Nuveen Investment Funds, Inc.
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Mutual
Funds |
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29
December
2023 |
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Fund
Name |
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Class
A |
Class
C |
Class
R6 |
Class
I |
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Nuveen
Credit Income Fund |
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FJSIX |
FCSIX |
— |
FJSYX |
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Nuveen
Flexible Income Fund |
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NWQAX |
NWQCX |
NQWFX |
NWQIX |
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Nuveen
Floating Rate Income Fund |
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NFRAX |
NFFCX |
NFRFX |
NFRIX |
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Nuveen
High Yield Income Fund |
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NCOAX |
NCFCX |
NCSRX |
NCOIX |
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Nuveen
Preferred Securities and Income Fund |
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NPSAX |
NPSCX |
NPSFX |
NPSRX |
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Nuveen
Strategic Income Fund |
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FCDDX |
FCBCX |
FSFRX |
FCBYX |
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The
Securities and Exchange Commission has not approved or disapproved these
securities or passed upon the adequacy of this prospectus. Any
representation to the contrary is a criminal offense. |
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Prospectus |
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Table
of Contents |
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Section
1 Fund
Summaries
Section
2 How
We Manage Your Money
Section
3 How You
Can Buy and Sell Shares
Section
4 General
Information
Section
5 Financial
Highlights
Appendix—Variations
in Sales Charge Reductions and
Waivers
Available Through Certain Intermediaries A-1 |
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NOT
FDIC OR GOVERNMENT INSURED MAY
LOSE VALUE NO
BANK GUARANTEE |
Section
1
Fund Summaries
Nuveen
Credit Income Fund
Investment
Objective
The
investment objective of the Fund is to provide total return, with an emphasis on
a high level of current income.
Fees
and Expenses of the Fund
The
following tables describe the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy,
hold and sell shares of the Fund. You may qualify for sales charge discounts
if you and your family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least
$50,000 in the Fund or in other Nuveen Mutual
Funds. More information about these and other discounts, as well
as eligibility requirements for each share class, is available from your
financial advisor and in “How You Can Buy and Sell Shares” on page 82 of the
Fund’s prospectus and “Purchase and Redemption of Fund Shares” on page S-76 of
the Fund’s statement of additional information. In addition, more information
about sales charge discounts and waivers for purchases of shares through
specific financial intermediaries is set forth in the appendix to the Fund’s
prospectus entitled “Variations in Sales Charge Reductions and Waivers Available
Through Certain Intermediaries.”
The
tables and examples below do not reflect any commissions that shareholders may
be required to pay directly to their financial intermediaries when buying or
selling Class I shares.
Shareholder
Fees
(fees
paid directly from your investment)
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Class
A |
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Class
C |
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Class
I |
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Maximum
Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Purchases
(as
a percentage of offering price) |
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4.75% |
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None |
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None |
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Maximum
Deferred Sales Charge (Load)
(as
a percentage of the lesser of purchase price or redemption
proceeds)1 |
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None |
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1.00% |
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None |
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Maximum
Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Reinvested Dividends |
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None |
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None |
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None |
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Exchange
Fee |
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None |
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None |
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None |
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Annual
Low Balance Account Fee (for accounts under $1,000)2 |
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$15 |
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$15 |
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$15 |
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Annual
Fund Operating Expenses
(expenses
that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your
investment)
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Class
A |
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Class
C |
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Class
I |
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Management
Fees |
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0.60 |
% |
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0.60 |
% |
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0.60 |
% |
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Distribution
and/or Service (12b-1) Fees |
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0.25 |
% |
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1.00 |
% |
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0.00 |
% |
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Other
Expenses |
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Interest
and Related Expenses3 |
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0.01 |
% |
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0.01 |
% |
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0.01 |
% |
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Remainder
of Other Expenses |
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0.37 |
% |
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0.37 |
% |
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0.37 |
% |
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Acquired
Fund Fees and Expenses |
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0.02 |
% |
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0.02 |
% |
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0.02 |
% |
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Total
Annual Fund Operating Expenses |
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1.25 |
% |
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2.00 |
% |
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1.00 |
% |
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Fee
Waivers and/or Expense Reimbursements4 |
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(0.22 |
)% |
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(0.22 |
)% |
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(0.22 |
)% |
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Total
Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waivers and/or Expense
Reimbursements |
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1.03 |
% |
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1.78 |
% |
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0.78 |
% |
1 The contingent deferred
sales charge on Class C shares applies only to redemptions within 12 months of
purchase.
2 Fee applies to the following types of accounts
under $1,000 held directly with the Fund: individual retirement accounts (IRAs),
Coverdell Education Savings Accounts and accounts established pursuant to the
Uniform Transfers to Minors Act (UTMA) or Uniform Gifts to Minors Act
(UGMA).
3 Includes interest expense and fees paid on
Fund borrowings.
4 The Fund’s investment adviser has agreed to
waive fees and/or reimburse expenses through July 31,
2025 so that the total annual operating expenses of the Fund
(excluding 12b-1 distribution and/or service fees, interest expenses, taxes,
acquired fund fees and expenses, fees incurred in acquiring and disposing of
portfolio securities and extraordinary expenses) do not exceed 0.75% of the
average daily net assets of any class of Fund shares. This expense limitation
may be terminated or modified prior to July 31, 2025 only with the approval of
the Board of Directors of the
Fund.
Example
The
following example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the
Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The example assumes that
you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then either
redeem or do not redeem your shares at the end of a period. The example also
assumes that your investment has a 5%
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2 |
Section
1
Fund Summaries |
return
each year, that the Fund’s operating expenses remain the same and that the fee
waivers currently in place are not renewed beyond July 31, 2025. Although your
actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would
be:
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Class
A |
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Class
C |
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Class
I |
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1
Year |
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$ |
575 |
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$ |
181 |
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$ |
80 |
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3
Years |
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$ |
819 |
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$ |
593 |
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$ |
283 |
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5
Years |
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$ |
1,096 |
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$ |
1,045 |
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$ |
518 |
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10
Years |
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$ |
1,885 |
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$ |
2,299 |
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$ |
1,192 |
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Portfolio
Turnover
The
Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells
securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may
indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund
shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in
annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance.
During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was
86% of the average value of its
portfolio.
Principal
Investment Strategies
Under
normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of the sum of its net assets
and the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes in credit and
credit-related instruments. Credit and credit-related instruments include, but
are not limited to:
· domestic
and foreign corporate debt obligations, including bonds, notes, debentures,
commercial paper and other obligations of corporations to pay interest and repay
principal;
· fixed
and floating rate loans, including senior loans and secured and unsecured junior
loans, in an amount not to exceed 30% of the Fund’s net
assets;
· residential
and commercial mortgage-backed
securities;
· asset-backed
securities;
· preferred
securities and contingent capital securities (sometimes referred to as
“CoCos”)
in an aggregate amount not to exceed 20% of the Fund’s net
assets;
· interests
in senior, mezzanine, and subordinated/equity classes or “tranches” of
collateralized loan obligations (“CLOs”);
· U.S.
government securities (securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government or
its agencies or instrumentalities);
and
· debt
obligations of foreign
governments.
The
Fund will invest at least 65% of its assets in securities rated lower than
investment grade at the time of purchase or in unrated bonds of comparable
quality as determined by the Fund’s sub-adviser (securities commonly referred to
as “high yield” securities or “junk” bonds). There is no minimum rating
requirement and no limitation on the average maturity or average effective
duration of securities held by the Fund.
The
Fund may invest without limitation in debt obligations of foreign corporations
and governments. However, no more than 30% of the Fund’s total assets may be
invested in securities of governmental and corporate issuers that are located in
emerging market countries.
The
Fund may invest in securities that have not been registered under the Securities
Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities
Act”)
(“restricted
securities”),
including securities sold in private placement transactions between issuers and
their purchasers and securities that meet the requirements of Rule 144A under
the Securities Act (“Rule
144A securities”).
Rule 144A securities may be resold under certain circumstances only to qualified
institutional buyers as defined by the
rule.
The
Fund may invest in exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”),
closed-end funds, and other investment companies (“investment
companies”).
The
Fund’s sub-adviser makes buy, sell, and hold decisions using a “top-down”
approach, which begins with the formulation of the sub-adviser’s general
economic outlook. Following this, various sectors and industries are analyzed
and selected for investment. Finally, the sub-adviser selects individual
securities within these sectors or industries. The sub-adviser also analyzes
expected changes to the yield curve under multiple market conditions to help
define maturity and duration selection.
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Section
1
Fund Summaries |
3 |
The
Fund may utilize the following derivatives: options; futures contracts; options
on futures contracts; foreign currency contracts; options on foreign currencies;
swap agreements, including interest rate swaps, currency swaps, total return
swaps and credit default swaps; and options on swap agreements. The Fund may use
these derivatives in an attempt to manage market risk, currency risk, credit
risk and yield curve risk, to manage the effective maturity or duration of
securities in the Fund’s portfolio or for speculative purposes in an effort to
increase the Fund’s yield or to enhance returns. The use of a derivative is
speculative if the Fund is primarily seeking to enhance returns, rather than
offset the risk of other positions.
Principal
Risks
The value of your investment in this Fund will change daily. You
could lose money by investing in the Fund. An investment in the Fund is not a deposit
of a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance
Corporation or any other government agency. The principal risks
of investing in the Fund listed below are presented alphabetically to facilitate
your ability to find particular risks and compare them with the risks of other
funds. The significance of any specific risk to an investment in the Fund will
vary over time depending on the composition of the Fund’s portfolio, market
conditions and other factors. Each risk summarized below is considered a
"principal risk" of investing in the Fund, regardless of the order in which it
appears.
Active
Management Risk—The
Fund’s sub-adviser actively manages the Fund’s investments. Consequently, the
Fund is subject to the risk that the investment techniques and risk analyses
employed by the Fund’s sub-adviser may not produce the desired results. This
could cause the Fund to lose value or its investment results to lag relevant
benchmarks or other funds with similar
objectives.
Call
Risk—If,
during periods of falling interest rates, an issuer exercises its right to
prepay principal on its higher-yielding debt securities held by the Fund, the
Fund may have to reinvest in securities with lower yields or higher risk of
default, which may adversely impact the Fund’s
performance.
Collateralized
Loan Obligations Risk—A
CLO is an asset-backed security whose underlying collateral is a pool of loans,
which may include, among others, domestic and foreign floating rate and fixed
rate senior secured loans, senior unsecured loans, and subordinate corporate
loans, including loans that may be rated below investment grade. In addition to
the risks associated with loans and high yield securities, CLOs are subject to
the risk that distributions from the collateral may not be adequate to make
interest or other payments; the quality of the collateral may decline in value
or default; the Fund may invest in tranches of CLOs that are subordinate to
other tranches; and the CLO’s manager may perform poorly. CLOs may charge
management and other administrative fees, which are in addition to those of the
Fund.
Contingent
Capital Security Risk—CoCos
have loss absorption mechanisms benefitting the issuer built into their terms.
Upon the occurrence of a specified trigger or event, CoCos may be subject to
automatic conversion into the issuer’s common stock, which likely will have
declined in value and which will be subordinate to the issuer’s other classes of
securities, or to an automatic write-down of the principal amount of the
securities, potentially to zero, which could result in the Fund losing a portion
or all of its investment in such securities. CoCos are often rated below
investment grade and are subject to the risks of high yield
securities.
Credit
Risk—Credit
risk is the risk that an issuer or other obligated party of a security may be,
or perceived (whether by market participants, rating agencies, pricing services
or otherwise) to be, unable or unwilling to make dividend, interest and
principal payments when due and the related risk that the value of a security
may decline because of concerns about the issuer’s ability or willingness to
make such payments. Because the Fund invests at least 65% of the value of its
assets in high yield securities, the Fund's credit risks are greater than those
of funds that buy only investment grade
securities.
Credit
Spread Risk—Credit
spread risk is the risk that credit spreads (i.e., the difference in yield
between securities that is due to differences in their credit quality) may
increase when the market believes that bonds generally have a greater risk of
default. Increasing credit spreads may reduce the market values of the Fund’s
debt securities. Credit spreads often increase more for lower rated and unrated
securities than for investment grade securities. In addition, when credit
spreads increase, reductions in market value will generally be greater for
longer-maturity securities.
Currency
Risk—Changes
in currency exchange rates will affect the value of non-U.S. securities, the
value of dividends and interest earned from such securities, gains and losses
realized on the sale of such securities, and derivative transactions tied to
such securities. A strong U.S. dollar relative to these other currencies will
adversely affect the value of the Fund’s portfolio.
Cybersecurity
Risk—Cybersecurity
risk is the risk of an unauthorized breach and access to Fund assets, customer
data (including private shareholder information), or proprietary information, or
the risk of an incident occurring that causes the
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4 |
Section
1
Fund Summaries |
Fund,
its investment adviser or sub-adviser, custodian, transfer agent, distributor or
other service provider, a financial intermediary or the issuers of securities
held by the Fund to suffer a data breach, data corruption or lose operational
functionality. Successful cyber-attacks or other cyber-failures or events
affecting the Fund, its service providers or the issuers of securities held by
the Fund may adversely impact the Fund or its shareholders. Additionally, a
cybersecurity breach could affect the issuers in which the Fund invests, which
may cause the Fund’s investments to lose
value.
Derivatives
Risk—The
use of derivatives involves additional risks and transaction costs which could
leave the Fund in a worse position than if it had not used these instruments.
Derivative instruments can be used to acquire or to transfer the risk and
returns of a security or other asset without buying or selling the security or
asset, and the risks associated with investing in such derivatives may be
different and greater than the risks associated with directly investing in the
underlying securities and other instruments, including leverage risk, market
risk, counterparty risk, liquidity risk, operational risk and legal risk. These
instruments may entail investment exposures that are greater than their cost
would suggest. As a result, a small investment in derivatives can result in
losses that greatly exceed the original investment. Derivatives can be highly
volatile, illiquid and difficult to value. An over-the-counter derivative
transaction between the Fund and a counterparty that is not cleared through a
central counterparty also involves the risk that a loss may be sustained as a
result of the failure of the counterparty to the contract to make required
payments. The payment obligation for a cleared derivative transaction is
guaranteed by a central counterparty, which exposes the Fund to the
creditworthiness of the central
counterparty.
Emerging
Markets Risk—The
risk of foreign investment often increases in countries with emerging markets or
that are otherwise economically tied to emerging market countries. For example,
these countries may have more unstable governments than developed countries and
their economies may be based on only a few industries. Emerging market countries
may also have less stringent regulation of accounting, auditing, financial
reporting and recordkeeping requirements, which would affect the Fund’s ability
to evaluate potential portfolio companies. As a result, there could be less
information about issuers in emerging market countries, which could negatively
affect the ability of the Fund’s sub-adviser to evaluate local companies or
their potential impact on the Fund’s performance. Because their financial
markets may be very small, prices of financial instruments in emerging market
countries may be volatile and difficult to determine. Financial instruments of
issuers in these countries may have lower overall liquidity than those of
issuers in more developed countries. In addition, foreign investors such as the
Fund are subject to a variety of special restrictions in many emerging market
countries. Shareholder claims and regulatory actions that are available in the
U.S. may be difficult or impossible to pursue in emerging market
countries.
ETF
Risk—An
ETF is subject to the risks of the underlying securities that it holds. In
addition, for index-based ETFs, the performance of an ETF may diverge from the
performance of such index (commonly known as tracking error). ETFs are subject
to fees and expenses (like management fees and operating expenses) that do not
apply to an index, and the Fund will indirectly bear its proportionate share of
any such fees and expenses paid by the ETFs in which it invests. Moreover, ETF
shares may trade at a premium or discount to their net asset value. As ETFs
trade on an exchange, they are subject to the risks of any exchange-traded
instrument, including: (i) an active trading market for its shares may not
develop or be maintained, (ii) market makers or authorized participants may
decide to reduce their role or step away from these activities in times of
market stress, (iii) trading of its shares may be halted by the exchange, and
(iv) its shares may be delisted from the exchange.
Foreign
Investment Risk—Non-U.S.
issuers or U.S. issuers with significant non-U.S. operations may be subject to
risks in addition to those of issuers located in or that principally operate in
the United States as a result of, among other things, political, social and
economic developments abroad, as well as armed conflicts and different legal,
regulatory and tax environments. Foreign investments may also have lower
liquidity and be more difficult to value than investments in U.S. issuers. To
the extent the Fund invests a significant portion of its assets in the
securities of companies in a single country or region, it may be more
susceptible to adverse conditions affecting that country or region. Foreign
investments may also be subject to risk of loss because of more or less foreign
government regulation, less public information, less stringent investor
protections and less stringent accounting, corporate governance, financial
reporting and disclosure standards.
High
Yield Securities Risk—High
yield securities, which are rated below investment grade and commonly referred
to as “junk” bonds, and unrated securities of comparable quality are high risk
investments that may cause income and principal losses for the Fund. They
generally are considered to be speculative with respect to the ability to pay
interest and repay principal, have greater credit risk, are less liquid, are
more likely to experience a default and have more volatile prices than
investment grade securities.
Illiquid
Investments Risk—Certain
securities held by the Fund are illiquid investments, which may be difficult to
sell for the value at which they are carried, if at all, or at any price within
the desired time frame.
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Section
1
Fund Summaries |
5 |
Income
Risk—The
Fund's income could decline during periods of falling interest rates or when the
Fund experiences defaults on debt securities or defaults or deferrals on
preferred securities it holds.
Interest
Rate Risk—Interest
rate risk is the risk that the value of the Fund’s fixed-rate securities will
decline because of rising interest rates. Changing interest rates may have
unpredictable effects on markets, result in heightened market volatility and
detract from the Fund’s performance to the extent that it is exposed to such
interest rates. Fixed-rate securities may be subject to a greater risk of rising
interest rates than would normally be the case due to the effect of potential
government fiscal policy initiatives and resulting market reaction to those
initiatives. Higher periods of inflation could lead to government fiscal
policies which raise interest rates. When interest rates change, the values of
longer-duration fixed-rate securities usually change more than the values of
shorter-duration fixed-rate securities. Conversely, fixed-rate securities with
shorter durations or maturities will be less volatile but may provide lower
returns than fixed-rate securities with longer durations or maturities. Rising
interest rates also may lengthen the duration of securities with call features,
since exercise of the call becomes less likely as interest rates rise, which in
turn will make the securities more sensitive to changes in interest rates and
result in even steeper price declines in the event of further interest rate
increases. The Fund is also subject to the risk that the income generated by its
investments may not keep pace with
inflation.
Loan
Risk—The
lack of an active trading market for certain loans (including loan
participations and assignments) may impair the ability of the Fund to realize
full value in the event of the need to sell a loan and may make it difficult to
value such loans. Portfolio transactions in loans may settle in as short as
seven days but typically can take up to two or three weeks, and in some cases
much longer. As a result of these extended settlement periods, the Fund may
incur losses if it is required to sell other investments or temporarily borrow
to meet its cash needs, including satisfying redemption requests. The risks
associated with unsecured loans, which are not backed by a security interest in
any specific collateral, are higher than those for comparable loans that are
secured by specific collateral. For secured loans, there is a risk that the
value of any collateral securing a loan in which the Fund has an interest may
decline and that the collateral may not be sufficient to cover the amount owed
on the loan. Interests in loans made to finance highly leveraged companies or
transactions such as corporate acquisitions may be especially vulnerable to
adverse changes in economic or market conditions. Loans may have restrictive
covenants limiting the ability of a borrower to further encumber its assets.
However, in periods of high demand by lenders like the Fund for loan
investments, borrowers may limit these covenants and weaken a lender’s ability
to access collateral securing the loan; reprice the credit risk associated with
the borrower; and mitigate potential loss. The Fund may experience relatively
greater realized or unrealized losses or delays and expenses in enforcing its
rights with respect to loans with fewer restrictive covenants. Additionally,
loans may not be considered “securities” and, as a result, the Fund may not be
entitled to rely on the anti-fraud or other protections of the securities laws.
Because junior loans have a lower place in an issuer’s capital structure and may
be unsecured, junior loans involve a higher degree of overall risk than senior
loans of the issuer. The Fund's investments in floating rate loans that pay
interest based on the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) may experience
increased volatility and/or illiquidity during the transition away from LIBOR,
which was phased out.
Market
Risk—The
market value of the Fund’s investments may go up or down, sometimes rapidly or
unpredictably and for short or extended periods of time, due to the particular
circumstances of individual issuers or due to general conditions impacting
issuers more broadly. Global economies and financial markets have become highly
interconnected, and thus economic, market or political conditions or events in
one country or region might adversely impact the value of the Fund’s investments
whether or not the Fund invests in such country or region. Events such as war,
terrorism, natural and environmental disasters and the spread of infectious
illnesses or other public health emergencies may have a severe negative impact
on the global economy, could cause financial markets to experience extreme
volatility and losses, and could result in the disruption of trading and the
reduction of liquidity in many instruments. Additionally, as inflation
increases, the value of the Fund’s assets can
decline.
Market
Liquidity Risk—Reductions
in trading activity or dealer inventories of securities such as bonds and
preferred securities, which provide an indication of the ability of financial
intermediaries to “make markets” in those securities, have the potential to
decrease liquidity and increase price volatility in the markets in which the
Fund invests, particularly during periods of economic or market stress. In
addition, federal banking regulations may cause certain dealers to reduce their
inventories of securities, which may further decrease the Fund’s ability to buy
or sell securities. As a result of this decreased liquidity, the Fund may have
to accept a lower price to sell a security, sell other securities to raise cash,
or give up an investment opportunity, any of which could have a negative effect
on performance. If the Fund needed to sell large blocks of securities to meet
shareholder redemption requests or to raise cash, those sales could further
reduce the securities’ prices and hurt performance.
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6 |
Section
1
Fund Summaries |
Mortgage-
and Asset-Backed Securities Risk—These
securities generally can be prepaid at any time, and prepayments that occur
either more quickly or more slowly than expected can adversely impact the value
of such securities. They are also subject to extension risk, which is the risk
that rising interest rates could cause mortgages or other obligations underlying
the securities to be prepaid more slowly than expected, thereby lengthening the
duration of such securities, increasing their sensitivity to interest rate
changes and causing their prices to decline. Mortgage-backed securities are
particularly sensitive to prepayment risk, given that the term to maturity for
mortgage loans is generally substantially longer than the expected lives of
those securities. A mortgage-backed security may be negatively affected by the
quality of the mortgages underlying such security, the credit quality of its
issuer or guarantor, and the nature and structure of its credit support.
Mortgage- and asset-backed securities that are not backed by the full faith and
credit of the U.S. government are subject to the risk of default on the
underlying mortgage, loan or asset, particularly during periods of economic
downturn.
Other
Investment Companies Risk—When
the Fund invests in other investment companies, including ETFs, you bear both
your proportionate share of Fund expenses and, indirectly, the expenses of the
other investment companies. Furthermore, the Fund is exposed to the risks to
which the other investment companies may be subject.
Preferred
Security Risk—Preferred
securities generally are subordinated to bonds and other debt instruments in a
company’s capital structure and therefore will be subject to greater credit risk
than those debt instruments. In addition, preferred securities are subject to
other risks, such as having no or limited voting rights, being subject to
special redemption rights, having distributions deferred or skipped, having
floating interest rates or dividends, which may result in a decline in value in
a falling interest rate environment, having fixed interest rates or dividends,
which may result in a decline in value in a rising interest rate environment,
having limited liquidity, changing or unfavorable tax treatments and possibly
being issued by companies in heavily regulated
industries.
Restricted
Securities Risk—The
market for restricted securities, including Rule 144A securities, typically is
less active than the market for publicly traded securities. Rule 144A securities
and other securities exempt from registration under the Securities Act carry the
risk that their liquidity may become impaired and the Fund may be unable to
dispose of the securities promptly or at current market
value.
Sovereign
Debt Risk—Sovereign
debt instruments are subject to the risk that a governmental entity may delay or
refuse to pay interest or repay principal on its sovereign debt. This may be due
to, for example, cash flow problems, insufficient foreign currency reserves,
political considerations, the relative size of the governmental entity’s debt
position in relation to the economy or the failure to put in place economic
reforms required by the International Monetary Fund or other multilateral
agencies.
Unrated
Security Risk—Unrated
securities determined by the Fund’s sub-adviser to be of comparable quality to
rated securities which the Fund may purchase may pay a higher interest rate than
such rated securities and be subject to a greater risk of illiquidity or price
changes. Less public information is typically available about unrated securities
or issuers than rated securities or issuers.
U.S.
Government Securities Risk—U.S.
government securities are guaranteed only as to the timely payment of interest
and the payment of principal when held to maturity. Accordingly, the current
market values for these securities will fluctuate with changes in interest
rates. Securities issued or guaranteed by U.S. government agencies and
instrumentalities are supported by varying degrees of credit but generally are
not backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government or may be subject
to certain limitations. No assurance can be given that the U.S. government will
provide financial support to its agencies and instrumentalities if it is not
obligated by law to do so, which may increase the risk of loss to the
Fund.
Valuation
Risk—The
sales price the Fund could receive for any particular security may differ from
the Fund’s valuation of the investment, particularly for securities that trade
in thin or volatile markets or that are valued using a fair value methodology.
The debt securities in which the Fund invests typically are valued by a pricing
service utilizing a range of market-based inputs and assumptions, including
price quotations obtained from broker-dealers making markets in such
instruments, cash flows and transactions for comparable instruments. There is no
assurance that the Fund will be able to buy or sell a portfolio security at the
price established by the pricing service, which could result in a gain or loss
to the Fund. Pricing services generally price debt securities assuming orderly
transactions of an institutional “round lot” size, but some trades may occur in
smaller, “odd lot” sizes, often at lower prices than institutional round lot
trades. Over certain time periods, such differences could materially impact the
performance of the Fund, which may not be sustainable. Alternative pricing
services may incorporate different assumptions and inputs into their valuation
methodologies, potentially resulting in different values for the same
securities. As a result, if the Fund were to change pricing services, or
| |
|
|
Section
1
Fund Summaries |
7 |
if
the Fund’s pricing service were to change its valuation methodology, there could
be a material impact, either positive or negative, on the Fund’s net asset
value.
Fund
Performance
The
following bar chart and table provide some indication of the potential risks of
investing in the Fund. The
Fund’s performance information prior to July 7, 2020 reflects the Fund’s
performance using an investment objective and investment strategies that
differed from those currently in place. In
view of these changes, the Fund’s performance record prior to this date might be
less pertinent for investors considering whether to purchase shares of the Fund.
The
Fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an
indication of how the Fund will perform in the future. Updated
performance information is available at www.nuveen.com/performance
or by calling (800)
257-8787.
The bar chart
below shows the variability of the Fund’s performance from year to year for
Class A shares. The bar chart and highest/lowest
quarterly returns that follow do not reflect sales charges, and if these charges
were reflected, the returns would be less than those
shown.
| |
|
Class A Annual Total
Return* |
*Class A year-to-date total return as
of September
30, 2023 was 6.66%. The performance of the other share classes
will differ due to their different expense
structures.
During
the ten-year period ended December 31, 2022, the Fund’s highest and lowest quarterly returns
were 10.49%
and
-18.29%, respectively, for the quarters ended
June 30, 2020 and March 31,
2020.
The
table below shows the variability of the Fund’s average annual returns and how
they compare over the time periods indicated with those of a broad measure of
market performance and an index of funds with similar investment objectives.
All after-tax returns are
calculated using the historical highest individual federal marginal income tax
rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes.
After-tax returns are shown
for Class A shares only; after-tax returns for other share classes will vary.
Your own actual after-tax returns will depend on your specific
tax situation and may differ from what is shown here. After-tax returns are not
relevant to investors who hold Fund shares in tax-deferred accounts such as IRAs
or employer-sponsored retirement
plans.
Both
the bar chart and the table assume that all distributions have been reinvested.
Performance reflects fee waivers, if any, in effect during the periods
presented. If any such waivers had not been in place, returns would have been
reduced.
| |
|
|
8 |
Section
1
Fund Summaries |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Average Annual
Total Returns |
|
|
|
for the Periods
Ended |
|
|
|
December 31,
2022 |
|
|
|
1
Year |
5
Years |
10
Years |
|
Class
A (return before taxes) |
|
(14.91 |
)% |
|
(0.01 |
)% |
|
2.19 |
% |
|
Class
A (return after taxes on distributions) |
|
(16.63 |
)% |
|
(2.13 |
)% |
|
(0.47 |
)% |
|
Class
A (return after taxes on distributions and sale of Fund shares) |
|
(8.77 |
)% |
|
(0.83 |
)% |
|
0.52 |
% |
|
Class
C (return before taxes) |
|
(11.31 |
)% |
|
0.21 |
% |
|
2.07 |
% |
|
Class
I (return before taxes) |
|
(10.33 |
)% |
|
1.20 |
% |
|
2.94 |
% |
|
Bloomberg
U.S. Corporate High Yield 2% Issuer Capped Bond Index1 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
(reflects
no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes) |
|
(11.18 |
)% |
|
2.30 |
% |
|
4.03 |
% |
|
Lipper
Global High Yield Funds Category Average2 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
(reflects
no deduction for taxes or sales loads) |
|
(11.06 |
)% |
|
1.06 |
% |
|
2.85 |
% |
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1 |
An
issuer-constrained version of the U.S. Corporate High Yield Bond Index,
which is an index designed to measure the performance of USD-denominated,
fixed-rate corporate high yield bond market that limits each issuer to 2%
of the index. |
|
2 |
Represents
the average annualized total return for all reporting funds in the Lipper
Global High Yield Funds
Category. |
Management
Investment
Adviser
Nuveen
Fund Advisors, LLC
Sub-Adviser
Nuveen
Asset Management, LLC
Portfolio
Managers
| |
|
|
|
Name |
Title |
Portfolio
Manager of Fund Since |
|
|
|
Jean
C. Lin, CFA |
Managing
Director |
January
2019 |
|
Karina
Bubeck, CFA |
Managing
Director |
July
2020 |
|
Aashh
Parekh, CFA |
Managing
Director |
July
2020 |
|
Brenda
A. Langenfeld, CFA |
Managing
Director |
August
2020 |
|
|
|
Mark
Zheng, CFA |
Senior
Director |
March
2023 |
|
Purchase
and Sale of Fund Shares
You
may purchase, redeem or exchange shares of the Fund on any business day through
a financial advisor or other financial intermediary. The Fund’s initial and
subsequent investment minimums generally are as follows, although certain
financial intermediaries may impose their own investment minimums and the Fund
may reduce or waive the minimums in some cases:
| |
|
|
| |
Class
A and Class C |
Class
I |
|
Eligibility
and
Minimum
Initial
Investment |
$3,000
for all accounts except:
• $2,500
for Traditional/
Roth
IRA accounts.
• $2,000
for Coverdell
Education
Savings
Accounts.
• $250
for accounts opened through fee-based programs.
• No
minimum for retirement plans. |
Available
only through fee-based programs and certain retirement plans, and to other
limited categories of investors as described in the prospectus.
$100,000
for all accounts except:
• $250
for clients of financial intermediaries and family offices that have
accounts holding Class I shares with an aggregate value of at least
$100,000 (or that are expected to reach this level).
• No
minimum for eligible retirement plans and certain other categories of
eligible investors as described in the prospectus. |
|
Minimum
Additional
Investment |
$100 |
No
minimum. |
Tax
Information
The
Fund’s distributions are taxable and will generally be taxed as ordinary income
or capital gains, unless you are investing through a tax-deferred account, such
as an IRA or 401(k) plan (in which case you may be taxed upon withdrawal of your
investment from such account).
| |
|
|
Section
1
Fund Summaries |
9 |
Payments
to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
If
you purchase shares of the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial
intermediary (such as a bank or financial advisor), the Fund, its distributor or
its investment adviser may pay the intermediary for the sale of Fund shares and
related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by
influencing the broker-dealer or other financial intermediary and your
salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your financial
advisor or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more
information.
| |
|
|
10 |
Section
1
Fund Summaries |
Nuveen
Flexible Income Fund
Investment
Objective
The
Fund seeks to provide current income and capital appreciation.
Fees
and Expenses of the Fund
The
following tables describe the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy,
hold and sell shares of the Fund. You may qualify for sales charge discounts if
you and your family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $50,000
in the Fund or in other Nuveen Mutual Funds. More information about these and
other discounts, as well as eligibility requirements for each share class, is
available from your financial advisor and in “How You Can Buy and Sell Shares”
on page 82 of the Fund’s prospectus and “Purchase and Redemption of Fund Shares”
on page S-71 of the Fund’s statement of additional information. In addition,
more information about sales charge discounts and waivers for purchases of
shares through specific financial intermediaries is set forth in the appendix to
the Fund’s prospectus entitled “Variations in Sales Charge Reductions and
Waivers Available Through Certain Intermediaries.”
The
tables and examples below do not reflect any commissions that shareholders may
be required to pay directly to their financial intermediaries when buying or
selling Class I shares.
Shareholder
Fees
(fees
paid directly from your investment)
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Class
A |
|
Class
C |
|
Class
R6 |
|
Class
I |
|
|
Maximum
Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Purchases
(as
a percentage of offering price) |
4.75% |
|
None |
|
None |
|
None |
|
|
Maximum
Deferred Sales Charge (Load)
(as
a percentage of the lesser of purchase price or redemption
proceeds)1 |
None |
|
1.00% |
|
None |
|
None |
|
|
Maximum
Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Reinvested Dividends |
None |
|
None |
|
None |
|
None |
|
|
Exchange
Fee |
None |
|
None |
|
None |
|
None |
|
|
Annual
Low Balance Account Fee (for accounts under $1,000)2 |
$15 |
|
$15 |
|
None |
|
$15 |
|
Annual
Fund Operating Expenses
(expenses
that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Class
A |
|
Class
C |
|
Class
R6 |
|
Class
I |
|
|
Management
Fees |
|
0.68 |
% |
|
0.68 |
% |
|
0.68 |
% |
|
0.68 |
% |
|
Distribution
and/or Service (12b-1) Fees |
|
0.25 |
% |
|
1.00 |
% |
|
0.00 |
% |
|
0.00 |
% |
|
Other
Expenses |
|
0.10 |
% |
|
0.10 |
% |
|
0.04 |
% |
|
0.10 |
% |
|
Total
Annual Fund Operating Expenses |
|
1.03 |
% |
|
1.78 |
% |
|
0.72 |
% |
|
0.78 |
% |
|
Fee
Waivers and/or Expense Reimbursements3 |
|
(0.07 |
)% |
|
(0.07 |
)% |
|
(0.07 |
)% |
|
(0.07 |
)% |
|
Total
Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waivers and/or Expense
Reimbursements |
|
0.96 |
% |
|
1.71 |
% |
|
0.65 |
% |
|
0.71 |
% |
1 The
contingent deferred sales charge on Class C shares applies only to redemptions
within 12 months of purchase.
2 Fee
applies to the following types of accounts under $1,000 held directly with the
Fund: individual retirement accounts (IRAs), Coverdell Education Savings
Accounts and accounts established pursuant to the Uniform Transfers to Minors
Act (UTMA) or Uniform Gifts to Minors Act (UGMA).
3 The
Fund’s investment adviser has agreed to waive fees and/or reimburse expenses so
that the total annual operating expenses of the Fund (excluding 12b-1
distribution and/or service fees, interest expenses, taxes, acquired fund fees
and expenses, fees incurred in acquiring and disposing of portfolio securities
and extraordinary expenses) do not exceed 0.75% through July 31, 2025 or 1.25%
after July 31, 2025 of the average daily net assets of any class of Fund shares.
However, because Class R6 shares are not subject to sub-transfer agent and
similar fees, the total annual operating expenses for the Class R6 shares will
be less than the expense limitation. The expense limitation expiring July 31,
2025 may be terminated or modified prior to that date only with the approval of
the Board of Trustees of the Fund. The expense limitation in effect thereafter
may be terminated or modified only with the approval of shareholders of the
Fund.
Example
The
following example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the
Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The example assumes that
you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then either
redeem or do not redeem your shares at the end of a period. The example also
assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund’s
operating expenses are at the lesser of Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses or
the applicable expense limitation. Although your actual costs may be higher or
lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:
| |
|
|
Section
1
Fund Summaries |
11 |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Class
A |
|
Class
C |
|
Class
R6 |
|
Class
I |
|
|
1
Year |
$ |
568 |
|
$ |
174 |
|
$ |
66 |
|
$ |
73 |
|
|
3
Years |
$ |
777 |
|
$ |
549 |
|
$ |
219 |
|
$ |
238 |
|
|
5
Years |
$ |
1,006 |
|
$ |
954 |
|
$ |
389 |
|
$ |
422 |
|
|
10
Years |
$ |
1,665 |
|
$ |
2,085 |
|
$ |
884 |
|
$ |
956 |
|
Portfolio
Turnover
The
Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells
securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may
indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund
shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in
annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance.
During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 26%
of the average value of its portfolio.
Principal
Investment Strategies
Under
normal market conditions, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets in
income producing debt, preferred and convertible securities. Debt securities in
which the Fund invests include corporate debt securities, mortgage-backed
securities, taxable municipal securities and U.S. government and agency debt
securities.
The
Fund may invest without limit in below-investment-grade securities, commonly
referred to as “high yield” securities or “junk” bonds.
The
Fund may invest up to 10% of its net assets in equity securities other than
preferred securities, including common stocks, real estate investment trusts
(“REITs”),
depositary receipts and other types of securities with equity characteristics.
The Fund may write covered call options on equity securities to generate
additional income. To manage market risk and credit risk in its portfolio, the
Fund may make short sales of equity securities and may utilize derivatives,
including credit default swap agreements. The Fund’s short sales may equal up to
10% of the value of the Fund’s net assets. The Fund may use all or a portion of
the proceeds of its short sales to purchase additional portfolio
securities.
The
Fund’s investments may include debt securities, preferred units and common units
issued by master limited partnerships (“MLPs”),
provided that the Fund may not invest more than 10% of its net assets in common
units of MLPs.
The
Fund may invest in securities that have not been registered under the Securities
Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities
Act”)
(“restricted
securities”),
including securities sold in private placement transactions between issuers and
their purchasers and securities that meet the requirements of Rule 144A under
the Securities Act (“Rule
144A securities”).
Rule 144A securities may be resold under certain circumstances only to qualified
institutional buyers as defined by the rule.
The
Fund may invest up to 50% of its net assets in dollar-denominated securities
issued by non-U.S. companies.
The
Fund’s sub-adviser employs a rigorous, bottom-up research-focused investment
process that seeks to identify undervalued companies with positive risk/reward
characteristics and the potential for downside protection. The sub-adviser’s
investment process focuses on the attractiveness of a particular security within
a company’s capital structure. The sub-adviser may choose to sell securities or
reduce positions if it feels that a company no longer possesses favorable
risk/reward characteristics, attractive valuations or catalysts, if it
identifies better alternatives within a company’s capital structure, or if a
company suspends or is projected to suspend its dividend or interest
payments.
Principal
Risks
The
value of your investment in this Fund will change daily. You could lose money by
investing in the Fund. An investment in the Fund is not a deposit of a bank and
is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any
other government agency. The principal risks of investing in the Fund listed
below are presented alphabetically to facilitate your ability to find particular
risks and compare them with the risks of other funds. The significance of any
specific risk to an investment in the Fund will vary over time depending on the
composition of the Fund’s portfolio, market conditions and other factors. Each
risk summarized below is considered a "principal risk" of investing in the Fund,
regardless of the order in which it appears.
Active
Management Risk—The
Fund’s sub-adviser actively manages the Fund’s investments. Consequently, the
Fund is subject to the risk that the investment techniques and risk analyses
employed by the Fund’s sub-adviser may not produce the desired results. This
could cause the Fund to lose value or its investment results to lag relevant
benchmarks or other funds with similar objectives.
| |
|
|
12 |
Section
1
Fund Summaries |
Call
Risk—If,
during periods of falling interest rates, an issuer exercises its right to
prepay principal on its higher-yielding debt securities held by the Fund, the
Fund may have to reinvest in securities with lower yields or higher risk of
default, which may adversely impact the Fund’s performance.
Convertible
Security Risk—Convertible
securities are subject to certain risks of both equity and debt securities. The
value of convertible securities may decline in response to such factors as
rising interest rates and fluctuations in the market price of the common stock
underlying the convertible securities.
Covered
Call Risk—Covered
call risk includes the risk that the Fund, as a writer of covered call options,
will forgo during an option’s life the opportunity to profit from increases in
the market value of the security covering the call option.
Credit
Risk—Credit
risk is the risk that an issuer or other obligated party of a security may be,
or perceived (whether by market participants, rating agencies, pricing services
or otherwise) to be, unable or unwilling to make dividend, interest and
principal payments when due and the related risk that the value of a security
may decline because of concerns about the issuer’s ability or willingness to
make such payments.
Credit
Spread Risk—Credit
spread risk is the risk that credit spreads (i.e., the difference in yield
between securities that is due to differences in their credit quality) may
increase when the market believes that bonds generally have a greater risk of
default. Increasing credit spreads may reduce the market values of the Fund’s
debt securities. Credit spreads often increase more for lower rated and unrated
securities than for investment grade securities. In addition, when credit
spreads increase, reductions in market value will generally be greater for
longer-maturity securities.
Currency
Risk—Even
though the non-U.S. securities held by the Fund are traded in U.S. dollars,
their prices are typically indirectly influenced by currency fluctuations.
Changes in currency exchange rates may affect the Fund’s net asset value, the
value of dividends and interest earned, gains or losses realized on the sale of
securities, and derivative transactions tied to such securities.
Cybersecurity
Risk—Cybersecurity
risk is the risk of an unauthorized breach and access to Fund assets, customer
data (including private shareholder information), or proprietary information, or
the risk of an incident occurring that causes the Fund, its investment adviser
or sub-adviser, custodian, transfer agent, distributor or other service
provider, a financial intermediary or the issuers of securities held by the Fund
to suffer a data breach, data corruption or lose operational functionality.
Successful cyber-attacks or other cyber-failures or events affecting the Fund,
its service providers or the issuers of securities held by the Fund may
adversely impact the Fund or its shareholders. Additionally, a cybersecurity
breach could affect the issuers in which the Fund invests, which may cause the
Fund’s investments to lose value.
Derivatives
Risk—The
use of derivatives involves additional risks and transaction costs which could
leave the Fund in a worse position than if it had not used these instruments.
Derivative instruments can be used to acquire or to transfer the risk and
returns of a security or other asset without buying or selling the security or
asset, and the risks associated with investing in such derivatives may be
different and greater than the risks associated with directly investing in the
underlying securities and other instruments, including leverage risk, market
risk, counterparty risk, liquidity risk, operational risk and legal risk. These
instruments may entail investment exposures that are greater than their cost
would suggest. As a result, a small investment in derivatives can result in
losses that greatly exceed the original investment. Derivatives can be highly
volatile, illiquid and difficult to value. An over-the-counter derivative
transaction between the Fund and a counterparty that is not cleared through a
central counterparty also involves the risk that a loss may be sustained as a
result of the failure of the counterparty to the contract to make required
payments. The payment obligation for a cleared derivative transaction is
guaranteed by a central counterparty, which exposes the Fund to the
creditworthiness of the central counterparty.
Equity
Security Risk—Equity
securities in the Fund’s portfolio may decline significantly in price over short
or extended periods of time, and such declines may occur because of declines in
the equity market as a whole, or because of declines in only a particular
country, company, industry, or sector of the market. From time to time, the Fund
may invest a significant portion of its assets in companies in one or more
related sectors or industries which would make the Fund more vulnerable to
adverse developments affecting such sectors or industries.
Foreign
Investment Risk—Non-U.S.
issuers or U.S. issuers with significant non-U.S. operations may be subject to
risks in addition to those of issuers located in or that principally operate in
the United States as a result of, among other things, political, social and
economic developments abroad, as well as armed conflicts and different legal,
regulatory and tax environments. Foreign investments may also have lower
liquidity and be more difficult to value than investments in U.S. issuers. To
the extent the Fund invests a significant portion of its assets in the
securities of companies in a single country or region, it may be more
susceptible to adverse conditions affecting that country or region. Foreign
investments may also be subject to risk of loss because of more or less foreign
government regulation, less public information, less stringent investor
protections and less stringent accounting, corporate governance, financial
reporting and disclosure standards.
| |
|
|
Section
1
Fund Summaries |
13 |
High
Yield Securities Risk—High
yield securities, which are rated below investment grade and commonly referred
to as “junk” bonds, and unrated securities of comparable quality are high risk
investments that may cause income and principal losses for the Fund. They
generally are considered to be speculative with respect to the ability to pay
interest and repay principal, have greater credit risk, are less liquid, are
more likely to experience a default and have more volatile prices than
investment grade securities.
Income
Risk—The
Fund's income could decline during periods of falling interest rates or when the
Fund experiences defaults on debt securities or defaults or deferrals on
preferred securities it holds.
Interest
Rate Risk—Interest
rate risk is the risk that the value of the Fund’s fixed-rate securities will
decline because of rising interest rates. Changing interest rates may have
unpredictable effects on markets, result in heightened market volatility and
detract from the Fund’s performance to the extent that it is exposed to such
interest rates. Fixed-rate securities may be subject to a greater risk of rising
interest rates than would normally be the case due to the effect of potential
government fiscal policy initiatives and resulting market reaction to those
initiatives. Higher periods of inflation could lead to government fiscal
policies which raise interest rates. When interest rates change, the values of
longer-duration fixed-rate securities usually change more than the values of
shorter-duration fixed-rate securities. Conversely, fixed-rate securities with
shorter durations or maturities will be less volatile but may provide lower
returns than fixed-rate securities with longer durations or maturities. Rising
interest rates also may lengthen the duration of securities with call features,
since exercise of the call becomes less likely as interest rates rise, which in
turn will make the securities more sensitive to changes in interest rates and
result in even steeper price declines in the event of further interest rate
increases. The Fund is also subject to the risk that the income generated by its
investments may not keep pace with inflation.
Market
Risk—The
market value of the Fund’s investments may go up or down, sometimes rapidly or
unpredictably and for short or extended periods of time, due to the particular
circumstances of individual issuers or due to general conditions impacting
issuers more broadly. Global economies and financial markets have become highly
interconnected, and thus economic, market or political conditions or events in
one country or region might adversely impact the value of the Fund’s investments
whether or not the Fund invests in such country or region. Events such as war,
terrorism, natural and environmental disasters and the spread of infectious
illnesses or other public health emergencies may have a severe negative impact
on the global economy, could cause financial markets to experience extreme
volatility and losses, and could result in the disruption of trading and the
reduction of liquidity in many instruments. Additionally, as inflation
increases, the value of the Fund’s assets can decline.
Market
Liquidity Risk—Reductions
in trading activity or dealer inventories of securities such as bonds and
preferred securities, which provide an indication of the ability of financial
intermediaries to “make markets” in those securities, have the potential to
decrease liquidity and increase price volatility in the markets in which the
Fund invests, particularly during periods of economic or market stress. In
addition, federal banking regulations may cause certain dealers to reduce their
inventories of securities, which may further decrease the Fund’s ability to buy
or sell securities. As a result of this decreased liquidity, the Fund may have
to accept a lower price to sell a security, sell other securities to raise cash,
or give up an investment opportunity, any of which could have a negative effect
on performance. If the Fund needed to sell large blocks of securities to meet
shareholder redemption requests or to raise cash, those sales could further
reduce the securities’ prices and hurt performance.
Master
Limited Partnership Risk—Investments
in common units of MLPs involve risks that differ from investments in common
stock, including risks related to limited control and limited rights to vote. An
investment in an MLP also exposes the Fund to the legal and tax risks associated
with investing in partnerships. MLPs may have limited financial resources, their
securities may be relatively illiquid, and they may be subject to more erratic
price movements because of the underlying assets they hold.
Mortgage-Backed
Securities Risk—These
securities generally can be prepaid at any time, and prepayments that occur
either more quickly or more slowly than expected can adversely impact the value
of such securities. They are also subject to extension risk, which is the risk
that rising interest rates could cause mortgages underlying the securities to be
prepaid more slowly than expected, thereby lengthening the duration of such
securities, increasing their sensitivity to interest rate changes and causing
their prices to decline. Mortgage-backed securities are particularly sensitive
to prepayment risk, given that the term to maturity for mortgage loans is
generally substantially longer than the expected lives of those securities. A
mortgage-backed security may be negatively affected by the quality of the
mortgages underlying such security, the credit quality of its issuer or
guarantor, and the nature and structure of its credit support. Mortgage-backed
securities that are not backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S.
government are subject to the risk of default on the underlying mortgage,
particularly during periods of economic downturn.
| |
|
|
14 |
Section
1
Fund Summaries |
Municipal
Securities Risk—The
values of municipal securities held by the Fund may be adversely affected by
local political and economic conditions and developments. Adverse conditions in
an industry significant to a local economy could have a correspondingly adverse
effect on the financial condition of local issuers. The amount of public
information available about municipal bonds is generally less than for certain
corporate equities or bonds, meaning that the investment performance of the Fund
may be more dependent on the analytical abilities of the Fund’s sub-adviser than
funds that invest in stock or other corporate investments.
Preferred
Security Risk—Preferred
securities generally are subordinated to bonds and other debt instruments in a
company’s capital structure and therefore will be subject to greater credit risk
than those debt instruments. In addition, preferred securities are subject to
other risks, such as having no or limited voting rights, being subject to
special redemption rights, having distributions deferred or skipped, having
floating interest rates or dividends, which may result in a decline in value in
a falling interest rate environment, having fixed interest rates or dividends,
which may result in a decline in value in a rising interest rate environment,
having limited liquidity, changing or unfavorable tax treatments and possibly
being issued by companies in heavily regulated industries.
Restricted
Securities Risk—The
market for restricted securities, including Rule 144A securities, typically is
less active than the market for publicly traded securities. Rule 144A securities
and other securities exempt from registration under the Securities Act carry the
risk that their liquidity may become impaired and the Fund may be unable to
dispose of the securities promptly or at current market value.
Short
Sales Risk—Short
sales involve the sale of a security the Fund has borrowed, with the expectation
that the security will underperform the market. Short sales expose the Fund to
the risk that it will be required to buy the security sold short (also known as
“covering” the short position) at a time when the security has appreciated in
value, thus resulting in a loss to the Fund. Although the gain is limited by the
price at which the security was sold short, the loss is potentially unlimited.
To the extent the Fund invests the proceeds received from selling securities
short in additional portfolio securities, the Fund is engaging in a form of
leverage. The use of leverage may increase the Fund’s exposure to long positions
and make any change in the Fund’s net asset value greater than it would be
without the use of leverage. This could result in increased volatility of
returns. The use of short sales may also cause the Fund to have higher expenses
than other funds.
Unrated
Security Risk—Unrated
securities determined by the Fund’s sub-adviser to be of comparable quality to
rated securities which the Fund may purchase may pay a higher interest rate than
such rated securities and be subject to a greater risk of illiquidity or price
changes. Less public information is typically available about unrated securities
or issuers than rated securities or issuers.
U.S.
Government Securities Risk—U.S.
government securities are guaranteed only as to the timely payment of interest
and the payment of principal when held to maturity. Accordingly, the current
market values for these securities will fluctuate with changes in interest
rates. Securities issued or guaranteed by U.S. government agencies and
instrumentalities are supported by varying degrees of credit but generally are
not backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government or may be subject
to certain limitations. No assurance can be given that the U.S. government will
provide financial support to its agencies and instrumentalities if it is not
obligated by law to do so, which may increase the risk of loss to the
Fund.
Valuation
Risk—The
sales price the Fund could receive for any particular security may differ from
the Fund’s valuation of the investment, particularly for securities that trade
in thin or volatile markets or that are valued using a fair value methodology.
The debt securities in which the Fund invests typically are valued by a pricing
service utilizing a range of market-based inputs and assumptions, including
price quotations obtained from broker-dealers making markets in such
instruments, cash flows and transactions for comparable instruments. There is no
assurance that the Fund will be able to buy or sell a portfolio security at the
price established by the pricing service, which could result in a gain or loss
to the Fund. Pricing services generally price debt securities assuming orderly
transactions of an institutional “round lot” size, but some trades may occur in
smaller, “odd lot” sizes, often at lower prices than institutional round lot
trades. Over certain time periods, such differences could materially impact the
performance of the Fund, which may not be sustainable. Alternative pricing
services may incorporate different assumptions and inputs into their valuation
methodologies, potentially resulting in different values for the same
securities. As a result, if the Fund were to change pricing services, or if the
Fund’s pricing service were to change its valuation methodology, there could be
a material impact, either positive or negative, on the Fund’s net asset
value.
| |
|
|
Section
1
Fund Summaries |
15 |
Fund
Performance
The
following bar chart and table provide some indication of the potential risks of
investing in the Fund. The Fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) is
not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future.
Updated performance information is available at www.nuveen.com/performance or by
calling (800) 257-8787.
The
bar chart below shows the variability of the Fund’s performance from year to
year for Class A shares. The bar chart and highest/lowest quarterly returns that
follow do not reflect sales charges, and if these charges were reflected, the
returns would be less than those shown.
| |
|
Class
A Annual Total Return* |
*Class
A year-to-date total return as of September 30, 2023 was 1.65%. The
performance of the other share classes will differ due to their different
expense structures.
During
the ten-year period ended December 31, 2022, the Fund’s highest and lowest
quarterly returns were 9.56%
and
-12.66%, respectively, for the quarters ended June 30, 2020 and March 31,
2020.
The
table below shows the variability of the Fund’s average annual returns and how
they compare over the time periods indicated with those of broad measures of
market performance and an index of funds with similar investment objectives. All
after-tax returns are calculated using the historical highest individual federal
marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local
taxes. After-tax returns are shown for Class A shares only; after-tax returns
for other share classes will vary. Your own actual after-tax returns will depend
on your specific tax situation and may differ from what is shown here. After-tax
returns are not relevant to investors who hold Fund shares in tax-deferred
accounts such as IRAs or employer-sponsored retirement plans.
Both
the bar chart and the table assume that all distributions have been reinvested.
Performance reflects fee waivers, if any, in effect during the periods
presented. If any such waivers had not been in place, returns would have been
reduced.
| |
|
|
16 |
Section
1
Fund Summaries |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Average
Annual Total Returns |
|
|
|
|
|
|
for
the Periods Ended |
|
|
|
|
|
|
December
31, 2022 |
|
|
|
Inception
Date |
1
Year |
5
Years |
10
Years |
Since
Inception
(Class
R6) |
|
Class
A (return before taxes) |
|
12/9/09 |
|
|
(18.19 |
)% |
|
0.42 |
% |
|
3.04 |
% |
|
N/A |
|
|
Class
A (return after taxes on distributions) |
|
|
|
|
(19.93 |
)% |
|
(1.47 |
)% |
|
1.08 |
% |
|
N/A |
|
|
Class
A (return after taxes on distributions and sale of Fund shares) |
|
|
|
|
(10.48 |
)% |
|
(0.29 |
)% |
|
1.63 |
% |
|
N/A |
|
|
Class
C (return before taxes) |
|
12/9/09 |
|
|
(14.74 |
)% |
|
0.65 |
% |
|
2.93 |
% |
|
N/A |
|
|
Class
R6 (return before taxes) |
|
6/30/16 |
|
|
(13.85 |
)% |
|
1.78 |
% |
|
N/A |
|
|
3.32
|
% |
|
Class
I (return before taxes) |
|
12/9/09 |
|
|
(13.91 |
)% |
|
1.65 |
% |
|
3.81 |
% |
|
N/A |
|
|
Bloomberg
U.S. Aggregate Bond Index1 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
(reflects
no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes) |
|
|
|
|
(13.01 |
)% |
|
0.02 |
% |
|
1.06 |
% |
|
0.16 |
% |
|
Flexible
Income Blended Benchmark2 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
(reflects
no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes) |
|
|
|
|
(13.29 |
)% |
|
1.37 |
% |
|
3.01 |
% |
|
2.56 |
% |
|
Lipper
Flexible Income Funds Category Average3 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
(reflects
no deduction for taxes or sales loads) |
|
|
|
|
(11.73 |
)% |
|
1.50 |
% |
|
3.18 |
% |
|
2.66 |
% |
| |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1 |
An
index designed to measure the performance of the USD-denominated,
fixed-rate, U.S. investment grade taxable bond market. The index includes
Treasuries, government-related and corporate securities, mortgage-backed
securities (MBS), asset-backed securities (ABS) and commercial
mortgage-backed securities (CMBS). |
|
2 |
An
index comprised of a 50% weighting in ICE BofA US Corporate Index and a
50% weighting in ICE BofA High Yield Index. |
|
3 |
Represents
the average annualized total return for all reporting funds in the Lipper
Flexible Income Funds Category. |
Management
Investment
Adviser
Nuveen
Fund Advisors, LLC
Sub-Adviser
Nuveen
Asset Management, LLC
Portfolio
Managers
| |
|
|
|
Name |
Title |
Portfolio
Manager of Fund Since |
|
Thomas
J. Ray, CFA |
Managing
Director |
January
2015 |
|
Susi
Budiman, CFA |
Managing
Director |
January
2015 |
|
Stephen
T. Peña |
Managing
Director |
October
2022 |
| |
|
|
Section
1
Fund Summaries |
17 |
Purchase
and Sale of Fund Shares
You
may purchase, redeem or exchange shares of the Fund on any business day through
a financial advisor or other financial intermediary. The Fund’s initial and
subsequent investment minimums generally are as follows, although certain
financial intermediaries may impose their own investment minimums and the Fund
may reduce or waive the minimums in some cases:
| |
|
|
|
| |
Class
A and Class C |
Class
R6 |
Class
I |
|
Eligibility
and Minimum Initial Investment |
$3,000
for all accounts except:
• $2,500
for Traditional/
Roth
IRA accounts.
• $2,000
for Coverdell
Education
Savings
Accounts.
• $250
for accounts opened through fee-based programs.
• No
minimum for retirement plans. |
Available
only to certain qualified retirement plans and other investors as
described in the prospectus and through fee-based programs.
$1
million for all accounts except:
• $100,000
for clients of financial intermediaries who charge such clients an ongoing
fee for advisory, investment, consulting or related services.
• No
minimum for certain qualified retirement plans and certain other
categories of eligible investors as described in the
prospectus. |
Available
only through fee-based programs and certain retirement plans, and to other
limited categories of investors as described in the prospectus.
$100,000
for all accounts except:
• $250
for clients of financial intermediaries and family offices that have
accounts holding Class I shares with an aggregate value of at least
$100,000 (or that are expected to reach this level).
• No
minimum for eligible retirement plans and certain other categories of
eligible investors as described in the prospectus. |
|
Minimum
Additional
Investment |
$100 |
No
minimum. |
No
minimum. |
Tax
Information
The
Fund’s distributions are taxable and will generally be taxed as ordinary income
or capital gains, unless you are investing through a tax-deferred account, such
as an IRA or 401(k) plan (in which case you may be taxed upon withdrawal of your
investment from such account).
Payments
to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
If
you purchase shares of the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial
intermediary (such as a bank or financial advisor), the Fund, its distributor or
its investment adviser may pay the intermediary for the sale of Fund shares and
related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by
influencing the broker-dealer or other financial intermediary and your
salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your financial
advisor or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more
information.
| |
|
|
18 |
Section
1
Fund Summaries |
Nuveen
Floating Rate Income Fund
Investment
Objective
The
principal investment objective of the Fund is to seek a high level of current
income and the secondary investment objective of the Fund is to seek capital
appreciation.
Fees
and Expenses of the Fund
The
following tables describe the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy,
hold and sell shares of the Fund. You may qualify for sales charge discounts if
you and your family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $50,000
in the Fund or in other Nuveen Mutual Funds. More information about these and
other discounts, as well as eligibility requirements for each share class, is
available from your financial advisor and in “How You Can Buy and Sell Shares”
on page 82 of the Fund’s prospectus and “Purchase and Redemption of Fund Shares”
on page S-62 of the Fund’s statement of additional information. In addition,
more information about sales charge discounts and waivers for purchases of
shares through specific financial intermediaries is set forth in the appendix to
the Fund’s prospectus entitled “Variations in Sales Charge Reductions and
Waivers Available Through Certain Intermediaries.”
The
tables and examples below do not reflect any commissions that shareholders may
be required to pay directly to their financial intermediaries when buying or
selling Class I shares.
Shareholder
Fees
(fees
paid directly from your investment)
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Class
A |
|
Class
C |
|
Class
R6 |
|
Class
I |
|
|
Maximum
Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Purchases
(as
a percentage of offering price) |
3.00% |
|
None |
|
None |
|
None |
|
|
Maximum
Deferred Sales Charge (Load)
(as
a percentage of the lesser of purchase price or redemption
proceeds)1 |
None |
|
1.00% |
|
None |
|
None |
|
|
Maximum
Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Reinvested Dividends |
None |
|
None |
|
None |
|
None |
|
|
Exchange
Fee |
None |
|
None |
|
None |
|
None |
|
|
Annual
Low Balance Account Fee (for accounts under $1,000)2 |
$15 |
|
$15 |
|
None |
|
$15 |
|
Annual
Fund Operating Expenses
(expenses
that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Class
A |
|
Class
C |
|
Class
R6 |
|
Class
I |
|
|
Management
Fees |
|
0.57 |
% |
|
0.57 |
% |
|
0.57 |
% |
|
0.57 |
% |
|
Distribution
and/or Service (12b-1) Fees |
|
0.25 |
% |
|
1.00 |
% |
|
0.00 |
% |
|
0.00 |
% |
|
Other
Expenses |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Interest
and Related Expenses3 |
|
0.06 |
% |
|
0.06 |
% |
|
0.06 |
% |
|
0.06 |
% |
|
Remainder
of Other Expenses |
|
0.14 |
% |
|
0.14 |
% |
|
0.07 |
% |
|
0.14 |
% |
|
Acquired
Fund Fees and Expenses |
|
0.01 |
% |
|
0.01 |
% |
|
0.01 |
% |
|
0.01 |
% |
|
Total
Annual Fund Operating Expenses |
|
1.03 |
% |
|
1.78 |
% |
|
0.71 |
% |
|
0.78 |
% |
1 The
contingent deferred sales charge on Class C shares applies only to redemptions
within 12 months of purchase.
2 Fee
applies to the following types of accounts under $1,000 held directly with the
Fund: individual retirement accounts (IRAs), Coverdell Education Savings
Accounts and accounts established pursuant to the Uniform Transfers to Minors
Act (UTMA) or Uniform Gifts to Minors Act (UGMA).
3 Includes
interest expense and fees paid on Fund borrowings.
Example
The
following example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the
Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The example assumes that
you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then either
redeem or do not redeem your shares at the end of a period. The example also
assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund’s
operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or
lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Class
A |
|
Class
C |
|
Class
R6 |
|
Class
I |
|
|
1
Year |
$ |
402 |
|
$ |
181 |
|
$ |
73 |
|
$ |
80 |
|
|
3
Years |
$ |
618 |
|
$ |
560 |
|
$ |
227 |
|
$ |
249 |
|
|
5
Years |
$ |
852 |
|
$ |
964 |
|
$ |
395 |
|
$ |
433 |
|
|
10
Years |
$ |
1,522 |
|
$ |
2,095 |
|
$ |
883 |
|
$ |
966 |
|
| |
|
|
Section
1
Fund Summaries |
19 |
Portfolio
Turnover
The
Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells
securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may
indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund
shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in
annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance.
During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 24%
of the average value of its portfolio.
Principal
Investment Strategies
Under
normal market conditions, the Fund invests at least 80% of the sum of its net
assets and the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes in floating rate
securities. Floating rate securities are defined to include floating rate loans,
other floating rate debt securities including corporate debt securities and U.S.
government securities, money market securities and shares of money market and
short-term bond funds. The Fund may invest up to 20% of its net assets in other
securities, which would primarily be fixed rate debt securities of any maturity,
convertible securities and equity securities received as a result of the
restructuring of an issuer’s debt. A substantial portion of the Fund’s assets
generally will be invested in securities rated below investment grade or, if
unrated, deemed by the Fund’s portfolio managers to be of comparable quality.
Below investment-grade securities are commonly referred to as “high yield”
securities or “junk” bonds. The Fund invests both in securities issued by U.S.
companies and in U.S. dollar-denominated securities issued by non-U.S. companies
that are traded over-the-counter or listed on an exchange. Under normal market
conditions, the average effective duration of the Fund’s portfolio will not be
longer than one year. Effective duration is an estimate of how much the value of
a debt security will change with a given change in interest rates.
The
Fund may invest in securities that have not been registered under the Securities
Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities
Act”)
(“restricted
securities”),
including securities sold in private placement transactions between issuers and
their purchasers and securities that meet the requirements of Rule 144A under
the Securities Act (“Rule
144A securities”).
Rule 144A securities may be resold under certain circumstances only to qualified
institutional buyers as defined by the rule.
The
Fund may utilize the following derivatives: options; futures contracts; options
on futures contracts; swap agreements, including interest rate swaps, total
return swaps, and credit default swaps; and options on swap agreements. The Fund
may use these derivatives in an attempt to manage market risk, credit risk and
yield curve risk, to manage the effective maturity or duration of securities in
the Fund’s portfolio, including the use of interest rate derivatives to convert
fixed-rate securities to floating rate securities, or for speculative purposes
in an effort to increase the Fund’s yield or to enhance returns. The use of a
derivative is speculative if the Fund is primarily seeking to enhance returns,
rather than offset the risk of other positions.
The
Fund’s sub-adviser bases its investment process on fundamental, bottom-up credit
analysis. Analysts assess sector dynamics, company business models and asset
quality. Inherent in the sub-adviser’s credit analysis process is the evaluation
of potential upside and downside to any credit. As such, the sub-adviser
concentrates its efforts on sectors where there is sufficient transparency to
assess the downside risk and where firms have assets to support meaningful
recovery in case of default. In its focus on downside protection, the
sub-adviser favors opportunities where valuations can be quantified and risks
assessed.
Principal
Risks
The
value of your investment in this Fund will change daily. You could lose money by
investing in the Fund. An investment in the Fund is not a deposit of a bank and
is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any
other government agency. The principal risks of investing in the Fund listed
below are presented alphabetically to facilitate your ability to find particular
risks and compare them with the risks of other funds. The significance of any
specific risk to an investment in the Fund will vary over time depending on the
composition of the Fund’s portfolio, market conditions and other factors. Each
risk summarized below is considered a "principal risk" of investing in the Fund,
regardless of the order in which it appears.
Active
Management Risk—The
Fund’s sub-adviser actively manages the Fund’s investments. Consequently, the
Fund is subject to the risk that the investment techniques and risk analyses
employed by the Fund’s sub-adviser may not produce the desired results. This
could cause the Fund to lose value or its investment results to lag relevant
benchmarks or other funds with similar objectives.
Call
Risk—If,
during periods of falling interest rates, an issuer exercises its right to
prepay principal on its higher-yielding debt securities held by the Fund, the
Fund may have to reinvest in securities with lower yields or higher risk of
default, which may adversely impact the Fund’s performance.
| |
|
|
20 |
Section
1
Fund Summaries |
Convertible
Security Risk—Convertible
securities are subject to certain risks of both equity and debt securities. The
value of convertible securities may decline in response to such factors as
rising interest rates and fluctuations in the market price of the common stock
underlying the convertible securities.
Credit
Risk—Credit
risk is the risk that an issuer or other obligated party of a debt security may
be, or perceived (whether by market participants, rating agencies, pricing
services or otherwise) to be, unable or unwilling to make interest and principal
payments when due and the related risk that the value of a debt security may
decline because of concerns about the issuer’s ability or willingness to make
such payments.
Credit
Spread Risk—Credit
spread risk is the risk that credit spreads (i.e., the difference in yield
between securities that is due to differences in their credit quality) may
increase when the market believes that bonds generally have a greater risk of
default. Increasing credit spreads may reduce the market values of the Fund’s
debt securities. Credit spreads often increase more for lower rated and unrated
securities than for investment grade securities. In addition, when credit
spreads increase, reductions in market value will generally be greater for
longer-maturity securities.
Currency
Risk—Even
though the non-U.S. securities held by the Fund are traded in U.S. dollars,
their prices are typically indirectly influenced by currency fluctuations.
Changes in currency exchange rates may affect the Fund’s net asset value, the
value of dividends and interest earned, gains or losses realized on the sale of
securities, and derivative transactions tied to such securities.
Cybersecurity
Risk—Cybersecurity
risk is the risk of an unauthorized breach and access to Fund assets, customer
data (including private shareholder information), or proprietary information, or
the risk of an incident occurring that causes the Fund, its investment adviser
or sub-adviser, custodian, transfer agent, distributor or other service
provider, a financial intermediary or the issuers of securities held by the Fund
to suffer a data breach, data corruption or lose operational functionality.
Successful cyber-attacks or other cyber-failures or events affecting the Fund,
its service providers or the issuers of securities held by the Fund may
adversely impact the Fund or its shareholders. Additionally, a cybersecurity
breach could affect the issuers in which the Fund invests, which may cause the
Fund’s investments to lose value.
Derivatives
Risk—The
use of derivatives involves additional risks and transaction costs which could
leave the Fund in a worse position than if it had not used these instruments.
Derivative instruments can be used to acquire or to transfer the risk and
returns of a security or other asset without buying or selling the security or
asset, and the risks associated with investing in such derivatives may be
different and greater than the risks associated with directly investing in the
underlying securities and other instruments, including leverage risk, market
risk, counterparty risk, liquidity risk, operational risk and legal risk. These
instruments may entail investment exposures that are greater than their cost
would suggest. As a result, a small investment in derivatives can result in
losses that greatly exceed the original investment. Derivatives can be highly
volatile, illiquid and difficult to value. An over-the-counter derivative
transaction between the Fund and a counterparty that is not cleared through a
central counterparty also involves the risk that a loss may be sustained as a
result of the failure of the counterparty to the contract to make required
payments. The payment obligation for a cleared derivative transaction is
guaranteed by a central counterparty, which exposes the Fund to the
creditworthiness of the central counterparty.
Equity
Security Risk—Equity
securities in the Fund’s portfolio may decline significantly in price over short
or extended periods of time, and such declines may occur because of declines in
the equity market as a whole, or because of declines in only a particular
country, company, industry, or sector of the market. From time to time, the Fund
may invest a significant portion of its assets in companies in one or more
related sectors or industries which would make the Fund more vulnerable to
adverse developments affecting such sectors or industries.
Foreign
Investment Risk—Non-U.S.
issuers or U.S. issuers with significant non-U.S. operations may be subject to
risks in addition to those of issuers located in or that principally operate in
the United States as a result of, among other things, political, social and
economic developments abroad, as well as armed conflicts and different legal,
regulatory and tax environments. Foreign investments may also have lower
liquidity and be more difficult to value than investments in U.S. issuers. To
the extent the Fund invests a significant portion of its assets in the
securities of companies in a single country or region, it may be more
susceptible to adverse conditions affecting that country or region. Foreign
investments may also be subject to risk of loss because of more or less foreign
government regulation, less public information, less stringent investor
protections and less stringent accounting, corporate governance, financial
reporting and disclosure standards.
High
Yield Securities Risk—High
yield securities, which are rated below investment grade and commonly referred
to as “junk” bonds, and unrated securities of comparable quality are high risk
investments that may cause income and principal losses for the Fund. They
generally are considered to be speculative with respect to the ability to pay
interest and repay principal, have greater credit risk, are less liquid, are
more likely to experience a default and have more volatile prices than
investment grade securities.
| |
|
|
Section
1
Fund Summaries |
21 |
Income
Risk—The
Fund's income could decline during periods of falling interest rates or when the
Fund experiences defaults on debt securities it holds. Income risk is generally
higher for limited-term bonds so investors may experience a fluctuation in the
monthly income from the Fund.
Interest
Rate Risk—Interest
rate risk is the risk that the value of the Fund’s fixed-rate securities will
decline because of rising interest rates. Changing interest rates may have
unpredictable effects on markets, result in heightened market volatility and
detract from the Fund’s performance to the extent that it is exposed to such
interest rates. Fixed-rate securities may be subject to a greater risk of rising
interest rates than would normally be the case due to the effect of potential
government fiscal policy initiatives and resulting market reaction to those
initiatives. Higher periods of inflation could lead to government fiscal
policies which raise interest rates. When interest rates change, the values of
longer-duration fixed-rate securities usually change more than the values of
shorter-duration fixed-rate securities. Conversely, fixed-rate securities with
shorter durations or maturities will be less volatile but may provide lower
returns than fixed-rate securities with longer durations or maturities. Rising
interest rates also may lengthen the duration of securities with call features,
since exercise of the call becomes less likely as interest rates rise, which in
turn will make the securities more sensitive to changes in interest rates and
result in even steeper price declines in the event of further interest rate
increases. Because the Fund primarily invests in floating rate loans, interest
rate risk may be reduced. However, floating rate loans are still subject to
interest rate risk, and their values may decrease, if their interest rates do
not reset as quickly as a general rise in interest rates. The Fund is also
subject to the risk that the income generated by its investments may not keep
pace with inflation.
Loan
Risk—The
lack of an active trading market for certain loans (including loan
participations and assignments) may impair the ability of the Fund to realize
full value in the event of the need to sell a loan and may make it difficult to
value such loans. Portfolio transactions in loans may settle in as short as
seven days but typically can take up to two or three weeks, and in some cases
much longer. As a result of these extended settlement periods, the Fund may
incur losses if it is required to sell other investments or temporarily borrow
to meet its cash needs, including satisfying redemption requests. The risks
associated with unsecured loans, which are not backed by a security interest in
any specific collateral, are higher than those for comparable loans that are
secured by specific collateral. For secured loans, there is a risk that the
value of any collateral securing a loan in which the Fund has an interest may
decline and that the collateral may not be sufficient to cover the amount owed
on the loan. Interests in loans made to finance highly leveraged companies or
transactions such as corporate acquisitions may be especially vulnerable to
adverse changes in economic or market conditions. Loans may have restrictive
covenants limiting the ability of a borrower to further encumber its assets.
However, in periods of high demand by lenders like the Fund for loan
investments, borrowers may limit these covenants and weaken a lender’s ability
to access collateral securing the loan; reprice the credit risk associated with
the borrower; and mitigate potential loss. The Fund may experience relatively
greater realized or unrealized losses or delays and expenses in enforcing its
rights with respect to loans with fewer restrictive covenants. Additionally,
loans may not be considered “securities” and, as a result, the Fund may not be
entitled to rely on the anti-fraud or other protections of the securities laws.
Because junior loans have a lower place in an issuer’s capital structure and may
be unsecured, junior loans involve a higher degree of overall risk than senior
loans of the issuer. The Fund’s investments in floating rate loans that pay
interest based on the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) may experience
increased volatility and/or illiquidity during the transition away from LIBOR,
which was phased out.
Market
Risk—The
market value of the Fund’s investments may go up or down, sometimes rapidly or
unpredictably and for short or extended periods of time, due to the particular
circumstances of individual issuers or due to general conditions impacting
issuers more broadly. Global economies and financial markets have become highly
interconnected, and thus economic, market or political conditions or events in
one country or region might adversely impact the value of the Fund’s investments
whether or not the Fund invests in such country or region. Events such as war,
terrorism, natural and environmental disasters and the spread of infectious
illnesses or other public health emergencies may have a severe negative impact
on the global economy, could cause financial markets to experience extreme
volatility and losses, and could result in the disruption of trading and the
reduction of liquidity in many instruments. Additionally, as inflation
increases, the value of the Fund’s assets can decline.
Market
Liquidity Risk—Reductions
in trading activity or dealer inventories of securities such as bonds and
preferred securities, which provide an indication of the ability of financial
intermediaries to “make markets” in those securities, have the potential to
decrease liquidity and increase price volatility in the markets in which the
Fund invests, particularly during periods of economic or market stress. In
addition, federal banking regulations may cause certain dealers to reduce their
inventories of securities, which may further decrease the Fund’s ability to buy
or sell securities. As a result of this decreased liquidity, the Fund may have
to accept a lower price to sell a security, sell other securities to raise cash,
or give up an investment opportunity, any of which could have a negative effect
on performance. If the Fund needed to sell large
| |
|
|
22 |
Section
1
Fund Summaries |
blocks
of securities to meet shareholder redemption requests or to raise cash, those
sales could further reduce the securities’ prices and hurt performance.
Money
Market Fund Risk—An
investment in a money market fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or
guaranteed by any bank, the FDIC or any other government agency. It is possible
for the Fund to lose money by investing in money market funds. If the liquidity
of a money market fund’s portfolio deteriorates below certain levels, the money
market fund may suspend redemptions or impose a fee of up to 2% on amounts the
Fund redeems from the money market fund. These measures may result in an
investment loss or prohibit the Fund from redeeming shares. Additionally, the
Fund indirectly bears the fees and expenses of any money market funds in which
it invests.
Restricted
Securities Risk—The
market for restricted securities, including Rule 144A securities, typically is
less active than the market for publicly traded securities. Rule 144A securities
and other securities exempt from registration under the Securities Act carry the
risk that their liquidity may become impaired and the Fund may be unable to
dispose of the securities promptly or at current market value.
Unrated
Security Risk—Unrated
securities determined by the Fund’s sub-adviser to be of comparable quality to
rated securities which the Fund may purchase may pay a higher interest rate than
such rated securities and be subject to a greater risk of illiquidity or price
changes. Less public information is typically available about unrated securities
or issuers than rated securities or issuers.
U.S.
Government Securities Risk—U.S.
government securities are guaranteed only as to the timely payment of interest
and the payment of principal when held to maturity. Accordingly, the current
market values for these securities will fluctuate with changes in interest
rates. Securities issued or guaranteed by U.S. government agencies and
instrumentalities are supported by varying degrees of credit but generally are
not backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government or may be subject
to certain limitations. No assurance can be given that the U.S. government will
provide financial support to its agencies and instrumentalities if it is not
obligated by law to do so, which may increase the risk of loss to the
Fund.
Valuation
Risk—The
sales price the Fund could receive for any particular security may differ from
the Fund’s valuation of the investment, particularly for securities that trade
in thin or volatile markets or that are valued using a fair value methodology.
The debt securities in which the Fund invests typically are valued by a pricing
service utilizing a range of market-based inputs and assumptions, including
price quotations obtained from broker-dealers making markets in such
instruments, cash flows and transactions for comparable instruments. There is no
assurance that the Fund will be able to buy or sell a portfolio security at the
price established by the pricing service, which could result in a gain or loss
to the Fund. Pricing services generally price debt securities assuming orderly
transactions of an institutional “round lot” size, but some trades may occur in
smaller, “odd lot” sizes, often at lower prices than institutional round lot
trades. Over certain time periods, such differences could materially impact the
performance of the Fund, which may not be sustainable. Alternative pricing
services may incorporate different assumptions and inputs into their valuation
methodologies, potentially resulting in different values for the same
securities. As a result, if the Fund were to change pricing services, or if the
Fund’s pricing service were to change its valuation methodology, there could be
a material impact, either positive or negative, on the Fund’s net asset
value.
Fund
Performance
The
following bar chart and table provide some indication of the potential risks of
investing in the Fund. The Fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) is
not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future.
Updated performance information is available at www.nuveen.com/performance or by
calling (800) 257-8787.
| |
|
|
Section
1
Fund Summaries |
23 |
The
bar chart below shows the variability of the Fund’s performance from year to
year for Class A shares. The bar chart and highest/lowest quarterly returns that
follow do not reflect sales charges, and if these charges were reflected, the
returns would be less than those shown.
| |
|
Class
A Annual Total Return* |
*Class
A year-to-date total return as of September 30, 2023 was 7.68%. The
performance of the other share classes will differ due to their different
expense structures.
During
the ten-year period ended December 31, 2022, the Fund’s highest and lowest
quarterly returns were 6.79%
and
-12.30%, respectively, for the quarters ended June 30, 2020 and March 31,
2020.
The
table below shows the variability of the Fund’s average annual returns and how
they compare over the time periods indicated with those of a broad measure of
market performance and an index of funds with similar investment objectives. All
after-tax returns are calculated using the historical highest individual federal
marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local
taxes. After-tax returns are shown for Class A shares only; after-tax returns
for other share classes will vary. Your own actual after-tax returns will depend
on your specific tax situation and may differ from what is shown here. After-tax
returns are not relevant to investors who hold Fund shares in tax-deferred
accounts such as IRAs or employer-sponsored retirement plans.
Both
the bar chart and the table assume that all distributions have been reinvested.
Performance reflects fee waivers, if any, in effect during the periods
presented. If any such waivers had not been in place, returns would have been
reduced.
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Average
Annual Total Returns |
|
|
|
|
|
|
for
the Periods Ended |
|
|
|
|
|
|
December
31, 2022 |
|
|
|
Inception
Date |
1
Year |
5
Years |
10
Years |
Since
Inception
(Class
R6) |
|
Class
A (return before taxes) |
|
5/2/11 |
|
|
(4.78 |
)% |
|
2.10 |
% |
|
3.04 |
% |
|
N/A |
|
|
Class
A (return after taxes on distributions) |
|
|
|
|
(6.64 |
)% |
|
0.19 |
% |
|
1.06 |
% |
|
N/A |
|
|
Class
A (return after taxes on distributions and sale of Fund shares) |
|
|
|
|
(2.84 |
)% |
|
0.79 |
% |
|
1.43 |
% |
|
N/A |
|
|
Class
C (return before taxes) |
|
5/2/11 |
|
|
(2.58 |
)% |
|
1.97 |
% |
|
2.73 |
% |
|
N/A |
|
|
Class
R6 (return before taxes) |
|
1/28/15 |
|
|
(1.54 |
)% |
|
3.09 |
% |
|
N/A |
|
|
3.36
|
% |
|
Class
I (return before taxes) |
|
5/2/11 |
|
|
(1.63 |
)% |
|
2.99 |
% |
|
3.62 |
% |
|
N/A |
|
|
Credit
Suisse Leveraged Loan Index1 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
(reflects
no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes) |
|
|
|
|
(1.06 |
)% |
|
3.24 |
% |
|
3.78 |
% |
|
3.71 |
% |
|
Lipper
Loan Participation Funds Category Average2 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
(reflects
no deduction for taxes or sales loads) |
|
|
|
|
(2.51 |
)% |
|
1.95 |
% |
|
2.64 |
% |
|
2.64 |
% |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1 |
An
index designed to measure the performance of the USD-denominated leveraged
loan market. The index includes issuers from developed countries; issuers
from developing countries are excluded. |
|
2 |
Represents
the average annualized total return for all reporting funds in the Lipper
Loan Participation Funds Category. |
| |
|
|
24 |
Section
1
Fund Summaries |
Management
Investment
Adviser
Nuveen
Fund Advisors, LLC
Sub-Adviser
Nuveen
Asset Management, LLC
Portfolio
Managers
| |
|
|
|
Name |
Title |
Portfolio
Manager of Fund Since |
|
|
Scott
Caraher |
Senior
Managing Director |
May
2011 |
|
Kevin
R. Lorenz, CFA |
Senior
Managing Director |
August
2020 |
|
Purchase
and Sale of Fund Shares
You
may purchase, redeem or exchange shares of the Fund on any business day through
a financial advisor or other financial intermediary. The Fund’s initial and
subsequent investment minimums generally are as follows, although certain
financial intermediaries may impose their own investment minimums and the Fund
may reduce or waive the minimums in some cases:
| |
|
|
|
| |
Class
A and Class C |
Class
R6 |
Class
I |
|
Eligibility
and Minimum Initial Investment |
$3,000
for all accounts except:
• $2,500
for Traditional/
Roth
IRA accounts.
• $2,000
for Coverdell
Education
Savings
Accounts.
• $250
for accounts opened through fee-based programs.
• No
minimum for retirement plans. |
Available
only to certain qualified retirement plans and other investors as
described in the prospectus and through fee-based programs.
$1
million for all accounts except:
• $100,000
for clients of financial intermediaries who charge such clients an ongoing
fee for advisory, investment, consulting or related services.
• No
minimum for certain qualified retirement plans and certain other
categories of eligible investors as described in the
prospectus. |
Available
only through fee-based programs and certain retirement plans, and to other
limited categories of investors as described in the prospectus.
$100,000
for all accounts except:
• $250
for clients of financial intermediaries and family offices that have
accounts holding Class I shares with an aggregate value of at least
$100,000 (or that are expected to reach this level).
• No
minimum for eligible retirement plans and certain other categories of
eligible investors as described in the prospectus. |
|
Minimum
Additional
Investment |
$100 |
No
minimum. |
No
minimum. |
Tax
Information
The
Fund’s distributions are taxable and will generally be taxed as ordinary income
or capital gains, unless you are investing through a tax-deferred account, such
as an IRA or 401(k) plan (in which case you may be taxed upon withdrawal of your
investment from such account).
Payments
to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
If
you purchase shares of the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial
intermediary (such as a bank or financial advisor), the Fund, its distributor or
its investment adviser may pay the intermediary for the sale of Fund shares and
related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by
influencing the broker-dealer or other financial intermediary and your
salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your financial
advisor or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more
information.
| |
|
|
Section
1
Fund Summaries |
25 |
Nuveen
High Yield Income Fund
Investment
Objective
The
investment objective of the Fund is to seek current income and capital
appreciation.
Fees
and Expenses of the Fund
The
following tables describe the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy,
hold and sell shares of the Fund. You may qualify for sales charge discounts if
you and your family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $50,000
in the Fund or in other Nuveen Mutual Funds. More information about these and
other discounts, as well as eligibility requirements for each share class, is
available from your financial advisor and in “How You Can Buy and Sell Shares”
on page 82 of the Fund’s prospectus and “Purchase and Redemption of Fund Shares”
on page S-62 of the Fund’s statement of additional information. In addition,
more information about sales charge discounts and waivers for purchases of
shares through specific financial intermediaries is set forth in the appendix to
the Fund’s prospectus entitled “Variations in Sales Charge Reductions and
Waivers Available Through Certain Intermediaries.”
The
tables and examples below do not reflect any commissions that shareholders may
be required to pay directly to their financial intermediaries when buying or
selling Class I shares.
Shareholder
Fees
(fees
paid directly from your investment)
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Class
A |
|
Class
C |
|
Class
R6 |
|
Class
I |
|
|
Maximum
Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Purchases
(as
a percentage of offering price) |
4.75% |
|
None |
|
None |
|
None |
|
|
Maximum
Deferred Sales Charge (Load)
(as
a percentage of the lesser of purchase price or redemption
proceeds)1 |
None |
|
1.00% |
|
None |
|
None |
|
|
Maximum
Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Reinvested Dividends |
None |
|
None |
|
None |
|
None |
|
|
Exchange
Fee |
None |
|
None |
|
None |
|
None |
|
|
Annual
Low Balance Account Fee (for accounts under $1,000)2 |
$15 |
|
$15 |
|
None |
|
$15 |
|
Annual
Fund Operating Expenses
(expenses
that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Class
A |
|
Class
C |
|
Class
R6 |
|
Class
I |
|
|
Management
Fees |
|
0.59 |
% |
|
0.59 |
% |
|
0.59 |
% |
|
0.59 |
% |
|
Distribution
and/or Service (12b-1) Fees |
|
0.25 |
% |
|
1.00 |
% |
|
0.00 |
% |
|
0.00 |
% |
|
Other
Expenses |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Interest
and Related Expenses3 |
|
0.01 |
% |
|
0.01 |
% |
|
0.01 |
% |
|
0.01 |
% |
|
Remainder
of Other Expenses |
|
0.22 |
% |
|
0.22 |
% |
|
0.08 |
% |
|
0.22 |
% |
|
Acquired
Fund Fees and Expenses |
|
0.02 |
% |
|
0.02 |
% |
|
0.02 |
% |
|
0.02 |
% |
|
Total
Annual Fund Operating Expenses |
|
1.09 |
% |
|
1.84 |
% |
|
0.70 |
% |
|
0.84 |
% |
|
Fee
Waivers and/or Expense Reimbursements4 |
|
(0.07 |
)% |
|
(0.07 |
)% |
|
(0.07 |
)% |
|
(0.07 |
)% |
|
Total
Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waivers and/or Expense
Reimbursements |
|
1.02 |
% |
|
1.77 |
% |
|
0.63 |
% |
|
0.77 |
% |
1 The
contingent deferred sales charge on Class C shares applies only to redemptions
within 12 months of purchase.
2 Fee
applies to the following types of accounts under $1,000 held directly with the
Fund: individual retirement accounts (IRAs), Coverdell Education Savings
Accounts and accounts established pursuant to the Uniform Transfers to Minors
Act (UTMA) or Uniform Gifts to Minors Act (UGMA).
3 Includes
interest expense and fees paid on Fund borrowings.
4 The
Fund’s investment adviser has agreed to waive fees and/or reimburse expenses so
that the total annual operating expenses of the Fund (excluding 12b-1
distribution and/or service fees, interest expenses, taxes, acquired fund fees
and expenses, fees incurred in acquiring and disposing of portfolio securities
and extraordinary expenses) do not exceed 0.79% through July 31, 2025 or 1.35%
after July 31, 2025 of the average daily net assets of any class of Fund shares.
However, because Class R6 shares are not subject to sub-transfer agent and
similar fees, the total annual operating expenses for the Class R6 shares will
be less than the expense limitation. The expense limitation expiring July 31,
2025 may be terminated or modified prior to that date only with the approval of
the Board of Trustees of the Fund. The expense limitation in effect thereafter
may be terminated or modified only with the approval of shareholders of the
Fund.
Example
The
following example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the
Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The example assumes that
you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then either
redeem or do not redeem your shares at the end of a period. The example also
assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund’s
operating expenses are at the lesser of Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses or
| |
|
|
26 |
Section
1
Fund Summaries |
the
applicable expense limitation. Although your actual costs may be higher or
lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Class
A |
|
Class
C |
|
Class
R6 |
|
Class
I |
|
|
1
Year |
$ |
574 |
|
$ |
180 |
|
$ |
64 |
|
$ |
79 |
|
|
3
Years |
$ |
795 |
|
$ |
568 |
|
$ |
213 |
|
$ |
257 |
|
|
5
Years |
$ |
1,037 |
|
$ |
985 |
|
$ |
379 |
|
$ |
455 |
|
|
10
Years |
$ |
1,731 |
|
$ |
2,149 |
|
$ |
860 |
|
$ |
1,027 |
|
Portfolio
Turnover
The
Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells
securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may
indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund
shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in
annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance.
During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 135%
of the average value of its portfolio.
Principal
Investment Strategies
Under
normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of the sum of its net assets
and the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes in debt instruments
(e.g., bonds and loans) rated below investment grade or, if unrated, deemed by
the Fund’s portfolio managers to be of comparable quality. Below
investment-grade securities are commonly referred to as “high yield” securities
or “junk” bonds. The Fund may invest up to 30% of its net assets in loans. The
Fund invests both in debt issued by U.S. companies and in U.S.
dollar-denominated debt issued by non-U.S. companies that is traded
over-the-counter or listed on an exchange.
The
Fund may invest in securities that have not been registered under the Securities
Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities
Act”)
(“restricted
securities”),
including securities sold in private placement transactions between issuers and
their purchasers and securities that meet the requirements of Rule 144A under
the Securities Act (“Rule
144A securities”).
Rule 144A securities may be resold under certain circumstances only to qualified
institutional buyers as defined by the rule.
The
Fund may utilize the following derivatives: options; futures contracts; options
on futures contracts; swap agreements, including interest rate swaps, total
return swaps, and credit default swaps; and options on swap agreements. The Fund
may use these derivatives in an attempt to manage market risk, credit risk and
yield curve risk, to manage the effective maturity or duration of securities in
the Fund’s portfolio or for speculative purposes in an effort to increase the
Fund’s yield or to enhance returns. The use of a derivative is speculative if
the Fund is primarily seeking to enhance returns, rather than offset the risk of
other positions.
The
Fund’s sub-adviser bases its investment process on fundamental, bottom-up credit
analysis. Analysts assess sector dynamics, company business models and asset
quality. Specific recommendations are based on an analysis of the relative value
of the various types of debt within a company’s capital structure. Inherent in
the sub-adviser’s credit analysis process is the evaluation of potential upside
and downside to any credit. As such, the sub-adviser concentrates its efforts on
sectors where there is sufficient transparency to assess the downside risk and
where firms have assets to support meaningful recovery in case of default. In
its focus on downside protection, the sub-adviser favors opportunities where
valuations can be quantified and risks assessed.
Principal
Risks
The
value of your investment in this Fund will change daily. You could lose money by
investing in the Fund. An investment in the Fund is not a deposit of a bank and
is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any
other government agency. The principal risks of investing in the Fund listed
below are presented alphabetically to facilitate your ability to find particular
risks and compare them with the risks of other funds. The significance of any
specific risk to an investment in the Fund will vary over time depending on the
composition of the Fund’s portfolio, market conditions and other factors. Each
risk summarized below is considered a "principal risk" of investing in the Fund,
regardless of the order in which it appears.
Active
Management Risk—The
Fund’s sub-adviser actively manages the Fund’s investments. Consequently, the
Fund is subject to the risk that the investment techniques and risk analyses
employed by the Fund’s sub-adviser may not produce the desired results. This
could cause the Fund to lose value or its investment results to lag relevant
benchmarks or other funds with similar objectives.
| |
|
|
Section
1
Fund Summaries |
27 |
Call
Risk—If,
during periods of falling interest rates, an issuer exercises its right to
prepay principal on its higher-yielding debt securities held by the Fund, the
Fund may have to reinvest in securities with lower yields or higher risk of
default, which may adversely impact the Fund’s performance.
Credit
Risk—Credit
risk is the risk that an issuer or other obligated party of a debt security may
be, or perceived (whether by market participants, rating agencies, pricing
services or otherwise) to be, unable or unwilling to make interest and principal
payments when due and the related risk that the value of a debt security may
decline because of concerns about the issuer’s ability or willingness to make
such payments. Because the Fund invests at least 80% of the value of its assets
in high yield securities, the Fund’s credit risks are greater than those of
funds that buy only investment grade securities.
Credit
Spread Risk—Credit
spread risk is the risk that credit spreads (i.e., the difference in yield
between securities that is due to differences in their credit quality) may
increase when the market believes that bonds generally have a greater risk of
default. Increasing credit spreads may reduce the market values of the Fund’s
debt securities. Credit spreads often increase more for lower rated and unrated
securities than for investment grade securities. In addition, when credit
spreads increase, reductions in market value will generally be greater for
longer-maturity securities.
Currency
Risk—Even
though the non-U.S. securities held by the Fund are traded in U.S. dollars,
their prices are typically indirectly influenced by currency fluctuations.
Changes in currency exchange rates may affect the Fund’s net asset value,
interest earned, gains or losses realized on the sale of securities, and
derivative transactions tied to such securities.
Cybersecurity
Risk—Cybersecurity
risk is the risk of an unauthorized breach and access to Fund assets, customer
data (including private shareholder information), or proprietary information, or
the risk of an incident occurring that causes the Fund, its investment adviser
or sub-adviser, custodian, transfer agent, distributor or other service
provider, a financial intermediary or the issuers of securities held by the Fund
to suffer a data breach, data corruption or lose operational functionality.
Successful cyber-attacks or other cyber-failures or events affecting the Fund,
its service providers or the issuers of securities held by the Fund may
adversely impact the Fund or its shareholders. Additionally, a cybersecurity
breach could affect the issuers in which the Fund invests, which may cause the
Fund’s investments to lose value.
Derivatives
Risk—The
use of derivatives involves additional risks and transaction costs which could
leave the Fund in a worse position than if it had not used these instruments.
Derivative instruments can be used to acquire or to transfer the risk and
returns of a security or other asset without buying or selling the security or
asset, and the risks associated with investing in such derivatives may be
different and greater than the risks associated with directly investing in the
underlying securities and other instruments, including leverage risk, market
risk, counterparty risk, liquidity risk, operational risk and legal risk. These
instruments may entail investment exposures that are greater than their cost
would suggest. As a result, a small investment in derivatives can result in
losses that greatly exceed the original investment. Derivatives can be highly
volatile, illiquid and difficult to value. An over-the-counter derivative
transaction between the Fund and a counterparty that is not cleared through a
central counterparty also involves the risk that a loss may be sustained as a
result of the failure of the counterparty to the contract to make required
payments. The payment obligation for a cleared derivative transaction is
guaranteed by a central counterparty, which exposes the Fund to the
creditworthiness of the central counterparty.
Foreign
Investment Risk—Non-U.S.
issuers or U.S. issuers with significant non-U.S. operations may be subject to
risks in addition to those of issuers located in or that principally operate in
the United States as a result of, among other things, political, social and
economic developments abroad, as well as armed conflicts and different legal,
regulatory and tax environments. Foreign investments may also have lower
liquidity and be more difficult to value than investments in U.S. issuers. To
the extent the Fund invests a significant portion of its assets in the
securities of companies in a single country or region, it may be more
susceptible to adverse conditions affecting that country or region. Foreign
investments may also be subject to risk of loss because of more or less foreign
government regulation, less public information, less stringent investor
protections and less stringent accounting, corporate governance, financial
reporting and disclosure standards.
Frequent
Trading Risk—The
Fund's portfolio turnover rate may exceed 100%. Frequent trading of portfolio
securities may produce capital gains, which are taxable to shareholders when
distributed. Frequent trading may also increase the amount of commissions or
mark-ups to broker-dealers that the Fund pays when it buys and sells securities,
which may detract from the Fund’s performance.
High
Yield Securities Risk—High
yield securities, which are rated below investment grade and commonly referred
to as “junk” bonds, and unrated securities of comparable quality are high risk
investments that may cause income and principal losses for the Fund. They
generally are considered to be speculative with respect to the ability to pay
interest and repay principal, have greater credit risk, are less liquid, are
more likely to experience a default and have more volatile prices than
investment grade securities.
| |
|
|
28 |
Section
1
Fund Summaries |
Income
Risk—The
Fund's income could decline during periods of falling interest rates or when the
Fund experiences defaults on debt securities it holds.
Interest
Rate Risk—Interest
rate risk is the risk that the value of the Fund’s fixed-rate securities will
decline because of rising interest rates. Changing interest rates may have
unpredictable effects on markets, result in heightened market volatility and
detract from the Fund’s performance to the extent that it is exposed to such
interest rates. Fixed-rate securities may be subject to a greater risk of rising
interest rates than would normally be the case due to the effect of potential
government fiscal policy initiatives and resulting market reaction to those
initiatives. Higher periods of inflation could lead to government fiscal
policies which raise interest rates. When interest rates change, the values of
longer-duration fixed-rate securities usually change more than the values of
shorter-duration fixed-rate securities. Conversely, fixed-rate securities with
shorter durations or maturities will be less volatile but may provide lower
returns than fixed-rate securities with longer durations or maturities. Rising
interest rates also may lengthen the duration of securities with call features,
since exercise of the call becomes less likely as interest rates rise, which in
turn will make the securities more sensitive to changes in interest rates and
result in even steeper price declines in the event of further interest rate
increases. The Fund is also subject to the risk that the income generated by its
investments may not keep pace with inflation.
Loan
Risk—The
lack of an active trading market for certain loans (including loan
participations and assignments) may impair the ability of the Fund to realize
full value in the event of the need to sell a loan and may make it difficult to
value such loans. Portfolio transactions in loans may settle in as short as
seven days but typically can take up to two or three weeks, and in some cases
much longer. As a result of these extended settlement periods, the Fund may
incur losses if it is required to sell other investments or temporarily borrow
to meet its cash needs, including satisfying redemption requests. The risks
associated with unsecured loans, which are not backed by a security interest in
any specific collateral, are higher than those for comparable loans that are
secured by specific collateral. For secured loans, there is a risk that the
value of any collateral securing a loan in which the Fund has an interest may
decline and that the collateral may not be sufficient to cover the amount owed
on the loan. Interests in loans made to finance highly leveraged companies or
transactions such as corporate acquisitions may be especially vulnerable to
adverse changes in economic or market conditions. Loans may have restrictive
covenants limiting the ability of a borrower to further encumber its assets.
However, in periods of high demand by lenders like the Fund for loan
investments, borrowers may limit these covenants and weaken a lender’s ability
to access collateral securing the loan; reprice the credit risk associated with
the borrower; and mitigate potential loss. The Fund may experience relatively
greater realized or unrealized losses or delays and expenses in enforcing its
rights with respect to loans with fewer restrictive covenants. Additionally,
loans may not be considered “securities” and, as a result, the Fund may not be
entitled to rely on the anti-fraud or other protections of the securities laws.
Because junior loans have a lower place in an issuer’s capital structure and may
be unsecured, junior loans involve a higher degree of overall risk than senior
loans of the issuer. The Fund's investments in floating rate loans that pay
interest based on the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) may experience
increased volatility and/or illiquidity during the transition away from LIBOR,
which was phased out.
Market
Risk—The
market value of the Fund’s investments may go up or down, sometimes rapidly or
unpredictably and for short or extended periods of time, due to the particular
circumstances of individual issuers or due to general conditions impacting
issuers more broadly. Global economies and financial markets have become highly
interconnected, and thus economic, market or political conditions or events in
one country or region might adversely impact the value of the Fund’s investments
whether or not the Fund invests in such country or region. Events such as war,
terrorism, natural and environmental disasters and the spread of infectious
illnesses or other public health emergencies may have a severe negative impact
on the global economy, could cause financial markets to experience extreme
volatility and losses, and could result in the disruption of trading and the
reduction of liquidity in many instruments. Additionally, as inflation
increases, the value of the Fund’s assets can decline.
Market
Liquidity Risk—Reductions
in trading activity or dealer inventories of securities such as bonds and
preferred securities, which provide an indication of the ability of financial
intermediaries to “make markets” in those securities, have the potential to
decrease liquidity and increase price volatility in the markets in which the
Fund invests, particularly during periods of economic or market stress. In
addition, federal banking regulations may cause certain dealers to reduce their
inventories of securities, which may further decrease the Fund’s ability to buy
or sell securities. As a result of this decreased liquidity, the Fund may have
to accept a lower price to sell a security, sell other securities to raise cash,
or give up an investment opportunity, any of which could have a negative effect
on performance. If the Fund needed to sell large blocks of securities to meet
shareholder redemption requests or to raise cash, those sales could further
reduce the securities’ prices and hurt performance.
| |
|
|
Section
1
Fund Summaries |
29 |
Restricted
Securities Risk—The
market for restricted securities, including Rule 144A securities, typically is
less active than the market for publicly traded securities. Rule 144A securities
and other securities exempt from registration under the Securities Act carry the
risk that their liquidity may become impaired and the Fund may be unable to
dispose of the securities promptly or at current market value.
Unrated
Security Risk—Unrated
securities determined by the Fund’s sub-adviser to be of comparable quality to
rated securities which the Fund may purchase may pay a higher interest rate than
such rated securities and be subject to a greater risk of illiquidity or price
changes. Less public information is typically available about unrated securities
or issuers than rated securities or issuers.
Valuation
Risk—The
sales price the Fund could receive for any particular security may differ from
the Fund’s valuation of the investment, particularly for securities that trade
in thin or volatile markets or that are valued using a fair value methodology.
The debt securities in which the Fund invests typically are valued by a pricing
service utilizing a range of market-based inputs and assumptions, including
price quotations obtained from broker-dealers making markets in such
instruments, cash flows and transactions for comparable instruments. There is no
assurance that the Fund will be able to buy or sell a portfolio security at the
price established by the pricing service, which could result in a gain or loss
to the Fund. Pricing services generally price debt securities assuming orderly
transactions of an institutional “round lot” size, but some trades may occur in
smaller, “odd lot” sizes, often at lower prices than institutional round lot
trades. Over certain time periods, such differences could materially impact the
performance of the Fund, which may not be sustainable. Alternative pricing
services may incorporate different assumptions and inputs into their valuation
methodologies, potentially resulting in different values for the same
securities. As a result, if the Fund were to change pricing services, or if the
Fund’s pricing service were to change its valuation methodology, there could be
a material impact, either positive or negative, on the Fund’s net asset
value.
Fund
Performance
The
following bar chart and table provide some indication of the potential risks of
investing in the Fund. The Fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) is
not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future.
Updated performance information is available at www.nuveen.com/performance or by
calling (800) 257-8787.
The
bar chart below shows the variability of the Fund’s performance from year to
year for Class A shares. The bar chart and highest/lowest quarterly returns that
follow do not reflect sales charges, and if these charges were reflected, the
returns would be less than those shown.
| |
|
Class
A Annual Total Return* |
*Class
A year-to-date total return as of September 30, 2023 was 5.67%. The
performance of the other share classes will differ due to their different
expense structures.
During
the ten-year period ended December 31, 2022, the Fund’s highest and lowest
quarterly returns were 7.93%
and
-15.01%, respectively, for the quarters ended June 30, 2020 and March 31,
2020.
| |
|
|
30 |
Section
1
Fund Summaries |
The
table below shows the variability of the Fund’s average annual returns and how
they compare over the time periods indicated with those of a broad measure of
market performance and an index of funds with similar investment objectives. All
after-tax returns are calculated using the historical highest individual federal
marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local
taxes. After-tax returns are shown for Class A shares only; after-tax returns
for other share classes will vary. Your own actual after-tax returns will depend
on your specific tax situation and may differ from what is shown here. After-tax
returns are not relevant to investors who hold Fund shares in tax-deferred
accounts such as IRAs or employer-sponsored retirement plans.
Both
the bar chart and the table assume that all distributions have been reinvested.
Performance reflects fee waivers, if any, in effect during the periods
presented. If any such waivers had not been in place, returns would have been
reduced.
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Average
Annual Total Returns |
|
|
|
|
|
|
for
the Periods Ended |
|
|
|
|
|
|
December
31, 2022 |
|
|
|
Inception
Date |
1
Year |
5
Years |
10
Years |
Since
Inception
(Class
R6) |
|
Class
A (return before taxes) |
|
4/28/10 |
|
|
(14.75 |
)% |
|
0.65 |
% |
|
2.78 |
% |
|
N/A |
|
|
Class
A (return after taxes on distributions) |
|
|
|
|
(16.45 |
)% |
|
(1.51 |
)% |
|
0.24 |
% |
|
N/A |
|
|
Class
A (return after taxes on distributions and sale of Fund shares) |
|
|
|
|
(8.70 |
)% |
|
(0.38 |
)% |
|
0.99 |
% |
|
N/A |
|
|
Class
C (return before taxes) |
|
4/28/10 |
|
|
(11.20 |
)% |
|
0.87 |
% |
|
2.67 |
% |
|
N/A |
|
|
Class
R6 (return before taxes) |
|
10/1/14 |
|
|
(10.11 |
)% |
|
2.01 |
% |
|
N/A |
|
|
2.93
|
% |
|
Class
I (return before taxes) |
|
4/28/10 |
|
|
(10.25 |
)% |
|
1.89 |
% |
|
3.54 |
% |
|
N/A |
|
|
ICE
BofA U.S. High Yield Index1 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
(reflects
no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes) |
|
|
|
|
(11.22 |
)% |
|
2.12 |
% |
|
3.94 |
% |
|
3.43 |
% |
|
Lipper
High Yield Funds Category Average2 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
(reflects
no deduction for taxes or sales loads) |
|
|
|
|
(10.66 |
)% |
|
1.73 |
% |
|
3.23 |
% |
|
2.71 |
% |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1 |
An
index designed to measure the performance of USD-denominated below
investment grade corporate debt publicly issued in the U.S. domestic
market. |
|
2 |
Represents
the average annualized total return for all reporting funds in the Lipper
High Yield Funds Category. |
Management
Investment
Adviser
Nuveen
Fund Advisors, LLC
Sub-Adviser
Nuveen
Asset Management, LLC
Portfolio
Managers
| |
|
|
|
Name |
Title |
Portfolio
Manager of Fund Since |
|
|
Scott
Caraher |
Senior
Managing Director |
May
2019 |
|
|
Jean
C. Lin, CFA |
Managing
Director |
August
2020 |
|
|
Kristal
Y. Seales, CFA |
Managing
Director |
December
2023 |
| |
| |
|
|
Section
1
Fund Summaries |
31 |
Purchase
and Sale of Fund Shares
You
may purchase, redeem or exchange shares of the Fund on any business day through
a financial advisor or other financial intermediary. The Fund’s initial and
subsequent investment minimums generally are as follows, although certain
financial intermediaries may impose their own investment minimums and the Fund
may reduce or waive the minimums in some cases:
| |
|
|
|
| |
Class
A and Class C |
Class
R6 |
Class
I |
|
Eligibility
and Minimum Initial Investment |
$3,000
for all accounts except:
• $2,500
for Traditional/
Roth
IRA accounts.
• $2,000
for Coverdell
Education
Savings
Accounts.
• $250
for accounts opened through fee-based programs.
• No
minimum for retirement plans. |
Available
only to certain qualified retirement plans and other investors as
described in the prospectus and through fee-based programs.
$1
million for all accounts except:
• $100,000
for clients of financial intermediaries who charge such clients an ongoing
fee for advisory, investment, consulting or related services.
• No
minimum for certain qualified retirement plans and certain other
categories of eligible investors as described in the
prospectus. |
Available
only through fee-based programs and certain retirement plans, and to other
limited categories of investors as described in the prospectus.
$100,000
for all accounts except:
• $250
for clients of financial intermediaries and family offices that have
accounts holding Class I shares with an aggregate value of at least
$100,000 (or that are expected to reach this level).
• No
minimum for eligible retirement plans and certain other categories of
eligible investors as described in the prospectus. |
|
Minimum
Additional
Investment |
$100 |
No
minimum. |
No
minimum. |
Tax
Information
The
Fund’s distributions are taxable and will generally be taxed as ordinary income
or capital gains, unless you are investing through a tax-deferred account, such
as an IRA or 401(k) plan (in which case you may be taxed upon withdrawal of your
investment from such account).
Payments
to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
If
you purchase shares of the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial
intermediary (such as a bank or financial advisor), the Fund, its distributor or
its investment adviser may pay the intermediary for the sale of Fund shares and
related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by
influencing the broker-dealer or other financial intermediary and your
salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your financial
advisor or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more
information.
| |
|
|
32 |
Section
1
Fund Summaries |
Nuveen
Preferred Securities and Income Fund
Investment
Objective
The
Fund seeks to provide a high level of current income and total return.
Fees
and Expenses of the Fund
The
following tables describe the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy,
hold and sell shares of the Fund. You may qualify for sales charge discounts if
you and your family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $50,000
in the Fund or in other Nuveen Mutual Funds. More information about these and
other discounts, as well as eligibility requirements for each share class, is
available from your financial advisor and in “How You Can Buy and Sell Shares”
on page 82 of the Fund’s prospectus and “Purchase and Redemption of Fund Shares”
on page S-71 of the Fund’s statement of additional information. In addition,
more information about sales charge discounts and waivers for purchases of
shares through specific financial intermediaries is set forth in the appendix to
the Fund’s prospectus entitled “Variations in Sales Charge Reductions and
Waivers Available Through Certain Intermediaries.”
The
tables and examples below do not reflect any commissions that shareholders may
be required to pay directly to their financial intermediaries when buying or
selling Class I shares.
Shareholder
Fees
(fees
paid directly from your investment)
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Class
A |
|
Class
C |
|
Class
R6 |
|
Class
I |
|
|
Maximum
Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Purchases
(as
a percentage of offering price) |
4.75% |
|
None |
|
None |
|
None |
|
|
Maximum
Deferred Sales Charge (Load)
(as
a percentage of the lesser of purchase price or redemption
proceeds)1 |
None |
|
1.00% |
|
None |
|
None |
|
|
Maximum
Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Reinvested Dividends |
None |
|
None |
|
None |
|
None |
|
|
Exchange
Fee |
None |
|
None |
|
None |
|
None |
|
|
Annual
Low Balance Account Fee (for accounts under $1,000)2 |
$15 |
|
$15 |
|
None |
|
$15 |
|
Annual
Fund Operating Expenses
(expenses
that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Class
A |
|
Class
C |
|
Class
R6 |
|
Class
I |
|
|
Management
Fees |
|
0.65 |
% |
|
0.65 |
% |
|
0.65 |
% |
|
0.65 |
% |
|
Distribution
and/or Service (12b-1) Fees |
|
0.25 |
% |
|
1.00 |
% |
|
0.00 |
% |
|
0.00 |
% |
|
Other
Expenses |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Interest
and Related Expenses3 |
|
0.01 |
% |
|
0.01 |
% |
|
0.01 |
% |
|
0.01 |
% |
|
Remainder
of Other Expenses |
|
0.10 |
% |
|
0.10 |
% |
|
0.03 |
% |
|
0.10 |
% |
|
Total
Annual Fund Operating Expenses |
|
1.01 |
% |
|
1.76 |
% |
|
0.69 |
% |
|
0.76 |
% |
1 The
contingent deferred sales charge on Class C shares applies only to redemptions
within 12 months of purchase.
2 Fee
applies to the following types of accounts under $1,000 held directly with the
Fund: individual retirement accounts (IRAs), Coverdell Education Savings
Accounts and accounts established pursuant to the Uniform Transfers to Minors
Act (UTMA) or Uniform Gifts to Minors Act (UGMA).
3 Includes
interest expense and fees paid on Fund borrowings.
Example
The
following example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the
Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The example assumes that
you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then either
redeem or do not redeem your shares at the end of a period. The example also
assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund’s
operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or
lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Class
A |
|
Class
C |
|
Class
R6 |
|
Class
I |
|
|
1
Year |
$ |
573 |
|
$ |
179 |
|
$ |
70 |
|
$ |
78 |
|
|
3
Years |
$ |
781 |
|
$ |
554 |
|
$ |
221 |
|
$ |
243 |
|
|
5
Years |
$ |
1,006 |
|
$ |
954 |
|
$ |
384 |
|
$ |
422 |
|
|
10
Years |
$ |
1,653 |
|
$ |
2,073 |
|
$ |
859 |
|
$ |
942 |
|
| |
|
|
Section
1
Fund Summaries |
33 |
Portfolio
Turnover
The
Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells
securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may
indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund
shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in
annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance.
During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 22%
of the average value of its portfolio.
Principal
Investment Strategies
Under
normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of the sum of its net assets
and the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes in preferred securities
and other income producing securities. The Fund may invest in all types of
preferred securities, including both perpetual preferred securities and hybrid
securities. Perpetual preferred securities are generally equity securities of
the issuer that have priority over the issuer’s common shares as to the payment
of dividends (i.e.,
the issuer cannot pay dividends on its common shares until the dividends on the
preferred shares are current) and as to the payout of proceeds of a bankruptcy
or other liquidation, but are subordinate to an issuer’s senior debt and junior
debt as to both types of payments. Additionally, in a bankruptcy or other
liquidation, perpetual preferred securities are generally subordinate to an
issuer’s trade creditors and other general obligations. Perpetual preferred
securities typically have a fixed liquidation (or “par”) value.
The
term “preferred securities” also includes hybrid securities and other types of
preferred securities that do not have the features described above. Preferred
securities that are hybrid securities often behave similarly to investments in
perpetual preferred securities and are regarded by market investors as being
part of the preferred securities market. Such hybrid securities possess varying
combinations of features of both debt and perpetual preferred securities and as
such they may constitute senior debt, junior debt or preferred shares in an
issuer’s capital structure.
The
term “preferred securities” also includes certain forms of debt that are
regarded by the investment marketplace to be part of the broader preferred
securities market. Among these preferred securities are certain exchange-listed
debt issues that historically have several attributes, including trading and
investment performance characteristics, in common with exchange-listed perpetual
preferred securities and hybrid securities. Generally, these types of preferred
securities are senior debt in the capital structure of an issuer.
The
Fund may also invest in income producing securities that are not preferred
securities. These include contingent capital securities (sometimes referred to
as “CoCos”),
which are hybrid securities, issued primarily by non-U.S. financial
institutions, that have loss absorption mechanisms benefitting the issuer built
into their terms. These loss absorption mechanisms may include automatic
conversion into the issuer’s common stock or an automatic write down of the
security’s principal amount upon the occurrence of a specified trigger or event.
In addition, although the Fund will invest primarily in preferred securities and
CoCos, it may invest up to 20% of its net assets, in the aggregate, in corporate
debt securities, U.S. government securities (including securities issued or
guaranteed by U.S. government agencies and instrumentalities) and taxable
municipal securities.
The
Fund may also invest in preferred securities or CoCos that are convertible into
common stock.
The
Fund normally invests at least 50% of its net assets in securities rated
investment grade (BBB/Baa or higher) at the time of purchase by at least one
independent rating agency and unrated securities judged to be of comparable
quality by the Fund’s portfolio managers. The Fund may invest up to 50% of its
net assets in securities rated below investment grade (BB/Ba or lower) or
unrated securities judged to be of comparable quality by the Fund’s portfolio
managers at the time of purchase, which are commonly referred to as “high yield”
securities or “junk” bonds. The Fund may also invest in U.S. dollar-denominated
securities issued by non-U.S. companies.
The
Fund may invest in securities that have not been registered under the Securities
Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities
Act”)
(“restricted
securities”),
including securities sold in private placement transactions between issuers and
their purchasers and securities that meet the requirements of Rule 144A under
the Securities Act (“Rule
144A securities”).
Rule 144A securities may be resold under certain circumstances only to qualified
institutional buyers as defined by the rule.
The
Fund intends to invest at least 25% of its assets in the securities of companies
principally engaged in financial services.
The
Fund’s sub-adviser considers several factors in constructing the Fund’s
portfolio of preferred securities, including credit risk, diversification,
preferred sub-market analysis, call protection and yield curve analysis. From
this analysis, the
| |
|
|
34 |
Section
1
Fund Summaries |
Fund’s
sub-adviser builds a portfolio of securities that it believes offers the most
attractive mix of value relative to securities with similar credit ratings,
current income and call protection.
Principal
Risks
The
value of your investment in this Fund will change daily. You could lose money by
investing in the Fund. An investment in the Fund is not a deposit of a bank and
is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any
other government agency. The principal risks of investing in the Fund listed
below are presented alphabetically to facilitate your ability to find particular
risks and compare them with the risks of other funds. The significance of any
specific risk to an investment in the Fund will vary over time depending on the
composition of the Fund’s portfolio, market conditions and other factors. Each
risk summarized below is considered a "principal risk" of investing in the Fund,
regardless of the order in which it appears.
Active
Management Risk—The
Fund’s sub-adviser actively manages the Fund’s investments. Consequently, the
Fund is subject to the risk that the investment techniques and risk analyses
employed by the Fund’s sub-adviser may not produce the desired results. This
could cause the Fund to lose value or its investment results to lag relevant
benchmarks or other funds with similar objectives.
Call
Risk—If,
during periods of falling interest rates, an issuer exercises its right to
prepay principal on its higher-yielding debt securities held by the Fund, the
Fund may have to reinvest in securities with lower yields or higher risk of
default, which may adversely impact the Fund’s performance.
Contingent
Capital Security Risk—CoCos
have loss absorption mechanisms benefitting the issuer built into their terms.
Upon the occurrence of a specified trigger or event, CoCos may be subject to
automatic conversion into the issuer’s common stock, which likely will have
declined in value and which will be subordinate to the issuer’s other classes of
securities, or to an automatic write-down of the principal amount of the
securities, potentially to zero, which could result in the Fund losing a portion
or all of its investment in such securities. CoCos are often rated below
investment grade and are subject to the risks of high yield
securities.
Convertible
Security Risk—Convertible
securities are subject to certain risks of both equity and debt securities. The
value of convertible securities may decline in response to such factors as
rising interest rates and fluctuations in the market price of the common stock
underlying the convertible securities.
Credit
Risk—Credit
risk is the risk that an issuer or other obligated party of a security may be,
or perceived (whether by market participants, rating agencies, pricing services
or otherwise) to be, unable or unwilling to make dividend, interest and
principal payments when due and the related risk that the value of a security
may decline because of concerns about the issuer’s ability or willingness to
make such payments.
Credit
Spread Risk—Credit
spread risk is the risk that credit spreads (i.e., the difference in yield
between securities that is due to differences in their credit quality) may
increase when the market believes that bonds generally have a greater risk of
default. Increasing credit spreads may reduce the market values of the Fund’s
debt securities. Credit spreads often increase more for lower rated and unrated
securities than for investment grade securities. In addition, when credit
spreads increase, reductions in market value will generally be greater for
longer-maturity securities.
Currency
Risk—Even
though the non-U.S. securities held by the Fund are traded in U.S. dollars,
their prices are typically indirectly influenced by currency fluctuations.
Changes in currency exchange rates may affect the Fund’s net asset value, the
value of dividends and interest earned, and gains or losses realized on the sale
of securities.
Cybersecurity
Risk—Cybersecurity
risk is the risk of an unauthorized breach and access to Fund assets, customer
data (including private shareholder information), or proprietary information, or
the risk of an incident occurring that causes the Fund, its investment adviser
or sub-adviser, custodian, transfer agent, distributor or other service
provider, a financial intermediary or the issuers of securities held by the Fund
to suffer a data breach, data corruption or lose operational functionality.
Successful cyber-attacks or other cyber-failures or events affecting the Fund,
its service providers or the issuers of securities held by the Fund may
adversely impact the Fund or its shareholders. Additionally, a cybersecurity
breach could affect the issuers in which the Fund invests, which may cause the
Fund’s investments to lose value.
Financial
Services Sector Risk—The
Fund's policy to concentrate in financial services companies makes the Fund more
susceptible to adverse economic or regulatory occurrences affecting the
financial services sector. Financial services companies are particularly
sensitive to the adverse effects of economic recession; changes in government
regulation; the availability of capital; volatile interest rates; and the health
of the commercial and residential real estate markets.
| |
|
|
Section
1
Fund Summaries |
35 |
Foreign
Investment Risk—Non-U.S.
issuers or U.S. issuers with significant non-U.S. operations may be subject to
risks in addition to those of issuers located in or that principally operate in
the United States as a result of, among other things, political, social and
economic developments abroad, as well as armed conflicts and different legal,
regulatory and tax environments. Foreign investments may also have lower
liquidity and be more difficult to value than investments in U.S. issuers. To
the extent the Fund invests a significant portion of its assets in the
securities of companies in a single country or region, it may be more
susceptible to adverse conditions affecting that country or region. Foreign
investments may also be subject to risk of loss because of more or less foreign
government regulation, less public information, less stringent investor
protections and less stringent accounting, corporate governance, financial
reporting and disclosure standards.
High
Yield Securities Risk—High
yield securities, which are rated below investment grade and commonly referred
to as “junk” bonds, and unrated securities of comparable quality are high risk
investments that may cause income and principal losses for the Fund. They
generally are considered to be speculative with respect to the ability to pay
interest and repay principal, have greater credit risk, are less liquid, are
more likely to experience a default and have more volatile prices than
investment grade securities.
Income
Risk—The
Fund's income could decline during periods of falling interest rates or when the
Fund experiences defaults on debt securities or defaults or deferrals on
preferred securities it holds.
Interest
Rate Risk—Interest
rate risk is the risk that the value of the Fund’s fixed-rate securities will
decline because of rising interest rates. Changing interest rates may have
unpredictable effects on markets, result in heightened market volatility and
detract from the Fund’s performance to the extent that it is exposed to such
interest rates. Fixed-rate securities may be subject to a greater risk of rising
interest rates than would normally be the case due to the effect of potential
government fiscal policy initiatives and resulting market reaction to those
initiatives. Higher periods of inflation could lead to government fiscal
policies which raise interest rates. When interest rates change, the values of
longer-duration fixed-rate securities usually change more than the values of
shorter-duration fixed-rate securities. Conversely, fixed-rate securities with
shorter durations or maturities will be less volatile but may provide lower
returns than fixed-rate securities with longer durations or maturities. Rising
interest rates also may lengthen the duration of securities with call features,
since exercise of the call becomes less likely as interest rates rise, which in
turn will make the securities more sensitive to changes in interest rates and
result in even steeper price declines in the event of further interest rate
increases. The Fund is also subject to the risk that the income generated by its
investments may not keep pace with inflation.
Market
Risk—The
market value of the Fund’s investments may go up or down, sometimes rapidly or
unpredictably and for short or extended periods of time, due to the particular
circumstances of individual issuers or due to general conditions impacting
issuers more broadly. Global economies and financial markets have become highly
interconnected, and thus economic, market or political conditions or events in
one country or region might adversely impact the value of the Fund’s investments
whether or not the Fund invests in such country or region. Events such as war,
terrorism, natural and environmental disasters and the spread of infectious
illnesses or other public health emergencies may have a severe negative impact
on the global economy, could cause financial markets to experience extreme
volatility and losses, and could result in the disruption of trading and the
reduction of liquidity in many instruments. Additionally, as inflation
increases, the value of the Fund’s assets can decline.
Market
Liquidity Risk—Reductions
in trading activity or dealer inventories of securities such as bonds and
preferred securities, which provide an indication of the ability of financial
intermediaries to “make markets” in those securities, have the potential to
decrease liquidity and increase price volatility in the markets in which the
Fund invests, particularly during periods of economic or market stress. In
addition, federal banking regulations may cause certain dealers to reduce their
inventories of securities, which may further decrease the Fund’s ability to buy
or sell securities. As a result of this decreased liquidity, the Fund may have
to accept a lower price to sell a security, sell other securities to raise cash,
or give up an investment opportunity, any of which could have a negative effect
on performance. If the Fund needed to sell large blocks of securities to meet
shareholder redemption requests or to raise cash, those sales could further
reduce the securities’ prices and hurt performance.
Municipal
Securities Risk—The
values of municipal securities held by the Fund may be adversely affected by
local political and economic conditions and developments. Adverse conditions in
an industry significant to a local economy could have a correspondingly adverse
effect on the financial condition of local issuers. The amount of public
information available about municipal bonds is generally less than for certain
corporate equities or bonds, meaning that the investment performance of the Fund
may be more dependent on the analytical abilities of the Fund’s sub-adviser than
funds that invest in stock or other corporate investments.
| |
|
|
36 |
Section
1
Fund Summaries |
Preferred
Security Risk—Preferred
securities generally are subordinated to bonds and other debt instruments in a
company’s capital structure and therefore will be subject to greater credit risk
than those debt instruments. In addition, preferred securities are subject to
other risks, such as having no or limited voting rights, being subject to
special redemption rights, having distributions deferred or skipped, having
floating interest rates or dividends, which may result in a decline in value in
a falling interest rate environment, having fixed interest rates or dividends,
which may result in a decline in value in a rising interest rate environment,
having limited liquidity, changing or unfavorable tax treatments and possibly
being issued by companies in heavily regulated industries.
Restricted
Securities Risk—The
market for restricted securities, including Rule 144A securities, typically is
less active than the market for publicly traded securities. Rule 144A securities
and other securities exempt from registration under the Securities Act carry the
risk that their liquidity may become impaired and the Fund may be unable to
dispose of the securities promptly or at current market value.
Unrated
Security Risk—Unrated
securities determined by the Fund’s sub-adviser to be of comparable quality to
rated securities which the Fund may purchase may pay a higher interest rate than
such rated securities and be subject to a greater risk of illiquidity or price
changes. Less public information is typically available about unrated securities
or issuers than rated securities or issuers.
U.S.
Government Securities Risk—U.S.
government securities are guaranteed only as to the timely payment of interest
and the payment of principal when held to maturity. Accordingly, the current
market values for these securities will fluctuate with changes in interest
rates. Securities issued or guaranteed by U.S. government agencies and
instrumentalities are supported by varying degrees of credit but generally are
not backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government or may be subject
to certain limitations. No assurance can be given that the U.S. government will
provide financial support to its agencies and instrumentalities if it is not
obligated by law to do so, which may increase the risk of loss to the
Fund.
Valuation
Risk—The
sales price the Fund could receive for any particular security may differ from
the Fund’s valuation of the investment, particularly for securities that trade
in thin or volatile markets or that are valued using a fair value methodology.
The debt securities in which the Fund invests typically are valued by a pricing
service utilizing a range of market-based inputs and assumptions, including
price quotations obtained from broker-dealers making markets in such
instruments, cash flows and transactions for comparable instruments. There is no
assurance that the Fund will be able to buy or sell a portfolio security at the
price established by the pricing service, which could result in a gain or loss
to the Fund. Pricing services generally price debt securities assuming orderly
transactions of an institutional “round lot” size, but some trades may occur in
smaller, “odd lot” sizes, often at lower prices than institutional round lot
trades. Over certain time periods, such differences could materially impact the
performance of the Fund, which may not be sustainable. Alternative pricing
services may incorporate different assumptions and inputs into their valuation
methodologies, potentially resulting in different values for the same
securities. As a result, if the Fund were to change pricing services, or if the
Fund’s pricing service were to change its valuation methodology, there could be
a material impact, either positive or negative, on the Fund’s net asset
value.
Fund
Performance
The
following bar chart and table provide some indication of the potential risks of
investing in the Fund. The Fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) is
not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future.
Updated performance information is available at www.nuveen.com/performance or by
calling (800) 257-8787.
| |
|
|
Section
1
Fund Summaries |
37 |
The
bar chart below shows the variability of the Fund’s performance from year to
year for Class A shares. The bar chart and highest/lowest quarterly returns that
follow do not reflect sales charges, and if these charges were reflected, the
returns would be less than those shown.
| |
|
Class
A Annual Total Return* |
*Class
A year-to-date total return as of September 30, 2023 was -0.48%. The
performance of the other share classes will differ due to their different
expense structures.
During
the ten-year period ended December 31, 2022, the Fund’s highest and lowest
quarterly returns were 11.07%
and
-15.43%, respectively, for the quarters ended June 30, 2020 and March 31,
2020.
The
table below shows the variability of the Fund’s average annual returns and how
they compare over the time periods indicated with those of broad measures of
market performance and an index of funds with similar investment objectives. All
after-tax returns are calculated using the historical highest individual federal
marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local
taxes. After-tax returns are shown for Class A shares only; after-tax returns
for other share classes will vary. Your own actual after-tax returns will depend
on your specific tax situation and may differ from what is shown here. After-tax
returns are not relevant to investors who hold Fund shares in tax-deferred
accounts such as IRAs or employer-sponsored retirement plans.
Both
the bar chart and the table assume that all distributions have been reinvested.
Performance reflects fee waivers, if any, in effect during the periods
presented. If any such waivers had not been in place, returns would have been
reduced.
| |
|
|
38 |
Section
1
Fund Summaries |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Average
Annual Total Returns |
|
|
|
|
|
|
for
the Periods Ended |
|
|
|
|
|
|
December
31, 2022 |
|
|
|
Inception
Date |
1
Year |
5
Years |
10
Years |
Since
Inception
(Class
R6) |
|
Class
A (return before taxes) |
|
12/19/06 |
|
|
(14.35 |
)% |
|
0.91 |
% |
|
3.76 |
% |
|
N/A |
|
|
Class
A (return after taxes on distributions) |
|
|
|
|
(15.39 |
)% |
|
(0.37 |
)% |
|
2.14 |
% |
|
N/A |
|
|
Class
A (return after taxes on distributions and sale of Fund shares) |
|
|
|
|
(7.72 |
)% |
|
0.63 |
% |
|
2.58 |
% |
|
N/A |
|
|
Class
C (return before taxes) |
|
12/19/06 |
|
|
(10.70 |
)% |
|
1.14 |
% |
|
3.64 |
% |
|
N/A |
|
|
Class
R6 (return before taxes) |
|
6/30/16 |
|
|
(9.76 |
)% |
|
2.23 |
% |
|
N/A |
|
|
3.87
|
% |
|
Class
I (return before taxes) |
|
12/19/06 |
|
|
(9.82 |
)% |
|
2.15 |
% |
|
4.52 |
% |
|
N/A |
|
|
ICE
BofA U.S. All Capital Securities Index1 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
(reflects
no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes) |
|
|
|
|
(14.85 |
)% |
|
1.41 |
% |
|
4.08 |
% |
|
2.60 |
% |
|
Preferred
Securities and Income Blended Benchmark2 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
(reflects
no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes) |
|
|
|
|
(13.40 |
)% |
|
1.90 |
% |
|
4.12 |
% |
|
3.61 |
% |
|
Lipper
Flexible Income Funds Category Average3 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
(reflects
no deduction for taxes or sales loads) |
|
|
|
|
(11.73 |
)% |
|
1.50 |
% |
|
3.18 |
% |
|
2.66 |
% |
| |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1 |
An
index designed to measure the performance of investment grade and below
investment grade fixed rate and fixed-to-floating rate, USD-denominated
hybrid corporate and preferred securities publicly issued in the U.S.
domestic market. |
|
2 |
The
index is comprised of a 60% weighting in the ICE BofA U.S. All Capital
Securities Index and a 40% weighting in the ICE BofA USD Contingent
Capital Index. Benchmark performance is linked. Performance prior to
12/31/13 reflects the Blended Benchmark’s previous composition: a 65%
weighting in the ICE BofA Fixed Rate Preferred Index and a 35% weighting
in the Bloomberg USD Capital Securities Index. |
|
3 |
Represents
the average annualized total return for all reporting funds in the Lipper
Flexible Income Funds Category. |
Management
Investment
Adviser
Nuveen
Fund Advisors, LLC
Sub-Adviser
Nuveen
Asset Management, LLC
Portfolio
Managers
| |
|
|
|
Name |
Title |
Portfolio
Manager of Fund Since |
|
Douglas
M. Baker, CFA |
Managing
Director |
December
2006 |
|
Brenda
A. Langenfeld, CFA |
Managing
Director |
January
2012 |
| |
|
|
Section
1
Fund Summaries |
39 |
Purchase
and Sale of Fund Shares
You
may purchase, redeem or exchange shares of the Fund on any business day through
a financial advisor or other financial intermediary. The Fund’s initial and
subsequent investment minimums generally are as follows, although certain
financial intermediaries may impose their own investment minimums and the Fund
may reduce or waive the minimums in some cases:
| |
|
|
|
| |
Class
A and Class C |
Class
R6 |
Class
I |
|
Eligibility
and Minimum Initial Investment |
$3,000
for all accounts except:
• $2,500
for Traditional/
Roth
IRA accounts.
• $2,000
for Coverdell
Education
Savings
Accounts.
• $250
for accounts opened through fee-based programs.
• No
minimum for retirement plans. |
Available
only to certain qualified retirement plans and other investors as
described in the prospectus and through fee-based programs.
$1
million for all accounts except:
• $100,000
for clients of financial intermediaries who charge such clients an ongoing
fee for advisory, investment, consulting or related services.
• No
minimum for certain qualified retirement plans and certain other
categories of eligible investors as described in the
prospectus. |
Available
only through fee-based programs and certain retirement plans, and to other
limited categories of investors as described in the prospectus.
$100,000
for all accounts except:
• $250
for clients of financial intermediaries and family offices that have
accounts holding Class I shares with an aggregate value of at least
$100,000 (or that are expected to reach this level).
• No
minimum for eligible retirement plans and certain other categories of
eligible investors as described in the prospectus. |
|
Minimum
Additional
Investment |
$100 |
No
minimum. |
No
minimum. |
Tax
Information
The
Fund’s distributions are taxable and will generally be taxed as ordinary income
or capital gains, unless you are investing through a tax-deferred account, such
as an IRA or 401(k) plan (in which case you may be taxed upon withdrawal of your
investment from such account).
Payments
to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
If
you purchase shares of the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial
intermediary (such as a bank or financial advisor), the Fund, its distributor or
its investment adviser may pay the intermediary for the sale of Fund shares and
related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by
influencing the broker-dealer or other financial intermediary and your
salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your financial
advisor or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more
information.
| |
|
|
40 |
Section
1
Fund Summaries |
Nuveen
Strategic Income Fund
Investment
Objective
The
investment objective of the Fund is to provide investors with total
return.
Fees
and Expenses of the Fund
The
following tables describe the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy,
hold and sell shares of the Fund. You may qualify for sales charge discounts
if you and your family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least
$50,000 in the Fund or in other Nuveen Mutual
Funds. More information about these and other discounts, as well
as eligibility requirements for each share class, is available from your
financial advisor and in “How You Can Buy and Sell Shares” on page 82 of the
Fund’s prospectus and “Purchase and Redemption of Fund Shares” on page S-76 of
the Fund’s statement of additional information. In addition, more information
about sales charge discounts and waivers for purchases of shares through
specific financial intermediaries is set forth in the appendix to the Fund’s
prospectus entitled “Variations in Sales Charge Reductions and Waivers Available
Through Certain Intermediaries.”
The
tables and examples below do not reflect any commissions that shareholders may
be required to pay directly to their financial intermediaries when buying or
selling Class I shares.
Shareholder
Fees
(fees
paid directly from your investment)
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
Class
A |
|
Class
C |
|
Class
R6 |
|
Class
I |
|
|
Maximum
Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Purchases
(as
a percentage of offering price) |
|
|
4.25% |
|
None |
|
None |
|
None |
|
|
Maximum
Deferred Sales Charge (Load)
(as
a percentage of the lesser of purchase price or redemption
proceeds)1 |
|
|
None |
|
1.00% |
|
None |
|
None |
|
|
Maximum
Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Reinvested Dividends |
|
|
None |
|
None |
|
None |
|
None |
|
|
Exchange
Fee |
|
|
None |
|
None |
|
None |
|
None |
|
|
Annual
Low Balance Account Fee (for accounts under $1,000)2 |
|
|
$15 |
|
$15 |
|
None |
|
$15 |
|
Annual
Fund Operating Expenses
(expenses
that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your
investment)
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
Class
A |
|
Class
C |
|
Class
R6 |
|
Class
I |
|
|
Management
Fees |
|
|
|
|
0.54 |
% |
|
0.54 |
% |
|
0.54 |
% |
|
0.54 |
% |
|
Distribution
and/or Service (12b-1) Fees |
|
|
|
|
0.25 |
% |
|
1.00 |
% |
|
0.00 |
% |
|
0.00 |
% |
|
Other
Expenses |
|
|
|
|
0.17 |
% |
|
0.17 |
% |
|
0.08 |
% |
|
0.17 |
% |
|
Total
Annual Fund Operating Expenses |
|
|
|
|
0.96 |
% |
|
1.71 |
% |
|
0.62 |
% |
|
0.71 |
% |
|
Fee
Waivers and/or Expense Reimbursements3 |
|
|
|
|
(0.13 |
)% |
|
(0.12 |
)% |
|
(0.12 |
)% |
|
(0.13 |
)% |
|
Total
Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waivers and/or Expense
Reimbursements |
|
|
|
|
0.83 |
% |
|
1.59 |
% |
|
0.50 |
% |
|
0.58 |
% |
1 The contingent deferred
sales charge on Class C shares applies only to redemptions within 12 months of
purchase.
2 Fee applies to the following types of accounts
under $1,000 held directly with the Fund: individual retirement accounts (IRAs),
Coverdell Education Savings Accounts and accounts established pursuant to the
Uniform Transfers to Minors Act (UTMA) or Uniform Gifts to Minors Act
(UGMA).
3 The Fund’s investment adviser has agreed to
waive fees and/or reimburse expenses through July 31,
2025 so that the total annual operating expenses of the Fund
(excluding 12b-1 distribution and/or service fees, interest expenses, taxes,
acquired fund fees and expenses, fees incurred in acquiring and disposing of
portfolio securities and extraordinary expenses) do not exceed 0.59% of the
average daily net assets of any class of Fund shares. However, because Class R6
shares are not subject to sub-transfer agent and similar fees, the total annual
operating expenses for the Class R6 shares will be less than the expense
limitation. This expense limitation may be terminated or modified prior to July
31, 2025 only with the approval of the Board of Directors of the
Fund.
Example
The
following example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the
Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The example assumes that
you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then either
redeem or do not redeem your shares at the end of a period. The example also
assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year, that the Fund’s
operating expenses remain the same and that the fee waivers currently in place
are not renewed beyond July 31, 2025. Although your actual costs may be higher
or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would
be:
| |
|
|
Section
1
Fund Summaries |
41 |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
Class
A |
|
Class
C |
|
Class
R6 |
|
Class
I |
|
|
1
Year |
|
|
|
$ |
506 |
|
$ |
162 |
|
$ |
51 |
|
$ |
59 |
|
|
3
Years |
|
|
|
$ |
698 |
|
$ |
520 |
|
$ |
179 |
|
$ |
206 |
|
|
5
Years |
|
|
|
$ |
914 |
|
$ |
910 |
|
|
![[image]](g436252img_2eec2f37bc284.jpg)
