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(Active Portfolios® Multi-Manager Alternative Strategies Fund)

Investment Objective

The Fund seeks capital appreciation with an emphasis on absolute (positive) returns.

Fees and Expenses of the Fund

This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the Fund.

Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment)

Shareholder Fees (Active Portfolios® Multi-Manager Alternative Strategies Fund)
Class A Shares
Maximum sales charge (load) imposed on purchases, as a % of offering price   
Maximum deferred sales charge (load) imposed on redemptions, as a % of the lower of the original purchase price or net asset value   

Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)

Annual Fund Operating Expenses (Active Portfolios® Multi-Manager Alternative Strategies Fund)
Class A Shares
Management fees 1.10%
Distribution and/or service (Rule 12b-1) fees 0.25%
Dividend expenses and borrowing costs on securities sold short [1] 0.09%
Remainder of other expenses 0.42%
Other expenses [2] 0.51%
Total annual Fund operating expenses 1.86%
Fee waivers and/or reimbursements [3] (0.27%)
Total annual Fund operating expenses after fee waivers and/or reimbursements 1.59%
[1] Dividends on short sales are the dividends paid to the lenders of borrowed securities. The expenses related to dividends on short sales are estimated and will vary depending on whether the securities the Fund sells short pay dividends and on the amount of any such dividends. Expenses also include borrowing costs paid to the broker in connection with borrowing the security to be sold short. The rate paid to brokers varies by security.
[2] Other expenses are based on estimated amounts for the Fund's current fiscal year.
[3] Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC (the Investment Manager) and certain of its affiliates have contractually agreed to waive fees and/or to reimburse expenses (excluding certain fees and expenses, such as transaction costs and certain other investment related expenses, dividend expenses and borrowing costs on securities sold short, interest, taxes, acquired fund fees and expenses, and extraordinary expenses) until December 31, 2014 unless sooner terminated at the sole discretion of the Fund's Board of Trustees. Under this agreement, the Fund's net operating expenses, subject to applicable exclusions, will not exceed the annual rate of 1.50% for Class A.

Example

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

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

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

  • your investment has a 5% return each year, and

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

Since the waivers and/or reimbursements shown in the Annual Fund Operating Expenses table above expire on December 31, 2014, they are only reflected in the 1 year example and the first two years of the 3 year example.

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

Expense Example (Active Portfolios® Multi-Manager Alternative Strategies Fund) (USD $)
1 Year
3 Years
Class A Shares
162 531

Remember this is an example only. Your actual costs may be higher or lower.

Portfolio Turnover

The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or "turns over" its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the Fund's performance. Because the Fund is newly organized, portfolio turnover rate is not yet available.

Principal Investment Strategies

The Fund pursues its investment objective by allocating the Fund's assets among different asset managers that use multiple investment styles and strategies across different markets. The Fund's investment manager, Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC (Columbia Management or the Investment Manager), and investment subadvisers (Subadvisers) each provide day-to-day portfolio management for a portion of the Fund's assets, or sleeve of the Fund. The Investment Manager and the Subadvisers employ a variety of investment strategies, techniques and practices that are designed to seek positive returns, with a low correlation to the performance of the broad equity and fixed income markets over a complete market cycle.

Columbia Management is responsible for providing day-to-day portfolio management of a sleeve and is also responsible for oversight of the Subadvisers. The Fund's Subadvisers are AQR Capital Management, LLC (AQR), Eaton Vance Management (Eaton Vance), Wasatch Advisors, Inc. (Wasatch) and Water Island Capital, LLC (Water Island). Columbia Management, subject to the oversight of the Fund's Board of Trustees, determines the allocation of the Fund's assets to each sleeve, and may change these allocations at any time. Columbia Management and the Subadvisers act independently of each other and use their own methodologies for selecting investments.

As described below, the Subadvisers' investment strategies and techniques may involve seeking exposure to capital markets; seeking to exploit disparities or inefficiencies in markets, geographical areas and companies; seeking to take advantage of security mispricings or anticipated price movements; and/or seeking to benefit from cyclical themes and relationships or special situations and events (such as mergers, acquisitions or reorganizations). Such strategies are subject to risks that are relatively unrelated to the broad equity and fixed income markets.

The Fund may employ both long (an ordinary purchase) and short (described below) positions in equity securities (including common stock, preferred stock and convertible securities), fixed-income securities (including sovereign and quasi-sovereign debt obligations, corporate bonds, notes and debentures), derivative instruments (including futures, forwards, swaps and commodity-linked investments) and exchange-traded funds (ETFs). When the Fund takes a short position, it typically sells a currency, security or other asset that it has borrowed in anticipation of a decline in the price of the asset. A sleeve may at any time have either a net long exposure or a net short exposure to markets, and neither the sleeves nor the Fund's portfolio as a whole will be managed to maintain any fixed net long or net short market exposure. To close out a short position, the Fund buys back the same security or other asset in the market and returns it to the lender. If the price of the security or other asset falls sufficiently, the Fund will make money. If it instead increases in price, the Fund will lose money.

The Fund may invest in early stage companies and initial public offerings (IPOs). The Fund may invest in companies of any market capitalization and may invest without limitation in foreign securities or instruments and currencies, including investments in emerging market instruments. The Fund may invest in fixed income securities of any maturity (and does not seek to maintain a particular dollar-weighted average maturity) and of any credit quality, including investments that are rated below investment-grade (commonly referred to as "high yield securities" or "junk bonds") or, if unrated, deemed by the Investment Manager or applicable Subadviser, as the case may be, to be of comparable quality. The Fund may also engage in repurchase agreements and reverse repurchase agreements.

It is anticipated that the Fund will make substantial use of derivatives, including both exchange-traded and over-the-counter (OTC) instruments. The Fund may invest in commodity-linked investments (including, but not limited to, commodity-linked futures, structured notes and swaps on commodity futures), futures (including, but not limited to, currency, equity, fixed income, index and interest rate futures), forward foreign currency contracts, forward rate agreements, options (including, but not limited to, options on currencies, equities, interest rates and swaps, which are commonly referred to as "swaptions") and swaps (including, but not limited to, swaps on commodity and fixed income futures and credit default, cross-currency, interest rate and total return swaps). The Fund may use these derivatives in an effort to produce incremental earnings and enhance total return, to hedge existing positions, to increase market or credit exposure (including using derivatives as a substitute for the purchase or sale of the underlying security or other asset), to manage certain investment risks and/or as a substitute for the purchase or sale of securities, currencies or commodities, and/or to change the Fund's effective duration. One or more of the strategies used by the Fund and the Subsidiaries may result in leveraged exposure in general and to one or more specific asset classes.

The Fund may invest in securities and instruments, including derivatives, indirectly through two offshore, wholly-owned subsidiaries organized under the laws of the Cayman Islands (each, a Subsidiary) and managed by Columbia Management. One Subsidiary is subadvised by AQR and one is subadvised by Eaton Vance. Both Subsidiaries have substantially the same investment objective as the Fund and their investments are consistent with the Fund's investment restrictions applied on a "look through" basis. Generally, the Subsidiaries will invest mainly in futures and/or swaps, including, but not limited to, commodity-related futures, swaps and swaps on commodity futures, but they may also make any other investments the Fund may make, including investments intended to serve as margin or collateral for the Subsidiary's derivative positions. Unlike the Fund (which is subject to limitations under U.S. federal tax laws), the Subsidiaries may invest without limitation in commodity-linked derivatives; however, the Fund and its Subsidiaries will comply on a consolidated basis with asset coverage or segregation requirements. AQR and Eaton Vance are expected to invest no more than 25% of the total assets of their respective sleeves in the Subsidiary that they subadvise and the Fund, in the aggregate, will not invest more than 25% of its total assets in the Subsidiaries.

The Fund expects to hold a significant amount of cash, money market instruments (which may include investments in one or more affiliated or unaffiliated money market funds or similar vehicles), other high-quality, short-term investments or mortgage-backed securities, or other liquid assets to meet its segregation obligations as a result of its investments in derivatives.

The Subsidiaries' commodity-linked investments are expected to produce leveraged exposure to the performance of the commodities markets. In addition to its investments in commodity-linked derivative instruments, the Fund may, through investments in Subsidiaries, invest directly in physical commodities, including but not limited to, gold, silver, platinum and palladium.

Each sleeve manager's investment strategy may involve the frequent trading of portfolio securities or instruments, which may increase brokerage and other transaction costs and have adverse tax consequences.

The Fund is non-diversified, which means that it can invest a greater percentage of its assets in a single issuer than can a diversified fund.

The AQR Sleeve – Managed Futures Strategy

AQR invests its sleeve primarily in a portfolio of futures contracts and futures-related instruments including, but not limited to, global developed and emerging market equity index futures, swaps on equity index futures and total return swaps on equity indices; global developed and emerging market currency forwards; commodity futures and swaps on commodity futures; interest rate futures, bond futures and swaps on bond futures, either by investing directly in those instruments or indirectly by investing in a Subsidiary. AQR may invest this sleeve without limit in foreign instruments, including emerging market instruments. The sleeve's universe of investments includes futures, futures-related instruments, global developed and emerging market exchange traded futures, exchange traded notes and forward contracts across four major asset classes (commodities, currencies, fixed income and equities); however, this universe of investments may change as market conditions change and as these instruments evolve over time. The investment return of AQR's sleeve is expected to be derived principally from changes in the value of securities.

AQR uses proprietary quantitative models to identify price trends in equity, fixed income, currency and commodity instruments. Once AQR identifies a trend, the sleeve will take either a long or short position in the given instrument. The size of the position taken will relate to AQR's confidence in the trend continuing as well as AQR's estimate of the instrument's risk. In addition, AQR may reduce the sleeve's position in an instrument if the trend strength weakens or for risk management purposes. AQR generally expects that its sleeve will have long and short positions across all four major asset classes (commodities, currencies, fixed income and equities), but AQR may emphasize one or two of the asset classes or a limited number of exposures within an asset class.

AQR expects the value of sleeve assets over short-term periods to be volatile because of the significant use of instruments that have a leveraging effect. Volatility is a statistical measurement of the magnitude of up and down asset price fluctuations over time.

The Eaton Vance Sleeve - Global Macro Advantage Strategy

With respect to its sleeve, Eaton Vance invests in securities, derivatives and other instruments to establish long and short investment exposures around the world. Eaton Vance normally invests in multiple countries and may have significant exposure to foreign currencies. Eaton Vance's long and short investments primarily are sovereign exposures, including sovereign debt, currencies, and interest rates. Eaton Vance may also invest in corporate debt and equity issuers, both foreign and domestic, including banks, and commodities-related investments. Eaton Vance's investments may be highly concentrated in a geographic region or country and typically a portion will be invested in emerging market countries. Eaton Vance may invest in fixed income securities, a wide variety of derivative instruments, commodities-related investments and equity securities. Eaton Vance expects to achieve certain exposures primarily through derivative transactions, including, but not limited to, foreign exchange forward contracts; futures on securities, indices, currencies, commodities, and other investments; options; interest rate swaps, cross-currency swaps, total return swaps; and credit default swaps, each of which may create economic leverage. Eaton Vance may engage in repurchase agreements, reverse repurchase agreements, forward commitments, short sales and securities lending.

Eaton Vance utilizes macroeconomic and political analysis to identify investment opportunities throughout the world, including in both developed and emerging markets. Eaton Vance seeks to identify countries and currencies it believes have potential to outperform investments in other countries and currencies, and to anticipate changes in global economies, markets, political conditions and other factors for this purpose.

Eaton Vance employs an absolute return investment approach. Absolute return strategies benchmark their performance primarily against short-term cash instruments, adjusting to compensate for the amount of investment risk assumed. Relative return strategies, by contrast, seek to outperform a designated stock, bond or other market index, and measure their performance primarily in relation to such benchmark. Over time, the investment performance of absolute return strategies is intended to be substantially independent of longer term movements in the stock and bond market.

The Water Island Sleeve - Multi-Event Arbitrage Strategies

Water Island invests this sleeve in equity and debt securities of companies the prices of which Water Island believes are being or will be impacted by a corporate event. Specifically, Water Island employs investment strategies designed to capture price movements generated by publicly announced or anticipated corporate events such as mergers, acquisitions, asset sales, restructurings, refinancings, recapitalizations, reorganizations or other special situations.

Water Island may utilize investment strategies such as merger arbitrage, convertible arbitrage and capital structure arbitrage in order to profit from event-driven opportunities. These investment strategies are described more fully below.

Merger Arbitrage seeks to profit from the successful completion of mergers, takeovers, tender offers, leveraged buyouts, spin-offs, liquidations and other corporate reorganizations. The most common arbitrage activity, and the approach Water Island generally will use, involves purchasing the shares of an announced acquisition target company at a discount to their expected value upon completion of the acquisition. Water Island may engage in short sales when the terms of a proposed acquisition call for the exchange of common stock and/or other securities.

Convertible Arbitrage seeks to profit from pricing discrepancies between an issuer's convertible securities and its underlying equity. The most common convertible arbitrage approach, and the strategy Water Island generally will use, matches a long position in the convertible security with a short position in the underlying common stock. Water Island seeks to purchase convertible securities at discounts to their expected future values and sell shares of the underlying common stock short in order to hedge against equity market movements. The positions are typically designed to earn income from coupon or dividend payments, and from the short sale of common stock.

Capital Structure Arbitrage seeks to profit from pricing discrepancies between related debt and/or equity securities. For example, Water Island may purchase a senior secured security of an issuer and sell short an unsecured security of the same issuer. In this example, the trade would be profitable if credit quality spreads widened or if the issuer went bankrupt and the recovery rate for the senior debt was higher. It is expected that positions will be liquidated when pricing discrepancies disappear.

Water Island continuously monitors its investments and evaluates each investment's risk/return profile, on both an investment and sleeve level, taking into account the availability of other event-driven opportunities. As a result of this continuous examination of investment conditions, Water Island will not necessarily use each of its available strategies (principal and non-principal) at a particular time, but rather will allocate its investments according to what Water Island believes are the best risk-adjusted opportunities available.

When determining whether to sell or cover a security, Water Island continuously reviews and rationalizes each investment's risk versus its reward relative to its predetermined exit strategy. Water Island will sell or cover a security when the securities of the companies involved in the transaction do not meet its expected return criteria in light of prevailing market prices and the relative risks of the situation.

The Wasatch Sleeve - Equity Long/Short Strategy

Wasatch invests this sleeve primarily in equity securities by maintaining long equity positions and short equity positions. Wasatch seeks to achieve higher risk-adjusted returns with lower volatility compared to the equity markets in general (as represented by the S&P 500® Index). Under normal market conditions, Wasatch invests its sleeve's assets typically in the equity securities of companies with market capitalizations of at least $100 million at the time of purchase that Wasatch has identified as being undervalued ("long" equity positions) and sells short those securities ("short" equity positions) that Wasatch has identified as being overvalued.

Wasatch believes that the best opportunities to invest arise when the market's perception of the values of individual companies (measured by the stock price) differs widely from Wasatch's assessment of the intrinsic values of such companies. Wasatch also believes that opportunities to invest in undervalued and overvalued stocks arise due to a variety of market inefficiencies including:

  • Changes in market participant psychology and circumstances.

  • Imperfect information.

  • Forecasts and projections by Wall Street analysts and company representatives that differ from Wasatch's forecasts and projections.

When evaluating a potential long or short investment for the Fund, Wasatch employs a comprehensive valuation analysis intended to establish a range for fair valuation or intrinsic company value, with particular emphasis on company fundamentals.

Wasatch intends to engage in short sales of securities of companies that it believes:

  • Have earnings that appear to be reflected in the current price.

  • Are likely to fall short of market expectations.

  • Are in industries exhibiting weaknesses.

  • Have poor management.

  • Are likely to suffer an event affecting long-term earnings.

Wasatch may invest in derivatives, such as options, in order to hedge risk. In addition, Wasatch may invest in fixed income securities, including corporate notes, bonds and debentures, including those rated below investment grade. The Wasatch sleeve may invest a large percentage of its assets in relatively few sectors, and the sleeve is expected to have a high turnover rate.

Columbia Management - Liquidity Strategy Sleeve

Columbia Management is responsible for managing cash flows into and out of the Fund resulting from the purchase and redemption of Fund shares. Columbia Management typically invests this sleeve in U.S. government securities, high-quality, short-term debt instruments, including investments in affiliated or unaffiliated money market funds, ETFs and futures (including index futures).

Principal Risks

  • Investment Strategy Risk – There is no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objective. Investment decisions and strategies may not produce the returns expected, may cause the Fund's shares to lose value or may cause the Fund to underperform other funds with similar investment objectives.

  • Market Risk Market risk refers to the possibility that the market values of securities that the Fund holds will 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.

  • Allocation Risk The Fund uses an asset allocation strategy in pursuit of its investment objective. There is a risk that the Fund's allocation among asset classes, investments, managers, strategies and/or investment styles will cause the Fund's shares to lose value or cause the Fund to underperform other funds with similar investment objectives, or that the investments themselves will not produce the returns expected.

  • Foreign Securities Risk – Foreign securities are subject to special risks as compared to securities of U.S. issuers. For example, foreign markets can be extremely volatile. Fluctuations in currency exchange rates may impact the value of foreign securities denominated in foreign currencies or in U.S. dollars, without a change in the intrinsic value of those securities. Foreign securities may be less liquid than domestic securities so that the Fund may, at times, be unable to sell foreign securities at desirable times or prices. Brokerage commissions, custodial fees and other fees are also generally higher for foreign securities. The Fund may have limited or no legal recourse in the event of default with respect to certain foreign securities, including those issued by foreign governments. In addition, foreign governments may impose potentially confiscatory withholding or other taxes, which could reduce the amount of income and capital gains available to distribute to shareholders. Other risks include possible delays in the settlement of transactions or in the payment of income; generally less publicly available information about companies; the impact of political, social or diplomatic events; possible seizure, expropriation or nationalization of a company or its assets; possible imposition of currency exchange controls; and accounting, auditing and financial reporting standards that may be less comprehensive and stringent than those applicable to domestic companies.

  • Emerging Market Securities Risk Securities issued by foreign governments or companies in emerging market countries, like those in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Latin America or Africa, are more likely to have greater exposure to the risks of investing in foreign securities that are described in Foreign Securities Risk. In addition, emerging market countries are more likely to experience instability resulting, for example, from rapid social, political and economic development. Their economies are usually less mature and their securities markets are typically less developed with more limited trading activity than more developed countries. Emerging market securities tend to be more volatile than securities in more developed markets. Many emerging market countries are heavily dependent on international trade, which makes them more sensitive to world commodity prices and economic downturns in other countries. Some emerging market countries have a higher risk of currency devaluations, and some of these countries may experience periods of high inflation or rapid changes in inflation rates.

  • Currency Risk – Securities denominated in non-U.S. dollar currencies are subject to the risk that, for example, if the value of a foreign currency were to decline against the U.S. dollar, such decline would reduce the U.S. dollar value of any securities held by the Fund denominated in that currency.

  • 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 Standard & Poor's (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 or other asset. 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 holding shares in a taxable account. Other risks arise from the Fund's potential inability to terminate or to sell derivative positions. A liquid secondary market may not always exist for the Fund's derivative positions at times when the Fund might wish to terminate or to sell such positions. Over-the-counter instruments (investments not traded on an exchange) may be illiquid, and transactions in derivatives traded in the over-the-counter market are subject to the risk that the other party will not meet its obligations. The use of derivatives also involves the risks of mispricing or improper valuation and that changes in the value of the derivative may not correlate perfectly with the underlying security, asset, reference rate or index. The Fund also may not be able to find a suitable derivative transaction counterparty, and thus may be unable to engage in derivative transactions when it is deemed favorable to do so, or at all. U.S. federal legislation has recently been enacted that provides for new clearing, margin, reporting and registration requirements for participants in the derivatives market. While the ultimate impact is not yet clear, these changes could restrict and/or impose significant costs or other burdens upon the Fund's participation in derivatives transactions. For more information on the risks of derivative investments and strategies, see the Statement of Additional Information.

  • Derivatives Risk — Credit Default Swaps – The Fund may enter into credit default swaps for investment purposes, for risk management (hedging) purposes, and to increase investment flexibility. A credit default swap enables an investor to buy or sell protection against a credit event, such as an issuer's failure to make timely payments of interest or principal, bankruptcy or restructuring. A credit default swap may be embedded within a structured note or other derivative instrument. Swaps can involve greater risks than direct investment in the underlying securities, because swaps subject the Fund to the risk that the counterparty to the instrument will not perform or will be unable to perform in accordance with the terms of the instrument, and pricing risk (i.e., swaps may be difficult to value). In addition, it may not be possible for the Fund to liquidate a swap position at an advantageous time or price, which may result in significant losses. If the Fund is selling credit protection, there is a risk that a credit event will occur and that the Fund will have to pay the counterparty. If the Fund is buying credit protection, there is a risk that no credit event will occur and the Fund will receive no benefit for the premium paid.

  • Derivatives Risk - Forward Foreign Currency Contracts - The Fund may enter into forward foreign currency contracts, which are a type of derivative contract, whereby the Fund may agree to buy or sell a country's currency at a specific price on a specific date, usually 30, 60, or 90 days in the future. These currency contracts may change in value due to foreign market fluctuations or foreign currency value fluctuations. The effectiveness of any currency hedging strategy by a Fund may be reduced by the Fund's inability to precisely match forward contract amounts and the value of securities involved. Forward foreign currency contracts used for hedging may also limit any potential gain that might result from an increase or decrease in the value of the currency. When entering into forward foreign currency contracts for investment purposes, unanticipated changes in the currency markets could result in reduced performance for the Fund. At or prior to maturity of a forward contract, the Fund may enter into an offsetting contract and may incur a loss to the extent there has been movement in forward contract prices. When the Fund converts its foreign currencies into U.S. dollars it may incur currency conversion costs due to the spread between the prices at which it may buy and sell various currencies in the market.

  • Derivatives Risk – Forward Rate Agreements Under forward rate agreements, the buyer locks in an interest rate at a future settlement date. If the interest rate on the settlement date exceeds the lock rate, the buyer pays the seller the difference between the two rates. If the lock rate exceeds the interest rate on the settlement date, the seller pays the buyer the difference between the two rates. The Fund may act as a buyer or a seller.

  • Derivatives Risk – Futures Contracts - The Fund may buy or sell futures. A futures contract is a sales contract between a buyer (holding the "long" position) and a seller (holding the "short" position) for an asset with delivery deferred until a future date. The buyer agrees to pay a fixed price at the agreed future date and the seller agrees to deliver the asset. The seller hopes that the market price on the delivery date is less than the agreed upon price, while the buyer hopes for the contrary. The liquidity of the futures markets depends on participants entering into off-setting transactions rather than making or taking delivery. To the extent participants decide to make or take delivery, liquidity in the futures market could be reduced. In addition, futures exchanges often impose a maximum permissible price movement on each futures contract for each trading session. The Fund may be disadvantaged if it is prohibited from executing a trade outside the daily permissible price movement.

  • Derivatives Risk – Interest Rate Swaps - The Fund may enter into interest rate swap agreements to seek to obtain or preserve a desired return or spread at a lower cost than through a direct investment in an instrument that yields the desired return or spread. Interest rate swaps can be based on various measures of interest rates, including LIBOR, swap rates, treasury rates and other foreign interest rates. A swap agreement can increase or decrease the volatility of the Fund's investments and its net asset value. Swaps can involve greater risks than direct investment in securities, because swaps may be leveraged, are subject to the risk that a counterparty becomes bankrupt or otherwise fails to perform its obligations, may be difficult to value and may not be possible for the Fund to liquidate at an advantageous time or price, which may result in significant losses.

  • Derivatives Risk – Options – The Fund may buy and sell call and put options, including options on currencies, interest rates and swap agreements (commonly referred to as swaptions), for investment purposes, for risk management (hedging) purposes, and to increase investment flexibility. If the Fund sells a put option, there is a risk that the Fund may be required to buy the underlying asset at a disadvantageous price. If the Fund sells a call option, there is a risk that the Fund may be required to sell the underlying asset at a disadvantageous price, and if the call option sold is not covered (for example, by owning the underlying asset), the Fund's losses are theoretically unlimited.

  • Derivatives Risk – Total Return Swaps - In a total return swap transaction, one party agrees to pay the other party an amount equal to the total return of a defined underlying asset (such as an equity security or basket of such securities) or a non-asset reference (such as an index) during a specified period of time. In return, the other party would make periodic payments based on a fixed or variable interest rate or on the total return from a different underlying asset or non-asset reference. Total return swaps could result in losses if the underlying asset or reference does not perform as anticipated. Such transactions can have the potential for unlimited losses. Swaps can involve greater risks than direct investment in securities, because swaps may be leveraged, are subject to counterparty credit risk, may be difficult to value, and may not be possible to liquidate at an advantageous time or price, which may result in significant losses.

  • 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 may affect the value of the Fund's shares. Interest rate risk is generally greater for debt securities with longer maturities/durations.

  • U.S. Government Obligations Risk – While U.S. Treasury obligations are backed by the "full faith and credit" of the U.S. Government, such securities are nonetheless subject to credit risk (i.e., the risk that the U.S. Government may be, or be perceived to be, unable or unwilling to honor its financial obligations, such as making payments). Securities issued or guaranteed by federal agencies or authorities and U.S. Government-sponsored instrumentalities or enterprises may or may not be backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. Government. For example, securities issued by the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, the Federal National Mortgage Association and the Federal Home Loan Banks are neither insured nor guaranteed by the U.S. Government. These securities may be supported by the ability to borrow from the U.S. Treasury or only by the credit of the issuing agency, authority, instrumentality or enterprise and, as a result, are subject to greater credit risk than securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Treasury. Securities guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation under its Temporary Liquidity Guarantee Program (TLGP) are subject to certain risks, including whether such securities will continue to trade in line with recent experience in relation to treasury and government agency securities in terms of yield spread and the volatility of such spread, as well as uncertainty as to how such securities will trade in the secondary market and whether that market will be liquid or illiquid. The TLGP is subject to change. See ABOUT THE FUNDS' INVESTMENTS - U.S. Government and Related Obligations in the Statement of Additional Information for more information.

  • Credit Risk Credit risk applies to most debt securities, but is generally less of 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 owned by the Fund 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.

  • Investing in Other Funds Risk – The Fund, and its shareholders, indirectly bear a portion of the expenses of any funds, including exchange-traded funds, in which the Fund invests. The performance of the funds in which the Fund invests could be adversely affected if other entities that invest in the same funds make relatively large investments or redemptions in the funds. In addition, because the expenses and costs of the funds are shared by investors in the underlying fund, redemptions by other investors in the underlying fund could result in decreased economies of scale and increased operating expenses for the underlying funds. These transactions might also result in higher brokerage, tax or other costs for the Fund. This risk may be particularly important when one investor owns a substantial portion of any underlying fund. If a fund pays fees to the Investment Manager or a subadviser (if any) or their respective affiliates, this could result in the Investment Manager or the subadviser having a potential conflict of interest in selecting the funds in which the Fund invests or in determining the percentage of the Fund's investments allocated to each fund. There are also circumstances in which the fiduciary duties of the Investment Manager or a subadviser (if any) to the Fund may conflict with its fiduciary duties to the underlying funds for which it serves as investment manager.

  • Frequent Trading Risk Frequent trading of investments increases the possibility that the Fund will realize taxable capital gains (including short-term capital gains, which are generally taxable at higher rates than long-term capital gains for U.S. federal income tax purposes), which could reduce the Fund's after-tax return. Frequent trading can also mean higher brokerage and other transaction costs, which could reduce the Fund's return.

  • Liquidity Risk Illiquid securities are securities that cannot be readily disposed of in the normal course of business. There is a risk that the Fund may not be able to sell such securities at the time it desires or without adversely affecting their price.

  • Low and Below Investment Grade Securities Risk Debt securities with the lowest investment grade rating (e.g., BBB by Standard & Poor's, a division of the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. (S&P), or Fitch, Inc. (Fitch) or Baa by Moody's Investors Service, Inc. (Moody's)), or that are below investment grade (which are commonly referred to as "junk bonds") (e.g., BB or below by S&P or Fitch or Ba by Moody's) and unrated securities of comparable quality are more speculative than securities with higher ratings and may experience greater price fluctuations. These securities tend to be more sensitive to credit risk than higher-rated securities, 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. These securities typically pay a premium – a higher interest rate or yield – because of the increased risk of loss, including default. These securities also are generally less liquid than higher-rated securities. The securities ratings provided by Moody's, S&P 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.

  • Commodity-Related Investment Risk — The value of commodities investments will generally be affected by overall market movements, commodity index volatility and factors specific to a particular industry or commodity, which may include weather, embargoes, tariffs, livestock disease, changes in storage costs, and economic health, political, international regulatory and other developments. Economic and other events (whether real or perceived) can reduce the demand for commodities, which may reduce market prices and cause the value of Fund shares to fall. The frequency and magnitude of such changes cannot be predicted. Exposure to commodities and commodities markets may subject the Fund to greater volatility than investments in traditional securities. No active trading market may exist for certain commodities investments, which may impair the ability of the Fund to sell or to realize the full value of such investments in the event of the need to liquidate such investments. In addition, adverse market conditions may impair the liquidity of actively traded commodities investments. Price movements in the commodities market may be speculative. Certain types of commodities instruments (such as total return swaps and commodity-linked notes) are subject to the risk that the counterparty to the instrument will not perform or will be unable to perform in accordance with the terms of the instrument. Subsidiaries making commodity-related investments will not be subject to U.S. laws (including securities laws) and their protections. Further, they will be subject to the laws of a foreign jurisdiction, and may be adversely affected by developments in that jurisdiction.

  • Leverage Risk – Leverage occurs when the Fund increases its assets available for investment using borrowings, short sales, derivatives, or similar instruments or techniques. The use of leverage may make any change in the Fund's net asset value (NAV) even greater and thus result in increased volatility of returns. The Fund's assets that are used as collateral to secure the Fund's obligations to return the securities sold short may decrease in value while the short positions are outstanding, which may force the Fund to use its other assets to increase the collateral. Leverage can create an interest expense that may lower the Fund's overall returns. Leverage presents the opportunity for increased net income and capital gains, but also exaggerates the Fund's risk of loss. There can be no guarantee that a leveraging strategy will be successful.

  • Geographic Concentration Risk – The Fund may be particularly susceptible to economic, political, regulatory or other events or conditions affecting companies and countries within the specific geographic regions in which the Fund invests. The Fund may be more volatile than a more geographically diversified fund.

  • Quantitative Model Risk – The Fund may use quantitative methods to select investments. Securities or other investments selected using quantitative methods may perform differently from the market as a whole or from their expected performance for many reasons, including factors used in building the quantitative analytical framework, the weights placed on each factor, and changing sources of market returns, among others. Any errors or imperfections in the Investment Manager's or a sub-adviser's quantitative analyses or models, or in the data on which they are based, could adversely affect the ability of the Investment Manager or a sub-adviser to use such analyses or models effectively, which in turn could adversely affect the Fund's performance. There can be no assurance that these methodologies will help the Fund to achieve its objective.

  • Reverse Repurchase Agreements Risk – Reverse repurchase agreements are agreements in which a Fund sells a security to a counterparty, such as a bank or broker-dealer, in return for cash and agrees to repurchase that security at a mutually agreed upon price and time. Reverse repurchase agreements carry the risk that the market value of the security sold by the Fund may decline below the price at which the Fund must repurchase the security. Reverse repurchase agreements also may be viewed as a form of borrowing.

  • Repurchase Agreements Risk Repurchase agreements are agreements in which the seller of a security to the Fund agrees to repurchase that security from the Fund at a mutually agreed upon price and time. Repurchase agreements carry the risk that the counterparty may not fulfill its obligations under the agreement. This could cause the Fund's income and the value of your investment in the Fund to decline.

  • Short Selling Risk The Fund may make short sales, which involve selling a security or other assets the Fund does not own in anticipation that its price will decline. Short positions introduce more risk to the Fund than long positions (where the Fund owns the security) because the maximum sustainable loss on a security purchased (held long) is limited to the amount paid for the security plus the transaction costs, whereas there is no maximum price of the shorted security when purchased in the open market. Therefore, in theory, securities sold short have unlimited risk. The Fund may also take a short position in a derivative instrument, such as a future, forward or swap. A short position in a derivative instrument involves the risk of a theoretically unlimited increase in the value of the underlying instrument. The Fund's use of short sales in effect "leverages" the Fund, as the Fund may use the cash proceeds from short sales to invest in additional long positions.

  • Risk of Investing in Wholly-Owned Subsidiary - By investing in one or more wholly-owned subsidiaries organized under the laws of the Cayman Islands (any such subsidiary, the Subsidiary), the Fund is indirectly exposed to the risks associated with the Subsidiary's investments. There can be no assurance that the investment objective of the Subsidiary will be achieved. The Subsidiary is not registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the 1940 Act), and is not subject to all the investor protections of the 1940 Act. However, the Fund wholly owns and controls the Subsidiary, and the Fund and the Subsidiary are both managed by the Investment Manager and subadvised by a Subadviser. The Fund's Board of Trustees oversees the investment activities of the Fund, including its investment in a Subsidiary, and the Fund's role as sole shareholder of the Subsidiary. In managing the Subsidiary's investment portfolio, the Investment Manager will manage the Subsidiary's portfolio in accordance with the Fund's investment policies and restrictions. Changes in the laws of the United States and/or the Cayman Islands could result in the inability of the Fund and/or the Subsidiary to operate as described in this prospectus and SAI and could adversely affect the Fund and its shareholders.

  • Tax Risk — As a regulated investment company, the Fund must derive at least 90% of its gross income for each taxable year from sources treated as "qualifying income" under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended. The Fund generally intends to gain exposure to the commodities markets through investments that give rise to qualifying income, by investing directly in commodity-linked instruments that the Fund believes give rise to qualifying income, or indirectly through its investments in the Subsidiaries, which, in turn, would invest in commodities or commodity-linked instruments. Each Subsidiary intends to operate in such a manner that the 90% gross income requirement in respect of the Fund is satisfied. The Fund must also meet certain asset diversification requirements in order to qualify as a regulated investment company, including investing no more than 25% of its total assets in the Subsidiaries as of the end of each quarter of its taxable year. If the Fund does not appropriately limit its commodity-linked investments, including its investments in the Subsidiaries, or if such investments are recharacterized for U.S. federal income tax purposes, the Fund may be unable to qualify as a regulated investment company for one or more years, which would adversely affect the value of the Fund. In this event, the Fund's Board of Trustees may authorize a significant change in investment strategy or the Fund's liquidation. See Taxes below for more information about the Fund's status as a regulated investment company.

  • Convertible Securities Risk – Convertible securities are subject to the usual risks associated with debt securities, such as interest rate risk and credit risk. Convertible securities also react to changes in the value of the common stock into which they convert. Because the value of a convertible security can be influenced by both interest rates and the common stock's market movements, a convertible security generally is not as sensitive to interest rates as a similar debt security, and generally will not vary in value in response to other factors to the same extent as the underlying common stock. In the event of a liquidation of the issuing company, holders of convertible securities would typically be paid before the company's common stockholders but after holders of any senior debt obligations of the company. The Fund may be forced to convert a convertible security before it otherwise would choose to do so, which may decrease the Fund's return.

  • Mortgage-Backed Securities Risk The value of the Fund's mortgage-backed securities may be affected by, among other things, changes or perceived changes in: interest rates, factors concerning the interests in and structure of the issuer or the originator of the mortgages, the creditworthiness of the entities that provide any supporting letters of credit, surety bonds or other credit enhancements, or the market's assessment of the quality of underlying assets. Mortgage-backed securities represent interests in, or are backed by, pools of mortgages from which payments of interest and principal (net of fees paid to the issuer or guarantor of the securities) are distributed to the holders of the mortgage-backed securities. Mortgage-backed securities can have a fixed or an adjustable rate. Payment of principal and interest on some mortgage-backed securities (but not the market value of the securities themselves) may be guaranteed (i) by the full faith and credit of the U.S. Government (in the case of securities guaranteed by the Government National Mortgage Association) or (ii) by its agencies, authorities, enterprises or instrumentalities (in the case of securities guaranteed by the Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA) or the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (FHLMC)), which are not insured or guaranteed by the U.S. Government (although FNMA and FHLMC may be able to access capital from the U.S. Treasury to meet their obligations under such securities). Mortgage-backed securities issued by non-governmental issuers (such as commercial banks, savings and loan institutions, private mortgage insurance companies, mortgage bankers and other secondary market issuers) may be supported by various credit enhancements, such as pool insurance, guarantees issued by governmental entities, letters of credit from a bank or senior/subordinated structures, and may entail greater risk than obligations guaranteed by the U.S. Government, whether or not such obligations are guaranteed by the private issuer. Mortgage-backed securities are subject to prepayment risk, which is the possibility that the underlying mortgage may be refinanced or prepaid prior to maturity during periods of declining or low interest rates, causing the Fund to have to reinvest the money received in securities that have lower yields. In addition, the impact of prepayments on the value of mortgage-backed securities may be difficult to predict and may result in greater volatility. Rising or high interest rates tend to extend the duration of mortgage-backed securities, making them more volatile and more sensitive to changes in interest rates.

  • Non-Diversified Mutual Fund Risk The Fund is non-diversified, which generally means that it may invest a greater percentage of its total assets in the securities of fewer issuers than may a "diversified" fund. This increases the risk that a change in the value of any one investment held by the Fund could affect the overall value of the Fund more than it would affect that of a diversified fund holding a greater number of investments. Accordingly, the Fund's value will likely be more volatile than the value of more diversified funds. The Fund may not operate as a non-diversified fund at all times.

  • Sovereign Debt Risk — A sovereign debtor's willingness or ability to repay principal and pay interest in a timely manner may be affected by a variety of factors, including its cash flow situation, the extent of its reserves, the availability of sufficient foreign exchange on the date a payment is due, the relative size of the debt service burden to the economy as a whole, the sovereign debtor's policy toward international lenders, and the political constraints to which a sovereign debtor may be subject. With respect to sovereign debt of emerging market issuers, investors should be aware that certain emerging market countries are among the largest debtors to commercial banks and foreign governments. At times, certain emerging market countries have declared moratoria on the payment of principal and interest on external debt. Certain emerging market countries have experienced difficulty in servicing their sovereign debt on a timely basis that led to defaults and the restructuring of certain indebtedness.

Performance Information

The Fund is new as of the date of this prospectus and therefore performance information is not available.

When available, the Fund intends to compare its performance to the performance of the Citigroup 3-month U.S. Treasury Bill Index, which is an unmanaged index that represents the performance of three-month Treasury bills. The index reflects reinvestment of all distributions and changes in market prices.