore may expose the Fund to increased credit risk. If the Fund purchases unrated loans or instruments, or if the ratings of loans or instruments held by the Fund are lowered after purchase, the Fund will depend on analysis of credit risk more heavily than usual. If the issuer of a loan declares bankruptcy or is declared bankrupt, there may be a delay before the Fund can act on the collateral securing the loan, which may adversely affect the Fund. Further, there is a risk that a court could take action with respect to a loan that is adverse to the holders of the loan. Such actions may include invalidating the loan, the lien on the collateral, the priority status of the loan, or ordering the refund of interest previously paid by the borrower. Any such actions by a court could adversely affect the Fund’s performance. A default or expected default of a loan could also make it difficult for the Fund to sell the loan at a price approximating the value previously placed on it. In order to enforce its rights in the event of a default, bankruptcy or similar situation, the Fund may be required to retain legal or similar counsel. This may increase the Fund’s operating expenses and adversely affect its NAV. Loans that have a lower priority for repayment in an issuer’s capital structure may involve a higher degree of overall risk than more senior loans of the same borrower.
Cybersecurity Breaches, Systems Failure and Other Business Disruptions Risk. The Funds and their service providers, including the Investment Manager and its affiliates (Ameriprise Financial, which is the Investment Manager’s parent company, the Distributor and the Transfer Agent (together with the Investment Manager, referred to herein as we, us and our)), any investment subadvisers, the Custodian and other service providers, as well as all their underlying service providers (collectively, the Service Providers), are heavily dependent on their respective employees, agents and other personnel (Personnel) and proprietary and third-party technology and infrastructure and related business, operational and information systems, networks, computers, devices, programs, applications, data and functions (collectively, Systems) to perform necessary business activities. The Systems and Personnel that the Funds and the Service Providers rely upon may be vulnerable to significant disruptions and failures, including those relating to or arising from cybersecurity breaches (including intentional acts, e.g., cyber-attacks, hacking, phishing scams and unauthorized payment requests, and unintentional events or activity), Systems malfunctions, user error, conduct (or misconduct) of or arising from Personnel, Systems remote access (particularly important given the increased use of technologies such as the internet to conduct business), or other events or circumstances – whether foreseeable, unforeseeable, or beyond our control, such as acts of war, terrorism, natural disaster, widespread disease, pandemic or other public health crises. These types of events may result in, among other things, quarantines and travel restrictions, workforce displacement and loss or reduction in Personnel and other resources. In the above circumstances, the Funds’ and the Service Providers’ operations may be significantly impacted, or even temporarily halted. The Fund’s securities market counterparties may face the same or similar systems failure, cybersecurity breaches and other business disruptions risks.
Systems and Personnel disruptions and failures, particularly cybersecurity breaches, may result in (i) proprietary or confidential information or data being lost, withheld for ransom, misused, destroyed, stolen, released, corrupted or rendered unavailable, including personal investor information (and that of beneficial owners of investors), (ii) unauthorized access to Systems and loss of operational capacity, including from, for example, denial-of-service attacks (i.e., efforts to make network services unavailable to intended users), and (iii) the misappropriation of Fund or investor assets or sensitive information. Any such events could negatively impact Service Provider Systems and may have significant adverse impacts on the Funds and their shareholders.
Systems and Personnel disruptions and failures and cybersecurity breaches may cause delays or mistakes in materials provided to shareholders and may also interfere with, or negatively impact, the processing of Fund investor transactions, pricing of Fund investments, calculating Fund NAVs, and trading within a Fund’s portfolio, while causing or subjecting the Funds to potential financial losses as well as additional compliance, legal, and operational costs. Such events could negatively impact the Fund, its shareholders and the business, financial condition and performance or results of operations of the Service Providers.
The trend toward broad consumer and general public notification of Systems failures and cybersecurity breaches could exacerbate the harm to the Fund, its shareholders and Service Provider business, financial condition and performance or results of operations. Even if we successfully protect our Systems from failures or cybersecurity breaches, we may incur significant expenses in connection with our responses to any such events, as well as the need for adoption, implementation and maintenance of appropriate security measures. We could also suffer harm to our business and reputation if attempted or actual cybersecurity
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breaches are publicized. We cannot be certain that evolving threats from cyber-criminals and other cyber-threat actors, exploitation of new vulnerabilities in our Systems, or other developments, or data thefts, System break-ins or inappropriate access will not compromise or breach the technology or other security measures protecting our Systems.
We continue to encounter and seek to address threats of business disruption associated with Systems failure. For example, in 2015 the then-available Columbia ETFs were for a period unable to price their portfolios due to a technology issue impacting the ETFs’ third-party administrator. In another case, in 2014, Ameriprise Financial and other financial institutions experienced distributed denial-of-service attacks intended to disrupt clients’ online access. Ameriprise Financial was able to detect and respond to this incident without evident loss of client assets or information, Ameriprise Financial has since worked to enhance its security capabilities and will continue to assess its ability to monitor and respond to such threats. In addition to the foregoing, the experiences of Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates with Systems failures, cybersecurity breaches and technology threats have included, as examples, phishing scams, introductions of malware, attempts at electronic break-ins, and unauthorized payment requests. Systems failures and cybersecurity breaches may be difficult to detect, may go undetected for long periods or may never be detected. The impact of such events may be compounded over time. Although we and the Funds evaluate the materiality of Systems failures and cybersecurity breaches detected, we and the Funds may conclude that some such events are not material and may choose not to address them. Such conclusions may not prove to be correct.
Although we have established business continuity/disaster recovery plans and systems (Continuity and Recovery Plans) designed to prevent or mitigate the effects of Systems and Personnel disruptions and failures and cybersecurity breaches, there are inherent limitations in Continuity and Recovery Plans. These limitations include the possibility that certain risks have not been identified or that Continuity and Recovery Plans might not – despite testing and monitoring – operate as designed, be sufficient to stop or mitigate negative impacts, including financial losses, or otherwise be unable to achieve their objectives. The Funds and their shareholders could be negatively impacted as a result. In addition, the Fund cannot control the Continuity and Recovery Plans of the Service Providers. As a result, there can be no assurance that the Funds will not suffer financial losses relating to Systems or Personnel disruptions or failures or cybersecurity breaches affecting them or us in the future.
Systems and Personnel disruptions and failures and cybersecurity breaches may necessitate significant investment to repair or replace impacted Systems. In addition, the Funds may incur substantial costs for risk management in connection with failures or interruptions of Systems, Personnel, Continuity and Recovery Plans and cybersecurity defense measures in order to attempt to prevent any such events or incidents in the future, which, if they should occur, may be prolonged, negatively impacting business operations.
Any insurance or other risk-shifting tools available to us in order to manage or mitigate the risks associated with Systems and Personnel disruptions and failures and cybersecurity breaches are generally subject to terms and limitations such as deductibles, coinsurance, limits and policy exclusions, as well as risk of counterparty denial of coverage, default or insolvency. While Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates maintain cyber liability insurance that provides both third-party liability and first-party liability coverages, this insurance may not be sufficient to protect us against all losses. In addition, contractual remedies may not be available with respect to Service Providers or may prove inadequate if available (e.g., because of limits on the liability of the Service Providers) to protect the Funds against all losses.
Stock and other market exchanges, financial intermediaries, issuers of, and counterparties to, the Funds’ investments and, in the case of ETFs, market makers and authorized participants, also may be adversely impacted by Systems and Personnel disruptions and failures and cybersecurity breaches, in their own businesses, subjecting them to the risks described here, as well as other additional or enhanced risks particular to their businesses, which could result in losses to the Funds and their shareholders. Issuers of securities or other instruments in which the Funds invest may also experience Systems and Personnel disruptions and failures and cybersecurity breaches, which could result in material adverse consequences for such issuers, which may cause the Funds’ investment in such issuers to lose money.
Columbia Management and its affiliates have systematically implemented strategies to address the operating environment spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic. To promote the safety and security of our employees and to assure the continuity of its business operations, the Investment Manager and its affiliates have implemented a work from home protocol for virtually all of its employee population, restricted business travel, and provided resources for complying with the guidance from the World Health Organization, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and governments. The Investment Manager’s operations teams seek to operate without significant disruptions in service. Its pandemic strategy takes into consideration that a pandemic could be widespread and may occur in multiple waves, affecting different communities at different times with varying levels of severity. The Fund cannot, however, predict the impact that natural or man-made disasters, including the COVID-19 pandemic, may have on the ability of the Investment Manager, its employees and third-party service providers to continue ordinary business operations and technology functions over near- or longer-term periods.
Depositary Receipts Risk. Depositary receipts are receipts issued by a bank or trust company reflecting ownership of underlying securities issued by foreign companies. Some foreign securities are traded in the form of American Depositary Receipts and/or Global Depositary Receipts. Depositary receipts involve risks similar to the risks associated with investments in
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foreign securities, including those associated with investing in the particular country of an issuer, which may be related to the particular political, regulatory, economic, social and other conditions or events, including, for example, military confrontations, war, terrorism and disease/virus outbreaks and epidemics, occurring in the country and fluctuations in such country’s currency, as well as market risk tied to the underlying foreign company. In addition, holders of depositary receipts may have limited voting rights, may not have the same rights afforded to stockholders of a typical domestic company in the event of a corporate action, such as an acquisition, merger or rights offering, and may experience difficulty in receiving company stockholder communications. There is no guarantee that a financial institution will continue to sponsor a depositary receipt, or that a depositary receipt will continue to trade on an exchange, either of which could adversely affect the liquidity, availability and pricing of the depositary receipt. Changes in foreign currency exchange rates will affect the value of depositary receipts and, therefore, may affect the value of your investment in the Fund. A potential conflict of interest exists to the extent that the Fund invests in ADRs for which the Fund's custodian serves as depository bank.
Derivatives Risk. Derivatives may involve significant risks. Derivatives are financial instruments, traded on an exchange or in the over-the-counter (OTC) markets, with a value in relation to, or derived from, the value of an underlying asset(s) (such as a security, commodity or currency) or other reference, such as an index, rate or other economic indicator (each an underlying reference). Derivatives may include those that are privately placed or otherwise exempt from SEC registration, including certain Rule 144A eligible securities. Derivatives could result in Fund losses if the underlying reference does not perform as anticipated. Use of derivatives is a highly specialized activity that can involve investment techniques, risks, and tax planning different from those associated with more traditional investment instruments. The Fund’s derivatives strategy may not be successful and use of certain derivatives could result in substantial, potentially unlimited, losses to the Fund regardless of the Fund’s actual investment. A relatively small movement in the price, rate or other economic indicator associated with the underlying reference may result in substantial loss for the Fund. Derivatives may be more volatile than other types of investments. Derivatives can increase the Fund’s risk exposure to underlying references and their attendant risks, including the risk of an adverse credit event associated with the underlying reference (credit risk), the risk of an adverse movement in the value, price or rate of the underlying reference (market risk), the risk of an adverse movement in the value of underlying currencies (foreign currency risk) and the risk of an adverse movement in underlying interest rates (interest rate risk). Derivatives may expose the Fund to additional risks, including the risk of loss due to a derivative position that is imperfectly correlated with the underlying reference it is intended to hedge or replicate (correlation risk), the risk that a counterparty will fail to perform as agreed (counterparty risk), the risk that a hedging strategy may fail to mitigate losses, and may offset gains (hedging risk), the risk that the return on an investment may not keep pace with inflation (inflation risk), the risk that losses may be greater than the amount invested (leverage risk), the risk that the Fund may be unable to sell an investment at an advantageous time or price (liquidity risk), the risk that the investment may be difficult to value (pricing risk), and the risk that the price or value of the investment fluctuates significantly over short periods of time (volatility risk). The value of derivatives may be influenced by a variety of factors, including national and international political and economic developments. Potential changes to the regulation of the derivatives markets may make derivatives more costly, may limit the market for derivatives, or may otherwise adversely affect the value or performance of derivatives.
Derivatives Risk – Forward Contracts Risk. A forward contract is an over-the-counter derivative transaction between two parties to buy or sell a specified amount of an underlying reference at a specified price (or rate) on a specified date in the future. Forward contracts are negotiated on an individual basis and are not standardized or traded on exchanges. The market for forward contracts is substantially unregulated (there is no limit on daily price movements and speculative position limits are not applicable). The principals who deal in certain forward contract markets are not required to continue to make markets in the underlying references in which they trade and these markets can experience periods of illiquidity, sometimes of significant duration. There have been periods during which certain participants in forward contract markets have refused to quote prices for certain underlying references or have quoted prices with an unusually wide spread between the price at which they were prepared to buy and that at which they were prepared to sell. At or prior to maturity of a forward contract, the Fund may enter into an offsetting contract and may incur a loss to the extent there has been adverse movement in forward contract prices. The liquidity of the markets for forward contracts depends on participants entering into offsetting transactions rather than making or taking delivery. To the extent participants make or take delivery, liquidity in the market for forwards could be reduced. A relatively small price movement in a forward contract may result in substantial losses to the Fund, exceeding the amount of the margin paid. Forward contracts can increase the Fund’s risk exposure to underlying references and their attendant risks, such as credit risk, market risk, foreign currency risk and interest rate risk, while also exposing the Fund to correlation risk, counterparty risk, hedging risk, inflation risk, leverage risk, liquidity risk, pricing risk and volatility risk.
| ■ | A forward foreign currency contract is a derivative (forward contract) in which the underlying reference is a country's or region’s currency. The Fund may agree to buy or sell a country's or region’s currency at a specific price on a specific date in the future. These instruments may fall in value (sometimes dramatically) due to foreign market downswings or foreign currency value fluctuations, subjecting the Fund to foreign currency risk (the risk that Fund performance may be negatively impacted by foreign currency strength or weakness relative to the U.S. dollar, particularly if the Fund exposes a significant percentage of its assets to currencies other than the U.S. dollar). The effectiveness of any currency hedging strategy by a Fund |
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| may be reduced by the Fund’s inability to precisely match forward contract amounts and the value of securities involved. Forward foreign currency contracts used for hedging may also limit any potential gain that might result from an increase or decrease in the value of the currency. The Fund may use these instruments to gain leveraged exposure to currencies, which is a speculative investment practice that increases the Fund's risk exposure and the possibility of losses. Unanticipated changes in the currency markets could result in reduced performance for the Fund. When the Fund converts its foreign currencies into U.S. dollars, it may incur currency conversion costs due to the spread between the prices at which it may buy and sell various currencies in the market. |
| ■ | A forward interest rate agreement is a derivative whereby the buyer locks in an interest rate at a future settlement date. If the interest rate on the settlement date exceeds the lock rate, the buyer pays the seller the difference between the two rates (based on the notional value of the agreement). If the lock rate exceeds the interest rate on the settlement date, the seller pays the buyer the difference between the two rates (based on the notional value of the agreement). The Fund may act as a buyer or a seller. |
Derivatives Risk – Futures Contracts Risk. A futures contract is an exchange-traded derivative transaction between two parties in which a buyer (holding the “long” position) agrees to pay a fixed price (or rate) at a specified future date for delivery of an underlying reference from a seller (holding the “short” position). The seller hopes that the market price on the delivery date is less than the agreed upon price, while the buyer hopes for the contrary. Certain futures contract markets are highly volatile, and futures contracts may be illiquid. Futures exchanges may limit fluctuations in futures contract prices by imposing a maximum permissible daily price movement. The Fund may be disadvantaged if it is prohibited from executing a trade outside the daily permissible price movement. At or prior to maturity of a futures contract, the Fund may enter into an offsetting contract and may incur a loss to the extent there has been adverse movement in futures contract prices. The liquidity of the futures markets depends on participants entering into offsetting transactions rather than making or taking delivery. To the extent participants make or take delivery, liquidity in the futures market could be reduced. Positions in futures contracts may be closed out only on the exchange on which they were entered into or through a linked exchange, and no secondary market exists for such contracts. Futures positions are marked to market each day and variation margin payment must be paid to or by the Fund. Because of the low margin deposits normally required in futures trading, it is possible that the Fund may employ a high degree of leverage in the portfolio. As a result, a relatively small price movement in a futures contract may result in substantial losses to the Fund, exceeding the amount of the margin paid. For certain types of futures contracts, losses are potentially unlimited. Futures markets are highly volatile and the use of futures may increase the volatility of the Fund’s NAV. Futures contracts executed (if any) on foreign exchanges may not provide the same protection as U.S. exchanges. Futures contracts can increase the Fund’s risk exposure to underlying references and their attendant risks, such as credit risk, market risk, foreign currency risk and interest rate risk, while also exposing the Fund to correlation risk, counterparty risk, hedging risk, inflation risk, leverage risk, liquidity risk, pricing risk and volatility risk.
| ■ | A bond (or debt instrument) future is a derivative that is an agreement for the contract holder to buy or sell a bond or other debt instrument, a basket of bonds or other debt instrument, or the bonds or other debt instruments in an index on a specified date at a predetermined price. The buyer (long position) of a bond future is obliged to buy the underlying reference at the agreed price on expiry of the future. |
| ■ | A commodity-linked future is a derivative that is an agreement to buy or sell one or more commodities (such as crude oil, gasoline and natural gas), basket of commodities or indices of commodity futures at a specific date in the future at a specific price. |
| ■ | A currency future, also an FX future or foreign exchange future, is a derivative that is an agreement to exchange one currency for another at a specified date in the future at a price (exchange rate) that is fixed on the purchase date. |
| ■ | An equity future is a derivative that is an agreement for the contract holder to buy or sell a specified amount of an individual equity, a basket of equities or the securities in an equity index on a specified date at a predetermined price. |
| ■ | An interest rate future is a derivative that is an agreement whereby the buyer and seller agree to the future delivery of an interest-bearing instrument on a specific date at a pre-determined price. Examples include Treasury-bill futures, Treasury-bond futures and Eurodollar futures. |
Derivatives Risk – Inverse Floaters Risk. Inverse variable or floating rate obligations, sometimes referred to as inverse floaters, are a type of over-the-counter derivative debt instrument with a variable or floating coupon rate that moves in the opposite direction of an underlying reference, typically short-term interest rates. As short-term interest rates go down, the holders of the inverse floaters receive more income and, as short-term interest rates go up, the holders of the inverse floaters receive less income. Variable rate securities provide for a specified periodic adjustment in the coupon rate, while floating rate securities have a coupon rate that changes whenever there is a change in a designated benchmark index or the issuer’s credit rating. While inverse floaters tend to provide more income than similar term and credit quality fixed-rate bonds, they also exhibit greater volatility in price movement, which could result in significant losses for the Fund. An inverse floater may have the effect of
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investment leverage to the extent that its coupon rate varies by a magnitude that exceeds the magnitude of the change in the index or reference rate of interest, which could result in increased losses for the Fund. There is a risk that the current interest rate on variable and floating rate instruments may not accurately reflect current market interest rates or adequately compensate the holder for the current creditworthiness of the issuer. Some inverse floaters are structured with liquidity features and may include market-dependent liquidity features that may expose the Fund to greater liquidity risk. Inverse floaters can increase the Fund’s risk exposure to underlying references and their attendant risks, such as credit risk, market risk, foreign currency risk and interest rate risk, while also exposing the Fund to correlation risk, counterparty risk, hedging risk, inflation risk, leverage risk, liquidity risk, pricing risk and volatility risk.
Derivatives Risk – Options Risk. Options are derivatives that give the purchaser the option to buy (call) or sell (put) an underlying reference from or to a counterparty at a specified price (the strike price) on or before an expiration date. The Fund may purchase or write (i.e., sell) put and call options on an underlying reference it is otherwise permitted to invest in. By investing in options, the Fund is exposed to the risk that it may be required to buy or sell the underlying reference at a disadvantageous price on or before the expiration date. If the Fund sells a put option, the Fund may be required to buy the underlying reference at a strike price that is above market price, resulting in a loss. If the Fund sells a call option, the Fund may be required to sell the underlying reference at a strike price that is below market price, resulting in a loss. If the Fund sells a call option that is not covered (it does not own the underlying reference), the Fund's losses are potentially unlimited. Options may involve economic leverage, which could result in greater volatility in price movement. Options may be traded on a securities exchange or in the over-the-counter market. At or prior to maturity of an options contract, the Fund may enter into an offsetting contract and may incur a loss to the extent there has been adverse movement in options prices. Options can increase the Fund’s risk exposure to underlying references and their attendant risks such as credit risk, market risk, foreign currency risk and interest rate risk, while also exposing the Fund to correlation risk, counterparty risk, hedging risk, inflation risk, leverage risk, liquidity risk, pricing risk and volatility risk.
Derivatives Risk – Structured Investments Risk. Structured investments are over-the-counter derivatives that provide principal and/or interest payments based on the value of an underlying reference(s). Structured investments typically provide interest income, thereby offering a potential yield advantage over investing directly in an underlying reference. Structured investments may lack a liquid secondary market and their prices or value can be volatile which could result in significant losses for the Fund. In some cases, depending on its terms, a structured investment may provide that principal and/or interest payments may be adjusted below zero resulting in a potential loss of principal and/or interest payments. Additionally, the particular terms of a structured investment may create economic leverage by requiring payment by the issuer of an amount that is a multiple of the price change of the underlying reference. Economic leverage will increase the volatility of structured investment prices, and could result in increased losses for the Fund. The Fund’s use of structured instruments may not work as intended. If structured investments are used to reduce the duration of the Fund’s portfolio, this may limit the Fund’s return when having a longer duration would be beneficial (for instance, when interest rates decline). Structured investments can increase the Fund’s risk exposure to underlying references and their attendant risks, such as credit risk, market risk, foreign currency risk and interest rate risk, while also exposing the Fund to correlation risk, counterparty risk, hedging risk, inflation risk, leverage risk, liquidity risk, pricing risk and volatility risk.
| ■ | A commodity-linked structured note is a derivative (structured investment) that has principal and/or interest payments based on the market price of one or more particular commodities (such as crude oil, gasoline and natural gas), a basket of commodities, indices of commodity futures or other economic variable. If payment of interest on a commodity-linked structured note is linked to the value of a particular commodity, basket of commodities, commodity index or other economic variable, the Fund might receive lower interest payments (or not receive any of the interest due) on its investments if there is a loss of value in the underlying reference. Further, to the extent that the amount of principal to be repaid upon maturity is linked to the value of a particular commodity, basket of commodities, commodity index or other economic variable, the Fund might not receive a portion (or any) of the principal at maturity of the investment or upon earlier exchange. At any time, the risk of loss associated with a particular structured note in the Fund’s portfolio may be significantly higher than the value of the note. A liquid secondary market may not exist for the commodity-linked structured notes held in the Fund’s portfolio, which may make it difficult for the notes to be sold at a price acceptable to the portfolio manager(s) or for the Fund to accurately value them. |
| ■ | An equity-linked note (ELN) is a derivative (structured investment) that has principal and/or interest payments based on the value of a single equity security, a basket of equity securities or an index of equity securities, and generally has risks similar to these underlying equity securities. ELNs may be leveraged or unleveraged. An ELN typically provides interest income, thereby offering a yield advantage over investing directly in an underlying equity. The Fund may purchase ELNs that trade on a securities exchange or those that trade on the over-the-counter markets, as well as in privately negotiated transactions with the issuer of the ELN. Investments in ELNs are also subject to liquidity risk, which may make ELNs difficult to sell and value. The liquidity of unlisted ELNs is normally determined by the willingness of the issuer to make a market in the ELN. While the Fund will seek to purchase ELNs only from issuers that it believes to be willing and able to repurchase the ELN at |
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| a reasonable price, there can be no assurance that the Fund will be able to sell at such a price. Furthermore, such inability to sell may impair the Fund’s ability to enter into other transactions at a time when doing so might be advantageous. The Fund’s investments in ELNs have the potential to lead to significant losses, including the amount the Fund invested in the ELN, because ELNs are subject to the market and volatility risks associated with their underlying equity. In addition, because ELNs often take the form of unsecured notes of the issuer, the Fund would be subject to the risk that the issuer may default on its obligations under the ELN, thereby subjecting the Fund to the further risk of being too concentrated in the securities (including ELNs) of that issuer. However, the Fund typically considers ELNs alongside other securities of the issuer in its assessment of issuer concentration risk. In addition, ELNs may exhibit price behavior that does not correlate with the underlying securities. ELNs may also be subject to leverage risk. The Fund may or may not hold an ELN until its maturity. ELNs also include participation notes. |
Derivatives Risk – Swaps Risk. In a typical swap transaction, two parties agree to exchange the return earned on a specified underlying reference for a fixed return or the return from another underlying reference during a specified period of time. Swaps may be difficult to value and may be illiquid. Swaps could result in Fund losses if the underlying asset or reference does not perform as anticipated. Swaps create significant investment leverage such that a relatively small price movement in a swap may result in immediate and substantial losses to the Fund. The Fund may only close out a swap with its particular counterparty, and may only transfer a position with the consent of that counterparty. Certain swaps, such as short swap transactions and total return swaps, have the potential for unlimited losses, regardless of the size of the initial investment. Swaps can increase the Fund’s risk exposure to underlying references and their attendant risks, such as credit risk, market risk, foreign currency risk and interest rate risk, while also exposing the Fund to correlation risk, counterparty risk, hedging risk, inflation risk, leverage risk, liquidity risk, pricing risk and volatility risk.
| ■ | A commodity-linked swap is a derivative (swap) that is an agreement where the underlying reference is the market price of one or more particular commodities (such as crude oil, gasoline and natural gas), basket of commodities or indices of commodity futures. |
| ■ | Contracts for differences are swap arrangements in which the parties agree that their return (or loss) will be based on the relative performance of two different groups or baskets of securities or other instruments. Often, one or both baskets will be an established securities index. The Fund’s return will be based on changes in value of theoretical long futures positions in the securities comprising one basket (with an aggregate face value equal to the notional amount of the contract for differences) and theoretical short futures positions in the securities comprising the other basket. The Fund also may use actual long and short futures positions and achieve similar market exposure by netting the payment obligations of the two contracts. If the short basket outperforms the long basket, the Fund will realize a loss – even in circumstances when the securities in both the long and short baskets appreciate in value. |
| ■ | A credit default swap (including a swap on a credit default index, sometimes referred to as a credit default swap index) is a derivative and special type of swap where one party pays, in effect, an insurance premium through a stream of payments to another party in exchange for the right to receive a specified return upon the occurrence of a particular credit event by one or more third parties, such as bankruptcy, default or a similar event. A credit default swap may be embedded within a structured note or other derivative instrument. Credit default swaps enable an investor to buy or sell protection against such a credit event (such as an issuer’s bankruptcy, restructuring or failure to make timely payments of interest or principal). Credit default swap indices are indices that reflect the performance of a basket of credit default swaps and are subject to the same risks as credit default swaps. If such a default were to occur, any contractual remedies that the Fund may have may be subject to bankruptcy and insolvency laws, which could delay or limit the Fund's recovery. Thus, if the counterparty under a credit default swap defaults on its obligation to make payments thereunder, as a result of its bankruptcy or otherwise, the Fund may lose such payments altogether, or collect only a portion thereof, which collection could involve costs or delays. The Fund’s return from investment in a credit default swap index may not match the return of the referenced index. Further, investment in a credit default swap index could result in losses if the referenced index does not perform as expected. Unexpected changes in the composition of the index may also affect performance of the credit default swap index. If a referenced index has a dramatic intraday move that causes a material decline in the Fund’s net assets, the terms of the Fund’s credit default swap index may permit the counterparty to immediately close out the transaction. In that event, the Fund may be unable to enter into another credit default swap index or otherwise achieve desired exposure, even if the referenced index reverses all or a portion of its intraday move. |
| ■ | An inflation rate swap is a derivative typically used to transfer inflation risk from one party to another through an exchange of cash flows. In an inflation rate swap, one party pays a fixed rate on a notional principal amount, while the other party pays a floating rate linked to an inflation index, such as the Consumer Price Index (CPI). |
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| ■ | An interest rate swap is a derivative in which two parties agree to exchange interest rate cash flows, based on a specified notional amount from a fixed rate to a floating rate (or vice versa) or from one floating rate to another. Interest rate swaps can be based on various measures of interest rates, including swap rates, treasury rates, foreign interest rates and other reference rates. |
| ■ | Total return swaps are derivative swap transactions in which one party agrees to pay the other party an amount equal to the total return of a defined underlying reference during a specified period of time. In return, the other party would make periodic payments based on a fixed or variable interest rate or on the total return of a different underlying reference. |
Derivatives Risk – Swaptions Risk. A swaption is an options contract on a swap agreement. These transactions give a party the right (but not the obligation) to enter into new swap agreements or to shorten, extend, cancel or otherwise modify an existing swap agreement at some designated future time on specified terms, in return for payment of the purchase price (the “premium”) of the option. The Fund may write (sell) and purchase put and call swaptions to the same extent it may make use of standard options on securities or other instruments. The writer of the contract receives the premium and bears the risk of unfavorable changes in the market value on the underlying swap agreement. Swaptions can be bundled and sold as a package. These are commonly called interest rate caps, floors and collars.
Distressed Securities Risk. The Fund may purchase distressed securities of business enterprises involved in workouts, liquidations, reorganizations, bankruptcies and similar situations. Since there is typically substantial uncertainty concerning the outcome of transactions involving business enterprises in these situations, there is a high degree of risk of loss, including loss of the entire investment.
In bankruptcy, there can be considerable delay in reaching accord on a restructuring plan acceptable to a bankrupt company’s lenders, bondholders and other creditors and then obtaining the approval of the bankruptcy court. Such delays could result in substantial losses to the investments in such company’s securities or obligations. Moreover, there is no assurance that a plan favorable to the class of securities held by the Fund will be adopted or that the subject company might not eventually be liquidated rather than reorganized.
In liquidations (both in and out of bankruptcy) and other forms of corporate reorganization, there exists the risk that the reorganization either will be unsuccessful, will be delayed or will result in a distribution of cash or a new security, the value of which will be less than the purchase price of the security in respect of which such distribution is received. It may be difficult to obtain accurate information concerning a company in financial distress, with the result that the analysis and valuation are especially difficult. The market for securities of such companies tends to be illiquid and sales may be possible only at substantial discounts.
Emerging Market Securities Risk. Securities issued by foreign governments or companies in emerging market countries, such as China, Russia and certain countries in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Latin America or Africa, are more likely to have greater exposure to the risks of investing in foreign securities that are described in Foreign Securities Risk. In addition, emerging market countries are more likely to experience instability resulting, for example, from rapid changes or developments in social, political, economic or other conditions. Their economies are usually less mature and their securities markets are typically less developed with more limited trading activity (i.e., lower trading volumes and less liquidity) than more developed countries. Emerging market securities tend to be more volatile than securities in more developed markets. Many emerging market countries are heavily dependent on international trade and have fewer trading partners, which makes them more sensitive to world commodity prices and economic downturns in other countries. Some emerging market countries have a higher risk of currency devaluations, and some of these countries may experience periods of high inflation or rapid changes in inflation rates and may have hostile relations with other countries. Due to the differences in the nature and quality of financial information of issuers of emerging market securities, including auditing and financial reporting standards, financial information and disclosures about such issuers may be unavailable or, if made available, may be considerably less reliable than publicly available information about other foreign securities. The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, which regulates auditors of U.S. public companies, is unable to inspect audit work papers in certain foreign countries. Investors in foreign countries often have limited rights and few practical remedies to pursue shareholder claims, including class actions or fraud claims, and the ability of the SEC, the U.S. Department of Justice and other authorities to bring and enforce actions against foreign issuers or foreign persons is limited.
Operational and Settlement Risks of Securities in Emerging Markets. In addition to having less developed securities markets, banks in emerging markets that are eligible foreign sub-custodians may be recently organized, lack extensive operating experience or lack effective government oversight or regulation. In addition, there may be legal restrictions or limitations on the ability of the Fund to recover assets held in custody by a foreign sub-custodian in the event of the bankruptcy of the sub-custodian. Because settlement systems may be less organized than in developed markets and because delivery versus payment settlement may not be possible or reliable, there may be a greater risk that settlement may be delayed and that cash or securities of the Fund may be lost because of failures of or defects in the system, including fraud or corruption. Settlement systems in emerging markets also have a higher risk of failed trades.
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Risks Related to Currencies and Corporate Actions in Emerging Markets. Risks related to currencies and corporate actions are also greater in emerging market countries than in developed countries. For example, some emerging market countries may have fixed or managed currencies that are not free-floating against the U.S. dollar. Further, certain currencies may not have an active trading market internationally, or countries may have varying exchange rates. Some emerging market countries have a higher risk of currency devaluations, and some of these countries may experience sustained periods of high inflation or rapid changes in inflation rates which can have negative effects on a country’s economy and securities markets. Corporate action procedures in emerging market countries may be less reliable and have limited or no involvement by the depositories and central banks. Lack of standard practices and payment systems can lead to significant delays in payment.
Risks Related to Corporate and Securities Laws in Emerging Markets. Securities laws in emerging markets may be relatively new and unsettled and, consequently, there is a risk of rapid and unpredictable change in laws regarding foreign investment, securities regulation, title to securities and shareholder rights. Accordingly, foreign investors may be adversely affected by new or amended laws and regulations. In addition, the systems of corporate governance to which issuers in certain emerging markets are subject may be less advanced than the systems to which issuers located in more developed countries are subject, and therefore, shareholders of such issuers may not receive many of the protections available to shareholders of issuers located in more developed countries. These risks may be heightened in China and Russia.
China Bond Connect Risk. The risks noted here are in addition to the risks described under Emerging Market Securities Risk. Chinese debt instruments trade on the China Interbank Bond Market (“CIBM”) and may be purchased through a market access program that is designed to, among other things, enable foreign investment in the People’s Republic of China (“Bond Connect”). There are significant risks inherent in investing in Chinese debt instruments, similar to the risks of investing in other fixed-income securities in emerging markets. The prices of debt instruments traded on the CIBM may fluctuate significantly due to low trading volume and potential lack of liquidity. The rules to access debt instruments that trade on the CIBM through Bond Connect are relatively new and subject to change, which may adversely affect a Fund’s ability to invest in these instruments and to enforce its rights as a beneficial owner of these instruments. Trading through Bond Connect is subject to a number of restrictions that may affect a Fund’s investments and returns. In addition, securities offered through Bond Connect may lose their eligibility for trading through the program at any time. If Bond Connect securities lose their eligibility for trading through the program, they may be sold but can no longer be purchased through Bond Connect. There can be no assurance as to the program’s continued existence or whether future developments regarding the program may restrict or adversely affect a Fund’s investments or returns.
Investments made through Bond Connect are subject to order, clearance and settlement procedures that are relatively untested in China, which could pose risks to a Fund. CIBM does not support all trading strategies (such as short selling) and investments in Chinese debt instruments that trade on the CIBM are subject to the risks of suspension of trading without cause or notice, trade failure or trade rejection and default of securities depositories and counterparties. Furthermore, Chinese debt instruments purchased via Bond Connect will be held via a book entry omnibus account in the name of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority Central Moneymarkets Unit (“CMU”) maintained with a China-based depository (either the China Central Depository & Clearing Co. (“CCDC”) or the Shanghai Clearing House (“SCH”)). A Fund’s ownership interest in these Chinese debt instruments will not be reflected directly in book entry with CCDC or SCH and will instead only be reflected on the books of a Fund’s Hong Kong sub-custodian. Therefore, a Fund’s ability to enforce its rights as a bondholder may depend on CMU’s ability or willingness as record-holder of the bonds to enforce a Fund’s rights as a bondholder. Additionally, the omnibus manner in which Chinese debt instruments are held could expose a Fund to the credit risk of the relevant securities depositories and a Fund’s Hong Kong sub-custodian. While a Fund holds a beneficial interest in the instruments it acquires through Bond Connect, the mechanisms that beneficial owners may use to enforce their rights are untested. In addition, courts in China have limited experience in applying the concept of beneficial ownership. Moreover, Chinese debt instruments acquired through Bond Connect generally may not be sold, purchased or otherwise transferred other than through Bond Connect in accordance with applicable rules.
A Fund’s investments in Chinese debt instruments acquired through Bond Connect are generally subject to a number of regulations and restrictions, including Chinese securities regulations and listing rules, loss recovery limitations and disclosure of interest reporting obligations. A Fund will not benefit from access to Hong Kong investor compensation funds, which are set up to protect against defaults of trades, when investing through Bond Connect.
Bond Connect can only operate when both China and Hong Kong markets are open for trading and when banking services are available in both markets on the corresponding settlement days. In addition, the trading, settlement and IT systems required for non-Chinese investors in Bond Connect are relatively new. In the event of systems malfunctions or extreme market conditions, trading via Bond Connect could be disrupted. The rules applicable to taxation of Chinese debt instruments acquired through Bond Connect remain subject to further clarification. Uncertainties in the Chinese tax rules governing taxation of income and
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gains from investments via Bond Connect could result in unexpected tax liabilities for a Fund, which may negatively affect investment returns for shareholder. Bond Connect trades are settled in Chinese Renminbi (RMB), and investors must have timely access to a reliable supply of RMB in Hong Kong, which cannot be guaranteed.
China Stock Connect Risk. The risks noted here are in addition to the risks described under Emerging Market Securities Risk. A Fund may, directly or indirectly (through, for example, participation notes or other types of equity-linked notes), purchase shares in mainland China-based companies that trade on Chinese stock exchanges such as the Shanghai Stock Exchange and the Shenzhen Stock Exchange (China A-Shares) through the Shanghai and Shenzhen – Hong Kong Stock Connect (Stock Connect), or that may be available in the future through additional stock connect programs, a mutual market access program designed to, among other things, enable foreign investment in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) via brokers in Hong Kong. There are significant risks inherent in investing in China A-Shares through Stock Connect. The underdeveloped state of PRC’s investment and banking systems subjects the settlement, clearing, and registration of China A-Shares transactions to heightened risks. Stock Connect can only operate when both PRC and Hong Kong markets are open for trading and when banking services are available in both markets on the corresponding settlement days. As such, if either or both markets are closed on a U.S. trading day, a Fund may not be able to dispose of its China A-Shares in a timely manner, which could adversely affect the Fund’s performance. Because Stock Connect is relatively new, its effects on the market for trading China A-shares are uncertain. In addition, the trading, settlement and information technology (“IT”) systems required to operate Stock Connect are relatively new and continuing to evolve. In the event that the relevant systems do not function properly, trading through Stock Connect could be disrupted.
PRC regulations require that, in order to sell its China A-Shares, a Fund must pre-deliver the China A-Shares to a broker. If the China A-Shares are not in the broker’s possession before the market opens on the day of sale, the sell order will be rejected. This requirement could also limit a Fund’s ability to dispose of its China A-Shares purchased through Stock Connect in a timely manner. Additionally, Stock Connect is subject to daily quota limitations on purchases of China A-Shares. Once the daily quota is reached, orders to purchase additional China A-Shares through Stock Connect will be rejected. A Fund’s investment in China A-Shares may only be traded through Stock Connect and is not otherwise transferable. Stock Connect utilizes an omnibus clearing structure, and the Fund’s shares will be registered in its custodian’s name on the Central Clearing and Settlement System. This may limit the ability of the Investment Manager (and/or any subadviser, as the case may be) to effectively manage a Fund, and may expose the Fund to the credit risk of its custodian or to greater risk of expropriation. Investment in China A-Shares through Stock Connect may be available only through a single broker that is an affiliate of the Fund’s custodian, which may affect the quality of execution provided by such broker. Stock Connect restrictions could also limit the ability of a Fund to sell its China A-Shares in a timely manner, or to sell them at all. Further, different fees, costs and taxes are imposed on foreign investors acquiring China A-Shares acquired through Stock Connect, and these fees, costs and taxes may be higher than comparable fees, costs and taxes imposed on owners of other securities providing similar investment exposure.
Environmental, Social and Governance Investing Risk. The Fund’s consideration of issuer environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) data may cause the Fund to invest in, forgo investing in, or sell securities of issuers, including issuers within certain sectors, regions and countries, that could negatively impact Fund performance, including relative to a benchmark or other funds that do not consider ESG or funds that do but make different investment decisions based thereon.
Event-Driven Trading Risk. The Fund may seek to profit from the occurrence of specific corporate or other events. A delay in the timing of these events, or the failure of these events to occur at all, may have a significant negative effect on the Fund’s performance.
Event-driven investing requires the relevant manager to make predictions about (i) the likelihood that an event will occur and (ii) the impact such event will have on the value of a company’s securities. If the event fails to occur or it does not have the effect foreseen, losses can result. For example, the adoption of new business strategies, a meaningful change in management or the sale of a division or other significant assets by a company may not be valued as highly by the market as the manager had anticipated, resulting in losses. In addition, a company may announce a plan of restructuring which promises to enhance value and fail to implement it, resulting in losses to investors.
Event-Linked Instruments Risk. The Fund may seek to profit from investment in debt securities whose performance is linked to the occurrence of specific “trigger” events, such as a hurricane, earthquake, or other physical or weather-related phenomena. If a trigger event causes losses exceeding a specific amount in the geographic region and time period specified in a bond, the Fund may lose a portion or all of its principal invested in the bond or suffer a reduction in credited interest. Some event-linked bonds have features that delay the return of capital upon the occurrence of a specified event; in these cases, whether or not there is loss of capital or interest, the return on the investment may be significantly lower during the extension period. Bonds commonly referred to as “catastrophe bonds” are a type of event-linked instrument in which the Fund may invest. Catastrophe bonds may be issued by government agencies, insurance companies, reinsurers, special purpose corporations or other on-shore or off-shore entities (such special purpose entities are created to accomplish a narrow and well-defined objective, such as the issuance of a note in connection with a reinsurance transaction). The return on these securities is tied primarily to property
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insurance risk and is analogous to underwriting insurance in certain circumstances. By isolating insurance risk, these securities are largely uncorrelated to other more traditional investments. Risks associated with investment in catastrophe bonds would include, for example, a major hurricane or similar catastrophe striking a heavily populated area of the East Coast of the United States or a major earthquake with an epicenter in an urban area on the West Coast of the United States. In addition to specified trigger events, catastrophe bonds may expose the Fund to other risks, such as credit risk (the risk that the issuer of a debt instrument will default or otherwise become unable, or be perceived to be unable or unwilling, to honor a financial obligation, such as making payments to the Fund when due), counterparty risk (the risk that a counterparty to a transaction in a financial instrument held by the Fund may become insolvent or otherwise fail to perform its obligations, including making payments to the Fund), adverse regulatory or jurisdictional interpretations, adverse tax consequences, liquidity risk (the risk that it may not be possible for the Fund to liquidate the instrument at an advantageous time or price), and foreign currency risk (the risk that Fund performance may be negatively impacted by foreign currency strength or weakness relative to the U.S. dollar, particularly if the Fund exposes a significant percentage of its assets to currencies other than the U.S. dollar). Event-linked exposure often provides for an extension of maturity to process and audit loss claims where a trigger event has, or possibly has, occurred. An extension of maturity may increase volatility. From time to time, the volume of catastrophe bonds available in the market may be insufficient to enable the Fund to invest as great a percentage of its assets in catastrophe bonds as it would like.
Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) Risk. Investments in ETFs have unique characteristics, including, but not limited to, the expense structure and additional expenses associated with investing in ETFs. An ETF’s share price may not track its specified market index (if any) and may trade below its NAV. Certain ETFs use a “passive” investment strategy and do not take defensive positions in volatile or declining markets. Other ETFs in which the Fund may invest are actively managed ETFs (i.e., they do not track a particular benchmark), which indirectly subjects the Fund to active management risk. An active secondary market in an ETF’s shares may not develop or be maintained and may be halted or interrupted due to actions by its listing exchange, unusual market conditions or other reasons. There can be no assurance an ETF’s shares will continue to be listed on an active exchange. In addition, shareholders bear both their proportionate share of the Fund’s expenses and, indirectly, the ETF’s expenses, incurred through the Fund’s ownership of the ETF. Due to the expenses and costs of an underlying ETF being shared by its investors, redemptions by other investors in the ETF could result in decreased economies of scale and increased operating expenses for such ETF. These transactions might also result in higher brokerage, tax or other costs for the ETF. This risk may be particularly important when one investor owns a substantial portion of the ETF.
The Funds generally expect to purchase shares of ETFs through broker-dealers in transactions on a securities exchange, and in such cases the Funds will pay customary brokerage commissions for each purchase and sale. Shares of an ETF may also be acquired by depositing a specified portfolio of the ETF’s underlying securities, as well as a cash payment generally equal to accumulated dividends of the securities (net of expenses) up to the time of deposit, with the ETF’s custodian, in exchange for which the ETF will issue a quantity of new shares sometimes referred to as a “creation unit.” Similarly, shares of an ETF purchased on an exchange may be accumulated until they represent a creation unit, and the creation unit may be redeemed in kind for a portfolio of the underlying securities (based on the ETF’s NAV) together with a cash payment generally equal to accumulated dividends as of the date of redemption. The Funds may redeem creation units for the underlying securities (and any applicable cash), and may assemble a portfolio of the underlying securities (and any required cash) to purchase creation units. The Funds’ ability to redeem creation units may be limited by the 1940 Act, which provides that ETFs, the shares of which are purchased in reliance on Section 12(d)(1)(F) of the 1940 Act, will not be obligated to redeem such shares in an amount exceeding one percent of their total outstanding securities during any period of less than 30 days.
Exchange-Traded Notes Risk. Exchange-traded notes (ETNs) are unsecured, unsubordinated debt securities that expose the Fund to the risk that an ETN’s issuer may be unable to pay, which means that the Fund is subject to issuer credit risk, including that the value of the ETN may drop due to a downgrade in the issuer’s credit rating, despite the underlying benchmark or strategy remaining unchanged. ETNs do not typically offer principal protection, so the Fund may lose some or all of its investment. The returns of ETNs are usually linked to the performance of a market benchmark or strategy, less investor fees and expenses. The Fund will bear its proportionate share of the fees and expenses of the ETN, which may cause the Fund’s returns to be lower. The return on ETNs will typically be lower than the total return on a direct investment in the components of the underlying index or strategy because of the ETN’s investor fees and expenses. The value of an ETN may also be influenced by time to maturity, level of supply and demand for the ETN, volatility and lack of liquidity in the underlying market, changes in the applicable interest rates, and economic, legal, political, or geographic events that affect the referenced underlying benchmark or strategy.
Foreign Currency Risk. The performance of the Fund may be materially affected positively or negatively by foreign currency strength or weakness relative to the U.S. dollar, particularly if the Fund invests a significant percentage of its assets in foreign securities or other assets denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar. Currency rates in foreign countries may fluctuate significantly over short or long periods of time for a number of reasons, including changes in interest rates, imposition of currency controls and economic or political developments in the U.S. or abroad. The Fund may also incur currency conversion costs when converting foreign currencies into U.S. dollars and vice versa. Restrictions on currency trading may be imposed by foreign countries, which may adversely affect the value of your investment in the Fund. Even though the currencies of some
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countries may be pegged to the U.S. dollar, the conversion rate may be controlled by government regulation or intervention at levels significantly different than what would normally prevail in a free market. Significant revaluations of the U.S. dollar exchange rate of these currencies could cause substantial reductions in the Fund’s NAV.
Foreign Currency-Related Tax Risk. As a regulated investment company (RIC), the Fund must derive at least 90% of its gross income for each taxable year from sources treated as “qualifying income” under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended. The Fund may gain exposure to local currency markets through forward currency contracts. Although foreign currency gains currently constitute “qualifying income,” the Internal Revenue Service has the authority to issue regulations excluding from the definition of “qualifying income” a RIC’s foreign currency gains not “directly related” to its “principal business” of investing in stock or securities (or options and futures with respect thereto). Such regulations might treat gains from some of the Fund’s foreign currency-denominated positions as not qualifying income and there is a possibility that such regulations might be applied retroactively, in which case, the Fund might not qualify as a RIC for one or more years. In the event the Internal Revenue Service issues such regulations, the Fund’s Board may authorize a significant change in investment strategy or the Fund’s liquidation.
Foreign Securities Risk. Investments in or exposure to foreign securities involve certain risks not associated with investments in or exposure to securities of U.S. companies. For example, foreign markets can be extremely volatile. Foreign securities may also be less liquid, making them more difficult to trade, than securities of U.S. companies so that the Fund may, at times, be unable to sell foreign securities at desirable times or prices. Brokerage commissions, custodial costs and other fees are also generally higher for foreign securities. The Fund may have limited or no legal recourse in the event of default with respect to certain foreign securities, including those issued by foreign governments. In addition, foreign governments may impose withholding or other taxes on the Fund’s income, capital gains or proceeds from the disposition of foreign securities, which could reduce the Fund’s return on such securities. In some cases, such withholding or other taxes could potentially be confiscatory. Other risks include: possible delays in the settlement of transactions or in the payment of income; generally less publicly available information about foreign companies; the impact of economic, political, social, diplomatic or other conditions or events (including, for example, military confrontations, war, terrorism and disease/virus outbreaks and epidemics), possible seizure, expropriation or nationalization of a company or its assets or the assets of a particular investor or category of investors; accounting, auditing and financial reporting standards that may be less comprehensive and stringent than those applicable to domestic companies; the imposition of economic and other sanctions against a particular foreign country, its nationals or industries or businesses within the country; and the generally less stringent standard of care to which local agents may be held in the local markets. In addition, it may be difficult to obtain reliable information about the securities and business operations of certain foreign issuers. Governments or trade groups may compel local agents to hold securities in designated depositories that are not subject to independent evaluation. The less developed a country’s securities market is, the greater the level of risks. The risks posed by sanctions against a particular foreign country, its nationals or industries or businesses within the country may be heightened to the extent the Fund invests significantly in the affected country or region or in issuers from the affected country that depend on global markets. Additionally, investments in certain countries may subject the Fund to a number of tax rules, the application of which may be uncertain. Countries may amend or revise their existing tax laws, regulations and/or procedures in the future, possibly with retroactive effect. Changes in or uncertainties regarding the laws, regulations or procedures of a country could reduce the after-tax profits of the Fund, directly or indirectly, including by reducing the after-tax profits of companies located in such countries in which the Fund invests, or result in unexpected tax liabilities for the Fund. The performance of the Fund may also be negatively affected by fluctuations in a foreign currency's strength or weakness relative to the U.S. dollar, particularly to the extent the Fund invests a significant percentage of its assets in foreign securities or other assets denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar. Currency rates in foreign countries may fluctuate significantly over short or long periods of time for a number of reasons, including changes in interest rates, imposition of currency exchange controls and economic or political developments in the U.S. or abroad. The Fund may also incur currency conversion costs when converting foreign currencies into U.S. dollars and vice versa.
Operational and Settlement Risks of Foreign Securities. The Fund’s foreign securities are generally held outside the United States in the primary market for the securities in the custody of certain eligible foreign banks and trust companies (“foreign sub-custodians”), as permitted under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the 1940 Act). Settlement practices for foreign securities may differ from those in the United States. Some countries have limited governmental oversight and regulation of industry practices, stock exchanges, depositories, registrars, brokers and listed companies, which increases the risk of corruption and fraud and the possibility of losses to the Fund. In particular, under certain circumstances, foreign securities may settle on a delayed delivery basis, meaning that the Fund may be required to make payment for securities before the Fund has actually received delivery of the securities or deliver securities prior to the receipt of payment. Typically, in these cases, the Fund will receive evidence of ownership in accordance with the generally accepted settlement practices in the local market entitling the Fund to delivery or payment at a future date, but there is a risk that the security will not be delivered to the Fund or that payment
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will not be received, although the Fund and its foreign sub-custodians take reasonable precautions to mitigate this risk. Losses can also result from lost, stolen or counterfeit securities; defaults by brokers and banks; failures or defects of the settlement system; or poor and improper record keeping by registrars and issuers.
Share Blocking. Share blocking refers to a practice in certain foreign markets under which an issuer’s securities are blocked from trading at the custodian or sub-custodian level for a specified number of days before and, in certain instances, after a shareholder meeting where a vote of shareholders takes place. The blocking period can last up to several weeks. Share blocking may prevent the Fund from buying or selling securities during this period, because during the time shares are blocked, trades in such securities will not settle. It may be difficult or impossible to lift blocking restrictions, with the particular requirements varying widely by country. As a consequence of these restrictions, the Investment Manager, on behalf of the Fund, may abstain from voting proxies in markets that require share blocking.
Forward Commitments on Mortgage-Backed Securities (including Dollar Rolls) Risk. When purchasing mortgage-backed securities in the “to be announced” (TBA) market (MBS TBAs), the seller agrees to deliver mortgage-backed securities for an agreed upon price on an agreed upon date, but may make no guarantee as to the specific securities to be delivered. In lieu of taking delivery of mortgage-backed securities, the Fund could enter into dollar rolls, which are transactions in which the Fund sells securities to a counterparty and simultaneously agrees to purchase those or similar securities in the future at a predetermined price. Dollar rolls involve the risk that the market value of the securities the Fund is obligated to repurchase may decline below the repurchase price, or that the counterparty may default on its obligations. These transactions may also increase the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate. If the Fund reinvests the proceeds of the security sold, the Fund will also be subject to the risk that the investments purchased with such proceeds will decline in value (a form of leverage risk). MBS TBAs and dollar rolls are subject to the risk that the counterparty to the transaction may not perform or be unable to perform in accordance with the terms of the instrument.
Frontier Market Risk. Frontier market countries generally have smaller economies and even less developed capital markets than typical emerging market countries (which themselves have increased investment risk relative to more developed market countries) and, as a result, the Fund’s exposure to risks associated with investing in emerging market countries are magnified when the Fund invests in frontier market countries. The increased risks include: the potential for extreme price volatility and illiquidity in frontier market countries; government ownership or control of parts of the private sector and of certain companies; trade barriers, exchange controls, managed adjustments in relative currency values and other protectionist measures imposed or negotiated by the countries with which frontier market countries trade; and the relatively new and unsettled securities laws in many frontier market countries. In addition, frontier market countries are more likely to experience instability resulting, for example, from rapid changes or developments in social, political and economic conditions. Many frontier market countries are heavily dependent on international trade, which makes them more sensitive to world commodity prices and economic downturns and other conditions in other countries. Some frontier market countries have a higher risk of currency devaluations, and some of these countries may experience periods of high inflation or rapid changes in inflation rates and may have hostile relations with other countries. Securities issued by foreign governments or companies in frontier market countries are even more likely than emerging markets securities to have greater exposure to the risks of investing in foreign securities that are described in Foreign Securities Risk.
Fund-of-Funds Risk. Determinations regarding asset classes or selection of Underlying Funds and the Fund’s allocations thereto may not successfully achieve the Fund’s investment objective, in whole or in part. The selected Underlying Funds’ performance may be lower than the performance of the asset class they were selected to represent or may be lower than the performance of alternative funds that could have been selected to represent the asset class. The Fund also is exposed to the same risks as the Underlying Funds in direct proportion to the allocation of its assets among the Underlying Funds. Therefore, to the extent that the Fund invests significantly in a particular Underlying Fund, the Fund’s performance would be significantly impacted by the performance of such Underlying Fund. Generally, by investing in a combination of Underlying Funds, the Fund has exposure to the risks of many areas of the market. By concentrating its investments in relatively few Underlying Funds, the Fund may have more concentrated market exposures, subjecting the Fund to greater risk of loss should those markets decline or fail to rise. The ability of the Fund to realize its investment objective will depend, in large part, on the extent to which the Underlying Funds realize their investment objectives. There is no guarantee that the Underlying Funds will achieve their respective investment objectives. The performance of Underlying Funds could be adversely affected if other entities that invest in the same funds make relatively large investments or redemptions in such funds. The Fund, and its shareholders, indirectly bear a portion of the expenses of any funds in which the Fund invests. Because the expenses and costs of each Underlying Fund are shared by its investors, redemptions by other investors in an Underlying Fund could result in decreased economies of scale and increased operating expenses for such Underlying Fund. These transactions might also result in higher brokerage, tax or other costs for an Underlying Fund. This risk may be particularly important when one investor owns a substantial portion of an Underlying Fund. For certain funds-of-funds, the Investment Manager typically selects underlying funds from among the funds for which it, or an affiliate, acts as the investment manager (affiliated funds) and will select an unaffiliated underlying fund only if the desired investment exposure is not available through an affiliated fund. The Investment Manager has a conflict of interest
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in choosing affiliated funds over unaffiliated funds when selecting and investing in Underlying Funds because it receives management fees from affiliated funds, and it has a conflict in choosing among affiliated funds when selecting and investing in Underlying Funds, because the fees paid to it by certain affiliated funds are higher than the fees paid by other affiliated funds. Also, to the extent that the Fund is constrained/restricted from investing (or investing further) in a particular Underlying Fund for one or more reasons (e.g., Underlying Fund capacity constraints or regulatory restrictions) or if the Fund chooses to sell its investment in an Underlying Fund because of poor investment performance or for other reasons, the Fund may have to invest in another fund(s), including less desirable funds – from a strategy or investment performance standpoint – which could have a negative impact on Fund performance. In addition, Fund performance could be negatively impacted if the Investment Manager is unable to identify an appropriate alternate fund(s) in a timely manner or at all.
Geographic Focus Risk. The Fund may be particularly susceptible to economic, political, regulatory or other events or conditions affecting issuers and countries within the specific geographic regions in which the Fund invests. Currency devaluations could occur in countries that have not yet experienced currency devaluation to date, or could continue to occur in countries that have already experienced such devaluations. As a result, the Fund’s NAV may be more volatile than the NAV of a more geographically diversified fund.
Global Economic Risk. Global economies and financial markets are increasingly interconnected, which increases the possibility that conditions in one country or region might adversely impact issuers in a different country or region or across the globe. For instance, a significant slowdown in China’s economy is adversely affecting worldwide commodity prices and the economies of many countries, especially those that depend heavily on commodity production and/or trade with China. The severity or duration of adverse economic conditions may also be affected by policy changes made by governments or quasi-governmental organizations. The imposition of sanctions by the United States or another government on a country could cause disruptions to the country’s financial system and economy, which could negatively impact the value of securities.
EuroZone. A number of countries in the European Union (EU) have experienced, and may continue to experience, severe economic and financial difficulties. Additional EU member countries may also fall subject to such difficulties. These events could negatively affect the value and liquidity of the Fund’s investments in euro-denominated securities and derivatives contracts, securities of issuers located in the EU or with significant exposure to EU issuers or countries. If the euro is dissolved entirely, the legal and contractual consequences for holders of euro-denominated obligations and derivative contracts would be determined by laws in effect at such time. Such investments may continue to be held, or purchased, to the extent consistent with the Fund’s investment objective and permitted under applicable law. These potential developments, or market perceptions concerning these and related issues, could adversely affect the value of your investment in the Fund.
Certain countries in the EU have had to accept assistance from supra-governmental agencies such as the International Monetary Fund, the European Stability Mechanism (the ESM) or other supra-governmental agencies. The European Central Bank has also been intervening to purchase Eurozone debt in an attempt to stabilize markets and reduce borrowing costs.
There can be no assurance that these agencies will continue to intervene or provide further assistance and markets may react adversely to any expected reduction in the financial support provided by these agencies. Responses to the financial problems by European governments, central banks and others including austerity measures and reforms, may not work, may result in social unrest and may limit future growth and economic recovery or have other unintended consequences. In addition, one or more countries may abandon the euro and/or withdraw from the EU. The impact of these actions, especially if they occur in a disorderly fashion, could be significant and far-reaching.
Brexit. At a referendum in June 2016, the citizens of the United Kingdom (the UK) voted to leave the European Union (EU), thereby initiating the British exit from the EU (commonly known as “Brexit”). In March 2017, the UK formally invoked Article 50 of the Treaty of Lisbon to begin the negotiation of the terms of the withdrawal from the EU. On January 31, 2020, the UK formally exited the EU on the terms of the deal agreed at a political level between the UK and the EU, and entered into an implementation period until December 31, 2020, during which negotiations on the future relationship between the UK and the EU will take place. However, there remains a significant degree of uncertainty as to the outcome of these negotiations, in particular relating to the final terms of the agreement to be negotiated with the EU or whether a final agreement will ultimately be reached by the end of the implementation period. During this period and beyond, the impact of Brexit on the UK and European economies and the broader global economy could be significant, resulting in negative impacts on currency and financial markets generally, such as increased volatility and illiquidity, and potentially lower economic growth in markets in the UK, Europe and globally, which may adversely affect the value of your investment in the Fund.
The UK has one of the largest economies in Europe, and member countries of the EU are substantial trading partners of the UK. The UK financial service sector continues to face uncertainty over the final relationship with the EU and globally as a result of Brexit. For example, certain financial services operations may have to move outside of the UK after the end of the implementation period (e.g., currency trading, international settlement operations). Additionally, depending upon the final terms of Brexit, certain financial services businesses may be forced to move staff and comply with two separate sets of rules or lose business to firms in Europe. Furthermore, the final terms of Brexit may create the potential for decreased trade, the possibility
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of capital outflows from the UK, devaluation of the pound sterling, the cost of higher corporate bond spreads, and the risk that all the above could negatively impact business and consumer spending as well as foreign direct investment. As a result of Brexit, the British economy and its currency may be negatively impacted by changes to the UK’s economic and political relations with the EU and other countries. Any further exits from the EU by other member states, or the possibility of such exits, would likely cause additional market disruption globally and introduce new legal and regulatory uncertainties.
The impact of Brexit in the near- and long-term is still unknown and could have additional adverse effects on economies, financial markets, currencies and asset valuations around the world. Any attempt by the Fund to hedge against or otherwise protect its portfolio or to profit from such circumstances may fail and, accordingly, an investment in the Fund could lose money over short or long periods.
Growth Securities Risk. Growth securities typically trade at a higher multiple of earnings than other types of equity securities. Accordingly, the market values of growth securities may never reach their expected market value and may decline in price. In addition, growth securities, at times, may not perform as well as value securities or the stock market in general, and may be out of favor with investors for varying periods of time.
Hedging Transactions Risk. The Fund may invest in securities and utilize financial instruments for a variety of hedging purposes. Hedging transactions may limit the opportunity for gain if the value of the portfolio position should increase. There can be no assurance that the Fund will engage in hedging transactions at any given time, even under volatile market conditions, or that any hedging transactions the Fund engages in will be successful. Moreover, it may not be possible for the Fund to enter into a hedging transaction at a price sufficient to protect its assets. The Fund may not anticipate a particular risk so as to hedge against it.
Hedging against a decline in the value of a portfolio position does not eliminate fluctuations in the values of portfolio positions or prevent losses, but establishes other positions designed to gain from those same developments, which moderates the decline in value. Such hedging transactions also limit the opportunity for gain if the value of the portfolio position should increase. Moreover, it may not be possible for the Fund to hedge against an exchange rate, interest rate or security price fluctuation that is generally anticipated, causing it to be unable to enter into a hedging transaction at a price sufficient to protect its assets from the decline in value of the portfolio positions anticipated as a result of such fluctuations.
The Fund is not required to attempt to hedge portfolio positions and, for various reasons, may determine not to do so. Furthermore, the Fund may not anticipate a particular risk so as to hedge against it. While the Fund may enter into hedging transactions to seek to reduce risk, such transactions may result in a poorer overall performance for the Fund than if the Fund had not engaged in any such hedging transaction. In addition, the degree of correlation between price movements of the instruments used in a hedging strategy and price movements in the portfolio position being hedged may vary. For a variety of reasons, the Fund may not seek to establish a perfect correlation between such hedging instruments and the portfolio holdings being hedged. Such imperfect correlation may prevent the Fund from achieving the intended hedge or expose the Fund to the risk of loss. The successful utilization of hedging and risk management transactions requires skills complementary to those needed in the selection of the Fund’s portfolio holdings. Moreover, it should be noted that a portfolio will always be exposed to certain risks that cannot be hedged, such as credit risk (the risk that the issuer of a debt instrument will default or otherwise become unable, or be perceived to be unable or unwilling, to honor a financial obligation, such as making payments to the Fund when due), counterparty risk (the risk that a counterparty to a transaction in a financial instrument held by the Fund may become insolvent or otherwise fail to perform its obligations, including making payments to the Fund) and liquidity risk (the risk that it may not be possible for the Fund to liquidate the instrument at an advantageous time or price).
High-Yield Investments Risk. Securities and other debt instruments held by the Fund that are rated below investment grade (commonly called “high-yield” or “junk” bonds) and unrated debt instruments of comparable quality tend to be more sensitive to credit risk than higher-rated debt instruments and may experience greater price fluctuations in response to perceived changes in the ability of the issuing entity or obligor to pay interest and principal when due than to changes in interest rates. These investments are generally more likely to experience a default than higher-rated debt instruments. High-yield debt instruments are considered to be predominantly speculative with respect to the issuer’s capacity to pay interest and repay principal. These debt instruments typically pay a premium – a higher interest rate or yield – because of the increased risk of loss, including default. High-yield debt instruments may require a greater degree of judgment to establish a price, may be difficult to sell at the time and price the Fund desires, may carry high transaction costs, and also are generally less liquid than higher-rated debt instruments. The ratings provided by third party rating agencies are based on analyses by these ratings agencies of the credit quality of the debt instruments and may not take into account every risk related to whether interest or principal will be timely repaid. In adverse economic and other circumstances, issuers of lower-rated debt instruments are more likely to have difficulty making principal and interest payments than issuers of higher-rated debt instruments.
Highly Leveraged Transactions Risk. The loans or other debt instruments in which the Fund invests may consist of transactions involving refinancings, recapitalizations, mergers and acquisitions and other financings for general corporate purposes. The Fund’s investments also may include senior obligations of a borrower issued in connection with a restructuring pursuant to
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Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code (commonly known as “debtor-in-possession” financings), provided that such senior obligations are determined by the Fund’s portfolio managers to be a suitable investment for the Fund. In such highly leveraged transactions, the borrower assumes large amounts of debt in order to have the financial resources to attempt to achieve its business objectives. Such business objectives may include but are not limited to: management’s taking over control of a company (leveraged buy-out); reorganizing the assets and liabilities of a company (leveraged recapitalization); or acquiring another company. Loans or other debt instruments that are part of highly leveraged transactions involve a greater risk (including default and bankruptcy) than other investments.
Impairment of Collateral Risk. The value of collateral, if any, securing a loan can decline, and may be insufficient to meet the borrower’s obligations or difficult or costly to liquidate. In addition, the Fund’s access to collateral may be limited by bankruptcy or other insolvency laws. Further, certain floating rate and other loans may not be fully collateralized and may decline in value.
Inflation Risk. Inflation risk is the uncertainty over the future real value (after inflation) of an investment. Inflation rates may change frequently and drastically as a result of various factors, including unexpected shifts in the domestic or global economy, and the Fund’s investments may not keep pace with inflation, which may result in losses to Fund investors.
Inflation-Protected Securities Risk. Inflation-protected debt securities tend to react to changes in real interest rates. Real interest rates can be described as nominal interest rates minus the expected impact of inflation. In general, the price of an inflation-protected debt security falls when real interest rates rise, and rises when real interest rates fall. Interest payments on inflation-protected debt securities will vary as the principal and/or interest is adjusted for inflation and may be more volatile than interest paid on ordinary bonds. In periods of deflation, the Fund may have no income at all from such investments. Income earned by a shareholder depends on the amount of principal invested, and that principal will not grow with inflation unless the shareholder reinvests the portion of Fund distributions that comes from inflation adjustments. A Fund’s investment in certain inflation-protected debt securities may generate taxable income in excess of the interest they pay to the Fund, which may cause the Fund to sell investments to obtain cash to make income distributions to shareholders, including at times when it may not be advantageous to do so.
Interest Rate Risk. Interest rate risk is the risk of losses attributable to changes in interest rates. In general, if prevailing interest rates rise, the values of loans and other debt instruments tend to fall, and if interest rates fall, the values of loans and other debt instruments tend to rise. Changes in the value of a debt instrument usually will not affect the amount of income the Fund receives from it but will generally affect the value of your investment in the Fund. Changes in interest rates may also affect the liquidity of the Fund’s investments in debt instruments. In general, the longer the maturity or duration of a debt instrument, the greater its sensitivity to changes in interest rates. Interest rate declines also may increase prepayments of debt obligations, which, in turn, would increase prepayment risk (the risk that the Fund will have to reinvest the money received in securities that have lower yields). Very low or negative interest rates may impact the Fund’s yield and may increase the risk that, if followed by rising interest rates, the Fund’s performance will be negatively impacted. This risk may be particularly acute in the current market environment because market interest rates are currently near historically low levels. Thus, the Fund currently faces a heightened level of interest rate risk. The Fund is subject to the risk that the income generated by its investments may not keep pace with inflation. Actions by governments and central banking authorities can result in increases or decreases in interest rates. Such actions may negatively affect the value of debt instruments held by the Fund, resulting in a negative impact on the Fund's performance and NAV. Debt instruments with floating coupon rates are typically less sensitive to interest rate changes, but these debt instruments may decline in value if their coupon rates do not rise as much as, or keep pace with, yields on such types of debt instruments. Because rates on certain floating rate loans and other debt instruments reset only periodically, changes in prevailing interest rates (and particularly sudden and significant changes) can be expected to cause fluctuations in the Fund’s NAV. Any interest rate increases could cause the value of the Fund’s investments in debt instruments to decrease. Rising interest rates may prompt redemptions from the Fund, which may force the Fund to sell investments at a time when it is not advantageous to do so, which could result in losses.
Investing in Other Funds Risk. The Fund’s investment in other funds (affiliated and/or unaffiliated funds, including exchange-traded funds (ETFs)) subjects the Fund to the investment performance (positive or negative) and risks of the underlying funds in direct proportion to the Fund’s investment therein. In addition, investments in ETFs have unique characteristics, including, but not limited to, the expense structure and additional expenses associated with investing in ETFs. The performance of the underlying funds could be adversely affected if other investors in the same underlying funds make relatively large investments or redemptions in such underlying funds. The Fund, and its shareholders, indirectly bear a portion of the expenses of any funds in which the Fund invests. Due to the expenses and costs of an underlying fund being shared by its investors, redemptions by other investors in the underlying funds could result in decreased economies of scale and increased operating expenses for such underlying fund. These transactions might also result in higher brokerage, tax or other costs for the underlying funds. This risk may be particularly important when one investor owns a substantial portion of the underlying funds. The Investment Manager typically selects underlying funds from among the funds for which it, or an affiliate, acts as the investment manager (affiliated underlying funds) and will select an unaffiliated underlying fund only if the desired investment exposure is not available through
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an affiliated fund. The Investment Manager has a conflict of interest in selecting affiliated underlying funds over unaffiliated underlying funds because it receives management fees from affiliated underlying funds, and it has a conflict in selecting among affiliated underlying funds, because the fees paid to it by certain affiliated underlying funds are higher than the fees paid by other affiliated underlying funds. Also, to the extent that the Fund is constrained/restricted from investing (or investing further) in a particular underlying fund for one or more reasons (e.g., underlying fund capacity constraints or regulatory restrictions) or if the Fund chooses to sell its investment in an underlying fund because of poor investment performance or for other reasons, the Fund may have to invest in other underlying funds, including less desirable funds – from a strategy or investment performance standpoint – which could have a negative impact on Fund performance. In addition, Fund performance could be negatively impacted if an appropriate alternate underlying fund is not identified in a timely manner or at all.
IPO Risk. IPOs are subject to many of the same risks as investing in companies with smaller market capitalizations. To the extent the Fund determines to invest in IPOs, it may not be able to invest to the extent desired, because, for example, only a small portion (if any) of the securities being offered in an IPO are available to the Fund. The investment performance of the Fund during periods when it is unable to invest significantly or at all in IPOs may be lower than during periods when the Fund is able to do so. In addition, as the Fund increases in size, the impact of IPOs on the Fund’s performance will generally decrease. IPOs sold within 12 months of purchase may result in increased short-term capital gains, which will be taxable to the Fund’s shareholders as ordinary income.
Issuer Risk. An issuer in which the Fund invests or to which it has exposure may perform poorly or below expectations, and the value of its loans or securities may therefore decline, which may negatively affect the Fund’s performance. Underperformance of an issuer may be caused by poor management decisions, competitive pressures, breakthroughs in technology, reliance on suppliers, labor problems or shortages, corporate restructurings, fraudulent disclosures, natural disasters, military confrontations, war, terrorism, disease/virus outbreaks, epidemics or other events, conditions and factors which may impair the value of an investment in the Fund.
Large-Cap Stock Risk. Investments in larger, more established companies (larger companies) may involve certain risks associated with their larger size. For instance, larger companies may be less able to respond quickly to new competitive challenges, such as changes in consumer tastes or innovation from smaller competitors. Also, larger companies are sometimes less able to achieve as high growth rates as successful smaller companies, especially during extended periods of economic expansion.
Small- and Mid-Cap Stock Risk. Securities of small- and mid-cap companies can, in certain circumstances, have a higher potential for gains than securities of larger companies but are more likely to have more risk than larger companies. For example, small- and mid-cap companies may be more vulnerable to market downturns and adverse business or economic events than larger companies because they may have more limited financial resources and business operations. Small- and mid-cap companies are also more likely than larger companies to have more limited product lines and operating histories and to depend on smaller and generally less experienced management teams. Securities of small- and mid-cap companies may trade less frequently and in smaller volumes and may be less liquid and fluctuate more sharply in value than securities of larger companies. When the Fund takes significant positions in small- and mid-cap companies with limited trading volumes, the liquidation of those positions, particularly in a distressed market, could be prolonged and result in Fund investment losses that would affect the value of your investment in the Fund. In addition, some small- and mid-cap companies may not be widely followed by the investment community, which can lower the demand for their stocks.
Large Fund Investor Risk. The Fund may from time to time sell a substantial amount of its shares to relatively few investors or a single investor, including other funds advised by the Investment Manager, or third parties. Sales to and redemptions from large investors may be very substantial relative to the size of the Fund and carry potentially adverse effects. While it is not possible to predict the overall effect of such sales and redemptions, such transactions may adversely affect the Fund’s performance to the extent that the Fund is required to invest cash received in connection with a sale or to sell a substantial amount of its portfolio securities to facilitate a redemption, in either case, a time when the Fund would otherwise prefer not to invest or sell, such as in an up market or down market, respectively. Such transactions may also increase the Fund’s transaction costs, which would also detract from Fund performance, while also having potentially negative tax consequences to investors. The Fund, because of a large redemption, may be forced to sell its liquid or more liquid positions, resulting in the Fund holding a higher percentage of less liquid or illiquid securities (i.e., investments that a Fund reasonably expects cannot be sold or disposed of in current market conditions in seven calendar days or less without the sale or disposition significantly changing the market value of the instrument). Because the expenses and costs of the Fund are shared by its investors, large redemptions in the Fund could result in decreased economies of scale and increased operating expenses for non-redeeming Fund shareholders. In addition, in the event of a Fund proxy proposal, a large investor(s) could dictate with its/their vote the results of the proposal, which may have a less favorable impact on minority-stake shareholders.
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Leverage Risk. Leverage occurs when the Fund increases its assets available for investment using borrowings, short sales, derivatives, or similar instruments or techniques. Use of leverage can produce volatility and may exaggerate changes in the NAV of Fund shares and in the return on the Fund’s portfolio, which may increase the risk that the Fund will lose more than it has invested. The use of leverage may cause the Fund to liquidate portfolio positions when it may not be advantageous to do so to satisfy its obligations or to meet any required asset segregation or position coverage requirements. Futures contracts, options on futures contracts, forward contracts and other derivatives can allow the Fund to obtain large investment exposures in return for meeting relatively small margin requirements. As a result, investments in those transactions may be highly leveraged. If the Fund uses leverage, through the purchase of particular instruments such as derivatives, the Fund may experience capital losses that exceed the net assets of the Fund. Because short sales involve borrowing securities and then selling them, the Fund’s short sales effectively leverage the Fund’s assets. The Fund’s assets that are used as collateral to secure the Fund’s obligations to return the securities sold short may decrease in value while the short positions are outstanding, which may force the Fund to use its other assets to increase the collateral. Leverage can create an interest expense that may lower the Fund's overall returns. Leverage presents the opportunity for increased net income and capital gains, but may also exaggerate the Fund's volatility and risk of loss. There can be no guarantee that a leveraging strategy will be successful.
LIBOR Replacement Risk. London Inter-Bank Offered Rate (LIBOR), which is used extensively in the U.S. and globally as a benchmark or reference rate for various commercial and financial contracts, among other “inter-bank offered” reference rates, is expected to be discontinued. The elimination of LIBOR may adversely affect the interest rates on, and value of, certain Fund investments that are tied to LIBOR. Such investments may include bank loans, derivatives, floating rate loans, and other assets or liabilities. On July 27, 2017, the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority announced that it intends to stop compelling or inducing banks to submit LIBOR rates after 2021. More recently, in November 2020, Ice Benchmark Administrator (IBA) has announced its intention to consult on (i) the cessation of four LIBOR currencies (GBP, EUR, JPY and CHF) after the end of 2021 and (ii) on the cessation of the major USD LIBOR tenors (overnight, 1M, 3M, 6M and 12M) in mid-2023 and the cessation of the 1 week and 2M USD LIBOR by the end of 2021. IBA will make separate announcements following the outcome of the consultations. Actions by regulators have resulted in the establishment of alternative reference rates in most major currencies. The U.S. Federal Reserve, based on the recommendations of the New York Federal Reserve’s Alternative Reference Rate Committee (comprised of major derivative market participants and their regulators), has begun publishing SOFR that is intended to replace U.S. dollar LIBOR. Proposals for alternative reference rates for other currencies have also been announced or have already begun publication. Markets are slowly developing in response to these new reference rates. Uncertainty related to the liquidity impact of the change in rates, and how to appropriately adjust these rates at the time of transition, poses risks for the Fund. The effect of any changes to, or discontinuation of, LIBOR on the Fund will depend on, among other things, (1) existing fallback or termination provisions in individual contracts and (2) whether, how, and when industry participants develop and adopt new reference rates and fallbacks for both legacy and new instruments and contracts. The expected discontinuation of LIBOR could have a significant impact on the financial markets in general and may also present heightened risk to market participants, including public companies, investment advisers, investment companies, and broker-dealers. The risks associated with this discontinuation and transition will be exacerbated if the work necessary to effect an orderly transition to an alternative reference rate is not completed in a timely manner. For example, current information technology systems may be unable to accommodate new instruments and rates with features that differ from LIBOR. Accordingly, it is difficult to predict the full impact of the transition away from LIBOR on the Fund until new reference rates and fallbacks for both legacy and new instruments and contracts are commercially accepted and market practices become settled.
Liquidity Risk. Liquidity risk is the risk associated with any event, circumstance, or characteristic of an investment or market that negatively impacts the Fund’s ability to sell, or realize the proceeds from the sale of, an investment at a desirable time or price. Liquidity risk may arise because of, for example, a lack of marketability of the investment. Decreases in the number of financial institutions, including banks and broker-dealers willing to make markets (match up sellers and buyers) in the Fund’s investments or decreases in their capacity or willingness to trade such investments may increase the Fund’s exposure to this risk. The debt market has experienced considerable growth, and financial institutions making markets in instruments purchased and sold by the Fund (e.g., bond dealers) have been subject to increased regulation. The impact of that growth and regulation on the ability and willingness of financial institutions to engage in trading or “making a market” in such instruments remains unsettled. As a result, the Fund, when seeking to sell its portfolio investments, could find that selling is more difficult than anticipated, especially during times of high market volatility. Market participants attempting to sell the same or a similar instrument at the same time as the Fund could exacerbate the Fund’s exposure to liquidity risk. The Fund may have to accept a lower selling price for the holding, sell other investments that it might otherwise prefer to hold, or forego another more appealing investment opportunity. The liquidity of Fund investments may change significantly over time and certain investments that were liquid when purchased by the Fund may later become illiquid, particularly in times of overall economic distress. Changing regulatory, market or other conditions or environments (for example, the interest rate or credit environments) may also adversely affect the liquidity and the price of the Fund's investments. Certain types of investments, such as structured notes and non-investment grade debt instruments, as an example, may be especially subject to liquidity risk. Floating rate loans also generally are subject to legal or
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contractual restrictions on resale and may trade infrequently on the secondary market. The value of the loan to the Fund may be impaired in the event that the Fund needs to liquidate such loans. The inability to purchase or sell floating rate loans and other debt instruments at a fair price may have a negative impact on the Fund’s performance. Securities or other assets in which the Fund invests may be traded in the over-the-counter market rather than on an exchange and therefore may be more difficult to purchase or sell at a fair price. Judgment plays a larger role in valuing illiquid or less liquid investments as compared to valuing liquid or more liquid investments. Price volatility may be higher for illiquid or less liquid investments as a result of, for example, the relatively less frequent pricing of such securities (as compared to liquid or more liquid investments). Generally, the less liquid the market at the time the Fund sells a portfolio investment, the greater the risk of loss or decline of value to the Fund. Overall market liquidity and other factors can lead to an increase in Fund redemptions, which may negatively impact Fund performance and NAV, including, for example, if the Fund is forced to sell investments in a down market.
Governments and their regulatory agencies and self-regulatory organizations may take actions that affect the regulation of the instruments in which the Fund invests, or the issuers of such instruments, in ways that are unforeseeable. Legislation or regulation may also change the way in which the Fund or the Investment Manager or any Fund subadviser, as the case may be, are regulated or supervised. Such legislation or regulation could affect or preclude a Fund’s ability to achieve its investment objective.
Governments and their regulatory agencies and self-regulatory organizations may also acquire distressed assets from financial institutions and acquire ownership interests in those institutions. The implications of government ownership and disposition of these assets are unclear, and such a program may have positive or negative effects on the liquidity, valuation and performance of a Fund’s portfolio holdings. Furthermore, volatile financial markets can expose the Funds to greater market and liquidity risk and potential difficulty in valuing portfolio instruments held by the Funds.
While the Investment Manager and any subadvisers can endeavor to take various preventative measures to address liquidity risk, including conducting periodic portfolio risk analysis/management and stress-testing, such measures may not be successful and may not have fully accounted for the specific circumstances that ultimately impact a Fund and its holdings.
Listed Private Equity Fund Investment Risk. Private equity funds include financial institutions or vehicles whose principal business is to invest in and lend capital to privately held companies. The Fund is subject to the underlying risks that affect private equity funds in which it invests, which may include increased liquidity risk (the risk that it may not be possible for the Fund to liquidate the instrument at an advantageous time or price), pricing risk (the risk that the investment may be difficult to value), sector risk (the risk that a significant portion of Fund assets invested in one or more economic sectors may make the Fund more vulnerable to unfavorable developments in that sector than funds that invest more broadly) and credit risk (the risk that the issuer of a debt instrument will default or otherwise become unable, or be perceived to be unable or unwilling, to honor a financial obligation, such as making payments to the Fund when due). Limited or incomplete information about the companies in which private equity funds invest, and relatively concentrated investment portfolios of private equity funds, may expose the Fund to greater volatility and risk of loss. Fund investment in private equity funds subjects Fund shareholders indirectly to the fees and expenses incurred by private equity funds.
Loan Assignment/Loan Participation Risk. If a bank loan is acquired through an assignment, the Fund may not be able to unilaterally enforce all rights and remedies under the loan and with regard to any associated collateral. If a bank loan is acquired through a participation, the Fund generally will have no right to enforce compliance by the borrower with the terms of the loan agreement, and the Fund may not benefit from the collateral supporting the debt obligation in which it has purchased the participation. As a result, the Fund will be exposed to the credit risk of both the borrower and the institution selling the participation.
Loan Interests Risk. Loan interests may not be considered “securities,” and purchasers, such as the Fund, therefore may not be entitled to rely on the anti-fraud protections of the federal securities laws. Loan interests generally are subject to restrictions on transfer, and the Fund may be unable to sell loan interests at a time when it may otherwise be desirable to do so or may be able to sell them only at prices that are less than what the Fund regards as their fair market value. Accordingly, loan interests may at times be illiquid. Loan interests may be difficult to value and typically have extended settlement periods (generally greater than 7 days). This exposes the Fund to the risk that the receipt of principal and interest payments may be late due to delayed interest settlement. Extended settlement periods during significant Fund redemption activity could potentially cause increased short-term liquidity demands on the Fund. As a result, the Fund may be forced to sell investments at unfavorable prices, or borrow money or effect short settlements where possible (at a cost to the Fund), in an effort to generate sufficient cash to pay redeeming shareholders. The Fund’s actions in this regard may not be successful. Interests in loans created to finance highly leveraged companies or transactions, such as corporate acquisitions, may be especially vulnerable to adverse changes in economic or market conditions.
Interests in secured loans have the benefit of collateral and, typically, of restrictive covenants limiting the ability of the borrower to further encumber its assets, although many covenants may be waived or modified with the consent of a certain percentage of the holders of the loans even if the Fund does not consent. There is a risk that the value of any collateral securing a loan in which
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the Fund has an interest may decline and that the collateral may not be sufficient to cover the amount owed on the loan. In most loan agreements there is no formal requirement to pledge additional collateral. In the event the borrower defaults, the Fund’s access to the collateral may be limited or delayed by bankruptcy or other insolvency laws. Further, there is a risk that a court could take action with respect to a loan that is adverse to the holders of the loan, including the Fund. Such actions may include invalidating the loan, the lien on the collateral, the priority status of the loan, or ordering the refund of interest previously paid by the borrower. Any such actions by a court could adversely affect the Fund’s performance. A default or expected default of a loan could also make it difficult for the Fund to sell the loan at a price approximating the value previously placed on it. In order to enforce its rights in the event of a default, bankruptcy or similar situation, the Fund may be required to retain legal or similar counsel. This may increase the Fund’s operating expenses and adversely affect its NAV. Loans that have a lower priority for repayment in an issuer’s capital structure may involve a higher degree of overall risk than more senior loans of the same borrower. In the event of a default, second lien secured loans will generally be paid only if the value of the collateral exceeds the amount of the borrower’s obligations to the first lien secured lenders. The remaining collateral may not be sufficient to cover the full amount owed on the loan in which the Fund has an interest. In addition, if a secured loan is foreclosed, the Fund would likely bear the costs and liabilities associated with owning and disposing of the collateral. The collateral may be difficult to sell and the Fund would bear the risk that the collateral may decline in value while the Fund is holding it. From time to time, disagreements may arise amongst the holders of loans and debt in the capital structure of an issuer, which may give rise to litigation risks, including the risk that a court could take action adverse to the holders of the loan, which could negatively impact the Fund’s performance.
The Fund may acquire a loan interest by obtaining an assignment of all or a portion of the interests in a particular loan that are held by an original lender or a prior assignee. As an assignee, the Fund will usually succeed to all rights and obligations of its assignor with respect to the portion of the loan that is being assigned. However, the rights and obligations acquired by the purchaser of a loan assignment may differ from, and be more limited than, those held by the original lenders or the assignor. Alternatively, the Fund may acquire a participation interest in a loan that is held by another party. When the Fund’s loan interest is a participation, the Fund may have less control over the exercise of remedies than the party selling the participation interest, and the Fund normally would not have any direct rights against the borrower. As a participant, the Fund would also be subject to the risk that the party selling the participation interest would not remit the Fund’s pro rata share of loan payments to the Fund. It may also be difficult for the Fund to obtain an accurate picture of a lending bank’s financial condition.
Macro Strategy Risk. The profitability of any macro program depends primarily on the ability of its manager to predict derivative contract price movements to implement investment ideas regarding macroeconomic trends. Price movements for commodity interests are influenced by, among other things: changes in interest rates; governmental, agricultural, trade, fiscal, monetary and exchange control programs and policies; weather and climate conditions; natural disasters, such as hurricanes; changing supply and demand relationships; changes in balances of payments and trade; U.S. and international rates of inflation and deflation; currency devaluations and revaluations; U.S. and international political and economic events; and changes in philosophies and emotions of market participants. The manager’s trading methods may not take all of these factors into account.
The global macro programs to which the Fund’s investments are exposed typically use derivative financial instruments that are actively traded using a variety of strategies and investment techniques that involve significant risks. The derivative financial instruments traded include commodities, currencies, futures, options and forward contracts and other derivative instruments that have inherent leverage and price volatility that result in greater risk than instruments used by typical mutual funds, and the systematic programs used to trade them may rely on proprietary investment strategies that are not fully disclosed, which may in turn result in risks that are not anticipated.
Market Risk. The Fund may incur losses due to declines in the value of one or more securities in which it invests. These declines may be due to factors affecting a particular issuer, or the result of, among other things, political, regulatory, market, economic or social developments affecting the relevant market(s) more generally. In addition, turbulence in financial markets and reduced liquidity in equity, credit and/or fixed income markets may negatively affect many issuers, which could adversely affect the Fund, including causing difficulty in assigning prices to hard-to-value assets in thinly traded and closed markets, significant redemptions and operational challenges. Global economies and financial markets are increasingly interconnected, and conditions and events in one country, region or financial market may adversely impact issuers in a different country, region or financial market. These risks may be magnified if certain events or developments adversely interrupt the global supply chain; in these and other circumstances, such risks might affect companies worldwide. As a result, local, regional or global events such as terrorism, war, natural disasters, disease/virus outbreaks and epidemics or other public health issues, recessions, depressions or other events – or the potential for such events – could have a significant negative impact on global economic and market conditions. In addition, as the share of assets invested in passive index-based strategies increases, price correlations among the securities included in an index may increase and the market value of securities, including those included in one or more market indices, may become less correlated with their underlying values. Because index-based strategies generally buy or sell securities
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based solely on their inclusion in an index, securities prices may rise or fall based on whether money is flowing into or out of these strategies rather than based on an analysis of the securities’ underlying values. This valuation disparity could lead to increased price volatility for individual securities, and the market as a whole, which may result in Fund losses.
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) public health crisis has become a pandemic that has resulted in, and may continue to result in, significant global economic and societal disruption and market volatility due to disruptions in market access, resource availability, facilities operations, imposition of tariffs, export controls and supply chain disruption, among others. Such disruptions may be caused, or exacerbated by, quarantines and travel restrictions, workforce displacement and loss in human and other resources. The uncertainty surrounding the magnitude, duration, reach, costs and effects of the global pandemic, as well as actions that have been or could be taken by governmental authorities or other third parties, present unknowns that are yet to unfold. The impacts, as well as the uncertainty over impacts to come, of COVID-19 – and any other infectious illness outbreaks, epidemics and pandemics that may arise in the future – could negatively affect global economies and markets in ways that cannot necessarily be foreseen. In addition, the impact of infectious illness outbreaks and epidemics in emerging market countries may be greater due to generally less established healthcare systems, governments and financial markets. Public health crises caused by the COVID-19 outbreak may exacerbate other pre-existing political, social and economic risks in certain countries or globally. The disruptions caused by COVID-19 could prevent the Fund from executing advantageous investment decisions in a timely manner and negatively impact the Fund’s ability to achieve its investment objective. Any such event(s) could have a significant adverse impact on the value and risk profile of the Fund.
Master Limited Partnership Risk. Investments in securities (units) of master limited partnerships involve risks that differ from an investment in common stock. Holders of these units have more limited rights to vote on matters affecting the partnership. These units may be subject to cash flow and dilution risks. There are also certain tax risks associated with such an investment. In particular, the Fund’s investment in master limited partnerships can be limited by the Fund’s intention to qualify as a regulated investment company for U.S. federal income tax purposes, and can limit the Fund’s ability to so qualify. In addition, conflicts of interest may exist between common unit holders, subordinated unit holders and the general partner of a master limited partnership, including a conflict arising as a result of incentive distribution payments. In addition, there are risks related to the general partner’s right to require unit holders to sell their common units at an undesirable time or price.
Money Market Fund Investment Risk. An investment in a money market fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by any bank, the FDIC or any other government agency. Certain money market funds float their NAV while others seek to preserve the value of investments at a stable NAV (typically $1.00 per share). An investment in a money market fund, even an investment in a fund seeking to maintain a stable NAV per share, is not guaranteed and it is possible for the Fund to lose money by investing in these and other types of money market funds. If the liquidity of a money market fund’s portfolio deteriorates below certain levels, the money market fund may suspend redemptions (i.e., impose a redemption gate) and thereby prevent the Fund from selling its investment in the money market fund or impose a fee of up to 2% on amounts the Fund redeems from the money market fund (i.e., impose a liquidity fee). These measures may result in an investment loss or prohibit the Fund from redeeming shares when the Investment Manager would otherwise redeem shares. In addition to the fees and expenses that the Fund directly bears, the Fund indirectly bears the fees and expenses of any money market funds in which it invests, including affiliated money market funds. To the extent these fees and expenses, along with the fees and expenses of any other funds in which the Fund may invest, are expected to equal or exceed 0.01% of the Fund’s average daily net assets, they will be reflected in the Annual Fund Operating Expenses set forth in the table under “Fees and Expenses of the Fund.” By investing in a money market fund, the Fund will be exposed to the investment risks of the money market fund in direct proportion to such investment. The money market fund may not achieve its investment objective. The Fund, through its investment in the money market fund, may not achieve its investment objective. To the extent the Fund invests in instruments such as derivatives, the Fund may hold investments, which may be significant, in money market fund shares to cover its obligations resulting from the Fund’s investments in derivatives. Money market funds and the securities they invest in are subject to comprehensive regulations. The enactment of new legislation or regulations, as well as changes in interpretation and enforcement of current laws, may affect the manner of operation, performance and/or yield of money market funds.
Because a decision to impose or not impose such liquidity fees and/or redemption gates on an affiliated money market fund may negatively impact any Funds that invest in it, all to which the Investment Manager and Board may also owe a fiduciary duty, any recommendation by the Investment Manager or decision by the Board with respect to such fees or gates on the affiliated money market fund may present conflicts of interest to the Investment Manager and the Board. The Board of the affiliated money market fund, for example, could be conflicted by a determination to not impose such fees and/or gates at a time when, if implemented, the other Columbia Funds could potentially experience negative impacts, while not imposing such fees and/or gates could potentially result in a negative impact to the affiliated money market fund. Any decisions by the Board to favor such fees and/or gates could result in reduced or limited investments in the affiliated money market fund by the other Columbia Funds, which may lead to increased affiliated money market fund expenses (which would be borne by the remaining Fund investors).
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If a liquidity fee or redemption gate is imposed, an investing Columbia Fund may have to sell other investments at less than opportune times rather than using the cash invested in the money market fund to meet shareholder redemptions. The Investment Manager, as a result of any such fees and/or gates on an affiliated money market fund (or the potential imposition thereof, recognizing that the Investment Manager will be aware of the affiliated money market fund’s liquid assets position), may determine to not invest the other Columbia Funds’ assets in the affiliated money market fund, and potentially be forced to invest in more expensive, lower-performing investments.
Mortgage- and Other Asset-Backed Securities Risk. The value of any mortgage-backed and other asset-backed securities including collateralized debt obligations and collateralized loan obligations, if any, held by the Fund may be affected by, among other things, changes or perceived changes in: interest rates; factors concerning the interests in and structure of the issuer or the originator of the mortgages or other assets; the creditworthiness of the entities that provide any supporting letters of credit, surety bonds or other credit enhancements; or the market's assessment of the quality of underlying assets. Mortgage-backed securities represent interests in, or are backed by, pools of mortgages from which payments of interest and principal (net of fees paid to the issuer or guarantor of the securities) are distributed to the holders of the mortgage-backed securities. Other types of asset-backed securities typically represent interests in, or are backed by, pools of receivables such as credit, automobile, student and home equity loans. Mortgage- and other asset-backed securities can have a fixed or an adjustable rate. Mortgage- and other asset-backed securities are subject to liquidity risk (the risk that it may not be possible for the Fund to liquidate the instrument at an advantageous time or price) and prepayment risk (the risk that the underlying mortgage or other asset may be refinanced or prepaid prior to maturity during periods of declining or low interest rates, causing the Fund to have to reinvest the money received in securities that have lower yields). In addition, the impact of prepayments on the value of mortgage- and other asset-backed securities may be difficult to predict and may result in greater volatility. A decline or flattening of housing values may cause delinquencies in mortgages (especially sub-prime or non-prime mortgages) underlying mortgage-backed securities and thereby adversely affect the ability of the mortgage-backed securities issuer to make principal and/or interest payments to mortgage-backed securities holders, including the Fund. Rising or high interest rates tend to extend the duration of mortgage- and other asset-backed securities, making them more volatile and more sensitive to changes in interest rates. Payment of principal and interest on some mortgage-backed securities (but not the market value of the securities themselves) may be guaranteed (i) by the full faith and credit of the U.S. Government (in the case of securities guaranteed by the Government National Mortgage Association) or (ii) by its agencies, authorities, enterprises or instrumentalities (in the case of securities guaranteed by the Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA) or the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (FHLMC)), which are not insured or guaranteed by the U.S. Government (although FNMA and FHLMC may be able to access capital from the U.S. Treasury to meet their obligations under such securities). Mortgage-backed securities issued by non-governmental issuers (such as commercial banks, savings and loan institutions, private mortgage insurance companies, mortgage bankers and other secondary market issuers) may be supported by various credit enhancements, such as pool insurance, guarantees issued by governmental entities, letters of credit from a bank or senior/subordinated structures, and may entail greater risk than obligations guaranteed by the U.S. Government, whether or not such obligations are guaranteed by the private issuer. Under the direction of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, FNMA and FHLMC have entered into a joint initiative to develop a common securitization platform for the issuance of a uniform mortgage-backed security (the “Single Security Initiative”) that aligns the characteristics of FNMA and FHLMC certificates. The Single Security Initiative was implemented in June 2019, and the effects it may have on the market for mortgage-backed securities are uncertain.
Multi-Strategy Risk. The multi-strategy approach employed by the Fund involves special risks, which include the risk that investment decisions, at the Fund or the underlying fund level, may conflict with each other; for example, at any particular time, one manager may be purchasing shares of an issuer whose shares are being sold by another manager. Consequently, the Fund could indirectly incur transaction costs without accomplishing any net investment result. Also, managers may use proprietary or licensed investment strategies that are based on considerations and factors that are not fully disclosed to the Fund or other investors.
Moreover, consistent with the Fund’s investment objectives, these proprietary or licensed investment strategies, which may include quantitative mathematical models or systems, may be changed or refined over time. A manager (or the licensor of the strategies used by the manager) may make certain changes to the strategies the manager has previously used, may not use such strategies at all (or the manager’s license may be revoked), or may use additional strategies, where such changes or discretionary decisions, and the reasons for such changes or decisions, are also not disclosed to the Fund or other investors. These strategies may involve risks under some market conditions that are not anticipated by the Investment Manager or the Fund.
Municipal Securities Risk. Municipal securities are debt obligations generally issued to obtain funds for various public purposes, including general financing for state and local governments, or financing for a specific project or public facility, and include obligations of the governments of the U.S. territories, commonwealths and possessions such as Guam, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands to the extent such obligations are exempt from state and U.S. federal income taxes. The value of municipal securities can be significantly affected by actual or expected political and legislative changes at the federal or state level. Municipal securities may be fully or partially backed by the taxing authority of the local government, by the credit of a
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private issuer, by the current or anticipated revenues from a specific project or specific assets or by domestic or foreign entities providing credit support, such as letters of credit, guarantees or insurance, and are generally classified into general obligation bonds and special revenue obligations. General obligation bonds are backed by an issuer's taxing authority and may be vulnerable to limits on a government's power or ability to raise revenue or increase taxes. They may also depend for payment on legislative appropriation and/or funding or other support from other governmental bodies. Revenue obligations are payable from revenues generated by a particular project or other revenue source, and are typically subject to greater risk of default than general obligation bonds because investors can look only to the revenue generated by the project or other revenue source backing the project, rather than to the general taxing authority of the state or local government issuer of the obligations. Because many municipal securities are issued to finance projects in sectors such as education, health care, transportation and utilities, conditions in those sectors can affect the overall municipal market. The amount of publicly available information for municipal issuers is generally less than for corporate issuers.
Issuers in a state, territory, commonwealth or possession in which the Fund invests may experience significant financial difficulties for various reasons, including as the result of events that cannot be reasonably anticipated or controlled such as economic downturns or similar periods of economic stress, social conflict or unrest, labor disruption and natural disasters. Such financial difficulties may lead to credit rating downgrades or defaults of such issuers which, in turn, could affect the market values and marketability of many or all municipal obligations of issuers in such state, territory, commonwealth or possession. For example, the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly stressed the financial resources of many municipal issuers, which may impair a municipal issuer’s ability to meet its financial obligations when due and could adversely impact the value of its bonds, which could negatively impact the performance of the Fund. The value of the Fund’s shares will be negatively impacted to the extent it invests in such securities. Securities issued by Puerto Rico and its agencies and instrumentalities have been subject to multiple credit downgrades as a result of Puerto Rico's ongoing fiscal challenges and uncertainty about its ability to make full repayment on these obligations. These challenges and uncertainties have been exacerbated by hurricanes Maria and Irma, earthquakes in 2019, and the resulting natural disasters in Puerto Rico. In June 2019, President Trump signed a $19 billion disaster relief bill, of which approximately $1 billion was allocated to Puerto Rico. Additionally, recent statements by government officials regarding management of the recovery burden may increase price volatility and the risk that Puerto Rican municipal securities held by the Fund will lose value. Even prior to the recent natural disaster, certain issuers of Puerto Rican municipal securities had failed to make payments on obligations when due, and additional missed payments or defaults are likely to occur in the future. In May 2017, Puerto Rico filed in U.S. federal court to commence a debt restructuring process similar to that of a traditional municipal bankruptcy under a new federal law for insolvent U.S. territories, called Promesa, which, among other things, established the Financial and Oversight Management Board (FOMB) to oversee Puerto Rico’s financial operations and provide a legal framework for debt restructuring. Puerto Rico's case will be the first ever heard under Promesa, for which there is no existing body of court precedent. Accordingly, Puerto Rico's debt restructuring process could take significantly longer than recent municipal bankruptcy proceedings adjudicated pursuant to Chapter 9 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. In addition to the debt restructuring petition filed on behalf of Puerto Rico, in May 2017, FOMB separately filed debt restructuring petitions for certain Puerto Rico instrumentalities, including the Puerto Rico Highways and Transportation Authority, Puerto Rico Sales Tax Financing Corporation (COFINA), Puerto Rico Electric and Power Authority and Employee Retirement System. On February 4, 2019, the United District Court for the District of Puerto Rico approved a plan to restructure $17.6 billion of COFINA-issued debt. In February 2020, the FOMB announced a new consensual agreement with roughly 50% of Puerto Rico’s General Obligation (GO) and Public Building Authority (PBA) bondholders. The agreement significantly reduces debt service by cutting $35 billion of liabilities to just $10.7 billion. Pursuant to the agreement, GO and PBA bondholders would receive recoveries ranging from 65% to 75% based on a consideration of $10.1 billion in new bonds and $3.4 billion in cash. It is not clear whether additional debt restructuring processes will ultimately be approved or, if so, the extent to which they will apply to Puerto Rico municipal securities sold by an issuer other than the Commonwealth. Further legislation by the U.S. Congress, actions by the FOMB, or court approval of a debt restructuring could reduce the principal amount due, the interest rate, the maturity and other terms of Puerto Rico municipal securities, which could adversely affect the value of Puerto Rico municipal securities. To the extent a Fund invests in these securities, such developments could adversely impact the Fund's performance. The Fund’s annual and semiannual reports show the Fund’s investment exposures at a point in time. The risk of investing in the Fund is directly correlated to the Fund’s investment exposures.
The Fund’s investments in municipal securities may include securities of issuers in the health care sector, which subjects the Fund’s investments to the risks associated with that sector, including the risk of regulatory action or policy changes by numerous governmental agencies and bodies, including federal, state, and local governmental agencies, as well as requirements imposed by private entities, such as insurance companies. A major source of revenue for the health care industry is payments from the Medicare and Medicaid programs. As a result, the industry is sensitive to legislative changes and reductions in governmental spending for such programs. Numerous other factors may affect the industry, such as general and local economic conditions, demand for services, expenses (including, among others, malpractice insurance premiums) and competition among health care providers. Additional factors also may adversely affect health care facility operations, such as adoption of legislation proposing a
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national health insurance program, other state or local health care reform measures, medical and technological advances that alter the need for or cost of health services or the way in which such services are delivered, changes in medical coverage that alter the traditional fee-for-service revenue stream, and efforts by employers, insurers, and governmental agencies to reduce the costs of health insurance and health care services.
The Fund’s investments in municipal securities may include transportation-related municipal bonds which may be used to finance projects including construction, maintenance and operations of non-toll and toll-backed roads, bridges, tunnels, railways, airports, seaports and other transportation systems. Transportation-related municipal bonds may be fully or partially backed by taxes, fees, tolls, or other sources of revenue. Investment in transportation-related municipal bonds may subject the Fund to the certain risks, including, but not limited to, the risk of insufficient or declining revenues from the sources backing the bonds, contractor non-performance or underperformance and unexpectedly higher construction, fuel or other costs.
Opportunistic Investing Risk. Undervalued securities involve the risk that they may never reach their expected full market value, either because the market fails to recognize the security's intrinsic worth or the expected value was misgauged. Undervalued securities also may decline in price even though the Investment Manager believes they are already undervalued. Turnaround companies may never improve their fundamentals, may take much longer than expected to improve, or may improve much less than expected. Development stage companies could fail to develop and deplete their assets, resulting in large percentage losses.
Preferred Stock Risk. Preferred stock is a type of stock that may pay dividends at a different rate than common stock of the same issuer, if at all, and that has preference over common stock in the payment of dividends and the liquidation of assets. Preferred stock does not ordinarily carry voting rights. The price of a preferred stock is generally determined by earnings, type of products or services, projected growth rates, experience of management, liquidity, and general market conditions of the markets on which the stock trades. The most significant risks associated with investments in preferred stock include issuer risk, market risk and interest rate risk (the risk of losses attributable to changes in interest rates).
Prepayment and Extension Risk. Prepayment and extension risk is the risk that a loan, bond or other security or investment might, in the case of prepayment risk, be called or otherwise converted, prepaid or redeemed before maturity and, in the case of extension risk, that the investment might not be called as expected. In the case of prepayment risk, if the investment is converted, prepaid or redeemed before maturity, the portfolio managers may not be able to invest the proceeds in other investments providing as high a level of income, resulting in a reduced yield to the Fund. In the case of mortgage- or other asset-backed securities, as interest rates decrease or spreads narrow, the likelihood of prepayment increases. Conversely, extension risk is the risk that an unexpected rise in interest rates will extend the life of a mortgage- or other asset-backed security beyond the prepayment time. If the Fund's investments are locked in at a lower interest rate for a longer period of time, the portfolio managers may be unable to capitalize on securities with higher interest rates or wider spreads.
Qualified Financial Contracts Risk. Qualified financial contracts include agreements relating to swaps, currency forwards and other derivatives as well as repurchase agreements and securities lending agreements. Beginning in 2019, regulations adopted by prudential regulators will require certain qualified financial contracts entered into with certain counterparties that are part of a U.S. or foreign banking organization designated as a global-systemically important banking organization to include contractual provisions that delay or restrict the rights of counterparties, such as the Funds, to exercise certain close-out, cross-default and similar rights under certain conditions. Qualified financial contracts are subject to a stay for a specified time period during which counterparties, such as the Funds, will be prevented from closing out a qualified financial contract if the counterparty is subject to resolution proceedings and prohibit the Funds from exercising default rights due to a receivership or similar proceeding of an affiliate of the counterparty. Implementation of these requirements may increase credit and other risks to the Funds.
Quantitative Model Risk. Quantitative models used by the Fund may not effectively identify purchases and sales of Fund investments or distinct market states and may cause the Fund to underperform other investment strategies for short or long periods of time. Performance will depend upon the quality and accuracy of the assumptions, theories and framework upon which a quantitative model is based. The success of a quantitative model will depend upon the model’s accurate reflection of market conditions, with proper adjustments as market conditions change over time. Adjustments, or lack of adjustments, to the models, including as conditions change, as well as any errors or imperfections in the models, could adversely affect Fund performance. Quantitative model performance depends upon the quality of its design and effective execution under actual market conditions. Even a well-designed quantitative model cannot be expected to perform well in all market conditions or across all time intervals. Quantitative models may underperform in certain market environments including stressed or volatile market conditions. Effective execution may depend, in part, upon subjective selection and application of factors and data inputs used by the quantitative model. Discretion may be used by the portfolio management team when determining the data collected and incorporated into a quantitative model. Shareholders should be aware that there is no guarantee that any specific data or type of data can or will be used in a quantitative model. The portfolio management team may also use discretion when interpreting and applying the results of a quantitative model, including emphasizing, discounting or disregarding its outputs. It is not possible or
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practicable for a quantitative model to factor in all relevant, available data. There is no guarantee that the data actually utilized in a quantitative model will be the most accurate data available or be free from errors. There can be no assurance that the use of quantitative models will enable the Fund to achieve its objective.
Real Estate-Related Investment Risk. Investments in real estate investment trusts (REITs) and in securities of other companies (wherever organized) principally engaged in the real estate industry subject the Fund to, among other things, risks similar to those of direct investments in real estate and the real estate industry in general. These include risks related to general and local economic conditions, possible lack of availability of financing and changes in interest rates or property values. REITs are entities that either own properties or make construction or mortgage loans, and also may include operating or finance companies. The value of interests in a REIT may be affected by, among other factors, changes in the value of the underlying properties owned by the REIT, changes in the prospect for earnings and/or cash flow growth of the REIT itself, defaults by borrowers or tenants, market saturation, decreases in market rates for rents, and other economic, political, or regulatory matters affecting the real estate industry, including REITs. REITs and similar non-U.S. entities depend upon specialized management skills, may have limited financial resources, may have less trading volume in their securities, and may be subject to more abrupt or erratic price movements than the overall securities markets. REITs are also subject to the risk of failing to qualify for favorable tax treatment under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended. The failure of a REIT to continue to qualify as a REIT for tax purposes can materially and adversely affect its value. Some REITs (especially mortgage REITs) are affected by risks similar to those associated with investments in debt securities including changes in interest rates and the quality of credit extended.
Redemption Risk. The Fund may need to sell portfolio securities to meet redemption requests. The Fund could experience a loss when selling portfolio securities to meet redemption requests if there is (i) significant redemption activity by shareholders, including, for example, when a single investor or few large investors make a significant redemption of Fund shares, (ii) a disruption in the normal operation of the markets in which the Fund buys and sells portfolio securities or (iii) the inability of the Fund to sell portfolio securities because such securities are illiquid. In such events, the Fund could be forced to sell portfolio securities at unfavorable prices in an effort to generate sufficient cash to pay redeeming shareholders. The Fund may suspend redemptions or the payment of redemption proceeds when permitted by applicable regulations.
Regulatory Risk — Alternative Investments. Legal, tax, and regulatory developments may adversely affect the Fund and its investments. The regulatory environment for the Fund and certain of its investments is evolving, and changes in the regulation of investment funds, their managers, and their trading activities and capital markets, or a regulator’s disagreement with the Fund’s or others’ interpretation of the application of certain regulations, may adversely affect the ability of the Fund to pursue its investment strategy, its ability to obtain leverage and financing, and the value of investments held by the Fund. There has been an increase in governmental, as well as self-regulatory, scrutiny of the investment industry in general and the alternative investment industry in particular. It is impossible to predict what, if any, changes in regulations may occur, but any regulation that restricts the ability of the Fund or any underlying funds or other investments to trade in securities or other instruments or the ability of the Fund or underlying funds to employ, or brokers and other counterparties to extend, credit in their trading (as well as other regulatory changes that result) could have a material adverse impact on the Fund’s performance.
Shareholders should understand that the Fund’s business is dynamic and is expected to change over time. Therefore, the Fund and its underlying investments may be subject to new or additional regulatory constraints in the future. Such regulations may have a significant impact on shareholders or the operations of the Fund, including, without limitation, restricting the types of investments the Fund may make, preventing the Fund from exercising its voting rights with regard to certain financial instruments, requiring the Fund to disclose the identity of its investors or otherwise. To the extent the Fund or its underlying investments are subject to such regulation, such regulations may have a detrimental effect on one or more shareholders. Prospective investors are encouraged to consult their own advisors regarding an investment in the Fund.
Regulatory Risk — Money Market Funds. Money market funds and the securities they invest in are subject to comprehensive regulations. The enactment of new legislation or regulations, as well as changes in interpretation and enforcement of current laws, may affect the manner of operation, performance and/or yield of money market funds.
Regulatory Risk — U.S. Banking Law. Following the conversion of Ameriprise National Trust Bank into a federal savings bank in May 2019, Ameriprise Financial continues to be subject to ongoing supervision by the Board of Governors for the Federal Reserve System (“FRB”) as well as applicable U.S. federal banking laws, including the Home Owners Loan Act and certain parts of the Bank Holding Company Act, including Section 13 (commonly referred to as the Volcker Rule). These laws impose limits on the amount and duration of any proprietary capital held in the Fund by the Investment Manager, Ameriprise Financial or certain of their controlled affiliates or products. Failure to comply with those limitations could subject the Fund to limitations on its portfolio investments and/or trading restrictions which could adversely impact the Fund’s ability to execute its
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investment strategy. Under such circumstances, the Investment Manager and/or its affiliates may be required to reduce their ownership interests in the Fund or the Fund’s Board may liquidate the Fund, which may result in losses, increased transaction costs and/or adverse tax consequences for the Fund, each of which may adversely affect the value of your investment in the Fund.
Reinvestment Risk. Reinvestment risk arises when the Fund is unable to reinvest income or principal at the same or at least the same return it is currently earning.
Repurchase Agreements Risk. Repurchase agreements are agreements in which the seller of a security to the Fund agrees to repurchase that security from the Fund at a mutually agreed upon price and time. Repurchase agreements carry the risk that the counterparty may not fulfill its obligations under the agreement. This could cause the Fund's income and the value of your investment in the Fund to decline.
Reverse Repurchase Agreements Risk. Reverse repurchase agreements are agreements in which a Fund sells a security to a counterparty, such as a bank or broker-dealer, in return for cash and agrees to repurchase that security at a mutually agreed upon price and time. Reverse repurchase agreements carry the risk that the market value of the security sold by the Fund may decline below the price at which the Fund must repurchase the security. Reverse repurchase agreements also may be viewed as a form of borrowing, and borrowed assets used for investment creates leverage risk (the risk that losses may be greater than the amount invested). Leverage can create an interest expense that may lower the Fund's overall returns. Leverage presents the opportunity for increased net income and capital gains, but may also exaggerate the Fund’s volatility and risk of loss. There can be no guarantee that this strategy will be successful.
Rule 144A and Other Exempted Securities Risk. The Fund may invest in privately placed and other securities or instruments exempt from SEC registration (collectively “private placements”), subject to certain regulatory restrictions. In the U.S. market, private placements are typically sold only to qualified institutional buyers, or qualified purchasers, as applicable. An insufficient number of buyers interested in purchasing private placements at a particular time could adversely affect the marketability of such investments and the Fund might be unable to dispose of them promptly or at reasonable prices, subjecting the Fund to liquidity risk (the risk that it may not be possible for the Fund to liquidate the instrument at an advantageous time or price). The Fund’s holdings of private placements may increase the level of Fund illiquidity if eligible buyers are unable or unwilling to purchase them at a particular time. The Fund may also have to bear the expense of registering the securities for resale and the risk of substantial delays in effecting the registration. Additionally, the purchase price and subsequent valuation of private placements typically reflect a discount, which may be significant, from the market price of comparable securities for which a more liquid market exists. Issuers of Rule 144A eligible securities are required to furnish information to potential investors upon request. However, the required disclosure is much less extensive than that required of public companies and is not publicly available since the offering information is not filed with the SEC. Further, issuers of Rule 144A eligible securities can require recipients of the offering information (such as the Fund) to agree contractually to keep the information confidential, which could also adversely affect the Fund’s ability to dispose of the security.
Sector Risk. At times, the Fund may have a significant portion of its assets invested in securities of companies conducting business within one or more economic sectors. Companies in the same sector may be similarly affected by economic, regulatory, political or market events or conditions, which may make the Fund more vulnerable to unfavorable developments in that sector than funds that invest more broadly. Generally, the more broadly the Fund invests, the more it spreads risk and potentially reduces the risks of loss and volatility.
Sector Risk — Communication Services Sector Investment Risk. To the extent a Fund concentrates its investments in companies in the communication services sector, it may be more susceptible to the particular risks that may affect companies in that sector than if it were invested in a wider variety of companies in unrelated sectors. Companies in the communication services sector are subject to certain risks, including the risk that new services, equipment or technologies will not be accepted by consumers and businesses or will become rapidly obsolete. Performance of such companies may be affected by factors including obtaining and protecting patents (or the failure to do so) and significant competitive pressures, including aggressive pricing of their products or services, new market entrants, competition for market share and short product cycles due to an accelerated rate of technological developments. Such competitive pressures may lead to limited earnings and/or falling profit margins. As a result, the value of their securities may fall or fail to rise. In addition, many communication services sector companies have limited operating histories and prices of these companies’ securities historically have been more volatile than other securities, especially over the short term.
Sector Risk — Consumer Discretionary/Staples Sector Investments. To the extent a Fund concentrates its investments in companies in the consumer discretionary and staples sectors, it may be more susceptible to the particular risks that may affect companies in that sector than if it were invested in a wider variety of companies in unrelated sectors. Companies in the consumer discretionary and staples sectors are subject to certain risks, including fluctuations in the performance of the overall domestic and international economy, interest rate changes, currency exchange rates, increased competition and consumer confidence. Performance of such companies may be affected by factors including reduced disposable household income, reduced consumer
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spending, and changing demographics and consumer tastes. Companies in these sectors may be subject to competitive forces (including competition brought by an influx of foreign brands), which may also have an adverse impact on their profitability. These sectors may be strongly affected by fads, marketing campaigns, changes in demographics and consumer preferences, and other economic or social factors affecting consumer demand. Governmental regulation, including price controls and regulations on packaging, labeling, competition, and certification, may affect the profitability of certain companies invested in by the Fund. Companies operating in these sectors may also be adversely affected by government and private litigation.
Sector Risk — Energy Sector Investments. To the extent a Fund concentrates its investments in companies in the energy sector, it may be more susceptible to the particular risks that may affect companies in that sector than if it were invested in a wider variety of companies in unrelated sectors. Companies in the energy sector are subject to certain risks, including legislative or regulatory changes, adverse market conditions and increased competition. Performance of such companies may be affected by factors including, among others, fluctuations in energy prices, energy fuel supply and demand factors, energy conservation, the success of exploration projects, local and international politics, and events occurring in nature. For instance, natural events (such as earthquakes, hurricanes or fires in prime natural resources areas) and political events (such as government instability or military confrontations) can affect the value of companies involved in business activities in the energy sector. Other risks may include liabilities for environmental damage and general civil liabilities, depletion of resources, and mandated expenditures for safety and pollution control. The energy sector may also be affected by economic cycles, rising interest rates, high inflation, technical progress, labor relations, legislative or regulatory changes, local and international politics, and adverse market conditions.
Sector Risk — Financial Services Sector Investments. To the extent a Fund concentrates its investments in companies in the financial services sector, it may be more susceptible to the particular risks that may affect companies in that sector than if it were invested in a wider variety of companies in unrelated sectors. Companies in the financial services sector are subject to certain risks, including the risk of regulatory change, decreased liquidity in credit markets and unstable interest rates. Such companies may have concentrated portfolios, such as a high level of loans to one or more industries or sectors, which makes them vulnerable to economic conditions that affect such industries or sectors. Performance of such companies may be affected by competitive pressures and exposure to investments, agreements and counterparties, including credit products that, under certain circumstances, may lead to losses (e.g., subprime loans). Companies in the financial services sector are subject to extensive governmental regulation that may limit the amount and types of loans and other financial commitments they can make, and the interest rates and fees they may charge. In addition, profitability of such companies is largely dependent upon the availability and the cost of capital.
Sector Risk — Health Care Sector Investments. To the extent a Fund concentrates its investments in companies in the health care sector, it may be more susceptible to the particular risks that may affect companies in that sector than if it were invested in a wider variety of companies in unrelated sectors. Companies in the health care sector are subject to certain risks, including restrictions on government reimbursement for medical expenses, government approval of medical products and services, competitive pricing pressures, and the rising cost of medical products and services (especially for companies dependent upon a relatively limited number of products or services), among others. Performance of such companies may be affected by factors including, government regulation, obtaining and protecting patents (or the failure to do so), product liability and other similar litigation as well as product obsolescence.
Sector Risk — Industrials Sector Investments. To the extent a Fund concentrates its investments in companies in the industrials sector, it may be more susceptible to the particular risks that may affect companies in that sector than if it were invested in a wider variety of companies in unrelated sectors. Companies in the industrials sector are subject to certain risks, including changes in supply and demand for their specific product or service and for industrial sector products in general, including decline in demand for such products due to rapid technological developments and frequent new product introduction. Performance of such companies may be affected by factors including government regulation, world events and economic conditions and risks for environmental damage and product liability claims.
Sector Risk — Information Technology Sector Investment Risk. To the extent a Fund concentrates its investments in companies in the information technology sector, it may be more susceptible to the particular risks that may affect companies in that sector than if it were invested in a wider variety of companies in unrelated sectors. Companies in the information technology sector are subject to certain risks, including the risk that new services, equipment or technologies will not be accepted by consumers and businesses or will become rapidly obsolete. Performance of such companies may be affected by factors including obtaining and protecting patents (or the failure to do so) and significant competitive pressures, including aggressive pricing of their products or services, new market entrants, competition for market share and short product cycles due to an accelerated rate of technological developments. Such competitive pressures may lead to limited earnings and/or falling profit margins. As a result, the value of their securities may fall or fail to rise. In addition, many information technology sector companies have limited operating histories and prices of these companies’ securities historically have been more volatile than other securities, especially over the short term.
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Sector Risk — Materials Investments. To the extent a Fund concentrates its investments in companies in the materials sector, it may be more susceptible to the particular risks that may affect companies in the materials sector than if it were invested in a wider variety of companies in unrelated sectors. Companies in the materials sector are subject to certain risks, including that many materials companies are significantly affected by the level and volatility of commodity prices, exchange rates, import controls, increased competition, environmental policies, consumer demand, and events occurring in nature. For instance, natural events (such as earthquakes, hurricanes or fires in prime natural resource areas) and political events (such as government instability or military confrontations) can affect the value of companies involved in business activities in the materials sector. Performance of such companies may be affected by factors including, among others, that at times worldwide production of industrial materials has exceeded demand as a result of over-building or economic downturns, leading to poor investment returns or losses. Other risks may include liabilities for environmental damage and general civil liabilities, depletion of resources, and mandated expenditures for safety and pollution control. The materials sector may also be affected by economic cycles, rising interest rates, high inflation, technical progress, labor relations, legislative or regulatory changes, local and international politics, and adverse market conditions. In addition, prices of, and thus the Fund’s investments in, precious metals are considered speculative and are affected by a variety of worldwide and economic, financial and political factors. Prices of precious metals may fluctuate sharply.
Sector Risk — Utilities Sector Investments. To the extent a Fund concentrates its investments in companies in the energy sector, it may be more susceptible to the particular risks that may affect companies in that sector than if it were invested in a wider variety of companies in unrelated sectors. Companies in the utilities sector are subject to certain risks, including risks associated with government regulation, interest rate changes, financing difficulties, supply and demand for services or products, intense competition, natural resource conservation and commodity price fluctuations.
Short Positions Risk. A Fund that establishes short positions introduces more risk to the Fund than a fund that only takes long positions (where the Fund owns the instrument or other asset) because the maximum sustainable loss on an instrument or other asset purchased (held long) is limited to the amount paid for the instrument or other asset plus the transaction costs, whereas there is no maximum price of the shorted instrument or other asset when purchased in the open market. Therefore, in theory, short positions have unlimited risk. The Fund’s use of short positions in effect “leverages” the Fund. Leverage potentially exposes the Fund to greater risks of loss due to unanticipated market movements, which may magnify losses and increase the volatility of returns. To the extent the Fund takes a short position in a derivative instrument or other asset, this involves the risk of a potentially unlimited increase in the value of the underlying instrument or other asset.
Social Impact Investment Risk. The investment manager’s consideration of social impact may limit the Fund’s investment opportunities and, as a result, the Fund may underperform funds that do not consider social impact or consider it but make different investment decisions based thereon.
Sovereign Debt Risk. A sovereign debtor’s willingness or ability to repay principal and pay interest in a timely manner may be affected by a variety of factors, including its cash flow situation, the extent of its reserves, the availability of sufficient foreign exchange on the date a payment is due, the relative size of the debt service burden to the economy as a whole, the sovereign debtor’s policy toward international lenders, and the political constraints to which a sovereign debtor may be subject.
With respect to sovereign debt of emerging market issuers, investors should be aware that certain emerging market countries are among the largest debtors to commercial banks and foreign governments. At times, certain emerging market countries have declared moratoria on the payment of principal and interest on external debt. Certain emerging market countries have experienced difficulty in servicing their sovereign debt on a timely basis and that has led to defaults and the restructuring of certain indebtedness to the detriment of debtholders. Sovereign debt risk is increased for emerging market issuers.
Special Situations Risk. Securities of companies that are involved in an initial public offering or a major corporate event, such as a business consolidation or restructuring, may be exposed to heightened risk because of the high degree of uncertainty that can be associated with such events. Securities issued in initial public offerings often are issued by companies that are in the early stages of development, have a history of little or no revenues and may operate at a loss following the offering. It is possible that there will be no active trading market for the securities after the offering, and that the market price of the securities may be subject to significant and unpredictable fluctuations. Initial public offerings are subject to many of the same risks as investing in companies with smaller market capitalizations. To the extent the Fund determines to invest in initial public offerings, it may not be able to invest to the extent desired, because, for example, only a small portion (if any) of the securities being offered in an initial public offering are available to the Fund. The investment performance of the Fund during periods when it is unable to invest significantly or at all in initial public offerings may be lower than during periods when the Fund is able to do so. Securities purchased in initial public offerings which are sold within 12 months after purchase may result in increased short-term capital gains, which will be taxable to the Fund’s shareholders as ordinary income. Certain “special situation” investments are investments in securities or other instruments that may be classified as illiquid or lacking a readily ascertainable fair value.
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Certain special situation investments prevent ownership interests therein from being withdrawn until the special situation investment, or a portion thereof, is realized or deemed realized, which may negatively impact Fund performance. Investing in special situations may have a magnified effect on the performance of funds with small amounts of assets.
Stripped Securities Risk. Stripped securities are the separate income or principal components of debt securities. These securities are particularly sensitive to changes in interest rates, and therefore subject to greater fluctuations in price than typical interest bearing debt securities. For example, stripped mortgage-backed securities have greater interest rate risk than mortgage-backed securities with like maturities, and stripped treasury securities have greater interest rate risk (the risk of losses attributable to changes in interest rates) than traditional government securities with identical credit ratings.
Terrorism, War, Natural Disaster and Epidemic Risk. Terrorism, war, military confrontations and related geopolitical events (and their aftermath) have led, and in the future may lead, to increased short-term market volatility and may have adverse long-term effects on U.S. and world economies and markets generally. Likewise, natural and environmental disasters, such as, for example, earthquakes, fires, floods, hurricanes, tsunamis and weather-related phenomena generally, as well as widespread disease and virus outbreaks, epidemics and pandemics, have been and can be highly disruptive to economies and markets, adversely affecting individual companies, sectors, industries, markets, currencies, interest and inflation rates, credit ratings, investor sentiment, and other factors affecting the value of the Funds’ investments. Given the increasing interdependence among global economies and markets, conditions in one country, market, or region are increasingly likely to adversely affect markets, issuers, and/or foreign exchange rates in other countries, including the U.S. These disruptions could prevent the Funds from executing advantageous investment decisions in a timely manner and negatively impact the Funds’ ability to achieve their investment objectives. Any such event(s) could have a significant adverse impact on the value and risk profile of the Funds.
U.S. Government Obligations Risk. While U.S. Treasury obligations are backed by the “full faith and credit” of the U.S. Government, such securities are nonetheless subject to credit risk (i.e., the risk that the U.S. Government may be, or may be perceived to be, unable or unwilling to honor its financial obligations, such as making payments). Securities issued or guaranteed by federal agencies or authorities and U.S. Government-sponsored instrumentalities or enterprises may or may not be backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. Government. For example, securities issued by the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, the Federal National Mortgage Association and the Federal Home Loan Banks are neither insured nor guaranteed by the U.S. Government. These securities may be supported by the ability to borrow from the U.S. Treasury or only by the credit of the issuing agency, authority, instrumentality or enterprise and, as a result, are subject to greater credit risk than securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Treasury.
Valuation Risk. The sales price the Fund (or an underlying fund or other investment vehicle) could receive, or actually receives, for any particular investment may differ from the Fund’s (or an underlying fund’s or other investment vehicle’s) valuation of the investment, particularly for securities that trade in thin or volatile markets, debt securities sold in amounts less than institutional-sized lots (typically referred to as odd lots) or securities that are valued using a fair value methodology that produces an estimate of the fair value of the security/instrument. Investors who purchase or redeem Fund shares on days when the Fund is holding securities or other instruments (or holding shares of underlying funds or other investment vehicles that have fair-valued securities or other instruments in their portfolios) may receive fewer or more shares or lower or higher redemption proceeds than they would have received if the Fund (or underlying fund or other investment vehicle) had not fair-valued the security or instrument or had used a different valuation methodology. The value of foreign securities, certain fixed-income securities and currencies, as applicable, may be materially affected by events after the close of the market on which they are valued, but before the Fund determines its NAV.
Warrants and Rights Risk. Warrants are securities giving the holder the right, but not the obligation, to buy the stock of an issuer at a given price (generally higher than the value of the stock at the time of issuance) during a specified period or perpetually. Warrants may be acquired separately or in connection with the acquisition of securities. Warrants do not carry with them the right to dividends or voting rights and they do not represent any rights in the assets of the issuer. Warrants are subject to the risks associated with the security underlying the warrant, including market risk. Warrants may expire unexercised and subject the Fund to liquidity risk (the risk that it may not be possible for the Fund to liquidate the instrument at an advantageous time or price), which may result in Fund losses. Rights are available to existing shareholders of an issuer to enable them to maintain proportionate ownership in the issuer by being able to buy newly issued shares. Rights allow shareholders to buy the shares below the current market price. Rights are typically short-term instruments that are valued separately and trade in the secondary market during a subscription (or offering) period. Holders can exercise the rights and purchase the stock, sell the rights or let them expire. Their value, and their risk of investment loss, is a function of that of the underlying security.
Zero-Coupon Bonds Risk. Zero-coupon bonds are bonds that do not pay interest in cash on a current basis, but instead accrue interest over the life of the bond. As a result, these securities are issued at a discount and their values may fluctuate more than the values of similar securities that pay interest periodically. Although these securities pay no interest to holders prior to maturity,
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interest accrued on these securities is reported as income to the Fund and affects the amounts distributed to its shareholders, which may cause the Fund to sell investments to obtain cash to make income distributions to shareholders, including at times when it may not be advantageous to do so.
Certain of the risks described above in this SAI may also apply, directly or indirectly, to the Investment Manager and any investment subadviser and their affiliates, which may negatively impact their respective abilities to provide services to the Funds, potentially resulting in losses to the Fund or other consequences.
Borrowings
In general, pursuant to the 1940 Act, a Fund may borrow money only from banks in an amount not exceeding 33 1⁄3% of its total assets (including the amount borrowed) less liabilities (other than borrowings). Any borrowings that come to exceed this amount must be reduced within three days (not including Sundays and holidays) to the extent necessary to comply with the 33 1⁄3% limitation.
The Trust, on behalf of the Funds, has entered into a revolving credit facility agreement (the Credit Agreement) with a syndicate of banks led by JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., Citibank N.A. and HSBC Bank USA, N.A. whereby the Funds may borrow for the temporary funding of shareholder redemptions or for other temporary or emergency purposes. Pursuant to a December 8, 2015 amendment, the Credit Agreement, which is a collective agreement between the Funds and certain other funds managed by the Investment Manager (collectively, the Participating Funds), severally and not jointly, permits the Participating Funds to borrow up to an aggregate commitment amount of $1 billion (the Commitment Limit) at any time outstanding, subject to asset coverage and other limitations as specified in the Credit Agreement. A Fund may borrow up to the maximum amount allowable under its current Prospectus and this SAI, subject to various other legal, regulatory or contractual limits. Borrowing results in interest expense and other fees and expenses for a Fund that may impact that Fund’s expenses, including any net expense ratios. The costs of borrowing may reduce a Fund's return. If a Fund borrows pursuant to the Credit Agreement, that Fund is charged interest at a variable rate. Each Fund also pays a commitment fee equal to its pro rata share of the amount of the credit facility. The availability of assets under the Credit Agreement can be affected by other Participating Funds’ borrowings under the agreement. As such, a Fund may be unable to borrow (or borrow further) under the Credit Agreement if the Commitment Limit has been reached.
Lending of Portfolio Securities
To generate additional income, a Fund may lend up to 33%, or such lower percentage specified by the Fund or Investment Manager, of the value of its total assets (including securities out on loan) to broker-dealers, banks or other institutional borrowers of securities. JPMorgan serves as lending agent (the Lending Agent) to the Funds pursuant to a securities lending agreement (the Securities Lending Agreement) approved by the Board. Under the Securities Lending Agreement, the Lending Agent loans Fund securities to approved borrowers pursuant to borrower agreements in exchange for collateral at least equal in value to the loaned securities, marked to market daily. Collateral may consist of cash, securities issued by the U.S. Government or its agencies or instrumentalities (collectively, “U.S. Government securities”) or such other collateral as may be approved by the Board. For loans secured by cash, the Fund retains the interest earned on cash collateral, but the Fund is required to pay the borrower a rebate for the use of the cash collateral. For loans secured by U.S. Government securities, the borrower pays a borrower fee to the Lending Agent on behalf of the Fund.
If the market value of the loaned securities goes up, the Fund will require additional collateral from the borrower. If the market value of the loaned securities goes down, the borrower may request that some collateral be returned. During the existence of the loan, the Fund will receive from the borrower amounts equivalent to any dividends, interest or other distributions on the loaned securities, as well as interest on such amounts.
Loans are subject to termination by a Fund or a borrower at any time. A Fund may choose to terminate a loan in order to vote in a proxy solicitation, as described in this SAI under Investment Management and Other Services – Proxy Voting Policies and Procedures – General.
Securities lending involves counterparty risk, including the risk that a borrower may not provide sufficient or any collateral when required or may not return the loaned securities, timely or at all. Counterparty risk also includes a potential loss of rights in the collateral if the borrower or the Lending Agent defaults or fails financially. This risk is increased if a Fund’s loans are concentrated with a single borrower or limited number of borrowers. There are no limits on the number of borrowers a Fund may use and a Fund may lend securities to only one or a small group of borrowers. Funds participating in securities lending also bear the risk of loss in connection with investments of cash collateral received from the borrowers. Cash collateral may only be invested in short-term, highly liquid obligations, and in accordance with investment guidelines contained in the Securities Lending Agreement and approved by the Board. Some or all of the cash collateral received in connection with the securities lending program may be invested in one or more pooled investment vehicles, including, among other vehicles, money market funds managed by the Lending Agent (or its affiliates). The Lending Agent shares in any income resulting from the investment
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of such cash collateral, and an affiliate of the Lending Agent may receive asset-based fees for the management of such pooled investment vehicles, which may create a conflict of interest between the Lending Agent (or its affiliates) and the Fund with respect to the management of such cash collateral. To the extent that the value or return of a Fund’s investments of the cash collateral declines below the amount owed to a borrower, a Fund may incur losses that exceed the amount it earned on lending the security. The Lending Agent will indemnify a fund from losses resulting from a borrower’s failure to return a loaned security when due, but such indemnification does not extend to losses associated with declines in the value of cash collateral investments. The Investment Manager is not responsible for any loss incurred by the Funds in connection with the securities lending program.
The Funds currently do not participate in the securities lending program, but the Board may determine to renew participation in the future.
Interfund Lending
Pursuant to an exemptive order granted by the SEC (the “Lending Order”), the Funds entered into a master interfund lending agreement (the “Interfund Program”) with each other and certain other funds advised by the Investment Manager or its affiliates. For purposes of this subsection only, the term “Participating Fund” includes the Funds and any other fund advised by the Investment Manager that is subject to the Lending Order. Under the Interfund Program, each Participating Fund may lend money directly to and, other than closed-end funds and money market funds, borrow money directly from other Participating Funds for temporary purposes through the Interfund Program (each an “Interfund Loan”). Participating Funds issuing Interfund Loans are referred to below as “Borrowing Funds,” and Participating Funds acquiring Interfund Loans are referred to below as “Lending Funds.” All Interfund Loans would consist only of uninvested cash reserves that the Lending Fund otherwise could invest directly or indirectly in short-term repurchase agreements or other short-term instruments.
If a Participating Fund has outstanding bank borrowings, any Interfund Loan to the Participating Fund will: (i) be at an interest rate equal to or lower than the interest rate of any outstanding bank loan; (ii) be secured at least on an equal priority basis with at least an equivalent percentage of collateral to loan value as any outstanding bank loan that requires collateral; (iii) have a maturity no longer than any outstanding bank loan (and in any event not longer than seven days); and (iv) provide that, if an event of default occurs under any agreement evidencing an outstanding bank loan to the Participating Fund, that event of default will automatically (without need for action or notice by the Lending Fund) constitute an immediate event of default under the interfund lending agreement, entitling the Lending Fund to call the Interfund Loan (and exercise all rights with respect to any collateral), and that such call will be made if the lending bank exercises its right to call its loan under its agreement with the Borrowing Fund.
A Participating Fund may make an unsecured borrowing under the Interfund Program if its outstanding borrowings from all sources immediately after the borrowing under the Interfund Program are equal to or less than 10% of its total assets, provided that if the Participating Fund has a secured loan outstanding from any other lender, including but not limited to another Participating Fund, the Participating Fund’s borrowing under the Interfund Program will be secured on at least an equal priority basis with at least an equivalent percentage of collateral to loan value as any outstanding loan that requires collateral. If a Participating Fund’s total outstanding borrowings immediately after borrowing under the Interfund Program exceed 10% of its total assets, the Participating Fund may borrow under the Interfund Program on a secured basis only. A Participating Fund may not borrow under the Interfund Program or from any other source if its total outstanding borrowings immediately after the borrowing would be more than 33 1/3% of its total assets or any lower threshold provided for by a Participating Fund’s fundamental restriction or non-fundamental policy.
No Participating Fund may lend to another Participating Fund through the Interfund Program if the loan would cause the Lending Fund’s aggregate outstanding loans under the Interfund Program to exceed 15% of its current net assets at the time of the loan. A Participating Fund’s Interfund Loans to any one Participating Fund may not exceed 5% of the Lending Fund’s net assets at the time of the loan. The duration of Interfund Loans will be limited to the time required to receive payment for securities sold, but in no event more than seven days. Interfund Loans effected within seven days of each other will be treated as separate loan transactions for purposes of this limitation. Each Interfund Loan may be called on one business day’s notice by a Lending Fund and may be repaid on any day by a Borrowing Fund.
The limitations described above and the other conditions of the Lending Order are designed to minimize the risks associated with Interfund Lending for both the Lending Fund and the Borrowing Fund. However, no borrowing or lending activity is without risk. When a Participating Fund borrows money from another Participating Fund under the Interfund Program, there is a risk that the Interfund Loan could be called on one day’s notice, in which case the Borrowing Fund may have to borrow from a bank at higher rates if an Interfund Loan is not available from another Participating Fund. Interfund Loans are subject to the risk that the Borrowing Fund could be unable to repay the loan when due, and a delay in repayment to a Lending Fund could result in a lost opportunity or additional lending costs for the Lending Fund. No Participating Fund may borrow more than the amount permitted by its investment restrictions. Because the Investment Manager provides investment management services to both the
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Lending Fund and the Borrowing Fund, the Investment Manager may have a potential conflict of interest in determining that an Interfund Loan is comparable in credit quality to other high quality money market instruments. The Participating Funds have adopted policies and procedures that are designed to manage potential conflicts of interest, but the administration of the Interfund Program may be subject to such conflicts.
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INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT AND OTHER SERVICES
The Investment Manager and Subadvisers
Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC, located at 225 Franklin Street, Boston, MA 02110, is the investment manager of the Funds as well as for other funds in the Columbia Funds Complex. The Investment Manager is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ameriprise Financial, which is located at 1099 Ameriprise Financial Center, Minneapolis, MN 55474. Ameriprise Financial is a holding company, which primarily conducts business through its subsidiaries to provide financial planning, products and services that are designed to be utilized as solutions for clients’ cash and liquidity, asset accumulation, income, protection and estate and wealth transfer needs.
The Investment Manager and its investment advisory affiliates (Affiliates or Participating Affiliates) around the world may coordinate in providing services to their clients. Such coordination may include functional leadership of the business (the “global” business). From time to time, the Investment Manager (or any affiliated investment subadviser to the Funds, as the case may be) may engage its Affiliates or Participating Affiliates to provide a variety of services such as investment research, investment monitoring, trading, and discretionary investment management (including portfolio management) to certain accounts managed by the Investment Manager, including the Funds. These Affiliates or Participating Affiliates will provide services to these accounts of the Investment Manager (or any affiliated investment subadviser to the Funds, as the case may be) either pursuant to subadvisory agreements, delegation agreements, personnel-sharing agreements or similar inter-company or other arrangements or relationships and the Funds will pay no additional fees and expenses as a result of any such arrangements or relationships. These Affiliates or Participating Affiliates, like the Investment Manager, are direct or indirect subsidiaries of Ameriprise Financial and are registered with the appropriate respective regulators in their home jurisdictions and, where required, the SEC and the CFTC in the United States.
Pursuant to some of these arrangements or relationships, certain personnel of these Affiliates or Participating Affiliates may serve as “associated persons” or officers of the Investment Manager and, in this capacity, subject to the oversight and supervision of the Investment Manager and consistent with the investment objectives, policies and limitations set forth in the Funds' prospectuses and this SAI, and with the Investment Manager’s and the Funds’ compliance policies and procedures, may provide such services to the Funds.
As a manager of global equities, fixed income and real estate assets, Columbia Management seeks to provide its investment professionals, including Fund portfolio managers, with access to various internal tools and resources that they may use to enhance or supplement their investment processes, including access to Columbia Management’s proprietary Responsible Investing Research capability, Fundamental Research capability, and Quantitative Equity Research capability, each as further described below.
Columbia Management’s Responsible Investing Research Capability
Columbia Management maintains an internal central Responsible Investment (RI) research function. Columbia Management became a signatory to the United Nations-supported Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) in October 2014. The PRI initiative is based on six principles that address the integration of environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors into investment decision-making and stewardship practices. As a PRI signatory, Columbia Management has made a commitment by investing in the resources, enhanced analytics and data to supplement its standard fundamental and quantitative tools to help its investment teams expand their investment mosaic to potentially consider and integrate extra-financial ESG factors that seek to identify material associated risks and opportunities that may bear on the long-term value creation and sustainability of a company. While Columbia Management follows the PRI principles, becoming a PRI signatory does not require the application of specific RI factors in Columbia Management’s investment process, and Columbia Management may take actions inconsistent with the PRI if, in its judgment, it is in the best interests of its clients to do so.
While Columbia Management believes that evaluating RI research and analysis enables portfolio managers to make better-informed investment decisions, each portfolio management team within Columbia Management makes its own investment decisions and certain teams may place more, less or no emphasis on ESG factors in any given investment decision. Columbia Management believes in being an active and responsible steward of the capital entrusted to it by our clients. Consistent with this philosophy and the duty to act in the best interests of our clients, our publicly available Stewardship Principles form an important part of our investment framework and guidelines. These Principles outline the governance of Columbia Management’s stewardship activities as they apply across asset classes, as well as specifying Columbia Management’s approach to monitoring the companies in which it invests and the role within stewardship of engagement and proxy voting.
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Columbia Management’s Equity and Fixed Income Fundamental Research Capability
Columbia Management and its advisory affiliates maintain an internal central research function for both equity and fixed income. Investment analysts who are responsible for central research provide their views on specific issuers and securities internally for general consumption by other analysts and portfolio managers, as well as to investment personnel of certain of our advisory affiliates. Fund portfolio managers may, by way of example, seek to leverage the central fundamental research for sector expertise. Equity analysts that are tied to specific portfolio management teams or strategies generally do not provide their research internally in this manner but may share their investment views with investment personnel (including personnel at certain of our advisory affiliates) via email or other form of communication. In addition, certain of our research analysts have portfolio management responsibilities that may create potential conflicts of interest with respect to the allocation of investment research. We have adopted policies and related controls to manage these conflicts.
Columbia Management’s Quantitative Equity Research Capability
Columbia Management’s quantitative research team applies fundamental investment concepts within a quantitative and systematic framework to create robust sector- and industry-specific multi-factor stock selection models across three broad categories, including valuation (such as cash flow yield), catalyst (such as price momentum) and quality (such as earnings quality) models, to rank the securities within a sector/industry. A company’s rating is scaled from 1 (most attractive) to 5 (least attractive) based on the relative ranking of its overall score from its multi-factor model. The ranking results are another available resource internally for general consumption by other analysts and Fund portfolio managers, as well as to investment personnel of certain of our advisory affiliates. Fund portfolio managers may, by way of example, seek to leverage this information for the Funds they manage.
Services Provided
Each Fund has entered into the Management Agreement with the Investment Manager, effective as of the date set forth in the Management Agreement Fee Schedule table in the Management Agreement Fee Rates section below (the Management Agreement Effective Date). Under the Management Agreement, the Investment Manager has contracted to, subject to general oversight by the Board, manage and supervise the day-to-day operations and business affairs of the Funds. In this role, the Investment Manager furnishes each such Fund with investment research and advice and all of the services necessary for, or appropriate to, the business and effective operation of each Fund that are not (a) provided by employees or other agents engaged by the Fund or (b) required to be provided by any person pursuant to any other agreement or arrangement with the Fund. Under the Management Agreement, any liability of the Investment Manager to the Trust, a Fund and/or its shareholders is limited to situations involving the Investment Manager’s own willful misfeasance, bad faith, negligence in the performance of its duties or reckless disregard of its obligations and duties.
The Management Agreement may be terminated with respect to a Fund at any time on 60 days’ written notice by the Investment Manager or by the Board or by a vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of a Fund. The Management Agreement will automatically terminate upon any assignment thereof, will continue in effect for two years from its initial effective date and thereafter will continue from year to year with respect to a Fund only so long as such continuance is approved at least annually (i) by the Board or by a vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of a Fund and (ii) by vote of a majority of the Trustees who are not interested persons (as such term is defined in the 1940 Act) of the Investment Manager or the Trust.
The Investment Manager pays all compensation of the Trustees and officers of the Trust who are employees of the Investment Manager or its affiliates, except for the Chief Compliance Officer, a portion of whose salary is paid by the Columbia Funds (excluding those Funds that pay a Unitary Fee, as defined below). Except to the extent expressly assumed by the Investment Manager and except to the extent required by law to be paid or reimbursed by the Investment Manager, the Investment Manager does not have a duty to pay any Fund operating expenses incurred in the organization and operation of a Fund, including, but not limited to, auditing, legal, custodial, investor servicing and shareholder reporting expenses. The Fund pays the cost of printing and mailing Fund prospectuses to shareholders.
The Investment Manager, at its own expense, provides office space, facilities and supplies, equipment and personnel for the performance of its functions under each Fund’s Management Agreement.
Management Agreement Fee Rates
Each Fund set forth in the table below, unless otherwise noted, pays the Investment Manager an annual fee for its management services, as set forth in the Management Agreement and the table below, as of the date specified in the Management Agreement Effective Date column. The fee is calculated as a percentage of the daily net assets of each Fund and is paid monthly. The Investment Manager and/or its affiliates may from time to time waive fees and/or reimburse certain Fund expenses. See the Funds’ prospectuses for more information.
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 91 |
Management Agreement Fee Schedule
| Fund |
Assets
(millions) |
Annual rate at
each asset level |
Management Agreement
Effective Date |
| Balanced Fund | $0 - $500 | 0.720% | 1/1/2016 |
| Dividend Income Fund | >$500 - $1,000 | 0.670% | 10/1/2015 |
| >$1,000 - $1,500 | 0.620% | ||
| >$1,500 - $3,000 | 0.570% | ||
| >$3,000 - $6,000 | 0.550% | ||
| >$6,000 - $12,000 | 0.530% | ||
| >$12,000 | 0.520% | ||
| Bond Fund | $0 - $500 | 0.500% | 9/1/2015 |
| Corporate Income Fund | >$500 - $1,000 | 0.495% | 9/1/2015 |
| MM Total Return Bond Strategies Fund | >$1,000 - $2,000 | 0.480% | 1/1/2016 |
| Total Return Bond Fund | >$2,000 - $3,000 | 0.460% | 9/1/2015 |
| >$3,000 - $6,000 | 0.450% | ||
| >$6,000 - $7,500 | 0.430% | ||
| >$7,500 - $9,000 | 0.415% | ||
| >$9,000 - $12,000 | 0.410% | ||
| >$12,000 - $20,000 | 0.390% | ||
| >$20,000 - $24,000 | 0.380% | ||
| >$24,000 - $50,000 | 0.360% | ||
| >$50,000 | 0.340% | ||
| CT Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund | $0 - $250 | 0.470% | 12/1/2015 |
| MA Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund | >$250 - $500 | 0.465% | 3/1/2016 |
| NY Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund | >$500 - $1,000 | 0.415% | 3/1/2016 |
| OR Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund | >$1,000 - $3,000 | 0.380% | 3/1/2016 |
| Strategic CA Municipal Income Fund | >$3,000 - $6,000 | 0.340% | 3/1/2016 |
| Strategic NY Municipal Income Fund | >$6,000 - $7,500 | 0.330% | 3/1/2016 |
| >$7,500 - $12,000 | 0.320% | ||
| >$12,000 | 0.310% | ||
| Contrarian Core Fund | $0 - $500 | 0.770% | 1/1/2016 |
| International Dividend Income Fund | >$500 - $1,000 | 0.720% | 1/1/2016 |
| Large Cap Growth Fund | >$1,000 - $1,500 | 0.670% | 12/1/2015 |
| MM Growth Strategies Fund | >$1,500 - $3,000 | 0.620% | 8/1/2015 |
| Select Large Cap Growth Fund | >$3,000 - $6,000 | 0.600% | 8/1/2015 |
| >$6,000 - $12,000 | 0.580% | ||
| >$12,000 | 0.570% | ||
| Emerging Markets Fund | $0 - $500 | 1.100% | 7/1/2017 |
| >$500 - $1,000 | 1.060% | ||
| >$1,000 - $1,500 | 0.870% | ||
| >$1,500 - $3,000 | 0.820% | ||
| >$3,000 - $6,000 | 0.770% | ||
| >$6,000 - $12,000 | 0.720% | ||
| >$12,000 | 0.700% | ||
| Global Technology Growth Fund | $0 - $500 | 0.870% | 1/1/2016 |
| >$500 - $1,000 | 0.820% | ||
| >$1,000 | 0.770% | ||
| Greater China Fund | $0 - $1,000 | 0.950% | 1/1/2016 |
| Pacific/Asia Fund | >$1,000 - $1,500 | 0.870% | 8/1/2015 |
| >$1,500 - $3,000 | 0.820% | ||
| >$3,000 - $6,000 | 0.770% | ||
| >$6,000 | 0.720% |
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 92 |
| Fund |
Assets
(millions) |
Annual rate at
each asset level |
Management Agreement
Effective Date |
| HY Municipal Fund | $0 - $500 | 0.540% | 10/1/2015 |
| >$500 - $1,000 | 0.535% | ||
| >$1,000 - $2,000 | 0.505% | ||
| >$2,000 - $3,000 | 0.480% | ||
| >$3,000 - $6,000 | 0.445% | ||
| >$6,000 - $7,500 | 0.420% | ||
| >$7,500 - $10,000 | 0.410% | ||
| >$10,000 - $12,000 | 0.400% | ||
| >$12,000 - $15,000 | 0.390% | ||
| >$15,000 - $24,000 | 0.380% | ||
| >$24,000 - $50,000 | 0.360% | ||
| >$50,000 | 0.340% | ||
| Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund | $0 - $500 | 0.480% | 3/1/2016 |
| Tax-Exempt Fund | >$500 - $1,000 | 0.475% | 12/1/2015 |
| U.S. Social Bond Fund | >$1,000 - $2,000 | 0.445% | 12/1/2016 |
| >$2,000 - $3,000 | 0.420% | ||
| >$3,000 - $6,000 | 0.385% | ||
| >$6,000 - $9,000 | 0.360% | ||
| >$9,000 - $10,000 | 0.350% | ||
| >$10,000 - $12,000 | 0.340% | ||
| >$12,000 - $15,000 | 0.330% | ||
| >$15,000 - $24,000 | 0.320% | ||
| >$24,000 - $50,000 | 0.300% | ||
| >$50,000 | 0.290% | ||
| Mid Cap Growth Fund | $0 - $500 | 0.820% | 1/1/2016 |
| >$500 - $1,000 | 0.770% | ||
| >$1,000 - $1,500 | 0.720% | ||
| >$1,500 - $3,000 | 0.670% | ||
| >$3,000 - $12,000 | 0.660% | ||
| >$12,000 | 0.650% | ||
| MM Alternative Strategies Fund(a) | $0 - $500 | 1.100% | 1/1/2016 |
| >$500 - $1,000 | 1.050% | ||
| >$1,000 - $3,000 | 1.020% | ||
| >$3,000 - $6,000 | 0.990% | ||
| >$6,000 - $12,000 | 0.960% | ||
| > $12,000 | 0.950% | ||
| MM Directional Alternative Strategies Fund | All assets | 1.60% | 8/17/2016 |
| MM International Equity Strategies Fund | $0 - $500 | 0.870% | 3/7/2018 |
| >$500 - $1,000 | 0.820% | ||
| >$1,000 - $1,500 | 0.770% | ||
| >$1,500 - $3,000 | 0.720% | ||
| >$3,000 - $6,000 | 0.700% | ||
| >$6,000 - $12,000 | 0.680% | ||
| >$12,000 | 0.670% | ||
| MM Small Cap Equity Strategies Fund | $0 - $500 | 0.870% | 7/1/2017 |
| Small Cap Growth Fund I | >$500 - $1,000 | 0.820% | 1/1/2016 |
| >$1,000 - $3,000 | 0.770% | ||
| >$3,000 - $12,000 | 0.760% | ||
| >$12,000 | 0.750% | ||
| Multi-Asset Income Fund | $0 - $500 | 0.660% | 9/1/2015 |
| >$500 - $1,000 | 0.625% | ||
| >$1,000 - $1,500 | 0.610% | ||
| >$1,500 - $3,000 | 0.600% | ||
| >$3,000 - $6,000 | 0.570% | ||
| >$6,000 - $12,000 | 0.545% | ||
| >$12,000 | 0.510% | ||
| Multi Strategy Alternatives Fund(a) | $0 - $500 | 0.960% | 10/1/2016 |
| >$500 - $1,000 | 0.955% | ||
| >$1,000 - $3,000 | 0.950% | ||
| >$3,000 - $12,000 | 0.940% | ||
| >$12,000 | 0.930% |
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 93 |
| Fund |
Assets
(millions) |
Annual rate at
each asset level |
Management Agreement
Effective Date |
| Multisector Bond SMA Completion Portfolio | All assets | 0.00% | 8/7/2019 |
| Overseas SMA Completion Portfolio | |||
| Solutions Aggressive Portfolio | 8/16/2017 | ||
| Solutions Conservative Portfolio | |||
| Real Estate Equity Fund | $0 - $500 | 0.750% | 5/1/2016 |
| >$500 - $1,000 | 0.745% | ||
| >$1,000 - $1,500 | 0.720% | ||
| >$1,500 - $3,000 | 0.670% | ||
| >$3,000 | 0.660% | ||
| Small Cap Value Fund I(d) | $0 - $500 | 0.850% | 7/8/2020 |
| >$500 - $1,000 | 0.800% | ||
| >$1,000 - $3,000 | 0.750% | ||
| >$3,000 - $12,000 | 0.740% | ||
| >$12,000 | 0.730% | ||
| Strategic Income Fund | $0 - $500 | 0.600% | 3/1/2016 |
| >$500 - $1,000 | 0.590% | ||
| >$1,000 - $2,000 | 0.575% | ||
| >$2,000 - $3,000 | 0.555% | ||
| >$3,000 - $6,000 | 0.530% | ||
| >$6,000 - $7,500 | 0.505% | ||
| >$7,500 - $9,000 | 0.490% | ||
| >$9,000 - $10,000 | 0.481% | ||
| >$10,000 - $12,000 | 0.469% | ||
| >$12,000 - $15,000 | 0.459% | ||
| >$15,000 - $20,000 | 0.449% | ||
| >$20,000 - $24,000 | 0.433% | ||
| >$24,000 - $50,000 | 0.414% | ||
| >$50,000 | 0.393% | ||
| U.S. Treasury Index Fund(b) | All assets | 0.400% | 9/1/2015 |
| Ultra Short Term Bond Fund(c) | All assets | 0.21% | 12/1/2018 |
(a) When calculating asset levels for purposes of determining fee breakpoints, asset levels are based on net assets of the Fund, including assets invested in any wholly-owned subsidiary advised by the Investment Manager (“Subsidiaries”). Fees payable by the Fund under this agreement shall be reduced by any management services fees paid to the Investment Manager by any Subsidiaries under separate management agreements with the Subsidiaries.
(b) The Investment Manager, from the management services fee it receives from the Fund, pays all operating expenses of the Fund, with the exception of brokerage fees and commissions, taxes, interest, fees and expenses of Trustees who are not officers, directors or employees of the Investment Manager or its affiliates, Rule 12b-1 and/or shareholder servicing fees and any extraordinary non-recurring expenses that may arise, including litigation expenses.
(c) Prior to December 1, 2018, the Fund paid a unified fee of 0.25%. Shareholders approved a proposal at a special meeting of shareholders on October 17, 2018 to unbundle the unified fee such that the Fund’s management fee would be reduced to the annual rate of 0.21% of the Fund’s average daily net assets, and the Fund will bear its own custody, transfer agency, legal, audit, registration and other expenses.
(d) Effective July 8, 2020, the fee schedule changed resulting in a fee rate decrease for all asset levels.
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 94 |
Adaptive Risk Allocation Fund. The Fund pays the Investment Manager a management services fee according to the following schedules:
| Asset Category |
Assets
(millions) |
Annual rate at
each asset level |
Management Agreement
Effective Date |
| Category 1: Assets invested in affiliated mutual funds, exchange- traded funds and closed-end funds that pay a management services fee (or an investment management services fee, as applicable) to the Investment Manager. | $0 - $500 | 0.060% | 10/1/2015 |
| >$500 - $1,000 | 0.055% | ||
| >$1,000 - $3,000 | 0.050% | ||
| >$3,000 - $12,000 | 0.040% | ||
| >$12,000 | 0.030% | ||
| Category 2: Assets invested in exchange-traded funds and mutual funds that are not managed by the Investment Manager or its affiliates. | $0 - $500 | 0.160% | |
| >$500 - $1,000 | 0.155% | ||
| >$1,000 - $3,000 | 0.150% | ||
| >$3,000 - $12,000 | 0.140% | ||
| >$12,000 | 0.130% | ||
| Category 3: Securities, instruments and other assets not described above, including without limitation affiliated mutual funds, exchange-traded funds and closed-end funds that do not pay a management services fee (or an investment management services fee, as applicable) to the Investment Manager, third party closed-end funds, derivatives and individual securities. | $0 - $500 | 0.760% | |
| >$500 - $1,000 | 0.745% | ||
| >$1,000 - $1,500 | 0.730% | ||
| >$1,500 - $3,000 | 0.720% | ||
| >$3,000 - $6,000 | 0.690% | ||
| >$6,000 - $12,000 | 0.665% | ||
| >$12,000 | 0.630% |
In no event shall the management services fee be negative even if the value of one of the categories is a negative amount (for instance, if the Fund’s liabilities exceed the value of assets in Category 3). Although the fee for each category is calculated separately and there is no negative management services fee, the Investment Manager currently intends to calculate the management services fee by reducing (but not below $0) any management services fee payable on one category by any negative management services fee in another category. The Investment Manager may change this calculation methodology at any time.
Adaptive Retirement Funds. The Investment Manager has implemented a schedule for the Adaptive Retirement Funds’ management services fees whereby each Fund pays (i) a 0.02% management services fee on its assets invested in affiliated underlying funds (including ETFs and closed-end funds) that pay a management services fee (or advisory services fee, as applicable) to the Investment Manager; and (ii) a 0.47% management services fee on its assets invested in any other securities or instruments, including any underlying fund that does not pay a management services fee (or advisory services fee) to the Investment Manager, such as Solutions Aggressive Portfolio and Solutions Conservative Portfolio, third party funds, derivatives and individual securities.
Under the Management Agreement, each Fund also pays taxes, brokerage commissions and nonadvisory expenses, which include custodian fees and charges; fidelity bond premiums; certain legal fees; registration fees for shares; consultants’ fees; compensation of Board members, officers and employees not employed by the Investment Manager or its affiliates; corporate filing fees; organizational expenses; expenses incurred in connection with lending securities; interest and fee expense related to a Fund’s participation in inverse floater structures; and expenses properly payable by a Fund, approved by the Board.
Management Services Fees Paid. The table below shows the total management services fees paid by each Fund, as applicable, under the Management Agreement for the last three fiscal periods (net of management services fee waivers). Amounts shown for the first period that management services fees were paid for each Fund are for the period from the Fund’s Management Agreement Effective Date through the applicable fiscal year end. The table is organized by fiscal year end. For more information about fees waived or Fund expenses reimbursed by the Investment Manager, see Expense Limitations.
Management Services Fees
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 95 |
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 96 |
| Management Services Fees | |||
| 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | |
| Strategic Income Fund | $28,899,179 | $24,981,150 | $23,126,723 |
| 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | |
| For Funds with fiscal period ending October 31 | |||
| CT Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund | 451,181 | 513,627 | 629,541 |
| Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund | 6,098,804 | 7,952,128 | 9,519,597 |
| MA Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund | 1,013,279 | 1,077,291 | 1,209,330 |
| NY Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund | 1,016,584 | 1,044,632 | 1,183,001 |
| Strategic CA Municipal Income Fund | 2,483,919 | 2,389,784 | 2,411,432 |
| Strategic NY Municipal Income Fund | 905,523 | 982,344 | 1,028,510 |
| For Funds with fiscal period ending December 31 | |||
| Real Estate Equity Fund | 2,243,225 | 2,389,889 | 3,484,436 |
| (a) | For the period from October 24, 2017 (commencement of operations) to March 31, 2018. |
| (b) | For the period from April 4, 2018 (commencement of operations) to March 31, 2019. |
| (c) | The Solution Series Funds do not pay a management services fee. |
| (d) | For the period from May 17, 2018 (commencement of operations) to August 31, 2018. |
| (e) | For the period from October 29, 2019 (commencement of operations) to August 31, 2020. |
| (f) | For the period from September 12, 2019 (commencement of operations) to August 31, 2020. |
Manager of Managers Exemption
The SEC has issued an exemptive order (the Order) that permits the Investment Manager, subject to the approval of the Board and conditions of the Order, to hire subadvisers, by entering into subadvisory agreements with them, and to materially change the terms of those subadvisory agreements, including the subadvisory fees paid thereunder, without seeking approval of the Fund’s shareholders and thereby avoiding the expense and delays associated with obtaining such approval (the Manager of Managers Structure). For Funds that began operations (see About the Trust) prior to September 2017, the Order covers unaffiliated subadvisers; for Funds that have commenced operations since September 2017, the Order covers unaffiliated subadvisers and subadvisers that are indirect or direct wholly-owned subsidiaries of the Investment Manager or sister companies of the Investment Manager that are indirect or direct wholly-owned subsidiaries of Ameriprise Financial. In addition to the Order, the Funds may rely on any other current or future laws, rules, or regulatory guidance from the SEC or its staff applicable to a Manager of Managers Structure.
The Investment Manager and its affiliates may have other relationships, including significant financial relationships, with current or potential subadvisers and/or their affiliates, which may create certain conflicts of interest. When making recommendations to the Board to appoint or to change a subadviser, or to change the terms of a subadvisory agreement, the Investment Manager discloses to the Board the nature of any such material relationships.
Subadvisory Agreements
The assets of certain Funds are managed by subadvisers that have been selected by the Investment Manager, subject to the review and approval of the Board. Generally, the Investment Manager recommends a subadviser to the Board based upon its assessment of the skills of the subadvisers in managing other assets in accordance with objectives and investment strategies substantially similar to those of the applicable Fund. Among other responsibilities, the Investment Manager (i) monitors on a daily basis the compliance of the subadviser with the investment objectives and related policies of the Fund, (ii) assesses changes to the subadvisers' business brought to the Investment Manager’s attention by subadviser or otherwise publicly announced, (iii) performs due diligence reviews of the subadviser, (iv) monitors the performance of each subadviser with respect to a Fund, and (v) regularly provides reports on such performance to the Board. However, short-term investment performance is not the only factor in selecting or terminating a subadviser, and the Investment Manager does not expect to make frequent changes of subadvisers.
The Investment Manager allocates the assets of a Fund with multiple subadvisers among the subadvisers. Each subadviser has discretion, subject to oversight by the Board and the Investment Manager, to purchase and sell portfolio assets, consistent with the Fund’s investment objective, policies, and restrictions. Generally, the services that a subadviser provides to the Fund are limited to asset management and related recordkeeping services.
The Investment Manager has entered into a subadvisory agreement with each subadviser under which the subadviser provides investment advisory and portfolio management assistance to all or a portion of the Fund’s portfolio, as well as investment research and statistical information, subject to the oversight by the Investment Manager. A subadviser may also serve as a
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 97 |
discretionary or non-discretionary investment adviser to management or advisory accounts that are unrelated in any manner to the Investment Manager or its affiliates. The Investment Manager compensates each subadviser of a Fund out of the management services fees it receives from the Fund. This could create an incentive for the Investment Manager to select, or allocate assets to, subadvisers with lower fee rates, select subadvisers that are affiliated with the Investment Manager, or manage assets directly.
Each subadvisory agreement, and any material change thereto, is approved by the Board, including a majority of the Independent Trustees. Additionally, in relying on the Order (see Manager of Managers Exemption above) when recommending the hiring, termination, and replacement of subadvisers, the Investment Manager provides the Board with information showing the expected impact of any proposed subadviser hiring or termination on the profitability of the Investment Manager.
The following table shows general information about subadvisers and the aggregate subadvisory services fee rate paid by the Investment Manager to the subadvisers for the Fund’s most recent fiscal year as a percentage of the Fund’s daily net assets (which may differ from the Fund’s current subadvisers and/or the fee rate payable by the Investment Manager during the current fiscal year). The fee is calculated as a percentage of the daily net assets of the applicable Fund (or portion thereof subadvised by the applicable subadviser), subject to any exceptions as noted in the table below, and is paid monthly by the Investment Manager out of the management services fee it receives from the Fund. The table is organized by fiscal year end.
Subadvisers and Subadvisory Agreement Aggregate Effective Fee Rates
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 98 |
| Fund | Current Subadvisers |
Parent
Company/Other Information |
Aggregate Effective Fee Rate |
| For Funds with fiscal period ending August 31 | |||
| MM Alternative Strategies Fund |
AlphaSimplex
(effective May 23, 2018) AQR (since commencement of operations) Manulife (effective September 13, 2017) TCW (effective March 29, 2017) Water Island (since commencement of operations) |
Q
B M D C |
0.477% |
| MM International Equity Strategies Fund |
Arrowstreet
(since commencement of operations) Baillie Gifford (since commencement of operations) Causeway (since commencement of operations) |
N
O P |
0.409% |
| MM Small Cap Equity Strategies Fund |
BMO
(effective May 1, 2017) Conestoga (effective October 1, 2012) Hotchkis & Wiley (effective February 13, 2019) JPMIM (effective December 19, 2018) |
H
E F G |
0.326% |
| MM Total Return Bond Strategies Fund |
Loomis Sayles
(effective April 11, 2016) PGIM Fixed Income (effective May 16, 2016) TCW (since commencement of operations) Voya (effective December 6, 2018) |
A
I D R |
0.094% |
(a) Prior to November 1, 2018, Analytic Investors, an affiliate of WellsCap served as subadviser to the Fund under a separate subadvisory agreement.
A – Loomis Sayles is an indirect subsidiary of Natixis Investment Managers, LLC, which is part of Natixis Investment Managers, an international asset management group based in Paris, France, that is in turn owned by Natixis, a French investment banking and financial services firm. Natixis is principally owned by BPCE, France’s second largest banking group. BPCE is owned by banks comprising two autonomous and complementary retail banking networks consisting of the Caisse d’Epargne regional savings banks and the Banque Populaire regional cooperative banks. The registered address of Natixis is 30, avenue Pierre Mendès France, 75013 Paris, France. The registered address of BPCE is 50, avenue Pierre Mendès France, 75013 Paris, France. Loomis Sayles is located at One Financial Center, Boston, MA 02111.
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 99 |
B – AQR is a Delaware limited liability company formed in 1998 and is located at Two Greenwich Plaza, Greenwich, CT 06830. AQR is a wholly-owned subsidiary of AQR Capital Management Holdings, LLC (AQR Holdings), which has no activities other than holding the interest of AQR. Clifford S. Asness, Ph.D., M.B.A. may be deemed to control AQR through his voting control of the Board of Members of AQR Holdings. Affiliated Managers Group, Inc., a publicly traded holding company, holds a minority interest in AQR Holdings.
C – Water Island is located at 41 Madison Avenue, 42nd Floor, New York, NY 10010. John S. Orrico, President of Water Island, controls Water Island.
D – TCW, which is located at 865 South Figueroa Street, Suite 1800, Los Angeles, CA 90017, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of The TCW Group, Inc. The Carlyle Group, LP (Carlyle), a global alternative asset manager, may be deemed to be a control person of TCW by reason of its control of certain investment funds that indirectly control more than 25% of the voting stock of TCW. Carlyle also controls various other pooled investment vehicles and, indirectly, many of the portfolio companies owned by those funds.
E – Conestoga is a Delaware limited liability company located at 550 East Swedesford Road, Suite 120, Wayne, PA 19087. Conestoga is an employee-owned independent registered investment adviser. Conestoga was organized in 2001 and provides investment management services to institutional and individual clients.
F – Hotchkis & Wiley is located at 601 South Figueroa, 39th Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90017-5439. Hotchkis & Wiley is an independent registered investment adviser. Hotchkis & Wiley was organized in 1980 and provides investment management services to institutional clients, individual/high net worth clients, mutual funds and private accounts.
G – JPMIM, located at 383 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10179, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of JPMorgan Chase & Co.
H – BMO, which is located at 115 South LaSalle Street, 11th Floor, Chicago, IL 60603, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BMO Financial Corp., which is in turn a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Bank of Montréal, a publicly held Canadian diversified financial services company.
I – PGIM, which is located at 655 Broad Street, Newark, NJ 07102, is an indirect, wholly-owned subsidiary of Prudential Financial, Inc. (PGIM Fixed Income). PGIM is the global investment management business of Prudential Financial, Inc.
J – Boston Partners, which is located at One Grand Central Place, 60 East 42nd Street, Suite 1550, New York, NY 10165, is an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of ORIX Corporation.
K – WellsCap, located at 525 Market Street, San Francisco, CA 94105, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Wells Fargo Asset Management Holdings, LLC, which is indirectly-owned by Wells Fargo & Company.
L – Los Angeles Capital is located at 11150 Santa Monica Blvd. Suite 200, Los Angeles, CA 90025. Los Angeles Capital is an employee owned, independent registered investment adviser. Los Angeles Capital was formed in 2002 and provides investment management and subadvisory services to institutional investors globally, mutual funds and pooled funds.
M – Manulife is located at 197 Clarendon Street, Boston, MA 02116.
N – Arrowstreet is located at 200 Clarendon Street, 30th Floor, Boston, MA 02116.
O – Baillie Gifford is located at Calton Square, 1 Greenside Row, Edinburgh, EH1 3AN.
P – Causeway is located at 11111 Santa Monica Blvd., 15th Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90025.
Q – AlphaSimplex is an indirect subsidiary of Natixis Investment Managers, LLC, which is part of Natixis Investment Managers, an international asset management group based in Paris, France, that is in turn owned by Natixis, a French investment banking and financial services firm. It is located at 200 State Street, Boston MA 02109.
R – Voya, located at 230 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10169, is an indirect, wholly-owned subsidiary of Voya Financial, Inc.
S – QMA is located at Gateway Center Two, 100 Mulberry Street, Newark, NJ 07102.
The Investment Manager and Threadneedle have entered into a subadvisory agreement with respect to each of MM International Equity Strategies Fund, Multi-Asset Income Fund, Multi Strategy Alternatives Fund and U.S. Social Bond Fund. Threadneedle is currently not providing subadvisory services to such Funds and no subadvisory fees are paid thereunder. The Aggregate Effective Fee Rate shown above for MM International Equity Strategies Fund, does not include the fee rate paid to Threadneedle since Threadneedle did not manage any portion of such Funds during their last fiscal year.
Threadneedle is a direct subsidiary of Threadneedle Asset Management Holdings Limited and an affiliate of the Investment Manager, and an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Ameriprise Financial. Threadneedle and Threadneedle Asset Management Holdings Limited are located at Cannon Place, 78 Cannon Street, London EC4N 6AG, United Kingdom.
The following table shows the subadvisory fees paid by the Investment Manager to the then-current subadvisers in the last three fiscal periods or, if shorter, since the Fund’s commencement of operations. The table is organized by fiscal year end.
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 100 |
| Subadvisory Fees Paid | ||||
| Fund | Subadviser | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 |
| For Funds with fiscal period ending March 31 | ||||
| MM Growth Strategies Fund | Subadvisers | $3,188,369(a) | $2,956,269(a) | $3,697,165(a) |
| For Funds with fiscal period ending April 30 | ||||
| MM Directional Alternative Strategies Fund | Subadvisers | 2,116,679(b) | 2,330,126(b) | 7,727,653(b) |
| For Funds with fiscal period ending May 31 | ||||
| Multi Strategy Alternatives Fund | Subadvisers | 1,216,529(c) | N/A | N/A |
| For Funds with fiscal period ending August 31 | ||||
| MM Alternative Strategies Fund | Subadvisers | 2,238,773(d) | 2,472,337(d) | 2,797,649(d) |
| MM International Equity Strategies Fund | Subadvisers | 8,232,982(g) | 7,843,001(g) | 2,245,886(g) |
| MM Small Cap Equity Strategies Fund | Subadvisers | 5,097,343(e) | 5,373,676(e) | 3,814,592(e) |
| MM Total Return Bond Strategies Fund | Subadvisers | 8,040,774(f) | 7,638,260(f) | 6,897,981(f) |
| (a) | The fees shown represent the aggregate amount paid by the Investment Manager, with respect to the Fund, to all non-affiliated subadvisers for 2018, 2019, and 2020, which amounted to 0.144%, 0.142%, and 0.146%, respectively, of the Fund’s daily net assets as of each fiscal year end. |
| (b) | The fees shown represent the aggregate amount paid by the Investment Manager, with respect to the Fund, to all non-affiliated subadvisers for 2018, 2019, and 2020, which amounted to 0.830%, 0.857%, and 0.860% respectively, of the Fund’s daily net assets as of each fiscal year end. |
| (c) | The fee shown represents the aggregate amount paid by the Investment Manager, with respect to the Fund, to all non-affiliated subadvisers, which amounted to 0.202%, of the Fund’s daily net assets from September 24, 2019, when subadvisers began managing the Fund, to May 31, 2020. |
| (d) | The fees shown represent the aggregate amount paid by the Investment Manager, with respect to the Fund, to all non-affiliated subadvisers for 2018, 2019, and 2020 which amounted to 0.484%, 0.474%, and 0.477% respectively, of the Fund’s daily net assets as of each fiscal year end. |
| (e) | The fees shown represent the aggregate amount paid by the Investment Manager, with respect to the Fund, to all non-affiliated subadvisers for 2018, 2019, and 2020, which amounted to 0.306%, 0.306%, and 0.326% respectively, of the Fund’s daily net assets as of each fiscal year end. |
| (f) | The fees shown represent the aggregate amount paid by the Investment Manager, with respect to the Fund, to all non-affiliated subadvisers for 2018, 2019, and 2020, which amounted to 0.088%, 0.097%, and 0.094% respectively, of the Fund’s daily net assets as of each fiscal year end. |
| (g) | The fees shown represent the aggregate amount paid by the Investment Manager, with respect to the Fund, to all non-affiliated subadvisers for 2018, 2019 and 2020, which amounted to 0.121%, 0.414%, and 0.409% respectively, of the Fund’s daily net assets as of each fiscal year end. |
Portfolio Managers. The following table provides information about the portfolio managers of each Fund. The references in the Potential Conflicts of Interest and the Structure of Compensation columns in the table below refer, respectively, to the descriptions in the Potential Conflicts of Interest and Structure of Compensation subsections immediately following the table. In addition to the other account information disclosed in the table, portfolio managers may have accounts holding Ameriprise Financial stock options granted to them as part of their compensation. The table is organized by fiscal year end.
| Other Accounts Managed (excluding the Fund) |
Ownership
of Fund Shares |
Potential
Conflicts of Interest |
Structure
of Compensation |
||||
| Fund | Portfolio Manager |
Number
and Type of Account* |
Approximate
Total Net Assets |
Performance–
Based Accounts** |
|||
| For Funds with fiscal year ending March 31 – Information is as of March 31, 2020, unless otherwise noted | |||||||
|
Adaptive
Retirement 2020 Fund |
Joshua Kutin |
42 RICs
6 PIVs 29 other accounts |
$62.58 billion
$0.30 million $2.53 million |
None | None | Columbia Management | Columbia Management |
| Alexander Wilkinson |
12 RICs
6 PIVs 3 other accounts |
$3.15 billion
$0.30 million $0.05 million |
None | None | |||
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 101 |
| Other Accounts Managed (excluding the Fund) |
Ownership
of Fund Shares |
Potential
Conflicts of Interest |
Structure
of Compensation |
||||
| Fund | Portfolio Manager |
Number
and Type of Account* |
Approximate
Total Net Assets |
Performance–
Based Accounts** |
|||
|
Adaptive
Retirement 2025 Fund |
Joshua Kutin |
42 RICs
6 PIVs 29 other accounts |
$62.58 billion
$0.30 million $2.53 million |
None | None | Columbia Management | Columbia Management |
| Alexander Wilkinson |
12 RICs
6 PIVs 3 other accounts |
$3.15 billion
$0.30 million $0.05 million |
None | None | |||
|
Adaptive
Retirement 2030 Fund |
Joshua Kutin |
42 RICs
6 PIVs 29 other accounts |
$62.58 billion
$0.30 million $2.53 million |
None | None | Columbia Management | Columbia Management |
| Alexander Wilkinson |
12 RICs
6 PIVs 3 other accounts |
$3.15 billion
$0.30 million $0.05 million |
None | None | |||
|
Adaptive
Retirement 2035 Fund |
Joshua Kutin |
42 RICs
6 PIVs 29 other accounts |
$62.59 billion
$0.30 million $2.53 million |
None | None | Columbia Management | Columbia Management |
| Alexander Wilkinson |
12 RICs
6 PIVs 3 other accounts |
$3.15 billion
$0.30 million $0.05 million |
None | None | |||
|
Adaptive
Retirement 2040 Fund |
Joshua Kutin |
42 RICs
6 PIVs 29 other accounts |
$62.59 billion
$0.30 million $2.53 million |
None | None | Columbia Management | Columbia Management |
| Alexander Wilkinson |
12 RICs
6 PIVs 3 other accounts |
$3.15 billion
$0.30 million $0.05 million |
None | None | |||
|
Adaptive
Retirement 2045 Fund |
Joshua Kutin |
42 RICs
6 PIVs 29 other accounts |
$62.59 billion
$0.30 million $2.53 million |
None | None | Columbia Management | Columbia Management |
| Alexander Wilkinson |
12 RICs
6 PIVs 3 other accounts |
$3.15 billion
$0.30 million $0.05 million |
None | None | |||
|
Adaptive
Retirement 2050 Fund |
Joshua Kutin |
42 RICs
6 PIVs 29 other accounts |
$62.59 billion
$0.30 million $2.53 million |
None | None | Columbia Management | Columbia Management |
| Alexander Wilkinson |
12 RICs
6 PIVs 3 other accounts |
$3.15 billion
$0.30 million $0.05 million |
None | None | |||
|
Adaptive
Retirement 2055 Fund |
Joshua Kutin |
42 RICs
6 PIVs 29 other accounts |
$62.59 billion
$0.30 million $2.53 million |
None | None | Columbia Management | Columbia Management |
| Alexander Wilkinson |
12 RICs
6 PIVs 3 other accounts |
$3.15 billion
$0.30 million $0.05 million |
None | None | |||
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 102 |
| Other Accounts Managed (excluding the Fund) |
Ownership
of Fund Shares |
Potential
Conflicts of Interest |
Structure
of Compensation |
||||
| Fund | Portfolio Manager |
Number
and Type of Account* |
Approximate
Total Net Assets |
Performance–
Based Accounts** |
|||
|
Adaptive
Retirement 2060 Fund |
Joshua Kutin |
42 RICs
6 PIVs 29 other accounts |
$62.59 billion
$0.30 million $2.53 million |
None | None | Columbia Management | Columbia Management |
| Alexander Wilkinson |
12 RICs
6 PIVs 3 other accounts |
$3.15 billion
$0.30 million $0.05 million |
None | None | |||
|
MM Growth
Strategies Fund |
Columbia Management:
Thomas Galvin |
4 RICs 1 PIV 1,114 other accounts |
$2.45 billion $449.69 million $2.06 billion |
None |
None |
Columbia Management |
Columbia Management |
| Richard Carter |
4 RICs
1 PIV 1,115 other accounts |
$2.45 billion
$449.69 million $2.04 billion |
None | None | |||
| Todd Herget |
4 RICs
1 PIV 1,118 other accounts |
$2.45 billion
$449.69 million $2.04 billion |
None | None | |||
|
Loomis Sayles:
Aziz Hamzaogullari |
30 RICs 16 PIVs 146 other accounts |
$22.37 billion $7.60 billion $21.10 billion |
2 PIVs ($736.26 M) |
None |
Loomis Sayles |
Loomis Sayles |
|
|
MM Growth
Strategies Fund (continued) |
Los Angeles Capital:
Thomas Stevens |
13 RICs 16 PIVs 36 other accounts |
$5.78 billion $3.83 billion $10.08 billion |
1 RIC ($3.03 B) 5 PIVs ($1.22 B) 6 other accounts ($5.56 B) |
None |
Los Angeles Capital |
Los Angeles Capital |
| Hal Reynolds |
16 RICs
16 PIVs 36 other accounts |
$5.87 billion
$3.83 billion $10.08 billion |
1 RIC
($3.03 B) 5 PIVs ($1.22 B) 6 other accounts ($5.56 B) |
None | |||
| Daniel Allen |
12 RICs
16 PIVs 36 other accounts |
$2.27 billion
$3.83 billion $10.08 billion |
5 PIVs
($1.22 B) 6 other accounts ($5.56 B) |
None | |||
| Daniel Arche |
1 RIC
4 PIVs 11 other accounts |
$1.32 billion
$1.54 billion $1.88 billion |
3 PIVs
($695 M) |
None | |||
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 103 |
| Other Accounts Managed (excluding the Fund) |
Ownership
of Fund Shares |
Potential
Conflicts of Interest |
Structure
of Compensation |
||||
| Fund | Portfolio Manager |
Number
and Type of Account* |
Approximate
Total Net Assets |
Performance–
Based Accounts** |
|||
|
Pacific/Asia
Fund |
Daisuke Nomoto |
5 RICs
1 PIV 4 other accounts |
$2.52 billion
$956.37 million $2.81 million |
None |
$100,001 –
$500,000(a) $100,001 – $500,000(b) |
Columbia Management | Columbia Management |
| Christine Seng |
1 RIC
1 PIV |
$13.36 million
$126.58 million |
None | None(c) | Threadneedle | Threadneedle | |
|
Select Large
Cap Growth Fund |
Thomas Galvin |
4 RICs
1 PIV 1,114 other accounts |
$1.38 billion
$449.69 million $2.06 billion |
None |
Over
$1,000,000(a) $10,001 – $50,000(b) |
Columbia Management | Columbia Management |
| Richard Carter |
4 RICs
1 PIV 1,115 other accounts |
$1.38 billion
$449.69 million $2.04 billion |
None |
$10,001 –
$50,000(a) $10,001 – $50,000(b) |
|||
| Todd Herget |
4 RICs
1 PIV 1,118 other accounts |
$1.38 billion
$449.69 million $2.04 billion |
None |
$50,001 –
$100,000(b) |
|||
|
Solutions
Aggressive Portfolio |
Joshua Kutin |
42 RICs
6 PIVs 29 other accounts |
$62.58 billion
$0.30 million $2.53 million |
None | None | Columbia Management | Columbia Management |
| Alexander Wilkinson |
12 RICs
6 PIVs 3 other accounts |
$3.15 billion
$0.30 million $0.05 million |
None | None | |||
|
Solutions
Conservative Portfolio |
Joshua Kutin |
42 RICs
6 PIVs 29 other accounts |
$62.58 billion
$0.30 million $2.53 million |
None | None | Columbia Management | Columbia Management |
| Alexander Wilkinson |
12 RICs
6 PIVs 3 other accounts |
$3.15 billion
$0.30 million $0.05 million |
None | None | |||
| For Funds with fiscal year ending April 30 – Information is as of April 30, 2020, unless otherwise noted | |||||||
| Bond Fund | Gene Tannuzzo |
8 RICs
1 PIV 83 other accounts |
$13.30 billion
$84.86 million $1.55 billion |
None | None | Columbia Management | Columbia Management |
| Jason Callan |
14 RICs
9 PIVs 5 other accounts |
$18.62 billion
$13.57 billion $3.30 million |
None | None | |||
|
Corporate
Income Fund |
Tom Murphy |
12 RICs
15 PIVs 25 other accounts |
$3.28 billion
$21.95 billion $4.01 billion |
None | None | Columbia Management | Columbia Management |
| Royce Wilson |
11 RICs
22 other accounts |
$3.22 billion
$3.68 billion |
None | None | |||
| John Dawson |
11 RICs
24 other accounts |
$3.22 billion
$3.68 billion |
None | None | |||
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 104 |
| Other Accounts Managed (excluding the Fund) |
Ownership
of Fund Shares |
Potential
Conflicts of Interest |
Structure
of Compensation |
||||
| Fund | Portfolio Manager |
Number
and Type of Account* |
Approximate
Total Net Assets |
Performance–
Based Accounts** |
|||
|
MM Directional
Alternative Strategies Fund |
Boston Partners:
Joseph Feeney |
7 RICs 7 PIVs 24 other accounts |
$2.21 billion $2.05 billion $1.34 billion |
None |
None |
Boston Partners |
Boston Partners |
| Eric Connerly | 1 RIC | $1.65 billion | None | None | |||
|
AQR:
Michele Aghassi |
32 RICs 12 PIVs 12 other accounts |
$15.22 billion $5.36 billion $3.85 billion |
1 RIC ($119.30 M) 9 PIVs ($3.62 B) 4 other accounts ($1.35 B) |
None |
AQR |
AQR |
|
| Andrea Frazzini |
39 RICs
19 PIVs 26 other accounts |
$17.38 billion
$7.71 billion $11.81 billion |
1 RIC
($119.30 M) 16 PIVs ($5.96 B) 7 other accounts ($2.86 B) |
None | |||
| Ronen Israel(d) |
50 RICs
49 PIVs 42 other accounts |
$23.04 billion
$14.41 billion $17.79 billion |
1 RIC
($119.30 M) 44 PIVs ($12.57 B) 17 other accounts ($7.73 B) |
None | |||
| Lars Nielsen(d) |
45 RICs
49 PIVs 42 other accounts |
$21.31 billion
$14.41 billion $17.79 billion |
1 RIC
($119.30 M) 44 PIVs ($12.57 B) 17 other accounts ($7.73 B) |
||||
|
MM Directional
Alternative Strategies Fund (continued) |
WellsCap:
Harindra de Silva |
20 RICs 18 PIVs 24 other accounts |
$5.41 billion $7.03 billion $4.52 billion |
3 PIVs ($144.11 M) 1 other account ($27.39 M) |
None |
WellsCap |
WellsCap |
| Dennis Bein |
20 RICs
17 PIVs 19 other accounts |
$5.39 billion
$7.00 billion $4.39 billion |
3 PIVs
($144.11 M) 1 other account ($27.39 M) |
None | |||
| David Krider |
7 RICs
11 PIVs 6 other accounts |
$2.32 billion
$3.19 billion $1.17 billion |
3 PIVs
($144.11 M) 1 other account ($27.39 M) |
None | |||
|
Multi–Asset
Income Fund |
Anwiti Bahuguna |
21 RICs
25 PIVs 35 other accounts |
$67.31 billion
$3.42 billion $107.34 million |
None |
$10,001 –
$50,000(b) |
Columbia Management | Columbia Management |
| Dan Boncarosky |
7 RICs
30 other accounts |
$5.03 billion
$2.60 million |
None |
$1 –
$10,000(b) |
|||
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 105 |
| Other Accounts Managed (excluding the Fund) |
Ownership
of Fund Shares |
Potential
Conflicts of Interest |
Structure
of Compensation |
||||
| Fund | Portfolio Manager |
Number
and Type of Account* |
Approximate
Total Net Assets |
Performance–
Based Accounts** |
|||
|
Small Cap
Value Fund I |
Jeremy Javidi |
1 RIC
1 PIV 9 other accounts |
$468.67 million
$191.71 million $17.83 million |
None |
Over
$1,000,000(a) $10,001 – $50,000(b) |
Columbia Management | Columbia Management |
|
Total Return
Bond Fund |
Gene Tannuzzo |
8 RICs
1 PIV 83 other accounts |
$11.60 billion
$84.86 million $1.55 billion |
None |
$100,001 –
$500,000(a) |
Columbia Management | Columbia Management |
| Jason Callan |
14 RICs
9 PIVs 5 other accounts |
$16.93 billion
$13.57 billion $3.30 million |
None | None | |||
|
U.S. Treasury
Index Fund |
Alan Erickson |
1 RIC
42 other accounts |
$5.45 million
$3.00 billion |
None |
$10,001 –
$50,000(b) |
Columbia Management | Columbia Management |
| For Funds with fiscal year ending May 31 – Information is as of May 31, 2020, unless otherwise noted | |||||||
|
Adaptive Risk
Allocation Fund |
Alexander Wilkinson |
11 RICs
6 PIVs 3 other accounts |
$38.15 million
$0.32 million $0.04 million |
None |
$10,001 –
$50,000(b) |
Columbia
Management; Columbia Management – FoF |
Columbia Management |
| Joshua Kutin |
40 RICs
6 PIVs 29 other accounts |
$64.99 billion
$0.32 million $5.45 million |
None |
$100,001 –
$500,000(a) $100,001 – $500,000(b) |
|||
|
Dividend Income
Fund |
Michael Barclay |
3 RICs
1 PIV 84 other accounts |
$1.16 billion
$159.54 million $1.97 billion |
None |
$500,001 –
$1,000,000(a) $100,001 – $500,000(b) |
Columbia Management | Columbia Management |
| Scott Davis |
1 RIC
1 PIV 87 other accounts |
$1.16 billion
$159.54 million $1.98 billion |
None |
$100,001 –
$500,000(a) $500,001 – $1,000,000(b) |
|||
| Peter Santoro |
7 RICs
1 PIV 63 other accounts |
$9.25 billion
$159.54 million $2.86 billion |
None |
$100,001 –
$500,000(a) $100,001 – $500,000(b) |
|||
|
HY Municipal
Fund |
Douglas White |
4 RICs
6 other accounts |
$3.66 billion
$6.30 million |
None |
$10,001 –
$50,000(b) |
Columbia Management | Columbia Management |
| Catherine Stienstra |
7 RICs
3 other accounts |
$7.65 billion
$1.70 million |
None |
$100,001 –
$500,000(a) $50,001 – $100,000(b) |
|||
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 106 |
| Other Accounts Managed (excluding the Fund) |
Ownership
of Fund Shares |
Potential
Conflicts of Interest |
Structure
of Compensation |
||||
| Fund | Portfolio Manager |
Number
and Type of Account* |
Approximate
Total Net Assets |
Performance–
Based Accounts** |
|||
| Multi Strategy Alternatives Fund | Marc Khalamayzer |
2 RICs
7 other accounts |
$148.76 million
$0.48 million |
None |
$10,001 –
$50,000(b) |
Columbia Management | Columbia Management |
| Joshua Kutin |
40 RICs
6 PIVs 29 other accounts |
$67.53 billion
$0.32 million $5.45 million |
None |
$50,001 –
$100,000(b) |
|||
| Matthew Ferrelli |
2 RICs
2 other accounts |
$148.76 million
$0.17 million |
None | None | |||
| Dan Boncarosky |
7 RICs
30 other accounts |
$5.26 billion
$2.62 million |
None |
None
|
|||
| Brian Virginia |
15 RICs
9 other accounts |
$63.03 billion
$2.72 million |
None | None | |||
| Corey Lorenzen |
1 RIC
12 other accounts |
$0.00
$0.68 million |
None | None | |||
| Jason Callan |
14 RICs
9 PIVs 5 other accounts |
$19.34 billion
$12.31 billion $3.42 million |
None | None | |||
| Tom Heuer |
4 RICs
5 other accounts |
$4.34 billion
$3.35 million |
None | None | |||
| Ryan Osborn |
3 RICs
6 other accounts |
$4.32 billion
$2.06 million |
None | None | |||
| Multi Strategy Alternatives Fund (continued) |
AQR:
Jordan Brooks |
2 RICs 1 PIV |
$141.03 million $1.27 million |
1 PIV ($1.27 M) |
None |
AQR |
AQR |
| David Kupersmith |
1 RIC
3 PIVs |
$25.32 million
$571.18 million |
3 PIVs
($571.18 M) |
None | |||
| Lars Nielsen |
45 RICs
47 PIVs 38 other accounts |
$20.84 billion
$13.14 billion $17.29 billion |
1 RIC
($124.02 B) 43 RICs ($11.42 B) 15 other accounts ($7.02 B) |
None | |||
| Ashwin Thapar |
51 PIVs
35 other accounts |
$13.54 billion
$16.28 billion |
46 PIVs
($11.27 B) 14 other accounts ($6.61 B) |
None | |||
|
QMA:
Marco Aiolfi |
3 RICs 1 other account |
$57.38 million $26.74 million |
None |
None |
QMA |
QMA |
|
| Yesim Tokat-Acikel |
3 RICs
1 other account |
$57.38 million
$26.74 million |
None | None | |||
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 107 |
| Other Accounts Managed (excluding the Fund) |
Ownership
of Fund Shares |
Potential
Conflicts of Interest |
Structure
of Compensation |
||||
| Fund | Portfolio Manager |
Number
and Type of Account* |
Approximate
Total Net Assets |
Performance–
Based Accounts** |
|||
| For Funds with fiscal year ending July 31– Information is as of July 31, 2020, unless otherwise noted | |||||||
|
Large Cap
Growth Fund |
Melda Mergen |
6 RICs
16 other accounts |
$5.34 billion
$641.24 million |
None |
$1 –
$10,000(a) |
Columbia Management | Columbia Management |
| Peter Santoro |
7 RICs
1 PIV 62 other accounts |
$28.31 billion
$167.76 million $2.68 billion |
None |
$50,001 –
$100,000(b) |
|||
| Tchintcia Barros |
2 RICs
6 other accounts |
$3.82 billion
$31.61 million |
None |
$10,001 –
$50,000(b) |
|||
|
OR
Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund |
Paul Fuchs |
10 RICs
7 other accounts |
$2.73 billion
$15.52 million |
None | None | Columbia Management | Columbia Management |
| Anders Myhran |
15 RICs
4 other accounts |
$5.07 billion
$125.05 million |
None | None | |||
| Deborah Vargo |
10 RICs
142 other accounts |
$2.73 billion
$1.69 billion |
None | None | |||
|
Tax–Exempt
Fund |
Kimberly Campbell |
1 RIC
12 other accounts |
$62.87 million
$187.80 million |
None |
$100,001 –
$500,000(a) $50,001 – $100,000(b) |
Columbia Management | Columbia Management |
| Catherine Stienstra |
7 RICs
3 other accounts |
$5.45 billion
$1.70 million |
None |
$100,001 –
$500,000(a) $50,001 – $100,000(b) |
|||
|
U.S. Social
Bond Fund |
Kimberly Campbell |
1 RIC
12 other accounts |
$3.31 billion
$187.80 million |
None |
$10,001 –
$50,000(b) |
Columbia Management | Columbia Management |
| Tom Murphy |
8 RICs
15 PIVs 24 other accounts |
$4.64 billion
$23.69 billion $4.18 billion |
None | None | |||
| Malcolm (Mac) Ryerse |
6 other
accounts |
$1.87 million | None |
$10,001 –
$50,000(a) $10,001 – $50,000(b) |
|||
|
Ultra Short
Term Bond Fund |
Ronald Stahl |
3 RICs
12 PIVs 46 other accounts |
$3.63 billion
$2.07 billion $5.85 billion |
None | None | Columbia Management | Columbia Management |
| Greg Liechty |
3 RICs
12 PIVs 44 other accounts |
$3.63 billion
$2.07 billion $5.57 billion |
None | None | |||
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 108 |
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 109 |
| Other Accounts Managed (excluding the Fund) |
Ownership
of Fund Shares |
Potential
Conflicts of Interest |
Structure
of Compensation |
||||
| Fund | Portfolio Manager |
Number
and Type of Account* |
Approximate
Total Net Assets |
Performance–
Based Accounts** |
|||
|
International
Dividend Income Fund |
Jonathan Crown |
2 PIVs
3 other accounts |
$510.27 million
$2.98 billion |
None | None(c) | Threadneedle | Threadneedle |
| Georgina Hellyer |
2 PIVs
2 other account |
$510.27 million
$2.94 billion |
None | None(c) | |||
|
Mid Cap
Growth Fund |
Matthew Litfin |
4 RICs
9 other accounts |
$5.79 billion
$25.27 million |
None |
$100,001 –
$500,000(a) $100,001 – $500,000(b) |
Columbia WAM | Columbia Management |
| Erika Maschmeyer |
2 RICs
8 other accounts |
$4.90 billion
$19.73 million |
None |
$50,001 –
$100,000(b) |
|||
| John Emerson |
2 RICs
7 other accounts |
$661.95 million
$20.21 million |
None |
$50,001 –
$100,000(b) |
|||
|
MM Alternative
Strategies Fund |
AlphaSimplex:
Alexander Healy |
6 RICs 2 PIVs 6 other accounts |
$2.49 billion $629.75 million $626.54 million |
None |
None |
AlphaSimplex |
AlphaSimplex |
| Kathryn Kaminski |
2 RICs
2 PIVs 3 other accounts |
$1.67 billion
$629.75 million $560.94 million |
None | None | |||
| Philippe Lüdi |
4 RICs
2 PIVs 3 other accounts |
$2.33 billion
$629.75 million $560.94 million |
None | None | |||
| John Perry |
2 RICs
2 PIVs 3 other accounts |
$1.67 billion
$629.75 million $560.94 million |
None | None | |||
| Robert Rickard |
5 RICs
2 PIVs |
$2.42 billion
$629.75 million |
None | None | |||
|
AQR:
Clifford Asness |
21 RICs 32 PIVs 47 other accounts |
$9.37 billion $9.56 billion $23.18 billion |
30 PIVs ($8.17 B) 19 other accounts ($9.38 B) |
None |
AQR |
AQR |
|
| John Liew |
11 RICs
22 PIVs 24 other accounts |
$4.93 billion
$7.29 billion $11.78 billion |
21 PIVs
($6.07 B) 9 other accounts ($5.32 B) |
None | |||
| Yao Hua Ooi |
15 RICs
32 PIVs 1 other account |
$10.05 billion
$10.75 billion $309.26 million |
30 PIVs
($10.01 B) |
None | |||
| Ari Levine |
5 RICs
26 PIVs 5 other accounts |
$4.21 billion
$8.92 billion $3.46 billion |
24 PIVs
($7.48 B) 2 other accounts ($946 M) |
None | |||
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 110 |
| Other Accounts Managed (excluding the Fund) |
Ownership
of Fund Shares |
Potential
Conflicts of Interest |
Structure
of Compensation |
||||
| Fund | Portfolio Manager |
Number
and Type of Account* |
Approximate
Total Net Assets |
Performance–
Based Accounts** |
|||
|
MM Alternative
Strategies Fund (continued) |
Manulife:
Daniel Janis III |
5 RICs 50 PIVs 13 other accounts |
$7.11 billion $19.95 billion $10.73 billion |
1 PIV ($11.1 M) 1 other account ($7.21 B) |
None |
Manulife |
Manulife |
| Christopher Chapman |
5 RICs
44 PIVs 13 other accounts |
$7.11 billion
$18.58 billion $10.73 billion |
1 other
account ($7.21 B) |
None | |||
| Thomas Goggins |
5 RICs
48 PIVs 13 other accounts |
$7.11 billion
$18.62 billion $10.73 billion |
1 PIV
($11.1 M) 1 other account ($7.21 B) |
None | |||
| Kisoo Park |
5 RICs
44 PIVs 13 other accounts |
$7.11 billion
$18.58 billion $10.73 billion |
1 other
account ($7.21 B) |
None | |||
|
TCW:
Tad Rivelle |
29 RICs 47 PIVs 207 other accounts |
$127.53 billion $17.36 billion $51.52 billion |
27 PIVs ($3.53 B) 8 other accounts ($4.74 B) |
None |
TCW |
TCW |
|
| Stephen Kane |
31 RICs
27 PIVs 192 other accounts |
$121.13 billion
$14.49 billion $45.71 billion |
10 PIVs
($2.68 B) 7 other accounts ($4.55 B) |
None | |||
| Laird Landmann |
28 RICs
17 PIVs 180 other accounts |
$121.35 billion
$11.08 billion $40.75 billion |
3 PIVs
($598.50 M) 7 other accounts ($4.55 B) |
None | |||
| Bryan Whalen |
26 RICs
38 PIVs 198 other accounts |
$120.34 billion
$14.03 billion $46.93 billion |
20 PIVs
($1.45 B) 8 other accounts ($4.74 B) |
None | |||
|
Water Island:
Edward Chen |
2 RICs |
$108.00 million |
None |
None |
Water Island |
Water Island |
|
| Gregory Loprete | 3 RICs | $460.00 million | None | None | |||
| Todd Munn |
4 RICs
1 PIV |
$1.86 billion
$120.00 million |
None | None | |||
| Roger P. Foltynowicz |
4 RICs
1 PIV |
$1.86 billion
$120.00 million |
None | None | |||
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 111 |
| Other Accounts Managed (excluding the Fund) |
Ownership
of Fund Shares |
Potential
Conflicts of Interest |
Structure
of Compensation |
||||
| Fund | Portfolio Manager |
Number
and Type of Account* |
Approximate
Total Net Assets |
Performance–
Based Accounts** |
|||
|
MM Intl Equity
Strategies Fund |
Arrowstreet:
Peter Rathjens |
3 RICs
58 PIVs 78 other accounts |
$2.16 billon
$57.58 billion $52.39 billion |
1 RIC
($130.12 M) 25 PIVs ($37.21 B) 16 other accounts ($14.19 B) |
None |
Arrowstreet |
Arrowstreet |
| John Campbell(d) |
3 RICs
58 PIVs 78 other accounts |
$2.16 billon
$57.58 billion $52.39 billion |
1 RIC
($130.12 M) 25 PIVs ($37.21 B) 16 other accounts ($14.19 B) |
None | |||
| Manolis Liodakis |
3 RICs
58 PIVs 78 other accounts |
$1.01 billon
$77.80 million $227.29 billion |
1 RIC
($130.12 M) 25 PIVs ($37.21 B) 16 other accounts ($14.19 B) |
None | |||
| Derek Vance(d) |
3 RICs
58 PIVs 78 other accounts |
$1.02 billon
$182.15 million $687.17 million |
1 RIC
($130.12 M) 25 PIVs ($37.21 B) 16 other accounts ($14.19 B) |
None | |||
| Christopher Malloy(d) |
3 RICs
58 PIVs 78 other accounts |
$593.92 million
$107.02 million $1.12 billion |
1 RIC
($130.12 M) 25 PIVs ($37.21 B) 16 other accounts ($14.19 B) |
None | |||
|
Baillie Gifford:
Donald Farquharson |
4 RICs
2 PIVs 42 other accounts |
$6.75 billion
$1.61 billion $19.90 billion |
6 other
accounts ($3.06 B) |
None |
Baillie Gifford |
Baillie Gifford |
|
| Jenny Davis |
4 RICs
1 PIV 35 other accounts |
$6.75 billion
$317.00 million $16.27 billion |
5 other
accounts ($2.77 B) |
None | |||
| Angus Franklin |
4 RICs
1 PIV 35 other accounts |
$6.75 billion
$317.00 million $16.27 billion |
5 other
accounts ($2.77 B) |
None | |||
| Andrew Stobart |
6 RICs
4 PIVs 48 other accounts |
$11.60 billion
$2.46 billion $23.57 billion |
1 RIC
($166.00 M) 1 PIV ($75.00 M) 5 other accounts ($2.77 B) |
None | |||
| Tom Walsh |
4 RICs
1 PIV 35 other accounts |
$6.75 billion
$317.00 million $16.27 billion |
5 other
accounts ($2.77 B) |
None | |||
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 112 |
| Other Accounts Managed (excluding the Fund) |
Ownership
of Fund Shares |
Potential
Conflicts of Interest |
Structure
of Compensation |
||||
| Fund | Portfolio Manager |
Number
and Type of Account* |
Approximate
Total Net Assets |
Performance–
Based Accounts** |
|||
|
Causeway:
Sarah Ketterer |
12 RICs
23 PIVs 142 other accounts |
$11.22 billion
$4.89 billion $18.07 billion |
4 other
accounts ($1.44 B) |
None |
Causeway |
Causeway |
|
| Harry Hartford |
12 RICs
23 PIVs 90 other accounts |
$11.22 billion
$4.89 billion $17.84 billion |
4 other
accounts ($1.44 B) |
None | |||
| Conor Muldoon |
12 RICs
23 PIVs 89 other accounts |
$11.22 billion
$4.89 billion $17.84 billion |
4 other
accounts ($1.44 B)) |
None | |||
| Alessandro Valentini |
12 RICs
23 PIVs 84 other accounts |
$11.22 billion
$4.89 billion $17.84 billion |
4 other
accounts ($1.44 B) |
None | |||
| Jonathan Eng |
12 RICs
23 PIVs 85 other accounts |
$11.22 billion
$4.89 billion $17.85 billion |
4 other
accounts ($1.44 B) |
None | |||
| Ellen Lee |
12 RICs
23 PIVs 83 other accounts |
$11.22 billion
$4.89 billion $17.84 billion |
4 other
accounts ($1.44 B) |
None | |||
|
MM Small Cap
Equity Strategies Fund |
Columbia Management:
Jarl Ginsberg |
2 RICs 1 PIV 67 other accounts |
$1.16 billion $49.79 million $30.39 million |
None |
None |
Columbia Management | Columbia Management |
| Christian Stadlinger |
2 RICs
1 PIV 66 other accounts |
$1.16 billion
$49.79 million $37.35 million |
None | None | |||
|
Conestoga:
Robert Mitchell |
2 RICs 1 PIV 235 other accounts |
$3.31 billion $262.59 million $2.03 billion |
None |
None |
Conestoga |
Conestoga |
|
| Joseph Monahan |
2 RICs
1 PIV 235 other accounts |
$3.31 billion
$262.59 million $2.03 billion |
None | None | |||
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 113 |
| Other Accounts Managed (excluding the Fund) |
Ownership
of Fund Shares |
Potential
Conflicts of Interest |
Structure
of Compensation |
||||
| Fund | Portfolio Manager |
Number
and Type of Account* |
Approximate
Total Net Assets |
Performance–
Based Accounts** |
|||
|
MM Small Cap
Equity Strategies Fund (continued) |
Hotchkis &
Wiley: Judd Peters |
19 RICs
12 PIVs 50 other accounts |
$14.95 billion
$1.13 billion $7.48 billion |
2 RICs
($8.92 B) 1 PIV ($21.00 M) 5 other accounts ($1.53 B) |
None |
Hotchkis & Wiley |
Hotchkis & Wiley |
| Ryan Thomes |
19 RICs
12 PIVs 50 other accounts |
$14.95 billion
$1.13 billion $7.48 billion |
2 RICs
($8.92 B) 1 PIV ($21.00 M) 5 other accounts ($1.53 B) |
None | |||
|
BMO:
David Corris |
8 RICs 17 PIVs 92 other accounts |
$1.46 billion $3.67 billion $5.48 billion |
None |
None |
BMO |
BMO |
|
| Thomas Lettenberger |
4 RICs
7 PIVs 31 other accounts |
$353.80 million
$533.00 million $787.60 million |
None | None | |||
|
JPMIM:
Eytan Shapiro |
3 RICs 4 PIVs 2 other accounts |
$5.42 billion $1.78 billion $455.00 million |
None |
None |
JPMIM |
JPMIM |
|
| Felise Agranoff |
6 RICs
1 PIV 3 other accounts |
$15.09 billion
$79.00 million $151.00 million |
None | None | |||
| Matthew Cohen |
2 RICs
1 PIV 1 other account |
$4.86 billion
$3.45 billion $1.87 billion |
1 other
account ($1.87 B) |
None | |||
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 114 |
| Other Accounts Managed (excluding the Fund) |
Ownership
of Fund Shares |
Potential
Conflicts of Interest |
Structure
of Compensation |
||||
| Fund | Portfolio Manager |
Number
and Type of Account* |
Approximate
Total Net Assets |
Performance–
Based Accounts** |
|||
|
MM Total
Return Bond Strategies Fund |
Loomis Sayles:
Christopher Harms |
17 RICs 8 PIVs 205 other accounts |
$2.57 billion $8.18 billion $20.73 billion |
None |
None |
Loomis Sayles |
Loomis Sayles |
| Clifton Rowe |
17 RICs
8 PIVs 187 other accounts |
$2.57 billion
$8.18 billion $20.02 billion |
None | None | |||
| Daniel Conklin |
17 RICs
8 PIVs 182 other accounts |
$2.57 billion
$8.18 billion $20.02 billion |
None | None | |||
|
PGIM:
Michael Collins |
21 RICs 17 PIVs 75 other accounts |
$88.98 billion $27.20 billion $58.66 billion |
1 PIV ($1.08 B) 6 other accounts ($4.79 B) |
None |
PGIM |
PGIM |
|
| Robert Tipp |
29 RICS
20 PIVs 79 other accounts |
$92.13 billion
$28.81 billion $60.50 billion |
1 PIV
($1.08 B) 6 other accounts ($4.80 B) |
` | |||
| Richard Piccirillo |
27 RICs
15 PIVs 99 other accounts |
$88.01 billion
$27.30 billion $61.67 billion |
1 PIV
($1.08 B) 4 other accounts ($1.86 B) |
None | |||
| Gregory Peters |
29 RICs
19 PIVs 112 other accounts |
$89.98 billion
$43.64 billion $70.37 billion |
1 PIV
($1.08 B) 4 other accounts ($1.86 B) |
None | |||
|
TCW:
Tad Rivelle |
29 RICs 47 PIVs 207 other accounts |
$125.13 billion $17.36 billion $51.52 billion |
27 PIVs ($3.53 B) 8 other accounts ($4.74 B) |
None |
TCW |
TCW |
|
| Stephen Kane |
31 RICs
27 PIVs 192 other accounts |
$118.73 billion
$14.49 billion $45.71 billion |
10 PIVs
($2.68 B) 7 other accounts ($4.55 B) |
None | |||
| Laird Landmann |
28 RICs
17 PIVs 180 other accounts |
$118.95 billion
$11.08 billion $40.75 billion |
3 PIVs
($598.50 M) 7 other accounts ($4.55 B) |
None | |||
| Bryan Whalen |
26 RICs
38 PIVs 198 other accounts |
$117.94 billion
$14.03 billion $46.93 billion |
20 PIVs
($1.45 B) 8 other accounts ($4.74 B) |
None | |||
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 115 |
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 116 |
| Other Accounts Managed (excluding the Fund) |
Ownership
of Fund Shares |
Potential
Conflicts of Interest |
Structure
of Compensation |
||||
| Fund | Portfolio Manager |
Number
and Type of Account* |
Approximate
Total Net Assets |
Performance–
Based Accounts** |
|||
| For Funds with fiscal year ending October 31 – Information is as of October 31, 2019, unless otherwise noted | |||||||
|
CT
Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund |
Paul Fuchs |
10 RICs
7 other accounts |
$3.03 billion
$19.50 million |
None | None | Columbia Management | Columbia Management |
| Anders Myhran |
15 RICs
4 other accounts |
$5.35 billion
$147.36 million |
None | None | |||
| Deborah Vargo |
10 RICs
124 other accounts |
$3.03 billion
$1.65 billion |
None | None | |||
|
Intermediate
Municipal Bond Fund |
Paul Fuchs |
10 RICs
7 other accounts |
$1.89 billion
$19.50 million |
None |
$10,001 –
$50,000(a) $10,001 – $50,000(b) |
Columbia Management | Columbia Management |
| Anders Myhran |
15 RICs
4 other accounts |
$4.21 billion
$147.36 million |
None | None | |||
| Deborah Vargo |
10 RICs
124 other accounts |
$1.89 billion
$1.65 billion |
None | None | |||
|
MA
Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund |
Paul Fuchs |
10 RICs
7 other accounts |
$2.91 billion
$19.50 million |
None |
$10,001 –
$50,000(a) |
Columbia Management | Columbia Management |
| Anders Myhran |
15 RICs
4 other accounts |
$5.23 billion
$147.36 million |
None | None | |||
| Deborah Vargo |
10 RICs
124 other accounts |
$2.91 billion
$1.65 billion |
None |
$10,001-$50,000(a)
|
|||
|
NY
Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund |
Paul Fuchs |
10 RICs
7 other accounts |
$2.90 billion
$19.50 million |
None | None | Columbia Management | Columbia Management |
| Anders Myhran |
15 RICs
4 other accounts |
$5.22 billion
$147.36 million |
None | None | |||
| Deborah Vargo |
10 RICs
124 other accounts |
$2.90 billion
$1.65 billion |
None | None | |||
|
Strategic CA
Municipal Income Fund |
Catherine Stienstra |
7 RICs
4 other accounts |
$8.03 billion
$1.44 million |
None | None | Columbia Management | Columbia Management |
| Anders Myhran |
15 RICs
4 other accounts |
$4.86 billion
$147.36 million |
None | None | |||
| Douglas White |
4 RICs
6 other accounts |
$3.82 billion
$5.71 million |
None | None | |||
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 117 |
| * | RIC refers to a Registered Investment Company; PIV refers to a Pooled Investment Vehicle. |
| ** | Number and type of accounts for which the advisory fee paid is based in part or wholly on performance and the aggregate net assets in those accounts. |
| (a) | Excludes any notional investments. |
| (b) | Notional investments through a deferred compensation account. |
| (c) | The Fund is available for sale only in the U.S. The portfolio manager does not reside in the U.S. and therefore does not hold any shares of the Fund. |
| (d) | The portfolio manager began managing the Fund after its last fiscal year end. |
| (e) | Mr. Lundgren has announced that he plans to retire effective March 1, 2021. Until then, Mr. Lundgren will continue to serve as a portfolio manager of the Fund. Accordingly, effective March 1, 2021, all references to Mr. Lundgren in the SAI for the Fund are hereby removed. |
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 118 |
Potential Conflicts of Interest
| AlphaSimplex: AlphaSimplex and its investment personnel provide investment management services to multiple portfolios for multiple clients. AlphaSimplex may purchase or sell securities for one client portfolio and not another client portfolio, and the performance of securities purchased for one portfolio may vary from the performance of securities purchased for other portfolios. In addition, client account structures may have fee structures, such as performance-based fees, that differ. The firm has adopted and implemented a Statement of Policy and Procedures Regarding Allocation Among Investment Advisory Clients intended to address conflicts of interest relating to the management of multiple accounts, including accounts with multiple fee arrangements, and the allocation of investment opportunities. AlphaSimplex reviews investment decisions for the purpose of ensuring that all accounts with substantially similar investment objectives are treated equitably. The performance of similarly managed accounts is also regularly compared to determine whether there are any unexplained significant discrepancies. Finally, AlphaSimplex has adopted trade allocation procedures that require equitable allocation of trade orders for a particular security among participating accounts. The implementation of these procedures is monitored by AlphaSimplex’s Chief Compliance Officer. |
| In addition, AlphaSimplex is aware of the potential for a conflict of interest in cases where AlphaSimplex, a related person or any of their employees, buys or sells securities recommended by AlphaSimplex to the clients. AlphaSimplex, in recognition of its fiduciary obligations to its clients and its desire to maintain its high ethical standards, has adopted a Code of Ethics containing provisions designed to prevent improper personal trading, identify conflicts of interest and provide a means to resolve any actual or potential conflict in favor of the client. AlphaSimplex requires all employees to obtain preclearance of personal securities transactions (other than certain exempted transactions as set forth in the Code of Ethics). |
| AQR: Each of the portfolio managers is also responsible for managing other accounts in addition to the respective Funds the portfolio manager manages, including other accounts of AQR, or its affiliates. Other accounts may include, without limitation, separately managed accounts for foundations, endowments, pension plans, and high net-worth families; registered investment companies; unregistered investment companies relying on either Section 3(c)(1) or Section 3(c)(7) of the 1940 Act (such companies are commonly referred to as “hedge funds”); foreign investment companies; and may also include accounts or investments managed or made by the portfolio managers in a personal or other capacity (“Proprietary Accounts”). Management of other accounts in addition to the Funds can present certain conflicts of interest, as described below. |
| From time to time, potential conflicts of interest may arise between a portfolio manager’s management of the investments of the Funds, on the one hand, and the management of other accounts (including for the purposes of this discussion, Proprietary Accounts), on the other. The other accounts might have similar investment objectives or strategies as the Funds, or otherwise hold, purchase, or sell securities that are eligible to be held, purchased or sold by the Funds. Because of their positions with the Funds, the portfolio managers know the size, timing and possible market impact of the Funds' trades. A potential conflict of interest exists where portfolio managers could use this information to the advantage of other accounts they manage and to the possible detriment of the Funds. |
| A number of potential conflicts of interest may arise as a result of AQR’s or the portfolio manager’s management of a number of accounts with similar investment strategies. Often, an investment opportunity may be suitable for both the Funds and other accounts, but may not be available in sufficient quantities for both the Funds and the other accounts to participate fully. Similarly, there may be limited opportunity to sell an investment held by the Funds and another account. In circumstances where the amount of total exposure to a strategy or investment type across accounts is, in the opinion of AQR, capacity constrained, the availability of the strategy or investment type for the Funds and other accounts may be reduced in AQR’s discretion. The Funds may therefore have reduced exposure to a capacity constrained strategy or investment type, which could adversely affect the Funds' return. AQR is not obligated to allocate capacity pro rata and may take its financial interests into account when allocating capacity among the Funds and other accounts. Among other things, capacity constraints in a particular strategy or investment type could cause the Fund to close to all or certain new investors |
| Another conflict could arise where different account guidelines and/or differences within particular investment strategies may lead to the use of different investment practices for portfolios with a similar investment strategy. AQR will not necessarily purchase or sell the same instruments at the same time or in the same direction (particularly if different accounts have different strategies), or in the same proportionate amounts for all eligible accounts (particularly if different accounts have materially different amounts of capital under management, different amounts of investable cash available, different investment restrictions, or different risk tolerances). As a result, although AQR manages numerous accounts and/or portfolios with similar or identical investment objectives, or may manage accounts with different objectives that trade in the same instruments, the portfolio decisions relating to these accounts, and the performance resulting from such decisions, may differ from account to account. AQR may, from time to time, implement new trading strategies or participate in new trading strategies for some but not all accounts, including the Funds. Strategies may not be implemented in the same manner among accounts where they are employed, even if the strategy is consistent with the objectives of such accounts. In certain |
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 119 |
| circumstances, investment opportunities that are in limited supply and/or have limited return potential in light of administrative costs of pursuing such investments (e.g., IPOS) are only allocated to accounts where the given opportunity is more closely aligned with the applicable strategy and/or trading approach. |
| Whenever decisions are made to buy or sell investments by the Funds and one or more other accounts simultaneously, AQR or the portfolio manager may aggregate the purchases and sales of the investments and will allocate the transactions in a manner that it believes to be equitable under the circumstances. To this end, AQR has adopted policies and procedures that are intended to assure that investment opportunities are allocated equitably among accounts over time. As a result of the allocations, there may be instances where the Funds will not participate in a transaction that is allocated among other accounts or the Funds may not be allocated the full amount of the investments sought to be traded. These aggregation and allocation policies could have a detrimental effect on the price or amount of the investments available to the Funds from time to time. Subject to applicable laws and/or account restrictions, AQR may buy, sell or hold securities for other accounts while entering into a different or opposite investment decision for one or more funds. |
| To the extent that the Funds holds interests in an issuer that are different (or more senior or junior) than, or potentially adverse to, those held by other accounts, AQR may be presented with investment decisions where the outcome would benefit one account and would not benefit or would harm the other account. This may include, but is not limited to, an account investing in a different security of an issuer’s capital structure than another account, an account investing in the same security but on different terms than another account, an account obtaining exposure to an investment using different types of securities or instruments than another account, an account engaging in short selling of securities that another account holds long, an account voting securities in a different manner than another account, and/or an account acquiring or disposing of its interests at different times than another account. This could have a material adverse effect on, or in some instances could benefit, one or more of such accounts, including accounts that are affiliates of AQR, accounts in which AQR has an interest, or accounts which pay AQR higher fees or a performance fee. These transactions or investments by one or more accounts could dilute or otherwise disadvantage the values, prices, or investment strategies of such accounts. When AQR, on behalf of an account, manages or implements a portfolio decision ahead of, or contemporaneously with, portfolio decisions of another account, market impact, liquidity constraints, or other factors could result in such other account receiving less favorable pricing or trading results, paying higher transaction costs, or being otherwise disadvantaged. In addition, in connection with the foregoing, AQR, on behalf of an account, is permitted to pursue or enforce rights or actions, or refrain from pursuing or enforcing rights or actions, with respect to a particular issuer in which action could materially adversely affect such other account. |
| In addition, when the Funds and other accounts hold investments in the same issuer (including at the same place in the capital structure), the Funds may be prohibited by applicable law from participating in restructurings, work-outs or other activities related to its investment in the issuer. As a result, the Funds may not be permitted by law to make the same investment decisions as other accounts in the same or similar situations even if AQR believes it would be in the Funds' best economic interests to do so. The Funds may be prohibited by applicable law from investing in an issuer (or an affiliate) that other accounts are also investing in or currently invest in even if AQR believes it would be in the best economic interests of the Funds to do so. Furthermore, entering into certain transactions that are not deemed prohibited by law when made may potentially lead to a condition that raises regulatory or legal concerns in the future. This may be the case, for example, with issuers that AQR considers to be at risk of default and restructuring or work-outs with debt holders, which may include the Funds and other accounts. In some cases, to avoid the potential of future prohibited transactions, AQR may avoid allocating an investment opportunity to the Funds that it would otherwise recommend, subject to the AQR’s then- current allocation policy and any applicable exemptions. |
| In certain circumstances, AQR may be restricted from transacting in a security or instrument because of material nonpublic information received in connection with an investment opportunity that is offered to AQR. In other circumstances, AQR will not participate in an investment opportunity to avoid receiving material nonpublic information that would restrict AQR from transacting in a security or instrument. These restrictions may adversely impact the Funds' performance. |
| AQR and the Funds' portfolio managers may also face a conflict of interest where some accounts pay higher fees to AQR than others, as they may have an incentive to favor accounts with the potential for greater fees. For instance, the entitlement to a performance fee in managing one or more accounts may create an incentive for AQR to take risks in managing assets that it would not otherwise take in the absence of such arrangements. Additionally, since performance fees reward AQR for performance in accounts which are subject to such fees, AQR may have an incentive to favor these accounts over those that have only fixed asset-based fees, such as the Funds, with respect to areas such as trading opportunities, trade allocation, and allocation of new investment opportunities. |
| AQR has implemented specific policies and procedures (e.g., a code of ethics and trade allocation policies) that seek to address potential conflicts of interest that may arise in connection with the management of the Funds and other accounts and that are designed to ensure that all accounts, including the Funds, are treated fairly and equitably over time. |
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| Arrowstreet: Arrowstreet offers institutional investors a select range of equity investment strategies: long-only, alpha extension and long/short. |
| Arrowstreet’s investment strategies are managed by a cohesive investment team. Individual strategies are not managed by individual investment professionals but rather all strategies are managed by the same team of investment professionals. This team approach to trading is designed to ensure that all research ideas and opinions are shared at the same time among all accounts without systematically favoring any one account over another. Arrowstreet manages a large number of client accounts and, as a result, potential conflicts of interest may arise from time to time. As a result, Arrowstreet has established a number of policies and procedures designed to mitigate and/or eliminate potential conflicts. Arrowstreet has established policies and procedures with respect to trade execution, aggregation and allocation. In addition, Arrowstreet maintains a comprehensive code of ethics addressing potential conflicts that could arise between Arrowstreet and its employees and its clients. |
| Arrowstreet believes that its policies and procedures are reasonably designed to address potential conflicts of interest. |
| Baillie Gifford: In addition to managing the Fund, individual portfolio managers are commonly responsible for managing other registered investment companies, other pooled investment vehicles and/or other accounts. These other accounts may have similar investment strategies to the Fund. Potential conflicts between the portfolio management of the Fund and the portfolio manager’s other accounts are managed by the Manager using allocation policies and procedures, and internal review processes. The Manager has developed trade allocation systems and controls to ensure that no one client, regardless of type, is intentionally favored at the expense of another. Allocation policies are designed to address potential conflicts in situations where two or more funds or accounts participate in investment decisions involving the same securities. |
| BMO: A conflict of interest may arise as a result of a portfolio manager being responsible for multiple accounts, including the Fund, which may have different investment guidelines and objectives. In addition to the Fund, these accounts may include other mutual funds managed on an advisory or subadvisory basis, separate accounts, and collective trust accounts. |
| An investment opportunity may be suitable for a Fund as well as for any of the other managed accounts. However, the investment may not be available in sufficient quantity for all of the accounts to participate fully. In addition, there may be limited opportunity to sell an investment held by a Fund and the other accounts. The other accounts may have similar investment objectives or strategies as the Fund, they may track the same benchmarks or indexes as the Fund tracks, and they may sell securities that are eligible to be held, sold or purchased by the Fund. A portfolio manager may be responsible for accounts that have different advisory fee schedules, which may create the incentive for the portfolio manager to favor one account over another in terms of access to investment opportunities. A portfolio manager also may manage accounts whose investment objectives and policies differ from those of the Fund, which may cause the portfolio manager to effect trading in one account that may have an adverse effect on the value of the holdings within another account, including a Fund. |
| To address and manage these potential conflicts of interest, BMO has adopted compliance policies and procedures to allocate investment opportunities and to ensure that each of its clients is treated on a fair and equitable basis. Such policies and procedures include, but are not limited to, trade allocation and trade aggregation policies, cross trading policies, portfolio manager assignment practices, and oversight by investment management, and/or compliance departments. |
| Boston Partners: Boston Partners owes its clients a duty of loyalty and monitors situations in which the interests of its advisory clients may be in conflict with its own interests. Boston Partners identifies business practices that may cause a conflict of interest between it and its clients, discloses such conflicts of interest to clients and develops reasonable procedures to mitigate such conflicts. |
| Boston Partners has identified the following potential conflicts of interest and the measures it uses to address these matters: |
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Equitable Treatment of Accounts
Boston Partners recognizes that potential conflicts may arise from the side-by-side management of registered investment companies and “investment accounts,” which include privately offered funds and separately managed accounts of individuals and institutional investors. Where Boston Partners’ separately managed accounts are charged performance fees, portfolio managers may be inclined to take investment risks that are outside the scope of such client’s investment objectives and strategy. In addition, since Boston Partners’ private investment funds charge performance fees and share those fees with portfolio managers, such portfolio managers may also be inclined to take additional investment risks. Boston Partners maintains a Trade Allocation and Aggregation Policy as well as a Simultaneous Management Policy to ensure that client accounts are treated equitably. The Compliance Department (“CD”) reviews allocations and dispersion regularly, and accounts within the same strategy are precluded from simultaneously holding a security long and short. There are certain circumstances that would permit a long/short portfolio to take a contra position in a security that is held in another strategy. This happens very infrequently and the contra position is generally not related to the fundamental views of the security (i.e. – initiating a long position in a security at year-end to take advantage of tax-loss selling as a short term investment, or initiating a position based solely on its relative weight in the benchmark to manage investment risk). However in certain |
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| situations, the investment constraints of a strategy, including but not limited to country, region, industry or benchmark, may result in a different investment thesis for the same security. Each situation is fully vetted and approved by the firm’s Chief Investment Officer or his designee. Risk Management performs periodic reviews to ensure the product complies with the investment strategy and defined risk parameters. |
| Furthermore, since Boston Partners charges a performance fee on certain accounts, and in particular these accounts may receive “new issues” allocations, Boston Partners has a conflict of interest in allocating new issues to these accounts. Boston Partners maintains an IPO Allocation Policy and the CD assists in, and/or reviews, the allocation of new issues to ensure that IPOS are being allocated among all eligible accounts in an equitable manner. |
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Utilizing Brokerage to Advantage Boston Partners
Boston Partners does not place trades through affiliated brokers. Securities trades are executed through brokerage firms with which Boston Partners maintains other advantageous relationships, such as soft dollars. In these cases, the broker may expect commission business in return. Boston Partners has established a Trade Management Oversight Committee to evaluate brokerage services and to review commissions paid to brokers. In addition, Boston Partners maintains a Best Execution Policy and a Soft Dollar Policy to assist in its monitoring efforts. Boston Partners also identifies affiliates of the investment companies for which it acts as investment adviser or sub adviser to ensure it is trading in accordance with applicable rules and regulations. |
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Directed Brokerage
Boston Partners faces an inherent conflict since it is in a position to direct client transactions to a broker or dealer in exchange for distribution capacity. Boston Partners maintains policies which prohibit its traders from considering a broker-dealer’s distribution capacity for promoting or selling Boston Partners’ separate account services, mutual funds, or proprietary funds (collectively “Boston Partners’ Services”) during the broker selection process. Nor will Boston Partners compensate any broker either directly or indirectly by directing brokerage transactions to that broker for consideration in selling Boston Partners’ Services. |
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Mixed Use Allocations and Use of Soft Dollars to Benefit Adviser
Soft dollar services which have a “mixed use” allocation present a conflict of interest when determining the allocation between those services that primarily benefit Boston Partners’ clients and those that primarily benefit Boston Partners. In addition, a conflict of interest exists when Boston Partners uses soft dollars to pay expenses that would normally be paid by Boston Partners. Boston Partners has developed soft dollar policies which require it to make a good faith allocation of “mixed use” services and to document its analysis. In addition, the CD reviews all requests for soft dollars to ensure inclusion under the safe harbor of Section 28 (e) of the Exchange Act. |
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Trade Errors
A conflict arises when an investment adviser requests a broker/dealer to absorb the cost of a trade error in return for increased trading and/or commissions. Boston Partners prohibits correcting a trade error for any quid pro quo with a broker and has procedures for the proper correction of trade errors. |
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Principal Transactions
A principal transaction occurs when an investment adviser, acting for the account of itself or an affiliate buys a security from, or sells a security to a client. An inherent conflict of interest exists since an adviser has an opportunity to transfer unwanted securities from its account to a client's account, sell securities to a client’s account at prices above the market, or transfer more favorably priced securities from a client account to its account. Boston Partners generally does not permit the selling of a security from one client account and the purchasing of the same security in another client account if Boston Partners has a principal interest in one of the accounts at the time of the transaction. Additionally, Boston Partners requires that clients give consent by signing subscription agreements to purchase a pooled investment vehicle in which Boston Partners or a related entity has an interest. |
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Cross Trades
Cross transactions between clients create an inherent conflict of interest because Boston Partners has a duty to obtain the most favorable price for both the selling client and the purchasing client. Boston Partners generally does not engage in cross trading, however Boston Partners has procedures to ensure that any cross trade is in the best interests of all clients. |
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Affiliated Investments
Potential conflicts exist if Boston Partners directs client investments into affiliated vehicles in order to increase the size of these vehicles and thereby increase its compensation by (a) lowering overall expenses of the vehicle, some of which Boston Partners may have responsibility for; (b) permitting greater marketing of the vehicle which will generate greater fee revenue for Boston Partners; or (c) allowing Boston Partners or an affiliate to redeem its investment capital in such vehicle. To mitigate any detriment to the client, Boston Partners has product suitability procedures and will obtain a client’s consent prior to investing client assets in an affiliated vehicle. |
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Proprietary Trading Opportunities
Employees are in a position to take investment opportunities for themselves or Boston Partners before such opportunities are executed on behalf of clients. Employees have a duty to advance Boston Partners’ client interests before Boston Partners interests or their personal interests. Boston Partners must assure that employees do not favor their own or Boston Partners’ accounts. The Code of Ethics (“the Code”) includes procedures on ethical conduct and personal trading, including preclearance and blackout procedures, to which all employees are subject. |
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Insider Trading/Non-Public Information
Employees are in a position to learn material nonpublic information. Such employees are in a position to trade in their personal accounts on such information, to the potential disadvantage of client accounts. The Code addresses insider trading including permissible activities. Employees certify, at least annually, that they are in compliance with the Code. |
| Boston Partners periodically discusses securities which may be held in client accounts with external investment professionals when sourcing and analyzing investment ideas. These discussions may include but are not limited to economic factors, market outlook, sector and industry views, and general and/or specific information regarding securities. Discussion of specific securities creates a conflict which could disadvantage Boston Partners’ clients if the external parties were to act upon this information, including but not limited to front-running and scalping either particular securities or numerous securities in a similar sector to the extent such information is known about Boston Partners’ holdings. Boston Partners has policies prohibiting discussion of client investments for non-business purposes and has outlined permissible activities as well as certain other prohibitions when sourcing investment ideas for business purposes. |
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Value-Added Investors
A senior executive from a public company or a private company that is a hedge fund, broker-dealer, investment adviser, or investment bank, (collectively “VAIs”), may invest in Boston Partners’ private funds. A conflict exists if Boston Partners invests in companies affiliated with a VAI or if a VAI who works at a private company provide material non-public information to Boston Partners or vice versa. Both of these conflicts raise issues with respect to information sharing. Boston Partners has procedures to: i) identify these individuals through its annual outside businesses questionnaire, its annual compliance questionnaire, review of new account start-up documents, and its 5130 and 5131 questionnaires, and ii) monitor conflicts these persons present through its pre-trade compliance system and/or email surveillance. |
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Selective Disclosure
Selective disclosure occurs when material information is given to a single investor, or a limited group of investors, and not to all investors at the same time. This practice may allow one set of investors to profit on undisclosed information prior to giving others the same opportunity. In order to prevent this conflict of interest, Boston Partners has procedures regarding the dissemination of account holdings. |
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Valuation of Client Accounts
Because Boston Partners calculates its own advisory fees, it has an incentive to over-value such accounts to either increase the fees payable by the client, or to conceal poor performance for an incentive fee. Boston Partners has several safeguards in place to mitigate this conflict. Boston Partners has a policy for the valuation of securities. Boston Partners’ Operations Department (“Operations”) reconciles cash, assets, and prices for all client accounts with the client’s custodian bank’s records on a monthly basis. Finally, as part of Boston Partners annual financial review, external auditors review a sample of client fee invoices. |
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Representing Clients
At times, clients may request Boston Partners represent their interests in class action litigation, bankruptcies or other matters. Boston Partners’ expertise lies in investment management and has an inherent conflict of interest if cast in any other role. When possible, Boston Partners’ investment management agreements include provisions that Boston Partners will not act on behalf of the client in class actions, bankruptcies or matters of litigation. |
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Outside Business Activities
An employee’s outside business activities may conflict with the employee’s duties to Boston Partners and its clients. Boston Partners requires all employees to disclose any outside employment to the CD, who, in conjunction with the employee’s supervisor and the Director of HR, will identify any potential conflicts. In the event that a resolution to the conflict cannot be reached, the employee may be asked to terminate either his outside employment or his position with Boston Partners. |
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Business Gifts and Entertainment
Boston Partners employees periodically give or receive gifts from clients. Boston Partners employees host clients or receive entertainment provided by a client. Such gifts or entertainment may be considered efforts to gain unfair advantage. Boston Partners maintains a gifts and entertainment policy and has developed a “Q&A” guide for employees regarding certain types |
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| of gifts and entertainment. Generally, employees are not permitted to give or receive gifts of more than $100 in value, per person, per year. Entertainment that is normal or customary in the industry is considered appropriate. Employees should consult the CD if they are unsure about a particular gift or value of entertainment. |
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Illegal or Unethical Behavior
Unethical or illegal conduct by employees damages Boston Partners’ ability to meet its fiduciary duties to clients. Employees are required to report to management any actual or suspected illegal or unethical conduct on the part of other employees of which they become aware or any situations in which they are concerned about the “best course of action.” In addition, employees are required to certify annually that they are in compliance with this Manual. Regardless of whether a government inquiry occurs, Boston Partners views seriously any violation of this Manual. Disciplinary sanctions may be imposed on any employee committing a violation of this Manual. |
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Proxy Voting
Boston Partners’ proxy voting authority for its clients, puts it in a position where its interests may conflict with the best interests of its clients when determining how to vote. Boston Partners has a proxy voting policy and has engaged an outside vendor to execute proxies according to this policy. Boston Partners has a procedure to handle conflicts of interest which may arise in voting client securities. |
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Consulting Relationships
Boston Partners may purchase software, educational programs and peer group information from consulting firms that represent Boston Partners clients. Due to the lack of payment transparency, these relationships could give rise to improper activity on the part of the investment adviser or the consultant. Products purchased from consultants must serve a legitimate need for Boston Partners’ business and may not be acquired to influence a consultant’s recommendation of Boston Partners. |
| Causeway: The portfolio managers who subadvise a portion of the assets of the Fund also manage their own personal accounts and other accounts, including accounts for corporations, pension plans, public retirement plans, sovereign wealth funds, superannuation funds, Taft-Hartley pension plans, endowments and foundations, mutual funds and other collective investment vehicles, charities, private trusts and funds, wrap fee programs, and other institutions (collectively, “Other Accounts”). In managing certain of the Other Accounts, the portfolio managers employ investment strategies similar to those used in subadvising a portion of the Fund, subject to certain variations in investment restrictions. The portfolio managers purchase and sell securities for the Fund that they also recommend to Other Accounts. The portfolio managers at times give advice or take action with respect to certain accounts that differs from the advice given other accounts with similar investment strategies. Certain of the Other Accounts may pay higher or lower management fee rates than the Fund or pay performance-based fees to Causeway. Causeway is the investment adviser and sponsor of five mutual funds: Causeway International Value Fund, Causeway Global Value Fund, Causeway Emerging Markets Fund, Causeway International Opportunities Fund, and Causeway International Small Cap Fund (together, the “Causeway Mutual Funds”). Causeway also sponsors and manages certain other comingled vehicles in its international value equity strategy that are offered to institutional investors. Most of the portfolio managers have personal investments in one or more Causeway Funds. Ms. Ketterer and Mr. Hartford each holds (through estate planning vehicles) a controlling voting interest in Causeway’s parent holding company and Messrs. Eng, Muldoon, Valentini, and Ms. Lee (directly or through estate planning vehicles) have minority ownership interests in Causeway’s parent holding company. | |
| Actual or potential conflicts of interest arise from the portfolio managers’ management responsibilities with respect to the Other Accounts and their own personal accounts. These responsibilities may cause portfolio managers to devote unequal time and attention across client accounts and the differing fees, incentives and relationships with the various accounts provide incentives to favor certain accounts. Causeway has written compliance policies and procedures designed to mitigate or manage these conflicts of interest. These include policies and procedures to seek fair and equitable allocation of investment opportunities (including IPOs and new issues) and trade allocations among all client accounts and policies and procedures concerning the disclosure and use of portfolio transaction information. Causeway also has a Code of Ethics which, among other things, limits personal trading by portfolio managers and other employees of Causeway. There is no guarantee that any such policies or procedures will cover every situation in which a conflict of interest arises. |
| Columbia Management: Like other investment professionals with multiple clients, a Fund’s portfolio manager(s) may face certain potential conflicts of interest in connection with managing both the Fund and other accounts at the same time. The Investment Manager and the Funds have adopted compliance policies and procedures that attempt to address certain of the potential conflicts that portfolio managers face in this regard. Certain of these conflicts of interest are summarized below. | |
| The management of accounts with different advisory fee rates and/or fee structures, including accounts that pay advisory fees based on account performance (performance fee accounts), may raise potential conflicts of interest for a portfolio manager by creating an incentive to favor higher fee accounts. |
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| Potential conflicts of interest also may arise when a portfolio manager has personal investments in other accounts that may create an incentive to favor those accounts. As a general matter and subject to the Investment Manager’s Code of Ethics and certain limited exceptions, the Investment Manager’s investment professionals do not have the opportunity to invest in client accounts, other than the funds. | |
| A portfolio manager who is responsible for managing multiple funds and/or accounts may devote unequal time and attention to the management of those Funds and/or accounts. The effects of this potential conflict may be more pronounced where Funds and/or accounts managed by a particular portfolio manager have different investment strategies. | |
| A portfolio manager may be able to select or influence the selection of the broker/dealers that are used to execute securities transactions for the Funds. A portfolio manager’s decision as to the selection of broker/dealers could produce disproportionate costs and benefits among the Funds and the other accounts the portfolio manager manages. | |
| A potential conflict of interest may arise when a portfolio manager buys or sells the same securities for a Fund and other accounts. On occasions when a portfolio manager considers the purchase or sale of a security to be in the best interests of a Fund as well as other accounts, the Investment Manager’s trading desk may, to the extent consistent with applicable laws and regulations, aggregate the securities to be sold or bought in order to obtain the best execution and lower brokerage commissions, if any. Aggregation of trades may create the potential for unfairness to a Fund or another account if a portfolio manager favors one account over another in allocating the securities bought or sold. The Investment Manager and its Participating Affiliates may coordinate their trading operations for certain types of securities and transactions pursuant to personnel-sharing agreements or similar intercompany arrangements. However, typically the Investment Manager does not coordinate trading activities with a Participating Affiliate with respect to accounts of that Participating Affiliate unless such Participating Affiliate is also providing trading services for accounts managed by the Investment Manager. Similarly, a Participating Affiliate typically does not coordinate trading activities with the Investment Manager with respect to accounts of the Investment Manager unless the Investment Manager is also providing trading services for accounts managed by such Participating Affiliate. As a result, it is possible that the Investment Manager and its Participating Affiliates may trade in the same instruments at the same time, in the same or opposite direction or in different sequence, which could negatively impact the prices paid by the Fund on such instruments. Additionally, in circumstances where trading services are being provided on a coordinated basis for the Investment Manager’s accounts (including the Funds) and the accounts of one or more Participating Affiliates in accordance with applicable law, it is possible that the allocation opportunities available to the Funds may be decreased, especially for less actively traded securities, or orders may take longer to execute, which may negatively impact Fund performance. | |
| “Cross trades,” in which a portfolio manager sells a particular security held by a Fund to another account (potentially saving transaction costs for both accounts), could involve a potential conflict of interest if, for example, a portfolio manager is permitted to sell a security from one account to another account at a higher price than an independent third party would pay. The Investment Manager and the Funds have adopted compliance procedures that provide that any transactions between a Fund and another account managed by the Investment Manager are to be made at a current market price, consistent with applicable laws and regulations. | |
| Another potential conflict of interest may arise based on the different investment objectives and strategies of a Fund and other accounts managed by its portfolio manager(s). Depending on another account’s objectives and other factors, a portfolio manager may give advice to and make decisions for a Fund that may differ from advice given, or the timing or nature of decisions made, with respect to another account. A portfolio manager’s investment decisions are the product of many factors in addition to basic suitability for the particular account involved. Thus, a portfolio manager may buy or sell a particular security for certain accounts, and not for a Fund, even though it could have been bought or sold for the Fund at the same time. A portfolio manager also may buy a particular security for one or more accounts when one or more other accounts are selling the security (including short sales). There may be circumstances when a portfolio manager’s purchases or sales of portfolio securities for one or more accounts may have an adverse effect on other accounts, including the Funds. | |
| To the extent a Fund invests in underlying funds, a portfolio manager will be subject to the potential conflicts of interest described in Potential Conflicts of Interest – Columbia Management – FOF (Fund-of-Funds) below. | |
| A Fund’s portfolio manager(s) also may have other potential conflicts of interest in managing the Fund, and the description above is not a complete description of every conflict that could exist in managing the Fund and other accounts. Many of the potential conflicts of interest to which the Investment Manager’s portfolio managers are subject are essentially the same or similar to the potential conflicts of interest related to the investment management activities of the Investment Manager and its affiliates. |
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| Columbia Management – FoF (Fund-of-Funds): Management of funds-of-funds differs from that of the other Funds. The portfolio management process is set forth generally below and in more detail in the Funds’ prospectus. | |
| Portfolio managers of the fund-of-funds may be involved in determining each funds-of-fund’s allocation among the three main asset classes (equity, fixed income and cash) and the allocation among investment categories within each asset class, as well as each funds-of-fund’s allocation among the underlying funds. |
| ■ | Because of the structure of the funds-of-funds, the potential conflicts of interest for the portfolio managers may be different than the potential conflicts of interest for portfolio managers who manage other Funds. |
| ■ | The Investment Manager and its affiliates may receive higher compensation as a result of allocations to underlying funds with higher fees. |
In addition to the accounts above, portfolio managers may manage accounts in a personal capacity that may include holdings that are similar to, or the same as, those of the Fund. The Investment Manager has in place a Code of Ethics that is designed to address conflicts and that, among other things, imposes restrictions on the ability of the portfolio managers and other “investment access persons” to invest in securities that may be recommended or traded in the Fund and other client accounts.
To the extent a fund-of-funds invest in securities and instruments other than other Funds, the portfolio manager is subject to the potential conflicts of interest described in Potential Conflicts of Interest – Columbia Management above.
A Fund’s portfolio manager(s) also may have other potential conflicts of interest in managing the Fund, and the description above is not a complete description of every conflict that could exist in managing the fund and other accounts. Many of the potential conflicts of interest to which the Investment Manager’s portfolio managers are subject are essentially the same or similar to the potential conflicts of interest related to the Investment Management activities of the Investment Manager and its affiliates.
Columbia WAM: Like other investment professionals with multiple clients, a Fund’s portfolio manager(s) may face certain potential conflicts of interest in connection with managing both the Fund and other accounts at the same time. Columbia WAM and the Funds have adopted compliance policies and procedures that attempt to address certain of the potential conflicts that portfolio managers face in this regard. Certain of these conflicts of interest are summarized below.
The management of accounts with different advisory fee rates and/or fee structures may raise potential conflicts of interest for a portfolio manager by creating an incentive to favor higher fee accounts.
Potential conflicts of interest also may arise when a portfolio manager has personal investments in other accounts that may create an incentive to favor those accounts. As a general matter and subject to the Investment Manager’s Code of Ethics and certain limited exceptions, the Investment Manager’s investment professionals do not have the opportunity to invest in client accounts, other than the funds managed by Columbia WAM.
A portfolio manager who is responsible for managing multiple funds and/or accounts may devote unequal time and attention to the management of those funds and/or accounts. The effects of this potential conflict may be more pronounced where funds and/or accounts managed by a particular portfolio manager have different investment strategies.
A portfolio manager may be able to select or influence the selection of the broker/dealers that are used to execute securities transactions for the Funds. A portfolio manager’s decision as to the selection of broker/dealers could produce disproportionate costs and benefits among the Funds and the other accounts the portfolio manager manages.
A potential conflict of interest may arise when a portfolio manager buys or sells the same securities for a Fund and other accounts. On occasions when a portfolio manager considers the purchase or sale of a security to be in the best interests of a Fund as well as other accounts, Columbia WAM’s trading desk may, to the extent consistent with applicable laws and regulations, aggregate the securities to be sold or bought in order to obtain the best execution and lower brokerage commissions, if any. Aggregation of trades may create the potential for unfairness to a Fund or another account if a portfolio manager favors one account over another in allocating the securities bought or sold.
“Cross trades,” in which a portfolio manager sells a particular security held by a Fund to another account (potentially saving transaction costs for both accounts), could involve a potential conflict of interest if, for example, a portfolio manager is permitted to sell a security from one account to another account at a higher price than an independent third party would pay. Columbia WAM and the Funds have adopted compliance procedures that provide that any transactions between the Fund and another account managed by Columbia WAM are to be made at an independent current market price, consistent with applicable laws and regulation.
Another potential conflict of interest may arise based on the different investment objectives and strategies of a Fund and other accounts managed by its portfolio manager(s). Depending on another account’s objectives and other factors, a portfolio manager may give advice to and make decisions for a Fund that may differ from advice given, or the timing or
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nature of decisions made, with respect to another account. A portfolio manager’s investment decisions are the product of many factors in addition to basic suitability for the particular account involved. Thus, a portfolio manager may buy or sell a particular security for certain accounts, and not for a Fund, even though it could have been bought or sold for the Fund at the same time. A portfolio manager also may buy a particular security for one or more accounts when one or more other accounts are selling the security (including short sales). There may be circumstances when a portfolio manager’s purchases or sales of portfolio securities for one or more accounts may have an adverse effect on other accounts, including the Funds.
A Fund’s portfolio manager(s) also may have other potential conflicts of interest in managing the Fund, and the description above is not a complete description of every conflict that could be deemed to exist in managing both the Fund and other accounts. Many of the potential conflicts of interest to which Columbia WAM’s portfolio managers are subject are essentially the same as or similar to the potential conflicts of interest related to the investment management activities of Columbia WAM and its affiliates.
| Conestoga: Like other investment professionals with multiple clients, portfolio managers may face certain potential conflicts of interest in connection with managing both the portion of the Fund’s assets allocated to Conestoga (Conestoga’s Sleeve) and other accounts at the same time. Conestoga has adopted compliance policies and procedures that attempt to address certain of the potential conflicts that Conestoga’s portfolio managers face in this regard. Certain of those conflicts of interest are summarized below. | |
| The management of accounts with different advisory or sub-advisory fee rates and/or fee and expense structures may raise certain potential conflicts of interest for a portfolio manager by creating an incentive to favor higher fee, or higher profit margin accounts. | |
| Potential conflicts of interest also may arise when a portfolio manager has personal investments in other accounts that may create an incentive to favor those accounts. A portfolio manager who is responsible for managing multiple funds and/or accounts may devote unequal time and attention to the management of those funds and/or accounts. The effects of this potential conflict may be more pronounced where funds and/or accounts managed by a particular portfolio manager have different investment strategies. | |
| A portfolio manager may be able to select or influence the selection of the broker-dealers that are used to execute securities transactions for a fund. A portfolio manager’s decision as to the selection of broker-dealers could produce disproportionate costs and benefits among Conestoga’s Sleeve and the other accounts the portfolio manager manages. | |
| A potential conflict of interest may arise when a portfolio manager buys or sells the same securities for the Conestoga’s Sleeve and other accounts. On occasions when a portfolio manager considers the purchase or sale of a security to be in the best interests of Conestoga’s Sleeve as well as other accounts, the Conestoga’s trading desk may, to the extent consistent with applicable laws and regulations, aggregate the securities to be sold or bought in order to obtain the best execution and lower brokerage commissions, if any. Aggregation of trades may create the potential for unfairness to Conestoga’s Sleeve or the Fund or another account if a portfolio manager favors one account over another in allocating the securities bought or sold. | |
| “Cross trades,” in which a portfolio manager sells a particular security held by Conestoga’s Sleeve to another account (potentially saving transaction costs for both accounts), could involve a potential conflict of interest if, for example, a portfolio manager is permitted to sell a security from one account to another account at a higher price than an independent third party would pay. The Investment Manager has adopted compliance procedures that provide that any transactions between the Fund and another account managed by Conestoga are to be made at a current market price, consistent with applicable laws and regulations. | |
| Another potential conflict of interest may arise based on the different investment objectives and strategies of Conestoga’s Sleeve and other accounts managed by its portfolio manager(s). Depending on another account’s objectives and other factors, a portfolio manager may give advice to and make decisions for Conestoga’s Sleeve that may differ from advice given, or the timing or nature of decisions made, with respect to another account. A portfolio manager’s investment decisions are the product of many factors in addition to basic suitability for the particular account involved. Thus, a portfolio manager may buy or sell a particular security for certain accounts, and not for Conestoga’s Sleeve, even though it could have been bought or sold for Conestoga’s Sleeve at the same time. A portfolio manager also may buy a particular security for one or more accounts when one or more other accounts are selling the security. There may be circumstances when a portfolio manager’s purchases or sales of portfolio securities for one or more accounts may have an adverse effect on other accounts, including the Fund. | |
| The portfolio manager(s) also may have other potential conflicts of interest in managing Conestoga’s Sleeve, and the description above is not a complete description of every conflict that could exist in managing Conestoga’s Sleeve and other accounts. Many of the potential conflicts of interest to which the Conestoga’s portfolio managers are subject are essentially the same or similar to the potential conflicts of interest related to the investment management activities of the Investment Manager or other subadvisers of the Fund. |
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| Hotchkis & Wiley: The Portfolio is managed by Hotchkis & Wiley’s investment team (Investment Team). The Investment Team also manages institutional accounts and other mutual funds in several different investment strategies. The portfolios within an investment strategy are managed using a target portfolio; however, each portfolio may have different restrictions, cash flows, tax and other relevant considerations which may preclude a portfolio from participating in certain transactions for that investment strategy. Consequently, the performance of portfolios may vary due to these different considerations. The Investment Team may place transactions for one investment strategy that are directly or indirectly contrary to investment decisions made on behalf of another investment strategy. Hotchkis & Wiley also provides model portfolio investment recommendations to sponsors without execution or additional services. The recommendations are provided on a delayed basis relative to transactions of discretionary accounts. Hotchkis & Wiley may be restricted from purchasing more than a limited percentage of the outstanding shares of a company or otherwise restricted from trading in a company’s securities due to other regulatory limitations. If a company is a viable investment for more than one investment strategy, Hotchkis & Wiley has adopted policies and procedures reasonably designed to ensure that all of its clients are treated fairly and equitably. Additionally, potential and actual conflicts of interest may also arise as a result of Hotchkis & Wiley’s other business activities and Hotchkis & Wiley’s possession of material non‐public information about an issuer, which may have an adverse impact on one group of clients while benefiting another group. In certain situations, Hotchkis & Wiley will purchase different classes of securities of the same company (e.g. senior debt, subordinated debt, and or equity) in different investment strategies which can give rise to conflicts where Hotchkis & Wiley may advocate for the benefit of one class of security which may be adverse to another security that is held by clients of a different strategy. Hotchkis & Wiley seeks to mitigate the impact of these conflicts on a case by case basis. Hotchkis & Wiley utilizes soft dollars to obtain brokerage and research services, which may create a conflict of interest in allocating clients’ brokerage business. Research services may benefit certain accounts more than others. Certain accounts may also pay a less proportionate amount of commissions for research services. If a research product provides both a research and a non‐research function, Hotchkis & Wiley will make a reasonable allocation of the use and pay for the non‐research portion with hard dollars. Hotchkis & Wiley will make decisions involving soft dollars in a manner that satisfies the requirements of Section 28(e) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. |
| Different types of accounts and investment strategies may have different fee structures. Additionally, certain accounts pay Hotchkis & Wiley performance‐based fees, which may vary depending on how well the account performs compared to a benchmark. Because such fee arrangements have the potential to create an incentive for Hotchkis & Wiley to favor such accounts in making investment decisions and allocations, Hotchkis & Wiley has adopted policies and procedures reasonably designed to ensure that all of its clients are treated fairly and equitably, including in respect of allocation decisions, such as initial public offerings. Since accounts are managed to a target portfolio by the Investment Team, adequate time and resources are consistently applied to all accounts in the same investment strategy. Investment personnel of the firm or its affiliates may be permitted to be commercially or professionally involved with an issuer of securities. Any potential conflicts of interest from such involvement would be monitored for compliance with the firm’s Code of Ethics. | |
| JPMIM: The potential for conflicts of interest exists when portfolio managers manage other accounts with similar investment objectives and strategies as the Fund (“Similar Accounts”). Potential conflicts may include, for example, conflicts between investment strategies and conflicts in the allocation of investment opportunities. | |
| Responsibility for managing JPMorgan’s and its affiliates’ clients’ portfolios is organized according to investment strategies within asset classes. Generally, client portfolios with similar strategies are managed by portfolio managers in the same portfolio management group using the same objectives, approach and philosophy. Underlying sectors or strategy allocations within a larger portfolio are likewise managed by portfolio managers who use the same approach and philosophy as similarly managed portfolios. Therefore, portfolio holdings, relative position sizes and industry and sector exposures tend to be similar across similar portfolios and strategies, which minimizes the potential for conflicts of interest. | |
| JPMorgan and/or its affiliates (“JPMorgan Chase”) perform investment services, including rendering investment advice, to varied clients. JPMorgan, JPMorgan Chase and its or their directors, officers, agents, and/or employees may render similar or differing investment advisory services to clients and may give advice or exercise investment responsibility and take such other action with respect to any of its other clients that differs from the advice given or the timing or nature of action taken with respect to another client or group of clients. It is JPMorgan’s policy, to the extent practicable, to allocate, within its reasonable discretion, investment opportunities among clients over a period of time on a fair and equitable basis. One or more of JPMorgan’s other client accounts may at any time hold, acquire, increase, decrease, dispose, or otherwise deal with positions in investments in which another client account may have an interest from time-to-time. | |
| JPMorgan, JPMorgan Chase, and any of its or their directors, partners, officers, agents or employees, may also buy, sell, or trade securities for their own accounts or the proprietary accounts of JPMorgan and/or JPMorgan Chase. JPMorgan and/or JPMorgan Chase, within their discretion, may make different investment decisions and other actions with respect to their own proprietary accounts than those made for client accounts, including the timing or nature of such investment decisions or |
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| actions. Further, JPMorgan is not required to purchase or sell for any client account securities that it, JPMorgan Chase, and any of its or their employees, principals, or agents may purchase or sell for their own accounts or the proprietary accounts of JPMorgan, or JPMorgan Chase or its clients. | |
| JPMorgan and/or its affiliates may receive more compensation with respect to certain Similar Accounts than that received with respect to the Fund or may receive compensation based in part on the performance of certain Similar Accounts. This may create a potential conflict of interest for JPMorgan and its affiliates or the portfolio managers by providing an incentive to favor these Similar Accounts when, for example, placing securities transactions. In addition, JPMorgan or its affiliates could be viewed as having a conflict of interest to the extent that JPMorgan or an affiliate has a proprietary investment in Similar Accounts, the portfolio managers have personal investments in Similar Accounts or the Similar Accounts are investment options in JPMorgan’s or its affiliates’ employee benefit plans. Potential conflicts of interest may arise with both the aggregation and allocation of securities transactions and allocation of investment opportunities because of market factors or investment restrictions imposed upon JPMorgan and its affiliates by law, regulation, contract or internal policies. Allocations of aggregated trades, particularly trade orders that were only partially completed due to limited availability and allocation of investment opportunities generally, could raise a potential conflict of interest, as JPMorgan or its affiliates may have an incentive to allocate securities that are expected to increase in value to favored accounts. Initial public offerings, in particular, are frequently of very limited availability. JPMorgan and its affiliates may be perceived as causing accounts they manage to participate in an offering to increase JPMorgan’s and its affiliates’ overall allocation of securities in that offering. A potential conflict of interest also may be perceived to arise if transactions in one account closely follow related transactions in a different account, such as when a purchase increases the value of securities previously purchased by another account, or when a sale in one account lowers the sale price received in a sale by a second account. If JPMorgan or its affiliates manage accounts that engage in short sales of securities of the type in which the Fund invests, JPMorgan or its affiliates could be seen as harming the performance of the Fund for the benefit of the accounts engaging in short sales if the short sales cause the market value of the securities to fall. | |
| As an internal policy matter, JPMorgan or its affiliates may from time to time maintain certain overall investment limitations on the securities positions or positions in other financial instruments JPMorgan or its affiliates will take on behalf of its various clients due to, among other things, liquidity concerns and regulatory restrictions. Such policies may preclude the Fund from purchasing particular securities or financial instruments, even if such securities or financial instruments would otherwise meet the Fund’s objectives. | |
| The goal of JPMorgan and its affiliates is to meet their fiduciary obligation with respect to all clients. JPMorgan and its affiliates have policies and procedures that seek to manage conflicts. JPMorgan and its affiliates monitor a variety of areas, including compliance with fund guidelines, review of allocation decisions and compliance with JPMorgan’s Codes of Ethics and JPMorgan Chase and Co.’s Code of Conduct. With respect to the allocation of investment opportunities, JPMorgan and its affiliates also have certain policies designed to achieve fair and equitable allocation of investment opportunities among its clients over time. For example: Orders for the same equity security traded through a single trading desk or system are aggregated on a continual basis throughout each trading day consistent with JPMorgan’s and its affiliates’ duty of best execution for their clients. If aggregated trades are fully executed, accounts participating in the trade will be allocated their pro rata share on an average price basis. Partially completed orders generally will be allocated among the participating accounts on a pro-rata average price basis, subject to certain limited exceptions. For example, accounts that would receive a de minimis allocation relative to their size may be excluded from the order. Another exception may occur when thin markets or price volatility require that an aggregated order be completed in multiple executions over several days. If partial completion of the order would result in an uneconomic allocation to an account due to fixed transaction or custody costs, JPMorgan and its affiliates may exclude small orders until 50% of the total order is completed. Then the small orders will be executed. Following this procedure, small orders will lag in the early execution of the order, but will be completed before completion of the total order. | |
| Purchases of money market instruments and fixed income securities cannot always be allocated pro-rata across the accounts with the same investment strategy and objective. However, JPMIM and its affiliates attempt to mitigate any potential unfairness by basing non-pro rata allocations traded through a single trading desk or system upon objective predetermined criteria for the selection of investments and a disciplined process for allocating securities with similar duration, credit quality and liquidity in the good faith judgment of JPMIM or its affiliates so that fair and equitable allocation will occur over time. | |
| Loomis Sayles: Conflicts of interest may arise in the allocation of investment opportunities and the allocation of aggregated orders among the Funds and other accounts managed by the portfolio managers. A portfolio manager potentially could give favorable treatment to some accounts for a variety of reasons, including favoring larger accounts, accounts that pay higher fees, accounts that pay performance-based fees, accounts of affiliated companies and accounts in which the portfolio manager has an interest. Such favorable treatment could lead to more favorable investment opportunities or allocations for |
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| some accounts. Loomis Sayles makes investment decisions for all accounts (including institutional accounts, mutual funds, hedge funds and affiliated accounts) based on each account’s availability of other comparable investment opportunities and Loomis Sayles’ desire to treat all accounts fairly and equitably over time. Loomis Sayles maintains trade allocation and aggregation policies and procedures to address these potential conflicts. Conflicts of interest also arise to the extent a portfolio manager short sells a stock in one client account but holds that stock long in other accounts, including the Funds, or sells a stock for some accounts while buying the stock for others, and through the use of “soft dollar arrangements,” which are discussed in Loomis Sayles’ Brokerage Allocation Policies and Procedures and Loomis Sayles’ Trade Aggregation and Allocation Policies and Procedures. |
|
Los Angeles Capital: Los Angeles Capital has implemented policies and procedures, including brokerage and trade allocation policies and procedures, which the firm believes are reasonably designed to address the potential for conflicts of interest associated with managing portfolios for multiple clients and that seek to treat all clients fairly and equally over time and to mitigate conflicts among accounts. Client accounts are managed independent of one another in accordance with client specific mandates, restrictions, and instructions as outlined in the investment management agreement, and such restrictions and instructions are monitored for compliance with the client’s investment guidelines.
Side-by-side management can result in investment positions or actions taken for one client account that differ from those taken in another client account. Accordingly, one client account can engage in short sales of or take a short position in an investment that at the same time is owned or being purchased long by another client account. These positions and actions can adversely affect or benefit different clients at different times. |
| The firm manages client accounts that have different investment strategies, objectives, restrictions, constraints, launch dates, and overlapping benchmark constituents. Given these customizations and differences, it is possible that Los Angeles Capital may be purchasing or holding a security for one account and simultaneously selling the same security for another account. However, simultaneously purchasing and selling the same security in the same account (“wash trades”) is prohibited. |
| The decision as to which accounts participate in an investment opportunity will take into account, among other things, the quantitative model’s outlook on the account’s strategy, the account’s investment guidelines, and risk metrics. Global accounts’ orders are sent to the market simultaneously subject to prevailing market conditions, client flows, and liquidity. Emerging markets account orders are aggregated during account rebalances, but the firm is not required to do so. |
| Los Angeles Capital’s proprietary optimization-based technology for trading client portfolios complements the firm’s approach to stock selection and uses real-time market prices to parse the master (“parent”) order lists into a sub-list or “child” order lists, for execution by agency brokers. For accounts traded using the firm’s trade optimization technology, real-time market prices are the primary creation determinant in each child order. Therefore, names traded for one account (or group of accounts) may result in different execution prices than a name traded for another account (or group of accounts). The firm’s trade optimization technology is primarily used for U.S. market accounts. As the firm’s trade optimization trading technology is dependent upon robust and consistent market data, Los Angeles Capital does not currently utilize this technology in Developed Asia and Emerging Markets. |
| While each client account is managed individually, Los Angeles Capital may, at any given time, purchase and/or sell the same security in a block that is allocated among multiple accounts. There are a number of variables that can influence a decision to aggregate purchases or sales into a block, including but not limited to, order size, liquidity, client trading directives, regulatory limitations, round lot requirements, and cash flows. The firm allocates trades that are submitted in a block prior to placing the trade with the broker. When there is decision making on whether to include or exclude certain accounts from a block transaction, there is always the potential for conflicts of interest. Furthermore, the effect of trade aggregation may work on some occasions to the account’s disadvantage. Los Angeles Capital’s policies and procedures in allocating trades are structured to treat all clients fairly. Los Angeles Capital is not required to aggregate any particular trade. For example, an account with directed brokerage may not participate in certain block trades. |
| The firm’s strategies predominantly invest in liquid common stocks. Based on a variety of factors including the strategy, guidelines, and turnover goals, Los Angeles Capital determines the trading frequency for each account. Most accounts currently trade at least semi-monthly and others may trade more or less frequently depending on turnover goals, market conditions and other factors unique to the strategy or markets in which they are invested. While the firm reserves the right to update its trading strategy, currently, in a typical week, Los Angeles Capital will begin by trading its U.S. strategy accounts followed by its non-U.S. strategy accounts. An account’s rebalance cycle is dependent on the account’s strategy. Rebalances for U.S. strategy accounts are regularly rotated between traders and generally begin on the same day each week. Non-U.S. strategy account rebalances may be regularly rotated over several days. The firm’s proprietary accounts, which are invested in liquid, benchmark securities, may be traded in rotation with client accounts or on a particular day of the week depending on liquidity, size, model constraints, and resource constraints. The order of account rebalances may work on some occasions to the account’s advantage or disadvantage. |
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| Los Angeles Capital’s portfolio managers manage accounts that are charged a performance-based fee alongside accounts in the same strategy with asset-based fee schedules. While performance-based fee arrangements may be viewed as creating an incentive to favor certain accounts over others in the allocation of investment opportunities, Los Angeles Capital has designed and implemented procedures to ensure that all clients are treated fairly and equally, and to prevent conflicts from influencing the allocation of investment opportunities. Management and performance fees inure to the benefit of the firm as a whole and not to specific individuals or groups of individuals. Further, Los Angeles Capital employs a quantitative investment process which utilizes the firm’s proprietary investment model technology to identify securities and construct portfolios. |
| Los Angeles Capital has adopted a Code of Ethics that includes procedures on ethical conduct and personal trading and requires pre-clearance authorization from both the Trading and Compliance and Regulatory Risk Departments for certain personal security transactions. Nonetheless, because the Code of Ethics in some circumstances would permit employees to invest in the same securities as clients, there is a possibility that employees might benefit from market activity by a client in a security held by an employee. Employee trading is monitored under the Code of Ethics, and is designed to reasonably identify and prevent conflicts of interest between the firm and its clients. |
| Investment personnel of Los Angeles Capital or its affiliate may be permitted to be commercially or professionally involved with an issuer of securities. There is a potential risk that Los Angeles Capital personnel may place their own interests (resulting from outside employment/directorships) ahead of the interests of Los Angeles Capital clients. Before engaging in any outside business activity, employees must obtain approval of the CCO as well as other personnel. Any potential conflicts of interest from such involvement are monitored for compliance with Los Angeles Capital’s Code of Ethics. The Code of Ethics also governs employees giving or accepting gifts and entertainment. |
| Manulife: When a portfolio manager is responsible for the management of more than one account, the potential arises for the portfolio manager to favor one account over another. The principal types of potential conflicts of interest that may arise are discussed below. For the reasons outlined below, the Fund does not believe that any material conflicts are likely to arise out of a portfolio manager‘s responsibility for the management of the Fund as well as one or more other accounts. Manulife has adopted procedures that are intended to monitor compliance with the policies referred to in the following paragraphs. Generally, the risks of such conflicts of interests are increased to the extent that a portfolio manager has a financial incentive to favor one account over another. Manulife has structured their compensation arrangements in a manner that is intended to limit such potential for conflicts of interests. See ―Compensation of Portfolio Managers below. | |
| A portfolio manager could favor one account over another in allocating new investment opportunities that have limited supply, such as initial public offerings and private placements. If, for example, an initial public offering that was expected to appreciate in value significantly shortly after the offering was allocated to a single account, that account may be expected to have better investment performance than other accounts that did not receive an allocation on the initial public offering. Manulife has policies that require a portfolio manager to allocate such investment opportunities in an equitable manner and generally to allocate such investments proportionately among all accounts with similar investment objectives. | |
| A portfolio manager could favor one account over another in the order in which trades for the accounts are placed. If a portfolio manager determines to purchase a security for more than one account in an aggregate amount that may influence the market price of the security, accounts that purchased or sold the security first may receive a more favorable price than accounts that made subsequent transactions. The less liquid the market for the security or the greater the percentage that the proposed aggregate purchases or sales represent of average daily trading volume, the greater the potential for accounts that make subsequent purchases or sales to receive a less favorable price. When a portfolio manager intends to trade the same security for more than one account, the policies of Manulife generally require that such trades be “bunched”, which means that the trades for the individual accounts are aggregated and each account receives the same price. There are some types of accounts as to which bunching may not be possible for contractual reasons (such as directed brokerage arrangements). Circumstances may also arise where the trader believes that bunching the orders may not result in the best possible price. Where those accounts or circumstances are involved, Manulife will place the order in a manner intended to result in as favorable a price as possible for such client. | |
| A portfolio manager could favor an account if the portfolio manager‘s compensation is tied to the performance of that account rather than all accounts managed by the portfolio manager. If, for example, the portfolio manager receives a bonus based upon the performance of certain accounts relative to a benchmark while other accounts are disregarded for this purpose, the portfolio manager will have a financial incentive to seek to have the accounts that determine the portfolio manager‘s bonus achieve the best possible performance to the possible detriment of other accounts. Similarly, if Manulife receives a performance-based advisory fee, the portfolio manager may favor that account, whether or not the performance of that account directly determines the portfolio manager‘s compensation. The investment performance on specific accounts is not a factor in determining the portfolio manager‘s compensation. Neither the Advisor nor Manulife receives a performance-based fee with respect to any of the accounts managed by the portfolio managers. |
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| A portfolio manager could favor an account if the portfolio manager has a beneficial interest in the account, in order to benefit a large client or to compensate a client that had poor returns. For example, if the portfolio manager held an interest in an investment partnership that was one of the accounts managed by the portfolio manager, the portfolio manager would have an economic incentive to favor the account in which the portfolio manager held an interest. Manulife imposes certain trading restrictions and reporting requirements for accounts in which a portfolio manager or certain family members have a personal interest in order to confirm that such accounts are not favored over other accounts. | |
| If the different accounts have materially and potentially conflicting investment objectives or strategies, a conflict of interest may arise. For example, if a portfolio manager purchases a security for one account and sells the same security short for another account, such trading pattern could disadvantage either the account that is long or short. In making portfolio manager assignments, Manulife seeks to avoid such potentially conflicting situations. However, where a portfolio manager is responsible for accounts with differing investment objectives and policies, it is possible that the portfolio manager will conclude that it is in the best interest of one account to sell a portfolio security while another account continues to hold or increase the holding in such security. |
| PGIM: Like other investment advisers, PGIM Fixed Income is subject to various conflicts of interest in the ordinary course of its business. PGIM Fixed Income strives to identify potential risks, including conflicts of interest, that are inherent in its business, and PGIM Fixed Income conducts annual conflict of interest reviews. When actual or potential conflicts of interest are identified, PGIM Fixed Income seeks to address such conflicts through one or more of the following methods: | |
| elimination of the conflict; | |
| disclosure of the conflict; or | |
| management of the conflict through the adoption of appropriate policies, procedures or other mitigants. | |
| PGIM Fixed Income follows the policies of Prudential Financial, Inc. on business ethics, personal securities trading, and information barriers. PGIM Fixed Income has adopted a code of ethics, allocation policies and conflicts of interest policies, among others, and has adopted supervisory procedures to monitor compliance with its policies. PGIM Fixed Income cannot guarantee, however, that its policies and procedures will detect and prevent, or result in the disclosure of, each and every situation in which a conflict may arise. | |
| Side-by-Side Management of Accounts and Related Conflicts of Interest. PGIM Fixed Income’s side-by-side management of multiple accounts can create conflicts of interest. Examples are detailed below, followed by a discussion of how PGIM Fixed Income addresses these conflicts. | |
| Performance Fees - PGIM Fixed Income manages accounts with asset-based fees alongside accounts with performance-based fees. This side-by-side management may be deemed to create an incentive for PGIM Fixed Income and its investment professionals to favor one account over another. Specifically, PGIM Fixed Income or its affiliates could be considered to have the incentive to favor accounts for which PGIM Fixed Income or an affiliate receives performance fees, and possibly take greater investment risks in those accounts, in order to bolster performance and increase its fees. | |
| Affiliated accounts - PGIM Fixed Income manages accounts on behalf of its affiliates as well as unaffiliated accounts. PGIM Fixed Income could be considered to have an incentive to favor accounts of affiliates over others. | |
| Large accounts/higher fee strategies - large accounts and clients typically generate more revenue than do smaller accounts or clients and certain of PGIM Fixed Income’s strategies have higher fees than others. As a result, a portfolio manager could be considered to have an incentive when allocating scarce investment opportunities to favor accounts that pay a higher fee or generate more income for PGIM Fixed Income. | |
| Long only and long/short accounts - PGIM Fixed Income manages accounts that only allow it to hold securities long as well as accounts that permit short selling. PGIM Fixed Income may, therefore, sell, and has at times sold, a security short in some client accounts while holding the same security long in other client accounts. These short sales could reduce the value of the securities held in the long only accounts. In addition, purchases for long only accounts could have a negative impact on the short positions. | |
| Securities of the same kind or class - PGIM Fixed Income sometimes buys or sells, or direct or recommend that a client buy or sell, securities of the same kind or class that are purchased or sold for another client at prices that may be different. Although such pricing differences could appear as preferences for one client over another, PGIM Fixed Income’s trade execution in each case is driven by its consideration of a variety of factors as PGIM Fixed Income seeks the most advantageous terms reasonably attainable in the circumstances. PGIM Fixed Income may also, at any time, execute, and has at times executed, trades of securities of the same kind or class in one direction for an account and in the opposite direction for another account, or not trade such securities in any other account. While such trades (or a decision not to trade) could appear as inconsistencies in how PGIM Fixed Income views a security for one client versus another, opposite way trades are generally due to differences in investment strategy, portfolio composition or client direction. |
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| Investment at different levels of an issuer’s capital structure— PGIM Fixed Income may invest, and has at times invested, client assets in the same issuer, but at different levels in the issuer’s capital structure. For instance, PGIM Fixed Income may invest, and has at times invested, client assets in private securities or loans of an issuer and invest the assets of other clients in publicly traded securities of the same issuer. In addition, PGIM Fixed Income may invest, and has at times invested, client assets in a class or tranche of securities of a securitized finance vehicle (such as a collateralized loan obligation, asset-backed security or mortgage-backed security) where PGIM Fixed Income also, at the same or different time, invests the assets of another client (including affiliated clients) in a different class or tranche of securities of the same vehicle. These different securities may have different voting rights, dividend or repayment priorities, rights in bankruptcy or other features that conflict with one another. For some of these securities (particularly private securitized product investments for which clients own all or a significant portion of the outstanding securities or obligations), PGIM Fixed Income may have, and has had, input regarding the characteristics and the relative rights and priorities of the various classes or tranches. | |
| When PGIM Fixed Income invests client assets in different levels of an issuer’s capital structure, it is permitted to take actions with respect to the assets held by one client (including affiliated clients) that are potentially adverse to other clients, for example, by foreclosing on loans or by putting an issuer into default. In negotiating the terms and conditions of any such investments, or any subsequent amendments or waivers, PGIM Fixed Income may find that the interests of a client and the interests of one or more other clients (including affiliated clients) could conflict. In these situations, decisions over proxy voting, corporate reorganizations, how to exit an investment, bankruptcy matters (including, for example, whether to trigger an event of default or the terms of any workout) or other actions or inactions may result in conflicts of interest. Similarly, if an issuer in which a client and one or more other clients directly or indirectly hold different classes of securities encounters financial problems, decisions over the terms of any workout will raise conflicts of interest (including potential conflicts over proposed waivers and amendments to debt covenants). For example, a senior bond holder may prefer a liquidation of the issuer in which it may be paid in full, whereas an equity or junior bond holder might prefer a reorganization that holds the potential to create value for the equity holders or junior bond holders. In some cases, PGIM Fixed Income may refrain, and has at times refrained, from taking certain actions or making investments on behalf of certain clients or PGIM Fixed Income may sell, and has at times sold, investments for certain clients, in each case in order to mitigate conflicts of interest or legal, regulatory or other risks to PGIM Fixed Income. This could potentially disadvantage the clients on whose behalf the actions are not taken, investments are not made, or investments are sold. Conversely, in other cases, PGIM Fixed Income will not refrain, and has at times not refrained, from taking actions or making investments on behalf of some clients (including affiliated clients), which could potentially disadvantage other clients. Any of the foregoing conflicts of interest will be resolved on a case-by-case basis. Any such resolution will take into consideration the interests of the relevant clients, the circumstances giving rise to the conflict and applicable laws. | |
| Financial interests of investment professionals - PGIM Fixed Income investment professionals from time to time invest in certain investment vehicles that it manages, including ETFs, mutual funds and collective investment trusts. Also, certain of these investment vehicles are options under the 401(k) and deferred compensation plans offered by Prudential Financial, Inc. In addition, the value of grants under PGIM Fixed Income’s long-term incentive plan and targeted long-term incentive plan is affected by the performance of certain client accounts. As a result, PGIM Fixed Income investment professionals have financial interests in accounts managed by PGIM Fixed Income or that are related to the performance of certain client accounts. | |
| Non-discretionary/limited discretion accounts - PGIM Fixed Income provides non-discretionary investment advice to some clients and manages others on a discretionary basis. Trades in non-discretionary accounts or accounts where discretion is limited could occur before, in concert with, or after PGIM Fixed Income executes similar trades in its discretionary accounts. The non-discretionary/limited discretion clients may be disadvantaged if PGIM Fixed Income delivers investment advice to them after it initiates trading for the discretionary clients, or vice versa. | |
| How PGIM Fixed Income Addresses These Conflicts of Interest. PGIM Fixed Income has developed policies and procedures designed to address the conflicts of interest with respect to its different types of side-by-side management described above. | |
| Each quarter, the chief investment officer/head of PGIM Fixed Income holds a series of meetings with the senior portfolio manager and team responsible for the management of each of PGIM Fixed Income’s investment strategies. At each of these quarterly investment strategy review meetings, the chief investment officer/head of PGIM Fixed Income and the strategy team review and discuss the investment performance and performance attribution for each client account managed in the strategy. These meetings are also attended by the head of the investment risk management group or his designee and a member of the compliance group. | |
| In keeping with PGIM Fixed Income’s fiduciary obligations, its policy with respect to trade aggregation and allocation is to treat all of its client accounts fairly and equitably over time. PGIM Fixed Income’s trade management oversight committee, which generally meets quarterly, is responsible for providing oversight with respect to trade aggregation and allocation. Its compliance group periodically reviews a sampling of new issue allocations and related documentation to confirm |
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| compliance with the trade aggregation and allocation procedures. In addition, the compliance and investment risk management groups review forensic reports regarding new issue and secondary trade activity on a quarterly basis. This forensic analysis includes such data as the: (i) number of new issues allocated in the strategy; (ii) size of new issue allocations to each portfolio in the strategy; (iii) profitability of new issue transactions; (iv) portfolio turnover; (v) and metrics related to large and block trade activity. The results of these analyses are reviewed and discussed at PGIM Fixed Income’s trade management oversight committee meetings. The procedures above are designed to detect patterns and anomalies in PGIM Fixed Income’s side-by-side management and trading so that it may assess and improve its processes. | |
| PGIM Fixed Income has procedures that specifically address its side-by-side management of certain long/short and long only portfolios. These procedures address potential conflicts that could arise from differing positions between long/short and long only portfolios. In addition, lending opportunities with respect to securities for which the market is demanding a slight premium rate over normal market rates are allocated to long only accounts prior to allocating the opportunities to long/short accounts. | |
| Conflicts Related to PGIM Fixed Income’s Affiliations. As an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Prudential Financial, Inc., PGIM Fixed Income is part of a diversified, global financial services organization. PGIM Fixed Income is affiliated with many types of U.S. and non-U.S. financial service providers, including insurance companies, broker-dealers, commodity trading advisors, commodity pool operators and other investment advisers. Some of its employees are officers of and/or provide services to some of these affiliates. | |
| Conflicts Related to Investment of Client Assets in Affiliated Funds. PGIM Fixed Income invests, and may in the future invest, client assets in funds that it manages or subadvises for an affiliate. PGIM Fixed Income also invests cash collateral from securities lending transactions in these funds. These investments benefit both PGIM Fixed Income and its affiliate. | |
| Conflicts Related to Co-investment by Affiliates. PGIM Fixed Income affiliates have provided, and may in the future provide, initial funding or otherwise invest in vehicles it manages. When an affiliate provides “seed capital” or other capital for a fund, it may do so with the intention of redeeming all or part of its interest at a future point in time or when it deems that sufficient additional capital has been invested in that fund. | |
| The timing of a redemption by an affiliate could benefit the affiliate. For example, the fund may be more liquid at the time of the affiliate’s redemption than it is at times when other investors may wish to withdraw all or part of their interests. | |
| In addition, a consequence of any withdrawal of a significant amount, including by an affiliate, is that investors remaining in the fund will bear a proportionately higher share of fund expenses following the redemption. | |
| PGIM Fixed Income could also face a conflict if the interests of an affiliated investor in a fund it manages diverge from those of the fund or other investors. For example, PGIM Fixed Income affiliates, from time to time, hedge some or all of the risks associated with their investments in certain funds PGIM Fixed Income manages. PGIM Fixed Income may provide assistance in connection with this hedging activity. | |
| Insurance Affiliate General Accounts. Because of the substantial size of the general accounts of PGIM Fixed Income’s affiliated insurance companies (the “Insurance Affiliates”), trading by these general accounts, including PGIM Fixed Income’s trades on behalf of the accounts, may affect the market prices or limit the availability of the securities or instruments transacted. Although PGIM Fixed Income does not expect that the general accounts of affiliated insurers will execute transactions that will move a market frequently, and generally only in response to unusual market or issuer events, the execution of these transactions could have an adverse effect on transactions for or positions held by other clients. | |
| PGIM Fixed Income believes that the conflicts related to its affiliations described above are mitigated by its allocation policies and procedures, its supervisory review of accounts and its procedures with respect to side-by-side management of long only and long/short accounts. | |
| Conflicts Related to Financial Interests and the Financial Interests of Affiliates | |
| Prudential Financial, the general accounts of the Insurance Affiliates, PGIM Fixed Income and other affiliates of PGIM at times have financial interests in, or relationships with, companies whose securities or related instruments PGIM Fixed Income holds, purchases or sells in its client accounts. Certain of these interests and relationships are material to PGIM Fixed Income or to the Prudential enterprise. At any time, these interests and relationships could be inconsistent or in potential or actual conflict with positions held or actions taken by PGIM Fixed Income on behalf of PGIM Fixed Income’s client accounts. For example: | |
| PGIM Fixed Income invests in the securities of one or more clients for the accounts of other clients. | |
| PGIM Fixed Income’s affiliates sell various products and/or services to certain companies whose securities PGIM Fixed Income purchases and sells for PGIM Fixed Income clients. | |
| PGIM Fixed Income invests in the debt securities of companies whose equity is held by its affiliates. |
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| PGIM Fixed Income’s affiliates hold public and private debt and equity securities of a large number of issuers. PGIM Fixed Income invests in some of the same issuers for other client accounts but at different levels in the capital structure. For example: | |
| Affiliated accounts have held and can in the future hold the senior debt of an issuer whose subordinated debt is held by PGIM Fixed Income’s clients or hold secured debt of an issuer whose public unsecured debt is held in client accounts. See “Investment at different levels of an issuer’s capital structure” above for additional information regarding conflicts of interest resulting from investment at different levels of an issuer’s capital structure. | |
| To the extent permitted by applicable law, PGIM Fixed Income can also invest client assets in offerings of securities the proceeds of which are used to repay debt obligations held in affiliated accounts or other client accounts. PGIM Fixed Income’s interest in having the debt repaid creates a conflict of interest. PGIM Fixed Income has adopted a refinancing policy to address this conflict. | |
| Certain of PGIM Fixed Income’s affiliates (as well as directors or officers of its affiliates) are officers or directors of issuers in which PGIM Fixed Income invests from time to time. These issuers may also be service providers to PGIM Fixed Income or its affiliates. | |
| In addition, PGIM Fixed Income can invest client assets in securities backed by commercial mortgage loans that were originated or are serviced by an affiliate. | |
| In general, conflicts related to the financial interests described above are addressed by the fact that PGIM Fixed Income makes investment decisions for each client independently considering the best economic interests of such client. | |
| Conflicts Arising Out of Legal Restrictions. | |
| At times, PGIM Fixed Income is, and may in the future be, restricted by law, regulation, contract or other constraints as to how much, if any, of a particular security it may purchase or sell on behalf of a client, and as to the timing of such purchase or sale. Sometimes these restrictions apply as a result of its relationship with Prudential Financial and other affiliates. For example, PGIM Fixed Income does not purchase securities issued by Prudential Financial or other affiliates for client accounts. | |
| PGIM Fixed Income’s holdings of a security on behalf of its clients are required, under certain regulations, to be aggregated with the holdings of that security by other Prudential Financial affiliates. These holdings could, on an aggregate basis, exceed certain reporting or ownership thresholds. Prudential Financial tracks these aggregated holdings and PGIM Fixed Income may restrict purchases, sell existing positions, or otherwise restrict, forgo, or limit the exercise of rights to avoid crossing such thresholds because of the potential consequences to PGIM Fixed Income or Prudential Financial if such thresholds are exceeded. | |
| In addition, PGIM Fixed Income has received, and may in the future receive, material, non-public information with respect to a particular issuer and, as a result, have been, and may in the future be, unable to invest in or execute transactions in securities of that issuer for its clients. This information can be received voluntarily or involuntarily and under varying circumstances, including upon execution of a non-disclosure agreement, as a result of serving on the board of directors of a company, or serving on an ad hoc or official creditors' committee. In some instances, PGIM Fixed Income has created, and may in the future create, an isolated information barrier around a small number of its employees so that material, non-public information received by such employees is not attributed to the rest of PGIM Fixed Income. PGIM Fixed Income faces conflicts of interest in determining whether to accept material, non-public information. For example, PGIM Fixed Income has sought, and may in the future seek, with respect to the management of investments in certain loans for clients, to retain the ability to purchase and sell other securities in the borrower’s capital structure by remaining “public” on the loan. In such cases, PGIM Fixed Income will seek to avoid receiving material, non-public information about the borrowers to which an account may lend (through assignments, participations or otherwise), which may place an account at an information disadvantage relative to other lenders. Conversely, PGIM Fixed Income has chosen, and may in the future choose, to receive material, non-public information about borrowers for its clients that invest in bank loans, which has restricted, and may in the future restrict, its ability to trade in other securities of the borrowers for its clients that invest in corporate bonds. | |
| Conflicts Related to Investment Consultants. Many of PGIM Fixed Income’s clients and prospective clients retain investment consultants (including discretionary investment managers and OCIO providers) to advise them on the selection and review of investment managers (including with respect to the selection of investment funds). PGIM Fixed Income has dealings with these investment consultants in their roles as discretionary managers or non-discretionary advisers to their clients. PGIM Fixed Income also has independent business relationships with investment consultants. |
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| PGIM Fixed Income provides investment consultants with information about accounts that it manages for the consultant’s clients (and similarly, PGIM Fixed Income provides information about funds in which such clients are invested), in each case pursuant to authorization from the clients. PGIM Fixed Income also provides information regarding its investment strategies to investment consultants, who use that information in connection with searches that they conduct for their clients. PGIM Fixed Income often responds to requests for proposals in connection with those searches. | |
| Other interactions PGIM Fixed Income has with investment consultants include the following: | |
| it provides advisory services to the proprietary accounts of investment consultants and/or their affiliates, and advisory services to funds offered by investment consultants and/or their affiliates; | |
| it invites investment consultants to events or other entertainment hosted by PGIM Fixed Income; | |
| it purchases software applications, market data, access to databases, technology services and other products or services from certain investment consultants; and | |
| it may pay for the opportunity to participate in conferences organized by investment consultants. | |
| PGIM Fixed Income will provide clients with information about its relationship with the client’s investment consultant upon request. In general, PGIM Fixed Income relies on the investment consultant to make the appropriate disclosure to its clients of any conflict that the investment consultant believes to exist due to its business relationships with PGIM Fixed Income. | |
| A client’s relationship with an investment consultant may result in restrictions in the eligible securities or trading counterparties for the client’s account. For example, accounts of certain clients (including clients that are subject to ERISA) may be restricted from investing in securities issued by the client’s consultant or its affiliates and from trading with, or participating in transactions involving, counterparties that are affiliated with the investment consultant. In some cases, these restrictions could have a material impact on account performance. | |
| Conflicts Related to Service Providers. PGIM Fixed Income retains third party advisors and other service providers to provide various services for PGIM Fixed Income as well as for funds that PGIM Fixed Income manages or subadvises. A service provider may provide services to PGIM Fixed Income or one of PGIM Fixed Income’s funds while also providing services to other PGIM units, other PGIM-advised funds, or affiliates of PGIM, and may negotiate rates in the context of the overall relationship. PGIM Fixed Income may benefit from negotiated fee rates offered to its funds and vice versa. There is no assurance, however, that PGIM Fixed Income will be able to obtain advantageous fee rates from a given service provider negotiated by its affiliates based on their relationship with the service provider, or that PGIM Fixed Income will know of such negotiated fee rates. | |
| Conflicts Related to Valuation and Fees. | |
| When client accounts hold illiquid or difficult to value investments, PGIM Fixed Income faces a conflict of interest when making recommendations regarding the value of such investments since its fees are generally based on the value of assets under management. PGIM Fixed Income could be viewed as having an incentive to value investments at higher valuations. PGIM Fixed Income believes that its valuation policies and procedures mitigate this conflict effectively and enable it to value client assets fairly and in a manner that is consistent with the client’s best interests. In addition, single client account clients often calculate fees based on the valuation of assets provided by their custodian or administrator. | |
| Conflicts Related to Securities Lending Fees. | |
| When PGIM Fixed Income manages a client account and also serves as securities lending agent for the account, PGIM Fixed Income is compensated for its securities lending services by receiving a portion of the proceeds generated from securities lending activities of the account. PGIM Fixed Income could, therefore, be considered to have the incentive to invest in securities that would generate higher securities lending returns, but that may not otherwise be in the best interest of the client account. | |
| Conflicts Related to Long-Term Compensation. The performance of some client accounts is not reflected in the calculation of changes in the value of participation interests under PGIM Fixed Income’s long-term incentive plan. This may be because the composite representing the strategy in which the account is managed is not one of the composites included in the calculation or because the account is excluded from a specified composite due to guideline restrictions or other factors. In addition, the performance of only a small number of its investment strategies is covered under PGIM Fixed Income’s targeted long-term incentive plan. As a result of the long-term incentive plan and targeted long-term incentive plan, PGIM Fixed Income’s portfolio managers from time to time have financial interests related to the investment performance of some, but not all, of the accounts they manage. To address potential conflicts related to these financial interests, PGIM Fixed Income has procedures, including trade allocation and supervisory review procedures, designed to confirm that each of its client accounts is managed in a manner that is consistent with PGIM Fixed Income’s fiduciary obligations, as well as with the account’s investment objectives, investment strategies and restrictions. For example, PGIM Fixed Income’s chief investment officer/head reviews performance among similarly managed accounts on a quarterly basis during a series of |
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| meetings with the senior portfolio manager and team responsible for the management of each investment strategy. These quarterly investment strategy review meetings are also attended by the head of the investment risk management group or his designee and a member of the compliance group. | |
| Conflicts Related to the Offer and Sale of Securities. Certain of PGIM Fixed Income’s employees offer and sell securities of, and interests in, commingled funds that it manages or sub advises. Employees offer and sell securities in connection with their roles as registered representatives of an affiliated broker-dealer, officers of an affiliated trust company, agents of the Insurance Affiliates, approved persons of an affiliated investment adviser or other roles related to such commingled funds. There is an incentive for PGIM Fixed Income’s employees to offer these securities to investors regardless of whether the investment is appropriate for such investor since increased assets in these vehicles will result in increased advisory fees to it. In addition, such sales could result in increased compensation to the employee. | |
| Conflicts Related to Trading – Personal Trading by Employees. Personal trading by PGIM Fixed Income employees creates a conflict when they are trading the same securities or types of securities as PGIM Fixed Income trades on behalf of its clients. This conflict is mitigated by PGIM Fixed Income’s personal trading standards and procedures. | |
| Conflicts Related to Outside Business Activity. From time to time, certain of PGIM Fixed Income employees or officers engage in outside business activity, including outside directorships. Any outside business activity is subject to prior approval pursuant to PGIM Fixed Income’s personal conflicts of interest and outside business activities policy. Actual and potential conflicts of interest are analyzed during such approval process. PGIM Fixed Income could be restricted in trading the securities of certain issuers in client portfolios in the unlikely event that an employee or officer, as a result of outside business activity, obtains material, non-public information regarding an issuer. |
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QMA: Like other investment advisers, QMA is subject to various conflicts of interest in the ordinary course of its business. QMA strives to identify potential risks, including conflicts of interest, that are inherent in its business, and conducts annual conflict of interest reviews. When actual or potential conflicts of interest are identified, QMA seeks to address such conflicts through one or more of the following methods:
| ■ | Elimination of the conflict; |
| ■ | Disclosure of the conflict; or |
| ■ | Management of the conflict through the adoption of appropriate policies and procedures. |
QMA follows Prudential Financial's standards on business ethics, personal securities trading, and information barriers. QMA has adopted a code of ethics, allocation policies and conflicts of interest policies, among others, and has adopted supervisory procedures to monitor compliance with its policies. QMA cannot guarantee, however, that its policies and procedures will detect and prevent, or result in the disclosure of, each and every situation in which a conflict may arise.
Side-by-Side Management of Accounts and Related Conflicts of Interest
Side-by-side management of multiple accounts can create incentives for QMA to favor one account over another. Examples are detailed below, followed by a discussion of how QMA addresses these conflicts.
| ■ | Asset-Based Fees vs. Performance-Based Fees; Other Fee Considerations. QMA manages accounts with asset-based fees alongside accounts with performance-based fees. Asset-based fees are calculated based on the value of a client’s portfolio at periodic measurement dates or over specified periods of time. Performance-based fees are generally based on a share of the total return of a portfolio, and may offer greater upside potential to QMA than asset-based fees, depending on how the fees are structured. This side-by-side management could create an incentive for QMA to favor one account over another. Specifically, QMA could have the incentive to favor accounts for which it receives performance fees, and possibly take greater investment risks in those accounts, in order to bolster performance and increase its fees. In addition, since fees are negotiable, one client may be paying a higher fee than another client with similar investment objectives or goals. In negotiating fees, QMA takes into account a number of factors including, but not limited to, the investment strategy, the size of a portfolio being managed, the relationship with the client, and the required level of service. Fees may also differ based on account type. For example, fees for commingled vehicles, including those that QMA subadvises, may differ from fees charged for single client accounts. |
| ■ | Long Only/Long-Short Accounts. QMA manages accounts that only allow it to hold securities long as well as accounts that permit short selling. QMA may, therefore, sell a security short in some client accounts while holding the same security long in other client accounts, creating the possibility that QMA is taking inconsistent positions with respect to a particular security in different client accounts. |
| ■ | Compensation/Benefit Plan Accounts/Other Investments by Investment Professionals. QMA manages certain funds and strategies whose performance is considered in determining long-term incentive plan benefits for certain investment professionals. Investment professionals involved in the management of accounts in these strategies have an incentive to favor them over other accounts they manage in order to increase their compensation. Additionally, QMA’s investment professionals may have an interest in those strategies if the funds are chosen as options in their 401(k) or deferred compensation plans offered by Prudential or if they otherwise invest in those funds directly. |
| ■ | Affiliated Accounts. QMA manages accounts on behalf of its affiliates as well as unaffiliated accounts. QMA could have an incentive to favor accounts of affiliates over others. |
| ■ | Non-Discretionary Accounts or Model Portfolios. QMA provides non-discretionary model portfolios to some clients and manages other portfolios on a discretionary basis. When QMA manages accounts on a non-discretionary basis, the investment team will typically deliver a model portfolio to a non-discretionary client at or around the same time as executing discretionary trades in the same strategy. The non-discretionary clients may be disadvantaged if QMA delivers the model investment portfolio to them after it initiates trading for the discretionary clients, or vice versa. |
| ■ | Large Accounts/Higher Fee Strategies. Large accounts typically generate more revenue than do smaller accounts and certain strategies have higher fees than others. As a result, a portfolio manager has an incentive when allocating scarce investment opportunities to favor accounts that pay a higher fee or generate more income for QMA. |
| ■ | Securities of the Same Kind or Class. QMA sometimes buys or sells, or directs or recommends that one client buy or sell, securities of the same kind or class that are purchased or sold for another client, at prices that may be different. QMA may also, at any time, execute trades of securities of the same kind or class in one direction for an account and in |
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| the opposite direction for another account, due to differences in investment strategy or client direction. Different strategies effecting trading in the same securities or types of securities can appear as inconsistencies in QMA’s management of multiple accounts side-by-side. |
How QMA Addresses These Conflicts of Interest
The conflicts of interest described above with respect to QMA’s different types of side-by-side management could influence QMA’s allocation of investment opportunities as well as its timing, aggregation and allocation of trades. QMA has developed policies and procedures designed to address these conflicts of interest. QMA's Conflicts of Interest and related policies stress that investment decisions are to be made in accordance with the fiduciary duties owed to each account without giving consideration to QMA or QMA personnel's pecuniary, investment or other financial interest.
In keeping with its fiduciary obligations, QMA’s policies with respect to allocation and aggregation are to treat all of its accounts fairly and equitably. QMA’s investment strategies generally require that QMA invest its clients’ assets in securities that are publicly traded. QMA generally does not participate in IPOs. QMA's investment strategies are team managed, reducing the likelihood that one portfolio would be favored over other portfolios managed by the team. These factors significantly reduce the risk that QMA could favor one client over another in the allocation of investment opportunities. QMA’s compliance procedures with respect to these policies include independent reviews by its compliance unit of the timing, allocation and aggregation of trades, allocation of investment opportunities and the performance of similarly managed accounts. These procedures are designed to detect patterns and anomalies in QMA’s side-by-side management and trading so that QMA may take measures to correct or improve its processes. QMA’s Trade Management Oversight Committee, which consists of senior members of QMA’s management team, reviews trading patterns on a periodic basis.
QMA rebalances portfolios periodically with frequencies that vary with market conditions and investment objectives and may differ across portfolios in the same strategy based on variations in portfolio characteristics and constraints. QMA may aggregate trades for multiple portfolios rebalanced on any given day, where appropriate and consistent with its duty of best execution. Orders are generally allocated at the time of the transaction, or as soon as possible thereafter, on a pro rata basis equal to each account’s appetite for the issue when such appetite can be determined. As mentioned above, QMA’s compliance unit performs periodic reviews to determine that all portfolios are rebalanced consistently, over time, within all equity strategies.
With respect to QMA’s management of long-short and long-only active equity accounts, the security weightings (positive or negative) in each account are typically determined by a quantitative algorithm. An independent review is performed by the compliance unit to assess whether any such positions would represent a departure from the quantitative algorithm used to derive the positions in each portfolio. QMA’s review is also intended to identify situations where QMA would seem to have conflicting views of the same security in different portfolios although such views may actually be reasonable due to differing portfolio constraints.
QMA’s Relationships with Affiliates and Related Conflicts of Interest
As an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Prudential Financial, QMA is part of a diversified, global financial services organization. QMA is affiliated with many types of financial service providers, including broker-dealers, insurance companies, commodity pool operators and other investment advisers. Some of its employees are officers or directors of some of these affiliates.
Conflicts Related to QMA’s Affiliations
| ■ | Conflicts Arising Out of Legal Restrictions. QMA may be restricted by law, regulation, contract or other constraints as to how much, if any, of a particular security it may purchase or sell on behalf of a client, and as to the timing of such purchase or sale. Sometimes, these restrictions apply as a result of QMA’s relationship with Prudential Financial and its other affiliates. For example, QMA’s holdings of a security on behalf of its clients are required, under certain regulations, to be aggregated with the holdings of that security by other Prudential Financial affiliates. These holdings could, on an aggregate basis, exceed certain reporting or ownership thresholds. QMA tracks these aggregate holdings and may restrict purchases to avoid crossing such thresholds because of the potential consequences to Prudential if such thresholds are exceeded. In addition, QMA could receive material, non-public information with respect to a particular issuer from an affiliate and, as a result, be unable to execute purchase or sale transactions in securities of that issuer for its clients. QMA is generally able to avoid receiving material, non-public information from its affiliates by maintaining information barriers to prevent the transfer of information between affiliates. |
Conflicts Related to QMA’s Financial Interests and the Financial Interests of QMA’s Affiliates.
| ■ | QMA, Prudential Financial, Inc., The Prudential Insurance Company of America (PICA) and other affiliates of QMA have financial interests in, or relationships with, companies whose securities QMA holds, purchases or sells in its client accounts. Certain of these interests and relationships are material to QMA or to the Prudential enterprise. At any time, |
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| these interests and relationships could be inconsistent or in potential or actual conflict with positions held or actions taken by QMA on behalf of its client accounts. For example, QMA invests in the securities of one or more clients for the accounts of other clients. QMA’s affiliates sell various products and/or services to certain companies whose securities QMA purchases and sells for its clients. QMA’s affiliates hold public and private debt and equity securities of a large number of issuers. QMA invests in some of the same issuers for its client accounts but at different levels in the capital structure. For instance, QMA may invest client assets in the equity of companies whose debt is held by an affiliate. Certain of QMA’s affiliates (as well as directors of QMA’s affiliates) are officers or directors of issuers in which QMA invests from time to time. These issuers may also be service providers to QMA or its affiliates. In general, conflicts related to the financial interests described above are addressed by the fact that QMA makes investment decisions for each client independently considering the best economic interests of such client. | |
| ■ | Certain of QMA’s employees may offer and sell securities of, and interests in, commingled funds that QMA manages or subadvises. Employees may offer and sell securities in connection with their roles as registered representatives of Prudential Investment Management Services LLC (a broker-dealer affiliate), or as officers, agents, or approved persons of other affiliates. There is an incentive for QMA’s employees to offer these securities to investors regardless of whether the investment is appropriate for such investor since increased assets in these vehicles will result in increased advisory fees to QMA. In addition, although sales commissions are not paid for such activities, such sales could result in increased compensation to the employee. To mitigate this conflict, QMA performs suitability checks on new clients as well as on an annual basis with respect to all clients. |
| ■ | A portion of the long-term incentive grant of some of QMA’s investment professionals will increase or decrease based on the performance of several of QMA’s strategies over defined time periods. Consequently, some of QMA’s portfolio managers from time to time have financial interests in the accounts they advise. To address potential conflicts related to these financial interests, QMA has procedures, including supervisory review procedures, designed to verify that each of its accounts is managed in a manner that is consistent with QMA’s fiduciary obligations, as well as with the account’s investment objectives, investment strategies and restrictions. Specifically, QMA’s chief investment officer will perform a comparison of trading costs between accounts in the strategies whose performance is considered in connection with the long-term incentive grant and other accounts, to verify that such costs are consistent with each other or otherwise in line with expectations. The results of the analysis are discussed at a meeting of QMA's Trade Management Oversight Committee. |
Conflicts Arising Out of Certain Vendor Agreements.
| ■ | QMA and its affiliates, from time to time, have service agreements with various vendors that are also investment consultants. Under these agreements, QMA or its affiliates compensate the vendors for certain services, including software, market data and technology services. QMA’s clients may also retain these vendors as investment consultants. The existence of service agreements between these consultants and QMA may provide an incentive for the investment consultants to favor QMA when they advise their clients. QMA does not, however, condition its purchase of services from consultants upon their recommending QMA to their clients. QMA will provide clients with information about services that QMA or its affiliates obtain from these consultants upon request. QMA retains third party advisors and other service providers to provide various services for QMA as well as for funds that QMA manages or subadvises. A service provider may provide services to QMA or one of its funds while also providing services to PGIM, Inc. (PGIM), other PGIM-advised funds, or affiliates of PGIM, and may negotiate rates in the context of the overall relationship. QMA may benefit from negotiated fee rates offered to its funds and vice-versa. There is no assurance that QMA will be able to obtain advantageous fee rates from a given service provider negotiated by its affiliates based on their relationship with the service provider, or that it will know of such negotiated fee rates. |
TCW: TCW has policies and controls to avoid and/or mitigate conflicts of interest across its businesses. The policies and procedures in TCW’s Code of Ethics (the “Code”) serve to address or mitigate both conflicts of interest and the appearance of any conflict of interest. The Code contains several restrictions and procedures designed to eliminate conflicts of interest relating to personal investment transactions, including (i) reporting account openings, changes, or closings (including accounts in which an Access Person has a "beneficial interest"), (ii) pre-clearance of non-exempt personal investment transactions (make a personal trade request for Securities) and (iii) the completion of timely required reporting (Initial Holdings Report, Quarterly Transactions Report, Annual Holdings Report and Annual Certificate of Compliance).
In addition, the Code addresses potential conflicts of interest through its policies on insider trading, anti-corruption, an employee’s outside business activities, political activities and contributions, confidentiality and whistleblower provisions.
Conflicts of interest may also arise in the management of accounts and investment vehicles. These conflicts may raise questions that would allow TCW to allocate investment opportunities in a way that favors certain accounts or investment vehicles over other accounts or investment vehicles, or incentivize a TCW portfolio manager to receive greater
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compensation with regard to the management of certain account or investment vehicles. TCW may give advice or take action with certain accounts or investment vehicles that could differ from the advice given or action taken on other accounts or investment vehicles. When an investment opportunity is suitable for more than one account or investment vehicle, such investments will be allocated in a manner that is fair and equitable under the circumstances to all TCW clients. As such, TCW has adopted compliance policies and procedures in its Portfolio Management Policy that helps to identify a conflict of interest and then specifies how a conflict of interest is managed. TCW’s Trading and Brokerage Policy also discusses the process of timing and method of allocations, and addresses how the firm handles affiliate transactions.
The respective Equity and Fixed Income Trading and Allocation Committees review trading activities on behalf of client accounts, including the allocation of investment opportunities and address any issues with regard to side-by-side management in order to ensure that all of TCW’s clients are treated on a fair and equitable basis. Further, the Portfolio Analytics Committee reviews TCW’s investment strategies, evaluates various analytics to facilitate risk assessment, changes to performance composites and benchmarks and monitors the implementation and maintenance of the Global Investment Performance Standards or GIPS® compliance.
TCW’s approach to handling conflicts of interest is multi-layered starting with its policies and procedures, reporting and pre-clearance processes and oversight by various committees.
| Threadneedle: Threadneedle portfolio managers may manage one or more mutual funds as well as other types of accounts, including proprietary accounts, separate accounts for institutions, and other pooled investment vehicles. Portfolio managers make investment decisions for an account or portfolio based on its investment objectives and policies, and other relevant investment considerations. A portfolio manager may manage a separate account or other pooled investment vehicle whose fees may be materially greater than the management fees paid by the Fund and may include a performance-based fee. Management of multiple funds and accounts may create potential conflicts of interest relating to the allocation of investment opportunities, and the aggregation and allocation of trades. In addition, a portfolio manager’s responsibilities at Threadneedle include working as a securities analyst. This dual role may give rise to conflicts with respect to making investment decisions for accounts that he/she manages versus communicating his/her analyses to other portfolio managers concerning securities that he/she follows as an analyst. | |
| Threadneedle has a fiduciary responsibility to all of the clients for which it manages accounts. Threadneedle seeks to provide best execution of all securities transactions and to aggregate securities transactions and then allocate securities to client accounts in a fair and timely manner. Threadneedle has developed policies and procedures, including brokerage and trade allocation policies and procedures, designed to mitigate and manage the potential conflicts of interest that may arise from the management of multiple types of accounts for multiple clients. | |
| Voya: A portfolio manager may be subject to potential conflicts of interest because the portfolio manager is responsible for other accounts in addition to the Funds. These other accounts may include, among others, other mutual funds, separately managed advisory accounts, commingled trust accounts, insurance separate accounts, wrap fee programs, and hedge funds. Potential conflicts may arise out of the implementation of differing investment strategies for the portfolio manager’s various accounts, the allocation of investment opportunities among those accounts or differences in the advisory fees paid by the portfolio manager’s accounts. | |
| A potential conflict of interest may arise as a result of the portfolio manager’s responsibility for multiple accounts with similar investment guidelines. Under these circumstances, a potential investment may be suitable for more than one of the portfolio manager’s accounts, but the quantity of the investment available for purchase is less than the aggregate amount the accounts would ideally devote to the opportunity. Similar conflicts may arise when multiple accounts seek to dispose of the same investment. | |
| A portfolio manager may also manage accounts whose objectives and policies differ from those of the Funds. These differences may be such that under certain circumstances, trading activity appropriate for one account managed by the portfolio manager may have adverse consequences for another account managed by the portfolio manager. For example, if an account were to sell a significant position in a security, which could cause the market price of that security to decrease, while a Fund maintained its position in that security. | |
| A potential conflict may arise when a portfolio manager is responsible for accounts that have different advisory fees – the difference in the fees may create an incentive for the portfolio manager to favor one account over another, for example, in terms of access to particularly appealing investment opportunities. This conflict may be heightened where an account is subject to a performance-based fee. As part of its compliance program, Voya IM has adopted policies and procedures reasonably designed to address the potential conflicts of interest described above. |
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| Finally, a potential conflict of interest may arise because the investment mandates for certain other accounts, such as hedge funds, may allow extensive use of short sales which, in theory, could allow them to enter into short positions in securities where other accounts hold long positions. Voya IM has policies and procedures reasonably designed to limit and monitor short sales by the other accounts to avoid harm to the Funds. |
| Water Island: Water Island maintains policies and procedures reasonably designed to detect and minimize potential conflicts of interest inherent in circumstances when a portfolio manager has day-to-day responsibilities for managing multiple portfolios. Other portfolios managed by Water Island may include, without limitation: separately managed accounts, registered investment companies, unregistered investment companies such as pooled investment vehicles and hedge funds, and proprietary accounts. However, no set of policies and procedures can possibly anticipate or relieve all potential conflicts of interest. These conflicts may be real, potential, or perceived. Certain of these conflicts are described below. |
| Allocation of Limited Investment Opportunities – If a portfolio manager identifies a limited investment opportunity (including initial public offerings and private placement securities) that may be suitable for multiple funds and/or accounts, the investment opportunity may be allocated among these multiple funds or accounts, which may limit a client’s ability to take full advantage of the investment opportunity, due to liquidity constraints or other factors. Water Island has adopted trade aggregation and allocation procedures designed to ensure that allocations of limited investment opportunities are conducted in a fair and equitable manner among client accounts, including the Fund. Nevertheless, investment opportunities may be allocated differently among client accounts due to the characteristics of an account, such as the size of the account, cash position, investment guidelines and restrictions, or risk controls. |
| Similar Investment Strategies – Water Island and its portfolio management team may manage multiple portfolios with similar investment strategies. Investment decisions for each portfolio are generally made based on each portfolio’s investment objectives and guidelines, cash availability, current holdings, and risk controls. Purchases or sales of securities for a portfolio may be appropriate for other portfolios with like objectives and may be bought or sold in different amounts and at different times in multiple portfolios. In these cases, transactions are allocated to portfolios in a manner believed fair and equitable across client account portfolios by Water Island’s allocation methodology. Purchase and sale orders for a portfolio may be combined with those of other portfolios in the interest of achieving the most favorable net results for all portfolios. |
| Different Investment Strategies – Water Island and its portfolio management team may manage multiple portfolios with different investment strategies. As such, the potential exists for short sales of securities in certain portfolios while the same security is held long in one or more other portfolios. In an attempt to mitigate the inherent risks of simultaneous management of portfolios with different investment strategies, Water Island has established and implemented procedures to promote fair and equitable treatment of all portfolios. The procedures include monitoring and surveillance of trading activity and supervisory reviews of accounts. Any proposed cross trades must be reviewed and approved by Water Island’s compliance department prior to execution and must comply with Rule 17a-7 under the 1940 Act. |
| Differences in Financial Incentives - A conflict of interest may arise where the financial or other benefits available to a portfolio manager or an investment adviser differ among the funds and/or accounts under management. For example, when the structure of an investment adviser’s management fee differs among the funds and/or accounts under its management (such as where certain funds or accounts pay higher management fees or performance-based management fees), a portfolio manager might be motivated to favor certain funds and/or accounts over others. Performance-based fees could also create an incentive for an investment adviser to make investments that are riskier or more speculative. In addition, a portfolio manager might be motivated to favor funds and/or accounts in which the portfolio manager or Water Island has a financial interest. For instance, Water Island may from time to time establish “pilot” or “incubator” funds for the purpose of testing proposed investment strategies or products prior to accepting assets from outside investors. Typically, Water Island or an affiliate supplies the funding for these accounts. Employees of Water Island, including the Fund’s portfolio managers, may also invest in certain pilot accounts. Similarly, the desire to maintain or raise assets under management or to enhance the portfolio manager’s performance record in a particular investment strategy or to derive other rewards, financial or otherwise, could influence a portfolio manager to lend preferential treatment to those funds and/or accounts that could most significantly benefit the portfolio manager. To manage conflicts that arise from management of portfolios that may have differences in financial incentives, performance in portfolios with like strategies is regularly reviewed by management. Moreover, Water Island has adopted a policy to treat pilot accounts in the same manner as other client accounts for purposes of trade aggregation and allocation -- neither favoring nor disfavoring them (except that pilot accounts do not receive allocations of initial public offerings or private placement securities unless other accounts receive a full allocation first). |
| Selection of Brokers/Dealers - A portfolio manager may be able to select or influence the selection of the brokers/dealers that are used to execute securities transactions. In addition to executing trades, some brokers/dealers provide Water Island with brokerage and research services (as those terms are defined in Section 28(e) of the Exchange Act), which may result in |
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| the payment of higher brokerage fees than might have otherwise been available. These services may be more beneficial to certain accounts than to others. To be assured of continuing to receive services considered of value to the Fund and its other clients, Water Island has adopted a brokerage allocation policy embodying the concepts of Section 28(e) of the Exchange Act. A portfolio manager’s decision as to the selection of brokers and dealers could yield disproportionate costs and benefits among the accounts that they manage, although the payment of brokerage commissions is always subject to the requirement that Water Island determines in good faith that the commissions are reasonable in relation to the value of the brokerage and research services received. |
| Personal Holdings and Transactions – Water Island’s portfolio managers and other employees may have beneficial ownership of holdings in personal accounts that are the same or similar to those held in client accounts, including the Fund. Under limited circumstances, Water Island allows its employees to trade in securities that it recommends to advisory clients, and the actions taken by such individuals on a personal basis may differ from, or be inconsistent with, the nature and timing of advice or actions taken by Water Island for its client accounts. Water Island and its employees may also invest in registered investment companies and other pooled investment vehicles that are managed by Water Island. This may result in a potential conflict of interest since Water Island’s employees have knowledge of such funds’ investment holdings, which is non-public information. Water Island has implemented a Code of Ethics which is designed to address and mitigate the possibility that these professionals could place their own interests ahead of those of clients. The Code of Ethics addresses this potential conflict of interest by imposing preclearance and reporting requirements, trading blackout periods, a minimum holding period, supervisory oversight, and other measures designed to reduce conflicts of interest. |
| Water Island and the Fund’s portfolio managers may also face other potential conflicts of interest in the management of the Fund and other client accounts, and the examples above are not intended to provide an exhaustive list or complete description of every conflict that may arise. | |
| WellsCap: WellsCap’s Portfolio Managers often provide investment management for separate accounts advised in the same or similar investment style as that provided to mutual funds. While management of multiple accounts could potentially lead to conflicts of interest over various issues such as trade allocation, fee disparities and research acquisition, WellsCap has implemented policies and procedures for the express purpose of ensuring that clients are treated fairly and that potential conflicts of interest are minimized. | |
| The Portfolio Managers face inherent conflicts of interest in their day-to-day management of the Funds and other accounts because the Funds may have different investment objectives, strategies and risk profiles than the other accounts managed by the Portfolio Managers. For instance, to the extent that the Portfolio Managers manage accounts with different investment strategies than the Funds, they may from time to time be inclined to purchase securities, including initial public offerings, for one account but not for a Fund. Additionally, some of the accounts managed by the Portfolio Managers may have different fee structures, including performance fees, which are or have the potential to be higher or lower, in some cases significantly higher or lower, than the fees paid by the Funds. The differences in fee structures may provide an incentive to the Portfolio Managers to allocate more favorable trades to the higher-paying accounts. | |
| To minimize the effects of these inherent conflicts of interest, WellsCap has adopted and implemented policies and procedures, including brokerage and trade allocation policies and procedures, that they believe address the potential conflicts associated with managing portfolios for multiple clients and are designed to ensure that all clients are treated fairly and equitably. Accordingly, security block purchases are allocated to all accounts with similar objectives in a fair and equitable manner. Furthermore, WellsCap has adopted a Code of Ethics under Rule 17j-1 under the 1940 Act and Rule 204A-1 under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (the “Advisers Act”) to address potential conflicts associated with managing the Funds and any personal accounts the Portfolio Managers may maintain. |
Structure of Compensation
| AlphaSimplex: All AlphaSimplex investment professionals receive compensation according to a merit-based incentives structure. In addition to receiving competitive base salaries, employees are eligible for performance bonuses, which are based on both individual and firm performance. Performance is assessed on an annual basis by department heads. AlphaSimplex considers a number of factors—including risk-adjusted performance and intellectual contribution—when determining the bonus compensation of its investment professionals. Key professionals who have made significant and lasting contributions to the firm are invited to participate in a supplemental bonus pool reserved for partners of the firm. Partners are awarded claims on specific percentages of the firm’s annual profits. |
| The Compensation Committee of the AlphaSimplex Board of Directors approves all bonus and partnership awards based on the recommendations of management. The total bonus pool is comprised of a staff bonus pool, which is generally set at 100% of base salaries, and a separate pool for partners, which is funded with any remainder and allocated among the partners based on their partnership interests. Accordingly, variable compensation makes up a significant portion of total remuneration, particularly for senior managers, whose bonuses can amount to between 100% and 600% of base |
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| compensation. To retain talent, AlphaSimplex defers a significant portion of bonus amounts for key professionals for up to three years. The deferred portion of bonuses is invested across all the strategies managed by AlphaSimplex. Finally, as a condition of employment, all AlphaSimplex employees agree to abide by non-compete/non-solicit/non-disclosure agreements. These agreements provide for a 12–36 month non-compete period in the event an employee leaves the firm. |
| Portfolio manager compensation is a function of firm-wide profitability. Since AlphaSimplex’s approach to investment management is quantitative and systematic, Fund shareholder interests are less dependent on day-to-day portfolio manager decisions, but more a function of overall model performance over longer time periods. Therefore, strong long-term Fund performance goes hand-in-hand with long-term firm profitability and portfolio manager compensation. |
| AQR: The compensation for each of the portfolio managers that is a Principal of AQR is in the form of distributions based on the net income generated by AQR and each Principal’s relative ownership in AQR. Net income distributions are a function of assets under management and performance of the funds and accounts managed by AQR. A Principal’s relative ownership in AQR is based on cumulative research, leadership and other contributions to AQR. There is no direct linkage between assets under management, performance and compensation. However, there is an indirect linkage in that superior performance tends to attract assets and thus increase revenues. Each portfolio manager is also eligible to participate in AQR’s 401(k) retirement plan which is offered to all employees of AQR. |
| Arrowstreet: Arrowstreet’s compensation system is designed to attract, motivate and retain talented professionals. Arrowstreet’s compensation structure for investment professionals consists of a competitive base salary and bonus. Bonuses are paid on an annual basis. Bonus targets are set for each individual at each review period, typically the start of every year. | |
| Baillie Gifford: Compensation arrangements within the Manager vary depending upon whether the individual is an employee or partner of Baillie Gifford & Co. | |
| Employees of Baillie Gifford & Co. | |
| A portfolio manager’s compensation generally consists of: |
| — | base salary; |
| — | a company-wide all staff bonus; |
| — | a performance related bonus; and |
| — | the standard retirement benefits and health and welfare benefits available to all Baillie Gifford & Co. employees. |
A portfolio manager’s base salary is determined by the manager’s experience and performance in the role, taking into account the ongoing compensation benchmark analyses, and is generally a fixed amount that may change as a result of an annual review, upon assumption of new duties, or when a market adjustment of the position occurs.
A portfolio manager’s performance related bonus is determined by team and individual performance. Team performance will generally be measured on investment performance over a five year basis and is based on performance targets that are set and reviewed annually by the Chief of Investment Staff.
Individual performance will be determined by the individual’s line manager at the annual appraisal at which staff are assessed against key competencies and pre-agreed objectives. The bonus is paid on an annual basis.
A proportion of the performance related bonus is mandatorily deferred. Currently recipients defer between 20% and 40% of their performance related bonus. Awards will be deferred over a period of three years and will be invested in a range of funds managed by the Baillie Gifford Group.
Partners of Baillie Gifford & Co.
Angus Franklin and Donald Farquharson are partners of Baillie Gifford & Co.
The remuneration of Baillie Gifford & Co. partners comprises Baillie Gifford & Co. partnership profits, which are distributed as:
| — | base salary; and |
| — | a share of the partnership profits. |
The profit share is calculated as a percentage of total partnership profits based on seniority and role within Baillie Gifford & Co. The basis for the profit share is detailed in the Baillie Gifford & Co. Partnership Agreement.
The main staff benefits such as pension schemes are not available to partners and therefore partners provide for benefits from their own personal funds. Partners in their first few years additionally receive a bonus. The bonuses are calculated in the same way as those for staff but exclude the deferred element. A proportion of the bonus paid will be retained to be used to buy capital shares in the partnership.
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| BMO: Compensation for BMO’s portfolio managers consists of base salary, discretionary performance bonuses, and other benefits. Base salaries are reviewed on an annual basis to ensure alignment with the external market. Discretionary performance bonuses vary according to business and individual performance and are provided in a combination of cash and deferred equity-based awards for employees at higher levels of compensation. Portfolio managers also may have a long-term incentive program consisting of restricted share units or other units linked to the performance of BMO. |
| BMO ensures that its compensation programs provide for clear alignment between pay and sustained business, client and individual performance as well as recognize behaviors which align to core values and contribute to the success of BMO and BMO clients. The compensation programs are designed to support and promote effective risk management, aligned to clients’ risk objectives and BMO’s corporate risk appetite and reflect local regulatory and legal requirements. The approach to compensation does not encourage excessive risk-taking that exceeds tolerated levels of risk. |
| With respect to any perceived conflicts of interest relating to the payment model, the risk management focus of the investment process drives all key decision making. Likewise, individual compensation is weighted more toward long term profit from fee-based client relationships than it is on short term performance, which further motivates the team to achieve stable long-term fee-based relationships through consistent benchmark outperformance and capital preservation. Finally, the deferred equity-linked component of the incentive compensation plan promotes a long-term interest in firm value. |
| Boston Partners: All investment professionals receive a compensation package comprised of an industry competitive base salary and a discretionary bonus and long-term incentives. Through our bonus program, key investment professionals are rewarded primarily for strong investment performance. |
| Typically, bonuses are based upon a combination of one or more of the following four criteria: |
| 1. Individual Contribution: an evaluation of the professional’s individual contribution based on the expectations established at the beginning of each year; |
| 2. Product Investment Performance: performance of the investment product(s) with which the individual is involved versus the pre-designed index, based on the excess return; |
| 3. Investment Team Performance: the financial results of the investment group; and |
| 4. Firm-wide Performance: the overall financial performance of Boston Partners. |
| Boston Partners professional compensation consultants with asset management expertise to annually review our practices to ensure that they remain highly competitive. |
| Causeway: Ms. Ketterer and Mr. Hartford, the chief executive officer and president of Causeway, respectively, receive annual salary and are entitled, as controlling owners of the firm’s parent holding company, to distributions of the holding company’s profits based on their ownership interests. They do not receive incentive compensation. The other portfolio managers receive salary and may receive incentive compensation (including potential cash, awards of growth units, or awards of equity units). Portfolio managers also receive, directly or through estate planning vehicles, distributions of profits based on their minority ownership interests in the firm’s parent holding company. Causeway’s Compensation Committee, weighing a variety of objective and subjective factors, determines salary and incentive compensation and, subject to approval of the holding company’s Board of Managers, may award equity units. Portfolios are team-managed and salary and incentive compensation are not based on the specific performance the Fund or any single client account managed by Causeway but take into account the performance of the individual portfolio manager, the relevant team and Causeway’s overall performance and financial results. The performance of stocks selected for Fund and client portfolios within a particular industry or sector over a multi-year period relative to appropriate benchmarks will be relevant for portfolio managers assigned to that industry or sector. Causeway takes into account both quantitative and qualitative factors when determining the amount of incentive compensation awarded, including the following factors: individual research contribution, portfolio and team management contribution, group research contribution, client service and recruiting contribution, and other contributions to client satisfaction and firm development. The assessment of these factors takes into account both current and future risks and different factors can be weighed differently. | |
| Columbia Management: Portfolio manager direct compensation is typically comprised of a base salary, and an annual incentive award that is paid either in the form of a cash bonus if the size of the award is under a specified threshold, or, if the size of the award is over a specified threshold, the award is paid in a combination of a cash bonus, an equity incentive award, and deferred compensation. Equity incentive awards are made in the form of Ameriprise Financial restricted stock or, for more senior employees, both Ameriprise Financial restricted stock and stock options. The investment return credited on deferred compensation is based on the performance of specified Columbia Funds, in most cases including the Columbia Funds the portfolio manager manages. |
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| Base salary is typically determined based on market data relevant to the employee’s position, as well as other factors including internal equity. Base salaries are reviewed annually, and increases are typically given as promotional increases, internal equity adjustments, or market adjustments. | |
| Under the Columbia Management annual incentive plan for investment professionals, awards are discretionary, and the amount of incentive awards for investment team members is variable based on (1) an evaluation of the investment performance of the investment team of which the investment professional is a member, reflecting the performance (and client experience) of the funds or accounts the investment professional manages and, if applicable, reflecting the individual’s work as an investment research analyst, (2) the results of a peer and/or management review of the individual, taking into account attributes such as team participation, investment process followed, communications, and leadership, and (3) the amount of aggregate funding of the plan determined by senior management of Columbia Threadneedle Investments and Ameriprise Financial, which takes into account Columbia Threadneedle Investments revenues and profitability, as well as Ameriprise Financial profitability, historical plan funding levels and other factors. Columbia Threadneedle Investments revenues and profitability are largely determined by assets under management. In determining the allocation of incentive compensation to investment teams, the amount of assets and related revenues managed by the team is also considered. Individual awards are subject to a comprehensive risk adjustment review process to ensure proper reflection in remuneration of adherence to our controls and Code of Conduct. | |
| Investment performance for a fund or other account is measured using a scorecard that compares account performance against benchmarks and/or peer groups. Account performance may also be compared to unaffiliated passively managed ETFs, taking into consideration the management fees of comparable passively managed ETFs, when available and as determined by the Investment Manager. Consideration is given to relative performance over the one-, three- and five-year periods, with the largest weighting on the three-year comparison. For individuals and teams that manage multiple strategies and accounts, relative asset size is a key determinant in calculating the aggregate score, with weighting typically proportionate to actual assets. For investment leaders who have group management responsibilities, another factor in their evaluation is an assessment of the group’s overall investment performance. Exceptions to this general approach to bonuses exist for certain teams and individuals. | |
| Equity incentive awards are designed to align participants’ interests with those of the shareholders of Ameriprise Financial. Equity incentive awards vest over multiple years, so they help retain employees. | |
| Deferred compensation awards are designed to align participants’ interests with the investors in the Columbia Funds and other accounts they manage. The value of the deferral account is based on the performance of Columbia Funds. Employees have the option of selecting from various Columbia Funds for their deferral account, however portfolio managers must (other than by strict exception) allocate a minimum of 25% of their incentive awarded through the deferral program to the Columbia Fund(s) they manage. Deferrals vest over multiple years, so they help retain employees. | |
| For all employees the benefit programs generally are the same and are competitive within the financial services industry. Employees participate in a wide variety of plans, including options in Medical, Dental, Vision, Health Care and Dependent Spending Accounts, Life Insurance, Long Term Disability Insurance, 401(k), and a cash balance pension plan. |
| Conestoga: Each of the Fund’s portfolio managers is a partner of Conestoga. As such, each portfolio manager receives a share of Conestoga’s annual profits, as specified in the manager’s partnership agreement with Conestoga, from Conestoga’s management of the Fund and all other accounts. |
| Hotchkis & Wiley: Hotchkis & Wiley’s portfolio managers are compensated in various forms, which may include a base salary, bonus, profit sharing, and equity ownership. Compensation is used to reward, attract, and retain high‐ quality investment professionals. The portfolio managers are evaluated and accountable at three levels. The first level is individual contribution to the research and decision‐making process, including the quality and quantity of work achieved. The second level is teamwork, generally evaluated through contribution within sector teams. The third level pertains to overall portfolio and firm performance. |
| Fixed salaries and discretionary bonuses for investment professionals are determined by the Chief Executive Officer of Hotchkis & Wiley using tools which may include annual evaluations, compensation surveys, feedback from other employees, and advice from members of Hotchkis & Wiley’s Executive and Compensation Committees. The amount of the bonus is determined by the total amount of Hotchkis & Wiley’s bonus pool available for the year, which is generally a function of revenues. No investment professional receives a bonus that is a pre‐determined percentage of revenues or net income. Compensation is thus subjective rather than formulaic. The majority of the portfolio managers own equity in Hotchkis & Wiley. Hotchkis & Wiley believes that the employee ownership structure of the firm will be a significant factor in ensuring a motivated and stable employee base going forward. Hotchkis & Wiley believes that the combination of |
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| competitive compensation levels and equity ownership provides Hotchkis & Wiley with a demonstrable advantage in the retention and motivation of employees. Portfolio managers who own equity in Hotchkis & Wiley receive their pro rata share of Hotchkis & Wiley’s profits. Investment professionals may also receive contributions under Hotchkis & Wiley’s profit sharing/401(k) plan | |
| JPMIM: JPMorgan’s compensation programs are designed to align the behavior of employees with the achievement of its short- and long-term strategic goals, which revolve around client investment objectives. This is accomplished, in part, through a balanced performance assessment process and total compensation program, as well as a clearly defined culture that rigorously and consistently promotes adherence to the highest ethical standards. | |
| In determining portfolio manager compensation, JPMorgan uses a balanced discretionary approach to assess performance against four broad categories: (1) business results; (2) risk and control; (3) customers and clients; and (4) people and leadership. | |
| These performance categories consider short-, medium- and long-term goals that drive sustained value for clients, while accounting for risk and control objectives. Specifically, portfolio manager performance is evaluated against various factors including the following: (1) blended pre-tax investment performance relative to competitive indices, generally weighted more to the long-term; (2) individual contribution relative to the client’s risk/return objectives; and (3) adherence with JPMorgan’s compliance, risk and regulatory procedures. | |
| Feedback from JPMorgan’s risk and control professionals is considered in assessing performance. | |
| JPMorgan maintains a balanced total compensation program comprised of a mix of fixed compensation (including a competitive base salary and, for certain employees, a fixed cash allowance), variable compensation in the form of cash incentives, and long-term incentives in the form of equity based and/or fund-tracking incentives that vest over time. Long-term awards comprise of up to 60% of overall incentive compensation, depending on an employee’s pay level. | |
| Long-term awards are generally in the form of time-vested JPMC Restricted Stock Units (“RSUs”). However, portfolio managers are subject to a mandatory deferral of long-term incentive compensation under JPMorgan’s Mandatory Investor Plan (“MIP”). The MIP provides for a rate of return equal to that of the Fund(s) that the portfolio managers manage, thereby aligning portfolio managers’ pay with that of their client’s experience/return. 100% of the portfolio managers’ long-term incentive compensation is eligible for MIP with 50% allocated to the specific Fund(s) they manage, as determined by their respective manager. The remaining portion of the overall amount is electable and may be treated as if invested in any of the other Funds available in the plan or can take the form of RSUs. |
| Loomis Sayles: Loomis Sayles believes that portfolio manager compensation should be driven primarily by the delivery of consistent and superior long-term performance for its clients. Mr. Hamzaogullari’s compensation has four components: a competitive base salary, an annual incentive bonus driven by investment performance, participation in long-term incentive plan (with annual and post-retirement payouts), and a revenue sharing bonus if certain revenue thresholds and performance hurdles are met. Maximum variable compensation potential is a multiple of base salary and reflects performance achievements relative to peers with similar disciplines. The performance review considers the asset class, manager experience, and maturity of the product. The incentive compensation is based on trailing strategy performance and is weighted at one third for the three-year period, one third for the five-year period and one third for the ten-year period. He also receives performance based compensation as portfolio manager for a private investment fund. The firm’s Chief Investment Officer (CIO) and senior management review the components annually. |
| In addition, Mr. Hamzaogullari participates in the Loomis Sayles profit sharing plan, in which Loomis Sayles makes a contribution to the retirement plan of each employee based on a percentage of base salary (up to a maximum amount). He may also participate in the Loomis Sayles deferred compensation plan which requires all employees to defer 50% of their annual bonus if in excess of a certain dollar amount, except for those employees who will be age 61 or older on the date the bonus is awarded. These amounts are deferred over a two-year period with 50% being paid out one year from the bonus anniversary date and the second 50% being paid out two years from the bonus anniversary date. These deferrals are deposited into an investment account on the employee's behalf, but the employee must be here on the vesting dates in order to receive the deferred bonus. |
| Fixed Income Managers |
| Loomis Sayles believes that portfolio manager compensation should be driven primarily by the delivery of consistent and superior long-term performance for its clients. Portfolio manager compensation is made up primarily of three main components: base salary, variable compensation and a long-term incentive program. Although portfolio manager compensation is not directly tied to assets under management, a portfolio manager’s base salary and/or variable compensation potential may reflect the amount of assets for which the manager is responsible relative to other portfolio managers. Loomis Sayles also offers a profit sharing plan, and a defined benefit plan to all employees hired before May 3, 2003. Base salary is a fixed amount based on a combination of factors, including industry experience, firm experience, job |
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| performance and market considerations. Variable compensation is an incentive-based component and generally represents a significant multiple of base salary. Variable compensation is based on four factors: investment performance, profit growth of the firm, profit growth of the manager’s business unit and personal conduct. Investment performance is the primary component of total variable compensation and generally represents at least 60% of the total for fixed-income managers. The other three factors are used to determine the remainder of variable compensation, subject to the discretion of the firm’s CIO and senior management. The firm’s CIO and senior management evaluate these other factors annually. |
| While mutual fund performance and asset size do not directly contribute to the compensation calculation, investment performance for fixed-income managers is measured by comparing the performance of Loomis Sayles’ institutional composite (pre-tax and net of fees) in the manager’s style to the performance of an external benchmark and a customized peer group. The external benchmark used for the fund is The external benchmark used for the MM Total Return Bond Strategies Fund is the Barclays U.S. Aggregate Index. |
| The customized peer group is created by Loomis Sayles and is made up of institutional managers in the particular investment style. A manager’s relative performance for the past five years, or seven years for some products, is used to calculate the amount of variable compensation payable due to performance. To ensure consistency, Loomis Sayles analyzes the five or seven year performance on a rolling three year basis. If a manager is responsible for more than one product, the rankings of each product are weighted based on relative revenue size of accounts represented in each product. |
| Loomis Sayles uses both an external benchmark and a customized peer group as a point of comparison for fixed-income manager performance because it believes they represent an appropriate combination of the competitive fixed-income product universe and the investment styles offered by Loomis Sayles. |
| In addition to the compensation described above, portfolio managers may receive additional compensation based on the overall growth of their strategies. |
| General |
| Most mutual funds do not directly contribute to a portfolio manager's overall compensation because Loomis Sayles uses the performance of the portfolio manager's institutional accounts compared to an institutional peer group. However, each fund managed by Loomis Sayles employs strategies endorsed by Loomis Sayles and fits into the product category for the relevant investment style. Loomis Sayles may adjust compensation if there is significant dispersion among the returns of the composite and accounts not included in the composite. |
| Loomis Sayles has developed and implemented two distinct long-term incentive plans to attract and retain investment talent. The plans supplement existing compensation and apply to certain portfolio managers, certain other investment talent, and certain high-ranking officers. |
| The first plan has several important components distinguishing it from traditional equity ownership plans: |
|
the plan grants units that entitle participants to an annual payment based on a percentage of company earnings above an established threshold;
upon retirement, a participant will receive a multi-year payout for his or her vested units; and participation is contingent upon signing an award agreement, which includes a non-compete covenant. |
| The second plan grants participants an annual participation in company earnings; the annual amount is deferred for two years from the time of award and is only payable if the portfolio manager remains at Loomis Sayles. In this plan, there are no post-retirement payments or non-compete covenants, but there is a non-solicitation covenant. |
| Senior management expects that the variable compensation portion of overall compensation will continue to remain the largest source of income for those investment professionals included in the plan(s). The plan(s) was/were initially offered to portfolio managers and over time, the scope of eligibility widened to include other key investment professionals. Management has full discretion on what units are issued and to whom. |
| Portfolio managers also participate in the Loomis Sayles profit sharing plan, in which Loomis Sayles makes a contribution to the retirement plan of each employee based on a percentage of base salary (up to a maximum amount). The portfolio managers may also participate in the Loomis Sayles defined benefit pension plan, which applies to all Loomis Sayles employees who joined the firm prior to May 3, 2003. The defined benefit is based on years of service and base compensation (up to a maximum amount). |
| In addition, portfolio managers may also participate in the Loomis Sayles deferred compensation plan which requires all Loomis Sayles employees to defer 50% of their annual bonus if in excess of a certain dollar amount, except for those Loomis Sayles employees who will be age 61 or older on the date the bonus is awarded. These amounts are deferred over a |
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| two-year period with 50% being paid out one year from the bonus anniversary date and the second 50% being paid out two years from the bonus anniversary date. These deferrals are deposited into an investment account on the Loomis Sayles employee's behalf, but the employee must be with Loomis Sayles on the vesting dates in order to receive the deferred bonus. |
| Los Angeles Capital: Los Angeles Capital’s portfolio managers participate in a competitive compensation program that is aimed at attracting and retaining talented employees with an emphasis on disciplined risk management, ethics and compliance-centered behavior. No component of Los Angeles Capital’s compensation policy or payment scheme is tied directly to the performance of one or more client portfolios or funds. |
| Each of Los Angeles Capital’s portfolio managers receives a base salary fixed from year to year. In addition, the portfolio managers participate in Los Angeles Capital’s profit sharing plan. The aggregate amount of the contribution to Los Angeles Capital’s profit sharing plan is based on overall firm profitability with amounts paid to individual employees based on their relative overall compensation. Each of the portfolio managers also are shareholders of Los Angeles Capital and receive compensation based upon the firm’s overall profits. Certain portfolio managers are also eligible to receive a discretionary bonus from Los Angeles Capital. |
| Manulife: Manulife Asset Management has designed its compensation plan to effectively attract, retain and reward top investment talent. The incentive plan is designed to align and reward investment teams that deliver consistent value added performance for the company’s client and partners through world-class investment strategies and solutions. | |
| Investment professionals are compensated with a combination of base salary and incentives as detailed below. | |
| Base salaries | |
| Base salaries are market-based and salary ranges are periodically reviewed. Individual salary adjustments are based on individual performance against mutually-agreed-upon objectives and development of technical skills. | |
| Incentives — Short- and Long-Term | |
| All investment professionals (including portfolio managers, analysts and traders) are eligible for participation in a short and long term investment incentive plan. These incentives are tied to performance against various objective and subjective measures, including: | |
| Investment Performance — Performance of portfolios managed by the investment team. This is the most heavily weighted factor and it is measured relative to an appropriate benchmark or universe over established time periods. | |
| Financial Performance — Performance of Manulife Asset Management and its parent corporation. | |
| Non-Investment Performance — Derived from the contributions an investment professional brings to Manulife Asset Management. | |
| Awards under this plan include: | |
| Annual Cash Awards | |
| Deferred Incentives — One hundred percent of this portion of the award is invested in strategies managed by the team/individual as well as other Manulife Asset Management strategies. | |
| Manulife equity awards — Investment professionals that are considered officers of Manulife receive a portion of their award in Manulife Restricted Share Units (RSUs) or stock options. This plan is based on the value of the underlying common shares of Manulife. |
| PGIM: The base salary of an investment professional in the PGIM Fixed Income unit of PGIM is based on market data relative to similar positions as well as the past performance, years of experience and scope of responsibility of the individual. Incentive compensation, including the annual cash bonus, the long-term equity grant and grants under PGIM Fixed Income’s long-term incentive plans, is primarily based on such person’s contribution to PGIM Fixed Income’s goal of providing investment performance to clients consistent with portfolio objectives, guidelines and risk parameters and market-based data such as compensation trends and levels of overall compensation for similar positions in the asset management industry. In addition, an investment professional’s qualitative contributions to the organization and its commercial success are considered in determining incentive compensation. Incentive compensation is not solely based on the performance of, or value of assets in, any single account or group of client accounts. | |
| An investment professional’s annual cash bonus is paid from an annual incentive pool. The pool is developed as a percentage of PGIM Fixed Income’s operating income and the percentage used to calculate the pool may be refined by factors such as: | |
| - business initiatives; | |
| - the number of investment professionals receiving a bonus and related peer group compensation; |
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| - financial metrics of the business relative to those of appropriate peer groups; and | |
| - investment performance of portfolios: (i) relative to appropriate peer groups and/or (ii) as measured against relevant investment indices. | |
| Long-term compensation consists of Prudential Financial, Inc. restricted stock and grants under the long-term incentive plan and targeted long-term incentive plan. Grants under the long-term incentive plan and targeted long-term incentive plan are participation interests in notional accounts with a beginning value of a specified dollar amount. For the long-term incentive plan, the value attributed to these notional accounts increases or decreases over a defined period of time based, in whole or in part (depending on the date of the grant), on the performance of investment composites representing a number of PGIM Fixed Income’s investment strategies. With respect to targeted long-term incentive awards, the value attributed to the notional accounts increases or decreases over a defined period of time based on the performance of either (i) a long/short investment composite or (ii) a commingled investment vehicle. An investment composite is an aggregation of accounts with similar investment strategies. The long-term incentive plan is designed to more closely align compensation with investment performance. The targeted long-term incentive plan is designed to align the interests of certain of PGIM Fixed Income’s investment professionals with the performance of a particular long/short composite or commingled investment vehicle. The chief investment officer/head of PGIM Fixed Income also receives (i) performance shares which represent the right to receive shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. common stock conditioned upon, and subject to, the achievement of specified financial performance goals by Prudential Financial, Inc.; (ii) book value units which track the book value per share of Prudential Financial, Inc.; and (iii) Prudential Financial, Inc. stock options. Each of the restricted stock, grants under the long-term incentive plans, performance shares, book value units and stock options is subject to vesting requirements. | |
| QMA: QMA’s investment professionals are compensated through a combination of base salary, a performance-based annual cash incentive bonus and an annual long-term incentive grant. QMA regularly utilizes third party surveys to compare its compensation program against leading asset management firms to monitor competitiveness. An investment professional’s incentive compensation, including both the annual cash bonus and long-term incentive grant, is largely driven by a person’s contribution to QMA’s goal of providing investment performance to clients consistent with portfolio objectives, guidelines and risk parameters, as well as such person’s qualitative contributions to the organization. An investment professional’s long-term incentive grant is currently divided into two components: (i) 80% of the value of the grant is subject to increase or decrease based on the performance of certain QMA strategies, and (ii) 20% of the value of the grant consists of restricted stock of Prudential Financial, Inc. (QMA’s ultimate parent company). The long-term incentive grants are subject to vesting requirements. The incentive compensation of each investment professional is not based solely or directly on the performance of the Fund (or any other individual account managed by QMA) or the value of the assets of the Fund (or any other individual account managed by QMA). | |
| The annual cash bonus pool is determined quantitatively based on two primary factors: 1) investment performance of composites representing QMA’s various investment strategies on a 1-year and 3-year basis relative to appropriate market peer groups and the indices against which QMA’s strategies are managed, and 2) business results as measured by QMA’s pretax income. | |
| TCW: The overall objective of TCW’s compensation program for portfolio managers is to attract experienced and expert investment professionals and to retain them over the long-term. Compensation is comprised of several components which, in the aggregate, are designed to achieve these objectives and to reward the portfolio managers for their contributions to the successful performance of the accounts they manage. Portfolio managers are compensated through a combination of base salary, fee sharing based compensation (“fee sharing”), bonus and equity incentive participation in TCW’s parent company (“equity incentives”). Fee sharing and equity incentives generally represent most of the portfolio managers’ compensation. In some cases, portfolio managers are eligible for discretionary bonuses. | |
| Salary. Salary is agreed to with portfolio managers at the time of employment and is reviewed from time to time. It does not change significantly and often does not constitute a significant part of a portfolio manager’s compensation. | |
| Fee Sharing. Fee sharing for investment professionals is based on revenues generated by accounts in the investment strategy area for which the investment professionals are responsible. In most cases, revenues are allocated to a pool and fee sharing compensation is allocated among members of the investment team after the deduction of certain expenses (including compensation over a threshold level) related to the strategy group. The allocations are based on the investment professionals’ contribution to TCW and its clients, including qualitative and quantitative contributions. | |
| In general, the same fee sharing percentage is used to compensate a portfolio manager for investment services related to a Fund is generally the same as that used to compensate portfolio managers for other client accounts in the same strategy managed by TCW or an affiliate of TCW (collectively, “the TCW Group”). In some cases, the fee sharing pool includes revenues related to more than one product, in which case each participant in the pool is entitled to fee sharing derived from his or her contributions to all the included products. |
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 150 |
| Investment professionals are not directly compensated for generating performance fees. In some cases, the overall fee sharing pool is subject to fluctuation based on the relative pre-tax performance of the investment strategy composite returns, net of fees and expenses, to that of the benchmark. The measurement of performance relative to the benchmark can be based on single year or multiple year metrics, or a combination thereof. The benchmark used is the one associated with the Fund managed by the portfolio manager as disclosed in the prospectus. Benchmarks vary from strategy to strategy but, within a given strategy, the same benchmark applies to all accounts, including the Funds. | |
| Discretionary Bonus/Guaranteed Minimums. Discretionary bonuses may be paid out of an investment team’s fee sharing pool, as determined by the supervisor(s) in the department. In other cases where portfolio managers do not receive fee sharing or where it is determined that the combination of salary and fee sharing does not adequately compensate the portfolio manager, discretionary bonuses may be paid by the applicable TCW entity. Also, pursuant to contractual arrangements, some portfolio managers received minimum bonuses. | |
| Equity Incentives. Management believes that equity ownership aligns the interests of portfolio managers with the interests of the firm and its clients. Accordingly, TCW Group’s key investment professionals participate in equity incentives through ownership or participation in restricted unit plans that vest over time or unit appreciation plans of TCW’s parent company. The plans include the Fixed Income Retention Plan, Restricted Unit Plan and 2013 Equity Unit Incentive Plan. | |
| Under the Fixed Income Retention Plan, certain portfolio managers in the fixed income area were awarded cash and/or partnership units in TCW’s parent company, either on a contractually-determined basis or on a discretionary basis. Awards under this plan were made in 2010 that vest over time. | |
| Under the Restricted Unit Plan, certain portfolio managers in the fixed income and equity areas may be awarded partnership units in TCW’s parent company. Awards under this plan have vested over time, subject to satisfaction of performance criteria. | |
| Under the 2013 Equity Unit Incentive Plan, certain portfolio managers in the fixed income and equity areas may be awarded options to acquire partnership units in TCW’s parent company with a strike price equal to the fair market value of the option at the date of grant. The options granted under this plan are subject to vesting and other conditions. | |
| Other Plans and Compensation Vehicles. Portfolio managers may also elect to participate in the applicable TCW Group’s 401(k) plan, to which they may contribute a portion of their pre- and post-tax compensation to the plan for investment on a tax-deferred basis. |
| Threadneedle: Direct compensation is typically comprised of a base salary, a fixed role-based allowance paid monthly alongside salary and an annual incentive award that is paid either in the form of a cash bonus if the size of the award is under a specified threshold or, if the size of the award is over a specified threshold, the award is paid in a combination of a cash bonus, an equity incentive award, and fund-linked deferred compensation compliant with European regulatory requirements in its structure and delivery vehicles. Equity incentive awards are made in the form of Ameriprise Financial restricted stock, or for senior employees outside our fund management teams both Ameriprise Financial restricted stock and stock options. The investment return credited on deferred compensation is based on the performance of specified Threadneedle funds, in most cases including the funds the portfolio manager manages. | |
| Base salary is typically determined based on market data relevant to the employee’s position, as well as other factors including internal equity. Base salaries are reviewed annually, and increases are typically given as promotional increases, internal equity adjustments, or market adjustments. | |
| Annual incentive awards and pool funding are variable and are designed to reward: |
| ■ | Investment performance, both at the individual and team levels |
| ■ | Client requirements, in particular the alignment with clients through a mandatory deferral into the company’s own products, compliant with local regulation in particular the UCITS V requirements |
| ■ | Team cooperation and values |
Individual awards are subject to a comprehensive risk adjustment review process to ensure proper reflection in remuneration of adherence to Threadneedle’s controls and Code of Conduct.
Scorecards are used to measure performance of Threadneedle funds and other accounts managed by the employee. Performance is measured versus peer or benchmark performance as appropriate, in addition to performance compared to unaffiliated passively managed ETFs, taking into consideration the management fees of comparable passively managed ETFs, when available and as determined by the Investment Manager. Performance is measured using 1-year, 3-year, and 5-year performance, weighted 10% on the 1-year, 60% on the 3-year, and 30% on the 5-year. Consideration may also be given to performance in managing client assets in sectors and industries assigned to the employee as part of his/her investment team responsibilities, where applicable.
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Incentive compensation for senior investment professionals is subject to a minimum 40% deferral as required by local regulation, rising to 60% for higher awards. Half of that deferred portion is delivered in units linked to the performance of Threadneedle funds and the remainder through Ameriprise Financial equity plans.
The equity portion of those deferred incentive awards is designed to align participants’ interests with those of the shareholders of Ameriprise Financial. Equity incentive awards vest over multiple years, so they help retain employees.
The fund-linked deferred compensation awards are designed to align participants’ interests with the investors in the funds and other accounts they manage, and to incentivize collaboration and idea-sharing across teams and products. The value of the deferral account is based on the performance of those funds. Employees have the option of selecting from various internal funds for their fund deferral account; a portion of this deferral is subject to mandatory allocation to Threadneedle’s multi-asset funds to drive cross-business idea sharing and alignment. Fund-linked deferrals vest over multiple years, so they help to retain employees and to align their longer-term interests with those of the investor in line with local regulatory best practice.
Exceptions to this general approach to bonuses exist for certain teams and individuals. Funding for the bonus pool is determined by management and overseen by the EMEA Remuneration Committee, and depends on, among other factors, the levels of compensation generally in the investment management industry taking into account investment performance (based on market compensation data) and both Ameriprise Financial and the asset management business profitability for the year, which is largely determined by assets under management.
For all employees the benefit programs generally are the same and are competitive within the Financial Services Industry. Employees participate in a wide variety of plans, including options in Medical, Health Care, Life Insurance, Long Term Disability Insurance, and retirement savings plans.
Voya: We realize that the success of our firm is largely dependent on our ability to attract and retain key investment professionals. The firm's compensation philosophy is to align compensation closely with performance and to leverage the variable side of the compensation equation. Annually, the firm participates in comprehensive industry surveys and compares the relevant data to ensure that its compensation plans remain competitive.
Key investment professionals such as portfolio managers and traders are paid competitive base salaries, are eligible for discretionary bonuses, and generally participate in the firm's long-term compensation program.
Bonus program.The overall design of the annual incentive plan for investment professionals was developed to tie pay to both portfolio performance and profitability, and is structured to drive performance and promote retention of top talent. Individual bonus target awards are based on external market data and internal comparators.
Investment performance is measured on both relative and absolute performance in all areas, and performance goals are set to appropriately reflect requirements for the investment team. The results for overall Voya IM include a review of firm profitability, team performance and the investment professionals' individual performance, all of which influence the outcome of the discretionary bonus award recommendation process. The measures for each team are reviewed annually by the firm’s executive management, and include the measures of investment performance versus benchmark and peer groups over one-, three- and five-year periods, as well as contributions to the firm’s revenue growth and profitability.
The annual incentive bonus may be subject to deferral into a long-term compensation plan, as determined by the plan in effect at the time of payment.
Long-term compensation.Voya IM's long-term incentive plan is designed to provide ownership-like incentives to reward continued employment and to link long-term compensation to the financial performance of the business. Based on job function, internal comparators and external market data, employees may be granted long-term awards. All senior investment professionals participate in the long-term compensation plan. Participants are eligible to receive annual awards determined by the Executive Leadership Team based largely on investment performance and their contribution to firm performance. Plan awards are based on the current year’s performance as defined by the Voya IM component of the annual incentive plan. Awards may include a combination of performance share units, restricted stock units, and/or a notional investment in a predefined set of Voya IM mutual funds. Awards are subject to a time-based vesting schedule.
| Water Island: Investment professionals are compensated with salary and a bonus based on individual performance, both relative and absolute fund performance, and profitability of Water Island. Profit sharing in Water Island may also be included as potential compensation. In addition, Water Island believes employee ownership and the opportunity for all employees to hold ownership interests in Water Island fosters teamwork and encourages longevity in tenure. Ownership shares may be issued to employees based on tenure, position, and contribution to Water Island. Water Island’s policies help ensure that the financial interests of its key investment personnel are aligned with its clients’ financial interests. Water Island also expends efforts to help ensure it attracts and retains key investment talent. Its goal is to focus its employees on long-term rather than short-term performance and to encourage employee retention. |
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 152 |
| WellsCap: The compensation structure for WellsCap's Portfolio Managers includes a competitive fixed base salary plus variable incentives, payable annually and over a longer term period. WellsCap participates in third party investment management compensation surveys for market-based compensation information to help support individual pay decisions. In addition to surveys, WellsCap also considers prior professional experience, tenure, seniority and a Portfolio Manager's team size, scope and assets under management when determining his/her fixed base salary. In addition, Portfolio Managers, who meet the eligibility requirements, may participate in Wells Fargo's 401(k) plan that features a limited matching contribution. Eligibility for and participation in this plan is on the same basis for all employees. | |
| WellsCap’s investment incentive program plays an important role in aligning the interests of our portfolio managers, investment team members, clients and shareholders. Incentive awards for portfolio managers are determined based on a review of relative investment and business/team performance. Investment performance is generally evaluated for 1, 3, and 5 year performance results, with a predominant weighting on the 3- and 5- year time periods, versus the relevant benchmarks and/or peer groups consistent with the investment style. In the case of each Fund, the benchmark(s) against which the performance of the Fund's portfolio may be compared for these purposes generally are indicated in the "Average Annual Total Returns" table in the prospectus. Once determined, incentives are awarded to portfolio managers annually, with a portion awarded as annual cash and a portion awarded as long term incentive. The long term portion of incentives generally carry a pro-rated vesting schedule over a three year period. For many of our portfolio managers, WellsCap further requires a portion of their annual long-term award be allocated directly into each strategy they manage through a deferred compensation vehicle. In addition, our investment team members who are eligible for long term awards also have the opportunity to invest up to 100% of their awards into investment strategies they support (through a deferred compensation vehicle). |
The Administrator
Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC (which is also the Investment Manager) serves as administrator of the Funds.
The Distributor
Columbia Management Investment Distributors, Inc. (the Distributor), 225 Franklin Street, Boston, MA 02110, an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Ameriprise Financial and an affiliate of the Investment Manager, serves as the principal underwriter and distributor for the continuous offering of shares of the Funds pursuant to a Distribution Agreement. The Distribution Agreement obligates the Distributor to use reasonable efforts to find purchasers for the shares of the Funds.
Distribution Obligations
Pursuant to the Distribution Agreement, the Distributor, as agent, sells shares of the Funds on a continuous basis and transmits purchase and redemption orders that it receives to the Trust or the Transfer Agent, or their designated agents. Additionally, the Distributor has agreed to use reasonable efforts to solicit orders for the sale of shares and to undertake advertising and promotion as it believes appropriate in connection with such solicitation. Pursuant to the Distribution Agreement, the Distributor, at its own expense, finances those activities as it deems reasonable and which are primarily intended to result in the sale of shares of the Funds, including, but not limited to, advertising, compensation of underwriters, dealers and sales personnel, the printing and mailing of prospectuses to other than existing shareholders, and the printing and mailing of sales literature. The Distributor, however, may be compensated or reimbursed for all or a portion of such expenses to the extent permitted by a Distribution Plan adopted by the Trust pursuant to Rule 12b-1 under the 1940 Act. See Investment Management and Other Services – Distribution and/or Servicing Plans for more information about the share classes for which the Trust has adopted a Distribution Plan.
See Investment Management and Other Services – Other Roles and Relationships of Ameriprise Financial and its Affiliates – Certain Conflicts of Interest for more information about conflicts of interest, including those that relate to the Investment Manager and its affiliates.
The Distribution Agreement became effective with respect to each Fund after approval by its Board, and, after an initial two-year period, continues from year to year, provided that such continuation of the Distribution Agreement is specifically approved at least annually by the Board, including its Independent Trustees. The Distribution Agreement terminates automatically in the event of its assignment, and is terminable with respect to each Fund at any time without penalty by the Trust (by vote of the Board or by vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the Fund) or by the Distributor on 60 days’ written notice.
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Underwriting Commissions Paid by the Funds
The Distributor received commissions and other compensation for its services as reflected in the following charts, which show amounts paid to the Distributor, as well as amounts the Distributor retained, after paying commissions, for the three most recently completed fiscal years.
Sales Charges Paid to, and Retained by, Distributor
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Part of the sales charge may be paid to selling dealers who have agreements with the Distributor. The Distributor will retain the balance of the sales charge. At times the entire sales charge may be paid to selling dealers. See the prospectus for amounts retained by financial intermediaries as a percentage of the offering price.
Distribution and/or Servicing Plans
The Trustees have adopted distribution and/or shareholder servicing plans for certain share classes. See the cover of this SAI for the share classes offered by the Funds.
The table below shows the annual distribution and/or services fees (payable monthly and calculated based on an annual percentage of average daily net assets) and the combined amount of such fees applicable to each share class. The Trust is not aware as to what amount, if any, of the distribution and service fees paid to the Distributor were, on a Fund-by-Fund basis, used for advertising, printing and mailing of prospectuses to other than current shareholders, compensation to broker-dealers, compensation to sales personnel, or interest, carrying or other financing charges.
| Distribution Fee* | Service Fee* | Combined Total* | |
| Class A | up to 0.10% | 0.25%(a) | Up to 0.35%(a)(b)(c) |
| Class Adv | None | None | None |
| Class C | 0.75%(a)(c) | 0.25%(a) | 1.00%(a)(c) |
| Class Inst | None | None | None |
| Class Inst2 | None | None | None |
| Class Inst3 | None | None | None |
| Class E | 0.10% | 0.25% | 0.35% |
| Class R | 0.50% | —(d) | 0.50% |
| Class V | None | 0.50%(e) | 0.50%(e) |
| (a) | The service fees for Class A and Class C shares of certain Funds vary. The annual service fee for Class A and Class C shares of HY Municipal Fund, Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund and Tax-Exempt Fund may equal up to 0.20% of the average daily net asset value of all shares of such Fund class. The annual distribution fee for Class C shares for Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund shall be 0.65% of the average daily net assets of the Fund’s Class C shares. The Distributor has contractually agreed to waive a portion of the service fee for Class A and Class C shares of U.S. Treasury Index Fund so that the service fee does not exceed 0.15% annually through August 31, 2021, unless sooner terminated at the sole discretion of the Fund’s Board. The Distributor has contractually agreed to waive a portion of the service fee for Class A shares of Strategic CA Municipal Income Fund so that the service fee does not exceed 0.20% annually through February 28, 2022, unless modified or sooner terminated at the sole discretion of the Fund’s Board. |
| (b) | The maximum distribution and service fees of Class A shares varies among the Funds, as shown in the table below: |
| Funds |
Class A
Distribution Fee |
Class A
Service Fee |
Class A
Combined Total |
| Adaptive Risk Allocation Fund, Bond Fund, Corporate Income Fund, CT Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund, Emerging Markets Fund, Greater China Fund, International Dividend Income Fund, MA Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund, Multi-Asset Income Fund, Multi Strategy Alternatives Fund, NY Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund, Pacific/Asia Fund, Select Large Cap Growth Fund, Small Cap Value Fund I, Strategic CA Municipal Income Fund, Strategic Income Fund, Strategic NY Municipal Income Fund, U.S. Social Bond Fund and U.S. Treasury Index Fund | — | 0.25% | 0.25% |
| HY Municipal Fund, Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund, and Tax-Exempt Fund | — | 0.20% | 0.20% |
| Balanced Fund, Contrarian Core Fund, Dividend Income Fund, Global Technology Growth Fund, Large Cap Growth Fund, Mid Cap Growth Fund, OR Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund, Real Estate Equity Fund, Small Cap Growth Fund I and Total Return Bond Fund | up to 0.10% | up to 0.25% | Up to 0.35%; these Funds may pay distribution and service fees up to a maximum of 0.35% of their average daily net assets attributable to Class A shares but currently limit such fees to an aggregate fee of not more than 0.25% |
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| Funds |
Class A
Distribution Fee |
Class A
Service Fee |
Class A
Combined Total |
| Ultra Short Term Bond Fund | up to 0.15% | up to 0.15% | up to 0.15% |
| (c) | The Distributor has contractually agreed to waive a portion of the distribution fee for Class C shares of the following Funds so that the distribution fee does not exceed the specified percentage annually through the specified date for each Fund: 0.45% for CT Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund through February 28, 2022, MA Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund through February 28, 2022, NY Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund through February 28, 2022, OR Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund through November 30, 2021, Strategic CA Municipal Income Fund through February 28, 2022, and Strategic NY Municipal Income Fund through August 31, 2021; 0.55% for Corporate Income Fund through August 31, 2021; 0.60% for HY Municipal Fund through September 30, 2021, Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund through August 31, 2021, and Tax-Exempt Fund through November 30, 2021; and 0.65% for U.S. Treasury Index Fund through August 31, 2021. These arrangements may be sooner terminated at the sole discretion of each Fund’s Board. |
| (d) | Class R shares pay a distribution fee pursuant to a Fund’s distribution (Rule 12b-1) plan. The Funds do not have a shareholder service plan for Class R shares. |
| (e) | The shareholder servicing fees for Class V shares are up to 0.50% of average daily net assets attributable to Class V shares for equity Funds and 0.40% for fixed income Funds. In general, the Funds currently limit such fees to a maximum of 0.25% for equity Funds and 0.15% for fixed income Funds. These fees for Class V shares are not paid pursuant to a Rule 12b-1 plan. See Class V Shares Shareholder Service Fees below for more information. |
| * | For Multisector Bond SMA Completion Portfolio and Overseas SMA Completion Portfolio, the Funds may pay at an annual rate a distribution fee of up to 0.25% and a shareholder servicing fee of up to 0.25%, provided that the combined distribution and servicing fee does not exceed a combined total of 0.25% of average daily net assets, pursuant to Rule 12b-1 under the 1940 Act. No distribution or service fees are currently paid by the Funds under the distribution and/or shareholder servicing plans, however, and there are no current plans to impose these fees. Future payments may be made under the distribution and/or shareholder servicing plans without any further shareholder approval. In the event Rule 12b-fees are charged, over time they would increase the cost of an investment in the Funds. |
If you maintain shares of a Fund directly with the Fund, without working directly with a financial advisor or financial intermediary, distribution and service fees, as applicable, are retained by the Distributor as payment or reimbursement for incurring certain distribution and shareholder service related expenses.
Over time, these distribution and/or shareholder service fees will reduce the return on your investment and may cost you more than paying other types of sales charges. The Fund will pay these fees to the Distributor and/or to eligible financial intermediaries for as long as the distribution and/or shareholder servicing plans continue in effect. The Fund may reduce or discontinue payments at any time. Your financial intermediary may also charge you other additional fees for providing services to your account, which may be different from those described here.
The shareholder servicing plans permit the Funds to compensate or reimburse financial intermediaries for the shareholder services they have provided. The Distribution Plans permit the Funds to compensate or reimburse the Distributor and/or financial intermediaries for activities or expenses primarily intended to result in the sale of the classes’ shares. Payments are made at an annual rate and paid monthly, as a percentage of average daily net assets, set from time to time by the Board, and are charged as expenses of each Fund directly to the applicable share class. A substantial portion of the expenses incurred pursuant to these plans may be paid to affiliates of the Distributor and Ameriprise Financial.
Under the shareholder servicing plan, the Board must review, at least quarterly, a written report of the amounts paid under the servicing agreements and the purposes for which those expenditures were made. The initial term of the shareholder servicing plan is one year and it will continue in effect from year to year provided that its continuance is specifically approved at least annually by a majority of the Board, including a majority of the Independent Trustees who have no direct or indirect financial interest in the operation of the shareholder servicing plan or in any agreement related to it. Any material amendment to the shareholder servicing plan must be approved in the same manner. The shareholder servicing plan is terminable at any time with respect to the Funds by a vote of a majority of the Independent Trustees.
The Trustees believe the Distribution Plans could be a significant factor in the growth and retention of a Fund’s assets resulting in more advantageous expense ratios and increased investment flexibility which could benefit each class of Fund shareholders. The Distribution Plans will continue in effect from year to year so long as continuance is specifically approved at least annually by a vote of the Trustees, including the Independent Trustees. The Distribution Plans may not be amended to increase the fee materially without approval by vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the relevant class of shares, and all material amendments of the Distribution Plans must be approved by the Trustees in the manner provided in the foregoing sentence. The Distribution Plans may be terminated at any time by vote of a majority of the Independent Trustees or by vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the relevant class of shares.
Class V Shares Shareholder Service Fees
The Funds that offer Class V shares have adopted a shareholder services plan that permits them to pay for certain services provided to Class V shareholders by their financial intermediaries. Equity Funds may pay shareholder servicing fees up to an aggregate annual rate of 0.50% of the Fund’s average daily net assets attributable to Class V shares (comprised of up to 0.25% for shareholder liaison services and up to 0.25% for administrative support services). Fixed income Funds may pay shareholder servicing fees up to an aggregate annual rate of 0.40% of the Fund’s average daily net assets attributable to Class V shares
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 156 |
(comprised of an annual rate of up to 0.20% for shareholder liaison services and up to 0.20% for administrative support services). These fees are currently limited to an aggregate annual rate of not more than 0.25% for equity Funds and not more than 0.15% for fixed income Funds. These fees for Class V shares are not paid pursuant to a Rule 12b-1 plan. With respect to those Funds that declare dividends on a daily basis, the shareholder servicing fee shall be waived by the financial intermediaries to the extent necessary to prevent net investment income from falling below 0.00% on a daily basis. The Funds consider “administrative support services” to include, without limitation, (i) aggregating and processing purchase and redemption orders, (ii) providing beneficial owners with statements showing their positions in the Funds, (iii) processing dividend payments, (iv) providing sub-accounting services for Fund shares held beneficially, (v) forwarding shareholder communications, such as proxies, shareholder reports, dividend and tax notices, and updating prospectuses to beneficial owners, (vi) receiving, tabulating and transmitting proxies executed by the beneficial owners, (vii) sub-transfer agent services for beneficial owners of Fund shares and (viii) other similar services. If you maintain shares of a Fund directly with the Fund, without working directly with a financial advisor or other intermediary, shareholder services fees may be retained by the Distributor as payment or reimbursement for incurring certain shareholder service related expenses.
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 157 |
Fees Paid
The table below shows the distribution and/or servicing fees paid by each Fund during the Fund's last fiscal year (or period). The table is organized by fiscal year end.
Rule 12b-1 Fees
| Fund | Class A | Class C | Class R | Class V |
| For Funds with fiscal period ending March 31 | ||||
| MM Growth Strategies Fund | $16,567(a) | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Pacific/Asia Fund | 13,835 | $12,359 | N/A | N/A |
| Select Large Cap Growth Fund | 500,627 | 772,604 | $50,939 | N/A |
| For Funds with fiscal period ending April 30 | ||||
| Bond Fund | 152,765 | 54,331 | 3,933 | $12,504 |
| Corporate Income Fund | 164,032 | 47,767 | N/A | N/A |
| MM Directional Alternative Strategies Fund | 934(b) | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Multi-Asset Income Fund | 10,189 | 15,323 | N/A | N/A |
| Small Cap Value Fund I | 502,498 | 52,802 | 9,192 | N/A |
| Total Return Bond Fund | 1,742,245 | 194,106 | 13,659 | N/A |
| U.S. Treasury Index Fund | 56,695 | 33,963 | N/A | N/A |
| For Funds with fiscal period ending May 31 | ||||
| Adaptive Risk Allocation Fund | 330,408 | 971,035 | 1,748 | N/A |
| Dividend Income Fund | 6,243,052 | 9,789,428 | 648,635 | 196,063 |
| HY Municipal Fund | 364,408 | 423,675 | N/A | N/A |
| Multi Strategy Alternatives Fund | 6,595 | 2,903 | 36 | N/A |
| For Funds with fiscal period ending July 31 | ||||
| Large Cap Growth Fund(c) | 4,900,430 | 781,795 | 55,031 | 526,259 |
| OR Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund | 109,829 | 52,895 | N/A | N/A |
| Tax-Exempt Fund | 5,032,608 | 509,726 | N/A | N/A |
| U.S. Social Bond Fund | 33,605 | 17,744 | N/A | N/A |
| Ultra Short Term Bond Fund | 435,769 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| For Funds with fiscal period ending August 31 | ||||
| Balanced Fund | 6,724,722 | 14,333,743 | 630,231 | N/A |
| Contrarian Core Fund | 3,831,554 | 5,427,568 | 591,995 | 386,568 |
| Emerging Markets Fund | 637,997 | 144,936 | 32,531 | N/A |
| Global Technology Growth Fund | 979,251 | 1,613,126 | N/A | N/A |
| Greater China Fund | 180,624 | 23,228 | N/A | N/A |
| International Dividend Income Fund | 186,794 | 14,065 | 569 | N/A |
| Mid Cap Growth Fund | 2,065,771 | 115,419 | 43,986 | 58,272 |
| MM Alternative Strategies Fund | 1,023(d) | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| MM Small Cap Equity Strategies Fund | 3,094(d) | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| MM Total Return Bond Strategies Fund | 11,007(d) | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Small Cap Growth Fund I | 762,527 | 130,813 | 13,368 | N/A |
| Strategic Income Fund | 2,720,648 | 2,847,748 | 42,528 | N/A |
| For Funds with fiscal period ending October 31 | ||||
| CT Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund | 19,407 | 14,831 | N/A | 14,160 |
| Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund | 311,478 | 224,391 | N/A | 17,790 |
| MA Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund | 50,610 | 32,894 | N/A | 23,378 |
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 158 |
| Fund | Class A | Class C | Class R | Class V |
| NY Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund | $42,547 | $78,837 | N/A | $8,860 |
| Strategic CA Municipal Income Fund | 835,942 | 227,770 | N/A | N/A |
| Strategic NY Municipal Income Fund | 290,934 | 141,283 | N/A | N/A |
| For Funds with fiscal period ending December 31 | ||||
| Real Estate Equity Fund | 183,272 | 48,788 | $21,091 | N/A |
| (a) | For the period from March 31, 2019 through January 26, 2020. On January 27, 2020, Class A shares merged into Class Inst shares of the same Fund and Class A shares were no longer offered for sale. |
| (b) | For the period from April 30, 2019 through January 26, 2020. On January 27, 2020, Class A shares merged into Class Inst shares of the same Fund and Class A shares were no longer offered for sale. |
| (c) | The Fund paid distribution and/or service fees of $54,319 for Class E shares for the fiscal year ended 2020. |
| (d) | For the period from August 31, 2019 through January 26, 2020. On January 27, 2020, Class A shares merged into Class Inst shares of the same Fund and Class A shares were no longer offered for sale. |
Other Services Provided
The Transfer Agent
Columbia Management Investment Services Corp. is the transfer agent for the Funds. The Transfer Agent is located at 225 Franklin Street, Boston, MA 02110. Under the Transfer Agency Agreement, the Transfer Agent provides transfer agency, dividend disbursing and shareholder services to the Funds, for which the Funds pay transfer agency fees based on the cost of servicing the Funds and a target profit margin. The Funds pay the Transfer Agent an annual fee payable monthly that varies by account type (on a per account or asset-based basis). With respect to Class Inst3 shares, the annual rate for transfer agency fees is currently capped at 0.02%. As described below under Other Practices – Additional Shareholder Servicing Payments, transfer agency fees for Class Inst2 shares are also subject to an expense limitation.
In addition to the fees above, the Funds pay a fee for shareholder services provided by financial intermediaries who maintain shares through omnibus or networked accounts. See Other Practices – Additional Shareholder Servicing Payments for more information.
The Funds also pay certain reimbursable out-of-pocket expenses of the Transfer Agent. The Transfer Agent also may retain as additional compensation for its services revenues for fees for wire, telephone and redemption orders, IRA trustee agent fees and account transcripts due the Transfer Agent from Fund shareholders and credits (net of bank charges) earned with respect to balances in accounts the Transfer Agent maintains in connection with its services to the Funds. Transfer agency costs for each Fund are calculated separately for each of (i) Class Inst2 shares, (ii) Class Inst3 shares, and (iii) all other share classes, provided that expenses may be allocated to a particular share class if they are actually incurred in a divergent amount by that share class or that share class receives services of a different kind or to a different degree than other share classes.
The fees paid to the Transfer Agent may be changed by the Board without shareholder approval.
The Transfer Agent retains DST, 2000 Crown Colony Drive, Quincy, MA 02169 as the Funds’ sub-transfer agent. DST assists the Transfer Agent in carrying out its duties.
The Custodian
The Funds' securities and cash are held pursuant to a custodian agreement with JPMorgan, 1 Chase Manhattan Plaza, 19th Floor, New York, NY 10005. JPMorgan is responsible for safeguarding the Funds' cash and securities, receiving and delivering securities and collecting the Funds' interest and dividends. The custodian is permitted to deposit some or all of its securities in central depository systems as allowed by federal law. For its services, each Fund pays its custodian a maintenance charge and a charge per transaction in addition to reimbursing the custodian’s out-of-pocket expenses.
As part of this arrangement, securities purchased outside the United States are maintained in the custody of various foreign branches of JPMorgan or in other financial institutions as permitted by law and by the Funds' custodian agreement.
Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
PwC, which is located at 45 South Seventh Street, Suite 3400, Minneapolis, MN 55402, is the Funds' independent registered public accounting firm. The financial statements contained in each Fund’s Annual Report were audited by PwC. The Board has selected PwC as the independent registered public accounting firm to audit the Funds' books and review their tax returns for their respective fiscal years.
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 159 |
The Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm and the audited financial statements included in the annual report to shareholders of each Fund incorporated by reference into the Funds' prospectuses and this SAI have been so incorporated in reliance upon the report of the independent registered public accounting firm, given on its authority as an expert in auditing and accounting. No other parts of the annual or semiannual reports to shareholders are incorporated by reference herein, unless otherwise noted on the front cover of this SAI.
Counsel
Ropes & Gray LLP, located at Prudential Tower, 800 Boylston St., Boston, MA 02199, serves as legal counsel to the Trust. Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP, located at 1177 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10036, and Vedder Price P.C., located at 1401 I Street N.W., Suite 1100, Washington, DC 20005, serve as co-counsel to the Independent Trustees of the Trust.
Expense Limitations
The Investment Manager and certain of its affiliates have agreed to waive fees and/or reimburse certain expenses, subject to certain exclusions described in a Fund’s prospectus, so that certain Funds’ net operating expenses, after giving effect to fees waived/expenses reimbursed and any balance credits and/or overdraft charges from the Fund’s custodian, do not exceed specified rates for specified time periods, also as described in a Fund’s prospectus.
The table below shows the total Fund level expenses reimbursed by the Investment Manager and its affiliates for the last three fiscal periods. The table is organized by fiscal year end.
Expenses Reimbursed
| Amounts Reimbursed | |||
| 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | |
| For Funds with fiscal period ending March 31 | |||
| Adaptive Retirement 2020 Fund | $85,954 | $108,784 | $47,148(a) |
| Adaptive Retirement 2025 Fund | 86,669 | 114,501(b) | N/A |
| Adaptive Retirement 2030 Fund | 83,692 | 106,538 | 48,214(a) |
| Adaptive Retirement 2035 Fund | 83,969 | 113,287(b) | N/A |
| Adaptive Retirement 2040 Fund | 85,306 | 106,387 | 46,232(a) |
| Adaptive Retirement 2045 Fund | 83,706 | 113,294(b) | N/A |
| Adaptive Retirement 2050 Fund | 83,043 | 106,275 | 46,222(a) |
| Adaptive Retirement 2055 Fund | 83,657 | 113,470(b) | N/A |
| Adaptive Retirement 2060 Fund | 83,131 | 106,381 | 46,227(a) |
| MM Growth Strategies Fund | 2,238,091 | 0 | 0 |
| Pacific/Asia Fund | 41,857 | 104,313 | 2,239 |
| Select Large Cap Growth Fund | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Solutions Aggressive Portfolio | 92,597 | 115,257 | 51,039(a) |
| Solutions Conservative Portfolio | 91,936 | 115,215 | 50,910(a) |
| For Funds with fiscal period ending April 30 | |||
| Bond Fund | 691,739 | 637,917 | 578,904 |
| Corporate Income Fund | 420,876 | 141,151 | 349,553 |
| MM Directional Alternative Strategies Fund | 285,869 | 122,083 | 0 |
| Multi-Asset Income Fund | 401,566 | 413,261 | 388,054 |
| Small Cap Value Fund I | 230,084 | 218,379 | 96,248 |
| Total Return Bond Fund | 3,170,757 | 984,584 | 1,020,718 |
| U.S. Treasury Index Fund | 2,144,375 | 1,685,617 | 1,497,321 |
| For Funds with fiscal period ending May 31 | |||
| Adaptive Risk Allocation Fund | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dividend Income Fund | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| HY Municipal Fund | 103,476 | 198,043 | 278,084 |
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 160 |
| Amounts Reimbursed | |||
| 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | |
| Multi Strategy Alternatives Fund | $594,465 | $0 | $0 |
| For Funds with fiscal period ending July 31 | |||
| Large Cap Growth Fund | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| OR Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund | 88,828 | 42,894 | 86 |
| Tax-Exempt Fund | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| U.S. Social Bond Fund | 227,912 | 217,697 | 222,942 |
| Ultra Short Term Bond Fund | 29,141 | 25,752 | 77,707 |
| For Funds with fiscal period ending August 31 | |||
| Balanced Fund | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Contrarian Core Fund | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Emerging Markets Fund | 148,034 | 0 | 0 |
| Global Technology Growth Fund | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Greater China Fund | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| International Dividend Income Fund | 546,019 | 869,672 | 885,748 |
| Mid Cap Growth Fund | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| MM Alternative Strategies Fund | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| MM International Equity Strategies Fund | 368,359 | 0 | 0(c) |
| MM Small Cap Equity Strategies Fund | 1,570,297 | 266,244 | 943,335 |
| MM Total Return Bond Strategies Fund | 2,326,759 | 468,552 | 0 |
| Multisector Bond SMA Completion Portfolio | 93,821(d) | N/A | N/A |
| Overseas SMA Completion Portfolio | 115,529(e) | N/A | N/A |
| Small Cap Growth Fund I | 0 | 1,078 | 47,398 |
| Strategic Income Fund | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | |
| For Funds with fiscal period ending October 31 | |||
| CT Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund | 121,203 | 124,677 | 201,139 |
| Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund | 818,863 | 841,598 | 1,306,973 |
| MA Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund | 212,620 | 202,996 | 311,514 |
| NY Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund | 315,648 | 318,672 | 430,003 |
| Strategic CA Municipal Income Fund | 100,326 | 14,781 | 75,096 |
| Strategic NY Municipal Income Fund | 101,161 | 100,551 | 122,135 |
| For Funds with fiscal period ending December 31 | |||
| Real Estate Equity Fund | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| (a) | For the period from October 24, 2017 (commencement of operations) to March 31, 2018. |
| (b) | For the period from April 4, 2018 (commencement of operations) to March 31, 2019. |
| (c) | For the period from May 17, 2018 (commencement of operations) to August 31, 2018. |
| (d) | For the period from October 29, 2019 (commencement of operations) to August 31, 2020. |
| (e) | For the period from September 12, 2019 (commencement of operations) to August 31, 2020. |
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 161 |
The table below shows the total fees waived by the Investment Manager and its affiliates for the last three fiscal periods. If a Fund is not shown, there were no fees waived for the relevant fiscal periods. The table is organized by fiscal year end.
Fees Waived
Other Roles and Relationships of Ameriprise Financial and Its Affiliates —
Certain Conflicts of Interest
Certain Conflicts of Interest
As described above in the Investment Management and Other Services section of this SAI, and in the More Information About the Fund – Primary Service Providers section of each Fund's prospectus, the Investment Manager, Distributor and Transfer Agent, all affiliates of Ameriprise Financial, receive compensation from the Funds for the various services they provide to the Funds. Additional information as to the specific terms regarding such compensation is set forth in these affiliated service providers’ contracts with the Funds, each of which typically is included as an exhibit to Part C of each Fund's registration statement.
In many instances, the compensation paid to the Investment Manager and other Ameriprise Financial affiliates for the services they provide to the Funds is based, in some manner, on the size of the Funds' assets under management. As the size of the Funds' assets under management grows, so does the amount of compensation paid to the Investment Manager and, as the case may be, other Ameriprise Financial affiliates for providing services to the Funds. This relationship between Fund assets and any affiliated service provider compensation may create economic and other conflicts of interests of which Fund investors should be aware. These potential conflicts of interest, as well as additional ones, are discussed in detail below and also are addressed in other disclosure materials, including the Funds' prospectuses. Many of these conflicts of interest also are highlighted in account documentation and other disclosure materials of Ameriprise Financial affiliates that make available or offer the Columbia Funds as investments in connection with their respective products and services. In addition, Parts 1A and 2A of the Investment Manager’s Form ADV, which it must file with the SEC as an investment adviser registered under the Investment Advisers Act of
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 162 |
1940, provide information about the Investment Manager’s business, assets under management, affiliates and potential conflicts of interest. Parts 1A and 2A of the Investment Manager’s Form ADV are available online through the SEC’s website at www.adviserinfo.sec.gov.
Additional actual or potential conflicts of interest and certain investment activity limitations that could affect the Funds may arise from the financial services activities of Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates, including, for example, the investment advisory/management services provided for clients and customers other than the Funds. Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates are engaged in a wide range of financial activities beyond the fund-related activities of the Investment Manager, including, among others, broker-dealer (sales and trading), asset management, insurance and other financial activities. The broad range of financial services activities of Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates may involve multiple advisory, transactional, lending, financial and other interests in securities and other instruments, and in companies, that may be bought, sold or held by the Funds. The following describes certain actual and potential conflicts of interest that may be presented.
Actual and Potential Conflicts of Interest Related to the Investment Advisory/Management Activities of Ameriprise Financial and its Affiliates in Connection With Other Funds, Advised/Managed Funds and Accounts
The Investment Manager, Ameriprise Financial and other affiliates of Ameriprise Financial may advise or manage funds and accounts other than the Funds. In this regard, Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates may provide investment advisory/management and other services to other advised/managed funds and accounts that are similar to those provided to the Funds. The Investment Manager and Ameriprise Financial’s other investment adviser affiliates (including, for example, Columbia Wanger Asset Management, LLC, Columbia Cent CLO Advisers, LLC, Lionstone Partners, LLC and Threadneedle International Limited) will give investment advice to and make investment decisions for advised/managed funds and accounts, including the Funds, as they believe to be in that fund’s and/or account’s best interests, consistent with their fiduciary duties. The Funds and the other advised/managed funds and accounts of Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates are separately and potentially divergently managed, and there is no assurance that any investment advice Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates give to other advised/managed funds and accounts will also be given simultaneously or otherwise to the Funds.
A variety of other actual and potential conflicts of interest may arise from the advisory relationships of the Investment Manager, Ameriprise Financial and other Ameriprise Financial affiliates with other clients and customers. Advice given to the Funds and/or investment decisions made for the Funds by the Investment Manager or other Ameriprise Financial affiliates may differ from, or may conflict with, advice given to and/or investment decisions made by the Investment Manager, Ameriprise Financial and other Ameriprise Financial affiliates for other advised/managed funds and accounts. As a result, the performance of the Funds may differ from the performance of other funds or accounts advised/managed by the Investment Manager, Ameriprise Financial or other Ameriprise Financial affiliates. Similarly, a position taken by Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates, including the Investment Manager, on behalf of other funds or accounts may be contrary to a position taken on behalf of the Funds. Moreover, Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates, including the Investment Manager, may take a position on behalf of other advised/managed funds and accounts, or for their own proprietary accounts, that is adverse to companies or other issuers in which the Funds are invested. Also, the Investment Manager may take a position on behalf of certain Funds that is adverse to that of certain other Funds or accounts advised/managed by the Investment Manager, Ameriprise Financial or other Ameriprise Financial affiliates. For example, certain Funds may hold equity securities of a company while certain other Funds or accounts advised/managed by the Investment Manager, Ameriprise Financial or other Ameriprise Financial affiliates may hold debt securities of the same company – certain Funds may even own different debt instruments of the same issuer, where certain Funds own subordinated (junior) debt of an issuer and certain other Funds own senior debt of the same issuer, which presents a conflict of interest to the Investment Manager because junior debt is less of a priority than senior debt in terms of repayments. Senior debt is often secured and is more likely to be paid back while subordinated debt is not secured and is more of a risk. If the portfolio company were to experience financial difficulties, it might be in the best interest of certain Funds for the company to reorganize while the interests of certain other Funds or accounts advised/managed by the Investment Manager, Ameriprise Financial or other Ameriprise Financial affiliates might be better served by the liquidation of the company. Conflicts are magnified with respect to issuers that become insolvent. It is possible that in connection with an insolvency, bankruptcy, reorganization, or similar proceeding, certain Funds will be limited (by applicable law, courts or otherwise) in the positions or actions it will be permitted to take due to other interests held or actions or positions taken by certain other Funds or accounts advised/managed by the Investment Manager, Ameriprise Financial or other Ameriprise Financial affiliates. Certain Funds may invest in offerings of securities the proceeds of which may be used to repay debt obligations held in by certain other Funds or accounts advised/managed by the Investment Manager, Ameriprise Financial or other Ameriprise Financial affiliates. The latter’s interest in having the debt repaid creates a conflict of interest. These types of conflicts of interest could arise as the result of circumstances that cannot be generally foreseen within the broad range of investment advisory/management activities in which Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates engage. The Investment Manager has adopted policies and procedures designed to address these types of conflicts of interest among the Funds and other Funds and accounts advised by the Investment Manager, Ameriprise Financial and other affiliates of Ameriprise Financial.
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 163 |
Investment transactions made on behalf of other funds or accounts advised/managed by the Investment Manager, Ameriprise Financial or other Ameriprise Financial affiliates also may have a negative effect on the value, price or investment strategies of the Funds. For example, this could occur if another advised/managed fund or account implements an investment decision ahead of, or at the same time as, the Funds and causes the Funds to experience less favorable trading results than they otherwise would have experienced based on market liquidity factors. In addition, the other funds and accounts advised/managed by the Investment Manager, Ameriprise Financial and other Ameriprise Financial affiliates, including the other Columbia Funds and accounts of Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates, may have the same or very similar investment objective and strategies as the Funds. In this situation, the allocation of, and competition for, investment opportunities among the Funds and other funds and/or accounts advised/managed by the Investment Manager, Ameriprise Financial or other Ameriprise Financial affiliates may create conflicts of interest especially where, for example, limited investment availability is involved. The Investment Manager has adopted policies and procedures designed to address the allocation of investment opportunities among the Funds and other funds and accounts advised by the Investment Manager, Ameriprise Financial and other affiliates of Ameriprise Financial. For more information, see Investment Management and Other Services – The Investment Manager and Subadvisers – Portfolio Managers – Potential Conflicts of Interest.
Sharing of Information among Advised/Managed Accounts
Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates, including the Investment Manager, also may possess information that could be material to the management of a Fund and may not be able to, or may determine not to, share that information with the Fund, even though the information might be beneficial to the Fund. This information may include actual knowledge regarding the particular investments and transactions of other advised/managed funds and accounts, as well as proprietary investment, trading and other market research, analytical and technical models, and new investment techniques, strategies and opportunities. Depending on the context, Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates generally will have no obligation to share any such information with the Funds. In general, employees of Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates, including the portfolio managers of the Investment Manager, will make investment decisions without regard to information otherwise known by other employees of Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates, and generally will have no obligation to access any such information and may, in some instances, not be able to access such information because of legal and regulatory constraints or the internal policies and procedures of Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates. For example, if the Investment Manager or another Ameriprise Financial affiliate, or their respective employees, come into possession of non-public information regarding another advised/managed fund or account, they may be prohibited by legal and regulatory constraints, or internal policies and procedures, from using that information in connection with transactions made on behalf of the Funds. For more information, see Investment Management and Other Services – The Investment Manager and Subadvisers – Portfolio Managers – Potential Conflicts of Interest.
Conflicts of Interest Relating to Long/Short funds’ Published Research on Short Positions and Other Published Research or Views
Certain long/short funds managed by the Investment Manager may accumulate a short position in the equity of a specific issuer (including entering into derivatives that reference the equity of an issuer), and following the accumulation of the position, the investment team managing such funds may publish research or make a public announcement of their research findings, which could be perceived by investors as reasons to reevaluate the target issuer, possibly in ways that result in a generally negative change in sentiment toward the issuer. These public announcements may disclose findings of, among other things, questionable accounting or suspect business practices. Subject to regulatory limitations, the investment team managing the long/short funds anticipate sharing such research or research findings with other investment advisory personnel of the Investment Manager, its U.S. affiliates and non-U.S. affiliates (collectively, “Advisory Affiliates”) that own the equity of the target issuer prior to publication. The accounts managed by the investment team publishing the research report or making a public announcement as well as accounts managed by Advisory Affiliates may have a long, neutral or short position in such target issuer’s stock or other securities and instruments; in addition, accounts managed by Advisory Affiliates may have different opinions concerning such target issuer than those expressed in the published research or research findings. Furthermore, accounts managed by the investment team publishing the research report or making a public announcement as well as accounts managed by Advisory Affiliates may trade in the same securities or instruments of the target issuer at the same time, in the same or opposite direction or in a different sequence as the long/short funds that hold a short position in the issuer that is the subject of the published research report or public announcement. To the extent that client accounts begin to sell any long positions or establish short positions in the subject issuer, the long/short funds may benefit from that activity.
From time to time, a portfolio manager, analyst, or other employee of the Investment Manager or its affiliates may express views regarding a particular asset class, company, security, industry, or market sector. The views expressed by any such person are the views of only that individual as of the time expressed and do not necessarily represent the views of the Investment Manager or its affiliates or any other person within the Investment Manager or its affiliates. Any such views are subject to change at any time
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 164 |
based upon market or other conditions, and the Investment Manager and its affiliates disclaim any responsibility to update such views. These views may not be relied on as investment advice and, because investment decisions for a Fund are based on numerous factors, may not be relied on as an indication of any trading intent on behalf of the Fund.
Soft Dollar Benefits
Certain products and services, commonly referred to as “soft dollar services” (including, to the extent permitted by law, research reports, economic and financial data, financial publications, proxy analysis, computer databases and other research-oriented materials), that the Investment Manager may receive in connection with brokerage services provided to a Fund may have the inadvertent effect of disproportionately benefiting other advised/managed funds or accounts. This could happen because of the relative amount of brokerage services provided to a Fund as compared to other advised/managed funds or accounts, as well as the relative compensation paid by a Fund. It is possible that the Investment Manager or an investment subadviser subject to the recent revisions to the EU’s Markets in Financial Instruments Directive ("MiFID II") will cause a Fund to pay for research services with soft dollars in circumstances where it may not use soft dollars with respect to other advised/managed funds or accounts, although those other advised/managed funds or accounts might nonetheless benefit from those research services.
Services Provided to Other Advised/Managed Accounts
Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates, including the Investment Manager, Distributor and Transfer Agent, also may act as an investment adviser, investment manager, administrator, transfer agent, custodian, trustee, broker-dealer, agent, or in another capacity, for advised/managed funds and accounts other than the Funds, and may receive compensation for acting in such capacity. This compensation that the Investment Manager, Distributor and Transfer Agent and other Ameriprise Financial affiliates receive could be greater than the compensation Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates receive for acting in the same or similar capacity for the Funds. In addition, the Investment Manager, Distributor and Transfer Agent and other Ameriprise Financial affiliates may receive other benefits, including enhancement of new or existing business relationships. This compensation and/or the benefits that Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates may receive from other advised/managed funds and accounts and other relationships could potentially create incentives to favor other advised/managed funds and accounts over the Funds. Trades made by Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates for the Funds may be, but are not required to be, aggregated with trades made for other funds and accounts advised/managed by the Investment Manager and other Ameriprise Financial affiliates. If trades are aggregated among the Funds and those other funds and accounts, the various prices of the securities being traded may be averaged, which could have the potential effect of disadvantaging the Funds as compared to the other funds and accounts with which trades were aggregated.
Proxy Voting
The Investment Manager has adopted proxy voting policies and procedures that are designed to provide that all proxy voting is done in the best economic interests of its clients, including the Funds, without regard to any resulting benefit or detriment to the Investment Manager and/or its affiliates, including Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates. Although the Investment Manager endeavors to make all proxy voting decisions with respect to the interests of the Funds for which it is responsible in accordance with its proxy voting policies and procedures, the Investment Manager’s proxy voting decisions with respect to a Fund’s portfolio securities may or may not benefit Ameriprise Financial or other affiliates of the Investment Manager or other advised/managed funds and accounts, and/or clients, of Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates. For more information about the Funds' proxy voting policies and procedures, see Investment Management and Other Services – Proxy Voting Policies and Procedures.
Certain Trading Activities
The directors/trustees, officers and employees of Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates may buy and sell securities or other investments for their own accounts, and in doing so may take a position that is adverse to the Funds. In order to reduce the possibility that such personal investment activities of the directors/trustees, officers and employees of Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates will materially adversely affect the Funds, Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates have adopted policies and procedures, and the Funds, the Board, the Investment Manager and the Distributor have each adopted a Code of Ethics that addresses such personal investment activities. For more information, see Investment Management and Other Services – Codes of Ethics.
Affiliate Transactions
Subject to applicable legal and regulatory requirements, a Fund may enter into transactions in which Ameriprise Financial and/or its affiliates, or companies that are deemed to be affiliates of a Fund because of, among other factors, their or their affiliates’ ownership or control of shares of the Fund, may have an interest that potentially conflicts with the interests of the Fund. For example, an affiliate of Ameriprise Financial may sell securities to a Fund from an offering in which it is an underwriter or that it owns as a dealer, subject to applicable legal and regulatory requirements. Applicable legal and regulatory requirements also may prevent a Fund from engaging in transactions with an affiliate of the Fund, which may include Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates, or from participating in an investment opportunity in which an affiliate of a Fund participates.
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 165 |
Certain Investment Limitations
Regulatory and other restrictions may limit a Fund’s investment activities in various ways. For example, certain securities may be subject to ownership limitations due to regulatory limits on investments in certain industries (such as, for example, banking and insurance) and markets (such as emerging or international markets), or certain transactions (such as those involving certain derivatives or other instruments) or mechanisms imposed by certain issuers (such as, among others, poison pills). Certain of these restrictions may impose limits on the aggregate amount of investments that may be made by affiliated investors in the aggregate or in individual issuers. In these circumstances, the Investment Manager may be prevented from acquiring securities for a Fund (that it might otherwise prefer to acquire) if the acquisition would cause the Fund and its affiliated investors to exceed an applicable limit. These types of regulatory and other applicable limits are complex and vary significantly in different contexts including, among others, from country to country, industry to industry and issuer to issuer. The Investment Manager has policies and procedures designed to monitor and interpret these limits. Nonetheless, given the complexity of these limits, the Investment Manager and/or its affiliates may inadvertently breach these limits, and a Fund may therefore be required to sell securities that it might otherwise prefer to hold in order to comply with such limits. In addition, aggregate ownership limitations could cause performance dispersion among funds and accounts managed by the Investment Manager with similar investment objectives and strategies and portfolio management teams. For example, if further purchases in an issuer are restricted due to regulatory or other reasons, a portfolio manager would not be able to acquire securities or other assets of an issuer for a new Fund that may already be held by other funds and accounts with the same/similar investment objectives and strategies that are managed by the same portfolio management team. The Investment Manager may also choose to limit purchases in an issuer to a certain threshold for risk management purposes. If the holdings of the Investment Manager’s affiliates are included in that limitation, a Fund may be more limited in its ability to purchase a particular security or other asset than if the holdings of the Investment Manager’s affiliates had been excluded from the limitation. At certain times, a Fund may be restricted in its investment activities because of relationships that an affiliate of the Fund, which may include Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates, may have with the issuers of securities. This could happen, for example, if a Fund desired to buy a security issued by a company for which Ameriprise Financial or an affiliate serves as underwriter. A Fund may also be limited in certain investments because Ameriprise Financial, a financial holding company, is subject to certain banking regulatory requirements which may in some cases apply to the Investment Manager’s investments for the funds and accounts, including the Funds, it manages. In any of these scenarios, a Fund’s inability to participate (or participate further) in a particular investment, despite a portfolio manager’s desire to so participate, may negatively impact Fund performance. The internal policies and procedures of Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates covering these types of restrictions and addressing similar issues also may at times restrict a Fund’s investment activities. See also About Fund Investments – Certain Investment Activity Limits.
Actual and Potential Conflicts of Interest Related to Ameriprise Financial and its Affiliates’ Non-Advisory Relationships with Clients and Customers other than the Funds
The financial relationships that Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates may have with companies and other entities in which a Fund may invest can give rise to actual and potential conflicts of interest. Subject to applicable legal and regulatory requirements, a Fund may invest (a) in the securities of Ameriprise Financial and/or its affiliates and/or in companies in which Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates have an equity, debt or other interest, and/or (b) in the securities of companies held by other Columbia Funds. The purchase, holding and sale of such securities by a Fund may enhance the profitability and the business interests of Ameriprise Financial and/or its affiliates and/or other Columbia Funds. There also may be limitations as to the sharing with the Investment Manager of information derived from the non-investment advisory/management activities of Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates because of legal and regulatory constraints and internal policies and procedures (such as information barriers and ethical walls). Because of these limitations, Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates generally will not share information derived from its non-investment advisory/management activities with the Investment Manager.
Actual and Potential Conflicts of Interest Related to Ameriprise Financial Affiliates’ Marketing and Use of the Columbia Funds as Investment Options
Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates also provide a variety of products and services that, in some manner, may utilize the Columbia Funds as investment options. For example, the Columbia Funds may be offered as investments in connection with brokerage and other securities products offered by Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates, and may be utilized as investments in connection with fiduciary, investment management and other accounts offered by affiliates of Ameriprise Financial, as well as for other Columbia Funds structured as “funds-of-funds.” The use of the Columbia Funds in connection with other products and services offered by Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates may introduce economic and other conflicts of interest. These conflicts of interest are highlighted in account documentation and other disclosure materials for the other products and services offered by Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates.
Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates, including the Investment Manager, may, subject to applicable legal and regulatory requirements, make payments to their affiliates in connection with the promotion and sale of the Funds' shares, in addition to the sales-related and other compensation that these parties may receive from the Funds, if any. As a general matter, personnel of
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 166 |
Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates do not receive compensation in connection with their sales or use of the Funds that is greater than that paid in connection with their sales of other comparable products and services. Nonetheless, because the compensation that the Investment Manager and other affiliates of Ameriprise Financial may receive for providing services to the Funds is generally based on the Funds' assets under management and those assets will grow as shares of the Funds are sold, potential conflicts of interest may exist. See Other Practices – Additional Shareholder Servicing Payments and – Additional Payments to Financial Intermediaries for more information.
Actual or Potential Conflicts of Interest Related to Affiliated Indexes
The Investment Manager and its affiliates may develop, own and operate stock market and other indexes (each, an Affiliated Index) based on investment and trading strategies developed by the Investment Manager and/or its affiliates (Affiliated Index Strategies). Some of the ETFs for which Columbia Management acts as investment adviser (the Affiliated Index ETFs) seek to track the performance of the Affiliated Indexes. The Investment Manager and/or its affiliates may, from time to time, manage other funds or accounts that invest in these Affiliated Index ETFs. In the future, the Investment Manager and/or its affiliates may manage client accounts that track the same Affiliated Indexes used by the Affiliated Index ETFs or which are based on the same, or substantially similar, Affiliated Index Strategies that are used in the operation of the Affiliated Indexes and the Affiliated Index ETFs. The operation of the Affiliated Indexes, the Affiliated Index ETFs and other accounts managed in this manner may give rise to potential conflicts of interest.
For example, any accounts managed by the Investment Manager and/or its affiliates that seek to track the same Affiliated Indexes may engage in purchases and sales of securities at different times. These differences may result in certain accounts having more favorable performance relative to that of the Affiliated Index or other accounts that seek to track the Affiliated Index. Other potential conflicts include (i) the potential for unauthorized access to Affiliated Index information, allowing Affiliated Index changes that benefit the Investment Manager and/or its affiliates or other accounts managed by the Investment Manager and/or its affiliates and not the clients in the accounts seeking to track the Affiliated Index, and (ii) the manipulation of Affiliated Index pricing to present the performance of accounts seeking to track the Affiliated Index, or the firm’s tracking ability, in a preferential light.
The Investment Manager has adopted policies and procedures that are designed to address potential conflicts that may arise in connection with the operation of the Affiliated Indexes, the Affiliated Index ETFs and other accounts.
To the extent it is intended that an account managed by the Investment Manager and/or its affiliates seeks to track an Affiliated Index, the account may not match (performance or holdings), and may vary substantially from, such index for any period of time. An account that seeks to track an index may purchase, hold and sell securities at times when another client would not do so. The Investment Manager and its affiliates do not guarantee that any tracking error targets will be achieved. Accounts managed by the Investment Manager and/or its affiliates that seek to track an index may be negatively impacted by errors in the index, either as a result of calculation errors, inaccurate data sources or otherwise. The Investment Manager and its affiliates do not guarantee the timeliness, accuracy and/or completeness of an index and are not responsible for errors, omissions or interruptions in the index (including when the Investment Manager or an affiliate acts as the index provider) or the calculation thereof (including when the Investment Manager or an affiliate acts as the calculation agent).
The Investment Manager and its affiliates are not obligated to license the Affiliated Indexes to clients or other third-parties.
Codes of Ethics
The Funds, the Investment Manager, the subadvisers and the Distributor have adopted Codes of Ethics pursuant to the requirements of the 1940 Act, including Rule 17j-1 under the 1940 Act. These Codes of Ethics permit personnel subject to the Codes of Ethics to invest in securities, including securities that may be bought or held by the Funds. These Codes of Ethics are included as exhibits to Part C of the Funds' registration statement. These Codes of Ethics are available on the EDGAR Database on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov, and copies of these Codes of Ethics may be obtained, after paying a duplicating fee, by electronic request to publicinfo@sec.gov.
Proxy Voting Policies and Procedures
General. The Funds have delegated to the Investment Manager the responsibility to vote proxies relating to portfolio securities held by the Funds, including Funds managed by subadvisers. In deciding to delegate this responsibility to the Investment Manager, the Board reviewed the policies adopted by the Investment Manager. These included the procedures that the Investment Manager follows when a vote presents a conflict between the interests of the Funds and their shareholders and the Investment Manager and its affiliates.
The Investment Manager’s policy is to vote all proxies for Fund securities in a manner considered by the Investment Manager to be in the best economic interests of its clients, including the Funds, without regard to any benefit or detriment to the Investment Manager, its employees or its affiliates. The best economic interests of clients is defined for this purpose as the interest of
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 167 |
enhancing or protecting the value of client accounts, considered as a group rather than individually, as the Investment Manager determines in its discretion. The Investment Manager endeavors to vote all proxies of which it becomes aware prior to the vote deadline; provided, however, that in certain circumstances the Investment Manager may refrain from voting securities. For instance, the Investment Manager may refrain from voting foreign securities if it determines that the costs of voting outweigh the expected benefits of voting and typically will not vote securities if voting would impose trading restrictions.
The Board may, in its discretion, vote proxies for the Funds. For instance, the Board may determine to vote on matters that may present a material conflict of interest to the Investment Manager.
Oversight. The operation of the Investment Manager’s proxy voting policy and procedures is overseen by a committee (the Proxy Voting Committee) composed of representatives of the Investment Manager’s equity investments, equity research, responsible investment, compliance, legal and operations functions. The Proxy Voting Committee has the responsibility to review, at least annually, the Investment Manager’s proxy voting policies to ensure consistency with internal policies, regulatory requirements, conflicts of interest and client disclosures. The Board reviews on an annual basis, or more frequently as determined appropriate, the Investment Manager’s administration of the proxy voting process.
Corporate Governance and Proxy Voting Principles (the Principles). The Investment Manager has adopted the Principles, which set out the Investment Manager’s views on key issues and the broad principles shaping its approach, as well as the types of related voting action the Investment Manager may take. The Principles also provide indicative examples of key guidelines used in any given region, which illustrate the standards against which voting decisions are considered. The Investment Manager has developed voting stances that align with the Principles and will generally vote in accordance with such voting stances. The Proxy Voting Committee or investment professionals may determine to vote differently from the voting stances on particular proposals in the event it determines that doing so is in the clients’ best economic interests. The Investment Manager may also consider the voting recommendations of analysts, portfolio managers, subadvisers and information obtained from outside resources, including one or more third party research providers. When proposals are not covered by the voting stances or a voting determination must be made on a case-by-case basis, a portfolio manager, subadviser or analyst will make the voting determination based on his or her determination of the clients’ best economic interests; provided, however, for securities held in Funds managed in traditional index or certain quantitative strategies and not in any other fund or account managed by the Investment Manager, proxies will generally be voted in accordance with the recommendation of a third party research provider if the proposal is not covered by a voting stance or a voting determination must be made on a case-by-case basis. In addition, the Proxy Voting Committee may determine proxy votes when proposals require special consideration.
Addressing Conflicts of Interest. The Investment Manager seeks to address potential material conflicts of interest by voting in accordance with predetermined voting stances. In addition, if the Investment Manager determines that a material conflict of interest exists, the Investment Manager will invoke one or more of the following conflict management practices: (i) causing the proxies to be voted in accordance with the recommendations of an independent third party (which may be the Investment Manager’s proxy voting administrator or research provider); (ii) causing the proxies to be delegated to an independent third party (which may be the Investment Manager’s proxy voting administrator or research provider); and (iii) in infrequent cases, forwarding the proxies to an Independent Trustee authorized to vote the proxies for the Funds. A member of the Proxy Voting Committee is prohibited from voting on any proposal for which he or she has a conflict of interest by reason of a direct relationship with the issuer or other party affected by a given proposal. Persons making recommendations to the Proxy Voting Committee or its members are required to disclose to the committee any relationship with a party making a proposal or other matter known to the person that would create a potential conflict of interest.
Voting Proxies of Affiliated Underlying Funds. Certain Funds may invest in shares of other Columbia Funds (referred to in this context as “underlying funds”) and may own substantial portions of these underlying funds. If such Funds are in a master-feeder structure, the feeder fund will either seek instructions from its shareholders with regard to the voting of proxies with respect to the master fund’s shares and vote such proxies in accordance with such instructions or vote the shares held by it in the same proportion as the vote of all other master fund shareholders. With respect to Funds that hold shares of underlying funds other than in a master-feeder structure, the holding Funds will typically vote proxies of the underlying funds in the same proportion as the vote of all other holders of the underlying fund’s shares, unless the Board otherwise instructs.
Proxy Voting Agents. The Investment Manager has retained Institutional Shareholder Services Inc., a third-party vendor, as its proxy voting administrator to implement its proxy voting process and to provide recordkeeping and vote disclosure services. Typically, Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. populates ballots for issuers deemed to present potential material conflicts of interest in accordance with predetermined voting stances, as described above under Addressing Conflicts of Interest. The Investment Manager has retained both Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. and Glass Lewis & Company, LLC to provide proxy research services.
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 168 |
Additional Information. Information regarding how the Columbia Funds (except certain Columbia Funds that do not invest in voting securities) voted proxies relating to portfolio securities during the most recent twelve month period ended June 30 will be available by August 31 of this year free of charge: (i) through the Columbia Funds’ website at columbiathreadneedleus.com and/or (ii) on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. For a copy of the Investment Manager’s Principles in effect on the date of this SAI, see Appendix B to this SAI.
Organization and Management of Wholly-Owned Subsidiaries
Each of MM Alternative Strategies Fund and Multi Strategy Alternatives Fund (for purposes of this section, referred to collectively as a “Fund”) may invest a portion of its assets, within the limitations of Subchapter M and Section 817(h) of the Code, as applicable, in one or more of its wholly-owned subsidiaries (previously defined collectively as the “Subsidiary”). The Subsidiary is a limited liability company organized under the laws of the Cayman Islands, whose registered office is located at P.O. Box 309, Ugland House, Grand Cayman Islands.
The Subsidiary is overseen by its own board of directors and is not registered under the 1940 Act. The Fund, as the sole shareholder of the Subsidiary, does not have all of the protections offered by the 1940 Act to shareholders of investment companies registered under the 1940 Act. However, the Fund’s Board maintains oversight responsibility for investment activities of the Subsidiary as if the Subsidiary’s investments were held directly by the Fund. The Investment Manager and, where applicable, the Fund’s subadvisers are responsible for the Subsidiary’s day-to-day business pursuant to their separate agreements with, or in respect of, the Subsidiary. The following individuals serve as a director of the Subsidiary:
| Name, address, year of birth |
Position held with Subsidiary
and length of service |
Principal occupation during past five years |
|
Brian M. Engelking
5228 Ameriprise Financial Center Minneapolis, MN 55474-2405 Born 1979 |
Director since
March 2020 |
Global Lead Financial Officer – Columbia Threadneedle Investments at Ameriprise Financial, Inc. since June 2020. Previously, Vice President – Finance, Ameriprise Financial, Inc. and served in various finance leadership roles with Ameriprise Financial, Inc. since 2000. |
|
Christopher O. Petersen
5228 Ameriprise Financial Center Minneapolis, MN 55474-2405 Born 1970 |
Director since
January 2015 |
See Fund Governance – Fund Officers. |
The Subsidiary has entered into a separate management agreement for the provision of advisory and administrative services with the Investment Manager. Under this agreement, the Investment Manager provides the Subsidiary with the same type of management services, under the same terms, as are provided to the Fund. The Subsidiary pays the Investment Manager an annual fee for its management services, as set forth in the management agreement and the table below.
Management Agreement Fee Schedule
| Subsidiary |
Assets
(millions) |
Annual rate at
each asset level(a) |
| ASGM Offshore Fund, Ltd. | $0 - $500 | 1.100% |
| ASMF Offshore Fund, Ltd. | >$500 - $1,000 | 1.050% |
| (Subsidiaries of MM Alternative Strategies Fund) | >$1,000 - $3,000 | 1.020% |
| >$3,000 - $6,000 | 0.990% | |
| >$6,000 - $12,000 | 0.960% | |
| >$12,000 | 0.950% | |
| CMSAF1 Offshore Fund, Ltd. | $0 - $500 | 0.960% |
| CMSAF2 Offshore Fund, Ltd. | >$500 - $1,000 | 0.955% |
| CMSAF3 Offshore Fund, Ltd. | >$1,000 - $3,000 | 0.950% |
| (Subsidiaries of Multi Strategy Alternatives Fund) | >$3,000 - $12,000 | 0.940% |
| >$12,000 | 0.930% |
| (a) | When calculating asset levels for purposes of determining fee rate breakpoints, asset levels are based on aggregate net assets of the Fund and the Parent Fund. When calculating the fee payable under this agreement, the annual rates are based on a percentage of the daily net assets of the Fund. |
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 169 |
The Subsidiary has entered into a separate contract for the provision of custody services with the same service providers who provide those services to the Fund. The Subsidiary has also entered into arrangements with PwC to serve as the Subsidiary’s independent registered public accounting firm. The Subsidiary bears the fees and expenses incurred in connection with the services that it receives pursuant to each of these separate agreements and arrangements. The Fund expects that the expenses borne by the Subsidiary will not be material in relation of the value of the Fund’s assets.
For purposes of adhering to the Fund’s compliance policies and procedures, the Investment Manager treats the assets of the Subsidiary as if the assets were held directly by the Fund. The Chief Compliance Officer of the Fund makes periodic reports to the Fund’s Board regarding the management and operations of the Subsidiary.
The financial information of the Subsidiary is consolidated into the Fund’s financial statements, as contained within the Fund’s annual and semiannual reports provided to shareholders.
Please refer to the section titled “Taxation – The Subsidiary” for information about certain tax considerations relating to the Fund’s investment in the Subsidiary.
By investing in the Subsidiary, the Fund is indirectly exposed to the risks associated with the Subsidiary’s investments. The derivatives and other investments held by the Subsidiary are subject to the same risks that would apply to similar investments if held directly by the Fund. The Subsidiary is subject to the same principal risks to which the Fund is subject (as described in the Fund’s prospectus). There can be no assurance that the investment objective of the Subsidiary will be achieved. The Subsidiary is not registered under the 1940 Act and, except as otherwise noted, is not subject to the investor protections of the 1940 Act. However, the Fund wholly owns and controls the Subsidiary, and the Fund and the Subsidiary are both managed by the Investment Manager, making it unlikely that the Subsidiary will take action contrary to the interests of the Fund and its shareholders. The Fund’s Board has oversight responsibility for the investment activities of the Fund, including its investment in the Subsidiary, and the Fund’s role as sole shareholder of the Subsidiary. In managing the Subsidiary’s investment portfolio, the Investment Manager manages the Subsidiary’s portfolio in accordance with the Fund’s investment policies and restrictions.
The Investment Manager and any subadviser, if applicable, as it relates to the Subsidiary, complies with provisions of the 1940 Act relating to investment advisory contracts under Section 15 as an investment adviser to the Fund under Section 2(a)(20) of the 1940 Act. The Fund complies with the provisions of the 1940 Act, including those relating to investment policies (Section 8) and capital structure and leverage (Section 18) on an aggregate basis with the Subsidiary, and the Subsidiary complies with the provisions relating to affiliated transactions and custody (Section 17).
Changes in the laws of the United States and/or the Cayman Islands, under which the Fund and the Subsidiary, respectively, are organized, could result in the inability of the Fund and/or the Subsidiary to operate as described in the applicable prospectus and this SAI and could adversely affect the Fund and its shareholders. For example, the Cayman Islands laws currently do not impose any income, corporate or capital gains tax, estate duty, inheritance tax, gift tax or withholding tax on the Subsidiary. If Cayman Islands law were changed and the Subsidiary was required to pay Cayman Islands taxes, the investment returns of the Fund would likely decrease.
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 170 |
FUND GOVERNANCE
Board of Trustees and Officers
The Board oversees the Funds' operations and appoints officers who are responsible for day-to-day business decisions based on policies set by the Board. The following table provides basic biographical information about the Funds' Trustees as of the date of this SAI, including their principal occupations during the past five years, although specific titles for individuals may have varied over the period. The year set forth beneath Length of Service in the table below is the year in which the Trustee was first appointed or elected as Trustee to any Fund currently in the Columbia Funds Complex or a predecessor thereof. Under current Board policy, each Trustee generally serves until December 31 of the year such Trustee turns seventy-five (75).
Trustees
Independent Trustees
| Name, Address, Year of Birth | Position Held with the Trusts and Length of Service |
Principal Occupation(s)
During the Past Five Years and Other Relevant Professional Experience |
Number
of Funds in the Columbia Funds Complex* Overseen |
Other Directorships
Held by Trustee During the Past Five Years |
Committee Assignments |
|
George S. Batejan
c/o Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC, 225 Franklin Street, Mail Drop BX32 05228, Boston, MA 02110 1953 |
Trustee
2017 |
Executive Vice President, Global Head of Technology and Operations, Janus Capital Group, Inc., 2010-2016 | 176 | Former Chairman of the Board, NICSA (National Investment Company Services Association) (Executive Committee, Nominating Committee and Governance Committee), 2014-2016; former Director, Intech Investment Management, 2011-2016; former Board Member, Metro Denver Chamber of Commerce, 2015-2016; former Advisory Board Member, University of Colorado Business School, 2015-2018 | Compliance, Contracts, Investment Oversight Committee |
|
Kathleen Blatz
c/o Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC, 225 Franklin Street, Mail Drop BX32 05228, Boston, MA 02110 1954 |
Trustee
2006 |
Attorney, specializing in arbitration and mediation; Chief Justice, Minnesota Supreme Court, 1998-2006; Associate Justice, Minnesota Supreme Court, 1996-1998; Fourth Judicial District Court Judge, Hennepin County, 1994-1996; Attorney in private practice and public service, 1984-1993; State Representative, Minnesota House of Representatives, 1979-1993, which included service on the Tax and Financial Institutions and Insurance Committees; Member and Interim Chair, Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority, January -July 2017; Interim President and Chief Executive Officer, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota (health care insurance), February-July 2018 | 176 | Trustee, BlueCross BlueShield of Minnesota since 2009 (Chair of the Business Development Committee, 2014-2017; Chair of the Governance Committee, 2017-2020); Chair of the Robina Foundation since August 2013; former Member and Chair of the Board, Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority, January 2017-July 2017 | Compliance, Contracts, Investment Oversight Committee |
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 171 |
| Name, Address, Year of Birth | Position Held with the Trusts and Length of Service |
Principal Occupation(s)
During the Past Five Years and Other Relevant Professional Experience |
Number
of Funds in the Columbia Funds Complex* Overseen |
Other Directorships
Held by Trustee During the Past Five Years |
Committee Assignments |
|
Pamela G. Carlton
c/o Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC, 225 Franklin Street, Mail Drop BX32 05228, Boston, MA 02110 1954 |
Trustee
2007 |
President, Springboard- Partners in Cross Cultural Leadership (consulting company) since 2003; Managing Director of US Equity Research, JP Morgan Chase, 1999-2003; Director of US Equity Research, Chase Asset Management, 1996- 1999; Co-Director Latin America Research, 1993-1996, COO Global Research, 1992-1996, Co-Director of US Research, 1991-1992, Investment Banker, Morgan Stanley, 1982-1991 | 176 | Trustee, New York Presbyterian Hospital Board (Executive Committee and Chair of Human Resources Committee) since 1996; Director, DR Bank (Audit Committee) since 2017; Director, Evercore Inc. (Audit Committee, Nominating and Governance Committee) since 2019 | Contracts, Board Governance, Investment Oversight Committee |
|
Janet Langford Carrig
c/o Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC, 225 Franklin Street, Mail Drop BX32 05228, Boston, MA 02110 1957 |
Trustee
1996 |
Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, ConocoPhillips (independent energy company), September 2007-October 2018 | 174 | Director, EQT Corporation (natural gas producer) since 2019; Director, Whiting Petroleum Corporation (independent oil and gas company) since 2020 | Compliance, Contracts, Board Governance, Investment Oversight Committee |
|
J. Kevin Connaughton
c/o Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC, 225 Franklin Street, Mail Drop BX32 05228, Boston, MA 02110 1964 |
Trustee
2020(a) |
Member, FINRA National Adjudicatory Council since January 2020; Adjunct Professor of Finance, Bentley University since January 2018; Managing Director and General Manager of Mutual Fund Products, Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC, May 2010-February 2015; President, Columbia Funds, 2008-2015; and senior officer of Columbia Funds and affiliated funds, 2003-2015 | 174 | Director, The Autism Project since March 2015; former Member of the Investment Committee, St. Michael’s College, November 2015-February 2020; former Trustee, St. Michael’s College, June 2017-September 2019; former Trustee, New Century Portfolios, January 2015-December 2017 | Audit, Contracts, Investment Oversight Committee |
|
Olive Darragh
c/o Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC, 225 Franklin Street, Mail Drop BX32 05228, Boston, MA 02110 1962 |
Trustee
2020(a) |
Managing Director of Darragh Inc. (strategy and talent management consulting firm) since 2010; Founder and CEO, Zolio, Inc. (investment management talent identification platform) since 2004; Partner, Tudor Investments, 2004-2010; Senior Partner, McKinsey & Company, 2001-2004 | 174 | Former Director, University of Edinburgh Business School; former Director, Boston Public Library Foundation | Audit, Contracts, Investment Oversight Committee |
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 172 |
| Name, Address, Year of Birth | Position Held with the Trusts and Length of Service |
Principal Occupation(s)
During the Past Five Years and Other Relevant Professional Experience |
Number
of Funds in the Columbia Funds Complex* Overseen |
Other Directorships
Held by Trustee During the Past Five Years |
Committee Assignments |
|
Patricia M. Flynn
c/o Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC, 225 Franklin Street, Mail Drop BX32 05228, Boston, MA 02110 1950 |
Trustee
2004 |
Trustee Professor of Economics and Management, Bentley University since 1976 (also teaches and conducts research on corporate governance); Dean, McCallum Graduate School of Business, Bentley University, 1992-2002 | 176 | Trustee, MA Taxpayers Foundation since 1997; Board of Governors, Innovation Institute, MA Technology Collaborative since 2010; Board of Directors, The MA Business Roundtable 2003-2019 | Audit, Contracts, Investment Oversight Committee |
|
Brian J. Gallagher
c/o Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC, 225 Franklin Street, Mail Drop BX32 05228, Boston, MA 02110 1954 |
Trustee
2017 |
Retired; Partner with Deloitte & Touche LLP and its predecessors, 1977-2016 | 176 | Trustee, Catholic Schools Foundation since 2004 | Audit, Contracts, Investment Oversight Committee |
|
Douglas A. Hacker
c/o Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC, 225 Franklin Street, Mail Drop BX32 05228, Boston, MA 02110 1955 |
Trustee and Co-Chair of the Board (since 2020)
1996 |
Independent business executive since May 2006; Executive Vice President – Strategy of United Airlines, December 2002 - May 2006; President of UAL Loyalty Services (airline marketing company), September 2001-December 2002; Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of United Airlines, July 1999-September 2001 | 174 | Director, Spartan Nash Company (food distributor); Director, Aircastle Limited (aircraft leasing); former Director, Nash Finch Company (food distributor), 2005-2013; former Director, SeaCube Container Leasing Ltd. (container leasing), 2010-2013; and former Director, Travelport Worldwide Limited (travel information technology), 2014-2019 | Contracts, Board Governance, Investment Oversight Committee |
|
Nancy T. Lukitsh
c/o Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC, 225 Franklin Street, Mail Drop BX32 05228, Boston, MA 02110 1956 |
Trustee
2011 |
Senior Vice President, Partner and Director of Marketing, Wellington Management Company, LLP (investment adviser), 1997-2010; Chair, Wellington Management Portfolios (commingled non-U.S. investment pools), 2007 -2010; Director, Wellington Trust Company, NA and other Wellington affiliates, 1997-2010 | 174 | None | Contracts, Board Governance, Investment Oversight Committee |
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 173 |
| Name, Address, Year of Birth | Position Held with the Trusts and Length of Service |
Principal Occupation(s)
During the Past Five Years and Other Relevant Professional Experience |
Number
of Funds in the Columbia Funds Complex* Overseen |
Other Directorships
Held by Trustee During the Past Five Years |
Committee Assignments |
|
David M. Moffett
c/o Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC, 225 Franklin Street, Mail Drop BX32 05228, Boston, MA 02110 1952 |
Trustee
2011 |
Retired; Consultant to Bridgewater and Associates | 174 | Director, CSX Corporation (transportation suppliers); Director, Genworth Financial, Inc. (financial and insurance products and services); Director, Paypal Holdings Inc. (payment and data processing services); Trustee, University of Oklahoma Foundation; former Director, eBay Inc. (online trading community), 2007-2015; and former Director, CIT Bank, CIT Group Inc. (commercial and consumer finance), 2010-2016 | Audit, Contracts, Investment Oversight Committee |
|
Catherine James Paglia
c/o Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC, 225 Franklin Street, Mail Drop BX32 05228, Boston, MA 02110 1952 |
Trustee and Co-Chair of the Board (since 2020)
2004 |
Director, Enterprise Asset Management, Inc. (private real estate and asset management company) since September 1998; Managing Director and Partner, Interlaken Capital, Inc., 1989-1997; Managing Director, Morgan Stanley, 1982-1989; Vice President, Investment Banking, 1980-1982, Associate, Investment Banking, 1976-1980, Dean Witter Reynolds, Inc. | 176 | Director, Valmont Industries, Inc. (irrigation systems manufacturer) since 2012; Trustee, Carleton College (on the Investment Committee); Trustee, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (on the Investment Committee) | Contracts, Board Governance, Investment Oversight Committee |
|
Anthony M. Santomero
c/o Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC, 225 Franklin Street, Mail Drop BX32 05228, Boston, MA 02110 1946 |
Trustee
2008 |
Richard K. Mellon Professor Emeritus of Finance, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, since 2002; Senior Advisor, McKinsey & Company (consulting), 2006-2008; President, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, 2000-2006; Professor of Finance, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, 1972-2002 | 176 | Trustee, Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company since March 2008; Director, RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. since May 2008; former Director, Citigroup Inc. and Citibank, N.A., 2009-2019; former Trustee, BofA Funds Series Trust (11 funds), 2008-2011 | Contracts, Board Governance, Investment Oversight Committee |
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 174 |
| Name, Address, Year of Birth | Position Held with the Trusts and Length of Service |
Principal Occupation(s)
During the Past Five Years and Other Relevant Professional Experience |
Number
of Funds in the Columbia Funds Complex* Overseen |
Other Directorships
Held by Trustee During the Past Five Years |
Committee Assignments |
|
Minor M. Shaw
c/o Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC, 225 Franklin Street, Mail Drop BX32 05228, Boston, MA 02110 1947 |
Trustee
2003 |
President, Micco LLC (private investments) since 2011; President, Micco Corp. (family investment business), 1998-2011 | 176 | Director, BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina since April 2008; Trustee, Hollingsworth Funds since 2016 (previously Board Chair from 2016-2019); Advisory Board member, Duke Energy Corp. since October 2016; Chair of the Duke Endowment; Chair of Greenville – Spartanburg Airport Commission; former Trustee, BofA Funds Series Trust (11 funds), 2003-2011; former Director, Piedmont Natural Gas, 2004-2016; former Director, National Association of Corporate Directors, Carolinas Chapter, 2013-2018 | Compliance, Contracts, Investment Oversight Committee |
|
Natalie A. Trunow
c/o Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC, 225 Franklin Street, Mail Drop BX32 05228, Boston, MA 02110 1967 |
Trustee
2020(a) |
Chief Executive Officer, Millennial Portfolio Solutions LLC (asset management and consulting services) since January 2016; Non-executive Member of the Investment Committee, Sarona Asset Management Inc. (private equity firm) since September 2019; Advisor, Horizon Investments (asset management and consulting services) since August 2018; Advisor, Paradigm Asset Management since November 2016; Director of Investments, Casey Family Programs, April 2016-September 2016; Senior Vice President and Chief Investment Officer, Calvert Investments, August 2008 - January 2016; Section Head and Portfolio Manager, General Motors Asset Management, June 1997-August 2008 | 174 | Director, Health Services for Children with Special Needs, Inc.; Director, Consumer Credit Counseling Services (formerly Guidewell Financial Solutions); Independent Director, Investment Committee, Sarona Asset Management | Compliance, Contracts, Investment Oversight Committee |
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 175 |
| Name, Address, Year of Birth | Position Held with the Trusts and Length of Service |
Principal Occupation(s)
During the Past Five Years and Other Relevant Professional Experience |
Number
of Funds in the Columbia Funds Complex* Overseen |
Other Directorships
Held by Trustee During the Past Five Years |
Committee Assignments |
|
Sandra Yeager
c/o Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC, 225 Franklin Street, Mail Drop BX32 05228, Boston, MA 02110 1964 |
Trustee
2017 |
Retired; President and founder, Hanoverian Capital, LLC (SEC registered investment advisor firm), 2008-2016; Managing Director, DuPont Capital, 2006-2008; Managing Director, Morgan Stanley Investment Management, 2004-2006; Senior Vice President, Alliance Bernstein, 1990-2004 | 176 | Director, NAPE Education Foundation since October 2016 | Audit, Contracts, Investment Oversight Committee |
| * | The term “Fund Complex” as used herein includes each series of CFST, CFST I, CFST II, Columbia ETF Trust I, Columbia ETF Trust II, Columbia Funds Variable Insurance Trust, Columbia Funds Variable Series Trust II, Columbia Seligman Premium Technology Growth Fund and Tri-Continental Corporation. Messrs. Batejan, Gallagher and Santomero and Mses. Blatz, Carlton, Flynn, Paglia, Shaw and Yeager serve as a director of Columbia Seligman Premium Technology Growth Fund and Tri-Continental Corporation. |
| (a) | J. Kevin Connaughton was appointed a consultant to the Independent Trustees of CFST I effective March 1, 2016. Natalie A. Trunow was appointed a consultant to the Independent Trustees of CFST I effective September 1, 2016. Olive Darragh was appointed a consultant to the Independent Trustees of CFST I effective June 10, 2019. Shareholders of the Funds elected Mr. Connaughton and Mses. Darragh and Trunow as Trustees, effective January 1, 2021. |
Interested Trustee Affiliated with Investment Manager*
|
Name, Address,
Year of Birth |
Position Held
with the Trusts and Length of Service |
Principal Occupation(s)
During the Past Five Years and Other Relevant Professional Experience |
Number of
Funds in the Columbia Funds Complex Overseen |
Other Directorships Held by Trustee During the Past Five Years |
Committee
Assignments |
|
Christopher O. Petersen
c/o Columbia Threadneedle 5228 Ameriprise Financial Center Minneapolis, MN 55474 1970 |
Trustee
2020(a) |
Vice President and Lead Chief Counsel, Ameriprise Financial, Inc. since January 2015 (previously Vice President and Chief Counsel, January 2010-December 2014); officer of Columbia Funds and affiliated funds since 2007. | 176 | None | None |
| * | Interested person (as defined under the 1940 Act) by reason of being an officer, director, security holder and/or employee of the Investment Manager or Ameriprise Financial. |
| (a) | Mr. Petersen serves as the President and Principal Executive Officer of the Funds (since 2015). |
John J. Neuhauser and Patrick J. Simpson retired from the Board effective December 31, 2020.
The Officers
The Board has appointed officers who are responsible for day-to-day business decisions based on policies it has established. The officers serve at the pleasure of the Board. The following table provides basic information about the Officers of the Trusts as of the date of this SAI, including principal occupations during the past five years, although their specific titles may have varied over the period. In addition to Mr. Petersen, who is the President and Principal Executive Officer, the Funds' other officers are:
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 176 |
Fund Officers
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 177 |
|
Name, Address
and Year of Birth |
Position and Year
First Appointed to Position for any Fund in the Columbia Funds Complex or a Predecessor Thereof |
Principal Occupation(s) During Past Five Years |
|
Daniel J. Beckman
225 Franklin Street Boston, MA 02110 1962 |
Senior Vice President (2020) | Vice President – Head of North America Product, Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC (since April 2015); previously, Senior Vice President of Investment Product Management, Fidelity Financial Advisor Solutions, a division of Fidelity Investments (January 2012 – March 2015). |
|
Michael E. DeFao
225 Franklin Street Boston, MA 02110 1968 |
Vice President (2011) and Assistant Secretary (2010) | Vice President and Chief Counsel, Ameriprise Financial, Inc. since May 2010. |
|
Lyn Kephart-Strong
5228 Ameriprise Financial Center Minneapolis, MN 55474 1960 |
Vice President (2015) | President, Columbia Management Investment Services Corp. since October 2014; Vice President & Resolution Officer, Ameriprise Trust Company since August 2009. |
Responsibilities of the Board with respect to Fund Management
The Board consists of Trustees who have varied experience and skills. The Board is co-chaired by two Independent Trustees who each have significant additional responsibilities compared to the other Trustees, including, among other things: overseeing the setting of the agenda for Board meetings, communicating and meeting with Board members between Board and committee meetings on Fund-related matters, with the Funds' Chief Compliance Officer, counsel to the Independent Trustees, and representatives of the Funds' service providers. The Board reviews its leadership structure periodically and believes that its structure is appropriate, in light of the nature and number of Funds comprising the Trusts, to enable the Board to exercise its oversight of the Funds and the other investment companies overseen by the Trustees. In particular, the Board believes that having two Independent Trustees serve as the co-chairs of the Board and having other Independent Trustees serve as chairs of each committee promotes independence from the Investment Manager in overseeing the setting of agendas and conducting of meetings. With respect to Mr. Petersen, the Trustees have concluded that having a senior officer of the Investment Manager serve as a Trustee benefits Fund shareholders by facilitating communication between the Independent Trustees and the senior management of the Investment Manager, and by assisting efforts to align the interests of the Investment Manager more closely with those of Fund shareholders. The Board has several standing committees, which are an integral part of each Fund’s overall governance and risk oversight structure. The Board believes that its committee structure makes the oversight process more efficient and more effective by allowing, among other things, smaller groups of Trustees to bring increased focus to matters within the purview of each committee. The roles of each committee are more fully described in the section Committees of the Board below.
The Board initially approved investment management services agreements and other contracts with the Investment Manager and its affiliates and other service providers. The Board monitors the level and quality of services provided under such contracts. Annually, the Board evaluates the services received under the investment management and distribution contracts by reviewing, among other things, reports covering investment performance, expenses, shareholder services, marketing, and the Investment Manager’s profitability.
The Investment Manager provides the Funds with investment advisory services, and is responsible for day-to-day administration of the Funds and management of the risks that arise from the Funds' investments and operations. The Board provides oversight of the services provided by the Investment Manager, including risk management services. Various committees of the Board provide oversight of the Investment Manager’s risk management services with respect to the particular activities within the committee’s purview. In the course of providing oversight, the Board and the committees receive a wide range of reports with respect to the Funds' activities, including reports regarding each Fund’s investment portfolio, the compliance of the Funds with applicable laws, and the Funds' financial accounting and reporting. The Board and the relevant committees meet periodically with officers of the Funds and the Investment Manager and with representatives of various Fund service providers. In addition, the Board oversees processes that are in place addressing compliance with applicable rules, regulations and investment policies and address possible conflicts of interest. The Board and certain committees also meet regularly with the Funds' Chief Compliance Officer to receive reports regarding the compliance of the Funds and the Investment Manager with the federal securities laws and their internal compliance policies and procedures. In addition, the Board meets periodically with the portfolio managers of the Funds to receive reports regarding the management of the Funds.
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 178 |
The Board also oversees the Funds' liquidity risk through, among other things, receiving periodic reporting and presentations by investment and other personnel of the Investment Manager. Additionally, as required by Rule 22e-4 under the 1940 Act, the Funds have implemented a written liquidity risk management program and related procedures (the “Liquidity Program”), designed to assess and manage the Funds' liquidity risk. The Board, including a majority of the Independent Trustees, approved the designation of a liquidity risk management program administrator (the “Liquidity Program Administrator”) who is responsible for administering the Liquidity Program. The Board reviews, no less frequently than annually, a written report prepared by the Liquidity Program Administrator that addresses the operation of the Liquidity Program and assesses its adequacy and effectiveness of implementation.
The Board recognizes that not all risks that may affect the Funds can be identified in advance; that it may not be practical or cost-effective to eliminate or mitigate certain risks; that it may be necessary to bear certain risks (such as various investment-related risks) in seeking to achieve the Funds' investment objectives; and that the processes and controls employed to address certain risks may be limited in their effectiveness. As a result of the foregoing and other factors, the Board's risk management oversight is subject to substantial limitations.
Trustee Biographical Information and Qualifications
The following provides an overview of the considerations that led the Board to conclude that each individual serving as a Trustee should so serve. Generally, no one factor was decisive in the selection of an individual to join the Board. Among the factors the Board considered when concluding that an individual should serve on the Board were the following: (i) the individual’s business and professional experience and accomplishments; (ii) the individual’s ability to work effectively with the other Trustees; (iii) the individual’s prior experience, if any, serving on the boards of public companies (including, where relevant, other investment companies) and other complex enterprises and organizations; and (iv) how the individual’s skills, experience and attributes would contribute to an appropriate mix of relevant skills and experience on the Board.
In respect of each current Trustee, the individual’s substantial professional accomplishments and experience, including in fields related to the operations of the Fund, were a significant factor in the determination that, in light of the business and structure of the Trusts, the individual should serve as a Trustee. Following is a summary of each Trustee’s particular professional experience and additional considerations that contributed to the Board’s conclusion that an individual should serve as a Trustee:
George S. Batejan – Mr. Batejan has over 40 years’ experience in the financial services industry, including service as a former Executive Vice President and Global Head of Technology and Operations of Janus Capital Group, Inc. He has also served as Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer of Evergreen Investments, Inc., Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer of OppenheimerFunds, Inc., and Head of International Property and Casualty Operations and Systems/Senior Vice President of American International Group. Mr. Batejan is an 18-year veteran of Chase Manhattan Bank, N.A. where he progressed to Private Banking Vice President and Division Executive of the Americas’ Service Delivery Group. He has also served on numerous corporate and non-profit boards. Mr. Batejan has also served as Chair of the National Investment Company Service Association (NICSA). Additionally, Mr. Batejan has managed operational units supporting the mutual fund business. These functions include fund accounting, fund treasury, fund tax, transfer agent, trade processing and settlement, proxy voting, corporate actions, operational risk, business continuity, and cyber security. He was also a member of the Ethics Committee, Global Risk Committee, and Cyber Security Committee of a major investment manager.
Kathleen Blatz – Ms. Blatz has had a successful legal and judicial career, including serving for eight years as Chief Justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court. Prior to being a judge, she practiced law and also served in the Minnesota House of Representatives having been elected to eight terms. While in the legislature she served on various committees, including the Financial Institutions and Insurance Committee and the Tax Committee. Since retiring from the Bench, she has been appointed as an arbitrator on many cases involving business to business disputes, including some pertaining to shareholder rights issues. She also has been appointed to two Special Litigation Committees by boards of Fortune 500 Companies to investigate issues relating to cyber-security and stock options. In February 2018, she was appointed Interim President and Chief Executive Officer of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota and served in that capacity until July 30, 2018. She also serves on the board of directors of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota, and as chair of a non-profit organization.
Pamela G. Carlton – Ms. Carlton has over 20 years’ experience in the investment banking industry, as a former Managing Director of JP Morgan Chase and a 14-year veteran of Morgan Stanley Investment Banking and Equity Research. She is currently the President of Springboard Partners in Cross Cultural Leadership, a consulting firm that she founded. Ms. Carlton also serves on the Board of Directors of DR Bank (formerly Laurel Road Bank), a privately held community bank, where she serves on the Audit Committee. She also serves on the board of directors of Evercore Inc., a public investment bank. In addition, she has experience on other boards of directors of non-profit organizations, including the Board of Trustees of New York Presbyterian Hospital where she is on the Executive Committee and Chair of the Human Resources Committee.
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 179 |
Janet Langford Carrig – Ms. Carrig was Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary for ConocoPhillips. Prior to joining ConocoPhillips, Ms. Carrig held senior legal and leadership roles in other large corporations and law firms, including as a partner at the law firms Sidley & Austin and Zelle, Hoffman, Voelbel, Mason and Gette. Ms. Carrig has previously served on the board of directors for a public company and various industry groups and non-profit organizations.
J. Kevin Connaughton – Mr. Connaughton has significant executive and board experience with financial services and investment companies. Mr. Connaughton served as a senior officer of certain Columbia funds from 2003 through 2015. He served as the managing director and general manager of mutual fund products for the Investment Manager from 2010 through 2015. Mr. Connaughton currently serves on the FINRA National Adjudicatory Council and on the Board of Directors of The Autism Project. He has previously served on the Board of Directors of a separate fund group, the Transfer Agent, three offshore groups of funds managed by the Investment Manager and/or affiliates, and the investment committee for a small college endowment. Mr. Connaughton also serves as an adjunct professor of Finance at Bentley University.
Olive Darragh – Ms. Darragh has extensive experience in the investment management industry. She currently serves as Managing Director of Darragh Inc., a strategy and talent management consulting firm that works with investment organizations. Previously, Ms. Darragh was a Partner at Tudor Investments responsible for Strategy and Talent Management. Prior to that, she was a Senior Partner at McKinsey & Company, where she co-founded and led the firm’s global Investment Management practice. Ms. Darragh has experience serving on other boards of directors and is a Certified Public Accountant. Ms. Darragh also founded and runs Zolio Inc., an investment management talent identification platform and is a visiting professor at the University of Edinburgh Business School.
Patricia M. Flynn – Dr. Flynn is a Trustee Professor of Economics and Management at Bentley University, where she previously served as Dean of the McCallum Graduate School of Business. Her research and teaching focus on technology-based economic development, corporate governance and women in business, which she has also written on extensively. She has served on numerous corporate and non-profit boards, including Boston Fed Bancorp Inc., U.S. Trust and The Federal Savings Bank.
Brian J. Gallagher – Mr. Gallagher has 40 years of experience in the financial services industry, including 30 years of service as an audit partner in the financial services practice at Deloitte & Touche LLP. During his tenure at Deloitte, Mr. Gallagher served as the Industry Professional Practice Director for the Investment Management Audit Practice, and oversaw the development of the firm’s audit approach for clients in the industry, consulted on technical issues, and interacted with standard setters and regulators. He also has experience on boards of directors of non-profit organizations.
Douglas A. Hacker – Mr. Hacker has extensive executive experience, having served in various executive roles with United Airlines and more recently as an independent business executive. Mr. Hacker also has experience on other boards of directors. As former chief financial officer of United Airlines, Mr. Hacker has significant experience in accounting and financial management, including in a public company setting.
Nancy T. Lukitsh – Ms. Lukitsh has extensive executive experience in the financial services industries, particularly with respect to the marketing of investment products, having served as Senior Vice President, Partner and Director of Marketing for Wellington Management Company, LLP. Ms. Lukitsh has previously served as Chair of Wellington Management Portfolios (commingled investment pools designed for non-U.S. institutional investors) and as a director of other Wellington affiliates. In addition, she has previously served on the boards of directors of various non-profit organizations. She is also a Chartered Financial Analyst.
David M. Moffett – Mr. Moffett has extensive executive and board of director experience, including serving on audit committees for public companies. Mr. Moffett was selected as CEO when the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation was placed under conservatorship in 2008, and served as a consultant to its interim chief executive officer and the board of directors until 2009. Formerly, Mr. Moffett was the CFO of a large U.S. bank holding company where his responsibilities included trust and wealth management.
Catherine James Paglia – Ms. Paglia has been a Director of Enterprise Asset Management, Inc., a real estate and asset management company, for over 15 years. She previously spent eight years as a Managing Director at Morgan Stanley, 10 years as a Managing Director of Interlaken Capital and served as Chief Financial Officer of two public companies. She also has experience on other boards of directors of public and non-profit organizations.
Christopher O. Petersen – Mr. Petersen has significant experience with the financial services and investment companies. Mr. Petersen has served as President of the Columbia Funds since 2015 and as an officer of the Columbia Funds and affiliated funds since 2007. He serves as Vice President and Lead Chief Counsel of Ameriprise Financial, Inc., the parent company of the Investment Manager. In these capacities, he supports the management of the business and legal affairs of the Columbia Funds.
Anthony M. Santomero – Dr. Santomero is the former President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. He holds the title of Richard K. Mellon Professor Emeritus of Finance at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and serves on the board of a public company, RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd., and the board of Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company. He previously served as director of Citigroup Inc. and Citibank, N.A., Senior Advisor at McKinsey & Company and was the Richard K. Mellon
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 180 |
Professor of Finance at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. During his 30-year tenure at Wharton, he held a number of academic and managerial positions, including Deputy Dean of the School. He has written approximately 150 articles, books and monographs on financial sector regulation and economic performance.
Minor M. Shaw – Ms. Shaw is President of Micco, LLC, a private investment company, and past president of Micco Corporation and Mickel Investment Group. She is chairman of the Daniel-Mickel Foundation and The Duke Endowment. She also currently serves as chairman of the Greenville-Spartanburg Airport Commission. She holds numerous civic and business board memberships and is a past chair of Wofford College Board of Trustees. Ms. Shaw serves on the board of the Hollingsworth Funds (formerly Board Chair of the Hollingsworth Funds), Blue Cross Blue Shield of South Carolina, and on the advisory board of Duke Energy Corp. She has also served on the boards of Citizens & Southern Bank of SC, Interstate Johnson Lane, and Piedmont Natural Gas.
Natalie A. Trunow – Ms. Trunow has extensive executive experience in financial services and with investment companies, including service as Chief Executive Officer at Millennial Portfolio Solutions LLC (asset management and consulting services), as a non-executive member of the Investment Committee of Sarona Asset Management Inc. (a private equity firm), as Director of Investments at Casey Family Programs Foundation, as Senior Vice President and Chief Investment Officer at Calvert Investments, and as Section Head and Portfolio Manager responsible for alternative and traditional funds at General Motors Asset Management. Ms. Trunow’s responsibilities as Senior Vice President and Chief Investment officer at Calvert Investments included oversight responsibilities for public and private equity investments, in-house and sub-advised funds, asset allocation funds, balanced funds, and volatility-managed funds, and investing portfolios. Ms. Trunow also currently serves on the boards of for-profit and non-profit organizations.
Sandra Yeager – Ms. Yeager has over 26 years of experience in the financial services industry. In August of 2008 she founded Hanoverian Capital, LLC, an investment boutique specializing in international equities for institutional clients, where she served as President and Chief Investment Officer through December 2016. Prior to that, Ms. Yeager served as Head of International Equities for DuPont Capital and Head of Global Equity Research for Morgan Stanley Investment Management, where she led a team of thirty people. Ms. Yeager began her investment career at AllianceBernstein as an equity analyst and advanced to become a global portfolio manager for institutional and mutual fund clients.
Committees of the Board
The Board has organized the following standing committees to facilitate its work: Board Governance Committee, Compliance Committee, Contracts Committee, Investment Oversight Committee and Audit Committee. These committees are comprised solely of Independent Trustees. For each committee, the Board has adopted a written charter setting forth each committee's responsibilities. The table above, providing background on each Trustee, also includes their respective committee assignments. The duties of these committees are described below. Each committee was reconstituted effective January 1, 2021.
Mr. Hacker and Ms. Paglia, as Co-Chairs of the Board, act as points of contact between the Independent Trustees and the Investment Manager between Board meetings in respect of general matters.
Board Governance Committee. Recommends to the Board the size, structure and composition of the Board and its committees; the compensation to be paid to members of the Board; and a process for evaluating the Board’s performance. The committee also reviews candidates for Board membership, including candidates recommended by shareholders. The committee also makes recommendations to the Board regarding responsibilities and duties of the Board, oversees proxy voting and supports the work of the Board Chair in relation to furthering the interests of the Funds and other funds in the Columbia Funds Complex overseen by the Board and their shareholders.
To be considered as a candidate for Trustee, recommendations must include a curriculum vitae and be mailed to the attention of the Co-Chairs of the Board, Columbia Funds Complex, 225 Franklin Street, Mail Drop BX32 05228, Boston, MA 02110. To be timely for consideration by the committee, the submission, including all required information, must be submitted in writing by the date disclosed in a Fund’s proxy statement soliciting proxies to be voted at a meeting of shareholders, if such a meeting is held (mutual funds, including ETFs, are not required to hold annual shareholder meetings). The committee will consider only one candidate submitted by such a shareholder or group for nomination for election at a meeting of shareholders. The committee will not consider self-nominated candidates or candidates nominated by members of a candidate’s family, including such candidate’s spouse, children, parents, uncles, aunts, grandparents, nieces and nephews.
Recommendations for candidates will be evaluated in light of whether the number of Trustees of the Trusts is expected to be increased and anticipated vacancies. There may be times when the committee is not recruiting new Trustees. In that case, shareholder recommendations will be maintained on file pending the active recruitment of Trustees.
The committee may take into account a wide variety of factors in considering trustee candidates, including (but not limited to): (i) the candidate’s knowledge in matters relating to the investment company industry; (ii) any experience possessed by the candidate as a director or senior officer of other public or private companies; (iii) the candidate’s educational background; (iv) the candidate’s reputation for high ethical standards and personal and professional integrity; (v) any specific financial,
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 181 |
technical or other expertise possessed by the candidate, and the extent to which such expertise would complement the Board’s existing mix of skills and qualifications; (vi) the candidate’s perceived ability to contribute to the ongoing functions of the Board, including the candidate’s ability and commitment to attend meetings regularly, work collaboratively with other members of the Board and carry out his or her duties in the best interests of the Funds; (vii) the candidate’s ability to qualify as an independent trustee; and (viii) such other criteria as the committee determines to be relevant in light of the existing composition of the Board and any anticipated vacancies or other factors. For candidates to serve as Independent Trustees, independence from the Funds' investment adviser, its affiliates and other principal service providers is critical, as is an independent and questioning mindset. In each case, the committee will evaluate whether a candidate is an “interested person” under the 1940 Act. The committee also considers whether a prospective candidate’s workload would be consistent with regular attendance at Board meetings and would allow him or her to be available for service on Board committees, and devote the additional time and effort necessary to stay apprised of Board matters and the rapidly changing regulatory environment in which the Funds operate.
The committee may use any process it deems appropriate for identifying and evaluating candidates for service as a Trustee, which may include, without limitation, personal interviews, background checks, written submissions by the candidates, third party references and the use of consultants, including professional recruiting firms. The committee will evaluate nominees for a particular vacancy using the same process regardless of whether the nominee is submitted by a shareholder or identified by some other means. Members of the Board Governance Committee (and/or the Board) also meet personally with each nominee to evaluate the candidate’s ability to work effectively with other members of the Board, while also exercising independent judgment.
On an annual basis, the Board conducts a self-evaluation that considers, among other matters, the contributions of individual Trustees, whether the Board has an appropriate size and the right mix of characteristics, experiences and skills, and whether the age distribution and diversity among the Trustees is appropriate. The Board and the committee also considers the same factors when identifying prospective trustee candidates. Although the Board does not have a formal diversity policy, the Board endeavors to comprise itself of members with a broad mix of professional and personal backgrounds. Thus, the committee and the Board accorded particular weight to the individual professional background of each Independent Trustee.
Compliance Committee. Supports the Funds' maintenance of a strong compliance program by providing a forum for Independent Trustees to consider compliance matters impacting the Funds or their key service providers; developing and implementing, in coordination with the Chief Compliance Officer, a process for the review and consideration of compliance reports that are provided to the Board; and providing a designated forum for the Funds' Chief Compliance Officer to meet with Independent Trustees on a regular basis to discuss compliance matters.
Contracts Committee. Reviews and oversees the contractual relationships with service providers. Receives and analyzes reports covering the level and quality of services provided under contracts with the Funds and advises the Board regarding actions taken on these contracts during the annual review process. Reviews and considers, on behalf of all Trustees, the Funds' investment advisory, subadvisory (if any), administrative services and principal underwriting contracts to assists the Trustees in fulfilling their responsibilities relating to the Board’s evaluation and consideration of these arrangements.
Investment Oversight Committee. Reviews and oversees the management of the Funds' assets. Considers investment management policies and strategies; investment performance; risk management techniques; and securities trading practices and reports areas of concern to the Board. Each Independent Trustee also serves on the Investment Oversight Committee (the “IOC”) and an IOC subcommittee. Each IOC subcommittee is responsible for monitoring, on an ongoing basis, a select group of Columbia Funds overseen by the Board and gives particular consideration to such matters as each Fund’s adherence to its investment mandates, historical performance, changes in investment processes and personnel, and any proposed changes to investment objectives. Investment personnel who manage the Funds attend IOC and IOC subcommittee meetings from time to time to assist the IOC in its review of the Funds.
Audit Committee. Oversees the accounting and financial reporting processes of the Funds and internal controls over financial reporting. Oversees the quality and integrity of the Funds' financial statements and independent audits as well as the Funds' compliance with legal and regulatory requirements relating to the Funds' accounting and financial reporting, internal controls over financial reporting and independent audits. The Audit Committee also makes recommendations regarding the selection of the Funds' independent registered public accounting firm (i.e., independent auditors) and reviews and evaluates the qualifications, independence and performance of the auditor. The Audit Committee oversees the Funds' risks by, among other things, meeting with the Funds' internal auditors, establishing procedures for the confidential, anonymous submission by employees of concerns about accounting or audit matters, and overseeing the Funds' Disclosure Controls and Procedures. The Audit Committee acts as a liaison between the independent auditors and the full Board and must prepare an Audit Committee report. The Audit Committee reviews Fund valuation matters as it deems appropriate and consistent with the Columbia Funds Board’s responsibilities in this regard.
The table below shows the number of times each historical committee that oversaw the Funds met during the indicated fiscal years. The table is organized by fiscal year end.
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 182 |
Committee Meetings
| Fiscal Period |
Audit
Committee |
Governance
Committee(a) |
Advisory Fees
& Expenses Committee(b) |
Compliance
Committee |
Investment
Oversight Committee |
Product &
Distribution Committee(c) |
|
For the fiscal year
ending March 31, 2020 |
5 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 13 | 5 |
|
For the fiscal year
ending April 30, 2020 |
5 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 13 | 4 |
|
For the fiscal year
ending May 31, 2020 |
4 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 11 | 4 |
|
For the fiscal year
ending July 31, 2020 |
6 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 14 | 4 |
|
For the fiscal year
ending August 31, 2020 |
5 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 15 | 5 |
|
For the fiscal year
ending October 31, 2019 |
4 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 4 |
|
For the fiscal year
ending December 31, 2019 |
4 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 10 | 4 |
| (a) | Performed similar functions as the Board Governance Committee. |
| (b) | Performed similar functions as the Contracts Committee. |
| (c) | Effective January 1, 2021, the Product & Distribution Committee was terminated by the Board. |
Trustee Investment Policy
The Board has a policy that each Independent Trustee is expected to invest in shares of one or more of the Columbia Funds overseen by the Independent Trustees (including investments made pursuant to the Deferred Compensation Plan) in an amount determined by the Board that is generally based on the total base annual compensation paid to an Independent Trustee from the Columbia Fund Complex.
The Board has a policy that each Independent Trustee is expected to invest in shares of one or more of the Columbia Funds overseen by the Independent Trustees (including investments made pursuant to the Deferred Compensation Plan) in an amount determined by the Board that is generally based on the total base annual compensation paid to an Independent Trustee from the Columbia Fund Complex.
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 183 |
Beneficial Equity Ownership
The tables below show, for each Trustee, the amount of Fund equity securities beneficially owned by the Trustee and the aggregate value of all investments in equity securities of all Funds in the Columbia Funds Complex overseen by the Trustee, including notional amounts through the Deferred Compensation Plan, where noted, stated as one of the following ranges: A = $0; B = $1-$10,000; C = $10,001-$50,000; D = $50,001-$100,000; and E = over $100,000. The information is provided as of October 1, 2020.
The tables only include ownership of Columbia Funds overseen by the Trustees; the Trustees and Officers may own shares of other Columbia Funds they do not oversee.
Independent Trustee Ownership
| Fund | Batejan | Blatz | Carlton | Carrig | Connaughton | Darragh | Flynn | Gallagher | Hacker |
| Adaptive Retirement 2020 Fund | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A |
| Adaptive Retirement 2025 Fund | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A |
| Adaptive Retirement 2030 Fund | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A |
| Adaptive Retirement 2035 Fund | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A |
| Adaptive Retirement 2040 Fund | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A |
| Adaptive Retirement 2045 Fund | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A |
| Adaptive Retirement 2050 Fund | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A |
| Adaptive Retirement 2055 Fund | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A |
| Adaptive Retirement 2060 Fund | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A |
| Adaptive Risk Allocation Fund | A | A | A | A | D | A | A | A | E |
| Balanced Fund | A | A | A | E | C | A | A | A | A |
| Bond Fund | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A |
| Contrarian Core Fund | A | A | A | E | D | A | A | A | A |
| Corporate Income Fund | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A |
| CT Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A |
| Dividend Income Fund | A | A | A | E(a) | D | A | A | A | A |
| Emerging Markets Fund | A | E | A | A | C | A | A | A | A |
| Global Technology Growth Fund | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A |
| Greater China Fund | A | A | A | A | C | A | A | A | A |
| HY Municipal Fund | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A |
| Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A |
| International Dividend Income Fund | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A |
| Large Cap Growth Fund | A | A | A | E | A | A | A | A | A |
| MA Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A |
| Mid Cap Growth Fund | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | E |
| MM Alternative Strategies Fund | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A |
| MM Directional Alternative Strategies Fund | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A |
| MM Growth Strategies Fund | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A |
| MM International Equity Strategies Fund | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A |
| MM Small Cap Equity Strategies Fund | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A |
| MM Total Return Bond Strategies Fund | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A |
| Multi-Asset Income Fund | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | E |
| Multisector Bond SMA Completion Portfolio | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A |
| Multi Strategy Alternatives Fund | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A |
| NY Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A |
| OR Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A |
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 184 |
| Fund | Batejan | Blatz | Carlton | Carrig | Connaughton | Darragh | Flynn | Gallagher | Hacker |
| Overseas SMA Completion Portfolio | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A |
| Pacific/Asia Fund | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A |
| Real Estate Equity Fund | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A |
| Select Large Cap Growth Fund | A | A | A | A | D | A | A | A | E |
| Small Cap Growth Fund I | A | A | A | A | D | A | A | A | E |
| Small Cap Value Fund I | E | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A |
| Solutions Aggressive Portfolio | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A |
| Solutions Conservative Portfolio | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A |
| Strategic CA Municipal Income Fund | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A |
| Strategic Income Fund | A | A | A | A | C | A | A | A | A |
| Strategic NY Municipal Income Fund | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A |
| Tax-Exempt Fund | A | B | A | A | A | A | A | A | A |
| Total Return Bond Fund | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A |
| U.S. Social Bond Fund | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A |
| U.S. Treasury Index Fund | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A |
| Ultra Short Term Bond Fund | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A |
| Aggregate Dollar Range of Equity Securities in all Funds in the Columbia Funds Complex Overseen by the Trustee | E | E | E(a) | E | E | E | E(a) | E | E |
| (a) | Includes the value of compensation payable under a Deferred Compensation Plan that is determined as if the amounts deferred had been invested, as of the date of deferral, in shares of one or more funds in the Columbia Funds Complex overseen by the Trustee as specified by the Trustee. |
| Fund | Lukitsh | Moffett | Paglia | Santomero | Shaw | Trunow | Yeager |
| Adaptive Retirement 2020 Fund | A | A | A | A | A | A | A |
| Adaptive Retirement 2025 Fund | A | A | A | A | A | A | A |
| Adaptive Retirement 2030 Fund | A | A | A | A | A | A | A |
| Adaptive Retirement 2035 Fund | A | A | A | A | A | A | A |
| Adaptive Retirement 2040 Fund | A | A | A | A | A | A | A |
| Adaptive Retirement 2045 Fund | A | A | A | A | A | A | A |
| Adaptive Retirement 2050 Fund | A | A | A | A | A | A | A |
| Adaptive Retirement 2055 Fund | A | A | A | A | A | A | A |
| Adaptive Retirement 2060 Fund | A | A | A | A | A | A | A |
| Adaptive Risk Allocation Fund | A | A | A | A | A | A | A |
| Balanced Fund | A | A | A | A | A | A | A |
| Bond Fund | A | A | A | A | A | A | E |
| Contrarian Core Fund | A | A | E(a) | A | E(b) | A | A |
| Corporate Income Fund | A | A | A | A | D(b) | A | A |
| CT Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund | A | A | A | A | A | A | A |
| Dividend Income Fund | A | A | E(a) | A | E(a) | A | A |
| Emerging Markets Fund | A | A | A | A | A | A | A |
| Global Technology Growth Fund | E | E(a) | A | A | A | A | E(a) |
| Greater China Fund | A | A | A | A | A | A | A |
| HY Municipal Fund | A | A | A | A | A | A | A |
| Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund | A | A | A | A | A | A | A |
| International Dividend Income Fund | A | A | A | A | A | A | A |
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 185 |
| Fund | Lukitsh | Moffett | Paglia | Santomero | Shaw | Trunow | Yeager |
| Large Cap Growth Fund | A | A | A | A | A | A | A |
| MA Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund | A | A | A | A | A | A | A |
| Mid Cap Growth Fund | A | A | A | A | A | A | A |
| MM Alternative Strategies Fund | A | A | A | A | A | A | A |
| MM Directional Alternative Strategies Fund | A | A | A | A | A | A | A |
| MM Growth Strategies Fund | A | A | A | A | A | A | A |
| MM International Equity Strategies Fund | A | A | A | A | A | A | A |
| MM Small Cap Equity Strategies Fund | A | A | A | A | A | A | A |
| MM Total Return Bond Strategies Fund | A | A | A | A | A | A | A |
| Multi-Asset Income Fund | A | A | A | A | A | A | A |
| Multisector Bond SMA Completion Portfolio | A | A | A | A | A | A | A |
| Multi Strategy Alternatives Fund | A | A | A | A | A | A | A |
| NY Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund | A | A | A | A | A | A | A |
| OR Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund | A | A | A | A | A | A | A |
| Overseas SMA Completion Portfolio | A | A | A | A | A | A | A |
| Pacific/Asia Fund | A | A | A | A | A | A | A |
| Real Estate Equity Fund | A | A | A | A | A | A | A |
| Select Large Cap Growth Fund | A | A | A | A | A | A | A |
| Small Cap Growth Fund I | A | A | A | A | A | A | A |
| Small Cap Value Fund I | A | A | A | A | A | A | A |
| Solutions Aggressive Portfolio | A | A | A | A | A | A | A |
| Solutions Conservative Portfolio | A | A | A | A | A | A | A |
| Strategic CA Municipal Income Fund | A | A | A | A | A | A | A |
| Strategic Income Fund | A | A | A | A | A | A | A |
| Strategic NY Municipal Income Fund | A | A | A | A | A | A | A |
| Tax-Exempt Fund | A | A | A | A | A | A | A |
| Total Return Bond Fund | A | A | A | A | E(b) | A | A |
| U.S. Social Bond Fund | A | A | A | A | A | A | A |
| U.S. Treasury Index Fund | A | A | A | A | E(b) | A | A |
| Ultra Short Term Bond Fund | A | A | A | A | E(b) | A | A |
| Aggregate Dollar Range of Equity Securities in all Funds in the Columbia Funds Complex Overseen by the Trustee | E | E(a) | E(a) | E(a) | E(a) | E(a) | E(a) |
(a) Includes the value of compensation payable under a Deferred Compensation Plan that is determined as if the amounts deferred had been invested, as of the date of deferral, in shares of one or more funds in the Columbia Funds Complex overseen by the Trustee as specified by the Trustee.
(b) Ms. Shaw invests in a Section 529 Plan managed by the Investment Manager that allocates assets to various open-end funds, including Columbia Funds. The amount shown in the table includes the value of her interest in this plan determined as if her investment in the plan were invested directly in the Columbia Fund pursuant to the plan’s target allocations.
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 186 |
Interested Trustee Ownership
| Fund | Petersen |
| Adaptive Retirement 2020 Fund | A |
| Adaptive Retirement 2025 Fund | A |
| Adaptive Retirement 2030 Fund | A |
| Adaptive Retirement 2035 Fund | E |
| Adaptive Retirement 2040 Fund | A |
| Adaptive Retirement 2045 Fund | A |
| Adaptive Retirement 2050 Fund | A |
| Adaptive Retirement 2055 Fund | A |
| Adaptive Retirement 2060 Fund | A |
| Adaptive Risk Allocation Fund | E |
| Balanced Fund | E |
| Bond Fund | A |
| Contrarian Core Fund | D(a)(b) |
| Corporate Income Fund | B(b) |
| CT Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund | A |
| Dividend Income Fund | D |
| Emerging Markets Fund | C |
| Global Technology Growth Fund | A |
| Greater China Fund | A |
| HY Municipal Fund | A |
| Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund | A |
| International Dividend Income Fund | A |
| Large Cap Growth Fund | A |
| MA Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund | A |
| Mid Cap Growth Fund | A |
| MM Alternative Strategies Fund | C |
| MM Directional Alternative Strategies Fund | B |
| MM Growth Strategies Fund | A |
| MM International Equity Strategies Fund | A |
| MM Small Cap Equity Strategies Fund | C |
| MM Total Return Bond Strategies Fund | A |
| Multi-Asset Income Fund | A |
| Multisector Bond SMA Completion Portfolio | A |
| Multi Strategy Alternatives Fund | A |
| NY Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund | A |
| OR Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund | A |
| Overseas SMA Completion Portfolio | A |
| Pacific/Asia Fund | A |
| Real Estate Equity Fund | A |
| Select Large Cap Growth Fund | A |
| Small Cap Growth Fund I | C |
| Small Cap Value Fund I | A |
| Solutions Aggressive Portfolio | A |
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 187 |
| Fund | Petersen |
| Solutions Conservative Portfolio | A |
| Strategic CA Municipal Income Fund | A |
| Strategic Income Fund | C |
| Strategic NY Municipal Income Fund | A |
| Tax-Exempt Fund | A |
| Total Return Bond Fund | C(a)(b) |
| U.S. Social Bond Fund | A |
| U.S. Treasury Index Fund | C(b) |
| Ultra Short Term Bond Fund | C(b) |
|
Aggregate Dollar Range of Equity Securities in all Funds in the
Columbia Funds Complex Overseen by the Trustee |
E(a)(b) |
| (a) | With respect to Mr. Petersen, this amount includes compensation payable under a Deferred Compensation Plan administered by Ameriprise Financial. |
| (b) | Mr. Petersen invests in a Section 529 Plan managed by the Investment Manager that allocates assets to various open-end funds, including Columbia Funds. The amount shown in the table includes the value of his interest in this plan determined as if his investment in the plan were invested directly in the Columbia Fund pursuant to the plan’s target allocations. |
Independent Trustee Interests in Fund Affiliates
An immediate family member of Ms. Blatz holds publicly traded common stock of the parent companies of the sub-advisers to certain Funds. The value of such stock does not exceed $120,000 with respect to the parent company of any sub-adviser other than JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley, and the value of the holdings of each such sub-adviser parent does not exceed $500,000 and represents less than 0.1 percent of the parent’s outstanding shares. Ms. Blatz does not have any ownership or voting interest in such holdings.
An immediate family member of Ms. Blatz holds publicly traded common stock of the parent companies of the sub-advisers to certain Funds. The value of such stock does not exceed $120,000 with respect to the parent company of any sub-adviser other than JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley, and the value of the holdings of each such sub-adviser parent does not exceed $500,000 and represents less than 0.1 percent of the parent’s outstanding shares. Ms. Blatz does not have any ownership or voting interest in such holdings.
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 188 |
Compensation
Total compensation. The following table shows the total compensation paid to Independent Trustees for their services from all the Funds in the Columbia Funds Complex overseen by the Trustee for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2020.
Mr. Petersen is not compensated for his services on the Board.
| Trustee Name |
Total Cash Compensation
from the Columbia Funds Complex Paid to Trustee(a) |
Amount Deferred
from Total Compensation(b) |
| George S. Batejan | $377,500 | $0 |
| Kathleen Blatz | $377,500 | $0 |
| Edward Boudreau(c) | $148,333 | $91,967 |
| Pamela G. Carlton | $377,500 | $113,250 |
| Janet L. Carrig | $324,250 | $324,250 |
| J. Kevin Connaughton(d) | $289,500 | $0 |
| Olive Darragh(d) | $292,000 | $0 |
| Patricia M. Flynn | $377,500 | $248,750 |
| Brian J. Gallagher | $372,500 | $186,250 |
| Douglas A. Hacker | $431,750 | $0 |
| Nancy T. Lukitsh | $329,000 | $0 |
| David M. Moffett | $321,000 | $321,000 |
| John J. Neuhauser(e) | $322,500 | $0 |
| Catherine James Paglia | $416,667 | $416,667 |
| Anthony M. Santomero | $352,500 | $0 |
| Minor M. Shaw | $342,500 | $171,250 |
| Patrick J. Simpson(f) | $324,500 | $124,500 |
| Natalie A. Trunow(d) | $289,500 | $120,750 |
| Anne-Lee Verville(g) | $85,000 | $0 |
| Sandra Yeager | $347,500 | $173,750 |
| (a) | Includes any portion of cash compensation Trustees elected to defer during the fiscal period. |
| (b) | The Trustees may elect to defer a portion of the total cash compensation payable. Additional information regarding the Deferred Compensation Plan is described below. |
| (c) | Mr. Boudreau served as Trustee until December 31, 2019, and stopped receiving compensation from the Funds and the Columbia Funds Complex as of such date. |
| (d) | From January 1, 2020 to June 30, 2020, Mr. Connaughton and Mses. Darragh and Trunow received compensation from the Funds for serving as a consultant to the Independent Trustees at an annual rate of $295,000; from July 1, 2020 to December 31, 2020, the consultants received the same compensation as they would receive were they Trustees. Mr. Connaughton and Mses. Darragh and Trunow were elected as Trustees effective January 1, 2021. |
| (e) | Dr. Neuhauser served as Trustee until December 31, 2020, and stopped receiving compensation from the Funds and the Columbia Funds Complex as of such date. |
| (f) | Mr. Simpson served as Trustee until December 31, 2020, and stopped receiving compensation from the Funds and the Columbia Funds Complex as of such date. |
| (g) | Ms. Verville served as Trustee until December 11, 2019, and stopped receiving compensation from the Funds and the Columbia Funds Complex as of such date. |
In addition to the above compensation, all Independent Trustees receive reimbursements for reasonable expenses related to their attendance at meetings of the Board or standing committees, which are not included in the amounts shown.
Independent Trustees did not accrue any pension or retirement benefits as part of Fund expenses, nor will they receive any annual benefits upon retirement.
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 189 |
Deferred Compensation Plan
Under the terms of the Deferred Fee Agreement (the Deferred Compensation Plan), each eligible Trustee may elect, on an annual basis, to defer receipt of all or a portion of compensation payable to him or her for service as a Trustee for that calendar year (expressly, a Trustee may elect to defer his/her annual retainer, his/her attendance fees, or both components, which together comprise total compensation for service). Fees deferred by a Trustee are credited to a book reserve account (the Deferral Account) established by the Columbia Funds, the value of which is derived from the rate of return of one or more Columbia Funds selected by the Trustee (with accruals to the Deferral Account beginning at such time as a Trustee’s fund elections having been established, and proceeds for service having been paid into such account, and terminating at such time as when proceeds become payable to such Trustee under the Deferred Compensation Plan). Trustees may change their fund elections only in accordance with the provisions of the Deferred Compensation Plan.
Distributions from a Trustee’s Deferral Account will be paid by check, either in a lump sum or in annual installments. Payments made in annual installments are disbursed over a period of up to ten years, following such time as a Trustee may qualify to receive such payments. If a deferring Trustee dies prior to or after the commencement of the disbursement of amounts accrued in his/her Deferral Account, the balance of the account will be distributed to his/her designated beneficiary either in lump sum or in annual payments as established by such Trustee himself/herself, his/her beneficiary or his/her estate. Amounts payable under the Deferred Compensation Plan are not funded or secured in any way, and each deferring Trustee has the status of a general unsecured creditor of the Columbia Fund(s) from which compensation has been deferred.
Compensation from each Fund. The following table shows the compensation paid to Independent Trustees from each Fund during its last fiscal year (or period), as well as the amount deferred from each Fund, which is included in the total. The table is organized by fiscal year end. Messrs. Batejan, Gallagher and Santomero and Mses. Blatz, Carlton, Flynn, Paglia, Shaw and Yeager were elected to the Board of each Fund in this SAI effective January 1, 2021, and therefore such Independent Trustees did not earn compensation from each Fund during its last fiscal year (or period).
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 190 |
| Fund |
Aggregate Compensation from Fund
Independent Trustees |
|||||||||
|
Janet L.
Carrig(a) |
Douglas A.
Hacker |
Nancy T.
Lukitsh |
David M.
Moffett(b) |
John J.
Neuhauser |
Patrick J.
Simpson(c) |
Anne-Lee
Verville(d) |
J. Kevin
Connaughton(e) |
Olive
Darragh(f) |
Natalie
Trunow(g) |
|
| Amount Deferred | $1,463 | $0 | $0 | $1,489 | $0 | $588 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $763 |
| For Funds with fiscal period ending April 30 | ||||||||||
| Bond Fund | $2,267 | $3,064 | $2,311 | $2,279 | $2,265 | $2,286 | $1,290 | $2,136 | $2,201 | $2,136 |
| Amount Deferred | $2,267 | $0 | $0 | $2,279 | $0 | $874 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $1,015 |
| Corporate Income Fund | $3,720 | $5,029 | $3,792 | $3,739 | $3,716 | $3,751 | $2,123 | $3,505 | $3,620 | $3,505 |
| Amount Deferred | $3,720 | $0 | $0 | $3,739 | $0 | $1,434 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $1,668 |
| MM Directional Alternative Strategies Fund | $1,969 | $2,660 | $2,007 | $1,979 | $1,966 | $1,985 | $1,133 | $1,853 | $1,912 | $1,853 |
| Amount Deferred | $1,969 | $0 | $0 | $1,979 | $0 | $762 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $884 |
| Multi-Asset Income Fund | $1,787 | $2,414 | $1,821 | $1,796 | $1,784 | $1,801 | $1,020 | $1,681 | $1,732 | $1,681 |
| Amount Deferred | $1,787 | $0 | $0 | $1,796 | $0 | $691 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $800 |
| Small Cap Value Fund I | $2,548 | $3,443 | $2,600 | $2,562 | $2,546 | $2,571 | $1,487 | $2,396 | $2,478 | $2,396 |
| Amount Deferred | $2,548 | $0 | $0 | $2,562 | $0 | $990 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $1,148 |
| Total Return Bond Fund | $5,445 | $7,363 | $5,554 | $5,475 | $5,440 | $5,492 | $3,142 | $5,138 | $5,298 | $5,138 |
| Amount Deferred | $5,445 | $0 | $0 | $5,475 | $0 | $2,100 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $2,451 |
| U.S. Treasury Index Fund | $3,301 | $4,461 | $3,363 | $3,317 | $3,297 | $3,326 | $1,855 | $3,113 | $3,198 | $3,113 |
| Amount Deferred | $3,301 | $0 | $0 | $3,317 | $0 | $1,270 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $1,472 |
| For Funds with fiscal period ending May 31 | ||||||||||
| Adaptive Risk Allocation Fund | $7,278 | $9,843 | $7,459 | $7,318 | $7,307 | $7,375 | $4,201 | $6,867 | $7,090 | $6,867 |
| Amount Deferred | $7,278 | $0 | $0 | $7,318 | $0 | $2,841 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $3,278 |
| Dividend Income Fund | $33,422 | $45,062 | $34,162 | $33,518 | $33,485 | $33,809 | $17,812 | $31,326 | $32,042 | $31,326 |
| Amount Deferred | $33,422 | $0 | $0 | $33,518 | $0 | $13,031 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $14,595 |
| HY Municipal Fund | $3,047 | $4,118 | $3,121 | $3,063 | $3,057 | $3,086 | $1,746 | $2,871 | $2,959 | $2,871 |
| Amount Deferred | $3,047 | $0 | $0 | $3,063 | $0 | $1,190 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $1,367 |
| Multi Strategy Alternatives Fund | $4,155 | $5,087 | $4,220 | $4,169 | $4,164 | $4,190 | $3,030 | $2,499 | $2,579 | $2,499 |
| Amount Deferred | $4,155 | $0 | $0 | $4,169 | $0 | $2,540 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $1,192 |
| For Funds with fiscal period ending July 31 | ||||||||||
| Large Cap Growth Fund | $8,593 | $11,449 | $8,695 | $8,573 | $8,559 | $8,601 | $2,913 | $7,282 | $7,074 | $7,282 |
| Amount Deferred | $8,593 | $0 | $0 | $8,573 | $0 | $3,289 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $2,603 |
| OR Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund | $2,224 | $2,966 | $2,250 | $2,219 | $2,216 | $2,226 | $750 | $1,890 | $1,837 | $1,890 |
| Amount Deferred | $2,224 | $0 | $0 | $2,219 | $0 | $846 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $674 |
| Tax-Exempt Fund | $8,023 | $10,713 | $8,123 | $8,013 | $8,001 | $8,034 | $2,779 | $6,860 | $6,662 | $6,860 |
| Amount Deferred | $8,023 | $0 | $0 | $8,013 | $0 | $3,047 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $2,475 |
| U.S. Social Bond Fund | $1,643 | $2,190 | $1,662 | $1,639 | $1,636 | $1,644 | $546 | $1,392 | $1,354 | $1,392 |
| Amount Deferred | $1,643 | $0 | $0 | $1,639 | $0 | $625 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $494 |
| Ultra Short Term Bond Fund | $3,888 | $5,191 | $3,930 | $3,876 | $3,872 | $3,887 | $1,165 | $3,258 | $3,179 | $3,258 |
| Amount Deferred | $3,888 | $0 | $0 | $3,876 | $0 | $1,455 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $1,104 |
| For Funds with fiscal period ending August 31 | ||||||||||
| Balanced Fund | $14,894 | $19,862 | $15,117 | $14,758 | $14,825 | $14,910 | $4,016 | $13,346 | $13,458 | $13,346 |
| Amount Deferred | $14,894 | $0 | $0 | $14,758 | $0 | $5,692 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $5,594 |
| Contrarian Core Fund | $20,248 | $27,034 | $20,552 | $20,079 | $20,163 | $20,272 | $5,610 | $18,209 | $18,357 | $18,209 |
| Amount Deferred | $20,248 | $0 | $0 | $20,079 | $0 | $7,709 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $7,673 |
| Emerging Markets Fund | $4,109 | $5,474 | $4,169 | $4,069 | $4,087 | $4,112 | $1,097 | $3,688 | $3,721 | $3,688 |
| Amount Deferred | $4,109 | $0 | $0 | $4,069 | $0 | $1,576 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $1,553 |
| Global Technology Growth Fund | $4,992 | $6,606 | $5,064 | $4,926 | $4,953 | $4,994 | $1,227 | $4,402 | $4,446 | $4,402 |
| Amount Deferred | $4,992 | $0 | $0 | $4,926 | $0 | $1,968 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $1,838 |
| Greater China Fund | $1,784 | $2,372 | $1,810 | $1,765 | $1,773 | $1,785 | $462 | $1,588 | $1,603 | $1,588 |
| Amount Deferred | $1,784 | $0 | $0 | $1,765 | $0 | $690 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $664 |
| International Dividend Income Fund | $2,462 | $3,285 | $2,498 | $2,440 | $2,450 | $2,464 | $665 | $2,208 | $2,226 | $2,208 |
| Amount Deferred | $2,462 | $0 | $0 | $2,440 | $0 | $938 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $924 |
| Mid Cap Growth Fund | $4,786 | $6,375 | $4,858 | $4,740 | $4,761 | $4,791 | $1,292 | $4,289 | $4,326 | $4,289 |
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 191 |
| Fund |
Aggregate Compensation from Fund
Independent Trustees |
|||||||||
|
Janet L.
Carrig(a) |
Douglas A.
Hacker |
Nancy T.
Lukitsh |
David M.
Moffett(b) |
John J.
Neuhauser |
Patrick J.
Simpson(c) |
Anne-Lee
Verville(d) |
J. Kevin
Connaughton(e) |
Olive
Darragh(f) |
Natalie
Trunow(g) |
|
| Amount Deferred | $4,786 | $0 | $0 | $4,740 | $0 | $1,840 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $1,811 |
| MM Alternative Strategies Fund | $2,473 | $3,299 | $2,510 | $2,451 | $2,462 | $2,475 | $665 | $2,217 | $2,236 | $2,217 |
| Amount Deferred | $2,473 | $0 | $0 | $2,451 | $0 | $943 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $928 |
| MM International Equity Strategies Fund | $5,448 | $7,256 | $5,529 | $5,394 | $5,419 | $5,452 | $1,443 | $4,872 | $4,914 | $4,872 |
| Amount Deferred | $5,448 | $0 | $0 | $5,394 | $0 | $2,091 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $2,038 |
| MM Small Cap Equity Strategies Fund | $4,689 | $6,282 | $4,759 | $4,657 | $4,675 | $4,696 | $1,313 | $4,227 | $4,257 | $4,227 |
| Amount Deferred | $4,689 | $0 | $0 | $4,657 | $0 | $1,755 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $1,759 |
| MM Total Return Bond Strategies Fund | $18,085 | $24,129 | $18,351 | $17,920 | $18,001 | $18,101 | $4,778 | $16,203 | $16,337 | $16,203 |
| Amount Deferred | $18,085 | $0 | $0 | $17,920 | $0 | $6,881 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $6,743 |
| Multisector Bond SMA Completion Portfolio(h) | $1,274 | $1,637 | $1,279 | $1,233 | $1,241 | $1,263 | $106 | $1,050 | $1,062 | $1,050 |
| Amount Deferred | $1,274 | $0 | $0 | $1,233 | $0 | $528 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $369 |
| Overseas SMA Completion Portfolio(i) | $1,554 | $2,067 | $1,577 | $1,538 | $1,545 | $1,555 | $404 | $1,384 | $1,396 | $1,384 |
| Amount Deferred | $1,554 | $0 | $0 | $1,538 | $0 | $600 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $578 |
| Small Cap Growth Fund I | $3,265 | $4,299 | $3,310 | $3,214 | $3,233 | $3,264 | $766 | $2,857 | $2,888 | $2,857 |
| Amount Deferred | $3,265 | $0 | $0 | $3,214 | $0 | $1,312 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $1,196 |
| Strategic Income Fund | $11,576 | $15,440 | $11,742 | $11,468 | $11,517 | $11,583 | $3,053 | $10,379 | $10,464 | $10,379 |
| Amount Deferred | $11,576 | $0 | $0 | $11,468 | $0 | $4,406 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $4,322 |
| For Funds with fiscal period ending October 31 | ||||||||||
| CT Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund | $1,631 | $2,256 | $1,726 | $1,644 | $1,647 | $1,699 | $1,606 | $1,565 | $847 | $1,565 |
| Amount Deferred | $1,631 | $0 | $0 | $1,644 | $0 | $692 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $952 |
| Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund | $4,025 | $5,576 | $4,261 | $4,058 | $4,065 | $4,193 | $3,964 | $3,871 | $2,028 | $3,871 |
| Amount Deferred | $4,025 | $0 | $0 | $4,058 | $0 | $1,699 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $2,359 |
| MA Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund | $1,864 | $2,579 | $1,973 | $1,879 | $1,882 | $1,942 | $1,835 | $1,789 | $970 | $1,789 |
| Amount Deferred | $1,864 | $0 | $0 | $1,879 | $0 | $790 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $1,089 |
| NY Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund | $1,862 | $2,577 | $1,971 | $1,878 | $1,881 | $1,940 | $1,834 | $1,788 | $973 | $1,788 |
| Amount Deferred | $1,862 | $0 | $0 | $1,878 | $0 | $790 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $1,088 |
| Strategic CA Municipal Income Fund | $2,480 | $3,432 | $2,624 | $2,500 | $2,504 | $2,583 | $2,442 | $2,380 | $1,296 | $2,380 |
| Amount Deferred | $2,480 | $0 | $0 | $2,500 | $0 | $1,051 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $1,449 |
| Strategic NY Municipal Income Fund | $1,819 | $2,518 | $1,926 | $1,834 | $1,837 | $1,895 | $1,792 | $1,747 | $944 | $1,747 |
| Amount Deferred | $1,819 | $0 | $0 | $1,834 | $0 | $771 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $1,063 |
| For Funds with fiscal period ending December 31 | ||||||||||
| Real Estate Equity Fund | $2,024 | $2,805 | $2,142 | $2,041 | $2,044 | $2,108 | $1,993 | $1,950 | $1,051 | $1,950 |
| Amount Deferred | $2,024 | $0 | $0 | $2,041 | $0 | $853 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $1,187 |
| (a) | As of September 30, 2020, the value of Ms. Carrig’s account under the deferred compensation plan was $2,945,479. |
| (b) | As of September 30, 2020, the value of Mr. Moffett's account under the deferred compensation plan was $2,396,918. |
| (c) | As of September 30, 2020, the value of Mr. Simpson’s account under the deferred compensation plan was $3,327,997. |
| (d) | As of September 30, 2020, the value of Ms. Verville’s account under the deferred compensation plan was $580,559. Ms. Verville served as Trustee until December 11, 2019, and stopped receiving compensation from the Funds and the Columbia Funds Complex as of such date. |
| (e) | From January 1, 2020 to June 30, 2020, Mr. Connaughton received compensation from the Funds for serving as a consultant to the Independent Trustees at an annual rate of $295,000; from July 1, 2020 to December 31, 2020, the consultants received the same compensation as they would receive were they Trustees. Mr. Connaughton was elected as a Trustee effective January 1, 2021. |
| (f) | Ms. Darragh was appointed consultant to the Independent Trustees effective June 10, 2019, and as such received no compensation prior to such date. From January 1, 2020 to June 30, 2020, Ms. Darragh received compensation from the Funds for serving as a consultant to the Independent Trustees at an annual rate of $295,000; from July 1, 2020 to December 31, 2020, the consultants received the same compensation as they would receive were they Trustees. Ms. Darragh was elected as a Trustee effective January 1, 2021. |
| (g) | From January 1, 2020 to June 30, 2020, Ms. Trunow received compensation from the Funds for serving as a consultant to the Independent Trustees at an annual rate of $295,000; from July 1, 2020 to December 31, 2020, the consultants received the same compensation as they would receive were they Trustees. Ms. Trunow was elected as a Trustee effective January 1, 2021. As of September 30, 2020, the value of Ms. Trunow’s account under the deferred compensation plan was $604,643. |
| (h) | For the period from October 29, 2019 (commencement of operations) to August 31, 2020. |
| (i) | For the period from September 12, 2019 (commencement of operations) to August 31, 2020. |
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 192 |
BROKERAGE ALLOCATION AND RELATED PRACTICES
General Brokerage Policy, Brokerage Transactions and Broker Selection
Subject to policies established by the Board, as well as the terms of the Investment Management Services Agreement, Management Agreement and Subadvisory Agreement, as applicable, the Investment Manager (and/or the investment subadviser(s) who makes the day-to-day investment decisions for all or a portion of a Fund’s net assets) is responsible for decisions to buy and sell securities and other instruments and assets for a Fund, for the selection of broker-dealers, for the execution of a Fund’s transactions and for the allocation of brokerage commissions in connection with such transactions. The Investment Manager effects transactions for the Fund consistent with its duty to seek best execution of client (including Fund) orders under the circumstances of the particular transaction. Purchases and sales of securities on a securities exchange are effected through broker-dealers who charge negotiated commissions for their services. Orders may be directed to any broker-dealer to the extent and in the manner permitted by applicable law and by the policies and procedures of the Investment Manager and/or any investment subadvisers.
In the over-the-counter market, securities generally are traded on a “net” basis with dealers acting as principals for their own accounts without stated commissions, although the price of a security usually includes a profit to the dealer. In underwritten offerings, securities are bought at a fixed price that includes an amount of compensation to the underwriter, generally referred to as the underwriter’s “concession” or “discount.” On occasion, certain money market instruments may be bought directly from an issuer, in which case no commissions or discounts are paid.
The Investment Manager effects security transactions for the Funds consistent with its duty to seek best execution of client (including the Funds) orders under the circumstances of the particular transaction. In seeking such execution, the Investment Manager will use its best judgment in evaluating the terms of a transaction, and will give consideration to various relevant factors, including, without limitation, the size and type of the transaction, the nature and character of the market for the security or other instrument or asset, the confidentiality, speed and certainty of effective execution required for the transaction, the general execution and operational capabilities of the broker-dealer, the reputation, reliability, experience and financial condition of the broker-dealer, the value and quality of the services rendered by the broker-dealer in this instance and other transactions and the reasonableness of the spread or commission, if any. Research services received from broker-dealers supplement the Investment Manager’s own research and may include the following types of information: statistical and background information on industry groups and individual companies; forecasts and interpretations with respect to U.S. and foreign economies, securities, markets, specific industry groups and individual companies; information on political developments; Fund management strategies; performance information on securities and other instruments and assets and information concerning prices of same; and information supplied by specialized services to the Investment Manager and to the Board with respect to the performance, investment activities and fees and expenses of other funds. Such information may be communicated electronically, orally or in written form.
Broker-dealers may, from time to time, arrange meetings with management of companies and provide access to consultants who supply research information. The outside research is useful to the Investment Manager since, in certain instances, the broker-dealers utilized by the Investment Manager may follow a different universe of issuers and other matters than those that the Investment Manager’s staff follow. In addition, this research provides the Investment Manager with a different perspective on investment matters, even if the securities research obtained relates to issuers followed by the Investment Manager.
Investment managers subject to MiFID II, which may include certain investment subadvisers to the Funds, may not receive investment research from brokers unless the investment manager pays for such research directly from its own resources, or from a separate, dedicated account paid for with client funds with client permission (or a combination of these methods). MiFID II limits the use of soft dollars by investment subadvisers located in the EU and in certain circumstances may result in the Investment Manager or investment subadvisers reducing the use of soft dollars with respect to certain groups of clients, which may or may not include the Funds.
Research services that are provided to the Investment Manager by broker-dealers are available for the benefit of all accounts managed or advised by the Investment Manager. In some cases, the research services are available only from the broker-dealer providing such services. In other cases, the research services may be obtainable from alternative sources. Broker-dealer research typically supplements rather than replaces the Investment Manager’s own research, tending to improve the quality of its investment advice. However, to the extent that the Investment Manager would have bought any such research services had such services not been provided by broker-dealers, the expenses of such services to the Investment Manager could be considered to have been reduced accordingly. Certain research services furnished by broker-dealers may be useful to the clients of the Investment Manager other than the Funds. Conversely, any research services received by the Investment Manager through the placement of transactions of other clients may be of value to the Investment Manager in fulfilling its obligations to the Funds.
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 193 |
The Investment Manager is of the opinion that this material is beneficial in supplementing its research and analysis; and, therefore, it may benefit the Funds by improving the quality of the Investment Manager’s investment advice. The advisory fees paid by the Funds are not reduced because the Investment Manager receives such services.
Unless prohibited by applicable law, Section 28(e) of the 1934 Act, provides a “safe harbor” for the Investment Manager to obtain research used in investment decision-making and brokerage services with client commissions. As a result, broker-dealers typically provide services including research and execution of transactions. The research provided can be either broker-dealer proprietary research (created and provided by a broker-dealer, including tangible research products as well as access to analysts and traders) or third party research (created by a third party but provided by a broker-dealer). The Investment Manager uses broker-dealers who provide both types of research products and services, as well as brokerage products and services, in exchange for commissions generated by transactions in the client accounts (including the Funds), also known as “soft dollars” or client commission arrangements.
Under Section 28(e) of the 1934 Act, the Investment Manager shall not be “deemed to have acted unlawfully or to have breached its fiduciary duty” solely because under certain circumstances it has caused the account to pay a higher commission than the lowest available. To obtain the benefit of Section 28(e), the Investment Manager must make a good faith determination that the commissions paid are “reasonable in relation to the value of the brokerage and research services provided by such member, broker, or dealer, viewed in terms of either that particular transaction or his overall responsibilities with respect to the accounts as to which he exercises investment discretion.” Accordingly, the price to a Fund in any transaction may be less favorable than that available from another broker-dealer if the difference is reasonably justified by other aspects of the brokerage and research services offered. Generally, the Investment Manager may execute trades through a broker-dealer, which subsequently makes payment to a research-producing broker-dealer at the Investment Manager’s direction, retaining a predetermined portion of the commissions for execution. The Investment Manager determines the amount of the payments through a broker research evaluation process. This compensation method, sometimes referred to as a “commission sharing arrangement” allows the Investment Manager to more selectively obtain research from one broker-dealer while seeking the execution services of another, preferred execution broker-dealer. Such commission sharing arrangements do not obligate the Investment Manager to generate a specified level of commissions with the executing broker-dealers.
The Investment Manager does not consider sales of shares of the Funds as a factor in the selection of broker-dealers through which to execute securities transactions on behalf of the Funds. On a periodic basis, the Investment Manager makes a comprehensive review of the broker-dealers and the overall reasonableness of their commissions, which evaluates execution, operational efficiency, and research services. Certain limited reviews are also conducted by an independent third-party evaluator.
Commission rates are established pursuant to negotiations with broker-dealers based on the quality and quantity of execution services provided by broker-dealers in light of generally prevailing rates. On exchanges on which commissions are negotiated, the cost of transactions may vary among different broker-dealers. Transactions on foreign stock exchanges involve payment of brokerage commissions that generally are fixed. Transactions in both foreign and domestic over-the-counter markets generally are principal transactions with dealers, and the costs of such transactions involve dealer spreads rather than brokerage commissions. With respect to over-the-counter transactions, the Investment Manager, where possible, will deal directly with dealers who make a market in the securities involved, except in those circumstances in which better prices and execution are available elsewhere.
The Investment Manager or a subadviser, if applicable, may use step-out transactions. A “step-out” is an arrangement in which the Investment Manager or subadviser executes a trade through one broker-dealer but instructs that broker-dealer to step-out all or a part of the trade to another broker-dealer. The second broker-dealer will clear and settle, and receive commissions for, the stepped-out portion. The Investment Manager or subadviser may receive research products and services in connection with step-out transactions.
Use of Fund commissions may create potential conflicts of interest between the Investment Manager or subadviser and a Fund. However, the Investment Manager and each subadviser has policies and procedures designed to mitigate these conflicts and ensure that the use of Fund commissions falls within the “safe harbor” of Section 28(e) of the 1934 Act.
Some products and services may be used for both investment decision-making and non-investment decision-making purposes (“mixed use” items). The Investment Manager and each subadviser, to the extent it has mixed use items, has procedures in place to assure that Fund commissions pay only for the investment decision-making portion of a mixed-use item.
Some broker-dealers with whom the Investment Manager’s Fixed Income Department executes trades provide the Fixed Income Department with proprietary research products and services, though the Fixed Income Department does not put in place any client commission arrangements with such broker-dealers. It is the Investment Manager’s policy not to execute a fixed income trade with a broker-dealer at a lower bid/higher offer than that provided by another broker-dealer in consideration of the value of research products and services received by the Fixed Income Department.
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 194 |
In certain instances, there may be securities that are suitable for a Fund as well as for one or more of the other clients of the Investment Manager. Investment decisions for the Funds and for the Investment Manager’s other clients are made with the goal of achieving their respective investment objectives. A particular security may be bought or sold for only one client even though it may be held by, or bought or sold for, other clients. Likewise, a particular security may be bought for one or more clients when one or more other clients are selling that same security. Some simultaneous transactions are inevitable when a number of accounts receive investment advice from the same investment adviser, particularly when the same security is suitable for the investment objectives of more than one client. When two or more clients are engaged simultaneously in the purchase or sale of the same security, the securities are allocated among clients in a manner believed to be equitable to each. In some cases, this policy could have a detrimental effect on the price or volume of the security in a particular transaction that may affect the Funds.
The Investment Manager operates several trading desks in different geographic locations in the United States. The U.S. trading desks support different portfolio management teams managing a variety of accounts and products. The U.S. equity desks are functionally and operationally integrated to operate as one virtual desk. While the U.S. trading desks operate in several locations, the desks operate under the same oversight and reporting lines and are generally conducted under similar policies and procedures. In addition, certain fixed income portfolio managers currently have the authority to execute trades themselves in limited circumstances.
As the Investment Manager seeks to enhance its investment capabilities and services to its clients, including the Funds, the Investment Manager may engage certain of its investment advisory affiliates (Participating Affiliates) around the world to provide a variety of services. For example, the Investment Manager may engage Participating Affiliates and their personnel to provide (jointly or in coordination with the Investment Manager) services relating to client relations, investment monitoring, account administration, trading and discretionary investment management (including portfolio management and risk management) to certain accounts the Investment Manager manages, including the Funds, other pooled vehicles and separately managed accounts. In some circumstances, a Participating Affiliate may delegate responsibility for providing those services to another Participating Affiliate. In addition, the Investment Manager may provide certain similar services to its Participating Affiliates for accounts they manage.
The Investment Manager believes that harnessing the collective expertise of the firm and its Participating Affiliates will benefit its clients. In this regard, the Investment Manager has certain portfolio management and client servicing teams at both the firm and at Participating Affiliates (through subadvisory or other intercompany arrangements) operating jointly to provide a better client experience. These joint teams use expanded and shared capabilities, including the sharing of research and other information by investment personnel (e.g., portfolio managers and analysts) relating to economic perspectives, market analysis and equity and fixed income securities analysis.
Participating Affiliates may provide certain advisory and trading-related services to certain of the Investment Manager’s accounts, including the Funds. The Investment Manager may also provide similar services to certain accounts of Participating Affiliates. The Investment Manager believes that local trading in certain local markets will benefit its clients, including the Funds. However, such services may result in potential conflicts of interest to such accounts.
The Investment Manager has portfolio management teams in its multiple geographic locations that may share research information regarding leveraged loans. The Investment Manager operates separate and independent trading desks in these locations for the purpose of purchasing and selling leveraged loans. As a result, the Investment Manager does not aggregate orders in leveraged loans across portfolio management teams. For example, funds and other client accounts being managed by these portfolio management teams may purchase and sell the same leveraged loan in the secondary market on the same day at different times and at different prices. There is also the potential for a particular account or group of accounts, including a Fund, to forego an opportunity or to receive a different allocation (either larger or smaller) than might otherwise be obtained if the Investment Manager were to aggregate trades in leveraged loans across the portfolio management teams. Although the Investment Manager does not aggregate orders in leveraged loans across its portfolio management teams in the multiple geographic locations, it operates in this structure subject to its duty to seek best execution.
The Funds may participate, if and when practicable, in bidding for the purchase of portfolio securities directly from an issuer in order to take advantage of the lower purchase price available to members of a bidding group. A Fund will engage in this practice, however, only when the Investment Manager, in its sole discretion, believes such practice to be otherwise in such Fund’s interests.
The Funds will not execute portfolio transactions through, or buy or sell portfolio securities from or to the Investment Manager and its affiliates acting as principal (including repurchase and reverse repurchase agreements), except to the extent permitted by applicable law, regulation or order. However, the Investment Manager is authorized to allocate buy and sell orders for portfolio securities to certain broker-dealers and financial institutions, including, in the case of agency transactions, broker-dealers and financial institutions that are affiliated with Ameriprise Financial. To the extent that a Fund executes any securities trades with an affiliate of Ameriprise Financial, such Fund does so in conformity with Rule 17e-1 under the 1940 Act and the procedures that such Fund has adopted pursuant to the rule. In this regard, for each transaction, the Board will determine that the transaction
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 195 |
is effected in accordance with the Funds’ Rule 17e-1 procedures, which require: (i) the transaction resulted in prices for and execution of securities transactions at least as favorable to the particular Fund as those likely to be derived from a non-affiliated qualified broker-dealer; (ii) the affiliated broker-dealer charged the Fund commission rates consistent with those charged by the affiliated broker-dealer in similar transactions to clients comparable to the Fund and that are not affiliated with the broker-dealer in question; and (iii) the fees, commissions or other remuneration paid by the Fund did not exceed 2% of the sales price of the securities if the sale was effected in connection with a secondary distribution, or 1% of the purchase or sale price of such securities if effected in other than a secondary distribution.
Certain affiliates of Ameriprise Financial may have deposit, loan or commercial banking relationships with the corporate users of facilities financed by industrial development revenue bonds or private activity bonds bought by certain of the Funds. Ameriprise Financial or certain of its affiliates may serve as trustee, custodian, tender agent, guarantor, placement agent, underwriter, or in some other capacity, with respect to certain issues of securities. Under certain circumstances, a Fund may buy securities from a member of an underwriting syndicate in which an affiliate of Ameriprise Financial is a member. The Funds have adopted procedures pursuant to Rule 10f-3 under the 1940 Act, and intend to comply with the requirements of Rule 10f-3, in connection with any purchases of securities that may be subject to Rule 10f-3.
Given the breadth of the Investment Manager’s investment management activities, investment decisions for the Funds are not always made independently from those other investment companies and accounts advised or managed by the Investment Manager. To the extent permitted by law, when a purchase or sale of the same security is made at substantially the same time on behalf of one or more of the Funds and another investment portfolio, investment company or account, the Investment Manager may aggregate the securities to be sold or bought for the Funds with those to be sold or bought for other investment portfolios, investment companies or accounts in executing transactions, and such transactions will be averaged as to price and available investments allocated as to amount in a manner which the Investment Manager believes to be equitable to the Funds and such other investment portfolio, investment company or account. In some instances, this investment procedure may adversely affect the price paid or received by a Fund or the size of the position obtained or sold by the Fund.
See Investment Management and Other Services – Other Roles and Relationships of Ameriprise Financial and its Affiliates – Certain Conflicts of Interest for more information about these and other conflicts of interest.
Brokerage Commissions
The following charts reflect the amounts of brokerage commissions paid by the Funds for the three most recently completed fiscal years. In certain instances, the Funds may pay brokerage commissions to broker-dealers that are affiliates of Ameriprise Financial. As indicated above, all such transactions involving the payment of brokerage commissions to affiliates are done in compliance with Rule 17e-1 under the 1940 Act.
Aggregate Brokerage Commissions Paid by the Funds
The following chart reflects the aggregate amount of brokerage commissions paid by the Funds for the three most recently completed fiscal years. Differences, year to year, in the amount of brokerage commissions paid by a Fund were primarily the result of increased market volatility as well as shareholder purchase and redemption activity in the Fund. The table is organized by fiscal year end.
Total Brokerage Commissions
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 196 |
| Total Brokerage Commissions | |||
| Fund | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 |
| Pacific/Asia Fund | $142,888 | $206,439 | $263,091 |
| Select Large Cap Growth Fund | 524,341 | 811,887 | 1,102,634 |
| Solutions Aggressive Portfolio | 2,000 | 1,758 | 1,192(a) |
| Solutions Conservative Portfolio | 1,301 | 982 | 617(a) |
| For Funds with fiscal period ending April 30 | |||
| Bond Fund | 21,784 | 13,808 | 18,020 |
| Corporate Income Fund | 74,328 | 41,866 | 65,595 |
| MM Directional Alternative Strategies Fund | 399,840 | 255,527 | 1,248,899 |
| Multi-Asset Income Fund | 15,945 | 14,579 | 25,991 |
| Small Cap Value Fund I | 1,031,945 | 976,383 | 982,446 |
| Total Return Bond Fund | 206,857 | 88,497 | 136,340 |
| U.S. Treasury Index Fund | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| For Funds with fiscal period ending May 31 | |||
| Adaptive Risk Allocation Fund | 417,260 | 682,735 | 837,004 |
| Dividend Income Fund | 3,435,678 | 1,509,891 | 1,113,679 |
| HY Municipal Fund | 22,075 | 0 | 0 |
| Multi Strategy Alternatives Fund | 729,326 | 6,121 | 684 |
| For Funds with fiscal period ending July 31 | |||
| Large Cap Growth Fund | 830,737 | 636,838 | 695,098 |
| OR Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tax-Exempt Fund | 15,530 | 16,916 | 6,588 |
| U.S. Social Bond Fund | 451 | 895 | 608 |
| Ultra Short Term Bond Fund | 5,903 | 836 | 0 |
| For Funds with fiscal period ending August 31 | |||
| Balanced Fund | 1,714,703 | 1,819,013 | 2,256,479 |
| Contrarian Core Fund | 3,630,303 | 4,366,882 | 5,436,332 |
| Emerging Markets Fund | 894,596 | 1,450,471 | 1,865,245 |
| Global Technology Growth Fund | 253,132 | 492,888 | 445,772 |
| Greater China Fund | 57,030 | 65,501 | 91,431 |
| International Dividend Income Fund | 323,907 | 289,796 | 377,938 |
| Mid Cap Growth Fund | 607,000 | 986,000 | 2,005,940 |
| MM Alternative Strategies Fund | 473,336 | 563,219 | 699,813 |
| MM International Equity Strategies Fund | 1,193,180 | 846,057 | 598,581(c) |
| MM Small Cap Equity Strategies Fund | 2,787,755 | 1,986,911 | 2,079,508 |
| MM Total Return Bond Strategies Fund | 380,866 | 455,450 | 429,963 |
| Multisector Bond SMA Completion Portfolio | 205(d) | N/A | N/A |
| Overseas SMA Completion Portfolio | 1,982(e) | N/A | N/A |
| Small Cap Growth Fund I | 923,948 | 541,477 | 841,767 |
| Strategic Income Fund | 358,470 | 399,284 | 302,150 |
| Fund | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 |
| For Funds with fiscal period ending October 31 | |||
| CT Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 197 |
| Total Brokerage Commissions | |||
| Fund | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 |
| MA Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| NY Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Strategic CA Municipal Income Fund | 5,773 | 1,760 | 0 |
| Strategic NY Municipal Income Fund | 2,092 | 740 | 0 |
| For Funds with fiscal period ending December 31 | |||
| Real Estate Equity Fund | 99,784 | 72,072 | 275,028 |
| (a) | For the period from October 24, 2017 (commencement of operations) to March 31, 2018. |
| (b) | For the period from April 4, 2018 (commencement of operations) to March 31, 2019. |
| (c) | For the period from May 17, 2018 (commencement of operations) to August 31, 2018. |
| (d) | For the period from October 29, 2019 (commencement of operations) to August 31, 2020. |
| (e) | For the period from September 12, 2019 (commencement of operations) to August 31, 2020. |
Brokerage Commissions Paid to Brokers Affiliated with the Investment Manager
Affiliates of the Investment Manager may engage in brokerage and other securities transactions on behalf of a Fund according to procedures adopted by the Board and to the extent consistent with applicable provisions of the federal securities laws. Subject to approval by the Board, the same conditions apply to transactions with broker-dealer affiliates of any Fund subadviser. The Investment Manager will use an affiliate only if (i) the Investment Manager determines that the Fund will receive prices and executions at least as favorable, under the circumstances, as those offered by qualified independent brokers performing similar brokerage and other services for the Fund and (ii) the affiliate charges the Fund commission rates consistent with those the affiliate charges comparable unaffiliated customers in similar transactions and if such use is consistent with terms of the Investment Management Services Agreement or Management Agreement, as applicable.
No brokerage commissions were paid by the Funds in the last three fiscal periods to brokers affiliated with the Funds' Investment Manager or any subadvisers.
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 198 |
Directed Brokerage
The Funds or the Investment Manager, through an agreement or understanding with a broker-dealer, or otherwise through an internal allocation procedure, may direct, subject to applicable legal requirements, the Funds' brokerage transactions to a broker-dealer because of the research services it provides the Funds or the Investment Manager.
Reported numbers include third party soft dollar commissions and portfolio manager directed commissions directed for research. The Investment Manager also receives proprietary research from brokers, but these amounts have not been included in the table.
During each Fund’s last fiscal year (or period), the Funds directed certain brokerage transactions and paid related commissions in the amounts as follows:
Brokerage Directed for Research
| Brokerage directed for research | ||
| Fund | Amount of Transactions | Amount of Commissions Imputed or Paid |
| For Funds with fiscal period ending March 31 | ||
| Adaptive Retirement 2020 Fund | $110,335 | $15 |
| Adaptive Retirement 2025 Fund | 53,009 | 7 |
| Adaptive Retirement 2030 Fund | 167,828 | 22 |
| Adaptive Retirement 2035 Fund | 71,743 | 10 |
| Adaptive Retirement 2040 Fund | 17,572 | 2 |
| Adaptive Retirement 2045 Fund | 20,532 | 3 |
| Adaptive Retirement 2050 Fund | 18,343 | 3 |
| Adaptive Retirement 2055 Fund | 21,564 | 3 |
| Adaptive Retirement 2060 Fund | 18,769 | 3 |
| MM Growth Strategies Fund | 1,895,048,289 | 176,106 |
| Pacific/Asia Fund | 53,528,333 | 52,561 |
| Select Large Cap Growth Fund | 1,495,961,522 | 206,010 |
| Solutions Aggressive Portfolio | 0 | 0 |
| Solutions Conservative Portfolio | 0 | 0 |
| For Funds with fiscal period ending April 30 | ||
| Bond Fund | 0 | 0 |
| Corporate Income Fund | 0 | 0 |
| MM Directional Alternative Strategies Fund | 225,065,996 | 137,696 |
| Multi-Asset Income Fund | 7,539,417 | 1,726 |
| Small Cap Value Fund I | 375,385,295 | 259,800 |
| Total Return Bond Fund | 0 | 0 |
| U.S. Treasury Index Fund | 0 | 0 |
| For Funds with fiscal period ending May 31 | ||
| Adaptive Risk Allocation Fund | 394,413,471 | 90,304 |
| Dividend Income Fund | 6,249,637,246 | 1,019,907 |
| HY Municipal Fund | 0 | 0 |
| Multi Strategy Alternatives Fund | 0 | 0 |
| For Funds with fiscal period ending July 31 | ||
| Large Cap Growth Fund | 2,213,696,834 | 260,559 |
| OR Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund | 0 | 0 |
| Tax-Exempt Fund | 0 | 0 |
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 199 |
| Brokerage directed for research | ||
| Fund | Amount of Transactions | Amount of Commissions Imputed or Paid |
| U.S. Social Bond Fund | $0 | $0 |
| Ultra Short Term Bond Fund | 0 | 0 |
| For Funds with fiscal period ending August 31 | ||
| Balanced Fund | 3,426,239,157 | 590,954 |
| Contrarian Core Fund | 7,694,224,888 | 1,317,795 |
| Emerging Markets Fund | 132,658,411 | 167,682 |
| Global Technology Growth Fund | 202,921,783 | 52,958 |
| Greater China Fund | 21,151,505 | 18,794 |
| International Dividend Income Fund | 138,534,176 | 32,909 |
| Mid Cap Growth Fund | 1,485,484,000 | 405,000 |
| MM Alternative Strategies Fund | 578,367,730 | 203,789 |
| MM International Equity Strategies Fund | 36,276,736 | 36,611 |
| MM Small Cap Equity Strategies Fund | 1,820,826,732 | 1,519,899 |
| MM Total Return Bond Strategies Fund | 0 | 0 |
| Multisector Bond SMA Completion Portfolio | 0(a) | 0(a) |
| Overseas SMA Completion Portfolio | 688,522(b) | 547(b) |
| Small Cap Growth Fund I | 1,596,795,046 | 404,199 |
| Strategic Income Fund | 0 | 0 |
| For Funds with fiscal period ending October 31 | ||
| CT Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund | 0 | 0 |
| Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund | 0 | 0 |
| MA Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund | 0 | 0 |
| NY Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund | 0 | 0 |
| Strategic CA Municipal Income Fund | 0 | 0 |
| Strategic NY Municipal Income Fund | 0 | 0 |
| For Funds with fiscal period ending December 31 | ||
| Real Estate Equity Fund | 48,399,728 | 17,043 |
| (a) | For the period from October 29, 2019 (commencement of operations) to August 31, 2020. |
| (b) | For the period from September 12, 2019 (commencement of operations) to August 31, 2020. |
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 200 |
Securities of Regular Broker-Dealers
In certain cases, the Funds, as part of their principal investment strategies, or otherwise as a permissible investment, will invest in the common stock or debt obligations of the regular broker-dealers that the Investment Manager uses to transact brokerage for the Funds.
As of each Fund’s last fiscal year (or period) end, the Funds owned securities of their “regular brokers or dealers” or their parents, as defined in Rule 10b-1 under the 1940 Act, as shown in the table below:
Investments in Securities of Regular Brokers or Dealers
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 201 |
| Fund | Issuer |
Value of securities owned
at end of fiscal period |
| Total Return Bond Fund | Citigroup Mortgage Loan Trust, Inc. | $14,559,627 |
| Credit Suisse Mortgage Capital Certificates | $14,980,838 | |
| Credit Suisse Mortgage Trust | $2,108,385 | |
| JPMorgan Chase & Co. | $13,377,397 | |
| JPMorgan Resecuritization Trust | $300,187 | |
| Morgan Stanley | $3,297,376 | |
| Morgan Stanley Capital I Trust | $4,672,181 | |
| Morgan Stanley Resecuritization Trust | $1,711,109 | |
| U.S. Treasury Index Fund | None | N/A |
| For Funds with fiscal period ending May 31, 2020 | ||
| Adaptive Risk Allocation Fund | None | N/A |
| Dividend Income Fund | JPMorgan Chase & Co. | $522,068,150 |
| PNC Financial Services Group, Inc.(The) | $259,441,000 | |
| HY Municipal Fund | None | N/A |
| Multi Strategy Alternatives Fund | Citigroup Mortgage Loan Trust, Inc. | $4,099,868 |
| Credit Suisse Mortgage Capital Certificates OA LLC | $3,282,170 | |
| JPMorgan Chase Commercial Mortgage Securities Trust | $1,310,467 | |
| Morgan Stanley Capital I Trust | $821,003 | |
| For Funds with fiscal period ending July 31, 2020 | ||
| Large Cap Growth Fund | None | N/A |
| OR Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund | None | N/A |
| Tax-Exempt Fund | None | N/A |
| U.S. Social Bond Fund | None | N/A |
| Ultra Short Term Bond Fund | Citigroup, Inc. | $23,234,438 |
| Citigroup Mortgage Loan Trust, Inc. | $6,056,255 | |
| GS Mortgage Securities Trust | $3,112,822 | |
| The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. | $17,049,282 | |
| JPMorgan Chase & Co. | $20,872,598 | |
| Morgan Stanley | $18,007,992 | |
| PNC Bank NA | $14,829,728 | |
| UBS-Citigroup Commercial Mortgage Trust | $414,100 | |
| For Funds with fiscal period ending August 31, 2020 | ||
| Balanced Fund | Citigroup Mortgage Loan Trust, Inc. | $4,032,314 |
| Citigroup, Inc. | $32,784,100 | |
| GS Mortgage Securities Trust | $26,017,741 | |
| JPMorgan Chase & Co. | $81,248,526 | |
| Morgan Stanley | $68,294,431 | |
| Morgan Stanley Capital I Trust | $11,925,556 | |
| PNC Financial Services Group, Inc.(The) | $4,898,344 | |
| The Charles Schwab Corp. | $9,749,254 | |
| The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. | $9,116,158 | |
| Contrarian Core Fund | Citigroup, Inc. | $51,476,613 |
| JPMorgan Chase & Co. | $149,828,935 | |
| Morgan Stanley | $133,513,482 | |
| Emerging Markets Fund | None | N/A |
| Global Technology Growth Fund | None | N/A |
| Greater China Fund | None | N/A |
| International Dividend Income Fund | None | N/A |
| Mid Cap Growth Fund | Raymond James Financial, Inc. (subsidiary) | $23,658,184 |
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 202 |
| Fund | Issuer |
Value of securities owned
at end of fiscal period |
| MM Alternative Strategies Fund | Bear Stearns Alt-A Trust | $781,961 |
| Bear Stearns Mortgage Funding Trust | $1,446,875 | |
| Citigroup Mortgage Loan Trust, Inc. | $796,011 | |
| Citigroup, Inc. | $1,633,966 | |
| Credit Suisse First Boston Mortgage Securities Corp. | $1,291 | |
| Credit Suisse Mortgage Capital Trust | $446,609 | |
| Credit Suisse Mortgage Trust | $123,415 | |
| E*TRADE Financial Corp. | $8,273,621 | |
| Eaton Vance Corp. | $309,002 | |
| GS Mortgage Securities Corp. Trust | $25,181 | |
| GS Mortgage Securities Trust | $29,753 | |
| JPMorgan Alternative Loan Trust | $310,153 | |
| JPMorgan Chase & Co. | $1,671,293 | |
| JPMorgan Chase Commercial Mortgage Securities Trust | $500,686 | |
| JPMorgan Mortgage Acquisition Trust | $1,508,100 | |
| Lehman Mortgage Trust | $574,137 | |
| Lehman XS Trust | $597,111 | |
| Morgan Stanley Capital I Trust | $69,438 | |
| Raymond James Financial, Inc. (subsidiary) | $204,692 | |
| Stifel Financial Corp. | $167,498 | |
| TD Ameritrade Holding Corp. | $6,359,643 | |
| The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. | $598,251 | |
| MM International Equity Strategies Fund | None | N/A |
| MM Small Cap Equity Strategies Fund | Affiliated Managers Group, Inc. | $370,710 |
| Stifel Financial Corp. | $3,181,545 |
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 203 |
| Fund | Issuer |
Value of securities owned
at end of fiscal period |
| MM Total Return Bond Strategies Fund | Banc of America Merrill Lynch Commercial Mortgage, Inc. | $3,907,929 |
| Chase Mortgage Finance Corp. | $1,420,817 | |
| Citigroup Commercial Mortgage Trust | $49,410,046 | |
| Citigroup Mortgage Loan Trust, Inc. | $843,723 | |
| Citigroup, Inc. | $47,053,668 | |
| Credit Suisse AG | $2,078,760 | |
| Credit Suisse Group AG | $17,944,670 | |
| Credit Suisse Group Funding Guernsey Ltd. | $6,080,019 | |
| Credit Suisse Mortgage Capital Certificates | $3,782,111 | |
| Credit Suisse Mortgage Capital Trust | $13,791,907 | |
| Credit Suisse Mortgage Trust | $7,579,269 | |
| GS Mortgage Securities Trust | $52,333,290 | |
| GS Mortgage-Backed Securities Corp. Trust | $2,427,990 | |
| Jefferies Group LLC | $6,239,409 | |
| JPMorgan Alternative Loan Trust | $4,779,037 | |
| JPMorgan Chase & Co. | $93,821,962 | |
| JPMorgan Chase Commercial Mortgage Securities Trust | $13,350,803 | |
| JPMorgan Mortgage Acquisition Trust | $4,030,098 | |
| JPMorgan Mortgage Trust | $43,787,267 | |
| JPMorgan Resecuritization Trust | $95,361 | |
| JPMorgan Trust | $880,026 | |
| Lehman XS Trust | $3,860,946 | |
| Merrill Lynch First Franklin Mortgage Loan Trust | $11,536,945 | |
| Morgan Stanley | $36,713,763 | |
| Morgan Stanley Bank of America Merrill Lynch Trust | $11,568,602 | |
| Morgan Stanley Capital I Trust | $15,474,761 | |
| Morgan Stanley Resecuritization Trust | $4,590,204 | |
| Nuveen Finance LLC | $1,192,415 | |
| PNC Bank NA | $2,072,545 | |
| Raymond James Financial, Inc. (subsidiary) | $2,232,424 | |
| Stifel Financial Corp. | $5,869,009 | |
| The Charles Schwab Corp. | $8,246,598 | |
| The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. | $18,112,093 | |
| Multisector Bond SMA Completion Portfolio | N/A | N/A |
| Overseas SMA Completion Portfolio | N/A | N/A |
| Small Cap Growth Fund I | None | N/A |
| Strategic Income Fund | Citigroup Mortgage Loan Trust, Inc. | $5,823,371 |
| Citigroup, Inc. | $7,817,949 | |
| Credit Suisse Commercial Mortgage Trust | $8,407,258 | |
| Credit Suisse Mortgage Capital Certificates | $19,553,489 | |
| Credit Suisse Mortgage Trust | $4,267,552 | |
| Jefferies Finance LLC | $694,805 | |
| JPMorgan Chase & Co. | $9,748,736 | |
| Morgan Stanley Capital I Trust | $20,985,648 | |
| Morgan Stanley Resecuritization Pass-Through Trust | $1,045,096 | |
| The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. | $7,156,593 |
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 204 |
| Fund | Issuer |
Value of securities owned
at end of fiscal period |
| For Funds with fiscal period ending October 31, 2019 | ||
| CT Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund | None | N/A |
| Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund | None | N/A |
| MA Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund | None | N/A |
| NY Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund | None | N/A |
| Strategic CA Municipal Income Fund | None | N/A |
| Strategic NY Municipal Income Fund | None | N/A |
| For Funds with fiscal period ending December 31, 2019 | ||
| Real Estate Equity Fund | None | N/A |
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 205 |
OTHER PRACTICES
Performance Disclosure
Effective beginning with performance reporting for the December 31, 2011 year end, in presenting performance information for newer share classes, if any, of a Fund, the Fund typically includes, for periods prior to the offering of such share classes, the performance of the Fund’s oldest share class (except as otherwise disclosed), adjusted to reflect any higher class-related operating expenses of the newer share classes, as applicable, based on the expense ratios of those share classes for the Fund’s most recently completed fiscal year for which data was available at December 31, 2011 or, for Funds and classes first offered after January 1, 2011, the expected expense differential at the time the newer share class is first offered. Actual expense differentials across classes will vary over time. The performance of the Fund’s newer share classes would have been substantially similar to the performance of the Fund’s oldest share class because all share classes of a Fund are invested in the same portfolio of securities, and would have differed only to the extent that the classes do not have the same sales charges and/or expenses (and any differences in expenses between share classes may change over time).
Prior to December 31, 2011, in presenting performance information for a newer share class of a Fund, the Fund would typically include, for periods prior to the offering of such newer share class, the performance of an older share class, the class-related operating expense structure of which was most similar to that of the newer share class, and for periods prior to the initial offering of such older share class, would include the performance of successively older share classes with successively less similar expense structures. Such performance information was not restated to reflect any differences in expenses between share classes and if such differences had been reflected, the performance shown might have been lower. Because, prior to December 31, 2011, the Funds used a different methodology for presenting performance information for a newer share class, such performance information published before December 31, 2011 may differ from corresponding performance information published after December 31, 2011.
Portfolio Turnover
A change in the securities held by a Fund is known as “portfolio turnover.” High portfolio turnover involves correspondingly greater expenses to the Fund, including brokerage commissions or dealer mark-ups and other transaction costs on the sale of securities and reinvestments in other securities. Such sales may also result in adverse tax consequences to a Fund’s shareholders. The trading costs and tax effects associated with portfolio turnover may adversely affect a Fund’s performance. For each Fund’s portfolio turnover rate, see the Fees and Expenses of the Fund — Portfolio Turnover section in the prospectuses for that Fund.
In any particular year, market conditions may result in greater rates than are presently anticipated. The rate of a Fund’s turnover may vary significantly from time to time depending on, among other factors, economic, market and other conditions.
See below for an explanation of any significant variation in a Fund’s portfolio turnover rates over the two most recently completed fiscal years:
For Adaptive Risk Allocation Fund, during the fiscal year ended May 31, 2020, the Fund experienced a higher rate of portfolio turnover than during the previous fiscal year. This is primarily due to an increase in monthly market state adjustments reflected in the past 12 months versus the prior annual period.
For Multi Strategy Alternatives Fund, during the fiscal year ended May 31, 2020, the Fund experienced a higher rate of portfolio turnover than during the previous fiscal year. This is primarily due to changes made to the Fund’s portfolio management team and principal investment strategies, which became effective in August and September 2019.
Disclosure of Portfolio Holdings Information
The Board and the Investment Manager believe that the investment ideas of the Investment Manager and any subadviser with respect to portfolio management of a Fund should seek to benefit the Fund and its shareholders, and do not want to afford speculators an opportunity to profit by anticipating Fund trading strategies. However, the Board also believes that selective disclosure of a Fund’s portfolio holdings can, under appropriate circumstances, be made for purposes beneficial to the Fund and its shareholders or for other purposes under conditions that are designed to protect the interests of the Fund and its shareholders.
The Board has therefore adopted policies and procedures relating to disclosure of the Funds’ portfolio securities. These policies and procedures are intended to protect the confidentiality of Fund portfolio holdings information and generally prohibit the release of such information until such information is made available to the general public, unless such persons have been authorized to receive such information on a selective basis, as described below. It is the policy of the Fund not to provide or permit others to provide portfolio holdings on a selective basis, and the Investment Manager does not intend to selectively disclose portfolio holdings or expect that such holdings information will be selectively disclosed, except where necessary for the Fund’s operation or where there are other legitimate business purposes for doing so and, in any case, where conditions are met that are designed to protect the interests of the Funds and their shareholders.
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 206 |
Although the Investment Manager seeks to limit the selective disclosure of portfolio holdings information and such selective disclosure is monitored under the Fund’s compliance program for conformity with the policies and procedures, there can be no assurance that these policies will protect the Fund from the potential misuse of holdings information by individuals or firms in possession of that information. Under no circumstances may the Investment Manager, its affiliates or any employee thereof receive any consideration or compensation for disclosing such holdings information.
Public Disclosures
The Funds’ portfolio holdings are currently disclosed to the public through filings with the SEC and postings on the Funds’ website. The information is available on the Funds’ website as described below.
| ■ | For equity, alternative and flexible funds (other than the equity funds identified below) and funds-of-funds (equity and fixed income), a complete list of Fund portfolio holdings as of month-end is posted approximately, but no earlier than, 15 calendar days after such month-end. |
| ■ | For Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I and Columbia Variable Portfolio – Small Company Growth Fund, a complete list of Fund portfolio holdings as of month-end is posted approximately, but no earlier than, 30 calendar days after such month-end. |
| ■ | For fixed-income Funds (other than money market funds), a complete list of Fund portfolio holdings as of calendar quarter-end is posted approximately, but no earlier than, 30 calendar days after such quarter-end. |
| ■ | For money market Funds, a complete list of Fund portfolio holdings as of month-end is posted no later than five business days after such month-end. Such month-end holdings are continuously available on the website for at least six months, together with a link to an SEC webpage where a user of the website may obtain access to the Fund’s most recent 12 months of publicly available filings on Form N-MFP. Money market Fund portfolio holdings information posted on the website, at minimum, includes with respect to each holding, the name of the issuer, the category of investment (e.g., Treasury debt, government agency debt, asset backed commercial paper, structured investment vehicle note), the CUSIP number (if any), the principal amount, the maturity date (as determined under Rule 2a-7 for purposes of calculating weighted average maturity), the final maturity date (if different from the maturity date previously described), coupon or yield and the value. The money market Funds will also disclose on the website its overall weighted average maturity, weighted average life maturity, percentage of daily liquid assets, percentage of weekly liquid assets and daily inflows and outflows. |
Portfolio holdings of Funds owned solely by the Investment Manager or its affiliates are not disclosed on the website. A complete schedule of each Fund’s portfolio holdings is available semiannually and annually in shareholder reports filed on Form N-CSR and, after the first and third fiscal quarters, in regulatory filings on Form N-PORT, and for reporting periods ending prior to March 31, 2019, on Form N-Q. These shareholder reports and regulatory filings are filed with the SEC in accordance with federal securities laws. Shareholders may obtain each Fund’s Form N-CSR, N-PORT and N-Q filings on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov.
In addition, the Investment Manager makes publicly available information regarding certain Fund’s largest five to fifteen holdings, as a percentage of the market value of the Funds’ portfolios as of a month-end. This holdings information is made publicly available through the website columbiathreadneedleus.com, approximately 15 calendar days following the month-end. The scope of the information that is made available on the Funds’ websites pursuant to the Funds’ policies may change from time to time without prior notice. Certain fund marketing material, such as fund fact sheets, containing the largest five to fifteen holdings may be made available earlier than 15 days following month end.
The Investment Manager may also disclose more current portfolio holdings information as of specified dates on the Funds’ website.
The Funds, the Investment Manager and their affiliates may include portfolio holdings information that already has been made public through a website posting or SEC filing in marketing literature and other communications to shareholders, advisors or other parties, provided that the information is disclosed no earlier than when the information is disclosed publicly on the funds’ website or no earlier than the time a fund files such information in a publicly available SEC filing required to include such information.
Other Disclosures
The Funds’ policies and procedures provide that no disclosures of the Funds’ portfolio holdings may be made prior to the portfolio holdings information being made available to the general public unless (i) the Funds have a legitimate business purpose for making such disclosure, (ii) the Funds or their authorized agents authorize such non-public disclosure of information, and (iii) the party receiving the non-public information enters into an appropriate confidentiality agreement or is otherwise subject to a confidentiality obligation.
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 207 |
In determining the existence of a legitimate business purpose for making portfolio disclosures, the following factors, among others, are considered: (i) any prior disclosure must be consistent with the anti-fraud provisions of the federal securities laws and the fiduciary duties of the Investment Manager; (ii) any conflicts of interest between the interests of Fund shareholders, on the one hand, and those of the Investment Manager, the Funds’ Distributor or any affiliated person of a Fund, the Investment Manager or Distributor on the other; and (iii) any prior disclosure to a third party, although subject to a confidentiality agreement, would not make conduct lawful that is otherwise unlawful.
Fund complete portfolio holdings may be disclosed between and among the following persons (collectively, Affiliates and Agents) for legitimate business purposes within the scope of their official duties and responsibilities, subject to Fund policies and procedures designed to prevent the misuse of inside information, by agreement, or under applicable laws, rules, and regulations: (1) persons who are subject to the Code of Ethics or policies and procedures designed to prevent the misuse of inside information; (2) an investment adviser, distributor, administrator, transfer agent, or custodian to the Fund; (3) an accounting firm, an auditing firm, or outside legal counsel retained by the Investment Manager or its affiliates, or the Fund; (4) an investment adviser to whom complete portfolio holdings are disclosed for due diligence purposes when the adviser is in merger or acquisition talks with a the Investment Manager or its parent company; and (5) a newly hired subadviser to whom complete portfolio holdings are disclosed prior to the time it commences its duties.
The frequency with which complete portfolio holdings may be disclosed between and among Affiliates and Agents, and the length of the lag, if any, between the date of the information and the date on which the information is disclosed between and among the Affiliates and Agents, is determined by such Affiliates and Agents based on the facts and circumstances, including, without limitation, the nature of the portfolio holdings information to be disclosed, the risk of harm to the Funds and their shareholders, and the legitimate business purposes served by such disclosure. The frequency of disclosure between and among Affiliates and Agents varies and may be as frequent as daily, with no lag. Any disclosure of Fund complete portfolio holdings to any Affiliates and Agents as previously described may also include a list of the other investment positions that make up the Fund, such as cash investments and derivatives.
The Funds also disclose portfolio holdings information as required by federal, state or international securities laws, and may disclose portfolio holdings information in response to requests by governmental authorities, or in connection with litigation or potential litigation, a restructuring of a holding, where such disclosure is necessary to participate or explore participation in a restructuring of the holding (e.g., as part of a bondholder group), or to the issuer of a holding, pursuant to a request of the issuer or any other party who is duly authorized by the issuer.
In certain limited situations, the Funds may provide portfolio holdings to an institutional client (or its custodian or other agent) when the client is effecting a redemption in-kind from a Fund and the Investment Manager believes that such disclosure will not be harmful to the Fund. In these situations, the Investment Manager makes it clear through non-disclosure agreements or other means that the recipient must ensure that the confidential information is used only as necessary to effect the redemption-in-kind and will maintain the information in a manner designed to protect against unauthorized access or misuse.
The Board has adopted policies to ensure that the Fund’s portfolio holdings information is only disclosed in accordance with these policies. Before any selective disclosure of portfolio holdings information is permitted, the person seeking to disclose such holdings information must submit a written request to the Portfolio Holdings Committee (“PHC”). The PHC, which is chaired by the Funds’ Chief Compliance Officer, is comprised of members from the Investment Manager’s legal department and compliance department, and the Funds’ President. The PHC is authorized by the Board to perform an initial review of requests for disclosure of holdings information to evaluate whether there is a legitimate business purpose for selective disclosure, whether selective disclosure is in the best interests of a Fund and its shareholders, to consider any potential conflicts of interest between the Fund, the Investment Manager, and its affiliates, and to safeguard against improper use of holdings information. Factors considered in this analysis are whether the recipient has agreed to or has a duty to keep the holdings information confidential and whether risks have been mitigated such that the recipient has agreed or has a duty to use the holdings information only as necessary to effectuate the purpose for which selective disclosure may be authorized. Before portfolio holdings may be selectively disclosed, requests approved by the PHC must also be authorized by the Funds’ President, Chief Compliance Officer or General Counsel/Chief Legal Officer or their respective designees. On at least an annual basis, the PHC reviews the approved recipients of selective disclosure and may require a resubmission of the request, in order to re-authorize certain ongoing arrangements. These procedures are intended to be reasonably designed to protect the confidentiality of Fund holdings information and to prohibit their release to individual investors, institutional investors, intermediaries that distribute the Fund’s shares, and other parties, until such holdings information is made public or unless such persons have been authorized to receive such holdings information on a selective basis, as set forth above.
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 208 |
Ongoing Portfolio Holdings Disclosure Arrangements
The Funds currently have ongoing arrangements with certain approved recipients with respect to the disclosure of portfolio holdings information prior to such information being made public. Portfolio holdings information disclosed to such recipients is current as of the time of its disclosure, is disclosed to each recipient solely for purposes consistent with the services described below and has been authorized in accordance with the policy. No compensation or consideration is received in exchange for this information. In addition to the daily information provided to a Fund’s custodians, subcustodians, Investment Manager and subadvisers, the following disclosure arrangements are in place:
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 209 |
| Identity of Recipient | Conditions/restrictions on use of information |
Frequency of
Disclosure |
||
| Eze Software Group, LLC | Used to facilitate the evaluation of commission rates and to provide flexible commission reporting. | Daily | ||
| FactSet Research Systems, Inc. | Used to calculate portfolio performance attribution, portfolio analytics, data for fundamental research, and general market news and analysis. | Daily | ||
| Fidelity National Information Services, Inc. | Used as a portfolio accounting system. | Daily | ||
| Goldman Sachs Asset Management, L.P., as agent to KPMG LLP | Holdings by Columbia Contrarian Core Fund and Columbia High Yield Bond Fund in certain audit clients of KPMG LLP to assist the accounting firm in complying with its regulatory obligations relating to independence of its audit clients. | Monthly | ||
| Harte-Hanks, Inc. | Used for printing of prospectuses, factsheets, annual and semi-annual reports. | As Needed | ||
| IHS Markit, Ltd. | Used for an asset database for analytics and investor reporting. | As Needed | ||
| Imagine! Print Solutions | Used for commercial printing. | As Needed | ||
| Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. (ISS) | Used for proxy voting administration and research on proxy matters. | Daily | ||
| Intex Solutions Inc. | Used to provide mortgage analytics. | As Needed | ||
| Investment Company Institute (ICI) | Disclosure of Form N-PORT data. | As Needed | ||
| Investortools, Inc. | Used for municipal bond analytics, research and decision support. | As Needed | ||
| JDP Marketing Services | Used to write or edit Columbia Fund shareholder reports, quarterly fund commentaries, and communications, including shareholder letters and management’s discussion of Columbia Fund performance. | As Needed | ||
| John Roberts, Inc. | Used for commercial printing. | As Needed | ||
| Kendall Press | Used for commercial printing. | As Needed | ||
| KPMG US LLP | Used to provide tax services. | Daily | ||
| Kynex, Inc. | Used to provide portfolio attribution reports for the Columbia Convertible Securities Fund. Used also for portfolio analytics. | Daily | ||
| Merrill Corporation | Used for printing of prospectuses, factsheets, annual and semi-annual reports. | As Needed | ||
| Morningstar Investment Services, LLC | Used for independent research and ranking of funds. Used also for statistical analysis. | As Needed | ||
| NASDAQ | Used to evaluate and assess trading activity, execution and practices. | Daily | ||
| R. R. Donnelley & Sons Co. | Used to provide printing of prospectuses, factsheets, annual and semi-annual reports. Used for commercial printing. | As Needed | ||
| RegEd, Inc. | Used to review external and certain internal communications prior to dissemination. | Daily |
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 210 |
| Identity of Recipient | Conditions/restrictions on use of information |
Frequency of
Disclosure |
||
| Sustainalytics US, Inc. | Sustainalytics uses Columbia U.S. Social Bond Fund’s holdings to assess the social impact of the Fund’s investments and to evaluate their ESG ratings. | Quarterly | ||
| S.W.I.F.T. Scrl. | Used to send trade messages via SWIFT to custodians. | Daily | ||
| Thomson Reuters Corp. | Used for statistical analysis. | As Needed | ||
| Virtu Financial, Inc. | Used to evaluate and assess trading activity, execution and practices. | Quarterly | ||
| Visions, Inc. | Used for commercial printing. | As Needed | ||
| Wilshire Associates, Inc. | Used to provide performance attribution reporting. | Daily |
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 211 |
| Identity of Recipient | Conditions/restrictions on use of information |
Frequency of
Disclosure |
||
| Fidelity ActionResponse | Used by certain subadvisers for corporate actions management. | Daily | ||
| Financial Recovery Technologies Services | Used by certain subadvisers for class action monitoring services. | Quarterly | ||
| FIS Brokerage Securities Services LLC | Used by certain subadvisers for confirmation and settlement of bank loan trades. | Daily | ||
| Flextrade Systems Inc. | Used by certain subadvisers for an execution management system. | Daily | ||
| FX Connect, LLC | Used by certain subadvisers for foreign exchange derivatives reconciliation. | Daily | ||
| Global Trading Analytics, LLC | Used by certain subadvisers for transaction cost analysis and other analytics. | Daily | ||
| ICE Data Services Inc. | Used by certain subadvisers for data and pricing. Used by certain subadvisers for liquidity reporting. | Daily | ||
| IEX Astral | Used by certain sub-advisers for best execution monitoring. | Quarterly | ||
| IHS Markit Ltd. | Used by certain subadvisers for confirmation and settlement of bank loan trades. | Daily | ||
| Infinit-O Global, Ltd. | Used by certain subadvisers for portfolio accounting systems. | Daily | ||
| Instinet Holdings Inc. | Used by certain subadvisers for an execution management system. | Daily | ||
| Institutional Shareholder Services, Inc. | Used by certain subadvisers for proxy voting administration and research services. | Daily | ||
| Narrative Science Inc. | Used by certain subadvisers for updating attribution commentary. | Monthly | ||
| Nex Group plc | Used by certain subadvisers for daily reconciliations on collateral management. | Daily | ||
| Northern Trust Co. | Used by certain subadvisers for back-office operations. | Daily | ||
| Omgeo LLC | Used by certain subadvisers for trade execution and SWIFT transactions. | Daily | ||
| Refinitiv (Refinitiv Settlement Center) | Used by certain subadvisers for analytical and statistical information. | Daily | ||
| RELX Group | Used by certain subadvisers for compliance services. | Weekly | ||
| Seismic Software, Inc. | Used by certain subadvisers to automate quarterly updates. | Quarterly | ||
| Simcorp Dimension | Used by certain subadvisers for portfolio accounting systems. | Daily | ||
| SS&C Technologies, Inc. | Used by certain subadvisers for portfolio accounting systems. Used by certain subadvisers for SWIFT messages from custodians to facilitate automated reconciliation. | Daily | ||
| State Street Bank and Trust Company | Used by certain subadvisers for middle office functions. | Daily |
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 212 |
| Identity of Recipient | Conditions/restrictions on use of information |
Frequency of
Disclosure |
||
| State Street Corp. | Used by certain subadvisers for order management and compliance. | Daily or As Needed | ||
| Trade Informatics LLC | Used by certain subadvisers for transaction cost analysis and other analytics. | Daily | ||
| Tradeweb Markets LLC | Used by certain subadvisers for confirming TBAs, treasuries, and discount notes. | Daily | ||
| VERMEG Co. | Used by certain subadvisers for management of swap counterparty exposure. | Daily | ||
| Virtu Financial, Inc. | Used by certain subadvisers for transaction cost analysis and other analytics. | Daily or Monthly |
In addition, portfolio holdings information may be provided from time to time to the Funds’ counsel, counsel to the independent trustees and the Funds’ independent auditors in connection with the services they provide to the Funds or the trustees. Portfolio holdings information may also be provided to affiliates of the Investment Manager to monitor risks and various holdings limitations that must be aggregated with affiliated funds and accounts, among other purposes. The Investment Manager and the subadvisers use a variety of broker-dealers and other agents to effect securities transactions on behalf of the Funds. These broker-dealers may become aware of the Funds’ intentions, transactions and positions in performing their functions.
Additional Shareholder Servicing Payments
The Funds, along with the Transfer Agent, the Distributor and the Investment Manager, may pay significant amounts to financial intermediaries, including other Ameriprise Financial affiliates, for providing shareholder services, including the types of services that would otherwise be provided directly by a mutual fund’s transfer agent. The level of payments made to financial intermediaries may vary by financial intermediary and according to distribution channel. A number of factors may be considered in determining payments to a financial intermediary, including, without limitation, the nature of the services provided to shareholders or retirement plan participants that invest in the Funds through retirement plans. These services may include sub-accounting, sub-transfer agency, participant recordkeeping, shareholder or participant reporting, shareholder or participant transaction processing, maintaining shareholder records, preparing account statements and/or the provision of call center support and other customer services.
Effective October 1, 2016, the Board authorized each Fund to pay up to the lesser of the amount charged by the financial intermediary for such services or such fees up to a channel-specific cap established by the Board from time to time. For certain distribution channels, the reimbursement is set at a per account amount for accounts of intermediaries that charge a per account fee. The amounts in excess of the amount reimbursed by a Fund are borne by the Transfer Agent, the Investment Manager and/or their affiliates. These payments are in addition to the annual transfer agency fees paid by a Fund to the Transfer Agent, as described in the Investment Management and Other Services – Other Services Provided – The Transfer Agent section above, and may include payments to financial intermediaries that charge networking fees for certain services provided in connection with the maintenance of shareholder accounts through the NSCC. With respect to Class Inst2 shares, the annual rate for transfer agency fees and reimbursement of fees for additional shareholder services is currently capped at 0.07%. With respect to Class Inst3 shares, the Transfer Agent does not currently pay financial intermediaries for shareholder services, except that for Class Inst3 shares of Ultra Short Term Bond Fund (formerly an unnamed share class of the Fund), the Transfer Agent makes shareholder services payments to Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated through which shares of this class were held (under its former unnamed share class name) as of November 30, 2018, and the Fund does not currently pay the Transfer Agent for any shareholder services provided by financial intermediaries. Payments for these additional shareholder services are made by a Fund to the Transfer Agent who in turn makes payments to the financial intermediary for the provision of such services. The Funds’ Transfer Agent, Distributor and/or their affiliates will pay, from its or their own resources, amounts in excess of the amount paid by the Funds to financial intermediaries in connection with the provision of these additional shareholder services and other services.
The Funds also may make additional payments to financial intermediaries that charge networking fees for certain services provided in connection with the maintenance of shareholder accounts through the NSCC.
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 213 |
In addition, the Transfer Agent, the Distributor and other Ameriprise Financial affiliates may make lump sum payments to selected financial intermediaries receiving shareholder servicing payments as compensation for the costs of printing literature for participants, account maintenance fees or fees for establishment of the Funds on the financial intermediary’s system or other similar services.
As of April 2020, the Transfer Agent and/or other Ameriprise Financial affiliates had agreed to make shareholder servicing payments with respect to the Funds to the financial intermediaries or their affiliates shown below.
Recipients of Shareholder Servicing Payments Relating to the Funds from the Transfer Agent and/or other Ameriprise Financial Affiliates
| ■ | ADP Broker-Dealer, Inc. |
| ■ | American Enterprise Investment Services Inc.* |
| ■ | American United Life Insurance Co. |
| ■ | Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC* |
| ■ | Ascensus, Inc. |
| ■ | Avantax Investment Services, Inc. |
| ■ | AXA Advisors |
| ■ | AXA Equitable Life Insurance |
| ■ | Bank of America, N.A. |
| ■ | BB&T Securities LLC |
| ■ | Benefit Plan Administrators |
| ■ | Benefit Trust |
| ■ | BMO Harris Bank (f/k/a Marshall & Illsley Trust Company) |
| ■ | BNY Mellon, N.A. |
| ■ | Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. |
| ■ | Charles Schwab Trust Co. |
| ■ | City National Bank |
| ■ | Conduent HR Services LLC |
| ■ | Davenport & Company |
| ■ | Daily Access Concepts, Inc. |
| ■ | Digital Retirement Solutions |
| ■ | Edward D. Jones & Co., LP |
| ■ | ExpertPlan |
| ■ | Fidelity Brokerage Services, Inc. |
| ■ | Fidelity Investments Institutional Operations Co. |
| ■ | First Mercantile Trust Co. |
| ■ | Genworth Life and Annuity Insurance Company |
| ■ | Genworth Life Insurance Co. of New York |
| ■ | Goldman Sachs & Co. |
| ■ | GWFS Equities, Inc. |
| ■ | Hartford Life Insurance Company |
| ■ | Hewitt Associates LLC |
| ■ | ICMA Retirement Corporation |
| ■ | Janney Montgomery Scott, Inc. |
| ■ | JJB Hilliard Lyons |
| ■ | John Hancock Life Insurance Company (USA) |
| ■ | John Hancock Life Insurance Company of New York |
| ■ | John Hancock Trust Company |
| ■ | JP Morgan Securities LLC |
| ■ | Lincoln Life & Annuity Company of New York |
| ■ | Lincoln National Life Insurance Company |
| ■ | Lincoln Retirement Services |
| ■ | LPL Financial Corporation |
| ■ | Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company |
| ■ | Mercer HR Services, LLC |
| ■ | Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated |
| ■ | Mid Atlantic Capital Corporation |
| ■ | Minnesota Life Insurance Co. |
| ■ | Morgan Stanley Smith Barney |
| ■ | MSCS Financial Services Division of Broadridge Business Process Outsourcing LLC |
| ■ | National Financial Services |
| ■ | Nationwide Investment Services |
| ■ | Newport Retirement Services, Inc. |
| ■ | New York State Deferred Compensation Plan |
| ■ | Oppenheimer & Co., Inc. |
| ■ | Plan Administrators, Inc. |
| ■ | PNC Bank |
| ■ | Principal Life Insurance Company of America |
| ■ | Prudential Insurance Company of America |
| ■ | Prudential Retirement Insurance & Annuity Company |
| ■ | Pershing LLC |
| ■ | Raymond James & Associates |
| ■ | RBC Capital Markets |
| ■ | Reliance Trust |
| ■ | Robert W. Baird & Co., Inc. |
| ■ | Sammons Retirement Solutions |
| ■ | SEI Private Trust Company |
| ■ | Standard Insurance Company |
| ■ | Stifel Nicolaus & Co. |
| ■ | TD Ameritrade Clearing, Inc./TD Ameritrade Inc. |
| ■ | TD Ameritrade Trust Company |
| ■ | The Retirement Plan Company |
| ■ | Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America |
| ■ | Transamerica Advisors Life Insurance Company |
| ■ | Transamerica Advisors Life Insurance Company of New York |
| ■ | Transamerica Financial Life Insurance Company |
| ■ | T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. |
| ■ | UBS Financial Services, Inc. |
| ■ | Unified Trust Company, N.A. |
| ■ | US Bank NA |
| ■ | Vanguard Group, Inc. |
| ■ | Vanguard Marketing Corp |
| ■ | VALIC Retirement Services Company |
| ■ | Voya Retirement Insurance and Annuity Company |
| ■ | Voya Institutional Plan Services, LLP |
| ■ | Voya Investments Distributors, LLC |
| ■ | Voya Financial Partners, LLC |
| ■ | Wells Fargo Clearing Services, LLC |
| ■ | Wells Fargo Advisors |
| ■ | Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. |
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 214 |
| * | Ameriprise Financial affiliate |
The Transfer Agent, the Distributor, the Investment Manager and/or their affiliates may enter into similar arrangements with other financial intermediaries from time to time. Therefore, the preceding list is subject to change at any time without notice.
Additional Payments to Financial Intermediaries
Financial intermediaries may receive different commissions, sales charge reallowances and other payments with respect to sales of different classes of shares of the Funds. These other payments may include shareholder servicing payments to retirement plan administrators and other institutions in amounts described above under Other Practices – Additional Shareholder Servicing Payments.
The Distributor and other Ameriprise Financial affiliates may pay additional compensation to selected financial intermediaries, including other Ameriprise Financial affiliates, under the categories described below. These categories are not mutually exclusive, and a single financial intermediary may receive payments under all categories. A financial intermediary also may receive lump sum payments described above under Other Practices – Additional Shareholder Servicing Payments. Such payments may create an incentive for a financial intermediary or its representatives to recommend or offer shares of a Fund to its customers. The amount of payments made to financial intermediaries may vary. In determining the amount of payments to be made, the Distributor and other Ameriprise Financial affiliates may consider a number of factors, including, without limitation, asset mix and length of relationship with the financial intermediary, the size of the customer/shareholder base of the financial intermediary, the manner in which customers of the financial intermediary make investments in the Funds, the nature and scope of marketing support or services provided by the financial intermediary (as described more fully below) and the costs incurred by the financial intermediary in connection with maintaining the infrastructure necessary or desirable to support investments in the Funds.
These additional payments by the Distributor and other Ameriprise Financial affiliates are made pursuant to agreements between the Distributor and other Ameriprise Financial affiliates and financial intermediaries, and do not change the price paid by investors for the purchase of a Fund share, or the amount a Fund will receive as proceeds from such sales or the distribution fees and expenses paid by the Fund as shown under the heading Fees and Expenses of the Fund in the Fund’s prospectuses.
Marketing Support Payments
The Distributor, the Investment Manager and/or their affiliates make payments, from their own resources, to certain financial intermediaries, including other Ameriprise Financial affiliates, for marketing support services relating to the Columbia Funds, including, but not limited to, business planning assistance, educating financial intermediary personnel about the Funds and shareholder financial planning needs, placement on the financial intermediary’s preferred or recommended fund list or otherwise identifying the Funds as being part of a complex to be accorded a higher degree of marketing support than complexes not making such payments, access to sales meetings, sales representatives and management representatives of the financial intermediary, client servicing and systems infrastructure support and data analytics. Not all financial intermediaries receive marketing support payments. These payments are generally based upon one or more of the following factors: average net assets of the Columbia Funds distributed by the Distributor attributable to that financial intermediary, gross sales of the Columbia Funds distributed by the Distributor attributable to that financial intermediary, compensation for ticket charges (fees that a financial intermediary firm charges its representatives for effecting transactions in Fund shares) or a negotiated lump sum payment.
While the financial arrangements may vary for each financial intermediary, the marketing support payments to each financial intermediary generally are expected to be between 0.05% and 0.40% on an annual basis for payments based on average net assets of the Funds attributable to the financial intermediary and between 0.05% and 0.25% on an annual basis for firms receiving a payment based on gross sales of the Funds attributable to the financial intermediary. The Distributor, the Investment Manager and other Ameriprise Financial affiliates make payments with respect to a Fund or the Columbia Funds in materially larger amounts or on a basis materially different from those described above when dealing with certain financial intermediaries. Such increased payments may enable the financial intermediaries to offset credits that they may provide to their customers.
As of April 2020, the Distributor, the Investment Manager or their affiliates had agreed to make marketing support payments relating to the Funds to the following financial intermediaries or their affiliates.
Recipients of Marketing Support Payments Relating to the Funds from the Distributor and/or other Ameriprise Financial Affiliates
| ■ | Advisor Group |
| ■ | Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC* |
| ■ | Bank of America, N.A. |
| ■ | Cetera Financial Group, Inc. |
| ■ | Citigroup Global Markets Inc./Citibank |
| ■ | Commonwealth Financial Network |
| ■ | Lincoln Financial Advisors Corp. |
| ■ | LPL Financial Corporation |
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 215 |
| ■ | Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated |
| ■ | Morgan Stanley Smith Barney |
| ■ | Northwestern Mutual Investment Services, LLC |
| ■ | PNC Investments |
| ■ | Raymond James & Associates, Inc. |
| ■ | Raymond James Financial Services, Inc. |
| ■ | UBS Financial Services Inc. |
| ■ | Unified Trust Company, N.A. |
| ■ | US Bancorp Investments, Inc. |
| ■ | Wells Fargo Advisors |
| ■ | Wells Fargo Advisors Financial Network, LLC |
| ■ | Wells Fargo Clearing Services, LLC |
| * | Ameriprise Financial affiliate |
The Distributor, the Investment Manager and/or their affiliates may enter into similar arrangements with other financial intermediaries from time to time. Therefore, the preceding list is subject to change at any time without notice.
Other Payments
From time to time, the Distributor, from its own resources and not as an expense of the Fund, typically provides additional compensation to certain financial intermediaries that sell or arrange for the sale of shares of the Funds to the extent not prohibited by laws or the rules of any self-regulatory agency, such as the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). Such compensation provided by the Distributor includes financial assistance to financial intermediaries that enable the Distributor to participate in and/or present at financial intermediary-sponsored conferences or seminars, sales or training programs for invited registered representatives and other financial intermediary employees, financial intermediary entertainment and other financial intermediary-sponsored events, and travel expenses, including lodging incurred by registered representatives and other employees in connection with prospecting, retention and due diligence trips. The Distributor makes payments for entertainment events it deems appropriate, subject to the Distributor’s internal guidelines and applicable law. These payments may vary depending upon the nature of the event. Your financial intermediary may charge you fees or commissions in addition to those disclosed in this SAI. You should consult with your financial intermediary and review carefully any disclosure your financial intermediary provides regarding its services and compensation. Depending on the financial arrangement in place at any particular time, a financial intermediary and its financial consultants may have a financial incentive for recommending a particular fund, including the Funds, or a particular share class over other funds or share classes. See Investment Management and Other Services — Other Roles and Relationships of Ameriprise Financial and its Affiliates — Certain Conflicts of Interest for more information.
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 216 |
CAPITAL STOCK AND OTHER SECURITIES
Description of the Trust's Shares
The Trust may issue an unlimited number of full and fractional shares of beneficial interest of each Fund, without par value, and to divide or combine the shares of any series into a greater or lesser number of shares of that Fund without thereby changing the proportionate beneficial interests in that Fund and to divide such shares into classes. Most of the Funds are authorized to issue multiple classes of shares. Such classes are designated as Class A, Class Adv, Class C, Class E, Class Inst, Class Inst2, Class Inst3, Class R, Class V and shares of the Solution Series Funds. A Fund offers only those classes of shares listed on the cover of its prospectuses. Each share of a class of a Fund represents an equal proportional interest in that Fund with each other share in the same class and is entitled to such distributions out of the income earned on the assets belonging to that Fund as are declared in the discretion of the Board. However, different share classes of a Fund pay different distribution amounts because each share class has different expenses. Each time a distribution is made, the net asset value per share of the share class is reduced by the amount of the distribution.
Subject to certain limited exceptions discussed in each Fund’s prospectuses and in this SAI, a Fund may no longer be accepting new investments from current shareholders or prospective investors in general or with respect to one or more classes of shares. The Funds, however, may at any time and without notice, accept new investments in general or with respect to one or more previously closed classes of shares.
Restrictions on Holding or Disposing of Shares
There are no restrictions on the right of shareholders to retain or dispose of the Funds' shares, other than the possible future termination of the Funds or the relevant class. The Funds or any class of shares of the Funds may be terminated by reorganization into another mutual fund or by liquidation and distribution of their assets. Unless terminated by reorganization or liquidation, the Funds and classes will continue indefinitely.
Shareholder Liability
The Trust is organized as a business trust under Massachusetts law. Under Massachusetts law, shareholders could, under certain circumstances, be held personally liable for the obligations of the Trust. However, the Trust’s Declaration of Trust disclaims any shareholder liability for acts or obligations of the Funds and the Trust and requires that notice of such disclaimer be given in each agreement, obligation, or instrument entered into or executed by a Fund or the Trustees. The Declaration of Trust provides for indemnification out of Fund property for all loss and expense of any shareholder held personally liable for the obligations of a Fund. Thus, the risk of a shareholder incurring financial loss on account of shareholder liability is limited to circumstances (which are considered remote) in which a Fund would be unable to meet its obligations and the disclaimer was inoperative. The risk of a Fund incurring financial loss on account of another series of the Trust also is believed to be remote, because it would be limited to circumstances in which the disclaimer was inoperative and the other series of the Trust was unable to meet its obligations.
Dividend Rights
The shareholders of a Fund are entitled to receive any dividends or other distributions declared for the Fund. No shares have priority or preference over any other shares of the Funds with respect to distributions. Distributions will be made from the assets of the Funds, and will be paid pro rata to all shareholders of each Fund (or class) according to the number of shares of each Fund (or class) held by shareholders on the record date. The amount of income dividends per share may vary between separate share classes of the Funds based upon differences in the way that expenses are allocated between share classes pursuant to a multiple class plan.
Voting Rights and Shareholder Meetings
Shareholders have the power to vote only as expressly granted under the 1940 Act or under Massachusetts business trust law. Each whole share (or fractional share) outstanding on the record date shall be entitled to a number of votes on any matter on which it is entitled to vote equal to the net asset value of the share (or fractional share) in U.S. dollars determined at the close of business on the record date (for example, a share having a net asset value of $10.50 would be entitled to 10.5 votes).
Shareholders have no independent right to vote on any matter, including the creation, operation, dissolution or termination of the Trust. Shareholders have the right to vote on other matters only as the Board authorizes. Currently, the 1940 Act requires that shareholders have the right to vote, under certain circumstances, to: (i) elect Trustees; (ii) approve investment advisory agreements; (iii) approve a change in subclassification of a Fund; (iv) approve any change in fundamental investment policies; (v) approve a distribution plan under Rule 12b-1 under the 1940 Act; and (vi) to terminate the independent accountant. With respect to matters that affect one class but not another, shareholders vote as a class; for example, the approval of a distribution plan applicable to that class is voted on by holders of that class of shares. Subject to the foregoing, all shares of a Trust have equal voting rights and will be voted in the aggregate, and not by Fund, except where voting by Fund is required by law or where
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 217 |
the matter involved only affects one Fund. For example, a change in a Fund’s fundamental investment policy affects only one Fund and would be voted upon only by shareholders of the Fund involved. Additionally, approval of an investment advisory agreement or, if shareholder approval is required under exemptive relief, investment subadvisory agreement, since it only affects one Fund, is a matter to be determined separately by each Fund. Approval by the shareholders of one Fund is effective as to that Fund whether or not sufficient votes are received from the shareholders of the other series to approve the proposal as to those Funds. Shareholders are entitled to one vote for each whole share held and a proportional fractional vote for each fractional vote held, on matters on which they are entitled to vote. Fund shareholders do not have cumulative voting rights. The Trust is not required to hold, and has no present intention of holding, annual meetings of shareholders. Special meetings may be called for certain purposes.
Previously, the Trust had voluntarily undertaken to adhere to certain governance measures contemplated by an SEC settlement order with respect to the Trust’s prior investment adviser in 2005. Over the past several years, the SEC has adopted many rules under the 1940 Act and the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 to strengthen fund governance and compliance oversight of funds and their investment advisers. Accordingly, although the Trust may continue to follow certain governance practices noted in the 2005 settlement order, it will do so as the Board deems appropriate and not pursuant to any voluntary undertakings. In this regard, the Board has determined that it is unnecessary to commit to holding a meeting of shareholders to elect trustees at least every five years. Instead, the Board will convene meetings of shareholders to elect trustees as required by the 1940 Act or as deemed appropriate by the Board.
Liquidation Rights
In the event of the liquidation or dissolution of the Trust or a Fund, all shares have equal rights and shareholders of a Fund are entitled to a proportionate share of the assets of the Fund that are available for distribution and to a distribution of any general assets not attributable to a particular Fund that are available for distribution in such manner and on such basis as the Board may determine.
Preemptive Rights
There are no preemptive rights associated with Fund shares.
Conversion Rights
Conversion features and exchange privileges, if applicable, are described in the Funds’ prospectuses and Appendix S to this SAI.
Redemptions
Each Fund’s dividend, distribution and redemption policies can be found in its prospectuses. However, the Board may suspend the right of shareholders to sell shares when permitted or required to do so by law or compel sales of shares in certain cases.
Sinking Fund Provisions
The Trust has no sinking fund provisions.
Calls or Assessment
All Fund shares are issued in uncertificated form only and when issued will be fully paid and non-assessable by its Trust.
Conduct of the Trust's Business
Forum Selection. The Trust’s Bylaws provide that the sole and exclusive forums for any shareholder (including a beneficial owner of shares) to bring (i) any action or proceeding brought on behalf of the Trust, (ii) any action asserting a claim for breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any Trustee, officer or employee, if any, of the Trust to the Trust or the Trust’s shareholders, (iii) any action asserting a claim against the Trust or any of its Trustees, officers or employees arising pursuant to any provision of the statutory or common law of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts or any federal securities law, in each case as amended from time to time, or the Trust’s Declaration of Trust or Bylaws, or (iv) any action asserting a claim governed by the internal affairs doctrine shall be within the federal or state courts in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
This forum selection provision may limit a shareholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that the shareholder finds favorable for disputes with the Trust and/or any of its Trustees, officers, employees or service providers. If a court were to find the forum selection provision contained in the Bylaws to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, the Trust may incur additional costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions.
Derivative and Direct Claims of Shareholders. The Trust’s Bylaws contain provisions regarding derivative and direct claims of shareholders. As used in the Bylaws, a “direct” shareholder claim refers to (i) a claim based upon alleged violations of a shareholder’s individual rights independent of any harm to the Trust, including a shareholder’s voting rights under the Bylaws; rights to receive a dividend payment as may be declared from time to time; rights to inspect books and records; or other similar rights personal to the shareholder and independent of any harm to the Trust; and (ii) a claim for which a direct shareholder action
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 218 |
is expressly provided under the U.S. federal securities laws. Any other claim asserted by a shareholder, including without limitation any claims purporting to be brought on behalf of the Trust or involving any alleged harm to the Trust, is considered a “derivative” claim as used in the Bylaws.
A shareholder may not bring or maintain any court action or other proceeding asserting a derivative claim or any claim asserted on behalf of the Trust or involving any alleged harm to the Trust without first making demand on the Trustees requesting the Trustees to bring or maintain such action, proceeding or claim. The requirement to make such demand shall not be excused under any circumstances, including claims of alleged interest on the part of the Trustees, unless the shareholder makes a specific showing that irreparable nonmonetary injury to the Trust would otherwise result.
A shareholder may not bring or maintain a court action or other proceeding asserting a direct claim against the Trust, the Trustees, or officers predicated upon an express or implied right of action under the Declaration of Trust or U.S. federal securities laws (excepting direct shareholder actions expressly provided by U.S. federal securities laws), unless the shareholder has obtained authorization from the Trustees to bring the action. The requirement of authorization shall not be excused under any circumstances, including claims of alleged interest on the part of the Trustees.
The Trustees of the Trust shall consider any demand or request for authorization to bring or maintain a court action, proceeding or claim within 90 days of its receipt by the Trust . In their sole discretion, the Trustees may submit the matter to a vote of shareholders of the Trust or of any series or class of shares, as appropriate. Any decision by the Trustees to settle or to authorize (or not to settle or to authorize) such court action, proceeding or claim, or to submit the matter to a vote of shareholders, shall be binding upon the shareholder seeking authorization.
Any person purchasing or otherwise holding any interest in shares of beneficial interest of the Trust will be deemed to have notice of and consented to the foregoing provisions. These provisions may limit a shareholder’s ability to bring a claim against the Trustees, officers or other employees of the Trust and/or its service providers.
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 219 |
Purchase, Redemption and Pricing of Shares
Purchase and Redemption
An investor may buy, sell and transfer shares in the Funds utilizing the methods, and subject to the restrictions, described in the Funds’ prospectuses. The following information supplements information in the Funds’ prospectuses.
Purchases and redemptions of shares of the Funds may be effected on a Business Day. Each Trust and the Distributor reserve the right to reject any purchase or redemption order. The issuance of shares is recorded on the books of the Trust, and share certificates are not issued. Purchase orders for shares in the Funds that are received by the Distributor or by the Transfer Agent before the end of the Business Day (typically 4:00 p.m., Eastern time) are priced according to the net asset value determined on that day but are not executed until 4:00 p.m., Eastern time, on the Business Day on which immediately available funds in payment of the purchase price are received by the Fund’s Custodian. Redemption orders for sales of Fund shares received in good form (as defined in the Fund's prospectus) by the Distributor or by the Transfer Agent before the end of the Business Day are priced according to the net asset value determined on that day. The Business Day that applies to your purchase or redemption order is also called the trade date.
The Funds have authorized one or more broker-dealers to accept buy and sell orders on the Funds’ behalf. These broker-dealers are authorized to designate other intermediaries to accept buy and sell orders on the Funds’ behalf. The Funds will be deemed to have received a buy or sell order when an authorized broker-dealer, or, if applicable, a broker-dealer’s authorized designee, accepts the order. Customer orders will be priced at each Fund’s net asset value next computed after they are accepted by an authorized broker-dealer or the broker’s authorized designee.
Should a Fund stop selling shares, the Board may make a deduction from the value of the assets held by the Fund to cover the cost of future liquidations of the assets so as to distribute these costs fairly among all shareholders.
The Trust also may make payment for sales in readily marketable securities or other property if it is appropriate to do so in light of the Trust’s responsibilities under the 1940 Act.
Under the 1940 Act, the Funds may suspend the right of redemption or postpone the date of payment for shares during any period when (i) trading on the NYSE is restricted by applicable rules and regulations of the SEC; (ii) the NYSE is closed for other than customary weekend and holiday closings; (iii) the SEC has by order permitted such suspension; (iv) an emergency exists as determined by the SEC. (The Funds may also suspend or postpone the recordation of the transfer of their shares upon the occurrence of any of the foregoing conditions).
The Trust has elected to be governed by Rule 18f-1 under the 1940 Act, as a result of which each Fund is obligated to redeem shares, subject to the exceptions listed above, with respect to any one shareholder during any 90-day period, solely in cash up to the lesser of $250,000 or 1% of the net asset value of each Fund at the beginning of the period. Although redemptions in excess of this limitation would normally be paid in cash, the Fund reserves the right to make these payments in whole or in part in securities or other assets in case of an emergency, or if the payment of a redemption in cash would be detrimental to the existing shareholders of the Fund as determined by the Board. In these circumstances, the securities distributed would be valued as set forth in this SAI. Should a Fund distribute securities, a shareholder may incur brokerage fees or other transaction costs in converting the securities to cash.
The timing and magnitude of cash inflows from investors buying Fund shares could prevent a Fund from always being fully invested. Conversely, the timing and magnitude of cash outflows to investors redeeming Fund shares could require large ready reserves of uninvested cash to meet shareholder redemptions. Either situation could adversely impact a Fund’s performance.
Anti-Money Laundering Compliance
The Funds are required to comply with various anti-money laundering laws and regulations. Consequently, the Funds may request additional required information from you to verify your identity. Your application will be rejected if it does not contain your name, social security number, date of birth and permanent street address. If at any time the Funds believe a shareholder may be involved in suspicious activity or if certain account information matches information on government lists of suspicious persons, the Funds may choose not to establish a new account or may be required to “freeze” a shareholder’s account. The Funds also may be required to provide a governmental agency with information about transactions that have occurred in a shareholder’s account or to transfer monies received to establish a new account, transfer an existing account or transfer the proceeds of an existing account to a governmental agency. In some circumstances, the law may not permit the Funds to inform the shareholder that it has taken the actions described above.
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Pay-out Plans
You can use any of several pay-out plans to redeem your investment in regular installments. If you redeem shares, you may be subject to a contingent deferred sales charge as discussed in the prospectus. While the plans differ on how the pay-out is figured, they all are based on the redemption of your investment. Net investment income dividends and any capital gain distributions will automatically be reinvested, unless you elect to receive them in cash. If you redeem an IRA or a qualified retirement account, certain restrictions, federal tax penalties, and special federal income tax reporting requirements may apply. You should consult your tax advisor about this complex area of the tax law.
Applications for a systematic investment in a class of a Fund subject to a sales charge normally will not be accepted while a pay-out plan for any of those Funds is in effect. Occasional investments, however, may be accepted.
To start any of these plans, please consult your financial intermediary. Your authorization must be received at least five days before the date you want your payments to begin. Payments will be made on a monthly, bimonthly, quarterly, semiannual, or annual basis. Your choice is effective until you change or cancel it.
Offering Price
The share price of each Fund is based on each Fund’s net asset value (NAV) per share, which is calculated separately for each class of shares as of the end of the Business Day.
The value of each Fund’s portfolio securities is determined in accordance with the Trust’s valuation procedures, which are approved by the Board. Except as described below under “Fair Valuation of Portfolio Securities,” the Fund’s portfolio securities are typically valued using the following methodologies:
Equity Securities. Equity securities listed on an exchange are valued at the closing price or last trade on their primary exchange at the close of business of the New York Stock Exchange. Securities with a closing price not readily available or not listed on any exchange are valued at the mean between the closing bid and asked prices. Listed preferred stocks convertible into common stocks are valued using an evaluated price from a pricing service. Shares of other open-end investment companies (other than ETFs) are valued at the latest net asset value reported by those companies as of the valuation time.
Fixed Income Securities. Debt securities (including convertible securities) with remaining maturities in excess of 60 days are valued at market value based on an evaluated bid, which may be obtained from a pricing service. If pricing information is unavailable from a pricing service or is not believed to be reflective of market value, then a security may be valued at a bid quote from a broker-dealer, or, if a bid quote from a broker-dealer is not available, at fair value. Debt securities with remaining maturities of 60 days or less are valued on the basis of amortized cost. Under this method of valuation, the security is initially valued at cost on the date of purchase or, in the case of securities purchased with more than 60 days remaining to maturity, the market value on the 61st day prior to maturity. Thereafter the fund assumes a constant proportionate amortization in value until maturity of any discount or premium, regardless of the impact of fluctuating interest rates on the market value of the security. If the amortized cost value of such securities is not reflective of market value, then the valuation process for debt securities with remaining maturities in excess of 60 days will be applied. Short-term variable rate demand notes are typically valued at par value. Newly issued debt securities may be valued at purchase price for up to two days following purchase or at fair value if the purchase price is not believed to be reflective of market value.
Futures, Options and Other Derivatives. Futures and options on futures are valued based on the settlement price as determined by their principal exchange or, in the absence of settlement price, they are valued at the mean of the closing bid and ask. Listed options are valued at the mean of the closing bid and asked prices. If market quotations are not readily available, futures and options are valued using quotations from broker-dealers. Customized derivative products are valued at a price provided by a pricing service or, if such a price is unavailable, a broker quote or at a price derived from an internal valuation model.
Repurchase and Reverse Repurchase Agreements. Repurchase and reverse repurchase agreements are generally valued at a price equal to the amount of cash invested in the repurchase agreement, or borrowed in the reverse repurchase agreement, respectively, at the time of valuation.
Bank Loans. Bank loans purchased in the primary market are typically valued at acquisition cost for up to two days, and are then valued using a market quotation from a pricing service or quote from a broker-dealer, or if such quotes are unavailable, fair value. For bank loans trading in the secondary market, prices are obtained from a pricing service and are based upon the average of one or more indicative bids from broker-dealers.
Private Placement Securities. Private placement securities requiring fair valuation are typically valued utilizing prices from broker-dealers or using internal analysis and any issuer-provided financial information.
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Foreign Currencies. Foreign currencies, securities denominated in foreign currencies and payables/receivables denominated in foreign currencies are valued in U.S. dollars utilizing spot exchange rates at the close of regular trading on the NYSE. Forward foreign currency contracts are valued in U.S. dollars utilizing the applicable forward currency exchange rate as of the close of regular trading on the NYSE.
Fair Valuation of Portfolio Securities. In the event that (i) market quotations or valuations from other sources are not readily available, such as when trading is halted or securities are not actively traded; (ii) market quotations or valuations from other sources are not reflective of market value (i.e., such prices or values are deemed unreliable in the judgment of the Investment Manager); or (iii) a significant event has been recognized in relation to a security or class of securities that is not reflected in market quotations or valuations from other sources, such as when an event impacting a foreign security occurs after the closing of the security’s foreign exchange but before the closing of the NYSE, a fair value for each such security is determined in accordance with valuation procedures approved by the Board. The fair value of a security is likely to be different from the quoted or published price and fair value determinations often require significant judgment.
In general, any relevant factors may be taken into account in determining fair value, including but not limited to the following, among others: the fundamental analytical data relating to the security; the value of other financial instruments, including derivative securities traded on other markets or among dealers; trading volumes on markets, exchanges, or among dealers; values of baskets of securities traded on other markets, exchanges, or among dealers; changes in interest rates; observations from financial institutions; government actions or pronouncements; other news events; information as to any transactions or offers with respect to the security; price and extent of public trading in similar securities of the issuer or comparable companies; nature and expected duration of the event, if any, giving rise to the valuation issue; pricing history; the relative size of the position in the portfolio; internal models; and other relevant information.
With respect to securities traded on foreign markets, relevant factors may include, but not be limited to, the following: the value of foreign securities traded on other foreign markets; ADR and/or GDR trading; closed-end fund trading; foreign currency exchange activity and prices; and the trading of financial products that are tied to baskets of foreign securities, such as certain exchange-traded index funds. A systematic independent fair value pricing service assists in the fair valuation process for foreign securities in order to adjust for possible changes in value that may occur between the close of the foreign exchange and the time at which a Fund’s NAV is determined. Although the use of this service is intended to decrease opportunities for time zone arbitrage transactions, there can be no assurance that it will successfully decrease arbitrage opportunities.
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TAXATION
The following information supplements and should be read in conjunction with the section in the Funds’ prospectuses entitled Distributions and Taxes. The prospectuses generally describe the U.S. federal income tax treatment of distributions by the Funds. This section of the SAI provides additional information concerning U.S. federal income taxes. It is based on the Code, applicable U.S. Treasury Regulations, judicial authority, and administrative rulings and practice, all as in effect as of the date of this SAI and all of which are subject to change, including changes with retroactive effect. Except as specifically set forth below, the following discussion does not address any state, local or foreign tax matters. The Funds may or may not invest in all of the securities or other instruments described in this Taxation section. Please see the Funds' prospectuses for information about a Fund's investments, as well as each Fund’s semiannual and annual shareholder reports.
A shareholder’s tax treatment may vary depending upon his or her particular situation. This discussion applies only to shareholders holding Fund shares as capital assets within the meaning of the Code. Except as otherwise noted, it may not apply to certain types of shareholders who may be subject to special rules, such as insurance companies, tax-exempt organizations, shareholders holding Fund shares through tax-advantaged accounts (such as 401(k) Plan Accounts or Individual Retirement Accounts, variable annuity contracts or variable life insurance contracts), financial institutions, broker-dealers, entities that are not organized under the laws of the United States or a political subdivision thereof, persons who are neither citizens nor residents of the United States, shareholders holding Fund shares as part of a hedge, straddle, or conversion transaction, shareholders who are subject to the U.S. federal alternative minimum tax, trusts, estates, pass-through entities or investors in such entities, “controlled foreign corporations,” “passive foreign investment companies,” persons eligible for benefits under an income tax treaty to which the United States is a party, or persons otherwise subject to special treatment under the Code.
The Trust has not requested and will not request an advance ruling from the IRS as to the U.S. federal income tax matters described below. The IRS could adopt positions contrary to those discussed below and such positions could be sustained. In addition, the following discussion and the discussions in the prospectuses address only some of the U.S. federal income tax considerations generally affecting investments in the Funds. Prospective shareholders are urged to consult with their own tax advisors and financial planners regarding the U.S. federal tax consequences of an investment in a Fund, the application of state, local, or foreign laws, and the effect of any possible changes in applicable tax laws on their investment in the Funds.
Qualification as a Regulated Investment Company
It is intended that each Fund qualify as a “regulated investment company” under Subchapter M of Subtitle A, Chapter 1 of the Code. Each Fund will be treated as a separate entity for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Thus, the provisions of the Code applicable to regulated investment companies generally will apply separately to each Fund, even though each Fund is a series of the Trust. Furthermore, each Fund will separately determine its income, gains, losses, and expenses for U.S. federal income tax purposes.
In order to qualify for the special tax treatment accorded regulated investment companies and their shareholders under the Code, each Fund must, among other things, derive at least 90% of its gross income each taxable year generally from (i) dividends, interest, certain payments with respect to securities loans, gains from the sale or other disposition of stock, securities or foreign currencies, or other income attributable to its business of investing in such stock, securities or foreign currencies (including, but not limited to, gains from options, futures or forward contracts) and (ii) net income derived from an interest in a qualified publicly traded partnership, as defined below. In general, for purposes of this 90% gross income requirement, income derived from a partnership (other than a qualified publicly traded partnership) will be treated as qualifying income only to the extent such income is attributable to items of income of the partnership which would be qualifying income if realized directly by the regulated investment company. However, 100% of the net income derived from an interest in a qualified publicly traded partnership (generally, defined as a partnership (x) the interests in which are traded on an established securities market or readily tradable on a secondary market or the substantial equivalent thereof, and (y) that derives less than 90% of its gross income from the qualifying income described in clause (i) above) will be treated as qualifying income. In general, such entities will be treated as partnerships for U.S. federal income tax purposes if they meet the passive income requirement under Section 7704(c)(2) of the Code. Certain of a Fund’s investments in master limited partnerships (MLPs) and ETFs, if any, may qualify as interests in qualified publicly traded partnerships. In addition, although in general the passive loss rules do not apply to a regulated investment company, such rules do apply to a regulated investment company with respect to items attributable to an interest in a qualified publicly traded partnership.
Each Fund must also diversify its holdings so that, at the end of each quarter of the Fund’s taxable year: (i) at least 50% of the fair market value of its total assets consists of (A) cash and cash items (including receivables), U.S. Government securities and securities of other regulated investment companies, and (B) other securities, of any one issuer (other than those described in clause (A)) to the extent such securities do not exceed 5% of the value of the Fund’s total assets and are not more than 10% of the outstanding voting securities of such issuer, and (ii) not more than 25% of the value of the Fund’s total assets is invested in, including through corporations in which the Fund owns a 20% or more voting stock interest, the securities of any one issuer
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(other than those described in clause (i)(A)), the securities (other than securities of other regulated investment companies) of two or more issuers the Fund controls and which are engaged in the same, similar, or related trades or businesses, or the securities of one or more qualified publicly traded partnerships.
In addition, for purposes of meeting this diversification requirement, the term “outstanding voting securities of such issuer” includes the equity securities of a qualified publicly traded partnership and in the case of a Fund’s investments in loan participations, the Fund shall treat both the financial intermediary and the issuer of the underlying loan as an issuer. The qualifying income and diversification requirements described above may limit the extent to which a Fund can engage in certain derivative transactions, as well as the extent to which it can invest in MLPs and certain commodity-linked ETFs.
In addition, each Fund generally must distribute to its shareholders at least 90% of its investment company taxable income for the taxable year, which generally includes its ordinary income and the excess of any net short-term capital gain over net long-term capital loss, and at least 90% of its net tax-exempt interest income (if any) for the taxable year.
If a Fund qualifies as a regulated investment company that is accorded special tax treatment, it generally will not be subject to U.S. federal income tax on any of the investment company taxable income and net capital gain (i.e., the excess of net long-term capital gain over net short-term capital loss) it distributes to its shareholders. Each Fund generally intends to distribute, at least annually, substantially all of its investment company taxable income (computed without regard to the dividends-paid deduction) and its net capital gain. However, no assurance can be given that a Fund will not be subject to U.S. federal income taxation. Any investment company taxable income or net capital gain retained by a Fund will be subject to tax at the corporate rate.
If a Fund retains any net capital gain, it will be subject to a tax at the corporate rate on the amount retained, but may designate the retained amount as undistributed capital gains in a timely notice to its shareholders, who (i) will be required to include in income for U.S. federal income tax purposes, as long-term capital gain, their shares of such undistributed amount, and (ii) will be entitled to credit their proportionate shares of the tax paid by the Fund on such undistributed amount against their U.S. federal income tax liabilities, if any, and to claim refunds to the extent the credit exceeds such liabilities. For U.S. federal income tax purposes, the tax basis of shares owned by a shareholder of a Fund will be increased by an amount equal under current law to the difference between the amount of undistributed capital gains included in the shareholder’s gross income under clause (i) of the preceding sentence and the tax deemed paid by the shareholder under clause (ii) of the preceding sentence.
In determining its net capital gain, including in connection with determining the amount available to support a Capital Gain Dividend (as defined below), its taxable income, and its earnings and profits, a regulated investment company generally may elect to treat part or all of any post-October capital loss (defined as any net capital loss attributable to the portion, if any, of the taxable year after October 31 or, if there is no such loss, the net long-term capital loss or net short-term capital loss attributable to such portion, if any, of the taxable year) or late-year ordinary loss (generally, the sum of its (i) net ordinary loss from the sale, exchange or other taxable disposition of property, attributable to the portion, if any, of the taxable year after October 31 and its (ii) other net ordinary loss attributable to the portion, if any, of the taxable year after December 31) as if incurred in the succeeding taxable year.
In order to comply with the distribution requirements described above applicable to regulated investment companies, a Fund generally must make the distributions in the same taxable year that it realizes the income and gain, although in certain circumstances, a Fund may make the distributions in the following taxable year in respect of income and gains from the prior taxable year. Shareholders generally are taxed on any distributions from a Fund in the year they are actually distributed. If a Fund declares a distribution to shareholders of record in October, November or December of one calendar year and pays the distribution in January of the following calendar year, however, the Fund and its shareholders will be treated as if the Fund paid the distribution on December 31 of the earlier year.
If a Fund were to fail to meet the income, diversification or distribution tests described above, the Fund could in some cases cure such failure including by paying a fund-level tax or interest, making additional distributions, or disposing of certain assets. If the Fund were ineligible to or otherwise did not cure such failure for any year, or were otherwise to fail to qualify and be eligible for treatment as a regulated investment company accorded special tax treatment under the Code, it would be taxed in the same manner as an ordinary corporation without any deduction for its distributions to shareholders. In this case, all distributions from the Fund’s current and accumulated earnings and profits (including any distributions of its net tax-exempt income and net long-term capital gains) to its shareholders would be taxable to shareholders as dividend income. In addition, the Fund could be required to recognize unrealized gains, pay substantial taxes and interest and make substantial distributions before requalifying as a regulated investment company.
Excise Tax
If a Fund fails to distribute by December 31 of each calendar year at least the sum of 98% of its ordinary income for that year (excluding capital gains and losses) and 98.2% of its capital gain net income (adjusted for net ordinary losses) for the 1-year period ending on October 31 of that year (or November 30 or December 31 of that year if the Fund is permitted to elect and so elects), and any of its ordinary income and capital gain net income from previous years that were not distributed during such
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years, the Fund will be subject to a nondeductible 4% excise tax on the undistributed amounts. For these purposes, ordinary gains and losses from the sale, exchange, or other taxable disposition of property that would be properly taken into account after October 31 of a calendar year (or November 30 if the Fund makes the election described above) are generally treated as arising on January 1 of the following calendar year; in the case of a Fund with a December 31 year end that makes the election described above, no such gains or losses will be so treated. For purposes of the excise tax, a Fund will be treated as having distributed any amount on which it has been subject to corporate income tax in the taxable year ending within the calendar year. Each Fund generally intends to actually distribute or be deemed to have distributed substantially all of its ordinary income and capital gain net income, if any, by the end of each calendar year and, thus, expects not to be subject to the excise tax. However, no assurance can be given that a Fund will not be subject to the excise tax. Moreover, a Fund reserves the right to pay an excise tax rather than make an additional distribution when circumstances warrant (for example, if the amount of excise tax to be paid is deemed de minimis by a Fund).
Capital Loss Carryovers
Capital losses in excess of capital gains (net capital losses) are not permitted to be deducted against a Fund’s net investment income. Instead, potentially subject to certain limitations, a Fund is able to carry forward a net capital loss from any taxable year to offset its capital gains, if any, realized during a subsequent taxable year.
Capital loss carry forwards are reduced to the extent they offset current-year net realized capital gains, whether the Fund retains or distributes such gains. A Fund may carry net capital losses forward to one or more subsequent taxable years without expiration; any such carryover losses will retain their character as short-term or long-term. The Fund must apply such carryforwards first against gains of the same character.
Capital gains that are offset by carried forward capital losses are not subject to fund-level U.S. federal income taxation, regardless of whether they are distributed to shareholders. Accordingly, the Funds do not expect to distribute any capital gains so offset. The Funds cannot carry back or carry forward any net operating losses (defined as deductions and ordinary losses in excess of ordinary income).
The total capital loss carryovers below include post-October capital losses, if applicable.
Capital Loss Carryovers
| Fund |
Total
Capital Loss Carryovers |
Amount not Expiring | |
| Short-term | Long-term | ||
| For Funds with fiscal period ending April 30 | |||
| Multi-Asset Income Fund | $11,291,288 | $11,291,288 | $0 |
| For Funds with fiscal period ending May 31 | |||
| HY Municipal Fund | $14,719,125 | $2,414,723 | $12,304,402 |
| Multi Strategy Alternatives Fund | $72,742,578 | $57,398,031 | $15,344,547 |
| For Funds with fiscal period ending July 31 | |||
| Ultra Short Term Bond Fund | $11,864,542 | $4,223,106 | $7,641,436 |
| For Funds with fiscal period ending August 31 | |||
| Emerging Markets Fund | $38,898,952 | $38,898,952 | $0 |
| MM Alternative Strategies Fund | $37,374,579 | $7,853,328 | $29,521,251 |
| MM International Equity Strategies Fund | $153,342,164 | $58,494,001 | $94,848,163 |
| Overseas SMA Completion Portfolio | $8,120 | $8,120 | $0 |
| Strategic Income Fund | $24,310,255 | $4,490,546 | $19,819,709 |
| For Funds with fiscal period ending October 31 | |||
| CT Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund | $104,044 | $80,644 | $23,400 |
Equalization Accounting
Each Fund may use the so-called “equalization method” of accounting to allocate a portion of its “accumulated earnings and profits,” which generally equals a Fund’s undistributed net investment income and realized capital gains, with certain adjustments, to redemption proceeds. This method permits a Fund to achieve more balanced distributions for both continuing and redeeming shareholders. Although using this method generally will not affect a Fund’s total returns, it may reduce the amount of income and gains that the Fund would otherwise distribute to continuing shareholders by reducing the effect of redemptions of Fund shares on Fund distributions to shareholders. The IRS has not sanctioned the particular equalization method used by the Funds, and thus a Fund’s use of this method may be subject to IRS scrutiny.
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Taxation of Fund Investments
In general, realized gains or losses on the sale of securities held by a Fund will be treated as capital gains or losses, and long-term capital gains or losses if the Fund has held or is deemed to have held the securities for more than one year at the time of disposition.
For U.S. federal income tax purposes, debt securities purchased by the Funds may be treated as having original issue discount (OID) (generally a debt obligation with an issue price less than its stated principal amount, such as a zero-coupon bond), which is generally treated as interest for U.S. federal income tax purposes. If a Fund purchases a debt obligation with OID, which exceeds a de minimis amount, the Fund may be required to annually include in its income a portion of the OID as ordinary income, even though the Fund will not receive cash payments for such discount until maturity or disposition of the obligation, and depending on market conditions and the credit quality of the bond, might not ever receive cash for such discount. OID on tax-exempt bonds is generally not subject to U.S. federal income tax (but may be subject to the U.S. federal alternative minimum tax or "AMT," as that term is defined below). Inflation-protected bonds generally can be expected to produce OID income as their principal amounts are adjusted upward for inflation.
Debt securities may be purchased by a Fund at a discount which exceeds the original issue discount remaining on the securities, if any, at the time a Fund purchased the securities. This additional discount represents market discount for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Generally, market discount is accrued on a daily basis. In general, gains recognized on the disposition of (or the receipt of any partial payment of principal on) a debt obligation (including a municipal obligation) purchased by a Fund at a market discount (other than a de minimis market discount), generally at a price less than its principal amount, will be treated as ordinary income to the extent of the portion of market discount which accrued, subject to the discussion below regarding Section 451 of the Code, but was not previously recognized pursuant to an available election, during the term that the Fund held the debt obligation. Notwithstanding the foregoing, effective for taxable years beginning after 2017, Section 451 of the Code generally requires an accrual method taxpayer to take into account items of gross income no later than the time at which such items are taken into account as revenue in the taxpayer's financial statements. The IRS and the Department of Treasury have issued proposed regulations providing that this rule does not apply to the accrual of market discount. If this rule were to apply to the accrual of market discount, a Fund would be required to include in income any market discount as it takes the same into account on its financial statements even if a Fund does not otherwise elect to accrue market discount currently for federal income tax purposes. Many Funds are currently including market discount in taxable income as it accrues, however, certain Tax-Exempt Funds are not, and such Funds could be affected by the potential application of Section 451. Funds that apply the de minimis market discount rule could also be affected by the potential application of Section 451.
A Fund generally will be required to make distributions to shareholders representing the OID or market discount (if an election is made by the Fund to include market discount over the holding period of the applicable debt obligation, subject to the discussion above regarding Section 451 of the Code) on debt securities that is currently includible in income, even though the cash representing such income may not have been received by the Fund, and depending on market conditions and the credit quality of the bond, might not ever be received. Cash to pay such distributions may be obtained from borrowing or from sales proceeds of securities held by a Fund which the Fund otherwise might have continued to hold; obtaining such cash might be disadvantageous for the Fund. In addition, payment-in-kind securities similarly will give rise to income which is required to be distributed and is taxable even though a Fund receives no cash interest payment on the security during the year. A portion of the interest paid or accrued on certain high-yield discount obligations (such as high-yield corporate debt securities) may not (and interest paid on debt obligations owned by a Fund that are considered for tax purposes to be payable in the equity of the issuer or a related party will not) be deductible to the issuer, possibly affecting the cash flow of the issuer.
If a Fund invests in debt obligations that are in the lowest rating categories or are unrated, including debt obligations of issuers not currently paying interest or who are in default, special tax issues may exist for the Fund. Tax rules are not entirely clear about issues such as: (1) whether a Fund should recognize market discount on a debt obligation and, if so, (2) the amount of market discount the Fund should recognize, (3) when a Fund may cease to accrue interest, OID or market discount, (4) when and to what extent deductions may be taken for bad debts or worthless securities and (5) how payments received on obligations in default should be allocated between principal and income. These and other related issues will be addressed by a Fund when, as and if it invests in such securities, in order to seek to ensure that it distributes sufficient income to preserve its status and eligibility for treatment as a regulated investment company and does not become subject to U.S. federal income or excise tax.
Very generally, when a Fund purchases a bond at a price that exceeds the redemption price at maturity – that is, at a premium – the premium is amortizable over the remaining term of the bond if the Fund elected to amortize bond premium. In the case of a taxable bond, if a Fund makes an election applicable to all such bonds it purchases, which election is irrevocable without consent of the IRS, the Fund reduces the current taxable interest income from the bond by the amortized premium and reduces its tax basis in the bond by the amount of such offset; upon the disposition or maturity of such bonds acquired on or after January 4,
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2013, a Fund is permitted to deduct any remaining premium allocable to a prior period. In the case of a tax-exempt bond, tax rules require a Fund to reduce its tax basis and the tax-exempt interest available for exempt-interest dividends to shareholders by the amount of the amortized premium.
If an option granted by a Fund is sold, lapses or is otherwise terminated through a closing transaction, such as a repurchase by the Fund of the option from its holder, the Fund generally will realize a short-term capital gain or loss, depending on whether the premium income is greater or less than the amount paid by the Fund in the closing transaction, unless the option is subject to Section 1256 of the Code, described below. Some capital losses realized by a Fund in the sale, exchange, exercise or other disposition of an option may be deferred if they result from a position that is part of a “straddle,” discussed below. If securities are sold by a Fund pursuant to the exercise of a covered call option granted by it, the Fund generally will add the premium received to the sale proceeds of the securities delivered in determining the amount of gain or loss on the sale. If securities are purchased by a Fund pursuant to the exercise of a put option granted by it, the Fund generally will subtract the premium received from its cost basis in the securities purchased.
Some regulated futures contracts, foreign currency contracts, and non-equity, listed options that may be used by a Fund will be deemed “Section 1256 contracts.” A Fund will be required to “mark to market” any such contracts held at the end of the taxable year by treating them as if they had been sold on the last day of that year at market value. Sixty percent of any net gain or loss realized on all dispositions of Section 1256 contracts, including deemed dispositions under the “mark-to-market” rule, generally will be treated as long-term capital gain or loss, and the remaining forty percent will be treated as short-term capital gain or loss, although certain foreign currency gains and losses from such contracts may be treated as entirely ordinary income or loss as described below. These provisions may require a Fund to recognize income or gains without a concurrent receipt of cash. Transactions that qualify as designated hedges are exempt from the mark-to-market rule and the “60%/40%” rule and may require the Fund to defer the recognition of losses on certain futures contracts, foreign currency contracts, and non-equity options.
Foreign exchange gains and losses realized by a Fund in connection with certain transactions involving foreign currency-denominated debt securities, certain options, futures contracts, forward contracts and similar instruments relating to foreign currencies, or payables or receivables denominated in a foreign currency are subject to Section 988 of the Code, which generally causes such gains and losses to be treated as ordinary income or loss and may affect the amount and timing of recognition of the Fund’s income. Under future U.S. Treasury Regulations, any such transactions that are not directly related to a Fund’s investments in stock or securities (or its options contracts or futures contracts with respect to stock or securities) may have to be limited in order to enable the Fund to satisfy the 90% qualifying income test described above. If the net foreign exchange loss exceeds a Fund’s net investment company taxable income (computed without regard to such loss) for a taxable year, the resulting ordinary loss for such year will not be available as a carryover and thus cannot be deducted by the Fund or its shareholders in future years.
Offsetting positions held by a Fund involving certain derivative instruments, such as forward, futures and options contracts, may be considered, for U.S. federal income tax purposes, to constitute “straddles.” “Straddles” are defined to include “offsetting positions” in actively traded personal property. The tax treatment of “straddles” is governed by Section 1092 of the Code which, in certain circumstances, overrides or modifies the provisions of Section 1256. If a Fund is treated as entering into a “straddle” and at least one (but not all) of the Fund’s positions in derivative contracts comprising a part of such straddle is governed by Section 1256 of the Code, described above, then such straddle could be characterized as a “mixed straddle.” A Fund may make one or more elections with respect to “mixed straddles.” Depending upon which election is made, if any, the results with respect to a Fund may differ. Generally, to the extent the straddle rules apply to positions established by a Fund, losses realized by the Fund may be deferred to the extent of unrealized gain in any offsetting positions. Moreover, as a result of the straddle rules, short-term capital loss on straddle positions may be recharacterized as long-term capital loss, and long-term capital gain may be characterized as short-term capital gain. In addition, the existence of a straddle may affect the holding period of the offsetting positions. As a result, the straddle rules could cause distributions that would otherwise constitute “qualified dividend income” or qualify for the dividends-received deduction to fail to satisfy the applicable holding period requirements (as described below). Furthermore, the Fund may be required to capitalize, rather than deduct currently, any interest expense and carrying charges applicable to a position that is part of a straddle, including any interest on indebtedness incurred or continued to purchase or carry any positions that are part of a straddle. The application of the straddle rules to certain offsetting Fund positions can therefore affect the amount, timing, and character of distributions to shareholders, and may result in significant differences from the amount, timing and character of distributions that would have been made by the Fund if it had not entered into offsetting positions in respect of certain of its portfolio securities.
If a Fund enters into a “constructive sale” of any appreciated financial position in stock, a partnership interest, or certain debt instruments, the Fund will be treated as if it had sold and immediately repurchased the property and must recognize gain (but not loss) with respect to that position. A constructive sale of an appreciated financial position occurs when a Fund enters into certain offsetting transactions with respect to the same or substantially identical property, including, but not limited to: (i) a short sale;
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(ii) an offsetting notional principal contract; (iii) a futures or forward contract; or (iv) other transactions identified in future U.S. Treasury Regulations. The character of the gain from constructive sales will depend upon a Fund’s holding period in the appreciated financial position. Losses realized from a sale of a position that was previously the subject of a constructive sale will be recognized when the position is subsequently disposed of. The character of such losses will depend upon a Fund’s holding period in the position beginning with the date the constructive sale was deemed to have occurred and the application of various loss deferral provisions in the Code. Constructive sale treatment does not apply to certain closed transactions, including if such a transaction is closed on or before the 30th day after the close of the Fund’s taxable year and the Fund holds the appreciated financial position unhedged throughout the 60-day period beginning with the day such transaction was closed.
The amount of long-term capital gain a Fund may recognize from certain derivative transactions with respect to interests in certain pass-through entities is limited under the Code’s constructive ownership rules. The amount of long-term capital gain is limited to the amount of such gain the Fund would have had if the Fund directly invested in the pass-through entity during the term of the derivative contract. Any gain in excess of this amount is treated as ordinary income. An interest charge is imposed on the amount of gain that is treated as ordinary income.
If a Fund makes a distribution of income received by the Fund in lieu of dividends (a “substitute payment”) with respect to securities on loan pursuant to a securities lending transaction, such income will not constitute qualified dividend income to individual shareholders and will not be eligible for the dividends-received deduction for corporate shareholders. Similar consequences may apply to repurchase and other derivative transactions. Similarly, to the extent that the Funds make distributions of income received by such Fund in lieu of tax-exempt interest with respect to securities on loan, such distributions will not constitute exempt-interest dividends (defined below) to shareholders.
In addition, a Fund’s transactions in securities and certain types of derivatives (e.g., options, futures contracts, forward contracts and swap agreements) may be subject to other special tax rules, such as the “wash sale” rules or the short-sale rules, the effect of which may be to accelerate income to the Fund, defer losses to the Fund, cause adjustments in the holding periods of the Fund’s securities, convert long-term capital gains into short-term capital gains, and/or convert short-term capital losses into long-term capital losses. These rules could therefore affect the amount, timing and character of distributions to shareholders.
Certain of a Fund’s investments in derivative instruments and foreign currency-denominated instruments, as well as any of its foreign currency transactions and hedging activities, are likely to produce a difference between its book income and its taxable income. If a Fund’s book income exceeds the sum of its taxable income and net tax-exempt income (if any), the distribution (if any) of such excess generally will be treated as (i) a dividend to the extent of the Fund’s remaining earnings and profits (including earnings and profits arising from tax-exempt income), (ii) thereafter, as a return of capital to the extent of the recipient’s basis in its shares, and (iii) thereafter, as gain from the sale or exchange of a capital asset. If a Fund’s book income is less than the sum of its taxable income and net tax-exempt income (if any), the Fund could be required to make distributions exceeding book income to qualify for treatment as a regulated investment company that is accorded special tax treatment.
Rules governing the U.S. federal income tax aspects of derivatives, including swap agreements and certain commodity-linked investments, are not entirely clear in certain respects. Accordingly, while each Fund intends to account for such transactions in a manner it deems to be appropriate, an adverse determination or future guidance by the IRS with respect to these rules (which determination or guidance could be retroactive) may affect whether a Fund has made sufficient distributions, and otherwise satisfied the relevant requirements to maintain its qualification as a regulated investment company and avoid fund-level tax. Certain requirements that must be met under the Code in order for a Fund to qualify as a regulated investment company may limit the extent to which a Fund will be able to engage in certain derivatives or commodity-linked transactions.
Certain of the Funds employ a multi-manager approach in which the Investment Manager and one or more investment subadvisers each provide day-to-day portfolio management for a portion (or “sleeve”) of the Fund’s assets. Due to this multi-manager approach, certain of these Funds’ investments may be more likely to be subject to one or more special tax rules (including, but not limited to, wash sale, constructive sale, short sale, and straddle rules) that may affect the timing, character and/or amount of a Fund’s distributions to shareholders.
Any investment by a Fund in equity securities of a REIT may result in the Fund’s receipt of cash in excess of the REIT’s earnings; if the Fund distributes these amounts, these distributions could constitute a return of capital to Fund shareholders for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Dividends received by a Fund from a REIT generally will not constitute qualified dividend income and will not qualify for the dividends-received deduction. Distributions by a Fund to its shareholders that the Fund properly reports as “section 199A dividends,” as defined and subject to certain conditions described below, are treated as qualified REIT dividends in the hands of non-corporate shareholders. Non-corporate shareholders are permitted a federal income tax deduction equal to 20% of qualified REIT dividends received by them, subject to certain limitations. Very generally, a “section 199A dividend” is any dividend or portion thereof that is attributable to certain dividends received by a regulated investment company from REITs, to the extent such dividends are properly reported as such by the regulated investment company in a written notice to its shareholders. A section 199A dividend is treated as a qualified REIT dividend only if the shareholder receiving such dividend holds the dividend-paying regulated investment company shares for at least 46 days of the
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91-day period beginning 45 days before the shares become ex-dividend, and is not under an obligation to make related payments with respect to a position in substantially similar or related property. A Fund is permitted to report such part of its dividends as section 199A dividends as are eligible, but is not required to do so.
A Fund may invest directly or indirectly in residual interests in REMICs or equity interests in taxable mortgage pools (TMPs). Under an IRS notice, and U.S. Treasury Regulations that have yet to be issued but may apply retroactively, a portion of a Fund’s income (including income allocated to the Fund from a REIT, a regulated investment company or other pass-through entity) that is attributable to a residual interest in a REMIC or an equity interest in a TMP (referred to in the Code as an “excess inclusion”) will be subject to U.S. federal income tax in all events. This notice also provides, and the regulations are expected to provide, that excess inclusion income of a regulated investment company, such as a Fund, will be allocated to shareholders of the regulated investment company in proportion to the dividends received by such shareholders, with the same consequences as if the shareholders held the related interest directly. As a result, the Fund may not be a suitable investment for certain tax-exempt shareholders, as noted under Tax-Exempt Shareholders below.
In general, excess inclusion income allocated to shareholders (i) cannot be offset by net operating losses (subject to a limited exception for certain thrift institutions), (ii) will constitute unrelated business taxable income (UBTI) to entities (including a qualified pension plan, an individual retirement account, a 401(k) plan, a Keogh plan or certain other tax-exempt entities) subject to tax on UBTI, thereby potentially requiring such an entity that is allocated excess inclusion income, and otherwise might not be required to file a tax return, to file a tax return and pay tax on such income, and (iii) in the case of a foreign shareholder, will not qualify for any reduction in U.S. federal withholding tax.
Some amounts received by a Fund from its investments in MLPs will likely be treated as returns of capital because of accelerated deductions available with respect to the activities of MLPs. On the disposition of an investment in such an MLP, the Fund will likely realize taxable income in excess of economic gain from that asset (or, in later periods, if a Fund does not dispose of the MLP, the Fund will likely realize taxable income in excess of cash flow received by the Fund from the MLP), and the Fund must take such income into account in determining whether the Fund has satisfied its regulated investment company distribution requirements. The Fund may have to borrow or liquidate securities to satisfy its distribution requirements and meet its redemption requests, even though investment considerations might otherwise make it undesirable for the Fund to borrow money or sell securities at the time. In addition, distributions attributable to gain from the sale of MLPs that are characterized as ordinary income under the Code’s recapture provisions will be taxable to Fund shareholders as ordinary income. Subject to any future regulatory guidance to the contrary, any Fund distribution of income attributable to qualified publicly traded partnership income from a Fund’s investment in an MLP, will evidently not qualify for the deduction that could be available to a non-corporate shareholder were the shareholder to own such MLP directly.
As noted above, certain of the ETFs and MLPs in which a Fund may invest qualify as qualified publicly traded partnerships. In such cases, the net income derived from such investments will constitute qualifying income for purposes of the 90% gross income requirement described earlier for qualification as a regulated investment company. If, however, such a vehicle were to fail to qualify as a qualified publicly traded partnership in a particular year, a Fund’s investment in that vehicle would be treated as an investment in a publicly traded partnership subject to taxation as a corporation, which would reduce the amount of income available for distribution by the vehicle to the Fund, and could adversely affect the Fund’s qualification for the asset diversification test, and thus could adversely affect the Fund’s ability to qualify as a regulated investment company for a particular year. In addition, as described above, the diversification requirement for regulated investment company qualification will limit a Fund’s investments in one or more vehicles that are qualified publicly traded partnerships to 25% of the Fund’s total assets as of the end of each quarter of the Fund’s taxable year.
“Passive foreign investment companies” (PFICs) are generally defined as foreign corporations where at least 75% of their gross income for their taxable year is income from passive sources (such as certain interest, dividends, rents and royalties, or capital gains) or at least 50% of their assets on average produce or are held for the production of such passive income. If a Fund acquires any equity interest in a PFIC, the Fund could be subject to U.S. federal income tax and interest charges on “excess distributions” received from the PFIC or on gain from the sale of such equity interest in the PFIC, even if all income or gain actually received by the Fund is timely distributed to its shareholders. Excess distributions and gain from the sale of interests in PFICs may be characterized as ordinary income even though, absent the application of PFIC rules, these amounts may otherwise have been classified as capital gain.
A Fund will not be permitted to pass through to its shareholders any credit or deduction for these special taxes and interest charges incurred with respect to a PFIC. Elections may be available that would ameliorate these adverse tax consequences, but such elections would require a Fund to include its share of the PFIC’s income and net capital gains annually, regardless of whether it receives any distribution from the PFIC (in the case of a “QEF election”), or to mark the gains (and to a limited extent losses) in its interests in the PFIC “to the market” as though the Fund had sold and repurchased such interests on the last day of the Fund’s taxable year, treating such gains and losses as ordinary income and loss (in the case of a “mark-to-market election”). The QEF and mark-to-market elections may require a Fund to recognize taxable income or gain without the concurrent receipt
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of cash and increase the amount required to be distributed by the Fund to avoid taxation. Making either of these elections therefore may require a Fund to liquidate other investments prematurely to meet the minimum distribution requirements described above, which also may accelerate the recognition of gain and adversely affect the Fund’s total return. Each Fund may attempt to limit and/or manage its holdings in PFICs to minimize tax liability and/or maximize returns from these investments but there can be no assurance that it will be able to do so. Moreover, because it is not always possible to identify a PFIC, a Fund may incur the tax and interest charges described above in some instances. Dividends paid by a foreign corporation that, for its taxable year in which the dividend is paid or the preceding taxable year, is a PFIC will not be eligible to be treated as qualified dividend income, as defined below.
A U.S. person, including a Fund, who owns (directly or indirectly) 10% or more of the total combined voting power of all classes of stock of a foreign corporation or 10% or more of the total value of shares of all classes of stock of a foreign corporation is a “U.S. Shareholder” for purposes of the controlled foreign corporation (CFC) provisions of the Code. Generally, a CFC is a foreign corporation that is owned (directly, indirectly, or constructively determined by reference to complex ownership attribution rules under the Code) more than 50% (measured by voting power or value) by U.S. Shareholders.
Each Subsidiary of each of MM Alternative Strategies Fund and Multi Strategy Alternatives Fund is expected to be a CFC in which the Fund owning the Subsidiary will be a U.S. Shareholder. If the Fund is a U.S. Shareholder, such Fund will be required to include in gross income for U.S. federal income tax purposes all of a CFC’s “subpart F income,” whether or not such income is actually distributed by the CFC. Subpart F income generally includes net gains from the disposition of stocks or securities, receipts with respect to securities loans, net gains from transactions (including futures, forward, and similar transactions) in commodities, and net payments received with respect to equity swaps and similar derivatives. Subpart F income is treated as ordinary income, regardless of the character of the CFC’s underlying income. Net losses incurred by a CFC during a tax year do not flow through to the Fund and thus will not be available to offset income or capital gain generated from the Fund’s other investments. In addition, net losses incurred by a CFC during a tax year generally cannot be carried forward by the CFC to offset gains realized by it in subsequent taxable years. The Subsidiary may be required to sell investments in order to make cash payments to the Fund, including at a time when it may be disadvantageous to do so. Please refer to the section entitled Taxation – The Subsidiary for further information.
In addition, if any income earned by a Subsidiary were treated as “effectively connected” with the conduct of a trade or business in the United States (effectively connected income or ECI), such income would be subject to both a so-called “branch profits tax” and a U.S. federal income tax at the rates applicable to U.S. corporations, at the entity level. If, for U.S. federal income tax purposes, a Subsidiary were to earn ECI in connection with its direct investment activities, a portion or all of the Subsidiary’s income would be subject to these U.S. taxes. The Funds that own one or more Subsidiaries expect that, in general, the activities of the Subsidiaries will be conducted in such a manner that they will not be treated as engaged in a U.S. trade or business, but there can be no assurance that the entity will not recognize any effectively connected income. The imposition of U.S. taxes on ECI could significantly reduce shareholders’ returns on their investments in a Fund owning a Subsidiary subject to such taxes. The Fund does not expect that income from any Subsidiary will be eligible to be treated as qualified dividend income. In addition, the Fund does not expect that distributions from any Subsidiary will be eligible for the dividends-received deduction.
In addition to the investments described above, prospective shareholders should be aware that other investments made by a Fund may involve complex tax rules that may result in income or gain recognition by the Fund without corresponding current cash receipts. Although each Fund seeks to avoid significant noncash income, such noncash income could be recognized by a Fund, in which case the Fund may distribute cash derived from other sources in order to meet the minimum distribution requirements described above. In this regard, a Fund could be required at times to liquidate investments prematurely in order to satisfy its minimum distribution requirements, which may accelerate the recognition of gain and adversely affect the Fund’s total return.
Taxation of Distributions
Except for exempt-interest dividends (defined below) paid by a Fund, distributions paid out of a Fund’s current and accumulated earnings and profits, whether paid in cash or reinvested in the Fund, generally are deemed to be taxable distributions and must be reported by each shareholder who is required to file a U.S. federal income tax return. Dividends and distributions on a Fund’s shares are generally subject to U.S. federal income tax as described herein to the extent they do not exceed the Fund’s realized income and gains, even though such dividends and distributions may economically represent a return of a particular shareholder’s investment. Such distributions are likely to occur in respect of shares purchased at a time when the Fund’s net asset value reflects either unrealized gains, or realized but undistributed income or gains. Such realized income and gains may be required to be distributed even when the Fund’s net asset value also reflects unrealized losses. For U.S. federal income tax purposes, a Fund’s earnings and profits, described above, are determined at the end of the Fund’s taxable year. Distributions in excess of a Fund’s current and accumulated earnings and profits will first be treated as a return of capital up to the amount of a shareholder’s tax basis in his or her Fund shares and then as capital gain. A return of capital is not taxable, but it reduces a
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shareholder’s tax basis in his or her Fund shares, thus reducing any loss or increasing any gain on a subsequent taxable disposition by the shareholder of his or her shares. A Fund may make distributions in excess of its earnings and profits to a limited extent, from time to time.
For U.S. federal income tax purposes, distributions of investment income (except for exempt-interest dividends and qualified dividend income, each defined below) are generally taxable as ordinary income, and distributions of net gains from the sale of investments that a Fund owned (or is deemed to have owned) for one year or less will be taxable as ordinary income. Distributions properly reported by a Fund as capital gain dividends (Capital Gain Dividends) will be taxable to shareholders as long-term capital gain (to the extent such distributions do not exceed the Fund’s actual net long-term capital gain for the taxable year), regardless of how long a shareholder has held Fund shares, and do not qualify as dividends for purposes of the dividends-received deduction or as qualified dividend income (defined below). Each Fund will report Capital Gain Dividends, if any, in written statements furnished to its shareholders.
The IRS and the Department of the Treasury have issued proposed regulations that would impose special rules in respect of Capital Gain Dividends received through partnership interests constituting “applicable partnership interests” under Section 1061 of the Code.
Dividends reported by a Fund as qualified dividend income are generally taxed at long-term capital gain tax rates for individual shareholders. In general, “qualified dividend income” is income attributable to dividends received by a Fund from certain domestic and foreign corporations, as long as certain holding period and other requirements are met by the Fund with respect to the dividend-paying corporation’s stock and by the Fund's shareholders with respect to the Fund’s shares. If 95% or more of a Fund’s gross income (excluding net long-term capital gain over net short-term capital loss) constitutes qualified dividend income, all of its distributions (other than Capital Gain Dividends) will be generally treated as qualified dividend income in the hands of individual shareholders, as long as they have owned their Fund shares for at least 61 days during the 121-day period beginning 60 days before the Fund’s ex-dividend date (or, in the case of certain preferred stock, 91 days during the 181-day period beginning 90 days before such date) and meet certain other requirements specified in the Code. In general, if less than 95% of a Fund’s gross income is attributable to qualified dividend income, then only the portion of the Fund’s distributions that is attributable to qualified dividend income and reported as such in a timely manner will be so treated in the hands of individual shareholders who meet the aforementioned holding period requirements. The rules regarding the qualification of Fund distributions as qualified dividend income are complex, including the holding period requirements. Individual Fund shareholders therefore are urged to consult their own tax advisors and financial planners. Fixed income funds typically do not distribute significant amounts of qualified dividend income.
The Code generally imposes a 3.8% net investment income tax on certain high-income individuals, trusts and estates. For individuals, the 3.8% tax applies to the lesser of (1) the amount (if any) by which the taxpayer’s modified adjusted gross income exceeds certain threshold amounts or (2) the taxpayer’s “net investment income.” For this purpose, “net investment income” generally includes, among other things, (i) distributions paid by a Fund of net investment income and capital gains (other than exempt-interest dividends) as described above, and (ii) any net gain recognized on the sale, redemption, exchange or other taxable disposition of Fund shares. Certain details of the implementation of the tax remain subject to future guidance. Shareholders are advised to consult their tax advisors regarding the possible implications of this additional tax on their investment in a Fund.
As described above, if the Fund invests in REITs, the Fund may report “section 199A dividends” treated as qualified REIT dividends in the hands of non-corporate shareholders, who are permitted a federal income tax deduction equal to 20% of qualified REIT dividends received by them, subject to certain limitations.
Some states will not tax distributions made to individual shareholders that are attributable to interest a Fund earns on direct obligations of the U.S. Government if the Fund meets the state’s minimum investment or reporting requirements, if any. Investments in GNMA or FNMA securities, bankers’ acceptances, commercial paper, and repurchase agreements collateralized by U.S. government securities generally do not qualify for tax-free treatment. This exemption may not apply to corporate shareholders.
Sales and Exchanges of Fund Shares
Generally, if a shareholder sells or exchanges his or her Fund shares, he or she generally will realize a taxable capital gain or loss on the difference between the amount received for the shares (or deemed received in the case of an exchange) and his or her tax basis in the shares. This gain or loss will be long-term capital gain or loss if he or she has held (or is deemed to have held) such Fund shares for more than one year at the time of the sale or exchange, and short-term capital gain or loss otherwise.
If a shareholder incurs a sales charge in acquiring Fund shares and sells or exchanges those Fund shares within 90 days of having acquired such shares and if, as a result of having initially acquired those shares, he or she subsequently pays a reduced sales charge on a new purchase of shares of the Fund or a different regulated investment company, the sales charge previously incurred in acquiring the Fund’s shares generally shall not be taken into account (to the extent the previous sales charges do not
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exceed the reduction in sales charges on the new purchase) for the purpose of determining the amount of gain or loss on the disposition, but generally will be treated as having been incurred in the new purchase. This sales charge basis deferral rule shall apply only when a shareholder makes such new acquisition of Fund shares or shares of a different regulated investment company during the period beginning on the date the original Fund shares are disposed of and ending on January 31 of the calendar year following the calendar year the original Fund shares are disposed of. If a shareholder realizes a loss on a disposition of Fund shares, the loss generally will be disallowed under the “wash sale” rules to the extent that he or she purchases (including through the reinvestment of dividends) substantially identical shares within the 61-day period beginning 30 days before and ending 30 days after the disposition. Any disallowed loss generally will be reflected in an adjustment to the tax basis of the purchased shares.
If a shareholder receives a Capital Gain Dividend or is deemed to receive a distribution of long-term capital gain with respect to any Fund share and such Fund share is held or treated as held for six months or less, then (unless otherwise disallowed) any loss on the sale or exchange of that Fund share will be treated as a long-term capital loss to the extent of the Capital Gain Dividend or deemed long-term capital gain distribution. If Fund shares are sold at a loss after being held for six months or less, the loss will generally be disallowed to the extent of any exempt-interest dividends (defined below) received on those shares. However, this loss disallowance does not apply with respect to redemptions of Fund shares with a holding period beginning after December 22, 2010 if such Fund declares substantially all of its net tax-exempt income as exempt-interest dividends on a daily basis, and pays such dividends on at least a monthly basis (as would typically be the case for tax-exempt money market funds).
Cost Basis Reporting
Each Fund (or the shareholder’s financial intermediary, if Fund shares are held through a financial intermediary) generally is required to report to shareholders and the IRS gross proceeds on the sale, redemption or exchange of Fund shares. In addition, for shares purchased, including shares purchased through dividend reinvestment, on or after January 1, 2012, the Funds (or the shareholder’s financial intermediary) generally are required to provide the shareholders and the IRS, upon the sale, redemption or exchange of Fund shares, with cost basis information about those shares as well as information about whether any gain or loss is short- or long-term and whether any loss is disallowed under the “wash sale” rules. This reporting is not required for Fund shares held in a retirement or other tax-advantaged account. With respect to Fund shares in accounts held directly with a Fund, each Fund will calculate and report cost basis using the Fund’s default method of average cost, unless the shareholder instructs the Fund to use a different calculation method. A Fund will not report cost basis for shares whose cost basis is uncertain or unknown to the Fund. Please visit the Columbia Funds’ website at columbiathreadneedleus.com or contact the Funds at 800.345.6611 for more information regarding average cost basis reporting and other available methods for cost basis reporting and how to select or change a particular method or to choose specific shares to sell, redeem or exchange. If a shareholder retains Fund shares through a financial intermediary, he or she should contact such financial intermediary to learn about the Fund’s cost basis reporting default method and the reporting elections available to his or her account. The Funds do not recommend any particular method of determining cost basis. The shareholder should consult a tax advisor to determine which available cost basis method is best. When completing U.S. federal and state income tax returns, shareholders should carefully review the cost basis and other information provided and make any additional basis, holding period or other adjustments that may be required.
Foreign Taxes
Amounts realized by a Fund from sources within foreign countries may be subject to withholding and other taxes imposed by such countries. Tax conventions between certain countries and the United States may reduce or eliminate such taxes. If more than 50% of the value of a Fund’s total assets at the close of its taxable year consists of securities of foreign corporations, the Fund will be eligible to file an annual election with the IRS pursuant to which the Fund may pass through to its shareholders on a pro rata basis foreign income and similar taxes paid by the Fund with respect to foreign securities that the Fund has held for at least the minimum holding periods specified in the Code and such taxes may be claimed, subject to certain limitations, either as a tax credit or deduction by the shareholders. In some cases, a Fund may also be eligible to pass through to its shareholders the foreign taxes paid by underlying funds (as defined below) in which it invests that themselves elected to pass through such taxes to their shareholders, see Special Tax Considerations Pertaining to Funds-of-Funds below.
Certain Funds may qualify for and make the election; however, even if a Fund qualifies for the election for any year, it may determine not to make the election for such year. If a Fund does not so qualify or qualifies but does not so elect, then shareholders will not be entitled to claim a credit or deduction with respect to foreign taxes paid by or withheld from payments to the Fund. A Fund will notify its shareholders in written statements if it has elected for the foreign taxes paid by it to “pass through” for that year.
Certain Funds may qualify for and make the election; however, even if a Fund qualifies for the election for any year, it may determine not to make the election for such year. If a Fund does not so qualify or qualifies but does not so elect, then shareholders will not be entitled to claim a credit or deduction with respect to foreign taxes paid by or withheld from payments to the Fund. A Fund will notify its shareholders in written statements if it has elected for the foreign taxes paid by it to “pass through” for that year.
In general, if a Fund makes the election, the Fund itself will not be permitted to claim a credit or deduction for foreign taxes paid in that year, and the Fund’s dividends-paid deduction will be increased by the amount of foreign taxes paid that year. Fund shareholders generally shall include their proportionate share of the foreign taxes paid by the Fund in their gross income and treat that amount as paid by them for the purpose of the foreign tax credit or deduction, provided that any applicable holding period and other requirements have been met. If a shareholder claims a credit for foreign taxes paid, in general, the credit will be
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subject to certain limits. A deduction for foreign taxes paid may be claimed only by shareholders that itemize their deductions. Shareholders that are not subject to U.S. federal income tax, and those who invest in the Fund through tax-exempt accounts (including those who invest through IRAs or other tax-advantaged retirement plans), generally will receive no benefit from any tax credit or deduction passed through by the Fund.
If a taxpayer claims a foreign tax credit and the tax is later refunded, the taxpayer generally must notify the IRS, which redetermines the taxpayer’s U.S. income tax liability for the relevant years. The application of this rule to a Fund that has elected to pass through foreign tax credits to shareholders is not entirely clear. If a Fund receives a refund of foreign taxes paid in a prior year, the Fund may file amended income tax returns for the year or years in which such tax was paid, in which case shareholders during such year or years may owe additional tax, or, if eligible, the Fund may either (A) elect to apply the foreign tax netting approach described in Section 4 of Notice 2016-10 (or subsequently-issued regulations) with respect to such refund in the Fund’s current taxable year, or (B) request an IRS closing agreement with respect to the refund, as described in Section 5 of Notice 2016-10 (or subsequently-issued regulations). Very generally, if the foreign tax netting approach is used, the Fund would reduce the amount of foreign taxes reported to shareholders for the year in which the refund is received, thereby reducing the foreign tax credits passed through to shareholders for such year. If the Fund enters into an IRS closing agreement, the Fund may be required to pay a tax or other amount to the IRS. Therefore, this decision could affect the amount of foreign tax passed through to shareholders, and the amount of tax incurred by the Fund. The Fund is not required to distribute any foreign tax refunded.
Special Tax Considerations Pertaining to Tax-Exempt Funds
If, at the close of each quarter of a regulated investment company’s taxable year, at least 50% of the value of its total assets consists of obligations the interest on which is exempt from U.S. federal income tax under Section 103(a) of the Code, then the regulated investment company may qualify to pay “exempt-interest dividends” and pass through to its shareholders the tax-exempt character of its income from such obligations. Certain of the Funds intend to so qualify and are designed to provide shareholders with a high level of income in the form of exempt-interest dividends, which are generally exempt from U.S. federal income tax (each such qualifying Fund, a Tax-Exempt Fund). In some cases, a Fund may also be eligible to pass through to its shareholders the tax-exempt character of any exempt-interest dividends it receives from underlying funds (as defined below) in which it invests, see Special Tax Considerations Pertaining to Funds-of-Funds below.
Distributions by a Tax-Exempt Fund, other than those attributable to interest on the Tax-Exempt Fund’s tax-exempt obligations and properly reported as exempt-interest dividends, will be taxable to shareholders as ordinary income or long-term capital gain or, in some cases, could constitute a return of capital to shareholders. See Taxation of Distributions above. Each Tax-Exempt Fund will notify its shareholders in written statements of the portion of the distributions for the taxable year that constitutes exempt-interest dividends. The percentage of a shareholder’s income reported as tax-exempt for any particular distribution may be substantially different from the percentage of the Tax-Exempt Fund’s income that was tax-exempt during the period covered by the distribution. The deductibility of interest paid or accrued on indebtedness incurred by a shareholder to purchase or carry shares of a Tax-Exempt Fund may be limited. The portion of such interest that is non-deductible generally equals the amount of such interest times the ratio of a Tax-Exempt Fund’s exempt-interest dividends received by the shareholder to all of the Tax-Exempt Fund’s dividends received by the shareholder (excluding Capital Gain Dividends and any capital gains required to be included in the shareholder’s long-term capital gains in respect of capital gains retained by the Tax-Exempt Fund, as described earlier).
Although exempt-interest dividends are generally exempt from U.S. federal income tax, there may not be a similar exemption under the laws of a particular state or local taxing jurisdiction. Thus, exempt-interest dividends may be subject to state and local taxes; however, each state-specific Tax-Exempt Fund generally invests at least 80% of its net assets in municipal bonds that pay interest that is exempt not only from U.S. federal income tax, but also from the applicable state’s personal income tax (but not necessarily local taxes or taxes of other states).
You should consult your tax advisor to discuss the tax consequences of your investment in a Tax-Exempt Fund. Tax-exempt interest on certain “private activity bonds” has been designated as a “tax preference item” and must be added back to taxable income for purposes of calculating U.S. federal alternative minimum tax (AMT). To the extent that a Tax-Exempt Fund invests in certain private activity bonds, its shareholders will be required to report that portion of the Tax-Exempt Fund’s distributions attributable to income from the bonds as a tax preference item in determining their U.S. federal AMT, if any. Shareholders will be notified of the tax status of distributions made by a Tax-Exempt Fund. Persons who may be “substantial users” (or “related persons” of substantial users) of facilities financed by private activity bonds should consult their tax advisors before purchasing shares in a Tax-Exempt Fund. Shareholders with questions or concerns about the U.S. federal AMT should consult their own tax advisors.
Ordinarily, a Tax-Exempt Fund relies on an opinion from the issuer’s bond counsel that interest on the issuer’s obligation will be exempt from U.S. federal income taxation. However, no assurance can be given that the IRS will not successfully challenge such exemption, which could cause interest on the obligation to be taxable and could jeopardize a Tax-Exempt Fund’s ability to pay exempt-interest dividends. Similar challenges may occur as to state-specific exemptions. Also, from time to time legislation may
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be introduced or litigation may arise that would change the treatment of exempt-interest dividends. Such litigation or legislation may have the effect of raising the state or other taxes payable by shareholders on such dividends. Shareholders should consult their tax advisors for the current law on exempt-interest dividends.
A shareholder who receives Social Security or railroad retirement benefits should consult his or her tax advisor to determine what effect, if any, an investment in a Tax-Exempt Fund may have on the U.S. federal taxation of such benefits. Exempt-interest dividends are included in income for purposes of determining the amount of benefits that are taxable.
Special Tax Considerations Pertaining to Funds-of-Funds
Certain Funds (each such fund, a Fund-of-Funds) invest their assets primarily in shares of other mutual funds, ETFs or other companies that are regulated investment companies (collectively, underlying funds). Consequently, their income and gains will normally consist primarily of distributions from underlying funds and gains and losses on the disposition of shares of underlying funds. To the extent that an underlying fund realizes net losses on its investments for a given taxable year, a Fund-of-Funds will not be able to benefit from those losses until (i) the underlying fund realizes gains that it can reduce by those losses, or (ii) the Fund-of-Funds recognizes its share of those losses (so as to offset distributions of capital gains from other underlying funds) when it disposes of shares of the underlying fund. Moreover, even when a Fund-of-Funds does make such a disposition, a portion of its loss may be recognized as a long-term capital loss, which will not be treated as favorably for U.S. federal income tax purposes as a short-term capital loss or an ordinary deduction. In particular, a Fund-of-Funds will not be able to offset any capital losses from its dispositions of underlying fund shares against its ordinary income (including distributions of any net short-term capital gains realized by an underlying fund).
In addition, in certain circumstances, the “wash sale” rules may apply to sales of underlying fund shares by a Fund-of-Funds. As discussed above, a wash sale occurs if shares of an underlying fund are sold by a Fund-of-Funds at a loss and the Fund-of-Funds acquires additional shares of that same underlying fund within the period beginning 30 days before and ending 30 days after the date of the sale. The rules could defer losses of a Fund-of-Funds on sales of underlying fund shares (to the extent such sales are wash sales) for extended (and, in certain cases, potentially indefinite) periods of time.
As a result of the foregoing rules, and certain other special rules, it is possible that the amounts of net investment income and net capital gain that a Fund-of-Funds will be required to distribute to shareholders will be greater than such amounts would have been had the Fund-of-Funds invested directly in the securities held by the underlying funds, rather than investing in shares of the underlying funds. For similar reasons, the character of distributions from a Fund-of-Funds (e.g., long-term capital gain, exempt interest, eligibility for dividends-received deduction) will not necessarily be the same as it would have been had the Fund-of-Funds invested directly in the securities held by the underlying funds.
Depending on the percentage ownership of a Fund-of-Funds in an underlying fund before and after a redemption of underlying fund shares, the redemption of shares by the Fund-of-Funds of such underlying fund may cause the Fund-of-Funds to be treated as receiving a dividend in the full amount of the redemption proceeds instead of receiving a capital gain or loss on the redemption of shares of the underlying fund. This could be the case where a Fund-of-Funds holds a significant interest in an underlying fund that is not “publicly offered” (as defined in the Code) and redeems only a small portion of such interest. Dividend treatment of a redemption by a Fund-of-Funds would affect the amount and character of income required to be distributed by both the Fund-of-Funds and the underlying fund for the year in which the redemption occurred. It is possible that such a dividend would qualify as “qualified dividend income”; otherwise, it would be taxable as ordinary income and could cause shareholders of a Fund-of-Funds to recognize higher amounts of ordinary income than if the shareholders had held shares of the underlying fund directly.
If a Fund-of-Funds receives dividends from an underlying fund, and the underlying fund reports such dividends as “qualified dividend income,” as discussed below, then the Fund-of-Funds is permitted, in turn, to report a portion of its distributions as “qualified dividend income,” provided the Fund-of-Funds meets the holding period and other requirements with respect to shares of the underlying fund. If a Fund-of-Funds receives dividends from an underlying fund, and the underlying fund reports such dividends as eligible for the dividends-received deduction, then the Fund-of-Funds is permitted, in turn, to report a portion of its distributions as eligible for the dividends-received deduction, provided the Fund-of-Funds meets the holding period and other requirements with respect to shares of the underlying fund.
If a Fund-of-Funds is a “qualified fund-of-funds” (a regulated investment company that invests at least 50% of its total assets in other regulated investment companies at the close of each quarter of its taxable year), it will be able to distribute exempt-interest dividends and thereby pass through to its shareholders the tax-exempt character of any interest received on tax-exempt obligations in which it directly invests or any exempt-interest dividends it receives from underlying funds in which it invests. For further considerations pertaining to exempt-interest dividends, see Special Tax Considerations Pertaining to Tax-Exempt Funds above.
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Further, if a Fund-of-Funds is a qualified fund-of-funds, it will be able to elect to pass through to its shareholders any foreign income and other similar taxes paid by the Fund-of-Funds or paid by an underlying fund in which the Fund-of-Funds invests that itself elected to pass such taxes through to shareholders, so that shareholders of the Fund-of-Funds will be eligible to claim a tax credit or deduction for such taxes, subject to applicable limitations. However, even if a Fund-of-Funds qualifies to make the election for any year, it may determine not to do so. For further considerations pertaining to foreign taxes paid by a Fund, see Foreign Taxes above.
Finally, a Fund-of-Funds generally must look through its 20% voting interest in a corporation, including an underlying fund, to the underlying assets thereof for purposes of the diversification test; special rules potentially provide limited relief from the application of this rule where the Fund-of-Funds is a qualified fund-of-funds.
Backup Withholding
Each Fund generally is required to withhold, and remit to the U.S. Treasury, subject to certain exemptions, a percentage of all distributions and redemption proceeds (including proceeds from exchanges and redemptions in-kind) paid or credited to a Fund shareholder if (1) the shareholder fails to furnish the Fund with a correct “taxpayer identification number” (TIN) or has not certified to the Fund that withholding does not apply or (2) the IRS notifies the Fund that the shareholder’s TIN is incorrect or the shareholder is otherwise subject to backup withholding. These backup withholding rules may also apply to distributions that are properly reported as exempt-interest dividends (defined above). This backup withholding is not an additional tax imposed on the shareholder. The shareholder may apply amounts required to be withheld as a credit against his or her future U.S. federal income tax liability, provided that the required information is furnished to the IRS. If a shareholder fails to furnish a valid TIN upon request, the shareholder can also be subject to IRS penalties.
Tax-Deferred Plans
The shares of a Fund may be available for a variety of tax-deferred retirement and other tax-advantaged plans and accounts. Prospective investors should contact their tax advisors and financial planners regarding the tax consequences to them of holding Fund shares through such plans and/or accounts.
Corporate Shareholders
Subject to limitations and other rules, a corporate shareholder of a Fund may be eligible for the dividends-received deduction on Fund distributions attributable to dividends received by the Fund from domestic corporations, which, if received directly by the corporate shareholder, would qualify for such a deduction. For eligible corporate shareholders, the dividends-received deduction may be subject to certain reductions, and a distribution by a Fund attributable to dividends of a domestic corporation will be eligible for the deduction only if certain holding period and other requirements are met. For information regarding eligibility for the dividends-received deduction of dividend income derived by an underlying fund in which a Fund-of-Funds invests, see Special Tax Considerations Pertaining to Funds-of-Funds above. These requirements are complex; therefore, corporate shareholders of the Funds are urged to consult their own tax advisors and financial planners.
As discussed above, a portion of the interest paid or accrued on certain high-yield discount obligations that a Fund may own may not be deductible to the issuer. If a portion of the interest paid or accrued on these obligations is not deductible, that portion will be treated as a dividend. In such cases, if the issuer of the obligation is a domestic corporation, dividend payments by a Fund may be eligible for the dividends-received deduction to the extent of the dividend portion of such interest.
Foreign Shareholders
For purposes of this discussion, “foreign shareholders” generally include: (i) nonresident alien individuals, (ii) foreign trusts (i.e., a trust other than a trust with respect to which a U.S. court is able to exercise primary supervision over administration of that trust and one or more U.S. persons have authority to control substantial decisions of that trust), (iii) foreign estates (i.e., the income of which is not subject to U.S. tax regardless of source), and (iv) foreign corporations.
Distributions by a Fund made to foreign shareholders that are not “U.S. persons” within the meaning of the Code properly reported by a Fund as (1) Capital Gain Dividends, (2) short-term capital gain dividends, (3) interest-related dividends or (4) exempt-interest dividends, each as defined above or below, generally are not subject to withholding of U.S. federal income tax. In general, the Code defines (1) “short-term capital gain dividends” as distributions of net short-term capital gains in excess of net long-term capital losses and (2) “interest-related dividends” as distributions from U.S. source interest income of types similar to those not subject to U.S. federal income tax if earned directly by an individual foreign shareholder, in each case to the extent such distributions are properly reported as such by the Fund in a written notice to shareholders. The exceptions to withholding for Capital Gain Dividends and short-term capital gain dividends do not apply to (A) distributions to an individual foreign shareholder who is present in the United States for a period or periods aggregating 183 days or more during the year of the distribution and (B) distributions attributable to gain that is treated as effectively connected with the conduct by the foreign shareholder of a trade or business within the United States under special rules regarding the disposition of U.S. real property interests as described below. The exception to withholding for interest-related dividends does not apply to distributions to a
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foreign shareholder (A) that has not provided a satisfactory statement that the beneficial owner is not a U.S. person, (B) to the extent that the dividend is attributable to certain interest on an obligation if the foreign shareholder is the issuer or is a 10% shareholder of the issuer, (C) that is within certain foreign countries that have inadequate information exchange with the United States, or (D) to the extent the dividend is attributable to interest paid by a person that is a related person of the foreign shareholder and the foreign shareholder is a controlled foreign corporation.
If a Fund invests in a RIC that pays Capital Gain Dividends, short-term capital gain dividends, exempt-interest dividends, or interest-related dividends to the Fund, such distributions retain their character as not subject to withholding if properly reported when paid by the Fund to foreign shareholders (provided, in the case of exempt-interest dividends, that the Fund and the underlying RIC meet the requirements discussed in Special Tax Considerations Pertaining to Funds-of-Funds above).
A Fund is permitted to report such part of its dividends as interest-related and/or short-term capital gain dividends as are eligible, but is not required to do so. In the case of shares held through an intermediary, the intermediary may withhold even if a Fund reports all or a portion of a payment as a short-term capital gain or interest-related dividend. Foreign shareholders should contact their intermediaries regarding the application of these rules to their accounts.
Distributions by a Fund to foreign shareholders other than Capital Gain Dividends, short-term capital gain dividends, exempt-interest dividends, and interest-related dividends (e.g., dividends attributable to foreign-source dividend and interest income, or to short-term capital gains or U.S. source interest income to which the exception from withholding description above does not apply) are generally subject to U.S. federal income tax withheld at a rate of 30% (or lower applicable treaty rate).
In general, a foreign shareholder is not subject to U.S. federal income tax and withholding on gains (and is not allowed a deduction for losses) realized on the disposition of shares of a Fund unless: (i) such gain is effectively connected with the conduct by the foreign shareholder of a trade or business within the United States, (ii) in the case of a foreign shareholder that is an individual, the shareholder is present in the United States for a period or periods aggregating 183 days or more during the year of disposition and certain other conditions are met, or (iii) the special rules relating to gain attributable to the sale or exchange of “U.S. real property interests” (USRPIs) apply to the foreign shareholder’s sale of shares of the Fund (as described below).
Special rules apply if a Fund were a qualified investment entity (QIE) because it is either a “U.S. real property holding corporation” (USRPHC) or would be a USRPHC but for the operation of certain exceptions to the definition of USRPIs described below.
Generally, a USRPHC is a domestic corporation that holds USRPIs the fair market value of which equals or exceeds 50% of the sum of the fair market values of the corporation’s USRPIs, interests in real property located outside the United States and other trade or business assets.
USRPIs are generally defined as any interest in U.S. real property and any interest (other than solely as a creditor) in a USRPHC or, very generally, an entity that has been a USRPHC in the last five years. A Fund that holds, directly or indirectly, significant interests in REITs, may be a USRPHC. Interests in: (i) domestically controlled QIEs, including REITs and RICs that are QIEs, (ii) not-greater-than 10% interests in publicly traded classes of stock in REITs, and (iii) not-greater-than-5% interests in publicly traded classes of stock in RICs, generally are not USRPIs, but these exceptions do not apply for purposes of determining whether a Fund is a QIE.
If an interest in a Fund were a USRPI, the Fund would be required to withhold U.S. tax on the proceeds of a share redemption by a greater-than-5% foreign shareholder, in which case such foreign shareholder generally would also be required to file U.S. tax returns and pay any additional taxes due in connection with the redemption.
Moreover, if a Fund were a USRPHC or, very generally, had been one in the last five years, it would be required to withhold on amounts distributed to a greater-than-5% foreign shareholder to the extent such amounts would not be treated as a dividend, i.e., are in excess of the Fund’s current and accumulated “earnings and profits” for the applicable tax year. Such withholding generally is not required if the Fund is a domestically controlled QIE.
If a Fund is a QIE, under a special “look through” rule, any distributions by the Fund to a greater-than-5% foreign shareholder (including, in certain cases, distributions made by the Fund in redemption of its shares) that are attributable directly or indirectly to (i) distributions received by the Fund from a lower-tier RIC or REIT that the Fund is required to treat as USRPI gain in its hands and (ii) gains realized on the disposition of USRPIs by the Fund will retain their character as gains realized from USRPIs in the hands of the Fund’s foreign shareholders and will be subject to U.S. tax withholding. In addition, such distributions could result in the foreign shareholder being required to file a U.S. income tax return and pay tax on the distributions at regular U.S. federal income tax rates. The consequences to a foreign shareholder, including the rate of such withholding and character of such distributions (e.g., as ordinary income or USRPI gain), would vary depending upon the extent of the foreign shareholder’s current and past ownership of a Fund.
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Foreign shareholders of a Fund may also be subject to “wash sale” rules to prevent the avoidance of the foregoing tax-filing and payment obligations discussed above through the sale and repurchase of Fund shares.
Foreign shareholders should consult their tax advisors and, if holding shares through intermediaries, their intermediaries, concerning the application of these rules to their investment in a Fund.
Foreign shareholders with respect to whom income from a Fund is effectively connected with a trade or business conducted by the foreign shareholder within the United States will in general be subject to U.S. federal income tax on the income derived from the Fund at the graduated rates applicable to U.S. citizens, residents or domestic corporations, whether such income is received in cash or reinvested in shares of a Fund and, in the case of a foreign corporation, may also be subject to a branch profits tax. If a foreign shareholder is eligible for the benefits of a tax treaty, any effectively connected income or gain will generally be subject to U.S. federal income tax on a net basis only if it is also attributable to a permanent establishment maintained by the shareholder in the United States. More generally, foreign shareholders who are residents in a country with an income tax treaty with the United States may obtain different tax results than those described herein, and are urged to consult their tax advisors.
In order to qualify for any exemptions from withholding described above or for lower withholding tax rates under income tax treaties, or to establish an exemption from backup withholding, a foreign shareholder must comply with applicable certification requirements relating to its foreign status (including, in general, furnishing an IRS Form W-8BEN, W-8BEN-E or substitute form). Foreign shareholders should consult their tax advisors in this regard.
Special rules (including withholding and reporting requirements) apply to foreign partnerships and those holding Fund shares through foreign partnerships. In addition, additional considerations may apply to foreign trusts and foreign estates. Investors holding Fund shares through foreign entities should consult their tax advisors about their particular situation.
A beneficial holder of shares who is a foreign person may be subject to state and local tax and to the U.S. federal estate tax in addition to the U.S. federal income tax referred to above.
Tax-Exempt Shareholders
Each Fund serves to “block” (that is, prevent the attribution to shareholders of) UBTI from being realized by tax-exempt shareholders. Notwithstanding this “blocking” effect, a tax-exempt shareholder could realize UBTI by virtue of its investment in a Fund if shares in the Fund constitute debt-financed property in the hands of the tax-exempt shareholder within the meaning of Section 514(b) of the Code. For tax years beginning after 2017, entities subject to UBTI are required to calculate UBTI separately for each unrelated trade or business, which may limit their ability to offset gains and losses from multiple unrelated trades or businesses.
It is possible that a tax-exempt shareholder will also recognize UBTI if a Fund recognizes excess inclusion income (as described above) derived from direct or indirect investments in residual interests in real estate mortgage investment conduits (REMICs) or equity interests in taxable mortgage pools (TMPs). Furthermore, any investment in residual interests of a collateralized mortgage obligation (CMO) that has elected to be treated as a REMIC can create complex tax consequences, especially if the Fund has state or local governments or other tax-exempt organizations as shareholders.
In addition, special tax consequences apply to charitable remainder trusts (CRTs) that invest in regulated investment companies that invest directly or indirectly in residual interests in REMICs or equity interests in TMPs. Under legislation enacted in December 2006, a CRT, as defined in Section 664 of the Code, that realizes UBTI for a taxable year must pay an excise tax annually of an amount equal to such UBTI. Under IRS guidance issued in October 2006, a CRT will not recognize UBTI solely as a result of investing in a Fund to the extent that it recognizes excess inclusion income. Rather, if at any time during any taxable year a CRT (or one of certain other tax-exempt shareholders, such as the United States, a state or political subdivision, or an agency or instrumentality thereof, and certain energy cooperatives) is a record holder of a share in a Fund and the Fund recognizes excess inclusion income, then the Fund will be subject to a tax on that portion of its excess inclusion income for the taxable year that is allocable to such shareholders at the highest U.S. federal corporate income tax rate. The extent to which the IRS guidance remains applicable in light of the December 2006 legislation is unclear. To the extent permitted under the 1940 Act, each Fund may elect to specially allocate any such tax to the applicable CRT, or other shareholder, and thus reduce such shareholder’s distributions for the year by the amount of the tax that relates to such shareholder’s interest in the Fund. Each Fund has not yet determined whether such an election will be made. CRTs are urged to consult their tax advisors concerning the consequences of investing in a Fund.
Tax Shelter Reporting Regulations
Under U.S. Treasury Regulations, if a shareholder recognizes a loss of $2 million or more for an individual shareholder or $10 million or more for a corporate shareholder, the shareholder must file with the IRS a disclosure statement on IRS Form 8886. Direct holders of portfolio securities are in many cases excepted from this reporting requirement, but under current guidance, shareholders of a regulated investment company are not excepted. Future guidance may extend the current exception from this
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reporting requirement to shareholders of most or all regulated investment companies. The fact that a loss is reportable under these regulations does not affect the legal determination of whether the taxpayer’s treatment of the loss is proper. Shareholders should consult with their tax advisors to determine the applicability of these regulations in light of their individual circumstances.
Shareholder Reporting Obligations With Respect to Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts
Shareholders that are U.S. persons and own, directly or indirectly, more than 50% of a Fund could be required to report annually their “financial interest” in the Fund’s “foreign financial accounts,” if any, on FinCEN Form 114, Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR). Shareholders should consult a tax advisor, and persons investing in the Fund through an intermediary should contact their intermediary, regarding the applicability to them of this reporting requirement.
Other Reporting and Withholding Requirements
Sections 1471-1474 of the Code, and the U.S. Treasury Regulations and IRS guidance issued thereunder (collectively, FATCA), generally require a Fund to obtain information sufficient to identify the status of each of its shareholders under FATCA or under an applicable intergovernmental agreement (an IGA) between the United States and a foreign government, as described more fully below. If a shareholder of a Fund fails to provide the requested information or otherwise fails to comply with FATCA or an IGA, the Fund is generally required to withhold under FATCA at a rate of 30% with respect to that shareholder on ordinary dividends it pays. The IRS and the Department of Treasury have issued proposed regulations providing that these withholding rules will not apply to the gross proceeds of share redemptions or Capital Gain Dividends the Fund pays. If a payment by a Fund is subject to FATCA withholding, the Fund is required to withhold even if such payment would otherwise be exempt from withholding under the rules applicable to foreign shareholders described above (e.g., exempt-interest dividends, short-term capital gain dividends and interest-related dividends).
Payments to a shareholder will generally not be subject to FATCA withholding, provided the shareholder provides a Fund with such certifications, waivers or other documentation or information as the Fund requires, including, to the extent required, with regard to such shareholder’s direct and indirect owners, to establish the shareholder’s FATCA status and otherwise to comply with these rules. In order to avoid withholding, a shareholder that is a “foreign financial institution” (FFI) must either (i) become a “participating FFI” by entering into a valid U.S. tax compliance agreement with the IRS, (ii) qualify for an exception from the requirement to enter into such an agreement, for example by becoming a “deemed-compliant FFI,” or (iii) be covered by an applicable IGA between the United States and a non-U.S. government to implement FATCA and improve international tax compliance. In any of these cases, the investing FFI generally will be required to provide its Fund with appropriate identifiers, certifications or documentation concerning its status.
A Fund may disclose the information that it receives from (or concerning) its shareholders to the IRS, non-U.S. taxing authorities or other parties as necessary to comply with applicable IGAs or other applicable law or regulation.
Prospective investors are urged to consult their tax advisors regarding the applicability of FATCA and any other reporting requirements with respect to the prospective investor’s own situation, including investments through an intermediary.
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Special Tax Considerations Pertaining to State Municipal Bond Funds
The following summaries of certain tax considerations relating to the state municipal bond funds set forth below are only intended as general overviews of these tax considerations. They are not intended as detailed explanations of any state’s income tax treatment of any state municipal bond fund or its shareholders. You should consult your own tax advisor regarding the consequences of your investment in a state municipal bond fund.
Tax Considerations of Modifications to the State Municipal Bond Funds with respect to AMT
On December 22, 2017, H.R. 1, informally titled the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the TCJA), was enacted. The TCJA made major changes to the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the Code), including changes to the alternative minimum tax (the AMT) under Section 55 of the Code and certain other related sections of the Code. Pursuant to the TCJA, the AMT no longer applies to corporate taxpayers, but applies only to taxpayers other than corporations. For taxpayers that are individuals, the TCJA temporarily (i) increases the “exemption amount,” as defined in Section 55(d)(1) of the Code (the Exemption Amount); and (ii) increases the income thresholds where the Exemption Amount begins to be reduced under Section 55(d)(2) of the Code (the Phase-Out Amount). Both of these changes mean that fewer taxpayers that are individuals will be subject to the AMT for taxable years beginning after 2017 and before 2026. The TCJA does not increase the Exemption Amount or the Phase-Out Amount for estates or trusts.
Each of Strategic California Municipal Income Fund, Strategic New York Municipal Income Fund and, effective on or around May 14, 2019, the other state-specific municipal bond funds may invest up to 20% of its net assets in securities whose income is subject to the federal AMT. Many aspects of the TCJA remain uncertain, and additional administrative guidance will be required in order to fully evaluate the effect of many provisions. The effect of any technical corrections with respect to the TCJA could have an adverse effect on municipal bond funds and investors in such funds. Furthermore, certain states impose an alternative minimum tax at the state level that is not affected by the TCJA.
California AMT Considerations
With respect to California’s alternative minimum tax (the CA AMT), the CA AMT does not conform to the TCJA changes to federal AMT. California continues to impose an alternative minimum tax on corporations. Furthermore, for taxpayers that are individuals, California’s exemption amounts and phase-out amounts are not impacted by the changes in the TCJA discussed above in the section “Tax Considerations of Modifications to the State Municipal Bond Funds with respect to AMT.”
Connecticut AMT Considerations
Connecticut residents, part-year residents, and nonresidents with Connecticut-source income may be subject to Connecticut alternative minimum tax (CT AMT) in a year if they incur federal AMT in that year. Connecticut generally conforms to the 2017 changes to the federal AMT for taxpayers that are individuals, described above. Companies doing business in Connecticut may be subject to a minimum tax, which does not conform to the federal AMT on corporations, and consequently, the 2017 repeal of the federal corporate AMT does not affect this minimum tax.
Massachusetts AMT Considerations
Massachusetts generally does not have an alternative minimum tax, although companies doing business in Massachusetts and subject to the corporation excise tax or the financial institution excise tax may be subject to a $456 minimum tax. The 2017 repeal of the federal corporate AMT does not affect the Massachusetts minimum tax on corporations.
New York AMT Considerations
New York generally does not have an alternative minimum tax, although corporations doing business in New York may be subject to a fixed dollar minimum tax of up to $200,000. The 2017 repeal of the federal corporate AMT does not affect the New York fixed dollar minimum tax on corporations.
Oregon AMT Considerations
Oregon generally does not have an alternative minimum tax, although corporations doing business in Oregon and subject to the corporation income tax may be subject to a minimum tax of up to $100,000. The 2017 repeal of the federal corporate AMT does not affect the Oregon minimum tax on corporations.
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The Subsidiary
Each of MM Alternative Strategies Fund and Multi Strategy Alternatives Fund (for purposes of this section, the Fund) intends to invest a portion of its assets in one or more Subsidiaries, each of which will be classified as a corporation for U.S. federal tax purposes. Foreign corporations, such as the Subsidiary, will generally not be subject to U.S. federal income tax unless it is deemed to be engaged in a United States trade or business. The Subsidiary intends to conduct its activities in a manner that is expected to meet the requirements of a safe harbor under Section 864(b)(2) of the Code under which the Subsidiary may engage in trading in stocks or securities or certain commodities for its own account without being deemed to be engaged in a United States trade or business. However, if certain of the Subsidiary’s activities were deemed not to be of the type described in the safe harbor, the activities of the Subsidiary might constitute a United States trade or business.
Even if the Subsidiary is not engaged in a United States trade or business, it will potentially be subject to a U.S. withholding tax at a rate of 30% on all or a portion of its United States source gross income that is not effectively connected with a United States trade or business.
The Subsidiary will be treated as a “controlled foreign corporation” for U.S. federal tax purposes. The Fund will be treated as a “U.S. Shareholder” of the Subsidiary. As a result, the Fund will be required to include in its gross income all of the Subsidiary’s “subpart F income.” It is expected that all of the Subsidiary’s income will be “subpart F income.” “Subpart F income” is generally treated as ordinary income. Under regulations, the annual net income, if any, realized by the Subsidiary and treated as received by the Fund for U.S. federal income tax purposes will constitute qualifying income for purposes of the Fund’s qualification as a RIC under the Code either to the extent such net income is currently and timely distributed to the Fund or if such income is treated as received in connection with the Fund’s investments in stocks and securities. If a net loss is realized by the Subsidiary, such loss is not generally available to offset the income of the Fund and generally is not permitted to be carried forward to offset income of the Subsidiary in future years. The recognition by the Fund of the Subsidiary’s “subpart F income” will increase the Fund’s tax basis in the Subsidiary. Distributions by the Subsidiary to the Fund will not be taxable to the extent of its previously undistributed “subpart F income,” and will reduce the Fund’s tax basis in the Subsidiary.
In order to qualify for the special tax treatment accorded to RICs under the Code, the Fund must satisfy a 90% gross income requirement and an asset diversification requirement. These requirements are not applicable to the Subsidiary. For purposes of the asset diversification requirement, the Fund will limit its investment in the Subsidiary in the aggregate to 25% or less of the Fund's total assets as of the end of every quarter of its taxable year; the asset diversification requirement applies to the Fund's interest in the Subsidiary but not to the Subsidiary's investments.
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 240 |
CONTROL PERSONS AND PRINCIPAL HOLDERS OF SECURITIES
Management Ownership
As of November 30, 2020, the Trustees and Officers of the Trust, as a group, beneficially owned less than 1% of each class of shares of each Fund, except as set forth in the table below:
| Fund | Class |
Percentage of Class
Beneficially Owned |
| Adaptive Retirement 2030 Fund | Class Adv | 71.68% |
| Adaptive Retirement 2035 Fund | Class Adv | 21.35% |
| Adaptive Risk Allocation Fund | Class Inst2 | 2.98% |
| U.S. Social Bond Fund | Class Inst | 1.85% |
Principal Shareholders and Control Persons
The tables below identify the names, address and ownership percentage of each person who owns of record or is known by the Trust to own beneficially 5% or more of any class of a Fund’s outstanding shares (Principal Holders) or 25% or more of a Fund’s outstanding shares (Control Persons). A shareholder who beneficially owns more than 25% of a Fund’s shares is presumed to “control” the Fund, as that term is defined in the 1940 Act, and may have a significant impact on matters submitted to a shareholder vote. A shareholder who beneficially owns more than 50% of a Fund’s outstanding shares may be able to approve proposals, or prevent approval of proposals, without regard to votes by other Fund shareholders. Additional information about Control Persons, if any, is provided following the tables. The information provided for each Fund is as of a date no more than 30 days prior to the date of filing a post-effective amendment to the applicable Trust’s registration statement with respect to such Fund.
The information provided for each Fund is as of the date indicated in the table below, and certain share classes may have changed since such date as follows.
Funds with Fiscal Period Ending March 31:
Except as otherwise indicated, the information below is as of June 30, 2020:
| Fund | Shareholder Name and Address | Share Class |
Percentage
of Class |
Percentage of Fund
(if greater than 25%) |
| Adaptive Retirement 2020 Fund |
COLUMBIA MGMT INVESTMENT ADVSR LLC
ATTN KATRINA MACBAIN 50807 AMERIPRISE FINANCIAL CTR MINNEAPOLIS MN 55474-0508 |
Class Adv | 100.00% | 100%(a) |
| Class Inst3 | 100.00% | |||
| Adaptive Retirement 2025 Fund |
COLUMBIA MGMT INVESTMENT ADVSR LLC
ATTN KATRINA MACBAIN 50807 AMERIPRISE FINANCIAL CTR MINNEAPOLIS MN 55474-0508 |
Class Adv | 100.00% | 100%(a) |
| Class Inst3 | 100.00% | |||
| Adaptive Retirement 2030 Fund |
COLUMBIA MGMT INVESTMENT ADVSR LLC
ATTN KATRINA MACBAIN 50807 AMERIPRISE FINANCIAL CTR MINNEAPOLIS MN 55474-0508 |
Class Adv | 26.79% | 42.25%(a) |
| Class Inst3 | 100.00% | |||
|
PERSHING LLC
1 PERSHING PLZ JERSEY CITY NJ 07399-0002 |
Class Adv | 73.21% | 57.75% | |
| Adaptive Retirement 2035 Fund |
COLUMBIA MGMT INVESTMENT ADVSR LLC
ATTN KATRINA MACBAIN 50807 AMERIPRISE FINANCIAL CTR MINNEAPOLIS MN 55474-0508 |
Class Adv | 48.47% | 65.29%(a) |
| Class Inst3 | 100.00% | |||
|
PERSHING LLC
1 PERSHING PLZ JERSEY CITY NJ 07399-0002 |
Class Adv | 51.53% | 34.71% | |
| Adaptive Retirement 2040 Fund |
COLUMBIA MGMT INVESTMENT ADVSR LLC
ATTN KATRINA MACBAIN 50807 AMERIPRISE FINANCIAL CTR MINNEAPOLIS MN 55474-0508 |
Class Adv | 60.91% | 74.77%(a) |
| Class Inst3 | 96.80% | |||
|
PERSHING LLC
1 PERSHING PLZ JERSEY CITY NJ 07399-0002 |
Class Adv | 39.09% | N/A |
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 241 |
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 242 |
| Fund | Shareholder Name and Address | Share Class |
Percentage
of Class |
Percentage of Fund
(if greater than 25%) |
|
JPMCB NA CUST FOR
COLUMBIA CAPITAL ALLOCATION MODERATE AGGRESSIVE PORTFOLIO 4 CHASE METROTECH CENTER 3RD FLOOR BROOKLYN NY 11245-0003 |
Class Inst3 | 46.53% | N/A | |
|
JPMCB NA CUST FOR
COLUMBIA CAPITAL ALLOCATION MODERATE PORTFOLIO 4 CHASE METROTECH CENTER 3RD FLOOR BROOKLYN NY 11245-0003 |
Class Inst3 | 26.80% | N/A | |
|
MORGAN STANLEY SMITH BARNEY LLC
FOR THE EXCLUSIVE BENE OF ITS CUST 1 NEW YORK PLZ FL 12 NEW YORK NY 10004-1932 |
Class C | 8.32% | N/A | |
|
NATIONAL FINANCIAL SERVICES LLC
FEBO CUSTOMERS MUTUAL FUNDS 200 LIBERTY STREET 1WFC NEW YORK NY 10281-1003 |
Class Adv | 46.16% | N/A | |
|
PERSHING LLC
1 PERSHING PLZ JERSEY CITY NJ 07399-0002 |
Class A | 10.24% | N/A | |
| Class Adv | 11.20% | |||
| Class C | 8.52% | |||
|
UMB BANK NA
CUST ROTH IRA 3027 ALEXANDER AVE SANTA CLARA CA 95051-5507 |
Class C | 5.05% | N/A | |
|
WELLS FARGO CLEARING SERVICES LLC
SPECIAL CUSTODY ACCT FOR THE EXCLUSIVE BENEFIT OF CUSTOMER 2801 MARKET ST SAINT LOUIS MO 63103-2523 |
Class C | 7.75% | N/A | |
| Class Inst | 12.79% | |||
| Select Large Cap Growth Fund |
AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INVESTMENT SVC
707 2ND AVE S MINNEAPOLIS MN 55402-2405 |
Class A | 30.18% | N/A |
| Class C | 22.86% | |||
| Class Inst | 34.56% | |||
|
ASCENSUS TRUST COMPANY FBO
PO BOX 10758 FARGO ND 58106-0758 |
Class R | 7.21% | N/A | |
|
CHARLES SCHWAB & CO INC
SPECIAL CUSTODY A/C FOR BENEFIT OF CUSTOMERS ATTN MUTUAL FUNDS 101 MONTGOMERY ST SAN FRANCISCO CA 94104-4151 |
Class Inst2 | 25.83% | N/A | |
|
DCGT AS TTEE AND/OR CUST
FBO PLIC VARIOUS RETIREMENT PLANS OMNIBUS ATTN NPIO TRADE DESK 711 HIGH ST DES MOINES IA 50392-0001 |
Class R | 21.85% | N/A | |
|
EDWARD D JONES & CO
FOR THE BENEFIT OF CUSTOMERS 12555 MANCHESTER RD SAINT LOUIS MO 63131-3710 |
Class Inst3 | 8.88% | N/A | |
|
FIIOC FBO
401K RETIREMENT PLAN 100 MAGELLAN WAY # KW1C COVINGTON KY 41015-1987 |
Class R | 6.67% | N/A | |
|
GREAT-WEST TRUST COMPANY LLC FBO
515 E ORCHARD RD 2T2 GREENWOOD VILLAGE CO 80111-5002 |
Class Adv | 18.42% | N/A | |
| Class R | 18.50% |
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 243 |
| Fund | Shareholder Name and Address | Share Class |
Percentage
of Class |
Percentage of Fund
(if greater than 25%) |
|
JPMCB NA CUST FOR
COLUMBIA CAPITAL ALLOCATION MODERATE AGGRESSIVE PORTFOLIO 4 CHASE METROTECH CENTER 3RD FLOOR BROOKLYN NY 11245-0003 |
Class Inst3 | 5.61% | N/A | |
|
MATRIX TRUST COMPANY AS AGENT
717 17TH ST STE 1300 DENVER CO 80202-3304 |
Class A | 5.06% | N/A | |
|
MERRILL LYNCH PIERCE FENNER & SMITH
FOR THE SOLE BENEFIT OF ITS CUSTOMERS 4800 DEER LAKE DR E JACKSONVILLE FL 32246-6484 |
Class A | 9.42% | 26.75% | |
| Class C | 16.43% | |||
| Class Inst | 10.11% | |||
| Class Inst3 | 72.64% | |||
|
MID ATLANTIC TRUST COMPANY FBO
1251 WATERFRONT PL STE 525 PITTSBURGH PA 15222-4228 |
Class R | 7.65% | N/A | |
|
MORGAN STANLEY SMITH BARNEY LLC
FOR THE EXCLUSIVE BENE OF ITS CUST 1 NEW YORK PLZ FL 12 NEW YORK NY 10004-1932 |
Class A | 12.88% | N/A | |
| Class C | 12.57% | |||
| Class Inst | 18.38% | |||
|
NATIONAL FINANCIAL SERVICES LLC
FEBO CUSTOMERS MUTUAL FUNDS 200 LIBERTY STREET 1WFC NEW YORK NY 10281-1003 |
Class A | 6.68% | N/A | |
| Class Adv | 20.54% | |||
| Class Inst2 | 25.07% | |||
|
NATIONWIDE TRUST COMPANY/FSB
C/O IPO PORTFOLIO ACCOUNTING PO BOX 182029 COLUMBUS OH 43218-2029 |
Class Inst2 | 39.82% | N/A | |
|
PERSHING LLC
1 PERSHING PLZ JERSEY CITY NJ 07399-0002 |
Class Adv | 45.04% | N/A | |
|
RELIANCE TRUST CO CUST
FBO PO BOX 48529 ATLANTA GA 30362-1529 |
Class R | 22.58% | N/A | |
|
UBS WM USA
SPEC CDY A/C EXCL BEN CUST UBSFSI 1000 HARBOR BLVD WEEHAWKEN NJ 07086-6761 |
Class C | 9.95% | N/A | |
| Class Inst | 6.30% | |||
|
WELLS FARGO BANK FBO
401K PLAN 1525 WEST WT HARRIS BLVD CHARLOTTE NC 28288-1076 |
Class Adv | 7.68% | N/A | |
|
WELLS FARGO CLEARING SERVICES LLC
SPECIAL CUSTODY ACCT FOR THE EXCLUSIVE BENEFIT OF CUSTOMER 2801 MARKET ST SAINT LOUIS MO 63103-2523 |
Class A | 5.63% | N/A | |
| Class C | 12.59% | |||
| Class Inst | 5.02% | |||
| Solutions Aggressive Portfolio |
COLUMBIA MGMT INVESTMENT ADVSR LLC
ATTN KATRINA MACBAIN 50807 AMERIPRISE FINANCIAL CTR MINNEAPOLIS MN 55474-0508 |
N/A | N/A | 99.86%(a) |
|
JPMCB NA CUST
FOR COLUMBIA ADAPTIVE RETIREMENT 2030 FUND ETF/MF 4 CHASE METROTECH CENTER 3RD FLOOR BROOKLYN NY 11245-0003 |
N/A | 10.19% | N/A | |
|
JPMCB NA CUST FOR
COLUMBIA ADAPTIVE RETIREMENT 2020 FUND ETF/MF 4 CHASE METROTECH CENTER 3RD FLOOR BROOKLYN NY 11245-0003 |
N/A | 11.53% | N/A |
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 244 |
| Fund | Shareholder Name and Address | Share Class |
Percentage
of Class |
Percentage of Fund
(if greater than 25%) |
|
JPMCB NA CUST FOR
COLUMBIA ADAPTIVE RETIREMENT 2040 FUND ETF/MF 4 CHASE METROTECH CENTER 3RD FLOOR BROOKLYN NY 11245-0003 |
N/A | 11.08% | N/A | |
|
JPMCB NA CUST FOR
COLUMBIA ADAPTIVE RETIREMENT 2050 FUND ETF/MF 4 CHASE METROTECH CENTER 3RD FLOOR BROOKLYN NY 11245-0003 |
N/A | 13.53% | N/A | |
|
JPMCB NA CUST FOR
COLUMBIA ADAPTIVE RETIREMENT 2060 FUND ETF/MF 4 CHASE METROTECH CENTER 3RD FLOOR BROOKLYN NY 11245-0003 |
N/A | 12.00% | N/A | |
|
JPMCB NA CUST FOR COLUMBIA ADAPTIVE
RETIREMENT 2025 FUND 4 CHASE METROTECH CTR FL 3RD BROOKLYN NY 11245-0003 |
N/A | 9.63% | N/A | |
|
JPMCB NA CUST FOR COLUMBIA ADAPTIVE
RETIREMENT 2035 FUND 4 CHASE METROTECH CTR FL 3RD BROOKLYN NY 11245-0003 |
N/A | 9.61% | N/A | |
|
JPMCB NA CUST FOR COLUMBIA ADAPTIVE
RETIREMENT 2045 FUND 4 CHASE METROTECH CTR FL 3RD BROOKLYN NY 11245-0003 |
N/A | 11.08% | N/A | |
|
JPMCB NA CUST FOR COLUMBIA ADAPTIVE
RETIREMENT 2055 FUND 4 CHASE METROTECH CTR FL 3RD BROOKLYN NY 11245-0003 |
N/A | 11.21% | N/A | |
| Solutions Conservative Portfolio |
COLUMBIA MGMT INVESTMENT ADVSR LLC
ATTN KATRINA MACBAIN 50807 AMERIPRISE FINANCIAL CTR MINNEAPOLIS MN 55474-0508 |
N/A | N/A | 95.64%(a) |
|
JPMCB NA CUST
FOR COLUMBIA ADAPTIVE RETIREMENT 2030 FUND ETF/MF 4 CHASE METROTECH CENTER 3RD FLOOR BROOKLYN NY 11245-0003 |
N/A | 12.15% | N/A | |
|
JPMCB NA CUST FOR
COLUMBIA ADAPTIVE RETIREMENT 2020 FUND ETF/MF 4 CHASE METROTECH CENTER 3RD FLOOR BROOKLYN NY 11245-0003 |
N/A | 55.21% | N/A | |
|
JPMCB NA CUST FOR COLUMBIA ADAPTIVE
RETIREMENT 2025 FUND 4 CHASE METROTECH CTR FL 3RD BROOKLYN NY 11245-0003 |
N/A | 22.50% | N/A | |
|
JPMCB NA CUST FOR COLUMBIA ADAPTIVE
RETIREMENT 2035 FUND 4 CHASE METROTECH CTR FL 3RD BROOKLYN NY 11245-0003 |
N/A | 5.79% | N/A |
Funds with Fiscal Period Ending April 30:
Except as otherwise indicated, the information below is as of July 31, 2020:
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 245 |
| Fund | Shareholder Name and Address | Share Class |
Percentage
of Class |
Percentage of Fund
(if greater than 25%) |
|
ASCENSUS TRUST COMPANY FBO
MINNDAK MECHANICAL, INC. 401(K) PLA PO BOX 10758 FARGO ND 58106-0758 |
Class C | 9.05% | N/A | |
| Class R | 26.37% | |||
|
CHARLES SCHWAB & CO INC
SPECIAL CUSTODY A/C FBO CUSTOMERS ATTN MUTUAL FUND DEPT 101 MONTGOMERY ST SAN FRANCISCO CA 94104-4151 |
Class Inst | 10.78% | N/A | |
| Class Inst2 | 6.29% | |||
|
EDWARD D JONES & CO
FOR THE BENEFIT OF CUSTOMERS 12555 MANCHESTER RD SAINT LOUIS MO 63131-3710 |
Class A | 9.28% | N/A | |
|
JPMCB NA CUST FOR
COLUMBIA CAPITAL ALLOCATION AGGRESSIVE PORTFOLIO 14201 N DALLAS PKWY FL 13 DALLAS TX 75254-2916 |
Class Inst3 | 40.55% | N/A | |
|
COLUMBIA MGMT INVESTMENT ADVSR LLC
ATTN KATRINA MACBAIN 50807 AMERIPRISE FINANCIAL CTR MINNEAPOLIS MN 55474-0508 |
N/A | N/A | 28.72% (a) | |
|
LPL FINANCIAL
9785 TOWNE CENTRE DR SAN DIEGO CA 92121-1968 |
Class A | 6.59% | N/A | |
| Class C | 13.32% | |||
| Class Inst | 6.27% | |||
|
MATRIX TRUST COMPANY CUST FBO
INNOVATIVE LAND CONSULTANTS INC 717 17TH ST STE 1300 DENVER CO 80202-3304 |
Class Adv | 5.12% | N/A | |
|
MERRILL LYNCH PIERCE FENNER & SMITH
FOR THE SOLE BENEFIT OF ITS CUSTOMER 4800 DEER LAKE DR E JACKSONVILLE FL 32246-6484 |
Class A | 15.19% | 44.61% | |
| Class C | 5.13% | |||
| Class Inst | 9.03% | |||
| Class Inst3 | 58.28% | |||
| Class V | 19.90% | |||
|
MID ATLANTIC TRUST COMPANY FBO
TECVAR INC 401 K PROFIT SHARING PLAN & TRUST 1251 WATERFRONT PL STE 525 PITTSBURGH PA 15222-4228 |
Class R | 69.00% | N/A | |
|
NATIONAL FINANCIAL SERVICES LLC
FEBO CUSTOMERS MUTUAL FUNDS 200 LIBERTY STREET 1WFC NEW YORK NY 10281-1003 |
Class A | 5.76% | N/A | |
| Class Adv | 62.69% | |||
| Class Inst | 8.06% | |||
| Class Inst2 | 77.88% | |||
|
PERSHING LLC
1 PERSHING PLZ JERSEY CITY NJ 07399-0002 |
Class Adv | 20.34% | N/A | |
| Class C | 7.93% | |||
| Class Inst2 | 9.91% | |||
|
RELIANCE TRUST COMPANY FBO
MASSMUTUAL REGISTERED PRODUCT PO BOX 28004 ATLANTA GA 30358-0004 |
Class Adv | 11.57% | N/A | |
|
WELLS FARGO CLEARING SERVICES LLC
SPECIAL CUSTODY ACCT FOR THE EXCLUSIVE BENEFIT OF CUSTOMER 2801 MARKET ST SAINT LOUIS MO 63103-2523 |
Class Inst | 8.95% | N/A | |
| Corporate Income Fund |
AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INVESTMENT SVC
707 2ND AVE S MINNEAPOLIS MN 55402-2405 |
Class A | 37.79% | N/A |
| Class C | 62.53% | |||
| Class Inst | 22.29% |
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 246 |
| Fund | Shareholder Name and Address | Share Class |
Percentage
of Class |
Percentage of Fund
(if greater than 25%) |
|
BAND & CO C/O US BANK NA
1555 N RIVERCENTER DR STE 302 MILWAUKEE WI 53212-3958 |
Class Inst | 20.50% | N/A | |
|
CHARLES SCHWAB & CO INC
SPECIAL CUSTODY A/C FBO CUSTOMERS ATTN MUTUAL FUND DEPT 101 MONTGOMERY ST SAN FRANCISCO CA 94104-4151 |
Class Inst2 | 12.01% | N/A | |
|
COLUMBIA MGMT INVESTMENT ADVSR LLC
ATTN KATRINA MACBAIN 50807 AMERIPRISE FINANCIAL CTR MINNEAPOLIS MN 55474-0508 |
N/A | N/A | 43.76% (a) | |
|
COLUMBIA THERMOSTAT FUND
ATTN STEVEN SWINHART 225 FRANKLIN ST FL 25 BOSTON MA 02110-2888 |
Class Inst3 | 10.51% | N/A | |
|
EDWARD D JONES & CO
FOR THE BENEFIT OF CUSTOMERS 12555 MANCHESTER RD SAINT LOUIS MO 63131-3710 |
Class A | 10.02% | N/A | |
|
JPMCB NA CUST FOR
COLUMBIA CAPITAL ALLOCATION MODERATE AGGRESSIVE PORTFOLIO 4 CHASE METROTECH CENTER 3RD FLOOR BROOKLYN NY 11245-0003 |
Class Inst3 | 16.21% | N/A | |
|
JPMCB NA CUST FOR
COLUMBIA CAPITAL ALLOCATION MODERATE PORTFOLIO 4 CHASE METROTECH CENTER 3RD FLOOR BROOKLYN NY 11245-0003 |
Class Inst3 | 14.34% | N/A | |
|
JPMCB NA CUST FOR
COLUMBIA INCOME BUILDER FUND 4 CHASE METROTECH CENTER 3RD FLOOR BROOKLYN NY 11245-0003 |
Class Inst3 | 29.57% | N/A | |
|
JPMCB NA CUST FOR SOUTH CAROLINA
529 PLAN COLUMBIA 529 20% EQUITY PORTFOLIO 4 CHASE METROTECH CENTER 3RD FLOOR BROOKLYN NY 11245-0003 |
Class Inst | 34.71% | N/A | |
|
LPL FINANCIAL
9785 TOWNE CENTRE DR SAN DIEGO CA 92121-1968 |
Class C | 5.04% | N/A | |
|
MERRILL LYNCH PIERCE FENNER & SMITH
FOR THE SOLE BENEFIT OF ITS CUSTOMER 4800 DEER LAKE DR E JACKSONVILLE FL 32246-6484 |
Class A | 6.04% | N/A | |
| Class Adv | 10.94% | |||
| Class Inst3 | 21.47% | |||
|
NATIONAL FINANCIAL SERVICES LLC
FEBO CUSTOMERS MUTUAL FUNDS 200 LIBERTY STREET 1WFC NEW YORK NY 10281-1003 |
Class Adv | 45.88% | N/A | |
| Class Inst2 | 64.66% | |||
|
PERSHING LLC
1 PERSHING PLZ JERSEY CITY NJ 07399-0002 |
Class A | 6.48% | N/A | |
| Class Adv | 35.19% | |||
| Class C | 6.04% | |||
| Class Inst2 | 15.56% | |||
|
RAYMOND JAMES
FBO OMNIBUS FOR MUTUAL FUNDS ATTN: COURTNEY WALLER 880 CARILLON PKWY ST PETERSBURG FL 33716-1100 |
Class C | 6.83% | N/A |
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 247 |
| Fund | Shareholder Name and Address | Share Class |
Percentage
of Class |
Percentage of Fund
(if greater than 25%) |
|
RELIANCE TRUST COMPANY FBO
MASSMUTUAL REGISTERED PRODUCT PO BOX 28004 ATLANTA GA 30358-0004 |
Class Adv | 5.72% | N/A | |
|
TD AMERITRADE INC FOR THE
EXCLUSIVE BENEFIT OF OUR CLIENTS PO BOX 2226 OMAHA NE 68103-2226 |
Class Inst2 | 5.61% | N/A | |
|
WELLS FARGO CLEARING SERVICES LLC
SPECIAL CUSTODY ACCT FOR THE EXCLUSIVE BENEFIT OF CUSTOMER 2801 MARKET ST SAINT LOUIS MO 63103-2523 |
Class A | 5.08% | N/A | |
| MM Directional Alternative Strategies Fund |
AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INVESTMENT SVC
707 2ND AVE S MINNEAPOLIS MN 55402-2405 |
Class Inst | 100.00% | 100.00% |
| Multi-Asset Income Fund |
CHARLES SCHWAB & CO INC
SPECIAL CUSTODY A/C FBO CUSTOMERS ATTN MUTUAL FUND DEPT 101 MONTGOMERY ST SAN FRANCISCO CA 94104-4151 |
Class A | 12.73% | N/A |
| Class Adv | 6.58% | |||
|
COLUMBIA MGMT INVESTMENT ADVSR LLC
ATTN KATRINA MACBAIN 50807 AMERIPRISE FINANCIAL CTR MINNEAPOLIS MN 55474-0508 |
Class Inst2 | 100.00% | 93.25% (a) | |
|
JANNEY MONTGOMERY SCOTT LLC
SIDNEY J MADDOX & CLAUDIA G MADDOX JT-TEN 1717 ARCH ST PHILADELPHIA PA 19103-2713 |
Class C | 18.97% | N/A | |
|
JPMCB NA CUST FOR
COLUMBIA CAPITAL ALLOCATION MODERATE AGGRESSIVE PORTFOLIO 4 CHASE METROTECH CENTER 3RD FLOOR BROOKLYN NY 11245-0003 |
Class Inst3 | 38.69% | N/A | |
|
JPMCB NA CUST FOR
COLUMBIA CAPITAL ALLOCATION MODERATE CONSERVATIVE PORTFOLIO 4 CHASE METROTECH CENTER 3RD FLOOR BROOKLYN NY 11245-0003 |
Class Inst3 | 14.96% | N/A | |
|
JPMCB NA CUST FOR
COLUMBIA CAPITAL ALLOCATION MODERATE PORTFOLIO 4 CHASE METROTECH CENTER 3RD FLOOR BROOKLYN NY 11245-0003 |
Class Inst3 | 39.59% | N/A | |
|
JPMCB NA CUST FOR COLUMBIA CAPITAL
ALLOCATION CONSERVATIVE PORTFOLIO 4 CHASE METROTECH CENTER 3RD FLOOR BROOKLYN NY 11245-0003 |
Class Inst3 | 6.75% | N/A | |
|
LPL FINANCIAL
9785 TOWNE CENTRE DR SAN DIEGO CA 92121-1968 |
Class A | 10.60% | N/A | |
| Class C | 17.65% | |||
| Class Inst | 6.35% | |||
|
NATIONAL FINANCIAL SERVICES LLC
FEBO CUSTOMERS MUTUAL FUNDS 200 LIBERTY STREET 1WFC NEW YORK NY 10281-1003 |
Class A | 12.64% | N/A | |
| Class Adv | 13.27% | |||
|
PERSHING LLC
1 PERSHING PLZ JERSEY CITY NJ 07399-0002 |
Class A | 16.54% | N/A | |
| Class Adv | 77.91% | |||
| Class C | 29.16% |
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 248 |
| Fund | Shareholder Name and Address | Share Class |
Percentage
of Class |
Percentage of Fund
(if greater than 25%) |
|
RAYMOND JAMES
FBO OMNIBUS FOR MUTUAL FUNDS ATTN: COURTNEY WALLER 880 CARILLON PKWY ST PETERSBURG FL 33716-1100 |
Class A | 14.57% | N/A | |
| Class C | 23.69% | |||
| Class Inst | 24.56% | |||
|
UBS WM USA
SPEC CDY A/C EXCL BEN CUST UBSFSI 1000 HARBOR BLVD WEEHAWKEN NJ 07086-6761 |
Class A | 22.20% | N/A | |
|
UMB BANK NA
CUST IRA FBO DOUGLAS A HACKER 16948 VERONA LN NAPLES FL 34110-2854 |
Class Inst | 31.11% | N/A | |
|
UMB BANK NA
CUST IRA FBO JEFFREY L KNIGHT 15 SYLVAN LN WESTON MA 02493-1027 |
Class Inst | 17.69% | N/A | |
|
UMB BANK NA
CUST IRA FBO RONALD E BABCOCK 3272 WINTERCREEK DR EUGENE OR 97405-6250 |
Class Inst | 7.06% | N/A | |
| Small Cap Value Fund I |
AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INVESTMENT SVC
707 2ND AVE S MINNEAPOLIS MN 55402-2405 |
Class A | 14.26% | N/A |
| Class C | 24.85% | |||
| Class Inst | 7.69% | |||
|
CAPITAL BANK & TRUST CO TTEE FBO
MODEM DISTRIBUTORS 401K 8515 E ORCHARD RD GREENWOOD VLG CO 80111-5002 |
Class R | 44.81% | N/A | |
|
CHARLES SCHWAB & CO INC
SPECIAL CUSTODY A/C FBO CUSTOMERS ATTN MUTUAL FUND DEPT 101 MONTGOMERY ST SAN FRANCISCO CA 94104-4151 |
Class A | 6.90% | N/A | |
| Class Inst2 | 23.18% | |||
|
JPMCB NA CUST FOR
COLUMBIA INCOME BUILDER FUND 4 CHASE METROTECH CENTER 3RD FLOOR BROOKLYN NY 11245-0003 |
Class Inst3 | 50.65% | N/A | |
|
LPL FINANCIAL
9785 TOWNE CENTRE DR SAN DIEGO CA 92121-1968 |
Class C | 14.86% | N/A | |
|
MATRIX TRUST COMPANY AS AGENT FOR
NEWPORT TRUST COMPANY AMERICAN MARITIME OFFICERS DEFINED 35 IRON POINT CIR STE 300 FOLSOM CA 95630-8589 |
Class Inst3 | 11.06% | N/A | |
|
MATRIX TRUST COMPANY CUST FBO
INNOVATIVE LAND CONSULTANTS INC 717 17TH ST STE 1300 DENVER CO 80202-3304 |
Class R | 14.25% | N/A | |
|
MERRILL LYNCH PIERCE FENNER & SMITH
FOR THE SOLE BENEFIT OF ITS CUSTOMER 4800 DEER LAKE DR E JACKSONVILLE FL 32246-6484 |
Class A | 7.23% | N/A | |
| Class Adv | 19.60% | |||
| Class C | 9.95% | |||
| Class Inst | 42.21% | |||
| Class Inst3 | 12.89% | |||
|
MORGAN STANLEY SMITH BARNEY LLC
FOR THE EXCLUSIVE BENE OF ITS CUST 1 NEW YORK PLZ FL 12 NEW YORK NY 10004-1932 |
Class C | 6.09% | N/A |
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 249 |
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 250 |
| Fund | Shareholder Name and Address | Share Class |
Percentage
of Class |
Percentage of Fund
(if greater than 25%) |
|
JPMCB NA CUST FOR
COLUMBIA CAPITAL ALLOCATION MODERATE PORTFOLIO 4 CHASE METROTECH CENTER 3RD FLOOR BROOKLYN NY 11245-0003 |
Class Inst3 | 33.18% | N/A | |
|
JPMCB NA CUST FOR SOUTH CAROLINA
529 PLAN COLUMBIA 529 20% EQUITY PORTFOLIO 4 CHASE METROTECH CENTER 3RD FLOOR BROOKLYN NY 11245-0003 |
Class Inst | 26.80% | N/A | |
|
LANCE HUMPHREY TRUSTEE FBO
C/O FASCORE LLC HUMPHREY COMPANY PROFIT SHARING & 4 8515 E ORCHARD RD GREENWOOD VLG CO 80111-5002 |
Class R | 8.04% | N/A | |
|
MATRIX TRUST COMPANY CUST FBO
INNOVATIVE LAND CONSULTANTS INC 717 17TH ST STE 1300 DENVER CO 80202-3304 |
Class R | 19.09% | N/A | |
|
MERRILL LYNCH PIERCE FENNER & SMITH
FOR THE SOLE BENEFIT OF ITS CUSTOMER 4800 DEER LAKE DR E JACKSONVILLE FL 32246-6484 |
Class Inst3 | 41.42% | N/A | |
|
MID ATLANTIC TRUST COMPANY FBO
TECVAR INC 401 K PROFIT SHARING PLAN & TRUST 1251 WATERFRONT PL STE 525 PITTSBURGH PA 15222-4228 |
Class R | 9.63% | N/A | |
|
NATIONAL FINANCIAL SERVICES LLC
FEBO CUSTOMERS MUTUAL FUNDS 200 LIBERTY STREET 1WFC NEW YORK NY 10281-1003 |
Class Adv | 92.45% | N/A | |
| Class Inst2 | 51.72% | |||
| Class R | 13.36% | |||
|
PERSHING LLC
1 PERSHING PLZ JERSEY CITY NJ 07399-0002 |
Class C | 7.69% | N/A | |
| Class Inst2 | 12.87% | |||
|
SHAWN NALLY TTEE FBO
C/O FASCORE LLC SHAWN R NALLY DDS PSP 8515 E ORCHARD RD GREENWOOD VLG CO 80111-5002 |
Class R | 5.36% | N/A | |
|
WELLS FARGO CLEARING SERVICES LLC
SPECIAL CUSTODY ACCT FOR THE EXCLUSIVE BENEFIT OF CUSTOMER 2801 MARKET ST SAINT LOUIS MO 63103-2523 |
Class C | 7.13% | N/A | |
| U.S. Treasury Index Fund |
AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INVESTMENT SVC
707 2ND AVE S MINNEAPOLIS MN 55402-2405 |
Class A | 5.03% | N/A |
| Class Inst | 13.09% | |||
|
CHARLES SCHWAB & CO INC
SPECIAL CUSTODY A/C FBO CUSTOMERS ATTN MUTUAL FUND DEPT 101 MONTGOMERY ST SAN FRANCISCO CA 94104-4151 |
Class A | 9.90% | N/A | |
| Class Inst2 | 5.10% | |||
|
COLUMBIA MGMT INVESTMENT ADVSR LLC
ATTN KATRINA MACBAIN 50807 AMERIPRISE FINANCIAL CTR MINNEAPOLIS MN 55474-0508 |
N/A | N/A | 51.75% (a) | |
|
COLUMBIA THERMOSTAT FUND
ATTN STEVEN SWINHART 225 FRANKLIN ST FL 25 BOSTON MA 02110-2888 |
Class Inst3 | 51.17% | N/A |
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 251 |
| Fund | Shareholder Name and Address | Share Class |
Percentage
of Class |
Percentage of Fund
(if greater than 25%) |
|
J P MORGAN SECURITIES LLC OMNIBUS
ACCOUNT FOR THE EXCLUSIVE BENEFIT OF CUSTOMERS 4 CHASE METROTECH CENTER 3RD FL MUTUAL FUND DEPARTMENT BROOKLYN NY 11245-0003 |
Class C | 28.01% | N/A | |
|
JPMCB NA CUST FOR
COLUMBIA CAPITAL ALLOCATION MODERATE AGGRESSIVE PORTFOLIO 4 CHASE METROTECH CENTER 3RD FLOOR BROOKLYN NY 11245-0003 |
Class Inst3 | 10.01% | N/A | |
|
JPMCB NA CUST FOR
COLUMBIA CAPITAL ALLOCATION MODERATE CONSERVATIVE PORTFOLIO 4 CHASE METROTECH CENTER 3RD FLOOR BROOKLYN NY 11245-0003 |
Class Inst3 | 13.23% | N/A | |
|
JPMCB NA CUST FOR
COLUMBIA CAPITAL ALLOCATION MODERATE PORTFOLIO 4 CHASE METROTECH CENTER 3RD FLOOR BROOKLYN NY 11245-0003 |
Class Inst3 | 16.16% | N/A | |
|
JPMCB NA CUST FOR COLUMBIA CAPITAL
ALLOCATION CONSERVATIVE PORTFOLIO 4 CHASE METROTECH CENTER 3RD FLOOR BROOKLYN NY 11245-0003 |
Class Inst3 | 7.45% | N/A | |
|
JPMCB NA CUST FOR SOUTH CAROLINA
529 PLAN COLUMBIA 529 20% EQUITY PORTFOLIO 4 CHASE METROTECH CENTER 3RD FLOOR BROOKLYN NY 11245-0003 |
Class Inst | 66.71% | N/A | |
|
LPL FINANCIAL
9785 TOWNE CENTRE DR SAN DIEGO CA 92121-1968 |
Class C | 5.84% | N/A | |
|
MERRILL LYNCH PIERCE FENNER & SMITH
FOR THE SOLE BENEFIT OF ITS CUSTOMER 4800 DEER LAKE DR E JACKSONVILLE FL 32246-6484 |
Class A | 24.82% | N/A | |
| Class Inst2 | 70.59% | |||
|
MID ATLANTIC TRUST COMPANY FBO
TECVAR INC 401 K PROFIT SHARING PLAN & TRUST 1251 WATERFRONT PL STE 525 PITTSBURGH PA 15222-4228 |
Class A | 5.07% | N/A | |
|
PERSHING LLC
1 PERSHING PLZ JERSEY CITY NJ 07399-0002 |
Class C | 28.00% | N/A | |
| Class Inst2 | 11.08% | |||
|
RAYMOND JAMES
FBO OMNIBUS FOR MUTUAL FUNDS ATTN: COURTNEY WALLER 880 CARILLON PKWY ST PETERSBURG FL 33716-1100 |
Class C | 28.63% | N/A | |
|
WRIGHT – FIRST NATIONAL HUNTSVILLE
FIRST NATIONAL HUNTSVILLE COMPANY 1300 11TH STREET HUNTSVILLE TX 77340-3802 |
Class A | 5.40% | N/A |
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 252 |
Funds with Fiscal Period Ending May 31:
Except as otherwise indicated, the information below is as of August 31, 2020:
| Fund | Shareholder Name and Address | Share Class |
Percentage
of Class |
Percentage of Fund
(if greater than 25%) |
| Adaptive Risk Allocation Fund |
AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INVESTMENT SVC
707 2ND AVE S MINNEAPOLIS MN 55402-2405 |
Class A | 78.20% | 87.61% |
| Class C | 61.73% | |||
| Class Inst | 92.01% | |||
|
ASCENSUS TRUST COMPANY FBO
PO BOX 10758 FARGO ND 58106-0758 |
Class R | 16.86% | N/A | |
|
CAPINCO
C/O US BANK NA PO BOX 1787 MILWAUKEE WI 53201-1787 |
Class Adv | 12.14% | N/A | |
| Class Inst3 | 92.03% | |||
|
CHARLES SCHWAB & CO INC
SPECIAL CUSTODY A/C FBO CUSTOMERS ATTN MUTUAL FUND DEPT 101 MONTGOMERY ST SAN FRANCISCO CA 94104-4151 |
Class Inst2 | 30.05% | N/A | |
|
J P MORGAN SECURITIES LLC OMNIBUS
ACCOUNT FOR THE EXCLUSIVE BENEFIT OF CUSTOMERS 4 CHASE METROTECH CENTER 3RD FL MUTUAL FUND DEPARTMENT BROOKLYN NY 11245-0003 |
Class Inst3 | 7.90% | N/A | |
|
NATIONAL FINANCIAL SERVICES LLC
FEBO CUSTOMERS MUTUAL FUNDS 200 LIBERTY STREET 1WFC NEW YORK NY 10281-1003 |
Class Adv | 32.38% | N/A | |
| Class Inst2 | 41.36% | |||
| Class R | 11.36% | |||
|
PERSHING LLC
1 PERSHING PLZ JERSEY CITY NJ 07399-0002 |
Class Adv | 40.80% | N/A | |
| Class Inst2 | 11.83% | |||
|
RAYMOND JAMES
FBO OMNIBUS FOR MUTUAL FUNDS HOUSE ACCT FIRM ATTN: COURTNEY WALLER 880 CARILLON PKWY ST PETERSBURG FL 33716-1100 |
Class C | 7.20% | N/A | |
| Class R | 46.25% | |||
|
STATE STREET BANK AND TRUST AS
TRUSTEE AND/OR CUSTODIAN FBO ADP ACCESS PRODUCT 1 LINCOLN ST BOSTON MA 02111-2901 |
Class R | 8.66% | N/A | |
|
STIFEL NICOLAUS & CO INC
EXCLUSIVE BENEFIT OF CUSTOMERS 501 N BROADWAY SAINT LOUIS MO 63102-2188 |
Class C | 11.59% | N/A | |
|
TD AMERITRADE INC FOR THE
EXCLUSIVE BENEFIT OF OUR CLIENTS PO BOX 2226 OMAHA NE 68103-2226 |
Class Inst2 | 12.56% | N/A | |
|
UBS WM USA
SPEC CDY A/C EXCL BEN CUST UBSFSI 1000 HARBOR BLVD WEEHAWKEN NJ 07086-6761 |
Class R | 11.88% | N/A | |
| Dividend Income Fund |
AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INVESTMENT SVC
707 2ND AVE S MINNEAPOLIS MN 55402-2405 |
Class A | 19.68% | N/A |
| Class C | 15.41% | |||
| Class Inst | 18.06% |
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 253 |
| Fund | Shareholder Name and Address | Share Class |
Percentage
of Class |
Percentage of Fund
(if greater than 25%) |
|
CHARLES SCHWAB & CO INC
SPECIAL CUSTODY A/C FBO CUSTOMERS ATTN MUTUAL FUND DEPT 101 MONTGOMERY ST SAN FRANCISCO CA 94104-4151 |
Class A | 9.60% | N/A | |
| Class Adv | 6.22% | |||
| Class Inst2 | 29.34% | |||
| Class V | 7.19% | |||
|
EDWARD D JONES & CO
FOR THE BENEFIT OF CUSTOMERS 12555 MANCHESTER RD SAINT LOUIS MO 63131-3710 |
Class Inst3 | 14.05% | N/A | |
|
EQUITABLE LIFE
ON BEHALF OF VARIOUS 401K PLANS 1290 AVENUE OF THE AMERICAS NEW YORK NY 10104-0101 |
Class R | 38.19% | N/A | |
|
ING NATIONAL TRUST
1475 DUNWOODY DR WEST CHESTER PA 19380-1478 |
Class R | 22.45% | N/A | |
|
LPL FINANCIAL
FBO CUSTOMER ACCOUNTS 9785 TOWNE CENTRE DR SAN DIEGO CA 92121-1968 |
Class C | 5.49% | N/A | |
| Class Inst | 10.32% | |||
|
MERRILL LYNCH PIERCE FENNER
& SMITH INC FOR THE SOLE BENEFIT OF ITS CUSTOMERS 4800 DEER LAKE DR E JACKSONVILLE FL 32246-6484 |
Class A | 14.10% | N/A | |
| Class C | 12.27% | |||
| Class Inst | 10.67% | |||
| Class Inst3 | 40.64% | |||
| Class V | 16.16% | |||
|
MORGAN STANLEY SMITH BARNEY LLC
FOR THE EXCLUSIVE BENE OF ITS CUST 1 NEW YORK PLZ FL 12 NEW YORK NY 10004-1932 |
Class C | 12.38% | N/A | |
| Class Inst | 16.28% | |||
|
NATIONAL FINANCIAL SERVICES LLC
FEBO CUSTOMERS MUTUAL FUNDS 200 LIBERTY STREET 1WFC NEW YORK NY 10281-1003 |
Class A | 20.40% | N/A | |
| Class Adv | 53.37% | |||
| Class C | 6.44% | |||
| Class Inst | 6.54% | |||
| Class Inst2 | 36.09% | |||
| Class Inst3 | 17.55% | |||
|
PERSHING LLC
1 PERSHING PLZ JERSEY CITY NJ 07399-0002 |
Class Adv | 24.70% | N/A | |
| Class C | 7.37% | |||
| Class Inst2 | 12.92% | |||
|
RAYMOND JAMES
FBO OMNIBUS FOR MUTUAL FUNDS HOUSE ACCT FIRM ATTN: COURTNEY WALLER 880 CARILLON PKWY ST PETERSBURG FL 33716-1100 |
Class C | 9.35% | N/A | |
| Class Inst | 16.08% | |||
|
STATE STREET BANK AND TRUST AS
TRUSTEE AND/OR CUSTODIAN FBO ADP ACCESS PRODUCT 1 LINCOLN ST BOSTON MA 02111-2901 |
Class R | 5.67% | N/A | |
|
TD AMERITRADE INC FOR THE
EXCLUSIVE BENEFIT OF OUR CLIENTS PO BOX 2226 OMAHA NE 68103-2226 |
Class Inst2 | 8.01% | N/A | |
|
WELLS FARGO CLEARING SERVICES LLC
SPECIAL CUSTODY ACCT FOR THE EXCLUSIVE BENEFIT OF CUSTOMER 2801 MARKET ST SAINT LOUIS MO 63103-2523 |
Class C | 15.71% | N/A | |
| Class Inst | 5.38% |
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 254 |
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 255 |
| Fund | Shareholder Name and Address | Share Class |
Percentage
of Class |
Percentage of Fund
(if greater than 25%) |
|
JPMCB NA CUST FOR
COLUMBIA CAPITAL ALLOCATION MODERATE AGGRESSIVE PORTFOLIO 4 CHASE METROTECH CENTER 3RD FLOOR BROOKLYN NY 11245-0003 |
Class Inst3 | 28.46% | N/A | |
|
JPMCB NA CUST FOR
COLUMBIA CAPITAL ALLOCATION MODERATE CONSERVATIVE PORTFOLIO 4 CHASE METROTECH CENTER 3RD FLOOR BROOKLYN NY 11245-0003 |
Class Inst3 | 28.46% | N/A | |
|
JPMCB NA CUST FOR COLUMBIA CAPITAL
ALLOCATION MODERATE PORTFOLIO 4 CHASE METROTECH CENTER 3RD FLOOR BROOKLYN NY 11245-0003 |
Class Inst3 | 28.46% | N/A | |
|
NATIONAL FINANCIAL SERVICES LLC
FEBO CUSTOMERS MUTUAL FUNDS 200 LIBERTY STREET 1WFC NEW YORK NY 10281-1003 |
Class A | 9.42% | N/A | |
|
PERSHING LLC
1 PERSHING PLZ JERSEY CITY NJ 07399-0002 |
Class Adv | 88.35% | N/A | |
|
TD AMERITRADE INC FOR THE
EXCLUSIVE BENEFIT OF OUR CLIENTS PO BOX 2226 OMAHA NE 68103-2226 |
Class Inst2 | 93.74% | N/A |
Funds with Fiscal Period Ending July 31:
Except as otherwise indicated, the information below is as of October 31, 2020:
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 256 |
| Fund | Shareholder Name and Address | Share Class |
Percentage
of Class |
Percentage of Fund
(if greater than 25%) |
|
MATRIX TRUST COMPANY AS AGENT FOR
ADVISOR TRUST, INC 717 17TH ST STE 1300 DENVER CO 80202-3304 |
Class R | 7.72% | N/A | |
|
MID ATLANTIC TRUST COMPANY FBO
1251 WATERFRONT PLACE, SUITE 525 PITTSBURGH PA 15222-4228 |
Class R | 6.71% | N/A | |
|
MLPF&S FOR THE SOLE BENEFIT
OF ITS CUSTOMERS 4800 DEER LAKE DRIVE EAST 3RD FL JACKSONVILLE FL 32246-6484 |
Class Adv | 15.10% | N/A | |
| Class Inst3 | 41.61% | |||
| Class R | 21.49% | |||
| Class V | 24.37% | |||
|
MORGAN STANLEY SMITH BARNEY LLC
FOR THE EXCLUSIVE BENE OF ITS CUST 1 NEW YORK PLZ FL 12 NEW YORK NY 10004-1932 |
Class C | 5.69% | N/A | |
|
NATIONAL FINANCIAL SERVICES LLC
FEBO CUSTOMERS MUTUAL FUNDS 200 LIBERTY STREET 1WFC NEW YORK NY 10281-1003 |
Class Adv | 46.74% | N/A | |
| Class Inst2 | 22.15% | |||
| Class R | 7.28% | |||
|
PERSHING LLC
1 PERSHING PLZ JERSEY CITY NJ 07399-0002 |
Class Adv | 32.32% | N/A | |
| Class Inst2 | 6.18% | |||
|
TD AMERITRADE INC FOR THE
EXCLUSIVE BENEFIT OF OUR CLIENTS PO BOX 2226 OMAHA NE 68103-2226 |
Class Inst2 | 15.90% | N/A | |
|
UBS WM USA
SPEC CDY A/C EXCL BEN CUST UBSFSI 1000 HARBOR BLVD WEEHAWKEN NJ 07086-6761 |
Class C | 7.25% | N/A | |
|
WELLS FARGO CLEARING SERVICES LLC
SPECIAL CUSTODY ACCT FOR THE EXCLUSIVE BENEFIT OF CUSTOMER 2801 MARKET ST SAINT LOUIS MO 63103-2523 |
Class C | 6.04% | N/A | |
| OR Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund |
AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INVESTMENT SVC
707 2ND AVE S MINNEAPOLIS MN 55402-2405 |
Class A | 12.44% | N/A |
| Class C | 16.37% | |||
|
CHARLES SCHWAB & CO INC
ATTN MUTUAL FUND OPS 101 MONTGOMERY ST SAN FRANCISCO CA 94104-4151 |
Class A | 5.95% | N/A | |
| Class Inst | 11.89% | |||
| Class Inst2 | 66.88% | |||
|
EDWARD D JONES & CO
FOR THE BENEFIT OF CUSTOMERS 12555 MANCHESTER RD SAINT LOUIS MO 63131-3710 |
Class A | 32.80% | N/A | |
| Class C | 30.83% | |||
| Class Inst3 | 59.47% | |||
|
LPL FINANCIAL
9785 TOWNE CENTRE DR SAN DIEGO CA 92121-1968 |
Class C | 5.55% | N/A | |
|
MLPF&S FOR THE SOLE BENEFIT
OF ITS CUSTOMERS 4800 DEER LAKE DRIVE EAST 3RD FL JACKSONVILLE FL 32246-6484 |
Class Inst | 10.07% | N/A | |
|
MORGAN STANLEY SMITH BARNEY LLC
FOR THE EXCLUSIVE BENE OF ITS CUST 1 NEW YORK PLZ FL 12 NEW YORK NY 10004-1932 |
Class C | 14.68% | N/A |
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 257 |
| Fund | Shareholder Name and Address | Share Class |
Percentage
of Class |
Percentage of Fund
(if greater than 25%) |
|
NATIONAL FINANCIAL SERVICES LLC
FEBO CUSTOMERS MUTUAL FUNDS 200 LIBERTY STREET 1WFC NEW YORK NY 10281-1003 |
Class A | 5.73% | N/A | |
| Class Adv | 18.93% | |||
| Class Inst | 5.46% | |||
| Class Inst2 | 18.57% | |||
|
PERSHING LLC
1 PERSHING PLZ JERSEY CITY NJ 07399-0002 |
Class Adv | 79.77% | N/A | |
|
RAYMOND JAMES
FBO OMNIBUS FOR MUTUAL FUNDS HOUSE ACCT FIRM ATTN: COURTNEY WALLER 880 CARILLON PKWY ST PETERSBURG FL 33716-1100 |
Class A | 15.78% | N/A | |
| Class C | 21.14% | |||
|
SEI PRIVATE TRUST COMPANY
ATTN MUTUAL FUND ADMIN 1 FREEDOM VALLEY DR OAKS PA 19456-9989 |
Class Inst3 | 39.99% | N/A | |
|
TD AMERITRADE INC FOR THE
EXCLUSIVE BENEFIT OF OUR CLIENTS PO BOX 2226 OMAHA NE 68103-2226 |
Class Inst2 | 14.14% | N/A | |
|
UBS WM USA
SPEC CDY A/C EXCL BEN CUST UBSFSI 1000 HARBOR BLVD WEEHAWKEN NJ 07086-6761 |
Class A | 6.80% | N/A | |
|
WELLS FARGO CLEARING SERVICES LLC
SPECIAL CUSTODY ACCT FOR THE EXCLUSIVE BENEFIT OF CUSTOMER 2801 MARKET ST SAINT LOUIS MO 63103-2523 |
Class A | 6.34% | N/A | |
| Tax-Exempt Fund |
AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INVESTMENT SVC
707 2ND AVE S MINNEAPOLIS MN 55402-2405 |
Class A | 47.25% | 40.20% |
| Class C | 46.52% | |||
| Class Inst | 17.29% | |||
|
CHARLES SCHWAB & CO INC
ATTN MUTUAL FUND OPS 101 MONTGOMERY ST SAN FRANCISCO CA 94104-4151 |
Class Inst2 | 7.19% | N/A | |
|
EDWARD D JONES & CO
FOR THE BENEFIT OF CUSTOMERS 12555 MANCHESTER RD SAINT LOUIS MO 63131-3710 |
Class A | 13.88% | N/A | |
| Class C | 5.02% | |||
| Class Inst3 | 89.76% | |||
|
MLPF&S FOR THE SOLE BENEFIT
OF ITS CUSTOMERS 4800 DEER LAKE DRIVE EAST 3RD FL JACKSONVILLE FL 32246-6484 |
Class Inst | 39.44% | N/A | |
|
MORI & CO
922 WALNUT ST MAILSTOP TBTS 2 KANSAS CITY MO 64106-1802 |
Class Inst3 | 5.74% | N/A | |
|
NATIONAL FINANCIAL SERVICES LLC
FEBO CUSTOMERS MUTUAL FUNDS 200 LIBERTY STREET 1WFC NEW YORK NY 10281-1003 |
Class Adv | 44.54% | N/A | |
| Class Inst2 | 7.82% | |||
|
PERSHING LLC
1 PERSHING PLZ JERSEY CITY NJ 07399-0002 |
Class Adv | 36.08% | N/A | |
| Class C | 5.12% | |||
| Class Inst2 | 74.68% |
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 258 |
| Fund | Shareholder Name and Address | Share Class |
Percentage
of Class |
Percentage of Fund
(if greater than 25%) |
|
RAYMOND JAMES
FBO OMNIBUS FOR MUTUAL FUNDS HOUSE ACCT FIRM ATTN: COURTNEY WALLER 880 CARILLON PKWY ST PETERSBURG FL 33716-1100 |
Class C | 7.65% | N/A | |
|
RBC CAPITAL MARKETS, LLC
MUTUAL FUND OMNIBUS PROCESSING OMNIBUS ATTN MUTUAL FUND OPS MANAGER 510 MARQUETTE AVE S MINNEAPOLIS MN 55402-1110 |
Class C | 5.95% | N/A | |
|
TD AMERITRADE INC FOR THE
EXCLUSIVE BENEFIT OF OUR CLIENTS PO BOX 2226 OMAHA NE 68103-2226 |
Class Inst2 | 9.34% | N/A | |
|
WELLS FARGO CLEARING SERVICES LLC
SPECIAL CUSTODY ACCT FOR THE EXCLUSIVE BENEFIT OF CUSTOMER 2801 MARKET ST SAINT LOUIS MO 63103-2523 |
Class Adv | 16.08% | N/A | |
| Class C | 5.23% | |||
| U.S. Social Bond Fund |
AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INVESTMENT SVC
707 2ND AVE S MINNEAPOLIS MN 55402-2405 |
Class A | 22.85% | 28.18% |
| Class C | 20.17% | |||
| Class Inst | 37.47% | |||
|
CHARLES SCHWAB & CO INC
ATTN MUTUAL FUND OPS 101 MONTGOMERY ST SAN FRANCISCO CA 94104-4151 |
Class A | 8.43% | N/A | |
| Class Inst2 | 19.18% | |||
|
EDWARD D JONES & CO
FOR THE BENEFIT OF CUSTOMERS 12555 MANCHESTER RD SAINT LOUIS MO 63131-3710 |
Class C | 12.00% | N/A | |
| Class Inst3 | 96.25% | |||
|
MLPF&S FOR THE SOLE BENEFIT
OF ITS CUSTOMERS 4800 DEER LAKE DRIVE EAST 3RD FL JACKSONVILLE FL 32246-6484 |
Class A | 23.02% | N/A | |
| Class C | 24.69% | |||
| Class Inst | 23.81% | |||
|
MORGAN STANLEY SMITH BARNEY LLC
FOR THE EXCLUSIVE BENE OF ITS CUST 1 NEW YORK PLZ FL 12 NEW YORK NY 10004-1932 |
Class A | 16.18% | N/A | |
| Class Inst | 17.42% | |||
|
NATIONAL FINANCIAL SERVICES LLC
FEBO CUSTOMERS MUTUAL FUNDS 200 LIBERTY STREET 1WFC NEW YORK NY 10281-1003 |
Class Adv | 68.34% | N/A | |
| Class Inst2 | 61.46% | |||
|
PERSHING LLC
1 PERSHING PLZ JERSEY CITY NJ 07399-0002 |
Class Adv | 30.89% | N/A | |
| Class Inst2 | 7.44% | |||
|
RAYMOND JAMES
FBO OMNIBUS FOR MUTUAL FUNDS HOUSE ACCT FIRM ATTN: COURTNEY WALLER 880 CARILLON PKWY ST PETERSBURG FL 33716-1100 |
Class C | 8.33% | N/A | |
| Class Inst | 5.49% | |||
|
SUZANNE COOPER TTEE
SUZANNE COOPER FAMILY TRUST 1616 LOOKOUT DR AGOURA CA 91301-2923 |
Class C | 5.49% | N/A | |
|
TD AMERITRADE INC FOR THE
EXCLUSIVE BENEFIT OF OUR CLIENTS PO BOX 2226 OMAHA NE 68103-2226 |
Class Inst2 | 11.57% | N/A |
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 259 |
Funds with Fiscal Period Ending August 31:
Except as otherwise indicated, the information below is as of November 30, 2020:
| Fund | Shareholder Name and Address | Share Class |
Percentage
of Class |
Percentage of Fund
(if greater than 25%) |
| Balanced Fund |
AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INVESTMENT SVC
707 2ND AVE MINNEAPOLIS MN 55402-2405 |
Class A | 56.73% | 38.66% |
| Class C | 47.03% | |||
| Class Inst | 32.16% | |||
|
ASCENSUS TRUST COMPANY FBO
PO BOX 10758 FARGO ND 58106-0758 |
Class Inst3 | 7.29% | N/A | |
| Class R | 7.94% | |||
|
CHARLES SCHWAB & CO INC
SPECIAL CUSTODY ACCT FBO CUSTOMERS ATTENTION MUTUAL FUND 101 MONTGOMERY ST SAN FRANCISCO CA 94104-4151 |
Class Adv | 16.13% | N/A | |
| Class Inst2 | 34.07% | |||
|
EDWARD D JONES & CO
FOR THE BENEFIT OF CUSTOMERS 12555 MANCHESTER RD SAINT LOUIS MO 63131-3710 |
Class Inst3 | 16.46% | N/A | |
|
FIIOC FBO
100 MAGELLAN WAY # KW1C COVINGTON KY 41015-1987 |
Class R | 6.28% | N/A | |
|
LPL FINANCIAL
9785 TOWNE CENTRE DR SAN DIEGO CA 92121-1968 |
Class Inst | 8.45% | N/A | |
|
MATRIX TRUST COMPANY CUST FBO
717 17TH ST STE 1300 DENVER CO 80202-3304 |
Class Inst3 | 26.32% | N/A |
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 260 |
| Fund | Shareholder Name and Address | Share Class |
Percentage
of Class |
Percentage of Fund
(if greater than 25%) |
|
MERRILL LYNCH PIERCE FENNER
& SMITH INC FOR THE SOLE BENEFIT OF ITS CUSTOMERS ATTENTION SERVICE TEAM 4800 DEER LAKE DR E FL 3 JACKSONVILLE FL 32246-6484 |
Class Inst | 13.47% | N/A | |
| Class Inst3 | 9.82% | |||
|
MID ATLANTIC TRUST COMPANY FBO
1251 WATERFRONT PL STE 525 PITTSBURGH PA 15222-4228 |
Class Inst3 | 9.01% | N/A | |
| Class R | 9.91% | |||
|
MORGAN STANLEY SMITH BARNEY LLC
FOR THE EXCLUSIVE BENE OF ITS CUST 1 NEW YORK PLZ FL 12 NEW YORK NY 10004-1932 |
Class C | 6.23% | N/A | |
| Class Inst | 7.54% | |||
|
NATIONAL FINANCIAL SERVICES LLC
FBO CUSTOMERS MUTUAL FUNDS 499 WASHINGTON BLVD JERSEY CITY NJ 07310-1995 |
Class A | 10.80% | N/A | |
| Class Adv | 28.63% | |||
| Class C | 5.53% | |||
| Class Inst2 | 18.71% | |||
| Class Inst3 | 6.36% | |||
|
PERSHING LLC
1 PERSHING PLZ JERSEY CITY NJ 07399-0002 |
Class Adv | 42.84% | N/A | |
| Class Inst2 | 8.32% | |||
|
RAYMOND JAMES
FBO OMNIBUS FOR MUTUAL FUNDS ATTN: COURTNEY WALLER 880 CARILLON PKWY ST PETERSBURG FL 33716-1100 |
Class C | 6.05% | N/A | |
| Class Inst | 8.06% | |||
|
RELIANCE TRUST CO FBO
PO BOX 78446 ATLANTA GA 30357-2446 |
Class Inst3 | 7.35% | N/A | |
|
STATE STREET BANK
FBO ADP ACCESS PRODUCT 1 LINCOLN ST BOSTON MA 02111-2901 |
Class R | 54.06% | N/A | |
|
TD AMERITRADE INC FOR THE
EXCLUSIVE BENEFIT OF OUR CLIENTS PO BOX 2226 OMAHA NE 68103-2226 |
Class Inst2 | 8.73% | N/A | |
|
UBS WM USA
SPEC CDY A/C EXCL BEN CUST UBSFSI 1000 HARBOR BLVD WEEHAWKEN NJ 07086-6761 |
Class Inst | 5.47% | N/A | |
|
WELLS FARGO BANK FBO
1525 WEST WT HARRIS BLVD CHARLOTTE NC 28288-1076 |
Class Inst2 | 11.93% | N/A | |
|
WELLS FARGO CLEARING SERVICES LLC
SPECIAL CUSTODY ACCT FOR THE EXCLUSIVE BENEFIT OF CUSTOMER 2801 MARKET ST SAINT LOUIS MO 63103-2523 |
Class C | 14.55% | N/A | |
| Class Inst | 9.06% | |||
| Contrarian Core Fund |
AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INVESTMENT SVC
707 2ND AVE MINNEAPOLIS MN 55402-2405 |
Class A | 53.69% | N/A |
| Class C | 33.93% | |||
| Class Inst | 17.62% | |||
|
ASCENSUS TRUST COMPANY FBO
PO BOX 10758 FARGO ND 58106-0758 |
Class R | 5.99% | N/A | |
|
CHARLES SCHWAB & CO INC
SPECIAL CUSTODY ACCT FBO CUSTOMERS ATTENTION MUTUAL FUND 101 MONTGOMERY ST SAN FRANCISCO CA 94104-4151 |
Class Inst | 11.94% | N/A | |
| Class Inst2 | 14.49% |
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 261 |
| Fund | Shareholder Name and Address | Share Class |
Percentage
of Class |
Percentage of Fund
(if greater than 25%) |
|
EDWARD D JONES & CO
FOR THE BENEFIT OF CUSTOMERS 12555 MANCHESTER RD SAINT LOUIS MO 63131-3710 |
Class Inst3 | 12.31% | N/A | |
|
JPMCB NA CUST FOR
COLUMBIA CAPITAL ALLOCATION AGGRESSIVE PORTFOLIO 4 CHASE METROTECH CENTER 3RD FLOOR BROOKLYN NY 11245-0003 |
Class Inst3 | 5.49% | N/A | |
|
JPMCB NA CUST FOR
COLUMBIA CAPITAL ALLOCATION MODERATE AGGRESSIVE PORTFOLIO 4 CHASE METROTECH CENTER 3RD FLOOR BROOKLYN NY 11245-0003 |
Class Inst3 | 5.10% | N/A | |
|
JPMCB NA CUST FOR SOUTH CAROLINA
529 PLAN COLUMBIA 529 70% EQUITY PORTFOLIO 4 CHASE METROTECH CTR 3RD FLOOR BROOKLYN NY 11245-0003 |
Class Inst | 7.01% | N/A | |
|
LPL FINANCIAL
9785 TOWNE CENTRE DR SAN DIEGO CA 92121-1968 |
Class C | 5.84% | N/A | |
| Class Inst | 8.74% | |||
|
MASSACHUSETTS MUTUAL LIFE INS CO
1295 STATE ST MIP M200-INVST SPRINGFIELD MA 01111-0001 |
Class R | 6.39% | N/A | |
|
MERRILL LYNCH PIERCE FENNER
& SMITH INC FOR THE SOLE BENEFIT OF ITS CUSTOMERS ATTENTION SERVICE TEAM 4800 DEER LAKE DR E FL 3 JACKSONVILLE FL 32246-6484 |
Class A | 7.55% | N/A | |
| Class Inst | 5.96% | |||
| Class Inst3 | 21.60% | |||
| Class V | 27.19% | |||
|
MORGAN STANLEY SMITH BARNEY LLC
FOR THE EXCLUSIVE BENE OF ITS CUST 1 NEW YORK PLZ FL 12 NEW YORK NY 10004-1932 |
Class C | 8.31% | N/A | |
|
NATIONAL FINANCIAL SERVICES LLC
FBO CUSTOMERS MUTUAL FUNDS 499 WASHINGTON BLVD JERSEY CITY NJ 07310-1995 |
Class A | 6.34% | N/A | |
| Class Adv | 35.30% | |||
| Class C | 5.40% | |||
| Class Inst | 7.05% | |||
| Class Inst2 | 43.99% | |||
| Class Inst3 | 15.86% | |||
| Class V | 5.49% | |||
|
NATIONWIDE TRUST COMPANY FSB
FBO PARTICIPATING RETIREMENT PLANS C/O IPO PORTFOLIO ACCOUNTING PO BOX 182029 COLUMBUS OH 43218-2029 |
Class Inst2 | 26.27% | N/A | |
|
PERSHING LLC
1 PERSHING PLZ JERSEY CITY NJ 07399-0002 |
Class Adv | 23.74% | N/A | |
| Class C | 8.37% | |||
|
PIMS/PRUDENTIAL RETIREMENT
AS NOMINEE FOR THE TTEE/CUST PL 010 NEXCOM 401(K) PLAN 3280 VIRGINIA BEACH BLVD VIRGINIA BCH VA 23452-5724 |
Class Adv | 5.86% | N/A | |
|
RAYMOND JAMES
FBO OMNIBUS FOR MUTUAL FUNDS ATTN: COURTNEY WALLER 880 CARILLON PKWY ST PETERSBURG FL 33716-1100 |
Class C | 5.96% | N/A | |
| Class Inst | 6.40% |
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 262 |
| Fund | Shareholder Name and Address | Share Class |
Percentage
of Class |
Percentage of Fund
(if greater than 25%) |
|
SAMMONS FINANCIAL NETWORK LLC
4546 CORPORATE DR STE 100 WEST DES MOINES IA 50266-5911 |
Class R | 55.28% | N/A | |
|
STANDARD INSURANCE COMPANY
1100 SW 6TH AVE ATTN: SEP ACCT P11D PORTLAND OR 97204-1093 |
Class Adv | 6.09% | N/A | |
|
STIFEL NICOLAUS & CO INC
EXCLUSIVE BENEFIT OF CUSTOMERS 501 N BROADWAY SAINT LOUIS MO 63102-2188 |
Class C | 7.19% | N/A | |
| Class Inst | 8.87% | |||
|
TD AMERITRADE INC FOR THE
EXCLUSIVE BENEFIT OF OUR CLIENTS PO BOX 2226 OMAHA NE 68103-2226 |
Class Inst2 | 5.19% | N/A | |
|
TIAA FSB CUST/TTEE FBO
RETIREMENT PLANS FOR WHICH TIAA ACTS AS RECORDKEEPER ATTN TRUST OPERATIONS 211 N BROADWAY STE 1000 SAINT LOUIS MO 63102-2748 |
Class Inst3 | 9.08% | N/A | |
|
WELLS FARGO CLEARING SERVICES LLC
SPECIAL CUSTODY ACCT FOR THE EXCLUSIVE BENEFIT OF CUSTOMER 2801 MARKET ST SAINT LOUIS MO 63103-2523 |
Class C | 12.47% | N/A | |
| Emerging Markets Fund |
AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INVESTMENT SVC
707 2ND AVE MINNEAPOLIS MN 55402-2405 |
Class A | 68.35% | N/A |
| Class C | 63.23% | |||
| Class Inst | 25.74% | |||
|
ASCENSUS TRUST COMPANY FBO
PO BOX 10758 FARGO ND 58106-0758 |
Class C | 6.51% | N/A | |
| Class R | 10.18% | |||
|
BANK OF AMERICA CUSTODIAN
FBO PO BOX 843869 DALLAS TX 75284-3869 |
Class Inst2 | 8.82% | N/A | |
|
CHARLES SCHWAB & CO INC
SPECIAL CUSTODY ACCT FBO CUSTOMERS ATTENTION MUTUAL FUND 101 MONTGOMERY ST SAN FRANCISCO CA 94104-4151 |
Class Adv | 31.17% | N/A | |
| Class Inst | 13.07% | |||
| Class Inst2 | 34.28% | |||
|
COMERICA BANK FBO
PO BOX 75000 MSC 3446 DETROIT MI 48275-0001 |
Class Inst | 23.45% | N/A | |
|
FIIOC FBO
100 MAGELLAN WAY # KW1C COVINGTON KY 41015-1987 |
Class R | 11.41% | N/A | |
|
JPMCB NA CUST FOR
COLUMBIA CAPITAL ALLOCATION AGGRESSIVE PORTFOLIO 4 CHASE METROTECH CENTER 3RD FLOOR BROOKLYN NY 11245-0003 |
Class Inst3 | 11.49% | N/A | |
|
JPMCB NA CUST FOR
COLUMBIA CAPITAL ALLOCATION MODERATE AGGRESSIVE PORTFOLIO 4 CHASE METROTECH CENTER 3RD FLOOR BROOKLYN NY 11245-0003 |
Class Inst3 | 11.75% | N/A | |
|
JPMCB NA CUST FOR
COLUMBIA CAPITAL ALLOCATION MODERATE PORTFOLIO 4 CHASE METROTECH CENTER 3RD FLOOR BROOKLYN NY 11245-0003 |
Class Inst3 | 5.14% | N/A |
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 263 |
| Fund | Shareholder Name and Address | Share Class |
Percentage
of Class |
Percentage of Fund
(if greater than 25%) |
|
LPL FINANCIAL
9785 TOWNE CENTRE DR SAN DIEGO CA 92121-1968 |
Class Inst | 8.03% | N/A | |
|
MERRILL LYNCH PIERCE FENNER
& SMITH INC FOR THE SOLE BENEFIT OF ITS CUSTOMERS ATTENTION SERVICE TEAM 4800 DEER LAKE DR E FL 3 JACKSONVILLE FL 32246-6484 |
Class Adv | 18.93% | N/A | |
| Class Inst | 6.06% | |||
| Class Inst3 | 49.55% | |||
| Class R | 16.37% | |||
|
MID ATLANTIC TRUST COMPANY FBO
1251 WATERFRONT PL STE 525 PITTSBURGH PA 15222-4228 |
Class R | 9.87% | N/A | |
|
NATIONAL FINANCIAL SERVICES LLC
FBO CUSTOMERS MUTUAL FUNDS 499 WASHINGTON BLVD JERSEY CITY NJ 07310-1995 |
Class Adv | 30.32% | N/A | |
| Class Inst2 | 38.62% | |||
| Class Inst3 | 13.35% | |||
|
PERSHING LLC
1 PERSHING PLZ JERSEY CITY NJ 07399-0002 |
Class Adv | 12.85% | N/A | |
| Class Inst2 | 6.41% | |||
|
RAYMOND JAMES
FBO OMNIBUS FOR MUTUAL FUNDS ATTN: COURTNEY WALLER 880 CARILLON PKWY ST PETERSBURG FL 33716-1100 |
Class C | 7.41% | N/A | |
|
RELIANCE TRUST CO FBO
PO BOX 78446 ATLANTA GA 30357-2446 |
Class R | 7.90% | N/A | |
|
STATE STREET BANK
FBO ADP ACCESS PRODUCT 1 LINCOLN ST BOSTON MA 02111-2901 |
Class R | 17.13% | N/A | |
|
TD AMERITRADE INC FOR THE
EXCLUSIVE BENEFIT OF OUR CLIENTS PO BOX 2226 OMAHA NE 68103-2226 |
Class Inst2 | 5.80% | N/A | |
|
UBS WM USA
SPEC CDY A/C EXCL BEN CUST UBSFSI 1000 HARBOR BLVD WEEHAWKEN NJ 07086-6761 |
Class Inst | 9.13% | N/A | |
|
WELLS FARGO CLEARING SERVICES LLC
SPECIAL CUSTODY ACCT FOR THE EXCLUSIVE BENEFIT OF CUSTOMER 2801 MARKET ST SAINT LOUIS MO 63103-2523 |
Class C | 5.29% | N/A | |
| Global Technology Growth Fund |
AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INVESTMENT SVC
707 2ND AVE MINNEAPOLIS MN 55402-2405 |
Class A | 27.02% | N/A |
| Class C | 21.96% | |||
| Class Inst | 20.36% | |||
|
CHARLES SCHWAB & CO INC
SPECIAL CUSTODY ACCT FBO CUSTOMERS ATTENTION MUTUAL FUND 101 MONTGOMERY ST SAN FRANCISCO CA 94104-4151 |
Class A | 10.22% | N/A | |
| Class Adv | 5.16% | |||
| Class Inst2 | 13.09% | |||
| Class Inst3 | 8.29% | |||
|
DCGT AS TTEE AND/OR CUST
FBO PLIC VARIOUS RETIREMENT PLANS OMNIBUS 711 HIGH ST DES MOINES IA 50392-0001 |
Class Inst3 | 13.16% | N/A | |
|
FIIOC FBO
100 MAGELLAN WAY # KW1C COVINGTON KY 41015-1987 |
Class Inst2 | 5.70% | N/A |
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 264 |
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 265 |
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 266 |
| Fund | Shareholder Name and Address | Share Class |
Percentage
of Class |
Percentage of Fund
(if greater than 25%) |
|
STATE STREET BANK
FBO ADP ACCESS PRODUCT 1 LINCOLN ST BOSTON MA 02111-2901 |
Class Inst2 | 8.39% | N/A | |
|
TD AMERITRADE INC FOR THE
EXCLUSIVE BENEFIT OF OUR CLIENTS PO BOX 2226 OMAHA NE 68103-2226 |
Class Inst2 | 7.02% | N/A | |
|
UBS WM USA
SPEC CDY A/C EXCL BEN CUST UBSFSI 1000 HARBOR BLVD WEEHAWKEN NJ 07086-6761 |
Class C | 5.15% | N/A | |
| Class Inst | 9.41% | |||
|
WELLS FARGO CLEARING SERVICES LLC
SPECIAL CUSTODY ACCT FOR THE EXCLUSIVE BENEFIT OF CUSTOMER 2801 MARKET ST SAINT LOUIS MO 63103-2523 |
Class A | 8.03% | N/A | |
| Class C | 10.76% | |||
| Class Inst | 7.79% | |||
| International Dividend Income Fund |
AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INVESTMENT SVC
707 2ND AVE MINNEAPOLIS MN 55402-2405 |
Class A | 5.68% | N/A |
| Class C | 6.55% | |||
|
CHARLES SCHWAB & CO INC
SPECIAL CUSTODY ACCT FBO CUSTOMERS ATTENTION MUTUAL FUND 101 MONTGOMERY ST SAN FRANCISCO CA 94104-4151 |
Class A | 8.49% | N/A | |
| Class Inst | 5.81% | |||
|
FIIOC FBO
100 MAGELLAN WAY # KW1C COVINGTON KY 41015-1987 |
Class R | 21.70% | N/A | |
|
JPMCB NA CUST FOR
COLUMBIA INCOME BUILDER FUND 4 CHASE METROTECH CENTER 3RD FLOOR BROOKLYN NY 11245-0003 |
Class Inst3 | 98.06% | N/A | |
|
LPL FINANCIAL
9785 TOWNE CENTRE DR SAN DIEGO CA 92121-1968 |
Class C | 15.44% | N/A | |
|
MATRIX TRUST COMPANY CUST FBO
717 17TH ST STE 1300 DENVER CO 80202-3304 |
Class R | 33.85% | N/A | |
|
MERRILL LYNCH PIERCE FENNER
& SMITH INC FOR THE SOLE BENEFIT OF ITS CUSTOMERS ATTENTION SERVICE TEAM 4800 DEER LAKE DR E FL 3 JACKSONVILLE FL 32246-6484 |
Class A | 6.82% | N/A | |
|
MID ATLANTIC TRUST COMPANY FBO
1251 WATERFRONT PL STE 525 PITTSBURGH PA 15222-4228 |
Class R | 44.45% | N/A | |
|
NATIONAL FINANCIAL SERVICES LLC
FBO CUSTOMERS MUTUAL FUNDS 499 WASHINGTON BLVD JERSEY CITY NJ 07310-1995 |
Class A | 8.05% | N/A | |
| Class Adv | 38.31% | |||
| Class Inst2 | 24.81% | |||
|
PERSHING LLC
1 PERSHING PLZ JERSEY CITY NJ 07399-0002 |
Class A | 5.37% | N/A | |
| Class Adv | 43.41% | |||
| Class C | 12.05% | |||
| Class Inst2 | 23.79% | |||
|
RAYMOND JAMES
FBO OMNIBUS FOR MUTUAL FUNDS ATTN: COURTNEY WALLER 880 CARILLON PKWY ST PETERSBURG FL 33716-1100 |
Class C | 9.40% | N/A |
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 267 |
| Fund | Shareholder Name and Address | Share Class |
Percentage
of Class |
Percentage of Fund
(if greater than 25%) |
|
STATE STREET BANK
FBO ADP ACCESS PRODUCT 1 LINCOLN ST BOSTON MA 02111-2901 |
Class Adv | 17.53% | N/A | |
|
TD AMERITRADE INC FOR THE
EXCLUSIVE BENEFIT OF OUR CLIENTS PO BOX 2226 OMAHA NE 68103-2226 |
Class Inst2 | 51.08% | N/A | |
|
UBS WM USA
SPEC CDY A/C EXCL BEN CUST UBSFSI 1000 HARBOR BLVD WEEHAWKEN NJ 07086-6761 |
Class C | 7.29% | N/A | |
|
WELLS FARGO CLEARING SERVICES LLC
SPECIAL CUSTODY ACCT FOR THE EXCLUSIVE BENEFIT OF CUSTOMER 2801 MARKET ST SAINT LOUIS MO 63103-2523 |
Class A | 5.28% | N/A | |
| Mid Cap Growth Fund |
AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INVESTMENT SVC
707 2ND AVE MINNEAPOLIS MN 55402-2405 |
Class A | 62.80% | 32.44% |
| Class C | 42.55% | |||
|
ASCENSUS TRUST COMPANY FBO
PO BOX 10758 FARGO ND 58106-0758 |
Class C | 6.95% | N/A | |
| Class R | 12.28% | |||
|
CAPITAL BANK & TRUST COMPANY TTEE F
8515 E ORCHARD RD # 2T2 GREENWOOD VLG CO 80111-5002 |
Class Inst2 | 28.91% | N/A | |
|
CHARLES SCHWAB & CO INC
SPECIAL CUSTODY ACCT FBO CUSTOMERS ATTENTION MUTUAL FUND 101 MONTGOMERY ST SAN FRANCISCO CA 94104-4151 |
Class Inst | 11.61% | N/A | |
|
DCGT AS TTEE AND/OR CUST
FBO PLIC VARIOUS RETIREMENT PLANS OMNIBUS 711 HIGH ST DES MOINES IA 50392-0001 |
Class R | 6.77% | N/A | |
|
FIIOC FBO
100 MAGELLAN WAY # KW1C COVINGTON KY 41015-1987 |
Class Inst2 | 7.63% | N/A | |
|
FPS TRUST COMPANY
FBO 9200 E MINERAL AVE STE 225 CENTENNIAL CO 80112-3592 |
Class R | 6.12% | N/A | |
|
GREAT-WEST TRUST COMPANY LLC TTEE F
EMPLOYEE BENEFITS CLIENTS 401K 8515 E ORCHARD RD # 2T2 GREENWOOD VLG CO 80111-5002 |
Class Adv | 5.73% | N/A | |
| Class Inst2 | 10.14% | |||
|
MATRIX TRUST COMPANY CUST FBO
717 17TH ST STE 1300 DENVER CO 80202-3304 |
Class Adv | 5.54% | N/A | |
| Class R | 15.04% | |||
|
MERRILL LYNCH PIERCE FENNER
& SMITH INC FOR THE SOLE BENEFIT OF ITS CUSTOMERS ATTENTION SERVICE TEAM 4800 DEER LAKE DR E FL 3 JACKSONVILLE FL 32246-6484 |
Class Adv | 41.40% | N/A | |
| Class Inst3 | 72.36% | |||
| Class R | 13.87% | |||
| Class V | 13.08% | |||
|
MID ATLANTIC TRUST COMPANY FBO
1251 WATERFRONT PL STE 525 PITTSBURGH PA 15222-4228 |
Class R | 9.35% | N/A | |
|
MORGAN STANLEY SMITH BARNEY LLC
FOR THE EXCLUSIVE BENE OF ITS CUST 1 NEW YORK PLZ FL 12 NEW YORK NY 10004-1932 |
Class C | 6.32% | N/A |
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 268 |
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 269 |
| Fund | Shareholder Name and Address | Share Class |
Percentage
of Class |
Percentage of Fund
(if greater than 25%) |
|
BAND & CO C/O US BANK NA
1555 N RIVERCENTER DRIVE STE 302 PO BOX 1787 MILWAUKEE WI 53212-3958 |
Class Inst | 11.71% | N/A | |
|
BARRY ANDERSON DON LOWER TODD WHITL
C/O FASCORE 8515 E ORCHARD RD # 2T2 GREENWOOD VLG CO 80111-5002 |
Class R | 7.77% | N/A | |
|
CHARLES SCHWAB & CO INC
SPECIAL CUSTODY ACCT FBO CUSTOMERS ATTENTION MUTUAL FUND 101 MONTGOMERY ST SAN FRANCISCO CA 94104-4151 |
Class A | 7.90% | N/A | |
| Class Inst2 | 19.64% | |||
|
DCGT AS TTEE AND/OR CUST
FBO PLIC VARIOUS RETIREMENT PLANS OMNIBUS 711 HIGH ST DES MOINES IA 50392-0001 |
Class R | 16.89% | N/A | |
|
EDWARD D JONES & CO
FOR THE BENEFIT OF CUSTOMERS 12555 MANCHESTER RD SAINT LOUIS MO 63131-3710 |
Class Inst3 | 27.51% | N/A | |
|
FPS TRUST COMPANY
FBO 9200 E MINERAL AVE STE 225 CENTENNIAL CO 80112-3592 |
Class R | 11.46% | N/A | |
|
JPMCB NA CUST FOR
COLUMBIA CAPITAL ALLOCATION AGGRESSIVE PORTFOLIO 4 CHASE METROTECH CENTER 3RD FLOOR BROOKLYN NY 11245-0003 |
Class Inst3 | 9.86% | N/A | |
|
JPMCB NA CUST FOR
COLUMBIA CAPITAL ALLOCATION MODERATE AGGRESSIVE PORTFOLIO 4 CHASE METROTECH CENTER 3RD FLOOR BROOKLYN NY 11245-0003 |
Class Inst3 | 7.37% | N/A | |
|
LPL FINANCIAL
9785 TOWNE CENTRE DR SAN DIEGO CA 92121-1968 |
Class Inst | 10.40% | N/A | |
|
MATT KAVET FBO
C/O FASCORE BOSTON AMERICA CORP 401K 8515 E ORCHARD RD # 2T2 GREENWOOD VLG CO 80111-5002 |
Class R | 9.04% | N/A | |
|
MERRILL LYNCH PIERCE FENNER
& SMITH INC FOR THE SOLE BENEFIT OF ITS CUSTOMERS ATTENTION SERVICE TEAM 4800 DEER LAKE DR E FL 3 JACKSONVILLE FL 32246-6484 |
Class A | 10.56% | N/A | |
| Class Inst | 7.94% | |||
|
NATIONAL FINANCIAL SERVICES LLC
FBO CUSTOMERS MUTUAL FUNDS 499 WASHINGTON BLVD JERSEY CITY NJ 07310-1995 |
Class A | 7.17% | N/A | |
| Class Adv | 25.77% | |||
| Class Inst2 | 31.91% | |||
| Class Inst3 | 13.82% | |||
|
PERSHING LLC
1 PERSHING PLZ JERSEY CITY NJ 07399-0002 |
Class Adv | 50.20% | N/A | |
| Class C | 5.81% | |||
| Class Inst2 | 16.86% | |||
| Class R | 5.09% |
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 270 |
| Fund | Shareholder Name and Address | Share Class |
Percentage
of Class |
Percentage of Fund
(if greater than 25%) |
|
RAYMOND JAMES
FBO OMNIBUS FOR MUTUAL FUNDS ATTN: COURTNEY WALLER 880 CARILLON PKWY ST PETERSBURG FL 33716-1100 |
Class C | 15.77% | N/A | |
| Class Inst | 8.06% | |||
|
RELIANCE TRUST CO FBO
PO BOX 78446 ATLANTA GA 30357-2446 |
Class R | 14.15% | N/A | |
|
STATE STREET BANK
FBO ADP ACCESS PRODUCT 1 LINCOLN ST BOSTON MA 02111-2901 |
Class R | 13.08% | N/A | |
|
TD AMERITRADE INC FOR THE
EXCLUSIVE BENEFIT OF OUR CLIENTS PO BOX 2226 OMAHA NE 68103-2226 |
Class Inst2 | 11.42% | N/A | |
|
UBS WM USA
SPEC CDY A/C EXCL BEN CUST UBSFSI 1000 HARBOR BLVD WEEHAWKEN NJ 07086-6761 |
Class Inst | 10.04% | N/A | |
|
VANGUARD FDUCIARY TRUST CO
PO BOX 2600 VM 613 ATTN: OUTSIDE FUNDS VALLEY FORGE PA 19482-2600 |
Class Inst2 | 15.80% | N/A | |
| Class Inst3 | 7.83% | |||
|
VOYA INSTITUTIONAL TRUST COMPANY
CUST FBO CORE MARKET RETIREMENT PLANS 30 BRAINTREE HILL OFFICE PARK BRAINTREE MA 02184-8747 |
Class Adv | 7.03% | N/A | |
|
WELLS FARGO CLEARING SERVICES LLC
SPECIAL CUSTODY ACCT FOR THE EXCLUSIVE BENEFIT OF CUSTOMER 2801 MARKET ST SAINT LOUIS MO 63103-2523 |
Class C | 23.00% | N/A | |
| Class Inst | 6.04% | |||
| Strategic Income Fund |
AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INVESTMENT SVC
707 2ND AVE MINNEAPOLIS MN 55402-2405 |
Class A | 49.87% | 27.71% |
| Class C | 31.88% | |||
| Class Inst | 27.45% | |||
|
ASCENSUS TRUST COMPANY FBO
PO BOX 10758 FARGO ND 58106-0758 |
Class R | 10.73% | N/A | |
|
CHARLES SCHWAB & CO INC
SPECIAL CUSTODY ACCT FBO CUSTOMERS ATTENTION MUTUAL FUND 101 MONTGOMERY ST SAN FRANCISCO CA 94104-4151 |
Class A | 5.91% | N/A | |
| Class Adv | 7.92% | |||
| Class Inst2 | 33.63% | |||
|
DCGT AS TTEE AND/OR CUST
FBO PLIC VARIOUS RETIREMENT PLANS OMNIBUS ATTN NPIO TRADE DESK 711 HIGH ST DES MOINES IA 50392-0001 |
Class R | 9.45% | N/A | |
|
EDWARD D JONES & CO
FOR THE BENEFIT OF CUSTOMERS 12555 MANCHESTER RD SAINT LOUIS MO 63131-3710 |
Class Inst3 | 23.17% | N/A | |
|
LPL FINANCIAL
9785 TOWNE CENTRE DR SAN DIEGO CA 92121-1968 |
Class Inst | 7.97% | N/A | |
|
MATRIX TRUST COMPANY CUST FBO
717 17TH ST STE 1300 DENVER CO 80202-3304 |
Class R | 6.10% | N/A |
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 271 |
| Fund | Shareholder Name and Address | Share Class |
Percentage
of Class |
Percentage of Fund
(if greater than 25%) |
|
MERRILL LYNCH PIERCE FENNER
& SMITH INC FOR THE SOLE BENEFIT OF ITS CUSTOMERS ATTENTION SERVICE TEAM 4800 DEER LAKE DR E FL 3 JACKSONVILLE FL 32246-6484 |
Class A | 5.27% | N/A | |
| Class C | 7.64% | |||
| Class Inst | 15.32% | |||
| Class Inst3 | 16.54% | |||
|
MORGAN STANLEY SMITH BARNEY LLC
FOR THE EXCLUSIVE BENE OF ITS CUST 1 NEW YORK PLZ FL 12 NEW YORK NY 10004-1932 |
Class C | 12.68% | N/A | |
| Class Inst | 13.46% | |||
|
NATIONAL FINANCIAL SERVICES LLC
FBO CUSTOMERS MUTUAL FUNDS 499 WASHINGTON BLVD JERSEY CITY NJ 07310-1995 |
Class A | 5.32% | N/A | |
| Class Adv | 42.79% | |||
| Class Inst2 | 32.47% | |||
| Class Inst3 | 5.64% | |||
| Class R | 5.30% | |||
|
PERSHING LLC
1 PERSHING PLZ JERSEY CITY NJ 07399-0002 |
Class Adv | 44.27% | N/A | |
| Class C | 5.26% | |||
| Class Inst2 | 16.04% | |||
| Class Inst3 | 35.02% | |||
|
RAYMOND JAMES
FBO OMNIBUS FOR MUTUAL FUNDS ATTN: COURTNEY WALLER 880 CARILLON PKWY ST PETERSBURG FL 33716-1100 |
Class C | 7.21% | N/A | |
| Class Inst | 8.71% | |||
|
SAMMONS FINANCIAL NETWORK LLC
4546 CORPORATE DR STE 100 WEST DES MOINES IA 50266-5911 |
Class R | 19.64% | N/A | |
|
STATE STREET BANK
FBO ADP ACCESS PRODUCT 1 LINCOLN ST BOSTON MA 02111-2901 |
Class R | 13.05% | N/A | |
|
TD AMERITRADE INC FOR THE
EXCLUSIVE BENEFIT OF OUR CLIENTS PO BOX 2226 OMAHA NE 68103-2226 |
Class Inst2 | 12.66% | N/A | |
|
UBS WM USA
SPEC CDY A/C EXCL BEN CUST UBSFSI 1000 HARBOR BLVD WEEHAWKEN NJ 07086-6761 |
Class Inst | 8.84% | N/A | |
|
WELLS FARGO CLEARING SERVICES LLC
SPECIAL CUSTODY ACCT FOR THE EXCLUSIVE BENEFIT OF CUSTOMER 2801 MARKET ST SAINT LOUIS MO 63103-2523 |
Class C | 15.76% | N/A | |
| Class Inst | 9.03% |
Funds with Fiscal Period Ending October 31:
Except as otherwise indicated, the information below is as of January 31, 2020:
| Fund | Shareholder Name and Address | Share Class |
Percentage
of Class |
Percentage of Fund
(if greater than 25%) |
| CT Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund |
AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INVESTMENT SVC
707 2ND AVE S MINNEAPOLIS MN 55402-2405 |
Class A | 16.12% | N/A |
| Class C | 28.87% | |||
|
CHARLES SCHWAB & CO INC
SPECIAL CUSTODY ACCT FBO CUSTOMERS ATTENTION MUTUAL FUND 101 MONTGOMERY ST SAN FRANCISCO CA 94104-4151 |
Class A | 6.39% | N/A |
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 272 |
| Fund | Shareholder Name and Address | Share Class |
Percentage
of Class |
Percentage of Fund
(if greater than 25%) |
|
COLUMBIA MGMT INVESTMENT ADVSR LLC
ATTN KATRINA MACBAIN 50807 AMERIPRISE FINANCIAL CTR MINNEAPOLIS MN 55474-0508 |
Class Inst3 | 6.33% | N/A(a) | |
|
JOHN J BOWLER TOD
26 CENTER HILL RD PLEASANT VALLEY CT 06063-4100 |
Class C | 5.28% | N/A | |
|
KELLY F SHACKELFORD
PO BOX 672 NEW CANAAN CT 06840-0672 |
Class V | 17.92% | N/A | |
|
LPL FINANCIAL
FBO CUSTOMER ACCOUNTS 9785 TOWNE CENTRE DR SAN DIEGO CA 92121-1968 |
Class C | 18.45% | N/A | |
|
MERRILL LYNCH PIERCE FENNER
& SMITH INC FOR THE SOLE BENEFIT OF ITS CUSTOMERS 4800 DEER LAKE DR E JACKSONVILLE FL 32246-6484 |
Class V | 14.70% | 74.03% | |
|
MERRILL LYNCH PIERCE FENNER & SMITH
FOR THE SOLE BENEFIT OF ITS CUSTOMERS ATTN FUND ADMINISTRATION 4800 DEER LAKE DR E FL 3 JACKSONVILLE FL 32246-6484 |
Class A | 31.03% | 74.03% | |
|
MERRILL LYNCH PIERCE FENNER
& SMITH INC FOR THE SOLE BENEFIT OF ITS CUSTOMERS ATTENTION SERVICE TEAM 4800 DEER LAKE DRIVE EAST 3RD FLOOR JACKSONVILLE FL 32246-6484 |
Class Inst | 87.12% | 74.03% | |
|
MORGAN STANLEY SMITH BARNEY LLC
FOR THE EXCLUSIVE BENE OF ITS CUST 1 NEW YORK PLZ FL 12 NEW YORK NY 10004-1901 |
Class C | 8.17% | N/A | |
|
NATIONAL FINANCIAL SERVICES LLC
FEBO CUSTOMERS MUTUAL FUNDS 200 LIBERTY STREET 1WFC NEW YORK NY 10281-1003 |
Class A | 9.27% | N/A | |
| Class Adv | 67.68% | |||
|
PERSHING LLC
1 PERSHING PLZ JERSEY CITY NJ 07399-0002 |
Class Adv | 31.09% | N/A | |
| Class Inst3 | 93.67% | |||
| Class V | 5.57% | |||
|
ROBERT MARONA &
MARIANN MARONA JT WROS 34 GREAT HILL DR BETHEL CT 06801-1880 |
Class C | 6.24% | N/A | |
|
THOMAS L DERIENZO
682 BUCKS HILL RD SOUTHBURY CT 06488-1951 |
Class A | 7.94% | N/A | |
|
UBS WM USA
SPEC CDY A/C EXCL BEN CUST UBSFSI 1000 HARBOR BLVD WEEHAWKEN NJ 07086-6761 |
Class C | 8.68% | N/A | |
|
WELLS FARGO CLEARING SERVICES LLC
SPECIAL CUSTODY ACCT FOR THE EXCLUSIVE BENEFIT OF CUSTOMER 2801 MARKET ST SAINT LOUIS MO 63103-2523 |
Class A | 11.88% | N/A | |
| Class C | 19.17% | |||
| Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund |
AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INVESTMENT SVC
707 2ND AVE S MINNEAPOLIS MN 55402-2405 |
Class A | 48.44% | N/A |
| Class C | 27.65% |
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 273 |
| Fund | Shareholder Name and Address | Share Class |
Percentage
of Class |
Percentage of Fund
(if greater than 25%) |
|
CHARLES SCHWAB & CO INC
ATTN MUTUAL FUNDS 101 MONTGOMERY ST SAN FRANCISCO CA 94104-4151 |
Class V | 5.89% | N/A | |
|
CHARLES SCHWAB & CO INC
SPECIAL CUSTODY A/C FBO CUSTOMERS ATTN MUTUAL FUND DEPT 101 MONTGOMERY ST SAN FRANCISCO CA 94104-4151 |
Class Inst2 | 37.40% | N/A | |
|
EDWARD D JONES & CO
FOR THE BENEFIT OF CUSTOMERS 12555 MANCHESTER RD SAINT LOUIS MO 63131-3710 |
Class A | 6.01% | N/A | |
| Class Inst3 | 58.88% | |||
|
J P MORGAN SECURITIES LLC OMNIBUS
ACCOUNT FOR THE EXCLUSIVE BENEFIT OF CUSTOMERS 4 CHASE METROTECH CENTER 3RD FL MUTUAL FUND DEPARTMENT BROOKLYN NY 11245-0003 |
Class Inst3 | 8.05% | N/A | |
|
JOHN J ALMEIDA TR
JOHN J ALMEIDA REVOCABLE TRUST U/A DATED MAY 15 1997 27 TOPMAST CT JAMESTOWN RI 02835-2227 |
Class V | 9.67% | N/A | |
|
MERRILL LYNCH PIERCE FENNER
& SMITH INC FOR THE SOLE BENEFIT OF ITS CUSTOMERS 4800 DEER LAKE DR E JACKSONVILLE FL 32246-6484 |
Class V | 11.57% | 66.38% | |
|
MERRILL LYNCH PIERCE FENNER & SMITH
FOR THE SOLE BENEFIT OF ITS CUSTOMERS 4800 DEER LAKE DR E FL 2 JACKSONVILLE FL 32246-6484 |
Class A | 11.53% | 66.38% | |
|
MERRILL LYNCH PIERCE FENNER & SMITH
FOR THE SOLE BENEFIT OF ITS CUSTOMERS 4800 DEER LAKE DR E FL 2 JACKSONVILLE FL 32246-6484 |
Class C | 17.16% | 66.38% | |
|
MERRILL LYNCH PIERCE FENNER & SMITH
N/O RICHARD R ANTONELLI ATTN STOCK POWERS 400 ATRIUM DR SOMERSET NJ 08873-4162 |
Class V | 5.08% | N/A | |
|
MERRILL LYNCH PIERCE FENNER & SMITH
FOR THE SOLE BENEFIT OF ITS CUSTOMERS 4800 DEER LAKE DR E FL 2 JACKSONVILLE FL 32246-6484 |
Class Inst | 80.58% | 66.38% | |
|
MORGAN STANLEY SMITH BARNEY LLC
FOR THE EXCLUSIVE BENE OF ITS CUST 1 NEW YORK PLZ FL 12 NEW YORK NY 10004-1901 |
Class A | 5.95% | N/A | |
| Class C | 11.45% | |||
|
MORI & CO
922 WALNUT ST MAILSTOP TBTS 2 KANSAS CITY MO 64106-1802 |
Class Inst3 | 23.58% | N/A | |
|
NATIONAL FINANCIAL SERVICES LLC
FEBO CUSTOMERS MUTUAL FUNDS 200 LIBERTY STREET 1WFC NEW YORK NY 10281-1003 |
Class Adv | 60.39% | N/A | |
| Class C | 5.79% | |||
| Class Inst2 | 52.72% |
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 274 |
| Fund | Shareholder Name and Address | Share Class |
Percentage
of Class |
Percentage of Fund
(if greater than 25%) |
|
PERSHING LLC
1 PERSHING PLZ JERSEY CITY NJ 07399-0002 |
Class Adv | 31.82% | N/A | |
| Class C | 5.45% | |||
|
RAYMOND JAMES
FBO OMNIBUS FOR MUTUAL FUNDS ATTN: COURTNEY WALLER 880 CARILLON PKWY ST PETERSBURG FL 33716-1100 |
Class A | 5.81% | N/A | |
|
SEI PRIVATE TRUST COMPANY
C/O FIRST HORIZON ATTN MUTUAL FUND ADMIN 1 FREEDOM VALLEY DR OAKS PA 19456-9989 |
Class Inst3 | 5.75% | N/A | |
|
TD AMERITRADE INC FOR THE
EXCLUSIVE BENEFIT OF OUR CLIENTS PO BOX 2226 OMAHA NE 68103-2226 |
Class Inst2 | 6.30% | N/A | |
|
UBS WM USA
SPEC CDY A/C EXCL BEN CUST UBSFSI 1000 HARBOR BLVD WEEHAWKEN NJ 07086-6761 |
Class C | 5.17% | N/A | |
|
WELLS FARGO CLEARING SERVICES LLC
SPECIAL CUSTODY ACCT FOR THE EXCLUSIVE BENEFIT OF CUSTOMER 2801 MARKET ST SAINT LOUIS MO 63103-2523 |
Class A | 5.36% | N/A | |
| Class C | 14.68% | |||
| MA Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund |
AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INVESTMENT SVC
707 2ND AVE S MINNEAPOLIS MN 55402-2405 |
Class A | 9.54% | N/A |
| Class C | 60.99% | |||
|
COLUMBIA MGMT INVESTMENT ADVSR LLC
ATTN KATRINA MACBAIN 50807 AMERIPRISE FINANCIAL CTR MINNEAPOLIS MN 55474-0508 |
Class Inst3 | 6.85% | N/A(a) | |
|
EDWARD D JONES & CO
FOR THE BENEFIT OF CUSTOMERS 12555 MANCHESTER RD SAINT LOUIS MO 63131-3710 |
Class Inst3 | 93.15% | N/A | |
|
MERRILL LYNCH PIERCE FENNER & SMITH
FOR THE SOLE BENEFIT OF ITS CUSTOMERS ATTN FUND ADMINISTRATION 4800 DEER LAKE DR E FL 3 JACKSONVILLE FL 32246-6484 |
Class A | 6.03% | 76.11% | |
| Class C | 10.88% | |||
|
MERRILL LYNCH PIERCE FENNER
& SMITH INC FOR THE SOLE BENEFIT OF ITS CUSTOMERS ATTENTION SERVICE TEAM 4800 DEER LAKE DRIVE EAST 3RD FLOOR JACKSONVILLE FL 32246-6484 |
Class Inst | 91.53% | 76.11% | |
| Class V | 35.92% | |||
|
NATIONAL FINANCIAL SERVICES LLC
FEBO CUSTOMERS MUTUAL FUNDS 200 LIBERTY STREET 1WFC NEW YORK NY 10281-1003 |
Class A | 12.36% | N/A | |
| Class Adv | 68.09% | |||
| Class V | 6.41% | |||
|
PERSHING LLC
1 PERSHING PLZ JERSEY CITY NJ 07399-0002 |
Class Adv | 31.60% | N/A | |
| Class Inst2 | 89.27% | |||
|
RAYMOND JAMES
FBO OMNIBUS FOR MUTUAL FUNDS ATTN: COURTNEY WALLER 880 CARILLON PKWY ST PETERSBURG FL 33716-1100 |
Class A | 48.75% | N/A | |
| Class C | 21.30% |
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 275 |
| Fund | Shareholder Name and Address | Share Class |
Percentage
of Class |
Percentage of Fund
(if greater than 25%) |
|
TD AMERITRADE INC FOR THE
EXCLUSIVE BENEFIT OF OUR CLIENTS PO BOX 2226 OMAHA NE 68103-2226 |
Class Inst2 | 8.37% | N/A | |
|
WELLS FARGO CLEARING SERVICES LLC
SPECIAL CUSTODY ACCT FOR THE EXCLUSIVE BENEFIT OF CUSTOMER 2801 MARKET ST SAINT LOUIS MO 63103-2523 |
Class A | 11.37% | N/A | |
| NY Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund |
AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INVESTMENT SVC
707 2ND AVE S MINNEAPOLIS MN 55402-2405 |
Class A | 31.89% | N/A |
| Class C | 9.22% | |||
|
EDWARD D JONES & CO
FOR THE BENEFIT OF CUSTOMERS 12555 MANCHESTER RD SAINT LOUIS MO 63131-3710 |
Class Inst3 | 66.02% | N/A | |
|
MERRILL LYNCH PIERCE FENNER & SMITH
FOR THE SOLE BENEFIT OF ITS CUSTOMERS ATTN FUND ADMINISTRATION 4800 DEER LAKE DR E FL 3 JACKSONVILLE FL 32246-6484 |
Class A | 19.45% | 70.88% | |
| Class C | 31.71% | |||
|
MERRILL LYNCH PIERCE FENNER
& SMITH INC FOR THE SOLE BENEFIT OF ITS CUSTOMERS ATTENTION SERVICE TEAM 4800 DEER LAKE DRIVE EAST 3RD FLOOR JACKSONVILLE FL 32246-6484 |
Class Inst | 81.78% | 70.88% | |
| Class V | 22.95% | |||
|
MORGAN STANLEY SMITH BARNEY LLC
FOR THE EXCLUSIVE BENE OF ITS CUST 1 NEW YORK PLZ FL 12 NEW YORK NY 10004-1901 |
Class A | 12.06% | N/A | |
| Class C | 15.32% | |||
|
MORI & CO
922 WALNUT ST MAILSTOP TBTS 2 KANSAS CITY MO 64106-1802 |
Class Inst3 | 25.84% | N/A | |
|
NATIONAL FINANCIAL SERVICES LLC
FEBO CUSTOMERS MUTUAL FUNDS 200 LIBERTY STREET 1WFC NEW YORK NY 10281-1003 |
Class A | 10.54% | N/A | |
| Class Adv | 54.55% | |||
| Class Inst2 | 95.75% | |||
|
PAUL E HOWARD &
JUDITH A HOWARD JTWROS PO BOX 649 SCHOHARIE NY 12157-0649 |
Class V | 6.25% | N/A | |
|
PERSHING LLC
1 PERSHING PLZ JERSEY CITY NJ 07399-0002 |
Class A | 6.78% | N/A | |
| Class Adv | 44.97% | |||
| Class C | 8.60% | |||
| Class Inst3 | 6.64% | |||
|
WELLS FARGO CLEARING SERVICES LLC
SPECIAL CUSTODY ACCT FOR THE EXCLUSIVE BENEFIT OF CUSTOMER 2801 MARKET ST SAINT LOUIS MO 63103-2523 |
Class C | 11.71% | N/A | |
| Strategic CA Municipal Income Fund |
AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INVESTMENT SVC
707 2ND AVE S MINNEAPOLIS MN 55402-2405 |
Class A | 29.90% | 29.98% |
| Class C | 25.74% | |||
| Class Inst | 33.36% | |||
|
CHARLES SCHWAB & CO INC
SPECIAL CUSTODY A/C FBO CUSTOMERS ATTENTION MUTUAL FUNDS 101 MONTGOMERY ST SAN FRANCISCO CA 94104-4151 |
Class Inst2 | 85.01% | N/A |
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 276 |
| Fund | Shareholder Name and Address | Share Class |
Percentage
of Class |
Percentage of Fund
(if greater than 25%) |
|
EDWARD D JONES & CO
FOR THE BENEFIT OF CUSTOMERS 12555 MANCHESTER RD SAINT LOUIS MO 63131-3710 |
Class Inst3 | 98.90% | N/A | |
|
LPL FINANCIAL
9785 TOWNE CENTRE DR SAN DIEGO CA 92121-1968 |
Class Inst | 10.86% | N/A | |
|
MERRILL LYNCH PIERCE FENNER & SMITH
FOR THE SOLE BENEFIT OF ITS CUSTOMERS ATTN FUND ADMINISTRATION 4800 DEER LAKE DR E FL 2 JACKSONVILLE FL 32246-6484 |
Class A | 13.39% | N/A | |
|
MERRILL LYNCH PIERCE FENNER & SMITH
FOR THE SOLE BENEFIT OF ITS CUSTOMERS ATTN FUND ADMINISTRATION 4800 DEER LAKE DR E FL 2 JACKSONVILLE FL 32246-6484 |
Class C | 29.82% | N/A | |
|
MERRILL LYNCH PIERCE FENNER
& SMITH INC FOR THE SOLE BENEFIT OF ITS CUSTOMERS ATTENTION SERVICE TEAM 4800 DEER LAKE DRIVE EAST 3RD FLOOR JACKSONVILLE FL 32246-6484 |
Class Inst | 34.76% | N/A | |
|
MORGAN STANLEY SMITH BARNEY LLC
FOR THE EXCLUSIVE BENE OF ITS CUST 1 NEW YORK PLZ FL 12 NEW YORK NY 10004-1901 |
Class A | 6.53% | N/A | |
| Class Inst | 6.66% | |||
|
NATIONAL FINANCIAL SERVICES LLC
FEBO CUSTOMERS MUTUAL FUNDS 200 LIBERTY STREET 1WFC NEW YORK NY 10281-1003 |
Class Adv | 80.44% | N/A | |
|
PERSHING LLC
1 PERSHING PLZ JERSEY CITY NJ 07399-0002 |
Class Adv | 19.41% | N/A | |
|
TD AMERITRADE INC FOR THE
EXCLUSIVE BENEFIT OF OUR CLIENTS PO BOX 2226 OMAHA NE 68103-2226 |
Class Inst2 | 13.76% | N/A | |
|
UBS WM USA
SPEC CDY A/C EXCL BEN CUST UBSFSI 1000 HARBOR BLVD WEEHAWKEN NJ 07086-6761 |
Class A | 5.92% | N/A | |
|
WELLS FARGO CLEARING SERVICES LLC
SPECIAL CUSTODY ACCT FOR THE EXCLUSIVE BENEFIT OF CUSTOMER 2801 MARKET ST SAINT LOUIS MO 63103-2523 |
Class A | 8.29% | N/A | |
| Class C | 18.35% | |||
| Strategic NY Municipal Income Fund |
AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INVESTMENT SVC
707 2ND AVE S MINNEAPOLIS MN 55402-2405 |
Class A | 24.61% | N/A |
| Class C | 15.07% | |||
| Class Inst | 32.20% | |||
|
CHARLES SCHWAB & CO INC
SPECIAL CUSTODY A/C FBO CUSTOMERS ATTN MUTUAL FUND DEPT 101 MONTGOMERY ST SAN FRANCISCO CA 94104-4151 |
Class Inst2 | 91.73% | N/A | |
|
EDWARD D JONES & CO
FOR THE BENEFIT OF CUSTOMERS 12555 MANCHESTER RD SAINT LOUIS MO 63131-3710 |
Class Inst3 | 31.56% | N/A |
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 277 |
| Fund | Shareholder Name and Address | Share Class |
Percentage
of Class |
Percentage of Fund
(if greater than 25%) |
|
J P MORGAN SECURITIES LLC OMNIBUS
ACCOUNT FOR THE EXCLUSIVE BENEFIT OF CUSTOMERS 4 CHASE METROTECH CENTER 3RD FL MUTUAL FUND DEPARTMENT BROOKLYN NY 11245-0003 |
Class Inst | 9.55% | N/A | |
|
LPL FINANCIAL
9785 TOWNE CENTRE DR SAN DIEGO CA 92121-1968 |
Class Inst | 8.31% | N/A | |
|
LPL FINANCIAL
FBO CUSTOMER ACCOUNTS 9785 TOWNE CENTRE DR SAN DIEGO CA 92121-1968 |
Class C | 6.47% | N/A | |
|
MERRILL LYNCH PIERCE FENNER
& SMITH INC FOR THE SOLE BENEFIT OF ITS CUSTOMERS ATTENTION SERVICE TEAM 4800 DEER LAKE DR E FL 3 JACKSONVILLE FL 32246-6484 |
Class Inst | 29.40% | N/A | |
|
MERRILL LYNCH PIERCE FENNER & SMITH
FOR THE SOLE BENEFIT OF ITS CUSTOMERS ATTN FUND ADMINISTRATION 4800 DEER LAKE DR E FL 2 JACKSONVILLE FL 32246-6484 |
Class A | 7.75% | N/A | |
|
MERRILL LYNCH PIERCE FENNER & SMITH
FOR THE SOLE BENEFIT OF ITS CUSTOMERS ATTN FUND ADMINISTRATION 4800 DEER LAKE DR E FL 2 JACKSONVILLE FL 32246-6484 |
Class C | 26.03% | N/A | |
|
MORGAN STANLEY SMITH BARNEY LLC
FOR THE EXCLUSIVE BENE OF ITS CUST 1 NEW YORK PLZ FL 12 NEW YORK NY 10004-1901 |
Class A | 5.86% | N/A | |
| Class C | 11.34% | |||
|
NATIONAL FINANCIAL SERVICES LLC
FEBO CUSTOMERS MUTUAL FUNDS 200 LIBERTY STREET 1WFC NEW YORK NY 10281-1003 |
Class Adv | 6.43% | N/A | |
|
PERSHING LLC
1 PERSHING PLZ JERSEY CITY NJ 07399-0002 |
Class A | 6.20% | N/A | |
| Class Adv | 93.21% | |||
| Class C | 9.80% | |||
| Class Inst3 | 67.07% | |||
|
RAYMOND JAMES
FBO OMNIBUS FOR MUTUAL FUNDS ATTN: COURTNEY WALLER 880 CARILLON PKWY ST PETERSBURG FL 33716-1100 |
Class Inst | 6.09% | N/A | |
|
TD AMERITRADE INC FOR THE
EXCLUSIVE BENEFIT OF OUR CLIENTS PO BOX 2226 OMAHA NE 68103-2226 |
Class Inst2 | 8.02% | N/A | |
|
WELLS FARGO CLEARING SERVICES LLC
SPECIAL CUSTODY ACCT FOR THE EXCLUSIVE BENEFIT OF CUSTOMER 2801 MARKET ST SAINT LOUIS MO 63103-2523 |
Class A | 5.56% | N/A | |
| Class C | 13.35% |
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 278 |
Funds with Fiscal Period Ending December 31:
Except as otherwise indicated, the information below is as of March 31, 2020:
| Fund | Shareholder Name and Address | Share Class |
Percentage
of Class |
Percentage of Fund
(if greater than 25%) |
| Real Estate Equity Fund |
AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INVESTMENT SVC
707 2ND AVE S MINNEAPOLIS MN 55402-2405 |
Class A | 67.01% | N/A |
| Class C | 37.37% | |||
|
ASCENSUS TRUST COMPANY FBO
PO BOX 10758 FARGO ND 58106-0758 |
Class C | 7.66% | N/A | |
|
C/O BMO HARRIS SWP
SEI PRIVATE TRUST COMPANY 1 FREEDOM VALLEY DR OAKS PA 19456-9989 |
Class Inst | 36.97% | N/A | |
|
CAPITAL BANK & TRUST CO TTEE FBO
8515 E ORCHARD RD # 2T2 GREENWOOD VLG CO 80111-5002 |
Class R | 19.33% | N/A | |
|
CHARLES SCHWAB & CO INC
CUST A/C FOR THE EXCLUSIVE BENEFIT ATTENTION MUTUAL FUNDS 101 MONTGOMERY ST SAN FRANCISCO CA 94104-4151 |
Class C | 12.12% | N/A | |
| Class Inst | 10.76% | |||
| Class Inst2 | 16.20% | |||
|
JPMCB NA CUST FOR
COLUMBIA INCOME BUILDER FUND 4 CHASE METROTECH CENTER 3RD FLOOR BROOKLYN NY 11245-0003 |
Class Inst3 | 62.79% | N/A | |
|
KLEIN HERSH INTERNATIONAL TTEE FBO
KLEIN HERSH INTERNATIONAL 401K C/O FASCORE LLC 8515 E ORCHARD RD # 2T2 GREENWOOD VLG CO 80111-5002 |
Class Inst2 | 10.73% | N/A | |
|
LPL FINANCIAL
9785 TOWNE CENTRE DR SAN DIEGO CA 92121-1968 |
Class C | 5.22% | N/A | |
|
MERRILL LYNCH, PIERCE, FENNER
& SMITH INC FOR THE SOLE BENEFIT OF ITS CUSTOMERS ATTENTION SERVICE TEAM 4800 DEER LAKE DR E FL 3 JACKSONVILLE FL 32246-6484 |
Class Adv | 15.20% | N/A | |
| Class C | 10.29% | |||
| Class Inst3 | 35.09% | |||
| Class R | 38.71% | |||
|
MICHAEL CASEY TTEE FBO
C/O FASCORE LLC MICHAEL S CASEY DMD 401K PSP 8515 E ORCHARD RD # 2T2 GREENWOOD VLG CO 80111-5002 |
Class Inst2 | 7.76% | N/A | |
|
MID ATLANTIC TRUST COMPANY FBO
1251 WATERFRONT PL STE 525 PITTSBURGH PA 15222-4228 |
Class R | 6.47% | N/A | |
|
NATIONAL FINANCIAL SERVICES LLC
FEBO CUSTOMERS MUTUAL FUNDS 200 LIBERTY STREET 1WFC NEW YORK NY 10281-1003 |
Class Adv | 9.56% | N/A | |
| Class Inst2 | 15.51% | |||
|
PERSHING LLC
1 PERSHING PLZ JERSEY CITY NJ 07399-0002 |
Class Adv | 68.71% | N/A | |
| Class C | 6.57% | |||
| Class Inst2 | 6.98% | |||
|
S GOLDBERG H MATRI & M BERMAN TTEE
C/O FASCORE LLC COLE SCHOTZ MEISEL FORMAN & LEONARD 8515 E ORCHARD RD # 2T2 GREENWOOD VLG CO 80111-5002 |
Class Inst2 | 21.71% | N/A |
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 279 |
| Fund | Shareholder Name and Address | Share Class |
Percentage
of Class |
Percentage of Fund
(if greater than 25%) |
|
TD AMERITRADE INC FOR THE
EXCLUSIVE BENEFIT OF OUR CLIENTS PO BOX 2226 OMAHA NE 68103-2226 |
Class Inst2 | 12.94% | N/A | |
|
WELLS FARGO CLEARING SERVICES LLC
SPECIAL CUSTODY ACCT FOR THE EXCLUSIVE BENEFIT OF CUSTOMER 2801 MARKET ST SAINT LOUIS MO 63103-2523 |
Class C | 7.43% | N/A |
| (a) | Combination of all share classes of Columbia Management initial capital and/or affiliated funds-of-funds’ investments. |
American Enterprise Investment Services Inc., a Minnesota corporation, is a subsidiary of Ameriprise Financial, Inc.
Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated, a Delaware corporation is a subsidiary of Bank of America Corporation.
Pershing LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, is a subsidiary of The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation.
The Investment Manager, a Minnesota limited liability company, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Ameriprise Financial, Inc. Other Columbia Funds managed by the Investment Manager may hold more than 25% of a Fund.
UBS Financial Services Inc., a Delaware corporation, is a subsidiary of UBS Group AG.
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 280 |
INFORMATION REGARDING PENDING AND SETTLED LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
Ameriprise Financial and certain of its affiliates have historically been involved in a number of legal, arbitration and regulatory proceedings, including routine litigation, class actions, and governmental actions, concerning matters arising in connection with the conduct of their business activities. Ameriprise Financial believes that the Funds are not currently the subject of, and that neither Ameriprise Financial nor any of its affiliates are the subject of, any pending legal, arbitration or regulatory proceedings that are likely to have a material adverse effect on the Funds or the ability of Ameriprise Financial or its affiliates to perform under their contracts with the Funds. Ameriprise Financial is required to make quarterly (10-Q), annual (10-K) and, as necessary, 8-K filings with the SEC on legal and regulatory matters that relate to Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates. Copies of these filings may be obtained by accessing the SEC website at www.sec.gov.
There can be no assurance that these matters, or the adverse publicity associated with them, will not result in increased Fund redemptions, reduced sale of Fund shares or other adverse consequences to the Funds. Further, although we believe proceedings are not likely to have a material adverse effect on the Funds or the ability of Ameriprise Financial or its affiliates to perform under their contracts with the Funds, these proceedings are subject to uncertainties and, as such, we are unable to estimate the possible loss or range of loss that may result. An adverse outcome in one or more of these proceedings could result in adverse judgments, settlements, fines, penalties or other relief that could have a material adverse effect on the consolidated financial condition or results of operations of Ameriprise Financial or one or more of its affiliates that provides services to the Funds.
NO PERSON HAS BEEN AUTHORIZED TO GIVE ANY INFORMATION OR TO MAKE ANY REPRESENTATIONS NOT CONTAINED IN THE PROSPECTUS OR IN THIS STATEMENT OF ADDITIONAL INFORMATION, WHICH THE PROSPECTUS INCORPORATES BY REFERENCE, IN CONNECTION WITH THE OFFERING MADE BY THE PROSPECTUS AND, IF GIVEN OR MADE, SUCH INFORMATION OR PRESENTATIONS MUST NOT BE RELIED UPON AS HAVING BEEN AUTHORIZED BY THE TRUST(S). THIS STATEMENT OF ADDITIONAL INFORMATION DOES NOT CONSTITUTE AN OFFERING BY THE TRUST(S) IN ANY JURISDICTION IN WHICH SUCH AN OFFERING MAY NOT LAWFULLY BE MADE.
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | 281 |
APPENDIX A — DESCRIPTION OF RATINGS
The ratings of S&P, Moody’s, Fitch, DBRS, and KBRA represent their opinions as to quality. These ratings are not absolute standards of quality and are not recommendations to purchase, sell or hold a security. Issuers and issues are subject to risks that are not evaluated by the rating agencies. When a security is not rated by one of these agencies, it is designated as Not Rated. Securities designated as Not Rated do not necessarily indicate low credit quality, and for such securities the Investment Manager evaluates the credit quality.
The following ratings descriptions, which were derived as of April 27, 2020 from the particular credit rating agency’s website, identify the date such descriptions were then last updated by such credit rating agency.
The following ratings descriptions, which were derived as of April 27, 2020 from the particular credit rating agency’s website, identify the date such descriptions were then last updated by such credit rating agency.
S&P’s Ratings last updated on September 18, 2019
Long-Term Issue Credit Ratings*
An obligation rated ‘AAA’ has the highest rating assigned by S&P. The obligor’s capacity to meet its financial commitments on the obligation is extremely strong.
An obligation rated ‘AA’ differs from the highest-rated obligations only to a small degree. The obligor’s capacity to meet its financial commitments on the obligation is very strong.
An obligation rated ‘A’ is somewhat more susceptible to the adverse effects of changes in circumstances and economic conditions than obligations in higher-rated categories. However, the obligor’s capacity to meet its financial commitments on the obligation is still strong.
An obligation rated ‘BBB’ exhibits adequate protection parameters. However, adverse economic conditions or changing circumstances are more likely to weaken the obligor’s capacity to meet its financial commitments on the obligation.
Obligations rated ‘BB’, ‘B’, ‘CCC’, ‘CC’, and ‘C’ are regarded as having significant speculative characteristics. ‘BB’ indicates the least degree of speculation and ‘C’ the highest. While such obligations will likely have some quality and protective characteristics, these may be outweighed by large uncertainties or major exposure to adverse conditions.
An obligation rated ‘BB’ is less vulnerable to nonpayment than other speculative issues. However, it faces major ongoing uncertainties or exposure to adverse business, financial, or economic conditions that could lead to the obligor’s inadequate capacity to meet its financial commitments on the obligation.
An obligation rated ‘B’ is more vulnerable to nonpayment than obligations rated ‘BB’, but the obligor currently has the capacity to meet its financial commitments on the obligation. Adverse business, financial, or economic conditions will likely impair the obligor’s capacity or willingness to meet its financial commitments on the obligation.
An obligation rated ‘CCC’ is currently vulnerable to nonpayment and is dependent upon favorable business, financial, and economic conditions for the obligor to meet its financial commitments on the obligation. In the event of adverse business, financial, or economic conditions, the obligor is not likely to have the capacity to meet its financial commitments on the obligation.
An obligation rated ‘CC’ is currently highly vulnerable to nonpayment. The ‘CC’ rating is used when a default has not yet occurred but S&P expects default to be a virtual certainty, regardless of the anticipated time to default.
An obligation rated ‘C’ is currently highly vulnerable to nonpayment, and the obligation is expected to have lower relative seniority or lower ultimate recovery compared with obligations that are rated higher.
An obligation rated ‘D’ is in default or in breach of an imputed promise. For non-hybrid capital instruments, the ‘D’ rating category is used when payments on an obligation are not made on the date due, unless S&P believes that such payments will be made within five business days in the absence of a stated grace period or within the earlier of the stated grace period or 30 calendar days. The ‘D’ rating also will be used upon the filing of a bankruptcy petition or the taking of similar action and where default on an obligation is a virtual certainty, for example due to automatic stay provisions. A rating on an obligation is lowered to ‘D’ if it is subject to a distressed exchange offer.
*Ratings from ‘AA’ to ‘CCC’ may be modified by the addition of a plus (+) or minus (-) sign to show relative standing within the rating categories.
Short-Term Issue Credit Ratings
A short-term obligation rated ‘A-1’ is rated in the highest category by S&P. The obligor’s capacity to meet its financial commitments on the obligation is strong. Within this category, certain obligations are designated with a plus sign (+). This indicates that the obligor’s capacity to meet its financial commitments on these obligations is extremely strong.
A short-term obligation rated ‘A-2’ is somewhat more susceptible to the adverse effects of changes in circumstances and economic conditions than obligations in higher rating categories. However, the obligor’s capacity to meet its financial commitments on the obligation is satisfactory
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | A-1 |
A short-term obligation rated ‘A-3’ exhibits adequate protection parameters. However, adverse economic conditions or changing circumstances are more likely to weaken an obligor’s capacity to meet its financial commitments on the obligation.
A short-term obligation rated ‘B’ is regarded as vulnerable and has significant speculative characteristics. The obligor currently has the capacity to meet its financial commitments; however, it faces major ongoing uncertainties that could lead to the obligor’s inadequate capacity to meet its financial commitments.
A short-term obligation rated ‘C’ is currently vulnerable to nonpayment and is dependent upon favorable business, financial, and economic conditions for the obligor to meet its financial commitments on the obligation.
A short-term obligation rated ‘D’ is in default or in breach of an imputed promise. For non-hybrid capital instruments, the ‘D’ rating category is used when payments on an obligation are not made on the date due, unless S&P believes that such payments will be made within any stated grace period. However, any stated grace period longer than five business days will be treated as five business days. The ‘D’ rating also will be used upon the filing of a bankruptcy petition or the taking of a similar action and where default on an obligation is a virtual certainty, for example due to automatic stay provisions. A rating on an obligation is lowered to ‘D’ if it is subject to a distressed exchange offer.
Municipal Short-Term Note Ratings
SP-1 Strong capacity to pay principal and interest. An issue determined to possess a very strong capacity to pay debt service is given a plus (+) designation.
SP-2 Satisfactory capacity to pay principal and interest, with some vulnerability to adverse financial and economic changes over the term of the notes.
SP-3 Speculative capacity to pay principal and interest.
D ‘D’ is assigned upon failure to pay the note when due, completion of a distressed exchange offer, or the filing of a bankruptcy petition or the taking of similar action and where default on an obligation is a virtual certainty, for example due to automatic stay provisions.
Moody’s Ratings last updated in January 2020
Global Long-Term Rating Scale
Aaa – Obligations rated Aaa are judged to be of the highest quality, subject to the lowest level of credit risk.
Aa – Obligations rated Aa are judged to be of high quality and are subject to very low credit risk.
A – Obligations rated A are judged to be upper-medium grade and are subject to low credit risk.
Baa – Obligations rated Baa are judged to be medium-grade and subject to moderate credit risk and as such may possess certain speculative characteristics.
Ba – Obligations rated Ba are judged to be speculative and are subject to substantial credit risk.
B – Obligations rated B are considered speculative and are subject to high credit risk.
Caa – Obligations rated Caa are judged to be speculative of poor standing and are subject to very high credit risk.
Ca – Obligations rated Ca are highly speculative and are likely in, or very near, default, with some prospect of recovery of principal and interest.
C – Obligations rated C are the lowest rated and are typically in default, with little prospect for recovery of principal or interest.
Note: Moody’s appends numerical modifiers 1, 2, and 3 to each generic rating classification from Aa through Caa. The modifier 1 indicates that the obligation ranks in the higher end of its generic rating category; the modifier 2 indicates a mid-range ranking; and the modifier 3 indicates a ranking in the lower end of that generic rating category. Additionally, a “(hyb)” indicator is appended to all ratings of hybrid securities issued by banks, insurers, finance companies, and securities firms.*
* By their terms, hybrid securities allow for the omission of scheduled dividends, interest, or principal payments, which can potentially result in impairment if such an omission occurs. Hybrid securities may also be subject to contractually allowable write-downs of principal that could result in impairment. Together with the hybrid indicator, the long-term obligation rating assigned to a hybrid security is an expression of the relative credit risk associated with that security.
Global Short-Term Rating Scale
Issuers (or supporting institutions) rated Prime-1 (P-1) have a superior ability to repay short-term debt obligations.
Issuers (or supporting institutions) rated Prime-2 (P-2) have a strong ability to repay short-term debt obligations.
Issuers (or supporting institutions) rated Prime-3 (P-3) have an acceptable ability to repay short-term obligations.
Issuers (or supporting institutions) rated Not Prime (NP) do not fall within any of the Prime rating categories.
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | A-2 |
US Municipal Short-Term Debt and Demand Obligation Ratings
MIG Scale
The MIG 1 designation denotes superior credit quality. Excellent protection is afforded by established cash flows, highly reliable liquidity support, or demonstrated broad-based access to the market for refinancing.
The MIG 2 designation denotes strong credit quality. Margins of protection are ample, although not as large as in the preceding group.
The MIG 3 designation denotes acceptable credit quality. Liquidity and cash-flow protection may be narrow, and market access for refinancing is likely to be less well-established.
The SG designation denotes speculative-grade credit quality. Debt instruments in this category may lack sufficient margins of protection.
VMIG Scale
The VMIG 1 designation denotes superior credit quality. Excellent protection is afforded by the superior short-term credit strength of the liquidity provider and structural and legal protections that ensure the timely payment of purchase price upon demand.
The VMIG 2 designation denotes strong credit quality. Good protection is afforded by the strong short-term credit strength of the liquidity provider and structural and legal protections that ensure the timely payment of purchase price upon demand.
The VMIG 3 designation denotes acceptable credit quality. Adequate protection is afforded by the satisfactory short-term credit strength of the liquidity provider and structural and legal protections that ensure the timely payment of purchase price upon demand.
The SG designation denotes speculative-grade credit quality. Demand features rated in this category may be supported by a liquidity provider that does not have a sufficiently strong short-term rating or may lack the structural or legal protections necessary to ensure the timely payment of purchase price upon demand.
Moody’s typically assigns the VMIG short-term demand obligation rating if the frequency of the demand feature is less than every three years. If the frequency of the demand feature is less than three years but the purchase price is payable only with remarketing proceeds, the short-term demand obligation rating is “NR”.
Fitch’s Ratings last updated on March 26, 2020
Corporate Finance Obligations – Long-Term Rating Scales
AAA: Highest credit quality.
‘AAA’ ratings denote the lowest expectation of credit risk. They are assigned only in cases of exceptionally strong capacity for payment of financial commitments. This capacity is highly unlikely to be adversely affected by foreseeable events.
‘AAA’ ratings denote the lowest expectation of credit risk. They are assigned only in cases of exceptionally strong capacity for payment of financial commitments. This capacity is highly unlikely to be adversely affected by foreseeable events.
AA: Very high credit quality.
‘AA’ ratings denote expectations of very low credit risk. They indicate very strong capacity for payment of financial commitments. This capacity is not significantly vulnerable to foreseeable events.
‘AA’ ratings denote expectations of very low credit risk. They indicate very strong capacity for payment of financial commitments. This capacity is not significantly vulnerable to foreseeable events.
A: High credit quality.
‘A’ ratings denote expectations of low credit risk. The capacity for payment of financial commitments is considered strong. This capacity may, nevertheless, be more vulnerable to adverse business or economic conditions than is the case for higher ratings.
‘A’ ratings denote expectations of low credit risk. The capacity for payment of financial commitments is considered strong. This capacity may, nevertheless, be more vulnerable to adverse business or economic conditions than is the case for higher ratings.
BBB: Good credit quality.
‘BBB’ ratings indicate that expectations of credit risk are currently low. The capacity for payment of financial commitments is considered adequate, but adverse business or economic conditions are more likely to impair this capacity.
‘BBB’ ratings indicate that expectations of credit risk are currently low. The capacity for payment of financial commitments is considered adequate, but adverse business or economic conditions are more likely to impair this capacity.
BB: Speculative.
‘BB’ ratings indicate an elevated vulnerability to credit risk, particularly in the event of adverse changes in business or economic conditions over time; however, business or financial alternatives may be available to allow financial commitments to be met.
‘BB’ ratings indicate an elevated vulnerability to credit risk, particularly in the event of adverse changes in business or economic conditions over time; however, business or financial alternatives may be available to allow financial commitments to be met.
B: Highly speculative.
‘B’ ratings indicate that material credit risk is present.
‘B’ ratings indicate that material credit risk is present.
CCC: Substantial credit risk.
‘CCC’ ratings indicate that substantial credit risk is present.
‘CCC’ ratings indicate that substantial credit risk is present.
CC: Very high levels of credit risk.
‘CC’ ratings indicate very high levels of credit risk.
‘CC’ ratings indicate very high levels of credit risk.
C: Exceptionally high levels of credit risk.
‘C’ indicates exceptionally high levels of credit risk.
‘C’ indicates exceptionally high levels of credit risk.
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | A-3 |
Defaulted obligations typically are not assigned ‘RD’ or ‘D’ ratings, but are instead rated in the ‘B’ to ‘C’ rating categories, depending on their recovery prospects and other relevant characteristics. This approach better aligns obligations that have comparable overall expected loss but varying vulnerability to default and loss.
Short-Term Ratings Assigned to Issuers or Obligations in Corporate, Public and Structured Finance
F1: Highest short-term credit quality.
Indicates the strongest intrinsic capacity for timely payment of financial commitments; may have an added “+” to denote any exceptionally strong credit feature.
Indicates the strongest intrinsic capacity for timely payment of financial commitments; may have an added “+” to denote any exceptionally strong credit feature.
F2: Good short-term credit quality.
Good intrinsic capacity for timely payment of financial commitments.
Good intrinsic capacity for timely payment of financial commitments.
F3: Fair short-term credit quality.
The intrinsic capacity for timely payment of financial commitments is adequate.
The intrinsic capacity for timely payment of financial commitments is adequate.
B: Speculative short-term credit quality.
Minimal capacity for timely payment of financial commitments, plus heightened vulnerability to near term adverse changes in financial and economic conditions.
Minimal capacity for timely payment of financial commitments, plus heightened vulnerability to near term adverse changes in financial and economic conditions.
C: High short-term default risk.
Default is a real possibility.
Default is a real possibility.
RD: Restricted default.
Indicates an entity that has defaulted on one or more of its financial commitments, although it continues to meet other financial obligations. Typically applicable to entity ratings only.
Indicates an entity that has defaulted on one or more of its financial commitments, although it continues to meet other financial obligations. Typically applicable to entity ratings only.
D: Default.
Indicates a broad-based default event for an entity, or the default of a short-term obligation.
Indicates a broad-based default event for an entity, or the default of a short-term obligation.
The table below shows typical relationships between the long-term rating and the short-term rating.
| Long-Term Rating | Short-Term Rating |
| AAA | F1+ |
| AA+ | F1+ |
| AA | F1+ |
| AA– | F1+ |
| A+ | F1 or F1+ |
| A | F1 or F1+ |
| A– | F2 or F1 |
| BBB+ | F2 or F1 |
| BBB | F3 or F2 |
| BBB– | F3 |
| BB+ | B |
| BB | B |
| BB– | B |
| B+ | B |
| B | B |
| B– | B |
| CCC+ / CCC / CCC– | C |
| CC | C |
| C | C |
| RD / D | RD / D |
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | A-4 |
DBRS’s Ratings last updated in January 2019
Long-Term Obligations Scale
All rating categories other than AAA and D also contain subcategories (high) and (low). The absence of either a (high) or (low) designation indicates that the rating is in the middle of the category.
AAA
Highest credit quality. The capacity for the payment of financial obligations is exceptionally high and unlikely to be adversely affected by future events.
Highest credit quality. The capacity for the payment of financial obligations is exceptionally high and unlikely to be adversely affected by future events.
AA
Superior credit quality. The capacity for the payment of financial obligations is considered high. Credit quality differs from AAA only to a small degree. Unlikely to be significantly vulnerable to future events.
Superior credit quality. The capacity for the payment of financial obligations is considered high. Credit quality differs from AAA only to a small degree. Unlikely to be significantly vulnerable to future events.
A
Good credit quality. The capacity for the payment of financial obligations is substantial, but of lesser credit quality than AA. May be vulnerable to future events, but qualifying negative factors are considered manageable.
Good credit quality. The capacity for the payment of financial obligations is substantial, but of lesser credit quality than AA. May be vulnerable to future events, but qualifying negative factors are considered manageable.
BBB
Adequate credit quality. The capacity for the payment of financial obligations is considered acceptable. May be vulnerable to future events.
Adequate credit quality. The capacity for the payment of financial obligations is considered acceptable. May be vulnerable to future events.
BB
Speculative, non-investment-grade credit quality. The capacity for the payment of financial obligations is uncertain. Vulnerable to future events.
Speculative, non-investment-grade credit quality. The capacity for the payment of financial obligations is uncertain. Vulnerable to future events.
B
Highly speculative credit quality. There is a high level of uncertainty as to the capacity to meet financial obligations.
Highly speculative credit quality. There is a high level of uncertainty as to the capacity to meet financial obligations.
CCC / CC / C
Very highly speculative credit quality. In danger of defaulting on financial obligations. There is little difference between these three categories, although CC and C ratings are normally applied to obligations that are seen as highly likely to default or subordinated to obligations rated in the CCC to B range. Obligations in respect of which default has not technically taken place, but is considered inevitable, may be rated in the C category.
Very highly speculative credit quality. In danger of defaulting on financial obligations. There is little difference between these three categories, although CC and C ratings are normally applied to obligations that are seen as highly likely to default or subordinated to obligations rated in the CCC to B range. Obligations in respect of which default has not technically taken place, but is considered inevitable, may be rated in the C category.
D
When the issuer has filed under any applicable bankruptcy, insolvency or winding-up statute or there is a failure to satisfy an obligation after the exhaustion of grace periods, a downgrade to D may occur. DBRS may also use SD (Selective Default) in cases where only some securities are impacted, such as the case of a distressed exchange. See Default Definition for more information.
When the issuer has filed under any applicable bankruptcy, insolvency or winding-up statute or there is a failure to satisfy an obligation after the exhaustion of grace periods, a downgrade to D may occur. DBRS may also use SD (Selective Default) in cases where only some securities are impacted, such as the case of a distressed exchange. See Default Definition for more information.
Commercial Paper and Short-Term Debt Rating Scale
The R-1 and R-2 rating categories are further denoted by the subcategories (high), (middle) and (low).
R-1 (high)
Highest credit quality. The capacity for the payment of short-term financial obligations as they fall due is exceptionally high. Unlikely to be adversely affected by future events.
Highest credit quality. The capacity for the payment of short-term financial obligations as they fall due is exceptionally high. Unlikely to be adversely affected by future events.
R-1 (middle)
Superior credit quality. The capacity for the payment of short-term financial obligations as they fall due is very high. Differs from R-1 (high) by a relatively modest degree. Unlikely to be significantly vulnerable to future events.
Superior credit quality. The capacity for the payment of short-term financial obligations as they fall due is very high. Differs from R-1 (high) by a relatively modest degree. Unlikely to be significantly vulnerable to future events.
R-1 (low)
Good credit quality. The capacity for the payment of short-term financial obligations as they fall due is substantial. Overall strength is not as favourable as higher rating categories. May be vulnerable to future events, but qualifying negative factors are considered manageable.
Good credit quality. The capacity for the payment of short-term financial obligations as they fall due is substantial. Overall strength is not as favourable as higher rating categories. May be vulnerable to future events, but qualifying negative factors are considered manageable.
R-2 (high)
Upper end of adequate credit quality. The capacity for the payment of short-term financial obligations as they fall due is acceptable. May be vulnerable to future events.
Upper end of adequate credit quality. The capacity for the payment of short-term financial obligations as they fall due is acceptable. May be vulnerable to future events.
R-2 (middle)
Adequate credit quality. The capacity for the payment of short-term financial obligations as they fall due is acceptable. May be vulnerable to future events or may be exposed to other factors that could reduce credit quality.
Adequate credit quality. The capacity for the payment of short-term financial obligations as they fall due is acceptable. May be vulnerable to future events or may be exposed to other factors that could reduce credit quality.
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | A-5 |
R-2 (low)
Lower end of adequate credit quality. The capacity for the payment of short-term financial obligations as they fall due is acceptable. May be vulnerable to future events. A number of challenges are present that could affect the issuer’s ability to meet such obligations.
Lower end of adequate credit quality. The capacity for the payment of short-term financial obligations as they fall due is acceptable. May be vulnerable to future events. A number of challenges are present that could affect the issuer’s ability to meet such obligations.
R-3
Lowest end of adequate credit quality. There is capacity for the payment of short-term financial obligations as they fall due. May be vulnerable to future events and the certainty of meeting such obligations could be impacted by a variety of developments.
Lowest end of adequate credit quality. There is capacity for the payment of short-term financial obligations as they fall due. May be vulnerable to future events and the certainty of meeting such obligations could be impacted by a variety of developments.
R-4
Speculative credit quality. The capacity for the payment of short-term financial obligations as they fall due is uncertain.
Speculative credit quality. The capacity for the payment of short-term financial obligations as they fall due is uncertain.
R-5
Highly speculative credit quality. There is a high level of uncertainty as to the capacity to meet short-term financial obligations as they fall due.
Highly speculative credit quality. There is a high level of uncertainty as to the capacity to meet short-term financial obligations as they fall due.
D
When the issuer has filed under any applicable bankruptcy, insolvency or winding-up statute or there is a failure to satisfy an obligation after the exhaustion of grace periods, a downgrade to D may occur. DBRS may also use SD (Selective Default) in cases where only some securities are impacted, such as the case of a distressed exchange. See Default Definition for more information.
When the issuer has filed under any applicable bankruptcy, insolvency or winding-up statute or there is a failure to satisfy an obligation after the exhaustion of grace periods, a downgrade to D may occur. DBRS may also use SD (Selective Default) in cases where only some securities are impacted, such as the case of a distressed exchange. See Default Definition for more information.
KBRA’s Ratings, derived from the credit rating agency’s website as of April 15, 2020
Long-Term Rating Scale
AAA: Determined to have almost no risk of loss due to credit-related events. Assigned only to the very highest quality obligors and obligations able to survive extremely challenging economic events.
AA: Determined to have minimal risk of loss due to credit-related events. Such obligors and obligations are deemed very high quality.
A: Determined to be of high quality with a small risk of loss due to credit-related events. Issuers and obligations in this category are expected to weather difficult times with low credit losses.
BBB: Determined to be of medium quality with some risk of loss due to credit-related events. Such issuers and obligations may experience credit losses during stressed environments.
BB: Determined to be of low quality with moderate risk of loss due to credit-related events. Such issuers and obligations have fundamental weaknesses that create moderate credit risk.
B: Determined to be of very low quality with high risk of loss due to credit-related events. These issuers and obligations contain many fundamental shortcomings that create significant credit risk.
CCC: Determined to be at substantial risk of loss due to credit-related events, near default, or in default with high recovery expectations.
CC: Determined to be near default or in default with average recovery expectations.
C: Determined to be near default or in default with low recovery expectations.
D: KBRA defines default as occurring if:
| ■ | There is a missed interest payment, principal payment, or preferred dividend payment, as applicable, on a rated obligation which is unlikely to be recovered. |
| ■ | The rated entity files for protection from creditors, is placed into receivership, or is closed by regulators such that a missed payment is likely to result. |
| ■ | The rated entity seeks and completes a distressed exchange, where existing rated obligations are replaced by new obligations with a diminished economic value. |
Short-Term Rating Scale
K1+: Exceptional ability to meet short-term obligations.
K1: Very strong ability to meet short-term obligations.
K2: Strong ability to meet short-term obligations.
K3: Adequate ability to meet short-term obligations.
B: Questionable ability to meet short-term obligations.
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | A-6 |
C: Little ability to meet short-term obligations.
D: KBRA defines default as occurring if:
| ■ | There is a missed interest payment, principal payment, or preferred dividend payment, as applicable, on a rated obligation which is unlikely to be recovered. |
| ■ | The rated entity files for protection from creditors, is placed into receivership, or is closed by regulators such that a missed payment is likely to result. |
| ■ | The rated entity seeks and completes a distressed exchange, where existing rated obligations are replaced by new obligations with a diminished economic value. |
With exceptions for certain issuers and sectors, the following correspondence between KBRA's short- and long-term ratings generally holds:
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | A-7 |
APPENDIX B — CORPORATE GOVERNANCE AND PROXY VOTING PRINCIPLES
As active investors, well informed investment research and stewardship of our clients’ investments are important aspects of our responsible investment activities. Our approach to this is framed in the relevant Responsible Investment Policies we maintain and publish. These policy documents provide an overview of our approach in practice (e.g., around the integration of environmental, social and governance (ESG) and sustainability research and analysis).
As part of this, acting as shareholders of a company, we are charged with responsibility for exercising the voting rights associated with that share ownership. Unless clients decide otherwise, that forms part of the stewardship duty we owe our clients in managing their assets. Subject to practical limitations, we therefore aim to exercise all voting rights for which we are responsible, although exceptions do nevertheless arise (for example, due to technical or administrative issues, including those related to Powers of Attorney, share blocking, related option rights or the presence of other exceptional or market-specific issues). This provides us with the opportunity to use those voting rights to express our preferences on relevant aspects of the business of a company, to highlight concerns to the board, to promote good practice and, when appropriate, to exercise related rights. In doing so we have an obligation to ensure that we do that in the best interests of our clients and in keeping with the mandate we have from them.
Corporate governance has particular importance to us in this context, which reflects our view that well governed companies are better positioned to manage the risks and challenges inherent in business, capture opportunities that help deliver sustainable growth and returns for our clients. Governance is a term used to describe the arrangements and practices that frame how directors of a company organize and operate in leading and directing a business on behalf of the shareholders of the company. Such arrangements and practices give effect to the mechanisms through which companies facilitate the exercise of shareholders’ rights and define the extent to which these are equitable for all shareholders.
We recognize that companies are not homogeneous and some variation in governance structures and practice is to be expected. In formulating our approach, we are also mindful of best practice standards and codes that help frame good practice, including international frameworks and investment industry guidance. While we are mindful of company and industry specific issues, as well as normal market practice, in considering the approach and proposals of a company we are guided solely by the best interests of our clients and will consider any issues and related disclosures or explanations in that context.
This document sets out our views on key issues and the broad principles that help shape our approach.
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | B-1 |
Corporate Governance and Proxy Voting Principles
Shareholder Rights
The shareholder membership of listed companies is generally made up (directly or indirectly) of diverse individuals and institutions whose views, interests, goals and time horizons can vary considerably. Nevertheless, as shareholders, having confidence that the capital we commit to a company will be protected from misuse (e.g. from any potential agency conflicts) and will be prudently managed is important to us, our clients, and as a factor in the development and proper functioning of capital markets.
It is not the role of shareholders to micro manage businesses, rather it is the role and duty of directors to promote the long-term success of their company as noted in the next section. Nevertheless, by virtue of their share-ownership interest and position, shareholders are afforded certain rights to ensure, amongst other things, that appropriate leadership of the business is in place (e.g. through the appointment of the directors), review their performance (e.g. through receipt of the annual report & accounts, updates and general meetings), approve the broad parameters of the company’s authorities (e.g. in agreeing capital authorities), or indeed to exercise other rights afforded to shareholders (e.g. to requisition matters for consideration at General meetings).
Shareholder rights, framed in law, regulation and a company’s formational documents (i.e., bylaws or articles of association), are an important and integral part of corporate governance frameworks and the context in which we retain confidence in committing capital to businesses, to support their growth, development and success. This is particularly true in terms of ensuring that minority shareholders’ rights and interests will be respected. Arrangements or actions that detract from these rights and interest (including control distortions) need to be avoided.
While the precise nature and scope of shareholder rights vary across jurisdictions and many related aspects of our expectations are touched upon in other parts of these Principles, a number merit direct mention in this context:
Equal treatment of all shareholders
One share one vote: Ordinary or common shares should feature one vote for each share and discriminatory voting rights or equivalent arrangements are neither appropriate nor welcome. Companies need to disclose sufficient information about the key attributes of all of the group’s capital structure (including minority interests in subsidiaries) to enable a proper understanding of the structures in place and their implications.
Controlling shareholder agreements: where a company has a controlling shareholder (whether by virtue of the control of voting rights or through board representation) it should put an agreement in place to safeguard the independence of the company and ability of the board to fulfill its duties to the shareholders as a whole.
Shareholder approvals
Boards should ensure that shareholders have the ability and right to:
| ■ | effectively exercise their voting rights across the full range of business normally associated with general meetings of a company in line with market best practice (e.g. the election of individual directors, discharge authorities, capital authorities, auditor appointment, major or related party transactions etc). |
| ■ | place items on the agenda of general meetings, and to propose resolutions subject to reasonable limitations; |
| ■ | call a meeting of shareholders for the purpose of transacting the legitimate business of the company; and |
that shareholder rights are not circumvented through, for example, the introduction or maintenance of limitations in the company’s formational documents.
Shareholder engagement
Boards should ensure that:
| ■ | Clear, consistent and effective reporting to shareholders is undertaken at regular intervals and that they remain aware of shareholder sentiment on major issues to do with the business, its strategy and performance. Where significant shareholder dissent is emerging or apparent (e.g. through the voting levels seen at General Meetings), boards should act to address that. |
| ■ | Boards should also allow a reasonable opportunity for the shareholders at a general meeting to ask questions about or make comments on the management of the company, and to ask the external auditor questions related to the audit. |
As an institutional shareholder, stewardship is about more than just voting and include monitoring and reviews of companies’ activities and developments. Where appropriate it may also include engagement with companies on matters such as strategy, performance, risk, capital structure, standards of operational practice, including environmental, social and governance factors. Our broad approach to these stewardship responsibilities and activities are set out in our Global Stewardship Statement.
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | B-2 |
The Board
Strong corporate governance starts with a balanced, effective, and independent board. The directors are collectively responsible for the long-term success and ongoing evolution in the leadership of the company, within a framework of prudent and effective oversight, policies and controls.
The board is thus responsible for providing leadership to the business, setting and monitoring the strategy, overseeing its management and implementation, as well as for ensuring that a culture of integrity and strong standards is maintained across all activities and operations. Not least this should enable business opportunities and risk to be assessed and responded to appropriately.
Boards need to have appropriate independent membership and an effective balance and diversity (re: skills, knowledge, experience, race/ethnicity, gender, approach and perspectives) that complements the strategy, operations and footprint of the business. For non-executive (supervisory) directors (NEDs), the ability to provide objective input and scrutiny, on behalf of the shareholders, is essential in ensuring diversity of thought and integrity in board deliberations. In this context, the importance of true independence of thought is critical. NEDs need to be reflective and thoughtful in their approach, being able to ask challenging, often difficult questions, while offering considered and constructive input to board discussions, based on sound judgement. The same holds true in terms of board committee membership. Suitably independent committees are one important mechanism for non-executive/supervisory directors to achieve this, whether that is in respect of risk, audit, succession or remuneration, so as to enable them to participate effectively as part of the board and in their role as directors of the business.
As part of this dynamic, well considered succession planning, orientation, on-going briefings, updates and annual evaluations (that make regular use of external facilitation) of the board, its sub-committees and members are essential.
All directors should be able to allocate sufficient time to the company to discharge their responsibilities fully and effectively and have an appropriate knowledge of the business and access to its operations and staff. Given the important role and duties of a board member, it is important that directors are not over-boarded and can maintain consistent participation at all their board and committee meetings and their wider engagement with the companies they lead.
All directors should be subject to annual election. However, in markets where that is not normal or best practice, we expect all directors to be subject to re-election in line with local market best practice, but in any case, at least every 4 years. At the same time, arrangements that might entrench boards or management, or otherwise insulate them from accountability, should be avoided.
Given their role and duties, directors should also ensure that they are well informed about the views and/or concerns of shareholders, as well as understanding the dynamic around their broader stakeholders (including bondholders, pension fund trustees, employees, customers, suppliers and the communities they operate in).
Chair of the Board
The Board Chair has a crucial function in providing leadership in the boardroom, setting the right context in terms of the board’s overall responsibility for the oversight of the business and its strategy. It is the Board Chair’s role to manage the board agenda and the provision of information to directors, as well as to ensure open boardroom discussion that enables the directors to have effective dialogue and provide the constructive challenge that a company needs. This role is distinct from the role of a chief executive officer who leads the day-to-day running of the business and implementation of the strategy.
We expect the Board Chair (or lead/senior independent director) to ensure that the board is aware of the views and considers concerns raised by shareholders, whether through ongoing dialogue and engagement with shareholders or where notable dissent has been indicated through shareholder voting.
We recognise that in some markets the combination of roles is not uncommon, nevertheless we regard the separation of the roles of the Board Chair and the CEO to be a matter of good practice and governance. In light of experience, we consider that this separation encourages collegial decision-making on matters of importance for a public company, and a balanced board, and it also mitigates potential conflicts of interest. Not least it also helps mitigate against the risk of a concentration of decision making powers in the hands of a single individual. Separation is deemed to improve the board’s capacity for independent decision making and increases accountability.
The Chair of the Board’s role should be complemented by an independent non-executive director appointed as the senior or lead independent director, who can provide a sounding board for the chairman and serve as a deputy and intermediary for the other directors and, indeed, shareholders when necessary.
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | B-3 |
Capital Management
Prudent capital management is a key building block for the long-term success of a business, supporting the strategy and ensuring its ability to weather adverse economic conditions. Clarity on financial capital, disciplines and how they relate to the strategy for growth, capital investment and M&A, or to share buybacks, dividends and/or other distributions, is a critical ingredient in building a shared understanding of the business with shareholders and other providers of capital.
From a shareholder perspective the rationale for and potential dilution from equity capital issuances and, for example, the risks of poorly timed or structured share buybacks are important considerations in granting capital authorities at shareholder meetings. These activities can have significant implications and need to be approached by boards and management with care and consideration for shareholder interests.
In seeking shareholder approval for equity capital issuance authorities, companies should ensure the rationale for policy on, and approach to, the use of such authorities is disclosed. Routine disapplication of pre-emption rights (pro-rata rights of first refusal) should not exceed 10% (or lower where that is market practice) and authorities should be structured in line with best practice.
Similarly, prudent management of debt through the cycle is important. Boards should ensure they monitor and oversee the maintenance of prudent levels of debt (e.g. average net-debt not just the year-end position) and leverage in the business and balance sheet, which should extend to contingent and off-balance sheet liabilities. They should also ensure that sudden spikes in leverage can be explained in the context of the broader long-term business strategy. Large, unexplained or unjustified authorities to issue debt, or to increase or remove debt limits set out in a company’s formational documents, can raise potentially significant concerns for both long-term shareholders and bondholders, which the board needs to be mindful of. Taking on debt solely to fund buybacks and/or hit ‘per-share’ targets such as EPS established under short-term variable remuneration schemes is neither good practice nor welcome.
Any exceptional cases should be supported by a substantive justification and explained properly to shareholders.
Major Transactions
Mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures and disposals are a regular feature of business and the capital markets. In many cases these are a normal part of the management and development of a business and the implementation of its strategy. However, large, inappropriate or poorly executed transactions can also lead to operational issues, significant write-downs and shareholder value destruction.
Boards should be actively involved in the planning for and assessment of potential transactions, ensuring that an appropriately disciplined approach (to both acquisitions and disposals) is maintained that is clearly aligned with the strategy. Ensuring appropriate and effective oversight of such activity is critical and monitoring the integration and subsequent performance against plan and related objectives (including synergies) is an important role of the board.
Where major transactions are not subject to shareholder approval, companies should consider the views of their major shareholders, subject to regulatory constraints and shareholders’ policies on being made ‘insiders’.
Related Party Transactions
The scope for conflicts and abuse in related party transactions in any market is a potentially significant issue. Such concerns can arise in relation to individual transactions or from the number, nature or pattern of them. Alongside appropriate procedures to identify and manage conflicts of interest, boards should have a robust, independent process for reviewing, approving and monitoring related party transactions (both individual transactions and in aggregate).
A committee of independent directors, with the ability to take independent advice, should review related party transactions, their nature and their incidence or aggregate levels, to determine whether they are necessary, appropriate and in the best interests of the company and, if so, agree what terms are fair for other shareholders. All related party transactions should be reported to the board and be subject to approval. The company should also disclose transactions that are significant, whether by virtue of their materiality to the business, the individuals involved or given the risk of perceived conflicts of interest, along with the rationale for allowing them.
Where a related party transaction is allowed to proceed it must be:
| ■ | subject to proper oversight by the board and regular review (e.g. audit, shareholder approval); |
| ■ | clearly justified and not be detrimental to the long-term interests of the company; |
| ■ | undertaken in the normal course of business; |
| ■ | undertaken on fully commercial terms; |
| ■ | In line with best practice; and |
| ■ | In the interests of all shareholders. |
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | B-4 |
Tax Management
Tax management, approached prudently and legally, is part of the responsible management of a company’s affairs. Artificial or ‘aggressive’ tax strategies and constructs create imprudent risks for a company. They can pose potentially significant reputation and commercial risks for those that are, or are perceived to be, pushing the boundaries of tax practice by, for example, exploiting loopholes and tax havens to avoid paying tax. The same reputation risks hold in respect of the directors of companies involved in such practices and the perception of the culture and attitudes it evidences. This applies equally to the use of tax avoidance structures in executive compensation arrangements, as it does at a corporate level.
From an investor perspective, tax management offers an insight into the culture predominant in a company and the attitudes and risk appetite of the management and directors. It also offers an additional indicator on the quality of earnings, risk and potential liabilities of a business, which can be relevant in terms of valuation and the investment quality of a business.
We expect the board to take a responsible approach to overseeing a company’s approach to and policy on tax and the related risks, to ensure that the company’s approach is and remains prudent and sustainable. The risks arising from engineered tax optimization practices should be understood and avoided; those arising from policy reforms (e.g. those being coordinated by the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) and other authorities) should be properly mitigated. The board should regularly review the business’s tax policy, its implementation and the related risks, as well as in response to significant events that may affect it. A summary of the tax policy and related codes of conduct should be published by companies, highlighting the approach to managing the associated risks.
In terms of changes in tax domicile or re-incorporation, while economic benefit may be gained, there should be no diminution of shareholders rights as a result of the changes, nor triggering of variable compensation as a result of the associated technical, legal or structural changes required.
Annual Report and Accounts
Annual reports and accounts are a key reference document for shareholders and the providers of a company’s long-term capital. They should provide a summary account of the board’s stewardship of the business that year (as opposed say to being designed or prepared for a secondary market context i.e. decision usefulness), whilst setting a direction of travel for the future.
In the annual report, the board should present a fair, balanced and understandable assessment of the company’s strategy, business plan, objectives, KPIs, capital and assets, operations, risks, challenges, performance and prospects in its annual report. This should include how the business’ approach is adapting to major trends (e.g. from technology, climate change or demographics etc) that could have a material impact on the business and the related risks and opportunities it sees and how they affect the sustainability of the business and its long-term prospects.
The annual financial statements (accounts) need to be prepared on a prudent basis and present a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the business, its assets, liabilities, financial position and distributable profit or the loss. Boards should ensure that aggressive accounting practices are avoided and recognise that headline compliance with accounting standards, where significant judgement and discretion can be used, is unlikely of itself to effectively provide comfort that a ‘true & fair view’ is being maintained. Boards should ensure company practice does not fall into the trap of accounting form over substance.
The annual report and accounts are a reflection of the quality and prudence of management and the board of directors. Managements should strive for perfection in delivering these important documents. Errors and omissions may ultimately factor in our view toward the constitution and effectiveness of management and the board.
While recognizing the differences that exist in market norms and dynamics, we expect companies to plan for and look to the long-term in their reporting. The board should ensure that the company does not become fixated on quarterly numbers at the expense of investment for the long-term.
External Audit
The statutory audit is a significant and important shareholder and creditor protection mechanism, to which we attach considerable importance. Its purpose is to protect the company itself from errors, omissions or, potentially, wrongdoing, as well as to signal any issues to shareholders to enable them to engage with the directors, not least through the general meeting.
Companies should, therefore, ensure that the relationship with the auditor is clearly owned and overseen by the Audit Committee and that they maintain a robust, independent and effective audit and that the auditors are and are seen to be independent. As part of this, companies should have a clear policy on the approach to and timeframes for re-tendering the audit contract.
Non-audit work should be kept to a minimum, require prior audit committee approval and largely be restricted to audit related work. Audit committees should also oversee any work undertaken by other audit firms to ensure that the company’s options and choice of alternative auditors is not compromised by potential conflicts.
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | B-5 |
Internal Audit and Risk Committees
Companies need to maintain an effective system of internal control, which should be measured against internationally accepted standards of internal audit and tested periodically for its adequacy.
Companies are encouraged to have an internal audit function that supports the board and executives in the oversight and management of risks. We expect financial institutions to maintain a separate risk committee and support this practice, where appropriate, in other companies.
Compensation/Remuneration
Executive pay has been a persistent area of concern and controversy over the years. Given the problems around executive pay inflation, widening pay differentials, questions about the linkage with performance and perceived rewards for failure, and complexity, compensation (remuneration) committees need to ensure a prudent approach is maintained.
We expect a substantial proportion of executive pay to be performance based, vesting according to the achievement of stretching performance metrics that are clearly aligned with the company’s strategy, management’s value creation and the experience of its shareholders. In terms of pay and overall employee costs, we will have particular regard to the relative levels of pay compared to the performance of the business, distributions to shareholders.
Across a company’s pay arrangements, structural or technical provisions that can weaken or undermine the principle of pay for performance, need to be avoided. Similarly, we are generally supportive of local market best practices that enhance the alignment of pay and performance, such as retention and deferral arrangements, malus/clawback, reasonable all-employee share schemes etc. Consideration should also be given to the emerging disclosures required around pay ratios and the ramifications for the companies in which we invest.
Broadly speaking, compensation (remuneration) committees should look to ensure that their company’s pay arrangements are:
| 1. | Clear, simple and understandable; |
| 2. | Balanced and proportionate, in respect of structure, deliverables, opportunity and the market; |
| 3. | Aligned with the long-term strategy, related key performance indicators and risk management discipline; |
| 4. | Linked robustly to the delivery of performance; |
| 5. | Delivering outcomes that reflect value creation and the shareholder ‘experience’; and |
| 6. | Structured to avoid pay for failure or the avoidance of accountability to shareholders. |
Where a company consults with its shareholders on its executive pay arrangements, the compensation (remuneration) committee chair should take ownership and lead that process, ensuring proper two-way dialogue, as deference to consultants undermines credibility. That said, pay is only one aspect of the dialogue we need to have or prioritise with companies. As a result, we would note that, generally, we only look to participate directly in such consultations where we are a significant shareholder.
Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Practices
Broader ESG practices provide shareholders with an additional lens into the quality, leadership, strategic focus and operational standards of practice of a business. Reflecting our philosophy on the importance of integrating ESG considerations into our assessment of how well a business is run, we will consider the level and effectiveness of ESG disclosure made by companies in their annual reports and other materials. Our focus will be on those factors deemed material to businesses in a given sector with a focus on practices deemed unsustainable or in need of improvement to protect shareholder value.
We aim to assess company’s focus, management and effectiveness in dealing with the environmental and social issues most relevant to their business. In cases where management and the board have not demonstrated adequate efforts to be transparent and address or mitigate material ESG issues, or are considered to be failing to adequately address current or emergent risks that may threaten shareholder value in future, we may take voting action to highlight this.
We will also be mindful of companies’ adherence to proper standards of operational practices and where, for example, those practices fail to meet generally accepted international standards (e.g. adherence to the UN Global Compact, UN Convention on Human Rights or International Labour Organisation Core Labor Standards), this will be taken into account as part of our deliberations on voting action.
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | B-6 |
Shareholder Resolutions
As part of this focus, shareholder resolutions represent the exercise of a key shareholder right, although they can encompass a wide range of issues. However, they are commonly focused on environmental and social issues.
We assess shareholder resolutions in light of good practice, the standards already applied by a company, how proportionate the proposals are, their alignment with our philosophy and approach, as well any potential conflicts with our client’s interests. We will also have regard to whether a shareholder resolution is binding in nature or advisory (non-binding) in applying these considerations.
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | B-7 |
APPENDIX C — DESCRIPTION OF STATE RISK FACTORS
The state tax-exempt and state municipal bond Funds invest primarily in municipal securities issued by a single state and political sub-divisions of that state. Each state tax-exempt and state municipal bond Fund will be particularly affected by political and economic conditions and developments in the state in which it invests. This exposure to factors affecting the state’s tax-exempt investments will be significantly greater than that of more geographically diversified funds, and may result in greater losses and volatility. Because of the relatively small number of issuers of tax-exempt securities in a given state, the Fund may invest a higher percentage of assets in a single issuer and, therefore, be more exposed to the risk of loss than a fund that invests more broadly. At times, the Fund and other accounts managed by the Investment Manager may own all or most of the debt of a particular issuer. This concentration of ownership may make it more difficult to sell, or to determine the fair value of, these investments. In addition, a Fund may focus on a segment of the tax-exempt debt market, such as revenue bonds for health care facilities, housing or airports. These investments may cause the value of a Fund’s shares to change more than the values of shares of funds that invest more diversely. The yields on the securities in which the Funds invest generally are dependent on a variety of factors, including among others, the financial condition of the issuer or other obligor, the revenue source from which the debt service is payable, general economic and monetary conditions, conditions in the relevant market, the size of a particular issue, the maturity of the obligation, and the rating of the issue. In addition to such factors, geographically concentrated securities will be particularly sensitive to local conditions, including political and economic changes, adverse conditions to an industry significant to the area, and other further developments within a particular locality. Because many tax-exempt bonds may be revenue or general obligations of local governments or authorities, ratings on tax-exempt bonds may be different from the ratings given to the general obligation bonds of a particular state.
Certain events may adversely affect investments within a particular sector in a state. Examples include litigation, legislation or court decisions, concerns about pending or contemplated litigation, legislation or court decisions, or lower demand for the services or products provided by a sector. Investing mostly in state-specific, tax-exempt investments makes the Funds more vulnerable to the relevant state’s economy and to factors affecting tax-exempt issuers in the state than would be true for more geographically diversified funds. These risks include, among others:
| ■ | the inability or perceived inability of a government authority to collect sufficient tax or other revenues to meet its payment obligations; |
| ■ | natural disasters, public health crises and ecological or environmental concerns; |
| ■ | the introduction of constitutional or statutory limits on a tax-exempt issuer’s ability to raise revenues or increase taxes; |
| ■ | the inability of an issuer to pay interest on or to repay principal or securities in which the funds invest during recessionary periods; and |
| ■ | economic or demographic factors that may cause a decrease in tax or other revenues for a government authority or for private operators of publicly financed facilities. |
State Specific Information
The following discussion regarding certain economic, financial and legal matters pertaining to the states, U.S. territories and possessions referenced below, and their political subdivisions is drawn from the documents indicated below and does not purport to be a complete description or a complete listing of all relevant factors. More information about state specific risks may be available from other official state resources. The information has not been updated nor will it be updated during the year. The Funds have not independently verified any of the information contained in such documents and are not expressing any opinion regarding the completeness or materiality of such information. The information is subject to change at any time. Any such change may adversely affect the financial condition of the applicable state, U.S. territory or possession.
Estimates and projections, if any, contained in the following summaries should not be construed as statements of fact; such estimates and projections are based on assumptions that may be affected by numerous factors and there can be no assurance that such estimates and projections will be realized or achieved. Discussions regarding the financial condition of a particular state or U.S. territory or possession may not be relevant to Municipal Obligations issued by political subdivisions of that state or U.S. territory or possession. Moreover, the general economic conditions discussed may or may not affect issuers of the obligations of these states, U.S. territories or possessions.
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | C-1 |
California
Unless otherwise noted, the following information has been obtained from disclosures contained in the Official Statement, dated April 16, 2020, for the following bonds: $617,735,000 Various Purpose General Obligation Bonds and $821,380,000 Various Purpose General Obligation Refunding Bonds (collectively, the “California 2020 Bonds”).
Current Economic Condition.
The State of California (“California” or the “State”) has the largest economy among the 50 states and one of the largest in the world (in terms of gross domestic product) with major components in high technology, trade, entertainment, manufacturing, government, tourism, construction and services. The relative proportion of the various components of the California economy closely resembles the make-up of the national economy. The California economy continues to benefit from broad-based growth.
California is by far the most populous state in the nation, with an estimated 39.96 million residents as of 2019. Its population is nearly 40 percent larger than that of the second most populous state and it contains approximately 12 percent of the total U.S. population. The State’s population is projected to continue to grow over the long term and reach 45 million residents by 2060.
California’s economy accounted for 14.6 percent of the U.S. GDP in the first three quarters of 2019 and is currently the fifth largest in the world (in terms of GDP). California’s annual average unemployment rate fell to 4.0 percent in 2019. Depending on the length and breadth of the impacts of COVID-19, the economic costs may be significant for California’s economy. The temporary closure of many restaurants (with some exceptions for take-out orders), bars, retail stores, other businesses, schools, universities, and public spaces resulted in significant economic disruption in the State. During the period from March 7, 2020 through April 4, 2020, approximately 2.09 million Californians filed for unemployment benefits. Widespread shutdown of businesses and supply chain disruption in response to the COVID-19 pandemic started a recession in March. The magnitude of the impact brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic is still unclear. More than a third of California jobs are in sectors that are immediately vulnerable to stay-at-home disruptions, and unemployment could peak at around 25 percent, or twice as high as the Great Recession.
California’s personal income per capita rose an estimated 4.6 percent in fiscal year 2018-2019, outperforming the national increase of 3.9 percent. In addition to an increase in California’s workforce, a recent increase in the minimum wage contributed to the State’s personal income growth. Effective January 1, 2020, the minimum wage in California was increased from $12 to $13. The minimum wage in California will continue to increase each year until it reaches $15 per hour in 2023 for all businesses.
The material change or imposition of tariffs by the federal government on the State’s trading partners could directly and indirectly cause an adverse effect on the State’s economy. In 2019, the U.S. imposed tariffs of up to 25 percent on $250 billion worth of Chinese products, equivalent to half of the nation’s imports from China, triggering Chinese retaliatory tariffs of 25 percent on over $50 billion worth of U.S. exports. Because California is a transport hub, and China is the State’s third largest trading partner by total trade value, a trade war could have negative effects on the State’s economy. In 2019, imports from China entering through California totaled $129.4 billion, or about 31.7 percent of the State’s total imports, while exports to China totaled $15.9 billion, accounting for 9.1 percent of the State’s total exports.
More trade barriers would increase the costs of inputs purchased from abroad, leading to decreased companies’ revenues, potentially impacting wages and employment in the short run and triggering a change in the business model of companies that until now have made significant investment decisions based on a system of free global trade.
State Budget.
California’s 2019-20 Budget Act was enacted on June 27, 2019. The Budget Act appropriated $214.8 billion: $147.8 billion from the General Fund and $60 billion from special funds and bond funds. At the time of enactment, the General Fund’s budgeted expenditures were projected to be $147.8 billion, an increase of $5.1 billion, or 3.6 percent, compared with the revised estimate of $142.7 billion for fiscal year 2018-19. The General Fund’s revenues and transfers were projected to be $143.8 billion, an increase of $5.8 billion, or 4.2 percent, compared with the revised estimate of $138.0 billion for the fiscal year 2018-19. General Fund revenue comes predominantly from taxes, with personal income taxes expected to provide 70.0 percent of total revenue. California’s major taxes (personal income, sales and use, and corporation taxes) are projected to supply approximately 97.7 percent of the General Fund’s resources in the 2019-20 fiscal year.
The budget invests $1.45 billion over three years to increase covered California health insurance premium support for low-income Californians and provides premium support for the time to qualified middle-income individuals earning up to $72,000 and families of four earning up to $150,000, partially funded by restoration of an enforceable individual mandate. The budget also invests $1.75 billion in the production and planning of new housing, including support to local governments to increase housing production, and invests $90 million to recruit and retain qualified educators to teach in a high-need field at priority schools and address California’s teacher shortage.
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The 2020-21 Governor’s Budget, released on January 10, 2020 (which preceded the COVID-19 pandemic and therefore did not take into account the significant adverse impacts it will have on the State’s financial condition), proposed a multi-year plan that at the time was projected to result in balanced General Fund budgets with a positive operating reserve through fiscal year 2023-24, included significant reserves, and continued to pay down debts and long-term liabilities. However, due to the expected severity of the impacts on the national, state and local economies of efforts to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, including materially adverse impacts on state revenues and expenditures, the projections of revenues and expenditures in the 2020-21 Governor’s Budget are no longer operative and will be significantly revised.
Although, as described above, the estimates and projections in the 2020-21 Governor’s Budget are no longer operative, certain limited information from the 2020-21 Governor’s Budget is provided herein solely for context and reference. The information in the 2020-21 Governor’s Budget, including projections of revenues and expenditures, is expected to be significantly changed.
Fund revenues and transfers in fiscal year 2020-21 were projected at $151.6 billion; an increase of $5.1 billion, or 3.5 percent, compared with a revised estimate of $146.5 billion for fiscal year 2019-20. General Fund expenditures for fiscal year 2020-21 were projected at $153.1 billion, an increase of $3.4 billion compared with a revised estimate of $149.7 billion for fiscal year 2019-20.
The State’s General Fund will be materially adversely impacted by the health-related and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Efforts to respond and to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 have had a severe impact on the State and national economy, triggered a historic drop and ongoing volatility in the stock market, and an expected recession. These efforts are expected to result in significant declines in State revenues from recent levels, as well as increased expenditures required to manage and mitigate COVID-19’s impact on the State.
There currently is uncertainty with respect to the General Fund cash flow for fiscal year 2019-20 due to the delayed deadline for filing and payment of personal income, corporation, and sales and use taxes to July 15, 2020, or later, upfront expenditures for COVID-19, and the uncertain timing for expected reimbursement from the federal government for most of those expenditures. The Department of Finance, the State Controller’s Office, and the State Treasurer’s Office are closely monitoring the General Fund cash flows and will evaluate potential cash management options as necessary.
There are other budget risks to the State’s General Fund, such as potentially unfavorable changes to federal policies, the uncertain impact of changes in federal tax law and trade policy and significant unfunded liabilities of the two main retirement systems managed by state entities, the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) and the California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS). California continues to be committed to further reduce the unfunded pension liabilities and retiree health care cost liabilities (also called other postemployment benefits or OPEB). The 2017 Budget Act included a $6 billion supplemental pension payment to CalPERS from proceeds of a loan from the Surplus Money Investment Fund (a state fund managed by the State Treasurer’s Office as part of the Pooled Money Investment Account to invest surplus cash from funds held by state departments) that is expected to reduce unfunded liabilities and stabilize state contribution rates. As of the 2020-21 Governor’s Budget, the Department of Finance projects the supplemental pension payment will save an estimated $6.0 billion (net of principal and interest on the loan) in state contributions to CalPERS from all state funded sources over the next two decades. The amount of estimated savings allocable to each such fund will generally be proportionate to its share of the payments on the loan. Approximately half of the total loan payments are expected to come from the General Fund.
California also has a significant unfunded liability with respect to other post-employment benefits (OPEB). Strategies to prefund these costs were established in 2015. Current labor contracts reflect this prefunding strategy, as well as lower employer contributions towards OPEB costs for new employees, and nearly all California State employees now contribute towards funding retiree health benefits.
California has historically been susceptible to wildfires and hydrologic variability. However, as greenhouse gas emissions continue to accumulate, climate change will intensify and increase the frequency of extreme weather events, such as coastal storm surges, drought, wildfires, floods and heat waves, and raise sea levels along the coast. Over the past several years, the State has already experienced the impacts of climate change through unprecedented wildfires and a multi-year drought. The future fiscal impact of climate change on the State is difficult to predict, but it could be significant. However, the State is in the process of implementing various resilience measures to reduce the impacts of climate change, including significant investments in fire prevention and water infrastructure projects.
There can be no assurances that the fiscal stress and cash pressures currently facing the State will not continue or become more difficult, or that other changes in the State or national economies or in State or federal policies will not further materially adversely affect the financial condition of the California’s General Fund.
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Real Estate and Housing.
California’s real estate market showed continued growth during the fiscal year 2017-18, with the number of residential building permits issued increasing by 10.0 percent, to nearly 120,000 units, compared to the prior fiscal year. Commercial construction permits increased 13.2 percent from the prior year. The median price of homes in California increased during the fiscal year by 8.5 percent, a record high. The state’s median home price in June 2018 was over $602,760, more than double the national median price of $273,800.
Long-Term Debt.
As of January 1, 2020, California had approximately $80.3 billion of outstanding general obligation bonds and lease revenue bonds payable principally from the State’s General Fund or from lease payments paid from the operating budget of the respective lessees, which operating budgets are primarily, but not exclusively, derived from the General Fund. As of January 1, 2020, there were approximately $33.6 billion of authorized and unissued long-term voter-approved general obligation bonds which, when issued, will be payable principally from the General Fund and approximately $7.2 billion of authorized and unissued lease revenue bonds.
Certain State agencies and authorities issue revenue obligations for which the General Fund has no liability. These revenue obligations are either payable from state revenue-producing enterprises and projects, and not payable from the General Fund, or are conduit obligations payable only from revenues paid by local governments or private users of facilities financed by the revenue obligations. California has always paid when due the principal of and interest on its general obligation bonds, general obligation commercial paper notes, lease-revenue obligations and short-term obligations, including revenue anticipation notes and revenue anticipation warrants.
Bond Ratings.
Three major credit rating agencies, Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. (“Moody’s”), S&P Global Ratings (“S&P”), and Fitch Ratings (“Fitch”), assigned ratings to the California 2020 Bonds, as follows: Moody’s assigned a rating of “Aa2,” S&P assigned a rating of “AA-,” and Fitch assigned a rating of “AA.” It is not possible to determine whether, or the extent to which, Moody’s, S&P, or Fitch will change its respective rating in the future. In addition, ratings assigned to individual Municipal Obligations vary.
Connecticut
The following information has been obtained from the Information Statement of the State of Connecticut, dated December 13, 2019, as supplemented December 20, 2019.
Current Economic Condition.
The State of Connecticut (“Connecticut”) is a highly developed and urbanized state. It is situated directly between the financial centers of Boston and New York.
Connecticut’s economic performance is measured by personal income, which has been among the highest in the nation on a per capita basis, and gross state product (the market value of all final goods and services produced by labor and property located within Connecticut). Connecticut’s nonagricultural employment reached a high in March 2009 with 1,713,300 persons employed, but began declining with the onset of the recession, falling to 1,594,200 jobs in February 2010, and has since risen to 1,705,500 in December 2018.
Connecticut’s economic performance is measured by personal income, which has been among the highest in the nation on a per capita basis, and gross state product (the market value of all final goods and services produced by labor and property located within Connecticut). Connecticut’s nonagricultural employment reached a high in March 2009 with 1,713,300 persons employed, but began declining with the onset of the recession, falling to 1,594,200 jobs in February 2010, and has since risen to 1,705,500 in December 2018.
After enjoying an extraordinary boom during the late 1990s, Connecticut, as well as the rest of the Northeast and the country, experienced an economic slowdown during the recession of the early 2000s. The state’s unemployment rate climbed to 9.1% in 2010, compared to the New England average of 8.3% and the national average of 9.6% for the same period. Connecticut’s average unemployment rate fell to 4.5% for 2018, compared to the New England average of 3.6% and the national average of 4.0% for the same period.
State Budget.
Connecticut finances most of its operations through its General Fund. Certain state functions, such as Connecticut’s transportation budget, are financed through other state funds. General Fund revenues are derived primarily from the collection of state taxes, including the personal income tax, the sales and use tax and the corporation business tax. Connecticut expected to derive approximately 85 percent and 84 percent of its General Fund revenues from taxes during fiscal year 2018 and fiscal year 2019, respectively. Connecticut expends money on a variety of programs and services. Significant elements of state expenditures include human services; education, libraries and museums; non-functional (debt service and miscellaneous expenditures including fringe benefits); health and hospitals; corrections; general government and judicial.
State Debt.
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Pursuant to various public and special acts, Connecticut has authorized a variety of types of debt. These types fall generally into the following categories: direct general obligation debt, which is payable from Connecticut’s General Fund; special tax obligation debt, which is payable from specified taxes and other funds that are maintained outside Connecticut’s General Fund; and special obligation and revenue debt, which is payable from specified revenues or other funds that are maintained outside Connecticut’s General Fund. In addition, Connecticut has a number of programs under which the state provides annual appropriation support for, or is contingently liable on, the debt of certain state quasi-public agencies and political subdivisions.
Statutory Debt Limit. Section 3-21 of the General Statutes provides that no bonds, notes or other evidences of indebtedness for borrowed money payable from General Fund tax receipts of Connecticut may be authorized by the General Assembly or issued unless they do not cause the aggregate amount of (1) the total amount of bonds, notes or other evidences of indebtedness payable from General Fund tax receipts authorized by the General Assembly but which have not been issued and (2) the total amount of such indebtedness that has been issued and remains outstanding, to exceed 1.6 times the total estimated General Fund tax receipts of Connecticut for the fiscal year in which any such authorization will become effective or in which such indebtedness is issued, as estimated for such fiscal year by the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of finance, revenue and bonding. In computing the aggregate amount of indebtedness at any time, however, a significant number of exclusions apply.
Transportation Fund and Debt. In 1984, Connecticut adopted legislation establishing a transportation infrastructure program and authorizing Special Tax Obligation (“STO”) bonds to finance the program. The transportation infrastructure program is a continuous program for planning, construction and improvement of Connecticut highways and bridges, projects on the interstate highway system, alternate highway projects in the interstate highway substitution program, waterway facilities, mass transportation and transit facilities, the highway safety program, maintenance garages and administrative facilities of the Department of Transportation, payment of Connecticut’s share of the costs of the local bridge program, and payment of state contributions to the local bridge revolving fund. The transportation infrastructure program is administered by the Department of Transportation.
The cost of the transportation infrastructure program for state fiscal years 1985-2022, which will be met from federal, state and local funds, is estimated at $41.2 billion. Connecticut’s share of such cost, estimated at $20.7 billion, is to be funded from transportation- related taxes, fees and revenues deposited in the Special Transportation Fund and from the proceeds of STO bonds.
Certain Pension and Retirement Systems.
State Employees’ Retirement Fund. Connecticut maintains a State Employees’ Retirement Fund with approximately 49,153 active members, 1,281 inactive (vested) members and 50,441 retired members and beneficiaries as of June 30, 2018. Payments into the fund are made from employee contributions, General and Special Transportation Fund appropriations and grant reimbursements from Federal and other funds.
As of June 30, 2018, the market value of the fund’s investment assets was estimated to be $12,452.8 million. The November 2018 revised actuarial valuation determined that employer contributions of $1,574.5 million and $1,773.4 million would be required for fiscal year 2019 and fiscal year 2020, respectively. For fiscal year 2017, Connecticut made an employer contribution of $1,542.3 million, 100.1% of the actuarial employer contribution requirement. The adopted budget for fiscal years 2020 and 2021 contained appropriations expected to be sufficient, together with anticipated grant reimbursement from Federal and other funds, to fully fund the employer contribution requirement.
As of June 30, 2018, the market value of the fund’s investment assets was estimated to be $12,452.8 million. The November 2018 revised actuarial valuation determined that employer contributions of $1,574.5 million and $1,773.4 million would be required for fiscal year 2019 and fiscal year 2020, respectively. For fiscal year 2017, Connecticut made an employer contribution of $1,542.3 million, 100.1% of the actuarial employer contribution requirement. The adopted budget for fiscal years 2020 and 2021 contained appropriations expected to be sufficient, together with anticipated grant reimbursement from Federal and other funds, to fully fund the employer contribution requirement.
Teachers’ Retirement Fund. The Teachers’ Retirement Fund, administered by the Teachers’ Retirement Board, provides benefits for any teacher, principal, supervisor, superintendent or other eligible employee in the public school systems of Connecticut, with certain exceptions. While setting and paying salaries for teachers, municipalities do not provide contributions to the maintenance of the fund. As of June 30, 2018, there were 104,695 active and former employees with accrued and accruing benefits, 37,620 retired members and beneficiaries, and 301 members on disability allowance. Contributions to the fund are made by employees and by General Fund appropriations from Connecticut.
As of June 30, 2018, the market value of the fund’s investment assets was $17,946.8 million. The November 2018 actuarial valuation determined that employer contributions of $1,392.2 million and $1,437.4 million would be required for fiscal year 2020 and fiscal year 2021, respectively. For fiscal year 2018, Connecticut made an employer contribution of $1,271.0 million, 100% of the actuarial employer contribution requirement. The adopted budget for fiscal years 2020 and 2021 contained appropriations expected to be sufficient to fully fund the employer contribution requirement.
Bond Ratings.
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Four major credit rating agencies, Moody’s Investors Service (“Moody’s”), S&P Global Ratings (“S&P”), Fitch Ratings (“Fitch”) and Kroll Bond Ratings Agency (“Kroll”), assign ratings to the Connecticut’s long-term general obligation bonds. Connecticut’s general obligation bonds were rated A1 by Moody’s, A by S&P, A+ by Fitch and AA- by Kroll. It is not possible to determine whether, or the extent to which, Moody’s, S&P, Fitch or Kroll will change such ratings in the future. Ratings assigned to individual Municipal Obligations vary.
Massachusetts
The following information has been obtained from The Commonwealth of Massachusetts Information Statement, dated January 29, 2020.
Current Economic Condition and Government Structure.
The ability of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (the “Commonwealth”) to meet its obligations is affected by future social, environmental, and economic conditions, among other things, as well as by the legislative policies and the financial condition of the Commonwealth. Many of these conditions are not within the control of the Commonwealth.
The Legislature of Massachusetts has established a number of independent authorities and agencies within the Commonwealth, the budgets of which are not included in the Commonwealth’s annual budget. In fiscal 2018, the Commonwealth had significant operational or financial relationships, or both, with 40 of these authorities. The Commonwealth’s contractual agreements with these authorities constitute general obligations of Massachusetts for which its full faith and credit are pledged. The Commonwealth is also authorized to pledge its credit in aid of and provide contractual support for certain independent authorities and political subdivisions within the Commonwealth. These Commonwealth liabilities are classified as general obligation contract assistance liabilities or contingent liabilities. General obligation contract assistance liabilities arise from statutory requirements for (i) payments by the Commonwealth to the Massachusetts Clean Water Trust, MassDOT and the Massachusetts Development Finance Agency that are used by such entities to pay a portion of the debt service on certain of their outstanding bonds and (ii) payments from the Social Innovation Financing Trust Fund on “pay for success” contracts. Such liabilities constitute a pledge of the Commonwealth’s credit for which a two-thirds vote of the Legislature is required. Contingent liabilities relate to debt obligations of certain independent authorities and agencies of the Commonwealth that are expected to be paid without Commonwealth assistance, but for which the Commonwealth has some kind of liability if expected payment sources do not materialize. These liabilities consist of guaranties and similar obligations with respect to which the Commonwealth’s credit has been or may be pledged, as in the case of certain debt obligations of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) (pre-2000), the Woods Hole, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket Steamship Authority, and the higher education building authorities.
A portion of the Commonwealth’s receipts from the sales tax (other than the tax on meals) is dedicated through non-budgeted special revenue funds to the MBTA and the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA). The amount dedicated to the MSBA is the amount raised by a 1% sales tax (not including meals). The amount dedicated to the MBTA is the greater of (i) the amount raised by the 1% sales tax (not including meals), plus $160 million and (ii) an income-adjusted floor. The income-adjusted floor grows each year by the allowable base revenue growth (the lesser of sales tax growth or inflation, but not greater than 3% and not less than 0%), and was certified as $1.06 billion for fiscal 2020. The Commonwealth’s receipts from the sales tax on account of motor vehicle sales (net of amounts required to be credited to the Convention Center Fund or dedicated to the MBTA or MSBA) are dedicated to the Commonwealth Transportation Fund. Legislation approved by the Governor in June 2018 established an annual two-day sales and meals tax holiday in August of each year, commencing August, 2019. The fiscal 2020 budget repealed the meals tax holiday. Massachusetts also has a net liability of $ 7.052 billion in debt and grant obligations for the school building assistance program that finances construction of schools for the Commonwealth’s cities and towns.
Population and Employment.
The Commonwealth has a population of about 6.90 million as of July 1, 2018. Since reaching 6.8 percent in January 2014, the Commonwealth’s unemployment rate gradually declined to 2.8 percent in August 2019, below the national rate of 3.8 percent.
Commonwealth Budget.
The budgeted operating funds of the Commonwealth ended fiscal year 2018 with a surplus of revenues and other sources over expenditures and other uses of $938.9 million and aggregate ending fund balances in the budgeted operating funds of the Commonwealth of approximately $2.39 billion. The budgeted operating funds of the Commonwealth are projected to end fiscal 2019 with a surplus of revenues and other sources over expenditures and other uses of $1.67 billion and aggregate ending fund balances in the budgeted operating funds of the Commonwealth of approximately $3.96 billion.
Chapter 62F of the General Laws establishes a state tax revenue growth limit for each fiscal year equal to the average positive rate of growth in total wages and salaries in the Commonwealth, as reported by the federal government, during the three calendar years immediately preceding the end of such fiscal year. The growth limit is used to calculate “allowable state tax revenue” for each fiscal year. Chapter 62F also requires that allowable state tax revenues be reduced by the aggregate amount received by
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local governmental units from any newly authorized or increased local option taxes or excises. Any excess in state tax revenue collections for a given fiscal year over the prescribed limit, as determined by the State Auditor, is to be applied as a credit against the then-current personal income tax liability of all taxpayers in the Commonwealth in proportion to the personal income tax liability of all taxpayers in the Commonwealth for the immediately preceding tax year.
Since December 1989, state finance law has included a limit on the amount of outstanding “direct” bonds of the Commonwealth.
In August 2012, state finance law was amended, effective January 1, 2013, to specify that the debt limit be calculated for fiscal years starting in fiscal 2013 using a fiscal 2012 base value of $17.070 billion and increasing the limit for each subsequent fiscal year to 105% of the previous fiscal year’s limit. Based on this calculation, the statutory limit on “direct” bonds during fiscal 2020 is $25.220 billion.
The Commonwealth is responsible for the payment of pension benefits for Commonwealth employees (members of the state employees’ retirement system) and for teachers of the cities, towns and regional school districts throughout the Commonwealth (including members of the Massachusetts teachers’ retirement system and teachers in the Boston public schools, who are members of the Boston Retirement System but whose pensions are the responsibility of the Commonwealth). Massachusetts employees’ and teachers’ retirement systems are partially funded by employee contributions of regular compensation. In January 2020, the Commonwealth issued a valuation, as of January 1, 2019, of its total pension obligation. The unfunded actuarial accrued liability was calculated to be approximately $43.989 billion.
Local Considerations.
The Commonwealth makes substantial payments to its cities, towns and regional school districts (local aid) to mitigate the impact of local property tax limits on local programs and services. Local aid payments to cities, towns and regional school districts take the form of both direct and indirect assistance. Direct local aid consists of general revenue sharing funds and specific program funds sent directly to local governments and regional school districts. The Commonwealth’s budget for fiscal 2020 provides $6.680 billion of state-funded local aid to municipalities.
Transportation.
On February 19, 1999, the Commonwealth and the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority entered into a contract which provides for the Commonwealth to make annual operating assistance payments to MassDOT, as successor to the Turnpike Authority, which are capped at $25 million annually and extend until June 30, 2050, which is the end of the 40th fiscal year following the transfer of certain facilities associated with the Commonwealth’s Central Artery/Ted Williams Tunnel Project (CA/T) to MassDOT. On June 30, 2009, the Commonwealth and the Turnpike Authority entered into a contract for financial assistance which provides for the payment by the Commonwealth to Mass DOT, as successor to the Authority, of $100 million per fiscal year, commencing July 1, 2009 until June 30, 2039. Payments under both contracts constitute a general obligation pledge of the Commonwealth for which its full faith and credit are pledged.
Water Initiatives.
The Massachusetts Clean Water Trust (the “Trust”) manages the Commonwealth’s state revolving fund program under the federal Clean Water Act and the federal Safe Drinking Water Act. Under state law, loans made by the Trust are required to provide for subsidies or other financial assistance to reduce the debt service expense on the loans. Currently, most new loans made by the Trust bore interest at 2%. Other loans made by the Trust may bear interest at lower rates, including a zero rate of interest, and a portion of the principal of certain loans has also been subsidized by the Trust. To provide for a portion of the subsidy on most of its loans, the Trust received contract assistance payments from the Commonwealth. Under the Trust’s enabling act, the aggregate annual contract assistance payment for the Trust’s programs may not exceed $138 million. The Commonwealth’s agreement to provide contract assistance constitutes a general obligation of the Commonwealth for which its full faith and credit are pledged, and the Commonwealth’s contract assistance payments are pledged as security for repayment of the Trust’s debt obligations. As of November 30, 2019, the Trust had approximately $2.5 billion of bonds outstanding. Approximately 5.72% of the Trust’s aggregate debt service is covered by Commonwealth contract assistance. Prior to August 2014, the Trust was known as the Massachusetts Water Pollution Abatement Trust.
Infrastructure Development.
Under the infrastructure investment incentive program, known as “I-Cubed,” up to $600 million of public infrastructure improvements to support significant new private developments may be financed by bonds issued by the Massachusetts Development Finance Agency (MassDevelopment) that are secured by and payable from a general obligation pledge of contract assistance from the Commonwealth. The obligation of the Commonwealth to pay contract assistance is a general obligation of the Commonwealth. Until a related new private development is completed and occupied, the developer’s property is assessed by the municipality in which the development is located in amounts equal to the debt service cost on the bonds and is applied to reimburse the Commonwealth for such cost. After each phase of the private development is completed and occupied, the
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municipality is required to reimburse the Commonwealth for any portion of the debt service cost on the bonds that is not covered by new state tax revenues generated from the related private development. The municipality’s reimbursement obligation is secured by a general obligation pledge of the municipality, a local aid intercept and a reserve fund which must be funded in an amount equal to or greater than two years of debt service on the bonds. The obligation of the municipality ends when the Commonwealth has collected revenues sufficient to pay principal and interest payments to date, or in some cases to the next redemption date, plus all remaining principal payments due. As of November 30, 2019, total “I-Cubed” program bonds were outstanding in the amount of approximately $182.2 million.
Legislation approved by the Governor on August 8, 2008 included an authorization to finance up to $43 million of the costs of a parkway at the former South Weymouth naval air base. The bonds to finance the parkway are secured by and payable from a general obligation pledge of contract assistance from the Commonwealth. As of November 30, 2019, approximately $23.4 million of such bonds were outstanding.
Social Innovation.
Legislation approved in 2012 established a Social Innovation Financing Trust Fund for the purpose of funding contracts to improve outcomes and lower costs for contracted government services, referred to as “pay for success” contracts. The Commonwealth’s obligation to make such payments is a general obligation for which the Commonwealth’s full faith and credit are pledged. The first such contract was entered into in January 2014 (and amended in November 2016), to help young men leaving the juvenile justice system or on probation avoid reoffending. The contract obligates the Commonwealth to make up to $28 million in success payments, in the aggregate, through fiscal year 2020. The Commonwealth entered into a second such contract in December 2014, to address chronic individual homelessness through permanent stable, supportive housing. The contract obligates the Commonwealth to make up to $6 million in success payments, in the aggregate, through fiscal 2021. The Commonwealth entered into a third such contract in June 2016, to assist individuals in Adult Basic Education (ABE) or English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) programs transition to employment, higher wage jobs, and higher education. The contract obligates the Commonwealth to make up to $15 million in success payments, in the aggregate, through fiscal 2023. The Commonwealth entered into a fourth such contract in July 2018 to support unemployed or underemployed veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder in attaining competitive and compatible employment. The contract obligates the Commonwealth to make up to $1.5 million in success payments, in the aggregate, through fiscal 2023.
Bond Ratings.
Three major credit rating agencies, Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. (“Moody’s”), S&P Global Ratings (“S&P”) and Fitch Ratings (“Fitch”), assign ratings to the Commonwealth long-term general obligation bonds. The Commonwealth’s general obligation bonds have been assigned long-term ratings of “Aa1” by Moody’s Investors Service, Inc., “AA” by S&P Global Ratings and “AA+” by Fitch. It is not possible to determine whether, or the extent to which, Moody’s, S&P or Fitch will change such ratings in the future. Ratings assigned to individual Municipal Obligations vary.
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New York
The following information has been obtained from the Annual Information Statement of the State of New York, dated June 20, 2019, as supplemented on December 11, 2019.
Current Economic Condition.
The State of New York (“New York”) has a diverse economy, with a comparatively large share of the nation’s financial services, information, education, and health services employment, and a very small share of the nation’s farming and mining activity. New York’s Division of the Budget outlook for private sector job growth for 2019 is 1. 1 percent, following growth of 1.3 percent for 2018. Although recent growth in New York State’s private sector employment has been above historical averages, it has been slowing since mid-2015. Sectors that are more sensitive to national and global trends, such as the finance and insurance and business sectors and professional services, decelerated substantially during 2018. New York’s Division of the Budget forecasts personal income growth to be at 6.8 percent for 2018 and 3.8 percent for 2018.
Although New York’s private sector employment growth has stabilized at a healthy pace, there are many risks to the forecast. All the risks applicable to U.S. forecasts apply to the New York forecast as well. Thus, as the nation’s financial capital, both the volume of financial market activity and the volatility in equity markets pose a particularly large degree of uncertainty for New York. The uncertainty surrounding the macroeconomic outlook for the national and global economies is amplified in the financial markets, as demonstrated by the recent volatility in equity prices. Risks related to the impact of tariffs, the strong dollar, and weakening global growth are likely to continue to create volatility and restrain equity market growth over the near-term, and thus New York’s finance sector is very vulnerable to these risks. Weaker and/or more volatile markets than anticipated could result in weaker bonus and wage growth, as well as lower realizations of taxable capital gains than reflected in this forecast.
In fiscal year 2020, General Fund tax receipts, including transfers from other funds, are projected to total $77.3 billion, an increase of $6.7 billion (9.6 percent) from fiscal year 2019 results. The annual change is affected by taxpayers responding to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA) by shifting estimated personal income tax (PIT) payments, typically made on a quarterly basis, into the extension and final payments period.
Other uncertainties and risks concerning the economic and receipts forecasts include impacts of: national and international events; ongoing financial risks in the eurozone; changes in consumer confidence; price and supply of oil and gas; major terrorist events and hostilities or war; climate change and extreme weather events; cybersecurity threats; Federal statutory and regulatory changes concerning financial sector activities; Federal tax law; changes to Federal programs; changes concerning financial sector bonus payouts, as well as any future legislation governing the structure of compensation; shifts in monetary policy affecting interest rates and the financial markets; credit rating agency actions; financial and real estate market developments which may adversely affect bonus income and capital gains realizations; tech industry developments and employment; effect of household debt on consumer spending and New York tax collections; and outcomes of litigation and other claims affecting New York.
Population and Employment.
New York is the fourth most populous state in the United States. According to the Census Bureau of the US Department of Commerce, New York’s 2018 population was 19.54 million, an increase from 19.38 million in 2010.
As of June 2019, New York’s Division of the Budget anticipated a state unemployment rate of 4.1 percent for 2019, compared with a projected national unemployment rate of 3.7 percent. Total state nonagricultural employment grew by 1.3 percent in 2018 and was projected to grow by 1.1 percent in 2019. Private sector employment was estimated to have grown by 1.4 percent in 2018 and was projected to grow by 1.2 percent in 2019. Total employment growth of 1.1 percent was projected for 2019, after growth of 1.3 percent for 2018.
State Budget.
New York’s budget process is governed by the New York constitution, with additional details and actions prescribed by New York law and practices established over time. The New York General Fund receives most state taxes and all income not earmarked for a specified program or activity. New York law requires the Governor to submit, and the Legislature to enact, a General Fund budget that is balanced on a cash basis of accounting. The New York Constitution and state finance law do not provide a precise definition of budget balance.
New York’s Financial Plan receipts results, and projections include a variety of taxes, fees and assessments, charges for State-provided services, Federal grants, and other miscellaneous receipts. General Fund receipts, including transfers from other funds, are estimated to total $77.1 billion in fiscal year 2020 and $70.54 billion in fiscal year 2019, an estimated increase of 9.3 percent.
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New York expends money on a variety of programs and services. Major categories of operating disbursements include healthcare and Medicaid, higher education (including subsidization of the State University of New York and City University of New York systems), criminal justice and public safety, executive agencies, pension contributions, health insurance, school aid, transportation, and mental hygiene programs. General Fund disbursements are expected to total $76.5 billion in fiscal year 2020, an increase of $4.7 billion or 6.6 percent over the prior year. The Division of the Budget estimates that spending in State Operating Funds will grow at 2.0 percent from fiscal year 2019 to fiscal year 2020, consistent with the 2 percent spending benchmark.
New York is also responsible for the payment of pension benefits for public employees. Employer contribution rates are expected to increase for fiscal year 2020.
New York is projected to end fiscal year 2020 with a General Fund cash balance of $6.7 billion, a decrease of $479 million from fiscal year 2019 results. T Successful implementation of New York’s Financial Plan is dependent on the state’s ability to market bonds. New York finances much of its capital spending, in the first instance, from the General Fund or the Short-Term Investment Pool, which it then reimburses with proceeds from the sale of bonds. If New York or its public authorities cannot sell bonds at the levels (or on the timetable) expected in the capital plan, the state’s overall cash position and capital funding plan may be adversely affected. The success of projected public sales will be subject to prevailing market conditions and related ratings issued by national credit rating agencies, among other factors. Future developments in the financial markets, including possible changes in Federal tax law relating to the taxation of interest on municipal bonds, as well as future developments concerning the state and public discussion of such developments generally, may affect the market for outstanding state-supported and state-related debt. The TCJA adversely impacts the state and its public authorities by removing certain refunding opportunities for Federal tax-exempt financing, including advance refundings for debt service savings when interest rates are favorable.
Local Considerations.
The fiscal demands on New York’s may be affected by the fiscal condition of New York City, which relies in part on State aid to balance its budget and meet its cash requirements. It is also possible that New York’s finances may be affected by the ability of New York City, and its related issuers, to market securities successfully in the public credit markets. In addition, certain localities other than New York City have experienced financial problems and have requested and received additional state assistance during the last several state fiscal years. While a relatively infrequent practice, deficit financing by local governments has become more common in recent years.
Local assistance spending includes payments to local governments, school districts, health care providers, and other local entities, as well as financial assistance to, or on behalf of, individuals, families, and nonprofit organizations. Expenditures in the form of aid to local governments for their general purposes (and to school districts and municipalities for specific purposes such as education and social services) are made from New York’s General Fund. These payments are limited under the New York constitution to appropriations in force. Local assistance spending in State Operating Funds is estimated at $68 billion in fiscal year 2020, approximately two-thirds of total State Operating Funds spending.
Federal Tax Law Changes
New York’s income tax system interacts with the Federal system in numerous ways. Changes to the Federal tax code have significant flow-through effects on New York tax burdens and New York tax receipts. From the standpoint of certain individual New York State taxpayers, the new $10,000 limit on the deductibility of State and Local Tax (SALT) payments, effective for Tax Year 2018, is substantial. The TCJA’s SALT deduction limit represents a large increase in New York’s effective tax rate relative to historical experience and may adversely affect New York’s economic competitiveness.
The SALT deduction originated with the first Federal income tax implemented to fund the Civil War effort and has been in place continuously since 1913. New York’s Division of the Budget and the Department of Taxation and Finance (DTF) estimate that the new SALT deduction limit raised Federal tax liability for New York taxpayers by roughly $14 billion for Tax Year 2018, relative to what taxpayers would have paid absent the limitation. Over the course of the eight years the SALT deduction limit is scheduled to be in effect, New York estimates that resident taxpayers who itemize at the Federal level for each year through 2025 will collectively pay an additional $121 billion in Federal taxes relative to what they would have paid absent the SALT deduction limit.
Debt Service.
New York pays debt service on all outstanding state-supported bonds. These include general obligation bonds, for which New York is constitutionally obligated to pay debt service, as well as certain bonds issued by New York public authorities, such as the Empire State Development Corporation and the New York State Thruway Authority. Depending on the credit structure, debt service is financed by transfers from the General Fund, dedicated taxes and fees, and other resources such as patient income revenues. Debt service for New York’s revenue bonds is paid directly from other dedicated state funds, subject to appropriation, including PIT and sales tax bonds, Dedicated Highway and Bridge Trust Fund bonds, and mental health facilities bonds. New
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | C-10 |
York’s access to the public credit markets through bond issuances constituting state-supported or state-related debt issuances by certain of its authorities could be impaired and the market price of its outstanding debt may be materially and adversely affected if its public authorities were to default on their respective state-supported or state-related debt issuances.
Total debt service is projected to be $5.146 billion for fiscal year 2020, of which $546 million is expected to be paid from the General Fund for general obligations and service contract bonds, and $4.60 billion of which is expected to service other state supported bonds.
The Debt Reform Act of 2000 restricts the issuance of state-supported debt to capital purposes only and limits such debt to a maximum term of 30 years. Under the Debt Reform Act, new state-supported debt issued since April 1, 2000 is limited to 4 percent of state personal income, while new debt service costs are limited to 5 percent of all Funds receipts.
Bond Ratings.
As of March 2018, New York’s general obligation bonds were rated “Aa1” by Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. (“Moody’s”), “AA+” by S&P Global Ratings (“S&P”), and “AA+” by Fitch Ratings (“Fitch”). It is not possible to determine whether, or the extent to which, Moody’s, S&P or Fitch will change such ratings in the future. Ratings assigned to individual Municipal Obligations may vary.
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | C-11 |
Oregon
The following information has been obtained from the Official Statement of the State of Oregon, dated June 9, 2020.
Current Economic Condition.
The economy of the State of Oregon (“Oregon”) has transitioned and diversified from a predominant concentration in timber harvesting and wood products manufacturing to high-tech manufacturing. As high-tech manufacturing grew in Oregon, the state also developed stronger ties to major export markets in the Pacific Rim. Population growth has historically exceeded the national rate, fueled by the in-migration of young professional and retiree populations attracted by the high-quality jobs, relatively low cost of living and doing business on the West Coast.
Sectors of increasing importance in the Oregon economy include professional and business services, construction, health services, and leisure and hospitality. Exports also continue to be a driver for the Oregon economy. China and Canada are top destinations for Oregon exports, with the Chinese economy affecting the Oregon economy more than most other countries. However, these external influences are significantly smaller than the overall health of the U.S. economy.
Population and Employment.
Oregon is the twenty-seventh most populous state in the United States. According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, Oregon’s 2019 population was 4.24 million, an increase from 3.84 million in 2010.
As of December 31, 2019, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported a seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 4.0% for Oregon, compared with a national average of 3.7%.
State Budget.
The Oregon constitution requires the state’s budget to balance at the end of each biennium. Article IX, Section 2 of the Oregon Constitution states that the Legislative Assembly shall provide for raising revenue sufficiently to defray the expenses of the state for each fiscal year. Article IX, Section 6 of the constitution states that “whenever the expenses, of any fiscal year, shall exceed the income, the Legislative Assembly shall provide for levying a tax, for the ensuing fiscal year, sufficient, with other sources of income, to pay the deficiency, as well as the estimated expense [sic] of the ensuing fiscal year.” Because of these two provisions, Oregon may not budget a deficit and is required to alleviate any revenue shortfalls within each biennium.
The legislatively approved budget for the 2019-2021 biennium is $85.8 billion total funds, an increase of $7.8 billion from the 2017-19 legislatively approved budget. The increase between the two biennia is largely due to the authorization to spend $2.5 billion more in General Fund and $4.1 billion more in Other Funds in the 2019-21 biennium than was spent in the 2017-19 biennium. The 12.6% increase in General Fund expenditures continues a trend of biennial double-digit percentage increases. The 2019-21 biennial increase of 9.9% represents significant growth in Other Funds Limited due primarily to the approval of $1.2 billion in revenue from a new commercial activities tax. The healthy increase in General Fund and Other Funds was somewhat offset due to a relatively small increase in total Federal Funds. The eventual 2019-21 approved budget will change from the adopted level, since changes in Other Funds expenditure limitation and receipt of federal funding will likely increase over the course of the biennium. Additionally, if there is a change in the anticipated revenue for the biennium, the Legislature may elect to (in the case of additional revenue) or need to (in the case of revenue shortfalls) make adjustments to the budget.
The December 2019 economic and revenue forecast projects $20.2 billion of General Fund gross revenues for the 2019-21 biennium. The projected General Fund ending balance for 2019-21 is $980.1 million. General Fund resources are forecasted to decrease by 3.4% percent in the 2019-21 biennium and increase by 15.3 percent in the 2021-23 biennium. The decrease in General Fund resources in the 2019-21 biennium is due to the payout of a large personal income tax kicker, and is offset by a large beginning balance.
Relevant Financial Policies.
Oregon currently administers two general reserve accounts, the Oregon Rainy Day Fund and the Education Stability Fund.
Established by the 2007 Legislature, the Oregon Rainy Day Fund is funded from the General Fund’s ending balance up to 1 percent of the General Fund appropriations for the prior biennium. The Legislature may deposit additional Funds as it did to create the fund, using surplus corporate income tax revenues from the 2005-07 biennium. The Rainy Day Fund also earns interest on the moneys in the fund. Withdrawals from the Rainy Day Fund require one of three specific economic triggers to occur plus approval of three-fifths of both chambers of the Legislature. Withdrawals are capped at two-thirds of the balance as of the beginning of the biennium in question, while the fund balance is capped at 7.5 percent of General Fund revenues in the prior biennium.
The Education Stability Fund is the State’s second general reserve fund. Its current reserve structure and mechanics are the result of a constitutional amendment in 2002. Amounts in the Education Stability Fund may be spent under the same conditions as those required for spending from the Oregon Rainy Day Fund. However, if none of the conditions are met, the Education Stability Fund can also be used by the Legislature for public education in Oregon if the Governor declares an emergency and the
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | C-12 |
expenditure is approved by a three-fifths majority in each chamber. This fund receives 18 percent of lottery earnings, deposited on a quarterly basis. The fund does not retain interest earnings. The fund balance is capped at 5 percent of General Fund revenues collected in the prior biennium.
The Rainy Day Fund starts the 2019-21 biennium with a cash balance of $666.6 million. Because the General Fund’s ending balance for 2017-19 was positive, 1 percent of budgeted appropriations, or $199.5 million, is expected to be deposited in the Rainy Day Fund in 2020. The deposit relating to the increased corporate taxes from Measure 67 was made in June 2019. The State had previously assumed the deposit would occur during the 2019-21 biennium, however statute requires it to occur by the end of the biennium in which revenues were received. The December 2019 economic and revenue forecast projects the Rainy Day Fund will end the 2019-21 biennium with a cash balance of $899.4 million.
The Education Stability Fund started the 2019-21 biennium with a cash balance of $621.1 million. The December 2019 economic and revenue forecast projects the Education Stability Fund will end the current biennium with a cash balance of $858.7 million, which includes deposits of $239 million based on the current Lottery forecast.
Major Initiatives.
Of the major projects and related efforts included in the 2017-19 budget, several are of particular interest due to their overall cost, complexity and risk, importance to public safety and health, and/or cross-biennium timeframes. These projects include:
Student Success Act
Oregon Paid Family Medical Leave Program
Child Welfare
Student Success Act
The Student Success Act marks a turning point for education in Oregon. The Joint Committee on Student Success held multiple public hearings across the State during 2019, gathering input from a variety of interested parties which resulted in House Bill (HB) 3427. This bill established the Fund for Student Success funded with revenue from a new commercial activities tax which is estimated to raise a net $1.2 billion for the 2019-21 biennium and $2.1 billion when fully implemented in the 2021-23 biennium.
The Other Funds resources in the Fund for Student Success for the 2019-21 biennium are allocated first to the State School Fund as follows: (1) to make up the $423 million in lost General Fund resources due to income tax reductions and other tax related changes included in HB 3427; (2) an increase of $20 million in the High Cost Disabilities Account; and (3) $200 million for distribution to districts through the school revenue formula. The remaining amount in the Fund for Student Success is allocated to three accounts: (1) at least 50% to the Student Investment Account; (2) at least 20% to the Early Learning Account; and (3) up to 30% to the Statewide Education Initiatives Account. HB 5047 provided the direction and amount on how the funds in each of these three accounts will be specifically used. Funding will generally be available starting in the second year of the biennium.
The Student Investment Account provides $472.7 million for grants to school districts that must be used for increasing learning time, decreasing class size, offering a well-rounded education, and for student health and safety. The Early Learning Account funds a number of existing and new programs for the 2019-21 biennium including: $44.4 million for Oregon Pre-Kindergarten; $37.5 million for Early Intervention/Early Childhood Special Education; $30.8 million for Preschool Promise; and $22.3 million for Early Head Start. The Statewide Education Initiatives Account is used to fund several K-12 existing and new programs including: $133.2 million for High School Success Grants; $41.6 million for Nutrition Program expansion; and $24 million for Education Service District technical assistance.
When fully implemented, Oregon will see an additional $1 billion investment in schools each year. This investment will provide new opportunities for every student in the State, particularly students who have been historically underserved.
Oregon Paid Family Medical Leave Program
A major initiative of the 2019 session was to plan for an efficient and integrated approach for providing employees with protected and paid time off from work to bond with a newborn or newly adopted child, care for a family member who is ill, or recover from a serious illness. Modelled after the state’s Unemployment Insurance program, the Oregon Paid Family Medical Leave (PFML) program, will provide eligible employees with compensated time away from work for specified purposes. The funding source is a payroll tax with a rate of up to 1% of gross wages. The Oregon Employment Department is required to specify the rate, which is split between employers (60%) and employees (40%). Employers with fewer than 25 employees are exempt from the program. The tax becomes effective on January 1, 2022, so there is no revenue impact in the 2019-21 biennium. For the 2021-23 biennium, the PFML Insurance Fund is projected to receive $1.6 million from the payroll tax.
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | C-13 |
Child Welfare
The Child Welfare program conducts prevention, protection, and regulatory activities to keep children safe and improve their quality of life. Services include responding to reports of child abuse or neglect, providing in-home supports or out-of-home care when necessary, and arranging adoption or guardianship services and supports.
The 2019-21 legislatively adopted budget is $775.5 million General Fund and $1.4 billion total funds, which is 29% and 15.1% higher, respectively, than the $601.1 million General Fund and $1.2 billion total funds 2017-19 legislatively approved budget. A total of 272 positions (271.50 FTE) are added between biennia to help stabilize the program; the position mix was developed using mandated caseload workload model calculations coupled with a “best practices standard” approach.
Other investments targeted at helping improve program performance and capacity include: $8.9 million General Fund and 46 permanent positions (38.51 FTE) for the Oregon Child Abuse Hotline, $3.8 million total funds and 17 positions (17.00 FTE) to develop a data-informed statewide foster family recruitment and retention team; $3.1 million General Fund ($7.8 million total funds) will pay for the statewide expansion of a former pilot program, called Keeping Foster and Kin Parents Supported and Trained; and $2.3 million General Fund ($3.9 million total funds) and 17.60 FTE to continue the Leveraging Intensive Family Engagement program at its current, limited level in five counties.
A $50 million General Fund statewide behavioral health investment package has two Child Welfare components. The first is a $3.5 million General Fund appropriation ($8.5 million total funds) to pay for therapeutic foster care home recruitment, training, and support. The second appropriates $4 million General Fund to the Emergency Board to help increase capacity for non-Medicaid in-home services under the Family First Prevention Services Act.
Debt Service.
As of June 30, 2018, the State of Oregon had outstanding approximately $3.75 billion in net General Obligation Debt and approximately $2.7 billion in revenue-supported General Obligation Debt. General Fund debt service for approved projects is estimated to be $27.4 million in the 2019-21 biennium and $164.4 million in the 2021-23 biennium.
Covid-19
The outbreak of COVID-19 is a significant event that has had and will have ongoing, material effects on the finances, operations and economy of the State. Governor Brown issued Executive Order No. 20-03 on March 8, 2020 declaring a state of emergency due to the COVID-19 outbreak in the State; the effectiveness of this order was extended on May 1, 2020 through July 6, 2020, unless extended or terminated earlier by the Governor.
In the June 2020 Forecast, the OEA projected General Fund revenues to be $19.5 billion for the 2019-21 Biennium resulting in a projected deficit of $664.4 million based on the State’s Legislatively Approved General Fund Budget for the 2019-21Biennium. This represents a decrease of approximately $1.9 billion of General Fund revenues from the March 2020 Forecast primarily due to the ongoing effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic offset by the approximately $1.2 billion ending fund balance projected in the March 2020 Forecast. Lottery revenues for the 2019-21 Biennium are projected in the June 2020 Forecast to total approximately $1.1 billion, a decrease of $371.4 million from the projected in the March 2020 Forecast. OEA projects the combined General Fund and Lottery Fund revenues to be $20.6 billion for the 2019-21 Biennium.
As reported in the June 2020 Forecast, the Education Stability Fund and the Oregon Rainy Day Fund balances were $708 million and $878 million, respectively, as of April 2020. The actual amount of reserves will be affected by national and State economic activity and other events, including ongoing market disruptions and economic developments in response to the COVID-19 pandemic that are beyond the State’s control. The State may draw on its reserves in the event of General Fund revenue shortfalls, subject to certain restrictions.
Bond Ratings.
As of June 9, 2020, Fitch Ratings (“Fitch”), Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. (“Moody’s”) and S&P Global Ratings (“S&P”) have assigned their municipal bond ratings of “AA+,” “Aa1” and “AA+,” respectively, to Oregon’s 2020 tax-exempt bonds and 2020 federally taxable bonds. It is not possible to determine whether, or the extent to which, Moody’s, S&P or Fitch will change such ratings in the future. Ratings assigned to individual municipal obligations may vary.
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | C-14 |
APPENDIX D — SERIES OF CFST, CFST I AND CFST II
Below are the series of CFST, CFST I and CFST II. In prospectuses dated prior to June 25, 2014, series of CFST and CFST I are referred to as “Legacy Columbia Funds” and series of CFST II are referred to as “Legacy RiverSource Funds”.
Columbia Funds Series Trust
Columbia California Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund
Columbia Capital Allocation Moderate Aggressive Portfolio
Columbia Capital Allocation Moderate Conservative Portfolio
Columbia Convertible Securities Fund
Columbia Georgia Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund
Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund
Columbia Large Cap Growth Opportunity Fund
Columbia Large Cap Index Fund
Columbia Maryland Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund
Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund
Columbia North Carolina Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund
Columbia Overseas Value Fund
Columbia Select Large Cap Equity Fund
Columbia Select Mid Cap Value Fund
Columbia Short Term Bond Fund
Columbia Short Term Municipal Bond Fund
Columbia Small Cap Index Fund
Columbia Small Cap Value Fund II
Columbia South Carolina Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund
Columbia Virginia Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund
Columbia Capital Allocation Moderate Aggressive Portfolio
Columbia Capital Allocation Moderate Conservative Portfolio
Columbia Convertible Securities Fund
Columbia Georgia Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund
Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund
Columbia Large Cap Growth Opportunity Fund
Columbia Large Cap Index Fund
Columbia Maryland Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund
Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund
Columbia North Carolina Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund
Columbia Overseas Value Fund
Columbia Select Large Cap Equity Fund
Columbia Select Mid Cap Value Fund
Columbia Short Term Bond Fund
Columbia Short Term Municipal Bond Fund
Columbia Small Cap Index Fund
Columbia Small Cap Value Fund II
Columbia South Carolina Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund
Columbia Virginia Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund
Columbia Funds Series Trust I
Columbia Adaptive Retirement 2020 Fund
Columbia Adaptive Retirement 2025 Fund
Columbia Adaptive Retirement 2030 Fund
Columbia Adaptive Retirement 2035 Fund
Columbia Adaptive Retirement 2040 Fund
Columbia Adaptive Retirement 2045 Fund
Columbia Adaptive Retirement 2050 Fund
Columbia Adaptive Retirement 2055 Fund
Columbia Adaptive Retirement 2060 Fund
Columbia Adaptive Risk Allocation Fund
Columbia Balanced Fund
Columbia Bond Fund
Columbia Connecticut Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund
Columbia Contrarian Core Fund
Columbia Corporate Income Fund
Columbia Dividend Income Fund
Columbia Emerging Markets Fund
Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund
Columbia Greater China Fund
Columbia High Yield Municipal Fund
Columbia Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund
Columbia International Dividend Income Fund
Columbia Large Cap Growth Fund
Columbia Massachusetts Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund
Columbia Mid Cap Growth Fund
Columbia Multi-Asset Income Fund
Columbia Multi Strategy Alternatives Fund
Columbia New York Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund
Columbia Oregon Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund
Columbia Pacific/Asia Fund
Columbia Adaptive Retirement 2025 Fund
Columbia Adaptive Retirement 2030 Fund
Columbia Adaptive Retirement 2035 Fund
Columbia Adaptive Retirement 2040 Fund
Columbia Adaptive Retirement 2045 Fund
Columbia Adaptive Retirement 2050 Fund
Columbia Adaptive Retirement 2055 Fund
Columbia Adaptive Retirement 2060 Fund
Columbia Adaptive Risk Allocation Fund
Columbia Balanced Fund
Columbia Bond Fund
Columbia Connecticut Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund
Columbia Contrarian Core Fund
Columbia Corporate Income Fund
Columbia Dividend Income Fund
Columbia Emerging Markets Fund
Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund
Columbia Greater China Fund
Columbia High Yield Municipal Fund
Columbia Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund
Columbia International Dividend Income Fund
Columbia Large Cap Growth Fund
Columbia Massachusetts Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund
Columbia Mid Cap Growth Fund
Columbia Multi-Asset Income Fund
Columbia Multi Strategy Alternatives Fund
Columbia New York Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund
Columbia Oregon Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund
Columbia Pacific/Asia Fund
Columbia Real Estate Equity Fund
Columbia Select Large Cap Growth Fund
Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I
Columbia Small Cap Value Fund I
Columbia Solutions Aggressive Portfolio
Columbia Solutions Conservative Portfolio
Columbia Strategic California Municipal Income Fund
Columbia Strategic Income Fund
Columbia Strategic New York Municipal Income Fund
Columbia Tax-Exempt Fund
Columbia Total Return Bond Fund
Columbia U.S. Social Bond Fund
Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund
Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund
Multi-Manager Alternative Strategies Fund
Multi-Manager Directional Alternative Strategies Fund
Multi-Manager Growth Strategies Fund
Multi-Manager International Equity Strategies Fund
Multi-Manager Small Cap Equity Strategies Fund
Multi-Manager Total Return Bond Strategies Fund
Multisector Bond SMA Completion Portfolio
Overseas SMA Completion Portfolio
Columbia Select Large Cap Growth Fund
Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I
Columbia Small Cap Value Fund I
Columbia Solutions Aggressive Portfolio
Columbia Solutions Conservative Portfolio
Columbia Strategic California Municipal Income Fund
Columbia Strategic Income Fund
Columbia Strategic New York Municipal Income Fund
Columbia Tax-Exempt Fund
Columbia Total Return Bond Fund
Columbia U.S. Social Bond Fund
Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund
Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund
Multi-Manager Alternative Strategies Fund
Multi-Manager Directional Alternative Strategies Fund
Multi-Manager Growth Strategies Fund
Multi-Manager International Equity Strategies Fund
Multi-Manager Small Cap Equity Strategies Fund
Multi-Manager Total Return Bond Strategies Fund
Multisector Bond SMA Completion Portfolio
Overseas SMA Completion Portfolio
Columbia Funds Series Trust II
Columbia Capital Allocation Aggressive Portfolio
Columbia Capital Allocation Conservative Portfolio
Columbia Capital Allocation Moderate Portfolio
Columbia Commodity Strategy Fund
Columbia Disciplined Core Fund
Columbia Disciplined Growth Fund
Columbia Disciplined Value Fund
Columbia Dividend Opportunity Fund
Columbia Emerging Markets Bond Fund
Columbia Flexible Capital Income Fund
Columbia Floating Rate Fund
Columbia Global Equity Value Fund
Columbia Global Opportunities Fund
Columbia Government Money Market Fund
Columbia High Yield Bond Fund
Columbia Income Builder Fund
Columbia Income Opportunities Fund
Columbia Large Cap Value Fund
Columbia Limited Duration Credit Fund
Columbia Minnesota Tax-Exempt Fund
Columbia Mortgage Opportunities Fund
Columbia Overseas Core Fund
Columbia Quality Income Fund
Columbia Select Global Equity Fund
Columbia Select Large Cap Value Fund
Columbia Select Small Cap Value Fund
Columbia Seligman Communications and Information Fund
Columbia Seligman Global Technology Fund
Columbia Short-Term Cash Fund
Columbia Capital Allocation Conservative Portfolio
Columbia Capital Allocation Moderate Portfolio
Columbia Commodity Strategy Fund
Columbia Disciplined Core Fund
Columbia Disciplined Growth Fund
Columbia Disciplined Value Fund
Columbia Dividend Opportunity Fund
Columbia Emerging Markets Bond Fund
Columbia Flexible Capital Income Fund
Columbia Floating Rate Fund
Columbia Global Equity Value Fund
Columbia Global Opportunities Fund
Columbia Government Money Market Fund
Columbia High Yield Bond Fund
Columbia Income Builder Fund
Columbia Income Opportunities Fund
Columbia Large Cap Value Fund
Columbia Limited Duration Credit Fund
Columbia Minnesota Tax-Exempt Fund
Columbia Mortgage Opportunities Fund
Columbia Overseas Core Fund
Columbia Quality Income Fund
Columbia Select Global Equity Fund
Columbia Select Large Cap Value Fund
Columbia Select Small Cap Value Fund
Columbia Seligman Communications and Information Fund
Columbia Seligman Global Technology Fund
Columbia Short-Term Cash Fund
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | D-1 |
Columbia Strategic Municipal Income Fund
Multi-Manager Value Strategies Fund
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | D-2 |
APPENDIX S — MORE INFORMATION ABOUT CHOOSING A SHARE CLASS
The Fund’s prospectus contains information relative to choosing a share class. The information in this Appendix S should be read in conjunction with the information contained in the prospectus. With regard to any sales charge waivers and discounts described in this Appendix S and the prospectus, it is your obligation to advise your financial intermediary or (in the case of Direct-at-Fund Accounts, as defined in the prospectus) the Transfer Agent that you qualify for any waiver or reduced sales charge and be prepared to provide proof thereof.
Certain Share Class Conversions and Exchanges
For the Multi-Manager Strategies Funds, effective at the start of business on January 27, 2020, the shares held by Class A shareholders merged into Class Inst shares of the same Fund and Class A shares of the Fund were no longer offered for sale.
Class C shares held through a financial intermediary may be converted, in the discretion of the Fund, to Class A shares sooner than the general conversion schedule in connection with the withdrawal of the Fund’s Class C shares from such financial intermediary’s platform or accounts. In the event of such conversion, the Distributor will provide at least 30 days’ written notice to such financial intermediary. No sales charge or other charges apply in connection with such a conversion, and conversions are free from U.S. federal income tax.
Sales Charge Waivers
Front-End Sales Charge Waivers*
The following information is in addition to the description in the Fund’s prospectus of front-end sales charge waivers applicable to Class A, Class E and Class V shares. The following categories of investors may buy Class A, Class E(a) and Class V shares at net asset value, without payment of any front-end sales charge that would otherwise apply:
| ■ | Current or retired fund Board members, officers or employees of the funds or Columbia Management or its affiliates(b); |
| ■ | Current or retired Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC (Ameriprise Financial Services) financial advisors and employees of such financial advisors(b); |
| ■ | Registered representatives and other employees of affiliated or unaffiliated financial intermediaries (and their immediate family members and related trusts or other entities owned by the foregoing) having a selling agreement with the Distributor(b); |
| ■ | Registered broker-dealer firms that have entered into a dealer agreement with the Distributor may buy Class A shares without paying a front-end sales charge for their investment account only; |
| ■ | Portfolio managers employed by subadvisers of the funds(b); |
| ■ | Partners and employees of outside legal counsel to the funds or to the funds’ directors or trustees who regularly provide advice and services to the funds, or to their directors or trustees; |
| ■ | Direct rollovers (i.e., rollovers of fund shares and not reinvestments of redemption proceeds) from qualified employee benefit plans, provided that the rollover involves a transfer to Class A shares in the same fund; |
| ■ | Employees or partners of Columbia Wanger Asset Management, LLC; |
| ■ | Separate accounts established and maintained by an insurance company which are exempt from registration under Section 3(c)(11); |
| ■ | At a fund’s discretion, front-end sales charges may be waived for shares issued in plans of reorganization, such as mergers, asset acquisitions and exchange offers, to which the fund is a party; |
| ■ | Purchases by registered representatives and employees (and their immediate family members and related trusts or other entities owned by the foregoing (referred to as “Related Persons”)) of Ameriprise Financial Services and its affiliates; provided that with respect to employees (and their Related Persons) of an affiliate of Ameriprise Financial, such persons must make purchases through an account held at Ameriprise Financial or its affiliates. |
Purchases of Class A and Class V shares may be made at net asset value if they are made as follows:
| ■ | Through or under a wrap fee product or other investment product sponsored by a financial intermediary that charges an account management fee or other managed agency/asset allocation accounts or programs involving fee-based compensation arrangements that have or that clear trades through a financial intermediary that has a selling agreement with the Distributor; |
| ■ | Through state sponsored college savings plans established under Section 529 of the Internal Revenue Code; |
| ■ | Through banks, trust companies and thrift institutions, acting as fiduciaries; or |
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | S-1 |
| ■ | Through “employee benefit plans” created under Section 401(a), 401(k), 457 and 403(b), and qualified deferred compensation plans, that have a plan level or omnibus account maintained with the Fund or the Transfer Agent and transact directly with the Fund or the Transfer Agent through a third-party administrator or third-party recordkeeper. This waiver does not apply to accounts held through commissionable brokerage platforms. |
| * | Any shareholder with a Direct-at-Fund account (i.e., shares held directly with the Fund through the Transfer Agent) that is eligible to purchase shares without a front-end sales charge by virtue of having qualified for a previous waiver may continue to purchase shares without a front-end sales charge if they no longer qualify under a category described in the prospectus or in this section. Otherwise, you must qualify for a front-end sales charge waiver described in the prospectus or in this section. |
| (a) | The Funds no longer accept investments from new or existing investors in Class E shares, except by existing Class E and former Class F shareholders who opened and funded their account prior to September 22, 2006 that may continue to invest in Class E shares (Class F shares automatically converted to Class E shares on July 17, 2017). See the prospectus offering Class E shares of Large Cap Growth Fund (a series of CFST I) for details. |
| (b) | Including their spouses or domestic partners, children or step-children, parents, step-parents or legal guardians, and their spouse’s or domestic partner’s parents, step-parents, or legal guardians. |
Contingent Deferred Sales Charge Waivers (Class A, Class C, Class E and Class V Shares)
For purposes of calculating a CDSC, the start of the holding period is generally the first day of the month in which your purchase was made.
Shareholders won’t pay a CDSC on redemption of Class A, Class C, Class E and Class V shares:
| ■ | In the event of the shareholder’s death; |
| ■ | For which no sales commission or transaction fee was paid to an authorized financial intermediary at the time of purchase; |
| ■ | Purchased through reinvestment of dividend and capital gain distributions; |
| ■ | That result from required minimum distributions taken from retirement accounts upon the shareholder’s attainment of the qualified age based on applicable IRS regulations; |
| ■ | That result from returns of excess contributions made to retirement plans or individual retirement accounts, so long as the financial intermediary returns the applicable portion of any commission paid by the Distributor; |
| ■ | For Class A shares: initially purchased by an employee benefit plan; |
| ■ | For Class C, Class E, and Class V shares: initially purchased by an employee benefit plan that are not connected with a plan level termination; |
| ■ | In connection with the fund’s Small Account Policy (as described in the prospectus); and |
| ■ | Issued in connection with plans of reorganization, including but not limited to mergers, asset acquisitions and exchange offers, to which the fund is a party and at the fund’s discretion. |
Restrictions may apply to certain accounts and certain transactions. The Distributor may, in its sole discretion, authorize the waiver of the CDSC for additional classes of investors. The Fund may change or cancel these terms at any time. Any change or cancellation applies only to future purchases.
Class Inst Shares Additional Eligible Investors
In addition to the categories of Class Inst investors described in the Fund’s prospectus (other than for the Multi-Manager Strategies Funds), the minimum initial investments in Class Inst shares for the following categories of eligible investors is $2,000 ($1,000 for IRAs, as applicable):
| ■ | Any client of Bank of America or one of its subsidiaries buying shares through an asset management company, trust, fiduciary, retirement plan administration or similar arrangement with Bank of America or the subsidiary. |
| ■ | Any employee (or family member of an employee) of Bank of America or one of its subsidiaries. |
| ■ | Any investor buying shares through a Columbia Management state tuition plan organized under Section 529 of the Internal Revenue Code. |
| ■ | Any trustee or director (or family member of a trustee or director) of a fund distributed by the Distributor. |
| ■ | Other than for the Multi-Manager Strategies Funds, any shareholder (as well as any family member of a shareholder or person listed on an account registration for any account of the shareholder) who holds Class Inst shares of a fund distributed by the Distributor is eligible to purchase Class Inst shares of other funds distributed by the Distributor, subject to a minimum initial investment of $2,000 ($1,000 for IRAs). If the account in which the shareholder holds Class Inst shares is not eligible to purchase additional Class Inst shares, the shareholder may purchase Class Inst shares in an account maintained directly with the Transfer Agent, subject to a minimum initial investment of $2,000 ($1,000 for IRAs). |
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | S-2 |
Former Class V shareholders of Columbia Disciplined Small Core Fund are eligible to hold or exchange Class Inst shares of Columbia Small Cap Value Fund I, and for Direct-at-Fund accounts are eligible to purchase additional Class Inst shares.
Shares of Multi-Manager Strategies Funds
The Multi-Manager Strategies Funds may offer Class Inst and/or Class Inst3 shares. Not all Multi-Manager Strategies Funds offer every class of shares. Additionally, the Multi-Manager Strategies Funds are offered only through certain wrap fee programs sponsored and/or managed by Ameriprise Financial, Inc. or its affiliates, and to group retirement plan recordkeeping platforms that have an agreement with (i) Columbia Management Investment Distributors, Inc. or an affiliate thereof that specifically authorizes the group retirement plan recordkeeper to offer and/or service Class Inst3 shares within such platform, provided also that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account and (ii) Wilshire Associates, appointed or serving as investment manager or consultant to the recordkeeper’s group retirement plan platform. Please refer to the Fund's prospectus for additional information on share classes offered and eligibility.
The minimum initial investment for Class Inst shares is $100; there is no minimum initial investment for Class Inst3 shares. There is no minimum additional investment amount. Shares of the Multi-Manager Strategies Funds are not subject to any front-end sales charges or CDSC. See the Fund's prospectus for additional information.
Fund Reorganizations
Class A shares may be issued without any initial sales charge in connection with the acquisition of cash and securities owned by other investment companies. Any CDSC will be waived in connection with the redemption of shares of the fund if the fund is combined with another fund or in connection with a similar reorganization transaction.
Rejection of Purchases
Each fund and the distributor of the funds reserve the right to reject any offer to purchase shares, in their sole discretion.
Restrictions and Changes in Terms and Conditions
Restrictions may apply to certain accounts and certain transactions. The Funds and/or the Distributor may change or cancel these terms and conditions at any time. Unless you provide your financial intermediary with information in writing about all of the factors that may count toward available reductions or waivers of an applicable sales charge, there can be no assurance that you will receive all of the reductions and waivers for which you may be eligible. To the extent your Fund account is held directly with the Fund, you should provide this information to the Fund when placing your purchase or redemption order. Please see the Fund’s prospectus for more information about sales charge reductions and waivers.
Shares of Solution Series Funds
Shares of Solutions Aggressive Portfolio and Solutions Conservative Portfolio are sold only to the Adaptive Retirement Funds. Shares of Multisector Bond SMA Completion Portfolio and Overseas SMA Completion Portfolio may only be purchased and held by or on behalf of separately managed accounts clients.
Shares of Ultra Short Term Bond Fund
Class Adv shares of Ultra Short Term Bond Fund are also available to certain registered investment advisers that clear Fund share transactions for their client or customer accounts through designated financial intermediaries and their mutual fund trading platforms that have been granted specific written authorization from the Transfer Agent with respect to Class Inst2 eligibility apart from selling, servicing or similar agreements in lieu of Class Inst2 shares which are not offered by the Fund.
SAI910_00_074_(01/21)
| Statement of Additional Information – January 1, 2021 | S-3 |
PART C. OTHER INFORMATION
Item 28. Exhibits
|
Exhibit
Number |
Exhibit Description |
Filed Herewith or
Incorporated by Reference |
Information About the Filing that Includes the Document Incorporated by Reference | ||||
|
Registrant
that Made the Filing |
File No.
of Such Registrant |
Type of
Filing |
Exhibit of
Document in that Filing |
Filing
Date |
|||
| (a)(1) | Second Amended and Restated Agreement and Declaration of Trust, effective August 10, 2005 | Incorporated by Reference | Columbia Funds Series Trust I | 2-99356 | Post-Effective Amendment #40 on Form N-1A | (a)(1) | 9/16/2005 |
| (a)(2) | Amendment No. 1 to Second Amended and Restated Agreement and Declaration of Trust, effective September 19, 2005 | Incorporated by Reference | Columbia Funds Series Trust I | 2-99356 | Post-Effective Amendment #40 on Form N-1A | (a)(2) | 9/16/2005 |
| (a)(3) | Amendment No. 2 to Second Amended and Restated Agreement and Declaration of Trust, effective December 13, 2017 | Incorporated by Reference | Columbia Funds Series Trust I | 2-99356 | Post-Effective Amendment #313 on Form N-1A | (a)(3) | 1/16/2018 |
| (a)(4) | Amendment No. 3 to Second Amended and Restated Agreement and Declaration of Trust, effective March 7, 2018 | Incorporated by Reference | Columbia Funds Series Trust I | 2-99356 | Post-Effective Amendment #318 on Form N-1A | (a)(4) | 3/29/2018 |
| (a)(5) | Amendment No. 4 to Second Amended and Restated Agreement and Declaration of Trust, effective December 13, 2018 | Incorporated by Reference | Columbia Funds Series Trust I | 2-99356 | Post-Effective Amendment #342 on Form N-1A | (a)(5) | 12/21/2018 |
| (a)(6) | Amendment No. 5 to Second Amended and Restated Agreement and Declaration of Trust, effective June 12, 2019 | Incorporated by Reference | Columbia Funds Series Trust I | 2-99356 | Post-Effective Amendment #351 on Form N-1A | (a)(6) | 6/21/2019 |
| (a)(7) | Amendment No. 6 to Second Amended and Restated Agreement and Declaration of Trust, effective December 11, 2019 | Incorporated by Reference | Columbia Funds Series Trust I | 2-99356 | Post-Effective Amendment #369 on Form N-1A | (a)(7) | 12/20/2019 |
| (a)(8) | Amendment No. 7 to Second Amended and Restated Agreement and Declaration of Trust, effective October 9, 2020 | Filed Herewith | Columbia Funds Series Trust I | 2-99356 | Post-Effective Amendment #383 on Form N-1A | (a)(8) | 12/23/2020 |
| (b) | By-Laws as amended November 2020 | Filed Herewith | Columbia Funds Series Trust I | 2-99356 | Post-Effective Amendment #383 on Form N-1A | (b) | 12/23/2020 |
| (c) | Not Applicable. | ||||||
| (d)(1) | Amended and Restated Management Agreement, as of April 25, 2016, between Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC, Columbia Funds Variable Insurance Trust and the Registrant | Incorporated by Reference | Columbia Funds Series Trust I | 2-99356 | Post-Effective Amendment #257 on Form N-1A | (d)(1) | 4/27/2016 |
| (d)(1)(i) | Schedule A and Schedule B, as of July 8, 2020, to the Management Agreement between Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC, Columbia Funds Variable Insurance Trust and the Registrant, amended and restated as of April 25, 2016 | Incorporated by Reference | Columbia Funds Series Trust I | 2-99356 | Post-Effective Amendment #376 on Form N-1A | (d)(1)(i) | 7/28/2020 |
| (d)(2) | Amended and Restated Management Agreement, as of October 25, 2016, between Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC, Columbia Funds Variable Insurance Trust and the Registrant | Incorporated by Reference | Columbia Funds Variable Insurance Trust | 033-14954 | Post-Effective Amendment #68 on Form N-1A | (d)(2) | 10/31/2016 |
|
Exhibit
Number |
Exhibit Description |
Filed Herewith or
Incorporated by Reference |
Information About the Filing that Includes the Document Incorporated by Reference | ||||
|
Registrant
that Made the Filing |
File No.
of Such Registrant |
Type of
Filing |
Exhibit of
Document in that Filing |
Filing
Date |
|||
| (h)(3)(i) | Restated Schedule A, effective June 17, 2020, to the Amended and Restated Fee Waiver and Expense Cap Agreement, effective June 17, 2020, by and among Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC, Columbia Management Investment Distributors, Inc., Columbia Management Investment Services Corp., the Registrant and Columbia Funds Variable Insurance Trust | Incorporated by Reference | Columbia Funds Series Trust I | 2-99356 | Post-Effective Amendment #376 on Form N-1A | (h)(3)(i) | 7/28/2020 |
| (h)(4) | Agreement and Plan of Reorganization, dated October 9, 2012 | Incorporated by Reference | Columbia Funds Series Trust I | 2-99356 | Post-Effective Amendment #175 on Form N-1A | (h)(8) | 5/30/2013 |
| (h)(5) | Agreement and Plan of Reorganization, dated December 20, 2010 | Incorporated by Reference | Columbia Funds Variable Series Trust II | 333-146374 | Post-Effective Amendment #15 on Form N-1A | (h)(9) | 4/29/2011 |
| (h)(6) | Agreement and Plan of Reorganization, dated December 17, 2015 | Incorporated by Reference | Columbia Funds Series Trust | 333-208706 | Registration Statement on Form N-14 | (4) | 12/22/2015 |
| (h)(7) | Agreement and Plan of Reorganization, dated February 20, 2020 | Incorporated by Reference | Columbia Funds Series Trust II | 333-236646 | Registration Statement on Form N-14 | (4) | 2/26/2020 |
| (h)(8) | Amended and Restated Credit Agreement, as of December 1, 2020 | Filed Herewith | Columbia Funds Series Trust I | 2-99356 | Post-Effective Amendment #383 on Form N-1A | (h)(8) | 12/23/2020 |
| (h)(9) | Master Inter-Fund Lending Agreement, dated May 1, 2018 | Incorporated by Reference | Columbia Funds Series Trust II | 333-131683 | Post-Effective Amendment #179 on Form N-1A | (h)(11) | 5/25/2018 |
| (h)(9)(i) | Schedule A and Schedule B to the Master Inter-Fund Lending Agreement, dated June 17, 2020 | Incorporated by Reference | Columbia Funds Series Trust | 333-208706 | Post-Effective Amendment #192 on Form N-1A | (h)(8)(i) | 7/28/2020 |
| (i)(1) | Opinion of Counsel of Ropes & Gray LLP | Incorporated by Reference | Columbia Funds Series Trust I | 2-99356 | Post-Effective Amendment #40 on Form N-1A | (i) | 9/16/2005 |
| (i)(2) | Opinion of Counsel of Ropes & Gray LLP | Incorporated by Reference | Columbia Funds Series Trust I | 2-99356 | Post-Effective Amendment #68 on Form N-1A | (i)(2) | 1/16/2008 |
| (i)(3) | Opinion of Counsel of Ropes & Gray LLP | Incorporated by Reference | Columbia Funds Series Trust I | 2-99356 | Post-Effective Amendment #81 on Form N-1A | (i)(3) | 11/25/2008 |
| (i)(4) | Opinion of Counsel of Ropes & Gray LLP | Incorporated by Reference | Columbia Funds Series Trust I | 2-99356 | Post-Effective Amendment #95 on Form N-1A | (i)(4) | 11/20/2009 |
| (i)(5) | Opinion of Counsel of Ropes & Gray LLP | Incorporated by Reference | Columbia Funds Series Trust I | 2-99356 | Post-Effective Amendment #143 on Form N-1A | (i)(5) | 3/14/2012 |
| (i)(6) | Opinion of Counsel of Ropes & Gray LLP, with respect to Columbia Adaptive Risk Allocation Fund | Incorporated by Reference | Columbia Funds Series Trust I | 2-99356 | Post-Effective Amendment #153 on Form N-1A | (i)(6) | 6/15/2012 |
| (i)(7) | Opinion of Counsel of Ropes & Gray LLP, with respect to Columbia Multi Strategy Alternatives Fund | Incorporated by Reference | Columbia Funds Series Trust I | 2-99356 | Post-Effective Amendment #219 on Form N-1A | (i)(8) | 1/27/2015 |
|
Exhibit
Number |
Exhibit Description |
Filed Herewith or
Incorporated by Reference |
Information About the Filing that Includes the Document Incorporated by Reference | ||||
|
Registrant
that Made the Filing |
File No.
of Such Registrant |
Type of
Filing |
Exhibit of
Document in that Filing |
Filing
Date |
|||
| (i)(8) | Opinion of Counsel of Ropes & Gray LLP, with respect to Columbia Multi-Asset Income Fund and Columbia U.S. Social Bond Fund | Incorporated by Reference | Columbia Funds Series Trust I | 2-99356 | Post-Effective Amendment #223 on Form N-1A | (i)(9) | 3/24/2015 |
| (i)(9) | Opinion of Counsel of Ropes & Gray LLP, with respect to Multi-Manager Directional Alternative Strategies Fund | Incorporated by Reference | Columbia Funds Series Trust I | 2-99356 | Post-Effective Amendment #276 on Form N-1A | (i)(10) | 9/30/2016 |
| (i)(10) | Opinion of Counsel of Ropes & Gray LLP, with respect to Columbia Adaptive Retirement 2020 Fund, Columbia Adaptive Retirement 2030 Fund, Columbia Adaptive Retirement 2040 Fund, Columbia Adaptive Retirement 2050 Fund, Columbia Adaptive Retirement 2060 Fund, Columbia Solutions Aggressive Portfolio and Columbia Solutions Conservative Portfolio | Incorporated by Reference | Columbia Funds Series Trust I | 2-99356 | Post-Effective Amendment #308 on Form N-1A | (i)(11) | 10/20/2017 |
| (i)(11) | Opinion of Counsel of Ropes & Gray LLP, with respect to Columbia Adaptive Retirement 2025 Fund, Columbia Adaptive Retirement 2035 Fund, Columbia Adaptive Retirement 2045 Fund and Columbia Adaptive Retirement 2055 Fund | Incorporated by Reference | Columbia Funds Series Trust I | 2-99356 | Post-Effective Amendment #313 on Form N-1A | (i)(12) | 1/16/2018 |
| (i)(12) | Opinion of Counsel of Ropes & Gray LLP, with respect to Multi-Manager International Equity Strategies Fund | Incorporated by Reference | Columbia Funds Series Trust I | 2-99356 | Post-Effective Amendment #324 on Form N-1A | (i)(13) | 5/4/2018 |
| (i)(13) | Opinion of Counsel of Ropes & Gray LLP, with respect to Overseas SMA Completion Portfolio | Incorporated by Reference | Columbia Funds Series Trust I | 2-99356 | Post-Effective Amendment #357 on Form N-1A | (i)(13) | 9/3/2019 |
| (i)(14) | Opinion of Counsel of Ropes & Gray LLP, with respect to Multisector Bond SMA Completion Portfolio | Incorporated by Reference | Columbia Funds Series Trust I | 2-99356 | Post-Effective Amendment #364 on Form N-1A | (i)(14) | 10/25/2019 |
| (j)(1) | Consent of Morningstar, Inc. | Incorporated by Reference | Columbia Funds Series Trust I | 2-99356 | Post-Effective Amendment #21 on Form N-1A | 11(b) | 8/30/1996 |
| (j)(2) | Consent of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP | Filed Herewith | Columbia Funds Series Trust I | 2-99356 | Post-Effective Amendment #383 on Form N-1A | (j)(2) | 12/23/2020 |
| (k) | Omitted Financial Statements: Not Applicable. | ||||||
| (l) | Initial Capital Agreement: Not Applicable. | ||||||
| (m)(1) | Amended and Restated Distribution Plan, as of August 7, 2019 | Incorporated by Reference | Columbia Funds Series Trust I | 2-99356 | Post-Effective Amendment #357 on Form N-1A | (m)(1) | 9/3/2019 |
| (m)(2) | Amended and Restated Shareholder Servicing Plan, as of July 10, 2020, for certain Fund share classes of the Registrant | Incorporated by Reference | Columbia Funds Series Trust I | 2-99356 | Post-Effective Amendment #376 on Form N-1A | (m)(2) | 7/28/2020 |
| (m)(3) | Amended and Restated Shareholder Services Plan, as of July 10, 2020, for Registrant’s Class V (formerly known as Class T) | Incorporated by Reference | Columbia Funds Series Trust I | 2-99356 | Post-Effective Amendment #376 on Form N-1A | (m)(3) | 7/28/2020 |
|
Exhibit
Number |
Exhibit Description |
Filed Herewith or
Incorporated by Reference |
Information About the Filing that Includes the Document Incorporated by Reference | ||||
|
Registrant
that Made the Filing |
File No.
of Such Registrant |
Type of
Filing |
Exhibit of
Document in that Filing |
Filing
Date |
|||
| (p)(4)(iii) | U.S. Information Barrier Standards of Prudential Financial, dated January 17, 2020 | Incorporated by Reference | Columbia Funds Series Trust I | 2-99356 | Post-Effective Amendment #376 on Form N-1A | (p)(4)(iii) | 7/28/2020 |
| (p)(5) | Code of Ethics of TCW Investment Management Company LLC (a subadviser of Multi-Manager Alternative Strategies Fund and Multi-Manager Total Return Bond Strategies Fund), dated June 2, 2020 | Incorporated by Reference | Columbia Funds Series Trust I | 2-99356 | Post-Effective Amendment #378 on Form N-1A | (p)(5) | 8/27/2020 |
| (p)(6) | Code of Ethics of Water Island Capital, LLC (a subadviser of Multi-Manager Alternative Strategies Fund), dated January 1, 2017 | Incorporated by Reference | Columbia Funds Series Trust I | 2-99356 | Post-Effective Amendment #323 on Form N-1A | (p)(8) | 4/26/2018 |
| (p)(7) | Code of Ethics of Conestoga Capital Advisors, LLC (a subadviser of Multi-Manager Small Cap Equity Strategies Fund), dated January 2020 | Incorporated by Reference | Columbia Funds Series Trust I | 2-99356 | Post-Effective Amendment #374 on Form N-1A | (p)(7) | 4/27/2020 |
| (p)(8) | Code of Ethics of Loomis, Sayles and Company, L.P. (a subadviser of Multi-Manager Growth Strategies Fund and Multi-Manager Total Return Bond Strategies Fund), effective January 14, 2000, as amended April 18, 2018 | Incorporated by Reference | Columbia Funds Series Trust I | 2-99356 | Post-Effective Amendment #332 on Form N-1A | (p)(11) | 8/27/2018 |
| (p)(9) | Code of Ethics of BMO Asset Management Corp. (a subadviser of Multi-Manager Small Cap Equity Strategies Fund), dated October 30, 2019 | Incorporated by Reference | Columbia Funds Series Trust I | 2-99356 | Post-Effective Amendment #374 on Form N-1A | (p)(9) | 4/27/2020 |
| (p)(10) | Code of Ethics of Boston Partners Global Investors Inc. (a subadviser of Multi-Manager Directional Alternative Strategies Fund), effective May 2020 | Incorporated by Reference | Columbia Funds Series Trust I | 2-99356 | Post-Effective Amendment #378 on Form N-1A | (p)(10) | 8/27/2020 |
| (p)(11) | Code of Ethics of Wells Capital Management, Inc. (a subadviser of Multi-Manager Directional Alternative Strategies Fund), effective July 22, 2020 | Filed Herewith | Columbia Funds Series Trust I | 2-99356 | Post-Effective Amendment #383 on Form N-1A | (p)(11) | 12/23/2020 |
| (p)(12) | Code of Ethics of Los Angeles Capital Management and Equity Research, Inc. (a subadviser of Multi-Manager Growth Strategies Fund), effective August 27, 2019 | Incorporated by Reference | Columbia Funds Series Trust I | 2-99356 | Post-Effective Amendment #366 on Form N-1A | (p)(12) | 11/27/2019 |
| (p)(13) | Code of Ethics of Manulife Asset Management (US) LLC (a subadviser of Multi-Manager Alternative Strategies Fund), effective January 20, 2020 | Incorporated by Reference | Columbia Funds Series Trust I | 2-99356 | Post-Effective Amendment #380 on Form N-1A | (p)(13) | 9/25/2020 |
| (p)(14) | Code of Ethics of Arrowstreet Capital, Limited Partnership (a subadviser of Multi-Manager International Equity Strategies Fund), effective April 1, 2019 | Incorporated by Reference | Columbia Funds Series Trust I | 2-99356 | Post-Effective Amendment #356 on Form N-1A | (p)(14) | 8/27/2019 |
| (p)(15) | Code of Ethics of Baillie Gifford Overseas Limited (a subadviser of Multi-Manager International Equity Strategies Fund), effective March 2020 | Incorporated by Reference | Columbia Funds Series Trust I | 2-99356 | Post-Effective Amendment #376 on Form N-1A | (p)(15) | 7/28/2020 |
| (p)(16) | Code of Ethics of Causeway Capital Management LLC (a subadviser of Multi-Manager International Equity Strategies Fund), effective June 30, 2020 | Incorporated by Reference | Columbia Funds Series Trust I | 2-99356 | Post-Effective Amendment #378 on Form N-1A | (p)(16) | 8/27/2020 |
|
Exhibit
Number |
Exhibit Description |
Filed Herewith or
Incorporated by Reference |
Information About the Filing that Includes the Document Incorporated by Reference | ||||
|
Registrant
that Made the Filing |
File No.
of Such Registrant |
Type of
Filing |
Exhibit of
Document in that Filing |
Filing
Date |
|||
| (p)(17) | Code of Ethics of AlphaSimplex Group, LLC (a subadviser of Multi-Manager Alternative Strategies Fund) | Incorporated by Reference | Columbia Funds Series Trust I | 2-99356 | Post-Effective Amendment #327 on Form N-1A | (p)(20) | 5/23/2018 |
| (p)(18) | Code of Ethics of Voya Investment Management Co. LLC (a subadviser of Multi-Manager Total Return Bond Strategies Fund), effective July 1, 2019 | Incorporated by Reference | Columbia Funds Series Trust I | 2-99356 | Post-Effective Amendment #366 on Form N-1A | (p)(18) | 11/27/2019 |
| (p)(19) | Code of Ethics of J.P. Morgan Investment Management Inc. (a subadviser of Multi-Manager Small Cap Equity Strategies Fund), effective February 1, 2005, last revised January 30, 2019 | Incorporated by Reference | Columbia Funds Variable Series Trust II | 333-146374 | Post-Effective Amendment #70 on Form N-1A | (p)(10) | 5/20/2019 |
| (p)(20) | Code of Ethics of Hotchkis and Wiley Capital Management, LLC (a subadviser of Multi-Manager Small Cap Equity Strategies Fund), as of August 15, 2017 | Incorporated by Reference | Columbia Funds Series Trust I | 2-99356 | Post-Effective Amendment #344 on Form N-1A | (p)(21) | 2/13/2019 |
| (p)(21) | Code of Ethics of QMA LLC, (a subadviser of Columbia Multi Strategy Alternatives Fund), effective August 2019 | Incorporated by Reference | Columbia Funds Series Trust I | 2-99356 | Post-Effective Amendment #374 on Form N-1A | (p)(21) | 4/27/2020 |
| (q)(1) | Trustees’ Power of Attorney, dated January 1, 2018 | Incorporated by Reference | Columbia Funds Series Trust I | 2-99356 | Post-Effective Amendment #315 on Form N-1A | (q)(1) | 2/1/2018 |
| (q)(2) | Power of Attorney for Christopher O. Petersen, dated February 16, 2015 | Incorporated by Reference | Columbia Funds Series Trust I | 2-99356 | Post-Effective Amendment #221 on Form N-1A | (q)(7) | 2/27/2015 |
| (q)(3) | Power of Attorney for Michael G. Clarke, dated May 23, 2016 | Incorporated by Reference | Columbia Funds Series Trust I | 2-99356 | Post-Effective Amendment #261 on Form N-1A | (q)(3) | 5/27/2016 |
| (q)(4) | Power of Attorney for Joseph Beranek, dated January 3, 2020 | Incorporated by Reference | Columbia Funds Series Trust I | 2-99356 | Post-Effective Amendment #371 on Form N-1A | (q)(4) | 1/10/2020 |
Item 29. Persons Controlled by or Under Common Control with the Registrant
Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC (the investment manager or Columbia Management), as sponsor of the Columbia funds, may make initial capital investments in Columbia funds (seed accounts). Columbia Management also serves as investment manager of certain Columbia funds-of-funds that invest primarily in shares of affiliated funds (the underlying funds). Columbia Management does not make initial capital investments or invest in underlying funds for the purpose of exercising control. However, since these ownership interests may be significant, in excess of 25%, such that Columbia Management may be deemed to control certain Columbia funds, procedures have been put in place to assure that public shareholders determine the outcome of all actions taken at shareholder meetings. Specifically, Columbia Management (which votes proxies for the seed accounts) and the Boards of Trustees of the affiliated funds-of-funds (which votes proxies for the affiliated funds-of-funds) vote on each proposal in the same proportion as the vote of the direct public shareholders vote; provided, however, that if there are no direct public shareholders of an underlying fund or if direct public shareholders represent only a minority interest in an underlying fund, the Fund may cast votes in accordance with instructions from the independent members of the Board.
Item 30. Indemnification
Article Five of the Bylaws of Registrant provides that Registrant shall indemnify each of its trustees and officers (including persons who serve at Registrant’s request as directors, officers or trustees of another organization in which Registrant has any interest as a shareholder, creditor or otherwise) who are not employees or officers of any investment adviser to Registrant or any affiliated person thereof and its chief compliance officer, regardless of whether such person is an employee or officer of any investment adviser to Registrant or any affiliated person thereof, and may indemnify each of its trustees and officers (including persons who serve at Registrant’s request as directors, officers or trustees of another organization in which Registrant has any
interest as a shareholder, creditor or otherwise) (i.e., those who are employees or officers of any investment adviser to Registrant or any affiliated person thereof) (Covered Persons) under specified circumstances, all as more fully set forth in the Registrant’s Bylaws, which have been filed as an exhibit to this registration statement.
Section 17(h) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 (1940 Act) provides that no instrument pursuant to which Registrant is organized or administered shall contain any provision which protects or purports to protect any trustee or officer of Registrant against any liability to Registrant or its shareholders to which he or she would otherwise be subject by reason of willful misfeasance, bad faith, gross negligence, or reckless disregard of the duties involved in the conduct of his or her office. In accordance with Section 17(h) of the 1940 Act, no Covered Person is indemnified under the Bylaws against any liability to Registrant or its shareholders by reason of willful misfeasance, bad faith, gross negligence, or reckless disregard of the duties involved in the conduct of the Covered Person’s office.
Pursuant to the Distribution Agreement, Columbia Management Investment Distributors, Inc. agrees to indemnify the Registrant, its officers and trustees against claims, demands, liabilities and expenses under specified circumstances, all as more fully set forth in the Registrant’s Distribution Agreement, which has been filed as an exhibit to the registration statement. The Registrant may be party to other contracts that include indemnification provisions for the benefit of the Registrant’s trustees and officers.
The trustees and officers of the Registrant and the personnel of the Registrant’s investment adviser and principal underwriter are insured under an errors and omissions liability insurance policy. Registrant’s investment adviser, Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC, maintains investment advisory professional liability insurance to insure it, for the benefit of Registrant and its non-interested trustees, against loss arising out of any effort, omission, or breach of any duty owed to Registrant or any series of Registrant by Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC.
Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act of 1933 may be permitted to trustees, officers and controlling persons of the Registrant by the Registrant pursuant to the Registrant’s organizational instruments or otherwise, the Registrant is aware that in the opinion of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act of 1933 and, therefore, is unenforceable.
Item 31. Business and Other Connections of the Investment Adviser
To the knowledge of the Registrant, none of the directors or officers of Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC (Columbia Management), the Registrant’s investment adviser, or any subadviser to a series of the Registrant, except as set forth below, are or have been, at any time during the Registrant’s past two fiscal years, engaged in any other business, profession, vocation or employment of a substantial nature.
| (a) | Columbia Management, a wholly owned subsidiary of Ameriprise Financial, Inc., performs investment advisory services for the Registrant and certain other clients. Information regarding the business of Columbia Management and the directors and principal officers of Columbia Management is also included in the Form ADV filed by Columbia Management with the SEC pursuant to the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (File No. 801-25943), which information is incorporated herein by reference. In addition to their position with Columbia Management, certain directors and officers of Columbia Management also hold various positions with, and engage in business for, Ameriprise Financial, Inc. or its other subsidiaries. |
| (b) | Alpha Simplex Group, LLC performs investment management services for the Registrant and certain other clients. Information regarding the business of Alpha Simplex Group, LLC and certain of its officers is set forth in the Prospectus(es) and Statement of Additional Information of the Registrant’s series subadvised by Alpha Simplex Group, LLC and is incorporated herein by reference. Information about the business of Alpha Simplex Group, LLC and the directors and principal executive officers of Alpha Simplex Group, LLC is also included in the Form ADV filed by Alpha Simplex Group, LLC with the SEC pursuant to the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (File No. 801-62448), which information is incorporated herein by reference. |
| (c) | AQR Capital Management, LLC performs investment management services for the Registrant and certain other clients. Information regarding the business of AQR Capital Management, LLC and certain of its officers is set forth in the Prospectus(es) and Statement of Additional Information of the Registrant’s series subadvised by AQR Capital Management, LLC and is incorporated herein by reference. Information about the business of AQR Capital Management, LLC and the directors and principal executive officers of AQR Capital Management, LLC is also included in the Form ADV filed by AQR Capital Management, LLC with the SEC pursuant to the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (File No. 801-55543), which information is incorporated herein by reference. |
| (d) | Arrowstreet Capital, Limited Partnership performs investment management services for the Registrant and certain other clients. Information regarding the business of Arrowstreet Capital, Limited Partnership and certain of its officers is set forth in the Prospectus(es) and Statement of Additional Information of the Registrant’s series subadvised by Arrowstreet Capital, Limited Partnership and is incorporated herein by reference. Information about the business of Arrowstreet Capital, Limited |
| Partnership and the directors and principal executive officers of Arrowstreet Capital, Limited Partnership is also included in the Form ADV filed by Arrowstreet Capital, Limited Partnership with the SEC pursuant to the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (File No. 801-56633), which information is incorporated herein by reference. |
| (e) | Baillie Gifford Overseas Limited performs investment management services for the Registrant and certain other clients. Information regarding the business of Baillie Gifford Overseas Limited and certain of its officers is set forth in the Prospectus(es) and Statement of Additional Information of the Registrant’s series subadvised by Baillie Gifford Overseas Limited and is incorporated herein by reference. Information about the business of Baillie Gifford Overseas Limited and the directors and principal executive officers of Baillie Gifford Overseas Limited is also included in the Form ADV filed by Baillie Gifford Overseas Limited with the SEC pursuant to the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (File No. 801-21051), which information is incorporated herein by reference. |
| (f) | Boston Partners Global Investors, Inc. performs investment management services for the Registrant and certain other clients. Information regarding the business of Boston Partners Global Investors, Inc. and certain of its officers is set forth in the Prospectus(es) and Statement of Additional Information of the Registrant’s series subadvised by Boston Partners Global Investors, Inc. and is incorporated herein by reference. Information about the business of Boston Partners Global Investors, Inc. and the directors and principal executive officers of Boston Partners Global Investors, Inc. is also included in the Form ADV filed by Boston Partners Global Investors, Inc. with the SEC pursuant to the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (File No. 801-61786), which information is incorporated herein by reference. |
| (g) | BMO Asset Management Corp. performs investment management services for the Registrant and certain other clients. Information regarding the business of BMO Asset Management Corp. and certain of its officers is set forth in the Prospectus(es) and Statement of Additional Information of the Registrant’s series subadvised by BMO Asset Management Corp. and is incorporated herein by reference. Information about the business of BMO Asset Management Corp. and the directors and principal executive officers of BMO Asset Management Corp. is also included in the Form ADV filed by BMO Asset Management Corp. with the SEC pursuant to the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (File No. 801-35533), which information is incorporated herein by reference. |
| (h) | Causeway Capital Management LLC performs investment management services for the Registrant and certain other clients. Information regarding the business of Causeway Capital Management LLC and certain of its officers is set forth in the Prospectus(es) and Statement of Additional Information of the Registrant’s series subadvised by Causeway Capital Management LLC and is incorporated herein by reference. Information about the business of Causeway Capital Management LLC and the directors and principal executive officers of Causeway Capital Management LLC is also included in the Form ADV filed by Causeway Capital Management LLC with the SEC pursuant to the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (File No. 801-60343), which information is incorporated herein by reference. |
| (i) | Conestoga Capital Advisors, LLC performs investment management services for the Registrant and certain other clients. Information regarding the business of Conestoga Capital Advisors, LLC and certain of its officers is set forth in the Prospectus(es) and Statement of Additional Information of the Registrant’s series subadvised by Conestoga Capital Advisors, LLC and is incorporated herein by reference. Information about the business of Conestoga Capital Advisors, LLC and the directors and principal executive officers of Conestoga Capital Advisors, LLC is also included in the Form ADV filed by Conestoga Capital Advisors, LLC with the SEC pursuant to the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (File No. 801-60133), which information is incorporated herein by reference. |
| (j) | Hotchkis and Wiley Capital Management, LLC performs investment management services for the Registrant and certain other clients. Information regarding the business of Hotchkis and Wiley Capital Management, LLC and certain of its officers is set forth in the Prospectus(es) and Statement of Additional Information of the Registrant’s series subadvised by Hotchkis and Wiley Capital Management, LLC and is incorporated herein by reference. Information about the business of Hotchkis and Wiley Capital Management, LLC and the directors and principal executive officers of Hotchkis and Wiley Capital Management, LLC is also included in the Form ADV filed by Hotchkis and Wiley Capital Management, LLC with the SEC pursuant to the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (File No. 801-60512), which information is incorporated herein by reference. |
| (k) | J.P. Morgan Investment Management Inc. performs investment management services for the Registrant and certain other clients. Information regarding the business of J.P. Morgan Investment Management Inc. and certain of its officers is set forth in the Prospectus(es) and Statement of Additional Information of the Registrant’s series subadvised by J.P. Morgan Investment Management Inc. and is incorporated herein by reference. Information about the business of J.P. Morgan Investment Management Inc. and the directors and principal executive officers of J.P. Morgan Investment Management Inc. is also included in the Form ADV filed by J.P. Morgan Investment Management Inc. with the SEC pursuant to the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (File No. 801-21011), which information is incorporated herein by reference. |
| (l) | Loomis, Sayles and Company, L.P. performs investment management services for the Registrant and certain other clients. Information regarding the business of Loomis, Sayles and Company, L.P. and certain of its officers is set forth in the Prospectus(es) and Statement of Additional Information of the Registrant’s series subadvised by Loomis, Sayles and Company, L.P. and is incorporated herein by reference. Information about the business of Loomis, Sayles and Company, L.P. and the directors and principal executive officers of Loomis, Sayles and Company, L.P. is also included in the Form ADV filed by Loomis, Sayles and Company, L.P. with the SEC pursuant to the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (File No. 801-170), which information is incorporated herein by reference. |
| (m) | Los Angeles Capital Management and Equity Research, Inc. performs investment management services for the Registrant and certain other clients. Information regarding the business of Los Angeles Capital Management and Equity Research, Inc. and certain of its officers is set forth in the Prospectus(es) and Statement of Additional Information of the Registrant’s series subadvised by Los Angeles Capital Management and Equity Research, Inc. and is incorporated herein by reference. Information about the business of Los Angeles Capital Management and Equity Research, Inc. and the directors and principal executive officers of Los Angeles Capital Management and Equity Research, Inc. is also included in the Form ADV filed by Los Angeles Capital Management and Equity Research, Inc. with the SEC pursuant to the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (File No. 801-60934), which information is incorporated herein by reference. |
| (n) | Manulife Investment Management (US) LLC (formerly known as Manulife Asset Management (US) LLC) performs investment management services for the Registrant and certain other clients. Information regarding the business of Manulife Investment Management (US) LLC and certain of its officers is set forth in the Prospectus(es) and Statement of Additional Information of the Registrant’s series subadvised by Manulife Investment Management (US) LLC and is incorporated herein by reference. Information about the business of Manulife Investment Management (US) LLC and the directors and principal executive officers of Manulife Investment Management (US) LLC is also included in the Form ADV filed by Manulife Investment Management (US) LLC with the SEC pursuant to the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (File No. 801-42023), which information is incorporated herein by reference. |
| (o) | PGIM, Inc. performs investment management services for the Registrant and certain other clients. Information regarding the business of PGIM, Inc. and certain of its officers is set forth in the Prospectus(es) and Statement of Additional Information of the Registrant’s series subadvised by PGIM, Inc. and is incorporated herein by reference. Information about the business of PGIM, Inc. and the directors and principal executive officers of PGIM, Inc. is also included in the Form ADV filed by PGIM, Inc. with the SEC pursuant to the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (File No. 801-22808), which information is incorporated herein by reference. |
| (p) | QMA LLC performs investment management services for the Registrant and certain other clients. Information regarding the business of QMA LLC and certain of its officers is set forth in the Prospectus(es) and Statement of Additional Information of the Registrant’s series subadvised by QMA LLC and is incorporated herein by reference. Information about the business of QMA LLC and the directors and principal executive officers of QMA LLC is also included in the Form ADV filed by QMA LLC with the SEC pursuant to the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (File No. 801-62692), which information is incorporated herein by reference. |
| (q) | TCW Investment Management Company LLC performs investment management services for the Registrant and certain other clients. Information regarding the business of TCW Investment Management Company LLC and certain of its officers is set forth in the Prospectus(es) and Statement of Additional Information of the Registrant’s series subadvised by TCW Investment Management Company LLC and is incorporated herein by reference. Information about the business of TCW Investment Management Company LLC and the directors and principal executive officers of TCW Investment Management Company LLC is also included in the Form ADV filed by TCW Investment Management Company LLC with the SEC pursuant to the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (File No. 801-29075), which information is incorporated herein by reference. |
| (r) | Threadneedle International Limited performs investment management services for the Registrant and certain other clients. Information regarding the business of Threadneedle International Limited and certain of its officers is set forth in the Prospectus(es) and Statement of Additional Information of the Registrant’s series subadvised by Threadneedle International Limited and is incorporated herein by reference. Information about the business of Threadneedle International Limited and the directors and principal executive officers of Threadneedle International Limited is also included in the Form ADV filed by Threadneedle International Limited with the SEC pursuant to the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (File No. 801-63196), which information is incorporated herein by reference. |
| (s) | Voya Investment Management Co. LLC performs investment management services for the Registrant and certain other clients. Information regarding the business of Voya Investment Management Co. LLC and certain of its officers is set forth in the Prospectus(es) and Statement of Additional Information of the Registrant’s series subadvised by Voya Investment Management Co. LLC and is incorporated herein by reference. Information about the business of Voya Investment |
| Management Co. LLC and the directors and principal executive officers of Voya Investment Management Co. LLC is also included in the Form ADV filed by Voya Investment Management Co. LLC with the SEC pursuant to the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (File No. 801-9046), which information is incorporated herein by reference. |
| (t) | Water Island Capital, LLC performs investment management services for the Registrant and certain other clients. Information regarding the business of Water Island Capital, LLC and certain of its officers is set forth in the Prospectus(es) and Statement of Additional Information of the Registrant’s series subadvised by Water Island Capital, LLC and is incorporated herein by reference. Information about the business of Water Island Capital, LLC and the directors and principal executive officers of Water Island Capital, LLC is also included in the Form ADV filed by Water Island Capital, LLC with the SEC pursuant to the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (File No. 801-57341), which information is incorporated herein by reference. |
| (u) | Wells Capital Management Incorporated performs investment management services for the Registrant and certain other clients. Information regarding the business of Wells Capital Management Incorporated and certain of its officers is set forth in the Prospectus(es) and Statement of Additional Information of the Registrant’s series subadvised by Wells Capital Management Incorporated and is incorporated herein by reference. Information about the business of Wells Capital Management Incorporated and the directors and principal executive officers of Wells Capital Management Incorporated is also included in the Form ADV filed by Wells Capital Management Incorporated with the SEC pursuant to the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (File No. 801-21122), which information is incorporated herein by reference. |
Item 32. Principal Underwriter
| (a) | Columbia Management Investment Distributors, Inc. acts as principal underwriter for the following investment companies, including the Registrant: |
| Columbia Acorn Trust; Columbia Funds Series Trust; Columbia Funds Series Trust I; Columbia Funds Series Trust II; Columbia Funds Variable Series Trust II; Columbia Funds Variable Insurance Trust and Wanger Advisors Trust. |
| (b) | As to each director, principal officer or partner of Columbia Management Investment Distributors, Inc. |
|
Name and
Principal Business Address* |
Position and Offices
with Principal Underwriter |
Positions and Offices with Registrant | ||
| William F. Truscott | Chief Executive Officer and Director | Board Member, Senior Vice President | ||
| Scott E. Couto | President and Director | None | ||
| Michael S. Mattox | Chief Financial Officer | None | ||
| Michael E. DeFao | Vice President, Chief Legal Officer and Assistant Secretary | Vice President and Assistant Secretary | ||
| Stephen O. Buff | Vice President, Chief Compliance Officer | None | ||
| James Bumpus | Vice President – National Sales Manager | None | ||
| Thomas A. Jones | Vice President and Head of Strategic Relations | None | ||
| Gary Rawdon | Vice President – Sales Governance and Administration | None | ||
| Leslie A. Walstrom | Vice President and Head of North America Marketing | None | ||
| Daniel J. Beckman | Vice President and Head of North America Product and Director | None | ||
| Marc Zeitoun | Chief Operating Officer, North American Distribution | None | ||
| Thomas R. Moore | Secretary | None | ||
| Paul B. Goucher | Vice President and Assistant Secretary | Senior Vice President and Assistant Secretary | ||
| Amy L. Hackbarth | Vice President and Assistant Secretary | None | ||
| Mark D. Kaplan | Vice President and Assistant Secretary | None | ||
| Nancy W. LeDonne | Vice President and Assistant Secretary | None | ||
| Ryan C. Larrenaga | Vice President and Assistant Secretary | Senior Vice President, Chief Legal Officer and Secretary | ||
| Joseph L. D’Alessandro | Vice President and Assistant Secretary | Assistant Secretary | ||
| Christopher O. Petersen | Vice President and Assistant Secretary |
President and
Principal Executive Officer |
||
| Shweta J. Jhanji | Vice President and Treasurer | None | ||
| Michael Tempesta | Anti-Money Laundering Officer and Identity Theft Prevention Officer | None | ||
| Kevin Wasp | Ombudsman | None | ||
| Kristin Weisser | Conflicts Officer | None |
| * | The principal business address of Columbia Management Investment Distributors, Inc. is 225 Franklin Street, Boston, MA 02110. |
| (c) | Not Applicable. |
Item 33. Location of Accounts and Records
Persons maintaining physical possession of accounts, books and other documents required to be maintained by Section 31(a) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 and the Rules thereunder include:
| ■ | Registrant, 225 Franklin Street, Boston, MA 02110; |
| ■ | Registrant’s investment adviser and administrator, Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC, 225 Franklin Street, Boston, MA 02110; |
| ■ | Registrant’s subadviser, Alpha Simplex Group, LLC, 200 State Street, Boston MA 02109; |
| ■ | Registrant’s subadviser, Arrowstreet Capital, Limited Partnership, 200 Clarendon Street, 30th Floor, Boston, MA 02116; |
| ■ | Registrant’s subadviser, AQR Capital Management, LLC, Two Greenwich Plaza, 3rd Floor, Greenwich, CT 06830; |
| ■ | Registrant’s subadviser, Baillie Gifford Overseas Limited, Calton Square, 1 Greenside Row, Edinburgh, EH1 3AN; |
| ■ | Registrant’s subadviser, Boston Partners Global Investors, Inc., One Grand Central Place, 60 East 42nd Street, Suite 1550, New York, NY 10165; |
| ■ | Registrant’s subadviser, BMO Asset Management Corp., 115 South LaSalle Street, 11th Floor, Chicago, IL 60603; |
| ■ | Registrant’s subadviser, Causeway Capital Management LLC, 11111 Santa Monica Blvd., 15th Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90025; |
| ■ | Registrant’s subadviser, Conestoga Capital Advisors, LLC, 550 East Swedesford Road, Suite 120, Wayne, PA 19087; |
| ■ | Registrant’s subadviser, Hotchkis and Wiley Capital Management, LLC, 601 South Figueroa Street, Los Angeles, CA 90017; |
| ■ | Registrant’s subadviser, J.P. Morgan Investment Management Inc., 383 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10179; |
| ■ | Registrant’s subadviser, Loomis, Sayles and Company, L.P., One Financial Center, Boston, MA 02111; |
| ■ | Registrant’s subadviser, Los Angeles Capital Management and Equity Research, Inc., 1150 Santa Monica Blvd., Suite 200, Los Angeles, CA 90025; |
| ■ | Registrant’s subadviser, Manulife Investment Management (US) LLC, 197 Clarendon St # 4, Boston, MA 02116; |
| ■ | Registrant’s subadviser, PGIM, Inc./Prudential Financial, Inc., 655 Broad Street, Newark, NJ 07102; |
| ■ | Registrant’s subadviser, QMA LLC, Gateway Center Two, Newark, NJ 07102; |
| ■ | Registrant’s subadviser, TCW Investment Management Company LLC, 865 South Figueroa Street, Suite 1800, Los Angeles, CA 90017; |
| ■ | Registrant’s subadviser, Threadneedle International Limited, Cannon Place, 78 Cannon Street, London EC4N 6AG, United Kingdom; |
| ■ | Registrant’s subadviser, Voya Investment Management Co. LLC, 230 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10169; |
| ■ | Registrant’s subadviser, Water Island Capital, LLC, 41 Madison Avenue, 42nd floor, New York, NY 10010; |
| ■ | Registrant’s subadviser, Wells Capital Management Incorporated, 525 Market Street, San Francisco, CA 94105; |
| ■ | Registrant’s former provider of advisory service as delegated by former subadviser, DGHM, Real Estate Management Services Group, LLC, 1100 Fifth Avenue South, Suite 305, Naples, FL 34102; |
| ■ | Registrant’s former subadviser, Dalton, Greiner, Hartman, Maher & Co., 565 Fifth Avenue, Suite 2101, New York, NY 10017; |
| ■ | Registrant’s former subadviser, EAM Investors, LLC, 2533 South Coast Highway 101, Suite 240, Cardiff-by-the-Sea, CA 92007; |
| ■ | Registrant’s former subadviser, Eaton Vance Management, Two International Place, Boston, MA 02110; |
| ■ | Registrant’s former subadviser, Federated Investment Management Company, Federated Investors Tower, 1001 Liberty Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15222-3779; |
| ■ | Registrant’s former subadviser, Wasatch Advisors Inc, 505 Wakara Way, 3rd Floor, Salt Lake City, UT 84108; |
| ■ | Registrant’s principal underwriter, Columbia Management Investment Distributors, Inc., 225 Franklin Street, Boston, MA 02110; |
| ■ | Registrant’s transfer agent, Columbia Management Investment Services Corp., 225 Franklin Street, Boston, MA 02110; |
| ■ | Registrant’s sub-transfer agent, DST Asset Manager Solutions, Inc., 2000 Crown Colony Dr., Quincy, MA 02169; |
| ■ | Registrant’s custodian, JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A., 1 Chase Manhattan Plaza 19th Floor, New York, NY 10005; and |
| ■ | Registrant’s former custodian, State Street Bank and Trust Company, State Street Financial Center, One Lincoln Street, Boston, MA 02111. |
In addition, Iron Mountain Records Management is an off-site storage facility housing historical records that are no longer required to be maintained on-site. Records stored at this facility include various trading and accounting records, as well as other miscellaneous records. The address for Iron Mountain Records Management is 920 & 950 Apollo Road, Eagan, MN 55121.
Certain information on the above-referenced physical possession of accounts, books and other documents is also included in the Registrant’s filings on Form N-CEN filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on January 13, 2020, March 12, 2020, June 16, 2020, July 10, 2020, August 12, 2020, October 13, 2020 and November 13, 2020 with respect to Funds with fiscal years ended, October 31, 2019, December 31, 2019, March 31, 2020, April 30, 2020, May 31, 2020, July 31, 2020 and August 31, 2020, respectively.
Item 34. Management Services
Not Applicable.
Item 35. Undertakings
Not Applicable.
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933 and the Investment Company Act of 1940, the Registrant, COLUMBIA FUNDS SERIES TRUST I, certifies that it meets all of the requirements for effectiveness of this Amendment to its Registration Statement under Rule 485(b) under the Securities Act of 1933 and has duly caused this Amendment to its Registration Statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, duly authorized, in the City of Minneapolis, and the State of Minnesota on the 23rd day of December, 2020.
| COLUMBIA FUNDS SERIES TRUST I | |
| By: | /s/ Christopher O. Petersen |
|
Christopher O. Petersen
President |
|
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, this Amendment to the Registration Statement has been signed below by the following persons in the capacities indicated on the 23rd day of December, 2020.
| Signature | Capacity | Signature | Capacity |
| /s/ Christopher O. Petersen |
President
(Principal Executive Officer) |
/s/ Nancy T. Lukitsh* | Trustee |
| Christopher O. Petersen | Nancy T. Lukitsh | ||
| /s/ Michael G. Clarke* |
Chief Financial Officer,
Principal Financial Officer and Senior Vice President |
/s/ David M. Moffett* | Trustee |
| Michael G. Clarke | David M. Moffett | ||
| /s/ Joseph Beranek* |
Treasurer, Chief
Accounting Officer (Principal Accounting Officer) and Principal Financial Officer |
/s/ John J. Neuhauser* | Trustee |
| Joseph Beranek | John J. Neuhauser | ||
| /s/ Douglas A. Hacker* | Chair of the Board | /s/ Patrick J. Simpson* | Trustee |
| Douglas A. Hacker | Patrick J. Simpson | ||
| /s/ Janet L. Carrig* | Trustee | /s/ William F. Truscott* | Trustee |
| Janet L. Carrig | William F. Truscott |
| * |
By:
Name: |
/s/ Joseph D’Alessandro | |
|
Joseph D’Alessandro**
Attorney-in-fact |
|||
| ** | Executed by Joseph D’Alessandro on behalf of Michael G. Clarke pursuant to a Power of Attorney, dated May 23, 2016 and incorporated by reference to Post-Effective Amendment No. 261 to Registration Statement No. 2-99356 of the Registrant on Form N-1A (Exhibit (q)(3)), filed with the Commission on May 27, 2016, on behalf of Joseph Beranek pursuant to a Power of Attorney, dated January 3, 2020, and incorporated by reference to Post-Effective Amendment No. 371 to Registration Statement No. 2-99356 of the Registrant on Form N-1A (Exhibit (q)(4)), filed with the Commission on January 10, 2020 and on behalf of each of the Trustees pursuant to a Trustees Power of Attorney, dated January 1, 2018, and incorporated by reference to Post-Effective Amendment No. 315 to Registration Statement No. 2-99356 of the Registrant on Form N-1A (Exhibit (q)(1)), filed with the Commission on February 1, 2018. | ||
Exhibit Index
Exhibits Related to Item 28 of Part C
| (a)(8) | Amendment No. 7 to Second Amended and Restated Agreement and Declaration of Trust, effective October 9, 2020 |
| (b) | By-Laws as amended November 2020 |
| (h)(8) | Amended and Restated Credit Agreement, as of December 1, 2020 |
| (j)(2) | Consent of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP |
| (p)(11) | Code of Ethics of Wells Capital Management, effective July 22, 2020 |
Exhibits Related to XBRL Interactive Data Files
| Exhibit No. | Description |
| EX-101.INS | XBRL Instance Document |
| EX-101.SCH | XBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema Document |
| EX-101.CAL | XBRL Taxonomy Extension Calculation Linkbase |
| EX-101.DEF | XBRL Taxonomy Extension Definition Linkbase |
| EX-101.LAB | XBRL Taxonomy Extension Labels Linkbase |
| EX-101.PRE | XBRL Taxonomy Extension Presentation Linkbase |
