Columbia Multi Strategy Alternatives Fund
Data updated: 2026-09-24
C000151808 — Columbia Multi Strategy Alternatives Fund. Long-Short · $504.82M AUM · 0.95% expense ratio. Holdings, fees, performance and SEC filings.
C000151808 Fund Overview
Columbia Multi Strategy Alternatives Fund is a US mutual fund managed by Columbia Funds Series Trust I, categorised as Long-Short. ABC INVEST provides holdings, performance, costs, cashflows, risk data, prospectus documents and SEC filings, sourced from SEC filings.
- Type: US mutual fund
- Manager: Columbia Funds Series Trust I
- Category: Long-Short
- Assets under management: $504.82M
- 1-year return: 10.0%
- SEC CIK: 0000773757
- SEC series ID: S000048058
- Share class ID: C000151808
C000151808 Investment Objective and Strategy
Columbia Multi Strategy Alternatives Fund describes its objective and strategy as follows, from its latest prospectus filed with the SEC by Columbia Funds Series Trust I.
Investment objective
Columbia Alternative Beta Fund (the Fund) seeks to provide shareholders with absolute (positive) returns over a complete market cycle.
Principal investment strategy
Under normal circumstances, the Fund employs alternative investment strategies that seek to identify and capitalize upon market inefficiencies and market behavioral biases (or risk premia) present within the equity, fixed income, interest rate, commodities and currency markets (the Alternative Beta Strategies). In general, beta is a measure of price volatility resulting from general market movements. Alternative Beta Strategies may include carry, curve, low beta, momentum, value, and volatility premium strategies (described below), which may be pursued through investment in a portfolio of long/short securities positions, derivatives, and other instruments and assets. The Fund seeks absolute (positive) returns over a complete market cycle (which, for stocks and bonds can be measured from market peak to peak or from market trough to trough).
Alternative Beta Strategies typically have less correlation to traditional equity and fixed income markets than more traditional investment strategies. The Funds investment manager, Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC (Columbia Management or the Investment Manager), determines the Funds desired exposures (where it believes it can capitalize on risk premia to generate returns) using the particular Alternative Beta Strategies and other strategies, instruments and assets to be employed in seeking to capture such risk premia (attractive returns relative to expected risk). The Alternative Beta Strategies that may be used by the Investment Manager within the Fund include the following, among others: Carry Premium Strategies own investments with higher yields while short selling those with lower yields, seeking to capture the tendency for higher-yielding assets to provide higher returns than lower-yielding assets.
The Fund will seek long exposure by buying high-yielding assets and short exposure by selling low-yielding assets. Curve Premium Strategies favor investments that would position the Funds fixed income exposure to profit from an expected change in the shape of the yield curve, based on economic, market or other data. Low Beta Premium Strategies own investments with lower forecasted betas while short selling investments with higher forecasted betas, seeking to capture the tendency for lower beta investments to outperform higher beta investments over time. Momentum Premium Strategies favor investments that have performed relatively well over those that have underperformed, seeking to capture the tendency that an assets recent relative performance will continue. Examples of momentum strategies include simple price momentum for selecting equities and price- and yield-based momentum for selecting bonds.
Value Premium Strategies favor investments that appear cheap (or under-valued) over those that appear expensive based on fundamental measures related to price (e.g., price-to-earnings and price-to-book ratios for selecting equities), seeking to capture the tendency for relatively cheap assets to outperform relatively expensive assets. Volatility Premium Strategies seek to capture returns from market participants tendency to overpay for volatility protection. Historically, the average implied volatility of index options has exceeded the realized volatility of the underlying index. This difference represents the volatility premium, or the market participants willingness to pay for protection against losses when volatility suddenly increases. The Alternative Beta Strategies seek to capitalize upon market inefficiencies and market behavioral biases present in markets by employing a systematic, rules-based approach.
As an example of a strategy designed to exploit a structural market inefficiency, the Fund may take a long position in a broad basket of foreign currencies (through derivatives, such as forward foreign currency contracts) that the Investment Manager believes are attractively valued and take a short position in a broad basket of foreign currencies that the Investment Manager believes are unattractively valued, in order to generate returns from the relative return difference generally expected in the foreign currency markets over time between undervalued and overvalued foreign currencies (a Value Premium strategy). As an example of a behavioral bias strategy, the Fund may employ a strategy that buys stocks with strong positive price momentum and shorts stocks with strong negative price momentum, in order to capture the tendency that an assets recent relative performance will continue, based on the bias of investors to tend to purchase stocks that have recently performed well, thereby helping to contribute to continued positive price movement, and sell stocks that have recently performed poorly, thereby helping to contribute to continued negative price movement (a Momentum Premium strategy).
The Fund is actively managed and does not seek to maintain a particular exposure to any Alternative Beta Strategy. The Alternative Beta Strategies may expose the Fund to a broad range of markets, asset classes and market sectors economically tied to U.S. and foreign markets (both exchange-traded and over-the-counter instruments). There is no limit on the amount of exposure the Fund may have to any specific asset class, market sector, or instrument. The derivative instruments (both exchange-traded and over-the-counter instruments) in which the Fund may invest include forwards, futures, options, structured investments, and swaps (such as total return swaps, which the Fund expects to invest in significantly). The Fund will not gain investment exposure to the commodities markets directly, but may do so indirectly through investment in one or more Subsidiaries (as defined below).
The Fund may invest in derivatives for both hedging and non-hedging purposes, including, for example, seeking to enhance returns or as a substitute for a position in an underlying asset, instrument, or other reference, to increase market exposure and investment flexibility, or to obtain or reduce particular exposures. The Fund expects to have significant investment leverage (market exposure substantially in excess of the Funds assets) as a result of certain of its investments (e.g., derivatives). The Investment Manager anticipates that the Funds net notional investment exposure will be approximately 250 - 900% of the net assets of the Fund in the market environment that the Investment Manager expects to be the most frequent, although leverage may be significantly higher or lower in other market environments or when the Investment Manager otherwise believes conditions so warrant.
The Fund may invest directly in derivatives, or indirectly in derivatives by investing up to 25% of its total assets in one or more offshore, wholly-owned subsidiaries (each, a Subsidiary, and, collectively, the Subsidiaries). Generally, Subsidiaries will invest primarily in commodity futures, but they may also invest in financial futures, option and swap contracts, fixed income securities, pooled investment vehicles, including those that are not registered pursuant to the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the 1940 Act), and other investments intended to serve as margin or collateral for the Subsidiaries derivative positions. Unlike the Fund (which is subject to limitations under U.S. federal income tax laws), Subsidiaries may invest without limitation in commodity-linked derivatives; however, the Fund, in combination with its Subsidiaries, will comply with the same 1940 Act asset coverage requirements with respect to the Subsidiaries investments in commodity-linked derivatives that are applicable to the Funds direct transactions in derivatives.
The equity securities, instruments or assets in which the Fund may invest (or have investment exposure to) include those of, or relating or providing exposure to, issuers of any market capitalization located throughout the world (including the U.S. and emerging markets) across various investment styles (e.g., growth-, value-oriented styles), which may include common stocks, preferred stocks, convertible securities, depositary receipts, listed private equity, and real estate investment trusts (REITs) and instruments of similar entities formed under the laws of non-U.S. countries. The fixed income securities, instruments or assets in which the Fund may invest (or have investment exposure to) include those of, or relating or providing exposure to, governments throughout the world (including the U.S.
and emerging markets) as well as their agencies and instrumentalities and government-sponsored enterprises, debt securities of non-governmental issuers (e.g., corporate issuers) throughout the world (including the U.S. and emerging markets), debt securities of any credit rating (including below investment grade debt securities, commonly known as high-yield or junk bonds) or debt securities that are unrated, floating rate loans, bank loans, loan assignments and loan participations, bankruptcy or trade claims, exchange-traded notes, cash/cash equivalents, and inflation-hedging assets, with exposure to governments including sovereign and quasi-sovereign debt investments. There is no limitation on the credit rating, maturities or duration of the instruments to which the Fund may have investment exposure.
From time to time, the Fund can have significant exposure to non-U.S. dollar denominated currencies, including emerging markets currencies. The Fund may purchase securities in private placements, repurchase agreements, and exchange-traded funds (ETFs). The Fund may take both long and short positions in all of its investments. The Fund may at any time have either a net long exposure or a net short exposure to markets, and the Funds portfolio is not managed to maintain any fixed net long or net short market exposure. The Fund may hold a significant amount of cash, money market instruments (which may include investments in one or more affiliated or unaffiliated money market funds or similar vehicles), other high-quality, short-term investments, or other liquid assets for investment purposes or to meet its segregation obligations as a result of its investments in derivatives.
In certain market conditions, the Fund may have no market positions (i.e., the Fund may hold only cash and cash equivalents) when the Investment Manager believes it is in the best interests of the Fund. The Funds investment strategy may involve the frequent trading of portfolio securities. Additionally, the Funds strategy of investing in derivative instruments and instruments with a maturity of one year or less at the time of acquisition, will also contribute to frequent portfolio trading and high portfolio turnover (typically greater than 300% per year). The Fund is non-diversified, which means that it can invest a greater percentage of its assets in the securities of fewer issuers than can a diversified fund.
C000151808 Holdings
Top 10 holdings of Columbia Multi Strategy Alternatives Fund by percentage of net assets, from the fund's latest SEC N-PORT filing.
| Holding | % of net assets |
|---|---|
| Columbia Short Term Cash Fund | 56.07% |
| United States Treasury | 9.03% |
| United States Treasury | 6.26% |
| Umbs, Tba | 3.62% |
| Umbs, Tba | 3.44% |
| Umbs, Tba | 3.23% |
| Government National Mortgage Association | 2.10% |
| Umbs, Tba | 1.68% |
| Umbs, Tba | 1.62% |
| Umbs, Tba | 0.68% |
C000151808 Portfolio Allocation
Asset-class allocation of Columbia Multi Strategy Alternatives Fund by percentage of net assets, from the latest SEC N-PORT filing.
| Asset class | Allocation |
|---|---|
| Cash & Equivalents | 71.4% |
| Securitized | 34.8% |
| Fixed Income | 0.3% |
| Derivatives | 0.3% |
C000151808 Performance
Total returns for C000151808 (as of 2026-10-01), from SEC filings.
| Period | Total return |
|---|---|
| 1 year | 10.0% |
| 3 years (annualised) | 1.8% |
C000151808 Risk Information
Risk metrics for C000151808, derived from monthly returns in SEC filings.
- 1-year volatility (annualised): 4.6%
C000151808 Costs and Fees
C000151808 costs about $95 per $10,000 invested per year in fund expenses.
- Net expense ratio: 0.95%
- Gross expense ratio: 1.08%
- Portfolio turnover: 738%
- Brokerage commissions: 0.00 bps of average net assets (SEC N-CEN)
C000151808 Cashflows
Over the 12 months to 2026-05, Columbia Multi Strategy Alternatives Fund had net inflows of $4.20M, from monthly SEC N-PORT filings.
| Month | Net flow |
|---|---|
| 2026-05 | $25.50M |
| 2026-04 | −$57.04M |
| 2026-03 | −$319.74K |
| 2026-02 | −$168.73K |
| 2026-01 | −$3.57M |
| 2025-12 | $33.44M |
C000151808 Debt Constituents
Largest debt holdings of Columbia Multi Strategy Alternatives Fund by percentage of net assets, from the latest SEC N-PORT filing.
| Debt holding | % of net assets |
|---|---|
| Exeter Automobile Receivables Trust Eart_25-3a | 0.10% |
| Reach Abs Trust Reach_26-2 | 0.10% |
| Magnetite Clo Magne_16-17a | 0.08% |
C000151808 Prospectus and SEC Filings
Official Columbia Multi Strategy Alternatives Fund filings on SEC EDGAR — prospectus, portfolio holdings and annual reports.
- Prospectus (485BPOS) — filed 2026-09-24
- Prospectus (485BPOS) — filed 2025-09-24
- Prospectus (485BPOS) — filed 2024-09-24
- Portfolio holdings (N-PORT) — filed 2026-07-29
- Portfolio holdings (N-PORT) — filed 2026-04-27
- Portfolio holdings (N-PORT) — filed 2026-01-28
- Annual census (N-CEN) — filed 2026-08-10
- Annual census (N-CEN) — filed 2025-08-11
Related Funds
Other Long-Short funds tracked on ABC INVEST:
Data Sources
ABC INVEST compiles this page from public filings made to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) through EDGAR: portfolio holdings and monthly cashflows from Form N-PORT, expenses and returns from fund prospectuses (Form 485BPOS) and the SEC DERA Risk/Return Summary data sets, annual data from Form N-CEN, and shareholder reports from Form N-CSR.