Fund Evaluator:
Columbia Multi Strat Alts Inst (CLAZX)
Follow This Fund
Best Performing in Multistrategy Over the Last Year
| 35.9% | AQR Alternative Risk Premia N (QRPNX) |
| 21.4% | AQR Style Premia Alternative N (QSPNX) |
| 14.2% | Goldman Sachs Multi-Strategy Alts Inv (GIMMX) |
| 13.0% | AQR Diversifying Strategies N (QDSNX) |
| 12.7% | Blackstone Alternative Multi-Strategy Y (BXMYX) |
Fund Details
Columbia Multi Strat Alts Inst Overview
Columbia Multi Strat Alts Inst (CLAZX) is an actively managed Alternative Multistrategy fund. Columbia Threadneedle launched the fund in 2015.
The investment seeks to provide shareholders with absolute (positive) returns over a complete market cycle. Under normal circumstances, the fund employs alternative investment strategies that seek to identify and capitalize upon changes in macroeconomic fundamentals, market inefficiencies, market behavioral biases, market mis-pricings, risk premia, and other market factors or events within equity, fixed income, interest rate, commodity and currency markets around the world, including emerging markets.
About Columbia Multi Strat Alts Inst (CLAZX)
There are 16 members of the management team with an average tenure of 6.35 years: John Liew (2024), Joshua Kutin (2015), Jason Callan (2019), Thomas Heuer (2019), Jordan Brooks (2019), Brian Virginia (2019), Daniel Boncarosky (2019), Marc Khalamayzer (2015), Marco Aiolfi (2019), John Huss (2024), Ryan Osborn (2019), Matthew Ferrelli (2019), Corey Lorenzen (2019), Jonathan Fader (2021), Edward Tostanoski (2022), Clifford Asness (2024). Management tenure is more important for actively managed funds than passive index funds.
The fund has 2 primary benchmarks: Bloomberg Global Aggregate TR USD index with a weighting of 100% and FTSE Treasury Bill 1 Mon USD index with a weighting of 100%. Columbia Multi Strat Alts Inst has 468 securities in its portfolio. The top 10 holdings constitute 43.1% of the fund’s assets. The fund meets the SEC requirement of being classified as a diversified fund. The fund is not considered to have an ESG focus with its investment selection and management.
Columbia Multi Strat Alts Inst is part of the Alternative Strategies global asset class and is within the Alternative fund group. Columbia Multi Strat Alts Inst has 0.7% of its portfolio invested in foreign issues. The overall assets allocated to domestic stock is 0.8%. There is 0.0% allocated to foreign stock, and 0.0% is allocated to preferred stocks. The bond allocation as a percentage of total assets is 55.3% (54.6% domestic bond, 0.7% foreign bond and 0.0% convertible bond). Columbia Multi Strat Alts Inst has 39.0% of the portfolio in cash.
Assets Under Management
The fund has $507 million in total assets, which is below the $511 million average for the Multistrategy category. Normally, lower assets under management translates to higher average expense ratios, and greater total assets are desired. However, for some investment categories, such as small-cap investing, it may be difficult for the manager to fully employ the desired active strategy if assets grow too large or too quickly.
CLAZX Performance and Fees
The expense ratio measures how much of a fund’s assets are used for administrative expenses and operating expenses, including adviser fees and fees for the transfer agent and custodial services. The Columbia Multi Strat Alts Inst expense ratio is high compared to funds in the Multistrategy category. Columbia Multi Strat Alts Inst has an expense ratio of 1.09%, which is 47% lower than its category average, making the fund expense ratio grade a A. While it is difficult to predict returns, it is known that high annual expense ratios reduce your rate of return, and excessive fees are difficult to overcome. Active management normally comes with higher expense ratios than passive index management. Certain investment categories such as small company and foreign also normally have higher expense ratios. It is best to compare fund expense ratios against the category averages for meaningful assessments.
High portfolio turnover can translate to higher expenses and lower aftertax returns. Columbia Multi Strat Alts Inst has a portfolio turnover rate of 715%, indicating that holds its assets around 0.0 years. By way of comparison, the average portfolio turnover is 289% for the Multistrategy category.
Recently, in the month of July 2026, Columbia Multi Strat Alts Inst returned 1.0%, which earned it a grade of B, as the Multistrategy category had an average return of 0.8%. The letter grades of A, B, C, D and F are based upon relative rankings within the investment category. A grade of A, for example, would indicate that the return is in the highest 20% for that time period compared to all funds in that category.
Columbia Multi Strat Alts Inst has a trailing yield of 7.22%, which is above the 2.97% category average. The fund normally distributes its income annually.
It’s natural to seek the best-performing investments, but you must consider the relationship between risk and return and the impact of costs and taxes on your realized returns.
Columbia Multi Strat Alts Inst Grades
Year to date, the fund has returned 6.9%, 1.6 percentage points better than the category, which translates into a grade of B. The fund has returned 9.3% over the past year (grade of C), 7.8% over the past three years (grade of C) and 4.4% per year over the past five years (grade of C) and 0.0% per year over the past 10 years (grade of F).
For more mutual fund grades, analysis and screening tools to help your investment discovery, join AAII for a $2, full-access trial. Learn more here: https://invest.aaii.com/membership.
Otherwise, for more information about Columbia Multi Strat Alts Inst, including its riskiness, submit your email to unlock the rest of the article.
Gain access to exclusive AAII member-only content.
CLAZX Trailing NAV Total Returns Data as of 7/31/26
| Last Month |
Last Quarter |
Ann'l. 1Yr |
Ann'l. 3Yr |
Ann'l. 5Yr |
Ann'l. 10Yr |
|
| CLAZX Return (NAV) | 1.0% | 1.9% | 9.3% | 7.8% | 4.4% | 0.0% |
| CLAZX Grade | B | B | C | C | C | F |
| +/- Category | 0.2% | 0.1% | -1.5% | 0.1% | -0.9% | -3.7% |
| Multistrategy Avg | 0.8% | 1.8% | 10.8% | 7.7% | 5.3% | 3.7% |
| CLAZX Tax Cost Ratio | na | na | 3.0% | 2.4% | 1.7% | 1.0% |
CLAZX Annual NAV Total ReturnsData as of 7/31/26
| 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | |
| CLAZX Return (NAV) | 6.9% | 7.3% | 7.2% | 3.7% | -0.2% | -2.8% | 1.2% | -4.4% | -18.5% | 6.6% | -3.6% |
| CLAZX Grade | B | C | B | D | B | F | D | F | F | B | F |
| +/- Category | 1.6% | -0.5% | 1.1% | -2.7% | 0.3% | -9.0% | -0.8% | -11.4% | -13.7% | 1.6% | -5.5% |
| Multistrategy Avg | 5.3% | 7.8% | 6.1% | 6.4% | -0.4% | 6.2% | 2.0% | 7.0% | -4.9% | 5.0% | 2.0% |
| Risk Measures | |
| Standard Deviation: | 3.7% |
| Total Risk Index: | 0.30 - Low |
| Category Risk Index: | 0.67 - Below Average |
| Category Risk Grade: | B (31% Rank) |
| Beta: | 0.11 |
| R-Squared: | 14% |
| Leveraged Fund: | No |
| Inverse Fund: | No |
| Portfolio Characteristics | |
| Equity Investment Style: | Mid-Cap Blend |
| Bond Investment Style: | na Limited Sensitivity |
| Yield: | 7.2% |
| Dividend Distribution: | Annually |
| Cap Gains Distribution: | |
| Total Assets: | $513 Mil |
| Fund Total Assets: | $ 507 Mil |
| Share Class Type: | Inst |
| Portfolio Turnover: | 715% |
Management Team
| Number of Managers: 16 | |||
| Longest Tenure: 11.5 years | |||
| Average Tenure: 6.3 years | |||
| Managers (Year): Khalamayzer Marc (2015), Kutin Joshua (2015), Ferrelli Matthew (2019), Lorenzen Corey (2019), Osborn Ryan (2019), Callan Jason (2019), Heuer Thomas (2019), Virginia Brian (2019), Boncarosky Daniel (2019), Aiolfi Marco (2019), Brooks Jordan (2019), Fader Jonathan (2021), Tostanoski Edward (2022), Asness Clifford (2024), Liew John (2024), Huss John (2024) | |||
Portfolio Composition (as of 6/30/26)
| # of Holdings: | 468 |
| % in Top 10 Holdings: | 43.1% |
| Fund is Non-Diversified: | No |
| % in Foreign Issues: | 0.7% |
Portfolio Allocation |
|
| Domestic Stock: | 0.8% |
| Foreign Stock: | 0.0% |
| Preferred Stock: | 0.0% |
| Domestic Bond: | 54.6% |
| Foreign Bond: | 0.7% |
| Convertible Bond: | 0.0% |
| Other: | 4.9% |
| Cash: | 39.0% |
Purchase Information
| Fund Family: | Columbia Threadneedle |
| Phone Number: | 800-345-6611 |
| Website: | www.columbiathreadneedleus.com |
| Status: | Open |
| Inception Date: | January 28, 2015 |
| Min. Initial Purchase: | $2,000 |
| Min. Initial IRA Purchase: | $ 0 |
| True No-Load: | Yes |
| Front Load Maximum: | 0.00% |
| Deferred Charge Maximum: | 0.00% |
| Redemption Charge Maximum: | 0.00% |
| 12b-1 Fee: | 0.00% |
Expenses and Fees | |
| Expense Ratio (%): | 1.09% ( Rating : High ) |
| Category Average Expense Ratio (%): | 2.05% |
| Share Class: | Columbia Multi Strat Alts Inst |
| Min. Subsequent Purchase: | $ 0 |
| Min. Subsequent IRA Purchase: | $ 0 |
