Copies of the Funds’ current prospectuses and annual and semiannual reports 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

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SAI PRIMER

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 website into this SAI, with the exception of the most recent annual report for the Funds, as noted on the front cover of this SAI.

Before reading the SAI, you should consult the Glossary below, which defines certain of the terms used in the SAI.

Glossary

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ABOUT THE TRUST

The Trust is an open-end investment company registered under the 1940 Act within the Columbia Funds Complex.

The Trust was organized as a Massachusetts business trust on April 21, 1992 as successor to The Acorn Fund, Inc., which became the Columbia Acorn series of the Trust. Prior to October 13, 2003, the Trust was named Liberty Acorn Trust, and prior to September 29, 2000, it was named Acorn Investment Trust.

Each of the Funds is a series of the Trust. Each Fund operates as an open-end diversified management investment company and has a fiscal year end of December 31^st.

The Funds offer the following classes of shares that have different fees and expenses and other features:

On September 29, 2000, the Funds (other than Columbia Acorn European Fund and Columbia Thermostat Fund) changed their names, respectively, to Liberty Acorn Fund, Liberty Acorn International, Liberty Acorn USA, Liberty Acorn Foreign Forty and Liberty Acorn Twenty. Effective October 13, 2003, the Funds (other than Columbia Acorn European Fund and Columbia Thermostat Fund) and the Trust changed their names to their current names.

The Trust is not required to hold annual meetings of shareholders, but special meetings may be called for certain purposes. The last meeting to elect trustees was held on February 27, 2015. Shareholders receive one vote for each Fund share held. Shares of each Fund and any other series of the Trust that may be in existence from time to time generally vote together, except when required by law to vote separately by Fund or by class. Shareholders owning in the aggregate 10 percent or more of Trust shares may call meetings to consider removal of Trustees of the Trust. Under certain circumstances, the Trust will provide information to assist shareholders in calling such a meeting.

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ABOUT THE FUNDS’ INVESTMENTS

The investment objective, principal investment strategies (i.e., as used in this SAI and the corresponding prospectuses, a strategy which generally involves the ability to invest 10% or more of a Fund’s total assets) and related principal investment risks for each Fund are discussed in each Fund’s prospectus.

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 by regulators upon the aggregate amount of investment by the Funds and other accounts managed by the Investment Manager and accounts of its affiliates. 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 Advisory and Other Services — Other Roles and Relationships of Ameriprise Financial and its Affiliates — Certain Conflicts of Interest.

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 Fund’s prospectus. A fundamental policy may be changed only with Board and shareholder approval. A non-fundamental policy may be changed by the Board and does not require shareholder approval, but may require notice to shareholders in certain instances.

Fundamental Investment Policies

The 1940 Act provides that a “vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities” means the affirmative vote of the lesser of (1) more than 50% of the outstanding shares of a 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 following fundamental investment policies cannot be changed without such a vote.

For purposes of applying the limitations included in the issuer diversification policies set forth below, the Funds do not consider futures or swaps central counterparties, where the Funds have exposure to such central counterparties in the course of making investments in futures and securities, to be issuers.

With respect to the policies regarding senior securities set forth below, 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 open-end mutual funds 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.

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Columbia Acorn Fund may not, as a matter of fundamental policy:

1. Invest more than 5% of its assets (valued at time of investment) in securities of any one issuer, except in government obligations.

2. Acquire securities of any one issuer which at the time of investment (a) represent more than 10% of the voting securities of the issuer or (b) have a value greater than 10% of the value of the outstanding securities of the issuer.

3. Invest more than 25% of its assets (valued at time of investment) in securities of companies in any one industry.

4. Invest more than 5% of its assets (valued at time of investment) in securities of issuers with less than three years’ operation (including predecessors).

5. Borrow money except (a) from banks for temporary or emergency purposes in amounts not exceeding 33% of the value of the Fund’s assets at the time of borrowing, and (b) in connection with transactions in options and in securities index futures. The Fund will not purchase additional securities when its borrowings, less amounts receivable on sales of portfolio securities, exceed 5% of total assets.

6. Pledge, mortgage or hypothecate its assets, except in connection with permitted borrowings.

7. Underwrite the distribution of securities of other issuers; however, the Fund may acquire “restricted” securities which, in the event of a resale, might be required to be registered under the Securities Act of 1933 on the ground that the Fund could be regarded as an underwriter as defined by that act with respect to such resale; but the Fund will limit its total investment in restricted securities and in other securities for which there is no ready market to not more than 10% of its total assets at the time of acquisition.

8. Purchase and sell real estate or interests in real estate, although it may invest in marketable securities of enterprises which invest in real estate or interests in real estate.

9. Purchase and sell commodities or commodity contracts, except that it may enter into (a) futures and options on futures and (b) forward contracts.

10. Make margin purchases of securities, except for use of such short-term credits as are needed for clearance of transactions and except in connection with transactions in options, futures and options on futures.

11. Sell securities short or maintain a short position, except short sales “against the box.”

12. Participate in a joint or on a joint or several basis in any trading account in securities.

13. Invest in companies for the purpose of management or the exercise of control.

14. Issue any senior security except to the extent permitted under the Investment Company Act of 1940.

15. Make loans, but this restriction shall not prevent the Fund from (a) buying a part of an issue of bonds, debentures, or other obligations that are publicly distributed, or from investing up to an aggregate of 15% of its total assets (taken at market value at the time of each purchase) in parts of issues of bonds, debentures or other obligations of a type privately placed with financial institutions, (b) investing in repurchase agreements, or (c) lending portfolio securities, provided that it may not lend securities if, as a result, the aggregate value of all securities loaned would exceed 33% of its total assets (taken at market value at the time of such loan).

Columbia Acorn International may not, as a matter of fundamental policy:

1. With respect to 75% of the value of the Fund’s total assets, invest more than 5% of its total assets (valued at time of investment) in securities of a single issuer, except securities issued or guaranteed by the government of the U.S., or any of its agencies or instrumentalities.

2. Acquire securities of any one issuer that at the time of investment (a) represent more than 10% of the voting securities of the issuer or (b) have a value greater than 10% of the value of the outstanding securities of the issuer.

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3. Invest more than 25% of its assets (valued at time of investment) in securities of companies in any one industry.

4. Make loans, but this restriction shall not prevent the Fund from (a) buying a part of an issue of bonds, debentures, or other obligations that are publicly distributed, or from investing up to an aggregate of 15% of its total assets (taken at market value at the time of each purchase) in parts of issues of bonds, debentures or other obligations of a type privately placed with financial institutions, (b) investing in repurchase agreements, or (c) lending portfolio securities, provided that it may not lend securities if, as a result, the aggregate value of all securities loaned would exceed 33% of its total assets (taken at market value at the time of such loan).

5. Borrow money except (a) from banks for temporary or emergency purposes in amounts not exceeding 33% of the value of the Fund’s total assets at the time of borrowing, and (b) in connection with transactions in options, futures and options on futures. The Fund will not purchase additional securities when its borrowings, less amounts receivable on sales of portfolio securities, exceed 5% of total assets.

6. Underwrite the distribution of securities of other issuers; however the Fund may acquire “restricted” securities which, in the event of a resale, might be required to be registered under the Securities Act of 1933 on the ground that the Fund could be regarded as an underwriter as defined by that act with respect to such resale; but the Fund will limit its total investment in restricted securities and in other securities for which there is no ready market, including repurchase agreements maturing in more than seven days, to not more than 15% of its total assets at the time of acquisition.

7. Purchase and sell real estate or interests in real estate, although it may invest in marketable securities of enterprises that invest in real estate or interests in real estate.

8. Purchase and sell commodities or commodity contracts, except that it may enter into (a) futures and options on futures and (b) forward contracts.

9. Make margin purchases of securities, except for use of such short-term credits as are needed for clearance of transactions and except in connection with transactions in options, futures and options on futures.

10. Sell securities short or maintain a short position, except short sales “against the box.”

11. Issue any senior security except to the extent permitted under the Investment Company Act of 1940.

Columbia Acorn USA may not, as a matter of fundamental policy:

1. With respect to 75% of the value of the Fund’s total assets, invest more than 5% of its total assets (valued at time of investment) in securities of a single issuer, except securities issued or guaranteed by the government of the U.S., or any of its agencies or instrumentalities.

2. Acquire securities of any one issuer which at the time of investment (a) represent more than 10% of the voting securities of the issuer or (b) have a value greater than 10% of the value of the outstanding securities of the issuer.

3. Invest more than 25% of its assets (valued at time of investment) in securities of companies in any one industry, except that this restriction does not apply to investments in U.S. government securities.

4. Make loans, but this restriction shall not prevent the Fund from (a) buying a part of an issue of bonds, debentures, or other obligations that are publicly distributed, or from investing up to an aggregate of 15% of its total assets (taken at market value at the time of each purchase) in parts of issues of bonds, debentures or other obligations of a type privately placed with financial institutions, (b) investing in repurchase agreements, or (c) lending portfolio securities, provided that it may not lend securities if, as a result, the aggregate value of all securities loaned would exceed 33% of its total assets (taken at market value at the time of such loan).

5. Borrow money except (a) from banks for temporary or emergency purposes in amounts not exceeding 33% of the value of the Fund’s total assets at the time of borrowing, and (b) in connection with transactions in options, futures and options on futures.

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6. Underwrite the distribution of securities of other issuers; however, the Fund may acquire “restricted” securities which, in the event of a resale, might be required to be registered under the Securities Act of 1933 on the ground that the Fund could be regarded as an underwriter as defined by that act with respect to such resale.

7. Purchase and sell real estate or interests in real estate, although it may invest in marketable securities of enterprises which invest in real estate or interests in real estate.

8. Purchase and sell commodities or commodity contracts, except that it may enter into (a) futures and options on futures and (b) foreign currency contracts.

9. Make margin purchases of securities, except for use of such short-term credits as are needed for clearance of transactions and except in connection with transactions in options, futures and options on futures.

10. Issue any senior security except to the extent permitted under the Investment Company Act of 1940.

Columbia Acorn International Select may not, as a matter of fundamental policy:

1. With respect to 75% of the value of the Fund’s total assets, invest more than 5% of its total assets (valued at the time of investment) in securities of a single issuer, except securities issued or guaranteed by the government of the U.S., or any of its agencies or instrumentalities.

2. Acquire securities of any one issuer which at the time of investment (a) represent more than 10% of the voting securities of the issuer or (b) have a value greater than 10% of the value of the outstanding securities of the issuer.

3. Invest more than 25% of its total assets in a single issuer (other than U.S. government securities);

4. Invest more than 25% of its total assets in the securities of companies in a single industry (excluding U.S. government securities).

5. Make loans, but this restriction shall not prevent the Fund from (a) investing in debt securities, (b) investing in repurchase agreements, or (c) lending its portfolio securities, provided that it may not lend securities if, as a result, the aggregate value of all securities loaned would exceed 33% of its total assets (taken at market value at the time of such loan).

6. Borrow money except (a) from banks for temporary or emergency purposes in amounts not exceeding 33% of the value of the Fund’s total assets at the time of borrowing, and (b) in connection with transactions in options, futures and options on futures.

7. Underwrite the distribution of securities of other issuers; however, the Fund may acquire “restricted” securities which, in the event of a resale, might be required to be registered under the Securities Act of 1933 on the ground that the Fund could be regarded as an underwriter as defined by that act with respect to such resale.

8. Purchase and sell real estate or interests in real estate, although it may invest in marketable securities of enterprises which invest in real estate or interests in real estate.

9. Purchase and sell commodities or commodity contracts, except that it may enter into (a) futures and options on futures and (b) foreign currency contracts.

10. Make margin purchases of securities, except for use of such short-term credits as are needed for clearance of transactions and except in connection with transactions in options, futures and options on futures.

11. Issue any senior security except to the extent permitted under the Investment Company Act of 1940.

Columbia Acorn European Fund may not, as a matter of fundamental policy:

1. With respect to 75% of the value of the Fund’s total assets, invest more than 5% of its total assets (valued at time of investment) in securities of a single issuer, except securities issued or guaranteed by the government of the U.S. or any of its agencies or instrumentalities.

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2. Acquire securities of any one issuer that at the time of investment (a) represent more than 10% of the voting securities of the issuer or (b) have a value greater than 10% of the value of the outstanding securities of the issuer.

3. Invest more than 25% of its total assets (valued at time of investment) in securities of companies in any one industry.

4. Make loans, but this restriction shall not prevent the Fund from (a) buying a part of an issue of bonds, debentures, or other obligations that are publicly distributed, or from investing up to an aggregate of 15% of its total assets (valued at the time of investment) in parts of issues of bonds, debentures or other obligations of a type privately placed with financial institutions, (b) investing in repurchase agreements, or (c) lending its portfolio securities, provided that it may not lend securities if, as a result, the aggregate value of all securities loaned would exceed 33% of its total assets (valued at the time of such loan).

5. Borrow money except (a) from banks for temporary or emergency purposes in amounts not exceeding 33% of the value of the Fund’s total assets (valued at the time of such borrowing) and (b) in connection with transactions in options, futures and options on futures. The Fund will not purchase additional securities when its borrowings, less amounts receivable on sales of portfolio securities, exceed 5% of its total assets.

6. Underwrite the distribution of securities of other issuers; however the Fund may acquire “restricted” securities which, in the event of a resale, might be required to be registered under the 1933 Act on the ground that the Fund could be regarded as an underwriter as defined by the 1933 Act with respect to such resale.

7. Purchase and sell real estate or interests in real estate, although it may invest in marketable securities of enterprises that invest in real estate or interests in real estate.

8. Purchase and sell commodities or commodity contracts, except that it may enter into (a) futures and options on futures and (b) forward contracts.

9. Make margin purchases of securities, except for use of such short-term credits as are needed for clearance of transactions and except in connection with transactions in options, futures and options on futures.

10. Issue any senior security except to the extent permitted under the 1940 Act.

Columbia Thermostat Fund will, as a matter of fundamental policy, concentrate its investments in shares of other mutual funds.

Columbia Thermostat Fund may not, as a matter of fundamental policy:

1. With respect to 75% of the value of the Fund’s total assets, invest more than 5% of its total assets (valued at time of investment) in securities of a single issuer, except shares of Portfolio Funds and securities issued or guaranteed by the government of the U.S., or any of its agencies or instrumentalities.

2. Make loans, but this restriction shall not prevent the Fund from (a) buying a part of an issue of bonds, debentures, or other obligations that are publicly distributed, or from investing up to an aggregate of 15% of its total assets (taken at market value at the time of each purchase) in parts of issues of bonds, debentures or other obligations of a type privately placed with financial institutions, (b) investing in repurchase agreements, or (c) lending portfolio securities, provided that it may not lend securities if, as a result, the aggregate value of all securities loaned would exceed 33% of its total assets (taken at market value at the time of such loan).

3. Borrow money except (a) from banks for temporary or emergency purposes in amounts not exceeding 33% of the value of the Fund’s total assets at the time of borrowing, and (b) in connection with transactions in options, futures and options on futures.

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4. Underwrite the distribution of securities of other issuers; however, the Fund may acquire “restricted” securities which, in the event of a resale, might be required to be registered under the Securities Act of 1933 on the ground that the Fund could be regarded as an underwriter as defined by that act with respect to such resale.

5. Purchase and sell real estate or interests in real estate, although it may invest in marketable securities of enterprises which invest in real estate or interests in real estate.

6. Purchase and sell commodities or commodity contracts, except that it may enter into (a) futures and options on futures and (b) forward contracts.

7. Make margin purchases of securities, except for use of such short-term credits as are needed for clearance of transactions and except in connection with transactions in options, futures and options on futures.

8. Sell securities short or maintain a short position, except short sales “against the box.”

9. Invest in companies for the purpose of management or the exercise of control.

10. Issue any senior security except to the extent permitted under the 1940 Act.

11. Invest 25% or more of its total assets in the securities of a single industry (excluding U.S. Government securities and securities of other investment companies).

Non-Fundamental Investment Policies

Each Fund, as a matter of non-fundamental policy, may not:

1. Acquire securities of other registered investment companies except in compliance with the 1940 Act.

2. Invest in companies for the purpose of management or the exercise of control.

(a) It must cause the administrator of the Fund’s liquidity risk management program to report such an occurrence to the Board within one business day of the occurrence, with an explanation of the extent and causes of the occurrence, and how the Fund plans to bring its illiquid investments that are assets to or below 15% of its net assets within a reasonable period of time; and

(b) If the amount of the Fund’s illiquid investments that are assets is still above 15% of its net assets 30 days from the occurrence (and at each consecutive 30 day period thereafter), the Board, including a majority of Independent Trustees, must assess whether the plan presented to it continues to be in the best interest of the Fund.

4. Make short sales of securities unless the Fund owns at least an equal amount of such securities, or owns securities that are convertible or exchangeable, without payment of further consideration, into at least an equal amount of such securities.

Each Fund, except Columbia Acorn Fund, as a matter of non-fundamental policy, may not: pledge, mortgage or hypothecate its assets, except as may be necessary in connection with permitted borrowings or in connection with short sales, options, futures and options on futures.

Each Fund other than Columbia Thermostat Fund, as a matter of non-fundamental policy, may not: if its shares are purchased by another investment company in reliance on Section 12(d)(1)(G) of the 1940 Act, purchase securities of another registered open-end investment company or registered unit investment trust in reliance on Section 12(d)(1)(F) or (G) of the 1940 Act, for so long as the Fund’s shares are held by such other investment company.

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Each of Columbia Acorn Fund, Columbia Acorn International, Columbia Acorn USA and Columbia Thermostat Fund, as a matter of non-fundamental policy, may not: invest more than 10% of its total assets (valued at the time of investment) in restricted securities subject to the Funds’ non-fundamental policy described above that prohibits the Fund from investing more than 15% of its net assets in illiquid investments.

Each of Columbia Acorn International and Columbia Acorn International Select, as a matter of non-fundamental policy, may not: invest more than 25% of its total assets in domestic securities, under normal market conditions.

Columbia Acorn International Select, as a matter of non-fundamental policy, may not: under normal circumstances, invest less than 65% of its net assets in the securities of foreign companies based in developed markets outside the United States.

Columbia Acorn European Fund, as a matter of non-fundamental policy, may not:

1. Under normal circumstances, invest less than 80% of its net assets (plus any borrowings for investment purposes) in European companies. For purposes of these non-fundamental policies, the Fund may invest in a company if (i) it is domiciled in, or the principal trading market for its securities is in, a European country, (ii) it derives 50% or more of its economic value from goods produced, sales made or services performed in a European country or has at least 50% of its assets in a European country or (iii) it is a holding company that predominately holds shares in such companies. The Fund will notify shareholders at least 60 days prior to any change in this policy.

2. Under normal circumstances, invest less than 70% of its total assets in companies in Western European countries (for example, the United Kingdom, Germany, France and Italy), or more than 30% of its total assets in companies in emerging Central and Eastern European countries (for example, Poland, the Czech Republic, Turkey and Cyprus), including up to 10% of its total assets in companies in Russia and the Ukraine.

Investment Restrictions of the Portfolio Funds

For the Portfolio Funds’ investment policies, refer to their respective statements of additional information, which are available on the Columbia Funds website at columbiathreadneedle.com/us and on the SEC’s website at sec.gov.

Under certain circumstances, a Portfolio Fund may determine to make payment of a redemption request by Columbia Thermostat Fund wholly or partly by a distribution in-kind of securities from its portfolio, instead of cash, in accordance with the rules of the SEC. In such cases, the Fund may hold securities distributed by a Portfolio Fund until the Investment Manager determines that it is appropriate to dispose of such securities.

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Permissible Investments

As of the date of this SAI, and as discussed in the Fund’s prospectus, Columbia Thermostat Fund invests in the following Portfolio Funds: Columbia Acorn Fund, Columbia Contrarian Core Fund, Columbia Emerging Markets Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Research Enhanced Core ETF, Columbia Select Mid Cap Value Fund, Columbia Corporate Income Fund, Columbia Diversified Fixed Income Allocation ETF, Columbia Quality Income Fund, Columbia Short Term Bond Fund, Columbia Total Return Bond Fund and Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund.

The table below identifies for each Fund, or in the case of Columbia Thermostat Fund, for each Portfolio Fund, certain types of securities in which it is permitted to invest, including those described in each Fund’s prospectus. A Fund generally has the ability to invest 10% or more of its total assets in each type of security described in its prospectus (and in each sub-category of such security type described in this SAI). To the extent that a type of security identified 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 less than 10% of its total assets in such security type, except as noted below and except that each Fund may invest in derivatives as described in its prospectus.

See also About the Funds’ Investments — Permissible Investments and Related Risks — Money Market Instruments.

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Permissible Fund Investments

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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 and collateralized debt obligations are examples of asset-backed securities. See Permissible Fund 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. See Information Regarding Risks.

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 Permissible Fund 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

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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 by being 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 Permissible Fund 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. See Information Regarding Risks.

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 Permissible Fund 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 over-collateralized 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 Permissible Fund 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. See Information Regarding Risks.

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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 Permissible Fund Investments — Debt Obligations and — Illiquid Investments.

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. See Information Regarding Risks.

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 Permissible Fund 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 Permissible Fund 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. See Information Regarding Risks.

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 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 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 Permissible Fund 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.

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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. See Information Regarding Risks.

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: (i) they are taxable; (ii) they have a par value of $1,000; (iii) they have a term maturity, which means they come due at a specified time period; and (iv) 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 Permissible Fund 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.

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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. See Information Regarding Risks.

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. See Information Regarding Risks. 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 Permissible Fund Investments — Corporate Debt Securities and — High Yield Securities.

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.

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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. See Permissible Fund Investments — Variable- and Floating-Rate Obligations for more information.

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.

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. See Information Regarding Risks.

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 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 generally will designate on its books and records cash or liquid securities in an amount at least equal to the maximum potential future payment obligations of the Fund related to such transactions. 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, the Investment Manager may determine not to complete a transaction if it deems it appropriate to close out the transaction prior to its completion. In such cases, a Fund may realize short-term gains or losses.

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 — Mortgage-Backed Securities and — Asset-Backed Securities. In order to better define contractual rights and to secure rights that will help a Fund mitigate its 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. See Information Regarding Risks.

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,

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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, step-coupon and pay-in-kind 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.

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. See Information Regarding Risks.

Determining Investment Grade for Purposes of Investment Policies. Unless otherwise stated in a 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 a Fund, or a Portfolio Fund, the Fund and the Portfolio Funds will apply a particular credit quality rating methodology as described within the Fund’s or Portfolio 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 a Fund’s or Portfolio Fund’s debt instrument investments and not the Fund or Portfolio Fund itself.

Ratings limitations under a Fund’s or a Portfolio Fund’s investment policies are applied at the time of purchase by a Fund or Portfolio Fund. Subsequent to purchase, a debt instrument may cease to be rated by a rating agency or its rating may be reduced by one more rating agencies 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 or a Portfolio Fund’s prospectus or in this SAI, a Fund or a Portfolio Fund may invest in debt instruments that are not rated by a rating agency.

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When a debt instrument is not rated by a rating agency, the Investment Manager or, as applicable, the investment adviser to a Portfolio Fund or a Portfolio 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 or Portfolio 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. See Information Regarding Risks.

Determining Average Maturity. When determining the average maturity of a Fund’s or a Portfolio Fund’s portfolio, the Investment Manager or the Portfolio Fund’s investment adviser 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 Permissible Fund Investments — Foreign Securities.

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 SOFR or LIBOR, which is being phased out), 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. Exchange-traded derivatives are standardized contracts. Usually, these contracts can easily be bought and sold, and have a market value that is determined and published daily. Although, as subsequently discussed in the risk disclosures in this Statement of Additional Information, there may be disruptions with respect to liquidity and pricing of exchange-traded derivatives. See, for example, Derivatives Risk — Futures Contracts Risk. 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; collateralized mortgage obligations (CMOs); swap agreements and swaptions.

Some derivatives require payments relating to the actual, future delivery of one or more securities, assets, currencies, commodities or instruments. These types of derivatives are frequently referred to as “physically settled” derivatives. Other derivatives require payments relating to the income or returns from, or changes in the market value of, one or more securities, assets, currencies, commodities or instruments. These types of derivatives are known as “cash settled” derivatives, since they require cash payments in lieu of delivery of the particular securities, assets, currencies, commodities or instruments. Any derivative can be structured so that it is physically settled or cash settled, although derivatives that relate to changes in the value of a particular index or reference rate are most often cash-settled.

Generally, for physically-settled contracts, in compliance with so-called “asset segregation” regulatory requirements, cash or liquid securities at least equal in value to the maximum potential future payment obligations of a Fund under the contract (less any applicable margin deposits or postings) generally will be

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designated on the Fund’s books and records. But, for cash-settled contracts, the Fund will designate cash or liquid securities equal to the Fund’s daily marked-to-market (net) obligations, if any (i.e., the Fund’s daily net liability, if any), rather than its maximum potential future payment obligation under the contract. The Fund’s specific approach to certain derivatives is discussed in greater detail below.

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.

The 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 Permissible Fund Investments — Warrants and Rights and Debt Obligations — When Issued, Delayed Delivery and Forward Commitment Transactions.

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 Derivatives Risk/Swaps Risk. See Information Regarding Risks.

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.

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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. A Fund may purchase ELNs that trade on a securities exchange or those that trade on the over-the-counter markets, including Rule 144A securities. A Fund may also purchase ELNs in a privately negotiated transaction with the issuer of the ELNs (or its broker-dealer affiliate). A 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.

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ELNs also include participation notes issued by a bank or broker-dealer that entitles a 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 a 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 a 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 the Investment Manager. Markets and underlying investments and indexes may move in a direction that was not anticipated by the Investment 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

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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.

Futures Contracts and Options on Futures Contracts

Futures Contracts. A futures contract can be physically settled or cash settled. If physically settled, then the sale of a futures contract (the “short position” in the contract) 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. Conversely, the purchase of a physically-settled futures contract (the “long position” in the contract) 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. If a futures contract is cash-settled, then a party will make or receive a payment, depending upon whether it holds the short or long position in the particular contract. Specifically, the party that holds the short position receives (makes) payments when the market value of the underlying security, asset, currency, commodity or instrument decreases (increases) in value, whereas a party that holds the long position receives (makes) payments when that market value increases (decreases). The determination as to whether a futures contract is physically or cash settled (as wells as the particular assets or securities that can be delivered upon settlement of a physically settled contract) 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 Permissible Fund Investments — Derivatives — 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 generally will be designated on the 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 in a segregated or designated account with its 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.

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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 the Investment 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 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. 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

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price. Examples include Treasury-bill futures, Treasury-bond futures and Eurodollar futures. Some interest rate futures may be an agreement that requires the buyer (seller) to make payments to the seller (buyer) in the future if a particular underlying reference interest rate decreases (increases) over the term of the contract. 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. A Fund may purchase or sell index futures contracts. Typically, index futures contracts are cash-settled. A Fund may enter into stock index futures contracts, debt index futures contracts, or other index futures contracts appropriate to its objective(s).

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 generally will enter into written options on futures contracts only when, in compliance with regulatory requirements, it has designated on its books and records cash or liquid securities at least equal in value to the maximum potential future payment obligations under the contract (less any applicable margin deposits or postings). 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.

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

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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.

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.

Although one or more of the other risks described in this SAI may also apply, the risks typically associated with Eurodollar and Yankee Dollar instruments include: Credit Risk, Foreign Securities Risk, Interest Rate Risk and Issuer Risk. See Information Regarding Risks.

Options on Stocks, Stock Indices and Other Indices

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.

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

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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

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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, 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

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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 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 LIBOR, including swap rates, Treasury rates, foreign interest rates and other reference rates.

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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). In connection with credit default swaps, the Fund generally will designate on its books and records cash or liquid securities with a value at least equal to the Fund’s maximum potential future payment obligations under the agreement. Such designation is intended to 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 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 cash or liquid securities having a value at

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least equal to the maximum potential future payment obligations under the agreement generally will be designated by a Fund on its books and records.

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.

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 the Investment 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 NAV. 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.

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, the 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 the legislative framework for OTC derivatives, such as swaps, in which the Funds may invest. Title VII of the Dodd-Frank Act made broad changes to the OTC derivatives market, grants significant authority to the SEC and the CFTC to regulate OTC derivatives and market participants, and requires clearing of many OTC derivatives transactions.

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Additional Risk Factors in Cleared Derivatives Transactions

Under applicable 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 mutual 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 a 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 Adviser 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 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 relatively are new and evolving, so their potential impact on the Funds and the financial system are still being determined. 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

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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

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 or Portfolio 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.

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. See Information Regarding Risks.

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, 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.

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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. See Information Regarding Risks.

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 Permissible Fund 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 the Investment Manager 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 Investment Manager believes the currency of a particular country will increase in value relative to another currency. A Fund may buy currencies forward to gain

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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.

A Fund generally will designate on its books and records cash or liquid securities in an amount at least equal to the maximum potential future payment obligations of the Fund related to consummating forward contracts entered into under the circumstance set forth above. If the value of the securities declines, additional cash or liquid securities will be designated on a daily basis so that the value of the cash or securities will equal the maximum 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 elect not 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 Internal Revenue 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,

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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.

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

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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. See Information Regarding Risks.

Foreign Securities

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.

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,

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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. See Information Regarding Risks.

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 Permissible Fund Investments — Illiquid Investments.

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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. See Information Regarding Risks.

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 the Investment 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 Permissible Fund 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.

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 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 NAV; 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

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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. Restricted securities may be less liquid than other lower-rated securities, potentially making it difficult to value or sell such securities. For information regarding certain limits on the Funds’ investments in illiquid investments, restricted securities and other securities for which there is no ready market, see Fundamental and Non-Fundamental Investment Policies.

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. See Information Regarding Risks.

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.

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. See Information Regarding Risks.

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Illiquid Investments

An illiquid investment is any investment 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 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 risks typically associated with illiquid investments include: Liquidity Risk. See Information Regarding Risks.

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. 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: Initial Public Offering (IPO) Risk, Issuer Risk, Liquidity Risk, Market Risk and Small Company Securities Risk. See Information Regarding Risks.

Inverse Floaters

See Permissible Fund Investments — Derivatives — Indexed or Linked Securities (Structured Products).

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.

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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 NAV 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.

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 Advisory 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 investing in the securities of other investment companies include: Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) Risk, Investing in Other Funds Risk, Issuer Risk and Market Risk. See Information Regarding Risks.

Listed Private Equity Funds

A Portfolio 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.

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A Portfolio 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 Portfolio 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 Portfolio 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. See Information Regarding Risks.

Money Market Instruments

Money market instruments are generally characterized by a high degree of safety of principal and are most commonly traded in units of $1 million or more. The instruments range in maturity from one to 397 days; the most common mature in three months or less. Instruments with longer maturities may be treated as money market instruments if their interest rate is adjusted to a current market rate, or if the holder has the right to demand repayment, at least annually. Active secondary markets for most of the instruments allow them to be sold prior to maturity.

Money market instruments include: (i) certificates of deposit (CDs), time deposits and bankers’ acceptances 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 for insurance companies and other financial institutions; (iii) repurchase agreements; (iv) obligations of the United States, foreign countries and supranational entities, and each of their subdivisions, agencies and instrumentalities; (v) corporate debt securities and obligations, such as commercial paper and commercial notes; (vi) participation interests in commercial loans; (vii) variable rate demand obligations issued by municipalities and corporations and (viii) notes issued by municipalities in anticipation of tax receipts or other revenues or financings. Money market instruments may be structured as fixed-, variable- or floating-rate obligations, may be secured by a guarantee, bank letter of credit or standby liquidity facility, and may be privately placed or publicly offered. See Types of Investments — Variable- and Floating-Rate Obligations and Types of Investments — Private Placement and Other Restricted Securities for more information.

A Fund may also invest in affiliated and unaffiliated money market mutual funds, which invest primarily in money market instruments, including a money market fund established for the exclusive use of the funds in the Columbia Fund Complex and other institutional clients of Columbia Management.

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. See Types of Investments — 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 money market instruments include: Credit Risk, Inflation Risk, Interest Rate Risk, Issuer Risk and Money Market Fund Risk. See Information Regarding Risks.

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

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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 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 Permissible Fund 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 the Government National Mortgage Association (GNMA, also known as Ginnie Mae), the Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA, also known as Fannie Mae), or the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (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 would have on their creditworthiness and guarantees of certain mortgage-backed securities. Accordingly, should the FHFA take Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac 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

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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 Permissible Fund 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 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 or a Portfolio 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

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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-Backed and Other Asset-Backed Securities Risk, Prepayment and Extension Risk and Reinvestment Risk. See Information Regarding Risks.

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 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 Permissible Fund Investments — Variable- and Floating-Rate Obligations, Permissible Fund Investments, 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.

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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 or Portfolio 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 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 or Portfolio 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 the Investment Manager or a Portfolio Fund’s investment adviser to be of comparable quality at the time of purchase to rated instruments that may be acquired by a Fund or Portfolio 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 or Portfolio 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 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.

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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 Permissible Fund 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 or a Portfolio 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 or a Portfolio 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. See Information Regarding Risks.

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.

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. See Information Regarding Risks.

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 or Portfolio 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 Permissible Fund 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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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. See Information Regarding Risks.

Partnership Securities

A Fund may invest in securities issued by publicly traded partnerships (PTPs) or master limited partnerships (MLPs) or limited liability companies (together, referred to herein 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. See Information Regarding Risks.

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 in which the stock trades. See Permissible Fund 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

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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. See Information Regarding Risks.

Private Investments in Public Equity

Although one or more of the other risks described in this SAI may also apply, the risks typically associated with PIPEs include: Private Investment in Public Equity (PIPEs) Risk, Counterparty Risk, Issuer Risk, Liquidity Risk, Market Risk, and Rule 144A and Other Exempted Securities 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. See Information Regarding Risks.

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,

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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.

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. See Information Regarding Risks.

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. See Information Regarding Risks.

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, Market Risk and Reverse Repurchase Agreements Risk. See Information Regarding Risks.

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

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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 Permissible Fund 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. See Information Regarding Risks.

Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC)

A SPAC is typically a publicly traded company that raises investment capital via an IPO for the purpose of acquiring one or more existing companies (or interests therein) via merger, combination, acquisition or other similar transactions (each a SPAC Transaction). The shares of a SPAC are issued in “units” that typically include one share of common stock and one warrant (or partial warrant) conveying the right to purchase additional shares. Within 52 days after the closing of the IPO, the shares of common stock and the warrants comprising the units will begin to trade separately and become freely tradeable. After going public, and until a SPAC Transaction is completed, a SPAC generally invests the proceeds of its IPO (less a portion retained to cover expenses) in U.S. Government securities, money market securities and/or cash. If a SPAC does not complete a SPAC Transaction within a specified period of time after going public, the SPAC is typically dissolved, at which point the invested funds are returned to the SPAC’s shareholders (less certain permitted expenses) and any warrants issued by the SPAC expire worthless. In some cases, the Fund will forfeit its right to exercise its warrants to receive additional shares even if a SPAC Transaction occurs if the Fund holding the warrant elects to redeem its shares of common stock and not participate in the SPAC Transaction. See also Types of Investments — Common Stock, — Initial Public Offerings, and — Warrants and Rights for more information.

Although one or more of the other risks described in this SAI may also apply, the risks typically associated with SPACs include: IPO Risk, Issuer Risk, Liquidity Risk, Market Risk, Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPAC) Risk and Warrants and Rights Risk.

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 Permissible Fund 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

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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. See Information Regarding Risks.

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 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.

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A Fund’s or a Portfolio 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 or Portfolio Fund to receive scheduled interest or principal payments on a loan would adversely affect the income of the Fund or Portfolio Fund and would likely reduce the value of its assets, which would be reflected in a reduction in the Fund’s or Portfolio 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 or Portfolio Fund will invest, however, the Investment Manager or a Portfolio Fund’s investment adviser 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 or the analysis of a Portfolio Fund’s investment adviser 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 or Portfolio Fund’s credit quality policy.

Loans may be structured in different forms, including assignments and participations. In an assignment, a Fund or Portfolio Fund purchases an assignment of a portion of a lender’s interest in a loan. In this case, the Fund or Portfolio 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 or Portfolio 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 or Portfolio 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 or Portfolio Fund may hold investments in loans for a very short period of time when opportunities to resell the investments that the Investment Manager or a Portfolio Fund’s investment adviser believes are attractive arise.

Certain of the loans acquired by a Fund or Portfolio 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 or Portfolio 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 or Portfolio 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 or a Portfolio Fund’s investment adviser 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 or Portfolio Fund’s portfolio. Possession of such information may in some instances occur despite the Investment Manager’s efforts or the efforts of a Portfolio Fund’s investment adviser to avoid such possession, but in other instances the Investment Manager or a Portfolio Fund’s investment adviser may choose to receive such information (for example, in connection with participation in a creditors’ committee with respect to a financially distressed issuer). As, and to the extent, required by applicable law, the Investment Manager’s ability or the ability of a Portfolio Fund’s investment adviser to trade in these loans for the account of the Fund or Portfolio Fund could potentially be limited by its possession of such information. Such limitations on the Investment Manager’s ability or the ability of a Portfolio Fund’s investment adviser to trade could have an adverse effect on the Fund or Portfolio Fund by, for example, preventing the Fund or Portfolio 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.

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In some instances, other accounts managed by the Investment Manager or a Portfolio Fund’s investment adviser may hold other securities issued by borrowers whose floating rate loans may be held in a Fund’s or Portfolio 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 or Portfolio 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 or a Portfolio Fund’s investment adviser may owe conflicting fiduciary duties to the Fund or Portfolio Fund and other client accounts. The Investment Manager or a Portfolio Fund’s investment adviser 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 account or that of a Portfolio Fund’s investment adviser’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. See Information Regarding Risks.

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, in which case the warrants may have little or no value.

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. See Information Regarding Risks.

Information Regarding Risks

The following is a summary of risks associated with the various securities, instruments, assets and investments as well as strategies and techniques that may be available to the Funds and the Portfolio Funds for investment. In this section the term “Fund” refers to a Fund or a Portfolio Fund, except where otherwise indicated. A Fund’s risk profile is largely determined by its 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). As discussed above, each Fund is permitted to invest in other securities, instruments, assets and investments, and may engage in strategies and techniques other than those described in its current prospectus, which subjects the Fund to the risks associated with these other securities, instruments, assets, investments, strategies and techniques.

An investment in a Fund 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:

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Active Management Risk

Each Fund is actively managed and its performance therefore will reflect, in part, the ability of the Investment Manager to make investment decisions that will achieve the Fund’s investment objective. Due to its active management, a Fund could underperform its benchmark index and/or other funds with similar investment objectives and/or strategies.

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 a Portfolio Fund or other underlying fund, 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 a Fund may lose money.

To the extent that a Portfolio Fund or other underlying fund is charged a performance (or incentive) fee (which would indirectly be borne by a Fund’s shareholders), such fees may create incentives for the Portfolio Fund’s or other 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, a Portfolio Fund’s or other underlying fund’s manager may receive compensation for relative performance of the Portfolio Fund or other underlying fund even if the Portfolio Fund’s or other underlying fund’s overall returns are negative.

Asset-Backed Securities Risk

The value of a Fund’s asset-backed securities may be affected by, among other things, changes in interest rates, factors concerning the interests in and structure of the issuer or the originator of the receivables, 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. Asset-backed securities represent interests in, or are backed by, pools of receivables such as credit card, auto, student and home equity loans. They may also be backed by securities backed by these types of loans and others, such as mortgage loans. Asset-backed securities can have a fixed or an adjustable rate. Most 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 Fund will have to reinvest the money received in securities that have lower yields). In addition, the impact of prepayments on the value of asset-backed securities may be difficult to predict and may result in greater volatility. Rising or high interest rates tend to extend the duration of asset-backed securities, resulting in valuations that are volatile and sensitive to changes in interest rates.

Authorized Participant Concentration Risk

Only an Authorized Participant may engage in creation or redemption transactions directly with Portfolio Funds that are ETFs. An “Authorized Participant” is a participant of the Continuous Net Settlement System of the NSCC or the DTC that has executed a Participant Agreement with the Distributor, and accepted by the Transfer

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Agent. Authorized Participants may purchase creation units of ETF shares, and sell individual ETF shares on the NYSE Arca, Inc. (the Exchange). ETF Portfolio Funds have a limited number of institutions that may act as Authorized Participants, none of which are or will be obligated to engage in creation or redemption transactions. To the extent that these institutions exit the business or are unable or unwilling to proceed with creation and/or redemption orders with respect to the ETF Portfolio Fund and no other Authorized Participant is able or willing to step forward to create or redeem creation units, ETF Portfolio Fund shares may trade at a discount to NAV and possibly face trading halts and/or delisting from the Exchange. This risk is heightened in times of market stress, including at both the ETF Portfolio Fund share level and at the ETF Portfolio Fund holdings level.

Changing Distribution Level Risk

Each 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) 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. The Investment Manager and its affiliates, including the investment adviser to the Portfolio Funds, may avoid the receipt of Confidential Information about the issuers of floating rate loans being considered for acquisition by a Fund or Portfolio Fund, or held by a Fund or Portfolio Fund. A decision not to receive Confidential Information from these issuers may disadvantage a by a Fund or Portfolio Fund as compared to other floating rate loan investors, and may adversely affect the price the Fund or the Portfolio 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 a Fund’s or a Portfolio 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 a 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 a 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. A Fund may be forced to convert a convertible security before it otherwise would choose to do so, which may decrease a Fund’s return.

Correlation/Tracking Error Risk

The value of a Portfolio Fund that seeks returns that correlate with a market index (the Index) will generally decline when the performance of the Index declines. A number of factors may affect the Portfolio Fund’s ability to achieve a high degree of correlation with the Index, and there is no guarantee that the Portfolio Fund will

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achieve a high degree of correlation. Failure to achieve a high degree of correlation may prevent the Portfolio Fund from achieving its investment objective. The factors that may adversely affect the Portfolio Fund’s correlation with the Index include the size of the Portfolio Fund’s portfolio, fees, expenses, transaction costs, income items, valuation methodology, accounting standards, the effectiveness of sampling techniques (if applicable), changes in the Index and disruptions or illiquidity in the markets for the securities or other instruments in which the Portfolio Fund invests. Portfolio Funds that typically use a “full replication” approach in seeking to track the performance of the Index, which means they invest all, or substantially all, of their assets in the components of the Index in approximately the same proportion as their weighting in the Index. At times, these “full replication” Portfolio Funds may not have investment exposure to all components of the Index, or their weighting of investment exposure to such components may be different from that of the Index. Portfolio Funds that typically use a “representative sampling” approach in seeking to track the performance of the Index, which is an indexing strategy that involves investing in only some of the components of the Index that collectively are believed to have an investment profile similar to that of the Index, may not track the Index with the same degree of accuracy as would an investment vehicle replicating the entire Index. In addition, both full replication and representative sampling Portfolio Funds may invest in securities or other instruments not included in the Index. The Portfolio Fund may take or refrain from taking investment positions for various reasons, such as tax efficiency purposes, or to comply with regulatory restrictions, which may negatively affect the Portfolio Fund’s correlation with the Index. The Portfolio Fund may also be subject to large movements of assets into and out of the Portfolio Fund, potentially resulting in the Portfolio Fund being over- or under-exposed to certain components of the Index and may be impacted by Index reconstitutions and Index rebalancing events. Additionally, the Portfolio Fund’s foreign investments may trade on markets that may not be open on the same day or at the same time as the Portfolio Fund, which may cause a difference between the changes in the daily performance of the Portfolio Fund and changes in the level of the Index. Furthermore, the Portfolio Fund may need to execute currency trades that due to regulatory, legal and operational constraints will occur at a later date than the trading of the related security. Currency holdings may be valued at a different time and at different rates than that used by the Index. Holding cash balances may detract from the Portfolio Fund’s ability to track the Index. In addition, the Portfolio Fund’s NAV may deviate from the Index if the Portfolio Fund fair values a portfolio security at a price other than the price used by the Index for that security. The Portfolio Fund also bears management and other expenses and transaction costs in trading securities or other instruments, which the Index does not bear. Accordingly, the Portfolio Fund’s performance will likely fail to match the performance of the Index, after taking expenses into account. Any of these factors could decrease correlation between the performance of the Portfolio Fund and the Index and may hinder the Portfolio Fund’s ability to meet its investment objective. It is not possible to invest directly in an index.

Several factors may affect the Portfolio Fund’s ability to achieve a high degree of correlation with its current Index. Among these factors are: (1) the Portfolio Fund’s fees and expenses, including brokerage (which may be increased by high portfolio turnover) and the costs associated with the use of derivatives or other assets or instruments; (2) the Portfolio Fund holding less than all of the components of the Index or the Portfolio Fund holding investments not included in the Index; (3) the “representative sampling” strategy, where applicable, may not work as intended so as to sufficiently track the performance of the Index; (4) an imperfect correlation between the performance of instruments held by the Portfolio Fund, such as, among others, futures contracts, and the performance of the components of the Index; (5) bid-ask spreads (the effect of which may be increased by portfolio turnover); (6) holding instruments traded in a market that has become illiquid or disrupted; (7) the Portfolio Fund’s share prices being rounded to the nearest cent; (8) changes to the Index that are not disseminated in advance; (9) the need to conform the Portfolio Fund’s portfolio holdings to comply with investment restrictions or policies or regulatory or tax law requirements; (10) limit up or limit down trading halts on options or futures contracts which may prevent the Portfolio Fund from purchasing or selling options or futures contracts; (11) early and unanticipated closings of the markets on which the holdings of the Portfolio Fund trade, resulting in the inability of the Portfolio Fund to execute intended portfolio transactions; and (12) fluctuations in currency exchange rates. Also, Portfolio Fund rebalancings to the Index, disparities between estimated and actual purchases and redemptions of the Portfolio Fund may cause the Portfolio Fund to be over- or underexposed to the Index. This may result in greater tracking and correlation error.

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Counterparty Risk

The risk exists that a counterparty to a transaction in a financial instrument held by a 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. A Fund may obtain no or limited recovery in a bankruptcy or other re-organizational proceedings, and any recovery may be significantly delayed. Transactions that a 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 (EU) 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 EU (sometimes referred to as a “bail in”).

Credit Risk

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”)), the Custodian and other service

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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.

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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.

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Depositary Receipts Risk

Derivatives Risk

Derivatives may expose a 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 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

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to the regulation of the derivatives markets may make derivatives more costly, may limit the amount of trading activity in the market for particular types of derivatives, or may otherwise adversely affect the value or performance of derivatives. See Permissible Fund Investments — Derivatives — Risk of Government Regulation of Derivatives above for more information on recent regulatory actions of the SEC and the European Union regarding derivatives. Finally, a common provision in over-the-counter derivative contracts (including some contracts for cleared swaps) permits the counterparty to terminate any such contract between it and the Fund, if the value of the Fund’s total net assets declines below a specified level over a given time period. Factors that may contribute to such a decline (which usually must be substantial) include significant shareholder redemptions and/or a marked decrease in the market value of the Fund’s investments. Any such termination of the Fund’s derivative contracts may adversely affect the Fund (for example, by increasing losses and/or costs, and/or preventing the Fund from fully implementing its investment strategies).

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. If the particular underlying reference is delivered by the seller to the buyer, then the forward contract can be described as a “deliverable forward”. But, instead of requiring delivery of the underlying reference at settlement, a forward contract may be a “non-deliverable forward,” meaning that the terms of the contract require the seller to make a payment to the buyer (if the market value of the underlying reference is greater than the agreed upon price) or the buyer to make a payment to the seller (if that market value is less than the agreed upon price). Forward contracts are negotiated on an individual basis and the type of forward contracts traded by the Fund 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 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, a 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 a Fund, exceeding the amount of any margin paid by the Fund in respect of the contract. The use of forwards may increase the volatility of a Fund’s NAV. Forward contracts can increase a 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. A 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. A forward foreign currency contract may be a deliverable or a non-deliverable forward, depending upon the specific terms of the contract. These instruments may fall in value (sometimes dramatically) due to foreign market downswings or foreign currency value fluctuations, subjecting a 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 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. A Fund may use these instruments to gain leveraged exposure to currencies, which increases the Fund’s risk exposure and the possibility of losses. Unanticipated changes in the currency markets could result in reduced performance for a Fund. When a 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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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). A 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). Instead of requiring delivery of the underlying reference at settlement, a futures contracts may require the seller to make a payment to the buyer (if the market value of the underlying reference is greater than the agreed upon price) or the buyer to make a payment to the seller (if that market value is less than the agreed upon price). Regardless of the type of settlement (i.e., by delivery or by cash payment), the seller benefits if the market price at settlement is less than the agreed upon price, while the buyer benefits if the market price is more than the agreed upon price. Futures contract markets may be, or over the term of the contract may become, highly volatile, and futures contracts may be or become illiquid. Futures exchanges may limit fluctuations in futures contract prices by imposing a maximum permissible daily price movement. A 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, a 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 of the underlying reference. Although, disruptions in the market for delivery of the underlying reference, may adversely impact liquidity (i.e., reduce liquidity) in the related futures market. 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. In order to secure future payment obligations, the Fund will be required to deposit cash or securities (referred to as “initial margin”) when it enters into a futures contract. The amount of initial margin required is relatively small compared to the level of market exposure obtained through the futures contract. Futures positions are marked to market each day and gains or losses on the contract (known as “variation margin”) must be paid to or by a Fund. Because of the low initial margin deposits normally required in futures trading relative to the level of market exposure obtained through a contract, 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 a Fund, exceeding the amount of the margin deposited. For certain types of futures contracts (including any short position in a contract), losses are potentially unlimited. The use of futures may increase the volatility of a Fund’s NAV. Futures contracts executed on foreign exchanges (if any) may not provide the same protection as U.S. exchanges. Futures contracts can increase a 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 (or make a payment based upon changes in the value of) 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. If cash settled, a bond future requires the buyer (seller) to make payments to the seller (buyer) for any depreciation (appreciation) in the value of the underlying reference over the term of the contract.

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. If cash settled, a commodity-linked future requires the buyer (seller) to make payments to the seller (buyer) for any depreciation (appreciation) in the value of the underlying reference over the term of the contract.

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

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purchase date. If cash settled, a currency future requires the buyer (seller) to make payments to the seller (buyer) for any depreciation (appreciation) in the value of the underlying reference over the term of the contract.

An equity future is a derivative that requires 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 price agreed to by the parties when they enter into the contract. If cash settled, an equity future requires the buyer (seller) to make payments to the seller (buyer) for any depreciation (appreciation) in the value of the underlying reference over the term of the contract.

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. Some interest rate futures may be an agreement that requires the buyer (seller) to make payments to the seller (buyer) in the future if a particular underlying reference interest rate decreases (increases) over the term of the contract.

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 may also exhibit greater volatility in price movement, which could result in significant losses for a 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 a 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 a Fund to greater liquidity risk. Inverse floaters can increase a 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 right to buy (in the case of a call option) or sell (in the case of a put option) an underlying reference from or to a counterparty at a specified price (the strike price) on or before an expiration date. A Fund may purchase or write put and call options on an underlying reference it is otherwise permitted to invest in or to which it is otherwise permitted to have economic exposure. Writing an option is also referred to as selling that option. When writing options, a 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. Or, if the option is cash settled, then the Fund is exposed to the risk that it may be required to make payments to the other party to the contract based upon changes in the value of the underlying reference over the term of the contract. If a Fund sells a put option that settles by delivery of the underlying, 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 put option sold by the Fund is cash settled, then that loss would be in the form of a payment that corresponds to the amount by which the strike price under the contract exceeds the market price of the underlying reference. If a Fund sells a call option that settles by delivery of the underlying, 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 call option sold by the Fund is cash settled, then that loss would be in the form of a payment that corresponds to the amount by which the market price of the underlying reference exceeds the strike price under the contract. If a Fund sells a call option that is not covered (meaning that the Fund does not own the underlying reference), the Fund’s losses are potentially unlimited. Options may involve economic leverage, which could result in greater

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volatility in price movement. Options may be traded on an exchange or in the over-the-counter market. At or prior to maturity of an options contract, a 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 a Fund’s risk exposure to underlying references 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, leverage risk, inflation 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 a 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 a Fund. A Fund’s use of structured instruments may not work as intended. If structured investments are used to reduce the duration of a 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 a 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, a Fund might receive lower interest payments (or not receive any of the interest due) on its investments if there is a decline in the value of 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, commodity index or other economic variable, a 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 a 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 a Fund’s portfolio, which may make it difficult for the notes to be sold at a price acceptable to the Investment Manager or a Portfolio Fund’s investment adviser 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 a reasonable price, there can be no assurance that the Fund will be able to sell at such a price. Furthermore, such inability. This 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,

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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. Derivatives may involve significant risks. In a typical swap transaction, two parties agree to exchange an amount equal to the return, based upon an agreed-upon notional value, 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, or over the term of the contract may become, 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 a Fund. A Fund may only close out a swap with its particular counterparty, and may only transfer a position with the consent of that counterparty. Additionally, every swap is subject to bankruptcy and insolvency laws, which could delay or limit the Fund’s recovery if the counterparty to a particular swap defaults on its obligation to make payments under the swap, or the Fund terminates that swap, in either case as a result of the counterparty’s bankruptcy or insolvency. In any bankruptcy or insolvency situation, the Fund may lose the benefit of any payments previously made by the Fund to the counterparty, or collect only a portion of what it is otherwise entitled to, with any such collection involving significant costs or delays. 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 a 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 a 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. 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. 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.

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 a 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, a Fund may lose such payments altogether, or collect only a portion thereof, which collection could involve costs or delays. A 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

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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 a 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, a 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).

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.

Early Close/Late Close/Trading Halt Risk

An exchange or market may close early, close late or issue trading halts on specific securities, or the ability to buy or sell certain securities may be restricted, which may result in a Portfolio Fund that in an ETF being unable to buy or sell these securities. In these circumstances, the ETF Portfolio Fund may be unable to rebalance its portfolio, may be unable to accurately price its investments, may incur substantial trading losses and/or may be prevented from sufficiently tracking the performance of the Index.

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

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legal restrictions or limitations on the ability of a 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 a 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.

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 be traded 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.

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Event-Driven Trading Risk

A 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 a Fund’s performance.

Event-driven investing requires the Investment 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 Investment 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.

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)

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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. A Fund 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. Each Fund’s 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.

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

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such securities less liquid or more difficult to value. In addition, as a result of economic sanctions, the Fund may be forced to sell or otherwise dispose of investments at inopportune times or prices, which could result in losses to the Fund and increased transaction costs. These conditions may be in place for a substantial period of time and enacted with limited advance notice to the Funds. 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 a 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. A 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 a Fund. In particular, under certain circumstances, foreign securities may settle on a delayed delivery basis, meaning that a 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, a 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 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 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.

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, a Fund or a Portfolio Fund could enter into dollar rolls, which are transactions in which the Fund or the Portfolio Funds 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

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securities a Fund or a Portfolio 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 a Fund’s or a Portfolio Fund’s portfolio turnover rate. If a Fund or a Portfolio Fund reinvests the proceeds of the security sold, the Fund or the Portfolio 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, a Fund’s exposure to risks associated with investing in emerging market countries are magnified when a 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 Portfolio Funds and a Fund’s allocations thereto may not successfully achieve a Fund’s investment objective, in whole or in part. The selected Portfolio 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 Portfolio Funds that could have been selected to represent the asset class. A Fund also is exposed to the same risks as the Portfolio Funds in direct proportion to the allocation of its assets among the Portfolio Funds. By investing in a combination of Portfolio Funds, a Fund has exposure to the risks of many areas of the market. The ability of a Fund to realize its investment objective will depend, in large part, on the extent to which the Portfolio Funds realize their investment objectives. There is no guarantee that the Portfolio Funds will achieve their respective investment objectives. The performance of Portfolio Funds could be adversely affected if other entities that invest in the same Portfolio Funds make relatively large investments or redemptions in such Portfolio Funds. A 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 Portfolio Fund are shared by its

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investors, redemptions by other investors in a Portfolio Fund could result in decreased economies of scale and increased operating expenses for such fund. These transactions might also result in higher brokerage, tax or other costs for a Portfolio Fund. This risk may be particularly important when one investor owns a substantial portion of a Portfolio Fund. For certain funds-of-funds, the Investment Manager typically selects Portfolio Funds from among the funds for which it, or an affiliate, acts as the investment manager (affiliated funds) and will select an unaffiliated Portfolio Fund only if the desired investment exposure is not available through an affiliated fund. The Investment Manager has a conflict of interest in choosing affiliated funds over unaffiliated funds when selecting and investing in Portfolio Funds because the Investment Manager and/or its affiliates receive management fees from affiliated funds, and the Investment Manager has a conflict in choosing among affiliated funds when selecting and investing in Portfolio Funds, because the fees paid to the Investment Manage and/or its affiliates by certain affiliated funds are higher than the fees paid by other affiliated funds. Because of the Investment Manager’s confidence in its own strategies, investment philosophy and capacities, it will, in selecting funds, at times prefer Columbia Acorn Funds over alternative investments. There can be no assurance, however, that a Columbia Acorn Fund selected for inclusion in Columbia Thermostat Fund will, in fact, outperform similar funds managed by the Investment Manager’s affiliates. Also, to the extent that a Fund is constrained/restricted from investing (or investing further) in a particular Portfolio Fund for one or more reasons (e.g. Portfolio Fund capacity constraints or regulatory restrictions) or if a Fund chooses to sell its investment in a Portfolio 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 funds(s) in a timely manner or at all.

Fund Shares Liquidity Risk

Although the shares of Portfolio Funds that are ETFs are listed on the NYSE Arca, Inc. (the Exchange), there can be no assurance that an active, liquid or otherwise orderly trading market for shares will be established or maintained by market makers or Authorized Participants, particularly in times of stressed market conditions. (See Authorized Participant Concentration Risk above). In this regard, there is no obligation for market makers to make a market in the ETF Portfolio Fund’s shares or for Authorized Participants to submit purchase or redemption orders for creation units. Accordingly, if such parties determine not to perform their respective roles, this could, in turn, lead to variances between the market price of the ETF Portfolio Fund’s shares and the underlying value of those shares. Trading in ETF Portfolio Fund shares on the Exchange also may be disrupted or even halted due to market conditions or for reasons that, in the view of the Exchange, make trading in ETF Portfolio Fund shares inadvisable. In addition, trading in ETF Portfolio Fund shares on the Exchange may be subject to trading halts caused by extraordinary market volatility pursuant to the Exchange “circuit breaker” rules. There also can be no assurance that the requirements of the Exchange necessary to maintain the listing of the ETF Portfolio Fund’s shares will continue to be met or will remain unchanged.

Geographic Focus Risk

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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. 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 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 a 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.

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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.

High Yield Investments Risk

Securities and other debt instruments held by a 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 a 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 securities in which a Fund invests may consist of transactions involving refinancings, recapitalizations, mergers and acquisitions and other financings for general corporate purposes. A Fund’s investments also may include senior obligations of a borrower issued in connection with a restructuring pursuant to Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code (commonly known as “debtor-in-possession” financings), provided that such senior obligations are determined by the Investment Manager or the investment adviser to a Portfolio Fund 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

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(leveraged buy-out); reorganizing the assets and liabilities of a company (leveraged recapitalization); or acquiring another company. Loans or securities 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, a 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 a 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, a 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

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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

A 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 Portfolio Funds or other 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 Portfolio Funds or other underlying funds could be adversely affected if other investors in the same Portfolio Funds or other underlying funds make relatively large investments or redemptions in such Portfolio Funds or other underlying funds. A 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 a fund being shared by its investors, redemptions by other investors in the Portfolio Funds or other underlying funds could result in decreased economies of scale and increased operating expenses for such fund. These transactions might also result in higher brokerage, tax or other costs for the Portfolio Funds or other underlying funds. This risk may be particularly important when one investor owns a substantial portion of the Portfolio Funds or other underlying funds. The Investment Manager has a conflict of interest in selecting affiliated funds over unaffiliated funds because the Investment Manager and/or its affiliates receives management fees from affiliated funds, and in selecting among affiliated funds, because the fees paid by certain affiliated funds are higher than the fees paid by other affiliated funds. Also, to the extent that a Fund is constrained/restricted from investing (or investing further) in a particular Portfolio Fund or other underlying fund for one or more reasons (e.g., Portfolio Fund or other underlying fund capacity constraints or regulatory restrictions) or if a Fund chooses to sell its investment in a Portfolio Fund or other underlying fund because of poor investment performance or for other reasons, the Fund may have to invest in other Portfolio Funds or 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 Portfolio Fund or other 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 a 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 a Fund. The investment performance of a 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. The investment performance of a Fund during periods when it is able to invest in IPOs may not be sustainable. In addition, as a 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 a Fund’s shareholders as ordinary income.

Issuer Risk

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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, large-cap companies are sometimes unable to achieve as high growth rates as successful, smaller companies, especially during extended periods of economic expansion.

Leverage Risk

Leverage occurs when a 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 a Fund uses leverage, through the purchase of particular instruments such as derivatives, a Fund may experience capital losses that exceed its net assets. Because short sales involve borrowing securities and then selling them, a Fund’s short sales effectively leverage the Fund’s assets. A 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 a Fund’s overall returns. Leverage presents the opportunity for increased net income and capital gains, but may also exaggerate a Fund’s volatility and risk of loss. There can be no guarantee that a leveraging strategy will be successful.

Limitations of Intraday Indicative Value (IIV) Risk

The NYSE Arca, Inc. (the Exchange) intends to disseminate the approximate per share value of the published basket of portfolio securities of Portfolio Funds that are ETFs every 15 seconds (the “intraday indicative value” or “IIV”). The IIV should not be viewed as a “real-time” update of the NAV of an ETF Portfolio Fund because (i) the IIV may not be calculated in the same manner as the NAV, which is computed once a day, generally at the end of the business day, (ii) the calculation of NAV may be subject to fair valuation

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at different prices than those used in the calculations of the IIV, (iii) unlike the calculation of NAV, the IIV does not take into account ETF Portfolio Fund expenses, and (iv) the IIV is based on the published basket of portfolio securities and not on the ETF Portfolio Fund’s actual holdings. The IIV calculations are based on local market prices and may not reflect events that occur subsequent to the local market’s close, which could affect premiums and discounts between the IIV and the market price of the ETF Portfolio Fund’s shares. For example, if the ETF Portfolio Fund fair values portfolio securities, the ETF Portfolio Fund’s NAV may deviate from the approximate per share value of the ETF Portfolio Fund’s published basket of portfolio securities (i.e., the IIV), which could result in the market prices for ETF Portfolio Fund shares deviating from NAV. The ETF Portfolio Fund, the Investment Manager and their affiliates are not involved in, or responsible for, any aspect of the calculation or dissemination of the Fund’s IIV, and the ETF Portfolio Fund, the Investment Manager and their affiliates do not make any warranty as to the accuracy of these calculations.

LIBOR Replacement Risk

Liquidity Risk

Liquidity risk is the risk associated with any event, circumstance, or characteristic of an investment or market that negatively impacts a 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 a 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 a Fund

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(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, a 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 a Fund could exacerbate the Fund’s exposure to liquidity risk. A 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 a 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 a 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 contractual restrictions on resale and may trade infrequently on the secondary market. The value of the loan to a 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 a Fund’s performance. Securities or other assets in which a 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 a 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 a 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 a Fund invests, or the issuers of such instruments, in ways that are unforeseeable. Legislation or regulation may also change the way in which a Fund or the Investment Manager, or a Portfolio Fund or its investment adviser, 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 a Fund to greater market and liquidity risk and potential difficulty in valuing portfolio instruments held by the Fund.

While the Investment Manager and the Portfolio Funds’ investment adviser 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 or Portfolio 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. A Fund or Portfolio 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

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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 or Portfolio Fund to greater volatility and risk of loss. A Fund or Portfolio Fund investment in private equity funds subjects Fund shareholders indirectly to the fees and expenses incurred by private equity funds.

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 a 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 Price Relative to NAV Risk

Shares of Portfolio Funds that are ETFs may trade at prices that vary from the Fund’s NAV. Shares of ETF Portfolio Funds are listed for trading on NYSE Arca, Inc. (the Exchange) and are bought and sold in the secondary market at market prices that may differ, in some cases significantly, from their NAV. The NAV of an ETF Portfolio Fund will generally fluctuate with changes in the market value of the ETF Portfolio Fund’s holdings. The market prices of shares, however, will generally fluctuate in response to changes in NAV, as well as the relative supply of, and demand for, ETF Portfolio Fund shares on the Exchange. The Investment Manager and its affiliates cannot predict whether ETF Portfolio Fund shares will trade below, at or above their NAV. Price differences may result because of, among other factors, supply and demand forces in the secondary trading market for ETF Portfolio Fund shares. It is expected that these forces generally will be closely related to, but not identical to, the same forces influencing the prices of the ETF Portfolio Fund’s holdings. In this connection, if a shareholder purchases ETF Portfolio Fund shares at a time when the market price is at a premium to the NAV or sells shares at a time when the market price is at a discount to the NAV, the shareholder may sustain losses. Different investment strategies or techniques, including those intended to be defensive in nature, including, as examples, stop loss orders to sell an ETF Portfolio Fund’s shares in the secondary market during negative market events or conditions, such as a “flash crash” or other market disruptions may not work as intended and may produce significant losses to investors. Investors should consult their financial intermediary prior to using any such investment strategies or techniques, or before investing in an ETF.

Market Risk

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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, a 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.

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Mid-Cap Company Securities Risk

Securities of mid-capitalization companies (mid-cap companies) can, in certain circumstances, have more risk than securities of larger capitalization companies (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 a 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.

Money Market Fund Investment Risk

Certain money market funds in which the Funds may invest, including certain money market mutual funds managed by Columbia Management, must calculate their NAV to the nearest 0.01%, which produces fluctuations in the shares’ value in response to small changes in market values. Because the share price of these money market funds will fluctuate, when a Fund sells its shares they may be worth more or less than what the Fund originally paid for them. A Fund could also lose money if the money market fund holds defaulted securities or as a result of adverse market conditions. These money market funds may impose a fee (“liquidity fee”) upon the redemption of their shares or may temporarily suspend the ability to redeem shares if the money market fund’s liquidity falls below required minimums because of market conditions or other factors.

These measures may result in an investment loss or prohibit the Fund from redeeming shares when the Investment Manager would otherwise redeem shares. If a liquidity fee is imposed or redemptions are suspended, an investing Fund may have to sell other investments at less than opportune times to raise cash to meet shareholder redemptions or for other purposes. The Investment Manager, as a result of imposition of liquidity fees or suspension of redemptions, or the potential risk of such actions, may determine to not invest the Funds’ assets in a money market fund when it otherwise would, and may potentially be forced to invest in more expensive, lower-performing investments.

Imposition of a liquidity fee or temporary suspension of redemption is at the discretion of a money market fund’s board of directors or trustees; however, they must impose a liquidity fee or suspend redemptions if they determine it would be in the best interest of the money market fund. Such a determination may conflict with the interest of the Funds. In the case of affiliated money market funds managed or sponsored by Columbia Management, the Investment Manager may also face a conflict of interest between recommending imposition of a liquidity fee or suspension of redemptions and continuing to maintain unrestricted liquidity for the investing Funds. In such circumstances, federal regulations require the board and Columbia Management, and the Investment Manager to act in the best interest of the money market funds rather than the Funds, which could adversely affect the Funds.

Funds may also invest in money market funds that invest at least 99.5% of their assets in U.S. government securities (“government money market funds”). Government money market funds may seek to maintain a stable price of $1.00 per share and are generally not permitted to impose liquidity fees or temporarily suspend redemptions. However, government money market funds typically offer materially lower yields than other money market funds with fluctuating share prices.

A Fund could lose money invested in a government money market fund. An investment in a money market fund, including a government money market fund, is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) or any other government agency. A money market fund’s sponsor has no legal obligation to

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provide financial support to the money market fund, and you should not expect that the sponsor or any person will provide financial support to a money market fund at any time.

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, a 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 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 a Fund or a Portfolio 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 a Fund or a Portfolio 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

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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.

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 federal U.S. 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 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 a Fund or a Portfolio Fund invests have experienced 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 a 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. 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, a $19 billion presidental disaster relief bill allocated approximately $1 billion 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 disasters, 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

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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. On May 2, 2019, FOMB filed adversary proceedings to avoid clawback payments made to certain bondholders. 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. Due to the impact of COVID-19, FOMB is expected to propose an amended version of the plan in February 2021. 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. The value of a Fund’s shares will be negatively impacted to the extent it invests in such securities. A Fund’s annual and semiannual reports show the Fund’s investment exposures at a point in time. The risk of investing in a Fund is directly correlated to the Fund’s investment exposures.

A Fund’s or a Portfolio Fund’s investments in municipal securities may include securities of issuers in the health care sector, which subjects the Fund’s or the Portfolio 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 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.

A Fund’s or Portfolio 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 or Portfolio 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

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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 Investment Manager or the investment adviser to a Portfolio Fund may not be able to invest the proceeds in other investments providing as high a level of income, resulting in a reduced yield to a 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 asset-backed security beyond the prepayment time. If a Fund’s investments are locked in at a lower interest rate for a longer period of time, the Investment Manager or a Portfolio Fund’s investment adviser may be unable to capitalize on securities with higher interest rates or wider spreads.

Private Investments in Public Equity (PIPEs) Risk

PIPEs are equity securities purchased in a private placement that are issued by issuers who have outstanding, publicly traded equity securities of the same class. Shares in PIPEs are not registered with the SEC and may not be sold unless registered with the SEC or pursuant to an exemption from registration. This restricted period can last many months. Until the public registration process is completed, the resale of the PIPE shares are restricted and the Fund may sell the shares after six months, with certain restrictions, if the Fund is not an affiliate of the issuer (under relevant securities law, a holder of restricted shares may sell the shares after 6 months if the holder is not affiliated to the issuer). Generally, such restrictions cause the PIPEs to be illiquid during this time. If the issuer does not agree to register the PIPE shares, the shares will remain restricted, not be freely tradable and may only be sold pursuant to an exemption from registration. Even if the PIPE shares are registered for resale, there is no assurance that the registration will be in effect at the time the Fund elects to sell the shares.

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 require that 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.

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 a 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

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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.

Regulatory Risk — Alternative Investments

Legal, tax, and regulatory developments may adversely affect a Portfolio Fund that is an ETF and its investments. The regulatory environment for an ETF Portfolio 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 ETF Portfolio Fund’s or others’ interpretation of the application of certain regulations, may adversely affect the ability of the ETF Portfolio Fund to pursue its investment strategy, its ability to obtain leverage and financing, and the value of investments held by the ETF Portfolio 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 an ETF Portfolio Fund or any underlying funds or other investments to trade in securities or other instruments or the ability of the ETF Portfolio 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 ETF Portfolio Fund’s performance.

Shareholders should understand that the business of an ETF Portfolio Fund is dynamic and is expected to change over time. Therefore, an ETF Portfolio 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 ETF Portfolio Fund, including, without limitation, restricting the types of investments the ETF Portfolio Fund may make, preventing the ETF Portfolio Fund from exercising its voting rights with regard to certain financial instruments, requiring the ETF Portfolio Fund to disclose the identity of its investors or otherwise. To the extent the ETF Portfolio 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 an ETF.

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 thereof (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 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.

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Reinvestment Risk

Reinvestment risk arises when a 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 a 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 a 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 a 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 a Fund’s overall returns. Leverage presents the opportunity for increased net income and capital gains, but may also exaggerate a 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

A Fund may invest in privately placed “Rule 144A” and other securities or instruments exempt from SEC registration (collectively, “private placements”) that are determined to be liquid in accordance with procedures adopted by the Board. 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 a 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). A 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. A 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 a Fund) to agree contractually to keep the information confidential, which could also adversely affect a Fund’s ability to dispose of the security.

Secondary Market Trading Risk

Investors buying or selling shares a Portfolio Fund that is an ETF will pay brokerage commissions or other charges imposed by brokers as determined by that broker. Brokerage commissions are often a fixed amount and may be a significant proportional cost for investors seeking to buy or sell relatively small amounts of shares. In addition, secondary market investors will also incur the cost of the difference between the price that an investor is willing to pay for ETF Portfolio Fund shares (the bid price) and the price at which an investor is willing to sell ETF Portfolio Fund shares (the ask price). This difference in bid and ask prices is often referred to as the “spread” or “bid/ask spread.” The bid/ask spread varies over time for ETF Portfolio Fund shares based on trading

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volume and market liquidity, and is generally lower if the ETF Portfolio Fund’s shares have more trading volume and market liquidity and higher if the ETF Portfolio Fund’s shares have little trading volume and market liquidity. Further, increased market volatility may cause increased bid/ask spreads.

Sector Risk

At times, a 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 a Fund more vulnerable to unfavorable developments in that sector than funds that invest more broadly. Generally, the more broadly a Fund invests, the more it spreads risk and potentially reduces the risks of loss and volatility.

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 is 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 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 — Financial Services Sector Investments. To the extent a Fund concentrates its investments in companies in the financial services sector, it is 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

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they can make, and the interest rates and fees that 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 is 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 is 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 Investments. To the extent a Fund concentrates its investments in the information technology sector, it is 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 sectors 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. Some companies in the information technology sector are facing increased government and regulatory scrutiny and may be subject to adverse government or regulatory action, which could negatively impact the value of their securities.

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

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Sector Risk — Utilities Sector Investments. To the extent a Fund concentrates its investments in companies in the energy sector, it is 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. A Fund’s use of short positions in effect “leverages” the Fund. Leverage potentially exposes a Fund to greater risks of loss due to unanticipated market movements, which may magnify losses and increase the volatility of returns. To the extent a 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.

Small- and Mid-Cap Stock Risk

Securities of small- and mid-capitalization (small- and mid-cap) companies can, in certain circumstances, have a higher potential for gains than securities of larger, more established companies (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 a 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.

Sovereign Debt Risk

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Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) Risk

A SPAC is typically a publicly traded company that raises investment capital via an initial public offering (IPO) for the purpose of acquiring one or more existing companies (or interests therein) via merger, combination, acquisition or other similar transactions (each a SPAC Transaction). The shares of a SPAC are issued in “units” that include one share of common stock and one warrant (or partial warrant) conveying the right to purchase additional shares or partial shares. Within 52 days after the closing of the IPO, the shares of common stock and the warrants comprising the units will begin to trade separately and become freely tradeable. After going public and until a SPAC Transaction is completed, a SPAC generally invests the proceeds of its IPO (less a portion retained to cover expenses) in U.S. Government securities, money market securities and/or cash. To the extent the SPAC is invested in cash or similar securities, this may impact a Fund’s ability to meet its investment objective(s). If a SPAC does not complete a SPAC Transaction within a specified period of time after going public, the SPAC is typically dissolved, at which point the invested funds are returned to the SPAC’s shareholders (less certain permitted expenses) and any warrants issued by the SPAC expire worthless. In some cases, the Fund will forfeit its right to exercise its warrants to receive additional shares even if a SPAC Transaction occurs if the Fund holding the warrant elects to redeem its shares and not participate in the SPAC Transaction.

Because SPACs often do not have an operating history or ongoing business other than seeking a SPAC Transaction, the value of their securities may be particularly dependent on the quality of their management and on the ability of the SPAC’s management to identify and complete a profitable SPAC Transaction. Some SPACs may pursue SPAC Transactions only within certain industries or regions, which may increase the volatility of an investment in them.

Other risks of investing in SPACs include that an attractive SPAC Transaction may not be identified at all (or any requisite approvals may not be obtained); a SPAC Transaction, once identified or effected, may prove unsuccessful and an investment in the SPAC Transaction may lose value; the warrants with respect to the SPAC held by a Fund may expire worthless or may be repurchased or retired by the SPAC; and an investment in a SPAC may be diluted by additional later offerings of interests in the SPAC or by other investors exercising existing rights to purchase shares of the SPAC.

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 a 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 a Fund during periods when it is unable to invest significantly or at all in initial public offerings may be lower than during periods when a Fund is able to do so. Securities purchased in initial public offerings which are sold within 12 months after purchase may result

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in increased short-term capital gains, which will be taxable to a 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.

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/Pandemic Risk

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 a Portfolio 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 Portfolio 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.

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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 a 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, including as a result of the warrants having little or no value. 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, interest accrued on these securities is reported as income to a 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.

Borrowings

Each Fund has a fundamental policy with respect to borrowing that can be found under the heading About the Funds’ Investments — Fundamental and Non-Fundamental Investment Policies. Specifically, each Fund may not borrow money or issue senior securities except to the extent permitted by the 1940 Act, the rules and regulations thereunder and any exemptive relief obtained by the Funds. In general, pursuant to the 1940 Act, a Fund may borrow money only from banks in an amount not exceeding 33¹⁄₃% 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 33¹⁄₃% limitation.

Borrowing results in interest expense and other fees and expenses for the Funds that may impact the Funds’ net expense ratios. The costs of borrowing may reduce Fund returns. Interest under the Credit Agreement is charged to each Fund at a variable rate, and each Fund 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.

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Short Sales

Short sales by a Fund that are not made “against the box” create opportunities to increase a Fund’s return but, at the same time, involve specific risk considerations and may be considered a speculative technique. Because a Fund in effect profits from a decline in the price of the securities sold short without the need to invest the full purchase price of the securities on the date of the short sale, a Fund’s NAV tends to increase more when the securities it has sold short decrease in value, and to decrease more when the securities it has sold short increase in value, than if it had not engaged in such short sales. The amount of any gain will be decreased, and the amount of any loss increased, by the amount of any premium, dividends or interest a Fund may be required to pay in connection with the short sale. Short sales could potentially involve unlimited loss, as the market price of securities sold short may continually increase, although a Fund can mitigate any such losses by replacing the securities sold short. Under adverse market conditions, a Fund might have difficulty purchasing securities to meet its short sale delivery obligations, and might have to sell portfolio securities to raise the capital necessary to meet its short sale obligations at a time when fundamental investment considerations would not favor such sales. There is also the risk that the third party to the short sale may fail to honor its contract terms, causing a loss to a Fund.

Short sales “against the box” entail many of the same risks and considerations described above regarding short sales not “against the box.” However, when a Fund sells short “against the box” it typically limits the amount of securities that it has leveraged. A Fund’s decision to make a short sale “against the box” may be a technique to hedge against market risks when the Investment 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

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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.

A Fund’s successful use of short sales also will be subject to the ability of the Investment Manager to predict movements in the directions of the relevant market. A Fund therefore bears the risk that the Investment Manager will incorrectly predict future price directions. In addition, if a Fund sells a security short, and that security’s price goes up, a Fund will have to make up the margin on its open position (i.e., purchase more securities on the market to cover the position). It may be unable to do so and thus its position may not be closed out. There can be no assurance that a Fund will not incur significant losses in such a case.

In the view of the SEC, a short sale involves the creation of a “senior security” as such term is defined in the 1940 Act, unless the sale is “against the box” and the securities sold short are placed in a segregated account (not with the broker), or unless a Fund’s obligation to deliver the securities sold short is “covered” by designating on the Fund’s books and records cash, U.S. Government securities or other liquid debt or equity securities in an amount equal to the difference between the market value of the securities sold short at the time of the short sale and any such collateral required to be deposited with a broker in connection with the sale (not including the proceeds from the short sale), which difference is adjusted daily for changes in the value of the securities sold short. The total value of the cash, U.S. Government securities or other liquid debt or equity securities designated on the Fund’s books and records may not at any time be less than the market value of the securities sold short at the time of the short sale.

Lending Securities

The Funds receive collateral equal to at least 102% for domestic issuers and 105% for foreign issuers of the value of the securities loaned. Collateral is invested by the Funds in a third-party institutional government money market fund in accordance with investment guidelines contained in the securities lending agreement and approved by the Board. If the market value of the loaned securities goes up, the securities lending agent 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. Funds participating in securities lending bear the risk of loss in connection with investment of collateral received from the borrowers. To the extent that the value, including any investment return, of a Fund’s investment of the collateral declines below the amount owed to a borrower, a Fund may incur losses that exceed the amount it earned on lending the security.

Securities lending involves counterparty risk, including the risk that a borrower may not return a loaned security and the proceeds from the sale of the collateral will not be sufficient to replace the borrowed security. Counterparty risk also includes a potential loss of rights in the collateral if the borrower or the securities lending agent defaults or enters bankruptcy. This risk is increased if a Fund’s loans are concentrated with a single borrower or limited number of borrowers. In the event of bankruptcy or other default of a borrower, a Fund could experience delays both in liquidating the loan collateral and in recovering the loaned securities. A Fund could also sustain losses arising from expenses of enforcing the Fund’s rights. GSAL has agreed to indemnify the

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Funds 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 collateral investments.

Loans are subject to termination at any time by the Funds or a borrower. A lending Fund does not have the right to vote loaned securities. In accordance with the procedures adopted by the Board, a lending Fund will generally attempt to call all loaned securities back to permit the exercise of voting rights, if time and jurisdictional restrictions permit. There is no guarantee that all loans can be recalled.

During the existence of the loan, the borrower must pay over to the lender amounts equivalent to any dividends, interest or other distributions on the loaned securities, as well as interest on such amounts, less applicable taxes. Such payments to the Fund do not constitute “qualified dividends” taxable at the same rate as long-term capital gains, even if the actual dividends would have constituted qualified dividends had the Fund held the securities.

Portfolio Turnover

A change in the securities held by a Fund is known as “portfolio turnover.” High portfolio turnover (e.g., over 100% annually) 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 Financial Highlights section in the prospectus for that Fund.

Disclosure of Portfolio Information

The Board and the Investment Manager believe that the investment ideas and trading strategies of the Investment Manager with respect to portfolio management of a Fund should benefit the Fund and its shareholders, and do not want to afford speculators an opportunity to profit by anticipating Fund trading strategies or by using Fund portfolio holdings information for stock picking. However, the Board also believes that knowledge of a Fund’s portfolio holdings can assist shareholders in monitoring their investments, making asset allocation decisions, and evaluating portfolio management techniques.

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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 it is made available to the general public. It is the policy of the Funds 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 in advance of public dissemination.

The Investment Manager does not expect that such holdings information will be selectively disclosed, except where necessary for the Funds’ 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, including that the recipients are subject to a duty of confidentiality, including a duty not to trade on the nonpublic information. These policies and procedures prohibit Ameriprise Financial, the Investment Manager and the Funds’ other service providers from entering into any agreement to disclose Fund portfolio holdings information or trading strategies in violation of the policies and procedures and from entering into any agreement to disclose portfolio information in exchange for any form of consideration. The policies and procedures incorporate and adopt the supervisory controls and recordkeeping requirements established in the Investment Manager’s policies and procedures. The Investment Manager has also adopted policies and procedures to monitor for compliance with the Funds’ portfolio holdings disclosure policies and procedures.

Although the Investment Manager seeks to limit the selective disclosure of portfolio holdings information and such selective disclosure is monitored under the Funds’ compliance program for conformity with the policies and procedures, there can be no assurance that the policies and procedures will protect the Funds from the potential misuse of holdings information by individuals or firms in possession of that information.

Public Disclosures

The Funds’ portfolio holdings are currently disclosed to the public through required filings with the SEC and on the Funds’ website. Once posted, the portfolio holdings information will remain available on the website until at least the date on which a Fund files a Form N-CSR or Form N-PORT for the period that includes the date as of which the information is current. The Funds’ complete holdings (and in the case of Columbia Thermostat Fund, percentage holdings of the Portfolio Funds) are disclosed on the Funds’ website at columbiathreadneedle.com/us as of a month-end no earlier than 30 to 40 calendar days after such month-end. In addition, the largest 10 to 15 holdings of each Fund are usually available sooner, approximately 15 calendar days after each month-end. Purchases and sales of the Funds’ portfolio securities can take place at any time, so the portfolio holdings information available on the website may not always be current. The scope of the information disclosed on the Funds’ website pursuant to the policies and procedures described above also may change from time to time, without prior notice.

The Funds file their portfolio holdings with the SEC for each fiscal quarter on either Form N-CSR (with respect to each annual period and semiannual period) or Form N-PORT (with respect to the first and third quarters of the Funds’ fiscal year). Shareholders may obtain the Funds’ Forms N-CSR and N-PORT filings on the SEC’s website at sec.gov, a link to which is provided on the Funds’ website at columbiathreadneedleus.com. You may call the SEC at 202.551.8090 for information about the SEC’s website.

The Funds, the Investment Manager, Ameriprise Financial or their affiliates may include portfolio holdings information that has already been made public through a web posting or SEC filing in marketing literature and other communications to shareholders, financial advisors or other parties. In addition, certain advisory clients of the Investment Manager that follow a strategy similar to that of a Fund have access to their own custodial account’s portfolio holdings information before such Fund posts its holdings on the Funds’ website at www.columbiamanagement.com. It is possible that when clients observe transactions in their own accounts, they may infer transactions of the Funds prior to public disclosure of Fund transactions.

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Other Disclosures

Pursuant to the policies and procedures described above, the Funds may selectively disclose their portfolio holdings information in advance of public disclosure on a confidential basis to various Fund service providers that require such information for the legitimate business purpose of assisting the Funds with day-to-day business affairs.

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 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.

In addition, the Funds periodically disclose their portfolio information on a confidential basis to various service providers that require such information to assist the Funds with their day-to-day business affairs. In addition to the Investment Manager and its affiliates, these service providers include, but are not limited to, affiliates of the Investment Manager, the Funds’ custodian, any sub-custodians, independent registered public accounting firm, legal counsel, operational system vendors, financial printers, proxy solicitor and proxy voting service provider, as well as ratings agencies that maintain ratings on certain Funds. These service providers are required to keep such information confidential, and are prohibited from trading based on the information or otherwise using the information except as necessary in providing services to the Funds. The Funds also may disclose portfolio holdings information to broker-dealers and certain other entities in connection with potential transactions and management of the Funds, provided that reasonable precautions, including limitations on the scope of the portfolio holdings information disclosed, are taken to avoid any potential misuse of the disclosed information.

The Fund also discloses 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.

Neither the Funds nor Ameriprise Financial, the Investment Manager or their affiliates receive compensation or consideration from the service providers for the portfolio holdings information. In addition to Ameriprise Financial, the Investment Manager and their affiliates, including Threadneedle International Limited, these service providers are listed below. 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.

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Pursuant to agreements in such form as the Chief Compliance Officer (CCO) of the Funds may require, these service providers are required to keep such information confidential, and are prohibited from trading based on the information or otherwise using the information except as necessary in providing services to the Funds.

The Funds have authorized the Investment Manager’s President (and his or her designated subordinates) to make appropriate disclosures of the Funds’ holdings to certain Ameriprise Financial affiliates (to provide monitoring of compliance with codes of ethics and to monitor risk and various holdings limitations that must be aggregated with affiliated funds, among other purposes), to provide the Custodian, sub-custodians and pricing service with daily trade information, to disclose necessary portfolio information to the Funds’ proxy service. The Funds have also authorized the Investment Manager’s President (and his or her designated subordinates) to disclose portfolio information to independent auditors in connection with audit procedures. In addition, the Funds have authorized Ameriprise Financial and the Investment Manager’s President (and his or her designated subordinates) to disclose necessary information to printing firms engaged by Ameriprise Financial to prepare periodic reports to Fund shareholders.

The Investment Manager uses a variety of broker-dealers and other agents to effect securities transactions on behalf of the Funds. These broker-dealers become aware of the Funds’ intentions, transactions and positions,

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in performing their functions. Further, the Funds’ ability to identify and execute transactions in securities is dependent, in part, on information provided to the Investment Manager by broker-dealers who are market makers in certain securities or otherwise have the ability to assist the Funds in executing their orders. To facilitate that process, the Board has authorized the Investment Manager’s President and Director of Global Trading (and their designated subordinates) to disclose portfolio information or anticipated transactions to broker-dealers who may execute Fund transactions. This disclosure is limited to that information necessary to effect the Funds’ securities transactions and assist the Investment Manager in seeking to obtain best execution.

The CCO is responsible for implementation of the Funds’ portfolio holdings disclosure policies and procedures. The CCO is required to report to the Board any violations of the policies and procedures that come to his attention and may approve non-public disclosures of a Fund’s portfolio holdings. Such disclosure must be consistent with the policies and procedures in that it furthers a legitimate business purpose of a Fund, is therefore in the best interests of that Fund’s shareholders and is appropriately reported to the Board.

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INVESTMENT ADVISORY AND OTHER SERVICES

The Investment Manager and Investment Advisory Services

Columbia Wanger Asset Management, LLC (CWAM or the Investment Manager) serves as the investment adviser for the Funds, the series of Wanger Advisors Trust and other private funds and institutional accounts. The Investment Manager and its predecessors have managed mutual funds, including Columbia Acorn Fund, since 1992. The Investment Manager is located at 71 S. Wacker Drive, 25th Floor, Chicago, Illinois 60606. It is a registered investment adviser and wholly owned subsidiary of Columbia Management, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Ameriprise Financial.

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.

Specifically, pursuant to such arrangements, certain Fund portfolio managers are employees of Columbia Management and certain investment personnel of the Investment Manager serve as portfolio managers of other Columbia Funds advised by Columbia Management. The Funds pay no additional fees or expenses as in connection with such arrangements.

At a special meeting held on May 27, 2010, as recommended by the Board, shareholders approved the Trust’s Advisory Agreement (with respect to each of the Funds other than Columbia Acorn European Fund), which initially took effect immediately and continued in effect through July 31, 2011. At a Meeting held on March 2, 2011, the Board approved the Advisory Agreement with respect to Columbia Acorn European Fund, to be effective August 19, 2011. The Advisory Agreement continues from year to year with respect to each Fund, until terminated by either the Trust or the Investment Manager, as long as it is specifically approved at least annually by either the Board or by a vote of the majority of the outstanding shares of the Fund and by the vote of a majority of the Independent Trustees, cast in person at a meeting called for the purpose of voting on such approval.

The Advisory Agreement generally provides that, subject to the overall supervision and control of the Board, the Investment Manager shall have supervisory responsibility for the general management and investment of the Funds’ assets and will endeavor to preserve the autonomy of the Trust. Under the Advisory Agreement, the Investment Manager is authorized to make decisions to buy and sell securities and other assets for the Funds, to place the Funds’ portfolio transactions with broker-dealers and to negotiate the terms of such transactions

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including brokerage commissions on brokerage transactions on behalf of the Funds. The Investment Manager is authorized to exercise discretion within the Trust’s policy concerning allocation of its portfolio brokerage, as permitted by law, and in so doing shall not be required to make any reduction in its investment advisory fees. The Investment Manager is required to use its best efforts to seek to obtain the best overall terms available for portfolio transactions for each Fund. See Brokerage Allocation and Other Practices—General Brokerage Policy, Brokerage Transactions and Broker Selection.

The Investment Manager, at its own expense, provides office space, facilities and supplies, equipment and personnel for the performance of its functions under the Advisory Agreement. The Trust pays all compensation of the Independent Trustees.

Under the Advisory Agreement, the Investment Manager is not liable for any loss suffered by a Fund or its shareholders as a result of any error of judgment, or any loss arising out of any investment, or as a consequence of any other act or omission of the Investment Manager or any of its affiliates in the performance of the Investment Manager’s duties under the agreement, except for (i) with respect to acts or omissions in respect of investment activities, liability resulting from willful misfeasance, bad faith, reckless disregard or gross negligence, and (ii) with respect to all other matters, liability resulting from bad faith, intentional misconduct or negligence, on the part of the Investment Manager or its affiliates.

Advisory Fee Rates

The Funds pay the Investment Manager an annual fee for its investment advisory services as shown in the section entitled Fees and Expenses — Annual Fund Operating Expenses in each Fund’s prospectus. The advisory fee is calculated as a percentage of the average daily net assets of each Fund and is paid monthly. The Investment Manager may pay amounts from its own assets to the Distributor and/or to Financial Intermediaries for services they provide.

The Investment Manager also receives advisory fees from certain of the Portfolio Funds in which Columbia Thermostat Fund invests. Please refer to the Portfolio Funds’ respective prospectuses, which are available on the Columbia Funds website at columbiathreadneedle.com/us and on the SEC’s website at sec.gov.

The Investment Manager receives a monthly investment advisory fee based on each Fund’s average daily net assets at the following annual rates:

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The Investment Manager received fees from the Funds for its services as reflected in the following chart, which shows the advisory fees paid to the Investment Manager for the three most recently completed fiscal years.

Advisory Fees Paid by the Funds

Fee and Expense Limitations—Agreements of the Investment Manager and its Affiliates

Amounts reimbursed by the Investment Manager under prior contractual arrangements are reflected in the table below.

Expenses Reimbursed

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Fees Waived

The Funds pay the Transfer Agent, an affiliate of the Investment Manager, a fee for its services, as described under Investment Advisory and Other Services — The Investment Manager and Investment Advisory Services — Other Service Providers.

Amounts waived by the Transfer Agent under prior contractual arrangements are reflected in the table below.

Portfolio Managers

The following provides additional information about the portfolio managers of the Investment Manager who are responsible for making the day-to-day investment decisions for the Funds. As described in the Management of the Fund — Primary Service Providers section of each Fund’s prospectus, the portfolio managers of the Investment Manager who are responsible for the Funds are:

Portfolio Managers of the Investment Manager

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Compensation

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.

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 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 and Ameriprise Financial, which takes into account Columbia Threadneedle revenues and profitability, as well as Ameriprise Financial profitability, historical plan funding levels and other factors. Columbia Threadneedle 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.

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Performance Benchmarks

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Accounts Managed by the Portfolio Managers for which the Advisory Fee is Based on Performance

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Ownership of Securities

The Investment Manager’s Portfolio Managers and Potential Conflicts of Interests

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 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 and the series of Wanger Advisors Trust.

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.

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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.

Typically the Investment Manager does not coordinate trading activities for accounts managed by the Investment Manager with Columbia Management or any other Affiliate with respect to accounts of Columbia Management (including the other Columbia Funds) or another Affiliate. As a result, it is possible that the Investment Manager, Columbia Management (including Fund portfolio managers that are employees of Columbia Management and portfolio managers of the other Columbia Funds) and other 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 Funds on such instruments.

“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 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 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 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 as or similar to the potential conflicts of interest related to the investment management activities of the Investment Manager and its affiliates. See Investment Advisory 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.

To the extent a Fund invests in underlying funds, the Investment Manager will be subject to the potential conflicts of interest described in ABOUT THE FUNDS’ INVESTMENTS — Information Regarding Risks — Fund-of-Funds Risk. Management of a fund-of-funds, such as Columbia Thermostat Fund, differs from that of the other mutual funds. The portfolio management process is set forth in each Fund’s prospectus. The portfolio manager of a fund-of-funds is involved in determining the allocation of the fund-of-fund’s assets among underlying funds. Potential conflicts of interest for the portfolio manager of a fund-of-funds may be different than the potential conflicts of interest for portfolio managers who manage other types of funds because a fund-of-fund’s portfolio manager has an incentive to allocate assets to underlying funds managed by affiliates that receive fees for managing the underlying funds.

The Investment Manager and its affiliates may receive higher compensation as a result of the allocation of fund-of-fund assets to underlying funds with higher fees, including affiliated funds.

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In addition, a fund-of-funds portfolio manager may manage other accounts in a professional or personal capacity that include holdings that are similar to or the same as those held or purchased by the Funds. 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 portfolio managers and other “investment access persons” to invest in securities that may be recommended or traded in Fund and other client accounts. The Funds’ portfolio managers also may have other potential conflicts of interest in managing the Funds. Many of the potential conflicts of interest to which the Funds’ 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.

The description above is not a complete description of every conflict that could exist in managing the Funds and other accounts. In addition, if the Investment Manager has engaged an Affiliate to provide portfolio management or other services pursuant to a personnel-sharing agreement or other inter-company arrangement, the individuals performing such services may be subject to conflicts of interest rules and codes of ethics of the Affiliate, which may differ from those of the Investment Manager.

The Administrator

CWAM (which is also the Investment Manager) serves as Administrator of the Funds.

Services Provided

Pursuant to the terms of the Administration Agreement, the Administrator provides certain administrative services to each Fund, including: (i) maintaining the books and records, including financial and corporate records, of the Trust, and providing pricing and bookkeeping services to the Funds; (ii) supervising the preparation and filing of registration statements, notices, reports, proxy statements, tax returns and other documents, as deemed necessary or desirable by the Trust; (iii) overseeing and assisting in the coordination of the performance of administrative and third party professional services rendered to the Funds, including the Funds’ securities lending agent; (iv) providing corporate secretarial services and data processing facilities and calculating and arranging for notice and payment of distribution to shareholders; (v) developing and implementing procedures to monitor each Fund’s compliance with regulatory requirements and with each Fund’s investment policies and restrictions; (vi) providing for the services of employees of the Administrator who may be appointed as officers of the Trust; and (vii) providing services to shareholders of the Funds. The Administration Agreement may be terminated by the Board or the Administrator upon 60 days written notice. The Administrator has the power under the Administration Agreement to delegate some or all of its responsibilities to others, at the Administrator’s expense. The Administrator retains responsibility for any services it delegates.

The Administrator has delegated a majority of its responsibilities under the Administration Agreement to Columbia Management as the Funds’ Sub-Administrator. The Sub-Administrator provides many of the above enumerated services to the Funds, including fund accounting services, and receives a fee from the Administrator for such services.

Administration Fee Rates and Fees Paid

The Administrator receives compensation for its administration services, which is computed daily and paid monthly as an annual percentage of the aggregate average daily net assets of the Trust at the annual rates shown in each Fund’s prospectus.

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The following chart shows the administration fees paid to the Administrator for the three most recently completed fiscal years.

Administration Fees Paid by the Funds

The Principal Underwriter/Distributor

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. Additionally, the Distributor has agreed to use appropriate 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 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 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 the Distribution Plan adopted by the Trust pursuant to Rule 12b-1 under the 1940 Act.

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.

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The Distribution Agreement became effective with respect to each Fund after approval by the Board, and continues from year to year, provided that such continuation of the Distribution Agreement is specifically approved at least annually by (i) the Board, or (ii) a majority vote of the Funds’ outstanding securities, provided that in either instance, the continuance is also approved by the majority of the Independent Trustees who are not parties to the agreement, by vote cast in person at a meeting called for the purpose of voting such approval. 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.

Underwriting Commissions

The following table shows all commissions and other compensation received by the Distributor, as well as amounts the Distributor retained, after paying commissions and other expenses, during the Funds’ three most recent fiscal years.

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 each Fund’s prospectus for amounts retained by financial intermediaries as a percentage of the offering price.

Distribution Plan

The Board has approved the Distribution Plan pursuant to Rule 12b-1 under the 1940 Act for each of the Funds’ Class A, Class C and Class R shares. Class Adv, Class Inst, Class Inst2, and Class Inst3 shares of the Funds do not pay distribution or service fees. Under the Distribution Plan, each Fund pays the Distributor monthly distribution and service fees, as applicable, at the annual rates described in the Fund’s prospectus. The Distributor may use the entire amount of such fees to defray the costs of commissions and service fees paid to Selling Agents and for certain other purposes. Since the distribution and service fees are payable regardless of the Distributor’s expenses, the Distributor may realize a profit from the fees. See the Funds’ prospectuses for details.

The Distribution Plan authorizes payments by the Funds to the Distributor and its affiliates (including the Investment Manager) with respect to the Funds’ Class A, Class C and Class R shares to the extent that such payments might be construed to be indirect financing of the distribution of those shares.

The Board believes the Distribution Plan could be a significant factor in the growth and retention of Fund assets resulting in a more advantageous expense ratio and increased investment flexibility which could benefit each class of Fund shareholders. The Distribution Plan will continue in effect from year to year so long as its continuance is specifically approved at least annually by a vote of the Trustees, including the Independent Trustees that have no direct or indirect financial interest in the operation of the Distribution Plan or in any agreements related to the Plan, by vote cast in person at a meeting called for the purpose of voting on the Distribution Plan. The Distribution Plan 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 Plan must be approved by the Trustees in the manner described above. The Distribution Plan 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.

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During the most recently completed fiscal year, the Distributor received distribution and service fees from the Funds for its services as reflected in the following table.

As described above in the Investment Advisory and Other Services section of this SAI, and in the Management of the Fund — Primary Service Providers section of each Fund’s prospectus, the Investment Manager, Administrator, Sub-Administrator, 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 the Funds’ 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 affiliated service provider compensation may create economic and other conflicts of interests of which Fund investors should be aware. Fund investors should also be aware that Fund assets may be used to compensate the Transfer Agent for payments made to Ameriprise and its affiliates for providing shareholder servicing or “sub-transfer agency” services. Many of 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. 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, the Investment Manager’s Form ADV, which it must file with the SEC as an investment adviser registered under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, provides 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 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 mutual 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.

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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 Management, Columbia Cent CLO Advisers, LLC, Lionstone Partners, LLC and Threadneedle International Limited) will give investment advice to and make investment decisions for all 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 or 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 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.

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Investment transactions made on behalf of other funds or accounts advised/managed by the Investment Manager 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 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 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 addressing the allocation of investment opportunities among the Funds and other funds and accounts advised by the Investment Manager and other affiliates of Ameriprise Financial. For more information, see Investment Advisory and Other Services — The Investment Manager and Investment Advisory Services — Portfolio Managers — The Investment Manager’s Portfolio Managers and Potential Conflicts of Interests.

Sharing of Information among Advised/Managed Accounts

Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates 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 Advisory and Other Services — The Investment Manager and Investment Advisory Services — Portfolio Managers — The Investment Manager’s Portfolio Managers and Potential Conflicts of Interests.

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 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. For more information, see Brokerage Allocation and Other Practices — Brokerage Commissions.

Services Provided to Other Advised/Managed Accounts

Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates also may act as an investment adviser, investment manager, administrator, transfer agent, custodian, trustee, broker-dealer, agent, or in another capacity, for advised/managed

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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

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 principles and procedures, the Investment Manager’s proxy voting decisions with respect to a Fund’s portfolio securities may nonetheless benefit other advised/managed funds and accounts, and/or clients, of Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates. The Investment Manager has adopted proxy voting principles and procedures that are designed to provide that all proxy voting is done in the best interests of its clients, including the Funds, without any resulting benefit or detriment to the Investment Manager and/or its affiliates, including Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates. For more information about the Investment Manager’s proxy voting policies and procedures, see Investment Advisory 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 Advisory 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.

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

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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. Also, Ameriprise Financial issues various securities from time to time, including common stock. With the exception of Funds passively managed to track an unaffiliated index in which an Ameriprise Financial security is included, the Funds do not invest in Ameriprise Financial securities. Therefore, actively managed Funds and passively managed funds that seek to track an affiliated index will not hold any Ameriprise Financial securities even if such securities are included in an index used by the Fund for performance comparison and/or tracking purposes. Accordingly, the performance of such Funds versus their index will likely differ. 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 the Funds’ 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.

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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 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. As a general matter, personnel of 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 Brokerage Allocation and Other Practices — Additional Financial Intermediary Payments for more information.

Actual or Potential Conflicts of Interest Related to Affiliated Indexes

Columbia Management 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 Columbia Management 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. Columbia Management and/or its affiliates may, from time to time, manage other funds or accounts that invest in these Affiliated Index ETFs. In the future, Columbia Management 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. Similar to third-party (un-affiliated) indexes, Affiliated Indexes are subject to Office of Foreign Assets Control and other regulatory restrictions, which could impact the eligible components of such Indexes. 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 Columbia Management 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 Columbia Management and/or its affiliates or other accounts managed by Columbia Management 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.

Columbia Management 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 Columbia Management and/or its affiliates seeks to track an Affiliated Index, the account may not match (performance or holdings), and may vary substantially

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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. Columbia Management and its affiliates do not guarantee that any tracking error targets will be achieved. Accounts managed by Columbia Management 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. Columbia Management 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 Columbia Management or an affiliate acts as the index provider) or the calculation thereof (including when Columbia Management or an affiliate acts as the calculation agent).

Columbia Management and its affiliates are not obligated to license the Affiliated Indexes to clients or other third-parties.

The Transfer Agent

Columbia Management Investment Services Corp. acts as Transfer Agent for each Fund’s shares and can be contacted at P.O. Box 219104, Kansas City, MO 64121-9104. The Transfer Agent is a subsidiary of Ameriprise Financial. Under the Transfer Agency Agreement, the Transfer Agent is responsible for providing transfer agency, dividend disbursing and shareholder services to the Funds for which the Funds pay transfer agency fees. The Transfer Agent has engaged DST to provide certain services and assist the Transfer Agent is carrying out its duties. DST is located at 2000 Crown Colony Drive, Quincy, MA 02169. In addition, the Transfer Agent enters into agreements with various financial intermediaries through which investors may hold Fund shares, including Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates. These intermediaries also may provide shareholder services (Additional Shareholder Services) for which they are compensated by the Transfer Agent, which is in turn compensated by the Funds as described below. Additional Shareholder Services may include sub-accounting, sub-transfer agency, participant recordkeeping, shareholder or participant reporting, shareholder or participant transaction processing, shareholder or participant tax monitoring and reporting and/or the provision of call center support and other customer services. For more information, see Brokerage Allocation and Other Practices — Additional Shareholder Servicing Payments.

The Funds pay the Transfer Agent an annual fee payable monthly that varies by account type (on a per account or asset-based basis) based on the cost of servicing the Funds. In addition, subject to certain limitations and except with respect to Class Inst3 shares, the Funds pay a fee for the Additional Shareholder Services provided by financial intermediaries who maintain shares through omnibus or networked accounts in amounts that vary by share class and with the distribution channel, type of intermediary and type of services provided.

With respect to Class Inst2 shares of each Fund, total annual compensation payable to the Transfer Agent may not exceed 0.07% of the average daily net assets of the class. With respect to Class Inst3 shares of each Fund, total annual compensation payable to the Transfer Agent may not exceed 0.02% of the average daily net assets of the class. For more information on arrangements regarding fees paid by the Funds to the Transfer Agent, see The Investment Advisory and Other Services — Investment Manager and Investment Advisory Services — Fee and Expense Limitations — Agreements of the Investment Manager and its Affiliates.

The Funds compensate the Transfer Agent for certain out-of-pocket expenses as approved by the Board from time to time. 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.

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Except with respect to Class Inst2 shares and Class Inst3 shares, the Funds compensate the Transfer Agent for payments made to financial intermediaries for providing Additional Shareholder Services as follows:

These limits are applied by each individual intermediary at the level of the underlying customer accounts maintained and serviced by the intermediary, not at the level of the intermediary omnibus account maintained and serviced by the Transfer Agent, and not in the aggregate by distribution channel. For Class Inst2 shares, fees for Additional Shareholder Services are subject to an annual cap of 0.05% of the aggregate value of the Fund’s shares maintained in omnibus accounts. Class Inst3 shares do not pay fees for Additional Shareholder Services.

The Transfer Agent may also retain as additional compensation for its services all of its revenues for fees for wire, telephone and redemption orders, IRA trustee agent fees and account transcripts due the Transfer Agent from shareholders of the Fund and interest (net of bank charges) earned with respect to the balances in accounts the Transfer Agent maintains in connection with its services to the Funds.

The Custodian

JPMorgan, 1 Chase Manhattan Plaza, New York, New York 10005, is the Custodian of the Funds’ assets. It is responsible for holding all securities and cash of the Funds, receiving and paying for securities purchased, delivering against payment securities sold, receiving and collecting income from investments and performing other administrative duties, all as directed by authorized persons of the Funds. The Investment Manager and Columbia Management supervise JPMorgan in such matters as the purchase and sale of portfolio securities. Portfolio

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securities purchased in the United States are maintained in the custody of JPMorgan or other domestic banks or depositories. Portfolio securities purchased outside of the United States are maintained in the custody of foreign banks and trust companies who are members of JPMorgan’s foreign depository and foreign sub-custodial network.

With respect to foreign depositories and foreign sub-custodians, there can be no assurance that a Fund, and the value of its shares, will not be adversely affected by acts of foreign governments, financial or operational difficulties of the foreign sub-custodians, difficulties and costs of obtaining jurisdiction over, or enforcing judgments against, the foreign sub-custodians or application of foreign law to a Fund’s foreign sub-custodial arrangements. Accordingly, an investors should recognize that the noninvestment risks involved in holding assets abroad are greater than those associated with holding assets in the U.S.

The Funds may invest in obligations of JPMorgan and may purchase securities from or sell securities to JPMorgan.

Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

Counsel

Perkins Coie LLP serves as counsel to the Funds. Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP serves as counsel to the Independent Trustees. Perkins Coie LLP is located at 700 13^th Street, N.W., Suite 800, Washington, DC 20005. Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP is located at One Logan Square, Suite 2000, Philadelphia, PA 19103.

Securities Lending Agent

GSAL, 125 High Street, Oliver Street Tower, Suite 1700, Boston, MA 02110, is the Funds’ securities lending agent. GSAL is responsible, among other things for: entering into and maintaining securities loan agreements with borrowers; negotiating fees with borrowers; delivering securities to borrowers; receiving collateral from borrowers in connection with loans; and investing cash collateral in accordance with instructions received from the Investment Manager. See About the Funds’ Investments — Lending Securities for more information about the Funds’ securities lending program.

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The following table provides information on the income and fees associated with the Funds’ securities lending activities during the Funds’ most recent fiscal year. As used in the table below, the term “revenue split” refers to the share of revenue generated by the Funds’ securities lending program that is paid to GSAL.

Codes of Ethics

The Funds, the Investment Manager 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 can be obtained by calling the SEC at 202.551.8090; they also are available on the SEC’s website at sec.gov, and may be obtained, after paying a duplicating fee, by electronic request to [email protected].

Proxy Voting Principles and Procedures

General. The Funds have delegated to the Investment Manager the responsibility to vote proxies relating to portfolio securities held by the Funds. In deciding to delegate this responsibility to the Investment Manager, the Board reviewed the policies adopted by the Investment Manager. These include 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 enhancing or protecting the value of client accounts, 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.

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Oversight. The operation of the Investment Manager’s proxy voting policy and procedures is overseen by a committee (the Proxy Policy Committee) that includes senior investment and non-investment personnel. The Proxy Policy 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 Proxy Policy Committee also oversees the administration and implementation of the proxy voting policy and procedures. 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 adopted voting stances that align with the Principles and will generally vote in accordance with such voting stances. 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 will make the voting determination based on his or her determination of the clients’ best economic interests. The Funds’ portfolio managers 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. In such a case, the portfolio manager shall consider the specific investment (and other) goals of a Fund in determining the best economic interest of the Fund and may take into account, as he or she deems appropriate, a wide array of factors relating to the matter under consideration, including for example the nature of the proposal, the company involved, and the portfolio manager’s experience with and views regarding the company’s management. The Funds’ portfolio managers may also consider the voting recommendations of analysts, other portfolio managers, and affiliates and information obtained from outside resources, including one or more third party research providers. In such event, the reasons for such vote must be documented to the Proxy Policy Committee, including verification that the portfolio manager is not aware of any material conflict of interest existing with respect to such proxy proposal. Because portfolio managers may have different opinions on matters to be voted on, and the Funds they manage may have different investment or other goals, different Funds may cast different votes on a topic at the same shareholder meeting. In addition, the Proxy Policy 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 that align with the Principles. 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 the Board to vote the proxies for the Funds. CWAM employees are prohibited from voting on any proposal with respect to which they have 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 Policy Committee or its members are required to disclose to the Proxy Policy 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. Columbia Thermostat Fund invests in shares of other Columbia Funds (“underlying funds”) and may own substantial portions of these underlying funds. Columbia Thermostat Fund 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.

Administration of the Proxy Voting Policy. The Investment Manager has engaged Columbia Management to administer the proxy voting policy and implement the Principles for the Funds. Institutional Shareholder Services Inc., a third-party vendor, assists in this administration and implementation and provides recordkeeping

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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. Both Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. and Glass Lewis & Company, LLC provide proxy research services for the Investment Manager’s use.

Additional Information. Information regarding how the Funds 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.

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FUND GOVERNANCE

The Board

The following table provides basic information about the Trustees, including their names, the date each was first elected or appointed to office, the principal business occupations of each during at least the last five years and other directorships held. Each Trustee serves a term of unlimited duration subject to the Trust’s policy that each Trustee (other than the Trustee Emeritus) will resign at the end of the calendar year in which he or she attains age 75. Each Trustee also serves as a trustee of Wanger Advisors Trust, another open-end investment company, the series of which also are managed by the Investment Manager. The mailing address of each Trustee is: c/o Columbia Wanger Asset Management, LLC, 71 S. Wacker Drive, 25th Floor, Chicago, Illinois 60606.

Independent Trustee Biographical Information