Columbia Management today announced the launch of a liquid alternative mutual fund, the Columbia Adaptive Alternatives Fund (CLAAX). The fund provides retail investors access to a diverse portfolio of alternative investments through collaboration between Columbia Management and Blackstone Alternative Investment Advisers LLC.

Through the convenience of a traditional mutual fund with daily liquidity and multiple share classes, the fund offers investors access to a Blackstone-advised multi-strategy fund that leverages the skill of a number of underlying hedge fund advisers selected by Blackstone, and to alternative beta strategies and non-traditional asset classes (including commodities, REITs, inflation-linked bonds and listed private equity) managed by Columbia Management.

The structure of the fund can provide several benefits: Access to a wide array of alternative investments and strategies selected by two leading investment firms packaged in a daily liquidity mutual fund, return opportunities designed to be uncorrelated to traditional asset classes – stocks and bonds – and the diversification benefits of alternative investment strategies.

The fund is managed by Jeffrey Knight, CFA, William Landes, Ph.D., and Marc Khalamayzer, CFA. Investors are increasingly looking for portfolio diversifiers to reduce the impact of volatile markets and the portfolio management team’s goal is to provide investors absolute (positive) returns over a complete market cycle with the expectation that those returns will have a low correlation to traditional asset classes such as stocks and bonds.

The fund offers Class A and Class C Shares, both with $2,000 minimum initial investments for all accounts other than IRAs, which is $1,000. The Fund also offers Class R, Class R4, Class R5, Class Y and Class Z shares.

“Alternative investments offer the potential to increase portfolio diversification by generating returns that are uncorrelated to traditional stock and bond markets. We are excited to bring investors a daily liquid alternative mutual fund powered by the hedge fund expertise of Blackstone and the alternative investment expertise of Columbia,” said Bill Landes, Portfolio Manager and Deputy Head of Global Investment Solutions at Columbia Management.

John McCormick, Global Head of Strategy for Blackstone’s Hedge Fund Solutions platform, added, “The Blackstone fund, in which the Columbia Adaptive Alternative Fund indirectly invests, leverages our extensive experience building custom solutions for sophisticated institutional investors. We at Blackstone are confident that we have identified hedge fund strategies and managers that translate well into a multi-manager solution in a 1940 Act framework. Investors will benefit from Blackstone’s manager due diligence procedures, top down asset allocation views and ongoing portfolio management capabilities.”

About the portfolio managers:
Jeffrey Knight is Global Head of Investment Solutions and Asset Allocation for Columbia Management. Mr. Knight joined the firm in 2013 and has been a member of the investment community since 1987. Mr. Knight earned a B.A. from Colgate University and an M.B.A. from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College. He holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation.

William Landes is Deputy Head of Global Investment Solutions for Columbia Management He joined the firm in 2014 and has been in the investment community since 1985. Mr. Landes received a B.S. in economics from the University of Findlay and a Ph.D. in finance from University of Cincinnati.

Marc Khalamayzer is a portfolio manager for the Global Investment Solutions Team at Columbia Management. Mr. Khalamayzer joined the firm in 2014 and has been a member of the investment community since 2006. Mr. Khalamayzer received an M.S. in finance and a B.S. in economics-finance from Bentley University. He holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation.

About Columbia Management:
Columbia Management is the eighth largest manager of long-term mutual fund assets with $357 billion under management* as September 30, 2014. Columbia Management is a subsidiary of Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE: AMP). For more information please visit columbiamanagement.com. Follow us on Twitter @ColumbiaMgmt.

About Blackstone:
Blackstone is one of the world’s leading investment firms. We seek to create positive economic impact and long-term value for our investors, the companies we invest in, and the communities in which we work. We do this by using extraordinary people and flexible capital to help companies solve problems. Our asset management business, with almost $300 billion in assets under management, include investment vehicles focused on private equity, real estate, public debt and equity, non-investment grade credit, real assets and secondary funds, all on a global basis. Blackstone also provides various financial advisory services, including financial and strategic advisory, restructuring and reorganization advisory and fund placement services. Further information is available at www.blackstone.com. Follow us on Twitter @Blackstone.

Blackstone’s Hedge Fund Solutions platform is the world’s largest discretionary investor in hedge funds, with $64 billion in assets under management. We manage a diversified set of businesses including a customized solutions business, a special solutions platform, a long-only solutions business, a hedge fund seeding business, an open-ended mutual fund platform and a business that purchases stakes in established hedge funds. We carefully select and partner with fund managers across a variety of asset classes and strategies to create solutions for our investors. Through our sharp focus on clients’ goals, a rigorous due-diligence process and access to Blackstone’s global insights we strive to generate attractive risk-adjusted returns across market cycles while preserving capital during stressed market environments.

*$357bn AUM as of 9/30/14 includes assets from Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC and its affiliate Columbia Wanger Asset Management, LLC.

Blackstone’s and Hedge Fund Solution’s AUM as of 09/30/14. Source: Form 10-Q filed 11/06/14.

Columbia Management and Blackstone are not affiliated.

Investment products offered through Columbia Management Investment Distributors, Inc., member FINRA. Advisory services provided by Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC.

Investors should consider the investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses of the fund carefully before investing. The prospectus and summary prospectus, which contains this and other information about the fund, should be read carefully before investing. Please visit columbiamanagement.com for a free prospectus.

Absolute return funds are not designed to outperform stocks and bonds in strong (upward) markets. Market risk may affect a single issuer, sector of the economy, industry or the market as a whole. Alternative investments involve substantial risks and are more volatile than traditional investments, making them more suitable for investors with an above average tolerance for risk. Foreign investments subject the fund to risks, including political, economic, market, social and others within a particular country, as well as to currency instabilities and less stringent financial and accounting standards generally applicable to U.S. issuers. The fund's investment in other funds subjects it to the investment performance (positive or negative), risks and expenses of these underlying funds. The fund employs multiple strategies that may result in contradicting trades (i.e., with no net benefit to the fund), while increasing transaction costs. The sales price the Fund (or its underlying investments) could receive for any particular investment may differ from the Fund's (or underlying investment's) valuation of the investment. Investing in derivatives is a specialized activity that involves special risks that subject the fund to significant loss potential, including when used as leverage, and may result in greater fluctuation in fund value. The fund's use of leverage subjects additional fund assets to the risk of loss. As a non-diversified fund, fewer investments could have a greater effect on performance.

Diversification does not assure a profit or protect against loss.

Class R, R4, R5, Y and Z shares are sold at net asset value and have limited eligibility. Columbia Management offers multiple share classes, not all necessarily available through all firms, and the share class ratings may vary. Contact us for details.

Columbia Funds are distributed by Columbia Management Investment Distributors, Inc., member FINRA, and managed by Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC.

© 2015 Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC. All rights reserved.

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