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SIGNATURE J. JERRY INSKEEP, JR.
TITLE PRESIDENT
<TABLE> <S> <C>
<ARTICLE> 6
<LEGEND>
THIS SCHEDULE CONTAINS SUMMARY FINANCIAL INFORMATION EXTRACTED FROM THE
AUDITED ANNUAL REPORT OF THE COLUMBIA FUNDS DATED DECEMBER 31, 1999, AND
THE AUDITED ANNUAL REPORT OF THE COLUMBIA FUNDS DATED DECEMBER 31, 1998,
AND IS QUALIFIED IN ITS ENTIRETY BY REFERENCE TO SUCH FINANCIAL
STATEMENTS.
</LEGEND>
<CIK> 0000773599
<NAME> COLUMBIA SPECIAL FUND, INC.
<S> <C>
<PERIOD-TYPE> YEAR
<FISCAL-YEAR-END> DEC-31-1999
<PERIOD-START> JAN-01-1999
<PERIOD-END> DEC-31-1999
<INVESTMENTS-AT-COST> 600,061,598
<INVESTMENTS-AT-VALUE> 927,357,895
<RECEIVABLES> 7,210,086
<ASSETS-OTHER> 0
<OTHER-ITEMS-ASSETS> 0
<TOTAL-ASSETS> 934,567,981
<PAYABLE-FOR-SECURITIES> 11,705,368
<SENIOR-LONG-TERM-DEBT> 0
<OTHER-ITEMS-LIABILITIES> 4,540,621
<TOTAL-LIABILITIES> 16,245,989
<SENIOR-EQUITY> 0
<PAID-IN-CAPITAL-COMMON> 483,906,950
<SHARES-COMMON-STOCK> 30,686,574
<SHARES-COMMON-PRIOR> 41,038,458
<ACCUMULATED-NII-CURRENT> 0
<OVERDISTRIBUTION-NII> 0
<ACCUMULATED-NET-GAINS> 107,118,745
<OVERDISTRIBUTION-GAINS> 0
<ACCUM-APPREC-OR-DEPREC> 327,296,297
<NET-ASSETS> 918,321,992
<DIVIDEND-INCOME> 1,867,507
<INTEREST-INCOME> 1,641,320
<OTHER-INCOME> 0
<EXPENSES-NET> 8,489,172
<NET-INVESTMENT-INCOME> (4,980,345)
<REALIZED-GAINS-CURRENT> 202,258,383
<APPREC-INCREASE-CURRENT> 38,703,738
<NET-CHANGE-FROM-OPS> 235,981,776
<EQUALIZATION> 0
<DISTRIBUTIONS-OF-INCOME> 0
<DISTRIBUTIONS-OF-GAINS> 64,905,812
<DISTRIBUTIONS-OTHER> 0
<NUMBER-OF-SHARES-SOLD> 8,091,686
<NUMBER-OF-SHARES-REDEEMED> 20,554,037
<SHARES-REINVESTED> 2,110,467
<NET-CHANGE-IN-ASSETS> (51,036,899)
<ACCUMULATED-NII-PRIOR> 0
<ACCUMULATED-GAINS-PRIOR> (1,328,411)
<OVERDISTRIB-NII-PRIOR> 0
<OVERDIST-NET-GAINS-PRIOR> 0
<GROSS-ADVISORY-FEES> 7,081,977
<INTEREST-EXPENSE> 0
<GROSS-EXPENSE> 8,495,887
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</TABLE>
Report of Independent Accountants
To the Board of Directors and Shareholders of
Columbia Special Fund, Inc.
In planning and performing our audit of the
financial statements of Columbia Special Fund,
Inc. (the Fund) for the year ended December 31,
1999, we considered its internal control,
including control activities for safeguarding
securities, in order to determine our auditing
procedures for the purpose of expressing our
opinion on the financial statements and to comply
with the requirements of Form N-SAR, not to
provide assurance on internal control.
The management of the Fund is responsible for
establishing and maintaining internal control.
In fulfilling this responsibility, estimates and
judgments by management are required to assess
the expected benefits and related costs of
controls. Generally, controls that are relevant
to an audit pertain to the entity's objective of
preparing financial statements for external
purposes that are fairly presented in conformity
with generally accepted accounting principles.
Those controls include the safeguarding of assets
against unauthorized acquisition, use or
disposition.
Because of inherent limitations in internal
control, errors or fraud may occur and not be
detected. Also, projection of any evaluation of
internal control to future periods is subject to
the risk that controls may become inadequate
because of changes in conditions or that the
effectiveness of their design and operation may
deteriorate.
Our consideration of internal control would not
necessarily disclose all matters in internal
control that might be material weaknesses under
standards established by the American Institute
of Certified Public Accountants. A material
weakness is a condition in which the design or
operation of one or more of the internal control
components does not reduce to a relatively low
level the risk that misstatements caused by error
or fraud in amounts that would be material in
relation to the financial statements being
audited may occur and not be detected within a
timely period by employees in the normal course
of performing their assigned functions. However,
we noted no matters involving internal control
and its operation, including controls for
safeguarding securities, that we consider to be
material weaknesses as defined above as of
December 31, 1999.
This report is intended solely for the
information and use of the Board of Directors,
management and the Securities and Exchange
Commission and is not intended to be and should
not be used by anyone other than these specified
parties.
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
Portland, Oregon
February 4, 2000
EXHIBIT 77.O
77.O TRANSACTIONS EFFECTED PURSUANT TO RULE 10F-3
Columbia Special Fund, Inc.:
Qualifying transactions are listed below. On a quarterly
basis, the Registrant's Board of Directors receives a Form
10F-3 containing information that enables them to determine
that all purchases made during the quarter were effected in
compliance with the Registrant's 10F-3 procedures.
1) Issuer: Adelphia
Date of Purchase: 10/1/1999
Underwriter from whom Purchased:
Smith Barney
Affiliated Underwriters:
BKB Robertson Stephens
Other Members of Syndicate:
CS First Boston
Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette
Goldman Sachs
Lehman Brothers
Morgan Stanley & Co.
Salomon, Smith Barney
Aggregate dollar amount of purchase:
$5,700,000
Aggregate dollar amount of offering:
$342,000,000
Purchase price (net of fees and expenses):
$55.80
Date offering commenced:
10/1/1999
Commission: $1.20
2) Issuer: Silicon Image, Inc.
Date of Purchase: 10/5/1999
Underwriter from whom Purchased:
CS First Boston
Affiliated Underwriters:
BKB Robertson Stephens
Other Members of Syndicate:
CS First Boston
Dain Rauscher Wessels
Aggregate dollar amount of purchase:
$240,000
Aggregate dollar amount of offering:
$48,000,000
Purchase price (net of fees and expenses):
$11.50
Date offering commenced:
10/5/1999
Commission: $0.50
3) Issuer: PlanetRX.com
Date of Purchase: 10/6/1999
Underwriter from whom Purchased:
Goldman Sachs
Affiliated Underwriters:
BKB Robertson Stephens
Other Members of Syndicate:
William Blair
Goldman Sachs
Hambrecht & Quest
Aggregate dollar amount of purchase:
$560,000
Aggregate dollar amount of offering:
$96,000,000
Purchase price (net of fees and expenses):
$15.33
Date offering commenced:
10/6/1999
Commission: $0.67
4) Issuer: Interwoven
Date of Purchase: 10/7/1999
Underwriter from whom Purchased:
CS First Boston
Affiliated Underwriters:
BKB Robertson Stephens
Other Members of Syndicate:
CS First Boston
Dain Rauscher Wessels
Aggregate dollar amount of purchase:
$170,000
Aggregate dollar amount of offering:
$61,582,000
Purchase price (net of fees and expenses):
$16.29
Date offering commenced:
10/17/1999
Commission: $0.71
5) Issuer: Martha Stewart
Date of Purchase: 10/18/1999
Underwriter from whom Purchased:
Morgan Stanley & Co.
Affiliated Underwriters:
BKB Robertson Stephens
Other Members of Syndicate:
Morgan Stanley & Co.
Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner
Bear, Stearns & Co.
Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette
Banc of America Securities LLC
Advest, Inc.
Robert W. Baird & Co.
Sanford C. Bernstein & Co.
Blaylock & Partners
Chatsworth Securities LLC
CIBC World Markets Corp.
Crowell, Weedon & Co.
D.A. Davidson & Co.
A.G. Edwards & Sons
Fahnestock & Co.
First Union Securities
Gabelli & Co.
Gerard Klauer Mattison & Co.
Goldman Sachs & Co.
Janney Montgomery Scott LLC
Edward D. Jones & Co.
Legg Mason Wood Walker
McDonald Investments
Monness, Crespi, Hardt
Paine Webber
Ramirez & Co.
Raymond James & Assoc.
Schroder & Co.
Muriel Siebert & Co.
Salomon Smith Barney
Wasserstein Perella Sec.
Aggregate dollar amount of purchase:
$1,350,000
Aggregate dollar amount of offering:
$129,600,000
Purchase price (net of fees and expenses):
$17.24
Date offering commenced:
10/18/1999
Commission: $0.76
6) Issuer: Extreme Networks
Date of Purchase: 10/19/1999
Underwriter from whom Purchased:
Morgan Stanley & Co.
Affiliated Underwriters:
BKB Robertson Stephens
Other Members of Syndicate:
Cowen Securities
Hambrecht & Quest
Morgan Stanley & Co.
Thomas Weisel
Dain Rauscher Wessels
Aggregate dollar amount of purchase:
$3,850,000
Aggregate dollar amount of offering:
$500,500,000
Purchase price (net of fees and expenses):
$74.88
Date offering commenced:
10/19/1999
Commission: $2.12
7) Issuer: Charter Communications
Date of Purchase: 11/8/1999
Underwriter from whom Purchased:
Morgan Stanley & Co.
NB Montgomery Securities
Neuberger Berman
Prudential Securities
Raymond James
A.G. Edwards & Sons
Wasserstein Perella Securities
Advest, Inc.
Bradford (JC) & Co.
McDonald Investments
Affiliated Underwriters:
BKB Robertson Stephens
Other Members of Syndicate:
Goldman Sachs & Co.
Bear, Stearsn & Co.
Morgan Stanley & Co.
Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette
Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner
Salomon Smith Barney
A.G Edwards & Sons
M.R. Beal & Co.
Allen & Co.
Banc of America Securities
CIBC World Markets
Chase Securities
CS First Boston Corp
First Union Securities
Ing Barings
Edward D. Jones & Co.
Nesbitt Burns Securities
Prudential Securities
RBC Dominion Securities
Cowen (SG) Securities
TD Securities
Wasserstein Perella Securities
Advest, Inc.
Baird (Robert) & Co.
Blair (William) & Co.
Bradford (JC) & Co.
Chapman Co.
Chatsworth Securities
Dain Rauscher, Inc.
Hilliard Lyons
Huntleigh Securities
Janco Partners
Legg Mason Wood Walker
McDonald Investments
Neuberger & Berman LLC
Olde Discount Corp
Ramirez & Co.
Raymond James & Assoc.
Muriel Siebert & Co.
Stephens, Inc.
Stifel, Nicolaus & Co.
Aggregate dollar amount of purchase:
$38,095,000
Aggregate dollar amount of offering:
$4,275,000,000
Purchase price (net of fees and expenses):
$18.56
Date offering commenced:
11/8/1999
Commission: $0.44
8) Issuer: Agilent Technologies
Date of Purchase: 11/17/1999
Underwriter from whom Purchased:
SG Cowen Securities Corp
Goldman Sachs & Co.
Affiliated Underwriters:
BKB Robertson Stephens
Other Members of Syndicate:
Morgan Stanley & Co.
Goldman Sachs & Co.
CS First Boston Corp
Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner
Salomon Smith Barney
Bear, Stears & Co.
Morgan (JP) Securities
Lehman Brothers
SG Cowen Securities Corp
ABN Amro, Inc.
Buckingham Research Group
Deutsche Bank Securities
Hambrecht & Quist
Williams Capital Group
Aggregate dollar amount of purchase:
$15,045,000
Aggregate dollar amount of offering:
$1,950,000,000
Purchase price (net of fees and expenses):
$29.21
Date offering commenced:
11/17/1999
Commission: $0.79
