involved or with which such Covered Person may be or may have been threatened, while in office or thereafter, by reason of any alleged act or omission as a trustee or officer or by reason of his or her being or having been such a Covered Person, all as more fully set forth in the Registrant’s Bylaws, which have been filed as an exhibit to this registration statement.
Section 17(h) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 (1940 Act) provides that no instrument pursuant to which Registrant is organized or administered shall contain any provision which protects or purports to protect any trustee or officer of Registrant against any liability to Registrant or its shareholders to which he or she would otherwise be subject by reason of willful misfeasance, bad faith, gross negligence, or reckless disregard of the duties involved in the conduct of his or her office. In accordance with Section 17(h) of the 1940 Act, no Covered Person is indemnified under the Bylaws against any liability to Registrant or its shareholders by reason of willful misfeasance, bad faith, gross negligence, or reckless disregard of the duties involved in the conduct of the Covered Person’s office.
Pursuant to the Distribution Agreement, Columbia Management Investment Distributors, Inc. agrees to indemnify the Registrant, its officers and trustees against claims, demands, liabilities and expenses under specified circumstances, all as more fully set forth in the Registrant’s Distribution Agreement, which has been filed as an exhibit to the registration statement. The Registrant may be party to other contracts that include indemnification provisions for the benefit of the Registrant’s trustees and officers.
The trustees and officers of the Registrant and the personnel of the Registrant’s investment adviser and principal underwriter are insured under an errors and omissions liability insurance policy. Registrant’s investment adviser, Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC, maintains investment advisory professional liability insurance to insure it, for the benefit of Registrant and its non-interested trustees, against loss arising out of any effort, omission, or breach of any duty owed to Registrant or any series of Registrant by Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC.
Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act of 1933 may be permitted to trustees, officers and controlling persons of the Registrant by the Registrant pursuant to the Registrant’s organizational instruments or otherwise, the Registrant is aware that in the opinion of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act of 1933 and, therefore, is unenforceable.
Item 31. Business and Other Connections of the Investment Adviser
To the knowledge of the Registrant, none of the directors or officers of Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC (Columbia Management), the Registrant’s investment adviser, or any subadviser to a series of the Registrant, except as set forth below, are or have been, at any time during the Registrant’s past two fiscal years, engaged in any other business, profession, vocation or employment of a substantial nature.
| (a) | Columbia Management, a wholly owned subsidiary of Ameriprise Financial, Inc., performs investment advisory services for the Registrant and certain other clients. Information regarding the business of Columbia Management and the directors and principal officers of Columbia Management is also included in the Form ADV filed by Columbia Management with the SEC pursuant to the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (File No. 801-25943), which information is incorporated herein by reference. In addition to their position with Columbia Management, certain directors and officers of Columbia Management also hold various positions with, and engage in business for, Ameriprise Financial, Inc. or its other subsidiaries. |
| (b) | Allspring Global Investments, LLC (formerly known as Wells Capital Management Incorporated), performs investment management services for the Registrant and certain other clients. Information regarding the business of Allspring Global Investments, LLC and certain of its officers is set forth in the Prospectus(es) and Statement of Additional Information of the Registrant’s series subadvised by Allspring Global Investments, LLC and is incorporated herein by reference. Information about the business of Allspring Global Investments, LLC and the directors and principal executive officers of Allspring Global Investments, LLC is also included in the Form ADV filed by Allspring Global Investments, LLC with the SEC pursuant to the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (File No. 801-21122), which information is incorporated herein by reference. |
| (c) | Alpha Simplex Group, LLC performs investment management services for the Registrant and certain other clients. Information regarding the business of Alpha Simplex Group, LLC and certain of its officers is set forth in the Prospectus(es) and Statement of Additional Information of the Registrant’s series subadvised by Alpha Simplex Group, LLC and is incorporated herein by reference. Information about the business of Alpha Simplex Group, LLC and the directors and principal executive officers of Alpha Simplex Group, LLC is also included in the Form ADV filed by Alpha Simplex Group, LLC with the SEC pursuant to the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (File No. 801-62448), which information is incorporated herein by reference. |
| (d) | AQR Capital Management, LLC performs investment management services for the Registrant and certain other clients. Information regarding the business of AQR Capital Management, LLC and certain of its officers is set forth in the Prospectus(es) and Statement of Additional Information of the Registrant’s series subadvised by AQR Capital Management, LLC and is incorporated herein by reference. Information about the business of AQR Capital Management, LLC and the |
