497 1 d497.htm COLUMBIA FUNDS SERIES TRUST I Columbia Funds Series Trust I
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LOGO

 

Prospectus

November 1, 2008, as revised November 17, 2008

Columbia Funds

 

Columbia High Yield Municipal Fund Class A, Class B and Class C Shares

Advised by Columbia Management Advisors, LLC

 

NOT FDIC-INSURED   May Lose Value     The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has not approved or disapproved these securities or determined if this prospectus is truthful or complete. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.
NOT BANK ISSUED   No Bank Guarantee    


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Fund shares are NOT deposits or other obligations of, or issued, endorsed or guaranteed by, Bank of America, N.A. or any of its affiliates. Fund shares are NOT issued, insured or guaranteed by the U.S. Government, the FDIC or any other government agency.

Bank of America Corporation (Bank of America) and its affiliates are paid for the services they provide to the Fund and may be compensated or incented in connection with the sale of Fund shares. The Fund may be used as an investment option for various products and services offered by Bank of America that may raise economic and other conflicts of interest, which are discussed in this prospectus.

AN INVESTMENT IN THE FUND INVOLVES CERTAIN RISKS, INCLUDING LOSS OF PRINCIPAL.

 

 

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Prospectus Primer

This prospectus tells you about Columbia High Yield Municipal Fund (the Fund), which is one of the income funds in the Columbia Funds family of mutual funds (Columbia Funds). It is designed to provide you with important information about the Fund in a concise and easy to understand manner that is meant to help you make informed investment decisions.

The prospectus first summarizes the key characteristics of the Fund, including:

 

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investment objective,

 

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principal investment strategies and risks,

 

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year-by-year performance information,

 

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fees and expenses, and

 

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a description of the Fund’s additional investment strategies and policies.

This summary is followed by other important information, including:

 

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a discussion of the Fund’s primary service providers, including the roles and relationships of Bank of America and its affiliates, and conflicts of interest, and

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a summary of the Fund’s various share classes offered by this prospectus.

Later sections of the prospectus talk about the details of investing in the Fund, including:

 

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how to buy, sell and exchange shares of the Fund, and

 

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how you will receive your investment proceeds.

The prospectus also includes:

 

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information about how federal and certain other taxes may affect your investment,

 

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highlights of the Fund’s financial information, and

 

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hypothetical fee and expense data that show the costs associated with investing in the Fund.

We have included a number of features designed to facilitate your use of this prospectus, including:

 

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“FUNDamentals™” sections that provide simple explanations of key terms and concepts, as well as some basics of mutual fund investing,

 

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a “FUNDimensions™” section that is meant to give you a “snapshot” of the Fund’s main attributes, and

 

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graphic icons which are defined in the guide below.


 

Icons Guide

LOGO   Investment Objective
LOGO   Principal Investment Strategies
LOGO   Principal Risks
LOGO   Performance Information
LOGO   Fees and Expenses
LOGO   Other Roles and Relationships of Bank of America and its Affiliates – Certain Conflicts of Interest

For More Information

You can contact Columbia Funds:

 

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by mail at Columbia Funds, c/o Columbia Management Services, Inc., P.O. Box 8081, Boston, MA 02266-8081.

 

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by telephone at 800.345.6611.

 

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by email at serviceinquiries@columbiamanagement.com or online at www.columbiafunds.com.

 

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through your financial advisor, who can help you select from among the Columbia Funds to meet your investment needs.

You also can find more information about the Fund in the Statement of Additional Information (SAI), which includes more detailed information about the Fund’s investments, policies and management, among other things. Turn to the back cover to find out how you can get a copy.

The SEC provides a “Beginner’s Guide to Mutual Funds” which may be useful to some investors and is available online, free of charge, at www.sec.gov.


 

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Table of Contents    
   
Columbia High Yield Municipal Fund   5
   

Investment Objective

  5
   

Principal Investment Strategies

  5
   

Principal Risks

  6
   

Performance Information

  8
   

Fees and Expenses

  10
   

Additional Investment Strategies and Policies

  13
   
Management of the Fund   14
   

Primary Service Providers

  14
   

Other Roles and Relationships of Bank of America and its Affiliates – Certain Conflicts of Interest

  16
   

Certain Legal Matters

  17
   
Choosing a Share Class   19
   

Comparison of the Share Classes

  19
   

Sales Charges and Commissions

  20
   

Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges

  23
   

Distribution and Service Fees

  25
   

Financial Intermediary Compensation

  26
   
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares   27
   

Share Price Determination

  27
   

Transaction Rules and Policies

  28
   

Opening an Account and Placing Orders

  32
   
Distributions and Taxes   35
   
Financial Highlights   37
   
Hypothetical Fees and Expenses   40

FUNDamentals™ and FUNDimensions™ are trademarks of Bank of America.

Columbia Management Group, LLC

The Fund is sponsored by Columbia Management Group, LLC (Columbia Management), which is the primary investment division of Bank of America. Columbia Management is located at 100 Federal Street, Boston, MA 02110.

Columbia Management Advisors, LLC is the Fund’s investment advisor (the Advisor) and its administrator (the Administrator). Columbia Management Distributors, Inc. is the Fund’s distributor (the Distributor). Columbia Management Services, Inc. is the Fund’s transfer agent (the Transfer Agent).

 

 

The Fund, like all mutual funds, is designed to be a part of a broad and diversified investment portfolio and is not intended to fulfill all of your investment needs.

You should consider the objectives, risks and expenses of the Fund and any other Columbia Fund carefully before investing.


 

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Columbia High Yield Municipal Fund

 

FUNDimensions™
Columbia High Yield Municipal Fund
Investment Objective:   Total return, consisting of current income exempt from federal income tax and capital appreciation
Investment Style:   High Yield Municipal
Benchmark:  

Lehman Brothers Municipal Bond Index

Ticker Symbols:  

Class A: LHIAX

Class B: CHMBX

Class C: CHMCX

Principal Risks:  

Investment strategy risk

Market risk

Low and below investment grade securities risk

Interest rate risk

Credit risk

Municipal securities risk

Derivatives risk

Inverse floating rate obligations risk

 

FUNDamentals™

 

Benchmarks

 

Benchmarks are indices that provide some guidance in assessing fund performance. A fund does not, however, limit its investments to the securities within its benchmark(s), and a fund’s holdings can differ from those of any particular benchmark or index. Benchmarks are only guideposts for performance.

 

FUNDamentals™

Fixed Income Funds

 

Fixed income funds invest primarily in debt securities that may be issued by governments, companies or special purpose entities. Debt securities pay interest at a specified rate on a specified date or dates, and the principal is paid when the security reaches maturity. Prices of debt securities may appreciate as interest rates fall but may lose value as interest rates rise.

 

Fixed income funds may be a suitable investment for you if you are:

 

n  looking for a regular stream of income, and

n  prepared to bear the risks associated with investments in debt securities.

 

LOGO   Investment Objective

The Fund seeks total return, consisting of current income exempt from federal income tax and capital appreciation.

LOGO   Principal Investment Strategies

Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets in high yield securities. These securities generally include medium grade or below investment grade debt securities or unrated debt securities determined by the Advisor to be of comparable quality, but also may include other securities that the Advisor believes have the potential for relatively high yield. Below investment grade securities are commonly referred to as “junk bonds.” The Fund may invest in bonds of any maturity. The Fund also may invest in industrial development bonds or in participation interests in those bonds.

As a fundamental policy, the Fund will invest its assets so that at least 80% of the Fund’s gross income will be exempt from federal income tax (but not necessarily the federal alternative minimum tax). The Fund may invest up to 20% of its total assets in high quality taxable money market instruments.

The Fund may invest in derivatives, including futures, forwards, options, swap contracts, inverse floaters and other derivative instruments. The Fund may invest in derivatives for both hedging and non-hedging purposes, including, for example, to seek to enhance return, or as a substitute for a position in an underlying asset.

The Advisor evaluates a number of factors in identifying investment opportunities and constructing the Fund’s portfolio. The Advisor considers local, national and global economic conditions, market conditions, interest rate movements, and other relevant factors to determine the allocation of the Fund’s assets among different issuers, industry sectors and maturities.

The Advisor, in connection with selecting individual investments for the Fund, evaluates a security based on its potential to generate income and/or capital appreciation. The Advisor considers, among other factors, the creditworthiness of the issuer of the security and the various features of the security, such as its coupon, yield, maturity, any call features and value relative to other securities.


 

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The Advisor may sell a security if the Advisor believes that there is deterioration in the issuer’s financial condition, or that other investments are more attractive; if there is deterioration in a security’s credit rating; or for other reasons.

The Fund’s policy regarding the 80% investment requirement of “net assets” (which includes net assets plus any borrowings for investment purposes) discussed above may be changed by the Board without shareholder approval as long as shareholders are given 60 days notice of the change.

 

FUNDamentals™

 

Investment Grade and Below Investment Grade Securities

 

Investment grade securities include securities that are rated in one of the four highest rating categories as determined by a nationally recognized statistical rating organization, such as Standard & Poor’s, Fitch or Moody’s, or are unrated securities determined to be of comparable quality. Investment grade securities are rated (from highest to lowest quality) as AAA, AA, A or BBB by Standard & Poor’s and Fitch or as Aaa, Aa, A or Baa by Moody’s. Below investment grade securities include securities that are rated lower than investment grade securities and also may include securities that are unrated.

 

FUNDamentals™

 

Municipal Income Funds

 

Municipal income funds invest primarily in municipal fixed income securities that have the potential to earn income that is generally free from income tax. State municipal income funds invest most of their assets in securities issued by one state and its public authorities and local governments, and are generally intended for residents of that state.

LOGO  Principal Risks

 

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Investment Strategy Risk – The Advisor uses the principal investment strategies and other investment strategies to seek to achieve the Fund’s investment objective. Investment decisions made by the Advisor in using these strategies may not produce the returns expected by the

 

Advisor, may cause the Fund’s shares to lose value or may cause the Fund to underperform other funds with similar investment objectives.

 

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Market Risk – Market risk refers to the possibility that the market values of securities that the Fund holds will rise or fall, sometimes rapidly or unpredictably. Security values may fall because of factors affecting individual companies, industries or sectors, or the markets as a whole, reducing the value of an investment in the Fund. Accordingly, an investment in the Fund could lose money over short or even long periods. The market values of the securities the Fund holds also can be affected by changes or perceived changes in U.S. or foreign economies and financial markets and the liquidity of these securities, among other factors. In general, equity securities tend to have greater price volatility than debt securities.

 

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Low and Below Investment Grade Securities Risk – Debt securities with the lowest investment grade rating (e.g., BBB by Standard & Poor’s or Fitch) or that are below investment grade (e.g., BB or below by Standard & Poor’s or Fitch) are more speculative than securities with higher ratings, and tend to be more sensitive to credit risk, particularly during a downturn in the economy, which is more likely to weaken the ability of the issuers to make principal and interest payments on these securities than is the case for higher-rated securities. These securities typically pay a premium – a higher interest rate or yield – because of the increased risk of loss or loss of value, including default. These securities also are generally less liquid than higher-rated securities. The securities ratings provided by Moody’s, Standard & Poor’s and Fitch are based on analyses by these ratings agencies of the credit quality of the securities and may not take into account every risk related to whether interest or principal will be timely repaid.

 

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Interest Rate Risk – Debt securities are subject to interest rate risk. In general, if prevailing interest rates rise, the values of debt securities will tend to fall, and if interest rates fall, the values of debt securities will tend to rise. Changes in the value of a debt security usually will not affect the amount of income the Fund receives from it but will affect the value of the Fund’s shares. Interest rate risk is generally greater for debt securities with longer maturities/durations.

 

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Credit Risk – Credit risk applies to most debt securities, but is generally not a factor for obligations backed by the “full faith and credit” of the U.S. Government. The Fund could lose money if the issuer of a debt security is unable or


 

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Columbia High Yield Municipal Fund

 

 

perceived to be unable to pay interest or repay principal when it becomes due. Various factors could affect the issuer’s actual or perceived willingness or ability to make timely interest or principal payments, including changes in the issuer’s financial condition or in general economic conditions. Debt securities backed by an issuer’s taxing authority may be subject to legal limits on the issuer’s power to increase taxes or otherwise to raise revenue, or may be dependent on legislative appropriation or government aid. Certain debt securities are backed only by revenues derived from a particular project or source, rather than by an issuer’s taxing authority, and thus may have a greater risk of default.

 

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Municipal Securities Risk – Municipal securities are debt obligations generally issued to obtain funds for various public purposes, including general financing for state and local governments, or financing for a specific project or public facility. Municipal securities may be fully or partially backed by the taxing authority of the local government, by the credit of a private issuer, by the current or anticipated revenues from a specific project or specific assets or by domestic or foreign entities providing credit support, such as letters of credit, guarantees or insurance, and are generally classified into general obligation bonds and special revenue obligations. General obligation bonds are backed by an issuer’s taxing authority and may be vulnerable to limits on a government’s power or ability to raise revenue or increase taxes. They also may depend for payment on legislative appropriation and/or funding or other support from other governmental bodies. Revenue obligations are payable from revenues generated by a particular project or other revenue source, and are typically subject to greater risk of default than general obligation bonds because investors can look only to the revenue generated by the project or other revenue source backing the project, rather than to the general taxing authority of the state or local government issuer of the obligations. Because many municipal securities are issued to finance projects in sectors such as education, health care, transportation and utilities, conditions in those sectors can affect the overall municipal market. Municipal securities pay interest that, in the opinion of bond counsel, is free from federal income tax. There is no assurance that the IRS will agree with this opinion. In the event the IRS determines that the issuer does not comply with relevant tax requirements, interest payments from a security could become federally taxable, possibly retroactively to the date the security was issued. As a shareholder of the Fund, you may be required to file an amended tax return and pay additional taxes as a result.

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Derivatives Risk – Derivatives are financial contracts whose values are, for example, based on (or “derived” from) traditional securities (such as a stock or bond), assets (such as a commodity like gold or a foreign currency), reference rates (such as LIBOR) or market indices (such as the S&P 500® Index). Derivatives involve special risks and may result in losses or may limit the Fund’s potential gain from favorable market movements. Derivative strategies often involve leverage, which may exaggerate a loss, potentially causing the Fund to lose more money than it would have lost had it invested in the underlying security. The values of derivatives may move in unexpected ways, especially in unusual market conditions, and may result in increased volatility, among other consequences. The use of derivatives may also increase the amount of taxes payable by shareholders. Other risks arise from the Fund’s potential inability to terminate or sell derivative positions. A liquid secondary market may not always exist for the Fund’s derivative positions at times when the Fund might wish to terminate or sell such positions. Over-the-counter instruments (investments not traded on an exchange) may be illiquid, and transactions in derivatives traded in the over-the-counter market are subject to the risk that the other party will not meet its obligations. The use of derivatives also involves the risks of mispricing or improper valuation and that changes in the value of the derivative may not correlate perfectly with the underlying security, asset, reference rate or index. The Fund also may not be able to find a suitable derivative transaction counterparty, and thus may be unable to engage in derivative transactions when it is deemed favorable to do so, or at all. For more information on the risks of derivative investments and strategies, see the SAI.

 

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Inverse Floating Rate Obligations Risk – Inverse floating rate obligations (inverse floaters) represent interests in bonds with interest rates that vary inversely to changes in short-term rates. As short-term rates rise, inverse floaters produce less income, and as short-term rates decline, inverse floaters produce more income. The value of inverse floaters is typically more volatile than the value of bonds with similar maturities. The market value of inverse floaters generally declines when rates rise, and generally will decline further than the market value of a bond with a similar maturity.

These are summaries of the principal risks associated with the principal investment strategies of the Fund. Additional risks are associated with other permissible investments of the Fund that are described in the SAI together with further information about these principal risks. There is no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objective.


 

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LOGO  Performance Information

The following bar chart and table show you how the Fund has performed in the past, and can help you understand the risks of investing in the Fund. The Fund’s past performance (before or after taxes) is no guarantee of how the Fund will perform in the future.

 

Year by Year Total Return (%) as of December 31 Each Year*

The bar chart below shows you how the performance of the Fund’s Class A shares (a) has varied from year to year. These returns do not reflect deductions of sales charges, if any, paid by investors and would be lower if they did.

LOGO

 

* Year-to-date return as of September 30, 2008: -7.41%

 

(a)

For periods prior to July 31, 2000, when Class A shares of the Fund were initially offered, the performance of the Fund’s Class A shares represents the performance of the Fund’s Class Z shares, which were initially offered on March 5, 1984. The Class A share returns have been adjusted to take into account the fact that Class Z shares are sold without sales charges. The returns shown above for periods prior to July 31, 2000 do not reflect any expense differences between the Fund’s Class A and Class Z shares, and would be lower if they did since Class Z shares are not subject to a distribution and/or service fee.

 

Best and Worst Quarterly Returns During this Period

Best:    3rd quarter 2006:    3.37%
Worst:    4th quarter 2007:    -1.97%

 

FUNDamentals™

Fund Performance

 

Many factors can affect a mutual fund’s performance, including, for example:

 

n  management of fund holdings,

 

n  market conditions,

 

n  fund expenses, and

 

n  flows of investment dollars into and out of the fund.

 

The returns for the various share classes may vary based on differences in sales charges and expenses.


 

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Average Annual Total Return as of December 31, 2007

The table below shows the Fund’s Class A shares’ average annual total returns (i) before taxes, (ii) after taxes on distributions and (iii) after taxes on distributions and sale of Fund shares. The returns shown reflect applicable sales charges. The table also shows the average annual returns for the Fund’s Class B and Class C shares, but it does not show those classes’after-tax returns, which will vary from those shown for the Fund’s Class A shares. The table compares the Fund’s returns for each period with those of the Lehman Brothers Municipal Bond Index, an index that is considered to be representative of the broad market for investment-grade, tax-exempt bonds with a maturity of at least one year. Indices are not available for investment, and do not reflect sales charges, fees, brokerage commissions, taxes or other expenses of investing.

 

     1 year      5 years      10 years(a)
Class A shares returns before taxes    -6.60%      3.23%      3.73%
Class A shares returns after taxes on distributions    -6.60%      3.23%      3.73%
Class A shares returns after taxes on distributions and sale of Fund shares    -2.78%      3.46%      3.91%
Class B shares returns before taxes    -7.39%      3.11 %      3.81%
Class C shares returns before taxes    -3.59%      3.59%      3.88%
Lehman Brothers Municipal Bond Index (reflects no deductions for fees, expenses or taxes)    3.36%      4.30%      5.18%

 

(a)

For periods prior to July 31, 2000, when Class A shares of the Fund were initially offered, the performance of the Fund’s Class A shares represents the performance of the Fund’s Class Z shares, which were initially offered on March 5, 1984. Class B and Class C performance information includes returns of Class A shares for the period from July 31, 2000 through July 15, 2002, and the returns of Class Z shares for periods prior thereto. The Class A share returns have been adjusted to take into account the fact that Class Z shares are sold without sales charges. The returns shown above for periods prior to July 31, 2000 do not reflect any expense differences between the Fund’s Class A and Class Z shares, and would be lower if they did since Class Z shares are not subject to a distribution and/or service fee. Class B and Class C shares were initially offered on July 15, 2002.

 

FUNDamentals™     

After-Tax Returns

 

The after-tax returns shown in the table above are calculated using the highest historical individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state, local or foreign taxes.

   Your actual after-tax returns will depend on your personal tax situation and may differ from those shown in the table. In addition, the after-tax returns shown in the table do not apply to shares held in tax-deferred accounts such as
401(k) plans or IRAs.

 

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LOGO  Fees and Expenses

The fee table below describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the Fund. Additional hypothetical fee and expense information relating to Class A, Class B and Class C shares of the Fund can be found in Hypothetical Fees and Expenses.

 

FUNDamentals™     

Fund Expenses

 

In general, there are two kinds of fund expenses:

 

n  shareholder expenses that you pay directly (e.g., sales charges and redemption fees), and

 

n  annual operating expenses that are paid by the Fund and deducted from the Fund’s assets.

 

Annual operating expenses include:

 

n  management fees, which are paid out of the Fund’s assets to the Advisor and the Administrator as compensation for managing and administering the Fund’s portfolio. See Management of the Fund – Primary Service Providers for more information.

 

n  distribution and service fees (sometimes referred to in the industry as “Rule 12b-1 fees”), which are paid out of the Fund’s assets to compensate the Distributor and selling and/or servicing agents for the services they provide to investors, including

  

    affiliates of Bank of America. See Choosing a Share Class – Distribution and Service Fees for more information.

 

n  other expenses, which generally include, but are not limited to, transfer agency, custody, audit and legal fees as well as costs related to registration of Fund shares for sale and the printing and mailing of Fund documents. The specific expenses that make up the Fund’s other expenses will vary from time to time and may include expenses not described above.

 

Total net annual operating expenses for any year are actual expenses paid by the Fund after any fee waivers or expense reimbursements, and are expressed as a percentage of the Fund’s average net assets for the year.

 

The Fund may incur significant transaction costs, such as brokerage commissions on the purchase and sale of portfolio securities, in addition to the annual Fund operating expenses disclosed in the fee table.

 

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Shareholder Fees (paid directly from your investment)

     Class A Shares     Class B Shares     Class C Shares  
Maximum sales charge (load) imposed on purchases, as a % of offering price    4.75%     0.00%     0.00%  
Maximum deferred sales charge (load) imposed on redemptions, as a % of the lower of the original purchase price or net asset value    1.00% (a)   5.00% (b)   1.00% (c)

 

Annual Fund Operating Expenses (deducted from the Fund’s assets)

     Class A Shares    Class B Shares     Class C Shares  
Management fees(d)    0.52%    0.52%     0.52%  
Distribution and service (12b-1) fees    0.20%    0.95%     0.95% (e)
Other expenses(f)    0.20%    0.20%     0.20%  
Acquired fund fees and expenses            
Total annual Fund operating expenses    0.92%    1.67%     1.67% (e)

 

(a)

This charge applies to investors who buy $1 million or more of Class A shares and redeem them within one year of purchase, with certain limited exceptions. See Choosing a Share Class – Sales Charges and Commissions for details.

 

(b)

This charge decreases over time. See Choosing a Share Class – Sales Charges and Commissions for details.

 

(c)

This charge applies to investors who buy Class C shares and redeem them within one year of purchase, with certain limited exceptions. See Choosing a Share Class – Sales Charges and Commissions for details.

 

(d)

Management fees include an investment advisory fee of 0.41% and an administration fee of 0.11%. The Advisor has implemented a breakpoint schedule for the Fund’s investment advisory fees. The investment advisory fees charged to the Fund will decline as Fund assets grow and will continue to be based on a percentage of the Fund’s average daily net assets. The breakpoint schedule for the Fund is as follows: 0.45% for assets up to $100 million; 0.425% for assets in excess of $100 million and up to $200 million; and 0.40% for assets in excess of $200 million. The Administrator has implemented a breakpoint schedule for the Fund’s administration fees. The administration fees charged to the Fund will decline as Fund assets grow and will continue to be based on a percentage of the Fund’s average daily net assets. The breakpoint schedule for the Fund is as follows: 0.15% for assets up to $100 million; 0.125% for assets in excess of $100 million and up to $200 million; and 0.10% for assets in excess of $200 million.

 

(e)

The Distributor has voluntarily agreed to waive a portion of the distribution fee for Class C shares so that it does not exceed 0.60% annually. If this waiver were reflected in the table, the distribution and service fees would be 0.80% for Class C shares and total annual Fund operating expenses for Class C shares would be 1.52%. This arrangement may be modified or terminated by the Distributor at any time.

 

(f)

Other expenses have been restated to reflect contractual changes to the fees paid by the Fund.

 

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Example

The following example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds.

The example illustrates the hypothetical expenses that you would incur over the time periods indicated, and assumes that:

 

  n  

you invest $10,000 in Class A, Class B or Class C shares of the Fund for the periods indicated,

 

  n  

you pay the maximum applicable sales charge,

 

  n  

you reinvest all dividends and distributions in the Fund,

 

  n  

your investment has a 5% return each year,

 

  n  

your Class B shares convert to Class A shares after you’ve owned them for eight years, and

 

  n  

the Fund’s total annual operating expenses remain the same as shown in the table above.

Based on the assumptions listed above, your costs would be:

 

       1 year      3 years      5 years      10 years
Class A Shares      $ 564      $ 754      $ 960      $ 1,553
Class B Shares                    
Assuming no redemption      $ 170      $ 526      $ 907      $ 1,777
Assuming complete redemption of shares at the end of the period      $ 670      $ 826      $ 1,107      $ 1,777
Class C Shares                    
Assuming no redemption      $ 170      $ 526      $ 907      $ 1,976
Assuming complete redemption of shares at the end of the period      $ 270      $ 526      $ 907      $ 1,976

Remember this is an example only. It is not necessarily representative of the Fund’s actual expenses in the past or future. Your actual costs could be higher or lower depending on the amount you invest and on the Fund’s actual expenses and performance.

 

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Additional Investment Strategies and Policies

This section describes certain strategies and policies that the Fund may utilize in pursuit of its investment objective, and describes some additional factors and risks involved with investing in the Fund.

Changing the Fund’s Investment Objective and Policies

The Fund’s investment objective and certain of its investment policies can be changed without shareholder approval unless otherwise stated in this prospectus or the SAI. Shareholders vote on changes to other investment policies that are designated as fundamental in accordance with the requirements of the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the 1940 Act).

Investment Guidelines

As a general matter, unless otherwise noted, whenever an investment policy or limitation states a percentage of the Fund’s assets that may be invested in any security or other asset, or sets forth a policy regarding an investment standard, compliance with that percentage limitation or standard will be determined solely at the time of the Fund’s acquisition of the security or asset.

Holding Other Kinds of Investments

The Fund may hold investments that aren’t part of its principal investment strategies. These investments are described in the SAI. The Fund may choose not to invest in certain securities described in this prospectus and in the SAI, although it has the ability to do so.

Investing in Columbia Money Market Funds

The Fund may invest uninvested cash in shares of the registered or unregistered money market funds advised by the Advisor. The Advisor and its affiliates receive fees from these funds for providing advisory and other services in addition to the fees which they are entitled to receive from the Fund for services provided directly.

Portfolio Holdings Disclosure

A description of Columbia Funds’ policies and procedures with respect to the disclosure of Fund portfolio securities is available in the SAI. The Fund discloses its portfolio holdings on the Columbia Funds’ website, www.columbiafunds.com, as described below. Once posted, the portfolio holdings information will remain available on the website until at least

the date on which such Fund files a Form N-CSR or Form
N-Q (forms filed with the SEC that include portfolio holdings information) for the period that includes the date as of which the information is current.

The Fund’s complete portfolio holdings as of a fiscal quarter-end are disclosed approximately 60 calendar days after such quarter-end. The Fund’s largest 15 holdings as a percent of the Fund’s portfolio as of a month-end are disclosed approximately 15 calendar days after such month-end.

In addition, more current information concerning the Fund’s portfolio holdings as of specified dates may also be disclosed on the Columbia Funds’ website.

Investing Defensively

The Fund may from time to time take temporary defensive investment positions that are inconsistent with the Fund’s principal investment strategies in attempting to respond to adverse market, economic, political or other conditions, including, for example, investments in money market instruments or holdings of cash or cash equivalents. The Fund may not achieve its investment objective while it is investing defensively.

Mailings to Households

In order to reduce shareholder expenses we may, if prior consent has been provided, mail only one copy of the Fund’s prospectus and each annual and semi-annual report to those addresses shared by two or more accounts. If you wish to receive individual copies of these documents, call 800.345.6611 or, if your shares are held through a financial intermediary, contact your intermediary directly.

Portfolio Turnover

A mutual fund that replaces, or turns over, more than 100% of its investments in a year is considered to have a high portfolio turnover rate. A high portfolio turnover rate can generate larger distributions of short-term capital gains to shareholders, which for individuals are generally taxable at higher rates than long-term capital gains for federal income tax purposes. A high portfolio turnover rate can also mean higher brokerage and other transaction costs, which could reduce a fund’s returns. In general, the greater the volume of buying and selling by a fund, the greater the impact that brokerage commissions will have on its returns. The Fund generally buys securities for capital appreciation, investment income or both. However, the Fund may sell securities regardless of how long they’ve been held. You’ll find the Fund’s historical portfolio turnover rates in the Financial Highlights.


 

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Management of the Fund

 

Primary Service Providers

The Advisor, Distributor and Transfer Agent, all affiliates of Bank of America, currently provide key services to the Fund and the other Columbia Funds, including investment advisory, distribution, administration, shareholder servicing and transfer agency, and are paid for providing these services. These service relationships are described below.

The Advisor

The Advisor (which is also the Administrator) is located at 100 Federal Street, Boston, MA 02110, and serves as investment advisor to over 100 Columbia Funds mutual fund portfolios. As of September 30, 2008, the Advisor had assets under management of approximately $380.3 billion. The Advisor is a registered investment advisor and an indirect, wholly owned subsidiary of Bank of America. Its management experience covers all major asset classes, including equity securities, fixed income securities and money market instruments. In addition to serving as investment advisor to mutual funds, the Advisor acts as an investment manager for individuals, corporations, retirement plans, private investment companies and financial intermediaries.

Subject to oversight by the Board, the Advisor manages the day-to-day operations of the Fund, determining what securities and other investments the Fund should buy or sell and executing the Fund’s portfolio transactions. Although the Advisor is responsible for the investment management of the Fund, the Advisor may delegate certain of its duties to one or more investment sub-advisors. In rendering investment advisory services, the Advisor may use the portfolio management and research resources of Columbia Management Pte. Ltd., an affiliate of the Advisor. The Advisor may also use the research and other expertise of other affiliates and third parties in managing the Fund’s investments.

The Fund pays the Advisor a fee for its investment advisory services. The fee is calculated as a percentage of the average daily net assets of the Fund and is paid monthly. For the Fund’s most recent fiscal year, aggregate advisory fees paid to the Advisor by the Fund amounted to 0.41% of average daily net assets of the Fund.

A discussion regarding the basis for the Board’s approval of the Fund’s investment advisory agreement with the Advisor

is available in the Fund’s semi-annual report to shareholders for the period ended December 31, 2007.

Sub-Advisor(s)

The Advisor may engage an investment sub-advisor or sub-advisors to make the day-to-day investment decisions for the Fund. The Advisor retains ultimate responsibility (subject to Board oversight) for overseeing any sub-advisor it engages and for evaluating the Fund’s needs and available sub-advisors’ skills and abilities on an ongoing basis. Based on its evaluations, the Advisor may at times recommend to the Board that the Fund change, add or terminate one or more sub-advisors; continue to retain a sub-advisor even though the sub-advisor’s ownership or corporate structure has changed; or materially change a sub-advisory agreement with a sub-advisor. Applicable law requires the Fund to obtain shareholder approval in order to act on most of these types of recommendations, even if the Board has approved the proposed action and believes that the action is in shareholders’ best interests. The Advisor and the Columbia Funds have applied for relief from the SEC to permit the Fund to act on many of the Advisor’s recommendations with approval only by the Board and not by Fund shareholders. The Advisor or the Fund would inform the Fund’s shareholders of any actions taken in reliance on this relief. Until the Advisor and the Fund obtain this relief, the Fund will continue to submit these matters to shareholders for their approval to the extent required by applicable law.

At present, the Advisor has not engaged any investment sub-advisor for the Fund.


 

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Management of the Fund

 

Portfolio Manager

Information about the Advisor’s portfolio manager who is primarily responsible for overseeing the Fund’s investments is shown in the table below. The SAI provides more information about the portfolio manager’s compensation, other accounts managed by the portfolio manager and the portfolio manager’s ownership of securities in the Fund.

 

 

Maureen G. Newman

Service with the Fund since 1998.

Senior Vice President of the Advisor; associated with the Advisor or its predecessors since 1996.

 

 

The Administrator

The Administrator is responsible for overseeing the administrative operations of the Fund, including the general supervision of the Fund’s operations, coordination of the Fund’s service providers, and the provision of office facilities and related clerical and administrative services.

The Fund pays the Administrator a fee for its services, plus certain out-of-pocket expenses. The fee is calculated as an annual percentage of the Fund’s average daily net assets and is paid monthly, as follows:

 

Annual Administration Fee,

as a % of Average Daily Net Assets

Columbia High Yield Municipal Fund    0.11%

 

The Distributor

Shares of the Fund are distributed by the Distributor, which is located at One Financial Center, Boston, MA 02111. The Distributor is a registered broker/dealer and an indirect, wholly owned subsidiary of Bank of America. The Distributor and its affiliates may pay commissions, distribution and service fees and/or other compensation to entities, including Bank of America affiliates, for selling shares and providing services to investors.

The Transfer Agent

The Transfer Agent is a registered transfer agent and an indirect, wholly owned subsidiary of Bank of America. The Transfer Agent is located at One Financial Center, Boston, MA 02111, and its responsibilities include processing purchases, sales and exchanges, calculating and paying distributions, keeping shareholder records, preparing account statements and providing customer service. The Fund pays the Transfer Agent monthly fees on a per-account basis. Fees paid to the Transfer Agent include reimbursements for certain out-of-pocket expenses and sub-transfer agency fees, subject to certain limitations, paid by the Transfer Agent on the Fund’s behalf.


 

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Management of the Fund

 

LOGO   Other Roles and Relationships of Bank of America and its Affiliates – Certain Conflicts of Interest

As described in Management of the Fund – Primary Service Providers, the Advisor, Administrator, Distributor and Transfer Agent, all affiliates of Bank of America, provide various services to the Fund for which they are compensated. Bank of America and its affiliates may also provide other services to the Fund and be compensated for them.

The Advisor and its affiliates may provide investment advisory and other services to other clients and customers substantially similar to those provided to the Fund. These activities, and other financial services activities of Bank of America and its affiliates, may present actual and potential conflicts of interest and introduce certain investment constraints.

Bank of America is a major financial services company, engaged in a broad range of financial activities beyond the mutual fund-related activities of the Advisor, including, among others, commercial banking, investment banking, broker/dealer (sales and trading), asset management, insurance and other financial activities. These additional activities may involve multiple advisory, transactional, lending, financial and other interests in securities and other instruments, and in companies that issue securities and other instruments, which may be bought, sold or held by the Fund.

Conflicts of interest and limitations that could affect the Fund may arise from, for example, the following:

 

n  

compensation and other benefits received by the Advisor and other Bank of America affiliates related to the management/administration of the Fund and the sale of its shares;

 

n  

the allocation of, and competition for, investment opportunities among the Fund and other funds and accounts advised/managed by the Advisor and other Bank of America affiliates;

 

n  

separate and potentially divergent management of the Fund and other funds and accounts advised/managed by the Advisor and other Bank of America affiliates;

 

n  

regulatory and other investment restrictions on investment activities of the Advisor and other Bank of America affiliates and accounts advised/managed by them;

n  

lending, investment banking and other relationships of Bank of America affiliates with companies and other entities in which the Fund invests; and

 

n  

regulatory and other restrictions relating to the sharing of information between Bank of America and its affiliates, including the Advisor, and the Fund.

Bank of America and its affiliates also provide a variety of products and services that, in some manner, may use the Fund and other Columbia Funds as investment options. For example:

 

n  

the Columbia Funds are available as investments in connection with brokerage and other securities products offered by Banc of America Investment Services, Inc., an affiliated retail broker/dealer of Bank of America;

 

n  

the Columbia Funds are used as investments in connection with fiduciary, investment management and other accounts offered by U.S. Trust, Bank of America Private Wealth Management, as well as certain Columbia Funds structured as “funds of funds;” and

 

n  

the Columbia Money Market Funds are offered as an investment option for a variety of cash “sweep” account programs offered by Bank of America and its affiliates.

The use of the Columbia Funds as investment options in connection with other products and services offered by Bank of America and its affiliates may introduce economic and other conflicts of interest of which you should be aware. These types of conflicts of interest are highlighted in sections of account documentation and other disclosure materials relating to these products and services, as well as in the SAI.

The Advisor and Bank of America have adopted various policies and procedures that are intended to identify, monitor and address conflicts of interest. However, there is no absolute assurance that these policies, procedures and disclosures will be effective.

Additional information about Bank of America and the types of conflicts of interest and other matters referenced above is set forth in the Investment Advisory and Other Services – Other Roles and Relationships of Bank of America and Affiliates – Certain Conflicts of Interest section of the SAI, which is identified by the LOGO icon. Investors in the Fund should carefully review these disclosures and consult with their financial advisor if they have any questions.


 

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Management of the Fund

 

Certain Legal Matters

On February 9, 2005, Columbia Management Advisors, Inc. (which has since merged into Banc of America Capital Management, LLC (now named Columbia Management Advisors, LLC)) (“Columbia”) and Columbia Funds Distributor, Inc. (which has been renamed Columbia Management Distributors, Inc.) (the “Distributor”) (collectively, the “Columbia Group”) entered into an Assurance of Discontinuance with the New York Attorney General (“NYAG”) (the “NYAG Settlement”) and consented to the entry of a cease-and-desist order by the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) (the “SEC Order”) on matters relating to mutual fund trading.

Under the terms of the SEC Order, the Columbia Group agreed, among other things, to: pay $70 million in disgorgement and $70 million in civil money penalties; cease and desist from violations of the antifraud provisions and certain other provisions of the federal securities laws; maintain certain compliance and ethics oversight structures; retain an independent consultant to review the Columbia Group’s applicable supervisory, compliance, control and other policies and procedures; and retain an independent distribution consultant (see below). The Columbia Funds have also voluntarily undertaken to implement certain governance measures designed to maintain the independence of their boards of trustees. The NYAG Settlement also, among other things, requires Columbia and its affiliates to reduce management fees for certain Columbia Funds (including the former Nations Funds) and other mutual funds collectively by $32 million per year for five years, for a projected total of $160 million in management fee reductions.

Pursuant to the procedures set forth in the SEC Order, the $140 million in settlement amounts described above is being distributed in accordance with a distribution plan that was developed by an independent distribution consultant and approved by the SEC on April 6, 2007. Distributions under the distribution plan began in late June 2007.

A copy of the SEC Order is available on the SEC website at http://www.sec.gov. A copy of the NYAG Settlement is available as part of the Bank of America Corporation Form 8-K filing on February 10, 2005.

In connection with the events described above, various parties have filed suit against certain funds, the Trustees of

the Columbia Funds, FleetBoston Financial Corporation and its affiliated entities and/or Bank of America and its affiliated entities.

On February 20, 2004, the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation transferred these cases and cases against other mutual fund companies based on similar allegations to the United States District Court in Maryland for consolidated or coordinated pretrial proceedings (the ‘‘MDL’’). Subsequently, additional related cases were transferred to the MDL. On September 29, 2004, the plaintiffs in the MDL filed amended and consolidated complaints. One of these amended complaints is a putative class action that includes claims under the federal securities laws and state common law, and that names Columbia, the Distributor, the Trustees of the Columbia Funds, Bank of America Corporation and others as defendants. Another of the amended complaints is a derivative action purportedly on behalf of the Columbia Funds that asserts claims under federal securities laws and state common law.

On February 25, 2005, Columbia and other defendants filed motions to dismiss the claims in the pending cases. On March 1, 2006, for reasons stated in the court’s memoranda dated November 3, 2005, the United States District Court for the District of Maryland granted in part and denied in part the defendants’ motions to dismiss. The court dismissed all of the class action claims pending against the Columbia Funds Trusts. As to Columbia and the Distributor, the claims under the Securities Act of 1933, the claims under Sections 34(b) and 36(a) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 (“ICA”) and the state law claims were dismissed. The claims under Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and claims under Section 36(b) of the ICA were not dismissed.

On March 21, 2005, a purported class action was filed in Massachusetts state court alleging that certain conduct, including market timing, entitled Class B shareholders in certain Columbia funds to an exemption from contingent deferred sales charges upon early redemption (“the CDSC Lawsuit”). The CDSC Lawsuit was removed to federal court in Massachusetts and transferred to the MDL.

On September 14, 2007, the plaintiffs and the Columbia defendants named in the MDL, including the Columbia Funds, entered into a stipulation of settlement with respect to all Columbia-related claims in the MDL described above, including the CDSC Lawsuit. The settlement is subject to court approval.


 

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Management of the Fund

 

In 2004, the Columbia Funds’ adviser and distributor and certain affiliated entities and individuals were named as defendants in certain purported shareholder class and derivative actions making claims, including claims under the Investment Company and the Investment Advisers Acts of 1940 and state law. Certain Columbia Funds were named as nominal defendants. The suits allege, inter alia, that the fees and expenses paid by the funds are excessive and that the advisers and their affiliates inappropriately used fund assets to distribute the funds and for other improper purposes. On March 2, 2005, the actions were consolidated in the Massachusetts federal court as In re Columbia Entities Litigation. The plaintiffs filed a consolidated amended complaint on June 9, 2005. On November 30, 2005, the judge dismissed all claims by plaintiffs and entered final judgment in favor of the defendants. The plaintiffs appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit on December 30, 2005. A stipulation and settlement agreement dated January 19, 2007 was filed in the First Circuit on February 14, 2007, with a joint stipulation of dismissal and motion for remand to obtain district court approval of the settlement. That joint motion was granted and the appeal was dismissed. On March 6, 2007, the case was remanded to the District Court. The settlement, approved by the District Court on September 18, 2007, became effective October 19, 2007. Pursuant to the settlement, the funds’ adviser and/or its affiliates made certain payments, including plaintiffs’ attorneys’ fees and costs of notice to class members.


 

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Choosing a Share Class

 

Comparison of the Share Classes

 

Share Class Features

The Fund offers three classes of shares in this prospectus: Class A, Class B and Class C shares. The Fund may also offer other classes of shares through a separate prospectus. Each share class has its own investment eligibility criteria, cost structure and other features. The following summarizes the primary features of the Class A, Class B and Class C shares offered by this prospectus. Contact your financial advisor or Columbia Funds for more information about the Fund’s share classes and how to choose among them.

 

      Class A Shares    Class B Shares    Class C Shares
Eligible Investors and Minimum Initial Investments(a)    Minimum initial investments range from $0 to $2,500; the share class is available to the general public for investment.    Minimum initial investments range from $0 to $2,500; the share class is available to the general public for investment.    Minimum initial investments range from $0 to $2,500; the share class is available to the general public for investment.
Investment Limits    none    up to $49,999 (based on aggregate account value)(b)    up to $999,999
Conversion Features    none    convert to Class A shares eight years after purchase    none
Front-End Sales Charges(c)    4.75% maximum, declining to 0.00% on investments of $1 million or more    none    none

Contingent Deferred

Sales Charges (CDSCs)(c)

   none, except a 1.00% CDSC applies to certain investments of between $1 million and $50 million sold within one year of purchase    5.00% maximum, gradually declining to 0.00% after six years    1.00% on investments sold within one year of purchase
Maximum Distribution and Service Fees    0.20% service fee   

0.75% distribution fee

0.20% service fee

  

0.75% distribution fee

0.20% service fee

 

(a)

See Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares – Opening an Account and Placing Orders for more details on the eligible investors and investment minimums of these share classes.

 

(b)

If you hold Class B shares of the Fund and your account has a value of less than $49,999, you may purchase additional Class B shares of the Fund in amounts that increase your account value up to a maximum of $49,999. The value of your account, for this purpose, includes the value of all eligible accounts held by you and your “immediate family.” See the discussion about account value aggregation and eligible accounts in Choosing a Share Class – Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges for more information. If you have reached the $49,999 limit, any additional amounts you invest in Class B shares of the Fund will be invested in Class A shares of the Fund, without regard to the normal minimum investment amount for Class A shares. Such investments will, however, be subject to a front-end sales charge that generally applies to Class A shares.

 

(c)

See Choosing a Share Class – Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges for information about certain exceptions to these sales charges.

 

FUNDamentals™

Selling and/or Servicing Agents

 

The terms “selling agent” and “servicing agent” refer to the financial intermediary that employs your financial advisor. Selling and/or servicing agents include, for

   example, brokerage firms, banks, investment advisors, third party administrators and other financial intermediaries, including affiliates of Bank of America, such as Banc of America Investment Services, Inc.

 

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Choosing a Share Class

 

Sales Charges and Commissions

Sales charges, commissions and distribution and service fees (discussed in a separate sub-section below) compensate selling and/or servicing agents, and typically your financial advisor, for selling shares to you and for maintaining and servicing the shares held in your account. These charges, commissions and fees are intended to provide incentives for selling and/or servicing agents to provide these services.

Depending on which share class you choose you will pay these charges either at the outset as a front-end sales charge, at the time you sell your shares as a contingent deferred sales charge and/or over time in the form of increased ongoing fees. Whether the ultimate cost is higher for one class over another depends on how long you hold your shares.

Class A Shares – Front-End Sales Charge

You’ll pay a front-end sales charge when you buy Class A shares unless you qualify for a waiver of the sales charge or you buy the shares through reinvested distributions. See Choosing a Share Class – Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges for more information.

 

FUNDamentals™     

Front-End Sales Charge Calculation

 

The table below presents the front-end sales charge as a percentage of both the offering price and the net amount invested.

 

n  The offering price per share is the net asset value per share plus any front-end sales charge that applies.

 

n  The net asset value (or NAV) per share is the price of a share calculated by the Fund every business day.

 

The dollar amount of the sales charge is the difference between the offering price of the shares you buy (based

  

on the applicable sales charge in the table) and the net asset value of those shares.

 

To determine the front-end sales charge you will pay when you buy your shares, the Fund will add the amount of your investment to the value of your account and base the sales charge on the aggregate amount. This approach is designed to assure that you pay the lowest applicable sales charge possible. See Choosing a Share Class – Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges for a discussion of account value aggregation.

The front-end sales charge you’ll pay on Class A shares:

 

n  

depends on the amount you’re investing (generally, the larger the investment, the smaller the percentage sales charge), and

 

n  

is based on the total amount of your purchase and the value of your account.

 

Class A Shares – Front-End Sales Charge – Breakpoint Schedule

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
selling and/or servicing agents
as a % of the offering price
 
$0 – $49,999      4.75%      4.99%      4.25%  
$50,000 – $99,999      4.50%      4.71%      4.00%  
$100,000 – $249,999      3.50%      3.63%      3.00%  
$250,000 – $499,999      2.50%      2.56%      2.25%  
$500,000 – $999,999      2.00%      2.04%      1.75%  
$1,000,000 or more      0.00%      0.00%      1.00% (c)(d)

 

(a)

Purchase amounts and account values are aggregated among all eligible Columbia Fund accounts for purposes of this table.

 

(b)

Because the offering price is calculated to two decimal places, the dollar amount of the sales charge as a percentage of the offering price and your net amount invested for any particular purchase of Fund shares may be higher or lower depending on whether downward or upward rounding was required during the calculation process.

 

(c)

1.00% on purchases from $1 million up to $3 million, 0.50% on purchases of $3 million up to $50 million and 0.25% on amounts of $50 million or more. The Distributor pays selling and/or servicing agents on investments of $1 million or more, but may be reimbursed if a CDSC is deducted when the shares are sold.

 

(d)

For certain group retirement plans, selling and/or servicing agents are eligible to receive a 1.00% commission from the Distributor on all purchases up to $3 million, including those in amounts of less than $1 million that are coded as commission eligible trades.

 

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Choosing a Share Class

 

Class A Shares – CDSC and Commissions

In some cases, you’ll pay a CDSC if you sell Class A shares that you bought without an initial sales charge.

 

n  

If you bought Class A shares without an initial sales charge because your accounts aggregated $1 million to $50 million at the time of purchase, you will incur a 1.00% CDSC if you redeem those shares within one year of buying them.

 

n  

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 one year of buying them.

The CDSC on Class A shares:

 

n  

is applied to the net asset value at the time of your purchase or sale, whichever is lower, and

 

n  

will not be applied to any shares you receive through reinvested distributions.

For purposes of calculating the CDSC, the start of the holding period is the first day of the month in which the purchase was made. When you place an order to sell your Class A shares, the Fund will first redeem any shares that aren’t subject to a CDSC followed by those you have held the longest. The CDSC on Class A shares does not apply to retirement plans buying through a fee-based program.

The Distributor may pay your selling and/or servicing agent an up-front commission of up to 4.25% of the offering price per share when you buy Class A shares. The Distributor funds the commission through the applicable sales charge.

The Distributor may also pay your selling and/or servicing agent a cumulative commission when you buy $1 million or more of Class A shares, according to the following schedule:

 

Class A Shares – Commission Schedule

Purchase Amount   

Commission Level

(as a % of net asset
value per share)

 
$1 million – $2,999,999    1.00 %
$3 million – $49,999,999    0.50 %
$50 million or more    0.25 %

 

FUNDamentals™

Contingent Deferred Sales Charge

 

A contingent deferred sales charge or 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 varies based on the length of time that you have held your shares.

Class B and Class C Shares – Sales Charges

You don’t pay a front-end sales charge when you buy Class B or Class C shares, but you may pay a CDSC when you sell Class B or Class C shares.

The CDSC on Class B and Class C shares:

 

n  

is applied to the net asset value at the time of your purchase or sale, whichever is lower,

 

n  

will not be applied to any shares you receive through reinvested distributions, and

 

n  

generally declines each year until there is no sales charge for selling shares.

For purposes of calculating the CDSC, the start of the holding period is the first day of the month in which your purchase was made. When you place an order to sell your Class B or Class C shares, the Fund will first redeem any shares that aren’t subject to a CDSC followed by those you have held the longest.

Class B Shares – CDSC and Commissions

You’ll pay a CDSC when you sell Class B shares unless you qualify for a waiver of the CDSC or the shares you’re selling were bought through reinvested distributions. See Choosing a Share Class - Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges for details. The CDSC you pay on Class B shares depends on how long you’ve held your shares:

 

Class B Shares – CDSC Schedule

Number of Years
Class B Shares Held
   Applicable
CDSC
One    5.00%
Two    4.00%
Three    3.00%
Four    3.00%
Five    2.00%
Six    1.00%
Seven    none
Eight    none
Nine    Conversion to Class A Shares

 

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Choosing a Share Class

 

The Distributor pays an up-front commission directly to your selling and/or servicing agent of up to 4.00% of the net asset value per share when you buy Class B shares. The Distributor seeks to recover this commission through distribution fees it receives under the Fund’s distribution plan and any applicable CDSC when you sell your shares. See Choosing a Share Class – Distribution and Service Fees for details.

Class B shares automatically convert to Class A shares after you’ve owned them for eight years. This conversion feature allows you to benefit from the lower operating costs of Class A shares, which can help increase your total returns from an investment in the Fund.

The following rules apply to the conversion of Class B shares to Class A shares:

 

n  

Class B shares are converted on or about the 15th day of the month that they become eligible for conversion.

 

n  

Any shares you received from reinvested distributions on these shares generally will convert to Class A shares at the same time.

 

n  

You’ll receive the same dollar value of Class A shares as the Class B shares that were converted. Class B shares that you received from an exchange of Class B shares of another Columbia Fund will convert based on the day you bought the original shares.

 

n  

No sales charge or other charges apply, and conversions are free from federal income tax.

Class C Shares – CDSC and Commissions

You’ll pay a CDSC of 1.00% if you sell Class C shares within one year of buying them unless you qualify for a waiver of the CDSC or the shares you’re selling were bought through reinvested distributions. See Choosing a Share Class – Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges for details.

The Distributor pays an up-front commission directly to your selling and/or servicing agent of up to 1.00% of the net asset value per share when you buy Class C shares. The Distributor seeks to recover this commission through distribution fees it receives under the Fund’s distribution plan and any applicable CDSC applied when you sell your shares. See Choosing a Share Class – Distribution and Service Fees for details.


 

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Choosing a Share Class

 

Reductions/Waivers of Sales Charges

Front-End Sales Charge Reductions

There are two ways in which you may be able to reduce the front-end sales charge that you may pay when you buy Class A shares of the Fund. These types of sales charge reductions are also referred to as breakpoint discounts.

First, through the right of accumulation, you may combine the value of eligible accounts maintained by you and your immediate family to reach a breakpoint discount level and apply a lower sales charge to your purchase. To calculate the combined value of your accounts, the Fund will use the current public offering price per share.

Second, by making a statement of intent to purchase additional shares, you may pay a lower sales charge on all purchases of Class A shares made within 13 months of the date of your statement of intent. Your statement of intent must state the aggregate amount of purchases you intend to make in that 13-month period, which must be at least $50,000. If you do not complete the purchases described in your statement of intent within 13 months, you will be charged the applicable sales charge on the amount you have invested to that date. To calculate the total value of the purchases you’ve made under a statement of intent, the Fund will use the historic cost (i.e. dollars invested) of the shares held in each eligible account.

To obtain a breakpoint discount, you must notify your financial advisor in writing at the time you buy your shares of each eligible account maintained by you and/or your immediate family. It is the responsibility of you and your financial advisor to ensure that you receive discounts for which you are eligible; the Fund is not responsible for a financial advisor’s failure to apply the eligible discount to your account. You may be asked by your financial advisor for account statements or other records to verify your discount eligibility, including, when applicable, records for accounts opened with a different financial advisor and records of accounts established by members of your immediate family.

 

FUNDamentals™

Your “Immediate Family” and Account Value Aggregation

 

For purposes of reaching the Class B shares investment limits described in Choosing a Share Class – Comparison of the Share Classes and obtaining a Class A shares breakpoint discount, the value of your account will be deemed to include the value of all applicable shares in eligible accounts that are held by your “immediate family,” which includes your spouse (or legal equivalent under state law), parent, step-parent, legal guardian, child, step-child, father-in-law and mother-in-law. Remember that in order to obtain a breakpoint discount, you must notify your financial advisor in writing at the time you buy your shares of each eligible account maintained by you and/or your immediate family. Group plan accounts are valued at the plan level.

Eligible Accounts

The types of accounts that are eligible for the account value aggregation purposes described above are:

 

n  

individual accounts,

 

n  

joint accounts,

 

n  

certain IRA accounts,

 

n  

certain health savings accounts,

 

n  

certain trust accounts, and

 

n  

Uniform Gifts to Minors Act (UGMA)/Uniform Transfers to Minors Act (UTMA) accounts.

Eligible accounts include those registered in the name of the broker/dealer or other financial intermediary through which you own shares of the Columbia Funds.

Eligible accounts do not include Class R share accounts or accounts holding institutional share classes of the Columbia Money Market Funds (Capital Class shares, Liquidity Class shares, Adviser Class shares, Investor Class shares, Trust Class shares, Institutional Class shares and Marsico shares). Certain share classes are not offered by this prospectus.


 

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Front-End Sales Charge Waivers

Certain investors may buy Class A shares of the Fund at net asset value, without any front-end sales charge that would otherwise apply. These investors include affiliates of the Fund, broker/dealers, investors in wrap fee programs, investors through fee-based advisors, certain retirement plans, certain health savings accounts, certain shareholders of funds that were reorganized into Columbia Funds, investors using the proceeds of sales of Fund shares or of certain Bank of America trust or similar accounts, as well as insurance company separate accounts purchasing for the benefit of group retirement plans. Restrictions may apply to certain accounts and certain transactions.

CDSC Waivers

You may be able to avoid an otherwise applicable CDSC when you sell Class A, Class B 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 Columbia Funds or for other reasons.

Generally, a CDSC that would otherwise be applied may be waived for certain sales, including sales made under the Systematic Withdrawal Plan or in connection with the death or post-purchase disability of a shareholder; certain medical expenses; charitable gifts; involuntary sales; and agreements by selling and/or servicing agents to waive or return their commissions. Restrictions may apply to certain accounts and certain transactions.

The Fund may change or cancel these terms at any time. Any change or cancellation applies only to future purchases.

For more information about the sales charge reductions and waivers described here, consult the SAI.


 

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Distribution and Service Fees

Pursuant to Rule 12b-1 under the 1940 Act, the Board has approved, and the Fund has adopted, distribution and shareholder servicing plans which set the distribution and service fees that are periodically deducted from the Fund’s assets. These fees are calculated daily, may vary by share class and are intended to compensate the Distributor and/or eligible selling and/or servicing agents for selling shares of the Fund and providing services to investors. 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 service fees (as an annual % of average daily net assets) and the combined amount of such fees applicable to each share class:

 

Distribution (Rule 12b-1) and Service Fees

     Distribution
Fee
    Service
Fee
  

Combined

Total

Class A        0.20%    0.20%
Class B    0.75%     0.20%    0.95%
Class C    0.75% (a)   0.20%    0.95%

 

(a)

The Distributor has voluntarily agreed to waive a portion of the distribution fee for Class C shares so that it does not exceed 0.60% annually. This arrangement may be modified or terminated by the Distributor at any time.

The Fund will pay these fees to the Distributor and/or to eligible selling and/or servicing agents for as long as the distribution and/or shareholder servicing plans continue. The Fund may reduce or discontinue payments at any time. Your selling and/or servicing agent may also charge you other fees for providing services to your account, which may be different from those described here.


 

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Financial Intermediary Compensation

The Distributor and the Advisor make payments, from their own resources, to certain financial intermediaries, including other Bank of America affiliates, for marketing/sales support services relating to the Columbia Funds. Such payments are generally based upon one or more of the following factors: average net assets of the Columbia Funds sold by the Distributor attributable to that intermediary, gross sales of the Columbia Funds distributed by the Distributor attributable to that intermediary, reimbursement of ticket charges (fees that an intermediary firm charges its representatives for effecting transactions in Fund shares) or a negotiated lump sum payment. While the financial arrangements may vary for each intermediary, the support payments to any one intermediary are generally between 0.05% and 0.35% (and 0.03% and 0.12% with regard to the Columbia Money Market Funds) on an annual basis for payments based on average net assets of the Fund attributable to the intermediary, and between 0.10% and 0.25% on an annual basis for firms receiving a payment based on gross sales of the Columbia Funds (other than the Columbia Money Market Funds) attributable to the intermediary.

The Distributor and the Advisor may make payments in larger amounts or on a basis other than those described above when dealing with other affiliates of Bank of America. Such increased payments to the other Bank of America affiliate may enable the other Bank of America affiliate to offset credits that it may provide to customers in order to avoid having such customers pay fees to multiple Bank of America entities in connection with the customers’ investments in the Fund.

The Distributor, the Transfer Agent and the Advisor may also make payments to financial intermediaries, including other Bank of America affiliates, that provide shareholder services to retirement plans and other investment programs to compensate those intermediaries for services they provide to such programs, including, but not limited to, sub-accounting, sub-transfer agency, similar shareholder or participant recordkeeping, shareholder or participant reporting, or shareholder or participant transaction processing.

 

These payments for shareholder servicing support vary by financial intermediary but generally are not expected, with certain limited exceptions, to exceed 0.35% of the average aggregate value of the Fund’s shares in any intermediary’s program on an annual basis for those classes of shares that pay a service fee pursuant to a plan under Rule 12b-1 under the 1940 Act, and 0.45% of the average aggregate value of the Fund’s shares in any intermediary’s program on an annual basis for those classes of shares that do not pay a service fee pursuant to a plan under Rule 12b-1 under the 1940 Act.

The Board has authorized the Fund to reimburse the Transfer Agent for amounts paid to financial intermediaries that maintain assets in omnibus accounts, subject to an annual cap of 0.15% of the average aggregate value of the Fund’s shares maintained in such accounts. The amounts in excess of that reimbursed by the Fund are borne by the Distributor or the Advisor. The Distributor and the Advisor may make other payments or allow promotional incentives to broker/dealers to the extent permitted by SEC and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) rules and by other applicable laws and regulations.

Amounts paid by the Distributor and the Advisor and their affiliates are paid out of the Distributor’s and the Advisor’s own resources and do not increase the amount paid by you or the Fund. You can find further details about the payments made by the Distributor and the Advisor and their affiliates and the services provided by financial intermediaries as well as a list of the intermediaries to which the Distributor and the Advisor have agreed to make marketing support payments in the SAI. 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 consultants may have a financial incentive for recommending the Fund or a particular share class over others. See Management of the Fund – Other Roles and Relationships of Bank of America and its Affiliates – Certain Conflicts of Interest for more information.


 

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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 net asset value per share for each class of the Fund at the end of each business day.

 

FUNDamentals™
NAV Calculation
Each of the Fund’s share classes calculates its NAV as follows:
      (Value of assets of the share class)
NAV   =  

– (Liabilities of the share class)

        Number of outstanding shares of the class

The value of the Fund’s shares is based on the total market value of all of the securities and other assets that it holds as of a specified time. The prices reported on stock exchanges and other securities markets around the world are usually used to value securities in the Fund. The Fund uses the amortized cost method, which approximates market value, to value short-term investments maturing in 60 days or less.

If a market price isn’t readily available, the Fund will determine the price of the security held by the Fund based on the Advisor’s determination of the security’s fair value. A market price is considered not readily available if, among other circumstances, the most recent reported price is deemed unreliable. In addition, the Fund may use fair valuation to price securities that trade on a foreign exchange when a significant event has occurred after the foreign exchange closes but before the time at which the Fund’s share price is calculated. Foreign exchanges typically close before the time at which Fund share prices are calculated, and may be closed altogether on some days when the Fund is open. Such significant events affecting a foreign security may include, but are not limited to: (1) those impacting a single issuer; (2) governmental action that affects securities in one sector or country; (3) natural disasters or armed conflicts affecting a country or region; or (4) significant domestic or foreign market fluctuations. The Fund uses various criteria,

including an evaluation of U.S. market moves after the close of foreign markets, in determining whether a security’s market price is readily available 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 Fund uses fair valuation to price securities, it may value those securities higher or lower than another mutual fund. Also, the use of fair valuation may cause the Fund’s performance to diverge to a greater degree from the performance of various benchmarks used to compare the Fund’s performance because benchmarks generally do not use fair valuation techniques. Because of the judgment involved in fair valuation decisions, there can be no assurance that the value ascribed to a particular security is accurate. The Fund has retained an independent fair valuation pricing service to assist in the fair valuation process for foreign securities. International markets are sometimes open on days when U.S. markets are closed, which means that the value of foreign securities owned by the Fund could change on days when Fund shares cannot be bought or sold.


 

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Transaction Rules and Policies

Remember that sales charges may apply to your transactions. You should also ask your selling and/or servicing agent about its rules, fees and policies for buying, selling and exchanging shares, which may be different from those described here, and about its related programs or services.

Also remember that the Fund may refuse any order to buy or exchange shares. If this happens, we’ll return any money we’ve received, but no interest will be paid on that money.

Order Processing

Orders to buy, sell or exchange shares are processed on business days. Orders can be delivered by mail, by telephone or online. Orders received in “good form” by the Transfer Agent or your selling and/or servicing agent before the end of a business day will receive that day’s net asset value per share. Orders received after the end of a business day will receive the next business day’s net asset value per share. The business day that applies to your order is also called a trade date.

 

FUNDamentals™

Business Days

 

A business day is any day that the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is open. A business day ends at the close of regular trading on the NYSE, usually at 4:00 p.m. Eastern time. If the NYSE closes early, the business day ends as of the time the NYSE closes. On holidays and other days when the NYSE is closed, the Fund’s net asset value 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 markets are open.

“Good Form”

An order is in “good form” if the Transfer Agent or your selling and/or servicing agent has all of the information and documentation it deems necessary to effect your order. For example, when you sell shares by letter of instruction, “good form” means that your letter has (i) complete instructions and the signatures of all account owners, (ii) a Medallion signature guarantee for amounts equal to or greater than $100,000 and (iii) 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

Qualified customers can obtain a Medallion signature guarantee from any financial institution – including commercial banks such as Bank of America, credit unions and broker/dealers – that participates in one of the three Medallion signature guarantee programs recognized by the SEC. These Medallion signature guarantee programs are the Securities Transfer Agents Medallion Program (STAMP), the Stock Exchanges Medallion Program (SEMP) and the New York Stock Exchange Medallion Signature Program (MSP).

Written Transactions

Once you have an account, you can communicate written buy, sell and exchange orders to the Transfer Agent at the following address: Columbia Funds, c/o Columbia Management Services, Inc., P.O. Box 8081, Boston, MA 02266-8081.

Telephone Transactions

Once you have an account, you can place orders to buy, sell or exchange by telephone depending on how you complete the telephone authorization section of your account application. To place orders by telephone, call 800.422.3737. Have your account number and taxpayer identification number (TIN) available when calling.

You can sell up to an aggregate of $100,000 of shares via the telephone in any 30-day period if you qualify for telephone orders.

Telephone orders may not be as secure as written orders. Columbia Funds 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.


 

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Online Transactions

Once you have an account, contact Columbia Funds at 800.345.6611 for more information on account trading restrictions and the special sign-up procedures required for online transactions. The Transfer Agent has procedures in place to authenticate electronic orders you deliver through the internet. You will be required to accept the terms of an online agreement and establish and utilize a password in order to access online account services.

You can sell up to an aggregate of $100,000 of shares through the internet in any 30-day period if you qualify for internet orders.

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. 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 shall not be held 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 – Accounts Below $250

Columbia Funds generally will automatically sell your shares if the value of your account (treating each account of the Fund you own separately from any other account of the Fund you may own) falls below $250. If your shares are sold, the Transfer Agent will remit the sale proceeds to you. Any otherwise applicable CDSC will not be imposed on such automatic sale of your shares. 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, consolidating your accounts through an exchange of shares of another Columbia Fund in which you hold shares, or setting up a Systematic Investment Plan. Contact the Transfer Agent, review our

website at www.columbiafunds.com, call 800.345.6611 or contact your financial advisor for more information. The automatic sale of shares of accounts valued at less than $250 is expected to take place in the second quarter of each calendar year.

Columbia Funds may also sell your shares if a financial intermediary tells us to sell your shares pursuant to arrangements made with you, and under certain other circumstances allowed under the 1940 Act.

Small Account Policy – Minimum Balance Fee

If the value of your 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, your account generally will be subject to a $20 annual fee. This fee will be assessed through the automatic sale of shares in your account. Any otherwise applicable CDSC will not be imposed on such automatic sale of your shares. 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 fee will be paid directly to the Fund. 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 account balance, consolidating your accounts through an exchange of shares of another Columbia Fund in which you hold shares, or setting up a Systematic Investment Plan. Contact the Transfer Agent, review our website at www.columbiafunds.com, call 800.345.6611 or contact your financial advisor for more information.

Columbia Funds reserves the right to change the minimum investment requirements for any Fund. The Funds also 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, sales loads applicable to a particular class of shares, or for other reasons.

Exceptions to the Small Account Policy

The automatic sale of shares of accounts under $250 and the annual minimum balance fee described previously do not


 

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apply to shareholders of Class R shares or shareholders holding their shares through broker/dealer networked accounts; wrap fee and omnibus accounts; accounts with active Systematic Investment Plans or payroll deduction plans; and certain qualified retirement plans and health savings accounts. The automatic sale of shares of accounts under $250 does not apply to individual retirement plans.

Cash Flows

The timing and magnitude of cash inflows from investors buying Fund shares could prevent the Fund from always being fully invested. Conversely, the timing and magnitude of cash outflows to investors selling Fund shares could require large ready reserves of uninvested cash to meet shareholder redemptions. Either situation could adversely impact the Fund’s performance.

Information Sharing Agreements

As required by Rule 22c-2 under the 1940 Act, the Columbia Funds or certain of their service providers 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 Columbia 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. See Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares – Excessive Trading Practices for more information.

Excessive Trading Practices

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 buy 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 discretion restrict or reject a buy or exchange order even if the transaction is not subject to the specific exchange limitation described below if the Fund or its agents determine that accepting the order could interfere with efficient management of the Fund’s portfolio or is otherwise contrary to the Fund’s best interests. The Excessive Trading Policies and Procedures apply equally to buy or exchange transactions communicated directly to the Transfer Agent and to those received by selling and/or servicing agents.

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 buy orders, including exchange buy orders, involving any Columbia 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. 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 discretion, reject future buy 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 that invest in the Fund using a “fund of funds” structure. These limits do not apply to payroll deduction contributions by retirement plan participants, transactions initiated by a retirement plan sponsor or certain other retirement plan transactions consisting of rollover transactions, loan repayments and disbursements, and required minimum distribution redemptions. They may be modified or rescinded for accounts held by certain retirement plans to conform to plan limits, for considerations relating to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 or regulations of the Department of Labor, and for certain asset allocation or wrap programs. Accounts known to be under common ownership or control generally will be counted together, but accounts maintained or managed by a common intermediary generally will not be considered to be under common ownership or control. The Fund retains the right to modify these restrictions at any time without prior notice to shareholders.


 

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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 and exchange orders through financial intermediaries, and cannot always know 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 identity of the shareholders is often not known.

Some financial intermediaries apply their own restrictions or policies to underlying investor 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 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:

 

n  

negative impact on the Fund’s performance;

 

n  

potential dilution of the value of the Fund’s shares;

 

n  

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;

 

n  

losses on the sale of investments resulting from the need to sell securities at less favorable prices;

 

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increased taxable gains to the Fund’s remaining shareholders resulting from the need to sell securities to meet sell orders; and

 

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increased brokerage and administrative costs.

 

To the extent that the Fund invests significantly in foreign securities traded on markets that close before the Fund’s valuation time, it may be particularly susceptible to dilution as a result of excessive trading. Because events may occur after the close of foreign markets and before the Fund’s valuation time that influence the value of foreign securities, investors may seek to trade Fund shares in an effort to benefit from their understanding of the value of foreign securities as of the Fund’s valuation time. This is often referred to as price arbitrage. The Fund has adopted procedures designed to adjust closing market prices of foreign securities under certain circumstances to reflect what the Fund believes to be the fair value of those securities as of its valuation time. To the extent the adjustments don’t work fully, investors engaging in price arbitrage may cause dilution in the value of the Fund’s shares held by other shareholders.

Similarly, to the extent that the Fund invests significantly in thinly traded high-yield bonds (junk bonds) or equity securities of small-capitalization companies, because these securities are often traded infrequently, investors may seek to trade their shares in an effort to benefit from their understanding of the value of these securities. 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 in highly liquid securities, in part because the Fund may have difficulty selling those portfolio securities 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 other shareholders.


 

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Opening an Account and Placing Orders

Columbia Funds encourages 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 and exchange shares by contacting your financial advisor who will send your order to the Transfer Agent or your selling and/or servicing agent. As described in Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares – Transaction Rules and Policies, once you have an account you can also communicate your orders directly to the Transfer Agent by mail, by telephone or online.

Buying Shares

Eligible Investors

Class A, Class B and Class C shares are available to the general public for investment. Once you have opened an account, you can buy Class A, Class B and Class C shares in a lump sum, through our Systematic Investment Plan, by dividend diversification, by wire or by electronic funds transfer.

Minimum Initial Investments

The minimum initial investment for Class A, Class B and Class C shares is $2,500 for regular accounts and $1,000 for individual retirement plans (including traditional IRAs, Roth IRAs and Coverdell Education Savings Accounts) and non-omnibus group retirement plans. For investors establishing a Systematic Investment Plan, the minimum initial investment is $50. There is no minimum initial investment for Class A, Class B or Class C shares bought through omnibus accounts, wrap accounts or health savings accounts, although your selling and/or servicing agent may impose its own investment minimum. For group retirement plans, the minimum initial investment and minimum additional investment are determined based on the plan’s investment rather than that of its individual participants.

Minimum Additional Investments

There is no minimum additional investment for Class A, Class B or Class C shares.

 

Systematic Investment Plan

The Systematic Investment Plan allows you to make regular purchases in amounts of $50 or more via automatic transfers from your bank account to the Fund on a monthly, quarterly or semi-annual basis. Contact the Transfer Agent or your financial advisor to set up the plan.

Dividend Diversification

Generally, you may automatically invest distributions made by another Columbia Fund into the same class of shares (and in some cases certain other classes of shares) of the Fund at no additional sales charge. A sales charge may apply when you invest distributions made by a Columbia Fund that were not assessed a sales charge at the time of your initial purchase. Call Columbia Funds at 800.345.6611 for details.

Wire Purchases

You may buy Class A, Class B or Class C shares of the Fund by wiring money from your bank account to your Fund account by calling the Transfer Agent at 800.422.3737.

Electronic Funds Transfer

You may buy Class A, Class B or Class C shares of the Fund by electronically transferring money from your bank account to your Fund account by calling the Transfer Agent at 800.422.3737. An electronic funds transfer may take up to three business days to settle and be considered in “good form.” You must set up this feature by contacting the Transfer Agent prior to your request to obtain any necessary forms.

Other Purchase Rules You Should Know

 

n  

Once the Transfer Agent or your selling and/or servicing agent receives your buy order in “good form,” your purchase will be made at the next calculated public offering price per share, which is the net asset value per share plus any sales charge that applies.

 

n  

You generally buy Class A shares at the public offering price per share because purchases of Class A shares are generally subject to a front-end sales charge.

 

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You buy Class B and Class C shares at net asset value per share because no front-end sales charge applies to purchases of these share classes.


 

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n  

The Fund reserves the right to cancel your order if it doesn’t receive payment within three business days of receiving your buy order. The Fund will return any payment received for orders that have been cancelled, but no interest will be paid on that money.

 

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Selling and/or servicing agents are responsible for sending your buy orders to the Transfer Agent and ensuring that we receive your money on time.

 

n  

Shares bought are recorded on the books of the Fund. The Fund doesn’t issue certificates.

Selling Shares

When you sell your shares, the Fund is effectively buying them back from you. This is called a redemption.

Wire Redemptions

You may request that your Class A, Class B or Class C shares sale proceeds be wired to your bank account by calling the Transfer Agent at 800.422.3737. You must set up this feature prior to your request. For shares sold by Fedwire, there is generally a fee of $7.50. The receiving bank may charge an additional fee. The Transfer Agent may waive the fee for certain accounts. The minimum amount that can be redeemed by wire is $500.

Electronic Funds Transfer

You may sell Class A, Class B or Class C shares of the Fund and request that the proceeds be electronically transferred to your bank account by calling the Transfer Agent at 800.422.3737. It may take up to three business days for the sale proceeds to be received by your bank. You must set up this feature by contacting the Transfer Agent prior to your request to obtain any necessary forms.

Systematic Withdrawal Plan

The Systematic Withdrawal Plan lets you withdraw funds from your Class A, Class B and/or Class C shares account any day of the month on a monthly, quarterly or semi-annual basis. Contact the Transfer Agent or your financial advisor to set up the plan. Your account balance generally must be at least $5,000 to set up the plan, but certain fee-based and wrap accounts are not subject to this requirement. All dividend and capital gain distributions must be reinvested to set up the plan. A Systematic Withdrawal Plan cannot be set up on an account that already has a Systematic Investment Plan

established. If you set up the plan after you’ve opened your account, we may require your signature to be Medallion guaranteed.

You can choose to receive your withdrawals via check or direct deposit into your bank account. You won’t pay a CDSC on Class A, Class B or Class C shares if you withdraw 12% or less of the value of those shares in a year. Otherwise, Columbia Funds will deduct any applicable CDSC from the withdrawals before sending the balance to you. You can cancel the plan by giving Columbia Funds 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 use up your original investment.

In-Kind Distributions

The Fund reserves the right to honor sell orders with in-kind distributions of portfolio securities instead of cash. In the event the Fund makes such an in-kind distribution, you may incur the brokerage and transaction costs associated with converting the portfolio securities you receive into cash. Also, the portfolio securities you receive may increase or decrease in value before you convert them into cash.

Other Redemption Rules You Should Know

 

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Once the Transfer Agent or your selling and/or servicing agent receives your sell order in “good form,” your shares will be sold at the next calculated net asset value per share. Any applicable CDSC will be deducted from the amount you’re selling and the balance will be remitted to you.

 

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If you sell your shares directly through Columbia Funds, we will normally send the sale proceeds by mail or electronically transfer them to your bank account within three business days after the Transfer Agent or your selling and/or servicing agent receives your order in “good form.”

 

n  

If you sell your shares through a selling agent, Columbia Funds will normally send the sale proceeds by Fedwire within three business days after the Transfer Agent or your selling and/or servicing agent receives your order in “good form.”

 

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If you paid for your shares by check or from your bank account as an Automated Clearing House (ACH) transaction, Columbia Funds will hold the sale proceeds when you sell those shares for up to 10 days after the trade date of the purchase.


 

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n  

No interest will be paid on uncashed redemption checks.

 

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Columbia Funds can delay payment of the sale proceeds for up to seven days and may suspend redemptions and/or postpone payment of redemption proceeds when the NYSE is closed or during emergency circumstances as determined by the SEC.

 

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Other restrictions may apply to retirement accounts. For information about these restrictions, contact your retirement plan administrator.

 

n  

Also keep in mind Columbia 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 the Fund to buy shares of another Columbia Fund, in what is called an exchange. You should read the prospectus of, and make sure you understand the investment objective and principal investment strategies of, the Columbia Fund into which you are exchanging.

Systematic Exchanges

You may buy Class A, Class B and/or Class C shares of the Fund by exchanging $100 or more each month from another Columbia Fund for shares of the same class of the Fund at no additional cost. Contact the Transfer Agent or your financial advisor to set up the plan. If you set up your plan to exchange more than $100,000 each month, you must have your signature Medallion guaranteed.

Exchanges will continue as long as your balance is sufficient to complete the systematic monthly transfers, subject to Columbia 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 $100 minimum) by calling Columbia Funds at 800.345.6611. A sales charge may apply when you exchange shares of a Columbia Fund that were not assessed a sales charge at the time of your initial purchase.

The rules described below for making exchanges apply to systematic exchanges.

 

Other Exchange Rules You Should Know

 

n  

Exchanges are made at net asset value.

 

n  

You can generally make exchanges between like share classes of any Columbia Fund. Some exceptions apply.

 

n  

A sales charge may apply when you exchange shares of a Columbia Fund that were not assessed a sales charge at the time of your initial purchase.

 

n  

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 Columbia Fund and ends when you sell the shares of the Columbia Fund you received from the exchange. The applicable CDSC will be the CDSC of the original Columbia Fund.

 

n  

The rules for buying shares of a Columbia Fund generally apply to exchanges into that Fund.

 

n  

You may make exchanges only into a Columbia Fund that is legally offered and sold in your state of residence.

 

n  

You generally may make an exchange only into a Columbia Fund that is accepting investments.

 

n  

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).

 

n  

Unless your account is part of a tax-advantaged retirement plan, an exchange for shares of another fund is a taxable event, and you may recognize a gain or loss for tax purposes.

Same-Fund Exchange Privilege for Class Z Shares

Certain shareholders invested in a class of shares other than Class Z may become eligible to invest in Class Z shares. Upon a determination of such eligibility, any such shareholders will be eligible to exchange their shares for Class Z shares of the same fund, if offered. No sales charges or other charges will apply to any such exchange. Ordinarily, shareholders will not recognize a gain or loss for federal income tax purposes upon such an exchange. Investors should contact their selling and/or servicing agents to learn more about the details of the Class Z shares exchange privilege.


 

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Distributions and Taxes

 

Distributions to Shareholders

A mutual fund can make money two ways:

 

n  

It can earn income on its investments. Examples of fund income are interest paid on money market instruments and bonds, and dividends paid on common stocks.

 

n  

A mutual fund can also have capital gains if the value of its investments increases. While a fund continues to hold an investment, any gain is unrealized. If the fund sells an investment, it generally will realize a capital gain if it sells that investment for a higher price than it originally paid. Capital gains are either short-term or long-term, depending on whether the fund holds the securities for one year or less (short-term gains) or more than one year (long-term gains).

 

FUNDamentals™

Distributions

 

Mutual funds make payments of fund earnings to shareholders, distributing them among all shareholders of the fund. As a shareholder, you are entitled to your portion of a fund’s distributed income, including capital gains.

 

Reinvesting your distributions buys you more shares of a fund – which lets you take advantage of the potential for compound growth. Putting the money you earn back into your investment means it, in turn, may earn even more money. Over time, the power of compounding has the potential to significantly increase the value of your investment. There is no assurance, however, that you’ll earn more money if you reinvest your distributions rather than receive them in cash.

The Fund intends to pay out, in the form of distributions to shareholders, a sufficient amount of its income and gains so that the Fund will qualify for treatment as a regulated investment company and generally will not have to pay any federal excise tax. The Fund generally intends to distribute any net realized capital gain (whether long-term or short-term gain) at least once a year. Normally, the Fund will declare and pay distributions of net investment income according to the following schedule:

 

Declaration and Distribution Schedule

Declarations    daily
Distributions    monthly

 

The Fund may, however, pay distributions of net investment income more frequently.

Different share classes of the Fund usually pay different net investment income distribution amounts, because each class has different expenses. Each time a distribution is made, the net asset value per share of the share class is reduced by the amount of the distribution.

The Fund generally pays cash distributions within five business days after the end of the month in which the distribution was declared. If you sell all of your shares after the record date, but before the payment date, for a distribution, you’ll normally receive that distribution in cash within five business days after the sale was made.

The Fund will automatically reinvest distributions in additional shares of the same share class of the Fund unless you inform us you want to receive your distributions in cash. You can do this by writing Columbia Funds at the address on the back cover, or by calling us at 800.345.6611. No sales charges apply to the purchase or sale of such shares. Distributions of $10 or less will automatically be reinvested in additional Fund shares only. If you elect to receive distributions by check and the check is returned as undeliverable, all subsequent distributions will be reinvested in additional shares of the Fund.

If you buy shares of the Fund when it holds securities with unrealized capital gain, you may, in effect, receive part of your purchase price back if and when the Fund sells those securities and distributes any net realized gain. Any such distribution is generally subject to tax. The Fund may have, or may build up over time, high levels of unrealized capital gain. If you buy shares of the Fund when it has capital loss carryforwards, the Fund may have the ability to offset capital gains realized by the Fund that otherwise would have been distributed to shareholders with such carryforwards, although capital loss carryforwards generally expire after eight taxable years and may be subject to substantial limitations.


 

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Table of Contents

Distributions and Taxes

 

Taxes and Your Investment

The Fund will send you a statement each year showing how much you’ve received in distributions in the prior year and the distributions’ character for federal income tax purposes. In addition, you should be aware of the following:

 

n  

The Fund intends to qualify each year as a regulated investment company. A regulated investment company generally is not subject to tax at the fund level on income and gains from investments that are distributed to shareholders. However, the Fund’s failure to qualify as a regulated investment company would result in fund level taxation, and consequently, a reduction in income available for distribution to you.

 

n  

To the extent distributions are taxable, such distributions generally are taxable to you when paid, whether they are paid in cash or automatically reinvested in additional shares of the Fund.

 

n  

Distributions of the Fund’s net interest income from tax-exempt securities generally are not subject to federal income tax, but may be subject to state and local income and other taxes, as well as federal and state alternative minimum tax.

 

n  

The Fund may invest a portion of its assets in securities that generate income that is not exempt from federal or state income tax. Distributions by the Fund of this income generally are taxable to you as ordinary income. Distributions of gains realized by the Fund, including those generated from the sale or exchange of tax-exempt securities, generally also are taxable to you. Distributions of the Fund’s net short-term capital gain, if any, generally are taxable to you as ordinary income. Distributions of the Fund’s net long-term capital gain, if any, generally are taxable to you as long-term capital gain. Whether capital gains are long-term or short term is determined by how long the Fund has owned the investments that generated them, rather than how long you have owned your shares.

 

n  

For taxable years beginning on or before December 31, 2010, if you are an individual and you meet certain holding period and other requirements for your Fund shares, a portion of your distributions may be treated as “qualified dividend income.” Qualified dividend income is income attributable to the Fund’s dividends received from certain U.S. and foreign corporations, as long as the Fund meets certain holding period and other requirements for the stock producing such dividends. The Fund does not expect a

 

significant portion of Fund distributions to be derived from qualified dividend income.

 

n  

For taxable years beginning on or before December 31, 2010, the maximum individual federal income tax rate on net long-term capital gain and qualified dividend income is 15%.

 

n  

A sale, redemption or exchange of Fund shares is a taxable event. This includes redemptions where you are paid in securities. Your sales, redemptions and exchanges of Fund shares (including those paid in securities) usually will result in a taxable capital gain or loss to you, equal to the difference between the amount you receive for your shares (or are deemed to have received in the case of exchanges) and the amount you paid (or are deemed to have paid in the case of exchanges) for them. Any such capital gain or loss generally will be a long-term capital gain or loss if you have held your Fund shares for more than one year at the time of sale or exchange. In certain circumstances, capital losses may be converted from short-term to long-term or disallowed.

 

n  

The Fund is required by federal law to withhold tax on any taxable and possibly tax exempt distributions and sale proceeds paid to you (including amounts paid to you in securities and amounts deemed to be paid to you upon an exchange of shares) if: you haven’t provided a correct taxpayer identification number (TIN) or haven’t certified to the Fund that withholding doesn’t apply; the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has notified us that the TIN listed on your account is incorrect according to its records; or the IRS informs the Fund that you are otherwise subject to backup withholding.

 

FUNDamentals™

Taxes

 

The information provided above is only a summary of how U.S. federal income taxes may affect your investment in the Fund. It is not intended as a substitute for careful tax planning. Your investment in the Fund may have other tax implications.

 

It does not apply to certain types of investors who may be subject to special rules, including foreign or tax-exempt investors or those holding Fund shares through a tax-advantaged account, such as a 401(k) plan or IRA.

 

You should consult with your own tax advisor about the particular tax consequences to you of an investment in the Fund, including the effect of any foreign, state and local taxes, and the effect of possible changes in applicable tax laws.


 

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Table of Contents

Financial Highlights

 

The financial highlights tables are designed to help you understand how the Fund has performed for the past five full fiscal years. Certain information reflects financial results for a single Fund share. The total return line indicates how much an investment in the Fund would have earned each period assuming all dividends and distributions had been reinvested.

This information has been audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm whose report, along with the Fund’s financial statements, is included in the Fund’s annual report. The independent registered public accounting firm’s report and the Fund’s financial statements are also incorporated by reference into the SAI.

 

Columbia High Yield Municipal Fund – Class A Shares

     

Year Ended June 30,

 
      2008     2007     2006     2005     2004  
Net Asset Value, Beginning of Period    $ 11.33     $ 11.25     $ 11.39     $ 10.96     $ 11.25  
Income from Investment Operations:           
Net investment income(a)      0.52       0.51       0.52       0.54       0.56  
Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) on investments, swap contracts and futures contracts      (1.01 )     0.08       (0.14 )     0.43       (0.33 )
Total from Investment Operations      (0.49 )     0.59       0.38       0.97       0.23  
Less Distributions to Shareholders:           
From net investment income      (0.52 )     (0.51 )     (0.52 )     (0.54 )     (0.52 )
Net Asset Value, End of Period    $ 10.32     $ 11.33     $ 11.25     $ 11.39     $ 10.96  
Total return(b)      (4.39 )%     5.23 %     3.39 %(c)     9.00 %     2.10 %
Ratios to Average Net Assets/Supplemental Data:           
Net expenses before interest expense and fees(d)      0.90 %     0.88 %     0.85 %     0.87 %     0.89 %
Interest expense and fees(e)      0.05 %     0.07 %     0.07 %     0.06 %     0.05 %
Net expenses(d)      0.95 %     0.95 %     0.92 %     0.93 %     0.94 %
Waiver/Reimbursement                  %(f)            
Net investment income(d)      4.84 %     4.43 %     4.60 %     4.79 %     5.04 %
Portfolio turnover rate      32 %     27 %     13 %     7 %     10 %
Net assets, end of period (000’s)    $ 74,593     $ 89,977     $ 90,151     $ 91,470     $ 77,738  

 

(a)

Per share data was calculated using the average shares outstanding during the period.

 

(b)

Total return at net asset value assuming all distributions reinvested and no initial sales charge or contingent deferred sales charge.

 

(c)

Had the investment advisor and/or any of its affiliates not waived fees or reimbursed a portion of expenses, total return would have been reduced.

 

(d)

The benefits derived from expense reductions had an impact of less than 0.01%.

 

(e)

Interest expense and fees relate to the liability for floating-rate notes issued in conjunction with inverse floater securities transactions.

 

(f)

Rounds to less than 0.01%.

 

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Financial Highlights

 

Columbia High Yield Municipal Fund – Class B Shares

     

Year Ended June 30,

 
      2008     2007     2006     2005     2004  
Net Asset Value, Beginning of Period    $ 11.33     $ 11.25     $ 11.39     $ 10.96     $ 11.25  
Income from Investment Operations:           
Net investment income(a)      0.44       0.42       0.43       0.46       0.48  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) on

investments, swap contracts and futures contracts

     (1.01 )     0.08       (0.14 )     0.42       (0.33 )
Total from Investment Operations      (0.57 )     0.50       0.29       0.88       0.15  
Less Distributions to Shareholders:           
From net investment income      (0.44 )     (0.42 )     (0.43 )     (0.45 )     (0.44 )
Net Asset Value, End of Period    $ 10.32     $ 11.33     $ 11.25     $ 11.39     $ 10.96  
Total return(b)      (5.10 )%     4.45 %     2.62 %(c)     8.19 %     1.33 %
Ratios to Average Net Assets/Supplemental Data:           
Net expenses before interest expense and fees(d)      1.65 %     1.63 %     1.60 %     1.62 %     1.64 %
Interest expense and fees(e)      0.05 %     0.07 %     0.07 %     0.06 %     0.05 %
Net expenses(d)      1.70 %     1.70 %     1.67 %     1.68 %     1.69 %
Waiver/Reimbursement                  %(f)            
Net investment income(d)      4.09 %     3.68 %     3.85 %     4.04 %     4.29 %
Portfolio turnover rate      32 %     27 %     13 %     7 %     10 %
Net assets, end of period (000’s)    $ 11,945     $ 17,407     $ 24,735     $ 32,824     $ 39,097  

 

(a)

Per share data was calculated using the average shares outstanding during the period.

 

(b)

Total return at net asset value assuming all distributions reinvested and no contingent deferred sales charge.

 

(c)

Had the investment advisor and/or any of its affiliates not waived fees or reimbursed a portion of expenses, total return would have been reduced.

 

(d)

The benefits derived from expense reductions had an impact of less than 0.01%.

 

(e)

Interest expense and fees relate to the liability for floating-rate notes issued in conjunction with inverse floater securities transactions.

 

(f)

Rounds to less than 0.01%.

 

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Financial Highlights

 

Columbia High Yield Municipal Fund – Class C Shares

     

Year Ended June 30,

 
      2008     2007     2006     2005     2004  
Net Asset Value, Beginning of Period    $ 11.33     $ 11.25     $ 11.39     $ 10.96     $ 11.25  
Income from Investment Operations:           
Net investment income(a)      0.46       0.44       0.45       0.47       0.49  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) on

investments, swap contracts and futures contracts

     (1.01 )     0.08       (0.14 )     0.43       (0.32 )
Total from Investment Operations      (0.55 )     0.52       0.31       0.90       0.17  
Less Distributions to Shareholders:           
From net investment income      (0.46 )     (0.44 )     (0.45 )     (0.47 )     (0.46 )
Net Asset Value, End of Period    $ 10.32     $ 11.33     $ 11.25     $ 11.39     $ 10.96  
Total return(b)(c)      (4.96 )%     4.61 %     2.77 %     8.35 %     1.48 %
Ratios to Average Net Assets/Supplemental Data:           
Net expenses before interest expense and fees(d)      1.50 %     1.48 %     1.45 %     1.47 %     1.49 %
Interest expense and fees(e)      0.05 %     0.07 %     0.07 %     0.06 %     0.05 %
Net expenses(d)      1.55 %     1.55 %     1.52 %     1.53 %     1.54 %
Waiver/Reimbursement      0.15 %     0.15 %     0.15 %     0.15 %     0.15 %
Net investment income(d)      4.24 %     3.82 %     3.99 %     4.19 %     4.44 %
Portfolio turnover rate      32 %     27 %     13 %     7 %     10 %
Net assets, end of period (000’s)    $ 11,090     $ 14,134     $ 14,727     $ 13,593     $ 10,482  

 

(a)

Per share data was calculated using the average shares outstanding during the period.

 

(b)

Total return at net asset value assuming all distributions reinvested and no contingent deferred sales charge.

 

(c)

Had the investment advisor and/or any of its affiliates not waived fees or reimbursed a portion of expenses, total return would have been reduced.

 

(d)

The benefits derived from expense reductions had an impact of less than 0.01%.

 

(e)

Interest expense and fees relate to the liability for floating-rate notes issued in conjunction with inverse floater securities transactions.

 

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Hypothetical Fees and Expenses

 

The following supplemental hypothetical investment information provides additional information about the effect of the fees and expenses of the Fund, including investment advisory fees and other Fund costs, on the Fund’s returns over a 10-year period. The charts show the estimated fees and expenses that would be charged on a hypothetical investment of $10,000 in each share class of the Fund, assuming a 5% return each year, the cumulative return after fees and expenses and the hypothetical year-end balance after fees and expenses. The charts also assume that all dividends and distributions are reinvested and that Class B shares convert to Class A shares after eight years. The annual expense ratio used for each share class, which is the same as that stated in the Annual Fund Operating Expense table, is presented in the charts and is net of any contractual fee waivers or expense reimbursements for the period of contractual commitment. Your actual costs may be higher or lower. The charts shown below reflect the maximum initial sales charge. If contingent deferred sales charges were reflected, the “Hypothetical Year-End Balance After Fees and Expenses” amounts shown would be lower and the “Annual Fees and Expenses” amounts shown would be higher.

 

Columbia High Yield Municipal Fund – Class A Shares

Maximum Initial Sales
Charge 4.75%
  Initial Hypothetical Investment
Amount $10,000.00
    Assumed Rate of Return 5%
Year   Cumulative
Return Before
Fees and Expenses
  Annual
Expense Ratio
  Cumulative
Return After
Fees and Expenses
    Hypothetical
Year-End
Balance After
Fees and Expenses
  Annual Fees
and Expenses
(a)
1     5.00%   0.92%   -0.86% (b)   $9,913.62   $564.42
2   10.25%   0.92%   3.18%     $10,318.10   $93.07
3   15.76%   0.92%   7.39%     $10,739.07   $96.86
4   21.55%   0.92%   11.77%     $11,177.23   $100.81
5   27.63%   0.92%   16.33%     $11,633.26   $104.93
6   34.01%   0.92%   21.08%     $12,107.90   $109.21
7   40.71%   0.92%   26.02%     $12,601.90   $113.67
8   47.75%   0.92%   31.16%     $13,116.06   $118.30
9   55.13%   0.92%   36.51%     $13,651.19   $123.13
10   62.89%   0.92%   42.08%     $14,208.16   $128.15
Total Gain After Fees and Expenses         $4,208.16    
Total Annual Fees and Expenses Paid             $1,552.55

 

(a)

Annual Fees and Expenses are calculated based on the average between the beginning and ending balance for each year. All information is calculated on an annual compounding basis.

 

(b)

Reflects deduction of the maximum initial sales charge.

 

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Table of Contents

Hypothetical Fees and Expenses

 

Columbia High Yield Municipal Fund – Class B Shares

Maximum Initial Sales
Charge 0.00%
  Initial Hypothetical Investment
Amount $10,000.00
  Assumed Rate of Return 5%
Year   Cumulative
Return Before
Fees and Expenses
  Annual
Expense Ratio
  Cumulative
Return After
Fees and Expenses
  Hypothetical
Year-End
Balance After
Fees and Expenses
  Annual Fees
and Expenses
(a)
1     5.00%   1.67%   3.33%   $10,333.00   $169.78
2   10.25%   1.67%   6.77%   $10,677.09   $175.43
3   15.76%   1.67%   10.33%   $11,032.64   $181.28
4   21.55%   1.67%   14.00%   $11,400.02   $187.31
5   27.63%   1.67%   17.80%   $11,779.64   $193.55
6   34.01%   1.67%   21.72%   $12,171.91   $200.00
7   40.71%   1.67%   25.77%   $12,577.23   $206.66
8   47.75%   1.67%   29.96%   $12,996.05   $213.54
9   55.13%   0.92%   35.26%   $13,526.29   $122.00
10   62.89%   0.92%   40.78%   $14,078.16   $126.98
Total Gain After Fees and Expenses       $4,078.16    
Total Annual Fees and Expenses Paid           $1,776.52

 

(a)

Annual Fees and Expenses are calculated based on the average between the beginning and ending balance for each year. All information is calculated on an annual compounding basis.

 

Columbia High Yield Municipal Fund – Class C Shares

Maximum Initial Sales
Charge 0.00%
  Initial Hypothetical Investment
Amount $10,000.00
  Assumed Rate of Return 5%
Year   Cumulative
Return Before
Fees and Expenses
  Annual
Expense Ratio
  Cumulative
Return After
Fees and Expenses
  Hypothetical
Year-End
Balance After
Fees and Expenses
  Annual Fees
and Expenses
(a)
1   5.00%   1.67%   3.33%   $10,333.00   $169.78
2   10.25%   1.67%   6.77%   $10,677.09   $175.43
3   15.76%   1.67%   10.33%   $11,032.64   $181.28
4   21.55%   1.67%   14.00%   $11,400.02   $187.31
5   27.63%   1.67%   17.80%   $11,779.64   $193.55
6   34.01%   1.67%   21.72%   $12,171.91   $200.00
7   40.71%   1.67%   25.77%   $12,577.23   $206.66
8   47.75%   1.67%   29.96%   $12,996.05   $213.54
9   55.13%   1.67%   34.29%   $13,428.82   $220.65
10   62.89%   1.67%   38.76%   $13,876.00   $228.00
Total Gain After Fees and Expenses       $3,876.00    
Total Annual Fees and Expenses Paid           $1,976.18

 

(a)

Annual Fees and Expenses are calculated based on the average between the beginning and ending balance for each year. All information is calculated on an annual compounding basis.

 

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Notes

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

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Notes

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

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For More Information

You’ll find more information about the Fund and the other Columbia Funds in the documents described below. Contact Columbia Funds as follows to obtain these documents free of charge:

 

By Mail:   Columbia Funds
  c/o Columbia Management Services, Inc.
  P.O. Box 8081 Boston, MA 02266-8081
 
By Telephone:   800.345.6611
 
Online:   www.columbiafunds.com

Annual and Semi-Annual

Reports to Shareholders

Additional information about the Fund’s investments is available in the Fund’s annual and semi-annual reports to shareholders. In the annual report, you will find a discussion of the market conditions and investment strategies that significantly affected the Fund’s performance during its last fiscal year.

Shareholder Communications with the Board

The Fund’s Board of Trustees has adopted procedures by which shareholders may communicate with the Board. Shareholders who wish to communicate with the Board should send their written communications to the Board by mail, c/o Columbia Management Advisors, LLC, One Financial Center, Mail Stop MA5-515-11-05, Boston, MA 02111, Attention: Secretary. Shareholder communications

must (i) be in writing, (ii) identify the Columbia Fund to which the communication relates and (iii) state the particular class of shares and number of shares held by the communicating shareholder.

Statement of Additional Information

The SAI provides more detailed information about the Fund and its policies. The SAI is legally part of this prospectus (incorporated by reference). A copy has been filed with the SEC.

Information Provided by the SEC

You can review and copy information about the Fund (including this prospectus, the SAI and shareholder reports) at the SEC’s Public Reference Room in Washington, DC. To find out more about the operation of the Public Reference Room, call the SEC at 202.551.8090 or 800.SEC.0330. Reports and other information about the Fund are also available in the EDGAR Database on the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov. You can receive copies of this information, for a fee, by electronic request at the following e-mail address: publicinfo@sec.gov or by writing the Public Reference Section, Securities and Exchange Commission, Washington, DC 20549-0102.

For purposes of any electronic version of this prospectus, all references to websites, or universal resource locators (URLs), are intended to be inactive and are not meant to incorporate the contents of any website into this prospectus.

The investment company registration number of Columbia Funds Series Trust I, of which the Fund is a series, is 811-04367.


LOGO

Columbia High Yield Municipal Fund Class A, Class B and Class C Shares

Prospectus, November 1, 2008, as revised November 17, 2008

©2008 Columbia Management Distributors, Inc.

One Financial Center, Boston, MA 02111-2621

800.345.6611 www.columbiafunds.com

INT-36/156857-1108


Table of Contents

LOGO

 

Prospectus

November 1, 2008, as revised November 17, 2008

Columbia Funds

 

Columbia High Yield Municipal Fund

Class Z Shares

Advised by Columbia Management Advisors, LLC

 

NOT FDIC-INSURED   May Lose Value     The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has not approved or disapproved these securities or determined if this prospectus is truthful or complete. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.
NOT BANK ISSUED   No Bank Guarantee    


Table of Contents

 

Fund shares are NOT deposits or other obligations of, or issued, endorsed or guaranteed by, Bank of America, N.A. or any of its affiliates. Fund shares are NOT issued, insured or guaranteed by the U.S. Government, the FDIC or any other government agency.

Bank of America Corporation (Bank of America) and its affiliates are paid for the services they provide to the Fund and may be compensated or incented in connection with the sale of Fund shares. The Fund may be used as an investment option for various products and services offered by Bank of America that may raise economic and other conflicts of interest, which are discussed in this prospectus.

AN INVESTMENT IN THE FUND INVOLVES CERTAIN RISKS, INCLUDING LOSS OF PRINCIPAL.

 

 

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Prospectus Primer

This prospectus tells you about Columbia High Yield Municipal Fund (the Fund), which is one of the income funds in the Columbia Funds family of mutual funds (Columbia Funds). It is designed to provide you with important information about the Fund in a concise and easy to understand manner that is meant to help you make informed investment decisions.

The prospectus first summarizes the key characteristics of the Fund, including:

 

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investment objective,

 

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principal investment strategies and risks,

 

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year-by-year performance information,

 

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fees and expenses, and

 

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a description of the Fund’s additional investment strategies and policies.

This summary is followed by other important information, including:

 

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a discussion of the Fund’s primary service providers, including the roles and relationships of Bank of America and its affiliates, and conflicts of interest, and

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a description of the Fund’s Class Z shares offered by this prospectus.

Later sections of the prospectus talk about the details of investing in the Fund, including:

 

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how to buy, sell and exchange shares of the Fund, and

 

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how you will receive your investment proceeds.

The prospectus also includes:

 

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information about how federal and certain other taxes may affect your investment,

 

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highlights of the Fund’s financial information, and

 

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hypothetical fee and expense data that show the costs associated with investing in the Fund.

We have included a number of features designed to facilitate your use of this prospectus, including:

 

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“FUNDamentals™” sections that provide simple explanations of key terms and concepts, as well as some basics of mutual fund investing,

 

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a “FUNDimensions™” section that is meant to give you a “snapshot” of the Fund’s main attributes, and

 

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graphic icons which are defined in the guide below.


 

Icons Guide

LOGO   Investment Objective
LOGO   Principal Investment Strategies
LOGO   Principal Risks
LOGO   Performance Information
LOGO   Fees and Expenses
LOGO   Other Roles and Relationships of Bank of America and its Affiliates – Certain Conflicts of Interest

 

For More Information

You can contact Columbia Funds:

 

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by mail at Columbia Funds, c/o Columbia Management Services, Inc., P.O. Box 8081, Boston, MA 02266-8081.

 

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by telephone at 800.345.6611.

 

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by email at serviceinquiries@columbiamanagement.com or online at www.columbiafunds.com.

 

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through your financial advisor, who can help you select from among the Columbia Funds to meet your investment needs.

You also can find more information about the Fund in the Statement of Additional Information (SAI), which includes more detailed information about the Fund’s investments, policies and management, among other things. Turn to the back cover to find out how you can get a copy.

The SEC provides a “Beginner’s Guide to Mutual Funds” which may be useful to some investors and is available online, free of charge, at www.sec.gov.


 

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Table of Contents    
   
Columbia High Yield Municipal Fund   5
   

Investment Objective

  5
   

Principal Investment Strategies

  5
   

Principal Risks

  7
   

Performance Information

  9
   

Fees and Expenses

  11
   

Additional Investment Strategies and Policies

  14
   
Management of the Fund   16
   

Primary Service Providers

  16
   

Other Roles and Relationships of Bank of America and its Affiliates – Certain Conflicts of Interest

  18
   

Certain Legal Matters

  19
   
About Class Z Shares   21
   

Description of the Share Class

  21
   

Financial Intermediary Compensation

  22
   
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares   23
   

Share Price Determination

  23
   

Transaction Rules and Policies

  24
   

Opening an Account and Placing Orders

  28
   
Distributions and Taxes   32
   
Financial Highlights   34
   
Hypothetical Fees and Expenses   35

FUNDamentals™ and FUNDimensions™ are trademarks of Bank of America.

Columbia Management Group, LLC

The Fund is sponsored by Columbia Management Group, LLC (Columbia Management), which is the primary investment division of Bank of America. Columbia Management is located at 100 Federal Street, Boston, MA 02110.

Columbia Management Advisors, LLC is the Fund’s investment advisor (the Advisor) and its administrator (the Administrator). Columbia Management Distributors, Inc. is the Fund’s distributor (the Distributor). Columbia Management Services, Inc. is the Fund’s transfer agent (the Transfer Agent).

 

 

The Fund, like all mutual funds, is designed to be a part of a broad and diversified investment portfolio and is not intended to fulfill all of your investment needs.

You should consider the objectives, risks and expenses of the Fund and any other Columbia Fund carefully before investing.


 

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FUNDimensions™    
Columbia High Yield Municipal Fund
Investment Objective:   Total return, consisting of current income exempt from federal income tax and capital appreciation
Investment Style:   High Yield Municipal
Benchmark:  

Lehman Brothers Municipal Bond Index

Ticker Symbol:   Class Z: SRHMX
Principal Risks:  

Investment strategy risk

Market risk

Low and below investment grade securities risk

Interest rate risk

Credit risk

Municipal securities risk

Derivatives risk

Inverse floating rate obligations risk

 

FUNDamentals™

 

Benchmarks

 

Benchmarks are indices that provide some guidance in assessing fund performance. A fund does not, however, limit its investments to the securities within its benchmark(s), and a fund’s holdings can differ from those of any particular benchmark or index. Benchmarks are only guideposts for performance.

 

FUNDamentals™

 

Fixed Income Funds

 

Fixed income funds invest primarily in debt securities that may be issued by governments, companies or special purpose entities. Debt securities pay interest at a specified rate on a specified date or dates, and the principal is paid when the security reaches maturity. Prices of debt securities may appreciate as interest rates fall but may lose value as interest rates rise.

 

Fixed income funds may be a suitable investment for you if you:

 

n  are looking for a regular stream of income, and

 

n  are prepared to bear the risks associated with investments in debt securities.

 

LOGO  Investment Objective

The Fund seeks total return, consisting of current income exempt from federal income tax and capital appreciation.

LOGO  Principal Investment Strategies

Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets in high yield securities. These securities generally include medium grade or below investment grade debt securities or unrated debt securities determined by the Advisor to be of comparable quality, but also may include other securities that the Advisor believes have the potential for relatively high yield. Below investment grade securities are commonly referred to as “junk bonds.” The Fund may invest in bonds of any maturity. The Fund also may invest in industrial development bonds or in participation interests in those bonds.

As a fundamental policy, the Fund will invest its assets so that at least 80% of the Fund’s gross income will be exempt from federal income tax (but not necessarily the federal alternative minimum tax). The Fund may invest up to 20% of its total assets in high quality taxable money market instruments.

The Fund may invest in derivatives, including futures, forwards, options, swap contracts, inverse floaters and other derivative instruments. The Fund may invest in derivatives for both hedging and non-hedging purposes, including, for example, to seek to enhance return, or as a substitute for a position in an underlying asset.

The Advisor evaluates a number of factors in identifying investment opportunities and constructing the Fund’s portfolio. The Advisor considers local, national and global economic conditions, market conditions, interest rate movements, and other relevant factors to determine the allocation of the Fund’s assets among different issuers, industry sectors and maturities.

The Advisor, in connection with selecting individual investments for the Fund, evaluates a security based on its potential to generate income and/or capital appreciation. The Advisor considers, among other factors, the creditworthiness of the issuer of the security and the various features of the security, such as its coupon, yield, maturity, any call features and value relative to other securities.


 

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The Advisor may sell a security if the Advisor believes that there is deterioration in the issuer’s financial condition, or that other investments are more attractive; if there is deterioration in a security’s credit rating; or for other reasons.

The Fund’s policy regarding the 80% investment requirement of “net assets” (which includes net assets plus any borrowings for investment purposes) discussed above may be changed by the Board without shareholder approval as long as shareholders are given 60 days notice of the change.

 

FUNDamentals™

 

Investment Grade and Below Investment Grade Securities

 

Investment grade securities include securities that are rated in one of the four highest rating categories as determined by a nationally recognized statistical rating organization, such as Standard & Poor’s, Fitch or Moody’s, or are unrated securities determined to be of comparable quality. Investment grade securities are rated (from highest to lowest quality) as AAA, AA, A or BBB by Standard & Poor’s and Fitch or as Aaa, Aa, A or Baa by Moody’s. Below investment grade securities include securities that are rated lower than investment grade securities and also may include securities that are unrated.

 

FUNDamentals™

 

Municipal Income Funds

 

Municipal income funds invest primarily in municipal fixed income securities that have the potential to earn income that is generally free from income tax. State municipal income funds invest most of their assets in securities issued by one state and its public authorities and local governments, and are generally intended for residents of that state.

 


 

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LOGO  Principal Risks

 

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Investment Strategy Risk – The Advisor uses the principal investment strategies and other investment strategies to seek to achieve the Fund’s investment objective. Investment decisions made by the Advisor in using these strategies may not produce the returns expected by the Advisor, may cause the Fund’s shares to lose value or may cause the Fund to underperform other funds with similar investment objectives.

 

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Market Risk – Market risk refers to the possibility that the market values of securities that the Fund holds will rise or fall, sometimes rapidly or unpredictably. Security values may fall because of factors affecting individual companies, industries or sectors, or the markets as a whole, reducing the value of an investment in the Fund. Accordingly, an investment in the Fund could lose money over short or even long periods. The market values of the securities the Fund holds also can be affected by changes or perceived changes in U.S. or foreign economies and financial markets and the liquidity of these securities, among other factors. In general, equity securities tend to have greater price volatility than debt securities.

 

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Low and Below Investment Grade Securities Risk – Debt securities with the lowest investment grade rating (e.g., BBB by Standard & Poor’s or Fitch) or that are below investment grade (e.g., BB or below by Standard & Poor’s or Fitch) are more speculative than securities with higher ratings, and tend to be more sensitive to credit risk, particularly during a downturn in the economy, which is more likely to weaken the ability of the issuers to make principal and interest payments on these securities than is the case for higher-rated securities. These securities typically pay a premium – a higher interest rate or yield – because of the increased risk of loss or loss of value, including default. These securities also are generally less liquid than higher-rated securities. The securities ratings provided by Moody’s, Standard & Poor’s and Fitch are based on analyses by these ratings agencies of the credit quality of the securities and may not take into account every risk related to whether interest or principal will be timely repaid.

 

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Interest Rate Risk – Debt securities are subject to interest rate risk. In general, if prevailing interest rates rise, the values of debt securities will tend to fall, and if interest rates fall, the values of debt securities will tend to rise.

 

Changes in the value of a debt security usually will not

 

affect the amount of income the Fund receives from it but will affect the value of the Fund’s shares. Interest rate risk is generally greater for debt securities with longer maturities/durations.

 

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Credit Risk – Credit risk applies to most debt securities, but is generally not a factor for obligations backed by the “full faith and credit” of the U.S. Government. The Fund could lose money if the issuer of a debt security is unable or perceived to be unable to pay interest or repay principal when it becomes due. Various factors could affect the issuer’s actual or perceived willingness or ability to make timely interest or principal payments, including changes in the issuer’s financial condition or in general economic conditions. Debt securities backed by an issuer’s taxing authority may be subject to legal limits on the issuer’s power to increase taxes or otherwise to raise revenue, or may be dependent on legislative appropriation or government aid. Certain debt securities are backed only by revenues derived from a particular project or source, rather than by an issuer’s taxing authority, and thus may have a greater risk of default.

 

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Municipal Securities Risk – Municipal securities are debt obligations generally issued to obtain funds for various public purposes, including general financing for state and local governments, or financing for a specific project or public facility. Municipal securities may be fully or partially backed by the taxing authority of the local government, by the credit of a private issuer, by the current or anticipated revenues from a specific project or specific assets or by domestic or foreign entities providing credit support, such as letters of credit, guarantees or insurance, and are generally classified into general obligation bonds and special revenue obligations. General obligation bonds are backed by an issuer’s taxing authority and may be vulnerable to limits on a government’s power or ability to raise revenue or increase taxes. They also may depend for payment on legislative appropriation and/or funding or other support from other governmental bodies. Revenue obligations are payable from revenues generated by a particular project or other revenue source, and are typically subject to greater risk of default than general obligation bonds because investors can look only to the revenue generated by the project or other revenue source backing the project, rather than to the general taxing authority of the state or local government issuer of the obligations.


 

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Because many municipal securities are issued to finance projects in sectors such as education, health care, transportation and utilities, conditions in those sectors can affect the overall municipal market. Municipal securities pay interest that, in the opinion of bond counsel, is free from federal income tax. There is no assurance that the IRS will agree with this opinion. In the event the IRS determines that the issuer does not comply with relevant tax requirements, interest payments from a security could become federally taxable, possibly retroactively to the date the security was issued. As a shareholder of the Fund, you may be required to file an amended tax return and pay additional taxes as a result.

 

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Derivatives Risk – Derivatives are financial contracts whose values are, for example, based on (or “derived” from) traditional securities (such as a stock or bond), assets (such as a commodity like gold or a foreign currency), reference rates (such as LIBOR) or market indices (such as the S&P 500® Index). Derivatives involve special risks and may result in losses or may limit the Fund’s potential gain from favorable market movements. Derivative strategies often involve leverage, which may exaggerate a loss, potentially causing the Fund to lose more money than it would have lost had it invested in the underlying security. The values of derivatives may move in unexpected ways, especially in unusual market conditions, and may result in increased volatility, among other consequences. The use of derivatives may also increase the amount of taxes payable by shareholders. Other risks arise from the Fund’s potential inability to terminate or sell derivative positions. A liquid secondary market may not always exist for the Fund’s derivative positions at times when the Fund might wish to terminate or sell such positions. Over-the-counter instruments (investments not traded on an exchange) may be illiquid, and transactions in derivatives traded in the over-the-counter market are subject to the risk that the other party will not meet its obligations. The use of derivatives also involves the risks of mispricing or improper valuation and that changes in the value of the derivative may not correlate perfectly with the underlying security, asset, reference rate or index. The Fund also may not be able to find a suitable derivative transaction counterparty, and thus may be unable to engage in derivative transactions when it is deemed favorable to do so, or at all. For more information on the risks of derivative investments and strategies, see the SAI.

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Inverse Floating Rate Obligations Risk – Inverse floating rate obligations (inverse floaters) represent interests in bonds with interest rates that vary inversely to changes in short-term rates. As short-term rates rise, inverse floaters produce less income, and as short-term rates decline, inverse floaters produce more income. The value of inverse floaters is typically more volatile than the value of bonds with similar maturities. The market value of inverse floaters generally declines when rates rise, and generally will decline further than the market value of a bond with a similar maturity.

These are summaries of the principal risks associated with the principal investment strategies of the Fund. Additional risks are associated with other permissible investments of the Fund that are described in the SAI together with further information about these principal risks. There is no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objective.


 

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LOGO  Performance Information

The following bar chart and table show you how the Fund has performed in the past, and can help you understand the risks of investing in the Fund. The Fund’s past performance (before or after taxes) is no guarantee of how the Fund will perform in the future.

 

Year by Year Total Return (%) as of December 31 Each Year*

The bar chart below shows you how the performance of the Fund’s Class Z shares has varied from year to year.

LOGO

 

* Year-to-date return as of September 30, 2008: -7.27%

 

Best and Worst Quarterly Returns During this Period

Best:   2nd quarter 2002:    3.50%
Worst:   4th quarter 2007:    -1.93%
FUNDamentals™

Fund Performance

 

Many factors can affect a mutual fund’s performance, including, for example:

 

n  management of fund holdings,

 

n  market conditions,

 

n  fund expenses, and

 

n  flows of investment dollars into and out of the fund.

 

The returns for the various share classes may vary based on differences in sales charges and expenses.


 

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Average Annual Total Return as of December 31, 2007

The table below shows the Fund’s Class Z shares’ average annual total returns (i) before taxes, (ii) after taxes on distributions and (iii) after taxes on distributions and sale of Fund shares. The table compares the Fund’s returns for each period with those of the Lehman Brothers Municipal Bond Index, an index that is considered to be representative of the broad market for investment-grade, tax-exempt bonds with a maturity of at least one year. Indices are not available for investment, and do not reflect sales charges, fees, brokerage commissions, taxes or other expenses of investing.

 

       1 year      5 years      10 years
Class Z shares returns before taxes      -1.79%      4.45%      4.42%
Class Z shares returns after taxes on distributions      -1.79%      4.45%      4.42%
Class Z shares returns after taxes on distributions and sale of Fund shares      0.50%      4.55%      4.55%
Lehman Brothers Municipal Bond Index (reflects no deductions for fees, expenses or taxes)      3.36%      4.30%      5.18%

 

FUNDamentals™     

After-Tax Returns

 

The after-tax returns shown in the table above are calculated using the highest historical individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state, local or foreign taxes.

   Your actual after-tax returns will depend on your personal tax situation and may differ from those shown in the table. In addition, the after-tax returns shown in the table do not apply to shares held in tax-deferred accounts such as 401(k) plans or IRAs.

 

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LOGO  Fees and Expenses

The fee table below describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the Fund. Additional hypothetical fee and expense information relating to Class Z shares of the Fund can be found in Hypothetical Fees and Expenses.

 

FUNDamentals™     

Fund Expenses

 

In general, there are two kinds of fund expenses:

 

n  shareholder expenses that you pay directly (e.g., sales charges and redemption fees), and

 

n  annual operating expenses that are paid by the Fund and deducted from the Fund’s assets.

 

Annual operating expenses include:

 

n  management fees, which are paid out of the Fund’s assets to the Advisor and the Administrator as compensation for managing and administering the Fund’s portfolio. See Management of the Fund – Primary Service Providers for more information.

 

  

 

n  other expenses, which generally include, but are not limited to, transfer agency, custody, audit and legal fees as well as costs related to registration of Fund shares for sale and the printing and mailing of Fund documents. The specific expenses that make up the Fund’s other expenses will vary from time to time and may include expenses not described above.

 

Total net annual operating expenses for any year are actual expenses paid by the Fund after any fee waivers or expense reimbursements, and are expressed as a percentage of the Fund’s average net assets for the year.

 

The Fund may incur significant transaction costs, such as brokerage commissions on the purchase and sale of portfolio securities, in addition to the annual Fund operating expenses disclosed in the fee table.

 

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Shareholder Fees (paid directly from your investment)

     Class Z Shares
Maximum sales charge (load) imposed on purchases, as a % of offering price    N/A
Maximum deferred sales charge (load) imposed on redemptions, as a % of the lower of the original purchase price or net asset value    N/A

 

Annual Fund Operating Expenses (deducted from the Fund’s assets)

     Class Z Shares
Management fees(a)    0.52%
Distribution and service (12b-1) fees    0.00%
Other expenses(b)    0.20%
Acquired fund fees and expenses    —   
Total annual Fund operating expenses    0.72%

 

(a)

Management fees include an investment advisory fee of 0.41% and an administration fee of 0.11%. The Advisor has implemented a breakpoint schedule for the Fund’s investment advisory fees. The investment advisory fees charged to the Fund will decline as Fund assets grow and will continue to be based on a percentage of the Fund’s average daily net assets. The breakpoint schedule for the Fund is as follows: 0.45% for assets up to $100 million; 0.425% for assets in excess of $100 million and up to $200 million; and 0.40% for assets in excess of $200 million. The Administrator has implemented a breakpoint schedule for the Fund’s administration fees. The administration fees charged to the Fund will decline as Fund assets grow and will continue to be based on a percentage of the Fund’s average daily net assets. The breakpoint schedule for the Fund is as follows: 0.15% for assets up to $100 million; 0.125% for assets in excess of $100 million and up to $200 million; and 0.10% for assets in excess of $200 million.

 

(b)

Other expenses have been restated to reflect contractual changes to the fees paid by the Fund.

 

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Example

The following example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds.

The example illustrates the hypothetical expenses that you would incur over the time periods indicated, and assumes that:

 

  n  

you invest $10,000 in Class Z shares of the Fund for the periods indicated,

 

  n  

you reinvest all dividends and distributions in the Fund,

 

  n  

your investment has a 5% return each year, and

 

  n  

the Fund’s total annual operating expenses remain the same as shown in the table above.

Based on the assumptions listed above, your costs would be:

 

       1 year      3 years      5 years      10 years
Class Z Shares      $ 74      $ 230      $ 401      $ 894

Remember this is an example only. It is not necessarily representative of the Fund’s actual expenses in the past or future. Your actual costs could be higher or lower depending on the amount you invest and on the Fund’s actual expenses and performance.

 

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Additional Investment Strategies and Policies

This section describes certain strategies and policies that the Fund may utilize in pursuit of its investment objective, and describes some additional factors and risks involved with investing in the Fund.

Changing the Fund’s Investment Objective and Policies

The Fund’s investment objective and certain of its investment policies can be changed without shareholder approval unless otherwise stated in this prospectus or the SAI. Shareholders vote on changes to other investment policies that are designated as fundamental in accordance with the requirements of the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the 1940 Act).

Investment Guidelines

As a general matter, unless otherwise noted, whenever an investment policy or limitation states a percentage of the Fund’s assets that may be invested in any security or other asset, or sets forth a policy regarding an investment standard, compliance with that percentage limitation or standard will be determined solely at the time of the Fund’s acquisition of the security or asset.

Holding Other Kinds of Investments

The Fund may hold investments that aren’t part of its principal investment strategies. These investments are described in the SAI. The Fund may choose not to invest in certain securities described in this prospectus and in the SAI, although it has the ability to do so.

Investing in Columbia Money Market Funds

The Fund may invest uninvested cash in shares of the registered or unregistered money market funds advised by the Advisor. The Advisor and its affiliates receive fees from these funds for providing advisory and other services in addition to the fees which they are entitled to receive from the Fund for services provided directly.

Portfolio Holdings Disclosure

A description of Columbia Funds’ policies and procedures with respect to the disclosure of Fund portfolio securities is

available in the SAI. The Fund discloses its portfolio holdings on the Columbia Funds’ website, www.columbiafunds.com, as described below. Once posted, the portfolio holdings information will remain available on the website until at least the date on which such Fund files a Form N-CSR or Form N-Q (forms filed with the SEC that include portfolio holdings information) for the period that includes the date as of which the information is current.

The Fund’s complete portfolio holdings as of a fiscal quarter-end are disclosed approximately 60 calendar days after such quarter-end. The Fund’s largest 15 holdings as a percent of the Fund’s portfolio as of a month and are disclosed approximately 15 calendar days after such month-end.

In addition, more current information concerning the Fund’s portfolio holdings as of specified dates may also be disclosed on the Columbia Funds’ website.

Investing Defensively

The Fund may from time to time take temporary defensive investment positions that are inconsistent with the Fund’s principal investment strategies in attempting to respond to adverse market, economic, political or other conditions, including, for example, investments in money market instruments or holdings of cash or cash equivalents. The Fund may not achieve its investment objective while it is investing defensively.

Mailings to Households

In order to reduce shareholder expenses we may, if prior consent has been provided, mail only one copy of the Fund’s prospectus and each annual and semi-annual report to those addresses shared by two or more accounts. If you wish to receive individual copies of these documents, call 800.345.6611 or, if your shares are held through a financial intermediary, contact your intermediary directly.

Portfolio Turnover

A mutual fund that replaces, or turns over, more than 100% of its investments in a year is considered to have a high portfolio turnover rate. A high portfolio turnover can generate larger distributions of short-term capital gains to shareholders, which for individuals are generally taxable at higher rates


 

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than long-term capital gains for federal income tax purposes. A high portfolio turnover rate can also mean higher brokerage and other transaction costs, which could reduce a fund’s returns. In general, the greater the volume of buying and selling by a fund, the greater the impact that brokerage commissions will have on its returns. The Fund generally buys securities for capital appreciation, investment income or both. However, the Fund may sell securities regardless of how long they’ve been held. You’ll find the Fund’s historical portfolio turnover rates in the Financial Highlights.


 

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Management of the Fund

 

Primary Service Providers

The Advisor, Distributor and Transfer Agent, all affiliates of Bank of America, currently provide key services to the Fund and the other Columbia Funds, including investment advisory, distribution, administration, shareholder servicing and transfer agency, and are paid for providing these services. These service relationships are described below.

The Advisor

The Advisor (which is also the Administrator) is located at 100 Federal Street, Boston, MA 02110, and serves as investment advisor to over 100 Columbia Funds mutual fund portfolios. As of September 30, 2008, the Advisor had assets under management of approximately $380.3 billion. The Advisor is a registered investment advisor and an indirect, wholly owned subsidiary of Bank of America. Its management experience covers all major asset classes, including equity securities, fixed income securities and money market instruments. In addition to serving as investment advisor to mutual funds, the Advisor acts as an investment manager for individuals, corporations, retirement plans, private investment companies and financial intermediaries.

Subject to oversight by the Board, the Advisor manages the day-to-day operations of the Fund, determining what securities and other investments the Fund should buy or sell and executing the Fund’s portfolio transactions. Although the Advisor is responsible for the investment management of the Fund, the Advisor may delegate certain of its duties to one or more investment sub-advisors. In rendering investment advisory services, the Advisor may use the portfolio management and research resources of Columbia Management Pte. Ltd., an affiliate of the Advisor. The Advisor may also use the research and other expertise of other affiliates and third parties in managing the Fund’s investments.

The Fund pays the Advisor a fee for its investment advisory services. The fee is calculated as a percentage of the average daily net assets of the Fund and is paid monthly. For the Fund’s most recent fiscal year, aggregate advisory fees paid to the Advisor by the Fund amounted to 0.41% of average daily net assets of the Fund.

A discussion regarding the basis for the Board’s approval of the Fund’s investment advisory agreement with the Advisor is available in the Fund’s semi-annual report to shareholders for the period ended December 31, 2007.

 

Sub-Advisor(s)

The Advisor may engage an investment sub-advisor or sub-advisors to make the day-to-day investment decisions for the Fund. The Advisor retains ultimate responsibility (subject to Board oversight) for overseeing any sub-advisor it engages and for evaluating the Fund’s needs and available sub-advisors’ skills and abilities on an ongoing basis. Based on its evaluations, the Advisor may at times recommend to the Board that the Fund change, add or terminate one or more sub-advisors; continue to retain a sub-advisor even though the sub-advisor’s ownership or corporate structure has changed; or materially change a sub-advisory agreement with a sub-advisor. Applicable law requires the Fund to obtain shareholder approval in order to act on most of these types of recommendations, even if the Board has approved the proposed action and believes that the action is in shareholders’ best interests. The Advisor and the Columbia Funds have applied for relief from the SEC to permit the Fund to act on many of the Advisor’s recommendations with approval only by the Board and not by Fund shareholders. The Advisor or the Fund would inform the Fund’s shareholders of any actions taken in reliance on this relief. Until the Advisor and the Fund obtain this relief, the Fund will continue to submit these matters to shareholders for their approval to the extent required by applicable law.

At present, the Advisor has not engaged any investment sub-advisor for the Fund.


 

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Management of the Fund

 

Portfolio Manager

Information about the Advisor’s portfolio manager who is primarily responsible for overseeing the Fund’s investments is shown in the table below. The SAI provides more information about the portfolio manager’s compensation, other accounts managed by the portfolio manager and the portfolio manager’s ownership of securities in the Fund.

 

 

Maureen G. Newman

Service with the Fund since 1998.

Senior Vice President of the Advisor; associated with the Advisor or its predecessors since 1996.

 

 

 

The Administrator

The Administrator is responsible for overseeing the administrative operations of the Fund, including the general supervision of the Fund’s operations, coordination of the Fund’s service providers, and the provision of office facilities and related clerical and administrative services.

The Fund pays the Administrator a fee for its services, plus certain out-of-pocket expenses. The fee is calculated as an annual percentage of the Fund’s average daily net assets and is paid monthly, as follows:

 

Annual Administration Fee, as a % of Average Daily Net Assets

Columbia High Yield Municipal Fund    0.11%

The Distributor

Shares of the Fund are distributed by the Distributor, which is located at One Financial Center, Boston, MA 02111. The Distributor is a registered broker/dealer and an indirect, wholly owned subsidiary of Bank of America. The Distributor and its affiliates may pay commissions, distribution and service fees and/or other compensation to entities, including Bank of America affiliates, for selling shares and providing services to investors.

The Transfer Agent

The Transfer Agent is a registered transfer agent and an indirect, wholly owned subsidiary of Bank of America. The Transfer Agent is located at One Financial Center, Boston, MA 02111, and its responsibilities include processing purchases, sales and exchanges, calculating and paying distributions, keeping shareholder records, preparing account statements and providing customer service. The Fund pays the Transfer Agent monthly fees on a per-account basis. Fees paid to the Transfer Agent include reimbursements for certain out-of-pocket expenses and sub-transfer agency fees, subject to certain limitations, paid by the Transfer Agent on the Fund’s behalf.


 

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Management of the Fund

 

LOGO   Other Roles and Relationships of Bank of America and its Affiliates – Certain Conflicts of Interest

As described in Management of the Fund – Primary Service Providers, the Advisor, Administrator, Distributor and Transfer Agent, all affiliates of Bank of America, provide various services to the Fund for which they are compensated. Bank of America and its affiliates may also provide other services to the Fund and be compensated for them.

The Advisor and its affiliates may provide investment advisory and other services to other clients and customers substantially similar to those provided to the Fund. These activities, and other financial services activities of Bank of America and its affiliates, may present actual and potential conflicts of interest and introduce certain investment constraints.

Bank of America is a major financial services company, engaged in a broad range of financial activities beyond the mutual fund-related activities of the Advisor, including, among others, commercial banking, investment banking, broker/dealer (sales and trading), asset management, insurance and other financial activities. These additional activities may involve multiple advisory, transactional, lending, financial and other interests in securities and other instruments, and in companies that issue securities and other instruments, which may be bought, sold or held by the Fund.

Conflicts of interest and limitations that could affect the Fund may arise from, for example, the following:

 

n  

compensation and other benefits received by the Advisor and other Bank of America affiliates related to the management/administration of the Fund and the sale of its shares;

 

n  

the allocation of, and competition for, investment opportunities among the Fund and other funds and accounts advised/managed by the Advisor and other Bank of America affiliates;

 

n  

separate and potentially divergent management of the Fund and other funds and accounts advised/managed by the Advisor and other Bank of America affiliates;

 

n  

regulatory and other investment restrictions on investment activities of the Advisor and other Bank of America affiliates and accounts advised/managed by them;

n  

lending, investment banking and other relationships of Bank of America affiliates with companies and other entities in which the Fund invests; and

 

n  

regulatory and other restrictions relating to the sharing of information between Bank of America and its affiliates, including the Advisor, and the Fund.

Bank of America and its affiliates also provide a variety of products and services that, in some manner, may use the Fund and other Columbia Funds as investment options. For example:

 

n  

the Columbia Funds are available as investments in connection with brokerage and other securities products offered by Banc of America Investment Services, Inc., an affiliated retail broker/dealer of Bank of America;

 

n  

the Columbia Funds are used as investments in connection with fiduciary, investment management and other accounts offered by U.S. Trust, Bank of America Private Wealth Management, as well as certain Columbia Funds structured as “funds of funds;” and

 

n  

the Columbia Money Market Funds are offered as an investment option for a variety of cash “sweep” account programs offered by Bank of America and its affiliates.

The use of the Columbia Funds as investment options in connection with other products and services offered by Bank of America and its affiliates may introduce economic and other conflicts of interest of which you should be aware. These types of conflicts of interest are highlighted in sections of account documentation and other disclosure materials relating to these products and services, as well as in the SAI.

The Advisor and Bank of America have adopted various policies and procedures that are intended to identify, monitor and address conflicts of interest. However, there is no absolute assurance that these policies, procedures and disclosures will be effective.

Additional information about Bank of America and the types of conflicts of interest and other matters referenced above is set forth in the Investment Advisory and Other Services – Other Roles and Relationships of Bank of America and Affiliates – Certain Conflicts of Interest section of the SAI, which is identified by the LOGO icon. Investors in the Fund should carefully review these disclosures and consult with their financial advisor if they have any questions.


 

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Management of the Fund

 

Certain Legal Matters

On February 9, 2005, Columbia Management Advisors, Inc. (which has since merged into Banc of America Capital Management, LLC (now named Columbia Management Advisors, LLC)) (“Columbia”) and Columbia Funds Distributor, Inc. (which has been renamed Columbia Management Distributors, Inc.) (the “Distributor”) (collectively, the “Columbia Group”) entered into an Assurance of Discontinuance with the New York Attorney General (“NYAG”) (the “NYAG Settlement”) and consented to the entry of a cease-and-desist order by the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) (the “SEC Order”) on matters relating to mutual fund trading.

Under the terms of the SEC Order, the Columbia Group agreed, among other things, to: pay $70 million in disgorgement and $70 million in civil money penalties; cease and desist from violations of the antifraud provisions and certain other provisions of the federal securities laws; maintain certain compliance and ethics oversight structures; retain an independent consultant to review the Columbia Group’s applicable supervisory, compliance, control and other policies and procedures; and retain an independent distribution consultant (see below). The Columbia Funds have also voluntarily undertaken to implement certain governance measures designed to maintain the independence of their boards of trustees. The NYAG Settlement also, among other things, requires Columbia and its affiliates to reduce management fees for certain Columbia Funds (including the former Nations Funds) and other mutual funds collectively by $32 million per year for five years, for a projected total of $160 million in management fee reductions.

Pursuant to the procedures set forth in the SEC Order, the $140 million in settlement amounts described above is being distributed in accordance with a distribution plan that was developed by an independent distribution consultant and approved by the SEC on April 6, 2007. Distributions under the distribution plan began in late June 2007.

A copy of the SEC Order is available on the SEC website at http://www.sec.gov. A copy of the NYAG Settlement is available as part of the Bank of America Corporation Form 8-K filing on February 10, 2005.

In connection with the events described above, various parties have filed suit against certain funds, the Trustees of the Columbia Funds, FleetBoston Financial Corporation and

its affiliated entities and/or Bank of America and its affiliated entities.

On February 20, 2004, the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation transferred these cases and cases against other mutual fund companies based on similar allegations to the United States District Court in Maryland for consolidated or coordinated pretrial proceedings (the “MDL”). Subsequently, additional related cases were transferred to the MDL. On September 29, 2004, the plaintiffs in the MDL filed amended and consolidated complaints. One of these amended complaints is a putative class action that includes claims under the federal securities laws and state common law, and that names Columbia, the Distributor, the Trustees of the Columbia Funds, Bank of America Corporation and others as defendants. Another of the amended complaints is a derivative action purportedly on behalf of the Columbia Funds that asserts claims under federal securities laws and state common law.

On February 25, 2005, Columbia and other defendants filed motions to dismiss the claims in the pending cases. On March 1, 2006, for reasons stated in the court’s memoranda dated November 3, 2005, the United States District Court for the District of Maryland granted in part and denied in part the defendants’ motions to dismiss. The court dismissed all of the class action claims pending against the Columbia Funds Trusts. As to Columbia and the Distributor, the claims under the Securities Act of 1933, the claims under Sections 34(b) and 36(a) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 (“ICA”) and the state law claims were dismissed. The claims under Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and claims under Section 36(b) of the ICA were not dismissed.

On March 21, 2005, a purported class action was filed in Massachusetts state court alleging that certain conduct, including market timing, entitled Class B shareholders in certain Columbia funds to an exemption from contingent deferred sales charges upon early redemption (“the CDSC Lawsuit”). The CDSC Lawsuit was removed to federal court in Massachusetts and transferred to the MDL.

On September 14, 2007, the plaintiffs and the Columbia defendants named in the MDL, including the Columbia Funds, entered into a stipulation of settlement with respect to all Columbia-related claims in the MDL described above, including the CDSC Lawsuit. The settlement is subject to court approval.


 

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Management of the Fund

 

In 2004, the Columbia Funds’ adviser and distributor and certain affiliated entities and individuals were named as defendants in certain purported shareholder class and derivative actions making claims, including claims under the Investment Company and the Investment Advisers Acts of 1940 and state law. Certain Columbia Funds were named as nominal defendants. The suits allege, inter alia, that the fees and expenses paid by the funds are excessive and that the advisers and their affiliates inappropriately used fund assets to distribute the funds and for other improper purposes. On March 2, 2005, the actions were consolidated in the Massachusetts federal court as In re Columbia Entities Litigation. The plaintiffs filed a consolidated amended complaint on June 9, 2005. On November 30, 2005, the judge dismissed all claims by plaintiffs and entered final judgment in favor of the defendants. The plaintiffs appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit on December 30, 2005. A stipulation and settlement agreement dated January 19, 2007 was filed in the First Circuit on February 14, 2007, with a joint stipulation of dismissal and motion for remand to obtain district court approval of the settlement. That joint motion was granted and the appeal was dismissed. On March 6, 2007, the case was remanded to the District Court. The settlement, approved by the District Court on September 18, 2007, became effective October 19, 2007. Pursuant to the settlement, the funds’ adviser and/or its affiliates made certain payments, including plaintiffs’ attorneys’ fees and costs of notice to class members.


 

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About Class Z Shares

 

Description of the Share Class

 

Share Class Features

The Fund offers one class of shares in this prospectus: Class Z shares. The Fund may also offer other classes of shares through a separate prospectus. Each share class has its own investment eligibility criteria, cost structure and other features. The following summarizes the primary features of the Class Z shares offered by this prospectus. Contact your financial advisor or Columbia Funds for more information about the Fund’s share classes and how to choose among them.

 

      Class Z Shares
Eligible Investors and Minimum Initial Investments    Class Z shares are available only to certain eligible investors, which are subject to different minimum initial investment requirements. These minimum initial investment amounts range from $0 to $2,500. See Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares – Opening an Account and Placing Orders for details.
Investment Limits    none
Conversion Features    none
Front-End
Sales Charges
   none

Contingent Deferred

Sales Charges (CDSCs)

   none
Distribution and Service Fees    none

 

FUNDamentals™     

Selling and/or Servicing Agents

 

The terms “selling agent” and “servicing agent” refer to the financial intermediary that employs your financial advisor. Selling and/or servicing agents

   include, for example, brokerage firms, banks, investment advisors, third party administrators and other financial intermediaries, including affiliates of Bank of America, such as Banc of America Investment Services, Inc.

 

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About Class Z Shares

 

Financial Intermediary Compensation

The Distributor and the Advisor make payments, from their own resources, to certain financial intermediaries, including other Bank of America affiliates, for marketing/sales support services relating to the Columbia Funds. Such payments are generally based upon one or more of the following factors: average net assets of the Columbia Funds sold by the Distributor attributable to that intermediary, gross sales of the Columbia Funds distributed by the Distributor attributable to that intermediary, reimbursement of ticket charges (fees that an intermediary firm charges its representatives for effecting transactions in Fund shares) or a negotiated lump sum payment. While the financial arrangements may vary for each intermediary, the support payments to any one intermediary are generally between 0.05% and 0.35% (and 0.03% and 0.12% with regard to the Columbia Money Market Funds) on an annual basis for payments based on average net assets of the Fund attributable to the intermediary, and between 0.10% and 0.25% on an annual basis for firms receiving a payment based on gross sales of the Columbia Funds (other than the Columbia Money Market Funds) attributable to the intermediary.

The Distributor and the Advisor may make payments in larger amounts or on a basis other than those described above when dealing with other affiliates of Bank of America. Such increased payments to the other Bank of America affiliate may enable the other Bank of America affiliate to offset credits that it may provide to customers in order to avoid having such customers pay fees to multiple Bank of America entities in connection with the customers’ investments in the Fund.

The Distributor, the Transfer Agent and the Advisor may also make payments to financial intermediaries, including other Bank of America affiliates, that provide shareholder services to retirement plans and other investment programs to compensate those intermediaries for services they provide to such programs, including, but not limited to, sub-accounting, sub-transfer agency, similar shareholder or participant recordkeeping, shareholder or participant reporting, or shareholder or participant transaction processing.

 

These payments for shareholder servicing support vary by financial intermediary but generally are not expected, with certain limited exceptions, to exceed 0.35% of the average aggregate value of the Fund’s shares in any intermediary’s program on an annual basis for those classes of shares that pay a service fee pursuant to a plan under Rule 12b-1 under the 1940 Act, and 0.45% of the average aggregate value of the Fund’s shares in any intermediary’s program on an annual basis for those classes of shares that do not pay a service fee pursuant to a plan under Rule 12b-1 under the 1940 Act.

The Board has authorized the Fund to reimburse the Transfer Agent for amounts paid to financial intermediaries that maintain assets in omnibus accounts, subject to an annual cap of 0.15% of the average aggregate value of the Fund’s shares maintained in such accounts. The amounts in excess of that reimbursed by the Fund are borne by the Distributor or the Advisor. The Distributor and the Advisor may make other payments or allow promotional incentives to broker/dealers to the extent permitted by SEC and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) rules and by other applicable laws and regulations.

Amounts paid by the Distributor and the Advisor and their affiliates are paid out of the Distributor’s and the Advisor’s own resources and do not increase the amount paid by you or the Fund. You can find further details about the payments made by the Distributor and the Advisor and their affiliates and the services provided by financial intermediaries as well as a list of the intermediaries to which the Distributor and the Advisor have agreed to make marketing support payments in the SAI. 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 consultants may have a financial incentive for recommending the Fund or a particular share class over others. See Management of the Fund – Other Roles and Relationships of Bank of America and its Affiliates – Certain Conflicts of Interest for more information.


 

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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 net asset value per share for each class of the Fund at the end of each business day.

 

FUNDamentals™
NAV Calculation
Each of the Fund’s share classes calculates its NAV as follows:
      (Value of assets of the share class)
NAV   =  

– (Liabilities of the share class)

        Number of outstanding shares of the class

The value of the Fund’s shares is based on the total market value of all of the securities and other assets that it holds as of a specified time. The prices reported on stock exchanges and other securities markets around the world are usually used to value securities in the Fund. The Fund uses the amortized cost method, which approximates market value, to value short-term investments maturing in 60 days or less.

If a market price isn’t readily available, the Fund will determine the price of the security held by the Fund based on the Advisor’s determination of the security’s fair value. A market price is considered not readily available if, among other circumstances, the most recent reported price is deemed unreliable. In addition, the Fund may use fair valuation to price securities that trade on a foreign exchange when a significant event has occurred after the foreign exchange closes but before the time at which the Fund’s share price is calculated. Foreign exchanges typically close before the time at which Fund share prices are calculated, and may be closed altogether on some days when the Fund is open. Such significant events affecting a foreign security may include, but are not limited to: (1) those impacting a single issuer; (2) governmental action that affects securities in one sector or country; (3) natural disasters or armed conflicts affecting a country or region; or (4) significant domestic or foreign market fluctuations. The Fund uses various criteria, including an evaluation of U.S. market moves after the close of foreign markets, in determining whether a security’s market price is readily available 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 Fund uses fair valuation to price securities, it may value those securities higher or lower than another mutual fund. Also, the use of fair valuation may cause the Fund’s performance to diverge to a greater degree from the performance of various benchmarks used to compare the Fund’s performance because benchmarks generally do not use fair valuation techniques. Because of the judgment involved in fair valuation decisions, there can be no assurance that the value ascribed to a particular security is accurate. The Fund has retained an independent fair valuation pricing service to assist in the fair valuation process for foreign securities. International markets are sometimes open on days when U.S. markets are closed, which means that the value of foreign securities owned by the Fund could change on days when Fund shares cannot be bought or sold.


 

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Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares

 

Transaction Rules and Policies

Remember that sales charges may apply to your transactions. You should also ask your selling and/or servicing agent about its rules, fees and policies for buying, selling and exchanging shares, which may be different from those described here, and about its related programs or services.

Also remember that the Fund may refuse any order to buy or exchange shares. If this happens, we’ll return any money we’ve received, but no interest will be paid on that money.

Order Processing

Orders to buy, sell or exchange shares are processed on business days. Orders can be delivered by mail, by telephone or online. Orders received in “good form” by the Transfer Agent or your selling and/or servicing agent before the end of a business day will receive that day’s net asset value per share. Orders received after the end of a business day will receive the next business day’s net asset value per share. The business day that applies to your order is also called a trade date.

 

FUNDamentals™

Business Days

 

A business day is any day that the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is open. A business day ends at the close of regular trading on the NYSE, usually at 4:00 p.m. Eastern time. If the NYSE closes early, the business day ends as of the time the NYSE closes. On holidays and other days when the NYSE is closed, the Fund’s net asset value 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 markets are open.

“Good Form”

An order is in “good form” if the Transfer Agent or your selling and/or servicing agent has all of the information and documentation it deems necessary to effect your order. For example, when you sell shares by letter of instruction, “good form” means that your letter has (i) complete instructions and the signatures of all account owners, (ii) a Medallion signature guarantee for amounts equal to or greater than $100,000 and (iii) 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

Qualified customers can obtain a Medallion signature guarantee from any financial institution – including commercial banks such as Bank of America, credit unions and broker/dealers – that participates in one of the three Medallion signature guarantee programs recognized by the SEC. These Medallion signature guarantee programs are the Securities Transfer Agents Medallion Program (STAMP), the Stock Exchanges Medallion Program (SEMP) and the New York Stock Exchange Medallion Signature Program (MSP).

Written Transactions

Once you have an account, you can communicate written buy, sell and exchange orders to the Transfer Agent at the following address: Columbia Funds, c/o Columbia Management Services, Inc., P.O. Box 8081, Boston, MA 02266-8081.

Telephone Transactions

Once you have an account, you can place orders to buy, sell or exchange by telephone depending on how you complete the telephone authorization section of your account application. To place orders by telephone, call 800.422.3737. Have your account number and taxpayer identification number (TIN) available when calling.

You can sell up to an aggregate of $100,000 of shares via the telephone in any 30-day period if you qualify for telephone orders.

Telephone orders may not be as secure as written orders. Columbia Funds 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.


 

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Online Transactions

Once you have an account, contact Columbia Funds at 800.345.6611 for more information on account trading restrictions and the special sign-up procedures required for online transactions. The Transfer Agent has procedures in place to authenticate electronic orders you deliver through the internet. You will be required to accept the terms of an online agreement and establish and utilize a password in order to access online account services.

You can sell up to an aggregate of $100,000 of shares through the internet in any 30-day period if you qualify for internet orders.

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. 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 shall not be held 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 – Accounts Below $250

Columbia Funds generally will automatically sell your shares if the value of your account (treating each account of the Fund you own separately from any other account of the Fund you may own) falls below $250. If your shares are sold, the Transfer Agent will remit the sale proceeds to you. 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 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, consolidating your accounts through an exchange of shares of another Columbia Fund in which you hold shares, or setting up a Systematic Investment Plan. Contact the Transfer Agent, review our website at www.columbiafunds.com, call 800.345.6611 or

contact your financial advisor for more information. The automatic sale of shares of accounts valued at less than $250 is expected to take place in the second quarter of each calendar year.

Columbia Funds may also sell your shares if a financial intermediary tells us to sell your shares pursuant to arrangements made with you, and under certain other circumstances allowed under the 1940 Act.

Small Account Policy – Minimum Balance Fee

If the value of your 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, your account generally will be subject to a $20 annual fee. This fee will be assessed through the automatic sale of shares in your account. Any otherwise applicable CDSC will not be imposed on such automatic sale of your shares. 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 fee will be paid directly to the Fund. 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 account balance, consolidating your accounts through an exchange of shares of another Columbia Fund in which you hold shares, or setting up a Systematic Investment Plan. Contact the Transfer Agent, review our website at www.columbiafunds.com, call 800.345.6611 or contact your financial advisor for more information.

Columbia Funds reserves the right to change the minimum investment requirements for any Fund. The Funds also 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, sales loads applicable to a particular class of shares, or for other reasons.

Exceptions to the Small Account Policy

The automatic sale of shares of accounts under $250 and the annual minimum balance fee described previously do not apply to shareholders of Class R shares or shareholders


 

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holding their shares through broker/dealer networked accounts; wrap fee and omnibus accounts; accounts with active Systematic Investment Plans or payroll deduction plans; and certain qualified retirement plans and health savings accounts. The automatic sale of shares of accounts under $250 does not apply to individual retirement plans.

Cash Flows

The timing and magnitude of cash inflows from investors buying Fund shares could prevent the Fund from always being fully invested. Conversely, the timing and magnitude of cash outflows to investors selling Fund shares could require large ready reserves of uninvested cash to meet shareholder redemptions. Either situation could adversely impact the Fund’s performance.

Information Sharing Agreements

As required by Rule 22c-2 under the 1940 Act, the Columbia Funds or certain of their service providers 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 Columbia 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. See Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares – Excessive Trading Practices for more information.

Excessive Trading Practices

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 buy 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 discretion restrict or reject a buy or exchange order even if the transaction is not subject to the specific exchange limitation described below if the Fund or its agents determine that accepting the order could interfere with efficient management of the Fund’s portfolio or is otherwise contrary to the Fund’s best interests. The Excessive Trading Policies and Procedures apply equally to buy or exchange transactions communicated directly to the Transfer Agent and to those received by selling and/or servicing agents.

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 buy orders, including exchange buy orders, involving any Columbia 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. 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 discretion, reject future buy 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 that invest in the Fund using 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


 

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control. The Fund retains the right to modify these restrictions at any time without prior notice to shareholders.

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 and exchange orders through financial intermediaries, and cannot always know 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 identity of the shareholders is often not known.

Some financial intermediaries apply their own restrictions or policies to underlying investor 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 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:

 

n  

negative impact on the Fund’s performance;

 

n  

potential dilution of the value of the Fund’s shares;

 

n  

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;

 

n  

losses on the sale of investments resulting from the need to sell securities at less favorable prices;

n  

increased taxable gains to the Fund’s remaining shareholders resulting from the need to sell securities to meet sell orders; and

 

n  

increased brokerage and administrative costs.

To the extent that the Fund invests significantly in foreign securities traded on markets that close before the Fund’s valuation time, it may be particularly susceptible to dilution as a result of excessive trading. Because events may occur after the close of foreign markets and before the Fund’s valuation time that influence the value of foreign securities, investors may seek to trade Fund shares in an effort to benefit from their understanding of the value of foreign securities as of the Fund’s valuation time. This is often referred to as price arbitrage. The Fund has adopted procedures designed to adjust closing market prices of foreign securities under certain circumstances to reflect what the Fund believes to be the fair value of those securities as of its valuation time. To the extent the adjustments don’t work fully, investors engaging in price arbitrage may cause dilution in the value of the Fund’s shares held by other shareholders.

Similarly, to the extent that the Fund invests significantly in thinly traded high-yield bonds (junk bonds) or equity securities of small-capitalization companies, because these securities are often traded infrequently, investors may seek to trade their shares in an effort to benefit from their understanding of the value of these securities. 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 in highly liquid securities, in part because the Fund may have difficulty selling those portfolio securities 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 other shareholders.


 

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Table of Contents

Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares

 

Opening an Account and Placing Orders

Columbia Funds encourages 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 and exchange shares by contacting your financial advisor who will send your order to the Transfer Agent or your selling and/or servicing agent. As described in Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares – Transaction Rules and Policies, once you have an account you can also communicate your orders directly to the Transfer Agent by mail, by telephone or online.

Buying Shares

Once you have opened an account, you can buy Class Z shares in a lump sum, through our Systematic Investment Plan, by dividend diversification, by wire or by electronic funds transfer. Class Z shares are only available to the categories of eligible investors described below, each of which is subject to its own minimum initial investment requirements.

Minimum Initial Investments

There is no minimum initial investment in Class Z shares for the following categories of eligible investors:

 

n  

Any person investing all or part of the proceeds of a distribution, rollover or transfer of assets into a Columbia Management Individual Retirement Account, from any deferred compensation plan which was a shareholder of any of the funds of Columbia Acorn Trust (formerly named Liberty Acorn Trust) on September 29, 2000, in which the investor was a participant and through which the investor invested in one or more of the funds of Columbia Acorn Trust immediately prior to the distribution, transfer or rollover.

 

n  

Any health savings account sponsored by a third party platform, including those sponsored by Bank of America affiliates, and any omnibus group retirement plan for which a financial intermediary or other entity provides services and is not compensated by the Fund for those services, other than in the form of payments for shareholder servicing or sub-accounting performed in place of the Transfer Agent.

 

n  

Any investor participating in a wrap program sponsored by a financial intermediary or other entity that is paid an

 

asset-based 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.

The minimum initial investment in Class Z shares for the following categories of eligible investors is $1,000:

 

n  

Any individual retirement plan (assuming the eligibility criteria below are met) or group retirement plan that is not held in an omnibus manner for which a financial intermediary or other entity provides services and is not compensated by the Fund for those services, other than in the form of payments for shareholder servicing or sub-accounting performed in place of the Transfer Agent.

The minimum initial investment in Class Z shares for the following categories of eligible investors is $2,500:

 

n  

Any client of Bank of America or one of its subsidiaries buying shares through an asset management company, trust, fiduciary, retirement plan administration or similar arrangement with Bank of America or the subsidiary.

 

n  

Any investor buying shares through a Columbia Management state tuition plan organized under Section 529 of the Internal Revenue Code.

 

n  

Any shareholder (as well as any family member of a shareholder or person listed on an account registration for any account of the shareholder) of another fund distributed by the Distributor (i) who holds Class Z Shares; (ii) who held Primary A shares prior to the share class redesignation of Primary A shares as Class Z shares that occurred on August 22, 2005; (iii) who holds Class A shares that were obtained by an exchange of Class Z shares; or (iv) who bought shares of certain mutual funds that were not subject to sales charges and that merged with another fund distributed by the Distributor.

 

n  

Any trustee or director (or family member of a trustee or director) of a fund distributed by the Distributor.

 

n  

Any employee (or family member of an employee) of Bank of America or one of its subsidiaries.

 

n  

Any investor participating in an account offered by a financial intermediary or other entity that provides services to such an account, is paid an asset-based fee by the investor and is not compensated by the Fund for those services, other than payments for shareholder servicing or


 

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Table of Contents

Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares

 

 

sub-accounting performed in place of the Transfer Agent (each investor buying shares through a financial intermediary must independently satisfy the minimum investment requirement noted above).

 

n  

Any institutional investor who is a corporation, partnership, trust, foundation, endowment, institution, government entity, or similar organization, which meets the respective qualifications for an accredited investor, as defined under the Securities Act of 1933.

 

n  

Certain financial institutions and intermediaries, such as insurance companies, trust companies, banks, endowments, investment companies or foundations, buying shares for their own account, including Bank of America and its affiliates and/or subsidiaries.

For investors establishing a Systematic Investment Plan, the minimum initial investment is $50.

Minimum Additional Investments

There is no minimum additional investment for Class Z shares.

Systematic Investment Plan

The Systematic Investment Plan allows you to make regular purchases in amounts of $50 or more via automatic transfers from your bank account to the Fund on a monthly, quarterly or semi-annual basis. Contact the Transfer Agent or your financial advisor to set up the plan.

Dividend Diversification

Generally, you may automatically invest distributions made by another Columbia Fund into the same class of shares (and in some cases certain other classes of shares) of the Fund at no additional sales charge. A sales charge may apply when you invest distributions made by a Columbia Fund that were not assessed a sales charge at the time of your initial purchase. Call Columbia Funds at 800.345.6611 for details.

Wire Purchases

You may buy Class Z shares of the Fund by wiring money from your bank account to your Fund account by calling the Transfer Agent at 800.422.3737.

Electronic Funds Transfer

You may buy Class Z shares of the Fund by electronically transferring money from your bank account to your Fund

account by calling the Transfer Agent at 800.422.3737. An electronic funds transfer may take up to three business days to settle and be considered in “good form.” You must set up this feature by contacting the Transfer Agent prior to your request to obtain any necessary forms.

Other Purchase Rules You Should Know

 

n  

Once the Transfer Agent or your selling and/or servicing agent receives your buy order in “good form,” your purchase will be made at the next calculated net asset value per share.

 

n  

You generally buy Class Z shares at net asset value per share because no front-end sales charge applies to purchases of this share class.

 

n  

The Fund reserves the right to cancel your order if it doesn’t receive payment within three business days of receiving your buy order. The Fund will return any payment received for orders that have been cancelled, but no interest will be paid on that money.

 

n  

Selling and/or servicing agents are responsible for sending your buy orders to the Transfer Agent and ensuring that we receive your money on time.

 

n  

Shares bought are recorded on the books of the Fund. The Fund doesn’t issue certificates.

Selling Shares

When you sell your shares, the Fund is effectively buying them back from you. This is called a redemption.

Wire Redemptions

You may request that your Class Z shares sale proceeds be wired to your bank account by calling the Transfer Agent at 800.422.3737. You must set up this feature prior to your request. For shares sold by Fedwire, there is generally a fee of $7.50. The receiving bank may charge an additional fee. The Transfer Agent may waive the fee for certain accounts. The minimum amount that can be redeemed by wire is $500.

Electronic Funds Transfer

You may sell Class Z shares of the Fund and request that the proceeds be electronically transferred to your bank account by calling the Transfer Agent at 800.422.3737. It may take up to three business days for the sale proceeds to be received by your bank. You must set up this feature by contacting the Transfer Agent prior to your request to obtain any necessary forms.


 

29


Table of Contents

Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares

 

Systematic Withdrawal Plan

The Systematic Withdrawal Plan lets you withdraw funds from your Class Z shares account any day of the month on a monthly, quarterly or semi-annual basis. Contact the Transfer Agent or your financial advisor to set up the plan. Your account balance generally must be at least $5,000 to set up the plan, but certain fee-based and wrap accounts are not subject to this requirement. All dividend and capital gain distributions must be reinvested to set up the plan. A Systematic Withdrawal Plan cannot be set up on an account that already has a Systematic Investment Plan established. If you set up the plan after you’ve opened your account, we may require your signature to be Medallion guaranteed.

You can choose to receive your withdrawals via check or direct deposit into your bank account. You can cancel the plan by giving Columbia Funds 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 use up your original investment.

In-Kind Distributions

The Fund reserves the right to honor sell orders with in-kind distributions of portfolio securities instead of cash. In the event the Fund makes such an in-kind distribution, you may incur the brokerage and transaction costs associated with converting the portfolio securities you receive into cash. Also, the portfolio securities you receive may increase or decrease in value before you convert them into cash.

Other Redemption Rules You Should Know

 

n  

Once the Transfer Agent or your selling and/or servicing agent receives your sell order in “good form,” your shares will be sold at the next calculated net asset value per share.

 

n  

If you sell your shares directly through Columbia Funds, we will normally send the sale proceeds by mail or electronically transfer them to your bank account within three business days after the Transfer Agent or your selling and/or servicing agent receives your order in “good form.”

 

n  

If you sell your shares through a selling agent, Columbia Funds will normally send the sale proceeds by Fedwire within three business days after the Transfer Agent or your selling and/or servicing agent receives your order in “good form.”

n  

If you paid for your shares by check or from your bank account as an Automated Clearing House (ACH) transaction. Columbia Funds will hold the sale proceeds when you sell those shares for up to 10 days after the trade date of the purchase.

 

n  

No interest will be paid on uncashed redemption checks.

 

n  

Columbia Funds can delay payment of the sale proceeds for up to seven days and may suspend redemptions and/or postpone payment of redemption proceeds when the NYSE is closed or during emergency circumstances as determined by the SEC.

 

n  

Other restrictions may apply to retirement accounts. For information about these restrictions, contact your retirement plan administrator.

 

n  

Also keep in mind Columbia 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 the Fund to buy shares of another Columbia Fund, in what is called an exchange. You should read the prospectus of, and make sure you understand the investment objective and principal investment strategies of, the Columbia Fund into which you are exchanging.

Systematic Exchanges

You may buy Class Z shares of the Fund by exchanging $100 or more each month from another Columbia Fund for shares of the same class of the Fund at no additional cost. Contact the Transfer Agent or your financial advisor to set up the plan. If you set up your plan to exchange more than $100,000 each month, you must have your signature Medallion guaranteed.

Exchanges will continue as long as your balance is sufficient to complete the systematic monthly transfers, subject to Columbia 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 $100 minimum) by calling Columbia Funds at 800.345.6611. A sales charge may apply when you exchange shares of a Columbia Fund that were not assessed a sales charge at the time of your initial purchase.


 

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Table of Contents

Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares

 

The rules described below for making exchanges apply to systematic exchanges.

Other Exchange Rules You Should Know

 

n  

Exchanges are made at net asset value.

 

n  

You can generally make exchanges between like share classes of any Columbia Fund. Some exceptions apply.

 

n  

The rules for buying shares of a Columbia Fund generally apply to exchanges into that Fund.

 

n  

You may make exchanges only into a Columbia Fund that is legally offered and sold in your state of residence.

 

n  

You generally may make an exchange only into a Columbia Fund that is accepting investments.

 

n  

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).

 

n  

Unless your account is part of a tax-advantaged retirement plan, 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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Table of Contents

Distributions and Taxes

 

Distributions to Shareholders

A mutual fund can make money two ways:

 

n  

It can earn income on its investments. Examples of fund income are interest paid on money market instruments and bonds, and dividends paid on common stocks.

 

n  

A mutual fund can also have capital gains if the value of its investments increases. While a fund continues to hold an investment, any gain is unrealized. If the fund sells an investment, it generally will realize a capital gain if it sells that investment for a higher price than it originally paid. Capital gains are either short-term or long-term, depending on whether the fund holds the securities for one year or less (short-term gains) or more than one year (long-term gains).

 

FUNDamentals™

Distributions

 

Mutual funds make payments of fund earnings to shareholders, distributing them among all shareholders of the fund. As a shareholder, you are entitled to your portion of a fund’s distributed income, including capital gains.

 

Reinvesting your distributions buys you more shares of a fund – which lets you take advantage of the potential for compound growth. Putting the money you earn back into your investment means it, in turn, may earn even more money. Over time, the power of compounding has the potential to significantly increase the value of your investment. There is no assurance, however, that you’ll earn more money if you reinvest your distributions rather than receive them in cash.

The Fund intends to pay out, in the form of distributions to shareholders, a sufficient amount of its income and gains so that the Fund will qualify for treatment as a regulated investment company and generally will not have to pay any federal excise tax. The Fund generally intends to distribute any net realized capital gain (whether long-term or short-term gain) at least once a year. Normally, the Fund will declare and pay distributions of net investment income according to the following schedule:

 

Declaration and Distribution Schedule

Declarations    daily
Distributions    monthly

 

The Fund may, however, pay distributions of net investment income more frequently.

Different share classes of the Fund usually pay different net investment income distribution amounts, because each class has different expenses. Each time a distribution is made, the net asset value per share of the share class is reduced by the amount of the distribution.

The Fund generally pays cash distributions within five business days after the distribution was declared. If you sell all of your shares after the record date, but before the payment date, for a distribution, you’ll normally receive that distribution in cash within five business days after the sale was made.

The Fund will automatically reinvest distributions in additional shares of the same share class of the Fund unless you inform us you want to receive your distributions in cash. You can do this by writing Columbia Funds at the address on the back cover, or by calling us at 800.345.6611. No sales charges apply to the purchase or sale of such shares. Distributions of $10 or less will automatically be reinvested in additional Fund shares only. If you elect to receive distributions by check and the check is returned as undeliverable, all subsequent distributions will be reinvested in additional shares of the Fund.

If you buy shares of the Fund when it holds securities with unrealized capital gain, you may, in effect, receive part of your purchase price back if and when the Fund sells those securities and distributes any net realized gain. Any such distribution is generally subject to tax. The Fund may have, or may build up over time, high levels of unrealized capital gain. If you buy shares of the Fund when it has capital loss carryforwards, the Fund may have the ability to offset capital gains realized by the Fund that otherwise would have been distributed to shareholders with such carryforwards, although capital loss carryforwards generally expire after eight taxable years and may be subject to substantial limitations.


 

32


Table of Contents

Distributions and Taxes

 

Taxes and Your Investment

The Fund will send you a statement each year showing how much you’ve received in distributions in the prior year and the distributions’ character for federal income tax purposes. In addition, you should be aware of the following:

 

n  

The Fund intends to qualify each year as a regulated investment company. A regulated investment company generally is not subject to tax at the fund level on income and gains from investments that are distributed to shareholders. However, the Fund’s failure to qualify as a regulated investment company would result in fund level taxation, and consequently, a reduction in income available for distribution to you.

 

n  

To the extent distributions are taxable, such distributions generally are taxable to you when paid, whether they are paid in cash or automatically reinvested in additional shares of the Fund.

 

n  

Distributions of the Fund’s net interest income from tax-exempt securities generally are not subject to federal income tax, but may be subject to state and local income and other taxes, as well as federal and state alternative minimum tax.

 

n  

The Fund may invest a portion of its assets in securities that generate income that is not exempt from federal or state income tax. Distributions by the Fund of this income generally are taxable to you as ordinary income. Distributions of gains realized by the Fund, including those generated from the sale or exchange of tax-exempt securities, generally also are taxable to you. Distributions of the Fund’s net short-term capital gain, if any, generally are taxable to you as ordinary income. Distributions of the Fund’s net long-term capital gain, if any, generally are taxable to you as long-term capital gain. Whether capital gains are long-term or short term is determined by how long the Fund has owned the investments that generated them, rather than how long you have owned your shares.

 

n  

For taxable years beginning on or before December 31, 2010, if you are an individual and you meet certain holding period and other requirements for your Fund shares, a portion of your distributions may be treated as “qualified dividend income.” Qualified dividend income is income attributable to the Fund’s dividends received from certain U.S. and foreign corporations, as long as the Fund meets certain holding period and other requirements for the stock producing such dividends. The Fund does not expect a significant portion of Fund distributions to be derived from qualified dividend income.

n  

For taxable years beginning on or before December 31, 2010, the maximum individual federal income tax rate on net long-term capital gain and qualified dividend income is 15%.

 

n  

A sale, redemption or exchange of Fund shares is a taxable event. This includes redemptions where you are paid in securities. Your sales, redemptions, and exchanges of Fund shares (including those paid in securities) usually will result in a taxable capital gain or loss to you, equal to the difference between the amount you receive for your shares (or are deemed to have received in the case of exchanges) and the amount you paid (or are deemed to have paid in the case of exchanges) for them. Any such capital gain or loss generally will be a long-term capital gain or loss if you have held your Fund shares for more than one year at the time of sale or exchange. In certain circumstances, capital losses may be converted from short-term to long-term or disallowed.

 

n  

The Fund is required by federal law to withhold tax on any taxable and possibly tax-exempt distributions and sale proceeds paid to you (including amounts paid to you in securities and amounts deemed to be paid to you upon an exchange of shares) if: you haven’t provided a correct taxpayer identification number (TIN) or haven’t certified to the Fund that withholding doesn’t apply; the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has notified us that the TIN listed on your account is incorrect according to its records; or the IRS informs the Fund that you are otherwise subject to backup withholding.

 

FUNDamentals™

Taxes

 

The information provided above is only a summary of how U.S. federal income taxes may affect your investment in the Fund. It is not intended as a substitute for careful tax planning. Your investment in the Fund may have other tax implications.

 

It does not apply to certain types of investors who may be subject to special rules, including foreign or tax-exempt investors or those holding Fund shares through a tax-advantaged account, such as a 401(k) plan or IRA.

 

You should consult with your own tax advisor about the particular tax consequences to you of an investment in the Fund, including the effect of any foreign, state and local taxes, and the effect of possible changes in applicable tax laws.


 

33


Table of Contents

Financial Highlights

 

The financial highlights table is designed to help you understand how the Fund has performed for the past five full fiscal years. Certain information reflects financial results for a single Fund share. The total return line indicates how much an investment in the Fund would have earned each period assuming all dividends and distributions had been reinvested.

This information has been audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm whose report, along with the Fund’s financial statements, is included in the Fund’s annual report. The independent registered public accounting firm’s report and the Fund’s financial statements are also incorporated by reference into the SAI.

 

Columbia High Yield Municipal Fund – Class Z Shares

     Year Ended June 30,  
      2008     2007     2006     2005     2004  
Net Asset Value, Beginning of Period    $11.33     $11.25     $11.39     $10.96     $11.25  
Income from Investment Operations:           
Net investment income(a)    0.54     0.53     0.54     0.56     0.58  
Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) on investments, swap contracts and futures contracts    (1.01 )   0.08     (0.14 )   0.43     (0.32 )
Total from investment operations    (0.47 )   0.61     0.40     0.99     0.26  
Less Distributions to Shareholders:           
From net investment income    (0.54 )   (0.53 )   (0.54 )   (0.56 )   (0.55 )
Net Asset Value, End of Period    $10.32     $11.33     $11.25     $11.39     $10.96  
Total Return(b)    (4.20 )%   5.44 %   3.59 %(c)   9.22 %   2.33 %
Ratios to Average Net Assets/Supplemental Data:           
Net expenses before interest expense and fees(d)    0.70 %   0.68 %   0.65 %   0.67 %   0.69 %
Interest expense and fees(e)    0.05 %   0.07 %   0.07 %   0.06 %   0.05 %
Net expenses(d)    0.75 %   0.75 %   0.72 %   0.73 %   0.74 %
Waiver/Reimbursement            %(f)        
Net investment income(d)    5.03 %   4.63 %   4.80 %   4.99 %   5.24 %
Portfolio turnover rate    32 %   27 %   13 %   7 %   10 %
Net Assets, End of Period (000’s)    $629,219     $698,454     $576,355     $447,945     $341,394  

 

(a)

Per share data was calculated using the average shares outstanding during the period.

 

(b)

Total return at net asset value assuming all distributions reinvested.

 

(c)

Had the investment advisor and/or any of its affiliates not waived fees or reimbursed a portion of expenses, total return would have been reduced.

 

(d)

The benefits derived from expense reductions had an impact of less than 0.01%.

 

(e)

Interest expense and fees relate to the liability for floating-rate notes issued in conjunction with inverse floater securities transactions.

 

(f)

Rounds to less than 0.01%.

 

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Table of Contents

Hypothetical Fees and Expenses

 

The following supplemental hypothetical investment information provides additional information about the effect of the fees and expenses of the Fund, including investment advisory fees and other Fund costs, on the Fund’s returns over a 10-year period. The chart shows the estimated fees and expenses that would be charged on a hypothetical investment of $10,000 in Class Z shares of the Fund, assuming a 5% return each year, the cumulative return after fees and expenses and the hypothetical year-end balance after fees and expenses. The chart also assumes that all dividends and distributions are reinvested. The annual expense ratio used for the Fund, which is the same as that stated in the Annual Fund Operating Expense table, is presented in the chart and is net of any contractual fee waivers or expense reimbursements for the period of contractual commitment. Your actual costs may be higher or lower. The chart shown below reflects the maximum initial sales charge. If contingent deferred sales charges were reflected, the “Hypothetical Year-End Balance After Fees and Expenses” amounts shown would be lower and the “Annual Fees and Expenses” amounts shown would be higher.

 

Columbia High Yield Municipal Fund – Class Z Shares

Maximum Initial Sales
Charge 0.00%
  Initial Hypothetical Investment
Amount $10,000.00
  Assumed Rate of Return 5%
Year  

Cumulative

Return Before

Fees and Expenses

  Annual
Expense Ratio
 

Cumulative

Return After

Fees and Expenses

 

Hypothetical

Year-End

Balance After

Fees and Expenses

 

Annual Fees

and Expenses(a)

1   5.00%   0.72%   4.28%   $10,428.00   $73.54
2   10.25%   0.72%   8.74%   $10,874.32   $76.69
3   15.76%   0.72%   13.40%   $11,339.74   $79.97
4   21.55%   0.72%   18.25%   $11,825.08   $83.39
5   27.63%   0.72%   23.31%   $12,331.19   $86.96
6   34.01%   0.72%   28.59%   $12,858.97   $90.68
7   40.71%   0.72%   34.09%   $13,409.33   $94.57
8   47.75%   0.72%   39.83%   $13,983.25   $98.61
9   55.13%   0.72%   45.82%   $14,581.74   $102.83
10   62.89%   0.72%   52.06%   $15,205.83   $107.24
Total Gain After Fees and Expenses   $5,205.83    
Total Annual Fees and Expenses Paid       $894.49

 

(a)

Annual Fees and Expenses are calculated based on the average between the beginning and ending balance for each year. All information is calculated on an annual compounding basis.

 

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For More Information

You’ll find more information about the Fund and the other Columbia Funds in the documents described below. Contact Columbia Funds as follows to obtain these documents free of charge:

 

By Mail:   Columbia Funds
/o Columbia Management Services, Inc.
P.O. Box 8081 Boston, MA 02266-8081
 
By Telephone:   800.345.6611
 
Online:   www.columbiafunds.com

Annual and Semi-Annual Reports to Shareholders

Additional information about the Fund’s investments is available in the Fund’s annual and semi-annual reports to shareholders. In the annual report, you will find a discussion of the market conditions and investment strategies that significantly affected the Fund’s performance during its last fiscal year.

Shareholder Communications with the Board

The Fund’s Board of Trustees has adopted procedures by which shareholders may communicate with the Board. Shareholders who wish to communicate with the Board should send their written communications to the Board by mail, c/o Columbia Management Advisors, LLC, One Financial Center, Mail Stop MA5-515-11-05, Boston, MA 02111, Attention: Secretary. Shareholder communications

must (i) be in writing, (ii) identify the Columbia Fund to which the communication relates and (iii) state the particular class of shares and number of shares held by the communicating shareholder.

Statement of Additional Information

The SAI provides more detailed information about the Fund and its policies. The SAI is legally part of this prospectus (incorporated by reference). A copy has been filed with the SEC.

Information Provided by the SEC

You can review and copy information about the Fund (including this prospectus, the SAI and shareholder reports) at the SEC’s Public Reference Room in Washington, DC. To find out more about the operation of the Public Reference Room, call the SEC at 202.551.8090 or 800.SEC.0330. Reports and other information about the Fund are also available in the EDGAR Database on the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov. You can receive copies of this information, for a fee, by electronic request at the following e-mail address: publicinfo@sec.gov or by writing the Public Reference Section, Securities and Exchange Commission, Washington, DC 20549-0102.

For purposes of any electronic version of this prospectus, all references to websites, or universal resource locators (URLs), are intended to be inactive and are not meant to incorporate the contents of any website into this prospectus.

The investment company registration number of Columbia Funds Series Trust I, of which the Fund is a series, is 811-04367.


LOGO

Columbia High Yield Municipal Fund

Class Z Shares

Prospectus, November 1, 2008, as revised November 17, 2008

©2008 Columbia Management Distributors, Inc.

One Financial Center, Boston, MA 02111-2621

800.345.6611 www.columbiafunds.com

INT-36/156858-1108