0001193125-24-170150.txt : 20240627 0001193125-24-170150.hdr.sgml : 20240627 20240627123126 ACCESSION NUMBER: 0001193125-24-170150 CONFORMED SUBMISSION TYPE: 497 PUBLIC DOCUMENT COUNT: 1 FILED AS OF DATE: 20240627 DATE AS OF CHANGE: 20240627 EFFECTIVENESS DATE: 20240627 FILER: COMPANY DATA: COMPANY CONFORMED NAME: COLUMBIA ACORN TRUST CENTRAL INDEX KEY: 0000002110 ORGANIZATION NAME: IRS NUMBER: 362692100 STATE OF INCORPORATION: MA FISCAL YEAR END: 1231 FILING VALUES: FORM TYPE: 497 SEC ACT: 1933 Act SEC FILE NUMBER: 002-34223 FILM NUMBER: 241077323 BUSINESS ADDRESS: STREET 1: 71 S. WACKER DRIVE, SUITE 2500 CITY: CHICAGO STATE: IL ZIP: 60606 BUSINESS PHONE: 3126349200 MAIL ADDRESS: STREET 1: 71 S. WACKER DRIVE, SUITE 2500 CITY: CHICAGO STATE: IL ZIP: 60606 FORMER COMPANY: FORMER CONFORMED NAME: LIBERTY ACORN TRUST DATE OF NAME CHANGE: 20010424 FORMER COMPANY: FORMER CONFORMED NAME: ACORN INVESTMENT TRUST DATE OF NAME CHANGE: 19940204 FORMER COMPANY: FORMER CONFORMED NAME: ACORN FUND INC DATE OF NAME CHANGE: 19920703 0000002110 S000009184 Columbia Acorn Fund C000024954 Columbia Acorn Fund Class A LACAX C000024956 Columbia Acorn Fund Class C LIACX C000024957 Columbia Acorn Fund Institutional Class ACRNX C000122735 Columbia Acorn Fund Advisor Class CEARX C000122736 Columbia Acorn Fund Institutional 2 Class CRBRX C000122737 Columbia Acorn Fund Institutional 3 Class CRBYX C000251059 Columbia Acorn Fund Class S 0000002110 S000009185 Columbia Acorn International C000024958 Columbia Acorn International Class A LAIAX C000024961 Columbia Acorn International Institutional Class ACINX C000097733 Columbia Acorn International Institutional 2 Class CAIRX C000122738 Columbia Acorn International Advisor Class CCIRX C000122739 Columbia Acorn International Institutional 3 Class CCYIX C000251060 Columbia Acorn International Class S 0000002110 S000009188 Columbia Acorn International Select C000024970 Columbia Acorn International Select Class A LAFAX C000024973 Columbia Acorn International Select Institutional Class ACFFX C000122746 Columbia Acorn International Select Institutional 2 Class CRIRX C000122747 Columbia Acorn International Select Institutional 3 Class CSIRX C000122748 Columbia Acorn International Select Advisor Class CILRX C000251061 Columbia Acorn International Select Class S 0000002110 S000009189 Columbia Thermostat Fund C000024974 Columbia Thermostat Fund Class A CTFAX C000024976 Columbia Thermostat Fund Class C CTFDX C000024977 Columbia Thermostat Fund Institutional Class COTZX C000122749 Columbia Thermostat Fund Advisor Class CTORX C000122750 Columbia Thermostat Fund Institutional 2 Class CQTRX C000122751 Columbia Thermostat Fund Institutional 3 Class CYYYX C000251062 Columbia Thermostat Class S 0000002110 S000033621 Columbia Acorn European Fund C000103324 Columbia Acorn European Fund Class A CAEAX C000103327 Columbia Acorn European Fund Institutional Class CAEZX C000144049 Columbia Acorn European Fund Advisor Class CLOFX 497 1 d855188d497.htm COLUMBIA ACORN TRUST COLUMBIA ACORN TRUST
Supplement dated June 27, 2024
to the Prospectus of each of the following funds: 
Fund
Prospectus Dated
Columbia Acorn Trust
  Columbia Acorn European Fund
5/1/2024
  Columbia Acorn Fund
5/1/2024
  Columbia Acorn International
5/1/2024
  Columbia Acorn International Select
5/1/2024
  Columbia Thermostat Fund
5/1/2024
The Board of Trustees (the Board) of the funds listed in the table below (each, a Fund, and collectively, the Funds) recently approved, for certain Funds, a proposal to permit the exchange of Class Institutional (Class Inst) shares held by accounts of certain financial intermediaries and omnibus group retirement plans, with specific written permission from Columbia Management Investment Distributors, Inc. (the Distributor), for newly created Class S shares. Class S shares are not available for purchase other than through the reinvestment of distributions on Class S shares except that Class S shares will be available for purchase by certain retirement plans that have continuously held Class Inst shares since March 13, 2013. Also, the Board approved the conversion of all Class Advisor (Class Adv) shares of a Fund to Class Inst shares of the same Fund and the subsequent elimination of Class Adv shares as a separate class of any Fund. The following table identifies the impacted share class(es) by Fund: 
Fund Name
Class Advisor
Class Inst at certain financial intermediaries
that have received written notification from
the Distributor
Columbia Acorn European Fund
Convert to Class Inst
 
Columbia Acorn Fund
Convert to Class Inst
Exchange for Class S
Columbia Acorn International
Convert to Class Inst
Exchange for Class S
Columbia Acorn International Select
Convert to Class Inst
Exchange for Class S
Columbia Thermostat Fund
Convert to Class Inst
Exchange for Class S
For Funds with Accounts Exchanging their Class Inst Shares for Class S
Effective on October 4, 2024, shares held by Class Inst shareholders in the fund accounts of certain financial intermediaries and omnibus group retirement plans will be exchanged for Class S shares of the Fund. This will be a tax-free transaction for existing Class Inst shareholders.
For Funds Converting Their Class Adv Shares into Class Inst Shares
Effective at close of business on November 22, 2024, Class Adv shares of the Fund will be converted into Class Inst shares of the Fund. This will be a tax-free transaction for existing Class Adv shareholders.
Effective on November 25, 2024, all references to Class Adv are hereby deleted from the Fund's Prospectus.
Other Information about Class Inst Shares
Effective July 1, 2024, the Distributor, in its sole discretion, reserves the right to liquidate shares of Class Inst of any Fund held by retirement plan recordkeepers or on transaction fee or no transaction fee brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary holds the shares in an omnibus account and in accounts with a value less than $5,000,000. The Distributor will provide at least 90 days’ notice of such a liquidation to financial intermediaries with impacted accounts. Shareholders invested in a Fund through such accounts can request a tax-free exchange to Class A, Advisor Class or Class Inst2 shares, depending upon eligibility and provided requirements to transfer the account are fulfilled.
Effective July 1, 2024, Choosing a Share Class and Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares sections in each Fund's prospectus are hereby revised and restated:
SUP000_00_146_(06/24)
Choosing a Share Class
The Funds
The Columbia Acorn Funds and the other Columbia Funds generally share the same policies and procedures for investor services, as described below. Together, the Fund and the other Columbia Acorn Funds, along with the Columbia Funds, are referred to herein as the Funds.
Funds Contact Information
Additional information about the Funds, including sales charges and other class features and policies, can be obtained, free of charge, at columbiathreadneedleus.com,* by calling toll-free 800.345.6611, or by writing (regular mail) to Columbia Management Investment Services Corp., P.O. Box 219104, Kansas City, MO 64121-9104 or (express mail) Columbia Management Investment Services Corp., c/o SS&C GIDS, Inc., 430 W 7th Street, Ste 219104, Kansas City, MO 64105-1407.
*
The website references in this prospectus are inactive links and information contained in or otherwise accessible through the referenced websites does not form a part of this prospectus.
 FUNDamentals
Financial Intermediaries
The term “financial intermediary” refers to the selling and servicing agents that are authorized to sell and/or service shares of the Funds. Financial intermediaries include broker-dealers and financial advisors as well as firms that employ broker-dealers and financial advisors, including, for example, brokerage firms, banks, investment advisers, third party administrators and other firms in the financial services industry.
Omnibus Accounts
The term “omnibus account” refers to a financial intermediary’s account with the Fund (held directly through the Transfer Agent) that represents the combined holdings of, and transactions in, Fund shares of one or more clients of the financial intermediary (beneficial Fund shareholders). Omnibus accounts are held in the name of the financial intermediaries and not in the name of the beneficial Fund shareholders invested in the Fund through omnibus accounts.
Retirement Plans and Omnibus Retirement Plans
The term “retirement plan” refers to retirement plans created under Sections 401(a), 401(k), 457 and 403(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the Code), and non-qualified deferred compensation plans governed by Section 409A of the Code and similar plans, but does not refer to individual retirement plans, such as traditional IRAs and Roth IRAs. The term “omnibus retirement plan” refers to a retirement plan that has a plan-level or omnibus account with the Transfer Agent.
Networked Accounts
Networking, offered by the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation’s Wealth Management Services (WMS), is the industry standard IT system for mutual fund account reconciliation and dividend processing. 
Summary of Share Class Features
Each share class has its own investment eligibility criteria, cost structure and other features. You may not be eligible to invest in every share class. Your financial intermediary may not make every share class available or may cease to make available one or more share classes of the Fund. The share class you select through your financial intermediary may have higher fees and/or sales charges than other classes of shares available through other financial intermediaries. An investor transacting in a class of Fund shares without any front-end sales charge, contingent deferred sales charge (CDSC), or other asset-based fee for sales or distribution, such as a Rule 12b-1 fee, may be required to pay a commission to the financial intermediary for effecting such transactions. Each investor’s personal situation is different and you may wish to discuss with your financial intermediary the share classes the Fund offers, which share classes are available to you and which share class(es) is/are appropriate for you. In all instances, it is your responsibility to notify your financial intermediary or (for Direct-at-Fund Accounts, as
2
Choosing a Share Class (continued)
defined below) the Fund at the time of purchase of any relationship or other facts that may qualify you for sales charge waivers or discounts. The Fund, the Distributor and the Transfer Agent do not provide investment advice or make recommendations regarding Fund share classes. Your financial intermediary may provide advice and recommendations to you, such as which share class(es) is/are appropriate for you.
When deciding which class of shares to buy, you should consider, among other things:
■
The amount you plan to invest.
■
How long you intend to remain invested in the Fund.
■
The fees (e.g., sales charge or “load”) and expenses for each share class.
■
Whether you may be eligible for a reduction or waiver of sales charges when you buy or sell shares.
 FUNDamentals
Front-End Sales Charge Calculation
The front-end sales charge is calculated as a percentage of the offering price.
■
The net asset value (NAV) per share is the price of a share calculated by the Fund every business day.
■
The offering price per share is the NAV per share plus any front-end sales charge (or load) that applies.
The dollar amount of any applicable front-end sales charge is the difference between the offering price of the shares you buy and the NAV of those shares. To determine the front-end sales charge you will pay when you buy Class A shares, the Fund will add the amount of your investment to the value of your account (and any other accounts eligible for aggregation of which you or your financial intermediary notifies the Fund) and base the sales charge on the aggregate amount. For information on account value aggregation, sales charge waivers and other important information, see Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges. 
 FUNDamentals
Contingent Deferred Sales Charge
A contingent deferred sales charge (CDSC) is a sales charge applied at the time you sell your shares, unlike a front-end sales charge that is applied at the time of purchase. A CDSC can vary based on the length of time that you have held your shares. A CDSC is applied to the NAV at the time of your purchase or sale, whichever is lower, and will not be applied to any shares you receive through Fund distribution reinvestments or any amount that represents appreciation in the value of your shares. For purposes of calculating a CDSC, the start of the holding period is generally the first day of the month in which your purchase was made.
When you place an order to sell shares of a class that has a CDSC, the Fund will first redeem any shares that are not subject to a CDSC, followed by those you have held the longest. This means that if a CDSC is imposed, you cannot designate the individual shares being redeemed for U.S. federal income tax purposes. You should consult your tax advisor about the tax consequences of investing in the Fund. In certain circumstances, the CDSC may not apply. See Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges for details. 
Share Class Features
The following summarizes the primary features of Class A, Class Adv, Class C, Class Inst, Class Inst2, Class Inst3 and Class S shares.
Not all Funds offer every class of shares. The Fund offers the class(es) of shares set forth on the cover of this prospectus, as it may be supplemented from time to time, and may offer other share classes through a separate prospectus. Although certain share classes are generally closed to new and/or existing investors, information relating to these share classes is included in the table below because certain qualifying purchase orders are permitted, as described below.
3
Choosing a Share Class (continued)
The sales charge reductions and waivers available to investors who purchase and hold their Fund shares through different financial intermediaries may vary. Appendix A describes financial intermediary-specific reductions and/or waiver policies. A shareholder transacting in Fund shares through a financial intermediary identified in Appendix A should carefully read the terms and conditions of Appendix A. A reduction and/or waiver that is specific to a particular financial intermediary is not available to Direct-at-Fund Accounts, as defined below, or through another financial intermediary. The information in Appendix A may be provided by, or compiled from or based on information provided by the financial intermediaries identified in Appendix A. To obtain additional information regarding any sales charge reduction and/or waiver described in Appendix A, and to ensure that you receive any such reductions or waivers that may be available to you, please consult your financial intermediary. 
Share
Class
Eligible Investors;
Minimum Initial Investments;
Conversion Features(a)
Front-End
Sales Charges(b)
Contingent
Deferred
Sales Charges
(CDSCs)(b)
Sales Charge
Reductions/Waivers
Maximum
Distribution
and/or Service
(12b-1) Fees(c)
Class A
Eligibility: Available to the general
public for investment
Minimum Initial Investment: $2,000
($1,000 for IRAs; $100 for monthly
Systematic Investment Plan accounts
(as described below))
5.75% maximum,
declining to 0.00%
on investments of
$1 million or more
CDSC on certain
investments of
between $1 million
and $50 million
redeemed within
18 months after
purchase charged
as follows:
• 1.00% CDSC if
redeemed within
12 months after
purchase and
• 0.50% CDSC if
redeemed more
than 12, but less
than 18, months
after purchase
Reductions: yes, see Choosing
a Share Class —
Reductions/Waivers of Sales
Charges – Class A Shares
Front-End Sales Charge
Reductions
Waivers: yes, on Fund
distribution reinvestments. For
additional waivers, see
Choosing a Share Class —
Reductions/Waivers of Sales
Charges – Class A Shares
Front-End Sales Charge
Waivers, as well as Choosing
a Share Class — CDSC
Waivers – Class A and Class C
Financial intermediary-specific
waivers are also available, see
Appendix A
Service Fee:
0.25%
Class
Adv
(Prior to
November
22,
2024)
Eligibility: Available only to (i)
omnibus retirement plans, including
self-directed brokerage accounts
within omnibus retirement plans that
clear through institutional no
transaction fee (NTF) platforms; (ii)
trust companies or similar
institutions; (iii) broker-dealers,
banks, trust companies and similar
institutions that clear Fund share
transactions for their client or
customer investment advisory or
similar accounts through designated
financial intermediaries and their
mutual fund trading platforms that
have been granted specific written
authorization from the Transfer Agent
with respect to Class Adv eligibility
apart from selling, servicing or
similar agreements; (iv) 501(c)(3)
charitable organizations; (v) 529
plans; (vi) health savings accounts;
(vii) investors participating in a fee-
based advisory program sponsored
by a financial intermediary or other
entity that is not compensated by the
Fund for those services, other than
payments for shareholder servicing
or sub-accounting performed in place
None
None
N/A
None
4
Choosing a Share Class (continued)
Share
Class
Eligible Investors;
Minimum Initial Investments;
Conversion Features(a)
Front-End
Sales Charges(b)
Contingent
Deferred
Sales Charges
(CDSCs)(b)
Sales Charge
Reductions/Waivers
Maximum
Distribution
and/or Service
(12b-1) Fees(c)
 
of the Transfer Agent; and (viii)
commissionable brokerage platforms
where the financial intermediary,
acting as broker on behalf of its
customer, charges the customer a
commission for effecting
transactions in Fund shares,
provided that the financial
intermediary has an agreement with
the Distributor that specifically
authorizes offering Class Adv shares
within such platform.
Minimum Initial Investment: None,
except in the case of (viii) above,
which is $2,000 ($1,000 for IRAs;
$100 for monthly Systematic
Investment Plan accounts)
 
 
 
 
Class C
Eligibility: Available to the general
public for investment
Minimum Initial Investment: $2,000
($1,000 for IRAs; $100 for monthly
Systematic Investment Plan
accounts)
Conversion Feature: Yes. Effective
April 1, 2021, Class C shares
generally automatically convert to
Class A shares of the same Fund in
the month of or the month following
the 8-year anniversary of the Class C
shares purchase date. Prior to April
1, 2021, Class C shares generally
automatically converted to Class A
shares of the same Fund in the
month of or the month following the
10-year anniversary of the Class C
shares purchase date.(a)
None
1.00% on certain
investments
redeemed within
one year of
purchase
Waivers: yes, on Fund
distribution reinvestments. For
additional waivers, see
Choosing a Share Class —
CDSC Waivers – Class A and
Class C
Financial intermediary-specific
CDSC waivers are also
available, see Appendix A
Distribution Fee:
0.75%
Service Fee:
0.25%
Class
Inst
(Prior to
November
1,
2024)
Eligibility: Available only to certain
eligible investors, which are subject
to different minimum investment
requirements, ranging from $0 to
$2,000, including investors who
purchase Fund shares through
commissionable brokerage platforms
where the financial intermediary
holds the shares in an omnibus
account and, acting as broker on
behalf of its customer, charges the
customer a commission for effecting
transactions in Fund shares,
provided that the financial
intermediary has an agreement with
the Distributor that specifically
authorizes offering Class Inst shares
within such platform; closed to (i)
accounts of financial intermediaries
that clear Fund share transactions for
their client or customer accounts
through designated financial
intermediaries and their mutual fund
None
None
N/A
None
5
Choosing a Share Class (continued)
Share
Class
Eligible Investors;
Minimum Initial Investments;
Conversion Features(a)
Front-End
Sales Charges(b)
Contingent
Deferred
Sales Charges
(CDSCs)(b)
Sales Charge
Reductions/Waivers
Maximum
Distribution
and/or Service
(12b-1) Fees(c)
 
trading platforms that have been
given specific written notice from the
Transfer Agent of the termination of
their eligibility for new purchases of
Class Inst shares and (ii) omnibus
group retirement plans, subject to
certain exceptions(d)
Minimum Initial Investment: See
Eligibility above
 
 
 
 
Class Inst
(Effective
November
1,
2024)
Eligibility: Available only to (i)
omnibus retirement plans, including
self-directed brokerage accounts
within omnibus retirement plans that
clear through institutional no
transaction fee (NTF) and transaction
fee (TF) platforms; (ii) trust
companies or similar institutions; (iii)
broker-dealers, banks, trust
companies and similar institutions
that clear Fund share transactions for
their client or customer investment
advisory or similar accounts through
designated financial intermediaries
and their mutual fund trading
platforms that have been granted
specific written authorization from
the Distributor with respect to
Class Inst eligibility apart from
selling, servicing or similar
agreements; (iv) 501(c)(3) charitable
organizations; (v) 529 plans; (vi)
health savings accounts; (vii)
investors participating in a fee-based
advisory program sponsored by a
financial intermediary or other entity
that is not compensated by the Fund
for those services, other than
payments for shareholder servicing
or sub-accounting performed in place
of the Transfer Agent, (viii)
commissionable brokerage platforms
where the financial intermediary,
acting as broker on behalf of its
customer, charges the customer a
commission for effecting
transactions in Fund shares,
provided that the financial
intermediary has an agreement with
the Distributor that specifically
authorizes offering Class Inst shares
within such platform, (ix) any current
employee of Columbia Management
Investment Advisers, LLC, the
Distributor or Transfer Agent and
immediate family members of the
foregoing who share the same
address and (x) financial
intermediaries that have entered into
a written agreement with the
Distributor to offer Class Inst shares
through a no-load or investment
None
None
N/A
None
6
Choosing a Share Class (continued)
Share
Class
Eligible Investors;
Minimum Initial Investments;
Conversion Features(a)
Front-End
Sales Charges(b)
Contingent
Deferred
Sales Charges
(CDSCs)(b)
Sales Charge
Reductions/Waivers
Maximum
Distribution
and/or Service
(12b-1) Fees(c)
 
program(e)(h)
Minimum Initial Investment: None,
except in the case of (viii) and (ix)
above, which is $2,000 ($1,000 for
IRAs; $100 for monthly Systematic
Investment Plan accounts)
 
 
 
 
Class
Inst2
Eligibility: Available only to (i) certain
registered investment advisers and
family offices that clear Fund share
transactions for their client or
customer accounts through
designated financial intermediaries
and their mutual fund trading
platforms that have been granted
specific written authorization from
the Transfer Agent with respect to
Class Inst2 eligibility apart from
selling, servicing or similar
agreements; (ii) omnibus retirement
plans(d); (iii) health savings accounts,
provided that the financial
intermediary has an agreement with
the Distributor that specifically
authorizes offering Class Inst2
shares within such platform and that
Fund shares are held in an omnibus
account; and (iv) institutional
investors that are clients of the
Columbia Threadneedle Global
Institutional Distribution Team that
invest in Class Inst2 shares for their
own account through platforms
approved by the Distributor or an
affiliate thereof to offer and/or
service Class Inst2 shares within
such platform.
Minimum Initial Investment: None
None
None
N/A
None
Class
Inst3
Eligibility: Available to: (i) group
retirement plans that maintain plan-
level or omnibus accounts with the
Fund(d); (ii) institutional investors that
are clients of the Columbia
Threadneedle Global Institutional
Distribution Team that invest in
Class Inst3 shares for their own
account through platforms approved
by the Distributor or an affiliate
thereof to offer and/or service
Class Inst3 shares within such
platform; (iii) collective trust funds;
(iv) affiliated or unaffiliated mutual
funds (e.g., funds operating as funds-
of-funds);
(v) fee-based platforms of financial
intermediaries (or the clearing
intermediary they trade through) that
have an agreement with the
Distributor or an affiliate thereof that
specifically authorizes the financial
intermediary to offer and/or service
None
None
N/A
None
7
Choosing a Share Class (continued)
Share
Class
Eligible Investors;
Minimum Initial Investments;
Conversion Features(a)
Front-End
Sales Charges(b)
Contingent
Deferred
Sales Charges
(CDSCs)(b)
Sales Charge
Reductions/Waivers
Maximum
Distribution
and/or Service
(12b-1) Fees(c)
 
Class Inst3 shares within such
platform, provided also that Fund
shares are held in an omnibus
account; (vi) commissionable
brokerage platforms where the
financial intermediary, acting as
broker on behalf of its customer,
charges the customer a commission
for effecting transactions in Fund
shares, provided that the financial
intermediary has an agreement with
the Distributor that specifically
authorizes offering Class Inst3
shares within such platform and that
Fund shares are held in an omnibus
account; (vii) health savings
accounts, provided that the financial
intermediary has an agreement with
the Distributor that specifically
authorizes offering Class Inst3
shares within such platform and that
Fund shares are held in an omnibus
account; and (viii) bank trust
departments, subject to an
agreement with the Distributor that
specifically authorizes offering
Class Inst3 shares and provided that
Fund shares are held in an omnibus
account. In each case above where
noted that Fund shares are required
to be held in an omnibus account,
the Distributor, may, in its discretion,
determine to waive this requirement.
Minimum Initial Investment: No
minimum for the eligible investors
described in (i), (iii), (iv) and (v)
above; $2,000 ($1,000 for IRAs;
$100 for monthly Systematic
Investment Plan accounts) for the
eligible investors described in (vi)
above; and $1 million for all other
eligible investors, unless waived in
the discretion of the Distributor
 
 
 
 
Class
S
Effective on or about October 2,
2024, Class S shares are available
(i) to be held, but not purchased, by
accounts of financial intermediaries
that, with specific written permission
from the Distributor, have instructed
the Fund to exchange Class Inst
shares for Class S shares; and (ii) to
be held and purchased by omnibus
group retirement plans that (A)
opened and, subject to exceptions,
funded a Class Inst share account as
of the close of business on March
28, 2013 and have continuously held
Class Inst shares in such account
through at least September 30,
2024 and (B) received specific
written permission from the
None
None
N/A
None
8
Choosing a Share Class (continued)
Share
Class
Eligible Investors;
Minimum Initial Investments;
Conversion Features(a)
Front-End
Sales Charges(b)
Contingent
Deferred
Sales Charges
(CDSCs)(b)
Sales Charge
Reductions/Waivers
Maximum
Distribution
and/or Service
(12b-1) Fees(c)
 
Distributor to exchange Class Inst
shares for Class S shares. Only
omnibus retirement plans referenced
in (ii) above may purchase Class S
shares, open new Class S accounts,
or add new plan participants to a
Class S shares omnibus retirement
plan account. Otherwise, Class S
shares are not available for purchase
(other than through the reinvestment
of distributions on Class S shares).(d)
Minimum Initial Investment: See
Eligibility above
 
 
 
 
(a)
For more information on the conversion of Class C shares to Class A shares, see Choosing a Share Class — Sales Charges and Commissions — Class C Shares —Conversion to Class A Shares.
(b)
For more information on applicable sales charges, see Choosing a Share Class — Sales Charges and Commissions, and for information about certain exceptions to these sales charges, see Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges.
(c)
These are the maximum applicable distribution and/or service fees under the Fund’s Rule 12b-1 plan. Because these fees are paid out of Fund assets on an ongoing basis, over time these fees will increase the cost of your investment and may cost you more than paying other types of distribution and/or service fees. For more information on distribution and service fees, see Choosing a Share Class — Distribution and Service Fees.
(d)
These share classes are closed to new accounts generally or to new accounts of certain categories of investors, subject to certain conditions, as summarized below and described in more detail under Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares — Buying Shares — Eligible Investors:
● Class Inst Shares (Prior to November 1, 2024). Financial intermediaries that clear Fund share transactions through designated financial intermediaries and their mutual fund trading platforms that were given specific written notice from the Transfer Agent of the termination, effective March 29, 2013, of their eligibility for new purchases of Class Inst shares and omnibus retirement plans are not permitted to establish new Class Inst accounts, subject to certain exceptions. Omnibus retirement plans that opened and, subject to exceptions, funded a Class Inst account as of close of business on March 28, 2013, and have continuously held Class Inst shares in such account after such date, may generally continue to make additional purchases of Class Inst shares, open new Class Inst accounts and add new participants. In certain circumstances and in the sole discretion of the Distributor, omnibus retirement plans affiliated with a grandfathered plan may also open new Class Inst accounts. Accounts of financial intermediaries (other than omnibus retirement plans) that clear Fund share transactions for their client or customer accounts through designated financial intermediaries and their mutual fund trading platforms are not permitted to establish new Class Inst accounts or make additional purchases of Class Inst shares (other than through reinvestment of distributions).
● Class Inst2 Shares. Shareholders with Class Inst2 accounts funded before November 8, 2012 who do not satisfy the current eligibility criteria for Class Inst2 shares may not establish new Class Inst2 accounts but may continue to make additional purchases of Class Inst2 shares in existing accounts. In addition, investment advisory programs and similar programs that opened a Class Inst2 account as of May 1, 2010, and continuously hold Class Inst2 shares in such account after such date, may generally not only continue to make additional purchases of Class Inst2 shares but also open new Class Inst2 accounts and add new shareholders in the program.
● Class Inst3 Shares: Shareholders with Class Inst3 accounts funded before November 8, 2012 who do not satisfy the current eligibility criteria for Class Inst3 shares may not establish new accounts for such share class but may continue to make additional purchases of Class Inst3 shares in existing accounts.
● Class S Shares. Effective on or about October 2, 2024, Class S shares are available (i) to be held, but not purchased, by accounts of financial intermediaries that, with specific written permission from the Distributor, have instructed the Fund to exchange Class Inst shares for Class S shares; and (ii) to be held and purchased by omnibus group retirement plans that (A) opened and, subject to exceptions, funded a Class Inst share account as of the close of business on March 28, 2013 and have continuously held Class Inst shares in such account through at least September 30, 2024 and (B) received specific written permission from the Distributor to exchange Class Inst shares for Class S shares. Only omnibus retirement plans referenced in (ii) above may purchase Class S shares, open new Class S accounts, or add new plan participants to a Class S shares omnibus retirement plan account. Otherwise, Class S shares are not available for purchase (other than through the reinvestment of distributions on Class S shares).
Sales Charges and Commissions
Sales charges, commissions, and distribution fees compensate financial intermediaries (typically your financial advisor) for selling shares to you, and service fees compensate financial intermediaries for maintaining and servicing the shares held in your account with them. Distribution and service fees are discussed in a separate sub-section below. Depending on which share class you choose and the financial intermediary through which you purchase your shares, you may pay these charges at potentially different levels at the outset as a front-end sales charge, at the
9
Choosing a Share Class (continued)
time you sell your shares as a CDSC and/or over time in the form of distribution and/or service fees. You may be required to pay brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries when transacting in any class of Fund shares, including those that do not assess any front-end sales charge, contingent deferred sales charge, or other asset-based fee for sales or distribution. Such brokerage commissions and other fees are set by the financial intermediary.
As described in more detail below, Class A shares have a front-end sales charge, which is deducted from your purchase price when you buy your shares, and results in a smaller dollar amount being invested in the Fund than the purchase price you pay (unless you qualify for a waiver or reduction of the sales charge). The Fund’s other share classes do not have a front-end sales charge, so the full amount of your purchase price is invested in those classes. Class A shares have lower ongoing distribution and/or service fees than Class C shares of the Fund, if available. Over time, Class C shares can incur distribution and/or service fees that are equal to or more than the front-end sales charge and the distribution and/or service fees you would pay for Class A shares. Although the full amount of your purchase price of Class C shares is invested in a Fund, your return on this money will be reduced by the expected higher annual expenses of Class C shares. In this regard, Class C shares held in Direct-at-Fund Accounts automatically convert to Class A shares of the same Fund in the month of or the month following the 8-year anniversary of the Class C shares purchase date. The Fund may convert Class C shares held through a financial intermediary to Class A shares sooner in connection with the withdrawal of Class C shares of the Fund from the financial intermediary’s platform or accounts. No sales charge or other charges will apply in connection with such conversions, and the conversions are free from U.S. federal income tax. Once your Class C shares convert to Class A shares, your total returns from an investment in the Fund may increase as a result of the lower operating costs of Class A shares. Class Adv, Class Inst, Class Inst2, Class Inst3 and Class S shares of the Fund do not have distribution and/or service fees.
Whether the ultimate cost is higher for one share class over another depends on the amount you invest, how long you hold your shares, the fees (i.e., sales charges) and expenses of the class and whether you are eligible for reduced or waived sales charges, if available. You are responsible for choosing the share class most appropriate for you after taking into account your share class eligibility, class-specific features, and any applicable reductions in, or waivers of, sales charges. For more information, see Choosing a Share Class – Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges. We encourage you to consult with a financial advisor who can help you with your investment decisions. Please contact your financial intermediary for more information about services, fees and expenses, and other important information about investing in the Fund, as well as with any questions you may have about your investing options. In all instances, it is your responsibility to notify your financial intermediary or (for Direct-at-Fund Accounts, as defined below) the Fund at the time of purchase of any relationship or other facts that may qualify you for sales charge waivers or discounts.
Class A Shares — Front-End Sales Charge
Unless your purchase qualifies for a waiver (e.g., you buy the shares through reinvested Fund dividends or distributions or subject to an applicable financial intermediary-specific waiver), you will pay a front-end sales charge when you buy Class A shares, resulting in a smaller dollar amount being invested in a Fund than the purchase price you pay. The Class A shares sales charge is waived on Class C shares converted to Class A shares. For more information about sales charge waivers and reduction opportunities, see Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges and Appendix A.
The Distributor receives the sales charge and re-allows (or pays) a portion of the sales charge to the financial intermediary through which you purchased the shares. The Distributor retains the balance of the sales charge.
The front-end sales charge you will pay on Class A shares:
■
depends on the amount you are investing (generally, the larger the investment, the smaller the percentage sales charge), and
■
is based on the total amount of your purchase and the value of your account (and any other accounts eligible for aggregation of which you or your financial intermediary notifies the Fund).
10
Choosing a Share Class (continued)
The table below presents the front-end sales charge as a percentage of both the offering price and the net amount invested. 
Class A Shares — Front-End Sales Charge — Breakpoint Schedule
Breakpoint Schedule For:
Dollar amount of
shares bought(a)
Sales
charge
as a
% of the
offering
price(b)
Sales
charge
as a
% of the
net
amount
invested(b)
Amount
retained by
or paid to
financial
intermediaries as
a % of the
offering price
Class A Shares
$0–$49,999
5.75%
6.10%
5.00%
$50,000–$99,999
4.50%
4.71%
3.75%
$100,000–$249,999
3.50%
3.63%
3.00%
$250,000–$499,999
2.50%
2.56%
2.15%
$500,000–$999,999
2.00%
2.04%
1.75%
$1,000,000 or more
0.00%
0.00%
0.00%(c)
 
(a)
Purchase amounts and account values may be aggregated among all eligible Fund accounts for the purposes of this table. See Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges for a discussion of account value aggregation.
(b)
Because the offering price is calculated to two decimal places, the dollar amount of the sales charge as a percentage of the offering price and your net amount invested for any particular purchase of Fund shares may be higher or lower depending on whether downward or upward rounding was required during the calculation process. Purchase price includes the sales charge.
(c)
For information regarding cumulative commissions paid to your financial intermediary when you buy $1 million or more of Class A shares of a Fund, see Class A Shares — Commissions below.
Class A Shares — CDSC
In some cases, you'll pay a CDSC if you sell Class A shares that you purchased without a front-end sales charge.
■
If you purchased Class A shares without an initial sales charge because your accounts aggregated between $1 million and $50 million at the time of purchase, you will incur a CDSC if you redeem those shares within 18 months after purchase, which is charged as follows: 1.00% CDSC if shares are redeemed within 12 months after purchase; and 0.50% CDSC if shares are redeemed more than 12, but less than 18, months after purchase.
■
Subsequent Class A share purchases that bring your aggregate account value to $1 million or more (but less than $50 million) will also be subject to a CDSC if you redeem them within the time periods noted above.
Class A Shares — Commissions
The Distributor may pay your financial intermediary an up-front commission when you buy Class A shares. The Distributor generally funds the commission through the applicable sales charge you paid. For more information, see Class A Shares — Front-End Sales Charge above.
The Distributor may also pay your financial intermediary a cumulative commission when you buy Class A shares in amounts not subject to a front-end sales charge, according to the following schedules (assets initially purchased into Class A shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund, Columbia Small Cap Index Fund, Columbia Ultra Short Duration Municipal Bond Fund, Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund and Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund that were purchased without the application of a front-end sales charge are excluded for purposes of calculating a financial intermediary’s commission under these schedules): 
Class A Shares — Commission Schedule (Paid by the Distributor to Financial Intermediaries)
Purchase Amount
Commission Level*
(as a % of net asset
value per share)
$1 million – $2,999,999
1.00%
11
Choosing a Share Class (continued)
Class A Shares — Commission Schedule (Paid by the Distributor to Financial Intermediaries)
Purchase Amount
Commission Level*
(as a % of net asset
value per share)
$3 million – $49,999,999
0.50%
$50 million or more
0.25%
*
The commission level applies to the applicable asset level; therefore, for example, for a purchase of $5 million, the Distributor would pay a commission of 1.00% on the first $2,999,999 and 0.50% on the balance.
Class C Shares — Front-End Sales Charge
You do not pay a front-end sales charge when you buy Class C shares, but you may pay a CDSC when you sell Class C shares. Although Class C shares do not have a front-end sales charge, over time Class C shares can incur distribution and/or service fees that are equal to or more than the front-end sales charge and distribution and/or service fees you would pay for Class A shares. Thus, although the full amount of your purchase of Class C shares is invested in a Fund, any positive investment return on this money may be partially or fully offset by the expected higher annual expenses of Class C shares.
Class C Shares — Conversion to Class A Shares
Class C shares of a Fund generally automatically convert to Class A shares of the same Fund in the month of or the month following the 8-year anniversary of the Class C shares purchase date. Class C shares held through a financial intermediary in an omnibus account will be converted (pursuant to the financial intermediary’s Class C conversion policy, including those disclosed in Appendix A, which may differ from the Fund’s policy described here) provided that the intermediary is able to track individual shareholders’ holding periods. It is the financial intermediary's (and not the Fund's) responsibility to keep records and to ensure that the shareholder holding period is calculated properly. Not all financial intermediaries are able to track individual shareholders' holding periods. For example, group retirement plans held through third-party intermediaries that hold Class C shares in an omnibus account may not track participant level share lot aging. Please consult with your financial intermediary about your eligibility for Class C share conversion. The Fund may convert Class C shares held through a financial intermediary to Class A shares sooner in connection with the withdrawal of Class C shares of the Fund from the financial intermediary's platform or accounts. Once your Class C shares convert to Class A shares, your total returns from an investment in the Fund may increase as a result of the lower operating costs of Class A shares.
The following rules apply to the automatic conversion of Class C shares to Class A shares:
■
Class C share accounts that are Direct-at-Fund Accounts and Networked Accounts for which the Transfer Agent (and not your financial intermediary) sends you Fund account transaction confirmations and statements, convert on or about the 15th day of the month (if the 15th is not a business day, then the next business day thereafter) that they become eligible for automatic conversion provided that the Fund has records that Class C shares have been held for the requisite time period.
■
For purposes of determining the month when your Class C shares are eligible for conversion, the start of the holding period is the first day of the month in which your purchase was made. Your financial intermediary may choose a different day of the month to convert Class C shares. Please contact your financial intermediary for more information on calculating the holding period.
■
Any shares you received from reinvested distributions on these shares generally will convert to Class A shares at the same time.
■
You’ll receive the same dollar value of Class A shares as the Class C shares that were automatically converted. Class C shares that you received from an exchange of Class C shares of another Fund will convert based on the day you bought the original shares.
■
In addition to the above automatic conversion of Class C to Class A shares policy, the Transfer Agent seeks to convert Class C shares as soon as administratively feasible, regardless of how long such shares have been owned, to Class A shares of the same Fund for Direct-at-Fund Accounts (as defined below) that do not or no longer
12
Choosing a Share Class (continued)
have a financial intermediary assigned to them. Direct-at-Fund Accounts that do not have a financial intermediary assigned to them are not permitted to purchase Class C shares; Class C share purchase orders received by Direct-at-Fund Accounts that do not have a financial intermediary assigned to the account will automatically be invested in Class A shares of the same Fund.
■
No sales charge or other charges apply in connection with these automatic conversions, and the conversions are free from U.S. federal income tax.
Class C Shares — CDSC
You will pay a CDSC of 1.00% if you redeem Class C shares within 12 months of buying them unless you qualify for a waiver of the CDSC (e.g., the shares you are selling were purchased with reinvested Fund distributions). Redemptions of Class C shares are not subject to a CDSC if redeemed after 12 months. For more information, see Choosing a Share Class — Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges.
Class C Shares — Commissions
Although there is no front-end sales charge when you buy Class C shares, the Distributor makes an up-front payment (which includes a sales commission and an advance of service fees) directly to your financial intermediary of up to 1.00% of the NAV per share when you buy Class C shares. A portion of this payment may be passed along to your financial advisor. The Distributor seeks to recover this payment through distribution fees of up to 0.75% and shareholder service fees of up to 0.25% it receives under the Fund's Rule 12b-1 plan during the first 12 months following the sale of Class C shares, and any applicable CDSC when you sell your shares. For more information, see Choosing a Share Class — Distribution and Service Fees.
Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges
The availability of certain sales charge waivers and discounts will depend on whether you purchase your shares directly from the Fund (i.e., a Direct-at-Fund Account, as defined below) or through a financial intermediary. Financial intermediaries may have different policies and procedures regarding the availability of front-end sales charge and/or CDSC waivers. In all instances, it is your responsibility to notify your financial intermediary or (for Direct-at-Fund Accounts, as defined below) the Fund at the time of purchase of any relationship or other facts that may qualify you for sales charge waivers or discounts. In order to obtain waivers and discounts not available through a particular financial intermediary, shareholders will have to purchase Fund shares directly from the Fund (if permitted) or through a different financial intermediary. For a description of financial intermediary-specific sales charge reductions and/or waivers, see Appendix A.
Class A Shares Front-End Sales Charge Reductions
The Fund makes available two means of reducing the front-end sales charge that you may pay when you buy Class A shares of a Fund. These types of sales charge reductions are also referred to as breakpoint discounts.
First, through the right of accumulation (ROA), you may combine the value of eligible accounts (as described in the Eligible Accounts section below) maintained by you and members of your immediate family to reach a breakpoint discount level and apply a lower front-end sales charge to your purchase. To calculate the combined value of your eligible Fund accounts in the particular class of shares, the Fund will use the current public offering price per share. For purposes of obtaining a breakpoint discount through ROA, you may aggregate your and your “immediate family” members' ownership (as described in the FUNDamentals box below) of certain classes of shares held in certain account types, as described in the Eligible Accounts section below.
Second, by making a statement of intent to purchase additional shares (commonly referred to as a letter of intent (LOI)), you may pay a lower sales charge on all purchases of Class A shares made within 13 months after the date of your LOI. Your LOI must state the aggregate amount of purchases you intend to make in that 13-month period, which must be at least enough to reach the first (or next) breakpoint of the Fund. The required form of LOI may vary by financial intermediary, so please contact them directly for more information. Five percent of the purchase commitment amount will be placed in escrow (which means you will not be able to redeem Fund shares equivalent to that amount until they are released from escrow). At the end of the 13-month period, the shares will be released from
13
Choosing a Share Class (continued)
escrow, provided that you have invested the commitment amount. If you do not invest the commitment amount by the end of the 13 months, the remaining amount of the unpaid sales charge will be redeemed from the escrowed shares and the remaining balance released from escrow. To calculate the total value of the purchases you've made under an LOI, the Fund will use the historic cost (i.e., dollars invested and not current market value) of the shares held in each eligible account; reinvested dividends or capital gains, or purchases made through the reinstatement privilege do not count as purchases made under an LOI. For purposes of making an LOI to purchase additional shares, you may aggregate eligible shares owned by you or your immediate family members in eligible accounts, valued as of the day immediately before the initiation of your LOI.
You must request the reduced sales charge (whether through ROA or an LOI) when you buy shares. If you do not complete and file an LOI, or do not request the reduced sales charge at the time of purchase, you will not be eligible for the reduced sales charge. To obtain a breakpoint discount, you must notify your financial intermediary in writing at the time you buy your shares of each eligible account maintained by you and members of your immediate family, including accounts maintained through different financial intermediaries. You and your financial intermediary are responsible for ensuring that you receive discounts for which you are eligible. Please contact your financial intermediary with questions regarding application of the eligible discount to your account. You may be asked by your financial intermediary (or by the Fund if you hold your account directly with the Fund) for account statements or other records to verify your discount eligibility for new and subsequent purchases, including, when applicable, records for accounts opened with a different financial intermediary and records of accounts established by members of your immediate family.
The sales charge reductions available to investors who purchase and hold their Fund shares through different financial intermediaries may vary. For a description of such financial intermediary-specific sales charge reductions, see Appendix A.
 FUNDamentals
Your “Immediate Family” and Account Value Aggregation
For purposes of obtaining a breakpoint discount for Class A shares, the value of your account will be deemed to include the value of all applicable shares in eligible Fund accounts that are held by you and your “immediate family,” which includes your spouse, domestic partner, parent, step-parent, legal guardian, child under 21, step-child under 21, father-in-law and mother-in-law, provided that you and your immediate family members share the same mailing address. Any Fund accounts linked together for account value aggregation purposes as of the close of business on September 3, 2010 will be permitted to remain linked together. Group retirement plan accounts are valued at the retirement plan level. 
Eligible Accounts
The following accounts are eligible for account value aggregation as described above, provided that they are invested in Class A (excluding, in the case of Direct-at-Fund Accounts, Funds that do not assess a front-end sales charge, including Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund, Columbia Small Cap Index Fund, Columbia Ultra Short Duration Municipal Bond Fund, Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund and Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund, unless such shares were purchased via an exchange from Class A shares of a Fund on which you paid the Class A share applicable front-end sales charge), Class C or Class E shares of a Fund, or non-retirement plan accounts invested in Class Adv, Class Inst, Class Inst2, Class Inst3 or Class S shares of a Fund: individual or joint accounts; Roth and traditional Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs); Simplified Employee Pension accounts (SEPs), Savings Investment Match Plans for Employees of Small Employers accounts (SIMPLEs) and Tax Sheltered Custodial Accounts (TSCAs); Uniform Gifts to Minors Act (UGMA)/Uniform Transfers to Minors Act (UTMA) accounts for which you, your spouse, or your domestic partner is parent or guardian of the minor child; revocable trust accounts for which you or an immediate family member, individually, is the beneficial owner/grantor; accounts held in the name of your, your spouse’s, or your
14
Choosing a Share Class (continued)
domestic partner’s sole proprietorship or single owner limited liability company or S corporation; qualified retirement plan assets, provided that you are the sole owner of the business sponsoring the plan, are the sole participant (other than a spouse) in the plan, and have no intention of adding participants to the plan; and investments in wrap accounts.
The following accounts are not eligible for account value aggregation as described above: accounts of pension and retirement plans with multiple participants, such as 401(k) plans (which are combined to reduce the sales charge for the entire pension or retirement plan and therefore are not used to reduce the sales charge for your individual accounts); investments in 529 plans, donor advised funds, variable annuities, variable insurance products or managed separate accounts; charitable and irrevocable trust accounts; accounts holding shares of money market funds that used the Columbia brand before May 1, 2010; accounts invested in Class R shares of a Fund; and retirement plan accounts invested in Class Adv, Class Inst, Class Inst2, Class Inst3 or Class S shares of a Fund.
Additionally, direct purchases of shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund may not be aggregated for account value aggregation purposes; however, shares of Columbia Government Money Market Fund acquired by exchange from other Columbia Funds that assess a sales charge may be included in account value aggregation.
Class A Shares Front-End Sales Charge Waivers
There are no front-end sales charges on reinvested Fund distributions. The Class A shares sales charge is waived on conversions of Class C shares to Class A shares. The Distributor may waive front-end sales charges on purchases of Class A shares of the Funds by certain categories of investors, including Board members, certain employees of financial intermediaries, Fund portfolio managers, certain partners and employees of outside legal counsel to the Funds or the Board, separate accounts of an insurance company exempt from registration as an investment company under Section 3(c)(11) of the 1940 Act, registered broker-dealer firms that have an agreement with the Distributor purchasing Fund shares for their investment account only, and qualified employee benefit plan rollovers to Class A shares in the same Fund (see Appendix S to the SAI for details). For a more complete description of categories of investors who may purchase Class A shares of the Funds at NAV, without payment of any front-end sales charge that would otherwise apply, see Appendix S to the SAI.
In addition, certain types of purchases of Class A shares may be made at NAV. The Distributor may waive front-end sales charges on (i) purchases (including exchanges) of Class A shares in accounts of financial intermediaries that have entered into agreements with the Distributor to offer Fund shares to self-directed investment brokerage accounts that may or may not charge a transaction fee to customers; (ii) exchanges of Class Inst shares of a Fund for Class A shares of the Fund; (iii) purchases of Class A shares on brokerage mutual fund-only platforms of financial intermediaries that have an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes the offering of Class A shares within such platform; (iv) purchases through certain wrap fee or other products or programs that involve fee-based compensation arrangements that have, or clear trades through a financial intermediary that has, a selling agreement with the Distributor; (v) purchases through state sponsored 529 Plans; (vi) purchases through banks, trust companies, and thrift institutions acting as fiduciaries; (vii) purchases through certain employee benefit plans and certain qualified deferred compensation plans; and (viii) purchases of Class A shares in Direct-at-Fund Accounts (as defined below) that do not have a financial intermediary assigned to them. For a more complete description of these eligible transactions, see Appendix S to the SAI.
The sales charge waivers available to investors who purchase and hold their Fund shares through different financial intermediaries may vary. For a description of such financial intermediary-specific sales charge waivers, see Appendix A.
CDSC Waivers – Class A and Class C
You may be able to avoid an otherwise applicable CDSC when you sell Class A or Class C shares of the Fund. This could happen because of the way in which you originally invested in the Fund, because of your relationship with the Funds or for other reasons. For example, the CDSC will be waived on redemptions of shares: in the event of the shareholder's death; for which no sales commission or transaction fee was paid to an authorized financial intermediary at the time of purchase; purchased through reinvestment of dividends and capital gain distributions; that result from required minimum distributions taken from retirement accounts due to the shareholder reaching the
15
Choosing a Share Class (continued)
qualified age based on applicable IRS regulations; that result from returns of excess contributions made to retirement plans or individual retirement accounts (subject to certain conditions); initially purchased by an employee benefit plan (for Class A shares) and that are not connected with a plan level termination (for Class C shares); in connection with the Fund's Small Account Policy (which is described in Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares — Transaction Rules and Policies); held within Direct-at-Fund Accounts that do not have a financial intermediary assigned to them; and by certain other investors and in certain other types of transactions or situations. Restrictions may apply to certain accounts and certain transactions. The Distributor may, in its sole discretion, authorize the waiver of the CDSC for additional classes of investors. The Fund may change or cancel these terms at any time. Any change or cancellation applies only to future purchases. For a more complete description of the available waivers of the CDSC on redemptions of Class A or Class C shares, see Appendix S to the SAI.
The sales charge waivers available to investors who purchase and hold their Fund shares through different financial intermediaries may vary. For a description of such financial intermediary-specific sales charge waivers, see Appendix A.
Repurchases (Reinstatements)
As noted in the table below, you can redeem shares of certain classes (see Redeemed Share Class below) and use such redemption proceeds to buy shares of the Corresponding Repurchase Class without paying an otherwise applicable sales charge and/or CDSC (other than, in the case of Direct-at-Fund Accounts, redemptions from Funds that do not assess a front-end sales charge, including Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund, Columbia Small Cap Index Fund, Columbia Ultra Short Duration Municipal Bond Fund, Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund and Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund, unless such shares were purchased via an exchange from Class A shares of a Fund on which you paid the Class A share applicable front-end sales charge) within 90 days, up to the amount of the redemption proceeds. 
Repurchases (Reinstatements)
Redeemed Share Class
Corresponding Repurchase Class
Class A
Class A
Class C
Class C
Any CDSC paid upon redemption of your Class A or Class C shares of a Fund will not be reimbursed.
To be eligible for the repurchase (or reinstatement) privilege, the purchase must be made into an account for the same owner, but does not need to be into the same Fund from which the shares were sold. The Transfer Agent, Distributor or their agents must receive a written reinstatement request from you or your financial intermediary within 90 days after the shares are redeemed. The purchase of the Corresponding Repurchase Class (as noted in the table above) through this repurchase (or reinstatement) privilege will be made at the NAV of such shares next calculated after the request is received in “good form.” Systematic withdrawals and purchases are excluded from this policy.
Restrictions and Changes in Terms and Conditions
Restrictions may apply to certain accounts and certain transactions. The Funds and/or the Distributor may change or cancel these terms and conditions at any time. Unless you provide your financial intermediary with information in writing about all of the factors that may count toward available reductions or waivers of an applicable sales charge, there can be no assurance that you will receive all of the reductions and waivers for which you may be eligible. To the extent your Fund account is held directly with the Fund, you should provide this information to the Fund when placing your purchase or redemption order. Please see Appendix A to this prospectus and Appendix S of the SAI for more information about sales charge waivers.
16
Choosing a Share Class (continued)
Distribution and Service Fees
The Board has approved, and the Columbia Acorn Funds have adopted, a distribution plan pursuant to Rule 12b-1 under the 1940 Act that sets the distribution and/or service fees that are periodically deducted from the Funds’ assets. These fees are calculated daily, may vary by share class and are intended to compensate the Distributor and/or eligible financial intermediaries for, with regard to distribution fees, selling Fund shares and, with regard to service fees, directly or indirectly providing services to shareholders. Because the fees are paid out of the Fund's assets on an ongoing basis, they will increase the cost of your investment over time.
The table below shows the maximum annual distribution and/or service fees (as an annual percentage of average daily net assets) and the combined amount of such fees applicable to each share class of the Columbia Acorn Funds: 
 
Distribution
Fee
Service
Fee
Combined
Total
Class A
None
0.25%
0.25%
Class Adv
None
None
None
Class C
0.75%
0.25%
1.00%
Class Inst
None
None
None
Class Inst2
None
None
None
Class Inst3
None
None
None
Class S
None
None
None
The distribution and/or service fees for Class A and Class C shares, as applicable, are subject to the requirements of Rule 12b-1 under the 1940 Act. The Distributor may retain these fees otherwise payable to financial intermediaries if the amounts due are below an amount determined by the Distributor in its sole discretion.
For Class A shares, the Distributor begins to pay these fees immediately after purchase, except in the following case, in which the Distributor begins to pay these fees 12 months after purchase: a purchase of Class A shares of $1 million or more that pay a Class A up-front commission to your financial intermediary and the financial intermediary has opted to receive such commission. The Distributor’s policy to otherwise begin to pay these fees immediately on Class A shares also applies to purchases of funds that do not pay an up-front sales commission on Class A shares, which includes Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund, Columbia Small Cap Index Fund, Columbia Ultra Short Duration Municipal Bond Fund, Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund and Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund. For Class C shares, the Distributor begins to pay these fees 12 months after purchase. However, for Class C shares, financial intermediaries may opt to decline the up-front payment described in Choosing a Share Class – Sales Charges and Commissions – Class C Shares – Commissions and instead may receive these fees immediately after purchase. If the intermediary opts to receive the up-front payment, the Distributor retains the distribution and service fee for the first 12 months following the sale of Class C shares in order to recover the up-front payment made to financial intermediaries and to pay for other related expenses.
If you maintain shares of the Fund directly with the Fund, without working with a financial advisor or other financial intermediary, distribution and service fees may be retained by the Distributor as payment or reimbursement for incurring certain distribution and shareholder service related expenses.
Over time, these distribution and/or service fees will reduce the return on your investment and may cost you more than paying other types of sales charges. The Fund will pay these fees to the Distributor and/or to eligible financial intermediaries for as long as the distribution plan continues in effect, which is expected to be indefinitely. However, the Fund may reduce or discontinue payments at any time. Your financial intermediary may also charge you other additional fees for providing services to your account, which may be different from those described here.
17
Choosing a Share Class (continued)
Financial Intermediary Compensation
The Distributor, the Investment Manager and their affiliates make payments, from their own resources, to financial intermediaries, including other Ameriprise Financial affiliates, for marketing/sales support services relating to the Funds (Marketing Support Payments). Such payments are generally based upon one or more of the following factors: average net assets of the Funds attributable to that financial intermediary; gross sales of the Funds attributable to that financial intermediary; reimbursement of ticket charges (fees that a financial intermediary charges its representatives for effecting transactions in Fund shares); or a negotiated lump sum payment. While the financial arrangements may vary for each financial intermediary, Marketing Support Payments to any one financial intermediary are generally between 0.01% and 0.40% on an annual basis for payments based on average net assets of the Fund attributable to the financial intermediary, and between 0.05% and 0.25% on an annual basis for firms receiving a payment based on gross sales of the Funds attributable to the financial intermediary. The Distributor, the Investment Manager and their affiliates make payments with respect to a Fund or the Columbia Funds generally on a basis other than those described above or in larger amounts when dealing with certain financial intermediaries. Not all financial intermediaries receive Marketing Support Payments. The Distributor, the Investment Manager and their affiliates do not make Marketing Support Payments with respect to Class Inst3 shares of the Columbia Acorn Funds.
In addition, the Transfer Agent has certain arrangements in place to compensate financial intermediaries, including other Ameriprise Financial affiliates, that hold Fund shares through networked and omnibus accounts, including omnibus retirement plans, for services that they provide to beneficial Fund shareholders (Shareholder Services). Shareholder Services and related fees vary by financial intermediary and according to distribution channel and may include sub-accounting, sub-transfer agency, participant recordkeeping, shareholder or participant reporting, shareholder or participant transaction processing, maintenance of shareholder records, preparation of account statements and provision of customer service, and are not intended to include services that are primarily intended to result in the sale of Fund shares. Payments for Shareholder Services vary by financial intermediary and according to distribution channel, but generally are not expected, with certain limited exceptions, to exceed 0.40% of the average aggregate value of the Fund’s shares. Payments to financial intermediaries in excess of the amounts paid by the Fund are borne by the Distributor, the Investment Manager and/or their affiliates.
Generally, each of the Columbia Acorn Funds compensates the Transfer Agent for payments made for Shareholder Services, for each share class except Class Inst3. Effective July 1, 2017, the Columbia Acorn Funds compensate the Transfer Agent for payments made for Shareholder Services as follows: 
Financial
Intermediary
Distribution
Channel
Fee Rate
Retirement
up to 0.18% of Fund assets held by intermediaries or platforms charging an asset-based fee, or $18 per account held
by intermediaries or platforms charging a per account fee
Fund supermarket
transaction fee (TF)
up to 0.12% of Fund assets held by intermediaries or platforms charging an asset-based fee, or $16 per account held
for intermediaries or platforms charging a per account fee
Fund supermarket
no-transaction fee
(NTF)
up to 0.18% of Fund assets held by intermediaries or platforms charging an asset-based fee, or $18 per account held
by intermediaries or platforms charging a per account fee
Bank
up to 0.10% of Fund assets held by intermediaries or platforms charging an asset-based fee, or $20 per account held
by intermediaries or platforms charging a per account fee
Broker-dealer
up to 0.13% of Fund assets held by intermediaries or platforms charging an asset-based fee, or $16 per account held
by intermediaries or platforms charging a per account fee
 
With respect to Class Inst2 and Class Inst3 shares of the Fund, total annual compensation payable to the Transfer Agent may not exceed, respectively, 0.07% and 0.02% of the average daily net assets of the Class. For additional details about the application of the Columbia Acorn Funds’ fee limits, please refer to the SAI.
18
Choosing a Share Class (continued)
The Transfer Agent does not pay financial intermediaries for Shareholder Services, and the Fund does not compensate the Transfer Agent for any Shareholder Services provided by financial intermediaries with respect to Class Inst3 shares of the Columbia Acorn Funds. The Fund believes that the fee levels paid to the Transfer Agent are reasonably related to the Shareholder Services provided, but payments may vary and there can be no assurance that the Fund will be able to identify with specificity the costs or particular Shareholder Services for which compensation is paid.
In addition to the payments described above, the Distributor, the Investment Manager and their affiliates typically make other payments or allow promotional incentives to certain broker-dealers to the extent permitted by the Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) rules and by other applicable laws and regulations.
Amounts paid by the Distributor, the Investment Manager and their affiliates are paid out of their own resources and do not increase the amount paid by you or the Fund. You can find further details in the SAI about the payments made by the Distributor, the Investment Manager and their affiliates, as well as a list of the financial intermediaries, including Ameriprise Financial affiliates, to which the Distributor and the Investment Manager have agreed to make Marketing Support Payments and pay Shareholder Services fees.
Your financial intermediary may charge you fees and commissions in addition to those described in this prospectus. You should consult with your financial intermediary and review carefully any disclosure your financial intermediary provides regarding its services and compensation. Depending on the financial arrangement in place at any particular time, a financial intermediary and its financial advisors may have a conflict of interest or financial incentive for recommending the Fund or a particular share class over others.
19
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares
Share Price Determination
The price you pay or receive when you buy, sell or exchange shares is the Fund's next determined net asset value (or NAV) per share for a given share class. The Fund calculates the NAV per share for each class of shares of the Fund at the end of each business day, with the value of the Fund's shares based on the total value of all of the securities and other assets that it holds as of such specified time.
 FUNDamentals
NAV Calculation
Each of the Fund's share classes calculates its NAV per share as follows:
NAV per share = (Value of assets of the share class) – (Liabilities of the share class)
Number of outstanding shares of the class 
 FUNDamentals
Business Days
A business day is any day that the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is open. A business day typically ends at the close of regular trading on the NYSE, usually at 4:00 p.m. Eastern time. If the NYSE is scheduled to close early, the business day will be considered to end as of the time of the NYSE’s scheduled close. The Fund will not treat an intraday unscheduled disruption in NYSE trading or an intraday unscheduled closing as a close of regular trading on the NYSE for these purposes and will price its shares as of the regularly scheduled closing time for that day (typically, 4:00 p.m. Eastern time). Nonetheless, the NAV of Fund shares may be determined at such other time or times (in addition to or in lieu of the time set forth above) as the Fund’s Board may approve or ratify. On holidays and other days when the NYSE is closed, the Fund’s NAV is not calculated and the Fund does not accept buy or sell orders. However, the value of the Fund’s assets may still be affected on such days to the extent that the Fund holds foreign securities that trade on days that foreign securities markets are open. 
Equity securities listed on an exchange are typically valued at the closing price or last trade on their primary exchange at the close of business of the NYSE. Equity securities without a readily available closing price or that are not listed on any exchange are typically valued at the mean between the closing bid and asked prices. Other equity securities, debt securities and other assets are valued differently. For instance, bank loans trading in the secondary market are fair valued unless market quotations are readily available, fixed income investments maturing in 60 days or less are valued primarily using the amortized cost method, unless this methodology results in a valuation that does not approximate the market value of these securities, and those maturing in excess of 60 days are valued based on prices obtained from a pricing service, if available (which may represent market values or fair values). Investments in other open-end funds are valued at their published NAVs. The value of the Fund’s portfolio securities is determined in accordance with the valuation policy approved by the Board (the Valuation Policy). Pursuant to Rule 2a-5 under the 1940 Act, the Board has designated the Investment Manager as the Fund’s valuation designee. The Investment Manager, in turn, has authorized its valuation committee to make fair value determinations and to carry out supervisory and certain other functions relating to the valuation of Fund portfolio securities, pursuant to the Valuation Policy.
If a market price is not readily available or is deemed not to reflect market value for a portfolio security, the Investment Manager will determine the price based on a determination of the security's fair value pursuant to the Valuation Policy. In addition, the Investment Manager may use fair valuation techniques to price securities that trade on a foreign exchange when a significant event has occurred after the foreign exchange closes but before the time at which the Fund’s share price is calculated. Foreign exchanges typically close before the time at which Fund share prices are calculated, and may be closed altogether on days when the Fund is open. Such significant events affecting a foreign security may include, but are not limited to: (1) corporate actions, earnings announcements, litigation or other events impacting a single issuer; (2) governmental action that affects securities in one sector or country; (3)
20
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares (continued)
natural disasters or armed conflicts affecting a country or region; or (4) significant domestic or foreign market fluctuations. The Fund uses various criteria, including an evaluation of U.S. market moves after the close of foreign markets, in determining whether a foreign security's market price is readily available and reflective of market value and, if not, the fair value of the security.
Fair valuation may have the effect of reducing stale pricing arbitrage opportunities presented by the pricing of Fund shares. However, when the Investment Manager uses fair valuation to price equity securities, it may value those securities higher or lower than another fund or manager would. Also, fair valuation of Fund holdings may cause the Fund's performance to diverge to a greater degree from the performance of various benchmark indices used to compare the Fund's performance because indices generally do not use fair valuation techniques. Because of the judgment involved in fair valuation decisions, there can be no assurance that the value ascribed to a particular security is accurate. The Fund has retained one or more independent fair valuation pricing services to assist in the fair valuation process for foreign securities.
Transaction Rules and Policies
The Fund, the Distributor or the Transfer Agent may refuse any order to buy or exchange shares. If this happens, the Fund will return any money it received, but no interest will be paid on that money. Your financial intermediary may have rules and policies in place that are in addition to or different than those described below.
Order Processing
Orders to buy, sell or exchange Fund shares are processed on business days. Depending upon the class of shares, orders can be made by mail, by telephone or online. Orders received in “good form” by the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary before the end of a business day are priced at the NAV per share (plus any applicable sales charge) of the Fund's applicable share class on that day. Orders received after the end of a business day will receive the next business day's NAV per share (plus any applicable sales charge). For Direct-at-Fund Accounts (as defined below), when a written order to buy, sell or exchange shares is sent to the Transfer Agent, the share price used to fill the order is the next price calculated by the Fund after the Transfer Agent receives the transaction request in “good form” at its transaction processing center (i.e., the Fund’s express mail address), not the P.O. Box provided for regular mail delivery. The market value of the Fund's investments may change between the time you submit your order and the time the Fund next calculates its NAV per share. The business day that applies to your order is also called the trade date.
“Good Form”
An order is in “good form” if the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary has received payment (in the case of purchases) and all of the information and documentation it deems necessary to effect your order. For example, when you sell shares, “good form” means that your request (i) has complete instructions and written requests include the signatures of all account owners, (ii) is for an amount that is less than or equal to the shares in your account for which payment has been received and collected, (iii) has a Medallion Signature Guarantee for amounts greater than $100,000 and certain other transactions, as described below, and (iv) includes any other required documents completed and attached. For the documents required for sales by corporations, agents, fiduciaries, surviving joint owners and other legal entities, call 800.345.6611.
Medallion Signature Guarantees
The Transfer Agent may require a Medallion Signature Guarantee for your signature in order to process certain transactions, including if: (i) the transaction amount is over $100,000; (ii) you want your check made payable to someone other than the registered account owner(s); (iii) the address of record has changed within the last 30 days; (iv) you want the check mailed to an address other than the address of record; (v) you want proceeds to be sent according to existing bank account instructions not coded for outgoing Automated Clearing House (ACH) or wire, or to a bank account not on file; or (vi) you are changing legal ownership of your account.
A Medallion Signature Guarantee helps assure that a signature is genuine and not a forgery. A Medallion Signature Guarantee must be provided by an eligible guarantor institution including, but not limited to, the following: a bank, credit union, savings association, broker or dealer that participates in the Securities Transfer Association Medallion
21
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares (continued)
Program (STAMP), the Stock Exchange Medallion Program (SEMP) or the New York Stock Exchange Medallion Signature Program (MSP). For other transactions, the Transfer Agent may require a signature guarantee. Notarization by a notary public is not an acceptable signature guarantee. The Transfer Agent reserves the right to reject a signature guarantee and to request additional documentation for any transaction.
Customer Identification Program
Federal law requires the Fund to obtain and record specific personal information to verify your identity when you open an account. This information may include your name, address, date of birth (for individuals) and taxpayer or other government issued identification (e.g., social security number (SSN) or other taxpayer identification number (TIN)). If you fail to provide the requested information, the Fund may need to delay the date of your purchase or may be unable to open your account, which may result in a return of your investment monies. In addition, if the Fund is unable to verify your identity after your account is open, the Fund reserves the right to close your account or take other steps as deemed reasonable. The Fund will not be liable for any loss resulting from any purchase delay, application rejection or account closure due to a failure to provide proper identifying information.
Small Account Policy — Class A, Class C and Class Inst Share Accounts Below the Minimum Account Balance
The Funds generally will automatically sell your shares if the value of your Fund account (treating each account of the Fund you own separately from any other account of the Fund you may own) falls below the applicable minimum account balance. Any otherwise applicable CDSC will not be imposed on such an automatic sale of your shares. Generally, you may avoid such an automatic sale by raising your account balance to at least $250 or consolidating your multiple accounts you may have with the Funds through an exchange (so as to maintain at least $250 in each of your accounts). The minimum account balance varies among share classes and types of accounts, as follows: 
Minimum Account Balance
 
 
Minimum
Account
Balance
For all classes and account types except those listed below
$250 (None for accounts with
Systematic Investment Plans)
Individual Retirement Accounts for all classes except those listed below
None
Class Adv, Class Inst2 and Class Inst3
None
For shares held directly with the Funds’ Transfer Agent, if your shares are sold, the Transfer Agent will remit the sale proceeds to you. The Transfer Agent will send you written notification in advance of any automatic sale, which will provide details on how you may avoid such an automatic sale. Generally, you may avoid such an automatic sale by raising your account balance to at least $250, consolidating your multiple accounts you may have with the Funds through an exchange (so as to maintain at least $250 in each of your accounts), or setting up a Systematic Investment Plan. For more information, contact the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary. The Transfer Agent's contact information (toll-free number and mailing addresses) as well as the Funds’ website address can be found at the beginning of the section Choosing a Share Class.
For shares purchased and held for your benefit through a financial intermediary, the Funds may instruct the intermediary to automatically sell your Fund shares if the transaction can be operationally administered by the intermediary.
Small Account Policy — Class A, Class C and Class Inst Share Accounts Minimum Balance Fee
If the value of your Fund account (treating each account of the Fund you own separately from any other account of the Fund you may own) falls below the minimum initial investment requirement applicable to you for any reason, including as a result of market decline, your account generally could be subject to a $20 annual fee. The Transfer Agent will reduce the expenses paid by the Fund by any amounts it collects from the assessment of this fee. For Funds that do not have transfer agency expenses against which to offset the amount collected through assessment of this fee, the
22
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares (continued)
fee will be paid directly to the Fund. The Funds reserve the right to lower the account size trigger point for the minimum balance fee in any year or for any class of shares when we believe it is appropriate to do so in light of declines in the market value of Fund shares or for other reasons.
For shares held directly with the Funds’ Transfer Agent, this fee will be assessed through the automatic sale of Fund shares in your account. Any otherwise applicable CDSC will not be imposed on such an automatic sale of your shares. The Transfer Agent will send you written notification in advance of assessing any fee, which will provide details on how you can avoid the imposition of such fee. Generally, you may avoid the imposition of such fee by raising your Fund account balance, consolidating your multiple accounts you may have with the Funds, or setting up a Systematic Investment Plan that invests at least monthly. For more information, contact the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary. The Transfer Agent's contact information (toll-free number and mailing addresses) as well as the Funds’ website address can be found at the beginning of the section Choosing a Share Class.
For shares purchased and held for your benefit through a financial intermediary, this fee could be assessed through the automatic sale of Fund shares in your account if instructed by the Fund and the transaction can be operationally administered by the intermediary.
Exceptions to the Small Account Policy (Accounts Below Minimum Account Balance) and Minimum Balance Fee
The automatic sale of Fund shares in accounts under $250 and the annual minimum balance fee described above do not apply to shareholders of Class Adv, Class Inst2, Class Inst3 and Class S shares; shareholders holding their shares through financial intermediary networked accounts or trust networked accounts; wrap fee and omnibus accounts; accounts with active monthly Systematic Investment Plans; certain qualified retirement plans; and health savings accounts. The automatic sale of Fund shares of accounts under the applicable minimum account balance does not apply to individual retirement plans.
Small Account Policy — Financial Intermediary Networked and Wrap Fee Accounts
The Funds may automatically redeem, at any time, financial intermediary networked accounts and wrap fee accounts that have account balances of $20 or less or have less than one share.
For shares purchased and held for your benefit through a financial intermediary, the Funds may instruct the intermediary to automatically sell your Fund shares if the transaction can be operationally administered by the intermediary.
Information Sharing Agreements
As required by Rule 22c-2 under the 1940 Act, the Funds or certain of their service providers will enter into information sharing agreements with financial intermediaries, including participating life insurance companies and financial intermediaries that sponsor or offer retirement plans through which shares of the Funds are made available for purchase. Pursuant to Rule 22c-2, financial intermediaries are required, upon request, to: (i) provide shareholder account and transaction information; and (ii) execute instructions from the Fund to restrict or prohibit further purchases of Fund shares by shareholders who have been identified by the Fund as having engaged in transactions that violate the Fund's excessive trading policies and procedures.
Excessive Trading Practices Policy
Right to Reject or Restrict Share Transaction Orders — The Fund is intended for investors with long-term investment purposes and is not intended as a vehicle for frequent trading activity (market timing) that is excessive. Investors should transact in Fund shares primarily for investment purposes. The Board has adopted excessive trading policies and procedures that are designed to deter excessive trading by investors (the Excessive Trading Policies and Procedures). The Fund discourages and does not accommodate excessive trading.
The Fund reserves the right to reject, without any prior notice, any purchase or exchange order for any reason, and will not be liable for any loss resulting from rejected orders. For example, the Fund may in its sole discretion restrict or reject a purchase or exchange order even if the transaction is not subject to the specific limitation described below if the Fund or its agents determine that accepting the order could interfere with efficient management of the Fund's
23
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares (continued)
portfolio or is otherwise contrary to the Fund's best interests. The Excessive Trading Policies and Procedures apply equally to purchase or exchange transactions communicated directly to the Transfer Agent and to those received by financial intermediaries.
Specific Buying and Exchanging Limitations — If the Fund detects that an investor has made two “material round trips” in any 28-day period, it will generally reject the investor's future purchase orders, including exchange purchase orders, involving any Fund.
For these purposes, a “round trip” is a purchase or exchange into the Fund followed by a sale or exchange out of the Fund, or a sale or exchange out of the Fund followed by a purchase or exchange into the Fund. A “material” round trip is one that is deemed by the Fund to be material in terms of its amount or its potential detrimental impact on the Fund. Independent of this limit, the Fund may, in its sole discretion, reject future purchase orders by any person, group or account that appears to have engaged in any type of excessive trading activity.
These limits generally do not apply to automated transactions or transactions by registered investment companies in a “fund-of-funds” structure. These limits do not apply to payroll deduction contributions by retirement plan participants, transactions initiated by a retirement plan sponsor or certain other retirement plan transactions consisting of rollover transactions, loan repayments and disbursements, and required minimum distribution redemptions. They may be modified or rescinded for accounts held by certain retirement plans to conform to plan limits, for considerations relating to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 or regulations of the Department of Labor, and for certain asset allocation or wrap programs. Accounts known to be under common ownership or control generally will be counted together, but accounts maintained or managed by a common intermediary generally will not be considered to be under common ownership or control. The Fund reserves the right to modify these restrictions at any time without prior notice to shareholders. In addition, the Fund may, in its sole discretion, reinstate trading privileges that have been revoked under the Fund's Excessive Trading Policies and Procedures.
Limitations on the Ability to Detect and Prevent Excessive Trading Practices — The Fund takes various steps designed to detect and prevent excessive trading, including daily review of available shareholder transaction information. However, the Fund receives buy, sell or exchange orders through financial intermediaries, and cannot always know of or reasonably detect excessive trading that may be facilitated by financial intermediaries or by the use of the omnibus account arrangements they offer. Omnibus account arrangements are common forms of holding shares of mutual funds, particularly among certain financial intermediaries such as broker-dealers, retirement plans and variable insurance products. These arrangements often permit financial intermediaries to aggregate their clients' transactions and accounts, and in these circumstances, the identities of the financial intermediary clients that beneficially own Fund shares are often not known to the Fund.
Some financial intermediaries apply their own restrictions or policies to their clients’ transactions and accounts, which may be more or less restrictive than those described here. This may impact the Fund's ability to curtail excessive trading, even where it is identified. For these and other reasons, it is possible that excessive trading may occur despite the Fund's efforts to detect and prevent it.
Although these restrictions and policies involve judgments that are inherently subjective and may involve some selectivity in their application, the Fund seeks to act in a manner that it believes is consistent with the best interests of Fund shareholders in making any such judgments.
Risks of Excessive Trading — Excessive trading creates certain risks to the Fund's long-term shareholders and may create the following adverse effects:
■
negative impact on the Fund's performance;
■
potential dilution of the value of the Fund's shares;
■
interference with the efficient management of the Fund's portfolio, such as the need to maintain undesirably large cash positions, the need to use its line of credit or the need to buy or sell securities it otherwise would not have bought or sold;
■
losses on the sale of investments resulting from the need to sell securities at less favorable prices;
24
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares (continued)
■
increased taxable gains to the Fund's remaining shareholders resulting from the need to sell securities to meet sell orders; and
■
increased brokerage and administrative costs.
To the extent that the Fund invests significantly in foreign securities traded on markets that close before the Fund's valuation time, it may be particularly susceptible to dilution, which may be exacerbated as a result of excessive trading. Because events may occur after the close of foreign markets and before the Fund's valuation time that influence the value of foreign securities, investors may seek to trade Fund shares in an effort to benefit from their understanding of the value of foreign securities as of the Fund's valuation time. This is often referred to as price arbitrage. The Fund has adopted procedures designed to adjust closing market prices of foreign securities under certain circumstances to reflect what the Fund believes to be the fair value of those securities as of its valuation time. To the extent the adjustments do not work fully, investors engaging in price arbitrage may cause dilution in the value of the Fund's shares held by other shareholders.
The Columbia Acorn Funds may invest in thinly traded equity securities of small-capitalization companies. Because these securities are often traded infrequently, investors may seek to trade Fund shares in an effort to benefit from their understanding of the value of these securities as of the Fund's valuation time. This is also a type of price arbitrage. Any such frequent trading strategies may interfere with efficient management of the Fund's portfolio to a greater degree than would be the case for mutual funds that invest only, or significantly, in highly liquid securities, in part because the Fund may have difficulty selling these particular investments at advantageous times or prices to satisfy large and/or frequent sell orders. Any successful price arbitrage may also cause dilution in the value of Fund shares held by non-redeeming shareholders.
Opening an Account and Placing Orders
We encourage you to consult with a financial advisor who can help you with your investment decisions and who can help you open an account. Once you have an account, you can buy, sell or exchange shares by contacting your financial advisor who will send your order to the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary. As described below, once you have an account you can also communicate your orders directly to the Transfer Agent by mail, by telephone or online.
The Funds are generally available directly and through broker-dealers, banks and other financial intermediaries or institutions, and through certain qualified and non-qualified plans, wrap fee products or other investment products sponsored by financial intermediaries. You may buy, sell, or exchange shares through your financial intermediary. If you maintain your account directly with your financial intermediary, you must contact that agent to process your transaction.
Not all financial intermediaries offer the Funds (or all classes of Fund shares) and certain financial intermediaries that offer the Funds may not offer all Funds on all investment platforms or programs. Please consult with your financial intermediary to determine the availability of the Funds. If you set up an account at a financial intermediary that does not have, and is unable to obtain, a selling agreement with the Distributor, you will not be able to transfer Fund holdings to that account. In that event, you must either maintain your Fund holdings with your current financial intermediary or find another financial intermediary with a selling agreement.
Financial intermediaries that offer the Funds may charge you additional fees for the services they provide and they may have different policies that are not described in this prospectus. An investor transacting in a class of Fund shares without any front-end sales charge, CDSC, or other asset-based fee for sales or distribution, such as a Rule 12b-1 fee, may be required to pay a commission to the financial intermediary for effecting such transactions. The Funds are offered in a number of different share classes that have different fees and expenses and other features. Some differences in the policies of different financial intermediaries may include different minimum investment amounts, exchange privileges, Fund/class choices and cutoff times for investments. Additionally, recordkeeping, transaction processing and payments of distributions relating to your account may be performed by the financial intermediaries through which your shares of the Fund are held. Since the Fund (and its service providers) may not have a record of your account transactions, you should always contact the financial intermediary through which you purchased or at which you maintain your shares of the Fund to make changes to your account, to give instructions
25
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares (continued)
concerning your account, or to obtain information about your account. The Fund and its service providers, including the Distributor and the Transfer Agent, are not responsible for the failure of any financial intermediary to carry out its obligations to its customers.
The Fund may engage financial intermediaries to receive purchase, exchange and sell orders on its behalf. Accounts established directly with the Fund will be serviced by the Transfer Agent. The Funds, the Transfer Agent and the Distributor do not provide investment advice.
Direct-At-Fund Accounts (Accounts Held Directly with the Fund)
Fund shares can be held in a variety of ways. You can hold Fund shares through an account established and held through the financial intermediary through which you purchased Fund shares, or you or your financial intermediary can establish an account directly with the Fund, in which case you will receive Fund account transaction confirmations and statements from the Transfer Agent, and not your financial intermediary (Direct-at-Fund Accounts). Direct-at-Fund Accounts include accounts held at the Transfer Agent that do not or no longer have a financial intermediary assigned to them.
To open a Direct-at-Fund Account, complete a Fund account application with your financial advisor or investment professional, and mail the account application to the Transfer Agent. Account applications may be obtained at columbiathreadneedleus.com or may be requested by calling 800.345.6611. Make your check payable to the Fund. You will be assessed a $15 fee for any checks rejected by your financial institution due to insufficient funds or other reasons. The Funds do not accept cash, credit card convenience checks, money orders, traveler's checks, starter checks, third or fourth party checks, or other cash equivalents.
Mail your check and completed application to the Transfer Agent at its regular or express mail address that can be found at the beginning of the section Choosing a Share Class. You may also use these addresses to request an exchange or redemption of Fund shares. When a written order to buy, sell or exchange shares is sent to the Transfer Agent, the share price used to fill the order is the next price calculated by the Fund after the Transfer Agent receives your transaction request in “good form” at its transaction processing center (i.e., the Fund’s express mail address), not the P.O. Box provided for regular mail delivery.
You will be sent a statement confirming your purchase and any subsequent transactions in your account. You will also be sent quarterly and annual statements detailing your transactions in the Fund and the other Funds you own under the same account. Duplicate quarterly account statements for the current year and duplicate annual statements for the most recent prior calendar year will be sent to you free of charge. Copies of year-end statements for prior years are available for a fee. Please contact the Transfer Agent for more information.
Written Transactions – Direct-at-Fund Accounts
If you have a Direct-at-Fund Account, you can communicate written buy, sell or exchange orders to the Transfer Agent at its address that can be found at the beginning of the section Choosing a Share Class. When a written order to buy, sell or exchange shares is sent to the Transfer Agent, the share price used to fill the order is the next price calculated by the Fund after the Transfer Agent receives your transaction request in “good form” at its transaction processing center (i.e., the Fund’s express mail address), not the P.O. Box provided for regular mail delivery.
Include in your transaction request letter: your name; the name of the Fund(s); your account number; the class of shares to be purchased, exchanged or sold; your SSN or other TIN; the dollar amount or number of shares you want to purchase, exchange or sell; specific instructions regarding delivery of any redemption proceeds or exchange destination (i.e., the Fund/class to be exchanged into); signature(s) of all registered account owner(s); and any special documents the Transfer Agent may require in order to process your order.
Corporate, trust or partnership accounts may need to send additional documents. Payment will be mailed to the address of record and made payable to the names listed on the account, unless your request specifies differently and is signed by all owners.
26
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares (continued)
Telephone Transactions – Direct-at-Fund Accounts
For Class A, Class C, Class Inst, Class Inst3 and (only for redemptions) Class S shares, if you have a Direct-at-Fund Account, you may place orders to buy, sell or exchange shares by telephone through the Transfer Agent. To place orders by telephone, call 800.422.3737. Have your account number and SSN or TIN available when calling.
You can sell Fund shares via telephone and receive redemption proceeds: by electronic funds transfer via ACH, by wire, or by check to the address of record, subject to a maximum of $100,000 of shares per day, per Fund account. You can buy Fund shares via telephone by electronic funds transfer via ACH from your bank account up to a maximum of $100,000 of shares per day, per Fund account, or by wire from your bank account without a maximum. See below for more information regarding wire and electronic fund transfer transactions. Certain restrictions apply, so please call the Transfer Agent at 800.422.3737 for this and other information in advance of any need to transact via telephone.
Telephone orders may not be as secure as written orders. The Fund will take reasonable steps to confirm that telephone instructions are genuine. For example, we require proof of your identification before we will act on instructions received by telephone and may record telephone conversations. However, the Fund and its agents will not be responsible for any losses, costs or expenses resulting from an unauthorized telephone instruction when reasonable steps have been taken to confirm that telephone instructions are genuine. Telephone orders may be difficult to complete during periods of significant economic or market change or business interruption.
Online Transactions – Direct-at-Fund Accounts
For Class A, Class C, Class Inst, Class Inst3 and (only for redemptions) Class S shares, if you have a Direct-at-Fund Account, you may be able to place orders to buy, sell, or exchange shares online. Contact the Transfer Agent at 800.345.6611 for more information on certain account trading restrictions and the special sign-up procedures required for online transactions. You can also go to columbiathreadneedleus.com/investor/ to sign up for online transactions. The Transfer Agent has procedures in place to authenticate electronic orders you send through the internet. You will be required to accept the terms of an online agreement and to establish an online account and utilize a password in order to access online account services. You can sell a maximum of $100,000 of shares per day, per Fund account through your online account if you qualify for internet orders. Wire transactions are not permitted online.
Wire Transactions – Direct-at-Fund Accounts
If you hold a Direct-at-Fund Account, you may purchase or redeem Class A, Class C, Class Inst, Class Inst3 and (only for redemptions) Class S shares of a Fund by wiring money from (or to) your bank account to (or from) your Fund account. You must set up this feature prior to your request unless you are submitting your request in writing, which may require a Medallion Signature Guarantee. Please contact the Transfer Agent by calling 800.422.3737 to obtain the necessary forms and requirements. The Transfer Agent charges a fee for shares sold by wire. The Transfer Agent may waive the fee for certain accounts. In the case of a redemption, the receiving bank may charge an additional fee. The minimum amount that can be redeemed by wire is $500. When selling Fund shares via a telephone request, the maximum amount that can be redeemed via wire transfer is $100,000 per day, per Fund account. Wire transactions are not permitted online.
Electronic Funds Transfer via ACH – Direct-at-Fund Accounts
If you hold a Direct-at-Fund Account, you may purchase or redeem Class A, Class C, Class Inst, Class Inst3 and (only for redemptions) Class S shares of a Fund by electronically transferring money via Automated Clearing House (ACH) from (or to) your bank account to (or from) your Fund account subject to a maximum of $100,000 of shares per day, per Fund account. You must set up this feature prior to your request, unless you are submitting your request in writing, which may require a Medallion Signature Guarantee. Please contact the Transfer Agent by calling 800.422.3737 to obtain the necessary forms and requirements. Your bank may take up to three business days to post an electronic funds transfer to (or from) your Fund account.
27
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares (continued)
Buying Shares
Eligible Investors
Class A Shares
Class A shares are available to the general public for investment.
Class Adv Shares (Prior to November 22, 2024)
Class Adv shares are available only to (i) omnibus retirement plans, including self-directed brokerage accounts within omnibus retirement plans that clear through institutional no transaction fee (NTF) platforms, (ii) trust companies or similar institutions, (iii) broker-dealers, banks, trust companies and similar institutions that clear Fund share transactions for their client or customer investment advisory or similar accounts through designated financial intermediaries and their mutual fund trading platforms that have been granted specific written authorization from the Transfer Agent with respect to Class Adv eligibility apart from selling, servicing or similar agreements, (iv) 501(c)(3) charitable organizations, (v) 529 plans, (vi) health savings accounts, (vii) investors participating in a fee-based advisory program sponsored by a financial intermediary or other entity that is not compensated by the Fund for those services, other than payments for shareholder servicing or sub-accounting performed in place of the Transfer Agent, and (viii) commissionable brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary, acting as broker on behalf of its customer, charges the customer a commission for effecting transactions in Fund shares, provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Adv shares within such platform.
Class C Shares
Class C shares are available to the general public for investment, except that Direct-at-Fund Accounts that do not have a financial intermediary assigned to them are not permitted to purchase Class C shares; Class C share purchase orders received from Direct-at-Fund Accounts that do not have a financial intermediary assigned to the account will automatically be invested in Class A shares of the same Fund.
Class Inst Shares (Prior to November 1, 2024)
Class Inst shares are available only to the categories of eligible investors described below under Class Inst Shares Minimum Initial Investments. Financial intermediaries that clear Fund share transactions through designated financial intermediaries and their mutual fund trading platforms that were given specific written notice from the Transfer Agent of the termination, effective March 29, 2013, of their eligibility for new purchases of Class Inst shares and omnibus retirement plans are not permitted to establish new Class Inst accounts, subject to certain exceptions described below.
Omnibus retirement plans that opened and, subject to certain exceptions, funded a Class Inst account with the Fund as of the close of business on March 28, 2013 and have continuously held Class Inst shares in such account after such date (each, a grandfathered plan), may generally continue to make additional purchases of Class Inst shares, open new Class Inst accounts and add new participants. In addition, an omnibus retirement plan affiliated with a grandfathered plan may, in the sole discretion of the Distributor, open new Class Inst accounts in a Fund if the affiliated plan opened a Class Inst account on or before March 28, 2013. If an omnibus retirement plan invested in Class Inst shares changes recordkeepers after March 28, 2013, any new accounts established for that plan may not be established in Class Inst shares, but such a plan may establish new accounts in a different share class for which the plan is eligible.
Accounts of financial intermediaries (other than omnibus retirement plans, which are discussed above) that clear Fund share transactions for their client or customer accounts through designated financial intermediaries and their mutual fund trading platforms that received specific written notice from the Transfer Agent of the termination, effective March 29, 2013, of their eligibility for new purchases of Class Inst shares will not be permitted to establish new Class Inst accounts or make additional purchases of Class Inst shares (other than through reinvestment of distributions). Any such account may, at its holder’s option, exchange Class Inst shares of a Fund, without the payment of a sales charge, for Class A shares of the same Fund.
28
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares (continued)
Class Inst Shares (Effective November 1, 2024)
Class Inst shares are available only to (i) omnibus retirement plans, including self-directed brokerage accounts within omnibus retirement plans that clear through institutional no transaction fee (NTF) and transaction fee (TF) platforms, (ii) trust companies or similar institutions, (iii) broker-dealers, banks, trust companies and similar institutions that clear Fund share transactions for their client or customer investment advisory or similar accounts through designated financial intermediaries and their mutual fund trading platforms that have been granted specific written authorization from the Distributor with respect to Class Inst eligibility apart from selling, servicing or similar agreements, (iv) 501(c)(3) charitable organizations, (v) 529 plans, (vi) health savings accounts, (vii) investors participating in a fee-based advisory program sponsored by a financial intermediary or other entity that is not compensated by the Fund for those services, other than payments for shareholder servicing or sub-accounting performed in place of the Transfer Agent, (viii) commissionable brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary, acting as broker on behalf of its customer, charges the customer a commission for effecting transactions in Fund shares, provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst shares within such platform; (ix) any current employee of Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC, the Distributor or Transfer Agent and immediate family members of the foregoing who share the same address and (x) financial intermediaries that have entered into a written agreement with the Distributor to offer Class Inst shares through a no-load or investment program.
Class Inst2 Shares
Class Inst2 shares are available only to (i) certain registered investment advisers and family offices that clear Fund share transactions for their client or customer accounts through designated financial intermediaries and their mutual fund trading platforms that have been granted specific written authorization from the Transfer Agent with respect to Class Inst2 eligibility apart from selling, servicing or similar agreements; (ii) omnibus retirement plans; (iii) health savings accounts, provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst2 shares within such platform and that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account; and (iv) institutional investors that are clients of the Columbia Threadneedle Global Institutional Distribution Team that invest in Class Inst2 shares for their own account through platforms approved by the Distributor or an affiliate thereof to offer and/or service Class Inst2 shares within such platform. Prior to November 8, 2012, Class Inst2 shares were closed to new investors and new accounts, subject to certain exceptions. Existing shareholders who do not satisfy the new eligibility requirements for investment in Class Inst2 may not establish new Class Inst2 accounts but may continue to make additional purchases of Class Inst2 shares in accounts opened and funded prior to November 8, 2012; provided, however, that investment advisory programs and similar programs that opened a Class Inst2 account as of May 1, 2010, and continuously hold Class Inst2 shares in such account after such date, may generally not only continue to make additional purchases of Class Inst2 shares but also open new Class Inst2 accounts for such pre-existing programs and add new shareholders in the program.
Class Inst3 Shares
Class Inst3 shares are available to: (i) group retirement plans that maintain plan-level or omnibus accounts with the Fund (through the Transfer Agent); (ii) institutional investors that are clients of the Columbia Threadneedle Global Institutional Distribution Team that invest in Class Inst3 shares for their own account through platforms approved by the Distributor or an affiliate thereof to offer and/or service Class Inst3 shares within such platform; (iii) collective trust funds; (iv) affiliated or unaffiliated mutual funds (e.g., funds operating as funds-of-funds); (v) fee-based platforms of financial intermediaries (or the clearing intermediary that they trade through) that have an agreement with the Distributor or an affiliate thereof that specifically authorizes the financial intermediary to offer and/or service Class Inst3 shares within such platform, provided also that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account; (vi) commissionable brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary, acting as broker on behalf of its customer, charges the customer a commission for effecting transactions in Fund shares, provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst3 shares within such platform and that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account; (vii) health savings accounts, provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst3 shares within such platform and that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account; and (viii) bank trust departments, subject
29
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares (continued)
to an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst3 shares and provided that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account. In each case above where noted that Fund shares are required to be held in an omnibus account, the Distributor may, in its discretion, determine to waive this requirement.
Class S Shares
Effective on or about October 2, 2024, Class S shares are available (i) to be held, but not purchased, by accounts of financial intermediaries that, with specific written permission from the Distributor, have instructed the Fund to exchange Class Inst shares for Class S shares; and (ii) to be held and purchased by omnibus group retirement plans that (A) opened and, subject to exceptions, funded a Class Inst share account as of the close of business on March 28, 2013 and have continuously held Class Inst shares in such account through at least September 30, 2024 and (B) received specific written permission from the Distributor to exchange Class Inst shares for Class S shares. Only omnibus retirement plans referenced in (ii) above may purchase Class S shares, open new Class S accounts, or add new plan participants to a Class S shares omnibus retirement plan account. Otherwise, Class S shares are not available for purchase (other than through the reinvestment of distributions on Class S shares).
Additional Eligible Investors
In addition, the Distributor, in its sole discretion, may accept investments in any share class from investors other than those listed in this prospectus, and may also waive certain eligibility requirements for operational and other reasons, including but not limited to any requirement to maintain Fund shares in networked or omnibus accounts.
Minimum Initial Investments
The table below shows the Fund’s minimum initial investment requirements, which may vary by class and type of account.
The Fund reserves the right to redeem your shares if your account falls below the Fund’s minimum initial investment requirement. 
Minimum Initial Investments
 
Minimum
Initial
Investment(a)
Minimum
Initial Investment
for Accounts
with Systematic
Investment Plans
For all classes and account types except those listed below
$2,000
$100
Individual Retirement Accounts for all classes except those listed below
$1,000
$100
Group retirement plans
None
N/A
Class Adv and Class Inst
$0, $1,000 or $2,000(b)
$100(b)
Class Inst2
None
N/A
Class Inst3
$0, $1,000, $2,000 or $1 million(c)
$100(c)
(a)
If your Class A, Class Adv, Class C, Class Inst, or Class Inst3 shares account balance falls below the minimum initial investment amount for any reason, including a market decline, you may be asked to increase it to the minimum initial investment amount or establish a monthly Systematic Investment Plan. If you do not do so, your account will be subject to a $20 annual low balance fee and/or shares may be automatically redeemed and the proceeds mailed to you if the account falls below the minimum account balance. See Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares — Transaction Rules and Policies above. There is no minimum initial investment in Class A shares for accounts held in an omnibus account on a mutual fund only platform offered through your financial intermediary.
(b)
Prior to November 22, 2024,the minimum initial investment in Class Adv shares is $2,000 ($1,000 for IRAs; $100 for monthly Systematic Investment Plan accounts) for commissionable brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary, acting as broker on behalf of its customers, charges the customer a commission for effecting transactions in Fund shares, provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Adv shares within such platform; for all other eligible Class Adv share investors (see Buying Shares – Eligible Investors – Class Adv Shares above), there is no minimum initial investment. Theminimum initial investment amount for Class Inst shares is $0, $1,000 or $2,000 depending upon the category of eligible investor. See — Class Inst Shares Minimum Initial Investments below. The minimum initial investment amount for monthly Systematic Investment Plan accounts is the same as the amount set forth in the first two rows of the table, as applicable.
(c)
There is no minimum initial investment in Class Inst3 shares for: group retirement plans that maintain plan-level or omnibus accounts with the Fund; collective trust funds; affiliated or unaffiliated mutual funds (e.g., funds operating as funds-of-funds); and fee -based platforms of financial intermediaries (or the clearing intermediary that they trade through) that have an agreement with the Distributor or an affiliate thereof
30
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares (continued)
that specifically authorizes the financial intermediary to offer and/or service Class Inst3 shares within such platform and Fund shares are held in an omnibus account. The minimum initial investment in Class Inst3 shares is $2,000 ($1,000 for IRAs; $100 for monthly Systematic Investment Plan accounts) for commissionable brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary, acting as broker on behalf of its customer, charges the customer a commission for effecting transactions in Fund shares, provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst3 shares within such platform and Fund shares are held in an omnibus account. The minimum initial investment in Class Inst3 shares is $1 million, unless waived in the discretion of the Distributor, for the following investors: institutional investors that are clients of the Columbia Threadneedle Global Institutional Distribution Team that invest in Class Inst3 shares for their own account through platforms approved by the Distributor or an affiliate thereof to offer and/or service Class Inst3 shares within such platform; and bank trust departments, subject to an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst3 shares and provided that Fund shares are held in an omnibus account. The Distributor may, in its discretion, waive the $1 million minimum initial investment required for these Class Inst3 investors. In each case above where noted that Fund shares are required to be held in an omnibus account, the Distributor, may, in its discretion, determine to waive this requirement.
Additional Information about Minimum Initial Investments
The minimum initial investment requirements may be waived for accounts that are managed by an investment professional, or for accounts held in approved discretionary or non-discretionary wrap programs. The Distributor, in its sole discretion, may also waive minimum initial investment requirements for other account types.
Minimum investment and related requirements may be modified at any time, with or without prior notice. If your account is closed and then re-opened with a Systematic Investment Plan, your account must meet the then-current applicable minimum initial investment.
Class Inst Shares Minimum Initial Investments
There is no minimum initial investment in Class Inst shares for the following categories of eligible investors:
■
Any health savings account sponsored by a third party platform.
■
Any investor participating in an account sponsored by a financial intermediary or other entity (that provides services to the account) that is paid a fee-based advisory fee by the investor and that is not compensated by the Fund for those services, other than payments for shareholder servicing or sub-accounting performed in place of the Transfer Agent.
■
Any commissionable brokerage account, if a financial intermediary has received a written approval from the Distributor to waive the minimum initial investment in Class Inst shares.
■
Any Trustee (or family member) of Columbia Acorn Trust.
■
Any employee (or family member) of the Investment Manager.
The minimum initial investment in Class Inst shares for the following categories of eligible investors is $1,000:
■
Individual retirement accounts (IRAs) on commissionable brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary, acting as broker on behalf of its customer, charges the customer a commission for effecting transactions in Fund shares, provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst shares within such platform.
■
Any current employee of Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC, the Distributor or the Transfer Agent and immediate family members of any of the foregoing who share the same address are eligible to invest in Class Inst shares through an individual retirement account (IRA). If you maintain your account with a financial intermediary, you must contact that financial intermediary each time you seek to purchase shares to notify them that you qualify for Class Inst shares. If Class Inst shares are not available at your financial intermediary, you may consider opening a Direct-at-Fund Account. It is your obligation to advise your financial intermediary or (in the case of Direct-at-Fund Accounts) the Transfer Agent that you qualify for Class Inst shares; be prepared to provide proof thereof.
The minimum initial investment in Class Inst shares for the following categories of eligible investors is $2,000:
■
Investors (except investors in individual retirement accounts (IRAs)) who purchase Fund shares through commissionable brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary holds the shares in an omnibus account and, acting as broker on behalf of its customer, charges the customer a commission for effecting transactions in Fund shares provided that the financial intermediary has an agreement with the Distributor that specifically authorizes offering Class Inst shares within such platform.
31
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares (continued)
■
Any current employee of Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC, the Distributor or the Transfer Agent and immediate family members of any of the foregoing who share the same address are eligible to invest in Class Inst shares (other than individual retirement accounts (IRAs), for which the minimum initial investment is $1,000). If you maintain your account with a financial intermediary, you must contact that financial intermediary each time you seek to purchase shares to notify them that you qualify for Class Inst shares. If Class Inst shares are not available at your financial intermediary, you may consider opening a Direct-at-Fund Account. It is your obligation to advise your financial intermediary or (in the case of Direct-at-Fund Accounts) the Transfer Agent that you qualify for Class Inst shares; be prepared to provide proof thereof.
■
Certain financial institutions and intermediaries, such as insurance companies, trust companies, banks, endowments, investment companies or foundations, buying shares for their own account, including Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates and/or subsidiaries.
■
Bank trust departments that assess their clients an asset-based fee.
■
Any trustee or director (or family member of a trustee or director) of a fund distributed by the Distributor (other than the Columbia Acorn Funds).
■
Certain other investors as set forth in more detail in the SAI.
Systematic Investment Plan
The Systematic Investment Plan allows you to schedule regular purchases via automatic transfers from your bank account to the Fund on a monthly, quarterly or semiannual basis. Contact the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary to set up the plan. Systematic Investment Plans may not be available for all share classes. With the exception of Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Systematic Investment Plan purchases will be confirmed on your quarterly account statement. Columbia Government Money Market Fund Systematic Investment Plan purchases will be confirmed at the time of the purchase. If establishing a Systematic Investment Plan to reduce the initial fund minimum, the plan needs to be established monthly to avoid the small account fee.
Dividend Diversification
Generally, you may automatically invest Fund distributions into the same class of shares (and in some cases certain other classes of shares) of another Fund without paying any applicable front-end sales charge. Call the Transfer Agent at 800.345.6611 for details. The ability to invest distributions from one Fund to another Fund may not be available to accounts held at all financial intermediaries.
Other Purchase Rules You Should Know
■
Once the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary receives your purchase order in “good form,” your purchase will be made at the Fund’s next calculated public offering price per share, which is the NAV per share plus any sales charge that applies (i.e., the trade date).
■
Once the Fund receives your purchase request in “good form,” you cannot cancel it after the market closes.
■
You generally buy Class A shares at the public offering price per share because purchases of these share classes are generally subject to a front-end sales charge.
■
Subject to Class eligibility, you buy Class Adv, Class C, Class Inst, Class Inst2, Class Inst3 and Class S shares at NAV per share because no front-end sales charge applies to purchases of these share classes.
■
The Distributor and the Transfer Agent reserve the right to cancel your order request if the Fund does not receive payment within two business days of receiving your purchase order request. The Fund will return any payment received for orders that have been cancelled, but no interest will be paid on that money.
■
Financial intermediaries are responsible for sending your purchase orders to the Transfer Agent and ensuring that the Fund receives your money on time.
■
Shares purchased are recorded on the books of the Fund. The Fund does not issue certificates.
■
You generally may make a purchase only into a Fund that is accepting investments.
32
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares (continued)
Please also read Appendix A and contact your financial intermediary for more information regarding any reductions and/or waivers described therein.
Selling Shares
When you sell shares, the amount you receive may be more or less than the amount you invested. Your sale price will be the next NAV calculated after your request is received in “good form,” (i.e., the trade date) minus any applicable CDSC.
Systematic Withdrawal Plan
The Systematic Withdrawal Plan allows you to schedule regular redemptions from your account any business day on a monthly, quarterly or semiannual basis. Currently, Systematic Withdrawal Plans are generally available for Class A, Class Adv, Class C, Class Inst, Class Inst2, Class Inst3 and Class S share accounts. Contact the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary to set up the plan. To set up the plan, your account balance must meet the class minimum initial investment amount. A Systematic Withdrawal Plan cannot be set up on an account that already has a Systematic Investment Plan established. Note that a Medallion Signature Guarantee may be required if this service is established after your Fund account is opened.
You can choose to receive your withdrawals via check or direct deposit into your bank account. The Fund will deduct any applicable CDSC from the withdrawals before sending redemption proceeds to you. You can cancel the plan by giving the Fund 30 days’ notice in writing or by calling the Transfer Agent at 800.422.3737. It’s important to remember that if you withdraw more than your investment in the Fund is earning, you'll eventually withdraw your entire investment.
Satisfying Fund Redemption Requests
When you sell your Fund shares, the Fund is effectively buying them back from you. This is called a redemption. Except as noted below with respect to newly purchased shares, the Fund typically expects to send you payment for your shares within two business days after your trade date. The Fund can suspend redemptions and/or delay payment of redemption proceeds for up to seven days. The Fund can also suspend redemptions and/or delay payment of redemption proceeds in excess of seven days under certain circumstances, including when the NYSE is closed or trading thereon is restricted or during emergency or other circumstances, including as determined by the SEC.
The Fund typically seeks to satisfy redemption requests from cash or cash equivalents held by the Fund, from the proceeds of orders to purchase Fund shares or from the proceeds of sales of Fund holdings effected in the normal course of managing the Fund. However, the Fund may have to sell Fund holdings, including in down markets, to meet heavier than usual redemption requests. For example, under stressed or abnormal market conditions or circumstances, including circumstances adversely affecting the liquidity of the Fund’s investments, the Fund may be more likely to be forced to sell Fund holdings to meet redemptions than under normal market circumstances. In these situations, the Fund’s portfolio managers may have to sell Fund holdings that would not otherwise be sold because, among other reasons, the current price to be received is less than the value of the holdings perceived by the Fund’s portfolio managers. The Fund may also, under certain circumstances (likely under stressed or abnormal market conditions or circumstances), borrow money under a credit facility to which the Fund and certain other Columbia Funds are parties. The Fund and the other Columbia Funds are limited as to the amount that each may individually and collectively borrow under the credit facility. As a result, borrowings available to the Fund under the credit facility might be insufficient, alone or in combination with the other strategies described herein, to satisfy Fund redemption requests. Please see About Fund Investments – Borrowings in the SAI for more information about the credit facility. The Fund is also limited in the total amount it may borrow. Please see About Fund Investments – Fundamental and Non-Fundamental Investment Policies in the SAI for more information about borrowing.
In addition, the Fund reserves the right to honor redemption orders in whole or in part with in-kind distributions of Fund portfolio securities instead of cash. Such in-kind distributions typically represent a pro-rata portion of Fund portfolio assets subject to adjustments (e.g., for non-transferable securities, round lots, and derivatives, if any). In the event the Fund distributes portfolio securities in kind, you may incur brokerage and other transaction costs
33
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares (continued)
associated with converting the portfolio securities you receive into cash. Also, the portfolio securities you receive may increase or decrease in value after they are distributed but before you convert them into cash. For U.S. federal income tax purposes, redemptions paid in securities are generally treated the same as redemptions paid in cash. The Trust has elected to be governed by Rule 18f-1 under the 1940 Act, which means that for each redeeming shareholder, the first $250,000, or 1% of the Fund's net asset value, whichever is less, will be paid in cash or cash equivalents and the remainder may be paid in kind.
While the Fund is not required (and may refuse in its discretion) to pay a redemption with an in-kind distribution of Fund portfolio securities and reserves the right to pay the redemption proceeds in cash, if you wish to request an in-kind redemption, please call the Transfer Agent at 800.345.6611. As a result of the operational steps needed to coordinate with the redeeming shareholder’s custodian, in-kind redemptions typically take several weeks to complete after a redemption request is received. The Fund and the redeeming shareholder will typically agree upon a redemption date. Since the Fund’s NAV may fluctuate during this time, the Fund’s NAV may be lower on the agreed-upon redemption date than on an earlier date on which the investment could have been redeemed for cash.
Redemption of Newly Purchased Shares
You may not redeem shares for which the Fund has not yet received payment. Shares purchased by check or electronically by ACH when the purchase payment is not guaranteed will be considered in “good form” for redemption only after they have been held in your account for 6 calendar days after the trade date of the purchase (Collected Shares). If you request a redemption for an amount that, based on the NAV next calculated after your redemption request is received, includes any shares that are not yet Collected Shares, the Fund will only process the redemption up to the amount of the value of Collected Shares available in your account. You must submit a new redemption request if you wish to redeem those shares that were not yet Collected Shares at the time the original redemption request was received by the Fund.
Other Redemption Rules You Should Know
■
Once the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary receives your redemption order in “good form,” your shares will be sold at the Fund’s next calculated NAV per share (i.e., the trade date). Any applicable CDSC will be deducted from the amount you're selling and the balance will be remitted to you.
■
Once the Fund receives your redemption request in “good form,” you cannot cancel it after the market closes.
■
The Distributor, in its sole discretion, reserves the right to liquidate Fund shares (of any class of the Fund) held in an omnibus account of a financial intermediary that clears Fund share transactions through a clearing intermediary or platform that charges certain maintenance fees to the Fund if the value of the omnibus account, at the Fund share class (i.e., CUSIP) level, falls below $100,000 (a CUSIP Liquidation Event). The Distributor will provide at least 90 days’ notice of a CUSIP Liquidation Event to financial intermediaries with impacted omnibus accounts. Shareholders invested in the Fund through such omnibus accounts can request through their financial intermediary a tax-free exchange to Class A shares or shareholders can consider holding their Fund shares in a Direct-at-Fund Account, provided requirements to transfer the account are fulfilled. You should discuss your options with your financial intermediary.
■
Effective July 1, 2024, the Distributor, in its sole discretion, reserves the right to liquidate shares of Class Inst of any Fund held by retirement plan recordkeepers or on TF or NTF brokerage platforms where the financial intermediary holds the shares in an omnibus account and in accounts with a value less than $5,000,000. The Distributor will provide at least 90 days’ notice of such a liquidation to financial intermediaries with impacted accounts. Shareholders invested in a Fund through such accounts can request a tax-free exchange to Class A, Advisor Class or Class Inst2 shares, depending upon eligibility and provided requirements to transfer the account are fulfilled.
■
If you sell your shares that are held in a Direct-at-Fund Account, we will normally send the redemption proceeds by mail or electronically transfer them to your bank account the next business day after the trade date. Note that your bank may take up to three business days to post an electronic funds transfer from your account.
■
If you sell your shares through a financial intermediary, the Funds will normally send the redemption proceeds to your financial intermediary within two business days after the trade date.
34
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares (continued)
■
No interest will be paid on uncashed redemption checks.
■
Other restrictions may apply to retirement accounts. For information about these restrictions, contact your retirement plan administrator.
■
For broker-dealer and wrap fee accounts: The Fund reserves the right to redeem your shares if your account falls below the Fund's minimum initial investment requirement. The Fund will notify your broker-dealer prior to redeeming shares, and will provide details on how to avoid such redemption.
■
Also keep in mind the Funds' Small Account Policy, which is described above in Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares — Transaction Rules and Policies.
Exchanging Shares
You can generally sell shares of your Fund to buy shares of another Fund (subject to eligibility requirements), in what is called an exchange. You should read the prospectus of, and make sure you understand the investment objective, principal investment strategies, risks, fees and expenses of, the Fund into which you are exchanging. Although the Funds allow certain exchanges from one share class to another share class with higher expenses, you should consider the expenses of each class before making such an exchange. Please see Same-Fund Exchange Privilege below for more information.
You will be subject to a sales charge if, in a Direct-at-Fund Account, you exchange shares that have not previously paid a sales charge, including from Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund, Columbia Small Cap Index Fund, Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund or any other Columbia Fund that does not charge a front-end sales charge, into a Columbia Fund that does assess a sales charge. If you hold your Fund shares through certain financial intermediaries, you may have limited exchangeability among the Funds. Please contact your financial intermediary for more information.
Systematic Exchanges
You may buy Class A, Class C, Class Inst and Class Inst3 shares of a Fund by exchanging each month from another Fund for shares of the same class of the Fund at no additional cost, subject to the following exchange amount minimums: $50 each month for individual retirement accounts (i.e., tax qualified accounts); and $100 each month for non-retirement accounts. Contact the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary to set up the plan.
Exchanges will continue as long as your balance in the Fund you are exchanging shares from is sufficient to complete the systematic monthly exchange, subject to the Funds' Small Account Policy described above in Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares — Transaction Rules and Policies. You may terminate the program or change the amount you would like to exchange (subject to the $50 and $100 minimum requirements noted immediately above) by calling the Transfer Agent at 800.345.6611.
Other Exchange Rules You Should Know
■
Exchanges are made at the NAV next calculated (plus any applicable sales charge) after your exchange order is received in “good form” (i.e., the trade date).
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Once the Fund receives your exchange request in “good form,” you cannot cancel it after the market closes.
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The rules for buying shares of a Fund generally apply to exchanges into that Fund, including, if your exchange creates a new Fund account, it must satisfy the minimum investment amount, unless a waiver applies.
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Shares of the purchased Fund may not be used on the same day for another exchange or sale.
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A sales charge may apply when you exchange shares of a Fund that were not assessed a sales charge at the time you purchased such shares. If you invest through a Direct-at-Fund Account in Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund, Columbia Small Cap Index Fund, Columbia Ultra Short Duration Municipal Bond Fund, Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund, Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund or any other Columbia Fund that does not impose a front-end sales
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Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares (continued)
charge and then you exchange into a Fund that does assess a sales charge, your transaction is subject to a front-end sales charge if you exchange into Class A shares and to a CDSC if you exchange into Class C shares of another Columbia Fund.
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If you purchased Class A shares of a Columbia Fund that imposes a front-end sales charge (and you paid any applicable sales charge) and you then exchange those shares into Columbia Government Money Market Fund, Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund, Columbia Large Cap Index Fund, Columbia Mid Cap Index Fund, Columbia Small Cap Index Fund, Columbia Ultra Short Duration Municipal Bond Fund, Columbia Ultra Short Term Bond Fund, Columbia U.S. Treasury Index Fund or any other Columbia Fund that does not impose a front-end sales charge, you may exchange that amount to Class A of another Columbia Fund in the future, including dividends earned on that amount, without paying a sales charge.
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If your shares are subject to a CDSC, you will not be charged a CDSC upon the exchange of those shares. Any CDSC will be deducted when you sell the shares you received from the exchange. The CDSC imposed at that time will be based on the period that begins when you bought shares of the original Fund and ends when you sell the shares of the Fund you received from the exchange. Any applicable CDSC charged will be the CDSC of the original Fund.
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You may make exchanges only into a Fund that is legally offered and sold in your state of residence. Contact the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary for more information.
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You generally may make an exchange only into a Fund that is accepting investments.
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The Fund may change or cancel your right to make an exchange by giving the amount of notice required by regulatory authorities (generally 60 days for a material change or cancellation).
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Unless your account is part of a tax-advantaged arrangement, an exchange for shares of another Fund is a taxable event, and you may recognize a gain or loss for tax purposes.
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Changing your investment to a different Fund will be treated as a sale and purchase, and you will be subject to applicable taxes on the sale and sales charges on the purchase of the new Fund.
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Class Inst shares of a Fund may be exchanged for Class A or Class Inst shares of another Fund. In certain circumstances, the front-end sales charge applicable to Class A shares may be waived on exchanges of Class Inst shares for Class A shares. See Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares — Buying Shares — Eligible Investors — Class Inst Shares for details.
Same-Fund Exchange Privilege
Shareholders may be eligible to invest in other classes of shares of the same Fund, and may exchange their current shares for another share class if deemed eligible and offered by the Fund. Such same-Fund exchanges could include an exchange of one class for another with higher expenses. Before making such an exchange, you should consider the expenses of each class. Shareholders should contact their financial intermediaries to learn more about the details of the same-Fund exchange privilege. Exchanges out of Class A and Class C shares will be subject to any applicable CDSC. Financial intermediaries that have a customized arrangement with regard to CDSCs are detailed in Appendix A. To exchange to another class of shares of the same Fund you must meet the new class’s eligibility criteria as described in this Prospectus.
Exchanges out of Class C shares to another share class of the same Fund are not permissible on Direct-at-Fund Accounts, except that the Transfer Agent seeks to convert Class C shares as soon as administratively feasible to Class A shares of the same Fund for Direct-at-Fund Accounts that do not or no longer have a financial intermediary assigned to them. Direct-at-Fund Accounts that do not have a financial intermediary assigned to them are not permitted to purchase Class C shares. Class C share purchase orders received by Direct-at-Fund Accounts that do not have a financial intermediary assigned to the account will automatically be invested in Class A shares of the same Fund. Exchanges out of Class C shares to another share class of the same Fund within commissionable brokerage accounts are permitted only (1) when the shareholder moves from a commissionable brokerage account to
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Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares (continued)
a fee-based advisory program or (2) when the exchange is part of a share class conversion (or a similar multiple shareholder transaction event) instituted by a financial intermediary and such conversion or similar type event is preapproved by the Distributor.
Ordinarily, shareholders will not recognize a gain or loss for U.S. federal income tax purposes upon a same-Fund exchange. You should consult your tax advisor about your particular exchanges.
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Shareholders should retain this Supplement for future reference.