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SIGNATURE ERIC M. BANHAZL
TITLE SR. VICE PRESIDENT
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<NAME> RAINIER INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT MUTUAL FUNDS
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<NAME> RIM SMALL/MID CAP EQUITY PORTFOLIO
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Independent Auditors Report on Internal Accounting Controls
The Board of Trustees and Shareholders
Rainier Investment Management Mutual Funds:
In planning and performing our audit of the financial statements of Rainier
Investment Management Mutual Funds (comprised of Small/Mid Cap Equity, Core
Equity, Balanced and Intermediate Fixed Income Portfolios) for the year
ended March 31, 1997, we considered its internal control structure,
including procedures 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,
no internal control structure.
The management of Rainier Investment Management Mutual Funds is
responsible for establishing and maintaining an internal control structure.
In fulfilling this responsibility, estimates and judgments by management
are required to assess the expected benefits and related costs of
internal control structure policies and procedures. Two of the
objectives of an internal control structure are to provide management
with reasonable, but not absolute, assurance that assets are safeguarded
against loss from unauthorized transactions are executed in accordance
with management s authorization and recorded properly to permit preparation
of financial statements in conformity with generally accepted accounting
principles.
Because of inherent limitations in any internal control structure,
errors or irregularities may occur and may not be detected. Also,
projection of any evaluation of the structure to future periods
is subject to the risk that it may become inadequate because of
changes in conditions or that the effectiveness of the design
and operation may deteriorate.
Our consideration of the internal control structure would not
necessarily disclose all matters in the internal control structure
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 the specific
internal control structure elements does not reduce to a relatively
low level the risk that errors or irregularities in amounts that
would be material in relation to the financial course of performing
their assigned functions. However, we noted no matters involving
the internal control structure, including procedures for safeguarding
securities, that we consider to be material weaknesses as defined
above as of March 31, 1997.
This report is intended solely for the information and use of
management and the Securities and Exchange Commission.
May 9, 1997
