Nuveen Managed Accounts Portfolios Trust
   
   
   
 

November 30, 2021

   
       

Municipal Total Return Managed Accounts Portfolio

 
 

Ticker Symbol: NMTRX

 

STATEMENT OF ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

This Statement of Additional Information (“SAI”) is not a prospectus. This SAI relates to, and should be read in conjunction with, the Prospectus dated November 30, 2021 for Municipal Total Return Managed Accounts Portfolio (the “Portfolio”), a series of Nuveen Managed Accounts Portfolios Trust. A Prospectus may be obtained without charge by written request to Nuveen Funds, P.O. Box 219140, Kansas City, Missouri 64121-9140, or by calling (800) 257-8787.

The audited financial statements for the Portfolio’s most recent fiscal year appear in the Portfolio’s Annual Report dated July 31, 2021, which is incorporated herein by reference and is available without charge by calling (800) 257-8787.


TABLE OF CONTENTS

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General Information

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Investment Restrictions

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Investment Policies and Techniques

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5

Asset Coverage Requirements

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5

Borrowing

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6

Derivatives

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7

Illiquid Investments

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13

Mortgage-Backed Securities

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14

Municipal Bonds and Other Municipal Obligations

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14

Non-Investment Grade Debt Securities (Junk Bonds)

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17

Payment-In-Kind Debentures and Delayed Interest Securities

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18

Short-Term Investments

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Standby Commitments

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21

Structured Notes

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21

Temporary Investment Measures

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21

Variable, Floating, and Fixed Rate Debt Obligations

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21

When-Issued and Delayed-Delivery Securities

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22

Zero Coupon and Step Coupon Securities

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22

Management

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23

Board Leadership Structure and Risk Oversight

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30

Board Diversification and Trustee Qualifications

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33

Board Compensation

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37

Share Ownership

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40

Service Providers

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40

Investment Adviser

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40

Sub-Adviser

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40

Portfolio Manager

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41

Transfer Agent

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42

Custodian

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42

Distributor

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42

Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

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43

Codes of Ethics

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43

Proxy Voting Policies

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43

Portfolio Transactions

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43

Disclosure of Portfolio Holdings

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44

Net Asset Value

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46

Shares Of Beneficial Interest

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46

Tax Matters

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47

Federal Income Tax Matters

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47

Portfolio Status

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47

Qualification as a Regulated Investment Company

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47

Distributions

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47

Dividends Received Deduction

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48

If You Sell or Redeem Shares

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48

Taxation of Capital Gains and Losses

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48

Qualification to Pay Exempt-Interest Dividends

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48

In-Kind Distributions

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49

Exchanges

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49

Treatment of Portfolio Expenses

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49

Capital Loss Carry-Forward

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49

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Purchase and Redemption of Shares

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49

Suspension of Right of Redemption

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49

Frequent Trading Policy

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50

Distribution

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50

Financial Statements

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50

Appendix A – Ratings of Investments

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GENERAL INFORMATION

The Portfolio is a diversified series of Nuveen Managed Accounts Portfolios Trust (the “Trust”), an open-end management investment company organized as a Massachusetts business trust on November 14, 2006. The Trust is a series company under Rule 18f-2 of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”). The Trust currently has two series. As a series of the Trust, the Portfolio represents shares of beneficial interest in a separate portfolio of securities and other assets, with its own objectives and policies. The Portfolio was developed exclusively for use within Nuveen-sponsored separately managed accounts. The Portfolio’s investment adviser is Nuveen Fund Advisors, LLC (“Nuveen Fund Advisors” or the “Adviser”). The Portfolio’s sub-adviser is Nuveen Asset Management, LLC (“Nuveen Asset Management” or the “Sub-Adviser”).

Nuveen Fund Advisors and its affiliate, Teachers Advisors, LLC (“TAL”), are both wholly owned subsidiaries of Nuveen, LLC, the investment management arm of Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America (“TIAA”). As a result of their common ownership by Nuveen, LLC and, ultimately, TIAA, Nuveen Fund Advisors and TAL are considered affiliated persons under common control, and the registered investment companies managed by each are considered to be part of the same group of investment companies.

Certain matters under the 1940 Act, which must be submitted to a vote of the holders of the outstanding voting securities of a series, shall not be deemed to have been effectively acted upon unless approved by the holders of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the Portfolio.

INVESTMENT RESTRICTIONS

The investment objectives and certain investment policies of the Portfolio are described in the Prospectus. The Portfolio, as a fundamental policy, may not, without the approval of the holders of a majority of the Portfolio’s outstanding voting shares:

(1) Borrow money, except as permitted by the 1940 Act and exemptive orders granted thereunder.

(2) Issue senior securities, except as permitted under the 1940 Act, as interpreted or modified from time to time by any regulatory authority having jurisdiction.

(3) Act as an underwriter of another issuer’s securities, except to the extent that the Portfolio may be deemed to be an underwriter within the meaning of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, in connection with the purchase and sale of securities and other instruments held in its portfolio.

(4) Purchase or sell real estate unless acquired as a result of ownership of securities or other instruments; but this restriction shall not prevent the Portfolio from purchasing or selling securities or other instruments backed by real estate or interests therein or of issuers engaged in real estate activities.

(5) Purchase or sell physical commodities, unless acquired as a result of ownership of securities or other instruments; but this restriction shall not prohibit the Portfolio from investing in options on commodity indices, commodity futures contracts and options thereon, commodity-related swap agreements, other commodity-related derivative instruments, and investment companies that provide exposure to commodities.

(6) Make loans, except as permitted by the 1940 Act and exemptive orders granted thereunder.

(7) Invest more than 25% of its total assets in securities of issuers in any one industry; provided, however, that such limitations shall not be applicable to Municipal Obligations issued by governments or political subdivisions of governments, and obligations issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government, its agencies or instrumentalities.

(8) Make any investment inconsistent with the Portfolio’s classification as a diversified company under the 1940 Act.

Except with respect to the limitation set forth in number (1) above, the foregoing restrictions and limitations will apply only at the time of purchase of securities, and the percentage limitations will not be considered violated unless an excess or deficiency occurs or exists immediately after and as a result of an acquisition of securities, unless otherwise indicated.

For purposes of applying the limitations set forth in numbers (1) and (2) above, under the 1940 Act as currently in effect, the Portfolio is not permitted to issue senior securities, except that the Portfolio may

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borrow from any bank if immediately after such borrowing the value of the Portfolio’s total assets is at least 300% of the principal amount of all of the Portfolio’s borrowings (i.e., the principal amount of the borrowings may not exceed 33⅓% of the Portfolio’s total assets). In the event that such asset coverage shall at any time fall below 300%, the Portfolio shall, within three calendar days thereafter (not including Sundays and holidays), reduce the amount of its borrowings to an extent that the asset coverage of such borrowing shall be at least 300%. No exemptive orders have been issued with respect to the limitation set forth in number (1).

For purposes of applying the limitation set forth in number (6) above, there are no limitations with respect to unsecured loans made by the Portfolio to an unaffiliated party. However, if the Portfolio loans its portfolio securities, the obligation on the part of the Portfolio to return collateral upon termination of the loan could be deemed to involve the issuance of a senior security within the meaning of Section 18(f) of the 1940 Act. In order to avoid violation of Section 18(f), the Portfolio may not make a loan of portfolio securities if, as a result, more than one-third of its total asset value (at market value computed at the time of making a loan) would be on loan. No exemptive orders have been issued with respect to the limitation set forth in number (6).

For purposes of applying the limitation set forth in number (7) above, issuers of the following securities will not be considered to be members of any industry: securities of the U.S. government and its agencies or instrumentalities; except as set forth in the following sentence, tax-exempt securities of state, territory, possession or municipal governments and their authorities, agencies, instrumentalities or political subdivisions; and repurchase agreements collateralized by any such obligations. To the extent that the income from a municipal bond is derived principally from the assets and revenues of non-governmental users, the securities will be deemed to be from the industry of that non-governmental user. To the extent the Portfolio invests in other investment companies, it will consider the investments of the underlying investment companies when determining compliance with the limitation set forth in number (7) above, to the extent the Portfolio has sufficient information about such investments. For purposes of this limitation, all sovereign debt of a single country will be considered investments in a single industry.

Where a security is guaranteed by a governmental entity or some other facility, such as a bank guarantee or letter of credit, such a guarantee or letter of credit would be considered a separate security and would be treated as an issue of such government, other entity or bank. Where a security is insured by bond insurance, it shall not be considered a security issued or guaranteed by the insurer; instead the issuer of such security will be determined in accordance with the principles set forth above. The foregoing restrictions do not limit the percentage of the Portfolio’s assets that may be invested in securities insured by any single insurer.

For purposes of applying the limitations set forth in numbers (7) and (8) above, an issuer shall be deemed the sole issuer of a security when its assets and revenues are separate from other governmental entities and its securities are backed only by its assets and revenues. Similarly, in the case of a non-governmental user, such as an industrial corporation or a privately owned or operated hospital, if the security is backed only by the assets and revenues of the non-governmental user, then such non-governmental user would be deemed to be the sole issuer. Where a security is also backed by the enforceable obligation of a superior or unrelated governmental entity or other entity (other than a bond insurer), it shall also be included in the computation of securities owned that are issued by such governmental or other entity.

With respect to the limitation in number (8) above, the Portfolio is currently classified as a diversified fund under the 1940 Act. This means that the Portfolio may not purchase securities of an issuer (other than (i) securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government, its agencies or instrumentalities, (ii) repurchase agreements fully collateralized by U.S. government securities, or (iii) securities issued by other investment companies) if, with respect to 75% of its total assets, (i) more than 5% of the Portfolio’s total assets would be invested in securities of that issuer, or (ii) the Portfolio would hold more than 10% of the outstanding voting securities of that issuer. With respect to the remaining 25% of total assets, the Portfolio can invest more than 5% of its assets in one issuer.

The Portfolio has adopted a fundamental investment policy pursuant to Rule 35d-1 under the 1940 Act (the “Name Policy”) whereby the Portfolio, under normal market conditions, will invest at least 80% of the sum of its net assets and the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes in municipal bonds that pay interest that is exempt from regular federal personal income tax. The Portfolio will consider both direct investments and indirect investments (e.g., investments in other investment companies, derivatives and synthetic instruments with economic characteristics similar to the direct investments that meet the

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Name Policy) when determining compliance with the Name Policy. For purposes of the Name Policy, the Portfolio will value eligible derivatives at fair value or market value instead of notional value.

The foregoing fundamental investment policies, together with the investment objectives of the Portfolio, cannot be changed without approval by holders of a “majority of the Portfolio’s outstanding voting shares.” As defined in the 1940 Act, this means the vote of (i) 67% or more of the Portfolio’s shares present at a meeting, if the holders of more than 50% of the Portfolio’s shares are present or represented by proxy, or (ii) more than 50% of the Portfolio’s shares, whichever is less.

In addition to the foregoing fundamental investment policies, the Portfolio is also subject to the following non-fundamental restrictions and policies, which may be changed by the Board of Trustees. The Portfolio may not:

(1) Acquire any illiquid investment if, immediately after the acquisition, the Portfolio would have invested more than 15% of its net assets in illiquid investments.

(2) Invest directly in futures, options on futures and swaps to the extent that the Adviser would be required to register with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) as a commodity pool operator. See “Investment Policies and Techniques—Derivatives—Limitations on the Use of CFTC-Regulated Futures, Options on Futures and Swaps.”

For purposes of number (1) above, the Portfolio will monitor portfolio liquidity on an ongoing basis and, in the event that more than 15% of the Portfolio’s net assets are invested in illiquid investments, the Portfolio will reduce such holdings to at or below the 15% limit within a reasonable period of time. The term “illiquid investments” has the same meaning as given in Rule 22e-4 under the 1940 Act and associated guidance.

INVESTMENT POLICIES AND TECHNIQUES

The following information supplements the discussion of the Portfolio’s investment objectives, principal investment strategies, policies and techniques that appears in the Prospectus for the Portfolio. Additional information concerning principal investment strategies of the Portfolio, and other investment strategies that may be used by the Portfolio, is set forth below in alphabetical order.

If a percentage limitation on investments by the Portfolio stated in this SAI or its Prospectus is adhered to at the time of an investment, a later increase or decrease in percentage resulting from changes in asset value will not be deemed to violate the limitation except in the case of the limitations on borrowing. To the extent the Portfolio is limited to investing in securities with specified ratings or of a certain credit quality, the Portfolio is not required to sell a security if its rating is reduced or its credit quality declines after purchase, but may consider doing so. In connection with the Portfolio’s ratings restrictions, any reference in this SAI or the Prospectus to a specific rating encompasses all gradations of that rating (e.g., if this SAI or the Prospectus states that the Portfolio may invest in securities rated as low as B, the Portfolio may invest in securities rated B-). Descriptions of the rating categories of Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. (“Standard & Poor’s”), Fitch, Inc. (“Fitch”) and Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. (“Moody’s”) are contained in Appendix A. The descriptions in Appendix A are provided for illustrative purposes only. The Portfolio may consider ratings given by Standard & Poor’s, Fitch, Moody’s or any other Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organization (“NRSRO”) or, for unrated securities, ratings assigned by the Sub-Adviser, when determining whether it is in compliance with the ratings and credit quality limitations on investments by the Portfolio stated in this SAI or the Prospectus.

References in this section to the Adviser also apply, to the extent applicable, to the Sub-Adviser of the Portfolio.

Asset Coverage Requirements

Consistent with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") staff guidance, the Portfolio will only engage in transactions that expose it to an obligation to another party if it owns either (a) an offsetting position for the same type of financial asset or (b) cash or liquid securities, designated on the Portfolio’s books or held in a segregated account, with a value sufficient at all times to cover its potential obligations not covered as provided in (a). Examples of transactions governed by these asset coverage requirements include, for example, futures contracts and options on futures contracts, swaps and when-issued and delayed delivery transactions. Assets used as offsetting positions, designated on the Portfolio’s books, or held in a segregated account cannot be sold while the positions requiring cover are open unless replaced with other appropriate assets. As a result, the commitment of a large portion of

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assets to be used as offsetting positions or to be designated or segregated in such a manner could impede portfolio management or the ability to meet redemption requests or other current obligations.

To the extent the Portfolio writes a credit default swap, the Portfolio must set aside or earmark liquid assets equal to such contracts’ full notional value (generally, the total numerical value of the asset underlying a credit default swap at the time of valuation) while the positions are open. In the case of long positions in futures contracts that are not contractually required to cash settle, the Portfolio may set aside or earmark liquid assets or enter into offsetting positions equal to such contracts’ full notional value, less any margin on deposit for liquid assets, while the positions are open. In the case of short positions in futures contracts that are not contractually required to cash settle, the Portfolio may set aside or earmark liquid assets or enter into offsetting positions equal to such contracts’ current market value, less any margin on deposit for liquid assets, while the positions are open. With respect to futures contracts that are contractually required to cash settle, however, the Portfolio is permitted to set aside or earmark liquid assets or enter into an offsetting position in an amount equal to the Portfolio’s daily mark-to-market net obligation (i.e., the Portfolio’s daily net liability) under the contracts, if any, rather than such contracts’ full notional value. By setting aside or earmarking assets equal to only its net obligations under cash-settled futures contracts, the Portfolio may employ leverage to a greater extent than if the Portfolio were required to segregate assets equal to the full notional value of such contracts.

The SEC recently adopted new Rule 18f-4 under the 1940 Act, which imposes limits on the amount of derivatives the Portfolio can enter into and replaces the asset segregation framework previously used by the Portfolio to comply with Section 18 of the 1940 Act, among other requirements. The Portfolio will comply with the new rule’s asset segregation framework and other requirements upon the SEC’s compliance date in 2022.

The Portfolio reserves the right to modify its policies in the future to comply with any changes in the positions from time to time articulated by the SEC or its staff, such as the SEC’s recently adopted Rule 18f-4, regarding asset segregation.

Borrowing

Joint Credit Agreement

The Portfolio, along with certain other funds managed by the Adviser (“Participating Funds”), is a party to a 364-day, approximately $2.635 billion credit agreement with a group of lenders (the “Credit Agreement”), which expires in June 2022, unless extended or renewed. The Portfolio may borrow under the Credit Agreement to meet shareholder redemptions and for other lawful temporary purposes. Borrowing results in interest expense and being a Participating Fund results in other fees and expenses, which may increase the Portfolio’s net expenses and reduce the Portfolio’s return. In addition, borrowing by the Portfolio may create leverage by increasing the Portfolio’s investment exposure. This will result in any changes in the Portfolio’s net asset value, either positive or negative, being greater than they would have been if the Portfolio had not borrowed. Participating Funds have been allocated different first priority portions of the committed amount of the credit facility based primarily on the expected likelihood and extent of the need to borrow under the Credit Agreement. Administration, legal, arrangement, upfront and undrawn fees under the Credit Agreement are allocated among Participating Funds based upon these first priority portions of the aggregate commitment available to them and other factors deemed relevant by the Adviser and the Board of each Participating Fund, while fees on any amounts drawn by a Participating Fund under the Credit Agreement are borne by that Participating Fund.

Inter-Fund Borrowing and Lending

The SEC has granted an exemptive order permitting registered open-end and closed-end Nuveen Funds to participate in an inter-fund lending facility whereby the Nuveen Funds may directly lend to and borrow money from each other for temporary purposes (e.g., to satisfy redemption requests or when a sale of securities “fails,” resulting in an unanticipated cash shortfall) (the “Inter-Fund Program”). The closed-end Nuveen Funds will participate only as lenders, and not as borrowers, in the Inter-Fund Program because such closed-end funds rarely, if ever, need to borrow cash to meet redemptions. The Inter-Fund Program is subject to a number of conditions, including, among other things, the requirements that (1) no Nuveen Fund may borrow or lend money through the Inter-Fund Program unless it receives a more favorable interest rate than is typically available from a bank or other financial institution for a comparable transaction; (2) no Nuveen Fund may borrow on an unsecured basis through the Inter-Fund Program unless the Nuveen Fund’s outstanding borrowings from all sources immediately after the inter-fund borrowing total 10% or less of its total assets; provided that if the borrowing Nuveen Fund has a secured borrowing outstanding from any other lender, including but not limited to another Nuveen Fund,

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the inter-fund loan must be secured on at least an equal priority basis with at least an equivalent percentage of collateral to loan value; (3) if a Nuveen Fund’s total outstanding borrowings immediately after an inter-fund borrowing would be greater than 10% of its total assets, the Nuveen Fund may borrow through the inter-fund loan on a secured basis only; (4) no Nuveen Fund may lend money if the loan would cause its aggregate outstanding loans through the Inter-Fund Program to exceed 15% of its net assets at the time of the loan; (5) a Nuveen Fund’s inter-fund loans to any one Nuveen Fund shall not exceed 5% of the lending Nuveen Fund’s net assets; (6) the duration of inter-fund loans will be limited to the time required to receive payment for securities sold, but in no event more than seven days; and (7) each inter-fund loan may be called on one business day’s notice by a lending Nuveen Fund and may be repaid on any day by a borrowing Nuveen Fund. In addition, a Nuveen Fund may participate in the Inter-Fund Program only if and to the extent that such participation is consistent with the Nuveen Fund’s investment objective(s) and investment policies. The Board of Trustees of the Nuveen Funds is responsible for overseeing the Inter-Fund Program.

The limitations detailed above and the other conditions of the SEC exemptive order permitting the Inter-Fund Program are designed to minimize the risks associated with Inter-Fund Program for both the lending fund and the borrowing fund. However, no borrowing or lending activity is without risk. When the Portfolio borrows money from another Nuveen Fund, there is a risk that the loan could be called on one day’s notice or not renewed, in which case the Portfolio may have to borrow from a bank at a higher rate or take other actions to payoff such loan if an inter-fund loan is not available from another Nuveen Fund. Any delay in repayment to a lending fund could result in a lost investment opportunity or additional borrowing costs.

Derivatives

Subject to the limitations set forth below under “Limitations on the Use of CFTC-Regulated Futures, Options on Futures and Swaps,” the Portfolio may use derivative instruments as described below. Generally, a derivative is a financial contract the value of which depends upon, or is derived from, the value of an underlying asset, reference rate or index. Derivatives generally take the form of contracts under which the parties agree to payments between them based upon the performance of a wide variety of underlying references, such as stocks, bonds, loans, commodities, interest rates, currency exchange rates, and various domestic and foreign indices.

The Portfolio may use derivatives for a variety of reasons, including as a substitute for investing directly in securities, as part of a hedging strategy (that is, for the purpose of reducing risk to the Portfolio), to manage the effective duration of the Portfolio’s portfolio, or for other purposes related to the management of the Portfolio. Derivatives permit the Portfolio to increase or decrease the level of risk, or change the character of the risk, to which its portfolio is exposed in much the same way as the Portfolio can increase or decrease the level of risk, or change the character of the risk, of its portfolio by making investments in specific securities. However, derivatives may entail investment exposures that are greater than their cost would suggest. As a result, a small investment in derivatives could have a large impact on the Portfolio’s performance.

While transactions in some derivatives may be effected on established exchanges, many other derivatives are privately negotiated and entered into in the over-the-counter (“OTC”) market with a single counterparty. When exchange-traded derivatives are purchased and sold, a clearing agency associated with the exchange stands between each buyer and seller and effectively guarantees performance of each contract, either on a limited basis through a guaranty fund or to the full extent of the clearing agency’s balance sheet. Transactions in OTC derivatives not subject to a clearing requirement have no such protection. Each party to an uncleared OTC derivative bears the risk that its direct counterparty will default. In addition, OTC derivatives are generally less liquid than exchange-traded derivatives because they often can only be closed out with the other party to the transaction.

The use of derivative instruments is subject to applicable regulations of the SEC, the CFTC, various state regulatory authorities and, with respect to exchange-traded derivatives, the several exchanges upon which they are traded. As discussed above under “Asset Coverage Requirements,” in order to engage in certain transactions in derivatives, the Portfolio may be required to hold offsetting positions or to hold cash or liquid securities in a segregated account or designated on the Portfolio’s books. In addition, the Portfolio’s ability to use derivative instruments may be limited by tax considerations.

The particular derivative instruments the Portfolio can use are described below. The Portfolio’s portfolio manager may decide not to employ some or all of these instruments, and there is no assurance that any derivatives strategy used by the Portfolio will succeed. The Portfolio may employ new derivative

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instruments and strategies when they are developed, if those investment methods are consistent with the Portfolio’s investment objectives and are permissible under applicable regulations governing the Portfolio.

Futures

The Portfolio may engage in futures transactions. The Portfolio may buy and sell futures contracts that relate to (1) interest rates, (2) debt securities and (3) bond indices. The Portfolio may only enter into futures contracts which are standardized and traded on a U.S. or foreign exchange, board of trade or similar entity, or quoted on an automated quotation system.

A futures contract is an agreement between two parties to buy and sell a security, index or interest rate (each a “financial instrument”) for a set price on a future date. Certain futures contracts, such as futures contracts relating to individual securities, call for making or taking delivery of the underlying financial instrument. However, these contracts generally are closed out before delivery by entering into an offsetting purchase or sale of a matching futures contract. Other futures contracts, such as futures contracts on interest rates and indices, do not call for making or taking delivery of the underlying financial instrument, but rather are agreements pursuant to which two parties agree to take or make delivery of an amount of cash equal to the difference between the value of the financial instrument at the close of the last trading day of the contract and the price at which the contract was originally written. These contracts also may be settled by entering into an offsetting futures contract.

Unlike when the Portfolio purchases or sells a security, no price is paid or received by the Portfolio upon the purchase or sale of a futures contract. Initially, the Portfolio will be required to deposit with its futures broker (also known as a futures commission merchant (“FCM”)) an amount of cash or securities equal to a specified percentage of the contract amount. This amount is known as initial margin. The margin deposit is intended to ensure completion of the contract. Minimum initial margin requirements are established by the futures exchanges and may be revised. In addition, FCMs may establish margin deposit requirements that are higher than the exchange minimums. Cash held as margin is generally invested by the FCM in high-quality instruments permitted under CFTC regulations, with returns retained by the FCM and interest paid to the Portfolio on the cash at an agreed-upon rate. The Portfolio will also receive any interest paid from coupon-bearing securities, such as Treasury securities, held in margin accounts. Subsequent payments to and from the FCM, called variation margin, will be made on a daily basis as the price of the underlying financial instrument fluctuates, making the futures contract more or less valuable, a process known as marking the contract to market. Changes in variation margin are recorded by the Portfolio as unrealized gains or losses. At any time prior to expiration of the futures contract, the Portfolio may elect to close the position by taking an opposite position that will operate to terminate its position in the futures contract. A final determination of variation margin is then made, additional cash is required to be paid by or released to the Portfolio, and the Portfolio realizes a gain or loss. In the event of the bankruptcy or insolvency of an FCM that holds margin on behalf of the Portfolio, the Portfolio may be entitled to the return of margin owed to it only in proportion to the amount received by the FCM’s other customers, potentially resulting in losses to the Portfolio. Futures transactions also involve brokerage costs.

Most U.S. futures exchanges limit the amount of fluctuation permitted in futures contract prices during a single trading day. The daily limit establishes the maximum amount that the price of a futures contract may vary either up or down from the previous day’s settlement price at the end of a trading session. Once the daily limit has been reached in a particular type of futures contract, no trades may be made on that day at a price beyond that limit. The daily limit governs only price movement during a particular trading day and therefore does not limit potential losses, because the limit may prevent the liquidation of unfavorable positions. Futures contract prices have occasionally moved to the daily limit for several consecutive trading days with little or no trading, thereby preventing prompt liquidation of futures positions and subjecting some futures traders to substantial losses.

Options on Futures

The Portfolio may purchase or write put and call options on futures contracts and write straddles, which consist of a call and put option on the same futures contract. A futures option gives the holder the right, in return for the premium paid, to assume a long position (call) or short position (put) in a futures contract at a specified exercise price prior to the expiration of the option. Upon exercise of a call option, the holder acquires a long position in the futures contract and the writer is assigned the opposite short position. In the case of a put option, the opposite is true. Prior to exercise or expiration, a futures option may be closed out by an offsetting purchase or sale of a futures option of the same series.

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The Portfolio may use options on futures contracts in connection with hedging strategies. The writing of a call option or the purchasing of a put option on a futures contract constitutes a partial hedge against declining prices of the securities which are deliverable upon exercise of the futures contract. If the futures price at expiration of a written call option is below the exercise price, the Portfolio will retain the full amount of the option premium which provides a partial hedge against any decline that may have occurred in the Portfolio’s holdings of securities. If the futures price when the option is exercised is above the exercise price, however, the Portfolio will incur a loss, which may be offset, in whole or in part, by the increase in the value of the securities held by the Portfolio that were being hedged. Writing a put option or purchasing a call option on a futures contract serves as a partial hedge against an increase in the value of the securities the Portfolio intends to acquire.

When writing a call option, the Portfolio must either segregate liquid assets with a value equal to the fluctuating market value of the optioned futures contract, or the Portfolio must own an option to purchase the same futures contract having an exercise price that is (i) equal to or less than the exercise price of the call written, or (ii) greater than the exercise price of the call written, provided the difference is maintained by the Portfolio in segregated liquid assets.

When writing a put option, the Portfolio must segregate liquid assets in an amount not less than the exercise price, or own a put option on the same futures contract where the exercise price of the put held is (i) equal to or greater than the exercise price of the put written, or (ii) less than the exercise price of the put written, provided the difference is maintained by the Portfolio in segregated liquid assets.

When the Portfolio writes a straddle, sufficient assets will be segregated to meet the Portfolio’s immediate obligations. The Portfolio may segregate the same liquid assets for both the call and put options in a straddle where the exercise price of the call and put are the same, or the exercise price of the call is higher than that of the put. In such cases, the Portfolio will also segregate liquid assets equivalent to the amount, if any, by which the put is “in the money.”

As with investments in futures contracts, the Portfolio is required to deposit and maintain margin with respect to put and call options on futures contracts written by it.

Swap Transactions

The Portfolio may enter into interest rate, total return and credit default swap agreements, along with other swap agreements for any purpose consistent with the Portfolio’s investment objectives. The Portfolio may also enter into options on the foregoing types of swap agreements (“swap options”).

The Portfolio may enter into swap transactions for any purpose consistent with its investment objectives and strategies, such as for the purpose of attempting to obtain or preserve a particular return or spread at a lower cost than obtaining a return or spread through purchases and/or sales of instruments in other markets, as a duration management technique, to protect against an increase in the price of securities the Portfolio anticipates purchasing at a later date, to reduce risk arising from the ownership of a particular instrument, or to gain exposure to certain securities, reference rates, sectors or markets.

Swap agreements are two party contracts entered into primarily by institutional investors for a specified period of time. In a standard swap transaction, two parties agree to exchange the returns (or differentials in rates of return) earned or realized on a particular predetermined asset, reference rate or index. The gross returns to be exchanged or swapped between the parties are generally calculated with respect to a notional amount, e.g., the return on or increase in value of a particular dollar amount invested at a particular interest rate or in a basket of securities representing a particular index. The notional amount of the swap agreement generally is only used as a basis upon which to calculate the obligations that the parties to the swap agreement have agreed to exchange. The Portfolio’s current obligations under a net swap agreement will be accrued daily (offset against any amounts owed to the Portfolio) and the Portfolio will segregate assets determined to be liquid by the Sub-Adviser for any accrued but unpaid net amounts owed to a swap counterparty. See “Asset Coverage Requirements” above.

Interest Rate Swaps. Interest rate swaps are financial instruments that involve the exchange of one type of interest rate for another type of interest rate cash flow on specified dates in the future. Some of the different types of interest rate swaps are “fixed-for-floating rate swaps,” “termed basis swaps” and “index amortizing swaps.” Fixed-for-floating rate swaps involve the exchange of fixed interest rate cash flows for floating rate cash flows. Termed basis swaps entail cash flows to both parties based on floating interest rates, where the interest rate indices are different. Index amortizing swaps are typically fixed-for-floating swaps where the notional amount changes if certain conditions are met. Like a traditional

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investment in a debt security, the Portfolio could lose money by investing in an interest rate swap if interest rates change adversely.

Municipal Market Data Rate Locks. The Portfolio may purchase and sell municipal market data rate locks (“MMD Rate Locks”). An MMD Rate Lock permits the Portfolio to lock in a specified municipal interest rate for a portion of its portfolio to preserve a return on a particular investment or a portion of its portfolio as a duration management technique or to protect against any increase in the price of securities to be purchased at a later date. By using an MMD Rate Lock, the Portfolio can create a synthetic long or short position, allowing the Portfolio to select what the manager believes is an attractive part of the yield curve. The Portfolio will ordinarily use these transactions as a hedge or for duration or risk management although it is permitted to enter into them to enhance income or gain or to increase the Portfolio’s yield, for example, during periods of steep interest rate yield curves (i.e., wide differences between short term and long term interest rates). An MMD Rate Lock is a contract between the Portfolio and an MMD Rate Lock provider pursuant to which the parties agree to make payments to each other on a notional amount, contingent upon whether the Municipal Market Data AAA General Obligation Scale is above or below a specified level on the expiration date of the contract. For example, if the Portfolio buys an MMD Rate Lock and the Municipal Market Data AAA General Obligation Scale is below the specified level on the expiration date, the counterparty to the contract will make a payment to the Portfolio equal to the specified level minus the actual level, multiplied by the notional amount of the contract. If the Municipal Market Data AAA General Obligation Scale is above the specified level on the expiration date, the Portfolio will make a payment to the counterparty equal to the actual level minus the specified level, multiplied by the notional amount of the contract. In connection with investments in MMD Rate Locks, there is a risk that municipal yields will move in the opposite direction than anticipated by the Portfolio, which would cause the Portfolio to make payments to its counterparty in the transaction that could adversely affect the Portfolio’s performance.

Total Return Swaps. In a total return swap, one party agrees to pay the other the “total return” of a defined underlying asset during a specified period, in return for periodic payments based on a fixed or variable interest rate or the total return from other underlying assets. A total return swap may be applied to any underlying asset but is most commonly used with equity indices, single stocks, bonds and defined baskets of loans and mortgages. The Portfolio might enter into a total return swap involving an underlying index or basket of securities to create exposure to a potentially widely-diversified range of securities in a single trade. An index total return swap can be used by the portfolio manager to assume risk, without the complications of buying the component securities from what may not always be the most liquid of markets.

Credit Default Swaps. A credit default swap is a bilateral contract that enables an investor to buy or sell protection against a defined-issuer credit event. The Portfolio may enter into credit default swap agreements either as a buyer or a seller. The Portfolio may buy protection to attempt to mitigate the risk of default or credit quality deterioration in one or more of its individual holdings or in a segment of the fixed income securities market to which it has exposure, or to take a “short” position in individual bonds or market segments which it does not own. The Portfolio may sell protection in an attempt to gain exposure to the credit quality characteristics of particular bonds or market segments without investing directly in those bonds or market segments.

As the buyer of protection in a credit default swap, the Portfolio will pay a premium (by means of an upfront payment or a periodic stream of payments over the term of the agreement) in return for the right to deliver a referenced bond or group of bonds to the protection seller and receive the full notional or par value (or other agreed upon value) upon a default (or similar event) by the issuer(s) of the underlying referenced obligation(s). If no default occurs, the protection seller would keep the stream of payments and would have no further obligation to the Portfolio. Thus, the cost to the Portfolio would be the premium paid with respect to the agreement. If a credit event occurs, however, the Portfolio may elect to receive the full notional value of the swap in exchange for an equal face amount of deliverable obligations of the reference entity that may have little or no value. The Portfolio bears the risk that the protection seller may fail to satisfy its payment obligations.

If the Portfolio is a seller of protection in a credit default swap and no credit event occurs, the Portfolio would generally receive an up-front payment or a periodic stream of payments over the term of the swap. If a credit event occurs, however, generally the Portfolio would have to pay the buyer the full notional value of the swap in exchange for an equal face amount of deliverable obligations of the reference entity that may have little or no value. As the protection seller, the Portfolio effectively adds economic leverage to its portfolio because, in addition to being subject to investment exposure on its total net assets, the

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Portfolio is subject to investment exposure on the notional amount of the swap. Thus, the Portfolio bears the same risk as it would by buying the reference obligations directly, plus the additional risks related to obtaining investment exposure through a derivative instrument discussed below under “Risks Associated with Swap Transactions.”

Swap Options. A swap option is a contract that gives a counterparty the right (but not the obligation), in return for payment of a premium, to enter into a new swap agreement or to shorten, extend, cancel, or otherwise modify an existing swap agreement at some designated future time on specified terms. A cash-settled option on a swap gives the purchaser the right, in return for the premium paid, to receive an amount of cash equal to the value of the underlying swap as of the exercise date. The Portfolio may write (sell) and purchase put and call swap options. Depending on the terms of the particular option agreement, the Portfolio generally will incur a greater degree of risk when it writes a swap option than when it purchases a swap option. When the Portfolio purchases a swap option, it risks losing only the amount of the premium it has paid should it decide to let the option expire unexercised. However, when the Portfolio writes a swap option, upon exercise of the option the Portfolio will become obligated according to the terms of the underlying agreement.

Risks Associated with Swap Transactions. The use of swap transactions is a highly specialized activity which involves strategies and risks different from those associated with ordinary portfolio security transactions. If the Sub-Adviser is incorrect in its forecasts of default risks, market spreads or other applicable factors the investment performance of the Portfolio would diminish compared with what it would have been if these techniques were not used. As the protection seller in a credit default swap, the Portfolio effectively adds economic leverage to its portfolio because, in addition to being subject to investment exposure on its total net assets, the Portfolio is subject to investment exposure on the notional amount of the swap. The Portfolio may only close out a swap or other two-party contract with its particular counterparty, and may only transfer a position with the consent of that counterparty. In addition, the price at which the Portfolio may close out such a two party contract may not correlate with the price change in the underlying reference asset. If the counterparty defaults, the Portfolio will have contractual remedies, but there can be no assurance that the counterparty will be able to meet its contractual obligations or that the Portfolio will succeed in enforcing its rights. It also is possible that developments in the derivatives market, including potential government regulation, could adversely affect the Portfolio’s ability to terminate existing swap or other agreements or to realize amounts to be received under such agreements.

Interest Rate Caps, Collars and Floors

The Portfolio may enter into interest rate caps, floors and collars. Caps and floors have an effect similar to buying or writing options. In a typical cap or floor agreement, one party agrees to make payments only under specified circumstances, usually in return for payment of a fee by the other party. For example, the buyer of an interest rate cap obtains the right to receive payments to the extent that a specified interest rate exceeds an agreed-upon level. The seller of an interest rate floor is obligated to make payments to the extent that a specified interest rate falls below an agreed-upon level. An interest rate collar involves selling a cap and purchasing a floor or vice versa to protect the Portfolio against interest rate movements exceeding given minimum or maximum levels.

Limitations on the Use of CFTC-Regulated Futures, Options on Futures and Swaps

The Portfolio will limit its direct investments in CFTC-regulated futures, options on futures and swaps (“CFTC Derivatives”) to the extent necessary for the Adviser to claim the exclusion from regulation as a commodity pool operator with respect to the Portfolio under CFTC Rule 4.5, as such rule may be amended from time to time. Under Rule 4.5 as currently in effect, the Portfolio will limit its trading activity in CFTC Derivatives (excluding activity for “bona fide hedging purposes,” as defined by the CFTC) such that it meets one of the following tests:

· Aggregate initial margin and premiums required to establish its positions in CFTC Derivatives do not exceed 5% of the liquidation value of the Portfolio’s portfolio, after taking into account unrealized profits and losses on such positions; or

· Aggregate net notional value of its positions in CFTC Derivatives does not exceed 100% of the liquidation value of the Portfolio’s portfolio, after taking into account unrealized profits and losses on such positions.

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With respect to the Portfolio, the Adviser has filed a notice of eligibility for exclusion from the definition of the term commodity pool operator under the Commodity Exchange Act and therefore is not subject to registration or regulation as a commodity pool operator thereunder.

The requirements for qualification as a regulated investment company may also limit the extent to which the Portfolio may invest in CFTC Derivatives. See “Tax Matters—Qualification as a Regulated Investment Company.”

Federal Income Tax Treatment of Futures Contracts and Options

The Portfolio’s transactions in futures contracts and options will be subject to special provisions of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), that, among other things, may affect the character of gains and losses realized by the Portfolio (i.e., may affect whether gains or losses are ordinary or capital, or short-term or long-term), may accelerate recognition of income to the Portfolio and may defer Portfolio losses. These rules could, therefore, affect the character, amount and timing of distributions to shareholders. These provisions also (a) will require the Portfolio to mark-to-market certain types of the positions in its portfolio (i.e., treat them as if they were closed out) and (b) may cause the Portfolio to recognize income without receiving cash with which to make distributions in amounts necessary to satisfy the 90% distribution requirement for qualifying to be taxed as a regulated investment company and the distribution requirement for avoiding excise taxes.

Risks and Special Considerations Concerning Derivatives

The use of derivative instruments involves certain general risks and considerations as described below.

(1) Market Risk. Market risk is the risk that the value of the underlying assets may go up or down. Adverse movements in the value of an underlying asset can expose the Portfolio to losses. The successful use of derivative instruments depends upon a variety of factors, particularly the portfolio manager's ability to predict movements in the relevant markets, which may require different skills than predicting changes in the prices of individual securities. There can be no assurance that any particular strategy adopted will succeed.

(2) Counterparty Risk. Counterparty risk is the risk that a loss may be sustained as a result of the failure of a counterparty to comply with the terms of a derivative instrument. The counterparty risk for exchange-traded derivatives is generally less than for OTC derivatives, since generally a clearing agency, which is the issuer or counterparty to each exchange-traded instrument, provides a guarantee of performance. For many OTC instruments, there is no similar clearing agency guarantee and there is less regulation or supervision of transactions. In all transactions, the Portfolio will bear the risk that the counterparty will default, and this could result in a loss of the expected benefit of the derivative transactions and possibly other losses to the Portfolio. The Portfolio will enter into derivatives transactions only with counterparties that its portfolio manager reasonably believes are capable of performing under the contract.

(3) Correlation Risk. Correlation risk is the risk that there might be an imperfect correlation, or even no correlation, between price movements of a derivative instrument and price movements of investments being hedged. When a derivative transaction is used to completely hedge another position, changes in the market value of the combined position (the derivative instrument plus the position being hedged) result from an imperfect correlation between the price movements of the two instruments. With a perfect hedge, the value of the combined position remains unchanged with any change in the price of the underlying asset. With an imperfect hedge, the value of the derivative instrument and its hedge are not perfectly correlated. For example, if the value of a derivative instrument used in a short hedge (such as writing a call option, buying a put option or selling a futures contract) increased by less than the decline in value of the hedged investments, the hedge would not be perfectly correlated. This might occur due to factors unrelated to the value of the investments being hedged, such as speculative or other pressures on the markets in which these instruments are traded. The effectiveness of hedges using instruments on indices will depend, in part, on the degree of correlation between price movements in the index and the price movements in the investments being hedged.

(4) Liquidity Risk. Liquidity risk is the risk that a derivative instrument cannot be sold, closed out or replaced quickly at or very close to its fundamental value. Generally, exchange contracts are very liquid because the exchange clearinghouse is the counterparty of every contract. OTC transactions are less liquid than exchange-traded derivatives since they often can only be closed out with the other

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party to the transaction. The Portfolio might be required by applicable regulatory requirements to maintain assets as “cover,” maintain segregated accounts, and/or make margin payments when it takes positions in derivative instruments involving obligations to third parties (i.e., instruments other than purchase options). If the Portfolio is unable to close out its positions in such instruments, it might be required to continue to maintain such assets or accounts or make such payments until the position expires, matures or is closed out. These requirements might impair the Portfolio’s ability to sell a security or make an investment at a time when it would otherwise be favorable to do so, or require that the Portfolio sell a portfolio security at a disadvantageous time. The Portfolio’s ability to sell or close out a position in an instrument prior to expiration or maturity depends upon the existence of a liquid secondary market or, in the absence of such a market, the ability and willingness of the counterparty to enter into a transaction closing out the position. There is no assurance that any derivatives position can be sold or closed out at a time and price that is favorable to the Portfolio.

(5) Legal Risk. Legal risk is the risk of loss caused by the unenforceability of a party’s obligations under the derivative. While a party seeking price certainty agrees to surrender the potential upside in exchange for downside protection, the party taking the risk is looking for a positive payoff. Despite this voluntary assumption of risk, a counterparty that has lost money in a derivative transaction may try to avoid payment by exploiting various legal uncertainties about certain derivative products.

(6) Systemic or “Interconnection” Risk. Systemic or interconnection risk is the risk that a disruption in the financial markets will cause difficulties for all market participants. In other words, a disruption in one market will spill over into other markets, perhaps creating a chain reaction. Much of the OTC derivatives market takes place among the OTC dealers themselves, thus creating a large interconnected web of financial obligations. This interconnectedness raises the possibility that a default by one large dealer could create losses for other dealers and destabilize the entire market for OTC derivative instruments.

(7) Leverage Risk. Leverage risk is the risk that the Portfolio may be more volatile than if it had not been leveraged due to leverage’s tendency to exaggerate the effect of any increase or decrease in the value of the Portfolio’s portfolio securities. The use of leverage may also cause the Portfolio to liquidate portfolio positions when it may not be advantageous to do so to satisfy its obligations or to meet segregation requirements.

(8) Regulatory Risk. The Dodd-Frank Act Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “Dodd-Frank Act”) has initiated a dramatic revision of the U.S. financial regulatory framework and covers a broad range of topics, including (among many others) a reorganization of federal financial regulators; a process intended to improve financial systemic stability and the resolution of potentially insolvent financial firms; and new rules for derivatives trading. In particular, the Dodd-Frank Act made broad changes to the OTC derivatives market, granted significant authority to the SEC and the CFTC to regulate OTC derivatives and market participants, and requires clearing and exchange trading of many OTC derivatives transactions. Requirements, such as capital requirements and mandatory clearing of OTC derivatives transactions, have impacted and may continue to impact the costs to the Portfolio of trading these instruments and, as a result may affect returns to investors in the Portfolio. Instruments in which the Portfolio may invest, or the issuers of such instruments, may be affected by this legislation and regulation in ways that are unforeseeable. Certain of the implementing regulations have not yet been finalized or made effective. Accordingly, the ultimate impact of the Dodd-Frank Act, including on the derivative instruments in which the Portfolio may invest, is not yet certain.

Illiquid Investments

The Portfolio may invest in illiquid investments (i.e., investments that the Portfolio reasonably expects cannot be sold or disposed of in current market conditions in seven calendar days or less without the sale or disposition significantly changing the market value of the investment). For purposes of this restriction, illiquid investments include, but are not limited to, restricted securities (securities the disposition of which is restricted under the federal securities laws) and repurchase agreements with maturities in excess of seven days. However, the Portfolio will not acquire illiquid investments if, as a result, such securities would comprise more than 15% of the value of the Portfolio’s net assets. The Board of Trustees or its delegate has the ultimate authority to determine, to the extent permissible under the federal securities laws, which securities are liquid or illiquid for purposes of this 15% limitation. The Board of Trustees has delegated to the Adviser the day-to-day determination of the illiquidity of any portfolio security, although it has retained oversight over and ultimate responsibility for such determinations. The Adviser works with and to a large extent relies on the expertise and advice of the Sub-Adviser in making these liquidity determinations. Although no definitive liquidity criteria are used, the Board of Trustees has directed the

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Adviser to look to such factors as (i) the nature of the market for a security (including the institutional private resale market; the frequency of trades and quotes for the security; the number of dealers willing to purchase or sell the security; and the amount of time normally needed to dispose of the security, the method of soliciting offers and the mechanics of transfer), (ii) the terms of certain securities or other instruments allowing for the disposition to a third party or the issuer thereof (e.g., certain repurchase obligations and demand instruments), and (iii) other permissible relevant facts.

Restricted securities may be sold only in privately negotiated transactions or in a public offering with respect to which a registration statement is in effect under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. Where registration is required, the Portfolio may be obligated to pay all or part of the registration expenses and a considerable period may elapse between the time of the decision to sell and the time the Portfolio may be permitted to sell a security under an effective registration statement. If, during such a period, adverse market conditions were to develop, the Portfolio might obtain a less favorable price than that which prevailed when it decided to sell. Illiquid investments will be priced at fair value as determined in good faith by the Board of Trustees or its delegate.

Mortgage-Backed Securities

The Portfolio may invest in fixed-income obligations backed by a pool of mortgages. Mortgage-backed securities are issued both by U.S. government agencies, including the Government National Mortgage Association (“GNMA”), the Federal National Mortgage Association (“FNMA”) and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (“FHLMC”), and by private entities. The payment of interest and principal on securities issued by U.S. government agencies is guaranteed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government (in the case of GNMA securities) or the issuer (in the case of FNMA and FHLMC securities). However, the guarantees do not apply to the market prices and yields of these securities, which vary with changes in interest rates. Mortgage-backed securities issued by private entities are structured similarly to mortgage-backed securities issued by GNMA, FNMA and FHLMC. These securities and the underlying mortgages are not guaranteed by government agencies. However, these securities generally are structured with one or more types of credit enhancement by a third party. Mortgage-backed securities permit borrowers to prepay their underlying mortgages. Prepayments by borrowers on underlying obligations can alter the effective maturity of these instruments.

Municipal Bonds and Other Municipal Obligations

The Portfolio invests principally in municipal bonds and other municipal obligations. These bonds and other obligations are issued by the states and by their local and special-purpose political subdivisions. The term “municipal bond” includes short-term municipal notes issued by the states and their political subdivisions, including, but not limited to, tax anticipation notes (“TANs”), bond anticipation notes (“BANs”), revenue anticipation notes (“RANs”), construction loan notes, tax free commercial paper, and tax free participation certificates. In general, municipal obligations include debt obligations issued by states, cities and local authorities to obtain funds for various public purposes, including construction of a wide range of public facilities such as airports, bridges, highways, hospitals, housing, mass transportation, schools, streets and water and sewer works.

General obligation bonds are backed by the issuer’s pledge of its faith, credit, and taxing power for the payment of principal and interest. The taxes that can be levied for the payment of debt service may be limited or unlimited as to rate and amount. For a limited obligation or revenue bond, the only security is typically the net revenue derived from payments by a particular facility or class of facilities financed by the proceeds of the bonds or, in some cases, from the proceeds of a special tax or other special revenues. Although the security behind these bonds varies widely, many lower rated bonds provide additional security in the form of a debt service reserve fund that may also be used to make principal and interest payments on the issuer’s obligations. In addition, some revenue obligations (as well as general obligations) are insured by a bond insurance company or backed by a letter of credit issued by a banking institution. The credit quality of revenue bonds is usually directly related to the credit standing of the user of the facility being financed or of an institution which provides a guarantee, letter of credit or other credit enhancement for the bond issue. Revenue bonds do not generally constitute the pledge of the credit of the issuer of such bonds and are generally not secured by the taxing power of the municipality. Revenue bonds are included in the term municipal obligations if the interest paid thereon is exempt from federal income tax. Revenue bonds may include, but are not limited to, pollution control, health care, housing, education-related and industrial development bonds.

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Generally, the creditworthiness of a local municipal obligation is unrelated to that of the municipal obligations of the state itself if the state has no responsibility to guarantee or otherwise make payments on those local municipal obligations.

Generally, interest received on municipal obligations is exempt from federal income tax. The tax-exempt nature of the interest on a municipal obligation is generally the subject of a bond counsel opinion delivered in connection with the issuance of the instrument. Tax opinions are generally provided at the time the municipal security is initially issued and neither the Portfolio or its portfolio manager will independently review the bases for those tax opinions or guarantee that the tax opinions are correct. There is no assurance that the Internal Revenue Service will agree with bond counsel’s opinion that such interest is tax-exempt or that the interest payments on such municipal obligations will continue to be tax exempt for the life of the municipal obligation. Issuers or other parties generally enter into covenants requiring continuing compliance with federal tax requirements to preserve the tax-free status of interest payments over the life of the municipal obligation. If at any time the covenants are not complied with, or if the Internal Revenue Service otherwise determines that the issuer did not comply with relevant tax requirements, interest payments from a municipal obligation could become federally taxable, possibly retroactively to the date the municipal obligation was issued, and an investor may need to file an amended income tax return.

Obligations of issuers of municipal obligations are subject to the provisions of bankruptcy, insolvency and other laws affecting the rights and remedies of creditors. The application of state law to municipal obligation issuers could produce varying results among the states or among municipal obligation issuers within a state. These uncertainties could have a significant impact on the prices of the municipal obligations in which the Portfolio invests. In addition, issuers of municipal obligations may become subject to the laws enacted in the future by Congress, state legislatures or referenda extending the time for payment of principal and/or interest, or imposing other constraints upon enforcement of such obligations or upon municipalities to levy taxes. There is also the possibility that, as a result of legislation or other conditions, the power or ability of any issuer to pay, when due, the principal of and interest on its municipal obligations may be materially affected.

Municipal Bonds

The two general classifications of municipal bonds are “general obligation” bonds and “revenue” bonds. General obligation bonds are secured by the governmental issuer’s pledge of its faith, credit and taxing power for the payment of principal and interest upon a default by the issuer of its principal and interest payment obligations. They are usually paid from general revenues of the issuing governmental entity. Revenue bonds, on the other hand, are usually payable only out of a specific revenue source rather than from general revenues. Revenue bonds ordinarily are not backed by the faith, credit or general taxing power of the issuing governmental entity. The principal and interest on revenue bonds for private facilities are typically paid out of rents or other specified payments made to the issuing governmental entity by a private company which uses or operates the facilities. Examples of these types of obligations are industrial revenue bond and pollution control revenue bonds. Industrial revenue bonds are issued by governmental entities to provide financing aid to community facilities such as hospitals, hotels, business or residential complexes, convention halls and sport complexes. Pollution control revenue bonds are issued to finance air, water and solids pollution control systems for privately operated industrial or commercial facilities.

Revenue bonds for private facilities usually do not represent a pledge of the credit, general revenues or taxing powers of issuing governmental entity. Instead, the private company operating the facility is the sole source of payment of the obligation. Sometimes, the funds for payment of revenue bonds come solely from revenue generated by operation of the facility. Federal income tax laws place substantial limitations on industrial revenue bonds, and particularly certain specified private activity bonds issued after August 7, 1986. In the future, legislation could be introduced in Congress which could further restrict or eliminate the income tax exemption for interest on debt obligations in which the Portfolio may invest.

Refunded Bonds

The Portfolio may invest in refunded bonds. Refunded bonds may have originally been issued as general obligation or revenue bonds, but become refunded when they are secured by an escrow fund, usually consisting entirely of direct U.S. government obligations and/or U.S. government agency obligations sufficient for paying the bondholders. There are two types of refunded bonds: pre-refunded bonds and escrowed-to-maturity (“ETM”) bonds. The escrow fund for a pre-refunded municipal bond may be structured so that the refunded bonds are to be called at the first possible date or a subsequent call

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date established in the original bond debenture. The call price usually includes a premium from 1% to 3% above par. This type of structure usually is used for those refundings that either reduce the issuer’s interest payment expenses or change the debt maturity schedule. In escrow funds for ETM refunded municipal bonds, the maturity schedules of the securities in the escrow funds match the regular debt-service requirements on the bonds as originally stated in the bond indentures.

Municipal Leases and Certificates of Participation

The Portfolio also may purchase municipal lease obligations, primarily through certificates of participation. Certificates of participation in municipal leases are undivided interests in a lease, installment purchase contract or conditional sale contract entered into by a state or local governmental unit to acquire equipment or facilities. Municipal leases frequently have special risks which generally are not associated with general obligation bonds or revenue bonds. Municipal leases and installment purchase or conditional sales contracts (which usually provide for title to the leased asset to pass to the governmental issuer upon payment of all amounts due under the contract) have evolved as a means for governmental issuers to acquire property and equipment without meeting the constitutional and statutory requirements for the issuance of municipal debt.

Although lease obligations do not constitute general obligations of the municipality for which the municipality’s taxing power is pledged, a lease obligation is ordinarily backed by the municipality’s covenant to budget for, appropriate and make the payments due under the lease obligation. However, certain lease obligations contain “non-appropriation” clauses, which provide that the municipality has no obligation to make lease or installment purchase payments in future years unless money is appropriated for such purpose on a yearly basis. In evaluating securities for purchase, the Portfolio will take into account the incentive of the issuer to appropriate under the lease, among other factors. Some lease obligations may be illiquid under certain circumstances. Although non-appropriation lease obligations are secured by the leased equipment or facilities, disposition of the property in the event of foreclosure might prove difficult and time consuming. In addition, disposition upon non-appropriation or foreclosure might not result in recovery by the Portfolio of the full principal amount represented by an obligation.

In light of these concerns, the Portfolio has adopted and follows procedures for determining whether any municipal lease obligations purchased by the Portfolio are liquid and for monitoring the liquidity of municipal lease securities held in the Portfolio’s portfolio. These procedures require that a number of factors be used in evaluating the liquidity of a municipal lease security, including the frequency of trades and quotes for the security, the number of dealers willing to purchase or sell the security and the number of other potential purchasers, the willingness of dealers to undertake to make a market in security, the nature of the marketplace in which the security trades, and other factors which the Sub-Adviser may deem relevant. As set forth in “Investment Restrictions” above, the Portfolio is subject to limitations on the percentage of illiquid investments it can hold.

Derivative Municipal Securities

The Portfolio may also acquire derivative municipal securities, which are custodial receipts of certificates underwritten by securities dealers or banks that evidence ownership of future interest payments, principal payments or both on certain municipal securities. The underwriter of these certificates or receipts typically purchases municipal securities and deposits them in an irrevocable trust or custodial account with a custodian bank, which then issues receipts or certificates that evidence ownership of the periodic unmatured coupon payments and the final principal payment on the obligation.

The principal and interest payments on the municipal securities underlying custodial receipts may be allocated in a number of ways. For example, payments may be allocated such that certain custodial receipts may have variable or floating interest rates and others may be stripped securities which pay only the principal or interest due on the underlying municipal securities. The Portfolio may invest in custodial receipts which have inverse floating interest rates and other inverse floating rate municipal obligations, as described below under “Inverse Floating Rate Municipal Securities.”

Variable Rate Demand Notes (“VRDNs”)

VRDNs are long-term municipal obligations that have variable or floating interest rates and provide the Portfolio with the right to tender the security for repurchase at its stated principal amount plus accrued interest. Such securities typically bear interest at a rate that is intended to cause the securities to trade at par. The interest rate may float or be adjusted at regular intervals (ranging from daily to annually), and is normally based on an applicable interest index or another published interest rate or interest rate index. Most VRDNs allow the Portfolio to demand the repurchase of the security on not more than seven days

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prior notice. Other notes only permit the Portfolio to tender the security at the time of each interest rate adjustment or at other fixed intervals. Variable interest rates generally reduce changes in the market value of municipal obligations from their original purchase prices. Accordingly, as interest rates decrease, the potential for capital appreciation is less for variable rate municipal obligations than for fixed income obligations.

Inverse Floating Rate Municipal Securities

The Portfolio may invest in inverse floating rate municipal securities or “inverse floaters,” whose rates vary inversely to interest rates on a specified short-term municipal bond index or on another instrument. Such securities involve special risks as compared to conventional fixed-rate bonds. Should short-term interest rates rise, the Portfolio’s investment in inverse floaters likely would adversely affect the Portfolio’s earnings and distributions to shareholders. Also, because changes in the interest rate on the other index or other instrument inversely affect the rate of interest received on an inverse floater, and because inverse floaters essentially represent a leveraged investment in a long-term bond, the value of an inverse floater is generally more volatile than that of a conventional fixed-rate bond having similar credit quality, redemption provisions and maturity. Although volatile in value, inverse floaters typically offer the potential for yields substantially exceeding the yields available on conventional fixed-rate bonds with comparable credit quality, coupon, call provisions and maturity. The markets for inverse floating rate securities may be less developed and have less liquidity than the markets for conventional securities. The Portfolio will only invest in inverse floating rate securities whose underlying bonds are rated A or higher.

Non-Investment Grade Debt Securities (Junk Bonds)

The Portfolio may invest in non-investment grade debt securities. Non-investment grade debt securities are medium- to low-quality municipal obligations. Municipal obligations rated below investment grade (BB/Ba or lower) are commonly known as “high yield,” “high risk” or “junk” bonds. Junk bonds, while generally offering higher yields than investment grade securities with similar maturities, involve greater risks, including the possibility of default or bankruptcy. They are regarded as predominantly speculative with respect to the issuer’s capacity to pay interest and repay principal. The special risk considerations in connection with investments in these securities are discussed below. Refer to Appendix A of this Statement of Additional Information for a discussion of securities ratings.

(1) Effect of Interest Rates and Economic Changes. All interest-bearing securities typically experience appreciation when interest rates decline and depreciation when interest rates rise. In addition, the market values of junk bond securities tend to reflect individual issuer developments to a greater extent than do the market values of higher rated securities, which react primarily to fluctuations in the general level of interest rates. Junk bond securities also tend to be more sensitive to economic conditions than are higher rated securities. As a result, they generally involve more credit risk than securities in the higher rated categories. During an economic downturn or a sustained period of rising interest rates, highly leveraged issuers of junk bond securities may experience financial stress and may not have sufficient revenues to meet their payment obligations. The risk of loss due to default by an issuer of these securities is significantly greater than by an issuer of higher rated securities because such securities are generally unsecured and are often subordinated to other creditors. Further, if the issuer of a junk bond security defaults, the Portfolio may incur additional expenses to seek recovery. Periods of economic uncertainty and changes would also generally result in increased volatility in the market prices of these and thus in the Portfolio’s net asset value.

The value of a junk bond security will generally decrease in a rising interest rate market and, accordingly, so will the Portfolio’s net asset value. If the Portfolio experiences unexpected net redemptions in such a market, it may be forced to liquidate a portion of its portfolio securities without regard to their investment merits. Due to the limited liquidity of certain junk bond securities, the Portfolio may be forced to liquidate these securities at a substantial discount. Any such liquidation would reduce the Portfolio’s asset base over which expenses could be allocated and could result in a reduced rate of return for the Portfolio.

(2) Payment Expectations. Junk bond securities typically contain redemption, call, or prepayment provisions that permit the issuer of securities containing such provisions to redeem the securities at its discretion. During periods of falling interest rates, issuers of these securities are likely to redeem or prepay the securities and refinance them with debt securities with a lower interest rate. To the extent an issuer is able to refinance the securities, or otherwise redeem them, the Portfolio may have to replace the securities with lower yielding securities, which could result in a lower return for the Portfolio.

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(3) Credit Ratings. Credit ratings are issued by credit rating agencies and are indicative of the rated securities’ safety of principal and interest payments. They do not, however, evaluate the market value risk of junk bond securities and, therefore, may not fully reflect the true risks of such an investment. In addition, credit rating agencies may not make timely changes in a rating to reflect changes in the economy or in the condition of the issuer that affect the value of the security. Consequently, credit ratings are used only as a preliminary indicator of investment quality. Investments in junk bonds will depend more upon credit analysis by the Sub-Adviser than investments in investment grade debt securities. The Sub-Adviser employs its own credit research and analysis, which includes a study of the issuer’s existing debt, capital structure, ability to service debts and pay dividends, sensitivity to economic conditions, operating history, and current earnings trend. The Sub-Adviser continually monitors the Portfolio’s investments and carefully evaluates whether to dispose of or to retain junk bond securities whose credit ratings or credit quality may have changed.

(4) Liquidity and Valuation. The Portfolio may have difficulty disposing of certain junk bond securities because there may be a thin trading market for such securities. Not all dealers maintain markets in all junk bond securities. As a result, there is no established retail secondary market for many of these securities. To the extent a secondary trading market does exist, it is generally not as liquid as the secondary market for higher rated securities. The lack of a liquid secondary market may have an adverse impact on the market price of the security. The lack of a liquid secondary market for certain securities may also make it more difficult for the Portfolio to obtain accurate market quotations for purposes of valuing its securities. Market quotations are generally available on many junk bond issues only from a limited number of dealers and may not necessarily represent firm bids of such dealers or prices for actual sales. During periods of thin trading, the spread between bid and asked prices is likely to increase significantly. In addition, adverse publicity and investor perceptions, whether or not based on fundamental analysis, may decrease the value and liquidity of junk bond securities, especially in a thinly traded market.

The Portfolio may invest up to 5% of its net assets in defaulted municipal obligations. Municipal obligations in the lowest rating categories may be in default and are generally regarded as having poor prospects of attaining any real investment standing. A default or expected default in a municipal obligation owned by the Portfolio could result in a significant decline in the value of that municipal obligation. Any investment in distressed or defaulted securities subjects the Portfolio to even greater credit risk than investments in other below-investment grade securities. The Portfolio generally will not receive interest payments on the defaulted bonds and there is a substantial risk that principal will not be repaid. Defaulted bonds may be repaid only after lengthy workout or bankruptcy proceedings, during which the issuer may not make any interest or other payments. The Portfolio may incur additional expenses to the extent it is required to seek recovery upon a default in the payment of principal of or interest on its portfolio holdings. In any reorganization or liquidation proceeding relating to a defaulted bond, the Portfolio may lose its entire investment or may be required to accept cash or securities with a value less than its original investment. Defaulted bonds and any securities received in exchange for defaulted bonds may be subject to restrictions on resale.

Payment-In-Kind Debentures and Delayed Interest Securities

The Portfolio may invest in debentures the interest on which may be paid in other securities rather than cash (“PIKs”) or may be delayed (“delayed interest securities”). Typically, during a specified term prior to the debenture’s maturity, the issuer of a PIK may provide for the option or the obligation to make interest payments in debentures, common stock or other instruments (i.e., “in kind” rather than in cash). The type of instrument in which interest may or will be paid would be known by the Portfolio at the time of investment. While PIKs generate income for purposes of generally accepted accounting standards, they do not generate cash flow and thus could cause the Portfolio to be forced to liquidate securities at an inopportune time in order to distribute cash, as required by the Code.

Unlike PIKs, delayed interest securities do not pay interest for a specified period. Because values of securities of this type are subject to greater fluctuations than are the values of securities that distribute income regularly, they may be more speculative than such securities.

Short-Term Investments

The Prospectus discusses briefly the ability of the Portfolio to invest a portion of its assets in federally tax-exempt or taxable short-term securities or shares of money market funds (“short-term investments”). The Portfolio will invest only in taxable short-term investments that are either (i) U.S. government

S-18


securities, (ii) rated within the highest grade by Moody’s, Standard & Poor’s or Fitch and mature within one year from the date of purchase or carry a variable or floating rate of interest or (iii) taxable money market funds. See Appendix A for more information about ratings by Moody’s, Standard & Poor’s, and Fitch.

Tax-Exempt Short-Term Investments

The federally tax-exempt short-term investments the Portfolio may invest in include, but are not limited to, the following:

BANs are usually general obligations of state and local governmental issuers, which are sold to obtain interim financing for projects that will eventually be funded through the sale of long-term debt obligations or bonds. The ability of an issuer to meet its obligations on its BANs is primarily dependent on the issuer’s access to the long-term municipal bond market and the likelihood that the proceeds of such bond sales will be used to pay the principal and interest on the BANs.

TANs are issued by state and local governments to finance the current operations of such governments. Repayment is generally to be derived from specific future tax revenues. Tax anticipation notes are usually general obligations of the issuer. A weakness in an issuer’s capacity to raise taxes due to, among other things, a decline in its tax base or a rise in delinquencies, could adversely affect the issuer’s ability to meet its obligations on outstanding TANs.

RANs are issued by governments or governmental bodies with the expectation that future revenues from a designated source will be used to repay the notes. In general, they also constitute general obligations of the issuer. A decline in the receipt of projected revenues, such as anticipated revenues from another level of government, could adversely affect an issuer’s ability to meet its obligations on outstanding RANs. In addition, the possibility that the revenues would, when received, be used to meet other obligations could affect the ability of the issuer to pay the principal and interest on RANs.

Construction Loan Notes are issued to provide construction financing for specific projects. Frequently, these notes are redeemed with funds obtained from the Federal Housing Administration.

Bank Notes are notes issued by local government bodies and agencies as those described above to commercial banks as evidence of borrowings. The purposes for which the notes are issued are varied, but they are frequently issued to meet short-term working capital or capital-project needs. These notes may have risks similar to the risks associated with TANs and RANs.

Tax-Exempt Commercial Paper (Municipal Paper) represents very short-term unsecured, negotiable promissory notes, issued by states, municipalities and their agencies. Payment of principal and interest on issues of municipal paper may be made from various sources, to the extent the funds are available therefrom. Maturities of municipal paper generally will be shorter than the maturities of TANs, BANs or RANs. There is a limited secondary market for issues of municipal paper.

Certain municipal obligations may carry variable or floating rates of interest whereby the rate of interest is not fixed, but varies with changes in specified market rates or indices, such as a bank prime rate or a tax-exempt money market index.

While these various types of notes as a group represent the major portion of the tax-exempt note market, other types of notes are occasionally available in the marketplace and the Portfolio may invest in such other types of notes to the extent permitted under its investment objectives, policies and limitations. Such notes may be issued for different purposes and may be secured differently from those mentioned above.

Municipal Money Market Funds that pay interest income exempt from regular federal and, in some cases, state and local income taxes. The Portfolio will bear its proportionate share of the money market fund’s fees and expenses.

Taxable Short-Term Investments

The Portfolio may also invest in the following taxable short-term investments. Interest on each such instrument is taxable for federal income tax purposes and would reduce the amount of tax-free interest payable to shareholders.

Taxable short-term investments the Portfolio may invest in include but are not limited to:

Certificates of Deposit (CDs)—A certificate of deposit is a negotiable interest bearing instrument with a specific maturity. CDs are issued by banks in exchange for the deposit of funds and normally

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can be traded in the secondary market, prior to maturity. The Portfolio will only invest in U.S. dollar denominated CDs issued by U.S. banks with assets of $1 billion or more.

Commercial Paper—Commercial paper is the term used to designate unsecured short-term promissory notes issued by corporations. Maturities on these issues vary from a few days to nine months. Commercial paper may be purchased from U.S. corporations.

Taxable Money Market Funds—These funds pay interest income that is taxable on the federal and state levels. The Portfolio will bear its proportionate share of the money market fund’s fees and expenses.

U.S. Government Direct Obligations are issued by the United States Treasury and include bills, notes and bonds.

—Treasury bills are issued with maturities of up to one year. They are issued in bearer form, are sold on a discount basis and are payable at par value at maturity.

—Treasury notes are longer-term interest bearing obligations with original maturities of one to seven years.

—Treasury bonds are longer-term interest-bearing obligations with original maturities from five to thirty years.

U.S. Government Agencies Securities—Certain federal agencies have been established as instrumentalities of the U.S. government to supervise and finance certain types of activities. These agencies include, but are not limited to, the Bank for Cooperatives, Federal Land Banks, Federal Intermediate Credit Banks, Federal Home Loan Banks, Federal National Mortgage Association, Government National Mortgage Association, Export-Import Bank of the United States, and Tennessee Valley Authority. Issues of these agencies, while not direct obligations of the U.S. government, are either backed by the full faith and credit of the United States or are guaranteed by the Treasury or supported by the issuing agencies’ right to borrow from the Treasury. There can be no assurance that the U.S. government itself will pay interest and principal on securities as to which it is not legally so obligated.

Other Corporate Obligations—The Portfolio may purchase notes, bonds and debentures issued by corporations if at the time of purchase there is less than one year remaining until maturity or if they carry a variable or floating rate of interest.

Repurchase Agreements—The Portfolio may invest temporarily up to 5% of its assets in repurchase agreements, which are agreements pursuant to which securities are acquired by the Portfolio from a third party with the understanding that they will be repurchased by the seller at a fixed price on an agreed date. These agreements may be made with respect to any of the portfolio securities in which the Portfolio is authorized to invest. Repurchase agreements may be characterized as loans secured by the underlying securities. The Portfolio may enter into repurchase agreements with (i) member banks of the Federal Reserve System having total assets in excess of $500 million and (ii) securities dealers, provided that such banks or dealers meet the creditworthiness standards established by the Portfolio’s Board of Trustees (“Qualified Institutions”). Nuveen Asset Management will monitor the continued creditworthiness of Qualified Institutions, subject to the oversight of the Portfolio’s Board of Trustees.

The use of repurchase agreements involves certain risks. For example, if the seller of securities under a repurchase agreement defaults on its obligation to repurchase the underlying securities, as a result of its bankruptcy or otherwise, the Portfolio will seek to dispose of such securities, which action could involve costs or delays. If the seller becomes insolvent and subject to liquidation or reorganization under applicable bankruptcy or other laws, the Portfolio’s ability to dispose of the underlying securities may be restricted. Finally, it is possible that the Portfolio may not be able to substantiate its interest in the underlying securities. To minimize this risk, the securities underlying the repurchase agreement will be held by the custodian at all times in an amount at least equal to the repurchase price, including accrued interest. If the seller fails to repurchase the securities, the Portfolio may suffer a loss to the extent proceeds from the sale of the underlying securities are less than the repurchase price.

The resale price reflects the purchase price plus an agreed upon market rate of interest that is unrelated to the coupon rate or date of maturity of the purchased security. The collateral is marked to market daily. Such agreements permit the Portfolio to keep all its assets earning interest while retaining “overnight” flexibility in pursuit of investments of a longer-term nature.

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Standby Commitments

The Portfolio may obtain standby commitments when it purchases municipal obligations. A standby commitment gives the holder the right to sell the underlying security to the seller at an agreed-upon price on certain dates or within a specified period. The Portfolio will acquire standby commitments solely to facilitate portfolio liquidity and not with a view to exercising them at a time when the exercise price may exceed the current value of the underlying securities. If the exercise price of a standby commitment held by the Portfolio should exceed the current value of the underlying securities, the Portfolio may refrain from exercising the standby commitment in order to avoid causing the issuer of the standby commitment to sustain a loss and thereby jeopardizing the Portfolio’s business relationship with the issuer. The Portfolio will enter into standby commitments only with banks and securities dealers that, in the opinion of Nuveen Asset Management, present minimal credit risks. However, if a securities dealer or bank is unable to meet its obligation to repurchase the security when the Portfolio exercises a standby commitment, the Portfolio might be unable to recover all or a portion of any loss sustained from having to sell the security elsewhere. Standby commitments will be valued at zero in determining the Portfolio’s net asset value.

Structured Notes

The Portfolio may invest in structured notes, including “total rate of return swaps” with rates of return determined by reference to the total rate of return on one or more loans referenced in such notes. The rate of return on a structured note may be determined by applying a multiplier to the rate of total return on the referenced loan or loans. Application of a multiplier is comparable to the use of leverage which magnifies the potential for gain and the risk of loss because a relatively small decline in the value of a referenced note could result in a relatively large loss in the value of the structured note.

Temporary Investment Measures

The Portfolio may invest up to 100% of its assets in cash equivalents and short-term investments as a temporary defensive measure in response to adverse market conditions or to keep cash on hand fully invested. During these periods, the weighted average maturity of the Portfolio’s investment portfolio may fall below the defined range described in the Portfolio Summary under “Principal Investment Strategies,” and the Portfolio may not achieve its objective. The Portfolio does not expect to invest substantial amounts in short-term investments as a defensive measure except under extraordinary circumstances.

Variable, Floating, and Fixed Rate Debt Obligations

The debt obligations in which the Portfolio invests may have variable, floating, or fixed interest rates. Variable rate securities provide for periodic adjustments in the interest rate. Floating rate securities are generally offered at an initial interest rate which is at or above prevailing market rates. The interest rate paid on floating rate securities is then reset periodically (commonly every 90 days) to an increment over some predetermined interest rate index. Commonly utilized indices include the three-month Treasury bill rate, the 180-day Treasury bill rate, the one-month or three-month London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR), the prime rate of a bank, the commercial paper rates, or the longer-term rates on U.S. Treasury securities. Variable and floating rate securities are relatively long-term instruments that often carry demand features permitting the holder to demand payment of principal at any time or at specified intervals prior to maturity plus accrued interest. In order to most effectively use these securities, the Sub-Adviser must correctly assess probable movements in interest rates. If the Sub-Adviser incorrectly forecasts such movements, the Portfolio could be adversely affected by use of variable and floating rate securities.

For the floating rate securities that use LIBOR, which is scheduled to be phased out as a benchmark rate, there remains some uncertainty regarding the future utilization of LIBOR and the nature of any replacement rate. Any potential effects of the transition away from LIBOR on the Portfolio or on certain instruments in which the Portfolio invests can be difficult to ascertain, and they may vary depending on factors that include, but are not limited to: (i) existing fallback or termination provisions in individual contracts and (ii) whether, how, and when industry participants develop and adopt new reference rates and fallbacks for both legacy and new products and instruments. In addition, interest rate provisions included in such contracts may need to be renegotiated in contemplation of the transition away from LIBOR. The transition may also result in a reduction in the value of certain instruments held by the Portfolio or a reduction in the effectiveness of related Portfolio transactions such as hedges. In addition, an instrument’s transition to a replacement rate could result in variations in the reported yields of the Portfolio that holds such instrument. The usefulness of LIBOR as a benchmark could deteriorate during the transition period and, at this time, it is not possible to predict the effect of the establishment of

S-21


replacement rates or any other reforms to LIBOR. Any such effects of the transition away from LIBOR, as well as other unforeseen effects, could result in losses to the Portfolio.

Fixed rate securities pay a fixed rate of interest and tend to exhibit more price volatility during times of rising or falling interest rates than securities with variable or floating rates of interest. The value of fixed rate securities will tend to fall when interest rates rise and rise when interest rates fall. The value of variable or floating rate securities, on the other hand, fluctuates much less in response to market interest rate movements than the value of fixed rate securities. This is because variable and floating rate securities behave like short-term instruments in that the rate of interest they pay is subject to periodic adjustments according to a specified formula, usually with reference to some interest rate index or market interest rate. Fixed rate securities with short-term characteristics are not subject to the same price volatility as fixed rate securities without such characteristics. Therefore, they behave more like variable or floating rate securities with respect to price volatility.

When-Issued and Delayed-Delivery Securities

The Portfolio may purchase and sell municipal obligations on a when-issued or delayed-delivery basis. When-issued and delayed-delivery transactions arise when securities are purchased or sold with payment and delivery beyond the regular settlement date. (When-issued transactions normally settle within 15-45 days.) On such transactions the payment obligation and the interest rate are fixed at the time the buyer enters into the commitment. The commitment to purchase securities on a when-issued or delayed-delivery basis may involve an element of risk because the value of the securities is subject to market fluctuation, no interest accrues to the purchaser prior to settlement of the transaction, and at the time of delivery the market value may be less than cost. At the time the Portfolio makes the commitment to purchase a municipal obligation on a when-issued or delayed-delivery basis, it will record the transaction and reflect the amount due and the value of the security in determining its net asset value. Likewise, at the time the Portfolio makes the commitment to sell a municipal obligation on a delayed-delivery basis, it will record the transaction and include the proceeds to be received in determining its net asset value; accordingly, any fluctuations in the value of the municipal obligation sold pursuant to a delayed-delivery commitment are ignored in calculating net asset value so long as the commitment remains in effect. The Portfolio will maintain designated readily marketable assets at least equal in value to commitments to purchase when-issued or delayed-delivery securities, such assets to be designated or segregated by the custodian specifically for the settlement of such commitments, if necessary. The Portfolio will only make commitments to purchase municipal obligations on a when-issued or delayed-delivery basis with the intention of actually acquiring the securities, but the Portfolio reserves the right to sell these securities before the settlement date if it is deemed advisable. If a when-issued security is sold before delivery any gain or loss would not be tax-exempt. The Portfolio commonly engages in when-issued transactions in order to purchase or sell newly-issued municipal obligations, and may engage in delayed-delivery transactions in order to manage its operations more effectively.

The Portfolio may buy when-issued and delayed-delivery securities that settle more than 60 days after purchase. These transactions are called “forwards.” Municipal forwards pay higher interest after settlement than standard bonds, to compensate the buyer for bearing market risk and deferring income during the settlement period, and can often be bought at attractive prices and yields. If the Portfolio knows that a portfolio bond will, or is likely to, be called or mature on a specific future date, the Portfolio may buy forwards settling on or about that date to replace the called or maturing bond and “lock in” a currently attractive interest rate. The Portfolio also may invest up to 15% of its assets in forwards that do not serve to replace a specific portfolio bond.

Zero Coupon and Step Coupon Securities

The Portfolio may invest in zero coupon and step coupon securities. Zero coupon securities pay no cash income to their holders until they mature. When held to maturity, their entire return comes from the difference between their purchase price and their maturity value. Step coupon securities are debt securities that may not pay interest for a specified period of time and then, after the initial period, may pay interest at a series of different rates. Both zero coupon and step coupon securities are issued at substantial discounts from their value at maturity. Because interest on these securities is not paid on a current basis, the values of securities of this type are subject to greater fluctuations than are the value of securities that distribute income regularly and may be more speculative than such securities. Accordingly, the values of these securities may be highly volatile as interest rates rise or fall. In addition, while such securities generate income for purposes of generally accepted accounting standards, they do not generate cash flow and thus could cause the Portfolio to be forced to liquidate securities at an inopportune time in order to distribute cash, as required by the Code.

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MANAGEMENT

The management of the Trust, including general supervision of the duties performed for the Portfolio by the Adviser under the Management Agreement, is the responsibility of the Board of Trustees. The number of trustees of the Trust is 12, all of whom are not interested persons (referred to herein as “independent trustees”). None of the independent trustees has ever been a trustee, director or employee of, or consultant to, the Adviser or its affiliates. The names, business addresses and years of birth of the trustees and officers of the Portfolio, their principal occupations and other affiliations during the past five years, the number of portfolios each trustee oversees and other directorships they hold are set forth below. Except as noted in the table below, the trustees of the Trust are directors or trustees, as the case may be, of 143 Nuveen-sponsored registered investment companies (the “Nuveen Funds”), which include 65 open-end mutual funds (the “Nuveen Mutual Funds”), 60 closed-end funds and 18 exchange-traded funds.

             

Name, Business Address
and Year of Birth

Position(s) Held
with the Trust

Term of Office
and Length of
Time Served
with the Trust

Principal Occupation(s)
During Past Five Years

Number of
Portfolios
in Fund
Complex
Overseen by
Trustee

Other
Directorships
Held by
Trustee
During Past
Five Years

Independent Trustees:

 
     

 

   

Jack B. Evans
333 West Wacker Drive
Chicago, IL 60606
1948

Trustee

Term—Indefinite*
Length of Service—
Since 2006

Chairman (since 2019), formerly, President (1996-2019), The Hall-Perrine Foundation (private philanthropic corporation); Life Trustee of Coe College; formerly, Director, Public Member, American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery (2015-2020); Director (1997-2003), Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago; President and Chief Operating Officer (1972-1995), SCI Financial Group, Inc. (regional financial services firm); Member and President Pro Tem of the Board of Regents for the State of Iowa University System (2007-2013); Director (1996-2015), The Gazette Company (media and publishing).

143

Formerly, Director and Chairman (2009-2021), United Fire Group, a publicly held company; Director (2000-2004), Alliant Energy.

     

 

   

William C. Hunter
333 West Wacker Drive
Chicago, IL 60606
1948

Trustee

Term—Indefinite*
Length of Service—
Since 2006

Dean Emeritus, formerly, Dean (2006-2012), Tippie College of Business, University of Iowa; past Director (2005-2015) and past President (2010-2014) of Beta Gamma Sigma, Inc., The International Business Honor Society; formerly, Director (1997-2007), Credit Research Center at Georgetown University; formerly, Dean and Distinguished Professor of Finance (2003-2006), School of Business at the University of Connecticut; previously, Senior Vice President and Director of Research (1995-2003) at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.

143

Director (since 2009) of Wellmark, Inc.; formerly, Director (2004-2018) of Xerox Corporation.

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Name, Business Address
and Year of Birth

Position(s) Held
with the Trust

Term of Office
and Length of
Time Served
with the Trust

Principal Occupation(s)
During Past Five Years

Number of
Portfolios
in Fund
Complex
Overseen by
Trustee

Other
Directorships
Held by
Trustee
During Past
Five Years

     

 

   

Amy B. R. Lancellotta
333 West Wacker Drive
Chicago, IL 60606
1959

Trustee

Term—Indefinite*
Length of Service—
Since 2021

Formerly, Managing Director, Independent Directors Council (IDC) (supports the fund independent director community and is part of the Investment Company Institute (ICI), which represents regulated investment companies) (2006-2019); formerly, various positions with ICI (1989-2006); Member of the Board of Directors, Jewish Coalition Against Domestic Abuse (JCADA) (since 2020).

143

None

     

 

   

Joanne T. Medero
333 West Wacker Drive
Chicago, IL 60606
1954

Trustee

Term—Indefinite*
Length of Service—
Since 2021

Formerly, Managing Director, Government Relations and Public Policy (2009-2020) and Senior Advisor to the Vice Chairman (2018-2020), BlackRock, Inc. (global investment management firm); formerly, Managing Director, Global Head of Government Relations and Public Policy, Barclays Group (IBIM) (investment banking, investment management and wealth management businesses) (2006-2009); formerly, Managing Director, Global General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, Barclays Global Investors (global investment management firm) (1996-2006); formerly, Partner, Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP (law firm) (1993-1995); formerly, General Counsel, Commodity Futures Trading Commission (government agency overseeing U.S. derivatives markets) (1989-1993); formerly, Deputy Associate Director/Associate Director for Legal and Financial Affairs, Office of Presidential Personnel, The White House (1986-1989); Member of the Board of Directors, Baltic-American Freedom Foundation (seeks to provide opportunities for citizens of the Baltic states to gain education and professional development through exchanges in the U.S.) (since 2019).

143

None

S-24


           

Name, Business Address
and Year of Birth

Position(s) Held
with the Trust

Term of Office
and Length of
Time Served
with the Trust

Principal Occupation(s)
During Past Five Years

Number of
Portfolios
in Fund
Complex
Overseen by
Trustee

Other
Directorships
Held by
Trustee
During Past
Five Years

     

 

   

Albin F. Moschner
333 West Wacker Drive
Chicago, IL 60606
1952

Trustee

Term—Indefinite*
Length of Service—
Since 2016

Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Northcroft Partners, LLC (management consulting) (since 2012); previously, held positions at Leap Wireless International, Inc. (consumer wireless services), including Consultant (2011-2012), Chief Operating Officer (2008-2011) and Chief Marketing Officer (2004-2008); formerly, President, Verizon Card Services division of Verizon Communications, Inc. (telecommunication services) (2000-2003); formerly, President, One Point Services at One Point Communications (telecommunication services) (1999-2000); formerly, Vice Chairman of the Board, Diba, Incorporated (internet technology provider) (1996-1997); formerly, various executive positions (1991-1996) and Chief Executive Officer (1995-1996) of Zenith Electronics Corporation (consumer electronics).

143

Formerly, Chairman (2019) and Director (2012-2019), USA Technologies, Inc., a provider of solutions and services to facilitate electronic payment transactions; formerly, Director, Wintrust Financial Corporation (1996-2016).

     

 

   

John K. Nelson
333 West Wacker Drive
Chicago, IL 60606
1962

Trustee

Term—Indefinite*
Length of Service—
Since 2013

Member of Board of Directors of Core12 LLC (private firm which develops branding, marketing and communications strategies for clients) (since 2008); served The President's Council of Fordham University (2010-2019) and previously a Director of the Curran Center for Catholic American Studies (2009-2018); formerly, senior external advisor to the Financial Services practice of Deloitte Consulting LLP (2012-2014); former Chair of the Board of Trustees of Marian University (2010-2014 as trustee, 2011-2014 as Chair); formerly Chief Executive Officer of ABN AMRO Bank N.V., North America, and Global Head of the Financial Markets Division (2007-2008), with various executive leadership roles in ABN AMRO Bank N.V. between 1996 and 2007.

143

None

S-25


           

Name, Business Address
and Year of Birth

Position(s) Held
with the Trust

Term of Office
and Length of
Time Served
with the Trust

Principal Occupation(s)
During Past Five Years

Number of
Portfolios
in Fund
Complex
Overseen by
Trustee

Other
Directorships
Held by
Trustee
During Past
Five Years

     

 

   

Judith M. Stockdale
333 West Wacker Drive
Chicago, IL 60606
1947

Trustee

Term—Indefinite*
Length of Service—
Since 2006

Board Member of the Land Trust Alliance (national public charity addressing natural land and water conservation in the U.S.) (since 2013); formerly, Board Member of the U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities (national endowment addressing forest health, sustainable forest production and markets, and economic health of forest-reliant communities in the U.S.) (2013-12/2019); formerly, Executive Director (1994-2012), Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation (private foundation endowed to support both natural land conservation and artistic vitality); prior thereto, Executive Director, Great Lakes Protection Fund (endowment created jointly by seven of the eight Great Lake states’ Governors to take a regional approach to improving the health of the Great Lakes) (1990-1994).

143

None

     

 

   

Carole E. Stone
333 West Wacker Drive
Chicago, IL 60606
1947

Trustee

Term—Indefinite*
Length of Service—
Since 2007

Former Director, Chicago Board Options Exchange, Inc. (2006-2017) and C2 Options Exchange, Incorporated (2009-2017); formerly, Commissioner, New York State Commission on Public Authority Reform (2005-2010).

143

Formerly, Director (2010-2020), Cboe Global Markets, Inc. (formerly named CBOE Holdings, Inc.).

     

 

   

Matthew Thornton III
333 West Wacker Drive
Chicago, IL 60606
1958

Trustee

Term—Indefinite*
Length of Service—
Since 2020

Formerly, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer (2018-2019), FedEx Freight Corporation, a subsidiary of FedEx Corporation (“FedEx”) (provider of transportation, e-commerce and business services through its portfolio of companies); formerly, Senior Vice President, U.S. Operations (2006-2018), Federal Express Corporation, a subsidiary of FedEx; formerly, Member of the Board of Directors (2012-2018), Safe Kids Worldwide® (a non-profit organization dedicated to preventing childhood injuries).

143

Member of the Board of Directors (since 2014), The Sherwin-Williams Company (develops, manufactures, distributes and sells paints, coatings and related products); Member of the Board of Directors (since 2020), Crown Castle International (provider of communications infrastructure).

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Name, Business Address
and Year of Birth

Position(s) Held
with the Trust

Term of Office
and Length of
Time Served
with the Trust

Principal Occupation(s)
During Past Five Years

Number of
Portfolios
in Fund
Complex
Overseen by
Trustee

Other
Directorships
Held by
Trustee
During Past
Five Years

     

 

   

Terence J. Toth
333 West Wacker Drive
Chicago, IL 60606
1959

Chair of
the Board and Trustee

Term—Indefinite*
Length of Service—
Since 2008

Formerly, Co-Founding Partner, Promus Capital (investment advisory firm) (2008-2017); Director, Quality Control Corporation (manufacturing) (since 2012); formerly, Director, Fulcrum IT Service LLC (information technology services firm to government entities) (2010-2019); formerly, Director, LogicMark LLC (health services) (2012-2016); formerly, Director, Legal & General Investment Management America, Inc. (asset management) (2008-2013); formerly, CEO and President, Northern Trust Global Investments (financial services) (2004-2007); Executive Vice President, Quantitative Management & Securities Lending (2000-2004); prior thereto, various positions with Northern Trust Company (financial services) (since 1994); Member, Catalyst Schools of Chicago Board (since 2008) and Mather Foundation Board (philanthropy) (since 2012) and is Chair of its Investment Committee; formerly, Member, Chicago Fellowship Board (philanthropy) (2005-2016); formerly, Member, Northern Trust Mutual Funds Board (2005-2007), Northern Trust Global Investments Board (2004-2007), Northern Trust Japan Board (2004-2007), Northern Trust Securities Inc. Board (2003-2007) and Northern Trust Hong Kong Board (1997-2004).

143

None

     

 

   

Margaret L. Wolff
333 West Wacker Drive
Chicago, IL 60606
1955

Trustee

Term—Indefinite*
Length of Service—
Since 2016

Formerly, Of Counsel, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP (Mergers & Acquisitions Group) (legal services) (2005-2014); Member of the Board of Trustees of New York-Presbyterian Hospital (since 2005); Member (since 2004) and Chair (since 2015) of the Board of Trustees of The John A. Hartford Foundation (philanthropy dedicated to improving the care of older adults); formerly, Member (2005-2015) and Vice Chair (2011-2015) of the Board of Trustees of Mt. Holyoke College.

143

Formerly, Member of the Board of Directors (2013-2017) of Travelers Insurance Company of Canada and The Dominion of Canada General Insurance Company (each, a part of Travelers Canada, the Canadian operation of The Travelers Companies, Inc.).

S-27


           

Name, Business Address
and Year of Birth

Position(s) Held
with the Trust

Term of Office
and Length of
Time Served
with the Trust

Principal Occupation(s)
During Past Five Years

Number of
Portfolios
in Fund
Complex
Overseen by
Trustee

Other
Directorships
Held by
Trustee
During Past
Five Years

     

 

   

Robert L. Young
333 West Wacker Drive
Chicago, IL 60606
1963

Trustee

Term—Indefinite*
Length of Service—
Since 2017

Formerly, Chief Operating Officer and Director, J.P. Morgan Investment Management Inc. (financial services) (2010-2016); formerly, President and Principal Executive Officer (2013-2016), and Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer (2005-2010), of J.P. Morgan Funds; formerly, Director and various officer positions for J.P. Morgan Investment Management Inc. (formerly, JPMorgan Funds Management, Inc. and formerly, One Group Administrative Services) and JPMorgan Distribution Services, Inc. (financial services) (formerly, One Group Dealer Services, Inc.) (1999-2017).

143

None

* Each trustee serves an indefinite term until his or her successor is elected.

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Name, Business Address
and Year of Birth

Position(s) Held
with the Trust

Term of Office and Length of Time
Served with the Trust

Principal Occupation(s) During Past Five Years

Officers of the Trust:

 
       

Mark J. Czarniecki
901 Marquette Avenue
Minneapolis, MN 55402
1979

Vice President and Secretary

Term—Until
August 2022
Length of Service—
Since 2013

Vice President and Assistant Secretary of Nuveen Securities, LLC (since 2016) and Nuveen Fund Advisors, LLC (since 2017); Vice President, Associate General Counsel and Assistant Secretary of Nuveen Asset Management, LLC (since 2018); Vice President and Associate General Counsel of Nuveen (since 2013).

       

Diana R. Gonzalez
333 West Wacker Drive
Chicago, IL 60606
1978

Vice President and Assistant Secretary

Term—Until
August 2022
Length of Service—
Since 2017

Vice President and Assistant Secretary of Nuveen Fund Advisors, LLC (since 2017); Vice President and Associate General Counsel of Nuveen (since 2017); formerly, Associate General Counsel of Jackson National Asset Management (2012-2017).

       

Nathaniel T. Jones
333 West Wacker Drive
Chicago, IL 60606
1979

Vice President and Treasurer

Term—Until
August 2022
Length of Service—
Since 2016

Senior Managing Director (since 2021), formerly, Managing Director (2017-2021), Senior Vice President (2016-2017), Vice President (2011-2016) of Nuveen; Managing Director (since 2015) of Nuveen Fund Advisors, LLC; Chartered Financial Analyst.

       

Tina M. Lazar
333 West Wacker Drive
Chicago, IL 60606
1961

Vice President

Term—Until
August 2022
Length of Service—
Since 2006

Managing Director (since 2017), formerly, Senior Vice President (2014-2017) of Nuveen Securities, LLC.

       

Brian J. Lockhart
333 West Wacker Drive
Chicago, IL 60606
1974

Vice President

Term—Until
August 2022
Length of Service—
Since 2019

Senior Managing Director (since 2021), formerly, Managing Director (2017-2021), Vice President (2010-2017) of Nuveen, Head of Investment Oversight (since 2017), formerly, Team Leader of Manager Oversight (2015-2017); Managing Director (since 2019), Nuveen Fund Advisors, LLC; Chartered Financial Analyst and Certified Financial Risk Manager.

       

Jacques M. Longerstaey
8500 Andrew Carnegie Blvd.
Charlotte, NC 28262
1963

Vice President

Term—Until
August 2022
Length of Service—
Since 2019

Senior Managing Director, Chief Risk Officer, Nuveen, LLC (since 2019); Senior Managing Director (since 2019) of Nuveen Fund Advisors, LLC; formerly, Chief Investment and Model Risk Officer, Wealth & Investment Management Division, Wells Fargo Bank (NA) (2013–2019).

       

Kevin J. McCarthy
333 West Wacker Drive
Chicago, IL 60606
1966

Vice President and Assistant Secretary

Term—Until
August 2022
Length of Service—
Since 2007

Senior Managing Director (since 2017) and Secretary and General Counsel (since 2016) of Nuveen Investments, Inc., formerly, Executive Vice President (2016-2017), Managing Director and Assistant Secretary (2008-2016); Senior Managing Director (since 2017) and Assistant Secretary (since 2008) of Nuveen Securities, LLC, formerly, Executive Vice President (2016-2017) and Managing Director (2008-2016); Senior Managing Director (since 2017), Secretary (since 2016) of Nuveen Fund Advisors, LLC, formerly, Co-General Counsel (2011-2020), Executive Vice President (2016-2017), Managing Director (2008-2016) and Assistant Secretary (2007-2016); Senior Managing Director (since 2017), Secretary (since 2016) of Nuveen Asset Management, LLC, formerly, Associate General Counsel (2011-2020), Executive Vice President (2016-2017) and Managing Director and Assistant Secretary (2011-2016); Vice President (since 2007) and Secretary (since 2016), formerly, Assistant Secretary, of NWQ Investment Management Company, LLC, Santa Barbara Asset Management, LLC, and Winslow Capital Management, LLC (since 2010); Senior Managing Director (since 2017) and Secretary (since 2016) of Nuveen Alternative Investments, LLC.

       

Jon Scott Meissner
8500 Andrew Carnegie Blvd.
Charlotte, NC 28262
1973

Vice President and Assistant Secretary

Term—Until
August 2022
Length of Service—
Since 2019

Managing Director of Mutual Fund Tax and Financial Reporting groups at Nuveen, LLC (since 2017); Managing Director (since 2019) of Nuveen Fund Advisors, LLC; Senior Director of Teachers Advisors, LLC and TIAA-CREF Investment Management, LLC (since 2016); Senior Director (since 2015) Mutual Fund Taxation to the TIAA-CREF Funds, the TIAA-CREF Life Funds, the TIAA Separate Account VA-1 and the CREF Accounts; has held various positions with TIAA since 2004.

S-29


       

Name, Business Address
and Year of Birth

Position(s) Held
with the Trust

Term of Office and Length of Time
Served with the Trust

Principal Occupation(s) During Past Five Years

       

Deann D. Morgan
730 Third Avenue
New York, NY 10017
1969

Vice President

Term—Until
August 2022
Length of Service—
Since 2020

President of Nuveen Fund Advisors, LLC (since 2020); Executive Vice President, Global Head of Product at Nuveen, LLC (since November 2019); Co-Chief Executive Officer of Nuveen Securities, LLC (since 2020); Managing Member of MDR Collaboratory LLC (since 2018); formerly, Managing Director, Head of Wealth Management Product Structuring & COO Multi Asset Investing, The Blackstone Group (2013-2017).

       

Christopher M. Rohrbacher
333 West Wacker Drive
Chicago, IL 60606
1971

Vice President and Assistant Secretary

Term—Until
August 2022
Length of Service—
Since 2008

Managing Director (since 2017), General Counsel (since 2020) and Assistant Secretary (since 2016), formerly, Senior Vice President (2016-2017), of Nuveen Fund Advisors, LLC; Managing Director and Assistant Secretary (since 2017) of Nuveen Securities, LLC; Managing Director, Associate General Counsel and Assistant Secretary of Nuveen Asset Management, LLC (since 2020); Managing Director (since 2017), and Associate General Counsel (since 2016), formerly, Senior Vice President (2012-2017) and Assistant General Counsel (2008-2016) of Nuveen.

       

William A. Siffermann
333 West Wacker Drive
Chicago, IL 60606
1975

Vice President

Term—Until
August 2022
Length of Service—
Since 2017

Managing Director (since 2017), formerly Senior Vice President (2016-2017) and Vice President (2011-2016) of Nuveen.

       

Christopher E. Stickrod
333 West Wacker Drive
Chicago, IL 60606
1976

Chief Administrative Officer

Term—Until
August 2022
Length of Service—
Since 2020

Senior Managing Director (since 2017) and Head of Advisory Product (since 2020), formerly, Managing Director (2016-2017) and Senior Vice President (2013-2016) of Nuveen, LLC; Senior Managing Director of Nuveen Securities, LLC (since 2018) and of Nuveen Fund Advisors, LLC (since 2019).

       

E. Scott Wickerham
8500 Andrew Carnegie Blvd.
Charlotte, NC 28262
1973

Vice President and Controller

Term—Until
August 2022
Length of Service—
Since 2019

Senior Managing Director, Head of Public Investment Finance at Nuveen (since 2019), formerly, Managing Director; Senior Managing Director (since 2019), of Nuveen Fund Advisors, LLC; Principal Financial Officer, Principal Accounting Officer and Treasurer (since 2017) of the TIAA-CREF Funds, the TIAA-CREF Life Funds, the TIAA Separate Account VA-1 and Principal Financial Officer, Principal Accounting Officer (since 2020) and Treasurer (since 2017) to the CREF Accounts; formerly, Senior Director, TIAA-CREF Fund Administration (2014-2015); has held various positions with TIAA since 2006.

       

Mark L. Winget
333 West Wacker Drive
Chicago, IL 60606
1968

Vice President and Assistant Secretary

Term—Until
August 2022
Length of Service—
Since 2008

Vice President and Assistant Secretary of Nuveen Securities, LLC (since 2008); Vice President and Assistant Secretary of Nuveen Fund Advisors, LLC (since 2019); Vice President, Associate General Counsel and Assistant Secretary of Nuveen Asset Management, LLC (since 2020); Vice President (since 2010) and Associate General Counsel (since 2019), formerly, Assistant General Counsel (2008-2016) of Nuveen.

       

Gifford R. Zimmerman
333 West Wacker Drive
Chicago, IL 60606
1956

Vice President and Chief Compliance Officer

Term—Until
August 2022
Length of Service—
Since 2006

Formerly, Managing Director (2004-2020) and Assistant Secretary (1994-2020) of Nuveen Investments, Inc.; formerly, Managing Director (2002-2020) and Assistant Secretary (2002-2020) of Nuveen Securities, LLC; formerly, Managing Director (2002-2020), Assistant Secretary (1997-2020) and Co-General Counsel (2011-2020) of Nuveen Fund Advisors, LLC; formerly, Managing Director, Assistant Secretary and Associate General Counsel of Nuveen Asset Management, LLC (2011-2020); formerly, Vice President and Assistant Secretary of NWQ Investment Management Company, LLC (2002-2020), Santa Barbara Asset Management, LLC (2006-2020) and Winslow Capital Management, LLC (2010-2020); Chartered Financial Analyst.

Board Leadership Structure and Risk Oversight

The Board of Directors or the Board of Trustees (as the case may be, each is referred to hereafter as the “Board” or “Board of Trustees” and the directors or trustees of the Nuveen Funds, as applicable, are

S-30


each referred to herein as “trustees”) oversees the operations and management of the Nuveen Funds, including the duties performed for the Nuveen Funds by the Adviser. The Board has adopted a unitary board structure. A unitary board consists of one group of trustees who serve on the board of every fund in the Nuveen Fund complex. In adopting a unitary board structure, the trustees seek to provide effective governance through establishing a board, the overall composition of which will, as a body, possess the appropriate skills, diversity (including, among other things, gender, race and ethnicity), independence and experience to oversee the Nuveen Funds’ business. With this overall framework in mind, when the Board, through its Nominating and Governance Committee discussed below, seeks nominees for the Board, the trustees consider, not only the candidate’s particular background, skills and experience, among other things, but also whether such background, skills and experience enhance the Board’s diversity and at the same time complement the Board given its current composition and the mix of skills and experiences of the incumbent trustees. The Nominating and Governance Committee believes that the Board generally benefits from diversity of background (including, among other things, gender, race and ethnicity), skills, experience and views among its members, and considers this a factor in evaluating the composition of the Board, but has not adopted any specific policy on diversity or any particular definition of diversity.

The Board believes the unitary board structure enhances good and effective governance, particularly given the nature of the structure of the investment company complex. Funds in the same complex generally are served by the same service providers and personnel and are governed by the same regulatory scheme which raises common issues that must be addressed by the trustees across the fund complex (such as compliance, valuation, liquidity, brokerage, trade allocation or risk management). The Board believes it is more efficient to have a single board review and oversee common policies and procedures which increases the Board’s knowledge and expertise with respect to the many aspects of fund operations that are complex-wide in nature. The unitary structure also enhances the Board’s influence and oversight over the investment adviser and other service providers.

In an effort to enhance the independence of the Board, the Board also has a Chair that is an independent trustee. The Board recognizes that a chair can perform an important role in setting the agenda for the Board, establishing the boardroom culture, establishing a point person on behalf of the Board for fund management, and reinforcing the Board’s focus on the long-term interests of shareholders. The Board recognizes that a chair may be able to better perform these functions without any conflicts of interests arising from a position with fund management. Accordingly, the trustees have elected Mr. Toth to serve as the independent Chair of the Board. Specific responsibilities of the Chair include: (i) presiding at all meetings of the Board and of the shareholders; (ii) seeing that all orders and resolutions of the trustees are carried into effect; and (iii) maintaining records of and, whenever necessary, certifying all proceedings of the trustees and the shareholders.

Although the Board has direct responsibility over various matters (such as advisory contracts, underwriting contracts and fund performance), the Board also exercises certain of its oversight responsibilities through several committees that it has established and which report back to the full Board. The Board believes that a committee structure is an effective means to permit trustees to focus on particular operations or issues affecting the Nuveen Funds, including risk oversight. More specifically, with respect to risk oversight, the Board has delegated matters relating to valuation and compliance to certain committees (as summarized below) as well as certain aspects of investment risk. In addition, the Board believes that the periodic rotation of trustees among the different committees allows the trustees to gain additional and different perspectives of a Nuveen Fund’s operations. The Board has established six standing committees: the Executive Committee, the Dividend Committee, the Audit Committee, the Compliance, Risk Management and Regulatory Oversight Committee, the Nominating and Governance Committee and the Open-End Funds Committee. The Board may also from time to time create ad hoc committees to focus on particular issues as the need arises. The membership and functions of the standing committees are summarized below.

The Executive Committee, which meets between regular meetings of the Board, is authorized to exercise all of the powers of the Board. The members of the Executive Committee are Mr. Toth, Chair, Mr. Moschner and Ms. Wolff. During the fiscal year ended July 31, 2021, the Executive Committee did not meet.

The Audit Committee assists the Board in the oversight and monitoring of the accounting and reporting policies, processes and practices of the Nuveen Funds, and the audits of the financial statements of the Nuveen Funds; the quality and integrity of the financial statements of the Nuveen Funds; the Nuveen Funds’ compliance with legal and regulatory requirements relating to the Nuveen Funds’ financial statements; the independent auditors’ qualifications, performance and independence;

S-31


and the pricing procedures of the Nuveen Funds and the Adviser’s internal valuation group. It is the responsibility of the Audit Committee to select, evaluate and replace any independent auditors (subject only to Board and, if applicable, shareholder ratification) and to determine their compensation. The Audit Committee is also responsible for, among other things, overseeing the valuation of securities comprising the Nuveen Funds’ portfolios. Subject to the Board’s general supervision of such actions, the Audit Committee addresses any valuation issues, oversees the Nuveen Funds’ pricing procedures and actions taken by the Adviser’s internal valuation group which provides regular reports to the committee, reviews any issues relating to the valuation of the Nuveen Funds’ securities brought to its attention and considers the risks to the Nuveen Funds in assessing the possible resolutions to these matters. The Audit Committee may also consider any financial risk exposures for the Nuveen Funds in conjunction with performing its functions.

To fulfill its oversight duties, the Audit Committee receives annual and semi-annual reports and has regular meetings with the external auditors for the Nuveen Funds and the Adviser’s internal audit group. The Audit Committee also may review in a general manner the processes the Board or other Board committees have in place with respect to risk assessment and risk management as well as compliance with legal and regulatory matters relating to the Nuveen Funds’ financial statements. The committee operates under a written charter adopted and approved by the Board. Members of the Audit Committee shall be independent (as set forth in the charter) and free of any relationship that, in the opinion of the trustees, would interfere with their exercise of independent judgment as an Audit Committee member. The members of the Audit Committee are Ms. Stone, Chair, Mr. Evans, Dr. Hunter, Mr. Moschner, Mr. Nelson and Ms. Stockdale, each of whom is an independent trustee of the Nuveen Funds. During the fiscal year ended July 31, 2021, the Audit Committee met four times.

The Nominating and Governance Committee is responsible for seeking, identifying and recommending to the Board qualified candidates for election or appointment to the Board. In addition, the Nominating and Governance Committee oversees matters of corporate governance, including the evaluation of Board performance and processes, the assignment and rotation of committee members, and the establishment of corporate governance guidelines and procedures, to the extent necessary or desirable, and matters related thereto. Although the unitary and committee structure has been developed over the years and the Nominating and Governance Committee believes the structure has provided efficient and effective governance, the committee recognizes that as demands on the Board evolve over time (such as through an increase in the number of funds overseen or an increase in the complexity of the issues raised), the committee must continue to evaluate the Board and committee structures and their processes and modify the foregoing as may be necessary or appropriate to continue to provide effective governance. Accordingly, the Nominating and Governance Committee has a separate meeting each year to, among other things, review the Board and committee structures, their performance and functions, and recommend any modifications thereto or alternative structures or processes that would enhance the Board’s governance of the Nuveen Funds.

In addition, the Nominating and Governance Committee, among other things, makes recommendations concerning the continuing education of trustees; monitors performance of legal counsel and other service providers; establishes and monitors a process by which security holders are able to communicate in writing with members of the Board; and periodically reviews and makes recommendations about any appropriate changes to trustee compensation. In the event of a vacancy on the Board, the Nominating and Governance Committee receives suggestions from various sources, including shareholders, as to suitable candidates. Suggestions should be sent in writing to William Siffermann, Manager of Fund Board Relations, Nuveen, LLC, 333 West Wacker Drive, Chicago, IL 60606. The Nominating and Governance Committee sets appropriate standards and requirements for nominations for new trustees and reserves the right to interview any and all candidates and to make the final selection of any new trustees. In considering a candidate’s qualifications, each candidate must meet certain basic requirements, including relevant skills and experience, time availability (including the time requirements for due diligence meetings to sub-advisers and service providers) and, if qualifying as an independent trustee candidate, independence from the Adviser, the Sub-Adviser, Nuveen Securities, LLC (the “Distributor”) and other service providers, including any affiliates of these entities. These skill and experience requirements may vary depending on the current composition of the Board, since the goal is to ensure an appropriate range of skills, diversity and experience, in the aggregate. Accordingly, the particular factors considered and weight given to these factors will depend on the composition of the Board and the skills and backgrounds of the incumbent trustees at the time of consideration of the nominees. All candidates, however, must meet high expectations of personal integrity, independence, governance experience and professional competence. All candidates must be willing to be critical within

S-32


the Board and with management and yet maintain a collegial and collaborative manner toward other Board members. The committee operates under a written charter adopted and approved by the Board. This committee is composed of the independent trustees of the Nuveen Funds. Accordingly, the members of the Nominating and Governance Committee are Mr. Toth, Chair, Mr. Evans, Dr. Hunter, Ms. Lancellotta, Ms. Medero, Mr. Moschner, Mr. Nelson, Ms. Stockdale, Ms. Stone, Mr. Thornton, Ms. Wolff and Mr. Young. During the fiscal year ended July 31, 2021, the Nominating and Governance Committee met seven times.

The Dividend Committee is authorized to declare distributions on the Nuveen Funds’ shares, including, but not limited to, regular and special dividends, capital gains and ordinary income distributions. The members of the Dividend Committee are Mr. Young, Chair, Dr. Hunter, Mr. Moschner and Ms. Wolff. During the fiscal year ended July 31, 2021, the Dividend Committee met five times.

The Compliance, Risk Management and Regulatory Oversight Committee (the “Compliance Committee”) is responsible for the oversight of compliance issues, risk management and other regulatory matters affecting the Nuveen Funds that are not otherwise the jurisdiction of the other committees. The Board has adopted and periodically reviews policies and procedures designed to address the Nuveen Funds’ compliance and risk matters. As part of its duties, the Compliance Committee reviews the policies and procedures relating to compliance matters and recommends modifications thereto as necessary or appropriate to the full Board; develops new policies and procedures as new regulatory matters affecting the Nuveen Funds arise from time to time; evaluates or considers any comments or reports from examinations from regulatory authorities and responses thereto; and performs any special reviews, investigations or other oversight responsibilities relating to risk management, compliance and/or regulatory matters as requested by the Board.

In addition, the Compliance Committee is responsible for risk oversight, including, but not limited to, the oversight of risks related to investments and operations. Such risks include, among other things, exposures to particular issuers, market sectors, or types of securities; risks related to product structure elements, such as leverage; and techniques that may be used to address those risks, such as hedging and swaps. In assessing issues brought to the committee’s attention or in reviewing a particular policy, procedure, investment technique or strategy, the Compliance Committee evaluates the risks to the Nuveen Funds in adopting a particular approach compared to the anticipated benefits to the Nuveen Funds and their shareholders. In fulfilling its obligations, the Compliance Committee meets on a quarterly basis, and at least once a year in person. The Compliance Committee receives written and oral reports from the Nuveen Funds’ Chief Compliance Officer (“CCO”) and meets privately with the CCO at each of its quarterly meetings. The CCO also provides an annual report to the full Board regarding the operations of the Nuveen Funds’ and other service providers’ compliance programs as well as any recommendations for modifications thereto. The Compliance Committee also receives reports from the Adviser’s investment services group regarding various investment risks. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the full Board also participates in discussions with management regarding certain matters relating to investment risk, such as the use of leverage and hedging. The investment services group therefore also reports to the full Board at its quarterly meetings regarding, among other things, fund performance and the various drivers of such performance. Accordingly, the Board directly and/or in conjunction with the Compliance Committee oversees matters relating to investment risks. Matters not addressed at the committee level are addressed directly by the full Board. The committee operates under a written charter adopted and approved by the Board. The members of the Compliance Committee are Ms. Wolff, Chair, Ms. Lancellotta, Ms. Medero, Mr. Nelson, Mr. Thornton, Mr. Toth and Mr. Young. During the fiscal year ended July 31, 2021, the Compliance Committee met four times.

The Open-End Funds Committee is responsible for assisting the Board in the oversight and monitoring of the Nuveen Funds that are registered as open-end management investment companies (“Open-End Funds”). The committee may review and evaluate matters related to the formation and the initial presentation to the Board of any new Open-End Fund and may review and evaluate any matters relating to any existing Open-End Fund. The committee operates under a written charter adopted and approved by the Board. The members of the Open-End Funds Committee are Mr. Moschner, Chair, Ms. Medero, Mr. Nelson, Ms. Stockdale, Ms. Stone, Mr. Thornton and Mr. Toth. During the fiscal year ended July 31, 2021, the Open-End Funds Committee met four times.

Board Diversification and Trustee Qualifications

In determining that a particular trustee was qualified to serve on the Board, the Board has considered each trustee’s background, skills, experience and other attributes in light of the composition of the Board with no particular factor controlling. The Board believes that trustees need to have the ability to critically

S-33


review, evaluate, question and discuss information provided to them, and to interact effectively with Fund management, service providers and counsel, in order to exercise effective business judgment in the performance of their duties, and the Board believes each trustee satisfies this standard. An effective trustee may achieve this ability through his or her educational background; business, professional training or practice; public service or academic positions; experience from service as a board member or executive of investment funds, public companies or significant private or not-for-profit entities or other organizations; and/or other life experiences. Accordingly, set forth below is a summary of the experiences, qualifications, attributes, and skills that led to the conclusion, as of the date of this document, that each trustee should continue to serve in that capacity. References to the experiences, qualifications, attributes and skills of trustees are pursuant to requirements of the SEC, do not constitute holding out of the Board or any trustee as having any special expertise or experience and shall not impose any greater responsibility or liability on any such person or on the Board by reason thereof.

Jack B. Evans

Mr. Evans has served as Chairman (since 2019) and President (1996-2019) of the Hall-Perrine Foundation, a private philanthropic corporation. Mr. Evans was formerly President and Chief Operating Officer (1972-1995) of the SCI Financial Group, Inc., a regional financial services firm headquartered in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He was a member of the Board of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago from 1997 to 2003 as well as a Director of Alliant Energy from 2000 to 2004 and Member and President Pro Tem of the Board of Regents for the State of Iowa University System from 2007 to 2013. Mr. Evans is a Life Trustee of Coe College and formerly served as Chairman of the Board of United Fire Group from 2009 to 2021, served as a Director and Public Member of the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery from 2015 to 2020 and served on the Board of The Gazette Company from 1996 to 2015. He has a Bachelor of Arts from Coe College and an M.B.A. from the University of Iowa.

William C. Hunter

Dr. Hunter became Dean Emeritus of the Henry B. Tippie College of Business at the University of Iowa in 2012, after having served as Dean of the College since July 2006. He had been Dean and Distinguished Professor of Finance at the University of Connecticut School of Business from 2003 to 2006. From 1995 to 2003, he was the Senior Vice President and Director of Research at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. He has held faculty positions at Emory University, Atlanta University, the University of Georgia and Northwestern University. He has consulted with numerous foreign central banks and official agencies in Europe, Asia, Central America and South America. He has been a Director of Wellmark, Inc. since 2009. He is a past Director (2005-2015) and a past President (2010-2014) of Beta Gamma Sigma, Inc., The International Business Honor Society and a past Director (2004-2018) of the Xerox Corporation. Dr. Hunter received his PhD (1978) and MBA (1970) from Northwestern University and his BS from Hampton University (1970).

Amy B.R. Lancellotta

After 30 years of service, Ms. Lancellotta retired at the end of 2019 from the Investment Company Institute (ICI), which represents regulated investment companies on regulatory, legislative and securities industry initiatives that affect funds and their shareholders. From November 2006 until her retirement, Ms. Lancellotta served as Managing Director of ICI’s Independent Directors Council (IDC), which supports fund independent directors in fulfilling their responsibilities to promote and protect the interests of fund shareholders. At IDC, Ms. Lancellotta was responsible for all ICI and IDC activities relating to the fund independent director community. In conjunction with her responsibilities, Ms. Lancellotta advised and represented IDC, ICI, independent directors and the investment company industry on issues relating to fund governance and the role of fund directors. She also directed and coordinated IDC’s education, communication, governance and policy initiatives. Prior to serving as Managing Director of IDC, Ms. Lancellotta held various other positions with ICI beginning in 1989. Before joining ICI, Ms. Lancellotta was an associate at two Washington, D.C. law firms. In addition, since 2020, she has been a member of the Board of Directors of the Jewish Coalition Against Domestic Abuse (JCADA), an organization that seeks to end power-based violence, empower survivors and ensure safe communities. Ms. Lancellotta received a B.A. degree from Pennsylvania State University in 1981 and a J.D. degree from the National Law Center, George Washington University (currently known as George Washington University Law School) in 1984.

Joanne T. Medero

Ms. Medero has over 30 years of financial services experience and, most recently, from December 2009 until her retirement in July 2020, she was a Managing Director in the Government Relations and

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Public Policy Group at BlackRock, Inc. (BlackRock). From July 2018 to July 2020, she was also Senior Advisor to BlackRock’s Vice Chairman, focusing on public policy and corporate governance issues. In 1996, Ms. Medero joined Barclays Global Investors (BGI), which merged with BlackRock in 2009. At BGI, she was a Managing Director and served as Global General Counsel and Corporate Secretary until 2006. Then, from 2006 to 2009, Ms. Medero was a Managing Director and Global Head of Government Relations and Public Policy at Barclays Group (IBIM), where she provided policy guidance and directed legislative and regulatory advocacy programs for the investment banking, investment management and wealth management businesses. Before joining BGI, Ms. Medero was a Partner at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP from 1993 to 1995, where she specialized in derivatives and financial markets regulation issues. Additionally, she served as General Counsel of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) from 1989 to 1993 and, from 1986 to 1989, she was Deputy Associate Director/Associate Director for Legal and Financial Affairs at The White House Office of Presidential Personnel. Further, from 2006 to 2010, Ms. Medero was a member of the CFTC Global Markets Advisory Committee and she has been actively involved in financial industry associations, serving as Chair of the Steering Committee of the SIFMA (Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association) Asset Management Group (2016-2018) and Chair of the CTA (Commodity Trading Advisor), CPO (Commodity Pool Operator) and Futures Committee of the Managed Funds Association (2010-2012). Currently, Ms. Medero chairs the Corporations, Antitrust and Securities Practice Group of The Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy (since 2010 and from 2000 to 2002). In addition, since 2019, she has been a member of the Board of Directors of the Baltic-American Freedom Foundation, which seeks to provide opportunities for citizens of the Baltic states to gain education and professional development through exchanges in the United States. Ms. Medero received a B.A. degree from St. Lawrence University in 1975 and a J.D. degree from the National Law Center, George Washington University (currently known as George Washington University Law School) in 1978.

Albin F. Moschner

Mr. Moschner is a consultant in the wireless industry and, in July 2012, founded Northcroft Partners, LLC, a management consulting firm that provides operational, management and governance solutions. Prior to founding Northcroft Partners, LLC, Mr. Moschner held various positions at Leap Wireless International, Inc., a provider of wireless services, where he was a consultant from February 2011 to July 2012, Chief Operating Officer from July 2008 to February 2011, and Chief Marketing Officer from August 2004 to June 2008. Before he joined Leap Wireless International, Inc., Mr. Moschner was President of the Verizon Card Services division of Verizon Communications, Inc. from 2000 to 2003, and President of One Point Services at One Point Communications from 1999 to 2000. Mr. Moschner also served at Zenith Electronics Corporation as Director, President and Chief Executive Officer from 1995 to 1996, and as Director, President and Chief Operating Officer from 1994 to 1995. Mr. Moschner was Chairman of the Board (2019) and a member of the Board of Directors (2012-2019) of USA Technologies, Inc. and, from 1996 until 2016, he was a member of the Board of Directors of Wintrust Financial Corporation. In addition, he is emeritus (since 2018) of the Advisory Boards of the Kellogg School of Management (1995-2018) and the Archdiocese of Chicago Financial Council (2012-2018). Mr. Moschner received a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Electrical Engineering from The City College of New York in 1974 and a Master of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Syracuse University in 1979.

John K. Nelson

Mr. Nelson is on the Board of Directors of Core12, LLC (since 2008), a private firm that develops branding, marketing, and communications strategies for clients. Mr. Nelson has extensive experience in global banking and markets, having served in several senior executive positions with ABN AMRO Holdings N.V. and its affiliated entities and predecessors, including LaSalle Bank Corporation from 1996 to 2008, ultimately serving as Chief Executive Officer of ABN AMRO N.V. North America. During his tenure at the bank, he also served as Global Head of its Financial Markets Division, which encompassed the bank's Currency, Commodity, Fixed Income, Emerging Markets, and Derivatives businesses. He was a member of the Foreign Exchange Committee of the Federal Reserve Bank of the United States and during his tenure with ABN AMRO served as the bank's representative on various committees of The Bank of Canada, European Central Bank, and The Bank of England. Mr. Nelson previously served as a senior, external advisor to the financial services practice of Deloitte Consulting LLP (2012-2014). At Fordham University, he served as a director of The President's Council (2010- 2019) and previously served as a director of The Curran Center for Catholic American Studies (2009-2018). He served as a trustee and Chairman of The Board of Trustees of Marian University (2011-2013). Mr. Nelson is a graduate of Fordham University and holds a BA in Economics (1984) and an MBA in Finance (1991).

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Judith M. Stockdale

Ms. Stockdale retired in 2012 as Executive Director of the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, a private foundation working in land conservation and artistic vitality in the Chicago region and the Low Country of South Carolina. She is currently a board member of the Land Trust Alliance (since 2013). Her previous positions include Executive Director of the Great Lakes Protection Fund, Executive Director of Openlands, and Senior Staff Associate at the Chicago Community Trust. She has served on the Advisory Council of the National Zoological Park, the Governor’s Science Advisory Council (Illinois), and the Nancy Ryerson Ranney Leadership Grants Program. She has served on the Boards of Brushwood Center, Forefront f/k/a Donors Forum and the U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities. Ms. Stockdale, a native of the United Kingdom, has a Bachelor of Science degree in geography from the University of Durham (UK) and a Master of Forest Science degree from Yale University.

Carole E. Stone

Ms. Stone recently retired from the Board of Directors of the Cboe Global Markets, Inc. (formerly, CBOE Holdings, Inc.), having served from 2010-2020. She previously served on the Boards of the Chicago Board Options Exchange and C2 Options Exchange, Incorporated. Ms. Stone retired from the New York State Division of the Budget in 2004, having served as its Director for nearly five years and as Deputy Director from 1995 through 1999. She has also served as the Chair of the New York Racing Association Oversight Board, as a Commissioner on the New York State Commission on Public Authority Reform and as a member of the Boards of Directors of several New York State public authorities. Ms. Stone has a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration from Skidmore College.

Matthew Thornton III

Mr. Thornton has over 40 years of broad leadership and operating experience from his career with FedEx Corporation (“FedEx”), which, through its portfolio of companies, provides transportation, e-commerce and business services. In November 2019, Mr. Thornton retired as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of FedEx Freight Corporation (FedEx Freight), a subsidiary of FedEx, where, from May 2018 until his retirement, he had been responsible for day-to-day operations, strategic guidance, modernization of freight operations and delivering innovative customer solutions. From September 2006 to May 2018, Mr. Thornton served as Senior Vice President, U.S. Operations at Federal Express Corporation (FedEx Express), a subsidiary of FedEx. Prior to September 2006, Mr. Thornton held a range of positions of increasing responsibility with FedEx, including various management positions. In addition, Mr. Thornton currently (since 2014) serves on the Board of Directors of The Sherwin-Williams Company, where he is a member of the Audit Committee and the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee, and the Board of Directors of Crown Castle International (since 2020), where he is a member of the Strategy Committee and the Compensation Committee. Formerly (2012-2018), he was a member of the Board of Directors of Safe Kids Worldwide®, a non-profit organization dedicated to the prevention of childhood injuries. Mr. Thornton is a member (since 2014) of the Executive Leadership Council (ELC), the nation’s premier organization of global black senior executives. He is also a member of the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD). Mr. Thornton has been recognized by Black Enterprise on its 2017 list of the Most Powerful Executives in Corporate America and by Ebony on its 2016 Power 100 list of the world’s most influential and inspiring African Americans. Mr. Thornton received a B.B.A. degree from the University of Memphis in 1980 and an M.B.A. from the University of Tennessee in 2001.

Terence J. Toth

Mr. Toth, the Nuveen Funds’ Independent Chair, was a Co-Founding Partner of Promus Capital (2008-2017). From 2010 to 2019, he was a Director of Fulcrum IT Service LLC and from 2012 to 2016, he was a Director of LogicMark LLC. From 2008 to 2013, he was a Director of Legal & General Investment Management America, Inc. From 2004 to 2007, he was Chief Executive Officer and President of Northern Trust Global Investments, and Executive Vice President of Quantitative Management & Securities Lending from 2000 to 2004. He also formerly served on the Board of the Northern Trust Mutual Funds. He joined Northern Trust in 1994 after serving as Managing Director and Head of Global Securities Lending at Bankers Trust (1986 to 1994) and Head of Government Trading and Cash Collateral Investment at Northern Trust from 1982 to 1986. He currently serves on the Boards of Quality Control Corporation (since 2012) and Catalyst Schools of Chicago (since 2008). He is on the Mather Foundation Board (since 2012) and is the Chair of its Investment Committee. Mr. Toth graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Illinois, and received his MBA from New York University. In 2005, he graduated from the CEO Perspectives Program at Northwestern University.

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Margaret L. Wolff

Ms. Wolff retired from Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP in 2014 after more than 30 years of providing client service in the Mergers & Acquisitions Group. During her legal career, Ms. Wolff devoted significant time to advising boards and senior management on U.S. and international corporate, securities, regulatory and strategic matters, including governance, shareholder, fiduciary, operational and management issues. From 2013 to 2017, she was a Board member of Travelers Insurance Company of Canada and The Dominion of Canada General Insurance Company (each of which is a part of Travelers Canada, the Canadian operation of The Travelers Companies, Inc.). Ms. Wolff has been a trustee of New York-Presbyterian Hospital since 2005 and, since 2004, she has served as a trustee of The John A. Hartford Foundation (a philanthropy dedicated to improving the care of older adults) where she currently is the Chair. From 2005 to 2015, she was a trustee of Mt. Holyoke College and served as Vice Chair of the Board from 2011 to 2015. Ms. Wolff received her Bachelor of Arts from Mt. Holyoke College and her Juris Doctor from Case Western Reserve University School of Law.

Robert L. Young

Mr. Young has more than 30 years of experience in the investment management industry. From 1997 to 2017, he held various positions with J.P. Morgan Investment Management Inc. (“J.P. Morgan Investment”) and its affiliates (collectively, “J.P. Morgan”). Most recently, he served as Chief Operating Officer and Director of J.P. Morgan Investment (from 2010 to 2016) and as President and Principal Executive Officer of the J.P. Morgan Funds (from 2013 to 2016). As Chief Operating Officer of J.P. Morgan Investment, Mr. Young led service, administration and business platform support activities for J.P. Morgan’s domestic retail mutual fund and institutional commingled and separate account businesses, and co-led these activities for J.P. Morgan’s global retail and institutional investment management businesses. As President of the J.P. Morgan Funds, Mr. Young interacted with various service providers to these funds, facilitated the relationship between such funds and their boards, and was directly involved in establishing board agendas, addressing regulatory matters, and establishing policies and procedures. Before joining J.P. Morgan, Mr. Young, a former Certified Public Accountant (CPA), was a Senior Manager (Audit) with Deloitte & Touche LLP (formerly, Touche Ross LLP), where he was employed from 1985 to 1996. During his tenure there, he actively participated in creating, and ultimately led, the firm’s midwestern mutual fund practice. Mr. Young holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Accounting from the University of Dayton and, from 2008 to 2011, he served on the Investment Committee of its Board of Trustees.

Board Compensation

The following table shows, for each independent trustee, (1) the aggregate compensation (including deferred amounts) paid by the Portfolio for the fiscal year ended July 31, 2021, (2) the amount of total compensation paid by the Portfolio that has been deferred, and (3) the total compensation (including deferred amounts) paid to each trustee by the Nuveen Funds during the fiscal year ended July 31, 2021. Pursuant to the Board’s deferred compensation plan, a portion of the independent trustees’ compensation may be deferred and treated as though an equivalent dollar amount has been invested in shares of one or more eligible Nuveen Funds. The amount of total compensation that has been deferred provided below represents the total deferred fees (including the return from the assumed investment in the eligible Nuveen Funds) payable from the Portfolio.

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Name of Trustee

   

Aggregate
Compensation
From Portfolio

   

Amount of Total
Compensation that
Has Been Deferred

   

Total Compensation
From the Portfolio
and Nuveen Funds
Paid to Trustee

   

Jack B. Evans 

$

3,619

 

$

299

 

$

395,568

 

William C. Hunter 

 

3,672

   

   

403,750

 

Amy B. R. Lancellotta1 

 

171

   

   

18,500

 

Joanne T. Medero2 

 

171

   

   

18,500

 

Albin F. Moschner 

 

3,639

   

   

401,950

 

John K. Nelson 

 

3,848

   

   

425,250

 

Judith M. Stockdale 

 

3,722

   

1,473

   

406,587

 

Carole E. Stone 

 

3,668

   

992

   

406,846

 

Matthew Thornton III3 

 

2,064

   

   

234,500

 

Terence J. Toth 

 

4,367

   

   

482,450

 

Margaret L. Wolff 

 

3,618

   

1,175

   

403,670

 

Robert L. Young 

 

3,903

   

3,903

   

428,022

 

1 Ms. Lancellotta was appointed to the Board of Trustees of the Nuveen Funds effective June 1, 2021.

2 Ms. Medero was appointed to the Board of Trustees of the Nuveen Funds effective June 1, 2021.

3 Mr. Thornton was elected to the Board of Trustees of the Nuveen Funds effective November 16, 2020.

Prior to January 1, 2021, independent trustees received a $195,000 annual retainer plus (a) a fee of $6,750 per day for attendance in person or by telephone at regularly scheduled meetings of the Board; (b) a fee of $3,000 per meeting for attendance in person or by telephone at special, non-regularly scheduled Board meetings where in-person attendance was required and $2,000 per meeting for attendance by telephone or in person at such meetings where in-person attendance was not required; (c) a fee of $2,500 per meeting for attendance in person or by telephone at Audit Committee meetings where in-person attendance was required and $2,000 per meeting for attendance by telephone or in person at such meetings where in-person attendance was not required; (d) a fee of $5,000 per meeting for attendance in person or by telephone at Compliance, Risk Management and Regulatory Oversight Committee meetings where in-person attendance was required and $2,000 per meeting for attendance by telephone or in person at such meetings where in-person attendance was not required; (e) a fee of $1,000 per meeting for attendance in person or by telephone at Dividend Committee meetings; (f) a fee of $500 per meeting for attendance in person or by telephone at all other committee meetings ($1,000 for shareholder meetings) where in-person attendance was required and $250 per meeting for attendance by telephone or in person at such committee meetings (excluding shareholder meetings) where in-person attendance was not required, and $100 per meeting when the Executive Committee acted as pricing committee for IPOs, plus, in each case, expenses incurred in attending such meetings, provided that no fees were received for meetings held on days on which regularly scheduled Board meetings were held; and (g) a fee of $2,500 per meeting for attendance in person or by telephone at Open-End Funds Committee meetings where in-person attendance was required and $2,000 per meeting for attendance by telephone or in person at such meetings where in-person attendance was not required; provided that no fees were received for meetings held on days on which regularly scheduled Board meetings were held. In addition to the payments described above, the Chair of the Board received $90,000, and the chairpersons of the Audit Committee, the Dividend Committee, the Compliance, Risk Management and Regulatory Oversight Committee, the Nominating and Governance Committee and the Open-End Funds Committee received $15,000 each as additional retainers. Independent trustees also received a fee of $3,000 per day for site visits to entities that provided services to the Nuveen Funds on days on which no Board meeting was held. When ad hoc committees were organized, the Nominating and Governance Committee at the time of formation determined compensation to be paid to the members of such committee; however, in general, such fees were $1,000 per meeting for attendance in person or by telephone at ad hoc committee meetings where in-person attendance was required and $500 per meeting for attendance by telephone or in person at such meetings where in-person attendance was not required. The annual retainer, fees and expenses were allocated among the Nuveen Funds on the basis of relative net assets, although management might have, in its discretion, established a minimum amount to be allocated to each fund.

Effective January 1, 2021, independent trustees receive a $200,000 annual retainer plus they receive (a) a fee of $7,000 per day for attendance in person or by telephone at regularly scheduled meetings of the Board; (b) a fee of $3,000 per meeting for attendance in person or by telephone at special, non-regularly scheduled Board meetings where in-person attendance is required and $2,000 per meeting for

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attendance by telephone or in person at such meetings where in-person attendance is not required; (c) a fee of $2,500 per meeting for attendance in person or by telephone at Audit Committee meetings where in-person attendance is required and $2,000 per meeting for attendance by telephone or in person at such meetings where in-person attendance is not required; (d) a fee of $5,000 per meeting for attendance in person or by telephone at Compliance, Risk Management and Regulatory Oversight Committee meetings where in-person attendance is required and $2,000 per meeting for attendance by telephone or in person at such meetings where in-person attendance is not required; (e) a fee of $1,000 per meeting for attendance in person or by telephone at Dividend Committee meetings; (f) a fee of $500 per meeting for attendance in person or by telephone at all other committee meetings ($1,000 for shareholder meetings) where in-person attendance is required and $250 per meeting for attendance by telephone or in person at such committee meetings (excluding shareholder meetings) where in-person attendance is not required, and $100 per meeting when the Executive Committee acts as pricing committee for IPOs, plus, in each case, expenses incurred in attending such meetings, provided that no fees are received for meetings held on days on which regularly scheduled Board meetings are held; and (g) a fee of $2,500 per meeting for attendance in person or by telephone at Open-End Funds Committee meetings where in-person attendance is required and $2,000 per meeting for attendance by telephone or in person at such meetings where in-person attendance is not required; provided that no fees are received for meetings held on days on which regularly scheduled Board meetings are held. In addition to the payments described above, the Chair of the Board receives $100,000, and the chairpersons of the Audit Committee, the Dividend Committee, the Compliance, Risk Management and Regulatory Oversight Committee, the Nominating and Governance Committee and the Open-End Funds Committee receive $15,000 each as additional retainers. Independent trustees also receive a fee of $3,500 per day for site visits to entities that provide services to the Nuveen Funds on days on which no Board meeting is held. When ad hoc committees are organized, the Nominating and Governance Committee will at the time of formation determine compensation to be paid to the members of such committee; however, in general, such fees will be $1,000 per meeting for attendance in person or by telephone at ad hoc committee meetings where in-person attendance is required and $500 per meeting for attendance by telephone or in person at such meetings where in-person attendance is not required. The annual retainer, fees and expenses are allocated among the Nuveen Funds on the basis of relative net assets, although management may, in its discretion, establish a minimum amount to be allocated to each fund. In certain instances fees and expenses will be allocated only to those Nuveen Funds that are discussed at a given meeting. In certain circumstances, such as during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Board may hold in-person meetings by telephonic or videographic means and be compensated at the in-person rate.

The Trust does not have a retirement or pension plan. The Trust is a participant in a deferred compensation plan (the “Deferred Compensation Plan”) that permits any independent trustee to elect to defer receipt of all or a portion of his or her compensation as an independent trustee. The deferred compensation of a participating trustee is credited to a book reserve account of the participating Nuveen Funds when the compensation would otherwise have been paid to the trustee. The value of the trustee’s deferral account at any time is equal to the value that the account would have had if contributions to the account had been invested and reinvested in shares of one or more of the eligible Nuveen Funds. An independent trustee may elect to receive distributions in a lump sum or over a period of five years. No participating Nuveen Fund will be liable for any other fund’s obligations to make distributions under the Deferred Compensation Plan.

The Portfolio has no employees. Each officer of the Trust serves without any compensation from the Portfolio. The CCO’s compensation, which is composed of base salary and incentive compensation, is paid by the Adviser, with review and input by the Board. The Portfolio reimburses the Adviser for an allocable portion of the Adviser’s cost of the CCO’s incentive compensation.

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Share Ownership

The information in the table below discloses the dollar ranges of (i) each trustee’s beneficial ownership in the Portfolio, and (ii) each trustee’s aggregate beneficial ownership in all funds within the Nuveen Funds complex, including in each case the value of fund shares elected by the trustee in the trustees’ deferred compensation plan, based on the value of fund shares as of December 31, 2020:

             

Name of Trustee

   

Dollar Range of
Equity Securities
In the Portfolio

 

Aggregate Dollar Range
of Equity Securities in
All Registered
Investment Companies
Overseen by Trustee in
Family of
Investment Companies

Jack B. Evans 

 

$

0

 

Over $100,000

William C. Hunter 

 

$

0

 

Over $100,000

Amy B. R. Lancellotta1 

 

$

0

 

$0

Joanne T. Medero2 

 

$

0

 

$0

Albin F. Moschner 

 

$

0

 

Over $100,000

John K. Nelson 

 

$

0

 

Over $100,000

Judith M. Stockdale 

 

$

0

 

Over $100,000

Carole E. Stone 

 

$

0

 

Over $100,000

Matthew Thornton III3 

 

$

0

 

$0

Terence J. Toth 

 

$

0

 

Over $100,000

Margaret L. Wolff 

 

$

0

 

Over $100,000

Robert L. Young 

 

$

0

 

Over $100,000

1 Ms. Lancellotta was appointed to the Board of Trustees of the Nuveen Funds effective June 1, 2021.

2 Ms. Medero was appointed to the Board of Trustees of the Nuveen Funds effective June 1, 2021.

3 Mr. Thornton was elected to the Board of Trustees of the Nuveen Funds effective November 16, 2020.

As of November 2, 2021, the officers and trustees of the Trust, in the aggregate, owned less than 1% of the shares of the Portfolio.

As of November 2, 2021, none of the independent trustees or their immediate family members owned, beneficially, or of record, any securities in (i) an investment adviser or principal underwriter of the Portfolio or (ii) a person (other than a registered investment company) directly or indirectly controlling, controlled by, or under common control with an investment adviser or principal underwriter of the Portfolio.

SERVICE PROVIDERS

Investment Adviser

Nuveen Fund Advisors, located at 333 West Wacker Drive, Chicago, Illinois 60606, serves as the investment adviser of the Portfolio, with responsibility for the overall management of the Portfolio. The Adviser is also responsible for managing the Portfolio’s business affairs and providing day-to-day administrative services to the Portfolio. The Adviser has selected its affiliate, Nuveen Asset Management, located at 333 West Wacker Drive, Chicago, Illinois 60606, to serve as sub-adviser to manage the investment portfolio of the Portfolio. For additional information regarding the management services performed by the Adviser and the Sub-Adviser, see “Who Manages the Portfolio” in the Prospectus.

The Adviser is an affiliate of the Distributor, which is located at 333 West Wacker Drive, Chicago, Illinois 60606. The Distributor is the principal underwriter for the Nuveen Mutual Funds, and has served as co-managing underwriter for the shares of the Nuveen Closed-End Funds. The Adviser and the Distributor are subsidiaries of Nuveen, LLC, the investment management arm of TIAA.

The Portfolio’s investment management agreement with the Adviser does not require the Portfolio to pay any management or other fees. Although the Portfolio does not compensate the Adviser directly for its services under the investment management agreement, the Adviser may benefit from its relationship with the sponsors of separately managed account programs in which the Portfolio is an investment option.

Sub-Adviser

The Adviser has selected its affiliate, Nuveen Asset Management, to serve as sub-adviser to manage the investment portfolio of the Portfolio.

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Portfolio Manager

Martin J. Doyle has primary responsibility for the day-to-day implementation of the investment strategies of the Portfolio.

Compensation

Portfolio managers are compensated through a combination of base salary and variable components consisting of (i) a cash bonus; (ii) a long-term performance award; and (iii) participation in a profits interest plan.

Base salary. A portfolio manager’s base salary is determined based upon an analysis of the portfolio manager’s general performance, experience and market levels of base pay for such position.

Cash bonus. A portfolio manager is eligible to receive an annual cash bonus that is based on three variables: risk-adjusted investment performance relative to benchmark generally measured over the most recent one, three and five year periods (unless the portfolio manager’s tenure is shorter), ranking versus Morningstar peer funds generally measured over the most recent one, three and five year periods (unless the portfolio manager’s tenure is shorter), and management and peer reviews.

Long-term performance award. A portfolio manager is eligible to receive a long-term performance award that vests after three years. The amount of the award when granted is based on the same factors used in determining the cash bonus. The value of the award at the completion of the three-year vesting period is adjusted based on the risk-adjusted investment performance of Portfolio(s) managed by the portfolio manager during the vesting period and the performance of the TIAA organization as a whole.

Profits interest plan. Portfolio managers are eligible to receive profits interests in Nuveen Asset Management and its affiliate, TAL, which vest over time and entitle their holders to a percentage of the firms’ annual profits. Profits interests are allocated to each portfolio manager based on such person’s overall contribution to the firms.

There are generally no differences between the methods used to determine compensation with respect to the Portfolio and the Other Accounts shown in the table below.

Other Accounts Managed

In addition to the Portfolio, as of July 31, 2021, the portfolio manager was also primarily responsible for the day-to-day portfolio management of the following accounts:

                                       

Portfolio Manager

 

Type of Account Managed

 

Number of Accounts

 

Assets

 

Number of Accounts with Performance-Based Fees

 

Assets of Accounts with Performance-Based Fees

Martin J. Doyle 

 

Registered Investment Companies

 

0

 

$

0

 

0

 

$

0

 
   

Other Pooled Investment Vehicles

 

0

   

0

 

0

   

0

   

Other Accounts

 

48,017

   

49.1 billion

 

0

   

0

Conflicts of Interest

Actual or apparent conflicts of interest may arise when a portfolio manager has day-to-day management responsibilities with respect to more than one account. More specifically, portfolio managers who manage multiple accounts are presented a number of potential conflicts, including, among others, those discussed below.

The management of multiple accounts may result in a portfolio manager devoting unequal time and attention to the management of each account. Nuveen Asset Management seeks to manage such competing interests for the time and attention of portfolio managers by having portfolio managers focus on a particular investment discipline. Most accounts managed by a portfolio manager in a particular investment strategy are managed using the same investment models.

If a portfolio manager identifies a limited investment opportunity which may be suitable for more than one account, an account may not be able to take full advantage of that opportunity due to an allocation of filled purchase or sale orders across all eligible accounts. To deal with these situations, Nuveen Asset Management has adopted procedures for allocating limited opportunities across multiple accounts.

With respect to many of its clients’ accounts, Nuveen Asset Management determines which broker to use to execute transaction orders, consistent with its duty to seek best execution of the transaction. However, with respect to certain other accounts, Nuveen Asset Management may be limited by the client with respect to the selection of brokers or may be instructed to direct trades through a particular broker. In these cases, Nuveen Asset Management may place separate, non-simultaneous, transactions for the

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Portfolio and other accounts which may temporarily affect the market price of the security or the execution of the transaction, or both, to the detriment of the Portfolio or the other accounts.

Some clients are subject to different regulations. As a consequence of this difference in regulatory requirements, some clients may not be permitted to engage in all the investment techniques or transactions or to engage in these transactions to the same extent as the other accounts managed by a portfolio manager. Finally, the appearance of a conflict of interest may arise where Nuveen Asset Management has an incentive, such as a performance-based management fee, which relates to the management of some accounts, with respect to which a portfolio manager has day-to-day management responsibilities.

Conflicts of interest may also arise when the Sub-Adviser invests one or more of its client accounts in different or multiple parts of the same issuer’s capital structure, including investments in public versus private securities, debt versus equity, or senior versus junior/subordinated debt, or otherwise where there are different or inconsistent rights or benefits. Decisions or actions such as investing, trading, proxy voting, exercising, waiving or amending rights or covenants, workout activity, or serving on a board, committee or other involvement in governance may result in conflicts of interest between clients holding different securities or investments. Generally, individual portfolio managers will seek to act in a manner that they believe serves the best interest of the accounts they manage. In cases where a portfolio manager or team faces a conflict among its client accounts, it will seek to act in a manner that it believes best reflects its overall fiduciary duty, which may result in relative advantages or disadvantages for particular accounts.

Nuveen Asset Management has adopted certain compliance procedures which are designed to address these types of conflicts common among investment managers. However, there is no guarantee that such procedures will detect each and every situation in which a conflict arises.

Beneficial Ownership of Securities

The following table indicates as of July 31, 2021 the value, within the indicated range, of shares beneficially owned by the portfolio manager in the Portfolio. For purposes of this table, the following letters indicate the range listed next to each letter:

         

A

- $0

 

B

- $1 - $10,000

     

C

- $10,001 - $50,000

     

D

- $50,001 - $100,000

     

E

- $100,001 - $500,000

     

F

- $500,001 - $1,000,000

     

G

- More than $1 million

     
           

Portfolio Manager

   

Dollar Range of Equity Securities Beneficially Owned in Fund Managed

 

Martin J. Doyle 

   

A

 

Transfer Agent

The Portfolio's transfer, shareholder services, and dividend paying agent is DST Asset Manager Solutions, Inc. (“DST”), P.O. Box 219140, Kansas City, Missouri 64121-9140.

Custodian

The custodian of the assets of the Portfolio is State Street Bank and Trust Company, One Lincoln Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02111. The custodian performs custodial, fund accounting and portfolio accounting services.

Distributor

Nuveen Securities, LLC, 333 West Wacker Drive, Chicago, Illinois 60606, serves as the distributor for the Portfolio's shares pursuant to a “best efforts” arrangement as provided by a Distribution Agreement dated May 1, 2007 (the “Distribution Agreement”). Pursuant to the Distribution Agreement, the Portfolio appointed the Distributor to be its agent for the distribution of the Portfolio's shares on a continuous offering basis.

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Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (“PwC”), One North Wacker Drive, Chicago, Illinois 60606, independent registered public accounting firm, has been selected as auditors for the Portfolio. In addition to audit services, PwC provides assistance on accounting, tax and related matters.

CODES OF ETHICS

The Portfolio, the Adviser, Nuveen Asset Management and the Distributor have adopted codes of ethics pursuant to Rule 17j-1 under the 1940 Act and with respect to the Adviser and the Sub-Adviser, Rule 204A-1 under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, as amended (the "Advisers Act"), addressing personal securities transactions and other conduct by investment personnel and access persons who may have access to information about the Portfolio's securities transactions. The codes are intended to address potential conflicts of interest that can arise in connection with personal trading activities of such persons. Persons subject to the codes are generally permitted to engage in personal securities transactions, including investing in securities eligible for investment by the Portfolio, subject to certain prohibitions, which may include prohibitions on investing in certain types of securities, pre-clearance requirements, blackout periods, annual and quarterly reporting of personal securities holdings and limitations on personal trading of initial public offerings. Violations of the codes are subject to review by the Board of Trustees and could result in severe penalties.

PROXY VOTING POLICIES

The Portfolio invests its assets primarily in municipal bonds and cash management securities. On rare occasions the Portfolio may acquire, directly or through a special purpose vehicle, equity securities of a municipal bond issuer whose bonds the Portfolio already owns when such bonds have deteriorated or are expected shortly to deteriorate significantly in credit quality. The purpose of acquiring equity securities generally will be to acquire control of the municipal bond issuer and to seek to prevent the credit deterioration or facilitate the liquidation or other workout of the distressed issuer’s credit problem. In the course of exercising control of a distressed municipal issuer, Nuveen Asset Management may pursue the Portfolio’s interests in a variety of ways, which may entail negotiating and executing consents, agreements and other arrangements, and otherwise influencing the management of the issuer. Nuveen Asset Management does not consider such activities proxy voting for purposes of Rule 206(4)-6 under the 1940 Act, but nevertheless provides reports to the Portfolio’s Board of Trustees on its control activities on a quarterly basis.

In the rare event that a municipal issuer were to issue a proxy or that the Portfolio were to receive a proxy issued by a cash management security, Nuveen Asset Management would either engage an independent third party to determine how the proxy should be voted or vote the proxy with the consent, or based on the instructions, of the Portfolio’s Board of Trustees or its representative. A member of Nuveen Asset Management’s legal department would oversee the administration of the voting, and ensure that records were maintained in accordance with Rule 206(4)-6 under the Advisers Act, reports were filed with the SEC on Form N-PX, and the results provided to the Portfolio’s Board of Trustees and made available to shareholders as required by applicable rules.

Information regarding how the Portfolio voted proxies relating to portfolio securities during the most recent 12-month period ended June 30 is available without charge by accessing Nuveen’s website at http://www.nuveen.com or the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov.

PORTFOLIO TRANSACTIONS

Nuveen Asset Management is responsible for decisions to buy and sell securities for the Portfolio, the negotiation of the prices to be paid or received for principal trades, and the allocation of its transactions among various dealer firms. Portfolio securities will normally be purchased directly from an underwriter in a new issue offering or in the over-the-counter secondary market from the principal dealers in such securities, unless it appears that a better price or execution may be obtained elsewhere.

On behalf of the Portfolio, Nuveen Asset Management may seek to buy from or sell securities to another fund or account advised by Nuveen Asset Management or an affiliate. Nuveen Asset Management may effect purchases and sales between its clients or clients of its affiliates, including the Portfolio (referred to herein as “cross trades”), if it believes that such transactions are appropriate based on each party’s investment objectives and guidelines, subject to applicable law and regulation. Cross trades may give rise to potential conflicts of interest for Nuveen Asset Management. On any occasion

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when the Portfolio participates in a cross trade, the Portfolio will comply with procedures adopted pursuant to Rule 17a-7 under the 1940 Act and applicable SEC guidance.

The Portfolio expects that substantially all portfolio transactions will be effected on a principal (as opposed to an agency) basis and, accordingly, does not expect to pay significant amounts of brokerage commissions. Brokerage will not be allocated based on the sale of the Portfolio’s shares. Purchases from underwriters will include a commission or concession paid by the issuer to the underwriter, and purchases from dealers will include the spread between the bid and asked price. It is the policy of Nuveen Asset Management to seek the best execution under the circumstances of each trade. Nuveen Asset Management evaluates price as the primary consideration, with the financial condition, reputation and responsiveness of the dealer considered secondarily in determining best execution. Given the best execution obtainable, it may be Nuveen Asset Management’s practice to select dealers that, in addition, furnish research information (primarily credit analyses of issuers and general economic reports) and statistical and other services to Nuveen Asset Management. It is not possible to place a dollar value on information and statistical and other services received from dealers. Since it is only supplementary to Nuveen Asset Management’s own research efforts, the receipt of research information is not expected to reduce significantly Nuveen Asset Management’s expenses. For certain secondary market transactions where the execution capability of two brokers is judged to be of substantially similar quality, Nuveen Asset Management may randomly select one of them. While Nuveen Asset Management will be primarily responsible for the placement of the portfolio transactions of the Portfolio, the policies and practices of Nuveen Asset Management in this regard must be consistent with the foregoing and will, at all times, be subject to review by the Board of Trustees.

Nuveen Asset Management may manage other investment companies and investment accounts for other clients that have investment objectives similar to the Portfolio. Subject to applicable laws and regulations, Nuveen Asset Management seeks to allocate portfolio transactions equitably whenever concurrent decisions are made to purchase or sell securities by the Portfolio and another advisory account. In making such allocations the main factors to be considered will be the respective investment objectives, the relative size of the portfolio holdings of the same or comparable securities, the availability of cash for investment or need to raise cash, and the size of investment commitments generally held. While this procedure could have a detrimental effect on the price or amount of the securities (or, in the case of dispositions, the demand for securities) available to the Portfolio from time to time, it is the opinion of the Board of Trustees that the benefits available from the Nuveen Asset Management organization will outweigh any disadvantage that may arise from exposure to simultaneous transactions.

The Portfolio has paid no brokerage commissions in the past three fiscal years.

During the fiscal year ended July 31, 2021, the Portfolio did not pay commissions to brokers in return for research services.

The Portfolio did not acquire during the fiscal year ended July 31, 2021 the securities of its regular brokers or dealers as defined in Rule 10b-1 under the 1940 Act or of the parents of the brokers or dealers.

DISCLOSURE OF PORTFOLIO HOLDINGS

The Nuveen Mutual Funds have adopted a portfolio holdings disclosure policy which governs the dissemination of the Portfolio’s holdings. In accordance with this policy, the Portfolio may provide portfolio holdings information to third parties no earlier than the time a report is filed with the SEC that is required to contain such information or one day after the information is posted on the publicly accessible website www.nuveen.com/resource-center. A complete list of portfolio holdings information is generally made available on this website as of the end of each month, approximately two to five business days after the end of the month for which the information is current. This information will remain available on the website at least until the Portfolio files with the SEC its Form N-CSR or Form N-PORT for the period that includes the date as of which the website information is current.

Additionally, the Portfolio may disclose portfolio holdings information that has not been included in a filing with the SEC or posted on the Portfolio’s website (i.e., non-public portfolio holdings information) only if there is a legitimate business purpose for doing so and if the recipient is required, either by explicit agreement or by virtue of the recipient’s duties to the Portfolio as an agent or service provider, to maintain the confidentiality of the information and to not use the information in an improper manner (e.g., personal trading). In this context, portfolio holdings information does not include summary information from which the identity of the Portfolio’s specific portfolio holdings cannot reasonably be derived. The Portfolio may

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disclose on an ongoing basis non-public portfolio holdings information in the normal course of its investment and administrative operations to various service providers, including the Adviser and/or Sub-Adviser, independent registered public accounting firm, custodian, financial printer, proxy voting service(s), and to the legal counsel for the Portfolio’s independent trustees. Also, the Adviser may transmit to service providers non-public portfolio holdings information to enable the Adviser to perform portfolio attribution analysis using third-party systems and software programs. The Adviser and/or Sub-Adviser may also provide certain portfolio holdings information to broker-dealers from time to time in connection with the purchase or sale of securities or requests for price quotations or bids on one or more securities. In providing this information, reasonable precautions are taken in an effort to avoid potential misuse of the disclosed information, including limitations on the scope of the portfolio holdings information disclosed, when appropriate. The Portfolio, the Adviser, and the Sub-Adviser do not receive compensation or other consideration in exchange for the disclosure of portfolio holdings.

Non-public portfolio holdings information may be provided to other persons if approved by the Portfolio’s Chief Administrative Officer or Secretary upon a determination that there is a legitimate business purpose for doing so, the disclosure is consistent with the interests of the Portfolio, and the recipient is obligated to maintain the confidentiality of the information and not misuse it, which includes a prohibition on trading on such non-public information.

Compliance officers of the Portfolio and the Adviser and Sub-Adviser periodically monitor overall compliance with the policy to ascertain whether portfolio holdings information is disclosed in a manner that is consistent with the Portfolio’s policy. Reports are made to the Portfolio’s Board of Trustees on an annual basis.

There is no assurance that the Portfolio’s policies on portfolio holdings information will protect the Portfolio from the potential misuse of portfolio holdings information by individuals or firms in possession of such information.

The following parties currently receive non-public portfolio holdings information regarding one or more of the Nuveen Mutual Funds on an ongoing basis pursuant to the various arrangements described above:

Advent
Bank of America PriceServe
Barclays Capital, Inc.
Barra
Bloomberg
Broadridge Investor Communication Solutions, Inc.
Broadridge Systems
Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.
Chapman and Cutler LLP
Compliance Solutions Strategies
Confluence NXT
Donnelley Financial Solutions
Eagle Investment Systems, LLC
Electra Information Systems
Ernst & Young
FactSet Research Systems
Financial Graphic Services
Glass, Lewis & Co.
ICE Benchmark Administration Limited
ICE Data Services
IHS Markit, Ltd.
ISS
Investortools
KPMG LLP
Lipper Inc.
Moody’s
Morningstar, Inc.
Northern Trust Corp.
Omgeo LLC
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
PricingDirect Inc.

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Refinitiv
Rimes Technologies Corporation
SS&C
Sherpa Funds Technology Pte Ltd
State Street Bank and Trust Co.
Strategic Insight
Wolters Kluwer

NET ASSET VALUE

The Portfolio’s net asset value is determined as set forth in the Prospectus under “General Information—Net Asset Value.”

SHARES OF BENEFICIAL INTEREST

The Board of Trustees of the Trust is authorized to issue an unlimited number of shares in one or more series, which may be divided into classes of shares. Each currently authorized and outstanding series consists of one class of shares. The Board of Trustees of the Trust has the right to establish additional series and classes of shares in the future, to change those series or classes and to determine the preferences, voting powers, rights and privileges thereof.

The Trust is not required and does not intend to hold annual meetings of shareholders. Shareholders owning more than 10% of the outstanding shares of the Portfolio have the right to call a special meeting to remove trustees or for any other purpose.

Under Massachusetts law applicable to Massachusetts business trusts, shareholders of such a trust may, under certain circumstances, be held personally liable as partners for its obligations. However, the Declaration of Trust of the Trust contains an express disclaimer of shareholder liability for acts or obligations of the Trust and requires that notice of this disclaimer be given in each agreement, obligation or instrument entered into or executed by the Trust or the trustees. The Trust’s Declaration of Trust further provides for indemnification out of the assets and property of the Trust for all losses and expenses of any shareholder held personally liable for the obligations of the Trust. Thus, the risk of a shareholder incurring financial loss on account of shareholder liability is limited to circumstances in which both inadequate insurance existed and the Trust or the Portfolio itself was unable to meet its obligations. The Trust believes the likelihood of the occurrence of these circumstances is remote.

The following table sets forth the percentage ownership of each person, who, as of November 2, 2021, owned of record, or is known by the Trust to have owned beneficially, 5% or more of the Portfolio’s shares.

             

Name of Portfolio

   

Name and Address of Owner

 

Percentage of
Ownership

Municipal Total Return Managed
Accounts Portfolio 

 


Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC
For the Exclusive Bene of its Cust
1 New York Plz Fl 12
New York NY 10004-1932

 


48.54%

 
   

 

     
   

MLPF&S for the Benefit of its
Customers
Attn Fund Admn
4800 Deer Lake Dr E Fl 3
Jacksonville FL 32246-6484

 

23.99%

 
   

 

     
   

Wells Fargo Clearing Services LLC
Special Custody Acct for the
Exclusive Benefit of Customer
2801 Market St
Saint Louis MO 63103-2523

 

11.68%

 

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TAX MATTERS

Federal Income Tax Matters

This section summarizes some of the main U.S. federal income tax consequences of owning shares of the Portfolio. Tax laws and interpretations change frequently, and this summary does not describe all of the tax consequences to all taxpayers. For example, this summary generally does not describe your situation if you are a corporation, a non-U.S. person, a broker-dealer or other investor with special circumstances. In addition, this section does not describe your state, local or non-U.S. tax consequences. This federal income tax summary is based in part on the advice of counsel to the Portfolio. The Internal Revenue Service could disagree with any conclusions set forth in this section. In addition, Portfolio's counsel was not asked to review, and has not reached a conclusion with respect to the federal income tax treatment of the assets to be deposited in the Portfolio. Consequently, this summary may not be sufficient for you to use for the purpose of avoiding penalties under federal tax law. As with any investment, you should seek advice based on your individual circumstances from your own tax professional.

Portfolio Status

The Portfolio intends to qualify as a “regulated investment company” under the federal tax laws. If the Portfolio qualifies as a regulated investment company and distributes its income as required by the tax law, the Portfolio generally will not pay federal income taxes. If the Portfolio fails for any taxable year to qualify as a regulated investment company for federal income tax purposes, the Portfolio itself will generally be subject to federal income taxation (which will reduce the amount of Portfolio income available for distribution) and your tax consequences will be different from those described in this section (for example, all distributions to you will generally be taxed as ordinary income, even if those distributions are derived from tax-exempt interest or capital gains realized by the Portfolio).

Qualification as a Regulated Investment Company

As a regulated investment company, the Portfolio generally will not be subject to federal income tax on the portion of its investment company taxable income (as that term is defined in the Code, but without regard to the deduction for dividends paid) and net capital gain (i.e., the excess of net long-term capital gain over net short-term capital loss), if any, that it distributes to shareholders, provided that it distributes at least 90% of its investment company taxable income and 90% of its net tax-exempt interest income for the year (the “Distribution Requirement”) and satisfies certain other requirements of the Code that are generally described below. The Portfolio also intends to make such distributions as are necessary to avoid the otherwise applicable 4% non-deductible excise tax on certain undistributed earnings.

In addition to satisfying the Distribution Requirement, the Portfolio must, among other things, derive in each taxable year at least 90% of its gross income from (1) dividends, interest, certain payments with respect to securities loans, gains from the sale or disposition of stock, securities or non-U.S. currencies and other income (including but not limited to gains from options, futures or forward contracts) derived with respect to its business of investing in such stock, securities or currencies, and (2) net income derived from an interest in “qualified publicly traded partnerships” (as such term is defined in the Code). The Portfolio must also satisfy an asset diversification test in order to qualify as a regulated investment company. Under this test, at the close of each quarter of the Portfolio’s taxable year, (1) 50% or more of the value of the Portfolio’s assets must be represented by cash and cash items (including receivables), United States government securities, securities of other regulated investment companies, and other securities, with such other securities limited, in respect of any one issuer, to an amount not greater than 5% of the value of the Portfolio’s assets and not greater than 10% of the outstanding voting securities of such issuer and (2) not more than 25% of the value of the Portfolio’s assets may be invested in securities of (a) any one issuer (other than U.S. government securities or securities of other regulated investment companies), or of two or more issuers which the Portfolio controls and which are engaged in the same, similar or related trades or businesses or (b) in the securities of one or more “qualified publicly traded partnerships” (as such term is defined in the Code). There are certain exceptions for failure to qualify if the failure is for reasonable cause or is de minimis and certain corrective action is taken and certain tax payments are made by the Portfolio.

Distributions

After the end of each year, you will receive a tax statement that separates the Portfolio’s distributions into four categories, exempt-interest dividends, ordinary income distributions, capital gain dividends and returns of capital. Exempt-interest dividends generally are excluded from your gross income for federal income tax purposes. Some or all of the exempt-interest dividends, however, may be taken into account

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in determining your alternative minimum tax and may have other tax consequences (e.g., they may affect the amount of your social security benefits that are taxed). Ordinary income distributions are generally taxed at your ordinary tax rate. Generally, you will treat all capital gain dividends as long-term capital gains regardless of how long you have owned your shares. To determine your actual tax liability for your capital gain dividends, you must calculate your total net capital gain or loss for the tax year after considering all of your other taxable transactions, as described below. In addition, the Portfolio may make distributions that represent a return of capital for tax purposes and thus will generally not be immediately taxable to you unless the distribution exceeds your basis in your shares. The tax status of your distributions from the Portfolio is not affected by whether you reinvest your distributions in additional shares or receive them in cash. The income from the Portfolio that you must take into account for federal income tax purposes is not reduced by amounts used to pay a deferred sales fee, if any. The tax laws may require you to treat distributions made to you in January as if you had received them on December 31 of the previous year. Income from the Portfolio may also be subject to a 3.8 percent “Medicare tax.” This tax generally applies to your net investment income if your adjusted gross income exceeds certain threshold amounts, which are $250,000 in the case of married couples filing joint returns and $200,000 in the case of single individuals. Interest that is excluded from gross income and exempt-interest dividends from the Portfolio are generally not included in your net investment income for purposes of this tax.

Dividends Received Deduction

A corporation that owns shares generally will not be entitled to the dividends received deduction with respect to many dividends received from the Portfolio because the dividends received deduction is generally not available for distributions from regulated investment companies.

If You Sell or Redeem Shares

If you sell or redeem your shares, you will generally recognize a taxable gain or loss. To determine the amount of this gain or loss, you must subtract your tax basis in your shares from the amount you receive in the transaction. Your tax basis in your shares is generally equal to the cost of your shares, generally including sales charges. In some cases, however, you may have to adjust your tax basis after you purchase your shares. Further, if you hold your shares for six months or less, any loss incurred by you related to the disposition of such a share will be disallowed to the extent of the exempt-interest dividends you received, except as otherwise described in the next section.

Taxation of Capital Gains and Losses

If you are an individual, the maximum marginal stated federal tax rate for net capital gains is generally 20% (15% or 0% for taxpayers with taxable incomes below certain thresholds). Capital gains may also be subject to the “Medicare tax” described above.

Net capital gain equals net long-term capital gain minus net short-term capital loss for the taxable year. Capital gain or loss is long-term if the holding period for the asset is more than one year and is short-term if the holding period for the asset is one year or less. You must exclude the date you purchase your shares to determine your holding period. If you hold a share for six months or less, any loss incurred by you related to the disposition of such share will be disallowed to the extent of the exempt-interest dividends you received, except in the case of a regular dividend paid by the Portfolio if the Portfolio declares exempt-interest dividends on a daily basis in an amount equal to at least 90 percent of its net tax-exempt interest and distributes such dividends on a monthly or more frequent basis. To the extent, if any, it is not disallowed, it will be recharacterized as long-term capital loss to the extent of the capital gain dividend received. The tax rates for capital gains realized from assets held for one year or less are generally the same as for ordinary income. The Code treats certain capital gains as ordinary income in special situations.

An election may be available to you to defer recognition of the gain attributable to a capital gain dividend if you make certain qualifying investments within a limited time. You should talk to your tax advisor about the availability of this deferral election and its requirements.

Qualification to Pay Exempt-Interest Dividends

A regulated investment company may report an applicable portion of a dividend (other than a capital gain dividend) as an “exempt-interest dividend,” if at least half of the regulated investment company’s assets at the close of each quarter of the taxable year consist of tax-exempt state and local bonds. The shareholder treats an exempt-interest dividend as an item of tax-exempt interest as described above. If the Portfolio qualifies under this test, some or all of a dividend paid by the Portfolio may be reported as an exempt-interest dividend.

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In-Kind Distributions

Under certain circumstances, as described in the Prospectus, you may receive an in-kind distribution of Portfolio securities when you redeem shares or when the Portfolio terminates. This distribution will be treated as a sale for federal income tax purposes and you will generally recognize gain or loss, generally based on the value at that time of the securities and the amount of cash received. The Internal Revenue Service could, however, assert that a loss may not be currently deducted.

Exchanges

If you exchange shares of the Portfolio for shares of another Nuveen Mutual Fund, the exchange would generally be considered a sale for federal income tax purposes.

Treatment of Portfolio Expenses

Expenses incurred and deducted by the Portfolio will generally not be treated as income taxable to you. In some cases, however, you may be required to treat your portion of the Portfolio expenses as income. You may not be able to deduct some or all of these expenses prior to 2026. Further, because the Portfolio pays exempt-interest dividends, which are treated as exempt interest for federal income tax purposes, you will not be able to deduct some of your interest expense for debt that you incur or continue to purchase or carry your shares.

You should be aware that different separately managed account program sponsors charge their own clients differing wrapped or bundled fees based, among other things, on the services being provided by the sponsor. This structure raises the question of whether the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) or a court might attribute these differing payment rates to the Portfolio. Such a position, if asserted, could raise issues of whether the structure produces preferential dividends and, in turn, whether the Portfolio qualifies for tax treatment as a regulated investment company. If in any year the Portfolio should fail to qualify under Subchapter M of the Code for tax treatment as a regulated investment company, the Portfolio would incur corporate federal income tax upon its income for that year. Distributions to its shareholders would be taxable dividends to the extent of the Portfolio’s current and accumulated earnings and profits (including its tax-exempt income). Such taxable dividends should qualify for the dividends received deduction for corporate shareholders and should be taxable as qualified dividend income for federal income tax purposes for individual shareholders to the extent certain holding period requirements and other requirements are satisfied. In addition, the Portfolio could be required to recognize unrealized gains, pay substantial taxes and interest and make substantial distributions before requalifying as a regulated investment company. The Board of Trustees reserves the right not to maintain the qualification of the Portfolio as a regulated investment company if it determines such course of action to be beneficial to shareholders.

Nuveen Asset Management believes that based upon its arrangements with the various separately managed account program sponsors and the intended operation of the Portfolio, these concerns should not arise. You should be aware, however, that there is no authority on point, and that if the IRS or a court were to take a contrary position, the Portfolio’s fee arrangement could cause the dividends paid by the Portfolio not to qualify for the dividends-paid deduction because they were considered preferential dividends. In that case, the Portfolio would fail to qualify as a regulated investment company with the consequences described above.

Capital Loss Carry-Forward

When the Portfolio has a capital loss carry-forward, it does not make capital gain distributions until the loss has been offset or expired. As of July 31, 2021, the Portfolio had capital loss carry-forwards available for federal income tax purposes. The capital losses are not subject to expiration.

                   
 

Short-Term

 

Long-Term

 

Total

$

4,524,333

$

 

$

4,524,333

PURCHASE AND REDEMPTION OF SHARES

As described in the Prospectus, the Portfolio is only available to separately managed account clients where Nuveen Fund Advisors has an agreement to serve as investment adviser or sub-adviser to the account with the separately managed account program sponsor or directly with the client.

Suspension of Right of Redemption

The Portfolio may suspend the right of redemption of shares or delay payment more than seven days (a) during any period when the New York Stock Exchange is closed (other than customary weekend and

S-49


holiday closings), (b) when trading in the markets the Portfolio normally utilizes is restricted or an emergency exists as determined by the SEC so that trading of the Portfolio’s investments or determination of its net asset value is not reasonably practicable, or (c) for any other periods that the SEC by order may permit for protection of Portfolio shareholders.

Frequent Trading Policy

Because the Portfolio is designed to be a component of a separately managed account that also invests in individual securities and other investments, its shares may be purchased or redeemed on a frequent basis for rebalancing purposes, to invest new monies, or to accommodate reductions in account size. The Portfolio is managed in a manner that is consistent with its role in the separately managed account. Because all purchase and redemption orders are initiated by Nuveen Fund Advisors, separately managed account clients are not in a position to effect purchase or redemption orders and are, therefore, unable to directly trade in shares of the Portfolio.

DISTRIBUTION

The Distributor sells shares to or through brokers, dealers, banks or other qualified financial intermediaries (collectively referred to as “Dealers”), or others, in a manner consistent with the then effective registration statement of the Trust. Pursuant to the Distribution Agreement, the Distributor, at its own expense, finances certain activities incident to the sale and distribution of the Portfolio’s shares, including printing and distributing of prospectuses and statements of additional information to other than existing shareholders, the printing and distributing of sales literature, advertising and payment of compensation and giving of concessions to Dealers. The Distributor receives for its services the excess, if any, of the sales price of the Portfolio’s shares less the net asset value of those shares, and reallows a majority or all of such amounts to the Dealers who sold the shares. The Distributor may act as a Dealer.

The Portfolio paid no underwriting commissions in the past three fiscal years.

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

The audited financial statements for the Portfolio’s most recent fiscal year appear in the Portfolio’s Annual Report dated July 31, 2021. The Portfolio’s Annual Report is incorporated by reference into this SAI and is available without charge by calling (800) 257-8787.

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APPENDIX A

RATINGS OF INVESTMENTS

S&P Global Ratings—A brief description of the applicable S&P Global Ratings’ (“S&P”) rating symbols and their meanings (as published by S&P) follows:

Issue Credit Ratings

An S&P Global Ratings issue credit rating is a forward-looking opinion about the creditworthiness of an obligor with respect to a specific financial obligation, a specific class of financial obligations, or a specific financial program (including ratings on medium-term note programs and commercial paper programs). It takes into consideration the creditworthiness of guarantors, insurers, or other forms of credit enhancement on the obligation and takes into account the currency in which the obligation is denominated. The opinion reflects S&P Global Ratings’ view of the obligor’s capacity and willingness to meet its financial commitments as they come due, and this opinion may assess terms, such as collateral security and subordination, which could affect ultimate payment in the event of default.

Issue credit ratings can be either long-term or short-term. Short-term issue credit ratings are generally assigned to those obligations considered short-term in the relevant market. Short-term issue credit ratings are also used to indicate the creditworthiness of an obligor with respect to put features on long-term obligations. Medium-term notes are assigned long-term ratings.

Long-Term Issue Credit Ratings*

Issue credit ratings are based, in varying degrees, on S&P Global Ratings’ analysis of the following considerations:

1. The likelihood of payment—the capacity and willingness of the obligor to meet its financial commitments on an obligation in accordance with the terms of the obligation;

2. The nature and provisions of the financial obligation, and the promise we impute; and

3. The protection afforded by, and relative position of, the financial obligation in the event of a bankruptcy, reorganization, or other arrangement under the laws of bankruptcy and other laws affecting creditors’ rights.

An issue rating is an assessment of default risk but may incorporate an assessment of relative seniority or ultimate recovery in the event of default. Junior obligations are typically rated lower than senior obligations, to reflect lower priority in bankruptcy, as noted above. (Such differentiation may apply when an entity has both senior and subordinated obligations, secured and unsecured obligations, or operating company and holding company obligations.)

   

AAA

An obligation rated ‘AAA’ has the highest rating assigned by S&P Global Ratings. The obligor’s capacity to meet its financial commitments on the obligation is extremely strong.

AA

An obligation rated ‘AA’ differs from the highest-rated obligations only to a small degree. The obligor’s capacity to meet its financial commitments on the obligation is very strong.

A

An obligation rated ‘A’ is somewhat more susceptible to the adverse effects of changes in circumstances and economic conditions than obligations in higher-rated categories. However, the obligor’s capacity to meet its financial commitments on the obligation is still strong.

BBB

An obligation rated ‘BBB’ exhibits adequate protection parameters. However, adverse economic conditions or changing circumstances are more likely to weaken the obligor’s capacity to meet its financial commitments on the obligation.

BB, B, CCC, CC, and C

Obligations rated ‘BB’, ‘B’, ‘CCC’, ‘CC’, and ‘C’ are regarded as having significant speculative characteristics. ‘BB’ indicates the least degree of speculation and ‘C’ the highest. While such obligations will likely have some quality and protective characteristics, these may be outweighed by large uncertainties or major exposure to adverse conditions.

BB

An obligation rated ‘BB’ is less vulnerable to nonpayment than other speculative issues. However, it faces major ongoing uncertainties or exposure to adverse business, financial, or economic conditions that could lead to the obligor’s inadequate capacity to meet its financial commitments on the obligation.

B

An obligation rated ‘B’ is more vulnerable to nonpayment than obligations rated ‘BB’, but the

A-1


   
 

obligor currently has the capacity to meet its financial commitments on the obligation. Adverse business, financial, or economic conditions will likely impair the obligor’s capacity or willingness to meet its financial commitments on the obligation.

CCC

An obligation rated ‘CCC’ is currently vulnerable to nonpayment and is dependent upon favorable business, financial, and economic conditions for the obligor to meet its financial commitments on the obligation. In the event of adverse business, financial, or economic conditions, the obligor is not likely to have the capacity to meet its financial commitments on the obligation.

CC

An obligation rated ‘CC’ is currently highly vulnerable to nonpayment. The ‘CC’ rating is used when a default has not yet occurred but S&P Global Ratings expects default to be a virtual certainty, regardless of the anticipated time to default.

C

An obligation rated ‘C’ is currently highly vulnerable to nonpayment, and the obligation is expected to have lower relative seniority or lower ultimate recovery compared with obligations that are rated higher.

D

An obligation rated ‘D’ is in default or in breach of an imputed promise. For non-hybrid capital instruments, the ‘D’ rating category is used when payments on an obligation are not made on the date due, unless S&P Global Ratings believes that such payments will be made within five business days in the absence of a stated grace period or within the earlier of the stated grace period or 30 calendar days. The ‘D’ rating also will be used upon the filing of a bankruptcy petition or the taking of similar action and where default on an obligation is a virtual certainty, for example due to automatic stay provisions. A rating on an obligation is lowered to ‘D’ if it is subject to a distressed exchange offer.

*Ratings from ‘AA’ to ‘CCC’ may be modified by the addition of a plus (+) or minus (-) sign to show relative standing within the rating categories.

Municipal Short-Term Note Ratings

An S&P Global Ratings U.S. municipal note rating reflects S&P Global Ratings’ opinion about the liquidity factors and market access risks unique to the notes. Notes due in three years or less will likely receive a note rating. Notes with an original maturity of more than three years will most likely receive a long-term debt rating. In determining which type of rating, if any, to assign, S&P Global Ratings’ analysis will review the following considerations:

   
 

· Amortization schedule—the larger the final maturity relative to other maturities, the more likely it will be treated as a note; and

· Source of payment—the more dependent the issue is on the market for its refinancing, the more likely it will be treated as a note.

SP-1

Strong capacity to pay principal and interest. An issue determined to possess a very strong capacity to pay debt service is given a plus (+) designation.

SP-2

Satisfactory capacity to pay principal and interest, with some vulnerability to adverse financial and economic changes over the term of the notes.

SP-3

Speculative capacity to pay principal and interest.

D

‘D’ is assigned upon failure to pay the note when due, completion of a distressed debt restructuring, or the filing of a bankruptcy petition or the taking of similar action and where default on an obligation is a virtual certainty, for example due to automatic stay provisions.

Moody’s Investors Service, Inc.—A brief description of the applicable Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. (“Moody’s”) rating symbols and their meanings (as published by Moody’s) follows:

Ratings assigned on Moody’s global long-term and short-term rating scales are forward-looking opinions of the relative credit risks of financial obligations issued by non-financial corporates, financial institutions, structured finance vehicles, project finance vehicles, and public sector entities. Long-term ratings are assigned to issuers or obligations with an original maturity of one year or more and reflect both on the likelihood of a default or impairment on contractual financial obligations and the expected financial loss suffered in the event of default or impairment. Short-term ratings are assigned to obligations with an original maturity of thirteen months or less and reflect both on the likelihood of a default or impairment on contractual financial obligations and the expected financial loss suffered in the event of default or impairment.

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Long-Term Obligation Ratings

   

Aaa

Obligations rated Aaa are judged to be of the highest quality, subject to the lowest level of credit risk.

Aa

Obligations rated Aa are judged to be of high quality and are subject to very low credit risk.

A

Obligations rated A are judged to be upper-medium grade and are subject to low credit risk.

Baa

Obligations rated Baa are judged to be medium-grade and subject to moderate credit risk and as such may possess certain speculative characteristics.

Ba

Obligations rated Ba are judged to be speculative and are subject to substantial credit risk.

B

Obligations rated B are considered speculative and are subject to high credit risk.

Caa

Obligations rated Caa are judged to be speculative of poor standing and are subject to very high credit risk.

Ca

Obligations rated Ca are highly speculative and are likely in, or very near, default, with some prospect of recovery of principal and interest.

C

Obligations rated C are the lowest rated and are typically in default, with little prospect for recovery of principal or interest.

Note: Moody’s appends numerical modifiers 1, 2, and 3 to each generic rating classification from Aa through Caa. The modifier 1 indicates that the obligation ranks in the higher end of its generic rating category; the modifier 2 indicates a mid-range ranking; and the modifier 3 indicates a ranking in the lower end of that generic rating category.

Pledge-Specific Ratings

Pledge-specific ratings are opinions of the ability of a US state, local government, related entity, or nonprofit issuer to honor debt and debt-like obligations based upon specific security payment pledges or structural features.

Medium-Term Note Program Ratings

Moody’s assigns provisional ratings to medium-term note (MTN) programs and definitive ratings to the individual debt securities issued from them (referred to as drawdowns or notes).

MTN program ratings are intended to reflect the ratings likely to be assigned to drawdowns issued from the program with the specified priority of claim (e.g. senior or subordinated). To capture the contingent nature of a program rating, Moody’s assigns provisional ratings to MTN programs. A provisional rating is denoted by a (P) in front of the rating.

The rating assigned to a drawdown from a rated MTN or bank/deposit note program is definitive in nature, and may differ from the program rating if the drawdown is exposed to additional credit risks besides the issuer’s default, such as links to the defaults of other issuers, or has other structural features that warrant a different rating. In some circumstances, no rating may be assigned to a drawdown.

Moody’s encourages market participants to contact Moody’s Ratings Desks or visit www.moodys.com directly if they have questions regarding ratings for specific notes issued under a medium-term note program. Unrated notes issued under an MTN program may be assigned an NR (not rated) symbol.

U.S. Municipal Short-Term Debt and Demand Obligation Ratings

Short-Term Obligation Ratings

Moody’s uses the global short-term Prime rating scale for commercial paper issued by US municipalities and nonprofits. These commercial paper programs may be backed by external letters of credit or liquidity facilities, or by an issuer’s self-liquidity.

For other short-term municipal obligations, Moody’s uses one of two other short-term rating scales, the Municipal Investment Grade (MIG) and Variable Municipal Investment Grade (VMIG) scales discussed below.

Moody’s uses the MIG scale for US municipal cash flow notes, bond anticipation notes and certain other short-term obligations, which typically mature in three years or less. Under certain circumstances, we use the MIG scale for bond anticipation notes with maturities of up to five years.

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MIG 1 This designation denotes superior credit quality. Excellent protection is afforded by established cash flows, highly reliable liquidity support, or demonstrated broad-based access to the market for refinancing.

MIG 2 This designation denotes strong credit quality. Margins of protection are ample, although not as large as in the preceding group.

MIG 3 This designation denotes acceptable credit quality. Liquidity and cash-flow protection may be narrow, and market access for refinancing is likely to be less well-established.

SG     This designation denotes speculative-grade credit quality. Debt instruments in this category may lack sufficient margins of protection.

Demand Obligation Ratings

In the case of variable rate demand obligations (VRDOs), a two-component rating is assigned. The components are a long-term rating and a short-term demand obligation rating. The long-term rating addresses the issuer’s ability to meet scheduled principal and interest payments. The short-term demand obligation rating addresses the ability of the issuer or the liquidity provider to make payments associated with the purchase-price-upon-demand feature (“demand feature”) of the VRDO. The short-term demand obligation rating uses the VMIG scale. VMIG ratings with liquidity support use as an input the short-term Counterparty Risk Assessment of the support provider, or the long-term rating of the underlying obligor in the absence of third party liquidity support. Transitions of VMIG ratings of demand obligations with conditional liquidity support differ from transitions on the Prime scale to reflect the risk that external liquidity support will terminate if the issuer’s long-term rating drops below investment grade. Please see Moody’s methodology that discusses demand obligations with conditional liquidity support.

   

VMIG 1

This designation denotes superior credit quality. Excellent protection is afforded by the superior short-term credit strength of the liquidity provider and structural and legal protections that ensure the timely payment of purchase price upon demand.

VMIG 2

This designation denotes strong credit quality. Good protection is afforded by the strong short-term credit strength of the liquidity provider and structural and legal protections that ensure the timely payment of purchase price upon demand.

VMIG 3

This designation denotes acceptable credit quality. Adequate protection is afforded by the satisfactory short-term credit strength of the liquidity provider and structural and legal protections that ensure the timely payment of purchase price upon demand.

SG

This designation denotes speculative-grade credit quality. Demand features rated in this category may be supported by a liquidity provider that does not have a sufficiently strong short-term rating or may lack the structural and/or legal protections necessary to ensure the timely payment of purchase price upon demand.

Fitch Ratings—A brief description of the applicable Fitch Ratings (“Fitch”) ratings symbols and meanings (as published by Fitch) follows:

Fitch publishes credit ratings that are forward-looking opinions on the relative ability of an entity or obligation to meet financial commitments. Issuer default ratings (IDRs) are assigned to corporations, sovereign entities, financial institutions such as banks, leasing companies and insurers, and public finance entities (local and regional governments). Issue level ratings are also assigned, often include an expectation of recovery and may be notched above or below the issuer level rating. Issue ratings are assigned to secured and unsecured debt securities, loans, preferred stock and other instruments, Structured finance ratings are issue ratings to securities backed by receivables or other financial assets that consider the obligations’ relative vulnerability to default.

Credit ratings are indications of the likelihood of repayment in accordance with the terms of the issuance. In limited cases, Fitch may include additional considerations (i.e., rate to a higher or lower standard than that implied in the obligation’s documentation).

Fitch’s credit rating scale for issuers and issues is expressed using the categories ‘AAA’ to ‘BBB’ (investment grade) and ‘BB’ to ‘D’ (speculative grade) with an additional +/- for AA through CCC levels indicating relative differences of probability of default or recovery for issues. The terms “investment grade” and “speculative grade” are market conventions and do not imply any recommendation or endorsement of a specific security for investment purposes. Investment grade categories indicate relatively low to moderate credit risk, while ratings in the speculative categories signal either a higher level of credit risk or that a default has already occurred.

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Fitch may also disclose issues relating to a rated issuer that are not and have not been rated. Such issues are also denoted as ‘NR’ on its webpage.

Credit ratings express risk in relative rank order, which is to say they are ordinal measures of credit risk and are not predictive of a specific frequency of default or loss.

Fitch’s credit ratings do not directly address any risk other than credit risk. Credit ratings do not deal with the risk of market value loss due to changes in interest rates, liquidity and/or other market considerations. However, market risk may be considered to the extent that it influences the ability of an issuer to pay or refinance a financial commitment. Ratings nonetheless do not reflect market risk to the extent that they influence the size or other conditionality of the obligation to pay upon a commitment (for example, in the case of index-linked bonds).

The primary credit rating scales may also be used to provide ratings for a narrower scope, including interest strips and return of principal or in other forms of opinions such as Credit Opinions or Rating Assessment Services.

Public Finance and Global Infrastructure Obligations

Ratings of public finance obligations and ratings of infrastructure and project finance obligations on the long-term scale, including the financial obligations of sovereigns, consider the obligations’ relative vulnerability to default. These ratings are assigned to an individual security, instrument or tranche in a transaction. In some cases, considerations of recoveries can have an influence on obligation ratings in infrastructure and project finance. In limited cases in U.S. public finance, where Chapter 9 of the Bankruptcy Code provides reliably superior prospects for ultimate recovery to local government obligations that benefit from a statutory lien on revenues, Fitch reflects this in a security rating with limited notching above the IDR. Recovery expectations can also be reflected in a security rating in the U.S. during the pendency of a bankruptcy proceeding under the Code if there is sufficient visibility on potential recovery prospects.

   

AAA

Highest credit quality. ‘AAA’ ratings denote the lowest expectation of default risk. They are assigned only in cases of exceptionally strong capacity for payment of financial commitments. This capacity is highly unlikely to be adversely affected by foreseeable events.

AA

Very high credit quality. ‘AA’ ratings denote expectations of very low default risk. They indicate very strong capacity for payment of financial commitments. This capacity is not significantly vulnerable to foreseeable events.

A

High credit quality. ‘A’ ratings denote expectations of low default risk. The capacity for payment of financial commitments is considered strong. This capacity may, nevertheless, be more vulnerable to adverse business or economic conditions than is the case for higher ratings.

BBB

Good credit quality. ‘BBB’ ratings indicate that expectations of default risk are currently low. The capacity for payment of financial commitments is considered adequate, but adverse business or economic conditions are more likely to impair this capacity.

BB

Speculative. ‘BB’ ratings indicate an elevated vulnerability to default risk, particularly in the event of adverse changes in business or economic conditions over time.

B

Highly speculative. ‘B’ ratings indicate that material default risk is present, but a limited margin of safety remains. Financial commitments are currently being met; however, capacity for continued payment is vulnerable to deterioration in the business and economic environment.

CCC

Substantial credit risk. Default is a real possibility.

CC

Very high levels of credit risk. Default of some kind appears probable.

C

Exceptionally high levels of credit risk. Default appears imminent or inevitable.

D

Default. Indicates a default. Default generally is defined as one of the following:

· failure to make payment of principal and/or interest under the contractual terms of the rated obligation;

   

 

· bankruptcy filings, administration, receivership, liquidation or other winding-up or cessation of the business of an issuer/obligor where payment default on an obligation is a virtual certainty; or

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· distressed exchange of an obligation, where creditors were offered securities with diminished structural or economic terms compared with the existing obligation to avoid a probable payment default.

Notes: In U.S. public finance, obligations may be pre-refunded, where funds sufficient to meet the requirements of the respective obligations are placed in an escrow account. When obligation ratings are maintained based on the escrowed funds and their structural elements, the ratings carry the suffix “pre” (e.g. ‘AAApre’, ‘AA+pre’).

Within rating categories, Fitch may use modifiers. The modifiers “+” or “-” may be appended to a rating to denote relative status within major rating categories. Such suffixes are not added to ‘AAA’ ratings and ratings below the ‘CCC’ category.

Short-Term Ratings Assigned to Issuers and Obligations

A short-term issuer or obligation rating is based in all cases on the short-term vulnerability to default of the rated entity and relates to the capacity to meet financial obligations in accordance with the documentation governing the relevant obligation. Short-term deposit ratings may be adjusted for loss severity. Short-Term Ratings are assigned to obligations whose initial maturity is viewed as “short term” based on market convention. Typically, this means up to 13 months for corporate, sovereign, and structured obligations, and up to 36 months for obligations in U.S. public finance markets.

   

F1

Highest short-term credit quality. Indicates the strongest intrinsic capacity for timely payment of financial commitments; may have an added “+” to denote any exceptionally strong credit feature.

F2

Good short-term credit quality. Good intrinsic capacity for timely payment of financial commitments.

F3

Fair short-term credit quality. The intrinsic capacity for timely payment of financial commitments is adequate.

B

Speculative short-term credit quality. Minimal capacity for timely payment of financial commitments, plus heightened vulnerability to near term adverse changes in financial and economic conditions.

C

High short-term default risk. Default is a real possibility.

RD

Restricted default. Indicates an entity that has defaulted on one or more of its financial commitments, although it continues to meet other financial obligations. Typically applicable to entity ratings only.

D

Default. Indicates a broad-based default event for an entity, or the default of a short-term obligation.

Within rating categories, Fitch may use modifiers. The modifiers “+” or “-“ may be appended to a rating to denote relative status within major rating categories. For the short-term rating category of ‘F1’, a ‘+’ may be appended.

Specific Limitations Relevant to Ratings Assigned Using the Primary Credit Rating Scale, Bank Viability Ratings and Bank Support Ratings

The following specific limitations relate to issuer default scales, ratings assigned to corporate finance obligations, ratings assigned to public finance obligations, ratings assigned to structured finance transactions, ratings assigned to global infrastructure and project finance transactions, ratings assigned for banks (Viability Ratings, Support Ratings, Support Floors), derivative counterparty ratings and insurer financial strength ratings.

   

· The ratings do not predict a specific percentage of default likelihood or failure likelihood over any given time period.

· The ratings do not opine on the market value of an issuer’s securities or stock, or the likelihood that this value may change.

· The ratings do not opine on the liquidity of an issuer’s securities or stock.

· The ratings do not opine on the possible loss severity on an obligation should an issuer (or an obligation with respect to structured finance transactions) default, except in the following cases:

o Ratings assigned to individual obligations of issuers in corporate finance, banks, non-bank financial institutions, insurance and covered bonds.

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o In limited circumstances for U.S. public finance obligations where Chapter 9 of the Bankruptcy Code provides reliably superior prospects for ultimate recovery to local government obligations that benefit from a statutory lien on revenues or during the pendency of a bankruptcy proceeding under the Code if there is sufficient visibility on potential recovery prospects.

· The ratings do not opine on the suitability of an issuer as a counterparty to trade credit.

The ratings do not opine on any quality related to an issuer’s business, operational or financial profile other than the agency’s opinion on its relative vulnerability to default. For the avoidance of doubt, not all defaults will be considered a default for rating purposes. Typically, a default relates to a liability payable to an unaffiliated, outside investor.

The ratings do not opine on any quality related to a transaction’s profile other than the agency’s opinion on the relative vulnerability to default of an issuer and/or of each rated tranche or security.

The ratings do not predict a specific percentage of extraordinary support likelihood over any given period.

The ratings do not opine on the suitability of any security for investment or any other purposes.

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