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NORTHERN MUNICIPAL MONEY MARKET FUND
MUNICIPAL MONEY MARKET FUND
INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE
The Fund is a money market fund that seeks to maintain a stable net asset value (“NAV”) of $1.00 per share. The Fund seeks to provide, to the extent consistent with the preservation of capital and prescribed portfolio standards, a high level of income exempt from regular federal income tax by investing primarily in municipal instruments.
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 (USD $)
NORTHERN MUNICIPAL MONEY MARKET FUND
Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment) none
Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a
percentage of the value of your investment)
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
NORTHERN MUNICIPAL MONEY MARKET FUND
Management Fees 0.25%
Other Expenses 0.23%
Administration Fees 0.10%
Transfer Agency Fees 0.10%
Other Operating Expenses 0.03%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses 0.48%
Expense Reimbursement [1] (0.13%)
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Expense Reimbursement 0.35%
[1] Northern Trust Investments, Inc. has contractually agreed to reimburse a portion of the operating expenses of the Fund (other than acquired fund fees and expenses; a portion of the compensation paid to each Trustee who is not an officer, director or employee of Northern Trust Corporation or its subsidiaries; expenses related to third-party consultants engaged by the Board of Trustees of the Trust; membership dues paid to the Investment Company Institute and Mutual Fund Directors Forum; and extraordinary expenses and interest, if any) to the extent the "Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses" exceed 0.35%. This contractual limitation may not be terminated before July 31, 2014 without the approval of the Board of Trustees. Northern Trust Investments, Inc. serves as the investment adviser and administrator to the Fund. The Northern Trust Company, an affiliate of Northern Trust Investments, Inc., serves as transfer agent, custodian and sub-administrator to the Fund.
EXAMPLE
The following Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your shares at the end of those periods. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund’s operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:
Expense Example (USD $)
1 Year
3 Years
5 Years
10 Years
NORTHERN MUNICIPAL MONEY MARKET FUND
36 141 256 591
PRINCIPAL INVESTMENT STRATEGIES
The Fund seeks to achieve its objective by investing primarily in high quality short-term municipal instruments, the interest on which is exempt from regular federal income tax. The high level of income sought by the Fund is relative to yields currently available in the tax-exempt marketplace. Municipal instruments may include:
  • Fixed, variable and floating rate notes and similar debt instruments;
  • Asset-backed securities that are considered municipal instruments (such as trust certificates backed by municipal bonds);
  • Tax-exempt commercial paper;
  • Municipal bonds, notes, paper or other instruments; and
  • Municipal bonds and notes that are guaranteed as principal and interest or backed by the U.S. government or by its agencies, instrumentalities or sponsored enterprises.
Except in extraordinary circumstances, at least 80% of the Fund’s net assets will be invested in debt instruments that pay interest that is exempt from regular federal income tax. The Fund limits its investments in Alternative Minimum Tax (“AMT”) obligations (also known as “private activity bonds”), so that the Fund ordinarily will not invest in such obligations except during temporary defensive periods or when non-AMT obligations are unavailable. AMT obligations pay interest that may be treated as an item of tax preference to shareholders under the federal AMT. To the extent that the Fund invests in AMT obligations, a portion of the Fund’s dividends may be subject to federal income tax for shareholders subject to AMT.

The Securities and Exchange Commission imposes strict requirements on the investment quality, maturity, and diversification of the Fund’s investments. Accordingly, the Fund’s investments must have a remaining maturity of no more than 397 days and must be high quality. The Fund’s investment adviser may consider, among other things, credit, interest rate and prepayment risks as well as general market conditions when deciding whether to buy or sell investments for the Fund.

During extraordinary market conditions and interest rate environments, all or any portion of the Fund’s assets may be uninvested or invested in taxable instruments. Uninvested assets do not generate income. The Fund may not achieve its investment objective during this time.
PRINCIPAL RISKS
STABLE NAV RISK is the risk that the Fund will not be able to maintain an NAV per share of $1.00 at all times. A significant enough market disruption or drop in market prices of securities held by the Fund, especially at a time when the Fund needs to sell securities to meet shareholder redemption requests, could cause the value of the Fund’s shares to decrease to a price less than $1.00 per share.

INTEREST RATE RISK is the risk that during periods of rising interest rates, the Fund’s yield (and the market value of its securities) will tend to be lower than prevailing market rates; in periods of falling interest rates, the Fund’s yield (and the market value of its securities) will tend to be higher.

GUARANTOR (OR CREDIT ENHANCEMENT) RISK is the risk that changes in credit quality of a U.S. or foreign bank, insurance company or other financial institution or such entity’s failure to fulfill its obligations could cause the Fund’s investments to decline in value. Adverse developments in the banking or bond insurance industries also may negatively affect the Fund.

PREPAYMENT (OR CALL) RISK is the risk that prepayment of the underlying mortgages or other collateral of some fixed-income securities may result in a decreased rate of return and a decline in value of those securities.

DEBT EXTENSION RISK is the risk that an issuer will exercise its right to pay principal on an obligation held by the Fund (such as an asset-backed security) later than expected. This may happen during a period of rising interest rates. Under these circumstances, the value of the obligation will decrease and the Fund will suffer from the inability to invest in higher yielding securities.

INCOME RISK is the risk that falling interest rates will cause the Fund’s income to decline. Income risk is generally higher for short-term debt securities.

MANAGEMENT RISK is the risk that a strategy used by the Fund’s investment adviser may fail to produce the intended results.

CREDIT (OR DEFAULT) RISK is the risk that the inability or unwillingness of an issuer or guarantor of a fixed-income security, or a counterparty to a repurchase or other transaction, to meet its payment or other financial obligations will adversely affect the value of the Fund’s investments and its yield. Changes in the credit rating of a debt security held by the Fund could have a similar effect.

PROJECT/INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT BOND RISK is the risk that the Fund may be more sensitive to an adverse economic, business or political development if it invests more than 25% of its assets in municipal instruments, the interest upon which is paid solely from revenues of similar projects, or in industrial development bonds.

TAX RISK is the risk that future legislative or administrative changes or court decisions may materially affect the value of municipal instruments or the ability of the Fund to pay tax-exempt dividends.

MUNICIPAL MARKET VOLATILITY RISK is the risk that the Fund may be adversely affected by the volatile municipal market. The municipal market can be significantly affected by adverse tax, legislative, or political changes and the financial condition of the issuers of municipal securities.

An investment in the Fund is not a deposit of any bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, any other government agency, or The Northern Trust Company, its affiliates, subsidiaries or any other bank. Although the Fund seeks to preserve the value of your investment at $1.00 per share, it is possible to lose money by investing in the Fund.
FUND PERFORMANCE
The bar chart and table that follow provide an indication of the risks of investing in the Fund by showing changes in the performance of the Fund from year to year.

The Fund’s past performance is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future.

Updated performance information for the Fund is available and may be obtained on the Fund’s Web site at www.northernfunds.com or by calling 800-595-9111.
CALENDAR YEAR TOTAL RETURN*
Bar Chart
* Year to date total return for the six months ended June 30, 2013 is 0.01%. For the periods shown in the bar chart above, the highest quarterly return was 0.81% in the third quarter of 2007, and the lowest quarterly return was 0.00% in the third quarter of 2012.
AVERAGE ANNUAL TOTAL RETURN
(For the periods ended December 31, 2012)
Average Annual Total Returns
Inception Date
1-Year
5-Year
10-Year
Since Inception
NORTHERN MUNICIPAL MONEY MARKET FUND
Apr. 11, 1994 0.01% 0.39% 1.13% 1.95%
The 7-day yield for the Fund as of December 31, 2012: 0.01%. For the current 7-day yield call 800-595-9111 or visit www.northernfunds.com.