MULTI-MANAGER TOTAL RETURN BOND STRATEGIES FUND
A SERIES OF COLUMBIA FUNDS SERIES TRUST I
225 Franklin Street
Boston, MA 02110
INFORMATION STATEMENT
NOTICE REGARDING SUBADVISER
An Important Notice Regarding the Internet Availability of Information Statement is being mailed on or about February , 2019. This Information Statement is being made available to shareholders of Multi-Manager Total Return Bond Strategies Fund (the “Fund”), a series of Columbia Funds Series Trust I (the “Trust”), in lieu of a proxy statement, pursuant to the terms of an exemptive order (the “Manager of Managers Order”) that Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC (the “Investment Manager”) received from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). The Manager of Managers Order permits the Investment Manager, subject to certain conditions such as approval by the Fund’s Board of Trustees (the “Board”), and without approval by shareholders, to retain an unaffiliated subadviser (or subadvisers) which the Investment Manager believes is (are) best suited to achieve the Fund’s investment objective and implement the Fund’s investment strategies.
This Information Statement Is For Informational Purposes Only And No Action Is Requested On Your Part. We Are Not Asking You For A Proxy And You Are Requested Not To Send Us A Proxy.
THE FUND AND ITS MANAGEMENT AGREEMENT
The Investment Manager, located at 225 Franklin Street, Boston, MA 02110, serves as investment manager to the Fund pursuant to a management agreement (the “Management Agreement”), amended and restated as of April 25, 2016 and most recently renewed at a meeting of the Board on June 12, 2018.
Under the Management Agreement, the Investment Manager monitors the performance of each subadviser on an ongoing basis. Factors it considers with respect to the selection and retention of a subadviser are, among others: the qualifications of the subadviser’s investment personnel, its investment philosophy and process, its compliance program, and its long-term performance results. As compensation for its services, the Investment Manager receives a management fee from the Fund and, from this management fee, the Investment Manager pays each subadviser a subadvisory fee.
Subadvisers serve pursuant to separate subadvisory agreements with the Investment Manager under which a subadviser manages all or a portion of a fund’s investment portfolio, as allocated to a subadviser by the Investment Manager, and provides related compliance and record-keeping services. In accordance with procedures adopted by the Board, affiliated broker-dealers of a subadviser may execute portfolio transactions for a subadvised fund and receive brokerage commissions in connection with those transactions as permitted by Rule17e-1 under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”), or separate SEC exemptive relief. A subadviser is allowed to use soft dollar arrangements in which it directs brokerage commissions to brokers to pay for research services it receives, provided that the subadviser’s procedures are consistent with the Fund’s and the Investment Manager’s policies.
VOYA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT CO. LLC AND THE NEW SUBADVISORY AGREEMENT
Prior to December 6, 2018, Loomis, Sayles & Company, L.P. (“Loomis Sayles”), PGIM, Inc. (“PGIM”) and TCW Investment Management Company LLC (“TCW”) served as subadvisers to the Fund, with each managing a portion of the Fund’s assets, or sleeve of the Fund, along with the Investment Manager. Loomis Sayles, PGIM and TCW continue to serve as subadvisers to the Fund.
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