The funds offer multiple classes of shares. Each class of shares has its own sales charge and expense structure, which enables you to choose the class of shares (and pricing) that best meets your specific needs and circumstances.

You should consult with your Financial Intermediary about the comparative pricing and features of each class, the services available for shareholders in each class, the compensation that will be received by the Financial Intermediary in connection with each class and other factors that may be relevant to your decision as to which class of shares to buy.

You may also be eligible for a waiver of the front-end sales charge as set forth in Appendix A: Additional Information About Financial Intermediary-Specific Sales Charge Variations, Waivers and Discounts of the Funds’ Prospectus.

Front-end sales charges

Classes C, M, R1, R4, R5, R6, S, and Y Shares of all Funds are sold without a front-end sales charge.

Class A Shares

Class A Shares are sold at the offering price, which is the net asset value plus a front-end sales charge. With respect to Class A Shares, you pay a lower front-end sales charge as the size of your investment increases to certain levels. With respect to Class A Shares, you do not pay a front-end sales charge on the Funds' distributions of dividends or capital gains you reinvest in additional Class A Shares of the same Fund or another RIC Fund.

The table below shows the rate of front-end sales charge that you pay, depending on the amount of your investment or transaction. The tables below also show the amount of compensation that is paid to your Financial Intermediary out of the front-end sales charge. This compensation includes commissions to Financial Intermediaries that sell Class A Shares. Financial Intermediaries may also receive the distribution fee payable on Class A Shares at an annual rate of up to 0.25% of the average daily net assets represented by the Class A Shares serviced by them.  

Class A Shares

The Short Duration Bond Fund, fixed income Funds and other Funds have different front-end sales charges. The fixed income Funds include the Opportunistic Credit, Strategic Bond, Investment Grade Bond, Tax-Exempt High Yield Bond, Tax-Exempt Bond, and Long Duration Bond Funds.

The other Funds include Equity Income, Sustainable Equity, U.S. Strategic Equity, U.S. Small Cap Equity, International Developed Markets, Global Equity, Emerging Markets, Tax-Managed U.S. Large Cap, Tax-Managed U.S. Mid & Small Cap, Tax-Managed International Equity, Tax-Managed Real Assets, Global Infrastructure, Global Real Estate Securities, Real Assets, Multi-Strategy Income, Multi-Asset Growth Strategy, Multifactor U.S. Equity and Multifactor International Equity Funds.

The LifePoints Funds include Conservative Strategy, Moderate Strategy, Balanced Strategy, Growth Strategy and Equity Growth Strategy Funds.

* Investments of $1,000,000 or more (Class A Shares, except for Short Duration Bond Fund). With respect to Class A Shares, you do not pay a front-end sales charge when you buy $1,000,000 or more of Shares of RIC Funds. However, if your Financial Intermediary was paid a commission by the Funds' Distributor on those Class A Shares and you redeem those Class A Shares within one year of purchase, you will pay a deferred sales charge of 1.00%. Additional information on commissions paid to your Financial Intermediary on purchases of $1,000,000 or more is available in the Funds' Statement of Additional Information.

** Investments of $500,000 or more of Short Duration Bond Fund (Class A Shares). With respect to Short Duration Bond Fund Class A Shares, you do not pay a front-end sales charge when you buy $500,000 or more of Shares. However, if your Financial Intermediary was paid a commission by the Funds' Distributor on those Class A Shares and you redeem those Class A Shares within one year of purchase, you will pay a deferred sales charge of 0.75%. Additional information on commissions paid to your Financial Intermediary on purchases of $500,000 or more is available in the Funds' Statement of Additional Information. 

For more information, see the full prospectus.

 

Reducing your front-end sales charges (Class A Shares)

To receive a reduced front-end sales charge on purchases of Class A Shares as described below, you must notify your Financial Intermediary of your ability to qualify for a reduced front-end sales charge at the time your order for Class Shares is placed. Your Financial Intermediary may require certain records, such as account statements, to verify that the purchase qualifies for a reduced front-end sales charge. Additionally, you should retain any records necessary to substantiate historical costs of your Class A Share purchases because the Funds; Russell Investments Fund Services, LLC (RIFUS) and your Financial Intermediary may not maintain this information. 

Front-end sales charge waivers (Class A Shares)

Purchases of Class A Shares may be made at net asset value without a front-end or deferred sales charge in the following circumstances. There is no commission paid to the Financial Intermediaries for Shares purchased under the following circumstances:

• Sales to RIC trustees and employees of Russell Investments (including retired trustees and employees), to the immediate families (as defined below) of such persons, or to a pension, profit-sharing or other benefit plan for such persons
• Sales to current/retired registered representatives of broker-dealers having sales agreements with the Funds' Distributor to sell Class A Shares of the Funds and sales to a current spouse or the equivalent thereof, child, step-child (with respect to current union only), parent, step-parent or parent-in-law of such registered representative or to a family trust in the name of such registered representative
• Accounts managed by a member of Russell Investments
• Conversion of Class C Shares held for eight years to Class A Shares. Depending on the policies of your Financial Intermediary, in certain circumstances you may convert Class C Shares held for less than eight years to Class A Shares, without the incurrence of a front-end sales charge.

You may also be eligible for a waiver of the front-end sales charge as set forth in Appendix A: Additional Information About Financial Intermediary-Specific Sales Charge Variations, Waivers and Discounts of the Funds’ Prospectus.

Prior to March 1, 2016, sales of Class A Shares to multi-participant employer sponsored Defined Contribution plans held in plan level accounts, excluding SEP IRA's and SIMPLE IRAs, qualified for a front-end sales charge waiver. Sales of Class A shares to plans that previously purchased, and continue to hold, Class A shares without a front-end Sales charge pursuant to this waiver may continue to qualify for the waiver if the policies and procedures of your Financial Intermediary provide for the continued application of the waiver. Please contact your Financial Intermediary for more information.

Moving between accounts (Class A Shares)

Under certain circumstances, if supported by your Financial Intermediary, you may transfer Class A Shares of a Fund from an account with one registration to an account with another registration within 90 days without incurring a front-end sales charge. For example, you may transfer Shares without paying a front-end sales load in the following cases: 

• From a non-retirement account to an IRA or other individual retirement account
• From an IRA or other individual retirement account, such as a required minimum distribution, to a non-retirement account

In some cases, due to operational limitations or reporting requirements, your Financial Intermediary must redeem Shares from one account and purchase Shares in another account to achieve this type of transfer. 

If you want to learn more about front-end sales charge waivers, contact your Financial Intermediary.

Aggregated investments (Class A Shares)

The following types of accounts may be combined to qualify for reduced front-end sales charge including purchases made pursuant to rights of accumulation or letter of intent as described below:

The following accounts owned by you and/or a member of your immediate family (as defined below):

• Accounts held individually or jointly
• Those established under the Uniform Gift to Minors Act or Uniform Transfer to Minors Act
• IRA accounts, certain single participant retirement plan accounts, and SIMPLE-IRA, SEP-IRA or similar accounts held in individual registration
• Solely controlled business accounts
• Trust accounts benefiting you or a member of your immediate family

For purposes of aggregated investments, your immediate family includes your spouse, or the equivalent thereof, and your children and step-children under the age of 21.

Purchases made in nominee or street name accounts may NOT be aggregated with those made for other accounts and may NOT be aggregated with other nominee or street name accounts unless otherwise qualified as described above.

You may only combine accounts held with one Financial Intermediary for purposes of aggregated investments.

Rights of accumulation ("ROA") (Class A Shares)

Subject to the limitations described in the aggregation policy, you may combine current purchases of any RIC Fund with your existing holdings of all RIC Funds to determine your current front-end sales charge for Class A Shares. Subject to your Financial Intermediary's capabilities, your accumulated holdings will be calculated as the higher of (a) the current value of your existing holdings or (b) the amount you invested (including reinvested dividends and capital gains, but excluding capital appreciation) less any withdrawals (the "cost value"). You must notify your Financial Intermediary at the time an order is placed for a purchase or purchases which would qualify for the reduced front-end sales charge due to existing investments or other purchases. The reduced front-end sales charge may not be applied if such notification is not furnished at the time of the order. 

The value of all of your holdings in accounts established in calendar year 2007 or earlier will be assigned an initial cost value equal to the market value of those holdings as of the last business day of 2007. Thereafter, the cost value of such accounts will increase or decrease according to actual investments or withdrawals. 

For purchases to be aggregated for the purpose of qualifying for the ROA, they must be made on the same day through one Financial Intermediary. Your Financial Intermediary may require certain information to verify that the purchase qualifies for the reduced front-end sales charge. The right of accumulation is subject to modification or discontinuance at any time with respect to all Shares purchased thereafter. Additional information is available from your Financial Intermediary. 

Letter of intent ("LOI") (Class A Shares)

A non-binding LOI allows you to combine purchases of Shares of any RIC Funds you intend to make over a 13-month period with the market value of your current RIC Fund holdings to determine the applicable front-end sales charge. Any appreciation of your current RIC Fund holdings and any Shares issued from reinvestment of dividends or capital gains will not be considered purchases made during the 13-month period. A portion of your account (up to 5%) will be held in escrow to cover additional Class A front-end sales charges that may be due. If you purchase less than the amount specified in the LOI and the LOI period expires or a full-balance redemption is requested during the LOI period, Shares in your account will be automatically redeemed to pay additional front-end sales charges that may be due. Class A Shares of the Funds held in plan or omnibus accounts are not eligible for an LOI unless the plan or omnibus account can maintain the LOI on their record keeping system. If the shareholder dies within the 13-month period, no additional front-end sales charges are required to be paid.

Exchange privilege

Generally, exchanges between Class A Shares of the RIC Funds are not subject to a front-end sales charge. Exchanges may have the same tax consequences as ordinary sales and purchases. Please contact your Financial Intermediary and/or tax adviser for more detailed information. 

Conversion privilege

Depending upon the policies of your Financial Intermediary, in certain circumstances you may convert Class C Shares to Class A Shares without the incurrence of a front-end sales charge. 

 

Conversion of Class C Shares. The Funds will convert Class C Shares held for eight years to Class A Shares without the incurrence of a front-end sales charge. If your account is held through a Financial Intermediary, your Financial Intermediary may be responsible for this conversion. As of January 1, 2019, (the “Effective Date”), the Funds and certain Financial Intermediaries may not have been tracking such holding periods and therefore may not be able to process such conversions for Shares acquired prior to the Effective Date. In such instances, the automatic conversion of Class C Shares to Class A Shares will occur no later than eight years after the Effective Date.

 

Please contact your Financial Intermediary for information related to their conversion policies.

 

RIFUS believes that a conversion between Classes of the same Fund is not a taxable event; however, you must check with your Financial Intermediary to determine if they will process the conversion as non-taxable. Please consult with your Financial Intermediary and your tax adviser for more information.

 

Reinstatement privilege (Class A Shares)

You may reinvest proceeds from a redemption or distribution of Class A Shares into Class A Shares of any RIC Fund without paying a front-end sales charge if such reinvestment is made within 90 days after the redemption or distribution date and the proceeds are invested in any related account eligible to be aggregated for Rights of Accumulation purposes. Proceeds will be reinvested at the net asset value next determined after receipt of your purchase order in proper form. For purposes of this Reinstatement Privilege, automatic transactions (including, for example, automatic purchases, withdrawals and payroll deductions) and ongoing individual retirement plan contributions are not eligible for reinstatement without a sales charge. The privilege may not be exercised if proceeds are subject to a purchase restriction as described in the section entitled "Frequent Trading Policies and Limitations on Trading Activity" and certain other restrictions may apply. Contingent deferred sales charges will be credited to your account at current net asset value following notification to the Fund by your Financial Intermediary.