Issuer Risk.
An issuer in
which the Fund invests may perform poorly, and therefore, the value of its securities may decline, which would negatively affect the Fund’s performance. Poor performance may be caused by poor management decisions, competitive pressures,
breakthroughs in technology, reliance on suppliers, labor problems or shortages, corporate restructurings, fraudulent disclosures, natural disasters or other events, conditions or factors.
Market Risk.
Market risk
refers to the possibility that the market values of securities or other investments that the Fund holds will fall, sometimes rapidly or unpredictably, or fail to rise. An investment in the Fund could lose money over short or even long periods.
In general, equity securities tend to have greater price volatility than debt securities.
Multi-Adviser Risk.
The Fund
has multiple subadvisers. Each subadviser makes investment decisions independently from the other subadviser(s). It is possible that the security selection process of one subadviser will not complement or may conflict or even contradict that of the
other subadviser(s), including making off-setting trades that have no net effect to the Fund, but which may increase Fund expenses. As a result, the Fund's exposure to a given security, industry, sector or market capitalization could be smaller or
larger than if the Fund were managed by a single subadviser, which could affect the Fund's performance.
Pacific/Asia Region Risk.
Many
of the countries in the Pacific/Asia region are considered underdeveloped or developing, including from a political, economic and/or social perspective, and may have relatively unstable governments and economies based on limited business, industries
and/or natural resources or commodities. Events in any one country within the region may impact other countries in the region or the region as a whole. As a result, events in the region will generally have a greater effect on the Fund than if the
Fund were more geographically diversified. This could result in increased volatility and losses within the Fund.
Quantitative Model Risk.
Investments selected using quantitative methods may perform differently from the market as a whole. There can be no assurance that these methodologies will enable the Fund to achieve its objective.
Small Company Securities Risk.
Investments in small-capitalization companies (small-cap companies) often involve greater risks than investments in larger, more established companies (larger companies) because small-cap companies tend to have less predictable earnings and may lack
the management experience, financial resources, product diversification and competitive strengths of larger companies, and securities of small-cap companies may be less liquid and more volatile than the securities of larger companies.
Special Situations Risk.
Securities of companies that are involved in an initial public offering or a major corporate event, such as a business consolidation or restructuring, may present special risk because of the high degree of uncertainty that can be associated
with such events. Securities issued in initial public offerings often are issued by companies that are in the early stages of development, have a history of little or no revenues and may operate at a loss following the offering. It is possible that
there will be no active trading market for the securities after the offering, and that the market price of the securities may be subject to significant and unpredictable fluctuations. Investing in special situations may have a magnified effect
on the performance of funds with small amounts of assets.
Value Securities Risk.
Value securities are securities of companies that may have experienced, for example, adverse business, industry or other developments or may be subject to special risks that have caused the securities to be out of favor and, in turn, potentially
undervalued. The market value of a portfolio security may not meet the portfolio manager's perceived value assessment of that security, or may decline in price, even though the portfolio manager(s) believe(s) the securities are already undervalued.
There is also a risk that it may take longer than expected for the value of these investments to rise to the portfolio manager’s perceived value. In addition, value securities, at times, may not perform as well as growth securities or the
stock market in general, and may be out of favor with investors for varying periods of time.
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 bar chart shows how the Fund’s Class A share performance (without sales charges) has varied for each full calendar year shown. If the sales charges were
reflected, returns shown would be lower. Class A share performance (without sales charges) is shown in the bar chart because Class A shares have at least ten calendar years of performance and Class A shares are the most common share class across the
Columbia Funds complex that are available for investment by the general public. The table below the bar chart compares the Fund’s returns (after applicable sales charges) for the periods shown with benchmark performance.
The performance of one or more share classes shown in the
table below begins before the indicated inception date for such share class. The returns shown for each such share class include the returns of the Fund’s Class A shares (without applicable sales charges and adjusted to reflect the higher
class-related operating expenses of such classes, where applicable) for periods prior to its inception date. Except for differences in annual returns resulting from differences in expenses and sales charges (where applicable), the share classes of
the Fund would have substantially similar annual returns because all share classes of the Fund invest in the same portfolio of securities.