BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Columbia Management today announced the launch of a new advertising campaign that highlights three of the firm’s top-performing mutual funds.
The focus on performance signals a departure from previous ad campaigns, which highlighted the depth and breadth of the firm’s offerings.
“We’ve chosen to showcase a few of our many top-performing funds to emphasize the quality in our mutual fund lineup,” said Christopher Thompson, head of product and marketing at Columbia Management. “Investors and financial advisors are aware that Columbia Management is one of the nation’s largest asset managers. We feel now is the time to highlight some of our strong-performing retail mutual funds and institutional offerings.”
One of the ads features Columbia Dividend Income Fund, a 5-star Morningstar-rated fund as of Dec. 31, 2010. The fund is one of Columbia Management’s 51 Z-share funds with 4- or 5-star overall ratings from Morningstar. Of the 128 Z-share Columbia funds rated by Morningstar, seven funds received a 5-star overall rating and 44 funds received a 4-star overall rating.
Another ad features the strong investment performance of Columbia Select Large Cap Growth Fund and Columbia Mid Cap Growth Fund.
The advertisements are aligned with two key investment themes that Columbia Management is promoting in this slow-growth economy. Columbia Dividend Income Fund supports the need for equity income strategies while Columbia Select Large Cap Growth Fund and Columbia Mid Cap Growth Fund support the need to find growth when opportunities are scarce.
The ads will initially appear in print editions of publications such as Barron’s, Investment News and Pensions & Investments. Additional online advertisements are scheduled on the websites of Financial Planning, Investment News, AdvisorOne, Financial Times, Ignites, Barron's, Morningstar, Bloomberg, Seeking Alpha, Fund Fire, Institutional Investor, Pensions & Investments, and Plan Sponsor.
About Columbia Management:
Columbia Management is the seventh largest long-term asset manager in the U.S. with $355 billion in assets under management as of December 31, 2010. For more information visit columbiamanagement.com.
Investors should consider the investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses of a mutual fund carefully before investing. For a free prospectus, which contains this and other important information about the funds, visit ColumbiaManagement.com. The prospectus should be read carefully before investing.
Past performance does not guarantee future results.
Dividend payments are not guaranteed. The amount of a dividend payment, if any, can vary over time and issuers may reduce dividends paid on securities in the event of a recession or adverse event affecting a specific industry or issuer.
As of 12/31/2010, Columbia Dividend Income Fund received a Morningstar Rating of 5 stars among 1,120 Large Value funds, 5 stars among 956 funds, and 4 stars among 502 funds for the 3-, 5- and 10-year periods respectively. The Morningstar Rating is for class Z shares only; other classes may have different performance characteristics and may have different ratings. Class Z shares are sold only at Net Asset Value (NAV). Only eligible investors may purchase these shares. See the prospectus for eligibility requirements and other important information.
For each fund with at least a three-year history, Morningstar calculates a Morningstar RatingTM based on a Morningstar Risk-Adjusted Return measure that accounts for variation in a fund’s monthly performance (including the effects of sales charges, loads, and redemption fees), placing more emphasis on downward variations and rewarding consistent performance. The top 10% of funds in each category receive 5 stars, the next 22.5% receive 4 stars, the next 35% receive 3 stars, the next 22.5% receive 2 stars and the bottom 10% receive 1 star. (Each share class is counted as a fraction of one fund within this scale and rated separately, which may cause slight variations in the distribution percentages.)
© 2011 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Morningstar information contained herein: (1) is proprietary to Morningstar and/or its content providers; (2) may not be copied or distributed; and (3) is not warranted to be accurate, complete or timely. Neither Morningstar nor its content providers are responsible for any damages or losses arising from any use of this information.
Investment products are not federally or FDIC-insured, are not deposits or obligations of, or guaranteed by any financial institution, and involve investment risks including possible loss of principal and fluctuation in value.
Columbia Funds are distributed by Columbia Management Investment Distributors, Inc., member FINRA and managed by Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC.
© 2011 Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC. All rights reserved.