Nuveen Investment Funds, Inc.

Ticker

Class A–FJSIX

Class C–FCSIX

Class R3–FANSX

Class I–FJSYX

31 October

2018

as supplemented

2 January 2019

This summary prospectus is designed to provide investors with key Fund information in a clear and concise format. Before you invest, you may want to review the Fund’s complete prospectus, which contains more information about the Fund and its risks. You can find the Fund’s prospectus and other information about the Fund online at www.nuveen.com/prospectus. You can also get this information at no cost by calling (800) 257-8787 or by sending an e-mail request to mutualfunds@nuveen.com. If you purchase shares of the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), the prospectus and other information will also be available from your financial intermediary. The Fund’s prospectus and statement of additional information, both dated October 31, 2018, are incorporated by reference into this summary prospectus and may be obtained, free of charge, at the website, phone number or e-mail address noted above.

The Board of Directors of the Fund has approved the reorganization of the Fund into TIAA-CREF High-Yield Fund, a series of TIAA-CREF Funds that is advised by Teachers Advisors, LLC. The reorganization must be approved by the shareholders of the Fund. A special meeting of shareholders for the purpose of voting on the reorganization is expected to be held in April or early May 2019. If the required approval is obtained, it is anticipated that the reorganization will be consummated approximately two months after the special shareholder meeting. More information about the proposed reorganization will be contained in proxy materials that are expected to be sent to Fund shareholders in February or early March 2019. The Fund will continue sales and redemptions of its shares as described in the prospectus until shortly before its reorganization. However, holders of shares purchased after the record date set for the special shareholder meeting will not be entitled to vote those shares at the special meeting.

The investment objective of the Fund is to provide investors with a high level of current income.

This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold 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 “What Share Classes We Offer” on page 64 of the Fund’s prospectus, “How to Reduce Your Sales Charge” on page 69 of the prospectus, in the appendix to this prospectus titled “Variations in Sales Charge Reductions and Waivers Available Through Certain Intermediaries,” and “Purchase and Redemption of Fund Shares” on page S-91 of the Fund’s statement of additional information.

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, 2020. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

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 126% of the average value of its portfolio.

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 bonds rated lower than investment grade at the time of purchase or in unrated bonds of comparable quality (securities commonly referred to as “high yield” securities or “junk” bonds). These bonds generally provide high income in an effort to compensate investors for their higher risk of default, which is the failure to make required interest or principal payments. High yield bond issuers include small or relatively new companies lacking the history or capital to merit investment-grade status, former blue chip companies downgraded because of financial problems, companies electing to borrow heavily to finance or avoid a takeover or buyout, and firms with heavy debt loads. The Fund may invest up to 20% of its net assets in fixed and floating rate loans (including senior loans and secured and unsecured junior loans). In addition, the Fund may invest up to 20% of its net assets, collectively, in preferred securities and contingent capital securities (sometimes referred to as “CoCos”). The Fund may invest in exchange-traded funds, closed-end funds, and other investment companies (“investment companies”).

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 in securities that have not been registered under the Securities Act of 1933, but that may be resold to qualified institutional buyers in accordance with the provisions of Rule 144A under the Securities Act of 1933 (“Rule 144A securities”).

The Fund may invest without limitation in debt obligations of foreign corporations and governments. However, no more than 20% of the Fund’s total assets may be invested in debt obligations issued by governmental and corporate issuers that are located in emerging market countries, provided that no issuer included in the Fund’s current benchmark index will be considered to be located in an emerging market country.

The Fund’s sub-adviser employs a bottom up approach to investing. The sub-adviser devotes more resources to evaluating individual securities rather than assessing macro-economic trends. Securities are selected using fundamental credit research to identify relative value in the market. Positions are sold in anticipation of credit deterioration or when a security is priced expensively relative to other comparable investments.

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.

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 alphabetically, include:

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.

Bond Market Liquidity Risk—Dealer inventories of bonds, which provide an indication of the ability of financial intermediaries to “make markets” in those bonds, are at or near historic lows in relation to market size. This reduction in market making capacity has the potential to decrease liquidity and increase price volatility in the fixed income markets in which the Fund invests, particularly during periods of economic or market stress. In addition, recent federal banking regulations may cause certain dealers to reduce their inventories of bonds, which may further decrease the Fund’s ability to buy or sell bonds. 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 bonds to meet shareholder redemption requests or to raise cash, those sales could further reduce the bonds’ prices and hurt performance.

Call Risk—If, during periods of falling interest rates, an issuer calls higher-yielding debt instruments held by the Fund, the Fund may have to reinvest in securities with lower yields, 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.

Credit Risk—Credit risk is the risk that an issuer or other obligated party of a debt security may 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—Changes in currency exchange rates will affect the value of non-U.S. dollar denominated securities, 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 Fund, its investment adviser or sub-adviser, custodian, transfer agent, distributor or other service provider or a financial intermediary to suffer a data breach, data corruption or lose operational functionality. Successful cyber-attacks or other cyber-failures or events affecting the Fund or its service providers 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. 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.

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, are high risk investments that may cause income and principal losses for the Fund. They generally have greater credit risk, are less liquid 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 it holds.

Interest Rate Risk—Interest rate risk is the risk that the value of the Fund’s portfolio will decline because of rising interest rates. The Fund may be subject to a greater risk of rising interest rates than would normally be the case due to the possibility that the current period of historically low rates may be ending and the effect of potential government fiscal policy initiatives and resulting market reaction to those initiatives. When interest rates change, the values of longer-duration debt securities usually change more than the values of shorter-duration debt securities. Rising interest rates also may lengthen the duration of debt 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.

Loan Risk—The lack of an active trading market for certain loans 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. 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. Additionally, loans may not be considered “securities” and, as a result, the Fund may not be entitled to rely on the anti-fraud protections of the securities laws.

Non-U.S./Emerging Markets 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 and different legal, regulatory and tax environments. These additional risks may be heightened for securities of issuers located in, or with significant operations in, emerging market countries as such countries may have a higher degree of economic instability, unsettled securities laws and inconsistent regulatory systems.

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 limited liquidity, changing or unfavorable tax treatments and possibly being issued by companies in heavily regulated industries.

Rule 144A Securities Risk—The market for Rule 144A securities typically is less active than the market for publicly-traded securities. Rule 144A securities carry the risk that their liquidity may become impaired and the Fund may be unable to dispose of the securities promptly or at reasonable prices.

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.

Valuation Risk—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 readily available market 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 sell a portfolio security at the price established by the pricing service, which could result in a 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. Different 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.

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.

During the ten-year period ended December 31, 2017, the Fund’s highest and lowest quarterly returns were 21.96% and -19.17%, respectively, for the quarters ended June 30, 2009 and December 31, 2008.

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.

You may purchase, redeem or exchange shares of the Fund on any business day, which is any day the New York Stock Exchange is open for business. You may purchase, redeem or exchange shares of the Fund either through a financial advisor or other financial intermediary or directly from the Fund. Class A and Class C shares may not be purchased directly from the Fund. In addition, the availability of Class A and Class C shares through a financial intermediary will depend on the policies of the 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:

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).

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.



Annual Fund Operating Expenses
(expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
	Class A		Class C		Class R3		Class I
Management Fees		0.59%		0.59%		0.59%		0.59%
Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fees		0.25%		1.00%		0.50%		0.00%
Other Expenses		0.20%		0.21%		0.21%		0.20%
Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses		0.05%		0.05%		0.05%		0.05%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses		1.09%		1.85%		1.35%		0.84%
Fee Waivers and/or Expense Reimbursements³		(0.04)%		(0.05)%		(0.05)%		(0.04)%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waivers and/or Expense Reimbursements		1.05%		1.80%		1.30%		0.80%


	Class A		Class C		Class R3		Class I
1 Year	$	577	$	183	$	132	$	82
3 Years	$	799	$	574	$	420	$	262
5 Years	$	1,041	$	993	$	732	$	460
10 Years	$	1,735	$	2,163	$	1,617	$	1,031


	Average Annual Total Returns for the Periods Ended December 31, 2017
	1 Year			5 Years			10 Years
Class A (return before taxes)		2.16	%		3.42	%		6.09	%
Class A (return after taxes on distributions)		(0.76	)%		0.23	%		2.94	%
Class A (return after taxes on distributions and sale of Fund shares)		1.23	%		1.14	%		3.33	%
Class C (return before taxes)		6.50	%		3.65	%		5.86	%
Class R3 (return before taxes)		7.01	%		4.17	%		6.37	%
Class I (return before taxes)		7.52	%		4.71	%		6.91	%
Bloomberg Barclays High Yield 2% Issuer Capped Index¹ (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)		7.50	%		5.78	%		8.09	%
Lipper High Yield Funds Category Average² (reflects no deduction for taxes or sales loads)		6.58	%		4.63	%		6.43	%


Name	Title	Portfolio Manager of Fund Since
Kevin R. Lorenz, CFA	Managing Director	January 2019
Jean C. Lin, CFA	Managing Director	January 2019


	Class A and Class C	Class R3	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 certain retirement plans. No minimum.	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.